Syntax

Domain names are concatenations, or chains, with each have specific meaning.  First, you begin with the simplistic label, www – this simply identifies what planet you’re on (the World Wide Web).  Next, you’ll have a subdomain node, identified as yourname. Finally, you’ll have the top-level location property, like .com.  Each chain gets divided by periods, and can extend up to 127 levels (a rarity).  The entire syntax cannot exceed 253 ASCII characters, making the extension of 127 levels rather difficult.  Currently, it’s believed that over 1,400 primary domain identifiers will be registered by 2014 with thousands of applications being submitted daily for newer extensions.

Current Hierarchy Of Importance

Just a decade ago, you had three major TLD’s, or top level domains, which dictated your business intent.  Commercially related material or businesses were allotted .com, those running off networks or operating as an open network of users were allotted .net, and nonprofits or other worthwhile organizations were given .org.  To this day, owning these three domains does provide some business clout, yet with many more extensions coming out, their importance is slowly dwindling.  With an expected overhaul forthcoming from Google, what domain name extension you own may have little importance anymore when trying to gain business visibility.

Interesting Domain Name Factoids

Two of the top 10 all-time most expensive domain name sales are credited to 2 major products oversold, heavily advertised and rake in the billions annually: Insure.com ($16M) and Sex.com ($13M).  The longest domain name in the world (but ineligible for Guinness entry) is right here.  Over 215 million TLD’s are in existence today across the internet, yet 21% of all these domains are parked pages meant for monetizing traffic.  Is .net the second most popular domain extension worldwide?  Nope.  Taking second place is .de, the country specific domain for Germany.

What’s Coming Next?

Imagine typing into your address bar virtually anything you wanted, and it was there – like chocolate.candy or nike.air. That’s the direction the several hundred thousand applications ICANN has right now intend to go.  Although numerous applications will get rejected, some may actually make their names stick within several years; mainly music moguls, entrepreneurs and large corporations with widely accepted brands.   Some interesting ICANN applications include .AARP, .ABUDHABI and even .DEATH.

Although domainers find plenty of excitement selling, buying or monetizing their registered domains, Google’s new rules may actually have these investors rethinking their strategies.  At the end of the day, our internet has become one fierce domain driven society where what you type, and when, could actually make or break your business.

Roger Klawinksi is a domainer and freelance writer who uses NameFind.com to find new business domain names and online marketing tips.

Completely scalable, easy for intermediate users to learn and built on the always solid UNIX and Windows platforms, our Register.com review nearly wrote itself to perfection.  Domain names need love, too, and this dynamic company provides domain excellence.  We went over Web.com acquisition Register.com to view their basic domain name hosting solutions – this is what we discovered.

Value Packed For Domainers

An initial price-value comparison of Register.com was more than stellar since they toss in one free domain, 100 domain pointers and three directory pointers for quick saturation across the internet.  Small businesses can begin with their Essential package which provides ten email boxes, each capable of 50GB of storage.  Aggressive bloggers and online collaboration teams will receive 25 MySQL databases which hold 300MB of information, and can edit script seamlessly using phpMyAdmin while scheduling needed Cron Jobs on your Unix-based hosting platform.  Perfect for developing your domain names.

For the initial rock-bottom price of $9.96 when paid annually, the value more than exceeds initial investment.  As the packages upscale, the value continues to grow.  Included goodies like Fantastico script installation and potential advertisement coupon codes weren’t immediately discoverable upon searching their website, although it’s believed they do have something in-house which is similar to Fantastico.  Many concur that our Register.com review of price value was congruent to what they’ve experienced.  Domain names, while awaiting successful sales or transfers, would certainly benefit from using this platform.

Unfathomable Reliability

Since uptime is measured wholly and not based on individual accounts, Register.com offers exceptional server-wide uptimes of 99.99% and 99.9% for UNIX and Windows customers, respectively.  Notwithstanding of scheduled maintenance, this uptime guarantee is still tremendous and stood behind by every technician and sales rep which works for the company.  Our overall expert Register.com review of reliability is excellent in regards to uptime. Since immediate information about their datacenters isn’t locatable, we can only speculate their locality is near their New York headquarters and runs efficiently.

