The exact way in which the search engines rank the pages of a web site is not known to anyone outside of the inner circle of engineers working for Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. However there are some general principles on what is considered to be positive factors that can influence your rankings.

These factors relate mainly to the quality and quantity of incoming links to your site. Although outgoing links also play a part, they are not as important as incoming links.

Quality of Incoming Links

Quality is based on the perceived importance of the website linking to you. If the link is one way (you dont reciprocate by linking back) it carries more weight than a reciprocal link.

Another factor to consider is the relevance of the page that is linked to. Its no good having a page from a gambling site linking to a page on a health site. The more closely they match the better.

Relevance of On Topic Theme Content

Based on your sites content, the search engines determine the theme of your site and the relevance of your individual pages to your theme. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to focus on a niche topic and not go too broad.

The search engines are looking for sites that appear to be natural and not contrived to beat their algorithms. If your site has lots of incoming links but they all went to the same page, this would not appear to be natural. Similarly if lots of your links come from the same site or even the same server, this would raise alarm signals with the search engines and they could penalise your rankings.

Tip:

Do not try and fool the search engines by purchasing links from so called “link farms” or other dubious schemes. You may succeed for a short while, but the search engines will always catch you out and penalize your site heavily.

In SummaryManchester SEO is not an exact science a page could rank no 1 with Yahoo and not even be in the top 100 with Google. Similarly, a page that ranks well today could rank poorly tomorrow. Dont get too involved with trying to figure out what you are doing wrong. Stick to the basics of producing lots of good quality original content related to your niche and get as many quality incoming links as you can.

A good idea is to get some help in the form of step by step instructions and coaching videos designed specifically for newbies.

Search engine optimization consists of a variety of techniques to increase the rankings of a website in search engines. Search engines base rankings on a number of factors that determine relevance of a site and where they will go in their search results. The search engines use spider programs which search out websites and, using algorithms designed by the search engines, gather all sorts of information from the website. Some considerations in the algorithms consist of things like age of site, how often the site is updated, content, links, and many other things. Search engine giant Google uses PageRank to measure sites, with 10 being the highest ranking which is given to very few sites. If your site has a 4 or 5, thats pretty good.

Search Engine advertising or Pay per Click advertising is another tool used in search engine marketing. By advertising directly with the search engines, a site will be given higher ranking in search results. Search engine marketing also gives exposure to a site based on content, so the site appears in search engines when users are looking for a particular product or keyword. This targeted searching and advertising is dominating consumer spending. In 2003, $2.5 billion in sales came from search results, and that number is expected to grow 25 percent this year to $3.2 billion.

Employing these methods of Search engine marketing will increase your sites visibility in the search results. Both parties win using search engines. For advertisers using the best techniques of London SEO, they will gain visitors who are looking for their specific products or services. When their business is put into the search engine, visitors are more likely to visit the site specifically for their services. Research also shows that when visitors come to a site through a search engine, they are typically more motivated to buy.

There are much more to these techniques than listed above. Search engine optimization itself is very detailed and complicated. To truly optimize your site, it is important to hire editors who specialize in London SEO. And advertising too requires knowledge of the industry. It is very important to follow the search engines guidelines to the letter to avoid being penalized. A company that provides exclusive search marketing services will do everything from keyword selection to monthly maintenance.

Search engines have a set of algorithms in place to index or inspect all types of websites. The search engines send bots to sites to index them according to the algorithms and then all the information is stored in a data center. The algorithms consist of a number of specifications including things like keyword density, meta tags, number of pages, content, and much, much more. The bots visit the site frequently to monitor the site for updates and changes.

There are a number of techniques that make up search engine optimization, the method used be website developers to help improve ranking. Depending on the saturation of a particular keyword in a market, a site can rank high or way down the list. Choosing the right keywords to target can make or break your ranking. Keyword placement within the site is also a great contributor to ranking.

Other factors that can affect ranking are updating the site and placing relevant content on the site. The more quality content a site has the better. Relevant content helps the search engines to pick up keywords and keyword phrases. Search engines are also partial to frequently updated content which could range from articles, links, or any other related content.

When ranking falls, it can be contributed to a number of factors. It does not mean that the site is gone forever. Search engines used different data centers to provide results on any given day. Check back in a few hours or a day or so, and the results can be different. Search engines also update their algorithms from time to time. Sometimes these updates can be minor, and in other cases they are major. There may be a new competitor in your market. Visit their site and see why they have the advantage.

