30 September 2006

29 September 06 PR Update

Google Page Rank seems to be updating according to some webmaster forums, at digital point they're are talking about this update and seems it's a backlink update too.

I haven't seen any changes for this blog, I think my PR will stay at 3 for this update, it's no surprise since I don't have much high PR backlinks linking to me. Other than this I've noticed changes on many websites, DP Forums seems to be going for PR8 etc.

I posted some PR Checker tool here.

29 September 2006

Cpayscom2 Online Casino SEO Tips

This will be more than just SEO Tips for the Cpayscom2 Online Casino SEO Contest, I will share with you some SEO tips that you can use for your other websites also. In short i'll give some details about the things to do and to avoid for better ranking on the major Search Engines i.e. Google, MSN and Yahoo. And let it be clear, I am not saying I am a SEO expert, it's things I have noticed over time.

Let's start with some on site optimization. Many people don't use meta tags, it's true that they are almost "dead" but Search Engines still pick your title and description tag for their listing. I noticed that google take part of you description tag and some random text from your website as description so it's good to have keyword rich content. Try to include your main keyword (e.g. Cpayscom2 Online Casino) in almost all your post if you have a blog, be very informative and add fresh and unique content regularly. Every body knows the saying 'Content' is King, but many doesn't understand this and just get tons of content, mostly from article directories, which will lead you nowhere since these articles have been published at hundreds of other websites. So it's best to say 'Unique content is King'. Also if you use images, don't forget the alt tags, remember that search engines can not read images, some say that it is good to include keyword in the image filename but so far I have not seen how this helps most important is the alt tags, try to be as descriptive as possible.

Second thing to consider now that your Cpayscom2 Online Casino website is ready and search engine friendly is your link building campaign. Many people misunderstand this and think that the only thing to do is to get tons of links as fast as possible, this is not true. Link building takes time and should be from different sources like these:

1 - SE's Submission (to get more exposure but not very necessary)
2 - Directory Submission (submit to the most related category)
3 - Writing Article's
4 - Blogging (please blog wisely, don't SPAM)
5 - Forums (some forums allows links in signature)
6 - Press Release (make sure you have something news worthy)
7 - Reciprocal Link (I hate doing link exchange, but well it still helps so go for it and make sure to exchange link with only related websites)

I've seen many people whining about why search engines ban them or why they are no longer in SERP and so on, I think the reason is because they have got thousands of links from many sources (mostly unrelated) and then for a good period no links at all, the search engines probably saw these links as FFA since they were acquired over a very short time, that's why I am telling to spread your link campaign over a period of time, you'll build link slowly and search engines will not penalize you. And do not concentrate on only one source of incoming links, I've seen many people just buy links here and there, they does not care whether these links are related or not. Think big, I've listed 7 ways to get links above, it's much better to get links from different sources. Another thing that I noticed is many Cpayscom2 Online Casino are bombing blogs with comments and most only links to their Cpsyscom2 Online Casino entry, this is considered SPAM, you will probably be penalized for this. I am not saying blog comments is not good, but moderate it, one or two legitimate comments here and there won't hurt.

According to me, the key to have better SERP is to stay SPAM free, stay away from FFA, link farms, comment SPAM, and never try to fool search engines, have fresh and unique content. With all these it will be hard for the search engines to refuse you some love.

02 September 2006

Good SEO Strategies

SEO is not difficult but not easy either, there are some strict rules that you need to follow to rank well on the Search Engines. Many people say MSN is the easiest SE to rank for then comes Yahoo! and finally Google. The problem with google is that it values old pages too much, you can have a new very informative website but you will probably not be in the top 10 for your main keyword if it is a very competitive one.

Ok enough blabbering let's now come to the steps that you should follow carefully so that SE's does not consider your website as spam or worse can ban your website. The most important thing you need is link. Links, links and more links from relevant sources, tons of irrelevant may help you on MSN but it will not do your website any good on Google, so it's better to do the best thing that is not penalized by non of the main Search Engines, that is Google, MSN and Yahoo!.

How to get links? This is a tuff answer... where to get your links from? You can get links from web directories, article directories and from link exchange with other related websites. When submitting to directories, search for the category most relevant to your website, check how many outgoing links the directory have per page. It will be kind of useless to submit to directories that does not follow the Google webmaster's guidelines. Also check if the directory is indexed by Google. PR is NOT the most important thing to check when submitting to a directory, it's has some value since it's an indication its importance (backlinks from good sources).

Writing articles can also help you to get backlinks. How? Write one or two article about your website's subject, be sure to include your main keywords in the article, make it fun but to the point, don't write as if you are the most intelligent person on earth, this will just scare people away. Include examples where needed to back up your thoughts this will make you more credible to the reader. If you are not sure about something, search about it if you can't find better not write about it. Be sure to include a link to your website in the author note else the whole step will be useless. Now just search for article directories and start your submissions. There are hundreds of article directories around so you are sure to get some quality backlinks from them.

Getting link partners is the most difficult and time consuming part in your link building campaign. Most websites will not be very keen to exchange link if they are in the top 10 and you are not. Here also you need to look for websites that are most relevant to yours, let's say you have a web design website, it is ok to exchange link with templates or SEO related websites that is any websites that are related to web development. Search engines values 3 way links exchange more, e.g. I link to site B from site A and Site C links to Site A. So better go for it when you get the opportunity.

SEO takes time but it is fun and there are always new things to learn since the Search Engines change their algorithm once in a time, Google is the most complicated one but I read somewhere, better you optimize for Google and the other two will follow. Most techniques mentioned in this article are free strategies that only require your time. My advice: try all the free techniques first then go to paid if free doesn't work. Happy SEOing.