A do-it-yourself search engine optimization technique that will work miracles for you
by David Callan

It is hard to imagine do-it-yourself search engine optimization actually working. It is even more difficult to believe that it can be done using mostly free tools. But then that is one of the really wonderful things about the World Wide Web - there are so many different ways of skinning a cat or doing the same thing and knowledge can save you more than just a fortune.

Besides the truth is that so many web sites that are huge and popular today got where they are through the do-it-yourself search engine optimization efforts and skills of an individual.

Before delving into the techniques that can be used for search engine optimization, it is useful to appreciate what search engines really look for and the reason why most web sites find it so difficult to deliver.

What Do Search Engines Look For?

In most of the search engine articles you read these days, search engines are portrayed as being quite similar to some serial-killing monster with no clear motives other than to kill and destroy. For instance shock outrage and puzzlement are always expressed when leading search engines change their rules.

The problem is that most people forget that the competition between search engines today is so keen, such that their main motive can only be one thing - to become the leading search engine, and when they get there. To retain that position for as long as possible. It is rather obvious that to achieve this objective they have to remain very focused on the customer. The search customer or client, is the person using their favorite search engine to seek all sorts of information. Everybody prefers to use a search engine that is as quick and useful as possible in getting them the information that they seek. It’s really that simple. All changes in policies and rules can only be driven by one thing and one thing alone – to become better in the eyes of he customer.

In deciding your page ranking, search engines will look for links to your sites and not just any links, but quality links meaning sites that have a higher ranking than you do. This tells search engines that other sites they rank highly are linked to you and therefore you must be a useful site and therefore deserve a high rank.

The Biggest Obstacle To Getting Enough Good Links To Please Search Engines

Folks are often advised to submit their sites to search engines and high pagerank directories. The problem is that many of these sites will charge you dearly for the privilege of being listed with them. Yahoo for example charges about $299 annually for a site to be listed in their high traffic directory.

The secret to bear in mind here and what most folks do not know, is that many of these sites that ask for so much money will list you almost immediately and for free if you have good quality links pointing to your site. It is that customer driven motive we were talking about again. Good quality links are links from sites that the search engine already ranks highly. The assumption here is that since you have received a vote of confidence from sites that are already held in high esteem by the search engines, then you are also bound to be a useful site that customers who use the search engine will find useful. The higher page ranking you will receive, as a result will mean better search engine visibility for you and naturally, much higher traffic.

Another strategy used to try and gain quality links is to make an effort to submit your site to various directories for free listing, but it will usually take months for one directory to accept your site.

A Powerful Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization Technique

The way to do it is to start off by creating a web page on your site with a list of links. The idea here is to be adding links to other sites on your links page in exchange for the sites doing the same for you. You will of course be careful to concentrate your efforts on getting links from high page rank web sites. It is advisable to find sites that are related to your product or service.

Usually, to make search engines happy, you should limit each reciprocal links page to 50 links only.

Most sites maintain their reciprocal link pages using LinkMan script from PHPJunkYard. You can download this php script from http://phpjunkyard.com. The really amazing thing about LinkMan script is that it allows a site’s visitors to add their links immediately after they add links to the site on their own pages. What his menas is that using the LinkMan script you just need to find the desired sites, add their link to your reciprocal links page, and you can immediately add your link to theirs.

Be careful to meet the requirements of the LinkMan script one of which is to place a notice on your links page stating: “Powered by Link manager LinkMan 1.02 from PHPJunkYard – free php scripts.”

The Easy Way To Find High Page Rank Sites

You can easily find sites using Linkman by searching on Google for the exact phrase; “Powered by Link manager LinkMan 1.02 from PHPJunkYard.” You can also change the phrase to find sites using earlier versions of LinkMan.

Visit the link pages on the sites with a browser showing their Google pagerank. As soon as you come across a site using LinkMan that has a high Google page rank, simply add their link to your reciprocal links page and then add your link to theirs and you are done. You can then move on to find yet another site that you would like to link to.

It is difficult to beat this amazing, free and instant search engine optimization (SEO) technique that is quick, easy to use and extremely effective.

The Tools of the Trade
By Sumantra Roy

Before you start optimizing your site for the search engines, you would need to arm yourself with some tools to help you. What follows is a brief review of 4 software programs that we find invaluable when we are optimizing our clients' sites.

