SEO: Directory Submission & Link Building Tips

There are two very pertinent reason why we submit to directories, first, to get more targeted traffic to your site and secondly, to build link popularity in hopes of a better page rank. Acquiring links from other websites may obtain the same results, providing they are qualified links meaning the website you want to exchange links with pertains to your business.


The search engines (SEs) have evolved over the years and will continue to evolve in the years to come. Google is by far the furthest along the evolutionary path.

Submitting your website to quality Directories is perhaps one of the best ways to acquire valuable inbound links. Directories, DMOZ and Yahoo hold significant weight. Google draws its directory results from DMOZ and Yahoo draws its directory results from its own Yahoo Directory.

Keep in mind that Directories have human editors they gather all the listings in that directory, getting listed in key directories means that it is seen by many people, therefore you are more apt to get your website's links recognized by the crawler based search engines.

 If your site is in a competitive search field then you really have no choice. Without a large number of links to your site, you have very little chance of achieving high search engine rankings.

The following are some suggestions on how to build effective SEO links while minimizing the risk of having your hand slapped by the search engines.

 There are many important tips to follow when submitting your web site to a directory.

What to look for

• Here are some of the most important criteria's to take into consideration when submitting to directories:
• Are your listings going to be posted on Static pages
• Are you going to gain any Page Rank benefit
• Are you able to add descriptive title to your link
• Are you able to specify your own keywords
• Are you able to submit multiple links under one listing
• Is the directory listed in DMOZ or Yahoo
• Are there more than 50 links on a category page
• Can you enhance your listing by purchasing category sponsorship
• If you are looking for additional traffic, does the target directory's Alexa rank justify the submission costs

Before You Submit

• Make sure your site does not look like it is under construction and is not full of broken links.
• Verify your site is not already listed in the directory. If you have a new site it is not likely that it exists within any directories.
• Read the overall directory submission guidelines.
• Choose the correct directory category: this is what adds value to the directories (organization).

Vary your link title text
The search engines look for evidence of unnatural behavior. In a perfect world, the SEs would like to see all links gained naturally. Since it would be highly unlikely for a large number of individuals to link to your site using the same link text you should vary your own link text.

Vary your link descriptions
Google is likely getting better at analyzing the text surrounding a link. Again it would be unnatural to always have the exact same text. The same descriptions could also trip duplicate content filters.

Seek links from related sites
It is widely believed that a link from a website in the same field is much more valuable than an unrelated link (most applicable for Google and Yahoo). Perhaps too many unrelated links can even get you a penalty.

Mix homepage and internal links
You should have some of your links pointing to internal pages of your websites, rather than have all you links pointing to your home page. Again, naturally attained links will seldom all point to your homepage. Having links pointing to your internal pages will also help your SE results.

Seek links from authority sites.
Links from authority sites will provide much more weight than non-authority sites. We can only guess at what sites might be considered authorities. Google seems to favor .gov and .edu sites.

Seek links on the upper half of the page
It is believed that the higher a link is on the page the more weight it will provide.

Seek links within page content
Links located within content will provide more weight than links in the margins or footers of a site.

Seek non-reciprocal links
Do reciprocal links provide less weight. I don't know if the proof is conclusive on this issue. If not, algos that handle this could be around the corner. It is feasible that sites with too many reciprocal links incur a penalty.

Seek links from older sites
Links from older, more established sites will provide more weight (applicable to Google) 

Subdomains or Subdirectories? From SEO point of view

 First, let’s define what we are talking about: “blog.domain.com” is a subdomain while “domain.com/blog” is a sub directory or a folder within a domain.

A sub directory is used as a folder within one domain to organize smaller pieces of content, like a category of several pages. For most people they will only ever need subdirectories.

A sub domain creates more separation than just a folder, basically creating a stand alone site that could easily be it’s own domain. However, you may want to piggyback on the main domain name. For example, google.com is the main site. Gmail actually lives at mail.google.com. Google Maps lives at maps.google.com, and Google Documents at docs.google.com. These are each stand alone sites and could be their own domains but they make more sense under the google umbrella.

How do sub domains effect SEO?

sub domains used to help with SEO because there was a chance domain.com AND blog.domain.com would show up in results while there was (and is) a limit on two pages per domain in a search engine results page (SERP).