Navigable Control Panel

As with many old school hosting companies, cPanel is seemingly the go-to platform since it offers easy navigation, allows quick installation of necessary blogging and shopping cart platforms, and one-click email address creation make cPanel the choice control panel.  Register.com seems to have quicker navigation between applications when logged into cPanel which leads us to believe their servers are primed quite nicely.  Overall, the Register.com review of control panel is stellar.

Premier Customer Support

Since our Register.com review of customer support meant calling their company for accuracy, our immediate impression of their knowledge, phone mannerism and quick answering of thorough questions was quite commendable.  Since Register.com takes their time in hiring the most professional workers and trains them on all facets of anti-script interaction, it came as little surprise to us when it appeared we owned the floor while talking to them.

Many people perceived our Register.com review in the same manner, portraying their support personnel as friends they’d never met.  It is speculated they’ve outsourced their call center to a J.D. Power certified location; this wasn’t confirmed.  We do know, however, they’ll provide around the clock phone and ticketed support which is answered quickly.  Phone support is also never-ending, especially when having trouble with CNAME, transfers or anything related to domain names.

Roger Klawinski is a freelance writer and domainer who buys his domains at BuyDomains.com.

I completely oppose Gun Control in any measure. I oppose any minor or major infringement on the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which is why I am writing this article. I can’t go silent any longer. I can’t “stand on the sidelines” anymore, knowing it’s time for me to get in the game.

I have one main purpose behind creating this article, and that is to give you all the ammunition you need (no pun intended) in your arguments for supporting the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

It’s my hope that this will not only be of great educational value to you, but that you’ll also be able to reference it in helping educate those around you. Education is the key to restoring America’s true values and that starts with you and me!

The 8-Point Argument Against Gun Control

1. The Constitution of the United States

Either you believe the Constitution is the backbone of our Nation or you don’t. If you do, then you know that Gun Control in any measure is absolutely against the 2nd Amendment and therefore against the Bill of Rights. If you don’t, then my friend you don’t know your American history. You don’t understand it. You don’t comprehend what the Revolution of  1776 was all about and what those men and women sacrificed for us to have peace and freedom in our day.

2. In Order To Change Or Even Infringe On the 2nd Amendment, You Need To Amend The Constitution

What’s happening today involving gun laws throughout this country is frankly, unconstitutional. Did you know that the word “Infringed” is used in the 2nd Amendment?

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” – Amendment II

What does “Infringe” mean exactly? Well a quick look-up in the dictionary shows you that it means to “actively break the terms of a law, agreement” and “act so as to limit or undermine something.”

Yes my friends, even the simplest and smallest of gun laws “infringe” this law. In other words, if politicians in Washington want to create a new law that regulates what modifications you have to an Assault Rifle or how many bullets a magazine can hold, those laws have to follow the Amendment process outlined in Article V in the Constitution of the United States.

3. Protection Against Government IF Government Goes Bad

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” – Thomas Jefferson

I have found that many people are quite confused on the purpose of the 2nd Amendment. They’re not quite sure WHY it’s there. If you watch the news, the only argument you will ever really hear is the one concerning crime. While protecting yourself and your loved ones from crime is part of why the 2nd amendment is in place, there’s a bigger reason why that needs to be discussed more often.

Notice the part where it says “to the security of a free State.” The 2nd Amendment is there to help protect the American people from bad government and tyrants. It’s there to protect us from potentially having our own “Hitler” type situation. What am I referencing here? Starting in 1928 (just five years before Hitler) and proceeding until 1938, German policy makers enacted several laws which eventually led to the Nazi Weapons Law in 1938. These laws disarmed German citizens and more importantly, disarmed those of Jewish ethnicity. We all unfortunately know how this story ends.

