A link to your site will count only if it's possible for the search engines to scan your back-link. When you do submit links of your website to a free general directory, you'll need to verify if the link you get from the directory would be counted by the search engines. You will find directories that give out links which are not counted by the search engines, this mean they are not SEO Friendly Directory links.

First of all, "how to recognize a seo friendly directory tips" may apply with success on different websites, blogs and forums, as they work on the same principles.

How to do that? How to see if a website is seo-friendly?

First of all, you need to take a look at the source page of the website that you are visiting. To do that, right-click the web page, and then click on "View Source" (in IE), or "View Page Source" (in Firefox), or simple go to your browser menu and search for "View" TAB, and then choose "Page Source". There are a few things a websites needs to do to ensure its seo-friendly: 1) There shouldn't be a META nofollow or noindex tag on the link pages.

In the page source, if you find the following code in it: <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow"> then the links on that page wouldn't be counted by the search engines. The 'noindex' portion of the code tells the search engines to ignore and skip that page and the 'nofollow' tells it not to follow or count any of the links on the page. So even if one of those parameters exists in the meta tag of the link or category page, that website or blog is not a seo friendly website.

2) The links shouldn't have a 'rel=nofollow' tag on them Nofollow attribute may be assigned to specific links. If the links on a page are displayed in the following format: <a href=http://www.domain.com rel='nofollow'>Domain</a>, that link is not counted by the search engines as the 'nofollow' tag again tells the SE to ignore the link.

3) The links shouldn't be generated in JavaScript If you view the coded section of the links page and see that the links are being displayed in a coded format other than the standard <a href="></a> linking method, then there's a good chance that the link is being displayed through a script, which would not be counted by the search engines, so it's better to stay away from those websites.

4) The links shouldn't be redirected Some websites link out through indirect links, for example like <a href="http://www.domain.com/link.php?site_id=100">Your Website</a>. These types of links are not valuable for SEO as they're not direct links to the website.

5) The URL of the links page contains too many parameters Pay attention at this type of linking : "http://www.domain.com/link.php?u=xyz&page=1001&url=main" Some webmasters believe that this particular type of linking with too many parameters are not indexed correctly by Search Engines, and if they do, they consider those type of link a less valuable linking urls. So if a website, forum, blog or directory to be considered seo-friendly websites, thy need to pass all the steps mentioned above.

by Cris Tucker
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Putting up a regular brick and mortar company would of course require a lot of things, to get straight to the point, you need capital to fund it. We all know the words "To make money requires money"

That's not quite true with the versatility the internet offers, there are actually many ways you could find that could help optimize the potential of your website or online business that are completely free.

While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many sites don't have the resources that others have to generate more traffic for your site. Well, as the new aspiring Internet Entrepreneur, you don't have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.

How sweet is that? Have more traffic for your site without spending a single cent? Now it's a sure thing that many sites have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to generate traffic using only free methods. Because its possible, you don't need to spend a single cent, it may take time, to say honestly, I'm not going to beat around the bush with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these free methods I'm about to tell you.

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things about the niche that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.

With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your expertise and knowledge.

You can also make use of newsletters. Provide people with a catalog of your products and interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who sign up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic.

Another great idea is trading links with other sites. You don't have to spend a cent. All you have to do is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, the efforts both sites do will benefit both sites. Each traffic that goes to the site could potentially click on the link of your site and visit your site as well. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche products.

Write articles that could pique the attention of people that have an interest in your product. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to other aficionados. Writing articles that provide good service and knowledge to other people would provide the necessary mileage your traffic flow needs.

Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your company with the article and there's a great probability that they will go to your site.

Write good content for your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used. It is not a requirement that a content should be done by a professional content writer. You could do your own, but you have to make content for your site that is entertaining as well as informational. It should provide certain requirements as well as great quality.

Generally, internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines in return use keyword searching in aiding their search results. With the right keywords, you could get high rankings in search engine results without the costs.

All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. So start your own Internet Empire, you can do it. All it takes is a bit of effort and some hours on the computer.

Learn all you can about the methods depicted here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow without the usual costs that come with it.

To Your Success!
Gila Beckermann
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Writing a blog means writing about what you know and then making sure it is keyword analyzed. None of these tips cost me money, only time. If you've got the time, you can optimize your blog into a substantial income generating machine. The following tactics are what I do to give the search engines something to crawl about as well as to make money. Here are 19 Free SEO Tools that will increase your traffic, give you higher page rankings in the search engines and convert readers into customers.

