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Top 10 Search Engine Optimization Strategies For Your Website!

By Michael Fleischner | Marketing Expert, Internet Marketing Secrets*

Although the concept of search engine optimization can be somewhat complex, there are a number of basic search engine optimization techniques you can use to improve your organic search results. Keep the following in mind when trying to achieve top rankings for your website.

1. Meta Tags.

Meta tags are simple lines of code at the top of your web page programming that tell search engines about your page. Include the title tag, keyword stag, description tag, and robots tag on each page.

2. Create and update your site map.

Developing a site map is a simple way of giving search engines the information they need to crawl your entire website. There are plenty of free software packages on the web that can help you generate a sitemap. Once you create a site map, submit it to Google and Yahoo.

3. Ensure that all navigation is in HTML.

All too often, navigational items are in the form of java script. Even though navigation technically still works in this format, it’s not optimized. Create your navigation in HTML to enhance internal links throughout your website.

4. Check that all images include ALT text.

Your image’s alt text is spidered by search engines. If you’re not including your keywords in alt text, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for improved search engine result placements. Label all of your images properly.

5. Use Flash content sparingly.

Content generated through java script or flash is a big no-no. Some webmasters like to use flash because of the presentation. If you must, use it sparingly, but only after your site has been properly optimized with basic search engine optimization in mind.

6. Make sure that your website code is clean.

Keep in mind when optimizing a web page crawlers are basically only looking at your source code. When programming your web pages, having W3C compliant code can make all the difference. Run your code through a W3C validator before promoting.

7. Place keywords in your page content.

Search engines scan your website and web pages for keywords. Shoot for a keyword density of between two and eight percent. Google likes your page to be at the lower end of this scale and Yahoo at the upper end.

8. Submit your website to search engine directories.

It’s always a good idea to let large search engine directories know that you’re out there. Submit your website URL to directories like Google, Yahoo, and DMOZ.

9. Build links to your website.

Consider building a link exchange program or create one-way links to your site using articles or forum posts. All major search engines value the importance of your website based on how many others websites are linking to it.

10. Stay the course.

Good optimization takes time. People expect to see results immediately. You may very well see improvements in a short period, but reaching the number one position takes time. Be patient.

Learning to optimize your website for search engines takes time and patience. Start by applying basic search engine optimization principles. If you’re new to website optimization, or even a well seasoned veteran, begin by prioritizing which pages are most important to you and go from there. Soon you’ll find yourself moving up the rankings.

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert with more than 12 years of marketing experience. To discover how to improve search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines visit http://www.webmastersbookofsecrets.com.

The Most Important Aspect of Marketing

One of my colleagues recently asked me, out of all the aspects of marketing including online marketing, marketing strategy, Web 2.0, market research, etc., what was the most important? Without hesitation I replied, "Testing".

Many of my marketing friends might argue and profess that if you don't have the right message, reach the right audience, the right timing, or the right offer, you won't succeed. And to that I say ABSOLUTELY! In fact, those are the very elements of a successful campaign that can be identified through proper testing. So how do you know that your messaging is optimized or that you're reaching your target audience in the most effective way possible? Only proper testing can give you that information.

When someone on my team says that a particular campaign was a success I ask, "how do you know?" The answer often has something to do with metrics around campaign performance. But this information is merely releative. If your click through rate was 20% and your conversion rate was 0.35% for an online campaign, it may have generated a positive return, but is 0.35% the best we could have done? Did we test the campaign to set expectations before full launch?

By testing multiple landing pages, post cards, direct mail packages, keyword campaigns, and other marketing campaigns, you can find what resonates best with your audience and set proper expectations for performance. Once you've established a baseline, continue to test and experiment with different messaging, timing, and offers and compare your results against your baseline. Then, when someone asks you how well your campaign performed, you can say good, bad, or indifferent based on real data.

A great example of this was a recent email marketing campaign completed by my team. They tested 3 subject lines - everything else remainded the same (the list, the email creative, the price, the timing, etc.). During our test, one subject line outperformed the others 3 to 1. Wow! What a difference this made in our overall campaign performance when we sent the email to tens of thousands of potential customers.

