SEO - Search Engine Optimization
This page offers a free tutorial on how to do Search Engine Optimization.
It is a detailed tutorial of a long-term successful process. It
provides SEO tools imbedded into the steps below, and appropriate links
to SEO training resources as appropriate.
The objective of search engine optimization (SEO) is to increase a Website's traffic
counts, and ultimately conversions, by getting higher search engine
placement for the keywords in the search query. The mission of SEO is to
make the site's content worthy of higher search engine ranking for your
target audience by being more relevant and competent than the
competition's. This SEO optimization process is often viewed as a
struggle to rank well for just a few keywords, instead of a struggle to
satisfy the needs of those entering the query.That is not really the
goal - you should satisfy the user by being an expert and giving them
valuable competent information.
You should get your rankings the old fashioned way - you should earn them!
Trying to fool the search engines into giving you rankings will just
get you penalized. There is no easy way to perform search engine
optimization. It is hard work to be better than a million other sites,
so be prepared to have to do it right and by the numbers.
If you search on your best keywords you
will see the sites with higher search engine rankings. To obtain
traffic for your competing content you will need to rank higher than
those top sites. Our free SEO tips and advice and supplemental services optimize and help your search engine rankings (traffic and profits). We offer SEO penalty assessments (penguin issues), books, classroom SEO training, search engine optimization tools, full website assessments, and SEO services
including placement advice, tips, information and hints to improve your
search engine rankings and traffic relative to the existing leaders.
After all, better keyword ranking is the first step to increased Web traffic.
It is not enough to simply add Meta tags and do search engine submission of your site to a million search engine indexes and directories. The first placement tip in obtaining significant Web traffic counts is to seek first-page search engine results. An early and absolutely necessary step is to build a great content-rich site. One of the last steps is the proper submission of your great site to the search engines or directories. In the middle is a step that is VITAL if you want to obtain front-page results. Most site owners bypass this step because they forget about it or think it is too complex, but without competent search engine optimization services you are destined to become search engine fodder. The following FREE tools and advice guide and help you choose your keywords with search engine optimization and ranking in mind.
There are no search engine optimization
secrets — just ranking methodologies to follow in order to beat your
competition in obtaining traffic for desired keywords. SEO training,
quality content writing and organic and proper linking services are only
a few SEO tips. This site targets improving rankings by using a "beat
the leader" approach to keyword selection and content structures. Once
you know what keywords and styles worked for the "leaders," you can do
even better by becoming "least imperfect"! Proper organic search engine
optimization requires that you outsmart your competition, so knowing the
best keywords and criteria used by your competition is the most
important first step.
With personalization
entering the mix, understanding the persona, community and location of
your target market is critically important to traffic generation and are
part of the SEO process. With careful selection and placement of your
keywords, you will fare well against your competition. Started by Bruce
Clay in early 1996 and frequently revised to keep pace with the shifting
SEO landscape, the Bruce Clay, Inc. website offers tips and services
for improving search engine results via a unique, specific, search
engine keywords placement methodology.
Step 0 - Search Engine Optimization Overview
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the science of increasing traffic
to your Website by improving the internal and external factors
influencing ranking in search results. It includes Web programming
expertise combined with business, persuasion, sales and a love for
competitive puzzle solving. If you do all this right, you will have a
Website capable of maintaining desired revenue goals while achieving
higher search engine rankings in the organic sections of search engine
results pages. Creating a Website does not just involve technical
skills, or content writing, or links, or Engagement Objects™, or search
engine submission; it involves an intricate blend of more than 200
variables woven into the fabric of a Website. It is difficult to
accomplish this type of project without a formal, proven SEO methodology and strong tools. We offer you a tutorial on all of that and more on these pages.
Before you start, you should understand
that being among the top 3 rankings in every major search engine and
directory can be achieved, although very few sites can get there, and
the effort is often beyond reason. Ranking results change week-to-week
due to competition, so maintaining a top organic SEO ranking
requires constant keyword monitoring and information rework. Search
engine optimization never rests, much like your competition.
It is not the job of search engine optimization to make a pig fly.
It is the job of the SEO to genetically re-engineer the Website so that it becomes an eagle.
It is the job of the SEO to genetically re-engineer the Website so that it becomes an eagle.
The key information on this page includes
tips on how to prepare both you and your site for a competent SEO
campaign. How to choose the right keywords, how to analyze your
competition, what site submission involves and how it is best
accomplished, when and why and how to monitor your search engine
ranking, complete with search engine optimization tools and aids. This
site covers all basic and advanced strategies and the common mistakes to
be avoided.
Please start with a review of our SEO Code of Ethics and SEO Standards pages before you edit your site pages.
Looking for a short SEO Checklist - try ours!
 |
Search Engine Relationship Chart®
We think it is important that you learn how the search engines and directories relate to each other. View our Search Engine Relationship Chart®. This is a flash rendering of our famous FREE PDF
that is suitable for color printing, and all the links are active! The
Search Engine Relationship Chart® has evolved quite a bit over the
years; check out the Search Engine History - Chart Histogram to see how much it has changed.Bruce Clay®, Inc. was
singled out as the Best Professional Services Interactive Application
award winner for 2004 by the IAC Web Marketing Association for this
Search Engine Relationship Chart.
|
 |
SEO Hierarchy of Needs
There's a hierarchy to be considered when developing any
SEO campaign. To help businesses and marketers apply this strategy of
prioritization, the SEO Hierarchy of Needs shows the relative place of
search engine optimization tasks.
View the SEO Hierarchy of Needs in interactive flash, or download the chart in PDF. |
 |
Bruce Clay SEO Factors & Trends Midyear 2013 Report
Bruce Clay, Inc. publishes an annual SEO Factors & Trends Report, offering a complete summary of the major factors for
the past year as well as expert insights on future search engine
optimization trends for the coming year. Visit our Internet marketing whitepapers page or download the latest SEO Factors & Trends Midyear 2013 Report in PDF.
|
Step 1 - How To Select Keywords
The most important first search engine optimization tip is to select keywords wisely.
There are a few items you will need to go through in order to properly
select keywords. Please use these in sequence, and when you are done you
will have completed an SEO checklist and have seen our plan of attack
in action.
Initially, you must brainstorm for
keywords. Most people can make a short (or long) list of keywords they
would want to use to find their own site. Use these to "prime the
keyword pump." These will be used in the next few steps.
To select keywords
that you expect appropriate Web surfers to use to locate your site,
submit your obvious keyword terms using our research tools below to
locate the top-ranked competing sites. You should be able to validate
that your competitors for these search engine optimization rankings
appear. The next tip is to create a list of the top site URLs that
return from each search. Our search engine optimization tools present a
list of sites with the most top-25 rankings. The numbers represent their
current (real-time) ranking position (1 is first, 3 is third, etc.).
These sites are used to identify sites needing analysis in subsequent
steps. Enter your major keywords (ours are "search engine optimization"
and many others). You will find that in a Web-sized audience of billions
of Web pages, your competition will generally rank well in several
search engines. True high rankings are achieved by having a first-page
ranking in most of these search engines for many keywords (not just one
or two).
