According to Website Magazine, Google is poised to release a new keyword tool. I haven’t yet found out the release date, but according to them:
“The new Keyword Tool offers flexible search options, enabling users to search by any combination of keyword, website/URL, and category and receive a single set of results. Users will also be able to filter result by word or keyword match type, and even view statistics for mobile search and use data filter based on local search, as well as search and ad share. It might just be the greatest keyword tool of all time.”
It’s hard to say if something is the ‘greatest keyword tool of all time’ if we haven’t yet put it through it’s paces, but I like the idea that Google is continuing to try and provide web users with useful and relevant tools to help them get the information they need faster.
Tags: Google tools, keyword tool
The people that I’ve been working with to optimize their website put a lot of stock in meta tags. Here is the word directly from Google about how they are handling that:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html
I think it’s terrific that the average website owner is now becoming more aware of what will and will not be effective in elevating their search rankings. It will help keep them from being taken advantage of by the so called ‘experts’ in the SEO field. I will continue my rant that quality, relevant content is a huge part of what will get you up there!
Tags: keyword meta tags, meta tags
There was a time when you could use unsavoury strategies to achieve high rankings with the search engines. I consider these a form of cheating and, in fact, the search engines have improved to the point where the cheating has become useless. Take a look at these 5 and consider what you could do instead:
1) KEYWORD STUFFING - It’s not effective to shove keywords in everywhere, whether they make sense or not. You can actually get penalized by Google. Stick with inserting them a few times into well-crafted copy. Remember -quality over quantity - instead of stuffing keywords everywhere, place them strategically i.e. in URL, headers, title tags, meta descriptions, anchor text, opening and closing paragraphs and make sure they are on the first or second page your visitor will see.
2) BLOG COMMENT SPAMMING - Putting links in blog comments is not an effective link-building strategy. In fact, Google introduced ‘nofollow’ link tags devaluing those links. Again, stick with well-written copy of value. You’re more likely to get natural links.
3) SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION - Until recently, I thought this was still necessary. Google’s ability to discover and index new content is so advanced that search engine submission is no longer necessary. To get found, set up links throughout the web by posting articles, press releases or on social media sites. Try Ping.fm for posting messages and links to several social media sites simultaneously.
4) META TAG OPTIMIZATION - Meta tags used to play a large role in search engine rankings. Some people, however, would abuse this attribute by including misleading terms unrelated to the site content. Google is no longer paying attention to meta keyword tags. In lieu of this, consider using category and tags within your content management system to better label and categorize your website content.
5) LINK EXCHANGES - Reciprocal links in moderation are expected. But website owners engaging in link exchange schemes are frowned upon by Google and will be penalized. Get your links honestly. Write a testimonial or report in exchange for a link back to your site.
Keep in mind that your site exists to provide something to the visitor. Write and design it with them in mind. Present a clear, focussed message and join the communities you want to reach. The rankings will follow.
Thanks to Website Magazine for this list. It is ‘a must read’ publication for anyone developing, marketing, or maintaining websites.
Tags: outdated SEO, SEO strategies, SEO tactics
If you spend any time on the Internet, you’ve noticed how varied and interesting websites can be. What makes a website good enough for you to go back and visit? Certainly it will be regularly updated content that matters to you, but it’s something more. The sites that have great images or keep your interest with various types of media such as video or audio likely rise to the top. The search engines know this, so that’s why your site, if you add some interesting depth to it with a variety of media, will have a better chance of ranking well.
Check out this cool site for some ideas: www.screenr.com
Tags: audio, multi media web content, video
Only about 25% of your SEO efforts occur on your website. The rest come from off-site throughout the Internet. This means that you need to find appropriate places on other websites to place links to your site. Driving traffic to your website takes time.
Before you head off your site, check the links within your website. If you have a site map or links within your pages, the search engines are better able to navigate the entire site. The more pages crawled, the better your search results.
There are several locations throughout the Internet where you can place content and include your URL with a link back to your site. Do some reading and find blogs and forums that interest you or relate to your area of interest or the topic of your website. Make comments on these blogs with a link back to your site. And make sure your comment adds value to the blog, otherwise it’s just shameless self-promotion.
It goes without saying that joining Social Media Networks is a must. Whatever your opinion of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (to name but a few), they are the rage at the moment and you would be well served to at least investigate one or two to get a sense of what they do and how people are interacting. There are tools and techniques you can use to update several of your social networks at one time.
