SEO Duplicate Web Content Penalty Myth Exploded

The “duplicate content penalty” myth is one of the biggest obstacles I face in getting web professionals to embrace reprint content. The myth is that search engines will penalize a site if much of its content is also on other websites.

Clarification: there is a real duplicate content penalty for content that is duplicated with minor or no variation across the pages of a single site. There is also a “mirror” penalty for a site that is more or less substantially duplicating another single site. What I’m talking about here is the reprint of pages of content individually, rather than in a mass, on multiple sites.

Another clarification: “penalty” is a loaded concept in SEO. “Penalty” means that search engines will punish a website for violations of the engine’s terms of service. The punishment can mean making it less likely that the site will appear in search results. Punishment can also mean removal from the search engine’s index of web pages (“de-indexing” or “delisting”).

How have I exploded the “duplicate content penalty” myth?

* PageRank. Many thousands of high-PageRank sites reprint content and provide content for reprint. The most obvious case is the news wires such as Reuters (PR 8) and the Associated Press (PR 9) that reprint to sites such as http://www.nytimes.com (PR 10).

* The proliferation of content reprint sites. There are now hundreds of websites devoted to reprint content because it’s a cheap, easy magnet for web traffic, especially search engine traffic.

* Experience. I’ve seen significant search engine traffic both from distributing content to be reprinted and from reprinting content on the site.

How I Doubled Search Engine Traffic with Reprint Content

When I first started distributing content for my main site, I was stunned by the highly targeted traffic I got from visitors clicking on the link at the end of the article. Search engine traffic also slowly increased both from the links and from having content on the site.

But I was even more stunned with the search engine traffic I got when I started putting reprint articles on the site in September. I had written quite a number of reprint articles for clients and accumulated a few webmaster “fans” who looked out for my articles to reprint them. I wanted to make it easier for them to find all the reprint articles I had written.

I didn’t want to draw too much attention to these articles, which had nothing to do with the main subject of the site, web content. So I secluded the articles in one section of the site.

The articles got a surprising amount of search engine traffic. The traffic was overwhelmingly from Google, and for long multiple-word search strings that just happened to be in the article word for word.

Why was I surprised with all the search engine traffic?

1. The articles had so little link popularity. The link popularity to the articles came primarily from a single link to the “reprint content” page from the homepage, which linked to category pages, which linked to the articles themselves–three clicks from the homepage. The sitemap was enormous, well over 100 links, so its PageRank contribution was minimal. Since these articles were on the site such a short time I strongly doubt they got any links from other sites.

2. The articles had so much competition. These articles had been reprinted far more widely than the average reprint article, which is lucky if it makes it into a few dedicated reprint sites. As part of my service I had done most of the legwork of reprinting my clients’ articles for them. In fact, I guarantee at least 100 reprints on Google-indexed web pages either for each article or group of articles. So that’s up to 100 web pages, sometimes more, that were competing with my web page to appear in search engine results for the search string.

Why Do Reprint Articles Get Search Engine Traffic?

You would think Google would just pick one web page with the article as the authoritative edition and send all the traffic to it.

But that’s not how Google works. All the search engines look at factors beyond just the content on the web page. They look at links. Google, at least, claims to look at 100 factors total. Many of these must relate to the content on the page, but not all of them.

The whole experience has given me great insight into what factors Google uses in addition to what we would consider the page itself, and the relative importance of each.

* Web page titles (the one in the html title tag) are extremely important as tie-breakers between two otherwise equally matched pages. Most reprinters waste the html title, using the article title as the web page title. Set yourself apart by creating unique five-to-ten-word web page titles that include target keywords.

* Content tweaks. You can also introduce the article with a unique, keyword-laden editor’s note, and finish the article off with some keyword-laced comments.

* Intra-site link popularity and anchor text (that is, for links to the article page from other web pages on the site) are also important. If you can’t link to the page from the homepage, keep it as close to the homepage as possible and weed out extraneous links (try putting all your site policies on a single page).

Reprint articles, like the search engine traffic they bring, cost nothing. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Forget the “duplicate content penalty.” Get in on content reprints and share the search engine wealth.