SEO Tools: Try this free search engine optimization keyword research tool:
You should keep track of any URLs that you
happen to know are ranked best for your keywords or are your major
competition. You may also visit the search engines directly to see
specific results although these results are often personalized based
upon your web search history. For instance, type your keywords into the
search field for each search engine and view their individual results
pages.
Now that you have a list of keywords you
need to adapt them for your target audience. Not all keywords are going
to be specific enough to eliminate ambiguity and perform well for a
personalized (web history biased) search. We go much farther in keyword selection on our keywords pages.
Need More SEO Information? - Keyword Selection, Competitive Research
Related Blog Posts:Change Your Perspective on Keyword Research, Win Big, Advanced Keyword Research Tactics - SMX East 2012
Search Engine Optimization Services
- Allow us to provide your search engine optimization services — obtain
a free quote for Bruce Clay, Inc. to research, precision tune, submit,
monitor and much more for a full year at competitive rates. Our SEO
services are much less expensive than you would think, and the results
are generally higher and longer lasting than most do-it-yourself search
engine marketing projects. Please contact us for a no-obligation, free SEO services quote.
Search Engine Optimization
and other Website placement hints, SEO tips and advice are reported by
our comprehensive (and herein free) search engine tools! These are the
analysis tools our staff uses day after day for optimizing our clients'
sites. Additionally, this free step-by-step SEO tutorial covers keyword
research, link analysis, submission, a Web page analyzer, a ranking
position monitor, and many, many more free SEO reports and education.
Presented in an easy to understand and sequential step-by-step manner,
the free tutorial coupled with these search engine analysis tools has
helped thousands of people each week to transform their Website rankings
into top positions for their important keywords. Designed for
do-it-yourself novice users (or anyone with a need to learn SEO
optimization) with little or no HTML experience, this tutorial discuss
how to optimize your Web pages without utilizing spamming techniques.
Don't forget to bookmark us! (Ctrl-D)
As a reminder, this page focuses on search engine optimization and ranking tips and advice using a collection of free SEO tools. It is part of a MUCH larger site covering broader search engine marketing topics. Everything from search engine marketing strategy to search engine placement tactics, awards, press releases, links, engagement items, social media, suggestions for optimal search engine spidering and search engine optimization. It is strongly recommended that you follow the steps on this page, but that you also review this entire site if you are serious about promoting your Web business.
 |
Bruce
Clay, Inc. and Wiley Publications, publishers of the For Dummies series
have partnered up to produce the all-in-one desk reference guide for
SEO. Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies by Bruce Clay and Susan Esparza, is available now. This latest version of Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies
 is now available for order from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.
Review of Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies by Bruce Clay and Susan Esparza:
 "I read most of the SEO books that are published. Bruce and Susan's book is THE most comprehensive SEO book on the market today. Thanks so much for all the great information. I also went through Bruce's training course. It was tremendous....And yes, you can quote me!"  Margie Butler |
Step 2 - How to Identify Competitor Keywords
It is critical that you identify the best search terms and keywords used on your competitors' sites (Step 1). To help in this keyword analysis effort we offer SEO tips, advice and tools to research the competition and query history information available through several sources.
SEO Tools: Single Page Analyzer (try it now!:
It is worth mentioning that sometimes your competition does something
deceptive and hides their keywords. Cloaking is a server technique
designed to hide keywords and actually deceive search engines into
granting rankings that the sites do not deserve. This server technology
submits alternate pages when the search engine looks for the page. These
stealth techniques were designed to offer content to the search engine
that is exceptionally keyword-loaded in an attempt to bias the spider
into giving the page a higher ranking position. Some people submit pages
that present the spiders with content that differs from what browsers
will see. We strongly discourage the use of this type of technique —
that is spam.
SEO Tip: You should also search for your domain name in the major search engines. While this is not obvious, it is very informative. Search both Google and Yahoo! using the following search format: ".bruceclay.com" -site:bruceclay.com. Replace bruceclay.com in the search query with your domain name.
It is important that you do NOT take the HTML source (and thus content) from a competitor's page. Not only is it a copyright violation, but it will result in duplicate content and will cause SEO optimization difficulties. All that you really need are sample keywords used for search engine ranking. Using brainstorming techniques you should re-combine the words to make a complete list. Be sure that you do not target trademarked words since that could lead to legal action against you. Copyrights on a site protect contiguous character strings and include displayed and hidden text (including keyword strings), so you cannot take a large portion of a site's content and use it to compete against the site. Even if there is not a copyright, the content is considered intellectual property, and there may be a severe negative effect from taking it.
The use of trademarked or registered names is illegal without appropriate notations and statements in the page. If you intend to use a word or phrase that legally belongs to a competitor, you must follow accepted fair use publication and legal credit guidelines. This applies to all of your internet marketing projects, so please beware.
As an additional note, use different keyword patterns and titles for
ALL of the major pages in your site, and submit each individual URL to
get all of the different keywords and titles added to the search engine.
The goal of search engine optimization is to be found for many keyword
searches, so have each page cater to different keywords!
SEO Tools: This is great (try it). To use this free search engine optimization tool, simply enter up to 6 URLs and click Get Data:
SEO Tip: The Meta Keywords tag may work for some search engines, while Google, Bing and Yahoo (and many others) emphasize content and titles. As a result, it is important to have the most common words also appear at the top and throughout your site if it can be done without hurting the appeal of the site. If the search is for "search engine optimization tips," put that string in the title, description, keywords, headings, throughout the content and in inbound links.
Need More Keyword Help? - Search Terms and Keywords What Makes a Good Keyword? How to Choose Keywords How To Use Keywords
SEO Tools: simple domain checker - get the data:
The SEOToolSet® is a Bruce Clay, Inc.-authored collection of indispensable SEO tools
designed for search engine optimization by SEOs. This product set
includes keyword research tools, competitor research tools, Web page
analyzers, ranking monitors, ranking report modules, link analysis tools
and more. Exceptionally robust and feature rich, this is a system of
interrelated SEO tools designed to be one of the best tool collections
on the market. It combines a great many search engine marketing tools
not commonly connected together in this intuitive manner, facilitating
deeper understanding and control of the SEO process. If you intend to
promote your own Website, then you MUST try our search engine
optimization tools.
"Search Engine Optimization without the best tools is like doing brain surgery with a hammer."
Be sure to mix up the sequence of the keywords if (and only if) appropriate and they still make sense, for example: "word1 word2 word3" then "word3 word1 word2" then "word2 word3 word1," etc. Keep searching until you are satisfied that you have most of the keywords relevant to your site. Simply put, you can never have sufficient search engine ranking. If you think you do, simply add some more keywords appropriate to your site.
SEO Training is a critical step in the SEO process. Having knowledge is critical if you wish to compete effectively in the knowledge shifting SEO world. To be first among equals you need to be as prepared and current as you can. Our classroom SEO course is an annual event for many people.
