SEO Articles ::
Articles pertaining to SEO3 Steps to Remove Pages and Cached Content from Google Search
Posted on :: Mar 13
Google’s indexing of websites for its search is quite good, quite fast, and quite thorough. There are times, however, that pages on a site should not be indexed. For example, admin sections or include files. Asking Google to remove content is easy and Google’s response is reasonably fast.
If you don’t own the website that has the material that needs to be removed, don’t bother reading any further. Contact the website responsible for posting it and ask them to remove it.
Cached content is handled through Webmaster Tools. To remove cached content all the steps below are required.
Localized SEO :: Google Local Search
Posted on :: Jan 23
The growth of the internet and search engines has been changing the way that people find and research local businesses. In a recent study by comScore, 2008 was the first year that more consumers turned to search engines over the phone book as the first source for consumer research and information. The implications for this dramatic shift in consumer behavior is leading to a severe decline in yellow pages advertising and the increasing emphasis on Local Search Engine Optimization (LSEO) to provide visibility online for local and regional companies and services. The resulting challenge for many companies operating on a local and regional basis is how to create presence and visibility online with a limited budget and understanding of this growing field of Local Search Engine Optimization (LSEO).
SEO for Google
Posted on :: Jan 22
It is common for many companies to not only want to have the top search engine rankings on Google™, but to stay there as well. So what is a top ranking? In short, it means having your company show-up on the first page of the Google™ results page for any targeted search. This is because 90% of people will not look past of the first page of results when doing a search.
On-site SEO :: The Guide
Posted on :: Jan 8
In case you haven't been paying attention lately, there are two parts to SEO: on-site (optimization of the site itself) and off-site (link building). Today I'm going to give you the same checklist I've used to optimize websites.
If you follow the steps in this guide your website will be very SEO-friendly, and Developed Correctly. Many People fail to relaize that Properly Developed content, also assists or automatically optimizes your Website for SEO...It's True.Cross-Engine Keyword Richness
Posted on :: Dec 16
The importance of keywords and phrases in domains, subdomain, folders, & page names
What impact do keywords in the domain have on placement in search engines? How about if they are in the subdomain or only in the page name; or what if they are not there at all? Website Magazine looks at the top three search engines to determine if including keywords matters (and if so, where) in the fight for search result page real estate.
The search term we used to analyze the importance of search terms on placements was “Bakugan” – a Japanese anime TV series, popular children’s game/toy and movie. While not a immensely well-known term, the word “Bakugan” has a global monthly search volume on its own of five million with a low estimated cost per click (at Google). We’ve only looked at three pages (30 listings) of results on the most popular search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing). What we learned (consider it the synopsis) is listed below.Detecting Mobile Browsers
Posted on :: Nov 30
It's becoming more and more common that Users are accessing your website from a mobile web browser (like that from an IPhone, Blackberry, Android or other mobile device). It's also becoming more prevelant that you need to start supporting and developing for the mobile platforms. But how would you begin?
Should Designers & Developers be held liable for Internet Explorer Design Bugs?
Posted on :: Nov 23
This is a question I'm posing to the wild Development Community becasue it seems more and more prevelant that Designers and Developers alike are being held accountable for Bugs and lack-of-interoperability especially when designing an developing Websites that are Standards-Compliant and are 'Web 2.0' compatible.
Internet Explorer, and its inefficient JS engine, is off in its own little world and forces web developers, designers, and programmers to make special exceptions when it comes to CSS and JS. Although its improved a little with the advent of its latest 8 version IE is slowly falling behind and yet people continue to use it because it comes with Windows...Facebook for Business
Posted on :: Nov 18
Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.
Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.
Increase your website’s traffic and Page Rank with these simple steps
Posted on :: Nov 9
SEO is a topic that is often difficult and potentially costly to apply if you are unfamiliar with the processes and methods. SEO is a combination of techniques to improve the volume and quality of traffic to your web site from major search engines such as Google or Yahoo. In this article, I will list some quick and easy techniques that can help you accomplish higher page rankings and increase traffic to your web site.
