People say that the use of meta tags are dead, a useless addition to your web site, but are they wrong? Meta tags still serve a useful purpose in every web site. Even though not all search engines utilize these tags they still hold extremely important information about your web site and it’s content.

Not only do meta tags tell a search engine spider about your web site, it also provides instructions telling the spider what you would like it to do and not do.

First let’s look at what meta tags tell us about your web site:

The first tag in your meta tags should be your title tag, in my opinion this is the most important tag you can control. This tag should state your company and no more then 3 key words that pertain to that page. An example of this is

SEO ONE, inc. Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, SEO.

Keyword tag should be the next in line of importance. This tag is fairly straight forward however there are rules on how many keywords you should have. The rule of thumb is around 10 but I recommend no more then 3 keywords. The reason for this is the more keywords you have the more difficult it is to keep the weighted average where it needs to be above 54%. It also becomes difficult to match the keywords in the site to the keyword meta tags. An example of this meta tag is



The 3rd in succession should be your description tag, in this tag we want to describe the web page we are on, and again we have another opportunity to list our 3 key words for this page. This is important do not over look this. It is also critical to keep the order the keywords appear. An example of this tag is



Now we are onto the part of the tags that tell the search engine what you would like for it to do with your web site. These tags are also critical as we can in some cases direct the spider through your web pages.



This tag tells the search engine you would like it to visit your home page, follow all linked pages, and cashes all pages it passes through. This is important because it allows the engine to store your site in it’s data base.



In this tag we tell the spider to come back to our web site every 7 days to search for more content. As a web page changes the content needs to be re indexed in order for it to be relevant. This tag can help us with this point.

There are many more tags, and more detailed information about the tags above, however I only wanted to give a general overview as to the importance of the above tags.

One day I was desperately searching for one topic in Google. I was not not satisfied with the top page results as the content included in the top search result pages were not enough. So I decided to check the results in the less priority pages. I wondered that some web sites were content rich than I expect. So after that I was thinking why these pages came to low priority and the less relevant pages got high rankings. As a working SEO I decide to analyze each pages on the top ranking and the pages with low search ranking even though they are content full. I didn’t care about the external factors which affecting the result ranks. I just analyzed the on-page factors which determines how much search engine friendly the web page is.

The analysis completed with following results.

1. The pages which optimized are enjoying the high search engine position.

2. The pages which are not optimized are in bottom pages.

What optimization the high rank pages did are not heavy works. They are some simple smart works to ensure that search engines would definitely notice the web page. I am going to tell you some simple steps which any web master can follow.

1. Don’t avoid title tags

Title tags are very important as all search engines will crawl this area for getting an idea about the web page. If the title tag is not relevant to the content of the web page you will not get quality traffic. There is a chance of high bounce rate also present. If a web page has higher bounce rate that the normal rate major search engines will think like you are not providing quality content and that may lead to penalty. So always create relevant title tag with relevant keywords.

2. Don’t waste your time for meta tags

Once upon a time meta tag was very important. All major search engines give attention to the meta tag contents provided in the header. But later many web masters misused the meta tag as they found it is the area they can stuff high traffic keywords to drive traffic. Later Google decides to neglect meta tag as meta tag key words are not relevant to the actual page content. But my advice is not totally neglect meta tag as some search engines still using meta tag. So use a few key words in meta tag and avoid meta tag stuffing.

3. Alt text for images

If your web page is full of images we need to make sure that they have an alt text. In image rich web page search engine will find it difficult to determine what this site is going to tell. Because search engine spiders cannot read images. One more issue is some people still using text only browsers and they cannot see the images. To overcome this limitation we need to add some alt text for images. The alt text should be neat and keyword rich.

4. Ensure that the page contains enough keywords

I stress this part as an important way to get noticed by search engines. If you are creating a content full web page normally there should be enough keywords. But instead of keyword many authors are using short form of keywords to avoid the typing. For a user it is OK as he knows the short form means the keyword but search engine spiders cannot. So use some smart work along with your hard work.

There are many on-page factors which I don’t cover but I ensure you that if you concentrate the points I listed above, that will boost your search engine ranking.