Up until now you have been brainstorming — trying to determine what keyword phrases people are using in the search engines that will help them find your site in the results pages. You should have a lengthy list of keywords and phrases at this point, and you should be ready to test them. Regardless of your list please consider that searchers do not necessarily think like you do, and so you get many "long tail keyword queries" that are in addition to those in your SEO project. Properly done, you will qualify for these words as well.
Sort the keywords and phrases in descending order of their perceived importance (i.e., how likely it is that they will be used by visitors as search words and hence, generate traffic). As a sidebar, traffic that seldom converts may not be of value, and you might not want to focus on those words unless branding is important. If uncertain, leave them in the order used by the highest ranking competitor pages. Be sure to identify two-word or three-word (and sometimes longer) phrases, if used. It is also important that you add words to help clarify the use of your keywords. For instance, "capital" can have very different meanings — such as intellectual capital, state capital, capital letters, venture capital, etc. So a keyword or two that helps the search engines learn the context of your keywords will help raise your search engine placement.
SEO Tip: Each keyword in your Meta tags must also appear within your content to avoid spamming penalties. Also, consider common misspellings [sic] as additions to your keyword lists. To get a clearer picture of keyword statistics and to aid you in your search engine marketing efforts, try our free Search Engine Optimization/KSP tool!
Search Engine Optimization Advice: Excessive use of keywords in your
site content (known as keyword stuffing) is going to cause a search
engine to ignore or decrease the value of that keyword within your page,
and perhaps identify the page as spam. Also, using multiple keywords
with the same root, like "word, words, wording, worded" (called
stemming), will generally not cause a problem if the text reads
naturally. It is advised that you use extreme caution when placing
keywords into your Meta tags. If you are indexed by any engine, and
remain indexed for a week, then you have probably passed their test. Run
our Single Page Analyzer tool (Step 2) on your own pages before
submitting them to the search engines. The guidelines below are accurate
and will help a lot.
As for spamming technologies, there is evidence that the major search engines look across pages within their index for long-string repeats, essentially a plagiarism test, so be sure that your content is not identical in sequence to words used elsewhere (text or Meta tags). Duplicate content is a very bad thing, and it can cause site-wide filtering, or in some cases penalties .
SEO Tip: Be very careful not to replicate content on or from other pages or even sites, and if that replication happens (common with affiliate sites) you have a serious problem. Duplicate content is a real management problem when doing SEO optimization. There are rules about how to manage duplicate content including the use of a "canonical" link tag.
Also, naturally repeating your keywords in the content, as long as it is within a reasonable sentence construct and has appropriate context, will not be considered spamming. A search engine usually cares more about spamming outside of the normal use when reviewing content - so if the top ranked sites use a word a lot, perhaps it is okay for you to do the same. Using "hidden" text techniques to hide keyword stuffing from users but to show it to a search engine will usually get you penalized as a spammer, so avoid doing that as part of your search engine optimization efforts.
You are about to discover your real issue — you have insufficient or weak content. It takes a lot of words to convince colleagues and the search engines that you are a subject matter expert. Also, most sites do not use video and proper images to relay their messages to humans and search engines, but we know that search engines are not totally blind to video and images. It is very likely that you do not have a sufficient number of Engagement Objects on your pages. Or the site content may come from a database, and the database has little unique content. Or the site accepts feeds from other expert sites, but this makes all of its content someone elses, and it either gets no credit for it or is penalized for duplicate content.
Please understand that quality content, appropriately structured, with natural characteristics for the keywords is needed in order to be seen as a subject matter expert by the search engines. Average quality content or sheer volume of content is not sufficient, and can actually harm your rankings. Too many average pages makes your site average, and average out of millions of pages does not make you qualified for a top-3 ranking. All of your content needs to be improved in order to rank well. So adding content is only useful if i is well written, without spelling errors, proper grammar, and naturally using keywords appropriate to each keyword. This is hard work since quality is subjective.
In any case, the design and content of your Website may very well need to be restructured and expanded. [If this does not describe you, buy yourself a drink — you have earned it!] We recommend that you use clean optimized video and graphics and that you do it right. Avoid pop-up windows (you may use lightboxes), restrict the scope of forms except where really needed, and make JavaScript and CSS files combined, compressed and external to the source code. Always have a natural amount of content, always use a HTML and XML site map, solve obvious coding and performance problems first and by all means keep it simple.
So where do you add keywords? It is important that your page Title tag be as descriptive as possible of what the page is about, and that it contains your best keywords (generally fewer than 12 total words). Listings that include the best search terms in the Title and Meta Description tags have a better search engine ranking and a higher click-through rate (often more than double the traffic) than those that do not! Use these keywords to make up your search engine optimization targets.But do not stuff keywords into this tag!
Also, review your content to add these keywords, especially two- and three-word phrases, into the content without losing the message. You want to use these phrases time and time again distributed throughout the page content without spamming. Some search engines take site descriptions from within the page (auto-snippet), not from the Meta Description fields. In such cases the search engine will exclude some appropriate keywords unless you use them throughout your content. And try to keep the Title and Description tags as short as possible to prevent you from diluting the keyword impact.
There has been a lot of discussion about the continued use of Meta tags. Meta tags (specifically the major Head section tags) in our opinion are important to search engine optimization. What is not known is what is meant when it is said that search engines "do not index" a Meta tag. Our research shows that they are not ignored, and that they actually do count. It is commonly known that the Title is vital and that the Description is often used as an abstract. But it is often thought that the Meta Keywords tag is ignored. Knowing the history of spammer abuse for these tags, it would not be surprising to find them of lesser importance than ever, and that words in the Meta Keywords tag are ignored. We do know that in searches requiring the cache that the entire page is used. This case counts any tag in the HTML and that includes the Keywords tag. We believe that "not indexing a tag" is not the same as "ignoring" them. As a result we believe any valid HTML tag used properly and not abused is a contributor to ranking. And if you were a search engine, wouldn't you tell spammers not to bother?
Even if tags are ignored today, it only takes a few minutes to do it right, you should never be penalized for having any valid HTML tag used properly, and we also believe that not all engines will ignore them. Even if they do ignore them, they may not forever. You can never go wrong by using META tags, and you will only hurt yourself if you don't use them.
You must also unconditionally, absolutely, positively have your targeted keywords (and certainly sufficient content containing them) throughout your body section. For research-oriented content we recommend that you have at least 500 words of clean, grammatically correct sentence-structure content on every page. For shopping-oriented sites the content is commonly on shorter pages, so we recommend 300 words in these cases. Please understand that these are not rules and you should mimic the top ranked pages to be safe. You must also have your keywords appear as the most prominent (without excess) phrases on your pages. In many cases there are ways to do this that work well for whatever your page format or content, all of which is customized to the look-and-feel of the site.