Ongoing measurement and testing is essential for marketing success. If you're not testing your marketing campaigns on a continuous basis, you're missing out. Of course, once you establish a solid control (baseline), you'll have a hard time out performing it. In general, you'll only improve your success rate about 10% of the time. But continue to test, test, and test some more and you'll see your knowledge and results increase.

About the Author

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and founder of MarketingScoop.com. He has more than 13 years of marketing experience and has appeared on the TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Michael is also the author of SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine and The Webmasters Book of Secrets: Improve Search Engine Rankings.

SEO For New Websites

Are you launching a new website? There’s no better time to think about search engine optimization than prior to launching a new site. By giving consideration to your on-page optimization factors, you can increase your chances of achieving top organic search results.

To prepare your site for easy indexing, be sure to follow these basis guidelines:

1. Design your site in html or similar format that minimizes the use of java script and flash. The more complex you make your code, the more difficult it becomes for the search engine spiders to read your content and prescribe the appropriate Google PR to your web page.

2. Make sure that your meta tags are coded properly and include the Robots.txt tag. Many individuals downplay the importance of meta tags. Although meta tags themselves won’t drastically change the organic ranking of your site, they do create the display text users will see when your site appears in search results. If your meta tags are search engine optimized and compelling, you increase the changes of improving click-throughs.

3. Apply the proper tags to your page. H1, H2, and H3 tags are a great wall to call attention to your content and promote your keywords and keyword phrases. Try to use each tag at least once, but don’t force the issues. You want your text to flow and appear normal.

In addition to ensuring that you’ve made your page easy to access and presented text that is optimized, you also want to consider other factors that can help long-term with your SEO efforts. So often, web designers get caught up with on page factors, that they overlook the requirements for establishing a foundation that supports long-term initiatives.

In particular, consider adding pages that you can add to over time that support link building and accessibility for search engine spiders. Be sure to include:

1. An html sitemap and an xml sitemap. Including a sitemap on you site makes it easy for search engines to access all of your website pages and index your site accordingly. Your sitemap should be in both html as well as xml. Although users would not access the xml sitemap, search engine spiders use this version to crawl websites. Additionally, key search engine submission resources like Google’s Webmasters Tools require xml site map versions.

2. Include a partners page. Previously referred to as a links page, the partners page is essential for reciprocal linking. This strategy isn’t as powerful as developing one-way links, but until your site has been assigned a Google PR, one-way links can be difficult to acquire. So begin your link exchange program with a partners page that allows you add or remove link quickly and easily.

3. Submission pages that encourage new content. One of the most powerful seo techniques is the addition of new content. Make it easy for your users to add or submit content to your website. When search engines see new content, they rejoice. Don’t underestimate how important it is to make it simple for your browsers to add or submit content.

When focusing on search engine optimization, especially with a new website, follow the basic ideas outlined above. There are a number of other factors to consider as well. However, you should always start with a strong foundation – a site design that meets basic SEO standards but one that also supports your long range search engine optimization goals.

About the Author:

Michael Fleischner is a speaker, consultant, and the author of SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine. Find helpful information to grow your business at The Good Marketing Tips Blog.

Going Digital: New Requirements Under the Foreign Trade Regulations

By Hillel M. Tuchman

On June 2, 2008, the United States Census Bureau published its newly revised Foreign Trade Regulations under 15 C.F.R. Part 30 in the Federal Register. The revision makes mandatory the filing of Electronic Export Information (EEI) through the Automated Export System (AES) or through AESDirect for all shipments where a Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) is required. Filing of a paper SED through Commerce Form 7525-V will no longer be accepted. Although these regulations are effective as of July 2, 2008, enforcement of the new provisions will only begin on September 30, 2008, thus allowing the trade community an opportunity to comply with the rule.

The Bureau has found that during its 12 years of operation, AES has demonstrated a high level of reliability in performance; the system has been available to users 99% of the time. The Bureau has further reported that electronic filing through AES strengthens the U.S. government’s ability to prevent the export of certain items to unauthorized destinations and/or end users because AES aids in targeting, identifying, and when necessary, confiscating suspicious or illegal shipments prior to exportation.