Achieving top search engine rankings is competitive. Position in the search engine results can make or break a website. A search engine optimization company is an excellent way to make your site search engine compatible. With exclusive search marketing services you can get your site to number one.

When surfers conduct searches on search engines they are presented with a list of results for that search term. These results are called Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and generally speaking, the websites that appear at the top of the SERPs will receive plenty of traffic to their websites from searchers.

In order to determine your position on the SERPs, search engines use their own algorithms. While nobody knows for absolute certain what these algorithms are it is widely accepted that your website needs to be easy to navigate, popular and relevant.

Easy navigation means that your site should have text links to each of its pages. If you use a flash menu system then you should include a sitemap in order that search engines and visitors can quickly and easily find their way around the whole of your website.

In order to make your website appear popular you need to get links to your site. While search engines would rather these links were generated because visitors to your site genuinely found your content useful, it is commonplace to undertake a reciprocal link campaign or generate inbound links. Reciprocal links mean a website links to you in exchange for a link to their own site.

Relevance is judged by your content. By including the keywords you place in the metatags of your site throughout the body of your content and in certain places within your site you are indicating to the search engines that your website contains relevant information.

By combining these factors you can effectively convince search engines that you deserve to be near the top of their SERPs. However, this can take time and a lot of effort if you dont fully understand what you are doing.

The Internet was built upon links. Sites link to one another to guide users through relevant information. Since these links basically mean, theres relevant information on this site, each link pointing towards your site counts as a vote towards it. These votes help improve your natural ranking, especially when coupled with a well-built Birmingham SEO friendly site. The big question is, of course, how do I go about getting other sites to link mine? Fortunately, the answer is an easy one, because there are many well run search engine friendly directories that would be more than happy to link to your site as part of their directory.

But the most popular directories receive thousands of applications to review. As such, they develop rules and guidelines for your submission. These rules are put in place to ensure that the submission and approval process can flow as smoothly as possible, as well as to help the directory select only the sites that are, in fact, relevant. And so the question returns: how do I ensure that my site gets accepted into the high-quality, top web directories?

It is very easy to adhere to the rules of a web directory with very little effort. In addition, because the editors of any directory are really looking for the same things, the rules from web directory to web directory tend to be very similar.

Count Those Characters:

One of the big rules imposed by directories has to do with the length of your title, description and keywords. If there were no limit, some people would write an essay for descriptions and cram in every possible keyword. Let me assure you that no directory editor wants to review a site application that could be broken up into chapters! Directories impose restrictions that essentially force you to be straight to the point. You might not be able to say everything about your site, so pick the most important points and go with that. Before you start submitting anywhere, sit back and write a few well-formulated descriptions that span 100, 150, 200, and 250 characters. One of those four levels will generally work in any web directory you come across. Once thats done, most of the hard work is out of the way. Now all you have to do is look for the character requirements, copy and paste your blurb of that length, and youre all set. The same thing holds true for keywords, so prepare a few different options so that, come submission time, its just a matter of picking the right one.

Would You Approve A Spam Filled Site Application?

Do not spam your directory listings. That cant be more clearly stated, yet for some reason, people still do it. You are never going to get listed in any human reviewed directory when you try this tactic. An example of this would be that if you sell widgets, when you submit your information you repeat the word widgets in your title, description, and keywords as many times as possible. Typically comprehension takes a back seat as the focus becomes cramming the word in as many times as possible. Directory editors hate this and its a very easy rejection. If you think that even attempting to spam like this is helpful, you might want to think again. If you spend time submitting to web directories with poorly articulated, spam-filled information, you are going to get rejected. Youve then wasted a lot of your time and gotten absolutely nothing in return.

Choose The Right Category:

Web directories are sorted by topic and editors typically take great pride in ensuring that everything stays well organized. A tiny little bit of effort on your part to choose the right category can vastly improve your chances of being listed without any delay. The reason is simply that if you are an editor and you want to approve a site, you probably only have to click one button. But, if that site chose the wrong category, then you need to edit the application to modify the category (and now the editor has to find the correct category in the hierarchy!), which takes more time. If you are the editor sitting there with thousands of applications to process, its much easier to click the reject button than it is to start fumbling through categories. So, put yourself in their shoes and do them a favor, because ultimately its you and your site that stand to benefit when you are approved.

A successful web directory submission campaign is when you maximize your time so that you get listed in the most directories possible. By following the above tips, you can help ensure you get approved, which goes a long way towards achieving your goal. With everything pre-written and good intentions to play by the rules, youll be flying through your submission campaign in no time.

If you are foolish enough to resort to questionable Bristol SEO strategies, or hire an Bristol SEO consultant who does; the answer is a resounding yes.

There are no short cuts to improved performance at the search engines, no guaranteed formulas for overnight success. Promises of instant results, or a cast iron top listing should be greeting with a healthy dose of skepticism.

If you choose to forego the task of optimization yourself, there are plenty of reputable consultants online to choose from, but you would be well advised to ask what methods they will employ. If you or your consultants are tempted to consider the use of hidden text and keywords, hidden links, keyword stuffing, link farms or cloaking, you might want to think again.

If an Bristol SEO consultant suggests submitting your URL to 10,000 search engines and directories wouldnt you want to know exactly where it will end up? After all, were talking about the credibility and reputation of your Web site.

Trying to artificially boost your ranking at the search engines is poor strategy. Their algorithms will not differentiate between a premeditated attempt to trick your way to a top ranking, or your innocent use of a consultant who employs such methods, but the result may be that your site suffers either way.

If you are flirting with questionable Bristol SEO methods, you should ask yourself a few questions before you proceed:

What are you trying to achieve?
Does your strategy add value to your site and does it help those searching for the content you provide?
Is your site simply a collection of commercial and affiliate links, or does it deliver valuable content and good information to your visitors?
Would you feel comfortable explaining your Bristol SEO strategy with the owner of a competing site?

Google are constantly manipulating their search engine algorithm, in an effort to deliver a better product; Information that is more accurate, more relevant and delivers increased value to their users. Rather than try to do an end run around the Google search engine algorithm, consider embracing that doctrine.

A good, solid and ethical Bristol SEO strategy requires plenty of hard work and patience. The potential rewards are not limited to your site alone, but also to those of your link partners and most of all, the internet users who are searching for the service or information that you provide.

You can always fall back on the services of an Bristol SEO consultant if all else fails. You may find however, that a sustained effort focusing on some simple fundamentals, delivers the results you are looking for.

Keep it simple make sure your site is well built, easily navigated and that your URL, page titles and headings are human reader, as well as search engine friendly. Simple text which describes the content of your page is most effective.

Content above all else, will start the traffic snowball rolling. Create good, original content, update it regularly and keep adding to it. Not only does this provide your readers with the incentive to refer your site to others and visit you on a regular basis, but it also attracts the attention of search engine spiders. The spiders will return to your site more often if they notice that you frequently update or add fresh content.

Quality content is also a primer for effective link exchanging. Approach other good quality sites related to your theme and explore the value of a link exchange agreement. Search engines dont just look at the number of links pointing to your site, but also whether those links come from sites containing content which is related to yours.

If you havent submitted your sites to the major search engines, do so by following their submission guidelines. You should also consider submitting your site to the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project, but again, be patient, it can take months to get listed and with both Yahoo and DMOZ, a submission is no guarantee that your site will be accepted.

Questionable Bristol SEO strategies will always exist, as will the many people who choose to use them, but a far greater feeling of satisfaction will result, through the use of an ethical approach which leaves your credibility and the reputation of your site intact.

The seven skills that I believe are necessary for Birmingham SEO work are:

Web Design producing a visually attractive page

HTML coding – developing Search Engine friendly coding that sits behind the web design

Copy writing producing the actual readable text on the page

Marketing what are the actual searches that are being used, what key words actually get more business for your company?

An eye for detail – even the smallest errors can stop spiderbots visiting your site.

Patience – there is a time lag on any change you make, waiting is a virtue.

IT skills – an appreciation of how search engine programs and the algorithms they use actually work

Many website designers produce more and more eye-catching designs with animations and clever features hoping to entice the people onto their sites. This is the first big mistake; using designs like these may actually decrease your chances of a high Google rating. Yes, thats right; all that money you have paid for the website design could be wasted because no-one will ever find your site.

