The Importance of Backlinks in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When you are learning about search engine optimization (SEO), you will most likely read a lot about backlinks as it is one of the most important things you can learn. For those who don’t really understand SEO fully yet, you are most likely wondering why backlinks, also commonly referred to as “inbound links,” are so important. The importance of backlinks to SEO has become very significant and they are now the foundation on which a fully optimized site is built, next to targeted keywords and good content.

The backlinks that you will have are what point users (and search engine spiders) to your website. The number of backlinks your site has will demonstrate its popularity and how it is valued by others. For a search engine like Google, backlinks are used to judge a site’s importance and standing. When a website has a good number of high quality backlinks, it will be viewed as an important and relevant website.

It is true that search engine will determine the relevance of a website based on the keyword search to find it. However, search engines also use backlinks to determine if the site is of high enough quality to rank at the top part of the search results pages. It is important that the links that point to you site be of high quality. It is quality and quantity that counts with backlinks. This means that is it better to have a few good quality websites endorse your site (i.e. links to your site) rather than have backlinks in many unknown sites.

The content on the websites linking to your site is very important as well. To be considered as a quality link, the website linking to your site should have content that is similar or related to yours. If the content is very different, the search engines will not see the link as high quality. The more related the content, the higher the quality of the link will be.

The search engines try to keep the playing field level and will also search for links that have been built over time. It is simple to manipulate the number of links on a web page to gain a high rank. However, it is difficult to manipulate search engines with backlinks from another website. This is why the algorithm guiding search engines use backlinks as an important feature. In the past, some website owners would use backlinks to achieve high rankings through link farms. Link farms are nothing more than a site with a collection of links. These sites do not provide any other quality information. Now, search engines are able to detect link farming websites and any link coming from one is ignored. However, you should be warned that having your site linked to by a link farm is a reason to have your site banned by search engines.

The foremost reason why you want backlinks is the get internet users to visit your site. It is not possible for you to be successful by building a site and just wait for people to discover you. You must provide links to your site through backlinks and other SEO methods. Reciprocal linking is one of the ways that some website owners help each other and provide links to each other’s sites. Make use of the available tools and processes involving backlinks and your SEO efforts will pay off.

SEO Tips to Avoid Being Blacklisted by Google

It cannot be denied that Google is the biggest power in the free-for-all world called cyberspace. Being the prominent search engine company gives Google the clout to virtually ruin a website’s chance to succeed through search engine optimization. It’s not that Google can actually take down your site. However, it can delete your site from its database so it won’t come up in any search performed by any of its users. This is actually not such a big deal unless your income depends on always being at the top of search results. If that’s that case, then you’ve got a problem.

Worried now? Don’t panic. You can check on your site’s status by installing the Google toolbar. The toolbar will display your site’s page rank. When it’s totally gray, then you know you’ve been blacklisted. Here are some ways you can avoid that situation:
1. Avoid using hidden text on your site.

Some crafty website administrators put hidden text in their codes for different purposes. Some, sadly, do this to cheat—optimizing search engines by placing keywords that are invisible on the actual page. The thing is, search engines can still detect these keywords. When Google finds out you’re into this, expect to be booted out of its database.
2. Don’t cram your site with alt image tags.

Alt image tags are the texts that appear on a site when an image cannot be loaded or is blocked by a browser. Doing this is normally a legitimate activity in search engine optimization. However, there are those who abuse it by placing a considerable amount of keywords to trigger the search engines.
3. Don’t overuse keywords in meta tags.

Some people foolishly fill up their meta tags with repeated keywords thinking that this will help their pages rank better in search results. However, this doesn’t make sense because Google doesn’t rank pages according to meta tags. If you think doing this will help boost your page rank, think again. The most you could get out of this is Google penalizing you; or even worse, banning your site.
4. Don’t overuse keywords in your title tags either.

Although there are many foolish website owners who do this, many would agree that doing this is downright ridiculous. Why repeat the same word over and over again in a title? Apart from your website looking very unprofessional (and desperate), this does absolutely nothing to help you increase your page rank. You just need to mention your keyword once in your title tag and you’re set.

If you’re really smart and serious about your search engine optimization efforts, you won’t even think about doing any of these schemes. Not only would your efforts be futile, but your site will end up looking both ridiculous and annoying. And as if that weren’t bad enough, these SEO schemes will get your website banned by Google and other search engines. Just remember that your SEO efforts will not produce instant results. However, if you do it right, the results will be long term. There’s never a need to act to desperately as that will only lead to a lot of wasted effort.