About Search Engine Optimization
Posted on :: Nov 9
In the past 10 years, SEO has become one of the most intriguing internet marketing strategies, drawing much attention from businesses across the Web. Today, these businesses invest millions of dollars in their websites’ Search Engine Optimization. Yet, in any given industry, only a handful of companies successfully promote their business and get a good return on their SEO investment. So what is the Big Secret? What techniques are available today to optimize a website? And what is the most efficient way to promote your website with SEO? Oh and what exactly makes us experts in the field?
Why SEO Requires Ongoing Efforts
Posted on :: Nov 9
It can be expected to see a drop in some of your website’s rankings, just because search engines update their registries and re-evalutate the site. Consistency is one of the most important factors of SEO, and if there is a significant change on your website, Search Engines may consider the site as less valuable for a while.
SEO & SEM Tactics for 2010
Posted on :: Nov 3
As search marketers look ahead to 2010, there are two obvious situations: Some things will remain the same, yet more things will likely change. Straight from our most recent issue, Brian Lewis provides a sneak peak at the SEO and SEM tactics that will define 2010.
Google Using RSS/Atom Feeds To Discover New URLs
Posted on :: Nov 3
Google announced a new feature last week that uses RSS and Atom feeds for the discovery of new webpages.
Using feeds for discovery allows Google to index new pages more quickly than traditional crawling methods. According to the announcement, Google may use “many potential sources to access updates from feeds including Reader, notifications services, or direct crawls of feeds.Keep Your Edge on Competitive PPC Keywords
Posted on :: Oct 9
Staying competitive for your most sought-after keywords requires diligence, persistence, and a strategic utilization of the tools and reports that are available to you as a pay-per-click (PPC) manager. Improve and preserve the performance of your highly-competitive keywords by following these strategic guidelines.
Why Your Website is Your Most Powerful Marketing Vehicle
Posted on :: Oct 2
Clearly defining in very simple terms, the importance of internet marketing and the how website design and search engine optimization (SEO) are two interrelated yet very specialized disciplines for not only getting you noticed but also getting you the business you're craving.
Your website is probably your most powerful marketing vehicleThese days, more than 65% of people begin their search for a a service, product or information on the internet. Not only should you be there, but you should look good in comparison to your competitors’ websites. Prospective clients can and will compare so make sure you do a little competitive intelligence as you work on your site.Video Optimization?
Posted on :: Sep 18
If you're creating videos, hosting them on your website, and aim to optimize those videos for competitive search engine placement you'll want to pay attention to this one.
Google has advised that to maximize the chances they find the right markup on your video pages, you should check to ensure it appears in the HTML without the execution of JavaScript or Flash.
Designing Websites for Mobile Phones
Posted on :: Sep 9
Mobile web design seems to be something that most developers are avoiding. I have worked on a couple mobile websites, during this process, I have made some discoveries which I thought I would detail to help out others who may be jumping into mobile web design in 2009.
Mobile Websites for the Real World
Posted on :: Sep 9
Mobile development is less about the device and more about you. Your desktop PC, while relatively compact, is not really mobile. Your laptop, while mobile relative to a desktop, retains the same basic physical requirements as a desktop: horizontal surface, room for keyboard and screen, the use of two hands, etc. Your mobile device, however, represents a singularity in the evolution of portable personal computing. You are no longer restricted to a limited set of movements and positions - not to mention the use of two hands - in order to interact with your device. In essence, the truly mobile device is an extension of you and not visa-versa.
What is the mobile web?
SEO URLS with CFScript
Posted on :: Sep 2
This is yet another way to take care of SEO URL rewritting, this one how is encompassed in CFSCRIPT.
It is better to be used with Application.cfc rather than Application.cfm, however I'll cover Application.cfm below.
This CFScript allows you to write urls like:
http://www.yourdomain.com/index.cfm/variable1/value1/variable2/value2
And you can do this seamlessly if you already have traditional links in place, it will not affect:
http://www.yourdomain.com/index.cfm?variable1=value1&variable2=value2
(they are interchangeable)Google's PageRank Explained
Posted on :: Aug 31
From here on in, we'll occasionally refer to PageRank as "PR".