One strategy that could make sense would be to create a subdomain for a section of your business or site that could really be a standalone site. If you are a department store, you may have “mystore.com” and use “electronics.mystore.com” to create a site with great SEO specific to electronics, since the searches will see it essentially a stand alone site about electronics. Then use “food.mystore.com” to target searches specific to food. If you had those things combined (along with ten others – shoes, jewelry, etc. ) the content is not as specific and may be confusing as to what the site is about. Meanwhile, they all still help pump up the image of the main domain “mysite.com”. You have created several specific relevant sites all benefitting from the main brand of “mystore.com”.

Which one should I use?

For most situations and for the average website, the easiest solution is a new subdirectory. If you are setting up a new blog, you can create a folder called “blog” install wordpress and you have your blog at “mydomain.com/blog”. There is no reason to use a whole subdomain for that. I like the simple idea that if you could almost justify starting an entirely new (but related) site, then use a subdomain. If you are simply adding a new category of pages with similar content, then just use a subdirectory. Save the subdomain for something that is big enough and clearly separate enough that it needs to be its own site.

If you can afford the time an money required to develop out each subdomain and if your main domain would be too convoluted by having too much on it, I’d say yes. If not, save yourself the heartache and extra work. Just make your site easy to navigate, use folders and you should do just fine.

Drawbacks to using sub domains

Each sub domain would be looked at by search engines as a new site, which means you will need to do everything you would normally do for a new site.In short, creating back-links, battling the sandbox, and all other problems associated with domain development are still present. If this sounds like too much trouble, you may want to consider creating sub folders within the domain.This would look like www.mydomain.com/folder.

Benefits to using a sub domain

Let’s say you had a site that had many categories in it. If you were to submit to directories you could submit each sub domain as it’s own individual category and not get penalized. The links from the subdomains to the main domain would be looked upon as one way links from another domain.

If a sub,domain becomes banned will it effect the main domain?

The answer is yes. It may get the main domain banned if they are linked to each other. There has been proof of main domains being banned, yet i have heard of many instances where they have not.The main domain may not get banned under certain circumstances. The question shouldn’t be whether the main domain can get banned because of a sub domain, but instead, why would your sub domain get banned in the first place.If you want to experiment with untested or controversial methods, do so on a new domain.

15 Important Web Design Tips You Might Have Overlooked.

Here are 15 important website design tips that you might not be aware of or have overlooked. Consider taking advantage of them if you haven't already done so...

1. Custom 404 Pages

Create a custom 404 web page, so that any time your website visitor mistypes or misspells a URL on your site, they will still be provided with navigation options for your site (instead of getting nothing but a "Page Not Found" error message, which is neither friendly or helpful).

2. Redirect Non-www. To www.

Website visitors will often leave out the "www." portion when they type a URL or link to your website. Set the website up so that it automatically redirects any non-www version of your domain urls (http://yourdomain.com) to the www version (http://www.yourdomain.com) of your website.

3. Properly Sized Graphics

Size and define all graphics and images on your web pages properly and correctly. Web pages will load quicker if the graphics contained on each page are properly defined so they don't require the web browser to re-size them. Properly sized and defined images can reduce the web browser workload and speed up the page loading time.

4. Favicon

Add a Favicon (favorite icon) to your website, so that your company or product logo appears in the URL box. This icon will also show up in a bookmark list, and gives the web site an added level of professionalism.

5. Include RSS Auto-Discovery

If you offer an RSS feed for any content on your website, be sure to include auto-discovery code in the header of your website. This will allow many browsers and RSS readers to automatically detect the presence of an RSS feed and alert the visitor that it is available.

6. Alternate Domains

Domain names are relatively inexpensive, so you should register multiple domain versions and extensions in order to protect your brand. The varied domains can be parked on the main website, simply to prevent others from obtaining them. Registering alternate domain versions will help protect your brand.

7. Consistent Navigation

Navigation should remain consistent on a website. As a website visitor moves through the website, the navigation bar should remain in the same place on each page. This will make it easier for visitors to navigate your website, and become more comfortable as they move through your site.

8. Home Goes Home

The main graphic, company logo, or "header" at the top of the site should be included on every page in the site, and should always return the visitor to the home page of the website. This has become a web standard, and most visitors now expect to return to the main page of the site simply by clicking on the main top graphic from any page within the site.

9. Copyright Notice

Include a copyright notice on the bottom of each page contained on the website, and keep it current! It may seem trivial, but an out-of-date copyright notice can send a message to your visitors that the website and its content may be out-of-date as well.

10. Meaningful File Names

Use meaningful file names for any files, graphics, or web pages. Many search engines look at file names as part of their search algorithm, and using keywords in file names may help to improve search engine rankings.

