Include keyword phrases in your title tag:

Think of a title tag as name above a shop. Imagine you are walking down a busy street with shops on either side of you. However every shop window is boarded up and all that is visible is its name. You mean to purchase a new Hi-Fi system and need to locate a suitable store. You look at all names but are getting confused as to which one is for you. All of a sudden you see a store with 'Hi-Fi and Electrical' in its name. You enter and purchase your spanking new Hi-Fi system, but it is a bit expensive. And little did you know but store next door also sold Hi-Fi systems but for a lot cheaper. However its name did not indicate this. In fact its name sounded more like a jewellery shop than an electrical store.

A search engine is rather like shopper in above example. It sees title on each web page and determines whether this would be a good result to return based on its text. If you search for 'Hi-Fi' it is highly likely that some of results returned will have 'Hi-Fi' in their title.

To be found using search engines you should optimize your website for a set of keyword phrases. These keyword phrases should be included in your title tag. Suppose I was a website selling Hi-Fi systems, then I would like my website to appear in search engine results when searching with phrase 'Hi-Fi systems'. If I include 'Hi-Fi systems' in my title tag I will increase chances that search engines will find page and my ranking will be higher. Of course you are not limited to adding only one keyword phrase to your title, I would recommend two perhaps three but be careful not to make it too long. Also remember make it easy to understand and descriptive for a human.

Order these keyword phrases effectively:

Placing a keyword phrase at start of title tag allows it to be seen better by search engines. Look at following examples:

* ABCDEF Electrical - Hi-Fi Systems * Hi-Fi Systems - ABCDEF Electrical

A directory is simply a web site that contains a categorized listing of links from around web. They aid surfers to locate 'best' and most informative links for a particular category. For example a category may be called 'Home and Garden' and in this category there is list of links about home improvement and gardening. Directories consist of a collection of categories into which links are seperated. Categories can have sub-categories to make division of links more specific.

Directories are important tools in building link popularity and as a result help improve search engine ranking. They are an excellent source of inbound, one-way links, which are most powerful types of links to help build link popularity.

There are a multitude of varied directories on web at present. They range from general directories that include categories for almost everything, to specific directories that contain categories to match specific area/s of interest e.g. web sites about fishing. It is helpful to get your web site listed in as many directories as possible as this will help you beat competition in rankings.

Getting your link listed varies between directories as each has their own different process. Some directories require a fee but most do not. A lot of directories offer a mixture between free and paid listing. When you pay to get your link listed in a directory it is normally added within a week and it is guaranteed to be added. On flipside a directory offer a free listing can take anywhere from a week to several months to add your link, and also there is no guarantee that link will be added.

Some directories use other approaches to get your link listed. For example Joeant directory http://www.joeant.com requires you to register as an editor in order to submit a link. The Zeal directory http://www.zeal.com also requires you to register as a member but first you must complete and pass a 20 question quiz to prove your worthiness.

Directories to submit to:

Getting listed in quality directories such as DMOZ or Yahoo can be more beneficial for your link popularity than a lot of links from smaller, newer directories. It is therefore useful to know which to submit to. The following is a listing of some of higher quality directories:

DMOZ http://www.dmoz.org The most important directory that exists on web today. Getting listing in this directory is critical if you aim to achieve top rankings.. * Listing - Free * Time to get listed - 1 to 6 months, maybe even longer

Yahoo Directory http://dir.yahoo.com After DMOZ, probably next most powerful directory to get listed in. * Listing - Free or paid * Time to get listed - Free inclusion can take several months, paid inclusion a few days

Zeal & Looksmart http://www.zeal.com http://www.looksmart.com These two directories are very closely related as Looksmart owns Zeal. * Listing - Zeal: Free for non-commercial sites (sites can only be submitted after passing a 20 question quiz) but paid for commercial sites. Looksmart: Paid