SEO – Self Help Search Engine Optimization

An appropriate linking strategy can improve the page rank for Google and the other search engines. But how can a search engine optimizer’s inbound links be spidered and indexed by Google and the other search engines?

The important part in a successful linking strategy is that pages linked to highly ranked sites are a higher value than those with fewer links. Links from serious and higher ranked sites are increasing the value of their destination, improving its position, giving a higher placement in the results list.

Similar results can be obtained using any of the search engines with the same keywords or phrases. To improve the search engine position, the most often recommended solution is to make a linking campaign.

An inbound links method is a proven solution in the high ranking attempt of almost every search engine optimizer. Some inbound links may come from the sites that had added interesting articles about the main site’s topics. If the keywords are used with a moderate frequency, keeping the article’s content pleasant, attractive, and interesting; this kind of linking strategy can bring spectacular results.

But what about the reciprocal links? Are they really useful for this strategy? If a long list of reciprocal links exists, does the website have spectacular improved position on the results pages? After a few important experiments, it looks like the result is not as spectacular as the premises are.

Only a small part of the reciprocal links is considered valid by Google and the other search engines. The part applied to the page rank is not as important as the number of reciprocal links is, so this technique must be applied with measure and prudence.

Those thoughts are the results of my personal experience in a  site’s ranking. I used all the SEO possibilities I knew, but using inbound links was the most powerful tool to improve my web site ranking.

Every link added is ranking the site higher than linking every page individually. If the link also contains valuable keywords for the website content, the results are more promising. A linking strategy well done for each site containing single articles listed on small sites is bringing good results.

The page rank can also be improved by designing a sitemap. It is wise to have a page that links to all others to get every page spidered and indexed.  It is not difficult to create a map page and link it from the site’s home page. The results will be appreciable.

To begin linking your sites with other sites, you can start by joining a linking directory. This will help increase your page rank, but you must make sure people are linking back to you. Don’t just add a bunch of links to your page and think you’re done. You have to have your link reciprocated on the other person’s site. To learn more about joining a linking directory, go to:

http://www.MyLinkMachine.com

Everybody is looking for the magic formula that will get their site listed on the first page of Google. Because of this, the internet is full of search engine optimization experts that are willing to take your money once they sell you on their new theory of Google’s algorithm. You have your choice of SEO Consultant to full fledged SEO Corporations all willing to take your money and optimize your site. None of them will promise specific results.

SEO Elite Software

That’s because Google is a very sophisticated search engine and their algorithm changes constantly. Google’s algorithm has one primary goal and that is to deliver relevant content. All of this effort is to identify good websites with quality content and to weed out the sites that are “optimized” to trick the algorithm. Therefore… if you have a good website with quality content then “optimizing” your site may be counter-productive if there’s even a slight chance that Google would think you’re using tricks.

That’s right, let Google’s algorithm smell your website optimization techniques and your status as a good website with quality content may be in jeopardy. Google is looking for websites whose webmasters are putting their time and energy in to building and maintaining a good website with quality content not spending their time and energy trying to trick the algorithm. So, the best thing you can do is to put your time and energy in to the reason you built your website in the first place. Whatever that reason may be, it probably was not to learn and practice SEO techniques.

Be organic. Be yourself, even be one with your website. Google likes sites that are organic and built by people with a clear purpose. Understand and embrace the algorithm. Do not fear it and try to trick it. It is there to do good.

As I’ve said before, don’t lose sleep over search engine optimization, lose sleep over conversion rate. Spend your time maximizing your site for your visitors. A good site with quality content will get top rankings naturally.

SEO Elite Software

So, the trick to tricking the search engines is to have no trick at all. How much easier can that be?

This article will guide you through the main reasons why duplicate content is a bad thing for your site, how to avoid it, and most importantly, how to fix it. What it is important to understand initially, is that the duplicate content that counts against you is your own. What other sites do with your content is often out of your control, just like who links to you for the most part… Keeping that in mind.

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How to determine if you have duplicate content.
When your content is duplicated you risk fragmentation of your rank, anchor text dilution, and lots of other negative effects. But how do you tell initially? Use the “value” factor. Ask yourself: Is there additional value to this content? Don’t just reproduce content for no reason. Is this version of the page basically a new one, or just a slight rewrite of the previous? Make sure you are adding unique value. Am I sending the engines a bad signal? They can identify our duplicate content candidates from numerous signals. Similar to ranking, the most popular are identified, and marked.

How to manage duplicate content versions.
Every site could have potential versions of duplicate content. This is fine. The key here is how to manage these. There are legitimate reasons to duplicate content, including: 1) Alternate document formats. When having content that is hosted as HTML, Word, PDF, etc. 2) Legitimate content syndication. The use of RSS feeds and others. 3) The use of common code. CSS, JavaScript, or any boilerplate elements.

