Search Engine Optimization Tips and Tricks

Everyone knows that search engine optimization is the game to play these days. After all, it seems as though it's the only thing that everyone talks about anymore. But how do you go about properly optimizing your website? Do you really need to spend a bundle of money for special tools and consultants?
The answer is no - as long as you have a little bit of time and willingness to learn. In this article, we'll take a look at some simple steps you can take that have been proven to greatly improve the ranking of websites within search engine results.

But first, I'll define search engine optimization, according to Dictionary.com, so that we start on the same page: [search engine optimization is] the process of choosing targeted keywords and keyword phrases related to a Web site so the site will rank high when those terms are part of a Web search; abbr. SEO. A good basic definition - you will see in a moment, however, that SEO does go above and beyond mere keywords.
So let's get started from the ground up.
Website Structure

We'll start at the very basis - your website's structure. This pertains to the way your site is put together, and every other aspect of SEO builds upon this. I'll start with the basic website/web page elements you do not want to have, and I'll also explain why:

>Re-directs - Re-directs refer to pages that are blank and just point to another page. Many search engines run into trouble when they try to add re-direct pages to their databases, so this is something you want to stay away from. Many re-direct pages are not indexed, and if you are using a re-direct for your homepage, there goes any chance you may have had of any part of your website landing in search results.

> Frames - Frames consist of essentially two separate web pages being displayed as one. Frames are usually used so that, for instance, a constant navigation menu can be displayed in a panel on the left side of the screen, while the rest of the screen changes each time a link in the navigation panel is clicked. This can make a website look snazzy, but search engines just can't process frames, and you'll end up with the same problems as if you tried to use re-directs. It is best to stay away from frames. The good news is that you can emulate the function of frames pretty easily, through the use of simple HTML - the only difference is that you'll have to include the navigation menu code on each page, but it is worth doing this to have your website indexed.
> Image maps - Image maps are images that have had separate links added to them. To illustrate, suppose you have created an image with three areas of text on it: 'Home' 'Help' and 'Links'. By "mapping" that image, you can create three separate links around each area of text, without having to break the image into three smaller images. Image maps are usually used for navigation menus, but here is where the problem comes in: search engines cannot follow the links in a navigation menu. (Aren't you starting to get tired of all the problems these navigation menus cause?) There is an easy work-around, though, if you really want to use image maps - just include the links as text links somewhere else on each page that has an image map. Search engines will be able to follow these text links and index the rest of your site.

> Macromedia Flash - You either have a love or hate relationship with Flash, but the bottom line is it chokes up search engines too. If you don't have to use it, please, don't. (Not only for your sake, but for the sake of us who have gotten just a little bit tired of those tacky Flash headers on every website now!)

> CGI, PHP, and all that stuff - CGI, PHP, and other web programming and scripting languages are very powerful and can contribute a great deal to a website's functionality. But dynamic web pages are just one more thing that search engines can't digest. Oftentimes, there may be no getting around using scripting in a website, but use it sparingly, and if you're using it for the sole reason of looking impressive when HTML would do the job just fine, by all means, switch to HTML!
So now you have a basic understanding of the technologies and areas to avoid when building - or re-designing - your website. A properly structured website facilitates the easier "crawling" of "spiders" through it so that it receives a higher search engine results ranking.
We'll now move on to the content of your website, an often-overlooked aspect of search engine optimization.

Website Content

The content your website contains is very important. All the search engine crawling in the world won't do you any good if the search engine "spiders" don't find any useful content on your site. Oftentimes, you won't see search engine optimization programs cover your website's content, but this is a very important point that I think should not be left out.
Your website should consist of a good amount of relevant, explanatory content, containing your keywords (which we'll talk about in a few moments) and several good supporting images (we'll get to those in a second as well).

Upon hearing that more text is better, many webmasters make the mistake of adding un-decipherable jibberish to their sites. This is also something we'll discuss under the Keywords & META Tags section, but for now I will say that this is a big no-no. Search engines can tell when you're trying to fool them, and if they consider your site to have committed a large offense, they may even permanently blacklist your domain from their results database. So it is extremely important that the content on your website makes sense.
One good idea is to include articles on your website. Search engines greatly prefer content that changes often, and what better way to have changing content than to continuously post articles on your site. Not only will you be perceived as an expert in your field, you'll also make the search engines happy.
I think that's as far as I'll go with content - much of what will be discussed in the next section applies here as well, so keep reading!

