What Is SEO? Search Engine Optimization

What Is SEO? Search Engine Optimization
By Erick B Carlson
Whenever I mention SEO, people always ask, what is SEO? SEO stands for "search engine optimization". Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your landing page or website for Google's search engine. Google search engine uses an algorithm to look for a couple of different things in order to list a website in the results when a person types in a specific set of keywords. Keywords are what internet user's type in to Google's search engine when they are looking for a product or service. For example, if a user was looking for the best SEO Company in Phoenix, Arizona, they would type in "best SEO company in phoenix AZ" into the search engine and would be presented with the results that Google feels would satisfy the needs of the searcher. SEO is simply optimizing a business person's website to be the best possible result for a certain set of keywords.
How do SEO companies find the right keywords for a particular business?
They find the right keywords by using Google's keyword planner. The keyword planner allows you to type in any set of keywords or phrases and the planner will tell you how many times those keywords or phrases are typed into the search engine every month. You can type in any variation of keywords and the planner will also bring up keywords or phrases that are similar to the one's you are typing in. This is the best way to find out what kind of lingo users are using when looking for a certain type of product or service.
What does Google's algorithm look for?
The main things that Google is looking for when ranking your website are titles, keyword density, and back links. The tile of your website needs to have your keywords in them. Let's say a search engine optimization company wants to rank for the term "Best SEO Company", the title of the webpage or post that is being optimized should start out with those keywords. Like the example above, "best SEO Company in Phoenix AZ".
The next step would be implementing those keywords within the content or text of the webpage or post. The keyword density, which means, how many times that keyword is stated within the text, usually needs to be around 2-4 percent in order for Google to see that it is relevant. Don't add the keywords too few of times or too many because Google will see you as either a spammer or not relevant enough. Back links are simply links from other sites that are related to your business. For example, let's say we want to make a blog post about SEO because we are trying to build a back link to an SEO website. We would construct a blog post that has the SEO related keywords in it and we would put the link of the website that we are trying to build the back link to within text of that blog post.
Google will then read that blog post and discover that the post you created is related to the website and both of them have similar keywords in them. Now, you can just link from any website, it has to be a high quality site with at least a PR 2 or better and that's the hardest part. Not every site allows you to build links that point to other sites. Research how to build back links if you want to know more about this topic.
SEO is simply a way of connecting searchers to products or services they are looking for. If you can make your titles, keywords, and back links relevant to a user's search, you will rank highly in Google's search engine and people will be able to find you when they are looking for a particular product or service that is related to your business.
Erick Carlson is the owner and contributor to the Best SEO Company For Small Businesses Online. http://musicbeats.net/best-seo-company-small-business/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erick_B_Carlson
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Best Seo Services Company for Small Business

Best Seo Company For Small Business

 Want to know how to increase traffic to your website? I can take you from Page NONE to Page 1 in as little as a couple weeks and I only charge half of what the other SEO Companies are going to charge. I am also willing to work out monthly payments.

Why You should hire My SEO company for Your Small Business.

• Monthly Payments - You can make monthly payments until your balance is paid in full, unlike most SEO companies who want you to continue paying them for the lifetime of your website.
• Affordable Prices - Most SEO companies charge you $100 dollars per hour to perform services to your site and this is due to having a high overhead. My company is a small work from home company that is dedicated to offering SEO services at a discounted rate. After all, I am a small business owner myself.
• Communication - I am available to help you through the process and even understand more about SEO. I am a human being just like you and I like to know that my clients can reach me when they need to.
• The Single Most Important Reason I am the best SEO company for Small Business is transparency. I am willing to show you every method that I use to get your site ranking #1 and you can be sure that I am using the most White-hat (Safest) methods possible in order to get your site recognized by Google's search engine.

Don't caught up up with an SEO company that is using black hat methods, it is quite likely that if a company wont even show you how they build their links, they are probably using black-hat methods. Black-hat SEO services can get your site severely punished by Google and even get your site suspended.

It makes since that the best SEO company for small business would be a SEO company that is ran by a small business. I know what you are going through, I went through all of the same struggles of getting my business off the ground and I know what it takes to start a business from scratch and work my way up to the top of the ranks.

BEST SEO COMPANY FOR SMALL BUSINESS GUARANTEE

I Personally guarantee that I can get your website ranking on Page 1 for at least half of your keywords by the end of you campaign or we will work for free until you do. Think about it, do you think we want to work for free? The answer is no.  We are going to make sure that site is ranking within the agreed upon amount of time of your campaign. We even put the guarantee in the Contract in Bold Print.