1. ARTICLE MARKETING: There are hundreds of article directories that need articles on almost any subject you can think of. In addition, article writing is a great way to drive targeted, highly responsive traffic to your blog. I turn every blog post into a keyword dense, promotional information piece guaranteed to create traffic. Doing this will not only strengthen your search engine visibility, it has been known to increase sales. But, best of all, it's absolutely free.

2. Back-Links: These are links that link back to your blog. I make it a practice of reading at least 1-2 blogs a day that my peers create. When I read something I'm interested in, I comment on it then follow up on the comment with an email to the Blogger requesting a link exchange. The theory is, if a blog has enough relevant links linking back to it, your search engine page rank will increase, therefore causing more traffic sent your way, as well as it boosts credibility to your blog.

3. SOCIAL BOOKMARKING: DIGG, SPIN, SCOOP, DE.LICIO.US, DROPJACK, REDDIT, SIMPY, etc. Social Bookmarking is becoming the new method for surfers to find information on the internet. Make your blog posts easy to find by submitting your posts to as many social bookmarking sites as you can and watch your traffic grow.

4. SIGNATURE ON EMAILS: I know this is old, but it works. Each time I send an email, I include my blog link under my name. Most email programs allow you to include signatures. Great promotional tool to use when you are forwarding those wacky emails to all your friends.

5. PUBLISH A NEWSLETTER: Your subscribers are loyal to you and will be more likely to buy the things you recommend to them because they trust you. Use your built in list to market your favorite products and services.

6. FORUMS: Answer questions in forums and discussion groups. Yahoo! Answers has a wonderful method to publicize your blog by allowing you to present your advice to people posing serious (and not so serious) questions on a variety of topics. They even allow you to include your link in your answer.

7. LINK REFERRAL: A traffic magnet that I use daily. I review other business websites, give honest opinions, and in turn I receive targeted traffic. Tip: Use your forum to post and respond to questions. This gives you an added bonus.

8. MY BLOGLOG: Kind of a social bookmarking-blog-traffic enhancer site. I just signed up yesterday and I received 20 visitors in the first 30 minutes.

9. SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION: Using Web CEO, I submit my site to all the major and minor search engines. There is a free version as well as a paid version. However, I find that the free version suits my professional needs.

10. BLOG OPTIMIZATION: Again, Web CEO comes in handy. I use it to correct errors that my eyes can not see. It is the program to use that will remedy the nuts and bolts of any website or blog.

11. KEYWORD DENSITY: Should be at least 3% in order for the search engines to crawl your site.

12. BLOG DESIGN: Having a clean site design that is uncluttered and easy to navigate doesn't hurt. Don't 'crowd' your site with an over abundance of advertising, the search engine spiders might consider your blog to be spam if you do.

13. CONSISTENT BLOG POSTING: The recommendation is to post at least 3-4 times per week. Personally, I post Monday - Friday, treating my blog like a job. It helps cure any procrastination urgings I might feel.

14. RELEVANT CONTENT: It is imperative that you create relevant content. Don't mix a potpourri of information on a blog that is supposed to be about digital cameras. Resist that temptation to step outside of the box, instead contain your flow of information as it relates to your niche subject.

15. RELEVANT ADS: This is also true for the type of advertising you allow on your blog. Health and vitamin supplements don't belong on a blog about video email software.

16. DEEP LINKING: Create strong internal links to other blog articles in other postings. The search engine spiders love this. It allows them and your readers to crawl around your blog longer and deeper.

17. RSS FEEDS: Use FeedBurner to help distribute your blog to the rest of the blog reading world. RSS Feeds are like hungry virtual Venus fly traps waiting for your information to satisfy its information craving. Use it to your advantage and create strong backlinks as well as free distribution of all your content.

18. USE TAGS AND LABELS: Tagging creates a point of reference for your reader as well as the search engines. Remember when we were children and we played the game of tag? Getting tagged then was bad; however having tags for your blog posting helps to categorize your work; it helps readers find what they are looking for.

19. BLOG POPULAR: Give your audience what they are looking for. There are times when I go to what's popular on Yahoo! or I will just use Web CEO to tell me what all the search engines are showing as popular for the day and write an article or blog about that (I keep the topic relevant to my content though.)

Ok, these are just 19 Free SEO Link Building Tips. Let me know if you have more, the list is always free to grow!

By: by LaTease Rikard
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