Part 1: Do the basic stuff first

Debra Mastaler, author of the Link Spiel blog, recently wrote that after she gives presentations about link building, someone inevitably approaches her to say something along the lines of: “Come on, what are the ‘insider secrets’ to building links? Everyone already knows those you talked about.”

Never mind the fact that, as she says, she just spent 45 minutes “sharing how [her team] use the media, customer surveys, website elements, RSS, directories, content development and offline sources to build quality links.”

I had the opportunity to attend Debra’s link-building presentation at Search Engine Strategies–San Jose a couple of weeks ago, and she’s right: she gives you the basic methods for building links – as well as some really creative methods even I hadn’t considered.

As Debra states, “The easy part of link building is knowing that you need them. The hard part is influencing the right people to give them to you.” Herewith, then, are of some of Debra’s tips – which (coincidentally) are some of ours here at Yield Software – for doing just that.

First: Ask people to link to your content. According to Debra, many sites actually do have lots of great content but business owners and marketers don’t ask people to link to it.

If you have an article or newsletter archive or a resource library of white papers and case studies, add copy to that particular Web page that tells people to link to your content. It’s that easy.

In a similar fashion, you can also let people know your articles are available for reprint. Be sure to explain how to handle attribution as well as the anchor text and URL people should use to link back to your site.

Using the correct URL is important as you don’t want some links going to http://yourdomain.com and others going to http://www.yourdomain.com. This dilutes your link flow.

Along the lines of asking people to link to your content, this is one reason why it’s really important to build relationships with bloggers. Once you create an e-book, report, white paper, etc., you can then ask your blogger friends to write about your content (and link back to it) – saving you from having to pitch them as an unknown person and being ignored.

Second: Give people an incentive to link. In the same way that you give people a freebie for subscribing to your newsletter, give people something for adding a link back to your site. It can be a free t-shirt, a report or other item that has perceived “high-value.” (Remember, everyone loves free stuff!)

Be sure to add copy to your site that you’re offering something of value in exchange for a high-quality link.

Third: Develop “linkable” content. This is one of those basic strategies that only a few companies use to its full extent. Linkable content is stuff on your site that people see has having intrinsic value to others, and as such many people voluntarily promote with a link to that content through tweets on Twitter or in blog posts. Such content most particularly includes useful tools, such as HubSpot’s Twitter Grader or Xenu’s Link Sleuth, which finds broken links. (Do a Google or Bing search on “xenu link sleuth” to see how effective this tactic is!)

Once you have a great tool that everyone wants to use, send out a press release and contact those bloggers who are now your friends. Tweet about your tool as well. In a relatively short time, you can build anywhere from a six to a couple dozen quality inbound links.

Fourth: Comment on blogs. Yes, blogs generally use the “no follow” attribute with regard to links (“no follow” tells the search engine spider not to follow the link and hence the link doesn’t help with SEO ranking).  However, commenting on blogs is still a worthwhile endeavor – especially if you take the time to write a pithy, insightful comment.

Commenting means you must include a website URL as this turns your name into a hyperlink. People reading your comment will then click through to your site.  Instead of sending people to your home page, however, send them to your newsletter sign-up page or the landing page for your latest e-book or free tool. You’ll definitely see a rise in conversion rates – and additional links to your page / site as people find your linkable content.

In Part Two, I’ll cover how to build links by getting quoted in the media; how to get those elusive .gov and .edu links; and getting listed in directories.

To learn more about why linking is so important, be sure to download your free copy of Yield Software’s new e-book: The Link Economy and Why It Matters to Small & Growing Businesses. You’ll learn how to build and market your website as well as use SEO, PPC and landing page optimize to increase leads and sales.

Have you been trying to promote your new blog or website but can't seem to get your foot into the first page of the search rankings? If so, perhaps you are performing SEO incorrectly. Find out how press release can help boost your search rankings and get you more traffic.

Many Internet marketers neglected press releases in their SEO campaigns simply because not many marketers have been talking about using press releases for SEO purposes.

This is mainly due to the fact that most people have the conception of press releases being some kind of news related article. This is true in the traditional sense. Traditional press releases are meant to announce some kind of time sensitive story.

For example, if you are just launched a new application online, you issue a press release. Or a new shipment has just arrived and you want to let the world know that you have a batch of new products to sell.

For whatever the reason, there is always the tendency to think about press releases only when there is something new to announce. This works very well on print medium.

