Shoestring Search Engine Optimization - Part 1

You have just launched your website/blog and now want the whole world to know about it but you do not have deep pockets and heavy budgets to pay some expert for Search Engine Optimization. This scenario is faced by many of us everyday as we struggle to attract traffic towards our website. What can you do to help bring traffic to your website? Here are some main strategies you can implement. I will be discussing these strategies in detail in future.

1. Push Strategy
2. Pull Stragegy
3. Parasite Strategy
4. Scratch Strategy

Stay tuned for details :)!

Rank High on Alexa

As a blogger I have been doing a lot of research and experimentation on how to rank high on Alexa. Read through several articles and used various strategies to see what works with Alexa. I seriously don't think that many of the strategies outlined out there on the web are any effective specially if you wish to have a sustainable rank on Alexa. They may boost your immediate rank while working as a vitamin shot to your website but if the health of your website is not good, this may not give you a long term rank sustainability.

Although much of the Alexa ranking is still a myth and may not be the one accurate meter to evaluate your website traffic, yet good Alexa ranking is used by many advertisers as a yardstick.

I understand that you wish to get a good Alexa rank overnight; however, I would strongly suggest that in addition to employing the following strategies, you should also strongly focus on increasing a healthy organic traffic to your website. Here are few tips that may help you get a high ranking on Alexa.

1 - Download Alexa Toolbar

Alexa toolbar is available on www.alexa.com for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Download the suitable toolbar and set your blog/website as the default homepage. Alexa ranking works through its toolbar and its stated clearly on their website also. Everytime you will open your website with Alexa toolbar, it will bring your rank low (which is good). Engage others in your network to check on your website/blog once a day at least by using Alexa toolbar. You will find significant reduction in the numbers.

2- Post Your Website on Forums

Visit as many forums as possible and post your thoughts there linking them back to your website/blog. This strategy also helps in directing traffic to your website/blog and in getting good Alexa ranking.

3- Google Pay Per Clicks

Engaging Google Pay Per Clicks also helps in bringing immediate attention and traffic to your website. If your PPC campaign is directed towards the traffic that widely uses Alexa toolbar, all those clicks coming to your website will also help you get a high ranking.

In addition to employing above stratgies, you need to develop an effective Social Media Campaign to attract a wide spectrum of users to your blog/website. Use of Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and other social media websites can help you get a great traffic to your website.

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