The Importance Of Long-tail Keywords
The Importance Of Long-tail Keywords
Keywords are essential to SEO. You simply cannot rank (high) without them. But then, you already know that. I am pretty sure you also know that ranking high for a particular keyword is often more difficult than logic suggests it should be. Those of you who have tried in vain for years to rank high for your head keyword of choice know what I am talking about. To those of you who are newly introduced to this wondrous world of SEO, I’ll say this: roll up your sleeves and prepare to wait. Or you can do the smart thing and just target long-tail keywords. You won’t have to deal with all that fierce competition for popular head keywords, and you will be a few steps closer to getting your site rank high.
It comes with one warning: the traffic volumes will be considerably lower than that from a head keyword. But then, the probability of your ranking high for a head keyword is less than unlikely, so the traffic from that keyword will amount to exactly nothing.
Now you do the math and figure out which type of keywords will be more beneficial for your small business.
That’s right, the long-tailed ones. Like my great-great-great-grandma once said, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Read more
Goldenter – Premium Website Directory
Goldenter – Premium Website DirectoryIn this edition of the ongoing Paid Directory showcase, we bring you – Goldenter.com, a premium web directory.
Goldenter is a human edited, SEO-friendly paid directory that is a PR6 site as well. Functional since 1998, Goldenter’s age amply contributes to the authority it enjoys. Older sites have more authority and are favored by searchbots, which means links submitted to such directories will be favored as well, and hence indexed faster. Having your site submitted to this quality directory can help optimize your site and at the same time give it adequate exposure.
The image below will give you an insight into how frequently the directory is indexed by search engines like Google:
Below, you will observe that not just the homepage, but even the inner pages of the directory are regularly indexed:
MedRanks SEO-Friendly Web Directory
MedRanks SEO-Friendly Web DirectoryMedRanks.com – SEO-friendly Web Directory is the next paid directory to feature in our ongoing Paid Directory showcase.
MedRanks is a PR6 Paid Directory that has been online since 2004. A human edited business directory, it is a veritable repository of business resources. As mentioned on their site, their primary aim is to preserve a well-organized category structure for the listings and improve user experience. The Medranks personnel also ensure that the directory remains SEO-friendly at all points in time so that it is regularly indexed by search engines. As is known, submitting links to directories that are regularly indexed can get them indexed as well, and faster too.
The image below will give you an insight into how frequently the directory is indexed by search engines like Google:
The Importance Of Link Diversity In SEO
The Importance Of Link Diversity In SEO
Any SEO worth his salt knows that link building is the key to ranking higher in the Search Engines. So, rather than reiterating the importance of link building in SEO, I’ll move one step further and tell you about maintaining link diversity while building links. Because it is crucial, and also because many of us often don’t understand its importance. So, why is link diversity important?
The answer has to do with the SEO holy grail that is natural link profile. When a searchbot finds that a big chunk of all the links pointing to your site come from one site in particular, it doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist before it concludes that your are hand in glove with the said site, and that the link profile you’ve established is far from being natural, even if that were not the case. Needless to say, it can go downhill from there in no time, and you can consequently bid adieu to your dream of ranking high, or ranking at all for that matter! Because hell hath no fury like a search engine duped, and you may find your site being dropped from the index before you can say SEO! Now, even if things weren’t to take such a bad turn, a diverse link profile will get better of a homogeneous on any given day.
Research shows that search engines love sites high on the link diversity factor, which they equate with authority and trust, and index them frequently. If that doesn’t motivate you to increase your link diversity, then you are probably one of those people who won’t even blink if Matt Cutts himself offers to index your site!
Also, by diversity I don’t only mean getting links from different sites, it includes so many other things. So, do yourself a favor and keep these six points in mind while trying to build diverse links to your site: Read more
7 SEO Predictions For 2010
7 SEO Predictions For 2010We are settling nicely into this new year; though things have been turbulent in the real world, the web has enjoyed an easy, peaceful feeling so far – no major upsets or updates (some would argue they are both the same) have happened. Yet, late last year, Matt Cutts was definitive when he mentioned that the Caffeine roll-out can be expected after the holidays. Well, the holidays are over and the second month of the year almost upon us, so, those of you who haven’t yet taken stock of your SEO efforts, now would be a good time to do it. For, though SEO has remained largely unchanged over the years, this year will see some changes wrought to it thanks to the tremendous growth enjoyed by social media, and various developments in search technology. With this post I hope to bring you up to speed on all the changes you can expect to see in SEO this year and tell you just what you should do to claim a place on the SERPs.