The reason for this is that before you get people to your site you need to get the spiderbots to like your site. Spiderbots are pieces of software used by the search engine companies to crawl the Internet looking at all the websites, and then having reviewed the sites, they use complex algorithms to rank the sites. Some of the complex techniques used by web designers cannot be trawled by spiderbots. They come to your site, look at the HTML code and exit stage right, without even bothering to rank your site. So, you will not be found on any meaningful search.

I am amazed how many times I look at websites and I immediately know they are a waste of money. The trouble is that both the web designers and the company that paid the money really do not want to know this. In fact, I have stopped playing the messenger of bad news (too many shootings!); I now work round the problem.

So, optimising a website to be Google friendly is often a compromise between a visually attractive site and an easy to find site. The second skill is that of optimising the actual HTML code to be spiderbot friendly. I put this as different to the web design because you really do need to be down and dirty in the code rather than using an editor like FrontPage, which is OK for website design. This skill takes lots of time and experience to develop, and just when you think you have cracked it, the search engine companies change the algorithms used to calculate how high your site will appear in the search results.

This is no place for even the most enthusiastic amateur. Results need to be constantly monitored, pieces of code added or removed, and a check kept on what the competition are doing. Many people who design their own website feel they will get searched because it looks good, and totally miss out this step. Without a strong technical understanding of how spiderbots work, you will always struggle to get your company on the first results page in Google. We actually run seven test domains which are testing different theories with different search engines. Remember that different search engines use different criteria and algorithms to rank your site – one size does not fit all.

Thirdly, I suggested that copy writing is a skill in its own right. This is the writing of the actual text that people coming to your site will read. The Googlebot and other spiderbots like Inktomi, love text but only when written well in properly constructed English. Some people try to stuff their site with keywords, while others put white writing on white space (so spiderbots can see it but humans cannot).

Spiderbots are very sophisticated and not only will not fall for these tricks, they may actively penalise your site in Google terms, this is sandboxing. Google takes new sites and naughty sites and effectively sin-bins them for 3-6 months, you can still be found but n t until results page 14 really useful! As well as good English, the spiderbots are also reading the HTML code, so the copy writer also needs an appreciation of the interplay between the two. My recommendation for anyone copy writing their own site is to write normal, well-constructed English sentences that can be read by machine and human alike.

The fourth skill is marketing, after all this is what we are doing marketing you site and hence company and products/services on the Web. The key here is to set the site up to be accessible to the searches that will provide most business to you. I have seen many sites that can be found as you key in the company name. Others that can be found by keying in Accountant Manchester North-West England, which is great, except no-one ever actually does that search. So the marketing
skill requires knowledge of a companys business, what they are really trying to sell and an understanding of what actual searches may provide dividends.

The next skill is an eye for detail. Even a simple change to a web page can create an error that means the spiderbots will not crawl your site. Recently, I put a link to a page that didn’t have www. at the front of the address. The link still worked but the spiders stopped crawling, and it took my partner to find the error. We have recently invested in a very sophisticated html validator that picks up errors that other validators just fail to see. These errors do not stop the pages displaying correctly to the human eye, but cause massive problems with spiderbots. Almost all the code that I look at on the web using this validator flags major errors, even from Birmingham SEO companies.

The sixth skill is patience, or is it a virtue! Some people seem to want to make daily changes and then think they can track the web page ranking results the next day. Unfortunately, it can take a week for absolutely correct changes to take effect, in which time you have made six other changes. Add to this Google’s
reticence to allow new sites straight on to its listings by adding a waiting factor of, maybe, three months for new sites, and you have a totally uncontrollable situation. We say to all our clients that a piece of Birmingham SEO work should be looked at like a marketing campaign that runs for six months, since it is only after that time that a true judgement of the effectiveness of the work can be made.

The final and seventh skill is an appreciation of how search engines and algorithms work, for this where both IT and maths experience is useful. People who have programmed at a detailed systems level have a natural feeling for how spiderbots will read a page, what they will search for, what tables they will set up, what weightings they may give to different elements. All of this builds a picture of the database that will be created and how it will be accessed when a search is undertaken. Unfortunately, this skill is the most difficult one to learn as it relies on many years experience of systems programming.

So, in summary, I would say “If it was easy everyone would be doing it!”. I hope you will see that professional Search Engine Optimisation companies need more than a bit of web design to improve your business. Make sure anyone you choose for Birmingham SEO work can cover all the bases.

