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Search Engine Optimization: What Is It?
Search Engine Optimization is the creation of a web page, purposely designed to rank well with the Search Engines.
If you want traffic to your website then you must Optimize your website for the Search Engines.
Search Engine Optimization is a necessity if you want a huge amount of traffic flowing to your website.
Traffic from the Search Engines is one of the best (And most abundant) forms of traffic. Most people use Search Engines to find what they are looking for. I do and I bet you do too.
You simply cannot afford to pass this up. If you do, then your competitors will be way ahead of you, taking customers which you could have had.
However, if you are going to undertake Search Engine Optimization I STRONGLY recommend that you do some extensive research before you start trying to create the "perfect" page for the Search Engines.
If you don't do enough research then you will find bits of Optimization information, but will it be correct or will it heavily penalize your website, or even completely ban it? If you end up doing the wrong thing, this is what can happen.
Examples of bad Optimization techniques:
Previously many of these probably worked. However the Search Engines are now actively looking for websites who may be implementing some of these techniques and penalizing them accordingly.
Cloaking:
What I mean is creating a page for a visitor but when a search engine spider goes to the page, they see something completely different. One way to detect if a website is doing this, is if they appear at the top of search results for a keyword that doesn't even appear on that page. This is a major no no. Sure it probably works incredibly well for a time. But when the Search Engines figure out what your up to, you can bet they will ban you permanently.
Keyword Stuffing:
This is the process of having as many keywords placed into the meta tags or content of the page whether they are relevant or not to the "content" of the page. Not only does this not work, it will work against you. Google for example will penalize you if you have a keyword more than once in a row. This is logical, as having 2 keywords in a row probably would not make sense. For example, for the keyword Golf, Google would penalize you if you wrote Golf Golf.
However, if the title of your page was "Golf", and the sentence beneath it was "golf is great because..." you would probably still be penalized.
Colouring keywords the same colour as their background:
This is quite self explanatory. It's bad because you're purposely hiding things from your website visitors, but still want the Search Engines to see it.
By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.
Google Rankings ? Achieving a Top 10 Position in Google ? Part 2
Achieving a top ranking position in Google is every webmasters dream. Unfortunately very few ever make it high enough for it to make a big difference on their traffic volume. If you are one of the few to make it onto the Top 10 list, you have probably found out that your listing doesn't always stay on top. So, besides all the other advice online, it is also extremely important to under stand your competition, and to properly use their key words to your advantage. This article is the conclusion in a 2 part series. In part 1 we looked at how to effectively use Google rankings in helping us better understand our competitors. Part 2 will discuss how to maximize and use Google Suggest to determine the frequency of various key word searches.
Advertise Locally Using Search Engines
While search engine advertising has been a great advertising medium for businesses capable of or interested in marketing their products and services to a national or international audience, the effectiveness of this type of advertising was limited for businesses interested in advertising to a local market until very recently.
SEO #1: Choosing THE Keywords to Optimize for
This is the first lesson out of 6 that teaches you the most important elements of search engine optimization. You should read one of these 6 courses EVERY day so that you can have enough time to "digest" all the information and put them to the test. Now today is DAY #1 and I will start with the first course on the list:
Search Engine Wars - Quality Searches Vs Quantity!
It is no secret that Google and Yahoo are on a continuous battle to win our hearts and get everyone to convert, but is converting someone really a matter of the quantity or the quality?
Drive More Traffic to Your Website With Your Web Page Title!
One of the most overlooked, but important components, on your web page is the Meta title. The Meta title is the text or page title found at the top left of your browser window and it is also the title saved when a web site visitor bookmarks your website. Some people will argue that search engines put little or no value on the title tag, but regardless of how the Meta title figures into the ranking algorithm, the title tag is still critical to driving new and repeat traffic to your website.
Would You Let A Dog Or A Butler Market Your Website?
The latest news to hit the Internet's 'water cooler' is that Lycos and Ask Jeeves are to begin their own SEO services..
Beating the New Google AdWord Rules with Blogs and RSS
When Google Adwords first came on scene, it was not immediately apparent to most people how to utilize the system to create wealth, until John Carpenter popularised it with his Google Cash system, a book he wrote some time back.
What To Look For When Shopping For A SEO Specialist
When, shopping for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company/specialist you need to be aware of a few things.
When to Hire a Professional SEO Firm?
In efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives ? specifically, search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization or (SEO) is the art and science of blending technical and marketing skills together into a finely tuned website that is both search engine-friendly, ranks well for specific keywords and phrases, and is tailored to your audience from a buyer and seller perspective.
Do Search Engines Like Your Web Site?
Between 75% and 98.8% of visitors to Web sites come from searches made at search engines. If you're going to get high levels of traffic - and hence the levels of ROI you're looking for - it's very important that the search engines can access all the information on your Web site.
Increase Web Site Sales with a SEO Proposal - Part 2
Part I of this article discussed some of the points that should be included in a search engine optimization proposal. Visit the resources section at the bottom of the page if you wish to get a copy of the whole article.
Web Site Copy is about More Than Keywords
Let's say you are writing a web site to sell beach homes on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
Google Is Taking Descriptions From Alexa!
In a recent study looking at the "descriptions" of website search engine listings, we have noticed that your main SERP listing is being manipulated by Alexa.com.
Search Engines - The Dominant Factor
Let's face facts - Search engines are starting to rule and dominate the way people advertise their products and services.
8 Essential SEO techniques
1) Title Tag - The title tag is the most powerful on-site SEO technique you have, so use it creatively! What you place in the title tag should only be one thing, the exact keyword you used for the web page that you are trying to optimize. Every single web page should have it's own title tag.
An Easy Way Not to Get Banned by Google
Strategic search engine optimization involves far more than keyword research, META tags and content.
Can Google Really Deliver Country Specific Searching?
This is a serious matter, can Google really deliver top quality search results for other countries? The answer so far is "sort of". In this article I will use Canada as an example of the quality or lack of thereof, that is delivered by Google's search results.
Search Engine Musical Chairs
News broke this week that Yahoo has purchased the Inktomi search engine for around US$235 million. This is an interesting development in the search engine industry that may impact greatly on exactly where sites get their traffic from. Another new development in the past few weeks is the change to the HotBot service but first, I'd like to look at the ramifications of the Yahoo/Inktomi deal.
RSS Feeds - a Website Owners Friend in Disguise
We've all heard about it-it seems like all the buzz right now in the search engine marketing industry is RSS. If you're a website owner, than there are two ways your website can benefit from using RSS on your website-you can provide an RSS feed or, for the not-so-technically-inclined folks like me, you can use an RSS feed to keep your site's content fresh.
Google: The Ultimate Web Writer?s Style Guide
Indulge me for a moment.