What are some myths about SEO?

Google’s Matt Cutts On SEO Myths: Ads Correlate To Organic Results & More…

Apr 17, 2014 at 9:02am ET by Barry Schwartz

In a recent video from Google Head of Search Spam Matt Cutts, Matt talks about the biggest SEO myths he sees today.

By far, the biggest myth, according to Cutts, is how people think Google makes changes to their search results with the only intent of making more money. Matt said buying or not buying ads has no positive or negative impact on your rankings. In addition, Google does not make changes to their organic algorithms based on encouraging people to buy ads. All of this, according to Matt Cutts, is a big SEO myth.

The other large myth is more of an SEO pattern he sees often in the SEO forums and black hat SEO forums. It is “group think” where one SEO suggests doing a specific tactic will lead to good results in organic and then everyone follows.

The example Matt gives is that someone might say article directories leads to easy rankings and then six-months later the group will jump from article directories to guest blogging and from guest blogging to link wheels and so on.

Cutts explained that if someone found a loophole, they wouldn’t post it in a forum, sell it in an ebook or sell it via software – they would exploit it to make as much money off of it as possible. So that is another SEO myth he’d like to see SEOs stop following.

SOURCE:

http://searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-seo-myths-ads-correlate-organic-results-189359

Basics of SEO

SEO is sometimes also called SEO copyrighting because most of the techniques that are used to promote sites in search engines deal with text.

• SEO Stands for Search Engine Optimization.
• SEO is all about optimizing a web site for Search Engines.
• SEO is the process of designing and developing a web site to rank well in search engine results.
• SEO is to improve the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines.
• SEO is a subset of search engine marketing.
• SEO is the art of ranking in the search engines.
• SEO is marketing by understanding how search algorithms work and what human visitors might search.

If you plan to do some basic SEO, it is essential that you understand how search engines work and which items are most important in SEO.

How Search Engine Works ?

Search engines perform several activities in order to deliver search results

• Crawling - is the process of fetching all the web pages linked to a web site. This task is performed by a software, called a crawler or a spider (or Googlebot, as is the case with Google).
• Indexing - is the process of creating index for all the fetched web pages and keeping them into a giant database from where it can later be retrieved. Essentially, the process of indexing is identifying the words and expressions that best describe the page and assigning the page to particular keywords.
• Processing - When a search request comes, the search engine processes it . i.e. it compares the search string in the search request with the indexed pages in the database.
• Calculating Relevancy - Since it is likely that more than one pages contains the search string, so the search engine starts calculating the relevancy of each of the pages in its index to the search string.
• Retrieving Results - The last step in search engines' activities is retrieving the best matched results. Basically, it is nothing more than simply displaying them in the browser.

Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! often update their relevancy algorithm dozens of times per month. When you see changes in your rankings it is due to an algorithmic shift or something else outside of your control.

Although the basic principle of operation of all search engines is the same, the minor differences between their relevancy algorithm lead to major changes in results relevancy.

What is SEO Copywriting?

SEO Copywriting is the technique of writing the viewable text on a web page in such a way that it reads well for the surfer, and also targets specific search terms. Its purpose is to rank highly in the search engines for the targeted search terms.

As well as the viewable text, SEO Copywriting usually optimizes other on-page elements for the targeted search terms. These include the Title, Description and Keywords tags, headings and alt text.

The idea behind SEO Copywriting is that search engines want genuine content pages and not additional pages (often called "doorway pages") that are created for the sole purpose of achieving high rankings.

What is Search Engine Rank?

When you search any keyword using a search engine then it displays thousands of results found in its database. A page ranking is measured by the position of web pages displayed in the search engine results. If Search engine is putting your web page on first position then your web page rank will be number 1 and it will be assumed as with a high rank.

SEO is the process of designing and developing a web site to attend a high rank in search engine results.

What is on-page and off-page SEO

Conceptually, there are two ways of doing SEO

• On-Page SEO- This includes providing good content, good keywords selection. putting keywords on correct places, giving appropriate title to every page etc.
• Off-Page SEO - This includes link building, increasing link popularity by submitting in open directories, search engines, link exchange etc.

this information may help you from basics

 SOURCE:

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/seo/what-is-seo.htm

essential tips and techniques for SEO

Businesses are growing more aware of the need to understand and implement at least the basics of search engine optimization (SEO). But if you read a variety of blogs and websites, you’ll quickly see that there’s a lot of uncertainty over what makes up “the basics.” Without access to high-level consulting and without a lot of experience knowing what SEO resources can be trusted, there’s also a lot of misinformation about SEO strategies and tactics.

1. Commit yourself to the process. SEO isn’t a one-time event. Search engine algorithms change regularly, so the tactics that worked last year may not work this year. SEO requires a long-term outlook and commitment.

2. Be patient. SEO isn’t about instant gratification. Results often take months to see, and this is especially true the smaller you are, and the newer you are to doing business online.

3. Ask a lot of questions when hiring an SEO company. It’s your job to know what kind of tactics the company uses. Ask for specifics. Ask if there are any risks involved. Then get online yourself and do your own research—about the company, about the tactics they discussed, and so forth.

4. Become a student of SEO. If you’re taking the do-it-yourself route, you’ll have to become a student of SEO and learn as much as you can. Luckily for you, there are plenty of great web resources (like Search Engine Land) and several terrific books you can read. (Yes, actual printed books!) See our What Is SEO page for a variety of articles, books and resources.

5. Have web analytics in place at the start. You should have clearly defined goals for your SEO efforts, and you’ll need web analytics software in place so you can track what’s working and what’s not.

6. Build a great web site. I’m sure you want to show up on the first page of results. Ask yourself, “Is my site really one of the 10 best sites in the world on this topic?” Be honest. If it’s not, make it better.

7. Include a site map page. Spiders can’t index pages that can’t be crawled. A site map will help spiders find all the important pages on your site, and help the spider understand your site’s hierarchy. This is especially helpful if your site has a hard-to-crawl navigation menu. If your site is large, make several site map pages. Keep each one to less than 100 links. I tell clients 75 is the max to be safe.

8. Make SEO-friendly URLs. Use keywords in your URLs and file names, such asyourdomain.com/red-widgets.html. Don’t overdo it, though. A file with 3+ hyphens tends to look spammy and users may be hesitant to click on it. Related bonus tip: Use hyphens in URLs and file names, not underscores. Hyphens are treated as a “space,” while underscores are not.

9. Do keyword research at the start of the project. If you’re on a tight budget, use the free versions of Keyword Discovery or WordTracker, both of which also have more powerful paid versions. Ignore the numbers these tools show; what’s important is the relative volume of one keyword to another. Another good free tool is Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool, which doesn’t show exact numbers.

10. Open up a PPC account. Whether it’s Google’s AdWords, Microsoft adCenter or something else, this is a great way to get actual search volume for your keywords. Yes, it costs money, but if you have the budget it’s worth the investment. It’s also the solution if you didn’t like the “Be patient” suggestion above and are looking for instant visibility.

11. Use a unique and relevant title and meta description on every page. The page title is the single most important on-page SEO factor. It’s rare to rank highly for a primary term (2-3 words) without that term being part of the page title. The meta description tag won’t help you rank, but it will often appear as the text snippet below your listing, so it should include the relevant keyword(s) and be written so as to encourage searchers to click on your listing.Related bonus tip: You can ignore the Keywords meta tag, as no major search engine today supports it.

12. Write for users first. Google, Yahoo, etc., have pretty powerful bots crawling the web, but to my knowledge these bots have never bought anything online, signed up for a newsletter, or picked up the phone to call about your services. Humans do those things, so write your page copy with humans in mind. Yes, you need keywords in the text, but don’t stuff each page like a Thanksgiving turkey. Keep it readable.

13. Create great, unique content. This is important for everyone, but it’s a particular challenge for online retailers. If you’re selling the same widget that 50 other retailers are selling, and everyone is using the boilerplate descriptions from the manufacturer, this is a great opportunity. Write your own product descriptions, using the keyword research you did earlier (see #9 above) to target actual words searchers use, and make product pages that blow the competition away. Plus, retailer or not, great content is a great way to get inbound links.

14. Use your keywords as anchor text when linking internally. Anchor text helps tells spiders what the linked-to page is about. Links that say “click here” do nothing for your search engine visibility.

15. Build links intelligently. Begin with foundational links like trusted directories. (Yahoo andDMOZ are often cited as examples, but don’t waste time worrying about DMOZ submission. Submit it and forget it.) Seek links from authority sites in your industry. If local search matters to you (more on that coming up), seek links from trusted sites in your geographic area — the Chamber of Commerce, local business directories, etc. Analyze the inbound links to your competitors to find links you can acquire, too. Create great content on a consistent basis and use social media to build awareness and links. (A blog is great for this; see below.)

16. Use press releases wisely. Developing a relationship with media covering your industry or your local region can be a great source of exposure, including getting links from trusted media web sites. Distributing releases online can be an effective link building tactic, and opens the door for exposure in news search sites. Related bonus tip: Only issue a release when you have something newsworthy to report. Don’t waste journalists’ time.

