SEO Blog & Articles

Common SEO Design Mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Even though Search Engine Optimization has been a discipline for over 10 years, there are still a lot of site designs that make it hard for a search engine to make heads or tails of a website. While you would expect a certain lack of SEO knowledge from less sophisticated users and people who are new to site building, there are still quite a few cases where medium and large companies fail to consider search engines when creating a web presence.

Here are a few issues we (still) see in the year 2010, which effectively prevent a site from getting proper rankings:

Lack of content on the homepage. There are some very big companies who believe that they can get decent search engine rankings without adding readable text to the site�s homepage. This is a huge mistake. Some of these companies will point out that Google has sparse homepage content, at which point we usually indicate that Google isn�t ranked in the top 10 for �search engine.�

Site Designed Entirely in Flash. Adobe has made a lot of great strides in making its files readable, and should be commended for it. However, many of the designs we have seen fail to take SEO into account, so text in Flash files gets embedded into images, which aren�t read by the search engines. In many cases, the search engine sees a big blank spot when Flash is presented, so it can�t judge how relevant a site is.

No hierarchy. For very large sites, the lack of a clear hierarchy presents a problem. The distribution of pages on a website should look like an organizational chart for a major corporation. The homepage would be the CEO, the category pages would be the directors, and so on. A lot of sites present a very wide and shallow profile, so the search engine can�t distinguish between an important category page and an ancillary product page. Hierarchies can be created using breadcrumbs, good directory structures, and HTML sitemaps, and are always recommended for sites with hundreds or thousands of pages. A Bad URL Structure can also keep pages from getting found which makes your �pyramid� look a lot smaller in the search world.

Same Title on Every Page. Many enterprise level corporations are obsessed with branding, and want to be sure the same message appears on every title. A search engine can�t figure out the topic of each page if all the titles are the same, and the information at the left of the title is the most important. If your company name (xyz.com) starts every page title, you are robbing your site of a higher natural search engine position.

�Set It And Forget It� Mentality. Part of keeping a site relevant involves making sure the site is updated frequently in order to stay fresh and account for search engine algorithm changes. In the corporate world, inertia can set in, so outdated information may be left on the site for years, and changes to the website may happen infrequently or as part of an initiative where all the pages are updated at the same time. After awhile, search engines visit less frequently, and competitors who keep fresh websites get priority in the search engine rankings.

Naturally, there are quite a few other mistakes made when it comes to building websites, and most of those mistakes are made in the small business sector. However, search engines have gotten very good at spotting many common mistakes, and can usually figure out the relationship between pages on smaller sites. Larger sites, however, may be compounding their design mistakes, and may be fractionalizing the value that search engines apply to each of that site�s pages. If you have ever wondered why a cheap looking site with minimal SEO work is beating a billion dollar brand name in the search engines, you may want to consider how good of a job that the big company is doing with its optimization.

Crowdsourcing Websites and SEO

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:56:00 +0000

A fairly new concept in the online world is �crowdsourcing� which basically refers to using members of the internet community to contribute to a project. As a term, it is often hard to separate from the idea of �outsourcing� where you can get small projects done on sites similar to Elance, Guru, and Odesk. With crowdsourcing, you are often appealing to a wider community, and you may or may not be paying for advice and input that you are getting.

When it comes to websites and SEO, there are a couple of ways that crowdsourcing can be used for testing and link building purposes. By making an �open call� to qualified people on the internet, you can solicit site designers, conversion optimizers, and SEO experts who will sometimes offer free advice, or who may actually perform part of the project for a fee. There are even overseas developers and programmers who bid on projects that include site design, logo creation, and shopping cart integration, and who may make a sample site �on spec� for you approval.

How can you use the �mind of the mob� to improve your optimization? First and foremost, you can offer an incentive for the person(s) who first discovers major SEO issues, or the most problems. This can give you a lot of input, some of which may uncover a set of minor issues that can blur your overall SEO picture. Crowdsourcing is also a good way to solicit links, but only if your crowdsource is relevant to the topic at hand. You can even create link bait that would be of interest to such a group, and solicit improvements or �things you�d like to see� in the form of online tools, information, templates, or code. With SEO crowdsourcing, you have the potential to make your virtual focus group into a great potential source of links.

The Google PageRank Algorithm can be considered analogous to crowdsourcing. In its most basic form, the algorithm spiders the internet for links and measures the relationship between them, assigning values to each site based on link popularity. In a manner of speaking, the �crowd� in this case has been surveyed, unwittingly, and has presented a result back to the search engine, which then uses that information to improve its results. You could even say that search engines are the biggest users of crowd-based input, and have turned the preferences of Netizens into the most business model in the online world.

Naturally, there are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to crowdsourcing. Unpaid �experts� may be novices who are trying to rack up experience. It also may be difficult to find experienced members of the crowd, or you may get people who are trolling for a better payment once part of the work is complete. On the plus side, you can get more honest input on design choices, since semi-anonymous members of the �crowd� aren�t bothered by the political implications of telling you that your site is a mess, and that its SEO functionality is questionable. You can even take some of the toughest criticism you get on a �dev site� and ask yourself if the general public would amplify the same thoughts. Finally, you can use tools like Google Analytics and ClickTale to see how your crowd really interacts with a site, which will give you input on potential hangups in usability and conversion.

The collaborative nature of crowdsourcing means that you can also become a member of the crowd, which can improve your own company�s credibility and online reputation. If you have time to offer input on other people�s sites, SEO functionality, or even give advice on usability, then your own position in the online world is enhanced. The Web 2.0 community may have a lot of members, but there are plenty of �crowd groups� which are trusted to deliver input on specific questions, and finding the answers to some of these questions can improve your ability to find solutions to similar problems down the road. In the meantime, you can develop relationships with fellow crowd members and potential clients, which can certainly work to your advantage the next time a tough question comes up and people are looking for the �expert� in the crowd.

SEO Friendly Website Design Templates

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:32:00 +0000

One of the most important considerations in DIY website design involves getting website design templates that are search engine friendly. This is essential because many do-it-yourself website design suites are based on content management system (CMS) platforms that may not allow you to control page titles, meta descriptions, and other factors that are going to determine how well your site ranks in the search engines.

If you�re looking to buy a DIY template, or download a website from a template, you have a lot of choices available. Some of these with be SEO friendly because you have total control over the code, and if you are an intermediate HTML designer then you can just go into the site�s source code and drop in the relevant title, meta description, keyword, and content information. (By the way, the general consensus in the search engine crowd is that the keyword tag can be left blank, but we prefer to use it so we can track the page�s focus.)

