How to Protect Your Search Engine Rankings
10 2009 Tuesday
6
By B Hopkins in SE Submission
If you have a web site that you have been maintaining and updating on a consistent basis for several years, chances are, you have acquired some decent traffic from the search engines. The thing that most webmasters don’t consider is that once they have that search engine traffic, it doesn’t mean it will stay forever. There are things that can happen with your web site that can cause it to drop out of the search engine rankings. So what is a web master to do in order to keep their search engine rankings?
Some very legitimate high quality sites are being hurt by some of the actions taken by the search engines to ban the spammy sites created by less than above-board webmasters. There are some things a webmaster can do to reduce their chances of their legitimate site being mistaken for a spam site.
1) Take care in who you are linking to on your website.
While it is good to have links that are helpful to your web visitors, you need to be careful who you are linking to. If you link to sites that are considered “bad neighborhoods”, you will certainly see a drop in your search engine results. This is because the search engines will assume that you are linking just to increase your search engine ranking. Avoid linking to sites and pages that are mostly a list of links. Many of these sites are somewhat spammy and also link to many other “questionable” sites. If you want to put your link in a link directory, go for high quality link directories, especially if these directories require a reciprocal link back to their site. Sometimes paying the few bucks they ask for to get listed could be worth it as it will filter out all of the spammers. The penalty hit is from an action on your part of linking to the bad neighborhood so you can control it by not linking to one in the first place. If you aren’t sure if the sites are in bad neighborhoods or not, you can easily check it out by using online tools that tell you if your website is linking to a bad neighborhood. Tools like bad-neighborhood.com give you detailed information about the websites you are linking to.
2) Make sure your keyword density isn’t too high
Your keyword density is also a factor that affects your search engine rankings. Search engines determine the relevance of your website to a particular subject by the use of keywords in your web page text. The higher the density of the keyword, the more relevant the web page for that keyword subject. However too high a keyword density, and the search engines will consider you trying to spam the search engines and will penalize your website for keyword stuffing, or keyword spamming. Content with a conversational tone or a natural editorial flavor can produce a premium keyword density and leave you with good quality content. The old rule of thumb is that your keyword should never appear in more than half of the sentences on the page. A better approach is to have your keyword not appear in more than 1/3 of the sentences, yet use synonyms and other related keywords on the page as well to add relevance. In total, you don’t want your keyword density to be above 3%. Tools like keyworddensity.com can give you a quick reference to web page keyword density.
There are some simple things you can do to keep your legitimate web site above board and not have it mistaken for a spam site so it doesn’t lose rank in the search engines. These 2 are some of the easiest and quickest things you can do to keep your website above board and ranking well in the search engines
B. Hopkins is an Internet Business Strategist who creates Internet strategies that will generate revenue for your website. To find out more about how to get your website to make money for you, use these Web Training Programs to get you going quickly.Calculate your SEO requirements
09 2009 Monday
21
By Greg Newell in SE Submission
Search engine optimization delivers predictable results. Many people might argue with that, but it’s absolutely true. I can’t think of another advertising medium that provides the data you need to precisely determine your requirements the way the web can.
From a business viewpoint, every SEO campaign should be run with the idea that there is a significant return on investment. Very often in advertising, it is somewhat of a guess relative to what you can expect. Marketing on the internet is a much more predictable process.
Establishing SEO requirements starts with an easy question. “What increase in revenue should your site generate in the upcoming year?” Bear in mind that the more unreasonable the answer to this question is, the more difficult it will be to reach your target. Set achievable goals!
Once you’ve established your revenue target, you’re done. That’s it. That’s your goal! OK, so not exactly. The point is, your revenue targets are your goals. Goals should not be expressed in terms of traffic, hits, or even how much the site shows up in the search engines (but it sure helps : ). But let’s say that our sights are set on meeting our revenue targets via search engine results. That’s the purpose of an SEO campaign.
HOW MANY CLIENTS DO YOU NEED? You should be able to state clearly your revenue targets and the average annual value a client brings to your business. If you know that, then simple division will tell you how many new clients you need. You should also have a “gut feel” for how many of a hundred people on your website turn into clients. So with that, you should be able to determine how many visitors you need to generate to your site to develop those clients.
The number of visitors required is equal to the number of clicks that are required. The purpose of a good SEO campaign is to increase the number of visitors who are searching for your products and services. Successful SEO creates enough impressions on the search engine results pages (SERPS) to deliver enough visitors to meet the revenue targets.
Getting on the first page of the SERPS generates an impression, or a chance that the visitor will click on your site. Since very few people advance beyond the first page of results, a conservative SEO specialist considers the first page of the SERPS the ONLY place to be and of course number one is best if you can get it.
