Mozak Design Blog

You can SEO iWeb Sites!

Have you even noticed that your iWeb site
never seems to come up in the Search Engines?

One of the biggest challenges for an iWeb Website is being found on a Google search. The main reason for this is iWeb by default favors turning everything, even words, into pictures. As you can imagine, Search Engines cannot read pictures.

While working with one of my Portland customers I discovered the following blog: http://allaboutiweb.com

I highly recommend all iWeb users check it out. He shares tips on how to transform your website into one Google will like.

Craigslist – Advertising for Free!

Craigslist is one of the most popular websites on the Internet and presents you with a great marketing opportunity for your small business. The Internet has provided the world with a huge marketplace where people can advertise and market their goods or services.  Craigslist is a website that allows users to sell anything from furniture to real estate. It is a listing of classified ads that include job placements, personal ads, ads for home supplies, ads for pet food, ads for website designs for small business, etc. Craigslist is a flea market that is online and used by millions all over the world. 

People who visit Craigslist are looking for something that they want to purchase. If you advertise some product or service that suits their interest, you are bound to have an increased traffic to your website that converts to sales. For instance, a web design company based in Portland may advertise their services in Craigslist to expand their business worldwide.

Since the Craigslist site is conveniently divided into regions, it is very easy to place your ads in the city or country of your choice. Your ads will be displayed on the site for 45 days, but after that you can re-list them if you so desire.

Craigslist ads are given top rankings by search engines, especially Google. So, expect an increased flow of traffic to your site within a week of posting your ad at Craigslist. SEO web design for your web page ensures a good ranking at search engine listings. Make use of the same SEO techniques to design your ad by using the relevant keywords to ensure top-ranked listings.

There are a number of websites that allow you to post free ads. Posting ads at sites like Yahoo Classifieds, Backpage, Highland Classifieds or USFreeads will also help to increase traffic to your site. However, the volume of traffic generated through Craigslist posting is much higher than any of the other free classifieds sites available. This is the reason that Craigslist is so popular among net surfers.

Squidoo – It’s Truly Amazing!

There are numerous websites that allow you to create a web-page for any topic under the sun. One among them is Squidoo.com. It is a fairly recent site, created by Seth Godin, a marketing expert. The site is greatly popular among internet users for driving traffic to their own sites; in other words, it is a great marketing tool.

Squidoo web pages are known as ‘lenses’. Anyone can create a Squidoo lense. For this, you need not be a technical wizard, as you can have a lense of your own in three easy steps. The best part is that you can include all kinds of modules to make a site that is interactive and keeps your visitors involved.

Here are some examples of what you can include in your lense to SEO your small business:

• Creating Text Blocks enables you to make blog entries or post your articles.
• Setting up an interactive poll will keep your visitors involved in your business.
• You can keep your lense updated and active by allowing the visitors to give their comments. You may ask them to link their own lense to yours.

The best part of Squidoo is that it has the capability to drive appropriate traffic to your website, which in turn translates into large volumes of sales. Besides, you can also provide links to products sold on eBay, Amazon and other product vending sites. What’s more, you earn a commission for any sale that has taken place from these links!  And mind you, Squidoo.com is completely free!

Search engines like Google usually top rank long tail keyword phrases at Squidoo. You can thus create a network of lenses on Squidoo to target keyword phrases that will direct the search engines to your site. It is always a good practice to include some readable and informative content in the lense in order to target the visitors to your main site.

However, if the lense for your particular keyword is already in existence, you may need to get it transferred or purchase it. This is an ideal situation for you because you are getting a readymade lense without making any effort.

The early bird small businesses users of Squidoo.com are already earning the benefits. You can do it too. Since search engine optimization or SEO is the backbone of internet businesses, each relevant keyword phrase can have a squidoo lense devoted to it.

SEO Techniques to Improve Website Traffic

In order to earn sales leads through internet marketing, it is crucial for a website to be highly ranked on the search engine results. Search Engine Optimization or SEO ensures high ranking results for a website. Most site owners are aware of this and therefore adopt SEO techniques to achieve the rankings they desire. Some of the most useful SEO techniques and some do’s and don’ts are discussed here.

• Web Page Title
  

When a search engine reports a result, the first line of each result is the title of the website page. When the user reads the title, he/she knows the relevance of the website vis-à-vis the search criteria. For example, if you are searching for a web design firm in Portland and one of the results is “Portland based ABC Web Design Company”, then you know that the page or website is what you want. Needless to say, the title tags should contain the strongest keyword relevant to the particular website that is understood by both, the user and the search engine.

• “Alt tags”

Alt tags refer to alternate tags which are assigned to images. It helps explain the image as well as notify the user as to which image is missing if it (the image) fails to download. Additionally, it is a location to tastefully integrate keywords. Good SEO web design practice to makes abundant use of them.

• Keyword Density

Keyword density is the percentage of the total word count occupied by the keyword/phrase on the web page. Strategic placing of keywords in the title and the body of the text will help to manage keyword density which is one of the essential SEO techniques.

• Content Quality

A site with rich and unique content usually ranks amongst the top in search engine results. Constantly updating the content on your site makes the site dynamic, therefore, search engines are more likely to rank your site among the top in the listings.

• Well Designed Websites

Creating an attractive website design is one way to keep up the flow of visitors. Many a times the users are put off due to a poorly designed site that is difficult to navigate or its contents are difficult to read. Website design for the site should be such that it can be viewed easily in all major browsers.

• Pratices to Avoid

Avoid bad SEO techniques like spamming which may cause your site to be banned. Your website should contain pages that are rich in content while using the targeted keywords. However, be careful not to overwhelm the reader with a very high keyword density.

The best SEO web design practice would be to keep things simple on your website. See that your site loads easily, is simple to navigate and above all provides useful information to the user. Following good SEO techniques will certainly help you achieve your desired ranking; leading to increased traffic to your site and an increase in business.