Valid Robots.txt File »

Here is a pretty cool tool which may save you from some robots.txt errors. Now, writing a robots.txt file is not the most difficult thing in the world, but it never hurts to check.

All you have to do it create your robots.txt file, upload it to your web server and then paste the URL (usually, http://yoursite.com/robots.txt) on Motoricerca’s web site and you will be alerted to any potential errors in your file and you will be shown how to fix them.

Google Webmaster Console Adds Backlink Feature »

The next time you check your Google Webmaster Console, you will see a new feature which will show some of the backlinks that point to your domain. After much brainstorming by the Google Webmaster Console team, the finally decided to call the feature, umm… Links.

Links will show webmasters some of the external backlinks that point to their both the top level domain and the internal pages of their web site. It will also show the web site’s internal links.

This new backlink tool will not show all of the backlinks that Google has found, but it will show more backlinks than you will see when using the “link:” command.

You can also download the backlink list in CSV format and then dig into all that link-love data.

Webmasters have long wanted something that would show the backlinks to their web site right in the webmaster console and now Google has delivered. The number of backlinks shown should increase as time goes by, so check it often.

Also, just because a backlink shows up in your list, don’t assume that it carries backlink weight .

I Still Hate Writing .htaccess Files »

A well-written .htaccess file can do wonders for your Search Engine rankings. One of its main benefits is that you can set it up so that your web page URLs are automatically rewritten and made more Search Engine friendly.

Well, last year, I posted about this awesome tool that will automatically create .htaccess files for you. The interface is a bit clunky, but it gets it done, especially if you do not know how to write .htaccess files from scratch.

An .htaccess file looks similar to this:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /blog/

So, if you have never seen anything like that, stop reading now and forget you ever saw this post .

This year, I have decided that I still hate writing .htaccess files. If you do to, check out this tool.

Basic SEO Tip Number One: Title Tags »

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems to be ever-changing. Someone is always coming out with a new way to track rankings, results or keywords. There are plenty of opinions out there and usually many arguments about which one is correct.

We are often asked what are the most important things to consider for good search engine rankings. Any SEO expert (and I certainly do not claim to be an SEO expert, but I think I know more than the average person) will tell you that there are many things that are all related when you are after good SE rankings.

Then, there are the different techniques to use depending on the target Search Engine, Google, MSN or Yahoo, just to name the “big 3″. It is truly a full-time job keeping up with everything related to SEO.

However, there are several facets of Search Engine Optimization that have remained constant. For the most part, everyone agrees on the value of paying attention to these areas and any good SEO firm will put them into practice every time. That is what we are going to discuss in a series of posts: Basic SEO Tips. As you read these posts, you may have different ideas from the ones we offer. Feel free to share your ideas and comments, make fun of me, whatever.

The first post will discuss Title Tags.
Click here to read more »

Build Backlinks: Submit to Directories »

If you are a webmaster interested in building backlinks to your site, you have no doubt spent plenty of time meticulously submitting your precious site to dozens of online directories. You probably have submitted to so many of them that your poor fingers howl with displeasure due to all that typing.

But, has all of that effort paid off for you? Have you noticed an increase in traffic? If not, it may be that you did not submit to the RIGHT directories. In order for this method of building backlinks to be truly effective, you need to look for high quality SEO friendly directories. But how can you find such directories? Well, we have found a website that lists the very best online directories and we want to introduce it to you. Click here to read more »