Professional SEO Training Options

May 29, 2009 — admin

There are many reasons to become a professional SEO, but the chances are if you are looking at this page you have already made up your mind. If you know what you want but aren’t sure how to get there, then here is a guide to professional SEO training options.

1) SEO Books

There are no necessary qualifications for becoming an SEO, which is why more and more people are choosing to teach themselves. This is an attractive option for those who can’t afford the initial finds for a dedicated course. SEO books can teach you many of the basics of SEO, including the SEO terminology, day-by-day SEO training programs, how to get started optimising your own website, and where to look for further information. However, the problem with SEO books is that they don’t give you a hands on approach to SEO learning - not to mention the fact that you have to force yourself to sit down and read!

2) Trial and Error / Experience
Many online professionals get into SEO as a matter of chance, through trial and error over a number of years. The truth is that there are differing opinions as to the best optimisation methods, so getting out there and discovering what works for you is a great way to learn. However, this may be best for those who already have another online career and are not looking to make SEO their main source of income.

3) SEO Training Programs
Whilst there is no recognised qualification for becoming an SEO, it can be useful to look at professional SEO training courses. There are many of these around, so you will have to take your time weighing out the pros and cons of each one. You might not think you need to pay for professional SEO training courses at all, but think of it this way - do you really want to spend hours and hours trying to teach yourself at the risk of missing what’s really important?

There are many successful SEO professionals who have started from the bottom and taught themselves along the way. How you get started in SEO will depend completely upon the way you learn best. However, if you are seriously considering SEO as a career then why not put all of your effort into getting up and running as fast as possible? There are many online SEO training programs and materials out there to help you do this.

Posted in SEO Promote. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

10 Tips on Finding the Perfect SEO Copywriter

May 23, 2009 — admin

Are you trying to find the perfect SEO copywriter for your business? Not sure how to find one? And if you do, how will you know when you have found the right copywriter?

Well, here are ten tips to help you find the best SEO Copywriter:

1. Make sure you are considering an SEO copywriter and not just a general content writer. The main difference being that an SEO Copywriter has the necessary skills to sell your company on paper. These copywriters are able to appeal to people and the SEO machine alike, these writers should specialize in direct mail, article marketing, website copy, advertising copy but be intimately aware of SEO techniques.

2. Try and shop around as many writers focus on a particular type of copywriting or subject matter. Make sure that the person you are hiring has some experience in the type of writing you are looking for. Always ask to see their portfolio for examples of their writing.

3. Be willing to pay for a quality writer! Although there are copywriters out there that are new to the business and will charge pennies on the dollar for your writing assignments, don’t hire based on price alone. If you need to add value to your business then you should be prepared to pay a reasonable price for such quality copywriting.

4. One surefire way of knowing if you are dealing with a professional SEO copywriter is if they present you with a lot of questions. Why? Because this assists the copywriter to ensure that your content is correctly search engine optimized. Such questions to be prepared for are:

Who is your target market?
How do you intend to use the content?
What actions do you want the reader to take?
What are the features and/or benefits of your product or service?
Do you have testimonials from your clients that can be included in the piece?

5. Always have a contract signed and approved by both you and the Copywriter prior to the work commencing, and remember to read the fine print. Be sure to read it carefully to find out how many revisions are included and if the copywriter offers any guarantees.

6. Be prepared to pay a deposit. The majority of SEO copywriters in business today want a guarantee that they will be paid for their time and services. Keep in mind that you will lose your deposit should you cancel the assignment for any reason after the copywriter has begun working on it. Remember that the copywriter deserves to be paid for their time as they have already put in time and effort into your project.

7. Have a clear idea of what you want out of the writing before your hire a copywriter. You will need to be able to give the Copywriter as many details as possible about your project. It is very important that you have a well-defined concept of the range, focus, objectives and particulars of the project prior to hiring a Copywriter.

8. Prepare a rough draft of the content that you envision. This is particularly helpful if you have a tight budget since most writers either charge an hourly rate or bid per writing project. By giving the Copywriter an outline of what it is that you are looking for, they can quickly and easily complete the project for you in less time and with less cost to you.

9. Plan on a few re-writes. It is always difficult for a copywriter to take your thoughts and write them onto paper. Their first submission will always be a draft that you will be able to edit and give suggestions back to the copywriter who can then, in turn, provide you with a more polished final copy.

10. Do not suddenly change the article format or subject matter. This will cost you more in the long run, as a copywriter bids on your initial project and subject matter and subsequently creates an initial draft, based on that subject matter and format. If you abruptly change things then you will have to expect to not only pay for work that is already completed, but for the new work as well.

Each SEO Copywriter that you encounter will have their own individual strengths and weakness. Your job will be to find the SEO Copywriter that fits best with your company’s needs.

Posted in SEO Promote. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

Professional SEO Training Options

May 13, 2009 — admin

There are many reasons to become a professional SEO, but the chances are if you are looking at this page you have already made up your mind. If you know what you want but aren’t sure how to get there, then here is a guide to professional SEO training options.

