search engine optimisation

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of the known and very useful ways to draw the traffic and catch up with appealing customers. It is the great amazing way to op the Google search charts. But if you are still climbing the ladder of SEO learning, I am sure you want to know exactly what is on-site and off-site SEO strategies and hat is the main difference between the two. On-site strategies are absolutely straight, mostly written about and to the point especially for the beginners.

To carry out the basic SEO tasks it’s better to master the following mentioned major factors needed by every online Business Owner or Internet Marketer.

1) Title Tags – Title is such an important point and very specific of what your content is all about. The presence of title tag in your HTML meta code explains to the browser what needs to be exhibited in the title space coming at the top of screen. This title is just like the silver lining of any cloud and is clearly visible to any of the browser searching for good content. The main reason to make it more interesting is because Google tremendously rely on the title tags. So basically it is an essential scheme to create a title tag with great keywords that completely harmonize with the content written. Most importantly, you or any internet marketer will not like to mention the same set of title tags on every web page neither prefers to discover them everywhere and this is not a part of good SEO strategy at all. Therefore involving distinctive keywords or phrases is good for that specific web page’s health. The outlook of what is written is quite important and here your aim is to reach on top of every search done with easy version that is entirely understandable.

2) The First H1 Tag – Just like the title tag your H1 tag is also equally important. Google’s next target is the H1 tag that appeals a lot as a strengthened point of what your web page is all about. Smartly inculcate the keyword phrases that matches with the theme of your content published on the page and the user can interpret it well.

3) The Name of the Page Itself – It is always preferred to use simple language for SEO purpose and you’ll observe that even WordPress uses it quite broadly in their blog software. It’s true that WordPress is considered the best blog for SEO. A very good example is that http://example.com/?On-Site-vs-Off-Site-SEO-tactics&AID=22 will perform much better for SEO than http://example.com/?AID=22. And there is a specific reason behind this, as the descriptive text lets the search engine know what the web page is all about. There are lot of written issues about “dirty links” and SEO but it’s preferred that you must always plan your work without any variable data, with this handy tip you can get rid of all the SEO issues. Altogether the things get easier for the end user as well as the search engines. In addition to this there is no trouble if you want to opt for variable data in the links for promotion of your web pages. And a real fact is that today search engines are smart enough to reasonably deal with variable data but ensure your data is crafted with simple English.

4) Keyword Meta Tag – Formerly this tag was quite necessary but now the search engines ignore it and due to improper usage and huge manipulation the keyword meta tag has lost out the privilege. The basic reality is that it is not encountered by the end user, therefore the naïve webmasters made keyword meta tags irrelevant and it lost its importance in SEO. Real SEO facts are always useful and I do recommend people to render time for creating keyword meta tag.

5) Description Meta Tag – This is a useful tag especially for search engines like Yahoo and MSN. So get the appropriate title and make it variable-driven, also make sure the text matches with the page.

6) Keyword Density – Another very useful point for SEO programs. All the search engines are regarded as a type of software programs that are ready to conquer you and want to explore what your site is all about. Actually a search engine just counts all the words and gather the repeated ones, thereafter in your complete content it checks the density of each word in a percentage format like specific 1-word, 2-word and 3-word phrases. And then it actually interprets the theme of your page by reading the most popular keyword phrases in your text. You can easily conquer the pattern style of your writing about any specified subject. Personally I encourage you to be neutral while writing, never focus completely on text and ignore keyword density or focus on keyword density and forget about the creativity of text. Write the way you do any content writing, and as you check for grammar, clarity or consistency so do it with the density as well. Take the help of the density checker and run your content through it for knowing what phrases are used the most. Also make sure that your top keyword phrases shows between 2-4% of the time and in accordance with it you make the alterations. Make it flawless and very natural to read as the target audiences are also quite important for you.

7) Outbound Links – These links add value to your website because they actually provide good useful information to the user and both quality as well as quantity matters, but having no outbound links is also not preferred. When you create links out of your page look where they go and never connect them to low quality websites. Do watch the number of links as the lesser they are the finer it will be. Google do use your exhibited outbound links as a mode to locate your site in such a hugely heaped place like internet. And many a times the outbound links narrates good thought what your site is all about. So choose the links in a wise manner to make a great impact on SEO.

