This is the fourth (and possibly last) in a series of articles providing SEO Help for Beginners. As I mentioned in the very first article, I'm not an SEO expert, but I recognize the importance of learning SEO and of explaining it in a simple, easy to understand way. That has been my goal throughout these articles, and from the feedback I've been getting, so far so good.

In the last article, we talked about on-page optimization, and in this article, we'll focus on the second type of SEO, which is off-page optimization. We'll also look at some resources that will help you with your own SEO adventure.

Off-page optimization refers to factors that are largely outside the control of the individual webmaster. The most important of these are inbound (or external) links, which are links on different websites that point to your website.

Think of an inbound link as a positive review of your site.

After all, someone else has gone to the bother of linking to your site, so they must have found something of value on your site. The more external links pointing at your site, the more important it is perceived by the search engines and the higher it is likely to rank.

But the search engines don’t just look at the number of external links pointing to your site, they also look at the quality of these links. There are several factors that go into determining the quality of an inbound link. For instance, search engines give greater weight to links coming from an "authority site" that has good rankings.

The search engines also analyze whether the inbound link is a “reciprocal link” or a one-way link. A reciprocal link is when you put a link to someone’s website with the understanding that they do the same for you. Google likes one-way links and isn’t too crazy about reciprocal links. Why? Because people have been using inbound links to try and fool Google. By now, you should realize that it just doesn't pay to try and fool Google. They will catch on and you can be punished!

Here is a great video that discusses inbound links.

1. Social media

As you know, there are tons of social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, etc. These are all sites where people can form a community to share information.

If you use social media properly, it can really help your rankings because links coming from social media pages are powerful. Remember that your goal with social media is to build relationships, provide valuable information, support others, etc. It is not to flaunt your products or services in people's faces.

Google is keeping a sharp eye on how people use social media. For example, Google is looking at whether you are actually being social on these sites, vs. using them just as a way to get inbound links to your website. Don’t set up an empty profile and start spamming, because Google will catch on.

2. Comment on Other People's Content

Another way to create inbound links is to comment on other people's content. For instance, provide feedback or comments on someone's blog or article. A couple of key points to keep in mind are as follows. First, don't just comment for the sake of commenting. Make sure you have something worthwhile to contribute to the discussion. Second, as far as SEO goes, it helps if you comment on sites that themselves have high ratings.

3. Article Marketing

Another great way to get quality inbound links is through article marketing, or creating content and submitting your articles to various sites. There are some helpufl tips oneffective article marketing.and I will be writing more hubs on this soon, but in the meantime, here are some key considerations.

First, submit your articles to high quality sites. Some of the top ones are EzineArticles, ArticlesBase, ArticleDashboard, GoArticles, and IdeaMarketers. In particular, EzineArticles offers great training on how to succeed with articles.

Second, when you're writing your articles, do keyword research first and write your article with the keywords in mind. Here's a great tip. Go to EzineArticles and find articles in your subject area that are getting high page views. Then go to that article, right click on your mouse, and scroll down to "view page source" and then look for <met name = "keyword". You'll be able to see the keywords they are using.

Third, you'll want to "spin" your article when you submit it to different sites. In other words, make some changes to the article so the search engines don't regard it as duplicate content. Basically, you take one article and create many unique articles from the same one. Some people use software to do the article spinning, but you have to be careful because they can make a mess of your articles. You can also use article submission services that will submit your articles to different sites for you. I'll be sharing more information about this in future articles.

Conclusion

SEO takes time. Education is key because if you do SEO wrong, you can annoy Google and run the risk of having your site lowered in rankings or even banned from the search engines. By learning SEO you can bring more tageted visitors to your site.

Like everything else related to the Internet, SEO is constantly evolving. So stay up to date on SEO trends and techniques.Here are some resources to help you do just that. 

SEO Training Resources

The top 25 blogs about SEO – this site has a dailyblog tip you can sign up for, and this page of the site lists the top 25 blogs about SEO. You’ll find other great information about SEO as well.

SEO Networker – has a free training program about SEO with 7 videos

Hub by Peter Hogan of SEO Scotland.

Dr. Ralph Wilson is a respected internet marketing expert with some good tips on SEO

free SEO tip of the day that you can receive in your email each day

SEO tips for bloggers

To get the whole picture about your backlinks, or about those of a competitors check out Link Diagnosis.

Cindy Schulson helps solo entrepreneurs identify and attract their unique target market. She helps you work smart by leveraging the power of the Internet and attracting your ideal customers. Visit Home Business Wins to schedule a free coaching call, or contact her directly at cindy@homebusinesswins.com or tel: (619) 318-8688.