Google Toolbar : PageRank, Linking Strategies & More

So, you've gone and downloaded the toolbar at toolbar.google.com, but now what? This free toolbar that allows you gather useful information about yours and other websites. You just need to know how to use it.

Google Toolbar Basics

1. PageRank: The green bar you see as you visit different web pages shows a website's Google PageRank. To put it simply, PageRank is a bit like link popularity, but there are many factors involved in its calculation ~ which Google won't entirely reveal. You can look at the "official" Google information on PageRank at google.com/technology/ if you are inclined.

2. Page Info: You'll see the letter "i" in a blue circle with the words "Page Info" beside it. There's actually a lot of useful information to be found here.

3. Cached Snapshot of Page: This will show you what the particular page you are looking at looked like when Google last indexed it. * Note - When you do a search on Google, you can always choose to see the cached version of the page. This highlights the keywords you typed in right on the web page. It's a very useful search tool.

4. Similar Pages: I don't quite get this option, but Google says it shows "pages that are related to a particular result" ~ I guess they are sites related to yours. For myself, I find they are usually sites I've exchanged links with, but it's a smaller list than "Backward Links".

5. Backward Links: You may have exchanged links with a zillion sites, but by checking the "Backward Links", you'll see how many and which links Google actually considers to be important. These links help make up your PageRank.

6. Translate into English: If you're visiting a website in another language, you can have Google translate it into English. Of course, you'll have to take any translation with a grain of salt. So What Do You Do with This Google Toolbar Information? Find Link Partners As you can already see, Google does not consider all your backward links to be important. It is generally thought that Google indexes links from pages with a PageRank of 4 or higher ~ but this is not the sole determining factor. This means the precise page you are receiving the link from should have a PageRank of 4 or higher to be counted. If the home page has a PageRank of 4, but the links page only has a rank of 2, it might not be counted.

This does not mean your links will not be considered important by other search engines. We are just talking about Google here. If you want to increase your PageRank, you want links from pages with a PageRank of 4 or higher.

You might want to avoid exchanging links with a site not listed on Google (do a search for the site or put your mouse of the PageRank bar to see if it has been ranked). If they are not listed, they may very well be a new site, but it is possible they are a banned site. You do not want to exchange links with a banned site. You could be guilty by association!

You should also make efforts to exchange links with sites that are targeting similar keywords as you. Do a search for sites using your keywords. Analyze Your Google PageRank Your PageRank can certainly help you with your rankings for certain keywords. Your goal is to increase your PageRank to receive more FREE traffic from Google. Use your toolbar to find out the various PageRanks of the various pages within your site.

You can help increase your PageRank on your own by creating numerous internal links to your various pages. When exchanging links, don't just have links to your home page. Choose a few other important pages to which you would like to generate links. Make Sure Your Pages Are Being Indexed by Google You can check if all your pages are being indexed by Google. Go to the particular page and choosing "Cached Snapshot of Page" ~ if there is no cache, your page is not indexed. If the page is new, then perhaps its a matter of time. If the page is important has not been indexed for a couple of months, analyze your navigation structure. Consider linking to this page from your other important (and high PageRanking) pages and see what happens

Top 10 Branding Mistakes

Branding, a commonly used term throughout the business world, essentially means creating an identifiable entity that makes a promise of value. It means that you have created a consciousness, an image, an awareness of your business. It is your company's personality. Numerous businesses try, but many fail at cre ating a brand. Here are 10 of the most common mistakes.

1. Not thinking analytically. Too many companies think of branding as marketing or as having a catch phrase or a logo. It is more than simply trying to get attention. Branding is providing something that warrants attention on a consistent basis, something your audience wants and is not getting from your competitors. For example it could be letting people know that you are providing the best customer service in your industry, not just through your tagline or logo, but by actually providing the best customer service in your industry. For more on the definition of a brand, read What Is a Brand?
2. Not maintaining your brand. Too often, in a shaky economy, businesses are quick to change or alter their identity. Too much of this confuses your steady customers. For guidance, think of big brands — Nike, for instance, has used "Just Do It" as a logo for years. One rule of thumb is that when you have become tired of your logo, tagline, and branding efforts, that's when they are sinking in with customers.
3. Trying to appease everyone. You will never be able to brand yourself in such a way that everyone will like you. Typically the best you can do is to focus on the niche market for your product.
4. Not knowing who you really are. If you are not the fastest overnight delivery service in the world, do not profess to be. Too many business owners think they are providing something that they are not. Know your strengths and weaknesses through honest analysis of what you do best.
5. Not fully committing to branding. Often business owners let the marketing and advertising department handle such things as "branding," while they work on sales and other important parts of the business. But sales and branding are tied together as integral aspects of your business. Many Fortune 500 companies are where they are today because branding made them household names.
6. Not sharing the joke. If only the people in your office get a joke, it is not going to play to a large audience. The same holds true for branding. If your campaign is created for you and not "them," you will not succeed.
7. Not having a dedicated marketing plan. Many companies come up with ideas to market themselves and establish a brand identity but have neither the resources nor a plan as to how they will reach their audience. You must have a well-thought out marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. For help putting together a marketing plan, see How to Build a Sound Marketing Plan for Your Business.
8. Using too much jargon. Business-to-business-based companies are most guilty of piling on the jargon. From benchmark to strategic partnering to value added, jargon does not benefit branding. If anything, it muddles your message.
9. Trying too hard to be different. Being different for the sake of being different is not branding. Yes, you will be noticed, but not necessarily in a way that increases sales.
10. Not knowing when you have got them. Companies that have succeeded in branding need to know when to stop trying to establish a brand and when to switch to maintaining that which they have established. Monitor the results of your branding campaign. If your small business is a local household word, you can spend less time trying to become a household word and more time trying to maintain the image people have of your business.

What is RSS?

RSS content is also referred to as a feed. Many people say that "RSS" came from "Really Simply Syndication" but the good thing is that you don't have to know what it means to use feeds. A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to website content, such as a blog or news site. A news site, for example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this feed as a series of recent posts. Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small individuals to large organizations like The New York Times.

A feed may also be referred to as an RSS feed, RSS channel, RDF feed, XML feed, or Atom feed. But all are essentially the same thing.

Here are a few examples of how syndicated content may be represented on a website:

WebCEO Search Engine Optomisation

Web CEO was recognized as the world's best SEO software package in 2006 at the prestigious PromotionWorld's Top 10 SEO companies rating.

Web CEO is the most complete SEO software package on the planet; plus, our SEO software offers more for free than any other software package or suite for SEO.

Google AdSense

Discover your site's full revenue potential.

Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website's content pages and earn money. Because the ads are related to what your visitors are looking for on your site — or matched to the characteristics and interests of the visitors your content attracts — you'll finally have a way to both monetise and enhance your content pages.

It's also a way for website publishers to provide Google web and site search to their visitors, and to earn money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.

Google AdSense

AdWords Pay-Per-Click

Google AdWords

Choosing Keywords with the Google Keyword Sandbox & Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool

Choosing Keywords with the Google Keyword Sandbox & Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool

Keywords are the words and especially phrases used by people when they search for web pages. For example, if I am looking for a vacation in Fiji, I would type something like 'Fiji vacation' into a search engine. Those are keywords.

Maximizing Keywords: 2 Methods

Obviously, you should choose words and phrases that people actually enter into search engines. There are couple of methods you can use...one is free and the other is not (although it has a free trial). Both methods can produce good results, but the paid version is certain to save you a lot of time.

Just remember, when choosing your keywords, pick the ones that will drive the right kind of visitors to your website. You want people who want to actually purchase and buy your product/vacation. Check your website stats to see what keywords are bringing you traffic, but don't choose keywords just for traffic's sake (use Google Analytics for this, see other blog entry).

The 2 methods are:

Free: Using Google Keyword Sandbox & Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool

Paid: WordTracker

First post to get me going

Okay here is the first post just to get started. Saying as this has become my major business of late, ther eis no reason why I shouldn't start writing about it

What are Blogs?

I am asked this a lot. Here's what Wikipedia says:

Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about people's personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever the author wants them to be.

Inadequate Keyword Research - MAJOR PROBLEM

It pays to spend extra time to focus on the keyword and phrases that catch the most traffic, and more to the point most relevant traffic.

Do research in detail to find the target keywords and phrases. Use the 'view source' feature of IE to check out the keyword Meta tag of each top-ranking site. Select the site that lists lots of keywords. Repeat this exercise with at least 10 top listing sites. Search in Google and Overture will yield more keyword ideas. You will soon have a long list of possible keywords and keyword phrases.

Enhance the keyword kitty by a search on http://www.promoteindia.com/keywordtool-beta.htm.

Access WordTracker to compile results. Then, sort out the strongest keywords by KEI.

To improve your KEI search, use the spreadsheet available at http://www.seo-works.com/seo-resources/keyword-effectiveness-rank.html.

Once you have sorted out the desired keywords, highlight the most profitable ones.

Develop at least 30 pages of content, by taking top 10 on the list and creating content. Repeat the similar process with in batches of 10 top keywords/phrases every time.