Keywords & META Tags

Keywords are yet another integral part of your search engine optimization campaign. For starters, you need to sit down with a sheet of paper (and don't forget your good old thinking cap!) and think of keywords that pertain to your business. (For the record, keywords can be both single words and phrases - just make sure they're not too long!) Think of what your website does, and develop keywords that you would use to describe your website and its content. It does not matter how many keywords you come up with, although it is best to have no less than five (and the less you have, the more targeted your search engine marketing can be).
After you've developed your list of keywords, there are a few things you're going to want to do with them. First, sprinkle them within the pages of your site. Anywhere you have text on your website, include these keywords. It is best to have at least three per page (of each one), as the search engines likely will not pay attention to them otherwise. Keep these tips in mind when inserting your keywords:
> Do not repeat a keyword over and over.
> Do not repeat a keyword over and over (or even just once) and make it the same color as your website's background.
> Do not include your keywords all together as jibberish that no normal human can understand.
The second thing you're going to want to do is to include these keywords in the descriptive sentences you will use in the ALT tags for the images you have on your site. Again, follow the rules in bold above that can be applied to ALT tags.
Third, add these keywords to your META tags. There are three elements to the META tags that you will be using: Title, Description, and Keywords. For the Title and Description META tags, follow the rules in the bold text above - and be sure to include your company name in these two tags, if it is not already one of your keywords. For the Keywords META tag, you can go to town adding your keywords, one right after the other! Separate them with a comma, and do not include the same keyword more than once! Doing so (as well as violating any of the bolded 'Do not' points above) can also get your domain name permanently blacklisted.

Inbound Links

Another great search engine optimization technique that is often overlooked is incoming links. Every link you have coming into your website raises the "awareness" of your site in the search engine's minds. If the links come from websites with high Google PageRank ratings, that is even better (in Google's eyes, anyway - this doesn't apply to MSN, Yahoo!, etc.).
How do you go about getting links to your website? One of the easiest ways is to add your site to as many industry-related online directories as you can find. A couple of other quick and easy methods include posting ads at Craigslist and other free classifieds sites, and swapping your links with similar (competing or not - this is up to you!) sites.
Remember, the more inbound links you have, the higher your Google PageRank, as well as your position in the search results of Google, MSN, and the others.

Outbound Links

Did you know that outbound links are just as important as inbound links? Perhaps the search engines don't care for traffic hogs, but whatever their reason, websites containing links leaving their sites consistently rank higher in search engine results than those that do not.
So who do you link to? Remember that you can swap links with other related sites and you can both benefit. You can also link to complementary websites that visitors to yours may be interested in (but that don't in any way compete with you). The main idea for getting both inbound and outbound links is to be aggressive, as well as innovative in your approach.

Conclusion

This is by no means an exhaustive guide. But I can't keep rambling on and on either. You need time to go perform the tasks we've discussed here today, so that your site can be on its way to the top of the search engine results.
So stay tuned for further search engine optimization articles here at HostReview.com. I'll be posting more search engine optimization techniques very soon!

Daniel J. Briere is the CEO of Netpreneur Host, a Web hosting and domain registration company for Webmasters and Internet entrepreneurs.

How to Choose Your SEO Keywords

Using SEO, or search engine optimization, is completely vital to your website's success. In addition, improving the SEO on your website is a big part of managing your website. Making sure that you choose the proper search engine optimization keywords is just as important as using and improving the SEO on your website. Taking advantage of search engine optimization is one of the best things that you can do for your website. This is because the work that you put in now for your website will produce results continuously for a long amount of time.

Consider What Your Website is About

SEO keywords are keywords that are used when a person searches for information on search engines like Google. This is why it is important for you to think about the subject of your website before you choose SEO keywords. While you are thinking, you can write down search engine optimization keywords that you think people will be more likely to use when they are searching for the same information that is on your website. It may be more helpful if you ask for the opinion of your clients, your family or even your friends. Ask the people that you know what keywords have they used or what keywords would they use if searching for your information.

Get Search Engine Optimization Keyword Tools

It can be helpful if you obtain an SEO keyword tool. SEO keyword tools have the ability to offer you more keyword suggestions that you may have not thought of yourself. You can normally find different search engine optimization keyword tools online. SEO keyword tools will give you different SEO phrases or SEO keywords that are becoming more popular. This in turn will bring more traffic to your website.

