People want to believe that there is some sort of magical incantation that can raise the search engine rank of their sites. Like the medieval indulgences, penitents are willing to pay for the intercession of search engine optimization experts. In most cases, better Google results can be achieved by content creators with just two steps, without needing to pay for any extra services:

• Providing unique, well-written, relevant information on pages;
• Communicating this information to the appropriate audience.

However, there are extra steps that web developers can take to enhance a site's search engine rankings, and it is those steps that this reading list concentrates on.

Goals: understand the basics of search engines; submit a site to Google and promote links. Enhance pages with semantic markup, microdata and microformats.

Prerequisites: Basic HTML

Time: 4 hours

Core Material

1. Introduction
2. Using Semantic Markup
3. Search Engine Relationships
4. Gaining Inbound Links
5. Submitting Sites
6. Search Engine Robots
7. Making A Popular Site
8. Microdata
9. Adding Microdata To A Blog
10. Microformats
11. The Four Personas Of Social Media

Adding Business Information

When creating a business site, there are several measures that can be taken to enhance search listings:

1. Adding Addresses
2. Adding Phone Numbers
3. Making Digital Business Cards

When working with a client, you should be aware of several common arguments for SEO; if promoting your site via social media, you may wish to consider four personas.

Further Resources

Read through the modules in Google’s Webmaster Academy, the company’s guide to making and improving websites.

Photograph by David Kingham, licensed under Creative Commons.

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