Internet Marketing SEO SEM SMO Link Building Consultant

7 Ways to get Quality Back links that will help your site become # 1 in Google

2010-10-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends! I have found a new article on "Quality Backlinks".

There is a lot of confusion as to how a website gets to be #1 in Google. Although Google often changes their algorithm, one thing remains consistent; the inclusion of backlinks. You may ask, what is a backlink? That is a fair question; simply a backlink is a hyperlink from somewhere that points to your website. The more appropriate question should be; is there anything I need to know about backlinks? This answer is much more complex.

There are several things to take into consideration when building a backlink. This first thing is the anchor text. The anchor text is a piece of HTML code that is normally blue and underlined. These anchor text help Google to determine the keywords that should be used for your site. Depending on the type of website you are commenting on; you will need to use either "a href" or a "URL=". Both methods are well documented on the Internet. The second thing to consider when building a backlink is if the backlink will appear on a homepage or an internal page. Homepage backlinks are more valuable than internal pages. The third consideration is the authority of the website you are commenting on. This is called Page Rank (PR). The best way to view PR is to use Firefox in coordination with SEO Quake. Google uses a ranking of between n/a (the lowest) to 0 through 10 (the highest). Getting a backlink on a PR 9 site is more valuable than getting a backlink on a PR n/a site. It is also harder to get a backlink on a PR 9 site than a n/a site.

Earn the top spot in Google with these proven methods:
1. Comment on Blogs - Find a blog that is about something you are passionate about and become a member. And, while a member; do more than just read the articles. Comment on them, become an active member by thinking about the article and submitting appropriate comments. If there are questions that are unanswered that you can solve, comment. And, always leave at a minimum your URL.

2. Submit Articles - Write articles on subjects that you are familiar with. Search the Internet for article directories and have your work distributed. (ezine is a great site to use) Most article directories allow you to include hyperlinks. These hyperlinks should of course include backlinks you your site.

3. Incorporate Social Media - Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter are scanned often by Google. So, consider including hyperlinks in your posts on occasion. One word of advice; don't just throw out spam. Your friends will not appreciate it.

4. Buy Backlinks - There are a tremendous amount of individuals out there that are willing to sell their service. Many are of great value. But, there are also many scammers. Be aware and do your research. I can tell you from experience that Terry Kyle and the 3 guys and a browser folks get backlinks are good sources.

5. Trade Backlinks - While trading backlinks has fallen out of favor by most. I believe it still to be a tool to use as long as there isn't a direct page for page linkage. The best way to implement this is to find a webmaster with more than one domain.

6. Build a domain farm - I like this technique. The key is to find domains that are of value. A couple of things determine value: Age and Backlinks. Expect to pay some good money if you find a site that has both. Backlinks forum, Warrior Forum and other sites will help you find domains for sale.

7. Join a Specialty Group - I am a developer. So, I belong to about a dozen coding websites. And, I am considered an expert on more than one. So, the webmaster really trusts my input. One of my requirements for helping junior developers is the inclusion of backlinks to my sites.

8. Build a Profile - Find some forums in which to become a member. Most forum sites allow you to build a signature. And, most signature fields allow backlink code.

9. Use a tool - There are many different back link tools available on Internet.

source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=3496824

Link Popularity Explained

2010-05-06T03:06:00.000-07:00

Link Popularity
1.)Why don't all my links show up when I use the link: command?
A. At this moment Google is only showing a sampling of the total links to you. As far as numbers, it is only important to remember it is a sampling and to just continue your link building strategy. To see a much more accurate figure please login to your google webmasters account and use the link tool there.

2.)How come I get a different amount of links when I use www.example.com
and example.com?
A. In the search engines eyes, these are two different domains and therefore have
different amounts of sites linking to them. So you should 301 redirect one version to the other.
If your site is hosted on a linux server you may do the following:
Open your .htaccess file(in the root directory of your site), if you don't see one create a .htaccess file and add the following:
Code:
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^domain.com [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [r=301,nc]
Of course you will need to change domain.com in both instances to your domain name.
Make sure if you are creating the .htaccess file you save it as .htaccess or it will not work.

3.) What's a Link Farm?
A. A set of web pages that have been built for the sole purpose of increasing
the number of incoming links to a web site. This is done in order to increase
link popularity and search engine rankings. Link farms usually require a reciprocal
link from sites seeking listings. Link farms are a known spam tactic and sites
that participate in them are likely to be penalized or banned from the major search
engines.
Please keep in mind that links from these sites do not harm you, what harms your site
is you linking OUT to these sites NOT them linking in. However these types of links
will not benefit you either so don't waste your time with them.

4.) What is "Anchor Text"?
A: Anchor text is the text that you use within a html link.
For example
The anchor text that you use, should reflect the keywords of which you are trying
to get a higher listing for. It should also accurately describe what information
will be found on the next page if you click on the link.
Your anchor text should be varied, you should not use the same
anchor text for all your links(that you control), if you use a variety of
anchor text your overall link strength will be stronger and you
will rank for many more phrases than if you focused on only one keyword.

