Beware Advice from Bad SEOs
Wednesday 10 February 2010 @ 11:26 am

There is a popular idea circulating among the search engine optimization community that has been debunked by the leading experts in the field, including Google employees. This idea has led many Websites to harm their search engine indexing and visibility. The concept is called PageRank Sculpting and it is based on the erroneous belief that you can somehow improve your site’s search engine results by hiding internal links on your site from search engines.

Despite having been shown to be ineffective by Google itself, people who believe in PageRank Sculpting continue to promote this very dangerous practice because they have invested so much time and energy in it that they cannot let go of the idea. Make no mistake: attempting to sculpt PageRank in your Website is a very high-risk, low-benefit proposition. The primary reason PageRank sculpting fails is that there is no reliable way of tracking or measuring the PageRank that Google assigns to your Web pages.

What most people don’t realize is that Google calculates its PageRank many times throughout the year but it only updates its toolbar PageRank data a few times a year. Many Webmasters wrongly conclude that if the PR value in the toolbar changes they must have made some difference. Especially now with faster indexing for real-time search, Google’s search results are in a constant state of flux. SEOs who believe in PageRank sculpting make no effort to allow for the changes that are caused by other factors in spite of their bad practices.

PageRank sculpting has been challenged and shown to be a false idea by leading figures in the search optimization industry like Matt Cutts (a Google employee), Shari Thurow, Adam Audette, Adam Lasnik (another Google employee), and others. If someone tries to teach you how to sculpt PageRank you should ignore their advice. But if you have already tried to sculpt your PageRank you should undo the changes you have made and fix your Website.

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A Closer Look at SEO and On-Page Optimization
Monday 1 February 2010 @ 6:03 am

It’s fair to state that this year, SEO at long last broke into the mainstream, and is now an everyday exercise applied by businesses wishing to boost their website’s rankings. Nevertheless, only 5 years ago, search engine optimization was viewed as a dark art. And today, how matters have transformed: now SEO needs a larger group of talents in ethical areas : content writing, campaigning for a website using social networks, and link baiting.

Google and other search engines have also evolved and are a lot more sophisticated than merely measuring links to decide search engine rankings : they can observe how long your visitors browse your website for, how many pages they browse, and broadly speaking how “sticky” your site is.

Having said that, of course links are still critical to determine rankings, and because of this you need to make your website a fantastic resource that individuals feel compelled to link to.

But if you cannot wait a long time to get good rankings, you can apply Pay Per Click promoting. What is Pay Per Click? This is a bidding system where businesses bid a certain cost for every time the ad is clicked on. The total one bids for counts on the keywords that actually trigger the showing of your advertisement in the search engines. Keywords are essential to the relevancy of the people that click on your advertisements, and so PPC is a wonderful way to discover the best keywords (the ones that make you sales) and those that aren’t good. When you are armed with such data, you can then concentrate on those keywords in your search engine optimization effort too!

It’s wise to employ a firm that offers pay per click services first, and gain knowledge and experience from their tactics. In this way you’re not just placing your site in the hands of professionals, you can also acquire knowledge from them too. In addition, you should ensure you hire a search engine marketing form that are local to you. To find a firm in your location, enter keyphrases such as seo + your locale, for instance seo leicester. Why a company near you? Search engine optimization is a very nuanced field of study, therefore it’s a wise move to get to know your SEO business you hire, and there’s no substitute for person-to-person meetings to talk about the finer details.

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Australian Free Articles Directory
Sunday 14 June 2009 @ 6:48 pm

One of the most principal facets of any web marketing strategy is how do I deliver the goods in the search engines. How do I make my site to rank substantially in Google?

One of the most primary facets of doing winning in the search engines (given the rudiments like brilliant content are already in place) is bringing links to your business. You can do this a lots of different ways, some looked at positively by the engines and some not so favorably.

One of the trustworthy ways, that the search engines think is tolerable is link building with articles.

Fundamentally this necessitates composing a authentic article, preferably around something from your area of expertise, and then sending it to a free article directory.

You really cannot lowball the importance of link building. If there is one indicator that is important to the search engines, on the whole, it is links. Sure, there are loads of other signals, e.g the domain name, but you are deluding yourself if you reckon you are going to be listed well, and easily noticed, if you do not stimulate any links.

Building links with articles is easy. It is something the search engines say is okay. And, it adds value to the web, by providing valuable content that might be interesting or useful to users. The real question is what are you waiting for?

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Onpage Optimization: Essential for Effective Offpage Optimization
Wednesday 18 June 2008 @ 7:19 pm

Onpage optimization is the process by which various elements on an individual web page are structured so that the web page can be found by the search engines for specific keyword(s) or keyword phrases.

Onpage optimization will not guarantee any top rating within a search engine, only offpage optimization can offer that guarantee. However, offpage optimization is far more effective WHEN onpage optimization is in place.

Onpage optimization is not difficult. It does however take time to make sure all the pieces are in place. Onpage optimization should occur not only on the main web page of a web site, but on every single content page within that site.

The very first question to ask when seeking to optimize a web page is: What keyword(s)/keyword phrases is this page targeting? This article will not explore how to find keywords, it assumes you already have keywords chosen.

For this article, the following phrases will be used as an example: designer argyle socks, plaid socks, paisley socks. Of the three phrases, “designer argyle socks” will be the primary phrase used for optimization.

Below is a list of onpage elements in which the keywords need to be placed:

** Keywords in the TITLE tag(s)

Every page should have TITLE tags. TITLE tags appear on the status bar above the menu bar in a web browser. The TITLE tags for the main page of your web site should look like the following:

TITLE Supersocks.com - Designer Argyle Socks | Plaid Socks | Paisley Socks /TITLE

Generally the formula should be: website name - keyword|keyword|keyword. Avoid using articles and conjunctions like a, the, and. Use the pipe(|) or dash (-) to separate keywords.

Do not “stuff” your title by repeating your keyword phrases over and over. Search engines will ban sites for such practices.

** Keywords in H1 or other headline tags

Somewhere near the top of the page place your primary keyword phrase within h1 tags.

H1Designer Argyle Socks/H1

The combination of the TITLE tag and H1 tag effectively act as titling tags for your page. The search engine spider will begin to see pretty quickly what your page is about if these two tags are in place.

** Keywords in the body copy

Use your keyword phrases throughout the copy of the body of the web page. Use them in natural ways. Do not overuse your keyword phrase. Avoid using hidden text. Try your best to include your primary keyword phrase at/near the beginning of your copy and at/near the end of your copy. Once, and only once, make sure your primary keyword phrase is bolded.

** Keywords in ALT tags

Many suggest that the alt tags on your images should contain your keywords. Be careful. Some search engines see that as spamming. If you do it, don’t over do it.

** Keywords contained in the URL or site address, e.g., http://www.keyword.com/keyword.htm

If the primary phrase of our web page is “Designer Argyle Socks”, then the name of the actual HTML file would be designerargylesocks.html, designer_argyle_socks.html or designer-argyle-socks.html

** Keywords in the META NAME=”DESCRIPTION”

Meta tags are getting used less and less by the search engines. However, it is still good practice to use the Description and Keyword meta tags if only for your own reference.

meta name=”description”Supersocks.com is pleased to offer designer argyle socks at low discount prices. In addition see our selection of plaid socks and paisley socks. /meta

** Keywords in the META NAME=”KEYWORD”

Search engines like Google no longer look at the Keywords meta tag. However, still include your keywords here. They can serve as a point of reference for you in the future.

meta name=”keyword” keyword, keyword, keyword /meta

Do not “stuff” this meta tag by repeating your keyword phrases over and over. Search engines will ban sites for such practices.

P.F. Flyer develops Recommended Web Tools, an online resource for web design beginners. Visit his website to find out more about onpage optimization.

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