How Important Is A Site Map,How To Create It?

What are Site Map: A site map of a website is similar to the table of contents of a book. Sitemaps are important because it guides web surfers to the particular part of the website they have a point of interest in. With it they would save time following links and get right to the point instead.

Sitemaps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a site map, you can most likely be searched.

Creating a sitemap, now with software technology surging in, is relatively easier than before. You need not be a programming guru to be one. All need is a notepad, a program editor, and some patience. Here’s how you do it:

Create the listing on a notepad.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a notepad. Any word processing program will do. First off, make sure to type in all the parts and pieces of your website. Include all pages and all links you have. Create it as if you listing the contents of your book. Make a draft first. You’re sure no to miss something out this way.

Create a new page for your sitemap.

You can insert the sitemap on your website on one of its pages or you can create an entirely different page for it. Using your notepad, incorporate all tags necessary to it to make another webpage. Open up your website creator program and tag your sitemap using it. If you have created your website on your own, this will be easy for you.

Create a link for the sitemap.

You won’t be able to view the sitemap if you won’t put a link for it, of course. Create the link on the front page of your website so that visitors can view it right away and be directed appropriately.

Check what have you done.

It is important to validate the functionality of the links you created on the sitemap. Test each and every one in there and if you get an error, be sure to fix it accurately. Run through every single page to make sure that all are accounted for.

Upload your work.

Place the sitemap now on your live browser and double check it. It should function as smoothly as the dry run. Error should be minimal at this stage since you already have verified it locally.

The steps provided herewith is the manual way of creating a sitemap. These days, if you search hard enough on the web, you will find online programs that will do all these work for you. All you have to do it type in the URL or the link of your website and they will create the sitemap with click of a button.

Of course that method is generic. All of you who have created their sitemap that way will have an end product that is all the same, plus there’s that possibility that something else will be inserted in there too. Then again, the process is less taxing and way, way simpler.

But if you want a more personalized output, and you are pretty good with computers and programming yourself, better make one of your own. And since you made your website anyway, creating sitemap is just like creating any other page on the website. Other than you’ll know for sure the links are accurate, you can organize the links the way you prefer it to be. Major parts of the site are emphasized compared to less significant. This is important especially if you are selling products or offering services online.

Sitemap is vital to a website. People search the web a lot for something. If your website has what that particular person is looking for, and your sitemap reports it, then you have a new customer looking at your items. Not only that, they will see some other things up for sale that they might be interested in as well.

Sitemaps, be it generated by a program automatically or you made it yourself, presents the same purpose. That is to lead your visitors to where they’re likely headed, and for you to be seen on the World Wide Web through search spiders. So with these, make sure your website has a sitemap of its own, lets make one now.

Visit the following site to generate a Site Map for your website :

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

Tips to make a Blog Contest successful

Contesting is an amazing viral tool that gets more exposure for your blog provided you use the contest strategically to leverage growth for your blog.

The objective of any contest should be to create a viral effect and increase user ship for your blog.

Tips to make a blog contest successful :

1 ) Don’t rush:
- Don’t start a contest as soon as you launch a blog, get at least about 30 - 40 good articles on your site before lanching a contest, ensure you have decent amount of traffic to your blog atleast 25 - 35 visits a day to your blog, ensure your content encourages interactivitity from your readers in terms of comments at least about 4 - 5 good commments per post.

Once you have the above you can start to work on a contest as you have now created a solid foundation for the contest to be successful.

2 ) Keep the contest simple:
- Keep focused on the objective of being viral, keep the contest very simple. Let the user do a maximum of 5 action oriented things to gain an entry in to your contest. Anything more than 5 will not go well with the user.Respect your users time for contesting.

3 ) Create a viral buzz:
- Ensure that you give entries or points to users to create a viral buzz for your blog. You should leverage social media sites like Stumble Upon and Technorati to favourite your blog, gain visibility and increase ranking.

4 ) Ensure a link strategy for your contest blog:
- Incentivise users with entries to link your contest post to their blog. This is the best natural form of getting noticed by Google. This will result in high Google ranking and high PR in the next update depending on how many sites link to you.

5 ) Use forums effectively:
- Use webmasters forums effectively to ensure that your contest post is visible. Create a contest thread for your blog on these forum to leverage traffic and entries to your blog. Use at least 10 - 12 webmasters forum for this activity. Ensure that each thread on each forum is different, the will help you in not posting duplicate content for your blog online.

Every webmaster forum has a Contest sub section, make use of this to promote your blog.

6 ) Ensure reputable sponsors:
- Good sponsors and prizes are always an attraction for any contest. Ensure you tie up with reputed blog and sites to build attraction for your contest. High the value of the prizes better the response to your blog contest.

7 ) Get high commenting:
- Ensure that you comment intelligently on top traffic blogs in your niche and drive traffic to the contest post instead of your home page.

PPC Ads--How To Create Them?

13 Tips to Keep in Mind When Writing Your PPC Ads

1. Heading.

This is the most important part of your Ad. The heading is what potential visitors see first when looking at various search results. The better the visitor can identify with your heading the more likely they are to click on your ad and visit your web site. Keep in mind that you headline MUST give them what they want. It must give them the answer they are searching for, if it doesn’t they won’t click. On the opposite side of that. The headline is a good place to qualify your prospects. You don’t just want “lookie loos” on your web site wasting your money by clicking on your ad and not signing up for your product.

2. Use keywords in your title.

Use keywords that people are searching for in your ads. By using the keyword in the heading it captures the searcher and subconsciously they think that your as answers their search because you have the keyword in the title.

3. Benefit.

The first line of the ad should describe the benefit of what you’re offering. Buyers want to know “what’s in it for them” so TELL THEM! For Example: “new affordable pool equipment” In this example, the benefit is that your equipment is new and affordable.

4. Feature.

The second line of your ad should depict a major feature for your particular product or feature.

For Example: “deal with experienced experts” In this example, the feature is that your company is experienced and knowledgeable; “Been is business for over 20 years” is another good feature because people assume that if you’ve been in the business for a long time than you know what you’re doing (which may or may not be a good assumption on their part!)

5. Display URL vs Destination URL.

Google give you two places to note your URL, one is seen on the ad (the display URL) and one is the actual web site a visitor is taken to when they click on your ad (the destination URL), both are very important.

Since the space you are given to get your message across is so small, the display URL is another place that viewers can subconsciously see your information. So, make it simple on them to read and consider using the keyword (of it fits) as a subdirectory of your URL.

