Top 5 most common mistakes with do-it-yourself SEO

look at a lot of sites on a daily basis. There are a lot of common problems I see on sites. Some people may have tags set-up improperly or use tags that have no real purpose.
I have compiled a list of the 5 top do-it-yourself SEO errors. It's safe to say that many do-it-yourselfers may have at least one of these errors on their sites. These should help you omit these often costly mistakes and pull you up in the ranks.
1) Keyword tag – A keyword tag is for keywords, but not for any keywords. You can’t just stuff this tag with keywords that your entire site is related to.
The tags should reflect keywords only on that particular page; not the entire site and not every keyword you think your site might be searched on. Also, you should have no more then 20 words in the tag. You should not repeat any word more than 3 times. If you sell tickets, for example, don't write: Broadway tickets, circus tickets, hockey tickets, boxing tickets and so on. Do use Broadway, circus, hockey, boxing, tickets and so on.
2) Abstract tag – It is sometimes used as a replacement for or combined with a description tag. However, more and more people are using these to stuff keywords. Search engines like Google are interested in what is on the page. More specifically, what visitors can view. In my opinion, the abstract tag has no place on a site.
3) Description Tag – The whole point behind this tag is to describe what the “page” is about. Keywords related to the page should be implemented as well. The limit on words should be 20 – 25. I see many website owners stuffing this tag with keywords, or having a description that is entirely too lengthy. Stay within these guidelines and you will be fine.
4) Title tag – This, to me, is the most important tag. This is the first tag the search engine reads. It tells the search engine what the” page” is about. Don't put your web address here. Do not add your company name in the beginning of this tag either. It should not exceed 60 characters.
5) Content- If you notice, I have been commenting on relevancy to the “page”, not your overall site. Each page has it’s own keywords. Tag the title tag, description and keyword tags. All of these keywords should be the same. Add them to your content as well. Now your page should be fairly well optimized.
Why do sites fall short? Simple, content is not optimized. Search engines are, for the most part, pretty basic. You type in a search term and it retrieves sites containing those terms while also taking a few other factors into account.
So, if your site doesn’t have these terms, how will you be found? You won’t. Over do it with keywords and you will experience the same result, but for different reasons. Sometimes reading everything about SEO can be bad.
Trying too many tricks, tips or methods is like too many cooks spoiling the soup. In the end they can do more bad than good. These are very basic rules that should be followed by all. In, doubt? Always consult or hire an SEO professional. by: Joe Balestrino

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Spider ANY Website And Find Out The Rank Of Each Page On That Site

Now you can quickly and easily get the number of pages on the server, the number of pages indexed by Google, Link Popularity, and Alexa Rank, PLUS a Summary Report with page rank statistics!
It's crazy...
You've got all this "background" work to do and SO little time to do it.
You KNOW what I'm talking about. Getting the rank and rank statistics of your own web pages is key to operating at peak search engine and marketing efficiency. And it certainly doesn't hurt to know the rank of your competitors' sites as well.
The trouble is... gathering this type of crucial information can eat up hours and hours of your valuable time. And I'm certain we can both agree that time is one of (if not THE) most important assets we webmasters have.
So how do you keep up with page ranks -- yours AND the competition -- without having to invest even more hours of your precious time? NO problem!
I'm amazed that Jeff can keep coming up with great products like SEO Spider. I already own two other wonderful products Jeff created - Ad Word Analyzer and Traffic Equalizer.
With the click of a button, not only can I find out how my own sites rank on Google, but I can also find out how my competition ranks.
Plus I can see all of their page info instantly, which gives me inside knowledge of their sites. And now I know exactly what I must do to beat them.
I only hope my competitors don't find out about this tremendous piece of software!

