Be careful when you hear that search engine optimization is totally free. The truth is that organic results themselves don’t cost much of anything but the effort required to achieve those results are expensive. Whether you are paying someone to optimize your website or build links to your web site, achieving top rankings for your website require time and money.
Before undergoing any changes to a website, you must determine what keywords people are using to search for your programs. You want keyword terms that are frequently used but have little or no competition from other websites. This improves the chances of increasing search rankings significantly. Marketing professionals can research possible keywords by talking to current students and using free online tools such as Adwords Tool which provides estimates of search volume and advertising competitiveness.
Once you’ve done the initial keyword research, its time to start investigating your competition for that given keyword. Do a search for the keyword or keyword phrase you’ve chosen and evaluate the websites that appear in the first three positions. You’ll want to evaluate on page factors as well as off page factors like the number of inbound links to their website and directory listing. This research gives you a good understanding of your competition.
The next step is to do additional using Alexa. This site provides additional details that can help you determine whether or not the keyword you’ve chosen can bring you success. While researching competitors sites, Alexa will provide additional details on site strength including age and sites linking in. If the number one ranked site has less than two million competing pages and few in bound links, then you have a good chance of outranking them.
Upon deciding which keyword phrase is ideal for your search engine optimization campaign, the next step is to design your site in a way that is both easy to read and highly accessible by all search engines. Consider breaking up your search engine optimization campaign into on page optimization factors and off page optimization factors. By addressing both, you can quickly influence rankings in a positive way. Consider starting with site design that integrates SEO best practices including meta tags, headers, and typeface. Once complete, turn your attention towards building links to your web site.
By far the most important factor in Google rankings is a combination of Google page rank and the number of web sites that are linking to your own website. Referred to as inbound links, Google evaluates their authority and rewards your site with higher listings on search results. You are always better off receiving links from web sites that are established and popular than new sites that have neither a strong web presence or inbound links. When link building make sure that link text includes your keywords.
Succeeding with organic rankings is easy if you take the time to optimize your site and focus on building in bound links. The result is a site more valued by search engines, improving rankings for keywords and keyword phrases. Stay the course and build links over time. This ensures that you rank higher than your competition over the long term.
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There’s a lot of information out there on the Internet about search engine optimization. Some of it is really good but unfortunately much of the information is either totally inaccurate or just plain wrong. I’ve taken the time to sort through much of this information and provide you with the strategies that get actual results.
Having worked directly with hundreds of web sites I have discovered techniques for optimizing web sites that actually work. I often get question about SEO such as, “what is the one technique that works better than all others?” A difficult question to answer because I have found a number of techniques that are truly effective.
The first search engine ranking factor has to do with inbound links. We all know the importance of generating inbound links to your web site or blog. However, these links are only effective if they include your keywords in their anchor text. Links should always include keywords which help search engines identify your website with these links. Make sure to ask link partners to structure their links to your web site properly.
The second most important factor for having high search engine rankings is to include your most important keywords in your meta tags, particularly your title tag. This is one of the key ways that search engines identify your pages and display information on search results. In addition to your title tag, include your keywords in the keywords and description tags as well.
The third raking factor is what we call link popularity. Link popularity refers to a couple of things but most importantly the number of inbound links to your website. Each of these links carries with it some type of value. The value might be a Google PR of zero or ten so it’s important to look at the value of each inbound link to your website. The greater the link value or popularity, the more it helps you with search engine rankings.
The fourth ranking factor to consider is the variety of domains linking to your web site. If you have hundreds of inbound links from a single web site, they carry less weight than only a few inbound links from separate and distinct sites. The key here is that different sites are essentially placing their vote. Focus on diverse link building strategies among many different web sites.
The fifth ranking factor is placing your keywords in your root domain. If you are unable to acquire a domain that has www.yourkeyword.com as the format, don’t despair. You can vary your domain by including words before or after your keyword. Short of being able to acquire such a domain, place your keywords using a subdomain structure or placing a folder on your root domain. This can have a positive impact on your overall rankings.
All of these factors are important for top search rankings. Don’t overlook any of them if trying to improve your search rankings for particular keywords or keyword phrases. Also, be sure to continually read up on the subject or consider any one of a number of SEO training programs that can show you how to have more impact with your optimization efforts.
