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SEO Basics : Guide

FirstPageTraffic is a team of 40

talented consultants and Online

Marketers, started in 2013,

having 7+ years of industrty

experience. The company

combines many years of

experience in SEO and pay per

click marketing among its

consultants to provide clients

with tangible results.

Whenever you enter any query in a search

engine and press 'enter', you get showered

with list of web results that contain that

specific highlighted query. Users usually

tend to visit the websites that are at the

top of the search list as they perceive

those to be more significant to the query

entered. If you have ever wondered why

some of the websites rank better than the

others; then you must know that it is because of a powerful web marketing technique

known as, Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

This SEO tutorial covers all the essential information you need to know about Search

Engine Optimization; what is it, how does it work and differences in the ranking criteria of

major search engines.

How Search Engine Work

Though technology advances swiftly, search engines are far from intelligent creatures

which can feel the beauty of an attractive design or enjoy the movies. Instead, search

engines crawl the internet, looking at specific site items (generally text) to get an idea what

a site is all about. Search engines execute several activities to deliver search results, like,

indexing, crawling, processing and retrieving.

First, search engines crawl up the internet to see what is there. This duty is performed by a

section of software, known as spiders (or Googlebot, as is the case with Google) or crawler.

Spiders track links from one page to another and index everything that they find in their

way. Having over 20 billion sites on the internet, it is unfeasible for a spider to daily visit a

site just to see if a new page has materialized or if an existing page has been customized,

occasionally crawlers don’t end up visiting your site for a month or two.

INTRODUCTION TO SEO

SEO (Search Engine

Optimization) For Beginners

Search Engine Optimization is

a technique which helps search

engines find and rank your site

higher than the rest of other

millions sites in response to a

search query. SEO thus helps

you in getting traffic from

search engines.

It is a terminology having a blend of science and marketing together! It’s actually the

practice of where your site appears when people search and use both off-page (outside the

pages of the site) and on-page optimization (within the pages of the site) to increase the

web traffic from the search engines. One example of on-page optimization is adding

keywords to your page and example of off page optimization technique is exchanging links

with other website.

It's highly essential that search engine optimization that pleases your site visitor and

provides a good user experience; may lead to better results with the search engine. It is the

search engine's objective to provide the best results to Internet users.

Search Engines, particularly Google have evolved technically (amongst other parameters)

over the years. The calculating power of the software and hardware now deployed by the

search giant can better be measured in terms of the functions it performs and its wide

reach.

How Search Engines Functions ?

Generally speaking, search engines' functions can be divided into three:

1. Crawling

Crawling is the use of special software, usually known as spider, crawlers or bots to access

information on various websites through principally three modes:

Links from other websites which are already in the search engine's index or

gathered while crawling

URL's/links which are submitted by webmasters

Site map yielded by webmasters

Usually one may imagine the boats as some crawling objects going swiftly all over the web

through links to reach various websites in executing its tasks. But, in reality that is not the

case. It operates from a specific physical location and is similar to your web browser. It

functions by sending a variety of requests to the web servers from which it

downloads/fetches a range of information on new web pages, revised web pages and dead

links which are all used to update its index.

As web pages are crawled, the detected new links on these web pages are added to the

engine's list of pages to crawl.

In the crawling process, the engines encounter challenges in the sense that there is a

tradeoff between minimizing the resources it spends on crawling and maintaining an up to

date index. It tries to shun re-indexing an unchanged web page whereas it tries to capture

all changed web pages to keep its index always current.

2. Indexing

The search engine accumulates the pages its crawlers recover from various web pages in a

huge index database. It arranges this information based on the search terms and arranges it

in alphabetical order. This sorting enables quick retrieval of documents from the index

when a search query requires them.

It processes the words in the web pages noting the location of the keywords in the pages

e.g. alt attributes, title tags. The engines do process many, although not all content types.

Like an illustration, it can’t process the content of some rich media files or dynamic pages.

