10 Aug

SEO – A Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is when a website owner attempts to make his/her site more attractive to the search results by using a variety of white hat (legal) or black hat (illegal) ways. SEO is part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Throughout the years I have designed and managed numerous websites for myself, peers and clients. Over time, I have studied and practiced the art of SEO. Many of my peers are entering the workforce in various roles across many industries. Their new positions, while focused on law, publishing and other disciplines, are all effected by the World Wide Web. I have been asked on numerous occasions for help in explaining social media and SEO, so I decided to publish a post.

Originally published on eBranding Me’s blog, and soon to be released as a free eBook, the following post provides Generation Y students, as well as other beginners, a brief intro into the inner workings of search engines and how to achieve your desired results.

For the full post, please follow the link at the bottom of this post. Here is a preview:

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It is vital for Generation Y students to be aware of SEO techniques. The ever-increasing use of search engines by college admissions officers and entry-level job recruiters increases the importance of your “Google Resume.” A staggering 80% of Human Resource Departments are now Googling potential job candidates. And of those individuals researched online, 30% of hiring decisions have been affected by their findings.

While there are many tools to sift through online content, Google is used for well over 50% of inquiries. Furthermore, it is common knowledge that Google’s search engine algorithm is the most complex – using well over 200 different factors to determine the displayed results. In turn, over 60% of users find what they’re looking for on the first page of search results because of the determined efforts of the Google algorithms to return accurate results.

Why should YOU worry about someone else’s Google search results?

“Whether you’re a college student yet to make your way in the corporate world or a high-flying executive of a Fortune 500 company, what you say and how you act online affects your personal reputation in career-enhancing or –detracting ways.”
– “Radically Transparent” by Andy Beal & Dr. Judy Strauss

What steps should YOU take now?

  • Title Your Blog Posts
  • Make sure the keywords used in your blog post are repeated in the content of the post, meta tags, excerpt and the permalink URL as well.
  • Build Valuable Links

The Internet is a web of links. Take advantage of Google’s PageRank algorithm and build valuable links with well-respected experts in your field. You can build links by networking both online and off. Join as many social networks as you feel comfortable and contribute to the conversation via forums and blog comment sections. Email signatures are a great place to highlight all of your online activity.

See more SEO tips on the full post on eBranding Me’s blog. A permalink to the article can be found below.

eBranding Me and Keith Petri hope to motivate Generation Y students to become more active online and comfortable with the various social media tools available. Use the aforementioned SEO tools to begin managing your Google Search Results.

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