Increased Workload

Due to a rapid increase in workflow (which is a GREAT thing), I will only be blogging once a week.

Off-Page Optimization - Part Two: Which Sites Should You Be Getting Links From?

Now that you know the importance of links, the first question you must ask is where you should be getting links from. There are a variety of strategies to apply here. The most effective way to identify the right sites to get links from should be based on who is linking to your competition which is defined by who outranks you on Google for your identified search term. This is a very important strategy and one that is frequently overlooked. You should be evaluating who links to the #1 search result in Google for the keywords or keyword phrases you are optimizing for and try to acquire links from the same websites.

Off-Page Optimization - Part One: Link Types

There are really only three types of links you need to know about: one-way links, reciprocal links, and three-way links.

• One-way links - These are links from a website that is not your own. Also referred to as third-party websites, these sites place a link from one or more of their web pages to your website. Google values one-way links above all else. One-way links are incredibly powerful (if they are quality links) because you are receiving a vote from an independent third party.
• Reciprocal links - When you exchange links with another website, commonly referred to as swapping links, you are providing a link to their site (from your own) in exchange for a link from their website to yours. Reciprocal links are valuable, but not as valuable as one-way links.
• Three-way links - Three-way linking is when you partner with another website (site B) and provide a link from your site (site A) to their site. In turn, they provide a link from another site they own (site C) to your site. This form of link building is ideal because it results in a one-way link from a third-pary website.

Friday will be Off-Page Optimization - Part Two: What Sites Should You Be Getting Links From

On-Page Optimization Part Three : Keyword Development and Placement

This is the third and final installment to this three part series. Next week I will tackle Off-Page Optimization...I am thinking I will break that one down into three parts as well.

Keyword development is the most important on-page optimization factor you will learn about and could easily make or break your website's ranking! But do not let that scare you.

Why are keywords so important? Because search engine algorithms are laregely based on keywords - keywords on your web page, keywords in your code, keywords in the links within and pointing to your site. I guess you could say that Google and other search engines have keywords on the brain.

A Keyword is any word or phrase that describes your website. Another way to think about it is in the form of a search term. What a user enters into the Google search box is considered a keyword or keyword phrase.

Choosing a keyword is more of an art than a science. However, your selection of a keyword can be greatly simplified if you follow these steps:

1. Define the content of your site in general terms. What is my site about? Once you've identified a general topic, its time to start your keyword research.
2. Identify keywords/keyword phrases related to your topic. To do so, visit the Google Keyword Tool. Google was one of the first websites related to paid search and is now the dominant player in search.
3. Enter the keywords you are considering and press Go. The resulting list contains all of the search terms and search counts.
4. Select two or three keyword phrases to research further. This is where the rubber meets the road. Look at your list and choose a few keyword phrases that represent your website. Make sure your phrases have a search volume of at least 1,000 monthly searches. Keep in mind that the more searches on a given keyword, the more competitive it may be.
5. Determine the competitiveness of the keyword or keyword phrase (KEI). There is actually a formula you can use to determine the competitiveness of any keyword. This statistic is referred to as the KEI which stands for keyword effectiveness index.
6. Research the competition. Regardless of which tool you use to generate or research your keyword phrases, you'll need to size up the competition. Remember that Google is a voting machine. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you can optimize your website (both on-page and off) better than your competition (and get more votes!)

I hope this simple three part series helps you with your on-page optimization. Maybe this series can help you get started...

On-Page Optimization Part Two - URLs, Formatting and Internal Linking

This is part two of a three part series regarding on-page optimization. Let's start with URLs...
URLs
Many people believe that if you have a special URL, especially one that contains the keyword you're trying to rank highly for, you'll be number one on Google. This is not necessarily true. The relity is that having your keyword in your URL can help in some instances but is virtually meaningless in the overall Google ranking algorithm unless many other websites are linking to yours. So where does having your keyword phrase in the URL help? It helps with search engines like Yahoo and MSN and when you are link building for Google. Each search engine has its own ranking algorithm, placing different weights on website criteria like URL, external links, and more. Another way that having your keywords in the URL helps is when it comes to link building for Google. Each time a website links to your website using only your URL, if that URL is comprised of your keywords, it provides a boost to Google search results.

Formatting
The manner in which you organize and format your web page can have a huge impact on your SERPs. There are a few basic things to keep in mind when formatting your website for top Google placement. The most important elements include content first, clean code (W3C, no flash), heading tags, alt tags, proper keyword placement, no flash and JavaScript external, and sitemaps.

Internal Linking
One of the most important on-page optimization opportunities you have is to develop a simple and direct internal linking strategy. Internal linking refers to the linking structure your site uses to link to secondary pages on your website. Said another way, how you link from one page to another is very important. Many sites have significantly improved their rankings based on a strong internal linking strategy. Internal linking provides direct access to your web pages in order of importance. The best practice for internal linking is to link to your main category pages from your website's homepage.

Friday I will be finishing up the series On-Page Optimization with Part Three : Keyword Development and Placement.

On-Page Optimization Part One - Meta Tags

A meta tag is essentially a label that you give to your web page. Although there are quite a number of different types of meta tags I will just discuss the most common ones. These "tags" or labels are essential for helping the search engines understand the name of your website's pages, know what information the pages contain, display a small description for search engine result listings, and understand how to treat each page when indexed.

Meta tags are important because different search engines weigh the information in these tags differently. It is believed that Google uses them in relation to other factors, ensuring consistency and validating page rank. It's good practice to make sure that your meta tags are complete, accurate, and up-to-date!

Make sure that each page found on your website has its own unique set of meta tags!

There are four primary meta tags. These tags include the Title tag, Description tag, Keywords tag and Robots tag. More meta tags exist but these are the basic ones you'll need to use when thinking about improving your SERP's.

I will be posting a new blog every Monday and Friday, at minimum...Please check back Monday for a posting called On-Page Optimization Part Two - URLs, Formatting and Internal Linking!

Coming Soon!

We are going to start blogging some different helpful hints that will help you and your company with your presence on the internet and fill you in on some major benefits of having a website. We will show you why you are going to want to inquire about having a custom website for your company, no matter what industry you are in.

AND...

Please remember that we are willing to try to work with any client, no matter what his or her budget may be!