Obviously, the more traffic you attract to your business website, the more money you will make. Search engine optimization, more specifically generating back links, is one of the prime ways to attract more traffic. Back links are basically incoming links from reputable, relevant websites with high page ranks. Here are six ways to get back links for your website.

1. Guest Blogging

Although somewhat time consuming, guest blogging is an extremely effective way to generate back links if you have a blog on your business website. All you need to do is contact someone with a blog (high page rank) that is relevant to your business and your blog. Once you get them to agree to you guest posting on their blog in exchange for a back link, you need to craft an excellent blog post.

The great thing about guest blogging is that not only do you get a back link, but you also have a audience. If the audience of the blog likes what you have to say, they may go to your business website and decide that they like the products and services that your business offers.

2. Comment on Websites

Before you decide to comment on every relevant website out there, make sure the blogs you choose to comment on are “DoFollow” blogs. Back links in blog comments only count on “DoFollow” blogs and not “NoFollow” blogs. Some bloggers decide to have “NoFollow” blogs because of people who spam in the comments for back links.

If you decide to comment on websites for back links, make sure that you input something valuable instead of a link and an “Awesome. Visit my website.”

3. Social Networking Websites

Chances are, you’ve heard of social networking websites being an excellent way to gain priceless back links. Check the profiles of each of your social networking profiles and add a link to your business’s website. Also, regularly use FaceBook, Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn, and other websites to spread the word about your business website.

Of course, you shouldn’t spam on these social networking websites. By using social networking websites, not only will you get back links, but you will also get visitors from followers clicking on your links.

4. Add Back Links to Your Website

Try to interlock all the content on your website. For certain keywords, you should add back links and make them click-able. For example, if you talk about services on the pricing page, you should link the word “services” to the services page.

5. Give out Back Links

The saying, “Give and you shall receive” really does apply when it comes to back linking. Try giving back links to other websites. Once the website owner finds out you’ve given them a back link, most likely, they will end up giving you one back to be polite. However, since finding out who’s given you a back link is hassle, you may want to give the website owner a head ups.

6. Have Excellent Content

One of the best ways to get plenty of back links is by writing excellent content. When someone encounters something they really like, chances are, they share it on social networking websites or their own blogs or websites. By impressing people with your content, you can have other people do all the back linking work for you instead of the other way around.

Also, usually when you rely on this method, the back links you get will be quality, instead of from “spammy”, bad neighborhood websites.

If you want to have a business website with lots of traffic, back links is definitely the way to go. As you can see, there are many ways to generate back links to your business website.

[This was written by a guest blogger from Purely Hosting a leading web hosting company that specializes in shared hosting.]

As a writer I have always been tooting my own horn. Content is king I wrote. Get unique content for your website, I begged clients. Some listened, others not so much. Today I have been redeemed. Some of my former clients will be eating crow as Google bumps them from its search results.

What Does the Penguin Update mean to Users?

The bottom line is Google wants the best user experience for its visitors. That means the content that will eventually make its way to the top of the search results will be top notch.

Google in its latest update has literally emasculated hundreds of websites. While searchmetrics.com states only 3% or so of the keywords have been affected, the data is still coming in. We won’t know the actual numbers until the fluctuation stops [some webmasters are still seeing their websites falter in the search results].

Consider that when you search for ‘doctors’ you do not get a fluke pharmaceutical site that has optimized its way to the top rather you get a website for an actual doctors office based on your location.

Sure Google has a long way to go before it tweaks all the web analytics, but it has started the process.

What does the Penguin Update mean to SEO?

Does the Penguin update mean SEO firms will be made obsolete? Not quite.

The Penguin Update will force SEO firms to reinvent their strategy.

They can no longer offer blank packages successfully; rather they will have to offer more customized services.

SEO firms, even those using white hat techniques know how to manipulate data. They can add keywords in the right places; create links in the right neighborhoods and, boom, the site ranks #1. It is not necessarily offering the best information for the searched keyword, but it is ranking.

Now, that will not be realistically possible. SEO firms will not be able to offer 200 directory submissions to two completely different web sites.

They can offer it, but if it were me, I would not accept.

