How to Hire a Good SEO Marketer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of making search engines rank your site high in the natural search results when someone types in a query. That's the intent of SEO, however. Since SEO is still an emerging field, there is no "governing body", and the rules sometimes change. A good SEO professional understands these changing rules, and knows how to properly apply them. A bad SEO specialist generally makes mistakes, or purposely tries to decieve the system to win "fake" high rankings.

It is not true that you have no control over what appears in the search engines. The content that you put on your site determines where you appear in the search engine results page (SERP). If your site is about "widgets", you're probably not going to appear in search results about "bus fares". The most important thing you can do on the web is to represent yourself honestly. If your site is about "widgets", and the content on your site talks about "widgets" then you'll probably appear somewhere in the SERP for "widgets". A good SEO professional can help you rank higher for "widgets", among other well-researched, and relevant keywords.

What is the Difference Between a "Good" SEO Service, and a "Bad" One?

A bad ("blackhat") SEO marketer is like a vendor walking down the street selling snake oil. You may think you're getting a deal, but you can't be sure of the consequences. A good SEO marketer is like a pharmacist. They have studied all the tried and true techniques to solve your problem and probably have a good idea of how to safely and effectively address your issue.

The Benefits of Hiring bad SEO:

-Your site could shoot straight to the top, ranking #1 for your keywords

-You could earn a few new customers quickly and make a quick buck

-The cost is far less than what your friends and competitors are paying for SEO

The Costs of Hiring bad SEO:

-When the search engines catch on, your site could be penalized (drastically downgraded) in the rankings, ending up worse than before

-Your site could be temporarily banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - expect 6-12 months)

-Your site could be permanently banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - for good)

-When any of the above occurs, there will be lost productivity from having to remove all the search engine spam from your site

-It could be hard to track down all the tricks the SEO marketer used to artificially boost the rankings, and therefore it could take a long time to get back into the results pages

-Once penalized or banned, you will lose all the potential customers you would have gained had it been done correctly

-A professional SEO consultant will probably have to be hired at additional cost to fix it and do the job right

Don't believe it? In February 2006, BMW was given the Google Death Penalty for employing blackhat SEO practices. They presented a slick design to anyone with JavaScript, and showed everyone else (that means the search engines) a keyword-rich page. Showing one content to visitors and another to Google is a no-no. BMW Germany was banned from Google.

The Costs of Hiring Good SEO:

-The initial cost will be higher

-There will probably be an ongoing subscription fee

-The implementation time will be longer (for the site to rank high)

-There will be changes to the content of the actual site, and probably the structure, as well

The Benefits of Hiring Good SEO:

-Higher rankings overall

-The high rankings tend to stay there

-The keywords you are ranking high for are relevant to your organization and the people who are trying to find you

-It is more cost-effective in the long-term

-Future pages that you add the the site will be easier and faster to rank higher

-No blackout periods or customer loss because of penalty

What Is "Bad" SEO, and Why is it So Undesirable?

First, let's examine some of the techniques available to the blackhat SEO marketer. Here are just a few:

-Doorway Pages: Many pages stuffed with keywords are placed on the web, and all link back to your site

-Cloaking: Showing one version of the site to visitors, and another to search engines.

-Dynamic Content: Not all dynamic content is bad; in fact, most is perfectly legitimate. But having the server generate large lists of keywords that change frequently is generally a bad idea.

-Scraping: Some sites visit high ranking sites, copy bits of the content that has the keyword they want, and post it on their site. This is a very good way to really annoy other websites.

-Hidden Text: Keywords on a page that are the same colour as the background, or that are hidden by CSS are a bad idea

-Setting up links pages that use the keyword-rich link text of other sites to gain ranking. This makes the link page appear to be more relevant for the desired keywords. This annoys not only the search engines, but also the visitors.

-Keyword Stuffing: Writing almost meaningless text in the site that is basically a long list of keywords. Responsible SEO will use keywords carefully in the text, but like all things, you can overdo it. Search engines appreciate good grammar.

-Overdoing RSS: Go ahead and syndicate large portions of your website. But syndicating all of your website may raise a flag. There are rumors suggesting that there might possibly be changes in the way Google indexes RSS in the future.

-Bait-and-Switch: Submitting the search-engine friendly page to the search engine, then after it's indexed, uploading the "real" page. This is a very temporary boost in your rankings.

-Irrelevant Keywords: WHY would you promote the keyword "sex" on your site about "widgets"? Do you honestly think someone looking for "sex" will see your site and say, "oh wait a minute, I think I wanted a widget"? If you sell "widgets", then promote "widgets", so people who want to buy "widgets" can find your "widgets".