How Google Sitelinks are Created and Managed...
Posted on :: Aug 31
Google shows sitelinks for results when we think they'll be useful to the user. If the structure of your site doesn't allow thier algorithms to find good sitelinks, or they don't think that the sitelinks for your site are relevant for the user's query, they won't show them.
At the moment, sitelinks are completely automated. They're working to improve thier sitelinks algorithms, and they may incorporate webmaster input in the future.When Competitors Cheat - How You Can Tell and What You Can Do About It
Posted on :: Aug 7
Not every company or website operates with a sense of integrity and ethics. When it comes to your competition, sometimes they take the easy way out and cheat when it comes to SEO tactics.
How Your Competition Cheats
Unfortunately, black hat SEO practices are out there. Black hat SEO uses spam techniques to increase PageRank (PR) quickly. It’s the equivalent to a “get-rich-quick” scheme. In the case of black hat SEO, it’s the “let’s get our site crawled and indexed FAST” scheme.
Your competition might be one of those unscrupulous companies who think black hat is the quickest and easiest way to bump their SERPs. It’s not a wise decision for your competition to take this risk, yet they still do it. If caught, they face permanent elimination from search engines.
Be on the look out for these unethical “spam” SEO practices:Streamline Your Affiliate Program Management
Posted on :: Jul 31
Creating Effective Press Releases for Power SEO
Posted on :: Jul 31
Press releases are an effective means to attract media attention, but it is also one of the most cost-effective munitions in the search engine optimization and marketing arsenal. With a solid grasp of the English language and some company and industry knowledge, the transition to being an effective SEO-PR master is easier than you might think.
The Many Benefits of an SEO-PR Strategy
If you’re not sending press releases through distribution services and directly to those you believe are the most influential in your industry, you should be.
Inexpensive: It’s costly to run display and search advertising campaigns and the amount of time it takes for traditional SEO can be immense. The expense of a press release, however, is limited to the time it takes to write it and then distribute it electronically. When the message is picked up by multiple outlets, the cost per impression simply cannot be beat.
Broader Reach (and Links): Perhaps the most noteworthy benefit in distributing press releases is that many Web publishers post them on their websites. In many cases, they do so verbatim from the original and, in some cases, include your original links. The result is that your message is seen by a broad group and influences search result rankings.
Expedited SEO: Nearly every search engine optimization agency I’ve come across in the past few months leverages press releases for their clients. Why? Fast indexing for one, but the ability to “control the content” means that you’ll be able to include the keyword rich content you want to rank for, ultimately influencing your site’s search ranking. Add a compelling title and your URL (with anchor text, of course) and you’ll see your release appear in the search engine results pages in short order and many times over – even for competitive terms.Now that you’re sold on the benefits of SEO-PR, how do you construct an effective press release? Let’s look at a few best practices that make press releases such a powerful SEO strategy.
Seven Steps to Local Search Success
Posted on :: Jul 31
As a small business in a lackluster economy, making the most of your marketing dollars is critical to your bottom line. Using a local search engine, you can target customers in a particular region while maximizing your marketing investment. Local search is more targeted and less expensive than other forms of online and offline advertising, which can translate into more leads and customers for less money. In addition to offering inexpensive, relevant advertising dynamics, local search also provides an audit trail to measure results, and other opportunities to increase revenue. As a result, it has enjoyed steady, annual growth and is proving to be a solid marketing tool for growing small businesses. Here’s what you’ll need to know to get started on the road to local search success.
Does social media really correlate with the bottom line?
Posted on :: Jul 22
While many claim that social netwroking, (or as the 'in-the-biz' people shall refer, social media) assists with an increase of Profits, SEO, Page ranks and the like, I am still somewhat skeptical...
A study has found that revenue, gross margins and profits correlate nicely with companies that are the most engaged with social media. Should you build a portfolio around these highly engaged social media friendly brands? Probably not.
Optimizing the On-Site Engagement Experience
Posted on :: Jul 20
Increasing site effectiveness and visitor satisfaction through on-site engagement optimization ultimately results in a higher conversion rate, which is why it is so important.
By not engaging in optimizing consumers’ e-commerce experiences, merchants ultimately risk generating fewer sales over time. That alone should be reason enough to consider routine testing of page elements — and combinations of them — to generate more revenue from each user session.
Many merchants are surprised at the number of users who abandon their shopping carts before they reach the checkout. While Web analytics tools can show us the specific percentage of shopping cart drop-off, they don’t show us the element that caused the drop-off.
Let’s look at a few best practices for optimizing the e-commerce landing page experience. While it’s important to seriously consider these tactics, it’s even more important to test them thoroughly before a full-scale roll out.SEO (or is it DEO?) for Microsoft Bing
Posted on :: Jul 20
While it remains to be seen if this latest search entry will wrestle any significant market share from Google, it’s a good idea to get familiar with Bing.com, from an SEO perspective.
Bing is branded as a “decision engine,” enabling users to make better choices by drilling deeper through search results filtering. The jury is still out on whether it produces what it’s advertising, but if Bing can provide a positive search experience, it might just eat away at Google’s search dominance. Even if its impact is far less groundbreaking, Bing will be a significant source of traffic, making it worthy of attention.Open PPC Policy, Affiliate Marketing and E-Commerce
Posted on :: Jun 19
A recent ABestWeb forum thread has truly shocked me. Shocked I tell you! And I've become nearly immune to most everything, hardly blinking an eye in the face of even the most innovative techniques, trends and technologies that come my way. So what is that shocked me so greatly?
The Pia Jewelry affiliate program has an open PPC policy! This means that affiliates are free to bid on all terms, including brand terms. Pia believes this policy enables its affiliate to "better promote Pia products and therefore boost earning potential." You might want to take a deep breath as I'm sure you are equally shocked.
You might remember that back in April Amazon notified affiliates they would no longer be paying referral fees to associates sending users to Amazon through paid search (keyword bidding) practices. Allowing affiliates to leverage pay-per-click search engines is nothing new, but the debate continues about whether to allow affiliates the right to bid on brand related terms (which are often trademarked). Is it good business or misinformed marketing? A control issue or a strategic decision?Five PPC Landing Page Design Trends
Posted on :: Jun 19
If you are paying for clicks, you must ensure that the landing page where consumers end up post-click can convert. Impressions count more than ever when it comes to PPC landing page design so let's review what sites are doing right (and wrong) and perhaps even find some inspiration for our own PPC campaigns and the landing page designs they feature.
When you want to analyze what works best in PPC landing page design, you want to start with the most competitive terms. We took a look at ten landing page designs (only nine are featured as one was was ultimately just a parked page) to determine similarities and differences that the design concepts have. You might end up applying some of the techniques on your own site, but before settling on one, remember that testing is the only sure fire way to ensure that the right elements are available to convert your specific audience of consumers into buyers.
The keyword in focus (and of course the landing pages that result) are under the keyword "ringtone". Clearly our choice of keyword will influence the type of landing page designs that resulted. Expect the sites that bid on those terms to focus on acquiring a younger, more socially-connected, technology savvy audience.
Heading Tags Explained
Posted on :: May 18
Heading tags are an integral part of SEO (search engine optimization).
The SEO Lifecycle
Posted on :: May 12
Analysis and optimization processes have to be formulated keeping your business in mind in order to create your web presence. Information on your market, competitors, customers that you need to attract, products and service that you would like to market using web provide a clear input to the designing process. It helps in fine-tuning your designs for the customers and the search engines.
Interactive web design and developement with search engine optimization assures you better page rankings and increase the number of visitors to the site. Realizing that Search Engine Optimization needs to be the objective of web development and implementation process, following are the key phases and process of an SEO life cycle.
Domain names as part of SEO?
Posted on :: May 11
Domain Name selection is one of important and critical phase for your business and brand yourself. It have importance in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) especially if you target for specific keyword. Google always give more importance to site which domain name have such words.
Is Content Optimization necessary?
Posted on :: May 11
If this question is asked to any online marketer or professional Webmaster, then their answers would be surely “yes”. Content optimization is one of the most important part of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. A content is the main base of a website. It determines the quality of the site, its relevancy, popularity, number of visitors and most important is its search engine ranking. To make it work, you need to provide really good quality and original content for website and optimize it very well.
Content optimization is a particular skill that needs to be carefully mastered before moving ahead with the process. Remember it that, it is the contents that will attract more number of visitors and increase the possibility of your potential customer. In this article I have mentioned some of the Do’s and Don’ts for optimizing contents.
Google Analytics and Adsense Get Married
Posted on :: May 1
Publishers using both Google Analytics and Google Adsense can now officially integrate their accounts.
Marrying the accounts takes just a few minutes. Publishers need to log into AdSense, select the "Integrate your Adsense account with Google Analytics" on the Reports > Overview tab and simply follow the on-screen instructions. Once complete, publishers will find an AdSense-specific meny under the "Content" section of Analytics containing reports on the top Adsense Content, top AdSense referrers and AdSense Trending. The last reports lets publishers analtize how a site generate revenue during different times of the day and different days of the week.
Why not tables? Is CSS really better?
Posted on :: Apr 30
A lengthy discussion on the ultimate value of pure CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) based layout over the use of tables has been taking place. Sometimes, living in the sheltered world of accessible and standards-based design, I can lose touch with the fact that many people out there simply don’t accept some of the same guidelines I work with every day?—?- and that this does not, in any way, mean that they haven’t given the subject a fair shot. Very good arguments have been made to defend each side.
On the whole, I think this discussion is an old, worn-out subject: those who won’t use tables generally don’t use them out of principle, and those who do use them out of pragmatism and a justified awareness that principles don’t build websites. I want to review the question once more, however, ignoring the entire question of principle.
Uncovering Site Problems for Landing Page Optimization
Posted on :: Apr 23
Landing page optimization and testing can often produce double-digit conversion rate improvements and transform the economics of an online buisness. However, to get the best results from our landing pages, we must know where to begin.
Often, I've been asked on both interviews and and from clients, "How do I get Ideas for what to improve or test?" I smile, and I Simply answer, "The answer lies in your own website, with the data you already have." I often get a "What are you tlaking about?" or a "Uh huh." stare from people.Easily Add Social Networking Links to Your Website
Posted on :: Apr 23
It's becoming more and more standard practice for websites to be linking content to Social netowroks to in crease traffic, and link building. Most Sites however require some form of a plug-in or add-ons module to thier content management system to achieve this.
A Six Step Linking Building Plan
Posted on :: Apr 15
Much has changed in the world of link building. It's entirely true. Older strategies such as buy text links, and press releases and directory submissions. I am entirely convinced of it, and having used methodolies shown herein, I htink you'll understand these claims I'm making. None of of the aforementioned systems are as effective as the once were.
Here's what hasn't really changed, now that I've got your attention. Building successful link-building campaigns, gives you a winning edge on search cengine optimization.
Flash SEO :: Flash Searchable
Posted on :: Apr 1
Flash and SEO (search engine optimization) solutions have lived poles apart for as long as either one of them was invented. Several web design and development houses have moved away from Flash/Flex implementations because of this constraint.
Writing SEO-Friendly Content
Posted on :: Apr 1
This tutorial for installing WAMP Server (Apache, PHP, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin)
was written for the students in the Web Page Design program at the Contra Costa
ROP. This tutorial will cover basic server installation for web development
testing purposes on your home computer. This tutorial will not cover all of the
necessary security settings used to create a public web server.IPhone Detection Scripts
Posted on :: Mar 31
With iPhones being all the rage these days, I am wondering if mobile versions of your pages might be useful. Viewing a site on an iPhone looks exactly as it does on your desktop. This is all well and good, but sometimes pages can be bloated with images, javascript libraries, and other markup that is not as important to your visitors. I am also a bit upset that the iPhone ignores the css media type of handheld. I wish there were an option to force Safari to render handheld styles as default, but I could not find any option for it. So I set out on a quest to find some alternatives for my iPhone experience.
URL Rewritting in PHP
Posted on :: Mar 15
In my endeavors to optimize the projects and sites I've worked on, I developed a simple snipplet of code that will easily adapt your long urls into an easier to remeber and easier to use method.
Let's take for example the url: http://yourdomain.com/index.cfm?view=blogid=4
Using the Code snipplet below we'll make that url look like this:
http://yourdomain.com/index.cfm/view/blog/blogid/4/URL Rewritting in Coldfusion
Posted on :: Mar 12
In my endeavors to optimize the projects and sites I've worked on, I developed a simple snipplet of code that will easily adapt your long urls into an easier to remeber and easier to use method.
Google Penalty Advice
Posted on :: Feb 11
In this article, we provide free SEO advice to assist in recovering from a Google penalty and explore the most common causes, providing a useful penalty checklist.
To check for Google penalties with any degree of certainty can be difficult. For example, if your website experiences a sudden reduction in ranking for its main keyword terms it can be caused solely by a Google algorithm change or search results (SERP) update.
With any algorithm change or Google SERP update, there are always winners and losers, and when a sudden drop in rankings is experienced Google penalties are often incorrectly blamed.
IE 8: Is your site compatible?
Posted on :: Jan 13
Internet Explorer 8's release to manufacturing in March looking like a distinct possibility, are Web site developers and owners really ready for Microsoft's next browser? Thousands of sites still aren't compatible with IE 8 -- including Microsoft.com.
SEO Fresh Perspectives: Brand, Content Optimization, Keyword Research, Site Structure, Links, Analytics
Posted on :: Jan 11
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an ongoing process of multiple steps which must be revisited often — a fact overlooked by many and where many fail. It is by reviewing these steps that we are able to gain familiarity with the challenges and opportunities presented in optimizing our Web presence for both short- and long-term gains. Only when we get our brands, our businesses and employees involved thoroughly in the process of optimization do these FRESH perspectives (and their importance to your enterprise) make themselves obvious. Whether you’re on the inside of your website’s SEO campaign, or on the outside looking for ways to contribute to the greater cause, FRESH perspectives will guide you toward the path to Web success.
Search engine friendly site
Posted on :: Jan 9
Imagine a site with lot of graphics and designs, and lot of attractive features in it. Your customer will naturally get attracted towards it. Now the question is how do your customer reach your site Ranking. Search engines should find your site search engine friendly and there by search friendly for your users. In order to rank the site well, we need to make the content, keyword specific, inclusive of all the necessary elements based on the theme of your site. An expert hand should work on it from the scratch, keeping note of all the minute details and make it search engine friendly.
Is SEM different from SEO?
Posted on :: Dec 31
I have found in my experiences that SEM is a major part of SEO. SEM is Search Engine Marketing, and it generally consists of the following (dependant upon your website ofcourse):
1. SEO
2. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Campaigns
3. PFI (Optional)
4. Link Building
5. Affiliate Search Engine Marketing
6. ROI and conversion tracking
7. Sponsored Search engine listing (available on some search engines).
8. Shopping feeds ( shopping search engines )Get more votes for your sites
Posted on :: Dec 18
In todays scenario, where SEO is on it’s peak, every webmaster is fighting to get top rankings in search engine result pages.
Now, webmasters have become more conscious for their sites functionalities from users’ point of view, site accessibility for search engines, online visibility, social networking & much more.Inbound link is one of the many important SEO factors. Relevant, high quality inbound links can affect your PageRank & may increase the chances of getting good position on search engines. Backlinks are considered as a votes in the favor of the website.
Today, we are listing some tried & tested techniques to create the backlinks.
Do more links mean higher search ratings?
Posted on :: Dec 18
Do more links to my website from other websites mean a higher standing when it comes to search engines?
It highly depends on how those links score in the Search Engines. Building Quality links over quantity is still the best practice.