Quality links will help push your Web site up search engine rankings, but obtaining then from authoritative sites takes patience, hard work, and a long-term promotional plan. Eric Enge discusses the steps to obtaining these links and provides tips on things you shouldn't do, too. Don't backlink your competitors, build a mailing list for all the sites that link to them, and then send out in mass mailings, Enge writes. He calls this a "big no-no." Rather, customize your e-mail and focus on the domains with the highest PageRank and link to them, devising a content strategy, and …

Determining how well your Web site's content matches with your chosen targeted words and phrases has become an SEO art, which P.J. Fusco defines in this post. It follows her last column where she outlines steps to launch a "goal-oriented content optimization strategy." Fusco believes successful content optimization strategies "embrace the idea of themes." Understanding the signals your site's content sends to search engines makes it easier to analyze and optimize your content, one theme at a time. "It doesn't matter if [you've] optimizing a large, contextually diverse site or a small, singularly focused site; there are bound …

SEO experts looking for new advertising opportunities might want to look to Google's Search-based Keyword Tool, which helps you gain a better sense of what your potential customers are searching for and which keywords you should advertise on. Louise Rijk points to Google's tool as a way to mine keyword data, and provides ways to create successful SEO and PPC campaigns once the data is mined. Rijk not only steps you though the process of using the tool, but also provides tips and tricks. For example, the keyword tool automatically browses Web site domain names looking for keywords it …

Does changing the crawl rate from "Normal" to "Faster" in Google's Webmaster Tools make a difference to Web site performance and search engine rankings? To answer this question, Casey Henry wrote a script that would store all user agent info, page visits, and date visits in a database. He ran a trial for 200 days. He set Google's Webmaster Tool for 90 days on the "Faster" crawl speed, the remainder on the "Normal." Henry experimented with several elements, including the time it took for Google to first visit the site after posting a new blog. His finding: changing …

Ann Smarty has found a keyword research tool that demonstrates how search engines might view the relations between words. The tool, Lexical FreeNet -- Connected Thesaurus, compiles the list of related terms and graphically displays the relationship in symbols and words. For example, the tool provides related terms, similar sounding or rhyming words, and symbols for the word "search." The tool also finds connections between two specific words, shows remote connections, finds related words, and more. Smarty also provides links to dictionaries and references.

The world may be facing an economic crisis, but the SEO industry is experiencing high demand for experts, according to Roderick Ioerger. He points to several examples from Kelena Jordan, who describes an interesting project she had to turn down because of her busy schedule. Ioerger summarizes several posts from bloggers, including one by Andrew Shotland, who believes we could soon see bankers, real estate brokers and auto makers who got laid off in the past year becoming SEO experts. Don't be surprised if the loan officer at Bank of America or Well Fargo who turned you …

Keys to improving your site's search engine rankings are easy to come by, but may be difficult to execute. Rhonda Abrams provides nine steps to ranking higher on Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. One in particular suggests placing "very specific keywords" repeatedly throughout the site that narrowly defines the products and services or content offered. Abrams notes that sites using keywords in page titles, headlines and bold text generally rank higher. Other advice: follow good SEO and SEM practices by not stuffing keywords or repeating a keyword without "content or context." That can get your site "blackballed" from search …

Aaron Goldman mined Yahoo's Top 10 searches of 2008 and pulled out three specific insights that marketers can take action on. Since, as indicated by all the well-known names in this list, Americans are "celeb-obsessed," you can "leverage non-commercial searches by connecting your brand/product/service to these types of queries (eg, buy celeb keywords or optimize content using celeb names), especially if they appeal to your target audience and/or you're using celeb endorsers offline." Also, since "people spend up to 90 minutes more online during a recession as the Internet provides free entertainment... marketers should consider creating engaging …

Rebecca Kelley takes a humorous look at SEO and describes 10 types of clients you may come across. The handy list can help identify different personalities. "I've found that this list is extremely official and scientific, so you should be able to refer to it and instantly identify a potential client," she writes, tongue firmly in cheek. Complete with photos to illustrate her point, Kelley's list includes The Gabbo Client, The Lumbergh Client (named after the annoying boss in the classic movie "Office Space"), The Flatterbut Client, The Jessie Spano Client and The BTJ Client ("Bigger Than Jesus... someone …

Targeting the correct message to the perfect audience sounds good in theory, but when it comes to serving up ads on mobile phones, marketers still don't get it, according to Jason Burby. CNN.com Mobile targeted him with an ad that read "CNN.com Mobile -- Get 1-click access from your BlackBerry." Burby owns an Apple iPhone. The ad hit the mark, but the message was off, Burby wrote, suggesting marketers need to take time to research the latest trends and technologies, as well as understand the bases for targeting a specific audience. While most people may have accessed …