Improve your family business by increasing SEO efficiency - learn to increase site traffic by use of proper Search Engine Optimization tools and SEO techniques

This is the conclusive SEO article of the recently started series. To fully benefit from this article you may first want to read the preceding SEO articles about tools and keyword density considerations for best SERPS in major search engines.

Please read and use the tips and tools from preparatory articles:

• Search engine optimization - improve SEO to achieve better search engine rankings
• SEO Tools for quality control and increased traffic
• Learn SEO skills to improve search engine optimization
• SEO and web publishing - all previous Blog articles

Introduction to the SEO tools and SEO technologies of this article

The best way to explain you what tools to use might be when I introduce you to the tools I use. Doing full time web publishing since 12+ years results in a fortune of skills and experiences accumulated. You may be sure that offering free online services and free content to more than 6 Million people per year does require highest efficiency. Hence I focus ever since I started the Cyberspace Ashram for Kriya Yoga, God and Love web site in 1997 to use the best and most efficient high end, high tech tools available. To offer free content never means to use free tools but to use BEST tools no matter the price !!!

If you want to use strictly free tools or cheap tools, then you are on a road to failure in your business or online business. No matter how large or small a business or online project is, the goal always should be a family supporting revenue. Hence you need to achieve real revenue and thus need to make real investment.

Project your goal, write down your intended or achieved annual gross revenue of your online promoted business. The take a reasonable percentage out of that gross amount and invest that percentage into business promotion and site traffic generation. In early business years or at least the first business year, a 8% amount of your annual gross revenue is reasonable to invest inn overall business promotion. In later years starting second year - a 6% amount of your gross annual revenue is appropriate. Keep your advertising and promotional expenses within those limits or below !

Google and other major search engines and web site traffic sources may become your best business friends. I will emphasis and focus on FREE site traffic achieved by YOUR own sweat and efforts to improve yourself your site rankings to bring more generic site traffic converted by you into a reasonable, honest and healthy revenue to support your family and secure progress of your business.

Site traffic depends on SERPS - search engine ranking positions

To get real traffic you need to be on page 1 of a search engine, else your traffic rarely will allow you to survive or even prosper and grow in business. Only extreme high traffic keywords may result in some substantial traffic for search results on page 2.

Hence we have to get our business on page 1 with as many different web site pages as possible. To achieve that goal we need to optimize our editing skills as mentioned in earlier chapters. We also need to submit all new pages to all major search engines as well as to a number of minor search engines. The minor search engines may bring zero traffic but a sufficient number of additional instant backlinks to get noticed by Google and all other major search engines.

To further improve our SERPS we need to get additional backlinks through properly edited and formated RSS feeds showing backlinks to our own pages.

The final part of web site promotion is done by additional link building. I strictly recommend to stay away from any reciprocal link exchange, from link farming, from link building programs, etc. Create generic one way backlinks using following additional methods NOT yet mentioned in the earlier chapters of this series on SEO:

1. Directory submission
2. Social bookmark sites
3. Blogs on social network sites

Directory submission using automated, semi-automated and manual submission. Later more on automated directory submission.

Social bookmarks

Social bookmarks - look at the AddThis widget I have on most of my pages just below the Google AdSense advertisements top of pages. That AddThis widget is a tool to help speedy submission your own pages to various social bookmark sites, facebook, myspace, etc. Just do the following steps one by one before continuing to read on. Later I refer to practical steps and expect you to instantly do your homework else you waste your valuable time just reading without doing.

Social network blogs and social network profile pages

Social network blogs and social network profile pages: When registering with at least a FEW social networks such as myspace, linkedin.com, facebook, profiles.yahoo.com, spaces.live.com, google.com/profiles, blogspot.com, etc. Create / register your accounts in at least 5-10 major social network sites. Later you may submit bookmarks to those sites as well as updates about your business or use blogs from social network sites to blog about your business web site and business activities. The more blogs write about your business or web site, the more Google and other major SE will visit you. In addition your SERPS for pages directly linked in social bookmarks and social network sites will steadily go UP as your popularity increases among bloggers. Later in another blog post more on bloggers from within your own family!

Get started and prepare your PC for web site promotion work NOW

1. Get and install Firefox browser on your laptop or PC you use to maintain your web site or to surf the web!
2. Get AddThis for Firfox
3. Get Web Developer toolbar for Firefox
4. Have a look at all available Add-ons for Firefox to see what else might suit your needs and interests!

Make a break - take a coffee or tea or go on a short walk!

Then we proceed with the most boring yet most important part of site promotion's next step. You need to be clean in mind and well rested for boring jobs of registering your own profile. make this next step when you have at least several hours peaceful time to start all registration and finish all at once.

Now that you are ready, look at my above listed "Social network blogs and social network profile pages" and either register using the AddThis button or search the site by Google. Register an account. Most such social bookmark sites or social network sites require email verification and ask for a bunch of details. Do it - do it all and do it right or LEAVE it all!

There are many profile pages - such as Google profile, Digg.com profile and many others that allow you to introduce yourself, your life, your business, your work, your hobbies and your WEB SITE, blog or even to add your RSS feeds!! Do it - do it ALL - or leave all and start crying like a baby when your business goes downhill into bankruptcy.

But when you later fail after having done only part of all, then you never can blame me nor anyone else but YOU for having failed to do a complete job from the very beginning!

This profile creation for ALL above listed social network sites and bookmark sites may take a day or even more ... Just do it! NOW!

To do all the profile registration process and profile data inclusion of all your details, I recommend you create a text file on your computer. Have all different data ready for copy and paste. Have introduction texts ready, have links in valid HTML 4.01 AND XHTML 1.0 ready. Both are needed because some web sites have HTML 4.01 others have XHTML code. YOU will be polite enough to provide ALL your code, links and HTML formatted text in the version of the SITE you enter your data. It is your basic duty TO KNOW basic HTML and KNOW how to figure out what HTML / XHTML version your social network or bookmark site uses for your profile. If no other help, use Firefox Ctrl+U - look at the source code 1st line that should tell you the DOCTYPE html version - on line ONE of the source code ! Your self introduction text will be properly formated by YOU to meed those requirements. Make sure you have validated text when you copy and paste code text into your profile pages or blog pages on social network blogs.

If you are a professional web publisher, then you most likely have Linux installed - as only or dual boot. Use Quanta Plus to create your HTML / XHTML code and validate all before copy/pasting into your remote hosted social network blogs and profile pages.

Every profile page or social network blog that allows HTML formatted text thus gives you a free opportunity to self-create backlinks to pages of your choice which anchor texts of your choice to promote your business. Use this free opportunity in full. You will get real generic visitors if properly done in addition to the benefits of having backlinks to your own web site.

Most of the social network blogs have the option of creating your own short URL. Never use your name as your blog name or URL name unless you are selling yourself or unless that blog offers no other options. When ever a social network blog offers you a choice of short URL, then use the main keywords of your web site or business as short URL. That FURTHER HELPS YOUR SEO EFFORTS! Example my profile on Microsoft's spaces.live.com is godlovenature.spaces.live.com. Since my site is about God and love and nature as a reflection of God's love for us, I create profile or social blog URLs accordingly. Links from sites with same keyword and same content as your own site are more valuable than links from totally irrelevant sites.

Most of the social network blogs have an RSS feed to "subscribe" to the blog. use this RSS feed to PING all RSS directories as well as all 3 major SE. Best / most time efficient method to ping is to use RSS Submit tool installed on your PC. Have blog RSS feeds added to the tool and ping all by double clicking a particular RSS feed when ever you add a blog article to that particular blog.

If any of the social network offers "groups" - then search for groups of your own industry or web site topic. Become member of that group. get involved a little in group discussions. Answer questions, share your expertise. Submit / share matching pages with that group if appropriate when ever you submit a new page to a particular social network or social bookmark site with groups.

If you want to have a strong business, then you also need to promote OTHER people's business or site on a regular basis. No one can be strong in business if all his customers go bankruptcy! Makes sense to me and to you as well! Hence we love to earn and have a happy life = we also contribute to other people's revenue and happy life! Bookmark other sites that helped YOU. Blog about other sites that had helpful content for you or provided helpful services or information for you or your business. If you want to have a strong business - then you have to create a strong business community around you. In your region or country.

Example:

If you are in the tourist industry. As a hotel or dive resort. Then you have to promote ALL your village, region, country. All activities, sightseeing tours, fie restaurants, bars, night life, nature, possible excursion destinations, culture, etc of your neighborhood. Keep in mind that all customers may come with friends, family, children or in a group or on business trip. There are different people in one family. All having some similar but also totally different interests. If you provide as much information as possible then you possibly provice sufficient information for a complete and instant booking or reservation at your facility. If information about your neighborhood and social life missing, then potential customers may have to surf else where or Google and eventually end up on another site offering same or similar than your services.

Hence, provide a complete and detailed package of information about your own services and products as well as as much information around your own business, location, maps, etc. Provide online published answers to all possible questions before asked. Provide links to answers or pictures on other sites if you have missing details on your own site.

Registration and profile creation completed - what now?

Such additional information can be published on your own web site hosted business blog OR on any or several of the social network blogs.