Study the Competition

If you still need a better idea of what keywords to search for, you can simply study the competition. Go to a competing website in order to get an idea of what they do differently. In order to find out what keywords the competition uses, you will need to find the keyword tags in the source code. In order to view the source code, you will need to go to the "View" menu and then click on "Source". If you are not able to do this, you can right click in any blank area of the website. Once the menu pops up, click on "View Source".

Pay Per Click Programs

You can use a pay per click program to see how many impressions your website gets for each of your SEO keywords. Over a few months, you can see which keywords are the best for your website. This allows you to change your SEO strategy as needed.

Digital Synergy is a highly skilled and experienced web marketing firm based in Los Angeles, CA. We can provide you with professional web solutions -- from web design and web development to search engine optimization and pay per click marketing. Visit Digital Synergy and start your own customized web marketing campaigns now.

How Link Building Helps With SEO Rankings

So you have a well-designed network marketing business website as well as a blog. The question is, is your website generating enough leads? If not, you probably haven't optimized your network marketing website for search engines with link building. Links play a very important role in getting your website ranked among the top on search engines results pages. There are basically three different types of links - one way incoming links, mutual or reciprocal links and three way links. Implementing certain strategies in your network marketing website can significantly boost your optimization efforts thereby helping you improve your online visibility. Let us take a closer look at how link building helps SEO rankings.

Link Building for SEO: How it Helps

Here is how it helps boost search engine optimization -

• Faster Indexing - It will be quite hard for your website to be indexed on major search engines like Google or Yahoo without building links. In fact, it may take as much as six months to get indexed by Google without it. With link building, search engines can index your website in a short period of time, sometimes within 24 hours, especially when the links come from old well established websites which rank high on search engine results pages. Link building will help index your website higher up on search engines for the relevant keywords. This will finally lead to more traffic coming to your website.
• Increased Exposure - Increasing backlinks will result in increased exposure on the web, as visitors to your link partner's websites will also turn up on your website. This increased exposure will give your website higher authority, which in turn helps your website get a higher rank as compared to other websites in the same niche as yours.
• Greater Value - Link building rapidly increases the value of your website, as websites with more backlinks are valued higher on the results pages. This further helps increase the chances of others linking their website to yours without you even trying to initiate link exchange.

Link Building undeniably plays a crucial role in search engine optimization. However, it is important to note that for link building to be fruitful, you must facilitate quality links on your site. This is because all major search engines have the ability to identify poor/spam links from de-indexed websites. Remember, if your website is found guilty of this, you may have to pay a penalty or your site may be black listed altogether.

Amazingly I started with zero internet ability, and now by becoming a student of the process above, and integrating social media, traditional prospecting techniques, and online relationship building, I have been able to generate free leads, create business growth, duplication, and success. To learn more strategies and grow your team visit my blog by clicking here Eric Goldman. To see an article where I tell all, and explain why I joined Empower Network Click Here.

Some Important Methods to Get Higher Rankings and Maintain the Rankings in Search Engines

Every online marketer desires for a top place in search engines. Every search engine has different algorithms for rankings, but there are few things that are common to all and are highly beneficial to attain better search engine placements.

No Quick Fix

There are no hasty remedies in attaining high rankings in search engines. It will take time for your efforts to bear fruits. Hence, it is imperative to develop and implement a SEO strategy before starting optimizing your website.

Keywords

Keywords are the most significant part of search engine optimization and keyword research is the foremost step in the SEO process.
Don't spend time on keywords with high competition, target high potential or focused keywords. Use key phrases of 2-3 words instead of using a single keyword, this way you make a search more specific and easy for visitors.
Some of the good tools for keyword research are: Wordtracker, Google AdWords, SEObook, etc.

Meta Data

Create Meta title tags and description tags; write the essence of the website with the targeted keywords in it. This is the only other part of the results you have any control over. Google will also highlight the keywords in here that match the search query. Remember to keep it descriptive and readable.

Domain Names

If you can, try and include your main keywords in your domain name. Google will highlight them when they match the search query. This can give your ranking a little boost bcause it will show that your website is relevant to the search query.

Quality Content

Content is still the king. Write quality content on your website. It should be meaningful, relevant, grammatically correct and informative. From SEO perspective, include the targeted keywords, but make sure keyword density doesn't go beyond 3% of the entire content. Use targeted keywords in the headings, initial text of the content and sprinkle them in- between.

