How to avoid damaging you GOOGLE SEARCH RANKINGS?

You will be flooded with tips and suggestions on how to optimize rankings on Google, but before embarking on Search Engine Optimization plan to improve your Google search rankings, be sure on what NOT to do.

• Excessive Keywords Placement:

Don’t go over-board with stuffing target phrases and keywords within your body text. Forceful stuffing of keywords everywhere just because you can do so is not going to improve rankings, in fact your content will look extremely silly and your rankings will deteriorate. Always employ a professional content writer who knows how to draft a smooth seamlessly flowing content naturally containing your targeted keywords without it coming across as amateurish or forced.

• Keyword Dilution:

Targeting too many unrelated keywords on a page might detract from main theme or objective of your website. It will confuse the search engine crawlers. It might also reduce the impact of your power (main) keywords which should be the main focus your efforts to improve your rankings. Be very careful during selection of relevant keywords to avoid costly mistakes.

• Duplication of Content:

Going over-board with duplicating content within the same page or pages and stealing content or images from other sites might land you in copyright violation and get your site banned. Be safe, be ethical! If you are eager to avoid duplication but are not sure of how you can confirm this for your website, simply put your URL details on www.copyscape.com that will provide the entire summary of content duplication instances done knowingly or unknowingly.

• Hidden Text:

Avoid short cut routes like placing hidden text which cannot be viewed by users. Hidden text are those which are hidden in invisible div layers or text on the same colored back ground (white text on a white background) or text located below the fold with vertical scrolling disabled. Whatever techniques adopted to insert such text, you can land in hot waters and it is definitely not recommended.

• Flash based websites:

Although flash websites are attractive eye-candies and will not land you into any trouble with search engine crawlers, it is still not going to do you any favors during search. Websites that are all flash have little or no content for search crawlers to scroll and digest thereby drastically reducing page rankings. If you still wish to go with the Flash theme, it is generally recommended to have dual versions, with HTML version for search engines to crawl and also for those visitors who might prefer HTML version while you can also keep your flash one. Also, double check that the flash files do not overweight the page size of your website leading to more downloads time.

• iFrames Site

iFrames has been banned by Google search engine crawlers as it cannot read the Frame content. Having a iFrame content is definitely going to do ‘no good’ for your site.

• Backdoor pages:

Creating multiple websites or pages with are nearly identical with slight differences in the content to try and fool Google in grabbing some rankings might seem easy but can again land your site into trouble. Such pages are created to go with pay per click campaigns, but can end up being detrimental if found out by Google. If your idea to creating multiple yet similar web pages is genuine and you want to avoid from being termed as back door pages, place a different content and have two way links function for those Web Pages.

• Cloaking:

The rule is very simple – NEVER EVER CLOAK. Cloaking is when you have a different content on display for search crawlers and a different one for human visitors. Google dislikes this and if caught your site is blacklisted.

Taking care of few simple rules while going ahead with your search optimization strategy can save you lot of heartburns later on. Always remember knowledge is power! So keep yourself constantly updated on Google rules and regulations for search and rankings.

The Hoopla over Web 2.0

Trying to understand web 2.0 can get complicated for those of you, who might arrive a bit late in the technology scene. Google search for web 2.0, shot back 483,000,000 results. Wading through Wikipedia and various other sites might leave you more befuddled with the sheer data overload and feeling defeated when asked to reply to the simple question “What is web 2.0?”


Well putting the technical definitions and jargons given by Mr. Tim O’Reilly (who coined this term first during Web 2.0 conference in 2004) aside, put simply web 2.0 is the improved second version or avtaar of World Wide Web Technology and the difference lies in the usage. The earlier technology was more focused on providing information while web 2.0 is more focused on interaction. Web 2.0 gives the control to user to upload or download and have active interaction through web technology devises. Web 2.0 has lead to a slew of new interactive marketing tools different from the traditional marketing approach. It emphasizes and encourages interaction and dialogues with your audience through tools such as blogging, online meetings & networking, video & podcasts, article & newsletters, wiki’s and syndication. The advantage goes to the small and medium sized businesses, as it gives them competitive edge against larger corporations that are run in an inflexible top down manner.

Although the Web 2.0 is still in its infancy, there has been talks and discussion about the future Web 3.0.

Web 3.0 will lead to more real life simulation experiences and new possibilities with artificial intelligence. Most of it is still hypothecation and suppositions.

The shift has been very subtle but definite from World Wide Web to Web 2.0 and these changes are bringing huge ramifications for marketers everywhere. Keeping yourself constantly updated with latest technology innovations is the only way to stay ahead and get the bigger piece of the game before its left redundant by further innovation and changes.

What should you consider while hiring a SEO service provider?

Search engine optimization is over a billion dollar industry and has occupied a prominent position on every Web marketer’s check list. The competition on the world wide web for any category of business now ranges from thousands to over millions of sites and it is imperative to reach mass audiences by featuring on top search rankings for every targeted keywords.

To those who are new on the internet marketing scene: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) explained in layman’s term means improving the ranking of your website on search engine browsers like Google, Yahoo, Ask, AOL etc through various SEO strategies. Example, you have an e-commerce website selling various handicrafts and specialized artifacts. What your SEO agency will do is it will first get your preferred keywords list and then use a combination of tricks and tips to elevate your site to top rankings of major search engines. This should significantly help to increase your Web traffic and give you an edge over your competitors.

As this is based more on smart strategies rather than any book knowledge, one should always depend on dedicated SEO service provider to get better and effective results. Also, this requires constant involvement and a check over the latest updates too.
Here’s your checklist prior to hiring a SEO service provider:

• Your SEO provider’s own site should be in top ranks for its preferred keywords (what use if they themselves do not have a successful SEO?)
  
• Don’t fall for false promises like ‘we can get your company in top 10 ranks in 30 days’ or ‘guaranteed results in one week’ as this is an organic exercise and takes some time. Also don’t forget that even though your vendor might be using any Black Hat strategies to make you happy within a short time, it’s your site that will get screwed up if found by the search engines.
• Know exactly what you are getting for the money you spend, ask for detailed step by step process and regular reports.
• In case you have doubts on any of the tactics adopted, clarify immediately and if not satisfied or you feel it will harm your business, walk away and hire someone else.
• If your SEO advises that you should use an automatic content generator it is time to walk away. Search engine rankings often depend upon well written and unique content, without this it will be hard to improve rankings.
• Study the link building strategy adopted by the SEO provider. Don’t let spammed links simply pile up on your link web-page.

Before I close here, here’s one serious advise in general. Please do not get impatient if your SEO service provider is not able to bring you on top rankings for all the keywords. Because if any of your targeted keywords are from the high-value keywords, the competition would be too stiff ranging to millions of sites too. So instead you can allow those high-value keywords to be targeted geographically as would significantly reduce the competition. You can also consider Pay-per-click campaign simultaneously along with the SEO for high-value keywords.