For example: www.YourWebSiteHere.com/PoolEquipment For the destination URL, make sure that the landing page (the page your visitor is taken to) gives them the answer to their search. If they were looking for pool equipment, DO NOT take them to the home page. Instead, direct them to a page that lists all the different pool equipment you have available. Simply by doing this one trick you will decrease your bounce rate (or the number of people that leave your site without visiting any other page on your site, more importantly the confirmation page that tracks your conversions!)

6. Capitalize EVERY word!

Although these ads may say the same thing, but which stands out more to you? For Example: Pool equipment New affordable pool equipment deal with experienced experts. www.yourwebsitehere.com

For Example: Pool Equipment New Affordable Pool Equipment Deal With Experienced Experts. www.YourWebSiteHere.com

So, which do you think is going to attract the eye of the potential buyer?

7. Keyword Methods.

There are several methods for choosing keywords

1. [Exact Match]- The search has to match exactly to your keyword with no additional keywords. For example: if [pool equipment] was searched, your ad would only be displayed someone searched for pool equipment and not new pool equipment.

2. “Phrase Match”- Your ad appears when that exact phrase is searched. Your ad will come up even if additional words are used, but you search has to be shown in the exact order.

For Example: if “pool equipment” was searched, your ad would come up new pool equipment, pool equipment store, but not for equipment for your pool.

3. Broad Match- If you do not put your keyword(s) in brackets or quotes, then Google will come up with results for all possible matches of your keyword(s).

For example: if some searched for pool equipment, your ad would show up for new pool equipment, pool equipment for your home, pool equipment store, etc. Unfortunately, there is no one “best way” to match your keywords. You must take a look at your business and decide what works for your product or service. One more tip- if you decide to use broad match make sure you use negative keywords, such as free. This was your ad would not come up when someone search free pool equipment (unless you really had free equipment to give out- and if that’s the case, let me know and we’ll talk).

It is quite easy to note the negative keywords. For example, if you didn’t want free you would write - free in your list of keywords. So you may have a list that looks like this:

[pool equipment] pool equipment - free

And yes, you can most certainly list exact, phrase and broad match keywords.

8. Don’t forget the “www.” Make sure that your use the “www” is your display URL.

No, it is not necessary and the visitor will still reach your site without it; however, today, our brains are so systematic that by including the “www” it not only draws attention to the web site (and the ad) but it allows our brain to process that we are looking at a URL and thus we should remember what we are looking at.

9. Short and to the Point.

You are VERY limited in the amount of characters you get for your ads. Therefore, keep your ads as concise as possible… GET TO THE POINT!

10. Price.

We all know price drives a person. Even in real estate if your home isn’t selling than what’s wrong with it? The price. If you have competitively priced your product or service to be the lowest in your market, consider putting the price in your ad title. If a potential buyer sees your low price they’ll probably click on your ad to see what you’re all about.

11. Free. I like free- don’t you? People inherently like “free” things.

So, if you are truly giving something away for free (like a free consultation, free bonus, free trial) than consider putting free in your title. Again, it will grab the attention of your potential buyer and encourage them to visit your web site.

12. Two things to look at: CTR (Click Through Rate) and Conversion Rate.

Both of these elements are key when you are analyzing the success of your keywords and ads. You must find a “happy medium” between the two elements, because without it, your ads will fail. For Example: If you adjust your ad focusing solely on your conversion rate, although you may be converting more people and thus probably spending more money If you had 1,000 impressions and 4 visitors your CTR would be .04%. Of these 4 clicks, you had 1 conversion for a conversion rate of 25%. Not a bad conversion rate and you’re spending less money to get it. Good right? Well, kind of. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) Google places rank of CTR and those ads with a higher CTR will be shown more often (keep in mind this is not the only factor but is one of many). So, although you may think you’re doing better because you’re spending less money and getting more leads/conversions you may sacrifice you position with Google.

13. Test,

Test and Test AGAIN! Unfortunately, even after spending all the time in the world to make sure you have the best possible ad for your product or service you cannot just “set the ad and go.” You must keep testing the ad to see what works. Yes, at times, this re-testing can be a daunting task, but if you don’t continually test your market, ads and keywords you will loose the game because I guarantee you, your competition is still testing.

Classified Ads

How to Promote Your Business Using Classified Ads ?

Classified ads can be very effective in online marketing. Free classified ads fit into every budget. It all comes down to how much time you are willing to spend creating, posting, updating and deleting ads. Depending on your particular product or service, it can be time-consuming to respond to interested parties, deliver goods or services and maintain a high level of customer service.

Selling through free classified ads can help you promote your business. Include your company’s name, product information and a website link in your ads to gain more attention. Include pictures whenever possible to give customers a better idea of what they can expect if they make a purchase from you.

Benefits of Promoting on Classified Ad Sites

Aside from saving you money in advertising costs, placing ads on free classified sites has many other benefits. These include:

• Targeted traffic directed to your website.
• Instant posting.
• Few rules regarding what can be posted.
• The opportunity to test your ad copy at no cost before placing ads on websites that draw more traffic but charge a fee.
• The ability to track your visitors and gauge how successful each ad is.
• The ability to build your opt-in list and follow up with potential customers.

Tips for Promoting Your Business Using Free Classified Ads

Promoting your business with free classified ads is relatively easy. Still, there are some steps that can make your campaign more successful. Keep these tips in mind:

• Familiarize yourself with the terms of the classified ad site before posting. This will help you avoid having your ads deleted.
• Place ads frequently for better results. Update weekly to keep your posts at the top so you get more views.
• Remain professional, both in your classified ads and in dealings with potential customers.
• Make sure your ad shines and stands out from the crowd without being too loud or obnoxious.
• Include keywords to help targeted customers find your ads.

Classified Ads and Niche Marketing

One particularly effective way to get more targeted traffic from your free classified ads is to choose sites that are very specific in nature. For example, if you own a company that sells creative and unique baskets, then you can place your ad on a site for gifts. If you own a used car dealership, however, the gift site is not going to work for you. You can advertise in the automobile section of a general site, but you can also search for classified ad sites that are specifically geared toward car enthusiasts. The key is that visitors to these sites will already be interested in what you have to offer.

Traditional Advertising Versus Online Marketing

The advertising world has changed a lot over the last decade. Traditional print ads are not as effective as they once were. They also can be costly. Online marketing is the most effective way to promote a business, whether it is an online business or actually has a storefront. Free classified ads should certainly be included in your marketing strategy. Carefully track your website traffic to gauge how effective each ad is, and then make adjustments as needed. Online marketing is here to stay. Avoiding this valuable tool is like shutting the door on potential customers.

Manual Directory Submission

What is Manual Directory Submission?

Directory submission is the process of submitting site URL to web site directory. The process is not merely filling the form at directory submission page but also involves more than this. Now the question comes what all is involved in manual directory submission process. So following are the steps involved in Manual Submission of websites.

Select A Web Directory

The first step is to select website directories which accept submission. There are three kind of directories Free, Reciprocal and Paid directories. You have to select directory as per your requirement. Major requirement for selection of directory is that it should be search engine friendly so that vote can pass from directory to website submitted. Quality of Internet directory is also important factor as submission to low quality or spam directory can have negative affect on site submitted. The best selection is niche specific directories.

Search for Website URL

Searching for URL of the website to be submitted in directory to ensure that it has not been already submitted. Directory editors hate multiple directory submissions and will likely remove your site if it is already in their listings. Directory submission process starts if the website is not already listed in directory

Select A Proper Category

Browsing to an appropriate category e.g Computer and Internet > Internet > Web Promotion > SEO Services. This involves deep digging of directory structure to find appropriate category. Web site submission to proper category has more chance of approvals. The best way is to see other site listed in category selected by you. If they are similar to your website it means you have reached at right category.

Create A Valid Email Account

Creation of separate email account for directory submission service. This is done keeping in mind that the email address will likely be spammed though, so don't use a personal email account. Valid Email is also required so that directory editor can notify you of any issues with your submission.

Fill Directory Submit Form

Next step is filling of form after selecting category. Checking of title, and description of other website listed there to access what is editor view regarding title and description length. Filling the proper title and description as specified in the submission form. Other field usually required is Email, Name, Keywords and URL of the website to be filled. Rechecking of the directory submission form to ensure that all fields have been correctly filled and clicking the submit button. Verifying of the success page message to ensue that form have been correctly submitted. Adding in List of Directory Submission Adding the name of directory and particularly the category URL where you have submitted in separate sheet to avoid duplicate submission in future. Checking of Directory Listing Approval Last but not least to check the approval of website submitted. Checking back in a few weeks to see if the site has been added to the directory. This is necessary as in many cases directory editor do not inform about the accepting of website submission. If listing is not approved then again you have to repeat the process with selecting different category, title and description etc.

3 Simple Tips to Make Your Website User-Friendly

Here are three simple tip to make your website user-friendly:

Navigation

The navigation on your site is probably its most important element. If visitors find your site confusing or cannot successfully navigate through it, they will leave. Make your navigation bar as simple as possible. One of the worst mistakes is using an expanding navigation bar that makes the visitor scroll over it in order for the menu to reveal their options. Most often, this type of navigation bar has too many choices; your visitor doesn't know where to go, so they get flustered and leave.

Navigation on your site is an art, and you should direct your visitors through a logical path to where YOU want them to go (not to where they think they want to go). One way to do this is through call to action buttons or CTAs. We use these buttons on all of our sites; a visitor will go to a main page, and then we can direct them to the parts of that site that we want them to be aware of. We use this method instead of an expanding menu, because we find that it is more logical for visitors. With this method, you can direct visitors to where you want them to go, allowing you to control the buying process.

Quick Notes: most "expanding menus" are created in Macromedia Flash. Search engines cannot read Flash, and therefore they will not pick up these links on your website. If the search engines do not pick up the links on the navigation bar and these links are nowhere else on your site, they cannot accurately crawl or index your site. This is search engine suicide, because without even knowing it, you are stopping search engines from understanding what your site has to offer and from driving traffic to you.

A good rule of thumb is that a visitor should be able to get to every page on your site with two clicks from your home page. Now, this is not realistic for very complex sites. If your website is complex, you can have a sitemap to help visitors navigate. Some sort of search function may also be a good idea for your site.

Page Load Speed

It's hard to believe that some people are still stuck using dial up. Even if you have entered the world of high-speed Internet, no matter what you do, some websites will load slowly. (If you're frustrated using high-speed Internet, imagine the frustration of those on good 'ol dial up!)

Page load speed is VERY important. I know that when I am surfing the Internet and I stumble upon a site that loads slowly, I get annoyed, frustrated, and don't browse the site for very long. If your website is loading slowly, you are probably losing out on valuable customers, no matter what business you are in.

In today's web world, we are seeing more and more images, audio files and videos. These things are useful, but you have to be careful that they do not affect the inner workings of your site (in this case, the time it takes for a web page to load). You want to be careful about the size of the images on your website. Both large-sized images and using too many images can cause your website to take too long to load, resulting in visitors leaving. Another tip is to convert videos into a jpeg (image) that only loads and plays the video when a visitor clicks on it. Yes, you may be adding more images to your website, but these are usually small image files; in the hierarchy of the web, a video will slow down your website much more than a small image.

Another factor that can influence the load time of your website is the amount of excess code you have on your site (that is a topic for another day - but ask your webmaster, and they will know what I am talking about).

Information

The number one thing that visitors look for is information. They are coming to your site to be educated about your products and/or services and, most of all, how THEY can benefit. With this in mind, it is critical for the information on your website to be accurate, complete and up-to-date. Visitors will leave your site in a split second if the information you are providing is old news.

What's that best way to provide up-to-date information on your website? The best way we suggest is through blogs and articles. By having a section on your website for blogs and articles, you can provide new, relevant and educational information to your visitors. Adding them is not only simple, but it is fast too!

So there are my three simple tips for the month on how to make your website user-friendly. This is only the beginning of what your website should contain,Visit this blog again to know more...

Submit your site to SEO friendly directories.

Create a one-way link for your website.

Search engine optimization (SEO) has started turning submission to directories and articles to its advantage. You could have an excellent website, and you may have the latest e-commerce technology and the best graphic design work. Now comes the tricky part: choosing an SEO firm. There's a long list of SEO firms claiming that they can do submission to directories, link building and article submission.

For any SEO firm or webmaster, the most worthwhile ways forward are articles and other web contents. Not only does our article submission service ensure that all incoming links to your site are 'relevant'.

Our submission services ensure that each manual directory, we submit to is relevant to your site; each directory is chosen based on exact category

Any major search engine that actually catalogs and indexes a directory has to meet certain criteria. Our service ensures that each directory, we submit to has been thoroughly researched and not blacklisted by any search engine.

Key Features :

• submit to all directories.

• Submit your site to directories with high PR rank.

• Submit links that you get are one-way permanent links for your website; no reciprocal links are required.

• Allow your clients to give 10 unique titles and 10 unique descriptions to avoid duplication of content.

