Recently, I’ve been spending more and more of my time on understanding SEO. Much of what I've discovered has come from people who have figured things out the hard way over a period of many years. Now Google have released their own Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide which thankfully confirms much of what I’d already learned! What interested me though, was that whilst I'm able to provide you with a link directly to the PDF itself (see above) I can find no reference to it on Google's website! What I did find though, fantastic...
For example, there's Google's Conversion University which teaches you how to turn searchers into buyers. And did you know that Google regularly post helpful videos on YouTube, under the user "Google"??? One particularly interesting video that I found is on the Google "Trifecta", which covers Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics and Website Optimizer in an (almost) hour long webinar!
Believe me - this stuff's awesome! I’d encourage everyone to study all of this content - it's not often you get something for nothing! It provides a wonderful foundation onto which the rest of your SEO learning can be built. Even if you consider yourself an established SEO expert, wouldn’t you like to have your assumptions confirmed (or otherwise) by Google themselves?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sitemaps - Why Are They Important in SEO?
Sitemaps have been around on the Internet for quite some time. Those new to the Web may only be familiar with the XML sitemaps made popular by the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. However, an alternative form of sitemap pre-dates these current examples by quite a few years.
When the Web first started making its way into the mainstream, we didn't have all the clever navigation tools that Web designers today take for granted. Websites were typically much simpler than today and it was often a challenge for visitors to gain a full understanding of how a site was laid out. On top of this was the lack of search functionality within the majority of sites, making it harder for people to get to the information that they wanted.
With these challenges in mind, sitemaps were developed. Put simply, a sitemap is a page that is accessible from all pages within a site (usually from the footer) and contains a list of all other pages within the site. It's usually built in such a way as to group pages together in the same way that the pages are grouped through the main navigation. However, the great thing is that everything is in one place.
I want to consider the significance of this form of sitemap today, in spite of if a more modern XML sitemap is in use.
Site Navigation
Keep in mind that not every browser displays your web page exactly as you designed it. Maybe you've created your navigation as images, but the user has images switched off, or that your innovative JavaScript menus don't work since the user has disabled JavaScript. In both of these situations, unless you've created some very complex coding to get around the limitations of your visitors' browser, the end user could be left unable to navigate your site.
If this happens, but you have a sitemap link at the bottom of each page, all is not lost. Anyone who regularly uses such a restrictive browser will already be used to searching out alternative navigation and will likely scroll straight to the bottom of the page to click on your sitemap link. From here, they'll be able to navigate around your site as if they're using a highly accurate website-GPS!
Conveying the "Big Picture"
Another great advantage of a sitemap is that it's often the only point on a site where a visitor can obtain a complete overview of everything that you offer and how it's structured. This is extremely powerful in conveying your theme, or your "big picture" to your audience. This can save your visitor a huge amount of time as they won't have to read through every page to comprehend this, and they're more likely then to click-through to the areas that really interest them.
Search Engine Optimization
There – I said it! Search Engine Optimization! You knew that SEO would be mentioned here somehow, didn't you? To be fair, many people don't realize that these simple sitemaps can be vital in your SEO strategy, as they believe that they've been replaced by the ubiquitous XML sitemaps. However, in a world where links are King, consider the value of having one page that links to every other page on your website.
Think about it – whatever page the search robot happens to land on, you're guaranteed that EVERY page in your site will be crawled if you're using sitemaps! How do you think this will affect your rankings? I can assure you, it will be positive!
Organization
On a more practical level, having a sitemap in place gives you, the site developer, a complete overview of your website. This means that whenever you come to make changes or to add new content, you can use the sitemap as a point of reference to establish where the changes are most appropriate. This saves you having to hold the complete structure in your head and forces you to work in a more disciplined, and hence more structured manner. The result – better websites which serve your users better and ultimately serve their purpose within your business.
From this article, the value of sitemaps should be completely apparent to you. For anything other than the most basic website (such as sales pages) a sitemap should be considered essential. In my opinion, they're equally as valuable as XML sitemaps for SEO, and significantly MORE valuable to your visitors. At the end of the day, it's your visitors who you're asking to spend money with you…!
Don't spend a penny on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before reading these revealing reviews on today's top SEO products at http://www.top-seo-resources.com/Recommends/Get-Found-On-Google
When the Web first started making its way into the mainstream, we didn't have all the clever navigation tools that Web designers today take for granted. Websites were typically much simpler than today and it was often a challenge for visitors to gain a full understanding of how a site was laid out. On top of this was the lack of search functionality within the majority of sites, making it harder for people to get to the information that they wanted.
With these challenges in mind, sitemaps were developed. Put simply, a sitemap is a page that is accessible from all pages within a site (usually from the footer) and contains a list of all other pages within the site. It's usually built in such a way as to group pages together in the same way that the pages are grouped through the main navigation. However, the great thing is that everything is in one place.
I want to consider the significance of this form of sitemap today, in spite of if a more modern XML sitemap is in use.
Site Navigation
Keep in mind that not every browser displays your web page exactly as you designed it. Maybe you've created your navigation as images, but the user has images switched off, or that your innovative JavaScript menus don't work since the user has disabled JavaScript. In both of these situations, unless you've created some very complex coding to get around the limitations of your visitors' browser, the end user could be left unable to navigate your site.
If this happens, but you have a sitemap link at the bottom of each page, all is not lost. Anyone who regularly uses such a restrictive browser will already be used to searching out alternative navigation and will likely scroll straight to the bottom of the page to click on your sitemap link. From here, they'll be able to navigate around your site as if they're using a highly accurate website-GPS!
Conveying the "Big Picture"
Another great advantage of a sitemap is that it's often the only point on a site where a visitor can obtain a complete overview of everything that you offer and how it's structured. This is extremely powerful in conveying your theme, or your "big picture" to your audience. This can save your visitor a huge amount of time as they won't have to read through every page to comprehend this, and they're more likely then to click-through to the areas that really interest them.
Search Engine Optimization
There – I said it! Search Engine Optimization! You knew that SEO would be mentioned here somehow, didn't you? To be fair, many people don't realize that these simple sitemaps can be vital in your SEO strategy, as they believe that they've been replaced by the ubiquitous XML sitemaps. However, in a world where links are King, consider the value of having one page that links to every other page on your website.
Think about it – whatever page the search robot happens to land on, you're guaranteed that EVERY page in your site will be crawled if you're using sitemaps! How do you think this will affect your rankings? I can assure you, it will be positive!
Organization
On a more practical level, having a sitemap in place gives you, the site developer, a complete overview of your website. This means that whenever you come to make changes or to add new content, you can use the sitemap as a point of reference to establish where the changes are most appropriate. This saves you having to hold the complete structure in your head and forces you to work in a more disciplined, and hence more structured manner. The result – better websites which serve your users better and ultimately serve their purpose within your business.
From this article, the value of sitemaps should be completely apparent to you. For anything other than the most basic website (such as sales pages) a sitemap should be considered essential. In my opinion, they're equally as valuable as XML sitemaps for SEO, and significantly MORE valuable to your visitors. At the end of the day, it's your visitors who you're asking to spend money with you…!
Don't spend a penny on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before reading these revealing reviews on today's top SEO products at http://www.top-seo-resources.com/Recommends/Get-Found-On-Google
Friday, October 17, 2008
Article Marketing for Rankings
There are essentially 2 ways to get yourself listed on the first page of Google:
I'm here today to remind you that patience is a virtue! :)
Personally, I'm a huge fan of taking the time to build rankings up slowly using a number of tried and tested methods. One of the best of those is article marketing.
Any time we write an article and publish it on the Web for the purposes of getting a relevant link back to our own site - that's article marketing, and it's almost guaranteed to get you found on Google!
So how do you go about it?
Well, you need a few key things:
The main point though, is that since these article directories are so popular, having an article (with its resource box) listed here means that Google will know about your site much quicker than it would otherwise. Bear in mind that inbound links are still a good measure of your ultimate page ranking and you should start to see why articles are so good!
After all that, maybe I should go and write some, rather than adding these posts to my blog.....!
- Spend lots of money
- Spend lots of time
I'm here today to remind you that patience is a virtue! :)
Personally, I'm a huge fan of taking the time to build rankings up slowly using a number of tried and tested methods. One of the best of those is article marketing.
Any time we write an article and publish it on the Web for the purposes of getting a relevant link back to our own site - that's article marketing, and it's almost guaranteed to get you found on Google!
So how do you go about it?
Well, you need a few key things:
- A great title - preferably containing your primary keywords
- An article of 700-1000 words, with your keywords scattered throughout it
- A resource box (more later)
- Accounts with one or more article publishers
The main point though, is that since these article directories are so popular, having an article (with its resource box) listed here means that Google will know about your site much quicker than it would otherwise. Bear in mind that inbound links are still a good measure of your ultimate page ranking and you should start to see why articles are so good!
After all that, maybe I should go and write some, rather than adding these posts to my blog.....!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
New Squidoo Lens Goes Live
I'm pleased to announce that my new SEO lens that partners this blog has gone live! It's called "Get Found On Google" and can be found at http://www.squidoo.com/get-found-seo.
Please take some time to have a look at it and give me some feedback.
Whilst you're there, I'd also appreciate a positive rating, if you like the site. If you don't, please let me know how you think I can improve it!
Many thanks! :)
-John.
Please take some time to have a look at it and give me some feedback.
Whilst you're there, I'd also appreciate a positive rating, if you like the site. If you don't, please let me know how you think I can improve it!
Many thanks! :)
-John.
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