Jeff, you are a lifesaver! I've tried keeping track of all my site's rankings manually and it literally would take me hours.
Thanks to SEO spider, I've been able to spend more time on building traffic and less on measuring results.
Not only that, SEO spider helps me to analyze my competition without tipping them off or getting me in trouble. It's paying off big time...
As of today, RudlReport.com is #6 on Google!
I've been sitting at my computer for several hours, gathering the rank and rank statistics of hundreds of pages on dozens of websites. It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm not even close to being finished.
I'm tired... I'm frustrated... and I'm thinking there's GOT to be a better way. I mean, I can't be the ONLY person who needs a program to do this kind of work for me. So...
Like every other occasion when I'm hoping for a time-saving, work-reducing solution, I start searching the 'net. And as usual, I come up empty-handed.
Oh sure, there are various programs and services out there, but nothing that does the exact job I want and NEED it to. So yet again, there's only one thing left for me to do... I'll have to create my OWN software program!
And you know what? That's precisely what I did! And the name of this little fellow? SEO Spider. But don't think he's just some insignificant "bug". This guy is WAY powerful.
Incredible! Just when I thought Jeff couldn't possibly outdo himself, he goes and does it with SEO Spider!
As if Ad Word Analyzer and Traffic Equalizer weren't enough, we've now got the perfect "complimentary" program.
Leave it to Jeff to come up with the best solution for gathering page rank information. What used to take hours can now be accomplished in only minutes.
I'm telling you, I'm starting to think Jeff really IS the great and powerful SEO wizard!

When I used SEO Spider for the first time, I had thought it will show me the search engine spider view of a web site, for which there are umpteen tools available already.
But, I was amazed at the amount of information it revealed about a site.
These are all key information about the site that we need to monitor regularly and to get all of them at one place is pure joy!
You have a cool software, Jeff. I'll recommend this to many people.
The whole point of creating SEO Spider was to reduce the time and work involved in yet another important webmaster task. That's why I'm not about to waste your time now rambling on and on about how great this software program is.
Instead, I'll cut right to the features and let you decide for yourself...
spider ANY website and build a list of URL's -- along with the titles -- for each page on that server
quickly and easily query Google to find out how many pages are indexed and what the rank is for each of those listed pages
powerful phrase matching search option gives you the most targeted rank results for every page indexed by Google
check individual pages or use the convenient "Check All" features to analyze the entire list
if you don't wish to use the default page title during the query, it allows you to make changes just by clicking on the title
discover how well your website performs over time and know at-a-glance if you're improving your results
easily analyze any and all competitors' websites and discover all of their TOP performing pages
"smart" technology ensures that disallowed pages such as robots.txt files won't get indexed/listed
features 100% customizable search engine and website courtesy levels for maximum safety
searches whois records uncovering contact and domain registration information for any webmaster
compare any two websites to find out which has more indexed pages, better link popularity and a lower Alexa rank
reports the number of pages on the server, the number of pages indexed by Google, link popularity, and Alexa rank
delivers a concise Summary Report with page rank statistics -- you can view the report, save, or even email it
gives you the option of saving all the results, saving only the selected results, printing, and/or exporting to CSV
know whether or not Google is updating their index with our handy Google Dance Tool by: Johnathan Crews

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Search Engine Results and the PDF USER TRAP

Many major search engines (Google, Fast, Inktomi, MSN) now have the capability to index PDF files and return them in search results. If you are a Web site owner with PDF files on your site, this is good news.
If you are an SEO, you also know that the new capability presents potential usability problems. And what exactly is the big deal? Let's find out.
Searching for "blessing of a Christmas tree" on Google returns a link to a PDF file as the first result: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=BLESSING+OF+A+CHRISTMAS+TREE
If searchers click on it, the link automatically opens a PDF file with no navigation back to the main site. Users are trapped! So, what's going on and, more importantly, how to do we fix it? Essentially, the PDF format is not the culprit; the real problem is the author's failure to create the files with Web users in mind.
PDF authoring software, such as Adobe Acrobat 5.0, offers the ability to include both a navigational structure and hyperlinks on a PDF page.
Ideally, the best solution is to create your pages in HTML, rather than PDF format. Depending on the purpose, however, a PDF format can be preferable.
For example, PDF files offer better functionality for pages that are commonly printed, such as order forms and price lists.
To avoid the PDF USER TRAP, you will have to republish your files, adding some type of navigation structure and/or link back your main Web site.
This is the best option for SEO's, because it allows the pages to still be indexed. If this is not an option, the next best solution is to place all of your PDF files in a single folder and do a robots exclusion.
by: Craig Geis

