FOLLOW or NOFOLLOW?

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Should I use follow or nofollow for my internal links?

To follow, or not to follow… Links have several options that can be specified for search engines. One of those options is rel=”nofollow”, which instructs a search engine not to follow the link, but to continue on the current page. The questions has been asked “should I use follow or nofollow for internal links“? The quick answer is NO, you should not use rel=”nofollow”. Who says so, you may ask? See this video about Matt Cutts (from Google); he gives you an excellent answer in about 2 minutes. It is well worth the time to watch it about FOLLOW and NOFOLLOW links.

Why do some people suggest to use nofollow for internal links?

What is the reasoning behind using rel=”nofollow”? Some believe that using FOLLOW on internal links creates excessive searching and/or indexing for search engines. If this were the case, precious resources could be wasted having bots follow links that eventually all bring themselves back to the same pages. How would this benefit the website? It would seem that excessive searching within the same site would ensure a thorough indexing of it. This may not be the case, though. If there are flaws within the internal structure of your website, pages or entire sections of your website could be missed.

How important is a sitemap.xml for search engines to index my site properly?

Missing data is the last problem you want when it comes to your website. The best way to ensure that your site is indexed properly in Google, and other search engines, is to use a sitemap file–“sitemap.xml”, “page-sitemap.xml”, “post-sitemap.xml” and so on. The larger the website, the larger (or at least more thorough) the sitemap should be. One of the advantages of using a content management system (CMS) is that these files can be automatically generated and updated by the system.

What is HTML?

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The acronym HTML stands for “Hyper Text Markup Language”. HTML has been the publicly known standard web programming language since the early 1990’s. HTML has had many different versions, and the language as a whole continues to be developed and improved upon. HTML5 includes abilities now to do things that used to only be able to be done by using a cascading style sheet (CSS) file.

What is a CMS?

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The acronym “CMS” in web design talk stands for “Content Management System”; the name implies the ability to manage the content on your website without much knowledge or understanding of HTML, CSS and other web programming languages. A CMS is useful for companies or individuals looking to regularly update their website on their own, without the assistance of a web designer or programmer. There are a number of open-source content management systems, including WordPress ®, Drupal® and Joomla!®

How Important is Content?

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Content is the “holy grail” when it comes to search engine optimization. If Google’s computers (not humans) can pick and choose the very best, relevant sites and rank them for you to see, it safe to make the statement “content is very important when it comes to search engine optimization”. Don’t be misled by companies or individuals who try to promote link building or directory/press release submissions before writing and optimizing your content; regardless of how many inbound links or press notoriety you have, your site simply cannot rank well without a decent amount of well written, relevant content.

How Do Search Engines Work?

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Search Engines use proprietary algorithms–normally regarded as “highly secret”–to calculate a number of components of your overall ranking score. Though the algorithms vary from search engine to search engine, it is commonly known that all of the following are taken into account: content (and the optimization thereof), images, links (both internal and external), page titles, META descriptions and keywords*, URL and longevity, and overall traffic from within that search engine.

*It is arguable that search engines no longer use information provided in the “META Keywords” section of the META tags. Instead, they calculate their own keyword ranking percentages based on the page content.

SEO Houston, TX

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Smith-Digital - SEO Houston TXSEO Houston TX

Call us “seo houston tx”; Smith-Digital provides Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and to its clients in Houston TX. It can be difficult to find a company that does Search Engine Optimization properly. That is, without using “black hat” techniques like keyword stuffing, links farms, and repetitive social bookmarking. Smith-Digital only uses proper SEO techniques. These include content writing and optimizing, inbound links (linking) and reciprocal link building, local map and business directory submissions, search engine optimized structure analysis, and many others. We specialize in content writing and optimization in Houston, TX.

Content for SEO

It is the opinion of most, especially in 2011 with Google’s “Panda” update, that content can be a deal maker, or breaker. Content is so important when it comes to SEO; as a search engines reads through your site, how could it possibly rank high without being incredibly relevant to the users search terms or keyword phrases? “Content, content, content!” we say, and it has provided us with quite a bit of success. Of course, relevant content isn’t always easy to come by for business owners; that is the main reason Smith-Digital offers content writing for individuals and businesses in Houston, TX.

SEO the Right Way!

Do you need help with Search Engine Optimization in Houston Texas? Have you tried to use search engine optimization on your own site with little or no result? Contact Smith-Digital today for a free estimate for SEO services on your website. To rank high in Google and other search engines, SEO is a must! Our team of professionals will work with you from the start, and continue to work with you until your site is ranking where it needs to be. Of course, be careful of companies that guarantee “first page rankings” in Houston, TX; many of these companies may be able to quickly increase website rankings, but as with anything else that is done improperly (or even unfairly) your rankings will fare badly as the site continues to grow.

Organic vs. Paid Ranking

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Organic vs Paid Search Engine Rankings

Which is better?

It is estimated* that more than 3 out of 4 search engines users choose organic results over paid advertisements. The statistic may be higher, though, simply because data does not include information about whether or not users clicked organic results before clicking on the paid advertisements. Either way, organic search engine results are surely the best way to increase website traffic. Websites found on the first page of search engine results have an exponentially better chance of being picked than those on even the second page.

Organic Search Engine Rankings – What gives?

Today, we as a whole put a lot of trust in Google (and search engines in general); not only with our digital identity, but also with information we request and view. Organic results use Google’s coveted algorithm to pick the best, most relevant and popular websites to answer our questions or find what we’re looking for. A goal for any website is to have a number of different first page rankings within search engines. Of course, as with anything else done correctly, this will take time and steady effort. If first page rankings were as easy to achieve as some make it sound, search engines would be a volatile place with constantly changing results based on little or no pertinent information.

Paid Rankings – You Get What You Pay For (and More)

A simple trick to “get quick first-page stardom” is by using pay-per-click advertising. Relatively inexpensive, and a possible quick and easy fix for low traffic websites, programs such as AdWords can boost your traffic cost-effectively. Per-click budgets average from under $.25 to multiple-dollar bids. Your per-click budget will depend on the competitiveness of the market and your personal budget for internet marketing. Many PPC programs offer a free credit to start, sometimes as high as $100 free to start. Take advantage of these! You can quickly get an idea of the traffic this type of compaign would generate, and help you to estimate a reasonable monthly budget to increase your traffic (and bottom line).

*MarketingSherpa & Enquiro Research