8 ) High-Quality, Original, Content – Content is King and this is a real fact we need to acknowledge. If you think that search engines are fool enough and will not regard your content, you are highly mistaken. The unique and good content can be impressive and it is also a true fact, high quality and original content is important for SEO strategy. Therefore render time and energy for amazingly creative content.

9) Appropriate Amounts of Content – Each website is designed for some aims and objectives and nobody can bind the fact of changing it. So it depends how much content must be crafted in any website for good SEO purpose. It’s considered to put as much content as possible just like feeding the hungry researchers with qualitative and informative knowledge. But engraving loads of content doesn’t mean that you draw away the essence of your website’s objective.

Many businesses commission a website, often costing thousands of pounds without thinking about search engine optimisation. They just assume that the website will be found on the search engines such as Google and Yahoo automatically. However, in most markets competition online is fierce and unless your website is ranking on page 1 of search engine results for some keywords relevant to your services, your website will never be found.

It’s a bit like having your business hidden down a rural lane with no signage so no one knows it even exists. Ninety per cent of us do not look beyond page 1 of search engine results, and there are only search engine positioning for ten websites so important to invest in some professional SEO support.

The SEO services that you can expect from a search engine optimisation company include:

SEO Services and Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing is a critical first step in SEO Services. This means the research, analysis and selection of keywords for website optimisation. This has a direct impact on the structure, content and optimisation of your website which will directly impact on its search engine placement. You need to know which keywords are used by your potential customers when searching for your products and services. It’s important to analyse the competitiveness of the keyword, the demand and the commercial intention of different words. A professional search engine optimisation company will carry out search engine marketing before website development and will provide a keyword and SEO strategy to maximise its search engine positioning and maximise your return on investment (ROI).

Keywords are very important to the success of your website and thus your online business. It’s also often the most overlooked area when commissioning a website. A SEO optimisation company will have the latest tools available to carry out a thorough analysis. Choosing keywords or phrases that are too competitive will significantly reduce your chance for a page 1 Google page rank. This can significantly reduce the quantity of targeted traffic visiting your site.

When researching SEO companies, it is tempting to choose any company willing to offer guaranteed SEO services. It is human nature – people love a guarantee. This holds especially true for purchases where the buyer is purchasing something outside of his or her area of comfort. When companies first consider pursuing search engine optimization (SEO) as a potential marketing channel, particularly when there is an ongoing cost involved, they get a sense of comfort from purchasing “guaranteed SEO.” Unfortunately, with many SEO companies, this confidence in the guarantee is ill-placed.

A lot of questionable SEO companies offer what I like to refer to as a “leprechaun repellent” guarantee. In other words, it’s a guarantee that is easily attainable – if you purchase such services and are not subsequently harassed by a pesky leprechaun, the guarantee has been met. How can you complain?

The truth is that SEO companies do not control the major search engines, and any firm that claims to have a “special relationship” that gives it sway over the natural search engine results is simply counting on your ignorance. Fortunately, this does not mean that guaranteed SEO is impossible, especially when the guarantee has to do with aggregate results and the methods used to achieve them.

What follows is a partial list of some of the more popular types of guaranteed SEO out there – some of them roughly as useful as leprechaun repellent, and some of them actually meaningful.

Questionable Guarantees

The “Leprechaun Repellent” Keyphrases Guarantee

Many SEO companies boast that they will achieve a certain number of top rankings in the organic results of major search engines. This type of guaranteed SEO can be tempting, especially to those who are investigating SEO companies for the first time. After all, high rankings are what it’s all about, right? Isn’t that the goal?

The answer is an emphatic “No.” Quality SEO companies will point out that the real goal is to bring high quality traffic to your site. It’s quite simple to guarantee top positions if you choose non-competitive or obscure phrases – for example, “leprechaun repellent.” Want proof? Enter “leprechaun repellent into your favorite search engine. You will almost certainly find this article dominating the results (caveat – if you are reading this article immediately after its release, the search engines may not have indexed it yet. Wait a week and try again.).