Call Me Now at 1(337)852-1167 or Fill out my Contact Form on the Website

Best Seo Company For Small Business

Top 3 SEO Tips and Tricks to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Top 3 SEO Tips and Tricks to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines
By Erick B Carlson
Getting your website to rank in the search engines does not take as long as you think. There is really only 3 major parts of your website that you need to be worried about when optimizing for search engines. As long as you have optimized these parts correctly, you should move up in the search engines fairly easily.
Valuable Keywords
Keywords are the most important part of SEO. The first thing an SEO company would do is an analysis of your site to find out what keyword category you fall into. That way, they can get an estimate of much search traffic you can receive if you decide to use certain keywords on your site. Not every keyword gets the same amount of traffic so you want to make sure that you select the keywords that are most relevant to your business, but still high traffic.
Rich Content
Now that you've got your keywords, let's use them. Content is the new way the top search engines are starting to rank websites. Most search engines do not look at your site like a viewer might do but they look at the words on your page. The search engine spiders gather all the words that you have typed in on your pages or pictures that you might have posted that have titles and alternate text in them. They measure how much density each words has and they make you rank based on how many times those words came up on your site compared to a competitor's site. Make sure that you have plenty of keyword rich content on your page so that the spiders will see you as relevant for a certain topic or keyword.
Quality Links
Some people say that links are going away but I don't think they can ever really go completely away. Back Linking has been a way that search engines have ranked sites for years. That's how they can tell how popular someone is or if they are an authority on a certain topic or product. If you get links from popular websites that have a high page rank, you get power from that. If you can get power from the highest ranking websites online, you will rank higher in the search engines. Only build high quality links to your site and make sure that they are relevant so that you don't get seen as a link spammer. Post articles, make blogs, build websites, and link back to your website.
SEO Tips and Tricks are what you need to optimize you website to rank higher. Learn more online ( http://musicbeats.net/seo-tips-tricks-tools-services-top-companies/ )
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erick_B_Carlson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Top-3-SEO-Tips-and-Tricks-to-Optimize-Your-Website-for-Search-Engines&id=7955146

4 Important Things To Watch Out For When Hiring an SEO Company

4 Important Things To Watch Out For When Hiring an SEO Company
By Erick B Carlson
Are they building high quality links?
Do they even let you see where they are building the links? High quality links are the only way that Google is going to view you as an authority in your field. Google wants to do away with sites that are getting links from low quality sites and give better rankings to sites that get links from high-ranking authority sites. If your Search Engine Optimization Company won't tell you where they are building your link's, it's a pretty good chance that they are using non-white hat link building techniques that will lower the value and authority of your site.
Are they handling the new Google algorithm updates properly?
Google just unleashed another algorithm update that SEO guys need to look out for, this one is called the Hummingbird Update. All this means is that Google is changing the way it at your site, they are now looking for Question/Answers, Schema Markup, Mobile Site Optimization, and Page Speed. Basically, they are looking for sites that create the most value for the user. They don't want to waste people's time with searches that don't give the user what they are looking for. Google is trying really hard to make sure people get the right result on the first click.
Are they incorporating social media?
Google is starting to incorporate social media shares into its algorithms. Getting social media shares, especially Google + 1's, are extremely important in order to get Google to view you're website as an authority in your field. Facebook likes and Twitter followers are important too because Google knows that people usually only share a product when they like it and want to tell someone. Make sure they are not buying you followers. Google can tell when someone likes your page and then never returns.
Are they overcharging you?
Make sure you find out how many actual hours they are going to be working on your site or building back links. We have seen companies charge up to 1,000 dollars and they only spent 11 total hours working on the site and building links. It is up to every SEO company what they charge, but 100 dollars an hour seems pretty ridiculous. Most companies will be up front with you about the amount of hours they spend on the site. Make sure and ask if they don't. The last thing you want to do is get charged 1,000 for next to nothing.
Erick Carlson is the CEO and Owner of the Best Article Writing Service Online. Visit his website to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, Link Building Strategies, and Article Writing Submissions. http://musicbeats.net/best-seo-article-writing-service/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erick_B_Carlson
http://EzineArticles.com/?4-Important-Things-To-Watch-Out-For-When-Hiring-an-SEO-Company&id=8071114

What is the Google Hummingbird Update

What is Google’s Hummingbird Update? Whats new in Google Hummingbird Update? News on the Hummingbird update and affects on SEO.

