4 ways to avoid SEO penalties

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical part of any internet marketing strategy. Although there are significant benefits to be had from properly executed SEO, improper SEO tactics can result in serious penalties that will send your website tumbling down the search results. In this article we will briefly touch on 4 things an SEO practitioner can do to avoid these penalties, and ensure their website sees unobstructed growth towards the top of search results.

1)      Never plagiarize – Simply put, plagiarize and you will get penalized. If you must leverage existing content, make sure to rewrite every last sentence. Even a single copied sentence can potentially result in a penalty. Carefully re-write and re-organize content if you are taking inspiration from a pre-existing source.

2)      Avoid Keyword stuffing – As a rule, content should always be keyword rich. Filling your web pages with relevant keywords helps search engines, and users, determine the page’s value. However, overdoing your keyword density will result in a penalty. Ensuring that your keywords comprise no more than 5% of your content will keep your page safe from search engine penalties and help maintain their climb up the search ladder.

3)      Never use hidden text – Hiding text behind images or by blending the text color in with the background is an easy way to get your page penalized. These tactics are underhanded and fall directly under the ‘black hat SEO’ category. Unless you have no desire to elevate your page’s results, always avoid hidden text.

4)      Take it slow – If your site has 10 back-links on Monday, and 10,000 back-links on Tuesday, it will likely be penalized on Wednesday. Link building should be a gradual and organic process. Legitimate news events and trends can easily generate this amount of links, but this is where the human element comes in. A sudden influx of links will cause the site in question to get flagged. At this stage, a human we will be brought into the equation to determine the validity of the links. If your links were generated artificially, they will know.

Jefferson Spooner writes on behalf of inSegment, Boston’s leader in search engine marketing, internet marketing, and the home of Boston SEO.
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Ami sent me an email today asking a question and I want to share with all of you what my answer was. She asked,” If you had to completely start over, knowing what you know now, where and how would you start?”

This is what I told her:

If I was starting over today, I will do the following:

1.) Pick a niche. – I would make it narrow and nice so that I will dominate this niche.

I would not target getting into a broad niche like dog training. I plan to start small then grow big later on. An example is starting with dog agility training (I’m not in this particular niche. This is for example purposes only.) You can check out the YouTube videos that I made and uploaded which talk about picking a niche.

2.) Allot one day in gathering keywords. – I will gather both broad and long-tail keywords.

You might think that an entire day is too long. But I disagree. You must allot a day in getting the keywords that you will use. First, start with broad keywords and work your way down to the long-tail keywords. Use these keywords alternatively – first broad then long-tail. Also, you must exhaust using these keywords. Use them anywhere you can – blog, Hub, lens, EZA, etc.

3.) Start blogging on my own domain. – Google loves blogs. These are authority to consumers and can be easily managed. Make sure that you update your blog regularly.

First, I will buy my own domain and have it hosted by Hostgator because its customer service is great and the cpanel is very easy for beginners. Then, using a Fantastico button, I will install a WordPress blog. I would start blogging everyday – more than once a day will be great. I will use 250-word blog posts and use the keywords in them.

4.) Start list building from day one.

Once the blog is up, I will start list building. I will use Aweber. Even if not a single person signed up for a couple of weeks, my list builder will be ready to gather information. I will also add an autoresponder email to follow-up the list everyday. This way, my subscribers will hear from me once every 4 days.

5.) Start making my own information product to sell.

The information product is important. Don’t let anybody else do this for you. When it comes to quality, you must rely on yourself only! I will use the program Building an eBook Empire in making my own info product. The people in my list can purchase the info product at a discounted price.

6.) Partner with someone who has a bigger list.

I will partner with someone who has a bigger list and create add-ons for their list only. And when I say that, I will be true to my words. I will not say it just to get someone to promote my info product then cut the same deal with other JV prospect.

Knowing what I know now, this is how I will begin. This is how I actually start when I am planning on launching something new.

Learn how to make money online using the 7 Steps to 7 figures by Simon Stepsys at www.SimonStepsysCoaching.com
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Marketing restaurants and food joints in large cities and suburbs is often considered an arduous task. This is mainly because competition is intense and customers have different options. While every restaurant owner is aware that proper marketing holds the key to success not everyone is successful in achieving effective marketing. However, there are a number of simple marketing strategies and tactics that can help promote a restaurant at a local scale.

Some of the simplest marketing tactics that restaurant owners can adopt to promote their food joints locally are as follows:

Distribute leaflets and business cards

As a restaurant owner your chief responsibility is to first identify who your target consumers are. For this, you should closely monitor the crowd turning up at your restaurant. Based on your observation, you will be able to find the clients who you should focus on. An effective way to reach out to them is to distribute leaflets, menu fliers and sample cards.

Remain in the public eye for all the good reasons

While it is important to stay in news, it is even more important to stay in the headlines for all the right reasons. This can be achieved by promoting your restaurant locally. You can make special announcements, offer attractive discounts on memberships and sponsor charity events to stay in news. You should also make sure that people turn to your food joint on special occasions. For this, you should make special preparations during the festive seasons.

Social networking

We are in the 21st century when it is practically unthinkable to do away with the Internet. Social media, in particular, is a very powerful medium that has opened new avenues of growth for entrepreneurs. You can use social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to target customers in your area.

Apart from these initiatives, you should also lay special emphasis on making your menu interesting and unique. A combination of good quality and effective marketing can make your restaurant instantly popular.

Roland Poitevin is a dedicated writer with a passion for business and environmental issues.
You can check out his new website at Chaise Lounge Furniture which helps people find the best Chaise Lounges and Outdoor Chaise Lounge Chairs and information they are looking relating to this subject.

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