SEO Material - Keywords in the URL name

Keywords in the URL name

What is a URL name?

The URL name is the part of the URL that comes between "www" and ". Com." It's the name of a site. For example, in the case of the URL http://www.spearsolutions.com, the URL name is "spearsolutions."

Why should I have keywords in my URL name?

Recently, search engines began to prioritize the use of keywords in a site's URL in their ranking formulas. Google and Inktomi are two engines that do this. Google is extremely important because Yahoo! uses it to supplement its search results.

Alphabetical priority and its influence

Some smaller search engines use alphabetical hierarchy in their ranking formulas. Also, directories such as Yahoo! and Open Directory Project list sites in alphabetical order.

Avoid Spam

Although directories may penalize you for misrepresenting your company's name, neither search engines nor directories will penalize you for inconsistent URL names. This means you can buy any second level domain name you want (as long as you don't infringe on others' trademarks and so on) and search engines will not penalize you for it.

Some search engines don't index URLs with the character "?" in them. However, major search engines can index URLs containing numbers and characters such as "@."

An overview

URL Keywords

• Name files with keywords

• Consider alphabetical hierarchy

• Look for a URL name containing keywords

Themes: New technology for ranking sites

Search engines and themes

What are "themes"?

Search engines define a theme as a common topic throughout the site. In an effort to provide their users with more relevant information, search engines developed sophisticated technology that "extracts" site's themes. This technology allows results to be more focused on the topic searched for. Hint: Think of themes as your most important keywords used consistently throughout the site.

Importance of "themes"

Themes technology is quite complex. It's used by some of the major search engines when indexing and ranking sites. Currently, AltaVista, Lycos and Google use themes as part of their formulas. Inktomi powered search engines, such as AOL, Hotbot, and MSN, also use themes.

Avoid the use of Spam

When trying to convince search engines of a theme on your site, avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times in the title or Meta tags. In the text, 3-7% of all words should be keywords.

An Overview

Themes

• AltaVista, Lycos and Google use them

• Inktomi should be joining soon

• Determined by keywords in title, meta tags, text and links

SEO Material - Using your HTML Title effectively

What is an HTML Title and why should I use it?

An HTML Title describes the contents of your web page in one sentence. It's likely to appear in search engines' results and in bookmarks. It's also the first thing a search engine's spider sees on your page. Since both readers and search engines will see your title, it's particularly important.

Your title is the most important part of your page as far as search engines are concerned. Note that every search engine supports the title tag to some extent.

Important: Your title should appear right after the tag. If you're using a WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) tool, such as FrontPage, you may want to make sure your title is placed correctly. Having your title placed below its usual place may decrease its power and cost you rankings.

Avoid Spam

Don't repeat the same keyword in your title more than twice; it's considered Spam. Also, some engines penalize for using all CAPS.

An Overview

The HTML Title:

• Is the most important part of your page
• Should appeal to search engines and people
• Needs to interest the reader

How should the body of your site look? Find out what search engines want

Using keywords in the text of your pages

There are many issues to consider when placing keywords in the text of your pages. Most search engines index the full text of each page, so it's vital to place keywords throughout your text. However, each search engine uses different ranking algorithms. Difficult though it may be, you need to keep all of them in mind.

General rules

Make sure your main page is full of keywords. It has a higher chance of being indexed than your other pages, and it will be the only page indexed by some engines.

Some engines rank a page high if it has at least 100 words, so make that your minimum. Directories include pages based on the quality of their content, so make sure your pages aren't simply lists of keywords.

Key concepts

When creating your pages' content, keep the following four concepts in mind: Keyword prominence, proximity, density and frequency.

Keyword Prominence

The best place-to-place keywords in the text are at the top of each page, preferably the main page. The closer your keywords are to the start of the page or the start of a sentence, the better. This concept is known as "keyword prominence." You'll frequently see it used to describe search engines' algorithms.

Some engines also say the bottom of the page should contain keywords as well.

Beware! Search engines view pages differently than people do. Here's an example:

Home

About Us

Products

At spear software solutions our business is giving software solutions.

You may think you did pretty well by placing the keyword "widgets" at the top of your page. A search engine, however, sees your page this way:

Home About Us Products At spear software solutions our business is giving software solution.

