Sunday, May 12, 2013
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Get Listed In Google By Making An XML SiteMap and Without Spending A Dime.
If you have been unsuccessfully trying to get listed in Google or just hitting roadblocks when trying to get more of your pages listed in Google, then you need to read this short article. I am about to reveal a simple SEO secret that can save you a lot of time, money and effort.
Google has a preferred search submission format that it actually asks webmasters to use, It's called a Google SiteMap.
Admittedly, creating and using XML is no easy task for anyone who is non-technical or inexperienced with web coding, however there is a site or two on the web that can actually help you create an XML sitemap and then submit it to Google so that this venerable search engine can crawl your previously unknown web site and get you listed.
Of course there are no guarantees that your site will get high ranks or that it will meet Google's guidelines for inclusion, so be sure to make sure that your site is properly optimized and meets their guidelines before using these tools.
Before I reveal these tools and show you where to go to find out how to use them, let's take a look at the basics.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a special document formatted created to allow communication between applications and also between organizations. XML is a practical system that structurally defines the format and composition of intricate documents and data such as invoices, news feeds, inventory reports, catalog listings and other complex documents. A seasoned programmer who understands XML can easily create XML applications that know how to pull data from XML sources and then format it for presentation to end users.
In the case of Google, this same XML data format can be used to define your site's pages and their position in relation to each other. So for example, your "about_us.html" page is usually connected only one click away from your "index.html" page. When used in this manner to define pages and their positions we are creating what is commonly known as a sitemap.
Google says in the own words, "Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to help improve your coverage in the Google index. It's a collaborative crawling system that enables you to communicate directly with Google to keep us informed of all your web pages, and when you make changes to these pages."
So in essence, Google is asking us to help them index the web by using this simple technique that will no doubt become a major help to struggling webmasters everywhere.
Google, by the way, will accept simple text file based sitemaps. Please consult their site for more information.
How to get your sitemap indexed.
Once your sitemap has been created and uploaded to the main directory of your web site, simply use this URL to submit it:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=sitemap_url
Just replace the parameter, "sitemap_url" with the actual URL of your sitemap. Example:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=http://www.mywebsiteabc.com/
sitemap.xml
You can also open a Google account before submitting to make sure that you can actually track your submission to check your sitemap status.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
I promised to reveal the tools used to facilitate the creation of XML sitemaps and here they are...
The Tools Revealed:
SiteMapspal:
Use this Google recommended online tool to generate a Google friendly xml sitemap that you can simple cut/paste and then upload to your site. Simply provide your site URL and select a few optional settings and with one-click ease you will have a sitemap, ready to go.
http://www.sitemapspal.com/
Google SiteMap Generator:
Provided by Google themselves, this is not for the faint of heart, it requires some knowledge of working with Python scripts (a web coding format) and will requires installation on your site.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/sitemap-generator.html
SiteMap Validator:
Use this Google recommended tool to validate your sitemap for accuracy.
http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/internet/google/submit-validate-sitemap/
Google has a preferred search submission format that it actually asks webmasters to use, It's called a Google SiteMap.
Admittedly, creating and using XML is no easy task for anyone who is non-technical or inexperienced with web coding, however there is a site or two on the web that can actually help you create an XML sitemap and then submit it to Google so that this venerable search engine can crawl your previously unknown web site and get you listed.
Of course there are no guarantees that your site will get high ranks or that it will meet Google's guidelines for inclusion, so be sure to make sure that your site is properly optimized and meets their guidelines before using these tools.
Before I reveal these tools and show you where to go to find out how to use them, let's take a look at the basics.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a special document formatted created to allow communication between applications and also between organizations. XML is a practical system that structurally defines the format and composition of intricate documents and data such as invoices, news feeds, inventory reports, catalog listings and other complex documents. A seasoned programmer who understands XML can easily create XML applications that know how to pull data from XML sources and then format it for presentation to end users.
In the case of Google, this same XML data format can be used to define your site's pages and their position in relation to each other. So for example, your "about_us.html" page is usually connected only one click away from your "index.html" page. When used in this manner to define pages and their positions we are creating what is commonly known as a sitemap.
