The img alt tag is a piece of HTML code that is used to describe what an image is about.

Here is an image of a Paul Reed Smith Guitar:

Here is the HTML code for the image above:

<img src="prsguitar.jpg" alt="Paul Reed Smith Guitar">

Originally, the image alt tag was developed to convey information about an image to those individuals who were visually impaired.  Furthermore, the tags were also helpful for those users who had opted to disable images from being shown in their browsers

In terms of SEO, properly used alt tags can help reinforce what a particular page is about.  Again, pages that rank well for a particular keyword typically have instances of those words appearing in img alt tag.  However, it is important not to stuff keywords into img alt tags.  Just as your content should naturally include instances of keywords, your img alt tags should naturally describe what the image is about.  Do not try and outsmart Google!
 

Keyword Prominence refers to how prominent a keyword is on a given page.

Google recognizes that if a particular keyword is prominent on a page, that word is likely relevant to the topic of the page.  With this in mind, I emphasize particular words through their strategic placement in the body text.

Keyword Frequency is the measure of the number of times a keyword appears on a page, or in a particular region of a page.

Search Engines place importance in the number of times a keyword is listed on your page. In general, the more times a keyword appears on the page, the more relevant it will be to that search.
However, search engines will penalize you for keyword spamming if they feel you were excessive. A standard recommended repetition of each keyword is 3-10 times.

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page.

Keyword density can be used as a factor in determing wheter a web page is relevant to a specific keyword or keyword phrase.  Many SEO experts consider the optimum keyword density to be around 3% and agree that using a keyword more than that could be considered search spam.  Personally, I just try and write with the reader in mind and I seem to do just fine. 

What are keywords and why are they important?

In attempting to answer this seemingly rudimentary question, I naturally find myself wanting to explain it in two different ways–or from two different perspectives, rather.  The first, is from the point of view of the user or searcher.  The second, is from the point of view of a website owner.

From a user's perspective, keywords are simply search terms that they "google".  If I am an art collector living in Vancouver, and I want to buy a new painting, I might use keywords like vancouver painters or vancouver artists.  As a searcher, I use keywords to find things.  I use keywords to find things I want to buy, learn, watch, and hear.  They are the way with which I am able to sort through the wealth of information and misinformation stored as 1s and 0s on web servers across the globe. 

For a website owner, keywords are the link between their content and their visitors.  Proper on-page optimization for a set of well-research keywords, as well as off-page promotion that utilizes white-hat link building techniques (based around a similar set of keywords) are both necessary in order to attract targeted traffic to your site.  Keywords are the means by which you tell the Search Engine spiders and human searchers what your web page (and/or site) is all about. 

Core terms are the main keywords relevant to your industry.  These are the terms with massive search volume and very high competition.  Example core terms for my industry are: “seo" and "search engine optimization”.  A common mistake people make when attempting to rank higher in Google is to optimize their website for Core Terms right off-the-bat. 

In the beginning of an SEO campaign, I recommend against trying to rank well for core terms because it is a waste of time and money.  it can be difficult to rank well for Core Terms due to their highly competitive nature.  Because of this, I typically suggest optimizing pages for content-relevant, long-tail key phrases which are substantially easier to rank well for.   However, I find it helpful to first identify the Core Terms as they are the basis for which the long-tail terms will be generated, and the terms we will ultimately seek to rank well for.

I have recently started utilizing Ryan Deiss' Cherry Picker software in the keyword research phase of my seo campaigns.  The free, lightweight software makes it easy to identify profitable niches to target, and ultimately optimize for.  Indeed, merely looking at the number of competitors for a specific keyword does not provide enough information to reliably determine the potential profitability of a keyword.  Let's face it… whether  there are 1.5 million competitors or 150 million competitors, we want to be in the Top 10.  Therefore, the true competitiveness of a keyword should be judged by how well optimized the Top 10 sites are, and not the number of competing websites.  The Cherry Picker software is based on this principle. 

For each of the Top 10 sites, Cherry Picker shows us the number incoming links,  the PageRank and how many pages the site contains.  This invaluable information is a much better predictor of Keyword Efficiency than the standard KEI.  