SIX--->Search Engine Marketing Strategies

6 Search Engine Marketing Strategies

Search engine marketing involves keeping your content fresh, using keywords that put you at the top of the first page and obtaining as many links to your site from other websites as possible.

1. Search engines need updated content. Pay attention to which sites show on the first page and you will notice that among the sites in keyword competition, it is the sites with the most updated content that win. Either write your own articles and upload your own graphics and photos or outsource the job to freelancers.

There are many freelancers who write for reasonable rates. With one good writer or writing team, you can improve your site's rankings dramatically. Make sure the writer you choose understands SEO.

2. Keyword strategies- Going for those people who instead of searching for 'weight loss' search for 'how to lose 20 pounds fast' and other more specific terms. Do not stuff your pages with keywords. The recommended density of keywords is between 2 and 3 percent of the text on your page.

Excessive keyword phrases are not only recognizable to search engines as ‘stuffing’; they can ultimately affect the quality of the writing. This is where LSI comes in. LSI involves using phrases that are synonymous with your original keyword phrase. Learn about LSI!

3. The more relevant sites that link to your page, the better your rankings will be. For example, if you sell creative scrap booking products, try putting links about your self-designed scrap booking pages on sites that instruct people on how to scrap book. This is one way of 'piggy backing' on the keywords used by other sites.

Write your own articles or have a freelance writer write some for you. Submit them to article directories and allow other sites to use them providing they leave the resource box or by-line connected to the article. It is a 'scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' strategy and it works for both sides.

4. You can use your blog for more search engine marketing. If you update your blog daily and ping it with blog directories, you will see an increase in your blog's search engine rankings. Link to your site from your blog. This is another means of piggy backing.

5. Purchasing clicks on search engines is another strategy used in search engine marketing. This is how sites are placed in 'sponsored sites' at the very top of the page and along the right hand side on Google. Depending on the keywords you use for this strategy, you will have to pay a few pennies to several dollars in order to beat out your competition. Yahoo allows you to set a daily maximum amount of money for clicks. If your site is brand new, try the lowest amount of money for a week or so to test how many clicks you get and how many sales you make from those clicks.

6. Monitor your site traffic on at least a weekly basis. Note how much of your traffic is coming from regular search engine marketing. After a couple of weeks of tracking, make small changes to optimize your site's search engine rankings. Continue looking for ways to improve on your site.

Tips For Creating Landing Page That Get You Leads

Increase your conversion rate with just a few simple steps on your landing page design

1.Make sure your headline refers directly to the place from which your visitor came or the ad copy that drove the click.
2.Landing page optimization tip: remove the navigation bar on your landing page design.
3.Provide a clear call to action : Use a minimum of 2 calls to action in a short landing page, 3-5 in a long landing page.
4.Be crystal clear in your goals : Keep your body copy on point as a logical progression from your headline and offer.
5.Keep your most important points at the beginning of paragraphs and bullets.
6.Make your first paragraph short, no more than 1-2 lines.
7.Remove all extraneous matter from your landing page : This includes navigation bars, visual clutter, and links to other sections.
8.Make sure the landing page is relevant to the keyword/ad copy of your PPC ad.
9.Keep the "required fields" to a minimum on your landing page.
10.Make the user feel comfortable - always include a privacy policy on your landing page.

These tips will get you started. Design elements are critical, ie— color, images, layout — as well as video, audio, and other interactivity elements whose purpose is to more deeply engage the reader and boost response.

Landing Page Design

What Elements Drive Conversions?

Are you aware of the elements that drive pay per click conversions?

Do you know what closes sales and what doesn’t?

If not then you might want to hold off on designing your landing page until you figure out what does drive conversions. No sense throwing money away experimenting with pay per click advertising when you aren’t sure how it works. The following elements on your landing page should be considered for every landing page design you undertake:

• Call to Action - Your call to action is one of the most important elements of any landing page. This is the content that will ask for the sale. Without a strong call to action you will not see as many conversions as you expect.

• Page Content - Give thought to your page content because if your site visitors bounce off the page before reading through it they’ll never convert, even if you have the strongest call to action possible. Your content must be engaging and keep them reading.

• Headline - Your landing page headline must grab your readers’ attentions. They’ll never read your outstanding content if you don’t get their attention first.

• Overall Design - The design of your landing page is very important. Is it attractive? If not, your readers might not stick around.

• Landing Page Layout - Page layout is one of the most important aspects of building a quality landing page. Are your photos and graphics placed optimally? Do you have exit links that encourage page visitors to leave before making a purchase? Do you make good use of bullet points, headlines, sub-headlines, and other page elements?

Each of these elements will contribute to a higher or lower conversion rate on your landing page for pay per click advertising campaigns. If you do not understand the purpose for each element then you can’t fix any conversion problems your page might have. I hope these points will help you building better landing pages.

Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata.

In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Some social bookmarking services also draw inferences from the relationship of tags to create clusters of tags or bookmarks.

Many social bookmarking services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users.

As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks, the ability to import and export bookmarks from browsers, emailing of bookmarks, web annotation, and groups or other social network features.

Advantages

With regard to creating a high-quality search engine, a social bookmarking system has several advantages over traditional automated resource location and classification software, such as search engine spiders. All tag-based classification of Internet resources (such as web sites) is done by human beings, who understand the content of the resource, as opposed to software, which algorithmically attempts to determine the meaning of a resource. Also, people tend to find and bookmark web pages that have not yet been noticed or indexed by web spiders. Additionally, a social bookmarking system can rank a resource based on how many times it has been bookmarked by users, which may be a more useful metric for end users than systems that rank resources based on the number of external links pointing to it.

For users, social bookmarking can be useful as a way to access a consolidated set of bookmarks from various computers, organize large numbers of bookmarks, and share bookmarks with contacts. Libraries have found social bookmarking to be useful as an easy way to provide lists of informative links to patrons.

Disadvantages

From the point of view of search data, there are drawbacks to such tag-based systems: no standard set of keywords (a lack of a controlled vocabulary), no standard for the structure of such tags (e.g., singular vs. plural, capitalization, etc.), mistagging due to spelling errors, tags that can have more than one meaning, unclear tags due to synonym/antonym confusion, unorthodox and personalized tag schemata from some users, and no mechanism for users to indicate hierarchical relationships between tags (e.g., a site might be labeled as both cheese and cheddar, with no mechanism that might indicate that cheddar is a refinement or sub-class of cheese).

