Paul Bliss Subscribe to Paul's articles (Visit Paul's Website) My name is Paul Bliss and I've been working with the Internet since 1996. From graphic design to web programming to database design, I have seen many changes in the industry. I became fascinated with search engines back when Alta Vista was the top dog, and all you had to do in order to get high rankings were to stuff your meta tags with your keywords. I have successfully placed over 80 clients into top ranked positions for the past 5 years, and along the way I have tried just about everything, and I know what works and what is just a waste of time. Paul Bliss is a Silver author on EvanCarmichael.com

Paul Bliss's Complete List Of SEO Articles Name Email If you enjoyed this article, get Paul Bliss's Complete List of SEO Articles For FREE! More Paul Bliss Search Engine Optimization for Google Content Optimization Collateral Benefits of Search Engine Marketing The SEO Halo Effect How Google Indexes Your Site SEO for Blogs

With the recent Universal Search launch (May 16th, 2007), many people find their sites no longer have the high rankings they had for so long.

So, the sites that lost these rankings are scrambling to find some answers as to why their site dropped. While it's my business to know the intricacies of how this particular update impacted the search algorithm, there are some common ground starting points that if you apply these to all of your sites, you should be able to survive any update intact.

* Proper naming structure
* Name your page titles with your keywords if possible
* Always have a sitemap
* Always include a robots.txt file
* If you must use a re-direct, be sure it's server side, not with a meta refresh tag
* Don't use hidden text
* Make sure your keyword phrase is included in your H1 tags
* Don't optimize for more than 2 keywords per page
* Use text links where possible
* In any product image, be sure to use the alt tag
* Use hyphens, not underscores when you name a page file
* Make sure your site has an error handling page (404 file)
* Create a Google Sitemap and submit it to them (This is in addition to a typical sitemap)
* Offload all your js and css code
* Don't forget about meta tags

Be sure to follow these simple guidelines and you won't need to worry too much anytime Google has an update - your site will not be impacted by any filters that are checking for spamming, hidden text, or anything that resembles cloaking.

-To your online success!

Paul Bliss
www.SEOforGoogle.com

Search Engine Optimization for Google - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Bliss's Website.

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John Alexander John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website

Stephanie Robey Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website

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