SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Evaluating Inbound Link Results in Search Engines
The creation of quality inbound links is the most important ingredient when it pertains to long-term search engine optimization success. The process for inbound link creation is a long-term commitment, which involves the creation of link-worthy content, effective link submissions and detailed documentation and reporting, among a series of other strategies and ideas (some good and some bad). As an ongoing practice, I recommend that website owners check their inbound links as recorded by the major search engines, in order to get a better understanding of what inbound links each search engine has found; but it’s important to realize that these queries may not always be accurate or up-to-date, so caution must be taken when evaluating this information.
How To Create Search Engine Friendly Websites
I’ve been reading Matt McGee’s Small Business SEM blog with greater frequency in recent months and recommend that other small business owners invest a few hours to take a look as well. In addition to some great posts on practical search engine optimization strategies for small businesses, Matt usually recaps the search engine related conferences that he is in attendance for (I actually found the Small Business SEM site while browsing Flickr for SES NY conference photos). His recent post, “How to SEO Your Site in Less Than 60 Minutes” gives website owners a nice checklist of things to look for when evaluating the “SEO Quality” of their website (or they’re competitors).
Recommendations for Handling Google’s Latest Penalty to Real Estate and Regional Websites
A few weeks ago, Rand from SEOmoz posted an article and chart that talked about identifying if your website had been penalized by Google and a process for potentially understanding the extent to which you have been penalized. The article has become even more valuable as a result of recent changes in Google search results this June that appear to have (particularly) affected the real estate market and real estate websites engaged in high volume link exchanges. In addition, there is an great discussion between Rand and Matt Cutts of Google that addresses the topic of search penalties, how they can be potentially resolved and what “red alerts” may trigger a penalty.
The Impact of Digg on Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy
Yesterday, the folks at Pronet Advertising, long known for the expertise in social media marketing asked the question: “How Do You Get Your Diggs?“. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of savvy ways that website owners can gather Diggs (for submissions made of their website content) but a question asked by many small business owners (unfamiliar with social media) is “why this service should matter from an SEO perspective?”. Let’s take a look at 5 of the top stories on today’s Digg Home Page to understand how the “Digg Effect” can be valuable for search engine optimization.
Applying The First Principles to Your SEO Strategy
Read/WriteWeb contributor Sean Ammirati wrote an interesting article on the application of fundamental theory and its relationship to the development of innovative technology (in this case, social web applications). His “First Principles” theory states that the successful “conversion” of a user in the interaction of a social web application is that:
“the user must perceive they have received more value than the energy (and attention) expended to complete the task.”
From a design perspective, Ammirati offers his suggestion on how this can be applied to the following characteristics of web development:
- New interactions users find valuable
Getting Detail-Oriented When It Comes to Link Building
The creation of inbound links to your website is absolutely critical to a search engine optimization strategy and the improvement of search engine rankings. While there is a tremendous amount of link building strategies and ideas out there for webmasters and marketers to learn and practice, I find that the management and documentation of your link building initiatives is just as important when crafting a complete SEO strategy.
The Process of Link Building
At a high level, individuals and companies focusing on link building strategies really need to consider:
- Creating valuable content that can be deemed “link worthy“
To Consult or Not To Consult, That is the SEO Question
If you are reading the SEO blogs in recent months (or at least some of the ones that I read), a hotly debated topic (an SEO challenge if you will) has been brought to the table by many well-known SEO’s in the industry. The subject is in why “SEO Experts” work as SEO Consultants versus optimizing and developing their own revenue generating website properties? In my opinion, there are three underlying issues that bring this subject together:
- What drives individuals to pursue a career as a Search Engine Optimization (Marketing) Consultant?
- Is the SEO Consulting model a model that can provide sustainability for an SEO Expert?
Understanding the Social Media Madness
It’s important to understand the objectives of your social media strategy and how it impacts search engine optimization.
The integration of a social media strategy is one of the most popular topics in search engine optimization today. At SES NY, speakers on social media optimization agreed that the audience size had more than doubled since SES Chicago (about 5 months prior), reflecting the growth of interest. eMoms at Home recently published an excellent resource for understanding social media websites (in particular, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon and del.icio.us) and social media strategy. The article breaks down:
- Why you should consider a social media strategy.
How to Make del.icio.us a Part of Your Online Marketing Strategy
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on how to add “bookmark to del.icio.us” links to your blog posts and web pages. Quite often when I bring up the idea of the bookmarking website, I can expect a raised eyebrow, shrug of the shoulders, or just a glazed over effect which means the conversation will fall onto deaf ears. However, for those website owners that are looking for better ways to organize their online strategy, research hot topics and potentially draw traffic, links and networking connections, the use of del.icio.us is for you.
Video Search Engine Optimization, Google 2.0 and Accelerating Your Video SEO Strategy
With Google releasing the new Universal Search into the traditional search engine keyword results, it’s important for small businesses to leverage as many vertical search technologies as possible when considering their search engine optimization strategy, including the use of video content. Fresh from my notes on SES NY’s Video Search Engine Optimization Tips and Information, understanding how to optimize your video content for Google Video, YouTube, Yahoo Video and other video search channels not only gives you a better opportunity for visibility in those channels, but possibly for Google Search as well. For more information on the new Google functionality, Search Engine Land provides a very comprehensive look, as well as how video search results will be incorporated into the traditional Google interface.
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