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Improve Search Engine Rankings - The Real Deal!
Ok, here's the deal, follow these steps and shoot me if your rankings doesn't improve. I know that there's been so many articles on how to improve your search engine rankings but most of them are either incomplete or untrue. So I've put up a list of what works best to improve your rankings and I'm telling you now this works but it's no walk in the park.
1. Long before you register your domain, start creating pages. You have to write at least 50 pages with real content for your initial website. If you register your domain before creating pages, it would take you at least a month before you could create those 50 content rich pages (well of course that is assuming that you're not an english major grad. or a person with an IQ of 160) and you don't want your new website to be seen bared for that long.
2. For domain names, choose a catchy one word, easy to write, easy to type, easy to spell, easy to remember, easy on everything domain name like yahoo, google or webomania. Keywords domain (like bestoranges.com or workwhilesleeping.com) are way out today. They may still have some effects on rankings but not as much as they were not so long ago. Besides, if you think of it, the best and most popular websites have branded names, like yahoo, google, msn, amazon, nba, nike, and this goes on and on...
3. When designing your webpages always remember the popular verse, simplicity is the best policy! or was that honesty? anyway the point is, the simpler your webpages is the better in many ways.
Firstly, it would be more readable to your audience. Lots of clutters in your pages (like banners and heavy graphics) would defocus the attention of your audience from your content. Sometimes (or maybe all of the time) when a person looks at a webpage and see lots of distraction, he would leave your site immediately without even reading your content.
Secondly, search engines loves webpages with more content than html codes. Speaking of search engines, stay away from javascript as much as possible, SE hates JS so much and it does more harm to your site than good. If you can't help using JS, do it externally.
Thirdly, your webpages should be compatible with any web browsers out there in the entire universe! Seriously, with lots of different web browsers being used in the internet, your pages should be compatible with all of them. Of course, the simpler your webpages is, the more uncomplicated it is. And the more uncomplicated it is, the better for any web browsers however simple or complicated they may be! Are my sentences getting complicated?
Fourthly, a more simple webpage means less graphics, less codes and less kilobytes. This means (if you didn't get it) your webpages would load much faster and in the world of internet, speed isn't everything. It's the ONLY THING! Take Google for example.
Lastly, (this is my favorite) a simpler website is easier to make. So why spend hours on creating a single page that would hurt your audience eyes from reading, be rejected by search engines, be uncompatible with different web browsers and loads forever when you can make it in minutes with much better result?
4. "Content is King" which has been said so many times already (my ears are begginning to bleed on this phrase) couldn't be more true. Search engines loves hard-written, quality content. Build one page of content with at least 200 words per day. Timely and in demand articles are best. Learn to write web style. Use short sentences. Lots of breaks. Something that would be read quickly. People don't really read articles, they scan them. Use humor to not bore your readers. Try not to use complicated words (unless your site is about english major or scientific names), if it exceeds three syllables, its complicated. Remember, not all your audience are good in english and will appreciate your english expertise. If you're not sure about your content's readability ask your seven-year old son, or brother, or neighbor to read your content and ask if he understands.
5. Keyword Positions and Density. Use your keyword once in the title, description tag, headings, url, alt, bold, italic, at the beggining of your content and at the ending of your content. Choose a keyword density of 5-12 percent but never ever compromise grammar. Spelling is equally becoming important today as search engines are gearing towards auto correction.
6. Links. Make sure that you don't have any broken links within your site. All pages should be within reach from the root or at least 2 levels deep. Important pages should be linked from as much pages of your website. Your homepage should be linked on all pages of your website.
For exchange links, link only with websites that are within your topic. It is also quite helpful if you can get exchange links with websites in your niche that has a higher ranking than you. Here's a good idea, search for your niche in DMOZ and mail each websites listed in there for an exchange links.
For outbound links, use your keyword to link to a high ranking site. Make sure that you link to a relevant site with the keyword you use.
7. For hosting, if you have the budget, go for a private hosting with a stand alone ip.
8. Directories. Submit to DMOZ and Yahoo. Getting an inclusion here is weight heavily by SE specially by google. If you have the money pay for a submission to Yahoo for a faster review. Submit to other directories that you can find.
9. Search Engines Submission. Submit your homepage to Google, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos. You can submit to other search engines but it's not worth the effort. These 4 generates more than 90 percent of search results. Submit only once per 3 months. Submitting too much may ban your site. Dont panic if your site isn't indexed in a few months. Some are lucky if they're indexed within six months.
10. When your site do get indexed, make sure it is crawled entirely. If not, check your links.
11. Log and track your visitors. Study your log files. They are valuable. See where visitors are entering, going and exiting your site. If they're not going to important pages, tweak your design. If they're exiting abnormally on one page see why. Know what keywords visitors are using to reach your site. Build specific contents about those keywords.
