Gidday from down under in NZ.

I am new to the concept of SEO.

Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to optimise my site
for better placement in search engines please?

Are there software programmes that are helpful and I should get? What about
those guys that promise amazing results, like Cory Rudl etc? Are they any real
value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?

Any help much appreciated.

--
John B

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 11:35:41 +1300, "John B" <jbanywhere@my.com>
wrote:

>Gidday from down under in NZ.
>
>I am new to the concept of SEO.
>
>Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to optimise my site
>for better placement in search engines please?
>
>value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?
>
>Any help much appreciated.

I have some books, geared, I think, for the beginner. Surprisingly,
Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Kent is very good. (See its
Amazon.com reviews.) I was conidering a paid RSS software program, and
this book d me an excellent free one!

I also have Marketing through Search Optimization by Michael and
Salter.which is good as well, but it is about a year older. Some of
the sites and software recommended are gone!

Online, I think the http://forums.seochat.com and www.webworkshop.net
are excellent. I'm sure there are good discussion boards as well.



Copywriter www.copy-writer.us

For the obvious reasons, I am pretty fond of the FAQ for this
newsgroup:

http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/

John B wrote:

> Gidday from down under in NZ.

Kia Ora,

> I am new to the concept of SEO.
>
> Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to
> optimise my site for better placement in search engines please?

clean and valid HTML
good content
good structure in HTML (e.g. give the page a good title, use h1 for
headings, h2 for sub headings, etc.)
get good links to your site

Everytime you read a SEO trick, think: does this bother my visitor if I
do this to my page / site? If the answer is yes, try to avoid it.

> Are there software programmes that are helpful and I should get?

Textpad -> for editing (http://textpad.com/)
Firefox -> for browsing without getting an extra payload
(http://www.mozilla.org)
Validator -> http://validator.w3.org/
HTML/CSS references -> http://w3c.org/
( other stuff I recommend is: subversion, perl and the list goes on)

> What
> about those guys that promise amazing results, like Cory Rudl etc?

Amazing results often work amazingly short.

> Are
> they any real value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?

Basic SEO can be printed on one page, so normally you don't need to read
whole books. Some are quite likely outdated, and the really bad ones are
based on rumours, bad guessing or plainly wrong.

--
John Perl SEO tools: http://johnbokma.com/perl/
Experienced (web) developer: http://castleamber.com/
Get a SEO report of your site for just 100 USD:
http://johnbokma.com/websitedesign/seo-expert-help.html

"John Bokma" <postmaster@castleamber.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9616F12AEC359castleamber@130.133.1.4...
> John B wrote:
<snip>
>
>> I am new to the concept of SEO.


Hopefully you are getting some advise to follow and there is a lot of info
archived here in this forum.

>> Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to
>> optimise my site for better placement in search engines please?


Sure.

> clean and valid HTML

- This may help a little but really isn't necessary. As long as the HTML
isn't real bad! If it were so then a lot of sites wouldn't be indexed and
have good SERP positions.:-)

> good content

Content is good, but it can be bad content to be indexed. I mean come on I
have seen some trash out there in the index.

When you have content, and this should be body text make sure to have
keyphrases that you want your page to show up throughout the page.

> good structure in HTML (e.g. give the page a good title, use h1 for
> headings, h2 for sub headings, etc.)

Good navigation also, and make the headings have the same keywords or
phrases that your Title has and put it the same in your file names also, and
of course in your link text navigating your site.


> get good links to your site
>

The best links are similar links to what your site is about. Making sure
that these sites are in good standing with the SE's, and making sure to have
anchor text(link text) to your pages on your site.

> Everytime you read a SEO trick, think: does this bother my visitor if I
> do this to my page / site? If the answer is yes, try to avoid it.


There are a lot of things you can do that isn't really tricks, but making it
better to make your site relevant to the searches. That is what most SEO is
about.:-)

<snip>

>> What
>> about those guys that promise amazing results, like Cory Rudl etc?
>
> Amazing results often work amazingly short.


Sometimes but not always. Sometimes people can keep their SERPs by staying
on top with the SEO.