Michael Fleischner is the Author of SEO Made Simple: Strategies for dominating Google and offers SEO training for small and medium sized businesses. Make sure to get free search engine optimization and Internet marketing support at the Internet marketing forum
I have written a book and a number of informational products about search engine optimization and improving a website ranking on Google. The question I often get is, “Whats the secret?” Aside from solid search engine optimization best practices, there are just a few truly secret techniques that make the difference to anyone looking for number 1 rankings.
My reason for believing that some techniques are really best kept secrets is because they are not talked about in SEO forums or within even some of the top SEO products. You might ask yourself why these aren’t discussed. The answer is simple. Some secrets, if shared may dilute the effectiveness of the technique.
For those of you who have been thinking about SEO, you are probably looking for the fastest and quickest way to put your website in the number one position on Google and other major search engines. The result of getting the much coveted number one position is traffic, higher ad revenue, and greater sales.
As someone making a living online, I can promise you that having the top ranking for competitive keywords is all it is cracked up to be. The difference between a number one ranking and number 4 ranking is the difference between making a living online and making next to nothing.
What are these secrets I’m referring too? I am more than happy to share my secrets with you. Let me warn you however that not every secret is really all that unique. In fact, most helpful information is a popular technique applied in a new way. Personally, that is how I think about SEO secrets which helps me to truly apply them effectively. Even simple distinctions can have a positive influence on your search engine rankings.
The secret is simple. If you want to achieve number one rankings for any keyword, then you simply need to follow the same strategy being used by the top ranked website for that keyword. Does this technique sound too simple? If you answered yes, then I ask you to ask yourself if you are using it today. This technique may be simple but it is not easy. To be as successful as the number one ranked website you need to discover what he is doing to be ranked number one. Top rankings do not happen by chance.
The best place to start is by analyzing the links into your competitor’s website. These are referred to back links and carry a lot of weight when thinking about SEO. These third party links often contain link text that includes the keywords you want to rank highly for. Contact these websites and attempt to have them link to your website in the same manner.
The obvious challenge here is not only finding who is linking to your competitor, but to actually build links from the same web pages. This if often easier said than done. The good news is that there are a number of software programs that can help you do this. I’ve personally used a number of them and can tell you that they work.
Use this technique to improve your rankings. Simply learn what makes your competitor rank in the number one position. Specifically, find out who is linking to him and how they are linking. By duplicating the linking strategy, you can dramatically improve your website ranking for the specific keywords you choose.
Are you ready to improve your search engine rankings? Visit to my blog where you will learn how to improve search engine ranking properly and get your FREE improve search engine rankings lessons. This and other unique content ” articles are available with free reprint rights.
Succeeding with SEO is a function of understanding the basics. Search engine optimization is really made up of two different disciplines. The first is called on page optimization, what you do on your web pages to succeed, and off page optimization. By mastering both of these areas of optimization, you can have search engine success.
Any powerful SEO strategy is a combination of having the write strategy and applying necessary elements of that strategy in the right order. The same can be said for SEO. To win at the SEO game, you need to be willing to focus on onpage optimization before off-page optimization. This means that you are concentrating your efforts on navigation, web site design, and Meta tags. Beginning with on-page optimization ensures long-term success.
Let’s start with looking at your url structure. Many people believe that the only way to get number one rankings is by having your keyword phrase in your domain name. For example if your keyword is sneakers, you should have a URL that includes your keyword of sneakers. Sure, this would help but its only one of a number of factors considered in search engine optimization. Not to mention the difficulty of finding a good URL that includes your keywords.
A really good way to implement a sub-domain strategy is by evaluating your keywords and identifying a small handful of sub-domains to implement. Choose your most important keywords to set up as sub-domains and focus your efforts on a top level domain with direct links to your subdomains. This ensures that your sub-domains are crawled on a routine basis and appear within search results.
Keeping the sub-domain strategy in mind, you can also implement another URL strategy that is just as effective. Although it’s been debated in search engine optimization circles, I’ve implemented both a sub-domain strategy as well as the following strategy and they are equally effective. Instead of implementing a sub-domain, simply create a page that includes your keyword as part of the url. For example: yoursite.com/yourkeyword where your key word is the actual keyword or keyword phrase you are trying to optimize for.
