With yet another Panda update people are freaking out more than ever. I have checked a lot of websites lately after reading their owners’ messages on different forums.
And I have noticed that a lot of them missed some basics of SEO that might have affected their rankings.
This is by no means a complete list of SEO elements you need to pay attention to. It is actually a naked, stripped down version for those who are starting out or want to make sure they are doing the basics right.
#1 Don’t miss my WordPress on-page SEO 101 post.
#2 Set up your permalinks structure from domainname.com/?p=123 to domainname.com/postname.
#3 Use a SEO plugin on your blog, I highly recommend WordPress SEO by Yoast. (Thesis theme doesn’t work well with this plugin but Genesis integrates perfectly).
#4 Write and optimize your posts with ONE keyword in mind. (You will be found for long tail keywords later).
#5 Include your keyword in the URL of the post.
#6 Include the keyword in the title of the post.
#7 Use the keyword a few times through out the post and in a title with H2 or H3 (don’t over do it).
#8 Include the keyword in the description of the post.
#9 Add alt tag to the images in your posts.
#10 Track your bounce rate and try lowering it by giving people what they want (more links to related posts for example).
#11 Speed up your blog. You can use some of the cache plugins like W3C.
#12 To speed up your site as far as images go, use Smush.it and always include “width” and “height” values.
#13 Use as few plugins as you can. Remove all the plugins that are not essential.
#14 Use a clean theme, like Genesis or the default Twenty Eleven theme.
#15 Have clear navigation.
#16 Do not put hundreds of links on single pages.
#17 Make sure you don’t have long blogrolls, tag clouds or other link leaks in the sidebar that will just water down your SEO.
#18 Learn about nofollow attribute.
#19 Add nofollow attribute to your affiliate links.
#20 Build internal links (link to your own posts).
#21 Do not use nofollow on your internal links.
#22 Build links slowly. Building hundreds of links every week will ring the red Google bell.
#23 Build both follow and nofollow links.
#24 The easiest ways to build links is blog commenting, article marketing and guest posting.
#25 Diversify sources of your links.
#26 Diversify anchor text you use when linking to your posts.
#27 Use tools like Market Samurai to see where your competitors are getting the links from and then copy their strategy.
#28 Add social sharing buttons to your posts so people can share your work and naturally build links for you.
#29 Write for people while implementing the basic SEO rules for on-page optimization.
#30 Never engage in black hat techniques.
Feel free to add any tips to the list, but keep in mind that it is for complete beginners 
The nofollow attribute has mutated from its original intention, so if you build internal links, adding a bunch of nofollow’d links will simply eat away at your PageRank flow on those internal links.
What Matt Cutts has suggested (a while back, I think a lot of people have forgotten) is to use “link masking” instead:
Use a sub-folder or directory on your blog named “Go” or whatever.
House your links there, and use it to redirect to your aff links…
Then de-index that directory with the meta robots tag “noindex.”
I’ve NEVER done that, I just use SEO Ultimate and it does it for me.
The benefit of link masking is that it preserves your PageRank on your other links, but if you nofollow them instead, it’s like telling Google, “Don’t follow those links, BUT you want to divide the PageRank by ALL these links, including those nofollowed.”
So if you have 3 aff links, then 5 internal links, and the aff links are all nofollowed, your PR will be divided by 8.
If those 3 aff links are link-masked instead, then your PR on the internal links will be divided only by 5, if that makes sense.
(Or you know: totally ignore me since people don’t usually micro-manage their PR flow this much.)
Sorry, I just geek-vomited on your post. Loved it BTW.
“Geek-vomited on your post” – ha, love it!!!
Danny, I wish he read the last sentence that this was for beginners, lol. But it is James, so I can’t say anything, he just loves SEO!
