In this article, we will guide you through the process of selecting the most effective keywords for your SEO efforts.

Keywords are the words or phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. By understanding the importance of keywords, you can better optimize your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By targeting the right keywords, you increase the chances of attracting relevant traffic to your site, leading to higher conversion rates and business growth.

Analyzing Your Target Audience’s Intent

To choose the right keywords, it is crucial to understand your target audience’s intent. Analyze the needs and motivations of your potential customers to determine what they are searching for. Are they looking for information, ready to make a purchase, or comparing different options?

By aligning your keywords with your audience’s intent, you can attract visitors who are more likely to engage with your content and convert into customers.

Researching Relevant Industry Keywords

Conducting thorough keyword research is essential to identify the most relevant industry keywords. Start by brainstorming a list of keywords that are directly related to your products, services, or content. Then, use keyword research tools to expand your list and discover additional relevant keywords. Look for keywords that have a high search volume and low competition to increase your chances of ranking higher in SERPs.

Utilizing Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools are invaluable resources for finding the right keywords for your SEO strategy. These tools provide insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords. Popular keyword research tools include WordStream, Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer. Utilize these tools to identify keywords that align with your target audience’s intent and have a reasonable search volume.

Evaluating Keyword Search Volume and Competition

When choosing keywords, it is crucial to strike a balance between search volume and competition. High search volume indicates a greater number of people searching for that particular keyword, but it also means more competition from other websites. On the other hand, low-competition keywords may be easier to rank for, but they may have lower search volumes. Assessing both factors will help you identify keywords that offer a good balance between search volume and competition.

Discovering Long-Tail Keywords for Niche Targeting

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that target niche audiences. While they may have lower search volumes compared to broader keywords, they often have higher conversion rates. Long-tail keywords allow you to target users who are closer to the end of the buyer’s journey and have a specific intent. Utilize keyword research tools to identify relevant long-tail keywords that align with your content and target audience.

Choosing the right keywords for SEO is a continuous process that requires monitoring and adjustment. Regularly analyze the performance of your chosen keywords to identify any changes in search trends or user behavior. Stay ahead of the competition by adapting your keyword strategy accordingly.

Remember, the right keywords can make all the difference in improving your website’s visibility, attracting more visitors, and ultimately growing your business.

The post How to Choose the Right Keywords for SEO Success first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

One of the most effective ways to improve search visibility through SEO is by crafting high-quality, SEO-optimized content. By creating content that aligns with the best practices of SEO, businesses can attract relevant audiences, increase their online visibility, and ultimately drive more conversions and revenue.

In this ultimate guide, we will discuss the key steps and strategies for crafting SEO-optimized content to enhance search visibility and help businesses achieve their online marketing goals.

Understanding the Basics of SEO

Before diving into the specifics of crafting SEO-optimized content, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the basics of SEO. SEO is the process of optimizing a website or online content to improve its visibility in search engine results for relevant keywords and phrases.

Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine the relevance and authority of web content, and they constantly update and refine these algorithms to provide the best possible search results for their users. As a result, SEO is an ongoing process that requires a deep understanding of search engine algorithms and best practices to achieve and maintain high search rankings.

Key components of SEO include on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and technical optimization. On-page optimization involves optimizing the content and structure of individual web pages, while off-page optimization focuses on building backlinks and establishing the website’s authority and credibility. Technical optimization involves ensuring that the website is properly indexed and accessible to search engines.

Crafting SEO-Optimized Content

Crafting SEO-optimized content involves several key steps and strategies to ensure that the content meets the requirements of search engine algorithms and provides value to the target audience. Here are the essential elements of crafting SEO-optimized content for improved search visibility:

1. Keyword Research

Keyword research is the foundation of effective SEO-optimized content. By identifying the keywords and phrases that are relevant to the target audience and have high search volume, businesses can create content that aligns with the search intent of their potential customers.

There are numerous tools and resources available for keyword research, including Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These tools allow businesses to identify relevant keywords, analyze search volume and competition, and discover new keyword opportunities to target in their content.

Once the relevant keywords have been identified, businesses can incorporate them strategically into their content to improve its visibility in search results.

