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Search Engine Optimization Services This is the first search engine optimization course I purchased back in 1997!
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DIY SEO - Part 2 Tags n Things
Part 2 Tips 4 tags
Meta tags are the descriptive tags used by website designers to explain to the search engines exactly what your website is all about. They look like this,
title Put title of your page here, include important keywords /title
meta name="Description" content="Put a short keyword rich description of your site here" /
meta name="Keywords" content="Put your keywords in here" /
meta name="AUTHOR" content="Your name or company name here" /
meta name="COPYRIGHT" content=" Your name or company name here " /
meta name="DISTRIBUTION" content="Global" /
meta name="RATING" content="General" /
meta name="robots" content="index, follow" /
meta name="revisit-after" content="1 Week" /
meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /
Note: the opening and closing brackets have been missed off to make this article compatable for publication.
These tags should be placed inside the HEAD and /HEAD of your page. You don't really need to worry to much about what each one means, just be sure to include lots of keyword rich phrases in the " description" tag and all the carefully chosen keywords in the "keywords" tag. The rest is self-explanatory. Although not all search engines bother with these tags it is important that you include them for the engines that do use them.
You can always get them done free online at http://www.submitcorner.com/Tools/Meta/
The title tag is the important one, it's your shop window if you like. Target the right keywords or phrase as I showed you in part one, (you can still view it http://www.small-website-advice.com/wordpress/) and be sure to include it in your title tag for maximum effect. If every page has a different description in the title tag at the top of the page you can expand the number of searches you can compete for
More tips with tags
Another title tag is the tag you can use after a url such as this
a href="http://made-up-name.com" title="here is the result" target="_blank" The title tag (in between opening and closing tags)
If you hover over the resulting link you will see "here is the result", if this phrase were in your keywords list then this would also count with the search engines. Make the page loads up in a new window by using the "target="_blank" command, that way your visitor stays with you.
Use the "alt" tag that you can use when adding links to pictures, for example;
img src="yourpicture.gif" width="150" height="100" alt="another keyword here"(in between opening and closing tags)
Adding your keywords in these places will add more weight to your site, you should hopefully see an improvement in your position.
Basic Page Design
The first thing about page design is that search engines read web pages from the top left-hand corner down. Why is this important? Well, the placing of your keywords (yep! Them again) is vital, you should have at least one in-between h1 /h1 tags and if possible at the top of the page. As well as this you should have any ads such as google on the right hand side of the page, keeping your content on the left-hand side. An even scattering of keywords in your page text should help and you should have a keyword near the end of the page.
Don't have to many pictures if you can help it, most browsers' only load 4 pictures at a time and this can seriously slow down the page load time and put people off your site. You are better off having pictures on inside pages where your visitors are happier to wait; they do after all want to see your products.
Avoid garish colours, flashing banners and masses of text that you don't need, you don't want to scare your potential customers away or lead them to another person's website via an ad before you get them to view your site.
Most of all you should get you page scrutinised by a friend who is going to be honest with you, or find a forum that will do a constructive site review for you, you can find a forum like this here. The eyes of another person will not be tainted with the same "this is my baby" eyes that you have as the designer.
That's it for now, next time we move on to talk about advertising.
Mark white has been involved in IT for 16 years and has been active in internet marketing and web design for 5 years.
For help and advice please visit small-website-advice.com
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Can Google Really Deliver Country Specific Searching?
This is a serious matter, can Google really deliver top quality search results for other countries? The answer so far is "sort of". In this article I will use Canada as an example of the quality or lack of thereof, that is delivered by Google's search results.
Is This A ?DMOZ Killer? In The Making?
Is building a Human-Edited Fully "Democratic" Search Directory Possible?
HTML and Search Engine Optimization - What You Dont Know Can Kill You
When it comes to search engine optimization there is a lot of information available, some accurate, some not. If you really want to know what is going on regarding your website and how to best optimize it for good results with the search engines, you need to do some SEO research. Review the following suggestions and above all get your information verified from a variety of sites, don't just take one site's information as the truth and run with it because you could be running in the wrong direction.
Alert Marketing - Get Google Search Results By E-mail
Sometimes our jobs as marketers means we need to look beyond the obvious. Google, for example, offers their Google Alerts service. At first glance, this may seem most useful to companies who want to track certain searches within their industry, or to hobbyists who want to stay on top of changes in their topics of interest.
