What is an authority site?

Is there a special technique to link building?

What about article link building; does it really work?

These are some very key questions I see in forums, discuss with other Internet marketers, and there is always a difference of opinion. 

So whose search engine optimization efforts are working, and who is wasting their time?

Good question.  Since the algorithms are always changes, and Google doesn't share everything with us, we need to begin implementing our own intelligent SEO research building techniques.

As of August 1, 2007, backlink authority link relevance has changed. 

"What!?  You mean I spent all of this time and money paying for links, writing in forums, posting articles, and asking hundreds of webmasters for links, and it doesn't matter now?!  Are you joking?!"

Well, yes and no.  Your backlinks still matter, but not all of them.  Highly relevant backlinks are going to be weighted more heavily than unrelated (garbage) links.  So if you set up a BLOG or asked some friends to post comments about your web site in hopes to get more backlinks, if those sites were unrelated to your product or services, you wasted your time.

Page rank. What a difficult subject.  Tormenting for most I know.  I actually built this BLOG just a couple months ago, but made no effort until just about 2 weeks ago to try and get some good, incoming links.  I now rank for some very competitive terms on the first page of Google Cool.  The effort I made was pretty dismal, so I was pretty content.

Know what was really great?  Technorati already listed my BLOG, and all I had to do was login and claim it!  I am a big fan of their site now.  And they are a PR8 Authority Site!  Woah.  I was stoked.

Do I know what to do to get higher rankings? 

Actually, yes. 

Have I done it? 

No. 

Why not? 

Hmmm.  I guess running my own business for clients and also having a full-time job takes more of my time than I'd like.

But I've decided to start implementing what I've learned over the years and test this out on this particular BLOG.  Yes, a BLOG. Not an optimized BLOG, either.  A GoDaddy BLOG that I can't do much with except use great keywords and write valuable content for to help my readers learn SEO tips and AdWords strategies.  See there, I just did it again!  :o)  Is that so hard?  Nah.

So if you would like to take a little ride with me over the next few months, let's see where my AdWords PPC and SEO Services BLOG ends up as an authority site, and how Google sees me versus what Yahoo thinks of me.  Gosh.  I hope I don't get rejected.  I might get my feelings hurt and give years of all my hard work up!  Not.  I love a challenge!

All it takes is some effort, and thinking.  And linking.  And a bit of intelligence.

To increase your search engine ranking, one of the new techniques is to forget about all PR7 sites and below, and concentrate on the PR8 and PR9 Authority Sites for incoming links. 

But paying for links was supposed to be a no-no! 

Guess what.  What spammer is going to pay Yahoo Directory $299 per year to get listed with a PR8 Directory to improve their search engine ranking?

Actually, not many.  And that's just to start. 

Try and get listed in DMOZ.ORG.  I have. My site still hasn't shown up.  Guess they don't like me or my content.  There aren't too many PR8 and PR9's that don't cost a pretty penny, and the selections are as slim pickings as the ending of a Wal Mart Blue Light Special Sale.  Those were so popular growing up in Jersey!

How many web links do I need to get improved search engine rankings?  Well, from what I've been told by some very valuable and highly technical individuals (seriously), you only need about 12 incoming links to improve your SEO visibility.

Is that all there is to it?

Heck no.  But that's a good start.

Hey, you mentioned there might be a special technique to link building?  What do you mean?

Well, when you want an incoming link, and you are hopefully using your highly researched anchor text link (we are talking about article directory submissions here), please tell me you do not send them all to your home page?  You should be sending all of the relevant articles with anchor text links to the appropriate pages on your site. 

I know, everyone wants to focus on your home page.  But work on several of your pages, and make darn sure the title of each page matches the keywords you are using in your anchor text link and category you are submitting the article to in the directory.  Otherwise, you will get penalized for irrelevant content.  Bad link. Bad. Bad. Okay, I'll stop now.

As for your meta name description, keywords, and header tags, make sure each page is different.  Each set of meta name descriptions, and keywords and header tag should be related to the title.  And do NOT use the same word more than twice in your keywords, or you will be seen as spam.  Please keep your keyword to about 10, approximately 250 characters, but thoughts on that are always changing on that relevance, too.  Geez.  Penalties left and right, I agree. 

One thing you can be sure of is that it will change.  Technology changes; therefore, algorithms will change.  Hence, you must update to comply with all of these changes.  But you are here because you enjoy a challenge, right?  You don't like the corporate 9 - 5 jobs, remember?  Ah, yeah, that's why I'm here.  I remember now.  Frustration must be something we all enjoy in some warped way.  We can't be complacent, and we must always be challenged.  Well then, here you are, at the right place at the right time.

I will add one last note about article writing.  Please, please, please do not use articles from membership sites where everyone can use them repeatedly. 

Duplicate content. Bad. Duplicate content. Bad. Duplicate content. Bad.  Getting bored yet?  Then you must get my point, and that's how the search engines feel about it to.  So don't do it. 

Either hire someone from a college who loves the idea of getting his articles "published" on the Internet and pay him or her $5-$8 per article, or outsource to one of the popular sites we all use.  But don't rearrange the same article.  I have one of those programs, and I will not use it.  Another of many products I purchased over the years.  If you get caught as duplicate content, you just defeated your hard work, and for what?  Content!  For shame.

Fresh, unique article content.  Sure, it takes time.  I should be in bed to get up early for work.  But I am a total geek, so I wanted to write this article first.  And look, I am done.  That wasn't too hard.  30 minutes and I will post it, ping my BLOG, and wish you all well and hope that I was able to help you in your diligent endeavors to attain higher search engine ranking.