2. Content Quality and Relevance

High-quality, relevant content is essential for SEO success. Search engines prioritize content that is informative, engaging, and provides value to the reader. Businesses should focus on creating content that addresses the needs and interests of their target audience, and that demonstrates expertise and authority in their industry.

In addition to providing valuable information, businesses should also ensure that their content is well-written, free of errors, and visually appealing. Including multimedia elements such as images, videos, and infographics can enhance the overall quality and appeal of the content.

3. On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization involves optimizing individual web pages to improve their visibility in search engine results. Key on-page elements that should be optimized for SEO include the title tag, meta description, headings, and body content.

The title tag is an important on-page element that appears as the headline of a search result and influences click-through rates. Businesses should include relevant keywords in the title tag, while also making it compelling and engaging to entice users to click on the search result.

The meta description is a brief summary of the web page that appears below the title tag in search results. Businesses should write descriptive, engaging meta descriptions that incorporate relevant keywords and encourage users to click through to the page.

Headings and body content should be structured in a way that makes it easy for search engines to understand the main topics and focus of the content. Businesses should use heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to organize the content and include relevant keywords in headings and body text.

4. Optimizing for Voice Search

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and businesses should optimize their content for voice search to improve search visibility. Voice search queries are often longer and more conversational than traditional text search queries, so businesses should focus on creating content that answers specific questions and provides concise, valuable information.

Optimizing for voice search involves using natural language and conversational tone in content, addressing common questions and concerns of the target audience, and incorporating long-tail keywords that are likely to be used in voice search queries.

5. Mobile Optimization

With the growing prevalence of mobile devices, it’s essential for businesses to optimize their content for mobile devices to improve search visibility. Mobile optimization involves creating content that is responsive and accessible on all devices, ensuring fast page load times, and providing a seamless user experience on mobile devices.

Businesses should prioritize mobile-friendly design, clear navigation, and fast-loading content to enhance search visibility and provide a positive user experience for mobile users.

6. Local SEO

For businesses with a local presence, local SEO is crucial for improving search visibility in specific geographic areas. Local SEO involves optimizing content for local keywords, creating location-specific landing pages, and optimizing business listings on local directories and review sites.

Businesses should also focus on generating positive online reviews and maintaining consistent business information across all online platforms to improve local search visibility.

7. Monitoring and Measuring Results

Once SEO-optimized content is live, it’s important for businesses to monitor and measure the results to determine its effectiveness and make any necessary adjustments. Businesses can use various tools, such as Google Analytics, to track key performance metrics, including organic traffic, keyword rankings, and user engagement.

By regularly monitoring and measuring the performance of their SEO-optimized content, businesses can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions to enhance their search visibility and achieve their online marketing goals.

Conclusion

Crafting SEO-optimized content is a critical component of any successful online marketing strategy. By following the key steps and strategies outlined in this guide, businesses can improve their search visibility, attract relevant audiences, and drive more organic traffic to their websites.

With a strong focus on SEO-optimized content, businesses can attract more qualified leads, increase their online presence, and ultimately drive more conversions and revenue. By continually refining and optimizing their content to align with the best practices of SEO, businesses can achieve sustained success in the competitive online landscape.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Crafting SEO-Optimized Content for Improved Search Visibility first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

But with ever-evolving algorithms and fierce competition, mastering SEO can feel like scaling Mount Everest in flip-flops. Fear not, intrepid adventurer! This guide unveils nine actionable tips and tricks to supercharge your SEO efforts and send your website soaring up the SERPs.

Search engines are an integral part of your online marketing strategy. While it may seem obvious, many individuals are still missing out on search engine listings and listings in SERPs due to poor SEO.

As the term suggests, search engine optimization refers to improving your website’s or business’s ranking in a search engine. In a nutshell, this means that your visitors to your website can find what they are looking for faster and easier when they use a relevant and powerful domain.

Since the launch of the Google Pagerank in January 2004, PageRank has helped guide users when choosing a contact or hosting platform. The higher the number, the better the domain is regarding SEO.

This article will detail how to maximize your SEO efforts and create an action plan that works for you.