AOL published information showing that first place in the search results gets almost half of the organic clicks. Second gets 10-15%. Third gets 5-10%. The remaining scrounge around 3-6% but at least they made it to the party. Conservatively, you can estimate that with a well executed SEO campaign, that you will get 5-10% (we’ll use 7%) of the search volume. Predictably, you’ll be somewhere on the first page of the SERPS. So, if you need 100 visitors, then you need impression in 100/.07 (1,428) total searches.
Once you’ve established your total search volume to optimize for, you then move into keyword selection. The best strategy is to choose a broad range of keywords instead of going after the more popular ones. Remember this: Most of the time its easier to rank for many low volume keywords than a single high volume one that equals the same number of searches. Further, lower volume keywords are usually more relevant and more specific to the needs of the visitor. Ultimately, they convert better. You’ll also discover that once you know your total search volume requirements, your keywords collectively will meet the search volume requirements without extending into a range that’s impossible to optimize for. You can develop a much more practical approach to your SEO campaign.
Greg Newell – Try the SEO Requirements Calculator. Click>>SEO DaytonAdvertise Smarter: How to Gain Maximum Exposure with Local Business Directories
08 2009 Monday
17
By Sarah Simmons in SE Submission
Lately it seems like more and more companies are not advertising. There could be a number of reasons why they are not advertising. One reason could be that they want or need more advertising, but simply haven’t set aside any part of their budget for marketing. Another reason is that they will receive little or no exposure, and lose the entire investment of their marketing budget.
Whatever the reason you have for not advertising your company, whatever your product or service, company size or marketing budget – forget it! You’d have to be crazy not to put any effort into advertising your company, especially when the rule of thumb of advertising dictates that every $1 spent on advertising brings in $3 of revenue. At this cost vs. benefit ratio, who wouldn’t advertise?
Businesses who don’t advertise just haven’t found the way to advertise smarter. When it comes to business advertising, it seems like the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. While it may seem like competitors are getting more business, better advertising and more profits for less work, this is not always the case. With local business directories, smaller companies can maximize their exposure for less money and less work.
What is a business directory?
In simplest terms, a business directory is a website where business owners can add their website and details about their company. This information is generally listed in categories to allow visitors to the business directory to find the products or services they need quickly and easily.
Why are business directories smart advertising?
Advertising via print, TV or radio is expensive, and will not always reach your target demographic. Local business directories allow you to reach targeted local online consumers looking for your specific services. With a local business directory you don’t have to break the bank to get good online exposure.
How can I advertise smarter with a business directory?
The first step is to find the best business directory for your company. Shop around, and compare costs, however make sure you compare apples to apples (one niche business directory could be very different from another niche). You want the largest service area and the most number of categories you can be placed in for a reasonable price (more exposure = greater return).
Do your homework and google what you think your customers will search to find the product or service your company offers. Business directories that are already listed on the first page for your target keywords should be your first choice. Make sure your choice of business directory limits the amount of members they take and also provides a source of credibility for you and your company, you don’t want to be just one out of thousands of listings.
Don’t put all your eggs in one advertising basket. Pick two or three different business directories and find the ones that work best for your particular product or service. For the best outcome spread the field, and set a budget (don’t be too cheap here or your test will not yield good results).
Most importantly, find a business directory that will not tie you into a long term contract. Make them put their money where their mouth is and earn your hard earned money on a month to month basis.
Gain Maximum Exposure
Dollar for dollar, an online business directory is the best way to advertise smarter, not harder. With lower costs than traditional advertising, and more focused traffic to your company’s website, business directories truly are a wise marketing and advertising choice.
Sarah Simmons – TenList creates a win-win situation by connecting local businesses with local customers to provide a business directory with True Local Results for all. For a fraction of what other business directories charge, TenList can drive unlimited search engine traffic to your business.Getting Your Website Noticed by the Search Engines
10 2008 Wednesday
29
By Erin Ferree in SE Submission
You’ve just launched your website, marking the end of a huge effort and the beginning of a whole new way of doing business. Now, all you have to do is sit back and wait for visitors to flood in, right?
But, wait, people have to know your site there in order to visit. So you go over to Google and search on your field to find your business. You don’t see anything on the first few pages. Disappointing, but that’s o.k. After all, your site’s pretty new. Then you do a search on your company name, expecting to see your new site in the first position.
That’s when the panic sets in…
Uh oh. Not only is your site not in the first slot, it’s not even on the first page! For your own name! What’s going on here? Did your designer do a bad job? Is your web host to blame? Why isn’t it there yet???