4. Criminals Will Be Criminals

Next comes protection against crime and criminals in general. Rather than boring you with stats I will let you research the data on your own that proves communities with looser gun laws are safer than those communities with stricter gun laws.

Just remember this one important fact; criminals will always break laws! So simply enacting laws that prohibit guns in any way only prohibits good people. Criminals will be criminals and break new gun laws just as frequently as they are breaking current gun laws.

5. Protection Against Oppression

If you are an American pay attention to this one. If you are a Minority who is also an American, pay special attention. The war on the 2nd Amendment is closely related to the war on Minorities. In other words, the 2nd Amendment is a Civil Rights Issue.

Gun laws were used on African American slaves in the pre Civil War era of the United States. Why? Well of course, to keep them as slaves and to keep them from revolting. If those gun laws weren’t in place, the slavery issue in this country could have been solved much much earlier. And it doesn’t just end there.

Even after the Civil War when African American’s were supposed to have rights, Gun Laws were still enacted constantly that made it difficult and sometimes impossible, for an African American to own a firearm of any kind. These laws were being conveniently enacted at the same time the KKK was at it’s height, using what were called Knight Riders to attack and murder innocent African Americans that were unarmed. You can read more details on this in The Racist Roots of Gun Control.

Knowing this dark history in our nation, if liberals really want equality for all Minorities as they claim, wouldn’t they want Minorities to have guns?

Quick break: I know i’m giving you a ton to read here… so i’ll speed things up…

6. Never Exchange Personal Liberty For Safety

Our politicians would have us believe that by simply giving the Government more power to enact and enforce new safety laws, that they will be better able to protect us citizens. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! Instead what we find is the Government creating new laws that are used to infringe on our personal liberties and freedom. Want an example? Think about The Patriot Act of 2001 and the resulting NSA. Did that make us safer? Did that limit our personal liberties as Americans?

7. Local Police Are Underfunded and Undermanned

Local Police forces, especially in major cities in the U.S are continually being underfunded and as a result are becoming undermanned! This is a frightening fact especially considering the constant upward trends in overall domestic crime. If watching the news teaches us anything, it’s that the police can’t always be there on time! The last line of protection between an innocent American and a criminal is the gun. It’s just that simple. 

And one more point. Rather than Washington D.C wasting millions of dollars on trying to push through Gun Legislation, why don’t we instead reinvest those funds into local police forces throughout our country? 

8. The Political Agenda Is WAY Too Obvious!

Put yourself in a politicians shoes. If you were really serious about fixing gun violence in this Country, you’d focus on these specific items for achieving the most success:

• The Entertainment industry
• The Drug trade
• Building families and encouraging the idea of families
• Supporting religious institutions
• Proactively pursuing areas in Mental health
• Cutbacks on big Government programs that allow financial room for reinvesting in local police efforts

Unless you’re trying to limit the personal liberties of American citizens of course. Then, you’d just go after the guns instead of wasting your time with the above mentioned items.

Also, if you really cared so much about saving lives, wouldn’t you focus on these issues first?

• Abortion
• Needless and Endless wars overseas
• Drug abuse
• Cancer research
• AIDS research
• Health Insurance

The critical point here is that our Government doesn’t care about any of these items I’ve just listed, at least not nearly as much as they care about taking away your guns! Which makes it obvious what their agenda truly is. 

Conclusion:

I wanted to create this article for you (and me) to have a better argument against Gun Control and any infringement on the 2nd Amendment. Far too many times a gun control debate leads to (liberal:) “you’re guns are killing innocent children” and (conservative:) “just try and take away my guns!” 

These types of illogical and irrational arguments lead us nowhere! The fact is, there are many really important reasons why the 2nd Amendment is in place. And all Americans both Liberal and Conservative, are required by the Constitution to keep those rights in place.

This will not affect the other main subjects I normally write about including Organic Internet Marketing, SEO, Social Media, WordPress etc. I will continue to update this blog with helpful content covering all of those subjects. Politics will simply add as an extension to the subject matters I currently cover.

