Unfortunately, hiring an SEO expert can be quite expensive. For those who want to do it themselves, here are the steps.

Bookmark these tools! you WILL need them!

The first step in website optimization is to make sure you have well-formatted HTML. I would encourage you to use the following tool to check this: http://validator.w3.org/ Do your best to get your website as close to conformance as possible.

If you use CSS, then use a CSS validator at http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator-uri.html There is rarely an excuse for not having it validate here.

If you follow most of the suggestions for having valid HTML code your web pages will be more digestible for the search engines, as well as being much more cross-browser compliant. You should also do this after any significant edit of the web page – to ensure that it is still compliant.

The second step in website optimization is to work on the Meta tags and the title tag for each page in your site. These are in the header of your web page document and need to be tailored to attract users who type in one of a select group of keywords. If you need a tool to help generate these, use this meta tag generator tool here (http://www.spiderweblogic.com/HTML-Meta-Tag-Generator.aspx) that I built.

The title tag:

The title tag is, of the three, the most important for the major search engines. Don’t make this too long – normally no more than 6 words. But have your most important keywords here. Some SEO specialists advise that even the order of the text here is significant. They suggest that if you place your company name in the title, that it should be placed last so the other keywords are being considered with greater weight.

The meta-keywords tag:

This is now of lesser importance than before, due to abuse by webmasters to achieve high rankings. However, it is still important and is required by many of the smaller search engines. Make sure that you don’t repeat any keyword or keyword phrase more than three times. That would be considered Spam (bad SEO tactics) by the search engines. Remember, your visitors will see the title of the web page. Make it useful to them as well.

The meta-description tag:

This is of higher importance than the keywords tag. Several search engines use it when they show your listing. It needs to encourage your potential visitors to visit your website. Of course, having keywords in here is important. But keep the primary purpose in mind as you write it. Here too, you should make sure that you don’t repeat any keyword or keyword phrase more than three times.

Each page in your website needs its own tailored title, meta-description, and meta-keywords tag. These need to be focused on the keywords you are trying for. (These are the words or phrases you want to be found at when people are doing searches.) These shouldn’t normally be the same on every page. They should be customized to the content that is on that page. You should also keep your visitors in mind as you write them.

The third step is to work on your content – especially on your home page. Ideally you would have between 800 – 1200 words of text. It should have your most important keywords at the top, middle and the bottom of the text. If possible, use an “h1″ tag at the top for your title – and have your most important keyword imbedded in it. Also, have some of your keywords in a sentence or phrase that is bolded. Keep it natural for your visitors to read. If it doesn’t look natural, you will loose any visitors you have attracted.

The fourth step in website optimization is to edit your links and your images to make full use of the “title” and “alt” attributes.

Text links can have a “title” attribute. The content is to more fully describe your link. When you put your mouse over the link, the content of the “title” attribute is displayed. I would encourage you to tailor the description so that it contains at least one of your keywords – but keep it accurate – that it really does describe the link. It must make sense to the common user.

Images HTML tags can have an “alt” attribute. It is used to describe an image when you put a mouse over it. It is also used for different devices for seeing impaired. Also, it is used when the user decides not to show images with the web site. They will see this text instead. (It is the “Alternate Text” for the image.) Try to incorporate some keywords here too – but keep with the spirit of being the “alternate text” for the image.

If you are using tables, you may even include a table “summary” attribute. The purpose of this attribute is to assist for those with disabilities to understand the contents and structure of a table. Keep all summary comments within that purpose – and add keywords only where appropriate. Note that these summary attributes may cause your web page validator to spit up an error – but this is newer item that is encouraged.

The fifth step is to have a good menu system or a site map. Search engines follow links to find the different pages in your site. If your navigation is one of those JavaScript drop-down menus or Flash menus, the search engines may not find all of your pages unless you have an alternative non-JavaScript link path that they can follow. If you use the fancy JavaScript links, you should have a hard link to a site map on every page. The site map should have a real non-JavaScript list of links that the search engines can follow to map out your whole site. As a standard policy I tend to avoid the JavaScript links in the menus.

Optional:
If you haven’t chosen a domain name yet, you may strongly consider having your top keyword phrase in the domain name, with the words separated by dashes. This is an excellent idea, but not always feasible. Many companies already have a domain name selected, or prefer to use their company name as the domain name. This is a business decision left up to the customer.

Things not to do:
Don’t create and market mirror sites though to accomplish this trick either. Sites that are identical in content, but have a different domain name are considered SPAM (bad/taboo) by the search engines. They don’t appreciate such tricks, and the ranking of both websites will suffer for it.