However, the Internet is a very different medium. On the Internet, it's not just about the story. The Internet is also about links. Just think, when you are performing SEO, what exactly are you trying to achieve?

Being clear about SEO.

Let's take a step back and be clear about SEO. If you are doing it right, you are always looking to build back links to your website. You don't want just any back links. You want links from well established sites - sites that have been recognized as authority sites by the search engines. 

On top of that, you want proper anchor texts. If you are selling "baseball bats", then you want those keywords in your links. The search engines determine the overall theme of your website by looking at the keywords that you use as anchor texts.

The more relevant anchor texts you have that is pointing back to your website, the better your search rankings will be.

To put that in simple terms, you are trying to achieve:

1) Acquiring more back links from high authority sites.
2) Proper anchor texts pointing back to your website.

These are the two primary goals that you are trying to accomplish. Now let's take a look at how press releases can help you achieve those goals.

Link building with press releases.

There are several types of press release services that you will come across.

1) Free releases with no links allowed - These are press release sites that allow you to submit press releases for free. But the drawback is that you can't have any active links in your release. If you are purely looking for some exposure with no SEO benefit whatsoever, you can still make use of these services.

2) Free releases with links allowed but no anchor texts - These are services that allow you to include 1 or 2 URLs in each press release. But these are URLs, and you cannot have your choice of anchor texts. So unless your URL contains your target keywords, you are out of luck.

3) Paid releases with links and anchor texts allowed - These are the kind of press release service that will have maximum SEO benefits. For an affordable fee, you get to publish a press release with at least 2 back links included. You are also allowed to choose your own anchor texts.

The reason why such services work so well is because they usually include many high page rank sites in their distribution list. Imagine having sites like CNET, EIN News, InboxRobot, AmericanChronicle, etc. linking back to you.

These are all well established sites that have been around for years. No wonder the search engines pay so much attention to these sites!

Press release traffic.

Having all that link juice means nothing if you are not getting any traffic. When you publish a press release, traffic will come to you in four sources.

1) Direct traffic - Once your press release has been published, it will be syndicated across a wide network of news related sites. Readers who find your headline interesting will read your story and click through to visit your website. 

2) News subscribers - A press release service will also submit your news story to news wire sites such as Google News, EIN News, Topix, NewsBlaze Daily News, and more. These wire sites already have an existing database of news subscribers. When you publish a press release, these subscribers will see your news article in their news reader. They will then visit your site to learn more about what you have to offer. By the way, these News wire sites combine to offer millions of visits each month.

3) Search engines - Of course, the most valuable source of traffic comes from the search engines. This is a long term traffic source because your news article remains online indefinitely. After the initial traffic surge from the news wire sites taper off (usually after 3 weeks), you will then be able to depend on the search engines for a consistent stream of long term traffic.

4) Your own search rankings - Because you are actually performing SEO as you issue press releases, your search rankings will improve. As a result, you get more organic search traffic. In time to become, because of all those quality back links pointing to your site, you will become the owner of an authority site as well.

Preparing a press release for publication.

Publishing a press release on the Internet is easier than what most people thought. In other words, it's not difficult to get a press release approved and distributed to sites all over the Internet.

If you are planning to write your own press release, keep these tips in mind.

* Always write in third person.
* Come up with a compelling headline to attract eyeballs.
* Include one or two quotations from a person with authority in the industry.
* State facts, features and benefits clearly.
* Choose an interesting angle to write about to ensure that you publish an interesting story.
* Don't overstuff your news article with the same keywords. Use synonyms whenever possible to ensure that the content looks natural.
* Remember to include your contact information at the end of the press release.

One final tip - if you are writing your own press release, make sure that you write in a clear and concise manner. Don't beat about the bush. Usually, you should be able to include all key points in your press release in about 500 words.

On the Internet, a lengthy press release may not always be a good idea. That's because it's easier to lose a reader if your article is too long. Keep it short, interesting, and clear. Interested visitors can always click on your links and visit your website if they want to find out more. 

About the Author: Darren Chow is a full time article marketer. He founded a successful press release distribution service, and has been offering high quality press release writing and submission services to hundreds of Internet Marketers worldwide.
 

Why? Because if you have a life (okay... admittedly many people don't) the majority of your time is spent away from the office and outside of normal business hours. Usually, when the sun goes down you are already out the door. Frazier has left the building.