Why do Search Engines Dislike All This?

Search engines are in the information business. Specifically, search engines provide helpful answers to questions. Sites which use these techniques dilute the relevancy and usefulness of the search engines. The search engine that allows their results to become irrelevant is useless and out of business. No-one will search that engine, no-one will click on their ads, no-one will want to buy or display their ads, and eventually no-one will want to invest in them. Search engines are protecting their investments and their future by ensuring the continuing relevancy and usefulness of their results.

How to Hire a Good SEO Professional

Let's first look at some of the signs that indicate the possibility of a blackhat SEO marketer

-If you hear anything like "we guarantee top placement", don't hire them. A good SEO marketer cannot guarantee you a good ranking any more than your broker can guarantee you a great return. All they can do is a good job, or not.

-If the company representative talks to you about the advantages of Meta Tags, don't hire them. Meta Tags are very obsolete in terms of search engine marketing (SEM).

-Get a list of previous clients and check their current site and rankings. If their rankings are now low, or if the client sites seem to have spammy content, or little content, don't hire them.

-If first contact with the SEO company is made through an unsolicited phone call or email, be wary. Why? SEO is not an aggressive marketing technique. SEO is the art and science of providing people with what they were looking for anyway. It is fulfilling a need in response to a request about that need. In a sense, it is an entirely passive marketing technique, because it is only triggered when a person is actually seeking it. Be wary of search engine marketers that seem overly aggressive.

My personal pet peeve is the ones that call and announce that we are not at the top of the search engines but they can "help" us. Rest assured, we are listed at the top for every keyphrase we've ever really targeted. When they are informed that we are at the top, they start demanding to know which keywords we rank high for. Such valuable keyphrases should not be given away so cheaply. I politely hang up on these people.

These are a few signs of a good SEO marketer

-A good SEO marketer will insist on content changes to the website, and perhaps the structure of the site

-A good marketer will thoroughly research the keywords they are going to be targeting, making sure that the keywords or phrases are relevant to the people trying to find you

-They will generally provide you with regular reports, or at least suggest a strategy for collecting reporting data

-Good SEO marketers will probably charge an ongoing subscription fee. This is because the web is a growing, organic network, and web marketing is an ongoing process.

-Good SEO should be able to provide client names & sites from a few years ago that you can look up online. If you are unsure, then feel free to contact the owners of the site for a reference.

Life provides us with so few quick fixes. As in all things, hard work and dedication pay off, and those looking for the "quick buck" generally get it, and not much more. If you are serious about your online business, or the ongoing "findability" of your website, it is absolutely worth investing in long term strategies for search engine success. After all, search engines are not going away any time soon.

關鍵字優化

Link Baiting Idea

One of the best and the far most the effective way to gain links to your website or blogs is link baiting idea.

What do you mean by Link Baiting?

This is a new idea born among webmasters to gain popularity for their blogs/web page. As you all know getting attention is an old trick, weather in real life or online. Politician uses this often to stay in limelight. This same rule applies to link baiting as well.

There are two different flavors in link baiting idea. Good and bad. Good ones are those to create news first like exposing scams and create news, which will surprise everyone. Bad ones are those you create a controversy or attach some leading personalities in your blogs. Think that you are trying to gain traffic not really hurt anyone. These kinds of tricks or ideas will bring in 1000's of website/blogs linking to your site.

Link baiting idea is a blackhat technique that's why most webmasters think it is not legitimate to use it. But the effects of link baiting have profound effect and gradually drive traffic to your blog or site. If implement properly it can draw huge links with minimum effort from your side. Some link expert's call that "hooks" has mentioned the 5 types of "hooks" as News, Contrary, attack resource and Humor.

Matt Cutts the Google Engineer in his blog about SEO advice has mentioned "LinkBait" as something interesting to catch people's attention. He say's Linkbaiting is not a bad idea.

So creating attention is the key to that also person should be creative in his thought to get that idea into place.

You might all have heard of Alex Tew of he created an idea to raise a Million $ to raise funds for his college education by selling 1 pixel for a $ on his website. After four months he accomplished the task. This is the kind of news you should create to get attention. His site was also mentioned in CNN News as well. After his idea there are 100 of sites mushroomed over the web like one cent pixels but they are not gaining to achieve the results Alex could drew to his website. So be first to create news before it gets crowded.

Actually the term "linkbait" was started by Aaron Wall of SEO book in his post way back in August 2005. He says in his post that if "you are in a field that can't build links naturally create linkbait". By creating something on your web site that's funny, controversial, informative, or creative, it will gain natural linkswhich is the key to top search engine rankings.

Andy Hagan's has come up with an idea to throw a contest to get links. The idea is simple give Andy a link baiting idea and if that works you will earn $1000 for that. He has posted that on BizNicheMedia.com blog. So his idea for a contest itself is an example of link baiting.

And generating information or ideas that people talk about is a surefire way to generate links.

關鍵字優化

Ethics Best Practices and SEO A Crisis in the Profession

There has been much debate recently on the practice of ethical Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The recent removal of a high profile SEO company from the Google results has plunged the industry into yet another debate on what is ethical and what is not in our profession.

I have been involved in the SEO industry for a few years now and the mention of the word ethics and best practices in what is still an unregulated industry creates a level of confusion the likes of which I have not observed in any other industry. Why does this reluctance to discuss ethics and best practices exist? After all, we call ourselves professionals and as professionals we should strive to be part of an industry which stands for best practices and quality of service.

The confusion seems to come from the way that search engines rank sites. Each search engine has an algorithm which is a complex method of giving a value to a site which will ensure that it is returned in the search results when a relevant keyword is typed into a search engine. These algorithms are kept secret by the search engines for obvious reasons. The SEO industry is highly focused on analyzing these algorithms and using any knowledge gained to modify and rank websites. Ask any two SEOs what they consider to be ethical in their pursuit of top results and you will most likely get two very different answers. Hence, the lack of agreement on what is ethical and what is not.

So where do we start? Our commitment must always start with the client and our responsibilities to them. An ethical company will always demonstrate loyalty and respect to their client. This is true whether they are an SEO, a doctor or an accountant.

Having sound business practices and a professional approach to all that you do then we can move onto the search engine guidelines. All the major search engines and directories publish their own guidelines of use for webmasters. This should be the minimum that any SEO practitioner complies with when working on a clients site. Search engines have a right to protect the integrity of their results and the SEO practitioners should respect those guidelines.

The confusion seems to arrive with the interpretation of the guidelines. One SEO will interpret the rules to mean one thing and another SEO will see it as completely different. The stakes are high and a top ranking in Google for your site is powerful branding and can lead to a major upswing in your business.

SEO practitioners have been classified as whitehat, and blackhat. Whitehat practitioners are the ones that try to stick to search engine guidelines while blackhat operate using more questionable techniques and view the search engines as the enemy. Unfortunately blackhat techniques can sometimes adversely affect the sites ranking and worse, get their clients sites banned.

Blackhats traditionally play to the emotional needs of their clients and often convince them to part with their money without giving clear and specific information on the changes they will make to their sites. If a client is fully aware of the risks and is prepared to buy into short term gain then that is their choice. However, many Blackhat SEOs do not disclose their tactics. Would you hire a CPA who submits your tax return including questionable practices and breaking all the IRS rules? You are the one who will get audited, prosecuted and have to pay huge fines.

Blackhat techniques are just plain bad business practice. They also do the search engines and the search users a huge disservice by contributing to poor quality of results. This adds nothing to the end user experience.

The search engines say that any type of manipulation to get a site ranked is a threat against them and the relevancy of their results. Whitehat practitioners will say that they are not manipulating sites but rather fixing search engine obstacles within a web site. The need for their services is great as many web site designers do not know how to integrate search engine friendly designs.

Last year a prospective customer contacted me after being burned by a rogue" SEO company who got their site (and others) banned from Google for spam tactics. A few weeks later they were contacted by the same rogue SEO company under a new name. Perhaps naively she almost fell for it again. She reasoned that if they had been banned once they would not do anything wrong again! This demonstrates the lack of knowledge that consumers have regarding our industry. They dont know the difference between good and bad SEO. People are being taken advantage of because of their lack of knowledge.

No matter what techniques your SEO uses; ethical , whitehat ,blackhat none at all it all boils down to one thing. Doing right by the client? Ethics is often viewed by many in the industry as hype.

I think the focus should be on serving users as opposed to manipulating the search engines. SEOs who concentrate of making the sites the best that they can be for the end user will create a much better longer term affect. The SEOs who chase algorithms and try to game the search engines get burned when there is an algorithm change. Following search engine updates involving an algorithm shift, the industry message boards abound with posts along the lines of I hate Google, they have killed my site If these posters had spent more time improving their site for their clients, and the search users, the algorithm updates would be much less stressful for them.