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Search Engine Copywriting Explained

Copywriting in the world of marketing has always been an expensive process and the main aim of the copy is to attract the reader attention and lure him into buying a product or using a particular service.
Copywriting in the online world has pretty much the same meaning, but I believe it is slightly difficult, as here the main aim is to not only grab the readers attention but in order to make it more effective, it is also important to make the copy rank well in the search engines, so that the targeted audience actually get to read it.
Search engine copywriting refers to the process, where a copy is written in a way, where it not only reads well to the reader, but also repeats specific target “keywords?within the text, in order for that copy (webpage) to rank well in search engines for those keywords.
Copywriting experts believe it is ideal to have around 300 words on a page with one or two targeted search terms cleverly placed within the text a few times. Along with the text, it is also important to optimize other elements on the page such as the title text, headings, description and keyword tags, and alt text.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SEO Copywriting
Advantages
Long term Rankings: It is believed that this method helps in maintaining SEO rankings for much longer as compared to other optimization techniques, even when search engines change their algorithms.
Although many search engine optimization experts believe that this is a myth.
Quality Content: It not only helps in the optimization process, but also helps to have quality and well written content on your website, which is likely to get you returned visitors or referrals.
Disadvantages
Works for Less Competitive Search Terms: It is believed that this technique works best for less competitive search terms. Competitive search terms refer to highly searched keywords such as sex, insurance, credit cards, cars, etc. Although this can aid the optimization process for highly competitive search terms too, but to be competitive other more robust optimization techniques will also be needed.
Does not work for all Sites: Many sites cannot accommodate enough text on them, for e.g. it can be difficult to optimize certain pages/sites which have too many graphics, flash, etc. and little space for content. Many webmasters are not willing to alter the text, as it may affect the aesthetic appeal of the site.
Expensive Process: Search engine copywriters are expensive people, and hence this whole process can be very expensive.
They usually charge on per page basis, and the total expense largely depends on how many pages are to be optimized and the number of keywords being targeted.
Another reason why it can be expensive is that you have to depend on the copywriter for all further changes to that page, and hence it can become a permanent expense. Making alterations to that page yourself, unless you know exactly what you are doing, can ruin the optimization of that particular page. by: Daniel Chow

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How my page rank went from 0 to 5 in one update