After creation of all your profiles and registration processes - submit bookmarks and post articles.

Directory submission

Above part of social bookmarks and social network blogs create flexible backlinks and even real generic traffic to your web site. The blogs are ideal to create backlinks to inner pages or by using new creative anchor text variations.

Directory submission normally are limited in most cases to the domain start page and often also to the official title of your web site start page.

Directory submission can be split into several parts.

I use automated submission using DigiXMAS Submitter full version, semi automated submission using Directory submitter 3.0 full version, IBP business ( I started with IBP free trial, then moved within days to IBP Standard and noticed that the Cyberspace Ashram is far too large and needs the IBP Business for some 500 US$. So I use since about 2 years IBP Business - for quality control of pages, for detailed keyword density control of my pages, for fully automated submission to a small number of approximately 100 smaller search engines and directories for instant backlinks. In addition I use RSS Submitter and Blog Blaster. These are all tools I currently use. I have tried several other submission and ping tools and all others dropped out. The good ones a.m. remain in use on a regular basis. Each one has its strength and is used exactly for that. Hence I use for example 2 directory submission tools - both commercial fully paid version - both for ONE important part of my total submission needs. DigiXMAS Submitter or automated submission of domain start page. Directory submitter 3.0 for submission to international NON-English directories and deep links. Directory submitter 3.0 is no longer properly maintained and no further development made. The NON English - Latin 1 characters create crashes of the backlink software. Avoid backlinks and avoid French or Spanish special characters. Then Directory submitter 3.0 does an excellent job for semi-automated efficient submissions and submissions to self created directory lists.

There are tools and a limited number of quality directories that are suitable for individual but automated submission. The tool I use very successfully for automated submission is DigiXMAS Submitter. The free trial version has 150 low PR directories for testing. The full version has some 2000 quality directories. This tool offers a decaptcher plugin for some 10 US$ you can automatically decaptcher the captcha code to speed up your directory submission. The decaptcher service works in about 90 or so percent. That is an incredible convenience and time saver wen well worth the price!

Typically a well maintained automated or semi automated directory submission tool offers you the possibility to create alternative titles, descriptions and keywords. That will result in links having randomized combinations of title and descriptions to increase value of your backlinks. Make at least several such site profiles. Then auto-submit and make manual adjustments where needed.

The DigiXMAS Submitter has self learning capability built in. The more directories you submit and the more precise your category-corrections where needed, the sooner DigiXMAS Submitter may make almost all submissions fully automated. Some remaining directory errors, no categories found, code invalid ( captcha invalid ) may require manual correction of removal of that directory for future time savings.

In an ideal situation of a small business such as a restaurant or hotel or similar, you may have some 5-10 totally different pages. That would ideally be optimized by IBP Standard which offers 5 projects. A project actually being ONE individual optimized page. Normally most business tend to optimize and submit only the domain start page. My recommendation however is to use each and every single HTML page as a possible entry page to find your web site and your services / products via quality search engines! Why ? Very simple. Many millions of people and potential customers may have totally different needs and priorities when searching. By using every single page of your business web site as a fully optimized entry page with its own keywords and precise topic you can reach out to more people finding you than if you have only ONE single page. Hence I realized for example that the 5 pages IBP Standard offers was ideal for a business with 5 totally different pages. My site has MANY totally different major sections. Today for example - on a single day access statistic of a low traffic weekend day, I have 2528 Total Entry Pages used by site visitors. ON a monthly average that number of entry pages is many times larger.

That number of 2528 Total Entry Pages means I have "somehow" optimized at least 2525 different pages in the Cyberspace Ashram to be found by potential site visitors. You will do the very same!

Example you have a restaurant

Example you have a restaurant in Montreal with Chinese food. Then you may have several pages. Example your restaurant with location, with prices and online menu. Most likely you offer take out and may be even party service to your customers.

Hence you have pages that could look like:

• your business main page = Chinese gourmet restaurant
• take out Chinese food - home delivery Chinese food - 24/7 - day and night
• party service Chinese, Asian and oriental food
• online menu with prices and pictures
• location = needed when someone for example may search restaurant Montreal south

Example you have a hotel in Siem Reap

YES, you guess right, THIS example is aimed at a particular family and more precisely at all the girls and wife of the owner. I have been asked to do, I agreed to teach them to do! Here we start:

• Hotel Siem Reap - a page focusing on your hotel and your city / location. People will most likely always search hotel plus city or location name or island name.
• Rooms - you have what rooms? Different categories, sizes, prices = cheap, affordable, family, with WIFI, fridge, etc show pictures
• Restaurant - menu online. Describe food and opening hours. Offer additional information about other restaurants within reach. No one - me included - eats always at the place he works or sleeps. Promote your neighborhood and city!
• Recreation, culture, sport, etc. Offer pictures and information. Some visitors may be on a business trip but still want to have a social life after all work or enjoy culture.
• How to arrive - how to find you - how to contact or make reservations
• Prices = some hotel may focus on cheap rooms, back packers, etc. Thus such hotels may cater to a precise group of potential customers / travelers and need optimized pages. There is for example a resort hotel on Boracay island that has luxury rooms, middle class standard rooms and real dormitories for back packers. All on one hotel on a huge property. Hence such a hotel would require 3 room pages. Each page optimized for one of the 3 room / customer categories. It is impossible to efficiently promote one single page for all 3 a.m. room / traveler categories!!!
• Family hotel Siem Reap - what to do if all family arrives. Adventure, golf, swimming pool, spa, crocodile farms, floating village, boating, sailing, trekking, etc. Many different pages possible for all such topics.
• Nature, temples, jungle, elephants, butterflies, lotus flowers, silk farm, your entire country Cambodia including pictures from Cambodia, ... provide quality information on ALL aspects of life in your entire region of may be 50-100 km or a distance of a single full day excursion from your hotel location. For example waterfalls Phnom Kulen and other beautiful remote attractions.

Example SCUBA diving business in Florida

• What certification - PADI or ? On site class room facility = show picture, audio visual / video, etc
• List of all certification classes and specialty courses, SCUBA diving Instructor preparation, etc
• Rental equipment - list and prices, pictures of rental equipment
• Equipment sales - brands, items, may be prices and for part of equipment online orders / delivery ?
• Equipment repair offered, what brands, hydro testing (DOT)
• Air fill station - filling pressure 3000PSI / 5000 PSI / mixed gas, etc
• Dive excursions, half day, full day, specialty diving - wreck, drift, night, cavern, cave, treasure hunting, artifact collecting, boat dives, departure of regular scheduled (daily?) boat dives with destinations, etc
• List of all dive sites visited - maps, photos, wallpapers, greeting cards of sites, ... be creative and innovative!!!
• Accommodation for remote / traveling divers or during multi day excursions
• How to find your store, road map, Google map, etc
• Dive travel - do you own or are affiliated with a tropical dive destination ? Provide online image gallery
• Have a divers forum and online photo gallery - may be an UW photo contest of your customers with online gallery of participating UW pictures.

I am quiet sure, these above examples should wake up your own creative mind set and give you an idea how to create potential entry pages for potential customers. A web site is a very powerful tool to promote your small business. If you have a family business, get all family members involved by having them each and ALL create a.m. social bookmark registration and profile as well as each family members having a personal social network profile with blog to promote independently your business, neighborhood, country, etc. Always linking here and there to your business or family business web site.

Let's all work a little harder and learn to do our job better. Above all let's learn to to our job ourselves rather than outsourcing all work and limiting our life and work on making profits and spending money or driving Mercedes paid by Daddy. Each business should first of all be self dependent, knowing all, doing all in house. In a family business make sure all people living from your family income also contribute their share to your family work. A family business is a team work. each and every one helping, sharing,sweating and working - including night shifts and unpleasant or boring work. Just like in the fairy tale Mother Holle - each one seeing and doing his / her duty in life. In times of global crisis it is vital for each business to safe expenses and to provide best possible quality. The best quality always comes from family members loving each other and helping each other.

The difference between going bankruptcy or prospering in life and business often only is a few percent more or less revenue. That difference can be obtained in your favor by exploiting, testing and using the full scope of online marketing, web site promotion and search engine tools. The most important however is that you learn to do all that promotion on your own rather than outsource such important work. Your life, your family life and your family happiness may depend on success. No one can be as motivated to learn and do all the needed overtime and night work as you - the owner and all owner's family members.

Here is is now 0800 in the morning and I have been working all night with a short coffee break around 4 AM. To help you to do your job better. Now it is your job to prove that your own business is as valuable to YOU as it has been to me working ALL night to provide you all necessary steps and information to succeed in your life and family business. I am a farmer son, having learned ALL in self study myself. Hence you all out there can do the very same. Work harder, longer, better, learn whatever is missing in your knowledge and skills and you too will succeed in your own life.

Love and bliss - Merry Christmas time

hans

P.S.:

A future - soon to come - article will be about how to blog small articles in social network blogs for your own link building project. After that article it will be time for me to fully focus on Christmas. My site and work is full time about God and Love ... Love also includes sharing with all, helping all to grow stronger and grow self dependent. If you wish to get tuned into Christmas mood - get and enjoy some beautiful Christmas wallpapers.