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<title>Latest Articles by Seo_Design_Solutions</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/</link>
<description>Articles at Populate.NET</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<item>
<title>Diversify Your Search Engine Optimization Strategies</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet/diversify-your-search-engine-optimization-strategies.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet/diversify-your-search-engine-optimization-strategies.html</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Diversity is important for reaching a broad cross-segment of multiple markets. Just as people are multi-faceted, it stands to reason that through context a person who likes reggae music, is also someone partial to tropical islands, would be more susceptible to an offer to travel to an island getaway.

By combining the psychographic and demographic profiles of your target audience, you can carefully craft related content on your own site or on others sites to promote your brand.

Electing the Right Landing Page:

It is important to understand context in marketing and moreover understand the psychographic profile of your target market. By breaking the mold and seeing beyond the keywords and peering into the psyche of the target audience, this process can lend itself to leveraging multiple related markets and funnel additional revenue streams to your business model.

The first step is to remove the blinders when it comes to selecting keywords and positioning your landing pages for the greatest appeal. Seeing beyond the keywords allows you to embrace the market.

A landing page (a page designed for 3-5 keywords) is your flagship page that is typically comprised of a tightly knit group of keywords and call to action that support the underlying theme of the page.

Omitting unnecessary components like standard navigation and using a wizard (step 1 of 4), using images to anchor click triggers and strategic graphic design and text to reinforce the contextual basis of the theme.

As a result, you may in fact have 20 pages on the topic, but by linking from each of those 20 pages to the selected landing page (with a diverse array of related keyword), you create an internal link dynamo that indicates to search engines that (1) that page is significant and (2) please select this pages to delivery the most relevant traffic for this query.
 
Now after you have determined if any unexplored markets support your original key phrases and created content (at least 5-10 pages site wide) you are ready to build links back to your content and test the waters of conversion.

This is the most suitably method for long term success. Pages age like wine, the older they get, the more authority they amass, so chronology is important for getting your foot in the door for competitive phrases.

Achieving high rankings in search engines are a result of relevance and relevance score. Quality score is the equivalent in PPC, but for now, the emphasis of this article is organic or natural optimization. 

Quality and relevance and the cornerstones of which pages are elected to represent a topic. Although that are in fact hundreds of criteria that are used to distinguish which pages have a higher propensity for success, the underlying attribute is quality.

Off page link building is next, for every high ranking position there is supporting documentation or strong links to the page to elevate its position. 

The links can be either through internal links (from your own site) or external links (from other sites) but it is the combination of these two factors that determine how and where you rank (if your content is topical and on target).

Article marketing, creating software, site templates such as word press or other items in high demand are one way to link outside the box and add diversity to your off page link popularity.

The thing to remember, no matter what you do to build links, the core theme is relevance, so the closer you are to related sites that are synergistic to your content, the higher relevance score and positioning you can expect from the search engine algorithms.

As if second guessing search engine algorithms through heuristic trial and error isn't enough, the necessity for honing your marketing to reach your target audience requires equally as demanding an agenda.

Finding the right balance of design, function and call to action to synthesize your brand is the key to mastering the soft sale.

Just scraping another competitors content or strategy still has the "me too" mentality which has a tendency to border on mediocrity. Search engines and humans tend to ignore bland content, so if you are going to publish anything, do it for the right reasons. Each thing you publish is a link back to your site and shapes the way search engines and potential customers see your site.

What are the dominant factors your brand has to offer? Identification is just the first step, it is through creating and recreating your brand, the offers and developing continuity for all of your landing pages that holds the key to user engagement and eventual relevance and success.

Rome was not built in a day, yet, it still stands as a pinnacle to behold for our present civilization. The analogy here is to focus on quality not just quantity, look for opportunity when others see mediocrity and think outside the box to constantly attract new customers to your content to see which have the highest yield and return on investment. ]]></description>
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<title>The Top 5 Sites that Rank for Marketing</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Marketing/Market_Research/the-top-5-sites-that-rank-for-marketing.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Marketing/Market_Research/the-top-5-sites-that-rank-for-marketing.html</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Say you wanted to rank for the word "marketing" in Google for example, what is the first thing you would do to optimize such a broad phrase?

In case you thought it was entirely out of the question (aside from budgetary constraints for human resource), I would like to share a very profound algorithmic principle (simplified by a rudimentary analysis) to shed some light on which tactics would accomplish this feat.

We often think about ranking for competitive terms as just that, competitive and immediately associate the premise with hard work, luck or chance.

I can assure you, after reverse engineering various aspects of search algorithms (inadvertently as a result of a photographic memory and a keen insight for patterns) you can essentially classify a ranking by 3 simple methods.

Months ago, I may have suggested a staggered keyword ranking strategy with an emphasis on ascent essentially starting with 4 keywords, start building links with those variations of anchor text and then when you are ranking target 3 keywords, 2 keywords and then ultimately go for the benchmark across the board ranking with just one keyword. 

