Copy right analysis
Top Search Engines:
- Google
- Yahoo
- Msn
- Aol
- Lycos
- Askjeeves
- Hotbot
- Alltheweb
- AltaVista
- Netscape
- Alexa
Course Duration:
30 Days
Lesson 1 = Introduction to SEO
What You Will Learn:
- Introduction to search engine optimization (SEO).
- Website Analysis
- Content Optimization
- Browser Compatibility
- Keyword Research
- Keyword Density
- Meta Tags
- How to create effective page Title Tags.
- How to create an effective and optimized META Description Tag.
- How to create an effective and optimized META Keywords Tag.
- How to research and select appropriate keywords to target.
- How to successfully integrate search keywords within your web site copy.
- How to optimize each page of your web site step-by-step.
- How to create effective Alt Image attributes.
- How to create effective and optimized text navigation menus.
- How to use link titles and anchor text effectively.
- How to set up your site architecture to be search engine friendly.
- How web page file extensions impact search engine compatibility.
- How to create a search engine friendly site map.
- Overview of important search engines and directories.
- How to submit your site to important search directories.
- How to increase your site's link popularity.
- How to submit your site to crawler-based search engines.
- An overview of what search engines consider to be "spam".
- Web design elements to avoid to ensure your site is search engine compatible.
- How to monitor your search rankings and site traffic.
Lesson 2 = Website Analysis
Website Analysis:
To know a complete view of the current state of your web site?
- Browser Compatibility
- Page load Time
- Page Weight
- Target site analysis
- Strategic keyword analysis
- Log file analysis
- Competitive site analysis
- Brainstorm keywords
- Related words
- Synonym analysis
- Word popularity
- Market conditions
- Relevance to business
- Define the served market universe of all potential keywords and their popularities
- Define keyword relevancy for served market
- Review website visible text for possible keywords
- Review competing websites for possible keywords in Meta tags and visible text
- Brainstorming sessions with client and other company employees and departments
- Expand the seed list to include all possible variations and synonyms, thereby attain a universe of all potential keywords
Lesson 3 = Content Optimization
Content Optimization - Four steps:
There are aspects of the optimization process that gain and lose importance. Content optimization is no exception to this. Through the many algorithm changes that take place each year, the weight given to the content on your pages rises and falls. Currently incoming links appear to supply greater advantage than well-written and optimized content.
The importance of unique and well written content cannot be overstated. This is the backbone and purpose of your website's existence and it deserves the time it will take to create. When you are considering what content you want on your site (or what content should be on your site if this is part of SEO or a redesign) you will want to make a few considerations.
- What does your audience want to find?
- Will you have to do additional research?
- Are you an expert writer or do you have one on staff?
The goal for anyone following this series is to build and optimize a website that will rank well on the major search engines and, more difficult and far more important, hold those rankings through changes in the search engine algorithms. While currently having a bunch of incoming links from high Page Rank sites will do well for you on Google you must consider what will happen to your rankings when the weight given to incoming links drops, or how your website fares on search engines other than Google that don't place the same emphasis on incoming links.
While there are many characteristics of your content that are in the algorithmic calculations, there are a few that consistently hold relatively high priority and thus will be the focus of this article. These are:
1. Heading Tags
2. Special Text (bold, colored, etc.)
3. Inline Text Links
4. Keyword Density
Heading Tags
The heading tag (for those who don't already know) is code used to specify to the visitor and to the search engines what the topic is of your page and/or subsections of it. You have 6 predefined heading tags to work with ranging from <H1> to <H6>.
By default these tags appear larger than standard text in a browser and are bold. These aspects can be adjusted using the font tags or by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Due to their abuse by unethical webmasters and SEO's, the weight given to heading tags is not what it could be however the content between these tags is given increased weight over standard text. There are rules to follow with the use of heading tags that must be adhered to. If you use heading tags irresponsibly you run the risk of having your website penalized for spam even though the abuse may be unintentional.
When using your heading tags try to follow these rules:
* Never use the same tag twice on a single page
* Try to be concise with your wording
* Use heading tags only when appropriate. If bold text will do then go that route
* Don't use CSS to mask heading tags
Special Text:
"Special text" (as it is used here) special is any content on your page that is set to stand out from the rest. This includes bold, underlined, colored, highlighted, sizing and italic. This text is given weight higher than standard content and rightfully so. Bold text, for example, is generally used to define sub-headings (see above), or to pull content out on a page to insure the visitor reads it. The same can be said for the other "special text" definitions.
