Many bloggers may not know it, but there are actually several SEO tips that will come in handy to turn an ordinary blog into a highly trafficked site.

Placing Keywords Strategically

One of the most important SEO tips to remember is that search engines like Google and Yahoo, which send out automated web crawlers or “spiders” to categorize and rank all published web sites and blogs in the Internet, do so by searching for relevant content through prominently and strategically displayed keywords. Make sure to follow the following best practices:

1. The title tag of the website is always crawled (i.e. noticed) by search engine spiders. The blog with keywords placed in the title tag will be placed higher on search engines.

2. The heading tags are also commonly crawled. This means keywords should be incorporated in the titles of each blog whenever possible.

3. Images in a blog are ignored by the search engine spider, but keywords placed as textual descriptions in the alt tags of images are not. This is one of the SEO tips that is specifically for graphics-driven posts like photography or travel blogs.

4. Search engine spiders do not ignore keywords in inbound or outbound links to blog sites. For inbound links from other websites to your blog, this means using the keyword as part of the anchor text (the clickable text in a link). For outbound links on your blog to other webpages, make sure that your URL link has the keyword.

5. Another relevant SEO tip is achieving the right number of keywords to preserve keyword density (how frequent the keyword appears in your page). The blogger has direct control over this metric, by writing blog posts with around 3 may cause the spiders to miss the keyword for the blog.

6. Search engine spiders are also friendly toward keyword synonyms. So feel free to incorporate synonyms to limit keyword monotony in blog posts, and at the same time continue to optimize your blog site.

Linking for Ranking

Another useful SEO tip is establishing quality links in the blog, particularly incoming links from similar sites. Similar sites translate to websites that are technically your niche competitors. Getting competitor sites to link to your blog is considered a major vote that increases the blog’s status in your niche circle, as well as in search engine rankings.

Another SEO tip related to links is the setup of long-lasting inbound links. Aging links are favored by search engines, interpreted as an endorsement by the linking website and as a proof of organic link-building.

On the other hand, avoid broken links at all cost, because search engines will demote blog ranking if they find links to non-existent sites.

Search Engine Algorithms

Different search engines index and rank websites according to their own algorithms, although many SEO tips focus on keywords and link building because they are common to almost all search engines. Google, in particular, uses sitemaps to index blogs and websites. The use of the robots.txt file is also another methodology that search engines use to ignore or index a site. Use the file carefully to ban or un-ban certain portions of your site from search engine rankings.

by: Debbie Everson

If we do a simple mathematics – more visitors would mean more conversions, however this may or may not hold true if sufficient attention is not given to basics, which we simply tend to ignore.

Parts that need to be kept in mind

• Focused Content: Your content has to be focused. The content should be tailored for different set of visitors – to the point that you even think about how your company profile will be presented to respective segments. The quality of writing has to be top-notch business grade.

• Title & Description tags: When a visitor searches for keywords on a Search Engine, results are essentially a fight of the title and description. This is where you leave the first impression. The user will be more inclined towards a compelling title as he would perceive your website to better than others.

• Offer Original & Quality information on your website: This is the best way to attract traffic to your website. Offer original & unique information which visitors cannot find anywhere else. This will also help in branding your business image as Industry experts & will also get you good quality one-way links.

• Give Freebies: Who doesn’t like freebies? Offer your visitors free e-books, free Cd’s, free whitepapers, free consultation, free webinars etc. People love these and will keep coming back for more. This will not only increase new and repeat traffic but also help in link building.

• Social Media: Use Social Media websites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to share information with your targeted audience. Share your writings & researches, participate in discussions, and help others by solving their problems. This will propel people to visit your website more often and look for desired information.

• Advertisements: There are many free/ paid ways to advertise your business online. Classified Ads is free and is one of the ways to place business related ads which help in driving traffic. You can also benefit from Paid methods like Google Adwords programs which are more targeted and help in bringing visitors based on demographics, location and preferences. However you need to decide on a budget for these and then plan accordingly.

• Update website regularly: Keep updating your site by adding new, relevant and helpful content to your site. Search engines also give preference to sites with new and relevant content.

• Blog: Using unique and effective writing strategies is one of the best ways to boost website traffic. Create a blog that supports your website and make sure that your blog navigation flow your visitors to your website with ease. Also include your product/services links within your blog posts so that the visitors who read your blog can easily navigate to your website.

We at AftertheNet (http://www.afterthenet.com) keep supplementing our clients with the most basic to the most advanced techniques for any goal they decide to reach with their website. Our step wise approach gives them the complete visibility of their website, which often they are deprived of in absence of a trustworthy resource.

[Neil Paige]