1. Optimize your meta tags. Pick a blog title and stick with it, but update your meta description and meta keywords to provide primary and supportive keywords. When using keywords, don’t list the plural or past tense of words — search engines don’t differentiate. Also, give those meta tags a boost by using the same keywords in heading tags and image attributes.
2. When it comes to inbound links, focus on quality rather than quantity. Inbound links from two PR3 or PR4 blogs can mean a lot more than inbound links from ten PR1 or PR2 blogs.
3. Don’t neglect your attributes. And by attributes I mean the “alt” and “title” tags you can add to links and images. On a related note, give images and other files file names that contain your keywords.
4. Keep your content fresh. Aim to update your blog at least three times per (7-day) week in order to maintain optimal blog freshness.
5. Be a special snowflake. When it comes to Google, the more unique you can be, the more highly the search engine giant will think of you!

I never really made a connection between Facebook and search engine optimization, but as it turns out, you can certainly optimize your Facebook page so that it reaps SEO benefits, just as a regular website or blog does. Why might you want to optimize your Facebook page? Well, an SEO-optimized Facebook page can help bring more traffic to it, which can lead to an increase in fans, and an increase in visitors — and possible partnerships or consumers — to your website.

Here’s an example of an optimized Facebook page: site:www.facebook.com/mashable
And here is an example of an un-optimized Facebook page: site:www.facebook.com/inmybagdotcom

See the difference? The first Facebook page – Mashable’s – is indexed. The second page – In My Bag’s – is not.

Without further ado, here are eight great tips you can easily and efficiently implement in order to improve the SEO of your Facebook page:

1. Choose a keyword-rich name. Use your website or company’s name as the name of your Facebook page.
2. Use a relevant vanity URL. Make sure that your vanity URL (example: facebook.com/jenndotnu; facebook.com/mashable; facebook.com/inmybagdotcom) matches the name that you chose for your Facebook page.
3. Create a custom landing page (tab). Use the static FBML application provided by Facebook in order to create a custom landing page for your Facebook page. By default all users will be directed here, so take advantage of this short-term captive audience by making your custom landing page not only SEO friendly (keyword-rich is key), but also engaging for any potential audience.
4. Fill out the About box. The About box is a small blurb featured on the upper left-hand side of your Facebook page. Only a few hundred characters are allowed, so make them count by including just 1-3 rich keywords along with a description.
5. Fill out the Info tab. The Info tab gives you yet another opportunity to dump rich keywords onto your Facebook page. Make sure your Info tab is up to date, since its information will allow visitors to get in touch with you.
6. Insert keywords into photo and video descriptions. If you upload media to your Facebook page, make sure you add appropriate titles, captions and descriptions.
7. Encourage visitor interaction. Each “like” you get is a lot like a back link. The more people who not only become a fan of your page but also interact on your page by liking content and making their own contribution via comments, the more “worthy” your Facebook page will be considered in the eyes of search engines.
8. Build incoming links. Increase the number of “back links” to your Facebook page by building your fan base — each like can be considered a link! Also, increase back links offsite wherever possible: on your website, on your blog, even on other social networks.

All of the techy blogs, including Nabtron and Tech Walls, have confirmed what I saw a few people discussing on Twitter: Google released another Google PageRank update yesterday, exactly three months after the last one in August.

Fortunately for me, none of my blogs have lost PageRank, and two increased. Yay! Thanks Google. ♥

I read a rather interesting article on Search Engine Watch this morning, and it makes perfect sense. Basically, Search Engine Watch brings up a good point in terms of why your site may not be ranked by Google, even though you’re doing everything you can think of SEO-wise – inbound links, outbound links, quality content, thorough metas, etc. if this is the case for you, maybe you should take a look at your website itself: it structure, its coding, even the type of software you use to power it and maintain it.

Once you’re absolutely certain that your website’s coding is up to snuff, make sure your website is even indexed in Google by going to Google and typing site:yourwebsite.com. If your site shows up in the results, then Google hasn’t dropped you, though they have dropped your rank. Next, do a search for “yourwebsite.com” (complete with quotations). If your site is one of the first ten results, you’re good to go. But if your site is several pages back, you have most likely been victim of a Google smackdown.

So what do you do if you have in fact been dropped by Google? Play nice. Suck it up and apologize. But first, fix up your site and play the SEO game by the rules. Then and only then should you submit your site to Google for re-evaluation.

In no particular order, here are five SEO tips that you’ll definitely want to implement when building or simply maintaining your blog or website. Stick these up on your Pegboard or simply bookmark this post. And make sure to check back, because I’ll be featuring a list of five SEO tips at least once a week!