Here are nine tips and tricks that I use to maximize my SEO efforts:

1. Do keyword research. This is the first and most important step of any SEO strategy. You need to know what words and phrases your target audience is searching for and how competitive they are.

You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, or SEMrush to find the best keywords for your niche and topic.

2. Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions. These elements appear on the search engine results page (SERP) and tell users about your page.

They should include your main keyword and a compelling call to action. Ensure they are not too long or short, and avoid keyword stuffing or duplication.

3. Write engaging and informative content. Content is king, as they say, and it’s the main factor determining your ranking and user satisfaction.

Your content should provide value to your readers, answer their questions, solve their problems, or entertain them. It should also be well-structured, easy to read, and free of grammar and spelling errors.

4. Use headings and subheadings. Headings and subheadings help you organize your content into sections, making it easier for users and search engines to scan and understand.

They also help you include your keywords naturally without overdoing them. Use H1 for your main title, H2 for your main headings, and H3 for your subheadings.

5. Add images and videos. Images and videos can enhance your content, making it more appealing and engaging for your audience.

They can also help you rank better on Google Images and YouTube, which are huge traffic sources. However, you also need to optimize your images and videos for SEO. Use descriptive file names, alt tags, captions, and titles that include your keywords.

6. Link internally and externally. Linking is another important aspect of SEO that helps you establish authority and relevance for your website.

Internal links are links that point to other pages on your own website, while external links are links that point to other websites. Internal links help you create a logical structure for your website, improve navigation, and reduce bounce rates. External links help you build trust, credibility, and relationships with other websites in your niche.

7. Use social media. Social media is not a direct ranking factor for SEO, but it can significantly impact your traffic and brand awareness.

By sharing your content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, you can reach a wider audience, generate more engagement, and drive more visitors to your website. You can also use social media to interact with your followers, get feedback, and build loyalty.

8. Monitor your performance. SEO is not a one-time thing; it’s an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring and improvement.

You need to track your website’s performance on metrics like traffic, ranking, conversions, bounce rate, etc., using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or Bing Webmaster Tools. You must also monitor the latest trends and updates in the SEO industry and adjust your strategy accordingly.

9. Hire an expert (like me). If you’re overwhelmed by all the tips and tricks I’ve shared so far, don’t worry; you’re not alone.

SEO can be a complex and time-consuming task requiring much expertise and experience. That’s why sometimes it’s better to hire a professional SEO consultant or agency (like me) who can help you achieve your goals faster and more efficiently.

Maximizing your SEO efforts is an ongoing process that involves strategic planning, continuous optimization, and adapting to industry trends. Incorporating these tips and tricks into your SEO strategy can enhance your website’s visibility, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately achieve better search engine rankings. Stay informed about the latest SEO trends and algorithm updates to ensure your strategy remains effective in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

I hope you found this blog post helpful and informative. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or contact us directly.

Happy SEOing!

The post Maximizing Your SEO Efforts: 9 Proven Tips and Tricks first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

Search engine content optimization involves techniques such as keyword research, on-page optimization, content creation and promotion, and technical SEO to ensure that search engines can crawl, index, and understand the website’s content.

When people think of content optimization, most picture SEO don’t fall among them. It would be best if you optimize your articles sparingly for search engine bots. On the contrary, when you optimize content for people, it automatically becomes search engine friendly.

Use Quality Backlinks

The more high-quality backlinks you have on your page, the higher your organic traffic. Therefore, you need to build links from related and reputable sites to rank high on search result pages.

Backlinks are a vital part of content optimization and can significantly impact your rankings. Quality backlinks from reputable sources can be challenging to obtain, but there are a few steps you can take to get them. The first step is to create content that is of high quality and has the potential to be shared.

Once you have created content, you should reach out to influencers and other websites in your industry to request links to your content. You can also use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to find potential link opportunities. Quality backlinks can help boost your rankings, but low-quality links can hurt your rankings. Be sure only to pursue reputable sources.

Organize your Layout

Once you’ve decided on a subject and researched your keywords, plan the format of your article and create a natural rhythm. An organized layout is crucial for effective content optimization. A well-structured format helps search engines understand the content on a page and enhances user experience.

An organized design starts with a clear and concise headline that summarizes the page’s content. Subheadings and bullet points can break up the text and make it easier to read. Using relevant keywords in the headings and throughout the content can also improve your SEO. Images and other multimedia elements can enhance the visual appeal of the page.

Still, it is essential to ensure that they are optimized for SEO by including alt tags and descriptive file names. Lastly, a clear call to action at the end of the content can encourage users to engage with the site and increase conversions. Overall, an organized layout is a fundamental aspect of SEO content optimization that helps search engines and users understand and engage with the content on a page.

Your site visitors will have an easy time browsing your piece. During content optimization, Also, make it easy for search bots to identify what’s relevant in your post by dividing them into categories with the codes they crawl.

Write for your readers, not Search Engine Bots

Like it or not, most search bots can tell when you’re writing for them, not your readers. Ove optimizing lowers your ranking. Instead of concentrating on key phrases and over-linking, ease off and focus on creating relevant content meant for humans.

Update your Content Frequently

Frequently updating content is essential for keeping websites, blogs, and other digital platforms relevant and engaging for audiences. Regular updates help to ensure that the information presented is accurate. It also improves search engine rankings by indicating to search algorithms that the website is active and relevant.

Updating content also provides opportunities to incorporate new trends, ideas, and feedback from users, which can help to improve user experience and keep visitors coming back.

Do not neglect your previously posted articles. Review and edit them to maximize value. Remember that you have competitors who are doing the same. To maintain your position in search results, we advise you to analyze and update your most important content regularly.

Cover Topics Comprehensively

When writing, it is essential to cover topics exhaustively. This means researching the subject thoroughly and incorporating all relevant keywords and phrases into the content.

It also means covering all angles of the matter, including its history, current usage, and potential implications for the future. Covering topics thoroughly creates informative and engaging content, helping improve a website’s search engine rankings.

To rank high, especially for competitive subjects, let your content be thorough. Note that it’s not the number of words that gets you on the first page of search engine results rather than relevancy.

Keep it Clean for Search Engine Crawlers

Keeping content clean and well-structured is essential for search engine crawlers to crawl effectively and index web pages. Clean content refers to content that is free from the duplicate, thin, or low-quality text. It’s crucial to keep the page’s code clean and optimize it for faster loading times.

Additionally, ensuring that your website has a sitemap and a robots.txt file can help crawlers navigate your site more efficiently. A well-structured content hierarchy, including the use of header tags, can also make a significant difference in how search engines understand and categorize your content.

Understand that Google won’t show content that is illegal or hard to find. Search engine bots don’t open doors. It’s your job to let them in by keeping your codes clean and structured. To achieve maximum results, write your content or get an expert to avoid Google penalties.

Optimize Images

As much as people like texts, visually representing your texts will be a game-changer. You can optimize images and videos by adding alt tags and striking a balance in size for proper display and fast loading.

Content optimization should be essential to your overall content marketing strategy. It provides the best opportunity of ranking for your search terms, builds trust as a business, and converts leads into sales. Also, remember that your readers are actual human beings, not search bots.

In conclusion, while optimizing website content for search engines is essential, it is equally crucial to remember that the primary audience for the content is human beings. Focusing solely on optimizing content for search engine bots can result in poor user experience. Overriding SEO leads to lower engagement, higher bounce rates, and reduced conversion rates.

Therefore, content should be created and optimized with the user in mind, ensuring that it is informative, engaging, and valuable. By prioritizing the user’s needs and preferences, content creators can establish a positive reputation with their audience, leading to long-term success and increased search engine rankings.

The post Search Engine Content Optimization: 7 Tips To Be SEO Friendly first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

For this reason, inbound linking is very important. In fact, acquiring back-links may be the most important of SEO. In theory though, a website owner shouldn’t have to ’scout’ or ‘hunt’ for links. If the presented content is of interest, useful, and/or important, there is a natural tendency among web users to link to information. This is the basis for the Google PageRank algorithm.

With all due respect, submitting your site to the search engines can’t hurt. Plus, it only entails about 5 minutes of added work assuming you only submit to the big guys. And once is enough… you don’t need to submit your site more than once. It doesn’t help or get your site crawled any quicker or more often.

