Microsoft have a Search Engine Optimization Toolkit, which allows you to run reports which identify any errors with content, code and any on-site SEO issues.

It will scan through your site to identify the following types of error:

* Canonicalization
* Uppercase letters in urls
* Missing/duplicate/short/long title tags and descriptions
* Broken links
* Duplicate content
* Slow pages

What I really like is that you can save that report & re-run to compare. Meaning that once the amends have been made, you can check through quickly to see what’s been fixed, what’s still broken and any new errors that have appeared.

The installation of the tool is a little cumbersome (you need to install the Web Platform Installer, then the IIS SEO Toolkit); and the format of the report isn’t beautiful – but you can easily export to a spreadsheet to add your commentary/recommendations in and style up.

More info: http://www.iis.net/download/SEOToolkit

There really is no secret sauce when it comes to search engine optimization. There are however some important efforts that every new website owner or SEO beginner should be doing when it comes to getting their message out.

Meta Tags: Every meta tag on your website should always be unique. I come across websites all the time where all the meta tag information is exactly the same throughout the entire website which is a very horrible approach. Keeping all your meta information unique on every page of your website is important in order to pull in different amounts of traffic. A successful product page is not going to have the same meta information as your home page. Keeping your meta information different will allow your website to pull in different types of visitors over time. You should always identify all your targeted keywords for your web pages prior to starting the process of onsite optimization. It is important to execute this correctly because it will set the path for all your future website visitors.

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If you look around you it is clear that every business should be doing “something” online to spread their word and message about what they do as a business. I’m not saying you have to become a guru in your industry over night but if you have a loss of business or need more and you don’t think like a big business it might be time to start.

There is a reason why businesses out there have gotten as big as they are, they think like a big business. When you think like a big business you start to think outside the box a bit and things start to unravel. Search marketing has allowed smaller businesses to go head to head with large corporations through search. All it really takes is a proactive aggressive approach to market your business online and any small to medium size business can take away some market share from the big companies in their space. Search engines have changed almost everything in the way we spread our message as businesses. Before the internet came around it was offline, radio and television. Those choices were deemed much too expensive in recent years which caused many newspapers and magazines to really crumble in the wake of the recession. Depending on how deep your pockets are some offline will always be important to keep the branding of your business moving in the right direction but overall search has become the top marketing choice for many. When your audience sees your ad in a magazine you sort of build a different type of credibility in your industry. Overall internet marketing is where a business can really get the most bang for their buck. Read more…

Sometimes it is simply impossible for businesses to maintain their URL structure on their website redesign. It can be devastating for a business if they do not set up their URL structure correctly. A 301 redirect will attempt to pass some of that power from the old URL over to the new one. There are many ways you can do this depending on your site structure.

What is a 301 Redirect?

From the eyes of the search engine the “301” lets them know that a page has been moved to a new destination or URL. This allows your website to try and maintain some of that URL power without losing rankings that can sometimes happen when URL structures are changed. You will need access to your .htaccess file to complete this task. You have a few different ways to set this up depending on how it is that you are constructing your site. If you don’t have an .htaccess file in your root directory, open a new text file and create one. I Read more…