Archive for the ‘SEO Tools’ Category
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Tools
Code Validity
When it comes to code validation it is argued by some that it doesn’t really affect a website in terms of SEO. While this is largely true in terms of accessibility (complete) non-adherence web standards can actually affect your website. How so? Because search engines need to be able to make sense of your website’s code in order to crawl and read its content. Of course search engine bots are very smart and getting smarter each day so that meeting just the minimum requirements to make a site functional and readable will do. However, if your code is validated you can at least rest easy knowing you shouldn’t worry about spiders being able to crawl your page. To check if your website code adheres to W3C standards you can use the W3C validator.
Broken Links
As mentioned time and again when dicussing link optimisation, the first step to optimising your links is making sure that all your links are working properly. Broken links will lead to page errors. This has two negative results being:
- Search engine spider might not be able to find the targeted page. This is especially true for pages that has very few or no other inbound link.
- It might affect your ranking. This could happen if your site has plenty of broken links.
To find out whether your site has broken links you can use W3C link checker, this free broken link checker, or any other broken link checker you might want to use. Make sure that you check for broken links periodically.
Popularity: 51% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Tools
The concept of sitemaps can be confusing, especially since there are two kinds of sitemaps -HTML sitemap and XML sitemaps. I have already written about sitemaps several times and did two posts on common misconceptions about sitemaps. Listed below though are more information I got from Google’s Sitemap FAQs article. Note that I did not include information I already discussed in my previous post.
- The priority field in the metadata does not affect the ranking of your website’s pages. Setting the priority will simply help Google determine which pages are more important compared to the other pages in your site. If you cannot decide priority or are confused about this it is better to simply not assign priority at all. Assigning pages the same priority will result in all the pages seen as equally important, just the same as if you didn’t assign any priority.
- Sitemap metadata is useful so that Google will know more about your pages but if you do not understand them it is ok to leave them blank.
- Submitting a sitemap will NOT get your site penalised. Instances where a site is penalised after submitting a sitemap is purely coincidental and happened for a different reason. If you are using spamming/scrapping techniques then it IS foolish to submit a sitemap and help Google find your bad bad site though.
- You can put your sitemap in any Webmaster Tools-verified site due to Google’s sitemap cross-submission. Obviously, this is true only for Google and not other search engines.
to be continued…
Popularity: 49% [?]
published by Dan in Keyword Research | SEO Tools
I don’t need to stress the importance of keyword research when it comes to SEO. Below are some tools that you can use to aid in your keyword research. Many SEO consultants use several keyword research tools since each tool has its different strengths and weaknesses.
- Google AdWords Keyword Tool - This will not give you in-depth results but is sufficient for looking up keywords and phrases related to your primary keyword. You can sort the results depending on the volume of actual times the suggested keywords are searched by people on Google.
- Google Trends - Helpful for analysing the trend of your keywords and phrases. By staying on top of which keywords and phrases are becoming more popular you can adjust your SEO campagin accordingly.
- adCenter Labs Keyword Forecast - This offers features similar to Google Trends and contains various keyword analysis tools.
- Wordtracker Free Keyword Suggestion Tool - Gives 100 related keywords and phrases to the keyword you entered. The results of Wordtracker comes from daily data provided by Dogpile and Metacrawler. The list of words is also ranked using an equation relating the frequency of search for each keyword and the actual number of sites competing for that keyword.
- Trellian Free Search Term Suggestion Tool - Pretty much works the same way as Wordtracker but differs in that the data used to rank the words comes from yearly data. Wordtracker uses DAILY data from Dogpile and Metacrawler.
- Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool (Overture) - Offers keyword suggestions based on actual searches done on the Yahoo search engine.
- SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool - Uses the Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool but offers other useful information aside from the keywords listed.
Popularity: 31% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
SEOmoz Toolbox contains the basic tools needed by any SEO consultant. The fun thing with the tools in the toolbox is that even non-SEO experts will benefit from the information than can be garnered from the results given by each tool. However, though it will be fun to check out the status of what’s going on in your own site using the tools on SEOmoz Toolbox it will still take a web designer and SEO professional to help you straighten out the kinks in your site. The tools listed below are available to all who are interested and are free tools. However, membership (which is also free) is needed to use some of the tools.