At this time there is no initiative within the industry to create a trade body which sets a code of best practices. It is down to the consumer to practice buyer beware and ensure that they practice due diligence in selecting an SEO. They need to use even more caution than they would use to select any other vendor. I also believe the industry has a responsibility to provide education and resources for consumers and help de-mystify the profession.

Great SEO companies share their knowledge willingly. They hide nothing to either clients or search engines. They know that they have a specialized skill and are proud of what they do. They get their results through hard work and perseverance. They also know that to do the job properly takes a lot of time. This is something which most business owners feel they do not have. They are confident that when it comes to hiring a professional, their honest and open approach to their trade will be acknowledged by organizations who only want to work with the best.

The following are some golden rules I have written on choosing an SEO. If the consumer sticks to these rules then they should avoid the practitioners in our industry who give the rest of us a bad name.

Only work with a company that follows search engine guidelines. (If I could only make one recommendation this would be it). The three main search engines are Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Look on their sites for their webmaster guidelines.

Only work with a company that documents the SEO process they will use to rank your site

Only work with a company that provides a written contract outlining their process and their costs

Get at least four proposals for your site and compare services before you make a decision

Do not work with a company that offers guarantees of top rankings. Nobody can offer these types of guarantees.

Do not lock yourself into a contract you cannot get out of if you are not getting results

Ask for references and follow up with them. If you still have any doubts ask for more. Ensure that references check out. Check that the suggested site is real and that the contact details given check out against the contact details on the site.

Do not allow any work to be carried out on your site without your approval.

Do not give the SEO carte blanche to do as they will with your site. It is your site not theirs. It is your responsibility to ensure that the SEO does not apply any techniques that would result in getting your site banned.

Check the companies BBB (Better Business Bureau) report. Check for membership of any other established trade bodies such as the AMA (American Marketing Association) Many companies claim that they are more reputable because they are part of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.) However this is not the case. All that is required to be a member of SEMPO is a $299 annual subscription.

Do not work with a company that engages in site wide link exchanges. Question their linking methods. Ensure that they only have a policy of linking with on-topic sites. Remember, your site is built for users not for search engines. If your site is about computers and your link to a site that sells childrens toys how useful do you think that link will be for your visitors.

Ask other companies doing well on the Internet who they use for SEO. Always ask about the quality of customer service that is offered. It is not much use having a great SEO if you can never get hold of them.

If it sounds too good to be true. IT IS!!!

In conclusion the SEO industry is a dynamic growing industry. This rapid growth has created some challenges for the industry. One of these challenges is the perception that outsiders have of SEO practitioners being unethical. To counteract this many SEOs are now promoting themselves as ethical SEO. However, as the industry is unregulated it is up to the consumer of the service to become informed and exercise caution when selecting a SEO vendor. As the demand for SEO continues to grow the number of unethical practitioners calling themselves SEOs will also grow. To protect yourself, take the vendor selection process seriously. Look for vendors who are willing to share knowledge and partner with you to provide the best possible outcome for you business.

關鍵字優化

How to Hire a Good SEO Marketer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of making search engines rank your site high in the natural search results when someone types in a query. That's the intent of SEO, however. Since SEO is still an emerging field, there is no "governing body", and the rules sometimes change. A good SEO professional understands these changing rules, and knows how to properly apply them. A bad SEO specialist generally makes mistakes, or purposely tries to decieve the system to win "fake" high rankings.

It is not true that you have no control over what appears in the search engines. The content that you put on your site determines where you appear in the search engine results page (SERP). If your site is about "widgets", you're probably not going to appear in search results about "bus fares". The most important thing you can do on the web is to represent yourself honestly. If your site is about "widgets", and the content on your site talks about "widgets" then you'll probably appear somewhere in the SERP for "widgets". A good SEO professional can help you rank higher for "widgets", among other well-researched, and relevant keywords.

What is the Difference Between a "Good" SEO Service, and a "Bad" One?

A bad ("blackhat") SEO marketer is like a vendor walking down the street selling snake oil. You may think you're getting a deal, but you can't be sure of the consequences. A good SEO marketer is like a pharmacist. They have studied all the tried and true techniques to solve your problem and probably have a good idea of how to safely and effectively address your issue.

