First Page Search Engine Ranking
How To Rank First Page Search Engine Results
One vital aspect to getting organic traffic to your website is showing up on the first page of search engine results for your target keyword or phrase. You may want to use a relevant long-tail keyword for less competition and better results. Getting on the first page will depend on relevance and use of keyword along with several other factors used by search engines to rank your site. Let’s focus on keyword relevance.
Keyword Relevance
Your domain name itself is an important factor when determining a main keyword or keyword phrase; you want to have at least one keyword in the domain name if possible. The example I will use throughout this post is for my Targeted Manual Traffic Exchange – Tunnel Rat Traffic, which is currently ranked #1 for the long-tail keyword: targeted manual traffic (click to check Google SERP). As you can see, ‘traffic’ is both in the domain name and highly relevant to the purpose of the website. The other keywords (targeted and manual) refer to they type of traffic you receive and how you receive it, respectively. Chances are, someone performing a search query for ‘targeted manual traffic’ will be interested in the services that my traffic exchange has to offer, therefore it is ranked highly.
Keyword Placement
Now that you’ve chosen your main keyword, you will need to place it throughout your site. While it is important to use the Meta tags, it is also important to insert your keyword(s) throughout the content of your page. Notice that I use the heading tags and paragraph tags corresponding to each heading for easier reading, robots will look for this flow when searching your page for keyword placement as well. A general rule I use when creating ad copy is to use the primary keyword or keyword phrase about once every 100 words or no more than 3-4 times per paragraph. You should include at least part of your keyword in h1 to h3 tags however, these headings carry the most weight. To cover the main areas you want to place your keyword, I will touch on each briefly in the next section.
Website Title and Meta Data Relevant to Keyword
One of the first places a search engine will crawl is your Meta Data, which includes the Title, Keywords, Description, Robot Rules, Style and Script tags. A very common mistake people make is using the name of their domain as the title of their website in the title tag. This is a no-no if you are looking to rank on the first page of search engines, use your primary keyword phrase instead! I actually use the primary and secondary long-tail keywords that are the most relevant to my site for Tunnel Rat Traffic. This alone is a big advantage. The meta keywords are separated by a comma and should include variations of your main three or four word, long-tail keyword along a few high-competition short keywords; no more than 30. Also, add a description that uses your keyword combination in a sentence, two sentences will suffice. The description will show up below your site title on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), so it is a good place to summarize what someone can expect to find if they click your link.
I hope you try these techniques with great success. Keep in mind, there are plenty of factors that will impact your results such as backlinks, page rank, daily traffic, reviews, articles, and many more. The keyword methods discussed are completely under your control however, so test and refine but don’t limit yourself to using your first choice of keywords if it isn’t producing results for you within the first 60 days or so.
Traffic Exchanges Care
Jon Olson has a deep level of affection for the traffic exchange industry, so when he makes a move, people take notice. Last week he announced a new charity campaign that surfers and traffic exchange owners could really get behind to battle water shortage by providing clean drinking water to 250 people! (Read his post…)
Over a period of 90 days, we are looking to raise $5,000 or more and just a few days in we are already 20% closer to reaching that goal! Let’s show the world that we do care, on behalf of the traffic exchange industry. Every little bit helps, especially since no one should be without the most basic of necessities that most of us take for granted.
It’s okay if you cannot make a donation, however I challenge you to help build awareness by spreading the word and possibly making a small sacrifice for one day instead. For example, if you frequently purchase coffee or energy drinks in the morning: skip a day and save a couple bucks guilt-free! Then tweet the link to the TECare cause: Send Tweet | Direct link: http://mycharitywater.org/tecare
Thank you for your support, together we WILL make a difference! 
Sweeva, Social Browsing?
The concept of Sweeva is quite ingenius really. Imagine if you could combine social networking like Facebook and Twitter, with a traffic exchange that allows you to rate, comment, and browse sites that everyone views at once! This is what Sweeva is all about.
For marketers, this is also unique because you bid on the day of the week and even time of day that you want your site to show. Once your bid is accepted, you are notified an hour prior so you can log on and respond to comments of other viewers. Earn credits and even awards while browsing.
I like the concept of earning rewards over cash because prestige is better than pennies, and cash takes the focus away and the wrong audience in.
Anyway, after playing around with some of the features and browsing the site, Sweeva looks like it will be the future of social browsing – at least to some extend. Don’t expect them to put Facebook or Twitter out of business, but they could be the next giant with time and word of mouth.
Want to be among the first to check it out? (Yes! Take me to Sweeva!)
Clarksville, TN Flooded
Anyone who has been following the weather since this weekend is aware of the devastating flooding that has hit middle Tennessee (including Clarksville and Nashville). In Clarksville, downtown has become all but an island, cut off from the rest of the city from everyway direction save for one road. Nearly 63′ is the cresting level of the Cumberland River here (16′ above flood stage) inundating houses and roads with floods. Nashville is finally seeing the river waters recede, but not after damaging some of our biggest historic landmarks such as the Opryland and LP Field.