Now your keyword placement doesn't look as good as it did before. Try to place keyword-rich text at the very top of your page. If you are using images at the top of your page, make sure to include ALT tags.

Keyword Proximity

Some engines, such as Google, use the concept of "keyword proximity" as part of their ranking formulas. As suggested by the name, "keyword proximity" means the how close keywords are to each other. Put your keywords as close together as possible and make sure your sentences are clear.

Here's an example:

Smith Brothers Inc has been selling CASH BACK for over 50 years.

Smith Brothers Inc has been selling food for your puppies for over 50 years.

The two keywords used are "puppy" and "food." If a user searches for "CASH BACK," the first sentence will rank higher because its keywords are closer to each other.

Keyword Density

This concept, also known as keyword weight, measures the relationship of keywords to other text. The higher the percentage of keywords in relationship to other text, the better.

Here's an example of how it's measured. Let's assume the keyword phrase is "CASH BACK."

CASH BACK is our primary business.

Since "is", "our," and other stop words are usually not counted, there are three "words" in the sentence: "CASH BACK," "primary," and "business." "CASH BACK" makes 1/3 of the sentence, or 33%.

Keyword density is almost never this high. The recommended density is 3-7%. This means that your keyword should repeat 3-7 times for every 100 words.

Sound easy? Imagine having 10 keywords and trying to repeat each one 3-7 times per 100 words of text -- it's practically impossible. Instead, pick two or three of your most important keywords and try to use them 3-7 times for every 100 words.

Keyword Frequency

Keyword frequency is a measure of the number of times keywords occur within a page's text. It's tied to the concept of keyword density. Search engines want to see more than one repetition of a keyword in your text to make sure it's not an isolated case. The recommended repetition is 3-7 times.

Avoid Spam

Don't be tempted to use tiny or invisible text to put keywords at the beginning of your pages. Search engines define this behavior as Spam and can reject your site for it.

An overview

Keywords in page text

• Include at least 100 words in page text
• Use keywords at the beginning of the page
• Place keywords close to each other
• Repeat keywords 3-7 times for every 100 words

Using the Meta Description tag

What is the Meta description tag and why should I use it?

The Meta description tag describes your site's content, giving search engines' spiders an accurate summary filled with multiple keywords.

Note: Meta tags are hidden in a document's source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of Meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use Meta tags properly, so it's recommended that you always include them.

The Meta description tag is especially important because it's the only tag supported by some engines.

Here's an example of a Meta description tag:

<Meta name="description" content="Your site's summary here">

The Meta description tag and search engines

A Meta description tag can boost your rankings on some engines.

Another reason the Meta description tag is important is that some engines use it as a site's summary on their results pages. If they do, the reader may actually see this hidden tag. Make sure its contents are enticing to the reader.

Keywords in the Meta description tag

The Meta description tag should contain multiple keywords organized in a logical sentence. Place the keywords at the beginning of your description and close to each other to achieve the best possible rankings.

The length of the Meta description tag

Search engines vary in their preferred size for Meta tags. Try to use the smaller number, 150 characters, for your site. Never make your Meta tag more than 250 characters long because some results pages will cut it off.

Avoid Spam

Avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times in your Meta description. Some search engines consider it to be Spam.

An overview

The Meta description tag

• Use the meta description tag on all pages
• Limit it to 150 characters
• Include keywords
• Don't repeat keywords more than 7 times

Want to get the full benefit of Meta tags?

Using the Meta Keyword tag

What is a Meta keyword tag and why should I use it?

A Meta keyword tag lists all the keywords for which you would like search engines to rank your site. Although not all search engines support this tag, you should use it for the ones that do.

Note: Meta tags are hidden in a document's source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of Meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use Meta tags properly, so it's recommended that you always include them.

Here's an example of a Meta keyword tag:

<Meta name="keywords" content="Your site's keywords here">

Keywords in the Meta keyword tag

This is what the tag is all about! You don't have to come up with any sentences; just list your keywords in order of importance. Include all your most important keywords. It's recommended that you repeat the same keyword 3-7 times, but not in a row.

The length of the Meta keyword tag

Search engines vary in their size preferences for Meta keyword tags. MSN, for example, will accept a Meta keyword tag up to 1024 characters long, while HotBot specifies 75 characters as its guideline.

