You probably wouldn’t think it, but SEO companies are a pretty good source of  advice for DIY SEOs (and professionals). Many of them try to explain the processes and techniques they use to give themselves credibility and you can glean valuable information from them.

Seo-watch.com is an interesting site that provides a lot of detail about SEO marketing with a particular regard for e-commerce sites. Right on the homepage, they point out the benefits of scripting to rewrite dynamic URL’s into search engine friendly URL’s.

They provide the usual web optimization and marketing services – on-site optimisation, search engine submission, PPC campaign management and directory submission – but there is also detailed info about how to optimise content management systems and other resources, such as lists of search engines and directories.

It’s not often that you can get valuable information for free so make the most of it.

New sites and blogs about search engine optimisation and internet marketing are popping up all the time. InternetHelp.co.uk in particular has caught my eye.

The site provides a range of information and resources for webmasters, from advice on choosing a domain name and eCommerce solutions, to tips for SEO. In fact that’s what I like about this site, it aims to help visitors with every aspect of running a website rather than concentrating on one thing, like SEO. Afterall, what’s the point of increasing visitors to a site if it looks horrible and isn’t designed to convert them into customers.

As well as the articles and tutorials, there is also a directory to help webmasters find designers, hosting providers and seo companies. Both the directory and some of the article categories, such as the eCommerce pages, are a little low on content at the moment, but Internet Help is definitely a site to keep an eye on because of it’s integrated approach to online business.

Marketing and promoting your website can be a complicated and difficult task. There are so many things to consider; link building, keyword research, copy writing and designing a site that converts visitors to customers and leads. Datadial.net (established in 1998) are a UK based web development company that can provide an integrated web marketing solution that includes all these elements.

Many internet marketing websites use language that is too technical or are so over-optimised that they are unreadable. Datadial’s site clearly explains their search engine optimisation services with simple copy presented in an attractive, well-designed site. Obviously, this inspires confidence in the web design and marketing services they offer.

The site also includes a number of detailed case-studies which are a great way of understanding their services, and checking out some of the sites they have worked on. Not all internet marketing and SEO companies will release this type of information.

Perhaps most importantly, Datadial emphasize that their service is results and target based – a very important factor when you are spending a significant sum on a long term internet marketing campaign.

The main way most webmasters earn money is through selling services, products and advertising. Whichever way you do it, the amount of money earned depends on how much is spent to set up and maintain the site, how much traffic the site attracts and how well visitors are converted into customers. 3FN.net can help with all these elements.

First of all, a webmaster has to choose the appropriate dedicated server provider to host a site. The start up and ongoing costs of hosting obviously have a large impact on the profitability of an online business.

How does a webmaster attract traffic? There are two main choices: Search engine traffic and social networks or buying traffic through pay per click advertising companies. A webmaster can profitably combine these methods and 3FN.net can provide keyword research, advertising and general search engine marketing.

Once visitors are attracted to a site, a webmaster needs to monetize and convert it into sales. 3NF can monetize traffic through online marketing, partnership networks and their own targeted contextual advertising programmes.

A niche directory is a good place to list your site, if you can find one that is relevant. Not only will it provide a more authoritative backlink but it may also send you some traffic, since it will be frequented by others in that niche.

This is especially true for ‘directories of directories’ – what better place is there to find visitors who are prepared to submit to directories?!

It is worthwhile writing a description specifically aimed at attracting others in the niche when submitting to a specialised directory. In the directories niche for example, you might include more technical information that directory owners will appreciate such as mentioning the age of the domain or the PageRank of the site.

Web Directory List is a well designed bid for position directory offering listings for other web directories. An great extra feature is that it offers 5 deep links on a detail page, something that I’ve not seen in bidding directories before.

It will be interesting to see if more bidding directories appear in other niches. It could be that the only people who will pay to be in the top position are webmasters in the SEO and online promotion niche.