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Search Engine Optimization for Beginners
If you are confused about terms like "search engine optimization" or having a "search engine friendly" site, then listen up! I am here to help.
Depending on how long you have had, or considered having, a website online, you have heard terms thrown around like the above or even worse, acronyms! SEO comes to mind.
Really there is not that much to fear even if you have no idea right now what is really meant by having a search engine friendly site.
Here is what search engines like to have in their results when people type in keywords:
1. A site with lots of content.
2. A site with UNIQUE content (Original - meaning you wrote it or you paid someone to write it for you.)
3. Sites that are well organized link-wise (meaning simple navigation from the main page of your site to every other page of your site.)
4. Sites that have links pointing to them from other popular, relevant sites. (sites that are similar in content to yours but that are not in direct competition with yours in content)
5. Sites that change regularly (not static but always growing with new content on a regular basis)
6. Sites they can read. (search engine robots cannot read javascript for instance and therefore you get no credit for whatever content is in that application on your site)
7. Tightly themed sites. It is easier for an engine to rank your site properly (where you want it to be) if you are not all over the map in content.
Exception: Portal sites or directories. But this is an item for another article all together
What About The Complicated Stuff?
There really isn't anything complicated about what the search engines want. But if you have stumbled into a search engine forum you were likely blown away with comments and tips that were completely over your head.
There is a difference between basic, standard optimization and the stuff they talk about in those forums. While visting SEO forums is good to keep up on new things as you go along, many people get confused and the forums are the breeding grounds for confusion when you are a beginner.
Try to learn advanced SEO from noted experts in the field rather than taking anything in chats or forums as gospel. A lot more people THINK they know what they are doing than actually do.
Remember that anything someone is willing to give away for free which, if it works, could be worth tens of thousands of dollars in high rankings resulting in high sales, is probably something that is old hat and not effective anymore.
But for now, you have a lot of work to do on the basics. The advanced stuff can come later. Relative to the advanced SEO, getting the basics right is the most powerful move you can make because you are going from zero to moving up in rankings by, many times, tens of thousands of spaces in a relatively short time.
Advanced SEO focuses on moving your site from high rankings slightly higher rankings.
Keywords
Your content is the most important thing about a website. It must be friendly to the search engines meaning no special java script or other stuff. Just good old fashioned HTML. You will do fine with PHP, SHTML, and other things, but for the purpose of this article, HTML is the way most people construct their sites.
You should use a good density of your main keyword phrase for each page of your site within the content. If you are going after a high ranking for the phrase "dog leashes" you need to have that phrase in the title of the page and throughout the content.
Programs that are great for analyzing your site and giving feedback on how to improve your rankings don't come any more highly recommended that Internet Business Promoter from Axandra.
More Info: http://www.Axandra.com/go.to/jdh358
Nice thing about the software above is that it teaches you search engine optimization while it works on your site. So having it is like having a course on optimization while your site is altered for the best placement in the search engines at the same time.
The main recommendation I have for people starting to deal with optimizing their sites for the engines is to take things one at a time and get the basics down before you start messing with advanced strategies.
And when you start down that road, information you pay for is usually more accurate and more valuable than hanging around in forums. High rankings are worth a LOT of money and people don't work hard to become experts just to give that information away.
Good luck and get to work!
Jack Humphrey is the CEO of http://WebFoxMedia.com, an online marketing consulting firm that focuses on publicity, traffic generation and website development for small to large companies.
Google Patent Application - User Data As Part of Ranking Process
In this third article, we continue to dig into the patent application of Google regarding the method used to rank sites in search results. Interestingly, Google asserts in the application that it "might" consider user data as a factor in organizing search results.
Yahoos Back!
I was all set to write an article predicting the future of search engines, when Yahoo dropped Google and replaced it with its own engine. Now that's big news. In less than twenty-four hours, Google went from about 79% of the market share to about 51%, almost overnight. And what a welcome relief it is too! Being #1 in Google was great, but when you had the misfortune of dropping even a couple of positions you really felt it. Now there will be more stability; if you drop in Google today, your hits from Yahoo will remain consistent.
Search Engine Essentials
What are Search Engines?
How Search Engines Connect Sellers and Buyers
Maggie knows how to find what she wants. She lets her fingers do the walking ? not in the Yellow Pages, but at Google.com. She wants to learn about bread baking, and you have just written Bread Baking Made Simple, and you sell some great baking tools. The good news is the Google and other search engines exist for one simple reason: to help Maggie find your website.