Calm down!
Before you have to start breathing into a paper bag, realize that getting listed takes time. There are millions of websites out there with more uploaded every day. The search engines browse all these sites, adding them to their data banks, and updating their listings if the site already exists. But they can only get through so many sites in a day. It may take a while to locate and scan your new site.
So how can you shorten the time it takes to be listed in Google’s results?
Unless you make it easier for search engines to find you, it may take time, even years for this to happen naturally. To speed the process, take the following actions. They’re simple and well worth the effort.
1. Submit your site
Tell Google and the other search engines that you’re there! Look for the “Submit Your Site” links on their sites and follow the instructions. Go to dmoz.org and list your site there. Though these aren’t guaranteed ways to get listed, they’re free, they only take a few minutes and every little bit helps.
2. Make sure your site’s not an island
Search engines follow links to navigate around the Internet. If your site is not linked to other sites, you’ve greatly reduced the chance that a search engine will find it naturally. Make sure that other sites, business directories, article libraries, your clients, link to yours and you’ll get found more quickly.
3. Break down and pay
Some engines, such as Yahoo, also have paid inclusion plans. For a fee, they’ll visit your site immediately and list you promptly. If your business is a storefront, for example, depends on attracting visitors, you’ll want to pay for a listing.
4. Establish your presence with a blog
The search engines love, love, love blogs. Blogs give them exactly what they want, which is new text-based information. If you start a blog that also links to your site, you’ll be more likely to lead the search engines right to you.
If you take even 2 or 3 of these actions, you’ll decrease the time it takes for the search engines to find you. And visitors will rush to your site, just like you wanted!
Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand out in front of their competition and attract more clients. One of the best ways to do that is with Search Engine Optimization, which you can learn about in her eLearning product, Raise Your Ranking, which is available at http://www.howtoraiseyourranking.com .Monitoring Search Engine Positions
10 2008 Tuesday
7
By Filomena Serraino in SE Submission
Since search engines are the first stop for people on the Internet looking for goods or services, the position your website appears in search results is an important factor. If your URL shows up far down the results list, the chances of the consumer never finding you increase incrementally. Once you achieve a high search engine position, it is essential that you make sure you maintain the high ranking you have worked so hard to achieve.
This means you must come up with a strategy to monitor your search engines positions. This strategy is crucial to the success of any marketing campaign. Think of your search engine positions as your online portfolio. Would you let your stock portfolio be ruled by chance and market fluctuations, or would you keep close tabs on your stocks so you could buy and sell when the time is right? This is the way you must consider your search engines positions.
Be aware that at first, after you have launched your search engine campaign and done all the right things to increase your rankings, you will most likely see a continual upward climb. What you need to be on the lookout for is the moment that upward climb reaches a plateau. When this happens, your search engine position campaign moves into stage two, the monitoring and protecting stage.
In stage two, do not be concerned about the short-term fluctuations in your positions. These are similar to the subtle rising and falling of stocks in a portfolio. Short-term movement is an integral part of the whole process. It’s the long-term changes that you must watch for and prepare to act on immediately.
Analyzing the long-term trends of search engines positions is imperative. The way in which search engines rank websites may change at the drop of hat. If you are unaware of these changes – many of which are subtle yet can be deadly to your ranking – your position may drop to the bottom of the list before you can get your bearings. To prevent this kind of precipitous drop, you must create a system to monitor your positions on a monthly basis. Devise a chart to keep tabs on your top ranking positions or your top pages, and make sure to watch “the market” closely.
Each search engine uses a formula to compute website rankings. When a search engine changes this formula in any way, it may raise or lower your ranking. Some search engines use a number of different formulas, rotating them so that a formula doesn’t become overused or outdated. Depending on which formula is being applied, your search engine position may suddenly drop or rise in rank significantly. Therefore, you must check your positions frequently in order to catch when a search engine changes formulas and what effect it has on your positions.
You must also deal with your competition – a crucial factor you must always be vigilant about. Your competitor’s position may suddenly rise, automatically lowering your position. Or their position may drop, pushing your position higher. Each month, expect position changes due to the continual changes that are occurring in your competitor’s position, and be prepared to adjust your marketing strategy to compensate for decreased rankings. Monitoring these fluctuations will also give you vital information about how to improve your website to increase your position in search results.
Of course, you must discern what the most popular search engines are in order for your monitoring efforts to be effective. Right now, there are ten popular search engines that direct most of Internet traffic to your sites. The challenge you face is that these top ten may change from month to month.