For those that read his comment, yes, he is right, it would be the easiest just to mask the links and I do it here as well. I use plugin called Simple URLs (free) and my affiliate link for Aweber for example looks like this http://live-your-love.com/go/aweber/
Hi Brankica, these are nice basic tips to be kept in mind while optimizing your blog. It’s a good start for any blogger. I would like to hear more from you on Bounce Rate as i am experiencing a quite high Bounce Rate for my site.
I can give you a lot info on that. Let me ask you first, what is your bounce rate?
I am currently experiencing a bounce rate in between 60 – 65%.
If you are talking about the site you linked to, I don’t that bounce rate is bad at all. Especially that blog posts on your blog are very short and news like so people who land on them get that piece of info they came for and leave. To make them stick around, you should interlink your posts from within content, I checked two posts and none of them have any links in the main content of the post.
Nice one Brankica,
You mentioned very well all things for how we can get good PR on Search Engines. I agreed with you we should do work step by step then we will get good result in less time.
All 30 points are very well for how we can learn SEO tactics for make our blog/site good in front of all over the world.
Thanks Sam, glad you agree
I just think people always need to do the basics before going into the advanced levels.
Love #29, Bran – it’s scary how many people plaster their content full of keyword-led copy, and then wonder why no-one’s reading except search index bots.
Yes, SEO matters, but getting folks wanting to read first is more important – and that won’t happen if your copy reads like a meta description box for 500 words.
Cheers!
Danny, could not agree more. I think some SEO “experts” scared people that it is impossible to do both while in reality it is so easy to optimize a post written for humans. But I am sure these “experts” will reach less “victims” as Google changes its algorithm
Thanks so much for the comment!
Experts use scare tactics of the unknown to charge large amounts of money for questionable results? Sounds a lot like social media to me…
Heya Pit (and Danny too)
Here’s my SEO Strategy:
1.Write the type of article I think my ideal reader wants to read.
2. Try and get a keyword into the title.
3. Fill in the SEO forms on Thesis.
And that’s it.
I do comment on other blogs that may add backlinks – but I never comment for back links – only to connect with people and comment on articles/posts I’ve really enjoyed. Or ask questions to get a deeper understanding of the topic.
Again, that’s it.
What am I missing by not being more ‘SEO’ conscious? Seriously, if either of you could answer I’d be very interested to learn?
Paul
Haha, mate, that’s EXACTLY how I do it too (minus the Thesis part).
Sure, now and again I may concentrate on dedicated SEO. But for the most part, I write for the audience and let the search be part of the social sharing experience too.
Seems to be working so far.
Thank *** for that. I was starting to think I was an SEO Dufus reading all the tips that Pit had posted along with James Geek Vomit!
If it’s working for you, that’s a model I can live with!
Paul
Really, Paul…really?????
How did I say anything different than that!?!?!?!
LOL That is the number #29 in the list. As far as dedicated SEO goes, as Danny called it, I do that with an article here or there, just to make a few links.
I never comment for links and hate people who do it and that is why I am glad some people stopped commenting here when I was testing Livefyre.
Ha ha – it’s all the stuff like adding No Follow attributes to Affiliate links and stuff like that – I don’t do ANY of that.
I knew I will screw something up
How can I fix it?
That’s what Google recommends since it’s a monetized link – to nofollow them.
RE: your strategy, not sure on what sort of site you’re discussing – is it a blog? If so, that’s more or less what I do.
For anything to “rank” like on my niche websites/affiliate sites, SEO goes a LONG way to establishing traffic to my money pages.
Without SEO, I’d not have earned my living, so it’s something I do as an affiliate marketer to my websites to get traffic to otherwise non-social sites (mostly run as static sites with product reviews).
The end result is a passive income, free traffic, and a happy wife/fed kids.
Too true – that’s an issue I can’t stand while reading…
So when dog training, you want to be sure to use the best dog training tips, which is why I created Dog Training.com to begin with: I love dog training!
err…bounce rate.
