Friday, June 26, 2009

Offsite Optimization Tips to Increase Web Traffic and Rankings (guest blog)


If you really want to improve your search engine optimization and place at the top of search engine listings for your targeted keywords, you need to also focus on offsite optimization. You can begin by including these three words into your SEO vocabulary: Relevance, Competition, and Links.

Know Your Search Engine Listing Competition

After you find your long-tailed, targeted, niche keyword, do your own search with it! Type it into the search engine and see the pages already listed in the top ten spots. Look for the following:

1. Relevance
Do the pages and descriptions match the market you wish to target? If not, stop right there, you need to rephrase your keyword or find another that reflects your audience and topic. Search engines will not allow your page to rise in the listing if it does not fit into its already defined topic. This allows you to see how the search engine treats specific phrases and categories so you can optimize accordingly. Why bother pulling in visitors who do not want your information or services anyway?

2. Domain Types
If you see the top ten littered with .edu's, .gov's, major news sites like CNN, MSNBC, and other extremely high traffic domains, reconsider. You most likely will not be able to compete with these authorities because the search engines treat them with great regard. You will need to find a new keyword phrase with less high profile competitors.

3. Inbound Links
You can get an estimate of how many inbound links a page receives by typing the entire URL of the page in Google or Yahoo! with "link:" in front of it - "link:theirwebsite.com/webpage.html". You want to be in the top three spots for a keyword phrase and if the pages in the current top three receive loads of inbound links, you will either need to generate more than the other guy, or move on to a new keyword. First starting out it will be difficult to quickly build your domain strength and inbound links, so finding targeted niche keywords, with very low competition, becomes essential. Why compete when you can steal the spot away instantly just by placing a more optimized page in the bunch?

Note: finding out whether a page or website receives a high amount of traffic can be a challenge in itself. PageRank, Alexa, QuantCast, and like programs can give you an idea, but often can be inaccurate. Feeling these services out and knowing your own relative traffic will give you an idea of your competitiveness.

Start Building that Link Love!

Learning about your competition helps with offsite optimization because you gain an understanding of your relative position online and who you can stand up against and where you might need to back off. But offsite optimization and building up your pages in search engine listings really boils down to one thing - links. Not any type of links though, relevant links, links from other pages that resemble references, that match content-wise and fit into the same category as your pages and business.

You probably already ran into a few types of links online - inbound links, backlinks, or exchanged links. In the end, they all mean the same thing, a link from someone else's page to one of your pages.

Links to your pages from other sources serve as your search engine score card. The more link love you get, the more people link to you, the higher your status will be with an engine. If you out-score the other guy, you will pass them in the listings, just like in a tournament or game.

Building these links can be an enigma at times, but if you implement these strategies, you'll be off to a good start:

1. Article Marketing
Write short articles (500 words goes a long way) and informational pieces that directly relate to content on your site. Place these articles at high traffic publication sites like EzineArticles, HubPages, Squidoo, and WordPress for free! Include a few links back to one or more of your pages on your site and boom, you just created an inbound link.

2. Link Exchange with Relevant Websites
Find websites in your field that do not compete directly with your business, but fall into your market. Ask them to link to you and let them know you will do the same. Make sure they place these links on pages rich in content.

3. Be the Expert
Who knows your field better than you? Start following blogs in your market and become a member of other related resource sites. Comment on articles, publications, and postings, adding in your two cents. Then, if they allow, add a link back to one of your pages.

Aim for Organic

By now you need to know that the Internet serves as a hub for free information. If you plan to do business online, you need to engage in the progressive idea of giving. The more you give, the more you'll receive. If you already optimized your own pages with rich content and targeted keywords, then the six techniques listed here for offsite optimization should serve you well.

But do not forget your ultimate goal - organic optimization. You want people to voluntarily link to you, share your pages, and spread your message. You'll only achieve this through true relevance, if your advice and services meet the needs of people and add additional value to their lives. This may sound like an egalitarian endeavor and not very business-like at all, but do not assume conducting business online to be the same type of monster you're use to, it's more like a big teddy bear.

For more SEO advice, check out these Google Listing Tips and Tricks to Avoid.

You can also read up on why ASP will not effect your SEO, despite others' rumors and fears.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Warren_Samu

Visit me at www.PamPerryPR.com too!

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