I try helping people, usually on forums, how to SEO their blogs, but few seem to get it or listen, or they seem to blow off what I say.

First off, I am not claiming to be some SEO Guru, I am always learning. Even so I do pretty good, I’ve had sites getting over 20k uniques a day in a pretty competitive niche.

So for those that want to listen and at least try their hand…

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I see it quite often, folks talking about their search engine ranks. Problem is most folks who are new to the web, don’t understand it. Time after time I see some one complaining that while they rank well for “such-in-such” keyword or phrase, they don’t see any traffic. They don’t understand how they can be listed well, but no one visits their site.

More…

Most every time it’s because they don’t understand the first rule for getting traffic from the like of Google or Yahoo.

Remember this well…

You have to rank well for keywords or phrases that internet surfers actually type in that search box. You could rank #1 for “Buzz Cola”, but if one one is searching for it, how many visitors do you think you’ll get? Zip, Zero, Naddy. Again, ranking for anything does not mean you will see any traffic.

That is, unless you have the rank-o-matic tool.

So, how do you discover what people are searching for? Use the right tools.

First I recommend is Word Tracker. Although it’s about $50 a month, it will pay for itself many times over.

If your on a budget, a nice free tool can be found over Digital Point.

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How many times have you seen some one say you can get your site or web page ranked well in Google within only two days? Well, it’s a half truth and one that seems many marketers use this ploy to sell their goods. I am not saying these marketers are scamming, but they are not telling the complete truth.

Yes you can get your web page in Google on the first page within two days, but it’s not going to stay there. It can show up fast because it is new to Google, it usually shows up high because it has not been evaluated. The search engine checks your backlinks, if any, how powerful they are and how old they are. Usually you drop to the right spot in another day or two.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone, I just get tired of marketers not tell the whole truth. I know many people can get discouraged, and thinking, what they are doing is not working. It is possible to get ranked well, it just takes the proper SEO and time.

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Many people seem to believe there is some magical formula when it comes to getting search engine traffic. No one can say exactly what it takes to get top ranks and keep them, unless they work on the inside. If some one tells you they can guarantee top rankings, they are full of you know what.

Even if you don’t know the secrets there are basics, that are just that basic search engine optimization, that can go a long ways to get your some traffic.

Keywords: It amazes me how often I see people guessing at keywords. I’ve seen people talk about ranking high for a particular keyword or phrase even though its a keyword no one searches for. Although it seems like common sense, you need to use keywords surfers actually type into the search engines.

Title: The first word or words in your title should be your keyword(s). Follow this up with other related words. A good website to find related words is Clusty.

Top of the Page: It is recommended to use your keywords at the top of your page surrounded by <h1> tags. The only problem with this html tag is that it makes the text quite large and might not fit well into the design f your site. An easy fix is to use a CSS stylesheet to make the text appear how every you’d like.

Though-out your page: Next you need to sprinkle your keyword though-out the rest of your page, usually at around 2%-8% in relation to the rest of your text. Too much and your pages will look like spam, to little and you would’nt be backing up your keyword or keyword phrase. The best tactic is to just write as you normally would, the search engines love natural web-pages.

Other will also say to use <h2> and <h3> tags around your keywords on your pages. Although the jury is out as you’ll see different opinions, to me it could’nt hurt. I personally would’nt use them more than once or twice on a page.

As I said these are basics, but will get your off to a good start. This is also what is called “On Page”  optimization. Next time I will go over “Off Page” basics.

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Maybe thats a little too drastic a title, but I’ve been there.

What is that your saying? Am I trying to say Search Engines are bad for business?

Nope, not even close. My problem with search engines occurred when I started to rely on that sweet traffic, a little too much. I worked my butt off optimizing my sites, trying to make them perfect, to be snatched up by the search engines gods. I even went to far as to hire a SEO guru, to make sure I’d done everything right.

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Well besides for bragging rights, it sure does’nt mean your website is popular.

When Google first introduced their now defunct Page Rank, there was finally a visual record that your website was on the map, you were somebody. The mere number indicated just how good your site was, basically the higher the PR, the more traffic.

Sadly it now means very little, besides showing your site is in google somewhere. What happened? I don’t think any one officially knows for sure, but I have a very good guess. Too many people once again tried to cheat the system. Inflating their Google PR through, usually, unethical means. Another good tool down the drain.

What does this have to do with anything? Don’t use Google PR as a judge of another websites traffic potential, as when looking for link trades.

How do I know for sure it does’nt mean anything? I’ve seen far too many PR 2 websites with more traffic than a PR 5, just as an example.

So the next time some one wants to trade links with you and all they talk about is their wonderful Google PR, well, you’ll know better. Your on the track.

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