My Blog
2Dec/160

5 Steps to Better Search Engine Optimization

One of the biggest challenges that face web site owners is trying to send traffic to their websites. This is usually achieved by getting the best possible ranking with the search engines, which comes down to trying to get onto the first page of Google or the other engines such as Yahoo and Bing.

It’s important to understand if you are promoting a popular product or services you may have hundreds if not thousands all competing for that same spot. For you to get the edge over the competition you need to do some fine-tuning of your site with search engine optimization. This is not as complex as it sounds and the steps below can give you some guidelines to improving your site to get some search engine attention.

Step 1: Check the layout and design of your website

Whilst you may think you have an impressive looking website, it could also be at the root of your problems. Does your copy start half way down the page, making it more difficult for the search engines to grasp what your site is about? Have you got bloated over sized graphics that make your page slow to load or too much white space between the lines? It’s not difficult to tweak your pages to get them right.

Step 2: Have you placed your keywords strategically through your website?

Keyword stuffing can be detrimental to your site but so can lack of keywords. It’s no longer good enough just to put your keywords in the title and meta tags, you need to have a certain percentage placed appropriately within your copy and articles. Your critical keyword is ideally to be found in your first paragraph of text, and should also be used in headlines and in your hyperlinks.

Step 3: Text links and site maps

To get your site recognized and positioned you need to make sure that all of your pages are being found by the web spider when it crawls your site; which means you need to get your site indexed correctly. It is important to include a site map in your website that shows all the links to your inner pages. Another good habit to get into is creating a navigation menu with text links, these are a lot easier for the search engine robot to follow and identify all your pages. On page search engine optimization is just as important as off page.

Step 4: Backlinks – Quality vs. Quantity

When you are trying to position yourself a highly competitive category you will need quality backlinks to your site, preferably PR 6 & 7 when you can get them. You will find that when you have good content in your site others are willing to link to you as it provides credibility for their own sites.

But this can take time to build up, in the meantime you can actively search yourself and start requesting links, the more the better. Don’t overlook that quality will outdo quantity any day in terms of getting your site a better ranking.

Step 5: Keep up to date with search engine rulings

Search engines change their rules quite frequently and it is important to keep yourself up to date. This isn’t as hard as it may sound, there are numerous forums and blogs on the net that regularly post information on the latest changes.

Subscribe to informative newsletters or join relevant forums so you always know what changes are in the wind.

Search engine optimization (SEO) can be complex, but following these few simple steps provides the basics for getting started.

22Jul/140

How Affiliate Marketing Can Get You Traffic For Free

Thousands of people are involved with affiliate marketing because they want to start making money almost immediately without the expense and time needed to produce a product themselves. Having a website is not necessary and there is no interaction with your potential customers beyond getting them to the sales page.

Getting involved in affiliate marketing is a great opportunity to make a lot of money on the Internet, but one should not go into it blindly. As an affiliate you must invest some time in research, this is absolutely necessary. Know what products you want to promote, how much you will make on each sale and the return rate of the product. It is a good idea to buy or request a sample product so you know the product inside and out.

As a first time affiliate it is a good idea to start with reasonably priced products making at least 50% in commission. The most critical part of affiliate marketing is of course marketing. The issue of traffic is one of the most central and fundamental issues in making any money online. You can separate your marketing campaign into two distinct groups, paid and non-paid. Free marketing can be quite effective if you know how it is done. Here is a list of the most popular methods for getting traffic for free.  If you are interested in affiliate marketing Check out Easyvideosuite for more information.

Article marketing is a great way to increase your ranking with search engines and direct targeted traffic to your sites. You should write about what you know. If you do not have more information on your topic than does the average reader you should probably choose another topic. Write your article in a conversational tone so that it is easy to read. Do not make your article too long and remember it is an article you are writing not a book. A length of 450-750 words should be ideal. Your article should be informative and about your website topic.

Blogging is another source to drive traffic to your site and increase your search engine rankings. Blogs were originally used as online diaries but have recently taken on a business dimension. Your blog should be focused on your particular niche. You should have several blogs with different providers and include your links in your blogs and profile. This is a good technique for increasing traffic and search engine rankings. If you like to blog check out Global Domains International.

Forum is another great way to meet people and get your URL out there on every post you make. You should join forums related to the niche you are targeting or the product you are selling. When you sign up for a forum you have the option of adding a signature. This will show up at the bottom of every post you make in the forum and should be used to promote your website links and products. Whenever you make posts you will then be creating links back to your site, while attracting the attention of the forum readers.

Social Bookmarking is a valuable and reliable way to get traffic and backlinks to your site. There are many social bookmarking sites such as Furl and del.icio.us. These sites allow you to share your bookmarks along with a description with the public hence the term social bookmarking. The main purpose is to put your links in front of people who would hopefully also bookmark your site giving you more backlinks.

Myspace is one of the largest online communities with over 100 million members. It is a great place for networking with other people who hold the same interests and marketing. Another great benefit of Myspace is that it has dozens of different forums and groups related to specific niches. Be sparing with your use of music bites, videos and other media clips, you should create an attractive profile that is easy to load. Forget the animation and other bells and whistles, make it easy to navigate your profile and organize your information logically. Color schemes are important, use colors that enhance the look of your text and images not draw attention away from them. You should also use a recent photo as you are now.

In order to be successful in your affiliate marketing it is important to carefully follow the points discussed above. You will be able to make money by driving free traffic to your website.