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Search Engine Optimization: Why is it important?
The internet can still be considered as a new frontier and a website constantly faces a tough competition in order to be heard and be noticed amidst so many other websites who are all vying for the attention of millions of internet surfers every single day. This would be relatively easy if each website is unique unto itself but it is a reality that there are many websites out there that would most likely tackle the same subjects or offer very similar services. In this kind of scenario, how can one make his website standout and be noticed. The best way to really stand above the crowd in the internet is by paying very close attention to how a website is built as well as how contents are composed and links used in the website. A website should not only look good and have content that is well written and useful, it should also be done in a way wherein each element is focused on making it more visible to search engines ” which tremendously helps its popularity. This is where the science and art of search engine of optimization comes in. Optimizing a website in order to become attractive to search engines as well as other websites needs adept handling and planning. There are many elements needed to be managed and tweaked in order to make a website fully optimized for search engines. Among these are: Keyword optimization ” Content is very important as it helps drives visitors to a website. The fresher and more updated the content is the better it is for the website. Webmasters should add as much relevant content to the website as possible. But be aware of keywords too. Content will not be as effective if it is not embedded with the relevant keywords for the website. Keyword optimization is considered by many as a cornerstone of all the other search engine optimization processes and methods. Linking strategy ” A good strategy for establishing links with other sites and pages that are relevant to the website and its contents are very important. There are site owners who think that inserting links to other websites is self defeating as it will drive traffic away from the site. But in actuality it is very important because these links help your website acquire a reputation for being an expert in the fields or subjects common to the sites. For example, if you have a website on ethnic music, the more websites on ethnic music link to your site the better it is for your website s reputation. This ultimately helps the website s standing or ranking in search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN. Using keyword phrases for linkages is also a great idea as it helps in keyword density. Any webmaster or website owner can implement their own search engine optimization strategies. But for those who find the whole work daunting and much too technical, there are also companies that offer search engine optimization services. It is up to the website owner to decide which step to take.

Hanu Nirukurti runs the SEO Source to help webmasters get their sites ranking at the top Google s search results. To get more information on search engine optimization and how to improve your website s ranking, please visit-: http://www.theSEO-source.com

Yahoo To Prohibit Competitive Keyword Bids Containing Trademarks
Yahoo Search Marketing (searchmarketing.yahoo.com) has recently announced its advertisers of a new policy to be implemented as of March 1st 2006, concerning the use of trademarks within their products and services *.

Under the new policy, no reference to a trademark can be made (except for ads placed by the trademark owners themselves, obviously), and consequently no bids can be make for keywords containing such trademarks. Exceptions refer to usage of trademarks in non-competitive ads, such as those made by re-sellers, or in informative (and still non-competitive) ads.

The previous policy allowed references to competitors’ trademarks and comparisons as long as they were “objective and informative” - the formulation makes me cringe, as it is clearly troublesome trying to evaluate one?s objectivity when speaking of business competitors. As for the “informative” side of it? the probability for someone to actually PAY for an ad to be informative of someone else?s product/service, that?s as believable just like the existence of Santa Claus.

It is really good to see Yahoo making a big step forward in regulating abuse and misuse of trademarks, even though that probably translates in some revenue loss for them, by having certain advertisers migrate to a “friendlier” place such as Google. According to Google’s policies, “[…] advertisers may select trademarked terms as keywords or use them in the content of the ad. As a provider of space for advertisements, Google is not in a position to arbitrate trademark disputes between advertisers and trademark owners. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, advertisers are responsible for the keywords and ad text that they choose to use. Accordingly, Google encourages trademark owners to resolve their disputes directly with the advertiser, particularly because the advertiser may have similar ads on other sites. However, as a courtesy to trademark owners, Google is willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints.”