5.) What is an "IBL"?
A: An "IBL" is an 'In Bound Link'. When a site links to yours, that
link is called an IBL. The same thing as a BL (Backlink).
Backlinks play a major role in ranking a site in the search engines
specifically Google and MSN. Google also puts a great deal of value
on the quality of the links, where it is placed, is the site related to yours?
A link on a content related page is going to be worth a whole lot
more than a link on a links page.

6.) What is Reciprocal linking or link exchange?
Link exchanging or reciprocal linking is where two sites
exchange links. Usually this occurs when a webmaster
sends an email to another webmaster requesting a link
on their site.
Because of how easy it is to get a link this way Google
has greatly dis-valued these types of links. They are still
worth something but not as much as they have been in
the past.
Some tips if you do exchange links...
-Only exchange links with related sites, don't reciprocate
with sites who are irrelevant even if they have a high PageRank.
-Don't reciprocate with sites who link to anything, only exchange
links with sites who are particular about who they link to.
-Don't reciprocate with sites which have categories for every
industry or hobby ever invented. Again keep it relevant.
-Don't reciprocate with sites whos link pages contain hundreds of links.
-Before reciprocating view the source of the page(CTRL + U for FF | View > Source for IE)
and check that NONE of the links on the page contain a nofollow tag.
A quick way to check is to use the find tool and search for "nofollow"
-Also goto http://www.domainnameofsite.com/robots.txt
That way you can see if they have excluded the links pages.
Also do a search in google for cache:domain.com/linkspage
to see if the page your link will be placed on is indexed.
Those are tips you definitely should follow if you do decide
to exchange links.

7.) What is Linkbait?
Linkbait is when you create a tool, write a articles or many articles
or otherwise do something that works as a link magnet.
Website owners start linking to your pages without even being
asked, many times the sites linking to you are authorities in
your industry so a good linkbait can have a an extremely
large positive effect on your rankings.
How do I create a linkbait?
-Talk about a hot subject - preferably before anyone else has
written extensively on it.
-Take a recent event in your niche and write a extensive article
detailing what it is about, what is good and bad about it etc.
-Be controversial - Perhaps one of the best ways to create
a link bait.
-Be contrary... take a point that most, almost all of the experts
in your niche agree on and disagree with it. Preferably provide
evidence that you are right. If you do it should create quite a buzz.
Some good tips can be found here:
http://www.seobook.com/archives/001936.shtml

8.) What is cross linking?
A: When multiple sites link to each other for the purpose of increasing link popularity.

9.) How long after I am listed in DMOZ should I start to gain the search engine benefit?
A: The days of DMOZ Search Engine Ranking are over. Submit and forget but don't expect any search engine value from the listing if you do get it? If you can get in that’s great but if not don't sweat it..

10.) Would I be penalized if a "Link Farm" or a "Bad Neighborhood" linked to my site?
A: No, you have no control over who links to you and this would be an easy way for a competitor to sink your site. What you SHOULD be careful of is if you are linking to them. This CAN hurt your site and should be avoided.

Don't be afraid to link out to sites that are related to yours
but never link to a site because they guarantee search engine value if you do.
Article Source http://www.therealtraffic.com/a3.htm

Google ToolBar PageRank vs Actual Page Rank

2009-08-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today I have found this great article while surfing the web. It's about Page Rank & how Google calculates the page rank for a particular page.

As you know that Page Rank is one of the factors that Google considers in determining the importance or relevancy of a page

Most of us are unaware of the fact that Google toolbar Page Rank (PR) varies from Google actual (internal) Page Rank. Within Google's actual databases, each of your pages is stored and does have some form of numerical Page Rank calculated value. This is quite likely to differ from the toolbar page rank. It seems to be confusing as most of us refer to the toolbar for the relevancy of the page but in fact the actual Page Rank values are some decimal numbers such as 3.831 which might be shown as PR 4/10 or PR 3/10 on the toolbar scale. The Toolbar Page Rank value only indicates that a page is in a certain range of the overall scale. One PR=5 page could be just above the PR=5 division and another PR=5 page could be just below the PR=6 division, which is a huge Difference.

Page Rank is one of the factors that Google considers in determining the importance or relevancy of a page. Google calculates the page's importance from the votes (links votes) cast for it. It says that when one page links to other page, it is casting a vote for the other page. The more link votes that are cast for a page, the more important the page must be. Page rank just not only relies on the quantity of link pointing to a page instead it relies on the quality and relevancy of those links. Link Popularity and Link reputation are the two important terms which are generally associated with the link votes.

According to Sergey Brin and Lawrence (Larry) Page, Co-founders of Google, the PR of a web page is calculated using this formula:

PR = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

Where:

PR is the Page Rank of page A,

PR (Ti) is the Page Rank of pages Ti which link to page A,
CIO, CTO & Developer Resources

C (Ti) is the number of outbound links on page Ti and

d is a damping factor which can be set between 0 and 1.

That's the equation that calculates a page's Page Rank. Most probably Google uses a variation of it but they aren't telling us what it is.

Google Page Rank as shown on the Google Toolbar is not updated very frequently. This is a reading of the actual PR and it's updated roughly every 3 months or so and so is based on the historical data - not current ranking data. In contrast Internal Page Rank (Actual Page Rank) is the Page Rank scores that Google uses as part of its ranking algorithm. Those scores are constantly being updated. This is due to the fact that page rank has been misused by many of the webmasters all over. As anyone can achieve high rankings by simply buying enough links from any website, or trading links with any unrelated website, Page rank has lost its value as a factor in ranking websites accurately.

The Google Toolbar is divided up into 10 equal linear ranges from 0 - 10. These linear divisions correspond to a logarithmic scale that Google uses. The actual scale is estimated to be between log base 5 and log base 10.This table's gives you an idea of how different toolbar PR is from actual PR.

In the long run, it's likely that after a few weeks, you'll have gained some internal Page Rank. You might see more traffic, as a result. But on, the Google Toolbar Page Rank may be the results are still the same. But it will be reflected only when Google will crawl for increasing the PR.

Ranking well in search for important keywords/phrases is far more important that the number shown in the Google toolbar for Page Rank. What matters is the relevance and quality of the incoming links

Google Page Rank is not always an indication of good traffic for your website. As the saying goes, "Good Sites get High PR, but not all High PR sites are good." Traffic is more affected by your content and other factors which leads to conversion.

Article Source: http://ajax.sys-con.com/node/1013401

On Page Optimization Techniques

2009-07-13T02:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers, i have found another useful information on various on-page techniques you have ever used. Please go through the below information.

Avoid the following things which can get you in trouble with search engines:
- Don't use hidden text or hidden links.
- Don't employ cloaking or lightning fast java redirects.
- Don't load up your pages with irrelevant words.
- Don't create multiple pages, sub-domains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
Did you know that every page of your website stands on its own?

Every page should have a unique title, description, and keyword tag. The description tag should describe ONLY that page. The keyword tag should include keywords for just that page. Include 5-6 keywords, including the main keyword phrase and synonyms of that keyword phrase.

Don't make the mistake of including every keyword that could possibly describe what your site is about in your keyword tag. Make your keyword meta tag specific for each page.

The keyword tag holds very little importance anyway, but be sure to make it page specific. FOCUS!
Do you have a site map on your website?

In Google's Terms of Service, they suggest that you use a site map, so set one up immediately! There are many excellent programs that will create site maps for you. Put a link to your site map on every single page of your site, and link to your other pages using link text that describes those pages. This link building service includes Google Sitemap Generator Setup, absolutely FREE.
Stay away from “little” keywords.

When you’re looking for terms to optimize for, especially primary key phrases, it is generally a good idea to stay away from “little” keywords, such as the, and, or, for, etc.
Does keyword in domain name make sense?

People often seem to ask how important it is to include keywords that they want to rank for in their domain name. The answer is that it’s not essential, but it helps a lot.
Make title from 3 to 9 words!

Page title elements are normally 3-9 words (60-80 characters) maximum in length, no fluff, straight and to the point. This is what shows up in most search engine results as a link back to your page. Make sure your Page Title Element(title tag) is relevant to the content on the page.
Describe your site in META!

The META description tag usually consists of 25 to 30 words or less using no more than 160 to 180 characters total (including spaces). The META description also shows up in many search engine results as a summary of your site.

Make sure your META Description Tag is relevant to the content on the page.
Insert keywords in META tag.

For those search engines that are META enabled, the META keywords tag used to be one of the most important areas after the page title and page description. It has been abused by both marketers and consumers alike that there is very little weight given to the META keywords tag.

Don't fret over your META keywords tag. Utilize keywords and keyword phrases from your title element, META description tag, heading tag and first one or two paragraphs of visible content. Try to limit it to 15 to 20 words if possible.
Don't forget about heading tag.

At least one heading tag should appear at the top of your page and be well written using prime keywords and keyword phrases. You can use CSS to control the appearance of the heading tags
Do you know what is Alt?

Alt text is the line of text you see pop up when you place your cursor over an image. It also displays a text representation of the image when the user has images turned off in their browser (this is the intended behavior). It is highly recommended that you utilize this area as it is required under accessibility laws and, is indexed by the search engines.
Alt in Internet Explorer is different than in other browsers.

Internet Explorer (IE) will display alt text when you hover your cursor over an element that utilizes the alt attribute. This is incorrect behavior as the alt text is designed to be displayed when the user has their images turned off while browsing. Other browsers such as Opera and Mozilla will not display the alt text on hover.
Traits of Alt.

