Something interesting that I noticed about Wordpress blogs - it seems that the category pages rank well in the search engines. I couldn’t quite figure out why this was at first, but then it dawned on me. The category pages are pages that are constantly being updated. That is to say, each and every time that there is a new post in a particular category, the category page changes. This means that that page has constantly updating, relevant content - something that the search engines like!

Assuming that my understanding of why these pages do well is true, the question now is what can we do to capitalize on that fact. Well, I have a simple idea - get a free Wordpress plug-in called Ultimate Tag Warrior and start tagging your posts with relevant tags. These tags essentially function like category pages, since each tag has it’s own page. That means that each and every time you add a new post to a particular tag you are changing the content for that tag page. Again, this is exactly the type of page that Google likes.

It’s certainly worth a try.

P.S. I’ll try and write a follow-up post showing you step-by-step how to use the Ultimate Tag Warrior.

Technorati Tags: Wordpress, blog, blogs, blogging, plugin, plugins, plug-in, plug-ins, Ultimate-tag-warrior, Ultimate tag warrior

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Here is a simple idea that everyone should try who uses Google adsense. Change your settings so that you show only Image ads. Then track the results. See whether or not

a) your click-through-rate goes up

and

b) the amount you receive per click goes up.

I recently did a quick experiment with my site and found that both went up (even though the ads seem less targetted than the text ads). Not only that, but I think that the image ads look more professional. So, you win on both accounts, you look more professional and make more money at the same time. Of course, you have to see if it works on your site, but it’s worth a try.

Technorati Tags: Adsense, Google, Google Adsense, Google-adsense

4 comments

This post includes both a video and an article. To view the video, click on the play button (note: you may have to click the button twice). To read the article, scroll down below to the article).

 

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Imagine that you’re a cell phone vendor and that a potential customer is searching on Google for the phrase “free cell phones”. That customer will most likely reach a page like this:

 

There are three parts of this page that we need to note. The first is the search term (in this case “free cell phones”), the second are the paid ads and the third are the natural search results. See image below:

 

For these tutorials we are only interested in the search term and the natural search results. We can forget about the paid ads as they have nothing to do with search engine optimization. You don’t optimize your site for the paid ads, you bid for them. They are part of Google Adwords program and will be discussed in our Paid Search (aka pay-per-click) tutorials.

 

Search engine optimization only deals with what are called “natural” or “organic” search results. Nobody pays to show up in the natural results. The results displayed in this section are there only because Google “decided” that they are the best pages on the Web to display for the search term “free cell phones”. If you entered a different search term you would see different results.

 

Now, with that said, let’s return to our imaginary cell phone site. As a cell phone vendor, your goal would be to have your web site show up in the top 10 - 20 search results for all searches related to cell phones (most people don’t scroll down beyond the top 10 - 20 search results). By showing up in the organic search results for the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com) you can bring in large numbers of potential customers to your website…for free!

 

On the other hand, imagine the business you’re missing out on by ranking poorly in the search engines. This is why so many people spend a great deal of time, money, and effort trying to get their sites to rank well in the search engines.

 

Youâ’re probably wondering, what do I have to do to rank well for the terms and phrases related to your site? Simple, you have to optimize your website for the search engines. That means you have to figure out how the search engines determine their results for any given search and then build your website accordingly. Tha’s what we mean by “optimization” building and marketing your website to rank well within the major search engines.

 

This brings us to our next article: How do search engines rank and determine the order of their search results?

Technorati Tags: seo, search engine, search engines, search-engine, search-engines, search engine optimization, search-engine-optimization, seo-tips, seo tips, search engine optimization tips, search-engine-optimization-tips

Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization Tips SEO SEO Tips No comments

I know this is the third post on SEOMoz this week, but I’m so impressed with their new website that I guess I just can’t help it. As most of you know, SEOMoz is one of the most popular SEO related blogs online. And I think I know why. More importantly, I think that the secret to their success can also be the secret to your success, if you take their lesson to heart.

So, what’s the secret? Simple, SEOMoz are givers, not takers.

To start with, Rand time and again comes up with post that provides great value and benefit to the readers of SEOMoz. He really reveals methods and tactics that are of value. What’s more, many of these ideas and tactics aren’t easily found anywhere else online. Now, I imagine that more than once the thought crossed Rand’s mind that perhaps he shouldn’t share some idea or other - after all these are trade secrets. His competition can easily read his posts and apply his ideas to their company.

But share them he did, and I think the pay-off for him has been tremendous. His name is well known in the SEO community and I’m sure he has a better shot today of getting some big-paying clients than he did before he started his blog. In other words, Rand’s willingness to share some of his ideas has more than paid him back. Whatever he lost in competitive advantage he more than gained in branding, reputation and trust!

Further note how SEOMoz invites and respects your input. Rand spends a lot of time reading and answering peoples posts and comments. He offers valuable ideas and suggestions. Furthermore, SEOMoz has now offered more avenues for people to participate in their site. In other words, SEOmoz is not focused on just promoting Rand or SEOMoz. It’s more than that.

Again, this has benefited SEOMoz - people like visiting the site. They enjoy participating in it. That translates into increased traffic and visitor loyalty. What’s more, now there are more ideas floating around at SEOMoz, more food for thought, more conversation and discussion, etc. These new conversations and discussion provide SEOMoz with a greater sense of what is on their visitors minds - thus allowing them to better tailor their content to their site visitors. This, of course, allows them to create a better blog, which increases their popularity, etc.

So, what can you learn from all this? That a key ingredient to succeeding online is giving. Look for ways to help your clientele or those people who can help bring your clientele to your website. Try and find ways to make your site more inclusive and inviting. Think first about what other people can get out of your site. If you do that, you’ll have plenty of time later on to think about what how you can financially benefit from the increased traffic that you’ll be getting.

In short, give and they shall come.

Technorati Tags: SEOMoz.org, SEOMoz, Content, Content Creation

Content Content Creation SEOMoz SEOMoz.org No comments