Keyword Research

Keyword research is one of the most important parts of SEO as this will help you to find the best search terms that can drive huge traffic to your blog. Remember, you should always conduct a keyword research while writing a blog post. There are a lot of tools that you can use, both paid and free. The most popular keyword research tool is Google Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator. I would also like to recommend SEMrush. Though it is in paid version, you can find available coupons online to avail a 1-month free trial. This is also a great tool to see your competitor's organic keywords and Adwords keywords(checking the amount of CPC or cost-per-click can give you an idea on how much Google Adwords advertisers are paying for different search terms which can be their "golden keywords"). This will help you to find what keywords that work well for them.

You can also use these popular paid keyword research tools:

Wordtracker

Wordstream

Compete

Spyfu

Here are the other free keyword research tools that I have used:

Google Insights for Search - what I really like about this tool is you can see the trending of a search term and "future forecast" which can give you an idea if a search term has an increasing search interest. You can also see the search volume by country or state and regional interest as well.

Google Trends - you can easily compare multiple search terms and their trends with the help of this tool.

Twitter Search - this is really a great tool to find the "trending" or hottest topic on earth.

Google Suggestions and Related Keywords - What you can actually do with Google Suggest? Since these keywords are suggested by Google(some keywords are based on your search history, location, etc. Some people called these kws as "personalized keywords" or "semantic search keywords" as they are based on what people are thinking when they search using these kinds of searches, here's a good read about Semantic Keyword Research), you can get an idea what keywords are "buzzing" or trending in the web giant and to see what other people are looking for. Though some suggested keywords might not be relevant, you can still see new ideas and keyword opportunities that can bring traffic to your blog. Here's a great tool so you can easily compile all the keywords suggested by Google from a search term:http://ubersuggest.org/

Make your Blog SEO-friendly

Search engines are the main door that brings opportunity to get more visitors. We all know that search engines can bring massive traffic once we execute SEO in the right way. Remember that Google received over 3 billion daily searches last year and still counting.

Other search engines that might help:http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/navigatingthenet/tp/top_10_search_engines_for_beginners.htm

What to optimize?

Title

Permalinks or URL - having a descriptive URL can help you to improve your snippets and indexing as well. Make sure it is not too long, use hyphens as separators and your post must be placed at least in 3rd tier or 2nd tier before the domain the name. For example: mysite.com/my-first-blog-post.

Header tags

These tags(h1, h2, h3) are important as these are the first things that your reader will see or recognize. Optimizing your header tags is almost the same in optimizing meta title tag. Title and H1 content should match. Make sure to use h1 once and don't forget to place your important keywords at the beginning.

Images

Fresh images are way better now. It is also necessary to resize your images as this will help to speed your website. Loading time has a major influence on the overall user experience and it is also a signal or factor in Google's search engine algorithm.

META tags

As mentioned here, http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/03/five-common-seo-mistakes-and-six-good.html. Be smart with your tags and descriptions. Make them more attractive. This will also help you to improve your search snippets which are the first things that your users will see in search results.Here's my favorite tool in optimizing META tags for snippets: http://www.seomofo.com/snippet-optimizer.html. If you are using a blogging platform like WordPress, you can use plug-ins like YoastSEO and All-in-One SEO pack to add META tags to your blog posts.

Body Content

Make sure that your priority keywords are included in your content. Make it natural. Don't overdo it. You can use important tags like <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <b> or <strong> to optimize your content. You also need to provide a unique, crawlable and compelling blog post. Learn more about "Link Bait". Here are some good reads :

http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/how-to-turn-your-content-to-link-bait

http://searchengineland.com/hard-thoughts-about-seo-link-bait-92570

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/10-extraordinary-examples-of-effective-link-bait

HTML and CSS validation - this tool is designed to check errors in your webpages and source codes. A web developer might help you in this stuff in case you are not pretty familiar with coding.

For more information about having an SEO-friendly website, you can check the following search engine guidelines:

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Bing Webmaster Center

Yahoo Search Engine Guidelines (slideshare)

Link and Traffic opportunities (Link Building)

Blog Directories

submitting your blog posts to blog directories is one of the easiest way to get backlinks and traffic. This is really helpful for start-ups or brand new blogs. Since blog directories have categories, your blog has a big chance of getting visitors related to your niche. Here are some of the best blog directories:

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/20-essential-blog-directories-to-submit-your-blog-to/5998/

http://www.interactivemarketinginc.com/blog-directories.html

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking isn't just about submitting URLs. You need to build your social profile and be active in these networks so people can recognize you. Here's a great list of social bookmarking sites: http://bluesearchmarketing.com/social-bookmarking-sites-list/

Social Networking

Take advantage of social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Facebook has over 850 million active users, Twitter has 465 million registered accounts, Google+ has almost 100 million users while LinkedIn  has over 300 million registered users. Social signals have played a big role in different search engine algorithm for more than a year. Google +1 is making an impact in search results. Here's a good read about Google +1: http://mashable.com/2012/02/21/google-plus-1-seo/

Guest Posting

Guest posting is a best way to showcase your new blog to new people. Other than the link, you can take advantage of the traffic that you will get through these networks. But make sure that you provide a powerful content so people can easily recognize your work.

Forum Posting, Blog Commenting and participating in QA sites

These are the usual techniques of "spammers" because these are the easiest techniques to land backlinks pointing back to your site(other than social bookmarking). Maybe, they just want to build links at ease without knowing that it will hurt them in the long run. If you're a blogger, I am sure you experienced headache deleting spam comments telling "your site is awesome", "your blog post is great", or "thanks for this crap". But as an ethical SEO, you should know how to compose blog comments, forum post, or answers in the right way. Here are some of my tips: stay on topic, add new information to the discussion, be friendly, make your comments clear and short, and post socially.

Press Releases

Tell people what you've got.  Submitting press releases is an instant exposure for your blog. Though some of top PR sites are paid, you can use these free PR sites that will help you to drive traffic to your blog: http://mashable.com/2007/10/20/press-releases/

Reverse Engineer or Analyzing Competitor's Backlinks

This is like doing what your competitors are doing. Look at your competitors or should I say fellow bloggers' backlinks and see what benefit them the most. You can use tools like Open Site Eplorer. I also used MajesticSEO and Ahrefs. These are very helpful tools, trust me.

Post quality content frequently

Freshness of content is an emerging signal nowadays. Make your blog posts more compelling which can drive your visitors to share it to their friends and colleagues. You might also want to add more content like infographics, videos, etc. Here's some of the blogs that I admire the most: SEOmoz, kaiserthesage, mattcutts blog, Web Designer Depot, Distilled blog, and a lot more!

Check your Google Analytics

Google Analytics brings a lot of advantages since this will help you to see what pages are performing well and which are not. You can also see what channels are driving quality traffic to your blog. This is a very important tool.

Respond to comments in your blog

Responding to user comments questions is like showing that you value their opinions.

Other tips that can help you:

-add social share icons in each blog post. Installing a plug-in like Addthis is a great help.

-connect your social media profiles in your blog

-enable RSS and Email subscriptions

-monitor the following metrics through Google Analytics: Bounce Rate, Unique Visits, and Time on Site

-avoid SEO mistakes and don't over-optimize your blog. Here's a great read: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/03/five-common-seo-mistakes-and-six-good.html

-take advantage of email signatures. Don't forget that you can add a link going to your site in your emails.

-use Pinterest. This social bookmarking/networking site has been the on the rise. You can check this post for more info:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/08/pinterest-now-generates-more-referral-traffic-than-twitter-study/

Internet marketing for your blog is not an overnight thing. It takes a lot of time and effort. And last, never give up(like me, lol!). I just realized to continue blogging to help other people who want to learn SEO and other stuff that I can share. My traffic dropped to nothing since I stopped blogging and focus more on my current work. I almost forgot this New Year's resolution(to update my blog. lol!). I hope you enjoy this blog post guys.