You also need to link your own pages together. Use the keywords appropriate for the content of the landing page in the anchor text of the sending page. This is a must — use text links within paragraphs when possible, especially when the pages are related. If the topics are not related, then use image links so the search engines do not see the text and get confused. But a keyword in a link (anchor text) is no longer a keyword in the content so the keyword usage will change as links are added.
And never, ever create doorway pages, or information pages, or hallway pages, or similar pages as they are called today - Spam by any other name is still spam. If you cannot make the real page into a subject matter expert, then hire someone who can. But do not try to make a pig fly!
Once you have selected your best keywords, add the main words to your Title string, your Meta Description string, your Meta Keywords string, ALT attributes if appropriate to the image (image tag attribute), body Heading tags (such as the top of page H1 tag) and especially embed them into your displayed content. Try to use as many keywords as you can in a natural and grammatically correct way in your opening sentences, since this sets the topic for the page and contributes to the theme of the site.
SEO Tip: You should also search for your domain name in the major search engines. While this is not obvious, it is very informative. Search both Google and Yahoo! using the following search format: ".bruceclay.com" -site:bruceclay.com. Replace bruceclay.com in the search query with your domain name.
It is important that you do NOT take the HTML source (and thus content) from a competitor's page. Not only is it a copyright violation, but it will result in duplicate content and will cause SEO optimization difficulties. All that you really need are sample keywords used for search engine ranking. Using brainstorming techniques you should re-combine the words to make a complete list. Be sure that you do not target trademarked words since that could lead to legal action against you. Copyrights on a site protect contiguous character strings and include displayed and hidden text (including keyword strings), so you cannot take a large portion of a site's content and use it to compete against the site. Even if there is not a copyright, the content is considered intellectual property, and there may be a severe negative effect from taking it.
The use of trademarked or registered names is illegal without appropriate notations and statements in the page. If you intend to use a word or phrase that legally belongs to a competitor, you must follow accepted fair use publication and legal credit guidelines. This applies to all of your internet marketing projects, so please beware.
| It is far more important to rank well with many search criteria than to be number one with only one criterion! |
Search Engine Optimization/MPI
It may be helpful to view the Title, Meta Description, Meta Keywords, Headings for many pages and compare them in one pass rather than loading each individual page separately. The Multi-page Info Tool (MPI) will give you this information and whether or not the page has a rel="canonical" tag on it and lets you compare these at once.SEO Tools: This is great (try it). To use this free search engine optimization tool, simply enter up to 6 URLs and click Get Data:
SEO Tip: The Meta Keywords tag may work for some search engines, while Google, Bing and Yahoo (and many others) emphasize content and titles. As a result, it is important to have the most common words also appear at the top and throughout your site if it can be done without hurting the appeal of the site. If the search is for "search engine optimization tips," put that string in the title, description, keywords, headings, throughout the content and in inbound links.
Need More Keyword Help? - Search Terms and Keywords What Makes a Good Keyword? How to Choose Keywords How To Use Keywords
Search Engine Optimization/Domain Report Tool
In regards to competitors, it is also helpful to find out how many pages your competitors have indexed in the major search engines. This will help you figure out how much content with competitive keywords you will need on your site. The Search Engine Optimization/Domain Report tool below will check Google, Yahoo! Search and Bing to see how many pages for each site are indexed in each engine.SEO Tools: simple domain checker - get the data:
SEOToolSet® Domain Indexing Report
SEOToolSet® - Search Engine Optimization Tools
The SEOToolSet® is a Bruce Clay, Inc.-authored collection of indispensable SEO tools
designed for search engine optimization by SEOs. This product set
includes keyword research tools, competitor research tools, Web page
analyzers, ranking monitors, ranking report modules, link analysis tools
and more. Exceptionally robust and feature rich, this is a system of
interrelated SEO tools designed to be one of the best tool collections
on the market. It combines a great many search engine marketing tools
not commonly connected together in this intuitive manner, facilitating
deeper understanding and control of the SEO process. If you intend to
promote your own Website, then you MUST try our search engine
optimization tools."Search Engine Optimization without the best tools is like doing brain surgery with a hammer."
Repeat Steps 1 and 2 Until You Have Finished Your Keyword Searches
Be sure to mix up the sequence of the keywords if (and only if) appropriate and they still make sense, for example: "word1 word2 word3" then "word3 word1 word2" then "word2 word3 word1," etc. Keep searching until you are satisfied that you have most of the keywords relevant to your site. Simply put, you can never have sufficient search engine ranking. If you think you do, simply add some more keywords appropriate to your site.
SEO Training is a critical step in the SEO process. Having knowledge is critical if you wish to compete effectively in the knowledge shifting SEO world. To be first among equals you need to be as prepared and current as you can. Our classroom SEO course is an annual event for many people.
Advanced topic: How to Solve Web Server Technical Issues
— To help with your SEO optimization projects, it is critical that
technical barriers to ranking be removed. These technical SEO tips are
available with detailed instructions. We encourage you to read and
implement those that apply to your installation. Server and design
problems need to be fixed in order to achieve top rankings.
Step 3 - How to Combine the Keywords
Up until now you have been brainstorming — trying to determine what keyword phrases people are using in the search engines that will help them find your site in the results pages. You should have a lengthy list of keywords and phrases at this point, and you should be ready to test them. Regardless of your list please consider that searchers do not necessarily think like you do, and so you get many "long tail keyword queries" that are in addition to those in your SEO project. Properly done, you will qualify for these words as well.
Sort the keywords and phrases in descending order of their perceived importance (i.e., how likely it is that they will be used by visitors as search words and hence, generate traffic). As a sidebar, traffic that seldom converts may not be of value, and you might not want to focus on those words unless branding is important. If uncertain, leave them in the order used by the highest ranking competitor pages. Be sure to identify two-word or three-word (and sometimes longer) phrases, if used. It is also important that you add words to help clarify the use of your keywords. For instance, "capital" can have very different meanings — such as intellectual capital, state capital, capital letters, venture capital, etc. So a keyword or two that helps the search engines learn the context of your keywords will help raise your search engine placement.
SEO Tip: Each keyword in your Meta tags must also appear within your content to avoid spamming penalties. Also, consider common misspellings [sic] as additions to your keyword lists. To get a clearer picture of keyword statistics and to aid you in your search engine marketing efforts, try our free Search Engine Optimization/KSP tool!
Search Engine Optimization/KSP Tool
SEO Tools: a very popular tool - mouse over links:
The information derived from our Search Engine
Optimization/KSP Tool are daily approximations. In other words, they are
daily averages derived from monthly averages. You should use the
numbers as a proportionate traffic number since nobody really knows what
an average day is, if there even is one. Internet marketing programs
should pay attention to the demographic and categories data.
|
SEOToolSet® Keyword Statistics
For best results, the following Web publishing techniques should be avoided:It is also important to avoid potential keywords that are not likely to be used in a search, especially if they do not contribute to your content. If not searched for they are probably unimportant. Properly done, you might end up with as few as 10 or as many as 100 major keywords. If you add all of the words, it will dilute the importance of each keyword, so select well. In general, you will have a hard time keeping the keyword analysis list short if you include plurals and various combinations of words to maximize your frequency counts. This site has many keywords in various forms and combinations, but we felt each word was important when we designed our keywords. The last keyword should be your site identification taken from your URL (ours is bruceclay.com), for SEO ranking and placement reasons discussed later.