11. Hyphens vs Underscores

When naming files and webpages, use hyphens (i.e. web-page.html) rather than underscores (i.e. web_page.html) for the file names. It is much easier for search engines to separate and index the keywords when hyphens are used.

12. Alt Tags

Use ALT tags to describe what images represent on web pages. ALT tags not only assist visually-impaired visitors in knowing what the images are, but they also help with search engine ranking.

13. Spell Check

Use a spell-check feature on the text of all web pages in a website. A website that contains mistyped or misspelled words just shouts "unprofessional". Take the extra few minutes necessary to check the spelling of text on each page of your website.

14. Test

After making changes to a website, test it! Many times, a webmaster will upload changes, confident in their abilities, only to later discover that in their attempt to fix one thing, they have "broken" something somewhere else. Make testing a habit after making even the most minor changes!

15. Keep It Simple

Simple is good. Remove unnecessary clutter and distractions from a website and navigation menu.

Importance Of Correct And Valid Html

HTML is the foundation of the web! HTML defines the structure and presentation of the website. Therefore, it needs to be clean, correct and validated.

It is not uncommon to make mistakes while writing code. To ensure that the code is written correctly and to fix any undue errors, HTML validators are used. There are a number of free online HTML validators available on the internet that are up-to-date and efficient. In fact, the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C has its very own W3C HTML Validation Service at http://validator.w3.org The W3C is a standard body that offers specifications and guidelines to enhance the accessibility of website and define standard HTML specifications.

It is very easy to use the W3C HTML Validation Service. You just need to enter the address of the online web page , upload the HTML file or documents. After you have done this, the service will automatically display a list of all the potential problems in the HTML. You can correct all the mistakes and resubmit it to confirm the consistency of the document.

However, in order to sort the problem, you would need to know what the problem is and how it can be sorted. This is something that bothers a lot of young web designers and developers who are fairly new to the intricacies of HTML. Fortunately, some of the most common HTML errors are in fact common. Here are some popular errors and ways to fix them.

Absence of DOCTYPE

The HTML document should start with a DOCTYPE declaration. In fact, it should be the first line of your document. If you do not start the HTML document with a DOCTYPE declaration, HTML validators wont be able to perform their job.

Absence of Closing Tags

One of the most common mistakes that happen in HTML coding is unclosed tags. Especially, I you have the habit of copying and pasting codes among documents, there may be several instances where you start a tag but forget to close it. This can wreck havoc on the layout of the web page.

Improper Nesting of HTML Tags

This is the case when you forget to close HTML tags in the reverse of the order in which you opened them. This further leads to discrepancies in the overall code. However, once you spot them, it is extremely easy to fix them. All you need to do is to arrange them accordingly.

Absence of Quotation Marks

Often in case of hyperlinks, people tend to start quotation marks but forget to close them. This results in the link not being created at all. It it important to go through the text carefully and close the quotation marks.

Absence of ALT Attributes

Alt tags are necessary in tag in order to display the alternate text that describes the image used on the web pages. Without the Alt tag, the image will be on its own supplying no information to search engines and thus hampering the accessibility of the website.

Once, you have corrected all the errors in your HTML codes, resubmit the document to the validator in order to ensure that the code is clean and free of all inconsistencies.

Web Design for the Web 2.0 Age

A well crafted website is vital to the success of any new business these days. Launch parties have replaced ribbon cuttings and websites often precede the opening of store doors. Giving your business a well developed and targeted “face” or website is the first step to getting customers to sign up and buy your product or service.

Web 2.0

Internet users have changed their expectations when it comes to visiting company websites. A new evolution of website expectations has been greeted with creative designs and developments. Whereas websites used to exist as a billboard, they are now a conversation starter and continuer, so to speak. This evolution has marked the change from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. A company’s website must not only provide information, but also draw people to their site with various strategies like blogs, social media and other user generated content providers.

Web 2.0 web design has opened up a whole gamut of ideas and creative solutions for business problems. By initiating their own conversation and integrating sales goals, websites can provide their target audiences with a place to voice their onions, but also a place to build brand loyalty.

Brand Loyalty – Everyone Has a Voice

When customers feel that your company cares about their thoughts and ideas, a relationship is born. This goes a long way to handling customer service issues as well as gaining long-term customers.

SEO Mistakes You Must Avoid !!!!!!

The key to understanding which SEO mistakes to avoid lies in understanding what big search engines like Google likes and does not like. In other words, the key to SEO traffic is to make your site more "likeable" to Google. Here are 6 mistakes which gives a negative effect on your SEO efforts.

1) Image headers and extensive image use.