But the sun never sets on the internet. It operates 24/7/365 for online and offline businesses both. There are no doors to unlock and no lights to turn on. The doors are always open and the lights are always on. No brick; no mortar; no time clocks.

There are so many important online tools for both marketing (presenting your company and product to the market) and sales (trading that product/service for revenue)... if you're not using them you're soon to be extinct.

Even the US government figured that out. Filed any corporate taxes lately? Most companies now do it online (it is called EFTPS, if you're at all curious).

A good tip is a great gift to those who are in need of advice, I love the quote "give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day - teach a man to fish, you will feed him for a life time!"

If the tips are on SEO, they are bound to attract attention. So, we've compiled a list of TEN of the best SEO tips to be found on the Internet. Don't believe us? Find out for yourself now!

Let your content drive your website. Content is the king, the absolute truth and nothing but. Well-researched, authoritative and unique content that uses the keywords strategically to obtain top rankings, and attract inbound links is a MUST! Never compromise with the quality of your site's content.

Another royalty you can't do without are Links! Focus on building a network of the best quality backlinks for your website using your top keyword phrase(s) and your website name. Only link with sites that can offer you something substantial to chew up on. If it's not good, don't bite the bait!

Are you suffering from Pagerank obsession? Don't! Pageranking, despite what many SEO experts say, are just a small part of your SEO plan. The ranking algorithm is complicated; believe us when we tell you, a lower pageranked site can actually surpass a higher ranked site. So get a good night's sleep and rethink your SEO strategy. Pagerank is a great determination of a websites popularity, however, it won't be the major factor in gaining website traffic. 

Stay fresh and update regularly. Yes, if you want to climb higher on search rankings ladder, make sure your site has fresh and useful content. Regularly updating your website's content is the best way to catch the eye of the search engine robot.

Dig for top search phrases instead of single keywords. The search phrases used by people and incorporated in your content will make it easier for your website to show up as a relevant search result.

Getting localized is also a very important SEO tip that few may share with you. When developing the content for your site, make sure you keep 'localization' in mind. This helps you win brownie points with the local users and the cherry on the top is that you get local customers. We recommend creating state and city specific pages to attract website traffic that would have previously never visited your website.

Always use text links on your website pages if using Java script for image maps, image links, or drop down menu. Since spiders don't follow Java script properly, text links are crucial from a SEO point of view. If your navigation links are images, place text links somewhere on your pages as well.

Always keep SEO in mind when designing your website. More importantly, your website designer must be an expert at Organic SEO. Try to design a simple website that doesn't have heavy Flash. Less graphics will give you better crawl-ability and trust from the search engines. This is because search engine robots crawl the text rather than images or Flash. Also ensure that your pages load quickly, we believe this will make a positive impact for the search engines.

Use search friendly URL's and meta tags, this will help to improve your rankings. If you change your URL's for sub pages, consider using 301 redirects to fix the file names and transfer page value.

Finally, proof read your all your content including taglines, copy etc. and make sure all the links are working before you go live with it. Always provide quality information on your website, getting the visitors is a hard and time consuming process, so make sure your website visitors like what they find when they visit your website!

My opinion is this, a great website is an always evolving and improving website. So work hard, and reap the benefits over time!
 

  About the Author: Joel McLaughlin - Learn more about Dataflurry.
 

There is no shortage of don'ts when it comes to SEO copywriting. It seems this niche got off to a rough start many years ago when early comers somehow misconstrued the core principles of the trade. Allow me to elaborate on how not to write SEO copy.

1. Don't shove as many keyphrases into the copy as humanly possible.

It's not about the sheer volume of search terms you include. Yes, Google and other engines should be able to follow what the page is about. Yes, engines are looking to match a searcher's query with search engine optimized content on your web pages, but which pages land at the top is decided through a series of calculations far more complex than any simple ratio. When you overload copy with keyphrases you sacrifice quality and user experience.

2. Don't lose site of balance.

If SEO copywriting isn't about the percentage of keywords within the copy, then what is it about? Balance. You have two audiences with SEO copywriting: the search engines and your site visitors. But surprisingly, the balance doesn't come with serving both masters well. The balance comes in how much you cater to the engines. You see, your site visitors always come first.

However, if you write with too little focus on the engines, you won't see good rankings. If you put too much focus on the engines, you'll start to lose your target audience. Balance... always balance.

