Link Building - The Key to Search Engine Traffic

The holy grail of most online marketers is free search engine traffic for targeted keywords. But, just how do you go about getting that wonderful, life changing free traffic? With back links, of course. More specifically, with keyword focused anchor text back links. In this article we'll explain what a back link is, what anchor text is and how to go about getting targeted anchor text back links for your site.
A back link is a link on an external page pointing back to your page or site. Search engines count these links as essentially "votes" for your site. The more links or "votes" your site has, the higher the search engine position you will have. The text of the link itself is the "anchor text". The keyword you are targeting should be the text of the link pointing back to your site.
For example, lets say you have a website selling mosquito nets. If you wanted to rank high in the search engines for the phrase "mosquito netting" you would build links to your site with "mosquito netting" as the anchor text of your links. But, it's not as simple as that, you'll want to vary your anchor text.
Varying your anchor text makes your link profile appear to be more natural. Natural link profiles are not made up of one anchor text phrase. People would not naturally link to you only using your preferred keywords. So, you need to mix it up a bit. Build links with varied anchor text using "click here", "this site" and variations of your keyword phrase as well.
But where do you get these links? There are millions of ways to get back links. Here are a few.
1. Article Syndication - article marketing and article syndication is a time tested technique of building back links. Write an article on your topic and submit it to the top article directories to start getting those back links. Most articles allow two to three links in the resource box, this adds up fast.
2. Press Releases - a press release is not only a great way to build back links but also a fantastic way to gain visibility and direct visitors to your sites. There are huge lists of free press release sites available online just do a Google search for "free press release" and start submitting.
3. Social Bookmarking - become active on social bookmarking sites and submit your content to be bookmarked by others. Not as effective as it was a couple of years ago, bookmarking can still build low quality links to your sites. You need low quality links along with high profile links to build a natural link profile.
4. Web 2.0 Sites - sites like Squidoo and Hubpages want your content. User generated content is how they make their money. Create good content for these sites and follow their rules for linking out for good quality links with your anchor text.
5. Social Networks - although most social networks no follow outgoing links you don't want to ignore them. Facebook, Twitter and Google + can mean a huge boost of traffic for your sites. You can also catch the attention of other people that may write about and link to you.
These are just a few ways to generate links to your sites for that all important search engine traffic. Slow and steady wins the race. Build links and create content to syndicate all over the Web and you'll have a steady stream of direct traffic from your syndicated content as well as the coveted search engine traffic.

Link building is complicated and time consuming, if you want an all-in-one done-for-you solution check out the affordable link building service of Ka-boom-it.com.

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Internet Marketing Training: The Importance of SEO

One of the most important course modules in any Internet marketing training course is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO refers to the practice of creating and marketing websites so that they can be easily discovered and then get highly-ranked by the reputed search engines.
There are two types of SEO practices - Onsite SEO and Offsite SEO. Onsite SEO refers to the practice of creating the HTML and database pages in such a way that the site is easily found by the search engines. This involves strategically placing meta tags, creating a site map in XML, uploading a robots.txt file that gives instructions to search engines about how they should crawl on the website, and more. Offsite SEO refers to many different marketing tactics that can help you build backlinks, which are so important. The more backlinks you have to your site, the higher your PageRank will go. In fact, Internet market training focuses a lot on link building as well because when you get a higher PageRank, your site moves up the search engine page results.
Offsite SEO involves keyword-rich content development, article submission, forum posting, blogging, video marketing (for example, setting up a channel on YouTube), directory submission, blog directory submission, social media marketing, and more. You can learn all these traffic-building strategies while taking your Internet marketing training.
SEO has gotten so precise these days that you can cleverly use it to target specific groups of customers. For example, if you are selling a product that's environment friendly, you can research high-ranking "green" keywords and write content revolving these and spread it on article directories and on your website. When people search for these terms, your site will show up! However, remember that by just placing keyword-friendly content, your site will not move up the ladder. There are other factors that search engines consider as well - like for example, age of website, relevance of content to page, etc.
The biggest advantage of SEO is that it is cheap and can get you on top of the search engines results pages. Moreover, SEO helps you increase your traffic by leaps and bounds. When traffic increases, your brand value and recall go up. An Internet marketing training course will teach you the secrets of the search engines and exactly how they find a website and rank it. When you learn these secrets, you will start understanding sites a lot better and will know how to design SEO-friendly sites and also cleverly perform onsite and offsite SEO.
SEO is extremely important because it helps people find your site. The Internet is teeming with zillions of visitors, and many of these visitors are out to buy goods and services. If they come across a niche, well-made and reputed website that sells a valuable product, they will not hesitate to swipe their credit card. Having a SEO-friendly website gives you the opportunity of making money as you sleep. This is why SEO is an integral part of any Internet marketing training course.

Chad is the owner/editor of Web Marketing Soup which provides the most honest internet marketing training on the web.
If you have any questions about how to run your business through social media or other online marketing tactics, please don't be afraid to let me know.

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SEO Techniques for Beginners: 3 Easy, Effective SEO Tips

SEO (or search engine optimisation) can seem complicated but there are quite a few things that you can do with your website that are easy and will help you get better results from Google and the other search engines. Look at your website with a fresh set of eyes and see how you can uses these simple - but effective - SEO techniques for beginners.
1. Check your page titles
Think of the titles of each of your pages as the headline on a classified advert.
Do a quick search on Google for site: followed by your own domain name (don't leave a space after the colon).
Then look at the results.
The blue clickable links are your page titles. They should make the content of each page crystal clear. You've only got a handful of seconds to grab your potential visitor's attention. If you waste that time by repeating your company name then, unless you're already a household name, that's not going to help.
If your page title doesn't make your potential visitor want to click through to your site to find out more, you need to change it so that it does.
Google allows you just over 60 characters to do this, including spaces and other punctuation.
Use as much of this as makes sense without stuffing your title full of keywords.
And remember that anything over this limit will get cut off and won't show in the search results.
2. Check your meta descriptions
We're still on stuff that needs to be right before people will reach your site.
The meta description isn't visible on your website. But - if it's present - there's a good chance that Google will use it as the description below your title in the search results listing.
If your site uses the popular Wordpress publishing platform, you need to be aware that this isn't really addressed by the off-the-shelf program. You'll need a Wordpress SEO plugin to be able to easily control the description that's shown. If you've seen descriptions that start with a date and are full of ellipsis (those three dots...) then you've probably seen a non-SEO'd Wordpress site.
You'll need to apply the same test to the meta descriptions as your main page titles.
Ask yourself whether or not they would encourage you to click on the link?
If the answer is "yes" then you're probably OK. If the answer is "no" then you need to go away and do some work on your descriptions.
3. Check your page headline
This one only applies once people have reached your site.
There's some code in your web page which denotes a page headline. These are numbered in importance from 1 through to 6. So a number 1 headline is more important than a number 2 headline. And so on.
Again, if you're trying to SEO Wordpress, you may have to check your theme and get it changed if it doesn't use headlines by default. A lot of designers are a bit "purist" about this and think that it sullies their design integrity.
The problem is that if you don't have at least one headline, Google is left a bit in the dark as to what your page is about. And a confused computer tends to do much the same as a confused human - put off dealing with the page and go onto something easier. Which is probably your competitor.

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Paid Search Marketing Concept

Website business owners can benefit from a paid search marketing strategy. This particular advertising allows businesses to set pay-per-click banners on search results pages. Each time an individual clicks on the list of these banners, it only charges the business a small amount of money for the exposure. This is extremely cost-effective for both small and large companies alike.
The concept is easy. The banner is positioned, along with hopes of enticing new customers to a website. It's only featured for particular search responses, targeting customers that would be interested in whatever the banner is advertising. This keeps a business from having to pay for people who are not thinking about the item. Simply potential customers are directed to the site.
The way paid search marketing operates is genius. A business that chooses to go this route will select an assortment of search queries that they feel would be related to their product or service. Whenever a person enters one of these keywords into a search engine, the ad will be shown in the margin. From there, the person can select whether or not they have an interest in visiting the banner.
If they do indeed choose to select the advertisement, then the displayed business pays a few cents for the advertising. This amount will vary, based on the agreed upon conditions that were produced in the contract. Since money is only spent whenever someone actually visits the site, it's a cheaper method of advertising. The search terms also help screen people who would possibly be a potential customer.
Due to the worldwide exposure of the Internet, businesses from all over the world can benefit from a paid search marketing campaign. This will allow consumers from any country the opportunity to find out about businesses they might not be familiar with. Exposure to several countries will help develop a company's customer base.
For companies that are only looking to target local people, this can also be stipulated in the campaign. Search engines can target the exact place regarding users, making it simple to only present the advertisement for those in a particular area. It is good for both local businesses and international companies.
Choosing to engage in a paid search marketing plan can bring several struggling businesses the much-needed exposure that they need. The campaign can be personalized to fit any kind of budget, whether big or small. Due to the unique specifications that exist, it can save the majority of businesses money over traditional marketing strategies.
This type of marketing has been proven to bring traffic to businesses all over the world. Since the people who are clicking on the banner have already expressed an interest in the product that is being offered, more of these clicks grow to be solid leads. Plus, no cash is actually spent until someone visits the site. A limit can even put on the ad, ensuring the budget is not broken.

Internet marketing is becoming increasingly important as more and more people use the internet to find products and services. If you need help with your PPC advertising you may want to consider finding pay per click services that can help you to select keywords and gain an ROI on your  Compaign

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Developing Your List of Keywords In 3 Steps

When working online the need to develop a list of keywords for promotional purposes will be an ongoing one! In fact your selection and keyword use is the best way to improve search engine rankings thereby allowing you to get more traffic and all for free! So how do you go about compiling a list that works most effectively for you?
Here's 3 simple steps involve in selecting the words and phrases most appropriate for your needs thus helping you improve search engine rankings!
Narrow Your Focus
Avoid using words or phrases that have a broad meaning or can easily associated with topics unrelated to yours. Effective keyword use strives to target terms that maintain a strong and narrowly defined affiliation which yield search results where people are more focused! Using terms like 'mustang' can produce results ranging from horses, drinks or automobiles! On the other using '1968 mustang for sale' will tremendously narrow down the search results to those looking only for the car!
Respectable Search Results
Words or phrases with a good number of search results are what you want to look for and use. This demonstrates that people are searching on these terms therefore they offer good potential in terms of results! Remember you want to get more traffic to your site but if very few people are looking for the keywords you choose you don't stand much of a chance of accomplishing this objective! On the other hand if results show a very high number, say 20 thousand or higher you may want to avoid using the keywords. The greater the number of results that are shown the more difficult it will be for you to improve search engine rank.
Avoid Competition
Yeah I know competition is good but to only sharpen your skills! A phrase with low to medium competition is best otherwise you will find yourself working that much harder just to be ranked! There's always something to be said for working smarter and not harder and this is a perfect case in point! In terms of competition when considering your keyword use, watch the crowd and then go in the opposite direction!
Knowing how to effectively develop a list of keywords that will improve search engine rankings is important when working online! The 3 simple steps shared above serve to show you how to quickly compile the list you will need for your keyword use when composing content or building sites online! Doing so effectively will result in your ability to get more traffic which will be both highly targeted and cost free!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
For more tips about effectively developing a list of keywords and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques for your online marketing needs simply visit: http://affiliatequickstart.com/

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3 Tips For Using Keywords Effectively

Using keywords correctly any time you are writing internet content plays a significant role in how many viewers will actually see it! Your keyword use directly influences your search engine ratings which of course impact the amount of traffic you get! Simply stated without using the proper words or phrases when writing internet content your composition stands to be overlooked and therefore buried for eternity online! It's all about proper keyword use and when focusing on this here are 3 points to always consider!
Relevance
It starts with selecting only the wording or phrase that is most relevant to the body of work you intend to publish! Your search engine ratings are based not only upon use but primarily upon the relevancy of what you chose, wording wise, when optimizing anything you publish! If it's not relevant it's almost as bad as not optimizing at all!
Placement
The placement of your selection of words and phrases is another key area in terms of proper optimization techniques! As a rule you want anything you wrote to be identified with a title or heading that is not only descriptive but also contains your primary keyword! After that both your opening and ending paragraphs should start out with the use of your primary word(s) along with using secondary words or phrases throughout!
Frequency
Here's where some people tend to go a little overboard by abusing their keyword use when writing internet content. Search engines frown upon placing too many of your selected words or phrases within any composition and will penalize writers for doing so by dropping your search engine ratings! As a safe and conservative rule try to aim for a keyword percentage of between 2 to 5 percent is suggested. This will be enough to get you noticed without being excessive and resulting in you getting 'flagged' instead!
Using keywords correctly when writing internet content will make a HUGE difference in the number of viewers you will get! Proper keyword use has a positive impact on your search engine ratings which of course influencing how many people will be shown what you wrote. On the other hand improper or total negligence in terms of keyword use will literally bury your content online! The 3 points discussed above focus on the most important areas of keyword use and are actually quite simple to implement! On the other hand failure to do so will only result in wasted efforts and traffic you've squandered away by not taking a little more time to properly optimize what you wrote!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
For more tips about using keywords to get more traffic and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques for your online marketing needs simply visit: http://affiliatequickstart.com/

