01 Jul 09 Google PageRank Sculpting is Dead
For those of you using advanced SEO techniques such as PageRank sculpting, you might want to listen up. 
Head of Google’s crime spam fighting team, Matt Cutts, put the cat amongst the pigeons last month when he answered an audience question at the SMX Advanced conference about the value of using rel=”no follow” for PageRank sculpting purposes. When asked if it was a good idea to use nofollow when linking around within your site, Matt said no.
NoFollow is a method to annotate a link to say to search engines “I don’t want to vouch for this link.” In Google, nofollow links don’t pass PageRank.
According to Matt, more than a year ago, Google changed how the PageRank flows so that links WITHOUT nofollow would flow lesser points of PageRank than before and that links WITH the nofollow attribute would count toward how PageRank is divided up amongst all links on a page.
Seems SEOs and webmasters were getting a little bit trigger happy with their use of rel=”no follow” for Google crawl prioritization and were accidently blocking Googlebot from indexing important parts of their site.
Matt later clarified the issue with his blog post PageRank Sculpting:
“[We] noticed some sites that attempted to change how PageRank flowed within their sites, but those sites ended up excluding sections of their site that had high-quality information (e.g. user forums)… I wouldn’t recommend [PageRank sculpting], because it isn’t the most effective way to utilize your PageRank. In general, I would let PageRank flow freely within your site. The notion of “PageRank sculpting” has always been a second- or third-order recommendation for us. I would recommend the first-order things to pay attention to are 1) making great content that will attract links in the first place, and 2) choosing a site architecture that makes your site usable/crawlable for humans and search engines alike. For example, it makes a much bigger difference to make sure that people (and bots) can reach the pages on your site by clicking links than it ever did to sculpt PageRank. “
Danny Sullivan has a great follow up post that goes into more detail here.
So the short story is this: PageRank sculpting is no longer effective as a SEO technique (if it ever was). For the most part, the more links on a page, the less PageRank each link gets. Keep that in mind whenever you’re optimizing your site and when you build new pages.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Google PageRank Sculpting is Dead
Tags: google, website resources, search, pr10, webmaster, seo.page rank, optimize
Tags: Attribute, Audience Question, Blog, google, Googlebot, High Quality, Little Bit, Matt Cutts, Nofollow, Notion, Pigeons, Prioritization, Sculpting, Search Engines, Seo Techniques, Site Architecture
01 Jul 09 Should You Fire Your SEO Company?
Search engines algorithms are shrouded in total secrecy. So what works in SEO and what does not is merely the result of an analysis of sites that make it to page #1. Some times the keywords show up sooner than expected, at times they do not. It’s very difficult to measure the effectiveness of an SEO campaign because the time frame for results is prolonged. With the mushrooming of SEO companies and the vagueness of operations finding the right company can be an issue.
True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but results should be visible after 3 months onto a program. Okay… give and take a few months for the vagaries of Search Engines who like to alter their algorithms just when your site is all set to take off!
The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.
- A well optimized code
- Well Optimized Metatags
- Header Tags, Alt tags
- Keywords in the URL
- Backlinks to the site
If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these together chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1 increases proportionally with every position.
There are two ways in which you can check if your company is really working on your website.
- Set up Google Alert on your company’s name. Once an alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press release Google will pick it up and deliver it into your mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO company is working.
- Use a tracking account. Google Analytics is free and is improving with feedback. Ask you SEO company to set up a tracking in analytics and get your account id and password so that you can check occasionally.
SEO is unfortunately a long drawn process. How long should one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and you face any of the following scenarios it’s time to fire your SEO company.
Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic
Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting any conversions.
Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword.
Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks.
Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.
Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24 months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI professional SEO companies choose a mix and match of low competition, moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your SEO company did not take this approach it’s time to fire them.
How to Check: Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free tool) to your site and visit it regularly.
Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting conversions Maybe it’s a genuine mistake which can be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic because the company has posted the site at improper places just to show stats of increase in traffic. Believe me this happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets taken in.
How to Check: Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources. Check all the traffic types- Referral, search engine and direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just SEO
Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword Maybe the targeted keywords are too competitive ORMaybe all the aspects of SEO are not being covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the company is doing.
How to Check: Simply type your keyword in the search bar. Check page #1 for your URL. If it’s not on page #1 it should be on page #2 after 6 months of campaign for at least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn’t there call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.
Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks. Maybe the ranking will improve gradually OR Maybe the company is trying to impress upon you that it has increased your links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from the company.
How to Check: Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the following to see the number of links to your website- links:www.domainname.com Analyze the relevancy of the site linking back to your website. If the links are from spam sites fire the company.
Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were. Suppose you were already on page #3 or page #2 for the keywords and approached a company to take you to page #1. But you haven’t moved. Maybe the company’s taking you for a ride
OR There is no other reason. Just fire the company. They are showing no results
There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in this article. It’s very difficult to know if the company is working hard enough to get you on page #1. Keeping constant contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly comparative report and track the increase in links, traffic and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by the company. Track the action plan. You will see results soon enough!
Ajay Prasad is founder of Global Marketing Resources LLC that runs a number of ecommerce websites under it’s umbrella. Ajay’s functional expertise includes website strategy, marketing management, business development, consumer research, market analysis and strategic planning. GMRWebTeam is an Orange County Website Design company that aims to develop an overall website strategy for your site.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Should You Fire Your SEO Company?
Tags: optimize, google, seo.page rank, webmaster, website resources, pr10, search
Tags: Account Id, Analytics, Backlinks, Company Search Engines, Directory, google, Header Tags, Optimized Code, Ppc, Press Release, Science, Secrecy, Seo Companies, Seo Company, Serps, Smart, Time Frame, Two Ways, Vagaries, Vagueness
01 Jul 09 Forget No-Follow: Try This PageRank Sculpting SEO Alternative
In case you are searching for SEO alternatives for the rel=”nofollow” tag to sculpt page rank, at the end of this post there are links and suggestions for an old school work around. But first, an overview of Page Rank Sculpting…Page Rank Sculpting Overview:
Over time the links you use as anchors become prominent as each page in your website takes on more authority. Not only are links just a way from getting from point A to point B within a website, but they also inherently hold the keys to search engine rankings as search engines use links and anchor text to assess relevance.
Search engines crawl links (within your website) to determine context and align the on page data (what the page is about) to other pages in the site and off page data (what other sites say about your pages).
Sometimes, by using the same links consistently across large areas of a website (such as navigation or a sidebar or template), you unintentionally diffuse the topic of the context or context of that segment. Page rank sculpting allows you to minimize the negative impact or hemorrhaging link flow, while consolidating the most significant links from the most significant sources within your website.
The Dilemma: Structuring Which Links Pass Value
The reason why the no-follow tag became popular was for sites linking out to others, the no-follow tag suppresses link flow from leaving the site providing the link to the site being linked to (in case you do not care to vouch for them or let them rank off your domain authority).
Seeing the benefits of this, some SEO’s began using the no-follow tag to sculpt the way that Google’s crawlers sifted through their pages. The premise was that by adding a no-follow tag to a link that it would become invisible to the crawlers and then proportionately provide more link juice to the remaining links on the page, this is page rank sculpting.
Much to the dismay of SEO’s (who were possibly some of the only people using no-follow to begin with), Google changed the way they processed the no-follow tag and suggested that instead of the link being invisible and the remaining link flow going to other links (which the link flow from the link) in the no-follow tag simply evaporated.
As a result, those who used the tag internally essentially have disrupted their own internal link graph not to mention could incur dips in rankings due to the amount of trust moving from page to page being diminished.
Now, for the Technique
As promised, here is the link to an “old school” advanced SEO technique hailing from the, pre-nofollow tag” era. In addition to using javascript links (which are now crawled from search engines), here is one no-follow alternative that you can employ in minutes courtesy of renowned SEO expert Charles Hefflin from SEO2020.com.
For those unfamiliar with the technique, the no-follow tag is a tag you can implement within the html code that allows a website to “link out to others” and not incur one of two things (1) theme diffusion or (2) a potential penalty from Google.
This tactic uses a minor modification to your robots.txt file and /cgi-bin/ directory and redirects links from a /cgi-bin/ script that elects to block spiders from crawling from the robots.txt via an exclusion command like the one noted below as an example.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /folder/
This is one of many techniques you could employ, but this one is quick, effective and preserves the link equity you have within your own website.