If you�re building your website on a CMS, you may need to do some digging to find out if the site is SEO friendly. Normally, a DIY site design suite is using a CMS if you can utilize �drag and drop� web design elements. A few platforms which let you create your own website will only allow you to create a �default� title tag that is going to show up the same on all of your interior pages. This does not help your site because the search engine can�t figure out which pages are the most relevant to the topic. Some other CMS systems will stick your domain name into the beginning of the title, and this also reduces your search engine effectiveness.

You don�t have to be a custom website design expert to enjoy the benefits of good search engine optimization, but it helps to understand whether the platform is SEO friendly before you buy it. In some cases, you may not have control over your domain name if you choose to leave a DIY web design and hosting company and go somewhere else, which means that you are starting at square one when it comes to optimization. For website design templates that include shopping carts, it is doubly important to have built-in SEO friendly features that are going to present your products in the best possible way to Google, Bing, and Yahoo, or they aren�t going to be visible among the top results. Over the past couple of years, more and more templates and website builders have added complex SEO features into their standard offerings. If you plan to make a website using one of these tools, then adding SEO functionality to the list of requirements will help you get a head start on search engine rankings.

SEO Baby Steps � Advice for the SEO Novice

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:07:00 +0000

One of the hardest things for any newcomer to search engine optimization (SEO) to discover is that there is a wealth of information online about SEO, and much of it is contradictory. To become any thing close to a true �SEO Expert,� it is almost necessary to learn the entire history of SEO, have a clear understanding of all the methods people used to trick search engines in the past, and apply that knowledge so your new site does not get filtered or banned before it even gets off the ground. Whether people come into the universe of SEO as DIY site builders or customers, there is a sharp learning curve.

Much of the education given to customers of Web.com Search Agency starts with the basics. You don�t have to know too much about engines in order to drive a car, and you shouldn�t have to have a degree in SEO before you can take your site out on to the internet. We usually start at the beginning with keyword research, since our goal is to get our customers the highest quality of relevant traffic that will result in a conversion. By involving our clients in the educational process, we can help them grow their businesses by considering all the possibilities for online traffic. This part of the process also helps set realistic expectations while we tailor the on-page optimization.

What should a novice know about SEO? If the sales process was done correctly, a person should understand that search engine rankings are going to take time, and competitive keywords must be achieved with hard work and a substantial investment. For companies who may have had an active site for a long time, and a lot of brand equity, rankings could literally come from a few small changes to the site�s metatags or content. The vast majority of sites, however, need to present themselves in a way that is going to gain (and keep) a certain level of credibility in order to achieve rankings. Therefore, professional seo consulting clients and amateur do-it-yourself optimization dilettantes should have the same idea about the road ahead. If anyone tells you that they can get you �instant� rankings on Google, ask them if you can pay once the rankings are attained.

Most of the time, the best seo education and training comes from an in-depth knowledge of the work. The art of optimizing websites depends on a set of ever-changing variables, most of which are heavily debated in the search engine world. However, the basic combinations of good keywords, relevant content, and good links are still the foundation for getting good search engine positions. An SEO consultant can steer you through the many traps and SEO nuances that may trip up someone who is not familiar with the territory, but at the end of the day their methods for getting high rankings should depend on proven principles that are supported by a majority of the SEO community. Most reputable SEO firms can even answer one or two specific questions about a course of action in and be able to debate the pros and cons of a certain method. As an SEO consumer, you can gain a working knowledge of SEO concepts, which will help you decide whether or not a certain initiative is working, or how it could be improved. At the end of the day, our job is to get you the best rankings possible, which not only keeps you in the black, but also keeps us on the retainer as a valued consultant.

Google Wonder Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:31:00 +0000

What is the Wonder Wheel?
It�s a free tool provided by Google that shows related keywords in a simple graphic. It literally looks like a wheel with spokes and is an especially wonderful tool for those who love visual aids.

What do you use it for?
It is a powerful visual tool for identifying PPC ad group themes for search and content campaigns. It allows you to clearly see the connections between your search term and other related searches, and helps you target your ads more precisely on the Google content network. Since Google places your ad according to themes, using terms that are considered to be related in the Google Wonder Wheel throughout your text, especially in your ad groups, gives you an increased chance of appearing on relevant sites across the network. You can also use the Wonder Wheel to discover common negative keywords that you can use to prevent your ads from being served up when irrelevant searches are made.

It�s just a tool, remember, so you do have to study the groupings and the road they take you on. We recommend you use the wheel in conjunction with the Google keyword tool, etc. It�s a great place to start, though.

Where is it located?
Relatively hidden, you do have to know where to look. Once you�ve entered your search term, select Show options.

A menu will appear to the left of the search results. Select Wonder Wheel.

The Google search Wonder Wheel appears.

Each subgroup has further subgroups for you to explore.

The Wonder Wheel for Google search is a useful tool for working into both your SEO and PPC strategies. Why not enjoy another perspective and possibly have a wildly successful impact on your ROI?

What�s in a name? More than you think!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Choosing the right domain name can be an effective way to bring traffic to your site in addition to your healthy SEO and PPC efforts. When it�s all said and done, you want your domain name to be remembered, even if your name sounds flat-out strange. Word of mouth is powerful, so a good idea would be to choose a domain name that�s short, sweet and easy to type. Think: Google, Amazon, Yahoo! and Monster as the ultimate in unusual yet short and easy-to-remember domain names.

Of course, because those domains don�t tell you what the site is all about, they�ve required a boatload of marketing and branding to be on everyone�s lips, which is not possible for everyone. Thus, there are a number of suggestions we can offer for those who are launching a new online business or information site, and want to maximize their online presence � starting with their name.

� Make sure your domain name reflects the type of content that will be found on your website. Intuitive domain names like ProFlowers.com or BestPromDresses.com tell the whole story � users don�t have to wonder what they�ll find if they click on a link or type your domain name in the browser.

� Select your domain name according to your top keywords. Make a list of the terms/phrases that best describe your intended website. Say you�re launching a handbag site. Start with �handbags, designer handbags, fashion bags, purses� and so forth. Check availability, and if your top choices are already taken, play around with variations by adding words before and after. You�ll eventually find something strong that you can live with. Sometimes, the firm from which you�re purchasing your domain can make suggestions.

� Choose .com domains above all else even if they�re more expensive. It�s a fact � the average type-in user automatically uses this domain and you don�t want to lose these people. If you can purchase the .net, .org, etc. as well, great! 301 redirect them to your .com.

� Avoid using numbers, hyphens and other confusing or hard to remember additions/variations. This can cause your domain name to be lost in translation and send people to a competitor. For example, if your domain is Wool-Sweaters.com, people are likely to mistakenly type in WoolSweaters.com instead.

