(These tips were tweeted on September 4th, 2009 by Shara Lawrence-Weiss, owner of Mommy Perks and Personal Child Stories. *Help was provided by Rick Weiss, web designer/developer. Tip #5 was submitted by Scottie of Healthy Thresholds.)

Here we go…

Tip #1: As always…be patient. Your site will most likely not gain high search engine rankings quickly. It all takes time.

Tip #2: MommyPerks.com first went up in 2005. We have a Google page rank of 4 now but that took effort, time and work.

Tip #3: As you know, “Content is King.” Word your pages (especially the home page) to talk about what you DO or SELL or OFFER. Don’t defer from that (talking about things that do not relate to your site, etc).

Tip #4: Use key words on your site, namely your home page. If you sell dog treats, be sure to use “dog treats” around your site.

Tip #5: In-house links: don’t just say, “Click here to read more.” Say, “Mommy Perks SEO Tips” as the click line: better for my SEO. See?

Tip #6: Don’t put TONS of text on your pages. Put what’s necessary and helpful & what others might Google to find you, etc.

Tip #7: Be patient – don’t go around changing words on your site day after day…they need time to take effect!

Tip #8: There’s no “magic code” for SEO. It’s not mysterious or overly technical. It’s perseverance & deliberate acts to = results over time.

Tip #9: Network & market other quality sites who will blog about you and vice versa: to give each other link love, etc.

Tip #10: Your TITLE TAG = one of the most important content items. Should have key words plus the name of your site.

Tip #11: Read this article for more info on SEO and site tips: SEO Tips from Mommy Perks

Tip #12: Don’t trade links with everyone under the sun. Waste of time & doesn’t do much good. Choose wisely. (Be polite to those you decline, though)

Tip #13: No need to pay someone to register your site with search engines – you can do that yourself, for free.

Tip #14: Good way to get links to your site is to write articles and blog posts on OTHER sites. Works great; I know!!!

Tip #15: Offer giveaways of your products on other sites (selectively) so it will link back to you.

Tip #16: Sites w/good search engine results will get YOU good search engine results: examples coming next…

• Wikipedia and Merchant Circle: 2 examples of sites that get good search engine results. So if you list there…it will help you.
• In fact, Google some of my advertisers. You will see Mommy Perks pop up on first page almost every time. That’s because we get good search results, too!

Tip #17: Write articles on your own site with quality content. Others will find you through search engines based on that content.

Tip #18: BOLD your key words here and there. Not every time but several times. First paragraph on home page is one good spot.

Tip #19: Make sure you have a *site map* on your site – that will also help with SEO.

Tip #20: Do SEO when you START your site…not when you are done. Much easier. But…if you already started, oh, well Do it now!