What I mean by Soft SEO

When clients ask me “have you done SEO?”

Of course my answer is “Yes”, because I have really done a lot of SEO tasks.

But note, for me there are two kinds of SEo, the “Soft SEO” and the “Hard SEO”.

Probably an expert SEO would be wondering where I came up with that term. Well, I created it, so I think.

The reason why I differentiate it that way is so my clients can understand further what kind of SEO experience I have.

So here it goes:

Soft SEO refers to:

- social networking

-article/blog submissions

-blog postings

-forum postings

-blog maintenance

-exchanging links

-social bookmarking

-twitter

-backlinks

“Hard SEO” refers to all technical stuff like Google analytics, Google trends, Modules and the stuff that needs a technical expert to go with it.

Optimizing Your Website

For a lot of website owners, website optimization is simply designing your web pages to rank high in the search engines. When your site ranks high in search engines, it will come out in the first few pages when people type in the keywords related to your site. If your website doesn’t come up in the first few pages of search engines, then your target audience will not be able to find you.

Therefore, the first thing to do to get your site optimized is to identify your keywords. Try to check with Google Keyword Analyzer tool to see if you are using the correct keywords and keyword phrases. The keywords and keyword phrases you use are very important as it identifies your website. Once you have a list of keywords and keyword phrases to use, then use them consistently in all your webpage. Remember that having all the keywords and phrases appearing multiply times in your web pages will help you in the search engines position.

Another point to consider to get your site properly optimized is to have a unique title. Your site’s title should be able to let search engines know what your site is all about. Also make sure your title tag contains the keyword in reference to your site. You don’t have to overload your title tag with keywords, just make sure the keywords used are the strongest ones and target your website.

Next, check your meta tags. In case you are not aware, meta tags are most often used for Search Engine Optimization. They are specific HTML tag used to define meta data on your web pages. Do note that it is important to include meta tags because most search engines utilize such to match pages to queries. Description and keywords are the most critical meta tags used in search engine optimization.

Also give your homepage a good and appropriate homepage. It doesn’t have to be a really long description but just something that tells about your site, about what you do and what clients or readers can expect from your site. Say it all about your site in a nutshell so to speak.

Text is another important point to consider. Make sure your webpage has an accurate description and contains not just plenty of text but plenty of keywords and keyword phrases used in different forms or variations. Keywords and keyword phrased should not however appear more than seven times in your page.

Remember that the foundation for nearly every successful search engine optimization is simply simplicity. The goal is to make your site easy to fine, easy to follow and easy for search engines to read.

Quality Contents for Your Site

One of a sites’ strongest point in basic SEO is good content quality. Content is basically the heart and soul of the site. So you have to keep your content fresh, interesting and informative so it will keep your clients, readers or visitors coming for more. More importantly, keep in mind that good content quality is one of the major factors that complete the basic SEO power.

To start with, do note while developing your site’s content your target audience. So first thing you should ask is “Who is my target audience?”. Upon zeroing your target audience, then you can start developing and writing your site’s content.

So what are the essentials that make up good quality content? Here are some ideas:

Title of your Website

Get a unique and attractive title tag that can create interest at the same time identify itself with the site. You can also create unique title format in different styles. Make sure each page especially your homepage contains the necessary keywords to let search engines know what your site is all about.

Articles

One important part of good content quality in a website is the article section. You could include here articles in the form of tips, new ideas, new research or written experiences or even product reviews. It could be even seasonal articles, like if your website is a fashion site, then you could write about the latest fashion trend, forecast for new trends, what’s hot, what’s in and what’s not, or how about how to articles?

Take time to educate your customers with valuable information that is related to your business or site. This way, your website will not only gain targeted visitors but it will also attract new links.

Blogs, Forums, FAQ, Q&A or message board

Since your site is virtual, make sure your website has a Frequently Asked Questions page or FAQ with the most basic questions answered. A message board is also a great way for interaction specially if there are daily or weekly updates from the site’s owner. This builds up trust and confidence of visitors towards your site, plus it gives you the chance to know your clients and know their needs and wants.

Remember that great interaction between the site’s admin and its’ constituents is a great way to keep visitors coming in. Another advantage of having an online interaction is it keeps the site interesting with updated news from readers and clients alike and even from professionals. A Question and Answer section between readers and certified professionals makes an interesting reading.

