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SEO and Positioning your Website for Top Search Engine Rankings

SEO and positioning your website to grab top positions in search engines for targeted keywords require both good on-page and off-page optimization. On-page optimization refers to how you tweak the webpage itself, ie the meta-tags, webpage title, content, navigation sitemap, etc. It has everything to do with the web architecture. Off-page optimization is more of a technique applied beyond your website, without involving any change to your website. Let’s take a look at some important elements of SEO and positioning that would boost the ranking of your website.

First of all, we need to understand a bit more about the role of on-page optimization in SEO and positioning. In summary, on-page optimization requires you to craft the web page structure such that it is optimized for a particular keyword that you are targeting. Never build a site first before knowing what you hope to achieve, ie whether your aim is to drive maximum traffic and sell more products or just as a hobby.

You need to pay attention to the keywords you are targeting first, and do detailed researches before you start building your webpage and optimizing it for the keywords. A lot of webmasters fail to realize the importance of keyword research in SEO and positioning for top search engine ranking. They often do it the other way round, targeting popular and extremely competitive keywords and keyword phrases. You may have realized that competitive keywords like “search engine optimization” or “web traffic” are simply out of reach for a new or amateurish website. SEO and positioning your website for such keywords would only bring you disappointment as you realize that even with a fully optimized page, you are still on page 1000 of the search engine results.

One hint for you is to go for any keyword phrase with less than 1 – 2 million search results and fewer than 1000 competing websites in Google. How do you check the number of competing websites? Simply type in “Allintitle: Target Keyword Phrase” into Google search box and all the websites containing the specific keyword phrase would be displayed. It is common sense that any website targeting a keyword phrase would include it in the webpage title, isn’t it? Looking at the search results alone is vague and difficult to determine the level of competition. Once you have found the keywords for optimization, remember to include them in your page title, sub-headers, and meta-tags.

Off-page optimization looks more at the popularity of your website. The search engines are constantly changing the landscape of the internet but one principle stays constant, that is to give users relevant results. Other than meddling with the on-page factors, you need to be aware of how search engines measure your website popularity and keyword relevance. One major yardstick of SEO and positioning is using link popularity. Search engine spiders are not humans and can only understand web content to a certain logical extent. A human may see a web page as rich in content but a search engine spider may deem it as spam.

The unbiased and more accurate way of judging the importance of a web page in terms of keyword relevance is to leave the decision to fellow webmasters and search engine users, or in short, votes of confidence. A link to your web page is a vote declaring that your web page is worth mentioning for that specific topic. But I must emphasize that not all links are equal. Find out why at my blog and also learn basic and advanced tips and tricks about SEO and positioning your website for top rankings either manually or using tools that would conveniently and quickly rank your website.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Randy Zlobec asked:


1. Link Building

2. Article Writing & Distribution

3. Press Release Writing & Distribution

4. Pay Per Click Advertising

5. Social Networking

6. Blogging

SEO or Search Engine Optimization as a standalone methodology is dead as a doornail. Dead, kaput, deceased – wandering around waiting to be buried. Trying to accomplish high search engine ranking using SEO alone is a losing proposition at best and website suicide in most instances.

So, what’s a webmaster to do? The term “webmaster” means staying on top of what drives successful, targeted traffic to your website. It means staying up later than the average guy, reading, discovering and learning the cutting edge of what it takes to make your site successful.

In the beginning, you could throw up any kind of page and get people to visit. Quality webpages were few and far between, and it was just astounding that you could get type on a page that others could view. Then came the keyword, the meta tag, the phrase, the optimization, software considered downright primitive in today’s world that would tell you your page was a cut above the pack. These days are long gone.

In order to get around the dead horse of SEO standalone, you need to be ready to add links, backlinks and quality backlinks. You need to be able to do more than string three words together. Today’s readers are savvy. They want real information; don’t deliver junky, slapped together, non-researched splats of content and expect to maintain traffic and credibility. Today it is all about quality content, unique and different – that delivers a message that is both interesting and informative.