Now, I beg to differ and have adapted a new approach. Target the root keyword (over time using content and links) then solidify the two word, three word and long tail semantic permutations.

The premise is keyword concentration and volume. Let's take an extremely competitive phrase (like the word "marketing" for example). When you conduct a search in Google 745,000,000 results are returned (due to this phrase being quite broad in its application).

However, analyzing the top 5 sites (results may differ based on your data center) leave a distinct signature. Each domain tells a unique chronological story:

* #1 for Marketing - Wikipedia (authority site leveraging internal links as well as over 8000 inbound links to a sub folder).
* #2 for Marketing - Managementhelp[dot]org (subpage using silo site information architecture with pages augmented by authority domains).
* #3 for Marketing - bidvertiser[dot]com (this site uses sheer link weight millions of links with diverse anchor text over time).
* #4 for Marketing - entrepreneur[dot]com (authority site using silo site architecture).
* #5 for Marketing - marketing.about[dot]com/ (this site uses authority with a sub domain ranking strategy).

The implication of using a silo means, you have your main topic in the root folder, then you create sub folders to organize and segment your site using keyword rich naming conventions. An example would be sitename[dot]com/root-topic/sub-topic/keyword-rich.title.html

Ranking for competitive root phrases is not just about the competitiveness of the phrase alone, it is the concentration of the relative keyword density for that site combined with the criteria of quality, trust and off page factors.

The page from #2 had a keyword density of 6.72 percent. In my tests, anything with a concentration for on page over 6% when coupled with off-page link building that addresses the semantic root phrases should be in the top 10 to 15 results when combined with modifiers (more descriptive / supporting keywords).

By targeting a root phrase like marketing for example, ranking for variations of the modifiers is second nature such as online marketing, marketing strategies, internet marketing etc.

Looking from another standpoint the page from managementhelp[dot]org has 296 other pages from outside the domain referencing it, which from one level may seem excessive, but when combined with the top ranking pages concentration and the fact that there are 186 pages on the subject within the site out of 770 pages you realize it is not just one set of circumstances affecting the outcome.

This is a perfect example of a cumulative ranking which is based on momentum, link weight, topical relevance through content and authority. Despite sounding like a broken record (since we have covered dozens of pages on the topic in our site) the simple facts remain. Combine enough factors that are favorable and the relevance score increases.

By using any of the key metrics discovered in various sites that hold top ranking positions, the pattern becomes clear. Although each page has its own method, chronology (for content, inbound links and diversity) the end result is, they comprise a particular signature that search engine algorithms are looking for that associate this phenomenon with relevance and top rankings (at least for now).

The point is, it is possible to analyze any number of phrases and or websites and determine why in fact they are where they are and essentially which strategies they are utilizing. Some sites are more difficult to assess than others, but if the top position can be toppled with less than 500 pages and a mixture of links, then at least you can gauge how long it will take to acquire a threshold for competitive phrases. Most in fact only require less than a dozen (if constructed properly).

If you start writing now, keep your inbound links focused, structure your content to support itself and maintain a focus for the topic, then essentially any keyword can be captured over time. Or in the event that you simply don't have the time because you are too busy marketing your products or services, at least you could hire an online marketing that specializes in competitive search engine optimization services to steer you in the right direction.

In closing, rankings can be acquired by the page or through using the entire site to reinforce a page depending on the threshold for what search engines consider relevant and how many other individuals are standing in line for the keyword or phrase.

This goes back to the analogy between the tortoise and the hare. Sometimes it is better to patiently plot your path and acquire relevance for the root phrase (instead of thinking short term and sprinting to capture one piece of the puzzle or series of keywords).

Slow and steady wins the race was a motto devised from wisdom, so, if you can apply that to your SEO strategy it will be no surprise when your site, pages and relevance climbs the ladder to the helm of a phrase and stems into multiple top 10 rankings.

Keep in mind, we used a very competitive phrase as an example, if your keyword has 2 words, then your job just got easier, 3 keywords (even more flexible to zero in on). 

The main takeaway from this post is, see how each page is a piece of the puzzle, but understand what role it plays in the grand scheme of the site. Then, apply the same logic to your own site and dig deep and shore up the areas that need support. ]]></description>
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<title>SEO Consulting or SEO Services?</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/Search_Engine_Optimization/seo-consulting-or-seo-services.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/Search_Engine_Optimization/seo-consulting-or-seo-services.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Does your business need SEO Services or an SEO Consultant? The definitive answer, it depends. Do You Need an SEO Consultant or SEO Services?

Although you might think the two are the same, consulting is ideal for companies that have IT departments or savvy employees who just need to be steered in the right direction, whereby SEO services are typically conducted remotely.

An Example of When an SEO Consultant is Enough:

Let's assume Company A has an aged site with clearly established authority, SEO services may in fact be overkill when all they need is (1) a target and (2) a tactic to channel that website authority in the right place.

With an aged domain (a site 3 years or older that has gained the trust of search engines) it is more about identifying and refining the appropriate mixture of on-page revisions and removal of incongruence that impedes movement in the SERPs (search engine result pages).

