Today's tip: Don't become a victim of LINK FARMS!

Everyone knows that one of the top secrets to achieving the best SEO results: powerful, contextual, relates LINKS. Okay, maybe it's not such a secret anymore, but the right links are definitely the best way to gain the most popularity on the web. The SEO beginner may grab for any link he can get his inexperienced hands on, but you know better than that. You know that the beginner's lack of expertise could very well make him the ultimate candidate for any disreputable link farm. As a website constructed solely for the purpose of increasing the link popularity of other sites, a link farm is a threat to any credible website. Generally, the list of links on a link farm site are totally unrelated - posted simply for the purpose of being posted and increasing the number of incoming links to each individual site. Sure, sometimes these sites post links related to just one topic, but that doesn't make them any more legitimate.

Chances are, you know when you're looking at a link farm, but just in case you're apprehensive, it's very easy to tell. Look for mass links; we're talking pages and pages of links. Maybe they're related links, maybe they're not, but either way there will be plenty. Look for very little content. These link farms are definitely not interested in sharing valuable information. Poor maintenance of a site is also usually an indication of a link farm. To a link farm webmaster, the links are all that matter, so the organization of the site is of little importance. A low page rank on top of these other signs is another good indicator. As long as the site isn't brand new, it could already have been penalized by Google. If it hasn't been removed completely, then it could very well have a low page rank.

Considering the extensive knowledge of the search engines, it seems crazy to think that these link farms could possibly work. And that's right, they don't. Most link farms are hosted on the same C-block and registered to the same company or person. Since the search engines are also registrars, they know the hosting and registration details for every site. The search engines have no trouble tracing every one of these links, which will undoubtedly be traced back to the same owner. So what will they do to you? Not only will the search engines immediately remove the link farms, but you can bet that they'll penalize your site, too.

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Today's tip warns against the dangers of buying and selling LINKS.

An obvious disregarding of the rules of the web, buying and selling links indiscriminately for search engine optimization purchases definitely deserves to be punished. Essentially, paying for links is paying to be popular, and no one likes a cheater. This kind of etiquette never worked in high school, and it certainly won't work on the internet. Think about why people use Google in the first place: to find the most relevant answers to their questions. Say Google allowed its site contributors to pay more money to be listed at a higher position on the results page. Eventually, the search engine would lose all of its credibility because it put price before relevance. Search engines are vital resources, and it's crucial that they be able to maintain their integrity. And this explains why Google's patent on its Adwords PPC ad-serving system is so valuable because advertisers are listed according to the relevance of their ad, not just a big price.

Even the search engines, the self-proclaimed police of the internet, have to play by the rules - just look at what happened to Google Japan. In February of 2009, Google, king of the internet, had to penalize one of its own, Google Japan, when it began paying bloggers to write articles about the "hot new keywords" function at the top of its homepage. It consisted of a list promoting the most searched terms typed on the search engine. When selected, these keywords linked to their respective Google searches. Problems arose when Google Japan hired an online marketing company to create buzz about their new tool, which was already available as a widget to webmasters through none other than the pay-per-post function. Although Google rules the web in many countries, Japan is not one of them. Facing heavy competition from Yahoo's search engine, Google Japan chose to disregard its own rules in order to increase its popularity. Without fail, the almighty Google came down hard on Google Japan. The campaign was stopped immediately, and the frantic apologies began. Clearly, Google Japan's remorseful email was not enough, and the search engine had to be punished. Google imposed a tough PageRank penalty upon the Japanese version of itself, bringing its rank down from a 9 to a 5.

If Google is willing to penalize one of its own, its fair to say that no one is safe. Who knows what havoc Google will wreak on your website if it finds out about any shady business? The search engine could drop your page rank, throw out your links, or ban your site from the index for any given phrase. No matter what Google does, you can bet that your site will feel its harmful effects. The best advice: be honest. Don't purchase shady links, and only link to sites that you've looked at to ensure their relevance and quality. If you're really nervous that a link might be seen as manipulative for the Google ranking system, you can request a rel="nofollow" attribute that keeps the link from passing any parameters. Avoid buying and selling bad links at all costs to allow your website to thrive with a clean conscience.

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Today's SEO tip is about the importance of using discretion in all of your URL writing.

Let's face it - even the most diligent SEO guru has a lazy moment or two. Spurred on by that devilish voice in your head, it takes all of your will power to deny taking the easy way out when it comes to handpicking keywords to put in your URL. What you want to do is throw a few directories in front of your previously existing URL; what you should do is take the time to rewrite the elements that actually propel the page's content. Although that tiny addition to your URL seems completely harmless, you have been warned! True, if the legacy URLs are redirected to the new keyword URL to maintain link popularity and de-index the legacy URLs, you'll probably see no consequences. Sure, your now much longer URL will probably get indexed and therefore be free of any impact, but beware! You would hate to be accused of the ultimate sin: keyword stuffing!

The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to keep it simple. A URL of four or five words that sounds natural can be perfectly normal. I would warn against using a URL that looks like this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/23/honda-formula-one-bernie-ecclestone-richard-branson-jenson-button-bruno-senna-mercedes-benz, (yes, this is actually real). First off, it's just too long. No one would ever physically type a URL of that length if they saw it in print. Second, it looks spammy! A URL like that combined with this particular site, itself, is constantly losing credibility. Not only are almost all of The Guardian's URL's typically like this, but its articles are full of pointless and annoying links. Generally, it's very easy to associate these over-stuffed and obnoxious URLs with a lack of value. Is sacrificing quality really worth a few measly SEO points? Make sure to consider keyword proximity and density before writing your URLs to avoid sacrificing the integrity of your website. Stick with keywords and leave out the junk - adverbs, adjectives, pronouns - think about exactly what your target audience is looking for and what they would type into Google to find it.

Here are a few examples of search engine friendly linking, which is really easy to do when use a content management system that enables you to just type in the keywords you want to use in your URL, and it creates the links for you. (Btw, you would not believe how many ecommerce sites still use links with SKU numbers instead of model names).

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Today's tip for copywriting tactics related to search engine optimization goals will cover what to do with LINKS and how they appear on your site. On my own site at Magmall.com for example, where we sell magazine subscriptions, you can see that there is a clear linking hierarchy in terms of using color and size to set links apart using the ecommerce platform from Adrecom.

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So this morning i got an email from my CNET subscription about Facebook's recent announcement that you can set up a keyword rich Facebook vanity URL to be used instead of (or in addition to) your alphanumeric web address for Facebook. SEO companies are running faster than the angriest bulls in Pamplona to build portfolios of Facebook accounts with keyword rich URLs. Here's the post I got: Facebook's 200-plus million members can now customize the URLs to their profiles. This is a move that will help Facebook profiles get better traction in search engines, potentially upping traffic--and give people-search sites a run for their money in the process. For brands whose "fan pages" are a crucial part of Facebook's marketing and advertising strategy, it'll make their pages easier for people to access without needing to click around much. But there's fine print! "Think carefully about the user name you choose. Once it's been selected, you won't be able to change or transfer it," a blog post by Facebook's Blaise DiPersia read. Need help figuring out what to do? So i visited my Facebook account and lo and behold there was an invitation to add a vanity URL. So i chose www.facebook.com/jasonciment. Now though i run a web agency, where I offer through our Los Angeles office web site design, search engine optimization and web software services for a CMS and an ecommerce shopping cart software platform, PLUS I still have a magazine subscription service, i still chose to make my vanity name my personal name instead of a keyword rich vanity URL like www.facebook.com/magazinesubscriptions (which by now probably someone just snatched). here's my recommendation to Facebook. Stop the insanity. PROHIBIT keyword rich vanity URLs. Don't allow common names to be registered. Since when does someone's personal name sound like a noun. Next time I meet someone who says his name is web design, I'm checking my shot glass for some milky residue because I must be drinking something funny. Here's my second recommendation to Facebook. if you want to allow the registration of common nouns, then setup a separate directory just for "business" use and call it www.facebook.com/business and put all the common nouns in that directory. this way people will be able to distinguish a real PERSONAL facebook account from a company's account. Now since Fcebook is probably not going to follow these recommendations right now - though let it be recorded forever in the web sphere that i am the first one writing this idea on a Sunday morning in 2009 - if you are interested in taking advantage of the fantastic opportunity this presents for search engine optimization purposes, then find someone who has registrered their facebook accoutn befpre May 31st and have them give it to you so that you can get the keyword rich vanity name before it is taken. Hey! maybe Google, Yahoo and MSN will do the right thing and absolutely ignore the keywords in the URL's and really screw with the SEO companies who don't miss a beat (me included).

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I just found this free software related post related to Seo Quake - Busby Seo Test Tool | Freeware Dowloads Software [BETA ....

This software product was tested in the Softpedia labs on: 11 June 2007. Softpedia guarantees that SeoQuake is 100% CLEAN, which means it does not contain any.

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Content provided courtesy of Google, Yahoo and Technorati.

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Courtesy of Jon Leger, here is an outline of an SEO Tactic he shared recently at one of his search engine optimization seminars. It's a really easy strategy that should be in the top 5 of your tactics. Any web design company should be sharing this with their clients. We for sure will be telling some of our local clients in Los Angeles about it because it is so simple to implement.

Leaving contextual comments on other people's blogs is a very solid SEO technique to boost your search engine rankings because of all the links from the comments pointing back to your web site. This process is one of the premier tactics in acquiring backlinks. If you do this the right way, you can really maximize the impact this has on your search engine rankings.

1. Make a priority list of your top 5-10 targeted keyword terms. Each keyword can be used to find related blogs to leave comments on. So the more keywords you have, the more blogs you will be able to find. This of course leads to the catch-22 which is the more you find, the more you have to do. So keep in mind that as John Candy said in Volunteers, Time is Money and Money is power. use your time wisely and you make the most money.

2. Start looking for blogs that come up in Google for each keyword. The point is that if a blog is already highly ranked in Google for your keyword, then you will want to leave a comment on that blog too because a link back to your site from a "ranked blog" is extremely valuable.

3. If you have a "concrete fence" website and are looking to rank high for the term "concrete fence", then find blogs that are already ranking for "concrete fence". the top 10 results are sufficient for each keyword because the further down the list of the results the less valuable a link will be.

4. Consider as well where you link from and where you link to. When you place the comment, make sure to put on the same page that came up in the Google listing. by showing up on that ranked page, you get some of their Google Juice passed along to your site too. It's called semantic linking and is at the heart of successful backlink strategies.

5. Use Google Blog Search directly to find the sites: http://blogsearch.google.com and then offer the sites:

- A link exchange arrangement.
- Purchase a text link (ie. advertising)
- Offer them an article or press release to publish on their sites.
- Leave a blog comment.

6. When you link to your site, you should link either to your home page or directly to an internal page on your site that is specifically related to the keyword you are targeting. this means that the TITLE TAG of the page should have the KEYWORD in the title.

7. To do this continuously, search daily and set the search parameters to show only the results published in the last 12 or 24 hours. To do it weekly, set the search parameters to show only results from the "Past Week". There are also a few "Stay up to date on these results:" options provided by Google at the bottom of the results list.

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When you do SEO, it helps to blog. Take a look at the information for this new blogging for success site launch. Jack talks about it on his Friday report. Jack is approaching that stage where he's just shy of being an old-timer. But like the elders in the Bible, he's still in charge and know's what works online.

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Though I sell my own ecommerce shopping cart platform called WebCart, I still use another platform now for my personal blog. It's called WordPress and for now it is a great blogging platform for search engine optimization purposes. The first rule of on-page optimization for SEO is fresh, update content, and wordpress is a great tool for taking content out of your head and putting it online. Time though is a big killer and any chance I have to speed up the process of transfering mind thoughts into matter makes me really happy. Below is a list of shortcuts that will make your days of web publishing that much easier.

A short note that Windows and Linux use Ctrl + letter. Macintosh uses Command + letter.

Letter Action

c - Copy
v - Paste
x - Cut
a - Select all
z - Undo
y - Redo
b - Bold
i - Italic
u - Underline
1 - Header 1
2 - Header 2
3 - Header 3
4 - Header 4
5 - Header 5
6 - Header 6
9 - Address

The following shortcuts use these keys: Alt + Shift + letter.

Letter Action

n - Check Spelling
l - Align Left
j - Justify Text
c - Align Center
d - Strikethrough
r - Align Right
u - • List {bullet list}
o - 1. List {numbered list}
a - Insert link
s - Remove link
q - Quote
m - Insert Image
g - Full Screen
t - Insert More Tag
p - Insert Page Break tag
h - Help
e - Switch to HTML mode

Hope these shortcuts help you blog and format your post faster. The more you try them out the more you will ask yourself how you did it before?

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Rss Directory Submission Software This software enables you to automatically register your Blog RSS Feed or your Web Site RSS to over 50 directories. You can try it free to see how it works and then spend a couple of bucks to automate the process for dozens of directories. And you can use it over and over again for multiple web sites. Want to be a hero? Buy it for yourself, and then offer to set up your friend's blogs for free just to get some brownie points.

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