The first place most e-business start-ups go when they need a quick traffic fix is the search engines. And rightfully so! After all, a top ranking position in one of the major search engines is an effective way to increase the traffic to your web site without spending your hard-earned advertising dollars!

Statistics have repeatedly shown that anywhere from 20% to 80% of your visitors will find your web site via a search engine. However, you should also know that statistics show that most web surfers never search beyond the top 30 results they receive. With that in mind, it is clear that a top position a top position should be the goal of any savvy site owner.

But top spots are no longer achieved by crossing your fingers and blindly submitting your web site to 900+ search engines and directories using a free submission service. Competition for top spots is getting fierce, so it is important that you learn the “right” techniques if you want to ensure that your web site is well ranked… and it is very important that you do so while this great advertising medium is still FREE!

For high traffic generation to your website, it is very important that your web site ranks in top spots in search engines. You may ask “What are the search engine looking for when they rank my web site?” Well, although each search engine uses different set of algorithms to rank web sites, but generally speaking, however, here are some of the main factors currently being considered by the search engines.

1. Link Popularity
Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, and the web pages search promotion of Yahoo! use a ranking system that involves measuring and ranking the number of links that are directed towards a particular web site. This is an extremely powerful traffic generation tools because:

Reason # 1
Building a well thought-out linking strategy is a powerful way to attract large volumes of high targeted traffic! By putting your web site on every major web “intersection” where your target market meets, you will ensure that your web site receives a steady flow of qualified potential customers.

Reason # 2
Links are equivalent to recommendations! They established credibility even before the visitor reaches your web site, dramatically increasing the likelihood that they will buy.

Think about it… David arrives at his favorite web site and notices that they have posted a link to your web site. He knows and trusts his favorite web site and therefore assumes that, because they have a linked to you, your business must be credible too. He clicks through the link to your web site and is immediately open to offers you present him with. Why? Because your credibility was established before he even arrived at your homepage!

Reason # 3
Since many search engines now factor link popularity into their ranking decisions, your linking strategies are all that much more important! If you want to be ranked as high as possible in search engines, you now need a factor in your link popularity – and, as you already know, earnings a top spot in the major search engines is key to increasing your web site traffic.

Obviously, developing a linking strategy that generates a high volume of targeted traffic to your web site is not an overnight process. It will take you anywhere from two weeks to six months to secure quality links you need. However, I promise you that it is worth the effort! Once you have done the initial footwork, the links that are established will remain on these web sites for years to come. Your perseverance will pay big dividends in the form of a continuous flow of targeted traffic generation.

2. Your Domain Name
A domain name plays a vital role in traffic generation to any web site. Domain names rich in keywords will rank higher in search engines because search engines love URL’s that are saturated with keywords! Brainstorm keywords and key phrases for your web site and then use them to create a catchy URL… or load the domain name with your best keywords to get ranked higher in the search engines.

3. Key Word Density
Keywords definitely refer to the number of times your keyword appears throughout your site. Your keyword density is a factor that is heavily weighted by search engines, so it’s very important to make strategic use of your keywords.

So, these are the golden facts and tactics through which you can drive high traffic to your web site. I should also mention that you do not expect to enter a couple of your top keywords into the search engines and instantly start making money through your web site— that is very rare. But yes, you can really make high traffic through search engines without crossing the line into “keyword stuffing” and with a little time.

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There are TONS of ways to build up your traffic. Here are some of the most common methods.

1. Learn Search Engine Optimization – this is probably the most important way that you want to get traffic and probably the hardest too. Search engine traffic is highly targetted traffic of people who are searching the web for a specific item. If they get to your site after searching for it, you’re almost guaranteed a sale or at least a “bookmark for later”. lot of ebooks on the subject

2. Trade links with other sites – It’s important to get your site name out there.
So trade links with several other sites, even your competitors! People really do look at those links pages and they will find their way to your site from another site.

3. Post on message boards – When you post on highly trafficked message boards, BE SURE to put your site link in your signature! This is a highly effective form of marketing, especially if the message board you are posting at is relative to your site content.

4. Use email signatures – Make it easy for your customers to contact you! When they write to you and ask for more information, be sure that you are using a signature with your site URL and name inside of it. That way if they want to retrieve it later, it’s easier for them than having to memorize your URL and open a web browser.