Hotbot's guideline is unusual, however. Typically the Meta keyword tag is pretty large. We checked out some of Hotbot's top-ranking pages in various categories and found that many of them used Meta keyword tags much larger than 75 characters. Therefore, use 1024 characters as your guideline.

Avoid Spam

Avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times; you can get penalized for that. Up to 3 repetitions are recommended -- just don't place them one after the other.

An Overview

The Meta Keyword tag

• Use it to list keywords
• Limit it to 1024 characters
• List keywords in order of importance
• Don't repeat the same keyword more than 7 times

Using ALT tags

What is ALT tags and why should I use them?

You have a web site. Your designer did an excellent job and it looks great. You have plenty of images, including one containing your business name, logo and slogan.

Though your site may look fine, it's not optimized to score high with search engines. Since search engines don't index images, they won't index any text your web site presents in image format -- in this case the above-mentioned business name and slogan. To fix this problem, there are ALT tags, which are basically images' descriptions.

Always add ALT tags to your images to make sure search engines recognize all the content on your site. ALT tags filled with keywords can also be used to boost your keyword frequency and help you achieve better rankings.

Avoiding Spam

Search engines don't penalize for using ALT tags or even for packing them with keywords. Still, to be safe you should adhere to the generally accepted rule of not repeating keywords more than 3-7 times.

An Overview

ALT tags:

• Describe images
• Add keywords to site text
• Should be used for each image
• Make sites accessible to the visually impaired

Using Comment Tags

What are comment tags and why should I use them?

Comment tags provide a way for webmasters to make notes right on their pages. They're hidden in the HTML code and so are not visible to the site's ordinary users, but some search engines, such as Inktomi, can index them.

That means comment tags are another great way to add keywords to your site, thus increasing keyword frequency, an important factor in many ranking algorithms.

Avoid Spam

Search engines don't penalize sites using comment tags to boost keyword frequency. However, the general rule is not to repeat the same keyword more than 3-7 times in a tag. So, to be on the safe side, follow that rule in comment tags.

An Overview

Comment tags:

• Should be placed on every single page
• Can be used to boost keyword counts
• Shouldn't include more than seven repetitions of a keyword

SEO Material Part - 4

Clean design is good design

Cleanliness rules

Clean pages are uncluttered and have a focus, something that draws the eye. They're also easy to navigate.

Some sites are so cluttered with links and information; they're almost impossible to navigate. Not only do visitors dislike these sites, directories such as Yahoo and ODP may reject them. Remember, directories use human editors to do their indexing, so your site's appearance matters.

Netscape vs. Google

You can get a sense of the importance of cleanliness simply by comparing two popular search sites. Visit http://www.netscape.com and you'll see a page cluttered with information. Your eye doesn't know where to look, and finding what you're looking for is difficult. Even the search box at the top of the page doesn't stand out.

Google, by contrast, features a very clean interface. The focus is on the search box in the middle. Google's popularity has encouraged other search engines to simplify their main pages, making things easier for their visitors. AltaVista, for example, launched new Raging Search -- the same search engine with an extremely clean interface.

Design clean pages

1. Navigation and clean design
   Portals and other large sites have a particularly difficult time "cleaning up" because they offer so much information.
   
   Don't make the mistake of using your main page as a cluttered site map. Instead, provide easy navigation to make sure both people and search engines can easily find their way through your site.

2. Vital information only!
   Put only the most important information on your main page. This can be a new press release or a few links to recently updated sections. If your site is commercial, your main page is a good place to mention any promotions you may be running.
   
   It's a good idea to put a few links to general categories, such as "products," "research" and "information," on your main page. Include a brief description of each.

3. How much scrolling can you take?
   If you can fit your home page on one screen, hats off to you! Most sites require more space. Try to keep your home page limited to two screens at most and your other pages to three to four screens.
   
   Don't write your life story on your front page. No one is going to scroll through 70 pages. If you have a lot of material on your site, break it up into sections of no more than four pages each. You can also give your visitors the option of downloading any big files to their hard drives.

4. Printer-friendly versions
   Some sites allow users to download printer-friendly pages. These pages are usually free of graphics and navigation and may be long, since they are meant to be read on paper rather than onscreen. Provide your visitors with this option if your site has lots of long articles.

An Overview

Clean design

• Make home pages look clean

• Don't make pages more than four screens long

• Provide printer-friendly versions whenever possible

The importance of pleasant design

To stay or not to stay?

It's important that your site look pleasing to visitors. If your site looks bad, many potentially loyal users won't go past your home page. Get together with your design department to determine the best layout, colors, fonts and graphics for your site.

Remember that editors from Yahoo! And other directories will judge your site's quality.

Pleasant

Aesthetically pleasing sites are difficult to create. After all, a web site has many other tasks besides just displaying pretty colors and fonts. Here are a few tips to help you out:

1. Above the fold
   Just like any newspaper would place its top story above the fold, place your most important information and navigation on the first screen of each page. This way your visitors can get oriented without having to scroll down.

2. Which font should I use?
   If possible, try to use Arial or another sans-serif color. Researchers claim these fonts are easiest on the eye when read on screen. They're also the most common fonts and are standard on various computer platforms.

3. Should I use a picture for my background? What color should it be?
   Avoid using an image for your background. It will probably be large, since it needs to take up the whole screen, so it will slow down your pages' load time.
   
   Also, research shows that text printed over background images is harder for the user to read. The best combination for reading is a white background and black letters. If you prefer to use other colors, keep the background light and the font dark.

4. Web-safe colors
   There are 216 colors that are displayed by web browsers as you see them on your own computer.
   
   By using web-safe colors you can be sure your visitors will see what you meant for them to see.

An Overview

Designing pleasant pages

• Create pleasant-looking pages to retain visitors

• Use a light background

• Use web-safe colors

• Use Arial or other sans-serif fonts

The importance of fast design

Don't make them wait

If your visitors have to wait 30 seconds for your site to load, you can be sure you're losing half your audience. These days there are plenty of sites that load far more quickly, and users naturally prefer those. Reducing the amount of time it takes for your site's front page to display completely can help you hang onto users. This is called optimizing your site's load time.

Think "fast" when designing pages

1. The four-GIF rule
   Images increase load time, so if possible, use no more than four images on your home page.
   
   There may be some images you need to use for aesthetic purposes, but use them sparingly. Don't reach for Photoshop every time you need something done; use fancy text or tables with colored backgrounds instead.
   
   A cure for the graphics-heavy site
   If you can't figure out how to reduce the number of images on your site, create a text-only version of the most important pages (or the whole site if possible).
   
   Text pages save time for those with slow connections and allow the 25% of users who still use text-only browsers to view your site. Text pages can also help your rankings with those search engines that don't recognize images or ALT tags.

2. File formats
   There are many different file formats available for graphics on the web, but certain types are preferable to others.

-Avoid using .bmp (Paint) files, which are very large.

-Avoid .psd (Photoshop) files, .png (Portable Network Graphics) files and other files with less common extensions -- not all browsers support them.

-Use .jpeg or .jpg files for photographs or other complex art and save the .gif and animated .gif formats for simpler files.

3. New multimedia
   With so many new multimedia options, such as Flash and Director, it's hard to know how multimedia will impact your site's load time. Before you spend long hours building a full-blown sound and video extravaganza, ask yourself if the technology you're using reinforces your content and your message. If the only reason to use it is because it's cool, it's probably not justified.
   
   The good news is that optimized Flash and Director files will not slow your site down -- at least, not by much. This doesn't mean you should make every user watch that cool Flash intro on your site. (Reread the foregoing sentence again and again.) Always provide your visitors with the option of skipping an intro and going straight to the site proper.

An Overview

Designing fast-loading pages

• Think "fast" to retain visitors

• Consider file formats when designing

• Find ways to reduce the number of images on your home page

• Use multimedia effects wisely

Importance of keywords

Most techniques to improve your search engine rankings have one thing in common -- keywords. Choosing appropriate keywords is extremely important. Think about it: Keywords are what lead search engine users to your site.

How to choose your keywords

Choosing the right keywords is the first step to better search engine positioning. Analyze your business carefully and think of all the words that relate to your company or product.

Let's say you sell CASH BACK. What words would you search for when looking for the same product? Ask your colleagues and friends to think about the same question. This is perhaps the most important stage in your war for a spot in search engines' top 20.

As you think about keywords, consider the following:

1. Who needs your service?
   Think about who will use your services, then target them with keywords. For example, people whose dogs are about to have puppies will need CASH BACK, so you can add phrases like "dog pregnancy" and "puppy health" to your list.

2. Include variations of your keywords
   People will search for your site using all sorts of keywords. Making your site easy to find means including misspelled, capitalized and plural keywords. Always include the longer forms of keywords too. For example, use "domestication" as well as "domestic."

3. Avoid wrong keywords
   Do not use "stop words" -- particles like "and" and "the" and common words like "Internet." Remember, the more specific your keywords are, the better the chance that people who find your site through search engines will actually benefit from its content.

What are the best places for keywords?

• HTML Title

• Text of the page

• Meta description

• Meta keywords

• ALT tags

• Comment tags

• URL name

Alphabetical priority and its influence

Whether a file name starts with A or Z can have a surprising effect on a site's search engine rankings. Some small search engines still use alphabetical priority as a ranking factor. Directories such as Yahoo! And Open Directory Project list sites in alphabetical order.

Be careful choosing keywords. If all your keywords don't relate to your sites content you risk being penalized for spam. Don't include "MP3" and "Pokemon" in your keyword list if you sell CASH BACK. Sure, it will drive up traffic temporarily, but it can also get your site rejected from important search engines.

An Overview

Keywords

• Choose appropriate keywords -- it's critical

• Include variations of keywords, such as misspelled versions

• Avoid stop words

  
  

• Place keywords throughout your site

You know that keywords should go be in your HTML title and Meta tags, but did you know that you also need to place them in heading tags?

SEO Material Part - 4

Navigation necessities

What is navigation?

Navigation is the use of text and images (or any other method) to guide a user through your site. It's a way to connect the different parts of your site and help the user choose where to go.

Helping your visitors

People who visit your site are probably looking for a specific product or piece of information. Studies show the average web surfer has a short attention span; after three or four pages your visitor will probably move on to another site. By making it easier for visitors to find information you increase the amount of time they'll spend on your site. Needless to say, if you have an online store, you're also increasing the probability that users will buy your products.

Encouraging users to hang around your site can also help your search engine rankings. Some search engines use stickiness, or the amount of time users remain on a site, as a factor in composing their rankings. An easily navigable site will tend to be "stickier" than a confusing one.

Navigation basics

Sites generally employ text or images for navigation. Each has benefits. Text loads fast and is easy to understand, while images appear more aesthetically pleasing and professional. Most sites combine text and image links to appear both professional and user-friendly.

Usability gurus recommend you give users more than one option for navigation. As you look around the web you'll notice that many sites supplement image navigation with text links at the bottom of each page.

Too many web designers fail to signpost their navigation effectively. If you have text links, make sure they're a different color, font or size -- anything to make them stand out. You should also make link images easy to identify. Place a border around them or add some text underneath. Don't make your visitors look for links; differentiate them from the rest of your site.

Play it big

Where would you expect a newspaper to place a top story? You probably know it belongs on the front page, above the fold. Treat navigation as a top story; it's one of the most important parts of your site.

About 85% of site traffic comes from search engines, many of which index all the pages on your site. That means there's a good possibility that your visitors will enter your site from a page other than your home page. Therefore, it's important to place navigation elements on the first screen of every page.

Elements of great navigation

These three elements are a must-have for all sites, especially large ones. They're what people look for when they can't find what they're looking for.

1. Help or FAQ page
   This is a general requirement for good site design. As far as navigation goes, this page tells how to find your product or information center and how to get to the site map.
2. Site map
   The user should be able to access a textual or graphical representation of your site's structure. Your map should include every single page on your site, usually categorized for easier navigation. Site maps not only make it easier for people to find the information they're looking for, they also provide a great way to make sure that search engines, which follow links, index every page.
3. Search function
   Make your site searchable. If your site is large or sells a variety of products, the search feature will be of great use. If your site is small, a search function may not be necessary. Most medium-sized sites (500 pages or less) need a search function. If you're watching your budget, look for a search site that will provide you with search capabilities free of charge.

