SuperSeoMan’s Official SEO Blog

To all interested in learning more about the search engine optimization, welcome back. In our previous article we discussed the off-site optimization factor of the SEO process (link building). Visit our website listed at the end of this article to read about it. In this issue we will give you some suggestions relating to the on-site optimization component.

What is a Traffic-Worthy Website?
A Traffic-Worthy Website refers to developing a website that deserves top ranking in the major search engines due to its overall quality supported by page usability, design, and content. You shouldn’t expect high traffic to your website if it offers nothing useful to the surfers. Hope this makes sense. Now let’s discuss.

Website Usability
Have you ever accessed a website that made you look intensely for “contact us” information? Or perhaps some product details? Websites with a poor navigation system are being created every day. You may have noticed that 99% of all websites look similar. There is a navigation system deployed at the top, left side and at the bottom. Surfers got used to this system over the years of Internet existence and get frustrated easily when they can’t find a link that they expect to be found in an obvious spot. This is not to discourage you from designing a website with your own touch and feel. Just don’t forget to make it intuitive and above all, user-friendly.

Website Design
If you think your website looks like it was designed by an amateur, then your visitors will likely share your opinion. Think about it. Would you even consider spending a dollar over the Internet on a website that does not have a professional look? Small businesses spend in average $500 - $1,000 per month on various forms of advertising. A simple professional website can be developed at very reasonable rates (from $1,000 depending on individual project requirements). Your website is your office, storefront and a business pamphlet. Consider investing in a professionally developed website. It’s worth it.

Content
If you already have a website with the top navigation system and a professional design start developing your content. Don’t launch “just another website” on the Internet. Don’t just offer a few advertising banners about what you do and call it a day. Create something useful for your visitors. Keep them coming back overtime for information relevant to their needs. Have other web masters link to your website because of the quality content you developed which they don’t have. Some content suggestions: Hints and Tips, About Us page, Industry Related Articles and many other topics. Don’t forget to author your content in a language an average visitor can understand. After all, that’s who all this hard work is for.

In Conclusion
Think about what an average visitor would expect to find on your website. Don’t cheat. It is a hard work but rewarding. Remember - building the loyalty and trust of your visitors today will help you attain high search engine rankings tomorrow.

There are two main components to search engine optimization: on-site and off-site. In this article we will only address the off-site SEO component - website popularity a.k.a. link building.

There is a number of ways to develop links to your website. As we offer you this article as a resource in your link building campaign please remember the following:

Since Google holds a vast majority of the search market share (close to 70%), the links you develop must conform to what the Google interprets as natural recognition process. For example, you may have developed 10,000 links that you believe are all good quality and you rank well on Yahoo and MSN however you may find that you are still far behind your competition on Google. Why you ask? It could be that Google only recognized a small fraction of those links you developed as quality and relevant links. How to check the number of links pointing to your website on Google? Open www.google.com; in the search bar type - link:www.yourdomain.com - hit enter. If Google returns 0 results that means as far as Google’s concerned you’ve got no links pointing to your website at this time.

How to get links that Google counts?

Remember, Google is all about getting the most relevant results to what a searcher is looking for. Google counts links that point to your website as votes other webmasters, bloggers etc., cast for your website and interprets them as signs of recommendation. The more of those votes you collect the more popular your website becomes. Simple math? Sure. As long as you play by the rules and the links you develop are:

Relevant to your website content
Important. If your website sells windows but the link pointing to it is from a lawyer’s web page, the relevance factor is missing which renders that link useless.

High Quality
If all you did is submitted your web page to thousands of free directories and expect all that hard work to be rewarded by Google’s recognition, you are doing the right thing by reading this article. Search engines learned long time ago that your web page would likely never be included in any one of those directories unless you submitted it yourself. Since the submissions are done by webmasters such links carry little quality factor.

Good quality links are considered those that are established within the content of a web page relevant to yours.

Some good resources to get you some ideas on where to start building your links:

Blogs. Do you like writing? If not, start loving it! Can you imagine writing an article that helps your visitors with a task they are looking to complete? This leaves a positive effect on your visitors and develops loyalty which 1) generates links and 2) conversions (sales). Think blogs are only open to computer savvy people? If you are reading this article, you can write one. It’s that simple!

Forums. Participate in forum discussions that relate to your business on website such as Yahoo Answers. Certainly you can find someone who is looking for some help in your industry and you’ve got the answer. Help that person. Leave your link behind.

Post a free classified ad in websites such as Craiglist.

Post a question or provide resources to others on web pages such as Google Groups.

In conclusion
Be creative about your link building strategy but don’t spam, or try to cheat the system if you are looking for a long-term success for your website and hence, your business.

Search Engine Optimization - Link Building Tips in Russian

Also, see this excellent resource:

101 Link Building Tips
An excellent article prepared by well known by the industry SEO experts Andy Hagans and Aaron Wall.

I see this question come up in every reputable SEO blog. Should I work on my reciprocal links building ? Is there a penalty for linking too much in the same way? What does Google think about link development?