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Online Marketing: Can You Achieve SEO with a WordPress Site?

2010-06-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Copyright (c) 2010 Paul Marshall

Experts in online marketing consulting emphasize a primary goal: getting your site indexed and ranked with the search engines.

Not long ago, they would have said a blog might help you do that. They likely wouldn't have recommended that a blog serve as your main site.

Thanks to advances in content management software, however, that's no longer the case. The line between conventional websites and blogs has all but disappeared.

"Blogging" programs have evolved into some of the most powerful and flexible content management systems available. One of the leading packages, WordPress, is completely free.

WordPress For Content Management

Sites built with WordPress can easily include static pages and sections. Technically, you will have a "blog," but it can be made to appear virtually indistinguishable from any other site on the Web.

For new website owners who want to manage their own sites without learning code, content management systems like WordPress are particularly attractive.

Rather than compromising on your available SEO options by running your site with blog software, you are actually gaining some unique and affordable SEO advantages and opportunities.

Effortless Structure

Content management systems allow material to be easily categorized. Search engines love structure. Categorization options will allow you to keep a more orderly site that will naturally perform better with the search engine spiders.

By establishing and sticking to categories, you can effectively group relevant material and keep up with keywords and anchor text you're optimizing. This includes:

- URLs with anchor text. Blog software makes it easier to create "crawlable" URLs that include your keyword phrases and anchor text.

- Relevant internal links. By grouping material in categories, you can make sure your internal links are relevant and doing the best job of dispersing PageRank across your site.

(All reliable online marketing consulting professionals stress the importance of relevant internal linking.)

Creating Fresh Content

Software like WordPress was specifically designed to handle the frequent creation of content. By regularly updating a portion of your site, either as a "news" section or as conventional blog commentary, you will:

- get crawled more often by the search engines,

- cultivate a regular readership to generate "word of mouth" traffic,

- more readily attract inbound links,

- and develop site "authority" faster.

The "blogosphere" is a social environment. Studies show that blogs trade links much more often than conventional websites.

By including a "blogroll" or list of links to relevant sites in your sidebar, you will find that other bloggers organically return the favor. Inbound links bring PageRank to your site and create a greater perception of site authority.

Traffic And Links Via Comments

Commenting plays a large role in link sharing on blog sites. Comments and trackback features further encourage interaction among sites and increase overall visibility.

Be warned, however, that for comments to best serve your site, you will need to engage you readers by answering their comments and by visiting their sites and leaving comments of your own.

(Note that comments can be turned on and off throughout your site with the WordPress system.)

Links In "Unconventional" Locations

Syndicating a site managed with blog software via RSS is a largely automatic process. By actively managing your RSS feed, however, you can include links and generate traffic that does not come directly from the search engines.

Further, your site will be eligible for inclusion in blog directories and will be crawled by blog-specific search engines where your competition may have no presence whatsoever.

Content management software like WordPress will:

- impose structure and order on your site,

- strengthen the use of anchor text in your urls,

- encourage the addition of fresh content,

- lead to organic links in the blogosphere,

- increase the frequency with which the search engines crawl your site,

- gain visibility for the site in areas your competition may ignore,

- and generate a greater sense of authority for you and your site.

So, how can using the software to manage your site be a bad idea in terms of SEO?

Wrapping It Up

Content management systems, when used with the basic principles stressed by online marketing consulting professionals, are simply another tool in an affordable SEO arsenal.

Such systems do not change the core purpose for establishing your site, they simply provide a different means of maintenance and improvement.

While you may spend money initially to have your site's WordPress installation customized, overall, you will save on dollars that would otherwise go to a webmaster. Over time, that money can be spent on other SEO strategies.

With the ability to more easily and quickly manage your own site, you are not at the mercy of another person's schedule. At the same time, the native controls built into the software will give you greater control over your efforts to gain search engine ranking.

That's a win / win in anyone's book.

About The Author:
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Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market on a realistic budget. He's an Online Marketing Consulting expert. He offers Online Marketing Consultant professional marketing services and Affordable SEO (and d-i-y Coaching). Get to know Paul, just visit Strategic Web Marketing.net today!

http://thephantomwriters.com/free_content/db/m/online-marketing-wordpress.shtml#get_code

What is a Dofollow Blog?

2010-02-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

By John T Pratt

If you're a blogger, you may have been on another blog and in the sidebar was a button that said "dofollow blog". Also, when you learn about building links for your site - most articles say to look for dofollow blogs as well. What does this mean?

Most modern blogs, whether free or self-hosted, are what we call "dofollow" by default. This means that the links have a special attribute called "nofollow", which inside the HTML of a link tag looks like this:
href="http://website.com" rel="nofollow"

Check the HTML source code of nearly any Blogger, WordPress, Joomla, or Mambo blog and nearly all the (outgoing) links will have this attribute tag. Nofollow was designed in 2005 to help curb spamming on blogs from comments and trackbacks. The nofollow attribute is an instruction tag to tell search engine crawlers not to follow or count that link. This way if spammers left comments on blogs they would essentially be rendered useless.

Many people believe that the commenting function on blogs is great for interactivity, and that maybe making outgoing (comment) links "nofollow" actually discourages people from leaving comments. The commenting feature on blogs generally allows you to leave your name, a URL, and a comment. Since the majority of popular blogging systems went "nofollow" in 2005, when you're trying to build links and authority for your web site seeking out a "dofollow" blog will get you the link juice you're looking for.

From the perspective of the blog owner, becoming a "dofollow blog" (by installing a plugin or module) is encouraging people to comment on your posts, and actually rewarding them with a clean link back to their web site or blog. This works well, and can get you listed on popular dofollow blog lists and web sites (just do a Google search).

On the other hand, the reverse effect are legions of linkbuilders clamoring to comment on your blog using automated tools to leave non-relevant comments for a good link. They want to leave long keyword laden phrases as names, and their generic comments clearly show that they didn't even take the time to read your post at all. This has caused many well meaning bloggers who turned dofollow, to switch back to nofollow.

Having a dofollow blog can be a good thing, but managing and approving all your comments manually might be the best idea. If you're commenting on blogs that are dofollow, taking the time to actually read the post and leaving a relevant comment is both respectful and a good way to network with other bloggers. People forget sometimes that blogs are actually meant to be online conversations and that by commenting you're not only connecting with the author, but also networking with future readers of that post. Dofollow blogs can be very useful is managed properly.

JTPratt is a working full time freelance WordPress Consultant, who gives away a wealth of free WordPress Help on his blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_T_Pratt

Does Google PageRank Count Anymore?

2010-01-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Titus Hoskins
Bizware Magic
http://www.bizwaremagic.com

Being a full-time SEM (Search Engine Marketer) I have been conditioned like Pavlov's dog (not a pretty picture) to jump every time Google twitches. Lately Google has been doing a lot of twitching.

Specifically, the rather startling news from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa that Google has ditched PageRank from Webmaster Tools.

"We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true," states Moskwa. "We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it." (Source: WebProNews)

Now, for SEO reasons or for ranking in Google's index, PageRank has long been eunuchified by Google. However, even missing a few dangling bits, history has shown us, eunuchs still wheel tremendous power. PageRank is no different.

Regardless of what Google wants to happen, PageRank is still extremely important to anyone marketing on the web, especially if you're selling SEO services or operating a web business. Try selling SEO services when that little green bar on your site is pointing to PR0 or worst yet, pointing to a solid gray bar.

Obtaining a high PR7 or PR8 simply means more business and revenues... regardless of how Google is or is not using PageRank. People know how to count and they learned long ago, a ten is a lot more than a big fat zero.

Placed against a PR1 site, a PR8 will win more respect in the eyes of potential clients and can produce enormous profits for the site owner and we won't even mention the still widely practiced habit of selling links, which Google is desperately trying to stop. Total and full elimination of PageRank would be an honest start but it will still be an uphill, if not an unwinnable battle, for Google to fully eliminate link selling.

Even with my modest sites, I have turned down a small fortune by not selling text links on any of my sites. When I had a PR6 site instead of a PR4 - those link requests were nearly doubled. So one can easily understand Google's position and the need to downplay PageRank, if they want to put even a small dent in all this link selling and buying, which is still running rampant on today's web.

PageRank is Google's creation, and unless they remove it fully from their system and the Google toolbar, then PageRank still Counts. Actually, in the whole scheme of marketing your website on the net, PageRank counts big time. And in more ways than one.

There are several reasons why you shouldn't count PageRank out.

For years Google has been downplaying the important of PageRank and states it's only one of about 200 ranking factors which determines how Google ranks its index for keywords. Obtaining top organic rankings for popular lucrative keywords in Google simply means money in the bank. Actually, even a movement of only one or two places on those first page SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) can make a major difference to any online marketer's bottom line.

Now while you can have a lower PR number and still rank above other higher PR pages for your chosen keywords, I have even had many times when my PR drops but my actual SERPs rankings in Google goes up, mainly due to building related relevant backlinks. So PageRank counts little towards your keyword rankings but it can't be totally dismissed.

Mainly because, even if PR is just one ranking factor, in close competitive keyword battles (I am presently fighting tooth and nail for some very choice keywords) just one ranking factor such as high PR can make the difference of whether or not you get to the top spot. Big dogs are still jumping and for those of us who know how to count, getting a number one spot in Google makes all the difference in the world.

Not only because Google controls roughly 80% of all search engine traffic, but more importantly Google has established unmatched credibility and brand recognition in the eyes of potential customers visiting your site. Web users trust Google. Web users look to Google for guidance and direction. Web users believe what Google is telling them. In the online world, rightly or wrongly, perception is everything.

As an online marketer, I am completely amazed each day at the marketing power Google now commands with web surfers and with the general population. Google is king of online search and no other search engine even comes close to Google.

PageRank is Google's ranking system, and in the eyes of those who notice these things, it still wheels tremendous influence and power. By default, PageRank is Google's opinion of your site, and web users can count (at least to 10) and if Google believes people are still not counting when it comes to PageRank, then they are fully mistaken.

----------------------------------------------------------
The author is a full-time professional online marketer who has numerous niche websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: http://www.marketingtoolguide.com/ or here: http://www.bizwaremagic.com/ Copyright 2009 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

How to Plan and Make a Website's Navigation Bar

2009-12-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Jason OConnor
Oak Web Works, LLC
http://www.oakwebworks.com/

The Web is interactive. As a visitor, you get to determine where you go and what you see. One of the most important features of every website is its navigation, and its navigation that gives the controls to the visitor.

The navigation bar is a grouping of the main sections of your site. It's important that every page has the same navigation bar. Don't make the user think by having to relearn the system when they get to a new page. Don't confuse the visitor. Consistency builds trust and facilitates finding what's desired.

The navigation bar should be the same on every page including the homepage. Since half your visitors will start on the homepage, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce your site's structure. The structure is represented in the navigation bar. Use a visual structural diagram to help you create the navigation bar. A visual structural diagram visually is simply something that represents the planned organization or architecture of your website.

The main sections which were mapped out in the visual structural diagram become your navigational sections.

There are numerous different types of navigation bars. They can be comprised of buttons, text links or JavaScripts. They can be horizontal under each page's main banner image. The can be vertical along the left or right hand sides. There can more than one. For instance, you could have one navigation bar that points to all the main sections of the site run vertical and along the left hand side, and also have a horizontal one that runs across the top and points to all the company-related pages.

How should you organize your navigation bar(s)? That depends. Ask yourself, what will make the visitors' lives the easiest, not make them think and help them best accomplish their goals? Also, make sure it's clean and easy to use. If a navigation bar is cluttered with 45 links all on top of each other with no breaks, you're making visitors work hard to find what they want.

Finally, stick to Web conventions. Don't reinvent the wheel here. You may have a designer who is dying to present your navigation bar in some weird but original way. Don't let her. You can't go wrong with a simple and small list of vertical links or buttons down the left hand side of each page. Since this is a standard, it's a sure bet. And the other good choice is a horizontal nav bar across the top of your site just under the header graphic.

Eye-tracking studies have been done to determine where people's eyes move when they land on a Web page. They generally go from the top left down to the middle of the page first. So be sure that your most important page elements, including your navigation, appear within this path. Now you know why so many websites place their logo in the top left.

Even more importantly, always group your navigation in items of six or less. So if you have eighteen buttons in your vertical navigation bar, split them up into three visually distinct groups of six. Eye-tracking studies have shown that this works best for Web page viewers as well.

You may have a lot of pages that you want represented in the main navigation bar. In this case, employ rollover menus. This is usually done with JavaScript or Flash.

It's important to keep in mind that your site's functionality should work across all popular platforms and browsers. This extends to navigation as well. So if you include rollover menus in your navigation, be sure the rollover functionality works for everyone, regardless of the platform or browser they're using. JavaScript is supported by all popular browsers, that why I suggest using it, but you still need to test it using various platforms and browsers to be sure your navigation works for everyone.

When deciding on your navigation bar structure, be sure to think in terms of how your visitors see and use the site. In other words, group similar sections together from the point of view of the user and what the user will want to do. Support sections should be grouped together and company sections should be in a separate grouping.

By following a few simple rules when creating a navigation bar you'll be sure you have the best-suited system on your site. First determine what the most important sections are going to be that require a link from every page. Then create a visual structural diagram to visually show your site's various sections. Think in terms of what you're visitors will want to accomplish and use Web conventions such as putting the navigation bar(s) vertically down the left or right hand columns and/or horizontally across the top. Group your sections in clusters of six. Be sure each button/link in your navigation bar is as descriptive as possible so that your visitors know what to expect if they click, and make the navigation the same on every page of your site to establish consistency.

Copyright 2009 Oak Web Works, LLC

----------------------------------------------------------
Jason OConnor is the head of Oak Web Works, LLC
(http://www.oakwebworks.com/ ), an Internet marketing
and Web design company in Massachusetts
(http://www.oakwebworks.com/design/index.htm ).
Jason is the author of "The Ultimate Guide to a
Successful Business Website" (http://bit.ly/6MPrey )
that teaches you how to hire a Web designer and
create a money-making website.

Countdown To Google Page One and Search Engine Optimization Company Nightmares

2009-12-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Trey Pennewell

In August, Google announced the upcoming roll out of the Google Caffeine infrastructure. Google was quick to point out that they would not launch the new infrastructure until after the Christmas holiday shopping season -- giving many online retail stores confidence for the upcoming Christmas shopping season.

In the August announcement, Google described Caffeine this way:

"For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google's web search. It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits "under the hood" of Google's search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences..."

After Thanksgiving, Google said that they had taken Caffeine out of its "sandbox" phase, and that it launched Caffeine on only one of its Data Centers. Search Engine Land was able to confirm that Google had launched Caffeine on the IP address 209.85.225.103, and it was running on this IP address for at least half of its searches. However, the full roll out of Caffeine continues to remain in holding pattern, until after the Christmas season.

Analyzing Google's Search Engine Result Pages...

Several online publishers and SEO companies jumped into testing the Google Caffeine search results in August, when the original announcement was made public.

The results of testing were somewhat mixed...

Everyone pretty much agreed that the Caffeine infrastructure was faster than the original Google infrastructure, except for results that included Advanced Search queries, such as when you are using subtraction signs, quotes in query, etc. Mashable suggested that Google Caffeine actually doubled the speed of a Google search.

Google Caffeine tends to show a larger data set for the number of search results for a particular search.

The weighting of Video and Universal Search is scaled back in Caffeine.

A slight value increase to exact match domain names.

Google seems to be putting a little bit more emphasis on the age of a website.

An increased weight for domain authority and tag pages on authority websites.

A substantial increase in weight for social media websites. Currently FriendFeed seems to carry more weight than Twitter or FaceBook.

Google Caffeine has shown a tendency to put more weight on keyword phrases or keyword strings, as opposed to singular keywords.

Another major change, which is a reflection of how Google deals with breaking news stories, is that Google is willing to show the title and a description of a page, before it even caches the page in its index.

An interesting change in the Google Search Engine Results that I noted while doing the research for this article is that about half-way down the page, Google has added a real-time element to news items...

What they have done is to load a self-updating Iframe to the search results that shows updated news items on a topic as they become available. The image results are located just under this real-time news block. You can see it now, by doing a quick Google search for Barack Obama.

Also of interest about this real-time news window is that it is actually capturing some of its results from Twitter and other social media websites.

What This Means To Webmasters and SEO Providers...

If you have been relying upon video to push you to the top of Google's search results, this is no longer a sure-fire method of achieving top search placement quickly.

If you thought that Twitter and other social media websites were worthless to you in Google, then you might start taking a second look.

If you are not getting listings or mentions on authority websites, then you may be missing out on some SEO opportunities.

If you have a keyword-heavy domain name, then your investment may start to help you more going forward.

If you have focused on single keywords and bypassed keyword strings for optimization, you may begin paying heavily for that decision going forward.

Domain age will become more important after Caffeine is fully rolled out, so it is in our best interests to seek links from older websites and to put more emphasis on older sites in our domain portfolios.

Old Google vs New Google Comparisons

Some SEO Providers have noted major changes between the two search engines, although in my own experience, the placement for my target keywords has not suffered, but I have not made major gains either.

In the Old Google, I could put a search result on page one of Google in as little as 15 minutes. I hope that remains unchanged moving forward into the future. Of course my stuff isn't news, so I will be holding my breath that I can put a web page on page one of Google in only a few minutes -- going forward.

The main difference we are going to see going forward is the emphasis on keyword strings as opposed to keywords in the new Google Caffeine roll-out.

If you have been targeting single keywords for your website or the website's of your clients, be prepared to scramble to overcome your losses in Google's search rankings... But if you have been targeting those long-tail keywords for any length of time, then you will probably be dancing on the ceiling once Google Caffeine is live across all of its data centers.

In Conclusion...

We have seen a lot of testimony that Google will not change its appearance that much after the Google Caffeine roll-out...

But we have seen enough testimony to expect that some people will be crying rivers of tears, while others will be dancing the jig, after the Google Caffeine launch...

The only thing we can know for sure at this point, is that we really won't know the impact of Caffeine until after the roll-out as 2010 gets underway.

About The Author:

Trey Pennewell is a writer who has written about SEO and online business for a number of years. He encourages you to learn about and purchase the new SEO ebook titled, "Karma SEO and the Great Search Engine Ranking Dance" at http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com/

Read more articles written by: Trey Pennewell

On Page Search Engine Optimization

2009-12-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

By Sharon Housley

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a fine science. Tweaking, changing, and measuring is all part of the ongoing optimization process. SEO truly is a process that requires constant monitoring and attention. In order for a website to perform well, its managers and webmasters must adapt their SEO techniques as the search engine algorithms change.

Use the following "on-page" optimization techniques to improve your website's search engine ranking...

1. Keywords In Domain Names

Include important keywords in webpage domain names and sub-domain names, which can improve the page ranking for those specific keywords or phrases.

2. Keywords In Meta Tags

Including keywords in the Title and Description Meta Tags for the webpage will also help search engine ranking for that specific keyword or phrase.

3. Keywords In Headers On Page

Including keywords in the H1 and H2 Header tags, and using "bold" to emphasize words deemed important, will also assist search optimization.

4. Quality Of Content

Generating quality content that uses keywords "naturally" in the text will help search engines contextualize your website.

5. Quantity Of Content

The content on a webpage must be a reasonable length. It is recommended that articles contain 400-600 words, and standard text on a webpage should contain a minimum of 250 words.

6. Page Displayed Using HTML

The webpage should use HTML to display the website's content. This will insure that the webpages are easily spidered by the search engines. Avoid using complex scripting or frames, as those features will inhibit the search engine spider's ability to follow links and will limit your SEO benefit.

7. Themed

The content of a website, and the pages within the website, should all be related.

8. No Broken Links

Broken links tell search engines that a website is not current or well-maintained, so be sure to keep your links up-to-date and valid. Remove any links that no longer function properly.

9. Outgoing Links To Good Neighborhoods

Be sure that any outgoing links to external sources are linking only to reputable websites.

10. Domain Extension

When registering a domain name, try to stick with the standard conventions. For example, .com, .edu, .org, and .net are the most desirable. If you are targeting a specific region, regional domains can also be helpful in local searches.

11. Age Of Domain

The domain age can influence its "trustworthiness", and older domains typically gain more favor with search engines.

12. Navigation

The website's navigation can also impact search ranking. Create sub-directories or folders that contain related groupings of pages. This is common with directory structures, and is an architecture that search engines are familiar with and tend to favor.

13. Image ALT Tags

Use keywords in the ALT tag attribute to describe the purpose of any image or graphic located on a webpage.

All "On-Page" optimization factors are under the control of the webmaster. "Off-Page" optimization, on the other hand, is not nearly as easy to control. Read "Optimizing Optimization, Part 2: Off-Page Optimization" for additional details regarding off-page SEO techniques.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Do You Really Want Your Site on Page One of Google?

2009-12-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Paul Marshall

Do you really want your website on page one of Google for your
chosen keyword phrase(s)? What do you want your online marketing
campaign to accomplish for you?

I asked a potential new SEO Coaching client that first question
last week. From my end of the phone call, it sounded as if he
almost fell out of his chair!

I followed up by asking him if he could ever think of ANY reason
for his website pages NOT to be found on page 1 in the Google
SERPs (search engine results pages).

How 'bout you? Can you think of any reasons you'd NOT want your
pages to be found for your targeted keyword phrases on page 1?

Keep in mind, I'm talking about your chosen keyword search
phrases.

I can think of at least 3 reasons. Maybe you can come up with
some of your own.

Is There Commercial Intent?

Let's say you have not just a page 1 Google result, but you're
actually the first result. Here is an important question for you
to ask yourself.

What is the commercial intent of this keyword phrase? Do the
words contained in the keyword phrase give any indication of
someone getting ready to spend money on a product or service like
you offer?

For instance, compare these keyword phrases: Keyword Research,
Keyword Research Specialist and Keyword Research Consultant. The
latter 2 phrases give an indication of someone who is getting
ready to spend money.

You can also Google the Microsoft Commercial Intent Tool and
consider its' results when evaluating your keyword search phrase
choices.

If you are targeting a keyword phrase that has questionable
commercial intention at best, is there any reason to really be
found on page 1? Wouldn't it be better to target more
appropriate phrases instead?

If there's no commercial intent, how does that help your online
marketing?

Can you see where I'm going?

How Much Traffic Really Matters

Now, I'm giving you a choice: you can have a first page result
(with commercial intent) and your position number is 4.

Your other choice is a different keyword search phrase with a
second page result, position number 12, also with commercial
intent.

So, the choice is obvious?

Well, I forgot to give you the rest of the details.

The first page choice has monthly search queries for its' phrase
of 3,240.

The second page result choice has monthly search queries for
its' phrase of 22,167.

Do you still believe that the best choice in this example is the
first page result?

According to numbers from Aaron Wall's site, approximately 6% of
search users will click on that number 4 result in Google.
That's 194 visitors in a month.

This is figuring average title and description tags of typical
online marketing ability to convert to a click. "Your mileage
may vary."

And for that second choice, the second page result? Over 1%
should click on the search result, but let's use just 1%.
That's 222 visitors per month.

Last time I checked, 222 is more than 194, so the second page
result trumps the first page result, because the second page
result has much more traffic than can convert to a transaction.

How Many Google AdWords Ads Show For Your Chosen Keyword?

If you don't see many AdWords ads, this should be a warning!

One of 2 problems exist (or both):

1. There isn't enough traffic for AdWords advertisers to target
the phrase.

2. There isn't commercial viability for the phrase.

Either way, is a first page result going to help you? Probably
not.

The Value Of A Committed Searcher

Want a recipe to waste your time (or your employees')?

Get a first page result in Google for your keyword search phrase
and place your toll-free phone number in big numbers on the top
right of each of your Web pages.

People clicking the first result in the SERPs are often less
serious than those who go through the first few results or who
continue searching onto the second page.

There may be something to be said for avoiding people who almost
randomly click the first result and who may have impulse control
"issues".

Now, if you have a large staff to answer your incoming phone
calls AND if your conversion rate from those calls is strong,
then the potential problem I described probably isn't a problem
for your business.

On the other hand, if you are a solo professional, this strategy
can be hazardous!

How are you going to perform your paid work when you get
"Internet lookiloos" asking you questions they could get
answered, if they would simply read a few words on your website?

Are these the best potential clients for your services or
products and the best use of your time?

A second page result could bring you more serious potential
customers, people who might be more likely to actually READ your
website content, understand your products or services better and
who might be more likely to convert to a transaction.

It's sure something to think about. :-)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against first page rankings for
your online marketing. I'm just for thinking a little further
down the road than JUST first page rankings.

============================================================
Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market
on a budget. You can learn about his affordable Internet
Marketing Consulting Services (and d-i-y Coaching) on his home
page: http://strategicwebmarketing.net/ You can learn more
about Paul on his LinkedIn profile page:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmarshallwebmarketing and at
Strategic Web Marketing.net. ============================================================

Read More Articles From Paul Marshall:
http://thephantomwriters.com/recent/author/paul-marshall.html

Don't Destroy Your Online Marketing Results with Bad Website Design

2009-11-29T07:57:00.001-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Paul Marshall

So, you've embarked on a search engine advertising program,
maybe even SEO. Whether you're doing this on your own or using
an online marketing consulting firm, there are key points to
become aware of.

If you miss these, you won't increase conversions.

What good is a Number 1 organic search engine ranking or AdWords
ad listing, if you don't have increased sales or if you don't
generate more sales leads?

Too often, we get all focused about the Internet marketing -- the
ads, the offer -- that we don't think the whole process through
step-by-step and consider the experience our website visitors
will be having.

If we did, we'd be thinking "big picture" and we would head
off some of these potential problems before they occur.

Overcoming Your Website Visitors Anxiety

When people come to our website it's natural for them to feel
anxiety. After all, look at all the cr*p on the Internet today,
all the too-good-to-be-true products and services.

But when you and I offer REAL products or services, we have to
overcome that concern, even if we're treating our site visitors
fairly and not making outrageous claims.

So, how can you overcome these anxieties?

1. Offer more than a 1-page website. Credible companies have
multi-page websites, including Privacy Policy, Terms of Use
Service and About Us pages.

They also have more than 1 page about their products or services.

I'm surprised by the number of 1-page websites I see from
companies using infomercials to advertise their products. Often,
they have the purchase form right on their home page, their only
page (and often their page isn't secured for credit card
ordering).

Websites that are only 1-page don't seem credible. And having
the purchase form right on the home page comes across as very
pushy!

Doesn't this type of site seem all about the company and NOT
about their customers? Why would we want to buy from that type of
company?

What kind of online marketing consulting firm did these companies
use...or did they use any??

2. Next to any sign up or contact form buttons clearly state that
you don't sell your customers' private information and link to
your Privacy Policy page.

3. Effectively communicate what your Value Proposition is, also
called your Unique Selling Proposition. If you don't know why
someone should buy your product or service versus your
competitors', now is the time to figure it out. (And by the way,
based on my experience, if you don't know this, you're not
alone, by any means.)

But our websites have to be about more than just us. They have to
be about our visitors. What's in it for THEM, to do business
with us? What unique voids in the marketplace can we fill?

As a Small Business Owner, Personally Relate to Your Site
Visitors and Communicate Directly with Them

People don't buy from websites, they buy from people! So, how
can you apply this to your own website?

1. For many small businesses and solo proprietorships, their
website text should speak to your visitors directly in first
person.

This should be written from the voice of the Owner or President.
They shouldn't use third person, institutional-sounding
language, getting rid of "we" and "our", using "I" instead,
speaking first person, in an actual conversation. Don't try to
sound like you're Microsoft!

And while your at it, be careful about overuse of words about
you...whether "I", or those words, "we", "our" or "us".

Check out the WeWe calculator (Google: wewe calculator). Make
sure to focus on customer-focused words and NOT on words about
you or your company.

2. Include your picture on your Web pages.

For a larger small business trying to make that personal
connection with their website visitors, try the idea used by the
nutritional supplement company Lumina. (Google: Lumina Health
Contact Us)

In this execution, notice how Lumina gets you to relate to their
customer service department. I still remember it was John I spoke
with and that's been over 1 year ago that I called them!

Again, people buy from other people, not from websites.

For us as small businesses, why should we sound large, pretending
to be something we aren't? And why should we run from our
advantage of being small: low overhead, friendly, personal
service and accountability, among other advantages.

Make Each Step in Your Marketing a Smooth Handoff from One Step
to Another

Whether you're using AdWords, SEO, or both, make sure your title
and description matches the experience your website visitor will
have when they come to your landing page.

Quite often when I'm Coaching my small business owner clients or
performing online marketing consulting, I find the wording for
their organic listing or AdWords ad says one thing and their
landing page says something that doesn't sound the same.

This causes confusion is the best case scenario. In the worst
case, it causes a lack of trust. Dangerous!

We should understand our products or services. And we know what
we want our visitors to do on our site.

Our potential customers may not understand either. We need to
think like them, when we explain what we have to offer them and
how to use our website to take advantage of what we have to
offer.

And when "shifting" from one page to another, we need to
hand-off from one page to another naturally and smoothly, like a
car with a smooth automatic transmission.

Don't advertise one offer in AdWords or organic search, only to
have your landing page sound like it was written for another
advertising offer. I see this problem a lot!

Often times, having an affordable online marketing consulting
firm reviewing what you're doing can offer easy, inexpensive
fixes that can yield big improvements in your search engine
advertising and SEO conversions.

Your Action Plan

Let's review what we've talked about.

First, overcome visitors anxieties by offering a multi-page
website which answers questions about your company and your
services or products, while inspiring confidence in your company.
Effectively communicate your Value Proposition.

Second, personally relate to your site visitors. Avoid using the
wrong words that may put off your site visitors. Use your picture
on your Web pages.

Third, hand-off from one page on your website and one step in
your selling process to another smoothly and naturally. We should
understand what we want our site visitors to do, but they won't
unless we make the process really clear.

Whether your using an online marketing consulting firm or doing
the work yourself, if you take these steps, your search engine
optimization advertising plan will convert at a MUCH higher
rate, when you take these steps.

============================================================
Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market
on a budget. You can learn about his affordable Internet
Marketing Coaching and Consulting Services on his home page:
http://strategicwebmarketing.net/ You can learn more
about Paul on his LinkedIn profile page:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmarshallwebmarketing and at
Strategic Web Marketing.net. ============================================================

Read More Articles From Paul Marshall:
http://thephantomwriters.com/recent/author/paul-marshall.html

Search Engine Optimization Myths

2009-11-05T02:46:00.000-08:00

By Sharon Housley

A "myth" is a traditional story, idea, or explanation which is widely accepted, but actually untrue or unproven. Misconceptions can also be described as modern-day myths. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the myths and misconceptions are abundant. We will try to dispel some of the more common Search Engine Optimization myths here...

Myth #1 - SEO Is A One-Time Deal
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that requires attention and effort over an extended period of time. To do it properly, it is an ongoing process, and definitely not a one-time action.

Myth #2 - Quantity Is More Important Than Quality
When it comes to backlinks, quantity is simply not as important as quality. Attracting a huge number of backlinks is simply not as important as obtaining relevant links from related and trusted sources.

Myth #3 - Meta Tags Are No Longer Relevant
While meta tags are not the be-all and end-all of search marketing, they still matter. Including a unique and keyword-rich title and description on each page of a website will help the site rank better in organic search results for those terms. Meta tags may not be as important as they once were, but they do still matter in the world of search optimization.

Myth #4 - PPC Will Help Search Ranking
There is no association between PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising campaigns and how well a website ranks in organic search results. There is simply no evidence to suggest that advertising via AdWords will help improve an organic search ranking.

Myth #5 - Submit Your Website Early And Often
Submitting your website to search engines is no longer a necessity. Search engines use spiders to follow links on a website.

Myth #6 - SEO Is A Scam
Search engine optimization, when done properly, is quite effective. In fact, a website may have a difficult time ranking well at all if it is not optimized adequately.

Myth #7 - SEO Is A Guarantee
As the old saying goes, the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. When properly implemented, SEO can very likely improve your organic search rankings. But be leery of any search marketing company that makes guarantees. There are simply too many factors and variables for SEO success to be guaranteed.

Myth #8 - Build It And They Will Come
Once upon a time, before the Internet became so cluttered, you could build something new and interesting and it would attract attention without any effort. But now, with the noise ratio so high on the Internet, you must work to draw attention to your innovation. Do not assume that people will find it simply because it is cool!

Myth #9 - NoFollow Links Are A Waste Of Time
Acquiring links that are tagged as "NoFollow" are not a waste of time. A mix of both DoFollow and NoFollow links looks far more natural to the search engine algorithms than a website that has all DoFollow or all NoFollow links. Additionally, some search marketing studies suggest that not all search engines pay attention to the NoFollow attribute, and they do in fact value a NoFollow link the same way that they would value a DoFollow link.

Myth #10 - Google Is The Only Search Engine
While it is true that Google is by far the largest search engine, a decent volume of web traffic can still be generated by achieving a high ranking in other search engines for competitive search terms.

Base your search optimization on facts, and not on myths or misconceptions! And always remember that nothing about SEO is ever an absolute.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

How Many Links Does It Take To Get To The Middle Of Google Page One?

2009-11-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Bill Platt

Everyday it seems, people are asking me the optimum numbers of inbound links they need to acquire for their website in order to rank well in Google.

My answer is going to seem a little flip, but it is the honest, best answer.

Answer: You need more inbound links - of equal or higher quality - than what your competitors have.

Albert Einstein argued that any mathematical formula that required pages of calculations did not contain within it "the mind of God".

So when Albert Einstein developed E=mc2, then Einstein had fulfilled the promise of a simple formula that could encompass the brilliance of God.

When people wonder as to how many inbound links they might need to acquire in order to rank in the Top 4 of Google's search results or even the Top 10 of Google's SERPs, they are generally hoping that someone will be able to give them a numeric answer, so that they know whether they can afford to undertake the process or not.

I understand the WHY of the question, but there is no canned answer that will work for everyone.

Remember, your competitor may be asking the same question and undertaking the same processes as you are, trying to accomplish the same goal.

No one can truly begin to understand the answer to this question, until one has take the time to do an Inbound Link Comparison Analysis of all of your competitors in the Top 10 spots of Google's SERPs.

You need to look at the Top 10 listings in Google for a particular keyword.

You need to do backlink checks for all ten URLs in Google's search listings, and you need to check those numbers across a variety of sources, including Google, Yahoo and any other tool you can find to do a check. (Google and Yahoo both tend to understate the actual link counts. While Yahoo will show you more than what Google does, they also show a number of "no consequence" links in their results.)

You need to look at the quality of a few of the pages that offer links to the URLs in the search results.

This is not an easy process to undertake. I have done it before, but the best you can hope for is a "snapshot" of what is out there, and therefore, what you need to accomplish.

Note: If Wikipedia turns up in your search query, few people with small budgets will ever be able to dislodge Wikipedia in the search results. What they make up for in a small number of inbound links, they more than make up for with links from dozens or hundreds of PR4, PR5 and PR6 pages. Wikipedia is the king of Internal Linking, and they use that to a great degree to rank extraordinarily high in Google's search listings.

Your analysis should seek to uncover how many links a page has to it.

As a general rule of thumb, Google will show you less than 1% of the existing number of links for a web page. Yahoo will sometimes show closer to 5% of the existing number of links for a web page, but they will not show you the highest quality of those links.

So, as you strive to gain a "snapshot" picture of the playing field, you want to take Google's Inbound Links number and multiply that by at least 100. Then you want to take Yahoo's Inbound Links number and multiply that by at least 20, then cut the number in half to acknowledge the number of worthless crap links they have in their database. Once you have achieved these two numbers, then I tend to call the truth "somewhere in the middle".

With your "somewhere in the middle" number in hand, then you need to look at the quality of links to a few of those search listings, to get an idea of whether those links exist on higher quality pages or simply junk pages.

If those links are on junk pages, then the goal could be achieved by just working the numbers. But if there are a lot of high PageRank pages in the mix, then whatever number is in your hand, should be multiplied, perhaps 100-fold, to overcome the quality of pages that link to your competitors.

If you get the idea that my simple formula leads to a complicated answer, then you are right.

All of the numbers that I have included in my sample formula are based on rough speculation, as the "snapshot" offers you your best hope of understanding the challenge in front of you.

While the number of inbound links may be relatively easy to determine, the link quality is a factor that is really hard to pin down.

If you determine that you only need 300 inbound links to rank with the big boys, you may be right.

Your 300 inbound links number should also be quantified against the number of links that Google will count worthy, so you may need 1200 links to get 300 links that Google will deem worthy. This calculation depends more on the "quality of your content", rather than the "quantity of your content".

When all is said and done and your 300 Google-worthy links have not yet put you on page one, then you know that the quality of the links pointing at your competitors is greater than the quality of the links pointing to you.

If you were hoping for an easy answer, I am sorry that I could not help you with that.

But with this explanation of the challenge, you may be better prepared to answer the big question, the question that is really on your mind:

=== Are my hopes of achieving good rankings in Google within my reach?

I tend to throw "worry" to the wind and just start working. I don't worry if I can afford to do it or not. I simply start doing, and I know that in one month, one year or five, I will have built enough value in my website that my competitors are going to be the ones who are trying to figure out if they can unseat me!

About The Author:

Bill Platt has provided SEO services since 2004. In 2009, he transformed his SEO service, into one that helps people defeat negative search results in Google. By improving the rank of positive website reviews in the search results, negative search listings begin to disappear from the public eye. If you would like to learn more about how Bill's Reputation Management SEO service can help your business, visit: http://911reputation.com/ Bill has also owned http://thePhantomWriters.com/ since 2001.

Read more articles written by: Bill Platt

Strengthen Your Advertising with SEO Copywriting

2009-10-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/

Advertising should be part of any growing business. Regardless of what your business does, customers have to know about your product or service in order for them to use it. As the Internet becomes a primary source for consumer knowledge and increasingly, purchasing, it's imperative that your company gets its message out through this medium. However, advertising on the Internet works differently than traditional advertising in that the customer must find the business instead of a business coming to the customer.

Copywriting is the creation of text used in advertising, regardless of medium. This covers every aspect of an advertisement: promotional flyers, jingles, slogans, billboards, and web pages. All of these strive to put your product or service in the best light possible and are aimed directly at the consumer; except for web pages. With web pages there is another audience your advertisement must also target: the search engine.

What's a Search Engine, and Why Isn't it Finding Me?

Think of a search engine as being a giant phone book: customers looking for a type of business will often look up that category and start by calling the first listing. Because phone books are indexed alphabetically, almost every category will have a business with a name beginning with "a," or even "aaa." Likewise, Internet users who aren't familiar with the category they're looking at will start with the first link they see when they search for something. However, dozens or even hundreds of factors determine the placement of these pages. This is where SEO comes in.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Like naming your business "AAA" for placement in a phone book, SEO techniques match web pages with the criteria that search engines use so that they are placed as high on a search as possible. Web pages are placed on search engines through the use of a web crawler. This is a program that systematically searches for new web pages and categorizes them. Because the Internet is so massive, these crawlers are designed to weed out useless pages and concentrate on unique ones that will be useful to people who are doing the search. Search engines use dozens of factors in their algorithms to find and place web pages. They are very secretive about the specific factors so that no one can cheat their system by writing a web page just so it will be placed on top. While the specifics are unknown, there are a few things all search engines use to categorize pages: the number of links to a page, its ranking on website traffic sites, and keywords in the page.

Use SEO and Play By the Rules

We all depend on getting accurate, useful results from search engines. Search engine companies actively modify their criteria to keep spam from showing up on their pages and to keep their users happy. Therefore the best way to use SEO to get people to your web page is by playing by the rules; pages that have useful information will stay on top of searches, while those that don't are quickly removed.

So What CAN I Do to Get My Business Noticed?

Many search engines sell ads, but any reliable service will not sell search placement, nor does advertising with them influence your place on their searches. There are three things you should be concerned with to ensure a good ranking:

1. Keyword indexing: HTML pages can use meta tags that tell search engines what topics a page covers. It is important to include as many words related to the subject of a web page in its meta tags. However, placing popular but unrelated words, such as a celebrity's name, or hiding keywords behind backgrounds or images on a page to generate search results will quickly get the page ignored.

2. Good linking: Links are very important to getting your page noticed, but only if they're from reliable sources and are written to emphasize keywords. Links from known link sellers will not improve your page rank, and will cause consumers to distrust your site. Linking within your site to appropriate pages and getting others in a related area to link to you will help your page ranking immensely.

3. Limited web crawling: This may seem counter-intuitive, but there are some pages that you may not want to show up on a search engine, like temporary pages or login screens. Most search engines consider internal search pages to be spam, and allowing them to be crawled will lower your search ranking. This can be prevented using the robots exclusion standard: a text file named "robots.txt" placed in the root directory of a domain will tell crawlers which parts of your web site to skip.

SEO is vital in copywriting for Internet-based advertisements. Properly implemented, it will help keep your page on the top of search lists. By creating good links, using accurate keywords, and limiting web crawling to useful pages, you can ensure customers can find you.

----------------------------------------------------------
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. Go to http://www.Brandsplat.com/ or visit our blog at: http://www.brandsplatblog.com/

How To Select A Search Engine Optimization Company

2009-10-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

by Nelson Tan

A search engine optimization company can be an invaluable asset in
your Internet Marketing campaign. They specialize in knowing how to
raise your search engine positions, monitoring those positions on
the regular basis, and adjusting their strategies to account for
undesirable results in any given month. Since this takes a lot of
time, effort, and specialized knowledge, it can be in your best
interest to go to an outside source rather than try to maintain
high search engine positions on your own.

However, like every business, there are good companies and there
are lemons. Knowing the right questions to ask and the criteria to
look for will help you in choosing an affordable, effective search
engine optimization company.

When looking at different companies, begin by considering the
approach they employ to raise your search engine positions. Steer
clear of companies that use cloaked, doorway, or bridge pages to
raise your positions. These techniques violate most search engine
policy, and in the worst case scenario, will only get your website
severely penalized, if not removed entirely from a search engine's
index.

A cloaked page is a page that is created which is invisible to the
regular visitor to your website. The cloaked page is coded to
detect a search engine spider and divert them to this special page,
which is set-up to artificially boost your search engine position.
Doorway or bridge pages utilize the same concept, but often reside
on an entirely different server. Google, one of the largest and
most important search engine on the Internet, will remove your
website from their index if they detect you have cloaked pages.
Never, never employ any company that uses this technique!

Another important element is to get a guarantee that the company
you hire will not work with your competitors while they are working
for you. Obviously, this would seriously compromise the
effectiveness of the search engine optimization campaign. Be aware
that some companies will use the success they achieve for your
website to sell their services to your competitors. So get your
guarantee in writing, and make sure it is legally binding.

Of course, one of the most important factors you want to check out
is the company's track record of results. However, don't take the
company's word for it. They will undoubtedly be slanting their
results in order to sell their services to you. To go beyond their
simple statement of success, ask them a few pertinent questions,
and verify their answers.

Ask them which engines they have achieved the best results on. The
ones that are important are the most popular engines, and these are
the ones you want to see good results on. Since the popularity of
search engines can change with the landscape of the overall
Internet, check out the Nielsen NetRatings page at Search Engine
Watch.

Next, find out what keywords and phrases they are claiming great
results with. It's easy to get high rankings with unpopular words.
For instance, the keyword "cat leashes" will get high popularity
ranking because no one else would think of using it. What you are
looking for is good results using popular keywords. Check out the
software Wordtracker, available at www.wordtracker.com. You can
order a free trial, or a subscription ranging from 1 day to 1 year.
This software rates the popularity of keywords and phrases based on
actual search engine use.

Next, look for good results over an entire site that the company
claims to have successfully worked for. You want to see a wide
range of positions over a number of different search engines using
different keywords or phrases for the entire site. Request a report
for any client the company claims to have done well for. This
report should show good positions on a number of the most popular
search engines for a variety of different, popular keywords and
phrases.

When you are checking out search engine optimization companies,
make sure they have actually done the work they are claiming to
have done. Some companies will use other company's results in order
to get you to sign on with them. If you are in doubt, call the
company they are showing you results for, and ask for the name of
their search engine optimization company.

It's important to keep in mind that a successful search engine
optimization campaign will result in maximum exposure across a wide
range of popular search engines using a variety of keywords and
phrases. This is the formula for a successful campaign, and you
should always keep at it in the forefront of your marketing
strategy.

Ask the search engine optimization company you are considering for
a report that shows you rankings across a number of popular search
engines for a period of at least six months. Remember: search
engine marketing is a process that is continual, and you need a
company that not only understands this, but keeps constant tabs on
your search engine positions. That company must also be able to
adjust its strategy in the event that search engine rankings drop.

Since search engine marketing is an ongoing process, your positions
must be constantly monitored. If you want your search engine
optimization company to do this for you, request a sample of a
monthly report. It is essential that this report should show
rankings for the most popular search engines. Don't be impressed by
a report that only shows great results for a limited number of
small search engines. These are fairly easy results to acquire.
Also confirm that the popular search engine results they are
showing you are indeed the popular search engines currently.

Be sure the sample report the company shows you is in a format that
you can easily understand. For example, it could be in the form of
a chart that covers a period of at least six months and presents
data such as the top 50 positions broken down on a monthly basis or
the top 5 pages each month. Then, ascertain that the company you
are considering actually monitors these positions or pages every
month, and that the sample report they show you includes findings
and recommendations for the specific site. This insures that the
company will actively monitor and make adjustments to their
strategy on a continual basis rather than simply gather statistics
on your positions. You need a company that is actively participant
in your search engine marketing campaign, not just an information
gatherer.

Obviously, your finances have to figure into your choice of
company, but bear in mind that a search engine optimization company
is crucial the success of your marketing campaign. It is not just a
casual accessory. If you cannot afford a company that will do a
thorough and reliable job for your website, you might consider
waiting until you do have the finances in place.

If you have to find a company and can't wait for your finances to
catch up, you may be able to find an affordable company that will
also be able to supply quality, reliable work, such as a fairly new
company. Just remember that there are risks involved with using a
company without a proven track record—and that risk is your money!
Don't take that leap unless the company can supply you with a least
a few references.

References are the most reliable indicator of a good company. Don't
use a company that won't show your references because of any
reason, confidentiality included. Remember—even doctors will
provide references! The firm you choose should provide you with a
minimum of two references, one that is from the past, and one that
is current.

When you contact these references, be prepared to ask precise,
specific questions so that neither of your time is wasted. Ask them
what their experience was like with the company, such as their
availability to answer questions and deal with problems and their
ability to meet deadlines. Ask the reference to rate the overall
performance of the company.

Find out if the company requested that the reference make
significant changes to their web pages that affected the visitors
coming to their site. You are looking for a search engine
optimization company that can balance the needs of both search
engines and site visitors without compromising either.

The most essential question to ask is whether the work of the
search engine optimization company resulted in higher profits for
the reference. Without profits, it doesn't matter whether your
positions are at the top of the list or not.

Nelson Tan is the webmaster behind Internet Mastery Center. Download $347 worth of FREE Internet Marketing gifts at http://www.internetmasterycenter.com

What Are Meta Tags and Why Do I Need Them?

2009-09-30T19:01:00.001-07:00

Copyright (c) 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/

There is no other way to put it; the World Wide Web is big
business. As an example, you only have to look at the phenomenal
success of the online bookstore, Amazon. In 2008, Amazon brought
in over nineteen billion dollars in income, yet only required an
operating budget of approximately eight hundred and fifty million
dollars. It really is no surprise to anyone then that more
businesses are investing in expanded web presence and capability.
Yet, not every organization has the same successes. Barnes and
Noble was selling books online before Amazon was even an idea,
and yet it isn't Barnes and Noble that people think of when
considering online bookstores, it's Amazon. The key? Amazon took
greater advantage of the opportunity to effectively market their
product.

Search Engines, Spiders and Websites, Oh My

The most important and often least understood tool for online
marketers is the search engine. The primary type of search engine
is the web crawler - these are largely automated programs that
crawl through available web pages, indexing data according to a
variety of parameters. In short, the crawler, or spider, examines
each page of a website. Once it has examined the page, it submits
it to an index. Then, when a person uses the search engine
software, the index provides links to these pages, ranked
according to relevance. It is worth mentioning two other points.
First, not all engines index the same way. Some use keyword
density; others focus on the content of the first paragraph.
Second, any changes to a webpage are likely to affect search
rankings, so webmasters must carefully consider each change and
its possible effects.

I Never Meta Tag I Didn't Like

One important part of preparing a page for good search engine
rankings is effective use of HTML meta-tags. These tags do not
directly relate to the position a site will have in a search
result, but they do offer webmasters some control over the way
their sites are presented when they come up in a search. In
brief, meta-tags are additional bits of code added to the head of
your HTML document, right after "TITLE." Because of the
tendency for unscrupulous coders to find and abuse loopholes in
search technologies, search engines do not rely heavily on these
tags for rankings. Their benefits to web users are important,
however.

First, there is the Meta Description tag. This is a brief report
about the content of the webpage in question. When a search
engine presents users with a hyperlink, there is frequently a
small description accompanying that result. In many cases, that
is the Meta Description tag the Webmaster put in the HTML
document so that when a spider visits the site, it indexes this
information. This is not always the case, however; Google in
particular will generate its own description for a site.

The Meta Description is often the first piece of information
someone using a search engine will see. The URL may not mean
anything to them, but this description will. If it is poorly
written, the user will likely skim right past the site for one
that presents itself more effectively. Thus, the key is
effective, concise writing that conveys exactly what the site is
about.

The second tag is the Meta Keywords tag. This tag is a list of
keywords the Webmaster considers most pertinent to each page.
Proper use of the keywords tag is also vital. While search
engines use a variety of keyword systems, and have in recent
years de-emphasized the Meta Keywords tag, it still contributes
to website rankings and should not be neglected. The best method
is to examine each page carefully, and pick approximately ten
keywords that best represent the data therein. Too many
nonspecific keywords will lead to inconsistent search results,
and too few means missing an opportunity to get a message in
front of users. In addition, many sites are actively on the
lookout for keyword abuse. Google in particular is known to ban
certain pages from its index entirely if they consider the
article to be an abusive, loophole-seeking piece.

There are other, less relevant tags that can provide some
benefits, though they aren't as important as the previous two.
An example is the Robots tag, which is only useful in making sure
certain sites do not index a particular page. This can help a
Webmaster keep their content from being associated with
undesirable elements, but it does not contribute directly to
higher search placement.

No Meta Tag is an Island

Once again, it must be stressed that meta-tags are not a magical
solution to the very complex problem of online marketing. They
must be regarded as one tool in an inventory of other tools, and
should be used responsibly. Properly implemented, they will help
complete an effective marketing strategy.

----------------------------------------------------------
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat.
Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art
internet distribution and optimization to build links and
drive the right kind of traffic to your website. Go to
http://www.Brandsplat.com/ or visit our blog at:
http://www.brandsplatblog.com/

A Comparison of Paid Search Advertising Models

2009-09-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Copyright (c) 2006-2009 Bill Platt
The Phantom Writers
http://thephantomwriters.com

As webmasters, we are all chasing customers. We are looking for
human visitors to come to our websites and to buy what we are
selling.

To serve our needs for targeted traffic --- potential customers
--- the search companies have begun to offer us a share of their
significant traffic through many paid advertising methods.

The most common advertising offer at the search engines is the
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising model. There are also other
search advertising models such as CPM (Cost Per Thousand
Impressions) and Featured Listings.

In this article, we will look at the advantages and disadvantages
of each advertising method.

PPC (PAY-PER-CLICK) ADVERTISING MODEL

By far, PPC is currently the most popular advertising model. From
the buyer's perspective, it is usually the most expensive type of
advertising and the one that generates the most fear of fraud. In
fact, many experts suggest that click-fraud might be as high as
20 to 25% of all click-traffic.

Pay-Per-Click is exactly what it sounds like. The advertiser bids
on keywords and tells the advertising company that they will pay
X number of cents or dollars for every click that they receive to
their website through the PPC-provider's website.

Advertisers compete for position within the search results with
the highest bidder getting the best advertising spot at the top
of the results. The second highest bidder gets the #2 spot, etc.

Generally, Pay-Per-Click providers serve three listings on
the first page of search results. Only when there is strong
competition for a particular keyword term and a number of
advertisers vying for placement, will the PPC-provider show
results with more than three advertisers.

If you bid the minimum five cents per click (the standard for
most PPC systems), then it is possible that you might not see
your listing on page one or page two of the search results.
Let's face it; PPC providers are interested in making the most
money they can from the traffic they send to people. So, if one
advertiser is paying a dollar per click and you are only bidding
five cents a click, who do you think will receive the best
placement? Yep, the one-dollar per click advertiser will get
the most attention and the best placement, even if it requires
pushing your placement back to page three of the search results.

The top two PPC-providers are:

http://adwords.google.com/
http://www.content.overture.com/d/ - Now owned by Yahoo!

Other not-so-well-known providers of PPC traffic, in
alphabetical order, include:

http://www.411web.com/
http://www.7search.com/
http://www.abcsearch.com/
http://www.adbrite.com/
http://www.ask.com/
http://www.brainfox.com/
http://www.enhance.com/
http://www.kanoodle.com/
http://search.looksmart.com/
http://www.lycos.com/
http://www.miva.com/ - Formerly FindWhat.com
http://www.search123.com/
http://www.searchfeed.com/
http://turbo10.com/

The biggest advantage to these systems is that they serve large
pools of consumers online, and they let you target specific
search keywords.

The disadvantages are numerous. Those most often cited include:
the high cost of bids for certain keywords, poor conversion
rates on purchased clicks, and click fraud (generally regarded
as people clicking your link just so they can get paid for it).

Personally, I have paid as high as a dollar per-click for a
service that sells for $35, and $20 in volume. I have spoken to
others who operate for-profit websites and have paid as much as
$2.50 per click on an average keyword. In some really competitive
markets, people pay as much as $30 per click.

If you use the Web-Professor bid tool to check keywords at
Overture ( http://web-professor.net/tools/bidstats/ ) and you
type in the keyword "mesothelioma", you'll find 30 bidders
vying for that term and a maximum bid of $29.88 per click! If
the maximum bidder converts traffic to sales at the national
average of 3%, then he or she is paying an average of $900 to
get one client! Insane, but true.

CPM (COST PER THOUSAND IMPRESSIONS) ADVERTISING MODEL

CPM advertising is most often associated with banner advertising,
but can now be purchased for text ads as well. This type of
advertising is available from many sources, including:

http://adwords.google.com/
http://www.realtechnetwork.com/
http://www.joetec.net/

CPM advertising can be cheaper than PPC, but it fails to address
the effectiveness of your advertising copy. Before undertaking
a large CPM campaign, you need to be confident your advertising
copy will deliver results.

As with any other type of advertising, you need to track click-
through and conversion rates to determine the advertising copy
that is most effective for your business.

You also need to have a solid understanding of how many
impressions it will take to generate a visitor, and how many
visitors you will need to generate one sale. And, on the
backside, you will need to know what the average earnings from
your sales will be. With these stats in hand, you'll know how
much you can afford to pay for CPM advertising or any other type
of advertising.

Using Google Adwords, you can buy CPM advertising for as little
as $2 per thousand impressions. The one time I went that route,
thinking my advertising might be cheaper, I ended up dropping
$180 in three days with only one sale to show for my investment
-- utilizing the exact same ad that generated a 4% click-through
rate (CTR) in Google's PPC advertising system.

The major appeal of CPM advertising is its perceived low-cost,
with rates ranging between $2 - $3 per thousand impressions.

The major disadvantage to this type of advertising is that you
need a good handle on how well your advertising is performing.
Your advertising copy can make or break you. Additionally, you
need to keep an eye on your advertising budget. From first hand
experience, I can tell you that although CPM advertising can
appear inexpensive, it can in short order surpass the costs of
PPC advertising.

FEATURED LISTING ADVERTISING MODEL

Featured listings differ from the other two advertising models
in that you do not pay for "ad clicks" or "ad impressions".
With featured listings, your advertisement appears in the
purchased location for 30 days, 90 days, or one year.

Featured listings can be bought on individual websites and even
on networks of websites. Below are a few examples of advertising
networks that offer featured listings:

* Geek Files ( http://www.geekfiles.com/advertising/ )

Geek Files offers various Featured Listing placement options with
ad rates ranging from $19 to $179 per month. You get two months
free if you buy advertising for a full year.

* Aardvark Travel ( http://www.aardvarktravel.net/featured/ )

Aardvark Travel is a travel search engine. Featured listings
appear in a colored box between the top five listings and the
bottom five listings in the travel-related search results. There
is a $50 setup fee for each Featured Listing and a $10 per month
recurring charge for as long as you keep your listing active.
Aardvark claims featured listings generate 40 times more clicks
than any other listings on their pages.

* The Independent Search Engine and Directory Network
( http://www.isedn.org/ )

The ISEDN offers a program that allows you to purchase Top Ten
exposure for your website(s) across their network of 200 plus
member websites.

The network is comprised of specialized search engines, search
directories, and article directories. Featured Listing placements
for specific keywords are displayed across the entire ISEDN
system.

The cost of a keyword term (the word or phrase associated with
the listing) is $12 for three months or $36 for 12 months. The
price drops for each additional 5 listings you purchase. If you
are buying in volume, discounts can be significant. For example,
the cost for 16 to 100 listings is $6 per listing for 3 months
and $18 per listing for 12 months.

The main drawback to the ISEDN program is that the network,
although large, does not yet have the traffic volume of the major
engines.

The major benefit, of course, is that you can buy a lot more bang
for your advertising dollars. Additionally, you can see your ads
appearing on pages in a position that will attract more attention
and click-through traffic to your website.

WHICH ADVERTISING MODEL IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

It really depends on your business model. More so, it depends on
your absolute click-through averages and your website conversion
rates.

Your advertising needs to cost you no more than what it earns for
you. Ideally, your advertising will cost less than it earns for
you.

Some businesses trade on the lifetime value of customers and are
willing to pay more to get customers than what they earn on their
first sale, but not all of us can afford to build a customer base
in the same way that Amazon built theirs.

If your advertising budget is small, your goal should be to make
every advertising dollar count. Grow your business to the point
where you might be able to afford some of the more expensive
advertising solutions. But then, if the lower-cost solutions
generate sales for you, why would you want to pay more?

----------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt has owned and operated http://thePhantomWriters.com/
since 2001. If you would like to learn more about his article
distribution service, visit his website. To read 100's of Bill's
Tweet-sized tips for article marketing, SEO, and more, visit:
http://thephantomwriters.com/tips/index.php
Bill is also active on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/contentmanager

Search Engine Strategies - How To Play The Game Of Paid URL Inclusion

2009-09-03T01:38:00.000-07:00

Category: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Strategies
Word Count: 1207
Author: Nelson Tan
Email: tankiatwee@yahoo.com.sg
Keywords: URL inclusion, search engines, spider

Description: Understanding how the industry of paid link submission works can help you manage your investment while accumulating quality backlinks.

---

How To Play The Game Of Paid URL Inclusion

by Nelson Tan

There are many ways to promote your website and one of the most efficient ways is to use search engines. Search engines are the first stop for most people trying to find information, services, and products online. Because of this, it is essential that your website appears quickly in search results.

The Internet contains numerous search engines, some of which offer what is known as "paid inclusion". This means that you pay the specific search engine an annual fee for your web page to be included in their index.

Of course, every search engine already has an automated program commonly called a "spider" that indexes all the web pages it locates online, and it does this for free. So whether you pay or not, your web page will eventually be indexed by all Internet search engines, as long as the spider can follow a link to your page. The major issue is, then, how quickly your page is indexed.

A search engine that offers a paid URL inclusion uses an extra spider that is programmed to index the particular pages that have been paid for. The difference between the spider that indexes pages for free and the spider that indexes only pages for a fee is speed. If you have paid for inclusion, the additional search engine spider will index your page immediately.

The debate over paid URL inclusion centers around the annual fee. Since the regular spider of these search engines would eventually get around to indexing your web page anyway, why is a renewal fee necessary? The fee is necessary to keep your pages in the search engine's index. If you go the route of paid inclusion, you should be aware that at the end of the pay period, on some search engines, your page will be removed from their index for a certain amount of time.

It's easy to get confused about whether you would benefit from paid inclusion since the spider of any search engine will eventually index your page without the additional cost. There are both advantages and disadvantages to paid URL inclusion, and it is only by weighing your pros and cons that you will be able to decide whether to spring for the extra cash or not.

The advantages are obvious: rapid inclusion and rapid re-indexing. Paid inclusion means that your pages will be indexed quickly and added to search results in a very short time after you have paid the fee. The time difference between when the regular spider will index your pages and when the paid spider will is a matter of months. The spider for paid inclusion usually indexes your pages in a day or two. Be aware that if you have no incoming links to your pages, the regular spider will never locate them at all.

Additionally, paid inclusion spiders will go back to your pages often, sometimes even daily. The advantage of this is that you can update your pages constantly to improve the ranking in which they appear in search engines, and the paid URL inclusion spider will show that result in a matter of days.

First and foremost, the disadvantage is the cost. For a ten-page website, the costs of paid URL inclusion range from $170 for Fast/Lycos to $600 for AltaVista, and you have to pay each engine their annual fee. How relevant the cost factor is will depend on your company.

Another, and perhaps more important, disadvantage is the limited reach of paid URL inclusions. The largest search engines, Google, Yahoo, and AOL, do not offer paid URL inclusion. That means that the search engines you choose to pay an inclusion fee will amount to a small fraction of the traffic to your site on a daily basis.

Google usually updates its index every month, and there is no way you can speed up this process. You will have to wait for the Google spider to index your new pages no matter how many other search engines you have paid to update their index daily. Be aware that it is only after Google updates their index that your pages will show up in Google, Yahoo, or AOL results.

One way to figure out whether paid URL inclusion is a good deal for your company is to consider some common factors. First, find out if search engines have already indexed your pages. To do this, you may have to enter a number of different keywords, but the quickest way to find out is to enter your URL address in quotes. If your pages appear when you enter the URL address but do not appear when you enter keywords, using paid inclusion will not be beneficial. This is because your pages have already been indexed and ranked by the regular spider. If this is the case, your money would be better spent by updating your pages to improve your ranking in search results. Once you accomplish this, you can then consider using paid inclusion if you want to speed up the time it will take for the regular spider to revisit your pages.

The most important factor in deciding whether to use paid URL inclusion is to decide if it's a good investment. To figure this out, you have to look at the overall picture: what kind of product or service are you selling and how much traffic are you dependent on to see a profit?

If your company sells an inexpensive product that requires a large volume of traffic to your site, paid inclusion may not be the best investment for you; the biggest search engines do not offer it, and they are the engines that will bring you the majority of hits. On the other hand, if you have a business that offers an expensive service or product and requires a certain quality of traffic to your site, a paid URL inclusion is most likely an excellent investment.

Another factor is whether or not your pages are updated frequently. If the content changes on a daily or weekly basis, paid inclusion will insure that your new pages are indexed often and quickly. The new content is indexed by the paid spider and then appears when new relevant keywords are entered in the search engines. Using paid inclusion in this case will guarantee that your pages are being indexed in a timely manner.

You should also base your decision on whether or not your pages are dynamically generated. These types of pages are often difficult for regular spiders to locate and index. Paying to include the most important pages of a dynamically generated website will insure that the paid spider will index them.

Sometimes a regular spider will drop pages from its search engine, although these pages usually reappear in a few months. There are a number of reasons why this can happen, but by using paid URL inclusion, you will avoid the possibility. Paid URL inclusion guarantees that your pages are indexed, and if they are inadvertently dropped, the search engine will be on the lookout to locate them immediately.

As you can see, there are numerous factors to consider when it comes to paid URL inclusion. It can be a valuable investment depending on your situation. Evaluate your business needs and your website to determine if paid URL inclusion is a wise investment for your business goals.

Nelson Tan is the webmaster behind Internet Mastery Center. Download $347 worth of FREE Internet Marketing gifts at http://www.internetmasterycenter.com

SEO Software Tool

2009-08-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

I'm always on the lookout of new things that will help improve site ranking or popularity. Recently, I checked Trendmx.com, which provides web site optimization and web promotion software. It has what it calls SEO Studio, which can help you target the right keywords, help you analyze why competitors are doing well and will help you submit your site to the right places. Looks promising.

Personal Blog

2008-12-30T00:51:00.000-08:00

Personal Blog

Weather

2008-12-30T00:49:00.002-08:00

Weather

Travel and Tourism

2008-12-30T00:49:00.001-08:00

Aklan, Batangas, Bohol,0 Bulacan, Cebu, Events, Ilocos Norte, La Union,0 Lodging,0 Marinduque, Masbate, Metro Manila, Misamis Oriental, Mountain Province, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Organizations, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Parks, Photos, Quezon Province, Restaurants and Bars, Southern Leyte, Tarlac, Transportation, Travel Guides, Travel Services, Travelogues

Transportation

2008-12-30T00:49:00.000-08:00

Airlines, Autos, Car Rentals, Cebu, Shipping, Storage, and Logistics

Society and Culture

2008-12-30T00:48:00.000-08:00

Activism, Aklan, Animal Welfare, Bohol, Cebu, Chats and Forums, Expatriate Life, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual, Genealogy, History, Issues, La Union, Labor, Laguna, Languages, Leyte, Marinduque, Mountain Province, Museums, National Capital Region, Organizations, Pampanga, Paranormal, Personal Pages, Politics, Religion, Women,

Shopping

2008-12-30T00:47:00.002-08:00

Beauty Products, Books, Consumer Electronics, Crafts, Flowers and Gifts, General Merchandise, Home and Garden

Science and Environment

2008-12-30T00:47:00.001-08:00

Agriculture, Animal Life, Astronomy, Geology, Organizations, Parks, Weather

Regions

2008-12-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Caraga, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Cordillera Administrative Region, Davao, Eastern Visayas, Ilocos Region, Metro Manila, Mimaropa, National Capital Region, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula

Recreation and Sports

2008-12-30T00:46:00.000-08:00

Airsoft, Badminton, Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, Cebu, Cooking, Darts Organizations, Fencing, Fitness, Football - AFC, Gambling, Golf, Guns, Hashing, Humor, La Union, Martial Arts, Motorsports, Outdoor Organizations, Outdoors, Pets, Scouting, Scuba Diving, Tennis, Water Sports

Real Estate

2008-12-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

Real Estate

Provinces

2008-12-30T00:41:00.001-08:00

Abra, Agusan del Norte, Aklan, Albay, Antique, Apayao, Aurora, Bataan, Batanes, Batangas, Benguet, Biliran, Bohol, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Camiguin, Capiz, Cavite, Cebu, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Eastern Samar, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Kalinga, La Union, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Leyte, Maguindanao, Marinduque, Masbate, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Mountain Province, National Capital Region, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Rizal, Romblon, Samar, Sarangani, Siquijor, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Sulu, Surigao del Norte, Tarlac, Zambales, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur

News and Media

2008-12-30T00:41:00.000-08:00

Advertising, Classifieds, Magazines, Newspapers, Organizations, Radio, Television, Weather

Maps and Views

2008-12-30T00:40:00.001-08:00

Maps and Views

Localities

2008-12-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

Bacolod City, Baguio City, Batangas City, Besao, Boljoon, Cagayan de Oro City, Caloocan City, Candon City, Cebu City, Cotabato City, Davao City, Digos, Dipolog, Dumaguete City, Dumangas, General Santos City, Gerona, Glan, Igbaras, Iloilo City, Iriga City, Island Garden City of Samal, Koronadal City, Laoag City, Las Piñas City, Legazpi City, Lucena City, Maasin City, Makati City, Malabon City, Malaybalay City, Malolos City, Mandaluyong City, Manila City, Marikina City, Milaor, Muntinlupa City, Navotas, Olongapo City, Ozamiz City, Paete, Pagadian City, Palayan City, Parañaque City, Pasay City, Pasig City, Pateros, Puerto Galera, Puerto Princesa City, Quezon City, Roxas City, Sagada, Saint Bernard, San Carlos City, San Fernando City, San Juan, San Vicente, Camarines Norte, Sangley Point, Santa Cruz, Marinduque, Sorsogon City, Surigao City, Tacloban City, Tagbilaran City, Taguig City, Tagum, Tiaong, Tuguegarao City, Valenzuela City, Vigan, Zamboanga City

Health

2008-12-30T00:39:00.000-08:00

Clinics and Hospitals, Conditions and Diseases, Dentistry, Directories, Healthcare Industry, Insurance, Organizations, Professions, Resources

Guides and Directories

2008-12-30T00:24:00.000-08:00

Guides and Directories

Government

2008-12-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

Agencies, Bureaus, and Departments, Embassies and Consulates, Executive, Flags, Judiciary, Legislative, Local Government, Military, Organizations, Politics

Employment

2008-12-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

Employment

Education

2008-12-29T23:23:00.000-08:00

Cebu, Colleges and Universities, International Schools, Language Schools, Organizations, Pampanga, Preschools, Primary Schools, Reunions and Alumni, Secondary Schools, Southern Leyte, Specialized Instruction, Training

Cities

2008-12-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

Antipolo City Bacolod City Baguio City Batangas City Butuan City Cagayan de Oro City Caloocan City Candon City Cebu City Cotabato City Davao City Digos Dipolog Dumaguete City General Santos City Iloilo City Iriga City Koronadal City Laoag City Las Piñas City Legazpi City Lucena City Maasin City Makati City Malabon City Malaybalay City Malolos City Mandaluyong City Manila City Marikina City Muntinlupa City Naga City Olongapo City Ozamiz City Pagadian City Palayan City Parañaque City Pasay City Pasig City Puerto Princesa City Quezon City Roxas City San Carlos City San Fernando City San Fernando City - Pampanga Sorsogon City Surigao City Tacloban City Tagbilaran City Taguig City Tagum Trece Martires City Tuguegarao City Valenzuela City Vigan Zamboanga City

Business and Economy

2008-12-29T23:18:00.000-08:00

Advertising and Marketing, Agriculture, Automotive, Classifieds, Computers and Internet, Construction and Maintenance, Directories, Economic Development, Employment, Event Planning, Events, Financial Services, Hospitality, Immigration, Industrial, Legal Services, Opportunities, Organizations, Publishing, Real Estate, Restaurants and Bars, Shipping, Storage, and Logistics, Shopping, Telecommunications, Travel Services

Arts and Entertainment

2008-12-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Beauty Pageants, Celebrities, Crafts, Dance, Events, Fashion, Festivals, Galleries, Libraries, Literature, Metro Manila, Movies, Museums, Music, Organizations, Pampanga, Photography, Restaurants and Bars, Theatre

Why add your site to Philippine Sites? What's in it for you?

2008-10-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ultimately every website owner wants more traffic. The more back links (sites linking to yours) you have, the more "credible" it seems in the eyes of search engines. Google will more likely assign your site a higher PR ranking. Naturally, the better your position in search engines, the more traffic you will get.

And quite naturally, it will also be in Philippine Sites' interest for your site's PR ranking to improve and for your traffic to intensify. Win-win isn't it?

Submit Your Site

2008-09-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

1. To submit your site, plug this code into your home page.

<a href="http://philippinesites.blogspot.com/"> Philippine Sites - The Filipino Blog Directory </a>

Alternatively, you may link back using this image. Just make it point to the home page.

2. Go to the appropriate category (for example: Arts and Entertainment)
3. Post your site as a comment (choose Name /URL)
- Name = Site Name
- URL = Site URL (this is also the reciprocal link URL)
- Comment Field = Site Description

4. Send me an e-mail at philippine.sites.directory@gmail.com with the same information for approval

Approval time is 3-4 days

Philippine Sites W

2008-09-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

Warmstone
Let me allow you to enter the center of my consciousness and feel every emotion that lies within. Let the experience provide you warmth amidst the coldness, let me show the passion out of lifelessness and in the middle of the stillness let me create a semblance of reality…

What Mama has to say
Editor's Friend Journal on the thoughts of a woman who's juggling her time between being a wife, a career woman and a mother, an outlet/release from the stresses of everyday life

Weirdong World Ni Roana
Masaya 'to, promise! basta click mo lang...

When All Goes Kaput!
Child rights advocate, writer, struggling entrepreneur, student, missus-to-be. Random musings and what-have-you of an all-around, twenty-something, Filipina wondergirl wannabe...

Philippine Sites Z

2008-09-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

ZambalesForum sari-sari store (ZF)

A non-profit, web based, free e-mail exchange service. Open to all Zambaleños/Filipinos or to people who trace their roots to our province or the Philippines. Sali na kayo!

Philippine Sites Y

2008-09-07T02:05:00.003-07:00

Philippine Sites X

2008-09-07T02:05:00.001-07:00

Philippine Sites V

2008-09-07T02:05:00.000-07:00

Vea's Charmbracelet
The blog is a simple getaway for me to rant and rave my daily ramblings. Blogging is one of my stress relievers and i enjoy it a lot. I put almost everything i want there.

Philippine Sites U

2008-09-07T02:04:00.001-07:00

Philippine Sites T

2008-09-07T02:04:00.000-07:00

Taga QC

Tanikalang Ginto

The Blogina Monologue
My personal web log, where I could ramble on to my little black heart's content. Sometimes senseless, sometimes whiny but coherent most of the times.

The Blurb!
The day to day (mis)adventures of a comic creator. Also features GRAPHIC DETAIL, a comic strip featured every MON & THUR.

The Call Center Recruiter
The online recruitment arm of a top Quezon City based call center

The Filipino Exchange
If you are a Filipino web designer, part Filipino or if you have even a bit of Filipino blood in you, then you are welcome to join this clique!

The girl who lost her sundial
Is always sensitive, but sometimes thinks too much for her own good. first drafts, poems, and lovelorn writings from a romantic twentysomething girl who is currently dancing alone in her stocking feet.

The Ocean of My Being
An ocean... Bits of my thoughts... Bits of my life... Bits of my soul... Bits of ME!!! ---A personal space of a Moro (Muslim Filipino) in the cyberworld!

The Paradox and Her Dreams
Where parallel universes converge...

The Secret Files of Pointyman2000
A blog of a pinoy gamer with a penchant for pen and paper RPGs

This Is My Life
The regular rantings of a twentysomething career girl.

Tinisms - the theory called tintin
She's a carefree 20-something year old rockstar wannabe waiting for her own 'happily ever after'. she is tin and this is her life story...

Torn and frayed in Manila
Philippine politics, books, music, films and culture.

Tulala+Tulele
Ito ang blog ni T., na minsan ay tulala, at minsa'y may tulele.

TwEeThUmBsUp
An online web journal of a Filipina living in Germany. Entries are mostly her experiences in living outside the Philippines. Accounts of her day to day dealings with/in a diverse working environment. Most entries are comparisons of how it was in the Philippines before her relocation to Europe and how difficult it is to live in a first world country as a second-class citizen. Some entires are tales about her trips within Europe and outside the continent and yes trips back to her beloved country as well. Some are reminiscing stories of her not so distant past and about happenings/events within her family circle.

Philippine Sites S

2008-09-07T02:03:00.000-07:00

Sabitski Point

This blog aims to create a place for friends and family to post their updates and whatnots. Oh, and I'm also gunning for world peace :)

Sedricke Ang Munting Prinsipe

Ito ang buhay ko -- nanonood ng sine at telebisyon, kumakanta, nag-aaral, kumakain, nagbabasa, sumusulat. Ito ang buhay ko. Handog ko sa inyo.

Sentiments

Take a peep. See through me. Learn my idiosyncrasies and vanities. Get acquainted with my mood swings, my peculiarities, my rumblings and mumblings. Then maybe, just maybe, you will understand the random, weird thoughts of a nut case...

Short*Poetry

A site dedicated to the art of short poetry. All poems are original works, written and copyrighted by Belle Nabor.

Simply Regine

A Regine Velasquez fan site

Stalking Manila

I'm a genius. The world just doesn't know it... yet.

subLimE.LaMentAtioNs

How it feels to be a dried-up career woman by day and a rowdy teenager at night. Unravel me.

Sweet Moments

personal views, thoughts, dreams,insights, poems and what-have-you!

Sweetness

A girl's thoughts on how sweet life is under the stars

Philippine Sites R

2008-09-07T02:02:00.001-07:00

Random Rambling
Editor's Choice Ramblings of a 20-something eternal padouin, dreaming of the next big adventure

RL Directory
Non-filipino site but posted for reciprocal link purposes

Philippine Sites Q

2008-09-07T02:00:00.002-07:00

Quiet Rivers
Viewpoint through the bottom of a water-bottle, maintained by a filipino who doubts both his word and his world, but believes that greatness is just a matter of insight.

Philippine Sites P

2008-09-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Palawan Animal Welfare Association
This Philippine-Belgian association strives to improve the lot of unfortunate animals on the Palawan island.

Philippine Business Websites

Philippine Marines
Information on the Philippine Marine Corps, History, Book, photographs, Association, Stories, related links.

Philippines Photos
A gallery of images of the beautiful Philippine Archipelago. It includes colorful festivals, volcanic landscapes, tropical islands, spectacular sunrise and sunsets, mountain peaks, and majestic rice terraces

Philippine Sites
A compilation of quality Philippine sites. The site also aims to improve search engine rankings of sites listed in this directory.

Philippines News Archives
Latest news about the Philippines. Tackles business, the economy, politics, stock market and others.

Philippines, Philippine Search Engine and Directory Listings

PhilippineStockMarket.com
A Comprehensive Guide to the Philippine Stock Exchange. With Daily Summaries and Discussions along with News that Affects the Market

Piercing Pens
Pens A pair of twenty-something writer-journalists writing about current Philippine news and issues.

Pink-Colored Glasses
A twentysomething rambler's take on this crazy world, on love & relationships, on her many passions like food, travel & photography, and on the many surprising things that happen around her.

Pinay Mountain Chef
I love the outdoors. I love real good food. This blog is a tribute to all outdoor geeks like me who enjoy hiking, diving, walking, pondering as well cooking great food in the great outdoors.

Pinoy Showcase Directory - Offering links and resources for Filipinos, Asian, Arabian, Australian, African, European and Americans plus discount shopping, internet marketing and web services, friends and dating, home job and small business, hotels and travel reservations, books and magazines and more.

Prem's blog
Web log of Prem Vilas Fortran Rara.

Professional Amateur: Clean Slate
Neva Kares Talladen writes and freelances as a Public Relations manager.

Purple Pinay
Editor's Friend I love all things purple. Just don't make me eat them.

Philippine Sites O

2008-09-07T01:59:00.002-07:00

Ocean Jet
The fastest growing fast ferry operator in the region. Presently serving the ports of Cebu, Tagbilaran (Bohol), Tubigon (Bohol), Dumaguete, Larena (Siquijor), Plaridel (Missamis Occ.), Hilongos (Leyte), Camotes, and many more soon.

Oh Lala!
lala vs. the universe

Philippine Sites N

2008-09-07T01:59:00.001-07:00

Notes From The Peanut Gallery

Odds and ends from Dean Francis Alfar - playwright, businessman, husband and father.

Philippine Sites M

2008-09-07T01:59:00.000-07:00

The Merman Chronicles
Confessions of a Gay Filipino

Mango Slices
A girl's online doodling @ http://groups.msn.com/mangoslices/pinoylinks.msnw

Maradjao Magbalantay
All about beautiful Surigao City and the Philippines..and the Cultures in Surigao, as well as the life of a filipino seminarians.

Mental Notes
Notes that will never win me any awards but will nonetheless reflect my very apparent charm

Mindless Ramblings...allow me to run my mouth
Criselda Abalos' personal site. A wedlock of emotional poetry, prose, sentiments, and ephemeral illusions; created mainly to present a shape-shifter’s mindless ramblings, cathartic furor, and infatuation with the benign laugh of life.

Mudslinger
Musings from the murky mind of Mud. Grab a raincoat: It can get dirty.

Philippine Sites L

2008-09-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

La Bellissima
Inconsequential subject in a dignified style. just another twenteen with a blog and a cam

Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas
Weblog, online column at poetry journal ni Francis "Kapi" Capistrano, dating punong patnugot ng Matanglawin, opisyal na magasin sa Filipino ng Ateneo de Manila, at mamamahayag ngayon sa Businessworld.

Life! Oh life!
daily ramblings, rants, online journal

Philippine Sites K

2008-09-07T01:57:00.001-07:00

koori''
Liv's daily life--said in a non-ordinary manner, however.'

Konsume ang Consumer
A blog made to list down comments on various consumer goods.

Kulukoy.....maraming kulugo! ni Martino
Martino's second home made out of boredom. A student based in Los Baños attempts to bare his observations about the society he's into.

"Kuwaderno": Hazel's Notebook
Editor's ChoiceBlog of a Filipino woman in her late 20s.

Philippine Sites J

2008-09-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

Jac Strips For YOU!!!
Jac Ting Lim. Artist by day. Stripper by night. Read on about the freelance artist who draws comic strips for fun as she dreams to become one of the best artists in the country while at the same time dodges fanboys and stalkers

Jardine Davies' Every Other Rambling
A blog on US-Philippine politics, World Affairs, Pinoy Culture, Filipino Diaspora, Trends and Technology, Business, Anti-Bush Page, FIlipino Psyche, and every other coffee table talk and dissenting opionion by Jardine Davies @ http://jdavies.blogspot.com/

Philippine Sites I

2008-09-07T01:56:00.002-07:00

In Between Panels

Random thoughts, artworks, and picture messages from a cartoonist trying to make sense of his calling in life.

Inside WWF-Philippines

WWF-Philippines staff voice their views on working for nature, people and sustainable development

Interview Tips and Resume Tips

This website is a rich source of tips when it comes to job applications in terms of creating or designing your resume as well as preparations for job interviews. The site also features various interviews with different hiring managers. This site hopes to equip all job seekers with a little edge when it comes to their applications.

Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

Philippine Stock Market page. Contains tips, news and opinions about the stock market. Tackles various economic and financial issues.

It's True, It's True!

A Comm graduate, a dj at WAVE, soon to be a Philosophy teacher, avid fan of all things Chinese, and a prolific blogger. See his random thoughts on life, philosophy, wrestling, film, and any other topic under the sun

Philippine Sites H

2008-09-07T01:56:00.001-07:00

HatePhilippines
Features the misadventures of part-time model Katrina Torres as she finds her way to a simple life in a society inflicted by bad politics and an economy spiralling down to oblivion... whatever...

Philippine Sites G

2008-09-07T01:56:00.000-07:00

Get Real Philippines!

An honest evaluation of Filipino culture.

Get a Life!

The aRiaNe way.

gliponeOnline.com

A tale... a father... a family...

The Gout Chronicles

Just as the title says, I'll find articles, stories, developments and opinions about gout. It's a chronicle that promises to be close to my joints...

G's spot

Random thoughts of a filipino currently based in hong kong. topics are everything under the sun but normally gravitates toward music, comic books, movies and the personal life.

gutteRBoy: ang weblog ni roni_bats

Mga kwentong MD ng isang nagdodoktor sa UP Kolehiyo ng Medisina.

Philippine Sites F

2008-09-07T01:55:00.001-07:00

Football, Brushstrokes, et al
A Football Player and an Artist rolled into one

Jobs in the Philippines @ Find Me Work in the Philippines

Free Web Directory
Non-filipino site, but posted for reciprocal link purposes

Philippine Sites E

2008-09-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

Ederic@CyberSpace
Personal website of Tinig.com editor Ederic Eder

Environmentallica Pilipinas
Environmentallica Pilipinas is a non-profit climber's organization which aims to promote forest service and protection of our natural resources through programs and forms of climbing activities.

Estoy Art
A socially progressive art gallery by Estoy Evangelista, a Filipino-Australian living in Melbourne. He considers his style as "social expressionism" influenced by cubism. Useful links are included in the site.

Eva Akerley's Place on the Net
Anything and everything about my personal interests. It also features my 2 year old son, a little bit about the Philippines my friends and family and other stuff made just for fun.

ExpectoRANTS
Harrumphing essays (My funny, irate, and biased take on everything)

Explore Philippines
Camilla with many popular beach and island destinations with photos & Filipino links worldwide.

Philippine Sites D

2008-09-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

d e l u s i o n a l
a blog of a girl who loves to write and who loves to rant about stupid things

Directory of Philippines Websites
Directory of Philippines Websites

Divine Discontent
I am gone even before you utter my name. I dwell beneath my thoughts..beneath my words..I choose to remain unattached to reality and life..This is my world..this is my momentary escape from reality.

Dolly Rock Muse - Rock Stylist
Confessions of a Rock Stylist - Rockstars, superstars, popstars and half-a-stars seen in all their gore and glory! Fashion advice included

Drakulita
IJust another weblog of a BA Comparative Literature major currently torn between books (more like lamely photocopied readings), and a boy.

Dreams & Musings
I dream. I muse. I write. And this is all me.

Philippine Sites C

2008-09-07T01:53:00.001-07:00

Career Articles & Resources Index
Links to various career related and self improvement articles. Has resources ranging from free e-mail to immigration sites.

Contradiction in Terms
Editor's ChoiceIrreverence and occasional relevance from a smart, sexy, sassy, somewhat sane Filipina writer

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Philippines: Dr. Carlos Lasa, Jr.
Make an informed decision about having affordable cosmetic surgery in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Information on procedures, prices, surgeon selection by U.S.-trained plastic surgeon.

Philippine Sites B

2008-09-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

Bang & Blame
A blog about movies, music, motherhood and more.
Beautiful/Crazy
You think you know, but you have no idea. @ http://fatedangel.com/jom/links.htm
Belligerent Bliss
The Phantasm of Sarcasm is in another chasm AKA happiness is either non-existent or could only be achieved with predestined world rulership (or lots and lots of sugar).
Best Viewed with Eyes Wide Open
Autofictionalographical anecdotes from Elbert Or - comics creator, freelance writer, graphic designer, sometime editor, information leafblower, jack of all trades, master of none.
Blind Strokes of Genius…
Blind Strokes of Genius and Other Angsty Exaggerations. A personal take on life, love, friendship, angst and everything in between. Filled with rants and raves of being caught in a quarter-life crisis.
Boulevard Avenue
Editor's Choicei observe my own rule on blogging that appears on the upper left side of my site: "The hard part about publishing a public journal is practising restraint. There just has to be a rule about telling everyone about yourself; a protocol on self-indulgence; a ceiling that marks an entry as 'this is too much, delete it.'"
Bughaw
Thoughts and ramblings from 2 Filipina expats living in the US of A.
Buhi Online
The online portal of Buhi, Camarines Sur. Philippines.

Philippine Sites A

2008-09-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

..:: a m i O n l i n e ::..
Official Homepage of Ami Alvarez. @ http://www25.brinkster.com/amionline/links.asp
ang bahay-aso
filipino male iskolar ng bayan chem engg graduate videogame addict comicbook enthusiast werewoof caught in mid-transformation
Apple+shift+n.blogdrive.com
Between breaks poetry and anecdotes; Toggling a humdrum life with Muan- a 15" Aluminum Powerbook.
Aquahealth Alkaline Ionized Water
This blog is the official site of an Aquahealth franchisee. Apart from contact details for delivery, it also logs various reports related to the benefits of drinking Alkaline Ionized Water.

Search Engine Optimization And Magic Fairy Dust

2007-07-12T05:33:00.000-07:00

Copyright (c) 2007 Bill Platt
Links And Traffic
http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com

There is only one thing that all webmasters agree upon... They all want to be at the top of the search engine results for search terms that will drive traffic and consumers to their website.

The truth is that the search engines are like our childhood game of King Of The Hill. Only one person can be at the top of the hill and the top of the search results. Only ten websites can be on page one of the search results. When a new website moves into the top ten, another must be removed.

For any given search term at any given time, there are only ten web pages on page one of the search results, and there are millions of web pages that did not make page one, who may or may not catch a few stragglers from the search engines.

How Can A Website Break Into The Top Ten?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an industry that has sprung up around the concept of helping their clients improve their rankings in the search engine results.

When you talk to SEO professionals, they generally point to a two-pronged approach to search ranking optimization. A website owner needs to optimize their on-site real estate for the search engines, and they need to build inbound links to their website.

On-Site Search Optimization Challenges

The trick with on-site search optimization is that you must cater to multiple audiences on your website.

* You must provide simple navigation and an attractive interface to the human visitor;

* You must provide good sales copy to your human visitors, for the purpose of converting them from shoppers to buyers;

* You must provide text copy for the search engines to read; and

* You must optimize your content to help the search engines know what topics and keywords they should pay attention, so that they can give their users the right web page for the right search terms.

A web page that draws good search rankings is useless if the web page cannot convert the human visitor to a buyer. Many website owners get caught up in the process of optimizing a web page to get it to the top of the search results, and they forget that the human visitor knows where the Back Button is in his or her browser. Once your visitor has hit the Back Button, they will go to someone else's website and buy from them, instead of you.

Most website owners have the alternate problem. They consistently convert a significant number of visitors to buyers, but they have to rely on various forms of paid advertising to get visitors to their websites, since they do not rank in the search engines.

I recently spoke with an individual who spends ,000 per month on pay-per-click advertising to get targeted traffic to his website. He said he consistently earns back his money, but he was still looking for a better way to get ranked in the search engines, so he joined my client list.

On-Site Search Engine Optimization Basics

According to the search engine companies, there are more than one thousand calculations that determine how well a website will rank in their search engine result pages (SERPs).

The Google engineers are fond of saying that if you build your website for human beings instead of search engines, then your website should rank well in their algorithms. To a certain degree, this is a good strategy.

Think about how magazines are constructed:

The Table Of Contents shows story titles, brief descriptions, and page numbers telling you where you can find a story.

On the story page, the title will be in big, bold font. Sometimes, the magazine will include a brief blurb about the story, in italics or font that is a bit bigger than the story font.

Pictures support the story with captions that further develop the story, by describing the picture.

Major subsections of the story have their own subheadings. And, the primary body of the story is in regular plain text, with only an occasional bolded or italicized word or phrase.

By analyzing the title and other large text on the page, a person who is flipping through the pages of a magazine can quickly assess the story content and make the decision as to whether they want to read the full story.

In the most simplistic way, this is how the search engines analyze a websites' content to decide which web page will best serve their users' needs.

Off-Site Search Engine Marketing Basics

Since the inception of Google, and with Yahoo and MSN recently, the number and quality of links pointing to a website play a significant role in determining how well a web page will rank in the search results.

I have heard people suggest that as much as 75% of the value given to a web page in the search results is based solely on the number and quality of links pointing to a web page. I tend to believe a more conservative number (50.1%) will apply.

Inbound Links Are More Important Than Page Content

To prove this point, type "click here" without the quotes into Google, Yahoo and MSN and check the Adobe pages that come up in the search results: #1 in Google, #2 in Yahoo, and #1 in MSN. When you pull up those pages, search the page to find the individual words "click" or "here" in the text of those pages. They are not there. This has happened because millions of people have linked to these Adobe pages with the embedded anchor text, "click here".

Next, let's analyze those specific web pages from the perspective of each of the search engines:

* Google's #1 result - Google PageRank 8. (www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) Links to this web page: according to Google (31); according to Yahoo (nearly 12 million); according to MSN (6,400).

* Yahoo's #2 result - Google PageRank 10. (www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer) Links to this web page: Google (15,200); Yahoo (700 thousand); MSN (32).

* MSN's #1 result - Google PageRank 8. (www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash) Links to this web page: Google (0); Yahoo (2.9 million); MSN (778).

On Google's top result, they show 31 inbound links total for that web page. But, Yahoo claims that there are more than 12 million links to this page. That is a huge difference.

On Yahoo's #2 result, MSN gives 32 links, Google gives 15,000 links, and Yahoo claims it has 700 thousand links! That is another huge difference between the link counts from the search engines.

On MSN's #1 result, MSN shows a strong link count, but still nowhere near Yahoo's 2.9 million links. But, how does a web page with zero links in Google get a PageRank 8?

What Do These Numbers Mean?

Google has always said that they will never show us all of the links that we have pointing to our websites, because anything we can see in the public search results, our competitors can see also. So, for me it really is no surprise that we cannot see all of the links that point to Adobe pages, or to the links we have created that point to our clients and ourselves, by querying the search engines.

Also, the sheer numbers of inbound links do not rule the roost. Google's #1 result (PR8) is actually shown in Google, before Yahoo's #2 (PR10) result.

The Proof For Link Building Is In The Search Engine Rankings

Recently, a fellow who works as a SEO "professional" told me that be believed my link building system was a sham.

I showed him that on the top 51 keyword phrases we use to market our original commercial website, we had 11 number one results, 31 top five results, 34 top ten results, 47 top thirty results, and 51 top 100 results within the Google search results. Additionally, it was shown that only three of those results competed with fewer than one million search results according to Google, with the remaining 48 pages competing with one million to 533 million pages.

Ole boy tore up Google trying to track how it was possible for me to have accomplished what I claimed. He finally concluded that since Google would not show HIM how I was able to rank so well in their search engine results, then I must have been lying.

According to Yahoo, we have over 12,000 links from third-party websites. According to our site statistics, we received traffic from more than 16,000 unique web pages during 2006. And Google still swears that we only have 42 inbound links to our website!

Magic Fairy Dust

My nemesis concluded that since HE could not prove through Google how I was successful in getting good search rankings, then I could not have accomplished such results by the methods I claimed.

Okay, I admit it.

I used the exact same method that Adobe used to get to the top of Google's search engine rankings. I have a pocket full of magic fairy dust. Whenever, I do not like how my websites rank in the search engines, I sprinkle my magic fairy dust on my modem.

If you don't like where you are ranked in the search engines, then I suggest you forego the search engine optimization companies altogether and instead run over to the corner store to get your own magic fairy dust. You might have to shop around a bit, but it is out there.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt has been involved with link building
(http://www.linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/link-building.html)
since 1999 for his own promotion and for SEO purposes, and he
has been doing it professionally for clients since 2001. Visit
http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com to learn more. If you would
like to talk to Bill in person, he can be reached at
(405) 780-7745 between 9am and 6pm CST, Monday through
Friday.

The Roller Coaster Of Link Popularity

2007-07-10T04:22:00.001-07:00

The Roller Coaster Of Link Popularity
Copyright (c) 2007 Bill Platt
Links And Traffic
http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com

Most webmasters are in a constant state of confusion about how to create link popularity and how to rank well in the search engine results. Three of the top four search engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN calculate link popularity as one part of their search algorithms. So, for all intent purposes, building link popularity will be an important part of getting recognition and strong placement in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Link popularity, in essence, is a count of how many web pages point to one of your web pages.

The Google PageRank Version of Link Popularity

PageRank (PR) is a Google tool that expands on the simplest link popularity calculation. PageRank is a value given to every web page on the Internet, with 12 possible rankings.

* The Gray Bar in the PageRank tool indicates that a web page has not been added to the Google PageRank database, or Google has banned the website. (If any page on a particular domain has its own PageRank, or if any pages are shown in the Google search results when someone searches "site:www.yourdomainurl.com", then the website in question has not been banned by Google.)

* PR0 to PR10. PR0 indicates that the web page has been added to the Google database, but it does not yet have any PageRank assigned to it, generally because there is not any PR value pages that link to it at this time.

If one is tracking PageRank from the Google toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/), then it needs to be understood that the database that stores PageRank values is only updated about once every 3-4 months.

While Google does use links to a web page to determine the web page's PR value, it is impossible these days to utilize Google to find what links are directed to your pages. Even the Google webmaster tools (http://www.google.com/webmasters/) interface will not show you all of the links Google is counting towards your own Link Popularity or PR value.

Playing Follow-The-Leader

In earlier years, Yahoo and MSN did not employ a link popularity calculation in their search algorithms. But, when one competitor is thoroughly kicking their competition, then the underdog competitor must respond, if they have any desire to remain relevant.

So, after years of lagging behind the Google powerhouse, Yahoo and MSN decided it was time to work a link popularity calculation into their search algorithms.

Both Yahoo and MSN are still struggling to find a way to retake some market share from Google. Even with Yahoo's Project Panama rollout and MSN's Live Search rollout, both are still finding Google to be a difficult 800-pound gorilla to conquer.

Building Link Popularity

In essence, even if search engines did not include link popularity as a portion of their ranking procedures, one would still want to develop links to his or her websites.

Links are the roadways that keep Internet users moving from one website to another. Before the search engines became the all-powerful providers of Internet traffic, the role of Internet promotion was to establish links on pages where a website's target audience is already going.

The goal of course is to get the person reading the page to click the link to the target website. With every visitor to a website being a potential customer, it makes good sense to get as many visitors to the website as possible, and that requires getting as many links as possible pointing to a website.

Google PageRank 101

Since Google drives the largest portion of search traffic on the Internet, I am only going to focus on their link popularity system.

All web pages on the Internet have been assigned a PageRank value by Google, according to the value of the web pages that link to them. This number is always in flex as links are made, lost or change value.

In short, the pages linking to your pages have their own Google PageRank value, according to who links to them, and the value of the pages that are linking to their web page. As the web pages linking to your web pages gain value, then your pages will also gain value in the Google PageRank algorithms.

As a Webmaster, it should be your goal to create as many links to your website, as you can muster. Eventually, most of the web pages with real value will gain their own PageRank, and they will pass some of their PR value to your web pages.

But, I Tried That Once...

Whatever link building strategy one might recommend, there will be someone else saying, "But, I tried that once and it did not work." Some may go a bit further and say that they tried it once and received initial good results in Google's SERP's, but then those results shortly dissipated and the previous high placement in Google evaporated.

A common story I hear is that "we tried" a specific link building process. Shortly after doing so, our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results. These people often conclude that the link building process used was not effective.

They make this statement because they do not understand the inner-workings of what is happening to their link popularity and search engine placements.

Several Factors Drive the Roller Coaster

With press releases, it is easy to comprehend the how and why of the climb and fall. Press Releases are treated as news stories, and as such, they are more important in real time than they will be in a month or so. That is why press releases can generate big results quickly, and it also explains why those results quickly fade away.

With article marketing, it is common for a new article placement to help any website mentioned within the article and its accompanying resource box (about the author information) to rise in the search rankings early, then to drop away for a time, and perhaps rise in value again later.

Let me explain how this process works, and it will make more sense to you.

Google's Main Index and Supplemental Listings

In order for the referenced website to get the PageRank it needs to climb in the search results, the web pages linking to it must have their own PageRank. As a single web page gains in link popularity and PageRank, the web page will also improve in the search results.

When a new article is placed for the first time, it is always placed on a "brand new" page on the Internet. New pages on the Internet, by their very nature, do not have any external links pointing to them and therefore, they do not have any established PageRank.

In recognition of this "brand new" status, Google is giving a pass to those new web pages. As far as the Google algorithm is concerned, these "brand new" pages might have value, but that value cannot yet be determined based on the number of links pointing to the page.

At the end of Google's "pass window", Google checks to see if this new page has developed any of its own inbound links and PageRank value. If the new web page has not developed any value of its own after a window of 30-45 days, then the new page will be moved from Google's main index to Google's Supplemental listings. If the new page has developed PageRank, then the page will remain in Google's main index.

According to Matt Cutts, the Google Guy, "Having urls in the supplemental results doesn't mean that you have some sort of penalty at all; the main determinant of whether a url is in our main web index or in the supplemental index is PageRank." (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/infrastructure-status-january-2007 )

Many web pages that have slipped into the Supplement listings will gain their own PageRank over the long term, and as such, those pages may return to Google's main index in the future. If articles are valuable resources to their readers, then many placements of those articles will be given their own inbound links and therefore PageRank, but it takes time.

As a general rule, it appears that the average web page will gain a measure of PageRank somewhere in the range of 90 to 180 days from the day the web page was created. While not all pages will receive inbound links and PageRank, enough of them do to make the whole process worthwhile.

You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play

As a Webmaster, your website will never gain link popularity if you do not take actions to increase the number of links pointing to your website. If the web page never accrues any link popularity, it will not gain PageRank, and it will not rise in the search engine rankings.

You are in the driver's seat, so if you fail to accomplish link popularity and search placement, then it will have been the fault of your inaction.

Do you remember my sample scenario above, "Shortly after (completing a link building campaign), our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results."

These people frequently conclude that a specific link building activity produced no results, because they did not stay on page two or three of the results. Surprisingly, these people tell us that they started out at #300 and ended up at #100, and yet they claim that the process did not work in their case. How so? They climbed 200 places in the search results. How is that an ineffective link building campaign?

So, the next time you hear someone crying about the link popularity roller coaster, think back on this article, and you might be able to help him or her to clear the fog of confusion.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt has offered article marketing services
through http://www.thephantomwriters.com since 2001.
If you are interested in guaranteed link building
(http://www.linksandtraffic.com) services,
utilizing articles as the foundation for the links,
then Bill's team can help you with that as well.
If you have questions that only Bill can answer,
give him a call at (405) 780-7745, between
9am-6pm CST, Monday through Friday.

Frequently Asked Questions

2007-06-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

There are currently two goals of this site:

1) Compile a list of Philippine made sites / blogs. It's my own little way of helping build a sense of community.

2) Improve the search engine ranking of the listed sites.

Philippine Sites Directory - The Filipino Blog Directory

Online Marketing: Can You Achieve SEO with a WordPress Site?

What is a Dofollow Blog?

Does Google PageRank Count Anymore?

How to Plan and Make a Website's Navigation Bar

Countdown To Google Page One and Search Engine Optimization Company Nightmares

On Page Search Engine Optimization

Do You Really Want Your Site on Page One of Google?

Don't Destroy Your Online Marketing Results with Bad Website Design

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