To recover search performance, the search engines ignore common words, known as stop

words (for example: is, the, or, on, why, how and various single digits and single letters).

These words are very common and do little to narrow a search, and thus, can safely be

ignored. The indexer also ignores various punctuation and multiple spaces to convert all

letters to lowercase, to enhance its performance.

3. Search Query Processor

This is what the majority search users are familiar with and in fact pretty often mistakenly

regard it as the "search engine". It consists of some components with the most visible being

the search box or interface via which the search user interacts with the search engine,

forwarding the search query for further processing.

When a user sends a query via the interface, the index rapidly regains the most significant

documents for the search query. Significance or relevance is determined algorithmically

based on various ranking factors numbering over 200.

A major factor amongst these is Page Rank which is an evaluation of the significance of a

web page. This is decided by the number and quality of links pointing to the web page. It is

nevertheless important to stress that not all links are equal as links originating from high

ranked web pages is regarded more powerful than links from low ranked web pages.

HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH SEARCH ENGINES

It is very important that you understand how people interact with the search engines if you

have a website that you want to market and endorse through search. As you comprehend

how your target market interacts with the search engines you will be able to focus your

search optimization strategy and target the correct search phrases.

The search process has developed over the years however the main principles have

remained the same. Millions of searches are conducted monthly using search engines with

Google; the search engine of choice obtaining more than 60% of the market in the first

quarter of 2010. Search engines plan to provide users with the most appropriate

information based on the search query entered and 85% of users locate the information

that they are looking for while conducting a search.

Search Steps and Processes:

• The user experiences the requirement for a solution, answer or piece of information.

• The user creates a search query by utilizing words or phrases to explain his or her need.

• The user enters this search query into their search engine of choice.

• The user browses the results (normally only the top ones).

• The user clicks on one of the results that seem like a match.

• The user scans the information to decide if it is what they were looking for.

• If discontented, the user returns to the search results to browse the rest of the results.

• If none of the results give the correct information, the user prepares a new search query

and starts the process again.

More people use search to find local businesses and to study a product before purchasing it

from a local store. This enhancement in the use of search engines to find local businesses

and products highlights the significance of effective search engine marketing.

How to utilize this information:

1. Study search phrases that normal users enter into the search query to find your business.

2. Optimize the website as per these keywords and phrases.

3. Create high quality links to your website from esteemed and appropriate sites using your

chosen keywords in the anchor text of the links.

4. Target local search if you offer a product or service that is location driven.

5. Follow and monitor the keyword rankings.

6. Optimize the keywords till they reach the top 4 ranking positions and maintain your

rankings over time.

Organic search is among the biggest traffic generators on the web and search is well-liked.

Make sure that you apply an effective keyword optimization strategy for your website to

capture your market share. SEO for your business website is a must and should not be

ignored. Being listed in the top search engine results is vital to high visibility and

generating targeted traffic to your website.

WHY SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING IS NECESSARY ?

Creating a world class pleasing and eye-catching website help create the first impression

about you but may not be sufficient to generate the required business for you. This is one of

the several reasons why you need to apply various web techniques and online marketing

strategies to help you increase your online brand name visibility. This procedure requires a

right mix of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) during

which you can effectively have your site optimized and have people knocking on the front

door.

Most of the generated traffic comes from search engines. And to divert traffic to your

website you need to engage with a professional online Marketing firm. You can opt for

various services to help increase your brand visibility and get your position ranked among

top major search engines result page. Only experienced professionals know how different

techniques and underlying algorithms run them. By recruiting a specialized and

experienced firm you would have better opportunities of competing and do better than

most of your close competitors.

A proficient online marketing company is seen to recruit a team of SEO experts who

endeavor to understand your business needs, your business model and what are you trying

to intend for. They would recognize essential blockage and suggest and employ solutions to

help rid of them. A knowledgeable professional has the talent to handle small to large

projects and deliver within restricted time constraint.