The Benefits of Hiring bad SEO:

-Your site could shoot straight to the top, ranking #1 for your keywords

-You could earn a few new customers quickly and make a quick buck

-The cost is far less than what your friends and competitors are paying for SEO

The Costs of Hiring bad SEO:

-When the search engines catch on, your site could be penalized (drastically downgraded) in the rankings, ending up worse than before

-Your site could be temporarily banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - expect 6-12 months)

-Your site could be permanently banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - for good)

-When any of the above occurs, there will be lost productivity from having to remove all the search engine spam from your site

-It could be hard to track down all the tricks the SEO marketer used to artificially boost the rankings, and therefore it could take a long time to get back into the results pages

-Once penalized or banned, you will lose all the potential customers you would have gained had it been done correctly

-A professional SEO consultant will probably have to be hired at additional cost to fix it and do the job right

Don't believe it? In February 2006, BMW was given the Google Death Penalty for employing blackhat SEO practices. They presented a slick design to anyone with JavaScript, and showed everyone else (that means the search engines) a keyword-rich page. Showing one content to visitors and another to Google is a no-no. BMW Germany was banned from Google.

The Costs of Hiring Good SEO:

-The initial cost will be higher

-There will probably be an ongoing subscription fee

-The implementation time will be longer (for the site to rank high)

-There will be changes to the content of the actual site, and probably the structure, as well

The Benefits of Hiring Good SEO:

-Higher rankings overall

-The high rankings tend to stay there

-The keywords you are ranking high for are relevant to your organization and the people who are trying to find you

-It is more cost-effective in the long-term

-Future pages that you add the the site will be easier and faster to rank higher

-No blackout periods or customer loss because of penalty

What Is "Bad" SEO, and Why is it So Undesirable?

First, let's examine some of the techniques available to the blackhat SEO marketer. Here are just a few:

-Doorway Pages: Many pages stuffed with keywords are placed on the web, and all link back to your site

-Cloaking: Showing one version of the site to visitors, and another to search engines.

-Dynamic Content: Not all dynamic content is bad; in fact, most is perfectly legitimate. But having the server generate large lists of keywords that change frequently is generally a bad idea.

-Scraping: Some sites visit high ranking sites, copy bits of the content that has the keyword they want, and post it on their site. This is a very good way to really annoy other websites.

-Hidden Text: Keywords on a page that are the same colour as the background, or that are hidden by CSS are a bad idea

-Setting up links pages that use the keyword-rich link text of other sites to gain ranking. This makes the link page appear to be more relevant for the desired keywords. This annoys not only the search engines, but also the visitors.

-Keyword Stuffing: Writing almost meaningless text in the site that is basically a long list of keywords. Responsible SEO will use keywords carefully in the text, but like all things, you can overdo it. Search engines appreciate good grammar.

-Overdoing RSS: Go ahead and syndicate large portions of your website. But syndicating all of your website may raise a flag. There are rumors suggesting that there might possibly be changes in the way Google indexes RSS in the future.

-Bait-and-Switch: Submitting the search-engine friendly page to the search engine, then after it's indexed, uploading the "real" page. This is a very temporary boost in your rankings.

-Irrelevant Keywords: WHY would you promote the keyword "sex" on your site about "widgets"? Do you honestly think someone looking for "sex" will see your site and say, "oh wait a minute, I think I wanted a widget"? If you sell "widgets", then promote "widgets", so people who want to buy "widgets" can find your "widgets".

Why do Search Engines Dislike All This?

Search engines are in the information business. Specifically, search engines provide helpful answers to questions. Sites which use these techniques dilute the relevancy and usefulness of the search engines. The search engine that allows their results to become irrelevant is useless and out of business. No-one will search that engine, no-one will click on their ads, no-one will want to buy or display their ads, and eventually no-one will want to invest in them. Search engines are protecting their investments and their future by ensuring the continuing relevancy and usefulness of their results.

How to Hire a Good SEO Professional

Let's first look at some of the signs that indicate the possibility of a blackhat SEO marketer

-If you hear anything like "we guarantee top placement", don't hire them. A good SEO marketer cannot guarantee you a good ranking any more than your broker can guarantee you a great return. All they can do is a good job, or not.

-If the company representative talks to you about the advantages of Meta Tags, don't hire them. Meta Tags are very obsolete in terms of search engine marketing (SEM).

-Get a list of previous clients and check their current site and rankings. If their rankings are now low, or if the client sites seem to have spammy content, or little content, don't hire them.

-If first contact with the SEO company is made through an unsolicited phone call or email, be wary. Why? SEO is not an aggressive marketing technique. SEO is the art and science of providing people with what they were looking for anyway. It is fulfilling a need in response to a request about that need. In a sense, it is an entirely passive marketing technique, because it is only triggered when a person is actually seeking it. Be wary of search engine marketers that seem overly aggressive.