Important Off-Page Strategies for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is not all about optimizing the content within your site. To support your search engine optimization campaign, there are a lot of off-site things you can do to improve your pages’ rankings. Optimizing through off-page efforts generally involves link building and traffic generation. This can be done in a number of ways. The most common ones are listed below.

Post in Forums

More often than not, forums allow users to place links within their signature box. If your posts are interesting to others, they will most likely visit your site.

Submit your Site to Web Directories

Submitting your site to web directories, especially those with high page ranks, can give you both high quality links and traffic. Read more

Google Japan

Google and Japan just don’t mix, I was surprised myself when I read that Google has a weakness and hasn’t totally dominated the World Wide Web - despite public opinions and belief. Yahoo currently owns 76% of the search volume within Japan, 76% of the 360 Billion page views (for 2007). Big numbers in comparison to other popular nations and countries, for example Japan’s estimated value on the web is 10% of the total revenue and that includes advertising, Read more

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arghhh my fellow webmasters tis “talk like a pirate day“,arghh, blogging and tracking yearly events is a good method of getting traffic, there’s a certain formula within Google that coincides with news and these events, some web masters call it “the news effect”, don’t ask me how - but Google gives priority to recent posts and web sites related to current events and this is supposed to ensure that when these events occur - the general surfer will find new content that’s based on the time of posting.

One example is 9/11 where searches don’t want old news they want the latest related news - so Google gives new posts a boost within the search results. Read more

Wikileaks Mirrors

This is a follow up post to my previous link bait and bot bait post based on the recent Sarah Palin wikileaks post (related to the wikileaks mirrors), in this example I will show you an un-saturated form of Bot baiting, by un-saturated I mean that it’s not widely used or known about. It is simple and requires a little knowledge and practice.

Let’s look at a few bots and where these bots travel (bot can also be a scraper) :

Youtube Bots, RSS, API, Auto Galleries and Video Blogs.
Digg Bots, RSS is the primary method.
Yahoo Answers is also primarily RSS feeds.
Google assorted RSS feeds, Blogs, News and Google Trends.

And this is what I am discussing, Google Trends, Read more

gov.palin@yahoo.com

You may have read or heard about link baiting before, this is a fine art and is very lucrative when carried out correctly, another similar form is Bot baiting, yes it exists - gov.palin@yahoo.com - is an example of a Bot bait attempt and post - hence the title of this post.

Before I delve into the details, I will give a few more examples of link baiting, you may have read the Miley Cyrus is dead type news and hoaxes, these are your typical link baiting attempts, it works simple - you create a site or page based on the hoax, this creates a jump on the competition, then you attempt to spread the news via popular sites like Digg, Yahoo answers and so on - in the hope that the gossip gets around quickly - shortly after this hoax is played out the word may spread and this results in a surge of people searching for Miley Cyrus is Dead …. then hopefully your link is within the top results in Google - resulting in lots of traffic, if you use a long tail key search / hoax phrase your success can be multiplied, for example you may use “Miley Cyrus Car Accident” instead of Miley Cyrus dead.

OK, now Bot baiting is similar in approach and marketing, but doesn’t require as much effort as link baiting and the traffic can be just as rewarding, some popular sites are typical targets and these include Youtube, Digg and Google Trends - which is less saturated.

Some examples of bot baiting are the Youtube keyword stuffers, these are those spammy Youtube videos that include 500 random (key) words within the description - which are un-related to the videos content. The simple idea is to get bots/sites to grab the videos and embed them into a web site - like auto video galleries, then the video will also have a link within the description which is also included into the bot / video grabbers web site.

Bots are very popular in grabbing content from popular web sites, also known as scrapers, even RSS feeds, then they include the gathered data within a web site, the web site is normally on automatic and gathers the content with little interaction from the web master.

This post is typical of a Google Trends bot bait post - I will go into depth with a new post.

Top Eight Search Engines for Your Pay-per-Click Campaign

Pay-per-click advertising is a great opportunity for your online business. You can let search engines drive business to your website and thereby increase your sales. Many people do not realize how many search engines are out there.

Here’s a look at the top eight most popular ones listed in alphabetical order.

7Search This is one of the smaller search engines that exist today and its fees are relatively high compared to the larger competitors. However, many people prefer using it and many say it generates a greater return on your investment.

ABC Search This search engine prides itself in attracting specific and targeted users to a site. With this in mind, you can feel more confident that the visitors driven to your site are more likely to make a purchase. However, its rates are relatively higher than some of the other search engines discussed here.

Enhance Interactive This is one of the newer search engines and it specializes in driving high-quality traffic to a site. Although quite new, it is already getting a good reputation among Pay-per-Click advertisers for the quality it provides.

