SEO TIPS

The Meta Tag Trifecta, the three hit combo, the three stooges of SEO, the three basic prinicpals of onpage optimization. Its easy, its quick, and its something everyone can do (at a low cost) to optimize thier web pages.

1) URL

2) Title Tag

3) Header Tag

 Thats right, make sure the main keyword assigned to a target page is assigned to the URL, the title tag, and the pages H! (header) tag. for example:

Page URL: AuntMayCollections.com/Collectables/Spider-Man

TItle: The Aunt MAy Collection Presents Spider Man Collectibles

Header: Spider Man Collectibles.

In the good ol days when meta tags rained supreme, the SEO Trifecta ment matching the keyword within the title, description, and keyword tag. Now, years later, the magical SEO Trifecta has changed. In my opinion, changed for the better.

Implantation of the SEO Trifecta can be very basic on a simple (small 5 page) site. Or it could mean advanced SEO site architecture for a larger, more content rich site.

It has begun (it begun a few months ago, just a little late on the blog update , Google is slowly changing the way we look at search and search engine optimization. A few blog posts on SEOmoz speak to this directly. Here are some things to look for that lead to this conclusion.

1)  On the top right of the search results, above the number in the keyword index, you will see “personilized search results” or “search results for X(X=metropolitan area).

What does this mean for you? What does this mean for SEO? Two quick throughs:

1a)  Your personalized search results will show sites that Google belives you will like. So in theory, if my clients are showing up on your personalized search results, my clients will be directly infront of the people they want to be….the consumer. This is not a bad thing

1b) If geo targeted search results are appearing based on target market and demographic information, then we are in a win win! My clients might see less traffic because their not ranking in the same positions all across the nation. However, if people in Montana buy WIDGET X more than people in Washington. My client is ranking in Montana and not Washington, thats where i would want them to be anyway.

So….As Google changes….as long as your wearing your white hat i believe everything will work out for the best!

Enjoy, and more info to come on this subject.

Have you ever wanted to study SEO at a University level? Now you can, SEO inc has been asked to continue their SEO course at the University of California, San Diego campus.

Read more about this new break here. 

In my day many clients of asked me what negitive keywords are, why they are important, what why does it take so long to identify what they are. Here is one of my methiods to identify negitive keywords.

Remember, Google defines Negitive Keywords as

“Negative keywords are a core component of a successful keyword list. Adding a negative keyword to your ad group or campaign means that your ads won’t show for search queries containing that term. By filtering out unwanted impressions, negative keywords can help you reach the most appropriate prospects, reduce your cost-per-click (CPC), and increase your ROI. ” Source - http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=63235

1) Think of the keyword that you want to target. In this example, lets use “chiropractor”

2) Go to the Google Keyword Tool and type in “chiropractor”. This will generate a list of all keywords using the word “chiropractor” in it. Five of the keywords that were returned are:

chiropractors
chiropractor
chiropractor directory
atlas chiropractor
palmer chiropractor

Now i know SEO…..I dont know anything about chiropractors. But i do know that the local chiropractor that i repersent would not want to pay for keywords like “chiropractor directory”, or “palmer chiropractor”. Using this example the negitive keywords that i found were:

1) palmer

2) atlas

3) directory
These negitive keywords took me minutes to find, and will save my client a log of coin. However, the complexity of the pay per click campaign will be a direct cost driver for negitive keyword research. We reviewed one example that found five keywords. My client might be targeting keywords like “headache” or “neck pain”. Both keywords would lead to a considerable amount of negitive keyword research.

Other sources on negitive keywords:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfn6FuX3LHo

http://adwords.blogspot.com/2005/07/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html

On friday 11-14-2008 The Washington State Attorney General filed this press release announcing that they will be sueing a Redmond based SEO company,  Viible.net. This sounds strikingly similar to a lawsuit filed against Redmond SEO company internet advancement. Now days, i dont think internet advancement is around any more. The second time the AG went after internet advancement hit em where it hurt.

These two companies (Visible.net and Internet Advancement) take different approaches to the same solution. An SEO package with a high set up fee, and low monthly fee.

 SEO TIPS Readers - remember an old post about Guaranteed top 10 rankings in google.

 More details about this lawsuit can be found at the following sources.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/washington-state-sues-seo-company-visiblenet

http://www.visible.net/visiblog/visiblenet-is-serious-about-customer-service-support/