In the event you are curious to what the reference is for theme bleeding (it is covered in Charles’s post), or you can refer to our post on theme density and theming and siloing for a larger overview as an effective alternative to using flat site architecture (keeping all files in the root folder vs. subfolders segmented by topic) for search engine optimization.
Hat tip once again to Charles Hefflin on this priceless SEO technique that places the power of “page rank sculpting” back in the hands of webmasters who can appreciate the simple beauty and impact of this effective on page SEO technique. That is of course, if you elect to use it…
Jeffrey Smith is an active internet marketing optimization strategist, consultant and the founder of Seo Design Solutions Seo Company http://www.seodesignsolutions.com. He has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and fresh marketing strategies to individuals involved in online business.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Forget No-Follow: Try This PageRank Sculpting SEO Alternative
Tags: search, website resources, webmaster, seo.page rank, pr10, google, optimize
Tags: Anchor Text, Anchors, Crawlers, Dilemma, Dismay, Domain Authority, google, Negative Impact, Old School, page rank, Pagerank, Premise, Reason, Relevance Search, Search Engines, Segment, Seo, Sidebar, Tag
01 Jul 09 Social Networking 101 – How to Use It to Increase Your Business!
You know how often I get asked about how effective social networking is for someone’s business, from my clients or when I’m out networking from random business owners?? Hundreds a month.
It’s amazing. It’s amazing how many of us are on the social sites but also how many are not!
I think if you’re an entrepreneur, no matter whether you do business locally or globally, you should be doing some amount of social networking as ONE source of lead generation in your business.
Of course there are hundreds of other ways to get leads too and I’m only talking about ONE right now (and it’s not always the most effective depending on how you utilize your time but it’s certainly affordable).
Lead generation is ONE goal to have when you network online but it can also do the following for you:
- solidify long lasting relationships – either personal or professional
- provide an easy way to connect faster with target prospects, referral sources or mentors
- establish yourself as an expert in your field by answering discussion questions, posting tips and articles or even inviting ‘friends’ to live events like teleclasses and webinars
- drive more traffic back to your site for special promotions, downloads or interaction
- provides a central place to share photos, videos and basically get more publicity than you could ever pay (or pray) for
Is it worth it to spend my time on the forums or having profiles on these sites?
I say definitely yes.
- You want to ask and answer questions on forums and blogs
- Post comments, articles, events, information, tips, surveys and polls, anything to get the visitors attention
- Record and post interesting or business related videos (nothing too embarrassing!)
- Send people requests to join your ‘network’, ‘fan page’ or ‘group’
- Pursue those in related groups for interaction, advice, joint ventures, etc.
- Dig deeper into the websites of those you’re really interested in working with or those you want to pay attention to you and relate to them on a deeper level if you can – this is the way to make the most of your time I think.
- And so much more….
Whew! I know this can seem daunting and more sites pop up every day right?
I mean, you can even start YOUR OWN social network these days (not that you want to).
So, what should your ROI (Return on Investment) be you ask?
Well, granted this stuff sucks up a ton of time! So, if you’re delegating some of the initial connecting and basic weekly/daily posts and then you’re only in there mostly to dig deeper, get personal and maximize your time; then you can really build a great following. One that’s loyal and interested in new things you send out. A following that clicks and interacts with your profile, your videos and your website.
This is how then you get them on your list over time, get them to attend teleclasses or join your programs or even refer you!
I can tell you that the hardest part of figuring out whether your time/money invested in social networking is paying off though is that it’s not that easy to track results.
So, if you want to really find out if it’s working for you, you have to set up systems that allow for really detailed tracking – tracking your traffic, conversions, customers and more.
K. Sawa Marketing International. Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Relationship Marketing Coach who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and life. She offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself marketing planning products. Go online now to get started with her Free Report and Free Audio at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Social Networking 101 – How to Use It to Increase Your Business!
Tags: webmaster, search, google, website resources, seo.page rank, optimize, pr10
Tags: Business Owners, Entrepreneur, Fan Page, Information Tips, Interaction, Joint Ventures, Lasting Relationships, Lead Generation, Mentors, Networking 101, Polls, Profiles, Publicity, Referral Sources, Share Photos, Social Networking, Special Promotions, Target Prospects, Teleclasses, Tho
01 Jul 09 Local Internet Marketing: Take the Sniper Approach
The Local “Internet Search” Growth Explosion
Currently there are over 2 billion monthly search engine queries with local commercial intent, and the number is growing tremendously. Over 82% of local searches contacted a local business and 60% of these made a purchase. That is a phenomenal conversion rate. Statistics show that a trillion dollars is currently being affected by local internet searches, and that number is increasing rapidly.
