SEO: Google's Next Big Move

By David Leonhardt

(Will your website be ready, or will you be playing catch-up six months too late?

November 2003 might go down in history as the month that Google shook a lot of smug webmasters and search engine optimization (SEO) specialists from the apple tree. But more than likely, it was just a precursor of the BIG shakeup to come.

Google touts highly its secret PageRank algorithm. Although PageRank is just one factor in choosing what sites appear on a specific search, it is the main way that Google determines the "importance" of a website.

Five SEO Tips To Improve Your Search Engine Ranking

By David Leonhardt

"Dear David: I just created a website on baby toy safety. What should I do to make sure gazillions of people find me through the search engines?"

I can't promise you gazillions, but there are a few things you should do to make it easy for search engines to find you. I assume you have already decided to submit your site to the major search engines and directories. I assume that you will develop some sort of linking strategy (hopefully a better strategy than most websites use today). I also assume you will have picked key search terms for all the pages on your website.

Tools for SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization, is the process to enhance the ranking of your website on the various search engines. In other words, it is a method of optimizing your web application, which helps it to be searched under the top rankings on the search engines.

Here are some of the SEO tools that can benefit your website or blog:

Creative Search Engine Optimization – A Case Study

by: Halstatt Pires

Search engine optimization this and search engine optimization that. You read and hear about it all day, but what about your site? While there are plenty of articles providing useful information, this article shows you how a real world example met with success. The point of this article is to emphasize creativity when approaching tough optimization situations.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to the success of your website

by: Sharifah Hardie

Drive Visitors To Your Website And Increase Your Market Share. SEO is the key to unlocking your website's full potential. Google handles over 200 million internet search requests each day, and people who search for information clearly express what they want. Imagine capturing a relevant stream of such web traffic. It's therefore important to optimize your web pages to improve search engine rankings using the most appropriate keywords describing the content of your site. The search engine optimization process begins before you start building your website, when you decide on the domain name to register. The process then continues on as long as your website remains online.

Search Engine Optimization - Advice and Tactic

by: daniel chow

Unique content is King. Search engines love new, unique and updated content. If you produce new content at a rate of just one reasonably sized page per day and tied in with the other advice throughout the site, I can almost guarantee you will get good listings. Remember though, write for the visitors but cater for the search engines. If your field of expertise fits into a niche in the market, all the better for you but you must get unique content all you will fall behind.

Search Engine Optimization - Site map Optimization Technique

by: daniel chow

Site Maps can be a great tool for making search engines crawl through your web site in a much more effective manner, thereby helping you get more pages indexed, and ultimately getting you more visitors. Most people know what site maps are, as they can be seen on many of the major websites, although for those who don¡¦t, ¡§a site map is a page which contains a list of all the links within a website, under different categories and headings, just like a table of contents of a book¡¨. Now when a search engine hits the site map page, it gets to see all the links within that website and this enables it to crawl through those pages. It¡¦s just like guiding search engines with the help of a map, in this large universe of internet.

Search Engine Optimization - Inside Google Page Rank

by: daniel chow

At present Google is the leading worldwide search engine, it supports multiple languages and has one of the most sophisticated search engine algorithms around. If you bear in mind Google's unprecedented popularity and simplicity you will see that your site needs to master its rankings for your particular key phrases, this will usual mean that other search engines catch on to your website with similiar positionings. It isnt easy to understand such a complex system but you need to master it to give your site an edge in an increasingly demanding market.

12 Things You Really Should Know About SEO

by: James Doc Lewis

From the very beginning of the Internet, the number one challenge which all of us have faced is how to attract qualified visitors to our websites. Throughout the boom years, one of the most popular solutions was to get massive funding, relatively easy to get in those days, and "buy" traffic, by various means.

Top 5 most common mistakes with do-it-yourself SEO

by: Joe Balestrino

I look at a lot of sites on a daily basis. There are a lot of common problems I see on sites. Some people may have tags set-up improperly or use tags that have no real purpose. I have compiled a list of the 5 top do-it-yourself SEO errors. It's safe to say that many do-it-yourselfers may have at least one of these errors on their sites. These should help you omit these often costly mistakes and pull you up in the ranks.

The One Most Overlooked SEO Secret

by: Anik Singal

Most internet business owners know the basics when it comes to getting ranked well in search engines. Put the keyword in the title. Put the keyword in your headline, the text, etc... Some get even more "slick" and they insert the keyword many times in the text. Then others get even more technical and begin an active linking strategy. By the way, an active linking strategy can be one of the best ways to get your search engine rankings high - but that's not what we're talking about today.

There Should Be More to your SEO Consultant Than Rankings

by: David Leonhardt

By David Leonhardt, SEO Consultant Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions in SEO is that ranking at Google and Yahoo is all that counts in search engine optimization. Potential clients come to me with a single goal: "Get me a top-ten ranking at Google." Some will also mention MSN, and a few will rhyme off a list of search engines and want to rank well at the top 200 of them. It is time to separate fact from fiction. Yes, your SEO consultant can get you a top-ten placement at Google. But...

What to look for when shopping for a SEO specialist.

by: Joe Balestrino

When, shopping for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company/specialist you need to be aware of a few things. If someone offers you fast results they may be pulling your leg. If you aren’t listed on search engines the average time to be index takes around 4 weeks. Someone offering submissions in less then that is coning you. Websites that are already listed and are just being updated will have a faster result.