1. Social Media Optimization Is The New SEO – This wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; in the last two years or so, SEOs around the web have come to realize and accept the immense optimization potential that social media offers. Now it’s even more important that you no longer see social media optimization as something that will take away from your SEO effort, but as something that will help boost it. Be it building good backlinks from individual social sites or building a robust network, or developing a strong social media presence with good profiles (that will also help you land on the first page of the search results) or even ensuring you’ve got a piece of the real-time search pie, using social media as a crutch to take forward your SEO efforts will (only) be a good idea.
2. Site Speed And Other On-Page Factors – If you belong to the group of people who think it’s all right to ignore on-page factors, then it is time you changed your way of thinking and got optimizing, the site load time in particular. In their (latest) effort to school the web in good behavior, Google has decided that a slow loading site doesn’t just align itself with their ‘Don’t Be Evil’ policy and hence needs to be ‘penalized’. Site speed will figure prominently in the algo this year, so will the oft-neglected Meta tags. So, get your Webmaster working on tweaking your on-page factors adequately or prepare to miss one crucial ranking opportunity. (Or many, for that matter) Read more
Why Does Google Hate My Site?
Why Does Google Hate My Site?Does your site fail to rank on Google despite all your efforts? Does your well-ranking site suddenly disappear from the listing? Is being sidelined by Google affecting your business? Do you think Google hates your site?
If your answer to all the questions is yes, I suggest you continue reading and find out just what is going wrong and where, and how you can get yourself some Google love. Google provides more than 80% of all search traffic to a site, a fact that highlights the importance of staying in its good books. Listed below are the possible reasons your site has lost/will lose favor with Google.
1. Your Site Doesn’t Have Enough Quality Content To Entice A Visitor Back To It. Google has always been particular about the quality of the content present on a site. According to the big G, the primary function of a site is to provide useful content to the users, that good content will make users go back to the site for more. As they put it, “Focus on the user and all else will follow”; if your site has Good Quality, Original content, it will help you rank on Google.
2. You Put In Large Chunks Of Content At Once, And Then Go On For Long Intervals Without Refreshing It. An add-on to the earlier point, this has to do with content too. If you are serious about having a user-friendly site, you will update your content regularly, not add a bulk of content at once and then ignore to update/ refresh it at timely intervals. Resorting to such a practice will harm your chances of winning Google’s favor.
3. You Engage In ‘Cloaking’- Your Site Shows Different Information To A Searchbot Than It Shows A Real User. Cloaking ranks on top in the list SEO crimes according to Google. 
They do not take kindly to the kind of deception that is involved in Cloaking – fooling both users and bots by creating a page or site that will appear different to either party. According to Google, “Cloaking refers to the practice of presenting different content or URLs to users and search engines…Serving up different results based on user agent…[like] Serving a page of HTML text to search engines, while showing a page of images or Flash to users or serving different content to search engines than to users…”. When found out, a ban from the index will be immediate.
4. Your Site Harbors Duplicate Content. Google doesn’t like duplicate content. 
Period. So, every site that is found retaining duplicate content will be penalized; it doesn’t matter which site originally possessed the content in question, and the penalty can be as severe as removal of site from the index. To ensure you aren’t wrongly penalized, avoid using duplicate content and regularly check if your content is being duplicated elsewhere using sites like www.copyscape.com and www.duplicatecontent.net and if you find sites infringing your copyright, file a Notice of Infringement with Google immediately.
Directory Dawn
Directory DawnWe’ve showcased three paid directories in this space in the past weeks, and as the New Year dawns, we bring a new paid directory to you, appropriately named Directory Dawn (dirdawn.com).
Directory Dawn is a PR6 Paid Directory that prides itself on its reputation of being a high quality directory. In order to maintain this reputation, the people at Directory Dawn strive to constantly uphold their quality standards. As a result, Directory Dawn continues to be an active directory that’s regularly indexed by search engines. Submitting your links to this directory can help your links get indexed faster and significantly aid your SEO efforts.
The image below will give you an insight into how frequently the directory is indexed by search engines like Google:
Below, you will observe that not just the homepage, but even the inner pages of the directory are regularly indexed:
Directory Dawn Features:
- The directory is free of ads and has a well-planned category structure that’s easy on the eye as well.
- All submissions are manually reviewed and the directory reserves the right to edit or delete listings that at any point in time are found to be in violation of their rules.