Basic Techniques to Generate Traffic from Search Engines

Traffic — And lots of it! It is the dream of every netrepreneur. After all, without steady stream of visitors — or should I say “potential customers” to your web site, how will you earn your e-fortune?

The first place most e-business start-ups go when they need a quick traffic fix is the search engines. And rightfully so! After all, a top ranking position in one of the major search engines is an effective way to increase the traffic to your web site without spending your hard-earned advertising dollars!

Statistics have repeatedly shown that anywhere from 20% to 80% of your visitors will find your web site via a search engine. However, you should also know that statistics show that most web surfers never search beyond the top 30 results they receive. With that in mind, it is clear that a top position a top position should be the goal of any savvy site owner.

But top spots are no longer achieved by crossing your fingers and blindly submitting your web site to 900+ search engines and directories using a free submission service. Competition for top spots is getting fierce, so it is important that you learn the “right” techniques if you want to ensure that your web site is well ranked… and it is very important that you do so while this great advertising medium is still FREE!

As I said before; for high traffic generation to your website, it is very important that your web site ranks in top spots in search engines. You may ask “What are the search engine looking for when they rank my web site?” Well, although each search engine uses different set of algorithms to rank web sites, but generally speaking, however, here are some of the main factors currently being considered by the search engines.

1. Link Popularity
Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, and the web pages search promotion of Yahoo! use a ranking system that involves measuring and ranking the number of links that are directed towards a particular web site. This is an extremely powerful traffic generation tools because:

Reason # 1
Building a well thought-out linking strategy is a powerful way to attract large volumes of high targeted traffic! By putting your web site on every major web “intersection” where your target market meets, you will ensure that your web site receives a steady flow of qualified potential customers.

Reason # 2
Links are equivalent to recommendations! They established credibility even before the visitor reaches your web site, dramatically increasing the likelihood that they will buy.

Think about it… David arrives at his favorite web site and notices that they have posted a link to your web site. He knows and trusts his favorite web site and therefore assumes that, because they have a linked to you, your business must be credible too. He clicks through the link to your web site and is immediately open to offers you present him with. Why? Because your credibility was established before he even arrived at your homepage!

Reason # 3
Since many search engines now factor link popularity into their ranking decisions, your linking strategies are all that much more important! If you want to be ranked as high as possible in search engines, you now need a factor in your link popularity – and, as you already know, earnings a top spot in the major search engines is key to increasing your web site traffic.

Obviously, developing a linking strategy that generates a high volume of targeted traffic to your web site is not an overnight process. It will take you anywhere from two weeks to six months to secure quality links you need. However, I promise you that it is worth the effort! Once you have done the initial footwork, the links that are established will remain on these web sites for years to come. Your perseverance will pay big dividends in the form of a continuous flow of targeted traffic generation.

2. Your Domain Name
A domain name plays a vital role in traffic generation to any web site. Domain names rich in keywords will rank higher in search engines because search engines love URL’s that are saturated with keywords! Brainstorm keywords and key phrases for your web site and then use them to create a catchy URL… or load the domain name with your best keywords to get ranked higher in the search engines.

3. Key Word Density
Keywords definitely refer to the number of times your keyword appears throughout your site. Your keyword density is a factor that is heavily weighted by search engines, so it’s very important to make strategic use of your keywords.

So, these are the golden facts and tactics through which you can drive high traffic to your web site. I should also mention that you do not expect to enter a couple of your top keywords into the search engines and instantly start making money through your web site— that is very rare. But yes, you can really make high traffic through search engines without crossing the line into “keyword stuffing” and with a little time.

Link Popularity Means More Traffic

The first place that a potential customer goes to find a product or service on the internet is a search engine. The higher you are listed in a search engine the better the possibility of your site being found. If the potential customers do not find you in their search, chances are that they will not visit your site and as a result you will not have an opportunity at making a sale with that prospect.

What has this all got to do with link popularity? Well, link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines. It determines the ranking or positioning your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine by a potential customer when looking for a product or service. The higher the position the more likely a prospect will find and click onto your site.

There are a few things you should be aware of and guard against in your quest for link popularity. These can be summed up in two words: Quantity and Quality.