- Overuse or stuffing of keywords
- Use of keywords that do not relate to the content of the site
- Use of fast meta refresh
- Use of colored text on same-color background
- Duplication of pages with different URLs
- Use of different pages that bridge to the same URL
As for spamming technologies, there is evidence that the major search engines look across pages within their index for long-string repeats, essentially a plagiarism test, so be sure that your content is not identical in sequence to words used elsewhere (text or Meta tags). Duplicate content is a very bad thing, and it can cause site-wide filtering, or in some cases penalties .
SEO Tip: Be very careful not to replicate content on or from other pages or even sites, and if that replication happens (common with affiliate sites) you have a serious problem. Duplicate content is a real management problem when doing SEO optimization. There are rules about how to manage duplicate content including the use of a "canonical" link tag.
Also, naturally repeating your keywords in the content, as long as it is within a reasonable sentence construct and has appropriate context, will not be considered spamming. A search engine usually cares more about spamming outside of the normal use when reviewing content - so if the top ranked sites use a word a lot, perhaps it is okay for you to do the same. Using "hidden" text techniques to hide keyword stuffing from users but to show it to a search engine will usually get you penalized as a spammer, so avoid doing that as part of your search engine optimization efforts.
Step 4 - How to Add Your Keywords to the Content
You are about to discover your real issue — you have insufficient or weak content. It takes a lot of words to convince colleagues and the search engines that you are a subject matter expert. Also, most sites do not use video and proper images to relay their messages to humans and search engines, but we know that search engines are not totally blind to video and images. It is very likely that you do not have a sufficient number of Engagement Objects on your pages. Or the site content may come from a database, and the database has little unique content. Or the site accepts feeds from other expert sites, but this makes all of its content someone elses, and it either gets no credit for it or is penalized for duplicate content.
Please understand that quality content, appropriately structured, with natural characteristics for the keywords is needed in order to be seen as a subject matter expert by the search engines. Average quality content or sheer volume of content is not sufficient, and can actually harm your rankings. Too many average pages makes your site average, and average out of millions of pages does not make you qualified for a top-3 ranking. All of your content needs to be improved in order to rank well. So adding content is only useful if i is well written, without spelling errors, proper grammar, and naturally using keywords appropriate to each keyword. This is hard work since quality is subjective.
In any case, the design and content of your Website may very well need to be restructured and expanded. [If this does not describe you, buy yourself a drink — you have earned it!] We recommend that you use clean optimized video and graphics and that you do it right. Avoid pop-up windows (you may use lightboxes), restrict the scope of forms except where really needed, and make JavaScript and CSS files combined, compressed and external to the source code. Always have a natural amount of content, always use a HTML and XML site map, solve obvious coding and performance problems first and by all means keep it simple.
So where do you add keywords? It is important that your page Title tag be as descriptive as possible of what the page is about, and that it contains your best keywords (generally fewer than 12 total words). Listings that include the best search terms in the Title and Meta Description tags have a better search engine ranking and a higher click-through rate (often more than double the traffic) than those that do not! Use these keywords to make up your search engine optimization targets.But do not stuff keywords into this tag!
Also, review your content to add these keywords, especially two- and three-word phrases, into the content without losing the message. You want to use these phrases time and time again distributed throughout the page content without spamming. Some search engines take site descriptions from within the page (auto-snippet), not from the Meta Description fields. In such cases the search engine will exclude some appropriate keywords unless you use them throughout your content. And try to keep the Title and Description tags as short as possible to prevent you from diluting the keyword impact.
There has been a lot of discussion about the continued use of Meta tags. Meta tags (specifically the major Head section tags) in our opinion are important to search engine optimization. What is not known is what is meant when it is said that search engines "do not index" a Meta tag. Our research shows that they are not ignored, and that they actually do count. It is commonly known that the Title is vital and that the Description is often used as an abstract. But it is often thought that the Meta Keywords tag is ignored. Knowing the history of spammer abuse for these tags, it would not be surprising to find them of lesser importance than ever, and that words in the Meta Keywords tag are ignored. We do know that in searches requiring the cache that the entire page is used. This case counts any tag in the HTML and that includes the Keywords tag. We believe that "not indexing a tag" is not the same as "ignoring" them. As a result we believe any valid HTML tag used properly and not abused is a contributor to ranking. And if you were a search engine, wouldn't you tell spammers not to bother?
Even if tags are ignored today, it only takes a few minutes to do it right, you should never be penalized for having any valid HTML tag used properly, and we also believe that not all engines will ignore them. Even if they do ignore them, they may not forever. You can never go wrong by using META tags, and you will only hurt yourself if you don't use them.
You must also unconditionally, absolutely, positively have your targeted keywords (and certainly sufficient content containing them) throughout your body section. For research-oriented content we recommend that you have at least 500 words of clean, grammatically correct sentence-structure content on every page. For shopping-oriented sites the content is commonly on shorter pages, so we recommend 300 words in these cases. Please understand that these are not rules and you should mimic the top ranked pages to be safe. You must also have your keywords appear as the most prominent (without excess) phrases on your pages. In many cases there are ways to do this that work well for whatever your page format or content, all of which is customized to the look-and-feel of the site.
You also need to link your own pages together. Use the keywords appropriate for the content of the landing page in the anchor text of the sending page. This is a must — use text links within paragraphs when possible, especially when the pages are related. If the topics are not related, then use image links so the search engines do not see the text and get confused. But a keyword in a link (anchor text) is no longer a keyword in the content so the keyword usage will change as links are added.
And never, ever create doorway pages, or information pages, or hallway pages, or similar pages as they are called today - Spam by any other name is still spam. If you cannot make the real page into a subject matter expert, then hire someone who can. But do not try to make a pig fly!
Once you have selected your best keywords, add the main words to your Title string, your Meta Description string, your Meta Keywords string, ALT attributes if appropriate to the image (image tag attribute), body Heading tags (such as the top of page H1 tag) and especially embed them into your displayed content. Try to use as many keywords as you can in a natural and grammatically correct way in your opening sentences, since this sets the topic for the page and contributes to the theme of the site.
Keyword tuning is an iterative loop; you keep doing it until you rank
reasonably well. At that point you at least have the right words and a
reasonable Meta tag. But some search engines use different strings to
determine keywords, and their algorithms downplay or ignore Meta tags.
These search engines extract keywords from the content on your page, so
you need to place your best search words throughout the displayed
content for your page.
You will think this a strange step: Read the page content aloud to someone, or even to yourself. This will really show issues where the content is improper or does not make sense.