Google spiders cannot read images like text. Therefore, your header cannot be quantified by Google's search engine and as we all know headers are extremely important for SEO. Therefore, use a text header with the "[h1]" tag instead. If you must use images, include keywords in the alt text.

2) Splash pages

Probably the biggest mistake anyone can make is by having a splash page. The first thing Google reads is your main page and if your main page is one big hunk of flash videos, you will be losing out on tons of potential free traffic. Besides, nobody is interested in your flash video, they are just interested in the content.

3) Too many keywords

If the keyword density of your site is over 5%, your site will come across as spam and that will have negative effects on SEO. Instead, use stemmed keywords. (key phrases related to your targeted keyword)

E.g. internet marketing tips and online marketing advice.

4) Too many backlinks from low quality sites

Getting too many link exchanges from low quality sites or link farms can have a serious negative effect on your website. Not only will you lose credibility among Google and your readers, your site will come off as a link farm or spam site. They solution: Get links from authority sites in the related niche. In other words, use google toolbar to check for pages with high ranking in your niche and try to get links from them.

5) Bad language or profanity

Did your mother used to wash your mouth with soap whenever you said bad words? Google hates profanity and bad language. Therefore, stay away from it, unless you are running an adult website.

6) Black hat SEO

This is something that came about a few years back by internet marketers who understood Google too well and tried to exploit their search engine mechanisms. What they did was use software which produced 1000 mini blogs filled with keywords and linked to one another. This is a huge no-no. Google's brilliant engineers have found ways to overcome these practices and have banned all sorts of black hat SEO sites.

Google search engine is always upgrading their algorithm to prevent from SEO abusers and thus, it is always good to stay on top of the SEO trends so that your site will not lose traffic.

Basic 10 SEO Tips to Start with! :)

People want to have expertise on it, so they will make money (because of most of blogger that study SEO because want to make money online). SEO is a drug. Therefore, there is out of date or invalid SEO advice getting around, not to mention the information that could also make our pages being banned.

I hope this tips are not boring you but could assist assist my readers in forming a basic understanding of how to create human friendly web pages which are easily understood by the most popular search engines. 

Here We Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This post only highlights about Google and Yahoo!, the two will bring a fat traffic and a fat traffic means money!


1. Put the descriptive keyword within title tag, this will make search engine robots recognize your page quickly and know what the content is all about. Title tag is located on head tags, therefore insert descriptive keyword or key phrase that describe on your pages, this way your chances to gain targeted traffic will be a lot bigger.

Not to forget, be sure the title tag contains text which a human can relate to. Because they will be appeared in a search result page (s).

2. When you make an anchor text to link your page from different page or different blogs, make sure the anchor text is the same with text of your title tag. This is very useful if you have many pages or linked by many others blogs.

3. Another recommended way is the text you put within the title tag must also be put within the body of the page. It will be weird if text of title page are not found in the body of the page.

By this every reader that clicks on your page that appears in SERP will be ensured that they clicked on the accurate link and landed at the page where they seek to visit. Robots love this because of there's relevance between the title of the page and the headline.

Also, sprinkle your keywords throughout your article. The most important keywords can be bolded or colored in red. A good place to do this is once or twice in the body at the top of your article and in the sub-headings.

4. Make sure you Do not utilize the same title tag on every page on your website. This way, your pages will be likely not get indexed or crawled because of SE Robots will think that all of the pages are the same.

I often use the headline of my pages as my title tag, this is meant to assist the robots knows quicker and exactly what my page is all about. The most good place to add the headline is in the h1 tag to make it the same as the title tag tex.

5. I said it before and will say it again now, DO NOT SPAM the description or meta tag keyword by stuffing meaningless keywords. All SEO experts are in one voice that this kind of technique is no longer effective.

6. Do not link to link-farms or other search engine unfriendly neighborhoods.

7. DO not use doorway pages. Since search engines like to crawl visitor friendly homepage/subpage that contains relevant content to the keywords searched in SE, therefore DO not use doorway pages, because they are designed only for robots, not for visitors.

8. Title tags for text links. Insert the title tag within the HTML of your text link to add weight to the link and the page where the link resides. This is like the alt tag for images.

My site contains navigation menus on the left and right of the page. The menu consists of links not images. When you hover over the link with your mouse, the title of the link appears. View the source of this page to see how to add this tag to your links.

9. Use the alt tag to gives description of our images. Alt tag will assist robots that crawl your images to find specific pages in your site and consequently help SE user who use text only while Googling.

10. Build one-way link at the proper amount to help your page/homepage position in Search Engine.