Inline Text Links:
Inline text links are links added right into text in the verbiage of your content. For example, if in a article series I may make reference to past articles in the series. Were I to refer to the article on keyword selection, rather than simply making a reference to it as I just have it might be better to write it as, "Were I to refer to the article on keyword selection rather …"
Like special text this serves two purposes. The first is to give the reader a quick and easy way to find the information you are referring to. The second purpose of this technique is to give added weight to this phrase for the page on which the link is located and also to give weight to the target page.
Browser Compatibility:
A term that compares the way a Web page looks on one WWW browser as opposed to another. Usually this is done with Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) and Netscape Navigator/Communicator, but can also refer to cross platform compatibility, which is for example the way a page renders or displays on a Windows system as opposed to a Mac. The reason these incompatibilities exist is due to the way a browser interprets the Web page's code (HTML).
Browser compatibility is also used in conjunction and should not be confused with the term browser support that refers to the ability of a particular browser to even recognize and interpret certain HTML or other Web page codes. For example Netscape Navigator 2.0 introduced the ability to render a page layout in frames. Therefore it can be said that Navigator 1.0 did not "support" frames.
Lesson 4 = Keyword Analysis
Keyword:
A word used to find pages when conducting a search.
Keyword Research:
The search for keywords related to your Web site, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment (ROI).
Keyword Density:
A measure of how frequently a given keyword appears within a given web page.
Keyword marketing:
Putting your message in front of people who are searching using particular keywords and key phrases.
Keyword Phrase:
A phrase, which forms (part of) a search engine query.
Keyword Purchasing:
The buying of search keywords from search engines, usually to control banner ad or Pay-per-click advertising.
Keywords tag:
META tag used to help define the primary keywords of a Web page.
Link popularity:
A measure of the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site.
Link text:
The text contained in (and sometimes near) a hyperlink.
Alt tag:
The alternative text that the browser displays when the surfer does not want to or cannot see the pictures present in a web page. Using alt tags containing keywords can improve the search engine ranking of the page for those keywords.
Log file:
File that records the activity on a Web server.
Page Rank:
A measurement provided by Google to indicate the value of inbound link popularity.
Page weight:
Page weight is a measurement of the file size (usually in kilobytes) of a Web page that includes the combined size of all the elements of the page, including HTML files, images, audio or video, Flash animation, etc.
The number and size of graphics on a given page as well as the size of the web document.
To keep download time reasonable, avoid large or high resolution graphics as backgrounds, use thumbnails (small versions) that link to large images; and divide your site into page-size chunks rather than creating one long page.
Page Load:
The time required to down load a page to display on the browser.
The average time to takes per the page with 56k is 5 seconds.
However, your loading time depends on more than just raw bytes of data. The time required for your page to display also depends on the browser's rendering time.
Connection Speed |
20 Kb Page |
40 Kb Page |
100 Kb age |
14.4 Kbps |
12 sec |
25 sec |
62 sec |
28.8 Kbps |
6 sec |
12 sec |
31 sec |
33.3 Kbps |
5 sec |
10 sec |
26 sec |
56 Kbps (V.90) |
2 sec |
5 sec |
13 sec |
128 Kbps (DSL/Cable) |
1 sec |
2 sec |
6 sec |
256 Kbps (DSL/Cable) |
<1 sec |
1 sec |
3 sec |
|
Lesson 5 = Meta Tags
Meta Tags
Meta Tag:
An HTML tag placed in the head section of a web page. The tag provides additional information that is not displayed on the page itself. The initial idea was that webmasters should use these tags to help search engines index the page correctly by providing an accurate description of the page content and a list of keywords associated with the page. Unfortunately this left the door open to abuse. Many webmasters used these tags to gain an unfair advantage, forcing search engines to begin disregarding Meta tags.
Title tag:
HTML tag used to define the text in the top line of a Web browser, also used by many search engines as the title of search listings.
Meta KEYWORDS:
Tag is used to group a series of words that relate to a website. These tags can be used by search engines to classify pages for searches.
The Meta DESCRIPTION:
Is used to describe the document. The Meta description is then displayed in search engine results.
Cache:
Copies of web pages stored locally on an Internet user's hard drive or within a search engine's database. A cache is the reason why web pages load so quickly when a user hits the Back button in their web browser, since the page is not being redownloaded off of the Internet. Google is unusual among search engines in that it allows Internet users to view the cached version of web pages in its index. Simply click on the word "Cache" next to the search result of interest and you will be taken to a copy of the page as Googlebot discovered and indexed it. This feature of Google makes it easy to spot cloaking...
Lesson 6 = Directories & Search Engine Submissions
When to Submit an URL?
