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Friday, September 12, 2008

How to Get Other Websites to Link to Yours

The use of back-links to improve a websites Search Engine Rank Position (SERP) in search engines (SE) has been very effective in diffusing some level of black-hat search engine optimization (SEO). Black-hat SEO involves using "illegal" techniques with the express purpose of fooling SEs to rank a website favorably. Back-links on the other hand are hyper-text links from other websites that link and direct their visitors to your website. They are also referred to as incoming links.

An everlasting question on an internet marketers mind is how they could get other websites to link back to their website. The more the number of links, the higher the website's Page Rank (PR) and most likely the better the SERP. The better the SERP the more visitors the website attracts, and the more the visitors the more sales the site can make.

One such technique is article marketing. It is so called as it uses reprintable articles to market your website. The driving force of the internet as a whole is information often referred to as content. Consequently, SEs love content, more so new, unique and/or frequent content. Article marketing targets to satisfy this insatiable need of SEs and webmasters.

An article is a literary composition on a distinct and independent subject such as the one you are reading. This is as opposed to series, book, or other such literary works. The idea in article marketing is to compose on a subject related to your website. For example for a tours and travel website one could compose an article about giving tips on dealing with jetlag or choosing a family safari. Ideally, the article should be more than 500 words but less than 1500. You then make the article available for reprint by any other webmaster. They can choose to use it on their websites, blogs or publish it on their newsletters.

The trick behind getting a link back to your website from the websites' whose owners choose to use the article is in the resource box. A resource boxes is a widely acceptable format of including hyper-linked text at the end of your article with a little marketing message. It is usually a sentence or two. In here you should add a link pointing to your website. As reprint content, an interested webmaster is only allowed to use the content as is - they can neither change the content nor the resource box.

Each website that uses your article automatically gives you a back-link. Highly informative content tends to attract wider publishing by other webmasters.

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SEO Web Design Secrets - Search Engine Optimization Tips For Beginners

SEO web design is a skill that can be learned, though most search engine optimization for beginners courses dwell too much on linking strategy as opposed to web site design per se. There are many ways for most normal people to get an improved search engine ranking, and secure a high search engine listing, and while linking is important, good on-site SEO is also necessary.

Although it might not seem like it, getting a good listing on Google or any of the other search engines is not as difficult as many like to claim. There are rules to follow, and if you play the game properly then the outcome should be in your favour. The tips provided in this article are not really secrets as such; although many people offer to divulge marvelous secrets to you, all they are giving you is stuff that people have been using for years.

So you won't get any secrets here. I have nothing hidden away that I don't want anybody to know, and if I had I wouldn't tell you about it! Would you? If you had some secrets that were so valuable that they were making you money, would you give them away free in an article like this one? Of course you wouldn't!

So here are my not-so-secret tips on getting a good listing in Google and improving your search engine ranking. You likely know a fair bit about meta tags, and have been informed that most are not used by search engines. Well let me tell you something. If you 'Google' Article Services you will finds my website right at the top in the #1 position for that keyword. Check the description that Google provides right under the title: that is exactly as it is in the 'Description' tag that I have on the site. So don't let anybody tell you that Google don't use the Description tag, because they do. So do Ask and MSN (now Live Search), and Yahoo also uses it, but not the whole thing exactly as written.

The Keyword tag is another matter. Google aren't interested in what you tell them the keywords are: they decide the relevance of the page themselves from the text and Alt tags on the page. Google no longer need keyword repetition to understand what you are writing about: they have the LSI algorithm now, that will determine the meaning of your page from the character strings it contains. The algorithm is programmed to calculate a relevance factor from the vocabulary you use in relation to the rest of the vocabulary on the page. However, back to SEO web design, and some search engine optimization tips for beginners.

In addition to the Description meta tag, the HTML tags you should use are:

1. The Keywords meta tag. Although little used it only takes a second to put in, and does no harm. There is evidence that some search engines might use it. The rest of the meta tags are pointless.

2. The TITLE tag. This is the title of your web page, and should contain the primary keyword for the page. Each page should be written round one primary keyword that relates to the subject of your website or niche.

For example, if your niche is costume jewelry, the primary keyword for your home page would be 'costume jewelry'. You could then have a number of 'silos' with a main page title each. The title of one main silo page could be 'simulated diamonds' and the first page title of that silo could be 'garnets'. All of these are the primary keywords for their respective pages. Another silo could be 'colored gem stones', with that as the primary keyword for the main silo page, and that for your first sub-page in that silo could be 'citrine'. And so on.

Each page must have one primary keyword, and it should be included in the Title tag for that page. The Title tag does not appear in the body of the article, but in the HTML between the two HEAD tags in your html.