Why Am I Doing This?

I’ve talked this over with many of my other readers over the past 3 months and have received mixed opinions. Some think it’s a good idea while others think it’s a terrible idea.

Here’s the deal… over the past 2 years American Politics tied with American History have become a passion and hobby of mine. More specifically, how politics affects Small Business and Entrepreneurs.

I’m seeing small businesses and entrepreneurs fail at all-time highs. I’m seeing their freedoms ripped from them on an almost weekly basis. I’m seeing the Middle-Class of this country disappear. And it’s driving me crazy!!!

I’ve kept this blog running for 7 years now! 7 years! What has motivated me to keep this blog running for so long has been my desire to help others succeed in business, specifically in online business. My desire to help has lead to me ever getting into blogging in the first place.

Which is why I HAVE to write about Politics! I want to help. I can’t help it. There is so much I have learned over the past 2 years and so much I have yet to learn. Especially from you. Which is why I am excited to officially announce my new Political category. 

Look out for my first post in this category this Monday May 13th. It’s my hope that I can add more knowledge and insight into specific topics that can help you better succeed in business and in life. 

1. Quality content will always rise to the top

Google (and every other search engine) is built around elevating quality content—so no matter how crafty they get with their indexing algorithm, they have to assign value to well-written, widely-read, and authoritative content. Over the years, Google has refined their ability to detect spammy manipulation and meaningless content, but skilled link-builders will always be able to promote their clients by writing content that people want to read.

2. SEOs benefit from a specialized skill set

There’s been a debate in recent months over “in-sourcing” online marketing—hiring your own team to generate and promote content to build your brand. While it can be done successfully by large companies, this is no different from conventional marketing practice: some corporations do their marketing in-house, while others find it more cost-effective to contract out. And there will always be a place for SEO firms in the small business world, where owners lack the resources, manpower, and managerial bandwidth to efficiently manage their own online marketing team.

3. The tools are growing more refined every day

For every well-paid, talented Google developer working to shut out non-sponsored SEO, there are hundreds of hungry, equally-talented people in the industry looking for better ways to promote their clients; and in many cases (Google Trends, Google Analytics, and mobile SEO, for example), search engines and SEOs find common cause in developing tools to measure success and locate profitable niches. SEO experts now have ways to track their clients’ progress from tablets, laptops, and LG phones, and the metrics that define success get tighter and more direct every day. It isn’t as simple as an “arms race” between search engines and SEOs—in many aspects, the two industries have a complimentary and symbiotic relationship.

4. SEO creates real value

Everyone wins when websites and company information is optimized for search engines. Quality SEO is not a method of misdirecting users to something they don’t want—rather, it’s a way to make sure users get what they do want, and to make sure they get it from your client. Web developers can create an excellent, appealing site, but skilled SEO can focus that design on exactly what users want, and helping them find it.

5. The industry is an ecosystem

No matter how colossal Google might get, there will always be more SEOs than Google developers, finding new ways to promote content; and people who say that “SEO is dying”, or think the next big announcement from Google will destroy SEO, don’t really understand what it is. SEO isn’t about one search engine; it’s about companies, and their image online. It’s about helping customers find the right content for them, and helping businesses have better organized websites, and social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Urban Spoon and a million other review and ranking websites. As long as there are products being sold online, and people who want to buy them, SEO isn’t going anywhere.

Patricia Shuler is a TechBreach staff writer from Oakland, California. She’s an admitted tech-junkie who’s quick to share her honest opinion on all things consumer electronic—including up-to-date news, user reviews, and “no holds barred” opinions on a variety of social media, tech, computer, and mobile accessories topics.

1. Daily maintenance

Search engine optimization doesn’t just happen once; it’s an ongoing campaign to manage your website and your online presence around the web to deliver the best results possible. You need to have a constant stream of new content being published, both on your site as well as highly-visible sites in your industry. An optimized website takes constant effort, not just an occasional, amateur effort. Doing all of this in-house will take a team effort, which will test not only your finances, but your leadership acumen. Any respectable SEO firm will have the expertise and networks already in place, so your employees can focus on what they’re trained for.