Social bookmarking can also be susceptible to corruption and collusion. Due to its popularity, some users have started considering it as a tool to use along with search engine optimization to make their website more visible. The more often a web page is submitted and tagged, the better chance it has of being found. Spammers have started bookmarking the same web page multiple times and/or tagging each page of their web site using a lot of popular tags, obliging developers to constantly adjust their security system to overcome abuses.Some social bookmarking websites added CAPTCHA protection to fight spam, but this can prevent blind users from registering for those services if accessible CAPTCHAs are not provided.

List Of Social Bookmarking Sites :

• Balatarin
• BookmarkSync
• Delicious
• CiteULike
• Connotea
• Digg
• Diigo
• Faves
• Furl
• GiveALink.org
• Linkwad
• Ma.gnolia
• My Web
• Mister Wong
• Mixx
• Newsvine
• oneview
• Propeller.com
• Reddit
• Simpy
• SiteBar
• StumbleUpon
• Windows Live Favorites

Google PageRank

Google's PageRank is but one factor Google uses to determine its search results.Learn what PageRank is and where you can find more information about it.

1. What Is Google's PageRank?

PageRank is part of Google's method of ranking web pages. Google explains it best at their web site:

"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important.""

It is important to remember that PageRank is but one factor Google uses to determine the rank of a web page in the search results. This is why you can find pages with a lower PageRank listed above pages with a higher PageRank. Google also factors in the content of the page and the pages linking to it.

Don't become overly concerned about your PageRank. Focus instead on properly building a high quality site with loads of great content that serves your visitors well. If you do this, improved PageRank will follow naturally.

2. How Do I Find The PageRank of a Web Page?

One way to get a general idea of your PageRank is to download the Google toolbar. This is a search tool bar that works with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or later browsers. Included with the search tool is a small graphic display that shows Google's ranking of a page on a 0 to 10 scale - 10 being the best.

3.How Important Is Google PageRank?

As Google continues to reign as the top search engine referral source, we all continue to check our PageRank.
SEOs and webmasters scramble to increase their PageRank to a respectable score, anything above a 5, as we continue to analyze the workings of Google's PageRank calculation and its weight within the ranking algorithm. It is not a mystery that PageRank has a fairly large role in Google's ranking, but how much weight? Are there other variables that outweigh PageRank? Below we will discuss how much weight is given to PageRank, if PageRank alone is enough to rank, and more.

The Google algorithm takes many things into account when ranking web pages. Some of the variables for ranking in Google are:

• Page Title
• Link text
• PageRank
• Heading Tags
• ALT Tags
• Domain names
• Filenames
• Directory names
• Link popularity
• Keyword density

The weight that PageRank is assigned within Google's algorithm has always been debated, and will continue to be as the algorithm changes from month to month. Google does not stick with one algorithm like other search engines. Instead, Google switches between a few different algorithms from month to month.

One of the main reasons that the weight assigned to PageRank is debated is because it is not uncommon to see a website with a lower PageRank outranking a website with a higher PageRank. When we see this, it means three things:

1) PageRank is not the most important factor in Google's rankings algorithm.

2) A properly optimized website with an average PageRank can outrank a non-optimized website with a high PageRank.

3) On-page variables play a larger role in Google ranking than most tend to think.

We have seen evidence of web pages with a PageRank of 4 and 5 ranking higher than web pages with a PageRank of 8. The website with the PageRank of 5 was highly optimized and utilized all of the variables that Google takes into account when calculating rank. The website with a PageRank of 8, although carrying some of the SEO basics, was not highly optimized.

This is what happens to many corporate websites. The website ends up being awarded a high PageRank as a result of the high amount of websites linking to them, but they end up being outranked as a result of the lack of search engine optimization. When a website has a PageRank of 8 or above, it will not take a high level of optimization to obtain top rankings within Google.

PageRank is not the end-all-be-all of ranking within Google. One of the reasons is that PageRank is easily manipulated. For example, recently we are seeing companies selling links from websites with high PageRank. For this reason and others we realize that the PageRank calculation is not perfect. Therefore, Google cannot rely on a flawed concept for their algorithm - having a website's score play a role in its ranking is fine, but the score should not be the basis of this calculation.

If you design or optimize your website properly, remembering all of the on-page variables and criteria, you can set yourself up for success. Once you have completed this task and your site has entered the ranks, you will realize if you need to increase your PageRank to battle in Google's search engine results pages.

Link Popularity

Link popularity is a major factor when it comes to ranking well in search engines and drawing traffic to your site. Learn how to increase the number of links to your site, how to get quality sites to link to yours, and the overall effect link popularity has on your rankings.

1. What Is Link Popularity?

Link popularity is the number of incoming links that you have to your site from other sites. These links can be from directories, articles, or web sites. The more links you have pointing to your site, the better.

The number and quality of links that you have pointing to your site are a factor that many search engines consider when determining the rank or your site and individual pages of your site. Also, the more incoming links you have, the greater the traffic to your site.

2. Getting Links To Your Site

The most important factor in getting others to link to your site is having a site worthy of a link. In other words, have a site or page that a directory editor or site owner thinks would be of benefit to their audience.

The best way to do this is by having great content. Great content will draw people to your site. Great content will make people want to stay at your site. Great content will cause people to tell others about your site by linking to it.

It doesn't matter if your site is an information source or is selling something, you can provide great content with articles, reviews, etc.

After you've created a site worthy of a link, start by submitting to the directories. Hit the major directories, regional directories, and thematic directories.

Next, look for quality sites that would be complimentary to your audience and exchange links with them. For example, if you sell patio furniture, look for sites that sell gardening supplies and contact them about exchanging links.

The best way to contact a potential link partner is by visiting a site and looking for ways the site owner could naturally include a link to your site in their content. Then look for ways to naturally incorporate a link to that site from yours. After you've done this, email the potential link partner with your idea. Don't use a form letter. Just send a short, personal note explaining what you have in mind.

When looking for potential link partners, always think in terms of how your site would be beneficial to the visitors of your partner site and theirs to yours. If you are selling patio furniture, trying to exchange links with a site selling medical supplies is not a good use of your time.

Another way to get links to your site is by writing articles about the topic of your site and allowing other sites to carry the articles for free provided they include a link to your site at the end.

3. Checking Your Link Popularity

Marketleap provides a very handy tool called Link Popularity Check. It is a great way to periodically check the number of incoming links to your site.

4. What Not To Do.

Don't use automated programs that send out form letters asking for links. If you use this type of program, only use it for locating sites that may be worth contacting. Then, visit the site and send a short, personal message in the manner described above.

Don't expect everyone to want to exchange links.

Don't expect a reply. If you don't get a response, you may want to try again in a couple of months.

Don't be impatient. Just because you don't receive a reply, it doesn't mean you won't get the link eventually. Many site owners will file link requests and come back to review them when time allows.

Don't set up a big page of links to just any site, and don't exchange links with sites that do the same.

A link building campaign includes 4 actions:

1) Reciprocal links:

Exchange reciprocal links with websites relevant to your industry.

2) One-way-links through Directory Submission:

There are virtually 1000s of directories accepting free new listings everyday. In most cases, website marketers boycott such “secondary directories” thinking that no traffic would result from being listed on them.... We agree! This is not what will bring traffic! However, inclusion in directories creates a strong one-way-link factor. In other terms, submitting your website to 100s of “at-first-sight-insignificant” directories will greatly enhance your link popularity factor. Of course, submissions should be addressed to directories featuring a decent PR.
Please note: Only manual submissions work for directory submission - Beware of those companies offering to submit your website to thousands of directories for a few dollars only since they always perform the work with softwares which are not SEO friendly – submitting to a directory requires individual registration in all cases and it is a labor intense process which can only be fulfilled manually.

3) One-way-links through Blogs & Forums:

Participate in blogs and forum discussions. Post comments & questions and always have your URL listed in your signature. It is always advisable to address blogs and forums within your line of industry as a priority, but not necessarily... In fact, as an example, you could be a manufacturer visiting a marketing forum, and you could post a simple statement such as “Thank you for the tip!” in response to someone giving good information. The name of the game is to interact with online communities through blogs and forums to have a valid excuse to list your URL as many times as possible, thus increasing your link popularity through one-way-links.
Link enhancement through Blogs & Forums is also a labor intense process which cannot be implemented through software. In order to post a comment, each blog/forum requires registration. There is an art to “navigate” through blogs & forums, but it is well worth the time invested since Google values greatly this type of one-way-link!

4) One-way-links through Article Submission & Press Release:

Article submission & online press release have become industry standards in the world of SEO - Thousands of eZine publishers are looking for new articles and press release material on an ongoing basis. In most cases, you should not expect to receive traffic from such articles after they get published... In fact, chances are that your articles & press releases will never be found nor read, but their purpose is once again to increase your link popularity through one-way-links.

Search Engine Submission

Learn to submit your site to directories such as Yahoo! and getting your site spidered by search engines such as Google.

1. How Will The Search Engines Find My Site?

There are basically three ways to get your site listed in a search engine:

• Submit your site directly to the search engine using a free submit form.

• Let the search engine find your site through links to your site from other sites such as directories.

• Pay the search engine to index your site.

2. Submit Your Site Using A Free Submit Form

Some of the major search engines and most of the smaller search engines will provide a form that you can use to submit your site for free. With the smaller or thematic search engines, this is a good method to use.

For each search engine you'll just need to locate the submit URL form and submit your home page. There is no need to submit anything else. And, you don't need to keep submitting your site month after month. Re-submitting your site over and over after it has been indexed does nothing but waste your time. It will not improve your rank in any way.

Don't be surprised when you find that not all of the major search engines even provide a free submission form any more. Don't worry though. With the major search engines, submitting your site isn't even necessary. This is because the major search engines will find your site through links to your site from other sites. This is why it is very important to begin getting incoming links to your site as soon as possible. You should start by getting your site listed in the major directories.

3. Submitting To Directories - Help the search engines find your site.

For the major search engines, if you get incoming links to your site from other quality sites, your site will be found. The best way to be sure your site is found is by submitting to the major directories that are crawled by the search engines. This is a good approach for the search engines to take because sites listed in directories have already been reviewed by an editor and been considered to be worth a listing.

So, in addition to the traffic that the directories can send to your site directly, getting listed in the major directories is also important for getting your site found by the major search engines.

To get started, be sure to get your site listed in the following directories that are crawled by the search engines:

• Open Directory Project - Also known as ODP or DMOZ.
• Skaffe.com
• Sporge
• WoW Directory
• GoGuides.Org
• JoeAnt.com
• Best of the Web Directory

When you are submitting to directories, be sure to take the time to find the best category for your site and read the submission guidelines provided by each directory. By following their guidelines, you will improve your chances of being listed and decrease the amount of time it takes to get listed.

Obviously, there are many more directories where you can submit your site. These three are provided to get you started. After you've submitted to these directories, then you can begin submitting to other directories. Don't forget to find local or thematic directories that are relevant to the topic of your site. You will be able to find many in our list of search engines and directories.

It will take time for the search engines to index your site after it has been listed in the major directories. So, be patient and expect to wait at least a couple more months before your site starts appearing in the index of the major search engines.

4. Pay the Search Engines to Index Your Site

Paid inclusion is the process of paying search engines to index pages from your site. The primary benefit is not having to wait for the search engine to find and index the pages of your site on its own.

The topic of paying to be indexed is covered in our Paid Inclusion section.

5. Services To Avoid

There are hundreds of "companies" that make claims about submitting your site to thousands of search engines. You've probably received an email message from one of these companies that had a pitch along the lines of...

We Will Submit Your Site to 500,000 Search Engines for Just $29.95!!

Don't fall for this scam - it is a complete waste of money.

First, there aren't 500,000 search engines.

Second, even if they claim to submit to just a few thousand, there aren't that many that will accept your listing because the search engines they submit to are thematic search engines. For example, if your site is about real estate, you won't be listed in a search engine or directory that is focused on sports.

Third, they will submit your site to Free For All links pages that no one will ever use. Plus, these free for all sites are notorious for harvesting email addresses so they can send you spam.

I could go on and on with the reasons why these services are a terrible waste of money. If you are contacted by one of these companies in any way, don't fall for their sales pitch, just ignore them.

6. Services That Can Help

With the warnings about the submission services we've discussed, it is important to point out that there are some services that can help. They won't arbitrarily try to submit your site just anywhere. They will develop a linking strategy specifically suited to your site. If you hire a professional search engine optimization company, this will be part of the services offered.

A professionally developed linking and submission strategy won't be cheap. It takes a good deal of time and research to do this properly.

META TAGS SEO ARTICLE

Meta Keywords Advice

Do not use the meta keywords tag. Many people still think of this as a quick fix for SEO. It's not. Google no longer uses it. Yahoo is perhaps the only search engine that still uses the meta keywords tag but places very little weight on it. By placing this tag on a web page, the primary beneficiary is your competition. How so? The meta keywords tag gives your competitors a nicely formatted list of your important keywords. Don't believe me? Try the free keyword research tool at the end of this article.

