Selasa, 08 Desember 2009

Link Building Guide

Link Building is a painstaking process which is always on going. To get your website high in the rankings you will need to constantly be building backlinks with things such as link exchanges, article submissions, directory submissions, press releases and social networking.

In this guide we will give you a few tips on the best methods to start off with link building.

Link Exchanges

Link Exchanges are a great way to get back links to your site from other sites with the same topic. This means that people who are visiting will be looking for a certain type of website which your site will be so they are more than likely to use your website to it’s full potential rather than browse for a minute and move on.



You can get Link Exchanges by browsing for sites in the same genre as yours and sending emails to webmasters saying why you think it will help their site to have reciprocal links on the 2 sites and will help generate traffic.

Article Submissions

If you write quality articles then people will want to read them. If you submit these to Article Directories then people will see how good your content is, and come over to your site to have a look at your other articles.

Make sure in the articles you have a link back to your site with the link text (anchor text) the keywords related to your site.

This is now doing 2 things, it is link building and

helping with traffic back to your site when people click these links.

Directory Submissions

Submitting to web directories is a never ending task although it is probably the single most important way of link building. Make sure you start submitting your site to directories gradually rather than adding to 500 directories one day and then not bothering for a month. This is because Google and other search engines will think something fishy is going on if a site suddenly gets 500 backlinks.




The best thing to do is when you do it gradually is to add to say 100 directories to get you started and then every couple of days add to 20 more.

here are a lot of tools on the market for automatic directory submission but the best way is to add these manually because you never know what information a “bot” will use when it adds your site to all of those directories.

There are some of the best directories below with their PR (Google Page Rank) listed next to them.

http://www.dmoz.org 9
http://www.lii.org/pub/htdocs/home.htm 8
http://www.femina.com 7
http://www.gogreece.com 7
http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm 7
http://www.worldhot.com/ 7
http://www.123india.com/ 7
http://www.elib.org/ 7
http://www.ezilon.com/ 6
http://www.epooch.com/ 6
http://www.christiansunite.com/ 6
http://www.toronto1.biz/ 6
http://www.canadianeh.com 6
http://www.aardvark.co.za 6
http://www.nzs.com/ 6
http://www.aigam.com 6

Social Networking

Social Networking is a great tool for link building. If you are a user of Facebook or Myspace you will be able to build links back to your site quickly with bulletins, shared articles and other things to be able to gain lots of links and huge amounts of traffic.

If you are an advanced coder you will be able to code something like a Facebook Application which will be able to “give” the Facebook community something in return for your link being on their profile which could then be anything betweeen 1 and 1 million backlinks (Depending on how popular the application is)

Social Bookmarking

As well as Social Networking there is also Social Bookmarking (Confusing, huh?)

This is where you can share your favourite sites with friends and other internet users which can generate links and traffic.

There are many places where you can exchange social bookmarks with other people to add that extra link and when done hundreds of times again, builds backlinks.

The most popular Social Bookmarking sites are:

http://del.icio.us/ 8
http://www.digg.com/ 8
http://www.furl.net/ 8
http://www.diigo.com/ 6

Remember that Link Building is a very important process so put a couple of hours a week aside to go through and buid a few more back links or even pay somebody else to do this for you.

Senin, 18 Mei 2009

3 Steps to a Search Engine Compatible Site

By Kalena Jordan

Is your web site search engine compatible? Despite all the misinformation out there, it's very easy to design a web site that search engines will love. All you need to do is follow 3 simple steps:

1) Obey the Search Engine Guidelines

Nearly all search engines publish their own guidelines regarding the submission of sites, the type of sites they will accept and recommendations for optimized content. Google recently updated their Webmaster Guidelines which cover the most common forms of deceptive or manipulative search engine behavior that they consider to be 'spam'. They also published SEO Guidelines – advice for webmasters to heed when choosing an SEO. Google was the first search engine to publicly acknowledge search engine optimizers in this fashion.

It's not just Google publishing anti-spam guidelines. You'll find them at the following search engine sites as well:

2) Don’t Use Spammy Search Engine Tactics

Often, webmasters will use search engine spam techniques without even being aware that they are doing so. Or worse, web designers can - advertently or inadvertently - integrate techniques that could cause a site to be penalized in the site's rankings in one or more engines, without the site owner's knowledge of such penalties. The key to avoiding spamming the engines is research.
Keep track of the various search engine guidelines via the links above. Watch for any changes they make to these guidelines and tweak your site accordingly. Trawl the various webmaster and search engine forums regularly to ensure your site doesn't use any of the latest optimization methods that appear to be penalized. If you suspect your site has been penalized, remove the offending content, contact the engine concerned and ask to be reinstated.

Google actually encourage you to file a re-inclusion request via their Help Center and this post by Google staffer Matt Cutts outlines what should be included.

Alternatively, here is a sample email template you can use instead:

--------------------------------------------
Sample Re-inclusion Request Email

Dear [search engine name],

I am the owner of [your site URL].

I did not realize that participation in [spammy method] and
[spammy SEO name] programs could cause problems for my website. I was
assured that these techniques were search-engine-friendly by [your source for using spammy method].

I now understand that the practices used are not acceptable. I apologize for having allowed them to be placed on my website. I've removed the questionable pages and links from the site. I promise not to repeat such mistakes.

I am asking you to please consider reinstating my website,
[your site URL] into the [search engine name] Index.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
------------------------------------------

To assist them to provide a high quality service, search engines encourage people to report search results they are dissatisfied with. If you spot some content spam or techniques that are clearly in breach of the search engine's public guidelines, you can report it using these links:

3) Build Sites for Visitors Rather than Search Engines

The methodologies may have changed over the years, but the same principles have always applied to "good" or "white hat" SEO. Build sites for humans, not search engines. Make the site as user friendly as possible, avoid the bells and whistles and include high quality, relevant content.

Wherever possible, include text-based content and navigation menus with simple, descriptive, well-written copy designed to convert your visitors into customers. Include keywords and phrases your audience would logically type in to search engines to find sites like yours. Only link to sites that are relevant to your target audience and spend some time on usability, making sure all your forms and shopping carts work.

Remember that what pleases a visitor is almost always what pleases a search engine too.

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About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

Simple Social Networking Strategies to Increase Traffic to Your Site

One essential aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is social marketing. In simple terms, social marketing is an approach that makes use of ‘philosophy’ to pay attention to the specific needs of the target. This is done by gathering people with common interests, making it possible to create an interactive community. Through website technology including forums, blogs, outbound and inbound links, and social networking sites (Myspace, Facebook, Digg, etc.), social marketing becomes a convenient way to increase company gains.

In order to start right out in integrating social marketing strategies with SEO, a plan must be developed first. Moreover, there should be detailed research regarding the target’s needs, most especially since the approach is customer-oriented. It may also be helpful to consult with firms specializing in Internet Marketing. These firms will provide invaluable information and insights on how different approaches work together in maximizing company results. Once you have a better understanding of the various strategies, you can now employ the ones suitable for your needs.

Social marketing involves creating a community where people with shared interests come together to state opinions and ask questions. This can be done by setting up forums or discussion boards on your website. The key here is to generate interaction among the members of your target audience. A vast majority of consumers do online research before making any purchases; forums are helpful in providing information regarding customer inquiries.

Also consider setting up a blog that contains relevant posts that discuss the services and products that your company offers. The information that you will provide may be very well appreciated by your readers. Place links to other websites and blogs that relate to your blog content. Social networking sites including Facebook, Myspace, Digg, and many others might also have useful and interesting content that you can link to. Feature and subscribe to appropriate RSS feeds, so that your readers have a reason to frequently visit your site.

Moreover, it is necessary to keep the forum and blog posts updated and fascinating for people to read. Also remember to use optimized keywords or phrases naturally in your content and titles. Do not let your online community become sedentary; encourage readers to engage in discussions and exchange of fresh ideas and opinions. This way, search engines are more likely to index your site’s content, thus, increasing traffic.
With an effective plan and strategies in place, integrating SEO and social marketing is not a difficult task.