Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Search Engine Optimization Tips For Better Indexing of Your Website

If your website is frequently visited by the Search Engine crawler then it is the first sign that your site appeals to that Search Engine. One needs to design a website in such a way that Search Engines find it important and thus love to crawl it quite frequently.
You cannot force a Crawler to visit you website more often, but of course you can do things that would attract crawlers to your website. You can take following measures to increase crawl rate:

  1. Keep updating your content regularly - You need to update your website frequently, because Search Engines are looking for website with good amount of activity.
  2. Check for Server Errors: When crawlers reach your page you don't want to them to face a server error or an unreachable page, Webmaster tools can help you with this.
  3. Page Load Time: Crawlers have limited time to crawl your website; if it takes too long to index a single page then chances are that not all your pages will get crawled. So keep your pages light.
  4. Check the site internal Website linking: Be sure there is no duplicate content that is returned via different URLs. Here the more time the crawler spends figuring out your duplicate content.
  5. Get back links from websites that are crawled regularly by SERPS.
  6. You can also adjust the spider crawl speed using Google Webmaster tools.
  7. Use a Sitemap as it will help crawlers to crawl different pages of your website more easily.
  8. Check whether your error handling is done properly in case your website encounters an error don't make the crawlers figure out what has happened.
  9. Keep your Meta tags and Title Tag unique.
  10. Regularly monitor Google, Yahoo crawl rate for your website and try to understand what works and what doesn't.

All these above tips will help to improve crawl rate of your website. This will also ensure that each of your pages get updated in search engine databases regularly.

Labels: ,

2 comments

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

How to Succeed in Search Engine Marketing

OPT-IN-LIST and Targeted Visitors are the two secret weapons to achieve search engine marketing success with. It is the growth and prosperity of your e-mail list that will ensure more targeted audience and in the long run more sales and conversion rates. People buy from those sellers whom they trust and feel comfortable with. And there is no other better way of winning their trust as e-mail marketing.

One way of bringing more targeted traffic to your site for free is joint ventures partners. These are people who will like to do business with you and finding them is not so difficult if you begin with small marketers. And always keep a list of the successful joint venture partners that you worked with.

Another amazing way of succeeding in SEM is writing articles and submitting them to article directories as every article will link back to your site.And this will further improve your search engine rankings.

Not only this, you can join a marketing forum to bring in more targeted traffic as forums play a very major role in driving targeted traffic to your site.

Link exchange also is a beneficial tool of bringing in massive traffic to your site as your site's link on others' sites makes you visible to more and more people and also helps improve your website's ranking in search engines.

Similarly e-books and reports also act as viral online marketing tools as the readers have the flexibility to give away the book or reports for free to others and customize them with their own links.

Last but not the least, PPC or pay per click is also a way of increasing rankings and getting targeted traffic. But it is a paid method and you need to be very well versed with its ifs and buts before venturing into it.

Labels: ,

0 comments

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Do This And You Will Lose A Lot Of Traffic

To make money online and earn financial freedom from your online business, all you need is lots of traffic to your website. No traffic simply means no business. It is just as simple as that - but it is not so simple to get that traffic.

Most business owner fail miserably to make money online just because they could not get enough traffic to their website. And some do stupid mistakes by not taking good care of their incoming traffic.

1) Annoying your potential customer

Do not annoy your customers by presenting products on your website that are marked "Sold" or pages that say "Under Construction" or "Coming Soon." What is the point for you to show this page to your customer anyway? You will not make any money online doing this way and your credibility as a business owner will drop drastically.

Do add new content frequently so returning customers will not be bored by seeing the same products they saw four months ago. If your site is dated or has current references, be careful to change these references frequently so you don't give the perception that your site is gathering dust.

2) Broadcast too many emails to customer

"Money Is In The List", there is no doubt about that. But if you always send them email everyday about your offer, your customer feels that you only want to sell your things without taking care on what they want. You will lose a lot of money online. Plus, you will receive a lot of "Unsubsribe" click more than you could make one.

3) Lazy to keep track of any changes to your website

When you make changes to your site and resubmit your pages to search engine and directory services, document what you have changed and when you submitted your edited pages. Keeping track of these changes and submissions will help you understand why a particular ranking may increase or decrease.