Currently, the level of competition is progressing by the day. Online Marketing has been a

hot topic in recent years and is very much in requirement by those setups who wish to

augment their client base and obtain convincing Returns on Investments.

Search Engine Marketing contains both search engine optimization and various other

techniques for drawing traffic from other sources, while the technique of increasing

visibility is usually done in two ways. The first is SEO and the second is the paid technique.

Though the paid technique fetches quicker and effectual results but only remains useful

until you keep paying the sponsoring website. If you aim to take up the paid approach then

you need to make sure that you hire someone who has good experience and can render the

assurance that you do not end up paying more than what is planned.

THE BASICS OF SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

The work of search engines is restricted to crawling the web and inferring content to bring

back the information and show the results. Therefore, it is vital to know the basic

technological aspects of building and customizing the web pages for search engines and

users.

To be listed in the search engines, your content must be in HTML text format. Regardless of

advances in crawling technology, Flash Files, Java applet, Images and other non-text

contents are virtually invisible to search engine spider. The effortless way to display your

words and phrases is to set them in the HTML format. Images, Java-applets, Flash file and

other non-text contents can be dispensed by providing engines a text description of the

visual contents.

The search engines need to see content to list pages in their enormous key-word based

indices. By utilizing tools like SEO-browser.com, Google's cache, Yellow pipe or the MozBar;

it can be observed what elements of your content are visible and indexable to the engines.

If you are inquisitive about exactly what terms and phrases the search engine like to see on

web pages, there is a useful tool like "Term Extractor". They will display words and phrases

in the frequency order. But, it is wise not only to check the text content, but also to use tools

like ‘SEO Browser’ which is used to double-check the pages you are creating, are visible to

the engine.

Crawlable Link Structure

The search engines also require an access to a crawlable link structure. This structure

allows the spiders surf the pathways of a website to find all the pages on a website. Several

sites make the serious mistake of hiding or obscuring their navigation in ways that search

engine can’t access. It holds back their capability to get pages listed in the search engines.

Lacking crawlable link, the spider cannot reach the essential pages, in spite of good

keywords targeting, smart marketing and good content.

Keyword Usages & Targeting

Keyword, known as the building blocks of the language, is the basic in the search process.

While the engine crawl and index the content of the pages around the web, they keep track

of those pages in key-word base index. Therefore, rather than storing millions of web pages

in one database, the engines have several smaller databases, each centered on a specific

key word. This makes it quicker for the engines to recover the data they need within a

fraction of second.

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Key word Domination

Keywords lead our search intent and interaction with the engines. Whilst the search is

performed, the engine knows which pages to regain based on the words entered into the

search box. For apparent reasons, search engine measures how the keywords are utilized

on the pages to help decide the 'relevance' of a specific document to a query. The best way

to optimize a page's ranking is, thus, to make certain that the key words are significantly

used in the text, Meta data and title.

Myth of Keyword Density

Keyword density is the more advanced methodology of key word analysis. The idea of

keyword density value predates all commercial search engines and the Internet, and can

barely be regarded as an information recovery model. Keyword density plays no role in

how commercial search engines index documents, assign weight to terms or process text. It

is adverse that keyword density does not always help optimizing the page rankings.

On-Page Optimization

Keyword search is merely a small fraction of the search engines' ranking scheme and there

are yet plenty of best practices that are close to optimizing the pages. While working with

one of your own site, there is a suggested process.

First, utilize the keyword in the title tag at least once or twice if it makes sense. Attempt to

keep the keywords as close to the beginning of the title tag as possible. You may find

additional value in adding up the keywords more than 3x, but in actual, adding more words

or phrases tend to have little or no impact.

Secondly, use the keywords at least once in bold by using tags

<b> or <strong>

as they are rated equal by the search engine.

Thirdly, use the keyword once in the URL

Fourthly, use it at least once in the Meta description tag.