Once you have worked out your URL strategy, the next step is to focus on other on-page factors. Although there are more than can be mentioned in this brief article that you should be paying attention to, there are a couple that I believe are more important that others. Page load times and W3C validated code are vital to your web site’s search rankings. Make sure your code is properly written and your web pages load quickly.
Only after you have on-page optimization covered from all angles is it time to focus on off-page optimization. Essentially you want to make sure that you’ve build that strong foundation for your web site that you can easily build upon. If your foundation is solid, you can build upon it for the long term. Off-page optimization is the practice of building links to your web site and focusing on other referrals from authority web sites.
Begin your search engine optimization efforts by focusing on on-page optimization. This creates a very strong foundation that you can build on for years to come. After that foundation is set, focus on off-page optimization techniques. These techniques can vary over time but should always include some type of link building effort. As you create more inbound links, your search engine results will continually improve.
Looking for help with your SEO? Discover how to Improve Search Engine Rankings in less than 48 hours with our helpful SEO guide. Also, be sure to check out our latest review of today’s leading search engine optimization software by visiting our SEO Elite Software Review.
When thinking about search engine optimization and where to begin, think about on-page optimization. Although off-page optimization is essential for improving your Google rankings, on-page techniques can be used to build a strong SEO foundation and support good results on Yahoo!, MSN, and other major search portals.
Below are a few helpful search engine optimization strategies you can use right now to make your web site more accessible to search engines and as a result, improve your search engine rankings.
Optimize Your Web Site URL
When planning to build a new website, be very careful about the domain name you choose. Select a name that will be memorable and is something you want to build your business around. You obviously do not want to limit your options significantly. Do so can limit the future development of your business. You should however, include your keyword or keyword phrase into your URL if possible.
Optimize Your Page Title and Header Tags Including H1 and H2
Develop a title that is relevant to your website content and which has no more that sixty characters. The reason you want to keep your title to a fixed width is because longer titles wont display fully on search engine results listings. The title is important because it gives you an opportunity to display your keywords and entice browsers to click on your link.
The first title or headline that appears on your web page should include your keywords. It is best to have this title display with an H1 tag which signals each search engine as to the importance of the content being displayed. The sub text should be presented with an H2 or H3 tag. This shows the search engines how important your keywords are and helps them promote the key elements of your web page.
Optimize Your Meta Tags
Search engine optimization experts debate the value of meta tags for search engine ranking enhancement. I can tell you that meta tags include a variety of tags including title, description, and keywords. Even though meta tags are less important that it was many years ago, it still plays an important role in optimization.
Search engines use meta tags as a reference for search engine crawlers that view your website content. Your meta tags need to be correlated to your content and also include your keyword phrases. Doing so creates consistency, something that search engine spiders weigh heavily when determining website rankings. Make sure you fully develop your description and keywords.
Optimize your keyword density for Google, Yahoo!, and MSN
Creating a keyword rich content page is essential but do not get carried away. Your keyword density should be between three and five percent in order to appeal to all major search engines. Some people believe that you could go as high as six percent for Yahoo! optimization but Google seems to like pages that have a smaller keyword density. In addition to keyword density, focus on H1 and H2 tags and place keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your web page. This variety is helpful when signaling search engines as to the keywords that are important to your web page.
Varying Your Keyword Phrase
Each time you list your keyword phrase, change it up a bit. Rather than stuffing your site with the same keyword phrases again and again, use keyword variety. One way to do this is to add a word or two before your keyword phrase and after it. Creating variety is critical because it shows each search engine that your site is really about the core content you are promoting.
The most important part of any SEO effort is to make your website appear natural and have a good flow. You want to make sure that your site presents valuable content and follows on-page optimization best practices. Use these suggestions as a guide, you will be on your way to a fully optimized website.
Michael Fleischner is a marketing professional and can share Tips to improve search engine ranking. Learn more about his techniques at the Good marketing tip blog. Michael has been featured on the TODAY Show and other major talk shows. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.
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