3. Don't let someone else choose the keywords.

If keyword research isn't a service you offer, an SEO firm, keyword specialist or some other professional that your client hires will have to conduct the research. Don't just accept keyphrases these folks toss your way. Ask to see the entire list with recommendations as to which terms would be best strategically. Then you, as the professional writer, can decide which will also work best within the copy.

4. Don't sacrifice flow for numbers.

This is a follow-up to number three and is a major issue with bad SEO copywriting. SEOs or clients sometimes insist on using hacked-up search phrases that simply don't work in a normal sentence. An example? "Candies samples free." Many copywriters will just grin and bear it, sacrificing quality and flow for the sake of competitive values or other numbers. The result is often some obnoxious sentence like, "If you're looking for candies samples free, you've come to the right place!" Forcing a phrase into the copy at all costs never turns out well.

5. Don't use keyphrases that don't apply to the page.

If you operate a site about wedding receptions, don't try to force a search term about wedding dresses into the copy just because it pulls a lot of traffic. (A) Unless you sell, alter or design wedding dresses, it won't be applicable. (B) Even if you manage to get the page ranked well for the phrase [wedding dresses], once the visitor clicks to your site and realizes you have nothing to do with wedding dresses, they will leave. It's a waste of time and effort and it creates a poor user experience.

6. Don't use misspellings and correct spellings on the same page.

I fully understand that the misspellings of keyphrases can be valuable search terms. However, to mix correct spellings and misspellings within the same page of copy looks like you've got a bunch of typos in the content. It's just not professional. Some writers will go for the old, "We rent limousines (sometimes spelled limosenes) for the most affordable prices in town." I don't care for that approach. It's just not natural. Would you ever see brochure or newspaper copy that reads that way? I think not.

7. Don't use keyphrases the exact same way every time.

This is how we end up with horrible SEO copy that sounds like a 4th grader wrote it. (See #4.) There are lots of ways to use keywords in copy, not just one. In order to sound natural, you have to get creative with your keyphrase use. One way is to break up phrases using punctuation. Since search engines don't pay attention to basic punctuation marks, you can easily write something using the search term [real estate Hawaii] that reads like this: "Currently there is an impressive selection of available real estate. Hawaii listings can be..." See? "Real estate" is at the end of the first sentence and "Hawaii" is at the beginning of the second sentence. The engines ignore the period so there's no problem.

8. Don't use all types of search phrases for every situation.

There are many ways in which this "don't" applies. One quick example is that of an ecommerce site. It wouldn't be advisable to use specific, long-tail keyphrases on the home page of your site. They are much too specific in most cases and are better suited for individual product pages. Broader terms are typically best for an ecommerce home page. If you don't understand the best applications for the various types of keywords, you're likely to have lackluster results.

9. Don't neglect ALT tags/image attributes.

These tags are the ones associated with images on your pages and they carry a good deal of weight especially if the image is used as a link. The ALT text counts the same as anchor text in a text-based link. Depending on a few different factors, ALT text may be a good place for those misspellings mentioned in #6.

10. Don't forget the chain of protocol.

There's a method to the SEO copywriting madness. The idea is not to get as many different keyphrases onto a page as possible. Just the opposite, in fact. Rather than having 12 different search terms used only one time each, you need to use two to four keyphrases (depending on the length of your copy) per page. The title, META tags, ALT tags, other coding elements and on-page copy need to support each other as far as keyphrase use goes. Your goal is to let the engines know that you have original, relevant content about a narrow topic.

Unless you have an exceptional number of back links built up, just mentioning [dark chocolate], [chocolate strawberries], [chocolate chip cookies], [chocolate cake], [chocolate desserts], [organic chocolate] and [chocolate cheesecake] once each on a web page isn't likely to do a lot of good. Instead, pick two or three terms which are closely related and use them several times each along with mentioning them in your tags.

When you avoid making common mistakes, you'll find your SEO copywriting flows much better, is more natural-sounding and ranks higher, too.

  About the Author: Karon Thackston - Need help with SEO copywriting? Karon has written 3 excellent books to help you learn keyword optimization techniques. Visit http://www.CopywritingCourse.com and click to the Order page for details.
 

