Archive for January, 2010

January
26

Basic Steps for SEO

Basic Steps for SEO

Being on the front page of some of the top-rated search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! is no joke as it can skyrocket your business online. With too many websites trying to cover the same content with only a difference in presentation and optimization and making their portals more search-friendly, the competition is stiff indeed. However, that doesn’t mean you should take a backseat.

Despite what some consultants will tell you, SEO isn’t complicated and it is easier than it was ten years ago based on the number of tools that are available today. Sure there is more competition, but getting from Point A to Point B has never been easier. Here are a few tips that I will share with you:

#1: Creating the Structure of the Website
While most of the times it is presumed that it is through the keywords and the content that a website is recognized, the structure of the website is equally important. Let me explain. The website structure has a great affect on how the web spiders, particularly the search engines look at your website and that affects your ranks too.

Creating an impressive outlay and presenting the specific content with priority will help you earn better traffic. If designed in a manner that is easily accessible, the web spiders would get the link to the important and easily optimized content quickly without wasting much time, and that would increase the priority of your content.

#2: Optimizing the Content
Optimizing your content is very important when you are into the SEO business. It is through the content that your site is recognized and ranked. There are certain factors that contribute to this factor, such as keyword density, formatting of the content and the overall relevance of the site.

Keyword density makes your page more relevant and easily searchable too. Keyword density refers to the number of occasions or times that the keyword will be repeated in a content of given number of words. If you have a page of about 1000 words and a keyword density of 5%, it means the given keyword must appear 50 times on the page.

Formatting the content is equally important and relevant considering the increasing weight of the text. Keywords and texts when highlighted and used in header tags carry more importance and relevance in this regard.

Finally, the relevance of your website also matters. If you have a website about Chinese medicine and all your pages contain information pertaining to the same subject, it would certainly have greater importance, instead of having pages about Viagra and Payday Loans too.

#3: Creating Link Bait
Link Baiting is one of the crucial steps in which you can include blogs and articles posted on various topics and create a link to your site. It involves various steps, such as development of tools and content for the website with the sole aim to attract various links to the page or other pages of the same site.

#4: Link Building
Link building is one of the most commonly heard terms related to SEO. This is a process through which inbound links are created to a website. This can be achieved through reciprocal links that are listed in newsletters, ezines, article directories and search engines. It is the best and the most preferred way of reaching out to thousands of users all over the world and to make your website more popular.

You can choose any of the methods to start building links and popularizing your website.

Conclusion:
It isn’t really difficult to start off, you see. All that you need is knowledge and expertise in this field and you can start your own SEO business soon.

Posted in SEM/SEO, Uncategorized | 23 Comments »

January
22

New AdWords Center from Google

Google Launches New Optimized AdWords Center

Google has launched an optimization center for AdWords users. This center includes new tips and various strategies for attracting more customers for your business. The information is structured them into three different levels from the AdWords team. The tips include:

1. Ads – to ensure that the ads you create attract potential customers.
2. Keywords – shows appropriate and relevant keywords that your prospect is searching for.
3. Targeting – Displays the results for targeted customers who are interested in your ad.
4. Account structure – Helps you to organize your account properly and easily.
5. Budgeting & Bidding – Helps you to control the position as well as the cost of your ad.
6. More Revenue – Increase sales and leads by getting more clicks.
7. Better Profit Margins – Improve ROI as well as the ad position.

Posted in Google | No Comments »

January
21

Microsoft to Purge Data Faster

The Blog over at Microsoft’s Bing recently announced that they will reduce the time frame for their stored search data, from 18 months to 6 months.

Bing said:?? Specifically, we are reducing the amount of time we store IP addresses from searchers to 6 months. Currently we keep that information for 18 months before we delete it. Generally, when Bing receives search data we do a few things: first, we take steps to separate your account information (such as email or phone number) from other information (what the query was, for example). Then, after 18 months we take the additional step of deleting the IP address and any other cross session IDs associated with the query. Under the new policy, we will continue to take all the steps we applied previously – but now we will remove the IP address completely at 6 months, instead of 18 months. We think this gives us the right balance between making search better for consumers (we use the data to improve the service we offer) and providing greater protection for the privacy of our users.

Actually, I think what this means more is there is no room in the budget for more servers to keep the data for as long as they wanted. It is no secret that Microsoft is hurting financially due to the change in the landscape the have dominated for two decades.

Posted in MSN | 1 Comment »

January
16

Porn? Um, no, I’m not Surfing Porn. Why Would You Think That?!?!

77 How to Look at Porn on a Plain - And Look Very Suspicious

Okay, let’s face it, there are just some really weird and creepy people in this world, and for some reason, when it came to getting “common sense” … well, they were down the hall pounding on the side of the vending machine.

Perfect.

This guy, well, he is just an idiot. I would love to tell you I took this picture. It reminds me of when I worked at WordPerfect and company policy stated that you couldn’t look at porn at work because your co-workers may think it was offensive, so this guy drapes a blanket over his cubicle so no one can see the porn on his screen.

Geez.

How about, “Don’t look at porn at work because it isn’t the right think to do.” Same with on the plane.

Need another example? This is classic. So, this guy is looking for a job and his resume has a few holes he’s trying to fill. The main hole? The only job he’s has since he was 18 is a publisher with Google AdSense. So, he wants to list Google has his employer and give Google’s 800 number as a reference.

Seriously? Yeah. Seriously.

And in classic fashion, Google’s rep, “GoogleAdSenseAdvisor” comments:

“I love that AdSense has been your primary source of income. Sadly, I don’t personally know enough about you or your work to provide you with a reference.”

It just proves that once you think you’ve seen it all …

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

January
1

SEO Tips for the New Year

As the New Year is here, what better way to celebrate than with some Search Engine Optimizing Tips? This is what I recommend …

1) If you use JavaScript drop down menus or image links, be sure to place text links on the page for the search engine spiders to follow. Placing them in the footer is fine, but the higher on the page the better for your important internal links. Also, make sure these pages are in your XML sitemap. GoogleBot isn’t always smart, so giving it a way to always find your content is a good idea.

2) Don’t be fooled by the “Content is King” sermons being preached daily. Content matters little if there is not a compelling offer to go along with it. You must have good MARKETABLE content if you are going to be successful online. Ask for the order. Seriously, it is that easy. Your job online is not just to educate the public on the best option for them, it is also to sell. That is how you make your living and don’t ever forget it.

3) Incoming links are very important part of a successful SEO campaign. Duh, right? How can you do this effectively? Well, first, don’t get involved in link networks, linking schemes, or hiring a company who will work for five cents a link and think that you have found the Holy Grail. All you will get will be garbage links. Focus on getting links with the anchor text for your highest converting keyword phrases.

4) Title Tag. This is where a lot of webmasters just get lazy. Your Title Tags must be unique for every page of your website. No exceptions. You can use your company name at the end, if your boss requires it, but remember, using your company name normally does not help in conversions and that is why you are in this business. I hate to break it to you, but no one cares about your business, all they care about is if you can help them. That’s it.

5) Fresh content may (emphasis on may) help your rankings improve. Keep on adding new, useful, MARKETABLE content to your pages on a regular basis, and if it is a blog, make sure you are pinging GoogleBot. Having a fresh cache date is always a good thing.

6) Don’t listen to “experts” who tell you that you cannot use certain design elements because it will hurt your SEO campaign. They are wrong. SEO is to enhance your online presence, not dictate it. You can get a top ranking with enough links, regardless of what elements your site uses. You can rank #1 for a term with a Flash site in Frames with enough links. Leslie Rohde has achieved a #1 listing on a competitive phrase with a blank page (no content), a good Title and lots of links. Focus on building your site into a “conversion machine” and then add SEO to enhance the traffic so you get more conversions.

7) Use proper keywords in your text links, ALT attributes and even your domain name (and webpage names.)

8) Check Canonicalization issues – www and non-www domains check is important and must not be ignored. Decide which you want to use and then follow the instructions: Fixing Internal Duplication Content. Don’t ignore this, it is still an issue.

9) The URL file extension you choose to use doesn’t matter as far as SEO is concerned. You can use .html, .htm, .asp, .php, etc. Do what works best for you.

10) Get a Google Webmaster Tools account. If you don’t have one, you are really missing the boat. Focus on which keywords are getting impressions and then focus on increasing the ranking on those keyword phrases, as you are more likely to see faster results than doing keyword research the old fashioned way.

11) When you do link building for your website, think quality first, and not quantity. Always remember that one good quality authoritative link can do a lot more for your website than dozens or even hundreds of poor quality links. Bad links can hurt your website.

12) If you are optimizing your Blog posts, don’t forget to optimize your post’s Title Tag and make it very compelling. You still have to SELL the click … even in Blogs.

13) Your website must be user friendly and easy to use with clear Calls to Action for your products and services. If not, you run the risk of high bounce rates and poor conversions.

14) Search Engines give great weight to .edu domains, so try to get some links from these domains.

15) Don’t optimize one single page for multiple different groups of keywords. Focus each page for a single keyword phrase or similar keywords. They key term here is “focus” with a clear Call To Action.

16) Optimize the text in your RSS feed. Write your Title and Description using keyword rich text.

17) If your page uses images, use captions that are compelling with your images for a strong impact.

18) Create and upload an XML Sitemap to your webmaster accounts with Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft.

19) Find two different ways to NOT to see Google’s Personalized Search results:

(1) Log out from your Google account while doing any search.
(2) In Search bar, append &pws=0 present at the end of your search URL

20) Use absolute links in your website instead of relevant links.

21) If you want your videos to be found by the search engine crawlers, then just create a video sitemap & get it listed in your Google Webmaster Central account.

22) If you are doing link purchase or exchange, remember to check the cache date of the page where your link will be placed. The newer the cache date of the page, the better.

23) Check broken links on your site (internal and external) at least once a month.

24) Check your website server headers. Your URLs must report a “200 OK” status or “301 Moved Permanently” for redirects, else you need to look into the matter more deeply.

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »