Posts Tagged Search Engine Optimization

Free Internet Marketing Tools Every Webmaster Should Have

FREE Internet Marketing Tools

Blog directories, Domain Search, Keyword Analyzer and much more

  • Google AdWords

    This Keyword Tool allows you to enter one keyword or phrase per line for each keyword suggestions. This will help you better target your online ads.
  • 7Search.com

    This Keyword Suggestion Tool allows you to enter keywords or keyword phrases in order to get additional keywords and keyword phrases suggestions.
    You’ll also be able to see how many searches were done for the last month on this site for each keyword and phrase.
  • Keyword Finder Tool

    This tool will show you Google & Yahoo suggestions on the same page. Just type in the keywords you are researching and you will get
    many other keyword suggestions.
  • RSSTop55 – Top 55 Blogs and RSS Submission Sites

    It is a great site if you have a blog and you want to get exposure for it. It lists over 100 places where you can register your blog.
  • Nameboy Domain Search

    This is a pretty nifty website that will help you find the perfect domain name, even when you run out of ideas.
  • LunarPages

    Great hosting company with competitive prices. You can also register your new domain name for free when you sign up for hosting.
  • JustHost

    Another solid hosting company with unbeatable prices and a ton of features. Includes unlimited disk space and unlimited email accounts.
  • KeyWord Typo Generator

    This script is designed to generate common typing mistakes for a list of keywords for use in AdWords, Overture and other Pay Per Click systems.
  • Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool

    This is a great website when you are looking for lists of related search terms based upon a term or keyword you enter related to your web site.
  • SEO Digger

    The SEO Digger will allow you to research what keywords your site ranks high enough to be in the Google Top 20.
  • Compete.com

    This wonderful tool will show you the traffic trends for competing websites, allowing you to compare sites side by side.
  • Search Engine Saturation

    Search Engine Saturation helps you compare how many pages you have in the search indexes against your competitors’ sites.
  • Robots.txt Checker

    This is a “validator” that analyzes the syntax of a robots.txt file to see if its format is valid as established by Robot Exclusion Standard
    or if it contains any errors.
  • Keyword Suggestion Tool

    This free tool will show top keyword phrases from Overture.
  • Link Harvester

    Link Harverster allows you to deeply query the Yahoo database and gives a good amount of link details.
  • Density Analyzer

    This tool will allow you to find common words and phrases on your site.
  • SEO Book

    Good resource documentation about Free Search Engine Optimization Tools on SEO Book.
  • Website Spell Checker

    One of the worst things you can do is publish a misspelled website. This site will help you identify those mistakes.

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5 Quick & Dirty Steps to Eliminate Blogger’s Block

 

 “What Should I write about? Who would be interested in what I know?” I hear this a lot when entrepreneurs start being active on their blogs. They are all experts in their field of interest but somehow they assume everyone else is too.

I used to think that but soon I found out that  many people, for instance, failed to understand the importance of SEO for their websites. For those who still don’t know – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

So bloggers, here’s my technique – feel free to share it and apply it in your work:

1. Pick a subject, any subject you feel you know best or can easily research it; preferably some kind of problem lots of people are confronted with. Describe in 2-4 sentences what the problem is.

2. Identify your audience. In other words – who are writing this for? Who are the people affected by this problem?

3. How can the problem be fixed? List all tools, techniques, methods, links, people, resources, etc. that can help solve the problem. Be succinct with your list but give enough information that everyone can understand.

4. Create the list in a bullet form (people love lists) with links to the each resource.

5. Write a brief conclusion with the benefits of solving the problem “your way” and leave it open for comments and/or questions.

What do you think? Try it out and let me know if this method works for you.

