Joomla SEO – How to get first in Google with Joomla

June 11th, 2010 by Guest Blogger | No Comments | Filed in Business, Internet Marketing Success, Website Search Engine Optimization

Joomla is not search engine friendly by default. You need to put some work into improving this. The main thing that you notice when you start your SEO work on Joomla website is the URL or each page. The page URLs produced by Joomla are not search engine friendly. They have always query parameters, which doesn't give much information for search engines to properly index and rank those pages. When you do on-page search engine optimization, one of things you should pay a lot more attention is the URL of the page you want to optimize. It has to be informative and meaningful, well populated with keywords and preferably with ".html" extension.

Use Search engine friendly URL

To make your Joomla website's URL search engine friendly, you have a lot of options. The first one is to use the default Joomla's SEF plugin. By default this plugin is not activated, so you have to go to your global configuration page and activate that.

You can also use third party free or paid components that do the same thing with additional features. One of my favorite is sh404SEF.

Craft catch Page titles for all pages in your website

Most of the time, I see on Joomla websites with default title that say "Home". This is the title of the home page. Mostly beginners don't see that and the way you change that title also a little bit obscure at first. As you know, page title is one of the main on-site criteria considered by search engines when ranking web pages. So you should give your pages meaningful title with your main keyword included in it. To change this title, do the following:

a. Go to Menu Manager and click your main menu.

b. From the list of menu items, open the one that says "home"

c. Now on the right hand side of the screen there are a number of parameters you can change. Open "Parameters (System)" and change the field that say Page title to your desired homepage title and save.

Setup Meta data for every page in your website

Meta data may not have as much value in the eyes of search engines as used to have few years back but still you should do proper optimization work on them. When optimizing Meta data of a webpage. You should focus more on the description rather than keywords. You write good descriptions about your page, preferably 160 characters long. This description is the one you see on search engine result page under your title. So it has a lot of value to help your link in the search engine result page stand out. Of course if search engines cannot find relevant description in your Meta tag, they will try to extract some text from your article body on the page and use that as description on the search engine result page. However, you have the chance to decide what to put instead, so use this advantage to attract more visitor from search engines.

The major problem I see on lots of Joomla powered website is that they use one set of Meta description and keyword for all pages on the website. This is wrong! You should set up individual sets of description and keywords for every page on your website. You can still use the global configuration to set Meta data for the whole website, but you should add Meta data for every article you add from you're your article manager page.

To add Meta data for an article you just wrote, look at the right section of Article [edit] page to find fields for entering Meta data.

Take advantage of 404 error page pages

Most often you see a Joomla website with the default 404 error page with small information about the error and a link to home page. You should setup a 404 page, either using some sort of plugin or setup one manually. Include valuable resource on this page to direct the user somewhere back to your website. Or include search form that can be used by the user to get back on track. Or use some of the phrases from users query on the previous page and produce a search result page yourself. The point here is to avoid users from being frustrated by the mean error page.

Insert H1 Tags In Joomla

It's a good idea to make use of H1 tag as your article title decorator. It has some significance to wards convincing search engines that the page is actually about the keyword you have been mentioning starting from the page title. I know pages that do well without H1 tag, but who cares if you can get a little help on your SEO for little or no work. Go ahead and us H1 tags for your your articles' Title.

Demissew has been working on the internet as a freelance web developer for nearly two years now. Not only has this author specialized in web development and SEO but also different technology products. You can also check out his latest website on Showerhead Filter and Anti Gravity Chair technologies.

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SEO Tips – Truth to get on the first page of Google

February 17th, 2010 by Guest Blogger | No Comments | Filed in Website Search Engine Optimization

It was a dark night, as most are. My Internet connection on the phone had said to meet him at the Apollo Diner, a greasy spoon in the Vietnamese section of the Italian neighborhood in the French quarter.

"Sit at the table closest to the bathroom in the back," he said flatly. I could only suspect that…he had a bladder problem.

He said on the phone to bring "three large," and he would get me onto the first page of Google. Before I could ask what and how large, he disconnected and left me speaking into a dial tone.

I’ll be Frank with you, although the rest of my friends call me Jeff. Not everyone can be on the first page of Google. Or the second, third or fourth pages either.

And if you make it to the fifth page, well, who cares? No one searches to the fifth page anymore — those days are gone, quit living in the past.

The Internet is the home of the Short Attention-Span Theater. No one reaches the fifth page on a search. They type in a new search term and search again.

Now that you know the myth about SEO, and that SEO doesn’t really matter all that much, what does matter?

Pay per click. What else matters?

1. A wise selection of keywords
This brings focused, targeted traffic to the specific pages of your reader’s interest. Your ads appear to those interested parties who are ready to buy.

2. Compelling ads result in a good number of quality inquiries
The better the ad, the better the response, and for the best-written ads: a more focused the audience. The best ads mean the maximum number of inquiries from the highest quality of inquirers.

3. Good tests
Real-time testing online is fast and easy. Rapid testing yields to a faster ramp-up to higher quality ads, placements, inquiries and conversion rates.