EEI filing is required for all export shipments where the value of the goods, shipped from one exporter to one consignee on a single exporting carrier, is over $2,500. As in the past, goods must be identified by commodity numbers listed in either the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States or Schedule B. Schedule B numbers are the 10-digit commodity classification numbers administered by the Census Bureau that cover everything from live animals and food products to computers and airplanes. The value threshold applies only to individual commodity numbers meeting the specified value and not to shipments whose aggregate value meets the value threshold. However, where a shipment contains multiple items of the same commodity code, a report is required if their sum value is over $2,500. Further, in instances in which shipments contain a mixture of individual commodity numbers valued over $2,500 and individual commodity numbers valued under $2,500, only those commodity numbers over $2,500 need to be reported.

Certain shipments will always require EEI filing, their value notwithstanding. These include all shipments requiring licenses from:

• the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS);
• the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR);
• the Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); or
• another federal government agency.

In addition, shipments destined to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria, and those containing rough diamonds, require EEI filing regardless of their value.

U.S. principal parties in interest (USPPI) are the persons or legal entities in the United States that receive the primary benefit, monetary or otherwise, from the export transaction. Generally, those persons or entities are U.S. sellers, manufacturers, or order parties, or foreign entities while in the United States when purchasing or obtaining the goods for export. A USPPI has four means of filing EEI: use AESDirect; develop AES software using AESTIR; purchase software developed by certified vendors using AESTIR; or use an authorized agent. Foreign principal parties in interest (FPPI), in contrast, are the parties shown on the transportation document to whom final delivery or end-use of the goods will be made. These parties may be the ultimate consignee. An FPPI can only use an authorized agent in a routed export transaction. Currently, there are no known plans to impose a user or processing fee for using AES.

Most EEI filing must be complete at some point before the departure of the shipment. Depending on the means and type of shipment, EEI filing deadline will vary anywhere between 24 hours and 1 hour prior to departure. Shipments of merchandise found on the United States Munitions List (USML) require earlier filing than non-USML shipments:

	USML Shipment	Non-USML Shipment
Vessel Cargo	The export information must be electronically filed at least 24 hours prior to departure.	24 hours prior to loading cargo on the vessel at the U.S. port where the cargo is laden
Air Cargo	The export information must be electronically filed at least 8 hours prior to departure.	No later than 2 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the aircraft
Truck	The export information must be electronically filed at least 8 hours prior to departure.	No later than 1 hour prior to the arrival of the truck at the U.S. border to go foreign
Rail	The export information must be electronically filed at least 24 hours prior to departure.	No later than 2 hours prior to the arrival of the train at the U.S. border to go foreign
Mail (not pipeline)		No later than 2 hours prior to exportation
All others		No later than 2 hours prior to exportation

If the participant’s AES is unavailable, the filer must delay the export or find an alternative method. On the other hand, if AES or AESDirect is unavailable, the goods may be exported, but the filer must provide a downtime filing citation and report the EEI at the first opportunity AES is available.

Post-departure filing is only available for approved USPPIs and provides for the electronic filing of the data elements no later than 10 calendar days from the date of exportation.

Failure to comply with these regulations carries both civil and criminal penalties. On the civil side, a failure to file or a delayed filing results in a maximum penalty of $1,100 per day of delinquency, not to exceed $10,000 per violation. Filing false or misleading information results in a maximum $10,000 civil penalty per violation. Criminal sanctions for such activity or inactivity result in a fine not to exceed $10,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment. In addition, any property involved in a violation may be forfeited to the government.

Essential Needs for Companies Exporting from the U.S.: An Export Compliance Program and Due Diligence—BIS and Others Are Watching

By Christopher M. Kane and Adonica-Jo R. Wada

In today’s rapidly expanding global economy, we are witness to an international arena that has no bounds, yet is tempered by concerns for national security. As businesses streamline their processes and develop innovative ways to tap new markets, having an export compliance program is not only important, but necessary.
Senior level management and executives need to […]

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Dangerous Goods by Air: Top Compliance Tips

By Christine D'Arcy

Every day, urgent consignments of both dangerous and non-dangerous goods are loaded on board aircraft and flown as cargo to their destination, thus reducing journey time to hours instead of days or even weeks by road and/or sea.
Air travel is used extensively both for business and leisure purposes, and, to ensure the safety of the […]

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