Keyword research and analysis can be a daunting task, when done correctly, and expert keyword research is the foundation to a successful SEO campaign. Many new website owners think the keyword research analysis process is easy.
They think free tools, such as the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool is the profit pill that will bring them instant results. Unfortunately, the free tools will only give you a rough guide and a quick indication whether a hunch is worth further research.
These free keyword research tools are limited to basic information. When performed correctly, expert keyword research exposes so much more - all the gems that are tucked away deep. Real keyword research requires research AND analysis.
There are so many aspects to the process that can not be left to chance. Attempting to do the keyword research on your own is like going to a veterinarian to fix your car. My advise to all clients I do SEO consulting services for is to simply leave this task to the experts who have the correct keyword research tools and expertise.
Following are 5 tips for effective keyword research analysis:
1. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) - Use multi-word phrases Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is a vital element in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for better keyword rankings in search results. LSI is based on the relationship, the "clustering" or positioning, the variations of terms and the iterations of your keyword phrases. Expertly knowing LSI and how it can be most useful and beneficial for your SEO and the importance it has with the algorithm updates to search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo which will benefit your keyword research for best practice SEO.
LSI is NOT new. For those doing keyword research over the years always knew to use synonyms and "long tail" keyword terms which is a simpler "explanation" to LSI. More often than not, these long tail, less generic terms bring more traffic to your site than the main keyword phrases. The real bottom line is that Latent Semantic Indexing is currently a MUST in keyword research and SEO.
2. Page Specific Keyword Research - Target your niche keyword phrases for each site page Probably the most common mistake in keyword research is using a plethora of keywords and pasting the same meta keyword tag on every web site page. This is SO not effective! Your keyword research needs to be page specific and only focusing on 2 to 5 keywords per page. It's more work, but combined with best practice SEO, gives each site page a chance for higher ranking on their own.
3. Country Specific Keyword Research and Search Engine Reference Keep in mind that keyword search terms can be country specific. Even though a country is English speaking, there are different keyword terms you must research - and then reference that country's search engine when doing your initial keyword research. For instance, UK and Australia may have different expressions, terminology and spellings (i.e. colour, personalised).
Referencing the terms in the corresponding search engine is an important element to keyword research that is often forgotten, so for example, be sure to check the search terms on google.co.uk or au.yahoo.com. And of couse, if you have 3 to 4 really comprehensive research tools in your arsenal, you will be able to search for historical, global and country specific search terms easily and effectively.
4. Keyword Analysis - Cross referencing in the search engines Once the majority of the keyword research has been done for a site page, it's time to plug those terms into the search engines to determine: - If it is really the desired niche keyword for that page - To assess the competitiveness of your keywords.
Along with checking the competitiveness of your keywords you should look at the strength of the competition. - Are the other sites listed for your keywords truly your competitors? - Are the sites listed for your keyword even related to your industry, products or services?
These critical analyses of keyword phrases are often forgotten. Since the keyword research and analysis is the foundation of a successful SEO campaign, you certainly don't want to build your on-page optimization on the wrong niche keywords!
5. Ongoing Keyword Research - Repeat your keyword research on a consistent basis While you may think that you have completed your keyword research analysis and laid a solid foundation for your SEO, you need to keep monitoring your keywords and tweak as necessary.
Keywords can change from month to month as keyword search terms change, genres change and/or if your niche is within social portal networking sites - to name just a few. Maintaining ongoing keyword research is essential for best practice SEO.
Most Successful Strategy to Streamline Your Keyword Research Efforts: Yes, many website owners will opt to do the keyword research and analysis themselves with only a marginal effect on an SEO campaign. It's not the most successful strategy to use to for the most effective results. To be certain of your keyword data, accurate keyword analysis should be performed - and cross referenced - across multiple expert keyword tools.
Effective keyword research lays the ground work for effective SEO results and can help you kick-start the ranking process - perhaps even giving you a step up on your competitors. The most successful strategy to streamline your keyword research efforts is to hire an expert. Focus your business efforts on your strengths and expertise and allow the SEO experts to effectively perform the keyword research analysis correctly.
http://www.marketingscoop.com/keywordresearch-analysis.htm
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
7 Proven Strategies for Improving Your Alexa Ranking
After spending two years building my own website, I was very disappointed that my Alexa ranking was still higher than one million. Alexa ranks each website based on the number of visitors it receives. The top ranked website, Yahoo! has an Alexa rating of 1 or 2. Less popular sites could be ranked up to 5,000,000.
In order to improve my Alexa rating, I spent about three weeks combing the web to find tips, secrets, and proven strategies for increasing my Alexa ranking. Unfortunately, many of the sites offering advice didn't even have a high ranking themselves. Finally I discovered a number of sites ranked within the top 100,000 that were all applying the same "Alexa techniques" to improve their ranking. I've begun implementing a number of these techniques and have improved my Alexa ranking by 250,000 spots in just one week.
Here's what you need to know. The basis for many of these techniques is the fact that your Alexa ranking is based reach and page views. However it only counts those who visit your site and have already downloaded the Alexa toolbar. Anyone can download the toolbar for free which is automatically added to your browser and tracks the sites you're visiting. Increasing visits from those who do not have the Alexa toolbar installed will not help your Alexa ranking.
I've summarized the 7 strategies that I've discovered and applied to my own website to increase my Alexa ranking. Apply these strategies to your own website and see your ranking climb towards the top.
1. Download the Alexa toolbar and use it every day to visit your own website. Alexa even gives you the ability to co-brand the toolbar with your own logo and give it away. You can download the toolbar here: http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/associatetoolbar.html
2. Use Alexa redirection whenever you can. No matter when or where you provide a link to your website, be sure to use the equivalent Alexa redirect URL. For example, when providing a link to my website, I use http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com. If you copy this URL into your browser, it will take you to MarketingScoop.com. To use this technique, simply replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours.