Google Adwords This is probably the most favored search engine for the purpose of Pay-per-Click advertising. However, such popularity means that you may have to pay more. Although registration may be cheaper than some, the search engine’s popularity causes more intense competition among advertisers. This means that you have to pay more to get the page ranking you want. Still, Pay-per-Click advertisers agree that the traffic it generates is well worth the extra cost.

MIVA Some Pay-per-Click advertisers shy away from this search engine because its registration fees are quite high. However, many of those who have used it say that it is very effective in Pay-per-Click marketing because its results are very targeted.

Microsoft Ad Center This is considered as another one of the big gust especially because it has the Microsoft name backing it up. It is also very inexpensive to use making it eve more popular among Pay-per-Click advertisers. However, some say that its interface needs further development.

SearchFeed Operational in 11 countries around the world, it is considered as a great way to increase business internationally. Users say it generates a good amount of traffic.

Yahoo! Search Marketing This is considered as one of the Big Three (along with Google and Microsoft). Its fees are in line with the other two but, somehow, keyword competition is not as intense.

These are just some of the many search engines available today. Choosing from these or others can be a tricky thing. However, there are a few things to remember to help you in making your decision.

1. Try using the search engine yourself. Is it easy to use? Do you like the appearance of the home page? If you answer yes to both questions, you can be more confident that other users feel the same way about it.

2. Compare costs. You need to compare the registration fees and the Pay-per-Click bid rates among search engines and be sure that you spend on what will benefit you most. Remember that it’s not about finding the cheapest one but the most cost-efficient.

3. Read the fine print. Do you understand the search engine’s policies? Do you understand how the search engine operates? Do you understand how one search engine is different from another? Make sure you understand all these as they can make all the difference in your Pay-per-Click campaign.

Search engines are a critical part of your pay-per-click efforts. Learn to use them wisely and you will see your profits grow as your website page rankings climb up the charts.

The Evolving World of Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertising

We all know how Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertising can drive traffic (and therefore potential customers) to your website. But have you ever heard of pay-per-call advertising?

Pay-per-Call is a similar online advertising style to PPC. However it is intended to assure advertisers that they will get visitors who are truly interested in what is being marketed.

As you know, PPC advertisers only have to pay for ads when a user clicks on them. However, as people become more sophisticated, the practice has lead to instances of click fraud. Website owners have been known to inflate the number of clicks each site received, thus increasing the amount they are paid.

To combat this practice, Pay-per-Call advertising is becoming more popular. In Pay-per-Call, advertisers only pay for each telephone call or personal visit generated by website. Users clicking on a site are taken to a page with contact information and a source code. When they contact the advertiser, he or she notes the source code to determine which website was the source.

While internet mavens may say requiring a customer to physically call a company may lose a client, many users actually prefer talking to a “real person” rather than just clicking a button. Calling a company allows the customer to ask any questions they may have before ordering. Many customers like the personal touch and won’t mind taking the extra step to get it.

Pay-per-Call is obviously most advantageous for businesses that work in a specific geographic region. After all, customers have to take into account travel costs and long-distance telephone costs in dealing with a business further away. However, for advertisers who want to make sure their advertising is truly effective, Pay-per-Call is becoming very attractive. PPC experts are predicting the major ad networks will be shifting to a pay-per-call format in the near future and so many advertisers are keeping that in mind as they make their marketing plans

If you are interested in Pay-per-Call’s potential, be sure to research on reputable companies who now offer this service. You can find them on your favorite search engine. You can also find other information that compare Pay-per-Click and Pay-per-Call methods. You should be sure you understand the pros and cons of each type of advertising.

Whichever form of Internet advertising you choose, it pays to be smart about it. Be sure to read all documentation about all online marketing services before you buy and be sure to understand exactly what you are getting. If you have any questions or doubts, don’t buy it. If possible, try the free trial offers that may be available. You can always cancel at the end of the 30-day period if you want.

Remember, each business is different and no advertising model is right for every business. No matter what advertising you use, use it consistently and often. The whole point of advertising, whether online or in person is to increase exposure for you and your business. The more your venture is in the public eye, the more business you will generate and the more money you will make.

Duplicate Content: When is it Acceptable?

When researching about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and duplicate content, you’ll come across various advice sites from assorted web gurus who say one thing thing: avoid duplicate content. It is a practice that search engines seek out and for which the sites owners are penalized. The assumption here, at least, is that all the content on one page has been copied, almost as it is, and passed off as being owned by another.

However, this kind of website plagiarism can be legitimate within limits and within context. There are instances when duplicate content is allowed and even found acceptable. Read more

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