SEO Course April 2012 – Week 2 Summary
Posted by EssexMax on 23 April 2012 under Course Notes | 
4 Comments to Read
We’re now on the second week of the current Search Engine Optimisation course, and are making good progress.
I didn’t get much by way of response to the website notes published after last week’s course (See SEO Course April 2012 – Week One), which either means it’s all making sense, or no-one’s reading these course notes.
Week Two is always a fairly intensive one as we dive into stats and tags. Here’s a quick recap:
Material covered
- Google Analytics – A look at what the service offers, how to check site visits, popular pages, keywords looking at referring sites
- Definition of Google Page Rank – not as important as it once was, but still useful
- Use of sites such as Alexa to check on the details and popularity of your site, and stats on your competitors
- Use of sites such as Majestic SEO – A look at this handy backlinks tool
Screenshot of Alexa Rankings for a website
Progress so far
We’re at the half-way stage in the course now, and have started to dive into the on-page optimisation, by looking at the all-important META tag data. I appreciate that for some on the course, some of this is new territory, but this is an introduction to the topic and the issues, so even if you’re not able to dive right in yet, this is all stuff you need to be aware of, and it should all come together by the end of the course. If you have any questions at all – please ask in the box below!
Before next week
It’d be great if you can set yourself up a Google Webmaster Tools account for next week, and set it up to check on your site. This will allow us to start looking at how Google sees your website. The address for Google Webmaster Tools is www.google.com/webmasters/tools/, and the account is free. (Need help? See Set up your site for Google Webmaster Tools)
Google Webmaster Tools Dashboard
If you’re one of the 10 students on the course, it’ll be great to know that you’re reading these notes – so please add a quick comment or question in the box below. Happy to help with free answers to any of your questions.
Luke said,
No questions…… Yet!!!
Just to say that I’m reading. Just about to see if I can download some software so that I can add HTML snippets..
EssexMax said,
Great. Thanks for the message. Hope you’re finding the course useful so far. See you this evening for Week 3! Pete
Luke said,
Despite not doing anything to my sire since last week, Google Analytics now recognises me? However, despite trying all manner of options, I cannot get Webmaster Tools to verify me???
EssexMax said,
Hi Luke,
Hmmm. The Analytics option only works if you’re using the newer version of the Analytics tracking code, and if you’re set in Analytics as the site’s Administrator.
I’ve created a quick guide on how to verify. Please see http://www.essexmax.co.uk/how-to-verify-your-site-with-google-webmaster-tools.html
If you’re still having a problem, please add a comment on that page, explaining which options don’t work, and I’ll try to help!
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