7 SEO TIPS TO MAKE MORE MONEY ONLINE

Here at Just About SEO we’re all about making money by driving traffic from search engines, but I often see some common mistakes that prevent new marketers from maximizing their income. Here are 7 SEO related tips to help you get more money out of your site, whether it is a niche blog or a flagship monster of a site.

There is Only Page One - Actually, there is only top 5. If you have a ranking on page two, you don’t have anything. Of course, you can get traffic on page 2 and 3, but it is very small. I own a rank on page 3 to 4 for the term SEO. This is a high traffic term and I can tell you my ranking for SEO hands me very little traffic. All you guys putting “Make Money Online” in your title and ranking #150, you’re wasting your time, which moves me on to my next point.

Start Long, Then Go Short - We’re talking about long tail keywords, which are more focused, low competition, and low traffic keywords. These allow you to quickly dominate your keyword. “But Justin, long tail keywords are worth so little”. My #7 to #10 ranking for “SEO Tips” sends me more traffic than my #30 ranking for “SEO”. Hell, I get more traffic from brand keyword searches than I do “SEO”. So my advice is to set your goal as a long tail variant of your primary term. So if you want “Make Money Online” for example, do “Learn How to Make Money Online” first, then “How to Make Money Online”, then “Make Money Online”, and finally “Make Money”. The traffic earned at each stage will allow you to grow and make money while you build toward the golden phrase.

Target Multiple Keywords Per Page - When you develop a page title, be creative and use a phrase that works in multiple keywords. Of course, using “Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 | Keyword 3″ will work, but it looks more “for SEO only” -ish, but look at the title of this post. “7 SEO Tips to Make More Money Online”. The title is catchy and could be used as link bait. People will link to me with this title more than they would to a “keyword rich” title. And look at all the keywords it targets, here is just a small list: how to make more money, make money online tips, make more money, make more money online, making money online tips, making more money, seo tips, ways to make more money, etc. If someone links to me with the post title, I get keyword authority for all those phrases. I still use the keyword rich method on my niche affiliate sites, but I’ve seen great value in targeting many keywords in one title in a very natural way.

It is Still About Links - Sometimes I make SEO too complicated, like my last post on the role of outbound links and the impact of leaking juice. I love theory and that is why the primary topic of this blog is “SEO” and the secondary topic is “making money”. All theory aside though, ranking is still about links. The SEO game is shifting, but if you’re just learning the basics of running a site, all you need to know is that rankings are about links. Don’t let all the discussion that goes on here about theories and ideas hold you back. Just remember, you need to get other sites to talk about you and link to you with relevant words.

Humans Give the Best Links - I harp on tools around here, because my affiliate marketing strategy involves promoting many sites. I do this for fun, education, and money. Automated methods are an amazing way to spread out your link profile, but remember that humans give the best links. If you want to rank for any semi-competitive term, you need to focus on the human element to gain “good links”. These may involve linkbait, building a resource, networking, or buying links.

Every Niche Is Different - People fall into a situation where they expect every project to play out the same. Questions like “how many links do I need”, “how long does this take”, and “what monetization should I use” all depend. I’m under the belief that Google uses niche / keyword specific algorithms and niche / keyword dependent requirements. I’ve seen tactics work great in one niche and do nothing in another. I’ve seen how over optimization can hurt you in a competitive niche. I’ve seen exact match links rank long tail niche sites with no problem, but hurt me in competitive niches. I’ve run a site with 5,000 unique vistors a day that, for several months, ranked in the top 5 for EVERY related keyword, but not in the top 100 for the main keyword. All of the search traffic came from long tail phrases and 0 visitors came from the keyword I was targeting, even though the top guy had a PR 1 and I had 500% more links. Also, the traffic is not always the same. Traffic is often segmented and some keywords are heavy in some demographics. If I know 80% of a site’s visitors are 18 to 30 year old men, than that gives me a lot of power. I know how to bait links from that age demographic and I know how to sell to them. In that case, I am a member of the demographic I am marketing to, so I know how to network with them. Knowing that a blog’s owner is a 25 year old guy who plays WoW vs a 45 year old who runs a hunting blog, is a big difference. I can convince that 25 year old to give me a link, but that hunting guy is a lot harder (for me, but maybe not for you). Being successful in one niche, does not mean you’ll be successful in another.

Your Monetization May Not Be Appropriate - Too many people push Adsense as a monetization method because it is “easy” to setup, but it is not a good monetization method for everyone. I don’t click Adsense ads. I don’t think I’ve ever clicked an Adsense ad with the intent to convert. If you want to make money from users like me, you need to consider another method. If I find a nice niche with a keyword like “buy product”, I’m not going use Adsense, I’ll use phpBay. When looking at keywords, consider the demographic that keyword pulls in and the intent of the user. If you’re trying to make money with Adsense, that needs to be considered when you are finding keywords.

Some definitions of common SEM/SEO terms

Ad impression: An ad impression, or ad view, occurs when a user pulls up a Web page through a browser and sees an ad that is served on that page. Many Web sites sell advertising space by ad impressions (see CPM, below).

Clickthrough rate: The percentage of people clicking on a link compared with the total number seeing that same link.

Conversion rate: The percentage of site visitors who respond to the desired goal of an ad campaign compared with the total number of people who see the ad campaign. The goal may be, for example, convincing readers to become subscribers, encouraging customers to buy something, or enticing prospective customers from another site with an ad.

Cost per click (CPC): The amount of money an advertiser will pay to a site each time a user clicks on an ad or link.

Cost per thousand impressions (CPM): The amount of money an advertiser will pay for 1,000 ad impressions or views (M refers to the Roman numeral for 1,000).

Keyword: A word or phrase that a user types into a search engine when looking for specific information.