Why do SEO Firms have to reinvent their strategy? Case in Point

‘A’ has a site on mortgage loans

‘B’ has a site on music videos

‘XYZ’ is an SEO firm offering a package for $250 a month. This includes 200 directory submissions, 20 search engine submissions, 100 do follow links etc.

So what happens if A and B Choose XYZ to do their SEO? They get royally screwed by XYZ.

How you ask? XYZ will not have people going to individual directories, checking whether the directory is the correct category for the site. They will randomly submit the sites to any directory. So Google will find links for site A and B in directories that are catering to Health, or News or even useless information no one in the WWW has ever heard off.

What will Google do? You got it. It will penguin site A and B for web spam.

What is the Future of SEO and Web Marketing after Penguin?

SEO has to become customized. As a small business I would hire individuals over companies. As a big business if I am hiring a company, I would opt for a dedicated team, whether virtual or local.

This would ensure that I get a customized solution. I do not need people submitting my site to 200 directories; I do need someone who is able to market my site in a customized way.
What Should Site Owners do to get Top Rankings?

Add quality content to their websites.

Quality content does not mean that you can hire writers sitting in third world countries for 0.01 a word, and become a success. These writers are cheap for a reason. They simply go online and, reword articles already there.

 Can you do that? Yes.

Will it be successful? Not after Penguin.

What Google expects is content that offers originality. It does not want similar content across tens of websites. It wants to bring to the top those sites that offer a quality user experience.

So if I want to know about ‘Symptoms of Diabetes’ I would expect a site like WebMd to make it to the top. It actually offers an answer to my query.

If a SEO firm using yesterday’s formula does help your website make it to the top, it will be temporary. Google’s Algorithm is being altered in a way that allows it to trace the user behavior for top results. If a site is ranked #1 for a keyword and, the bounce rate of that site is 90% you can bet your last dollar that the site will soon be obliterated from the ranks.

However, by the same calculation, if a site is #10 for a keyword with a bounce rate of 10% you can again bet your last dollar that it has a good chance of making it to the top.

The Bottom line is Content. It has always been Content.

It is clearly stated in the Google Webmaster Guidelines

•Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

•Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.”

•Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”

Google has always focused on content. It is simply that now, with the Penguin update; it has come armed with more than just words.

It is ready to emasculate, yes that is a word I will reuse. It will emasculate web sites that do not offer quality content and, insist on using over optimization techniques.

Not the custom content that is a rewrite of articles already online, but unique, individually structured articles that engage your visitor towards your industry. A month or so ago, tens of sites were affected by Google’s update. Some were penalized because they were buying links and, others were penalized because their content was simply not good enough to be considered for first page ranking.

Google wants to make its search optimized for the visitors. It wants to humanize its index as much as possible. If you had great Meta tags, used H1-H2 tags, followed every SEO rule except providing extraordinary content, you may have been penalized after reigning supreme in Google rankings.

The buzz is, Google does not want hard core SEO it, wants SEO balanced by content that is worth the visitor’s time.

How does Google gather the data? Simply-through analytics. Google sees where the visitors are going when they click on your link. So if your website was #1 for the keyword ‘Student Loan’ and, people went to your site which really did not have much about Student Loans, and they bounced back. Google would decide that the site does not belong at #1.

So if you have been optimizing your site for keywords that are not relevant to your visitors. Think again.

-          You need content that will engage your visitors to remain in the Google ranks now.

-          You need to make sure the articles and, web content is updated.

-          You need to have something other websites lack-information.

Forget the $1 articles that you have been buying, reduce the amount of articles you have been adding to your site, and add one or two articles that really matter. Otherwise watch as your site goes down in a blaze of glory.

Advantages of Project Management Software

• This software application can be invaluable if you have a number of projects that you are required to closely monitor. All employees will have the ability to keep a keen eye on the progress of various projects. With many eyes being watchful, there will be less chance for mistakes.
• It will be easier for project budgets to be maintained. Project management software can assist in cutting down on overspending. This will save your company money that can be used in other ways.
• There are a number of software formats available, so you should be able to locate an application that will fit your company’s needs. These packages are also offered at various prices and with a varying degree of installation options. You can locate an application that should be simple to install and use.
• Organizational skills of all of your employees will be enhanced when working with this type of software. There are a variety of features offered that will assist your employees in staying on top of their assigned tasks, saving the company time and money.
• You can find the technical support you will need if there are any problems or questions with the software. Project management software manufacturers want to be of service to their customers in any way that they can.
• This software application makes it easier to communicate with employees who are in the field and may not be ideally located when issues develop that need to be discussed. Project managers and team leaders will be able to speak to each other from distances, just as though they were all gathered in the same room.

