The Other Side of the Search Gods Abracadabra!Thousands of servers ...billions of web pages.... the possibility of individually sifting through the WWW is null. The search engine gods cull the information you need from the Internet...from tracking down an elusive expert for communication to presenting the most unconventional views on the planet. Name it and click it. Beyond all the hype created about the web heavens they rule, let's attempt to keep the argument balanced. From Google to Voice of the Shuttle (for humanities research) these ubiquitous gods that enrich the net, can be unfair ...and do wear pitfalls. And considering the rate at which the Internet continues to grow, the problems of these gods are only exacerbated further.
Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSSRSS is the latest craze in online publishing. But what exactly is RSS?RSS or Rich Site Syndication is a file format similar to XML, and is used by publishers to make their content available to others in a format that can be universally understood.RSS allows publishers to "syndicate" their content through the distribution of lists of hyperlinks.It has actually been around for a while, but with the advent of spam filters and online blogging, it is fast becoming the choice of ezine publishers who want to get their message across to their subscribers.However, not much attention has been given to the advantages RSS provides for search engine optimization.Why Search Engines Love RSSMany SEO experts believe that sites optimized around themes,or niches, where all pages correspond to a particular subject or set of keywords, rank better in the search engines.For example, if your website is designed to sell tennis rackets, your entire site content would be focused around tennis and tennis rackets.Search engines like Google seem to prefer tightly-themed pages.But where does RSS figure in all this?RSS feeds, usually sourced from newsfeeds or blogs, often correspond to a particular theme or niche.By using highly targeted RSS feeds, you can enhance your site's content without having to write a single line on your own.It?s like having your own content writer - writing theme-based articles for you - for free!How can RSS improve my Search Engine Rankings?There are three powerful reasons why content from RSS Feeds is irresistible bait for search engine spiders.1. RSS Feeds Provide Instant Themed ContentThere are several publishers of RSS feeds that are specific to a particular theme.Since the feed is highly targeted, it could contain several keywords that you want to rank highly for.Adding these keywords to your pages helps Google tag your site as one with relevant content.2. RSS Feeds Provide Fresh, Updated ContentRSS feeds from large publishers are updated at specific intervals. When the publisher adds a new article to the feed, the oldest article is dropped.These changes are immediately effected on your pages with the RSS feed as well. So you have fresh relevant content for your visitors every hour or day.3. RSS Feeds Result in More Frequent SpideringOne thing I never anticipated would happen as a result of adding an RSS feed to my site was that the Googlebot visited my site almost daily. To the Googlebot, my page that had the RSS feed incorporated into it was as good as a page that was being updated daily, and in its judgement, was a page that was worth visiting daily.What this means to you, is that you will have your site being indexed more frequently by the Googlebot and so any new pages that you add to your site will be picked up much faster than your competitors. How does this benefit you as a marketer?Well, for example, let's says a top Internet Marketer comes out with a new product that you review and write up a little article on, and that your competitors do the same.Google generally tends to index pages at the start of the month and if you miss that update, you will probably need to wait till the next month to even see your entry in.But, since your site has RSS feeds, it now gets indexed more frequently. So the chances of getting your page indexed quickly are much higher.This gives you an advantage over the competition, as your review will show up sooner in the search results than theirs.Imagine what an entire month's advantage could do to your affiliate sales!Why Javascript Feeds Are Not EffectiveSome sites offer javascript code that generates content sourced from RSS feeds for your site.These are of absolutely no value in terms of search engine rankings, as the googlebot cannot read javascript and the content is not interpreted as part of your page.What you need is code that parses the RSS feed and renders the feed as html content that's part of your page.This is achieved using server side scripting languages like PHP or ASP.A good free ASP script is available from Kattanwebhttp://www.kattanweb.com/webdev/projects/index.asp?ID=7 An equally good PHP script is CARPhttp://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/ So in conclusion, besides optimizing on page and off page factors, adding RSS feeds to your pages should be an important part of your strategy to boost your search engine rankings.
If Content is King, then surely Relevance is Queen!There has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the searchengine world of late and there are lots of conspiracytheories as to why these things happen.
The Budget Webmaster?s 6 Step Guide to Improving Existing Rankings in GoogleThe Budget Webmaster?s 6 Step Guide to Improving Existing Rankings in Google
Your Website Title Could Be Costing You MoneyNothing could be simpler than the title you give to your web pages right? Unfortunately, the vast majority of the websites I visit these days have absolutely terrible titles that hurt their online business. The title of your website is a very important part of getting good rankings on most of the major search engines. A good title also goes a long way towards getting your prospects to click on your listings.
Choosing a good domain name isnt always so simple.So you need a domain name for your brand new internet business. You may even have some cool ideas for a new domain name combination that will really impress your friends. Question is, is your new domain name going to help your business or hurt it?
Search Engine Marketing 101 For Corporate SitesWhen most people want to find something on the web, they use a search engine. Millions of searches are conducted every day on search engines such as: google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com and many others. Some people are looking for your website. So how do you capture people searching for what your site has to offer? Through techniques called search engine marketing (SEM).
How To Design A Search Engine Friendly WebsiteThere are many websites that fail to target their required traffic, even if they?ve had some search engine optimisation work done. One of the main causes for this is simply because the website isn?t search engine friendly. This is a basic essential that needs to be incorporated into the design of all websites at the outset ? think of it as the foundation to establishing your search engine optimisation strategy.
eMarketing Sabotage - Top 10 Steps To Kill Your Search Engine Marketing PracticesWe at America Web Works find ourselves amazed at the amount of effort people spend trying to fool or manipulate their positioning in search engines. People seem to focus on the shortcuts to success and NOT on their Web site or the true value their content provides to their prospects.
Got Spiders?Many internet marketers blow mountains of start-up cash on their websites just trying to break into search engine rankings. I was one of these internet marketers.
What is the Google Dance?As with any good web developer, the ability to time the changes Google will update your website and refresh the content for better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is in your favor. Welcome to the world of ?Google Dance?. The Google Dance is simply that the predetermination of when the actual update will commence.
What is PageRank?Chances are you have been on the Internet and have been surfing in and out of websites looking for valuable information pertaining to a favorite topic or researching a subject for school or work. As you type in keyword(s) you match the information you are searching for on Google, you come up with 10,000 pages of information. It?s virtually impossible to go through every one, so you refine your search by adding more exclusive keywords. Voila the number of pages reduces to around 1,000. Still this is a lot of pages, but you start looking through the information to find what you want.
What is The Google Sandbox Effect?In the age of fair competition you may find it hard to believe that a search engine may hinder the appearance of a new website. This is what is currently believed to be happening on more web servers today. Some programmers have viewed Google as uncomfortable to rank newer websites until they have proven their viability to exist for more than a period of ?x? months. Thus the term ?Sandbox Effect? applies to the idea that all new websites have their ratings placed in a holding tank until such time is deemed appropriate before a ranking can commence.
Owning Your Category Online - Is Our Website Broken?"Owning your business category online is more than just a few keywords... Is your website broken?"
