Author : Tim PhelanOne of the overlooked traffic sources is from Google image search If you have a website and are not using images or optimizing them, then you should start now because they can bring your websites a substantial amount of traffic Here’s a few points to think about regarding this source of traffic

* Images often will appear in the universal search Universal search is the main Google search and now you will notice that images are appearing more and more there This is another excellent reason to use images as much as possible If you do happen to get an image to appear among text only results the image will stand out and is more likely to get clicked

* Images can appear in maps and in all of Googles online properties

* Images have a unique search behavior This is because when you do an image search you are looking for a certain image usually and not information Your eyes will instantly absorb all the images on the page and being ranked at the top doesn’t have as much importance as in the web search because you may instantly focus on an image in a lower part of the page if it catches your eye

* Image search is also very subjective by nature If you do a search of "rain forest" the image of what a rain forest should look like might be different than what others think So, it is because of this that often searchers go much deeper in the image results than they normally would with the universal search You can consume the results very quickly so this also adds to searchers tending to go deeper into the results

* Novel search uses such as a way to get ideas, inspiration, shopping, research, health queries or just to kill time Another interesting use of image search is as a visual dictionary
Image search works in a few steps Basically the website pages get crawled by spiders looking for images Once they find them they classify them into different types of images which then can be useful in the filters used heavily in image search After they are classified they are indexed

Webmasters can use image search the best by focusing on the user and trying to understand what they are looking for It’s a good idea to set up your landing page so once the visitor does click on your image they will have a lot of good content to keep their attention Plus, take high quality pictures, put the good content above the fold and also use descriptive text
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Author : Jeb WalkerMany businesses implementing SEO campaigns know of meta tags and their importance, but very few understand what makes them so darned special I’ll admit, it can be confusing to those who don’t deal with these tags on a daily basis That’s because each search engine put their own emphasis on different factors of meta tags, leaving much to be desired from an SEO standpoint for consistency SEO firms understand these differences, so you can worry about running your business, not your SEO But part of our jobs as SEO experts is to educate, so this article will explain what meta tags are, how they are used and how different search engines use them

Meta tags are lines of HTML code that are embedded into web pages that are used by search engines to store information and categorize your webpages correctly They contain keywords, descriptions, copyright information, site and pages titles and are essential for any well-built site However, they are not "required" when creating web pages and can be overlooked or ignored by web designers, developers or operators Those ignorant few are left scratching their heads when they don’t rank very well at all

When you create a website and register the URL with the search engines, the spiders are sent to crawl the site and index it Each search engine operates in a slightly different way, so they weigh the elements of a site according their own algorithms Some place emphasis on the description tag, such as AltaVista Other search engines, like Exactseek, are meta tag purists, as stated in their user policy: "Your site will not be added if it does not have Title and Meta description tags "

Recently, some search engines have downplayed the importance of meta tags due to spam Some SEO "specialists" were keyword stuffing their tags with irrelevant information, just to get traffic To penalize this abuse, some search engines don’t assign too much weight to the keywords in meta tags, but they still check to make sure they are relevant Either way, if you don’t have meta tags, or they are stuffed with irrelevant keywords, you will be not rank well at all

Meta tags should always be placed in the HTML, just after the tag Make sure there are no line breaks, otherwise it will be ignored and labeled "bad code" Avoid using any capitalization in your code, as well as any repetition in terms within the keyword tag The meta tag description is displayed by most search engines along with the page title in the SERPs It is important to keep the meta description short, concise and relevant to your site content

The Internet is growing so rapidly and the search engines are trying their best to keep up Meta tags are a common standard for the engine spiders to properly categorize websites To ensure that your site is indexed correctly and show up in the rankings, it is important that you cover all the bases in your meta tags Using proper meta tags will only help bring you traffic, rankings, a friendly relationship with search engines, and ongoing SEO success
Ethan Luke. search engine optimization - Volacci is a Drupal SEO company providing marketing services to your Drupal website ranging from Search Engine Optimization, PPC Management, and SEM consultation.

