Your SEO Questions: Answered!
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Links, Tags, and FIle Names - Quickie SEO Tips
Our "short form" responses to a reader's questions about on-page optimization.Should I Use Dashes in my Domain Name?
There is no major problem with dashes in domain names. The main reason that we chose not to use one, and that we generally advise against dashes, is that hyphenated names don't pass the "radio test." ...How Do I Manually Ping Google Blog Search?
Authoring tools do this automatically, but if you're using a home-grown authoring tool (or none at all), you may need to manually ping the engines. Here's how...Should I Make My Website With Site Build It (or siteCube, Web.com, etc.)?
We get a lot of questions about do-it-yourself site-creation software such as Site Build It. For the newbie who wants to create a website, there is a lot of information - and misinformation - out there that can make it very hard to choose website creation software...How Should I Integrate Articles Onto My Site?
Many people wonder whether to use a blog format for posting articles online, or whether a classic, tree-structured website navigation is better. We'd look at this situation from a few angles...Should I Optimize for Exact Search Phrases?
While our gut is telling us that only a small percentage of searches are performed with quotes, we don't know of any published research on this. Your question made us curious...Do I Need Both Singular and Plural Keywords?
Since search engines recognize a difference between singular and plural words, we think it is best to represent your keyword in both singular and plural forms on your website...SEO for Web Developers – Will My Idea Work?
A web designer wonders if there's a way to improve upon the "designed by SuchandSuch" links at the bottom of client websites..Should I Move My Blog?
So you have a successful, popular blog, but it's hosted somewhere in a galaxy far, far away? Should you move it to join forces with your main site, or stick it out in deep cyberspace? Read on to find out...Why Isn't Google Showing All My Links?
The Google "link:" command won't show you all of the inbound links to your website. Here are some other approaches..Will Domain Masking Impact My SEO?
We don't recommend using domain masking (also called pointer domains). Here's why...Will Moving to a New Server (IP) Affect Search Rankings?
A change in your server or website hosting service does not need to affect your search engine placement. Just be sure of a few things...What Content is Linkbait?
Posting non-commercial content on your website won't make you look "weird." Just choose it wisely...Will W3C Validation Affect My Search Engine Rankings?
The short answer is "No." While we advocate W3C validation as a general web development best practice, we are not aware of any direct connection between validation and search engine rankings....Am I Giving Away SEO Secrets?
We don't think you're in danger of "shooting yourself in the foot," for a number of reasons...Follow the Hour a Day Plan ... or Else?
Should this website owner ditch his web designer if they won't do SEO? We weigh in...Will Google Penalize Me For Building Links Too Fast?
It's true that there are penalties for websites building a lot of links in an "unnatural" way in a short time, but ...How do I combine my keywords without missing parts of my target audience?
You can combine keyword phrases without sacrificing your audience or your writing...Multiple Domains - Is Google Penalizing My Site?
This could be a problem with Google seeing your URLs as unique domains, and indexing them as if they are two separate websites...Should I trust Wordtracker’s KEI?
The Keyword Effectiveness Index is only one measurement. Let’s talk about some more reliable methods...Are Yahoo! and MSN Groups Good for Link Building?
There are a couple of ways to think about the value of this technique...Should I Buy SEO Software Tools?
We generally lean strongly toward a manual process of SEO...Does SEO Work for B2Bs?
There are some very good reasons that SEO works for B2B (business-to-business) websites...Can I Use Articles to Build Links?
We love the idea of writing articles as part of your link building process. There are several approaches you could take...Pay-Per-Click: Can it Hurt My Organic Search Traffic?
We do think that PPC clicks take away from organic traffic in the particular case when...Will Reciprocal Linking Affect my Google PageRank?
Technically, yes. But make sure you have the proper perspective...How do I Create a Form that Converts?
Ask yourself a few questions to see if you might be guilty of some common form errors we've observed...
How do you Feel About Using Google Trends as a Tool for Search Term Relevance and Popularity?
I haven't yet found a way to make it useful in that way. There's nothing wrong with Google Trends - it just isn't trying to be a keyword research tool....What Could Explain a Spike in Website Traffic?
There are various reasons that traffic on a site can spike in the way you've described...How do I Manage SEO Expectations?
SEO requires patience. Ranks can't be guaranteed. Your ability to sell your product depends on things like competition, the effectiveness of your website, the market itself, and oh, the quality of your product....Should I Auto-submit to Search Engines?
We don't have a definite answer about whether autosubmit programs will get you penalized or banned, but we can tell you that we don't recommend doing it, and we don't think it's necessary....How Do I Focus Keywords on a Commercial Audience?
In addition to "wholesale" and "bulk" you might want to consider a word describing the customer, for example "hotel linens" or "restaurant tablecloths."...How Do I Redirect a Domain?
This is a very common situation, and you should be able to redirect without any problems....What are those Secondary Links in the Google Search Results?
The secondary results you're describing started showing up in Google's search results sometime around the Summer of 2005 when they were doing a bunch of experiments with their search results....Does Google Index Flash?
The short answer is Yes...What is 302 Hijacking?
There you are, minding your business, tending your website and monitoring your site rankings on the search engines, when you see something, er, not quite right in the results pages...Does SEO Matter?
We’ve been putting a lot of time and energy into writing Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, and sometimes when the candles are burning low, we find ourselves asking a rather daunting question: Does SEO actually matter?
