Components of a Well-Rounded SEO Campaign

August 30th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

It is no secret that SEO is the most powerful, cost-effective, and results-yielding website promotional tool. Our SEO campaign must be well-rounded to win and achieve the sweetest reward; traffic, long-term visibility and ranking that will result to business success.

However, some Website owners put too much attention on a single element of SEO. Instead of focusing on the hottest SEO “trend”, Websites with long-term SEO success, focus on a variety of strategies with equal emphasis. If you are only giving special importance on a single element of SEO, then you are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms.

Search engines algorithms like of Yahoo and Google are evolving. The continuous change is for the benefit of all the internet users. That is why having a well-rounded SEO campaign will win you. You can ensure the capability of your SEO well into the future and you can also reduce the impact of search engine algorithm changes.

Take a look at the changes of the search engine algorithm which affects SEO campaigns:

Now we need to broaden our horizons to suffer less likely when uncontrollable factors happen.

Here are the components to run a well-rounded SEO campaign:

Now does this article help you? I can say that it will. Always remember that your website is the center of your SEO campaign. So try building using a well-rounded SEO habit. Good Luck!

Components of a Well-Rounded SEO Campaign

August 30th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

It is no secret that SEO is the most powerful, cost-effective, and results-yielding website promotional tool. Our SEO campaign must be well-rounded to win and achieve the sweetest reward; traffic, long-term visibility and ranking that will result to business success.

However, some Website owners put too much attention on a single element of SEO. Instead of focusing on the hottest SEO “trend”, Websites with long-term SEO success, focus on a variety of strategies with equal emphasis. If you are only giving special importance on a single element of SEO, then you are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms.

Search engines algorithms like of Yahoo and Google are evolving. The continuous change is for the benefit of all the internet users. That is why having a well-rounded SEO campaign will win you. You can ensure the capability of your SEO well into the future and you can also reduce the impact of search engine algorithm changes.

Take a look at the changes of the search engine algorithm which affects SEO campaigns:

Now we need to broaden our horizons to suffer less likely when uncontrollable factors happen.

Here are the components to run a well-rounded SEO campaign:

Now does this article help you? I can say that it will. Always remember that your website is the center of your SEO campaign. So try building using a well-rounded SEO habit. Good Luck!

Components of a Well-Rounded SEO Campaign

August 30th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

It is no secret that SEO is the most powerful, cost-effective, and results-yielding website promotional tool. Our SEO campaign must be well-rounded to win and achieve the sweetest reward; traffic, long-term visibility and ranking that will result to business success.

However, some Website owners put too much attention on a single element of SEO. Instead of focusing on the hottest SEO “trend”, Websites with long-term SEO success, focus on a variety of strategies with equal emphasis. If you are only giving special importance on a single element of SEO, then you are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms.

Search engines algorithms like of Yahoo and Google are evolving. The continuous change is for the benefit of all the internet users. That is why having a well-rounded SEO campaign will win you. You can ensure the capability of your SEO well into the future and you can also reduce the impact of search engine algorithm changes.

Take a look at the changes of the search engine algorithm which affects SEO campaigns:

Now we need to broaden our horizons to suffer less likely when uncontrollable factors happen.

Here are the components to run a well-rounded SEO campaign:

Now does this article help you? I can say that it will. Always remember that your website is the center of your SEO campaign. So try building using a well-rounded SEO habit. Good Luck!

The Art of Effective Linkbaiting

August 23rd, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

Linkbaiting is an art. It sounds like a bad thing but it is not. Perhaps some people abuse its advantages and they are not giving consideration to the ethics behind reporting information. When you optimise this technique properly well, it will make your site an irresistible link target for bloggers and site owners!

How does it work?

Link Baiting is just like fishing. The article is the bait, and the link will be the catch. For example, you publish a new page on a topic and set it free on the web. With any luck, some will pick up on the content depending on their point of view. Some would say that it is fresh and interesting and will link to it. A properly created page can capture huge links on its own with little to no effort from you. Such a strategy is implemented to create additional links to one’s site in a viral sort of way.

So as to define, linkbaiting is one of the most universally effective tactics for promoting a site, both for search engine rankings and traffic boosters. It is a technique whereby you encourage people to link to you because of something found on your site, something interesting enough to catch people’s attention, but that does not have to mean a bad thing. There are a lot of ways to do that, and it can be as simple as being creative. It can include content, online tools, downloads, or anything else that other site owner might find convincing enough to link to. Linkbaiting is important, because search engines use backlinks as a major factor in determining ranking.

How to do it effectively?

As you can probably tell, building links is both art and science. It requires a great set of tools and tactics, as well as loads of creative ideas. In order to bait a link, you need a hook. Essentially there are 5 types of hooks: News, contrary, attack, resource, and humour. Each has its pros and cons and each requires a different technique.

