Starting SEO

[Future13]

Hi everyone, I am new to SEO basically learning as I go and trying to catch up on all of the information needed to successfully move a website up the search engine ranks. The website I am trying to optimize is www.luxurylifestylevacationhomes.com/. Right now I have determined which keywords I want to use, I have saturated them into the website in an organic way and have submitted the sites to various engines, also I have created a Facebook fan page which has 606 active monthly users in it's first month ( I don't know if that's a great number), as well as started writing a blog where I am putting links to the page in each relevant blog. My question has 3 parts 1. what else should I be doing to improve my ranking? 2. how do I find quality relevant websites that want to link exchange? 3. What is the best way to really get volume/ quality links to a relatively unknown site?Any advice or Ideas help and are very appreciated. Thanks

[augustos]

Hey,

First of all. I do like your website it looks good.

But, google images, really increase the view of your website if u use him as your advantage.

Your website has many photos, unique photos, right?

So why you don't try to optimize them?

look this one for example: http://www.luxurylifestylevacationhomes.com/custimages/7699front.jpg .

and look to the ALT in the IMG tag... alt="" ...

ppls love images, so optimize them as well...

hope it helps.

[CodyWheeler]

That's an extremely large question and it's going to depend on a lot of things.

It's great that you're taking action, but as Big Bazza said, be careful as you do so. SEO has changed a lot in the last couple of years, and will continue to do so until it becomes a more mature industry (which will be many many years in the future.

Rather than us tell you what your course of action should be, I would recommend educating yourself and developing a continuous education system for yourself so you stay up to date - reading blogs like SEOMoz, Distilled, Search Engine Land, etc.

After reading the beginner's guide and getting a feel for what SEO is really all about in June 2011 (it may very well be different in July 2011) and becoming familiar with the bascis, I would recommend reading Danny Dover's (a former SEOMoz employee) SEO Secrets. It'll take you down the intermediate road to SEO methodology.

You may also want to check out the newest Search Engine Ranking Factors report from SEOMoz - http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors#predictions-2

As well as the Webinar which will cover it - which takes place tomorrow!! - http://www.seomoz.org/webinars

SEO is a very broad skillset, but if you really like it, you can become really great at just a couple of parts of it and be an extremely valuable asset to any organization.

Good luck and glad to have you on board.

[seanmccauley]

Hi Scott, I am not far ahead of you in the SEO journey. I can recommend ex Seomoz Danny Dover's book SEO Secrets to guide you along (although much is aimed at wannabe SEO companies)

1. Have you had your site crawled by Seomoz to detect errors such as duplicate content, broken links, etc?At first glance one are you can make quick wins is by optimising your title tags. Title tags and h1 tags are probably your first stop and more important than saturating your content with keywords. I would recommend wrtiting your main body copy with only a little deference to keyword density. Thats a little 'old hat'

2. I wouldn't spend too much time searching for link exchange ( I assume you mean reciprocals) as these are discounted to a great degree by Google. I would first look at some quality directories. You can also list at qype, yelp, google places usng www.getlisted.org

3. The key to links is writing good linkable content and then making contacts. Create relationships and the links will happen.

Good luck with it. I recommend  reading a couple of books and using the Q&A here and you will see your organic rankings rise...

[Hurf]

1. Start here: http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

2. Avoid keyword stuffing! (Don't overuse the same keyword within your pages! Do use diverse keyword variations - There are at least 7 uses of the keyword 'Vacation Homes' on the first page alone! THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH!

Create content with the end user in mind - not just Google! If that was an article in a newspaper or a magazine your reader would soon tire of reading it and look elsewhere for more informative content which flows more naturally. Google will recognise what your page is relevant for (and rank you accordingly) if you give if a few subtle signals i.e. some use of the main keyword in important areas - URL - page title - Meta Description H1 tag heading and variations within the body text. But shouting and repeating yourself will not get you any more attention from the search engines as a result.

Do take heart from the fact that one of the first things people learn about SEO is keyword use - and as such we all stuffed them everywhere when we started off ;o)

See also:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization