Tag Archives: PageRank
REVIEW: Brad Callen’s SEOLinkVine
It’s a constant struggle for internet marketers to find ways to save time and get more accomplished during the work day. Many who are new to IM probably have no idea how much “busy work” there is to this business. Today, you’ll find a lot of different software apps available to help with backlinking and SEO work. A very good example of such software is SEOLinkVine. Will marketers find it a good investment? Well, we were also curious so we checked it out and made our evaluation of it.
SEOLinkVine has outstanding content spinning and web syndication power, but there was another feature that caught our eyes. It is the stats program. Often times with software like SEOLinkVine you write, submit, and then hope everything finds its intended destination. You’re operating on blind faith with everything unless you take the time to manually verify the search engines and places you submitted to. So, the cool thing about SEOLinkVine is it will do your monitoring for you. You can see for yourself how well your articles are performing, and you can verify how many SEOLinkVine sites are linking back. As far as we know, there aren’t too many (if any) other software programs that offer this service. And this is a huge timesaver.
Sometimes you get a ‘suspicious’ feeling when you’re using article submission programs. Too many sites are saturated with articles waiting to be spun by a poorly-programmed spinning bot. The creator of SEOLinkVine was very selective about his network of syndication sites, and every aspect of the process is completely white hat. Everything is completely legitimate and ‘on the table’ with this software. That leaves you with being able to enjoy your time-savings so you can do other things.
The method the SEOLinkVine software uses is to spin your article, then submit to one site; then it spins another unique article and submits that one to a different site, altogether. Through correct usage of the tagging system, you can spin/submit an article many times before you can’t do anymore. This means that not only are you building links-you are building links from original content. The end result is that your content will have a much higher chance of being read and your links clicked on.
SEO and link building are two things that concern every internet marketer and are things that can take up quite a bit of time. SEOLinkVine will help you save some time with your efforts. If you’re willing to put the effort into it, and you use SEOLinkVine the way it’s supposed to be used – you will be rewarded.
3 SEO Techniques You Want To Avoid
Many new marketers and Webmasters are not really aware of how exactly SEO works. If you want to get free targeted traffic to your site then you must understand SEO. Nowadays, the majority of the people online use search engines for finding information and products they want to buy. By ignoring search engine traffic you are missing out on thousands of prospects that you could sell to or build a list with. With the knowledge that you will get more traffic the higher you rank on the first page should be enough of a reason to learn SEO. If you are new to SEO or have been taught wrong then this article will be a life savior because it teaches you what to avoid. Stick with us and you will be performing powerful SEO techniques that will still have you ranking, even after Google routinely updates it’s search engine.
Before you start, you should grab a copy of Market Samurai. The first mistake many webmasters tend to make when trying SEO is they stuff their content with too many vague keywords. Yes, keywords happen to be an important element of SEO, but if you go on and stuff a high number of keywords in your content, then it will only get you into trouble with the search engines as they will penalize your website for spamming. This will cause your website to decline in the rankings and that also means you will achieve fewer visitors to your site. It’s also not appealing to your visitors because they only like sites that make sense and are helpful.
The second big mistake is internally linking your pages wrong. Your internal linking structure is one more of the few SEO factors that you completely control. A good linking strategy makes your site easier to brows and the search engines love it and will give your site a higher ranking. Instead of focusing on sending your visitors away you should concentrate on linking all of your related pages together in a logical fashion. This is an under applied SEO method that is proven to produce results. If you want your new pages to get indexed fast then this is the way to go. A perfect example of a good internal linking structure is Wikipedia; notice how they have all of these links that send you to a page with a similar topic? For an online dating tips site, that means you need to have relevant articles, like Match.com vs eHarmony.
Just remember that ethics is something you always want to use with SEO. You will find that companies offering SEO services are all over the place these days. You’ll only want to use the companies that use whitehat SEO methods, and stay away from the companies that don’t. You won’t even know what hit your site until you’re de-indexed. That is why it’s important only to hire that company or those people that work within ethics and also those people that will update you constantly on how your site is doing. Nothing should ever be hidden from you when it comes to them.
Search engine optimization is a brilliant way to drive free traffic to your website and can give you great long term results. And if you put in the extra effort to master SEO; you will be able to dominate niches and make a killing online. Just a little patience, that’s all. Remember, it’s all about keyword research, and sticking with what the search engines want to see. If you are ready to get started with SEO, you can also read this guide on Link wheels.
Getting Top Quality Backlinks The Google Way
“Content is King” is a frequently repeated saying that acknowledges the importance of pertinent and novel content on web sites. The reality of this phrase is emphasized by Google’s continuous efforts to improve search algorithms to deliver results that best fit the client’s expectations. Google assesses the merit of websites by the volume and the quality of links that point to them. Though it isn’t difficult to get any number of incoming links, links from quality Websites can only be obtained through beneficial content.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important for desired page ranking and hits on websites. SEO techniques are continuously evolving to enhance the results. You should also pay attention to the recommendations of Google to optimize your Website for more customers, increased revenue, and increased brand power.
What does Google recommend for Search Engine Optimization?
Google’s Webmaster Guide talks about the importance of back links building strategies for SEO. Link-based analysis used to determine a Website’s reputation involves the quality estimation of sites that connect to it. Websites with higher number of high quality back-links are given a higher page rank. Google has the expertise to pick out websites that consist of genuinely meaningful web pages and natural back-links. It also does not appreciate an abrupt spike in back-links as this is usually the outcome of artificial or commercial efforts. Websites that display a gradual rise in inbound links that originate from different IP addresses and name servers are favored.
What type of back-links win points with Google?
Google advices Website administrators to shun back-links from spammy link farms and excessive link bartering as this may bring disrepute to your Website. Registering on less important web directories and websites that are not pertinent to your line of business contributes nothing to your PageRank. The one solution to get organic back-links is to develop content that is relevant to customers. This alone would encourages other Websites to link to it.
Matt Cutts of Google’s search quality group suggests a few straightforward strategies to get back-links that matter:
- Participate in blogs and forums: Be an active participant of subject oriented forums and blogs. Generate writing pieces and tutorials that impart genuine information to customers. If you have something of value to offer, comment on other posts and give people the advantage of your expertise and practice. Work towards achieving an authoritarian standing.
- Write a blog and make posts more accessible: Send out bulletins to frequent blog participants so that information is easier to access.
- Novel content: The cyberspace is bursting with similar content. If you make the effort to develop original articles or blog posts or talk about an unusual issue, you arouse curiosity.
- Social media networking: Become a frequent and interactive participant of social media Websites that include groups of information seekers and niche audiences that can take advantage of your knowledgeable inputs and turn into loyal patrons.
- Simple Website design: Simple navigation is an important characteristic of website design. Make sure all web pages are easy to get to and can be opened through direct links and bookmarks.
- Register in directories: Plan on registering your Website in quality directories. Focus on those that have a high PageRank (3 or 4 at least) and do not get reviewed by programs but humans. A few of these directories are Yahoo!, Business(dot)com, DMOZ, whatUseek, etc.
Clearly, for effective SEO and resulting high page rank, your attention should be on superior back-links rather than volume. This can be done by publishing content that holds patrons’ attention because of its authenticity, value and relevance to their requirements.
How to Get More Traffic From Yahoo and MSN
Some search engines such as Yahoo! determines the popularity of a Website by the amount of time a visitor spends on your website. If a large number of visitors hit the “back button” of their browser as soon as they hit your web site, you can kiss goodbye to your dreams of a possible higher listing. This article will therefore examine some of the most important factors that will influence the amount of traffic you receive from the likes of Yahoo! and MSN (Bing).
Important Factors That Determine Traffic
To optimize and rank highly on search engines such as Yahoo!, as with any of the major engines, specific areas need to be addressed. On Yahoo! the major areas are as follows:
- Keyword density
- Site structure
- Back-links
- Aging
Keyword Density
It would be unwise to specify a keyword density for you to target on your website. There are two reasons for this. First, if there is a delay between the writing of this article and when you read it specific numbers could well send you off in the wrong direction. Second, you will need to analyze your specific competitors to determine what the best density is in your area and for your type of website. Optimal keyword densities are no longer a one-size-fits-all calculation. Your industry and site-type will affect the optimal densities and thus, a complete analysis using a tool such as Total Optimizer Pro will be necessary.
Additionally, optimal keyword densities change on a regular basis and so you will need to periodically reanalyze your densities and compare them with others in the top 10 to insure that your densities remain within the optimal levels. When using Total Optimizer Pro for the on-site analysis we generally aim our densities for the upper end of the top 10 results but not aiming to be the top. Generally you will see a range that appears much like a bell curve with a couple sites in the very low range (0.5 to 1.0%) and a couple site in the very high range (5.0 to 8.0%). The rest will generally fall in the middle. Ignore those in the very low and very high range and target towards the upper end though not the highest of the remaining sites and you will be on target.
Site Structure
On no other engine is site structure more important than on Yahoo! While having a good site structure is important for a variety of reasons, it was on Yahoo! that Beanstalk noted the most significant gains when we brought our homepage and key internals into compliance with W3C standards (the rest of the site will be brought into compliance as part of our complete redesign scheduled for launch on April 24th). While slight gains were noticeable on both Google and MSN they were so minor that they may well have just been part of the ebb-and-flow of the results. On Yahoo! however we noted a three page jump the day the changes were picked up. No other changes to the site were performed during this time.
The site structure is important for two key reasons. First, the site structure determines the order in which your page content gets seen by the search engines and thus, which content will be given the highest priority. Content that occurs higher up in the code of your page (not necessarily in your browser) is given a higher weight than content lower down in the code. Second, a properly structured site will be lower in code through the use of CSS, reduced or eliminated table use, etc. The reduction in code will push the content higher up the page as far as a search engine is concerned and thus, it will be given more weight.
Back-links
Like the other two major engines, having a solid back-link count from relevant sites using good anchor text practices is a major factor on Yahoo! for any reasonably competitive phrase. When it comes to calculating back-links Yahoo! is far more similar to Google than MSN. Aspects of back-link counts that must be taken into consideration when optimizing your website for Yahoo!:
- Quality of site – like Google has attempted to do in the past with PageRank and is learning to do with TrustRank, sheer numbers aren’t what will get you high rankings on Yahoo!, the quality of those links is more important. We must remember than PageRank is a Google calculation, not Yahoo! and so it alone cannot determine the value of a link when we are optimizing for this engine. It can be used as a quasi-benchmark however when determining if a link is a quality link on Yahoo! we are better off to considered whether it is from a site that is ranking well on Yahoo! for the same or related phrases, does it come from a site that it related to ours, does the site link to a site that is ranking well on Yahoo! and does the link come from a trusted domain. For these purposes a trusted domain can be considered any domain that is over 3 years old, has a solid number of back-links coming from a wide variety of sites and which at least a solid number of are non-reciprocal links.
- Position of link – like all the major engines, the position of your link on the page is important. A link at or near the bottom of the page is less valuable than a link nearer to the top. Also, if your link is on a page with other links, the effect that link will have on your rankings decreases respective to the number of links on the linking page.
- Anchor text – the text used to link to your site will help reinforce that the keywords in that anchor text are associated with your site/page. Also, if that anchor text in in the midst of the content it will hold greater weight than if that anchor text is in a directory-style format above a description (i.e. link a standard links page)
- Non-reciprocal links – reciprocal links are certainly still valuable on Yahoo! however it is important to supplement these links with non-reciprocal links in the form of directory listings and other one-way links.
Ageing
The bane of new websites is the aging delay. Many focus on Google’s “sandbox” when they think of aging delays however Yahoo! employs one as well, though it is lighter and lasts a shorter duration of time. New sites and links are not given the same weight as sites and links that have been around for a while. The aging delay on sites has been extended over the past couple years however it isn’t as severe as that imposed by Google. New sites can expect to find it extremely difficult to rank for competitive phrase inside of 6 months even if everything else is in place. To add to the difficulty is a delay on the value of links. When a new site launches it obviously has no links. These links are subject to a delay that appears to be somewhere between 3 to 4 months before they hold their full weight.
The combination of these delays can make it very difficult for new sites to rank for competitive phrases inside of 8 to 12 months however because the restrictions are lighter than those imposed by Google one can expect to see rankings for secondary, tertiary and completely unexpected phrases far faster on Yahoo!
Resources
- Total Optimizer Pro – A keyword density and back-link analysis tool. This tool breaks down a variety of on-site and off-site factors giving you a full snapshot of how the top 10 got their positions.
- Yahoo! Press Room – Read the latest press releases from Yahoo!. This may not give you the algorithm but it will tell you the direction they’re going. Understand this and you’ll be better equipped to deal with changes down the road.
- DigitalPoint’s Yahoo! Forum – Read the latest news, feedback and discussions on the DigitalPoint forums. A great way to keep updated but beware, not everyone in there is a qualified opinion.
Avoiding Common Link Building Mistakes
When link building is carried out correctly, it yields extremely useful and positive results. However, the process of carrying out an effective link building campaign could be labouring and sometimes near impossible thus it is important that when using an SEO technique that involves placing back-links on Websites, mistakes are rare or very minimal. Rather than approaching the task carelessly, time should be taken to take care of background work such as research and competitive analysis so as not to waste time and money.
Firstly, you must ensure that you identify relevant Websites, that are related to your product or services, to place your links. Furthermore, it is important to carefully choose the anchor text to use so that they are related to your keywords rather than generalised terms such as click here and buy it now. While there is very little emphasis on the importance of using the right anchor text, it is a valid point that must not be overlooked.
Furthermore, avoid placing your links on black-listed Websites. There are quite a few of these doing rounds today and every single one of them must be avoided. It follows a simple logic – Websites that possess tarnished reputations are absolutely useless both to you and more importantly to search engines which are likely to assume that you are endorsing such sites.
Last but not least, try as much as possible to use sites with high page-ranks or that possess the ability to be ranked higher by search engines. This is because the page-rank is a measure of the strength of a Website and the higher the rank, the higher it is rated by search engines such as Google. While a newly created page will automatically be awarded a PR of 0, it has the potential of eventually reaching the same heights as the site’s homepage thus you do not have to write-off Websites at first glance. Overall, there is no substitute for carrying out a good research and inspecting links that appear on your site when it comes to avoiding common link building mistakes.
Benefits of Using SEO Plugins
Search engine optimisation is not a very easy task. Actually, there are several tasks that may need to be performed over and over again in order to get results especially because nothing can be guaranteed in SEO. However, one way of making SEO tasks easier is by the use of SEO plugins. SEO plugins are computer programs that have been designed to add specific search-engine-related functions in order to support a particular application. They can potentially improve efficiency, save time and even money after installation. For example, with SEO plugins certain tasks can be performed directly from a Web browser rather than using several Web sites to obtain information.
Site Speed Useful for Page Ranking
The subject of how Google rank Web pages or Web sites has always been a bit controversial particularly as no one knows the exact algorithms that the world’s number one search engine uses. However, there are certain measures such as page relevance and number of quality backlinks to a site, that are commonly known to affect the Google page ranking system.
Apart from the above mentioned, a new metric called site speed, has been included to the ranking system. Google recently announced that the rate at which Web pages load when search queries are made will now form a part of its page ranking system. This is as a result of research that shows that Internet users prefer fast loading Websites to relatively slow ones.