My personal pet peeve is the ones that call and announce that we are not at the top of the search engines but they can "help" us. Rest assured, we are listed at the top for every keyphrase we've ever really targeted. When they are informed that we are at the top, they start demanding to know which keywords we rank high for. Such valuable keyphrases should not be given away so cheaply. I politely hang up on these people.

These are a few signs of a good SEO marketer

-A good SEO marketer will insist on content changes to the website, and perhaps the structure of the site

-A good marketer will thoroughly research the keywords they are going to be targeting, making sure that the keywords or phrases are relevant to the people trying to find you

-They will generally provide you with regular reports, or at least suggest a strategy for collecting reporting data

-Good SEO marketers will probably charge an ongoing subscription fee. This is because the web is a growing, organic network, and web marketing is an ongoing process.

-Good SEO should be able to provide client names & sites from a few years ago that you can look up online. If you are unsure, then feel free to contact the owners of the site for a reference.

Life provides us with so few quick fixes. As in all things, hard work and dedication pay off, and those looking for the "quick buck" generally get it, and not much more. If you are serious about your online business, or the ongoing "findability" of your website, it is absolutely worth investing in long term strategies for search engine success. After all, search engines are not going away any time soon.

網路行銷

Link Baiting Idea

One of the best and the far most the effective way to gain links to your website or blogs is link baiting idea.

What do you mean by Link Baiting?

This is a new idea born among webmasters to gain popularity for their blogs/web page. As you all know getting attention is an old trick, weather in real life or online. Politician uses this often to stay in limelight. This same rule applies to link baiting as well.

There are two different flavors in link baiting idea. Good and bad. Good ones are those to create news first like exposing scams and create news, which will surprise everyone. Bad ones are those you create a controversy or attach some leading personalities in your blogs. Think that you are trying to gain traffic not really hurt anyone. These kinds of tricks or ideas will bring in 1000's of website/blogs linking to your site.

Link baiting idea is a blackhat technique that's why most webmasters think it is not legitimate to use it. But the effects of link baiting have profound effect and gradually drive traffic to your blog or site. If implement properly it can draw huge links with minimum effort from your side. Some link expert's call that "hooks" has mentioned the 5 types of "hooks" as News, Contrary, attack resource and Humor.

Matt Cutts the Google Engineer in his blog about SEO advice has mentioned "LinkBait" as something interesting to catch people's attention. He say's Linkbaiting is not a bad idea.

So creating attention is the key to that also person should be creative in his thought to get that idea into place.

You might all have heard of Alex Tew of he created an idea to raise a Million $ to raise funds for his college education by selling 1 pixel for a $ on his website. After four months he accomplished the task. This is the kind of news you should create to get attention. His site was also mentioned in CNN News as well. After his idea there are 100 of sites mushroomed over the web like one cent pixels but they are not gaining to achieve the results Alex could drew to his website. So be first to create news before it gets crowded.

Actually the term "linkbait" was started by Aaron Wall of SEO book in his post way back in August 2005. He says in his post that if "you are in a field that can't build links naturally create linkbait". By creating something on your web site that's funny, controversial, informative, or creative, it will gain natural linkswhich is the key to top search engine rankings.

Andy Hagan's has come up with an idea to throw a contest to get links. The idea is simple give Andy a link baiting idea and if that works you will earn $1000 for that. He has posted that on BizNicheMedia.com blog. So his idea for a contest itself is an example of link baiting.

And generating information or ideas that people talk about is a surefire way to generate links.

網路行銷

Importance of Genuine SEO Techniques

TherearesomemethodsofSEO(SearchEngineOptimization)youshouldfollowforyourwebsite.SEOisveryimportantforallwebsitesoutthereinthetechniques,whicharegenuine,youcannotgetyourwebsitetobeknown,andgetanyprofitfromit.

1. ContentisKing:Everysearchengine,Googleincluded,looksforonlythecontent.Contentisthemostimportantthingtorankhighinsearchengines.Withoutcontent,yoursiteisjustanothersite,withoutmuchimportance.Socreategoodgenuinecontent.

2. Buildlinks:Buildinglinksisutmostimportantjustascontent.Forthis,thereareseveralmethods.OnesuchmethodiswritingtotherelatedWebmastersandlettingthemknowofyoursitesexistence.Iftheybelievethatyoursitehassomecontent,whichislinkable,theywilldefinitelylinktoyourcontent.Maybesomereciprocallinkingisrequired.Inthatcase,youcannegotiatewiththewebmasterandaskthemaboutthereciprocal.

