How to Know Which SEO Software Suits Your Search Engine Optimization Needs?

Search engine optimization has become the most crucial element of ranking high in the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, Dogpile etc. There are several websites on the internet which boast about SEO techniques & tips and guarantee top placement in days. How do you believe and invest your hard earned money in a company who does not have a background in search engine optimization believing their claims?

The question is “are you ready to play a gamble with your site?” Honestly the answer would be a big NO.

No one would like to waste their money. So, what is the way out? How about doing your own search engine optimization? It is a very long drawn and tedious process if you do it manually. So, how to go about it?

Are there any softwares available to do the SEO?

Yes! there are several SEO softwares available in the market. But, how do you know which SEO software is reliable and meet your search engine optimization needs and most importantly, whether they would live up to their claims?

The answer is did you do enough research?

SEO software is the answer to implement the major SEO techniques. What are they? SEO is primarily divided into two parts.

* On page optimization
* Off page optimization

On page optimization

On page optimization involves:

* Title Tags
* Meta Tags like meta keywords (lost its importance now due to keywords abuse) & meta description.
* Alt-Image tags
* H1, H2 tags
* High keyword density
* Quality content
* Ease of navigation
* Internal Linking and more…..

Off page optimization

Off page optimization involves:

* Link Building to improve Link popularity
o Reciprocal Linking – Two way links
o Non-reciprocal linking – In-bound links

* Use of keyword rich anchor text in linking text
* Improving Google page rank
* PPC advertisements
* Directory submissions

It is a well known fact that off page optimization has more value than on page optimization. It does not mean that on page optimization has no value and requires no optimization. On page optimization has its value and should not be ignored.

There are several SEO softwares available to implement the off page optimization by improving link popularity by building both reciprocal and non-reciprocal links. There are websites which offer monthly membership accounts to use their Link Popularity software and some other websites have their software available for one time fee. For a beginner it is always better to go with one time fee software to keep the fixed expenses low. You are here to do business so you need to think and plan every dime you spend towards business success.

So, what to expect from a SEO software selling website?
# Not a one time seller without any future upgrades
# A website with good technical support
# A website with a proven track record
# A website with a forum with quality user feedback
# Most importantly these website’s SEO software should have good product reviews.

We see many SEO software companies doing their own product reviews and it looks more like self propaganda than an honest product review. We need websites who test and verify the claims made by the SEO software companies and publish their honest feedback. This would help the newbie website owners to make an educated decision after reading the detailed unbiased analysis published on a third party website.

There are very few websites that do this and should be encouraged to test and verify more of these SEO softwares and help the website owners to learn and implement the off page optimization techniques. This would save time and money of the online entrepreneurs to improve their link popularity and increase their search engine rankings. Higher search engine rankings bring more traffic to the websites and hence more sales. It is a known fact that we can drive visitors to websites but converting them into buyers totally relies on how effective is the content and ease of website’s navigation.

We should develop effective content in the form of relevant articles linking to your website. Writing an effective article is a skill which needs to be developed by reading other articles and other e-books focusing on writing best articles. Now we should know the list of quality article directories to submit to in the right category. This would be another tedious and time consuming process and this demands an SEO software whose sole aim is article submission to various article directories.

Submitting to SEO friendly directories is another tedious process but the rewards worth the effort involved. The list of SEO friendly directories and the article directories is available at SEO Softwares-Resources

Another way of getting traffic to the website is thru PPC i.e Pay Per Click. There are several PPC programs available like Google Adwords, Overture PPC, FindWhat etc. Now the question is choosing the right keyword relevant to the content of your website is very important. You might choose the right keyword which is highly competitive and may have to pay a high bid price to get the higher placement in the sponsored links. We need an SEO software to optimize the adwords campaign to choose the right keyword combo to choose for the PPC. This would save money and time and helps beat the competition.

There are several other effective methods to do the off page optimization and there are several SEO softwares available in the market. So, in conclusion read the product reviews, and see the important features of the selling website as mentioned above for the final decision as which SEO software you should get your hands on.

I hope this SEO software information is of good help and to learn more about SEO softwares go to http://www.seo-softwares.com.

Wishing you all success in your website’s search engine optimization.

About the Author
Andy Jones -Media Relations,
SEO Softwares
Ezine articles expert author

Copyright ©2006 SEO Softwares, All rights reserved. Free reprint rights with proper credit to the author.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Jones

SEO Software: Trying To Catch The Spiders

EO software does what exactly?

