In short, LSI considers the words around your main keyword as “hot topics” that add to the credibility of the page. If I target the term “SEO” I have a much better chance of high ranking if I use the right words around it.

Of course, finding these words would be near impossible without a service like Quintura (http://www.Quintura.com.) But with this magic bullet, it’s easier than ever to gat on top of Google and stay there! Here’s how…

1.) Visit Quintura.com

2.) Enter your keyword and click the search button. A "cloud" shows up on the page with the words you need.

3.) Review all the other words in the cloud but focus on those bolded. These are good, but it gets better.

4.) Hover your mouse over your original keyword and focus on the updated words that show up. These will get you over the top!

The goal is to use these words on your page if they fit naturally. And if you really want to steal a page right of Wikipedia’s playbook, consider creating a separate page for each of the “hot topic” words and linking to and from them within the text of each page. That’s how Wikipedia takes it one step further and wins almost every time.

First let’s start with getting inbound links from directories. A link from a directory gets a lot of weight from Google because they value it as a form of endorsement. You’ve probably used some directories yourself, like Yahoo. Or maybe you’ve used some without even knowing it, like The Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org) that powers many of the most popular search engines, including Google!

Each directory is different and offers different options for obtaining links to your site. Here’s a rundown of how different directories will link to your site…

1.) Free Submission ‘ Just like it sounds. No charges for inclusion. DMOZ.org is the best one and powers Google, AOL and even Yahoo Search (not Yahoo directory.) Just be sure to follow their submission guidelines and pick the most appropriate sub category possible for inclusion. This is extremely important.

2.) Paid Submissions ‘ They charge a fee to review the submitted link and possibly list the page. You might pay a few dollars one time, a recurring annual fee or as much as the $300 that Yahoo charges for commercial site review.

3.) Reciprocal Link ‘ These usually require you to link to the directory before they will even consider linking back.

4.) Featured Link ‘ Your link gets a premium spot that you pay for.

5.) Featured Homepage Link ‘ This is a featured link on the homepage. As you’ve probably guessed, this can get real expensive.

Yahoo is easily the most popular (and most expensive) but it’s not the best. It’s been my experience that a free listing with DMOZ.org is worth more than a paid listing with Yahoo. Even though Yahoo is more popular as a directory that people actually visit, DMOZ is much more popular with search engines and carries a lot of weight. A "vote" from DMOZ is a big deal indeed.

Here are the five top directories offering free listings. Some even offer inexpensive expedited listing services or featured listings:

1.) dmoz.com

2.) directoryvault.com

3.) domaining.in

4.) getlistedrightnow.com

5.) visitalink.com

There’s a site that keeps an updated list of directories, but not all are free. You have to visit each to see if there is any cost. Go to http://www.topwebsitetips.com/FreeLinks-Directories.aspx and scroll down to the drop down box at the bottom of the page. Select your desired Google PR and search. If you want to avoid getting niche directories in the results, check the "General Directories Only" box after your first return set and rerun the search.

As a second option, you can also consider paying a submission service to get your site listed in the major directories. There are plenty that will do it for a reasonable fee. Just be sure they do the following three things:

1.) Manual submission only

2.) Verify that your site is not already listed

3.) Provide proof of submission (usually screen captures)

Just search Google for "directory submission service" and you’ll get plenty of options. I’ve used http://www.seonext.com/directory-submission.html in the past with good success. They offer a "slow submission" service that makes your link building appear more natural to Google and other top search engines.

And finally, there is no better way to get quality links than from a traditional reciprocal link campaign. This can be a time consuming step without automated software, but is very important.

Here are 10 steps to a successful reciprocal linking campaign:

1.) List the keywords you want to be found for.

2.) Draft a standard letter you can use to easily customize for each site (customization tips at the end.)

3.) Run a search on Google for each keyword and jot down the URL for each match returned (not just the homepage but the URL for the actual page you want the link from, which is the one that came up in the search.)

4.) Remove any direct competitors from the list.

5.) Go back through your list and find the contact info for each site. Record this information.

6.) Create a link to each page you want to get a link from. This should be from the most appropriate page on your site, not the homepage. Do not exceed 10 outbound links per page at most. The fewer, the better.

7.) Send the customized email with the considerations outlined below.

8.) Verify their backlinks.

9.) Remove any outbound links that do not reciprocate within a month or so.