� Make sure your domain name is not a violation of someone else�s trademark.

We�ve got plenty of ideas up our sleeves for choosing a great domain name. We can also help you create a brilliant SEO and PPC campaign for your site to really get you noticed in the search engines.

A Look into Mirror Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:15:00 +0000

What is a mirror site?
It is an exact replica of a website, hosted at a remote location and used to improve the availability of the original site. It can be static (most common), which requires frequent updates. It can also be live, which changes when the original one does. The mirror can be a copy of the entire website, or it can be used as a file archive. Some websites have multiple mirror sites.

Why should you mirror a site?
The original purpose of a mirror site was to combat censorship. In the event a website is shut down, a copy of it is available at a remote location, just in case. Along the same lines, a mirror can be used as a storehouse for old versions of websites for anyone who needs to view them.

Today, there are many additional legitimate reasons to develop a mirror website, which generally have to do with managing site traffic and keeping servers running smoothly.

What are some of those reasons?

� To manage sudden traffic increases
� To get around firewalls
� To speed up downloads
� To balance load
� To synchronize files

If used properly, website mirrors help you to improve the reliability and availability of your website, which not only gives you peace of mind but improves your online reputation.

From an SEO standpoint, there are important considerations when mirrored sites are used. Since mirror sites are exact duplicates of your main site, you should have controls in place to make sure Google, Yahoo and Bing only cache your preferred site. One of the problems with live mirrored sites is that a search engine may consider new site content to be �original� to the first site it spiders after a change, so your preferred site may not get the credit it deserves. Search engines are skeptical of duplicate content in general, so one part of your site that should not be mirrored might be the Robots.txt file, which can instruct search engines to ignore content on the version that is not expected to get search engine rankings.

Think Locally � Get Found In Search Engines for �Nearby� Searches

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Every day, people search for products and services that they can get in their own neighborhoods. A new Google search feature even allows users to refine or restrict their queries to results near their own. The example given in Google for �things to do on St. Patrick�s Day� and modified for Minneapolis shows the power of a local search for a fairly general query.

Having local information in the text of your website, and claiming your local listing with Google Local Business Center, are two ways of making sure the search engine understands where you are. If you have any kind of service that is restricted to a geographic area, it is in your best interest to help the search engines understand as much about you as they can. For instance, if you�re a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, you want to list all of the procedures that are done in your office, and you want to make sure that �Beverly Hills California� and surrounding communities are referenced in the text of your pages, or at least in the form of an address at the bottom of important pages like the homepage and contact pages.

Ensuring that your site is locally oriented is already critical for SEO today, and may be even more important in the future as GPS based search applications become more available to smartphone customers. The Google Android platform is providing its own GPS mapping service, and your site is less likely to be associated with your business�s map location if you don�t take advantage of tools like the Google Local Business Center. Any business with a local presence, or with franchises, may want to consider revisiting its website(s) to ensure that search engines can associate the site with a specific geographic area. As more and more customers get plugged in to geo-based search tools, and search gets more segmented, a site that thinks locally can gain a competitive advantage, not to mention a little more foot traffic in tighter times.

SEO Tactics For Small Business � How David Beats Goliath

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:59:00 +0000

A recent report shows that Fortune 500 countries aren�t very good at SEO. This can be very good for small and medium sized businesses who are competing in the same product and service fields with major players. By using a set of sound SEO tactics, you can often get enviable positions on search engines despite the fact that you don�t have a multibillion dollar marketing budget.

One of the advantages you can have as a small business is that you can operate quickly and without the bureaucracy that is associated with big business projects. If you do your own SEO, your changes can be uploaded on your site in a matter of days or weeks. Your link building process is going to be directly relative to the needs of the keywords you�re going after, and a traffic volume that may seem excessive for you might not be sufficient for a large company�s ROI calculations.

How can a small business build winning SEO campaigns in a big business environment? First, you should concentrate on your niche. Large businesses can try to be all things to all people, but they may not be able to produce a specialty that a certain segment of the customer base wants. For example, if a large company is selling athletic shoes, they may not focus too tightly on a particular category of shoes. Therefore, if your SEO efforts are targeted for something like �cross training shoes� or even �shoes made from recycled tires� then you�ve got an area of focus that an in-house SEO team (if they have one) may not be able to concentrate on in the midst of a big campaign.

As time goes on, and big businesses understand the value of SEO, the number of Fortune 500 companies who use SEO will certainly change. However, big business moves slowly when it comes to implementing changes, and SEO can be such an enigma to corporate managers that there could room for small business growth in the search engines for some time. By building small business SEO campaigns now, you can also gain a foothold against competing SEO initiatives down the road.

Want to Increase Rankings? Meet Googlebot.

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Runberg) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:48:00 +0000

In the complex world of SEO, there are a variety of ways to increase your search engine rankings. From adding keywords to your meta titles and on-page content to building a winning portfolio of links, there�s no shortage of things you can do to increase your rankings. But, none of it is worthwhile unless you can get Googlebot to visit your site.

Who is Googlebot?

While the name may sound a bit like a superhero (it�s a bird�it�s a plane�it�s a Googlebot?), a Googlebot agent is actually the specific web crawler that crawls the Web to build Google�s searchable index of website listings. This spider plays a very important role in increasing a website�s rankings on Google.

The presence of Googlebot robots on your site means that search-engine giant Google is actively archiving changes you�ve made and adjusting its index (and eventually rankings) accordingly. How do you know if your site�s been crawled? All you have to do is look for the cached version of your site (available on the Google toolbar). It will show you the date and time your site was cached, as well as a copy of your site as it appeared at that time.

You can also tell a Googlebot spider not to visit selected pages and directories on your website. Perhaps you have database content, scripts, or images on the site that you don�t want in the search engine listings. You may have directories that duplicate content on other pages (one example would be �printer friendly� pages) or you may want to limit the bandwidth load caused by search engine spiders. Whatever the reason, you can either set up nofollow tags or use the �disallow� command to tell Google to focus exclusively on the content you want.

So, while Googlebot isn�t exactly a superhero, its regular presence on your website can mean the start of enhanced Google rankings. Ready to learn more? Contact us at 1-877-Rank-321 to speak to one of our SEO specialists about Googlebot, search engines, rankings and more!

The Meta Title Tag: Increase Your Rankings in 60 Characters or Less!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Runberg) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:31:00 +0000

Search engine optimization is a complex process. From selecting keywords to building a comprehensive link building strategy, getting your website to rank highly in the engines takes time, hard work and patience. No matter what others promise you, nobody can get you on the first page of Google�s organic listings overnight. However, there are a few simple things that you can do right now to give your website a boost.

