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Everyone wants to be #1 on Google, #1 on Yahoo and #1 on MSN. Years ago when the internet started to become popular and search engines were not as clever as they are now, getting to #1 for lets say the term SEO on a search engine was easy. You did this…

<meta name="keywords" content="SEO, SEO, SEO, SEO Optimisation,
SEO Tips, SEO Advice, SEO tricks" />

… basically you crammed the keywords into your website and you got good listings on search engines. Sometimes the keywords might go on for 1,000 characters or more.

These days, if you spam keywords (also called keyword stuffing), you can expect a backlash – your site will either be banned or be penalised.

Here are 5 primary tips on how you can improve your websites search engine positioning;

1. Update your website regularly - regular website updates ensure that your content is always fresh and also shows the search engines that this content is being maintained. You will find that sites which are updated more regularly get visited more by the spiders.
2. Write Original Content – NEVER, copy content from another website. Always write your own content as Google does not like duplicated content. Write the content with the customer or website visitor in mind. Also when naming your website files, don’t call the pages page1.html, page2.html – if it is a page for SEO Tips and Advice, then call the page good-SEO-tips.html so if your website is www.shanes-seo-tips.com your page will be at www.shanes-seo-tips.com/good-SEO-tips.html and not www.shanes-seo-tips.com/page2.html – as this can hel your SEO also.
3. Include Good Meta data - On each page have a unique TITLE, DESCRIPTION and KEYWORDS. The content of these meta tags should identify the content on your website. Choose good Title and Description tags. If you are stuck, try use the first few lines of the pages content as a guide and reduce it to about 200-230 characters. Keep the Title at a length of 50 – 80 characters.
   3(b). Include ALT Text – for each image used on your website, include ALT Text, which means when a user hovers over an image or indeed if an image does not load, descriptive text will appear, describing the contents of the image which did not load. Include a keyword or two in your ALT text where possible.
4. Generate a SiteMap – Include a text based site map on your site, which means the search engine robots can navigate your website and index all your pages. Site maps can be in XML format or in HTML – avan better if you can include both.
5. Check your site - This is a simple thing but often overlooked. Check your website for spelling errors, HTML Errors, Broken Links, Server Side Includes (SSI) which are not loading, Images which are not loading.

Before you implement these on your site…

(1) make a backup of your site – if you mess up the meta data, better going back to something which works rather than starting from scratch.
and
(2) record your current positions in search engines – that way you can measure your success rates, e.g. we were in position 56 last week and now we are at position #11 for the keyword “SEO Advice”. Keep monitoring your progress. Eventually this progress will slow down and you may need to implement some more advanced SEO techniques.

The tips above are all suited to those who have a basic knowledge of HTML syntax and are aimed at websites which have little or no SEO work done on them.

If you require a basic HTML introduction, leave a post with your comments and I will upload one.

Tips for Organic SEO #2 will appear on the blog soon – bookmark the tab “Search Engine Optimization” on this site.

The tips above have been used on many sites before and are known to work – however I accept no responsibility for anyones individual implementation or incorrect implemetation of these tips – I know they work and I would be very surprised if they did not work on any website which has decent textual content and which has not been optimised previously.

Google is set to launch an Operating System, to compete against Microsoft Windows, promising a lightweight but fast operating system called Chrome OS which will allow for speedy access to the internet and to be virus free.

Windows (Microsofts operating system) runs about 91% of the world’s personal computers and this threat from Google should not be taken lightly.

Google ìs promising a change to PC frustration and an end to conflicts and slow PCs.

Windows Vista was never really the best and Windows 7, which is due to go on sale this autumn is considered a Windows Vista Replacement. However, Google is unlikely to charge for the new Chrome Operating System. Why would they do this? Well the more people using a Google Os means more people using their services, such as search, email, photo galleries and you tube videos…. this means a better market awareness and better revenue long term for Google.

Google has a reputation in having some of the best software on the market so the new Chrome OS will probably be very good when launched. However, all that said, if you like Microsoft Flight Sim or using MS Word or even Adobe Illustrator, you will probably not be able to use this on the new operating system. Compatibility will be an issue.

The Chrome Operating System is due for release in summer 2010 and will use parts of the open source Linux operating system kernel. As a result, those on Linux may be able to get a version which would run on a Linux platform … we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

It will be interesting to see if the cut Google makes on the market is just a graze or a deep near fatal wound to Microsofts dominance.

Moments after the death of Michael Jackson, the internet began to slow. The internet slowdown was happening as people all over the world rushed to verify news accounts of Michael Jacksons death. This surge of internet traffic had unusual effects including crashes and website server slowdowns.

Googles Slowdown
Google confirmed on Friday that when the breaking news of the death first broke, Google feared they were under some sort of Denial of Service Attack – anyone who Googled for “Michael Jackson” got a Google error page rather than the results they were looking for. The Google Error message warned that “your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application”. This was especially so on Google News. But once confirmed the error message was removed and this only lasted 40 minutes.

The Google’s Trends system showed searches for “Michael Jackson” was so high that the “hotness” gauge the topic was rated as “volcanic”.

Other Sites
Other sites were equally affected with The BBC News website up over 45% in the early hours of the morning.
The Twitter microblogging service actually crashed with the volume of people sending Michael Jackson tweets. At one point 9 out of 10 tweets were only related to Michael Jackson, with over 66,000 Tweets for the late superstar.
Trendrr, (a Web service that tracks activity on social media sites), said that the actual number of Twitter posts on Thursday containing the search term “Michael Jackson” totaled more than 100,000 per hour.

Another site to suffer was the popular chat and celeb site, TMZ; this site actually broke the story following a tip-off, and this site also crashed. This caused a so called domino effect as web users abandoned crashed sites and moved on to second most popular sites…. as a result Perez Hilton’s website then crashed.
The O2 website, where Jackson was to perform on July 13th, also crashed for a short while.
Other stats include more than 20 times the average number of visitors logging onto Sky News Online.

Overview
This moment was one of the busiest moments in Internet history, both in terms of scope or depth.
As a result, sales of his music on iTunes and Amazon are topping the charts, as fans pay tribute to the memory of the pop superstar.

The Top Ten on Amazon at 21:45pm on Friday 26th June is as follows;

1. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller ~ Michael Jackson

2. Off the Wall ~ Michael Jackson

3. Bad ~ Michael Jackson

4. Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection ~ Michael Jackson

5. Number Ones ~ Michael Jackson

6. Dangerous ~ Michael Jackson

7. The Ultimate Collection ~ Jackson 5

8. The Essential Michael Jackson ~ Michael Jackson

9. Michael Jackson – Vol. 1-Greatest Hits History ~ Michael Jackson

10. Invincible ~ Michael Jackson