Google’s Hummingbird Update affected 90% of websites online with it’s new algorithm. It was easy to see that these kinds of changes were going to be taking affect on the search results from the last update. Google is striving to be the most user friendly search engine online and they are doing a great job by implementing the new Hummingbird algorithm. The new update mostly deals with the way users are searching web. For instance, if a user were looking for “Tennis Shoes”, they wouldn’t type in those words alone. They would type in a multiple keyword phrases like, “Where do I find the cheapest tennis shoes online?”. It terms of SEO, the new update has almost the same affect that the penguin update had just more in depth. Google was already starting to rank quality content higher and be more user focused with the last update. This update is more focused on how users search, rather than what they are searching for.

WHAT DOES THE GOOGLE HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE MEAN FOR MY SITE?

Google is moving towards quality content. They reward quality content, articles, and info that helps users navigate the web, or review a product or website. It’s simple, add more quality content to your site that answers users questions. Having frequently asked questions on the main page of your site is a good example of having content on your site. FAQ’s are questions and answers that help users make decisions and gather information about your site. The Frequently asked questions also help Google understand what your site is about and what solutions your site can provide for a search query. Think about it in terms of problems and solutions. The user is typing a problem into the search query and your site needs to be the best possible solution to that problem. Your site needs to address the problem and explain the problem in detailed text so that the search engines recognize it as a solution. Most of the time, the newest content ranks the highest, so keep that in mind and publish fresh new content all the time.

Building Links After The Google Hummingbird Update

It is still possible to build strong quality back links with the new update. For Example, If you wanted to build a strong quality back link with an article, you would want to write an article about a niche’ that helps users in some way, shape, or form. Give the readers of the article a piece of original informative content that they could not find on another site. For example, a top 10 list, do it yourself article, or a best companies for a certain niche’ breakdown.

Hummingbird Update Affects on Smart Phone Searches

Users are also doing more quick searches form there smart phones these days. Try to keep in mind the kind of lingo people use when doing a quick search on a smart phone. They don’t use complete sentences and they frequently add in a city and state into the search. For instance, a user is looking for a coffee shop in Phoenix, Arizona. The user would not use that phrase, they would use something more like this, “Coffee shop Phx AZ”. Titling your pages with keyword phrases that match users searches is the best way to SEO your site. What are users searching for in your niche’? What’s the top search results for your keywords? How did they structure their site? If they are still number 1, it is a good chance that they are staying withing Google’s guidelines and are someone you should take notes from.

How To Avoid Hummingbird Penalties?

Just do the same thing as I have been saying, add quality content to your site that gives users an original experience and solves their problems or needs quickly. All of the same SEO rules apply:

• Don’t spam backlinks
• Only build links from quality and related sites
• Answer users questions
• Provide solutions
• Make sure your content is useful

http://musicbeats.net/google-hummingbird-update-explained/

Best SEO Company | Companies | Top 5

I have gathered a list of, what I believe to be, the Best SEO Companies online.  This is my top 5 list.  I have graded on price, if they offer more than SEO, and clients they have worked for.  

#1. Distilled 206-965-9265 - Best Work but the Highest Cost

• Pricing: High - Starting fee for monthly retained SEO work is $8,000 dollars 
• Do they offer more than SEO?  -  Yes, they also offer conversion rate optimization, PPC Marketing Link Building, and Video Seo.  
• Client's they have worked for - Microsoft, The Telegraph, and Staples.  

#2. HigherVisibility 888-598-4449 - Great work for a Good Price

• Pricing: Medium - You have to request a quote for the starting fee for monthly retained SEO work. They offer local and national SEO work.  Pricing depends on the needs of your business.  
• Do they offer more than SEO?:  -  Yes, they also offer Web Design, PPC marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. 
• Client's they have worked for - Aaron's, Allure Bridal, Toyota Dealers

#3. Acronym 877-736-2276 - Most Diverse SEO Company 

• Pricing: High - You have to request a quote for the starting fee for monthly retained SEO work. Pricing depends on the needs of your business.  
• Do they offer more than SEO?:  -  Yes, they also offer Creative and Experience Design, Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. 
• Client's they have worked for - Humana, Priceline, Los Angeles Times

#4. icrossing 855-258-3452 - Named Top US Marketing Agency

• Pricing: High - You have to request a quote for the starting fee for monthly retained SEO work.   Pricing depends on the needs of your business.  
• Do they offer more than SEO?:  -  Yes, they also offer Brand Building, Optimize Digital Marketing Expenses, Expanding your Global Marketing Reach, and Creating Compelling Content. 
• Client's they have worked for - Coca-Cola, LG Electronics, Porsche

#5. Best Phoenix SEO Company 337-852-1167 - Best Service for the Money

• Pricing: Low - There is no starting fee for monthly retained SEO work. They have a very small staff but they get tremendous amounts of work done for the money and its quality work. Despite the name, they offer local, national, and worldwide SEO work.  The amount of hours needed will be determined by how much work you need done.  This is a lot better than per-month payments because you only pay for what you get.  
• Do they offer more than SEO?:  -  Yes, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, PPC Marketing, Music Marketing, Video SEO, Marketing Consultant, and Email Marketing.
• Client's they have worked for - Storage Battles, Sunridge Medical and Wellness Center, Music Beats the #1 Music Beat site on the net, and Latoyes Touch of Beauty Hair Salon. 

I hope you enjoyed this list of the Best Seo Companies.  Check out some of my other post about SEO and Tips and Tricks for Search Engine Optimization.  Search Engine Optimization Tips | How to Optimize your Website. Also, Check out my new post explaining the new Google Hummingbird Update and how to avoid Penalties.

Search Engine Optimization Tips | How to Optimize your Website

Search Engine Optimization Tips - 5 Easy Steps to Optimize your website for the Google Search Engines.  

Step 1. Use your "Keywords" in the URL of your website

Google loves it when your URL is an exact match for your keyword.  Let’s use the Baseball Cards example again.  If I was building a URL for the keywords “baseball cards” I would make the URL the exact keyword match. http://baseballcards.com

If you have not purchased your URL yet, try to purchase a URL that has your keywords in it. Godaddy.com is a great site to purchase URL’s and then you can forward the URL with masking.  With masking means that you are buying a URL that is going to replace the name of the one you have already and the website will show the name as your new URL.  

If you already have a website and your URL doesn’t have any of the keywords in it, you can add them by building a new page or post on your site.  Just add a new page to your site and title the URL “your keywords”.  Example:  Let’s say your website URL is http://yoursite.com but you want to sell baseball cards on it.  Just build a page that is all about baseball cards and title the URL like this:  http://yoursite.com/Baseball-Cards

When you add a new page to your site, most site builders will let you put in the words to create the URL, so make sure you use the keywords in that URL.

Step 2. Title your Website Pages 

Use the Keyword in the Title of your page.  Almost every site builder is the same and the title is one of the first things you enter.  The title is also very important because that is the second thing that Google reads on your site.  Here is an example on Word Press when you add a new page. Always use the keywords that you selected in the beginning of the title like the example below. 

The Title of his site is the very first thing that you see colored in blue “Baseball Cards”.  You see how the title of his site has the keyword at the very beginning.  Baseball Cards – Dave and Adam’s World.  It’s always good to have the keywords at the very beginning of the Title.

This picture is also a good example on how to build a URL where the keywords are at the end of the URL.  www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/baseball-cards

Step 3. Meta Description

Use the keyword in your Meta-Tag.  The Meta-Tag is just a fancy word for the description of your site.  This is the third thing that Google scans your site for.   Like titles, almost any site builder allows you to put in a short description of your site.  Try to keep the description under 250 characters or the end of your description will get cut off like the example below.  If you can’t find the section where your description is located, call your website builder and they will tell you.

This is what the Meta Tag Description looks like to Google.

As I mentioned about the description being too long, see how the last sentence of the description is cut off with the …

That tells you that the description was too long and Google cut off the rest.  Try to make sure that your description is short enough that a user can read the entire thing.

Congratulations, you have done one the hardest, most important part of SEO and that making sure that your URL, Title, and Meta Description Tag all match with the keyword that you are trying to rank for.  The next steps are pretty easy and should be natural to you if you have built your site thus far.  If this is your first site, don’t be scared, it will be pretty easy for you too.

Step 4. Adding Images and Pictures with Alt Text

You need to add pictures with Alternate Text.  Alternate Text is just adding a title AND an alternate title to your picture.  More simply put, it is adding the same title to your picture, twice.  For this example let’s say we add a picture that looks like a baseball card.  The title and alternate title for the picture will be “baseball cards”.  I know it sounds crazy how we keep using the exact same keyword but that is how you get Google to see that you are completely relevant for the search about your keyword.  The only way you can go wrong is if you try to put your keyword in your paragraph too many times.  

This is called keyword stuffing and Google is much smarter than that.  Try to make sure you stay within the 2-4 percent ratio.  Never use your keyword more than 2-4 percent of paragraph.  The title, Meta-description, and URL don’t matter and have no percent that you need to worry about. It’s only the content/paragraph you need to worry about.