When to Hire a Professional SEO Firm?

by: Corey Wenger

In efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives – specifically, search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization or (SEO) is the art and science of blending technical and marketing skills together into a finely tuned website that is both search engine-friendly, ranks well for specific keywords and phrases, and is tailored to your audience from a buyer and seller perspective.

PPC Advertising – The First Step In A SEO Marketing Campaign

by: Halstatt Pires

Often, sites view seo and PPC marketing as exclusive marketing techniques. Each marketing method has its advocates. In reality, both have a place in the Internet marketing process. If you intend to pursue a major seo effort, a PPC campaign is a critical early step.

On-Site SEO and Link Building

by: Peter Faber

A discussion between 2 SEO´s, Mr. Ethical and Mr. Links, about link building. Mr. Ethical: There is no need for link building if you know how to optimize a website properly. It’s all on-site work and some basic submissions to some directories. Mr. Links: Yeah that’s what it starts with, but you have to admit that once you’re done with on-site optimization and the results are not there yet, you need to do link building in order to increase the rankings.

An SEO Glossary - Common SEO Terms Defined

by: Glenn Murray

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an essential weapon in the arsenal of every online business. Unfortunately, for most business owners and marketing managers (and even many webmasters), it's also somewhat of an enigma. This is partly due to the fact that it's such a new and rapidly changing field, and partly due to the fact that SEO practitioners tend to speak in a language all of their own which, without translation, is virtually impenetrable to the layperson. This glossary seeks to remedy that situation, explaining specialist SEO terms in plain English...

What are SEO Back Link?

by: daniel chow

Back links are an important part of most successful websites on the net and are almost essential in order to get reasonable listings on search engines. Back links are quite simply, links from other websites. As part of most search engines algorithms it is obvious to see they rely heavily largely upon the amount of quality incoming links your website has. I would like to reiterate, quality links, there are many unscrupulous link farms and link schemes that if you participate in, will get you banned from the major search engines. Search engines see links from other, usually established, websites as a mark of respect and that you probably have something to offer.  If you your website is just starting out or you are new to the world of SEO then you should know that back links are a crucial part to a website, almost as much as any content on it. With just one link to you from another indexed site you can usually get a few search engine bots visiting your site within hours instead of days, or even weeks through manual submission. Back links usually mean that you can achieve some reasonable key words in some search engines within weeks if you have a good quality site. Armed with the above information it is easy to see how vital back links are, so now you are wondering where to get them. Well you are advised to stay away from disreputable sources like I previously mentioned but they rarely work any way, instead you should visit places like the Sitepoint Forums & WebHostingTalk where many professional webmasters can be found. It is recommended you aim to link swap with websites that have a better google page rank than yourself About the author: About the author: Article by www.SEOAssistance.com What are SEO back links? www.SEOAssistance.com

The SEO Rip-Off

by: Joe Balestrino

I have decide to write this article as a result of numerous emails. It seems more and more people are falling victim to bad SEO. The main complaint is that they are paying entirely too much for little or no results. Additionally, many fall prey to bad SEO practices. If you plan to hire an SEO pro in the future, I suggest you use this article as a set of guidelines. Before going with any SEO firm or individual, do the following:  A) Find out how established and experienced an SEO firm is before you negotiate. Do they have a sizeable client list under their belt? Are they published? B) Scrutinize their portfolio. What kind of results have they achieved? Contact a few of their clients. Were they satisfied with the work performed? C) Consider and confirm their methods? How will they optimize your site to reach your keywords? Do they use organic methods? Some individuals or companies use doorway pages, hide text in the background, utilize re-directs and other blacklisted methods. Stay away from these. D) Get a least three proposals from different SEO firms. Look at each one carefully. Are there similarities? Proposals will help you see which companies are honest and which are trying to sell you something you don't need. What is the cost? The cheapest isn't always the best, however, the highest price may not be attached to a comprehensive and viable course of action. Try to find find an individual or organization that will give you what you want within your SEO budget. E) Contract, Contract, Contract. Get everything in writing. Look over the document carefully. Be sure it covers everything you have discussed, including methods of achieving your desired results. Have the copies signed by both parties. If the job is a large one you may want to consult a lawyer. F) Clearly state the terms of payment. While most SEO firms will not do any work for free or agree to a results based pay scale, many competant SEO professionals will not shy away from a base plus performance incentive package. I am not a firm believer in prepaid contracts.. Most SEO professionals will abide by the 50% up front, 50% upon completion standard. Make sure all financial terms are as clearly defined in your contract as the actual scope of work. This will protect all parties involved in the event that expectations are not met. All in all, try to do your best to educate yourself on SEO. Have a basic understanding of SEO terminology and SEO methodology. Anyone offering SEO services should not have a problem explaining how they intend to get you results. If they fail gain your confidence or raise a red flag for any reason whatsoever, keep searching. You will eventually find someone who will help you reach your goals for a fair price. Happy hunting.

The Basics of SEO - Some FAQs

by: Glenn Murray

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a foreign field to a lot of people. Rarely does a day go by when I don't get asked a few questions on the subject. So I've decided to post this FAQ article in the hopes that it will help people understand the basics, and make them a little more comfortable with the whole domain.