More Hits are Good for My Website - A Myth You Should Avoid
I hear this all the time. "I can get you listed on 100,000 websites for $29.95" and..."I can get you 100,000 hits on your website for the same price". Avoid these like the plague.
What Constitutes a Complete and Effective SEO Campaign?
Unfortunately, not many Search Engine Optimization companies know what this involves. You may see a "one size fits all" package, link popularity development in the form of submitting to link farms, or even the dreaded "Submit Your Site to 1000's of Search Engines" scam. While the basic premise of each of these ideas is true, the execution of them is extremely important.
Mindset from Yahoo!- Changing the SEO Game
Yahoo! has a developed a new concept in search engine technology - "Intent Driven Search" - allowing you to sort search results according to their commercial or informational content.
SEO 101
SEO (search engine optimization) is a booming businees these days. Everyone wants to obtain top rankings in google, yahoo, and msn. The problem most SEO companies face is the fact that they forget the basics.
Search Engine Traffic Myths, Time Wasters, and Pitfalls
Everyone wants to increase their rankings with the search engines and because of this there is a ton of information available on how to go about it. Unfortunately, while some of this information is real, there is just as much or more information that is outdated, wrong, and a complete waste of time, money and energy on your part. So, you can read the following and learn about a few of the myths and pitfalls people believe about search engines and in the future you can continue to educate yourself from reputable sites that provide accurate and truthful information.
SEO #4: Off-page Optimization
Yesterday you should have read the third course out of 6 courses that will help you get a TOP rank in the search engines and get EXPLOSIVE LASER TARGETED TRAFFIC for Free. Today we move on to course #4 and study off-page Optimization. Please read today's course very carefully and take some time to test what I'm about to tell you on your own webpage. Alright let's start!
10 Ways To Indirectly Get To The Top Of Search
There are millions of web sites trying to get listed in the top 20 spots of the major search engines. That amounts to a lot of competition! I say if you can't get listed at the top, indirectly get to the top.
The Reality of Search Engine Submissions
Over the last few months, search engine submissions have changed dramatically. Now is the time to analyze the way we're submitting our Web pages and to rethink our submission strategies.
Would You Let A Dog Or A Butler Market Your Website?
The latest news to hit the Internet's 'water cooler' is that Lycos and Ask Jeeves are to begin their own SEO services..
Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 3: Site Structure
Welcome to part three in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed the importance and considerations that much be made while creating the content that will provide the highest ROI for your optimization efforts. In part three we will discuss the importance of site structure.
Google Wireless - Search Away From Home
For so many web surfers, it's almost automatic to type Google.com in to our address bar when we want to search. So big and well-known is Google that many browsers have a built-in search box or typed shortcut for Google searches. In fact, we tend to associate Google with search so much now that the word itself is commonly used as a verb, as in "let me Google that". It's much the same as Band-Aid, Kleenex, and Xerox, where the brand name is so pervasive that it's very often substituted for the generic function of the item the brand is applied to.
Speed Indexing - 3 Steps to Getting Your Website Listed in Google Quickly
Getting your website listed in Google quickly simply requires that you know what Google is looking for and how to apply that to your site. Fortunately, what Google is looking for is pretty easy to understand and use in your marketing plan. Start with these suggestions as soon as possible so you will increase your traffic. Consider the following suggestions to get your website listed with Google, and listed as well and quickly as possible.