Also, don’t get too crazy with stuffing keywords where they don’t belong or by repeating keywords or by having keywords in hidden layers. Search engines don’t like that and will ban your site.

SEO Software to buy:
I have used SEO Studio to do website analysis during my optimization. This has been an invaluable tool for analyzing how saturated my keywords are in a particular web page. It is reasonably priced and I have been very satisfied with the performance. It is easy to see such things as keyword density relevance for the whole web page. It also is helpful in showing where the keywords are not (and can be). Y ou will learn a lot about website optimization just by using this tool!

NOW WHAT?
After all this “Search Engine Optimization” you need to do a human review your website – is it natural/useful/helpful for the human visitor? Remember, getting website traffic is only half the game. This site needs to quickly convert them into paying customers.

Once it is “Optimized”, then you need to let the search engines know that you exist. Only after it is ready should you tell them about it. But this is a subject for another article. Do a search of different article warehouse or SEO news sources. You will find a lot of information on this.

Website optimization news sources:
Since there are new quirks in the website optimization and website promotion that come out all the time – some that apply to all search engines, and some that apply to a particular one, it is wise to keep up to date. I strongly encourage you to join a couple of relevant mailing lists!

I really like the news sources from Entireweb.com. If you submit a site through them, I would encourage you to accept their free newsletters. They have great content. http://www.entireweb.com/submit_site/

Another place to get really great articles on website optimization or promotion is http://www.SiteProNews.com They also allow you to subscribe to their articles. Do this!

If you are serious about keeping up with your website positioning, keep up with the news. You will find these resources invaluable!

Robert Fuess is a veteran website designer who specializes in making dynamic search engine optimized websites.
http://www.SpiderwebLogic.com | http://www.SchoolAndTeacher.com

However, many websites are facing this problem: No visitors = No sales. And it can be a daunting task for newbie webmasters new to online marketing. In this article, I provide some internet marketing tips and solutions for webmasters new to website promotion.

There are many ways you can market your website indeed:

a) Search Engine Positioning
Some may call this search engine optimization, or “SEO” for short. It is the most effective way to market your website online. To illustrate what I mean, you may type the keywords “Singapore web design and hosting” into MSN search box, and see if you can find Singaporewebdesigner.com. [We are currently ranked top 10 for the keywords you just typed].

In fact, statistics have also shown that more than 80% of online traffic is driven by search engines. However, to squeeze your way into Google top 10 can requires a lot of time and effort. If your site is newly built and has not been indexed by Google, there is no way you can rank top 10 for popular key phrases within 1 month. You can take my word for that.

Benefits:
1. Highly targeted visitors searching for your products and services.
2. Very cost effective in the long run compared to advertising.
3. Increase your website’s online reputation.

b) Pay per click advertising
This effectively means that you advertise your site on other websites by pay per click. You will pay for every click when visitors click on your ads on other sites.

Currently, the 2 most popular pay per click advertising campaigns will be Google Adwords and Yahoo! Overture This is another very popular way to market your website online. It is not easy for new websites to climb their ways to the top of search engines ranking. Hence, this is a very popular marketing solution for new websites.

c) Article Writing
If you can write articles in good English, article writing can be one of the most economic ways to market your site. You need not write like an English professor. In fact, many internet marketing experts suggest that you write in a personalized style. Your articles need not be too long. Online visitors do not spend the whole evening trying to figure out what you want to say. Also, writing in proper paragraphs and point forms help to convey messages fast and effective.

After writing an article, remember to include a resource box.

See example below:

“Article by Byon Ong, Singapore web design, hosting and website promotion”.

You may also suggest your article to Articles Factory as a writer. If your article is interesting with useful content, many sites would want to publish your articles in their sites. By contributing useful contents for their readers, they provide valuable backlinks to your site in exchange.

Here are only basic ways to promote your websites. For more promotion tips and techniques, you may want to read Internet promotion and marketing Part 2.

The first part of gaining profits through website promotion is to have an excellent website design. You cannot expect to gain any profits through a website that is designed poorly or that is difficult to navigate. Make it easy for visitors to your website to find what they need and make a purchase. This will gain you fast profits.

The second thing you should do to gain profits is to use search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO has been widely used to put people’s websites at the top of a search engine’s list. It is found that most people that use a search engine only visit the website that is listed at the top of the list. This is why you need to use SEO to help with your website promotion. With the proper SEO, you can attract more visitors to your website. More visitors means more profits for you.