SEOmoz Toolbox Contents:
- Strongest Pages on a Domain - Determines what the strongest pages are on your domain
- Who Else is Hosted on My IP? - Determines what other websites are hosted on your IP address
- Check Inclusion - Shows you whether your URL has been indexed by Google, Yahoo! & MSN.
- Check Backlinks - Reports the number of backlinks to a URL, also shows a historical view of previous backlinks.
- Outbound Link Checker - This tool reports what external pages your domain is linking to.
- Check PageRank - Reports the PageRank of a URL and shows a historical view of previous PR scores.
- Find Domain Age - Find the age of your domain and when it was first spidered by the search engines.
- Check HTTP Status Code - 301? 302? Find out what HTTP status code a website is producing.
- Check Indexed Pages - This SEO Tool looks at the three major search engines and reports back how many pages you appear to have indexed.
- Whois - Find out a domain’s registration information.
Aside from the tools listed above there are other more advanced SEO tools available although some of them require premium membership (not free) in order to use those tools (i.e. Keyword Difficulty).
Popularity: 22% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
Last month I discussed several misconceptions about sitemaps. Hopefully I was able to clarify just important and useful sitemaps are. However if you are convinced that your website will not really benefit from a sitemap you might want to think again. Though I do agree that some websites (static single page sites) do not need a sitemap at all chances are that your website WILL benefit from it. Of course, sitemaps are NOT always essential but since they can only do good or no good but never do anything bad for your website’s “crawlability” then it is better to be on the safe side and just create one. However, if your website has one of the following features listed below then a sitemap IS essential for all your website content to be crawled by a spider.
1. Your site menu is flash or pure javascript (most rollover scripts are OK if they use ‘<a href’ links).
2. Your menu structure is more than 3 levels deep.
3. Some of your content is not getting indexed and it is publicly readable i.e. not behind a fire wall, login isn’t required, etc.
4. You want to provide some ‘Spider Bait’ i.e. optimized link text.
Some good sitemap generators include the Google Sitemap Generator and any of the other online sitemap generators listed in Google Webmaster Central.
Source: Search Engine Friendly Site Map by Dylan Downhill
Popularity: 18% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a set of web tools that Google offers to help manage your website. There are basically three things you can do using the tools available here:
1. Find out your sites existing and potential problems as seen by Google.
From the start Google will automatically tell you whether your site has been indexed or not. If it hasn’t it will prompt you to verify your site and give you the reasons why Google is having problems crawling your site. You can also use the tools there to diagnose whether Google is having any problems with your Robots.txt file.
2. Find out how your website is performing.
Webmaster Tools are also a good source of important information about your site. Though statistics about your site’s traffic can be found using Google Analytics and other non-Google analysis software what you will really useful is the indexing information Google will share with you. It shows how your site is indexed and if they find any violations within your site, which if you are unaware of will result in penalties. The great thing about this is that since you know about it Google gives you a chance to actually tweak your site and correct the problem pages so it can be reindexed.
3. Actively submit information about your site to Google to help increase your site’s crawlability.
Google lets you submit sitemap files (XML files) so that it will be easier to index your pages. Another benefit of sitemaps is that it gives them information on the frequency of page updates. Aside from this, those with multiple domains can submit to Google their preferred domain so that Google will index the domain you want as well as be aware that the other domains are not just plagiarizing your content.
Popularity: 19% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
Anyone serious about SEO knows that Google is the search engine to impress. If your website is among the top results of Google’s SERPs then you can be pretty sure that it will be the same with other search engines. Because of this everyone in the SEO world is very keen on observing and analyzing ways to get a better rank in Google. Fortunately, though very secretive about the actual algorithm involved, Google has always been friendly not only to search users but to Webmasters.
To aid webmasters in their effort to get their respective websites indexed as fast as possible and do well in terms of page rank Google provides excellent resources and tools for webmasters via Webmaster Central. Of course, all webmasters know about Google Webmaster Central. The question though is who among you have really read the contents thoroughly? And even more important who follows the guidelines and suggestions? Granted that Google makes no promises anywhere in the Webmaster Central regarding the results following the guidelines will yield, it makes sense to say that NOT following the guidelines will surely produce negative results. Furthermore since they also have a Google Webmasters blog, any sensible webmasters would have had subscribed to the blog a lot time ago. After all it is where you will find the latest Google is willing to share from conferences (SES Conference)to updates regarding Webmaster Tools. So just in case you have been overlooking the benefits Webmaster Central can give you do check it out to day and use the Webmaster Tools they provide.