In the first case, we may have alternative ways to deliver our content. We need to be able to choose a default format, and disallow the engines from the others, but still allowing the users access. We can do this by adding the proper code to the robots.txt file, and making sure we exclude any urls to these versions on our sitemaps as well. Talking about urls, you should use the nofollow attribute on your site also to get rid of duplicate pages, because other people can still link to them.

As far as the second case, if you have a page that consists of a rendering of an rss feed from another site – and 10 other sites also have pages based on that feed – then this could look like duplicate content to the search engines. So, the bottom line is that you probably are not at risk for duplication, unless a large portion of your site is based on them. And lastly, you should disallow any common code from getting indexed. With your CSS as an external file, make sure that you place it in a separate folder and exclude that folder from being crawled in your robots.txt  and do the same for your JavaScript or any other common external code.

Additional notes on duplicate content.
Any URL has the potential to be counted by search engines. Two URLs referring to the same content will look like duplicated, unless you manage them properly. This includes again choosing the default one, and 301 redirecting the other ones to it.

By Utah SEO Jose Nunez

Jack had an amazing idea & started his online business with a vision of making it big someday. But few years down the line Jack is left wondering as to why his business isn’t turning up the way he expected it to!

Mark thinks that he has a better service than his competitors, but still fails to understand why their Balance Sheet figures are running into millions, while his are still in few thousands!

All these puzzling facts make one doubt himself. But my friend, the problem is not with the idea or the service! The problem lies in the promotion strategies. No matter how good an idea or a service is, it won’t be successful unless you put it to the right people in the right manner. Good Web Promotion can do wonders to an average idea; forget what it can do to a good one. Had Jack & Mark adopted the right kind of Internet Promotion strategy, they would have achieved what they wanted to.

Everyone will agree that today’s Web Promotion is dominated by Search Engines, or to be precise, Google. If your site is in the top thirty, for the right “Keyword”, you can be a winner. But how can one make it to the top & stay there for a long time? (Mind you, in this dynamic world called Internet, sticking to your position is as important as getting there!)

The best way to “optimize” your site is through a new “Organic Method of Search Engine Optimization” (SEO) that Google & other search engines just love, generating “Quality One Way Links”. One can generate quality back links by way of “Directory Submission” & “Article Submission”.

Online directories provide you with quality back links, which is precisely what you are looking for. Apart from this, you need to submit your site to the most appropriate category & with a brief description about your business. Thus, they also send targeted audience your way!

Another way of generating quality targeted audience & one way links is by writing quality articles & submitting them to Article Directories! By writing a quality article, you are not just informing your potential customers about your service, but are also sharing your knowledge with them. Again, Article Directories gives you an opportunity to inform people about yourself & also provide a link to your site. This way, people get to know about you & your site. And if your article provides a visitor what he came looking for, you have most definitely found yourself a new client!

Had Jack written an article about his idea & explained his service to his target audience and submitted his site to Hundreds of Search Engine Friendly Directories, he would have been on “Cloud 9” by now. Had Mark written an article informing his potential customers, how his service is better than his customers & also submitted his site to Online Directories, his Balance Sheet too might have run into Millions.
To summarize, when you submit your article or your site to various online directories, this is what you get -

1. You generate hundreds of quality back links to your site.
2. People who search these directories may find your article or your sites description interesting & visit your site. Thus you get large targeted audience.

The end result is that your site satisfies all the criterions set by various search engines to have a favorable Rank. You thus reach high positions in search engines & stay there for a long time!

Search engine optimization has become the most crucial element of ranking high in the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, Dogpile etc. There are several websites on the internet which boast about SEO techniques & tips and guarantee top placement in days. How do you believe and invest your hard earned money in a company who does not have a background in search engine optimization believing their claims?

The question is “are you ready to play a gamble with your site?” Honestly the answer would be a big NO.

No one would like to waste their money. So, what is the way out? How about doing your own search engine optimization? It is a very long drawn and tedious process if you do it manually. So, how to go about it?

Are there any softwares available to do the SEO?

Yes! there are several SEO softwares available in the market. But, how do you know which SEO software is reliable and meet your search engine optimization needs and most importantly, whether they would live up to their claims?

SEO software is the answer to implement the major SEO techniques. What are they? SEO is primarily divided into two parts.

• On page optimization
• Off page optimization

On page optimization

On page optimization involves:

• Title Tags
• Meta Tags like meta keywords (lost its importance now due to keywords abuse) & meta description.
• Alt-Image tags
• H1, H2 tags
• High keyword density
• Quality content
• Ease of navigation
• Internal Linking and more…..