The future may be vague, however in the world of search, change is constant, and it is

expected. For this cause, the search engine marketing remains constant in the diet of those

who aspire to remain competitive in the internet world. Those with the best expertise and

knowledge of ranking receive the best benefits of traffic and visibility.

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KEYWORD RESEARCH

Keywords play the most essential role when it

comes to website optimization. Search engines

search for keywords only in the website as they

search for the information for the net surfers. As

search Engines needs the most instructive and

helpful sites for their visitors, they favor the sites

containing content with the uppermost priority of

the keywords being searched.

Expert Keyword Research is the keystone to a

victorious SEO. Several new website owners have

a myth that Keyword Research and Analysis is an utmost simple task which can be

performed with the aid of free Keyword Research and Generator tools like GoogleAdwords,

Overture, Wordtracker, etc.

However, actually, these tools only give a rough idea of what keywords can be searched

related to a website like yours. Although the actual keyword analysis is done by the person

who has done examination of the site keeping in mind the user's viewpoint and potential

clients.

Research Tools or a layman just land up to basic research. Professional Keyword Research

exposes much more.

5 useful Keyword Research Analysis Tips for website optimization are:

(i) Use multiple - word phrases

Despite using more generic words, one must use ‘long tail’ keywords. Research

has shown that multiple word phrases are competent of bringing more traffic to

your website rather than main keyword phrases. Since long-tail keywords plays

the job of unique keyword for the website which enhances the chance of

bringing the site to the top. A smaller amount generic keywords or key phrases

bring a good amount of traffic to the site initially.

(ii) Research keywords particularly for each page

Filling of excess targeted keywords in the Meta tags and utilizing the same Meta

tag on every page of the site is a total waste. The keyword research should be

page specific and should focus on 2 to 5 keywords per page. It would be more

effective as per the best SEO practices as it gives each website page an

opportunity for higher ranking on its own.

(iii) Country specific Keyword Research

Search terms can be nation specific. For diverse countries there are diverse

keywords terms you must explore and then reference that country's or nation’s

search engine while doing your initial keyword research. For example, UK and

Australia have different spellings terminology and expressions. Referencing the

country explicit search engine can give way to a good amount of local traffic to

the website.

(iv) Perform Effective Keyword Analysis

Valuable keyword research for your website should be accompanied by a

resourceful analysis of those keywords in the search engines to check:

To assess the competitiveness of your keywords. Besides, checking the

competitiveness of the keywords, you must also look at the strength of

the competition.

Is other websites listed for the keywords are actually your rivals?

If it is in reality the desired niche keyword for that page

(v) Ongoing Keyword Research

HOW USABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND CONTENT AFFECT RANKING

Recovering search engine ranking is a long and difficult process, the significance of which

cannot be damaged. Understanding the fundamentals of search engine optimization helps

in customizing our websites to cater to the particular requirements and needs of

individuals. In the competitive online market, it is vital to design and develop the website

with an approach that satisfies the user experience.

Usability that is continually evolving

If your website is not achieving the results you are looking for, then make changes on the

fly. Customer tastes and preferences are continuously changing. Consumers are constantly

looking for the newest product; the best and the most recent user experience relate these

experiences to your overall brand. To keep ahead of the trend, your website should not be a

static thing; it should be treated like a possession and should be kept on growing to keep

the returns increasing along with it. Like the trends in the economy, there are trends in

advertising, sales, online marketing and everything else.

The User Experience

This is crucial in deciding the success of your online business. Your user experience

approach must be dependent on the nature of your business. If you are exporting products,

a positive user experience mean focusing on how to make payments easily available across

all operating systems, browsers and devices. Surfing your website should be a pleasant

experience, not a task. Positive experiences are liable to multiply, whereas negative ones

(v) Ongoing Keyword Research

Keyword Research and Analysis requires constant efforts to be done upon to survive

online as well as offline. Regular modifications as per the up-and-coming market

changes are required. Ongoing keyword research and modifications are essential for

best SEO practices.

