The New Rules of SEO

The new rules are about a lot more than keywords and meta tags - what a difference a little time makes in regards to search engine optimization. Google's constantly trying to enhance the quality of its search results by selecting pages with the most value, so while meta tag description and keywords, page titles and friendly urls still have their place, there's a lot more to consider, including:

• Social media marketing - shared content adds value. The more people share your content, the more people link to it, the better chance for high placement.
  
• Internal linking - make sure to include a lot of relevant links to content within your site, and use descriptive link names.
  
• Analytical data - there is speculation that Google is using average time on site and other analytics to help determining its rankings. Make sure to especially pay attention to your bounce rate - the lower it is the better. Back in April of last year Google announced that they are using site speed in their search rankings.
  

The bottom line is to make sure you have a quality overall website. How the site is written, structured, designed and built makes a huge difference. The smaller the pages are to load, the more relevant the content, the better the overall user experience and the happier your users will be. Happy users result in more visitors and lower bounce rates. Take your time in developing the content and thinking through your website instead of rushing to get it out there, and your rankings will show their appreciation.