Learn SEO | Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques

Is Google changing their search results number. I did a search this morning and each page only shows 7 results instead of normal 10. Is this an expirement or something permanent? Here is a screen shot.

I have been using Adsense for the last year and a half and I think I am ready to expand beyond this single source of online income. I received an email from Chitika the other day expressing interest in placing ads on one of my sites. I had been doing quite a bit of reading on affiliate oriented blogs like Amit Mehta’s Super Affiliate Mindset and others. I also received an email from another search engine marketer wanting to place a text ad on one of my sites. Last week I joined Pepper Jam Network ( Sign Up for Pepperjam Network and Get a $10 Sign On Bonus ) and although I have been a member of CJ.com for quite a while I have decided to really dive in and see what they offer.

My contact at Pepper Jam Network has been very friendly and helpful. On one of my websites I have been wanting to set up an online affiliate store and she turned me on to PopShops.com which I have been experimenting with. I am excited about what the future holds. I am hoping to increase my online income significantly by the end of the year. Currently Adsense brings about $500 a month but more would certainly be nice.

I plan on diving into your affiliate oriented blogs and getting all the info I can from what you all have posted and hope to see a significant income increase by year end……  thanks for all the tips and all the inspiration you other bloggers provide…………..cheers…………..Eric

This is a rant. I will be up front. I am so tired of seeing content writers from India try to tout their expertise in writing. Here is an example of what I mean. I am looking at a website with the page title “Web Site Copywriting Services India SEO Copy-writing Services India.”  I am not going to give them a link, you can Google the title and find them.

I have been looking at the site an there are errors everywhere. Why in the world would anyone want to spend money on a service that claims to be a professional writing company when they obviously can’t do the job. My 5th grader writes better than these guys.

Here is an example from their “Website Copywriting” page:

Want your internet venture to be successful, let your content writing part unique and creative. All the website SEO copywriters and website content writers try to do the same, to sell their words. Quality content on your website will engage your visitors and keep them in your site.
We at SEO Content Writers offers website content writing services for big as well small sized business ventures. Here are certain points about our SEO content writing services.

Need I say more?  This is just one paragraph out of pages of content on this site. Enough already. If you don’t want to spend more than $5.00 on an article for your website then don’t send it to India, send it to my 5th grader. He would think it was a fortune and you would get much better content.

UUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

I have found that the use of breadcrumb navigation in my SEO process has proven to be an effective tool. Some of you may as what breadcrumb navigation is. It is simply placing a trail at the top of the information area of your webpage which allows for a link trail back to your homepage.

Here is an example from one of my websites at Digi-AdServices Digital SIgnage Network website.  If you go the webpage linked here you will see what this navigation style looks like.

Digital Signage : Digital Signage Applications : Automobile Dealerships

Automobile Dealerships is the page I am currently on. Digital Signage Applications is the lead page in this particular sub-directory, in essence a table of contents for the Applications page. Digital Signage is the website home page.

As you can see the trail leads both ways and is good for both the spiders and users. You are never lost and you can find your way back where you came from.  Used in conjunction with other SEO techniques you will find a definite advantage to using breadcrumb navigation.

I have been to a lot of really nice looking sites that have very little text anywhere and rely heavily on graphics to get their message across. Unless your website is one of those very few that are known by name, then I would suggest making your website less graphic intensive and more text based, especially when it comes to managing your SEO.

Text based site linking also known as anchor linking is the best way to go when setting up your site structure. Yes it may not be a visually appealing as a site with slick graphics, but unless you are a true expert at GUI you will probably be doing more harm to your search rankings than good. Bot and spiders don’t read images. Yes they do read image names and image “alt” tags but that just isn’t as good as a text based link.

My experience has show that a text based menu along the left side of your site is usually the most SEO friendly format for onsite linking. Text based links can also be used in the text body of your site. When you have a sentence about a particular subject that your website covers, use that keyword as a link to the inner page of your site that covers that topic. Google especially likes this and will take the words on either side of keyword into account adding strength to that text link.

I also recommend placing text link to the major inner pages of your website at the bottom of your site. Have these topical links on bottom of each of your inner pages as well. Finally, make your site map a text link based map that is only one link away from your index page.

By using text based links, the spiders will be able to follow your navigation with ease and you will find your SEO efforts working better.