There are a number of things that factor into search engine ranking. Google claims they consider over 200 things in their ranking formula. While it’s not known what these 200 factors exactly are, we do have a good idea of some of the more important things the search engines consider when ranking websites. Some of these main factors include using relevant keywords in page titles, link anchor text, and in the body content. These factors are considered “on-page” SEO.

Links also play a part in SEO, including both the links on your site as well as other sites’ links that point to yours. Good web site design takes advantage of a site’s linking structure and funnels people and the search engines’ rankings to the most profitable pages on a website. Links from other sites play a very important role in search engine ranking. It is essential to get quality and quantity links leading to your pages.

Other concerns for SEO web design are loading speed and up time, or how reliable a site is. It is rumored that Google favors webpages that load very quickly. So in addition to the design of the site, the web hosting service itself may play a part in the ranking of the site.

A good resource to check the speed and reliability of Web hosting services is thetop10bestwebhosting.com. Remember to check how fast the hosting service is along with how dependable it is. Not only can a fast, reliable host improve your search engine ranking, it doesn’t do matter how good your site is if your host is down and can’t be reached.

First, when creating a document you will turn into a pdf, you should include the heading tags you would usually use on your website. This is because this data will be carried over, giving these phrases and sentences preference and helping to saturate your keywords. Once you have the content created, assemble the rest of the PDF and export it. You can now edit the metadata within the file using Adobe Acrobat.

Acrobat actually stores metadata in two differen places, so it is important to use both. Within the software, you should enter pertinent SEO data in the Document Metadata menu, as well as the Document Properties section. Both of these areas include the basic fields, an HTML title, a field for author, subject, and keywords. It is important to include data in both, but you should avoid using the same information, as duplicate content is often penalized by search engines. The document metadata section includes a number of additional fields that are less important due to the fact that they are not looked at by search engines. So, once you have your PDF equipped with the important keywords, a keyword in its title, and a good description, youre ready to save it and upload it to your site. Optimizing everything may seem like a lot of work, but pagerank is key to becoming successful, and every little bit helps.

Thanks to Ian Logsdon of Omnistar eTools for this helpfull informations.

Link building is an essential ingredient in ranking your website highly on the major search engines.

There, now that we’ve got that brilliant grasp of the obvious out of the way let’s move on to what you can do to actually create them.  Before we launch into the nitty-gritty of link building, no beginners guide would be complete without a brief explanation as to why links are important and the different elements of them.  Being a beginners guide this won’t be an entirely complete list but it will be enough to get you going on the right path.  Understanding what you’re trying to do will help you do it better and more importantly, understanding the “why” of the situation will help you stretch your tactics outside of this and other articles on link building.

Why Are Links Important?
To put it simply: a link is a vote.  Every link pointing to your site from another website tells the search engines that the other site finds your resource valuable and thus, the engines read this as a vote for your site.  So it must be about getting tons of links and you’re done right?  Wrong.  This is incorrect as …

Not All Votes Are Created Equal
Unlike your own vote in an election, some votes are worth more than others and some votes are worth SIGNIFICANTLY more than yours (unless of course you’re a content writer for the Google.com domain in which case you obviously have the top vote).  The basic factors that affect a link’s value to your website are:

The site strength – the strength of the site that is pointing to yours is a significant (and historically abused) factor in the valuation of links.  In the absence of other easily-visible criteria let’s look at PageRank as a key valuation of a site’s strength.  If a site with a PageRank 8 links to your site, this vote is worth significantly more than a link from a PageRank 3 site.  This is because a PageRank 8 site is, in Google’s eyes, a more important site than the PageRank 3 site.

Relevance – the relevance of a site linking to you is, if anything, more important than a site’s strength. If you run a bed a breakfast in Utah a link from a PageRank 3 bed and breakfast will be worth more than a link from a PageRank 5 web design site.  This area is a bit grey in that it relies on the engine’s ability to determine what is relevant and what is not however we’ve seen evidence that this area is strong at this stage in the game and is only becoming more important over time.