>> Are
>> they any real value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?
>
> Basic SEO can be printed on one page, so normally you don't need to read
> whole books. Some are quite likely outdated, and the really bad ones are
> based on rumours, bad guessing or plainly wrong.

Basic SEO on one page, is that an 8X10 or 8X11 Legal pad and what size font
would you use?
Not all are based on rumors. Some are based on evidence with what people
have researched and done. In fact I would say a lot are based on research,
you just have to find the right techniques. :-)

Stacey

Stacey wrote:

> "John Bokma" <postmaster@castleamber.com> wrote in message

>> clean and valid HTML
>
> - This may help a little but really isn't necessary.

valid, yes. As I have often stated before, if HTML is not valid, a
parser (the program that tries to get the structure out of the HTML
page) has to guess. If it's valid you can assume it doesn't have to
guess. If it's invalid it has to guess, and hence, it can guess wrong.

> As long as the
> HTML isn't real bad! If it were so then a lot of sites wouldn't be
> indexed and have good SERP positions.:-)

With clean I mean a good structure, e.g. logical mark up instead of
visual (h1 v.s <font...><b><strong><i>CAN YOU READ ME</i>.....)

>> good content
>
> Content is good, but it can be bad content to be indexed. I mean come
> on I have seen some trash out there in the index.

Yup, and that's because Google isn't perfect. Ages ago you could in the
top of several SE's with absolute garbage.

> When you have content, and this should be body text make sure to have
> keyphrases that you want your page to show up throughout the page.

Write for the people, not for an algorithm. It's very hard to guess key
phrases, even after quite some research. Don't focus too much on short
and hot phrases, play with it since if you got good PR, you can play
with it often.

>> good structure in HTML (e.g. give the page a good title, use h1 for
>> headings, h2 for sub headings, etc.)
>
> Good navigation also, and make the headings have the same keywords or
> phrases that your Title has and put it the same in your file names
> also, and of course in your link text navigating your site.

Funny, I would say now: vary, don't make it all too much the same.
Better use two bullets instead of one big one.

>> get good links to your site
>
> The best links are similar links to what your site is about. Making
> sure that these sites are in good standing with the SE's, and making
> sure to have anchor text(link text) to your pages on your site.

in short: good links :-D.

>> Everytime you read a SEO trick, think: does this bother my visitor if
>> I do this to my page / site? If the answer is yes, try to avoid it.
>
> There are a lot of things you can do that isn't really tricks, but
> making it better to make your site relevant to the searches. That is
> what most SEO is about.:-)

Yup, see above.

>> Amazing results often work amazingly short.
>
> Sometimes but not always. Sometimes people can keep their SERPs by
> staying on top with the SEO.

Yup, and then suddenly there is a *major* Google update, and they come
complain in this news group how Google is such a bad SE, and that it's
getting worse more and more. And how good those ol' days were.

>> Basic SEO can be printed on one page, so normally you don't need to
>> read whole books. Some are quite likely outdated, and the really bad
>> ones are based on rumours, bad guessing or plainly wrong.
>
> Basic SEO on one page, is that an 8X10 or 8X11 Legal pad and what size
> font would you use?

Letter, 11pt. (experience with HTML and CSS assumed)

> Not all are based on rumors. Some are based on evidence with what
> people have researched and done. In fact I would say a lot are based
> on research, you just have to find the right techniques. :-)

Yeah, statistics and guesstimating

Most important thing: SE algorithms are dynamic, they are tuned. If too
many bad pages come too often up, after some time they drop down, way
down.

In almost every interview Google tells us that they focus on rewarding
good content. Computers get faster, and hence more resources for AI
(meaning the ranking software gets smarter). Also MS is getting more and
more serious about getting a piece of the pie. The total number of pages
indexed is certainly no longer a measure of quality :-D.

Compare SEO today with 8 years ago. Back then you could run a perl
submit script and have your pages in 24 hours in what then were called
the major SEs. Those pages could be generated from a template text with
random words replaced. I know a guy who made 30.000 USD in one month
with just pressing enter :-D.

