1. Ranking Checker by SEOmoz.com

This nice SEO tool allows you to check your rankings for up to 5 keywords per day for FREE and it keeps an archive for you. All you need is to sign up for a free SEOmoz account. The coolest part is that you are able to download your archived rankings as CSV. When you install the “browser button” it automatically copies the URL of the page that you are visiting into the tool for a fast ranking check. Since this free tool can handle up to 5 keywords daily, you’ll be able to check approximately 150 keywords monthly.

2. MultiRank Checker by iWebtool.com

Let’s say that you are interested in checking the Google Page Rank and the Alexa Ranking for one of your clients and also to do the same for 9 of their competitors. You have two options: 1) Go it the manual way and gather the information one by one or 2) just dump the 10 domain names into the MultiRank Checker and copy/paste the results table. I personally like this tool because it checks in bulk and saves a bit of time.

3. Fiddler Web Debugging Tool by Fiddlertool.com

Let’s say that you don’t like the Charles debugging tool because you have to pay a whole $50 for it. Don’t panic, Fiddler does basically the same and yes, it is for free. Currently it’s available only for Windows and it needs the .NET framework that you can download from their web site as well. The main benefits of this tool is the capacity to analyze all the background communication that goes on between the browser and the servers. I know what you are thinking about: Why not just use firefox and install Tamper Data? Well yes, that is a possibility. But if you are looking for a tool that won’t freeze your browser (seems to be a common occurence with Tamper Data) then Fiddler can become handy. Professional SEOs absolutely need a web debugging tool like this in their toolbox.

4. SEO Analyzer by Sitening.com

The SEO Analyzer is a great tool to start off optimization efforts. It is a report that gives a detailed list of SEO components that might require a closer assessment with a web site. The coolest part is that this tool keeps a copy of your previous reports and you can download them as PDF with a click of a button. This tool is definitely not intended to substitute a complete SEO site analysis though. The interface is very user friendly and it also gives you a score that you can use to quickly assess how much work a site might need.

5. Strongest Subpages Tool by WeBuildPages.com

This tool gives you an organized list of the strongest pages on any web site. This is important because by looking at the results you can easily determine what pages are carrying the most amount of inbound links. This tool is especially useful for webmasters looking at competitor’s strongest pages and, at least for us, running this tool on a competitor always spawns some creative ideas for building link campaigns via content additions.

6. Backlink Checker by WeBuildPages.com

Every SEO needs a backlink checker tool. This free tool is an excellent free backlink checking tool. It’ll come in useful if you need a place to start with your linking campaigns. You can also analyze competitor backlinks as well as your own using the Neat-O tool.

7. Firefox with the Web Developer Extension by Chris Pederick

Firefox in itself is the most flexible browser out there. But when you pair it with the Web Developer extension Firefox becomes a useful SEO tool. With it you can easily remove the cascading styles (inline, external or both), you can take a fast glance at all the external links in a page, or you can remove all the javascript components at once just to name a few of its features. The nicest part of the extension is that you can add your own SEO tools to the menu (online or desktop).

8. SEO for Firefox by SEOBook.com

There is no other tool out there that could give you the amount of information that this tool does right from either the visited page or the search engine. Perfect for a quicky competitive overview. This tool will give you PageRank, cache date, domain age, backlinks in Yahoo, number of .edu links, the number of cached pages, and many other stats for any given page with a simple right click. The most amazing feature is that you can export your information directly from the SERPs to CSV.

9. Google Analytics / Google Webmaster Console by Google.com

Based on Urchin, Google Analytics is a top analytics tool made available to everybody for free by Google. This analytics tool can give you detailed reports about traffic behavior, content visitation, funnel information and much, much more. On the other hand, the Webmaster Console tool now gives you a good view of what Google “sees” for your site including: crawling rate, crawling speed, backlinks, highest PageRank of your site and more.

This two tools together constitute the fundaments of free search engine marketing but beware because by using either ou are giving Google access to all of your site data.

10. Keyword Selector Tool by Overture.com

This tool is one of the first keyword tools that was available to webmasters. It’s still very useful and is still free

Located: Melbourne Phone No: 1800 008 301 Website: Click Here

Click Creative are a digital design and communications agency specialising in creative web design, web development, strategic online marketing, SEO, AdWords sponsored link campaigns, graphic & logo design, eCommerce and more. Our focus is on producing customised websites and online strategies that produce effective business results.

