Search engine optimization is the art and science of making web pages appear attractive to the search engines. The better optimized a website is, the higher the ranking it will receive from a search engines web crawlers, the higher its ranking the more traffic your website will have, the more traffic your website has the more profit your website will generate. The key is good internet search engine optimization.

Why is having a receiving a high ranking so important to the future success of your online business? Studies have shown that consumers seldom look at websites that don’t rank a spot on of the first two pages the search engines displays. Websites that receive a ranking that places them on the third page (or any other pages after that) see a significantly lower amount of traffic at their websites then one that is ranked on the second page. There is even a staggering difference between the first and second page. In the world of e-commerce ranking and strong search engine optimization is everything.

At first search engine optimization may feel like trying to rappel down the Grand Canyon, a huge scary world full of big words like web crawlers, PageRank, Meta tags, and algorithms. You’ve never heard of any of these things. A quick internet search of the world algorithm doesn’t help; all you got was a printout of strange symbols and numbers arranged in complex algebraic equations.

Sit back, take a deep breath, and try to relax. Search engine optimization is a lot simpler then you might think. First things first.

Algorithms really are every bit as complex as they look. Simply defined they are a finite set of carefully defined instructions. Most, if not all, computer programs are designed with strict algorithms.

PageRank is simply the program Google designed to search, index, and rank it registered webpage’s. PageRank operates on a link analysis algorithm. PageRank is credited for Google incredible success.

Web crawlers are tools search engines use to browse the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. When web crawlers are browsing websites they are looking for algorithms.

Meta tags are special HTML tags that provide information to about a web page. Meta tags are written directly into the title tag and are only visible to the search engine.

The reality of search engine optimization is that you can start to optimize your website without any knowledge at all of the technical stuff involved in search engine optimization. Simply stated the very first step in designing a website that is going to be well ranked by the search engines is to create a content rich site. What this means is that you must cram as much information about your product into your website as you possibly can.

The third step to search engine optimization is to fill your site with keywords that will attract the web crawler’s attention. The final step in a wonderfully optimized website is to submit it to the search engine that will compliment it.

By: alexi

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

About the author

alex has been writing articles for site fantasticfreesite.com . To contact alex send email to alexhamish@yahoo.com. You are welcome to add this article to your site,blog,ezine,or anywhere else only requirement is author bio and link back to site fantasticfreesite.com

If you get your site listed in Dmoz you’ll get a back link on all those sites. Last estimate was over 100,000 sites use the data. That can be a good thing to have your link on 100,000 sites.
That is where Dmoz Resurce Zone comes into play. Dmoz Resurce Zone is a forum run by the editors of Dmoz.

The editors that frequent Dmoz Resource Zone are there to guide through the process of getting your site in the directory.

There are many forums dedicated to SEO, but, Dmoz Resource Zone is the only one dedicated to only Dmoz. It really should be the one place to visit to get tips to help you get your site listed. The editors are hard working and dedicated to making Dmoz a spam free resource and want to make sure it is the best resource on the web. Only the highest quality sites get listed. No cookie cutters allowed.
Since the editors of Dmoz own and operate Dmoz Resource Zone the advice you get will be the best.
So if you’re interested in making all that hard work configuring your server and building you site payoff stop by Dmoz Resource Zone. The editors are friendly and will be more than willing to help you get your site up to Dmoz standards so it can be listed in the best resource index.

PageRank, in a nutshell, is determined by an algorithm loosely explained as follows: the more sites which link to any given site (site A), the higher the PageRank of site A. This does come with a couple of caveats, however:

1) The PageRank of the sites which link to site A determines the importance of their link – in other words, sites with higher PageRanks cast votes with more weight than sites with lower PageRanks

2) Regardless of the PageRank of the external site linking to site A, a one-way, inbound link will carry more weight than a reciprocal link.