Google says in the own words, "Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to help improve your coverage in the Google index. It's a collaborative crawling system that enables you to communicate directly with Google to keep us informed of all your web pages, and when you make changes to these pages."
So in essence, Google is asking us to help them index the web by using this simple technique that will no doubt become a major help to struggling webmasters everywhere.
Google, by the way, will accept simple text file based sitemaps. Please consult their site for more information.
How to get your sitemap indexed.
Once your sitemap has been created and uploaded to the main directory of your web site, simply use this URL to submit it:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=sitemap_url
Just replace the parameter, "sitemap_url" with the actual URL of your sitemap. Example:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=http://www.mywebsiteabc.com/
sitemap.xml
You can also open a Google account before submitting to make sure that you can actually track your submission to check your sitemap status.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
I promised to reveal the tools used to facilitate the creation of XML sitemaps and here they are...
The Tools Revealed:
SiteMapspal:
Use this Google recommended online tool to generate a Google friendly xml sitemap that you can simple cut/paste and then upload to your site. Simply provide your site URL and select a few optional settings and with one-click ease you will have a sitemap, ready to go.
http://www.sitemapspal.com/
Google SiteMap Generator:
Provided by Google themselves, this is not for the faint of heart, it requires some knowledge of working with Python scripts (a web coding format) and will requires installation on your site.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/sitemap-generator.html
SiteMap Validator:
Use this Google recommended tool to validate your sitemap for accuracy.
http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/internet/google/submit-validate-sitemap/
The One Most Overlooked SEO Secret !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most internet business owners know the basics when it comes to getting ranked well in search engines. Put the keyword in the title. Put the keyword in your headline, the text, etc...
Some get even more "slick" and they insert the keyword many times in the text. Then others get even more technical and begin an active linking strategy. By the way, an active linking strategy can be one of the best ways to get your search engine rankings high - but that's not what we're talking about today.
Today I want to talk about a little secret that MOST sites don't use - even some of the most active websites that PAY for their search engine optimization. The best part is that you can use this trick in just minutes - you could do it 5 minutes after reading this!
Ok, ok...here it is...
----------------------------------------------------
Insert the keyword in the text of a link
----------------------------------------------------
You want to have about 2 to 5 out-going links with the keyword in the text of the link.
Ok, it's time for example:
Let's say you're optimizing your site for the keyword "big screen tv" - besides all the other great SEO techniques - you want to have at-least 2-5 links on that page with the keyword "big screen tv" in the text of the link.
The link can be any of the following:
1. A link to another page in your own site.
2. An affiliate link to another website.
3. A link to a completely different website.
In other words, don't stress too much on what site you're linking to (obviously, you want to make sure you link to a relevant page - not something completely un-related).
Including this strategy on your website will take just minutes.
All you have to do is change the text of some of your out-going links to include your main keyword.
NOTE: This trick won't do anything for you if you aren't using the other SEO techniques along with it. BUT, if you ARE using other SEO techniques, this little trick just MAY be what you need to finally bring up your rankings!
So, hurry now and change your link's text, you better do it before your competition does!
Some get even more "slick" and they insert the keyword many times in the text. Then others get even more technical and begin an active linking strategy. By the way, an active linking strategy can be one of the best ways to get your search engine rankings high - but that's not what we're talking about today.
Today I want to talk about a little secret that MOST sites don't use - even some of the most active websites that PAY for their search engine optimization. The best part is that you can use this trick in just minutes - you could do it 5 minutes after reading this!
Ok, ok...here it is...
----------------------------------------------------
Insert the keyword in the text of a link
----------------------------------------------------
You want to have about 2 to 5 out-going links with the keyword in the text of the link.
Ok, it's time for example:
Let's say you're optimizing your site for the keyword "big screen tv" - besides all the other great SEO techniques - you want to have at-least 2-5 links on that page with the keyword "big screen tv" in the text of the link.