A website should submit an URL only after it is completely ready. That means having your optimization completed and the site launched. Due to the overwhelming number of websites being created on a daily basis, it is taking longer and longer to get listed on the search engines: up to 6 to 8 weeks on some directories like the Open Directory Project.
Therefore, if you complete your URL submission before your website is completely ready, it may get listed incorrectly and sits way down in the listings even if you make your optimization changes the very next day. So submit only after a search engine optimization expert has finished their work on your site.
Having said that it does take a long time to get listed, one should note that it is still good to make regular content updates on your site. When the search engine spiders do visit your site, they like to see fresh content.
Search engine:
A web-based program that allows users to search and retrieve specific information online. The search engine may search the full text of web documents or a list of keywords, or use librarians who review web documents and index them manually for retrieval.
Directory:
A directory is a web site, which contains listings (usually searchable and categorized) of other web sites. Most directories are created and managed by human editors.
The Web Crawler Vs. The Human Directory
The main difference between the search engines or web crawlers and the human powered directories is that search engines use a search engine bot or spider to seek out information from all over the Internet. Then the pages collected by the web crawler go into a massive index. Finally, a software program sorts through the index to rank and deliver each webpage according to the keywords entered when users conduct a search. No human input influences this process. It is purely "mechanical".
The most popular search engines these days are: Google, Yahoo MSN and AOL, but there are hundreds of others.
On the other hands, human powered directories are just what they sound like – their listings are evaluated and compiled by human editors. These editors select sites they think are valuable resources and organize them by subject or category so users can search within a specific area of interest. Most directories deliver results only from within their own database, not the whole web. As one directory, LookSmart, states on its homepage, you get "essential, not exhaustive information."
Submission:
The act to submitting a URL for inclusion into a search engine's index. Unless done through paid inclusion, submission generally does not guarantee listing. In addition, submission does not help with rank improvement on crawler-based search engines unless search engine optimization efforts have been taken. Submission can be done manually (i.e., you fill out an online form and submit) or automated, where a software program or online service may process the forms behind the scenes.
ODP Submission:
Getting your site an optimum listing in the Open Directory (DMOZ) is vitally important as far as search engine positioning is concerned, as Google gives a lot of importance to sites being listed in the Open Directory.
While we haven't delved into the realm of "Direct-Feeds" or Pay-Per-Click which would need articles of their own, the above information should help you submit an URL to the major search engines and directories. Some search engines offer free submission services and some others may index your site eventually if you have inbound links. Just remember that there is no substitute to a professionally optimized and submitted site. Contact us today for more information.
Lesson 7 = Link building
Link Building:
Link building is a Search Engine Optimization technique where a website owner attempts to build relevant, quality links to their website with the intentions of increasing the website importance, and by this increasing ranking in the Search Engines
More and more major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask Jeeves, and AltaVista etc. are known to place some emphasis on off-page factors such as Link Popularity in their ranking algorithms to determine how important your site is in order to rank it high.
Some people believe that the number of sites pointing to their own site is what determines your link popularity, and the more links there are, the higher their own ranking will be. However, that is only partially true and can lead into a trap.
Inbound link:
A link from a site outside of your site.
Outbound link:
A link to a site outside of your own.
Back Link:
Inbound links pointing to a web page. Also known as back links or in links
Dead link:
An Internet link which does not lead to a page or site. This usually occurs when a server is down, the page has moved, or it no longer exists.
Link popularity:
Search engines often use link popularity as part of their ranking criterion. In simple terms, link popularity is the measurement of the number of other Web sites that include a link to your Web site on theirs.
Three type’s links are there
1. Inbound link:
A link coming from an external source into a web site. A search engine listing to your site would be considered an inbound link. These links increase traffic and increase your site popularity according to search engines.
2. Reciprocal link:
Is a link agreement between two web sites where each site places a link on its site to the other?
3. Triangular link:
It is a link agreement between three websites.
Assume there are three websites A, B, C .From these three sites A will add the link of B but B won’t add the link of A instead of that B will add the link into C.(C belongs to B)
Text Links:
Text links are parts of a webpage, which can be used to access other pages on the same website or externally.
Factors Influencing Link Popularity:
Page Rank of the linking web page
Total outgoing links on the linking web page
Industry relevance of the linking web site
Page relevance of the linking web page
Keywords in anchor text
One-way link or reciprocal link
Important Search Engines and Directories Recap
Lists of Other Search Engines and Directories
Links to Avoid
Free Link Popularity Tools
Lesson 8 = Creating sitemaps (Technical files)
How to create Google sitemap
How to create yahoo sitemap
How to create Xml sitemap
How to create html sitemap
How to create Robot text file
How to create a stat counter and google analytics
Automated programs or scripts which travel on the Web and copy pages, ads and anything else they are programmed for. In most cases such activity is used for archive or storage. Search engines conduct this type of activity to provide useful links when users conduct specific queries.
