Search Engine-Friendly Web Pages: An Overview

Different search engines use different rules for determining which pages rise to the top of their results...and the rules are constantly changing. Nevertheless it is still worthwhile to understand the terms that play a part in the big picture:

URL Words = for neweartharts.com they would be new, earth, arts, wear, ear, hart, art
HTML Filename = The actual filenames of your HTML beyond index
TITLE Tag = What shows up at the very top of the browser
META Description Tag = What you see on the search engine listings
META Keywords Tag = A list of relevant keywords and phrases. Less used nowadays.
IMG ALT Text = Text behind the pictures for blind users. (Google likes this)
ANCHOR Text = Text that is highlighted with a hyperlink
H1, H2 and BOLD Tags = (Google likes these also)

All of which contribute to Keyword Density (The total percentage of your important keywords on the page, not to exceed 4%).

So if you have a page consisting of 100 words, you can see that it is only possible to elevate your word counts for 4 or 5 terms (20 or 25 out of 100 total words would be 4%) before your English sounds too repetitive. So there is an upper limit to how many words you can go for on a page.

The Invisible Elephant for Getting Web Traffic

Standard Methods of Going After Web Traffic
Most people rely on two main strategies to drive traffic to their websites:

1. Onsite Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Pay Per Click (PPC)

...but the sad truth is that if these are the only tools in your kit, you will have a hard time unless you are serving a very exclusive niche market.

Moving up a level, many people rely on:

1. An Opt-In Email List/Newsletter
2. List Spamming (Announcements to groups)
   
3. Blogging
4. Cross-Marketing (with other websites and their email lists)
5. Link Bait (Reasons for other sites to link to you)
6. Directory Listings
   

...and this helps, but the scope is not large enough to dominate a market. What's required is a much larger vision of what you're up to and then a concerted campaign to implement that vision.

The Invisible Elephant for Getting Web Traffic & Why I Call It That
Almost everyone remembers the story of the blind men and the elephant: Each one comes away with a different description based on their limited experience and understanding of the creature. One touches the trunk and says "it's like a snake," another touches the leg and says "it's like a tree," etc. In the case of getting web traffic, the elephant is a multi-phase internet presence campaign. Most people get a piece of it, and think they have the whole concept...but they don't.

What's needed is a comprehensive approach and correct implementation of all the various parts such that they work together. When that happens, the website owner becomes like the boy who befriends the giant creature, rides it and moves heavy objects...something that would have been impossible with a limited understanding.

The nasty part of it is that it is possible to mess up with certain mistaken notions. For example: People post their events on Tribe.net. It works a bit and then less and less. What happened? Simple. They forgot the purpose of Tribe.net.

Tribe (and quite a few other social networking sites) are like Student Unions at universities. You can sit at the technogeek table, the mathwhiz table, the artist's table or the sports fan's table but if you stand on a chair and yell, "Vote for me for student body President!" you run the risk of being considered an obnoxious jerk and losing your electability. If instead, you had made a point of being a quiet and helpful drop-in at several tables, and later on let it slip that you were running, you might fare better at the polls.

In subsequent posts we will be going over the many different parts of the elephant and how to integrate them.

© Copyright 2008, New Earth Arts: fostering personal product development and promotion via the digital media production & internet marketing partnership of Wes Wolcott & Mead Rose serving human potential, spiritual transformation & complementary alternative medicine communities.

Keyword Research Tools

My favorite keyword research tool is WordTracker. Here's the URL for the free tool...
http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

A few things you should know:

• Their pay-for-usage front end is awesome for finding keyword combinations for immediate traffic. Pay attention to this blog. I will tell you how to make the most of it!
  
• Start by using single-word terms. You will likely discover that people are doing searches you haven't thought of!
• Don't just pay attention to the high-traffic numbers. As a newbie, you can gain a foothold with terms that list in the 10's rather than the super-competitive 100+ combinations.

As much as I love Google, their keyword suggestion tool is crappy.

Also, the Overture tool sucks. Since they got bought out by Yahoo, they have been phasing out the keyword suggestion tool. How lame. Now, if you want to do pay-per-click with Yahoo, you need to run blind. I can help. I can teach you how to optimize Yahoo pay-per-click. But watch out! The defaults are designed to get you to make mistakes and spend money you don't need to spend. Call me and let me walk you through the setup. 415-251-0457 My $60 consulting fee will be money well spent in terms of making the most of your PPC dollars.

Open Letter to Carl Icahn regarding Attempts to force Yahoo/Microsoft Merger

Bad Idea.

You must be unacquainted with the issues.

Microsoft engages in reprehensible business practices and I for one will terminate any and all business with Yahoo if the merger goes through. (And recommend similar action to all my associates).

Ever wonder where all the viruses that attack Windows vulnerabilities come from? Simple: Top-notch engineers that Microsoft put out of work while disregarding the public interest.

Microsoft won the case for having its own version of Java in court. But because they disregarded 5 layers of the 7 layers of protection afforded by adoption of the Java standard, they could not protect their users from attacks. Eventually Microsoft had to delete its version of Java as an "upgrade." They won in court, but lost in the real world.

Your attempt to force Yahoo's hand demonstrates a lack of understanding of the issues at hand. Microsoft is a sinking ship. All rats would do well to jump.

Internet Marketing, Keyword Research and Identifying Your Tribes

"Tribes" is the term I am using to refer to aggregations of internet users that:

• Share a common interest, problem or point of view
• Might benefit by whatever product you have to offer
• Share a particular vocabulary

The problem most of us face is that we tend to use the vocabulary unique to our own tribe and generally have no idea how to speak to others in terms they will understand.

For example, let's say that you have invented a really cool way for factory workers to invest their retirement funds which is not only safe, but maximizes returns so they wind up with far more money by the time they retire. The only problem is, you keep using the term "increased earnings" and within a factory worker's vocabulary that translates to something accomplished by working overtime. So your own best audience misunderstands and is turned off.

What is needed is a combination of keyword research outside of industry insider terms together with a focus on understanding the terms your potential customers use. Instead of focusing on the jargon of your own particular tribe (and you may not even know it's jargon!) you need to think in terms of the benefits of your particular product or service and the problems that you supply the solutions for. Once you have identified those terms, you might do well to look for an online discussion group around a particular set of problems and "lurk" to learn about their terminology and concerns.

So in our example of factory workers, you might wind up joining a group who is concerned about "pension plan ripoffs" and by simply being a "fly one the wall" in the group, you might discover not only how to talk about what you have to offer, but even greater unmet needs within that particular tribe.

Next installment: Keyword research tools

A YouTube Video About Making Interesting YouTube Videos

The first of what will likely be several on this subject.

Checking Out The Competition Is Not What It Seems

The interesting thing about using keyword research to check out the competition is that keyword competitors can be potential partners as long as they are not direct competitors.

How does this work? Let's assume that you have actually gone to the trouble of generating a list of keywords that are applicable to your market niche:

• Perform several searches based on the most applicable keywords for your niche
• For each search, visit each of the sites listed on the first page of the search engine results and assess what they are about (make notes)
• Keep an eye out for complementary offerings (If you are offering yoga lessons, complementary offerings might be yoga mats, blocks, clothing or music, for example)
• Consider the possibility that a you could have an article on your site that they could link to, thus adding value to their site while helping your traffic
• Consider the possibility that you could make a commission selling their stuff or they could make a commission selling your stuff or both

...and then there are your actual competitors. In the case of your true competitors ask yourself "What's missing that I could provide?" If they are the least expensive, maybe you could provide superior quality. If they are tried and true, maybe you could offer a high degree of responsiveness and customization.

You might discover that your your dream business is simply too competitive, in which case it's good to find that out before you dump a bunch of cash into something that ultimately won't work.

Next Installment: Identifying Your Tribes