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Friday, June 25, 2010

Tips On Directory Submissions

We are now into off-page optimization. Let us start with directory submission.
Directory submission is a procedure by which we submit our site in the most appropriate category of different web directories. It is a fast and cost-effective way of getting links that help the submitted site get a good ranking on various search engines.

The web directories are often general in scope where sites are submitted in various categories and sub-categories. But there are some niche directories that are restricted to various regions, languages and sectors. Most of the directories are human-edited and are maintained by editors who add links. These directories are mostly targeted by the SEOs as the search engines give them a high priority. But there are some automatically edited directories that have a low priority.

There are different types of directory submission. They are:
1. Free submissions – Submissions are done free of cost.
2. Paid submissions – A one time or recurring payment is required for listing the submitted links.
3. Reciprocal links – A back link to the directory is added on the submitted site to get listing
4. No follow – The search engines are prevented from crawling the link.
5. Featured listing – A site submitted in this category get a premium position on the site. It is also called sponsored listing.
6. Affiliated links – In this type of submission the directory gets earning from the listed website for every referred customer.

Directory submission begins with the selection of the directory. Then the editor of the site submits the site to the most appropriate category or sub-category. The submitted site is then reviewed for listing in the directory. Once the listing is confirmed, the site appears in the required category of the directory. Now the site is available to millions of customer around the world. Thus directory submission plays an important role in Off-page optimization.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Importance of Keyword Research in SEO

Keyword research plays a vital role in the process of SEO. The proper keyword research will help the website receive a higher ranking on different search engines and thus increases the chances for potential customer find you. Without the proper keyword research, the effort to get good ranking in the major search engine may end up in vain.

The keyword research process involves a number of steps:
· Think of what the user might type in the search engine to get the information.
· Past survey will be helpful to expand the keyword list and find those keywords that are frequently used.
· Use different keyword research tools available online like the Google Keyword Research tool.

Start the keyword research with the most relevant word or phrase. Then use as many synonyms of the word or phrase as possible. Take into account the keyword phrases written in the reverse order. Also think of the singular and plural versions of the keywords and phrases.

Use the targeted keywords in the Meta title and Meta description. Keywords must also be used in the whole content especially in the first paragraph and preferably in the first sentence. The keyword density in the whole content must be around 2-5%. Otherwise it might be considered as spam by the different search engines and the directories that might lead to the deletion of the submission or being banned from future submissions.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

On page SEO Tips For Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is considered as the ‘First step of Internet Marketing’. Optimization is either on-page or off-page.

On page optimization include all the things that are done directly to the website to make the search engine crawler crawl the respective website and get a good ranking.
The first step of On-page SEO is the Proper Keyword Research. We must choose a set of relevant Meta Keywords that are likely to be used by the user.

The next step consist of the proper use of:
Meta Title – Meta Title is a short description of the web page. It is the first line of the website that appears in the search engine result page. The title must be around 66 characters in length depending on the browser. The main keywords are logically used here.

Meta Description – Meta Description provides a short description of the content of the web page. The description must be short and meaningful. Each and every page of the site must have unique Meta Description. The main keywords are used in the description.

Header – The header provides a short description of a web page that appears at the top of the web pages.

Footer – The footer is a keyword phrase that explain the website and often contain the copyrights.

H1 Tag – H1 Tag provides the heading of a particular web page that is visible to the user of the website. The most important keyword is used here.

Site Map – A Site Map is a map of the site. It is of two types – a static sitemap and an XML sitemap. The static sitemap provides a chart of the website to human surfer. An XML sitemap is used by the crawler to access all the pages of the site and is invisible to us.

Alt Tag – Search engine crawlers are often unable to read images. We use the Image Alt Tag to provide information to the crawlers. It is a short description optimized with keywords and written in a way to make sense to human reader.

Footer Link – The main keyword for every page is hyper linked with the page URL. This hyper linked text forms the Footer Link for the web pages.

Last but not the least, provide a good and relevant Content for every page of the website. The content is the most important part of the website. The keywords are used in the content but it is restricted to 3-5% of the total content.