All search engine optimization procedure goes around the website; renders overall

impact and worth and apparently the content and the keywords that are going to be

used for the optimization process determine the fate. Thus keyword research requires

experience and should be done under the guidance of experts.

reduce your sales and the overall traffic of the website. Research and our tests have shown

that search engine ranking associates well to the experience, and design of your website.

The design should be simple as well as fun and the experience for your guests is bound to

be a positive one.

Content

It is vital to know that it is the content which appeals most to your probable internet

searchers. Keeping your content relevant and significant to what the individual is looking

for is a sure way to keep your web metrics moving in the right direction. The rewards of

high quality, appropriate content that is engaging, and relates to the search made by the

customer is the standard of the web. Depart the user contented after they visit your site.

The clients should not unhappily exit your site in search for that one solution that answers

their question. They should be provided with what they’re looking for! The right content is

the solution!

Get to the top of the Rankings

If your website is to appear at the topmost position in the Google rankings, then it should

be one of the best. We are all restricted by time and want to obtain the information we are

looking for right away. Thus, the website should stand out in search rankings by

continually improving upon user experience, usability and content. Don’t hesitate to

research and pinpoint any of the competitive advantages that other well-liked websites

offer. You won’t want to copy their policy, although you can learn from their success! To

keep up to date with the trend, one must take the time to reflect on what they are viewing

as they browse the web, note the nuance in the design and all of the pieces that add up to

the total experience. As a customer yourself, you should have a lot to opinion to offer which

will be important for building your own great and innovative web presence.

GROWING POPULARITY AND LINKS

Links are relation between the pages. They make the web interrelated. Links permit the

visitors to plot a route from one website to another. Links make the World Wide Web

moving on. Link Popularity holds a key role in ranking scheme. It refers to numerous ways

in which your site's link is admired across the Internet. Usually link juice and link

reputation are the terms connected with link popularity.

Link Building is regarded as an off-page SEO factor as the value is decided by another page.

Anchor text in the inbound links is the main factor when building back links. The Search

engines mostly rely on link popularity, the superior the link popularity; the better the

chance of your site's visibility.

The Link popularity of any page of a site is usually related to the overall link popularity of

the site's chief and vital page- ‘home’ page. This is for the reason that most inbound links

come into a site's home page. They are very imperative as every major search engine

regards them as a part of their ranking algorithm.

Some of the ways by which one can increase the popularity of links is by writing quality

articles, submitting to major directories, publishing those articles, internal linking

structure, request, build quality links and write complete content.

Building link popularity is essential and the link building process requires high priority.

Link Building is a time taking process. It is a long term goal. An attempt made by you today

will effect in better search engine rankings for tomorrow.

Link Building Basics

If you want to promote your business online successfully, you have to master certain skills

and getting the link building basics down can count as one of them. After all, promoters are

pretty much keen for inbound links as they know how it positively influences other

elements like search engine optimization. Reaching at the position of having plenty of links

is the main challenge here and luckily, there are numerous ways to climb up there.

(a) Distributing in Article Directories

If you are writing articles, you have a fine opportunity of creating lots of inbound

links if you use your skills to come up with unique content and submitting that

content to all types of article directories. The major goal here is spreading your

work to as many sites as possible.

(b) Sharing in Site Directories

Not many people like to see websites through directories however these

directories still exist and their page rankings are usually high because of the vast

amount of content.

(c)Posting in Forums: There are several forums that lean on various themes as

well; so you can use those associated forums for link building. You must check the

promotion rules; so that you may make back links without defying anything. Most

forums allow links in your signature which is in fact ideal as you can be an active

contributor in a forum without blatantly advertising.