3. The H tag. These are heading tags, with H1 being the most important. The heading for each main section in your page should be contained within H1 tags, and many pages have only the one set of such tags. Subheadings, containing secondary keywords, should be contained within H2 tags, and so on. Thus, in the example above, the heading or your garnets silo could be could be 'Garnets in Costume Jewelry' in H1 tags.

After an introduction to garnets, you could then have an H2 heading containing 'The Source of Garnets: Where Garnets Come From', then another passage of text headed 'How Garnets are Cut for Costume Jewelry', again held in H2 tags.

4. The ALT attribute. Use 'Alt = ' within the Img tags of your images and graphics. This lets the search engines know what the graphic is about: search engines do not read graphics, and the Alt attribute offers you the chance to use your graphics meaningfully with respect to SEO web design.

TEXT FORMATTING

That's all you have to worry about regarding the HTML tags. You text formatting can be used to emphasize to search engines what the important text on your page is. Thus, if you use bold text, underscoring or italics, they indicate the important words and phrases. Thus, use the 'STRONG'and 'U' html tags in your heading.

WRITE NATURALLY

Don't worry too much about your keyword density (KD), other than having to much. Too high a KD could harm you if Google thinks you are making unnecessary use of them. Write naturally for human readers, and not robots. If your text reads well and makes it clear what the subject of the passage is about, then you will be fine. In my writing I ignore the concept of KD altogether. I use my keywords as indicated above, and also in the first and last 100 characters on the page (or at least in the last paragraph somewhere).

Good SEO web design is not keyword fixated, but contains good contextually related vocabulary that the LSI algorithm can use to target the relevance of the page to the search term being used by somebody using the search engine to find information. That's all a keyword is: a term used by somebody looking for information. If you cannot work without a target KD, then I would go for a max of 1% with plenty associated vocabulary, synonyms. Related terms, etc.

Thus, if you are writing a 400 word article on the keyword 'losing weight', use these words four times, not twelve (1% not 3%)

None of these are web design secrets, and I doubt if there are any such secrets left any more. I suppose the only thing even approaching a secret here is that my description meta tag is copied exactly by Google in the listing for my #1 placed website. That allows you to determine how Google users see the description of your site in the listing.

I have several more SEO web design tips to offer, but these will be the subject of another article. In the meantime if you implement these search engine optimization tips for beginners, then you should soon see an improvement in your website's search engine ranking.

If you want more SEO web design tips, you will find Part 2 of this article with more search engine optimization tips for beginners on Seocious Tips 2 along with a free gift for everybody from me, Pete Nisbet of SEOcious.

Link Building - Create a Chain Reaction!

No doubt you've heard of word-of-mouth advertising, whereby products or companies get a boost when people talk positively about them. The online equivalent of this kind of advertising is link building. What does it mean? Link building involves getting other websites to link to your site. It is similar to having your friend recommend a good doctor or restaurant; it carries more weight than an address listed in the yellow pages. If a viewer comes to your site through a link from another site, it obviously has more significance than if the person just stumbled across it.

Another particularly good reason for link building is for better search engine listings. In recent times, links have become increasingly important to search engines because they see them as an approval of your site by other websites. What better endorsement can there be than a positive referral! Take the case of your dentist or hairdresser - I bet you chose them primarily because of references from friends and relatives. Same is the case with your website - the more sites that provide links to it, the more popular it is!

How do you go about it? We've listed below some steps that will help you in the task of link building:

o Create a plan - You guessed right! The first step is to set a goal and prepare a plan. How many links do you want? Set a realistic goal for the number of links you want. When you are making the plan, set your target higher than your actual goal - about 4-5 times more. We are saying this because not all sites that you approach will want to trade links. You could get quite a number of refusals.

o Make your site worth their time - Content, content, content! That is the constant mantra you have to repeat to yourself. If your site has no worthwhile content to read, no one will be interested in linking to it. Examples of linkable content include how-to articles, product reviews, tools, tips, FAQs and so on. Make it relevant to what your site is about. For example, if you are an online beauty supply store, write articles on beauty tips, hair care, clothes and accessories. You can bet that you will get links from several websites catering to these needs.

o Look for quality link partners - How would you go about doing this? There are many ways to find link partners, but the easiest way is to use Open Directory and Yahoo. These directories are difficult to get listed in, so finding a potential link partner here will ensure that those are good sites for linking to.

o Organize your findings - Once you have made a list of potential link partners, get organized. Keep track of the full name of the site owner or Webmaster, the email address, the homepage URL, the URL of the page where you think your link belongs and why you think it belongs there and the date of the initial request letter.

o Contact the potential site - Once you have garnered all the necessary information, send an e-mail customized to each site requesting that you trade links. In your request, mention why your link belongs on their site and provide a sample link and description.

o Check for links and follow-up - Link building takes time. Check to see if anyone has linked to your site after a month. Follow up with each site that hasn't linked to you yet.