Tags: blogs, link popularity, search engine optimization, social networks
Keywords are a part of what help the search engines to find the pages within your site. You may choose to have a different set of keywords on each page so that different search terms direct visitors to all parts of your website.
There are a couple of tools you can use that will help guide you with respect to keyword popularity and competitiveness but before you go ahead with them think about what your potential customer would enter into the search engine to find you. For example, if someone is looking for shoes they would get several million responses if they were to Google ’shoes’. If they knew that they wanted ‘red faux alligator leather shoes’, that would return far fewer responses but they would be exactly what the visitor is looking for. (This is called ‘the long tail’) And if someone is that specific about what they want, they are ready to buy and NEED to find you. It is nearly impossible to rank high for a generic term, but you have a much greater chance of getting to #1 with a more specific, targeted term.
Once you’ve got a list of potential keywords and phrases, try running them through either www.spacky.com or Google’s keyword suggestion tool. These reports will give you an idea of how often those terms have been searched in the last month. These reports will also give you some ideas of what other terms might work for your site. Focus on one or two keywords or phrases per page, but make them different for each page for maximum coverage.
Be cautious of ‘keyword stuffing’ which is essentially putting keywords too many times on the page. The search engines don’t favour this so it doesn’t help your ranking. Try and incorporate your keyword in important locations such as your URL, page titles, headings, anchor text, meta description tags and alt tags. A good rule of thumb is to incorporate the keyword or phrase in the first 25 words of the copy. And make sure that the content is well-written, marketing-driven content that is interesting and relevant for the reader.
Tags: keyword phrase, keyword stuffing, keywords, long tail, on site SEO
If you’ve got a web site then you’ll want to take a few measurements as to where it stands now. This will give you a benchmark against which to compare after you’ve made some changes.
One of the first things I usually do is use a tool called Website Grader (http://website.grader.com) which is free from Hubspot. (Let me just say that Hubspot offer several tools, webinars and ebooks to help you understand the vast business of SEO. They, of course, also offer SEO services but I like that they want to educate people too).
Website Grader will give you an overview of the various elements of your site including on-page SEO (such as meta data, image summary, when Google last crawled etc.), off-page SEO (such as inbound links, directory listings), blogosphere (do you have a blog and is it ranked), Social mediasphere (are you present on social networks), conversion options (RSS feed, forms to obtain lead info) and competitive intelligence (where do your competitors rank).
This tool is a wonderful launching point for your site audit. It gives you an overview of where your strengths and weaknesses are and you can create an action plan around areas that need improvement. Go ahead and run a website grader report on your site and see how you rate!
Tags: on-page SEO, search engine optimization, website audit, website grader
If you’re new to search engine optimization then know this: there are no guarantees and it’s a moving target in a changing industry. The reason I say that is I just want you to hear alarm bells if your SEO company is guaranteeing you a #1 spot in Google from organic results (we’re not talking about pay-per-click advertising - yet). There are new and exciting developments in the SEO industry all the time, but you can create a plan that focuses on the basics.
The 4 key elements we’ll focus on to develop your plan are:
1) Conduct an SEO audit - assess the site you’ve got, the keywords you want to use, who ranks #1 for those keywords, and what your competition is doing.
2) Content Updates - review your content and rewrite where necessary, take a look at your design and architecture and simplify where necessary, what part of the site will be regularly updated and when will you do it, and what kind of multi-media do you have on your site that would interest your visitors?
3) Link Popularity - determine what inbound links your currently have, check out internal links within the site, select locations for inbound link opportunities, join relevant groups within social media framework, and discover who is linked to your competition and could they also link to you?
4) Monitoring and Reporting - conduct search (use various search engines i.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN) prior to making any changes then periodically after that to monitor changes, make regular and consistent changes to your blog or content, regularly research new link opportunities, join conversations in social networks, and submit to free directories (e.g. dmoz.org)
We’ll get into more detail on the next post, but in the meantime give a lot of thought to what exactly you want to accomplish with your website and how you’re currently doing that. Think also about what you aren’t doing and get the ‘to do’ list started.
Tags: link popularity, SEO, seo plan
You’ve heard so much about Search Engine Optimization that you either don’t want to hear any more or you’re well versed in what to do. This blog is for those small or medium business owners who want to get more out of their website without breaking the bank.
I am not an expert, but I have spent the last year and a half reading and studying SEO and seeking low or no cost ways to improve my rankings. Made it to #1 in Google so I know this stuff works. I’d like to share what I know in hopes of helping others achieve success.