SEO Tools and Tricks that Help You Think like a Search Spider - SEO Tools that Can Help You

Googlebot is based on a combination of things that I look at as an SEO, and tools that are freely available online to help me analyze a site. Google's assessment of your site is obviously proprietary, but there are certain things you can look for when your site is in trouble and/or if you want to get a better ranking on Google. These matters are fairly common knowledge in SEO circles. Let's break down the response a little.

Your Code is a Mess

• You have a lot of code compared with actual text (e.g., nested tables, JavaScript)
  
• Your keyword density is high compared with your competitors
  
• You're keyword stuffing
  
• Your home page looks like a doorway page
  
• You have fewer backlinks than your competitors
  
• You have poor link partners
  
• You're linking to a site that's banned
  
• Your backlink text is repetitive
  
• You have no fresh content
  
• You have duplicate content
  
• Your site is slower to download compared to your competitors
  
• You have dynamic URLs
  
• You don't have a site map
  
• Your navigation is image-based
  
• You have no ALT tags or meaningless ALT tags

The above list represents an amalgamation of variables that can affect your positioning in Google. It does not represent the full list of search engine faux pas that can be committed by unwary or unknowing webmasters (e.g., frames and Flash are not mentioned here). It's a good start though. Simply diagnosing the problem is half the battle toward getting better rankings ,and all of the above information is freely available using tools that are either Web-based or part of your browser software.