Adding Keywords on top of  Images using CSS

Creating the perfect balance between keywords and visuals is very important and may not apply all of time. If your page is “sprinkled” naturally with keywords and keyword phrases that avoid spam then you are good to go… but what if you need some extra boost in keyword density, copy and great seo tags such as use of the <h1> tag closer to the top.

Closer to the top..what is that? In experimenting with text and on page factors I have noticed that it is much better to have keywords and seo tags closer to the top of your website page so that our friendly spiders can hit the text sooner than later.

Websites with visuals that represent the personality of the company, the theme or even the message at the time is critical. A visual can and will create a sense of connection or feeling and create the moment for the user. Crystal clear vibrant images are a must and I will go over that later on.

Quick steps to using CSS, background images and text layered on top for better website optimization.

For the example I am going to use one created a short while ago (it will be a long while ago if you read this alter .

The result… a boost in rankings

www.nannypoppinzcorporate.com , create background image with text layered on top using css.

1. Create the image and how your would like it to look entirely in your favorite image software such as Adobe Photoshop

2.   Once you have the image created, you can begin to start the coding. Remove all the text from the image and just save the background image. You can see the only thing different is the  text is not on the image . Write down the dimensions of your background image and then you will need to add it to the stylesheet. In this case it it is the image is 860 X 185.

3. Once you save the image in the folder of your choice now open your css file usually named stye.css, or stylesheet.css, or even maybe you are using inline styles in whcih case will be located in the header of the webapge

4.  Once the stylesheet is open begin to create the code for your background.

#center-corporateBG{background-image: url(images/center-i.jpg); background-repeat:no-repeat;width:860px;height: 185px;}

the above code will hold the background image in the webpage

5. Create your html code for text to go on top of the image. (for the purpose of this tutorial, I will post all info here )

create a <div> tag and add the id=”center-corporateBg” to the tag and close it </div>

6. Begin to place the text and add the styles needed i.e. padding, colors, alignment etc..

Here is how The text will look without the background behind it.

The result was a keyword boost for on page factors and better seo rankings, a jump for position 6 to 3 in google serp’s

To see the finished result: http://www.nannypoppinzcorporate.com

Wrestling with what keywords to target for when doing your research?

One of the most important ingredients in keyword research is understanding the language your target market speaks. Keyword research is the way to open the door so that the proper connections can be made via search.

Some quick suggestions or tips on starting your keyword research.

Adding scales the keywords you are targeting, looking at search volume, relevancy issue and the competition.

1. Can you compete?

2. Will they convert when they come to your site?

Utilizing your PPC tests to see where visitors are coming from to see if they will take action before using resources for research / optimize for targeting those keywords.

Some alternative ways to help with Keyword Research

Utilize some of your resources you have at your fingertips:  “Ask Your Customer ”

• The Contact Us Form can be a great tool to see what customers are asking or telling you.
• Listen to your customers needs and optimize around what they want.
• Talk to customer service, people at the front desk and ask what are the customer’s calling in about.

There has been a lot of discussion about how important it is to have keywords in a domain. Although Google seems to want to downplay this factor, I think it is very important for at least one reason . .

Providing the 1st step… KEYWORD RELEVANCY.  So by having keywords in your URL will give you a great head start in the SERPs

Examples of some sites with keyword relevancy in the domain.

• http://www.coupondepot.com/ (ranks for free local coupons, free coupons, print coupons)
• http://www.bettersex.com/   ( better sex, better sex toys, better sex videos, sex videos)
• http://www.wakefieldplantation.com/ (wakefield plantation, wakefield hoa)
  

In relation to backlinks which we all can agree are very important..many sites if not instructed or provided backlink text will automatically link to your site via the domain name which will be the anchor text. The anchor text are the keywords you will attempt to rank for! So instead of “click here” as your anchor text

Having a branded name in your domain which is also keyword dense can provide a great way to rank for a high converting term. If you intend to launch a project, there is no harm in just registering the domain name and saving it to prepare the site for launch.

