Since today is the “day of 9’s’, or 9/9/09, we are sharing nine SEO tips that go beyond the fundamentals, since if you are reading our blog you probably already know that the same phrases used in the keyword tag should appear in the copy, the importance of having a constant stream of fresh content, and other basic SEO tactics. 

1. While this is usually considered SEO 101, we see it time and time again - a site will be beautifully optimized except for the fact that the images either lack alt tags or have something generic.  It is such a simple step but apparently it is easy to overlook.  For more on optimizing your alt tags, check out our post - How Important Are Alt Tags?

2.  Wikipedia pages are highly coveted by the SEO community and marketing types alike, and for good reason.  However, not every brand or individual deserves a page, and creating a Wikipedia page that sticks is easier said than done.  That said, if the site/brand you are working is worthy, creating/editing and keeping their Wikipedia page accurate and up-to-date with relevant links is a must.

3.  Use your or your client’s address book.  Think about how many people you know that have their own websites, especially other business owners.  By networking offline within your industry and community, you can get free quality links simply by taking advantage of your social graph.

4.  Targeting just the home page can work for some SEO projects, but for larger sites with fifty plus keywords, it can be a mistake to only focus on the home page as the only doorway through which visitors arrive.

5.  Never linking out to interesting, useful, or entertaining sites.  Don’t be afraid that your users are going to disappear forever once they leave your site (they found you once, they’ll know how to get back - especially if you are on page #1 of the search results).  Give link love, Get link love. Don’t be stingy with linking out. That will encourage others to link to you.

6.   Links from .edu domains are given extra weight by the search engines.  Search for possible non-profit .edu sites that are looking for sponsors - you could support a local school’s charity event.  Also consider posting internships or entry level jobs with university career services, since most of them have job sites specifically for students and alumni.

7.  Neglecting the basics like adding your listing in the Google Local Business Center or setting up Yelp and Citysearch profiles when applicable.  LinkedIn is another big one that companies often don’t take advantage of - you and your employees should be linking to your company’s website and social media presence.

8.  Microsites purely for their own sake.  Sometimes microsites are the right call for a particular marketing campaign, but much of the time they are unnecessary - keep all the valuable content and links coming to the original domain instead of spreading it out.

9.  NoFollow fails- either there is no use of the nofollow attribute at all, especially on larger sites with hundreds of pages that probably need it in order to direct the search engine crawlers where you want them to go.

Happy 9/9/09 everyone, and hope the day was lucky for you!