A collection of useful web articles
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO Seattle company – Check out GSEP.COM
Aug 12th
When you’re ready to promote your site, there are a variety of things you can do. If you’re in the Puget Sound area, and are looking for a Seattle SEO company, call GSEP.COM at 1-800-851-7666.
PPC, PTC, SEO, EIEIO (Ha!) and more. (FYI, those acronyms stand for, in order, Pay Per Click, Pay To Click, SEO and Old McDonald’s Farm). It can all be confusing.
The organic or natural rankings that are provided in the main sections of Google and most other search engines such as Bing, Yahoo & AOL are the most trusted. When the term organic is used, it means the results that are not PPC or Pay Per Click.
When you look at the SERPs, or Search Engine Results Pages (the pages that show up when you’ve done a search – the pages that show the results of your search) they show not just organic results, but PPC results, as well. So, it can be confusing.
The organic rankings are those that occupy the majority of the left hand portion of the SERPs.
Google, for example, has Sponsored Links above the main body of organic results. Google also has Sponsored Links, vertically, over on the right side of the page. The other engines are similar. The “Organic Results”, which most say the real results, are on the left, below the PPC listings.
How does one gettop organic rankings?
1) On page optimization, also known as SEO. You should make sure that your page has everything that the engine (in this case, Google) wants. It could be Yahoo, MSN, AOL, whatever. Read, study, hire a professional (such as the SEO Seattle company, GSEP.COM).
2) Blogging. You must get posts out here in the Blogosphere.
3) Internal links within your website. You need links, with the most important keywords, pointing to your home page or to a particular page you’ve had specifically designed to rank highly for a specific term.
4) Links. You should work to create a program to increase the quantity of links coming into your site.
Do all of these things, and more and you’re well on the way to top SEO rankings. If you’re looking for a top SEO Seattle company, take a look at Guaranteed Search Engine Positioning at GSEP.COM.
Controlling your ranking flow for more profits.
Jul 7th
In my last post I had a section regarding on page SEO and in particular some information on controlling how ranking is passed from a website. If you learn to control your website ranking flow you can get any page ranked in the search engines, even such pages as your affiliate program, site maps and so on.
The ranking or authority of a website is determined on such aspects as popularity of the website (amount of traffic), number of income links and their quality, number of pages and on page SEO factors. Before I carry on, when I talk about ranking I am not referring to google page ranking, I am referring to the general ranking of a website for all search engines.
As all search engines have their own algorithm’s for ranking websites and unfortunately they don’t share that with the general public, it is impossible to determine exactly how website ranking is worked out. The only thing that is known for certain is onpage SEO, incoming links and amount of pages of a website, play a big part in a websites ranking.
The ranking of a website is probably the most valuable asset to a site owner, it can mean the difference between making a fortune on the Internet or just making some pocket change. Why is it so important? Well the ranking determines where a website is displayed in the search engines, a better ranking equals better placement and in turn better placement equals more clicks.
Like I explained in the previous post, imagine a website main webpage is a bucket which is filled with ranking from SEO effects and there are holes at the bottom of the bucket were the ranking flows out. As ranking is such a valuable asset it’s wise to direct the ranking to were you want it to go by blocking off those holes were the rankings not needed. I am talking about such pages as contact us, terms and condition, disclaimer, category pages, terms of use and pages along those lines. As those kind of pages are designed to improve the customer experience they won’t need SEO on them, so why waste the precious ranking on them.
The two methods I am going to use to control the ranking flow on my website are the html statement ‘nofollow’ and robots.txt. Both of these methods are very simple but very powerful in helping search engines figure out how you want them to see your website and were to direct the ranking.
The ‘nofollow’ statement tells the search engine to ignore the link it is associated with and not to pass any ranking through it. It was first created to help tackle spam comments on blogs but was quickly taken up by website owners when it became common knowledge that it was significant in controlling the flow of ranking on a website.
robots.txt is used to control the spiders that visit a website. A large part of a website traffic comes from programs called spiders, these spiders are used by thousands of companies for many different reasons on the Internet. So if a website is just left open for spiders they can eat up the bandwidth, slow a site down, look at and log information which a site owner may not want to publish and at the very worse mess up a site completely. How does robots.txt help with ranking control? Well it can be used to block off areas of a website were site owners don’t want the spiders to go and by doing so stops the flow of ranking to those areas.
The two methods above are not difficult to implement and are a good way to control the flow of ranking on a website, yet so many website owners overlook this when designing their sites. Having the power to shift ranking around a website will enable a site owner to rank the pages of their choosing with a lot less work and hassle.