It would be great to have a crystal ball, prying into the plans of the search engines and how they may change weights of algorithms and the like.

For those of little SE understanding, algorithms are formulas or rules set up by SE’s to determine ranking. Each rule then has a different weight or percentage of importance assigned to it. A good example of this is currently Google’s high weighting of linking over all other factors or rules.

So knowing this how do we get ahead of the game?

Do we simply keep up with the Jones (Google) in current time and not worry about future changes? Or do we allow for future changes in algorithms so we don’t have to go changing thousands of pages later on?

For me I will take the later…. and this is how it’s done…

We simply build in all factors that the SE’s currently rank sites on, a few they may use into the future and concentrate on ones that are the most sensible…. here is a list

domain name >> the name itself, length of registration past and future
domain hosting >> good hosting network. different ip range for mininets/virtual real estate
meta tags >> title, keywords, description
on page >> keyword density, headers, alt tags, outbound links, outbound link text, site map, less graphics, no flash or frames
visitor usability >> fast loading, good content, good navigation, search equipped, site map
html >> w3c compliant
directories >> dmoz & yahoo, local, industry specific, large generic
linking >> inbound links, reciprocal links, domain & text linking (spread), same/similar industries (semantic latent indexing), no linking for bad neighborhoods or sites, quantity & quality of links, where links are placed on the page, link density, ip class/range

I’m sure there are a few others that I could add to this list however on the whole currently this is it.

If you include all of these items into building your next web page and sites, no matter how the SE’s decide to change their algorithms by giving one factor a higher importance over another, you will be in good stead to keeping up top rankings.

Like anything else, high search engine ranking is not rocket science! You just have to know the rules and then do the work.

Start with one keyword or phrase, do the research, implement a plan, do the work, get the high ranking and then move onto the next keyword or phrase…..

And if you want a huge head start, there’s some great info out on fast Manchester SEO ranking.

Happy rankings….

Advertising is a very important part of running any type of business. You need to advertise to reach new customers and market your products or services. Whether you run your business online or not you probably already realize how important it is to advertise but if you are running your business online you should understand there is a great deal of free advertising available in the form of optimal search engine rankings.

Well known search engines such as Google rank websites according to complex algorithms which are designed to determine which websites are most relevant for particular search terms. Therefore taking the time and effort to optimize your website for relevant search terms may result in you being rewarded with high search engine rankings for these terms. This is important because most Internet users rely heavily on these rankings. It is not uncommon for Internet users to only review the first few results when they search for a particular term. This means if your website ranks high enough to appear on the first page of the search results you will likely enjoy increased website traffic. However, if your website doesnt make it to the first page or even the second page, it is unlikely you will receive a great deal of website traffic from visitors who use search engines.

Now that you understand why search engine rankings are so important you might wonder how to achieve these rankings. The easiest way to optimize your website is to hire a Bristol SEO specialist to do the work for you. The world of Bristol SEO is complex and continually evolving making it difficult for most business owners who do not specialize in Bristol SEO to keep up with the changes in the industry. Therefore, business owners who attempt to optimize their website by themselves may have difficulty keeping up with competitors who hire a Bristol SEO consultant to optimize their website.

The algorithms used by search engines can be rather complex and include a number of different factors. Some of the common factors in the equation include keyword density, META tags, titles, inbound links, website traffic and content.

Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword is used in the content of your website. The theory behind this concept is that website which use a keyword often are likely extremely relevant to that keyword, however, overuse of that keyword may result in penalties to the website if the search engine deemed the keywords are not being used appropriately.

META tags are pieces of HTML code which some search engines use in evaluating the content of a website. Placing keywords in these tags can be beneficial in some search engines. However, care should be taken to avoid placing irrelevant keywords in these tags as this may result in your website being penalized.

Inbound links are also used by some search engines to rank websites. Inbound links refer to links on other websites which point to your website. In evaluating the worth of these inbound links, some search engines consider the rank of the website providing the link to your website. This means you should ensure the website providing inbound links to your website are high ranking websites to receive the most benefit from these links.

Finally, the content on your website can do a great deal to bolster your search engine rankings. Most Bristol SEO firms retain a staff of writers who are skilled at providing quality content which is also optimized for relevant keywords. If you hire a Bristol SEO firm who does not providing copywriting services you should invest in hiring a professional writer yourself. This will help to ensure the copy on your website is not only valuable to your visitors but also considered valuable to search engines.

