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Search Engine Rank Optimization
Category: InternetEvery web site owner wants to have their site listed on the first page of the major search engines. Few people know even where to begin in the process of search engine rank optimization. Most believe that only experts have the knowledge and expertise to maneuver a web site up the search engine ranks to the first page. But it can be done! Even novices can learn the basic skills needed to get their page ranked well.
Search engine rank optimization is all about following the rules. First of all, you must come up with some keywords or keyword phrases which you know your potential visitors are currently using in the search engines. One tool often used to determine what keywords searchers are using can be found at Digital Point’s website.This tool can be used to find out how many people are typing in specific search terms which aids you in search engine rank optimization.
Keywords Are Key!
After finding terms with at least several hundred searches per month for your keyword choice, type the word or phrase into an exact phrase match in Google. If more than about 50,000 results are returned, pick another keyword to optimize for until you are more experienced. For example, “small dog collars” shows about 40 searches per day on Overture (Yahoo). And there are only 16,800 results for “small dog collars”! What a perfect keyword to optimize for! Note that there are over 2,000,000 results for the term “dog collars”. In this case, search engine rank optimization could not be made easier!
Ok, after you’ve found the perfect term to optimize for it’s time to start the process of search engine rank optimization. I will outline below the basic steps of getting a page which is optimized with a keyword which fits closely with the above search numbers.
Content is King!
Search engine rank optimization is a matter of methodical modifications of each page. First of all, original content is needed for search engine rank optimization. Being a new site, all you really have to offer is content. You won’t have page rank or many incoming links. So you must come up with original content with your keyword peppered in at a rate of about 5%. Usually 500 to 700 words are about right. But remember, the content MUST be original! Search engine rank optimization revolves around your chosen keyword phrase being seen in the page’s content by the search engine spiders.
Although content is the single most important factor in search engine rank optimization, there are other important parts of the page to tweak. Make sure title of the page has your keyword in it. If at all possible, use only your keyword phrase for the title. So if the keyword phrase is “small dog collars”, and someone types “small dog collars” into Google, your page will be displayed by Google with the Title “small dog collars” in bold. If you can’t use just the phrase in the title, be sure to put the phrase at the first of the title with no words in front of it.
More Details
Also, it’s important while performing search engine rank optimization to have the keyword phrase between
tags near the top of the content. And then when choosing the file name for the page, try to name it with the keyword phrase. Don’t use more than two hyphens in the file name. That looks spammy to the indexes. large-dog-collars.htm would be fine. large-leather-dog-collars.htm would not be fine. In this case, simply name it large-leather-dogcollars.htm.
It’s also a good idea while performing search engine rank optimization to have some links on your page to other sites with high page ranks. I like to have these links open in a new browser window so the visitor never actually leaves my site. No, you don’t have to link to a page selling a competing product. For example, if you are selling dog collars you could maybe link to dog training sites, breed information sites, or other dog information sites. Two or three of these links will be plenty.
Links Can Help!
Lastly, you need to get as many one way links to your site as possible while working on search engine rank optimization. The easiest way to get some quick links to your site is by submitting your site to as many legitimate search directories as possible. There are several top level ones and dozens of lower level ones. Do searches on the web to find directories related to your product. For example, one might search for “dog directories”. There are services advertised on the web which offer to get your site listed in “thousands” of search engines and directories. Never pay for these services. The main directories can easily be found, and it’s a simple matter to submit to them.
Good Luck!
Search engine rank optimization can be learned by beginners with much work, time and perseverance. If ever there were a level playing field where small operators can actually compete with large companies, the Internet is definitely the place!
Visit my website for plenty of free information and video tutorials to help you get started with your own Internet business .
Steve Weber
Weber Internet Marketing
http://www.WeberInternetMarketing.com