This means that your must not only monitor your search engine positions, but you must also keep track of the ranking popularity of the search engines you are monitoring. Find out which search engines people use most frequently every month and be sure to live in the present! People are fickle about their favorite search engines, and it takes constant vigilance to follow their dalliances. The search engines they loved when you first launched your campaign may be old news in the next few months. You must adjust your list of engines according to the whims of the Internet users. Check out http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/netratings.html for a current list of website favorites.
Another factor to monitor carefully is a sudden drop of your positions in all search engines. This is not the same as monthly fluctuations – this is a neon red warning sign! It could mean a number of different things.
It all your search engine positions have plummeted, it may indicate that search engines spiders – those sneaky programs that seek out your site and rank their positions – have found some type of problem with your website. If you have recently changed the code, for instance, the spider may become utterly confused and consequently drop your positions disastrously. If a spider creeps up on your website when it is down for adjustments or changes, you may actually disappear from a search engine index entirely. Or a search engine may drastically change its formula, and suddenly all of your website come up as irrelevant. If that search engine is a current favorite, it may create a domino effect, causing all of your position to drop in all search engines.
Some search engines rely on the results from other search engines, and it is vital that you know which engines these are and keep track of all the engines they influence. The biggest problem here is that search engines will sometimes change affiliations, and this can create a major shift in the geography of the Internet. For example, recently Yahoo decided to display only results gleaned from Google. So you must not only monitor your own positions, but you must keep abreast of seismic shifts in the landscape of the Internet as a whole.
Finally, pay attention to your keywords. Keywords are the foundation bricks of the entire search engine system, and they demand individual scrutiny in your monitoring efforts. If you have found that a number of your positions have plummeted, it may mean that a page of your website has become invisible or inaccessible to search engine spiders. Or the competition for that particular keyword or phrase has recently rocketed into outer space. In either case, you must act quickly and efficiently to regain lost ground.
Your search engine marketing campaign is an investment. If costs you time and money on a continual basis. Protect this investment as diligently as you would your financial portfolio. In the same way, track your positions from an objective perspective, and monitor your positions on a regular basis. Make sure your time and effort reap rewards by keeping your eye on the big picture – your long-term marketing campaign.
Filomena Serraino – Using one way links for your Web Promotion gets results. WHY? Link popularity is one of the most important factors in search engine performance. Increasing the number of links to your Website will get your site listed higher in search engine results, generating more Website Traffic, increasing your Google PR and improving your site’s overall strength. http://www.seolinkmart.comThe Phases of SEO Part I
09 2008 Tuesday
2
By Jeffrey Smith in SE Submission
According to Wikipedia
– A phase is one part or portion in recurring or serial activities or occurrences logically connected within a greater process, often resulting in an output or a change. Hence, in this instance we refer to the Phases of SEO.
With so many posts online vague touting the practice of SEO, what better time to lay the foundation from a tactical point of view about the subject. What follows are the Phases of SEO and how to apply them strategically for optimal search engine visibility.
Phase I – Pick a topic: this is the most crucial phase, the more relevant the content on your site is based on semantic topics the higher your pages will rank collectively.
Just think of the buddy system, as soon as one page cracks the top 10 results for Google for a specific keyword, based on how you link to yourself you can pull other keywords into the spotlight.
Phase II – Strategically Develop Content: Creating a wealth of information on a topic is a bonafide long-term SEO Strategy. Granted this method is not applicable for every site, however, once your site hits a specific benchmark as far as size is concerned and the content is grammatically correct and well written, then the reputation of quality and website authority is developed over time which is all you need to outrank 90% of the competition.
Most seasoned authority sites that rank across several thousand keyword combinations are websites that have two prominent things, age and thousands of pages (both provide link equity to the main domain).
The first noticeable stage is when a site has 200-300 pages, the first signs are typically increased spidering activity and discovery time for fresh content. What this means is, the less time you have to wait for your changes to impact the search engines result pages.
Less time waiting in line to get in the index translates to content and link building velocity, which leads to the next step. The next benchmark happens around 600 pages, 1000 and so on.
Phase III – Internal Link Building: Just think Wikipedia for one moment to grasp the depth of this SEO model. The site reeks of authority on virtually every topic ever known to man, yet the simplicity of the site architecture and linking makes topical relevance seem like second nature. This is a pure content development strategy.
There is something to learn about not trying to cover too many topics in one area or on one page, however there are no quandaries about creating more pages to accommodate additional topics.
The missing ingredient is trust and time, which when developed, provide the expression for those solid internal links (if have a page about green widgets, then link to it from any other page that mentions widgets in the site) this will create a virtual theme on the subject.
By reinforcing topical relevance through methods such as these, you can cut your reliance on other sites to a minimum as your own site gains the ability to promote itself to search engines.
Just think of it like a good friend who may not need the third party referral as trust is developed when search engines become more familiar with your topic and allow your pages to cut to the front of the line.
The higher you rank above the fold (on the page without having to scroll) the more traffic clicks your results in search engines, so the real value of adding copious amounts of content through new pages with relevant titles (like a shopping cart, blog posts or articles) strategically over time, the higher your site will rank for the terms in the title tag as well as the content on those pages, so get cracking.
Stay Tuned for The Phases of SEO Part II series when we cover (1) time and chronology and how it impacts Page Rank and Trust Rank (2) which keywords are worth it and why (3) how to externally link to your posts for optimal results and (4) what indicators to look for as your site starts to sprout rankings from keyword stemming as well as other fundamental SEO principals…
Jeffrey Smith is an active internet marketing optimization strategist, consultant and the founder of Seo Design Solutions Seo Company http://www.seodesignsolutions.com. He has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and fresh marketing strategies to individuals involved in online business.
Smarter SEO; How to Own ANY Niche
08 2008 Wednesday
20
By Michael Small in SE Submission
Just ten years ago if you wanted to profit in a niche market it was typically an expensive and risky undertaking. First you had to do the research to see if the industry was big enough to support you. Then you would setup a shop of some sort, whether it was a storefront, mall kiosk, or kitchen table run a mail order company and tons of little classified ads to bring in the business. It usually took at least six months to see if a profit was likely in your future and finding good suppliers for specialty items could be just as demanding as selling the stuff you managed to get hold of. Thanks to the Web, those days are long gone.
Today, with a little basic information and $50 you can have a nice niche thing going. Or with that same $50 and some hard won insider tips you can OWN any niche you want. That’s what we’ll focus on.
First things first, spend wisely. Setup a budget early on and find ways to stay within it. Use free tools whenever possible and when you do need to spend money on something, make sure it’s a bargain.
Okay, now for the good stuff. Let’s start with finding our keywords…
Part One: Finding Keywords
Finding Keywords 1: We can use a free tool to do this part. Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and type in a common word or phrase that describes your niche (check the Use synonyms box to get the best variety of results.)
Finding Keywords 2: Now click on the “Approx Avg Search Volume” header to sort by the average monthly volume. You are going to take each of the search terms that look like good possible keywords and run a search on Google for them. But lets keep track. Take a sheet of paper (or Excel doc) and jot down the keyword, then the “Approx Avg Search Volume” and finally the number of pages returned on Google.
Finding Keywords 3: When you have that information for a good handful of keywords you want to come up with a success potential ratio for each. It’s easy. Just divide the “Approx Avg Search Volume” by the number of pages on Google. This is your success potential ratio. The higher the number; the better.
Example A: Approx Avg Search Volume (6,500) / Matching Pages on Google (100,000) = .065 is your Success Potential Ratio
Example B: Approx Avg Search Volume (9,750) / Matching Pages on Google (233,000) = .042 is your Success Potential Ratio
Example B has a lot more searches performed but with even more competition than A. Long story short, this means the keyword from Example A is likely our best bet to target.
Part Two: Securing Domain Names
Securing Domain Names 1: Now go to your favorite domain registrar (like Godaddy.com Register.com or whatever) and run a domain registration availability search for the keyword phrase with the highest Success Potential Ratio.
Securing Domain Names 2: Use dashes! And don’t feel like the splits need to be perfect. For example, if you have a possible domain that is three words long, first try it without any dashes. That will be gone, I can almost guarantee. Next try separating each word with a dash. Maybe it’s taken, maybe not. If not, grab it! If it is taken, don’t despair. Try just one dash between the first two words and let the second and third run together. If that version is taken, move the dash so it is between the second and third while the first and second run together. Chances are you will find one that works. Ad the best part is the search engines read it as the same keyword!
Securing Domain Names 2: Keep in mind, this domain and resulting Website is for SEO purposes NOT branding. Who cares how long it is or how many dashes it has? Certainly not you. The search engines will love it!
Securing Domain Names 3: A word of advice… Get your domain name as quickly as possible. The older it is, the better in Google’s eyes. And they actually run date scans on domains using a Whois registry so they know the exact date and minute the domain was registered.
If you’ve never used one check out AllWhoIs.com or BetterWhoIs.com and enter any domain name. It tells you all kinds of stuff, including the owner, registrar, date or registration and even the owner’s home phone address if that’s what he or she used to register.
Securing Domain Names 4: As for the domain type, .com is best bet and .net and .org extensions also do well. I don’t bother with the others and I really strive for .com whenever possible.