Typical examples are not having a descriptive titles or meta tags for conformity, lack of internal links from the homepage to your 2nd, 3rd and other pivotal pages such as a product page, a contact form or blog that are equally as important in the grand scheme of making optimal use of your web property.

In instances such as this, the fact is, a touch of refinement and a clear plan of action (SEO Consulting) to identify the strengths of your domain and observe a fair assessment of the gap (where you are vs. where you intend to be) to fill in the blanks and achieve your objective.

If you have a tech savvy in-house IT department or the appropriate staff, implementing changes that are clearly delineated are an excellent alternative to enlisting the aid of an SEO company to implement services on your behalf.

Increasing relevance and relevance score is paramount in acquiring competitive phrases. When spiders are presented with a choice, such as a website with 100 pages on a topic vs. a web property with only 10 pages on a subject (both impeccably written), which do you think is going to have a higher relevance score?

SEO Services have evolved beyond the traditional sense of optimizing old pages to make a square peg fit in a new hole. Companies still intent with the less is more attitude are going to be challenged by the new Wiki model (massive content development strategy) which reinforces its own authority over time to provide rankings from the site structure and internal links alone.

As a consequence of the Wiki-type content based site model, the tendency for to others link to it and infuse what was just a resource. Such a page (with the proper balance of internal and external links) transforms into a ranking juggernaut with the ability to scale the search engine result pages for dozens of related keywords or phrases on each of the pages.

The conclusion, SEO services have had to evolve to incorporate fresh content and links to remain competitive and stay ahead of the search engine algorithms and their growing fondness for quality in their index.

Example of When SEO Services are a Better Choice:

In another scenario, let's assume that company B has a site they have been online for a few years and they designed the site before SEO was a concern. Now, with the site floundering on the verge of dismal, they come to the conclusion that it may in fact be time to resurrect their online property.

Naturally they seek out the most qualified SEO and expect them to magically fix the problem. This is a rather common scenario, but what are the things an SEO might address?

    * How old your domain? - so they can determine the threshold for change.
    * How strong is the sites internal link equity? - anything worth salvaging or is it better to start fresh?
    * Does your site has measurable authority? - just being old is not enough, it had to make its mark in some way, shape or form with links, fulfilling a demand, niche, etc.

After the base is scrutinized, then things like:

    * Assessing the site structure -are they using flat site architecture or information silos with supporting content to reinforce the theme.
    * As there a robots.txt file - to prevent renegade bots from scraping content or a way to segment and isolate sensitive information from inclusion?
    * Is there an htaccess file (to prevent duplicate content penalties) and set the defaults for server preferences?
    * Evaluation of the IP address and hosting environment - Are you sharing your IP with sites that are linking to bad neighborhoods? (this can tank your site as well)
    * If you have an e-commerce database, does it use optimal naming conventions to maximize inherent SEO value? ?cat792 vs. /mfg/product-name/descriptive-title/ is much better and requires a Mod-Rewrite to make it SEO friendly.

SEO services are ideal when you have reached a plateau and your web property requires a series of litmus tests to determine what to keep and what to tweak. In most instances it is much easier to start fresh and salvage the page rank and links through using a 301 redirect (site or pages permanently moved) to the new page or site name.

In conclusion, each scenario and situation are unique, so, ultimately it depends on your objective, the reach you anticipate and the competition and the tactics they are employing to acquire and maintain high ranking positions for your main keywords. ]]></description>
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<title>Harvesting Organic Keywords for SEO</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/harvesting-organic-keywords-for-seo.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/harvesting-organic-keywords-for-seo.html</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The importance of evaluating the effects of SEO over time using analytics is imperative for your optimization efforts.

It is important to establish a time-line for how long your keywords stay buoyant before they need to be reinvigorated so they remain upwardly mobile.

It is imperative to go back and reassess each of your contributing keywords to ensure that they are properly nourished and don't just drop out of sight. What you ranked for a month ago may not in fact be what you rank for today.

It is no secret that eye-tracking studies conclude that positioning above the fold has higher conversion rates. So, employing a touch of link insurance is not a bad idea.

Three things to consider freshening up:

* The Root Modifiers, they are the reason broad match keywords yield relevant results
* The Money Phrases, (Quote, FREE, Services, Company, Consultation, etc.)
* Monitoring the affects of adding new content and links over time

Every time you add a page of content, you are affecting and increasing the overall mathematical word count of your site. If the content is not structured with intent, you can unintentionally dilute the theme of your site by impacting site-wide keyword and word density counts. Building enough links is also a crucial component to this equation.

I am not implying to stop adding content, on the contrary use this information to keep a higher threshold for the keywords that are important. This the the time to see how your pages are fairing, so you can shore up dwindling rankings.

Use those same phrases and ensure each of your main ranking pages are not starved for links. I am not proposing methods, just bringing awareness to the phenomenon of link insurance (just because links were there a year ago, does not mean that they are still passing juice). You have to make sure the page is indexed and crawled to determine what it provides, otherwise just build fresh links.