4) Did not provide any benefit for customer

Before joining or buying any product or services, people will ask "What's in it for me?" Fail to answer this question, you will not make money online.

Offer additional value on your website for affiliates and partners. You can place links to their sites and products, for example, and ask them to do the same for you. In addition, you can advertise affiliate or partner books or videos if these products relate to your industry, and are not in competition with your own product or service line.

5) Using unrelated keyword for website

If your website is about "cat food", it will not make any sense if you are using "healthy food lifestyle" in your content. Search engines consider where you place your keywords, and how many times you use them, in order to figure out your ranking and the relevancy of your site to a customer search request. You want to be ranked as high as possible on the search engine list, so place keywords in the page titles and Meta tags and early in the content of your page.

It does not need a rocket scientist to figure out how to get a lot of traffic. You need to have an attitude of helping other people to make money online. With the right mind set and burning desire, you will have that quality traffic coming to your website freely.
veniti digital media - veniti media specialises in search engine optimisation (SEO) and ppc management as well as other forms on Internet Marketing.

0 comments

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Web Content Is Vital To Having an Effective Web Site

An appealing design will pull people into your web site, but it's the content that will make them stick and become buyers. In other words: Pictures tell, but words sell. That's why your content is one of the most important elements of your web site.

Outlining a clear strategy for your content is the initial step to creating effective content for your web site. First, identify what you want to accomplish, what information it will include and how the content will be organized.

Your site should provide information your prospects need to know to buy from you plus information you want them to know that will convince them to buy from you. Need-to-know-type content for potential customers might include information about your company, products/services, customers and testimonials.

Information that you want them to know might include work samples, frequently asked questions, press releases, reports, articles and other material that can educate them about your business. And don't forget to include a clear and effective marketing message that will convert visitors into buyers. After all, isn't that the primary reason for having a web site?

While your content must cater to site visitors, it should also be strategically developed for the best performance with search engines. So be sure to include the right keywords in your regular text, meta tags, headings, etc. The goal is to make your content appealing to site visitors and search engines. If you optimize your content effectively, you can keep a steady stream of free traffic flowing to your web site.

Web Content Writing Tips

One of the most important things to remember when writing content is this: Keep it simple and clear. Most people find it 30 times harder to read text on a computer screen than on paper. Also, site visitors tend to skim over web content, focusing on headlines, bold text and links. So be sure to format your web content so the information is easy for people to find, read and understand.

Here are seven smart ways to create effective Web content:

1. Be concise.
Cut out extra words in sentences, get to the point and express what you need to say quickly.

2. Be conversational.
Don't use complicated words or business language no one outside your industry will understand. Just write the way you talk, so your copy will convey a friendly, comfortable and confident tone.

3. Write in small chunks.
Group ideas by topics and present them in small, manageable chunks of information. Keep your sentences as short as possible and vary the lengths so you hold readers' interest. Then add descriptive, bold headings that will make the content easier to scan.

4. Give good information.
Most people go online to find information about their hobbies, products or other interests. Don't waste their time by placing useless, self-serving content on your site. Make sure you provide information that's not only interesting, but also educational and enriching. (In fact, many search engines won't consider listing sites into their databases if they lack useful information.)

5. Use descriptive links.
Go beyond the typical "click here" link on your Web pages. Try something like: "Take our demo," "Get a sample," or "Order now!" Not only is this more engaging, but it can enhance your performance with search engines.

6. Link to complementary Web sites.
Include links to Web sites that offer supplementary (not competing) information. This will not only benefit your site visitors, but it also can boost your search engine ranking.

7. Keep your content fresh.
Keep the information on your site interesting and updated so visitors will have a reason to come back.

0 comments

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Writing for the Web

Have you ever tried to read your local newspaper online? How about the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal? It just isn't the same. Do you know why? Because articles meant for print don't translate well to the web, and the rules that apply to writing content for the internet are different than those for print. What constitutes quality content offline does not necessarily constitute quality content online.

