15 SEO Tips From Google’s Matt Cutts

At the recent WordCamp 2007 conference, Google’s Matt Cutts gave a presentation on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Given that Matt Cutts seems to have taken up the mantle as Google’s unofficial/official spokesperson, paying attention to these tips should increase your changes of getting Google link juice.

Some of the tips seem straight forward and sensible, although i have to admit I don’t know why #1 and #12 are important.

1. Don’t put your blog at the root of your domain.
2. Name your directory ‘blog’ instead of ‘wordpress’.
3. In URLs, no spaces are worst, underscore are better, dashes or hyphens are best.
4. Use alt tags on images: not only is it good accessibility, it’s good SEO.
5. Include keywords naturally in your posts.
6. Make your post dates easy to find.
7. Check your blog on a cell phone and/or iPhone.
8. Use partial-text feeds if you want more page views; use full-text feeds if you want more loyal readers.
9. Blogs should do standard pings.
10. Standardize backlinks (don’t mix and match www with non-www).
11. Use a permanent redirect (301) when moving to a new host.
12. Don’t include the post date in your URL.
13. When moving between hosts, wait until Googlebot and traffic begin to visit the new host before taking down the old one.
14. If using AdSense, use sectioning.
15. Use FeedBurner’s (now) free MyBrand feature to take control of your feeds (i.e., feed.bloggingpro.com instead of http://feeds.feedburner.com/bloggingpro/PfjF.