OK, what the heck was this reply to? I am lost on my own blog LOL
My general rule of thumb with this one Danny has always been this: Repeat the keyword phrase in the opening paragraph of the post if possible (assuming it’s a keyword driven post)
After that, write it exactly as you’d explain it to someone else, without though of keywords at all. Allow them to come as they may, with the possible exception of an Header inclusion.
Like you, it drives me bonkers when I see folks splashing silly keywords all over the house.
Since my site (deal blog) is really topic-sensitive and posts go out-of-date a lot, I haven’t been using traditional blog navigation of the archive, but using the tag cloud instead. I have my tag cloud in my sidebar. If tag clouds are bad, what should I use for navigation instead. People usually come to my site wanting to know, for instance, what deals are happening at Walmart, and having the tag of Walmart helped them find what they needed.
Thanks!
Tag cloud is pretty much a big link leak. Create resource pages and then link them in the navigation.
You can make a page named Walmart and link to all important Walmart posts from that page. Then add that page to the main navigation menu (like at the top, you see SEO in the menu for example).
Nice list Pit, I started using the free Yoast WordPress SEO plugin that helps with a lot of the. It analyzes the page and offers suggestions before puplishing it.
His plugins are really great. Especially if they are free
the reason I say that is that beginners have trouble taking off because they think they need to buy all the expensive tools to make it. And free SEO is as good as the paid one 
Hi Brankica,
As usual a very nice post of you. I agree with all the points and I want to add one more thing and that is “Consistency”, Be consistent with your blog. make a time table and do posting according to that. Consistency is one of the most important thing in blogging as well as real life too.
Thanks
Atish | TechTricksWorld
I agree. And I know everyone says that Google likes blogs that are updated often. However, I do have a site when nothing has been updated for 6+ months and it is still growing
Sometimes it happens and this is because the awesome content quality. I bet that you other site would be full of killer quality content.
It is but it is in a completely different niche. But I made sure I write every page myself with a lot of facts and info so I answer all the question a person coming from Google might have about the topic.
Isn’t that the goal of every site
Cause even if you build it only for money, for people to click on ads or buy something, they have to have their questions answered.
Yes thats the great thing brank. Nice keep it on.
all above list is very helpful for me, last panda update is bad for me, my blog seo down…now i am trying again to boost my blog…..
Start from the beginning and don’t rush into anything
Hi Brankica,
I like the way you always keep SEO very simple. This post plus your SEO 101 post is all a site owner needs to conquer the search engines so long as the person sticks to a non-saturated yet in-demand niche.
I only apply these basic SEO practices and this my website ranks very well for all my major keywords with a no. 1 ranking in most cases. My most favorite practice is your #29. When we write for people, Google knows this from the amount of time visitors spend on our site and this counts towards how our site is ranked.
I think Google also likes diversity of media. So we should include photos and video in our content whenever we can because that way, Google will see our site as more resourceful than that of our competitors’ and hence rank us better. Also people get to spend more time on our site as they consume all these.
Really SEO does not have to be rocket science if one finds a niche with a fair amount of demand where the existing websites are not so resourceful.
I can not agree more nor can I add anything.
Diversity of media is definitely something to include in your site and keep people glued longer
Bran, LOVED these recommendations, you’ve really laid it out awesome for the SEO that’s deep within all of us
Thanks for always being such an online teacher to others.
Marcus
Awww, thanks
You always make me feel so successful!
Thank you Brankica on great SEO tips for everyone. I’ve enjoyed in reading this post. I’ll bookmark it and read again.
Thanks Jeff, glad you liked it !
These are great tips. I would add that it’s important to write naturally and don’t keyword stuff. This goes for content on your site and for any article submissions. Looking natural is another reason to have a mix of no follow and do follow on your site. As for “Geek vomit” – that’s priceless.
Definitely, that is what I was referring in #29. If you write like a robot you can’t expect much, lol.
Thanks for the comment, Monique, and welcome to my blog
i use the all in one SEO pack plugin for my wordpress blog.its works well for me.nice tips