Michael J Byers

Here are some SEO tools:

• Keyword Spy - An online tool which helps you to find out what your competitors are doing on Google Adwords and spy on their keywords and Ad units.
• Backlink Checker - Find backlinks linking to a website and their URL information.
• XML Sitemap Generator - Create an XML sitemap for your website.
• Free Analytics Tools - Powerful analytics tool. Even allows you to track your ROI by keyword for each AdWords ad position. Google AdWords also has internal split testing and conversion tracking software.
• Google Webmaster Central - Learn how to use Google APIs and developer tools to put technologies like Google Maps and AJAX Search on your website.
• Check Google page ranking - Check your search engine placement and page ranking in Google. A free search engine optimization tool.

Search Engine Optimisation web analytics, search engines, seo, seo tips, search engine optimisation, page rankings, google, adwords

Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin.

This is a good book if you already know about SEO techniques and want to improve them. While it is clear and informative so may also help some one starting out with search engine optimisation.

The step-by-step guide to spending an hour a day on SEO really proves worthwhile. The light hearted approach to the practical techniques really adds humour.

This book will definitely help you improve your websites rankings. Stick with your SEO plan and it'll soon become second nature to you.

Book Recommendations search engine optimisation, seo, reviews

Building Findable Websites: Web Standards, SEO, and Beyond by Aarron Walter

This is a great book on building your website the right way. If you build it to meet web and accessibility standards then search engines will love it. All you need to work on is your content.

Write your content for humans first. Have relevant and attractive content to make your site worth finding. But always remember that if the site works for the visually impaired then it works for search engines.

The book also covers how to hold on to your audience with RSS, mailing lists and user generated content.

This well written book should be part an essential reference when building your websites.

Book Recommendations reviews, web standards, accessibility standards, seo

In the United Kingdom it is your responsibility to ensure that your website is accessible to disabled visitors.

So far there have been no cases in the UK where a lawsuit has been brought against a company's website because of inaccessibility. That is not the case in Australia where the Sydney Olympics Committee was sued because of website inaccessibility.

Another high profile offender was Target in the United States of America. Target settled a website accessibility lawsuit and agreed to pay $6 million after a two year legal battle.

Small business benefits of accessibility

You may think being a small business that your website won't get sued. But if your website is not accessible then you are missing out on these business benefits:

• Increased market share and audience reach
• Improved usability
• Reduced your website maintenance costs
• Greater compatibility and future proofing

Here are some facts and figures regarding disabilities (from the RNIB):

• There are 8.5 million people in the UK with a disability (source: ONS).
• 2 million people have sight problems (source: RNIB).
• £40-50 billion - The combined estimated spending power of disabled people (source: Employers Forum on Disability)

So with a spending power of £40-50 billion why would you not want your website to take advantage of that?

I can improve your website to meet accessibility standards. Contact me now to increase your website profitability with an accessible website.

Accessibility accessibility, websites

You want all of the pages on your website found by search engines so it is important not to overlook the structure of your links. If search engines can't find the pages then it won't matter how much search engine optimisation you do the page won't be indexed!

Here are some tips to a better link structure:

• Don't use Javascript for links. Search engines can't see them and won't follow Javascript links.
• Make sure all pages link to another page. All pages must have outgoing links. Pages without outgoing links are called dangling links. And by having them it may reduce your page rank.
• If your site uses dynamic pages then ensure that Session IDs are not used in your URLs. Search engines like Google won't index them.
• Organise your internal links to reinforce the main keywords you are targeting.
• Make sure the text around the link and the text of the link relates to the linked page.
• Don't use identical link text for every link that links to a page. But do include the target page's main keyword term in the link text.

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Search Engine Optimisation keywords, seo tips, seo, search engines, search engine optimisation, google, page rankings

In a previous entry I spoke about how you can use Twitter to promote yourself and even use it to find a job. Well today I came across a story that highlights the problem with posting your thoughts on Twitter.

An agency person from Ketchum (New York office) went to Memphis to present to FedEx, a client of theirs. On his arrival in Memphis he tweeted unflattering remarks about Memphis. This was picked up by an employee of FedEx and he emailed a response to the agency person, the management at Ketchum and FedEx management including the VP. The FedEx employees are proud of their city and took offense to his comments. The full story can be found on Peter Shankman's blog.

So be careful what you tweet. Everything you post on Twitter will be read. If it happens to cause offense then the resulting bad press will affect your business.

General twitter, customer service