Seize for Every Opportunity

Original source of the infographic: http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-update-112805

There are lots of reasons to upgrade your PC since computer technology keeps moving forward at a fast pace. Though manufacturers are quickly rolling out new machines, you don’t need think that your PC is “obsolete” or “phase-out”. But how can you measure if your PC is too old. Personal Computers that are less than two-years old are good candidates for upgrades but sorry for those people who own PCs that are more than three, four or more years old. It is because you can simply unable to take advantage of the newest hard drives, processors, RAM memory, graphic cards, cooling systems as well as security. It is also important to have an updated operating system that provides enhanced security and better software compatibility.

Computer upgrade also depends on your needs. If you’re a gamer then you really need to upgrade components like having a 1.5-2 G RAM memory and a 128MB GeForce 5 Video Card or better for you to at least play a game like “Heroes of Newerth” or “DOTA II”. But if you want to just increase your productivity, upgrading your processor, hard drive, and RAM memory to a higher version will help you do simultaneous task in less time. A computer parts guide will help you determine which of your PC’s components must be improved. Updated software tools and new licensed anti-virus systems are also the things to consider in upgrading.

By the way, there are lots of tips and guides for computer parts upgrade through the web that will help you increase the performance of your own PC. But if you really want to buy a brand new PC then you should consider a new one that is designed with a 3 year life expectancy. Keep in mind that computers are not intended to be a finished product.

Playbook is working with the Blackberry tablet OS which is delveloped by RIM’s software company, the QNX technology. Playbook performs with a lot of platforms and technologies like POSIX OS, SMP, Open GL, Blackberry 6, Webkit/ HTML5, Java, Adobe Flash and AIR as well as RIM’s new Blackberry WebWorks platform. Dubbed as the “fastest tablet ever” by Research In Motion, Blackberry Playbook has 1GB of RAM, 3 megapixel front-facing camera along with a 5 megapixel rear lens for video conferencing, and Cortex A9 dual-core 1 GHz processor meaning it has “horsepower” for multi-tasking. The PlayBook will be capable of 1080p HD video recording, and equipped with an HDMI port as well as a microUSB jack, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1.

Blackberry Playbook can also do video playback in full 1080p HD, H.264, MPEG, DivX or WMV. It is also capable with audio playback for MP3, AAC, and WMA.
It’s a 7-inch tablet with 1024 by 600 capacitive touch screen weighing at exactly 0.9 pounds(400g) which means it’s smaller and lighter than Apple’s tablet, the iPad, and little heavier and bigger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab. RIM stated that they will offer 3G and 4G future models of Playbook. Playbook also has Kindle App capable for reading confirmed by Amazon, a feature that readers will really excited about.

It runs with Flash and AIR, meaning Flash sites that don’t run on the iPad tablet, will at least be viewable with its Flash 10.1 while the Playbook’s Adobe AIR will open exciting stuffs and uncompromised web experience with the help of its WebKit browser.

RIM is expected the Blackberry Playbook to be release in the US market early this 2011 and unleash to the world by 2nd half of the year. The estimated price is not yet released.

HTC HD7 is slightly bigger than the Galaxy S which isn't exactly tiny at 64.2mm x 122.4mm x 9.9mm. The HD7 weighs 162g, compared to Galaxy S which is 43g lighter at 119g and even the iPhone 4 which weighs 137g.

Other Specifications:
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
3G HSDPA, HSUPA
GPS w/ aGPS support
Motion G-sensor
Proximity Sensor
Ambient Light Sensor
Li-Ion 1230 mAh

Pros
Clear Web pages with smooth pinch-to-zoom, a full copy of Microsoft Office, Zune, Xbox, and all the other Microsoft experiences.
4.3 inch high definition screen resolution.

Cons
The HTC HD7 doesn't work with T-Mobile's new HSPA+ network, as all Windows Phone 7 devices max out at HSPA 7.2.
Capacitive, Multi-touch screen

The iPhone 4 was announced last June 7, 2010 at WWDC2010 at Moscone Center, San Francisco California and officially released on July 24, 2010 in selected countries like United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France. After a lot of warmful technical issues that this phone encountered, 72% of the iPhone users still say that they are "very satisfied" to their iPhone 4 according to a new survey conducted by ChangeWave Research. This could be possible maybe because of what the iPhone 4 can give to its users.