The question is why would Yahoo change its policies and apparently offer Google an even bigger bite from the SEM cake? It is way too early to say now, and their official explanation is not entirely believable: Yahoo states to have had the users’ best interest in mind, by providing them with a better experience when searching terms that contain trademarks. Though this would make a laudable initiative with a good PR potential, experts know the search market is driven by large publishers and advertisers and not by the little surfing guys. Numerous speculations can be made: threats of large legal actions from trademark owners, pressure from certain groups of interests are among the most vehiculated ones.

However, a more plausible one is that Yahoo makes preparations for a much larger scale movement destined to influence the market in a manner we cannot anticipate just yet.

Until further industry news, there’s one thing to rejoice: from now on, no “better than Botox” ads on Yahoo and their partner sites!

* - the products and services covered by the new policy are: Sponsored Search, Local Advertising, Search Submit, Product Submit, Travel Submit and Directory Submit.

Otilia is an e-Marketing expert. She publishes MarketingWHO.com, a <a href="http://www.marketingwho.com">Marketing Links Directory</a>, and TeaWithEdge.com - <a href="http://www.teawithedge.com">Marketing & e-Marketing Articles and Resources</a>.

SEO Tips: How to Select Keywords
When beginning a Search Engine Optimization campaign, there are a few basic steps that every SEO knows to take before they begin. The first is always to build a keyword list of which there are varying methods of doing so. The right methods will aid you in creating and supporting a site-wide SEO strategy. The wrong methods will run you in circles, wondering what went wrong.
It is the intent of this article to teach an effective method of keyword selection that will enable you to land more keywords on the first page with less work.
Getting Started: Know the Site

To create a great keyword list, you will need to know your website backwards and forwards. You should know what the site features, and just as importantly, you should know what it doesn t feature.
The first step is to brainstorm a list of somewhat generic keywords. For example, if you are a shoe store in Poughkeepsie, the temptation will arise to try and rank number 1 for the term shoes. Well, that s a start, but ranking for the word shoes is probably aiming a little too high for a mom and pop shop in Upstate New York, which is why it s very important that you know the site well enough to come up with a good list of pseudo-generic modifiers for your keyword:

• Location (Poughkeepsie shoes, shoes upstate New York, shoes 12601)
• Price (cheap shoes, affordable shoes, quality shoes, comfortable shoes etc)
• Types (running shoes, walking shoes, jogging shoes etc)
• Industry specific (anti-pronation shoes)

1. The number of searches on a particular keyword (already got those from Overture)
2. The Amount of Competition (I ll show you how to find your competition in this section.)
3. Will the keyword lead to conversions (this is up to you)

1. Do a search for one of your keywords
2. On the first SERP find the last listing with the keyword in the title tag that is either a homepage of any kind or is a sub-page which is not associated with a domain whose Pagerank is greater than 6. (This is the page you will need to beat, if one does not exist, ranking will generally be easier)
3. Find out how many unique links with the keyword in the anchor text whose linking page has a Pagerank of 1 or higher for the competitor (This is how many quality backlinks you ll need to acquire)

• Having the keyword in the page title
• Having the keyword in anchor text pointing to the page

1. Go to http://www.startlaunch.com/research/
2. Copy your list of keywords into the box, click submit
3. Click on each link
4. Find and copy the number of pages that the search engine returns for this query from the top right of the SERPs to a new column next to the corresponding keyword in your keyword list spreadsheet (this is your competition).
5. In another new column, divide the number of competitors by the number of monthly searches for each keyword.
6. Sort the table from low to high (ascending) using that column.

• Running shoes, Shoes for running and buy running shoes online
• Web design in Atlanta, Atlanta Georgia web design, Atlanta web site design

Mike Bradbury is an employee of Objectware, Inc, an <a href="http://www.objectwareinc.com">Atlanta web design company</a> specializing in <a href="http://ecommerce.objectwareinc.com">ecommerce solutions</a>, custom web applications, wireless integration, search engine marketing and <a href="http://ecommerce.objectwareinc.com">custom shopping cart software</a>. Mike is a search engine analyst for Objectware, creating value for clients by building greater search engine visibility.

Why Be Like The Loser Next Door Without This Proper Search Engine Optimization? Posted By : Brian Lam
This article shows you how you can use search engines optimization or SEO and its tools to boost your site traffic and profits through top organic search results, else you will be like a loser.

Google Wins The Battle For AOL
Linknet Internet News Digest - December 23, 2005 - It looked like Microsoft had a deal with AOL to replace Google as the AOL search engine of record and provider of online advertising services. This looked like a fantastic coup for Microsoft — one that would make them a serious Google competitor on the search engine and online advertising front.

But that deal fell apart last week and culminated in a phone call on December 16 in which AOL told Microsoft the deal was off.

Google sweetened their offer and AOL went for it. Under the new deal, Google will pay $1 billion for 5% of AOL — about twice the market value — and will continue to share advertising revenue with AOL.

The stakes couldn’t have been much higher for both companies. AOL accounts for about 11% of Google’s revenue, and to have lost to Microsoft would have meant a significant shift in the search engine wars. Microsoft would have gained overnight credibility for both its search and advertising services.

On the AOL side, this deal stems recent criticism that the company is floundering with nowhere to go. Not only does this represent a re-valuation of AOL, but bolsters its efforts to diversify its services and move towards being something other than just a glorified ISP. For instance, Google has committed to promoting AOL’s services in sponsored links, including a valuable collection of online videos that have been languishing.

As for Microsoft, it is back to the drawing board. Time will tell whether the AOL deal helps or hurts Google. But in the meantime Gates and company have been effectively blocked from using AOL to help them cut Google down to size.

==>Microsoft working on another deal?

Meanwhile, in a classic Microsoft move, the company let it be known they are in discussions with another “tier 1 internet company” to form an alliance to counter the Google/AOL deal.

In his blog, Ian McAllister, an MSN program manager wrote, “At the end of the discussion one of the people I was meeting with threw out a blanket offer to brainstorm other ways in which our companies might work together,” McAllister wrote in the blog posting “He then stated that his company was willing to entertain ideas for working with Microsoft that would help our search and/or advertising business, with one of the goals being to prevent Google from dominating those spaces even more than they are now.”

Nobody is saying who this other company is, and what they can bring to the table. Yahoo has been mentioned, but that is unlikely since they have little to gain from helping Microsoft win market share in an area in which they are so active.

Some industry analysts think it is likely the other company is a large high-speed Internet connectivity provider such as Comcast or AT&T Inc. Joe Wilcox, senior analyst with Jupiter Research suggests this is the logical move for Microsoft. “Microsoft would certainly benefit if say a Comcast or some other broadband providers with popular portals chose MSN as the default search,” according to Wilcox.

These broadband providers are the very companies that are eating away at AOL’s market share. As dial up subscribers shift to broadband they ultimately end up with a major provider like a cable company or telco. So it makes sense for Microsoft to pursue alliances with these providers.

Either way, it is not wise to count Microsoft out just yet.

Rick Hendershot publishes <a href="http://www.linknet-news.com">Linknet News</a> in article and RSS format. To put your text link in this space on potentially hundreds of articles, see <a href="http://www.linknet-promotions.com/news.php">Linknet News Promotions</a>.

Making your website search engine friendly

Making your website search engine friendly

Search engines happen to be one of the fundamental ways that Internet users find web sites. That’s the reason a web site with good search engine listings can see a dramatic increase in traffic. Good listing remains atop on the wish list of every website owner. However, it is common knowledge that many web sites do poorly in search engine rankings. Or worst still, they may not be listed at all because they fail to take into consideration how search engines work.

Finding out ways and means to get visitors to come to your Web site can be a fairly challenging task. Here comes search engine optimization to bail you out. Search engine optimization means making it sure that your web pages are accessible to search engines and focused in such ways as will improve the chances they will be found.

When you focus on search engine optimization, you do not employ tricks or hacks, but instead write your pages so they provide exactly what your customers want whilst simultaneously showing it to the search engines effectively.

Here’s how you go about it.

Choose your target phrase

If you wish search engine optimization to work for you, you have to determine one phrase that best describes what your page is all about. This is precisely what is called target phrase. In choosing target phrase, following points should be borne in mind:

• Your phrase should be an important part of the page information.
• It should be accurate. One of the commonly tried hacks with search engine optimization is to try to optimize on a phrase that isn’t accurate for the content of the page. It is better to simply avoid it. It may backfire.
• It should be popular . Your target phrase should be one that people are likely to search you with.

You can resort to the following search engine optimization tools to better choose your target phrase.

• Overture is an effective tool for assessing popularity as well as brainstorming ideas for target phrases.
• Google is highly useful for brainstorming target phrases.
• Word Tracker will be of your help in assessing popularity and also comparing how the competitors use the target phrase you’re after.

Evaluate your competition

One of the vital things to focus on while developing your web-site presence is to evaluate your competition and rival competitors. Attempt an analysis what’s working for them; how they market their products and services, and even evaluate their target phrase and description tags.

One thing here may be taken note of that the more popular a target phrase is, the more competition there is likely to be. Sometimes, therefore, it makes sense to target a less popular phrase where you can corner the market rather than aiming for the highest popularity phrase.

The following do’s on your part will help you in this backdrop.

• Check out Yahoo and Google to see what shows up when you search for your target phrase.
• Examine the pages on the first page; analyze where and how they use your target phrase. You can use the "Cached" page option in Google to get your targeted phrase highlighted.

Make your website content driven

Search engines, especially search giant, Google loves content, content, and content. The more rich content you provide using your keywords or target phrase the better you page rankings will be. The best method employed here is to update your pages 2 to 3 times a week, for an instance Monday, Wednesday and again Sunday. While updating the content regularly, you may work well on focusing on your keyword or target phrase.

Here are some significant points to be taken care of:

• Include your target phrase twice in the meta title tag <title> Ensure your title is "clickable". This is what most of the people see when they search, so keep your title logical and descriptive enough.
• Include your target phrase in the title or headline for your page. Put that headline using a header tag for your headlines, as search engines quite often weight words in these tags higher.
• Do not forget to include your target phrase in subheads, using header tags here too.
• Finally, make sure that you include your target phrase in the first paragraph of your page, and twice if you can. Also include it in other locations on the page, like external links, headlines, and sidebars.

Go for your site promotion

Make sure that when you announce your page, you use your target phrase in both the link text and any explanatory text. If you run a blog, you will want to blog your page with at least two references to your target phrase.

List your site in Link Directories that provide a specific category for your services, these are also effective ways to create inbound links as the more inbound links you have generated to your web-site the higher the page rank you are likely to get in Google.

The key consideration to getting your site noticed is to optimize the keywords and use them all over your site. Look for quality link partners that have the same services or products you offer. This is because if you link to a Tupper ware site and you offer fine wine, it isn’t going to do you much good as there is no common denominator.

List your sites in Link Directories that provide a specific category that best suits your site content and services.

Check Your results in top of the rankings

If Google or Yahoo don’t crawl your site on a periodic basis, then submit your page to them. Wait for a week or so, and then go to those engines and test your search engine optimization target phrase. You should aim to get to the first or second page of search results for your target phrase. Remember that this can not be done in a single shot; it is long, continuous process putting your patience to the test.

Search engine optimization strategies at a glance

Here is a recapitulation of warranted strategies aimed at facilitating your website topping the search engine rankings. But, be sure you do not give up or falter midway as it is an arduous to achieve yet potentially profitable proposition.

