Should I Add a Blog to My Website?

Many people read online about how much blogging as helped out their internet business or even their own offline business and wonder if they should add a blog to their website.

I think having a blog is a great idea for companies. It is another means of communications between the business and the consumer. You can keep customers up to date with any sales or any product information via the blog which means more business for your and better deals for your customer.

Is It Hard to Maintain a Blog ?

Having a blog is not very hard to maintain at all. If you plan on hosting the blog on your own website, which I recommend, I suggest using something like WordPress. It is very easy to use. Maintaining a blog is definitely easier than moderating a forum if you are debating between the two of them.

What Should I Blog About ?

You can blog about just about everything. If you have planned outage, upcoming updates to your websites, news related to products your selling, the possibilties are endless.

How to Name Your Files

File names like domain names have very little effect as far as SEO purposes go. In case you guys haven't noticed, I am a big fan of hyphenated domain names. So I use them in all of my file names. In case someone links to your article, more often than not, they are not going to use anchor text espicially if they dont own a website and are just posting the link on a forum or something of that nature. If you have a hyphenated file name, it will actually read the separate words rather than just one big word which will help your case for higher rankings in search engines.

I am not going to elaborate to much on this subject as I already have written a post about hyphenating domain names which pretty much has the same guidelines as file names.

As always feel free to leave a comment, I will gladly respond to any questions or comments.

Keyword Density : How Important is it?

Many people strive to achieve a high keyword density in hopes of reaching the first page on Google. But what do they really achieve? Let’s see, an article that could be in great helps to users but because they were too busy writing for the search engines, they completely forgot who they really write for. That is the customers.

When you are trying to write for a high keyword density, articles that could potentially be well-written articles sound too forced. That is why I never write just to include my target keyword an extra time or too. It just isn’t worth it.

Should I ignore Keyword Density altogether?

I wouldn’t say that you should ignore keyword density but just don’t obsess about it. Just make sure you include your keywords in your Title and in your H1,H2 tags. From there, just write your article naturally. This way Google will know what your webpage is about and it will benefit your customers which will keep them returning to read more and more of your work.

I have read online some companies say they have discovered the perfect keyword density formula.

There is no such thing as a perfect keyword density and if there was do really think someone would share that information openly with others? Why not build webpage after webpage with that great knowledge? It just doesn’t make sense. Companies that say that are more than likely just trying to get you to spend some cash either on the “perfect formula” or so they can “optimize” your webpage. In any case, don’t waste your time or money.

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Bottom Line is that you should NEVER lose focus of what is really important. Write for the readers and write for the search engines, but most importantly write the readers.

The Importance of Google Page Rank

Google Page Rank is the singlemost important factor is search engine results. The higher page rank you have, the higher your results will be, right?

This could not be anymore incorrect. Google Page Rank has no effect at all on the search engine results. A website could be ranked number one on Google and yet have a page rank of zero. Right behind it could a PR2 or a PR3 website. Test it yourself if you like.

What does Page Rank Used for Then?

Alot of people that do have some Page Rank will try and base advertising on the PR of the webpage. Others trying to sell a website also try and jack up the price just because it has a PR. Do not fall into this trick, advertising should be based on the number of visitors to a website not what PR it is. Factors such as how much income the website generates should play into how much you pay for an existing website.

Are You Saying Ignore Page Rank Completely?

No, I am not saying ignore completely, but do not obsess over trying to get your PR to the next level as your visitors and sales will more than likely remain the same. Just have quality content and focus on getting visitors to your website. They will come along with some income.

Creating a Google Sitemap Increases My Search Engine Results

You would not believe the amount of people that actually believe this SEO myth.

So, What exactly is the purpose of a Google sitemap then?

The purpose of a Google sitemap is to help Google find pages on your website that may not otherwise be found. It has absolutely zero impact on where you rank in the search engines.

Should I create a Google sitemap?

Developing a Google Sitemap is not necessary for success, but I usually recommend to my friends to create one as they can be beneficial, but not for SEO purposes. Plus, it is not that hard to create one espicially with the tools that are available today.

Where Can I find the Tools to Create a Google Sitemap?

There are plenty of websites out there that offer free tools to create Google sitemaps. The one I use is XML Sitemaps.They allow you to create a sitemap for up to 500 pages for free.

Okay, I created the sitemap, now what?

You have to add the sitemap to your website. You will need to copy and paste the code that XML Sitemaps gave you and create a file for your website and paste the code into it. For example, sitemap.xml . Now you have to go to Google. To . Then Click on Business Solutions at the bottom of the screen. Once that page has loaded, proceed down to the bottom until you see Webmaster Central. Click on that. Once you are signed into Webmaster Central, you will need to add your site. Once your site has been added, Go to Site Configuration on the left side of your screen and click on sitemaps. Then type in the destination that you saved the sitemap to. For example, webpage.com/sitemap.xml.

I hope this helped you create your Google sitemap if you didnt have one already. If you already had one, I hope this help you learn that a Google sitemap does not have any impact on your search engine results.

SEO Effect of Meta Description

Alot of people spend alot of their time writing their Meta Description for their pages. They also stuff the description with keywords in hopes that they will rank high for those keywords. Little do they know they are wasting their time. The Meta description has no effect on where your webpages rank in the Google.

I do think the Meta description is important but not for SEO purposes. Having an effective description can increase the likelihood that people will click your webpage following a search.

For those of you who do not know, the meta description shoes up beneath your the title of your webpage in the search engines. Its purpose is to give you an overview of what you will see on the webpage you are going to visit, but somewhere along the way it became a spot to throw in some keywords to try and rank higher. Rather than stuff the Meta description with keywords, write naturally for the visitor. Tell them what is on the page, just keep it simple. Most of my Meta descriptions consist of "This page contains...."

I think this is the most effective way to make use of your Meta description. Stuffing it with keywords will not do anything to improve your search engine results. Do not waste your time writing for the search engines. Write for the people!

Hyphenated Domain Names

I am going to stick with the domain name theme. This time focusing on the actual domain name rather than the domain name extensions, specifically whether or not you should use hyphenated domain names.

Contrary to popular belief, domain names carry no weight in search engine results.

Wait!! Are you saying that Google does not rank pages higher if they contain keywords in their domain names?

That is exactly what I am saying. Google does not care what domain name you use.

Then Why Does Google Highlight Keywords in the URL When you Search?

This is just a Google feature. It does not mean that Google considers keywords in the URL.

Okay, What Should I consider when you are naming a domain?

Well, if your domain name contains two or more words, you have two options: To hyphenate your domain name or leave it as one word.

What are the benefits of a hyphenated domain name?

If you have a hyphenated domain name and someone links to your webpage. Google or any other search engine will read all the keywords instead of all of the keywords as one word. For instance, domain name vice domainname.

Makes sense. What are the downfalls of having a hypenated domain name?

Domain names that are hyphenated are often hard to remember unless your visitors bookmark it or add it to their favorites.

Overall, the choice is up to you. Personally, I try and hyphenate all of my websites in hopes to gain a few spots in the search engine rankings.