The best way to get the targeted traffic you want is through search engines. And to do that, you either need to repeatedly spend cash on buying keywords or optimize your site to let the search engines find you on their own. I’m not a big fan of bidding on keywords and hoping my competition (and their friends) are not clicking on my paid results and draining my bank account, so let’s focus on web optimization. 

I started my career in SEO (search engine optimization) back in 1997. Ten years went by way too fast but it also gave me exposure to some of the best and worst SEO tips, tricks and products available.

My first three years I did all optimization without tools, from scratch. Well, really I had little choice back in the day. Today however we have many choices - in fact, too many for my taste. Today, there are plenty of greedy software companies out there that want your hard-earned money - and they’ll promise a lot to get it. They know that most people who would rather invest a couple hundred dollars for the promise of quick results and avoided frustration and headache.

While I agree with the quick results and avoiding pain and frustration whenever possible, I can’t stand companies that prey on our very human instincts. So let’s avoid them, shall we?

As for me, I have used several major SEO software tools - and profited well from a couple. My first investment was in Web Position Gold back in 2000 - but at $389 plus annual renewal fees it was expensive and not all I had dreamed of. Always looking for more bang for the buck, I bought a couple more (not worth mentioning here). Finally I tried lucky number four; SEO Elite. At $167 with free updates, I bought it within a few hours of using the trial version and have used it ever since.

Please Note:This is NOT an endorsement but I need to give credit where credit is due. Using SEO Elite I got 121 top 5 placements on Google in 29 days (mostly 1’s and 2’s). That’s better than I had ever done before; with or without seo software. Always curious, I’ve downloaded trial versions of other apps and still do. But so far SEO Elite out-performs them all and costs less than most. It has helped me expand to a Richmond SEO branch with almost no effort.

Anyway, it’s got my vote for best seo software pick from a timesaving, results producing, money saving point of view. It looks like my five minutes on the soapbox is over so bye for now.

Good luck and be careful out there!

It’s official – SEO Partner has begun Beta testing of an all-new search engine optimization product. On Saturday February 11, 2006 we completed SEO Phantom Beta Release 1 and put it to work on www.MySearchEnginePlacement.com, a brand new website completed and published just one hour before we put SEO Phantom to work.

At this time My Search Engine Placement is a brand new website with 0 inbound links and 0 placement on any search engines. We have taken some screenshots with timestamps to chronicle our progress in this effort. We are hoping to have cause to celebrate in the next couple months.

As you probably guessed, we are going for the gold – trying to attain top placement for nearly impossible search terms related to search engine placement and search engine optimization. Wish us luck!

Check out our latest team project at www.helpdesksoftware.org

We are trying something a little different here. It involves a new SEO product we are developing and Google’s AdSense.

More on this later, but for now, let’s just say we have a mission!

SEO on the Go!

Most of us with Websites to optimize only have limited time and/or resources to do so. Working full-time at our day job, it’s usually not a good idea to install SEO software on the work computer for lunchtime SEO. That leaves our optimization time to whatever we can squeeze in after a full day of work and hopefully some quality time at home.

I’ve been there - believe me. The other painful thing was trying to afford an SEO consultant. The really good ones were way too expensive so I bought lots of books. Some were really bad (but I didn’t know enough to realize it at the time).

I finally made it as an SEO professional and Web designer, but it took a lot of research and a good plan. I’d like to share that information with you now. Just take the ideas that work for you and leave the rest.

Information:

Whoever said, “Knowledge is power” must have been psychic and thinking about search engine optimization. When it comes to SEO you really need the latest and greatest information. That said; there are books that I wholeheartedly recommend for real “SEO on the Go”. The first is a good mass-market publication - ‘Search Engine Optimization for Dummies’ at $24.99 soft cover or $16.99 digital (Amazon.com link is way to long to include). The second is a lesser-known gem - ‘SEO Answer Book’ available at Amazon.com or through http://www.SEOAnswerBook.com. Written specifically for Website owners, Webmasters and up and coming SEO Professionals – each with their own special section, you’re getting 160 pages of consulting advice from $300 per hour SEO professionals ($19.99 soft cover or $12.25 digital).

