Top 5 Tips for Increasing Your Search Engine Rankings

By Derek Vaughan
Posted Monday, September 20, 2004

CPU Review (www.cpureview.com) recently sat down with search engine optimization (SEO) expert Pierre Zarokian. Pierre is president of Submit Express (www.submitexpress.com) - which was founded in 1998 to provide search engine optimization for medium-sized and larger businesses that need to achieve top rankings within the search results at the major search engines. Submit Express specializes in the optimization of websites in competitive markets.

According to Pierre Zarokian, “In the past couple of years, many of the major search engines have shifted their ranking algorithm to give higher preference to those sites that are more popular by having many links to them or having links from important sites. This is called Link Popularity. Since, Link Popularity is a major ranking factor these days, most my tips below are geared towards this issue, rather than other criteria such as site content.”

Tip #1 – Make Sure that You Get Listed With Yahoo!

If you’re not listed with Yahoo!, you should go ahead and pay for the Yahoo! Directory submission. This will set you back around $300 annually. Getting a Yahoo! listing will help your Google page rank. Having a link from a site such as Yahoo! - which itself is a popular site is very beneficial. Remember that Quality is better than Quantity.

Tip #2 – Submit to All the Other Directories, Especially the Dmoz Directory

The Dmoz Directory (www.dmoz.com) also known as the Open Directory Project contains search results that are reviewed and categorized by human editors in a way similar to Yahoo! The results are popular among a variety of search engines and power various other listings. Therefore, getting listed at Dmoz.com can have a great trickle down effect. Recently, DMOZ has been having problems with accepting new listings via their submission form. However, I urge all webmasters to keep checking and submit when the form is working. Two other directories worth getting listed in: business.com and jayde.com.

Tip #3 – Create a Large Volume of Inbound Links (But Only the Right Kind!)

Make it a point to initiate link exchanges with other relevant sites – but don’t bother exchanging links unless the partner site has a Google page rank. It is best if the exchanging site has a Google page rank of at least 2 or 3. Pages that have a page rank under 2 have little impact on your search rankings. You can observe any site’s page rank by downloading the Google toolbar at: (http://toolbar.google.com). Again, remember that Quality is better than Quantity. You should also try to find sites with topics related to your website to trade links with.

Tip #4 – Include Keywords in Text Links

When requesting text links in your link exchange campaigns, it is most beneficial to include some keywords in your title of the link. For example, if your company is called ABCcarts.com and your main service is offering shopping cart software, I would recommend the following link title: ”ABC Carts – Shopping Cart Software”

Note that by separating keywords in your domain name, you may have the benefit of adding additional keywords.

Tip #5 – Stay Ahead of Your Competition by Reading Online Resources Regularly

Search engines change ranking algorithms frequently and the search engine industry is rapidly changing. Subscribe to online news services and read bulletin boards to keep up with all the changes. We recommend the following resources, some of which may are paid services:

Search Engine Watch: The premier search engine news and tips resource. Offers a free and a fee-based subscription option. (http://www.searchenginewatch.com)

Search Engine Forums: A long running search engine message board used by many expert webmasters and SEO professionals. (http://www.searchengineforums.com/)

Webmaster World: A leading webmaster message board that covers search engines. This site is also used by many professionals. Once in while you can get expert advice from ‘GoogleGuy’ who is a Google employee. (http://www.webmasterworld.com/)

Submit Express Newsletter: A free newsletter covering the latest search engine news and tips. (http://www.submitexpress.com/newsletters/)

Planet Ocean Newsletter: A fee based newsletter with many great tips from SEO experts. (http://www.searchengine-news.com/)

For more information, free SEO tools or if you are interested in search engine optimization services, visit Submit Express website at (http://www.submitexpress.com) .”

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CPU Review provides helpful articles on web hosting, detailed interviews with hosting professionals, and a series of showcases featuring industry-leading hosting companies and their products. Additional content includes web hosting news, trends and webmaster resources. To learn more visit the site at: (www.cpureview.com)..