27 April 2006

Shoemoney Quick Check Tools

I came across this recently and found it very helpful to check backlinks rapidly
http://www.shoemoney.com/siteinfo.php
here's what it looks like

I was using some other online tools to check backlinks but I found this tool from Shoemoney very useful, what's nice is that it checks backlinks from all the mayor search engines, no need to check one by one.
(Most of my backlinks are from my forum signatures :) I never SEOed (don't know if this term exists) my blog)

Another tool that I found very interesting is this one
http://www.shoemoney.com/serps.php
Result will look like this
Good tool to check your ranking on all these SE's at same time, cool I didn't know I was #1 on msn for the keywords "seo secrets"

These results are from 26.04.04, today I checked again, seems I no more in top 100 on Altavista, some days back I was even on yahoo... Anyways I think am doing well (LOL) for a blog that has never been SEOed.

13 April 2006

How to get listed in DMOZ?

This is a question I've heard more than a thousand times, in all webmaster forums there should be a question about this. We all know that it's not very easy to get listed there, it all depends on the editors. Some do their job faster than the others. So, to get listed in DMOZ can take you from 4-5 minutes to 4-5 years! I know this sounds incredible but I've got proof recently on Digitalpoint forum, this thread "How to get submitted" will answer your question.

We all give much importance to DMOZ as it's one of the main directories on the internet, but editors must improve else in some years webmasters will not give much importance to that directory.

I've also seen that DMOZ listing increases a domain value, not quite sure why... is it because DMOZ has PR10? Does that boost your PR in any way? Well I don't think so, at the last PR update many websites have got high PR even with no backlinks!

11 April 2006

Optimizing for Rankings - Things to Do and Avoid

Search engine optimization is a much-debated topic and there is a lot of different on the net. Let's cut through the muck and discuss things you should and shouldn't pursue to get high rankings.

Before blasting into the subject, we need to define optimization. It simply refers to the manipulation of a site to gain top rankings on the three search engines that dominate the search traffic on the net - Yahoo, Google and MSN. If you do a search on Google, the optimized listings are found in the large section on the left hand side of the page. These are often referred to as organic rankings since you don't pay for placement. Of course, you manipulated the page for optimization, but we will stick with organic as a name.

The first optimization tip is the most basic and the one many people screw up. Pick the correct keywords for your site! The correct keywords are not what you personally think based on your knowledge of your service or product. They are not the phrases returned in the Overture inventory tool. The only place you will find the exact keyword phrases you should use are in Wordtracker. The site gives you an analytical tool that provides the exact keyword phrases being used by your prospects, how often they are being used and which are easiest to get high rankings on. It costs a whopping $8 for a single session, but you will want to get a year subscription so you can pick up different cycles of keywords. Your prospects will search for different things in summer compared to winter.

The second thing to consider is the isolation keyword strategy. Many people will try to cram as many keywords into a page as possible. The accepted standard is 10 to 15 words. This is an old approach that works, but it will take much longer to get high rankings. Instead, you should develop a list of as many keyword phrases as possible. A single page should be made for each keyword phrase. You should never have to pick one keyword phrase instead of another for your site. Instead, you should make individual pages for each phrase.

A major third optimization tip is interlinking. The links from one page of your site to another matter a lot. When you create a link, make sure the link is the anchor text for the page the prospect will be going to. Anchor text is simply the keyword phrase on that page.

Turning to things you should avoid in optimization, well, there are a lot. Do not put your site name in your meta title, the search engines will list you high without it. Do not skimp on text, you need at least 250 words per page. Do not put database parameters in your urls because spiders have problems reading them. Stay away from flash as much as possible for the same reason. Stick to a single subject per page, to wit, do not wonder around like a drunken web designer! For the love of God, do not use frames. Finally, keep your html code streamlined so search engines can read it with ease.

The list of things to do and avoid is nearly endless. Follow these simple steps, however, and you will see marked improvement in your rankings.


About the Author: Halstatt Pires is a search engine optimization specialist with MarketingTitan.com - Internet marketing and advertising company in San Diego. Visit us to read more Internet marketing articles.

source: Entireweb Newsletter

10 April 2006

.eu Domains.. can we all have it?

The answer is "Of course not!"
I've seen in many forums people want to get a .eu domain and want to know if it has market value and blah blah.. Am sure you've already heard all this too.
Well the .eu domain is reserved for european countries.. check this
-------------------------------------
Remember! - .EU is the first domain extension made exclusively for individuals and businesses in the European Union. Registrations will only be available to those who can provide an address within the European Union. The European Union includes all of the following 25 countries:

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • The Netherlands
  • United Kingdom

  • -------------------------------------

    07 April 2006

    April 2006 PR update

    This was a nice PR update, many new websites have got really nice PR, this blog jumped from 0 to 5, I was really happy to see this, and I have not done much SEO to achieve this, My blog is very new, I created it on February 06 only and I already have a PR 5!

    Older websites haven't seen much change in their PR, both dwd websites, are still at PR3, both got PR 3 at last update in February.

    You can read more about the update at Digitalpoint Forum
    4/4/06 PR update