Now it is at the point where people have to write almost anything to get any attention. The more extreme, the more likely you will be to get links. But remember, the content of your website lies on you, your identity and reputation, that is why here are some examples to help you generate good and effective link bait techniques:

1. News hooks

It is one where you report on industry news. You are providing new content that no one else has but others will be eager to link to via some news you have posted on your site.

2. Contrary hooks

Contrary hooks are when you contradict or disagree with what someone else says or with something posted.

3. Attack hooks

This hook is the next level to contrary hooks. Many times personal attacks are made in addition to the contradictions. You should be careful when using such attack, because it can just as easily go the wrong way. Although attack hook may gain even more links than a contrary hook when use wisely and expertly.


4. Resource hooks

Resource hooks are informational pages, which are very helpful. You build up your website as the place to come for information on a topic.

5. Humour hooks

As the name implies itself. These kinds of hooks are just easy, because they always get links; it is like people never seem to get tired of.

Top 10 Strategies to Boost Your Blog Traffic

August 16th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

For a small business, a weblog or blog is a perfect low-cost expert positioning tool. Blogs are a practical way to build brand awareness and establish an individual’s expertise in a particular area. There is absolutely no use at all if no one knows your blog. You need to get the traffic in to benefit a lot! In this article you will get effective strategies of the common ways bloggers and webmasters drive more traffic into their site and here it goes:

1. Selecting the Exact Blog Software

Choosing the exact Content Management System or CMS should be easy for the bloggers to use, and brings together the features that allow the blog to grow and develop. Start off by asking yourself some questions and make a list of all of the features and tools you need as well as your budget. If you want to set yourself apart, a custom blog solution is a great deal. The one that can be completely customized to your users. However, WordPress, Blogger, MovableType, Typepad, GeekLog or TextPattern will do, but creating from the beginning needs you to be very creative with functionality and formatting. Think about the following in order to help down your choices: (more…)

Top 10 Strategies to Boost Your Blog Traffic

August 16th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

For a small business, a weblog or blog is a perfect low-cost expert positioning tool. Blogs are a practical way to build brand awareness and establish an individual’s expertise in a particular area. There is absolutely no use at all if no one knows your blog. You need to get the traffic in to benefit a lot! In this article you will get effective strategies of the common ways bloggers and webmasters drive more traffic into their site and here it goes:

1. Selecting the Exact Blog Software

Choosing the exact Content Management System or CMS should be easy for the bloggers to use, and brings together the features that allow the blog to grow and develop. Start off by asking yourself some questions and make a list of all of the features and tools you need as well as your budget. If you want to set yourself apart, a custom blog solution is a great deal. The one that can be completely customized to your users. However, WordPress, Blogger, MovableType, Typepad, GeekLog or TextPattern will do, but creating from the beginning needs you to be very creative with functionality and formatting. Think about the following in order to help down your choices: (more…)

Tips on How NOT to do Search Engine Marketing

August 9th, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can provide an effective method of driving highly targeted visitors to your Website. It is an alternative way to the traditional marketing such as commercials, brochures, and print advertising. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is part of SEM, which includes improving rankings for relevant keywords in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) all to have a goal of increasing the amount of traffic to get better search engine rankings.

Search engine marketers are experts and firms who explore the weaknesses and strengths in the methods and individual products to find the best way to promote a particular Website in search engines. However, there are still some who still attempts to use methods to manipulate search rankings unfairly using the Black Hat Marketing and other deceiving techniques just to get high ranks easily. Before you continue signing with your SEO experts, take a moment to understand the techniques they may be putting on and how you can identify their deceiving marketing proficiencies which can damage both your Website and reputation permanently. These are the big NO!-NO! that should never be applied on your search engine marketing:

1. Spamdexing

Spamdexing or spam for short refers exclusively to practices that are dishonest and mislead search and indexing programs to give a page ranking it does not deserve. Spamming involves getting Websites more exposure than they deserve for their keywords, leading to unsatisfactory search results. Also, be very wary of any SEO expert that offers Website promotion through blast emails. Ensure that any email going out with your Web URL are being targeted towards users with a general interest in what you have to offer and are not unsolicited emails. If discovered, search engines may take action against those found to be using these unethical methods.

2. Link Farm

When SEM firms promise to help you boost your link popularity by automatically entering you into link exchange programs they operate, check first their Websites that will be linking to yours. If it has nothing to do with your content, you should be aware of the repercussions of this action as major search engines penalize sites that participate in link farming, thereby reversing their intended effect.

A link farm is any group of Web pages that are all hyperlinked to every other page in the group. Although some link farms can be created by hand, most are created through automated programs and services. A link farm is a form of spamming the index of a search engine.