Among these �rankings boosters� is having a unique, keyword-optimized HTML meta title for every page on your website. This tag is written in your website�s HTML code and appears on the top left corner of your Web browser window. It can also be displayed in search engine results as the blue link above the site description.

This short line of text, usually no longer than 60 characters, has a BIG impact on your SEO. Search engine optimization experts consider a proper title tag to be the most important factor in defining how search engines classify a web page. A poorly written title tag can eliminate the effectiveness of high quality link building and content creation.

Think of it this way: if the search engines ignored all other aspects of your on- and off-page SEO and only analyzed your meta title tag, what�s written here should tell them exactly what the page is about. The truth is, sometimes this scenario isn�t that much of an exaggeration. That�s how important the meta title is.

Although meta title tags should tell you exactly what the page is about, it�s amazing how many websites have chosen a generic and non-descriptive tag for their pages. This is one of the biggest mistakes many webmasters make. The other mistake is trying to cram too many keywords into the SEO meta title, including keyword variations that don�t complement each other. Over-optimizing is just as disastrous as the results you�ll get from not trying to optimize your title tag at all.

Like all aspects of SEO, the key is to strike a delicate balance. By including one or two of your top keywords in your title tag, you can clearly tell the search engines (and Internet users) what the page is about. Just make sure the keywords are unique to the page and do not conflict or blur with any other pages on the site.

Want to learn more? Please give us a call at 1-877-Rank-321. Our SEO consultants can evaluate your website for meta tag and SEO effectiveness.

Link Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Anyone with knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) realizes that good, solid inbound links from reputable, relevant sites are required for ranking highly in the search engines. They lend an air of trustworthiness and quality to your website, which is critical to being part of the Google country club. To do anything unseemly to acquire these links is asking for trouble � you can be penalized or even completely blackballed.

What are link farms?
They consist of sites that link to other sites just for the purpose of linking and inflating a site�s apparent popularity. Further, some link farm products identify potential reciprocal link partners and offer to exchange links and create directory-like link pages for Web sites.

The problem is that most of the sites are random and not relevant to the linkee at all. This is a red flag for Google, and when they detect link farm spam they take action by removing the offending site from their index.

What�s wrong with link farming?
It is an unfair practice and an affront to searchers and to sites that follow the rules. When you conduct link farming, instead of linking to related information of value to your visitors, you're instead sending them to sites about totally irrelevant topics, sometimes even adult content. Partnering with companies that supply those links is a bad idea because they don�t have your best interest in mind.

Why is it still in place?
It remains a mindset stemming from a decade ago � when good quality natural links were more difficult to cultivate. Link farm companies cropped up to provide auto-registration, categorization and link page updates. Now, the search engines have a higher capacity to index more sites; thus, link farms are unnecessary. They still exist for the purpose of influencing search engine results and inflating PageRank.

The companies that operate these schemes call themselves reciprocal link management services and claim that they provide direct networking. They also tout themselves as an alternative to search engines for attracting visitors to websites. Some people apparently like what they hear, because many of these companies have a stable customer base.

What can happen if you participate in a link farm?
Search engines, particularly Google, offset the link farm spam pages by identifying specific characteristics associated with them and then filtering those pages from their index and search results. It may take time, but it will most likely happen to you if you�re involved in false linkage.

What are some good linking strategies?

� Make sure your links are relevant to your site�s topic.
� Only allow links that are good quality and have a decent PageRank. Search engines judge you by the company you keep.
� Use links with relevant keywords, and place them in your content.
� Don�t take part in any offers to trade links unless you�re familiar with the site. Delete any unsolicited emails that want you to pay for automated link generators.

Link building is essential for ranking in the search engines, but it can be a daunting task. Web.com Search Agency�s SEO strategists are experts in the art and science of link building and will take the lead in helping you boost your online presence, your traffic and your bottom line.

How to Measure Traffic From Other Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:55:00 +0000

Find ways to monetize traffic that doesn't come from search engines, and get more traffic like it.

Aside from search engine traffic, websites can get a significant amount of traffic from other online references. For instance, if you have a site that gets links from CNN or the Wall Street Journal, you may see an overwhelming amount of traffic in a short amount of time. On a smaller scale, there may be sites in your industry that send you high quality traffic which converts at a better rate than paid or natural search engine traffic. Furthermore, the proper measurement of search engine traffic can help you detect bad traffic, which comes in the form of undesired references or fraudulent clicks.

One of the best free tools for measuring site traffic is Google Analytics. If you have it installed on every page of your site, you can log in and go to Traffic Sources>Referring Sites to see the top sites that send you traffic. You can also click on specific sites in the list to see how much traffic comes to your site, and you can even get a graph of what days the traffic load is the heaviest.

The average amount of time that a visitor spends on your site, and the average number of pages visited, can give you a good impression of your site�s popularity among different demographics. For instance, if visitors from Facebook are spending a bit of time looking around, but traffic from MySpace doesn�t stay as long, you may want to make adjustments to content ads running on one network or the other. Generally speaking, the amount of time spent on a site indicates the value of a site to a reader, so traffic sources that last longer and visit more pages are better targets for your site�s value proposition.

One of the best things about segmenting your online traffic sources is that you can see how visitors from a particular site respond to your content. For instance, if the Bounce Rate (the ratio of people who visit one page and leave) is high, you may either consider improving the destination page, or finding a better source of visitors. If the bounce rate is unnaturally high, and the time spend on the site is very low (like a few seconds) then you may be the victim of click fraud.

Another positive aspect of traffic segmentation happens when you have goal, ecommerce, or conversion tracking installed. With goal tracking, you can understand the amount of traffic that takes a specific step like filling out a form or making a purchase. With ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics, you can put a real dollar value on the traffic from certain sites. If you�re paying a site for ad space, you may only need a calculator to see your ROI for that traffic. Similarly, if you see that the traffic isn�t driving sales, you can quickly re-allocate your dollars to better performing sites.

Knowing �who is visiting your site� can be especially useful when search engine traffic is taken out of the equation. In fact, Google counsels people to design their sites as if search engines didn�t exist, and Google�s PageRank algorithm is based around how sites link to each other, presumably as references for further information. Developing a reputation among referring sites can nicely feed back into SEO initiatives, since a strong site presence lends itself to more links, and more links in turn can lead to better search engine positions. Measuring referral traffic helps you understand what others think of your site, and communicating with other site owners may help you uncover business opportunities or potential partnerships with mutual growth potential. Finally, a clearer understanding about visitors who aren�t driven by search engines will give you a better ability to go after traffic from sites that are similar to the ones that drive conversions, and this can create a revenue stream with a lower cost and higher ROI than many paid search engine strategies.