1. FIND YOUR KEYWORDS

   a. Are you a local business/service or more global?

      i. Local examples will be demoed with the following example business:
      Mr. Kung Fu’s Karate School in Seattle, WA, USA.

      ii. Non-Local examples will be demoed with the following example business:
      Susie Smith’s Arts & Crafts Blog

   b. Time to think like a potential customer.  What word phrase would you expect someone to type into a search engine (like Google) and have your website come up listed on the first page of results? 

      i. Local businesses owners, be sure to include geographic words.  For example, Mr. Kung Fu might use: ‘Seattle Karate’ or ‘Seattle Martial Arts’.    He might also use a specific suburb of Seattle instead (like ‘Redmond’ or ‘Duvall’).

      ii. Non-Local businesses owners, like Susie Smith, might use: ‘home arts and crafts’, ‘home decorations’, or ‘arts and crafts ideas’.

   c. Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to help you find the best keyword phrases for you.  Pay attention to LOCAL and GLOBAL search volumes that best represent your market.  WARNING: The more popular your keyword phrase is, the more competition you will probably have.  If it’s too popular, you probably won’t make the first page of any search engine results.  Try to use more specific keyword phrases whose search volume is below 40,000 a month.

   d. Pick the TOP SIX best keyword phrases for you.  Write them down in order of importance.  Keep the list handy – you will use them later on in this article.

2. PUT IN YOUR WEBSITE TITLE

   a. For Web Estore Websites – Login to your Web EStore website and go to the Edit Site page.  Click on the Settings button from the top tool bar.  There you will see a place to enter in your “Site Title”.

   b. For HTML Websites – Find the HTML tags at the top of each of your HTML pages in the HEADER section.  Your title will go between these two tags.

   c. Enter in your TOP THREE keyword phrases (in order) here separated by the ‘pipe’ character ( | ) and save it. Redundant words only need be used once here.  See the example below how the words ‘Seattle’ and ‘Home’ are only used once but apply to other keyword phrases:

   1) Mr. Kung Fu:  Seattle Karate | Martial Arts | Self Defense
   2) Susie Smith: Home Arts And Crafts | Decorations| Ideas

3. PUT IN YOUR WEBSITE KEYWORDS & DESCRIPTION

   a. For Web Estore Websites –– Login to your Web Estore website and go to the Edit Site page.  Click on the Settings button from the top tool bar. Then click on the sub-menu called ‘Search Engines'.  Then click on 'Configure Meta Tags'. To keep things simple, this will go site wide.  Here you will see where to enter in your ‘Site Keywords’ and ‘Site Description’.

   b. For HTML Websites – Find the HTML tags and at the top of each of your HTML pages in the HEADER section.  Your keywords and website description will go between these two tags respectively.

   c. Type your SIX keyword phrases into the keyword section.  Separate each phrase with a comma.  Here it’s OK to have redundant words in your phrases.  For example:

   1) Mr. Kung Fu would type:  Seattle karate, Seattle martial arts, Seattle self defense, etc.
   2) Susie Smith would type: home arts and crafts, home decorations, arts and crafts ideas, etc.

   d. Type 3-5 sentences into your website description section that describe your business/service.  Try and insert the TOP THREE keyword phrases into your description content.  Be sure to do so in a way that is readable and natural-looking, otherwise it will look like you are ‘keyword stuffing’.

4. CREATING YOUR HOME PAGE (LANDING PAGE) CONTENT

   a. Without diving too much into how to create an effective landing page design (that will probably be a different Web Estore article that I’ll write later) let’s just focus on the SEO aspect of the landing page.  Your landing page is your most important page, so we need to include your keyword phrases here in your content.  Your top three keyword phrases should be included more than once.   Insert your keyword phrase in a readable and natural-looking way to avoid looking like you are “keyword stuffing”.  Try and do so with the least amount of content you can. If you insert more of your keyword phrases than what I recommend, you run the risk of getting penalized, so don’t do any more than what is listed here. Insert them the following way:

      i. Your #1 Keyword Phrase – insert it in 4 different places.

      ii. Your #2 Keyword Phrase – insert it in 3 different places.

      iii. Your #3 Keyword Phrase – insert it in 2 different places.

      iv. Your #4, #5, & #6 Keyword Phrase – insert once.

   b. Content Ideas – You might find it hard to come up with enough content to insert your keyword phrases naturally.  It is a delicate balancing act.  If you create too much content, new users to your website will leave (nobody really wants to read all that stuff).  But then again, you need some content for SEO purposes.  Here are some valid content ideas that will help you get your SEO keyword phrases in without overfilling your landing page with useless babble.

      i. Write a brief description of what your business/service does.  When someone first comes to your website, you need to let them know right up front what you do and how you can help them with their needs.  A general description of your business/products/services is useful to new visitors to your website as well as a great place to sprinkle in some SEO keyword phrases.  Again, don’t go overboard.  Keep it simple.

      ii. Insert a few images – Images are a great way to break up the monotony of large amounts of content as well as get a few keywords in.  Every image you insert into your content area allows for a TITLE and an ALT tag description.  Web Estore does not require you to put these in when you insert an image, but it is highly recommended.  Slap one of your keyword phrases in.  Use the same phrase for both tags.  Make the image a clickable anchor linking back to your landing page.

      iii. Testimonials – Testimonials are great.  Get a few from some of your clients/customers and add them to your landing page.  “Tweak” them slightly to include your keyword phrases (if your client/customer doesn’t mind).  Try not to go overboard on these.  Include too many and people will get bored and leave.

      iv. Awards/Articles – Show off any awards and/or articles you may have about your business/service.  Write in a few quotes from them into your content. ‘Tweak’ them to accommodate some of your keyword phrases.  Be careful not to alter them too much… they are quotes after all.  If you misquote an article, you might get some backlash from the writer.  Make sure any changes you make are very subtle and don’t alter the author’s intended message.

5. PUT KEWORDS IN YOUR WEBSITE'S FOOTER

There are a thousand ways to implement internal links, but to keep things simple, just create three links in your website’s footer using the TOP THREE keyword phrases to point back to your lading page.  With most website builder tools (like Web Estore), the footer is ‘static’ and will appear on every page, so these links will be on all your pages.  Here is the keyword phrase that our examples might put in their footer.  Remember, these would be set up as three separate links pointing back to the landing page:

1) Mr. Kung Fu:  Seattle Karate | Seattle Martial Arts | Seattle Self Defense
2) Susie Smith: Home Arts And Crafts | Home Decorations| Arts And Crafts Ideas

• Free website SEO and Traffic For Beginners
• Part 1: Setting Up Your Website For SEO
• Part 2: Creating External SEO Link & Traffic
• Part 3: Maintaining Your Website's SEO
•  
 

1. FOLLOW UP ON EXTERNAL LINK OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUR WEBSITE

Always keep an eye open for external link opportunities from other websites or web services you know and trust.  If a new opportunity arises where you can get a link to your website from one of them, implement it ASAP.  Always be sure to use one of your TOP THREE keyword phrases as the text for the link to your website’s landing page.

2. BLOG

Outside of external links to your website, blogging is the next best way to increase traffic & SEO to your website, especially if your Blog is part of your website (like it is for Web Estore users). Try to post a blog entry at least once a week if you can, no less than once month.  Write about broader subjects outside of your smaller website community.  Post things that thousands (if not millions) of people might relate to in your industry or that they might be interested in knowing. Make sure it relates to your website. In your blog posts, work in ONE keyword phase of the SIX you created.  Try and use the TOP THREE keywords most of the time… but not all of the time.  Make that ONE keyword phase an anchor linking back to your website’s landing page.  Try and make it the only link in your post if you can, and place it near the top of the post.  Make it look natural and not like you are ‘keyword stuffing’.

3. SOCIAL BOOKMARK YOUR NEW BLOG POST

If your blog post is something that might interest others outside of your local network, you should Social Bookmark it (as shown earlier).  Instead of putting in your website landing page as the URL, put in the link to your blog post.  Do this for all 5 social bookmark websites we discussed earlier.  If you have more time to kill and want to expand your SEO, try using Social Marker to submit your blog post URLs to 50+ social bookmarking websites.

4. USE LINKED-IN TO POST LINKS BACK TO YOUR NEW BLOG POST

Login to Linked-In (as shown earlier) and post a new discussion in each of the groups you joined telling people to check out your new blog post.  Make sure it is relevant to the group and something they might be interested in. If it is not, then don’t post it.  Also, don’t forget to add the ‘http://’ to the beginning of your link to make sure it is clickable.

5. CONVERT YOUR NEW BLOG POST TO AN ARTICLE

This is a flip on what you did earlier.  Instead of converting your article to a blog post, you will do just the opposite:  Convert your new blog post to an article.  Login to your article website (as shown earlier) and submit your blog post to it.  Again, be sure that it is relevant to something that people might want to read an article about.  If it is not, then don’t submit it. For instance, if Mr. Kung Fu posted a blog post about his team winning a local tournament in Seattle, you would NOT want to post this as an article.  However, if Mr. Kung Fu wrote a blog post about ‘How to prepare For a Karate Tournament’ that would be something that would interest readers outside of his local community and he could post to an article website.  Use good judgment to figure out if you should submit your post as an article.

6. ANSWER MORE 'YAHOO! ANSWERS' QUESTIONS.

Once a week try to answer 5 – 10 Yahoo Questions (as shown earlier).  Add a link back to your website’s landing page in the ‘What’s your source?’ text area.   Be sure to always include the ‘http://’ at the beginning of the link to make it clickable.

7. PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE

Patience and persistence will bring you a wealth of SEO and traffic.  If you do everything I have listed here at least once every two weeks (or more if you can), I assure you – you will be set within a year.  The longer you do it, the more successful you will be!  The hard part is being persistent and doing it as often as possible.  If you keep it up, your website will thrive, I promise you! 

1. ADDING YOUR WEBSITE TO FREE DIRECTORIES

Free directories are pretty worthless. Don't waste your time. Some paid directories might be worth it. This article is about FREE SEO. There is only one directory that is worth submitting your URL to: DMOZ. Be sure to drill down into the LOWEST category you think your website falls under, then click on the "Suggest URL" link at the top. Unfortunately, they are so overloaded that it may take months befoere they list your website. But... if (or) when they do, it's very good SEO points for your website!

2. EXTERNAL LINKS TO YOUR WEBSITE

a. Links from other websites to your website is the best way to help with SEO. If you have any firends or acquaintances that have a quality website you trust, ask them if you can put a link to your website on theirs. Be sure to use one of your TOP THREE keyword phrases as the link phrase that points to your website landing page.

b. If you don't know of anyone who has a website, then don't worry about it. Skip down to the next step. Don't go looking for link exhanges with strangers. It can hurt your SEO. Because you are an SEO newbie, people will take advantage of you. It takes time to master it.

3. SOCIAL BOOKMARKING

a. There are hundreds of social bookmarking websites. To keep it simple, we will only submit your website URL to 5 of the better ones. You will need to create an account on each of these (if you do not have one already). You might want to add their ‘bookmark button’ to your browser toolbar as well for future ease of use.

I. Digg

II. Del.icio.us

III. StumbleUpon

IV. Reddit

V. Propeller

b. Look for the ‘submit link’ or ‘submit website’ link/button once you are logged into each of these website.  Submitting your website link to each of these will usually consists of providing the following information:

i. URL – The ‘www’ address that people type in the address bar of their browser to get to your website.

ii. Title – Your website’s title.

iii. Description – A brief description of your website.  You might want to use the same description you created earlier for your website’s Description Meta Tag.

iv. Keywords – Use your SIX keyword phrases here, separated by a ‘comma ‘or a ‘space’.  Look at the label on the form, it should tell you how to separate word phrases.

4. JOIN LINKED-IN

   a. There are thousands of social/professional networking groups/forums you can join, but to make things simple, we are just going to join this one: Link-In.  Create an account with them (if you have not done so already).  Be sure to include a link to your website in your profile.  Put as much valid information into your profile about your business/services as you can.  The more professional you make your profile, the better.

   b. Login and search for groups to join.  This is what makes Linked-In such a great tool.  Look for other groups of people that have the same business interests as you and join their groups.  There will probably be lots of groups to pick from.  Try and go with the ones that have the most relevance and/or members.  Don’t overdo it.  To begin with, let’s just stick to around 5 groups.  If you feel you can handle more later, then you can join some more then.  When searching for groups, try and think beyond just what your business focuses on.  For example, Mr. Kung Fu would probably search for ‘karate’ groups or ‘martial arts’ groups first.  But he might also want to look for ‘small business’ groups. 

   c. Wait for your group invitation to be accepted.  Once you request to join a group, it might take hours or days before you get accepted.  Be patient.

   d. Look for friends and associates to link to.  You can search for people you know and send requests to them to join your network of contacts.  This is a great way to find old friends and business acquaintances.  Tell them about your new website! Find out what groups they have joined.  You might want to join the same groups!