The alt attribute should not to be stuffed with keywords or phrases. The alt text should mirror the content of the image. If it is a graphic header, then your alt attribute should mirror the text in the graphic header.

Alternative text values should not exceed 80 characters in length. If more than 70-80 characters are required one should use the longdesc attribute as an alternative to alt text.
Make sure your Alt Attribute is relevant to the content for that image.
Avoid graphic links.

Many web sites utilize graphic representations of links. These are visually appealing, but the text in the image cannot be indexed by the spiders.
Content is King.

Content (visible copy) weighs heavily and is considered one of the primary areas of search engine optimization and marketing.

Your content should be written in a way that grabs the users attention, while utilizing your targeted keywords and keyword phrases. There is a method to placement of the keywords and keyword phrases that will help your web site gain better placement in the search engines. Balance is essential and creating that balance takes knowledge and experience.
Add content regularly

You should make it your goal to add at least one new page of content daily if possible. If not, then once a week is acceptable. You want to keep your website content fresh and give your visitors something to come back for on their next visit. Stale website content may not perform as well as fresh website content.

Utilize last modified dates on your pages so that visitors to your site know when the page was last modified and how fresh the content is.
Name files with keywords

Instead of naming your file pagename.asp, you would name it keyword-phrase.asp or page-name.asp. Always use hyphens (-) to separate the words in your file names, use all lower case for file naming, this includes images too.
Name directories appropriately
Be descriptive with naming directories. Don't get carried away, but make sure at least one keyword or keyword phrase appears in the directory name. Don't forget to use hyphens (-) to separate the words.
Don't stuff keywords in title
Don't stuff a bunch of keywords in your title separated by commas. It is one of the most unprofessional practices and it doesn't work real well for scan friendliness.
Define which products have the highest profit margin?

A product that is less searched but has a higher profit margin would be easier to obtain a search engine ranking and would yield higher revenues.
Use only one <> tag per page, and use your keyword phrase in the tag.
Use it toward the top of the page. Make sure it captures your visitors' attention as soon as they land on your site. Also, make sure your first paragraph or the first words you use are interesting and designed to hold your visitors' attention. If you don't grab their attention and HOLD IT in the very beginning, they'll hit the back button and go back to the search results . . . it's as simple as that.
Another tip on freshening up some of your Title Tags.

Think about this. Turn some of your titles into a question. Asking a question is a great attention getter.
- Where on earth would you go if you had your pilot license?
- What would you do if your career was terminated?
- When should you submit your web pages?

By asking a question, you create more response because it makes the reader think.
Did you know that there is some relevancy advantage in larger sites at the point that you begin to have around 100 pages or more indexed?

Something seems to happen around the 100 page mark. Remember to focus on building quality content of genuine value to your readers.
How fast do your pages load?

Did you know that if your page loads too slowly, you could be deterring some search engine robots from crawling your website? Try and ensure your page loads within under 30 seconds (or even faster.) If your graphics are too bulky, check out a service called http://www.optiview.com to accelerate your page loading speed.
Prominence is best described as how close to the beginning of a specific area in which the keyword appears.

A keyword or keyword phrase that appears closer to the top of the page or area may often be considered mildly more relevant.
Next time you are working on an important sales letter, remember to spend at least 50% of your time working on that all important headline text.

This includes both the Title Tag and your main <> Header on the page. Little changes to Heading text can make huge impacts with a little thought.

Here is a variety of free validators you can use to check your CSS Style Sheets or HTML Validation or several other unique free tools from the W3.org. http://www.w3.org/QA/Tools/
How compelling are your Meta descriptions?

- Do you remember to use your important keyword phrase in the description?
- Are you taking time to write unique descriptions for each of your pages?
- How about a call to action? Do you remember to include good calls to action in your description?

You may find the original post here

Keyword Density and It's Role in SEO

2009-06-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hey readers, again I found a very informative topic in SEO which is nothing but Keyword.
Just read this post to get a better understanding of keyword density, frequency, prominence & proximity.

Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to the ratio (percentage) of keywords contained within the total number of indexable words within a web page.

The preferred keyword density ratio varies from search engine to search engine. In general, I recommend using a keyword density ratio in the range of 2-8%.

You may like to use this real-time keyword analysis tool to help you optimize a web page's keyword density ratio.

Keyword Frequency

Keyword frequency refers to the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page.

The theory is that the more times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page, the more relevance a search engine is likely to give the page for a search with those keywords.

In general, I recommend that you ensure that the most important keyword or keyword phrase is the most frequently use keywords in a web page.

But be careful not to abuse the system by repeating the same keyword or keyword phrases over and over again.

Keyword Prominence

Keyword prominence refers to how prominent (Important) keywords are within a web page.