This article will put a damper on web sites that sell information which will supposedly increase your page rank.
I may make some enemies here, but this is already common knowledge. In fact, to make sure it worked, I designed a new site just for this purpose.
Before you shell out money for an ebook, software, or CD telling you how to do this; read this article. If you achieve great results after following my advice and feel it was worth some money, feel free to write me a check for any amount you choose.
I 'll add my own zeros.ƒ؛
Page Rank. We all know what is. We all want to rank higher. Higher rankings mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To web masters it means achievement. They have accomplished a move in the right direction. A high page rank to a website owner is money in the bank. It is also an impressive accomplishment. To other website owners your page rank may be a source of envy.
To Google your page rank means quality, importance and relevancy. It lets Google know you are a viable resource and a valuable asset.
Google takes your Page Rank and combines it with their text-matching techniques. This, combined with a page،¦s content and the content of the pages linking to it, determines if your site is a good match. So, a higher Page Rank will certainly help you on Google.
As for surfers. Most of them could care less about your Page Rank. In fact, many of them don't even know what it is. However, those that do use it in a different way. Some use it as a way to unofficially gauge your credibility.
Ok, I am sure you've been wondering when I was going to tell you about how to achieve a ranking like I did.
I went from a 0 Page Rank to a 5. Now, mind you, I did not purchase any links from high ranking sites, or any sites for that matter. I did not launch a link exchange program. I did exchange links with about five directories related to my site،¦s topic, but that was it. Actually, 97% of my links are all one-way links (links pointing to my site).
So, how did I do it? Any ideas? If you know SEO you may already know the answer.
Link Farms? Of, course not. We know Google will frown on that method. Did I design or optimize sites and add my URL? Hmmm..
Yes! However, that is a small percent of the success. SEO companies don،¦t usually add their URL to sites they have optimized. Ok, so what else?
Content? Yes, content is king as always. Content is what was used to help boost my ranking. But how?
I create articles. These are quality articles, just like the one you are reading now. These articles were not generated from any program. I authored the content from my own knowledge and researched over 100 web sites that accept articles in my area of expertise. SEO happens to be a very popular topic. These sites agree to post my articles on their site, along with my url(s). Many of these sites have a decent Page Rank of their own. Their rank will transfer over to my site. Also, as time goes by, those articles will have a PR effect of their own which will transfer to my site(s). Don،¦t forget, other people may pick these articles up and use them on their site as well. They will also include my URL(s) on their sites. Now, if I do 100 sites a week times four articles a month, that's at least 400 articles a month. The last Google update was 86 days, the longest has been 111.
That could lead to 1200 or more links between updates.
What will Google think about all these links at once? They،¦ll love it! Content, quality, one way links. I also promoted my blogs and my website in some of my articles.
This way, they too have their own PR generating effect. They also link to my site and my site to them. This, in turn, increased the PR to them as well. At the time of this article and the most recent Google update, one of my blogs went from 0 to 3 and the other 0 to 4 all in the same update.
These tips should help you increase your page rank. The hardest part will be creating content related to your field and finding sites that will post your work. You can always hire writers and/or article submission services. Here's to the next Google update. Cheers! by: Joe Balestrino

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Different kinds of Keywords

Keyword can be classified into three categories :
-Single word Keyword
-Multiple word Keyword
-Keywords based on Theme
Keyword(s) are basic raw material used in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Keyword selection or Keyword Research as it is called technically, where we use special tools to find out a list of Keywords (search terms) searched by targeted audience, recently. Keyword can be single word, two or three words, multiple words and theme based.
Lets detail each of these one by one . Understanding these categories of keywords would also help one to decide as to their targeting on specific pages.
#Keyword of Single word
Keyword of Single word is used to target a large traffic but leads to highly competition category of sites. Keyword of Single word are known as generic Keyword(s) where we target general audience. Keyword of Single word does not help to target a specific page for a specific audience.
Although, Keyword of Single word helps in bringing huge traffic but these terms are mostly not relevant these days, as, searchers mostly use two or three keyword to find out their required information.
Instead single word keywords are good theme keywords.
We can use these primary keyword 5 to 7 times in a web page for good theming according of a site. The inside pages of the site can qualify these themes into product or service categories by adding qualifiers to these theming keywords.
Example:
Keyword “Services” will produce result of all the web sites related to Services which can be United States Department of Health and Human Services, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, direct Services, online Services, offline Services, Indian Services, American Services, food Services, agricultural Services, business Services, free Services, paid Services, etc.
#Keyword of Multiple words
Keyword of Multiple words is used to target a specific traffic, which leads to high sale, top position in search result listing as well as improves page rank competition. Keyword of Multiple words are known as Specific Keyword(s) where we target a specific audience & not general searcher. Keyword of Multiple words helps to target a specific page for a specific audience.
Keyword of Multiple words, more often than not are location specific and related to geographic area of your intended services or products.
#Keywords based on Theme
Keyword based on Theme are used to target a highly targeted audience, which leads to quick high sale, top position in search result listing as well as boosts page rank. Keywords based on Theme are known as Conceptual Keyword(s).
Keywords based on Theme consists all possible primary Keywords related to the web site therefore attracts high traffic of targeted audience. Keywords based on Theme add quality by providing Keyword Rich Text to search engines, which improve results and provide targeted search result listings.
Keywords based on Theme are used in each page of web site to focus on a specific topic correlated to a targeted topic or idea (theme). Keywords based on Theme effectively contribute in growth of informative pages for its site focusing on different related topics.
by: Rakesh Ojha

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