Combining the talent of graphic design, web design, programmers and online marketing specialists, our web design team can develop your online web site strategy. After the website completion, we provide you with the necessary knowledge to maintain your website with our content management system and provide web hosting on our reliable and fast servers.

Services Provided: Search Engine Optimisation, Website Design, Website Hosting, Web Development

Google Street View

Today Google announced the launch of Street View trike (yes, trike) in Sydney.

Google has realised that many of the world’s most interesting and iconic places aren’t accessible by their Street View car so they’ve come up with a solution: the Google Trike. The Google Trike is “a mechanical masterpiece comprising three bicycle wheels, a Street View camera, and a very athletic cyclist in customised Google apparel.”

It was launched in Taronga Zoo, Sydney which is apt considering many Sydneysiders probably got lost there when they were a kid!

Google is now asking for suggestions of where the Trike should travel to next whilst in Oz… I think a cycle to the top of Uluru would be a suitable challenge for Google’s “athletic cyclists”!  But if you have more achievable ideas (maybe the Bondi to Bronte walk?), Google would love to hear them!

In a recent meeting a debate arose after I said that Google doesn’t use the keyword metatag. I was challenged on this point by someone confidently asserting that Google is indeed using the keyword metatag once again. He inferred that any suggestion that they weren’t was simply uninformed.

We agreed to disagree. The customer was confused. My creditability was compromised.

I blogged about the keyword metatag back in 2008. More recently even Google’s Matt Cutts once again debunked this urban myth, but the mighty keyword metatags’ magic powers will continue to persist…

My point is that there is so much SEO mis-information that the sheer mass generates its own pseudo-creditability much along the lines of …Oh yeah that must be true because I heard it the other day….

Metatag Basics

A metatag is a special place inside the web page HTML code that can store variables for example the Description meta tag which is used in SERPs

The keyword meta tag is one of a number of common HTML metatags, traditionally used to store a string of words that represent the content on that page.

Its use has persisted, particularly in Content Management Systems where editors are invited to add ‘search words’ etc that are then published into the keyword metatag by the CMS.

The keyword metatag was identified as being open to abuse around 2002, and no longer used by Google from that time and I suspect by many other search engines for the same reason.

Some of the most successful internet-based business are those that identify a niche market based on market or ‘keyword’ research. Businesses in a niche can find it easier to compete because of less competition, and at the same time customers searching for a niche product may be more ready to buy.

For example, a large portion of searchers looking for ‘promotional products’ could be unsure of what to buy and may be looking for ideas. There will be less people searching for a keyword like ‘promotional ball point pens’, but searchers are more likely to be buyers.

Applying this logic to a web-based business means that you should consider identifying a small market niche before attempting to tackle established players in the industry. There are various keyword research tools available online that can identify niche markets. A search for ‘keyword research tool’ on Google will reveal a whole range of useful tools to help with your decision criteria.

Located: Brisbane Phone No: 1300 123 SEO Website: Click Here

DEJAN SEO is based in Brisbane, Australia, and two offices in Europe, servicing clients from all around the world. We use technology to connect with our offices and clients, keeping our overheads low and prices affordable.

We provide tailored, strategic search engine optimisation (SEO) packages to small, medium and large businesses and we offer measurable and highly transparent service with 24/7 access to progress reports.

Services Provided: Search Engine Optimisation

Another thing our system administrator pointed out was the fact that some search engines and browsers always query for favicon which can add a light, yet unnecessary load to your server and also pollute server logs with 404 errors.

Using Google Webmaster Tools you can now easily and at a glance discover which of your sites are missing the favourite icon and organise quick placement.

Do take time to add a favourite icon to your website, it’s a great little branding tool. It’s easy to create one – simply save your 16×16 pixel gif file as .ico and upload it to your server. Also you can use one of many available icon generators which can produce even animated icons – keep in mind though that animation feature works only in some browsers.

Illustrated above is the actual screenshot from our webmaster tools account comparing sites that have the icon setup and those that do not.

Located: Brisbane Phone No: 07 3371 1055 Website: Click Here

Reload Media is a leading Brisbane Search Engine Optimisation and internet marketing firm. Our search engine optimisation services are guaranteed to improve your business’ web presence, which can boost your sales.

Reload Media works with a wide range of clients throughout Australia and are a wholly owned trading entity of Reload Consulting Pty Ltd.

Reload Media is focused on complete customer service by producing the very best and innovative digital marketing solutions for our clients. We value a fun, ethical and diverse work environment and look forward to discussing your website, SEO, digital marketing and internet strategy requirements.

Services Provided: Search Engine Optimisation

A payment gateway is the facility connected to your website that allows you to take credit cards as payment methods. Credit cards are a necessary payment option on successful ecommerce websites so you should never consider not having this facility on your website.

Some ecommerce websites may offer a downloadable form to print and send with credit card information or have a statement saying that the customer will be contacted for payment once the order has been placed. Although this can save money in the short term by not utilising a payment gateway, our research has found that this severely limits the number of customers who will place an order on your website.

Online customers want to know exactly what they are up for (including freight) and will want to pay and complete the order there and then. If you place hurdles to this (such as a downloadable order form or saying you will ring them for credit card details) you will usually find the customer will just go elsewhere.

When it comes to payment gateways, there are three common types of payment gateway.

1. Manual Payment Gateway
   A manual payment gateway is a facility that securely takes the customers credit card details and stores them for you to access and process manually through a facility such as an eftpos machine. Manual payment gateways are generally the most inexpensive form of gateway but do require you to manually process each payment which can become an overhead if you are performing many transactions a day.

   To utilise a manual payment gateway, you will need a merchant account with your bank and also permission from the bank to process credit cards without a signature. You will also need access to a facility such as an eftpos machine or online processing system to process the payments through.You will need to speak to your bank to organise this and then utilise a manual payment gateway such as E-Gateway.

2. Paypal
   Paypal is often the payment gateway of choice for people starting out in Ecommerce. Paypal can be easily integrated with your website to act as the payment gateway. Transactions are processed in ‘real time’ which means that when a customer enters their details, you automatically receive the funds.

   A drawback with Paypal is that in order for Paypal to work properly with an ecommerce site, your customers are required to either be a paypal member or go through the paypal sign up process before they can order from your website. Another drawback is that you need to transfer funds from paypal to your bank account manually when you need access to them which can incur extra fees.

3. Real Time Payment Gateway
   The real time payment gateway is the most professional and efficient gateway solution available. Payments are processed at the point of the sale on your website and you tend to receive funds within a couple of days. A real time payment gateway is perfect for sites experiencing high volumes of sales or for those people who can not access the facilities needed for a manual payment gateway.

   You can access a real time payment gateway solution from many banks and also third party companies such as Camtech.

When developing your ecommerce website, it is important to choose the gateway that suits your needs. Remember that if you are not using the Paypal method, you will also need to organise your merchant facility with your bank. This can often take a few weeks so it is always best to get started on this before your website is ready for launch. Also shop around with different banks as you can often get good deals on fees and interest charges if you do this.

Special offer with Camtech
Mantis Technologies have partnered up with leading Australian real time payment gateway Camtech to offer a permanent discounted rate for their real time credit card gateway.

Make the switch from Eway, Paypal or any other gateway (or sign up as a new customer) and you will receive a discounted rate of $300 per annum and $0.40 per transaction (ex GST). That is a major saving over many other Australian gateways.

To sign up, Click here and when asked for the ‘referrer code’ put in ‘Mantis Technologies’ and when asking for the pricing model, select ‘custom pricing’ and you will receive the discounted fees

Located: Gold Coast Phone No: 07 5563 2388 Website: Click Here

Mantis Technologies is highly experienced ecommerce and website design firm located on the Gold Coast and servicing clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth as well as many other countries such as Japan, USA and UK.

We specialise in ecommerce website design, real estate website packages, content management systems, search engine optimisation, online training website design, web based applications, custom built websites and much more.

Our team of in house web designers, programmers, project manager and search engine experts can ensure you have the most attractive, functional, user friendly and successful website possible.

Services Provided: Web Design