Two Myths About the Search Engine Listing
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Adding Content To Your Site Every Day
If you have been a webmaster for more than a week, you've surely heard the saying "Content Is King". And it really is true! This article will explain why the regular addition of fresh content to your website is so crucial and explain several ways to do it easily and inexpensively (even free).
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.
Playing in Googlebots Sandbox with Slurp, Teoma, & MSNbot - Spiders Display Differing Personalities
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Content Management Systems Eyeball SEOs
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Things You Must Realize When Searching
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Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 2: Content Creation
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Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks
Use text links, avoid image links. Anyhow, if you have used image links, then always make sure to put your keywords in the alt tags. Put your prime keywords in text links and always insure to put a short descriptions of your website/page in minimum of 20-30 words or more if allowed. In text links if you are not allowed to add descriptions then always try to put a short descriptions in title tag. E.g.: title =" Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks ">Link Exchange Avoid repetition of keywords, repetition will lead to low rankings. Always try to exchange links from related websites (e.g. if you have a football league website, then a link from other sports websites will be known as related website links) Never, exchange links with unrelated websites/pages. Always ensure that the website that you are exchanging links with, is well optimized and has a good content. Never try to exchange links in quick sessions. Since search engines ignores or does not index those sites who gets bundles of links in quick time. Give your link exchange works few hours every day, to ensure that you get limited but quality links. Mainly for new websites, avoid exchanging bundles of links in quick sessions. Avoid creating a link/links.html file, since search-engines do not index link/links.html files, often. Always make a 'resources' (any appropriate name) folder and create an index.html file for that named folder and create appropriate html files for appropriate links going into them. (a sort of web-directory) Never, never exchange links with pages bearing more than 50 back-links. Generally 25 is appropriate and should not be more than two clicks away from the index/main page. Always ensure yourself that the page/website you are exchanging link is being indexed by the search engines or not. Also ensure on your own that the page/website you are exchanging link with, is not being blocked by any scripts, or disallowed by robots.txt, or disallowed by using noindex, nofollow on html page. Avoid linking to those tricky and false websites, and if possible inform already linked websites about the matter and ask them for link-exchange, if related to your websites. Links from the main/index page of the related website is the most quality link that a website can get. But, never try to place more than 20 back-links in index/main page. Exchanging links with your competitor's back linking website/pages are also the quality links that a website can get. Never post your website links to FFA, Guestbook, or other unrelated areas. Since search-engines completely ignores such links and may penalize your website. Site bearing good Google page rank are appropriate for link-exchange. Generally 4+ Google page rank is great for link-exchange. Exchanging links with old website is excellent. Link exchanging with new websites, with decent Google ranking at first, but bears quality contents and is well optimized, is also an excellent option for exchanging-links, since new websites bears less outgoing links than the old websites. While exchanging links for homepage of your website, also try to exchange links for sub-pages of it, for better ranking for that particular sub-page. Personal verification of the linking partner's website is recommended. Check for total incoming and outgoing links for whole website or for particular sub-pages of your linking partner's website and off course of your own before getting link exchanged.
Good Content: The Key To Search Engine Ranking
Good Content: The Key To Search Engine Ranking
If Content is King, then surely Relevance is Queen!
There has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the searchengine world of late and there are lots of conspiracytheories as to why these things happen.
2 Lesser Known Ways to Brainstorm for Internet Home Business Keywords
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Diary of a Google Gazumpee
Back in November, when the Google Dance began, Barry Lloyd of makemetop.co.uk wrote an article entitled "Been Gazumped by Google?" GAZUMPED! What a wonderfully descriptive term. In fact, it succinctly describes what happened to us when our website went from #1 to oblivion a few months ago.
Why is Search Engine Optimisation Expensive?
Many of our customers (http://www.internet-marketing-australia.com) find search engine optimisation (SEO) services quite expensive. From the client's point of view the results are intangible and the process is lengthy. Therefore, the clients are often reluctant to commit to the additional expense.
Why Do You Want to Link With A Home Business And Affiliate Website?
No, it's not a general question for all and sundry. Obviously, there are many who would want to link to a Home Business or Affiliate program related website and for good reason. They would be helping their Page Rank, if that's important any more however, more to the point, they would be improving their chances of a better ranking in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). But yes, you guessed it, THERE IS A PROVISO. A very important one, that so many people engaged in reciprocal linking programs just don't seem to be able to get their heads around?
SEOing A Flash Intro
Introduction
Creating a Google SiteMap For Your Work At Home Business Web Page
Search engine traffic is the best traffic You can get for your online Business. So if you are running a Home Based Business with an Online Presence why wouldn't you do everything possible to gain a Top Search Engine Ranking. One of the Simplest things you can do is Create a Google Site map.