Part Three: Deciding on Website Type
Deciding on Website Type 1: Do you want a blog or a regular static site? For quickest results I recommend setting up a WordPress blog (free technology with thousands of free templates.) Google loves blogs because they are fresh, dynamic and already nearly perfectly optimized for their spidering bot.
Deciding on Website Type 2: If you do go with WordPress I also recommend installing the free WordPress plugin “All in One SEO Pack” by Michael Torbert. It’s amazing and totally free. You can get it at http://semperfiwebdesign.com/category/portfolio/wordpress/wordpress-plugins/
Part Four: Finding Web Hosting
Finding Web Hosting 1: There are tens or thousands of companies you can go with or you can even just host your site at WordPress.com.
Finding Web Hosting 2: Personally I like to maintain full control of my site for future expansions and customizations. And I have so many niche blogs in service that saving even just a few bucks is a big deal. I use the starter blog package available at http://www.vortexhost.com/hosting/blog-hosting.php for $25 per year. It’s also got push button WordPress installation, which is nice. So I’m up and running in about five minutes.
Finding Web Hosting 3: But again, there are literally tens of thousands of hosts to choose from. Shop around and stick with one you really like. It’s much easier to track each of your niche blogs with a single host (control panels, stats, etc.)
Part Five: Optimizing Your Site
Optimizing Your Site 1: So far we’ve covered how to select the most profitable keywords, purchase unbeatable domain names, use the Website type most revered by Google for quickest results and how to get reliable inexpensive hosting with bonus features. And we have only spent about $35 ($10 for the domain and $25 for hosting.)
Optimizing Your Site 2: Now we move onto the actual optimization part. I will laundry list the things you need to keep in mind for a competitive edge and recommend a tool bargain if you decide you need one.
Use two of your most important keywords per page; the primary and a secondary.
Use your main and secondary keyword in the page or post title.
Try to make each page about 500 words in length or more, using at least five paragraphs.
Mention your main keyword about four time one the page as follows: Once at the beginning of the first sentence, once in the second paragraph, once in the third paragraph and once towards the end of the final paragraph.
Mention your secondary keyword about four time one the page as follows: Once toward the end of the first sentence, once in the third paragraph, once in the fourth paragraph and once towards the beginning of the final paragraph.
Add your keywords and META descriptions to the WordPress plugin “All in One SEO Pack” and let that do the heavy lifting for you.
Optimizing Your Site 3: If you have an SEO analyzer tool, use it. This is a tool that goes through you site just like Google will, and does the same to your top competitors that dominate your search engine of choice, then tells you EXACTLY what you need to do to steal their top positions.
Optimizing Your Site 4: If you don’t have a tool like that but think it would help, you can download a free trial version of one of the better ones at http://www.iBusinessPR0M0TER.com. If you decide to buy it, you will have the same tool that makes eBay number one all over the world. And for about $250.
Well that’s it. You can dominate any niche you want with little time, effort or expense. Why do I feel so confident about it? This is the exact process I have used to dominate over fifty niches from Bass fishing to coin collecting and, of course, search engine optimization.
Above all else enjoy the ride. Best of luck!
Mike Small is the owner and founder of http://www.SEOpartner.com . With eleven years in the SEO industry he has written several popular books on optimization and continues as a consultant working with clients from around the US, UK and Japan.Is Search Engine Positioning Dead?
06 2008 Thursday
5
By Jennifer Horowitz in SE Submission
One of the trendiest takes on Internet marketing these days seems to be this notion that securing top search engine rankings “no longer works.” Where it started, I have no idea.
But rarely does a week go by when I don’t see one or more Internet marketing “experts” claiming that search engine positioning is largely a waste of time and should not be a primary focus of web site owners.
Well…as the saying goes, “there are two sides to every story.”
But let’s not make this article about my side, or your side, or anyone else’s side. Let’s forget about my opinion and other “experts” opinions and stick to the indisputable facts, as reported by highly credible 3rd party sources:
- According to a Forrester Research Media Field Study, getting a loyal audience in the first place is best done by Search Engine Placement.
- According to a GVU Users Survey, 84.8% of Internet users use Search Engines to find websites.
- In a study released by ActivMedia Research in September 1999, Search Engine Positioning was ranked as the #1 website promotional method used by eCommerce sites.
- And look what I found in the April 2000 issue of Target Marketing Magazine. (Source: IMT Strategies – imtstrategies.com)
“Top Ways Websites are Discovered”
Banner ads: 1%
Targeted email: 1.2%
TV spots: 1.4%
“By accident”: 2.1%
Magazine ads: 4.4%
Word-of-mouth: 20%
Random Surfing: 20%
Search Engines: 46%
You’ve now seen the numbers and know that search engine promotion is very much alive and kicking. But let’s take this a step further. Let’s talk about the *quality* of prospects coming to your web site through search engines as opposed to other advertising mediums.