If you are in business and not using the internet to find and keep customers, you will find it difficult to survive, let alone prosper. You need an online presence that really works for you.
Shotgun Marketing
Historically businesses have used ineffective and expensive “shotgun” marketing strategies because that is the way it has always been done.
Members of the existing advertising industry don’t want change. They don’t care if you waste money so long as they get paid for helping you do it.
Traditional Shotgun Marketing Doesn’t Work Anymore
If you want to hit your targets with a minimum expenditure of time and money, you have to put away the shotgun and take out the rifle. And you’d better learn how to use it really well.
Consumers are also too far away and protected from your message for you to hit them with traditional shotguns approaches. There’s TIVO, Do Not Call, news websites, etc.
Even if your advertising does get through to some, you have no idea whether or not those people are interested in hearing your marketing and sales message. Traditional marketing methods are becoming less effective every single day. We need a new approach, and right away.
Luckily there is a solution for those who take positive action before it’s too late. This solution uses new technology and the internet to focus sales efforts like a laser.
But this article is really not about the internet. It’s about profits. You must use the internet to find profitable new customers and clients. For the small business, that is all that matters right now.
The Profit Formula
The Sniper approach to Local Internet Marketing will have a huge impact on the bottom line. This can be shown using a simple math formula
R – C = P which means Revenue minus Costs equals Profits.
To show the impact of Local Internet Marketing on Profits we need a new equation:
[#C x R/PC] – [FC + VC] = P
Where FC = Fixed Costs, VC = Variable Costs, #C = Number of Customers or Clients, and R/PC = Revenue Per Customer (or Per Client).
Total Revenue is “revenue per customer” times the number of customers. Total Cost is the sum of fixed costs and variable costs.
With Local Internet Marketing there is: 1.an increase in the number of customers, 2.an increase in revenue per customer (R/PC), 3. a decrease in variable costs of sales (VC),and 4. a decrease in fixed costs (overhead).
By impacting positively all four components of the Profit Formula local internet marketing can multiply the profits of a small business.
The great thing about Local Internet Marketing and the Sniper approach is that it allows small businesses to rapidly increase gross income while at the same time reducing both variable and fixed costs. For some businesses this will be the difference between survival and failure.
When you’re in the battlefield, survival is all there is. — Samuel Fuller
How Local Search Engines are Creating a New Era of Marketing
I believe that any small business can multiply its profits within a 12 month period after adopting the Sniper approach. But not every business will actually make this happen. Far from it. There are just too many variables and things that can go wrong.
To be honest, the majority of businesses — and business owners — are not prepared for this kind of exploding growth.
Winning in business often comes down to intangibles like attitude. mental preparedness, level of energy and enthusiasm.
Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital. — Daniel Webster
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. — Charles Schwab
Winners and Losers
Those who step forward right now to establish a competitive advantage for their local business and do what it takes to keep it will become dominant. The risks and the rewards have never been greater for local businesses.
If you thoroughly prepare yourself and your business and if you make the necessary changes, then you have an excellent chance to winthis race, and by huge margin.
The basic premise is that the internet requires an entirely new way of marketing small businesses.
The reality of the current economic slowdown is that more businesses are going to face difficult times. We can see the handwriting on the wall, but few have yet to hit the wall. But the wall is there waiting.
But there is a clear solution for those who can see the opportunity provided by the internet, and follow it quickly, right now.
Already most small business customers find that business on the internet first. And the winners will be those who are most ready to greet them.
What does this word mean to you? Thanks to Google, nothing will ever be the same again. We all got Googled before we even knew what hit us.
Thanks to Google, consumers go online before making a decision to buy almost anything now (as well as do a lot of other things). Other companies have been important too. Ebay is the largest seller of cars in the country. Craigslist publishes more ads than any other company.
No matter what business you are in on a local level, you can rest assured that before stepping into your office or store any new customer or client you get will have been online beforehand.
And this is your opportunity. You can attract the right consumers and through a good first impression gain a customer for life.