How to Hire out a Article Writer for SEO
Jun 14th
The Internet has truly changed the way that we do many things in our lives, and this also includes the way that we do business. It is true that content is king and many individuals have learned this lesson through the school of hard knocks, trying to do their own writing for their website and ending up not being able to be found anywhere on the search engines. It can be one of the most frustrating situations that an person has to go through, but it does not really need to be that way. As a matter of fact, it is feasible for you to hire somebody that is highly specialized in this niche.
The problem is that just not any writer is going to be able to do in every case. As a matter of fact, some article writers will simply pawn the work off on a third-party that may or may not even be able to speak well in your native language. What you’re looking for is an SEO Article Writer, someone that will be able to not only publish the content that you need but that will be able to write it in a way that will propel you toward the top of the major search engines quickly.
I have been writing for the Internet for well over 10 years and in that time, I’ve seeing some top listings on Google as a result of the things that I write. I have recently started offering my writing to other individuals, something that is keeping me quite busy in recent days. By hiring me, or another writer that does content writing online exclusively, you will be taking a step forward in your online business.
Is SEO dead?
Jun 9th
I was reading a thread at a big webmaster forum yesterday which made the claim that “SEO is dead.” Now, it’s hard to say whether or not the original poster was being serious or sarcastic, but he referenced some other news he’d been reading on a few authority sites that made the “dead” claim.
The notion was that, because of the prevalence of Web 2.0 community sites, the idea of needing to optimize for any of the engines was going away — and fast. The idea was also put forth by another poster that, because of the huge number of content management systems that are already setup to be “search engine friendly”, the need to have any additional knowledge to rank well was quickly diminishing.
My answer to all this? Poppycock.
First, while it is true that there are many CMS programs that are search engine friendly out of the box, on-page factors matter so little to ranking (at least in Google) that even if the on-page playing field was leveled, it would make little difference in the current search engine results.
Second, SEO is about far more than just what’s on the page. The way you analyze what keywords are worth optimizing for, the way you write the content around those keywords, and the links you get to the pages that you want to rank for those keywords all have a large role to play in how much traffic you get from the search engines — and that analysis takes specialized knowledge. Anyone can learn to do it, but it does have to be learned.
Third, and most importantly, Web 2.0 is nice, and sites that revolve around that kind of community are huge traffic mongers (e.g. YouTube), but there will always be a need for full-text indexing of the web.
So is SEO dead? Nope. It’s alive and well, and will be for as long as people need to search for information on the web.
More to think about for up and coming webmasters
Jun 4th
Web design and development is an interesting skill in this day and age, working in IT and Web Design can provide you with a modest income if you have a good reputation.
Website owners have great ideas and most will always want to improve their web presense somewhere along the line, ecommerce web developers representing their clients eventually get the go ahead to add some spice to their online ventures.
Where are the best Joomla templates for website content management? What is the best software to use for making videos for youtube? There maybe someone looking for capture page software for their SpiderWeb Marketing Business. The sharpest webmasters have all the solutions, try sharing your knowledge. I have so many enquiries about clickable maps from all over UK, europe and the USA. My latest is a clickable map of UK and Ireland using the latest MapHilight JQuery plugin by David Lynch. Now I have had time to make editable photoshop files for website owners and developers. ideal for website and blog owners who want regional information presented in a different way.
You probably have time to write articles, update your own websites, brush up on your skills as a search engine expert or write posts at your favourite forum. All this will improve your web presence for sure.
Some webmasters maybe tearing their hair out with frustration when times are lean and proposals are ignored or prospects are taking forever to make a decision about when they will want their new website to start, I’d rather send you to a professional who knows about removing unwanted hair.
Working at website optimization
Apr 13th
Competition is fierce on the internet today, which makes it hard to get to the top of the search engines. Thus, without the right sort of tools, today’s internet marketers will find it very frustrating to get any sort of search engine recognition.
Is there too much emphasis on Keywords?
Keyword search terms are the most important place to start with. The best internet marketing gurus all say that Micro Niche Finder is the best weapon in your arsenal for this task. There are also other things you can do to help with starting an internet business.
Discussing Website set up.
If you are going to achieve any level of sucess, a properly designed website is paramount. One way to help supplement income is with adsense websites. If you look around you can find these adsense templates that are built for optimal ad performance.
These areas are what it takes to dominate in the search engines today and following these tips will keep your head above water in the internet game.
Find Excellent Articles
Web Design and SEO
Mar 31st
What are my goals for the site?
It’s important to know why you’re building the site. Is it for sales or marketing? Is it a tool for communication or an online brochure? Do you want to sell products through the site, or just educate consumers about them? Do you want to increase membership in your organization, or offer Web-based benefits to current members? Do you want visitors to email you? Call you? Subscribe to a newsletter? Knowing your goals will help focus your ideas for the site.