Overoptimization � What is it?

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:50:00 +0000

What is overoptimization? In the world of SEO, over-optimization refers to the idea that your site has been heavily manipulated for search engine rankings. Normally, an over-optimized site is easy for a person to detect, and even easier for a search engine algorithm to spot.

Some symptoms of an overoptimized site include:

The site has a title that exactly matches its H1 Tag.

Keyword density on the site is very high. Usually, you can spot this by reading the content out loud and hearing the same phrases repeated. In the distant past, high keyword density led to good rankings, but currently it is best to keep a keyword�s density below the 7% range. Some experts will even quote 3%.

Keyword appears in the title more than twice. (Keyword stuffing anywhere else is not good either.)

Multiple identical backlinks with the exact same anchor text.

Multiple pages, usually based around all 50 states or 100 major cities, where the only difference in on-page content is the name of the city or state. This is easy for search engines to spot. Content on every page should be original.

One way to see if the search engines are penalizing you for overoptimized content is to do a search for your top keyword in Google preceded by the allinanchor: operator. This should show you where your site would be ranking based on its inbound link profile. If your site�s regular ranking is more than a couple of spots below its allinanchor score, and your keyword is prominent in the homepage title and content, you may very well be overoptimized. In any case, you should really consider tinkering with your site content to bring it up to current best practices.

In many cases, over optimization is done by people who have started on the path of DIY SEO, but who are overzealous. Whether or not there are specific �overoptimization filters� in the search engines, there are algorithms for page quality and original content, and an overoptimized page is not going to carry the same level of quality as a natural looking page with useful content. Therefore, it is best to avoid overoptimization at the outset, but if you�re revisiting an old SEO project that may be tripping some search engine filters, a bit of pruning and editing may create a cohesive profile that a search engine will find useful and acceptable. In some cases, a streamlined site can rapidly move to its rightful place in the rankings, which means that fixing overoptimization can be one of the cheapest ways to get better search engine rankings.

Domain Name Optimization

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Runberg) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:12:00 +0000

For most of our clients, the domain name is already part of the equation. However, there are occasions when there is an opportunity to purchase new or additional domain names in the name of rebranding or expanding an existing business.

So, what�s in a name really?

Your domain name says a lot about your business � and even more about your SEO. The name you choose will become a part of your corporate identity and branding efforts, while also helping you rank higher in the search engines. In other words, the domain name you choose can enhance � or detract � from your online success.

While Google does give preference to Web domain names that include keywords, this shouldn�t be your only consideration. URLs should be unique, while also being easy to remember. Additionally, they should be descriptive of your products and services. Domains such as CareerBuilder.com and AutoTrader.com are great examples of short, effective and easy-to-remember domain names.

If you choose a URL that is not descriptive of your business, it may take a while to gain brand recognition. When now popular sites such as Amazon.com, Hulu.com and Kayak.com first launched their online businesses, they had to overcome the �what is this site about?� factor. Having a more obvious domain name, such as Cars.com or Travelocity.com is far easier from a branding perspective.

If at all possible, we suggest avoiding using hyphens in the domain name. They�re difficult for people to remember and can make it awkward to verbally tell someone your URL. Above all, the key is to keep it short and simple. If you choose a domain name that accurately describes your business in as few words as possible � especially when one of those words is a keyword � you�ll be setting up your website for success.

As always, please feel free to contact us at 1-877-Rank-321 if you have any questions.

How to Remove a URL from Google

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:11:00 +0000

Getting a page to rank well in Google takes time, as does getting a page removed from Google. The steps you must take to get a web page removed, blocked or redirected are very easy; however, you must be patient as you wait for it to be officially gone from the search results. To remove a particular web page you must make the necessary changes to your website and then wait for the Google spiders to crawl it in anticipation that the page is no longer in the index.

Among Google�s Webmaster Tools you will discover a URL Removal Tool that will help expedite the process, but only if you are looking to remove a web page permanently. This delete URL tool will help in weeding out unwanted web pages, content and images �basically stuff you no longer have use for � and will have little to no impact on your SEO tactics.

If you don�t have access to your server, preventing a search engine from indexing your page can be accomplished through simple coding. The execution of a noindex meta tag will tell the web crawlers not to index the page and will inevitably stop the page from appearing in the search results. The following code will stop the crawlers in their tracks: < meta name="robots" content="noindex" >. Adding this tag will not provide a quick fix, nor will the page automatically disappear. As mentioned above, you will have to wait for the page with the noindex tag to be visited before the URL gets removed from the results.

Another option for making a page disappear from search results is to use a 301 redirect. This method of removing URLs should be used if the page is or was an important part of your site, especially if it has link power that you don�t want to lose. When the web crawlers visit that particular page, they will be redirected to its replacement and the original version will eventually be dropped from the index.

--Megan Homan

Build Website Exposure with Directory Submissions

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Web directory submission is a good way to help increase your website exposure even though their original purpose has evolved into something entirely different . Directories began as a way to help people find a website and were blamed for ruining the popularity of the standard telephone book. When more advanced search technologies like Google, Yahoo! and MSN made their way onto the scene, people lost interest in directories. Today, online directories are mostly viewed as link building opportunities that benefit your search engine optimization efforts.

When a website is submitted to a directory a backlink to your site is created, thus increasing your site�s link juice. The more established a web�s link portfolio is, the better it looks to the search engines. These types of links, however, are not as reputable to the search engines as a one-way link from an independent website relative to your industry (which is not easy to come by). Links from directory submissions are much easier to get � you just have to know which ones to choose and how to submit to them for maximum benefit.

Choosing an ideal website directory for submission is an important factor in determining how successful the link pointing to your site will be. It is best to submit to credible, well-established directories that have a good page rank in the �eyes� of Google. You want to position your site in categories that are relevant to your topics/products.

There are two types of link directory submission options � paid and free. Paid directories are actually managed by humans making them a more appealing option because of the credibility they have established with the search engines. The paid directories tend to have better page rank, so they are typically your better choice. However, to develop a well-rounded link portfolio, throwing in some free directories with lower page ranks can still be beneficial to your link portfolio.

Aside from paid or free directories, there are also general and niche directories to consider when choosing the appropriate directory. General directories will list your site in very broad categories, whereas the niche directories will allow you to place your site in very specific categories relative to your site. Be careful of how deep you go within the niche directories because the further into the site you are, the lower your chances of appearing on a page with a high page rank. Remember though, it is good to appear as relevant to your sector as possible.

