The SEO and Marketing Power of the Right Domain Name

The strength (SEO Value) of your domain name was reported in Search Engine Ranking Factors V2 by SEOmoz in 4/2007. The study was completed by 37 of the top SEO professionals in the world. They report that using a top/strong keyword in your domain name is rated 3 out of 5 important and effective. Next, you’ll want to know this; it’s rated 2.8 important/effective to have keywords in page URLs. read more…

SEO Pricing & Costs – What Should You Charge / How Much Should You Pay?

As someone who gets to spend a lot of time comparing notes with owners of search marketing firms, as well as referring a lot of people seeking SEO services, I have a somewhat strong grasp on the pricing & cost structures of the SEO business. That said, it’s a very big world out there in search, and while my knowledge comes from a few dozen companies and a couple hundred referrals, there’s no scientific or survey data contained in this post – it’s all experience and intuition. read more…

Google Blog Search (beta): extend your websites reach

You all have a corporate blog, right? This is how modern companies communicate with their customers and stakeholders. Tag it (digg, del.icio.us, stumbleupon, etc.), submit to Google Blog search, and extend your reach for Web searches on Google.

Google Maps: help them find your storefront.

This is also known as Google Local, a vertical that has been included in Google search results for a while. Give your site a local presence through the Google Maps Local Business Center where local businesses can get a frëe basic listing to extend their reach in the SERPs.

Google News: tell them about your website and business

Here’s where you can submit your press releases for display as “news” and subsequent indexing. Issue press releases containing current information about new products and events your site is involved with and Google News will likely pick it up.

Google Video (beta): and SEO Marketing

As with optimizing images, use descriptive, keyword-rich file names for your video files. Also create a keyword-rich title tag, description tag, and video site map. Create a Web page to launch your video, optimizing content for SEO and using anchor text wherever possible. Besides submitting to Google Video, also include Blinkx and other social networking and search sites like YouTube and Podzinger (audio and video search engine).

Google Image Search: what is it?

It has always been a good idea to use images on your site for illustrating your products and services. Now, this becomes a way for your customers to find your site via Google Image Search. Optimize your images with descriptive, keyword-rich file names and ALT tags. Use accurate descriptions of your image files for the benefit of the vision impaired and others who might need to view the site with text only.

Submit your blog for free.

Here is a list of some places to list your blog for free.

Blog Directory
IceRocket
All-blogs
BlogCatalog
Blog Collection
Google Blog Search

More links will be added as found.

Article submission directory.

A great way to promote your website and/or business is write articles that are in some way related. In each article be sure to include you website address which should contain all the articles you write archived. Educating your consumers and/or clients in your specific field is the best way to get and keep visitors coming to your website and returning in the future.

Free Directory

Googles webmaster help center is a must read.

Check out Google’s Webmaster Help Center for information on understanding the best way to get your website listed in the right way and right search area in Google.

Google’s Webmaster Help Center

List your website with AboutUs.org

At it’s base, AboutUs is an attempt to document the breadth of the internet via a WikiWiki to provide information not just on domains and websites but the people, thoughts, technologies and more that make up the internet. Using collaboration, we provide a resource to the community that surrounds, builds, visits and participates in AboutUs. On a smaller scale, this is something that many websites attempt to do in different ways. One interesting take on this theme is the work done at Qwert.net, which uses their “Quick Web Enabled Research Tool” to build little “snapshots” of towns/communities from businesses to activities. Currently focusing on a few areas in Australia, Qwert.net collects and displays it’s information using computer technology to provide basic listings (address, business types, location) as well as enhanced listings which feature more detailed information and images. Searching the website is managed via a variety of options, from business listings to locations, types of businesses, services provided and more.

Get your information on AboutUs.org

Submit your website to Local Search listings.

Google Local
Yahoo Local
Live Expo

Search for local directories focused on your area, community sites are usually a good place to inquire about linking to your website.

Google Sandbox

Google Sandbox is something every website owner and webmaster should understand if you care about marketing your website and SEO.

Follow this link to 14th Colony’s website to learn about Google Sandbox and how it relates to your website or your clients websites.

Simply Google

Simply Google contains links and related information that is highly useful to website developers and webmasters.

 www.simply-google.com

Check your website page rank (PR)

Follow this link to check the page rank or PR of your website before you start your marketing then continually recheck your PR to monitor how well your efforts are working in raising your websites page rank.

A PR of 4 or better should be your goal. It will take some time so do not expect to see a huge jump right off the bat. SEO takes time and effort but if done right can increase your website visits by leaps and bounds, doing SEO wrong can bury your website and make it 10 times as hard to work back up.

Search Engine Submission Tips

This section of Search Engine Watch (formerly called A Webmaster’s Guide To Search Engines) is primarily for webmasters, site owners and web marketers. It covers search engine submission, placement and marketing issues. It explains how search engines find and rank web pages, with an emphasis on what webmasters can do to improve their search engine rankings by properly submitting, using better page design, HTML meta tags, and other tips.

Follow this link to read more about Search Engine Submission Tips.

Search Engine and Direcotry Submission Links

Google
Open Directory Project
Live Search
Yahoo
Alexa
Add URL-Free
Jayde
Link Forever
Submit Url Free
URLZ
Free Directory
ExactSeek
Cyber-Find

Try to find places to submit your website or blog to that has a PR of 4 or better. A select base of links from a shorter list of higher PR sites is much better than a long list of low PR sites.