SEO software frequently starts from the following assumption:

- look at the page that ranks number 1 in Google,

- do exactly the same + a bit better,

- and you will be number 1

SEO software will then examine "all" the SEO parameters that it finds out about the number 1 site in Google. Then this SE software will automate the process in mimicking this for your site.

SEO is more than a software-approach!

SEO is the art of ranking number 1 in any search engine for any keyword.

Spiders rank a web site number one because spiders "think" that this site deserves to be number one. Of course the spider cannot think: there needs to be a programmer who programs the spider to find out which site is best.

Now if you are smart enough to feed the spider exactly what the programmer thinks is important, you will have the knowledge to rank number 1.

This is exactly what SEO software does: it claims to know and tackle "all" the parameters that make a web site ranking number 1.

Pitfalls of a software-approach to SEO

Suppose you find all the parameters needed to rank a web site number 1. You manage to get all this parameters onto your site and you even manage to be rank number 1.

Now if your site is really deserving to be ranked number 1, all is fine. But if surfers start complaining that you are not, the search engine will be blamed!

It won't take long until Google finds out that "somebody broke the code" of the spiders. The spiders will be updated to give quality results to the visitors!

This means you need to get an upgrade of your SEO software approach... : you are running after the facts in stead of above the facts.

How to be ranked number 1?

You rank number 1 because you deserve it.

In spider logic this still means:

- your page talks about the keyword you are optimizing for

- you page has lots of incoming links about the keyword you are optimizing for.

This is what ranking number 1 should be about.

But my SEO software is really up to date, or is it not?

Your software can only be up to date AFTER the spiders' software is updated. Unless you write the spiders yourself, you will always be a bit later.

You cannot know all the parameters the spider takes into account, unless again you are writing the spider software yourself.

Some of the parameters you cannot influence: age of the web site is one of them. Suppose the spider needs to choose between 2 websites: the oldest one and the SEO mimic: which one to choose? The oldest one would be the easiest bet, and you cannot change the age of your web site can you?

A close look at SEO software

SEO software advertisements could say that you can get a top 5 Google Ranking in under 30 Days... If that is true, then check out to see:

- is the web site of this SEO software ranking number 1 in Google for SEO or SEO software?

- are the example web sites the SEO software mentions to be ranked number 1, really number 1: number 1 in Google that is?

It's very easy to type in the keyword phrase of the SEO software example web site and see if they are number 1 or not.

And don't be fooled by SEO software that gives numerous examples of number 1 rankings in MSN or Yahoo: if you want to have a long lasting number 1 ranking in any of the search engines, you better start having a number 1 ranking in Google.

I didn't say that it is a guarantee to rank number 1 in Yahoo and MSN once you rank number 1 in Google, but you will surely be high up there as well. On the other hand, a number 1 ranking in MSN can mean that you are no where to be found in Yahoo nor Google.

So you say: well, then I just try to rank number 1 in MSN since it seems to be easier. Well, it is easier, but then it is easier for your competition as well, so it won't take then too much effort to out-play you again. Therefor do the job good once and for all: thrive to be number 1 in Google and then fine-tune if needed for MSN or Yahoo.

Why do you do SEO in the first place?

SEO is 1 of the ways to get more traffic to your web site. But there is more in getting a lot of traffic to your site, than "blindly ranking 1 in Google":

--- Always make sure you rank number 1 for a word a lot of people are looking for! ---

If you buy any SEO software or out-source your SEO to the SEO specialists: always check their SEO examples:

- are they ranking number 1

- are the keywords they rank for popular search keywords (bigger than 10.000 searches a month in the Keyword Selector Tool from Yahoo's search-marketing is considered not too low)

- how long did it take them to be number 1

- how big is the competition for the keyword-phrase (smaller or bigger than 5 million? As a general rule : above 5 million keyword-phrase results in Google, things become though)

- how big is the competition for the quoted "keyword-phrase" (smaller or bigger than 33.000? As a general rule : above 33.000 quoted "keyword-phrase" results in Google, things become though)

If for all these items the SEO software or SEO specialist can answer YES, then you can start taking them very seriously!

Try it out for each example web site any SEO software claims to have ranked number 1 for a certain keyword-phrase. And of course, always start with checking if they are ranking number 1 in the first place! If they are not, then you are going to buy SEO software that doesn't do the job! Ranking number 2 is ALMOST number 1, and even worse, ranking number 9 is nowhere near to ranking number 1.

SEO software web sites

Whenever you are interested in something to buy on the Internet, check out the overall web site of the product you want to buy!