• Ensure that your website is tested for good load time, dead links and cross-browser compatibility . Netmechanic.com is a good website to do this.
• Optimize you web site pages . Make sure your top keywords appear in your title, meta tags and content.
• Provide quality content that have something unique to offer and that have keywords or key phrases people might search to find your site. If you are into selling products, give something away free (The word "free" is one of the top most searched for words on the net).
• Continually build quality links to your site pages from other well ranked sites on your target search engine.
• Enlist your top keywords and key-phrases and track your listings/ranking in the top 10 search engines and analyze it in a periodic manner
• Focus on your web site attractiveness and easy-to-use feature with clear navigation and easy to read layout and fonts.
• tay focused to cater to your visitors needs - don’t throw in a free-for-all links program to just attract traffic. In the long run your website will be recognized for what it is.

It’s worth sparing the time to make your site more search engine friendly, because some simple changes may pay off with big results. Even if you don’t figure in the top ten for your target keywords, you may find a beneficial clue for target keywords you aren’t anticipating.

Deepak Sharma is a <a href = "http://www.blueappleonline.com/web-design-advice/" target = "_blank">Web Designer</a> at BlueApple, a <a href= "http://www.blueappleonline.com" target="_blank">Web Design and Development Company</a> with a well connected development infrastructure in India having a strong portfolio with global clientele and offering superior web services and solutions at competitive costs.

Search engine optimization: How to get people to visit your site Posted By : Moe Tamani
Youve put a lot of effort into designing a website, either for yourself or for your business. You even put one of those counters at the bottom. But sadly, that counter is not moving very much, if at all. How do you get more people to look at your hard work?

Social media optimization, a source to become popular
I was browsing through my school album the other day and a picture of my classmates caught my attention. The memories of all the good times, bad times, the laughter, joy and tears overwhelmed me. The memories were so strong and it felt like it was just yesterday all this was happening. I lost touch with a majority of my classmates and being a mother of two young kids I understand how difficult it gets to meet and catch up with old friends. However, as we all know that it is technology that drives our world today and this has made all things possible for us. I came to know about social media platforms where you can find about almost everybody. Of course, that person will need to have an online profile, but then in today s world everyone has an online identity. Social media platforms have become so huge these days that you will find that many activities happening there. Social media optimization is the one strategy that is being undertaken on a huge scale by online business owners to popularize their site and business. Social media optimization has in fact come up as one of the best strategies that can be used for online marketing. The World Wide Web is overpopulated with online sites dealing with different types of information, selling services, products and many others. The whole ides is to popularize a site so that visitors do not face any difficulty in finding out whatever they are looking for. Most visitors on the web make sure of the search engines to find out anything on the web, so it is important for a site to have high search engine rankings. There are different methods through which one can optimize a site on the web; social media optimization and search engine optimization are some of the methods that are used for this. Social media optimization is one of the very popular methods and the reason for this is the increasingly large number of people who are active in different social media networking platforms like MySpace, Facebook, Orkut and several others. Just take a look around and you will find that the way in which people interact and keep in touch with others has undergone a sea change. So today, if you want to get in touch with your long lost classmates, you do not need to go back to the city or town where you went to school. Just log on to any of the social networking sites and you are bound to come across an online community of your school or college. Even if it happens that you do not come across any community on your school, college or university, you can just create one and make it a platform where you can interact with others. Social media optimization is being undertaken extensively and if you want your site to rank at the top of all major search engine results, this is what you must do extensively and regularly. By the way, I got in touch with many of my school friends through a social networking site.