(d)Commenting on Blogs: Blogs functions similar to the forums as you are

basically adding a post. As you won't have any signature choice, your best stake

is to just make your comment look helpful or contain

SEARCH ENGINE TOOLS & SERVICES

Search engine optimization is made easier with the SEO tools. Search engine tools are

software which is utilized to attain quality optimized work. There are various engines

which are helpful in site development. Various SEO tools can be obtained for free by

downloading whereas others are charged a certain amount of money. Here are some of the

recognized search engine protocols and services which prove beneficial in raising traffic at

your website.

Common Search Engine Protocols are:

vital information that the blog's readers like. By adding a link later, the readers may

click it just as they become interested in the topic.

(e)Making Press Releases

If you have the potential to make a press release, discover some press release

directories and set to work as they serve as best places for building links.

(f)Partnering with Other Web Sites

Link exchanging is done even if the site is not a blog. Till you contact the website

owner after you note that it targets the same audience as your site, you will be able

to strike a mutual deal where both sides benefit.

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1. Sitemaps

Sitemaps are the easiest way for webmasters to notify search engines about pages on

their sites that are offered for crawling. Web crawlers generally locate pages from

links on the site and from other sites. Sitemaps increase this data to permit crawlers

that sustain Sitemaps to pick up all URLs in the Sitemap and find out those URLs using

the related metadata. Utilizing the Sitemap protocol does not assure that web pages

are integrated in search engines however provides hints for web crawlers to crawl

your site.

(a) Txt

It is utmost easy as it does not provide the ability to add Meta data to the pages.

2. XML XML is an acronym for Extensible Markup Language. XML (Extensible Markup

Language) is a markup language that describes a set of rules for encoding

documents in a format which human-readable and machine-readable, both. It is one

of the most accepted formats for the Sitemaps.

3. RSS

It is relatively very easy to maintain but difficult to manage. Known as, Rich Site

Summary or Really Simple Syndication, it makes use of standard web feed formats

to publish frequently updated information, such as: news headlines, blog entries,

video and audio. An RSS document comprises of text and metadata, such as,

publishing or releasing date, writer’s name.

RSS feeds allow publishers to group data mechanically. A standard XML file format

assures compatibility with various machines or programs. RSS feeds benefit users

who want to obtain timely updates from the preferred websites or to collect data

from various sites.

1. Robots. txt

A robots.txt file limits entry to your site by search engine robots that crawl the web.

These bots are programmed; prior they access pages of a website, they check if a

robots.txt file exists that avert them from accessing some distinct pages.

2. Meta Robots

The robots Meta tag lets one use a granular, page-specific scheme to control how an

individual page must be indexed and provided to users in search results. One may use

a special HTML <META> tag to inform robots not to index the page’s content or/and do

not scan it for links.

Search Engine Tools

If one desires to enhance their SEO and design websites that stand aloof from the

competition, then one must go throughout the subsequent user-friendly webmaster

resources.

1. Google Webmaster Tools

For example:

<Html>

<Head>

<Title>...</Title>

<Meta name="robots" content="nofollow">

</Head>

3. Rel=”nofollow”

"Nofollow" renders a way for webmasters to inform search engines "Do not follow links

of this page" or "Do not follow this particular link."

It is generally used on forums or blogs. However it is also possible to use it in the website

if one doesn't want certain links to be followed and as a result leak page rank. By addition

of rel=nofollow one lets the spiders know that one has not added the link them self;

however it was placed due to a forum or blog and so not necessarily approved. It just

indicates that the link has no relation with one’s own website. The website does not get

harmed if there is a link to the website with a rel=nofollow.

4. Rel=”canonical”

A canonical page is the favored version of a set of pages with alike content. This

alternative lets site proprietor propose the version of a page that Google must treat as

canonical. Google takes this into consideration, in combination with other signals, while

deciding which URL sets include similar content, and computing the most appropriate

pages to exhibit in search results.

There are excess of the webmaster tools on the Internet to facilitate webmasters in

improving their websites in numerous ways. Optimizing the site in general (page speed,

image size, valid code, etc.) is an intelligent exercise.