Next, to gain more profits you can use email marketing. Be sure that when you use email marketing to gain profits that you are not using spam. Use an opt in list instead. Have an opt in list posted on your website. An opt in list is when people request to receive email material from your website. It has been shown that opt in lists give a 40% increase in response. This means that you will again have more profits.

In order to gain profits through website promotion, you must be sure that you go after your target audience. Be sure that your website’s design attracts the type of people that would be interested in your product or service. Also, be sure that your email marketing sends out emails and ezines to people that will actually read it and have an interest in it. If you don’t, you cannot expect to gain profits.

Lastly, you can incorporate the use of affiliate programs to help with your website promotion. Have links to your affiliates on your website. Your affiliates will also do the same. With you and your affiliates working together to promote your website, you will start to see more website traffic and more profits.

Website promotion is the only sure way to gain profits for your business. Without it, you can easily find yourself in a hole that is hard to dig your way out of. Be sure to utilize all of these methods so that you can attain more profits.

edit: seems somewhat of a sales type article, but the bulletpoints on what you need to learn is good advice – SEO advice

You will miss out on a goldmine of potential buyers if you do not!

You need an all-in-one kit that:

1. Allows you to be in total control of operations
2. Countermands the ever-changing search engine vagaries
3. Outstrips all other forms of web promotion
4. Constitutes the ultimate weapon in viral marketing
5. Exerts infinite influence on article exposure
6. Produces an ever-increasing stream of links
7. Builds lists of pre-qualified prospects
8. Works for any niche opportunity
9. Taps into a goldmine of browsing buyers
10. Attracts incremental sales
11. Grows your business at zero cost
12. Has the power to make you famous online

But you need more than points 1-12…

You need to learn…

• How to research the topic before you write your article
• How to use keywords and phrases to stimulate interest
• How to use magnetic verbs to trigger impulse buying
• How to command the reader’s subconscious
• How to use subheads to catch quick readers
• How to create mental movies in the prospect’s mind
• How to educate, inform, and motivate the reader
• How to address the WIIFM questions on everyone’s lips
• How to think like the people you want to influence
• Why simple words and short sentences work best
• How to develop the power of speaking with authority
• How to avoid over-egging the clichés
• How to paint word pictures that drive visitors in hoards to your website
• How to craft articles that zing like bullets shot from a bell

But even all that isn’t enough…

You also need to learn…

• How to write editorials; not ad copy
• Why you must be totally truthful in your claims
• How to start with an eye-grabbing headline
• How to fire your biggest gun in the first sentence
• Why you must fire the next biggest in the next 2 sentences
• How to roll out the remaining text on in crisp chunky paragraphs
• How to break it up with occasional subheads
• How to keep your dialogue conversational
• Why you must restrict the word count to acceptable limits
• Why your resource box is the catalyst to successful article distribution
• How to choose your core keywords
• How to prepare the ‘description’ copy
• How to become accepted as an expert article author

And when you’ve learned all this you will discover that…

1. Articles do outstrip all other forms of web promotion
2. Articles do constitute the ultimate weapon in viral marketing
3. Articles do exercise an infinite influence in product exposure
4. Articles do create an ever-growing stream of links back to your website
5. Articles do continue to work irrespective of the search engines
6. Articles do build lists of pre-qualified prospects
7. Articles work for any niche opportunity
8. Articles do tap into a goldmine of browsing buyers
9. Articles do attract incremental sales
10. Articles do grow business at zero-cost
11. Articles do have the power to make you famous online

If you would like to learn even more about the amazing power of articles, click on the link in the resource box below.

Relevance to a search:

• The frequency of the search word on a web page is an indicator of its relevance. If a web page contains the word ten times on the page, it is ten times more relevant than a page which contains the word only once.
• The position of the search word:
  • In the title tag.
    In the HTML coding, the title tag is <title>(Your title words…) </title> This appears in your browser at the very top of the screen, above File, Edit, View… This tag is important to search engines as it is visible to the visitor, and ostensibly sums up the purpose for the page. Other meta tags are largely ignored by search engines.
  • In a heading.
    In the HTML coding, the heading tag is <h1> (Your heading…) </h1> This tag is very important to search engines as it is visible to the visitor, and ostensibly sums up the purpose for the page. The size of the heading does not matter. Take care not to have more that one such heading on the home page. (Don’t confuse the search engine).
  • In a link to another page.
    In the HTML coding, such a link could be <a xhref=”whodickies.htm” mce_href=”whodickies.htm”>Whodickies</a>. If “Whodickies” are important enough to have a link to them, they are very relevant to a visitor’s search for whodickies.
  • In the body text.
    Key words near the top and the bottom of the text are important. Certainly many search results show the beginning and end of pages.
• Proportion of the search words on the page.
  The intensity of key words in relation to the total words in a page tells a search engine if there is spamming. Experience has shown that if the key words in a search make up more than 10% of the total web page the page is marked down. Some experts say 5%.
• Number of inside pages linking back to that web page.
  The more inside pages linking back to the home page the more relevant the home page appears to the search engine. A website with 30 pages must seem to have more information than one with 3 pages.
• Number of other websites linking to that web page.
  A website with links from 20 other websites seems more popular than one with links from only 2 other websites. The quality of such links has a bearing. e.g. Links from other websites which display your key words are better that links from websites without those words.
• Number of articles published linking to that web page.
  Many websites publish articles on many subjects. Check the formats acceptable. Compose your article, then submit it.

Why do different search engines give different rankings to the same website? Each search engine may give a different weight to each of the factors above. Why would a website lose or gain ranking position, without any change? Search engines change their secret algorithms (formula of factor weighting) from time to time. Other websites may enter the lists, change, or leave the lists. Remember that the main reason for putting up a website it to be found by search engines, so do all you can to be friendly to them. More information on search engine optimization of websites can be found at platypus websites – www.platywebs.com.au

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

It’s all to do with supply and demand only around 135 people typed these key words in and the demand is around 620000 websites doing the same thing. When you pick your key words there needs to be a good demand for those key words. You can get lots of software that will look this up for you.

Spend time looking up key words that work else like me you can have a very good website all keyed for these words and get 0 hits. I started to think it was the design of the site, words like “FREE page ranking” would seem to be a good key phrase but the demand is 0 for this, humm this sounds a good phrase and so did 1650000 other website designers, so because I have looked up the phrase I now know not to spend hours designing a web page for this phrase.

Your website needs to be relevant to the phrase your using, If I type into Google ““Website promotion”” I expect to get sites for website Promotion, not a cook book!

This is why Google does what they do, they spider your web pages and the key words are taken. These keywords are from bits like the page title tags links hyper links, even the text that comes up when you hover over a picture.

Google also look to see the number of good links that point to your website, think about putting your url in your signature in any forum you have joined.

Key words need to be common and there needs to be a demand get Nichefinder or some other software to look up this information, it will save you months of time and work.

Lazerbri

http://www.gettothetop.info

Source: http://www.365articles.com

However, this understanding is rarely transferred when a business decides to ‘go online’. Perhaps the initial setup is so daunting that little thought is spared for anything beyond the layout and content of a website. The internet, however is still a marketplace, and one that is growing exponentially. Those same business skills need to be put to use here too.

If you want to learn from the success of your competitors you first need to think like a search engine. By mimicking popular keywords and phrases you can benefit from traffic that would otherwise be directed to your competitors sites.

Keywords are contained in what are called ‘Meta Tags’. These are tags that are found in the source code at the top of a webpage and include descriptions, titles and key words. Search engines use this information (in addition to content) to rank your page for different search strings. You can access this information by viewing the source of any website, just simply select ‘View’, and ‘Source’ from the toolbar.

If after looking at this code you fear it resembles some alien language, do not despair! There are many programs available that will search competitors’ sites for this information and provide a full report: in plain English. Just look for anything about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is one of the new hot topics; and you will be swamped with products.

The danger is to believe too much of the hype, don’t pay for promises; search engines are not as easily tricked as we are!Another key ingredient is links. Your page will be ranked favourably if it is viewed by the search engines as being an authority on a given subject. Links work a bit like votes, if someone links to your site they are effectively ‘casting a vote’ of approval. However the weight of this vote is affected by how many other sites they link to, so beware of ‘link farms’ (pages contained entirely of links) because they will not help improve your site’s positioning. The easiest way to obtain links is through online directories – although people may not visit your site directly through these links, it will help with overall search engine positioning.

Returning to the competition; you can discover who is linking to other sites by using an online link popularity checker. This way you can try and get these sites to link to you also. Remember, directed traffic is the best, so aim for links from sites which contain similar content to yours. If you are a business selling stamps, your best links would be from stamp appreciation pages – obvious really. The internet has been established for a while now. It is no longer an unknown jungle. As a new business entering this arena you can learn from other people’s successes as well as their mistakes!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR