Search Engine Optimization
I am composing a list of Web Sites that should be utilized in the SEO process. In addition to these sites, building quality links back to your site shows search engines the importance of your site. It is important not to be passive in the process of building links if you are serious about Search Engine Optimization. Contacting web administrators to request a link swapping is use full, but I would recommend that you start the conversation about their work/site or even why the swap would be help full to them. Besides the time they would take to put the link in the code, they would also be taking the time to look into you Web Page, so giving them an idea of what they are getting into instead of just writing and asking to swap links will give you a better chance of having your email read.
I made a simple template to follow for anyone who does not know how to create a sitemap for search engine submission already. I recommend making your own for two reasons. First it will give you better control over what goes into your sitemap and what doesn't. Until recently I was using a sitemap generator from 1and1.com and when I was trying to figure out why I had tons on clicks in a "/tinc" folder it was because they put any dynamic data you may generate from them into the sitemap, which is then searched and people can access that without going to your site. Second reason is that you will learn search engine optimization and efficient GUI design through manual creation of site maps instead of atomizing it with a service.
Sitemap Template txt - simply open text file up, insert your own URL's, change the priority, the higher numbers for more important pages. Change the date modified to the last date that each page was, search engines generally give higher ratings to sites that are updated often. Save the the file as "sitemap.xml", upload it to your server and submit it to google using google webmaster tools.
List of Social Networking Sites and Web Page Directories to build links and traffic
Web Page Directories
- AboutUs.com - Tell the world what your site is about
- Alexa.com - The Web Information Company
- Google Webmaster Tools - Site, sitemap, robot.txt submission as well as Analytics, Adwords, Adsense and Developer API's
- StumbleUpon - Offers a toolbar to bring you to cool sites from categories you choose, but a great way to generate traffic.
Stumble It! - Digg.com - Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web.