3. Keyword Stuffing

It is important to stuff keyword into the title, headings, image alt statements, hyperlinks on the page, hyperlinks pointing to the page and in your general keyword rich text. But excessive repetition of keywords in an attempt to artificially inflate density and improve a page ranking is bad!

If your Website points a very wide-ranging keyword like “flowers”, then it is quite impossible to be on top ranking for that keyword. But if you keep on fine-tuning your keyword selection like “Miyara’s flowers”, then you will be able to achieve top placement in search engines. Many could not still target, which makes them overload keywords. Wordtracker.com helps in searching for good specific keywords for your Website. They will help you to figure out the various keywords people use to search for goods and services on the net, and behold those visitors will become your paying customers.

4. Hidden Text

Hiding the text keywords and phrases makes it invisible for users to see, but are scanned by the search engine to help increase SERPs. Examples of these are words that are frequently searched like “sex” or “love”, even if these terms gives little connection to the content of a page, they are still using it in order to attract traffic. There are several ways to hide text and these are:

These are only some misleading ways and if your page is found to be doing these, you may get de listed. You should be able to creatively stick your keywords in the content without needing the extra cheese techniques. Search engines have been advancing their algorithms to detect pages that make use of hidden text for the purpose of rankings, but if you see a competitor that uses hidden text feel free to report “spam” to the major search engines. By getting your competitors removed from the search results, you can be sure your rankings will improve.

5. Cloaking Content

Cloaking content involves hiding the substance people will see, and substituting it with content designed to rank higher in the SERPs. It is often used as a spam technique to try to trick search engines into giving the relevant site a higher ranking; it can also be used to trick search engine users into visiting a site based on the search engine description which site turns out to have substantially different or even pornographic content. For this reason some search engines threaten to ban sites using cloaking.

Cloaking can also be a deceptive advertising technique in the search results. It involves using deception to obtain a commercial advantage but they are not clearly labeled in the search results because the search engine did not know they were cloaked. So cloaking amounts to using deception to obtain an unlabelled improved position for commercial advantage.

6. Pop-ups and Pop-unders

Pop-ups and pop-unders (variations on the pop-up windows) are a common internet annoyance. They are usually techniques applied by traffic service Websites intended to increase Web traffic or capture email addresses and things will work fine for some time, but pop-up windows will start to get out of focus, to display contents that will disturb your visitors, and gradually becomes more intrusive. Reaction from your visitors will automatically be complaining and will avoid your site because you have pop-ups, pop-unders, and such sort of things. Your site may get a negative impression by them as they will associate it with the pop-under.

7. Doorway Pages

Doorway pages are simple HTML pages that are customized to particular keywords or phrases, and they are primarily designed and programmed to be visible only by specific search engines and their spiders, not for human beings. The purpose of these doorway pages is to trick the search engines into giving these sites higher rankings.

They are also known as bridge pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names. For example, users searched for “used vans”, and the doorway page appears. Users do not arrive at the goal page as they click through, or sometimes the page probably lacks detail about “used vans” they sell. The gap between the entry and the goal page is where the names “bridge pages” and “jump pages” come from. These pages either “bridge” or “jump” visitors across the gap.

8. Meta Refresh Tag

The META refresh tag is also called “redirecting” because you are sending the visitor to a page other than the one they requested. It tells the browser to automatically request another page from the server after a certain number of seconds. It works like when visitors click on a Web page that contains a META refresh tag inside the HEAD section, they are sent to a different page without actually clicking on a link. This is called page side redirection. There are practical applications for using them, but using them is a notorious spam technique and may significantly lower your page rank or even get you banned in some search engines.

9. Using Frames

Search engines have trouble with frames since they do not know what composites of frames to include as navigation units in their index. Frames are pieces of a Web page which are added together to make a whole page. If you have an interesting article deep within your site, using frames makes it hard for others to link to it. You can get around frames by having a site map from the home page that links to all the framed pages, but even if these pages list high they will probably lack good navigation since the framework that contained is not located with it in the search results.

10. Splash Pages

Splash pages are negative to search engines and the users. They are introductory pages that are designed to impress the users. While the idea may be good, the aim is bad. Many search engines can not effectively navigate through and index flash. This means that you have little to no content to optimise and more than likely will not be able to achieve top listings, it offers limited content to search engines.

Whether you are an experienced SEO, beginner, or a client, reading this article may save you a lot of grief later on. If you have anything like the above on your Website, it offers no value and scares away potential customers and may be dangerous for you too. Falsely practices might work in the short-term but in the long run they can get your site flagged for review and censure. In addition, using these techniques tends to bring down the general credibility of your site.