Popularity: 18% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
Setting up an AdWords account is very easy. The first thing you need to do when signing up is to choose between two options: Starter Edition and Standard Edition. As the names imply the Starter Edition is for people who are new at internet advertising. The Standard Edition are for those who are more familiar with internet advertising and want the full flexibility and power that AdWords has to offer.
Starter Edition - If you choose the Starter Edition you then choose again from two options. This time the choice depends on whether you already have a webpage that you want to advertise or not. If you don’t Google will help you create your webpage. Assuming that you already have one then you can continue. The thing you will need to fill in to create your add are:
- The location of your customers (250 countries available)
- The primary language used by your users (14 languages available)
- Your website’s URL
- The add itself (written by you)
- Your keywords
- Currency
- Monthly Budget
After filling up all the needed information you can then choose to use your existing Google Account or create a new one (for those who do not have a Google account yet or want to use a separate one). Your ads will start to show after you have verified your AdWords account thru Gmail and provided your billing information as well.
Signing up using the Standard Edition is equally easy but gives you a bit more flexibility. It is after signing up and when you use the two versions that you see the big difference. Note though that if you really need simplicity the Starter Edition will be powerful enough for you. To keep track of metrics and to help you manage your Adwords account you can use other Google apps that can really help like Google Analytics and AdWords Editor. They’re both free and are designed to walk-through even the newest of new internet advertisers.
Popularity: 17% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
Nowadays everyone knows that the number one search engine is Google so that placing well in their SERPs is of utmost importance if you want to be able to say that your SEO campaign is successful. Now, if your isn’t even indexed yet or is just not placing well, paying to get listed using Google AdWords is the way to go. Last post I discussed how paid listings will get you listed instantaneously and get you the traffic you need while waiting for your other optimisation efforts yield results (or supplement your existing methods).
Google AdWords, integrated with Google’s intelligent search technology has changed the internet landscape and the importance of online advertising. Their targeted or personalised search results ensured advertisers that a larger percentage of people who get to see their ads are interested in the product or service they are selling. This means that the money spent on advertising is maximised. The targeted approach isn’t the only perk of Google Adwords. The flexibility of the number of ads, keywords you want, and the budget you are willing to spend is also something that allows businesses of all sizes to take advantage of AdWords. Since there is no minimum spending requirement even the smallest of businesses can set up their own account. If you are new to the idea of advertising you can also rely on Google to suggest keywords for your campaign and analyze the costs for you so that you can adjust your AdWord campaign according to your needs and financial capability.
In my next post I will give a simple “tutorial” on how to set up your AdWords campaign.
Popularity: 18% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Tools
As promised here are the last of the 27 features blogged about by Adam Ostrow.
Visitor Loyalty - The greater the number of loyal readers you have the better.
Visitor Type Contribution - Pie chart showing the contribution to your traffic
that your returning (loyal) visitors compared to the new ones. You can compare here the number of pageviews, time spent on the site, and their bounce rates.
Search Engine Traffic - Show the amount of traffic different search engines send your way. This will help you determine in which search engines your SEO campaign is having the greatest impact.
Top Content - Shows which pages are most popular in terms of the number of visits. It also shows the average time spent by visitors in those pages and whether they click on another page after visiting that page or exit your website.
“About This Report” Link - Found on the left under Help Resources this link will help you understand more about each report you are looking at and help you learn how to use it to your advantage.
Top Exit Pages - Shows which pages your visitors are usually at before exiting your website.
Network Location - Usually not really important (in my opinion). But in case you’re curious this will show the ISPs that your visitors use.
Report Finder - For old user of Google Analytics. Since the new Analytics format is different this will help those who want to dig into their old reports.
Export to PDF - Self explanatory. Allows you to export your report and convert it into PDF format.
To try out the features yourself head on to Google Analytics. No harm done if you don’t like it since it’s FREE.
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Popularity: 17% [?]
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