SEO Tip: Some engines process ALT attribute text for your images as contributing keyword text as long as you do not spam these areas. ONLY use ALT attributes of your image tags if they are very appropriate to the image and page. Do not stuff keywords into ALT attributes; they should be short and to the point.
Placing the keywords in the right spots with natural and reasonable frequency is critical for search engine optimization, but there is much more. You want your content to be the best it can be, and then just maybe you will be considered relevant. Subject matter experts always do better than rambling text with randomly inserted keywords. Yes, you need the keywords, but you also need to be worthy. And if your content is not worthy, it does not belong on the website - fix it or remove it.
This would also be a good time to perform a last minute check on the "spider-ability" of your site, and to detect any redirects or other issues that may prevent your site from being well ranked.
SEO Tools: Try our Check Server Page Tool to validate that we can identify and spider the site:
Once the same words are in your Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords tags, and also in other text (Headings and ALT attributes) and displayed content, and you are satisfied with your results, then, and only then, is it appropriate to submit your URLs to each major search engine. For Google you would use their Webmaster Tools page.
Allow two days to sometimes many weeks for each search engine submission to be indexed in each major search engine. If you do not show up (as is common) within 2 weeks then resubmit (but allow at least 2 weeks between submissions). If you continue to miss the search engine ranking results you desire, then go back and review your keyword usage. Understand that there are MANY factors in the algorithm, and even if the keywords are properly used it is possible there are other things wrong. If you desire SEO services to maintain your site and expand your search engine coverage then we can help. We also provide a more comprehensive system tutorial on our Internet Marketing Services page.
SEO Training: This is an important differentiation from your competition - you are advised to consider taking our SEO Training Course.
There have been several important personalization and result targeting changes in the search engine optimization world that will significantly impact your SEO optimization efforts. The major issues are a result of changing technology in the area of behavior-based search, intent-based search and blended search (like Google Universal). These technologies collectively impact search engine marketing and SEO in significant ways.
Behavior-based Search — This is the tailoring of search results based upon the behavior of the searcher commonly tracked by the search engines as "web history". If I search for "java," the search results are tailored based upon my search history for either programming, beverages or travel determined by what else I have searched for previously. And if I am into travel, the search results are biased by my interest in certain types of travel activities (such as scuba, fishing or sailing). This means that a given number of people searching for the same information will likely see different rankings or results pages. This mandates that the SEO keyword selection process consider the behavior and the community of the searcher in the overall keyword selection process. To accommodate behavior-based searching, SEOs should "mention" many keywords in their content that are common to their target audience.
Intent-based Search — This is the determination of the searcher's intent, categorized as commerce (shopping) or research (hunting). Certain SEO project phrases are obviously for research, and the sites do not need to be physically local to the searcher. In such cases, the most relevant sites can be located anywhere. But if the intent is shopping, or appears to be urgent, then local results are presented. Even without a Google sign-in, results are often targeted based upon the IP location of the searcher, and local results are given precedence. As such, sometimes a searcher from New York will see different results than a searcher in Los Angeles for the same query. In this case the SEO should use keywords on the site that are local to their target audience.
Blended Search — This is where engagement impacts search. There are many items other than text that can be added to a Website. One job of the search engine optimization and Web design team is to mingle video, images, maps, blogs, news and books within the Website. The search engines want to improve the engagement of the searcher with the resulting sites, and enhanced interaction requires the inclusion of what we have coined as Engagement Objects™. We believe that without these objects in exactly the right formats, your site will not rank as high as your competitors who engage their visitors. Those more engaging sites are expected to rank higher in the search results.
Once you identify opportunities to add engagement to your site, be sure to use SEO optimization selected keywords just as you would in any other content. It will contribute to content structure and theme, and it will certainly aid engagement. Adding Engagement Objects is a part of the SEO process and should be done.
Please remember that higher search engine placement is not just for web pages. High ranking videos and news and images counts. And being targeted to the query for the persona and intent is critical.
It may take a few weeks for submitted website changes to actually become effective with the major search engines. In some cases, it may take several submissions before you get re-indexed. Considering that the Web is growing at an exceptional rate, it is a wonder that any search engine can keep up at all. Keep trying to get indexed. Visit the search engine that you care about most and see if you are registered by searching for your URL.
There is a very specialized high-tech market for search engine marketing tools that convert raw data into SEO intellectual capital that you can actually use. There is a clear difference between data and wisdom, and obviously SEO wisdom is learned, often the hard way.
Google considers "scraper" sites that report rankings to be a violation of their terms of service. We fully agree. For years we have paid Google for a custom search API interface that presents us with unbiased ranking results. This means that for every site our tools record rankings every time you run the ranking monitor for your keywords. Since our ranking monitor are unbiased, you will see the movement up or down resulting from your website changes. Web history and location may bias what searchers see, but you will at least measure SEO changes with a consistent tool.
You will think this a strange step: Read the page content aloud to someone, or even to yourself. This will really show issues where the content is improper or does not make sense.
Single Page Analyzer
We have a search engine optimization tool - our Single Page Analyzer that is part of our SEOToolSet search engine optimization tools - that lists the top keywords plus all words used in your Meta tags. Here we are showing a small fraction of that tools power. This report presents the density for each word in the various categories: Title, Meta Description, Meta Keywords, ALT attributes, Heading levels, and two categories for body copy. Following our specified SEO optimization methodology, you would review these reports and Web pages to see what you need to change or add to your pages. In the Page Analyzer, red and blue colors designate values that are abnormally high or low.View Page Source
SEO Tools: This tool allows you to view the source code of any available file on the web.This includes a competitors java script or css files.SEO Tip: Some engines process ALT attribute text for your images as contributing keyword text as long as you do not spam these areas. ONLY use ALT attributes of your image tags if they are very appropriate to the image and page. Do not stuff keywords into ALT attributes; they should be short and to the point.
Placing the keywords in the right spots with natural and reasonable frequency is critical for search engine optimization, but there is much more. You want your content to be the best it can be, and then just maybe you will be considered relevant. Subject matter experts always do better than rambling text with randomly inserted keywords. Yes, you need the keywords, but you also need to be worthy. And if your content is not worthy, it does not belong on the website - fix it or remove it.
This would also be a good time to perform a last minute check on the "spider-ability" of your site, and to detect any redirects or other issues that may prevent your site from being well ranked.
SEO Tools: Try our Check Server Page Tool to validate that we can identify and spider the site:
Step 5 - How to Submit to Search Engines
Once the same words are in your Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords tags, and also in other text (Headings and ALT attributes) and displayed content, and you are satisfied with your results, then, and only then, is it appropriate to submit your URLs to each major search engine. For Google you would use their Webmaster Tools page.
Allow two days to sometimes many weeks for each search engine submission to be indexed in each major search engine. If you do not show up (as is common) within 2 weeks then resubmit (but allow at least 2 weeks between submissions). If you continue to miss the search engine ranking results you desire, then go back and review your keyword usage. Understand that there are MANY factors in the algorithm, and even if the keywords are properly used it is possible there are other things wrong. If you desire SEO services to maintain your site and expand your search engine coverage then we can help. We also provide a more comprehensive system tutorial on our Internet Marketing Services page.
