Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on May 27, 2010

Link building is a very important aspect of the search engine optimization process. Just a small word of caution though: be very careful not to put the proverbial cart before the horse. Link building is considered an off-page element of search engine optimization, which means it is much more difficult to control. You are dependent on the quality and reliability of a third-party over whom you have little or no control to establish quality links that point to your web pages.

For that reason and one other critically important reason, which I will get to in a minute, it is recommended that before you engage in the time-consuming process of carefully selecting websites from which you would like to acquire inbound links, that you make sure that absolutely all on-page elements have been optimized first.

Now I come to the other critically important reason you would do better to start with on-page seo: think of your website as your home. Think of inbound links as the limousine service you have hired to bring your guests, which include site visitors and search engine bots. For the best possible reception from your guests you would want your home to be in good order before they arrive.

On-page elements include absolutely everything that is found at your website: architecture, navigation, design, text, images, links, Flash™ animation, interactivity, meta data, title tags, advertisements….absolutely everything! If any one of these elements is lacking it degrades the experience at your website and could potentially cause problems for your site visitor as well as the search engine bots that are trying to access and index your content.

This is a very big topic but here are 3 major on-page seo considerations to best prepare your website for the arrival of your guests:

Site Architecture: This is your most expensive consideration but once you have it fixed you should be able to continue to grow your website to meet your evolving business needs. It should have a clear linking structure in both the main navigation and any secondary navigation appearing on a web page. All links should be working with no errors. Be sure to create your Google Site Map when you are done.

Title Tags, Meta Data, Alt Text and Anchor Text: In a nutshell, use the keywords and phrases strategically to inform both site visitors and search engines about the content found on a page or to which a particular link points. Include alt text and anchor text that is both instructional and informational. Keep in mind your reason for attracting guests in the first place. Link naming should work to satisfy your visitors’ expectations as well as guide them through to conversion (calls to action).

Webcopy, Images, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): The use of Cascading Style Sheets for design is recommended because they allow you to effectively manage on-page elements to keep the important, keyword-rich text toward the top of the page for the search engine bot to easily access and index. Compose highly focused webcopy that immediately satisfies your guests’ expectations and helps them to get from you what they came for. Use keywords strategically within your informative, motivating and persuasive body copy (text). Include images that support the points made in your copy and your conversion objectives for that page. And don’t forget to include keyword-rich ‘alt text’ that describes why the image is there and not what the image is.

Once you have your website in order – compelling, highly focused content, enhanced end-user experience, clear and concise linking structure, strategic use of keywords and phrases, and easy-to-follow conversion goals – then you are ready for your guests, both the site visitors and the search engine bots.

Now you can send the limos to pick them up!

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