Website Development For SEO

Website development for SEO doesn’t have to be complicated.

There are a few key things to get in order, and then it is all about content. Here I am going to give you a list of the key things that you need to know, and some steps to make them happen.

If you are not at home in front of a keyboard, you may want to take the certificate course on Website Development that walks you through the whole process. From getting your domain, to adding your content and everything in between. Step by step video tutorials and loads of pre-written code are also given.

But for those of you who want to take this on by yourself, I am giving this article overview of key components to website development for SEO.

WARNING: This is for those who already know how to use FTP and handle the basics of website development. If you need training for this, take the certificate course “Website Development For SEO”.

1. After you get your domain and web hosting set up you will need to install wordpress. I recommend using Host Gator for your web hosting for one key reason. With just a couple of clicks you can have wordpress set up on your domain. I also recommend getting your domain name registered with Name Cheap because they are cheap and they don’t waste your time trying to up sell you on 15 things you don’t need. You get free Whois block and a free SSL certificate for one year at the time of this writing.
2. After you have wordpress set up on your site, and since we are assuming you know a little about this, pick and set up your theme. I am building this site with Thesis Theme for wordpress which has fast become my favorite theme. You can optimize thesis to look any way you want. It is like building a house inside a house that is already there, but being able to immediately move the walls and details anywhere and anyway  you want. You get a theme that automatically is set up to be viewed, and you get the options to change the code to anything you want to do. It is a really great theme and most likely the only one I will ever use again. I am going to place a video from their site here so that you can play with the settings once you get it uploaded.
3. Thesis already comes with excellent SEO customization, but you can also add some of your own. Here is a list of plugins to add for your SEO and content syndication efforts, as well as some plugins just to make your life easier.

SEO All In One

This plugin add SEO functions to each page and post. Such as meta tags and keywords (thesis already has this built in) One cool aspect of this tool, is that you can name your post something really cool on your site, but for the search engines you can put a title with your keyword in it. The best of both worlds.

Traffic Getting Plugin

This is a great plugin to optimize the SEO structure of your site. It sets up internal linking structures to help with page rank.  It has a great tool offered with it that redirects links from pages you may have move from your NAV. Say you moved a page to a different location and changed the permalink structure. It creates a redirect to the new location of the page that the search engines will follow.

Feedburner

You can use Feedburner to syndicate your RSS feed so that it is more easily managed for social media. Some themes have an input for your feedburner URL so that your original RSS feed doesn’t show up in default position.

Sociable

This plugin puts a list of social media options at the bottom of your posts and pages, so that visitors can easily share your content.

Tweet MeMe

This makes it so that people can retweet your content with just a couple of clicks (Next to the headline of every page on this site) This button is important for social proof, so go tap it when you’re done reading this.

Facebook Share

This is the plugin next to Tweet MeMe on this site, and it basically does the same thing for facebook.

Wordpress Thread Comment

This little jewel of a plugin will fix the issue with some wordpress themes comments area. What is does is make a reply anchor under each comment so that you can show up under the comment you reply to. If you are using Thesis you won’t need this. But for some themes it is necessary.

Google Analyticator

One thing you can’t do with out is analytics. You need to know how much traffic you are getting and when. This is a must have. You input your analytics key straight into the plugin, and it set’s it to all pages.

PODpress

This plugin allows you to stream your podcasts right from your site.

This is just a short list of what I cover in the Website Development For SEO course, but these are esential. You can search for and install these plugins in the “add new” area of your plugins tab. I am going to give up my total list in the Website Development course in the certificate area. It is a big, long list, but every plugin is completely explained. Make sure you opt-in to the box on the side for updates, and your free book every month.

4.  You will need to set up your ping list so that when you post a new blog or add content, you can ping these services and they will notify the search engines. This way if you are updating your content at least three times a week (and you should be) the search engines will be notified to crawl your site again. You can get a ping list with just a simple search on Google for “ping list for wordpress”

5.  Last but not least, your keywords and meta tags should be well researched. You want to add content to your site that you want to rank for. So search for “Google Adwords Keyword Tool” and use it. I will have a total class on keyword research available in the certificate programs section. The google adwords tool is just the start to help you get creative. Don’t just use keywords from that tool.

Your meta tags should be a description of the content of your page with the keyword or phrase that you are gunning for in the text. The Thesis theme has this option pre-installed as a section in your back office individually for each page and post. If you are not using Thesis, the SEO All In One plugin will have some of the same options.

Don’t forget to use tags and categories. Tags can make your content show up in several area’s of the sites you will send your feed to, and categories will help you in the organization of your site.

That’s all for now. I hope you guys can put this to good use. Questions can be asked in the comments box below. I will try to answer every question within 24 hours.

Chris Owen