Anchor text – the actual text used to link to your site is extremely important.  I’ve seen extremely strong sites get beaten out by weak ones simply due to the poor use of anchor test.  If you’re building links to your site be sure to include your keywords in the text that links back and, if possible, the exact phrase you are trying to rank for.  At the same time, you can’t make all your anchor text exactly the same – how can that possibly look natural?

Position – the position of a link on a page and the number of other links on that page impacts the value of a link.  A link in the footer of a page is given less weight than a link near the top, a link in the content of a page is given more weight than a link in a list of links and a link on a page with 50 other links is given less weight than a link on a page with only a few other links.  If we think about it – this makes sense.  All of these things indicate whether the site with the outbound links actually intends for one of their visitors to click the link or not.  From an engine’s perspective – the more it appears that a site wants a link to be clicked on, the higher the weight that link (or vote) is given.

Admittedly there are a number of other factors but this is a beginners guide.  Following the considerations above will insure that as you make each link decision – you’re odds of making the right choices will be significantly higher than if you ignore them.  Ignoring them may not get you penalized or banned but it will make your task far more time consuming as you secure less valuable links and thus need to build far more than following he right methods.

So far we’ve covered briefly the why of link building, now let’s get into the real-life, here’s-how-to-do-it side of things.  Below I’m going to cover three of my favorite link building tactics.  These are tactics that apply to virtually every scenario.  The number of ways to build links is only limited by your imagination however and this should not be viewed as a comprehensive list.  This is, after all, a beginners guide and I’m trying to list the tactics that apply to virtually every scenario.

Side Note: Reciprocal Link Building

I’m not going to count this as one of my favorite and so it won’t count as one of the three noted above and I’ll only touch on it briefly.  There have been a number of assertions that reciprocal link building is dead.  This is simply not the case.  I have seen and competed against sites that were very successful with reciprocal links as their primary link source.

The problem with reciprocal links isn’t so much in their value which does seem to be a bit lower than non-reciprocal links however often more easily attained.  No, my problem with reciprocal links is in the management.  Unethical webmasters’ removing links after you’ve put the link up to them, sites expiring and not being renewed, sites getting penalties of their own due to their bad tactics are all inconveniences the reciprocal link manager must deal with.

As an SEO company, a huge issue we faced was leaving our clients with this task after a campaign was over if they decided not to go on a maintenance package.  Non-reciprocal links may be a bit harder to attain in some cases however that issue is much easier to overcome than the sum of all these issues.

And now on to the top three …

Articles
If you’re paying attention as you read this you’ll probably have guessed that I’m a fan of article writing as a link building method.  If you look to the “about the author” section you’ll notice a link to the Beanstalk site (and if you don’t, well … let me know as somebody’s stealing it without permission).  While I genuinely enjoy writing and sharing my experiences with others – the purpose of getting the article distributed is primarily as a link building tactic, secondarily as a great source of qualified traffic and thirdly for my own enjoyment.

You are an expert in your field.  Who knows more about your business than you?  So share.  Writing an article may not be easy but it is rewarding.  If you can’t think of a topic, think of what you get asked.  If you’re asked common questions repeatedly then chances are, it’s a good topic for an article.  I often get asked about link building, and you’re reading the result.

Once the article is completed you need to get it syndicated.  Using an article submission service is a simple way to get your article out to a large number of publishers quickly.  On top of this you’d do well to seek out specific sites in your field using one or all of the major search engines to find highly relevant sites that accept articles and submit to them.

And oh, don’t forget an “about the author” section.

Directory Submissions
Directory submissions are likely the most painful of the link building tactics you’ll employ. Why?  Because it’s tedious and time-consuming work.

To be done right directory submissions must be done manually, the titles and descriptions must be tailored to the specifications of the directory in question and often, you’ll have to decide if a review fee is worth it.