2. Competition

Even if you decide that it’s worth your time and that of your employees to pursue a do-it-yourself SEO campaign, you should consider whether your competition is making the same calculations. If your competitors choose to outsource their SEO to experienced, networked professionals, you’ll face a steep learning curve to keep up. A knowledgeable SEO firm can show results within a month of being hired, while you’re still learning the ropes and scrambling to build a network.

3. Cost-effectiveness

The main temptation of in-house SEO is the perception that it’s cheaper to do it yourself; but it’s as likely to be cost-effective as building your own office furniture. Your team has better things to do, and you won’t save that much money. If you’re skeptical, consult your business accounting software and add up the cost in work-hours of training and equipping your team, as well as the revenue you’ll lose by pulling them away from their normal work, and the demands on your own time as a manager. It’ll add up to a comfortable amount of money—more than enough to hire an SEO firm that will do a better job of representing your interests.

4. Perspective

There’s a reason good marketing firms can make so much difference—they bring a broad skill-set that applies to any market, as well as an outsider perspective that makes their work more accessible to others. They often recognize angles that an expert would miss—a word or phrase may be comfortable for you, for example, but feel jargony to a layperson. They should ask questions, and make sure they understand your product and your target market, but don’t discount the value of a broader perspective.

5. Comparative advantage

One of the most important principles of economics is comparative advantage—that we should all focus on what we do well; which is why we don’t tailor our own suits, or build our own cars. Time you spend learning how to do an SEO firm’s job is time you’re not spending on innovative ideas in your own area of expertise. Hiring out your SEO will save you money and headache, and make you more effective in every aspect of your business.

Aimee Watts is a staff writer for Mobile Moo. She has spent ten years telecommuting full-time, and loves spreading tips and advice for fellow work-at-home parents. She loves gadgets, new ideas, and skiing with her two favorite people: her husband and teenage son. They live in Evergreen, Colorado.

Create Imaginative Titles

Your titles should be short, succinct, keyword-rich and hard to pass up. Because of this, you should probably spend more time working on your titles than you do most other parts of your post. As time passes, firing off an appropriate title for any new post will be easy, but as you are just getting started, you must put a lot of thought into this single line.

The average internet reader flits from page to page. It is only when something grabs his or her attention that a larger portion of the mind actually tunes in and attempts to digest the material. This makes the title responsible for a very major job. It must sum up the intent of your work by presenting a problem and solving it. It should also adequately define the content that follows. You certainly don’t want to get a reputation for drawing readers in with big promises and then consistently fail to deliver.

Shock Your Readers

You may have the trying task of attempting to write intriguing copy about tube stocks. Find out what other bloggers in your niche have done and make sure to go in another direction entirely. Rather than writing about how consumers can choose a durable pair of tube sock, let them know what chemicals tube sock fabrics are commonly treated with in the manufacturing process and why they should spend more on higher end products in order to avoid skin irritation.

When you continue to rehash old topics in the same old ways, you provide absolutely nothing of value to your readers. By now, the online consumer has access to limitless articles on choosing the best contractors, car insurance and online retailers. If you make an effort to start thinking outside of the box, you are certain to get more attention from the thinking web users who are really looking for quality and informative content.

Avoid Industry Jargon

Your knowledge of your industry might be unrivaled, but your blog posts are certainly not the place to flaunt this. Doing so can be very off-putting and will even disinterest the many readers who do not share your insights. Rather than using words or terms that only your co-workers will understand, make sure to phrase yourself in a language that any teenager can easily read. You can certainly add colorful flourishes through the use of rhythm and a few flowery phrases, but you must avoid pounding your followers with words that they are not likely to understand.

Use Images

Even well-written and intriguing content must be broken up by a few, carefully chosen images. If you are covering old topics in new ways, make sure that you are not using recycled images from photo hosting sites. Start investing more time in securing graphics and photos that have not already been displayed in tons of articles across the web. In fact, you can even start taking a few photos of your own. Digital cameras make it easy for novice photographers to grab great shots and this can make your blog writing experiences infinitely more fun.

