Search Engine Optimization
Online Marketing and SEO Tools to try this Weekend
Sunday- July 13, 2008
Google Ad Planner - a free media planning tool that can help you easily build online media plans by defining your target audience and relevant websites. Ad Planner gives you information such as unique users, page views, and other data for millions of websites. Ad Planner is currently in beta, but I was selected in about 2 days after signing up. The tool is still somewhat rough, but very comparable with comScore and HitWise. The interface is much cleaner and has a low learning curve.
Essential Search Engine Marketing and SEO Resources - Whether you're new to SEO or you've got some experience under your belt, this is an excellent collect-all resource for topics such as social media, blogging, link building, local search and reputation management. If you're not ready to make the time commitment to read it all, at least check out Google Webmaster tools or the Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization.
Essential Search Engine Marketing and SEO Resources - Whether you're new to SEO or you've got some experience under your belt, this is an excellent collect-all resource for topics such as social media, blogging, link building, local search and reputation management. If you're not ready to make the time commitment to read it all, at least check out Google Webmaster tools or the Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization.
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Search Engine Optimization for Flash Files
Tuesday- July 01, 2008
Today, Google announced a new algorithm for indexing textual content in Flash files of all kinds, from Flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites. This is achieved by a special Flash player developed by Adobe that opens content within applications and translates it for search engines. The full potential is a ways off, but this is a step in the right direction for Flash websites and Google (not to mention the old adage against designing sites with flash). Flash content owners and search-engine users should notice results immediately. Read more from Adobe.
Additional Resources:
Official Google Blog - Google Learns to Crawl Flash
Google Webmaster Tools - Improved Flash Indexing FAQ's
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics
Additional Resources:
Official Google Blog - Google Learns to Crawl Flash
Google Webmaster Tools - Improved Flash Indexing FAQ's
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics
Monday- February 04, 2008
No one knows for sure how search engines actually rank your site, but there are things that you can do to optimize your website for a better ranking. I've outline a list below of the 4 most important things anyone can do to understand search engine optimization and rank your site better.
1. Keywords - Keywords are the very foundation of your search engine strategy. I refer to a "keyword" as a word that your typical user will input in the search box when searching for specific information about a product or service. You may have put many efforts on fine-tuning your web pages for a better ranking with the major search engines yet it become not enough if the right keyword phrases are not targeted. Even if you achieve high search engine rankings, you may not get relevant traffic if you select the wrong keywords. The most significant keyword steps for search-engine optimization are (1) identifying your target audience and (2) keyword phrase researching. I've outlined some of the best ways to analyze and collect this search engine data below;
Search Engine Analysis
a. Brainstorm within your group. What keywords do you think embody your site? What are the obvious words and phrases?
b. Check your logs (I'm assuming you have some sort of web analytics program). What terms are bringing people to your site? Companies often make mistakes with their keywords because they choose based on how they, rather than their customers, think about their products or services.
c. Examine your competitors
d. Make sure you don't forget the misspellings
e. Synonyms, Split & Merged Words, Singulars & Plurals, Hypens
Keyword Suggestion Sites:
Google AdWords Keyword Suggestion
Free WordTracker Keyword Suggestion Tool
2. Content - Stuff (text) on your website. Good content is simply a well written paragraph or page which communicates to your readers, exactly what you hope to get through, with no ambiguity, while it also offers info to the search engines so our site is categorized properly within their database. Content on your site should be the first thing you think of when optimizing it. You must convey to the search engines that your site is worthy of ranking, and that you are here to offer something of value to the masses. Content is king and a very important factor in getting a high search engine ranking.
3. Links - There are 2 types of links in the eyes of Google - Inbound and Outbound links. Both are important, but Inbound links carry much more weight in the eyes of search engines. An inbound link (from someone else's site to yours) basically tells the search engine your site is worthy and other people should visit it. The crucial way to ensure Google finds your site, is for your site to be linked from lots of pages on other sites. In essence, its a vote from their page for your site.
Things to consider about links
a. How relevant is the website that is linking to your site? Is it targeting similar keywords and about similar subjects? If that inbound link comes from a site with relevant content, a high page rank and has been around for a while, its an even bigger vote of confidence to your site.
b. Find and resesearch other websites with relevant content. Join the conversations on that site. Establish your expertise. Be the first to link to them.
4. Time - The older the site is, the more recognized and regarded it will be. Sites that have been around longer are given preference to younger sites.
Additional Resources:
WebConfs SEO Toolset
35 SEO Tips Simplified According To Value And Importance
The Blogger's Guide to Search Engine Optimization
SEO TOOLBOX - 30+ Tools and Services to Improve Your SEO
1. Keywords - Keywords are the very foundation of your search engine strategy. I refer to a "keyword" as a word that your typical user will input in the search box when searching for specific information about a product or service. You may have put many efforts on fine-tuning your web pages for a better ranking with the major search engines yet it become not enough if the right keyword phrases are not targeted. Even if you achieve high search engine rankings, you may not get relevant traffic if you select the wrong keywords. The most significant keyword steps for search-engine optimization are (1) identifying your target audience and (2) keyword phrase researching. I've outlined some of the best ways to analyze and collect this search engine data below;
Search Engine Analysis
a. Brainstorm within your group. What keywords do you think embody your site? What are the obvious words and phrases?
b. Check your logs (I'm assuming you have some sort of web analytics program). What terms are bringing people to your site? Companies often make mistakes with their keywords because they choose based on how they, rather than their customers, think about their products or services.
c. Examine your competitors
d. Make sure you don't forget the misspellings
e. Synonyms, Split & Merged Words, Singulars & Plurals, Hypens
Keyword Suggestion Sites:
Google AdWords Keyword Suggestion
Free WordTracker Keyword Suggestion Tool
2. Content - Stuff (text) on your website. Good content is simply a well written paragraph or page which communicates to your readers, exactly what you hope to get through, with no ambiguity, while it also offers info to the search engines so our site is categorized properly within their database. Content on your site should be the first thing you think of when optimizing it. You must convey to the search engines that your site is worthy of ranking, and that you are here to offer something of value to the masses. Content is king and a very important factor in getting a high search engine ranking.
3. Links - There are 2 types of links in the eyes of Google - Inbound and Outbound links. Both are important, but Inbound links carry much more weight in the eyes of search engines. An inbound link (from someone else's site to yours) basically tells the search engine your site is worthy and other people should visit it. The crucial way to ensure Google finds your site, is for your site to be linked from lots of pages on other sites. In essence, its a vote from their page for your site.
Things to consider about links
a. How relevant is the website that is linking to your site? Is it targeting similar keywords and about similar subjects? If that inbound link comes from a site with relevant content, a high page rank and has been around for a while, its an even bigger vote of confidence to your site.
b. Find and resesearch other websites with relevant content. Join the conversations on that site. Establish your expertise. Be the first to link to them.
4. Time - The older the site is, the more recognized and regarded it will be. Sites that have been around longer are given preference to younger sites.
Additional Resources:
WebConfs SEO Toolset
35 SEO Tips Simplified According To Value And Importance
The Blogger's Guide to Search Engine Optimization
SEO TOOLBOX - 30+ Tools and Services to Improve Your SEO