How important are meta keyword tags?

As with most search engine optimization queries there is no clear-cut answer, so I will just go with it depends. Basically Google does not use meta keyword tags any more at all. So if you are only tensed about how your website ranks on Google then you should not bother using meta keyword tags. They are not important then.

However if you want your website to show up on other search engines like Yahoo! and Bing then my dear meta keywords tags are very important. Yahoo and Bing have a combined ten percent share of search market which might not seem much at first glance but my dear this accounts for 4.6 billion searches each month in the United States alone.

Yahoo has stated in the past that they have stopped indexing meta keyword tag but they offer advice on improving one’s search position including; utilize a keyword meta tag for listing keywords for each page of one’s website. Utilize distinct lists of keywords which relate to each particular page on the website. Do not utilize one broad set of keywords for the whole website. Bing also offers akin suggestions in their head tag optimization blog.

So if you care about your website’s position on Yahoo! or Bing then follow please their advice, but like any search engine optimization technique you will require more than just a good meta keyword tag for getting a good ranking on any search engine.

Cheers to your online success!!

Ways plus benefits of link building

Link Building is the process of crating inbound links to one’s website. This can be done by reciprocal links, being listed in newsletters, e-zines, search engines, directories, etc. Link building is one of the best methods for making your website popular. There are few kinds of linking one of which is reciprocal links.

Reciprocal links is the process where two webmasters agree to display the other's link on their website. After link building when the number of websites which link to a specific website is called as link popularity which helps in the search engine ranking of a website.

Benefits 

• It helps in getting quality traffic from pertinent websites which in turn enhances sales.
• When there will be high quality incoming links the website will be seen as a valuable resource. Now that’s really nice!!
• This process even helps the website get indexed by top search engines.
• It helps in creating awareness, visibility as well as credibility of one’s website. 
• Thanks to this process the website gets wider search engine exposure.
  

 

I am sure after reading this enlightening article you know the ways plus benefits of link building. So get going!!

Some tips for choosing keywords

Keyword research is one of the most vital tasks which you will complete for a successful inbound marketing strategy. It will be your first step before you craft your website, content or begin any marketing campaign. 

If your keyword research is not detailed plus managed correctly, then there is a big chance that your efforts will fail.

Here are some tips you must remember when performing keyword research:

• Find the exact keyword phrase which people are utilizing to search for your product. If you have the website and Google analytics set up already then you can check your analytics for the terms people are utilizing most for finding your website. 
• Put yourself in the client shoes when you are making your keyword list. Just think about the buyer’s intention when he/she is searching for your product. 
• Monitor the keywords which your competition is utilizing. First you must analyze your competition’s website to know if it qualifies to compete with your website. It might be out-dated, stagnant or might have a low traffic rank. You must find information about your competitors.

Now that you know all the tips and tricks get a sheet of paper and prepare a list utilizing the above tips. Expend some time in this thought process and write down as many different variations as you can. Always remember that keyword research is an important piece of your marketing strategy. Proper keyword research will surely ensure a successful marketing campaign.

SEO mistakes that can deteriorate your web ranking

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a vital tool in the hands of internet marketers to increase quality traffic for your online business. Although, it may appear very simple but a small SEO mistakes can prove fatal for your online business.

Below are discussed the top SEO mistakes that can give you low rankings in the search engine results.

1. Targeting the wrong keywords is one of the biggest SEO mistakes, which sometimes even a SEO expert can commit. At time one may use keywords that describe their website however; the user may not use these keywords while making a search. To make this task easy, you can make of a keyword suggestion tool such as the Website Keyword Suggestion. This may aid you in finding appropriate keyword for your website.


2. People also tend to use too much flash content and graphics while designing their website. Although, this would make your site attractive but, search engine crawlers only go through ‘text only documents’. So, to be listed by major search engine such as yahoo and Google, you must include good quality content about your product or services.


3. You must mention the keyword or important search phrases in the < title > tag. This would help to optimize your website. Apart from this, the text used in the < title > tag would also appear when the user makes a search for your page title. In general people include their company name or product in the title. If you want to mention your company number put that in the end of the title. You just need to maintain the balance between leaving the title tag completely empty and stuffing it.


