Monday, November 30, 2009

The Right Keywords Make All The Difference In Your Rankings

The best way to achieve search engine dominance is by focusing on keyword research. As an SEO consultant I've worked with hundreds of companies that miss the important step of keyword research. Achieving top search engine rankings is largely based on the competitiveness of the keyword phrase you are trying to optimize your website for. If your competitor is in the top position with a well entrenched web site, then your chances of out ranking him may be limited.

In addition to focusing on a keyword phrase that doesn't have that much competition, you need to find search phrases that are frequently searched on. I recently finished a project for a foundation trying to optimize their website. They had top rankings for a keyword term that seemed to be somewhat desirable. However, keyword research proved that the term received less than 100 searches per month. As a result, top rankings for this keyword phrase were nearly meaningless.

Assuming that you have been able to find a search phrase that doesn't have a great deal of competition and generates enough traffic, it's time to look at your competition. You are competing against other web sites who currently rank in the top few positions for your chosen keyword. Research each of these top ranked sites to determine their Google page rank, age, and the number of sites linking to them. The more inbound links they have the more difficult they will be to outrank.

Once you've conducted your keyword research and determined which keyword phrase you are optimizing for, it's time to focus on optimizing your web pages. This can be done by focusing on on-page optimization techniques and off-page optimization techniques. Start with a well formatted web site that has your keyword phrases in meta tags, page titles, and so on. Then turn your attention to off page optimization which includes building links and getting your site listed in major directories and social media profiles. Add additional link building techniques like bookmarking to enhance the quality of your web pages and web sites.

Your optimization strategy should include a plan for consistent link building. Build links too slowly and you'll never get the authority needed to achieve the number one ranking. Build links too quickly and search engines may think you're up to no good. If you want to improve your organic search engine ranking, begin with keyword research before link building. Having the right keywords can make the difference in your overall optimization results. Update your meta tags and web pages to integrate your keyword phrase, focus on building links over the long term, and you're sure to achieve search engine dominance. 

Monday, November 9, 2009

Improve Rankings With the Help of Article Submitters

Looking for a quick way to build tons of backlinks to your web site?  Backlinks are essential for improving search engine rankings and significantly enhancing the overall traffic you get to your website or blog.  I've been using article submitters since they were first introduced more than five years ago.



Simply explained, article submitters take your original content and post them to a variety of web sites.  Some of these sites serve as central areas that others can use to acquire content for their own websites or blogs.  When they do so, they use your content but also include a link (through the author box) to your web site or blog.  Other sites simply use fresh content - which includes links back to your site - to continually expand their site.

I personally use article submitters because they automate a good deal of the work.  This reduces the time it takes to produce unique articles as well as distribute them to leading directories.  I find that the article sites build inbound links steadily over time.  Even though you are distributing over a short period of time, the initial pages where you content resides will generally have a low PR.  However, over time the page rank grows and so does the value of your inbound links.
 

Consider article submission to sites like EzineArticles and other well know directories to make a positive impact on both your web site traffic and search ranking.  

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Strategies For Improving Your AdSense Earnings


Can you make a living on earning Adsense commissions? Adsense to be a great way to a few extra dollars each and every day but certainly is not going to make you a ton of money. Ask website owners today about their earnings and you'll find only a small handful making a substantial income. Ive learned how to increase my Adsense revenue over time and will share with you all Ive learned.

Your Adsense revenue is dependent on a number of factors including which ads you display, where you display them, and how often. Here are some factors to consider before you place your next Adsense ad. Let's begin with ad placement. Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. Google has produced a heat map that illustrates the ideal placing on a sample page layout. All other things being equal, ads located above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.

While this suggested map is useful as a positioning guideline, I strongly recommend putting your users first when deciding on proper ad location. Think about their behavior on different pages, and what will be most useful and visible to them. You'll find that the most optimal ad position isn't always what you expect on certain pages.

On pages where users are usually focused on reading article content, ads placed immediately below the end of the content generally perform very well. It is almost as if users finish reading and ask themselves what they should be doing next. Ads that are targeted can answer that question and get them clicking.

Various Ad format. Some types of ads perform better than others depending on the page content and layout. Many Adsense advertisers find that large rectangles in content areas work best, while leader boards produce less click-based revenue. The traditional sky scrappers are the worst performers. The key is to experiment and measure the results to see which formats work best for you.

Ad colors. Sometimes ads blended into the content can work wonders, but sometimes ads that contrast your site colors work best. Test a variety of ad colors to determine if different palettes generate higher than average click through rates. Other than testing the actual palettes, there's really no other way to determine effectiveness.

Number of ad units on a page. Websites are allowed a maximum of 3 ads, plus one set of ad links, and one Google search box per page. Maximize the allowed number based on the resulting look of your page (you don't want an overkill of ads). Users going to your page and reading your content may ignore the banner or rectangle at the top of the page, but may click on the ad at the bottom of the article.

Experiment with the factors above and see which combination works best for your particular website. Remember that not all sites do well with Adsense ads. Even if you get lots of traffic but your visitors are not interested in looking for ways to spend their money, they won't be interested in your ads and won't click through.

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the author of SEO Made Simple: How to Dominate Google
. Find helpful Adsense advice and learn to improve search rankings at Michael's Internet Blog.