Seo Guide | Seo Articles | Seo Blog

<![CDATA[Who haven’t been in the Google Sandbox? As new website owners, we all experience the Google Sandbox dilemma. I can relate to the pain of webmasters and website owners who are currently experiencing being on the Google Sandbox. And I bring good news: there is a guaranteed way to come out of the Google Sandbox! But first, it is important that you know what is meant by Google Sandbox.

The Google Sandbox

Google Sandbox is such a popular term among webmasters, web marketing specialists and new website owners. Google Sandbox refers to the period when a new website appears invisible on the Google search results even after a month or two of search engine optimization. The most probable reason why new websites are placed in the Google Sandbox is that Google doesn’t see yet the importance of these websites.

New websites can be on the Google sandbox for at least three months. This is a test of patience for the website owner and of course the web marketers who have tried their best in promoting the website. It would be understandable to be on the Google sandbox for at least three months. But what about those websites which seem to be locked on the sandbox for many months already?

How To Get Out Of The Google Sandbox?

Who would want to be in the Google Sandbox forever? Of course, every single website owners aim to finally get hold of Google Sandbox freedom. But what can we do? The best and guaranteed way to get out of the Google sandbox is to focus on your website and not on Google. Forget about the Google Sandbox first and concentrate on more important things in web marketing.

Shift your focus from the Google sandbox to making your website more relevant. You can’t simply get out of the sandbox

<![CDATA[Creating an Internet marketing strategy is not just for big business, the small and mid sized company can compete just as well (better in some cases) if they efficiently employ a key word strategy. Key words are words that can be used by search engines to find you. If you use key words correctly the searcher will find you, if you don't they can't find you. If they can't find you, you have lost the sale. Key words give a summary of the content of a web page. If your web site is about roses, then there needs be at least 250 words of text on your home page with lots of relevant mentions and references to roses. If your key words are too specific or too general, your public is not likely to find you unless they know your exact web address. Chisel these facts in stone: * The Internet is the dominant source for information. Some 45% of the participants in a recent survey indicate the Internet is their top choice for media, followed by TV at 35%. Trailing much further behind are books, radio, newspapers, videos/DVDs, video/computer games, and magazines. * Over 80% of all web traffic comes via search engines. The key to the treasure is providing the key words that the search engines need to find you. From a marketing point of view this is critical. To be successful in Internet marketing one needs to: 1. Find the key words that people are searching for. This is done by software that calculates the quantity of word and word phases on a certain subject. Below is a partial list of the search term "roses". Count Search Term 337582 roses 286184 gun n roses 127093 gun and roses 55157 outkast roses 46796 red rose 32350 rose mcgowan 28563 rose petal 27702 picture of roses 26609 long stem rose 25634 pink rose 25039 send rose 2. Determine the key words that are specific enough to drive people to your site. If you were selling "roses", some of the terms are applicable and some are not. So people searching for "roses" is too general and broad, while "long stem roses" could be just the right phrase to use. 3. The key words selected have to be narrow enough for a site to be found and ideally listed as one of the top three items on the first page of the search engine results. 4. Modify your web site so that the content (i.e. text not pictures) has those key words. This allows the search engines to index the information on your site. It is now key words not key word. More people are using multiple words when they search. According to a recent study from OneStat.com, two and three word searches are the usual practice for Web searchers. The 7 most used word phrases in search engines on the web are: 1. Two word phrases 32.58% 2. Three word phrases 25.61% 3. One word phrases 19.02% 4. Four word phrases 12.83% 5. Five word phrases 5.64% 6. Six word phrases 2.32% 7. Seven word phrases 0.98% Search engines are the most popular tool on the Web. They are similar to a giant library card catalog and are very useful tools to find information about products and services. A successful Internet marketing strategy must include providing what the search engines need and how consumers use them. Just like a library, a search engine "indexes" a web site in two basic ways: 1. By submitting a site to a search engine. Essentially you are asking the search engine to add your site to their index. 2. By using a spider (software that roams the web locating and cataloging content). Search engines look at both the web page title and the content. Thus both need to be optimized to include the applicable key words. Search engines are based on very sophisticated mathematical search queries, which of course are top secret. Although Google is the top search engine at the moment, a good Internet strategy will result in high rankings on various different search engines. To find the correct keywords requires research and an understanding of how the search engines work. Once you find where the viable online market is, you can use this to create your website so it fits what your future customers are looking for. Research shows that searchers regard good placing in the natural search results (as opposed to pay per click or sponsored links) as an indicator of a company who is tops in their field. 80% of all business on the Internet goes to the first three on the first page of a search result. The design, content and programming of your site all influence your search rankings. Keep in mind that a web site is the core of your Internet marketing strategy and an incredible tool if used correctly. Utilize the key works that will drive business to your site and make that cash register sing.

Sally Falkow is President of Expansion Plus, Inc., and author of Website Marketing Strategy Ebook. She is an authority on Internet Marketing and search engine optimization strategies. For more information, visit www.expansionplus.com.]]>

<![CDATA[When beginning a Search Engine Optimization campaign, there are a few basic steps that every SEO knows to take before they begin. The first is always to build a keyword list of which there are varying methods of doing so. The right methods will aid you in creating and supporting a site-wide SEO strategy. The wrong methods will run you in circles, wondering what went wrong.
It is the intent of this article to teach an effective method of keyword selection that will enable you to land more keywords on the first page with less work.
Getting Started: Know the Site

To create a great keyword list, you will need to know your website backwards and forwards. You should know what the site features, and just as importantly, you should know what it doesn’t’ feature.
The first step is to brainstorm a list of somewhat generic keywords. For example, if you are a shoe store in Poughkeepsie, the temptation will arise to try and rank number 1 for the term “shoes.” Well, that’s a start, but ranking for the word “shoes” is probably aiming a little too high for a mom and pop shop in Upstate New York, which is why it’s very important that you know the site well enough to come up with a good list of pseudo-generic “modifiers” for your keyword:

• Location (Poughkeepsie shoes, shoes upstate New York, shoes 12601)
• Price (cheap shoes, affordable shoes, quality shoes, comfortable shoes etc)
• Types (running shoes, walking shoes, jogging shoes etc)
• Industry specific (anti-pronation shoes)

Lengthening the List

At this point you should have a good list of pseudo-generic keywords. The next step is lengthening that list using your favorite Keyword tool (I will be using Overture in this example).
Each time you plug a keyword into your tool of choice, it will return the number of searches conducted for that term over a given period of time. It will also suggest keywords from the tool’s database that are similar to the one you entered.
The basic idea now is to go through the list returned by the keyword tool and copy any and all similar terms as well as their corresponding search values, which relate directly to the site you’re optimizing. Then, paste them to a spreadsheet program so that they can be further edited later.
Once you have copied and pasted, just go through the list row by row. Delete keywords that don’t have to do with the website you’re optimizing (which is why it’s important to know what the site doesn’t feature) and repeat with the next pseudo-generic keyword on your list. The idea is to identify as many keywords as possible.
Narrowing the List

So you have a long keyword list; it’s time to narrow it down. I narrow my lists by deciding if the potential gain for a keyword is relative to the competition. In order to make that decision, I need to know three variables:

1. The number of searches on a particular keyword (already got those from Overture)
2. The Amount of Competition (I’ll show you how to find your competition in this section.)
3. Will the keyword lead to conversions (this is up to you)

Below is a method for thoroughly determining competition for various keywords:

1. Do a search for one of your keywords
2. On the first SERP find the last listing with the keyword in the title tag that is either a homepage of any kind or is a sub-page which is not associated with a domain whose Pagerank is greater than 6. (This is the page you will need to beat, if one does not exist, ranking will generally be easier)
3. Find out how many unique links with the keyword in the anchor text whose linking page has a Pagerank of 1 or higher for the competitor (This is how many quality backlinks you’ll need to acquire)

The aforementioned is a meticulous method for determining the competition for all of your keywords, and unless you’re planning on building a tool that will automate this process, I would suggest taking a more general approach by using advanced search strings in the search engine of your choice.
The technique that I am about to demonstrate uses the following string: intitle:”Keyword Phrase” inanchor:”Keyword Phrase”. This string will return the total number of pages with, largely, the two greatest factors contributing to ranking for a keyword:

• Having the keyword in the page title
• Having the keyword in anchor text pointing to the page

It’s a down and dirty method for assessing competition. This is how it’s done:

1. Go to http://www.startlaunch.com/research/
2. Copy your list of keywords into the box, click “submit”
3. Click on each link
4. Find and copy the number of pages that the search engine returns for this query from the top right of the SERPs to a new column next to the corresponding keyword in your keyword list spreadsheet (this is your competition).
5. In another new column, divide the number of competitors by the number of monthly searches for each keyword.
6. Sort the table from low to high (ascending) using that column.

What you have done is created a ratio of competitors to searches. When determining competition, you generally want the keyword to be searched on more times than there are competitors for that word. So the closer the ratio is to 0, the better the keyword.
These techniques will point out which terms have the most competition, but competition alone should not dictate which words make the final list.
Keyword Layout

Remember when selecting keywords: words on a higher competitive level should be placed on pages that will receive deep links in groups of 2 or 3 where all of the keywords are very similar like:

• Running shoes, Shoes for running and buy running shoes online
• Web design in Atlanta, Atlanta Georgia web design, Atlanta web site design

This way, you won’t have to remove highly competitive, but potentially lucrative terms from your list, provided that you make a concerted effort to perform link-building for the pages on which those terms reside.
For smaller terms, in my opinion, the more the merrier. They can be given their own pages or be mentioned on other highly trusted pages of your site.
That's it. You should have all the information you need to select a strategically viable keyword list. Remember, keyword research is the cornerstone of a successful SEO campaign. Knowing the competition for your keywords will aid you in site layout, as well as focusing effort on SEO only where it is necessary. Ultimately, it will make your optimization process more efficient, allowing your sites to rank for more keywords with less work, which is a goal that all SEOs strive to attain.

Mike Bradbury is an employee of Objectware, Inc, an Atlanta web design company specializing in ecommerce solutions, custom web applications, wireless integration, search engine marketing and custom shopping cart software. Mike is a search engine analyst for Objectware, creating value for clients by building greater search engine visibility.]]>