Some SEO software web sites are 1 page web sites: just 1 page with the product, no links, no extra pages...

Again back to basics. What was the first idea to set up the Internet? To give people information, lots of information.

And we are talking about a "NET" in Inter"NET": "net" means links here, links there, links everywhere... (that's why links are so important in SEO)

If you don't see lots of links nor lots of content on a web site about SEO, then the SEO web site is not serious about its own subject: SEO!

Back to Basics: web-traffic

Your purpose is getting as much people to your site as possible, isn't it?

SEO software has the purpose of ranking 1 in Google.

Now it is very easy to rank 1 in Google for the keyword-phrase "jhdkghgkbdcds",
but who is looking for "jhdkghgkbdcds"??? Nobody!

So if nobody looks for "jhdkghgkbdcds", then why bother to rank number 1 with it?

What is a nice number when it comes to "popular keyword searches"? If you use the Overture Keyword tool, anything above 10.000 searches a month means quite popular, but: also know that above 10.000 "the big boys' are competing
with you, below 1.000 you have the field for yourself. So a good SEO advice is work yourself from the bottom up: start with keywords that are not so popular, and once you are ranked high for those, then tackle the next more popular keyword on the list.

SEO software Conclusion

SEO is the art to feed the spiders what they like.
SEO software is running after the spiders trying to catch their attention.

Always check the numbers and the facts about any SEO software and (this) SEO article!

Then make a decision yourself. If you see that the SEO software

- is ranking well for it's own product

- is ranking web sites for popular keyword well,

only then you can consider buying it.

Making money on the Internet is something that has always intrigued Stef Glassee, a Sun Certified Java Developer. Being into programming and software development he has a first eyes view how software can help people, but it cannot yet replace people. Same goes for SEO software.

...It's quick and easy to throw an apple pit in the soil. But be prepared: it takes a long time before the apple pit becomes a tree loaded with apples!...

best seo software

Image via CrunchBase

There has been much debate recently on the practice of ethical Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The recent removal of a high profile SEO company from the Google results has plunged the industry into yet another debate on what is ethical and what is not in our profession.

I have been involved in the SEO industry for a few years now and the mention of the word ethics and best practices in what is still an unregulated industry creates a level of confusion the likes of which I have not observed in any other industry. Why does this reluctance to discuss ethics and best practices exist? After all, we call ourselves professionals and as professionals we should strive to be part of an industry which stands for best practices and quality of service.

The confusion seems to come from the way that search engines rank sites. Each search engine has an algorithm which is a complex method of giving a value to a site which will ensure that it is returned in the search results when a relevant keyword is typed into a search engine. These algorithms are kept secret by the search engines for obvious reasons. The SEO industry is highly focused on analyzing these algorithms and using any knowledge gained to modify and rank websites. Ask any two SEO’s what they consider to be ethical in their pursuit of top results and you will most likely get two very different answers. Hence, the lack of agreement on what is ethical and what is not.

So where do we start? Our commitment must always start with the client and our responsibilities to them. An ethical company will always demonstrate loyalty and respect to their client. This is true whether they are an SEO, a doctor or an accountant.

Having sound business practices and a professional approach to all that you do then we can move onto the ‘search engine guidelines.’ All the major search engines and directories publish their own guidelines of use for webmasters. This should be the minimum that any SEO practitioner complies with when working on a client’s site. Search engines have a right to protect the integrity of their results and the SEO practitioners should respect those guidelines.

The confusion seems to arrive with the interpretation of the guidelines. One SEO will interpret the rules to mean one thing and another SEO will see it as completely different. The stakes are high and a top ranking in Google for your site is powerful branding and can lead to a major upswing in your business.

SEO practitioners have been classified as ‘whitehat,’ and ‘blackhat.’ Whitehat practitioners are the ones that try to stick to search engine guidelines while blackhat operate using more questionable techniques and view the search engines as the ‘enemy.’ Unfortunately blackhat techniques can sometimes adversely affect the sites ranking and worse, get their client’s sites banned.

Blackhats traditionally play to the emotional needs of their clients and often convince them to part with their money without giving clear and specific information on the changes they will make to their sites. If a client is fully aware of the risks and is prepared to buy into short term gain then that is their choice. However, many Blackhat SEO’s do not disclose their tactics. Would you hire a CPA who submits your tax return including questionable practices and breaking all the IRS rules? You are the one who will get audited, prosecuted and have to pay huge fines.

Blackhat techniques are just plain bad business practice. They also do the search engines and the search users a huge disservice by contributing to poor quality of results. This adds nothing to the end user experience.