Meta tags: Hidden HTML directions for Web browsers or search engines. They include important information such as the title of each page, relevant keywords describing site content, and the description of the site that shows up when a search engine returns a search.

Page view: A common metric for measuring how many times a complete page is visited.

Search engine marketing (SEM): Promoting a Web site through a search engine. This most often refers to targeting prospective customers by buying relevant keywords or phrases.

Search engine optimization (SEO): Making a Web site more friendly to search engines, resulting in a higher page rank.

The use of search engine optimization and search engine marketing to promote businesses

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are two important ways to promote your business to online customers. SEO requires making your site search engine-friendly, and SEM involves targeting potential customers by purchasing relevant keyword ads on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Alta Vista.

SEO: There are many ways to optimize your site so that search engines will list your site higher in their rankings. Start with the following:

Links from other sites: Search engine spiders move from site to site across the Internet by following hyperlinks. The more high quality and high trafficked sites you have pointing to your site, the more important the search engine will think you are. Make sure to register your site with directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project.  

• Internal links: Make sure your site is well-organized and easy to navigate. A site map will help visitors and spiders navigate your site.

   Meta tags: Meta tags are hidden HTML directions for Web browsers or search engines. They include important information such as the title of each page, relevant keywords describing site content, and the description of the site that shows up when a search engine returns a search. Make sure your meta tags accurately describe your content.

•  Keywords: Consider likely words or phrases that users might type into search engines to find your site. Make sure your content contains those words or phrases, and include them in your title portions of your site and in relevant content.

•  Search engine optimizers: Businesses often enlist the help of optimizers who specialize in improving the visibility of their clients' sites. Among other things, they'll register your site with major search engines, list it in the appropriate directory, write optimized content for your site, and recommend changes to your site architecture.

SEM: The more targeted your advertising, the higher your "conversion rate." Conversion rate refers to the percentage of ads that actually convert to sales or some other desired action (such as registration). One way to ensure that your prospective customers are qualified is to buy ads according to specific search engine keywords that a user might submit. For example, if you're selling a Minolta 60X digital camera, buying the keyword ad "Minolta 60X digital camera" will most likely give you better results than buying the keyword "camera."

Some terms get bid up quickly for instance, you'll pay a lot more for a technology keyword than a knitting keyword. SEM, however, has a higher conversion rate than other online marketing methods, so it can still be a cost-effective route to take.

Make sure that you have compelling ad copy luring people to your site. Provide a call to action to prospective customers to encourage them to click on your link. Also, make sure that you send prospective customers to a targeted page on your site. Your home page will convert fewer customers than a page describing the exact service that you promote in your keyword ad.

You generally pay for keyword ads on a cost per click (CPC) basis. Review the keywords you've purchased to ensure you're getting a good return on your investment. If not, try a different word or phrase. You can also try different ad copy or landing pages on your site to see what's more attractive to prospective customers.

Companies offering CPC programs include Google, Yahoo (Overture), AskJeeves, FindWhat,Kanoodle, Industry Brains and LookSmart.

Once you've exhausted your SEO and SEM options, there are a couple of other routes that will produce results. You can put together an online ad campaign by either buying advertising on sites that appeal to your demographic or trading ads with other sites. In addition, you can send out email newsletters. Encourage customers to provide their email addresses so you can contact them with useful information and promotions.

Ways to improve a site's rank

One of the best ways to drive traffic and attract customers to your Web site is to improve your Google page rank. While a search engine optimization strategy won't ensure top billing for your site, it will increase the likelihood of higher exposure.

Google uses automated programs known as "spiders" or "webcrawlers" that scan the Web regularly and rank Web sites according to a number of factors. Although much of the process is veiled in secrecy, here are some of the things that factor into your site's page rank.

Links from other sites. Google spiders move from site to site across the Internet by following hyperlinks. The company's proprietary PageRank algorithm tallies "votes" for sites by counting the number of links a site has pointing to it from unrelated sites. Therefore, increasing the number of links to your site should elevate your ranking. All votes are not equal, however. Google gives heavier weight to votes from sites it deems as more important, so make sure to register your site with directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project.

• Internal links. Make sure your site is well-organized and easy to navigate. A site map will help visitors and Google spiders navigate your site. Google recommends that if any of your pages, including the site map, have more than 100 links, you should break your pages into more digestible portions. Also, make sure you don't have any broken links. Spiders don't like dead ends. 

• Meta tags. Meta tags are hidden HTML directions for Web browsers or search engines. They include such important items as the title of each page, relevant keywords describing site content, and the description of the site that shows up when a search engine returns a search. Make sure your meta tags accurately describe your content. 

• Keywords. Consider likely words or phrases that users might type into search engines to find your site. Make sure your content contains those words or phrases and include them in your meta tag information. Simply blanketing a page with one key phrase, however, will not work. Google robots are smart. They can determine whether or not you're using a key phrase in context or in an attempt to sneak your way up the Google ranking charts. 

• Search engine optimizers (SEOs): Businesses often enlist the help of SEOs, companies that specialize in improving the visibility of their clients' sites. Among other things, they'll register your site with major search engines, list it in the appropriate directory, write optimized content for the site, and recommend changes to your site architecture. Do your homework when choosing a company, however, and avoid those who promise the world.
  
• Optimizing your site according to these guidelines should help your page ranks. Google claims, however, that its uses more than 100 factors to determine page ranking. Its Web site has a lot of important tips that will give you insight into their process. It also includes some essential advice on tactics to avoid popular SEO scams.
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In your eagerness to improve your Google page ranking, it's easy to lose sight of your customer. Don't sacrifice the user experience by focusing on luring spiders. Remember, the goal is to draw users to your site and keep them coming back.

Be patient once you have optimized your site. It may take up to eight weeks for you to see any meaningful progress.