10.) Check your inbound links every couple of weeks. Make sure you are still getting the links you earned and that the people linking to you have not moved you to a less desirable page.

Reciprocal Link Email Tips:

A.) Address the email to a person by name if possible.

B.) Start with a complimentary statement about what you like on their site.

C.) Introduce yourself and your site.

D.) Lead into why you feel your site is a good, non competing match (list benefits for them and their visitors.)

E.) Mention that you have already linked to their site and hope they feel a reciprocal link will be beneficial. Provide the URL to the page you linked from.

F.) Explain why you linked from the page you did and the anchor text you used to show you understand link strategy.

G.) Request that if they link back they use one of your anchor text suggestions along with the exact URL you want them to link to.

H.) Offer to change the link anchor text of their URL if they wish.

I.) Thank them genuinely for the time and sign with your first name to make it more personal and natural.

You can do all of this manually or invest in a good piece of software to do the difficult and time consuming work for you. Many SEO professionals (myself included) use SEO Elite (http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com) because it finds the best link partners, automatically gets their contact info and even manages entire campaigns. It’s also a link verification system and search engine rank checker so it covers all of my SEO needs nicely ($167.)

So whether you do the work by hand or invest in a time saving "instant gratification" SEO tool, the information in this article can help you to the top of Google in record time. Good luck!

As a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist, I’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds get to where they need to be on the world’s best search engines. Now I’d like to help you do the same by sharing the simple three-step process that I personally use to get my client’s site on top of Google, Yahoo and tons of others. It’s very simple to duplicate the process and results usually show sooner than most people expect. Anyway, here goes…

Step 1: How to Find the Best Keywords

Google gets more searches than any other search engine so let’s peek into their database, shall we? Check out https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and type in any keyword or phrase you can think of that you believe your target audience is looking for. Not only will it give you tons of data on that and related keywords, it will also provide "Additional Keywords to Consider", which is a section at the bottom of the page.

Here’s a tip worth knowing; Try to use specific keyword phrases whenever possible. Let’s say you have a web-page that deals with floral delivery. Instead of "flowers", which has 233,000,000 competing pages on Google, try "send flowers", which has 1/10th the number of competing pages. Better still, think like people speak (I.E./ I’m sending flowers to my mom.) As it turns out, a lot more people are searching for "sending flowers" than are searching "send flowers" and – here’s the best part – "sending flowers" has less than 1% of the competing web-pages as the search term we started with, "flowers". Now that’s impressive! You have an advantage over about 99.5% of your competitors with just that single tip. Ready for more?

Step 2: How to Get Killer a Domain Name the Search Engines LOVE

If you already have a domain name with a hosted website, you can skip this part. However it’s worth a look if you don’t mind spending a few extra bucks and doubling your search engine real estate.

Most search engines will give you major bonus points if you have your main keyword or keyword phrase in your domain name. It’s even better if words in the phrase are each separated by a dash (-). Let’s try to find a good one for our main keyword phrase "sending flowers."

If you go to http://www.DomainsBot.com and type in your keywords, you’ll get plenty of choices. I’ll cut to the chase and select "sending-flowers.biz." A ".com" would have been better, but ".biz" is fine.

By the way, Google and a few other big search engines also consider when your domain name expires. The longer your domain name is "guaranteed" the better. I have found that a five year registration term, or longer, works great.

And don’t forget - If you setup this site and it ranks well, but you want your company’s name as the domain, you can always just redirect that domain name and point it to this site. That way, when people type in your business domain name it will go to the right place. It’s like getting two for one, which is always nice.

Step 3: How to Pick the Host with the Most

Where you host your Web site can make a huge difference. Choose your web hosting company very carefully. Here are some tips:

3.1. Avoid free hosting. Most search engines don’t think that serious sites (i.e. those worth top ranking) would be hosted on freebies.

3.2. Consider getting a private static IP address. Your hosting company should provide you with this number and you should be able to contact your site directly with it. Some of the major search engines don’t like ever-changing (dynamic) IP addresses because of problems they’ve had in the past.

3.3. Steer clear of companies that host banned Web sites, such as those owned by spammers. Search engines might penalize or even ban your web for being associated with such sites. Try to find a hosting company with a "family friendly" policy, like Godaddy.com.