3. Encourage your website visitors to add their positive testimonials on Alexa's detailed listings page for your website. This can be done by placing a link to the appropriate Alexa page on your website and asking visitors to "Click here to rate this website". You can find your detailed Alexa page here: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/?url=marketingscoop.com.
Again, just replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours. By clicking on the URL, visitors will be able to reach your detailed rating page and write a review using the review link located on the left hand side of the page.
4. Write your own site reviews on the top 100 rated Alexa sites and include your redirect URL. The top 500 domains, according to Alexa can be found at www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500. When you write a review, be sure to use the redirection URL we discussed in number 2 above specifically for your website http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com
5. Download the Alexa ranking button, traffic history graph, info links, and other traffic counters onto the page of your website that receives the most traffic. For example, at the bottom of my home page http://www.marketingscoop.com, I've added the Alexa ranking box. You can do the same for your own site by visiting http://www.alexa.com/site/site_stats/signup. You'll notice that I haven't added the traffic history graph. This is because it wouldn't look appropriate on my home page and because Alexa is only providing detailed history on the top 100,000 sites. So if you're not in the top 100,000, site stats would not be available.
6. Take an inexpensive ad out on the ExactSeek search directory at ExactSeek. Search engine results are directly correlated with Alexa rankings. You'll notice that if a website is highly ranked on ExactSeek, chances are that it will be highly ranked on Alexa.
7. Get listed on as many search engines as possible by placing a free listing in DMOZ. This is the largest human edited directory on the web and is co-branded among hundreds of thousands of sites. Be patient though, it often takes up to 5 months before you see your website listed after submission. Even though it takes longer than it should, you have little say in the matter because it's so widely used across the Internet.
These simple Alexa strategies are easy to implement and will make a huge difference in your Alexa ranking. Ultimately you want visitors to do more than visit your home page, you want them to interact with your site. Be sure to optimize your home page for SEO purposes, ease of use, and interaction. Creating a positive user experience will get visitors to return again and again.
* Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the president of MarketingScoop.com, the Internet’s biggest source of marketing information and free marketing resources. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and has appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit Marketingscoop.com for further details, Marketing Blog Directory, or more FREE reprint articles.
http://www.marketingscoop.com/improve-alexa-ranking.htm
In order to improve my Alexa rating, I spent about three weeks combing the web to find tips, secrets, and proven strategies for increasing my Alexa ranking. Unfortunately, many of the sites offering advice didn't even have a high ranking themselves. Finally I discovered a number of sites ranked within the top 100,000 that were all applying the same "Alexa techniques" to improve their ranking. I've begun implementing a number of these techniques and have improved my Alexa ranking by 250,000 spots in just one week.
Here's what you need to know. The basis for many of these techniques is the fact that your Alexa ranking is based reach and page views. However it only counts those who visit your site and have already downloaded the Alexa toolbar. Anyone can download the toolbar for free which is automatically added to your browser and tracks the sites you're visiting. Increasing visits from those who do not have the Alexa toolbar installed will not help your Alexa ranking.
I've summarized the 7 strategies that I've discovered and applied to my own website to increase my Alexa ranking. Apply these strategies to your own website and see your ranking climb towards the top.
1. Download the Alexa toolbar and use it every day to visit your own website. Alexa even gives you the ability to co-brand the toolbar with your own logo and give it away. You can download the toolbar here: http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/associatetoolbar.html
2. Use Alexa redirection whenever you can. No matter when or where you provide a link to your website, be sure to use the equivalent Alexa redirect URL. For example, when providing a link to my website, I use http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com. If you copy this URL into your browser, it will take you to MarketingScoop.com. To use this technique, simply replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours.
3. Encourage your website visitors to add their positive testimonials on Alexa's detailed listings page for your website. This can be done by placing a link to the appropriate Alexa page on your website and asking visitors to "Click here to rate this website". You can find your detailed Alexa page here: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/?url=marketingscoop.com.
Again, just replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours. By clicking on the URL, visitors will be able to reach your detailed rating page and write a review using the review link located on the left hand side of the page.
4. Write your own site reviews on the top 100 rated Alexa sites and include your redirect URL. The top 500 domains, according to Alexa can be found at www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500. When you write a review, be sure to use the redirection URL we discussed in number 2 above specifically for your website http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com
5. Download the Alexa ranking button, traffic history graph, info links, and other traffic counters onto the page of your website that receives the most traffic. For example, at the bottom of my home page http://www.marketingscoop.com, I've added the Alexa ranking box. You can do the same for your own site by visiting http://www.alexa.com/site/site_stats/signup. You'll notice that I haven't added the traffic history graph. This is because it wouldn't look appropriate on my home page and because Alexa is only providing detailed history on the top 100,000 sites. So if you're not in the top 100,000, site stats would not be available.
6. Take an inexpensive ad out on the ExactSeek search directory at ExactSeek. Search engine results are directly correlated with Alexa rankings. You'll notice that if a website is highly ranked on ExactSeek, chances are that it will be highly ranked on Alexa.
7. Get listed on as many search engines as possible by placing a free listing in DMOZ. This is the largest human edited directory on the web and is co-branded among hundreds of thousands of sites. Be patient though, it often takes up to 5 months before you see your website listed after submission. Even though it takes longer than it should, you have little say in the matter because it's so widely used across the Internet.
These simple Alexa strategies are easy to implement and will make a huge difference in your Alexa ranking. Ultimately you want visitors to do more than visit your home page, you want them to interact with your site. Be sure to optimize your home page for SEO purposes, ease of use, and interaction. Creating a positive user experience will get visitors to return again and again.
* Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the president of MarketingScoop.com, the Internet’s biggest source of marketing information and free marketing resources. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and has appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit Marketingscoop.com for further details, Marketing Blog Directory, or more FREE reprint articles.
http://www.marketingscoop.com/improve-alexa-ranking.htm
The truth about web site traffic?
This is one of my favorite subjects...
Anyone trying to sell anything online knows about targeted web site traffic - or do they?
You constantly hear web site owners bragging about hits. As in, 'my site gets 500 hits a day' or 'my site gets thousands of hits'. Sounds like a lot of web site traffic - right?
Wrong!
First things first, - what exactly is a hit? A 'hit' simply means a file request from a server. Let's start by breaking down the world wide web from a new web site owner's viewpoint.
You have a web site, that web site has to live somewhere. It lives on your web hosts server and the street address is the URL that identifies your site.
So www.yoursite.com is the URL (street address) in the internet town, Best Web Hosts (your web hosting service). The pages that make up your web site are each made up of a number of files. Think of it like the rooms in a house - each page is a room, each room contains furniture (the files).
So a surfer or visitor lands on your web site and by doing so requests the files for that page from your web hosts server. They have to do this in order to look at or view the contents of that page (the furniture).
The HTML code used to create the web page is counted as one file or hit. Each graphic or picture on that page is counted as one hit. If the page has 5 images and the HTML source code, then the visitor is requesting 6 hits or files.
This is why counting a site's traffic by the number of hits is so misleading.
If, for example, a web page has 20 graphics or pictures then the page counts as 21 hits or file requests. If a visitor spends time on say 5 pages of your site that are similar in format and content then just one visitor requests 105 files - or 105 hits.
So now you can see why hits are not a good measure of site traffic. If your web site had interesting content and dozens of pages that one visitor could account for hundreds of hits or file requests.
The true measure of web site traffic is the number of Unique Visitors sometimes referred to as Sessions in some Web Site Statistics ( Stats ) programs.
This figure gives you a much clearer picture of the actual number of people that have visited your site. That figure can then be used to determine the Return On Investment ( ROI ) for your marketing or promotional campaigns. ie. Units Sold divided by Number of Visitors = Conversion Rate in %
In other words, if you know that 100 people have visited your site as a direct result of a particular marketing campaign and you sold 5 units then your Sales Conversion ratio is 5%. This would be impossible to determine by using the number of 'hits' your site gets.
http://www.seoplus.com/targeted-web-site-traffic.html
Anyone trying to sell anything online knows about targeted web site traffic - or do they?
You constantly hear web site owners bragging about hits. As in, 'my site gets 500 hits a day' or 'my site gets thousands of hits'. Sounds like a lot of web site traffic - right?
Wrong!
First things first, - what exactly is a hit? A 'hit' simply means a file request from a server. Let's start by breaking down the world wide web from a new web site owner's viewpoint.
You have a web site, that web site has to live somewhere. It lives on your web hosts server and the street address is the URL that identifies your site.
So www.yoursite.com is the URL (street address) in the internet town, Best Web Hosts (your web hosting service). The pages that make up your web site are each made up of a number of files. Think of it like the rooms in a house - each page is a room, each room contains furniture (the files).
So a surfer or visitor lands on your web site and by doing so requests the files for that page from your web hosts server. They have to do this in order to look at or view the contents of that page (the furniture).
The HTML code used to create the web page is counted as one file or hit. Each graphic or picture on that page is counted as one hit. If the page has 5 images and the HTML source code, then the visitor is requesting 6 hits or files.
This is why counting a site's traffic by the number of hits is so misleading.
If, for example, a web page has 20 graphics or pictures then the page counts as 21 hits or file requests. If a visitor spends time on say 5 pages of your site that are similar in format and content then just one visitor requests 105 files - or 105 hits.
So now you can see why hits are not a good measure of site traffic. If your web site had interesting content and dozens of pages that one visitor could account for hundreds of hits or file requests.
The true measure of web site traffic is the number of Unique Visitors sometimes referred to as Sessions in some Web Site Statistics ( Stats ) programs.
This figure gives you a much clearer picture of the actual number of people that have visited your site. That figure can then be used to determine the Return On Investment ( ROI ) for your marketing or promotional campaigns. ie. Units Sold divided by Number of Visitors = Conversion Rate in %
In other words, if you know that 100 people have visited your site as a direct result of a particular marketing campaign and you sold 5 units then your Sales Conversion ratio is 5%. This would be impossible to determine by using the number of 'hits' your site gets.
http://www.seoplus.com/targeted-web-site-traffic.html
When It Comes To Search Engine Registration - Which SE's Really Matter?
Before we talk about which SE's matter to your search engine marketing efforts - it would help to read Search Engine Listing - What Are Your Options?.
You've probably heard all the rubbish about submitting your site to thousands of search engines...blah, blah, blah...
The people telling you that may have neglected to mention one tiny detail...
There are only about 100 search engines that get any amount of traffic.
Of the 100 that do - only 11 engines and 3 directories get a significant enough share of that traffic to be worth submitting your pages to at all.
To see which ones - take a look at my Free Search Engine Registration Guide. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return here ).
The break-down of the market share for each major SE or Directory looks something like this;
* Google - 29.5%
* Yahoo - 28.9%
* MSN - 27.6%
* AOL - 18.4%
* AskJeeves - 9.9%
* Overture - 4.8%
* NetScape - 4.4%
* AltaVista - 4.0%
* Lycos - 2.4%
* EarthLink - 2.0%
* LookSmart - 1.7%
Worth noting, is the fact that the Open Directory has lost it's market share of searchers to the point that it didn't make the cut ( less than 1% ) which means that there are really only two directories left, Yahoo and Looksmart, with any significant amount of traffic.
