SEO skills

8 Essential SEO techniques

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:35:00 +0000

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.

2) ALT Tags - ALT tags were meant to be for text browsers because the images didn't show in text browsers and the ATL tags would tell the visitor what it's about. You should put your main keyword(s) in the ALT tags, but don't over do it because you could get dropped in the results or even worse banned for life!

3) Link Popularity - Link popularity is the most powerful SEO tool out of all them. Most search engines don't even consider web sites if there is not at least one or two links pointing to the web site. Having another site(s) link to your web site is important when it comes to getting your site a good ranking. Your keywords should be in the links you get and keep the keywords short. When you receive requests for a link exchange, check the site out before linking with them, check for spam (Repeat keywords, hidden text, etc.).

4) Keyword Density - This is also vital and should be used with research. You should use the keyword(s) once in the title tag, once in the heading tag, once in bold text, and get the density between 5% to 20% (Don't over do it!). Also use your keyword(s) both low and high on the web page, keyword(s) should be in the first sentence and in the last one.

5) Page Size - Your web page's speed is important to your visitors and the search engines. Why? Because the robots will be able to spider your web page faster and easier. Try your best to keep your web page over 5k and under 15k in size.

6) Rich Theme - Search engines are looking at themes more and more. Build content (Articles, FAQ, tips, etc.) much as possible and keep the web pages around 200 to 500 words. Create content that's related to your market and link them out to other related content on your site. Try to get 200 web pages or more.

7) Web Site Design - This is also important, if you want to get indexed! Text content should out weigh the HTML content. The pages should validate and be usable in all of today's leading edge browsers. Stay away from flash and Java Script, search engines dislike them both a lot.

8) Insite Cross Linking - This will help you get all of your web pages indexed by the search engines. Your web pages should be no more than three clicks away from the home page. Link to topic related quality content across your site. This will also help build you a better theme through out your web site. On every page you should link back to your home page and your main service(s).

Matt Colyer is the owner of the Superior Webmaster. He also is a php, CGI and ASP developer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Colyer

SEO Friendly Design

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:37:00 +0000

By Tejrin Raghav

Designing is the base of search engine optimization and it plays a very big role in seo work for any site. The following steps must be considered during the design process for optimal search engine friendliness.

Here are some tips for designing an SEO friendly site:

Site must be user friendly and easy to navigate the inner pages and links.

Keep your navigation on the left side of your web pages. Our SEO experts at Vision Media explain, “Site navigation should be at the left side of the web page, so that search engine robots can easily crawl all site inner page links.”

Avoid using JavaScript, flash and frames on your web pages and navigation links. Generally search engine robots does not crawl JavaScript, flash and frames.

If you are using images in your site header, then try to split your image into several sections. It will help you put more keywords in alt tags here. It will also help you to save site load time.

Header tags are very important for SEO work, so always use header tags on your web pages. It will be great if you use the h1 tag as your web page heading and it should be kept relatively short. However, never use the h1 tag twice on one page.

Note: H1 tags should be kept in bold format and should include extra space below the heading text. This may be done in the CSS style sheet file of your website.

As you may have heard, “content is king” on the web, especially when it comes to seo, so the more the better. However, make sure you put the main keywords at the beginning of the page contents on all your information pages.

A VERY important point not considered by most web designers, is to avoid unnecessary coding in the webpage source code like P and span.

In our work, we have found an unusually high amount of unnecessary code though, and I guarantee that if you think your web pages do not have unnecessary code in them, you’re probably lying to yourself. This is largely due to the high number of websites built in Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive. These programs are notorious for inserting massive amounts of unnecessary code, making your web pages look much cluttered to search engine spiders. A good idea is to have one of our SEO experts examine your web pages for unnecessary code and make recommendations. They are among the best in the business. You’d be truly amazed at the impact it has on your site load time as well as your search engine rankings.

Lastly, try to avoid using too many tables on a web page, as overuse of tables is not good for seo purposes. A great alternative for using tables that web designers rarely consider is the use of div tags.

Vision Media Corporation is a Las Vegas & Nevada based marketing, software, design, and business development firm specializing in new approaches to information technology and it’s relationship to marketing strategies and business models. The company has become known largely for it’s innovative approach and utilization of technology in marketing and business model management. Search Engine Optimization has become a key focus for the organization, mostly due to the lack of quality information on the subject. For more information regarding search engine optimization, as well as the SEO services offered by Vision Media Corporation, browse to: http://www.vizmarketing.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tejrin_Raghav

10 Easy Tips to Consider in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 14:37:00 +0000

Keyword being the weapon of your success in SEO, use those keywords that are directly related or targeted to your business theme.
Take care not to over crowd your site’s content with keywords and use keywords throughout the content rather than concentrating it at the beginning or at the end.
Back-link or inbound link is important, so build links with potential partners that can generate profit to your site.
Choose good title and Meta tags- Good title makes good move on page optimization, and suitable, targeted, theme based, precise keywords and phrases in Meta tags help spiders find your web pages more easily.
Design your site that clearly represent your business and make an easy navigation based on your keyword research.
Make web pages that are easy to load. Don’t make pages with large images, if images are necessary; make a thumbnail of it and link it with full image page so that you can add more pages and text in it which spiders love to crawl.
Make your web pages content rich with keywords and phrases that hit your business. Add more contents that give precise information about your services and products.
Offer something unique than general contents i.e. add more articles at least one per month and update your contents regularly and add new resources.
Add more content to your website but never make it duplicate by copying other’s work. Duplicate content is easily detected by search engine and make your website unqualified for ranking and kicked it off completely from search engine.
Take advice of trusted advisor or Search Engine Optimization Company for site optimization and marketing your website rather being duped by false promise maker.

An SEO Checklist

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:32:00 +0000

By Andrew Williams

Would you like a checklist of the important steps to take in optimizing a web site? Well, here it is:

1. Use a keyword research tool to find profitable phrases (i.e. those that are actually being searched for).

2. Build each page optimized for a single keyword phrase. Also sprinkle in some secondary keywords relevant to the main keyword.

3. Link your web site together so that all pages are only a couple of clicks away from the homepage.

4. Use text links instead of fancy graphics or buttons to link to your pages.

5. When you add a link to a page where the main keyword phrase for that page is "blue widgets", make sure the links to that page include the phrase "blue widgets".

6. Build a sitemap.

7. Add articles / Content to your web site and add links from these articles to your important pages.

8. Get quality link partners.

Once you have completed these 8 steps, repeat steps 7 & 8 over and over again. I would say that 80% of your time on a new site should be steps 7 and 8. Add content & find link partners. A great way of getting links into your site is writing and publishing articles on article submission sites. When webmasters take up your article and publish it on their site, you get an incoming link to yours.

As your site climbs in the search engine rankings, you can decide when you are happy with your rankings and reduce the amount of time spent on 7 & 8.

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Andy Williams is author of the free, ezSEO internet marketing newsletter, offering subscribers up-to-date information on all aspects of internet marketing. His search engine optimization website offers unique, no BS information, for free.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Williams

10 Easy SEO Tips: Most Common Mistakes You Can Fix Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:27:00 +0000

By LJ Stewart

I do a lot of non-profit work. So much so that my husband thinks I should register my own business as a charity. I work with many single moms and women struggling to get back on their feet or trying to start a new business. Their business concepts are sound and their ideas good. I started out just taking a quick look at their sites to give the odd suggestion or tip and then after looking at these sites knew that with just a few small changes there would be a big impact on their traffic and ranking. I have limited time so I try and go for the fixes that will have the most impact and are usually the easiest to fix. If you are an experienced SEO professional than this article is not for you. If you are a site owner overwhelmed by the whole concept of SEO or just getting your feet wet and don’t know where to start- then read on- there will probably be a useful tip or two.

#1. Bad Title and Meta Tags

My number one pet peeve. A good title for your page is in my opinion the single most important factor when it comes to in-page optimization. The title of your page should not just be "name of your company". You should have a keyword phrase in the title. For example, if you have a site that sells hand made candles and the name of your company is “ Luminosity” Your home page title should NOT be “ Luminosity”, this is a mistake that 90% of all sites I see make. Title should contain keyword phrase like “Handmade Candles by Luminocity”. Or better ““Handmade Scented Candles and Natural Soy Candles-Luminocity”. Every page on your site should have unique Meta data (title, description and if you feel like it keywords). Your description should weave in the keyword phrase you used in your title and use less than 80 characters in description. . Keywords are virtually meaningless but if you must add them go ahead. If I do use them- I use my top 5 or 6 keywords and I don’t put comma’s in between- I prefer to let search engines figure out the different combos. Take the time to do this step. If you can only do one thing on this list then do this.

#2. Using Graphics Instead of Viewable Text

I still do come across this. A site this has bulk of its text- embedded into graphics. Having a logo with your name or product description embedded into the graphic instead of using actual text. Spiders and bots cannot “see” images and the words embedded into pictures have no meaning. So have your mission statement embedded into fancy graphic may look great but will not index in any search engine. When using images on your site you should always use ALT tags to describe your image i.e. “blue soy candle” not only for non-sighted users but these are recognized by spiders.

#3. No Standard Navigational Links

These are the links that are on pretty much every page of your site. You will see them most often at the bottom of a page and it will feature links that say things like “Home” and “Site Map”. More and more I am seeing menus and navigational bars that use java script. These are nice but not crawl-able. Make sure you have things links in html format somewhere on you pages- most will sit these in footer or bottom of the page. This is also a good chance to use keywords. Try “Scented Candles” rather than “Our Products”.

#4. Large Image Files

Hard to believe- but this still happening. Potential buyers and clients will abandon their site if it takes too long to load. Most people are still using dial-up and can’t wait for multiple and bulky images to download. Some easy tips- make sure you images are set to 72 pixel resolution. Resolution set higher than that it a waste and unnecessarily large. Most photo editors will allow you to set compression rate. Test different compression rates- you can reduce file size by more than have with no visible difference. If you really need the large images then consider using thumbnails that lead to a separate page. (This has added benefit of creating another page and more text that spiders and bots crave).

#5. Lack of Content

Pages that have little or no text. A photo can always use a description and product can always be more than a name. When you have a bunch of pages that have little or no text sitting on same domain they can look the same to spiders and may get dumped as supplemental results. Go through your site and see if there are opportunities to add content. Elevate your SEO expertise and try using keywords in you copy. There are many excellent articles and resources for keyword research. Consider adding content that has substance and offers related and valuable information to you products or services. Put up a page that describes all your different scents. List your most popular colours and styles. Tell your readers what candles are best for a dinner party and which are the most hypo-allergenic. Get in the habit of creating content for your site. Commit to writing one new page a week or month. Think in terms of building your site wider rather than digging downwards.

#6. Duplicate Content

Do not cut and paste and pass off other people’s work as your own. It’s not just unethical and illegal- most likely it will be picked up as duplicate content and dumped in supplemental results. This means that the search engines disregard any information on the page and your page may as well not exist. Keep this in mind if you plan on doing something like putting up another site with a different domain and different name and just copy your original web site. I have seen this done by many site owners thinking they have stumbled on the secret weapon to higher rankings. The results can be disastrous. I could write another article on all the bad things that can happen if you do this. Just don’t do it.

#7 No Back Links

By links I mean other sites linking to you. These are called inbound links or backlinks. I have worked on sites that have been up for months and are not indexed anywhere. Your site has to be linked somewhere- anywhere- on the internet to “exist” otherwise it is just a deserted island. Not having any inbound links is like opening up a flower shop in Antarctica and wondering where all the walk-by traffic is. If you have not done so suggest your site to DMOZ. Then look for other relevant directories. Almost every business or service will have niche directories where you can submit your site- most times for free. Visit other sites that are related to your and ask them to link to you. Try and think in terms of traffic and avoid the page rank trap. If a link will bring your site traffic then go for it.

If you are in a highly competitive market, than I take exception and you should learn how to build quality links or seriously consider hiring some one to do it for you.

Lisa Stewart is professional SEO consultant. Using the advice in this article will help with your web site promotion and getting higher rankings in the search engines in Canada.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=LJ_Stewart

How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (electrotech) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:23:00 +0000

By Kalena Jordan

Does your web site make search engines happy? Despite all the negative hype lately, it's pretty easy to design a web site that search engines will accept with open arms. All it takes is 3 easy steps:

1) Follow the Search Engine Guidelines

Nearly all search engines publish their own guidelines regarding the submission of sites, the type of sites they will accept and recommendations for optimized content. Google recently updated their Webmaster Guidelines which cover the most common forms of deceptive or manipulative search engine behavior that they consider to be "spam". They also published SEO Guidelines - advice for webmasters to heed when choosing an SEO. Google was the first search engine to publicly acknowledge search engine optimizers in this fashion.

It's not just Google publishing anti-spam guidelines. You'll find them at the following search engine sites as well:

- MSN Search webmaster guidelines

- AltaVista terms of use (AltaVista is a Yahoo-owned company)

- Yahoo terms of service

- Yahoo guidelines on search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well)

- Yahoo definitions of search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well)

- Yahoo content guidelines

- AskJeeves / Teoma terms of service and spam policy

- AskJeeves / Teoma editorial guidelines

2) Avoid Spamming the Search Engines

Often, webmasters will use search engine spam techniques without even being aware that they are doing so. Or worse, web designers can - advertently or inadvertently - integrate techniques that could cause a site to be penalized in the site's rankings in one or more engines, without the site owner's knowledge of such penalties. The key to avoiding spamming the engines is research.
Keep track of the various search engine guidelines via the links above. Watch for any changes they make to these guidelines and tweak your site accordingly. Trawl the various webmaster and search engine forums regularly to ensure your site doesn't use any of the latest methods that appear to be penalized. If you suspect your site has been penalized, remove the offending content, contact the engine concerned and ask to be reinstated.

Google actually encourage you to file a re-inclusion request via their Help Center and this post by Google staffer Matt Cutts outlines what should be included.

Alternatively, here is a sample email template you can use instead:

----------------------------------------------------
Sample Re-inclusion Request Email:

Dear [search engine name],

I am the owner of [your site URL].

I did not realize that participation in [spammy method] and
[spammy SEO name] programs could cause problems for my website. I was
assured that these techniques were search-engine-friendly by [your source for using spammy method].

I now understand that the practices used are not acceptable. I apologize for having allowed them to be placed on my website. I've removed the questionable pages and links from the site. I promise not to repeat such mistakes.

I am asking you to please consider reinstating my website,
[your site URL] into the [search engine name] Index.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
--------------------------------------------------

To assist them to provide a high quality service, search engines encourage people to report search results they are dissatisfied with. If you spot some content spam or techniques that are clearly in breach of the search engine's public guidelines, you can report it using these links:

- Google spam report or via search-quality@google.com

- AllTheWeb relevancy problem report (AllTheWeb is a Yahoo-owned company)

- AltaVista search results manipulation report (or via Yahoo's spam report below)

- Yahoo spam report

- AskJeeves spam report or via information@ask.com

3) Build Sites for Visitors Rather than Search Engines

The methodologies may have changed over the years, but the same principles have always applied to "good" or "white hat" SEO. Build sites for humans, not search engines. Make the site as user friendly as possible, avoid the bells and whistles and include high quality, relevant content.

Wherever possible, include text-based content and navigation menus with simple, descriptive, well-written copy designed to convert your visitors into customers. Include keywords and phrases your audience would logically type in to search engines to find sites like yours. Only link to sites that are relevant to your target audience and spend some time on usability, making sure all your forms and shopping carts work.

Remember that what pleases a visitor is almost always what pleases a search engine too.

About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running her own SEO business, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.