- Directory Dawn doesn’t approve adult-themed sites or ones that contain adult related content. Gambling and dating sites, as well as sites that endorse alcohol, tobacco, racism, or warez aren’t allowed either.
- The directory will refund the fee in case a submission is rejected; this doesn’t hold true in the case of an approved listing that is deleted at a later stage.
- The refund policy doesn’t apply to sites that belong to the categories banned by the directory.
A regular permanent listing on Directory Dawn will set you back by a one-time fee of $46.95 per submission; but with Directory Maximizer’s Paid Directory Submission Service, you can get the same at a discounted fee of just $40.00 and save $6.95.
Don’t let this opportunity go abegging; have your site submitted to this high PR, SEO-friendly paid directory and do your SEO efforts a good turn.
New: Deep Link Submission Service
New: Deep Link Submission ServiceIn a move that will reinforce your belief that Directory Maximizer is indeed the best directory submission service you can find on the Internet, we are rolling out our Deep Link Submission service. Deep linking, as you probably know, is an oft-overlooked method of SEO whose benefits are manifold and long lasting. You, dear customers, can now build links to your inner pages and not limit your SEO efforts to your home page – and we are going to help you do that.
We realize that in the past, we weren’t well-equipped to assist you in your deep linking endeavors, but with this new service we promise you a well-rounded directory submission experience. Before you think that this new service probably comes at a premium, let us assure you, it doesn’t! The price remains the same: 14 cents per submission (16, if you opt for our email-handling service), no hidden costs, no recurring fee. Even the submission process is the same – log in to your account, go to your ‘Add Site’ section & ‘Add’ the inner page link you want to have submitted. Then place a submission order by ‘Submitting’ the same (For a detailed, step-by-step explanation of the ordering process, click here).
We are excited to bring you this deep link submission service, and hope we can successfully aid you in enhancing your link building experience.
7 Clear-Cut Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Deep Links Anymore!
7 Clear-Cut Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Deep Links Anymore!Why are deep links important, you ask? Before I can begin to answer that question, I need to define what a deep link is. Any inbound link that points to an inner page of a site is a deep link; it can be either internal or external. For a better part of the SEO history, deep links were overlooked in favor of the more prominent, and heretofore more “popular”, homepage links. But now that the entire SEO-realm is awake to the considerable clout they have on the SERPs, deep links are being hailed as the best SEO method to ever be.
The advantages of deep linking are so patently obvious, I am surprised that it took us this long to be hip to them. By now enough SEO types have written about the mistake we make of overlooking deep links (while cooking up our SEO strategies) that what I am about to say may seem a bit redundant. However, this is my stance on this matter, when it comes to writing about the importance of deep links, redundancy is an invalid concept.
So, why are deep links important, you ask again? Let me count the ways:
1. Traffic, More Traffic!
Deep linking is your key to generating sustainable search traffic. Studies have shown that less than 20% of the search visits land on the home page, the rest land on individual pages. So engaging in deep linking can help you generate 80% more traffic than you already are.
2. Deep Links Can Build Relevance For Your Site
No matter how great the content on your site is, an ill-optimized internal linking structure and a poorly realized linking strategy will negate all the SEO-goodness your site can draw from it. It all boils down to one question: once on your site, can the user easily find what he is looking for? Does your site provide a ready answer to his search query? If you answer is in the negative, then you’ve failed to establish relevance for your site, in spite of having highly relevant content available so freely on your site. Now, if you had engaged in a spot of deep linking, either internal or external, you’d have got full points for relevance. Calibrating your links with your content is of utmost importance in building relevance, and the thing to do is to optimize your inner pages links with the most relevant anchor text. If a search query for ‘Belgian Waffles’ throws up your site in the results, then the link should be one that points to the page with information on ‘Belgian Waffles’, and not a generic link that points to the home page that contains information about, say, ‘Bed and Breakfasts’.
How to Order with Directory Maximizer Contd.
How to Order with Directory Maximizer Contd.Part II – Submit Site
In the previous post, I took you through the steps involved in the process of ‘Adding’ your site. In this post, I’ll show you how you can place a directory submission order by ‘Submitting’ your site.
Once you successfully complete the ‘Add Site’ process, you are automatically taken to the ‘Submit Site’ section. If you wish to submit sites that are already added, you can log in to your Directory Maximizer account and click on the ‘Submit Existing Sites’ button.
Once in the ‘Submit Site’ section, follow the steps enumerated below to successfully place a submission order.