Link building takes time. But if you keep at it, you are sure to reap the benefits of this simple, easy-to-do advertisement for your business website.

Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net - It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special "Freebie of The Month" at http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html

Building An EBay Niche Store

So What is BANS?

BANS means Build a Niche Store, in fact it is a website builder which creates an eBay Network in your website focusing around eBay Affiliate and Partner Networks.

You simply choose the popular niche, build your niche store, promote and make money. Its as simple as swallowing a melting chocolate. Just repeat the steps of driving traffic, your Bank will be filled with unheard money. The power of BANS makes you get addicted for using this system.


The BANS and eBay Combination

BANS currently supports 12 eBay Networks covering Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, India, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States and they hold a combined product inventory of over 60 million products.


So How does this Work?

It just revolves around a 5 step system to build a completely keyword rich eBay Stores in your website.


Step1: Choose Your Country



Your country of choice will determine which specific eBay marketplace products you will be marketing.

If you choose eBay.com then you will be creating niche websites focused around eBay.com listed products and will then be marketing them to online shoppers in the United States.

If you choose the another country as supported by BANS you will be doing the same for that selected country marketplace and that country based shoppers and so forth.

Step2: Choose Your Niche

With your target country chosen you then install BANS and once installed your first choice inside your new BANS admin panel is the niche you want to target.

If you choose the Wii related category BANS will build a Wii related eBay affiliate store, the golf category then a golf eBay affiliate store.

Straight out of the box your store will:

1. Contain all of those products listed on eBay relevant to your chosen niche.

2. Contain a sub-category navigation based on eBay's hierarchical category structure.

3. Have all the search features of the eBay marketplace.

4. Have your eBay affiliate id embedded into each of the external product links to eBay.

5. Be completely SEO friendly.

Stage 2 is complete...

Step 3:
Develop Your New Website To "Match Your Market"

With your basic store built next comes development...

BANS is a complete content management system with the development features to match any professional website builder.

The aim with this development stage is to "match your market" which means - make it feel like it's related to your target niche (through design) and add width and depth to it through the Store Page and Content Page features.

With a little bit of time spent inside your BANS admin panel you can transform your straight out of the box store into one which is themed to your niche and has store pages which target keywords that your market is actually using to find the products listed in your store.

Once you get into content creation you can add as many new pages to your site as you are willing to write or get written. As with any website or blog, every new page you add targets more keywords in the search engines which means more targeted traffic and more eBay affiliate commissions.

Again all of this development is done online and whilst logged into your BANS admin panel.

Step 4: Market Your Website To Your Target Niche

Once you're "happy" with your new niche store it's time to turn your attention towards marketing.

If you've targeted golf then you want to attract golfers interested in purchasing specific pieces of golf equipment, if it's a used motorcycle store that you've built then you're looking for those people who are about to buy a new bike.

By following a basic set of marketing principles including content creation, SEO, article marketing, forum marketing, Squidoo lenses, social bookmarking, link building, USFreeads and PPC you will soon be finding buyers for the products you have chosen to market and will be making a steady supply of eBay affiliate commissions. (Please note that there are a growing number of threads in our member forum that discuss these strategies).

At this stage you can then choose to spend some more time developing your niche store (particularly adding more content pages), pursue a more aggressive marketing strategy, or...

Step 5: Begin Building Your eBay Affiliate Empire

Once you have familiarized yourself with the software and have built, developed and marketed your first site you will have a good understanding of how the system works.

You can then begin adding to your niche store portfolio by building new stores to target new niche markets.

If you commit to the project, take action and use our member forum as a support structure for your development you will soon find yourself with your own growing portfolio of eBay affiliate websites which are successfully funnelling buyers through to eBay and adding a nice monthly income to your bank account!

There are no pre-set limits as to the depth of each store that you create or the width of your entire portfolio...you get back what you put in...and with a product inventory of over 60 million products to market there are more opportunities than it will ever be possible to target.

Conclusion

Choose your country, choose your niche, develop your site, market your site, rinse and repeat! To reap profits without selling anything at eBay

If you follow this system you will find that BANS is the perfect platform for building up a new and long term income from the internet.

As a Newbie, I built an US Hi-Tech eBay Affiliate Store at Ad and Auctions related to products ranging from the popular niches, namely, wii, apple iphone, ipod touch, digital cameras targetting US Based Customers who can visit my site for a free and easy navigation to locate their products of interests at eBay.com instead of searching the entire eBay.

Indusekar, the author of this Article is an aspiring Affiliate Marketer from Chennai, India. He is promoting a free and high payout Affiliate Program at Superior Affiliate Program. Launched a Hi-Tech BANS Store recently at Ad and Auctions