If you are working on an SEO campaign for your small business, or perhaps already publishing content, then it’s time to think about how to distinguish yourself from the competition.  This is not only a smart strategy for dealing with Google (which values unique content) but also for dealing with your human visitors.  They are more likely to remember you if you stand out.

So what you might try is taking a look at your competition, including their sites, their chosen keywords and their linking strategy.  This is why the best SEO companies always insist on analyzing your competition. One common SEO technique is to use keywords repeatedly, when research shows that the best approach may be a subtle repetition, rather than constant copying and pasting.  Actually, it’s quite the SEO dilemma at times.  The more you aim for popular keywords, the higher keyword density competition you’re facing.  Your competitors may not use 100 keywords per page…but they could publish 100 pages with matching keywords.  Suddenly, the competition is intense and you’re feeling pressured to maximize keyword usage.

A smarter strategy would be to focus on moderately popular keyword phrases, perhaps even niche keywords.  Because of less competition for these keywords, just a little bit of repetition will go a long way.  You will also score points from the likes of Google and Bing for “naturalness” in writing.

Be sure to modify your existing pages according to the performance you are seeing from analytics.  You might try studying what the visitors are doing at your site, how they visit, what pages and keywords are popular and other related data.  Focus on what works, rather than constantly experimenting.  Not only is this good for traffic, it’s good for targeted traffic and that means higher conversions.  The pages that are not working very well should be updated or perhaps even deleted if necessary.

In essence, to invest in SEO today is to invest in conversation with web viewers, with the search engines and within your own company.  Don’t just write…react to what is happening around you.

Just as you began to recover from the Google Panda algorithm update, now it’s time brace yourself for Google Penguin, the next update made exclusively to combat web SPAM. As usual, Google is vague about what precisely the Penguin is going to analyze and penalize. They merely stated that the change will “decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google’s existing quality guidelines.”

They also gave some basic guidelines as to what SPAM is, and thus what webmasters want to avoid. They include hidden text and hidden links, redirects, cloaking, automated queries sent to Google, irrelevant keywords, multiple pages with duplicated or mostly duplicated content, phishing sites, or malware/virus sites, doorway pages (which are pages created solely for search engines) and affiliate programs that have low value pages.

Webmasters are uneasy about Google’s citing of “substantially duplicate content”, since this could mean anything from obvious plagiarism to quality keyword pages that read “similarly” to others.

The best way to plan for Penguin, Panda, and any other P-updates that Google comes up with is to avoid underhanded tactics that call out to search engines at the expense of human viewers. In other words, webmasters are being told to stop deceiving their visitors, avoid tricks for advancing to the top (such as link schemes), avoid “bad neighborhoods” when it comes to linkbuilding, and don’t use unauthorized programs to submit pages or check rankings.

Not everyone was pleased with Google’s algorithm update and have even petitioned Google to eliminate the Penguin update altogether. Complaining users state that it’s almost impossible for smaller sites to compete with large publishers like E-How, Yahoo Answers and Amazon, since they have access to more writers, more topics and thus more content.

The long-term effect of Google’s Penguin update remains to be seen, though it’s clear that spammers—and perhaps non-spammers too – have much to fear.

If you feel you’ve been affected by the Penguin update, Google has an online form for you to voice your grievances and while they get thousands of requests, believe it or not, you will get a response. But don’t think Google will automatically reinstate your website index. make sure you follow Google Webmaster best Practices.

Some basic rules:

• Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords (AKA keyword stuffing).
• Avoid creating multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
• Stop adding hidden text or hidden links.
• Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
• Skip creating “doorway” pages created just for search engines, or other “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.

Are you writing for robots or people?  That seems to be the question of search engines today, as Google and Bing (which powers Yahoo Search) attempt to reward quality sites (with magazine style articles) and penalize sites that have poor content, presumably written for robots.  The robots we refer to are search crawler applications that are programmed to notice popular keywords, keyword density and new web content.

In years passed, the algorithms of Google and Yahoo were not that complex and rewarded sites for ambitious planning – as in multiple keywords, tags and page titles.  Now, with multi-million dollar budgets, Google and other search sites are putting more elaborate thought into their algorithm updates and are building their search software to take a more human approach to filtering out low quality sites that, presumably, a human wouldn’t even read.

So, when you are planning an SEO campaign for your small business, take into account who you are speaking to.  Don’t write anything for robots.  These search bots can automatically sense what is grammatically correct, what is efficiently communicated and what is informative to a living audience.  Beyond that, remember that the major search engines still employ a human staff to accomplish editorial tasks that robots presumably cannot do.

When trying to communicate with a human audience ask yourself, “what is my audience thinking right now?”  Most online visitors are thinking “Tell me something I don’t know!”  They go into a search with a fairly broad knowledge of their favorite keyword topic.  For you to present only the most basic subject matter will be an insult to this web viewer’s intelligence!

Another common complaint: don’t try to sell a company or even an idea until you teach the audience something relevant an enlightening.  These are not only the fundamentals of sales, they are also fundamentals of human communication!  The moment a website starts to focus on winning human viewers rather than search engines is the same moment they notice an improvement in search engine success.

Google Panda has struck again, and the after effects are still taking place. According to a webzine called The State Column, their site reported a 98% drop in traffic in March. While they suspected a “glitch”, they later found it this was merely the after effects of a major algorithm update—and their site is not alone. Many other sites are reporting traffic and ranking drop offs, which are presumably occurring because of low quality.

What seems to be the cause? While the original explanation of Google is that they are trying to offer results with greater prestige, (i.e. better writing, less ads and more trusted sites) some webmasters are speculating that altered permalinks, duplicated content and altering canonical tags could be problematic.

What the overwhelming message appears to be is that Google is serious about ridding its version of the net from low quality sites – even if those low quality sites do have original content. Therefore, it is important for webmasters not only to produce high quality material, but also to maintain a clean site, a non-cluttered site, and a site with proper search optimization in HTML, CSS and any other language.

One of the big problems with Panda is that Google is not exactly proactive when it comes to resolving customer disputes. Google doesn’t have a lot to lose and thus doesn’t owe much explanation to angry webmasters who notice their falling rankings and traffic. Therefore, the only defense is to be thorough the first time around. Rather than make changes to tags, page titles or content from day to day after publishing, for the best results, proof the document in advance and then let it age naturally. Check the navigation of your site and make sure that it is user-friendly.

When you plan an SEO campaign for your small business, make sure that you take the stringent new Panda standards into account!

If you believe you’ve been unfairly targeted by the Panda updates, you can request a review from Google by going to the Google Reconsideration Form.

We will discuss the effects of Penguin in a later post.

What is the difference between Yahoo and Bing’s algorithm? If you follow SEO news, you might think that the two companies are one in the same, since Yahoo took over Bing just a few years ago. In fact, Yahoo Search even claims to be powered by Bing. However, being “powered” by Bing or by Google really doesn’t mean anything. Practically every minor search engine out there is powered by Google. If you were to compare Gibiru (an anonymous, uncensored search engine) with Google (just plain old Google) many of the same results would be identical.

This points to the fact that just because a search engine “powers” another one, doesn’t mean that the new search site is above manipulating the results to its favor. Most search engines have human editors in addition to a unique algorithm. So, many of the algorithm differences will be subtle, if not completely unnoticeable to human eyes. Nevertheless, user experience documents some more than subtle differences between Google, Bing and Yahoo. Google is gaining a reputation as favoring back links, while Yahoo seems to put more relevance on title tags. Yahoo also has that reciprocity thing going on, rewarding sites that pay to get listed on Yahoo Business, and that earn other Yahoo-exclusive links, like Yahoo Answers, Yahoo News and so on.

Bing is often said to reward quality content first, while Google tends to pay more attention to site reputation. There are also some reports suggesting Bing has a higher success rate than Google when it comes to users finding what they want, suggesting that Bing probably has more relevant results than Google does.