Disadvantages of Project Management Software

• Some project management software programs may have many more features than you actually need, making the program somewhat hard to manage and learn.
• If you have a number of elements involved in your projects, you may have to invest in several different programs in order to cover every aspect. One program may not have all of the components that you will need to work on the types of projects your business entails.
• If you invest in a program with poor quality, you may experience a number of bugs that can make the application difficult to operate.
• Depending on the application you choose, project management software can be somewhat pricey. If your business is very small or you are just starting out and need to keep your costs down, you may be required to wait on your purchase until the funds are available.

Project management software can be of great benefit to your small business if you invest in the appropriate package, but only you, taking into account the way your business works, can make the final decision regarding purchase.

This is a guest post from Sandra Hopkins. Sandra Hopkins writes on behalf of a site that compares project management software and helps small business owners find the right package for their company’s needs.

Yes, there are things you would simply be wasting your precious time, blogging about. I wrote in an earlier blog, ‘A Blog can Never Fail-A Bloggers Vision Can,’ that bloggers should be ready to not make it big. They should cater to a much segmented audience rather than the masses.

I stand by my words where blog topics are concerned as well.

1. Gearing for A Successful Blog
A successful blog will be about analysis. The blogger will have the Google Analytics code embedded in the blog pages or any other analytics code. Then, every week the blogger should sit down and analyze the stats.

Where is the traffic coming from, what are the keywords being used, which keywords bring the best response. Once the results are there, work on them.

2. Do not use Competative Keywords-Find the Deep Niche-Long Tail Keywords
If the blog is about Graphic Design, the biggest mistake the blogger will make is using the keyword ‘Graphic Design’. Do you have any idea how much competition there is for that keyword?

A successful blogger will write on the long tail or deep niche keywords being searched for. Do not be afraid to use long tail phrases like, ‘3d Graphic Design Software’. There are only about 1000 searches for this phrase, but if you write on it well, chances are your blog will be on top and you will get at least 25% of the traffic. That is traffic that is targeted.

3. Do Not Write about Anything- Write Off-beat Articles
Stop. Seriously, stop writing about all the stuff people have already written about. How many times can you read an article about ‘Graphic Design Careers?’

However, writing on ‘Graphic Design Careers near Saturation’ may actually catch a few views. It is not what you are writing about, rather how you are writing about it. Changing a word or two, taking a different stance on an article works to change the whole state of mind.

The Three big No-No’s of Blogging

1. No Plagiarizing Blogs: You may think your readers are idiots, but seriously, if you plagiarize content-you are the biggest idiot. I usually redefine plagiarism for my own means, especially for blogs.

If you are simply spinning an article off another blog, have the guts to reference it, otherwise it is plagiarism. It may actually help your blog if you have the guts to say, ‘I used the information from, blah- blah- blah.’ Readers will gain confidence in your information.

2. Do not Blog-if you are not serious: A blog at Gothamist.com states that the worst thing you can do is blog when you are not serious. A blog is a post with links and commentary, not a stream of consciousness. So while it can be personal, it cannot be a journal. Bloggers are serious individuals or organizations; giving readers essential information, do not give the rest of us a bad name, just because you are too lazy to actually understand the basis of blogging!

3. Do not Spam: The worst thing about the Internet is that there is so much spam. Bloggers working at their blogs have to deal with spam comments all the time. I love getting comments, though I am still working at getting comments that are worthwhile! However, when I get comments that are simply blabber, and links, it irritates me. We could make blogs, and forums live if spammers would just give it a break!

Bottom Line: What not to blog about?
So the bottom line is blog, only if you have something worth blogging about. Otherwise, join a forum or launch a website journal.