Monday, July 13, 2009

8 Essential SEO techniques




Matt Colyer
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).

About the author:
Matt Colyer is the owner of the Marhen.com Network which includes www.linkexchangeit.com and is a part-time SEO. He also is a php, CGI and ASP developer. You can read more articles like this at www.marhen.com/articles/

General SEO guide




Below are some techniques/guidelines that help in your page to become Search engine optimized.

The ‘crawlers' or ‘spiders' that a search engine send to your site are not able to view all the eye-candy and other nitty-gritty graphics on your site but can only obtain the textual information. In fact there are certain things they can see like the Meta tagswhich we normal users are unable to see.

Meta tags

Generally there are two kinds of Meta tags I use.

•< meta name="keywords" content=" “ > •< meta NAME="Description" content="" >

In the first one I enter ‘keywords', which are describing words for my site. They are not exactly adjective's like in

•A orange car

In this instance orange is the adjective but not exactly a suitable keyword for the page. While car seems more appropriate as it gives a description to the contents of the page, i.e. a page which has information about an orange car

Now although the keyword ‘car' is used on the page, you must have gone into details about the bonnet, spoiler, leather seats, power steering, fuel efficiency, alloy wheels, horse power and other things of the car, yes?

The other information you had provided can also be used as keywords but its better if you only use a keyword that has been mentioned on your site.

Using meta tags creatively and efficiently can help a lot in your site occupying a ‘good' spot in SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages).

Unlike other people I don't believe in occupying a #1 spot on Google or any other search engine as I know that the change of its algorithm can get be down any time. Rather I would like to considered relevant for a variety of other keywords other than just my ‘core' keyword.

The Title Tag

•< title > < itle >

This part will take up your most creative time thinking of an appropriate one. It's just like a one-time limited opportunity.

Choosing a title is like choosing an attractive caption for something only that your Title should have the keyword you want to rank HIGHEST for.

I prefer to limit my index-page title to a maximum of 5 words any more than this makes the Browser title of a user pretty cluttered.

Remember while designing a site always put yourself in your members place and think how they would feel. Ask others around if they would consider a re-visit to your site or not?

Use of header tags

Although they don't look that neat it helps the ‘spider' to get a description of the content of the page. It's a win-win situation in this case. You can write a CSS code and reduce the size of the h1 size if you want.

Link Exchange

I'm sure you've read scores of articles stressing about swapping links with other sites as that is a key factor in SEO.

This is quite true but it is becoming quite importing to exchange links with sites having content related to yours and which is not in direct competition of your site.

Don't just approach the webmaster of the site you want to exchange links with by the aid of an automated message you ask everyone. Make it look a bit ‘personalized' and include a few details of the site you may have noticed to make the webmaster feel that you have actually gone through the site. ___

Although I'm new SEO specialist the above are the few hints I have experienced while my experience on the web.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to se results as of now that I had expected my site would show.

___

You can freely publish this article on your site but please give me credit for it by mentioning the following details
Neo Website:[ http://WebHosts-Discussion.com]

About the author:
Neo is the founder of WebHosts Discussion forum a forum based at holding webhosting relaed discussion and to discuss common webmaster news.

Search Engine Optimisation




Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!
I'll let you in a little secret, time stands still for no man!! Especially when he's got an ezine to publish, websites to build, is moving to the US in 4 weeks time, and doesn't exercise enough!!

Enough already.

How about optimising your website for a search engine? Do you know enough about that?

The best advice I've ever read came from Sumantra Roy. He publishes a nice 5 part email course that is really worth reading. The first time I read it, I couldn't wait for the next part to arrive in my inbox.

http://www.acewebhits.com/1stsearch.htm

The basic idea is to make sure you optimise each page for a specific keyword phrase that is likely to be typed into a search engine, but to make sure it's not a phrase that is too popular and not give your site a chance at getting listed.

Then you will put that phrase in you html title tags and in the h1 tag and then again mention the phrase as much as contextually possible throughout the page.

You can also think about naming the page as yourphrase.html and even create it in a directory of your website called yourphrase.

Here's an example: I recently joined a program called morehitsmoreincome, and decided to quickly put together a mini-sales page for it.

All I did to get the text was basically copy and paste a bit of it from the main site itself, the faqs etc. then I made sure I named it as moreitsmoreincome.html

http://www.acewebhits.com/mhmi/morehitsmoreincome.html

The site is listed in Google if you type in 'morehitsmoreincome'

My first 4 keyword are: morehitsmoreincome,more hits more income, business o.pportunity leads,p.rofit leads.

I could probably have used a better keyword for this site actually, as you can imagine not a lot of people will be typing that keyword into a search engine, but you get the idea. I've used this same idea for several other a.ffiliate programs and have had some really good results so far!!