Step 4: How to Get Great Links and Monitor Your Site

Having quality inbound links can account for more than 75% of you search engine optimization success. Getting these links is the crucial step that will get you over the top. Next you need to monitor your progress and your site’s status (how search engine really see it). This will tell you not just where you are – but where you are likely to be. In the old days, we used to do all link work and monitoring by hand – and it took a long time (I averaged about 16 hours per week – per site!) My advice to you is to find a good SEO tool and let it do the work for you. If you get the right product, it’s the best money you’ll ever spend.

I promised I’d show you how I have attained so many #1 placements on Google, Yahoo and more, so here are the two best products I’ve used, with my Top Pick on top:

#1 Pick: SEO Elite http://www.SeoEliteWeb.com Cost = $167 (lifetime free upgrades and no annual fees) Results: 121 top 5 rankings on Google in three weeks – Mostly 1’s and 2’s. Top Features: Finds best link partners; Automates link process; Provides 100% Site Monitoring Comments: I bought it 2005 and have used every upgrade – never spending another dime. I retired my other three programs after using this for the first three months.

#2 Pick: WebPosition http://www.webposition.com Cost = $149 SE or $389 Pro (plus $99 per year in subscription fees for either) Results: 44 top 5 rankings in Google in eight weeks – Mostly 3’s and 4’s. Top Features: 100% Site Monitoring; Great reporting; Site Critic Please Note: No automated linking capabilities. Comments: I purchased the professional version and found it most useful for reporting (but still did linking manually)

Step 5: How to get submitted to major search engines fast and free

I use the Submit Express free submission service all the time. It’s great. They’ll submit your site to 40 search engines instantly, at no cost - http://www.submitexpress.com/.

Now you’re ready! Just follow the steps and you can do this with no problem. I’ve been doing it for years and have helped hundreds do the same. Good luck!

Thanks!

Here’s one of my favorites…

Optimize your 404 pages. This is the “Page not found” page on your Website. If you use a WYSIWYG editor like FrontPage, creating a link to a custom 404 page is as simple as clicking a button. If you do all of your development by hand, then creating a custom 404 link is probably very easy. Either way, go ahead and create a custom page. Keep in mind, if your customer reaches bad page on your site it is an instant free opportunity to get a customer you would have missed.

Here are some great tips to make your page SEO friendly AND user friendly.

Use your main keyword in your title, add a “pipe” (usually above the Enter key) and then use your secondary keyword. Here’s as example for an SEO site “SEO | Search Engine Optimization”

Add some keyword rich content using one to two keywords for the page. If you have less than 250 words on the page, just use one keyword and use it no more than three times total. Bold the first use and italicize the second or third use. Regarding content, remember this is an “inactive” page so simply tell the visitor what your site is about and wet their appetite with a good description. Something like this works well… “Thank you for visiting SEO Experts. We’re sorry you seem to have landed on an inactive page but rest assured, if you are looking for the world’s best search engine optimization tips, you are at the right place…” This will go on for a couple paragraphs or as long as you’d like.

Make the look and feel of this page match your main site as much as possible. This might be applying the same template, palette or using the same CSS base.

Link to the site map page if available, and make the link easy to find. You want your visitor off the invalid page and into your main content as quickly as possible.

Add your site’s standard navigation system (bar, column, etc.) and add a note to the page that says something to the effect of “You have come across a page that is no longer active. We apologize for any inconvenience and invite you to Click Here to visit our site map or click any link to the left.” Try to apply this with the above tip regarding page content.

It was happening to me until a few weeks ago. Now I get an average of $3.50 per day, per domain name - completely on auto-pilot. It’s not a fortune to be sure, but that’s over $100 per month that I get for doing about fifteen minutes work - just one time.

If you want in on the action but don’t have any parked domains, think about buying a $2 domain on Yahoo.

The process is really simple. You can use the services of several companies. I’ll use Google because I’m showing you exactly how I did it. But feel free to use any service you like.

First, sign up for a free Adsense account at http://www.google.com/adsense - if you don’t already have one. But DON’T get your ad code yet. I have some tips that can triple your response rates - and income. By the way, ‘Yahoo Publisher’, another income generating ad resource, is in Beta but also looks good so far - http://publisher.yahoo.com/.

Now, if you want killer free information about your visitors and some really nice metrics information, get your free Google Analytics account at http://www.google.com/analytics/. If you’d rather not use Google, give http://www.statcounter.com/ a try. It’s also free.