This can also work for Videos.  So, if you decide to post a video to your site, make sure that it is titled with your keyword.

Step 5. Adding Content to Your Website for Seo

You need to add Content to your site.  Content is just words or paragraphs.  It’s what you want to talk about on your page or your product.  If your site was all about baseball cards like in the example we have been using.  You would want to make your content/words and paragraphs all about baseball cards.  You want to write your page almost like you would write an essay.  It need to be at least 300 – 500 characters (words) in length and should contain your “keyword or keywords” at least 2-4 percent of the time. To be safe just have a 3 percent use of your keyword.  Example:  3 percent of 100 = 3, then for 300 words you would need your keyword in that paragraph about 9 times.  Make sure that your paragraph sounds natural, you don’t want it sounding like your just trying to put your keyword in there as many times as you can.

Example using the keyword “Baseball Cards” This example is only 57 words but is a good example of how you need to use the keyword in the paragraph.  The keyword can even be split up, like the example you see below where he only said baseball on one part of the sentence and cards on the other.

You are also going to need to build back links.  You can visit my other blog post that has info about building back links.  I will also be creating other posts about Search Engine Optimization Tips and Tricks.  Seo Tips Tricks Tools click on this link.  If you need SEO services please contact me or just type in best phoenix seo service on Google. Check out my list of the Top 5 SEO Companies.  Also, take a look at how to optimize your website for Google.Also, Check out my new post explaining the new Google Hummingbird Update and how to avoid Penalties.

Top 5 SEO Tips and Tricks

9VZ6TB9C5SAETop 5 SEO Tips and Tricks 

1. Build Links – I know you probably hear this all the time but that’s because it’s one of the best SEO tips and tricks in the SEO world right now.  Building links is simply having another site link to yours.  The best way I have found to build links is by article marketing.  Article marketing through sites like www.EzineArticles.com and linking back to relevant content on your site.  Article marketing is somewhat different than posting links on any site.  You have to come up with a way to write about your business without directly promoting it.  I know that sounds funny but it’s true.  They will not allow any self-promotion but if you create content that is relevant to the content that is on your site then you can write about that. An example is a top ten list of tips and tricks for a business.  This is an example of an article I created about storage units.  http://ezinearticles.com/?General-Tips-on-Storage-Auctions&id=7902763

2. Write Articles- Writing articles is a very difficult task for some people but it is so worth it.  The amount of backlink juice you can get from an Ezine Articles placement is amazing.  I went from page 3 to page 1 in the matter of days after getting a successful submission to their site.  It took me 3 articles before I finally got 
one place but like I said the amount of juice to your site you get makes it all worth-while. I also offer an article writing service for SEO purposes here http://musicbeats.net/best-seo-article-writing-service/. 

3. Create Blogs- Create blogs kind of like this one.  This blog is simply to drive traffic to the site that I am Seo-ing for.  Not sure if that is a word or not but it works for me.  You get the point. Make a blog using keywords that are related to your business.  You can create articles to link to your blog as well and I actually suggest linking the article to your blog first and then linking your blog to your website.  Using a free blog creator like www.blogger.com is a great way to start out with ranking already.  Just use the right keywords that bring in strong amounts of traffic to your blog.  Use the Google Ad words keyword tool.  Even without linking articles to your blog, linking from your blog to your website will give you so good ranking juice too. 

4. Make mini websites- Make miniature websites using free website builders.  Website builders like www.Wix.com already have a PR ranking of 3 so just create relevant content to your business and when you link that back to your real website, you get even more link juice.  Just type in free website builder on Google search and you will find tons of them. 

5. Post in forums related to your business- Type in what kind of business you have and put forum right next to it.  Example: For Storage Auctions I would type in Storage Auction Forums.  You want to find forums that are related to your business that you can post in and most importantly post links in.  Always read the forum rules before posting.  Some sites will make you wait until you have submitted a certain number of posts.  Usually no more than 50 or so.  Don’t be a spammer though.  Answer people’s questions and interact with people in a human like way.  Don’t post the same message in every forum.

I hope you enjoyed this list of SEO Tips and Tricks.  For the Best Phoenix Seo Company services please visit my website. Check out my list of the Top 5 SEO Companies.  Also, take a look at how to optimize your website for Google. My Website. http://musicbeats.net/seo-tips-tricks-tools-services-top-companies/
Also, Check out my new post explaining the new Google Hummingbird Update and how to avoid Penalties.