The ten commandements of SEO for beginners

Why don't have Joomla in the title of tis article? Simply because these are the basics, the cornerstone stuff any webmaster must learn and respect. If you want a successful site, you must follow these Ten Commandements.

  1. Start with the blueprint: nothing fancy and just use a pencil and a clean sheet of paper. Plan carefully, look around. Include in this plan the keyword research. Don't skip this step, because here your site's life cycle starts, and you don't want to waste your time later by correcting damage done in first days. (A Joomla-specific advice: Don't install Joomla with the default content - unless you're a rookie and your have to!).
  2. Commit to quality: quality of textual content in the first place. The rest is marginal in the perspective of SEO success!
  3. Try to stay with your own original content. You may need to grab some content from external sources: use that in wise manner. Despite the fact that Google reportedly lifted the duplicated content penalty you will receive that from your visitors: they are seeking for original content!
  4. Study On-page optimization: it's not something demanding a rocket-science degree, you'll pick it up quickly.
  5. Also study Off-page optimization (this is important). Spend some time doing this until you understand it.
  6. Understand back linking. Try to obtain as much valuable links as you can. Good, matching sites are increasing your rankings and your success, the bad backlinks are dragging you down. Reciprocal linking is OK but not where near as important as back linking
  7. Learn all about Anchor Text: also essential for back linking value and search engine positioning.
  8. Don't spend too much time on the site's aesthetics. Even if it's great to have a stunningly looking site, but your audience will be more than pleased with quality content and the ease of moving around your site. They will came back for content, not for aesthetics.
  9. Make it easy for people to promote your site with Tags, Inform A Friend links, Add To Favorites button, Link To Me, articles, reports etc.
  10. Be honest, don't try the cheating way. Black Hat SEO tactics are very dangerous, you may be even excluded/banned from search engines. Instead be patient and work hard on building a site with content many will look for.