I have generated a list of 51 SEO tips that I use on daily basis.  I am publishing them for your search engine optimization pleasure! A list of 51 SEO tips that I use on daily basis. The list includes research, on-page optimization, off-page promotion and link building techniques.

1.     Keyword Research

2.     Use the google keyword tool

3.     Isolate core tems

4.     Isolate long-tail terms

5.     Determine KEI value of all terms

6.     Determine a subset of terms to isolate for SEO campaign

7.     Determine how your website initially ranks for selected keywords
     (I use the Firefox extension Rank Checker)

8.     Determine who your top 5 competitors are for each keyword
     (top 5 results in a Google search)

9.     Find out what sites link to your competitors (Yahoo! Site Explorer is great for this).

10. Try to get the sites that link to your competitors to link to your site

11.  Use selected keywords in the title tag

12.  Do not flood the title tag with your selected keywords

13. Use selected keywords in the description tag

14.  Do not flood the description tag with your selected keywords

15.  Use selected keywords in the keyword tag

16.  Do not flood the keyword tag with your selected keywords

17. Do not use a bunch of keywords that pertain to your site but do not appear on your site in your keyword tag

18.  Use a selected keyword in the h1 tag

19.  Use search engine friendly URLs

20.  Utilize the image ALT tag

21.  Include a sitemap.xml file in your site root and submit it to the major search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo!)

22.  Include a robots.txt file in your site root

23.  Shoot for a keyword density of 3-4%

24.  Try to make your selected keywords prominent in the body text

25.  Use your keywords frequently, yet methodically

26.  Use semantically related keywords in your body text

27.  Manually submit your website to the Major Search Engines and at least a Use

28.  Manually submit your website to industry-relevant directories in the proper category

29.  Write engaging, unique and fresh articles on subjects you are interested in and that relate to your website

30.   Submit your articles to article directories

31.  Post your articles to your blog

32.  If you don’t have a blog, create a blog

33.  Post your articles to Facebook

34.  Use Twitter to tweet that you posted a new article on your blog and Facebook

35.  Use social bookmarking sites to create inbound links to your website

36.  Create press releases regarding new products or changes to your business

37.  Submit these press releases to places like  pr.com, przoom.com

38.  Engage in social media

39.  Read blogs

40.  Comment on the blogs you read only if it adds to the discussion

41.  Do not use keywords in the “Name” field

42.  Use your name in the “name” field

43.  Do not register and use forums solely to get a backlink in the signature

44.  Learn more about your business and your industry everyday

45.  Share what you learn with other people via Twitter, Facebook etc.

46. Use Google Analytics to track the visitors who go to your site

47.  Discover what keywords they use to reach your site

48.  Use Google webmaster’s tools to discover even more ways people are finding your website.

49.  Use a “Share” button on your articles and blog posts

50.  Use the new facebook connect feature – it just works.

51. Write informative content — try and be helpful!

Would you like your blog to be easily indexed by Google?  Follow these 10 on-page SEO guidelines when writing your articles and you will be well on your way

1. Do not  attempt to cover too many topics in one article — focus on one topic.  One great thing about these blogging platforms is the ease with which we can create new posts and categorize them on-the-fly without have to code.  

2. Provide unique, engaging content

3.  Include the main keyword or keyphrase of your article in the title of your article.  This should be a no-brainer but you would be surprised how many people overlook it.  

4.  Include the main keyword or keyphrase of your title in your article.  This should be a no-brainer but you would be surprised how many people overlook it.  

5.  Use tags

6. When you reference something, link to it.  

7. Utilize the meta description tag

8. Utilize the meta keywords tag

9. Stay organized – categorize your posts.  This makes your job, your reader's job, and Google's job easier.  

10. Use search-engine friendly URLs

10. Provide unique, engaging content

In Socialnomics, Erik Qualman explains how Social Media tools like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way we live our lives and conduct our businesses.This book really opened my eyes to what's happening all around us.  I had heard of Twitter and Facebook but never really took a step back and thoroughly examined them from a socio-cultural perspective.  One particularly important point Qualman makes is that a company is no longer who they say they are, but who Google says they are.  Moreover, in cyberspace, where everybody can voice their opinion and have it heard, false claims made by companies to project a certain "image" are quickly exposed and overruled by consumers and public opinion.  The truth comes out.