Every time your potential customers use the search engines, they qualify themselves as *hot prospects* by conducting searches on keywords that are directly related to your product or service. Their choice of keywords is proof that they have a genuine interest in what you offer. These people spend their valuable time exploring the search engines for your type of product or service.
Think about that.
They didn’t stumble upon one of your ads, or wander past a hyperlink to your site. And they didn’t get a banner ad thrown in their face. They made the *decision* to actively search the keywords that brought them to YOUR website. And when they get there, they are ready and willing to do business with you. At the very least, they’re seriously considering it!
But merely getting your website “indexed” or listed in the search engines is not enough. In order to get any significant traffic from the search engines, your website must be listed within the top 30 search results (preferably the top 20).
Very rarely will anyone look beyond the first 30 results returned from a search. This makes perfect sense because the most relevant sites are always listed at the top. So if your prospect doesn’t find what they want within the first 20 to 30 listings, they’ll simply do a new search.
If your site falls anywhere below the 30th listing, you don’t stand a chance against anyone in the TOP-20. Hence, it should be your goal to achieve Top 20 positions.
So how do you get your website listed in the top 20?
- You can attempt to gain these Top 20 rankings yourself. However, this can easily become a full time job. (I think this is why so many marketers advise against focusing on search engine positioning.)
- You can hire a reputable company who can achieve AND maintain your Top 20 rankings for you (be sure they guarantee their service and have several verifiable clients that currently have multiple Top 20 rankings).
- You can do nothing at all. But as you’ve seen from the third party statistics I referenced above, search engine positioning is something you can’t afford to ignore.
Whichever choice you make, I hope that your eyes have been opened to the tremendous profit potential that exists with top search engine placement.
Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing for www.EcomBuffet.com Over the past 10 years Jennifer’s expertise in marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has helped clients increase revenue. Jennifer has written a downloadable book on SEO and has been published in many SEO and marketing publications. Jennifer is the editor of the popular Spotlight on Success: SEO and Marketing newsletter. Follow Jennifer and stay current on SEO, marketing, social media and more: http://twitter.com/EcomBuffetSearch, the Final Frontier
06 2008 Tuesday
3
By Robert Cerff in SE Submission
“Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” – James T. Kirk
I am still amazed on a daily basis just how many people don’t know, don’t realize or simply don’t care just how powerful the average internet browser can be. It almost seems as though the average user either has their browser homepage set to their own website homepage (usually by the technician that set the network up) or to a search engine or directory of preference.
I have seen some people enter email addresses into the web address bar or even a full URL’s into the search bar. Some would even argue that entering the URL into the search bar and hitting the infamous “I’m Feeling Lucky” button is quicker than having to move the mouse to the address bar and typing it in. While this may be true, I’m still not buying it. But after looking into our larger client’s websites it would seem that the company name is more often one of the top 10 keywords. I would imagine that many fail to bookmark or add the website to favourites.
While it is very easy to gain a top ranking for your company name, especially if your domain name matches, how many know how much potential traffic (good qualified traffic) is lost by not ranking first for your own company’s name. Some marketers even bid on their own name in paid ads simply so that nobody else can rank higher for searches. Sometimes your domain name won’t match your company name; perhaps you’ve opted for a slogan or keyword phrase as a domain name. Will your website still be returned at number 1 for your company name?
Consider the following: You have spent thousands (insert any currency here) of your hard earned pennies into offline marketing. Slowly over the years you have created a good well established brand. A neighbourhood brand if you wish. Then, as time passed, you decide that you would move with the times and seek the additional benefits of online marketing. After having a website created, you just sit back and wait for the traffic. After all having a website guarantees you success online, doesn’t it? Surely you will be successful online, especially if you already have an established market?
Sometimes with a bit of luck you websites can indeed rank well for good converting keywords. This usually requires a lot more work. But surely your website will rank top for your company’s name? This may come as a shock, but, “NO!” Quite often you will find an article or a page of information that may actually rank higher for your company’s name than your very own website. This won’t come as a surprise to any seasoned SEO consultant.
“Okay, so what does this Matter?” Some may ask. Well while the search may lead to another website that endorses yours, many times it does not. Can you imagine the damage that could occur if someone searched your company name, only to find that some blogger had taken your entire customer support department to task. Even worse than that would be if you didn’t even know. Imagine losing all those years of building a good solid, respected brand name only to have it ruined in moment because of a careless search.