In any event, as you may know, all search engines change their criteria and algorithms so often, it is sometimes impossible to keep up with all the changes. In most cases you are safe by going after three C’s – content, context and consistency. Write high quality articles, and make sure you are not wasting it on low quality links. At the same time, always remain consistent, so that you can outlast the competition and any fading search engine trends.

Local SEO is a booming business right now, and that is mainly thanks to three major innovators: Google, Facebook and Apple. Though Apple’s efforts were truly innovative, plenty of other mobile and PDA companies have since risen, bringing us high-tech portable phones and digital multimedia players. All of these entities are making local SEO a big business.

Just look at Google Maps and Google Earth, which can now help consumers, traveling locally within a city or town, find a business of their choosing based on keyword search. They can simply type in a keyword search into their mobile device and be pointed via GPS where to go. Google Places is another avenue to explore, as business owners can now create locally based information (including company info, photos and even videos) that earns high local search rankings.

Facebook is also joining the fray, as they have their own Facebook Places now, which directs users to local companies and brings location-based functionality to the highly popular social network. In addition, smartphones like the iPhone, the Blackberry and Android-compatible phones now have apps that deliver customized text information, including locations and directions of companies.

Whether you have a restaurant, a retail store, a dealership, a practice, or any sort of locally based business, you have much to gain by associating with these local SEO powerhouses. If you find that your local SEO campaign isn’t growing much with regular longtail or niche key wording, then maybe it’s time to join the mobile phone and social network revolution. Your first move is to embrace these web tools and show the community where you are, and what you offer. Don’t give up on content production—just integrate it with the most popular sites of the day.

For more information on local SEO and the importance of social media integrated with SEO, talk to a consultant or an experienced SEO firm.

Are you a company looking to branch out into SEO marketing? Then it’s best to read up on all the mistakes other companies are making so you can be prepared. One of the most common mistakes made is that of using non-text programming on a website.

Remember that search engine bots crawl according to text and text links that they find. While there is constant improvement being reported, the fact is that these crawlers can’t index non-text content. This includes everything from Java menus to Ajax menus to Flash animations and GIF/JPG pictures (without alternate text). So if your site has mostly graphic and audio content, you may well be dooming yourself to low page rankings, simply because you have no text. Searchers won’t be able to find you, unless they directly load your site.

Google is primarily a text reader program, and not planning for this will be a bad move…in fact, it will discount an otherwise great website, which no one will ever see. So if you are creating or redoing a website, make sure that it is search engine friendly from the very beginning. You could plan two versions of the site, one text-based, and one featuring graphics and sound. Or, you could combine both, by including various effects on the page, but with plenty of text content as well. You could also provide alternate text navigation to your mail pages. One of the best ways to do this is to create a simple HTML site map.

Last but not least, remember to name your pages descriptively and avoid numbers or mixed text (which is often seen among Java or Flash-heavy sites). Ideally, you want a URL that reflects your products and your company. Search engines, like Google, place high priority in keyword page names.

Example:

For example:

www.Level9Solutions.com/seo/why-is-search-engine-optimization-important/on-page-seo/

is much more attractive to search engines than something like:

www.level9solutions.com/index.php?content=article3&Ptp=1&ID=26

First and foremost, On Page SEO revolves around relevance. The former URL provides that.

Read more about Organic Search Optimization Services

Over the next few months, we will be discussing more SEO mistakes.

For more information contact an SEO Company who can help you through the process.

To this day, many companies have differing opinions of the Google Page Rank. Some believe it is not relevant and some believe it is still relevant. Regardless of which camp you’re in, this article explains what Page Rank is.

If you are new to article marketing and SEO, then you may wonder what the significance is of a site’s page rank. Technically speaking, Page Rank refers to a link analysis algorithm, and one that is commonly used by Google. (Actually, Page Rank is named after Larry Page, the co-founder of Google) Wikipedia states that Page Rank “assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents.”