It should be noted that submitting your site to Google, Yahoo, MSN, and many others doesn’t cost a fee. Many SEO companies assert that you need to pay to be indexed. This isn’t the case and I would stay away from these companies. They are money hungry and aren’t looking out for your best interest.

Would you ever consider going on a vacation across the country without bringing a map? It is hard enough to find your way in some places with a map. How hard would it be if you tried this adventure without one? Yet, this is exactly what people do every single day in the online world. They tried to build their own businesses online without having a roadmap to success. Then, after months or years of just wandering around online, they give up in frustration and quit. They walk away saying that the Internet doesn’t work for them. The reason it didn’t work is that they didn’t pick up a map and follow it!

You don’t have to end up lost in the online shuffle. Below I will give you ten steps to help you map out your course and get you started in the right direction. It isn’t everything that you need to know by any stretch of the imagination, but it will give you a basic foundation to build upon.

Consider it your beginner’s map to Internet marketing profits.

1. Choose a targeted market

The biggest mistake most people make when starting a business is that they choose a product and then try to find people who want to buy it. If that is the direction you are starting from on your journey, then you are going the opposite direction from your destination. Wise businesses operate from a different concept. They pick a market first, and then they pick a product those people are searching for. In other words, instead of trying to find leads to sell their product to, they find targeted leads and then ask them what they are wanting to buy.

Don’t even consider starting a business until you know exactly where you are going to get your leads from. Think targeted customers first. Then, you can come up with a product for those individuals. Would you rather have 1,000 hits a day at your site of a general audience OR 10 hits a day of people who are desperate and willing to pay any price to buy your products? If you are smart, you will choose the people who are ready to buy!

2. Develop a Product

Next, you need to develop a product or service for this market. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon of affiliate programs when you come to this step. There are three major ways to selling a product online:

a. You create your own exclusive product.

This is the best opportunity you have. If you develop your own product, you can pick it’s price, sell reprint rights to others, set up an affiliate program, etc. Don’t tell me you can’t do this. Tens of thousands of innovative entrepreneurs have used their own information products to get their careers started. You can to.

Throughout your life, I am sure that there is something you have learned that you can share in a How-To product. Maybe you know someone else who has the right knowledge for a How-To product and you could offer to help them create a product if you both shared the rights to it. Don’t just jump past this opportunity and say it can’t be done.

b. You buy the rights to a product or you JV for an offline product.

You can buy the rights to successful products for $500 – $20,000. If someone else has created a product that you know your targeted market is interested in, offer them a large up-front fee for the rights to it. This way you can get your own product and never have to pay a penny in royalties. You can also search through magazines your targeted market reads and look for products people are selling. Then, give them a call and ask for the exclusive Internet rights to their product for a certain percentage of the profits or an up-front fee.

c. You join an affiliate program.

If you are just starting out online, this can be a good choice. You do have to keep in mind though that it doesn’t offer quite the profit potential that creating your own product or obtaining rights to one has.When choosing an affiliate program, make sure that it is something your targeted market cannot be without. They absolutely have to have it. Also pay special attention to the profits you receive from each sale.

If you are only be paid 5% commissions on the sales of $10 books, you will only be making 50 cents per customer. It would take 2,000 customers just to product $1,000 in profits. You cannot make money like this online! Look for higher priced products and higher commissions…especially commissions in the 25% or higher range.

3. Create a USP

Create a Unique Selling Position for your product or service. Too many companies are just trying to be me-too companies online. You cannot be just like the next guy and expect to make a profit in a global economy. Just going to the next guy’s web site to order is too easy for your customers.

You have to create a Uniqueness to your product or offer. What can you offer that no one else can? Can you offer better guarantees, better customer service, more technical support, faster shipping, or lower prices. Think of something that will set you apart from all of your online competitors and tell in complete detail what it is.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

The next step is to pick a domain name that describes your company, USP, and offer. Try to keep them as short and descriptive about your business as possible. Avoid using dashes or misspellings of your product. Both of these things will cause people to leave out part of your domain if they type it in. Someone else will be getting free traffic that you worked hard to obtain.