Free Google Webmaster Tools is not the end of all your endeavours; though, it being free

fits any budget and is a grand initiating point for learning the tips, tricks of the skill prior

moving to a paid platform or service. If one is utilizing a paid service for the web search

engine optimization and online marketing campaign, free Google Webmasters Tools is the

best way to see the effectiveness of the finished websites.

2. Bing Webmaster Center

Microsoft has teamed up with Bing Webmaster Central. The Webmaster Tools permits to

investigate crawling, indexing and view statistics in Bing. It recognizes other sites that link

to one’s site and submit XML Sitemaps.

One needs to sign up for a MSN account and then log into Webmaster Central. Before using

Webmaster Tools, one must register and authenticate the sites initially. Webmasters have a

right of entry to a complete blog, forum and Help section if they have further questions.

Webmaster Tools describes the following resources that help to upgrade the SEO with

Bing:

Robots.txt validator

HTTP verifier

Keyword research

MYTHS & MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SEARCH ENGINES

Since last few years, several myths and misconceptions about search engines and how they

operate have come into existence. The reputation and craze of search engines have grown

exponentially and presently millions of people use search engines every day. Engines have

adapted to the improved search volumes by altering their algorithms and refining their

indexing systems. These changes have led to some misconceptions and myths about search

engines and the ranking of web pages on the search engine result page.

It is vital to be familiar with the strategy and the demands of each engine and not to be

deceived by myths or misapprehensions. Your SEO policy should be based on facts to be

effective. Some of the common myths and misconceptions about search engines are:

Submitting the URL of the website to Search Engines

Approximately 20 years ago, in the beginning of 1990's; engines utilized submission forms

that webmasters and site owners use to submit information about their sites and pages.

Search bots would at that point, crawl these sites and index the information. This

procedure finally gave way to purely crawl-based search engines and from early 2001 URL

submission has not been required any more. The search engines, as we have all publicly

noted that they seldom use the submission URL lists and that links from reliable sites

expose the engines to your content naturally.

The use of Meta Tags

Earlier, SEO used to be all about Meta tags. The constant neglect of the Meta keyword tag

has reduced the significance of Meta tags in SEO. The Meta description, Meta title and Meta

robots tags are still vital and should form part of your website SEO. Search engines have

reduced the worth that Meta tags play in their search algorithms and your site will not

attain high rankings based on the effective use of Meta tags only.

The use of Keywords on your Web Page

Keyword density has been a buzz word connected with SEO for a long time. Too much use

of keywords in your web page content do not better up keyword rankings; however they

do lead to a pitiable user experience. Content that people want to link is more precious

than content overflowing with your keywords.

Use of Pay-Per-Click Advertising to Boost Rankings

There is a myth that paid search helps to boost organic search rankings. This has never

been confirmed and the search engines make use of efficient walls in their organizations to

avoid this from happening. Big industries spending billions on paid search have found that

they could not control the organic search rankings of their keywords.

Building thousands of Links in a Short Span of Time

One of the biggest SEO myths is that your website keyword rankings will considerably

improve by creating 1000's of links to your website in a short span of time. There are

various SEO consultant/companies that render this service and create links by submitting

your site URL to directories and search engines or by creating links through the use of link

farms. Links created by using link or created from sites with a bad repute result in

consequences or a big drop in your keyword rankings.

The most efficient method of improving your keyword rankings on the search results is by

utilizing great content on your website pages. Effectual keyword optimization via use of

keywords in page titles and the anchor text of links is imperative. Creating high quality

links from reliable websites adds a great amount of value to the SEO campaign. It takes

some time to attain and maintain high rankings on the search results and it is very essential

to build a firm online reputation and brand name.

MEASURING AND TRACKING SUCCESS

Search Engine Optimization is a long-standing investment. Dissimilar to PPC advertising,

which can generate results instantly and make qualified leads within days, SEO often takes

months prior moving your website into the required top search rankings. So, how will you

know if you are on the right track in the meanwhile? What techniques can you use to decide

what's working, to keep you going in the right direction, and to track correct as required?

And how can you tie these to your online marketing analytics, to make better advertising

and financial decisions?

Here are 6 most essential measures that will inform how well you are doing in the Organic

Search Ranking game. These are the SEO trade tools, and SEO consultant should have these

at their fingertips. Before you get on measuring, ensure you know what goals you're trying

to achieve, and set yourself up to determine the things that have the maximum influence on

your long-term objective.

Ranking Reports

As the main objective of SEO is to better up your website's search ranking for important

keywords, the most apparent metric is the ranking. In the initial phase, you can easily trail

this by typing keyword into Google each week and watching where the website become

visible in the list of results - if one is following the correct techniques of SEO, you'll see the

positive result within minutes. If you are following several keywords, then Google

Webmaster Tools permits you to trail the top search queries people are utilizing to find the

site, and the standard position each one attains in the rankings. If you're looking for deeper

metrics, regard more sophisticated ranking tools that compute all keywords on all search

engines, and follow progress over time.

Website Diagnostics

Because the keyword rankings may take time to move up, it's also essential to follow and

tweak other key measures; initiating with basic diagnostics that tells if the site is 'search

engine friendly’ or not. Google Webmaster Tools is an excellent tool for analyzing anything

on your website that trip the search engines and help them not to crawl, see or index the

pages on the site. If Google cannot crawl or index the site, then searchers will never locate

it. A proficient SEO consultant must know how to read these diagnostics, and should know

what to do when a problem occurs.

Inbound Link Metrics

Links coming into the site from another site is possibly the biggest determinant of the

search ranking. The quality, quantity, diversity and efficiency of inbound links are thus

essential metrics to follow. Often link building tasks - which one can do it themselves or

employ an SEO consultant to do for them - can take time to bear result, so it's essential to

follow these measures frequently and often so you can follow up with linking sources as

necessary. There are various paid tools that will help to trail and calculate incoming links,

however also Google (Webmaster Tools) and Yahoo (Yahoo Site Explorer) have excellent

free tools.

Traffic and Conversion Metrics

Ranking well in Organic search won't be any beneficial if people don't actually click on the

search listing and visit the website. As they visit the site, one needs to "convert" them by

influencing them to take the next designed step. Google Analytics is an excellent tool for

tracking metrics about the website visitors. It also permits to set exact goals and follow the

progress towards those objectives. A cautious tracking of website activity on Google

Analytics permit to measure the efficiency of website objects as well as SEO and link-

building attempts and tweak them to improve the results.

Local Search Reports

If one is trying to achieve local or regional viewers, one should be delighted to know Google

has made major improvements to its Local Search capabilities and Place Pages, and has a

reporting ability for local traffic and metrics. The Google Places Dashboard displays traffic

metrics from your Place Page and various Geo-related stats, and metrics from the set of

"offers" you can build on your Place Page.

Social Media Metrics

Social media gets one directly concerned and occupied with your customers, plus also

directs involved followers to the website for more information. It's imperative to know

how efficiently you're getting your brand name recognized in social media, as well as, how

victorious you are at attracting social media traffic into your website to take the

subsequent step. There are several free tools offered for tracking the social media area- one

can use them to direct their attempts, by either tracking up the discussions that cite the

company, or listening for the chance to enter the discussion. Google Analytics lets one see

how efficiently the discussions are pulling visitors to their website.

Tying it All Together

There are several metrics to opt from, hence ensure that you are utilizing the right web

analytics tools for the objectives you're trying to achieve. Set up your goals, and establish

the analytics to track them. Ensure to take baseline measurements while you start so that

you may assess your progress over a period. Evaluate at significant intervals, however also

spot check along the way. And ensure SEO and Social Media analytics roll up to overall

marketing objectives, and give the insight one require to make intelligent verdicts for

company.