Consistency is key

Whether you use images or text for your navigation, consistency is very important. Be consistent both within your site and in regard to prevailing standards across the web.

1. Same thing, same place
   Use a similar layout throughout your site so it's as easy to navigate as possible. If your navigation is located at the top of your home page it should also be at the top of all your other pages.
2. You and the world
   Your visitors will expect your site to look and work about the same as most other web sites. If everyone else is using a shopping cart as a symbol for the ordering section, so should you. Keep your navigation standard; include sections such as company info and a contact page to make the visitor feel comfortable.

An Overview

Navigation:

• Can make your site stickier
• Should be placed on every page
• Must be consistent
• Is aided by help pages, a site map and a search function

SEO Material Part - 3

It's low-cost!

Online advertising, such as banner campaigns, can be quite expensive. Search engine placement, on the other hand, can be a low-cost process. Although some search engines have "pay-per-click" programs, paid submissions and many companies optimize sites for paying clients, there's no reason why you can't significantly increase your site's traffic by simply understanding and applying optimization strategy. Any Webmaster can learn more about search engine optimization tips and submission procedures.

High search engine rankings can be more effective publicity tools than paid ads. A top position on a major search engine such as AltaVista can increase traffic far more than an expensive banner ad. Plus, the traffic you get will be more targeted -- it will consist of people who set out to find exactly what your site has to offer.

In this section you'll learn how to:

• Use site design elements to improve your search engine positioning
• Understand how search engines work
• Know what factors influence search engine rankings
• Improve your site's search rankings in other ways

Search engine Ranking

Factors that influence search engine rankings

Different engines, different rankings

Every search engine uses its own unique formula, called an algorithm, to index and score web sites. Search engines' algorithms weigh various factors, such as a page's design and links, to rank pages in their search results. By constantly refining and improving their algorithms, search engines hope to give their visitors the most relevant results.

Many search engines form partnerships and buy technologies to improve their algorithms. They combine many factors and place different weight on each one.

Webmasters who want their sites to achieve a Top 20 position spend a lot of time studying different algorithms. Even when several search engines rely on similar factors in composing their rankings, they may still rank the same site differently. For example, imagine two search engines both use Meta tags and keyword frequency as there only ranking factors. If the first one weights Meta tags as 70% of a site's value and keyword frequency as 30%, and the second one does the opposite, their results will be completely different.

Understanding ranking factors

Before you can understand how each search engine scores web sites, you need to understand the various factors they consider. These factors can be divided into two categories: page-related (On-Page Factors) and outside (Off-Page Factor).

Page-related factors (On-Page Factors) are concerned with keywords and their placement in the HTML. These factors include:

• Format, placement and content of the title tag
• Keyword frequency, weight, prominence and proximity
• Use of the meta description tag
• Use of ALT tags
• Use of comment tags
• Use of keywords in URL names
• Alphabetical placement

Outside factors (Off-Page Factor) are not related to the content of your HTML. They include:

• Link popularity
• Click popularity
• Themes
• Overall site design

Achieve results

You can improve most of the above factors to achieve higher rankings. Pay attention to what your competition is doing. Analyze their high-scoring pages and use their techniques.

As you find out more about search engines, start creating doorway pages. Use tables with exact search engine information and techniques recommended by search engines themselves

DESIGN

Site design and how it affects search engine rankings

To stay or not to stay?

Your site's design plays a major in role in the user's decision to either stick around or continue surfing. Graphics, layout, load time, fonts and ease of navigation can all influence the user. To craft a site that retains visitors, make it fast, clean and pleasant.

Aside from attracting and retaining visitors, your site's design is critical for search engine positioning. Directories, such as Yahoo! Will review your site before accepting it. Directory editors look for sites with good design to add to their indices.

Design is also important to DirectHit, currently owned and incorporated into Ask Jeeves and Teoma. DirectHit measures how many people click on your site and how long they stay. If your site is clean, easy to navigate, fast and pleasant, visitors will stay longer and your site will score higher. Search engines such as Lycos, Hotbot and MSN use DirectHit technology.

The Golden Rule of site design - let your visitors do it!

Your visitors should dictate your site's design! Cater to their needs with every part of your site.

You can find out more about your users with a web traffic monitoring service. It will be useful in marketing, advertising, search engine placement and design.

Here are some factors to consider when modifying your site to better meet users' needs. You can gather all the following information using web traffic monitoring.

1. Connection speed: - Don't use a fancy Flash intro and heavy graphics if most of your visitors have 28.8 modems. Opt for simpler pages that your visitors will be able to read sooner.
2. Browser compatibility: - Although browser technology is improving some problems still exist. Netscape, for example, does not completely support cascading style sheets (CSS). If most of your visitors use this browser, don't use CSS for your site unless you're prepared to create different versions of your site for each browser and the code to detect them. Always check how your pages look in different browsers. Check out AnyBrowser.com for necessary tools.

Avoid common mistakes

1. Spell well
   Although search engines don't penalize for spelling or syntax errors, someone who finds a spelling mistake on your site may view it as unprofessional. Many people believe such mistakes indicate a lack of cultural authority and credibility. Run a spell check on every page before publishing.
2. Don't use "construction" areas
   Any editor from a directory such as Yahoo! Or ODP will tell you that a site using "This page is under construction" messages won't be listed. Visitors don't enjoy "construction" areas either. Don't submit to directories until you have your whole site up.

An Overview

Site design

• Is important to directories, DirectHit and your visitors
• Should cater to your audience
• Should avoid common mistakes

SEO Material Part - 2

Hybrid search engines: The new generation

Hybrid search engines combine a directory with a search engine to give their visitors the most relevant and complete results. Today the top ten search sites are hybrids. For example, Yahoo! started out as a directory, but now it supplements its manually compiled listings with search results from Google, a search engine. On the other hand, Google uses Open Directory Project's directory to enrich its automatically generated listings.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it

As someone trying to achieve higher search engine rankings, your goal should be to learn more about influencing factors and how each engine uses them. After completing your research you will have a better understanding of search engines and directories. You will also have an idea of what it takes to achieve a top-20 ranking on major search engines.

This section offers detailed explanations of placement factors used by search engines and directories, as well as tips for their implementation.

An Overview

Search engines and directories

• Search engines use robots
• Directories use people
• Top search engines have both robots and people
• Different factors are used for search engines than for directories

Search engine Placement

Why is search engine placement important?

The Primary Starting Point

The vast majority of Internet users find new web sites by using a search engine.

A position within the top 30 listings of a major search engine tremendously increases traffic to a web site.

Portal Power

In recent years many search sites have capitalized on the portal trend, positioning them as starting points for all of a user's online explorations. The main page at Netscape.com, for example, features customizable options such as stock quotes, horoscopes, news, shopping and more. This trend has leveled off a bit with the emergence of portals and specific destination sites. However, major portals will remain a popular gateway for many web surfers.

Because the top 8 most-visited search sites combine portal features with a search engine or directory, a good listing on one of these sites provides terrific exposure.

SEO Material Part-1

Search Engine Optimization

(SEO-1)

Introduction

What is optimization?

Search engine optimization, also known as placement and positioning, is the process of improving a web site for higher search engine rankings. It's the first step in achieving higher rankings. Only after optimization can you submit a site and hope for good results.

Search engines

How do search engines work?

Search engines help people find relevant information on the Internet. Major search engines maintain huge databases of web sites that users can search by typing in some text.

To compile their databases, search engines rely on computer programs called "robots" or, more specifically, "spiders." These programs "crawl" across the web by following links from site to site and indexing each site they visit. Each search engine uses its own set of criteria to decide what to include in its database. For example, some search engines index each page in a web site, while others index only the main page.

Also unique are the criteria each individual search engine uses to organize information for its users. Some list the results of a user's search according to which sites have the most links from other sites -- a system known as link popularity. Other search engines prioritize results according to the summary information contained in sites' Meta tags, and still others look for common themes used throughout a site. There are many other ways to organize results, and most search engines use a combination of several of them.

Directories - a whole new ballgame

Directories are often confused with search engines, but actually they're completely different. Instead of using spiders to crawl the web, directories such as Yahoo! and Open Directory Project has a real person who review and index their links. They also require web sites to adhere to rigid guidelines in order to be included in their indexes. As a result, directories' indexes tend to contain a comparatively small number of high-quality links.

