This is not as simple as a yes or no answer, Google’s Matt Cutts confirms this in this video that google has found a direct correlation between page rank and the quality of a sites spelling and grammar.

 “We noticed a while ago that, if you look at the PageRank of a page – how reputable we think a particular page or site is – the ability to spell correlates relatively well with that. So, the reputable sites tend to spell better and the sites that are lower PageRank, or very low PageRank, tend not to spell as well.”

What the video does go on to say is that the quality and content of a website does have a direct link to how people vie and interact with the website which in turn affects the page rank and how search engines perceive the site.

As always the message is clear that quality content and well thought out constructed dialogue help visitors to understnad your message clearly and affect their deicisions when interacting with your site.

In may 2011 Googles Webmaster Central listed a set of questions site owners and seo experts should consider when looking at content for a website.  These questions are based on the type of questions a search engine is effectively asking when it crawls your website. 

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
• Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
• Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
• How much quality control is done on content?
• Does the article describe both sides of a story?
• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
• Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

Clearly it is not enough to just stick up any old content on a website and hope by continously adding words you will be picked up and return results, the quality, substance and depth of the articles is all factored in by search engines when they are looking at which order to rank pages in on a give search term.

Quote from Googles Webmaster Central

“We encourage you to keep questions like the ones above in mind as you focus on developing high-quality content rather than trying to optimize for any particular Google algorithm.”

When choosing directories to submit your website to, think about whether you want to pay for this service.  There are many free directories, but the paid ones will generate better results.  Links submitted to paid directories will have a longer life than those submitted to free directories where links tend to disappear after a year.  That said there are still some free directories that should be used in order to get the best results.

If your business is in a particular niche then it is a good idea to submit your links to both niche and general directories.  The best way to find niche directories is through a good old web search.  The directories that appear in the first few results are generally the best ones to go for as they will produce the best results.  For general directories go for those that have been established for years.  There are some new directories appearing, but it may take a while for these to get going.

When submitting your website to an online directory you will need to list it in the right category and sub-category.  Get this wrong and you may as well have not bothered to submit your site at all.  Inappropriate submissions are likely to just get rejected and you may not be informed.  Take care when submitting your site and you can be sure you will be listed in the right category and receive targeted traffic to your site.

Directory submission is the most commonly and widely used process for achieving quality backlinks.  The same rules apply in that you should only submit your directories that have good page rankings and a good reputation.  Submitting to too many directories at once could kill your page rank as search engines will think you are submitting spam links.  There are many online directories available including those provided by Google and Yahoo.  When putting together your plan of attack for SEO, ensure you remember to include directory submission for the most effective results.

Running a Google search with the term “directory submission” will show you the most popular website directories.  Some directories have rules as to which kinds of website they will accept.  For example, some directories only accept commercial websites whilst others only accept sites that offer an interactive service.  Choose wisely when selecting your directories and choose those that rank highly and have a good reputation.  If you do want to use a directory that charges a fee, check it out first to see what they are offering and how their service can help you.  All directories differ so you need to choose the directory that will best suit your needs.  Directory submission is just another key factor in your quest for high search engine rankings but is well worth the effort.

If you need to find out more about Directory Submission or want to have a FREE consultation about what SEO Buddy can do for your business call 0845 838 0628

In order to write good articles you need to focus on your content, keywords and even the title of your article.  The title needs to entice people to click on your article and read it.  It needs to inform them as to what they can expect to find in your article and how it can help them.  Most people are looking to get some information from articles and if this fulfills their needs they are more likely to visit your website.

Article marketing articles are used in a number of ways.  They can be used on your own blog in order to promote your services and help with your search engine rankings, or you can submit them to article directories.  An article directory is like a huge library for your articles where users can search for a variety of subjects.  The major search engines will also search article directories when certain search terms are entered that match your content.

There are some rules you need to stick to when writing your article however.  Use short and to the point paragraphs with headings if possible, this will make your content flow better than one huge block of text that could be hard to follow.  Ensure that the content you write reflects what is in the title otherwise readers will simply get bored and move onto the next article.  Aim on keeping each paragraph between 200 and 500 words in length.  Also think about your keywords and ensure these are used throughout your article in order that search engines pick your piece up.

Whilst content is the most important part of your article it is the resource box that is going to get you web visitors.  The resource box is where you insert the link back to your site.  Rules differ on how a resource box ought to be used so check with the article directory you are submitting to.  If used correctly and sensibly article marketing can be a great promotional tool for your website.

If you want to get the most out of writing articles and submitting them to article directories, you might want to employ the services of a writing team who can handle the creation of professional articles and ensure they are submitted to all the best directories.  Your articles need to be informative and useful to your readers so that they will be more likely to click on your link to find out more about your services and products.  A good writer will be able to pick up on your business, research relevant and popular keywords, and produce outstanding articles that are sure to be picked up by your target audience.

If you need to find out more about Article Marketing or want to have a FREE consultation about what SEO Buddy can do for your business call 0845 838 0628

Google Keyword Tool

There are many ways you can research keywords and there are many tools and resources you can use.  For example, Google has its own keyword research tool as part of its Adwords service.  The keywords you think people are using to find you may be a lot different to the keywords that are actually being used and this tool will help you build a list of keywords that you can incorporate into your content.
When a user enters a search into their search engine, the search engine will trawl the web looking for websites containing words or phrases that match the search.  These will be presented to the user in order of relevance and popularity.  The most successful and high ranking websites will contain a good selection of popular keywords and therefore get a higher place in search engine results.

When putting together your list of keywords, don’t choose too many as you will find it hard to work a high number into your content.  Choose the most popular keywords and go for a total of about 10-20 so as not to saturate your content with too many.  Search engines are quite picky when choosing websites and if your keywords are littering your content too much you will actually get a lower ranking in the page results.  Remember to work your keywords into your content so that your copy makes sense and is engaging and relevant.

The key thing to remember is not to guess at what you think users are entering in order to find your site.  Use the keyword research tools at your disposal as these present real results of what people are entering into their search engines and how many people are using those search terms.

Researching keywords is vital and could make a whole lot of difference to your SEO results.  It is a good idea to research the latest keywords regularly as factors such as consumer trends and news can alter the search terms a web user might enter.  The more content you can publish containing your researched keywords the better and as long as you remember a few simple rules your website should start sailing to the top of the search engine results.  There are many ways you can add more keywords to your site.  Also, opening a blog or creating a social media marketing campaign can give you more avenues to use your keywords and these are all used for search engine results so you would be raising your profile even more.  The more you can use keywords, the more people will receive your site in their search engine results.

•    A substantial number of quality backlinks
•    Backlinks from high ranking websites
•    Links from websites that have a similar subject and relevant content
•    Backlink is in a good quality location on the source website
•    Backlink is correctly formatted

If you can stick to those rules when implementing your backlinks you can’t really go wrong.  People tend to go wrong when they get carried away and post hundreds of backlinks a week.  The search engines use complex algorithms that can detect the amount of backlinks and whether too many have been created over a short period of time.  This can appear like spam and could penalise your website and make it rank lower down in the results.

Back Links

Another thing to remember is that some backlinks are worth more than others.  For example, a link on a reputable and high profile website is worth so much more than a link on a smaller website that receives less traffic or lower rankings.  Try to get your links on pages that are similar to your own or that are relevant to your subject matter.  The value of links counts a lot and the more high quality links you have the better your results will be.

Using directory submission is another great way to improve your backlink status.  There are many free website directories and also some that charge a small fee.  The higher quality directories are obviously the ones to go for as they come with a good reputation and have been around for a few years.  The more you can do to improve the number of incoming links to your site, the more success your SEO campaigns will have.  If you remember to use high quality sites to host your links and submit your site to directories with a good reputation you will be doing all you can to ensure people can reach your site and the search engines can fine you.  You can also use social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and article marketing to increase your backlink total.  Just keep your backlink count steady and constant and you should start seeing the effects on your web traffic straight away.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and is a process used to ensure your website appears in the first pages of a Google search.  When implemented correctly SEO will help web users to find you when they enter particular search criteria into Google or any other major search engine.  The search engines find you by matching the words in a search to the wording contained in your site.  The better the match the more chance you have of appearing in the first page of search engine results.  This is a great way of getting business as your audience is targeted, that is they are already looking for you.

SEO involves a number of different processes.  The most important factor to consider is your website content.  By researching the most commonly used keywords for your industry or products and including these in your content, you have a great chance of getting great page rankings and receiving much more web traffic as a result.  You also need to ensure that you content is engaging and holds visitors’ attentions so that they will stick around, bookmark your site, or make a purchase.  Don’t be tempted to litter your content with just keywords as search engines are smart and will penalise you with low page rankings as a result.

Another factor to consider is the use of backlinks.  Backlinks are links placed on other websites that link back to your site.  You can never have too many of these so if you can post content on other sites and link back to your website that is great.  Again, care needs to be taken with backlinks as bad quality backlinks can be bad for your reputation and page rankings.  If you build backlinks too quickly you could be penalised by the search engines as they will see your links as possible spam and this will make your ranking plummet.  Think about building a constant and steady stream of backlinks and you will be on the right track.

There are many other aspects of SEO that need to be considered but in essence it is the one process that will ensure your website continues to stick at the top of search engine results.  SEO can be time-consuming as it needs implementing and updating every day in order to be successful.  An SEO company could help you to run your SEO campaigns and updates for you whilst you get on with the important job of running your business.   Another point to consider is that SEO techniques are constantly evolving and in order to stay ahead of the crowd you need to ensure your website evolves at the same time.  Staying on top of the search engine results does take a lot of effort, but once you see the results it can have for your business you will be happy to continue implementing more and more SEO strategies.  Remember, backlinks, good quality keyword-rich content, and a little hard work are all that is required to get your site on the first pages of search engine results.

Meta Tags

To see an example of a Meta tag, open your browser and run a search on anything you like.  The search results will show an underlined title above each result in the list.  These titles will usually contain the keywords or key phrase that you have just searched on so you can see how important it is to ensure your Meta tags contain relevant and popular keywords.  Meta tags help users to make their selection from the list.  The more relevant the Meta tag the more likely a user is to click on it to be taken to your site.
Adding and changing your Meta tags could mean an instant increase in your web traffic and if you are uncomfortable about making such changes, an SEO company can help and ensure that each of your Meta tags is optimised to work for you.  Consumers want quick results and a Meta tag gives them all the information they need to make a quick decision.  Make sure yours stand out.
Updating Meta tags is relatively simple although you will need a basic understanding of HTML.  This is the language used to build websites, but don’t worry as you will only be updating a very small part of the code.  Entering new tags is very easy once you know how.  Before you change and add Meta tags, plan what you are going to call them.  If you have already conducted keyword research for your website this will give you a good idea of what keywords to use.  You should use the popular keywords in your tag first perhaps followed by your company name or some special characters to make your title stand out.  A normal Meta tag should be no more than 60 characters in order to stay within search engine character limits.

Title Tags and description

The above image has been taken from the search engine Google, if you look closely you can see the use of meta tags in the titles and description. If you use relevant and targeted words google will display them.

Remember, keep your tags professional and relevant so you give a great impression of your company and encourage people to visit your site.  Make your message in your Meta tag clear and use popular keywords that match the keywords you have used on your site.  Used in the right way, Meta tags can be an extremely effective method of getting more traffic to your site and getting better search engine rankings.