Search engines used to rely heavily on the meta keywords tag to guess which keywords were relevant on a web page. Now search engines are sophisticated enough to examine the actual keywords in the body of a web page. Major search engines place little, if any, value in the meta keywords tag. There is more risk than reward in using the meta keywords tag because your competitors can view the meta keywords tag and can steal your keywords. What do I mean by "steal" your keywords? By placing the meta keywords tag on a page, you are, in effect, giving your competitors a list of your important keywords. They can then use these keywords and buy PPC ads or optimize their own site for your important keywords. Why give them this sort of business intelligence? Having invested time and money on exhaustive keyword research to identify the important keyword phrases to use for your own SEO and PPC efforts, why on earth would you make a list of your high value keywords public?

Here is our meta keywords advice: do not use the meta keywords tag. Instead, make sure the title of your web page has your important keywords and that those keywords are repeated in the body of your web page. If you want to, create a meta description tag. The search engines do use that meta tag, but it's not essential for SEO. Creating good content is essential. Each page should have useful content and include your important keywords. Don't try to stuff all of your important keywords onto a single page. Create pages around a theme, a small collection of keyword phrases. For instance, target 1-3 keyword phrases per page. Write a title that incorporates those keyword phrases. If the title seems awkward from the point of view of your audience (site visitors not the search engines), scale back the number of phrases and try again. If you choose to write a meta description tag, it should reinforce the keywords already in the title tag. The body of the page should then include those important keyword phrases. Again, though, the content of the page should be written for your site visitors and not seem awkward.

Since many web sites do still use the meta keywords tag, we have developed a free keyword research tool that will analyze the meta keywords of your competition. Use the tool to see what keywords your competitors are embedding in their meta keywords tags and then research these keywords using other freely available tools. When I begin work for a new client, I ask them for a list of their competitors' web sites. I plug those into the tool and it gives me an instant list of keywords. That's only the beginning, a starting point for further keyword research. As time goes on, I expect online businesses to become a bit more savvy regarding meta tags and this tool will no longer provide a quick start. In the meantime, use the free keyword tool and crush your competition!

Original by Richard Ball

Visit : http://www.apogee-web-consulting.com/tools/keyword_tool.php

Why Use CSS-Based Design

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allow for the designer to separate the content from the design. A CSS-based design allows the designer to create a site with much less code than a site with an identical look that has been designed with tables. While tables are appropriate in some situations, a design that primarily uses CSS to control the layout has several advantages:

1. The decreased amount of code allows for faster downloads.
2. The decreased amount of code allows search engines to easily access the true content of a page, ideally resulting in higher search engine rankings. Search engines rank pages based on their content. With table-based design the page will contain substantial coding that does not relate to the content. CSS-based pages will have minimal extra markup which makes it easier for the search engines to find the content. If excessive coding prevents the search engines from finding the content, the pages ranking will suffer. In addition, CSS-based design allows the website designer to position the most valuable content ahead of less meaningful content, whereas tables present content in the order that it is displayed on the page. Content higher in the code will generally have more influence on search engine rankings.
3. CSS-based design is easier to modify than table-based design. If a designer wants to make significant changes to the layout of a page designed with tables, starting over may be the only option. CSS makes it easier to perform routine updates as well as significant layout changes.
4. CSS-based design allows a website to be more accessible across various browsers, as well as to those with disabilities using screenreaders and other devices.

Sitemaps, Their Purpose, and Some Helpful Resources to Create Your Own

Sitemaps are a great tool for both web designers and visitors. Of course, there are two different types of sitemaps,

1) XML sitemaps (also known as Google sitemaps)

2) HTML sitemaps. Each type serves its own purpose.

An HTML sitemap can be used effectively to increase the usability of a website by providing a page that links out to every page on the site (or at least to the major pages, depending on the size of the site). Navigation is of course one of the most important aspects to creating a user-friendly site, and when visitors aren’t able to easily find what they are looking for, many will turn to a sitemap. As a result, the HTML sitemap can help to keep visitors on your site by showing them where to find specific information. Additionally, because the sitemap links to all of the other pages on the website, they can be helpful to search engine spiders as they are crawling through the site.

XML sitemaps are created especially for search engines, and they’re not useful to human visitors like an HTML sitemap would be. Most of the major search engines are now using XML sitemaps to find and index all of the appropriate pages on a website that provides an XML sitemap. For website owners that want to be sure that Google is aware of all of their pages, this is the best option. A number of the tools that we’ll look at below can help you to easily create an XML sitemap automatically, and some of them will even update the sitemap as new pages are added to the site.

Sitemap Tools and Resources

Sitemaps.org - If you’re still looking for more information on XML sitemaps, check here.

Google Webmaster Tools Sitemap Generator - Google Webmaster Tools can help you to generate your XML sitemap, and then you’ll want to verify the sitemap through Webmaster Tools so Google knows it exists.

XML-Sitemaps.com - Probably the easiest way to get your own XML sitemap (and it’s free). With this tool all you need to do is enter your URL and wait for a few moments. You’ll then have an XML file that you can upload to your server. This tool even gives you the option of how frequently you want the sitemap to be updated. I have used this one myself on a few occasions.

AutoSitemap - This tool is similar to XML-Sitemaps.com. With AutoSitemap you can create an XML sitemap for very large sites (up to 50,000 pages). This a free version and a paid version that offers a few more features.

Sitemaps-Builder.com - This is a simple (and free) online tool for quickly creating an XML sitemap.

XMLSitemap.com - Another free online sitemap generator. This one also lets you set a frequency for it to be updated.

Google Sitemap Validator - Smart IT Consulting offers a free validator for XML sitemaps. Simply enter the URL of your sitemap and give it a minute to process.

Sitemapgen - SourceForge has a downloadable sitemap generator. I haven’t personally used this tool because of the other online options that don’t require a download.

SitemapDoc - At this site you can create both an XML sitemap and an HTML sitemap.

WriteMaps - Create, edit, and share your sitemaps online.

Simple Map - A free tool for creating XML or HTML sitemaps.

Online Sitemap Creator - This tool will create an HTML sitemap. I tried it and it did a pretty good job for the static part of the website, but not for the blog.

AutoMapIt.com - This website will create XML and HTML sitemaps, and it has a few other tools as well. To use the tools you’ll have to create an account and link back to them.

WordPress Sitemap Tools

Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator - A simple plugin that will create an XML sitemap and update it with your new posts.

