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One thing you start to realise when promoting websites is the importance of finding good keywords for your website. It’s one thing sitting down and trying to make some up, but you can also use tools that utilise search terms on Google to provide you with more terms. One of these is this keyword tool here. It asks you to provide a keyword, then pulls back a number of suggestions based on people’s search terms.

For example, if I type in acne treatment, I get

Results for: acne treatment

Interesting tool, so bookmark it today.

My mate Carlo just sent me a link to a website you can use to analyze your backlinks. Analyze Backlinks, as the site is so aptly called, let you specify a URL, and comes back with a list of pages that reference the URL.

Using it is simple, just pop the URL in the text box specified, select the options you want, click Begin and just sit back comfortably in your massage chair (if you have one that is). Within a few instants it will come back with up to 1000 URLs that point at your page. I would have preferred getting some sort of indication as to the quality of the links, but it’s a good way to start.

What are you waiting for, Analyze your Backlinks now.

It’s terribly important that your offices are always in tip-top shape. Not only does it have a positive effect on staff morale, but it also helps to give current and potential clients a good impression about your company and it’s services. If you live in the Dallas area, check out Dalwoth Clean, one of the better Carpet Cleaners Dallas has to offer. The offer a variety of services and guarantee complete satisfaction on the job.

If you’re just starting a blog today you’ll be pleased to know that there are a number of helpful websites out there that can help to drag traffic kicking and screaming to your website. Here are some places you should check out:

• Technorati: Index of User-Generated Content - You really need to get on this.
• Entrecard: An easy way to network with other blog owners
• FuelMyBlog: A fun community for blog owners
• BlogCatalog: One of the biggest blog directories on the Web
• MyBlogLog: A social network for bloggers

Each of these is like a mini trampoline to help launch your website into the blogosphere. Check them out

Sometimes it pays to take a closer look at what you’re working on, so you can make sure that everything looks the way it should. One tool I like using is the Virtual Magnifying Glass. It’s a small tool you can download that turns the cursor into a magnifier you can move around the screen.

It works very nicely and a great way to take a closer look if you need.

It’s always a good idea to check that your website doesn’t have too many broken links. Your links should always point to an existing website, however sites move, pages break and it’s always a good idea to find out there they are. Some websites can use a scan more than an alcoholic needs a liver cleanse. Don’t let it get that desperate. You can use the W3C Link Checker to do this, just supply the URL to your website and off it goes.

Ohh .. Alexa have just announced that they are changing the way their rankings work. They’re moving away from just using toolbar stats and getting other information from other sources. I’m never too sure about Alexa to tell you the truth. If you search for Orovo, for example, you’ll get the sponsored listings at the top taking you to the main site, but the results quickly lose relevance.

What about you? Do you use Alexa to search?

I’ve been using FasterFox for some time now and it has definitely been useful to measure the load time of different websites. See, one of the things it provides is a counter that goes at the bottom of your browser showing the load time of the page you’re looking at. And it’s more accurate than a Rolex in that it produces timings down to a millisecond. Check it out.

Do you use Microsoft Publisher much? I’ve used it in the past for the occasional flier or to produce birthday invitations, but I’ve just realised that it can be used to produce websites too. Sounds a bit scary really, so I’m not quite sure what it does, but I will give it a whirl in the near future and let you know what it comes up with.

Not really a fan of generated websites though …

Just came across a great post on Stylish Design, a blog with some great SEO advice. The post talks about some of the problems that search engines have with dynamic pages, particularly with spidering these pages and traversing the site to get all the content you’ve prepared. It suggests some practical advice to avoid these problems and optimise your SEO on these pages. Here are the highlights:

• Find out if the database program has a built-in way to create static HTML.
• Modify URLs so they don’t look like they’re pointing to dynamic pages.
• Use a URL rewrite trick.
• Find out if the programmer can create static pages from the database.
• You can get your information into Yahoo! using an XML feed.

Some great advice there, but there’s more details down at the site. Check out: SEO friendly website

I must say, this isn’t my first time down on that website and I do like the author’s style. He goes straight to the point and most of his advice has a technical explanation behind it. It’s nice to be given advice from an expert, rather than someone who’s heard suggestions from a third party. Check out the blog while you’re there.