You will not achieve link popularity just by linking up with a large number of other websites. In fact, it may work against you. There are web sites that are known as “link farms” containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines will discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The quality of the site you are linking to is also super important. So be sure to check out the site you are linking to before you commit to linking. If you have any reservation about your visitors seeing that you are linking to a site that is indiscriminate and cheap, forget about it. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

Here are some things you need to do to achieve link popularity and improve your rankings on the popular search engines.

The fastest way to get your foot in the door is to get a listing on some popular directories. You can do this manually or with the aid of software. There are several excellent software products on the market and when you consider the cost versus the time, you can decide which course is best for you.

The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. For instance, if you are selling life insurance, someone selling health insurance would be a good link choice. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects – and both of your sites’ link popularity.

Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a link or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with this crowd. Again you can do this manually, or with a software program.

There is a lot of hard work over an extended period of time invloved to get a high ranking with search engines. Other than some software programs to assist you there are no shortcuts to achieve link popularity. So be prepared for a long journey to the top. This is one of those areas where patience, commitment, and persistence pay off. Good Luck!

P.S.: You want to be sure to have an attractive and interesting site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you.

3 Steps To Getting Listed In The Search Engines

You’ve just finished putting in all kinds of effort towards getting your website online. You’re ready to take orders and make sales. The only problem is… No one can find your website! You need to get listed in the major search engines in order to get visitors to visit your website. What can you do? Follow these 3 steps and the search engines will know about your site in no time at all.

1. Write an article related to the main topic of your website.

Not sure if you know enough about writing to write an article? Don’t worry about being perfect. Write about what you know. Keep the article short, between 300-600 words long. When you write the article, give out general information that anyone would gladly post on their site as valuable content. Don’t try to sell your product or service in this article.

Remember the goal of the article is for you to get a valuable link back to your website, not to make a sale. In fact, if you try to make a sale in the article, most webmasters will not want to publish your article on their site. The whole goal of writing articles is to get your articles on as many websites as possible with a link pointing back to your site.

2. Include a resource box at the end of the article with your website link in it.

If you’ve created a good general information article that is relevant to the topic of your website, you are ready to create your resource box. Keep in mind here to get to the point quickly. It is usually considered fine to promote your product or service in this resource box but it is necessary to keep it short. You should remember that the main point of including this resource box is to get a link going back to your website. The secondary purpose of the resource box is to get readers of your article to click through and visit your website.

When including a link in your resource box, make sure that one of your links includes the main keywords of your home page. Keywords are a fancy term for the phrase or words a visitor will type in to find your website. Make the keyword the clickable portion of the link instead of your web address. Put this keyword text in between your html anchor link.

3. Submit your article to the major article directories.

Once you’ve created your article, submit it to the major article directories to get the article distributed on as many websites as possible. Some major article directories include EzineArticles, ArticleCity, ZapContent.com and Isnare. Some services like Isnare will even distribute your article for you for a fee.

Do these three steps and search engines will find, crawl, then list your website in their listings. It’s as simple as that!

Search Engines, Seo, Optimization And Page Rank: Do You Understand Them?

I have heard it said that your Page Rank is the most important aspect of your website SEO optimisation that gets you a high listing in the Search Engines. That gives me a problem!

The first problem I have with that is why should Yahoo, MSN and ASK care about Google PageRank. PageRank is correctly written since it is a trademarked term. These search engines do not use Google PageRank as part of their listing criteria, or if they do, they are keeping it close to their chest.

The second problem I have with that is that I know, but cannot prove, that I have had websites listed in the top 10 in the Google listings for competitive keywords without any links other than those received through one article submitted to one article directory. The reason my web pages (not websites, since true search engines do not list domains) earned such a high listing is that they were optimized for the keywords that each page was built upon, taking into account the fact that a high listing is the result of the culmination of many SEO techniques used on each page.

Keep in mind that Googlebot, Yahoo Slurp and MSNBot use a large number of different aspects of your web page in determining the position of your page in the index for any particular search term a customer has used. The way to get a high listing is to pay attention to every one of these. If you ignore even one, you will probably not rank as highly in relevance for that search term as web pages like mine that ignore nothing.

