SEO Tycoon

**jim.thornton** · 03-21-2006, 06:35 PM

I was wondering if RSS Feeds and SEO are inter-connected.

For example, if I create RSS Feeds for my website content, will it help me in the search engines.

I can't seem to crack into google at all unless you type my exact url www.moneytime.ca but other than that, I don't pop up.

I have been able to pop up in both Yahoo and MSN with MSN being the highest rankings on the most general searches.

I run a mortgage broker site, and if you go to MSN and type in "cash back mortgages" without the quotes I pop up as the 5th or the 6th entry. If you check of Canada Only, I am number 2.

I can run other queries as well where I pop up in the first page. BUT, for some reason, I'm not popping up on Google. I was thinking that an RSS feed might help.

Am I wrong?

**vangogh** · 03-21-2006, 09:18 PM

I think the problem is you don't have any links pointing back to your site. It's not that hard to get to the top of MSN at the moment, but for Google it will take a lot longer and you're in a rather competitive industry. It's going to take a lot of backklinks though. The site that's #1 in Google for cash back mortgages currently has a few thousand at the moment.

**jim.thornton** · 03-23-2006, 12:50 PM

Are there any strategies available that I could get back links going?

**Basoone** · 03-23-2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zincoxide

Are there any strategies available that I could get back links going?

You can always search for free directories or get links from related websites. You have to use the keyword(as an anchor txt) that you want your site to Rank on search engines like Google.

Regards

**vangogh** · 03-23-2006, 07:07 PM

There's a lot of different ways to get links. Like Basoone mentioned directories are one source. You can find a lot by searching Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc for things like:

yourkeywords + "add url"
yourkeywords + "submit url"
yourkeywords + directories
yourkeywords + "add site"
yourkeywords + "submit site"

The possibilites are endless. You can also do a search for your competitor's backlinks and see if you can get a link from those sites.

link:competitorsdomain (you need to add the http:// for yahoo)

It's also not just about the most backlinks. The quality of backlinks are just as if not more important. Look for getting links from authority sites within your industry.

Another good way to get links is to write articles and submit them to free article sites so others can download them and add them to their sites. You want to make sure you've placed some links back to your own site in the article. Articles can be a good way to get some quality links pretty quickly.

You can find more by searching here or at any search engine for 'link building' There's lots of info out there. Just be careful about sites that promise to get you 1000's of links really fast. Most are the type of things that will get you in trouble with search engines.
Link building is one of those things that takes awhile and is never ending.

**jim.thornton** · 03-24-2006, 02:50 PM

I don't really understand that philosophy.

Why would a competitor want to put a link to my site on his/her site??

**vangogh** · 03-25-2006, 12:10 AM

You're not looking for your competitors to give you a link. You're looking for the people that gave them a link. So after you see who's linking to them using the link: operator you go to those sites. Most will be places that your competitors have advertised or placed a free link. Since they did you probably can too.

All the add url things will return directories and other sites where you can add a link to your site. Those won't have anything to do with competitiors.

Does that make sense?

**jim.thornton** · 03-25-2006, 08:21 PM

Thank you for the explanation... The term "Related Sites" is always what has confused me... I could never understand why competitors (truely related sites) would want to link.

Now I think I get it!

Question... I have been told a couple of things. 1. to add a link to a "Link Farm" won't really help at all. Is that true? If it isn't true, would using a company for $100 or $200 be worth it? I have seen some companies which advertise this service but I always thought it was a scam because of the "Related Site" thing and the fact that I have been told not to go on to "Link Farms"

Clarification on this subject would be appreciated.

**vangogh** · 03-25-2006, 10:07 PM

I can't stress this enough. Do not get involved in 'link farms' since they will do more harm than good. They are spam and search engines are very good at detecting when you belong to one. The best case scenario is the links just won't count. The worst case is your site can get banned for being in the 'wrong neighborhood'

Competitor sites are going to be related to your, but there are other kinds of related sites. For example a site with tutorials on Photoshop would be related to any other graphics or imaging site. They'd also be related to Adobe. A site selling auto parts would be related to the Honda site. They're not direct competitors, but they are related.

One way to see what Google considers related is to use the keyword operator related: in your search.

Related might also be as simple as the anchor text in the link so if the linked to an auto parts site with the text 'Ford and GM parts' it would be related even if the site isn't about automobiles or auto parts. The page and site would be more related if it was about autos and auto parts, but the link text adds a little relation.

Am I clearing it up or am I confusing things more?

**jim.thornton** · 03-26-2006, 04:13 PM

Definitely clearing up! Actually, it is now along the same lines that I have been thinking.

I didn't know about the related: in my search queries though.

So... I'm understanding NOT to use companies that offer the directory submissions and such right??

Thanks.

**vangogh** · 03-26-2006, 04:28 PM

I wouldn't use them. I know some people do, but I think most are just going to take your money and not really help. I think you're best manually submitting to directories. It's a pain and it's time consuming, but I think you'll ultimately get better results that way.

I usually just try to add a few say 10 each week. It's not a lot, but that's 520 links at the end of the year. I've read often that search engines are suspicious of sites that get too many links too fast since it's not natural. Those sites may see an initial benefit, but over time the links tend to not count and so don't really do much.

There are directories that make you type in the letters from the image so the automated submissions won't get through.

My general rule is if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. I'm sure there are some people that would disagree, but I think for the most part link buulding is something that takes time. We all wish we could be #1 for the most competitive terms right away, but it's typically not going to happen.

**jim.thornton** · 03-26-2006, 05:52 PM

Sounds good. And, I have no problem doing it manually except for one thing.

If I think of directories I could count them on one hand. You mention that you add 10 per week but I have no CLUE where to go to find these directories. Also, aren't directories considered "link farms"? If not, could you please tell me the differences to look out for?

**vangogh** · 01:32 AM

Believe me that I don't know that many directories either. I use all those searches I mentioned above to find them.

Quote:

yourkeywords + "add url"
yourkeywords + "submit url"
yourkeywords + directories
yourkeywords + "add site"
yourkeywords + "submit site"

Type them into a search engine and the results will often be a directory or at least some site that will allow you to add a link to yours. Not all will be so you have to spend some time looking through them. It's very tedious, but I've found several hundred directories for my site that way. There not all going to be great directories though, but you never know if some of them will become good directories.

A link farm is a group of sites that all link back and forth to each other solely for the purpose of artificially manipulating search engines. It's ok to trade links with another site and their are many valid reasons to. As an example when I work on a site I almost always ask if I can add a link back to mine. If I've designed the site it might end up in my portfolio with a link or if the site owner has written a testimonial for me I'll link back to their site as well.

You can usually recognize link farms by the way they try to get you to sign up. Most will be promising you thousands of links for a little money.