Get Feedback

People love blogs that are interactive. Make sure that you are asking for feedback and that you are actually responding to it. This level of communication is the number one reason why loyal readers keep coming back. Just as your subscribers like paying attention to you, they also like it when you go out of your way to pay attention to them.

It is no longer enough to simply have a blog and update it regularly. You must make sure that you are always supplying your readers with value and giving them something new to think about. With time, the ability to infuse old topics with new life will boost the visibility and appeal of your posts.

Marshall Jenkins writes about online marketing, the communications field and education. His most recent work showcases the best communications programs in the US.

Ownership of the Project

The contract should spell out very clearly who will own the copyrights to the project. Because you are hiring a ghostwriter, you should be the one that owns the copyright since this is the very nature of ghostwriting. However, there are occasional cases when ghostwriters will request a percentage of the copyrights. You will need to ensure that this information is spelled out very clearly in order avoid future problems.

Money Matters

Details of the money and pricing should also be included, and that means much more than just how much the project will cost. You should ensure that the contract spells out the following:

• The total amount that will be charged for the writing.
• The amount (if any) that will be charged for revisions or rewrites.
• The payment schedule (usually a percentage up front and then the rest in either payments or upon project completion).
• How much will be due upon cancellation of project from either party.

It is important to ensure all money matters are covered in the contract. This will avoid any confusion as to when you should pay and how much you should pay for the writing you need done.

Confidentiality

It is always important to establish confidentiality. Confidentiality agreements should cover information included in the writing, information provided to you, and information that you provide the writer. Confidentiality is important since you will not want your information provided to others who may use it in their own writing project. This could compromise your whole project should information be given out.

Author Obligation

It is the obligation of the author, once the project has been started, to follow a deadline that you and they have agreed upon. The contract should indicate that you can expect your project turned in to you on a deadline basis or you have the right to cancel the request. If this is not established, the process of writing your project could drag on for a very long time, which could cost you money and can be frustrating.

Authorship

You may simply assume that since you have hired a ghostwriter, you will have the right to determine who is listed as the author. This is commonly the case, but you should always make sure this is spelled out in the contract in order to avoid any problems in the future. As mentioned, the whole purpose of the contract is to ensure everything is spelled out and clarified for the protection of both parties involved.

When you hire a ghostwriter, always ensure that a contract is agreed upon and signed by both you and the writer. This is the best way to ensure that your project goes off without a hitch and without any frustrating miscommunication that could cause a variety of problems and could cost you money.

Valerie Mellema is the owner of Words You Want, a ghostwriting service offering SEO packages, eBook writing and more.

There are so many things you can do wrong when optimising your site, but there are few common and silly mistakes that you can easily avoid making.  So, let’s have a look at five huge SEO mistakes that you might be making:

1 – There’s nothing to read

The problem: You have your web page filled with images or flash animations and no actual text for search engines to index. Search engine spiders can’t read text that’s included in images or Flash animations, so be sure to use them sparingly. If spiders find no text to index, then you won’t be able to attract much traffic from searches.

The solution: Use plain text on your website and try to refrain from using too much Flash or too many images on your site. Sure, Flash makes your site look fancy but search engine spiders won’t see that. Actually, they won’t see anything at all which will result very poor rankings.

2 – Confusing optimization and keyword stuffing

The problem: Stuffing your content with keywords will do more harm than good. The content should be your number one priority, not keywords. One of the biggest mistakes people make is focusing too much on what they think is SEO and too little on quality content that people want to read.

Attractive and useful content will generate links because people will want to share it. This is more valuable than saturating your site’s content with keywords and keyword variations. Artificial content will not only be considered useless by your own visitors but also by search engines.

The solution: To optimise your page’s content correctly you will need to include your main keywords in the title of the page, in the URL, in the H1, in the ALT (the alternative text for images used on the page) and also in the first and last paragraph. In other words, include your main keywords and keyword variations in key places and not all over the place.

3 – Going overboard with paid links

The problem: Buying links was a common SEO technique back in 2000 but now Google doesn’t like it and will penalise your site if you’re found to be using this strategy.

These links can hurt your site when:

You’re overdoing it and buying too many.

They’re irrelevant, spammy and stuffed with keywords without providing any quality content.

They link to sites that are considered spammy.

They’re low quality with link exchange in the sidebar and a crowded footer.

Remember – Google is getting better and better at detecting activity which violates it Webmaster Guidelines, so if you buy links you could be in for a rankings penalty.

The solution: As long as you’re not buying links in bulk and at random, you can get some good results. Remember, the key is moderation and quality, not quantity. However, it’s important to remember this tactic will always carry risks.

4 – Duplicate content

The problem: Why would you take the effort to get a site up and running and then spoil your hard work by copying content from other sites? Make no mistake, Google will detect what you’re doing and your rankings will suffer considerably. Yes, creating fresh and unique content can be a hassle, but being a copycat is not the solution.

The solution: Make some time to create original content that is interesting and worth sharing but also optimised so search engines can index it easily. If you don’t have the time to do your own writing, then just pay someone to do it. There are so many freelance SEO copywriters out there just waiting for an opportunity to create awesome content for your site.

5- Empty image alt attribute

The problem: As mentioned above, search engine spiders can’t index images just as they can’t index Flash animations. You can live without Flash animations, but images are an important element on your site.  So what can you do to have your images indexed?

The solution: Always use the alt attribute to describe your image and sell web crawlers what your image is about.

By avoiding these basic mistakes, you can help ensure you have a solid platform which you can build on with more advanced SEO techniques – the ones which will help you rise up the rankings.

Written by Alex Gavril, an exprienced blogger and SEO expert who is part of the Webfusion.co.uk team.

Use Long-Tail Keywords to Target a Specific Audience

Websites that have targeted long-tail keyword phrases often hold more credibility with Internet users and have higher conversion rates because the site is optimized for those who are searching for specific information, products or services. By targeting the specific keywords and phrases that people are actually using, website owners can effectively deliver the right information to the right audience for a mutually beneficial interaction. Remember, this goes along with the #1 rule of content writing: always write for the audience.

Smart SEO Strategy for New Websites

Creating content using long tail keywords is a great starting point in the SEO campaign of a new website. Achieving high rankings in a competitive field is an overwhelming task for new websites and can take years to obtain, but credibility can be reached sooner by using long-tail keywords to build trust and authority on the Internet. As a websites credibility and reputation grows, the site will naturally expand to include short tail keyword phrases.

Use Long-Tail Keywords to Boost Profits

For websites that are selling products, targeting long-tail keywords for SEO can be very effective in increasing sales and profitability. For example, someone searching the Internet for ceramic turquoise coffee mugshas likely already researched the product and is in the decision-making phase. A website that has targeted this keyword phrase and ranked on the first page of Google has the best chance of earning the business and less competition to fight.

Although targeting long-tail keywords can be both profitable and beneficial for online websites, this isn’t to say that short-tail or broad keywords should be avoided entirely. Rather, the ideal SEO strategy is to find the perfect middle-ground that balances both long-tail and short-tail keywords. As with any industry, achieving success requires a dedication of time and hard work, but adopting smart SEO strategies now can prove valuable in the long-term perspective. Ultimately, success will often come down to keyword research. Choosing the right keywords is arguably among the most critical factors in determining a website’s SEO success. Taking extra time out at the beginning of the campaign to talk to people and conduct keyword research can go a long way in ensuring that the most profitable and effective keyword phrases are chosen for the website.

Juliet is an SEO consultant at the search engine optimisation agency, Search Factory, in Brisbane, Australia. Juliet has worked for several seo companies in the past, and knows the value that long-tail keyword strategies can bring to a client’s campaign.