SOLVE SEO BLOG

Simple SEO Tips To Raise Your Search Ranking

Search engine optimization (SEO)is the complex task of improving the way your site is viewed compared to other sites on similar topics. The way a search engine ranks your site, and the methods it uses to compare one site to another is a closely held secret in the industry. Experts have been trying to decipher this mysterious algorithm for years and even though certain aspects of it are constantly updated and adjusted, some basic criteria are core to the way a site is ranked. Knowing what the basic ranking criteria are is essential to improving your ranking, and ultimately your traffic.

One of the main considerations most search engines have for a particular site is the concept of keywords. How many times a keyword is used on a site, and where on the site it appears is important to the search engine in it’s ranking of the site. Very little you can do to improve the ranking on the site will have as big an impact as this simple fact. So when you are setting up the site initially, think carefully about the name you choose and be sure to include the keyword in the site address (domain name). Even if you have to set up several “sister sites” with keyword specific web addresses that highlight a keyword you care about, you can always redirect these to your main sites landing page.

You must be sure to have your site indexed or “crawled” by search engines you care about on a regular basis. This can happen naturally, or you can make it happen by submitting your site to the search engines directly. This will cause them to index your site faster and initially improve your rating. Because the search engines care about sites that update their content regularly, and will rank them higher, be sure not to force this indexing too often. If you do update your content, it is a good idea to re-submit after the update and your should see an improvement in your ranking. Also, if you update regularly, the search engine will notice this and will normally index your site more frequently as well. This index frequency is another key factor in your search ranking, so is a great idea to keep your site fresh.

Another major factor in search engine rankings is the number and quality of links that exist for your site. Having a lot of these links, especially from other sites that are ranked high is very important. The more links you can establish the better. There are a few easy ways to get these links created and most of them are free, but it takes a little effort on your part. Next to having the perfect website name, getting a lot of links for your site is the single most important factor in improving your search rankings.

There are a lot of techniques for getting these links established for your site and some work better than others. One easy way is to submit your site to website directories. These website directories are a sure way to get some links established, but it can be tricky. Over the years the search engines have caught onto this technique and if you submit to too many of these directories too quickly, you could be penalized, so spread out your submissions. There are a few of these directories that have been flagged by the search engines and will actually hurt your ranking, so be sure to research them all and pick the right ones. Another great place to get these links started is by visiting and posting comments on a group of blogs covering the keyword you are trying to target. Usually if you post on these blogs, you can add a link back to your site and have it counted in your favour. You could easily post on several blogs a day and establish an impressive collection of links as a result.

You could start a blog yourself on the keyword of interest and pepper this with links back to your site as well. This would help with your ranking, but could be a little less effective since all of the links originate from a single site. It is better to have these links back to your site start from a lot of different sites. The other advantage to having a blog is that you can publish articles on it about your keyword and have your link in these as well. You could also submit these articles to other blogs or article directories to expand on the impact of these links.

All of these techniques are fairly easy to implement and will have a very positive impact on your search rankings quickly. Some of these are more effective than others and take a little time to work. The trick with improving your search engine rankings and traffic is to use a variety of techniques to help your site rise in the ranking.

Getting Started the Right Way in Internet Marketing

SEO, PPC, PPA, CPA, SERP, LSI, Google slap, sandbox, the list goes on. Welcome to the world of Internet Marketing. It’s hardly a wonder that people suffer from information overload. If you find yourself drowning in this labyrinth of paths leading you in a thousand different directions, you need to realize that success in Internet Marketing depends not on doing a lot of things but only doing a few things right.

The first thing you have to settle within yourself is whether you are looking to build a business with Internet Marketing or merely engage in it as a hobby. A business means that you intend to make enough money through Internet Marketing to at least replace your day job income. If it is a hobby then you are looking to Internet Marketing as a part time activity to supply you with some extra pocket money. This decision is the basis of everything else you do because it determines the amount of time and effort you put into it and also the actual structure of your business or hobby.

If you intend to make Internet Marketing merely a hobby, then you do not need a website, a product, a list, any JV partners or affiliates. You can do basic affiliate marketing by selling other people’s products. You need to sign up with an open affiliate marketing website like Clickbank. An open affiliate marketing system practiced by Clickbank is where you do not need your own website and there is no application process to become an affiliate. Without your own website you would not be able to be an affiliate with closed affiliate systems like Commission Junction (they have an application process that requires a website).

In Clickbank, there are thousands of products you can sign up as an affiliate for. You will be given an affiliate link and all you do is to get people to click on your link. You can do that for free by setting up free websites on Web 2.0 platforms like Squidoo or Hubpages or Blogging platforms like Wordpress or Blogger. You can do a search on these and you will get their websites where you can create your own website or blog. Yes, a website set up this way is your own but you are limited in some functionality because these are free websites hosted on the platform’s servers. Nevertheless, they are good enough to drive traffic to your affiliate link.

All you do is design your website or blog with some good content related to the affiliate offer you are marketing and insert your affiliate link into your content. Some web 2.0 platforms like Hubpages have strict rules about the number of affiliate links you can have in your content, so just make sure you abide by their rules.

Internet Marketing is a numbers game, so the more of such websites and blogs you create to drive traffic to your affiliate link, the better it is. Sooner or later, some people will click on your links and if they buy the product that you recommend, you get your commission from it. That’s all there is to making some spare cash through Internet Marketing.

You may want to start your Internet marketing journey this way. But after sometime, if you want to progress further and do Internet Marketing as a business, then it becomes another ball game altogether!

SEO or SEM - What’s The Difference?

Do you really understand the difference between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

Here’s a “simple” explanation of what can be a difficult area to understand.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of improving a web sites placement in the free listings of the search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Bing etc. These free listings are also known as “organic” listings.

SEO involves:

1. On-Site Optimization - making changes to the HTML code on the pages of your web site to:
a. improve the relevance of certain key words/phrases on each page
- both in the content and meta tags of a page, and within the links on your site to that pages.
b. fix any problems which may stop the page being indexed by the search engines
- looking at your site navigation structure and wording of links.

2. Off-Site Optimization - getting back-links from other relevant sites, preferably using key words (or “anchor text”) in the links themselves - e.g., links from directories, through article marketing, or even paid links on relevant sites.

The key to successful, long-term results with SEO is doing things within the guidelines suggested by the major search engines. In other words, using ”white-hat” tactics.

Sneaky tactics (”black-hat”) will usually result in penalties being applied by the search engines - i.e., your rank may be reduced, or more likely, your site may be totally removed.

Black hat tactics include (but are not limited to):
* link farms (groups of web sites that link to one another in their hundreds)
* keyword stuffing (hiding lots of text/keywords on a page to influence search engines) or
* page cloaking (showing different pages to search engine and human visitors)
So if anyone suggests doing this to your site… heed the words of Elmer Fudd! “Be very, very careful”

Even though “white-hat” tactics are easy to implement, most people still overlook the basics of SEO. So if you make small changes to your pages, it can result in a huge improvement to your overall position in the organic search engine results.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM aims to create additional traffic to websites by increasing their visibility on the search engine result pages (SERPs).

This is where things can get confusing… because SEM can include tactics to improve your results in the ”organic” listings, as well as other tactics which cost money to implement.

To avoid confusion, it’s probably best to leave any discussion of “free or “organic” traffic to come under the realm of SEO.

And think of SEM or Search Engine Marketing as those marketing practices that COST MONEY to generate the traffic - i.e.,

* buying placement in search listings (paid inclusion) where your paid listing appears before the free ones,
and/or
* Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising (i.e. Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing) where the advertisements appear alongside normal search results, or on relevant pages on other sites.

Companies offering Search Engine Marketing services usually perform a range of BOTH SEO and SEM activities including:

* optimization projects on client web sites,
* managing paid listings at search engines,
* submitting client sites to directories,
* developing online marketing strategies for clients.

Now, you CAN do all this yourself if you have the time and the knowledge. If you choose to do that, you simply MUST become very familiar with PPC programs before you start. If you don’t, your expenses can be potentially quite large from making newbie mistakes with such basic things as the wrong keyword selections!

If you don’t have the time to DIY, and want to use a firm to do Search Engine Marketing for you, it also doesn’t hurt to better understand what happens before engaging someone.

That knowledge will help you choose a reputable SEM company over the less desirable ones in this industry!