Link Building

Today, the most successful way to enhance your rankings is link popularity. Try to get as many one-way links as you can. Although two-way links are good, but weightage is given to non-reciprocal links. Write articles; submit them to article directories, social media sites, etc.; you can also write blogs, but don't forget to include a brief author's biography which should incorporate links to your website.
Reciprocal linking can easily be attained. You may not get desired results initially; once you gain a better page rank, the process will be easy for you. Always exchange links with relevant site. Hundreds of irrelevant links won't help you in anyway. Check out the history of the website sending you links for link exchange program.

Submitting Site To DMOZ

Submit your website to DMOZ because several search engines including Googles use DMOZ results in their organic results. Your website may rank without its presence in it but there are chances of receiving more backlinks with DMOZ.

Create Blogs

Start writing blogs on your website. Google gives weight to blogs as they contain good amount of content and are consistently updated. Incorporate stories, articles or anything relevant to your website, if the information is liked by visitors, they will return back for more and link to you.

Improve Google Ranking - SEO For Beginners

To improve Google ranking is the most important thing all internet marketers can do in order to have a positive effect on their business. It's a simple formula; get higher ranking and you will see more people visiting your website.
Almost everything a marketer does online will influence their ranking in the search engines either for good or for bad. That is something many marketers fail to recognize. They simply think of improving their ranking but never give a thought to the fact that much of what happens with their web pages has just the opposite effect.

Search engine optimization

Page ranking is determined by the cover all term "search engine optimisation" or SEO. SEO has developed into a very complex discipline within internet marketing and is totally misunderstood by most people whose businesses are affected by it. That is not just because it is complex but also because much of the online information about it is incorrect.
A quick online search will turn up many different sites offering all sorts of SEO advice, guidance and services.
Good service suppliers will vastly improve most people's ranking in Google and other search engines. Unfortunately there are many services being offered from companies that do not understand the very basic concepts of SEO. For the inexperienced beginners who want to improve their rankings it is impossible to know which service is good or bad. On top of that the fees charged are usually into many thousands of dollars.
What about the advice and guidance? Typical of much information on the internet there is both good and bad. Again, how does the beginner know the difference?

Getting your SEO right

Getting it right is crucial to good search engine ranking. That means understanding and getting the basics right before progressing to some of the more complex areas about which so much erroneous information abounds online.
Although this is a complex subject it is well within the capabilities of most beginners to make vast improvements simply by appreciating what Google wants. Many so called advice pages suggests ways to beat Google; ways to trick their ranking process and ways to get on to first pages in search engines by "secret" means.

Just get one thing right; there are no secret ways and tricks get found out and penalized. Good SEO is based on one thing. Simply give Google what it wants and your ranking will improve.
The most important thing Google requires is good page content that is relevant to the searcher's query. In other words when a searcher looks for information on dog training, for example, the page that comes up in the search results will be about dog training. It will not wander off on to dog food, veterinary services, pet insurance or any other remotely related topic. The content will be relevant to dog training.

It is no use providing relevant content if it has been copied from another source. Of equal importance to Google is the uniqueness of the content. It must be written specifically for the web page as copied material will not rank. In fact it will be penalized.
That is what Google wants for people using its services. It is not technical. Those aspects can be added after you get the content right. Although they are also important they are not as important to Google as relevant and unique content.

This very basic part of SEO is often ignored or not fully appreciated by internet marketers. To implement it does not require any knowledge of the more technical aspects of SEO but the impact on ranking can be considerable. This is the easy way for beginners to improve Google ranking.

Toby Carlisle has been a marketer for over twenty years and active online since 2002. His current project is helping people, both new and experienced, to make well informed choices about making money online. The blog http://www.marketingtomakemoney.com/blog includes a free report and reviews of internet marketing ideas, information, products and software tools that really work. Its purpose is to overcome the problems of sorting the good online stuff from the bad and the ugly.

Discover how you can improve Google ranking including everything from beginner to expert.

