By Britnee Nguyen

Before the internet and blogs, writers were only being published in newspapers, magazines and books –all print material. Nowadays, writing is being published in a variety of different avenues through the internet. This is great for writers which means more opportunity to get writing noticed, but it also means they should be more aware of SEO writing. SEO  is search engine optimization using keyword to get higher up on the search engine results. SEO isn’t here to ruin good quality writing, but it’s to direct people to your writing to read what you have to say. It’s for your own benefit.

When writing, consider using keywords often. You can still make your writing comprehensible while inserting keywords. Obviously, you don’t want to go overboard with keywords in every sentence because that will look silly and forced. You don’t need too many to make the search engines understand what your article is about. These keywords should be the ones you want to focus on when people search those terms at search engines. You’ll have a better chance of getting higher if you’re using the right keywords.

A change to SEO writing from regular writing is the headlines. No longer can you use puns in headlines without it taking a blow to your search rankings. Headlines should be key phrases that you think people would search for. If you use a clever pun in a newspaper, you’re considered witty, but when you use it on-line it won’t capture as many readers because people aren’t going to be searching for that pun.

When inserting links into your writing, don’t just write our “click here” for my other related article. You’ll want to actually put the headline as the hyperlinked text. This will improve your SEO even more so for your other articles since you’re giving them an inbound link related to that keyword. This is why “click here” is of no use. If you google “click here” you’ll see that adobe is at the top. This is because they’ve use the phrase a lot of for downloads.

Nowadays, many employers are not only looking for good writers, but those who can optimize their writing for the web. As writing jobs become more competitive, it’s important to understand SEO practices and incorporate them into your quality writing. This will give you an edge over your competitors for a job. SEO isn’t meant to interfere with good writing, it’s to improve your writing techniques and get more people to read your stuff.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Tinyurl, Bit.ly, tr.im, ju.mp… anyone who’s used Twitter recognizes these names as common URL shortening services that people use to turn long links into short, convenient links.  These are also used in other social media networks like Facebook.

The question is… can URL shorteners affect your SEO?  The answer is, yes, they most certainly can.

Consider the above tweet we made using the bit.ly URL shortener to link to one of our blog posts.  Does this link provide any SEO value? Would it have been different if we used another shortening service?

In order to answer these mystifying questions, Search Engine Land has created a useful chart detailing the basic differences between URL shorteners.

Here is the most important factor when it comes to URL shorteners and SEO: 301 and 302 redirects.

301 versus 302 Redirects:

301 redirects are highly preferable in a URL shortener, because they tell search engines to give link credit to your long URL, rather than the shortened one! This is also permanent and really helps give credit to your links. Luckily, the most commonly used URL shorteners like bit.ly and tinyurl use 301 redirects.

302 redirects, on the other hand, give only temporary link credit to your long links.  This tells search engines that the more powerful and important link is the shortened one, not yours! Here are some URL shorteners that use this dreaded 302 redirect: Hex.io, twurl.in, and eweri.

So next time you go to shorten that amazing link, be sure to pick a URL shortener that uses a 301 redirect. This will help you create inbound links to your site or blog, which will in turn increase your rankings in search engines!

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

We’ve all seen this before: the rapid weight loss plans, the get rich quick schemes, and in internet marketing, the “amazing” linkbait strategies that will, supposedly, get you on top of Google in a matter of days!

What’s my point here?  The world is full of easy alternatives to good ‘ol hard work.  And, while these alternatives have allowed us to create indoor plumbing and sliced bread, they’ve also elevated expectations to an unnecessary degree and allowed scam artists to flourish.

In the case of SEO, I’m talking about link farms that allow you to purchase “quality links” in order to increase your search engine rankings.  These institutions claim that you will see results in days, when in reality, great SEO plans will more often take months to generate results.  However, you can be assured that when these results do kick in, they will give your site an incredible search engine presence that will last for years.

The problem with get-ranked-quick linkbait schemes is that search engines are designed to pick up on fishy activity like this, and will take action against it.