And if you look at the huge gap between the market share each of those directories hold it will be immediately obvious that Yahoo is truly where it's at when it comes to search engine placement.
Don't let any of the less ethical search engine marketers fool you - get your pages ranked at the top of the engines listed above and you won't need to worry about any of the others.
Search engine registration should be performed manually so knowing where to concentrate your efforts is very important and will save you time in the long run.
Now that you have great rankings - you'd probably like to know which of the figures provided in your Web Stats should you be looking at. Find out how to work that out by reading Targeted Web Site Traffic - Calculating ROI ( Return On Investment ).
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-registration.html
You've probably heard all the rubbish about submitting your site to thousands of search engines...blah, blah, blah...
The people telling you that may have neglected to mention one tiny detail...
There are only about 100 search engines that get any amount of traffic.
Of the 100 that do - only 11 engines and 3 directories get a significant enough share of that traffic to be worth submitting your pages to at all.
To see which ones - take a look at my Free Search Engine Registration Guide. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return here ).
The break-down of the market share for each major SE or Directory looks something like this;
* Google - 29.5%
* Yahoo - 28.9%
* MSN - 27.6%
* AOL - 18.4%
* AskJeeves - 9.9%
* Overture - 4.8%
* NetScape - 4.4%
* AltaVista - 4.0%
* Lycos - 2.4%
* EarthLink - 2.0%
* LookSmart - 1.7%
Worth noting, is the fact that the Open Directory has lost it's market share of searchers to the point that it didn't make the cut ( less than 1% ) which means that there are really only two directories left, Yahoo and Looksmart, with any significant amount of traffic.
And if you look at the huge gap between the market share each of those directories hold it will be immediately obvious that Yahoo is truly where it's at when it comes to search engine placement.
Don't let any of the less ethical search engine marketers fool you - get your pages ranked at the top of the engines listed above and you won't need to worry about any of the others.
Search engine registration should be performed manually so knowing where to concentrate your efforts is very important and will save you time in the long run.
Now that you have great rankings - you'd probably like to know which of the figures provided in your Web Stats should you be looking at. Find out how to work that out by reading Targeted Web Site Traffic - Calculating ROI ( Return On Investment ).
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-registration.html
When It Comes To Search Engine Listing - What Are Your Options?
If you're trying to figure out which method of getting your site listed on the search engines is the best option - read on...
However, it will help to read Search Engine Ranking - Defining The Competition before continuing on.
Many people will tell you that the only solution is to use a submission service or buy software that will automatically submit your pages to thousands of search engines.
There are a couple of major problems with this as a search engine listing strategy.
First of all - there really aren't thousands of search engines worth submitting to.
Truth is - there are really only 11 actual spidering engines and 3 directories that get the bulk of the search traffic.
To see which ones - take a look at my Free Search Engine Listing Guide. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return to this article ).
The second problem with bulk submitting - either through a service or by using software - is that you run the risk of over-submitting your pages.
The search engines determine their own schedule for spidering and indexing the pages they find - if you keep right on submitting the same page - chances are good they will drop the page altogether.
On Google, for example, if the same page is resubmitted they make take that to mean you are trying to have the page removed. What a waste of time getting the page added to their database in the first place - just to have it dropped because your software or service feels it is a good thing to keep on submitting ad infinitum.
Which leads into the third area of concern...
Most of the submission programs and services available are set up to resubmit according to a certain schedule - if the pages concerned are already in the databases - the result will be exactly as I just described.
So what is the best search engine listing strategy?
I'm glad you asked!
Most professional SEO's will submit manually to each engine or directory. Then they wait until the usual indexing period has passed before even considering re-submitting ( and again - they re-submit manually ). If the page does not get picked up on the second submission - it usually means the engine doesn't like the page.
Perhaps the content is poor - or it isn't clear what the page is about...
Whatever the reason - it is a waste of time to reubmit that page until you make the changes necessary to entice the SE's to add it to their index.
You also need to be aware of the different criteria to follow for each engine or directory - which can be very confusing. Once again, using my handy search engine listing guide will save time - there are direct links to the 14 major SE's and Directories.
There's a lot more to search engine listing than meets the eye. However, if you'll take my advice - stick to manual submission - always - it may take a little more time but it's well worth the effort in the long run.
Now that you know what your options are - Go here to learn about Search Engine Registration - Which Search Engines Matter?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-listing.html
However, it will help to read Search Engine Ranking - Defining The Competition before continuing on.
Many people will tell you that the only solution is to use a submission service or buy software that will automatically submit your pages to thousands of search engines.
There are a couple of major problems with this as a search engine listing strategy.
First of all - there really aren't thousands of search engines worth submitting to.
Truth is - there are really only 11 actual spidering engines and 3 directories that get the bulk of the search traffic.
To see which ones - take a look at my Free Search Engine Listing Guide. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return to this article ).
The second problem with bulk submitting - either through a service or by using software - is that you run the risk of over-submitting your pages.
The search engines determine their own schedule for spidering and indexing the pages they find - if you keep right on submitting the same page - chances are good they will drop the page altogether.
On Google, for example, if the same page is resubmitted they make take that to mean you are trying to have the page removed. What a waste of time getting the page added to their database in the first place - just to have it dropped because your software or service feels it is a good thing to keep on submitting ad infinitum.
Which leads into the third area of concern...
Most of the submission programs and services available are set up to resubmit according to a certain schedule - if the pages concerned are already in the databases - the result will be exactly as I just described.
So what is the best search engine listing strategy?
I'm glad you asked!