SEO Training: This is an important differentiation from your competition - you are advised to consider taking our SEO Training Course.
Step 6 - Consider Community, Intent, and Engagement Objects™
There have been several important personalization and result targeting changes in the search engine optimization world that will significantly impact your SEO optimization efforts. The major issues are a result of changing technology in the area of behavior-based search, intent-based search and blended search (like Google Universal). These technologies collectively impact search engine marketing and SEO in significant ways.
Behavior-based Search — This is the tailoring of search results based upon the behavior of the searcher commonly tracked by the search engines as "web history". If I search for "java," the search results are tailored based upon my search history for either programming, beverages or travel determined by what else I have searched for previously. And if I am into travel, the search results are biased by my interest in certain types of travel activities (such as scuba, fishing or sailing). This means that a given number of people searching for the same information will likely see different rankings or results pages. This mandates that the SEO keyword selection process consider the behavior and the community of the searcher in the overall keyword selection process. To accommodate behavior-based searching, SEOs should "mention" many keywords in their content that are common to their target audience.
Intent-based Search — This is the determination of the searcher's intent, categorized as commerce (shopping) or research (hunting). Certain SEO project phrases are obviously for research, and the sites do not need to be physically local to the searcher. In such cases, the most relevant sites can be located anywhere. But if the intent is shopping, or appears to be urgent, then local results are presented. Even without a Google sign-in, results are often targeted based upon the IP location of the searcher, and local results are given precedence. As such, sometimes a searcher from New York will see different results than a searcher in Los Angeles for the same query. In this case the SEO should use keywords on the site that are local to their target audience.
Blended Search — This is where engagement impacts search. There are many items other than text that can be added to a Website. One job of the search engine optimization and Web design team is to mingle video, images, maps, blogs, news and books within the Website. The search engines want to improve the engagement of the searcher with the resulting sites, and enhanced interaction requires the inclusion of what we have coined as Engagement Objects™. We believe that without these objects in exactly the right formats, your site will not rank as high as your competitors who engage their visitors. Those more engaging sites are expected to rank higher in the search results.
Once you identify opportunities to add engagement to your site, be sure to use SEO optimization selected keywords just as you would in any other content. It will contribute to content structure and theme, and it will certainly aid engagement. Adding Engagement Objects is a part of the SEO process and should be done.
Please remember that higher search engine placement is not just for web pages. High ranking videos and news and images counts. And being targeted to the query for the persona and intent is critical.
Step 7 - How to Check Your Search Engine Ranking
It may take a few weeks for submitted website changes to actually become effective with the major search engines. In some cases, it may take several submissions before you get re-indexed. Considering that the Web is growing at an exceptional rate, it is a wonder that any search engine can keep up at all. Keep trying to get indexed. Visit the search engine that you care about most and see if you are registered by searching for your URL.
There is a very specialized high-tech market for search engine marketing tools that convert raw data into SEO intellectual capital that you can actually use. There is a clear difference between data and wisdom, and obviously SEO wisdom is learned, often the hard way.
Google considers "scraper" sites that report rankings to be a violation of their terms of service. We fully agree. For years we have paid Google for a custom search API interface that presents us with unbiased ranking results. This means that for every site our tools record rankings every time you run the ranking monitor for your keywords. Since our ranking monitor are unbiased, you will see the movement up or down resulting from your website changes. Web history and location may bias what searchers see, but you will at least measure SEO changes with a consistent tool.
Once
you have your SEO ranking results, you can easily identify where you
need to go back and resubmit your site and fine-tune your keywords.
Hopefully you will be placed at or near the top of your search results
page.
In some cases the keywords are highly competitive, and the top
positions are commonly held by different domains. In such cases the
listed pages seldom see duplications. In other cases there are dominant
sites.
A note about tools and training: It is hard to have a great SEO tools product, and those that do must charge for their tools in order to pay for the effort. The power of search engine optimization tools in increasing and measuring change justifies the fee, so we recommend that you visit our SEOToolSet®. Our SEO tools (there are many) are straightforward, and the reports are easy to understand. If you like the free search engine advice as seen on this page or on our http://www.seotools.com site, these are just starter tool versions - there is a much more powerful set of SEO tools available on an affordable subscription basis. These tools are very fast and powerful, and they are recommended. But then, we admit to being biased.
Likewise, and I know we have mentioned this already - take a SEO training course if you want to compete. The search engines and your competition change often and you need to be very competitive, as in educated.
Links should be a byproduct of having expert content worth linking to... and that is our methodology. Links should be earned.
Link tracking allows you to identify and choose possible sites that you will want as link partners once your site is content-rich and optimized. If these sites link to your competition, then you want them to also link to you. This is also done so that these potential link partners can be checked for Meta keywords that might be related to your site and that were missed by your competition. Who links to your competition may be a great indicator of the community that contributes to the ranking for your visitors as well. Add these URLs to the URL list that is used in Step 2. You might also try putting the http:// address in quotes and using Google.
SEO Tip: The number and authority of links to your site are factors in determining how well your site will rank with some search engines. Popularity is often measured by gauging PageRank associated with a particular keyword phrase, and impacts the ranking your site might have. You will want to begin to develop links as soon as possible, but we recommend that you add Engagement Objects and keywords before aggressively going after links from others.
SEO Tools: two link analysis tools - many more exist in the SEOToolSet:
Try our two free SEO links tools:
A note about tools and training: It is hard to have a great SEO tools product, and those that do must charge for their tools in order to pay for the effort. The power of search engine optimization tools in increasing and measuring change justifies the fee, so we recommend that you visit our SEOToolSet®. Our SEO tools (there are many) are straightforward, and the reports are easy to understand. If you like the free search engine advice as seen on this page or on our http://www.seotools.com site, these are just starter tool versions - there is a much more powerful set of SEO tools available on an affordable subscription basis. These tools are very fast and powerful, and they are recommended. But then, we admit to being biased.
Likewise, and I know we have mentioned this already - take a SEO training course if you want to compete. The search engines and your competition change often and you need to be very competitive, as in educated.
Step 8 - How To Do Link Attracting
Links should be a byproduct of having expert content worth linking to... and that is our methodology. Links should be earned.
Link tracking allows you to identify and choose possible sites that you will want as link partners once your site is content-rich and optimized. If these sites link to your competition, then you want them to also link to you. This is also done so that these potential link partners can be checked for Meta keywords that might be related to your site and that were missed by your competition. Who links to your competition may be a great indicator of the community that contributes to the ranking for your visitors as well. Add these URLs to the URL list that is used in Step 2. You might also try putting the http:// address in quotes and using Google.
SEO Tip: The number and authority of links to your site are factors in determining how well your site will rank with some search engines. Popularity is often measured by gauging PageRank associated with a particular keyword phrase, and impacts the ranking your site might have. You will want to begin to develop links as soon as possible, but we recommend that you add Engagement Objects and keywords before aggressively going after links from others.