Now for the frosting on the cake; hosting. You can go a couple different ways with this. One is to use a revenue share like CashParking, the one offered by http://www.Godaddy.com. In short, you pay a monthly fee, and they share a percentage of the income generated from the ads on your web page. I love Godaddy, but I had to pass on this one. Without content on the pages or automated search engine optimization freebies I think the odds of getting visitors seem pretty slim. Besides that, the idea of paying a monthly fee, just to get back part of my own profits is not really for me.

After some digging, I went with http://www.WhyParkWeb.com. It works out to be a lot less expensive for me, gives me loads of control and builds a full website for me in just a few minutes. Best of all, I got ranked on Google in just three days – using one of their free automated tools.

That’s it for the main article. If you go with a service like http://www.WhyParkWeb.com however, you might want to stick around for a few more minutes. Since they give you so much control (without anything complicated on your part) I can give you a few insider tips to triple your income. Really!

If you’d like to check out an actual site I have setup, feel free to visit http://www.mysearchengineplacement.com/ (but please don’t click any ads unless you really want to see the product.)

Okay, let’s do this by the numbers…

#1 How to find the best keywords

It’s easier than ever to find the best keywords. Let’s start with Overture’s Web-based tool. It’s amazing. Give it a try at http://inventory.overture.com. Just type in a word or phrase that has to do with your domain name and get the actual searches done within a given month.

(Please Note: This link was accurate at the time of this writing but has been known to change.)

There’s also a free piece of software that’s getting great reviews. It’s called Good Keywords version 2. It’s a freeware product available for instant download from http://www.GoodKeywords.com.

#2 How to write a killer Website title that search engine like Google love.

Let’s do a real project, shall we? Let’s say we have a domain name to do with custom cakes. If we enter the word ‘cake’ into the Overture search, we’ll get a ton of results. Let’s just look at the first few:

wedding cake - 307,975 (searches performed for this keyword/phrase in just one month) cake - 225,183 (same deal..) birthday cake - 185,054 baby shower cake - 45,287

Take your most important specific and general keyword phrases and put them together, specific first; general second. Let’s use "wedding cake" and "cake". Now separate the keywords or phrases by a pipe (that vertical key over the Enter/Return key). We now have "wedding cake | cake". Now go back and grab one or two more relevant keywords like "birthday cake" and "baby shower cake" and combine them like this "wedding cake | cakes for birthdays, baby showers and more".

Now you’ve covered all your bases and build a fantastic keyword rich title that won’t look like keyword spamming. More importantly it’s one that people will actually read. You have singular and plural versions of "cake(s)", which will also help - a lot.

#3 How to write a META description that will really get you noticed.

This is important. Not only can this tip alone get you ahead of most competitors, but it’s also what readers see of your site before they decide to visit. You need to write something for people, but that search engines will like. Don’t worry. It’s a lot easier than it sounds.

Take all of your keywords and line them up in order of importance. Since "wedding cake" gets more searches than any other, let’s start there and use the same logic for the rest. Now we have, in order, "wedding cake", "cake", "birthday cake", and "baby shower cake." Be sure to improve your keyword prominence (relevance based on position) by using your best keyword within the first few words of the description, like this: "Wedding cakes made easy! Get great articles, recipes and decorating tips to make cakes for your special occasion. From triple-layer double chocolate birthday cakes to baby shower cup cake buffets; we have tips to make your special occasion delicious."

As you can see, we used all of our keywords without overloading the text and broke it up a little by adding some detail. It works great! Just try to keep the description at or under 250 characters (including spaces).

#4 How to add great content

Why Park (http://www.WhyParkWeb.com) does 99.9% of the work for you. All you have to do is enter your keywords into the article finder provided by the "Research Your Keywords" link (located beside the keywords box.)

Without using any imagination at all, I found 121 articles in a few seconds…

cake - 98 (articles) wedding cake - 11 birthday cake - 9 baby shower cake - 3

Total Articles: 121

Add "wedding" and get another 788! That’s 909 articles in 10 seconds. You get the idea - more general related keywords can take you over the top and give you a huge, content-rich search engine friendly site, in seconds!

#5 How to get the best-pulling Adsense ad style and color combination

My click-through rate (CTR) tripled when I switched to this format.

Select ad size 336 x 280. If that’s too big, try 300 x 250. And try to make your ad border and ad background colors the same as your Website’s background color. It helps it blend in and take away some of the "advertisement" feel. It’s also usually best to go with the standard blue hyperlink color for the actual links.