To basic optimization, you need to add things like blogging, dynamic updating, social networking that can be press release driven with a landing page that commands attention. Use the checklist below to smarten up your pages and make them more than SEO optimized. Knowing what makes them hum, what spiders love will make your pages more than just web-ready. They will become traffic magnets.

Let’s Talk Keywords

If you remember nothing else remember to put your keyword or keyword phrase in the PUT YOUR KEYWORD HERE. Many folks overlook this and just like that the spider glides on by – uninformed. If you are adding things like social bookmarking and blogging to your site and you forget this, you might as well be holding up a sign in a sandstorm.

Keywords in the URL do help. Remember if you are just redirecting a keyword URL to your website to use a 301 Redirect which is the most efficient and Search Engine Friendly method for webpage redirection. Anybody who tells you differently is not up on the latest trends. The search engines do take note of your keyword as part of your URL. For 8.95 or less, you can get that small edge on your keyword. Most people are using PHP or ASP these days on either an Apache or Windows server. Here’s the 301 redirect codes that will get your pages moving if you aren’t using someone like GoDaddy.com to register your domains and utilizing their convenient 301 redirect features.

Keywords in your anchor text from another side. Called an inbound link, this is like getting a vote from another site. Be sure and have your keyword or keyword phrase as part of that vote.

Keywords in your tags. Yes, it is your headline. It’s important. It’s rated by search engines and if your keyword is part of it, it’s rated higher. But be sure that it’s also part of your body text or you will probably upset the spiders. Never upset the spiders or you’ll be on page 11 million for your keyword.

Keywords in the tags. Alt tags are what your page displays when the pictures can’t be found or someone browses your page with pictures turned off. Spiders also read the tags so if you have your keyword in there then viola, more credit for your page.

Article Writing and Distribution

There are a number of article directories where you can distribute your articles with your resource box promoting you website. You will want to write relevant, short quality articles that build curiosity for your website. You do not want to write articles longer than 500-600 words for article directories.

Articles as Bait

On your website, you will want to have longer, informative articles on a specific subject related to your website’s topic. Called linkbait, these articles are designed to inform and educate your readership on relative topics. This is not what articles for article directories are all about. They are curiosity builders. You write 300-400 words on a topic to demonstrate your knowledge on that topic. You include a resource or author’s box back to your website where you can present a long, in-depth version of your material.

One important thing to remember when writing articles for directories. Each must be different and unique from each other and each one must be different than the one on your website. If you duplicate them for the various article directories and they all have inbound links to the same content on your main website, you will kill your page rank and credibility. If you can remember that article directories get you quickly indexed and offer a curiosity booster that acts as a portal to your main website, then you’ll write accordingly.

Most article directories require at least 400 words on a topic which is not that easy to produce, but you want to save your main features for your own website and not the article directory.

Through these directories, you’ll receive a ton of backlinks as other websites use your content on their website. However, none of it will match what’s on your own website, so it won’t be considered duplicate content just inbound links.

Press Releases Are An Overlooked, Great Process

If you can write news copy, you can write a decent press release which will get your website a ton of exposure. You will want to put out a website for the following reasons:

- To announce your new website and what it’s all about

- New products and services that you add to your website

- Reviews of various themed parts of your website

- Expansion and additions of note.

Using press releases in this fashion will always guarantee a steady stream of visitors in that a well-written press release will usually be picked up by other sites and rewritten and added to their new repository which increases the number of incoming links you’ll receive.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Using pay-per-click advertising is another way to get almost instant traffic to your website. Utilizing PPC giants like Google and Yahoo, you can pay for visitors to your website. You list small, contextually based advertising which is published across their network of websites and interested people click on your advertising and arrive at your site. This is one of the quickest ways to get traffic to arrive, but it can be costly to get started. Pay-Per-Click lets you advertise to the whole of the online community.

There are also text link advertising, classified advertising and pay-per-post advertising where you can get other bloggers to blog for money about your product or service on your website. It is a variation of PPC in that bloggers will write and review your site or service for a small fee and list you for a set period of time on their website. It adds content to their site and gives you more than just a link back to your site.

Social Networking and Social News sites

Web 2.0 and social networking is another whole article in itself, but it is the second fastest way to get traffic rolling into your site. To get the ball rolling and to give you some ideas on where to start, let’s look at the basics of social news networking. We want to separate this from social bookmarking which is for personal use. Social news networking is for when you want to advertising you business, home business or professional site. It’s about providing news to the world about who and what you are, the benefits you offer and why they should stop by.

Some of the better news sites where you can post your short articles include: Netscape, Newsvine, StumbleUpon, Digg and OnlyWire to name a few. These sites are news-hungry just waiting for information about your website. Whatever your site is about will be quickly and effectively disseminated by posting on these websites.

Considered the second generation in online marketing, social networking is all about building communities of like minded individuals who are looking for certain things. You website is taken into a group and depending on your service or product, people arrive at your website because of the tags and text you provide to the online community. There are as many social news and networking sites as there are interests, but the main ones to start with are listed but by no means complete.

Learn Everything you need to know in order to generate top 10 positions in the major search engines as quickly as possible by purchasing my search engine marketing book Sem Gorilla. Sem Gorilla is due to be released before the end of this year however, you may sign up at the site to be notified and actually receive the book much sooner than the rest of the world giving you a head start on your competitor.

neha Patel asked:


At the end of last month, Google rolled out a new page offering advice to those seeking a search engine optimization firm. Since being unveiled, there’s been both support and criticism of the tips and recommendations that Google has posted in various SEO forums.

From my perspective, most of what Google has posted is sensible advice and positive for the SEO community as a whole, especially compared to what was said by Google previously about SEOs, within its help area:

“Be very careful about allowing an individual consultant or company to ‘optimize’ your web site. Chances are they will engage in some of our ‘Don’ts’ and end up hurting your site.”

A brief and fairly negative statement, to say the least. The impression one comes away with is that most SEOs are likely to cause you problems, so you’re better off avoiding them. Compare that to what Google’s now saying:

“Many SEOs provide useful services for website owners, from writing copy to giving advice on site architecture and helping to find relevant directories to which a site can be submitted. However, there are a few unethical SEOs who have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to unfairly manipulate search engine results.”

So, congratulations, SEOs! Google, in my opinion, is legitimizing the majority of you and certainly the industry.

For its part, Google actually denies that there has been any significant change in its view toward SEOs. The company notes — accurately, I would add — that it has worked with the SEO community for some time, speaking at conferences, posting information within its own web site and via public forums. If the tone on its help pages now seems more positive toward SEOs, Google says it is just now wording things better.

“Maybe we are expressing it more clearly. Certainly there’s always room for a consultant that gives you good advice,” said Matt Cutts, a software engineer at Google who deals with webmaster issues. “The intent is not to be negative or positive [about SEOs] but provide more information.”

Whatever the reason behind the change, I think it clearly gives the general public a more positive impression about SEOs from Google. However, Google says the main intent behind the page is educational. Google wants the public to understand how to choose an SEO wisely, so they are not likely to encounter problems getting listed with Google or other search engines.

“The overall goal is to give people the tools so that they can assess a decision about search engine optimization,” said Cutts.

Let’s take a closer look at some of those tips.

Some SEOs may try to sell you the ability to type keywords directly into the browser address bar

This tip really stood out in my mind, because there are definitely people out there selling namespace services via dubious practices. However, these pitches have nothing to do with Google. Instead, they involve Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

So why’s Google calling this out? The company says it’s just trying to educate people generally about SEO-related issues, regardless of whether they are Google-specific.

“It goes back to Google just trying to do the right thing, the same way we did with the pop-up page,” Cutts said, referring to an educational page the company posted earlier this year on pop-up ads.

To learn more about problems with namespace pitches, see my recent article, RealNames Clones Causing Confusion. I also expect to revisit the issue in the near future, because I continue to get emails from people confused by misleading pitches. If anything, it would be nice to see Microsoft itself, rather than Google, make a loud, public statement on the issue.

Nice advice, but then Google doesn’t offer any real help on how to do this. That’s OK, I’ll fill in some blanks.

Finding Search Engine Optimization Professionals is a fairly recent SearchDay article that talks about three SEO directories. Both SeoPros.org and the SEO Consultants Directory are directories that screen who is allowed in, while SEMList.com allows anyone to list themselves and information about their companies.

MarketingSherpa.com publishes a Buyers’ Guide to Search Engine Optimization Firms. My last review was of the first edition, but I’ve skimmed the second edition and still think it is well worth the money for anyone thinking about hiring an SEO firm. Along with reviews, the guide offers a lot of helpful advice.

you should ask how long a company has been in business and how many full time staffers it employs

How long a company has been in business is good, but number of staffers isn’t necessarily relevant. You could find a small firm of only one or two people that is great. They may not have more people because they don’t want to grow beyond that.

On the forums, I saw several posts questioning the wisdom of this tip, as well. For its part, Google explains that it didn’t mean to suggest that companies with big full-time staffs are better than others. Instead, Google says it is really suggesting that consumers learn more details about the company, period.

“We are not making this general statement that the number of people matters,” Cutts said. “This is more an example of doing your homework.”

Hopefully, Google will look again at the wording. A simple change to something like, “You should ask how long a company has been in business, who is employed there, how did those employees gain their experience?,” might get across Google’s point that you should learn more about a company before engaging them without the focus seeming to be on number of employees.

Ask your SEO firm if it reports every spam abuse that it findsto Google using our spam complaint form. Ethical SEO firmsreport deceptive sites that violate Google’s spam guidelines

Sorry, I completely disagree, and I’m far from alone, judging from forum posts and other comments I’ve read. You can indeed be an ethical SEO without also playing the role of Google’s volunteer spam police.

In fact, there are plenty of “ethical” SEO firms that feel that reporting spam actually can be an unethical practice. These firms feel like they should focus on doing positive work — promoting their clients, rather than getting involved in negative work of expending time reporting spam.

http://www.seoguru.biz/blog/seo-guidelines/google-offers-seo-selection-guidelines/

Davion W asked:


Whether to buy SEO Elite or not – everybody seems to wonder. We know that SEO Elite can get you more hits than you can get even if you fiddle with your website for days. Is it really a wise decision to buy SEO Elite? You can probably save all the time you would have to spend trying to manually optimize your site for search engines, and get better results, as well. There are many reasons why SEO Elite is a safe and convenient choice for many users. Read this full review of SEO Elite and judge for yourself if the reasons are compelling enough.

1. Backlinking is one of the most important ways of your website’s Search Engine Optimization. When search engines rank your site, they look at the Search Engine Optimization in terms of titles, keywords in the content, and backlinks, which are crucial. If you buy SEO Elite, it will take care of this in a few ways.

a. SEO Elite analyzes your competitors’ backlinks and gives you all the details you need about the pages linking to your competitor. You can even use this information to get links on the websites where your rival has links.

b. The next step is to get links to your site from other sites as well as link directories. You can use SEO Elite to get links exactly according to your specifications. After you buy SEO Elite, you can even mail as many sites as you want at once, after creating a mail template. You can also find ‘authority websites’, links to which can significantly boost your ranking.

c. You can check if your link partners are still linking back to you. When you buy SEO Elite, this process becomes a lot simpler.

d. You can submit articles to articles directories all over the Web using this application. Adding a link to your site at the end of these will increase your ranking, and therefore, traffic on your site.

2. You can then feed in your key words and SEO Elite will monitor where your site stands in different search engines, giving you graphs with different time frames.

3. After you buy SEO Elite, you can see exactly which of your pages are indexed by even less popular search engines. If your pages are not indexed, you will naturally not figure in searches.

If you are new on the Web, you can get good ranking much more quickly than you can otherwise, using this software. If you are an old hand, it will save you time and effort, while still giving you better results than you can get manually. Either way, if you buy SEO Elite, you will get good rankings a lot easier than without it.