The search engines say that any type of manipulation to get a site ranked is a threat against them and the relevancy of their results. Whitehat practitioners will say that they are not manipulating sites but rather fixing search engine obstacles within a web site. The need for their services is great as many web site designers do not know how to integrate search engine friendly designs.

Last year a prospective customer contacted me after being burned by a “rogue" SEO company who got their site (and others) banned from Google for spam tactics. A few weeks later they were contacted by the same “rogue” SEO company under a new name. Perhaps naively she almost fell for it again. She reasoned that if they had been banned once they would not do anything wrong again! This demonstrates the lack of knowledge that consumers have regarding our industry. They don’t know the difference between good and bad SEO. People are being taken advantage of because of their lack of knowledge.

No matter what techniques your SEO uses; ‘ethical’ , ‘whitehat’ ,‘blackhat’ none at all it all boils down to one thing. Doing right by the client? Ethics is often viewed by many in the industry as hype.

I think the focus should be on serving users as opposed to manipulating the search engines. SEO’s who concentrate of making the sites the best that they can be for the end user will create a much better longer term affect. The SEOs who chase algorithms and try to game the search engines get burned when there is an algorithm change. Following search engine updates involving an algorithm shift, the industry message boards abound with posts along the lines of “I hate Google, they have killed my site” If these posters had spent more time improving their site for their clients, and the search users, the algorithm updates would be much less stressful for them.

At this time there is no initiative within the industry to create a trade body which sets a code of best practices. It is down to the consumer to practice “buyer beware” and ensure that they practice due diligence in selecting an SEO. They need to use even more caution than they would use to select any other vendor. I also believe the industry has a responsibility to provide education and resources for consumers and help de-mystify the profession.

Great SEO companies share their knowledge willingly. They hide nothing to either clients or search engines. They know that they have a specialized skill and are proud of what they do. They get their results through hard work and perseverance. They also know that to do the job properly takes a lot of time. This is something which most business owners feel they do not have. They are confident that when it comes to hiring a professional, their honest and open approach to their trade will be acknowledged by organizations who only want to work with the best.

The following are some golden rules I have written on choosing an SEO. If the consumer sticks to these rules then they should avoid the practitioners in our industry who give the rest of us a bad name.

• Only work with a company that follows search engine guidelines. (If I could only make one recommendation this would be it). The three main search engines are Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Look on their sites for their webmaster guidelines.

• Only work with a company that documents the SEO process they will use to rank your site

• Only work with a company that provides a written contract outlining their process and their costs

• Get at least four proposals for your site and compare services before you make a decision

• Do not work with a company that offers guarantees of top rankings. Nobody can offer these types of guarantees.

• Do not lock yourself into a contract you cannot get out of if you are not getting results

• Ask for references and follow up with them. If you still have any doubts ask for more. Ensure that references check out. Check that the suggested site is real and that the contact details given check out against the contact details on the site.

• Do not allow any work to be carried out on your site without your approval.

• Do not give the SEO carte blanche to do as they will with your site. It is your site not theirs. It is your responsibility to ensure that the SEO does not apply any techniques that would result in getting your site banned.

• Check the companies BBB (Better Business Bureau) report. Check for membership of any other established trade bodies such as the AMA (American Marketing Association) Many companies claim that they are more reputable because they are part of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.) However this is not the case. All that is required to be a member of SEMPO is a $299 annual subscription.

• Do not work with a company that engages in site wide link exchanges. Question their linking methods. Ensure that they only have a policy of linking with on-topic sites. Remember, your site is built for users not for search engines. If your site is about computers and your link to a site that sells children’s toys how useful do you think that link will be for your visitors.

• Ask other companies doing well on the Internet who they use for SEO. Always ask about the quality of customer service that is offered. It is not much use having a great SEO if you can never get hold of them.

• If it sounds too good to be true. IT IS!!!

In conclusion the SEO industry is a dynamic growing industry. This rapid growth has created some challenges for the industry. One of these challenges is the perception that outsiders have of SEO practitioners being unethical. To counteract this many SEOs are now promoting themselves as ‘ethical SEO.’ However, as the industry is unregulated it is up to the consumer of the service to become informed and exercise caution when selecting a SEO vendor. As the demand for SEO continues to grow the number of unethical practitioners calling themselves SEOs will also grow. To protect yourself, take the vendor selection process seriously. Look for vendors who are willing to share knowledge and partner with you to provide the best possible outcome for you business.