4. Including the JavaScript for navigation is not an issue while building up your web pages, if you are considering the fact that the search engines do not read JavaScript. Thus, when making use of the JavaScript menus try and create a sitemap or forming the links in a no script tag.


5. Amongst the various SEO mistakes, this one you must avoid completely to enjoy easy SEO of your website. Don’t opt for many back links and back link spamming. In fact, you should use only high quality back links as they will attract more traffic and generate higher sales.


6. Another SEO mistake a lot of people commit is to underestimate the value of a good URL. It is essential to include the keywords in the URL, which means the domain itself or file names, this would increase the ranking of your site on the search engines.


7. A number of SEO experts pay too much attention on the Meta keywords and description. In fact, Meta tags are considered passé as such tags do not ensure higher ranking of your website.


8. People also tend to ignore maintaining their website on regular basis. Having consistency in your website and optimizing it by keeping an eye on the changes in the ranking is very crucial for the success of your online business.


9. In the process of links building Mismanaging links is unacceptable in SEO campaign. So, always make sure that the keywords are spread uniformly across your website.


10. Another mistake most of the online businesses make, is to expect immediate results from an SEO campaign. It should be remembered that SEO is a continuous process and to get the required impact on the ranking of the website it will take time.

I am sure you will certainly avoid the above mentioned SEO mistakes while creating your website so that you achieve high ranking with the search engines.

Easy ways to optimize your local business

Search Engine Optimization services have been used since decades to enhance online businesses. However, it does not make sense to get global presence if you have not made a mark for your local business in your city.

In today’s competitive market, people running online business prefers to hire SEO Companies that can help them target local as well global visitors. So, let us discuss the reasons to optimize and get the most out of local search.

• First of all, targeting local customers help to build brand awareness about your products andservices for this you should ensure that you make use of local keywords to optimize your website. For example if you are located in New York and your business is to provide cab services then your key phrase must be “cab services New York”.


• Moreover, by winning the trust of your local customers you will be able to capture the attention of the customers in other parts of the world easily giving you an edge over other online businesses.


• Another and probably the most important reason to use SEO for local searches is that because such a area oriented search is not just affordable but it also results in increased ROI.

In order to optimize your website for local business, you must include on page and off page optimization along with some additions. With the following tips you will effortlessly get web presence in local results.

• The most vital step is to include your city name to the Meta tags. You should add city name to the keywords, in the title, keyword tag and description tag of the webpage.


• Make use of Google Local Business Center to promote your local business. Google allows you to submit your website description in its local business center free of cost. Thus, every time a visitor is searching for the product and services you are offering, a snapshot of your business along with a map will be shown.


• One of the most important aspects of Search Engine Optimization is to create High Quality Backlinks. It is a measure of the website’s popularity. This can be easily done by submitting your web portal to internet yellow pages, PR search directories, Google webmasters tool and local search engines.


• Another thing you should keep a note of is that you should select an appropriate service provider. Say for instance your business is in the United States and your domain is hosted by a service provider who is in Australia, then in all probability your website will achieve top ranking only in Australia. This is for the fact that the search engine will deduce your website to be an Australian website and make it difficult to attract traffic in your local area, which is the United States.


• Today, social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook etc are able to attract more traffic to websites than search engines. You can, thus, endorse your online business for free and precisely to those interested in availing your products and services. Moreover, the local groups on these sites can be catalyst for endorsing your business.

So, optimize your website for local search today and enjoy increased lead generation, sales and profits.

Theme bleeding: What it is and how to avoid it

Theme bleeding is a link leading from a particular topic or theme to another theme which is not directly related. Content plus navigation of a website are believed to be two key pillars which support any SEO campaign. However sometimes; good content and a well thought of navigation may not be able to work the SEO wonders which it was supposed to.

How to avoid theme bleeding

•    You must plan your navigation properly. Majority of webmasters recommend the use of a silo structure for your website wherein associated content is stacked together.

•    You must utilize the nofollow attribute. You should add a nofollow attribute to pages which you do no want the search spiders to crawl.

•    The most effective technique for preventing theme bleeding is using the robots.txt file. This file is a simple text file which sits on your server in the akin directory where your homepage exists. Using this file in links which do you do not want to be crawled will make sure that search spiders under any condition will not crawl these links.

I am sure after enlightening reading this post you know what is theme bleeding and how you can avoid it. So get going!!

Importance of sitemap

A sitemap is perhaps the last thing a person would make when building a website. Thanks to the age of design; look plus features often simple things like a sitemap is forgotten. By mentioning the importance of a sitemap with respect to various points; I hope you will justify not just expending time on making a sitemap; but one which gives your website the backbone structure it truly deserves.

Few reasons to make a sitemap for your website:

•    A sitemap can make navigation easy. If a website has hundreds of webpages plus links; it is undoubtedly very easy for someone to wander off and get lost. It would be surely great if the person could just click on the sitemap and find out what information lies where.

Google ranking secrets for you

Google has lately filed a patent which details many points that Google uses to rank web pages. The title of patent is "Information retrieval based on historical data" and it confirms the existence of Google sandbox and that it can apply to all web pages.

The patent specification revealed loads of information about possible methods Google may use your web page changes for determining the ranking of your website. Apart from web page content; ranking of web pages is influenced by the frequency of page or website updates as well.  Google measures content changes for determining how fresh or how stale a web page is. This does not mean that it is always worthwhile to regularly change the content of your webpages. Google exclaims that stale results may be desirable for information which does not need updating while fresh content is good for results which need it.

Some reasons why your business needs a website

The first and foremost answer to this question is undoubtedly to establish a presence. Even if you just conduct business within your community then also you must let people in that community know that you want to serve them in any way possible. If you do not tell them trust me your competitors will and I am sure you don’t want that!!

Thanks to a website you can make your business information available to everyone across the globe without any additional effort. Following pointers will give you some more good reasons for getting a website for your business today:

Some basic SEO and SEM tips and tricks

If you want steady stream traffic to your website then you need to work on your strategy which includes all the tips and tricks I have noted below. Keep in mind that the results will not be overnight; it will surely take some time to build traffic and for the top search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing to rank your website higher on results based on a specific keyword related to your website. You must include plenty of content related to your specific niche and update it as often as you can; trust me the search engines love it.

Some Tips and tricks mentioned below for you:

• Add a sitemap to your website. This is very important when it comes to SEO and SEM. 

• Submit your website to top search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
  
  

SEO and SEM tips and tricks for websites and blogs: Part II

In my last write-up "SEO and SEM tips and tricks for websites and blogs: Part I" you got to know about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Now let me provide you with some SEO and SEM tips and tricks for blogging.

Here you go with some more tips:

• As a blogger; you are surely going to make friends and as well as influence people. Adding value to your write-ups with links to other websites and blogs will surely help you out in enriching your write-ups. But remember my dear it is not just a case of adding a link to any piece of text. If you truly value the links that you are adding then you must use the right text with the right words for the link itself.

• Writing compelling, quality articles is very important when it comes to blogging. Always remember buddy content is king and everything else is secondary.
  
  

SEO and SEM tips and tricks for websites and blogs: Part I

SEO stands for search engine optimization while SEM for search engine marketing.  They are similar in certain respects but actually serve very different purposes. Fortunately; both of them are also very much complementary.

SEO is about making your website or blog appeal to the search engines. If they are unable to find what they are looking for then they cannot build up a list of the things they need to know about and then use it to match against a search someone types into Google; for instance.

SEM involves promoting an article to particular places like web directories, email campaigns, industry forums or by asking friends or linked businesses to add a link from their website or blog to yours.

Some tips and tricks for beginners: 

• Understand how search engines work. This is the most important thing when it comes to SEO.

• Once you have understood how search engines work then optimize your articles and web pages for search engines.

I am sure by now you have a complete understanding about SEO and as well as SEM.

Read my Part II for more on this.