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Author : Jeb WalkerSearch engine optimization (SEO) is the process of building a website that is search engine friendly There are many different elements to an SEO campaign, and the tactics and strategy involved become more dynamic everyday It can be overwhelming at first, especially if you look at the big picture But if you break it down to the basics, any SEO campaign is manageable for anyone with the time, effort and aptitude for online success

1 Choosing the Domain Name
Strong businesses and websites start with a good domain name You want to pick a domain name that is easy to remember and relevant to your site and company You may want to begin with the availability of your business or brand name first If that option is not available, and you don’t have the flow to purchase it off its current owner, look for a domain name that includes your keywords Don’t have your keywords chosen yet? Proceed to #2 immediately

2 Choosing Keywords
Keyword research is essential to the beginning of any SEO campaign Keywords are words or phrases that you want to rank for in the search engines They need to be relevant to your business and brand Keyword choices can make a big difference in the overall SEO campaign, so the keywords chosen need to be educated decisions A great tool to use is Google AdWords Keyword Tool Five relevant and competitive keywords and phrases should come out of your research

3 Optimizing Content
By now you should have your site’s domain name picked out and your keywords targeted One of the most important factors for any SEO campaign is having good keyword density with your on-page content What this means is that your top five keywords need to be used throughout your website copy in a compelling, concise and consistent fashion A solid keyword density is roughly 3% of your content This also allows the copy to read naturally without getting stuffy You should also use keywords in all title tags, link text, H1 tags, and any page headlines

4 Link Building
There are several ways to build links on your site Paid links are frowned upon by search engines, so they are not recommended You should consider the link exchange route Search engines normally judge a site’s popularity by the amount and quality of the inbound and outbound links that are on a site For that reason alone, you should ensure that your links are made with quality, relevant partners If you link with the wrong site, your ranking will drop and damage your overall perceived popularity and reputation by Google Search for relevant link pages and speak to the owners of said links to determine whether they are a good fit for you The more links you have with popular, well-reputed sites, the better your rankings will be If you want a "deep link" strategy, try linking deeper within your partner’s sites, and vice versa

Using these critical tips of domain names, keyword research, content optimization and link building, anyone starting to implement SEO on their site can make the basic executions to ensure a great, search-friendly site from the very beginning

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Author : Amy RichDo some extra reading on directory submissions online and you’ll find a lot of opinions on the subject, most of them based on old information or a misinterpretation of recent developments An effective directory submission process is reliant on two very important marketing principles:

Driving traffic to your website

Building link popularity to your website
Driving Traffic Through Directory Submissions
Directory submissions are effective in driving traffic to your website for one reason and one reason only: People interested in visiting sites like yours visit those directories to find what they are looking for and they typically find the directory in one of two ways:

Through a search query at one of the search engines
By referral from someone they know and trust

It doesn’t really matter how a visitor who visits your website found the directory that lead them there The important thing is that someone found you through a directory But if you don’t submit your site to the directory then no one can find you Directories don’t crawl websites like search engines do so the only way your site can be listed in a directory is if someone submits it there

Using Directory Submissions To Build Link Popularity

Link popularity is the measure of your website’s inbound links Many people think it boils down to the number of links that point to your website, but that’s only a part of the equation The other part is the quality of the links and that quality is measured by several factors as well Some of the factors that influence link popularity include:

Age of the website linking to you
Authority of the website that links to you
The relevance in topic or subject matter of the website linking to you
The above three factors as they pertain to the specific page linking to you
Anchor text, or specific words and phrases, used to link to your website
How quickly your link popularity develops
Diversity of link mix

Virtually everyone who understands link building agrees on the first six factors of the link popularity equation Where much of the confusion comes in is when discussions about link diversity come up In a word, the search engines don’t like to see all of your links coming from the same type of website or websites of a particular nature That is, if you build up 1,000 links in a single day and all of them are from directories then that might not help you much with the search engines On the other hand, if you build up your link popularity slowly and include links from sources other than directories, 1,000 links from general website directories could very well be a positive

Directory Submissions Are Not The Devil’s Girlfriend

One common misconception about directory submissions is that they are no longer effective This just simply isn’t true Google doesn’t favor one directory over any other It does, however, discount links from link farms and bad neighborhoods That’s why it is important to choose your directories carefully

What it boils down to is why you are seeking a link from a directory in the first place Search engines don’t want you building links just so you can increase your search engine rankings They want you to build links in a natural way That’s why directory submissions are not a bad thing if you add those submissions to a diversified portfolio of links rather than focus on directory submissions alone Amy Rich is a directory submission service provider and works full time as a webmaster and SEO. She also maintains a free directory list and keep tracks of many new directories.