3. Noonecanguaranteenumberoneinsearchengines:Googleisthemostimportantsearchengineoutthere,andevenGoogletopemployeescannotguaranteeyournumberonepositioninGooglesearch.ItistheresultofyourhardworkandgenuineSEOlinkbuildingthatwillpositionyouatthetopofthesearchresults.Otherwise,youcannotjustgettothetopofanysearchengines.

4. Linkbuildingyourselfisbetterthanconsulting:YoumaypromoteyourblogwithgenuineSEO,andthatwillrankyoursitehigherthananySEOfirmcando.So,itisextremelyimportantthatyoudoityourself.Setapartsometimeinyourdailyscheduletobuildlinkswithanynicheblogsyouknowof.Also,askyourfriendswhohaveblogsthemselvesinthesamesubjecttolinkintoyoursite.

5. DonottrustblackhatSEOfirms:BlackhatSEOtechniquesarethose,whichdonotdogenuineSEObutgobysuchmethodsasdoorwaypages,invisibletext,keywordstuffing,etc.SEOshouldbedonethroughWhitehatmethodsonly.Otherwise,youmaybepermanentlybannedbysearchengines.

6. Donotdorecklesslinkbuildings:ifyourblogistwodaysoldandhas1200incominglinks,thenGooglewillbanyouonthethirdday.So,recklesslinkbuildingisequaltolinkspamming.Donotdothat.

TheseandmoreofthetechniquestodogoodSEOareavailableintheresourcesmentionedbelow.SEOisaveryimportanttechniquetogetyoursitetothetopofsearchengines,therebybuildingyourbrand,gettingsales,andprofit.So,genuinenaturalSEOtechniqueisextremelyimportantforthesuccessofawebsite.

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How to Hire a Good SEO Marketer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of making search engines rank your site high in the natural search results when someone types in a query. That's the intent of SEO, however. Since SEO is still an emerging field, there is no "governing body", and the rules sometimes change. A good SEO professional understands these changing rules, and knows how to properly apply them. A bad SEO specialist generally makes mistakes, or purposely tries to decieve the system to win "fake" high rankings.

It is not true that you have no control over what appears in the search engines. The content that you put on your site determines where you appear in the search engine results page (SERP). If your site is about "widgets", you're probably not going to appear in search results about "bus fares". The most important thing you can do on the web is to represent yourself honestly. If your site is about "widgets", and the content on your site talks about "widgets" then you'll probably appear somewhere in the SERP for "widgets". A good SEO professional can help you rank higher for "widgets", among other well-researched, and relevant keywords.

What is the Difference Between a "Good" SEO Service, and a "Bad" One?

A bad ("blackhat") SEO marketer is like a vendor walking down the street selling snake oil. You may think you're getting a deal, but you can't be sure of the consequences. A good SEO marketer is like a pharmacist. They have studied all the tried and true techniques to solve your problem and probably have a good idea of how to safely and effectively address your issue.

The Benefits of Hiring bad SEO:

-Your site could shoot straight to the top, ranking #1 for your keywords

-You could earn a few new customers quickly and make a quick buck

-The cost is far less than what your friends and competitors are paying for SEO

The Costs of Hiring bad SEO:

-When the search engines catch on, your site could be penalized (drastically downgraded) in the rankings, ending up worse than before

-Your site could be temporarily banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - expect 6-12 months)

-Your site could be permanently banned from the search engine (completely unfindable - for good)

-When any of the above occurs, there will be lost productivity from having to remove all the search engine spam from your site

-It could be hard to track down all the tricks the SEO marketer used to artificially boost the rankings, and therefore it could take a long time to get back into the results pages

-Once penalized or banned, you will lose all the potential customers you would have gained had it been done correctly

-A professional SEO consultant will probably have to be hired at additional cost to fix it and do the job right

Don't believe it? In February 2006, BMW was given the Google Death Penalty for employing blackhat SEO practices. They presented a slick design to anyone with JavaScript, and showed everyone else (that means the search engines) a keyword-rich page. Showing one content to visitors and another to Google is a no-no. BMW Germany was banned from Google.

The Costs of Hiring Good SEO:

-The initial cost will be higher

-There will probably be an ongoing subscription fee

-The implementation time will be longer (for the site to rank high)

-There will be changes to the content of the actual site, and probably the structure, as well

The Benefits of Hiring Good SEO:

-Higher rankings overall

-The high rankings tend to stay there

-The keywords you are ranking high for are relevant to your organization and the people who are trying to find you

-It is more cost-effective in the long-term

-Future pages that you add the the site will be easier and faster to rank higher

-No blackout periods or customer loss because of penalty

What Is "Bad" SEO, and Why is it So Undesirable?

