7 SEO Secrets Your Webmaster Wont Tell You

By Bob Bly and Becki Dilworth

Web Exclusive: 4 More Secrets!

8. Look at collective keyword rank.
You may not get a top position for a short-tail keyword because of the competition. An alternative strategy for traffic generation, then, is to optimize multiple pages on long-tail keywords so the cumulative traffic from the multiple long-tail keywords exceeds what you’d get with the No. 1 spot for the short-tail keyword. There’s always less competition for long-tail keyword phrases, “1957 restored Pontiac Indian Chief” for example, vs. short-tail ones, such as “classic cars.”

9. Keep up with 301 redirects.
The webmaster or your content management system must create 301 redirects when pages are renamed, ensuring engines find the renamed page and attribute the established rank to the revised page. Without a 301 redirect, the new pages remain unranked until Google spiders get around to finding and rating them again.

10. In SEO, content is king.
The most powerful tool you can employ for SEO isn’t technology or software. It’s hiring professional writers to write your web content, since high-quality content is a key factor in attracting search engines.

Research-oriented writers or journalists are your best bet here. They’ll take pains to find the right keywords and incorporate them into your content with integrity. Yes, it costs some money, but the SEO results and value to visitors far outweigh the investment.

Don’t load your websites with stock articles from free or cheap article sites. These will end up on many other sites, and Google discounts pages with duplicate content.

11. Don’t neglect social networking.
Blogs are content-generating machines that help you get more organic search traffic. Having a blog, and posting to it once a week or more, helps search engines find you.

Many social networking sites, on the other hand, don’t produce content that search engines rank. Yet social networking can generate positive return on investment by marketing your content and making sure more people see it. Use Twitter and Facebook to alert followers to new articles, posts or other content on your site or blog.

The more people who discover your content, the more traffic you’ll get, and more sites will link to yours.

Put 10 search engine optimization consultants in a room and ask them how to optimize your site. You'll get 10 different answers.

So, how do you separate fact from fiction when implementing an SEO program to raise your rankings on Google and other search engines? Here are 11 truths, strategies and rules of thumb that are proven to optimize sites and generate a flood of organic search traffic:

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Bob Bly Author's page

Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter specializing in B2B and direct marketing. He has written copy for over 100 companies including Sony, IBM, AT&T, and Intuit. McGraw-Hill calls Bob Bly “America’s copy copywriter.”

Bob is the author of 100 books including The Copywriter’s Handbook (St. Martins). He can be reached via email at rwbly@bly.com or on the web at www.bly.com

Becki Dilworth Author's page

Search Engine Optimization: 7 SEO Secrets Your Webmaster Wont Tell You