--Megan Homan

Brief Overview of the Google External Keyword Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:33:00 +0000

What is the Google Keyword Tool?
For those wishing to begin or step up a pay per click or SEO campaign, this online keyword research tool is the best available when they�re searching for relevant keywords that will help get websites found in the search engines. It enables you to explore keywords and their variations using search-based information and to generate valuable lists. You use this information to decide which keywords to bid on for advertising and/or optimizing your website.

What do you need it for?
You need quality keywords to make your site known to people who are searching on the Internet. Choosing your keywords wisely is your best bet for successful search engine marketing, but it can be a daunting task. With the invaluable data that is available to you via the keyword tool, you can quickly and easily target the best keywords for your needs. Using this free service will save you a lot of time, money and effort. Among other things, you will find out the search volume and competition level of your desired keywords, which helps determine if they are appropriate for your website and how much money they are worth in a pay per click campaign.

The search-based keyword suggestion tool can compare your website and current AdWords campaigns against actual, past Google search queries to identify any relevant keywords. You can even change certain settings, like the language or country, and get a different, more specific perspective.

How do you search?
You can do a couple of things with this keyword search tool. One option is to search using descriptive words or phrases by entering a desired term or phrase in the search field. It will yield any and all related keywords and synonyms. You can also enter the URL of the page for which you�re locating keywords, and the tool will pull out terms relative to that page, conduct a search and categorize the results. The tool is also set up so that you can export the list of keywords into an Excel spreadsheet that notes the search volume, competition level, etc. You can then analyze the data and use it for your campaign.

Using keyword tools is only the first step in building the foundation for your SEO campaign. But finding keywords isn�t enough � you have to know what to do with them. The professional SEO strategists at Web.com Search Agency can help you navigate the AdWords keyword tool and apply the information � and get you on the first page of Google. Call us at 1-877-Rank321.

Click Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:26:00 +0000

Definition
Click fraud is a type of Internet crime that targets online advertisers. In the execution of this offense, pay per click ads are clicked on to artificially increase the click through rate. Every time the ad is clicked on, the advertiser pays; thus, they are paying for nothing. Click fraud can be used to generate revenue from content match PPC ads, which give a share of their click cost to the website hosting the content. Fraudsters also drive competitors out of the market by wasting their advertising dollars on non-converting clicks, or using up a competitor�s entire daily budget in order to make ads disappear. It is enough of a problem that it is illegal in the U.S. and U.K. and considered a felony in nearly all jurisdictions. Many individuals have been arrested for this offense.

How is Click Fraud is Committed?
There is the automated type of PPC click fraud in which software is specifically designed to emulate humans� behavior � it sends out robots or �bots� to click on paid listings. Some criminals, both competitors and affiliates, use proxy servers that make it possible for their fraudulent activity to go undetected by filters. This artificial click generation is the most difficult to combat.
There are some click fraud rings that actually hire low-cost employees to click on ads and text links as their entire job. These operations are often found in China, India and other foreign countries, though it happens right here in the U.S. as well. These groups are easier to nab, since the clicks can be traced back to their identifiable IP addresses.

Another common form of AdWords click fraud comes from tricksters establishing dummy Web addresses that display nothing but lists of recycled paid ads. When some unsuspecting Internet user clicks on these ads, marketers get billed no matter where the clicks originate from. These publishers, acting as middlemen, set it up so they get a share of these spuriously generated revenues.

What are the PPC companies doing about click fraud?
Big guns, like Google and Yahoo! are reassuring customers that there is no reason to fret because they have sophisticated algorithms in place that enable them to detect click fraud. They keep the details under wraps so illicit clickers can�t use the information to undermine the system.

To further click fraud protection, Google has also put in place a new pricing plan that is more specific about what they will charge for. Instead of just a click, certain actions are defined, such as purchases or form fill-outs. This is an excellent way for advertisers and publishers to have more control over their marketing budgets.

What should you do about click fraud?
First and foremost, to combat Google click fraud, you should pay close attention to your online campaigns throughout the year � being aware that something is amiss is the first step to preventing it from becoming a disaster. Track all your clicks and check those sites that produce high click rates but no sales or desired actions. If you suspect click fraud, don�t hesitate to contact the search engines. You are likely to be refunded.

How we can help
Call Web.com Search Agency to begin your PPC campaign and be found on the first page of Google today. We will help you combat AdSense click fraud.

Link Juice

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Rosenkrantz) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:19:00 +0000

What is Link Juice?
It is a search engine optimization (SEO) �slang� term that has gone viral in recent years. Specifically, the link juice definition refers to how much benefit a link passes on or the quality of inbound links a website has. This influences a website�s ranking in the search engines. In Google, PageRank is approximately the same concept as link juice.

Why do you need to worry about link juice?
The most important goal relative to search and SEO is to have your site rank highly in the search engines, preferably in the top 10 results, for your keywords. The more quality links you have, the greater your visibility, the higher your web page rankings become and the more potential traffic you�ll get.

What makes a link juicier?
A link is considered to pass more link juice if the page from which it originates: contains relevant content to where it points, is indexed by the search engines, has a low number of links, has a good amount of authority and has a lot of link juice pointing to it.

In addition, the link itself should not have a nofollow attribute added to it, should not be a paid link and should absolutely contain anchor text that is relevant to the page it points to.

Links that do not have the above characteristics can still help a site, but they just won't have as much link juice or be quite as beneficial.

Do all links pass juice?
Not necessarily. Keep in mind that not all links are useful to a website, so you shouldn�t go around linking your website to every other website you see. It would be better to create links only with those websites that are related to yours in order to target the appropriate audience. Also, Google does a lot of filtering, so a link�s power is never actually a given.

What are some good sources of SEO link juice?
You can get link juice from a variety of sources. You can generate much of it yourself by submitting to red-hot social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter or to social media sites like Digg and Reddit. Even though these sources are nofollowed, you can generate buzz that generates links and link juice from other websites.

There�s a lot to know when it comes to website link juice, so it�s best to get the help of a professional SEO firm like Web.com Search Agency to help you achieve the best results. Call us at 1-877-Rank321.

Improve Google Pagerank

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:24:00 +0000

One of the first disclaimers on the topic of increasing Google PageRank is that it is not necessary for SEO success. Google PageRank is based on the quality of links pointing at your site from other sites, and depends on a variety of factors such as the value of the links pointing at the sites, that are pointing at the sites, that are pointing at your site. Despite the fact that your Page Rank can go down while your rankings go up, some executives and decision makers are more concerned with PR than with actual traffic or sales. Therefore, keeping a high PR is often a political necessity for people in SEO, despite the fact that the difference between PR7 and PR5 site may be negligible when it comes to rankings.