SEO Tools: two link analysis tools - many more exist in the SEOToolSet:
Try our two free SEO links tools:
On the subject of link popularity — we
consider links vital to long-term natural search engine optimization and
ranking. The objective is this: if you get a site to link to you, then
you gain PageRank popularity points. If that site has a lot of quality
sites linking to it and it links to you, you get a lot more points and trust,
but if that site has few quality sites linking to it, you get only a
few points and perhaps lose trust. As such, for SEO ranking purposes a
link from a major site in your industry with a high PageRank would be
worth more than a link from Bobspage.com, provided that both had content
similar to yours.
But you need to attract
links, you should not beg for them. We believe it is essential not to
buy or barter or otherwise obtain inappropriate links. If you do you
risk the wrath of the search engines and punishment for deceptive
practices. Build content worth linking to, then announce it. If other
site owners like it then they will link to your content. So earning the
link through expert content is critical to attracting and retaining
inbound authority links.
In essence, if enough quality sites link to
you, then your site becomes a quality site by association. So you want
the best sites, not the most, to link to you. Likewise, if you link to
other quality sites, then your site is assumed to be a quality site by
association. However, the sites must be covering the same topics as your
linking page in both directions. All other links are of minimal
importance (or in the case of spam, they may be ignored or even penalized).
And do not bother to buy hundreds of URLs
and cross-link them or buy into an advertising network. The search
engines can identify them and filter them out (or issue a penalty for
your site) almost faster than you can perform submission on these pages.
At best, they are short-lived and rarely have a long-term SEO benefit.
And penalty removal takes months in most cases - the search engines do
not consider this a priority, and why should they?
SEO Tip: you do not want to join a link
farm or use spam in any way. You do not want to purchase "junk ads" that
look like links but are not worth very much. What you want are links
from quality sites where their content is supplemental and synergistic
to your own. The links should be within the main body of their page, and
often contain YOUR SEO selected keywords or domain name or company name
in the anchor text (within the link where visitors click).
Need More SEO Optimization Information About Inbound Linking? - Link Popularity
Related Blog Posts: Industry News - Google Speaks Up About Links and Penalties, Link Building in a Post-Penguin World
Now the Other Stuff
Like what you have read? Please share this page with your colleagues.
To get higher search engine placement in
all major search engines you should avoid all hidden links, hidden text
and cloaking, as these are usually forms of deception. Most search
engines prefer that their spiders get the identical page that users get.
In general, you can assume that most search engines are as conservative
as possible. Avoid hidden links or text in divs/layers/CSS, and avoid
links that are inconspicuous. Similarly, cloaking or sneaky redirects in
any form, whether they be user agent/IP-based or redirects through
JavaScript, meta refreshes or 302s, frequently result in ranking
penalties. If you have a penalty then you will probably need penalty services.
SEO Cloaking Checker
SEO Tools: run this monthly - bookmark this page:
SEOToolSet® Page Cloaking Report
If you cannot tell if you have violated these rules, we recommend professional SEO help.
TIME FOR SEO TRAINING?
— If you have followed the above steps correctly, and if you do not
have good search engine rankings yet, then we recommend our classroom SEO training course or SEO services
to go the final mile. We have given you what we could for the average
SEO on the average project, and then some. But you may have something
more difficult. Call us ... we can help. You may also want to check out
the Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies book. we authored
this 746 page SEO For Dummies guide and it is easily available from Amazon.com.
Server issues — You need a
FAST, clean server. We recommend that you use a high-performance server
or Content Delivery Network (CDN) since that allows the spider to see
more pages per crawl sequence. A slow server diminishes the number of
indexed pages, thus cutting into your ability to have a broad theme.
This in turn hurts your ranking. But equally important - a slow server
deeply reduces your conversion rate.
Finding Plagiarism — WOW! Great tool! Copyscape provides a free plagiarism detection service
that lets people easily search for plagiarism online and identify
instances of content theft. You can use Copyscape to find sites that
have copied your content without permission, as well as those that are
quoting your site. Simply type in the URL of your original content, and
Copyscape does the rest.
Blogging for SEO — The art
of blogging has been around for decades, but many businesses are just
starting to realize the true impact blogs can have on their SEO
optimization campaigns. The result: business-related blogs are popping
up everywhere, proving to be a very marketable and valuable SEO tool.
Advice: do not link out to pages that are
not the same topics as your site because outbound inorganic links can
count against you.
Advanced Search Operators —
Search engines find what you tell them to search for. A typical search
will often return too many results or even results that are not relevant
to the subject at hand. Therefore, search engines such as Google,
Yahoo! and Microsoft Bing came up with tools to narrow the search to
obtain the specific information being requested. They have also created
several search commands that are very useful for SEO experts as well as
searchers who want very specific information. These tools are called Advanced Search Operators and Combined Searches.
SEO Training
— We offer a classroom SEO training course as well as our SEO tools so
that you can better optimize your sites. If you are at all interested in
learning SEO, and especially if you want a great SEO education, please
visit our SEOToolSet site and review our SEO training classes. You will not be sorry!
Bookmark this page and come back often! When you are ready, contact us for a FREE quote on search engine marketing services.
Next to Last Step — Start Again — This Never Ends!
Go to Step 1 and start over — this never ends. We will be adding steps and additional search engine optimization tools to this page in the future. You will want to visit this site frequently to make sure that you remain ranked where you need to be.
Organic search engine optimization and
better SEO rankings, although great, are not enough. There are many
people who are too new to the Web and do not know how to find a search
engine, let alone how to use one. To many, the Internet is e-mail and
nothing more. You still need to consider the other forms of placement as
discussed on our Internet Marketing Strategy and Philosophy page.
Want an assessment of
your site or a price quote? Please consider having us help you with your
Website's search engine marketing projects. If you would like a site
assessments of your site or a price quote for our SEO optimization
services, please contact us.
Yes, we offer a few free SEO tips, but there are many things needing
repair and tuning on an average website. We can customize our project
and thus rates to fit your needs, but you should visit our Rates Page for general guidelines. Rates are competitive.
This site contains free advice that you
need to use for higher keyword ranking results, although there are many
other reference sites available. Do yourself a BIG favor and visit Search Engine Watch site on this topic.
The advice
within this site is free to all who want it. However, we regularly get
requests from businesses to present a site specific SEO Training Course.
This allows webmasters to have focused classroom SEO training
based upon their existing site design, where the course conversation is
customized around their specific needs. Another option for your team
would be to order the latest Search Engine Optimization Reference For
Dummies book, which Bruce co-authored. Visit the SEO For Dummies page to learn more about the book and read reviews of it.
Proceed to our SEO Services Page
SEO Placement Services
are the finishing touches to a well-worked site. Search engine
optimization services are offered for small and large firms. We have
services for DIY through large accounts. You must at least review the
next page to see if it is right for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment