500 SEO Tips

May 2014 Update: we made this list up as a total joke last year over the course of a few months basically to mock all of the generic “top X lists”

Hope you enjoy.  🙂

1. write Good Content
2. use a CMS like WordPress
3. use Facebook
4. integrate Facebook to your website, somehow
5. engage Readers
6. attract Fans
7. use keyword rich Title Tags
8. don’t forget Yahoo
9. or Bing
10. use images in blog posts
11. site load speed is key
12. ahrefs.com is a good tool
13. be humble
14. read other peoples blogs
15. attend conferences
16. learn programming
17. learn HTML & CSS
18. write good code
19. minify stuff
20. image spriting
21. have a fast server (host)
22. use Google Webmaster Tools
23. drink redbull
24. work all day and all night
25. contribute to the community
26. write guest posts
27. don’t participate in link exchanges
28. don’t use automated tools
29. don’t buy links
30. it won’t happen overnight
31. don’t choose keywords, let keywords choose you
32. use robots.txt smartly
33. .htaccess is your friend
34. meta keywords is still relephant, just not with Googz
35. learn how to spell Canonicalization
36. don’t get hung up on EMD’s
37. duplicate anything is bad
38. cite accordingly
39. watch your OBLs
40. learn your acronyms
41. duplicate metas and titles = bad
42. know your audience
43. use analytics
44. optimize your most popular pages
45. review your content
46. sitewide links can be dangerous
47. use keyword in title and meta tags
48. title tags should never exceed 70 characters
49. meta descriptions should never exceed 140 characters
50. use brandable anchor text for inbound links
51. ask for a link from affiliations you are a member of
52. ask your mom for a link from her social club
53. edu links are good, but so are .com and .net links
54. gov links are also good, but so are others
55. get links from high PR sites
56. get links from high page authority sites
57. get links from high domain authority sites
58. get links from social media profiles that are active and engaging
59. make sure your site is a consistent theme
60. image links are great
61. create viral content
62. get links from your friends
63. network with colleagues about links
64. keep content up to date
65. don’t use Flash
66. google likes WordPress
67. watch your file sizes
68. use image alt tags
69. describe your images
70. you can also caption your images
71. please, don’t ever use frames
72. web 2.0 properties can be amazing assets
73. just don’t ever “buy” them in “packs of 20”
74. don’t listen to anyone who uses the word “link pyramid”
75. join SEO forums
76. contribute to SEO forums
77. only use 301s for permanent redirects
78. get as many links as possible (as long as they are legit)
79. use h1 tags
80. also use h2 h3 h4 etc tags
81. stick your keyword in them from time to time
82. only “target” a few keywords per page
83. don’t target all of your keywords on every page
84. use rich content (bold, italic, etc)
85. use videos within your content
86. make your own videos
87. use other people’s videos
88. write PDF’s and submit them to slideshare.net
89. inner-link your site for better PR
90. learn and love Page Rank
91. check your OBLs for SPAM and low PR etc
92. don’t get links from porn sites (unless you are a porn site)
93. don’t use the “f” word (or other bad language)
94. moderate your comments
95. approve good comments
96. always respond to comments, when warranted
97. use breadcrumbs
98. keep your site simple
99. popular pages go in the nav bar
100. stick keywords in the URL
101. use Google+
102. rich snippets help increase conversion
103. verify authorship for your site
104. use Tumblr to get some great niche visits
105. use Piwik
106. be humble, ask questions
107. always have a backup plan
108. register a second domain
109. update social profiles often
110. tweet your brains out
111. get tweets from celebrities
112. use text transcripts of your videos
113. ego = uptime
114. check your grammar
115. always splel thinkgs write
116. don’t over use your keyword
117. don’t use prepositions, conjunctions in your URL
118. learn about open graph
119. implement open graph for better conversion and linking
120. stay away from too many url parameters
121. do not ever use a link farm
122. do not use link directories (unless it is a specialized and moderated niche)
123. never respond to an email asking for a link
124. never send an email asking for a link (unless maybe you were referenced)
125. do send emails asking to contribute on relevant topics
126. don’t hide links (Google reads code, not text)
127. don’t hide anything
128. don’t cloak
129. don’t use doorway pages
130. don’t use pop-ups
131. don’t use pop-unders
132. use Pinterest.com
133. don’t give up
134. write meaningful content
135. write content that your readers like
136. ask your readers what content they want
137. don’t be a stiff blog author (have fun!)
138. google+ communities are trending (stay tuned)
139. put your address in your footer
140. put your phone number and company name in footer
141. standardize your name, address and phone number
142. make sure your name, address and phone number are the same on all sites
143. earn links
144. verify your site in Google Maps
145. social signals are good for SEO
146. remove bad links
147. disavow only when all else is lost
148. reconsider only when you have failed
149. get a mobile version of your website
150. get a responsive theme
151. long tail keywords can bring in lots of visitors
152. get creative with title tags
153. write a description that people can’t resist clicking
154. create a flat site architecture
155. have a clean url structure
156. check your Page Rank often
157. know your popular exit pages
158. know your bounce rate
159. facebook Edgerank
160. know your most popular referring domains
161. learn where type in traffic is coming from
162. stay away from adsense schemes
163. use SEOmoz tools
164. read Distilled blog
165. know your most popular entry pages
166. block bad IP’s
167. use good infographics
168. donate your time to get a link
169. learn the difference between page and site seo
170. don’t worry about your SERPs
171. track your SERPs, don’t obsess over them
172. don’t focus on Page Rank
173. don’t ever use article directories, ever
174. don’t buy links by the 100, just don’t buy links
175. don’t use keywords over and over and over to get better ranking
176. tell Google if your site moves
177. make sure your content is REALLY unique
178. check your sites indexation with site:yoursite.com
179. talk about SEO with people that want to learn
180. post on Google+ every day
181. memorize the Google Webmaster Tools Guidelines
182. study why Penguin happened
183. learn from mistakes of those who were penalyzed
184. study why Panda happened
185. build a community
186. social proof = conversions = low bounce = rankings
187. learn and love Microsoft Excel
188. use Majestic SEO
189. blog about what’s going on
190. make an EPIC blog post
191. blog about “evergreen” subjects
192. learn something new every day
193. learn data analysis
194. write things on a white board and discuss
195. go to meetups
196. find real life SEO friends
197. don’t offer cheap affiliate products on your site
198. check links in Google Webmaster Tools
199. verify your site in Bing
200. use Bing Webmaster tools (seriously)
201. collect emails
202. make URLs friendlt in .htaccess with files magic
203. use a kml file
204. submit your xml sitemap to webmaster tools
205. install social apps on your phone
206. don’t use a MAC
207. learn to type using the asdf qwerty method
208. use Linux
209. use a comfortable desk
210. have your site on its on IP
211. keep bad sites off your server
212. don’t sell links on your site
213. watch out for 403 errors
214. keep images in a folder and not a subdomain
215. optimize your images for Google Images
216. embed keywords in your conent
217. each page should have unique content
218. use robots.txt file to block admin sections of your site
219. use robots.txt to block other parts of your site
220. fix 404’s by redirecting them to the home page
221. use URL shortening sites
222. include your keyword in the product URL
223. have team meetings
224. use Public Relations as part of your SEO strategy
225. nofollow your terms and conditions pages
226. nofollow your privacy page
227. you can nofollow other pages that don’t get a lot of traffic
228. don’t use CommentLuv – it will kill your OBLs
229. encourage discussion on your social media
230. combine SEO with branding
231. validate your code using wc3 checker
232. validate your HTML and CSS
233. check for broken links daily
234. make slide presentations using PowerPoint and upload to slideshare.net
235. get links from PDF documents
236. get links from different peoples web 2.0 properties relevant to your site
237. use keywords in your about us section
238. use a great CTA in your theme
239. link your Facebook and Twitter accounts
240. link your Facebook and Tumblr accounts
241. link all your social media accounts
242. be careful you don’t double post linked social media accounts
243. use RSS graffiti to post WordPress > Facebook
244. put the most important links at the top
245. create catchy titles
246. each page should be reachable from at least one static link
247. use iwebtool.com
248. customize your 404 page
249. don’t use a ton of images per page
250. engage in social sharing
251. don’t complicate your header
252. submit your sitemap to Bing
253. diversify your anchor texts
254. make sure your page renders correctly in Internet Explorer
255. don’t use image maps
256. stay away from javascript drop down menus
257. post fresh content daily…more often if possible
258. design your site with SEO in mind
259. read SEOBook
260. AJAX can pose problems for SEO be sure to consult
261. if you can’t update your site often, add a blog
262. make your whois information private
263. get an active blog
264. make your marketing team do 1 blog post per week
265. make everyone in your organization blog about something relevant
266. use nofollow if you don’t want to pass link juice
267. nofollow all comment links
268. don’t experiment on your “money site”
269. don’t experiment with shady tactics
270. check your analytics for search terms you didn’t know about
271. optimize your site for search terms you did not know about
272. don’t beg for links
273. optimize your RSS feed
274. don’t ping
275. don’t use “indexing tools”
276. for faster indexing – tweet your page
277. for faster indexing – G+ share your page
278. create a video sitemap
279. use the hReview plugin for WordPress
280. have a hacker look at your server and site for security
281. follow wc3 standardization
282. get links from Wikipedia
283. quality over quantity
284. be patient with SEO it could take months
285. don’t jump for joy if you get ranked right away
286. the Google Dance means your site is fluctuating in the results pages
287. if one page has 2 links to the same domain, Google only counts one of them
288. if you sell actual products, add them to places like Amazon
289. use a separate domain for your CRM
290. set up a separate subdomain for a support system for customers
291. get links from as many referring IP’s as possible (always with quality in mind)
292. get links from as many Class C subnets as possible (while keeping quality)
293. check your domain authority using SEOmoz
294. check your page authority using SEOmoz
295. check your “lost” links using ahrefs or majestic SEO
296. acquire page likes for your site
297. acquire page twitter shares for your site
298. acquire G+ shares and other social signals
299. know your link profile like you do your bank profile
300. get links from the same country as you want to target
301. if you target internationally, install a language translation plugin
302. get links from all countries
303. comment on relevant blogs
304. if you don’t have a logo, get one from fiverr
305. make sure your site has a legit contact us page with all information
306. use top xx lists and howtos
307. don’t list your site on flippa
308. use press releases, but use them wisely
309. an aged domain is a good domain
310. if buying a new domain, make sure it is clean from penalties
311. create a free mobile app
312. read Cashvertising
313. don’t read ebooks with long sales pages from gurus
314. don’t listen to gurus
315. learn to write persuasively
316. when writing sales copy, write short sentences using simple words
317. include your link in your signature on forums
318. post your link on forums
319. include your link in your Youtube description
320. don’t listen to blackhat advice
321. don’t automatically listen to “whitehat advice” (wolf in sheeps clothing)
322. don’t copy videos and use as your own
323. watermark your images and videos
324. learn PHP, PERL or Python
325. check competition using Adwords Keyword Tool
326. make sure your domain name is pronounceable
327. use serpIQ
328. check your competitors back links and see if their are any opportunities
329. use something like dlvr.it or scoop.it
330. don’t buy content
331. Use Google Analytics
332. Create your own images
333. Take your own photography (and use it)
334. Attend local seminars
335. Get links from accrediting organizations (BBB and licensing institutes)
336. Get certified by Google
337. read up on website security
338. verify your listings
339. test your rich snippets
340. don’t use fake PO boxes for Google Maps
341. update Twitter often
342. attend web seminars or “webinars” on SEO and similar industries
343. supplement your SEO with adwords until you are where you want to be
344. be patient – organic doesn’t happen overnight
345. get reviews from your Customers on G+
346. incentivize your customers to join and review your business
347. use Google Trends and write about it
348. offer discounts on Facebook and G+
349. be a part of forums that are relevant to your industry
350. take a photo of your company (we call them class photos)
351. find people who blog in your niche and get friendly with them
352. use SEO ultimate for WordPress
353. check your anchor text ratio for signs of spam
354. always monitor your back links for signs of spam
355. fix your broken links (and ask the host to give you better anchor text)
356. have local magazines do a write-up on you
357. give your web developer a daily tip on SEO
358. www or no www – pick one
359. learn when to use a subdomain
360. use copyscape
361. learn Google search operators and use them
362. use Oracle Virtual box
363. change your search location to see how you look from other locations
364. always keep your customers happy
365. negative reviews will murder your PR
366. design your site with SEO in mind
367. find out why visitors are not converting (CRO)
368. don’t keep coming soon pages up
369. thin landing pages aren’t a great idea
370. stay away from Ad Sense only sites
371. use short domain names
372. use easy to remember domain pages
373. company’s use .coms
374. organizations use .orgs (lots of non-profits)
375. .nets are for places like ISPs and other networks
376. use your country code TLD if you want to get ranked there
377. use filezilla
378. use notepad++
379. don’t try to rank multiple domains (for the same company)
380. fill out online profiles completely
381. learn from your enemy
382. look at similar sites as link opportunities
383. use keywords in your image captions
384. learn when to use tables
385. tables are no substitute for divs
386. use Pinterest
387. find great board covers for Pinterest
388. optimize your website for most common screen resolutions
389. read Search Engine Journal
390. you can learn from the blackhatters, just don’t do what they do
391. use the simplest checkout process for ecommerce
392. use Connect with Facebook (etc) whenever possible
393. harvest email addresses anyway you can