3) PageRank is only one of over 100 factors used to determine a site’s organic search ranking – so, while a high page rank is desirable, it is not the determining factor in achieving top rankings – which can only be achieved by a quality, thorough search optimization performed by a trained professional.

The first caveat above is relatively straightforward: if you look at a link to a site as a “vote” for that site, greater credence is given to sites which Google considers more important (higher PageRank). So, it is always best to seek links from sites with a relatively high PageRank. Of course, these links are harder to obtain, because sites with high PageRanks are less likely to want to “bleed” PageRank to lesser important sites.

The second caveat may come as a bit of a surprise to you – reciprocal linking does little, if anything, anymore, in determining the PageRank of a site. While at one time any link to a site was considered a “vote” for that site, Google soon realized that in the case of reciprocal linking (where two sites link to one another), the existence of the link was not so much a vote for that site as it was indicative of an agreement between two web site owners to exchange links for the purposes of artificially inflating their PageRank. The omnipresence of link exchange schemes is evidence of the flawed thinking that any links, no matter what, are valuable.

Reciprocal linking is wrought with perils, not the least of which is that while you cannot control who links to you, and are not punished for it, if you link to an external site which engages in known search engine spamming techniques (such as link farming), you will be penalized for linking to a “bad neighborhood”. Google especially does not like attempts to manipulate its ranking algorithms, and it deals harshly with sites which engage in practices which are a violation of its Terms of Inclusion, or sites which link to these sites. I have seen many, many well intentioned individuals end up greylisted or blacklisted by Google because of innocent efforts to improve their PageRank through link exchanges or other schemes. It is important to remember that, 9 times out of 10, you are not smarter than Google. Therefore, anything you do to try to artificially increase your ranking will likely get you penalized – because they know all of the tricks in the book, and even some that aren’t in the book.

This is why one way, inbound links are so important. You are not at risk of linking to a bad neighborhood, and your links are not discounted due to reciprocity. But, how can we obtain one way, inbound links? Well, the answer, in the abstract, is fairly simple – give people something to which they will want to link. This is known as content.

Rich, quality, unique content not only makes search engines very happy, but it generates interest in your site, which generates the ever so valuable one way, inbound links. The most ethical, effective and quick way to obtain these quality inbound links is through the use of a weblog coupled with an outbound Atom XML or RSS site feed.

A weblog is simply a means by which you can add fresh content to your site on a regular basis, say once per week, by spending thirty minutes or so writing a brief article about what it is you know about – it can be your product, your industry, whatever. The important thing is that you are providing fresh, rich, unique content on a regular basis. This is powerful, as Google also has implemented a new “freshness” algorithm, by which sites with regularly updated, fresh content rank higher than stale, static sites. Additionally, when you implement an outbound XML or RSS feed, coupled with content syndication, your content then automatically appears on third party web sites who subscribe to your feed. Each time you update your site, their site is automatically updated as well with your new content. The most amazing thing about this technology is that, by default, when your content appears on a third party site, it automatically generates an anchor text link back to your site, for which you do not reciprocate. That is your benefit as the content provider – you get the one way, inbound link, and the third party site gets to use your content! You can quickly build hundreds or thousands of one way, inbound links by using this technology, and under the guiding hand of a trained search engine optimization professional, who will perform the necessary installations and site optimization, then train you on how to write your articles and syndicate your content.

I know this all sounds confusing — but it is really quite simple, and takes less than thirty minutes per week! Many people say, “I am not a writer,” or “I don’t have thirty minutes a week”. Well, how much are you already paying for your pay per click or other marketing campaigns? Would thirty minutes per week be worth your while if it would eliminate the costly, recurring fees of paid inclusion and other marketing schemes, by allowing you to appear in the organic search results for your relevant keyphrases? Most certainly, it usually is worth it!

As to the third caveat above, by all means, do seek to improve your PageRank. However, perform any search on Google and take a look at the sites listed in the top ten or twenty results, and you will see that they are not ranked according to their PageRank. So, to insist on increased PageRank as the defining factor of a quality search engine optimization is missing the point. Search engine optimization should only be measured by increased traffic over time – not the performance of any one particular keyphrase or PageRank.