In the world of internet marketing there are essential tools you need for search engine optimization. The top of the pack tools allow you to easily and quickly find niche markets by analysing thousands of keywords at once, finding out what keywords will give the best results for the work you’ll need to put into ranking it. Some of them can even Split keywords into general keywords, and action keywords. Action keywords are where the consumer is searching for something that would indicate they are about to make a purchase. It is usually best to search the three main search engines which are Google yahoo And MSN.

A lot of Software tools plug directly into Google and yahoo, and use their databases to help you do your keyword research. this allows you to build up a keyword list that is actively been used, which is good because you don’t want to base your efforts off keywords that are 3-4 years old, as this would mean a lot of work, for mediocre results, which is something you don’t want.

SEO can be a very overwhelming beast if you do know learn about it first, in the long run however, it is the cheapest, if you do it right, you’ll continue to get organic referrals from the search engines over and over again for years to come, which is great, if you’re using PPC your visitors will stop as soon as you stop your PPC, so the cost of PPC will be a lot higher over the longer run. A lot of people trust sites more from organic listings then ads, as it appears the search engine they are using is trusting of that website itself, which can also mean higher visitor to sales conversions then your paid listings. Ultimately, which one you use, SEM or SEO is up to you, but if you do your SEO well, you’ll see visitors coming to your websites for years to come.

Keywords are the words that people and consumers enter into search engines. The more relevant a website is to a specific keyword search, the more likely the person searching will see that website’s existence.

SEO and SEM

Specific terms are very powerful as they form the basis of both building and marketing a website. Using these terms as the basis for building (and even designing) a website is called search engine optimization, or SEO.

Using phrases for target marketing a website is called search engine marketing, or SEM.

Good SEO and SEM techniques help result in more traffic to a website. The greater the amount of traffic you get to your website, the greater the chance you will succeed.

How Do Keywords Affect A Website

Right from the minute you decide to register a domain name, your website address (or URL) that you choose will have a big impact on your site’s ability to get organic traffic. Organic traffic is that which comes from the free listing section in a search engine.

Not everyone has the time or interest in optimizing for search engines and target marketing. However if you are wanting to start, grow and expand a business, these tools of the internet are vital in order for you to become, and remain, successful online.

Keyword research is the fundamental cornerstone of any website. From the URL, page title tags and headings, the description of your site that you offer to a search engine and in particular the content you publish.

Once you realize and appreciate the importance of these inputs, they are not difficult to implement. If you know who your target market is, then the main thing understand is that you want to be able to reach them when they are searching for the goods, services or information that you are offering online. After all, if a consumer can’t find your business, they will surely find someone else’s.

Millions of Americans search for service businesses every month. When they conduct those searches, they aren’t looking in newspapers or ads in the hard-copy Yellow Pages. Over the last fifteen years, the Internet has become the dominant technology for local service business searches.

I have been working with SEO / SEM and web design for almost a decade now and I have met literally hundreds of service business owners who have no idea what search engine optimization is or how it is used to help clients find their business online.

9 Components of Good SEO – How to Help Clients Find You

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of gaining visibility for your company on the Internet. It involves a series of activities which include:

analyzing keywords, submitting businesses to online directories, creating meta tags and the right website content, setting up social media accounts, writing and publishing articles, creating press releases, generating incoming web links, blogging (if desired), and creating video (if desired).

I primarily work with businesses in Denver, CO and I talk to business owners in the area every day who have a nice website that cost them thousands of dollars. The problem is that their site is getting virtually no meaningful traffic. That is why SEO is so critically important. Good search engine optimization gives your website the best chance of getting noticed by all those people who need your service.

The SEO Scenario

Imagine that you are given a choice between an incredible website design with mediocre SEO and a mediocre website design with incredible SEO. Which would you choose? Most service business owners I know would take the incredible design. Sadly, they are left with a great looking website that no one sees. It is a wasted investment.

Good Web Design + Good SEO = More Clients

Do yourself a favor and do a search for (your service business) in (your city). If you are a chiropractor in Ogden, UT, do a search for chiropractors in Odgen UT. You get the point. Do you land on the front page or even the front two pages? If not, make a commitment to implementing the 9 Components of Good SEO into your web strategy and help people find your business online.

It is often said, by many search engine optimisation experts, that content is king. Others proclaim that a text linking strategy is king. The simple fact is, if you are to be successful in your site promotion efforts, all aspects of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are essential to the mix.

