SEO For The Common Webmaster

Google’s own Matt Cutts excited the online world yesterday by adding a bit of link bait to his blog. He announced that the Google Pagerank (PR) will be coming over the next few days. I have seen this linked all over the Internet and there is a buzz. Here is the post address if you care to see for yourself http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-pagerank-update/.

As I have written on this blog before, it is a good way to see how you are doing in creating back links but it is not good for a true measure of how your site is doing. It brings no traffic and it can easily be manipulated.

I do have to hand it to Matt though, link baiting is one of the best ways to build back links and his short little post has stirred up the webmaster world and his link is all over the place. Take an example from him and find hot topics that will create a stir and you too could see the benefit of such posts.

Google offers some of the best webmaster tools in the business. Without a doubt, they are the leader when it comes to Internet search and webmaster related stuff. However, wake up webmasters, Google is not a God.

I am a member at many webmaster forums and I am always seeing threads started asking of this or that is allowed by Google. Some stuff is related directly to Google’s services like Adsense and Adwords. However, many times webmasters are asking what they can or can not do on their own site. You, the webmaster, own the site! Google may lower your search rankings but with the right marketing and advertising, that will not mean the end of your website.

Look at John Chow’s blog. He does not even rank for the words “John Chow.” His blog is still one of the most profitable on the Internet. I am not saying you should not try to rank high on Google. I am not saying you should say, “FU Google.” What I am trying to say is that your site should be built for you and your readers, not for Google. You should not spend your whole time worrying rather anything you say or do is going to have you removed from Google.

Truth be told, they need us as much as we need them. Their rules are generally fair and try to prevent spam sites from reaching the top. If you are an ethical webmaster, there should never be a problem. If you are trying dishonest tricks to beat out the competition, you may get caught.

Be the best webmaster you can and do all the honest link building and advertising you can and your website will be successful. Above all, remember, Google is not a God!

When advertising your website or blog, one of the most important things is to choice the right keywords to place in the anchors. Choosing the right keywords will affect where you rank in the major Search Engines. These should be related directly to the content of your website. For example, I often use SEO for the Common Webmaster or Search Engine Optimization when advertising this blog.

Sometimes you have a website or family blog and you have no idea what to use as a keyword. At this point, it is smart to seek some help. You can spend money and buy the latest greatest software or you can use many of the free online keyword tools to find out the best words to target. You can easily find such tools by searching Google or other top search engines with the term “keyword tracker” or “finding keywords.”

One of the best tools I use that is quite handy because it shows you the competition for certain words is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. This tool is designed for use when you are planning to advertise through Adwords but you can use it to find the keywords relevant to your website or blog. There is two ways to search, one is by placing a keyword or key term in the box and see what relevant terms are related and what the search volume and competition is. The other way, the one I prefer, is to put in your URL of the website and let the tool extract keywords for you. Once the keywords are extracted, the tool list all of them with search volume and competition.

There are several other tools that are handy and useful and can be easily found by searching. Keep in mind that when entering a niche market that has high competition, it will be much harder to rank in the search engines for those keywords or terms. It is best to find words related to your topic that have a good search volume and low competition and focus on those terms.

If you have some additional advice about choosing keywords, please leave a comment for the benefit of all the readers of this blog.

It is pretty certain that the next Page Rank update is going on. Many PR tools are buzzing with new numbers to excite the masses of webmaster. All the webmaster forums are pumping threads and threads about the current PR update.

I do not claim to have inside knowledge but I do believe Google has changed a few things in their algorithm again. I do not rely heavily on the PR number but it is a good measure of how well a webmaster has done when it comes to link building. I spent a good bit of energy and money to build links for this site. As of now, we have went from PR0 to PR2. This is much lower than I expected for all the back links that I have acquired. I have other blogs which are higher with a lot less links. I also think my links to this site were higher quality than the ones for the other blogs. This proves one thing, you can not figure out Google because their algorithm remains a secret.

Overall, some of my blogs were up and down. Some regained the lost PR from the last update and some remain the same and one loss ranking. This means nothing in the matter of traffic, my traffic has slowly increased over the last two months and I look forward to a bigger jump in the months.

How did your sites do? How important do you think PR is in the whole scheme of things? Please share you thoughts by leaving a comment.  

I recently compiled a good list of Free Directories and I am still adding everyday. I thought it was a good idea to start a list for paid directories also. I mostly use free directories. However, there are some advantages to paid directories. Many quality paid directory owners return much of the money they make back into the business. They do more promotion and advertising which means that your link has a better chance of being seen. The fees for paid directories vary and the quality also varies.

When looking for a paid directory, the first thing you want to look at is if the directory is very clean with a nice template. If the directory looks professional and high quality, chances are, the owner invests money into the directory. You also want to check the age of the directory. Avoid directories that are too new because they may be fly by nights who make the quick buck and then sells the directory to a new owner who removes your link.

There are tons of paid directories and many quality directory owners. I will try to include some that I have found on here. I will be adding to this list as I find paid directories. If you are a paid directory owner and wish to be listed, there are some requirements.

1. You must be the owner.
2. The site must be in English.

You can submit your directory for inclusion by leaving a comment with a link to your directory.

If you find a directory on the list that is not at least a year old or that is not working please contact me. Feel free to use this list on your blog or site if you give a link back to my blog and this post credit.

http://www.leadingdir.com/

www.zorg-directory.com

www.zorg-links.com

http://www.maddirectory.com

http://www.wamchu.com/

http://www.cyberweblink.com/

http://www.freesubmitdirectory.com

http://www.bidforpos.com

http://www.bidnlink.com

http://www.investmentsites.biz

http://www.bidnlink.com

http://www.helloindex.com

http://www.tavex.org

http://www.tavex.org/bid

http://www.tikifind.com

www.widlite.com

www.arakco.com

www.gnetcalifornia.com

www.qoobe.org

www.AdvertisingDirectory.eu

http://www.vmoptions.com

www.overdrivedirectory.com

http://www.thedeepdirectory.com/

http://www.worldlinksdirectory.com/

http://www.worldlinksbid.com/

www.bestfreewebdirectory.com

www.bqtm.com

www.directory-king.com

http://www.bid-directory-uk.co.uk

http://www.findadd.com

http://www.localsites.ca

http://www.climbing4kids.info/

http://www.weblinksdirectory.net/

http://www.mission-directory.info

http://www.seo-watch.info

http://www.speedy-directory.info

http://www.seo-watch.net

http://www.oldest-directory.info

http://www.directory-shop.info

http://www.seo-watch.org

http://www.oldestdirectory.info

http://www.guesthouse-ayutthaya.com

http://www.international-directory.info

http://www.speed-directory.info

http://www.thailand-hotel.us

http://www.popular-directory.info

http://www.the-web-directory.info

http://www.online-webdirectory.info

http://www.weblink-directory.info

http://www.siamdirectory.info

http://www.ranking-directory.info

http://www.king-directory.info

http://www.add-site-directory.info

http://www.add-directory.info

http://www.pagerank-directory.info

http://www.webdirectory-online.info

http://www.cheapest-directory.info

http://www.bid-directory.info

http://www.world-wide-directory.info

http://www.directory-king.info

http://www.addlink-directory.info

http://www.webdevelopersdirectory.info

http://www.directoryforbusiness.info

http://www.directory-for-seo.info

http://www.masterdirectory.info

http://www.submission-directory.info

http://www.directoryregister.info

http://www.directory-register.info

http://www.promotion-directory.info

http://www.directorypromotion.info

http://www.directory-promotion.info

http://www.directorydiscount.info

http://www.directory-market.info

http://www.directorymarketing.info

http://www.register-directory.info

http://www.ruanrubrong.com

http://www.random-directory.info

http://www.classic-directory.info

http://www.special-directory.info

http://www.low-cost-directory.info

http://www.paid-directories.info

http://www.shark-directory.info

http://www.small-directory.info

http://www.directory-shop.info

http://www.directory-nation.info

http://www.nation-directory.info

http://www.directory-thailand.info

http://www.directory-london.info

http://www.directory-submissions.info

http://www.directorylondon.info

www.ibwebin.com

www.bigwebguide.co.uk

www.thepremiumdirectory.co.uk

www.biduplinks.co.uk

www.smarturl.co.uk

http://www.3wbid.com

http://www.worldndex.com

http://www.bidtoweb.com

http://www.link-pimp.com/

http://directory.sootle.com/

http://www.lexiseek.com/

http://www.englishfair.com/

http://cheaptraveldir.com Paid or free with reciprocal link

http://www.g5dir.com/

http://www.searchsavvy.org/

http://www.1dollarlink.com/

http://www.worldndex.com/

http://www.bidtoweb.com/

http://www.w3dot.org/

www.searchsavvy.org

http://hitsdir.com/

http://www.goingbusiness.com/

http://vipk.org/

www.button-directory.info

www.main-directory.info

www.verified-directory.info

www.express-directory.info

www.hello-directory.info

www.save-directory.info

www.directory-live.info

www.secure-directory.info

www.directory-view.info

www.quality-directory.info

www.super-directory.info

www.expensive-directory.info

www.directory-sale.info

www.go-directory.info

www.directory-quality.info

www.smash-directory.info

www.optimized-directory.info

www.directory-check.info

www.selected-directory.info

www.certificated-directory.info

www.sell-directory.info

www.original-directory.info

www.featured-directory.info

www.directory-listing.info

www.promotional-directory.info

http://www.bid1up.com/

http://dollarbidlinks.com

http://dirgiant.com/

http://a-zdir.com/

http://directoryxchange.com/

http://pr5dir.com/

Disclaimer: These directories are in no way connected to http://seo08.com and are only provided as free information. We are not being paid advertising money to list these directories. All directories are free as of the time they were listed. We make no claims or take no responsibility for any links placed on the directories listed. You the user need to make the ultimate decision rather to list or not to list.