17. Start a blog and participate with other related blogs. Search engines, Google especially, love blogs for the fresh content and highly-structured data. Beyond that, there’s no better way to join the conversations that are already taking place about your industry and/or company. Reading and commenting on other blogs can also increase your exposure and help you acquire new links. Related bonus tip: Put your blog at yourdomain.com/blog so your main domain gets the benefit of any links to your blog posts. If that’s not possible, useblog.yourdomain.com.

18. Use social media marketing wisely. If your business has a visual element, join the appropriate communities on Flickr and post high-quality photos there. If you’re a service-oriented business, use Quora and/or Yahoo Answers to position yourself as an expert in your industry. Any business should also be looking to make use of Twitter and Facebook, as social information and signals from these are being used as part of search engine rankings for Google and Bing. With any social media site you use, the first rule is don’t spam! Be an active, contributing member of the site. The idea is to interact with potential customers, not annoy them.

19. Take advantage of local search opportunities. Online research for offline buying is a growing trend. Optimize your site to catch local traffic by showing your address and local phone number prominently. Write a detailed Directions/Location page using neighborhoods and landmarks in the page text. Submit your site to the free local listings services that the major search engines offer. Make sure your site is listed in local/social directories such as CitySearch, Yelp, Local.com, etc., and encourage customers to leave reviews of your business on these sites, too.

20. Take advantage of the tools the search engines give you. Sign up for Google Webmaster Central, Bing Webmaster Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer to learn more about how the search engines see your site, including how many inbound links they’re aware of.

21. Diversify your traffic sources. Google may bring you 70% of your traffic today, but what if the next big algorithm update hits you hard? What if your Google visibility goes away tomorrow? Newsletters and other subscriber-based content can help you hold on to traffic/customers no matter what the search engines do. In fact, many of the DOs on this list—creating great content, starting a blog, using social media and local search, etc.—will help you grow an audience of loyal prospects and customers that may help you survive the whims of search engines.

SOURCE:

