Scribe is a new plugin from Brian Clark of Copyblogger that takes the guesswork out of writing search engine optimized blog posts, or any other form of online writing, for that matter. With Scribe, bloggers can instantly tell whether or not their posts have maximized optimization for search engines yet maintained readability for humans. I’ve been using this plugin for several weeks now and have seen an increase in organic traffic. Plus, it’s very easy to use.

Scribe differs from typical SEO tools. Instead of asking you for a keyword phrase and then guiding you to construct content around it, the Scribe plugin will:

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Search engine optimization practices can be categorized in three ways: SEO practices to include, SEO practices to avoid, and SEO practices that can get your site banned from search engine indexes. Today’s post sorts 39 common SEO practices into the three categories so you’ll know which ones to put into effect and which ones to pass on.

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The ultimate goal of keyword research is to increase traffic to your site. The reason we research to identify keywords and keyword phrases is because search engines match search strings against keywords to determine your site’s relevancy to the user’s search. In order to be a good match, we must pick the right words, include the right amount (keyword density), and put them in the right places on our site.

Your goal in keyword research is to come up with perhaps three strong keyword phrases that a normal reader would type into Google (think: long-tail search) and optimize your blog for those keywords and phrases. Soon, you will OWN those phrases.

There are five things to consider when selecting keywords and phrases: Continue reading →

This is part two of the series: Getting Started with Keyword Research.

There’s a lot of talk about conducting keyword research, but what is the purpose of keyword research, anyway? There are three primary reasons for conducting keyword research: more website traffic, better sales, higher search engine results page positioning. So, whether you’re an Internet Marketer hoping to peddle a product or a blogger who wants to spread her message across the globe, learning how to conduct effective keyword research is essential to the success of your blog.

Whether you’re developing your list of keywords to increase organic search results or to conduct an ad campaign, thinking like a detective will help you in the process. The first four questions a keyword research detective should ask are:

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One of the most overlooked aspects of Search Engine Optimization is the image. Yet is is very easy to optimize your images through the effective use of “alt tags.” An Alt Tag is actually an HTML image attribute and is short for Alternative Description Text.

What are Alt Tags and why are they important?

Alt Tags are also known as Alt Text. Both terms are widely used, and the purpose of this attribute is three-fold:

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