Ranking for competitive phrases requires a different strategy than ranking for broad-match or long tail phrases. Naturally, having a balance of each is nice, since link and keyword diversification are a form of insulation.

The point is, the more content, the more links you will need to steer the off page factors in the right direction. At least, the right kind of links. Most pages rely on the strength of the domain and the internal links it provides to the page. Many pages have less than 25 backlinks externally referencing a site, yet they rank consecutively in the top 10 for a multiple keywords (often inadvertently as a result of link weight).

The concept of balancing the content to type of links should be elementary to most, but it wasn't until I was using a few SEO tools and was seeing key phrases being diluted as a result of writing on a daily basis. To most, this would not be a concern, however, once again we need to know when to cap certain effects so that we can proportionately refine our focus to maintain certain rankings.

It is through on page adjustments to site structure, internal links or content that you have the ability to augment long-term rankings. By selecting a range of themed semantically related keywords (from analytics / keyword research). You could asses the keyword longevity (how long it ranked well) and link insurance (freshening up older links) saturate a niche (over time) by using those keywords tactfully throughout future content.

Each page of well written content that deep links to other pages can add life to those pages and set them on their own ranking spree as a result. As your entire site gains momentum (like a juggernaut imbued with authority) each new phrase is yet another notch on your measuring stick in your repetior of keywords that convert.

So, the value of going back to sift through the data of the past and formulate a solid strategy for the future growth is a great method to assess your relevance score (for those keywords in your site). ]]></description>
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<title>Search Engine Optimization Simplified</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/search-engine-optimization-simplified.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/search-engine-optimization-simplified.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Nothing like going back to search engine optimization basics, there are no secrets in SEO, just overlapping processes which yield favorable results when combined or on the contrary hinder other processes from maturing to optimal efficiency.

The rule of thumb is, using solid fundamentals such as optimizing your site architecture, writing impeccable content and using strategic internal links, contribute immensely in securing a solid reputation for your site when off-page factors (such as link building and link popularity) are added to the mix.

Here are 3 things about search engine optimization you should know:

1) Refresh your content regularly.

By refining your on-page factors frequently you accomplish 2 things. The first thing, you have the opportunity to polish the grammar the flow or amend lackluster areas which lack a proper call to action and invigorate your copy to sell, generate leads or provide a wonderful user experience.

In addition, search engine spiders are keen to noticed updates and will drop by to scribe the alterations in your site. If the changes reflect or facilitate a more useful demeanor, then your ranking and relevance will improve for specific queries.

2) Link to yourself with the anchor text you want to rank for.

If you do not link to your content from other pages in your own site, what message are you sending search engines. Your pages are their very own authority over time when your site hits a critical stage of content and traffic.

It is not about quantity as much as it is about quality when it comes to links. For example since the homepage is usually the strongest in a site, limit the outbound links to 10 from that page and make sure that every link from the home page matters and goes to a page you want to rank well in search engines.

The destination page will get a clearly distinctive boost for the text in the phrase, so think "exact match" or stick with the root phrase to be safe. Also, don't just drop links, write proper copy in context to add weight to the anchor.

Spiders read and interpret the surrounding text around a link to seek out additional related clusters of data. If there is no related context, the value of the link may not pass as much link weight and value.

3) The higher number of quality pages your site has about a topic, the higher your site rank.

It is no surprise that you may often see companies that rank for extremely competitive terms. One quick method is to have the keywords in the domain name, this can shave months off of optimization time and have your site ranking fresh out of the box, but more importantly, it truly boils down to content.

Each page in your site offers another opportunity for search engines to grade it and determine which audience and or search terms correlate to the information on the pages. The more content that is tailored to a range of keywords, the higher the relevance score for those terms.

Each market has a different threshold, since each industry is based on different needs. Therefore each SEO campaign should be structured according to the benchmarks for that niche.

For example:

For product based sites the content is the product. Product based sites have tendency of having thousands of pages (which are a great asset in the long run) as each page indexed already has the approval of the spiders.

As a result, with a clearly determined site architecture combined with a robust yet simplistic use of tags or internal links (linking to distinct pages with distinct text), such sites can acquire high ranking positions from using a "strength in numbers strategy".

Each page is like a piece of a puzzle that when combined creates a massive ranking juggernaut. Even though there is not a great amount of text on each page (despite a product description).

If the title and meta tags are harnessed properly that can provide more than enough continuity (if the main keywords are in each page title) to topple the relevance meter in their favor and push those pages above the fold for most searches.

This is one example of how such a strategy would be great for product based sites with manufacturers and model numbers, but using this strategy with a content rich site from another industry may not be as effective.

In closing, finding the right balance of optimization, content and structure is imperative for long term search engine positioning.