There are all sorts of interesting things about keywords that you find out about, for instance, in the metatag keywords you don't need a space after a comma, and you should only repeat your main keyword a maximum of 5 times.....isn't that interesting?

There are many more 'tweaks' to optimise your page for the engines like apparently Yahoo like you to have a contact address on the page. alt tag descriptions in images, and page layout....

If you want an in depth email course that will teach you the very best way to optimise your site and give you some fr.ee tools to help with your keywords, I recommend Sumantra Roy:

http://www.acewebhits.com/1stsearch.htm

You'll see a little subscribe box on the right of the page which will start the 5 part email course.

-------------------------------------------------------- Justin Horth is the publisher of "AcewebZine, Internet and Network Marketing Newlsetter" He has helped many individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get a free consultation. http://www.acewebhits.com or mailto:justin@acewebhits.com -----------------------------------------------------------

About the author:
Justin Horth is the publisher of "AcewebZine, Internet and Network Marketing Newlsetter" He has helped many individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get a free consultation. http://www.acewebhits.com or mailto:justin@acewebhits.com

Google's advice for your website: Content




The web pages actually at the top of Google have only one thing clearly in common: good writing. Don't get so caught up in the usual SEO sacred cows and bugbears, such as PageRank, frames, and JavaScript, that you forget your site's content.

I was recently struck by the fact that the top-ranking web pages on Google are consistently much better written than the vast majority of what is read on the web.

Of course, that shouldn't be a surprise, considering how often officials at Google proclaim the importance of good content. Yet traditional SEO wisdom has little to say about good writing.

Does Google, the world's wealthiest media company, really ignore traditional standards of quality in the publishing world? Does Google, like so many website owners, really get so caught up in the process of the algorithm that it misses the whole point? Apparently not.

from http://www.webcredible.co.uk/

How to Make People ASK For your Business Card



As a rule, I don't give out my business card unless someone asks
for it. Of course, there are rare exceptions, but normally, if
someone doesn't ask for my card - I don't give it out.

Let me explain why.

What happens when we give out our business card before someone
asks? We announce: This is what I am doing. And maybe even: I
want you to buy from me.

By giving out our business card when people don't ask for it, we
put ourselves and our businesses in the spotlight - this might be
gratifying for our ego, but it's not good for our positioning.
"Get in touch with me when you need me" is a weak attempt to get
someone interested in our product or service. Although most
people will politely accept the card, they will seldom - if ever
- call.

But that doesn't mean that you should leave everything to chance.
No, no! Think in terms of *earning* the right to be in people's
Rolodexo file - this way you will be asked for your business
card, which is an entirely different situation.

Now, it DOES takes a bit more effort than simply handing someone
your card and saying, "Call me when you need me." The good news
is that as a result of your extra efforts people will also *keep*
your card, and maybe even refer to it - instead of trashing it
with the others they receive unsolicited.

How to do it?

First of all, strive to become a person others feel attracted to.
That's very simple. It begins with developing a healthy ego,
which allows us to put other people in the spotlight instead of
ourselves. Another necessary skill is active listening (which has
very little to do with a superficial gazing into someone's eyes
and nodding in agreement - although it is a good beginning).

Like it or not, people are much more interested in their own
lives than in ours. And they love others who are genuinely
interested in their plans, desires, headaches, values, family,
hobbies, etc. If you encourage them to talk, you will be amazed
at how quickly they will reciprocate and ask: "And what do YOU
do?"

Isn't this a nice prompt for handing them your business card?

There are some ways that might *induce* someone to ASK for your
card. My favorite is asking for THEIR card first. You simply say
"Gee, this really sounds very interesting - let's make sure we
stay in touch. May I have your business card?"

Usually this prompts them to say "Sure, and may I have one of
yours?" It is that simple.

And what if they don't ask? I do not offer mine.

But guess what? Now, when I have their business card, I also have
permission to contact them. And that allows me to take the
initiative, so most of the time I immediately follow up with a
personal note stating something like:

Dear Jackie,
It was a true pleasure to chat with
you yesterday about.....
I am looking forward to getting to know
you better!
Wanda

And this time my card will be enclosed in the same envelope. Of
course, that doesn't mean that Jackie is going to call me. It
doesn't mean that she will want to meet with me or do business
with me right away - quite the contrary, most of the time it will
take a lot more follow-up than that one note. But it IS a pretty
good way to begin a relationship, don't you agree?

Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda's Success Connection at http://loska.com

Five Steps To Lasting Business Success




Everyone asks these days what does it take to succeed in
business and many great articles have already been written
on this subject. I can't resist adding my own simple
formula for success. It works like a charm, guaranteed!