Going back to my original point you can see how valuable it is that you have a top ranking for your company name. This is just one incident where the variations of how people search, and more importantly what they can find, that you should consider when marketing your website.
Some web browsers have a built in default search function that will return a search results page should a URL not be found. Even if the searcher was to put in a correct URL it may occur at times that either the site or the network are simply too busy to return the correct results. If these search results are returned, will your website have the number one ranking?
As any marketer would suggest, study your market. Learn the search techniques of those that you expect to be searching for you online. By doing this you will pick up those points that are often overlooked. While the goal remains a number 1 ranking for you key search phrases sometimes you can harvest a lot more traffic by just getting the smaller details right.
Robert Cerff is a search engine analyst and marketing consultant for Prop Data Internet Solutions. He has ten years experience in e-commerce, online marketing and web development. http://www.propdata.co.za
Why Starting A Relationship With The Search Engines Can Be Hard
04 2008 Tuesday
8
By Erin Ferree in SE Submission
“I’ve been hurt before.” “Should I trust her?” “Can I let my walls down and let him in?”
These insecurities really get in the way of finding a happy, lasting relationship.
Search Engines have a lot in common with singles. They’ve been hurt, and they aren’t so quick to trust any more.
What You Need To Know About The Search Engines’ Pasts
Search engines have had a difficult relationship history. They’ve tried to be open-hearted and trusting. But unethical website owners, spammers, and other cheaters have used their trusting ways against them and worked their way into the top of the rankings with lies.
And search engines get hurt by that. Their job, above all else, is to help the people using them to search for information. When spammers rather than valid websites get to the top, the search engines can’t do their jobs well. That frustrates searchers, and the search engines don’t help them find what they need.
So how can you get the search engines to trust your website enough to list it? The answer is to know what they are looking for when you start a relationship with them.
Don’t just give them another line (of code)
The search engines no longer use the META Keyword tag when ranking your site. This tag is hidden at the top of your website’s HTML. It used to be one of the major areas the search engines looked at when determining what your site was all about.
The intent of this tag was for site owners to list words and phrases explaining what their sites were about. But it was rarely used in ethical ways. People would list terms they thought would help their sites come up in popular searches “free,” “money,” and “sex” were all popular back in the early days of the Internet.
After a while, this practice was so widespread that the search engines decided to do something about it. They stopped looking at this tag at all.
These days, the most common use of the META Keyword tag is your competitors researching your optimization strategy. If you already use a META Keyword tag, consider having it removed. If you’re coding or optimizing your website, leave it off and concentrate on putting your keywords in the body text of your website instead where they belong.
They want you to put all your cards on the table.
A while ago, some website owners decided they wanted to have very little copy on their sites. They still wanted to come up strong on the search engines. The search engines were no longer really looking at the META tags. The problem was how to have a site that looked as though it had very little text but still had enough information for the search engines to give it a good ranking.
Some of these website owners came up with what they thought was a brilliant solution. They’d add more text to the site at the bottom of the page below the copyright. And they’d make this text the same color as the background which basically meant that it was invisible to human website visitors. But the search engines would still see it in the code, read it, and count it toward their ranking.
The search engines caught on to this little trick pretty quickly. If they catch you at it, they’ll blacklist your site, which means that they’ll kick it out of their results listing. And it will be really difficult to get back in! So make sure our site isn’t using any invisible text and that all the text on the site is visible to humans and the search engines.
They hate doors and mirrors.
Have you ever searched for something online and clicked on what you thought was the perfect match, only to come to what was little more than a full-page advertisement or a bunch of links? Disappointing, isn’t it? And then there’s a link at the bottom of the page pointing to the site you originally thought you were originally going to? By this point, you already have a sour taste in your mouth.
Or you’re looking for a piece of information and you click a couple of links that look like exactly the same site with slightly different words. You get a sense of deja vu and start to feel a bit like you’re losing your mind, right?
This tactic is called doorway and mirror sites. The search engines feel exactly the same way that you do about them because, again, the search engines want searchers to be happy with the results they get from their queries, not disgruntled or confused.
When you start your relationship with the search engines, make sure that your site optimization strategy focuses on ethical ways of getting their attention like being content-rich, having links with other high-quality sites (not link farms!), and updating your site on a regular basis. Those tactics will ensure that you start a love affair with the search engines instead of just heading for a bad breakup.
Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand out in front of their competition and attract more clients. One of the best ways to do that is with Search Engine Optimization, which you can learn about in her eLearning product, Raise Your Ranking, which is available at http://www.howtoraiseyourranking.com.
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