Have you ever heard of the periodic table of SEO? The periodic table of SEO was developed by SearchEngineLand.com to help break down all the components of SEO, both good and bad. You can easily download a copy and use it as a great reference guide to make sure you arent missing anything when you optimize your site. Here you will find a quick rundown and explanations of the elements involved and how they relate to your site.

On Page Ranking Factors

On page SEO is the one type of SEO that you have complete control over. Grouped into three areas, you can work with content, HTML, and architecture of your website all on your own to make sure search engines find you.

The content is one of the most important parts because this is what visitors and search engines will both see. You need to make sure that it is high in quality first and foremost. Make your content unique and relevant to visitors. Include keywords that will get you the most notice without cramming too many into your pages. Content needs to be refreshed regularly to ensure a lower bounce rate, as well as making sure that it is always unique and interesting.

Dont forget about HTML! You can include keywords in headers, titles, and descriptions as well as making them clear cut so search engines are fully able to understand what your page is all about. Have you noted the importance of each element as listed by the periodic table? Implement these areas to see a boost.

If you havent taken architecture into account yet, then you need to do so. If search engines cant crawl your site quickly enough, it may leave some of your other pages behind. If your site pages load slowly, people may not be patient enough to wait. And if URLs are too long and dont contain keywords that match to the content, it can become confusing or even be considered misleading.

Off Page Ranking Factors

While you have less control over off page SEO, it is still a vital part to optimization success. Outside sources both individuals and other sites can influence your traffic through several of the following.

Links can get you notice by both people and search engines. If you have a lot of links on high quality websites, then thats definitely a good thing. People need to trust the sites that list these links, and likewise the sites should use meaningful words that clearly indicate what the link will take them to.

Social and trust both get two elements, but they still matter. From the reputation of those doing the sharing as well as the amount of sharing, the authority of the site sharing or linking, as well as the history of that site all come into play when a person decides to click a link or when a search engine spider crawls the pages. Failing in some of these areas can potentially lead to problems with your own reputation or a search engine retrieval.

The personal line of the table includes important pieces of information you should take into account about the individuals visiting your site. For example, if your business is in Boston and you keep getting hits from people in California, you may need to rethink how people are discovering your site. How often do people visit your site and what do others think of it? Bringing these elements together can show you potential weak links in your off page SEO plans.

Steer Clear of Violations

Violations are the elements of black hat SEO. Essentially these are the methods that you want to avoid. Using them can lead to a damaged reputation, page ranking, and even being banned. Weak content, paid links, cloaking, or cramming in keywords by hiding them, spamming blogs, or simply stuffing your site full of them are all poor tactics that are considered unscrupulous by the web community. Ultimately they will provide you with no support and should be shunned.

Harmed by Blocking

Blocking is a simple two element area that focuses on the trust side and personalization side. The number of people blocking your site can damage trust while someone blocking your site from their search results it can damage personalization. Both of these can cripple your site and if you discover your site is being blocked, you should do what you can to solve the problem and get your site back on track.