Q: Why are search engines important to me?

A: 85% of all website traffic is driven by search engines. The only online activity more popular than search is email. 79.2% of US users don’t go to page 2 of search results. 42% of users click on the no.1 result. For the under-40 age-group, the Internet will become the most used media in the next 2-3 years.

Q: How do search engines decide on their rankings?

A: IMPORTANT: You cannot pay a search engine in return for a high ranking in the natural results. You can only get a high ranking if your content is seen as relevant by the search engines.
Search engines identify relevant content for their search results by sending out spiders or robots which crawl (analyze) your site and index (record) its details. Complex algorithms are then employed to determine whether your site is useful and should be included in the search engines search results.

Q: Can’t I just pay for a high ranking?

A: No. The biggest concern for search engine companies like Google and Yahoo is finding content that will bring them more traffic (and thus more advertising revenue). In other words, their results must be relevant. Relevant results makes for a good search engine; irrelevant results makes for a short-lived search engine.

Most search engines these days return two types of results whenever you click Search:

Natural/Organic The real search results. The results that most users are looking for and which take up most of the window. For most searches, the search engine displays a long list of links to sites with content which is related to the word you searched for. These results are ranked according to how relevant and important they are.
Paid Pure advertising. This is how the search engines make their money. Advertisers pay the search engines to display their ad whenever someone searches for a word which is related to their product or service. These ads look similar to the natural search results, but are normally labeled Sponsored Links, and normally take up a smaller portion of the window.

Q: How do I get a high ranking?

A: There are four main steps:
Step 1 – Use the right words on your website
Step 2 – Get lots of relevant sites to link to yours
Step 3 – Use the right words in those links
Step 4 – Have lots of content on your site & add more regularly

Q: What is search engine optimization (Birmingham SEO)?

A: Search Engine Optimization (Birmingham SEO) is the art of creating a website which is search engine-friendly. This means:
using the right words in your copy
using the right words in your HTML code
structuring your site properly
designing your site properly

For more information on these 4 elements, download our free ‘Birmingham SEO Secrets’ eBook from divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOsecrets.htm.

Many people use Birmingham SEO to also describe the other ingredient in a high ranking, ‘Link Popularity’.

Q: What is link popularity?

A: Think of the search engines as a big election. All the websites in the world are candidates. The links to your website are votes. The more votes (links) a candidate (website) has, the more important it is, and the higher its ranking. Link popularity is all about how many links you have, and how you can get more.
Links to your site tell the search engines how important your site is. They assume that if its important enough for a lot of other sites to link to, its important enough for them to display at the top of the rankings. Links are the single most important factor in ranking. Generally speaking, the more links you have to your site from other sites, the better your ranking.

Q: Are some links better than others?

A: Yes! The ideal kind of links are those that:
come from relevant sites (sites which use the same keywords);
come from important sites (have a high ranking);
include your keyword as part of the visible link text;
include varying link text (not the same link text each time); and
come from a page that links to few other sites.

When a search engine sees a link which satisfies most or all of these conditions, it says, Hey, this site must be credible and important, because others in the same industry are pointing to it.

Q: How do I get lots of links back to my site?

A: There are many possible ways to generate links. Some are dubious (like auto-generation software, and sites set up by webmasters simply to host links to their other sites) and I wont be discussing them here. Others, like those discussed below, are legitimate.
Add your site to DMOZ & Yahoo Directories (and other free directories)
Check where your competitors links are coming from
Article PR – Write and submit articles for Internet publication
Swap links
Partner websites
Pay for links

For more information on these methods, download our free ‘Birmingham SEO Secrets’ eBook from divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOsecrets.htm.

Q: What do you think is the best way to get lots of links?

A: Article PR. Write helpful articles and let other webmasters publish them for free in exchange for a link in the byline. With article PR, you don’t have to pay for the link, you determine the content of the page containing the link, you determine the link text, and the link is more or less permanent. A single article can be reprinted hundreds of times, and each time is another link back to your site!
For more information, read divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOarticles.htm or visit ArticlePR.com.

Q: How do I write a good article PR piece?

A: See divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOarticles.htm.

Q: How do I get a high ranking using free reprint content?