For hosting, I personally choose to use Virtualis since they have the Fastest customer service and technical support in the industry. Test them out. They will respond to you within the hour…anytime 24 hours a day. No other company I have ever been with has even come close!

5. Develop a Customer Friendly Site

The next step in the process is to develop your web site and put it up for the world to see. If you are planning to own a full-time Internet business, I recommend that you learn how to design the site yourself using one of dozens of programs which are readily available at any software store.

You will save so much money if you can do the work yourself on just the editing alone as your site grows. If your main business is offline and you are just adding a secondary income, then you may want to consider having a professional do your site for you.

When designing your site, keep the customer in mind always. Provide order forms for online credit card orders. Make all of the links easy to understand. Try to keep your site simple. Think like a customer, not the business owner.

Your customers are not nearly as interested in your business as you are. Make sure to put the benefits of your site and your USP right on top of the site. More than half of the web surfers never drop down past the first screen full of information. So, you have to give them the information they need as quickly as possible. The rules for any type of business are Benefits, Benefits, and more Benefits.

6. Offer a Freebie

One of the major keys to developing traffic and sales at your site is to always offer some type of freebie as a drawing factor. For example, I offer dozens of free reports, weather reports, news, and more. My greatest drawing factor throughout the past 8 months though has been the two free e-books which we offer on our site to people who subscribe to this newsletter.

You need to come up with a freebie no matter what type of business you are in. Create a free report and give it away. Add in a message board or some other type of CGI program on your site. Give a free demo of your software. Create something that you can give away for free on your site to draw in the visitors.

7. Start Your Own Opt-In List

Almost every full-time Internet marketer I know has developed their own Opt-in email list of some type. For most of them, it is a weekly newsletter they send out by email. For others, it may be a Tip of the Day. Other people might just have a list that they send out important updates to.

No matter what you choose to do, odds will be on your side if you concentrate on building a list of loyal email subscribers. Very rarely do customers purchase from you the first time they visit your site. Most of them will get on your list, hang out for a few weeks or months, and then they buy from you. They have to get to know you before they are willing to spend their money with you.

I have found that the most effective leads come from offline advertising. For example, you could purchase ads in a popular targeted magazine for your business. You could also purchase a postcard in one of the card decks. Start up a co-op and get 10 other people to advertise with you and run your own ads for free. Offline leads which come to your site often turn out to contain a much higher percentage of buyers than any of the online advertising methods.
Once you put our short 10 step outline together you have a basic map to creating your own Internet success story. You wouldn’t consider going on a trip without a map. So don’t try to go it alone online without a map.
Terry Dean’s Brand New Fr-e eBook, “10 Quick and Easy Ways to Increase Profits to ANY Web Site Overnight!” Reveals More Time Tested Proven Internet Marketing Secrets Than 99% of the Paid Products Available…Showing You Step-By-Step How to Increase Your Traffic, Drop Your Expenses, and Drive Your Profits Through the Roof

The post Is Search Engine Submission Necessary? first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

On the other hand, you can be penalized for illegitimate external linking. It is highly advised that you not link to any website or group of sites that may be involved in shady or unethical search practices. Doing so could result in being black-listed by Google, ultimately ruining your SEO strategy. Avoid this situation at all costs and ensure that all external links point to trusted and reliable sources.

Having been involved in the internet industry for a large part of my working life, I have spent a lot of time researching and browsing the internet and reading websites, mainly for client design research, but also for occasional personal use. The one thing that I find most disappointing, is the apparent lack of thought going into website creation and it’s purpose, which in turn creates a missed opportunity for many e-businesses to become successful.

My personal perspective on e-businesses and their websites, is that if they don’t take pride in their websites and show to their customers a passion for what they do, chances are, they won’t take pride in their products, and the passion for providing good customer service will also be missing.

What you must remember, is that your web site is a direct reflection of you and your business. The appearance of your site is the most important factor in determining your potential success rate. In short, if your site doesn’t look professional or pleasing to the eyes at first glance, the majority of people will assume your products and/or services to be of similar poor standard.