Robots.txt:
A text file used to control some spiders that visit your website. This file allows some access control with certain folders, file types, and specific files depending on the robot accessing the site.
Lesson 9 = How to get good traffic
Traffic:
The visitors to a web page or web site. Also refers to the number of visitors, hits, accesses etc. over a given period.
Rank:
The position a particular site is listed in a search engine after a person does a relevant search. The higher the rank, the nearer the top of the results the site will come, and usually, the more traffic it will get.
Blog:
The name "blog" is a truncated form of "web log" according to Rebecca Blood's essay "Web logs: a history and perspective." Blog is used to refer to sites that can best be described as mini sites or mini directories, populated with the site owner's personal opinions. Blogs are now popular for business use as well.
Pay-per-click (PPC):
A form of online advertising where prices are based on number of click thorough rather than impressions or other criteria.
PPC Advertising is the fastest growing sector of online advertising, increasing from $2.6 billion in 2004 to estimated $5.5 billion in 2009.
Lesson 10 = Avoid search engine spam
Spamming:
Spamming generally refers to the sending of unsolicited bulk electronic mail. It is also a term used by search engines to refer to methods that they consider unacceptable for increasing page relevancy to better ranking position.
Frames:
An HTML technique allowing web site designers to display two or more pages in the same browser window. Many search engines do not index framed web pages properly - they only index the text present in the NOFRAMES tag. Unless a web page which uses frames contains relevant content in the NOFRAMES tag, it is unlikely to get a high ranking in those search engines.
The first question most people ask is: “What, exactly, is search engine spam?”
To answer that question, we turned to the search engines who define spam as "pages created deliberately to trick the search engine into offering inappropriate, redundant, or poor-quality search results."
Search engines simply want to help searchers find high quality content related to their search, preferably linked to other high quality content. Therefore, to keep customer satisfaction high, the search engines take the following spam techniques very seriously, possibly banning forever websites that are caught:
Search Engine Spam Technique #1 – Hidden Text
Number 1 on the most wanted list for the Search Engine Spam Police is hidden text. Hiding irrelevant text under layers, pictures or by having it the same colour as your background can all be detected by the search engines. So don’t do this. They’ll catch you and banish your site from the search engine listings.
Search Engine Spam Technique #2 – Keyword Stuffing
Again, its all detectable by the search engines. So avoid overloading your webpage with lists of keywords or repeating your keyword over and over again in your Meta tags. While its true that content is key to high rankings, the keyword here is “high quality content”.
Search Engine Spam Technique #3 – Doorway pages and Copied Content
Creating doorway pages or multiple domains that all have essentially the same content are also a no-no. So, not only shouldn’t you copy, but you also must protect your content from being copied. If you have a high ranking page, it wouldn’t surprise me if you were able to find your content being copied, word for word, on someone else’s web page. It’s in your interests to get a cease and desist order for this ASAP.
Search Engine Spam Technique #4 – Devious Redirects
This little trick was once used by porn sites to gain extra traffic, but the trick upset some parents and didn’t last long. A few months later we were greeted by the headline “FTC Steps In To Stop Spamming”. What was going on? Well, turns out some unscrupulous websites were created pages that contained lots of pages full of high quality content. Exactly what the search engines were looking for, right? However, after a second or two on this page, you would have been automatically redirected to an adult site. Can you say search engines and legal issues?
Search Engine Spam Technique #5 – Cyber squatting
Some search engine marketing articles will tell you that easy misspells of popular sites is an easy way to pick up extra traffic. And I suppose it is, but doesn’t this sound a little bit like the definition of spam we were given above. While owning a site such as goggle.com or yahhoo.com will bring you some extra traffic, it will punish you in the search engines.
Want to Report a Search Engine Spammer?
The truth is spam hurts all of us by making it difficult for the search engines to sort out the cream from the crap. Therefore, don’t feel like a snitch for reporting spam. In reality, you’re a hero. Report a Spam Result to Google today
Lesson 11 = SEO Reporting and Conversions
Measuring SEO Success
1. Track your site’s search engine rankings
2. Track the amount of traffic your site is receiving
3. Track the number of returning visitors to your site
4. Track the number of sales / conversions your site receives
5. Track the link popularity of your site