This is not a theory, but a fact of what happens over two billion times per month. That’s how many local internet business searches there are each month. (And that number is growing at an estimated rate of 50% per year.)
But there is another reality of the internet: there is not room for everyone to be seen on those tiny web pages and internet screens.
The truth is that when people search for a product or service to buy, most of the time they will only see the first few search engine results that appear on their screens.
There may be 100,000,000 results but the searchers only click on the first three about 80% of the time.
In fact, over 40% of the time the company that shows up in the #1 position on any search engine will be the one “clicked on” by the web seeker. The number two position gets about 25% of the action, and the third position roughly 12%. The other 99% of businesses share the remaining 20% of the clicks from searches, and most of these are others on the first or second page.
So even if there are a thousand pages of search results, you must be on the first one or your chances of being seen — and chosen by a potential customer or client — dwindle to almost nothing.
DoYou Want to Be #1?
Maybe you have figured out where this is going. The message here is that you had better be on the first page of Google when consumers use it to search for what you sell. Better yet, try to be in the top three if possible.
And if you are in the coveted #1 position of Google for search terms that matter to your business, if there are enough searches, and if you handle it right, you will no doubt see an expansion in your customer base beyond your wildest dreams.
The Right Way to Do Local Internet Marketing
So how do you figure out the right way to do internet marketing, and how do you become #1 in the search engines? That’s a topic for my next article but let me say this: there is no magic, and there is no chance, and there is very little luck involved.
You just have to know what to do, and then do it well. And you must do it consistently over an extended time period.
There is a way to make sure your business gets to the #1 and stays there in your specific marketplace. The detailed plan for your type of business and for your local geography will be unique to you, probably created by someone you hire.
Even though every situation is different, there are basic rules and strategies that apply across the board. These rules and strategies are revealed in my next article, “The Top Ten Strategies of Local Internet Marketing — How to Make Your Website #1 in Google and Dominate Your Local Marketplace.”
Leo J. Vidal, JD, MA, CPA consults with small businesses to increase their profits. He provides small businesses a turn-key solution to their local internet marketing needs as a way to experience explosive growth. Find out for yourself how Leo can make your profits explode.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Local Internet Marketing: Take the Sniper Approach
Tags: webmaster, seo.page rank, website resources, search, google, pr10, optimize
Tags: Conversion Rate, Growth Explosion, Internet Search, Internet Searches, Local Searches, Marketing Methods, Marketing Strategies, New Approach, New Technology, News Websites, Rate Statistics, Sales Efforts, Sales Message, Search Engine Queries, Shotgun, Shotguns, Single Day, Tivo, Traditional Marketing, Waste Money
01 Jul 09 Unhappy With SEM? You’re Not Alone
A company called X+1 released a study last week that highlighted the pain felt by many buying keywords from Google and the other engines. Satisfaction with the performance of their companies’ SEM campaigns was egregiously poor: on a scale of 1 to 7, only 12% of respondents gave SEM a top-ranked 7, with 57% ranking SEM a 1 or a 2. Performance satisfaction with fairly simple search campaigns (30 to 100 keywords pointing to customized landing pages) didn’t do any better: a full 42% reported being either “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied.”
The study didn’t really explore what these marketers were doing wrong, but contained a few clues worth mentioning. About 60% of survey respondents were doing SEM in-house. I’m not going to say that it’s impossible to conduct competitive SEM campaigns in-house, and I’d need to know a lot more about the level of automation and staff experience of such in-house teams before laying blame, but it’s still a warning sign. Another cause for concern: key SEM decisions were often made by fairly low-level people, including analysts (48%), strategy/results people (45%) and implementer/tacticians (36%). I’m not saying that these people aren’t qualified to accomplish operational search tasks, but I must question their suitability for high-level tasks such as procuring a suitable SEM agency.
Disappointment over SEM’s performance didn’t seem to dampen these marketers’ willingness to lay out more money in the months ahead. Most (65%) of survey respondents reported that they were planning either to spend the same amount of money in 2009 that they spent last year, with a handful (13%) planning to spend 20% more. I’d hate to think that this is a case of “throwing good money after bad” but one must hope that the survey respondents are taking active steps to reform their operations before handing the search engines even more money.
Unfortunately, there’s no magic bullet for all the dissatisfaction. SEM agencies (and yes, I work for a SEM agency) will likely use this data to hammer companies that continue to do SEM tasks in-house, promising to ride to the rescue. Unfortunately, the reputation of many SEM agencies isn’t exactly stellar; otherwise “agency churn” wouldn’t be as high as it is. Sadly, there are situations in which agencies have done a far worse job with search tasks than a qualified in-house team. Spending more to better train in-house search teams and equip them with an appropriate level of automation will help some, but such investments are difficult to justify in a recession, and the fear that one’s best-trained people will up and leave when the economy improves is well-founded.
If there’s one sure cure for avoiding disappointment, it’s to manage your expectations correctly. Paid search is an exceptionally difficult marketing medium to master, despite the perception (promoted by the search engines) that it’s a self-serve, plug-and-play road to profits. Here, failure isn’t just an option: it’s practically guaranteed for the unwary and the unequipped. Buyers must always be wary, whether they’re buying keywords, staffing in-house teams, or shopping for SEM agencies. The good news is that if you approach this medium with fear, respect, caution, and a first-rate, executable plan, you just might wind up being happy with your results.
Steve Baldwin is editor-in-chief at Didit, an agency for search engine marketing and auctioned media management based in New York. You can reach Steve at steve.baldwin@didit.com.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Unhappy With SEM? You’re Not Alone
Tags: webmaster, google, pr10, search, optimize, seo.page rank, website resources
Tags: Amount Of Money, Automation, Disappointment, google, Handful, Implementer, Laying Blame, Level Tasks, Marketers, Search Campaigns, Search Engines, Search Tasks, Sem, Simple Search, Staff Experience, Strategy Results, Suitability, Survey Respondents, Warning Sign, Willingness
01 Jul 09 Article Marketing: A Great Strategy To Promote Your Business
Promotion is an important part of any business; you need to let potential customers know about you and your product. Article marketing is a strategy that will increase your exposure to the people who will want to buy your product or service. Articles written about your industry will help to establish you, the author, as an expert in your field, and can be published in print media and online.
Customers have a preference for doing business with someone they are familiar with, and article marketing is an ideal way of getting your name out there. The content of your articles needs to be useful and relevant to your target market. Articles that are informative, interesting and provide solutions to your readers are tremendously helpful.
If writing is your thing, then do your own articles. If not, there are several sites online where you can connect with writers, eager for work. Choose someone who uses good grammar and spelling skills, and who can write in an informal and conversational style that is easy to read. Your name will appear as the author on these outsourced articles, promoting you as the expert.
These articles are meant to inform and add value to you and your product; they are not blatant sales letters. Online publishing sites wouldn’t publish sales letters anyway, and print media would avoid them as well. To establish your credibility, you need to give something to your readers, not blast them with sales talk. Don’t ever forget, the reason they are reading your articles is for the information.
Web and ezine writing is very different than writing for other off-line publications. Brief is better. Be concise and write in short paragraphs. Your main purpose is to capture their attention and to get them to visit your website. If your article is long with every piece of information, they won’t see the value in clicking the link to your site.
You should always check for spelling and grammatical errors before submitting your articles to directories. These kinds of errors will reflect badly on your reputation and credibility as a quality information provider. Try to avoid technical language, but provide an explanation of terms if they need to be included.
Put the major benefit to the reader in your title. The title will determine whether or not the reader will click to read the article and possibly click to visit your site. If they aren’t compelled to read the article, they will never get to see your link, or see your website.
Article directories are the sites where you submit articles for online publication. They check your articles to make sure they comply with their guidelines before they publish them. And though we won’t go into it here, print media, like newspapers and magazines, are also always looking for fresh copy, so you can also submit your interesting articles to them for publication.
Make good use of the resource box under the article; this is where you can promote your product and supply contact information. What you include here should encourage readers to click to your website. The best resource box describes your website or yourself in a short sentence and includes at least one link that points back to your website or blog. When the reader clicks on the link to your site, your website visibility will increase.
Remember, a brilliant article with a bad resource box is a waste of time and money. Carefully review the rules for resource box information for each directory you submit to and try to get in as much information about yourself as you can.
If you can, place links to other articles you’ve written in a new article you’re writing. Sometimes, if the advice is helpful, the ezines will let you do this. This cross-referencing will get you more bang for your buck. Before publishing them elsewhere, you should always add your articles to your website or your newsletter. This helps to identify you as the source of the information and is another good way to get your name out there to build relationships with potential customers.
Articles for online publication need to be written with search engines in mind. You need to use the most popular keywords that online users type into their search engine when looking for information about your topic. Use the keywords in your article, but do not saturate it with them. This ruins the readability of the article and will not add to your credibility at all.
Set up a blog to keep in contact with customers and interested contacts. You can upload your articles to your blog to give your readers a continual supply of interesting, informative articles about your area of expertise. Add new content frequently to keep the search engines interested in your articles. Use your blog as another means of promoting your product and yourself as trustworthy and interested in your customers.
Article marketing is probably one of the easiest and most effective ways of driving targeted traffic to your website and boosting your exposure on the Internet. These guidelines will help you get started in article marketing. Use them to promote your product or service and to establish yourself as an expert in your field, then watch your sales increase.
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat, the only online marketing and advertising company employing Brandcasting, the most effective way to brand your company on the web. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. The approach is simple, highly effective and affordable. Learn more at: http://www.Brandsplat.com
Read more articles written by: Enzo F. Cesario
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Article Marketing: A Great Strategy To Promote Your Business
Tags: optimize, webmaster, pr10, google, seo.page rank, website resources, search
Tags: Blast, Business Promotion, Conversational Style, Credibility, Doing Business, Expert, Grammar, Grammatical Errors, Ideal, Information Web, Line Publications, Marketing Strategy, People, Preference, Product Marketing, Sales Letters, Service Articles, Short Paragraphs, Spelling Skills, Target Market
01 Jul 09 7 Secrets to Successful Keyword Research
As people search for information online, they use a series of words, what are referred to as keywords, to find the information that they are seeking. Keywords are the core of any market research conducted by an online business owner. Just like the Yellow Pages Directory groups listings by category, like “auto body shops” in the “automobile repair” category, search engines like Google and Yahoo sort by keywords so that auto body shops are found under “auto body shop” in their database.
In order to be found online by your target market, you need insight about the terms that they are using to search for a business like yours. The quickest way to gain that insight is by conducting research on possible keywords they use. However, so many of my clients conduct only very basic keyword research and miss many keywords because they don’t really delve into the problems and needs of their target market, which contain prime, keyword-rich topics they can use to be found online.
Here are 7 secrets to a successful keyword research campaign:
- Define your target topic or interest. Use 1-2 words to describe your topic. In this case, let’s say our interest is pest control businesses because you’re seeking to target owners of this type of company.
- Define synonyms for your topic area. Use an online thesaurus or Google Sets to help you brainstorm synonyms for your topic. In this example, similar terms for pest control business might be exterminating business, rodent control, insect control, bug business, and pest control company.
- Use “how” to help define problems in your topic area. When people search online, many times they’re seeking answers to their problems, and they seek answers to these problems by asking “how” questions. I use Google’s free Keyword Tool to help me define some of the problems of a pest control business. I plug in the synonyms brainstormed in step 2 to help me come up with this list. In this case, common questions might be things like how to do one of the following in a pest control business: start, grow, train employees, find employees, market, advertise, price services, bill customers, bid for contracts, buy, insure, find supplies, and write a business plan.
- Record your action terms. Note the action terms that were used found in this example — starting, buying, growing, marketing, training, advertising, billing, bidding, etc. These are terms that people use to help them solve the problems they have with their pest control businesses. Create a list for each of these terms and brainstorm synonyms for these terms, as well.
- Group and research. Now, return to your keyword tool and enter your action term combined with your target topic and see what people interested in this topic are actually searching on. For example, for the term “how to start a pest control business,” you would see results like: mosquito control, electronic pest control, ant extermination, roach extermination, how to kill fleas, pest control software, pest control license, etc. Organize the keywords into groups according to the problem being solved or action being taken.
- Count the searches. Look for the largest clusters in your groups and count the searches on the terms in the groups. A large cluster with lots of searches will contain the initial terms on which you will want to focus. However, don’t overlook the groups with smaller searches, as many times these contain keywords that are less competitive and thus become easier for you to use to rise to the top of the search engines, rather than being one of millions competing for a very competitive term. These keywords with smaller searches are referred to as “long-tail keywords,” and I believe that the traffic you get from high rankings on numerous long-tail keywords is equivalent to and quicker and easier to achieve than entering the contest for very competitive keywords.
- Use the keywords. With this research you can write articles on these topics, create blog posts about these topics, upload web pages on these topics, update the meta tags on your web pages, make videos on podcasts about these topics, create information products, write pay-per-click campaigns, and design classified ads, to name just a few of the uses for this research.
Have you conducted thorough keyword research for your target market? If you haven’t, you may be missing key opportunities for your target market to find you online. Set aside 2-3 hours one day and discover all the other options at your disposal to help your target market solve their problems.
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.OnlineBizU.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
7 Secrets to Successful Keyword Research
Tags: pr10, seo.page rank, website resources, search, optimize, google, webmaster
Tags: Auto Body Shop, Auto Body Shops, Automobile Repair, Category Search Engines, Conducting Research, Control Insect, Free Keyword Tool, google, Insect Control, Keyword Research, Online Business Owner, Online Thesaurus, People Search, Pest Control Business, Pest Control Company, Research Campaign, Rodent Control, Target Market, Target Topic, Yellow Pages Directory
01 Jul 09 Twitter Gets Back to Oprah-Like Numbers in June
Last month, there was a lot of hubbub about Twitter’s growth flat lining. Matthew Daines, the lead developer of our own Twitter app, Twellow, showed me a graph that he put together from the user IDs he found in the Twitter API, based on when they registered with Twitter.
What Matthew found was that there was a significantly larger number of new registrations in April – the month Oprah joined, which caused a well-publicized surge in new Twitter users. So naturally, the next month didn’t see as many new users flocking to Twitter, but it was still i decent increase from the month before Oprah joined.
Daines has now shared a new graph with me, which seems to suggest Twitter is still growing just fine. June shows that new registrations are right at what they were in April, when Oprah joined, which means that there are quite a few new people.
We should be able to get a really good idea of Twitter’s growth when we can take a look at July’s numbers in a month. At that point, we can see which direction the trend goes. I think we’re going to see growth though. Take a look at this other graph Daines shared with me, which shows the number of tweets. It looks like there is a lot more tweeting going on.
"Looks like the total tweets chart shows that the claim last month that Twitter traffic had come to a stop was not quite accurate," says Daines. "The total tweet numbers are not exact, but should be within a few hundred thousand."
So, do you think we will consider to see significant Twitter growth as the year goes on? Or do you believe Twitter as already peaked? Share your thoughts.
Tags: webmaster, seo.page rank, google, pr10, search, website resources, optimize
Tags: Api, April, Daines, Graph, Hubbub, Hundred Thousand, Ids, Oprah, Original Source, Registrations, Share Your Thoughts, Traffic, Tweet, Tweets, Twitter
01 Jul 09 Twitter Unveils New Following and Followers Pages
Starting tonight when you click the Following and Followers links from your Twitter account you’ll notice some major changes. Twitter has upgraded some of the design of the pages and added multiple new features.
What do you think of the new design and features? Tell us.
When you click on Following you’ll notice a new pull-down menu which includes several options which include: @ message, unfollow them or send them a direct message. Below is an example of the new Following page in the new expanded view…
In addition those new features, When you click on Followers, Twitter now shows you a check mark beside the people who are reciprocally following you. Like with the page I mentioned above you can @ message, direct message, follow (if your not doing so already) and the option to block. Below is an example of the new Followers page with the list view…
It should be noted that these features aren’t just available on your profile, but on any profile you visit.
Don’t worry, if your not a fan of the new expanded view (based on the comments below, most of you don’t like it) you can always choose the list view which is very similar to the former layout.
Below is a snippet from the official Twitter blog about the upgrade…
"Instead of a basic list, there are now actions you can perform that provide a better overall experience. For example, you can turn on SMS, unfollow, mention, block, direct message, and more."
With these new changes and updates was there any real value added to the pages? I’ve talked to a few people and most feel the changes don’t really bring anything better to the table. Some have even said they’ll start using 3rd party apps to manage follows/unfollows.
What are your thoughts on the new changes? Tell us.
Tags: search, google, optimize, webmaster, seo.page rank, website resources, pr10
Tags: Blog, Followers, New Features, Original Source, Party Apps, People, Pull Down Menu, Quot, Snippet, Worry