   e. Post an introduction of yourself to each group you get accepted to.  As you get accepted into each group, go into the ‘Discussions’ page and add a discussion introducing yourself and what it is you do.  Then ask for a website review of your new website and post a link to it (be sure to include the ‘http://’ at the beginning of your link – this will make it clickable).  This is completely legit and a very acceptable thing to do.  Just don’t go overboard on your intro.  Keep it to only a few sentences.  Here is an example what Mr. Kung Fu might post as his first discussion:

Title: Introduction and Website Review
Post: Hello, my name is Mr. Kung Fu and I just wanted to introduce myself.  I own a small martial arts school in Seattle, WA.  I have about 35 students and have been in business for about 14 years.  I look forward to discussing martial arts and karate with everyone in the group.  I just created my first website and would appreciate any feedback you could provide.  Here is the link:  http://.....   Thanks!

5. JOIN YAHOO! ANSWERS

   a. Join Yahoo! Answers if you have not done so already.  You will be answering people’s questions that relate to your website/business.

   b. Do an ‘Advanced’ search.   Fill in each section of the advanced search as follows:

      i. Keywords – Enter in keywords that relate to what your website/business is about. Make sure the ‘Search for keyword match in’ is set to ‘Questions’.

      ii. Category – Pick the category that relates to what your website/business is about.  If you can’t find a good category, just select ‘All’.

      iii. Filter – pick the one that fits your needs.

      iv. Question Status – select ‘Open Questions – Best answer has not been chosen’.

      v. Date Submitted – Set to ‘Anytime’.

   c. Submit your search.  If no results come back, keep modifying your keywords till you start getting results that you feel comfortable answering.

   d. Answer 5-10 questions.  In the form you fill out for the answer, there is a ‘What’s your source?’ textbox. Put the URL to your website here.  Make sure to include the ‘http://’  in your URL.  This makes it ‘clickable’.  Don’t worry about having the perfect answer (or even the correct answer for that matter!).  All answers are just opinions for the most part.

6. WRITE AN ARTICLE

   a. Article websites are a place where people provide information to others on how to do things.  There are hundreds of article websites you can submit articles to.  For the sake of simplicity, we will use just one: Ezine Articles.  Join this website if you have not done so already.  Fill out all your PROFILE information.  Upload a professional looking photo of yourself if you feel comfortable doing so.

   b. In your Profile admin page, under the ‘Profile Manager’ menu, click on the ‘Edit Author Resource Boxes’.  Here is where you put links to your website and write a brief resource description about your website/company.

      i. Watch the ‘Learn How to Create the Perfect Resource Box’ video on this page.

      ii. Include your TOP TWO keyword phrases (no more than this) that link back to your website sprinkled in with your Resource description.

      iii. You will have to write the links as ANCHOR CODE.  In the following examples, I will use ‘brackets’ to indicate what keyword phrases would be converted to anchors linking back to their respective websites:

      1. Mr. Kung Fu – Mr. Kung Fu is owner of a [Seattle Karate] school called ‘Mr. Kung Fu’s Martial Arts’.  He has been in business teaching [Seattle Martial Arts] for over 14 years.  He has a 5th Degree Black Belt in Kung Fu.

      2. Susie Smith – Susie Smith is the owner of the [Home Arts And Crafts] website called ‘Susie Smith’s Online Crafts’.  Her website is an excellent resource for [Home Decoration] ideas as well as other arts and crafts.

   c. Now write an article relating to your website/business.  It has to be at least 250 words long (that’s not very long). You don’t need to be an expert to submit an article.  Most, if not all, articles are just people’s opinions on how to do things.  Write something that relates to what your website/business is about.  For example:

      i. Mr. Kung Fu might write about the ‘Benefits of Martial Arts Training’ or ‘Top 5 Reasons to Get Your Children into Martial Arts’.

      ii. Susie Smith might write about ‘Family Fun Making Homemade Christmas Ornaments’ or ‘Top 5 Craft Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day’.

   d. DO NOT put links to your website in your Article content.  They will be removed from your article content or even worse, your article may not get published at all.  Your links will be displayed in your ‘Resources’ section you completed earlier.

   e. Submit your article and wait. It might be a few days before they approve it. Be patient.

7. CONVERT YOUR ARTICLE TO A BLOG POST

   a. Web Estore users have a Blog built into their websites.  Other users will need to find a blogging website to join.

   b. Copy your article content and paste it into your first blog post.  Here you have more flexibility creating links, so you go ahead and ‘tweak’ your content to include the TOP THREE keyword phrase as anchors linking back to your website landing page.