—–

About the Author:
Matt Foster is the President of ArteWorks Business Class, http://www.arteworks.biz, and is an expert in search engine optimization, regularly achieving top rankings for his clients. Mr. Foster has been active in the industry since 1995. For further information, or to begin the process of optimizing your site for search engines, please contact Mr. Foster toll free at 877-812-2217, or by email to matt@arteworks.biz.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com

Search engine optimization requires a careful keyword analysis and placing these keywords at proper places in the website. I am a professional SEO and in this article I will highlight few important SEO tips that you should follow in order to secure good search engine rankings.

(1) Page design: Don’t design a ‘frame based’ website.

(2) Targeted keyword research and selection: Go to the Overture tool and select the right keywords. Instead of using single words, try using keywords phrases. Focus on niche market. For instance, if you sell ‘antiques’, then instead of using ‘antiques’ as your keyword, use something like ‘ Italian antiques’ ‘brass antiques’ etc.

(3) Keywords density and placements: It is usually agreed that keywords must be placed at the top more than the bottom of the page. You can check the density of keywords using keyword density tool available online.

(4) Web log analysis: A very important parameter. Analyze your web logs carefully, know what pages are most read, which pages on your site have maximum exit, how much time visitors spent on your site and so on. This will help you understand importance of each page of your website. In turn, this will give you an idea as to which pages need development.

(5)Meta tags- h1 to h7, title, description etc: If you are not good at html, don’t worry too much. Fortunately there are many automatic Meta tag creator tools. Use one of these and put on your web pages.

(6) Image Optimization: Heard of “alt” tags ever? The alt tag is used to assign title and description for each image that is used on the website. Alt tag looks something like this: alt=” keywords of the webpage” title=”title of your site”

(7) Directory submissions: As soon as you have booked the domain, submit your site to as many online directories and SEs as possible.

(8) Viral Marketing: Don’t forget to tell your friends, family and relatives about your recent achievement!

(9) Link popularity: Link popularity is a measure of how famous your site is on the Internet. Think of inbound links as references to your site. The more the inbound links, higher your website’s page rank is. Try building links from high PR sites. You can either exchange links or build one way only. Either way it helps.

Primrose Gandhi is a Website Designer and SEO, helping businesses create an online presence.

Author: Primrose Gandhi
Home page: http://www.koogra.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Primrose_Gandhi

Due to a large number of competing pages for generic terms, optimisers should focus on selecting keywords that have a reasonable amount of searches and a minimal amount of competing pages. The key is to focus on a small list of keywords, say 20 to 30, and then once a strong presence has been made for those keywords the list can be expanded to include slightly more generic terms.

Having said that, selecting keywords with less search numbers doesn’t necessarily result in less visitors to your website. Search engine users these days tend to refine their searches to more specific keywords since they are given a broad range of websites when they use the generic terms. For example, if you have people wanting to buy a car, most search engine users will enter the phrase “buy car”. Once they are given a wide range of websites to choose from, they will in most cases change their search to include a car model type. For those who have optimised for the more refined phrases, the more likely they are going to get an interested buyer.

For those of you who are looking for a good keyword tool, Wordtracker and Overture is a good place to start. To determine the number of competing pages for a keyword phrase, enter that phrase into a search engine and look at the number of pages indexed. As a rule of thumb, I always tend to select keyword phrases that have less than a million pages indexed in Google or Yahoo.

With all that in mind, provided you target selected keywords that have a reasonable amount of search numbers and a minimal amount of competing pages along with proper optimisation practices, you should be able to achieve a strong presences in search engines over a period of time.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com

About The Author:
David Touri is a search engine optimisation specialist working for SEO Sydney. He has worked on many projects and offers ethical search engine optimisation services to companies in Australia. For further information, please visit http://www.seosydney.com.au.