Tools:

If you are trying to optimize your site, don’t spend a ton of money on expensive tools unless you really need to. So many are free these days and some can even be used online, which is where we’ll concentrate.

First let’s focus on keywords. Hands down, Overture’s keyword suggestion tool is the best I’ve ever used online. It’s located at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ and has been around a long time. But even if you’ve used it, here’s something you might not know… Take the number of searches reported times five and that’s about how many searches were conducted on Google (it used to be 8X before Yahoo! dropped Google for search results).

For all other SEO tools, try http://www.seopartner.com/ (tool links on right). We have over a dozen great SEO tools already and add at least one new one each week based on visitor suggestions. You’ll find standard tools like a nice rank checker but you’ll also find real SEO specialist stuff like an IP address checker to tell if your site is static or dynamic, a nice keyword density analyzer, broken links checker, META tag generator, deep link analyzer – even a spider simulator and more. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Now that you’ve got the portable knowledge resources and the great online tools get out there and optimize!

Search engine optimization takes time and money – which most people don’t have in excess. SEO on the GO details helpful resources and information so anyone can use free SEO tools from work, home or anywhere, anytime.

SEO partner.com is proud to introduce our new partner site, Richmond based - SEO partner.net.

Overflowing with hundreds of cutting edge search engine optimization articles, you can find just about any bit SEO information you could ever want… More to come!

SEO partner wishes you a Happy New Year!

SEO partner is thrilled to pass on some great news. We recently published two new SEO books, both of which are getting great feedback. Our latest – SEO Answer Book; Special Edition – Website Optimization for Real Estate Professionals – has been featured in a number of news stories and will soon be the focus of a feature article in one of the real estate industry’s leading magazines (soon to be officially announced – no spoilers here

In the meantime, here’s our latest review from a reader:

“A pleasant surprise and a huge value”

“Finally, someone recognizes the need for a book like this. I bought it the day it came out and read it within two hours of download. Outstanding advice! It answered questions I didn’t even realize I should be asking. Last year I paid some fancy “optimization consultant” 100 times as much money for half the information - literally! The real estate edition of SEO Answer Book is the best money I’ve spent in years. Anyone that can make me understand the internet deserves a medal.”

What search engines (actually search networks) are the most popular at this time? Here’s a breakdown according to research conducted by the world famous Nielsen Ratings organization:

46.4% ~ Google
30.5% ~ Yahoo
15.5% ~ MSN
06.1% ~ Ask
01.5% ~ Other/Mix

Why Realtors Need SEO More Than Ever

The days of people relying primarily upon classified real estate ads to find their new home are behind us. Even those great full-color real estate listing freebie magazines only impact a relatively small audience. Don’t get me wrong – these classifieds and booklets are great, but today people are looking for more.

Today’s movers and shakers (a.k.a./ home buyers) are used to instant gratification. They want to know about a house the minute it’s listed, not a day, week or month later. They want lots of pretty pictures to tell them a story and plenty of detailed information available – even if they only glance at it.

The Web gives them exactly what they want – no questions asked. They can search for their new home while at the office, the local coffee bar or even on the commuter train with their wireless PDA (Palm, Blackberry, etc.). According to Realtor.com…

* Homebuyers used the Internet more than other media to search for homes; Internet usage for searching was 71%, which is more then used newspapers (41%), home book or magazines (24%), Television (17%). (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)

* Homebuyers who search for homes online are more likely than other buyers to use a real estate professional to buy their home. (NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2003)

* Homebuyers, who found an agent online, were more satisfied with their agents than traditional buyers in all aspects of the home buying process. (CAR Internet Versus Traditional Buyers Study 2003)

Consider what being in the top 10 matches of a bigname search engine like Google, Yahoo! or MSN can bring. How about the top 5 matches? Does this sound impossible? It’s more attainable than you might think!

We’ve started another SEO blog – but this one is just for SEO books and related subject matter. It’s on the lower half of our SEO Answer Book Website at www.SEOAnswerBook.com. Please drop in and say hello.