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Don't obsess over your Google page rank.
There is a good bit the news floating around the internet about how many are loosing their page rank in Google due to the Panda algorithm updates. Somewhat hard to ignore when website traffic is the lifeblood of the internet marketer. Due to this, many are loosing focus on their main internet business but instead are working more on search engine optimization (SEO) for their affiliate marketing website instead of marketing their affiliate products.
An internet marketer should be aware of basic SEO guidelines for their affiliate marketing business so as to help, no hurt, their page rank but not obsess over it. In fact I've read that some sites will start loosing their positions if the Panda page rank system deems them to be overly optimized. This would include a higher than average use of keywords and back links, or anything well beyond what would normally be expected from the average internet marketer.
What are some of the basic SEO guidelines for an affiliate marketer.
Take a look at your web page. Each page should basically be on a different subject and keyword usage, and all original content. Meta Title, Meta Description, Meta keywords. This is what is shown on a search engine results page (SERP) when you perform a search. Keywords in those should match keywords used in the content of the page. No hidden text or links. Use anchor links pointing to your other domain pages in each document when appropriate.
Unfortunately a new site or sites less than one year old are put under more scrutiny than older sites so it is important not to do too much all a once. Having a sudden increase in back links will through up a red flag and not seem natural to the search engine. Your link popularity should increasing naturally over a period of time is what will improve your page rank. Also add a site map to your domain. XML is preferred but an html sitemap is fine. This helps the engines better navigate your site. Just do a search for a xml site map generator. Most are free and simple copy and past the results onto new page in your domain obviously called, "sitemap". You may be surprised to see you have more links than your realize.
Getting your page indexed. If you are an affiliate marketer then you should be writing articles with links to your pages. Article directories are of high PR value so generally your article is index by Google within hours, if not minutes. Google with see the links in the article or bio, follow it back to your pages, and index your site. Once your article is published then "ping" your article. This will alert other directories there is new content posted somewhere and they find your site the same way. Do the same with blogs, etc. Ping O Matic or Pingout are free services to ping your pages. Only ping for new or updated content.
Those are some very basic seo guidelines for affiliate marketing that should be done but what are some things not to do. I'll just list a few.
- Backlinks. Never buy or submit to services offering multiple links back to your pages. Free or paid. Is obvious and not natural. Most would be from poor and unrelated sites. Will drop you from the rankings as many are finding out now.
- Keyword Stuffing in Meta Tags. Repetitive keywords here doesn't help much. May get you dropped from the index. Just use natural titles and descriptions on the theme of your page.
- Hidden Text and Links. An old practice was to add many keywords on bottom of pages and make that text same color as page background. Not visible to reader but is to search engine. Worked for a time but will get you banned now. Same with hidden links. All links should be obvious. Not added to one letter or character.
- Duplicate content from other sites. Another No-No. Original content only.
- Fake content and Blog farming. Over time one could create hundreds of mini pages, stuffed with keywords with little content pointing to your site. Will get you dropped from the rankings.
These are just some of the basic SEO guidelines for affiliate marketers. Only choose quality sites to market your business which will give quality links and target traffic back to your domain. Google may be #1 now but they are not the only game in town. According to Alexa rankings Facebook is #2 and I hear they will be upgrading their search function soon. Yahoo, Bing, and a few other search engines are still big players in the business and all have different ways of indexing pages. Concentrating on marketing your business is what will make it a success, not where your page is indexed by a search engine.
Thank you for this very important article, Kevin. It has information in it that every internet marketer needs to know.
Hi Kevin, This was a great article for me. I'm very new and just getting set up and I actually understood most of what you said! That's a big win, so thanks!
Thanks so much Patty for your comments...Try not to let things overwhelm...just take things one at a time, complete a project, then move to the next.
Kevin, Thanks for a good set of search engine basics. Well done! blessings, Cynthia
Thanks Cynthia...appreciate your comments also..
Thanks JoshuaM....so glad the info was helpful...Thanks so much for visiting..
Kevin your articles are always packed with information, thank you. I noticed on your website that you have lots of pages rather than blog posts. Is there are a specific reason for laying it out this way, lol, if I sound like a complete novice that's because I am!
Hi Penny...first let me say I have a lot of work to do on my site so don't take it as the best of examples.....but yes...Each page should be on a different subject .. use different keywords and content....They may be all about the same product but describe different aspects or benefits of the product.....I do have a blog that I add links to and a short paragraph pointing to a separate page in my site...It's way overdue for updating also...I'm doing the 30 in 30 so have let other things slide a bit that definitely need updating and redoing...:)
Thanks Kevin that's really helpful. Good luck with the 30 in 30, you should put it all into an e book when you've finished you put information like this across very well.
Thanks Penny....I may consider the ebook in the future....
Don't think so Lemuel...short phrases, quotes, definitions are safe...I use them myself at times....it's the whole pages of like content found on site after site that can kill the rankings...
Sounds like I'm doing the right thing by ignoring all this stuff. Not likely to key word stuff and pay for back links when I can't remember what my key word is and I'm still learning about back links! lol.... Another helpful article though Kevin! You were sent to educate me and keep my honest!
Thanks a bunch Heather..just sticking to the basics seems to give the most help in an online business..Thanks for visiting
Great advice, particularly the bit about not buying backlinks. It seems a lot of sites have been hit because they did that. Like the Article
Thanks Roger...All those backlinks from unrelated sources and poor quality site and killed many sites...Thanks for visiting
All to damn confusing, someone should mathematically describe the Panda virus that is causing problems for some, and when this is understood by all it will be changed again and the Squibb protocol will be introduced.
I'm thinking some top SEO folks are still trying to figure out what Panda is still doing...Good quality websites and quality content point to a website from quality sources is the key...
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