1) SEO Books

There are no necessary qualifications for becoming an SEO, which is why more and more people are choosing to teach themselves. This is an attractive option for those who can’t afford the initial finds for a dedicated course. SEO books can teach you many of the basics of SEO, including the SEO terminology, day-by-day SEO training programs, how to get started optimising your own website, and where to look for further information. However, the problem with SEO books is that they don’t give you a hands on approach to SEO learning - not to mention the fact that you have to force yourself to sit down and read!

2) Trial and Error / Experience

Many online professionals get into SEO as a matter of chance, through trial and error over a number of years. The truth is that there are differing opinions as to the best optimisation methods, so getting out there and discovering what works for you is a great way to learn. However, this may be best for those who already have another online career and are not looking to make SEO their main source of income.

3) SEO Training Programs

Whilst there is no recognised qualification for becoming an SEO, it can be useful to look at professional SEO training courses. There are many of these around, so you will have to take your time weighing out the pros and cons of each one. You might not think you need to pay for professional SEO training courses at all, but think of it this way - do you really want to spend hours and hours trying to teach yourself at the risk of missing what’s really important?

There are many successful SEO professionals who have started from the bottom and taught themselves along the way. How you get started in SEO will depend completely upon the way you learn best. However, if you are seriously considering SEO as a career then why not put all of your effort into getting up and running as fast as possible? There are many online SEO training programs and materials out there to help you do this.

Posted in SEO Promote. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Finding Good Keywords

May 8, 2009 — admin

What is an SEO? SEO stands for search engine optimization which is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via natural search results for targeted keywords. Of course we all want our site to be the first on Google, Yahoo, or MSN search, because the higher a site ranks the more people will visit it. Although there are complicated tricks that can provide your site with better ranking, there are easier ways of improving your website’s position in search engines such as the keyword you pick for your site.

The keywords you pick for your website are very important and will affect your website’s spot in search engines. When picking keywords stay away from commonly used words or phrases; the trick here is that by using common searches you will be fighting with too many sites for the same words and will lose your chances of improving your ranking. For example the term “diet” has 59,200,000 results. What are the chances of your brand new site reaching to the number one spot? Your chances are almost zero unless you spend thousands of dollars over time using various optimization techniques. So how do you find a good keyword?

Two ways of finding good keywords are “keyword tools” or your search engines. “Keyword tools” are programs that help you find good key words by performing searches that will produce related words and also let you know which keywords to have the most results, which are ultimately the ones to avoid. Another way to find good keywords is using your search engines. Go in a search engine and type in your word; your search results are your competition, the quantity of sites fighting for those same words. When picking keywords start with something different and start small; at first you should opt for the keyword and phrases less used by other sites. Targeting keywords words giving about 500,000 results is a reasonable target.

SEO isn’t easy and can be very tricky. Search engine optimization is like starting a business, you have to start small and then grow. Too often people want to run before they can walk and end up hurting themselves. So if you are starting a site or re-doing your site spend time on your keywords and phrases first. If you already have a site you can still modify your current keywords and phrases; it’s never too late but please remember this is a timely process so don’t expect to be #1 over night even if you spend millions on optimization systems.

Posted in SEO Promote. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

5 SEO Techniques For Beginners

May 2, 2009 — admin

1. Focus your page: Each page should focus on one keyword or key phrase. Your keyword should appear in the title, the heading tag and one in bold on the page. You can bold one other closely related keyword or phrase, but do not overdo it. Check the keyword density of the page. There are plenty of free online tools to check the keyword density. It should be between 5% and 15%. If the density is higher than that then you run the risk of being penalized by the search engines.

2. Choose the proper title tag: Your title tag is the first thing a search engine spider sees, so it is on of the most important SEO tools you have. You title should consist of only 1 thing - the keyword of your page. The title tag is the text that will appear in the title bar of the web browser when someone is visiting your page. Take a look at the title of this page.

3. Design your site for your visitors AND search engines: Many experts advise designing your site for your visitors and not worrying about the search engines as much. However, with today’s tools, it is very easy to design a site that both your visitors and search engines will like. Make sure to use ALT tags for all of your images. Avoid the use of frames, flash and javascript. Have someone other than your mother or your spouse give you an objective opinion about your site. Is it is pleasing to look at? Is it easy to navigate? Would they come back?

4. Use unique content: Search engines like unique content. Do not fill your website with articles like this that you found on a free article site. It is fine to use some of them, but you must have content that is not found anywhere else on the web. Ideally, all of the content on your main page should be unique as this is the first page the search engine will come across. But if you want some individual pages indexed for a particular keyword, then at least the top content of the page should be unique.

5. Use backlinks effectively: A backlink is when another website links to your site. There are many ways to obtain backlinks (which is a topic for another article) but once you have the opportunity for a backlink, you should use it wisely. Make sure that your keyword is in the text of the link. For example, if the link text is “click here” the link will not carry as much weight with a search engine as the link text “Cookie Recipes” will - assuming the linked page is about cookies recipes.

Posted in SEO Promote. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »