The Ultimate SEO Book

SEO 101

In an increasingly global Internet community, many techniques have surfaced in order that companies may take hold of as much market share as possible. After all, the Internet is used by a huge variety of people from all over the world, each in their own way a potential customer.

Formerly, going through the Internet and finding content relevant to one’s search was simple; only a few websites were up and running online. These days, however, the Internet is a deluge of content in all shapes and sizes, with people of various age groups, backgrounds, and geographic locations, generating their own online publications and content. Therefore, customers rely greatly on various tools made available to them to simplify their lives.

Search engines are online interfaces used to search for relevant content online based on the keywords entered in the field by the Internet users. Therefore, businesses online must find a way to be prioritized among hundreds and thousands of businesses offering similar or congruent content.

One of these methods designed towards maximizing the potential of the Internet for businesses that rely greatly on generating Internet traffic towards their online website is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization is a method used to give a particular website and its content better ranking in a search engine’s query response listings. It usually tries to give websites an edge over others, particularly in those organic or crawler search engines. Organic searches are those listings yielded without payment; crawler search engines simulate the act of crawling through the web and following links through to their respective web pages.

However, like all good things, SEO has come under attack of misuse by people who wanted to take advantage of it. This is the reason why today, SEO is categorized into “white hat SEO”, or SEO legitimately used by consulting agencies to assist clients online, and “black hat SEO”, used to manipulate search engine listings with unethical methods.

While “ black hat SEO” makes use of unethical methods to manipulate listings and to deceive others, “white hat SEO” focuses on honest methods of improving a website and its contents in order to promote it in the Internet much better.

Many websites try generating traffic to their website by various methods—pay-per-click advertisings, prepaid advertisements, and organic search listings. SEO is much more interested in increasing profitability through the last method, organic search listings.

Pay-per-click advertising, which entails the advertiser to pay Google or similar agencies only for the number of clicks an online advertisement banner generates and not for ad placement, may ride up costs. This happens when the website tops listings and generates traffic from a huge client base, of which not all of them are interested in purchasing the product or service that will provide the company profit.

Organic search listings, however, display listings of websites regardless of whether or not they are paid. What SEO primarily does in order to maximize the power of organic search listings is concentrating relevant keywords. “White hat SEO”, because it focuses on improving websites collectively in order to generate genuine rankings in listings, concentrates on better content for the website. Accurate portrayal of a business’s identity is at the core of ethical SEO.

The first way to do it is by making a clean code, which is a significantly simpler code aimed more in delivering content to the users of the website. A cleaner, simpler code, helps crawler search engines decipher the relationships and links between pages and keywords.

The second means is creating beefed up content written in order to provide information and maximum satisfaction to customers. Search engines take into account the ‘satisfaction’ of customers on the basis of relevance of content and even the frequency of visits, usually related to the quality of the content offered by the website. By concentrating on providing quality information and content to customers, the website gains grounding among online visitors.

At the end of the day, by helping the consumers understand and interpret better the content of the website even at the point of indices in search engines, one can best maximize SEO and the rankings of the page in listings. Relevance is key in trying to make sure traffic is directed towards the business’s website; only by providing relevant content can longevity be achieved amidst various trends that claim to provide the business all it needs.

Basics of SEO

Nowadays, even the smallest company uses the Internet as a main tool in building a customer base, keeping in contact with their clients and this is also their most basic means of advertising.

Designing a company web site is cheap and effective, not to mention essential because the world wide web is the only medium that offers instantaneous information access to millions of users around the globe.

Any web developer worth his salt should know about search engine optimization or SEO.

This is the key towards building an effective web site that would get a lot of hits and visitors. A web site that nobody visits is useless so the challenge lies in leading Internet users to visit your web site.

Thus, your web site need to be "found" when users type in keywords in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, AOL and others.

Once a keyword relating to the products or services that you offer is keyed into a search engine, a direct link to your web site should emerge on top of the list.

You should employ search engine optimization techniques to lead traffic your way, and get more hits that would later on lead to more profit for your company, which is your goal in the first place.
Here are some tips on how you can make it to the top of the list of search engines, and use your SEO techniques to benefit your web site and your company:

1. If you have an existing web site and domain, just optimize the one that you currently have instead of purchasing a new domain.

It will take some time before your web site will show up in a particular search engine, like Google, so it better to use the one that you currently have instead of switching to a new one.

2. Know who your target audience is and aim for them.

If you are in the manufacturing industry and a user types in your product in a search engine, then you would immediately have your target right in front of you.

As soon as the user hits the Enter button or clicks on 'Search', then the person will be lead to your web site.

Make sure that your target market will get 'hooked' on your web site. Once the search engines show the link to your web site, their job is done.

What you should do next is to make sure that your visitor will not leave your web site without them trying out your products or services, or at least leaving some pertinent information so that you can contact them in the future for marketing and advertising purposes.

When hitting a particular target market, learn about their interests, location and age to have an idea of what you can offer them in return.
Also, you can somehow link their interests to your products and services.

3. Search for the right keyword.

You should be creative, persistent and flexible when looking for the keyword or keyword phrases to use in optimizing your web site.

Google and Yahoo offer some tools and tips on how you can come up with keywords that will yield results.

Do not settle for just one keyword. You can also vary the words and phrases that you use for each page on your web site so that you can have more hits.

4. Consider your target market when designing your web site.

The design itself would include the general theme of the web site. You should also pay attention to smaller details such as color and font style and size.

Make sure that the web site is user-friendly and do not forget to insert helpful articles, tips, hints and related links that can be shared to other users.

It is a good thing to have an option to send a link or an article to a friend, which will add more users and increase your client base.

There should also be various ways to browse through your web site, to fit each user.
A person might find it to difficult use the scroll down option so you should also provide hyperlinks which are accessible to them.

5. Concentrate on the web site content.

Regularly update the content of your web site so that old and new users can find something new when browsing through your site.

Make the content brief and precise. Writing a content which has more than 600 words will make the users lose interest, since most of them do not actually read but just skim through the text.

Strive to be the best and most comprehensive web site and you will make your mark when it comes to information about the products and services that you offer.

It helps a lot to pay attention to detail, too.

 

Finally, keeping your web site's content updated is a must.

Spread the word about your web site and use the basic search engine optimization techniques and you will surely gain positive results once users visit your web site.

SEO Technique: Link-building

With many businesses engaging in advertising wars in order to win over the majority of the Internet’s viable market, it’s easy to deduce the intensity of the competition. After all, the Internet and its network of information grow exponentially by the minute, while the increase in the number of users more or less takes a little slower.
Some businesses employ paid advertising on major commercial portals in the Internet, in hopes that the traffic generated by these pages will eventually flow into their own company website. Others make use of the ingenious payper-click (PPC) system, which virtually requires no start-up cost on the part of the advertiser. He or she only pays for the amount of traffic that he or she generates through the public’s accessing his or her website through that particular link; no payment is made at the initial ad placement in various media.

These two means of advertising are aimed towards trying to be greatly accessible to a potential viable consumer market, because only then can profit be possibly made. These two methods of advertising, however, gain greater ground because they have the capacity to push up a website’s ranking in the query results in search engines.

Query results in search engines, or the matches found by a search engine to the keywords entered by the user, are important because of the fact that these are the most effective tools through which users try to access information on the Internet. The volume of information existent on various topics is simply overwhelming, which is the reason why people make use of search engines to do for them the dirty work of going through Internet clutter and give them results ranked on the basis of relevance to what they are exactly looking for.

PPCs also increase the probability of finding the website ranked higher. Google Adwords, for instance, already creates an innate ranking system within their advertising system, so that even in prioritizing which advertisements are published in a particular page, the ones with greater relevance is made accessible to the public.

The Grand Daddy Of All SEO Software!

Another technique by which to hike up rankings is by providing quality information that is both highly relevant and targeted towards a particular set of keywords pre-determined by the website. With careful market study and a study of consumer behavior, businesses can study just what keywords yield traffic, and subsequently shape their business website in order to best address the demand.

However, with the Internet being as competitive as it is, it is not enough to employ just one of the many methods to increase traffic. Another means that has been acclaimed in truly delivering increased traffic into the website within the framework of SEO is link-building. Link-building is the process through which one website is advertised in another website dealing with a similar field of interest. Usually, an exchange of links can happen, which can provide mutual benefits to both businesses.

Link-building, and being in productive link exchanges, can make or break a SEO campaign to optimize the search engine. It requires a degree of experience and loads of interactive communication in order to make sure that the link does end up published in another website. When this does happen, one’s website can already appear on the search engine more than once—the first is the direct page of the website containing it; the rest are outside access points from links by other pages.

This can be done first, by creating the impression of expertise in a particular field. By creating this impression both among colleagues and clients, the website becomes respected. Moreover, this can create a level of marketability on the part of the website, which will give people an easier time to trust the content of the pages. In effect, it becomes easier to build links with another website who may wish to be affiliated to the image and reputation built by the business.

Another way to do this is by soliciting the help of affiliate web pages. Businesses try to make affiliates by constantly reviewing products, articles, and services offered by other companies on their websites that could serve to complement the service or products to their own. This gives the other company greater impetus to provide links to the business because after all, it features their product. This also results in mutual referral, especially in the case of two complementary products.

Integral to the decision of building links with websites is the determination of the suitability of a particular website to become a link partner. Emphasis is placed on decent linking partners that more or less practice the same brand of ethical SEO as one’s own. Moreover, targeting possible link partners who actually will be amenable to the idea of exchanging links is very important. By targeting invitations for link-building, the business gets a better opportunity to actually gain real link partners who will eventually link the business to their website.

Relevance, congruence, and even similar reputability are just some factors that can make link-building campaigns more effective. With effective links, a business’s search engine appearance is maximized and magnified.

Modern SEO Techniques

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are methods that aid in the improvement of a website's ranking in the listings of search engines. There are different kinds of listings that are displayed in the results pages of search engines, such as paid inclusion, pay-per-click advertisements, and organic search results. Utilizing SEO can increase the quantity of site visitors that acts on the activity that the site intends.

Sites have different goals for search optimization. Some sites search for all kinds of traffic. A SEO strategy that is broad in scope can be advantageous for sites that cover broad interest, such as directories and periodicals. On the other hand, majority of the sites attempt to maximize their pages for a high quantity of very specific keywords that radiate the possibility of a sale. Usually, focusing on wellchosen traffic produces sales leads of desirable quality, and allows advertisers to pull in more business.

The importance of having a high rank for an advertiser's site cannot be emphasized enough. Unfortunately, many site owners believe that their site has a high-ranking, when the truth is exactly the opposite. Others who are aware that they do not possess enough presence in search engines do not know that it is possible to achieve the ranking they want, and that they can get it through means that are a lot easier and more efficient.

So what are the techniques that advertisers must employ to maximize their optimization and garner the site activity and profits that they seek? Here are some of the most useful ones.

1. Title tags should be written in a creative way. It should be created with the strongest keyword targets as the basis. It is the most important tag of a web site when it comes to optimization. The specific keyword of the web site that is being optimized should be the one that is placed in the title tag. It goes without saying that every site should have its own title tag.
2. Carefully select the words and phrases to be assigned to Alt tags. Alt tags are not really mandatory, but they are provided for text browsers because images do not get displayed in web browsers, and it is the Alt tags that give information to the users about its significance. The rule in Alt tags is fairly simple: only key phrases or key words should be put in Alt tags, overdoing may cause a site to disappear in search results or get banned from it indefinitely.

3. Manage keyword density. Keyword density is the percentage occupied by keywords or keyword phrases in a web page. Ideally, keywords are used once in the title tag, the heading tag, and in bold text. Keywords should be placed at the top of the page, and phrases can be inserted in every paragraph, depending on how long the paragraph is.

4. Determine the appropriate page size for the site. Speed is a vital element to the success of a site, and it important to both online visitors and the search engines. It is
recommended to limit web pages under 15K.

5. Create rich themes for the pages. Search engines are increasingly getting particular about themes. Content should be created as often as possible, and the pages should be maintained to 200 to 500 words. The content should be created in relation to the market, and should be linked to the other related content present on the site.

6. Make the site's design attractive to the viewer. All efforts in optimization will be in vain if the site is poorly designed and if its contents are hard for viewers to read. There should be more text content than HTML content in the web site. Viewers should be able to use the pages in all major browsers. It should be noted that most search engines veer away from JavaScript and Flash.
7. Stay away from the bad techniques. Utilizing them could get a site blacklisted from the search engines. Spamming is a no-no, and the following techniques are considered spamming: doorway and identical pages, tiny or invisible text, cloaking, usage of keyword phrases in author tags etc.

Advertisers should keep in mind that simplicity is the basis of a successful SEO campaign. Sites should be easy for viewers to locate, follow, and read, and should contain relevant content. Following the techniques above will prove worthwhile for site owners in the future.

Keyword Selection and SEO

Everyday, hundreds and millions of Internet users access the network in search of something they need or want. In the earlier days, users had a much easier time locating just exactly what they sought because very few online entities were in existence, and they offered very little services. Thus, it was easy to determine which sites actually contained what they needed.

Fast forward to the current period, and instead you find hundreds and millions of content varying in degree almost to the same extent as to the number of average users of the Internet per day. Businesses, institutions, and even individual users generate their own websites and content by using simple means, and as such, a searcher may end up having to choose from hundreds of choices in pursuit of materials related to what they are searching for.

Search engines play a huge role in making the current scenario work. Major search engine service providers, like Google, create user interfaces that allow for their users to enter words, or keywords, relating to what they are searching for. Various methods are then employed in order to search for the content links. Either they employ purely organic searches, which lists matches to the keywords regardless of whether they are paid or not, or they utilize crawler search engines. Crawler search engines simulate the crawling movement when they travel through the codes of each website and deciphering relationships between links and pages.

To maximize the potential of search engines in providing businesses their much-needed online traffic (and hopefully translate traffic into sales), SEO or Search Engine Optimization method was created. SEO is centered in trying to provide a business with quality content and websites in order for it to help rise in the rankings in the query listings. Central to SEO is a customer-oriented approach, and is achieved mainly by providing well-written information in the website, as well as making sure that the content found in their websites are relevant to what the users are looking for.

However, for SEO to work, there must be a clear and tangible relation between keywords and relevant content. After all, if the search engine finds great difficulty in tracing matches back to keywords provided by the users, chances are, the website will not be found by the target market.

SEO works with keywords at the very onset of the business. The business picks a variety of keywords to which their website will be related to in search engines. If the user enters in the search engine a keyword that matches the keywords related to the business’s website, a high-ranking match is displayed among the listings.

Keyword selection and the effort that goes with it is only justified; after all, the nature of the keywords a business selects can make or break its campaign.

The Grand Daddy Of All SEO Software!

In order to effectively match a business’s keywords to those that will be entered by the users, selecting keywords must take into consideration the variety of keywords under the same topic that could be utilized when searching for it. For starters, making a list of around 50 keywords and selecting those that make greatest impact will help narrow down the keywords that should be bid for by the company when trying to get a spot in the listings.

In selecting keywords, it must also be taken into consideration the sort of response generated by certain keywords, alongside the people who would respond greatly to those words. By selecting keywords with the expressed intent of targeting a particular consumer base, the business creates a greater probability of visitors to the website being actual interested buyers instead of web window shoppers.

Moreover, selecting keywords that are closest in relevance to the content of the website better streamlines traffic into that which yields profits.

Popular keywords are those that users often enter into search engines and look for. These popular keywords (and the subsequent websites) usually are recipients to huge amounts of traffic, and as such, are subject to higher rankings in listings.

While popularity, relevance, and targeting are important, it must be balanced with the competitive demand for a particular keyword. Obviously, more businesses vying for the same word would create difficulties in acquiring that keyword for a business’s use. Before selecting keywords, it is imperative that checks may be made in order to make sure that while the keywords are popular, relevant, and targeted, they are also not within the too competitive bracket, which will make it extremely difficult to acquire and rank.

Keyword selection is important in every SEO campaign. Only in pre-meditating keywords and studying market behavior in relation to these keywords can the benefits of this productive relationship be clearly seen.

Off-Page Factors On Doing SEO

SEO, or “Search engine optimization” is a method used by experts to improve a website’s search engine ranking, with the objective of having it in the search results’ “top 10” or at the very least, having it in the first three pages of “search results”.

Off-page SEO pertains to all the influencing factors that determine your website traffic levels and ranking which are not inside the website; they are principally links that comes in your website from other websites referred to as “link popularity”

Link popularity is a key factor utilized by the famous search engines in ranking websites.
In order for SEO, to be useful, it needs to provide valuable, authentic and educational website content as well as information at the same time maximizing “Off-Page” factors in securing good ranking in search engine positions.

Almost all search engines put a great deal of significance in a website's “link popularity”. They utilize the amount of incoming and outgoing links to websites to establish the relevance of a website for specific keywords or key phrases. Take note that incoming links prove to be more significant compared to outgoing links.
Google, one of the top search engines, makes use of its “Pager Rank” or “PR” as their means in measuring the “link popularly” of a certain website. When you installed the “Google toolbar”, you easily can view a web’s PR. A PR of a website is read from 0 to ten, ten being the highest. When you see a grey “PR” bar, it signifies that, that particular website have either not yet been indexed or was dropped or have been banned.

Acquiring quality links coming from good or reputable websites can be a difficult task. A reputable website only will agree to link to your website when you can offer them certain benefits.

Reciprocal Linking and how to go about it:

Reciprocal linking in simple terms means exchanging links so to enhance link popularity. This often entails sending email letters to certain webmasters of your choice that you find has complementary and relevant content.
Write a polite, personalized and good e-mail letter to the “webmaster” that you want to “exchange links” with. Here are some guidelines:

1. Download the Alexa (http://www.alexa.comand) and Google tool bars. Google “tool bar” will permit you to view the “PR” of other websites, so that you are aware which sites have great traffic and link with them. The Alexa “tool bar” supplies you with estimates of the website's traffic as well as the sites that are being linked to it.

2. Visit particular websites that you want to “exchange links” with in order that you will know what that particular website is all about.
3. Send email letters to websites which you want to be linked with. In your letter, mention important things regarding your website and explain the benefits of having a “link exchange” for both your sites as well as both your visitors.
Place a “link” to the website and inform the webmaster as to where he can find the link. Likewise, furnish the key phrase or keywords that you need to be “linked”.

4. Broadcast your willingness to “exchange links” in your website. You may use a "reciprocal linking" link or "link to us" as well as a “web-form” for possible “link partners” to enter their details.

Incoming “one way linking” and how to go about it:

Incoming “one way links” are considered by webmasters to be the best kind of links that one can for one’s website, but also one that is hard to acquire. They can increase link popularity and website PR. They point out to all “search engines” that your website is an expert on key phases or keyword employed to “link” to you.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Construct an informative, good quality and educational website or unique, educational and authentic web page content. Great content is what webmaster look for so to refer you to their visitors by way of links going to your website.

2. Offer free tools and helpful service in your website.

3. Give something away for free at your website, such as quality e-books, downloadable trial software, gift or a useful program in exchange for “links”.
4. Arrange an award for winners to link to your website before they can claim their prizes. Make certain that your policy is clear to everyone.

5. Allot a budget so you can pay for niche directory listing. Present excellent and relevant articles with links directing to your web home page and give your consent to webmasters to display your articles in their sites.
Link popularity will not grow overnight

Allocate a time each week just for working on building links, so that it becomes a regular habit. Select one day each week as well as schedule the time. You need to oblige yourself on a regular basis and make your priority, or else you can not accomplish it.

Note that “link building” is gradual and accumulating process. Over time all the links will start to add up until such time that there will be hundreds and even thousands linking to you.

SEO Resources:

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