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Search Engine Articles
Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization
PART III: OFF-PAGE FACTORS
Once you have selected your keyphrases and optimized your
pages for them, the last step is to make sure that you get linked from the best
directories, and from lots of quality sites with a topic related to your site's.
The best search engines, and in particular Google (who alone can deliver 80% of
the search engine traffic to your site) "crawl" the web looking for
links to your site. They interpret a link to your page as a vote, and the more
links (votes) you have coming from quality sites the higher your page rank will
be, and the higher the possibility that your page will achieve a good position
in the search results pages. It's that simple. Following these four
steps is the best way to get the quality links you need:
- Get listed in DMOZ: The Open Directory Project ( http://www.dmoz.org
) is the world's largest directory. It is maintained by voluntary editors
who review your site prior to inclusion. Being listed in this directory is
important because it is used by Google and America Online to build their
directories. Getting listed is free, but it may take a few weeks or even
months to get listed, which can be a bit frustrating. However, there is a
strong believe among search engine optimization experts that an Open
Directory Project listing can significantly increase your page rank in
Google, so you must take the time to submit your site and do it right (list
your site in the right category and strictly follow their submission
guidelines). For tips on getting listed in the Open Directory Project visit
the following site: http://www.apromotionguide.com/dmoz.html
.
- Get listed in Yahoo!: Submissions to Yahoo! are no longer
free for commercial sites (your site can be reviewed in about a week for a
fee of $299 although inclusion in the directory is not guaranteed.
However, if you do get accepted, the $299 fee will be due every year if you
want your site to continue to be listed). A link from Yahoo!'s directory is
still one of the best links you can get, and it is worth the money you spend
getting listed. For tips on getting listed in Yahoo! visit the following
site: http://www.apromotionguide.com/yahoo.html
.
- Submit articles: There are many sites where you can publish
articles in your field of expertise. This is a great way to establish
yourself as an expert and to drive quality traffic to your site. The key is
to include your resource box at the end of your article. A resource box is a
small paragraph with a brief description of you and your business, where you
include a link to your site. This way, every time somebody picks up your
article and publishes it in their website or newsletter, your link will be
there for readers and search engines to see and follow. For tips of getting
traffic by writing articles you can visit: http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/write.html
.
- Exchange links with reputable sites: You must try to find
quality sites that are compatible to your site's topic (not direct
competitors), and ask the webmaster for a link exchange. This will give you
highly targeted traffic and will improve your score with the search engines.
For tips for a good link exchange campaign, visit: http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/inboundlinks.html
.
You can freely reprint this article. Just
include the following resource box at the end:
Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net
) a website and newsletter that gives you useful advice on web design and
Internet marketing, one free tip at a time
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