SEM consists of all the elements that are required to successfully promote a website; with the objective being to improve a website’s ranking on Google, Yahoo and MSN and other major search engines. These elements may be classified as:

1) On-page optimisation (all the techniques involved in manipulating page content).

2) Off-page optimisation (all the techniques involved in website promotion).

A good way to think of it is: on-page optimisation is used to promote your product, service or information. Whereas off-page optimisation is used to promote your website.

On Page Optimisation.
Site Readiness – W3C Compliance:

Search engine robots do not like broken HTML code. Your rankings will suffer if your pages do not conform to World Wide Web (W3C) standards. A free online HTML validation service is available at: http://validator.w3.org/.
Search engines like Google now check CSS code, this must be validated also. A tool for this is available at: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/.

Site Readiness – Broken Links:

It should be obvious, but is often overlooked, that broken links are a problem in terms of search engine optimisation. Clearly, if the search engine robot cannot finish spidering your site, due to broken links, then some pages will not be indexed. A tool for checking broken links can be found at: http://validator.w3.org/checklink.

Site Readiness – Keyword Research:

Analyzing your niche market, or business sector, allows you to create an appropriate set of targeted keywords (the most obvious ones are not necessarily the best). A free keyword tool can be downloaded from: http://www.goodkeywords.com/.

Page optimisation – Copywriting

Once you have decided on the appropriate keywords/key phrases for each page, you need to work these keywords into the visible text on each page to be optimised. Remember that you are writing for users, not search engines, and the text must look natural.

Page optimisation – HTML Tag Optimisation

All the appropriate HTML tags on each page should be optimised for best effect. These include:

1) Title tag.

2) Meta keyword tag.

3) Meta description tag.

4) Header tags.

Also, don’t forget the image alt tags. And very importantly the link text in your anchor tags.
Page optimisation – Build content.
Keep adding new content to your website. If necessary publish articles and RSS feeds. Google loves new content.

Off Page Optimisation

Once you have finished the on-page optimisation, your attention needs to be focused on off-page optimisation. The essential components of off-page optimisation are:

1) Link building – begin a reciprocal and one way linking strategy.

2) Directory listings – get listed in human edited directories like Dmoz.

3) Article writing – a superb way to generate one way links.

4) Blog contributions – yet another opportunity for one way links.

5) Press releases – announce your presence to the world. More one way links.

Conclusion

All of the above are essential to a successful site promotion campaign. If you wish to improve your Google ranking (the other search engines will follow), do not neglect one area in favour of another. Do it correctly. Do it all. Then watch your rankings soar.

Getting visitor traffic to my blog used to be a stressful and frustrating affair. You went for SEO and SEM course. After applying what you have learned, you still not getting visitors for your blog. You thought that the SEO and SEM techniques that you learned are not working. But some of your course colleagues are doing well after applying the same SEO and SEM techniques. Then you realize that every individual has different learning curve. You try to get help but only get partial or incomplete tips.

You searched days and nights for free tips and free advices from experts. You read through many websites for free tips and advices. You spent a lot of times doing this and doing that. But none of them work. You realize that those free tips and free advices are most probably incomplete or sometimes misleading.

You feel frustrated and about to give up. If you are in that kind of situation, most probably you are lacking something. There are many people who are making money successfully from the net. Some people can pick up SEO and SEM techniques faster than others. Those successful bloggers made a lot of sacrifice before achieving what they are today. No Internet Gurus will be willing to give you their secret for free. However if you are willing to spend a little, you will be able to continue your pursuant of making money online.

There are many products offer in the net which can resolve your problem. You got to do some research and review the product carefully to ensure they really satisfy your requirements. I have done some researches on similar topic. I found this product “Atomic Blogging” quite good. There were several good testimonials from the previous customers about the product. I never come across a product that was so complete and comprehensive. Whatever I look for are inside the Atomic Blogging from SEO to final making money techniques. Now getting visitor traffic is so much easier with such product in the net.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a general term that refers to all of the activity that you, or the company assisting you, might do to improve your online visibility. The most common area of this type of marketing is the practice of search engine optimization (SEO). However, there are also other important aspects to search engine marketing that you should know about if you are planning to really boost your web presence.

There are five basic components of SEM, starting with SEO and also including link building, pay-per-click programs, marketing of online articles and keyword usage.

