My SEO Toolboox

By: Jason I. Lewis
Submitted: 2007-01-17 13:47:12
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Search Engine Optimization is my meal ticket these days. I have been doing it for about three years now and I have developed a system that uses freely available tools to determine my markets. I will try to outline some of the tools I use here in hopes that they may help others along the way.

1. Niche Tools – I first like to discover if the niche I am trying to go into is worthwhile or not. I will use NicheBot (http://www.nichebot.com) and Digitalpoint’s Keyword Suggestion (http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/) to determine if the keyword is worth chasing.

2. Competition Analysis – Nothing beats using the big three to determine your competition. Typing in a search in the big three engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) will give you a pretty decent idea of what you are up against. I do both general and exact searches (search phrases inside quotes) to determine the competition of a keyword. If I find the keyword to still be worth the time, I will then gather a list of the top ten sites on each of the search engines and find which ones are common to all three. There are several tools that I use on my own sites that come in handy when determining what the correct “formula” for that keyword is. I will run their sites through Keyword Density Analyzer (http://www.seobench.com/keyword-density-analyzer/), Discover the number of backlinks they have by using the “link” command at Google (link:http://www.thiersite.com), Yahoo (linkdomain:http://www.thiersite.com), and MSN (link:http://www.thiersite.com). Though these are not always accurate they will give you a good starting point for your link building. I will then add their sites to my Google alerts for both the “link” and “site” commands and set it to, “web” and “as it happens”. This will allow you to keep tabs on your competitors site updates.

3. Site Optimization – When I begin optimizing my sites, I will compile the competition data and begin writing my copy. As I write, I keep in mind that I do not want to completely blow away the competition, this in my opinion makes the search engines think you are either spamming or inflating your keyword count. If your competition for keyword “FooBar” has a keyword density average of 5%, hit 5.1%, this is not the place to stand apart from the crowd to far. Once my copy is written, I will go back through it to determine whether I can link to internal pages from my copy. This helps spiders to find your internal pages faster and looks more natural. I will either build my own sitemap or use The Google Sitemap Generator (http://www.auditmypc.com/free-sitemap-generator.asp) to generate my Google Sitemap. This has helped me in the past get my sites crawled and indexed much quicker then normal. I am currently looking for a tool to optimize my navigation structure. I may just end up building this one myself.

4. Continued Optimization – As time progresses and I build my backlink base. I will use the Tools at Marketleap (http://www.marketleap.com) which include Keyword Verification, Search Engine Saturation, and Link Popularity to keep track of what is going on with my site. As I add new content I am always mindful to determine the keyword density of the page.

These tools are by no stretch of the imagination a complete list. These are the tools I use on a daily basis. I will list a few more at the end of this article that I use quite a bit as well.

Google Trends – http://www.google.com/trends

TouchGraph - http://touchgraph.com/

Google Keyword Tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google ZeitGeist - http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/weeks-jul06.html

Jason Lewis is a Search Marketing Manager for a Medium Sized E-Commerce company and the webmaster of http://www.seo-wiki.com, a blog about the changing lanscape of Search Marketing

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in SEO category

  • "What's-In" and "What's-Not" in SEO - By: Wendy Ang
    SEO is a never ending spiral of change so it's important that we can come up with new and profound ideas and strategies on how we can rank our site as number one.
  • Why an SEO Marketing Company Can Help Provide Exponential Growth - By: Joel McLaughlin
    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies can make you more popular with search engines, but often the mastering of SEO techniques can be a full time job. If you're like most business owners you aren't looking for an additional job.
  • Article Marketing Guide For SEO - By: Mull Singh
    Getting traffic to your website is no easy task. This is true especially when lack of experience holds most of us back from obtaining our true Internet marketing goals for making money.
  • What You Should Look For In An SEO Company - By: Wendy Ang
    Many businesses today, such as yours, are about to make use of the services that an SEO company provides. But before entering in such agreement, there are things that you should know about SEO and the process that these SEO guys take to make their efforts successful.
  • SEO Guide For Newbie's companies? - By: JATINDERPAL Singh
    Critical to helping people connect with the web businesses they are searching for. There are companies out there that claim to get your page rankings.
  • SEO New York for a higher SEO ranking - By: Steve Waganer
    SEO New York companies help you achieve a higher ranking by employing basic SEO techniques that are appreciated by all search engines.
  • Phoenix Internet Marketing, SEO and Search Engine Optimization Is Growing - By: Joel McLaughlin
    With tough times in the economy, many Phoenix Arizona businesses are searching for talented Phoenix SEO and Phoenix Internet Marketing companies to help with their website traffic and search engine optimization needs. Many companies are starting to realize that one of the most cost effective internet marketing methods is online marketing.
  • Surefire Search Engine Optimization Tips For Beginners - By: Joel McLaughlin
    When building a web site you need to fist have solid search engine optimization structure. You also need to create a lot of unique content talking about your main keywords of focus. This will help to increase website traffic.
  • Fantastic Reasons To Use Search Engine Optimization Consultants - By: Joel McLaughlin
    Do you think that you know everything there is to know about search engine optimization and online marketing? If you said yes, then you may need to think again! I know I don't know everything there is to know, and I have been in the field for over 10 years.
  • Surefire Search Engine Optimization Link Building Tips - Internal And External - By: Joel McLaughlin
    I have been working as a SEO Expert in the search engine optimization field in Phoenix Arizona for over 12 years, and unfortunately I am still learning. SEO consultants can teach you about a lot of things when it comes to the search engine optimization marketing of your website.