EzSEO Newsletter # 15
Andy Williams ez SEO
ezseonews.com
Hi again.
This may be the last newsletter this year. Next Friday I am off to the UK to spend Christmas with my family, and I don't know whether my wife will let me use a computer while we are there ;). If you don't hear from me for a while, I will be back in January, hopefully with news of release of my eBook & SEO Website Builder software. Remember, if you want to be in the draw for a free copy of this amazing software package, you need to read last weeks newsletter to find out how to enter - it is free.
In this issue, I want to do two things. Firstly, I would like to give you a little advice on how to get your rankings back if Google dumped you in November. Secondly, I would like to offer you some thoughts about starting an online business if you are not already making money online. Before that, I thought I would share with you this e-mail I received this week. It may answer a question you have.
"Hi Andy,
Have you looked at IBP3. It claims to be better than Web Position Gold. If you have, perhaps you would let us have your thoughts.
Regards
...."
to which I replied:
"Hi .....
I did look at it a long time ago when it was first released. However, search engines have changed and I don't believe that IBP or Webposition Gold can get you better rankings by themselves. Here is something that is stated on IBP website:
"A search engine optimization method that really works is to analyze the web pages that currently have a high ranking for your important keyword. As these pages have a top 10 ranking, they must have done something right. "
This is only correct when you take into consideration the incoming links to a web page as well as on page factors. While IBP does look at keyword densities and placements on the page, it does not look at incoming links. The only tool to my knowledge that does that Optilink. By ignoring incoming links, you are basically ignoring THE MOST IMPORTANT factor that determines your ranking.
Think about this - You can have a #1 position in Google without even having the keyword on your web page. IBP would fail to give you any important information about this page, whereas Optilink would tell you exactly why the page was number 1 - incoming links & link text.
The truth is, search engine optimization is no longer a case of just putting keywords in various places on your page and automatically getting a good ranking. To get good rankings in competitive areas, you need incoming links with good link text. No amount of optimizing a web page will get you a top 10 for highly competitive terms.
The only place where IBP would be useful in optimizing pages, is when there is very little competition for a phrase, and not many SEOs have optimized for that phrase or bothered to get incoming links to their pages.
regards
Andy Williams"
OK let's get on with the newsletter.
TIPS ON AVOIDING A GOOGLE PENALTY
With Google changing its algorithm so violently in November, it is time to adapt the way you build your web sites. We looked in the last two newsletters at ways to beat a Google penalty, but I will recap those ideas here for those of you who missed the last two newsletters.
1. Don't put your primary keyword in the meta keyword or meta description tag. I know that this goes against what other SEOs have been saying (me included), but this is now important. You do not need to worry about these tags anyway since Google does not use them in a positive way to rank your site. I believe that Google does look at these tags to decide if it should penalize you. We have talked before about Google disliking web site optimization, and these two tags are often the most over-abused tags on a web page. Don't give the Google "penalty calculator" any ammunition - don't put your main keyword there.
I have been asked this week if you should bother at all with these tags if they can cause you problems. I say yes. Do include them. Just write the description tag for your visitors (not the search engines) and the keyword tag should include a few related keywords. My reason for including them is simple. If Google comes along and sees you have not included your main keyword there, they will say "hey, this webmaster has not over-optimized this site, so we like it". They may even give you a bonus ranking point. If the tags are not there, Google does not have a chance to be impressed by your moral stance on optimization. Besides, some other search engines may still use these tags.
2. Reciprocal Linking is the other main point you need to be aware of to avoid the penalties. Try to create non-reciprocal incoming links. See the last newsletter for more on this (it is in the ezine archives).
Also, I would like to offer some more advice here. Don't use identical linking text with all of your incoming links. We have talked in the past about the importance of link reputation, but this is changing. Try to vary the incoming link text a little with different link partners. If your target keyword is search engine optimization, you could try varying the link text like this:
search engine optimization
optimization for search engine success
search engine tips and optimization strategies
and so on...
In each of these, you do include your main keywords. This technique will play it very safe with Google. Think about your own internal linking too. Are you using link text that is identical to your main keyword phrase? Maybe you should change it.
By combining the two techniques above, you should keep safe and sitting at the top of Google for the immediate future. What will happen next, only Google know. However, keep reading this newsletter and I will try to keep you all informed about what you need to do.
THOUGHTS ON STARTING AN ONLINE BUSINESS
There is so much stuff out there trying to teach you how to build a successful online business that it is often bewildering to the newbie webmasters. If I was starting out now, I think I would do things differently. Google seems to be rewarding content sites with higher rankings and this may be the secret to starting a new business or keeping your existing business healthy in the new year - building content!
There are a lot of people who believe content sites just don't make money, but with Google adsense, they now can. You would need to find some relevant affiliate programs to promote on your content site as well (Google has reportedly been dropping affiliates with websites that only have Adsense ads, and not much else to offer the visitor i.e. sites built for Adsense), but that is not difficult.
For those of you who hate writing content, Gary Antosh has written a great little book about how to buy content cheaply. You can read my review at: How to Create Web Content Fast.
I reckon that a 20 page website built around articles you have bought from ghost writers, could easily make you $100-$200 a month extra income. Gary explains how to get these articles written for you for as little as $5 each. That would be an investment of $100 for the site content, but it would easily pay for itself, allowing you to move on to your next website, and your next...
Getting ideas for web sites is easy too. Just go to Commission Junction and look through the merchants and products. Find a topic you think might be interesting and then go and use one of the keyword tools we have talked about in the past. Keyword research is easily the most important factor you must get right if you are going to create a successful website. Do yourself a favour (if you have not already done so) and download my free report on keyword research:
My favourite tool for finding keywords is Nichefinder. You can read my review at Nichefinder Review
With Nichefinder, you type in your target phrase and go away and have a coffee. When you come back you have up to 500 keywords ready for you. Go through and select a few with low competition and high searches and you have your niche. Simple as that. For example, I typed jewelry into Nichefinder and got a lot of high competition phrases which would not be much use targeting. Undeterred, I ran the results through the Nichefinder Results Analyzer and found these gems (pun intended):
KEI DtoS Supp(R) Dem(R) Keyword Phrase
7916 3.42 677 2315 beads and gemstones
1003 1.28 614 785 jewelery sets
73 0.35 585 207 heart tag bracelets
45 0.24 773 187 custom necklaces
4 0.13 295 37 jewilry
3 0.06 817 51 lapis lazuli necklace
Supp(R) - competing sites
Dem(R) - Number of searches for the term
The top one in particular looks like a great niche site idea. My next step would be to run a more detailed search on that term to come up with some keywords to target on my site.
This is how you should be building your sites. Highly focused niches, with low competition and high searches. There are niches to be found everywhere, you just need to do a little research.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would like to finish off by highlighting my favourite tools/eBooks of 2003. These may have been released prior to 2003, but they are the tools I have used this year and would recommend anyone who is serious about making money online. I use them all, or I would not recommend them. So these are my Webmaster tools of choice for 2003.
1. Nichefinder (wordtracker is better, but works out more expensive in the long run, and it does take up more of your time to do the keyword research).
2. James Martell's Affiliate Marketers Handbook - easily the best and most comprehensive guide to building an online business.
3. Advance Logger - stats program for your web site. Easily the best I have tried, and the information it provides is pure gold.
4. Arelis reciprocal links manager. Certainly the way to go to organise your link building campaigns.
If you are looking for a good search engine optimization book, I recommend Rankings Revealed by Sean Burns.
Sean is working hard to bring this book up to date since the Google changes. I have not found another book that simplifies SEO like Sean. Hopefully my eBook coming out in January will be as good.
I have just bought another eBook this morning, but cannot recommend it yet. It is called Gorilla Web Site Marketing by Glen Canady, and the author claims his sites have improved rankings since the Google update in November. He even tells you why he thinks his sites have faired so well when others have been penalized. Maybe in January I can review this book for you, as Glen certainly has some impressive top rankings. If you want a sneak preview, you can read his sales letter at: http://www.gorillawebsitemarketing.com/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=276270
Well, that wraps up another issue. I hope you have enjoyed it. Maybe I will get out another newsletter next week, maybe I wont. Just in case, make sure you have a great Christmas and we'll talk again in January.
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