It is extremely easy for SEO companies to achieve high search engine positions for phrases that nobody uses. Such rankings might impress your friends and neighbors, but they won’t send you quality traffic. They likely won’t send you any traffic at all. It’s important to note that the phrase “leprechaun repellent” is used only for demonstrative purposes. Many unpopular phrases may not sound absurd. There are surely countless phrases out there that sound extremely relevant to your business that are never typed into search engines. Good SEO companies will avoid such phrases. “Leprechaun repellent” practitioners will embrace them – it allows them to attain their worthless guarantees.

There is also another aspect of this type of guaranteed SEO in which SEO companies will guarantee you first place positions on unspecified search engines for more competitive phrases. Unfortunately, this type of guaranteed SEO often involves obscure engines that have very little market share and are not sophisticated enough to quickly eliminate web pages that use spam tactics. In a few documented cases, the guarantees involved search engines that the SEO companies actually owned and operated!

There are really only three major search engines at present – Google, Yahoo, and MSN. There are a handful of minor engines that are also worth mentioning, including Ask Jeeves and AOL Search. Any guaranteed SEO should involve prominent engines, not obscure ones.

The “Company Name” Guarantee

There is also a common guarantee that shady SEO companies will use that guarantees that a company will show up for a search on its company name. This, much like the “leprechaun repellent” flavor of guaranteed SEO, offers no real value. Sure, if your company name is “Acme,” it may actually be competitive – but chances are that if your website does not already show up near the top of the search engine results for a search on your company name, there is an easily fixed technical glitch that will resolve the issue. Quality SEO companies will address this area immediately. Moreover, ranking highly for your company name, while obviously desirable, provides only a tiny fraction of the potential value of search engine marketing. The real benefit for most companies is that search engine marketing attracts potential buyers who are not already familiar with the company name. Unless your company is a household name, it is unlikely that having your company name figure prominently in the results is going to have a huge impact on your business.

The Pay-Per-Click Guarantee

Some SEO companies will offer guaranteed SEO services that promise top positions for certain keyphrases on popular engines, but they are counting on dealing with prospects who do not understand the difference between natural search engine results and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. With PPC, it is very easy to guarantee a number one result, but this result will appear in the “paid” or “sponsored” results of the engine. Say, for example, that your company installs custom swimming pools. While a competitive phrase like “custom pools” might be difficult to achieve in organic results, the SEO company is not concerned with organic results. All it has to do is outbid the current highest bidder (using your money, of course), and your site will show up as number one in the “sponsored” results. Studies have indicated that sponsored results are held in a lower regard than natural results by savvy web searchers who recognize them as advertising. Also, as soon as you stop paying, your ranking disappears.

The “Submit Your Site to 50,000 Search Engines” Guarantee

There are many variations on this offer, primarily involving the number of engines promised. Regardless of the number, this is probably the most pervasive and persistent type of “guaranteed SEO,” and it is basically a scam that preys on ignorance.

Companies that believe that they have high quality websites are predisposed to believe that the only thing holding them back from search engine success is that the search engines do not yet know that their sites exist. However, search engines measure quality in a much different way than a website owner does. A properly optimized site does not need to be submitted to search engines at all (I refer to actual “spider-based” search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and MSN, not human-edited directories such as Business.com, the Yahoo Directory, and the Open Directory Project). Engines prefer to find sites on their own.

This “solution” offers no real value, except of course to the SEO companies offering the service. Also, as previously mentioned, there are not 50,000 search engines – or at least 50,000 search engines worth worrying about. Do SEO companies that offer this service meet this guarantee? Certainly – they use automated programs to do the submissions. Is this type of guaranteed SEO worthwhile? Not for search engine positions, but it may keep leprechauns at bay.