The link can be any of the following:
1. A link to another page in your own site.
2. An affiliate link to another website.
3. A link to a completely different website.
In other words, don't stress too much on what site you're linking to (obviously, you want to make sure you link to a relevant page - not something completely un-related).
Including this strategy on your website will take just minutes.
All you have to do is change the text of some of your out-going links to include your main keyword.
NOTE: This trick won't do anything for you if you aren't using the other SEO techniques along with it. BUT, if you ARE using other SEO techniques, this little trick just MAY be what you need to finally bring up your rankings!
So, hurry now and change your link's text, you better do it before your competition does!
Increase Your Google Page Rank!
This article will put a damper on web sites that sell information which will supposedly increase your page rank. I may make some enemies here, but this is already common knowledge. In fact, to make sure it worked, I designed a new site just for this purpose. Before you shell out money for an ebook, software, or CD telling you how to do this; read this article. If you achieve great results after following my advice and feel it was worth some money, feel free to write me a check for any amount you choose. I 'll add my own zeros.ƒ؛
Page Rank. We all know what is. We all want to rank higher. Higher rankings mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To web masters it means achievement. They have accomplished a move in the right direction. A high page rank to a website owner is money in the bank. It is also an impressive accomplishment. To other website owners your page rank may be a source of envy.
To Google your page rank means quality, importance and relevancy. It lets Google know you are a viable resource and a valuable asset. Google takes your Page Rank and combines it with their text-matching techniques. This, combined with a page،¦s content and the content of the pages linking to it, determines if your site is a good match. So, a higher Page Rank will certainly help you on Google.
As for surfers. Most of them could care less about your Page Rank. In fact, many of them don't even know what it is. However, those that do use it in a different way. Some use it as a way to unofficially gauge your credibility.
Ok, I am sure you've been wondering when I was going to tell you about how to achieve a ranking like I did. I went from a 0 Page Rank to a 5. Now, mind you, I did not purchase any links from high ranking sites, or any sites for that matter. I did not launch a link exchange program. I did exchange links with about five directories related to my site،¦s topic, but that was it. Actually, 97% of my links are all one-way links (links pointing to my site).
So, how did I do it? Any ideas? If you know SEO you may already know the answer.
Link Farms? Of, course not. We know Google will frown on that method. Did I design or optimize sites and add my URL? Hmmm..Yes! However, that is a small percent of the success. SEO companies don،¦t usually add their URL to sites they have optimized. Ok, so what else?
Content? Yes, content is king as always. Content is what was used to help boost my ranking. But how?
I create articles. These are quality articles, just like the one you are reading now. These articles were not generated from any program. I authored the content from my own knowledge and researched over 100 web sites that accept articles in my area of expertise. SEO happens to be a very popular topic. These sites agree to post my articles on their site, along with my url(s). Many of these sites have a decent Page Rank of their own. Their rank will transfer over to my site. Also, as time goes by, those articles will have a PR effect of their own which will transfer to my site(s). Don،¦t forget, other people may pick these articles up and use them on their site as well. They will also include my URL(s) on their sites. Now, if I do 100 sites a week times four articles a month, that's at least 400 articles a month. The last Google update was 86 days, the longest has been 111. That could lead to 1200 or more links between updates. What will Google think about all these links at once? They،¦ll love it! Content, quality, one way links. I also promoted my blogs and my website in some of my articles. This way, they too have their own PR generating effect. They also link to my site and my site to them. This, in turn, increased the PR to them as well. At the time of this article and the most recent Google update, one of my blogs went from 0 to 3 and the other 0 to 4 all in the same update.
These tips should help you increase your page rank. The hardest part will be creating content related to your field and finding sites that will post your work. You can always hire writers and/or article submission services. Here's to the next Google update. Cheers!
Page Rank. We all know what is. We all want to rank higher. Higher rankings mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To web masters it means achievement. They have accomplished a move in the right direction. A high page rank to a website owner is money in the bank. It is also an impressive accomplishment. To other website owners your page rank may be a source of envy.