Don’t believe them when they tell you that Meta tags don’t count, because they could. It does you no harm to use them, so use them! In fact, use every aspect of SEO that you can, and do not take notice of anybody that tells you not to. I use to listen to others who knew best until I noticed that my web pages were listed higher that theirs for their keywords. I am just a simple article ghost writer, yet I can get my websites listed immediately on Google, and listed higher that many SEO experts – self proclaimed!

I don’t care if your website is listed high or not, or if it is listed within 2 days or 2 months. However, if YOU care, then you should listen to people who have done it, and not those who want to tell you how to do what they can’t do for their own web pages! What credibility can they have if they have to pay for their advertising? I don’t.

Look at your own website and do your own SEO. Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for what you can do yourself. Then your free search engine advertising through high index listings becomes not so free after all. Here are two SEO tips:

First, look to your internal links. You should make sure that you use these to lead spiders or robots to where you want them to go. You also use them to gain as high an internal PageRank as possible for the page in your website of your choice that you want to be highest ranked. This is possible if you know how to do it.

Secondly, look to your use of keywords and language. Google, especially, no longer looks so much for keywords, but for words that would normally be associated with that keyword in normal speech and writing. It is what is loosely termed latent semantic indexing (LSI), yet it is neither ‘latent’ nor ‘indexing’. More ‘apparent’ and ‘analysis’.

SEO, search engine optimization, Page Rank and any other term you can think of. Forget them up to a point. Write natural content, and then use on-page SEO techniques as much as you can, then on-site and external links to raise your Google Page Rank as high as possible, and you might get a high listing for a specific web page that is optimized for a specific keyword.

Every one of these has equal importance in my view, and it works for me. One last thought. If PageRank relied on back-links, how is that so many links are to pages on your site with zero PageRank? Surely they should have the Page Rank and not your home page?

Look at your own website and do your own SEO. Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for what you can do yourself. Then, your free search engine advertising through high index listings becomes not so free after all. Here are two SEO tips:

First, look to your internal links. You should make sure that you use these to lead spiders or robots to where you want them to go. You also use them to gain as high an internal PageRank for the page in your website of your choice that you want to be highest ranked. This is possible if you know how to do it.

Secondly, look to your use of keywords and language. Google, especially, no longer looks so much for keywords, but for words that would normally be associated with that keyword in normal speech and writing. IT is what is loosely termed latent semantic indexing (LSI), yet it is neither ‘latent’ nor ‘indexing’. More ‘apparent’ and ‘analysis’.

SEO, search engine optimization, Page Rank and any other term you can think of. Forget them up to a point. Write natural content, and then use on-page SEO techniques as much as you can, then on-site and external links to raise your Google Page Rank as high as possible, and you might get a high listing for a specific web page that is optimized for a specific keyword.

Every one of these has equal importance in my view, and it works for me. One last thought. If PageRank relied on back-links, how is that so many links are to pages on your site with zero PageRank? Surely they should have the Page Rank and not your home page?

Search Engine Optimization: Natural Linking Strategies

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be the difference between a small, barely profitable or visible website and a traffic magnet website. There are a lot of ways, both good and bad, to influence the search engines. Some search engines react to certain strategies better than others. Some even have conflicting strategies that they react to. To document all of these things would require a significant number of pages and research that goes beyond the scope of this article.

However, there are a number of things that can be documented that will work for most if not all search engines. And let’s face it; there are really only 3 that make a difference between a successful and an unsuccessful SEO strategy. They are the big three: Google, Yahoo and MSN. These three search engines in any given month are responsible for over 90% of all internet searches.

So, what is this article about? It’s about what you can do as a website owner that will influence the search engines using commonly accepted practices of linking to other websites (outbound) and getting website links (inbound) back to you. There are basically 4 strategies that a website owner usually will employ to increase their website value in the eyes of the search engine.

They are reciprocal linking, one-way linking, multi-site linking and directory linking. A website owner should not think that using just a single strategy is the right answer – sure it will help your SEO but it won’t be the Best answer. The Best answer is to employ all 4 techniques and to do it naturally.