1. Limit blog post titles to 160 characters or less for optimal SEO (this is especially important if you plan on using keywords in your blog post titles!)
2. Check your metas – keywords should be present in meta titles, keywords and descriptions
3. Got SMO? Make sure you’re socially optimized by setting up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other big networks — then feed your blog posts and website updates to those accounts
4. Don’t over-saturate content with links: limit links to no more than 1-2 per every 200 words
5. Establish a good list of backlinks for better recognition from Google and other major search engines

When it comes to SEO, there are definitely a few mostly-foolproof tips you can follow if you want to get and maintain (and hopefully improve) a Google PageRank:

• DO make use of meta tags, title tags and heading (h1, h2, h3, h4, and h5) tags to emphasize important keywords
• DO use supportive/secondary keywords
• DO use alt/title tags to further support keywords (sample: Huntington Beach Facials)
• DO use supportive/secondary keywords in categories and tags
• DON’T over-saturate content with keywords
• DON’T like-farm (set up sites that link only to each other)
• DON’T write spammy content

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is very well known, but what about SMO — Social Media Optimization? SMO is just what it sounds like, optimization via social media, rather than [search] engine optimization. You can use a variety of social networks to boost the ranking of your blog. SMO is the way to go, whether you want to boost your sales of plus size swimwear or simply promote a few well-written articles. Here are my favorites:

• Facebook
• Faves
• Kaboodle
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Wists

If you participate in SMO, what are your preferred sites?

Niles of blondish.net was recently denied for Blog Distributor due to having the main content of her blog posts obscured on the front page of her blog. This technique is referred to as creating an excerpt, where a brief introductory clip to a post is displayed, and then the heart of the post is available only by visiting the single page of the post. In WordPress, you can quickly create an excerpted post by placing <!–more–> wherever you’d like to “cut” the rest of the post.

Blog Distributor’s reason for denying Nile’s application is that her cutting her posts in this manner puts her blog at a disadvantage for SEO purposes. Eh. I’m torn, to be honest with you. SEO reasons aside, it can sometimes be irksome to have to click through to read a post, particularly if the blogger uses the summary display only for RSS feeds. But it’s only a click away! And in terms of SEO purposes, what really matters is keywords and links. If at least a few are available, particularly the keywords themselves being in the title (h1 or h2, pretty please), how can the blog be put at a disadvantage?

What are your thoughts on this?

Google Page Rank is a ranking that determines your “worth” to Google. This ranking is based on several factors, most importantly your inbound links (the number of other sites that link to you), your outbound links (the number of sites you link to), and the content of your website (blog posts, articles, etc.). These and other factors all play a role in determining your PR, which is a number between 0-10. 0 is bad, 10 is interweb perfection. The higher your number, the more Google thinks of you. Also, a higher PR can mean a higher listing in search engine results, which means more traffic for your site! But note that the two can be mutually exclusive. That is, your blog about bridesmaids gifts could have a PR of 6, while mybridesmaidsgifts.com might rank higher in search engine results. Go figure, eh?

Since Google PR is based on a good ratio and amount of inbound and outbound links, it’s important to share the love with other sites! Consider using plugins or other settings to allow commenters’ blog URLS to be followed by Google’s bots. Link to blogs and sites you enjoy. If you’re lucky, and if others practice the same ethics you do, you’ll be linked to in return.

Once upon a time, I had unwavering faith in Google and did my best to follow all the rules in order to achieve a good PR, but when it came to jenn.nu, I could never get it above a 2. Then the big Google Smackdown of ’07 hit, and I said screw it and quit giving a crap about PR. What’s funny is that since then, my blogs’ PRs have been all over the place, and just recently jenn.nu hit a 2 again! Go figure, eh?

What is your take on Google Page Rank? Do you focus on it fanatically? Or do you just take whatever the Google gods hand to you and move on?

P.S. You can check your Google Page Rank here.

Once upon a time, I was very vigilant about my Alexa Rank and Google Page Rank, and I made a lot of blogging choices based on what I thought would work best for them. I would check the ranks of my sites daily, and I remember being so ecstatic the day jenn.nu’s Alexa Rank dropped below 100,000 (I believe it was around 67,000 at its lowest). I also remember sounding like a total nerd when I tried to explain the significance of it to my husband.

When The Google Page Rank Smackdown of ’07 hit, I was extremely upset. And angry. But you know what? I got over it, because around that time, writing work that was not dependent on Alexa Rank, Google PR, or even my blog as a whole. And since that point — which was over two years ago, crazy! — I haven’t given my sites’ rankings more than a passing thought. I also stopped hating on Google, which should be evident, considering I use Google Chrome and I have an Android-powered phone.

And that’s actually quite ironic, because once I stopped caring so much, I not only relaxed and did whatever the hell I felt like with my blogs, but my ranks actually increased a bit. Go figure!