Important SEO Steps to Gain Higher Rankings For Your Website

A right SEO strategy implemented in right direction can drive real traffic to your online business. As per this fact, more and more businesses are looking forward to consult SEO experts for building a working SEO strategy for their businesses.
An SEO strategy includes enormous number of opportunities / marketing campaigns that best suit your business promotion to bring your website to the top of the search engine.
However, there are certain timeless SEO strategies that always come in useful and would prove to be the preeminent strategies in the online marketing of your business and to gain higher ranking for your site:

Keyword Usage: Think like a Customer

Do not target a keyword for SEO just because it seems right to you or because that is how you want your visitors to think, instead, think like your customer, review statistics and keyword research tools to find the keywords with higher search volumes and make sure to finalize your list of most productive keywords to target. You can make use of popular tools such as Google Analytics to see what customers search when they need a service like yours and target the keywords with high search volumes and low competition to get the complete benefit of SEO services. If the customer will find exactly what he wants, your business will get maximum traffic and better sales.

Write Proper Content:

After getting an appropriate keyword, how you use it will define the amount of traffic you will get. A relevant, grammatically correct and apt SEO optimized content not just impress the major search engines, but also encourage various websites to link to your pages that increases your search engine ranking. Updating the content is also a major part of SEO strategy for attracting valuable traffic to your business. Create a blog or just add on interesting and relevant articles on your website. You may rely upon your SEO Company being hired for the content optimization, content creation and blogging. Visitors like fresh and usable content so they will visit often to your page, which may lead to additional links to your content and ultimately result in higher traffic.

Build your links with other sites:

A website gets more attention if it is properly linked to various "well reputed" sites. Just getting thousands of inappropriate links will not do much in driving traffic to your sites. Make sure to target relevant, quality sites or directories that are useful and rank well on search engines to get a link back from them. Few link directories might let you submit for free but most require a fee. While, paying for various directories can be expensive it is smarter to hire professional SEO company to get quality link building in reasonable prices.
Although, these are some of the timeless SEO strategies but SEO is kind of a guessing game especially with the search engines altering their ranking algorithms constantly.

Make sure to keep up with time to time changes and SEO strategies. Hire professional SEO services India to drive traffic to your business and convert your business into sales! SEOPackages.net is one of the most recommended SEO Company India and get best SEO consultation for your online business and increase the ROI for your business.

SEO Services Company - 3 Vital Tasks They Must Do

So you want your Website to get one of those elusive page one rankings in search engines such as Google? But what if right now, your Website isn't even in the top 100 rankings for relevant keywords or worse, it's not even indexed? This is where a SEO services company can be an amazing resource to help you get higher rankings and more traffic. But only if you know how to choose the right one!
There are thousands of SEO service companies; this makes the task of choosing the right one very difficult and a frustrating activity. This article will give you an outline of the three vital tasks a SEO services company should perform if you want to get the best results.

Vital Task One - On-Page SEO

To begin with, the company you choose should be able to work on your on-page SEO. This means that they should be knowledgeable enough to help correct any internal problems on your Website, while suggesting and implementing changes that will help you rank higher. Such things include, keyword optimization and correct usage of title tags, meta descriptions, h1 tags, meta keywords, and using the alt-tag on images. On-page SEO isn't as powerful as the next vital task but it's something that every SEO company must perform, otherwise they will be greatly diluting your results.

Vital Task Two - Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is also called link building or promotion. It's basically a strategy to get other Websites to link to your Website. When one Website links to yours, this can be described as a vote. The more votes your Website receives, the higher the rankings. Although there is more to off-page SEO than this simple description, getting other Websites to link to you is the essence of this strategy.
The bulk of the work that a SEO services company should perform is off-page SEO. This should be a monthly activity for best results. After your Website has achieved multiple rankings for important and relevant keywords, you may still need to continue using the SEO service to hold onto the new rankings. But this will depend on the competitive nature of the niche or business you are in.

Vital Task Three - Reporting Features

How do you know if the efforts being done by a SEO services company is paying off? Too many clients get ripped off by companies who promise the world in rankings but fail miserably when it comes to actually achieving those results. It's vitally important that the SEO company that you choose sends regular reports about what they have done and where your Website is ranking for the targeted keywords. This will give you a great indication about how effective the methods are that the company is using. Ideally, the SEO company should send you the report by email once every month for as long as you use the service.
Now that you know the three vital tasks that a SEO services company should perform, you can safely use this information to help guide you to choose the right one. Remember, don't believe the hype, instead make sure they do these vital tasks and you can be confident that they will be able to help you get top search engine rankings!

If you need some search engine optimization, visit SEO Services Company.