Google Images has indexed billions of images. If your image can be found for the right keyword, then you will get targeted visitors to your website.

Why images can help you to get more visitors

Depending on the search query, Google displays several images above the regular search results. For example, try this search for German Shepherd Dog:

The images can be found at the top of the search results and they are linked with web pages. If someone clicks on the image, the person will be taken to the web page that shows the image.

How to optimize your images so that they can be found

If you have a website about German Shepherd dogs, then wouldn’t it be great if an image from your website was listed above the regular results? You’d get many additional website visitors then.

There are several things that you can do to improve the position of your images in Google Image Search:

1. Use a file name that contains the keywords for which you want to be found. In this example, the file name german-shepherd-dog.jpg would be a good idea. Separate the words with a hyphen.
2. Use a descriptive Image Alt attribute text. It usually makes sense to use the same keywords that have been used for the file name. In this example, the Image Alt Attribute would be “German Shepherd Dog”:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog”>

3. In the same way, you should use the Image Title attribute:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog” title=”German Shepherd Dog”>

4. The textual content on the web page before and after the image also impacts the position of your image in Google’s Image Search. In this example, the text “German Shepherd Dog” should appear close to the image.
5. Bigger images seem to get featured more often on Google’s first result page. The bigger your image, the easier it is to get at the top of Google’s regular result page. Include the Width and Height attributes in your image tag to show search engines the size of the image:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog” title=”German Shepherd Dog” width=”600″ height=”400″>

6. If the complete web page has been optimized for a keyword then it is easier to get good listings for images that are on the page.

Make sure that the image that you optimize for your keyword also looks attractive. If no-one wants to click on the image then it won’t help your website if the image can be found on Google’s first result page.

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The links that point to your website are one of the most important factors that influence the position of your website in Google’s search results. The better the links to your website, the higher the position of your website in Google’s results.

High rankings without good inbound links?

It is possible to get high rankings with only a few links if you want to be listed for keywords that don’t have much competition. As soon as more than one website competes with you for the same keywords, the website with the best inbound links will outrank the other websites.

If you want to get high rankings for competitive keywords, you have to go out and encourage people to link to your website. It’s not necessary to get as many links as possible. It’s necessary to get better links than your competitors.

Relatively easy: finding the right websites for link building

The Internet has plenty of websites for every category. The following websites can be good link partners:

1. Websites that are listed for the keywords that you are targeting can be good link partners. If a website has high positions for the keywords that you are targeting and if the website is not a competitor, you should contact the owner of that website.
2. Some websites have content that is related to your keyword. If these websites have no examples or references, they could link to your website.
3. There can be many websites that contain a review or a comment about your company without linking to your site. These websites will often link to your website if you ask.
4. If another website links to your website and only uses your domain name to link to your website, ask the owner of the other website to link to your website with your keyword.
5. Blogs that deal with the topic of your websites are often willing to link to your website.
6. If a website links to one of your competitors, it is likely that they will also link to your website if you offer a similar product or service.

Easy to screw up: asking for a link

Finding websites that could link to you is the easy part. The difficult part is to convince the owners of the other websites that they should link to your site.

Contact the right person and use a personal salutation. Be polite and professional in your email message. Use a non-freemail email address and include your full contact information in the email message.

Focus on the benefits of the recipient (for example, that the webmaster will offer his website visitors a good resource if he links to your site and explain why).

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Most webmasters know that high rankings on Google and other modern search engines can only be achieved if a website has both optimized web page content and good inbound links.
While it is relatively easy to optimize the content of a website, it is more difficult to get good inbound links. A relatively easy way to get inbound links is to submit websites to Internet directories.
But do these Internet directory links still have value when it comes to search engine rankings? Can you increase the position of your website in Google’s search results by submitting your site to Internet directories?

An internet marketer tested three pages that were orphaned within the normal navigation structure of the website. These three pages were created to provide valuable content to search engines.
The three pages were submitted to some high quality paid directories (Yahoo, BestOfTheWeb, Joe Ant) and free directories.
About 45 days after the paid directory links went live, the web pages had increased visibility on search engines. Visits and conversions also increased and the tracking of the marketer indicated that at least 50 percent of the results could be attributed to the directory links.
The final results that were attributed to the directory link building included:
• a lift of traffic to levels that other highly visible site pages receive within 90 days
• an increase in monthly conversions for the business line of 45 percent year-over-year
What does this mean for your website?
Getting links from Internet directories should be a fundamental part of any search engine optimization strategy. You should submit your website to all big Internet directories and to Internet directories that cover your niche.

Links from Internet directories are only one way to get links from other sites. If you want to outperform your competitors, you also need links from websites that are related to yours. Links from blogs will also help. paid directories

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You’ve probably heard about the Yahoo/Microsoft deal. This will have a major impact on the search engine landscape and there definitely will be effects on your website rankings and the number of visitors that your website will get.

The basic facts

Yahoo is going to give up their own search technology and use Microsoft’s search technology instead. Bing.com will power the organic and the paid search results on Yahoo (except for premium ads on Yahoo).

Self-serve advertising (i.e. the AdWords competitor) will be managed by Microsoft’s AdCenter. Microsoft will get access to Yahoo’s search technology and can use it to improve its own search technology.

What does this mean for your website?

You should optimize for Bing.com.

Yahoo/Bing will have a search market share of at least 15% (that’s the current market share of MSN and Yahoo combined – some statistics show a much higher market share).

If you do not optimize some of your website pages for Bing, you’ll lose a lot of visitors and sales.

Yahoo’s inbound link data will probably be lost.

Yahoo is the search engine that currently returns the most inbound link data. When Yahoo drops its index, that data will probably be lost.

1. A big PPC provider will be gone, an even bigger provider will appear.

   Microsoft will provide the search ads for Yahoo and Bing. Yahoo will close its own paid search offerings. That means that you will be able to manage your ads for both Yahoo and Bing in one user interface. It probably also means rising bid prices on Yahoo and Bing.

1. Yahoo might close some of their websites.

   Yahoo might put its Internet directory into question as well as their alternative search applications SearchMonkey and SearchBOSS. Applications such as Yahoo Maps might also be reconsidered because Bing offers similar services.

1. There will be two independent search result pages.

   Yahoo will have full control over the user interface of their search form. The ordering of the results, the layout and the whole search focus can be different from Bing. That means that you still might have to optimize your website for both search engines.

The deal still needs shareholder and legal approval. Yahoo and Microsoft hope that the changes will be in place by early 2010

Optimize different pages of your website for different search engines and different keywords. What works with one search engine might not work with another. Optimize each web page for a dedicated search engine/keyword combination to get better results.

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Wouldn’t it be great if your website was listed twice in Google’s top 10 results for your most important keywords? Although Google usually shows only one page from every site in the top results, it is possible to get two listings if you do the right things.

What are indented Google listings?

Indented listings on Google’s search results pages can give your website additional exposure. Having an indented listing in Google’s search results means that you’ll have two listings for your website in the top 10 results in Google instead of one:

These indented listings are also called double listings. Google explains these listings like this:

“When Google finds multiple results from the same website, the most relevant result is listed first, with other relevant pages from that site indented below it.”

It’s obvious that your website will get more clicks and more visitors if it is listed twice in the top 10 results. Most webmaster don’t know how to get these results. That’s your chance to get a step ahead of your competition.

How to get indented listings for your keywords

To get an indented listing for one of your keywords, do the following:

1.You must have a web page that already has a top 10 ranking for that keyword.

2. Create a second web page on the same domain that links to the first web page that has the top 10 ranking. Optimize the second page for the same keyword as page one but use different content.

3. Link from the first page to the second page with your keyword phrase in the anchor text. If possible, use a contextual link within a body of text rather than a site-wide navigational link.

4. Get inbound links for the second page. Depending on the competition for the keyword, a few high-quality links can be enough to get the indented result.

Repeat step 1 to 4 for as many keywords as you want.

If your website has two links on Google’s result page, then it will represent 20% of the organic results instead of the regular 10%.

That means that you’ll get more clicks and more visitors. It would be foolish not to optimize a second page for your keywords.

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