Here is a list of linkbait tactics that will raise red flags with Google and Bing:

1.  Your inbound links increase suddenly and dramatically in a short period of time.

2.  Your inbound links come from irrelevant blog comments and unrelated topics.

3.  Hiding links in your pages.

4.  Receiving links from known link farms, paid link firms, and other known spam websites.

5.  Linking out to known spam websites.

In the long run, when it comes to SEO, don’t fall for the get-ranked-quick scheme!  Good ‘ol fashioned networking, relationship building and conversation is the best way to receive quality inbound links.  Yes, it will take time and effort, but the search-engine-deities will surely reward you for your diligence!

By Robert Lockard

I read an article on Entrepreneur.com a while back, entitled, “Rev up the Search Engines.” It gives a helpful rundown of solid SEO principles for small businesses, which don’t have a whole lot of money to spare but need to start generating results from ecommerce.

This article gives six tips for a small business to get the most bang for its buck, when it comes to search engine optimization. They are attributed to Steve Wiideman, a fairly renowned SEO expert. I already talked about most of these in my SEO series in the eHarbor Blog, back in February and March of 2009. But I think a refresher is healthy.

Here are some of the highlights I took from these tips:

- Search engines are getting smarter. Don’t expect Google, Bing or Yahoo to fall for the same old SEO tricks. Bloggers and other content generators used to focus on their keyword-to-content ratio, but now search engines recognize when you use the same keyword too many times in the same post. Use relevant keywords prudently. If you use keyword-stuffing tactics, don’t expect much success.

- Google should be the focus of your SEO strategy. I thought this one was interesting because, while Google is certainly the king of search engines at the moment, things can change fairly quickly in the digital age. Of course, Google is constantly changing its algorithm for search results and it’s even changing its search engine completely with new products like Google Wave, Google Caffeine and a focus on social media, images and music. But that’s the topic of a whole other blog entry.

- If an SEO consulting company guarantees No. 1 placement on Google or any other search engine, don’t believe them. Google is the only that can absolutely guarantee top placement on its results pages, and every other company has to do its best to influence Google, but none can absolutely guarantee success. Keep that in mind when you come across SEO companies’ marketing messages.

Having said that, I’ll note Submit Solution is a good SEO resource for you. Submit Solution has more than 13 years of experience working on Internet marketing, which includes search engine optimization. It’s a great resource because it has helped many companies like yours reach customers online through its efforts. Like I said, they can’t guarantee No. 1 placement for competitive search terms, but you can expect dramatic improvements in your search-engine rankings for specific keywords in the months after they start implementing their SEO strategies on your behalf.

Keep coming back to the Submit Solution SEO Blog for the latest updates on major search-engine trends. This is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog entry, “Top SEO tactics for small businesses.” The photo of the flying bicyclist is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Tom Grundy Photo.

By Britnee Nguyen (@brit_witters)

If you are getting a new website domain name, you might be wondering if all the SEO and internet marketing work you did for your original domain will carry over. Some people change their domain name to target a better audience by using their keywords in the URL. If you choose to do this, there are ways to do it without affecting the SEO you’ve already put in place.

Keep your old URL for the purpose of getting it forwarded onto your new website. This way if you have a returning customer who doesn’t know you changed your website, when they type in the original site they will get redirected to the correct one. This will keep your customers coming to your website and keep your page rank. Always use a 301 redirect that is permanent. If you use a 302 redirect that is temporary this could do some damage to your SEO.

When using the 301 redirect, it will redirect every page on your site to the correct page on the new website so you won’t lose any web traffic. Some just redirect it to the main homepage, but it’s better to make them all direct to the most relevant page you have on your new site.

Another option you can do in this process is while you’re redesigning your new site, go ahead and move your old site to the new URL. When you have the new design ready to be put up, go ahead and change it. This might affect your rankings for a small time on Google, but it shows them that you are just moving your domain name and not some outsider who is trying to bank on your built-up credibility.

