Three Backlinking Strategy Changes That Will Help You Overcome Google Penguin's Update

Backlinking is an essential and integral part of White Hat SEO tactics. In the real world, we are judged by the company we keep. A person who is always found in the company of bad individuals will be judged accordingly. This is simple logic is applicable to websites as well. A website that has backlinks to reputed and authoritative websites on the Internet will automatically enjoy good search engine rankings. This is why creating reputed and authoritative backlinks is so important.

Google's Penguin update in April 2012 has penalized websites that were not following the quality guidelines of the search engine as far as backlinks were concerned. It is important to understand that the Google's Penguin update was not a new algorithm. Rather, it was a filter that reduced the rankings of poor quality websites that were using backlinks to manipulate their search engine rankings.

Make the following changes to your strategy if you want to avoid being hit by such an update again.

Stop Mindless SEO

Firstly, stop treating links as a mechanical and mindless way to increase your search engine rankings. Getting linked to a website that is completely unrelated to your niche is a shortbut for future Google trouble. Focus on the quality and relevance of the links in your site. Simply paying a large number of websites to permit you to link to their pages is not going to work any longer.

Content Is The Key

Focus on improving the quality of your content. Make sure your content has the following characteristics:

- Fresh and high-quality
- Presented in an easy-to-read manner without any grammar errors
- Adds value to the reader and encourages him or her to share it with others

If you succeed, you will automatically end up with a large number of links with reputed websites. Instead of trying to manipulate search engines, you should try to impress those visiting your website. This will automatically enhance the quality of links in your website.

Check Out Sitelinks, Directory Links And Reciprocal Links

Take a look at your sitewide links, directory links, and reciprocal links. Ask yourself whether the presence of these links is helping visitors enjoy their web experience better. A sitewide link that helps all visitors connect with your social media profile will not be penalized by Google. On the other hand, adding a link to a completely unrelated website to each and every page of your website is definitely going to attract Google's ire.

The obsession with back linking also resulted in over optimization, which was been penalized by Google's update. Stop measuring the efficacy of your links on the basis of numbers. A large number of exact match anchor text links from other websites is only going to make your webpage look like a spammy and poor quality product. Instead of cheating your way to the top of the search engine rankings, you should focus on a safer and more reliable option instead.

Finding it difficult to analyze the quality of your website or webpage on your own? You can always make use of the services of professional SEO expert instead. This will help you minimize the chances of facing a drastic reduction in traffic in the future.

Important Photoshop Elements for Web Design

If at all you're planning on designing an entire website using Photoshop, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. However, using Photoshop to design your website would be one of the best ways to go about it as there's no limit to the things that can be done.

The Navigation

Every website has various pages and there are top level pages that go further down and finally reach call to action pages where people either get what they need or are converted into buyers.

However, for them to reach the final page they're going to need to be directed there, this is where navigation plays a crucial role. Usually, webmasters say the best method would be to get your website visitors to the desired page within 3 or less clicks.

Therefore, when creating your website design using Photoshop, you need to keep this point in mind and try to see to it that the visitor reaches the final page within a few clicks. The layout needs to be well planned before you begin the design.

The width of your website

The width of your website is really important especially today as there are plenty of different screens that would be used to view the website. Everything right from Desktops to iPhones, Notebooks and other mobile devices including Kindles are used to browse the web.

Therefore, you need to make sure that your website is either responsive or use Photoshop to create a specific web design for each of these screen sizes. Usually monitors have a resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels. But, it would be advisable that you create your website with as high a screen resolution as possible as that would make it look good on all devices.

Understand the difference between paper and a screen

One of the biggest mistakes that web designers make when creating a website using Photoshop is the fact that what looks good on paper need not necessarily look good on the screen and vice versa too.

When you're designing a website you need to make sure that the background and overall layout of the page isn't too cluttered as there are other multimedia such as images and videos that would be added to the website.

Finally you need to make sure that the CSS style sheet that you use to create the page is readily integrated into HTML of the final pages. The CMS platform that you use should be good and accept your webdesign too.

How To Compare Trademark Registration Services Online

Finding the right website to register your valuable trademark assets is a daunting task. Trademark registration is simply a very confusing subject and unfortunately many of the websites that offer this service make it even more confusing for you. As just one example, many offer multiple packages to choose from. The average businessperson with brands to register will have no clue how to decide which package is best. The fact of the matter is that there are no choices to be made when seeking to register your trademark. There is one process and that is the process that should be performed by anyone offering this service. So, if you see "cheap" package deals, avoid them like the plague. These will put your trademarks at risk if you don't do everything required to maximize the chances that you will obtain your trademark registration or worse yet that you will not be sued for trademark infringement! The mere fact that someone is offering this option to you should let you know that they are not knowledgeable about the subject.

Which leads to the next big thing to look out for. When you compare trademark registration services online, there are two major categories of websites that you need to be aware of. The first are the document filing websites or self-help websites. Some of these can be found at a website named comparelegalforms (online-trademark-search-registration.html), a website that does no justice to the consumer of trademark registration services. This is because it does not include any trademark attorney websites - the second category of trademark registration services online. The ONLY way to register a trademark is by using a trademark attorney. Simply put, any other service CAN NOT PROPERLY REGISTER YOUR TRADEMARK for you. This is because only an attorney can provide legal advice. It is simply not possible to have any degree of confidence that your trademark application will be successful without the advice of an attorney to evaluate a trademark search, draft an appropriate specification of goods and services, advise of which filing basis is appropriate and to respond to substantive issues raised by the USPTO (this is just a short list). I am not even addressing the serious concerns about unauthorized practice of law that surround the document filing services.

So now that you know that you must narrow your search to those that are provided by trademark attorneys, what do you need to look for in these websites? First, how do you find them? Well, perhaps the best search term to use is "flat fee trademarks" or "flat fee trademark attorney". This is because all of the top trademark registration attorney websites offer flat fees and will advertise that on their websites. There is no other way to go when paying for this service. There is simply too much risk in paying an hourly rate for an attorney in this area and the attorneys know this. It's no wonder that they all offer flat fees. This is what the consumer wants. The flat fee is very uniform across the top attorney sites so your comparison will necessarily be based on non-price factors and these are significant!

The following is a list of the factors that differentiate the virtual trademark attorney offerings. This information is very difficult to glean from the sites themselves, so at the end of this article I provide a link to a very useful chart that compares many of the top sites on most of these considerations. The chart contains information objectively obtained and verified from the websites and is up to date as of the writing of this article.

• Does the attorney include "responding to substantive office actions" in the flat fee?

If the attorney only includes responses to "non-substantive" office actions or otherwise limits the time that he/she will spend on prosecuting your application (there are various tasks involved along the way, such as filing certain kinds of evidence, filing certain required forms and taking other necessary action to keep the application alive and well) then you are not really getting a flat fee, are you? So be sure that these tasks are included in your flat fee.

• Do you get your money back if your trademark search reveals problems and you can't file for your trademark?

This one shocks many people. You mean I might pay for NOTHING? Indeed you might. There is no guarantee that a trademark search will not reveal that there are prior similar trademarks that will prevent yours from registering. In that case, determine what happens. Some attorneys will simply keep your money, some will charge you only for the search, some will offer a discount on a new search and at least one will give you another full search for free. Also, be sure that the attorney will first run simple "knockout" searches before doing the full trademark search. This is because these are easy and less expensive (to the attorney) to do and it can save you from having to use your fee on the full search. Look for an attorney who will conduct an unlimited number of knockout searches for you. This is rare.

• Does the attorney give you UNLIMITED consultation time?

Simply put, if not, then avoid him/her. As a trademark attorney I know that the process is VERY detailed and often confusing and that it requires much back-and-forth between the attorney and the client to ensure that the application is filed correctly. This is why you look for a flat fee. I often spend several hours on "pre-work" before the application is filed and some of this involves communicating with the client and asking certain questions. This is absolutely not something that can be avoided in some cases.

• How many classes of goods and services are included in the flat fee?

Most attorneys only include one. A few include more than one. The more the better. Often your products or services will cut across multiple classes and you should not have to pay more (even though it requires more work on the part of the attorney). This is simply a fact that the attorney must factor into the flat fee it charges everyone if he/she chooses to charge more, otherwise again, you're not getting a flat fee are you?

Now that you are a completely educated consumer of trademark services, you can put your money to much better work than before.

How to Specifically Beat Your Competition in SEO and Rankings

Of course, one of the ultimate goals of any SEO effort or campaign is to not only enhance the ranking of your website in search engine results but to outpace your competition in this regard as well. There are a number of practical techniques that you can implement and utilize to ensure that you are able to beat your competition in SEO and in rankings.

First, the most fundamental step that you need to take when it comes to outpacing your competition is to make sure that you utilize all of the fundamental SEO applications and techniques that are available to you today. This includes:

1. SEO optimization of website content.

2. SEO optimization of articles at your website.

3. Proper use of HTML meta-tags.

4. Selection of an appropriate URL or domain name.

5. Creation and development of a meaningful link building campaign.

6. Development of an article marketing effort that focuses on the inclusion of backlinks.

Beyond laying the basic foundation, when it comes to beating the competition it is also vital that you establish an in depth and appropriate means through which you can continually monitor how effective your SEO and ranking enhancement efforts are faring. In this regard, you need to be certain to monitor on a regular (really, a daily) basis.

Finally, you need to establish a comprehensive system and mechanism through which you can closely, carefully and completely monitor the SEO and ranking enhancement efforts that are being undertaken by your competition. A number of time tested and useful strategies to assist you in this regard have been set forth for you previously in this ebook.