About US

The About Us page is a very important page in good content quality. People are people and always we will be curious about the company we are going to do business or the website we are going to read. We want to know how reliable the website or the business is. We want to know who are the makers or the creators behind this amazing site. Are they professionals in their fields? Are they big time CEO or fresh start up? Most importantly, people would want to know if they trust your site. So write something about the you and the people behind your website, this is one great way to gain trust and confidence from your clients and readers alike.

Contact Us

Contact us is very important specially for online stores. Your potential clients and customers would want to know where you are located, if you have a legitimate office, if anyone is answering your phone, if you have customer service hotline in case they have complaints or questions about the products they purchased. So make sure you are accessible to your clients.

Contest >> Submit your fix for the housing slide, and Win a Trip to Inman Real Estate Connect, SF

From my friend:

http://www.realty.com/blog/contest-submit-your-fix-for-the-housing-slide-and-win-a-trip-to-inman-real/

Win FREE Conference Pass + $500 for Travel!

Realty.com is giving away one free pass to Inman’s Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco and an additional $500 for travel to the event.  The total worth is over $1400 and includes access to the conference, exhibition and workshops.  The event takes place from August 5-7 and will include several industry leaders and as they say, “a year’s worth of networking in three days.”

Click here to find out more about the event.

To Enter:
Simply write a blog post about an inventive idea on how to fix the housing industry downturn and link back to Realty.com.  Email the URL of your article to contest@realty.com.  A single winner will be chosen based on the most unique and viable suggested remedy, as determined by the Realty.com staff.

Deadline:
The contest ends on Friday, April 3rd at 11:59PM EST.  Winner announced on April 6th.

RULES:
- Anyone can participate
- The prize is the conference ticket plus $500 for travel and/or accommodations.  You are responsible for the extra costs.
- The winner will be announced on the Realty.com blog once he/she is contacted and has accepted the prize.
- Winner must respond within 24 hours.  If no response, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Building Your Site’s Traffic

So, you’re a website owner and you are at your wit’s end on how to improve your site’s traffic.

You are looking for high traffic, large number of links, more businesses and specifically high revenues. What to do?

You may be thinking of tricking the search engines with hidden keywords, email blasting, landing pages, banner ads, the list could go on and on, but then, do you know that all these tricks can backfire on you? Remember the best way for SEO marketing is the proper way to do it without any tricks at all, it is all about trust with the search engines. Tricking the search engines will only create a negative effect on your site’s ranking.

A lot of people may have overlooked this idea, but keep in mind that aside from having the necessary optimization procedures like titles, meta tags, text, keywords density and all the other optimization procedures, another important factor to consider of a site’s SEO marketing power is the quality of content and interactivity which translates to popularity — as in how many people are visiting your site and how many websites link to your website. Thus, the important thing is to increase the amount and quality of content and interactivity. So you have to always keep your content fresh, interesting and informative so it will keep your clients, readers or visitors coming for more.

One important part of good content quality in a website is the article section. You could include here articles in the form of tips, new ideas, new research or written experiences or even product reviews. It could be even seasonal articles, like if your website is a fashion site, then you could write about the latest fashion trend, forecast for new trends, what’s hot, what’s in and what’s not, or how about how to articles?

Take time to educate your customers with valuable information that is related to your business or site. This way, your website will not only gain targeted visitors but it will also attract new links.

Since your site is virtual, make sure your website has a Frequently Asked Questions page or FAQ with the most basic questions answered. A message board is also a great way for interaction specially if there are daily or weekly updates from the site’s owner. This builds up trust and confidence of visitors towards your site, plus it gives you the chance to know your clients and know their needs and wants.

Remember that great interaction between the site’s admin and its’ constituents is a great way to keep visitors coming in. Another advantage of having an online interaction is it keeps the site interesting with updated news from readers and clients alike and even from professionals. A Question and Answer section between readers and certified professionals also makes an interesting reading.

Of course, there is nothing more important than old fashioned marketing method of press release. You can write anything about a new store, a new product, new studies, new launch or a new sponsored event. You can also include in your press release content about product details, informative news or latest studies related to your business or even helpful tips and advises. Take time to educate your customers with valuable information that is related to your business. This will not only gain targeted visitors but will also attract new links and links to your website will eventually build up.