But with all that said, don’t be afraid to experiment. This might be the cheapest controlled research you ever come across, so enjoy it. I change my ad colors (but not size) every so often to see what works best – but the above method has worked best to date.

#6 How to get submitted to major search engines fast and free

I use this place all the time. They are great. They submit your site to 40 search engines instantly, for free - http://www.submitexpress.com/.

There’s another great little trick that will help get your site noticed by Google FAST, Google Sitemaps - http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools. You won’t need this when setting up your site but you can add it right after (from the Edit option) - and its well worth the five minutes it will take. It’s free search engine submission directly into Google’s pipeline.

Now you’re ready!

You can do this with no problem. Take back control of your domain names and pocket your own profits. Good luck!

Mike Small, founder of SEO Partner, has consulted for dozens of companies since 1999 – from Sidney Australia to Boston Massachusetts. More recently in the mix is Richmond Virginia, which has hundreds of businesses who can benefit from SEO.

So how does this affect you? That’s easy. The reason Richmond is getting more SEO aware affects just about every city in the US. Even if your business is local, your competition might be global. Case in point; one of my first local clients was a Richmond based florist who was losing most of his local floral deliver business to national Internet mogul 1-800-FLOWERS.com – That is, until we Trumped their position on Google and took the business back.

And the same thing affects local bakeries, candy shops, and even print shops. In short, SEO can help any company reclaim business and get a bigger piece of the local pie as well.

There are several different ways to accomplish what I’ve described so I’ll start with the method that shows results quickest; publishing top-quality articles and whitepapers. If you’ve tried this in the past without seeing dramatic results, keep reading. There are a few tips here that will help put all previous results to shame.

First and most importantly, remember that an article is news. So of course, it needs to be newsworthy. Not a fast-breaking story. But it has to be informative or instructive or both to be of any real value to the reader. Don’t forget, the publisher kind enough to present your work is not doing this for you. They’re doing it for their readers. They have a responsibility to the reader to provide good, fresh content. And for every great article they receive, there are 50 pieces of junk that get trashed.

Best of all, the better your article, the better your reputation will become. And your calendar will fill with new business meetings and speaking engagements before you know it. It happens fast once you get the right piece published!

Second, write in a natural voice as if you were speaking to a good friend. You can go back after and edit all the grammar. For now, just focus on telling the story that will best assist the reader.

To recap – Write and submit only top-quality pieces that are informative, instructive or both. And do it as if you’re talking to your best friend.

Third, use the format the publisher likes best. If you’re using a time/effort saver such as a specialized mass distribution service like http://www.SubmitYourArticle.us or software like http://www.ArticleSubmit.us use a standard format. Although there is no exact science – here are some good general guidelines:

Keep your length to between 500 and 750 words (or less). Don’t include more than six links – Including the resource box (author bio area.) Don’t put any hyperlinks within the first three paragraphs. When adding a link you want clickable, prefix it with http://

Again, there’s no guarantee the above format will be accepted by all article directories. However it works well for a good many and presents itself well to offering quality information in a reader-friendly format, which is why directories have such guidelines in the first place.

Next – Tell your readers who you are with your resource box. This is the author bio section you always see at the bottom of articles. A good rule of thumb is to write only what you can fit on the back of a business card. Here are some slightly better guidelines:

Make this no longer than 450 characters, including spaces. The fewer; the better. Show the reader, briefly, why you are qualified as an expert in your field. Include up to two personal links – Only. By the way, I never use an email address anymore. It’s too easy to be hijacked into a spamming app by someone who finds it posted on the Web.

I won’t waste your time with telling you how to come up with cute or catchy headlines. Just treat a headline like any other piece of your writing – use fact ONLY. In the case of this article, I tried to make it interesting but used only cold, hard facts. From one article published on a Friday, I received 204 requests for proposal, over the course of two weeks. Of these I was able to accept only twelve, which booked me solid for nearly four months.

To summarize…

Write good, solid articles that will benefit your readers and the publishers. Write what you know. Write naturally, as if you are talking to your best friend. Verify all facts before submitting to a publisher. Use the format your publisher suggests. If you use a distribution program or service, use the standard format above or similar. Never mislead the reader, even for one minute. Use interesting titles and headlines based on fact only. Spend some time writing your resource box copy and let the reader know why they should trust you.

That’s all there is to it. In no time, you can be a recognized industry guru and sought after spokesperson. Good luck!

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