Off page optimization

Off page optimization involves:

• Link Building to improve Link popularity
• Reciprocal Linking – Two way links
• Non-reciprocal linking – In-bound links
• Use of keyword rich anchor text in linking text
• Improving Google page rank
• PPC advertisements
• Directory submissions

It is a well known fact that off page optimization has more value than on page optimization. It does not mean that on page optimization has no value and requires no optimization. On page optimization has its value and should not be ignored.

There are several SEO softwares available to implement the off page optimization by improving link popularity by building both reciprocal and non-reciprocal links. There are websites which offer monthly membership accounts to use their Link Popularity software and some other websites have their software available for one time fee. For a beginner it is always better to go with one time fee software to keep the fixed expenses low. You are here to do business so you need to think and plan every dime you spend towards business success.

So, what to expect from a SEO software selling website?

• Not a one time seller without any future upgrades
• A website with good technical support
• A website with a proven track record
• A website with a forum with quality user feedback
• Most importantly these website’s SEO software should have good product reviews.

We see many SEO software companies doing their own product reviews and it looks more like self propaganda than an honest product review. We need websites who test and verify the claims made by the SEO software companies and publish their honest feedback. This would help the newbie website owners to make an educated decision after reading the detailed unbiased analysis published on a third party website.

There are very few websites that do this and should be encouraged to test and verify more of these SEO softwares and help the website owners to learn and implement the off page optimization techniques. This would save time and money of the online entrepreneurs to improve their link popularity and increase their search engine rankings. Higher search engine rankings bring more traffic to the websites and hence more sales. It is a known fact that we can drive visitors to websites but converting them into buyers totally relies on how effective is the content and ease of website’s navigation.

We should develop effective content in the form of relevant articles linking to your website. Writing an effective article is a skill which needs to be developed by reading other articles and other e-books focusing on writing best articles. Now we should know the list of quality article directories to submit to in the right category. This would be another tedious and time consuming process and this demands an SEO software whose sole aim is article submission to various article directories.

Another way of getting traffic to the website is thru PPC i.e Pay Per Click. There are several PPC programs available like Google Adwords, Overture PPC, FindWhat etc. Now the question is choosing the right keyword relevant to the content of your website is very important. You might choose the right keyword which is highly competitive and may have to pay a high bid price to get the higher placement in the sponsored links. We need an SEO software to optimize the adwords campaign to choose the right keyword combo to choose for the PPC. This would save money and time and helps beat the competition.

There are several other effective methods to do the off page optimization and there are several SEO softwares available in the market. So, in conclusion read the product reviews, and see the important features of the selling website as mentioned above for the final decision as which SEO software you should get your hands on.

Wishing you all success in your website’s search engine optimization.

Every website listed in the search engines has a position, or ‘ranking’, and each one of these rankings can change very quickly, in some cases as often as weekly or even daily. One day your website’s in a good position, then the next you’re wondering what happened to it. Staying on top of this situation is a must for any SEO professional – you need to become a search engine ninja. If that’s what you want to do, then you need to keep these things in mind at all times:

• Good SEO requires frequent updates and ranking checks.

You might have a good spot today, but all it takes is for a few new sites to open, and before you know it you’re back down at the bottom. If you pay attention to your rankings, then you have a shot at fixing things that go wrong before your rankings fall too far.

• You should check all your links weekly to make sure they work.

Maintain high-quality, relevant reciprocal links and check them weekly to make sure they’re working. Remove any dead links, as search engine crawlers may mark you down if they find them on your site.

• Tweak and assess your website on a daily basis.

You need to continually assess and tweak your listing to keep your site in its proper place – that is, at the top. This ensures that your site is in the best position possible, and helps you keep your competitive edge.

• Maintain the content on your website.

Update your content weekly at the very least, to make sure that search engine crawlers come back frequently. Even the smallest changes will be picked up on by the search engines and will help to maintain your ranking. If you can’t write, find someone who can: you need content.

• Keep up-to-date with the latest developments in SEO.

If you can’t decide what you should be doing or you don’t want to keep up with SEO on your own, you could consider hiring a specialist. Consulting with an SEO specialist will still allow you to make your own changes to your website and learn which things work best, but you’ll have someone to answer your questions if you need them.

You should review your SEO techniques at least every few months, to see how the algorithms have changed and to devise new plans and strategies for increasing your rankings based on those changes. Any SEO ninja will tell you that there are only really two major search engines that you need to worry about: Google and Yahoo. You can do well even if you only have the time or energy to focus on these two engines. Being an SEO ninja is hard work, but it can be very rewarding if you’ve got the dedication for it.

In order to get your site recognized by the main search engines and obtain a high page ranking, you need to be able to get your site noticed by engines like Yahoo and Google. While there are several more search engines out there, these are the big two that you want to get noticed, and ranked, by.

One way, a very big way, to get noticed is to create incoming links that are going to stand out to the search engines. How do you do that? See Smart Linking, but more about it later. You have to be honest with your links, you have to link to a relevant site, you have to use strong anchor text in your link to get noticed, and most importantly, IT HAS TO BE RELEVANT.

