Website Marketing Resource

The pursuit of online information has become an increasingly dynamic and competitive marketplace during the past three years. Global heavyweights such as www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, and www.msn.com are backed by massive resources, making it nearly impossible for new companies to even attempt to compete. It would seem for new start directories it is almost impossible to aim for the "catch all" approach, as there are simply bigger companies out there with larger budgets ? who are going to dominate the market for years to come. However, there are still a number of innovative directories evolving which are capable of surviving in this ultra-competitive landscape. The key to this survival is undoubtedly focusing upon a niche and making sure your site stands out from others.

When performing a web search, users have the choice between search engines and directories. Directories tend to be categorised by webmasters or a group of subject experts ? such as the directory http://dmoz.com. When using such a directory, the user has the option to either type in a word to facilitate a search through the directory listings, or they can choose a subject heading, for example "travel". After clicking on this category, users are faced with lists of several subtopics such as "hotels" which would then be further split into geographic regions, then the individual hotel names.

First of all, What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the art of making your pages efficient for search engine robots in order to get your site listed in the top of their results, preferrably on the first page and within the top 10. We can easily achieve this if we know how the search engine is reading our sites, so we can further tweak our pages and make it to the top.

There have been several SEO techniques but this one is a Brand New, unique method, I prefer call "The Small Screen SEO". We will be using our mobile phone handset connected with GPRS to do this, if you don’t have a mobile phone you can use opera which has the capability to browse WAP sites, now the theory is that since mobile phones have very limited capabilities in terms of screen size and content support, the most important content will be given preference over all others.

Every website has times when traffic is higher than others. However, in the downtimes you need to figure out why your traffic is lower and what you can you about it. The following suggestions have been proven to increase website traffic and will be effective in getting you more customers. However, before implementing these tips into your website promotion plan make sure you have a clear understanding of how to perform them effectively because if you are not aware of how to do something right, it could possibly backfire and work against you.

Tip #1 Keyword Phrases

Keyword phrases and rich content are a major concern when it comes to bringing in more traffic and getting a higher ranking with the search engines. The reason for this is that when people search they search for particular terms, or keywords. If you have these on your web page then you will be returned as a result. To make this work for you, make sure that you know the important keywords for your website and optimize each page around those certain keyword phrases. Don’t overdo it however, or fill up pages with keywords because this will work against you. If you plan on using keyword phrases as part of your site promotion plan do some research and educate yourself on the right way to carry this strategy out.

Through search engines and directories, the Internet provides a quick and easy place to choose a local merchant or business.

Just because the Internet is worldwide doesn’t mean local businesses can’t benefit from having a website and a presence in the search engines. Realizing the benefits of local searches Google recently launched "Google Local." This feature allows searchers to enter in their zip code and search using keywords. When the results are returned they provide the address and phone number of the businesses. Google and MapQuest have partnered to provide maps and directions to the locations that are returned in the search. Yahoo, AOL and MSN also have local capabilities.

The Kelsey Group and ConStat have found that 70% of US households use the internet to shop for local products and services. http://www.imediaconnection.com/news/5319.asp

More and more people are turning to search engines and online yellow pages to search for local companies. A website allows for business owners to provide more information about their products and services than a full-page ad ever could.

Think you know everything about searching with Google? Think again. Believe it or not, there are many tools and features available on Google that can be useful for marketing research as well as wasting time. Learn more below about Google’s coolest features.

What are people saying about your site?

Find out what people say about your site or anything else with Google WebQuotes. A Google Lab experiment, Google WebQuotes annotates the results of your Google search with comments from other websites. This offers a convenient way to get a third party’s opinion about each of the returns for your search, providing you with more information about that site’s credibility and reputation. Try your site name and variations, such as “Big Oak”, “www.bigoakinc.com” and “http://www.bigoakinc.com” to see what results they bring up.

Google Suggest

As you type your keywords into the search box, Google Suggest offers keyword suggestions in real time. It will provide a list of suggestions as you type in your search criteria, ranked by the number of occurrences that the suggestions appear in Google’s index.

