What are the most important basic factors of Search Engine Optimization?
FAQ - Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Many webmasters understand the fundamentals of SEO - content over design, relevance, link-building, site structure, valid code, etc. - but one can get so caught up in finding ever little facet of your page design that might influence your rankings that one forgets the basics.
There are several key concepts that, while they aren't the be-all and end-all of SEO for your pages, are vastly important and should be first on your list when you start Optimization your pages for search engines.
A) <Title> tags:
Many people forget the value of adding your target keywords to your pages' <title> tags. Remember that you shouldn't include all of your target keywords - just those that are relevant to that individual page.
On your home page (index.html) it is generally a good idea to include your core keywords that reflect your site overall in the <title> tag.
B) Link to all pages from the home page
This might seem impractical, but it is invaluable for search engine spiders to find a direct link to all pages of your site from the first page. Many search engine spiders will not look beyond the first few levels of links. On top of that, search engines rank content based on relevance, and pages that are several levels of links away from a site's home page will be ranked less relevant than those that are only one link away.
C) Use relevant words in inbound link text
Search engines pay special attention to the text of hyperlinks. If a link to one of your pages consisted of only the words "click here," the search engine would be likely to misinterpret the subject of the content of your pages.
D) Add new pages of relevant content regularly
Basically, the more pages of relevant content you have on your site the better. On the one hand, search engines are more likely to rank your site higher if visited spend more time there, and visitors, on the other hand, are more likely to do so if they find your site to be a great resource. Make it a point to add pages to your site on a regular basis - of course, those pages should contain relevant content and not just "search engine" landing pages that you stuff with keywords. The general rule here is to keep both human beings and search engine spiders in mind when you write the content of your pages. You can worry about keyword density, but if a human being arrives at your site and leaves within seconds search engines may take that into consideration and lower your rankings.
E) Ensure that you are using a solid web hosting service
Your hosting service is an invaluable factor in determining your search engine rankings. If your pages time out when a browser or search engine attempts to load them you are in real trouble as far as SEO is concerned. A 404 error for your home page will mean your site is dropped from the index. If your host is a bit flaky in this respect, if their server is frequently going down or being restarted, you should seriously consider moving to a more reliable service. There isn't much worse than toiling day and night to build up the SEO of your site only to have the server down when Googlebot or another spider attempts to visit your site, and all of your hard work is useless until the spider returns (which can be a month down the line in some cases).
It is important to remember that the basics of SEO are vastly important. While some web developers seem to have found tricks to boost their SEO there is no substitute for a good foundation of the basics. Many tricks, additionally, can come to be viewed as "black hat" by search engines so it is generally good practice to generate good, original content on a regular basis - users and spiders are more likely to appreciate fresh, relevant content than "landing" pages stuffed with keywords.