What am I trying to sell or promote?
Even if you don’t like the idea of selling yourself, it’s what we all do, every day, if we want to be successful. Don’t be afraid of sales and marketing. Finding the answer to this question will determine what are the most important themes of the site, what to name the buttons, and the tone to use when writing the content.
What is our website’s business model and how are we unique?
Even if you have an AWESOME idea – you should develop ideas for an advertising or subscription revenue model or some fundamentals of it.
Who is our target demographic and what will they search for?
To help us an agency understand your needs, can you describe your target audience in terms of socio-economic profiles;gender;geographical location; Planning for the search in your user’s mind can save you from retrofitting for it later. How would YOU search? How would your mother search? How would your grandmother search?
What will the information architecture be like? What are the important top level keywords?
There needs to be balance between information architecture for usability and keyword information architecture for findability (SEO).
What are the components to getting a website up and running?
- Design & Development: The architecture of the site needs to be built. An appropriate look and feel must be designed. The copy needs to be written and any additional tools such as online forms, shopping carts and audio clips need to be added.
- Hosting: Just as you might rent office space, your Web site needs to be hosted somewhere so people can reach it.
- Upkeep: Once live, a good site continues to post fresh material, giving people a reason to return.
What content do I need to build the site?
First, create an outline around the themes you want to promote. Second, remember that each line of the outline is a page that needs content–text and images that will help educate your visitors. The images may include a logo or photos of people or products. Poor quality photos or bad clip art can make the most attractive site look amateurish; sometimes no photos can be better than poor ones.
Who will be supplying copy for the site?
Would you like asistance with this -
Who will be supplying images for the site?
We can provide this service – from using our experience to select images for you from existing library shots through to organising a professional art directed photo shoot for you.
Do you want animation and moving graphics?
Do you have an existing corporate identity?
- What are the primary colours of your corporate identity?
- What are the secondary colours of your corporate identity?
- Should the site reflect your existing brand marketing?
We have an excellent team of designers, can we help by looking at your existing corporate identity to offer advice and input?
Do you require it to be optimised?
Again we can offer different levels of optimisation from recommendations of keywords, monthly monitoring service with recommendations again even including different ideas and include suggestions on google ad words campaigns.
Do you have a budget for this project and a time frame?
What will this cost for start-up? For ongoing maintenance?
You should also budget money for search engine submissions, which were once free, but now can run into hundreds of pounds. We’re currently recommending our clients budget ￡500 for this.
Ongoing costs include hosting fees and regular updates to your site (which is a good idea)
Do you have web hosting?
Our web hosting is on a Linux server, running Apache supported by MySQL databases, with web hosting you will also be provided with email and a login to your own control panel, this will enable you to administer your email accounts.
Do you have a brandable domain?
We can register a domain name on you behalf.
Is this an e-commerce site?
Or if not is there potential for you in this area in the future?
If this is an e-commerce site, do you have a preferred payment gateway?
There are many different types of payment gateways for e-commerce, all will charge some kind of fee for their service, some of the most popular are Paypal, Worldpay and Protx.
Do you require a content management system for product areas, news areas or a recruitment page?
Would you like to track and analyse your site performance and visitors?
How do I attract more traffic to my site?
Search engines, links, advertising and more. we will make your site search engine friendly and submit your site to search engines and directories on your behalf. You should create reciprocal links with complementary sites. Consider advertising on specific search engines, email newsletters, and traditional media. Put your url (Web site address) on your business cards, stationery, voice mail, and so on. Send out free email newsletters. Add a Recommend This Site to a Friend form on your Web site. Continually update and improve on your site. Reviewing your site’s traffic reports can alert you to what visitors are finding interesting and what they’re ignoring.
How do we prove high credibility?
You need to maintain your credibility. With ANY business or organization you are only as good as your word. Prove your credibility and make it apparent – don’t make your users wonder about it.
What ideas can we use for linkbait?
Why beg for links when you can convince people to give them to you naturally.
If we can’t create great bait, how do we buy, barter, and beg for links?
Sometimes you just have to know the value of a link and how to ask for it. Even if you’re the best in your business, you should still spend SOME time asking for links.
Where else can we advertise?
Pay-per-click, banner ads, print, radio, flyers, direct mail, television, billboards and even bathroom stalls are all options. There is still a multitude of opportunity with other traditional advertising – just be SURE to leverage your online presence (include and plug your url as well as special tracking urls like redirected domains) when doing your more traditional advertising.