1. Love Your Customers
----------------------
I don't mean *like* - I mean really *love*. There is
a big difference between liking and loving, don't you
agree? We like almost everyone - but we love only special
people. Loving someone means going out of our way
to help them. And it means finding a pleasure in seeing
them succeeding.

Of course it starts with developing the ability to love
ourselves. So, it is very important to have a healthy
self-esteem - work on it. Also, one of your main goals
should be becoming a generous person who finds pleasure
in being a contributor. Become a giver!


2. Find Customers You Want To Love
-----------------------------------
Let's face it - there are some people you don't want to
see near you or your business, let alone have a loving
relationship with them! Not everyone who wants to buy
something from you is able to recognize and appreciate
the high quality of service I am talking about.

Marketing skills are important not only to find a high
NUMBER but also to find high QUALITY of buyers. Searching
for people in specific demographics, who are most likely
in need of what you have and who are financially qualified
to buy it is very important - but not enough. Define also
a profile of your *ideal* customers and make sure that
your marketing message is appealing to them.

Look for people who share your own values. They will not
abuse your generosity and they will most likely become
your loyal referral sources. They are also a pleasure to
work with :-)

Effective marketing will allow you to "skim the cream" and
leave the whiners, complainers, psychos and other difficult
people to your competition!


3. Find Out What Your Customers Want
------------------------------------
Sounds very basic - doesn't it? Yet so many business owners
miss this part entirely!

Once you have a relationship with people who are >a< pleasure
and fun to work with, engage in ongoing communication with
them to find out their needs. Very often their needs are not
very obvious - sometimes people are not even aware of what
they want or need. If you help them figure out what it is
- and especially if you help them to find it - you will
have many friends (and customers) for life!


4. Give Them What They Want
---------------------------
No, you don't need to actually *produce* everything they
want, but even if it is something you don't offer, you
can help your customers find it elsewhere. You can even
generate additional income by helping solve problems with
other people's products and services. Isn't this a great
win/win/win scenario?


BTW. If you know of someone who is starting a business on
the Internet, recommend my "Internet Success Boot
Camp". You can become my affiliate (it doesn't cost
anything) and earn substantial referral fees!
For details go to http://InternetSuccessCoach.com/af


5. Deliver Consistently Awesome Value
--------------------------------------
When people with high values get a superb quality service
or products from you, products that solve their problems
and make them happy, they LOVE to reward you handsomely
for your efforts. Honest people expect to pay their share
and they often ask for more!

Giving people consistently more than they expect compels
them also to tell others about you - and that helps you
grow your business even more!

Isn't this all simple? Simple is not the same as EASY.
You still need a full array of skills to accomplish all
this - but this is all it takes to succeed. Guaranteed!

Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda's Success Connection at http://loska.com

How to Get More Referrals?




If you've been in business for a while, you've learned to
appreciate the value of word-of-mouth advertising. It costs
nothing and brings in high quality prospects, already sold on
your product or service.

Aaah, if only it could happen more often...

It can. With a little planning and a slightly different focus
in your marketing efforts, you can develop a steady stream of
predictable referrals, week after week, month after month. But
first let's understand the difference between two different
types of referrals.

You see, one of them just happens. The other is orchestrated.
Although subtle, the difference is dramatic.

Let's start with the basics first. Where do referrals come from?
From satisfied customers, of course! Or, better said, from those
customers whose expectations we exceed. Yes, but what are they
satisfied with? Heck, that is precisely what you have to figure
out.

You have to realize that every business transaction consists of
two parts. One is the product/service. Your customers evaluate
quality, features, benefits, price, and how this all compares
with your competition.

The second part is the experience. Customers will evaluate how
easy, how fast, convenient, satisfying and how *pleasurable* the
total experience of doing business with you is for them.

Do you know any businesses that deliver an inferior product,
yet are able to survive...maybe even do remarkably well? Chances
are that what's lost in the quality of product is somehow
compensated in the quality of experience. And I'm sure you
know some businesses -- maybe even yours-- which deliver superb
quality products or service, but somehow are not able to attract
as many customers as they could. Quite possibly, the process of
buying needs some work.

Imagine what would happen if everyone doing business with you
felt compelled to talk to others about your business! To make
that happen you'll need a system that delivers...and delivers
consistently. For starters, find out how you are doing in the
area of quality. Develop a simple survey to measure both, your
product and customer's
experience. Rate different aspects of them on a scale:

1 - for good,
2 - for excellent
3 - for exceeding expectation

And make sure that you provide space for comments and examples
so you know what specifically needs improving. Then ask your
customers for evaluation.

To get ongoing referrals you can bank on instead of the
occasional lead generated by worth-of-mouth advertising, you
need to score consistently "3" in both: product/service and
experience.

Don't fret if your first surveys come back with lackluster
results. They're sure to point to some areas that need
improvement. Make the improvements, then ask your customers
for their feedback again. You can try another survey, or better
yet a small focus group.