If you do these things, then you should have no problem with Google recognizing your new site as the correct version of your old one and will keep your page rank and SEO in place. Remember to keep your old domain name and use a 301 redirect and to have your company’s old design on the new one while waiting for the new one to be completed.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Yes, the title of this post may seem a bit depressing, but just hear me out.

I’m here to talk about the top mistakes that people make in SEO in relation to keywords, which in turn, basically guarantee that they will never reach the top of Google.

Let’s say that I’m starting an online shop focusing on baby products.  The problem that most people encounter in relation to keywords, is that they use terms  like “baby products” without recognizing their popularity or exploring other options.  There are many problems with using generic, short phrases like “baby products” as your main keyword that you would like to market to search engines.  For example, consider online entities like Babies-R-Us and Graco that have hundreds of thousands of dollars to commit to online marketing.  Large companies like these dominate the online marketing world because they have almost unlimited resources while, sadly, you do not.

Also, consider how search engines like Google rank sites: the shorter the keyword, the more searches you will have.  Therefore, the shorter the keyword or phrase, the harder it is for you to rank number one in Google, for they understand that shorter phrases are more popular, and therefore more desirable for online businesses.

Basically, when people start a site (or start optimizing their site), they tend to choose keywords that are all wrong for them.  In order to avoid this, use the Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool to research key terms and phrases.  First, I would make a list similar to this:

baby products

designer baby products

baby items

baby gifts

These are common key phrases that others with similiar online stores will use to generate traffic to their site.  Once I enter in these keywords (and check the “use synonyms” box), Google will generate information on these terms and other similar phrases.  You can use this information to pick keywords that are popular, but not over-saturated with competition, such as “baby products”.

By using what are called “long tail keywords” (phrases of three or more words) you will have a much higher chance of getting a great ranking in Google.  This works to smaller online businesses’ advantage, because longer keyword phrases have less competition and will allow them to rank in Google’s top page.  Although the traffic generated from these words is quite a bit less than the traditional two-word phrase, it’s better to be at the top of Google for “cheap handmade baby products” than on page 24 for “baby products”.

By Britnee Nguyen

Search engine optimization tends to have a lot of different aspects about it that businesses need to be aware of in order to see results. There are so many things that can be done when optimizing a website that it’s important to let experts in the field work on the SEO for your business.

Google is the search engine that most businesses want to be top ranked, but Google is regularly changing their search results formula which makes it more difficult to stay on top. Internet marketing experts who work with SEO everyday, such as those at Submit Solution, stay up-to-date on these changes.

There are several things that need to be kept up on an updated basis for businesses to succeed on Google. For example, the local results feature on Google helps target certain areas for results. So if your business wants to do more in a local geographical area, Google can get you more traffic from those in that area. You just need to make sure you write some local information when optimizing your website. To boost your local ranking, use local keywords when you’re writing directions on how to find your business with a map included.

You also want to take advantage of recent results. Some of those who use search engines only want to read about the most recent and updated information. This means you should be constantly updating the content on your website or blog to make sure you’re fresh to show up on recent results. Google also offers searchers to look for related results to their original search. This is where variations of your target keywords will benefit you. Your website will be more likely to show up if you have more related keywords on the niche you are in.

Google has been one of the top search engines for many years and businesses have continually found success when they’re ranking high on it. There are many other ways to strategize your SEO to get ranked high on Google, but hopefully the above tips will help you get started.

By Robert Lockard

Have you heard? Google and Bing are adding new social-media search capabilities to their search engines in an attempt to keep up with these innovative websites. Bing already has a beta version of its new search engine designed specifically for Twitter results while Google is holding back at the moment.

Google and Microsoft are caught in an escalating fight over who will dominate the search-engine market for social-media sites like Twitter and Facebook. I read about this in the PC World article, “Real-Time Search: Google and Bing Rivalry Intensifies on Facebook and Twitter.” This article refers to the Google-Bing rivalry as a chess match. Quite an apt metaphor, in my opinion, because I love all of the strategy that goes into a seemingly simple chess game.