To Google your page rank means quality, importance and relevancy. It lets Google know you are a viable resource and a valuable asset. Google takes your Page Rank and combines it with their text-matching techniques. This, combined with a page،¦s content and the content of the pages linking to it, determines if your site is a good match. So, a higher Page Rank will certainly help you on Google.
As for surfers. Most of them could care less about your Page Rank. In fact, many of them don't even know what it is. However, those that do use it in a different way. Some use it as a way to unofficially gauge your credibility.
Ok, I am sure you've been wondering when I was going to tell you about how to achieve a ranking like I did. I went from a 0 Page Rank to a 5. Now, mind you, I did not purchase any links from high ranking sites, or any sites for that matter. I did not launch a link exchange program. I did exchange links with about five directories related to my site،¦s topic, but that was it. Actually, 97% of my links are all one-way links (links pointing to my site).
So, how did I do it? Any ideas? If you know SEO you may already know the answer.
Link Farms? Of, course not. We know Google will frown on that method. Did I design or optimize sites and add my URL? Hmmm..Yes! However, that is a small percent of the success. SEO companies don،¦t usually add their URL to sites they have optimized. Ok, so what else?
Content? Yes, content is king as always. Content is what was used to help boost my ranking. But how?
I create articles. These are quality articles, just like the one you are reading now. These articles were not generated from any program. I authored the content from my own knowledge and researched over 100 web sites that accept articles in my area of expertise. SEO happens to be a very popular topic. These sites agree to post my articles on their site, along with my url(s). Many of these sites have a decent Page Rank of their own. Their rank will transfer over to my site. Also, as time goes by, those articles will have a PR effect of their own which will transfer to my site(s). Don،¦t forget, other people may pick these articles up and use them on their site as well. They will also include my URL(s) on their sites. Now, if I do 100 sites a week times four articles a month, that's at least 400 articles a month. The last Google update was 86 days, the longest has been 111. That could lead to 1200 or more links between updates. What will Google think about all these links at once? They،¦ll love it! Content, quality, one way links. I also promoted my blogs and my website in some of my articles. This way, they too have their own PR generating effect. They also link to my site and my site to them. This, in turn, increased the PR to them as well. At the time of this article and the most recent Google update, one of my blogs went from 0 to 3 and the other 0 to 4 all in the same update.
These tips should help you increase your page rank. The hardest part will be creating content related to your field and finding sites that will post your work. You can always hire writers and/or article submission services. Here's to the next Google update. Cheers!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Keywords Finalization Methodology
To arrive at the set of keywords that:
Describe business correctly (are relevant)
Attract traffic (are popular & are searched for)
Have less competition (are relatively un-optimized for )
Steps
Step I:
Lets start by saying that the for the keyword finalization of a web site the first step is to device the theme of the web site. The keywords then should be generated which are in sync with the themeing structure of the site. The home pages & the other higher level pages should target more general(main theme)keywords. The deeper pages (embedded in subdirectories or sub domains) should target more specific & qualified keywords.
Once the sites themes & sub-themes are done, lets start by looking for the keywords
StepII:
The finalization of the keywords for any given site can be done in the following way:
Generation of the seed keywords for the site (theme keywords).
Expansion of the seed keywords into key-phrases by adding qualifiers (sub theme keywords)
Generating a larger set of keywords by word play on the key-phrases generated in step II.(sub theme targeting)
Lets take them one by one:
SEED Keywords/Primary keywords:
The seed keywords can be generated by either of the ways mentioned below:
The client provides the terms he feels are relevant to his business.
The SEO firm generates the seed words by understanding the business domain & the business model of the client.
Some outside domain consultant provides them.
Another way of generating seed keywords is to look for the meta tags of the competition web sites.
WARNING: do not place any unnecessary emphasis on these tags. Use them just to generate you seed keywords list.
If one has certain set of keywords then tools like WT & Overture can also be used to arrive at the other relevant seed keywords.
Typically seed keywords are single word.
A good number of seed Keywords is between 10-12.
