Search Engine Optimization for Dummies and you

This article on Search Engine Optimization for dummies isn't just meant for complete beginners, there are going to be plenty of tips that even the so-called experts would find useful. One thing's for sure - I'm definitely not an expert and I can confidently say that no one is.

One thing that you need to know when it comes to Search Engine Optimization is that there are constant changes that take place in this field and you're continuously learning new things or making changes to your website (or your client's sites) in order to remain on the top. 

Therefore, through this page on "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" I'd be linking various helpful blog posts which in turn would guide you and in some cases lead to some other sites that offer amazing info. But, before we jump into these posts, let's just take a look at what SEO is in general:

Different kinds of Search Engine Optimization

When it comes to general knowledge regarding SEO, most people only know about Keyword Stuffing and that's one of the worst practices. Of course, you do need to place keywords in your articles but overdoing it is just trying too hard for nothing. 

Basically, there are two kinds of Optimization strategies that you'd need to think of:

1. On-Page Optimization Techniques and
2. Off-Page Optimization Techniques

On - Page Optimization

Most of the Search Engine Optimization for dummies books and articles that you'd come across usually consist of just this category as it's one of the easiest to get right. However, there's a lot that you would need to learn when it comes to On - Page Optimization and some of the concepts that you would need to familiarize yourself with include:

• Picking a Niche and focusing on it
• Picking a Domain Name that is easy to recall
• Choosing a reliable Host
• Understanding the importance and use of keywords and key-phrases
• Picking your Keywords and Key-Phrases 
• Differences and effects of using a - (dash) and an _ (underscore) in your URL's
• Importance of Page Load Speed and what you could do to improve it
• Where to Place ads on your site for optimum conversion and Search Engine Approval
• How to decrease your bounce rate
• Best Interlinking strategies to give your site a boost on the SERP's
• W3C validity of your website is another factor that you must take a look at.

Therefore, we see that 'On - Page Optimization' basically focuses on the overall clarity and ease of transition from one page to another while your visitor actually gains something and leaves with an answer to their question. 

As a website or blog owner, you should aim to provide your visitors with detailed info on the topic such that they don't return back to the search results page. This is when you can say you were successful at your job. Else, it's just useless visits that waste your bandwidth.

As you may have seen on various other sites, the so-called 'Search Engine Optimization for dummies' covers only the above topics, but if you're a beginner that's a lot to digest - right? Well, that's the reason most people stop at that in their tutorials.

But, our aim here isn't to teach you everything in a single day. It's going to take you time and some experience to get it all right. Therefore, I've decided to give you all the info you need to have a successful website through off - page optimization as well.

Off - Page Optimization

One of the main aspects that you would need to focus on when it comes to Off-Page Optimization would be back-links. However, if I were you I wouldn't bother too much about this. At least, not until you've got plenty of content on your site. Just write high quality content that actually helps your readers and you would notice that it gains organic back-links on its own!

However, there are cases wherein you may feel the need to gain additional back-links on your own, in such cases you should make sure that the articles you write to post on article directories or as guest posts must be of really high quality, the quality that you wouldn't hesitate to post on your own blog.

Don't even bother trying to gain back-links through comments on other blogs and websites as in most cases you're going to be wasting time because they'd be deleted by the owner. Moreover, that's just a lame tactic and personally I hate people that do this. There are a few cases on this blog as well. 

When you do this, you would not only gain a back-link, but also additional traffic from the site where you posted the article (As people would be impressed and want to know more). Moreover, not all back links are going to give you a boost in your search engine ranking, but if it's going to get you traffic anyway - why does it matter? 

Therefore, through this page on 'Search Engine Optimization for dummies' you must realize that it's not the link that counts, but the quality of the article that gives you the link.

Factors to Focus on when it comes to Off - Page Optimization of your site:

• Quality of the Back-links
• The depth and quality of the articles you use to fetch links
• Whether your content is Social network friendly or not
• Get rid of Spam links using the Disavow tool.

That's all for now, more information would be added to this page 'Search Engine Optimization for Dummies and you' as and when we get new insights into the wonderful world of SEO.