In summary….

 Try to pick and choose a domain with a keyword in it you intend to rank for.

Trouble getting rank or having some trouble ranking well in search for certain keyword phrases or certain keywords?

it might be time to have a look at the “anchor text links” on your site and pointing to your site. You might want to update them and change the anchors a bit.

What is anchor text?

The anchor text, link label or link titleis the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The words contained in the Anchor text can determine the ranking that the page will receive by search engines. Anchor text usually gives the user relevant descriptive or contextual information about the content of the link’s destination

 Anchor Text is very important.

Anchor text is considered the 2nd highest SEO factor..  However, many webmasters who want to rank better on the search engines don’t know what anchor text is.  Fortunately, anchor text is an easy concept to understand.   Simply put, anchor text is the text in a link. 

Here’s a bad example of anchor text use: For seo tips and info Click Here 

Click here is the most widely used anchor text on the web. as you can clearly see….Click here explains nothing about what exists on the next page and offers no support.

Here is a proper example of anchor text: Seo tips and info about anchor text   

The anchor text explains what is on the next page and supports the page it is pointing to.

 When it comes to organic search engine rankings in Google, one of the many factors that they consider is the “link text” or “anchor text” that is pointing to a web page. Google has, for many years now, looked at what other people say about you, or, more specifically, what other web sites say about your web page. So, when you’re trying to “rank well” in the search engines for a particular keyword or keyword phrase, something you can do is to try to get links to your website with certain “anchor text”.

Over the years, we have seen an increase in people trying to buy links with specific anchor text in order to influence the search engine rankings. We’ve also seen a lot of people try Google bombing (also known as googlebombing), where pranksters try to get a certain web page to show up in the search results even though that phrase isn’t mentioned on the web page. Take a look at Google’s googlebombing blog post and you’ll see an example of it. In 2007, Search Engine Land reported that Google effectively “killed miserable failure” by making changes to the Google algorithm. So, since about 2007 or late 2006 (whenever they made the change to their algorithm), it has been important to note that when you are trying to get links to your web page for search engine optimization purposes, you need to “vary the anchor text” that is used. If you want to rank for “search engine optimization“, then you need to use different anchor text links to your website.

Recently, one of of my #1 listings in google was dropped to number 2 by a website news cast google bomb. If you see this happen do not panic as it hopefully is temporary. Usually it will be in the form a news cast or announcement that has just been released on the topic and all sites have picked it up, hence boosting it’s ranking for the moment.

Look at your google webmaster tools

Use your google webmaster tools to see more of your keyword phrases. There are certain keyword phrases you are ranking for that you probably haven;t thought of yet.

I  have argued that being obsessed about search optimization and believing that this should take priority over the sites ability to engage and convert human visitor.

Search engine optimization is extremely important, can create long lasting organics and is only one approach to generating traffic.  It is not universally applicable to all clients. Understanding this and developing a more holistic approach to online marketing, I would suggest, is a better approach. But with that being said, search engine optimization (seo) is still a must have. I see nothing wrong with (actually I see more benefits) taking page images, converting them to background images and inserting seo tags such as h1 and h2’s over the image as text. In order to achieve this, knowledge of css is a must. Adding and sprinkling text on a page in a natural way has many benefits. I have tested this approach in and in fact it:

• adds increased keyword density
• better spider food for search engine spiders
• increases content on the page
• orders the importance of the text
• allows for text to visible throughout the page
• supports the metadata (if that is correct to begin with)

See Using Background Images, CSS and Text to create keywords on a page

Is Twitter a Threat to Google?

According to CNET, Twitter’s new VP of Operations Santosh Jayaram says that Twitter Search, which currently searches only the text of Twitter posts, will soon crawl links included in tweets, and index content from those pages.

Earlier this year twitter began integrating twitter search which has been a great tool for businesses to generate leads when used properly.