Ashland City is also underwater in many parts, even urged to boil water before drinking it due to the water treatment plants being submerged. This isn’t an isolated issue either as both Clarksville and Nashville are dealing with treatment facilities being swallowed by the flooding until the waters recede enough to access the damage and start the road to recovery. Hopefully the rain stays light over the next couple of weeks following the forecast to allow time for the dams to release enough water, preventing further flooding.
Prayers go out to those who have lost their homes, loved ones, and so much more as we begin our clean-up process and try to return to ‘normal’ life. Below is a video of the flooding downtown in Clarksville, TN:
German Shepherd Puppies For Sale (7 Weeks)
Well, the German Shepherd puppies have had their shots and are now ready for sale at 7 weeks old! There are already a few puppies going to good homes and they are going fast. Here are a few of the remaining puppies:
Life-span of Motivation
Motivation has a lot to do with patience and environment. Throughout life we are faced with negative situations that will wear on both our patience and our positive attitude, which can lead to self-doubt. It is important to maintain a strong belief in yourself, especially when you are in a hostile, negative environment. One of the most difficult challenges to overcome when the going gets rough is focus!
Out of all the influences that impact our attitude, finance, family, and work pretty much take the cake. They can have a tremendous effect on our mood, causing stress or joy, depression or excitement. The key is to keep your focus trained on your goal because you can’t help others unless you first help yourself. Unfortunately, there is no set translation on how to do that, aside from a burning desire to have the best that life has to offer.
So what is the life-span of motivation? In my opinion, it is a lifetime. No matter how bad your situation or how tough life gets, “false” motivation is better than no motivation. Discipline is important in continuing personal development. You want that successful lifestyle, you deserve that successful business!
Looking for some practical motivators? Try the NLP-Toolbox.
To your ultimate success,
Jerokiah Darr
GSD Puppies @ 1 Month
The German Shepherd Puppies are now just over a month old. There are individual photos prepared and still 6 out of 10 puppies available. Unfortunately, they cannot be posted yet due to technical issues, but will be available soon and this post updated.
Each of the puppies have prominent German Shepherd markings with the traditional colors of black, tan, and cream – primarily black. At this stage they are very curious and playful often growling while they play and barking when they hear the door open or a phone ring. Even the runt is healthy, getting his share of the soft puppy chow mix with those sharp little chompers.
Photos coming soon.
UPDATE: Puppy pics (finally):
Tunnel Rat Traffic is Down!
Don’t freak out, our host for TunnelRatTraffic.com has moved our server to an upgraded data center to increase stability and reliability. As a result, the site was down for a few hours! We have been assured that the servers will be back up shortly, once the move has been completed. Thanks to the ladies (Winter Perkins and Mandy Huber) at Seamless Web Solutions for a prompt response and an excellent service.
Since we send all emails from the site, there is no other way to communicate with members outside of the script right now, so we will be outsourcing to a professional email campaign provider, either Aweber or TrafficWave. Look for an update on our transition period soon and a notification through Tunnel Rat Traffic when we are back online.
Thank you all for your business and patience.
UPDATE: Tunnel Rat Traffic is back online and faster than ever after a successful transition! (as of 3 Feb)
Smiling: A Validation Epidemic
What kind of a difference would it make for your business if you and your customer support staff were a lot like the guy in this video?
Making people smile is a viral and addictive quality that rubs off naturally. Simple, yet effective, why do you think Coca-Cola used the “Coke and a Smile” slogan for so long? Kudos to the producers for making this video.
I’d love to hear your feedback.
Have a great day!
11 German Shepherd Puppies on 1-11
Litter [11] German Shepherds
What a day! We welcomed eleven pure-bred German Shepherd puppies into the world today, January 11th, 2009 (1-11-10)! Kind of ironic, but a very successful birthing with 100% survival rate [so far 
], these are some beautiful German Shepherd pups folks.
Dam and Sire of Litter
The parents are pictured on the right as Dam – Dakhara (2 yrs.) and Sire – Balto (5 yrs.). It has been an exciting and exhausting day, especially for Momma, now we look forward to the journey ahead of us, rearing some gorgeous German Shepherd pups! There are 9 males and 2 females after 3 hours and 18 minutes of labor, just FYI.
(Left): Dam with GSD Litter. (Right): The GSD Eleven!
Enjoy the photos, more to come soon. Have to re-focus back on work a bit between tending to the little ones, along with some rest. In eight weeks or so, we may be looking to sell some pups to a good home, no inquiries yet though please (even local). A few of these puppies have already been promised to some very lucky future German Shepherd lovers.
Enjoy the photos and check back soon for more updates on the Darr GSD 11!
