How many links to get to #1 Google?
Do I blast out an xrumer OR try and be frugal?
I’ve heard that backlinks are king, is it true?
And can I do it on my website that’s brand new?
Tell me do I use the exact anchor phrase?
Or when it comes to linking are there better ways?

Thanks in advance
Newbie.

Dear Newbie,

Links definitely do help you, that much is true
But it isn’t about how many you accrue
It’s about quality my friend, quality and trust
If you get the RIGHT links you can leave the others for dust
So let’s look at what a quality link really is
(By the way I learned all this stuff from Griz)
The best are in content and not the blogroll
A link from a good website is definitely your goal
It helps if the site is similar to yours
And one that Google already adores
Contact the owner and see if they guest post
Then write a kick ass post with the most
Or build your own network of sites if you dare,
They really can help if they are made with care
Even some web 2.0 sites will work
But write good stuff there too and don’t be a jerk
If you don’t like to write then make a video
See Allyn for tips and go check out his mo!
If you put the work in then your site will improve
It’s not that hard if you get in the groove
Just ignore all the ebooks asking for $97 cash,
They are written by guru’s who like to flash, cash then dash,
Focus on quality links then your rank will rise
And you’ll be able to sell more white socks and ties
When you’re counting your cash as the sun goes down,
Sip some champagne and watch Cougar Town.

Tracey
P.S. No really, Cougar Town (unfortunately named) rocks.

P.P.S.  Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thanks for reading How To Rank #1 in Google – A Poem. If you liked it, consider leaving a comment. Tracey :)

Last week I did an experiment on one of my niche sites where I was ranking #5 for a term that gets searched for quite a lot. I got ok traffic from that term, but I wanted to see if I could improve it. But instead of the usual linkbuilding that I do (article marketing, web 2.0 marketing, other link building), I wanted to see if I could move it with JUST internal linking. I wasn’t that confident.

For the experiment I wrote four new posts and in each post put a link back to the page I wanted rank higher using the phrase as the link text. I added each new post one day at a time to see if the rankings changed after each new post.

At first it didn’t budge, but after the fourth post (on the fourth day) my ranking moved up to #2 for that phrase.

I was pretty astonished (and happy).

Of course this rank improvement could be due to a few factors since the posts are still quite new so they are on the front page of the website – which eventually will get pushed lower as I add new content, but I’m really quite excited about what this could mean with getting other phrases to rank higher without having to do as much work as I used to.

So I want to continue this experiment. I currently have another term on the same site that I’d like to get ranked higher (it’s currently #11) so next week I will try to see if I can move that page higher with ONLY internal linking – and also whether adding more content that pushes my other posts down will cause the first term to drop in rankings as well.

We will see …

Tracey Edwards (<< my rankings have started to drop for my own name, so I better try and get that back up as well LOL )

Thanks for reading Internal Linking & Why it Rocks!!. If you liked it, consider leaving a comment. Tracey :)

I thought I’d give you an update to let you know how I was doing.

The site in question is not under my control (it is an online store) and all affiliate’s have the exact same store, the only difference being the affiliate id on the end. 

Therefore I can’t change the content nor do any onpage SEO on it.  But was I able to rank it (including my affiliate id at the end so I get credit for any sales) in the search engines?

Before I started this challenge I was nowhere to be found in the SERPS (or at least not in the top 200 – I stopped looking after that).

Around 26th April I finally found myself ranked at No. 192 .. and since then I’ve been slowly climbing the serps.  Today I am at  No. 81 in Google for my main keyword, and have been getting a lot of little hits and long tails as well.

Ok, so I’m still not high enough to get any significant traffic or sales (I have only had one sale in the last month via that site – total commission around $30), but I’m pleased enough with the results that I’ll continue my backlinking campaign and see where I am in another month.

Overall I’m still very confident that I’ll be able to get this online store much higher and my goal is to get it on the front page (if that’s possible).

I’ll keep you posted ..

Thanks for reading Getting Duplicate Content Ranked in Google. If you liked it, consider leaving a comment. Tracey :)

But not just any backlinks, keyword anchored backlinks. What’s a keyword anchored backlink?

A keyword anchored backlink is one that contains your keyword in it. This is what Google uses primarily as a ‘vote’ as to what your site is about.

A keyword anchored backlink: Affiliate Marketing Tips
A normal backlink: http://www.tracey-edwards.com

They both go to the same website (i.e. mine), however I would get a lot more link juice with Affiliate Marketing Tips than I would just having my website address.

I never understand the importance of that before (which is why my blog ranks really highly for my name, but not much else).

I’ve been using keyword backlinks a lot lately for many of niche sites and they are slowly rising in the SERPS. I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks now but I know that if I keep at it and building links to my sites they will eventually get higher and higher.

So how you do get backlinks to your site?

My favorite method is still via article marketing. Article directories such as ezinearticles and goarticles have a high PR (which is important for sites linking to you – not your own site) and you are able to place two links into your resource boxes.

If you wrote one article for each keyword phrase that you are targeting then you could have one of your anchored links to your specific post, and another to your main site. And effectively get two good backlinks to your site.

Another method is commenting on dofollow blogs, joining link building programs and learning as much as you can about SEO.

I haven’t even started trying to rank this site for anything yet because I don’t have a clue what I want to use it for yet (other than just looking pretty and chatting to you guys) but one day I might make it a huge site full of lots of affiliate marketing tips that you can make lots of money online with.

Until then – enjoy my posts.

Tracey xx

Thanks for reading How to Get Back Links. If you liked it, consider leaving a comment. Tracey :)

I was an idiot.

Yes, this particular blog doesn’t make that much money because really it’s more of a social blog so people can keep track of what I’m doing online but the number of niche blogs that I now have that is growing all the time and THEY do earn me some nice Adsense income. It all started about a month ago when I discovered Griz.

What’s a Griz?

Griz is, in my opinion, the best SEO/Adsense teacher that I’ve ever come across online. I found him after doing a search for ‘make money online’ in Google and his How to Make Money Online for Beginners site was about #3 – out of over 180 million results.

Oh and did I mention that it’s a free blogger blog? Interesting isn’t it.

He also recently started another site that I also have been reading: Make Money with Adsense. It’s eye-opening.

Anyway all of the information on his blogs is free and the best SEO & Adsense information that you’ll ever find. He walks the walk, and talks the talk.

Since following his methods my Adsense income has risen from about $2 per day to $10 per day. In just one month! Imagine what I’ll be earning from Adsense in 12 months time.

So my advice to you dear readers is to visit Griz and devour his websites. Read everything twice. Three times if you have to. Delight in every tip for making money online that your little beginner (or even intermediate to advanced) minds can soak up.

It’s just another income stream to add to your belts and best of all its totally free.

Griz – you’re a legend.

And yes I can’t help that this blog is pretty – I’m working on it. 

Thanks for reading SEO & Adsense – How to Master Both. If you liked it, consider leaving a comment. Tracey :)