The factors that influence search engine rankings simply don't apply to directory rankings. Instead, directory editors look at the quality of a site: its functionality, content and design. That means that webmasters hoping to see their sites listed on directories have to use very different strategies than for search engine placement.

SEO/SEM jobs in Hyderabad

Search Engine Optimization/SEO - SEM Professional at PowerSports360 Technology Pvt Ltd

Job Description

We are seeking an SEO / SEM expert to create inlinks, backlinks through highly relevant websites, and to create and manage a SEM campaign for a growing company's website.

Candidate must have experience with Link Building, Search Engine Listing, Search Engine Submission, Article submission, Directory Submission, Blogs listings, One way links creation, Google Webmaster tool, Google analytics, Sitemap.xml, robots.txt, PPC, E-Commerce, Keyword Research, Web Promotion, On Page Optimization Off Page Optimization, Back Links analysis, Page Rank analysis and many more techniques to create great SEO results.

In addition to above, candidate must have in-depth understanding of:

• Google Page rank improvement techniques
• Forum Page, Spam Page, Blogs Page, Yellow Page etc.
• How to rank web site in Google using Google web master tools, Meta tag and indexing, robot.txt files etc

Must also be able to create optimized new content (content writer) for the website. Familiarity with media relations to generate a media campaign if needed is a huge plus.

	Additional Information
	Experience:	2 - 3 years
	Job Category:	Software, Hardware, EDP
	Job Location:	Hyderabad
	Key Skills:	SEO, SEM, Data Process
	Industry:	IT/ Computers - Software
	Role:	Computer Operator/ Data Entry

How to know your Competitors Traffic?

For Every Internet marketing Executive, to know your competitors traffic is important aspect for seo or ppc point of view. so many tools is available but that is paid alexa also giving traffic ranking but they dont give visitors. here one tools is there they will approximately visitors i.e statbrain its really give good data try it and find competitor vistiors and improve your traffic more than your competitors.

How accurate is Statbrain?

Statbrain estimates the number of visits that a website has based on offsite factors like backlinks, Alexa Rank etc. Statbrain does not have access to log files or any counter information. The number of visits that Statbrain estimates gives you an idea of the number of visits that a website has, but not the exact visitor number.

Visits not unique visitors

The number that Statbrain estimates is visits. It is also known as visitor sessions and indicates the number of visits that a website has. The number is not the same as unique visitors which usually is a bit lower. Visits should not be mixed up with hits or page views which are entirely different numbers.

source: stat brain

Basic SEO Work Profile

Check your SEO work Profile before your starting your site, are you using below techniques or not. if you are not using start now my seo techniques its so simple.

SEO Work Profile

• Keyword Analysis – Using word tracker and keyword discovery data, finding different type key pareses and finalize keywords based on estimated traffic, daily search volumes and keyword competition.

my suggestion is use long tail keywords don't go for short tail keywords.

• Creating meta tags including alt tags and anchor text.

• Heading tags

• Content Analysis – Keyword density, keyword frequency, keyword prominence and keyword proximity

• Creating xml site maps and forwarding to technical team for uploading

• Submitting in Google Site maps and yahoo Site maps

• Creating Robots.txt file
  

• Checking keyword rankings(positions in Google, Yahoo, Msn)

• Analyzing the traffic through Google analytics for all our bingo sites

• Submitting in all search engine and directories.

Important On-Page Optimization Techniques

Google will consider so many factors for getting ranking and page rank. Page rank basically depend on content updation but ranking matter its very difficult that is depend on keyword competition , age of the site and so many factors. Here i am giving some important on-page optimization techniques.

1. Title Tag Optimization
2. Alt Tags Optimization
3. H1 Tags Optimization
4. Content Optimization
5. Met Tags Optimization
6. site linking structure (internal linking)
7. site load time
8. site map
9. keyword density and frequency
10. website Age.

each and every topic we will discuss tomorrow.

Web Site Analysis tools

Today so many website analysis tools are available on web but every tool is not given proper information for search engine optimization point of view( free tools). some tools will give little bit analysis like keyword density analysis, meta tag analysis tools, meta analyzer tools.

here i am giving some important free website analysis tools
1) www.websitegrader.com
2) www.reactionengine.com
some other tools i will give tommorrow