Here are some ways you can improve (or maintain) PageRank:

Get links from High PR sites. If you�re just trying to increase PageRank, the sites don�t have to be relevant. Another disclaimer is that Google is against buying links to inflate PageRank, so you could conceivably get banned.
Improve your internal linking. Every internal link on your site should point back to the homepage at its absolute location. If you have some links pointing to your top level domain, and some pointing to �index.htm� then you may be shortchanging the value that interior links are passing from external sources.
Redirect old or unused sites with link popularity. If you have legacy sites out there, redirect them to your main site. This improves the link count.
Get More Legitimate Links. This is great for SEO, and if an executive wants to improve PageRank, getting money for link building will improve your traffic and bottom line as well.
Make sure you aren�t blocking good pages. If your image directory is blocked from search engine spiders, or you have pages that are not of �general interest� but not confidential, you should make them available to search engines. If these pages are getting any links from outside, then some of the value should get passed back to the homepage.

One of the problems with the PageRank calculation is that it is logarithmic. A PageRank 1 site may have only a few links, a PageRank 2 site may have a few dozen, and a PageRank 3 may need thousands. However, you can also increase the PageRank of a low PR site with a single link from a more popular site! This makes any formula for PageRank improvement impossible without inside knowledge of the Google Algorithm. The PageRank formula is also a moving target, since it is based on all the pages found on the internet and how they relate to each other, so (in theory) if it took the equivalent of 100,000 links to get a PR8 back in 2004, it may take 10 million to get the same score today.

Once again, a change in PageRank should not be an occasion to panic (or even celebrate) if there is not a corresponding change in search engine rankings. You have no control over the sites that link to you. PageRank scores are also usually a few months old when they are finally updated to search engine toolbars, and there is a �true� PR score that is only known to the Google algorithm, and based on dozens of factors. If you have people in your organization that are obsessed with PageRank, then it is best to inform them of the high cost of maintaining it, and channeling that energy toward more link building and online marketing practices. At the time of this writing, MSN.com has a PR of 8, and Yahoo has a PR of 9, so money only gets you to a certain level if you don�t have a sufficient number of inbound links.

How To Get Links

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:55:00 +0000

Most online entrepreneurs end up finding about SEO accidentally, but they usually follow the same pattern to link building. First, they build a website and wonder why it isn�t getting found on search engines. Next, they read up on SEO, start with some metatags, and may get limited results. They may even add more content. At some point, they learn that Google, Bing, and Yahoo need to see links from other websites in order to give the website credibility and better rankings.

Here are a few ways to get new links to your website:

Buy Them. The fastest and most obvious way to get links. Google�s official position is that it is against people buying links to inflate PageRank. If you engage in low-quality link building schemes your site can get penalized. If you invest in high-quality link building without masking your activities, you can also get flagged. If you are trying to make money selling anything online, your competitors are probably out there buying links, and they buy more every month. There are ways to get links without being seen as a flagrant buyer of PageRank, and you can promote your site online simultaneously.

Create Link Bait. If you want to know how to get links for free, link bait is usually the best way. The problem is that you either have to make something useful or viral that is going to get repeat visits and recommendations from other netizens. This can be expensive and it doesn�t always work. If you have content that is interesting, humorous, or frequently updated, you may be creating link bait without even knowing it. One way to get links is to create controversy, because even if you�re dead wrong, people will link to your site in order to criticize it. Naturally, some lines of business don�t work well with controversy, and other link building methods are recommended. The tough thing about link bait is that you may have to �prime the pump� with PPC advertising in order to get people interested.

Build Tools and Calculators. The creation of a useful set of online tools is generally a great way to get links, and Web.com Search Agency has had success with its SEO Tools and Widgets, which are popular among DIY SEO types. People who keep coming back to use your tools also have a high likelihood of becoming customers. In our case, our tools may help define the customer�s problem, but it still takes experienced experts to build a solution to low rankings. If you have a site that helps people refinance mortgages, the ideal type of tool would be a calculator that shows people how to reduce their interest rates. One of the most successful tools of all time, the Adobe Acrobat Reader, is also the reason that Adobe has such a high number of links and usually gets a PageRank score of 10.

Tell People What They Want To Know. In the past, advice forums got links, but forums need to be maintained and scanned for spam on a regular basis. Adding white papers, procedures, and useful tips to your site is a good way to get links. Blogs, Advice and Resources sections, and news updates may help people understand a topic. Furthermore, if you�re an expert in a certain niche, you can expound on the nuances of your product or service, and you can get found by people who are looking for what you have to offer.

When people use free utilities like our link popularity checker to see how they stack up to the competition, they may start to panic. Competitors may have several thousand links pointing at their sites. However, factors like link quality, on-page SEO, and even your domain name may offer you a leg up when you embark on an optimization project. A few good links from the right places can counteract thousands of low-quality ones. Your competitor may also be getting links that aren�t relevant to the keyword you�re going after, so the actual �important� link count can be much lower. Even in highly competitive fields, there are proven methods for link building that get results, but naturally it costs a lot more to acquire links in these fields. Nonetheless, understanding the playing field helps you create a strategy for acquiring the best links, and in an expensive field like internet marketing, this can be tremendously advantageous.

Landing Page Design and Testing for SEO

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:24:00 +0000

Part of the problem with landing page design for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is that there is a conflict between the type of page that is likely to rank on a search engine and the type of page that a person will interact with. In the world of landing page specialists, these page types are known as reference (favored by search engines) and transactional (favored by people who want to make money online).

If you�ve ever wondered why Wikipedia consistently shows up in the top 10 search results, then the referential landing page type should be of interest. When you consider that Google�s original goal was to catalog the world�s information, and to deliver relevant results, Wikipedia goes a long way to making this possible. Its pages are full of information, which may be disputed at times, but is generally in-depth about its topic matter. As a reference landing page, Wikipedia organizes itself in a way that gets read, with a brief abstract at the top and deeper material down below. There are also images on the right if they are appropriate. For reference landing pages, the old adage that �content is king� is still true, assuming that Google, Bing, or Yahoo trust the rest of the site enough to cite its pages.

Transactional landing pages, however, are what turn visitors into buyers. A Pay-Per-Click
(PPC) landing page is almost always transactional, and has just enough information to get the customer moving. It has clear calls to action, above the fold reinforcement, and plenty of trust indicators (like HackerSafe and BBB logos) designed to reduce Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (AKA �FUD�) while encouraging the customer to start the shopping process.

When it comes to SEO, there is a conflict which is usually addressed by creating a hybrid between reference and transactional landing pages. This is done by making sure calls to action are near the top of the page, while SEO elements and reference content are closer to the bottom of the design. In a manner of speaking, the search engine should like the page enough to get the reader to visit, but the visitor should be so enchanted by the transactional calls to action that the information (which got the visitor there) is basically ignored or forgotten. A side benefit of having hybrid pages is that people who want to know more about the product or service will actually read the content and stay on the site longer, and may bookmark it. Additionally, using a hybrid page as a PPC landing page may improve your quality score because more keyword variations are being covered on the page.

Testing these hybrid pages creates a special challenge that is unavailable to the person who creates transactional landing pages especially for PPC. For one thing, A/B testing on a hybrid page raises the specter of duplicate content or cloaking, since you may be using specialized tools to present different versions of the same page. Most of the time, A/B Testing and its cousin Multivariate testing are done on pages that are not in the normal path of search engine spiders. This kind of testing can also cause problems for classic SEO types, who need to be sure that controls are in place for content and tags, so the search engine won�t be seeing too much (or tool little) keyword content relative to the title and inbound links.

The best possible solution to design for hybrid pages is to use known conversion factors from tested PPC landing pages and try to emulate that information at the top of the landing page. As a caveat, there should also be a follow-up call to action below the fold, or at the bottom of the content, so interested readers won�t jump off to another page before being reminded of the site�s value proposition.

From an SEO standpoint, referential pages will almost always have a head up in search engine rankings. Many people in web design prefer to present pages in a transactional manner, along with graphic design elements which may not be helpful for search engine spiders. SEO consultants have an obligation to educate their customers on a balanced approach to page design, since it is the sales off the website that generally justify the consultant�s continued retention. Although it is not always easy to explain that �people can�t criticize the appearance of your site if they can�t find it,� a blended approach between information and action can generally soothe the client once they see a lower bounce rate, higher quality score, or more sales as a result of an SEO strategy that brings visitors who turn into conversions.

SEO Training � Learn SEO Fundamentals

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Hare) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:10:00 +0000

Search Engine Optimization Training is useful in a variety of website design and development fields beyond pure SEO. Editors of newspapers with online editions have learned that an SEO-friendly article title with a demand-driven keyword focus can provide a traffic advantage in both natural and news aggregation results. Ecommerce shopping cart SEO knowledge helps programmers build web stores that get cached in Google, and when it comes to building strong internal links, SEO training may be the difference between top 5 results and a trickle of traffic from the second page.

Aside from improving your website ROI, here are some other real world uses of SEO training:

Doing market research with the Google Keyword Tool

Using Google Analytics to model in-store customer behavior

Using competitor link analysis to discover potential new clients or vendors

Analyzing competitor meta descriptions to get ideas for messaging in collateral and direct mail pieces

Helping your independent sales contractors get an edge over their counterparts in other companies.

How do you get SEO training, without signing up for a class? Obviously, the first thing to do is head for your nearest search engine. There is a lot of information about SEO that can be learned online, from the basics to advanced techniques. The pitfall about getting all your knowledge online is that SEO techniques can spoil over time. Last year�s article about �proven SEO techniques� is probably a little stale, but anything from 5 years ago is practically toxic. Whenever possible, you should be looking for the most modern trends in SEO, and one way to do this when searching is to put the current calendar year in your search term. At the very least, you won�t be getting advice on dangerous methods like doorway pages, link exchanges, and cloaking.

Some of the best places to learn DIY SEO techniques are:

Search Engine Land

SEObook.com

PlanetOcean.com

One of the standard disclaimers for any kind of SEO training is that the best way to get search engine rankings is to start with a site that people will want to see and share. You have to be a resource for your topic, even if your goal is to make money selling products. How can you do this? One way is to create original content about the item, including tips on installation, replacement, activation, and so on. If you want to get into a highly competitive field like credit card merchant account services, you could add features to your site describing the process of getting an account, what to avoid, how to get the best credit card rates, and how to link your merchant account into your online shopping cart. While everyone else is just listing credit card machines and discount rates, you now have an advantage because you�ve got original, helpful content that people will want to point links at.

Finally, it should be pointed out that basic SEO training is no substitute for in-depth experience on multiple SEO accounts. A large part of becoming an �SEO Expert� involves overcoming challenges that can crop up at any time, and staying current with search engine algorithm changes. Unless you�re into self-service SEO for the long haul, retaining a professional SEO agency can represent a significant cost savings over the time and energy it takes to stay current and avoid search engine penalties. At Web.com Search Agency, our account managers are continuously learning new SEO techniques just to stay current, and we make sure to pass on a lot of information to our customers as well. This kind of �light training� allows us to help customers identify opportunities for traffic and sales growth. As a result, the SEO training we give to our customers allows them to grow their businesses in a cost effective manner, while giving them an unparalleled understanding of the online business marketplace.

It�s All About the Cache

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica Runberg) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:39:00 +0000

Anyone who�s SEO-savvy knows that a big key to increasing your exposure in search engines is to get the web crawlers to visit your site, and to do it often. When visited, spiders create a site cache to help them archive what�s on the page. This cache, or snapshot, of a Web page stores the information exactly as it appeared on the date the site was crawled.

Once cached and included in the index, the spiders return periodically to see what � if anything � has changed. The old versus new comparison is a quick and easy way for the search engines to update their archives and adjust their rankings accordingly.

The more frequently you update your site, the more often the spiders will visit and note changes that will help your site rank higher in the search engines. Search engines use the content stored in the website cache to determine if the page is a good match for the query in question; so unless you�ve been crawled recently, your changes won�t be noted.

What does this mean for your website? Your cached webpages are the secret to your online success! Any updates you make to your site are meaningless from an SEO perspective until the site is archived. Since there�s no set schedule that the spiders �crawl the Web,� getting the engines to take note of website updates is often a bit of a waiting game. Depending on the frequency your site is updated, your site may be crawled as often as every day or two, but it can sometimes take a week or longer.

Why does Google cache pages? Basically, it delivers results by comparing the content on your site with that of every other site it can find. By caching your content into its database, Google is then able to deliver up your website for thousands of different keyword queries. Since Google has to know what is on each site before it can deliver results to a customer, it periodically caches web pages in order to make sure the end user gets the right information. Periodic caching also ensures that new content on the site is reflected in the search engine index. One of the other great things about cached information is that it allows the search engine to judge your site on its own merits, as opposed to using information compiled in directories.

When was the last time your site was crawled? Visiting a cached version of your site is easy; just click on the cached button that appears along with your page�s search engine listings. To learn more, give us a call at 1-877-Rank-321.