While there are a good many directories that accept free submissions there are also a large number that’s require a review fee.  The fee can range from a  few dollars to a few hundred.  If you see that a directory has a low PageRank, is general in it’s nature (i.e. it isn’t about your specific field) then it likely isn’t worth more than a couple dollars if that.  If the site is strong, and strongly related to your site then it’s obviously worth more.

There is no hard-and-fast set of rules for how much a listing is worth.  I’d recommend to start your hunt for directories (don’t forget the topic and/or region specific ones), submit to all the free ones and make a list of all the ones that require a fee.  After you’ve gotten a solid number in you “needs to be paid list” you can get a general idea as to what’s out there and what you can get and for how much.  This will enable you to make solid choices knowing what all your options are.

Forum Posting
I just know I’m going to get a couple comments and/or emails for listing this as a link building tactic but if it’s done right there’s nothing wrong with it.  Forum and blog posting got a bad reputation as a link building tactic when it came under huge abuse by unethical webmasters spamming forums with useless garbage just for a link.  They even went so far (and still do) as sending out spiders to automatically submit posts.  To this end, I have to agree that it’s a bad tactic however …

If you’re seeking out forums related to your site, reading the threads and responding with solid advice or with questions and not just firing off some sales-pitch then you’re doing what you’re supposed to be.  Another perk to this is that, like articles, if you do this right you’re going to see traffic as well and what more can you ask from a link building tactic than traffic as well as links.

Conclusion
Above we’ve covered the basics of link building.  As I’ve noted repeatedly, once you’re done reading this and applying some of what you’ve read you’d do well to read other articles, forums and blogs.  This isn’t a complete breakdown of everything link-related (that would be a full book) but it will keep you out of trouble and save you countless hours of wasted time getting poor links that haven’t held value since 2003.

Why Does It Matter?

OK, so you know that your site is built around a name. You’ll use it as a domain, as a page title, in your logo, and possibly in the design. A name is much more than this, though. Your site or business name will be:

• the way in which people find your site,
• the way they will refer to it and, most importantly
• the thing they’ll remember when they leave.

If you don’t really believe this, think about it for a moment. You want to buy a book on the Web. You don’t go to a search engine and type in “books”; you go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, and of course when you want Webmaster information, you go to SitePoint. Similarly, when you have a good experience on a site, you might say to your friends “I read a great article on SitePoint”, or “I found great book prices at Amazon”. Whatever the name of your site — and however you promote it — it’s vital to realise that the name is going to be a major part of your success.

What IS A Good Name?

So now you understand the importance of your site’s name, how can you ensure that you pick a good one? The first thing you must think of, obviously, is domains. There’s no point in having a great name for a site if you don’t have the domain, so the Whois databases are the place where you’ll do your research.

So, what makes a good domain?

1. Good Extension
2. Short
3. Easy To Spell
4. Descriptive
5. Keywords

Well this is where my share will end. Thanks to David Gowans of Sitepoint.com for this wonderful article and I hope it helps you choose the right domain.

Using these will not in itself allow you reach the top position for your keyword, but they definitely help, and there is no single factor that will enable you to hit the top. A #1 position on Google is attained by a combination of many factors, such as internal and external linking strategies, relevance of your content to the keyword and the overall look and feel of your site. Plus those detailed below.

So let’s get started on these: these are the nuts and bolts of SEO, and if they are not right then you are starting off on the back foot. These are the essential SEO techniques that you must have as a minimum if you want to improve your search engine ranking, and although intended mainly for beginners, many established web pages do not contain every one of these.

I write ‘pages’ deliberately, because Google and the other main search engines list web pages, and not entire domains. That means that every single page in your website should be optimized in the same way: each should contain every single one of the SEO techniques listed below.

TITLE TAG
The title tag is contained within the ‘HEAD’ tags of your HTML, before the ‘BODY’ tags. This states the title of the page, and must contain the major keywords of the page. The contents of your title tag do not appear in the text of the page: its purpose is to inform the search engine spiders what the topic of your page is, and what words are important (i.e. your main page keyword). For example, the TITLE tag of a page based on this article would be “SEO Techniques – Improve your Search Engine Ranking”.

DESCRIPTION TAG
The description Meta tag is used by Google, and other search engines, in the search engine listings. I have tested this with them all and Google uses it as is, while Yahoo uses part of it. You should provide a description of what the web page is about, and a simple check of the descriptions in other sites using your keyword on Google will show you how many words you can use to have the whole description included. About 20 words are fine.

KEYWORD TAG
Search engines rarely use the keyword Meta tag: Google ignores it completely. However, it doesn’t hurt, and can help in a small way. Include your brand name and your own name. That way some engines might show your pages if somebody is looking for your name. The other Meta tags have no SEO value, and do not help to improve your search engine ranking whatsoever.

HEADING H TAGS
Heading tags (H1, H2, . . .) are used by Google to determine the importance of the text contained in your headings. Use H1 tags for the main title of your page (you also use it in the TITLE tag, but that isn’t seen by readers, only by the spiders). Put subtitles in H2 tags. You can change the font size of the text within these tags.

TEXT FORMATTING
Text in bold, italics and underscored are seen by the search engines as having greater weight, and so will be used in determining the relevance of your site. Always bolden your titles, and it also helps to underline it if it doesn’t make it look out of place.

WRITING STYLE and CONTENT
Do not write for algorithms (spiders): write for your readers. Always write for humans and you won’t go wrong. If your page content reads well, and has good vocabulary relating to the topic, then it will have a better chance of a higher listing than if you stuffed it full of keywords. I rarely use more than 1.5% – the keyword densities of the terms ‘SEO’, SEO techniques’ and ’search engine ranking’ (the main keywords) of this article are 1.5, 0.87 and 0.87 respectively. Too many keywords is bad SEO, and could result in a poor listing for your page – if it is listed at all.

So there you are: six simple SEO techniques to improve your search engine ranking. It is surprising how many experienced webmasters fail to apply all of these: there is no excuse, and they are failing to get the nuts and bolts properly fitted and tightened on their web pages.

Apply these to every page and not only will you improve your SEO, but also your chances of a good search engine ranking. It is amazing how many web pages lack these basic SEO techniques.

Posted in SiteProNews.com by Peter Nisbet.

Your website is like a shop in a high street. Unless you have a chain of shops you are limited to local traffic through your front door. Visit Cheap SEO UK now!

This Conference will unlock the nuts and bolts of search marketing as a key to customer acquisition, conversion, and retention through proper site optimization, with a special emphasis on web analytics to bring a new level of rigor and certainty to your entire search engine marketing strategy. The Conference is designed to roll out tips and techniques to increase web site traffic, link popularity, visibility, and site conversion opportunities. Other Internet marketing channels like affiliate marketing and email marketing will also be discussed.

This Conference is must for interactive & digital marketers, brand marketers, webmasters, bloggers, and those involved in Internet marketing and electronic commerce in today’s seamless Web 2.0 world. Topics are scaled from novice (light content) to advanced experience levels (heavy content).

Leading interactive marketing companies, technology providers, software vendors, Internet & web services providers, IT and management consulting companies, mobile & wireless, telecom companies, training institutes, software development companies, e-banking and financial institutions, content providers, and government agencies will showcase and demonstrate the latest Internet/wireless & mobile/e-commerce/e-business solutions, technologies, and innovations at the exhibit floor.

Keynote Speakers

SEMCON gathers the best and brightest minds in search engine optimization and Internet marketing in general. SEMCON is proud to say that one of the brightest minds in the industry today will be keynoting for the conference.

For more details visit their official website at: www.imvsolutions.com

Reciprocal linking is a joint venture of sorts between you and another website owner to exchange links on each others websites. The benefits of reciprocal linking is getting targeted traffic directed to your website and vice-a-versa. Don’t be afraid to put your competitors website on your links page, especially if they have a high Google page rank. Linking to your competitors will actually help you. For example do a search on Google for your keyword(s) and find your competitor with the number 1 ranking position, now check their links page. You will more than likely find other websites that are sending them quality traffic, as well as other potential reciprocal link partners for your website.

Will any websites link do? No! Non-relevant links won’t help you with Google. Try and stay within your “niche” market.

When looking for potential reciprocal link partners there are few things you can do. Using search engines as mentioned above is a very good way to go about getting reciprocal link partners. Visit the top 10 or 20 sites ranked in Google and yahoo, and do some research on their link partners. Some other things to consider are sites with quality content, articles, reports, e-books, anything that is original. Look for websites that stay within their “niche”, you don’t want link partners that offer everything under the sun and no real substance to their website or business. These types of sites don’t usually last to long on the internet. Two other great free tools for researching reciprocal link partners is the Google and Alexa toolbars. Within the Google toolbar you have the ability to check the page rank Google has assigned to a potential link partner, the higher the page rank the more traffic and quality content that particular website offers. The Alexa toolbar shows you the traffic rank of a potential link partner. Any website within your niche that is that is ranked under a hundred thousand is a good potential link partner.

Now you know how to find link partners, what should you do? Most sites offer you a webpage on their website where you can add your links manually. You fill out a short form with your website url, description, email address and submit it to the webmaster for consideration. You in return add their particulars to your site and with in a day or two after they have had time to find their link on your site you should get an email from the webmaster that says they have added your link. It is that easy.

However, with some sites you may have to send a reminder if they have not responded with a week or so. If you still get no response simply delete their link and move on. If they can not show you some common courtesy to bother to let you know that your link was approved or not then you really don’t need them as a partner.

To review, use search engines to find potential link partners with your niche. Research these sites for quality content. Use the Google and Alexa toolbars to find high traffic and high page rank sites to link to. Fill out a short form and start all over again. Remember your looking for quality not necessarily quantity with reciprocal linking. Good Luck.

Source: www.site-reference.com

About the Author
Dirk Wagner is CEO and owner of team4success.biz and the free, easy to install #1 home business toolbar with automated updates.A website dedicated to helping the home-based business entrepreneur start and succeed with there very own home-based business by publishing his free online course for successful Hoem Business.

September is the calm before the storm of speaking events for TopRank but October and November are packed with opportunities to learn strategy, hear case studies and understand specific tactics for implementation on the topics of Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing and Online Public Relations. Here are our upcoming events. We hope to see you there:

Oct 5, 2009 – MIMA Summit, Hilton Minneapolis
The Intersection of SEO and Social Media

Oct 19, 2009 – DMA09 Conference, San Diego Convention Center
Search Engine Marketing Experience

Oct 22, 2009 – Digital PR Next Practices Summit, Grand Hyatt New York
Search Engine Marketing, Optimization and How to Write for the Web

Oct 29, 2009 – MN PRSA Conference, Minneapolis Metropolitan Ballroom, Golden Valley
Breakout sessions on Social Media

Nov 7, 2009 – PRSA 2009 International Conference, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
Looking Ahead: The Nexus of Social Media and Public Relations
Help Google Find Your Releases: Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Tactics for Public Relations Professionals

Nov 10, 2009 – WebmasterWorld Pubcon, Las Vegas Convention Center
How do Social Media & Search Intersect?
How SMBs Can Use PR Campaigns to Grow Traffic
Search Bloggers : What’s Hot and Trending?

Be sure to watch specific announcements and details plus discounts and giveaways for many of these events at TopRank’s Digital Marketing News Blog.

Source: Learn SEO, Social Media & Digital PR from TopRank