Where to start - SEO/overwhelmed

[svengalie1]

Some very valid points Vangogh and yes a little linking is not a bad thing(but I wil still disagree from an SEO standpoint that link sharing helps, so we can agree to disagree on that point). I guess my issue also comes from seeing a large amount of link sharing between sites which caused Google to rewrite their algorithm which ultimatly negatively effected the SEO of those sites that still did this.

I guess with life in general to much of anything is not good and balance is the key (sorry to get philosophical on you), so in general we will just have to wait and see what google and the other search engines change in their algorithm during this 4th quarter.

Have a great day.

[laurenusa]

This conversation is very helpful, but here is another question.

Say I have articles on my site with relevant content and the goal is to get other sites to link to that content. How do you go about doing that? Is it a matter of people just finding the content and deciding to link to it or are there things you can actively do to help this process along?

Kathy, I have found that other sites will often link to your content if they find it useful. They will often do this without being asked or asking for permission. If you include some type of plug or rules, you can tell them it's OK to link and provide guidelines for doing so. This might possibly increase the inbound links, but if you are not already doing so, you could publish articles on sites such as GoArticles.

Bill I do agree with you that link exchanges aren't the way to go. I think search engines will look at your overall link profile and if the majority of your links are the one way inbound links then a few reciprocals won't hurt. I thnk if you exchange with the rigtht sites though it could certainly help. Say for example Yahoo wanted to exchange links with you. I'm sure you would and I'm sure it would help your pages rank better. But I do agree that exchange links isn't the best approach.

Kathy the most important thing is to start with the good content. You do want something that someone else will want to link to, something they think their visitors will find useful. In some ways yeah it is about people just seeing that content and them linking to it on their own, but you can certainly help the process along.

Until your site has enough backlinks it's probably not going to rank well for competitive keyphrases. However you can taget longer phrases that are less competitive and can often find pages ranking without links.

One keyword I can see you using is 'confections.' I don't know enough about the phrase to know how competitive it is, but it looks moderatly so. What I can say is that 'chocolate confections' is a little less competitive. Adding more words to the phrase and it becomes less competitive. When you get to the phrase

'art chocolate confections dessert recipe simply spectacular technique'

there's not much competition. It will be easy to rank for that phrase. You don't even need to use that entire phrase exactly as written, but maybe use 'chocolate confections dessert recipe' in the page title and then the other words on the page. Will the phrase get searched for a lot? No, but it does get searched and there are many other phrases for which you can easily be found.

And if you are found and have good content on that page people will link to you. As they do and as the page gets more links it will be more able to compete for more popular phrases that don't need all of the words in the longer terms. It will take time, but it can happen.

The key is to start out with some really good content.

[laurenusa]

Thanks for the input.

[StillLearnin']

Originally Posted by vangogh

Adding more words to the phrase and it becomes less competitive.

It also increases your conversion ratio for visitors using MSN & Yahoo. There was a study done a while back that indicated 3 & 4 word KWPs converted highest.

It'll generally increase conversions on Google, Ask, and any other search engine as well. It's not just a Yahoo, MSN thing.

I say generally, though, because longer doesn't automatically convert. I could easily come up with some long phrases that wouldn't, but for the most part as people type more words into a search engine they are usually closer to the end of the buying process.

Someone who types 'digital cameras' into a search engine could be looking for so many things from general information, specifications, pictures, and even to buy.

Someone looking for 'canon eos digital rebel prices' is more likely looking to buy. They might still be looking for other things, but they are closer to making a buying decision.

[svengalie1]

I agree with Vangogh. I recently implemented that with a client who deals with Home Theater equipment. To help with their PPC campaign and lower their cost per click we made the search terms more specific and actually put model numbers as the key words for their PPC campaign. The research that we did showed that people were doing their research offline at the large chain stores then going online once they knew what they wanted and searched by model number to shop on price. I am not sure if this would be effective across other business verticals, my guess would be that the vertical would have to be very price sensitive, like the electronics industry.

Bill I think what you saw is pretty common. I think the reverse is also true where people do their research online and then buy offline.

People do go through a buying process and in the early stages are more likely to be doing research. That's when they'll use more generice keyphrases in searches. I know everyone wants to target those generic keyphrases because they have the potential for the most visiors, but the more generic the more competition.

It's not only easier to compete for the longer and more unique phrases, but they generally convert better.

As a rather simple example if I typed 'bass' into a search engine what am I looking for and who will be competing for the term? Now what if I typed 'bass guitar' or 'bass fishing' instead. That one extra word clarifies a lot more what I'm looking for and also greatly reduces the competion for the keyphrase.

[shehnaz]

About traffic here you will find some good free traffic types also there are some traffic ebooks for free, I hope to be helpful for you