SEO knowledge a Roller Coaster ride

**All links in the following post will open in another window***

I’ve been researching ways to increase my website traffic and it makes me feel like I’m riding on a roller coaster. Everyone one has their own opinion & ways of making this happen. Which way do I go? How do I increase web traffic, site rankings, loyal/dedicated followers?

I will give you a list of what i’m implementing now and the many different SEO tactics I’ve tried. Here is a list of what i’m doing now and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them:

1. I read on several blogs that if you’re running a wordpress site, the recommendation is to speed up the blog by making changes to your .htaccess file. This helps with Google  – link explaining it at WebMaster World.

2. If you use Java script drop down menus, image maps or image links, be sure to put text links somewhere on the page for the spiders to follow.

3. Keep fresh content on the site – this keeps readers coming back for more which helps with your PR.

4. Plugins for WordPress sites I use:

• Google Analytics – Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness.

• Platinum SEO Plugin – automate SEO for wordpress blogs, but also provide an ultimate onsite SEO (search engine optimization) solution for wordpress blogs.

• Google XML sitemap plugin – generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog. This format is supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and Bing Search.

• WP Security Scan – Scans your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and suggests corrective actions on passwords, file permissions, database security, version hiding, WordPress admin protection/security

5. Social networking sites can help drive traffic. Plugins can push your site posts to social networking sites allowing your followers to see your post which links back to your site. Some Social Networking sites Coffee is my Crack, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and plenty more you can become a member of if you’re aren’t already. Here is an image created by Ludwig Gatzke that shows the different social networking sites so far.

6. Whenever I get a chance I place my website URL in my Social net games as the username Ex. izatek.com, rubendavid.com, thenewnorfolk.com instead of studman251, bigdipper212, or Superman (nothing wrong with these names) but as you friend people or someone is looking to attack somebody your url (username) is on that list of potential targets. Here is a list of iPhone apps where I utilize this technique iMobster, World War, and Farm Story. I have others but that will show you how much time I have on my hands

7. Keywords – keywords & keyword phrases used correctly in text links, image ALT attributes, and SEO plugins helps your rank.

8. Travel links – Whenever I travel in-state or out of state I carry a stack of 4″ x 6″ advertisement cards for whichever site i’m promoting that week. It can be something you create, pay a professional, or visit the member download page for templates. I place these cards in restaurant bathrooms (mens room only), stores, hotel lobby, hotel business center, conference attendees (as your walking around), back seat of taxicabs (if placed right the taxi driver will not see them & usually doesn’t clean the back seat after each fair) also works best when taking a cab from the airport chances are he’s heading right back to the airport after you get dropped off, college tack boards, and you get the idea. I leave my stuff anywhere ( I call it drop off spam – I just made that saying up).

9. Recruits – If you come from a large family and they’re spread over the U.S. or abroad send them an email asking them to check your site out, give feedback, leave comments, tell a friend. The idea here is if you have a family member in California, one in Texas, one in New York and they use your site for info weekly chances are they’ll tell someone they know and so on and so on and so on… Get it?

10. Video content – Add some video content to your site. Ex. If you’re a Photographer make a 10 minute video of your photo shoot procedures, photo know how, or explaining the features to your camera (chances are you have more than one camera). Create a Youtube account if you don’t have one and upload the video, embed the video code on your blog, and publish that post. If you’re new to blogs and you want to know how to set one up visit this page or hire Me (if you’re a member I’ll show you how). If I can find a website / blog that has video’s on how to work my camera (Nikon D5000 <–said with a Bronx drawl) I would visit it daily. Hmmmmmm

These are the 10 things I’m working on for Search Engine Optimization and they’re only my personal opinion. This will be the first time I leave one of my posts open for comments so feel free to add or tweak it. I would love to know what other people are doing.