Google Sitemaps Explained

Google has single-handedly caused the birth of a science and an industry: search engine optimization (SEO). With all the advancements the search engine giant has made, webmasters throughout the world have strive to keep in pace with all the changes that Google has been implementing.

This has led to the formation of a highly specialized field of study, that is, breaking the search engine code and finding ways to place a website in the upper bracket of relevant search engine queries.

Once these webmasters begin to think that they have broken the code, Google would once again change the rules. Google prides itself to be a constantly evolving company, employing advancements for the betterment of the search engine industry. Google doesn’t fail to reward the loyal webmaster, however with its Pay Per Click (PPC) program called AdSense, webmasters can opt to display contextually relevant ads on their pages and Google would pay them every time a visitor would click on the said ads.

Google Introduces Sitemaps

One of Google’s newest implementations is the use of sitemaps. Sitemaps, quite simply, are like an outline detailing every link and every page of your website. Sitemaps come in XML formats. XML is a language like HTML, only XML is actually simpler to execute once you learn how to familiarize yourself with the said language. XML is actually already widely used for a lot of syndication purposes these days, including the very popular Really Simple Syndication (RSS).

Basically, by submitting your website’s sitemap to Google, Google promises that its spiders would be able to crawl through every nook and cranny of your website with more efficiency. This would most definitely result in a higher likelihood of every page of your website getting indexed, and they’re getting fetched for every relevant query.

Benefits Of Google Sitemaps

There are reasons why you should not neglect Google sitemaps. Let’s take a look at these outstanding benefits that could possibly revolutionize the search engine optimization game.

• You will be able to alert Google about any changes in your website. You don’t have to ping the search
  engines anymore.
• You’d get more efficient categorizing of your web pages.
• There would be a higher likelihood of your web pages getting discovered by search engine users.
• Google sitemaps would soon replace the conventional way of submitting websites, hence, starting this early would give you a good head start.
• Google sitemaps is free.

Creating Google Sitemaps

Creating Google sitemaps is quite easy. All you have to do is to create a sitemap using XML.

Learning XML would be the hardest part of the process, and XML is something you could learn within 10 minutes at that. After which, you would just have to upload your sitemap to your web hosting service. Login to your Google account and submit your sitemap. Your website and all its pages would correspondingly get indexed.

If you make changes to any of your web pages, you would just have to update your sitemap and resubmit the same to Google through your Google account.

The Google Sitemap Revolution

Google sitemaps provide an extra layer of efficiency for the indexing of your web pages. Aside from the conventional process of spiders crawling through your web pages to determine relevant content for every query, the said spiders can also crawl through the Google sitemaps to achieve the same purpose. Having these two processes working side by side would ensure a more effective and expedient way of having your web pages prominently appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).

With Google Sitemaps, the playing field has evolved. The race is on for supremacy in this new landscape. Being at the forefront could serve your interest well.

To your online success,

Fairuz Abdullah

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!…

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of “special reports” or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cash flow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links “sprinkled” throughout each course. Use an auto responder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers… It’s about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, “cultivating” your list)…

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your “paid” product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one “constant” in Internet marketing, it’s this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to “content hungry” web-site and newsletter publishers with your “resource box” attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line “bio” about you and/or your web-site -including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)…

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted “as is” with your resource box attached.

…Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals – many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content…

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we’ve relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!
To your online success,

Fairuz Abdullah

How To Get Free Traffic From Your Content

Blogging on the Internet has become more and more popular over the
last several years. Blogs are popular with readers since they are
usually easier and more entertaining to read than news articles.
Also, people like to write blogs because they rank well on search
engines. If you want to write blogs then these are the things you
need to do in order to be successful.

1.Write Frequently

You will quickly notice that the more posts you make to your blog,
the more traffic you’ll get. Plus, if you are constantly putting
new content on your blog then people are going to want to check
back there frequently.

So be sure you write a new post at least three or four times a day.

2.Digg Your Blog

Digg.com is a very popular social bookmarking site. All you have to
do is sign-up (for free) on the site and then every time you make a
new post you will go back to Digg and put in the URL of your blog.

You will need to put in a couple sentences as a preview for what
you’re posting on Digg. Try to include a couple sentences that will
really capture people’s curiosity so they’ll click on the link to
your blog.

3.Add Your Blog to SumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is another bookmarking site. It’s actually very easy to
add your new blog entries to StumbleUpon once you are signed-up
with the site.

While signing-up on StumbleUpon.com choose to install their
toolbar. Then whenever you write a new blog entry all you need to
do is click on “I Like It” at the top of your computer screen. You
will literally be able to add your entry to StumbleUpon in less
than 30 seconds.

4.Turn Your Bog Entry into an Article on Ezinearticles.com

You can either use your exact post or write another article that’s
different but very similar to your post. Either way, you want to
post the article to at least one top article directory in order to
get even more traffic to your blog.

If you don’t already have an account with Ezinearticles.com then
you will need to get one. Be sure you read the rules so that you
don’t try to make an illegal submission. This will result in your
article being denied.

Once you have an account then you can submit your article. Until
you become a “Platinum Member” you’ll have to wait a few days for
acceptance. But once your article is accepted it will give your
blog a boost of traffic.

The Right Way to Write Articles

Just about anyone who has a business on the Internet uses article
marketing as part of their marketing efforts. Article marketing is
when a person writes an article related to a product or service
they’re offering in an attempt to get more people to become their
customer. Unfortunately not many people even know the right way to
write articles.

One of the keys to writing articles is to make sure they will rank
high on the search engines. This is done through keyword/keyphrase
optimization. This means that the article is written using a
keyword or a keyword phrase in the posted article so the article
appears in the search results when that keyword or keyword phrase
is searched for through a search engine.

Just about everyone who writes articles knows that the articles
have to be search engine optimized. So this is followed but the
other key for the right way to write articles is completely
overlooked. The other key ingredient is to make sure the article is
well-written, easy to read, and informative to a human reader. You
should not just write for the search engines but, keep the human
reader in mind.

Too many people simply write an article as fast as they can and
pump it full of keywords or a keyword phrases and then throw it up
on the Internet. These article is not educational and has no value
to anyone. So people will find the article but they won’t go any
further. You could also damage your reputation by pumping out
garbage articles.

So anyone writing an article has to remember there are two steps
that must be taken by any potential customers. First the person has
to find the article and then they have to read it and find enough
value to want to continue to where the article directs them to.

There are many people who write articles but absolutely hate it.
Many of these people also have no idea how to write a good article.
Luckily there is a formula they can follow.

The first part of a good article is the title. The title should
include the keyword or keyword phrase and it should also promise to
give a benefit to the reader. For example, it might promise it will
tell them how to save money on gas or it might promise to tell them
how to get traffic from their content (just as the title of this
article does). One thing to keep in mind is to always give people a
list or a specific number of solutions to a problem. People love
reading these types of articles.

Next an introduction has to be written. This will introduce the
reader to the topic and should include a “hook” – something that
will keep the people reading.

Then in the body of the article, you should give them the benefit
that was promised in the title. Make sure you give them what was
promised. If you promised “4 Ways to Save Money on Gas” then you
better give them 4 ways to save money on gas. If not, they’ll get
disgusted and simply click-out of your article.

To your online success,

Fairuz Abdullah

How To Win The Favor Of Search Engines

You’ve got a cool new website with all the works: cool Flash
presentations, eye-catching colors, informative text,
easy-to-use layout, and an interesting topic. You think your
site is amazing, and you know that others will agree with
you. If only they know it exists.

How do you make your website known? How do you make yours
stand out among millions of others? You can spend lots of
money on advertising, but that will not work if you don’t
have the money to spend on advertising. So what do you do?
Make search engines work for you, that’s what!

Google, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, Altavista – you want to be at the
top of their results list. The higher your site is in a
search results page, the better chances that it will be
visited. The science behind making your site a popular
search result is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Don’t worry, though – even if SEO is referred to as a
science, it is not all that complicated. You just need to
take note of a few things, and before you know it, your site
will have more visitors than you could ever dream of.

Here are five tips to ensure that your site would be a
favorite of search engines all around the cyber world.

1. Give importance to substance over appearance.

Do you want to share your knowledge on a subject that you
have authority on? Do you want to sell products? Do you want
to build an online shrine for your favorite actress?
Whatever topic you have chosen for your website, make sure
that you are able to give useful information on it. Search
engines work by scanning sites for keywords. They search
text and completely ignore everything else. So if you have
made your site rich in colors, don’t forget to make it rich
in content as well. After all, a beautiful layout can make
people look, but relevant content is what will make them
stay. Remember, in this day and age: content is king!

2. Know your topic well

If you know much about your topic, you will know what people
usually ask about it, and what they ask about it is what
they will type in the search bar. When writing the content
for your website, put yourself in your other people’s shoes,
people who will be your target audience or market. Know the
possible questions they might have about your topic, and
give answers in your site.

3. Learn from the best

Take time to browse and read sites that get lots of visitors
and have the same topic as yours. Take note of any recurring
phrases in these sites’ text. These phrases are most likely
keywords. Incorporate them in your own site’s content. Don’t
saturate your site with keywords, though. You don’t want to
sound redundant to your site visitor. A 3% density level
would be enough.

In searching for the right keywords, use Overture’s
services. It may take quite some time, as it is more of a
trial-and-error method, but the results are conclusive, and
a pattern can easily be observed.

4. Submit…and re-submit

You will never get a certain job if you don’t send in your
application for it. The same thing applies to SEO. If you
want your site to be recognized by search engines, then go
out of your way to register your site with them. After a
couple of weeks, search for your site by putting in the
keywords you used in your content. If your site is still not
coming up in the search results, do not give up, and just
re-register and resubmit your site. It’s possible that your
initial registration was discarded without being processed.
This usually happens because a lot of submissions are being
done everyday.

5. Constantly update your site

This can’t be stressed enough: search engine spiders love
sites which constantly change their content. You can’t build
your site and expect it to last forever without any updates.
There will come a time when those search engine spiders
would stop fetching your site for query requests. Here’s a
tip: integrate a blog program in your site. Blogs have a
user-friendly interface that allows easy updates.

To your online success,

Fairuz Abdullah