Today, search engines use spybots and cookies to bounce around the internet checking all of the information and links that are out there. A couple of years ago, search engines didn’t have that ability, so web masters could create links that were not truthful or relevant to the sites he or she were linking to. They used business directories like DMOZ and many others.

Now a web master has to be careful with his or her links. In order to create smart and effective links, a web master has to choose a site to link to that is relevant to his or her own site. If I have a site that sells ink for ball point pens, I would not want to try and link to a site that buys scrap metal. The bots and cookies would check the links, find out that they have no relevance to one another, and give me little or no credit towards my page rankings.

That is the key in smart web marketing: using smart incoming links. Another factor that makes links smart is anchor text. If I link to a site, the text that a person would click on to come to my site is called the anchor text.

For my pen ink site, I might want to link to the site that sells the ball point that goes in the tip of the pen. For my anchor text, I wouldn’t want to simply put “Click here”, I would put something like: “For the best ink to go with the best ball point, visit me.”

Why is that “smart incoming linking”? Because of the relevance and the anchor text. Search engines will recognize both of those factors and give my site a higher pager ranking because I am linking to a similar site. Not an identical product or service, but one that my product can help and vice-versa. One Canadian based web site Smart Linking (Canadian Text Links) has done it very well by allowing clients to choose the link and anchor they wish for a relatively affordable price.
Other factors that help make smart incoming links are linking to a site that is, itself, highly rated by the search engines and, getting your link on a webpage that has several relevant keywords in regards to your site.

While there are other ways to increase the power of your links, these are the foundation of creating smart incoming links and will help you on your way of achieving a higher page rank.

Google calls Sitemaps “an experiment in web crawling”. In general, you place a sitemap on to your web server. This helps the crawlers identify the pages you have and add it to the search index. And when you update your site map (after changing a page or adding new content), it also marks the pages you’ve changed and makes a note of what order to review it.

It’s a lot more systematic and efficient than random crawling, where there are no guarantees that the web crawlers will pick up on the most important pages. So even if it requires an additional step for web developers, it’s greater assurance that all the hard work you put into your content actually shows up in the searches.

Google Sitemaps was developed partly to resolve the problem encountered by big websites, wherein web crawlers would skip over some pages and fail to index some of the content. Considering the effect this can have on your search engine optimization efforts, that glitch can have a big impact on your ranking. And for websites that regularly change content (like product sites), you’d want your new stock to actually register—especially when you’re promoting a hot, trendy item.

So in short, to get your site into Google, you’ve got to make it easier for Google to find you—via their map. It’s not as complicated as it sounds. You just need to use a software tool to create a sitemap in Google’s chosen XML format, upload that to your site, and then send a URL notification to Google. And since you’re doing that anyway, make an HTML sitemap for the other search engines (Yahoo, MSN, etc.) and then include a link to it in an unobtrusive corner of your website. Many of those software tools can do that for you.

Is it expensive? Not really. For smaller sites (less than 500 pages) you can find several free Google Sitemap Generators. Look for those that allow you to restrict the directories that are being searched, and give instructions as to which files to index and which to avoid. This can be programmed through the filters and settings. For your convenience, you’ll also want one that lets you include PDF, .doc, .xls, and .zip documents.

Larger sites may require a trained webmaster, who can install a program on the site to help you index it and generate a sitemap. Of course, you can do it on your own (and again, you’ll find many XML sitemap tutorials and software on the Internet), but with 800 pages to handle you probably have other web administration worries to think about. It’s just easier to pass it on to a professional. Or at least, invest in a very efficient XML software that will take care of most of the details and has several tools and functions at its disposal.

Once you’ve chosen a program (or hired someone to set it up for you), you’ll have to create a Google account. They don’t charge for the service, and you’ll want to get features like tracking the status of your Sitemaps and reviewing the diagnostic information for your sites.

Now, you’re ready to conquer Google.

First, think about the theme of your site and write down the words you would use your self when searching for a similar site.  Now if the sites you expected came up then you have got a good list of keywords ready to build your site content around.

Do not make your content TOO keyword heavy though as this will result in a penalty from the search engines, there are lots of free tools available for you to check your keyword density and they will tell you what state your site is in regards the keyword situation.

Another good tip is to check your competitors who are getting good search results, view the source code on their page and make a note of their keywords, now have a look through that pages content to see what kind of keyword ratio they have.  Do not copy a competitors keyword and content per se, but use it to your advantage. A lot of websites tend to take their foot off the gas once they have a good search engine position. You need to put time into this constantly to stay ahead of the game.

Use Googles webmaster tools they are there to help you. Make sure your meta tags are correct, poor meta tags can affect you more than you think. Once you have good keyword density then you need to start building up traffic.