I was compelled to publish this article after noticing several SEO specialists writing in reference to meta tags being dead or obsolite. Meta tags are not dead. I will be the first to say, meta tags are utilized by all major search engines and are very much in use and extremely important to search engine ranking. If you need proof of how important meta tags are, try removing your meta tags and watch what happens to your search engine positioning. Your site will plummet to the depths of the unvisited web. Meta tags are frequently an overlooked factor which can improve the ranking of most any website.


This is an example of how vital meta tags are to your webpage and to your search engine ranking. Our website ranks #6 and #7 consistantly on MSN for the keyword submit site. To test the dead meta tag theory, our source code editor changed one word in the meta description tag and we dropped to #15 in the search results. Our rankings on Google and several other search engines suffered even more so. Needless to say we made changes accordingly. All major search engines definitely utilize meta tags for a description of the webpage and for indexing within the search results.

The title tag is one of the most important on page factors to consider. This is because search engine spiders read this tag first and place a high level of importance on the keywords found there. The title tag is also used for the title of your listing in the search results. The contents of your title tag will also appear in the top left corner of the browser bar. Correct title tag optimization is essiential and will result in a dramatic increase in your search engine ranking. The title tag should contain at least one or more keywords to be of any relevance to the webpage.

Search engine spiders read the description meta tag next. This tag is often used as a website description in the search results. The description tag should also contain a few keywords. The keyword meta tag is also vital to search engine ranking giving search engine spiders a sample of relevant text and content within a webpage. Other meta tags include robots, resource, author, copyright etc. These tags are not as important as the title, description and keyword tag, however they should be included if possible. To acheive high search engine ranking optimize your meta data. Proper onpage optimization will greatly improve your search engine placement.

Author Bio
Article written by the CEO of www.submit-site.org

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

Traffic — And lots of it! It is the dream of every netrepreneur. After all, without steady stream of visitors — or should I say “potential customers” to your web site, how will you earn your e-fortune?


The first place most e-business start-ups go when they need a quick traffic fix is the search engines. And rightfully so! After all, a top ranking position in one of the major search engines is an effective way to increase the traffic to your web site without spending your hard-earned advertising dollars!

Statistics have repeatedly shown that anywhere from 20% to 80% of your visitors will find your web site via a search engine. However, you should also know that statistics show that most web surfers never search beyond the top 30 results they receive. With that in mind, it is clear that a top position a top position should be the goal of any savvy site owner.

But top spots are no longer achieved by crossing your fingers and blindly submitting your web site to 900+ search engines and directories using a free submission service. Competition for top spots is getting fierce, so it is important that you learn the “right” techniques if you want to ensure that your web site is well ranked… and it is very important that you do so while this great advertising medium is still FREE!

As I said before; for high traffic generation to your website, it is very important that your web site ranks in top spots in search engines. You may ask “What are the search engine looking for when they rank my web site?” Well, although each search engine uses different set of algorithms to rank web sites, but generally speaking, however, here are some of the main factors currently being considered by the search engines.

1. Link Popularity
Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, and the web pages search promotion of Yahoo! use a ranking system that involves measuring and ranking the number of links that are directed towards a particular web site. This is an extremely powerful traffic generation tools because:

Reason # 1
Building a well thought-out linking strategy is a powerful way to attract large volumes of high targeted traffic! By putting your web site on every major web “intersection” where your target market meets, you will ensure that your web site receives a steady flow of qualified potential customers.

Reason # 2
Links are equivalent to recommendations! They established credibility even before the visitor reaches your web site, dramatically increasing the likelihood that they will buy.

Think about it… David arrives at his favorite web site and notices that they have posted a link to your web site. He knows and trusts his favorite web site and therefore assumes that, because they have a linked to you, your business must be credible too. He clicks through the link to your web site and is immediately open to offers you present him with. Why? Because your credibility was established before he even arrived at your homepage!

Reason # 3
Since many search engines now factor link popularity into their ranking decisions, your linking strategies are all that much more important! If you want to be ranked as high as possible in search engines, you now need a factor in your link popularity – and, as you already know, earnings a top spot in the major search engines is key to increasing your web site traffic.

Obviously, developing a linking strategy that generates a high volume of targeted traffic to your web site is not an overnight process. It will take you anywhere from two weeks to six months to secure quality links you need. However, I promise you that it is worth the effort! Once you have done the initial footwork, the links that are established will remain on these web sites for years to come. Your perseverance will pay big dividends in the form of a continuous flow of targeted traffic generation.

2. Your Domain Name
A domain name plays a vital role in traffic generation to any web site. Domain names rich in keywords will rank higher in search engines because search engines love URL’s that are saturated with keywords! Brainstorm keywords and key phrases for your web site and then use them to create a catchy URL… or load the domain name with your best keywords to get ranked higher in the search engines.

3. Key Word Density
Keywords definitely refer to the number of times your keyword appears throughout your site. Your keyword density is a factor that is heavily weighted by search engines, so it’s very important to make strategic use of your keywords.

So, these are the golden facts and tactics through which you can drive high traffic to your web site. I should also mention that you do not expect to enter a couple of your top keywords into the search engines and instantly start making money through your web site, that is very rare. But yes, you can really make high traffic through search engines without crossing the line into “keyword stuffing” and with a little time.

Author Bio
Wayne Robinson is a senior marketing consultant with 7 years of experience and presently writing for eByro. If you want to take benefit of his experience and learn more marketing tactics visit eByro; the Vertical Portal for Internet Entrepreneurs at: www.ebyro.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

Optimizing your site for the best search results

Linking and Links to Your Site

Getting links to your site is one of the most important jobs you have when trying to properly optimize your site for search engine listings, regardless of which search engine you are attempting to get listed in. Having links to your site assures that it will be found by the spiders of the major search engines, and the more links coming to your site, the more pages from your site are going to be listed in any given search engine. The more popular the site, the more exposure you get, both from the search engines and the general browser. Link trading, or exchanging links to other sites on your page for links to your own on their site, is an excellent way to get started in getting some links to your site. There are thousands of sites out there with automated link exchange pages, where you simply fill out a form and place their link on a page of your site, and you get a link from theirs. You can easily get 20 to 50 links a day from such pages, although they aren’t as high quality as the others you can find.

Any site on the internet with a “Links” or “Resources” page can be a potential link exchange partner. Simply find the sites that relate to yours, even in a general sense, and send them an email requesting a link exchange. Be sure to have a link to their site on your links page and give them a link to the specific page their link is on. It also helps to have your links dispersed into categories, rather than having one long page with 1,000 links on it. This will make people more eager to trade links with you due to it being much easier to find their site on your links page. Keep a list of the sites you have emailed, and mark off which ones have or have not replied and have or have not placed a link to your site. If after two weeks no link is present, or the owner of the other site has not replied, simply delete their listing from your links directory and move on. There are enough sites out there, no matter what topic you relate to, that link exchanges are not difficult to find. These types of sites generally have a higher popularity and higher quality traffic than the instant submissions, although it does take a bit longer to accumulate the amount of links you need.

Another way to get links quickly would be to sign up at one of the various link exchange websites like linkpartners.com. These will usually charge a small subscription fee, but you will get a large amount of links in a relatively short amount of time. Remember when dealing with these type of sites to deal with only links from your particular category, as it will help more in the long run. Also, be careful who you link to within your own category. Try to stick with high-popularity websites that show up high in the rankings on your favorite search engine. Having quality over quantity with links, as well as most other optimizations, is vital if you plan on being ranked highly for any period of time.

Also, try to keep your links coming in. With a massive burst in incoming links that completely dies the next month, the search engines grow suspicious. Either try to spread out that massive burst out over the next few months, or keep the incoming links at or above the number you got last month. With this approach, the major search engines “see” that you are not only gaining in popularity rapidly, but you are continuing to grow in popularity instead of dieing out.

Content

Content is another major factor in how you will be ranking in the major search engines. Having fresh, new content every month, or better, every day, will show that your site is not stagnant. It will also keep your visitors happy. Nobody will come back if your site never changes… they will move on to one that is updated more often. A great way to do this is through goarticles.com or other article sites like it. You can copy an article to your site (leaving the article fully intact, of course… you don’t want to break any copyright laws) and have free, original content, every day if you would like. Again, it is best to use content that is directly related to your site, not only for the sake of your rankings (although you will have original content, it will not be related, and so it will be thrown out as “fluff” by the major search engines), but for your visitors as well. Nobody wants information on the newest video game when they visit a flower shop online.

Ever-changing, original content is very important to the search engines, as it shows your website is growing and popular. Even with one new article a day, you will be surprised at the results. If you have the time, you can even write your own articles and content and place them on your site. This content will be completely original, and nobody else on the internet will have a copy (or if they did, you can track them down and exercise your right to copyright as an author). Not only can you get original content by writing your own articles, but you can post them on goarticles.com for free with your name and a link to your site at the bottom. You provide content to the online community and they provide you links back to your homepage. A win-win situation either way you look at it.

Keywords

Keywords are words within your meta tags that you would like the search engines to list you under and pay special attention to. Picking keywords can be tedious and difficult at times, but good keywords can make the difference between lots of traffic or no traffic at all. Search for sites on your favorite search engine that relate to your own and check what keywords they have chosen. You can do this by going to View -> View Source on the menu bar. The keywords will be marked by a “” tag. See which keywords they are using that you may want to use as well. Keep a list of up to 50 of the keywords you think will be the best match for your site and add them in to your meta tag. As always, be sure that these keywords directly relate to your site. This will help your listings in the search engines, as well as help browsers find the site they are actually looking for.

Descriptions

Provide descriptions in your meta tags for each one of your pages. Use descriptions to provide an outline of what each particular page on your site is built for. Keep them clear and concise, and don’t load them up with keywords. For example, for your main page, use a description that contains the slogan for your website and a brief outline of what your site is meant for. For SuperFaster.com you would say something along the lines of “Online Marketing Information, Tips, and Strategies – We provide free articles on all you need to know about website promotion.” With clear descriptions, the search engines will not consider a particular page a “duplicate listing” just because it has the same title as your other 30 pages, and it will make it easier for browsers to find what they need.

Alt Tags – description of images

Alt tags are descriptions of images on your website. These can be seen when you mouse over picture, and can be seen by the spiders of the major search engines. Having a description of a picture makes it easier for a spider to understand what is actually on the site. If, perhaps, you have a tutorial on your site describing how to set up a web hosting account, and this tutorial has screen shots for people to follow instructions easier, you would want to make an alt tag for each screen shot. This will allow the spider to see that not only do you have a tutorial teaching your users how to create an account, but it comes with screen shots instead of random images of your dog or family.

Pictures that are part of the template for your site don’t necessarily have to have alt tags, since they are purely for visual effect. For graphical buttons it would be beneficial to have alt tags, to explain to the spider that these are links to other portions of your site. Although these are not really necessary either, it never hurts to have tags explaining where a button will take you once it is pressed.

For further information on Search Engine Optimization, stay tuned for “Advanced Search Engine Optimization”

———-
Article by Claude Beavers
support@superfaster.com

An algorithm is a mathematical equation that uses certain information from your website in order to define its rankings. If you’re looking for a printout of the specific equation Google uses to rank sites and how much each factor is weighed, this is not the place to get it. The actual algorithm used by Google is a secret, and will stay that way for as long as they can keep it. Although the specifics of the algorithm are not released at all, Google patented the basics of their algorithm, which makes it easily accessible to the public. If you would like to view the patent in all its splendor, simply search in whatever search engine you would like for the phrase “Google Patent.”

This is a general overview of the general things this algorithm searches for, written in plain English for the average webmaster. This guide will go over some of the things Google’s spiders are looking for, and how to utilize this knowledge in order to boost your rankings on the Google search engine. Keep in mind that while this guide is written specifically for staying on Google’s good side in regards to placement in their search engine, the same tactics are definitely portable to the other major search engines such as Yahoo and MSN. Although Google’s algorithm is extremely complex compared to those of Yahoo and MSN many of the same strategies still apply.

So, how does it work?

Basically, when a Google spider, or robot, finds your site a number of things are taken into consideration. Not only does this spider search through the content and links on your page, cataloguing keywords, page titles and descriptions, backward links, and meta tags as it goes along, it even looks through your whois information. Whois information is the information provided through your hosting company on who exactly owns the website, including name, telephone number, email address, physical address, how long your site is registered for, and more. To check the whois information on your site, as well as others, visit Complete Whois and type in the URL of the site you are checking information on.

All of these are major factors (yes, including your physical address and name and the duration of your registration on a particular domain name) in the algorithm. Therefore, it is extremely important to optimize every single part of your site, visible or invisible to the common browser.

Great, but what do we need to know the algorithm for?

Knowing the Google algorithm, or at least the basics of it, will give you an edge on your competitors by making you more likely to get higher rankings under desired keywords. In addition, you will receive more traffic from those listings, thereby increasing the chances for getting links to your website, adding further traffic. Through a few high listings on Google, or the other search engines for that matter, the sky is the limit when talking about traffic and potential sales or users.

For example, if you wanted to broadcast a new song over the radio, but only did so using old equipment, regardless of the quality of the song, your entire station could be drowned out by the larger broadcasting companies armed with new equipment and a larger range capability. Using the latest tools and tactics will keep you on top of the search engine listings, as well as put you on the cutting edge in regards to your website’s capabilities.

It is almost painfully obvious that using the best tactics to get your website listed would, of course, produce better results than using outdated tactics and trying to acquire the same effect, even if you spend three times the amount of time promoting your site through these tactics. Quality is greater than quantity in today’s internet.

Alright, then how can I use the algorithm to my advantage?

There are quite a few things to focus on when optimizing your site for the Google algorithm, but the most important ones would have to be inbound links to your site and good, relevant content. Other things come into play, such as click through rates, the frequency of updates to your site, the physical address listed in your whois information, technical and administrative contacts, your host’s IP address, and the length of time your domain name is registered for. All of these things, although some are weighed more than others, have a serious impact on your rankings and on your PR (Google Page Rank).

Links

Having a high volume of inbound links, or links coming from other related sites to your own, is king with Google, although there are specific “rules” you must follow to be sure that these links are counted as “suitable links.” Get as many links back to your site as possible, but be sure these links are from related sites, or at least are in a category on their links page that is closely related to your own. Also, try to stay away from “FFA” pages, free for all listings pages with thousands of links on a single page, as these actually prove to be a detriment to your site in search engine listings. This would also include doorway or portal sites, which focus on having as many links to their site as they can, with as many keywords stuffed into the site as possible, as an alternative to real content.

Be sure to alter your text links slightly from time to time. Google’s algorithm picks up on varied text links to your site much more than if they are all the same. This also helps to assure the spiders that your links were not spammed out to the sites you are listed on.

Relevant Content

If having a multitude of links is #1 on your priorities list, then having a large selection of unique, relevant content should be #2. There are so many benefits to having a lot of original content on your site that it’s hard to list all of them. The most obvious would be the amount of keywords and phrases that are picked up by the search engines spidering your site. Original content also helps to prove that your site is not a “spammer” who simply stealing articles and content from other sites to attract more visitors. Increased traffic is another major benefit from having a lot of relevant content, which is never something to scoff at.

Overall, unique, relevant content is as much a requirement for getting high listings as getting high quality links to your site, if not more so. Focus on both equally, and make sure both your content and your links page are updated monthly at the very least. Ideally, you would want a high volume of incoming links being added daily, as well as site updates with fresh content, but if you don’t have the time or energy for the constant writing and editing of your site, you should still be okay. Just remember, you will only get out of the algorithm what you put into it.

Other Optimization Tips

Generally, just try and be careful on how you promote your website, and how it appears to Google in the first place. If you keep your site clean and updated often and your whois information current, you should have no problem getting decent listings on desired keywords. Just make sure your site in no way resembles a Spam site, either through falsified contact information or physical address, or through the amount of keywords used on each page, or having your domain name registered for only one year.

For more detailed information on strategies and tips for utilizing the Google Algorithm, refer to Advanced Uses for the Google Algorithm

You can see other articles by Claude Beavers on this topic at: Online Promotion Articles at Superfaster.com

It’s morning and John wakes up, same as he does everyday. He starts the computer and begins checking his email and reviewing his website’s stats. ” $15 in Adsense and 1 sale .. good, good… but still I’d wish those were $500 and 10 sales “. He closes the stats and goes to work in order to get the payment that helps him live a good life.

Mark is also waking up, making a cup of coffee and then sitting comfortably at his laptop. He opens his website’s stats and his heart starts beating a bit faster while he reads on the screen ” $399 in Adsense and 5 sales last night… good, but I WANT IT BETTER” “. He closes the stats, eats a quick breakfast and then sits back again at his laptop and starts working on his websites in order to improve the stats. He doesn’t need to go to work as his websites bring enough income to help him live very well.

Now the question is simple: who would you prefer to be? John or Mark? Do you like to go and work for your boss and help him make money so you can earn your living ? Or do you want to be your own boss and have your own business? Because yes, these days, having a good site IS a business. If your answer is “John” then you’d better stop reading this article and get to more serious things. But if instead you would prefer to be Mark then it may be useful to continue reading. Ok, ok but what does “having a good site” mean? I have a great design, I have great online support, great products and offers, great site functionality… but still I don’t get the expected income? If you ask yourself this than take 2 minutes to think about: “Who am I receiving money from? The design? The functionality of the site? No, what really brings the money is, in fact, the traffic, the people who visit the site and order the services/products or who simply click on the Google ads.”

Now that we found out that the traffic is what makes the webmaster happy, we should ask ourselves how we can get this traffic to our sites. Well, there are several methods of doing this, but nowadays, search engine optimization (SEO) is the method that brings the best targeted traffic. If you want to build a strong business which could provide you more than a decent income, than you should use SEO.

To succeed with a SEO campaign, one must follow three major steps: keywords analysis, on page SEO and off page SEO. The keywords analysis part has to be done in order to assure that you have picked the best keywords ( the ones that will get you the highest number of visitors in the shortest time ).

On page SEO is the step where changes are done directly on your site by modifying it’s files. You have to sort out the titles, metatags, images, text, page structure, internal linking, proper tags and much more things related to your site. In all this process you will use the keywords you found during the keywords analysis part. This will ensure you’ll have a well optimized site focused on those keywords.

Last but not least, off page SEO – considered by all the great SEO specialists out there the most important part of a SEO campaign – related to the external links you can point toward your site. As each link toward your site is considered “a vote” the more votes you have the more “powerful” your site will become.

If you do all these correctly then your site will end up in the tops of the search engines and start getting the best-targeted organic traffic that exists at the moment. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and start doing SEO… . Because SEO it’s the future.

Author Bio
Razvan Marian Jr is a SEO specialist with more years of experience in the field. He is also the leading manager of http://www.cheapsubmissions.eu , developing services such as cheap web site submissions and cheap articles submissions.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content