Online, you will find various page ranking services, including PRChecker.info, that can help you determine where your site is in terms of ranking. Entering a site name into this software can reveal to you that your site is PR0 through PR10.

The significance of the PR ranking is that, ideally, you want to create links that have a high PR ranking. Link exchanges are only valuable if the other site you’re doing business with is evenly matched and has high traffic. In fact, creating a bunch of low quality, low traffic links will probably backfire. Buying links is also a mistake, as search engines like Google and Yahoo consider context and relevancy when determining link popularity.

So, if you are investing in article marketing (which is essentially a form of linkbuilding) ask the SEO firm which directory sites it submits to, and what their PR rankings are. Submitting to a PR0 or PR1 site is not going to do you any favors. Ideally, you want to work with sites that have the highest levels possible, so that these links will be valued by search engines.

Some of the top directory sites in terms of popularity and high PR rankings include EZineArticles, Buzzle, Suite101 and Articles Base. Not only is quality linkbuilding important, but in the end, you want to work with these higher PR sites because that means more traffic for you!

For more information on creating quality links talk to an SEO Company.

Targeting The Most Popular Keywords May Be Draining Your Bank Account

Have you ever felt discouraged after launching an SEO campaign, only to find out that you didn’t crack the top 50? It doesn’t seem fair…especially since your words were so well chosen and the articles you published, so well-written.

Here’s the problem: you may very well be going after search terms that are too popular and too broad. You are being slaughtered by the competition. The only way to seriously compete would be to publish many more articles, and even better quality articles than you currently have. And sadly, even then you have an uphill battle.

Why is this? Because it’s not just the content that matters. Search engines also consider many other factors, such as link popularity, site popularity, the date the site was created (with preference to older sites), and site reputation. The search engines are not playing favorites – they are trying to deliver the results that their users want.

So do they play fair? Not necessarily, because the audience is not really “playing fair.” They want reliable sources; they want sites that have a good reputation, and not just any cheesy site that posts information.

Therefore, if you have a limited budget and are not seeing any success in your SEO campaign, then it’s time to consider an alternative route. Go for the niches!

Spend your money wisely and invest in long-tail keywords and local keyword combinations. This is not only going to separate you from the competition, but it’s also going to help you reached targeted traffic. In essence, you are pre-qualifying your traffic and this will often times lead to greater sales.

As the Internet becomes more and more populated, this is quickly becoming the definitive SEO strategy of today—and all the more so for the small business that can’t afford to publish hundreds of pages of content each month.

Be specific and you will bring in quality traffic, making your SEO campaign a magnificent success!

Keyword density can be a confusing issue in SEO. While some SEO companies suggest that keyword repetition is vital, others believe that it could be a detrimental practice to an otherwise excellent page. What is there to know about keyword density? How many recurrences of one word is too much?

There is no right or wrong answer, at least in terms of a general rule. The search engine company has the right to penalize a page if they believe the webmaster is using far too many keyword repetitions. On the other hand, if the subject matter is complex, a lack of keyword repetition could work against a top page ranking.

Some clients will state that 1% density is more than enough, since search engine algorithms are highly sophisticated and can easily track with keywords being highlighted naturally. However, some clients may insist upon a 5% keyword density. While this might seem like an old school tactic, some webmasters do report seeing results even when using this high density. Ultimately, it is dependent upon the competition. If there is a lack of quality sites competing against a high keyword density site, then obviously, it would not be penalized for an over-enthusiastic presentation. On the other hand, a SPAM site with dozens of keywords for a few short paragraphs would probably not stand a chance.

We in the SEO industry recommend natural repetition, which includes not only recurring keywords in the paragraph but also on the page title, in subheadings and in META tags. We believe in repetition; provided that it’s natural, conversational repetition—the type you might hear from an experienced public speaker. However, high keyword repetition for the sake of a cheap victory in search rankings, is going to disappoint you. For more on keyword strategy, contact an experienced SEO Company.