Meaningful Guarantees

Given the preponderance of “guaranteed SEO” that is meaningless, the seemingly Wild West nature of the industry, and the reality that SEO companies do not control the results of any major engine, it may seem that guaranteed SEO can never be a worthwhile endeavor. However, this is not the case. If you note the examples above, they are primarily involved in specifics – top positions, a certain number of submissions, a certain number of engines. However, good SEO companies, understanding that they have no control over individual results, should be confident enough in the results of their work in aggregate and in the safety of the methodologies that they use to offer guaranteed SEO that lives up to its promise.

The Custom Guarantee

In very rare cases, certain skilled, experienced SEO companies will be able to develop for you a custom guarantee derived from the analysis of your current traffic data, the competitiveness of your industry, and the status of your site. You will ideally be offered this type of specialized guarantee from the beginning of your dealings with an SEO firm because it ensures that you will be achieving targeted, meaningful results based on your specific situation, rather than on generalities that could apply to any business in any industry. Some SEO companies may tell you that a custom guarantee is not possible because they have no direct control over search engine results. However, SEO companies who have been in business for a while know how to weather the algorithm shifts and understand that there is more than one popular search engine. Such a firm will be confident enough to create and back a custom guarantee for you.

The Targeted Traffic Guarantee

SEO companies dedicated to showing value to their clients will take a baseline reading of current search engine traffic at the outset of a campaign. While, as previously mentioned, SEO companies do not hold sway over search engine results, they should at least be confident enough in their overall skills to promise that their clients will see an increase in targeted search engine traffic based on popular phrases relevant to the business. If the firm offering this type of guaranteed SEO charges on a monthly basis, any month of the engagement where traffic for targeted phrases does not, at a minimum, exceed the baseline should not be charged. After all, you are paying on a monthly basis to protect and improve your positions. While major algorithm shifts that make results on individual results unstable can and do happen, they rarely happen on all engines at once. You should feel confident that the firm you are paying has a very vested interest in making sure it adapts to the changing nature of search engine algorithms, and few things inspire such confidence as knowing that it will not get paid otherwise. If your prospective firm is unwilling to at least guarantee that it will send increased traffic to your website from targeted phrases, every month, it may be time to look elsewhere.

The “White Hat” Guarantee

SEO companies are commonly broken up into two camps – “white hats” (practitioners who remain solidly within the search engine’s stated terms of service) and “black hats” (practitioners who work to unravel the latest search engine algorithms and base their optimization techniques largely on technology, regardless of the engine’s terms of service). Both approaches are legitimate – after all, there is nothing illegal about exploiting a technical loophole for results. However, black hat SEO companies put their clients at risk of penalization or even outright banishment from the major engines. Getting back in can be a long process, and sometimes it is not possible at all. If you are concerned about potential penalization, get a guarantee from your firm that they adhere to the stated terms of service of all major search engines. If you can (and this is rare), get a guarantee that your site will not be penalized through any action of the SEO firm. This is harder for a company to offer, since the major engines frequently update their terms of service, and techniques that are acceptable today can be deemed unacceptable tomorrow. However, a confident firm that always errs on the side of caution when optimizing client websites will offer this type of guaranteed SEO services, since it will not use techniques that have a potential for penalization in the future.

Abusing the Metaphor (Beating a Dead Leprechaun)

Guarantees have been around for at least as long as leprechauns have been hoarding breakfast cereal and starring in bad horror films. So have guarantees that are essentially meaningless but sound respectable. A good guarantee should not only appeal to the base emotion of a potential purchaser, but it should also afford some real protection that the purchase he or she is making will provide meaningful results. Many of the most popular types of guaranteed SEO do not, and that’s a shame. The industry already has a questionable reputation due to “leprechaun repellent” practitioners – make sure you don’t go chasing their rainbow. After all, it’s your pot of gold they are after.

Search engine optimization is one of the most discussed and controversial topics on the internet today. Also, it is one of the most misunderstood topics.

In its basic form, search engine optimization (SEO) is act of altering a web site so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines.

Now even this quick to the point definition of search engine optimization (SEO) can lead to spirited debates about the meaning and purpose of SEO.

So the question maybe asked why is SEO such a popular and controversial topic that causes so much debate within the SEO community and the general internet population particularly website owners? In my humble opinion there are 6 reasons why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has the popularity that it currently enjoys.

1. Targeted Website Traffic – If you ask the vast majority of website owners and people within the SEO industry what is the most important factor to a successful website business and/or operation. A large percentage of the people will say website traffic and even more specifically targeted website traffic.

Currently on the internet, the largest resource for targeted website traffic on a continuous bases are search engines. On a yearly bases stats show that around 75% – 80% of all purchases made by individuals on the internet originally started as a result of a search at a search engine and the vast majority of people who visit websites usually come via way of a search engine. Numbers so dominate cannot be ignored even by the biggest opponents of search engine optimization. Moreover, because SEO is focused on optimizing websites for ranking success related to search engines, it is only natural that people would be interested in the field and practice of search engine optimization (SEO).

2. SEO Controversy – Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most controversial topics concerning internet website operations. The proponents of SEO can say that it provides a viable method for websites to be seen in search engines which is important for any website desiring traffic on the internet today.

However, opponents disgusted with SEO can also say that many websites achieve high search engine visibility without the use of SEO work and that SEO professionals only provide guess work high cost services that provide no assurances for search engine ranking success.

This situation, which has some merit concerning the arguments on both sides, generates heated debates between proponents of SEO and SEO opponents on a continuous bases which is fought out on a daily bases on forums, blogs, websites and newsletters across the internet along with exposure in magazines and on TV.

Simply put controversy produces attention and whether you like it or hate it, SEO really does provide a great deal of controversy. Moreover, as long as search engines play a dominant role in generating targeted website traffic, SEO will continue to be a popular topic.

3. Money – Search engine optimization is a multi million-dollar business. Search engines generate billions of dollars each year through advertising. Websites earn billions of dollars for their owners each year via using search engines either through paid advertisements or organic (free) listings in search results.

It is no wonder with billions of pounds on the table on a yearly bases that anything that can provide an individual or company a competitive edge in the ultra high pace internet world will be a hot topic for discussion and debate.

Moreover, through a combination of perception and reality that highlights search engine optimization as a key to increasing internet sales, search engine optimization is a very popular topic for decision makers within many companies which provides additional attention to SEO in the business world and beyond.

4. No Standard SEO Rules or Regulations – Search engine optimization (SEO) can be described as a modern version of the wild Wild West. Basically almost anything can be said or done because there are no formal set standards for the industry as a whole.

Therefore, in a true sense, no one is really right or wrong concerning any thoughts, comments or decisions concerning SEO techniques and/or methods. Right or wrong is replaced by what is considered ethical by individuals and everyone has a unique set of ethics. What one person might consider unethical someone else might consider completely honest, well intended assistance. This is why you have labels such as white hat and black hat SEO within the SEO industry.

5. Search Engines – Search engine optimization was created as a by-product resulting from the development, utilization and popularity of search engines. Without search engines, there is no SEO industry in its current form and format.

As statistics on a yearly bases confirm, the majority of the targeted website traffic on the internet is generated directly or indirectly via search engines and a very high percentage of internet sales are directly linked to visitors coming from search engines looking for products and/or services.

With the dominant role that search engines play on the internet and the fact that the success of search engines depend on the ability to provide accurate and reliable search results to its visitors, successful search engines tend to develop an informal relationship with the SEO industry.

Whereby a certain amount of SEO work on websites tends to help search engines provide what its visitors are looking for which is top-notch search results.

For this reason, sometimes search engines will provide SEO information and SEO recommendations to its visitors directly on the search engines. This helps the SEO industry tremendously by placing the industry in the forefront of the main people that are interested in organic (free) search results which are the search engine users looking for something specific and the website owners who want to be found in the search engine results.

6. SEO Mystery – Almost no SEO professionals will explain what they do regarding SEO work in detail. Some will provide a little SEO information, which is mainly done as marketing efforts for the SEO professionals in forums, blogs and newsletters. Even the e-books and books that are sold only explain SEO in a general nature. Search engine optimization (SEO) is truly a mystery to the average website owner and/or people interested in organic search engine rankings.

This mystery produces a high level of interest regarding the SEO industry and helps feed the popularity of search engine optimization (SEO).