Don’t forget: Split testing, optimization tools, bid management, keyword ranking, geo targeting, day parting, copy testing, PPC optimization and reporting.

4. Great landing pages
The more exciting your site, the more likely visitors stay. The more time people stay on your site, the more likely they will become a customer.

5. The best offers
Give visitors exposure to your good, better and best offers. Driving people deeper into your site equals greater conversion.

6. Driving phone calls
Call me old fashioned, but I like all the above to drive visitors, customers and prospects to a phone call. Unless your Website closes everyone, every time–I’d offer a big phone number on every page. Then YOU close customers.

With live customer contact, you can get a real vision of what customers like, what they want, what they like about your site, your products, your company. Find out if there’s a problem with ordering, colors, products or delivery.

You can learn why they left your site without placing an order last time. And you can show them a real side of great customer service.

Now, back to our Google tale: I arrived at the Apollo Diner, taking the table closest to the doors marked "His," "Her’s" and "Unsure," of which I was a bit unsure about myself.

It was getting late when a thin, tallish dark-haired, fair-skinned blondish fat man carrying a small brown bag approached me while I sat next to the bathrooms. "Hey," he said, his eyes darting around the room. "Anybody using that?" nodding towards the doors.

"Which one?" I answered without looking up. He was unsure so I pointed to that door, saying it was free for $2 donation, when he blurted out under his breath, "Did you bring the three large?"

I always thought I’ve be cool under pressure, but I froze, staring down at my half empty cup of coffee, or was it half full?

It was Internet guru Markus Allen.

"Did you bring it?" he reinforced. "Yeah," I said, still not knowing what he was referring to.

"Okay," he continued. "Here’s how to get on the first page of Google." He was speaking ever so quietly now as he said "Google," as if they were listening, as if they were everywhere. I leaned over and listened intently.

"Find a forum that gets indexed by Google every 15 minutes."

Next, he said, post a subject line with your keyword phrase mixed in with one of these powerful words: Advantage, Fast, Gain, Guaranteed, Help, How-to, Lose, Solve, These, Truth, Tips, Trust, Amazing, Results

For example: The truth about direct marketing strategies.

When posting a message, use your keyword phrase twice, once in the first sentence of your post and then in the last sentence of your post.

And here's another important part – you need other forum members to keep the post alive by replying to the original post, so end your post with a thought-provoking question, such as "Do you agree with me here?"

Ending with a question subconsciously triggers the forum members to reply. And when they reply, your post remains on the main index page – ultimately picked up by Google's crawlers.

"You can get to the top page…within the hour," he looked around and under his breath, almost whispered, "on Google." It may only last a day or two, but you’re on the top, the top of the first page…" he said with a smile, his last words began trailing off as he now stared at the front of the diner.

Just then the diner door burst open and four men in black sweatshirts with the word Google across their chest rushed in and headed directly towards our table. Markus had a troubled look on his face as he sprang up in a well-rehearsed move and pushed open the door marked "Unsure" and went in, the door slamming behind him.

The men – not five seconds later – rushed into the same room, coming back out almost immediately and without saying a word, left the diner. A few moments went by and I slowly got up and pushed open the door marked "Unsure."

There was nothing. No other door. No window. And no Markus.

As I stood there shocked, I noticed a tiny strip of paper on the floor, say, the size of a fortune in a fortune cookie, that simply said:
http://www.marketing-ideas.org/The-Secrets.

It was Markus Allen’s site. I slipped it into my pocket and left.

And that’s how you really get on the first page of… uhh… shhh… Google.

There's no reason for you to struggle with getting on the first page of Google. If you're ready to get more free leads from Google, Yahoo! and Bing now, you might want to grab these SEO tips, techniques and methods.

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Increased Website Traffic – Tips to get website traffic fast

January 20th, 2010 by Guest Blogger | No Comments | Filed in Website Search Engine Optimization

When working online getting traffic to your website is absolutely essential. The bigger number of visitors to your website then the better chance you have of getting them to buy and so you make more money. (profit)

The FIRST tip I would give to anyone to help bring visitors to your website is to make sure that you add new content to your website everyday. Also make sure that the content of the additional information is good relevant information and not a load of revamped rubbish. If your website stays the same with no new content why would anyone want to visit your site?

The SECOND tip I would give is to make sure that you always tag your keywords on your webpage. Tags are where the "search engines" look to assess the page rank of your site and if they find no tags they will pass by and you will lose out. Tags are simple to use and I will give you a few essential places to put them.

TITLE TAGS
I know it may sound a little silly to you but believe me lots of money is lost because people do not place tags in the title of their page. The title is where you put your most important keywords with a title that will grab the readers attention.

HEADER TAGS
These tags are found below the title and are also second in importance to the title tag. If the title tag is not eye catching then the visitor will not read any further and may not even get to the header.

META TAGS
These provide a small informative text. Usually only a few words but they must be up to date and contain good information.

ALT TAGS
These provide a description of graphics and each graphic should have an Alt tag.

The THIRD tip
This tip would be to find and link to as many websites as you possibly can. The more links you have coming to your website the more valuable these are to the "search engines". If you can get links to your website from a government site which is also relevant to your site you have hit the jackpot.