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Marketing and PR Online - Techniques That Will Highly Rank Your Websites

Failure should never be an option. Unfortunately for many online pr and marketing strategies, this is the harsh reality. This is not necessarily due to a lack of efforts, but more on the basis of improper techniques and limited "Know how". Having a meaningful presence on the Internet goes far beyond merely having websites and social media accounts, it is about taking the right measures to market those websites and social media accounts and make them count.
Websites are the best way to publicize ones image and purpose to the world at any one time. But along with creating the website, it is important to manage how the website will be ranked in the search engines. Of course, a high rank is the ultimate goal, but to achieve this there are several things that MUST be taken into consideration:
* What the Spider-bot wants, It Gets!
Upon understanding how search engines operate, website must be constructed accordingly. When a "search" is conducted, the first thing that is looked upon is the home page of that website. The "spiders" or crawlers robots within the search engine therefore go over this page of the website to identify the information it seeks. However, if the homepage (and this must be emphasized) does not contain these sought out information, the website will neither be ranked nor appear in the search engine results. The inclusion of images and graphics are therefore advised to be very minimal on the home page of website as the search engine robots will NOT extract information from these. However, where this is unavoidable, include as many of the key phrases as possible on the page to further enhance the online PR and Marketing strategy.
* What are you saying with SEO?
The single most important aspect to a website is its WRITTEN CONTENT. Since this is the criteria that search engines use to measure its relevance within a search, it therefore follows that websites that possess Keywords and Phrases rich contents should receive high rankings. Achieving such key word rich contents, is done through the process of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Primarily, this entails providing information on the website (mainly the Home page), that are "rich" with the key words and phrases that the crawlers robots will identify as relevant to that particular search. However, this must be meticulously done through careful research for such words and phrases that are being sought by search engine user yet possess minimum competition from other websites. The information containing these key words and phrases must then be logically presented on the website. Keyword search platforms such as Google Adwords Keyword Tool will assist with this process and thereby provide any Public Relations online or Marketing campaign with its best chances to succeed.
* Back-linking offers such great support
Having keyword rich contents on the website is the primary and most essential step to success. However, along with this, the websites need to have quality back links to other relating websites in order to be validated. The higher the ranks of these back links the better the chances are of the websites receiving priority by the search engines. Again careful research must be done to identify the best back links for the website. Importantly too, are the number and quality of back links received from other websites.
* Yes, we've been SiteMapped and Indexed - You Can Find Us
The website must also be SiteMapped and Indexed. Fortunately however, the process of getting indexed within a search engine directory is automatic (can be done manually),providing that all the other procedures are done correctly. SiteMaps are files (best placed in the root directory of the website), that inform the search engines about all the other pages on a website. They provide details about the content of each website page, which makes them more accessible and identifiable within the search directories. Thus, having Sitemaps on any website would make it easier to be located by the search engine.
* Stay on Track
Further tools should be implemented in the process of website management when conducting online Marketing and Public Relations. These include tracking and ranking devices that monitors the positions of the websites Online i.e. its flow of traffic and the other activities that are done on it. This would therefore assist its manager with identifying what features and information are functional and the things that should be adjusted in order to improve its success rate.
* PING! - Just Love That Sound - Generates Traffic From All Around
Pinging the websites are also useful ways to generate traffic and increase page ranking. This is a simple process of notifying the search engine index about any updated information that has been added to the websites. It is easily done by uploading the URL to websites that offers this service and helps the website to stay current and relevant in search results. There are various free Ping sites available on the Internet. In addition to this, persons also have the option of adding RSS Feeds to their websites and thus generate even more repeat visits to the site. By this method, persons who have subscribed for the RSS Feed, are instantly alerted about new information that has been added to the website.
* What is SEM?
Along with those other key methods, implementing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a vital way gain exposure for websites. Although it also encompasses SEO, it implements methods such as pay-per-click advertising, Google AdSense or other paid advertising features to advance the websites position in search engine results (SERP).
By applying these techniques such as back linking, pinging and many others to your pr online and marketing strategies, your websites should be on their way to being better ranked in the search engine results.

Shelly-Ann Roper is an avid PR and Marketing Consultant, who focuses mainly on Social Network Marketing for small businesses online. For more articles, you are welcomed to visit her blogspot at: http://onlinepr101.blogspot.com/.

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