How the web is different:

Text is hard to read
Typical computer monitors have a resolution of 96 dpi (dots per inch). Compare that with a printout from a laser printer that has a resolution of 600 dpi, or a magazine page that can be upwards of 2400 dpi, and it's not hard to figure out why the text on a computer places a strain on the eyes. According to the book Hot Text, Web Writing That Works, by Jonathan and Lisa Price, "because text is more difficult to read on-screen, people often read slower, comprehend less, recall less, and do less in response."

Words can be linked to other pages and sources
The closest thing you're going to get to a link in a newspaper is when a story is split into two sections and you're told the story is continued on page 9. But when it comes to the web, words and images can be linked to other web pages, photos, videos, sounds, and a myriad of other things. Being able to link is the primary tool that web writers can take advantage of that print writers don't have at their disposal.

How you should write:

Write less
Because of the strain placed on readers when reading on a computer screen, you can't expect them to read a 5,000 word article. Research has shown that most readers tend to scan an article before reading. Articles longer than 1,000 words will likely turn off your audience and result in few people reading your article (and therefore fewer visitors coming back to your site in the future). You should condense your writing to include only the most crucial points and eliminate everything else. Writing successfully for the web forces you to present only the necessary content and leave the rest out.

Utilize headings and lists
Since people tend to scan web articles as opposed to reading them from the first word to the final word, you should make it easy for them to find what they're looking for by using headings, bold type, and lists. A great way to turn a print article into a readable web article is to transform it into a top 10 list. Lists make it easy for readers to scan and read only what they are interested in.

Use plenty of links and make them obvious
Since linking is the primary advantage of a web writer, it should be used early and often. Linking allows you to provide the reader with a roadmap of information. With your article as a starting point, your reader should be able to find more information about any and all topics discussed in the article. Common things to link to include reference pages, news sources, audio and video, forums, and applications that will enhance the reading experience. The best thing about links is that the user can choose which ones to follow and which ones to ignore. That allows you to reference something without citing the entire thing as you would have to in a print article.

One of the most important things to remember when linking is to make it visually obvious that a section of text is a link. Five years ago it was common place to use the standard blue underlined text for linking, but as the web has evolved, most designers have abandoned that style for better looking links. Site designers can still make links obvious by consistently using a different color than standard text and by providing a hover effect, such as underlining the link and changing it's color, when users place their cursor over the link. This subconsciously tells them that the text is a link.

Write with the search engines in mind
Since much of the content on the web is found via search, it makes sense to write with the search engines in mind. No, this doesn't mean that you should stuff your articles with keywords to the point where they are barely readable. But it does mean that you should write titles and headings that actually convey what your article discusses. For example, this article could be called "Content Evolution" or "Digital Distribution." If it were a magazine article, those titles or other titles might have been more appealing, but they don't capture the essence of the article, which is "Writing for the Web." If someone were to search for an article on writing online, they'd likely use a phrase like "how to write for the web" or "writing practices for the web" which would turn up this article, but probably wouldn't turn up an article with one of those other titles.

0 comments

How to effectively select and use keywords for your website

Correctly choosing the keywords that your website wishes to compete on is the single most important aspect of a search engine optimization campaign. Proper keyword selection can provide your business with an extremely solid foundation to build.

However, the opposite can be said for websites that make mistakes at this point. If your website dives straight into a competitive keyword selection there is a good chance of drowning in the oblivion of search engine results. Choosing keywords for your website requires a fine balance of research and modesty.

Be Specific
If there is a particular item or product range that your company sells then make sure your keyword selection reflects this. Being vague results in higher levels of competition. If your website sells golf clubs then optimize your pages to match what kind of golf clubs you are offering. Do they have graphite shafts? Do you sell a left-handed selection? What kind of brand are they?

Regionalise your selection if appropriate
Focusing on a regionalised market will result in a much more targeted market and the competition will also lower significantly. If you only sell your products and services within Ireland make sure you contain specific phrases (e.g. Ireland, Irish, Dublin, etc.) within your Title, body and anchor text.

