Errors in Search Engine Optimization

Although Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to good ranking in Search Engine results, sometimes a few things are overlooked and this results in either lowering your rankings or maybe even that your site could be blocked. Take a look at the top ten mistakes in website optimization.

1. Keyword Spamming: Just increasing the number of appearances of the Keywords in your text doesn’t guarantee a good ranking. This is also known as Keyword Spamming. Hence the keyword density which is the ratio of the number of occurrences of the keyword to the total number of words in the text should be optimal without giving it an unnatural appeal.
2. Not all search engines are same: Popular search engines like Yahoo!, MSN and Google, never use the same algorithm for search engine techniques. If you are having more hits from MSN, then it is better to SEO your site according to MSN. Though sometimes a few things could be common.
3. Poor Titles: When a search engine lists the results usually the top 10 in order, ensure an enticing title, related to your keywords, to catch the attention of the reader.
4. Not getting good links: Backlinking your site or getting a site directing to your webpage helps a lot. Links from better quality sites is considered to have greater value than links from ordinary sites.
5. Relying on Meta tags: The text within the Meta tags is not visible to the reader when the page is viewed through a browser but read only by the search engine. This is no longer entirely used for SEO. It was found be misused by website owners, insert misleading words about their pages or use excessive repetition of words in hopes of getting higher ranks. So also with “h tags”.
6. No Marketing Plan: If you are unaware of who your prospects are and what they want, mere rankings will not help you.
7. Not Thinking Beyond SEO: After getting a visitor to your site, ensure that you serve their needs, so that your SEO effort and expense has been worthwhile.
8. Just submitting is enough: No. Mere submission of your site to a Search Engine doesn’t ensure you rankings and regular hits.
9. Need to submit my site to 1000 search engines: This is a myth.
10. Time consuming and expensive: If you are innovative and think differently keeping in mind what your customers want, you can design your own site freely. Further, submission to search engines is always free and doesn’t cost anything, contrary to the claims of certain marketing companies.

Mistakes in search engine optimization can be decisive and fatal, so take a comprehensive look before getting into the thick of optimizing your website.

SEO and Internet Marketing

The Importance of SEO in Internet Marketing
If you are already running an Internet marketing campaign or are about to embark on an Internet marketing campaign, one concept you cannot afford to skimp on is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is one of the most popular buzz words in Internet marketing but unfortunately most Internet marketers simply do not know enough about SEO to make this strategy work for them. Even those who are knowledgeable about SEO may have difficulty executing their SEO strategies to produce the desired affect.
Advertising is a very important part of running any type of business. You need to advertise to reach new customers and market your products or services. Whether you run your business online or not you probably already realize how important it is to advertise but if you are running your business online you should understand there is a great deal of free advertising available in the form of optimal search engine rankings.
Well known search engines such as Google rank websites according to complex algorithms which are designed to determine which websites are most relevant for particular search terms. Therefore taking the time and effort to optimize your website for relevant search terms may result in you being rewarded with high search engine rankings for these terms. This is important because most Internet users rely heavily on these rankings. It is not uncommon for Internet users to only review the first few results when they search for a particular term. This means if your website ranks high enough to appear on the first page of the search results you will likely enjoy increased website traffic. However, if your website doesn’t make it to the first page or even the second page, it is unlikely you will receive a great deal of website traffic from visitors who use search engines.
Now that you understand why search engine rankings are so important you might wonder how to achieve these rankings. The easiest way to optimize your website is to hire a SEO specialist to do the work for you. The world of SEO is complex and continually evolving making it difficult for most business owners who do not specialize in SEO to keep up with the changes in the industry. Therefore, business owners who attempt to optimize their website by themselves may have difficulty keeping up with competitors who hire a SEO consultant to optimize their website.
The algorithms used by search engines can be rather complex and include a number of different factors. Some of the common factors in the equation include keyword density, META tags, titles, inbound links, website traffic and content.
Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword is used in the content of your website. The theory behind this concept is that website which use a keyword often are likely extremely relevant to that keyword, however, overuse of that keyword may result in penalties to the website if the search engine deemed the keywords are not being used appropriately.
META tags are pieces of HTML code which some search engines use in evaluating the content of a website. Placing keywords in these tags can be beneficial in some search engines. However, care should be taken to avoid placing irrelevant keywords in these tags as this may result in your website being penalized.
Inbound links are also used by some search engines to rank websites. Inbound links refer to links on other websites which point to your website. In evaluating the worth of these inbound links, some search engines consider the rank of the website providing the link to your website. This means you should ensure the website providing inbound links to your website are high ranking websites to receive the most benefit from these links.
Finally, the content on your website can do a great deal to bolster your search engine rankings. Most SEO firms retain a staff of writers who are skilled at providing quality content which is also optimized for relevant keywords. If you hire a SEO firm who does not providing copywriting services you should invest in hiring a professional writer yourself. This will help to ensure the copy on your website is not only valuable to your visitors but also considered valuable to search engines.