The Twitter phenomenon is such that it provides the gateway to instant communication (micro blogging). It’s an insight to what what people are talking about now.

Big changes are coming to Twitter

I am talking about Google territory. Twitter will be adding an algorithm ranking similar to Google and the “pagerank” system.

According to Jayaram used to be the VP of Search Quality at Google, Twitter will take into account the reputation of the person who wrote each tweet and rank search results in part based on that.

How are they going to rank? Twitter search is a whole game. Internet search by using the number of links in tweets as a value statement on the web page.

I looked over what twitter is doing and this can compete with Google. Is this going to replace Google…..probably not as many have tried and none has succeeded (this is the problem MSN live is having).  Twitter users are having a tough time trying to convince users why they should be using Twitter at all. It could pose to be a great takeover target and that is where they finally figure out how to place revenue in there model.

Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelmarchetta

Search Engine Optimization Stop Words

Search engines will consider certain words as “Stop words” to help speed up the process and save time during search results. These words will be ignored in the search process of your title and your content. It’s as if they are not even there.

One of the many challenges of SEO is that Search Engine Optimization is always changing and dynamic. Think of it like a moving target trying to come as close to the center target as we can. Many SEO’s spend alot of time trying to optimize for x, others for y and some for both but as the structure of the web changes so must search engine optimization. Trying to understand Google’s algorithm can be extremely difficult, in fact in early 2008 Google’s Matt Cutts wrote about a filter that he did not know existed until after he was alerted to it.

What is Page Rank?

Page Rank is an independent measure of Google’s perception of the quality/authority/credibility of an individual web page. Google displays a websites page rank by assigning a number of 0-10 with 10 being the best (only 10 I have seen is Google itself.

What is myth and what is fact about Page Rank

There is alot of myth, facts, opinions and debates about Google Page Rank and how is calculated and determined with one unanimous fact surfacing. (Drum roll please………) How many webpages are linking to you and there page rank being passed to your page. A web page that links to your web page is considered an inbound link and is viewed by Google as a vote of confidence. What you do with that “vote of confidence” and page rank is up to you but make it count,  pass it wisely and DO NOT bleed that rank all over th place.  I have seen and tested in many cases if you manage your page rank properly combined with proper on page seo factors, proper keyword density you can create better rankings.

Need to know your page rank? Download and use the Google Toolbar. Once you have it running it will display a small horizontal bar. This bar will be grey for no page rank and green for the mount of page rank you have.

Page Rank Category of Rank:

0-3: New sites or sites with very minimal links

4-5: Popular sites with a fair amount of inbound links

6: Very popular sites that have hundreds of links, many of them quality links

7-10: Usually large companies like yahoo, google, walmart.

Obtaining Page Rank
HELP!! I want page rank

Ask yourself this question….How do you eat an elephant?

Well the answer is simple, 1 bite at a time. So take the small steps (bites) necessary to achieve the big goal (elephant).  Start by having relevant information and being sort of an authoritative voice. Other websites will link to you as they see you as an “Expert” in your field.  If people are talking about you and like your products then you are probably going to get some free high-quality links and this leads us to the paradox of SEO: “the less reliant your site is on Google the more Google will want to rely on your site.”

(I will discuss combining the elements of seo and ecommerce later on)

Page Rank – True or Not True?

1. Does posting my website or leaving comments on forums with my website help my page rank? Not True
Most sites assign a rel=nofollow attribute to the link NOT allowing the page rank to follow to your site.

2. The Page in Page rank is actually referring to Larry Page the co founder of Google. True
The Page in Page Rank refers to the inventor of the Page rank algorithm and not the actual webpage, which is the most common mistake people make.

3. Once I get Page Rank or increase my page Rank my traffic will soar? Not True
Your IBL’s (inbound links), site content and SEO efforts are offering the opportunity to increase your visibility in Google in turn helping to promote your site to better influence traffic.

Feel free to contact me