Steve Waganer has specialization in Web Marketing. He is expert in Effective search engine optimization,Search engine marketing,<a href="http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com/social_media_optimization.html">Social media optimization</a>.To get the Seo tips from SEO firm for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit <a href="http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com">www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com</a>

Top 10 positive/negative factors
Here is some interesting statistic: Top 10 Positive Factors 1. Keyword Use in Title Tag 2. Anchor Text of Inbound Link 3. Global Link Popularity of Site 4. Age of Site 5. Link Popularity within the Site’… 6. Topical Relevance of Inbound Lin… 7. Link Popularity of Site in Topic… 8. Keyword Use in Body Text 9. Global Link Popularity of Linkin… 10. Topical Relationship of Linking … Keyword Use in Title Tag Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page’s HTML header EGOL Gets bolded in the SERPS and is a heavy hitter in optimization. Andy Hagans This title tag has consistently been the most important on-page SEO factor for the past few years. Russ Jones Most important for CTR in SERPS, but generally the most powerful HTML tag you have at your disposal. I chose moderately weighted because of the duplicate content issues. A good title tag can help a little, a bad title tag can ruin a page. Christine Churchill If you have time to do only one SEO action on your site, take the time to create good titiles. Elisabeth Osmeloski Not only is it one of your strongest chances to impact rankings, it is undoubtedly your BEST chance to convert a searcher to a visitor within the SERPS. Get the click, get the conversion. Chris Boggs We have seen great and rapid results modifying the keyword use in the title, especially for large branded sites that already have thousands of IBLs. Again, with everything, this is also dependent on the word’s usage within content and IBLs. Additionaly, the “prominence” of the keyword (closer to the begining) seems to help incrementally, espcially with sites that agree to place their brand name after the kw. The title has 4.9 of 5 importance. The next one is : Keyword Use in Body Text. It has only 3.7/5 importance. Here is what the experts says: Scottie Claiborne It is important to use the keyword phrase throughout the page where it makes sense. As engines get more sophisticated, it’s not just the targeted keyword phrase that counts, but the mix of all the words on the page that help to determine what the page is about. Aaron Wall If it is overdone it can suppress rankings. I think they are moving more toward topic analysis to learn what is relevant though. Michael Gray It is possible to rank pages without the text being on the page, but it requires a lot more effort from domain trust/authority, internal and external anchor text if it’s not. And here is the most common 19 misstakes made by the webmasters: http://www.googlepageranks.net/tips-tricks/2007/04/1/

Dimitar Petrov, SEO Beginner

Tips On Getting Your Web Site Spidered Quickly
The world of internet marketing is a highly competitive place. As a beginning internet marketer there are some basic things you should know about how search engines spider and index your web site. Unless the search engines find your web site and index it, there is no way the general public will know that it is there. After you have created your web site and chosen the products or services you want to provide, you will be ready to get your site listed with the search engines. When developing your marketing strategy, it is important to include a plan to get your web site spidered quickly. In order to get your site indexed you must let the search engine spiders know you are there in the first place. You may have wondered if there are ways to lure the spiders to your web site other than manual submission. The good news is that many SEOs recommend the following methods rather than submitting your pages directly. The best way to get your site spidered quickly is to link your web site to another site that is already indexed, that is related to your site, and that is spidered frequently. Having your site mentioned in news releases, blogs, and so on can get your site your web site spidered very quickly, sometimes within days. You can also use the more traditional methods including posting in forums and providing articles for the various article directories. If you choose this route, be careful not to spam. Follow the posted rules, give helpful answers, and do not go overboard on your “sig file”. Private forums are not always indexed, so make certain that the forums where you post display recent posts and are listed in search results. No matter which method you choose to get your web site spidered, you will need a good site map. A site map lists and links to all pages on your site. If your site consists of over approximately one hundred pages, consider using a multi-page site map. Make certain that every site map page links to all other site map pages. You should have a link to your site map on your home page and preferably on each of your pages. You should make sure your web site pages are simple and free of useless clutter. Getting your web site spidered quickly is the most important thing you can do to achieve success as an internet marketer. Using the methods suggested above can be very helpful in getting your web site indexed. ———- Paulina Jenkins http://www.24hourwebcash.com/jenkins3755 cheatle894@aim.com p.s. This article must be reprinted in its entirety

Paulina Jenkins http://www.24hourwebcash.com/jenkins3755 cheatle894@aim.com