No need to look beyond the factors you have control over when trying to impact factors you do not (search engine rankings). However, by creating appealing content, relevant value propositions and writing quality content (which are the cornerstones of the algorithm) as your site matures it does so with solid fundamentals intact. ]]></description>
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<title>Competitive Search Engine Solutions</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/competitive-search-engine-solutions.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/competitive-search-engine-solutions.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ If you have ever pondered how a particular competitor distanced themselves distinctly in the top 3 positions for a competitive search term. How is it that they remain stable and calm and seem virtually unaffected by the churning results that rage below the top 3 positions that literally update by the minute?

Virtuous tactics such as foresight, planning, patience and execution of a well orchestrated promotional plan is responsible for creating the Top 3 Authority Effect (which Wikipedia knows all too well). Much like a game of chess where the opening move influences the end game, the aspect of time, strategic planning and gestation of a plan over time are one of SEOs' most powerful and least discussed techniques.

Now for example, if you wanted to create the cause instead, of trying to compete with this effect from others, then it is a matter of:

* Having a clearly delineated objective
* Seeing beyond the keywords to grasp the market holistically
* Creating enough relevant material getting enough links to climb the ladder of relevance and
* Ranking above the fold consistently for a series of pivotal keywords.

To land multiple pages in the sweet spot of the top 10 search results above the fold (the top 3 results), you need to understand one simple fundamental - that age matters to the algorithm to establish the SEO trump card, search engine trust.

For those unfamiliar with geriocracy, essentially, it denotes that the elder is given precedence and rule over the newer entrants. Once again the analogy of search engines having human-like manorisms (or rather human characteristics of the programmers through mathematical osmosis) that are programmed with general etiquette.

Much in the same way, the analogy of high school and link popularity can be likened to how search engines mirror this behavior. The clique / "in site" with more votes (a.k.a links) gets the attention (and the high ranking that goes along with it).

Much in the same way, you factor the "grandfather effect" / behavior of the algorithm to nurture your site over time. Using the natural affinity of aging content and links over time matures search engine trust. Over time, your content becomes more cohesive and serves to reinforce a particular theme and each link gains the ability to sustain the page it resides on for a number of pivotal key phrases.

This theme in turn can distinguish your pages succinctly as an authority site which can translate into a number of favorable outcomes.

Authority Sites:

1) Enjoy accelerated spidering and indexing rates from search engines. The more frequent your pages are spidered, the quicker your tweaks and content can add weight to your relevance score. Our site for example has been known to index content in under one hour in Google's cache (this is priceless when combined with a clearly defined content management strategy).

2) Authority sites can potentially rank higher with less effort. If your site is harness properly, it takes less effort to rank for related keyword modifiers or additional keywords.

For example, sprinkling in 2-3 pages of related content, interlinking them and adding a few keywords can score a top 10 ranking for a competitive phrase that may have taken months from a site that lacks authority. Another side-benefit of authority is the ability to use a keyword research tool and write targeted copy to gain even more systematic exposure and traffic is a great long-term SEO strategy.

3) Authority sites get linked to often from other authority sites. Call it momentum, birds of a feather flocking together, success by affinity or whatever you choose. If you offer useful content, others will notice and give regard.

It is no secret that search results cycle and churn, based on how insulated you are, your site will be more or less affected by this phenomenon. Sometimes you have enough links, but not enough maturity on the subject or trust to skip past the other pages that occupy coveted high ranking search engine positions.

Or for example, other times you have great content, but not enough supporting material to push your pages over the threshold. Achieving algorithmic nirvana and balancing the variables that largely impact the outcome is the true sign of a search engine optimization specialist.

Knowing when to add content, how to harness the buzz, when to create popularity, link-bait or links and how to refine your on-page factors until they gleam is the goal.

But if you had to lay it all on the line and pick one SEO strategy that you could use time and time again, I would have to choose the power of forecasting hot trends and keywords which are destined for popularity. By staying ahead of the curve and scaling related content and links over time, reaching the top would be a manageable conclusion.

Consider it a mathematically factor of wisdom that endows aged sites with immunity as a result of their contribution and usefulness to the web. If you can create content from that level daily, then time truly is on your side and your competition will have that much more on their hands trying to wrestle your site from its lofty position. ]]></description>
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<title>Managing Link Weight Through Building Link Insurance</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/managing-link-weight-through-building-link-insurance.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/managing-link-weight-through-building-link-insurance.html</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Are you familiar with ways to balance and increase link weight? I call this link insurance (insurance in the sense that just in case you need it).

Since the value of back links are based on the collective support they rally. The stronger the back link the more value it can pass to your site as far as aiding your pages in maintaining or increasing positioning.

If you have ever tagged a site using social book marking, then you have scratched the surface. For example social bookmarking utilizes the premise of link insurance. 

Not only is it great to seal the deal with spiders (by getting their attention), but with enough inbound links strategically augmenting a page, it can provide long-term value for the link-freshness factor which can keep your internal pages buoyant and moving up in the search engine rankings.