The general recommendation is to place important keywords at, or near, the start of a web page, sentence, TITLE or META tag.

Keyword Proximity

Keyword proximity refers to the closeness between two or more keywords. In general, the closer the keywords are the better.

For example:

How Keyword Density Affects Search Engine Rankings

How Keyword Density Affects Rankings in Search Engine

Using the example above, if someone searched for "search engine rankings," a web page containing the first sentence is more likely to rank higher than the second.

The reason is because the keywords are placed closer together. This is assuming that everything else is equal, of course.
You may find the full Article here

Search Engine Optimization Guide

2009-06-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Readers, I hope you get a better understading of Search Engine Optimization(SEO)

Industry. I have found some good Search Engine Optimization Tips. Please go through the below points to understand the process of SEO in a better way.

1. An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

2. Site Design Considerations

2.1 Do not use frames

2.2 Do not use dynamic URL's

2.3 Do not have an entirely FLASH homepage

2.4 Do not use image maps as the only method of navigation

2.5 Do not use javascript as the only method of navigation

3. Carefully choose your keywords

4. Optimisation of your Title Tag

5. Optimisation of your page content

6. Optimisation of your META tags

7. Optimisation of your images using "alt"

8. Optimisation of your Text Hyperlinks

9. Optimisation of Heading Tags

10. How long should I wait before re-submitting to a particular search engine?

11. Creating Doorway Pages

12. Things to Avoid ~ Optimisation for Search Engines

________________________________________

1. An introduction to Search Engine Optimisation

Unfortunately simply submitting your web site to search engines will not drive traffic to your site. Although submission is an integral part of any effective search engine optimising strategy, you must achieve good search positions for anyone to find your listing. Hopefully our useful hints and tips will help you optimise your site and achieve that top ten position.

As any search engine optimisation company will tell you, getting you site listed in the first ten results for a specific keyword is as much art as a science. Anyone can get to number 1 on a unique word or trade name, but on a generic key phrase, it's much more tricky. Search engine optimising can be difficult and confusing, but once you are aware of the key optimisation techniques, time and persistence can yield a hugely gratifying reward if you get it right.

As Search Engine Optimiser's (SEO's), we ensure that the relevant words and phrases appear in the best positions on the pages. There are many other considerations, complicated by the engines modifying their preferences on a monthly basis. We pay for access to a the Wordtracker keyword database, which holds 301 million entries over the last 60 days. Using this information, we make sure that we are optimising the page in such a way that people will find it.

________________________________________

2. Site design considerations

2.1 Do not use frames

One of the biggest potential pitfalls for Webmasters is search engines that do not index the text within frames. A frame is an HTML page that "frames" other HTML pages. If your site uses frames you homepage is actually a frameset with no real content. Several major engines (including Excite, WebCrawler and HotBot) do not support frames, others do not index framed sites very well. If you site uses frames we recommend redesigning your site without them if you want to get good listings in the search engines.

If you must use frames, include text in the NOFRAMES tag. Another solution is to create pages (without frames) to act as doorways or alternate entrances to your site for the purpose of giving these engines something they can see and index.

2.2 Do not use dynamic URL's

Most search engine cannot list dynamic URL's which are commonly listed on database driven sites using scripting languages such as VBScript within Active Server Pages (ASP). An example of a dynamic URL is shown below.

http://www.searchengineoptimising.com/products.asp?ID=dynamic+example

2.3 Do not have an entirely FLASH homepage

Search engines cannot index pages made entirely with FLASH. When you submit a page to a search engine a spider will follow the links on the page and listing the rest of the site. The best way to remedy this is to create a site map that uses normal html links to every page on your site. Also add a standard HTML link on each page of you site that links to the site map.

2.4 Do not use image maps as the only method of navigation

Search engines cannot index the code that makes up image maps. You can use image maps in your site but you should also include standard html links. As with a Flash site, create a site map that uses normal html links to every page on your site. Also add a standard HTML link on each page of you site that links to the site map.

2.5 Do not use javascript as the only method of navigation

Search engines can't follow links that are within Javascript, so your site will not get spidered unless you also have some form standard HTML hyperlinks that they can follow. You should add some form standard HTML hyperlinks to all of your pages on each of your pages so that your site will be spidered properly. An easy way to do this is to create a site map page uses standard HTML links to link to every page on your site. Then add a standard HTML link on each page of your site that links to the site map.

________________________________________

3. Carefully choose your keywords

Target the wrong keywords and all your efforts will be in vain. Choose the right keywords and you’ll see your traffic dramatically increase. Therefore, think long and hard about what keywords people are most likely to use when search for your site. Make lists of single keywords and then combine them into phrases.

For more information on choosing and the optimisation keywords for particular search engines have a look at our keywords section.

________________________________________

4 . Optimisation of your Title Tag

The title tag of your page is an extremely important factor to consider during the optimisation of a web page for search engines. This is because many engines and directories place a high level of importance on keywords that are found in your title tag. The title tag is also what the search engines usually use for the title of your listing in the search results.

What it looks like:

Here's the title tag of this page:

<TITLE>Hints and Tips - optimisation of your title tag for search engines</TITLE>

Where it belongs:

The correct placement for the title tag is between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags within the HTML the makes up your page.

Tag limits:

Generally, we recommend that your title tag, including spaces, be between 50-80 characters long. The optimum level differs from search engine to search engine, therefore we recommend using a tool such as WebPosition Gold 2 tool to analyse your page.

Tips for optimising your Meta Tags:

• We recommend including 1-2 of your most important keyword phrases in the title tag, be careful not to just list keywords. If you just list keywords you risk being viewed as a spamming the engines which can ultimately lead to you being blacklisted by the search engines. Your title tag should include your keyword phrases while remaining as close to a readable sentence as possible to avoid any problems.

• Make your title enticing! Don't forget that even if you get that #1 listing in the search engines your listing still needs to say something that makes the surfer want to clickthrough and visit your site.

• Since the length of your title tag could be a little long for some engines we suggest placing the keywords at the beginning of the tag when possible so that you do not risk having them cut off.

• Each page of your site should have a unique title tag with it's own keywords that related to the page that it appears on.

________________________________________

5. Optimisation of your page content

Your page content is another very important factor in achieving better search engine listings. Your page content is the information that a visitor would read from the page. Search engines look through Did you know that just like a visitor to your site would read the copy on your page to figure out what you have to offer, the search engines do too? And what do you think the search engines are looking for when they 'read' your page copy? Keyword phrases, of course!

Page content tips:

• We recommend that each page you submit has at contains least 200 words.

• This text should include your most important keyword phrases, but should remain logical & readable.

• Include the phrases that you have used in your other tags (i.e. metas, alt, headings, title, etc.) during the optimisation process.

• Add additional content rich pages to your site. For example, how-to articles, hint and tips, or tutorials. These types of content pages not only help you in the search engines, but many other sites will link to them too.

________________________________________

6. Optimisation of your META tags

The head element contains general information (meta-information) about a document. HTML also includes a meta element that goes inside the head element. The purpose of the meta element is to provide meta-information about the document.

Most often the meta element is used to provide information that is relevant to browsers or search engines like describing the content of your document. Some search engines will use the name and content attributes of the meta tag to index your pages.

This meta element defines a description of your page:

<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML, and XHTML">

This meta element defines keywords for your page:

<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, DHTML, CSS, XML, XHTML, JavaScript, VBScript">

The intention of the name and content attributes is to describe the content of a page. However, since too many webmasters have used meta tags for spamming, like repeating keywords to give pages a higher ranking, many major search engines have stopped using them entirely.

Where they belong: The correct placement for both meta tags is between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags within the HTML the makes up your page. Their order does not really matter, but most people usually place the description first then the keywords meta. Tag limits:

• We recommend that your Keywords Meta not exceed 1024 characters including spaces.

• We recommend that your Description Meta tag not exceed 250 characters including spaces.

Meta description tips:

• Make sure you accurately describe the content of your page while trying to entice visitors to click on your listing.

• Include 3-4 of your most important keyword phrases. Especially those used in your title tag and page copy.

• Try to have your most important keywords appear at the beginning of your description. This often brings better results, and will help avoid having any search engine cut off your keywords if they limit the length of your description.

Meta keywords tips:

• Aside from what we mention in the other tips below you should only use those keyword phrases that you also used in the copy of your page, title tag, meta description, and other tags. Any keywords phrases that you use that do not appear in your other tags or page copy are likely to not have enough prominence to help your listings for that phrase.

• Don't forget plurals.

• Don't forget common misspelling of a popular keyword that could be used to find your site.

• Watch out for repeats! You want to include your most important phrases, but when doing so it can be difficult not to repeat one word many times. There in no limit, but we recommend that no one word be repeated in the keyword meta more than 5 times.

• If your site has content of interest to a specific geographic location be sure to include the actual location in your keyword meta.

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7. Optimisation of your images using "alt"

The alt attribute is used to define an "alternate text" for an image. The value of the alt attribute is an author-defined text:

<img src="optimised.gif" alt="Search Engine Optimisation">

The "alt" attribute tells the reader what he or she is missing on a page if the browser can't load images. The browser will then display the alternate text instead of the image. It is a good practice to include the "alt" attribute for each image on a page, to improve the display and usefulness of your document for people who have text-only browsers.

Although not all search engines use the Alt tab it can help your listings on some of them. We recommend on using 2-3 words for each image and using it where ever possible.

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8. Optimisation of Text Hyperlinks

A text based hyperlink is a standard HTML example optimising search (this is an example link that does not go anywhere).

Search engines use complex algorithms to see if what you are linking to is something closely related to the content of your page. Some of the engines look for keywords in hyperlinks and in the surrounding text of the hyperlinks. We recommend including your most important keyword phrases in the link itself and possibly the surrounding text.

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9. Optimisation of Heading Tags

Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags. <h1> defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the smallest heading.

<h1>This is a heading</h1>

<h2>This is a heading</h2>

<h3>This is a heading</h3>

<h4>This is a heading</h4>

<h5>This is a heading</h5>

<h6>This is a heading</h6>

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a heading.

Although they are used less frequently due to new technologies, HTML heading tags can help improve your listings in the search engines also. You should include you most important keyword phrases in the heading tags on your page. Some search engines use them in the analysis of your page content.

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10. How long should I wait before re-submitting to a particular search engine?

MSN

30 days

Google

4-6 weeks

AltaVista

15-30 days

Fast

15-30 days

Excite

4-6 weeks

Northern Light

30 days

AOL

30 days

HotBot 30 days

iWon

30 days

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11. Creating Doorway Pages

With the exception of Yahoo! you can submit more than one URL to a search engine. A doorway page is simply a page that has been created for the sole purpose of ranking higher in search engines for a particular keyword or set of keywords. These pages act as “doorways” to the real content of your site, without having to redesign or remove the content of your site.

You can create doorway pages to take advantage of a search engine’s criteria for a specific keyword or keyword phase. Doorway pages help you solve the most troubling Web marketing dilemma: The techniques that will get you a high ranking in one search engine can get you penalized or even removed from the index of another search engine. It is impossible to design a single page that will rank well for all of your chosen keywords in all engines.

Since there are so many sites indexed by Web search engines, the content of your page must be very focused to rank well in today’s overflowing search engines.

If you are creating doorway pages we strongly recommend that you at least try the trail version of Webposition Gold 2. Without it or a similar tool, creating doorway pages can be an extremely difficult task.

Typically, when targeting five keywords, across eight search engines, you end up with 40 pages pointing to your home page or other section on your site. Don’t worry, this is not unusual. If you are cautious and

heed the warnings below, you won’t have any problems.

Some techniques work better than others, depending on the engine. Sometimes, a shorter, more concise page will rank higher on AltaVista than a longer one. You could create alternate shorter pages and name them accordingly. For example,

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/tips-short.htm

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/hints-tips-short.htm

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/equine-short.htm

Experiment with different pages and page names to describe these experiments, but be careful and don't go overboard!

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12. Things to Avoid attempting Optimisation techniques for Search Engines

You should not try to trick a search engine in any way because you risk being blacklisted by them.

• Excluding the meta keyword tag, do not list you keyword one after another anywhere on the page

• An old trick is to try and keyword stuff the page by using the same colour text as the page's background. Search engines can detect this and view it as spam.

• Do not submit the same page to any search engine more than once in any twenty-four hours.

• Do not submit identical pages. You should instead give them different filename and change the title and, if possible, the keywords for the page.

• Do not use any keywords in your keywords meta tag that do not directly relate to the content of your page.

• Don't use any keywords in your keywords meta tag that do not directly relate to the content of your page.

Search Engine Optimization FAQ's

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I found some useful information while surfing the internet. Please go through the questions might be of interest to the newbies in the SEO/ SEM Indusrty.

FAQ) What are SERPs?
SERPs is an acronym for Search Engine Results Pages. Basically they are the search results you receive when doing a search at a search engine.

FAQ) What is anchor text? Why is it important?
Anchor text is the visible hyperlinked text on the page. For example, let's examine this code:
Webmaster Forums
The anchor text for this link is "Webmaster Forums". This is important in search engine rankings because the search engines use anchor text to help determine the relevance of a page being linked to for those keywords. By having this link pointing to their forum's web page, SitePoint Forums will perform better in searches for the phrase "webmaster forums" (and other similar phrases as well).

FAQ) How do I get a lot of backlinks to point to my site?
A good place to start is to submit to directories. Start with the free ones and then decide whether pay ones are worth it for you. Here's a great place where you can find a free directory listing that sorts them by PR, Alexa rank (worthless), and more: http://www.tipsntutorials.com/Top-Directories/ and also check out http://www.isedb.com/ as it lists thousands of places you might find worth submitting to.

FAQ) How do I get a lot of backlinks to point to my site?I was thinking of doing to my site but I'm afraid the search engines might think it is spam. Should I do it?
No. Why? If you're not sure if it will get you in trouble with the search engines or not then it's probably something you shouldn't be doing. Another good reason not to do it is accessibility. Many webmasters employ hacks and tricks in an effort to increase their search engine ranking. Often times these tricks are at the expense of the usability of their website. Not only to those who have disabilities but to anyone who's trying to navigate their site.

FAQ) How many keywords should I put into my <title>, <a>, and <h1>..<h6> tags?