Domain Name Selection
For many new (and existing companies) the ideal website name might already be taken. Or, for branding purposes, the choice of a keyword rich domain name may not be applicable. This shouldn't be a major concern to companies as the weight search engines give to the URL of a website is of limited importance when it comes to ranking well within the results pages. However, if your website contains keywords that your company wishes to compete on then you should exploit this when choosing your inbound linking text (a.k.a. anchor text).

Anchor Text
Inbound links from websites can provide your site with a two-fold benefit. The first (and obvious) is that these links can help your company by sending potential customers to your website. The second benefit is that Google and the other major search engines will see these links as votes of confidence therefore giving your website a boost in its rankings. When developing inbound links it is important to take advantage of keywords that your site might be targeting.

For example, my website is http://www.betteririshwebsites.com. It contains a number of articles that can help webmasters and companies promote their websites. With this in mind, a link that contains the anchor text Website Promotion Articles will help both visitors and search engines to understand what this website is all about. By developing links with keyword rich anchor text your website can rank higher in the search engine results for the terms that you are competing on.

Landing Pages
When choosing keywords you feel are suitable to target your desired market you may end up with a list the length of your arm. If you create a website with a logical structure containing a number of pages that deal with the range or products your company offers you will be able to professionally and effectively optimize your entire site for all of your selected keywords.

For example, if your company sells office supplies and office stationary (both extremely competitive keyword phrases) you could still drive a large amount of traffic to landing pages that sell "Executive Leather Chairs" and "Printer Ribbons". This is only an example, creating and optimizing landing pages is a technique that all websites could and should do regardless of what they are offering.

Remember, your optimization efforts should never stop after your home page is completed. Your entire site should be professionally optimized for maximum results.

0 comments

Friday, August 18, 2006

Search Engine Optimization: Your Key to Online Success

Search engine optimization is all about taking your site to the top of search engine rankings. Everyone wants and has an online site about any goods or service they are offering. If you want to sell something to the public, you must have a website. Everybody is busy these days, and consequently does not have the time to actually go to stores to check out and buy any goods that they need. The internet has become the market place to sell anything. Quick and easy accessibility is what people look for in the internet. Internet is the best source for you to sell your goods and services.

Ok, so now you have a site that has all relevant information about your business, but many people do not know about your site. This is where search engine optimization is needed for your site. Search engine optimization is the different methods that can be used and implemented for popularizing your website. Yes you need to tell everyone that you have a site and tell them really well. Search engines are the key if you want to be successful in online business.

There are different things that can be done for Search Engine Optimization of your site. Link building is the most popular and the most effective means for popularizing your site very quickly in the web. For link building it is vital to search in the web and find out those sites that deal with similar product to yours. This means that your link will be place on those sites, and visitors can actually come to your site through that link. One way inbound links are more beneficial for your site.

Blogging is another great way for you to become visible in the web. The key to blogging is to write quality blogs about different elements of the product that you are selling. If your blogs are very well written chances are there that your site will become very popular. People will even start talking and discussing about your blogs in forum. Imagine how much of publicity you can gain form this. So simply go ahead and start blogging and increase the popularity of your site.

Search engines are the kings in the web. So if you want your site to be successful, you have to get recognition from search engines. For this you need to get high rankings in search engines. Search engines give rankings to websites based on different criteria. Search engine spiders also known as bots crawl different sites to find out if they are meeting all search engine requirements or not. Based on this websites are given rankings by search engines. And it is this ranking that determines how your site is faring in the web.

This is not all: there are many other reasons for you to gain popularity in search engines. A study has shown that most of the people using the web take the help of search engines to find information about any thing in the web. So anyone who is searching for information about your product and service, your site will be listed at the top of search findings. This means visitors will automatically come to your site and buy your products.

Before you embark on any search engine optimization process for your site, it is very important for you to know what you are exactly doing. Try to gather as much information as you can about any method that you are undertaking for the purpose of search engine optimization of your website. This is your site and you must know everything related to your site. After all your business performance depends on this.

About the Author:

Promoting Webs knows what needs to be done to take your site to the top. TO know more about Search Engine Optimization, Link Building, affiliate marketing, Paid Ads to help online business earn profit visit http://www.promotingwebs.com.

0 comments