Many people believe that keyword usage and search engine optimization are the same thing. However, that’s not quite the case. Search engine optimization refers to making your site work in compliance with the current ranking algorithm standards of search engines. At the current time, a high portion of this algorithm is given to the use of keywords, which is why many people use the two terms interchangeably. The way that search engine’s ranking algorithms work is a dynamic and ever-changing process. Keywords may or may not always be important but they are their own unique aspect of search engine marketing. What it boils down to is that you need to have the right keywords on your site so that the search engine knows what your site is all about.

Since anyone can add the right keywords on to a web page with a little bit of knowledge as to what those keywords are, ranking algorithms have changed to include other components as well. As such, search engine marketing has developed to encapsulate these other components. For example, it’s not only important that you have the right content but also that other people on the web care enough about your content to link to it. Link building is an increasingly important part of SEM because it essentially shows the search engines that there are people out there interested in seeing what is on the site. Quality link building comes from getting your site linked to by a number of other sites that also have good SEM campaigns and therefore have high page rankings.

Link building and keywords are a part of SEO that is, in turn, a part of SEM. There are also aspects of SEM that aren’t as directly related to SEO. One of these is pay-per-click programs (PPC) and other types of online advertising. Think of search engine marketing as all of the things that you do to get attention on the web. PPC is one method of online advertising, somewhat akin to taking out an ad in the local paper for a local business that you are operating. This doesn’t necessarily boost the search engine optimization of your site but it is, nevertheless, an important part of your search engine marketing campaign. Similarly, you can use marketing of online articles to get attention to your site that is somewhat like advertising. This is a developing area of SEM because these articles may also be archived on the site to boost the site’s visibility.

This all sounds a little bit complicated – SEO, SEM, links and PPCs. But when you look at it carefully, it’s really fairly simple. You want to pay attention to five key components of search engine marketing to grow your online visibility. You want to build links to your site, a site that has the right keywords in its text and online articles, so that search engines know what you’re all about. And you want to further promote your site through online advertising like PPC programs. You also want to keep an eye on SEO changes so that you can adapt your SEM plans over time to keep up with the changing web.

Marketing Trends: Internet marketing has been proven successful in increasing profits. With professionals help, a website can be developed at an affordable rate quickly.

General tips for your website:

Have fast-loading Home and Landing pages

Establish an easily navigated web site, especially for order processing, cross referencing sales, up sales, and functionality review

Form a competitive price and sales structure

Focus on the benefits of the website, not the features

Provide a good pre- and post- sales support

Develop “Pay-Per-Click Campaigns”

Optimize search engines

Establish your creditability through your site

Develop an opt-in email system to capture emails and build your network

Set up affiliate and cross promotion programs

Implement “Linking Campaigns”

Gather statistics and analyze them to correct areas costing you money

Explore additional marketing opportunities.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has two parts:

(1) On-page optimization and (2) Off-page optimization

Each web page except your homepage should be focused on only topic. The strategy is to use the keywords for that page in the title tag, description metatag, headline or subheadings, and in the body of the text.

Develop an “Opt-In System” in your blog, corporate home page, landing page, or sales page and offer free bonuses in exchange for subscribers’ emails or referrals. Incorporate an “Upsell,” “Downsell,” or a “Tell-A-Friend” web page following your sales page.

Links are a recommendation for a site that is relevant and worth visiting; start by submitting your site to various directories. Provide relevant content on your site that is worth linking to, and write articles that others would want to host on their sites, each with a link back to yours. It is recommended that you utilize blogs, press releases, affiliate links, and link exchange programs. Finally, actively participate in social and professional groups since these will help you build your reputation, exposure, and creditability.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Campaigns: PPC campaigns are a great way to boost your website traffic and maximize profits. Set up “Split-Testing” to optimize your PPC ads and refine and optimize the click-through rate This will help you achieve higher placement at a lower cost.

Newsletters, Blogs, and Social Networks: The tools will help you gain and retain your clients by becoming their advisor. They inform your clients about the latest trends, sales, promotions, new products, special offers, and promote business.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM):

Your business on the internet is not automatic. Internet marketing is an additional marketing strategy to reach more clients and increase sales, but this takes work.

On top of what we have discussed, it is recommended that you also do the following:

In addition to everything you can do in traditional ways, you also need to do these things on the internet as well. Instead of just listing your company in the yellow pages, you should submit your site to search engines, directories, and industry sites on web. You should also launch ad campaigns using banner and classified ads, and start web affiliate and cross promotion programs.

Write professional articles, issue newsletters, and list your products with shopping comparison and auction sites.

Increase your credentials by participating with creditable rating services.

Develop systematic and automatic methods to grow your business. Promote your business in as many ways as possible, including traditional strategies. Improve the efficiency of your site, always be genuine, and serve as a trusted adviser to your clients in order to gain their trust. In addition, it is your responsibility to ethically and responsibly advise them on all of the products and services they need.

Remember! Your potential clients only spend a few seconds on your website before they jump to your competitors’ websites. Clients need to immediately know the benefits and incentives to buy from you now. Your web pages need to be concise and right to the point. In addition, videos are a great way to showcase your products.

Your Responsibility:

Remember that you are your internet business.

Search engines are not mind readers: Search engines are simply computer programs that connect potential clients to your site. It is your responsibility to provide correct keywords on your website in order for search engines to bring targeted clients to your site.

Do your research: Don’t assume that the keywords you use are what your clients will use in their searches. Research the terms and key phrases that are most used to reach your competitors sites

Learn how others do it: Review high ranking websites and ads on high traffic websites, newspapers, and magazines.

Get involved: Network with the people in your industry to stay abreast of new trends and to truly understand what might be in high demand at any given time.

Write appropriate and well thought out content: The more time you spend researching key phrases and writing thoughtful content, the more people will be attracted to your site through searches.

Establish your credibility: Write researched and relevant articles and solicit testimonials from your current clients. Become affiliated with other credible websites and participate in third party service rating programs.

Businesses don’t fail, but people fail businesses.

Be competitive! Expand your products and improve your services by analyzing shopping behaviors and feedback from your clients. You don’t want to miss the chance to serve your clients better with up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

The most important thing is to have a plan and commit to it to guarantee success.

How is search engine marketing (SEM) different than search engine optimization (SEO)?

Search engine marketing refers to optimization practices that take place off the website. Whereas SEO organizes the pages on the website for both the search engine spiders and the visitors to the site, SEM refers to all activities utilized to generate incoming traffic which is a vital element of moving site pages higher in search engine results pages. (SERPS) Common strategies and tactics include search engine and directory submission and back link development from blogs, ezines, forums, social media sites, and online news media.

If I my site has been search engine optimized do I need search engine marketing?

SEM is an active process of driving traffic to a website and improving search engine page rankings. Without it, a website would much like a bricks and mortar store that doesn’t advertise. Random passersby may find it but not in the kind of numbers required to make a business successful. Search engine marketing is the most cost-effective, fastest growing, and popular new marketing channels available, especially when compared to print and other traditional media outlets

Does SEM work for every kind of site?

Almost any site trying to generate revenues can benefit from a properly run SEM campaign. By raising awareness and driving traffic to your site the chances of purchases and or other forms of conversions increase. If you are in business, you need people to find your site and purchase from you. That is the core objective of SEM. The one instance where results could fall short would be where the cost of an SEM campaign would outweigh what could be expected from generated revenues.

Can I be successful running an SEM campaign on my own?
Running a typical SEM campaign can consume around one hundred hours per month at the outset and, because of that, is normally outsourced to SEO companies. While the do it yourself aspect might be tempting, re-dedicating a hundred hours to an employee or yourself is not going to be the best allocation of labor, especially there isn’t anyone in-house with SEM experience.

How do I know if SEM is working?

Contrary to advertising via traditional media, internet related activity is highly measurable. You will be able to track visits, click throughs, conversion rates, and a host of other metrics. Tracking is normally summarized by SEO companies on a monthly basis. Additionally, you can always check the keywords and phrases that are being optimized to see where your web pages are ranked on the search engines. One word of caution, any SEM campaign will take some time to show results so don’t be frustrated if you’re not on page one after two weeks. The timeline for significant results can vary widely depending on the level of competition for the keywords you are optimizing and your monthly budget.

How do I go about choosing an SEO company?

You’re going after results and the firm you go with should be able to deliver them. The best way to determine that is to check out how their existing clients are doing, i.e. how they rank, increases in traffic, conversion numbers, etc. If all other things are equal, lean toward a larger rather than a smaller one to ensure continuity should there be some turnover in personnel. Again, this is about results. You’ll have your choice of firms so be ruthless about demanding proof that each company can live up to its own billing.