5. Join Yahoo Groups – This is pretty much the same as message boards. Join groups that pertain to your site’s content and advertise (but don’t spam!!) your site there.

6. Post on free classifieds sites – Sites like Craig’s List or other free advertising classifieds sites will accept your site for free! Just do a Google search for “free classifieds” and you’ll see a ton of sites come up where you can promote your site!

7. Buy ad space – If your monthly budget allows, you can buy some ad space for your site. Find another site that pertains to your site’s content and ask them what their advertising prices are.

8. Hold auctions – Ebay gets TONS of traffic a day, while you’re not allowed to post your site URL within your auction listings, you are allowed to put it in your “about me” page. So think about listing some of your products as auctions and advertise your URL.

9. Offline advertising – Get custom t-shirts, bumper stickers, car decals, etc made for your site URL. Then whenever you are out in public, you are passively advertising yourself!

10. Submit your site to directories – If your site is a site about “fishing” for
instance, do a Google search for “fishing directories” and see how many directories are out there that pertain to your subject matter. Most of these directories will allow free submissions.

11. Write articles – Writing articles that pertain to your site is another excellent way to get your site out there. Just write a short, informative article of 5-6 paragraphs and submit it to any site that accepts article submissions and make sure that your article includes a link back to your site in your “author biography”.

12. Submit press releases – Even if your site is a small work from home site

You can try right now…….

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Internet marketing is all about catching the ‘eye of the spider’. ‘Spiders’ are ingenious little devices that search all the pages of the World Wide Web looking for those pages that are most relevant to the search term that the internet user has entered. Not only do spiders find the appropriate pages, but they also rank these pages in order of relevance, making it easier for the user to find what he is looking for. Goes without saying, anybody looking for something would first click on the page that is right on top of the list. If he finds what he is looking for, that’s it- he looks no further. It is only if he does not find what he wants that he will then go down the list of pages that the spiders have ranked in decreasing order of relevance. The key then, is to make sure your website is ranked right up there above all others that have the same keyword.

Here are a few tips on how you can use article marketing to catch the eye of that all-important spider and get your website ranked right up there, where it can be seen by millions of users.

Make sure your article content is original

Spiders never forget! They memorize every article they have ever crawled over. If they come across a similar article during subsequent searches they immediately pick it out as a plagiarized copy. Instead of the brownie points you would expect to win for featuring valuable content on your web site, your web site would get penalized for featuring copied content. It is critical to make sure that your article content is always original.

Post your original articles on your own website first

By posting your original content on your own website before distributing it to other sites, you stake a claim to your article, and prevent those spiders from penalizing it for duplication. Also, when the spider picks up your article during a search, if the article is posted on your website, it will lead the reader straight to your site circumventing the round-about route.

Embed those keywords and keyword phrases

Using appropriate keywords and keyword phrases throughout your article while maintaining optimum keyword density, is critical. Proper keywords used correctly helps spiders index your website and leverages your search engine optimization. It is important to remember that proper usage of keywords and keyword phrases is critical. Keywords that are randomly placed throughout the article, known as keyword stuffing, will only help get your article disqualified and penalized by search engines. And if your article that is unintelligently keyword stuffed, does get past the search engines, your site visitors will be none too impressed with the quality of your articles and will almost certainly turn away. Once this happens, it is almost impossible to lure them back again.

Increase your link popularity

Spiders determine the popularity and relevancy of your website by the quality and quantity of inbound hyperlinks from other websites to yours. Include an “About the Author” section with a link to your website in every author resource box at the end of your article. It is obligatory for other websites to include this section if they decide to publish your article on their site. This in itself will guarantee you unlimited free publicity. If your article is informative and interesting, and is placed on several sites, you would automatically get plenty of links pointing back to your site. This is guaranteed to catch the eye of the spider and increase your search engine ranking.

Maximize your exposure through article distribution sites

By submitting your articles to large distributions sites such as GoArticles.com or eZine.com you increase the chances of your article being repurposed by other webmasters who are continuously seeking quality content. This can have a kind of viral effect and send a continuous stream of significant traffic towards the direction of your articles.

Persistence pays

Writing just one article, no matter how good, is not enough to get you the desired results. Catching the eye of the spider takes time. To reap the benefits of article marketing requires time and patience as well as the unswerving commitment to generate and disseminate good quality articles consistently. This is what will create a valuable footprint in your field of expertise and help increase the number of back-links to your site.

Maintain that word count

Most websites will only accept and distribute articles that meet their specified article requirements with regard to minimum and maximum length. As a rule, articles should be no more than 500 words and no less than 300 words.

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The following twelve points will, I hope, summarize a philosophy, approach and methodology to the SEO question which is both sound and effective, along with giving some helpful insight into the industry itself.

1. Content
Effective, professional, optimized Copywriting is the single, most important factor in any SEO campaign. Search engines index websites based on the content found on each page of the site. With a thorough understanding of the language and grammatical conventions combined with intensive research, to find and exploit the market focus, one can move a website to the upper echelon of the “SERP’s” (Search Engine Results Page) in a methodical as well as ethical manner.

2. Analyze Web Logs.
Measure everything, at least twice, and then check again. While I would be the first to say that many of the procedures that make up website optimization are more art than science, one needs to take a very scientific approach to the results of the effort. This is done by methodically keeping a record of, and making an analysis of the sites web logs. There are a number of specialized software which make the job easier but at the bare minimum, one needs to keep a close eye on the site visitors and their activity while on the site. No matter how well planned the strategy, it is largely theoretical until proven by the results, which can only be measured by the logs, and a thorough analysis of their content.

3. No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, or any other search engine.
Those who promise such feats will either optimize for such vague search term phrases (such as, “green stunted widgets with purple Polka-dots and icing”) that no one will ever likely look for, or they are making a false claim, which they have no intention of keeping, or they have an inside edge at Google, something which they will loose, quickly, when the honest folks at Google find out about it. The other option, that they will take the money and run, is worth mentioning here but I’ll be polite.

4. Some things are just plain silly.
You don’t need to submit your site to 50,000 search engines. Businesses which offer this service are suspect, at best. 85% of the search results on the Internet come from one search engine, which, if you have one link from an established website, or better yet, a directory, will find your site just fine, on it’s own. Four (4) search engines account for over 90% of the traffic on the web. As for any supposed benefit which may accrue from being listed in an obscure search engine in Botswana which specializes in safaris to the Kalahari Desert and receives 7 hits per day; well, you figure it out.

5. SEO is not Pay-per-Click.
While no one would argue the effectiveness of getting increased traffic and sales, through a well planned, pay-per-click campaign, the fact remains that the conversion rates are generally low and they cease the moment the “pay” stops. With a well planned and executed SEO campaign, while results may take a bit longer, they continue to produce, and in fact grow, long after the work is done and paid for. Quite often we have found that after a thorough optimization of a site, only minor adjustments are needed on an ongoing basis, primarily related to new content and/or new items of sale or service.

6. SEO is not witchcraft, Druidism, shamanism.
Neither does it require any special chants, ceremonial fires, or vestments, though some of us do like to howl at the full moon, on occasion. There are no “Top Secret” practices which a reputable SEO can not tell a client, a judge, or his mother, for that matter. The very nature of the Internet has always been cooperative and there is nothing about SEO that can’t be learned, with a heavy dose of time and money. A reputable SEO firm will give you an item per item breakdown of just where the money goes. Be wary if you sense a secretive atmosphere or any unwillingness to answer questions. While there are technical points which might take some background to fully understand, if one has a solid overview of the entire situation, a simple explanation should be easy enough to come up with.

7. Do-it-yourself SEO.
Yes, you can execute your own SEO campaign and find a reputable SEO firm to help plan and organize it for you. About one half of my own clientele do some part of the actual work themselves, or have their in-house dedicated personnel do it, after discussion of the goals and aims of the business/website, a thorough website analysis, comprehensive search phrase research, and focused instruction on the ways and means of achieving high SERPs. These preliminaries are followed up with a detailed program of suggestions and methods which the client can then implement themselves or hire others to perform. Average savings; 30-40%.

8. Phased Implementation.
While many companies spend thousands of dollars per month on Search Engine Optimization, an alternative is available which will pay dividends to you in increased sales and leads without the high initial investment. The most important consideration is to have a reputable firm handle the initial evaluation and suggested optimization planning first. The trial and error method will cost much more, in the long run, with or without the desired result. After studying the plan and establishing a workable budget you may implement the plan as finances allow.

9. Remember the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Never was this more true than in the realm of SEO. While concrete and measurable gains will always come from a well thought out and executed optimization strategy, the Internet is a competitive media and we all want to be number one. Accept that a steady upward movement, over time, will place you worlds ahead of a flash followed by a crash.

10. A thought to ponder.
At stake, in the race for the top, is the very existence of your website, your business, and quite possibly your reputation. Beware of any “shortcuts” or less than ethical schemes that anyone might suggest to further your business goals. When it’s all said and done it is you, the business owner, who bears the responsibility for any company or individual you hire. Insist on knowing exactly what the strategy is and what steps are being performed to implement it. If it seems, in the least, suspicious, ask for and get an explanation. In this case, not only is Ignorance not bliss, it could very well be the beginning of the end for your business.

11. All incoming links are not created equal.
Both the relevance to your line of business and website subject matter and the PR value of the incoming link determine how valuable they are to your own PR ranking. With Google starting the trend, nothing new there, and most of the others following close behind, the days of grabbing all the inbound links, in any way possible, are gone. Not only will low ranked and/or irrelevant inbound links not help, they will, in fact, cause a penalty. Link farms, free-for-all link schemes, automated link accumulation software, or any other fad that doesn’t carefully screen the links and websites they are coming from will, in the long run, do more harm than good.

12. It’s more than just facts and figures.
The relationship between an online business and SEO is, perhaps, one of the closest of business relationships. In order to be effective, a SEO must know not only the facts and figures pertaining to the endeavor, but s/he must know something of the dreams and aspirations of the business principals. Things which don’t normally come out in a prospectus are often invaluable information when searching for the “right fit” into the complex world of the Internet. My own clients sometimes ask, due to the frequency of my calls and email in the early phases, “Am I your only client?” I usually laugh and say something to the effect that until I know your business almost as well as you do, yes, you are the only one that counts.

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What if a geek friend already did the on-page optimization and now you want to know how you can contribute to the “search engine goodness” of your website? Off-page optimization is the next step. And the results you will have to pine for are one-way backlinks. Why? This is how many of the major search engines such Google, Yahoo! and MSN rank websites. The more backlinks from relevant sites with good page rank, the merrier.

So how exactly do you gather backlinks? It’s not an easy task but it’s definitely less nerve-wracking than HTML if you are not the techie type. Here are some off-page SEO tips:

1. Article Marketing

Quality content has been discovered to be real king. Everyone is hungry for fresh and quality info and providing it will make backlinks go pouring in. It helps a lot to be a keen writer to be successful on this endeavor. Also, practise the proper way of using a resource box. It should only include a website that contains information relevant to the article you submit to article directories.

2. Forum Participation

Look for forums that are relevant to your website’s content and keep on sharing information that will be indispensable for the members of the forums. Your signature or that tag-along message at the last part of each of your posts is what will work for your off-page SEO campaign. Keep it simple and make sure that it conveys something about your website. Learn how to hyperlink to make it easy for the people who want to visit your site.

3. Blogging

Blogs or web logs are now the most popular weapons of SEO experts. Aside from being easy-to-update, they don’t require a too formal tone, which is what many readers are into. Informal dialog which can be accomplished through readers leaving comments and the blog author replying to the comments is what also keeps blogs fresh and search engine friendly. Maintaining a blog that’s again relevant to your website’s content will keep the search engines in touch with your site. Don’t forget to have a link on your main website from your blog.

The secret to be successful in carrying out these off-page SEO methods is to be consistent. Submitting quality articles to websites at least two to three times a week and regularly producing content for your personalized blog is a surefire way to make your website stand out. Forum participation should also be something done more frequently since it will not only help you up your website’s popularity with the search engines but also make you learn new stuff from other forum members’ participation. Also, if you discover that you don’t enjoy these stuff, there’s always a plan B – hire someone to do them for you!

Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR’S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

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