Search Engine Optimization SEO Made Easy
SEO is a never ending battle! So is SEO over-rated? I don't think it is. Some say that Google's automated PageRank? system and Alexa's Traffic Rank system are losing ground. This may be may be true to some point but the fact still remains that we want at the top of the search results. And to achieve this we need to educate ourselves and do the work or hire someone else to the work for us. Search Engine Optimization "SEO" is a term we see all over the net. For those of you that are unsure exactly what is meant by SEO, it's simply adjusting many characteristics of your website to conform with what the major search engines deem important. That's where the simple stops. It's complicated only because no one other than the developers themselves know all the rules and even then the rules are constantly changing. What I'll try to do here is cover the basics that have fairly consistent lately. Keep in mind however there will always be inconsistencies when it comes SEO. For example, I recently read an e-book that said to imbed a few of your primary keywords in the "alt" tag of your logo graphic. The same day, I was reading an online article of equal quality and this author cautioned against such a tactic due to possible penalties by the search engines. So which did I do? See for yourself by hovering your mouse over the logo. I don't mind a little risk as long as the risk is low and there may be nice benefits, but don't get carried away. We certainly don't want to get banned by any search engines. I get the heebie-jeebies just saying it. That would simply end many of us. Because Google's PageRank? and Alexa's Traffic Rank systems are really two different animals, I will focus primarily on Google's PageRank? system for now. So lets get started in no particular order. Link Popularity: I guess we can start with the hardest part of search engine optimization. Link popularity. The ultimate goal here is to gain the respect of the search engines. And how we do that is by who we know or at least associate with in the spiders eyes. We want as many quality incoming links as possible with as few low-ranked outbound links as possible. We need to consider several factors when we approach any site to request a link exchange. 1. First of all, we want to focus only on sites that compliment ours. By that I mean directly on indirectly are in the same category or field or relating field as our site without necessarily competing with our site. I say not-necessarily because personally I have no problem linking to competitors site as long as we both mutually agree benefits. Some fear they'll lose some of their site visitors but I feel the best way to keep visitors on your site and get them to return is by providing a high quality site with great original content. 2. Second we want to pay attention to their Google page rank. To do this if you haven't already done so, download Google free toolbar http://toolbar.google.com/ Once installed, you can see the PageRank? of any site you go to. You want as many sites as possible with high PR's. Set a goal of getting a few PR6 or PR7 sites. This will do wonders to your rank. In fact one PR7 might do more for you than hundreds on no or very low PR sites. 3. Third, the engines like to see incoming links from what they consider on authoritative site. So aggressively go after well established, high ranking sites that share the some focus as your site. 4. Fourth on our list are the sites to stay away from. Sites that generate artificially created links. Link farms and even huge link exchange sites can even get your site banned. I don't mean to make anyone nervous here. The fact is, if you are generally doing the right thing for the right reasons, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you find yourself trying to hide something or hoping an search engine doesn't catch something, then you may want to re-evaluate your strategies. Requesting a link. The first thing you should do when requesting a link exchange is little research. Glance over the site in question and consider where your site link might hold the most relevance one their site. This will benefit both parties. And then don't be afraid to offer the suggestions when you contact the site administrator. I have had sites accept my link on a suggested page even though they have a section designed just for outside links. I have even accepted links that I would have normally rejected because the fit would have seemed wrong if they hadn't shown a better fit. Always add their link to your site before you make the request and include the page url of the link when making contact. Keep track of the contacts you've made and if you haven't received a reply. Do a simple search on there site to see if they added your link and forgot to reply. At most, send one more request and be sure to include the words link exchange in the subject line so they don't delete your mail as spam. Then if you still don't get a reply within a week simply remove theirs from your site and move on. Don't send any more mail. Consider the lack of response as a rejection and accept it. Don't take things personal and send a negative e-mail. I have actually received a couple of these and there's really no point. If you do get a reply and a link send a short thank you note. Always include the exact text of the link you want on their site. Again, before you do this it helps if you look at other links on their site. If they have a 3 or 4 word description with each link, you don't want to send a whole paragraph in your links description. What you do want to do is include your best key words. In fact, a short description with the right key words can benefit you far better than a watered down version. Keep it short and sweet. Make things as easy as possible for the webmaster. Include the html code of your link so he/she can just copy and paste if they decide to.
Google Sitemaps Just Got Better
Having a Google Sitemap just got better! Not only does the search engine company check your sitemap, but now they give you feedback! The new feature was quickly noticed by many users of the service recently as a way for Google to alert the webmaster about possible problem pages that they have had trouble indexing.
Adding Content To Your Site Every Day
If you have been a webmaster for more than a week, you've surely heard the saying "Content Is King". And it really is true! This article will explain why the regular addition of fresh content to your website is so crucial and explain several ways to do it easily and inexpensively (even free).
Link Popularity: Distribute Content, Not Just Links
You've spent many hours trying to increase your online traffic with your linking campaign. You've sent out 200 e-mails pleading with other web sites to trade links with your site. Many of your e-mails bounce back.