12. Promoting your website. Use forums to advertise your site. Create articles and pass it around freely (with your url attached ofcourse). If you have the budget, use PPC advertising. $.5 per visitors might hurt you but if you're confident about the quality and content of your website, that person's next visit would be free.
You should also promote your website offline. Print your url on almost anywhere you can. Use your car, ballpens, jackets, t-shirt, freebies and giveaways. If you can, use the media. It might sound trickier but it is equally important. People would find your website more important when they see it on tangible objects.
After doing all those twelve steps, the last and hardest thing to do is wait. Be patient, no web sites are a one night success these days. Sleep and recharge for you have done a good job and soon, success would be yours. Goodluck!
http://www.webomania.org - website development and promotion
You can publish this article anywhere provided you do not alter anything.
Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 1: Keyword Selection
This is part one of ten in this search engine positioning series. In part one we will outline how to choose the keyword phrases most likely to produce a high ROI for your search engine positioning efforts. Over this ten part series we will go through ten essential elements and steps to optimizing a site. Some steps take a few hours, some may take months depending on the competition, but in the end and if done correctly you will have a well optimized site that will place well and hold it's positioning.
Search Engine Updates vs. SEO
Webmasters always anxiously wait for a search engine update. Those who rank well want to see their sites get even better. Those who didn't do well expect a major boost. Those whose sites get de-indexed anticipate a major comeback. Those who just started new sites bet on their sites will make into the first page of search engine result pages (SERPs) for their targeting keywords. Of course, not everyone will be happy about the results of search engine updates. After all, search engine traffic is a zero-sum game - someone loses and someone gains. Then, the webmasters start preparing for next update.
How To Make Your Website More Successful? (Part II)
In part I of our series of how to make your website more successful we already showed you some important tricks to build a more successful website. This time we are going to expand the scope a little to further improve your website and to make it work harder for you on the Internet.
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.
Driving Your Website through Google Sandbox
What is Google Sandbox?
Most Overlooked Search Engine Optimization Technique
Some of the basics when it comes to SEO and getting high ranking in search engines starts with using a keyword and then placing it strategically throughout the website in content, title, headline, etc. Using the keyword multiple times in your content is great, but lets look at something that a lot of websites completely overlook.
Importance of Keywords in Anchor Text or Title Text
Keywords are indisputably, the single most important element of an anchor text.
Getting To Know Google
Having greatly benefited from my relationship with Google in the past several years, I am dedicating this article to the search engine superstar.
Valid HTML code is crucial to Search Engine Optimization
Why valid HTML code is crucial to your web site's search engine optimization efforts and subsequent high rankings:
SEO Tips - Google Has Changed - Learn Why And What To Do
Google now checks the year your domain name was first registered.
Do the Robot!
Everyone should realize that the search engines (sponsored ads aside)are not tools for advertisement, they are meant to be tools for everday web users. Users who search the web are looking for information, thats it. They may want information on how to buy something, or they may simply want to what the weather will be later that day, but the fact is they want information, and search engines are out there to help them find the information!
Linking Strategies to Skyrocket to the Top of Google
If you don't know already, one of the key success factors to getting loads of free Google traffic to your website is increasing page rank. So just how do you increase your page rank? Well, it's all in the linking.
Search Warrant
So, you've just paid £300 - £10,000 for a new web site to be designed 'registered your URL' and now it's sitting on the World Wide Web. All your new stationery and Business Cards give the Web Site address quite clearly. The designer assures you that it has been 'submitted' to all the 'Search Engines' and, when you type in the address, there it is.
London Bombings and Number Patterns
Firstly, let me say that I am sure all our thoughts went out to the victims, their families and friends of these bombings, and other incidents where innocent people lose their lives. Secondly, an SEO ezine is not the place to debate the rights and wrongs of such events.
Search Engine Robots - How They Work, What They Do (Part I)
Automated search engine robots, sometimes called "spiders" or "crawlers", are the seekers of web pages. How do they work? What is it they really do? Why are they important?
Over Optimization and the OOP - Does a Penalty Exist?
If you have questions about whether or not the Over-Optimization Penalty (OOP) exists or not, then you obviously haven't pushed the limits enough with your own website optimization or organic SEO efforts to have experienced the joys of running into the OOP (Over-Optimization Penalty).
Screwed: Is this an inevitability in the SEO World?
By about 2pm everyday, each of my team members has spoken to a good handful of clients and potential clients who have been speaking with other SEO firms. This an absolutely wonderful thing to see, as in the past in our industry, not enough of our consumers were questioning what they were purchasing. It is a sign that accountability will come and the bad guys will be weeded out.While this is a good sign, it's the cause of my having to answer the same questions over and over. The consumers in the SEO world are being fed out and out lies by some of the people who call themselves experts in the area of Search Engine Optimization. They hear these lies and while comparing prices, contact us at Abalone Designs. They then proceed to tell me everything that all of these other companies promised them and I am utterly astonished. Here some of the most asinine claims I hear through the grapevine."We can guarantee your rankings" Don't be fooled! Ask the company what you will be ranking for, immediately! 9 times out of 10, a company that guarantees you rankings, is guaranteeing that you will rank for your own company name, which means people on Google or MSN or Yahoo! would have to know your company name before searching. How does this produce new customers and visitors to your site? Chances are, as soon as these search engines index your site, you will rank within the top ten for your company name, if not first, because it is unique. Why bother paying someone for something that is already going to happen, anyway? Guaranteeing rankings is highly unethical. It is impossible to guarantee rankings unless you have access to Google's database itself, and even then I'm not sure it's possible. Keep in mind, we are working with a 3rd party, here. A highly guarded 3rd party that doesn't, under any circumstances, reveal it's secrets. No one outside of the companies that run these search engines knows what it is exactly that makes search engines rank sites high. Especially due to the fact that these search engines and the rigorous ranking filters they use to spit out search results change almost monthly. Even a former Google employee doesn't know how to guarantee rankings! If someone is telling you they'll guarantee top rankings, run fast! Those are some shady, shady claims. Google themselves have said:"No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google - Beware of SEO's that claim to guarantee rankings, or that claim a "special relationship" with Google, or that claim to have a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is by using the page at http:// www.google.com/addurl.html. You can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever." - http:// www.google.com/intl/en/webmasters/seo.htmlAn ethical SEO company will not guarantee rankings. They will guarantee that their methods follow search engine guidelines, and they will guarantee customer satisfaction, but at no point in time will any SEO company with a conscience guarantee your rankings."Your site needs to be continually resubmitted to get on and stay on the search engines" When will I see the end of this one? How old is this method now? 5 years? 10 years? We're talking about the days when Webcrawler was the biggest search engine and all computers were beige! This claim is so fully untrue, had Pinocchio uttered it, his nose would have stretched from Rome to Poughkeepsie. And the good folks at Google will once again back me up on this one:"Submission is not necessary and does not guarantee inclusion in our index. Given the large number of sites submitting URLs, it's likely your pages will be found in an automatic crawl before they make it into our index through the URL submission form. We DO NOT add all submitted URLs to our index, and cannot predict when or if they will appear." - http:// www.google.com/intl/en/webmasters/1.html#A2"Meta tags are not important anymore"Sure they aren't. If you don't want a decent ranking on MSN. The new MSN search places a lot of value on the keywords and description meta tags. Without these tags in your site's code, your ranking on MSN will suffer. Just as importantly, if your keywords and description meta tags don't use proper language, your rankings will suffer. The description tag is also what MSN uses as the visible description for a site in the search results. And of course, to prove I'm not the one blowing hot air, here is what MSN themselves say about it:"Site descriptions are extracted from the content of your page each time MSNBot crawls your site and indexes its pages... ...the best way to affect your site description is to ensure that your web pages effectively deliver the information you want to see in search results." - Click here to see the page this is found on. "Your Web Site Has Been Sabotaged" This one is truly unreal. I can't believe it's even been used as an excuse for why an SEO company hasn't achieved decent rankings for you. But alas, more than one SEO company has told potential clients of ours that the reason they are not ranking well, or why their search engine optimization campaign is not effective, is because someone else has been sabotaging the site. Some of the clients who have been told this are small businesses, like bed and breakfasts or pet sitters. We always explain to these potential clients that the likelihood of someone even having the initial idea to sabotage a web site, the site in question would have to be a fairly large one, and the target of a lot of hatred. Why? Because sabotaging a web site's rankings takes a massive amount of time and energy. We're talking months, maybe even years of hard, hard work. Why would anyone devote months or years of their life to taking down a pet sitting site? Or a bed and breakfast?Once again, these are some hefty claims and it is a clear sign that the company who is running your SEO campaign is unwilling to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.Don't Put Up With It. The bottom line is, your search engine optimization company works for you. You are paying them. Hold them accountable as you would any other vendor. Keep reading these articles, read info at the search engines, educate yourself and if something your SEO says smells a little rotten, don't be afraid to call them on it.Is being screwed an inevitability in the SEO world? Damn near. But thanks to the increasing interest of our consumers in self-education and their increased questioning, our industry will slowly climb out of the gutter and someday down the line, send this article into antiquity. In spite of my pride, I'd be overjoyed to see that day come.
Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 3: Site Structure
Welcome to part three in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed the importance and considerations that much be made while creating the content that will provide the highest ROI for your optimization efforts. In part three we will discuss the importance of site structure.
Is Reciprocal Linking Dead?
I just read an article at SitePro News that really rings my bell.
SEO Expert Guide - Paid Site Promotion (Marketing) (part 7/10)
In parts 1 - 6 you learnt how to develop your proposition, identify your key words and optimize and promote (for free) your site and pages. You were also introduced to our mythical Doug (who sells antique doors, door handles, knockers, door bells or pulls and fitting services) in Windsor in the UK.