The following question was sent in using StepForth’s SEO question submission form . If you have a question that you don’t mind being answered publicly please send it in and we might just use it in our next SEO newsletter.

QUESTION: “When do inbound links dictate ranking?”

“We have been told by an SEO consultant that, once the number of inbound links becomes significant, this rather than any SEO optimisation of the site itself dictates ranking for search terms. How true? If so, it implies that, to make any changes in rankings and search terms, we need to devote effort to links and link text from appropriate sites (authority etc). It implies time spent on adjusting title tags, keyword density etc, is fruitless.” Paul C. Read more…

Thank you to those that sent in their SEO questions from the last few search engine newsletters. I would also like to again request that you take a moment and submit your own questions; it is paramount that I answer the questions that are important to you. Just email me your question, it is that simple! Read more…

Have you heard of Google?

Google shareholders must dance up a storm when they realize how ridiculous it has become to ask a question like this. Google has become an unavoidable fact of life for anyone with the intention of having their website found online. It is the ‘big daddy’ of search engines with very nearly 50% of the search market in its pocket (49.1% this May to be exact – Nielsen/Netratings). For this reason alone I get pumped up when I am given new opportunities to peek into Google’s treasure trove of stats. Today I would like to share with you a relatively new offering from Google’s lab; Google Trends.

Now, to many SEO’s there is nothing new here because we are all fanatical about keeping up on Google’s offerings; in our fast-paced world this was released decades ago in SEO time (kind of like dog years). But to clients, this may very well be an interesting new tool in their marketing arsenal and I bet that many of your competitors haven’t grasped the potential that this tool has for increasing your bottom line. So take heed and you just might find that piece of marketing information you have always wanted. Read more…

One of the most frequently asked questions readers and clients email StepForth Placement’s SEO staff, revolves around how websites can be best optimized to meet the algorithmic needs of each of the major 4 search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Though there have been wide sweeping changes in the organic search engine landscape over the past six months, the fundamental ways search engines operate remains the same. Read more…