Tips to improve your Google ranking

By now you have probably figured out Google is the search king and that Google supplies more than 70% of search referals on the web. Trying to figure out the Google algorithm is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

Still many seo’s persist with algo chasing for the Google search engine, some probably come close but I doubt there would be any consistency.

What we Do Know

PageRank determined by the amount of inbound links to your pages is the biggest determining factor for your pages to rank highly in the Google seach engine.

Many seo’s would argue that copywriting is the biggest determining factor, this plays a big part in that writing unique compelling copy that is useful to your readers will most likely nudge them to link to your site from theirs, giving you inbound links.

Now pagerank alone is most likely made up of a complex mathmatical equation that we can only best guess how it works.

I’m not going into this as all you need to know is to get as many inbound links to your site as you can, preferably links with your keywords for that page in the anchor text, and preferably from authorative websites.

Title Tags

Google loves the title tag so put your number 1 keyword phrase in here. Don’t pay to much attention to the rest of your meta tags as Google doesn’t really use them.

Link to Your Pages Using Keywords

Using keywords to link from page to page within your site will boost your PageRank for that particular page. Choose your keywords wisely.

Keyword Rich Body Copy

Sprinkling your keywords throughout your body copy is a must, but you must make it readable to your viewers without sounding like it was written for the search engines. Add unique and useful content so your readers may want to link to your site.

Page Updates and Adding Content for Google

Google loves fresh content, the more the better. Keep your pages updated often and Googlebot will return to your site again and again.

Some points to remember when updating pages for Google to determine page freshness:

Changes in keyword density and distribution

The actual amount of change to the page itself

The change or updating of anchor text links

The frequency of all web page changes

The number of new inbound links to a page

Google likes Reputable Hosts

In it’s fight against spam and artificial link building Google does take into account your domain host. Is your host reputable or does it host spam sites? If so move your site to a respectable host.

Thirdsphere and SLHost are two domain hosts I recommend but I’m sure there are many more. Just do some homework on this and you’ll be fine.

Getting Listed at Google

You can submit your site to Google for free although I myself prefer to let GoogleBot find my websites by itself. multiplayer pokerfree poker softwarewin 7 card studinternet poker gamehold em poker7 card stud highonline video pokerbest online pokerlive online pokeron line poker gameonline texas hold emholdem internet poker,internet poker,internet online poker7 card stud hi lowomaha poker rulevideo poker casinoonline betting pokerfree texas hold empoker casino gamegambling pokeromaha poker strategy,omaha poker online,omaha pokerfree online texas holdem game,free online texas holdem,play texas holdem online freepoker videoonline poker toolcaribbean pokerlive pokerfree poker gameomaha hi lo rule,hi limit lo omaha play,omaha hi lobest online poker sitefree online poker gameonline poker cheatingpoker oddspoker rule,stud poker rule,rule to play pokerfree 7 card stud pokerfree online texas holdem pokerfree poker game downloadplay free pokerplay free poker onlinevideo poker strategyfree texas holdem poker game,free texas holdem poker,free holdem line poker texasfree poker downloadtexas holdem tv poker game,texas holdem poker game,texas holdem poker game onlinetexas holdem poker strategyfree online texas hold emfree texas hold em poker,texas hold em,texas hold em tippoker tipvideo poker softwarefree online video pokeronline texas holdem,online casino texas holdem,play texas holdem poker onlinefree texas holdem downloadfree video poker download

They say that almost everything you need, you can find on the Internet. The Internet is an online hub where a user can get valuable information, shop for designer clothes, get medical advice and do almost anything with just a few clicks of the mouse. With literally thousands upon thousands of websites out there, can you imagine life without Google? That can really be quite a nightmare!

Search engines are designed to retrieve information stored in its database whenever an online user types in a specific phrase or word. In the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jargon, this is termed as the keyword. They would then present this data to the user and list all the websites that meet such criteria. Websites with top rankings are sorted out because of their relevancy to these keywords.

There are three basic things that search engines do. First, they search the Internet for relevant keywords. Second, they keep an index of the keywords they have collected. And finally, if a user types in these keywords, search engines present listings of relevant websites where these keywords appear.

Search engines are very important for Internet marketers and online business owners. Since most surfers would naturally rely on search engines to find specific information or to select a particular product to buy, search engines can potentially hoard in a lot of visitors for your website.

Online users would most likely choose to use search engines that generate dependable and fast results. Top quality search engines are well maintained and are updated regularly to keep up with the Internet’s fast-paced development.

There are three major key players in the search engine industry – Google search, MSN search and YAHOO search. Other notable search engines include Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, AllTheWeb, LookSmart, Lycos and AltaVista among others.

Google is without a doubt the no.1 search engine today. It is run by Google Inc. and was launched in 1998. It’s famed for it mission statement: “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful“. It was reported to reach over 3 million queries in a single day and indexes over 25 million web pages and over 1 billion images.

Another well-accepted search utility is Yahoo. It is the Internet’s first web directory and was first launched way back in 1994. Initially, it employs human editors to categorize websites. But in 2004, it started using its very own crawler-based search listing technology.

MSN search is also one of the top movers on online search. It was formerly powered by LookSmart but improved a great deal through the years. It is in the process of developing its crawler-based search technology that promises more comprehensive results.

Because search engines are great sources of traffic, submitting your websites to these major search engines is very vital for your website’s success. Search engine submission or registration would simply mean that you would get your site listed to let the search engines know that such a website exists. Now, getting on top of the page results is an entirely different thing.

Search Engine Optimization is where all the fun is. Websites are all eye-ing on the top spot in page results. SEO employs a number of techniques that basically aims to make your website be on the first few pages of search results when an online user keys in a particular word or phrase.

Here’s a scenario: an online surfer who wanted to buy herself a pair of pearl earrings might possibly key in “pearl jewelry” on a search box. If you have a pagerank of ten (PR 10) your website would appear on top of the search results. If this is the case, you definitely increase the traffic of your site, thus increase your potential customer base- that ultimately means more profit for you!

Directories - The “Human Factor”

A directory is much the same as a search engine but it differs in the way in which the information is collected from the web. Search engines use spiders to crawl the web and scour websites following links to move about the world network. All the while dumping information back into the search engine index.

Directories are edited by “humans”, meaning a real person views submitted sites and may add them to its database if the quality of the site meets its standards..

The directory editors job is to find quality sites to add to its database as well as review submitted sites. With this in mind directory databases are somewhat smaller than search engines but the quality of returned search results are suppose to offset this.

As a real person will view your site it is imperative that your site is of a high standard. Be sure your website meets at least the minimum quality standard set by the directory you are submitting to.

Factors Determining Your Site Addition to a Directory

If you say yes to any of the website “bad habits” in the folllowing list, fix the problems and double check the fixes BEFORE submitting your site to any directory.

Does your site contain:

• broken links
• broken images
• bad colour schemes
• flashing text or images
• obscured text
• typos
• under construction signs
• no unique content
• very little content
• affiliate link farm
• bad navigation
• supports english language

These are just a few but if you answered yes to any, fix the problems first before submitting your site for review.

Major Directories

Directory submission to DMOZ is a must. This directory is free submission, edited by volunteers and boasts some 4 million site links in its database making it one of the largest directories on a global scale.

Yahoo! is another major directory and is beneficial to have your site listed with them. Yahoo! offers a standard submission for non-commercial sites and Yahoo! Express submission for commercial sites, although this will require you to part with some cash to the tune of $299 non refundable, recurring annual fee. The fee will guarantee a review by an editor within 7 days, but does not guarantee your site will be listed.

Food for Thought

On a final note when designing your site with SEO in mind think about what really annoys you with some sites you visit, chances are if your site has any of these annoying attributes it may lead to it not being added to a directory database.

The two main differences between search engines and directories are:

search engines use spiders to gather site information

directories use “real people” to view your site for acceptability into its database

search engines have a larger database

directories supposedly return higher quality search results

Submit your site to a number of web directories listed at the searchbuster Web directory to gain more backlinks to your site.

Why is it important to get listed in the DMOZ Directory?
DMOZ is a popular free open source search directory edited by human volunteers. With a PageRank™ of 9 it should be on your priority list when it comes time for site submission to directories.

As an authorative hub a link from a DMOZ directory category to your website will give your site a boost in PageRank™ and may assist in getting search engine spiders to crawl your site faster and more often. Google also uses DMOZ data for its Google directory.

What does this mean? It is well known in seo circles by having a site listing in DMOZ you will also get a listing in the Google directory, effectively creating two high PageRank™ backlinks. Hundreds if not thousands of smaller sites also use Dmoz directory data.

So from a single listing in DMOZ the potential for hundreds of backlinks can stack up quite substantially.

Unlike Yahoo! with it’s paid inclusion via Yahoo! Express, you may submit your site freely to DMOZ for inclusion into their database. This can be a harrowing and traumatic experience for some as the DMOZ directory submission requirements are very tight and strict.

Hopefully I can lay to rest some of your DMOZ submission fears.

Prior website checks before submitting to DMOZ
A peek at the site suggest guidelines at DMOZ gives a few clues as to what DMOZ editors look for when processing site submissions.

I don’t know how many times I have read on forums and message boards webmasters complaining they have submitted their site/s to DMOZ over and over again only to be rejected.

You can bet their site either doesn’t conform to the submission guidelines, was submitted to the wrong category or was just complete crap with no quality content.

Here is the DMOZ submission guidelines list taken from their site. Follow it to the ‘T’ and ensure your site conforms.

• Do not submit mirror sites. Mirror sites are sites that contain identical content, but have altogether different URLs.
• Do not submit URLs that contain only the same or similar content as other sites you may have listed in the directory.
• Sites with overlapping and repetitive content are not helpful to users of the directory.
• Multiple submissions of the same or related sites may result in the exclusion and/or deletion of those and all affiliated sites.
• Do not disguise your submission and submit the same URL more than once.
• Do not submit any site with an address that redirects to another address.
• The Open Directory has a policy against the inclusion of sites with illegal content. Examples of illegal material include child pornography; libel; material that infringes any intellectual property right; and material that specifically advocates, solicits or abets illegal activity (such as fraud or violence).
• Do not submit sites “under construction.” Wait until a site is complete before submitting it. Sites that are incomplete, contain “Under Construction” notices, or contain broken graphics or links aren’t good candidates for the directory.
• Submit pornographic sites to the appropriate category under Adult.
• Submit non-English sites to the appropriate category under World.
• Don’t submit sites consisting largely of affiliate links.

A good tool for checking inbound and outbound links is Xenu Link Sleuth, does a great job and of course it’s free. The reason I have focused on site links is the DMOZ editor will most likely run a similar program on your site when reviewing it.

Submission Time
Your site is set, you conform to the DMOZ submission guidelines, Let’s do this thing! Surf to DMOZ and perform a search using a broad search term that relates to your site. You will be presented with a category full of sites that should relate to your site theme. At the top of the page should be sub-category links.

At this point ask yourself two questions;

Does my site fit this category?

Is there a Suggest URL link on the page for this category?

The idea behind this is to find the closest category match to your website. If you answer no to any of the previous two questions drill down further using the sub-category links at the top of the page until a suitable category match is found.

NOTE* If your website is regional, submit using regional categories first before drilling down.

If you think you have found the right category visit some of the sites that are listed already, to be sure they are similar to yours.

Suggest URL
Congratulations! You have found your niche category that best fits your site. Click the Suggest URL link and let the fun begin.

Titling Your Site
This is an area where most webmasters come unstuck by using promotional words in their titles. DMOZ editors don’t take kindly to it. Use your domain name as your site title. If your official website title and domain name is Tech Law, then that is the title to submit.

As stated in the DMOZ submission guidelines, don’t use all capitals in your title.

Site Description
When describing your site common sense should prevail. As with writing page descriptions for meta description tags, write a compelling, brief, and descriptive overview of your site. Don’t be overly promotional and keep the site description free flowing.

Always describe your site from a third person view. If DMOZ editors write a description for your site they will use third person view.The idea is for your site to be listed with your description. So make the DMOZ editors task as simple as possible. If you write from a third person view and give an accurate description the editor may not make any changes to it. This also means using correct grammar and spelling.

One way to get help for an accurate description is to ask friends to view your website or ask people from forums to view your site. Use their feedback to write a compelling, accurate and non-promotional description.

The long wait
DMOZ is free submission and edited by volunteers. There is no paid express directory inclusion and from what is stated at the DMOZ directory website nor shall there ever be.

Processing of site submissions will take a while, even up to six months, sometimes longer. Don’t focus on this but instead continue to build quality content for your site. As one of my mentors recently stated in his ebook.

“I usually submit and forget about it.”

Our designer has finished our new look for the searchbuster web directory. We are also able to offer more listing options to site submitters, check it out here. Our plan is to now implement the new directory design into our blog and forums for a more unified look throughout our site.