http://searchengineland.com/21-essential-seo-tips-techniques-11580

SEO basic Terms & Definitions

SEO Basic Terms & Terminology Definitions

• Above the Fold: Refers to an organic search engine result that is high enough that a user can see it without having to scroll down. Which ranks appear above the fold depends on user hardware, and what kinds of search results are being listed under that search phrase. 
• Analytics: Typically referring to Google Analytics specifically, though there are several different analytics softwares. Analytics refers to tracking software that provides statistics on your website’s usage, including how much traffic the site is getting, where the traffic is coming from, what keywords users are entering to reach your site, and much more.
• B2B: Business to Business. B2B refers specifically to businesses that provide products or services to other businesses, as opposed to providing products or services to consumers. A company that manufactures forklifts to sell to other companies would be a B2B business.
• B2C: Business to Consumer. B2C refers specifically to businesses that provide products or services to end users, or consumers, as opposed to providing them to other businesses. A company that manufactures toys told to consumers would be a B2C business.
• Backlink: Backlinks refers to links from other websites that link to your website. Backlinks specifically exclude links from your own site that point to other places on your site. In general, the more backlinks you have, the more authority search engines will assume your site has. It is worth noting, however, that not all backlinks are equal and backlinks from generic directories that are not industry-specific can give no benefit at all.
• Black Hat SEO: Black Hat SEO refers to SEO practices that are in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Black Hat SEO attempts to manipulate their search engine rankings through means specifically and implicitly forbidden by Google. This can result in the sites being banned by Google, and no longer showing up in the search results of Google or its partners. Black Hat SEO marketers take this risk in hopes of getting fast results, typically on sites where it doesn’t matter if they get banned a month or two later. Sometimes also referred to as “algorithm chasers.
• Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is an analytics term that refers to someone who visits just one page of a website, and then leaves. Bounce rate does not pay attention to how long they were on that page — it could be seconds or hours — but if they only looked at one page before leaving, it’s considered a bounce. While low bounce rates are desirable, a bounce is not necessarily a bad thing; it’s entirely possible the user found the information he or she was looking for on that page. 
• Conversions: The term Conversions can have a couple of different meanings in the internet marketing world. Typically conversions refers to “converting” someone to goes to your website into a customer — meaning they actually made a purchase. Thus if 3,000 people visited your website, and 30 of them purchased anything, you’d have had 30 conversions. Conversions are not necessarily purchases though — often in the B2B world and the B2C services sector, there aren’t strictly defined products that customers can purchase from a shopping cart. In these cases conversions are often tracked as the number of people who filled out a request for quote or contact form.
• CPA: Cost per Acquisition. A paid search engine advertising term meaning the total amount you’d have to pay to acquire a customer. Thus if you were paying $1 per click, and on average one out of 10 clickthroughs purchased from you, your CPA would be $10.  CPA is calculated as: CPC ÷ Conversion Rate.
• CPC: Cost per Click. A paid search engine advertising term meaning the amount you have to pay each time a user clicks on one of your ad links. This is usually determined by bidding in an open market.
• CPM: Cost per Thousand Impressions. A paid search engine advertising term meaning how much you would pay for 1,000 impressions of an ad. Once a common way of purchasing advertising online, now most online advertising is paid by clicks, rather than by impressions.
• CTR: Click Through Rate. A term usually used with paid search engine advertising, but that can also apply to organic search engine optimization. CTR is the percentage of users who actually click on your ad. So if your ad was displayed 100 times, and 10 people clicked on it, you’d have a 10% click through rate. CTR is calculated as: # of clicks ÷ # of ad impressions
• eCPM: Effective Cost per Thousand Impressions. A paid search engine advertising term meaning how much an ad that your site is displaying earns you, on average, every 1,000 times it’s viewed. eCPM is calculated as:  earnings (in dollars) ÷ impressions * 1,000.
• Hits: A measure of traffic on your website. Every time a page is viewed, that is considered a hit. If the same person loads a page 8 times, that would count as 8 hits. Also referred to as pageviews.
• Impressions: Similar to hits or pageviews, impressions is most commonly used as a paid search engine advertising term meaning the number of times that an ad appeared in search engine results, or as affiliated website ads, but can also refer to the number of times a webpage was viewed, making it synonymous with pageviews or hits.
• Indexed Pages: Also used as Indexed Content. This refers to the pages on a website that a search engine has explored and stored. If a page, or site, has not been indexed by a search engine, there is no chance that it can show up in search engine results.
• Keywords: Used throughout SEO in both organic and PPC, keywords refers to the actual words or phrase a user enters into a search engine. Websites and PPC campaigns are optimized around specific keywords.
• Longtail: Frequently used as “longtail searches,” longtail refers to search phrases entered into a search engine the include certain keywords as well as a number of additional keywords. So if your site is optimized for “Tasty Apples” you might also rank for a longtail search of “Tasty Apples to Bake in Pies.”
• Meta Tags: Meta tags are website code that is invisible to users, and in SEO specifically refers to the Keywords and Description tags, which are designed to help search engines better understand and explain to users what a website is about. See the article What is a Meta Tag? for more.
• Organic Search Results: The word “organic” refers to search traffic that is not paid for with an advertising campaign, but rather searches that come up normally as a result of the search engine’s algorithm. See the Ecreative IM article 
• Pageviews: A measure of traffic on your website. Every time a page is viewed, that is considered a pageview. If the same person loads a page 8 times, that would count as 8 pageviews. Also referred to as hits.
• PPC: Pay per Click. A term used in paid search engine advertising referring to purchasing ads for certain keywords. PPC campaigns pay every time an ad is clicked.
• PR: Google Page Rank. Page Rank is Google’s way of assigning a number to the relative authority of a site. Sites are assigned a Page Rank of 0 – 10 by Google, and a high Page Rank implies that Google views that site as more authoritative. The primary variables in how Google assigns Page Rank are the number of relevant links pointing to a site, and the Page Rank of those sites that are linking in — though many other variables are also considered. Page Rank isnot, in any way, an indication of the ability of a site to rank well in Google’s search engine results.
• Reciprocal Link: Also known as a link exchange, a reciprocal link is a link that is posted to another website in exchange for that website posting a link to your site. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
• RFQ: Request for Quote. A common way of tracking conversions on a B2B website is the request for quote form. The assumption is that if a users interest has been piqued enough by the content of the website and the call for action succeeded in getting the user to contact the company for pricing. At this point the website has done it’s job, and it’s now up to the sales team.
• Sandbox or Google Sandbox: reference to the period during which Google lowers the rankings of a brand new site. See full details in our Google Sandbox Effect article.
• SEO: Search Engine Optimization: the ongoing process of changing the content and code of a website, as well as its interaction with other websites, to increase the likelihood that it will rank well in search engine results. See the SEO Basics article, 
• SEM: Search Engine Marketing. A broader term of gaining search engine traffic to a website combining both SEO and PPC techniques.
• SERP: Search Engine Results Page. When a user searches for something in a search engine, the pages listing websites related to that search is the search engine results page.
• Sitemap: A file on your website primarily intended for search engines, that informs the search engines where to find all the pages of your site that the search engine should be aware of, so that they can show up on the search engine results page. Sitemaps are usually a XML file.
• Social Media: Social media refers to websites that create a community of users who can interact and share information with each other. The primary social media sites that impact SEO include Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

SOURCE:

http://www.ecreativeim.com/blog/2011/01/seo-basics-basic-seo-terms-definitions/