Most professional SEO's will submit manually to each engine or directory. Then they wait until the usual indexing period has passed before even considering re-submitting ( and again - they re-submit manually ). If the page does not get picked up on the second submission - it usually means the engine doesn't like the page.
Perhaps the content is poor - or it isn't clear what the page is about...
Whatever the reason - it is a waste of time to reubmit that page until you make the changes necessary to entice the SE's to add it to their index.
You also need to be aware of the different criteria to follow for each engine or directory - which can be very confusing. Once again, using my handy search engine listing guide will save time - there are direct links to the 14 major SE's and Directories.
There's a lot more to search engine listing than meets the eye. However, if you'll take my advice - stick to manual submission - always - it may take a little more time but it's well worth the effort in the long run.
Now that you know what your options are - Go here to learn about Search Engine Registration - Which Search Engines Matter?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-listing.html
Search Engine Ranking - Defining The Competition
Still with me? Great!
In the last segment you learned how to find the keywords that people actually use to find your product or service. If you missed that part you can get up to speed by reading Search Engine Placement - Learning The Basics. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return here ).
Time to introduce the Wordtracker Trial ( Once again - clicking on this link will open a new window - to make it easier for you to try it out ).
Ready? Let's find out who your competition is? Click on the "Trial" link on the black navigation bar near the top of the page.
Scroll down and enter your name and email address. Hint: Make sure your email address is correct as your trial results will be sent to this address automatically. Feel free to sign up for Wordtracker's Top 500 Keywords Report - the information is both fascinating and valuable if you're thinking about expanding your online efforts into a new market niche.
And - in case you're hesitant to give them your email address - Wordtracker is one of the few services around that truly will not bombard you with attempts to get you to buy their product.
Done - click the "Start The Trial" button to begin.
The second page simply explains the purpose of Wordtracker and offers a link to a tutorial that you may want to read. I am going to walk you through the trial so it isn't really necessary right now - but would probably be worthwhile reading whenever you have time.
Click on the Blue arrow to start the trial...
Step 1 instructs us to "enter your search term below" so we type in "soap" or if you want more specific results start with the first relevant two word term from your master list - in our example, we used "soap making" - so let's use that.
Click on the "Proceed" button.
Once the software has retrieved and compiled the data - scroll down using the scroll bar to the right of the left-hand search window.
Step 2 allows you to select each related keyword term by clicking on the appropriate results link below.
Go ahead and click on "soap making".
This will open an expanded list of terms in the right-hand window.
Scan through the new list and if all the terms are relevant to your product or service, simply click on the word "all" where it says "Click here to add all keywords to your basket".
You can also select keyword terms one by one - which is important if some of the terms are not directly related to what you are selling. That's because the trial version only allows you to have 30 terms in your basket for each run.
Sticking to relevant terms will save you time as you won't need to run as many trials to complete your research.
Here's a handy tip for you. If you look to the right of the terms listed in the new window - you'll see a little shovel...clicking on the shovel icon will expand that keyword term even further...which gives you even more phrases to check out.
To determine your competition, continue adding keywords until the basket is full ( look at the middle - bottom of the page ) the basket shows the number of terms it contains in red.
If you use all the terms on the right and still have room in your basket - simply choose another keyword phrase from the list on the left and repeat the process.
Done? Wonderful! Click on the blue arrow to go to Step 3.
In the trial version you don't actually have to do anything at this stage. The software has compiled all your terms into one list and will automatically email the results to you as soon as you Click on the blue arrow to proceed to Step 4. So let's do that...
Now it gets even more interesting! The results are listed in accordance with their specific KEI - there is a technical explanation for KEI - feel free to read it by clicking where it says "What do these headings mean? Click here" located just above the results table.
Here's the simple Non-Techy explanation to save time.
KEI shows you the terms with the highest number of daily searches and the lowest number of competing pages - does that make sense? So then, obviously you want to use the terms at the top of the list - the ones with the highest KEI will give you the best shot at top 20 search engine ranking for that term.
So now, you know more than most website owners. Use the terms with those high KEI's on your pages - no more than one or two phrases per page and sprinkle them liberally throughout the visible text on your page. You do have visible text I hope :)
Put them in your Meta Keyword and Description tags and try to fit them into your Title tag - you do have a title tag - don't you?
Obviously this is a simplified overview of how to achieve top search engine ranking...there is a lot more too it than I have room for here - but it will certainly put you head and shoulders above your competition - so what are you waiting for? Go forth and optimize!
Now that you know how to optimize your pages - you really need to learn the basics of submitting. Go here to read Search Engine Listing - What Are Your Options?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-ranking.html
In the last segment you learned how to find the keywords that people actually use to find your product or service. If you missed that part you can get up to speed by reading Search Engine Placement - Learning The Basics. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return here ).
Time to introduce the Wordtracker Trial ( Once again - clicking on this link will open a new window - to make it easier for you to try it out ).
Ready? Let's find out who your competition is? Click on the "Trial" link on the black navigation bar near the top of the page.
Scroll down and enter your name and email address. Hint: Make sure your email address is correct as your trial results will be sent to this address automatically. Feel free to sign up for Wordtracker's Top 500 Keywords Report - the information is both fascinating and valuable if you're thinking about expanding your online efforts into a new market niche.
And - in case you're hesitant to give them your email address - Wordtracker is one of the few services around that truly will not bombard you with attempts to get you to buy their product.
Done - click the "Start The Trial" button to begin.
The second page simply explains the purpose of Wordtracker and offers a link to a tutorial that you may want to read. I am going to walk you through the trial so it isn't really necessary right now - but would probably be worthwhile reading whenever you have time.
Click on the Blue arrow to start the trial...