Linking can be achieved by submitting articles to article directories, publishing press releases and using the new social forums like facebook and twitter. The use of linking to a direct website while still workable is being overtaken by putting a link to a website in the text of an article so the reader can click onto this and be take immediately to the website page.

The FOURTH tip is a favourite of lots of people and when it is done correctly can improve the rating and profitability of your website considerably.
Advertising can be done by many methods and I will list a few for you.
Classified Ads
Email Marketing
Postcards
Article writing
Pay per click
Search engine optimization
Direct marketing
All of the above are easy to do and carry little or no cost involved.

The FIFTH tip is just to do some of what I have outlined above and I am sure you will have fun in building a business or just learning more than 80% of the online marketers know. You may want to find forums where you can exchange views and information with others.
You can find information by going into Google and typing in
"freeclassifieds.com"
"directmailers"
"newsgroups"
You get the idea?

Then you type in some questions you would like answered. You would probably be better placed if you could answer some of their problems first but at least look at the relevant sites and learn. Remember DOING NOTHING MEANS NOTHING CHANGES.
I hope you learn something from this article. Most of all Have Fun.

William Conway

The author of this article is mentored by Mary Gerston who is now the Vice President of "Global Cash Flow Network" of America.
If you would like to learn more and get a FREE report go now to
http://www.24hourwebcash.com/conway4053
or CALL 1-800-719-8268 extension 40597
From Outside America CALL 001-480-355-5612 extension 40597

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Webpage Title – How to Title Your Web Page To Attract Visits

December 22nd, 2009 by Markus Allen | No Comments | Filed in Website Search Engine Optimization

The webpage title (also known as "Page Titles") offers many important functions. It's one of the most overlooked aspect of website design and internet marketing.

Creating a great webpage title is a surefire way to attract precisely qualified visitors to any of your webpages. It's for this reason I always invest more time on my title tag than any other aspect of my webpage (and suggest you do the same).

Here are my best-kept tips and techniques to create the perfect title tags:

Turn your title tag into a new-visitor magnet

The title tag has always been (and will probably always be) one of the most important factors in gaining high search-engine rankings.

The keyword phrase used in your webpage title draws visitors to your website from search engines.

When the words placed in your page title matches a search query, you have a chance of getting that visitor to your site. No other phrase on your webpage carries this weight. Search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing rely heavily on your webpage title to determine the rank of your featured listing in their search results. They reward you with higher rank when the webpage title matches the overall theme of your content.

The actual text you use in your title is one of the most important factors in how search engines decide to rank your web page. And all major web crawlers use the text of your title tag as the text they feature in their SERPs (Search Engine Result's Pages).

I HIGHLY recommend using popular keyword phrases in your webpage title… especially at the beginning. This is known as prominence. Search engines put more weight in ranking words that show up at the beginning of your title tag.

The most common mistake I see is placing a company name as the title. This is a waste of crucial space as you only have 66 characters to work with (any more are cut off from most search engine results' listings). Make every character count.

Use call-to-action wording

Just because you rank #1 doesn't necessarily guarantee clicks to your website. This is a very common problem, and the good news is it's easy to fix.

Remember, Google (and most other search engines) clone your title tag and display it as a clickable link to your site. What you want to do is encourage these searchers to not only see your link, but to visit your website. You do this by writing additional teaser copy.

For example, this link might get some clicks:

German Chocolate Cake

But I KNOW this link is going to gain a lot of clicks:

German Chocolate Cake – Best Chocolate Recipe You've Ever Tasted

Avoid long-tail keywords

You might think twice about using long-tail keyword phrases in your title.

Long-tail keywords (as the name suggests) are search queries that are longer than average… typically 5 or more words.

For example, a long-tail keyword is something like ‘German Chocolate Cake Recipe’ while a short-tail keyword is something like ‘Cake Recipe’.

Spammers typically try to game Google and other search engines by adding long-tail keywords to their webpage title… and this might work against you if you try the same.

My testing shows 4-word keyword phrases seem to be just the perfect length.

The perfect length

Most search engines only display the first 66 characters of the title of your webpage. Suggestion: Keep your web page titles no more than 66 characters so they show up in the SERPs without being truncated.

A waste of precious time

A lot of internet marketing gurus give us bad information about titles for webpages… instead referring to it as the title meta tag. The title meta tag is not the same as your webpage title. In fact in my testing, I find filling out the title meta tag is a complete waste of time. Instead of generating a meta title tag, just focus on a webpage title.

A before Z always wins

The title of your webpage also doubles as the default entry in your visitor's Favorites when they bookmark your webpage… and most web browsers sort Favorites in alphabetical order — so you might have your first word in your title tag start with the letter "A".

History

Just like Bookmarks and Favorites, browsers use page titles to label pages in the browser’s web surfing history. Having a descriptive webpage title makes it easier for your visitors to return to your webpage.

Final tip

There's no reason for you to struggle with writing a webpage title. If you're ready to write better title tags to get you more leads from search engines, you might want to grab these webpage title tips, techniques and methods.

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