Google Sets

Becoming an SEO expert, or a search engine optimization expert, is something that is worth your while if you are interested in getting your web page noticed and increasing your traffic. It is not hard to become an SEO expert if you simply know what steps you need follow to take you there. As long as you follow these steps and are diligent, you will become the SEO expert you want to be. Read the following topics, then research them more to learn exactly what will put you above the majority of all webmasters.

Topic #1 Keywords

Keywords are a huge part of becoming a search engine optimization expert. The reason for this is that keywords are used by the search engines to find and rank their results. You must become an expert at using keywords that apply to your products and services in order to become a search engine optimization expert.

Topic #2 Links

For websites, one of the most important things in their existence is their ranking with the search engines. The reason why this is so important is because when websites are ranked high by the search engines, they get flooded with free, targeted web traffic from visitors who are looking for information or products. Obviously, any kind of activity that might hurt a websites chance of getting a premium listing should be avoided at all costs. The following tips are things websites should completely avoid if they want to optimize their results with the search engines.

Tip #1 Don’t Spam

Almost none of the search engines index websites long term that practice spamming. Also, search engines frequently update their definition of “search engine spam” than say the average Internet user, so it would be worthwhile to educate yourself and stay current on the definition of spamming by the major search engines. Search engines frequently blacklist URLs that engage in spamming, so not only will you not get indexed but you could get blacklisted for life. Certainly worth avoiding.

Tip #2 Don’t Use Frames

You may have heard how important it is to have your website optimized for search engines, especially Google, which is currently the most popular worldwide. The reason for this is so your website will be ranked high in the search engines and people will see your site first, click on it, and increase your traffic and ultimately your sales. You might think this all sounds like a wonderful idea and want to get your web site optimized for Google, but you may have no idea how to go about it. Don’t worry, getting your web page ready for the Google search engine is not as difficult as you might have thought. Google has a system called PageRank? that ranks the different web pages according to different standards. When you learn the standards you will know how to best optimize your page to get a high ranking in Google.

Tip #1 Search Engine Spamming

If you want to get a long term, high ranking with Google it is important not to spam. The reason for this is Google will blacklist you from their index and not list your URL. Also, most other web search engines operate the same way. Learn what is considered as spamming so you can avoid doing this.

(A Reflective look at the little search engine that soared!)

All knowing, all seeing, ever present!

Google has permeated into almost every aspect of life on this planet and beyond. It has become a mainstream fixture for computer and Internet users around the globe. All the while, cementing its position as the only real facilitator of the world’s collective intelligence.

Can you remember a day when you have not Googled?

But Google’s reach doesn’t stop with the mouse or the cursor. It has moved beyond the computer screen, snapping up resources, sites, and people at a frighteningly steady pace. Perhaps, the first indication Google wasn’t just satisfied with staying within the wired confines of the world wide web was when it partnered with universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and others, to scan and index the contents of their libraries — then making this material accessible through Google Print.

Then it casted its aspirations heavenward with the introduction of Google Maps and Google Earth. Mapping services that bring the world’s geographic information into view, it is as if Google had literally ascended, watching us from far and near, tracking our every move as well as our every keystroke. Even using satellite imagery to provide it with eyes in the sky; leading one to wonder, from those lofty heights can divinity be far behind?

No matter who you are or how much you pay for web site advertising, free search engine traffic is probably responsible for a big part of your business. So why make your web site so hard for search engines to figure out?

Luckily, it seems like in the recent years people have paid attention to SEO, moved their sites over to CSS, abolished “table” and “font” HTML tags, started using the H1 tag around their titles… and in general, moved the main content of their site as close to the top of the HTML document as it can go.

“But Robert,” you tell me, “I have a bunch of fancy JavaScript and CSS at the top of my site that I don’t want to get rid of.”

That’s ok, you can keep it. Just stash it away in another file. By that I mean… if you were lazy and included your CSS right in the HTML document like this:

(style type=”text/css”)
(!–
CSS code in here
–)
(/style)

Copy all that text out and delete it from the HTML page.