Step 1 instructs us to "enter your search term below" so we type in "soap" or if you want more specific results start with the first relevant two word term from your master list - in our example, we used "soap making" - so let's use that.
Click on the "Proceed" button.
Once the software has retrieved and compiled the data - scroll down using the scroll bar to the right of the left-hand search window.
Step 2 allows you to select each related keyword term by clicking on the appropriate results link below.
Go ahead and click on "soap making".
This will open an expanded list of terms in the right-hand window.
Scan through the new list and if all the terms are relevant to your product or service, simply click on the word "all" where it says "Click here to add all keywords to your basket".
You can also select keyword terms one by one - which is important if some of the terms are not directly related to what you are selling. That's because the trial version only allows you to have 30 terms in your basket for each run.
Sticking to relevant terms will save you time as you won't need to run as many trials to complete your research.
Here's a handy tip for you. If you look to the right of the terms listed in the new window - you'll see a little shovel...clicking on the shovel icon will expand that keyword term even further...which gives you even more phrases to check out.
To determine your competition, continue adding keywords until the basket is full ( look at the middle - bottom of the page ) the basket shows the number of terms it contains in red.
If you use all the terms on the right and still have room in your basket - simply choose another keyword phrase from the list on the left and repeat the process.
Done? Wonderful! Click on the blue arrow to go to Step 3.
In the trial version you don't actually have to do anything at this stage. The software has compiled all your terms into one list and will automatically email the results to you as soon as you Click on the blue arrow to proceed to Step 4. So let's do that...
Now it gets even more interesting! The results are listed in accordance with their specific KEI - there is a technical explanation for KEI - feel free to read it by clicking where it says "What do these headings mean? Click here" located just above the results table.
Here's the simple Non-Techy explanation to save time.
KEI shows you the terms with the highest number of daily searches and the lowest number of competing pages - does that make sense? So then, obviously you want to use the terms at the top of the list - the ones with the highest KEI will give you the best shot at top 20 search engine ranking for that term.
So now, you know more than most website owners. Use the terms with those high KEI's on your pages - no more than one or two phrases per page and sprinkle them liberally throughout the visible text on your page. You do have visible text I hope :)
Put them in your Meta Keyword and Description tags and try to fit them into your Title tag - you do have a title tag - don't you?
Obviously this is a simplified overview of how to achieve top search engine ranking...there is a lot more too it than I have room for here - but it will certainly put you head and shoulders above your competition - so what are you waiting for? Go forth and optimize!
Now that you know how to optimize your pages - you really need to learn the basics of submitting. Go here to read Search Engine Listing - What Are Your Options?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-ranking.html
Search Engine Placement - Learning Keyword Basics...
If you're trying to figure out how on earth to get your pages listed on the first page or two of the major search engines...let's dive in...
But first, if you missed the overview - you might want to read Search Engine Promotion - Understanding Keyword Basics.
The first order of business when it comes to search engine placement is to choose the right keywords.
If you mess this up - nothing else you do to optimize your pages will make any difference.
So how do you decide what keywords to target?
That's actually the easy part. There are even a couple of great free tools to help you figure it out. The first one is provided by Overture.
Go to Overture and click on the Keyword Selector Tool. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return to this article ).
A smaller window with a search box will open - usually in the upper left corner of your browser window. Keep this window open so you can follow along while I explain how to use the Term Suggestion Tool.
Let's say, for example, that you make soap.
In the Overture search box - simply type in the word "soap" and click on the arrow to the right of the search box.
Overture will provide the exact terms people use when they are looking for soap related products...
Scanning through this list - you can quickly see that the single word "soap" may actually be too general for your purpose.
After all - you arent' selling "soap operas" - are you?
So the next thing you need to do is find the first term that is completely relevant to your product or service - in this case the first one I come across is "soap making". Clicking on that result will give you a new list of keywords that include the term "soap making".
Aah! That's more like it - look at all those great terms.
Continue searching for every related term and compile the terms as you go into a Notepad file ( or whichever basic text editor you use ).
Clicking on any results link will give you more detailed terms - once you have exhausted each list of terms - return to your initial search term - ( in our example "soap" ) and scan down again to find another relevant term.
Keep adding these new terms to your master list.
You'll find that it won't take you long to come up with a huge number of terms that you can use to optimize your pages with.
Now - wouldn't it be wonderful if that was all there was too it? Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings - but there is one more part to the keyword selection equation - and this second bit can make or break your search engine placement success.
You see, knowing which keyword terms surfers are using to find the type of product or service you sell is only half the battle - you also need to know how many competitors are trying to target those same terms. That figure is crucial - it dictates the number of competing pages you're up against in your effort to attain top search engine placement.
In the next article Search Engine Ranking - Defining The Competition you'll learn how to figure out who you're competing against. And I'll introduce you to yet another free tool to help you work it all out.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-placement.html
But first, if you missed the overview - you might want to read Search Engine Promotion - Understanding Keyword Basics.
The first order of business when it comes to search engine placement is to choose the right keywords.
If you mess this up - nothing else you do to optimize your pages will make any difference.
So how do you decide what keywords to target?
That's actually the easy part. There are even a couple of great free tools to help you figure it out. The first one is provided by Overture.
Go to Overture and click on the Keyword Selector Tool. ( Clicking on this link will open a new window - simply close that window to return to this article ).
A smaller window with a search box will open - usually in the upper left corner of your browser window. Keep this window open so you can follow along while I explain how to use the Term Suggestion Tool.
Let's say, for example, that you make soap.
In the Overture search box - simply type in the word "soap" and click on the arrow to the right of the search box.
Overture will provide the exact terms people use when they are looking for soap related products...
Scanning through this list - you can quickly see that the single word "soap" may actually be too general for your purpose.
After all - you arent' selling "soap operas" - are you?
So the next thing you need to do is find the first term that is completely relevant to your product or service - in this case the first one I come across is "soap making". Clicking on that result will give you a new list of keywords that include the term "soap making".
Aah! That's more like it - look at all those great terms.
Continue searching for every related term and compile the terms as you go into a Notepad file ( or whichever basic text editor you use ).
Clicking on any results link will give you more detailed terms - once you have exhausted each list of terms - return to your initial search term - ( in our example "soap" ) and scan down again to find another relevant term.
Keep adding these new terms to your master list.
You'll find that it won't take you long to come up with a huge number of terms that you can use to optimize your pages with.
Now - wouldn't it be wonderful if that was all there was too it? Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings - but there is one more part to the keyword selection equation - and this second bit can make or break your search engine placement success.
You see, knowing which keyword terms surfers are using to find the type of product or service you sell is only half the battle - you also need to know how many competitors are trying to target those same terms. That figure is crucial - it dictates the number of competing pages you're up against in your effort to attain top search engine placement.
In the next article Search Engine Ranking - Defining The Competition you'll learn how to figure out who you're competing against. And I'll introduce you to yet another free tool to help you work it all out.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-placement.html
Search Engine Promotion - Understanding Keyword Basics
If you've read Part 1...you'll understand the necessity for search engine promotion.
If you missed it - read it here Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About.
So the first question that comes to mind is, "How can everyone rank #1?"
And the bad news is obviously it isn't possible for every site to hold #1 positions for every major keyword term they are optimizing pages for.
But before you throw up your hands in disgust and scream out "I told you!" - there are a couple of things you should know.
It is estimated that fewer than 5% of all websites practice any kind of search engine promotion strategy.
Which means that in most market niches - you won't be trying to compete with every other company that sells widgets - 95% of your competitors will not be optimizing or enhancing their pages to gain top ranking at all.
Which leaves more room at the top for you!.
So how do you get your pages listed on the first page or two of the search engine's results for the keywords that are relevant to your product or service?
Simple...you learn how to optimize...or if you have the resources, you outsource this critical function to a reputable search engine promotion company.
I firmly believe, however, that even if you can afford to outsource SEP - you should still have at least a basic understanding of what's involved.
Otherwise how will you know that the methods the optimizers use will be both effective and ethical?
So where do you begin?
The best place to start is actually before you create the website...
That's because it is much easier to optimize a site that has been designed to make it fast-loading, easy to navigate - and - more importantly easy for the search engine spiders or robots to read and interpret.
But what if you already have a site?
Don't despair - any site can be re-designed to make the task of optimizing easier and your search engine promotion results more effective. It just takes a bit more effort and some solid know-how.
And the know-how is what we'll discuss in Search Engine Placement - Learning Keyword Basics the next in this series of search engine promotion articles.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-promotion.html
If you missed it - read it here Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About.
So the first question that comes to mind is, "How can everyone rank #1?"
And the bad news is obviously it isn't possible for every site to hold #1 positions for every major keyword term they are optimizing pages for.
But before you throw up your hands in disgust and scream out "I told you!" - there are a couple of things you should know.
It is estimated that fewer than 5% of all websites practice any kind of search engine promotion strategy.
Which means that in most market niches - you won't be trying to compete with every other company that sells widgets - 95% of your competitors will not be optimizing or enhancing their pages to gain top ranking at all.
Which leaves more room at the top for you!.
So how do you get your pages listed on the first page or two of the search engine's results for the keywords that are relevant to your product or service?
Simple...you learn how to optimize...or if you have the resources, you outsource this critical function to a reputable search engine promotion company.
I firmly believe, however, that even if you can afford to outsource SEP - you should still have at least a basic understanding of what's involved.
Otherwise how will you know that the methods the optimizers use will be both effective and ethical?
So where do you begin?
The best place to start is actually before you create the website...
That's because it is much easier to optimize a site that has been designed to make it fast-loading, easy to navigate - and - more importantly easy for the search engine spiders or robots to read and interpret.
But what if you already have a site?
Don't despair - any site can be re-designed to make the task of optimizing easier and your search engine promotion results more effective. It just takes a bit more effort and some solid know-how.
And the know-how is what we'll discuss in Search Engine Placement - Learning Keyword Basics the next in this series of search engine promotion articles.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-promotion.html
When It Comes To Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About?
If you read the Introductory article, you should already have an understanding of the major importance of search engine positioning - if you missed the opener go here to read Search Engine Marketing - Is It Worth The Effort? before continuing on.
SEP goes by many different names - search engine marketing. search engine optimization, search engine placement, search engine promotion, SEO, SEM - I've even known a few people to refer to SEP as search engine listing or search engine registration ( which actually aren't the same thing ).
While it really doesn't matter what you call it...for the online marketer it certainly helps to know what it actually means.
To understand how to optimize a web site requires a basic grasp on how the World Wide Web is organized.
The actual hardware and systems that run the Web are referred to as the Internet. The pieces of information that live on the Web are usually held on websites. In order to access that information - a Web Surfer or Searcher needs to know where the info they are looking for lives.
Most searchers visit a search engine and type in their query in the search box on that site...this is one of the first skills most internet users acquire.
The search engine then scans rapidly through it's store of web pages to see which pages contain the search term contained in the query.
These pages are then served up to the searcher in the form of a list of search results. The searcher can look through and decide based on the Title and Description visible in the results which of the results are relevant - in other words which of the results provided by the search engine in response to their original query appears to be an accurate match.
The pages that are returned by the search engine in response to that original query are selected based on certain ranking criteria...in Search Engine Positioning - this is referred to as the algorithm.
That algorithm is at the heart of the entire field of SEP.
Obviously, as a merchant selling a product or service that fits the query entered in the search box - you want your web page served up on the first page of results.
Let's face it - if your site isn't ranked near the top of the listings - chances are very good to excellent that no-one will ever see it.
Which is why you need to know how to optimize your pages effectively...it isn't enough to simply create a website...and then sit back and wait for a flood of visitors...trust me on this one - without proper search engine positioning - you'll soon feel a bit like the Maytag repairman - it can get very lonely out there - all by yourself.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-positioning.html
SEP goes by many different names - search engine marketing. search engine optimization, search engine placement, search engine promotion, SEO, SEM - I've even known a few people to refer to SEP as search engine listing or search engine registration ( which actually aren't the same thing ).
While it really doesn't matter what you call it...for the online marketer it certainly helps to know what it actually means.
To understand how to optimize a web site requires a basic grasp on how the World Wide Web is organized.
The actual hardware and systems that run the Web are referred to as the Internet. The pieces of information that live on the Web are usually held on websites. In order to access that information - a Web Surfer or Searcher needs to know where the info they are looking for lives.
Most searchers visit a search engine and type in their query in the search box on that site...this is one of the first skills most internet users acquire.
The search engine then scans rapidly through it's store of web pages to see which pages contain the search term contained in the query.
These pages are then served up to the searcher in the form of a list of search results. The searcher can look through and decide based on the Title and Description visible in the results which of the results are relevant - in other words which of the results provided by the search engine in response to their original query appears to be an accurate match.
The pages that are returned by the search engine in response to that original query are selected based on certain ranking criteria...in Search Engine Positioning - this is referred to as the algorithm.
That algorithm is at the heart of the entire field of SEP.
Obviously, as a merchant selling a product or service that fits the query entered in the search box - you want your web page served up on the first page of results.
Let's face it - if your site isn't ranked near the top of the listings - chances are very good to excellent that no-one will ever see it.
Which is why you need to know how to optimize your pages effectively...it isn't enough to simply create a website...and then sit back and wait for a flood of visitors...trust me on this one - without proper search engine positioning - you'll soon feel a bit like the Maytag repairman - it can get very lonely out there - all by yourself.
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-positioning.html
When It Comes To Search Engine Marketing - Is It Worth The Effort?
If you've been trying to sell products or services online, you've probably heard a lot about Search Engine Marketing...
The most common question I get is whether or not SEM is really worth the effort.
I'm an optimizer, so obviously, my opinion is going to be somewhat biased - but I have to say that - yes - definitely it's worth putting the time into.
So why am I so strongly in favor of search engine marketing you ask?
The single most important reason to pursue an effective search engine marketing campaign is that it's the lowest cost, long-term strategy available to the online marketer.
There are many other ways to market your products and services...ads in ezines, banner ads, Pay Per Click ( PPC ) - just to name a few. The problem with all of these methods is that if you stop paying - your traffic stops too.
Or you could rely on email marketing to a list...
A couple of serious drawbacks with that. First you have to have a list of names that have given you permission to email them. How do you get those names in the first place? The most common method is to offer something of value on your site in exchange for the prospects name and email address.
So now, you still need to get the prospect to your site in order for them to become a subscriber to your list.
Yes, you can buy the names - but that could get costly and your response rates will almost always be incredibly low.
And these days - with the new CanSpam Law in effect - you need some way to ensure those people really wanted to be on the list you purchased. Sadly many lists are compiled without the prospects knowledge - meaning that you'll get a high percentage of flames or nasty replies to your marketing message.
So what makes Search Engine Marketing so much more effective?
The difference - in a nutshell - your prospects find you - with all other methods of advertising - you have to find them.
The prospects who find my site via the search engines are pre-qualified - they are definitely interested in my market niche because they had to type in related keywords in order to get to my site in the first place.
Which makes more sense to you? I know which one I prefer - in my view Search Engine Marketing wins hands down - every time!
So now that you understand why you should seriously consider search engine marketing - go here to get an overview of Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-marketing.html
The most common question I get is whether or not SEM is really worth the effort.
I'm an optimizer, so obviously, my opinion is going to be somewhat biased - but I have to say that - yes - definitely it's worth putting the time into.
So why am I so strongly in favor of search engine marketing you ask?
The single most important reason to pursue an effective search engine marketing campaign is that it's the lowest cost, long-term strategy available to the online marketer.
There are many other ways to market your products and services...ads in ezines, banner ads, Pay Per Click ( PPC ) - just to name a few. The problem with all of these methods is that if you stop paying - your traffic stops too.
Or you could rely on email marketing to a list...
A couple of serious drawbacks with that. First you have to have a list of names that have given you permission to email them. How do you get those names in the first place? The most common method is to offer something of value on your site in exchange for the prospects name and email address.
So now, you still need to get the prospect to your site in order for them to become a subscriber to your list.
Yes, you can buy the names - but that could get costly and your response rates will almost always be incredibly low.
And these days - with the new CanSpam Law in effect - you need some way to ensure those people really wanted to be on the list you purchased. Sadly many lists are compiled without the prospects knowledge - meaning that you'll get a high percentage of flames or nasty replies to your marketing message.
So what makes Search Engine Marketing so much more effective?
The difference - in a nutshell - your prospects find you - with all other methods of advertising - you have to find them.
The prospects who find my site via the search engines are pre-qualified - they are definitely interested in my market niche because they had to type in related keywords in order to get to my site in the first place.
Which makes more sense to you? I know which one I prefer - in my view Search Engine Marketing wins hands down - every time!
So now that you understand why you should seriously consider search engine marketing - go here to get an overview of Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-marketing.html
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