10 Ways to Optimise Google AdWords

August 2nd, 2007 | Posted by Ben Keogh

Never before in the history of advertising has been it possible to spend five bucks, write a couple of Ads, and get instant access to over 100 million people in less than 10 minutes. But with Google AdWords, you can possibly do that! Yet, most people find out that it is much harder than it sounds, and yes, Google is not easy and confusing at first but if you know the right thing to do and its techniques, it will reward you a lot.

AdWords is Google’s advertising product and main source of revenue. Its text advertisements are short, consisting of one line and two content text lines, and thus difficult to block for normal Ad-blocking software. Google’s Ads are found and displayed on the right hand side of the natural search results. AdWords also offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner Ads.

This article gives you essential tips and strategies that can help you to get maximum benefit of your AdWords Campaigns. Here they are:

1. Create your own unique “landing page” exclusively for your products

A good landing page is just as important as a good Ad, good keywords and strategic bidding. By creating an effective landing page advertisers can increase conversions, which will make their campaigns more competitive and profitable.

Internet users are looking for information and expect good content from your site. Include your product’s pictures, reviews, lists of benefits, testimonials and other interesting content closely related with the products you are offering keep your prospects interested.

The role of your Ad is to get clicks. The role of your landing page is to convert those clicks into leads or sales. It is in your landing page where you have all the room to explain all the benefits and features of your products or services. It is very important to remember that your landing page is your sales page.

2. Create Ad groups based around families of keywords.

You can use these two tools: CompareYourClicks.com and WordTracker.com to guide you find keyword families. Each Ad group must be committed to one keyword family, like if your keyword is “Flowers” then try an Ad Group with “Philippine Flowers”, “Fresh Flowers”, or “Plastic Flowers”. Go broad and wide to find as many relevant key phrases as you can.

Include in the text of your Ad on the keyword you have selected and that keyword will be printed highlighted and will lead to a higher CTR (Click Thru Rate), lowering your costs. Use isolation techniques to remove higher cost keywords from Ad groups.

3. Create a good number of selected negative keywords for your campaign.

Use high number of negative keywords to screen out customers looking for free items and bargain discounts to click on your Ad, so you can avoid clicks with no sales. For instance, a realtor who sells houses in Manila could specify “commercial” as a negative keyword so that their Ads do show for searches upon “Manila real estate” but not “Manila commercial real estate”.

Negative keywords can have a tremendous impact on ROAS (Return On Advertising Spending) by significantly reducing the number of clicks by poor quality leads.

4. Create an aggressive but permission-based email capture program.

Like including a form allowing your visitor to enter their email addresses. If you can capture the email add of your visitors, you can continue to market them after their initial visit Offer free gifts or freebies to motivate your visitor to enter their email adds. This can dramatically reduce your campaign cost and increase your long-term conversion ratio.

5. Mention openly the price of your product or service.

This will prevent freebies seekers to click on your Ad and will just generate costs and no sales and you can get the right customer by doing this.

6. Create at least twenty different Ad versions per Keyword Group.

Go broad and wide to find as many as you can, but create Ads that are truly relevant to what you are offering. Monitor the CTR of each Ad and finally delete all versions with low CTR, keeping the most successful Ad versions. Experts produce usually hundred of selections, however you can start with less. Experiment, test, evaluate, change and keep only the best results.

7. Include a concise benefit of your product in the text of your Ad.

Example is including discounts, short term opportunities or even a brief explanation why customers should click your Ad.

8. Calculate the value per visitor on a regular basis

The acquisition of a customer can be worth an expensive PPC term, even if you only break-even on the first transaction. Divide the achieved earnings in a given period like weekly thru the clicks in the same period. This is your maximum CPC (Cost per Click). Adjust your maximum bid accordingly. Try to maximize profits, not just to lower the CPC.

You may also exclude the “content search” option to reach highly targeted traffic. Only in the case you have an amazing conversion rate, activate this option to maximize your profits.

9. Avoid bidding wars.

Let your competitors support Google with their unwitting charity while you find your way to get the same results for less money. You could try to find other keywords that no advertiser is using. These keywords have two benefits:

When you find a keyword that has a large amount of impressions and has a good CTR, make sure that you are using all possible combinations of that word. So if the term “used cellphone” is performing well, you may also want to try “used cellphones”, “used cellular phone”, “used mobile phone”, and so on.

10. Track your Ads carefully.

Google provides a tracking facility you can add in your “Thank You” page after each sale. Monitor closely which keywords convert and which not. Delete Keywords which obviously do not convert.

If you monitor your Ads on a regular basis and follow these essential tips, then you may get great benefits. Always observe your expenses versus profit then try to go ahead by having high quality content from your competitors and enjoy good payback!