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Top 10 Awesome Tips for Improving Your Online Presence

Here are 10 awesome tips on how you can improve the online presence for your business:

  1. Submit Your Business to Local Listings
    Do a local search for your business make sure your listing is up to date and accurate so customers get the right information about your business.
  2. List Your Business in the Correct Category
    Very often the owner (or the webmaster creating the website) categorizes the business listing in the wrong category. Include as many relevant categories as possible to your business to attract customers. 
  3. Add or verify your business listing with data providers for search engines
    Search engines and local search sites use data providers (e.g. InfoUSA, Localeze, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, etc.) and it’s very important that you update their listing of your business. 
  4. When Possible Include product / service keywords in your local business listing title
    This tactic will help customers find your business more easily on search engines and you will be ranked higher in the process.
  5. Check the Accuracy of Your Full Name and address on all search sites and especially your website
    A full and accurate address generates a sense of trust for both customers and for search engines so make sure that wherever you appear on the web, your information is up to date, accurate and consistent throughout.
  6. Hire a Professional and Build a Great Website with an Optimized Number of Keywords and Good Content
    Your company website is the image project on the web to the rest of the world. Show the world you care about your image, your business and your customers with a unique, easy to navigate website. Stay away from cheap imitations, standard templates and cookie cutters (one size fits all) websites. If you want to stand out from the crows so should your website/blog.
  7. Get your customers to write online reviews and testimonials about your business
    Many customers look for objective reviews before they decide where to spend their money. Online reviews of your business can also contribute to your ranking on search engines as they give credibility to your business and puts your potential customers at ease.
  8. Encourage your customers to talk well on and offline about you
    Create more “buzz” around your business. Customer feedback is always good and you an use that to your advantage to improve your business.
  9. Understand and use social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Flickr, etc. to stay in touch with customers and attract new ones
    Use these sites to form a community for your business – this is a good way to communicate with existing customers, advertise sales or specials, and a good way to be visible to potential customers. 
  10. Create a Blog and be active on others as well
    This is the cheapest way to sort of “toot your own horn” on line. It only takes time to research and write on your blog but very soon you might be able to attract more and more people who enjoy your products and/or services. In addition – your website and thus the company’s brand will rank higher in the search engines. This might not be sufficient unless you also find other blogs within your niche and become an active contributor.

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5 Questions You Should Ask a SEO Company

SEO Google on DefactoMindFirst of all – familiarize yourself with basic SEO jargon like: internal/external links, meta tags, titles, pagerank, etc. 

This way at least you know what the SEO company is talking about when they make the sales pitch.

Personally, I noticed that the shady ones are often hiding behind geek lingo trying to paint you in a corner by throwing these words at you, thus proving that they know what they are talking about.

You can cut that conversation short and find out how credible and professional they are by asking 5 little questions. Here they are:

  1. What kind of results should you be able to see and how long will it take to get there?
  2. What experience do you have in my industry and how long have you been doing this?
  3. Show/send me examples of your previous work and success stories. Can I contact some of these people?
  4. Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
  5. What other marketing services do you offer besides SEO?

Just keep this list by your phone and take notes while they answer these questions. I’m sure you are a pretty seasoned business individual so you should be able to spot the shady ones right away. You can download a quick and easy PDF document of “Questions to ask a SEO company” right here.

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SEO – What is it Good For? Absolutely Everything!

According to Jupiter Research almost 40% of people searching the web actually purchase something. In all cases, they focus on page 1 and sometimes page 2. The percentage of info seekers decreases tremendously starting with page 3 of any search engine.

The dirty little secret you probably don’t know is that 72% of all people who search Google click on the organic search results, ignoring the paid ads section. I do. Don’t you?

SEO - What is it Good for?

Based on these findings, logic will tell you that your website/blog should be listed on the top 1-2 pages of every search engine page. To accomplish this you’ll need a solid and powerful SEO behind your site.

So does SEO matter? Heck Yes!

Here are some things you need to understand before you hire a SEO company or even contemplate on doing yourself SEO for your site:

 1. SEO is an ongoing activity and it stops when your company doesn’t need a web presence anymore.
This is not a “set it” and forget it” task. It’s a long time strategy that needs constant attention and fine tunning as you go.

2. SEO results are not immediate nor permanent.
Whoever is telling you otherwise you should seriously dispute their knwoeldge of the web.

3. If you want to do solid SEO (mainly based on fresh content), think of your site as a weekly or monthly newsletter.
Update it as much as you can and you got yourself a dynamic and fresh site every time.

4. Tag everything (images, links, video, etc.) and link to relevant sites.
Link internally between your pages and ask others to link to your site.

5. Pure SEO is not about TRAFFIC – it’s about QUALIFIED TRAFFIC.
What good does it do that your site list on position 2 on the first page for a “company that sells oranges” when you in fact are “selling space ships”?

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