A stable authority site (built over time with a tremendous amount of link weight) has less chance of losing favor with search engine algorithms. However, what about other transient links, that drop off, get buried over time or the site architecture from the site offering the link is so taxed that by the time the pages are spidered they are tapped out as far as their real value is concerned? What is a viable solution to revive potential rankings?

The Solution: Building links to your links as insurance

I am not suggesting to abuse this tactic, what I am insinuating is, maintaining a stable influx of link juice into a site benefits all of the pages in that site (as long as you distribute the inbound links in moderation). 

The premise here is, balancing the ratios of content development to inbound links (and their various anchor texts and modifiers) along with systemic deep linking is the cornerstone of relevance of SEO basics in action.

Links also can have more internal value from a page that was recently promoted in the Google algorithm. For example, if a page went from a page rank of zero to a PR2 or PR3 page in one update, if it gets indexed regularly and is succinctly tied to the sites main navigation, then you have an authority link right under your nose you can use to augment your main keywords as you wish.

You can always review such content an amend it for a common goal. Ten links from strong internal pages to a sub folder or page buried deep in the site can change the landscape of a page or sites SEO value. Combining this with the fact that you can point new links from those pages at older links (to keep them fresh) or use them to kick off new content with a splash, the possibilities for recycling your sites internal link dynamo is promising.

One Example of the Equation:

1) Find a slouching ranking and determine a keyword you want to invigorate
2) use a site:yourdomainname[dot]com keyword (command) to find the most relevant page in your site
3) Build a new page using the main keyword in the title and text
4) Link to the new page from the old page (with page rank) using the (keyword) as the anchor text / link text
5) publish your content
6) build links back to the old page (using social book marking or other ethical link building methods) to flow link weight back to your site and your new page.

When the page gets crawled, it already has the ranking factors intact, relevance and an endorsement from your own internal links. This is a great strategy for a maiden voyage for a new page, although this is a rudimentary version of the tactic, you can see the value in building links to your links.

Every three months, you could essentially go back through your analytics, look at the most searched keywords, perform an audit and ensure that your older links are getting enough nurturing as a result of fresh links. The stronger they are the stronger your site is. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>How to Increase Link Popularity</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/how-to-increase-link-popularity.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/how-to-increase-link-popularity.html</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Link Popularity and how it pertains to your pages is a key metric in the relevance model of search engines. Just like high school, it was all about popularity and getting in with the clique. Somehow this characteristic carried over into search engines and how they assess your site.

They say that beauty resides within, similarly, then much can be said about starting from the inside (your websites internal links) and strengthening the self-referral mechanism for your content to attract recognition (external links).

Just in case you forgot, increasing link popularity through virtual theming (strategic deep linking) and optimized internal link architecture allows what percentage of link popularity you garner from others to go that much further in propelling your site up the rankings.

How popular is your website?

Despite the narcissistic love affair we can develop with our own sites, sometimes on-page factors are just not enough, you need to nurture your content with links to get the job done. Here are 10 ways to increase your reach, increase link popularity and make your site more attractive.

1) Getting links from Blog Rolls (site wide links) a few of these from the right place and your set.

2) Blogging Frequently and Expanding your Audience through RSS Feeds (emphasize quality in each post, since you never know which organization or power-user may link back to it and send a barrage of traffic your way).

Or if that is not your angle, then at least by updating your content more frequently, you will entice search engine spiders (who will frequent your site expidisiously to share your content with the world). The more pages you get into the search engine's index, the higher percentage of traffic, exposure and conversion your pages can potentially reap as a result.

3) Offer a Free e-Book. Spiders crawl PDF's (and their links as well), in addition, the download serves as an off-line brochure with links pointing back to your site. Another savvy option is to distribute the e-book (via bit torrent) as a link building strategy.

4) Have you considered Article Marketing and using links in the authors box to deep link to your most relevant pages.

5) Directories - more like a time released link building method, but a great way to augment other methods.

6) Reciprocal links (yes, they still work, but the more targeted the niche and the less links on the page the better).

7) Offer value through tactful comments on related blogs that are contextually ethical to drive traffic (no spam / link dropping). If your intelligent reply wins the favor of the readers skimming the comments, you could be looking a steady stream of relevant traffic (which is the real goal of link building).

8 ) Forums, find a thread, propose a solution. Not to mention forums have the ability to sprout page rank quickly and pass valuable link juice from the sheer number of pages.

9) Social bookmarking, never hurt anyone, share the link love while getting a boost in the SERPs (search engine result pages) from sites with massive link weight.

10) Build links from your own sites internal link dynamo, never look past your own pages as authority links (sub folders often are treated as external sites and can pass vital ranking power among the sites internal link architecture).

What are you still doing here reading this? Just think of all of the link opportunities that are could be passing you by. 

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but sometimes you just have to do the work to polish the reflection in order to share that beauty with others. Search results don't magically appear in the top 10, so get out there, mix it up and start building link popularity, one link at a time. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Online Shopping, E-commerce & E-Tail Marketing</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet/E-Business/online-shopping-e-commerce-and-e-tail-marketing.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet/E-Business/online-shopping-e-commerce-and-e-tail-marketing.html</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Who thought shopping online could be so easy, simply opening a browser, conducting a search, finding a great product online and making a purchase is nothing out of the ordinary for millions of consumers each day.

The advantages of shopping online are (1) zero traffic or commuting time (2) no need to stand in long checkout lines and (3) the ability to peruse dozens of shops to compare pricing with a few keystrokes of due diligence. 

In addition, if you factor the convenience of online shopping it is a perfect synergy for savvy online consumers who maintain hectic schedules and are inclined to make the most efficient use of their time.

To capture the e-generation shopper in the competitive online shopping industry, the e-tailer requires a firm grasp of usability (to keep traffic on the site), search engine optimization (to get them there) as well as ways to to gauge trends, sales cycles, inventory management and all of the trappings that accompany e-commerce, enterprise and cycles of supply and demand.

In an ideal scenario, optimization would start with keyword refinement, on-page analysis of the content and site structure to create a laser-like focus for the site theme to appease the target audience. 

Additionally, identifying which click-triggers emotionally rouse the core consumer and weaving the call to action into every page without over-selling is equally as important. 

Tackling these objectives from the planning stage as opposed to trying to remedy them after the fact is one way to gain a competitive advantage and outrank a competitor selling virtually the same items.

If your e-tailing / market plan does not factor search engines as a crucial contributor to your promotional plan, driving traffic would rely on off-line or paid online sponsored advertising. Dependency on platforms such as PPC alone could erode profit margins dramatically by comparison to organic search engine optimization. 

In this instance, the e-tailer is optimizing their pages for popular brands or niche or specialty items. The more mainstream something is, the more competitive the arena. It boils down to price point, value proposition and packaging for most as far as online shopping goes.

The Takeaway for E-tailers:

Having clearly delineated and optimized site architecture and enough topical content (unique product descriptions) can distinguish your site with spiders.

Use keyword rich categories instead of long CMS (content management system) gibberish URL strings such as ?973-21.aspx instead of a more suitable naming system like sitename/products/descriptive-title/. This provides a keyword-rich topical naming convention which translates as a structured and organized boilerplate to assist search engines in locating semantically related material (much like an table of contents).

A simple mod-rewrite can handle this, or some tweaking to your shopping cart are enough to overcome this obstacle from the start. Also, make sure the site map is linked to every page product page in the template (or a site map for every sub folder / section), you can use it later to tie everything together and ensure that spiders can traverse the sites vast categories and pages.

Every page indexed in search engines is another page out there working on your behalf bringing potential customers back home to your site, or helping your site gain more authority under the auspices of link popularity.

It is no secret that purchasing and the power of preference has reached new heights as e-commerce is paving the way for millions of entrepreneurs to break free from traditional brick and mortar based retail outlets.

The Additional Benefits of On-line / Off-line hybrids:

If you own a local business that features items that are in high demand, then a targeted online campaign could drive hordes of qualified walk in traffic to your storefront.

It depends on your preference, standing in a store waiting for walk in traffic as a result of location or using the online shopping hybrid and leveraging link building, content and promotion to increase the bottom line. 

The idea is, to have positioning for your brand using both. In either case, it boils down to the same thing, the swipe of a credit card, a payment in cash and a monetary transaction for a product in demand.

Despite the fact that online shopping has its sensory limitations (like trying to sell fragrances over the internet) or not having the ability to physically touch the merchandise does not preclude online shoppers from purchasing online.

It's only a matter of time before we see "hybrid retail / e-tail based stores" with the ability to order online and then simply pick up the item to go from a drive-through / delivery window.

If retailers wanted to add value they could create express checkout allowing the person to purchase online, the retailer would then pick and pack the items and have it available for convenient pickup (like a fast food restaurant) with the payment already processed online (while the consumer is in route). 

Even if you are in the parking lot ordering from your mobile device, you can see the value of a V.I.P. elite (skip the line) shopping service that allows you to Checkout Now!

Since millions of consumers already purchase online as a result of convenience and emotional impulse, adding value to the proposition with new processes to aid the transaction process are pure win / win solutions for all parties involved.

There are three facets to consider about shopping online (1) the reason why consumers want to purchase (branding, the cycles of desire and fulfillment) and (2) the search terms one would use to find the most relevant match and (3) the landing pages ability to convert.

E-tailers not only live or die by the trends in search, but having a firm grip on the who, what, where, when and how factor when assessing a markets strength can come in handy in the event that you are interested in setting up shop.

Knowing that a profitable niche site if populated, promoted and managed properly with engaging content, give-always, incentives and the like, coupled with social media, GEO specific targeting to maximize psychographic purchasing (knowing your niche) can equal tremendous profit margins at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Confessions of a Search Engine Optimization Specialist</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/Search_Engine_Optimization/confessions-of-a-search-engine-optimization-specialist.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Internet_Marketing/Search_Engine_Optimization/confessions-of-a-search-engine-optimization-specialist.html</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Did you know that achieving high rankings in search engines has more to do with content than on-page or off page factors alone? Contrary to popular belief, one of the most powerful SEO secrets is related to content development and the ability to focus the topical theme of your site to target a specific niche. 

Writing themed and relevant content essentially toggles search engine spiders, who are constantly scouring the web for related material to share with others. If your content is impeccable and manages to link to and from relevant sources (*think Wikipedia) then it has the trappings potentially to be promoted as an authority site for that subject. This is a VIP guest pass straight to the front of the line for any potential page once authority is acquired.

Here are a few things to consider about website authority:

1) Each page in your site can rank on its own accord with its own position.
2) If you group enough pages together around a topic or theme, it increases the relevance of your document(s) for the keywords and phrases used.
3) By deliberately focusing on a specific range of content development (writing related material) and introducing new content regularly, you can increase the crawl rate and befriend the spiders (which are the gatekeepers to the search engine index).

Instead of approaching SEO from the perspective of the 90's and thinking strictly from the quantity of links that a site has, there is something even more effective you can do. Focus on internal linking, content and then the number of links you require to compete for the same keywords and phrases is considerably lower by comparison.

After you hit the authority zone, you will know it as you can essentially use your keyword research tool as a targeting device. Integrate the keyword of choice into a post, tag it properly and add a few external links, wait 3 months and enjoy the top 10 spotlight with defense intact.

I have seen pages hit the top 10 for competitive phrases in a few days and hover for months as a result of this tactic. Once again, the hang time and the time it takes to hit the top tier keywords all depend on the authority you pages garner collectively.

Depending on the age, depth, quality of sites linking to you and the amount of related content within your pages site wide determines the amount of time it takes to bump less relevant pages and climb to a lofty position.

The main ingredient is time, imagine using hundred or thousand of internal links, with very specific anchor text going to your home page and other deep links. This dynamo when aged can provide colossal rankings on its own.

Then when you add links to the mix organically, it is only a matter of time before the wiki effect (a site with authority) kicks in and your relevance score increases for your main keywords.

But if you want to expedite the process, here is what you can do:

1) add a content management system if you haven't already.
2) write themed content and introduce it regularly
3) make sure you have an RSS feed to share your content (RSS feeds build links)
4) if you are using WordPress, using information silo structures to enhance your website infrastructure works wonders. 
5) focus on quality content, let the links age and allow the authority to settle in.

The more authority a site has, the easier it can acquire and defend itself from other sites in the search engine result pages for competitive keywords. 
In the beginning, you may have to build 50-75 links per month using an array of anchor text to acquire the right link velocity. Then over time, you never even have to build another link after you are grandfathered into the result or an occasion link here an there to maintain the position.

In every industry, there is that one site at the top for hundreds of related searches and you want to know how they pulled it off.

Chances are, they simply started developing quality content long before others caught on to this phenomenal and ethical way to boost rankings through relevance.

Then, through mastering the introduction of new content, linking and deep linking, they manage to consume additional keywords as a result of algorithmic affinity.

Why is it that Wikipedia ranks for so many phrases (1) content (2) internal linking and (3) authority. So, the last thing a 30 page site should be doing is building links and waiting for the top 10 to embrace them.

You have to roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty with organic SEO if you expect to gain a higher relevance score than the next guy (or gal) competing for your most coveted keywords.

Going back to the 30 page site, say you have identified you base phrases, you still only have 30 pages of content, no matter how you slice it or dice it. Spiders will only frequent your pages enough to dust cobwebs from them, but to leave it to chance is so passe.

By providing fresh content to your website, your are invigorating the spiders. Here is where the simplicity is overwhelming, the more often the spiders frequent your pages, the more opportunity your site has to pass along the new keyword wish list.

By using a keyword in the headline, incorporating it in the anchor text (ideally deep linking to another related page that has additional content on the subject).

Over time, if your pages are themed in sub folders, have a steady supply of inbound links from related sites, it is possible to acquire organic rankings on the merit of such content with a fraction of the links required to elevate your pages to the top 10.

I have tested this theory time and time again with the same results:
1) identify a keyword or key phrase from your wish list.
2) write an article or post about it.
3) link it (to and from) other related posts with deep links.
4) let the spiders ingest the changes to your content
5) based on the authority of your site you will organically rank for it if you have 20-30 related posts or articles to reinforce the virtual theme.

It may take several months of employing this tactic, that is why blogging is so important. But, the end result is well worth the investment in time. 

The key is not to stray to far off topic from the core theme of your site. Introduce fragments slowly if you must, then nurture the new content with links from your main pages to give them an umbrella for relevance.

This is as basic as it gets. Link building is effective, but building links it is that much more effective when coupled with SEO content development and targeted syndication.

It is all about reaching critical mass for content, internal and external links. That is the true essence of SEO and the value of having a clearly defined game plan when it comes to subject matter, content and relevance. ]]></description>
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