Search engine optimization (otherwise known as SEO) is not as difficult as some may make you think. Honestly, if you use a little common sense, and you learn the basics then you should have no problem at all at making the search engines fall head over heels for you. Here are 10 tips I think anybody could use to make the search engines give you a little more love.

1. Don’t overuse or “spam” the meta keywords or description with content that is not related to what is on your actual page.

2. Contact other webmasters that deliver content much like your own and get them to link back to you. The social aspect of Web popularity can not be forgotten about. Chances are if somebody like something you do - they will link to it to share with others.

3. Make sure your title tag changes depending on the page you are viewing.

4. Make good use of your headlines, and keep them in order. Your main headline should be h1, then go to h2, and then to h3. Also toss a couple (one or two) keywords in your headlines.

5. Use common sense. If you hear about an awesome SEO tip online somewhere, and it sounds kind of fishy - don’t do it. I’ve never met anybody who made it to the top of Google and said it was all thanks to his free 101 SEO dirty tricks handbook he bought of a page that looks like it was designed in 1995.

6. Create a XML sitemap and learn to keep it updated. Many content management systems offer plugins for creating them too. The best one for WordPress is Google XML Sitemaps.

7. Use relevant keywords in the content of your web page, but do not go overboard. If you try to go over the top with the keyword usage - you are often labeled by the search engines as a “keyword stuffer” and that can hurt more than help in the long run.

8. Use Google’s webmaster tools and also submit yourself to Yahoo’s site explorer. Both offer ways to submit and watch your status in those two search engines.

9. Keep tabs on the search for your web site’s name. I often search for “web hosting show” just to keep tabs on who else is showing up for that search phrase.

10. Get use out of title tags for links and anchor text for images. Use them to describe where they go and what they are though.

Be patient, your search engine rankings are not going to change in a day. As long as you are delivering good content that is relevant to your topic of choice the search engines should love you.

I can’t even count the number of times I have said over one hundred and forty podcast that I hate the word “unlimited” in web hosting. Well, Yahoo has done the impossible - they did unlimited hosting the right way. Find out how and get a lot more on this week’s wonderful web hosting podcast.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 141!
Running Time: 14 minutes | File Size: 6.34 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• Yahoo Provides Cheap Unlimited Hosting!
• Get More Out of RSS and PHP with SimplePie?
• Oddball Web Hosting Company Names (weirdos!)
• 10 SEO Tips that Anybody Could Use!
• Do You Need Server Monitoring?

I promise not only to deliver you the best hosting podcast out there today, I’ll also make a deal with you that I will do it in 10 to 15 minutes. Now how could you turn down a bargain like that?

Found this interesting jewel on YouTube the other day, and thought I would post it up here and see what you think. Are all top ten web hosts links scams or just a select few? Does this paint web hosting resources on the web with a “do not trust” coat of paint or are there exceptions to the rule?

I would love to hear some feedback on this one. Do you think they are speaking the truth or are all of these top 10 sites all the same?

ICANN has sat up and taken notice when it comes to the shady practices of “domain tasting”. I hate to be one to call myself a profit, but back on podcast 138 I am pretty sure I said:

Where is ICANN with this type of practice? I say if they were all over RegisterFly for what they were doing then Network Solutions really should not be treated any differently.

ICANN Comes in to Save the Day!

I am happy to see ICANN has decided to stand up and do something about this money grubbing nonsense. Under current ICANN rules, anyone who registers a new domain name has a five-day grace period to back out and receive a total refund. The problem is people use this period to test how well the domain name does in the real world and also slap ads all over it to make a buck.

So what is the solution? ICANN is talking about charging the ICANN registration fee right from the start instead of waiting. That way companies and individuals would get less of a “freebie”. The cost would be picked up by the domain name register and hopefully this would end the practice of people testing to see how profitable a domain name is for free.

What About Front Runners?

This will also hurt companies like Network Solutions that have started “front running” domains (a fancy name for the same dirty tactics). This is where a domain name register will register your domain name searches and offer to resell them to you for a higher price.

The whole thing kinda reminds me of the mafia and being called in to “do a favor” for the godfather himself. Google is also getting a chance to get some positive press out of all of this. They said that they will no longer allow AdSense revenue to be collected on domains that are less than four days old. Now that will cost Google some big bucks but nice to see that they are doing the right thing. What they are losing in finances they are gaining in public trust in praise.

Spotlight this week for the most innovative and fun to use web hosting tool goes to YouGetSignal.com. This site is not only visually appealing - but it also delivers you some awesome tools to boot. The most impressive of them all would be the visual trace routes.

As you can see the Visual Trace route tool is where the most fun is. It goes from hop to hop showing you how it goes and where it goes. Other tools they provide include:

• Port Forwarding Tester
• Network Location Tool
• Phone Number Geolocator
• Reverse IP Domain Check

All in all a great resource for any web hoster, network freak or regular interested person should have in their networking toolbelt.

I am probably not the first person to have this idea, but it seems like day after day you hear about these terrorist web sites that are spreading propaganda and talking about nefarious things. Anything on the Web is hosted somewhere right? So why not talk with the web hosts who hosts the material about brining it down.

According to a report from theWHIR.com this might be starting to happen. As the story goes, a local Tampa, Florida reporter told local web host Noc4Hosts about an al-Qaida related site they were hosting. This is not the only case of this happening though.

Over in Arizona, CrystalTech Web Hosting also took down an al-Qaida related site after being tipped off by the Arizona Republic newspaper. This site in question was sharing information about how to recruit car bombers, promote war on the West and provide a forum for Islamic militants.

So as you can see, US based web hosts are not except from being used for these low down and dirty reasons. No mater which political side of the fence you are on I think any web host out there that finds content like this one their servers should shut it down as soon as they can.

Why is it Happening and How Do We Stop It?

Now why are web hosts of any location such a good place to target? Well many web hosts out there host so many web sites it is hard to keep track of every single domain. You could check them out on sign up - but if you are signing up a new hosting plan and new domain name there is no way to check out the history of the person.

So should web hosts keep relying on customer complaints and reporters tipping them off to such sites or could web hosts start creating a “watch list” of their own for suspicious new signups and transfered domains? There are a lot of “maybe” and “could be” answers but what we need to do in a whole is bring the topic into the public web hosting discussion.

I won’t lie to you, web hosts do some pretty annoying things sometimes to get your business.

I hate it when… the “Live Chat” link hovers over the web site content!

Dear web hosts, if I wanted to chat with your sales representative I would be more than happy to click the link on the side. I do not need the option hovering in front of my face like I am a moron who couldn’t find it located in a static spot. If your live chat link reminds me of a “punch the monkey to win an iPod” ad your not making a good first impression.

I hate it when… the words free, unlimited, or little green check marks in every single comparison chart box!

Any sort of comparison chart usually tends to make me angry just because if you have looked at enough web hosts they are nearly all the same. The top two or three comparisons (with things like disk space and bandwidth) are useful. The fact that you offer WordPress on every single plan or FTP access is not. If it is a comparison chart, give me some differences between the things you are offering.

I hate it when… web hosts list meaningless “services” they offer that make no sense or that are overly obvious!

This goes back to the idea that the web host thinks you are a total idiot so the sell you services that you know you are getting. Think of this as a shoe salesman selling you on the fact that your new pair of sneakers also come with shoe laces! Need some web hosting examples? Here are some obvious hosting features you’ll get that I have seen advertised:

• Support! - “Yes, every web host supports their customers”
• Hosting with a Domain! - “You need something to point people at, right?”
• A Real E-mail Address! - “Not like those ‘fake’ ones you get with other web hosts?”

I hate it when… meaningless flash covers the top 1/4th of the web host’s web site and does nothing at all!

Oh this one grinds my gears the most, because there is no reason to have that huge flashing flash logo on the top of the page. Does it do anything for you? No! It is useless eye candy that somebody told the web host would “look pretty”. Give me the basics - don’t give me a flashing picture of servers with a sunset behind them.

What annoys you about web hosting or web hosts?