A: See divinewrite.com/Top_Ranking_Free.htm.

Q: How long does it take to get a high search engine ranking?

A: A long time! Its impossible to say how much time youll need to spend generating links, but you can be sure itll be a while no matter which method of link generation you use. You just have to keep at it until you have achieved a high ranking. Even then, youll still need to dedicate some ongoing time to the task, otherwise your ranking will drop.

Q: What is the Google Sandbox, and is it real?

A: The Google Sandbox theory suggest that whenever Google detects a new website, it withholds its rightful ranking for a period while it determines whether your site is a genuine, credible, long term site. It does this to discourage the creation of SPAM websites (sites which serve no useful purpose other than to boost the ranking of some other site).

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence.

Q: What is the Google Dampening Link Filter, and is it real?

A: The Google Dampening Link Filter theory suggests that if Google detects a sudden increase (i.e. many hundreds or thousands) in the number of links back to your site, it may sandbox them for a period (or in fact penalize you by lowering your ranking or blacklisting your site altogether).

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence.

Q: What Birmingham SEO companies should I be wary of?

A: Be wary of Birmingham SEO companies that promise or guarantee results in a given timeframe, especially if they won’t expand on their methods for generating links back to your site.

Q: What tools can you recommend?

A: There are many very useful tools to help with your Birmingham SEO. The following are just selection. All tools are free unless otherwise indicated.
Backlink checker – http://www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
Backlinks by IP address – http://www.webuildpages.com/cclass/index.php
Link Popularity Tool – http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/
Number of links required to rank – http://www.iblcheck.com/
Google Alert – http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en
Google Sitemaps – http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps
Google Sitemap Generator – http://johannesmueller.com/gs/
Google Toolbar – http://toolbar.google.com/
Indexed Pages – http://www.webuildpages.com/cache/cachetoolpublic.pl
Keyword Analysis (Nichebot) – http://www.nichebot.com/
Keyword Analysis (Overture) – http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Keyword Analysis (WordTracker – Paid) – http://www.wordtracker.com/
Keyword Difficulty – http://www.Birmingham SEOmoz.org/tools/keyword-difficulty-tool.php
Keyword Identifier – http://www.googlerankings.com/ultimate_Birmingham SEO_tool.php
Keyword Density Measurement (Simple) – http://www.live-keyword-analysis.com/
Keyword Density Measurement (Complex) – http://www.gorank.com/analyze.php
Plagiarized Copy Search – http://www.copyscape.com/
Traffic Rank – http://www.alexa.com/
Search Engine Rank – http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/
Birmingham SEO Report – http://www.urltrends.com/
Top 10 sites for a keyword by no of backlinks and age – http://www.webuildpages.com/Birmingham SEO-tools/whoischeck-bykeys.pl
Top 10 sites for a keyword – http://www.webuildpages.com/cool-Birmingham SEO-tool/
Spider Simulator – http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/

Q: I’m confused about all the terms used in Birmingham SEO, can you help?

A: See divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEO_glossary.htm.

Q: What is keyword analysis?

A: The first thing you need to do when you begin chasing a good search engine ranking is decide which words you want to rank well for. This is called performing a keyword analysis. Keyword analysis involves a bit of research and a good knowledge of your business and the benefits you offer your customers.
For more information, download our free ‘Birmingham SEO Secrets’ eBook from divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOsecrets.htm.

Q: Do I need to submit my site to the search engines?

A: Theoretically, no. But I wouldn’t risk not doing it – especially as it’s free. As soon as you register your domain name, submit it to Google! Even if you havent built your site, or thought about your content, submit your domain name to Google. In fact, even if you havent fully articulated your business plan and marketing plan, submit your domain name to Google.

For more information, download our free ‘Birmingham SEO Secrets’ eBook from divinewrite.com/Birmingham SEOsecrets.htm.

Q: Should I submit my site to the search engines more than once?

A: No need. Although some of the search engines allow you to do this, there’s really no need.

Q: What are directories and should I submit my site to them?

A: Directories are websites (or web pages) which simply list lots of website and give a quick description of the website. Some are free and some require you to pay for a listing. Free directories are useful because you get a free link. However, the links aren’t worth that much. Paid directories can be good if they’re relevant, but they can cost a lot in the long term, so choose wisely.

One essential directories for any website is the DMOZ Open Directory Project.