So you want to learn SEO?

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2012 is going to be a year of domain specific SEO I would suggest anyone interested in getting to the top in Google or other engines buy a few of the newer extensions such as .biz or .mobi or in this business most importantly .dj

It won't cost a whole lot for most of them (.dj is about $50 though) but they will help a whole lot by being pointed to your site. Some of them are pretty much wide open too you might just get a name you always wanted
 
SEO includes so many different aspects of optimization. Even with a snazzy WP site focused on links and content, you can still get hurt in your analytics. I got back a 65 page report and spent the past MONTH cleaning house after the panda update. I realized I was focused too heavily on content and links...
 
Oh and if anyone uses wordpress software etc

have a look at this one

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

looks great all in one!

Some features:
  • Google Analytics support
  • Support for Custom Post Types
  • Advanced Canonical URLs
  • Fine tune Page Navigational Links
  • Built-in API so other plugins/themes can access and extend functionality
  • ONLY plugin to provide SEO Integration for WP e-Commerce sites
  • Nonce Security
  • Support for CMS-style WordPress installations
  • Automatically optimizes your titles for search engines
  • Generates META tags automatically
  • Avoids the typical duplicate content found on WordPress blogs
  • For beginners, you don't even have to look at the options, it works out-of-the-box. Just install.
  • For advanced users, you can fine-tune everything
  • You can override any title and set any META description and any META keywords you want.
  • Backward-Compatibility with many other plugins, like Auto Meta, Ultimate Tag Warrior and others.
 
depends on the type you need there are so many ways to do things

i have my website logs i look at serves me ok
 
I have used sites like diyseo and hubspot for "free" test, but when it gets to real details found in those reports you have to pay. Is there any site that will give an overall "grade" on a website and include tips on what to fix without paying? I am mainly looking for flaws in my site that I can correct, such as unique page titles, etc.

Hubspot opened my eyes to making an apple icon for my website, so apple users who bookmark my site on thier iphone/pad/desktop they have an icon/my logo instead of just a screenshot for an icon. The little things like that are what I would like to discover more of.

I would imagine there is some of of "open source" seo report generator somewhere out there
 
I have used sites like diyseo and hubspot for "free" test, but when it gets to real details found in those reports you have to pay. Is there any site that will give an overall "grade" on a website and include tips on what to fix without paying? I am mainly looking for flaws in my site that I can correct, such as unique page titles, etc.

Hubspot opened my eyes to making an apple icon for my website, so apple users who bookmark my site on thier iphone/pad/desktop they have an icon/my logo instead of just a screenshot for an icon. The little things like that are what I would like to discover more of.

I would imagine there is some of of "open source" seo report generator somewhere out there

@sightsandsounds was talking about a website grade last summer. Not sure if it was a paid service or not.

I gave up on SEO tools. I just keep on truckin' with standard conventions and do pretty well.
 
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well that webalizer software thats around isnt too bad and free

Shane the google apps one for chrome isnt too bad either but we all have to remember its what our own personal likes and dislikes is what comes in to play
if it works for you good - if it doesnt oh well there is a lot more out there (bit like trying to find the right woman)

oh that free site for webalizer --- www.webalizer.org
 
I gave up on SEO tools. I just keep on truckin' with standard conventions and do pretty well.

Dan has the right approach. I've been toying with SEO for a couple of years and the sites I have worked on all went top 10 and stayed there. You can use the newest technique and go number one for a few days and then fall out of the top 10 or you can use the basics and stay there.
 
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I only use a few and even then its all garbage - your right one way and your wrong another

so what works for you then use it what wont work... leave it out
 
Wow .. SEO, internet design, web marketing AND refurbished iPhones ...
 
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ok now this should help.....


10 basic search engine optimization tips


Takeaway: You can improve your Web site’s search engine rankings without paying an SEO specialist an arm and a leg. Justin James shares some steps you can take that will really pay off.

Having a Web site that can’t be found in search engines is not much good to either the people who made it or the people who could benefit from finding it. But a full-blown SEO campaign is a lot of effort and often requires expensive specialists. Luckily, there is a lot of work you can do yourself without much training (if you are already a Web designer, developer, or Webmaster) to improve your site’s search engine rankings, and they won’t cost you any money. Here are 10 things you can do.



1: Produce good content

We often forget what the purpose of a search engine is: to allow people to find what they are looking for! All the algorithms of a search engine are designed to support this end. It’s been my experience that good, high quality content tends to rise to the top in search engines. They recognize it as being good, and when other people see it, they will link to it.


2: Analyze your traffic

Looking at your Web traffic with a tool like Google Analytics will help you get a handle on what kinds of things your users are looking for. Once you know what keywords attract them and what types of sites point to which pages on your site, you can play to your strengths and try to bring up your weaknesses. For example, if you are trying to score well for one keyword but you see than another keyword is bringing you a lot more traffic, it may mean that you need to change strategies or perhaps focus on the more popular keyword.


3: Go with text, not images, AJAX, or other multimedia


PLEASE ASK ME FOR DETAILS



4: Write quality HTML

Writing clean HTML goes a long way toward signaling to the search engines what text is important and what isn’t. It also makes it easier for the search engines to get at that oh-so-important content that users are trying to find. By writing clean HTML, you are making it easier for the search engine to send traffic to your site.


5: Use a sitemap


PLEASE ASK ME FOR DETAILS


6: Do not pay for links…

We all know that inbound links are important to your site’s rankings. But did you know that paying for them can get you penalized pretty badly? A number of high profile sites have been burned because their SEO team paid for links. How did they get caught? In some cases, they were turned in by other sites that noticed fishy links. But the engines are starting to use algorithms to detect it, too. Don’t pay for links; you will regret it in the long run.


7: …but work for links!

Just because you can’t pay for links doesn’t mean that you can or should rely on them to grow in a purely organic fashion. There are lots of honest, legitimate ways to encourage other sites to give you links. Remember, most sites now set up their comments and forums so that you don’t get much (if any) “link juice” from putting your Web site’s URL there. At the same time, there is nothing stopping you from writing an article for a site and asking them to link to yours or requesting that they give a link to your site where appropriate. Look for sites that complement your offerings instead of competing.


8: Use canonical URLs


PLEASE ASK ME FOR DETAILS


9: Include metadata

No, I don’t mean the “meta” tags like keywords, which search engines stopped paying attention to years ago. I mean things like the alt text on images, titles to links, page titles, and so on. These are all useful cues to search engines. Adding them to your existing content is fairly easy, albeit time consuming and tedious. Also, metadata should be relevant. Putting alt text like “img001.jpg” on a file named “img001.jpg” is not going to help you too much.


10: Cut the fat


PLEASE ASK ME FOR DETAILS




Other tips?


What steps have you taken to boost your site’s search engine rankings? What seems to have helped the most?


had to take out a few if you need to read it all
i'll email you it
but thats where some just have to ask nicer



have a nice day
 
I was talking to a friend of mine the other week who owned the number 1 or 2 spot for the keyword p0rn on Google for almost 18 months. He seems to know a thing or two about SEO. He told me that one dmoz backlink is usually enough to get you and hold you at #1 for a long time. The trouble is getting the Dmoz people to actually list your site as it's all done by hand via volunteers. I'll see what other tips I can remember from our talk.

He is promoting the Yoast WP SEO plugin for Wordpress sites right now as a solid free tool. After that, it's mostly a lot of on page stuff and good original content.
 
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Nice to see you back posting Chris it's been a while
 
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