You should only put the few keywords that are most relevant to your pages. The more you put in each tag, the more you dilute the value each keyword is given.

<h1>Advanced PHP Programming</h1>

is better then

<h1>Advanced PHP Programming Is Really Cool And Stuff Dude</h1>

Meta Tags

The large majority of search engines do not use Meta Tags as part of their ranking algorithm. Some will claim Google uses Meta tags in its algorithm. This is entirely untrue. Google, however, will use a meta description tag if it is unable to discern a description for a webpage on its own (if the page has no text and no description in the open directory [dmoz] it is likely Google will use the meta description tag in its SERPs). Please note that it is only using this description in its SERPs, not its algorithm.

FAQ) Should you use Meta Tags in your site? Yes. They do have some affect in some search engines and even though that effect is almost zero it is still more then zero so is worth the time.

FAQ) How much time should I spend on my Meta Tags? Ten minutes. Write a nice concise description of your page and throw in a sampling of keywords (which you should have handy if you've optimized your pages properly). You should spend no more time then this on them. Use your time to promote your site and get quality inbound links.

FAQ) How many keywords should I use? As many as you want. If you start to think you may have too many, you probably do. This means you need to divide your page into subpages with each one taking its own topic.

FAQ) What happens if I use includes for my pages? Will the search engines see them?The search engines don't care about what server side technology you use. All they see is the (x)HTML your server side code generates. To see what they see simply load your page in your favorite web browser and then view the source. What you see is exactly what they see.

FAQ) Should I submit my website to the Search Engines by hand or use software?Do it by hand. It will not take long to do and will ensure that you are successful in submitting each form with the correct information. There is a constant debate about how search engines feel about automated submission software. Since there is a reasonable chance these are frowned upon by the search engines, and since you can do anything they can do on your own, you might as well avoid them.

But, if you're going to use software, these title seem to be the most common ones recommended: Addweb, Web Position Gold, Web CEO

FAQ) How often should I submit my website to the search engines?Once. Resubmitting your url does not get you indexed faster or improve your rankings. Also, resubmitting your site will never cause your site to be banned. If so, then all you would need to do is submit your competitors' sites repeatedly until they were banned.

FAQ) How often should I submit my website to the search engines?This is a very common myth that is 100% untrue. The file extension does not affect your rankings in any way. After all, no matter what server side programming language you use, and what extension you choose to use with it, they all just spit out HTML in the end. That's all a web browser will see and that all a search engine will see.

FAQ) Sites with .com rank higher then with <tld>This is another common myth that is untrue. The only time a domain extension can affect your ranking is if the search is based by country. The country-specific TLDs (e.g. .co.uk) will have priority over non-country specific TLDs (e.g. .com or .net).

One observation many make is that .coms tend to rank higher then other domain extensions. They assume it is because .coms are given preferential treatment. This is a poor assumption. .coms seem to rank higher then other extensions because they are by for more popular then any other domain extension (there are more .coms than .net, .org, .biz, .edu, .gov, and .info combined) so they naturally have a greater chance of ranking higher vs other domain extensions through sheer quantity alone. .coms also tend to be older sites so they have had a chance to establish themselves whereas newer domain extensions have not. They have also used this time to acquire more backlinks which is an important factor in search engine algorithms.

It is also commonly believed that .gov and .edu sites are given preferential treatment from search engines. This is also untrue. Web pages on .edu and .gov domains tend to rank well because they contain quality content and many webmasters will link to their content as a result. Both of these are key elements in SEO. But the fact that they are .edu or .gov domains does not benefit them directly in the SERPs.

The Importance of Search Engine Optimization

2009-05-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

Before you begin planning your search engine strategy it's worth considering exactly how important the results are to you. This is because you need to decide how much energy and resources to put into SEO, so you need to know what sort of results to expect for your efforts. If the benefits are likely to be minimal then you might be better off spending your energy on other areas of the website. On the other hand, if your entire business plan relies on good search engine results, you should be prepared to spend a lot of time and money getting them.

It's easy to assume that by having good search rankings; lots of people will find for your website and become customers. You need to test this thinking and make sure you're not just being optimistic. Who exactly is the type of person you expect to attract? Imagine them as a single real person, sitting at a computer. Why will this person use the internet to find your product?
What will they expect to find? If they do find your website, will they buy from you or will they just use you for information and buy somewhere else?

Getting a basic listing isn't hard and you should be able to get at least a small presence in the main search engines. The question is how many actual visitors will result from your listing.

If you have something reasonably unique to offer, or if you are targeting a particular geographical region, your chances of getting visitors are fairly high. Most businesses could expect to attract at least a few visitors each day through search engines.
To get more than a few visitors per day (up to around a hundred) will take more effort but is still quite achievable.
If you are aiming to attract hundreds or thousands of visitors per day, you will need to have something a bit more special — either some very unique content or a very good optimization strategy.