At the other end of the scale, you could fall into the trap of going overboard with the design and over complicate things with incorporating high costing flashy graphics. You may end up with a great looking and highly aesthetic web site, but the danger with this is that your site may prove unreliable and at times may take too long to load. There is nothing worse for a customer than trying to visit a slow loading site, and most will close the browser window in complete frustration. As i’m sure you will be able to work out, this will ultimately cost you business.

The other major consideration (if not the most important) when designing a website is your content. Not just links, but content with passion, relativity, and understanding to the customer. When someone is searching for something in particular and they visit your web site, they’re visiting for a reason. Your site has something they want, Whether this be your product, service, and/or information. If they are unable to obtain what they’re looking for, they move on to the next site and so on. To be able to get your visitors to stay and look around your website, you must give them a reason to. Providing them with quality content will achieve this goal.

There have been countless other lists and articles on the subject of website designing mistakes, but I have compiled my own list, from a designer’s perspective, of some pitfalls to look out for when considering either designing a website or purchasing a template. Remember that the simple, clear, informative and well designed sites are the most successful. If you are a current e-business and your sales aren’t what you had hoped, consider the above and take some time to look openly and honestly at your site. Spending money on improving your website is a much better investment than throwing money away on trying to advertise and market a site that just isn’t good enough to sell your product or services.

If you are looking for a template or a custom designed website, be aware of the above and be prepared to ask your chosen designer or template provider questions to ensure that your hard earned money doesn’t go to waste on an inferior design, which contains any of the above. Asking questions won’t cost you a penny, and in doing so could actually save you a lot of money over the long term. Getting your website right first time is vital in terms of saving money and time. The earlier your website is up and running properly, the quicker you will be able to reap the rewards of a successful e-business.

The prime mistake Newbies make is to put their website name into the Anchor Text. Unless your website contains your keywords this is a waste of a perfectly good link. Remember that Google puts a very big importance on those Anchor texts and they should always use your keywords.

The second mistake is trying to put every single keyword into your anchor text and give that to everyone. There are two mistakes with this technique. 1.) Google assigns weight to each word in anchor text so if there are a lot of filler words (common in long sentences), they will “dilute” your target words.

According to two recent surveys, conducted by Forrester Research and Gartner Group, ecommerce sites are losing $1.1 to $1.3 billion in revenue each year due to customers click- away caused by slow loading sites. If a page takes too long to load, your potential customer will not wait. Ultimately costing you business.

Make sure you include proper META tags in the HTML of each page of your web site. META tags are HTML code that enable the search engines to determine what keywords are relevant to a specific site. About 80 percent of all web site traffic originates from the eight major search engines. It would be a good idea to make sure you’ve done your homework and fully understand how to optimize your web pages prior to designing your site. This will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. For further information on META tags read the tutorial entitled, “Building Your Site.”

Be cautious when selecting your background and text colors. Busy backgrounds make text difficult to read and draw the attention away from the text. Always be consistent with your background theme on each page of your site. Your site should be nicely organized and uniform throughout. Keep in mind, colors affect your mood and will have an affect on your visitors as well. Bright colors such as yellow and orange, cause you to become more cheerful or happy, while colors such as blue and purple have a calming effect. Dark colors such as brown and black have a depressing effect. A good rule of thumb would be to use colors based upon the type of effect you’re trying to achieve.

Your main page should specifically let your visitors know exactly what you’re offering. How many times have you visited a site and never figured out exactly what they were selling? If your potential customer can’t find your product or service, they definitely won’t waste a lot of time looking for it. They’ll go on to the next site and probably never return. They’re visiting your site for a specific purpose. They want something your site offers. Whether it is information, a product or service.

Design your site to be easily navigated. Place your navigation links together at the top, bottom, left or right side of the page. Use tables to neatly align your links. If you are planning on using graphic buttons to navigate your site, keep in mind that with each graphic you add to your page, it will take that much longer for your page to load. If you only have a handful of navigational links, using graphic buttons will be fine. If you have over six links, it would be wise to simply use text links to keep your load time down.

If you must use frames, use them sparingly. Frames, if not properly used, can make your site look unprofessional. Avoid making your visitors have to scroll from side to side to view your content. This can be very irritating and cause your visitors to leave. If you must use frames, offer your visitors a choice. Frames verses No Frames. Try to keep the number of clicks required to get from your main page to any other page on your site down to four. Keep in mind, your visitors may enter your site from pages other than your main. Always have good navigational links on every page and place your company logo on each page.

Design a quality e-book to give to your visitors. It’s not as difficult as it sounds. If you can create a web page, you can create an e-book. The focus of your e-book should compliment your web site. Simply write about your passion. If your passion is sales, then you could share some of your knowledge and experience by designing your e-book to provide a complete sales training guide. If your passion is home based business, you could write an e-book about how to start your own home based business. If you’re writing about your true passion then you shouldn’t have any trouble coming up with something to write about. For further information on e-books, read the article entitled, “How to Create an E-book and Drive Massive Traffic to Your Site by Giving It Away.”

Having been involved in the internet industry for a large part of my working life, I have spent a lot of time researching and browsing the internet and reading websites, mainly for client design research, but also for occasional personal use. The one thing that I find most disappointing, is the apparent lack of thought going into website creation and it’s purpose, which in turn creates a missed opportunity for many e-businesses to become successful.

The post Can Any Inbound Linking Hurt My Ranking? first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

Almost always, linking candidates will use the company name as anchor text. This does not provide any type of description of the target company’s products or services. Sure, it may be great for branding purposes, but it isn’t usually needed. In most cases, companies already rank very high (if not first) for searches that incorporate their brand.

Here is an example using fictional company “Acme Plumbing Supplies”:

Most people will link simply using the terms “Acme”. This is alright, but it does not describe the company’s products or services, nor provide any context. By adding the word “plumbing” or term “plumbing supplies” (i.e. “Acme Plumbing” or “Acme Plumbing Supplies”), you may be able to drive additional traffic that may not have otherwise attained the corporate site.

The post The Importance of Anchor Text in Back-links first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

Many believe that absolute links have less potential for getting messed up when search engines index your page. It shouldn’t really make a difference, but many conclude that this is reason enough.

Furthermore, content scrapers and RSS services may ‘repurpose’ your content legitimately (or not). In either case, shouldn’t a proper back-link be attributed to your site? This situation favours absolute links. Although this is a minor argument, it’s still worth considering.

The post Absolute Links vs. Relative Links – SEO Value first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

Once again, it should be emphasized that SEO is a series of guidelines rather than an exact science. Having said that, the following recommendation can be used to satisfy both sides of the equation. In general, keywords and phrases (i.e. SEO) should remain the focus of any early-stage company, while the incorporation of company branding should appear later in the evolution. This is simply a general statement and should not be taken word for word.

The reasoning is pretty straightforward. At first, no-one knows the name of your company, but perhaps they are searching for your products or services. In other words, you want to target keywords and phrases that focus around your offering rather than your company. As you build loyalty and credibility, branding becomes more important. It’s at this point that you may want to incorporate corporate messaging to strengthen the relationship with customers and instill trust in your brand.

One final thought about branding: if a searcher types in the name of your company, they are likely to find your website anyways. This is due mostly to anchor text and back-links. Therefore, optimizing for the company name is rather insignificant in most cases.

The post Incorporation of Company Branding and SEO first appeared on Crowdol Institute.

Suppose you operate a travel site and you want to optimize a given page for the term “Las Vegas hotel”. Suppose that you also want to include an enticing marketing message such as “Book now and save 20%!”. The aforementioned tagline lacks descriptive text, but possesses persuasive characteristics. That being said, you may want to place the tagline in an image and the key phrase (i.e. Las Vegas hotel) in a header tag. This places emphasis on the desired term, yet still provides a marketing opportunity without compromising keyword consistency.

In other words, images are a great place to insert marketing messages that lack the necessary keywords and phrases. Leveraging this technique will ensure that descriptive text is indexed, while less marketing jargon is overlooked. The combination of keyword-rich content and enticing messaging will satisfy both sides of the strategic equation.

The post Strategic Use of Images in Search Engine Optimization first appeared on Crowdol Institute.