Wordtracker: The first and most important step in any search engine positioning campaign is identifying the keywords for which you should optimize your site. WordTracker's keyword research service is the only one on the Internet that will provide a comprehensive and powerful database of the most popular keywords in your industry. It has features that all other keyword research tools lack - for instance, it will help you identify related keywords that you would otherwise never have thought of, it differentiates between singular and plural keywords and tells you which version is more popular, it helps you identify popular mis-spelled keywords (which generally have very little competition) in your industry etc. It has a free trial version which will help you identify a few keywords. However, we recommend that you subscribe to its paid service as otherwise, you will not be able to discover quite a few keywords that can turn out to be extremely valuable to you. You can find more information on WordTracker at http://www.1stSearchRanking.com/t.cgi?5323&wordtracker/

Optilink: Link popularity has quickly become one of the most important factors that influence your rankings in the search engines. What is important is not only the number of sites linking to you, but the quality and relevancy of the sites that are linking to you. If you are trying to improve the link popularity of your site, until now, there has been no easy way of checking the quality and relevancy of sites that are linking to you or the quality and relevancy of sites that you are thinking of asking for links from. You could have done it manually, but it would take a tremendous amount of time. However, a new software product called Optilink automates this process to a large extent. In addition to doing an excellent job in helping you determine the quality of sites that already link to you or might link to you, it also does the following:

i) analyzes the link structures of your top ranking competitors and tells you why they rank well, so that you can emulate the same tactics that your top ranking competitors are using.

ii) allows you to do "what if" analysis - it tells you what sort of rankings you can expect if you adopt a particular linking strategy.

iii) monitor the sites that you have exchanged links with to ensure that they are still linking to you and are linking to you the way you want them to.

If you are thinking of improving the link popularity of your site, or are already doing so, we highly recommend that you obtain this product before you proceed. You can find more information on Optilink at http://www.1stSearchRanking.com/t.cgi?5323&optilink/

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Creating A Search Engine Copywriting Plan
By Karon Thackston © 2005

Search engine copywriting has become an extremely important part of the overall search engine optimization process. However, in addition, search engine copywriting has developed into a misunderstood craft.

Shoving keywords in anywhere they can possibly go is not considered search engine copywriting. The process is more defined than that. Successful SEO copywriting takes planning. Any half-hearted efforts at writing copy geared strictly toward the engines will usually result in a decline in your customer's experience at your site.

What's the best way to write SEO copy? Starting with a plan is always a good idea. Keep in mind, these are guidelines of techniques that can be used *IF* they make sense for your site visitors. I never recommend writing solely for the search engines. In the case of search engine copywriting, the customer is truly #1.

1) Use Three Keyphrases Per Page - Not a carved-in-stone rule, the guideline of three keyphrases per page gives good variety and helps keep the copy from sounding too repetitive. I always choose keyphrases first - before I write - because they can have a direct impact on the focus of the page.

2) Have 250 or More Words of Copy - The length of your copy depends on several things: Your target customer's preferred communication style, whether the product is new to the marketplace, if a detailed explanation needs to be given, site design and many other factors. However, the 250-word minimum gives enough room to get your message across and offer an effective level of keyword support. Remember though, it's all about the customer. If your target customers prefer longer copy, write longer copy. If they like shorter copy, write shorter copy.

3) Write In Natural Language - "Natural language" is a term popular in SEO copywriting. It means that the reader should not be able to (or should barely be able to) detect what keyphrases the page is being optimized for. The copy should flow as if it were not written with the search engines in mind. You don’t want the copy to sound forced or stiff. When you generate ideas for the page copy, keep your keywords in mind. Ask yourself whether you can use them in the copy in such a way that they won't be obtrusive.

4) Use Keyword Phrases In Headlines and Sub-headlines - IF it makes sense to do so. You will not blow your rankings if you have no keyword-filled <H1> or other <H> tags. If your headline sounds stupid with keywords in it, don't use them. There are countless sites online that rank highly which have no keywords in the headline.

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5) Use Keyword Phrases Once or Twice Per Paragraph - Again IF it makes sense. Remember what I keep repeating? None of these guidelines are carved in stone. Read your copy out loud. If it sounds stupid or forced, take out some keywords or find ways to rework them so they flow more naturally.

6) Use Keyword Phrases In Bold, Italic or Bulleted Lists - IF it makes sense to do so. Don't automatically bold or italicize every instance of your keywords. It will make your page look stupid, and your visitors will wonder what kind of drugs you've been doing!

7) Do NOT Use Keyword Phrases As Substitutes For Generic Terms - For example, do not replace every instance of the generic word "cruise" with the keyphrase "Mexico cruise vacation." Your copy will sound ridiculous.

We offer Mexico cruise vacation packages on the most popular Mexico cruise vacation ships to the most breathtaking Mexico cruise vacation destinations. Oh please!!

8) Use Keyword Phrases As Anchor Text In Links - This is certainly not always possible. If your primary keyphrase is "Mexico Cruise Vacation," you absolutely should not write every link to include that phrase. However, if you can include keywords in anchor text within body copy or in text navigation links, you might score a little extra credit.

9) Test and Track - Lastly, and above all, please remember, it may take some tweaking to get your page to convert the way you want it to. All customers are not the same, and all sites are not the same. All keyphrases are not the same. There is no magic bullet. You'll have to test and track and see what works best for you.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at http://fozzie.ktamarket.hop.clickbank.net/. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)” at http://fozzie.wsccom.hop.clickbank.net/