SEO Blog - Search Engine Optimization Blog

Top SEO News Links Worth Reading

The most important Google ranking algorithm changes in 2011

Is Google's Advertising Destroying the Sanctity of Search Results?

6 SEO Jedi Tactics to Try Before Turning to the Dark Side

Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements & Better Byline Dates

2012 - The Year of Change for SEO and Internet Marketing

Current SEO Trends in 2011 & 2012

Keyword research your web sites industry buzzwords by going to Google's external keyword research tool. Enter your websites domain name in the website field and let Google recommend your websites related keywords. Research their recommendations against your competition and apply what you think will work best for you.

Make sure to use you web log analysis software and tools to track where your visitors are coming from and how they are finding you. Then you can adjust your website's keywords based on that research.

How many backlinks do you have? What are people saying about you in link anchor text? Create linkable worthy content to increase your backlinks and popularity.

As has always been the case if you focus on these very few SEO principles you will watch your website increase in the search engines. Good Luck!

New to SEO? Here is a good Place to Start

Danny Sullivan and Search Engine Land has put together some great information on search engine optimization to get you started. If you're new to SEO this page provides you with what you need to understand SEO and where to get started.

Be sure to watch the video and take a look at the Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors which offers you a quick guide on what to do and check.

In addition to the articles that we provide you on this blog these Search Engine Land articles will get you up and ranked in no time!

Limit Images for Search Engine Optimization

The file size of your website can effect the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website. One way to keep the file size relatively small is through minimal use of images. Images have an aesthetical appeal and therefore should not be eliminated all together but using them sparingly can give your website a great look without compromising load time. When it takes a long time for a website to load, users often grow impatient and do not wait for the website to load completely. Some retail websites may have difficulty following this advice because they need many pictures to display their products. If you require many images, use thumbnails or other techniques to minimize file size.

How ALT Tags Can Improve Search Engine Placements

The use of ALT tags is one search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that is often overlooked. Images on your website can create an excellent look that is aesthetically pleasing to visitors but unless you are utilizing your ALT tags, these images do not help you to increase your search engine rankings. Search engines do not view images as they crawl your website. However, if you apply ALT tags to your images, the search engines will see the text that is placed in these tags. This gives the website owner the opportunity to include a description of the image that incorporates relative keywords.

Panda a Continuous Work in Motion

Google's Panda update is still being refined and further implemented week by week. Google said the following in regards to the Panda update this week:

“We’re continuing to iterate on our Panda algorithm as part of our commitment to returning high-quality sites to Google users. This most recent update is one of the roughly 500 changes we make to our ranking algorithms each year.”

YouTube has been one of the biggest winners, according to Searchmetrics, as were a collection of other big brand video sites - Hulu, MTV, NBC, CBS, HBO and a number of others that contain a large amount of video content. Good, non spammy video will help your SEO efforts.

Aaron Wall talks about the Panda update in this humorous animated video:

Google Panda Algorithm Change History

Properly Title Individual Page Titles

Another one of the key SEO tips a site could be given is to properly label all of the different pages of their site. It is also helpful to make all pages stand out from the rest by placing unique titles (while at the same time are accurate and reflective of the content) that let internet users know the contents of each page.

By properly labeling pages, search engines will be better able to present the site when those keywords are searched. No title or a generic title will be lost among the results of a search engine while a reflective and accurate description will alert a search engine (and therefore a search engine user) to the content available to them. This is one of many SEO techniques that help separate sites and promote traffic and visibility while optimizing search engines.

Forget PageRank Remember the Big 3's

Google has said that their PageRank metric is not what it started out to be and that we shouldn't focus on that metric. While it served its purpose when it was introduced in 1998 it has since lost its spark.
 
In order to rank well on Google remember these three simple search engine optimization techniques, if done correctly they will serve your web site well:

 1. Make sure to choose relative keywords.
 2. Focus on getting higher in the search engines with the keywords you select.
 3. Get backlinks to your keywords that point to the web pages that use these keywords. Remember don’t just link to your homepage but instead build deep link building campaigns within like pages on your web site.
 
Good Luck and see you at the top.

White Hat and Black Hat SEO

All of the available search engine optimization services generally fall into one of two categories (though some may be considered a little of both): white hat search engine optimization and black hat search engine optimization. Those that fall into the white hat (named such because of classic film hero characters who would wear white hats) category are generally those that use search engine optimization techniques that are non-deceptive and follow the unwritten rules. Black hat (named after film and comic "evil" characters dressed in black) search optimization techniques are ones that are aggressive, deceptive and seeking immediate results with little to no consideration for long-term effects. While search engines and moderators often are able to eventually detect the malicious activities of those utilizing black hat search optimization techniques, often times black hat techniques can be effective for at least a short period of time.