394. create a gravatar
395. accessibility
396. optimize your RSS feeds
397. encourage users to subscribe to your RSS feeds
398. keep a simple design (different than responsive)
399. when writing, just write – don’t criticize yourself
400. ask your brother/sister/mother/drycleaner to write for your blog
401. if you have a good site, give it a good home on a dedicated server
402. you can keep small sites on shared servers
403. test your site for virii
404. infographics are dead
405. SEO is dead (are you kidding?) as long as there is search, there will be SEO
406. get links from your friends blogs
407. be sneaky, you can troll comments if you are smart enough
408. interview experts in your field/niche
409. write ebooks and promote them
410. if you have a product, sell them on Amazon and Ebay and make a store
411. if you need to delete your places listing, learn the proper way to do it
412. link velocity is now more important than ever (and faster does not mean better all the time)
413. recency – e.g sites that report on recent topics will be rewarded
414. don’t buy links from fiver
415. do buy cool content (videos etc) from fiver
416. Be careful your “innovative” blog doesn’t already exist
417. don’t look like a spammer (learn what they look like)
418. learn how to leverage rich snippets in your category
419. take screenshots and save them for blog case studies
420. get links from billboards
421. shove links into your image description
422. social influence – how much your content will influence social activity
423. get links from TV
424. learn about taxonomy (not the act of stuffing animals)
425. properly categorize your posts
426. tag your posts with relevant snap phrases
427. read Matt Cutt’s blog
428. get links from radio
429. read Google Webmaster Blog
430. post the Google Webmaster Guidelines next to your desk
431. put your link in your voice mail greeting (Hi, this is Rick from www.rickswebsite.com)
432. don’t use “my” before your products (like “MY yahoo”) its soooo 2004
433. choose an ergonomic position when working – you don’t want to strain yourself
434. check for how many pages are indexed on your domain
435. always check average time on site
436. use Pingdom tools to check site speed
437. be sure to take EVERYTHING into consideration before migrating your site to a new domain/server
438. find an expert in your field and do an interview
439. follow the experts on Twitter
440. build a Facebook Page for your business
441. watch distilled link building seminars
442. put your website in your infomercial
443. identify who your audience is (it might be different on the internet than who it is IRL)
444. learn SEO acronyms
445. ask questions on your blog to initiate comments
446. use short sentences and short paragraphs
447. highlight/bold keywords from time to time (as well as anchors)
448. learn the video sitemap protocol
449. use a Basecamp project for your site to organize your information
450. any website related expense is pretty much a business writeoff (ask your accountant)
451. If you want your video indexed, make sure that the page that it is on is strong
452. use linux hosting or whatever *nix
453. don’t use Windows hosting
454. make howto videos
455. get 2 monitors
456. don’t rewrite articles
457. use ccleaner often
458. first rule of SEO, don’t talk about SEO
459. learn about the EMD update
460. build a Google+ page for your business
461. read blogs related to your niche
462. get links from your city/state
463. nofollow comment links on your site
464. be sure to moderate comments on your blog
465. create a blog with proper categories
466. learn about proper taxonomy in your site structure
467. submit your site to citation sources such as manta and Yelp
468. use Google Drive to share information
469. use large font sizes to increase usability
470. use caffeine to stimulate productivity
471. don’t abuse drugs, they will end your career
472. get a good camera to take great pictures
473. take whiteboard how-to videos on your niche
474. take before and after pictures of your work
475. communicate with project managers/workers on Skype
476. use Scrapebox link checker to check for live links
477. don’t use Scrapebox to build links
478. get links from your friends
479. the meta keyword tag is still relevant in smaller search engines
480. make sure to use the robots tag inside the page
481. don’t create a family of sites or “blog networks”
482. open external links in a new window
483. videos will help time on site and bounce rate
484. attend Google Analytics certification programs
485. learn about adwords – it will help you with organic CTR
486. use strong instead of bold
487. use em instead of italic
488. use keywords in lists
489. try to keep images on the small side
490. don’t be the person that uses all hx tags on every page – be normal
491. folders, pages and images should all contain keywords
492. manually check your ranking from different locations
493. if starting out, choose a niche you are comfortable with
494. don’t 301 a penalized domain to a new domain
495. social signals, learn about them
496. be weary of SEO plugins
497. learn about new frameworks all the time
498. use a lean theme for your site
499. be excellent to each other
500. do no harm

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Frank Fitton

Content Marketer at Elite Strategies

Frank currently resides in West Palm Beach, FL and attends Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. He previously attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. He has covered sports for both schools newspapers and written for numerous websites on a variety of topics. Frank has been active in social media for businesses for the past 6 years running the accounts of everything from a debt management company to an adult nightclub. In his free time he enjoys college football, golf, art, and films.

@GatorFrank

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Written by: Alex Kevin

Reply

Good to read these tips, if we learn these 500 tips then surely we will become SEO expert thanks for sharing Sir Patrick!!

• 
  Written by: Patrick Coombe

  Reply

  haha thank you very much Alex 🙂

Written by: Justin Temple

Reply

Sweet list for SEO tips. A simple list and easy to read. Lots to learn from this post and refreshers. Thanks Bruce, have a great day.

Written by: Jay Patel

Reply

Whoa. A big list. Many of them are more of an etiquette than a pure SEO tips. But thanks a lot for compiling such a long list.

• 
  Written by: Patrick Coombe

  Reply

  hey thanks Jay 🙂 it was a fun little project we did but yes agree a lot of them are “good practice” and etiquette others are just plain ridiculous!

Written by: Sara

Reply

WOW. I’m amazed that you did it;) Thanks for sharing!

• 
  Written by: Patrick Coombe

  Reply

  it was a long road hahah 🙂

Written by: Michael Monturo

Reply

Wow… just wow. LOL ;p

Written by: Kristina Roy

Reply

First time I came through such long list of SEO tips. It would be good if these tips listed category wise.

Written by: Charles Floate

Reply

This is THE best formatting I have ever seen… In my entire life. 😛

• 
  Written by: Patrick Coombe

  Reply

  bahahahah oh yea top notch 🙂

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