Each of the four linking strategies has specific descriptions that can be summed up as:

1. Reciprocal Linking: Site A links to Site B, Site B links back to Site A

2. One-Way Linking: Site B links to Site A

3. Multi-Site Linking: Site A links to Site B, Site B links to Site C, Site C links to Site D, and Site D links back to Site A. Could be 3..N number of sites involved.

4. Directory Linking: Site Directory A links to Site A

That seems simple enough but it takes time and effort to perform all 4 strategies and most website owners aren’t willing to spend the time or don’t have the time to spend on it. As a website owner, SEO needs to be one of the highest priority tasks that you need to address, just after Order Processing and Fulfillment and Customer Service. Without free traffic from the search engines, other traffic generation strategies that usually require payment must be engaged.

Now doing the 4 strategies above is great, but it gets even harder because you have to do it in a way that doesn’t trigger the search engines to enforce a penalty upon your website. No one except the search engine engineers know all of the exact penalties but we have some good theories for some of them.

The first is the rate at which links are created. There is a certain threshold for creating links that is too fast. It’s possible that the threshold is a sliding scale and is related to the age of the website according to the engine. For example, a young low-traffic website should not normally be getting 1000 links a month whereas an older website that gets a lot of traffic could be OK to get 1000 links a month. As you progress in your linking strategies make sure you keep this in mind, especially if you are thinking about buying links.

The second is that having a link to every site that links to you will likely reduce the value of the links. In other words, if all you ever get is Reciprocal Linking, you will likely move up the SERP’s (Search Engine Results Page’s) but you won’t reach your sites full potential. Having a mixture of all 4 strategies will appear more natural to the engines.

The third is having all inbound links to your site on “linking” pages will make those links less valuable than having a natural link on a contextually relative page for a percentage of the inbound links. The higher you can drive this context percentage, the better your website will rank. These types of links are often some of the most difficult links to generate an exchange for because it requires more time and effort for both website owners.

The fourth is to have links inbound from all different ranking sites. If all you have linking to you is page rank 6 and 7 sites then you are likely to be sending the message that you purchased your links and that is not natural to the engines. Some would argue that purchasing links for driving traffic is just fine and it is. However, you should not expect the search engines to give those inbound links very much weight when calculating your SERP positions. It is significantly more natural for you to have a large number of rank 1 and 2 inbound links and a decreasing number of inbound links as you move up the page rank scale (0 – 10).

The fifth is to have the text of you inbound links varied. It isn’t natural to have every website that links to you to have the same text on the link description. The natural tendency would be to have a certain percent be the sites name, but after that it should be a wide variety of description. Your link text description is a key factor for how your site/page will rank, so make sure that you keep that in mind as you specify your preferred link text description on your website.

Finally, it would be best for a good percentage of your inbound links to appear within the text of a page that appears natural for the reader of that site. And for those links to not all point back to the home page of your website. It’s most natural for a good high quality link to appear in the text of a page and have it point internally within your site.

So, when you begin or continue your SEO activities keep all of these things in mind and don’t be impatient. Impatience could incur penalties or worse. Your website could end up in the “sandbox”. It is rumored and becoming more concrete that Google supposedly uses a sandbox that questionable sites are put in until they have aged to a point that Google no longer feels that they are being manipulated. Many of the search engines use similar protection schemes to eliminate spam sites and manipulation sites to keep their SERP’s from being cluttered.

Title:

More Website Traffic from Higher Page Rank

Many surfers use the Google or Alexa bar that integrates into their web browsers which consequently makes it easier for them to search and navigate through Internet. However, how many have the “overall page rank” indicator on these bars which shows either a ranking or the importance of the page?

The overall page rank in directories like Google, Yahoo or Alexa is the key factor while doing a search. It decides which website or page deserves the top places in the results of the search of a keyword. The search engine basically calculates the importance of the webpage.

For example, let’s say that you prepared a webpage supplying the users with focused, detailed and understandable info. You think your page deserves a high importance, therefore when you search for the theme of your website, you believe it should be shown in the top 20. Well, sometimes life is cruel. If you don’t optimize your webpage for a specific keyword, if you don’t get enough inbound links directing the user to your site, you would be disappointed by the 1/10 importance rating in Google. Don’t give up! It’s still worth fighting for. There are several factors which decide the page rank of a website.

First of all, Internet is not like the streets of a city: if you put your “shop” in a busy street, people will drop by your place. No visit on Internet is a coincidence. You have to create your links from other sites (inbound links). You also have to increase the internal linking of your website so that visitors can just “hang around” in your site. So your first factor for the page rank is the linking of your page.

Secondly, pages which attract more users (i.e. number of unique daily users) are obviously more important in the “eyes” of the search engines. This, being the dependent variable in our equation, grows directly proportional to the inbound links. So, page rank also increases with the number of unique users.

At last, relative, focused content increases the importance of your page (page rank). Initially, every page you add to your site increases the overall page rank of the whole before you start adding in-context hyperlinks; “in-context” hyperlinks because according to Google authorities, the hyperlinks that you place inside the content of the page are accepted more valuable.

Briefly, on the web, there are no lucky days, no coincidences or no serendipities. If you want website traffic on your page, you have to create it yourself. You have to put quality, focused and original content, you have to increase the number of the inbound links. The website traffic on your site will increase automatically depending on the other variables. Finally, one day you will look at your site and see that the page rank has jumped from 1 to 4 or even higher. Then you will understand that “La vita e bella.”

Search Engine Optimization – The Basics Of Boosting Website Traffic

Search engine optimization is vital if you want to get your website listed at the top of the search engine rankings. You will have to design and write your pages not only for the customer, but also for the search engine spiders and crawlers. It does not have to be hard and it does not have to make you pull your hair out in frustration. By following a few tips on how to go about writing your pages, you will find success with your website.

One of the first mistakes that most people make when designing a website is that they think about the entire website. Do not concentrate on the entire site. Instead, create your landing page with only that page in mind. The rest of the design will come later. Next, narrow down your list of keywords to keyword phrases. Make sure they are highly targeted keyword phrases. For example, if you sell motor oil your keyword phrase would be motor oil and not just oil. Remember that people, when searching for your website in the search engines, will search for general phrases, and not just keywords. A good place to get keyword phrase ideas is http://www.overture.com. There are many there, so be sure to check it out.

After you have chosen your phrase to use, put it into a search engine and see what comes up. This is an honest way to check out your competition and to get a real look at how your keywords work. You might find that your keywords are highly popular, and you will need to rework your phrases. Targeting a keyword that is not highly sought after could lead you to keyword phrases in niche markets. Fortunes have been built of niche markets in the Internet community.

Next you’ll want to look at your meta tags. The tags are html code that lists the different words in relation to your product on the web page. Search engines look mainly for descriptive tags that tell the engine and visitor what the website is about. If there is no tag, it will use other ways to search for information, like in a cached page of the directories. When setting up your keyword phrase, include it twice, and make it a clickable title tag too. You’ll need to describe your information for your page with the keywords. Be creative in the description. Search engines like versatility up to a point. One important aspect that you will need to use is not only your Meta keyword phrases, but a few sub keywords that are relevant to your site. Do not overuse keyword phrases because will hurt you with certain engines – your site will actually be penalized, and drop in the search engine rankings. Make sure you use a header tag. Certain search engines use these tags heavily for rating the value of your site. When writing your page, use your main keyword phrase or phrases right off the bat. A good inclusion would be twice in the first paragraph. Any other types of information about your site should include your keyword-targeted phrase as well.

Do not think that that is all you will have to do though. You will have to get others to notice your web site. Continue using your keyword phrase or phrases in any text on the page. For instance, if you have a blog set up on your site; use the keyword phrase in your Meta tag about the web blog. You may have to submit your web page to the search engines. Sometimes the engines don’t pick up a site with the spiders and crawlers. In fact, you might have to redesign your site with new Meta tags, and targeted keyword phrases and sub keywords. Don’t rush to do it though. First, find out if the search engines pick up your page. Usually only 2 – 3 weeks will suffice to see if it’s happened. If not re-do your site words so you can climb to at least the first two pages of any search engine.

The key is to remain patient and to follow the ever changing rules of SEO search engine optimization. It will take time and developing your confidence about your skills. In the end, you will be glad that you have learned the valuable technique, and you will go on to build improved sites that are finely tuned.

Tips To Increase Your Google Page Rank

Are you looking into the best ways to increase your Google page rank? If you are, this article will give you some free tips on how to achieve this. I hope you enjoy the read.

There are many webmasters who are looking into ways to increase traffic and on how to obtain a higher page rank for their websites. I myself have many websites which I am always looking to promote.

PPC

Pay per click is where you agree to pay a certain amount of money when people click on an advert that you have created. Programs such as adwords from the search engine Google allow you to place an advert on the right hand side of their search results. Which position you are placed in depends on how much you are willing to spend per click, it is like a kind of auction. Be careful not to spend more on the adverts than you are likely to receive in income. This can be very popular especially if your website is fairly new and is low down in the natural search results.

Paid text adverts

Paid text adverts is another way of attracting additional visitors to your website and it also has the potential of increasing your Google page rank. If the advert is on a high ranking page, this may well on its own lead you to moving up a level in your page rank. If the page is a high traffic page, part of this traffic could well be redirected to your website. I personally would only ever consider paying for a text advert on a website which was related to my own and which had a page rank of five or six.

Writing articles

I believe that the best way of promoting your website is by writing articles like the one you are reading. People reading the articles are potential visitors to your website, as you are able to include a link to your website in the article. Other webmasters are able to use the articles on their websites which creates you a one way backward link. Google are more likely to increase your page rank if you have a large number of backward links, especially one way links.

Link exchange program

As I have just stated, it is vitally important to spend time building up the number of backward links your website has. Joining a link exchange program can seriously reduce your workload, and people have told me that linkmetro is quite good.

Link Popularity and Search Engines

Link popularity has become increasingly important among the search engines. Because link popularity goes hand in hand with search engine optimization, it is important for any company with a web presence to build a link development strategy.

Many online marketing specialists believe that link popularity is simply obtaining as many links as possible. However, the quality of the link holds more “weight” than the quantity of links. You will get better results in the search engines if you have link popularity from sites that have considerable traffic.

To develop popularity for your web site, you should submit your site to the most visited directories. Yahoo (of course), LookSmart, About.com, and Open Directory are examples of major directories. Also, to further develop link popularity, you should consider sites/directories that are very industry specific, such as healthatoz.com for a health-related site.

Even more important, it can help your search engine ranking if your site is reviewed by a directory that is associated with a search engine. To be accepted into a major directory, we recommend that your site have content that can show credibility in your field. A tips page, links page, or a “how-to” page can showcase your credibility on your product or service.

For example, we can almost always tell when a new client site is added to Yahoo by looking at an Google ranking. Oftentimes, we will obtain a top 30 ranking for a client, then suddenly the site will move to a #1 position. Sure enough, when we go into Yahoo, we will see that the client site has been added. That’s one of the reasons that we think a listing in Yahoo is essential.

Obtaining links from other web sites is not enough to obtain long-term results on both the search engines and directories. People have to actually click on those links to your web site and browse your web site. AND they need to return to your web site when they see the quality content, products, and/or services that you offer, i.e. the usability of your web site. That is the definition of “popularity” according to the major search engines and directories. Other terms for it are “click” popularity or “click-through” popularity.

Therefore, both link popularity and click-through popularity are essential for obtaining optimal search engine placement.

Remember, a search engine position is not permanent since the search engine companies change their algorithms all of the time. Being listed in directories and other sites can significantly drive traffic and sales, particularly if your site is listed in specialized directories (health, financial, and travel, for example).

To check your link popularity in some search engines:

For AltaVista, in the search query field, type in:

link:domainname.com

For Inktomi’s services, in the search query field, type in:

Linkdomain:domainname.com

For FAST Search, in the search query field, type in your domain name:

link.all:www.domainname.com

For Google, in the search query field, type in your domain name:

link:www.domainname.com

Link development serves multiple purposes. It can drive traffic and sales to your web site and it can also help your search engine rankings.

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