Sitemap Generator Plugin - This plugin from Dagon Design will create a nice HTML sitemap that includes links to all of your posts and pages.

Drupal

XML Sitemap - An easy way for Drupal users to create an XML sitemap.

Free Keyword Tools

Free Keyword Tools

Keyword Density
Cost: Free
Type in a URL and you’ll see what phrases are used most commonly throughout the page. You have the choice of including meta tags, alt tags, and the title, as well as the choice of 1, 2, or 3 word phrases.

Keyword Research Tool from Apogee Web Consulting
Cost: Free
This tool allows you to see what words and phrases are used in your competitor’s keyword meta tag.

SEO Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool
Cost: Free
One of the more useful and unique free tools, SEO Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool not only gives you related words and phrases, but it also shows the search volume and provides links to the results from other keyword tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery. The links help you to save time by not needing to visit a lot of different sites and perform repeated searches.

SEO Book’s ,Keyword List Generator
Cost: Free
Are you having trouble coming up with a list of keywords for a PPC campaign? Type in your URL and a few keywords and this tool will generate a list for you.

SEO Book’s Keyword Misspelling Generator
Cost: Free
Sometimes searchers will spell words incorrectly. You can benefit from knowing common misspellings and using them in your PPC campaigns. This tool eliminates the need for you to figure out possible misspellings. Type in a word or phrase and you will get a list of possible mistakes.

Yooter Keyword Suggestion Tool
Cost: Free
Find search volume and related phrases with this free tool. It also allows you to export the results into a spreadsheet program (like Excel) via a .CSV file. Requires registration.

McDar Keyword Analysis Tool
Cost: Free
When you enter your URL and a keyword or phrase this tool will provide information on your page and compare it to the top 10 ranked sites by Google for the word or phrase that was entered. The data includes total pages indexed, links and PageRank.

iBusiness Promoter
Cost: Free
IBP is a free tool that shows you search volume and the level of competition for keywords. It also shows you which keywords your competitors are using. Requires download.

Overture’s Keyword Selector Tool
Cost: Free
One of the most frequently used free keyword tools. Enter a word or phrase and Overture will show you related phrases and search volume for each.

Google’s Keywords Tool
Cost: Free
A fairly simple and valuable tool that shows related keywords, search volume, and levels of competition. Provides a large number of suggestions based on pages that are ranking well in Google for the phrase that is entered.

Keyword Suggestion Tool from Wordtracker
Cost: Free
Enter a keyword of phrase and get up to 100 suggestions as well as an estimate of their daily search volume.

Bookmarklet from SEOproToolz
Cost: Free
With the bookmarklet you will drag a link to your browser’s toolbar and the tool will be usable. It will analyze any page that you are visiting to generate related keywords with prices for Google AdWords.

Meta Tag and Keyword Analyzer from Submit Express
Cost: Free
Enter a URL and the tool will show you the meta tags of the page, keyword density, load time, file size, and links found on the page.

Good Keywords
Cost: Free
Includes keyword suggestions, misspelling suggestions, phrase builder and more. One of the more simple programs that still includes multiple tools. Requires download.

Keyword Research Tool from Webmaster Toolkit
Cost: Free
A simple free tool that will help you to find related keywords to a specific word or phrase. It will analyze top-ranked pages in a search engine that you select and report on words and phrases used by those sites.

Keyword Tools with a One-Time Cost

Rapid Keyword
Cost: $69.99 (one-time payment)
Rapid Keyword helps you to find the right keywords by showing results from both Google and Overture’s suggestion tools, as well as by providing possible misspellings. You can analyze the competition by seeing how many competitors are on the major PPC programs for particular words or phrases. Several keyword management tools are included. Offers a one-day free trial and a 60-day money back guarantee.

The Permutator
Cost: $49.99 (one-time payment)
The Permutator includes a keyword suggestions tool as well as various tools to help create and manage lists of keywords. It also includes a typo tool and an ROI calculator. A trial version is available.

Keywords Analyzer
Cost: $97
One of the more popular keyword tools, it will help you find search phrases that have low levels of competition for PPC ad campaigns. Keywords Analyzer also helps you to analyze your competition and manage PPC campaigns.

Web CEO
Cost: There is a free version as well as $189 and $389 versions.
Web CEO is SEO software that includes a keyword tool. The keyword tool provides keyword suggestions, search volume, competing sites, and much more. Requires download.

The Dowser
Cost: There are several tools that range from free to $297
You can research and manage keywords with the free tool, or purchase tools for keyword harvesting, misspellings, and more.

Keyword Elite
Cost: $167
With Keyword Elite you will be able to see the keywords that your competitors are bidding on. You’ll also be able to do keyword list generation and management.

Keyword Cruncher
Cost: $37
A keyword analysis tool that works with Wordtracker. With Keyword Cruncher you can import data from Wordtracker and manipulate and analyze the data. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Keyword Tools with On-Going Costs

Wordtracker
Cost: $299 for a 1-year subscription (weekly and monthly options also available)
One of the leader keyword tools, Wordtracker will help you to find the right keywords and other phrases in which they are commonly used. There is an option for a free trial.

Marketo
Cost: Standard version is $49 per user (the first user per organization is free) plus 7.9% of the amount spent on ads managed by Marketo
Marketo is a complete PPC management program. It features keyword tools, bid management and optimization, and testing tools. There is an option for a 30-day free trial.

Keyword Discovery
Cost: $599
Compiles statistics from over 180 search engines. Features include keyword research, suggestions, misspellings, seasonal search trends, and more.

Adgooroo
Cost: Starts at $99 per month
Adgooroo will show you the search phrases that are generating most of the traffic for your competitors. It’s tools help you to identify more specific phrases that will bring more traffic. There is an option for a 10-day free trial.

NicheBot
Cost: $9.97 - $19.97 per month
NicheBot provides a variety of keyword research tools as well as keyword list management tools. It also includes an affiliate product finder.

SEOmoz Keyword Difficulty Tool
Cost: The tool is limited to premium members, which currently costs $49.00 per month
This tool is used to analyze the competitive landscape that exists for particular search phrases. It is intended to show how difficult it will be to achieve high rankings for specific terms.

HitTail
Cost: Basic version is free, HitTail Plus is $9.95 per month
HitTail shows you real time statistics on what keywords visitors are using to find your website. Widgets are available for Blogger, TypePad, SquareSpace and WordPress.

Wordze
Cost: $35 per month
Wordze offers tools such as keyword research, historical keyword data, analysis of competitors, importing keywords, managing projects and more.