The Basic techniques in search engine optimization

SEO for Adsense - If you've been using Google's AdSense on your pages you obviously feel the need to somehow generate even more traffic for your website, which in turn would translate to more AdSense click and a higher income.

But who do you do this? Well, the major way you'll get visitors to see your website (other then using AdWords, which is encouraged as well) is to use some techniques to have search engines send more and more users towards your page, by ranking high in search results for your topics of interest.

Believe it or not this is a technique, better known as search-engine optimization or simply SEO. So here are a bunch of tips that come handy under every amateur or professional optimizer's belt.

The first thing you need to take care of is the actual source code and layout of your page. This has to be kept as simple as possible. The problem comes when AdSense and the search engines themselves begin to have troubles in extracting the most relevant keywords on your site because of a too complex layout.

Secondly, try to have each one of your pages target only one specific topic. This way it is a lot easier for them to get indexed properly and for the AdSense ads to be consistent with the content of the site itself.

Also, try not to include too many hyperlinks in your page as well. This also means you should try not to use too many AdSense ads on your page either.

If there are certain keywords you wish to target, make sure the word you wish to target is present in the title, in the first paragraphs as well as in the name of the file. While you're at it you might want to ensure the word springs up in the page's last paragraphs.

And of course, it's very important for your content to have original and compelling content. How do you do this? Well the easiest way to do it is to find something you're really passionate about. That way, providing you give it a lot of effort you're bound to have a great page quite fast.

If the content you use in your site is in the public domain (which is highly discouraged) make sure that you at least give it an original title, and add an opening and a closing paragraph of your own.

This takes a little while, but if, after waiting, you still can't find your page near the top, you should try rewriting your title and your first and last paragraphs. It doesn't take much, often just changing a few words will give you the right results.

And of, course there's the use of keyword tools that may aid you in finding some good keywords to include on your page that will drive visitors to your site more and more.

So those are about the basic techniques in search engine optimization. You can find a lot of computer tools to aid you in doing this, and of course, Google is a great place to search for this.

In the end, you'll find that SEO is a complex topic, and entire books have been written on the topic as well. You might find that you have a lot of optimization you need to do in order to get more and more visitors to your site and clicking those precious AdSense banners.

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The Basics of SEO

The Basics of SEO - Some FAQs - Search engine optimization (SEO) is a foreign field to a lot of people. Rarely does a day go by when I don't get asked a few questions on the subject. So I've decided to post this FAQ article in the hopes that it will help people understand the basics, and make them a little more comfortable with the whole domain. 

Q: Why are search engines important to me? 

A: 85% of all website traffic is driven by search engines. The only online activity more popular than search is email. 79.2% of US users don't go to page 2 of search results. 42% of users click on the no.1 result. For the under-40 age-group, the Internet will become the most used media in the next 2-3 years. 

Q: How do search engines decide on their rankings? 

A: IMPORTANT: You cannot pay a search engine in return for a high ranking in the natural results. You can only get a high ranking if your content is seen as relevant by the search engines.

Search engines identify relevant content for their search results by sending out spiders or robots which craw (analyze) your site and index (record) its details. Complex algorithms are then employed to determine whether your site is useful and should be included in the search engine's search results. 

Q: Can't I just pay for a high ranking? 

A: No. The biggest concern for search engine companies like Google and Yahoo is finding content that will bring them more traffic (and thus more advertising revenue). In other words, their results must be relevant. Relevant results makes for a good search engine; irrelevant results makes for a short-lived search engine. 

Most search engines these days return two types of results whenever you click Search: 

• Natural/Organic The search results. The results that most users are looking for and which take up most of the window. For most searches, the search engine displays a long list of links to sites with content which is related to the word you searched for. These results are ranked according to how relevant and important they are. 

• Paid Pure advertising. This is how the search engines make their money. Advertisers pay the search engines to display their ad whenever someone searches for a word which is related to their product or service. These ads look similar to the natural search results, but are normally labeled Sponsored Links¡¨, and normally take up a smaller portion of the window. 

Q: How do I get a high ranking? 

A: There are four main steps: 

Step 1 - Use the right words on your website
Step 2 - Get lots of relevant sites to link to yours
Step 3 - Use the right words in those links
Step 4 - Have lots of content on your site & add more regularly 

Q: What is search engine optimization (SEO)? 

A: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of creating a website which is search engine-friendly. This means: 

• using the right words in your copy
• using the right words in your HTML code
• structuring your site properly
• designing your site properly 

Many people use SEO to also describe the other ingredient in a high ranking, 'Link Popularity'. 

Q: What is link popularity? 

A: Think of the search engines as a big election. All the websites in the world are candidates. The links to your website are votes. The more votes (links) a candidate (website) has, the more important it is, and the higher its ranking. Link popularity is all about how many links you have, and how you can get more.

Links to your site tell the search engines how important your site is. They assume that if it¡¦s important enough for a lot of other sites to link to, it¡¦s important enough for them to display at the top of the rankings. Links are the single most important factor in ranking. Generally speaking, the more links you have to your site from other sites, the better your ranking. 

Q: Are some links better than others? 

A: Yes! The ideal kind of links are those that: 

• come from relevant sites (sites which use the same keywords);
• come from important sites (have a high ranking);
• include your keyword as part of the visible link text;
• include varying link text (not the same link text each time); and
• come from a page that links to few other sites. 

When a search engine sees a link which satisfies most or all of these conditions, it says, Hey, this site must be credible and important, because others in the same industry are pointing to it 

Q: How do I get lots of links back to my site? 

A: There are many possible ways to generate links. Some are dubious (like auto-generation software, and sites set up by webmasters simply to host links to their other sites) and I won be discussing them here. Others, like those discussed below, are legitimate. 

• Add your site to DMOZ & Yahoo Directories (and other free directories)
• Check where your competitors¡¦ links are coming from
• Article PR - Write and submit articles for Internet publication
• Swap links
• Partner websites
• Pay for links 

Q: What do you think is the best way to get lots of links? 

A: Article PR. Write helpful articles and let other webmasters publish them for free in exchange for a link in the byline. With article PR, you don't have to pay for the link, you determine the content of the page containing the link, you determine the link text, and the link is more or less permanent. A single article can be reprinted hundreds of times, and each time is another link back to your site! 

For more information, read divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm or visit ArticlePR.com. 

Q: How do I write a good article PR piece? 

A: See divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm. 

Q: How do I get a high ranking using free reprint content? 

A: See divinewrite.com/Top_Ranking_Free.htm. 

Q: How long does it take to get a high search engine ranking? 

A: A long time! It's impossible to say how much time you ll need to spend generating links, but you can be sure it ll be a while no matter which method of link generation you use. You just have to keep at it until you have achieved a high ranking. Even then, you ll still need to dedicate some ongoing time to the task, otherwise your ranking will drop. 

Q: What is the Google Sandbox, and is it real? 

A: The Google Sandbox theory suggest that whenever Google detects a new website, it withholds its rightful ranking for a period while it determines whether your site is a genuine, credible, long term site. It does this to discourage the creation of SPAM websites (sites which serve no useful purpose other than to boost the ranking of some other site). 

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence. 

Q: What is the Google Dampening Link Filter, and is it real? 

A: The Google Dampening Link Filter theory suggests that if Google detects a sudden increase (i.e. many hundreds or thousands) in the number of links back to your site, it may sandbox them for a period (or in fact penalize you by lowering your ranking or blacklisting your site altogether). 

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence. 

Q: What SEO companies should I be wary of? 

A: Be wary of SEO companies that promise or guarantee results in a given timeframe, especially if they won't expand on their methods for generating links back to your site. 

Q: What tools can you recommend? 

A: There are many very useful tools to help with your SEO. The following are just selection. All tools are free unless otherwise indicated. 

• Backlink checker - http://www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
• Backlinks by IP address - http://www.webuildpages.com/cclass/index.php
• Link Popularity Tool - http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/
• Number of links required to rank - http://www.iblcheck.com/
• Google Alert - http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en
• Google Sitemaps - http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps
• Google Sitemap Generator - http://johannesmueller.com/gs/
• Google Toolbar - http://toolbar.google.com/
• Indexed Pages - http://www.webuildpages.com/cache/cachetoolpublic.pl
• Keyword Analysis (Nichebot) - http://www.nichebot.com/
• Keyword Analysis (Overture) - http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
• Keyword Analysis (WordTracker - Paid) - http://www.wordtracker.com/
• Keyword Difficulty - http://www.seomoz.org/tools/keyword-difficulty-tool.php
• Keyword Identifier - http://www.googlerankings.com/ultimate_seo_tool.php
• Keyword Density Measurement (Simple) - http://www.live-keyword-analysis.com/
• Keyword Density Measurement (Complex) - http://www.gorank.com/analyze.php
• Plagiarized Copy Search - http://www.copyscape.com/
• Traffic Rank - http://www.alexa.com/
• Search Engine Rank - http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/
• SEO Report - http://www.urltrends.com/
• Top 10 sites for a keyword by no of backlinks and age - http://www.webuildpages.com/seo-tools/whoischeck-bykeys.pl
• Top 10 sites for a keyword - http://www.webuildpages.com/cool-seo-tool/
• Spider Simulator - http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/ 

Q: I'm confused about all the terms used in SEO, can you help? 

A: See divinewrite.com/seo_glossary.htm. 

Q: What is keyword analysis? 

A: The first thing you need to do when you begin chasing a good search engine ranking is decide which words you want to rank well for. This is called performing a keyword analysis. Keyword analysis involves a bit of research and a good knowledge of your business and the benefits you offer your customers. 

Q: Do I need to submit my site to the search engines? 

A: Theoretically, no. But I wouldn't risk not doing it - especially as it's free. As soon as you register your domain name, submit it to Google! Even if you haven¡¦t built your site, or thought about your content, submit your domain name to Google. In fact, even if you haven¡¦t fully articulated your business plan and marketing plan, submit your domain name to Google. 

Q: Should I submit my site to the search engines more than once? 

A: No need. Although some of the search engines allow you to do this, there's really no need. 

Q: What are directories and should I submit my site to them? 

A: Directories are websites (or web pages) which simply list lots of website and give a quick description of the website. Some are free and some require you to pay for a listing. Free directories are useful because you get a free link. However, the links aren't worth that much. Paid directories can be good if they're relevant, but they can cost a lot in the long term, so choose wisely. 

One essential directories for any website is the DMOZ Open Directory Project.

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Step Three is Creating Long-Term Popularity

Step Three is Creating Long-Term Popularity - Finally, after the hard-core efforts that are directly related to generating traffic to your website, you next step is to develop a strategy that creates follow-on, long-term traffic. Several methods exist for this Tier III strategy: 

• Taking the large list of ancillary keywords that relate directly or indirectly to your website, begin purchasing keyword related domain names that will be used to create traffic driving websites that point to your money site. 
• Setup satellite pages using the keyword domain names with the idea of capturing traffic geared toward those specific keywords, developing niche market traffic. As you develop niche markets for those new customers, you are going to be able to capitalize on those customers for the other products and/or services that your company offers when these sites link back to your money site as a result of informing and attracting these new customers through the niche sites. 
• Create links, backlinks and cross-links between the satellite pages and your money site, improving your link popularity for all websites, especially your money site. 
• Display articles or e-books related to your industry and place these articles on your websites being aware of the best location based on keyword dominance. 
• For long-term, viral marketing results, create articles or e-books that you will either sell on your website or offer to public domain websites where your link information must be retained for use by anyone else on the internet; these articles will create links that go back to your money site or your niche sites. 
• Follow the same steps in Tier I and II for all the niche sites as you did for your original money site; that is, design a SEO-optimized website and follow Tier II strategy to create the necessary link popularity to drive traffic to these sites. 

Monitoring 

In order to determine if the SEO efforts are successful, you must monitor results of for number and quality of backlinks, PR and web trend statistics. There are many sources for generating this data as well as programs that will assist in these analyses. Whatever method you choose, whether it is using specific programs or setting up a spreadsheet for entry of data, be consistent in tracking the data. There will be fluctuations from day-to-day that you should expect. You are looking for general, overall upward trends, not short-term blips. Upward progress followed by maintenance of a strong position with slow, steady growth would indicate a successful SEO campaign. 

This 3-Tiered approach to SEO Strategy is very effective when implemented with the patience it takes for long-term results. Short-term "fixes" and "tricks" may have an effect in the short-run, but as the search engines change and adapt their algorithms -- as they doing almost monthly -- what worked today for quick results may actually get you banned tomorrow. This strategy is based on search engine directives: Well-designed websites, free of bad code, offering information, services or products of interest to the internet community will create their own base of popularity -- for which you will be rewarded by strong, growing traffic. When you are in it for the long haul, your strategy must utilize long-term efforts.

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Back To SEO School

Sitemaps are without doubt one of the most often ignored and undervalued aspects of search engine optimization. You've probably spent a huge amount of time working on pages of original content, keyword density and getting incoming links but never once spared a thought for a sitemap for your new creation.

What is a sitemap?
 

Put simply it's a page or pages that contain a list of and link to all the other documents on your site. This is useful on two levels:

1. Your visitor can quickly reference all the documents on your site to find exactly what they're looking for.
2. Search engine spiders can also quickly find and index every single page of your site in the least amount of time. The SEO benefits of using a sitemap far considerable and should not be ignored.

This is a win-win situation for you, your website visitors and the search engines. Put simply you're nuts if you've not included a sitemap as part of your overall website promotion strategy.

The good news is that it's never too late to start. You can create a sitemap page today but there are some rules to creating an effective sitemap that you need to follow:

Your sitemap must only be linked to from your homepage and no other page. Why? You want the search engine spiders to find this link directly from your homepage and follow it from there. Your sitemap MUST NOT be linked to from every other page of your site. Also from a Google Pagerank point of view only linking to your sitemap from your homepage can also "funnel" PR quickly to pages all over your site.

If you have a large website of 50 pages or more limit the number of pages listed on your sitemap to a maximum of 30. This is to prevent your sitemap from being misinterpreted as a link farm by the search engines. It also makes the sitemap a lot easier for real human visitors to read through. Limiting the number of pages listed on each sitemap to 30 might mean splitting your sitemap over 5, 10 or 20 pages. This has to be done and the long term benefits are worth it. Bear in mind that if you do create a 20 page sitemap you've just created an extra 20 pages of content for your website!

Make absolutely sure that each of your sitemap pages links to the next. If you have 10 sitemap pages in total then each of those needs to link to every other sitemap page. Otherwise both visitors and search engine spiders will find a broken link, lose interest and go away.

Test your sitemap thoroughly. Make sure all the links works. Make sure it's easy to read and navigate through. Your sitemap is there to assist your visitor and not confuse them.

How should you structure your sitemap? The following tips must be adhered to in order for your site to gain the maximum possible benefit from having a sitemap.

1. The title of each sitemap link should be keyword rich and link directly back to the original page.
2. Include 10 - 20 words of text from the original page of content underneath the relevant sitemap link. This creates more content for search engine spiders and human visitors can see exactly what each page is about in advance of clicking.
3. uman visitor benefit is that they can see what the pages is about in advance.
4. Ensure that the look and feel of your sitemap page is consistent with the rest of your site. Use the same basic HTML template you used for every other page of your site.

So now you understand the importance of building a sitemap for your website. There is work involved but the long term benefits for your websites far outweigh any effort you have to make right now.

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