Social media has been a thorn in the side of major search engines for a few years now. Facebook and Twitter are simply updated too often and too fast for search engines to keep up with them. It looks like that might be changing, though.

Microsoft has already made deals with both Twitter and Facebook to give Bing access to the sites’ tweets and wall posts, respectively. Bing’s solution for Twitter is to have a tag cloud of the most-discussed topics on Twitter, followed by some of the newest tweets and links to sites being referred to frequently. For Facebook, Bing will include status updates in its search-engine results pages.

Google is taking it a bit more slowly. It could be several months before it starts earnestly including tweets in its search results. Its new Social Search service, which is also not yet launched, will provide an interesting twist on indexing Facebook updates. With this service, Google users will only be able to search for updates related to topics that their friends and fans have added on Facebook. That’s pretty cool!

Facebook users can choose whether or not to allow their updates to be included in search engines like Google or Bing. That should help protect people’s privacy. What do you think of these search engines’ attempts to dive into social media? Keep coming back to the Submit Solution SEO Blog for the latest updates on Google and Bing, as well as other major search-engine trends.

This is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog entry, “Bing and Google launch social-media solutions.” The photo of the chess match is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of marcusrg.

By Britnee Nguyen

Building external links is one of the vital things SEO technicians do to get their clients to the top of their search engine listings. These links are important to promote SEO for a site, but it’s also important to look at the internal links – those links that are already located within your website.

Internal links sometimes gets overlooked, but can help your SEO immensely. You really should be taking care of your internal links before working on external ones. There’s times when a site with a better internal structure gets ranked hirer than one with a poor internal structure with a number of external links. The great thing about internal links is that they’re coming from an authoritative site which is your own. Authority is something that external links sometimes lack.

Internal links are used by search engine spiders to see what is on all of your pages. So you’ll want to build the content on your website by using keywords you’re targeting through out it. When you increase the page rank of your internal pages it will overall increase your site’s ranking.

If your website has been on the internet for a good amount of time, it tends to get better SEO than others because it has a history of internal links that search engines use. If your website is newer, it will take time for the results to take effect, but it can definitely be ranked higher through internal links if done correctly.

Also, remember that not only should keywords be put into your content, but should be put into file names as well. SEO keywords should cover codes, tags, anchors, picture files, folder names, etc. It isn’t just limited to the content of your website.

If you place an image on your website and it’s named “1023940.jpg” then the search engines aren’t going to read it. But, if you named it “onlinebirthdaycards.jpg” for your on-line birthday cards website, then the search engines will be able to pick that up and rank you better.

Internal linking is important to get all of your pages found by search engine spiders. It’s useless to have 40 pages throughout your website if only six of them are being found. Keep internal linking in mind in your SEO efforts and internet marketing techniques.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Many people do not understand the art of linkbait.  In fact, the term is most often associated with negative connotations!  However, there are many classy ways to use linkbait principles to gain inbound links to your blog.

Inbound links are extremely important for SEO.  The links that are pointing to your blog, and the greatest variety of links at that, will greatly increase your organic rankings in search engines like Google or Bing.

The negative connotations surrounding linkbait are usually generated from spammers, as usual.  Here are some great ways you can use linkbait to optimize your blog rankings:

1.  Have an activity: Create an activity relevant to your niche.  For example, a quiz or interactive generator of some kind.  Then, have the ability for those that complete the activity to post the results on their blog or website.  This is a fun way to create inbound links!
2.  Socialize: Being involved in social media can also create valuable inbound links.  Try picking one or two social networks that appeal most to your genre and interests.  Be sure to spend time interacting with others and not just promoting your own content!  This will help you create influence in that community and will power up the links you post.

These are just a few thought-starters!  Try coming up with other ideas of how you can create inbound links to your blog through linkbait.  This is one of the essentials of SEO and is often overlooked!