Most likely, your customers will jump at the opportunity to
provide you with feedback - they will easily recognize and
appreciate your efforts and that counts a lot.

From now on you will be on the roll and to get you started on
building your business through referrals.. Good luck!

Copyright c 1999 Wanda Loskot

Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda's Success Connection at http://loska.com

Passion or Market Need? There is no contest



Conventional wisdom says that success in business depends on
finding a need in the marketplace and filling that need with
your own product or service. That makes a lot of sense.

It is incredibly important to sell what people need. However,
you will sail much farther in the sea of business if you begin
your venture by discovering first what YOUR needs are - what
is that YOU love and feel passionate about? - THEN find out what
market needs you can satisfy by supplying the product or service
aligned with your life's love and passion.

The key to success in business is to find a perfect match - not
only unfulfilled need. The good news is that it's really not that
difficult to find that match when you know what you really want.

But do you really know?
Many people assume that it is money they really want.
Trust me - it is NOT money or anything like it!

When you know what you love, you can also decide whom you WANT
to serve. Probably those who share your values - it really is
a lot of fun to do business with people you truly love. Much
more fun than serving people only because they pay you.

Of course, this kind of business is not easy to launch. BUT, on
the other hand it is OH-SO-EASY to succeed in it in the long run,
once you get it off the ground!

Every single passion can be translated into a money-making
business. H.J. Heinz translated his passion for gardening and
making pickles into a huge enterprise called Heinz Ketchup.
Henry Ford started the entire industrial revolution as
a result of his passion. And Bill Gates put us all in front
of computers...

Then there is The Gap, and Federal Express, and Domino's Pizza,
and Netscape and Yahooo... and WalMart, and Apple computer,
and every successful software company, and the GREAT e-zines
of the internet.. and the list could go on, but you get my
picture - EVERY successful business was started the same way.
By a person who wanted to express his or her passion. And that
is why those businesses succeeded when so many others failed.

Of course it takes a bit more more than a passion to succeed -
organization, innovation, good marketing and other ingredients,
but it all begins with passion. None of these great businesses
started with "let's see the need is and let's fill that need so
we can make a lot of money." No, no, no! Every business created
*mainly* to generate income, is heading for troubles - BIG time
troubles sooner or later!

If you feel passionate about chocolate - I suggest you consider
a chocolate business. You can produce chocolate, of course but
you might also sell chocolates made by others, or you can create
packages for chocolates, or write cookbooks with chocolate
recipes. You can create a directory of chocolate sites on the
web, or build a better machine to wrap chocolates... and so on.

If you employ good business tactics, you will be very good at
what you do and make a lot of money in the process. Your love
for good chocolate will be your drive and your magnificent
obsession that will cause you to never stop learning and
innovating. If you make right choices, you will choose to
work with people who also love chocolate (it is fun to be
around those who share our passion). As a result you will
become not only good at what you do, but also passionate
about whom you serve - your business will thrive!

Now, try to put as much energy into something you do NOT
love! For example, can you see yourself building that kind
of business around... something that other people feel
passionate about, but not you.

For example, health supplements...

Will you put that much work and that much enthusiasm into
health related business? Will you be willing to learn about
those health supplements as much as you are willing to learn
about chocolate? Will you spend as much time in the library
looking for some little known facts about vitamins with the
same interest as you would search for information about
chocolate? Will you collect healthy recipes with the same
determination (and try them out as diligently) as you would
collect chocolate recipes?

Most likely the answer is NO - if your passion is chocolate,
not the health and fitness. In the long run it is not possible
to fake that level of interest. Without a passion your big
success will not happen!

Most people try to go after something popular - hoping that
this will give them a better chance for success. It rarely
works!

There is a need for everything!!!!
For face creams and for hemorrhoids cures.
For web designers and for web hosts.
For drivers, and for carpet cleaners.
For publishers, and for shoemakers, for actors, for writers,
for singers, for doctors, for lawyers, and for builders....

There is a need for hand crocheted sweaters, hand painted tiles,
for home cooked meals, candies, software creators, web developers,
computer gurus, secretaries, CGI programmers, TV repairmen....
and of course for business coaches like me :-)

A man named Gary Dahl was so passionate about creativity that
he created pet rocks which stirred the imaginations of so many
people that the product was one of the biggest bestsellers in
the Seventies. You can make money by selling what YOU are
passionate about. It is a whole lot easier too, trust me!

* * *


Wanda Loskot is professional speaker and business coach for small
business owners and self-employed professionals who LOVE what they
do - but HATE selling. For a cornucopia of free business strategies,
marketing tips, teleclasses and other valuable resources visit
Wanda's Success Connection at http://loska.com