--
John Perl SEO tools: http://johnbokma.com/perl/
Experienced (web) developer: http://castleamber.com/
Get a SEO report of your site for just 100 USD:
http://johnbokma.com/websitedesign/seo-expert-help.html

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 11:35:41 +1300, "John B" <jbanywhere@my.com>
wrote:

>Gidday from down under in NZ.
>
>I am new to the concept of SEO.
>
>Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to optimise my site
>for better placement in search engines please?
>
>Are there software programmes that are helpful and I should get?

You could do a seach for "seo elite" and download the demo. The point
would be that it comes with a seven-day course of downloadable seo
tutorial that will tell you a lot. In easy bites.
Or you can go read all my stuff. Or you can read Dave's quick
tutorial.


> What about
>those guys that promise amazing results, like Cory Rudl etc? Are they any real
>value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?

Nope.

>Any help much appreciated.

S'ok.

BB
--
www.kruse.co.uk/ SEO@kruse.demon.co.uk
Affordable SEO!
--

Thanks for that Will

"Will.Spencer"
<will.spencer@internet-search-engines-faq-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in
message news:42327aff$0$42488$75868355@news.frii.net...
> For the obvious reasons, I am pretty fond of the FAQ for this
> newsgroup:
>
> http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/
>

Thanks Grant. Bookmarked ready to check out tomorrow.

"Grant" <fgea-ifvt@spamex.com> wrote in message
news:qos431lc50239t098i65skk7ahc3bgsrto@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 11:35:41 +1300, "John B" <jbanywhere@my.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Gidday from down under in NZ.
> >
> >I am new to the concept of SEO.
> >
> >Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to optimise my
site
> >for better placement in search engines please?
> >
> >value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?
> >
> >Any help much appreciated.
>
> I have some books, geared, I think, for the beginner. Surprisingly,
> Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Kent is very good. (See its
> Amazon.com reviews.) I was conidering a paid RSS software program, and
> this book d me an excellent free one!
>
> I also have Marketing through Search Optimization by Michael and
> Salter.which is good as well, but it is about a year older. Some of
> the sites and software recommended are gone!
>
> Online, I think the http://forums.seochat.com and www.webworkshop.net
> are excellent. I'm sure there are good discussion boards as well.
>
>
>
> Copywriter www.copy-writer.us

Kia Ora John

Ta.


"John Bokma" <postmaster@castleamber.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9616F12AEC359castleamber@130.133.1.4...
> John B wrote:
>
> > Gidday from down under in NZ.
>
> Kia Ora,
>
> > I am new to the concept of SEO.
> >
> > Can someone point me in the right direction to suss out how to
> > optimise my site for better placement in search engines please?
>
> clean and valid HTML
> good content
> good structure in HTML (e.g. give the page a good title, use h1 for
> headings, h2 for sub headings, etc.)
> get good links to your site
>
> Everytime you read a SEO trick, think: does this bother my visitor if I
> do this to my page / site? If the answer is yes, try to avoid it.
>
> > Are there software programmes that are helpful and I should get?
>
> Textpad -> for editing (http://textpad.com/)
> Firefox -> for browsing without getting an extra payload
> (http://www.mozilla.org)
> Validator -> http://validator.w3.org/
> HTML/CSS references -> http://w3c.org/
> ( other stuff I recommend is: subversion, perl and the list goes on)
>
> > What
> > about those guys that promise amazing results, like Cory Rudl etc?
>
> Amazing results often work amazingly short.
>
> > Are
> > they any real value? Any decent up-to-date books you'd recommend?
>
> Basic SEO can be printed on one page, so normally you don't need to read
> whole books. Some are quite likely outdated, and the really bad ones are
> based on rumours, bad guessing or plainly wrong.
>
> --
> John Perl SEO tools: http://johnbokma.com/perl/
> Experienced (web) developer: http://castleamber.com/
> Get a SEO report of your site for just 100 USD:
> http://johnbokma.com/websitedesign/seo-expert-help.html