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Author : Jeb WalkerAn increasing trend growing in relevancy between brands and their consumers is the demand for environmental and social responsibility According to Havas Media, 79% of global consumers prefer to buy products from environmentally responsible companies Creating a sustainability agenda for a brand or company helps create a competitive advantage that actively communicates with the consumer on issues that matter to them This is only an effective strategy if the company can demonstrate that they are completely committed to responsible business and sustainability Environmental and social messaging is not enough

During this global economic downturn, the focus of marketing and consuming is on value Differentiation from your competitor is more important now than ever before Sustainable communications offer the leverage for differentiation and enhancing your brand Companies who are able to do this are going to emerge from the recession eating up market share like Pac-Man at a Chinese buffet

Sustainable communications is about dematerialization, increasing the emotional value of a brand while decreasing the physical resources used in its everyday operations This will engage consumers and create trust and loyalty It is not about going green at the snap of a finger, or ‘greenwashing’, which is communicating that you are green when really, you’re not It should be about clear communications that brings all consumers to action
A recent study from Forrester Research shows that almost 77% of all consumers don’t believe in the ‘green’ marketing communicated by brands This proves there is massive confusion and skepticism among the consumer-base that companies talk, but don’t walk This transition is occurring when most companies are going digital, which can transform the dynamics of any company The ability of online search gives an incredible amount of power to the consumer to find anything, at anytime, anywhere in the world They will be actively looking to call you out, if you are bluffing

Companies are missing out on opportunities to tap into the web and provide a transparent and engaging sustainable communication platform that can widen their consumer base It will save companies money by moving to a more digital format, as well as give them real-time data on the effectiveness of their campaigns This will only improve efficiency and ROI But you must be embedding sustainability into the heart of your brand and company, in order to be providing sustainable solutions for your clients

If you need help conveying your sustainable communications messaging throughout your website, or you just don’t have the time to make your website SEO-friendly, you may want to incorporate the help of a skilled and experienced SEO company Volacci is the leading Drupal SEO company and very passionate about your online success By the end of your contract you will have at least as much additional business from your web site as you spend on our services or we’ll work for free until you do

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Author : Tom XTTwitter is a social networking tool that is attracting new members daily It is free, quick and necessary for your blogging success Short messages (called “tweets”) are sent to your followers when you choose to send them I use Twitter to promote my blogs and to find other people who share my interests I have used Twitter to revive dead blogs and to jumpstart new ones You can’t beat Twitter when it comes to getting instant traffic to your blog (when you use it right)

Some tips to get blog busy:

1 Be unique and give value to the Twitter community Let your personality show in what you say, and also let it show in your blog You also need to be careful of what you tweet - one tweet rattled off in anger can truly damage your reputation and make you lose followers

2 Connect and network with others that share your interests This can help with link exchanges or getting traffic for your blog Use the “search” feature and find others that are tweeting about things that interest you or are relevant to your blog topic Follow them and they will most likely follow you back (I spend about 20 minutes a day searching for and following people )

3 Many people use Twitter, so simply put your link in email signatures and in forum signatures - your list of followers will grow quickly I have found that putting a Twitter link in your forum signature and then giving informative posts in a forum will guarantee people will follow you

4 Be consistent with your tweets, but not too chatty I make sure I send out tweets at least a few times a week - less on weekends, more during the week - and I don’t get too talkative I want people to look forward to my tweets, not groan when they see I have said something new

5 Be generous when you tweet Become an asset to the Twitter community Along with promoting your blog, make sure you participate in the other activity going on by answering questions and commenting on other blogs I always answer any replies I have to something I post I also ask questions or congratulate people when their tweets warrant it It helps me be a welcome addition to the Twitter community

6 Ask good questions Asking a thought-provoking or controversial question with a link to your blog is a great way to get people to participate Make sure you suggest in your tweet that people answer the question by making a comment on your blog If you have a poll, send a tweet announcing the results - along with another link to your blog

It is a wonderful tool that can produce fast results when used properly Link Submission Service: http://www.articleaware.com/linksubmission .

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