SUB theme Keywords (add Qualifiers)
Now to these seed keywords add qualifiers.
These qualifiers can be anything location/sub-product/color/part no/activity/singular etc.
By utilizing these qualifiers one can expand the list of the seed keywords.
Say a good number would be anywhere between 20-30.
Typicaly a sub theme key phrase could be of 2-3 -4 word length.
One recent study suggests that
The typical searcher often uses longer queries. Many contain more than three words. Within three different search engines, keyword distribution data tells a compelling story:
Words in Query LookSmart (%) Ask.com (%) Teoma (%)
1 27.00 12.76 38.04
2 33.00 22.46 29.59
3 23.00 19.34 18.13
4 10.00 11.89 8.00
5 7.00* 7.86 3.51
6 - 6.19 1.39
7 - 5.47 0.63
LookSmart does not report beyond 5 search terms, instead grouping five or more terms into one category.
Approximately 40 percent of queries in LookSmart have three or more words. About 32 percent in Teoma have three or more. Ask Jeeves has an even higher skew, nearly 62 percent, because of its natural language focus. Within FAST, the database that powers Lycos and others, the average is 2.5 terms. That suggests a similar frequency distribution to LookSmart and Teoma.
Hence we can keep the average length of sub theme keywords at around 3.
Describe business correctly (are relevant)
Attract traffic (are popular & are searched for)
Have less competition (are relatively un-optimized for )
Steps
Step I:
Lets start by saying that the for the keyword finalization of a web site the first step is to device the theme of the web site. The keywords then should be generated which are in sync with the themeing structure of the site. The home pages & the other higher level pages should target more general(main theme)keywords. The deeper pages (embedded in subdirectories or sub domains) should target more specific & qualified keywords.
Once the sites themes & sub-themes are done, lets start by looking for the keywords
StepII:
The finalization of the keywords for any given site can be done in the following way:
Generation of the seed keywords for the site (theme keywords).
Expansion of the seed keywords into key-phrases by adding qualifiers (sub theme keywords)
Generating a larger set of keywords by word play on the key-phrases generated in step II.(sub theme targeting)
Lets take them one by one:
SEED Keywords/Primary keywords:
The seed keywords can be generated by either of the ways mentioned below:
The client provides the terms he feels are relevant to his business.
The SEO firm generates the seed words by understanding the business domain & the business model of the client.
Some outside domain consultant provides them.
Another way of generating seed keywords is to look for the meta tags of the competition web sites.
WARNING: do not place any unnecessary emphasis on these tags. Use them just to generate you seed keywords list.
If one has certain set of keywords then tools like WT & Overture can also be used to arrive at the other relevant seed keywords.
Typically seed keywords are single word.
A good number of seed Keywords is between 10-12.
SUB theme Keywords (add Qualifiers)
Now to these seed keywords add qualifiers.
These qualifiers can be anything location/sub-product/color/part no/activity/singular etc.
By utilizing these qualifiers one can expand the list of the seed keywords.
Say a good number would be anywhere between 20-30.
Typicaly a sub theme key phrase could be of 2-3 -4 word length.
One recent study suggests that
The typical searcher often uses longer queries. Many contain more than three words. Within three different search engines, keyword distribution data tells a compelling story:
Words in Query LookSmart (%) Ask.com (%) Teoma (%)
1 27.00 12.76 38.04
2 33.00 22.46 29.59
3 23.00 19.34 18.13
4 10.00 11.89 8.00
5 7.00* 7.86 3.51
6 - 6.19 1.39
7 - 5.47 0.63
LookSmart does not report beyond 5 search terms, instead grouping five or more terms into one category.
Approximately 40 percent of queries in LookSmart have three or more words. About 32 percent in Teoma have three or more. Ask Jeeves has an even higher skew, nearly 62 percent, because of its natural language focus. Within FAST, the database that powers Lycos and others, the average is 2.5 terms. That suggests a similar frequency distribution to LookSmart and Teoma.
Hence we can keep the average length of sub theme keywords at around 3.
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