The Retina Display, one of claimed new feature of iPhone 4 as the highest resolution screen ever for a phone. Apple made the pixels small that the user can not notice its pixels. The phone is surrounded by a 9.3 mm stainless steel made from alloy. This help the phone to look more classy. This stainless steel serves to be its antenna as well.

The Apple A4 Processor is the first version that runs 1Ghz and contains a Cortex-A8 CPU core paire with a PowerVR SGX 535 graphics processor built on Samsung's 45 nm process. This is a processor that is powerful but power-efficient mobile processor. With Apple A4 Processor, the iPhone 4 performance will be a remarkable amazing. It can perform fast and easy with FaceTime calls, video editing and multi-tasking. Other smart phones has also Gryroscope feature which is also availabe on iPhone 4 but Apple added accelerometer making iPhone 4 capable in advanced motion sensor. This is used for gaming, full 3D activities and rotation rate.The iPhone 4 camera has 5 megapixels and it is HD video capable. It has built-in LED flash which also serves as offcourse flash and light when you are taking videos.

Specifications:

3.5 inch widescreen Multi-Touch display
1152x58.66x9.3mm dimensions
weighs 137 g
iOS 4.1, Apple A4 processor
512 MB memory + memory card slot up to 32 GB
5 MP rear camera, HD video (720p), 2 MP front camera (VGA)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
HSPDA 7.2Mbps
WiFI 802.11n
GPS and Gyroscope

iPhone 4 also has two microphones, each has dedicated purpose.

Operating system. Android OS 2.2
3.7 inch 480 x 800 WVGA AMOLED
Super LCd capacitve touchscreen
5 MP autofocus with LED flash, capable of FACE DETECTION and GEOTAGGING
QSD 8250 1 Ghz with AMD Z430 GPU
512 MB flash, 576 MB RAM and memory card up to 32 GB with microSDHC
CWifi, Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB
Li-Ion 1400 mh
340 to 360 standby mode, 6 and 30 minutes talktime
Stereo FM radio with RDS

Widgets are exciting because it handles simplier task just like phone management, updating Twitter and Facebook status. It has seven home screen which you can personalize, arrange and place to access it swiftly. Instead of having a camera button, you will have to use the trackpad or by tapping and holding the display.You might as well access all your business emails, calendar from your company directory wherever you are. HTC corporation made this phone for the internet and a user friendly phone. You can resize and zoom the screen by pinching it.

There was a problem in Australia after HTC Desire was released. The problem was said to be its GPS function. The feature is
set up uncorrectly. This issue has been resolved and the new HTC Desire is now on the market.

You can download the Blackberry Desktop Software wherein you can back up and restore BlackBerry device data. You can synchronize calendar appointments, music, pictures, and more between your Blackberry Curve 9300 3G and a computer.

The Nokia C3 is the only S40 phone to feature a full QWERTY keyboard. Because of its price we don’t
expect much for this phone but just like the other phone, every phone has its value to excel. And what do you think this phone will give? 2 megapixel camera, built-in WiFi, 2.4 inch 320 by 240 pixel display, FM radio, media player, and 3.5 AV connector. Its phonebook entries and fields are practically unlimited, 55MB internal memory and support for 8GB of storage on a MicroSD memory card. Its battery last for 20 days for standby mode and 7 hours of talk. It also has speakerphone, vibration and MP3 ringtones.
You can change the background theme and icons on your own. Get live Facebook and Twitter feeds right on your home screen and you can manage your email up to 10 personal email accounts. You can also Chat using Windows Messenger, Yahoo messenger, Google Talk and Ovi Chat. You can access Calendar and music with dedicated widgets on your home screen.
Nokia C3 is available in Slate Gray, Golden White and Hot Pink color combination. It is a bit larger and heavier than a normal phone at 114 grams and 116 by 58 by 14 mm dimensions but it is still very pocket friendly.