Generate Leads using SEO

When you utilise search engine optimisation, you do so to rank well in search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo. In Australia, Google dominates the search market, with over 80% of the market share. Tests have also shown that Google searches almost always turn into either sales or inquiries much more often than searches done on other major search engines. In other words, this means that Google generates much more high quality search traffic. That’s a pretty good reason to focus mostly on Google for your search engine strategy.

With Google, you’ll find that you rank quite well as compared to the others. For this, there’s a three-step process by which you can perform search engine optimisation. This topic is fairly complex and companies spend a lot of money getting this done for them. However, you can do this with three relatively simple steps.

Step 1: Keyword Research You need to establish which keywords and phrases are relevant to your product or services so you can focus your SEO efforts accordingly. For many businesses that serve a local area, keyword research is normally straight forward. The most profitable keywords or phrases are likely to be in the form Your Industry Your Location. For example: “Plumbers Melbourne”, “IT Support Sydney”, “Accountants Perth”. There are also a range of keywords and search tools, including a free tool; inventory.overture.com and also more sophisticated pay tools such as wordtracker.com and keyworddiscovery.com.

Step two: Optimising on page You need to optimise your website content, too. For high search engine rankings, make sure the right keywords show up on your webpages. This is part of the story, too, but it’s also an important part of the puzzle we call “optimisation.” Here are some important tips on optimising webpages.

1. Your Page Title Should Be Keyword-Rich. The title that appears in your browser in the blue bar at the very top should have keywords in it; this is because it’s also the title in Google’s search results. Make your title concise, short, and rich in keywords. It should have the most important keywords at the front of the title. As an example, if your carpet installation business is located in Sydney, you can say, “Carpet Installation Sydney - Install Carpet Surry Hills Sydney.” And put the most important keywords at the front of the sentence. You can see that it’s a bit of repetition, but it’s pretty keyword rich and it doesn’t sound too strange, which should get you more exposure.

2. Your Description Should Be Keyword Rich. The description is also called the “meta description tag.” This is part of your website code and describes the page’s content. Write descriptions in complete sentences and make them keyword rich. For the carpet installation service in Sydney, for example, it could read something to the effect of, “Surry Hills, Sidney Carpet Installation. Installing Carpet at a Reasonable Price.”

3. What Do Your Headings Say? Search engines look at your headings because they seem to include important page content. If your headings and sub headings are rich in keywords, you’ve given yourself a good start. For example, you can say, “Carpet Cleaning Services in Sydney.”

4. Make Sure You’re Page Content Is Suitable. At least one paragraph of each textual page on your website should be rich in keywords. You can also repeat the keywords you use in your headings in your content. Using a mix of related key phrases is also good. For example, saying, “Carpet Cleaning, Cleaning Carpets, Clean Your Carpets,” is more suitable than using the same phrases over and over again.

5. Links Are Important. Yes, links, too, are important for page content. Instead of using generic phrases like, “Click here to find out more,” use those that are keyword rich and indicate what your business is. “Take a look at our carpet installation services” is one good example.

Step-3: Off Page Optimisation Off-page optimisation, or linking strategies, is the third and final stage. Every incoming link to your website is considered by Google as a vote for your website content by other websites. The reason why many businesses SEO efforts fail is that they focus exclusively on using keywords on web pages but they lack a linking strategy. Here are a few tips to start pushing your site up the ranks through linking strategies:

1. Encourage Keywords inside Your Incoming Link. For example, if you arrange for a client or supplier to link to your website, you want to ask them to use keywords such as: “cheap digital printing services” in a link rather than your company name, or “Click here”.

2. Consider Using Authority Directories. When you list your site on website directories that are well regarded by search engines, this can improve your rankings. These are so-called “authority” directories and sometimes charge a fee to list there. This keeps out lower quality websites. Three of the most well-respected are botw.org, Yahoo.com.au, and business.com. It should be noted that this is different than using e-mail scams that offer to submit your site are uniformly directors for a fee. Rather, you’ll want to submit your website to directories that search engines regard highly.