First, let's examine some of the techniques available to the blackhat SEO marketer. Here are just a few:

-Doorway Pages: Many pages stuffed with keywords are placed on the web, and all link back to your site

-Cloaking: Showing one version of the site to visitors, and another to search engines.

-Dynamic Content: Not all dynamic content is bad; in fact, most is perfectly legitimate. But having the server generate large lists of keywords that change frequently is generally a bad idea.

-Scraping: Some sites visit high ranking sites, copy bits of the content that has the keyword they want, and post it on their site. This is a very good way to really annoy other websites.

-Hidden Text: Keywords on a page that are the same colour as the background, or that are hidden by CSS are a bad idea

-Setting up links pages that use the keyword-rich link text of other sites to gain ranking. This makes the link page appear to be more relevant for the desired keywords. This annoys not only the search engines, but also the visitors.

-Keyword Stuffing: Writing almost meaningless text in the site that is basically a long list of keywords. Responsible SEO will use keywords carefully in the text, but like all things, you can overdo it. Search engines appreciate good grammar.

-Overdoing RSS: Go ahead and syndicate large portions of your website. But syndicating all of your website may raise a flag. There are rumors suggesting that there might possibly be changes in the way Google indexes RSS in the future.

-Bait-and-Switch: Submitting the search-engine friendly page to the search engine, then after it's indexed, uploading the "real" page. This is a very temporary boost in your rankings.

-Irrelevant Keywords: WHY would you promote the keyword "sex" on your site about "widgets"? Do you honestly think someone looking for "sex" will see your site and say, "oh wait a minute, I think I wanted a widget"? If you sell "widgets", then promote "widgets", so people who want to buy "widgets" can find your "widgets".

Why do Search Engines Dislike All This?

Search engines are in the information business. Specifically, search engines provide helpful answers to questions. Sites which use these techniques dilute the relevancy and usefulness of the search engines. The search engine that allows their results to become irrelevant is useless and out of business. No-one will search that engine, no-one will click on their ads, no-one will want to buy or display their ads, and eventually no-one will want to invest in them. Search engines are protecting their investments and their future by ensuring the continuing relevancy and usefulness of their results.

How to Hire a Good SEO Professional

Let's first look at some of the signs that indicate the possibility of a blackhat SEO marketer

-If you hear anything like "we guarantee top placement", don't hire them. A good SEO marketer cannot guarantee you a good ranking any more than your broker can guarantee you a great return. All they can do is a good job, or not.

-If the company representative talks to you about the advantages of Meta Tags, don't hire them. Meta Tags are very obsolete in terms of search engine marketing (SEM).

-Get a list of previous clients and check their current site and rankings. If their rankings are now low, or if the client sites seem to have spammy content, or little content, don't hire them.

-If first contact with the SEO company is made through an unsolicited phone call or email, be wary. Why? SEO is not an aggressive marketing technique. SEO is the art and science of providing people with what they were looking for anyway. It is fulfilling a need in response to a request about that need. In a sense, it is an entirely passive marketing technique, because it is only triggered when a person is actually seeking it. Be wary of search engine marketers that seem overly aggressive.

My personal pet peeve is the ones that call and announce that we are not at the top of the search engines but they can "help" us. Rest assured, we are listed at the top for every keyphrase we've ever really targeted. When they are informed that we are at the top, they start demanding to know which keywords we rank high for. Such valuable keyphrases should not be given away so cheaply. I politely hang up on these people.

These are a few signs of a good SEO marketer

-A good SEO marketer will insist on content changes to the website, and perhaps the structure of the site

-A good marketer will thoroughly research the keywords they are going to be targeting, making sure that the keywords or phrases are relevant to the people trying to find you

-They will generally provide you with regular reports, or at least suggest a strategy for collecting reporting data

-Good SEO marketers will probably charge an ongoing subscription fee. This is because the web is a growing, organic network, and web marketing is an ongoing process.

-Good SEO should be able to provide client names & sites from a few years ago that you can look up online. If you are unsure, then feel free to contact the owners of the site for a reference.

Life provides us with so few quick fixes. As in all things, hard work and dedication pay off, and those looking for the "quick buck" generally get it, and not much more. If you are serious about your online business, or the ongoing "findability" of your website, it is absolutely worth investing in long term strategies for search engine success. After all, search engines are not going away any time soon.