Archive for March, 2009

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Discover the Secrets of SEO

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

There is so much information floating around out there about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to get some rankings. So much of it is contradictory and confusing. I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about the secrets of top rankings.

So, let’s jump right in with the secrets to SEO success….

Search Engine Secret # 1: There are no secrets! The search engines make it all very public and clear what you need to do to get top rankings. The success lies in the details and proper implementation. But there is no top secret, proprietary technique for getting top rankings.

OK, so now we all know there are no secrets, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t information you need to know, such as:

If you don’t optimize your site, you won’t get top rankings. It really is that plain and simple. If the engines can’t spider your site and you don’t have links and strong content, you don’t stand a chance against the sites that do have all that in place. So many people don’t want to spend money on SEO, or are afraid to take the plunge but then they can’t understand why they don’t have rankings. So maybe there is a secret – maybe the secret is take action and get your site optimized!

Your site structure matters! I can’t tell you how often people have said to me “I know my site is a mess, but I don’t want to spend the money fixing it, so can’t you just throw up some keywords and Meta tags and get me some rankings?” Ummmm, no, I can’t. Your site structure is your foundation. You would never build a house without a solid foundation, why would you build an SEO campaign without a solid foundation?

Don’t just focus on small keyword list that is made up of the most popular and competitive keywords. You will be missing out on opportunities for great keyword phrases that convert really well. Expand your list. Include long tail phrases. They may have less traffic but they will convert at a higher rate and if you get enough of these phrases they will likely add up to be better than your original list.

SEO is changing and evolving so staying current on what the engines are looking for is important. Either hire a firm to get you top rankings or find a way to make sure you stay current with information you can trust.
Social media and SEO go hand in hand, so get out there and be social. You can optimize your site without doing social media, and you can do social media without an optimized site. But why would you? The two enhance and compliment each other. The truth is there is a lot of competition out there for website traffic so why not use all the tools at your disposal?

Focusing on SEO without focusing on conversions is a mistake. You are going to work so hard, or pay someone your hard earned money to get you top rankings. You can’t afford to ignore marketing issues. Make sure your site is going to convert all that great new traffic you are going to send to your site.

Google Webmaster Tools and your web stats are a goldmine of information. Make sure you take time to see what words people are actually using to find your site and see what people do once they get to your site. See how many people link to you and which of those sources are driving traffic. Find out if there are errors on your site. There is so much information to be analyzed; you just need to make the time to check it out.

Successful SEO requires time, patience, skill, knowledge, persistence, attention to detail, knowledge of HTML, current information and an understanding of marketing helps too – then you can write the best possible text while using the keywords well, and it will also help you write compelling Title and Description tags….OR – the willingness to invest in a professional firm to get those top rankings for you.

By Jennifer Horowitz

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Posted in SEO | No Comments »

TOP 5 Free Keyword Research Tools For Web Developers And Online Marketers

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

The benefits of finding the best free keyword research tools online today are plentiful for you. With so many popping up online you often ask yourself which one is worth using for my basic keyword research needs.

Well in this article I’m going to give you some great links to what I think are the best free keyword research tools on the web to help you with your keyword analysis. They’ll give you some great stats to work with and hopefully do the job you were hoping for.

There’s just one thing I want to mention about these free keyword research tools below and that is they only give you the amount of searches for that given keyword phrase. What they don’t give you is your competition for those given keyword phrases.

But what we’re really trying to do here is find out if there’s a market for your interests and passions before you start building and marketing your website.

So with that said here are the free keyword research tools I think are the best for you to get started with and are very easy to use.
Lets start with the first one.

1) Wordtracker
With this free keyword research tool all you need to do is enter a starting keyword to generate up to 100 related keywords and an estimate of their daily search volume.
Go to: http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

2) Google Adwords
This keyword research tool I think is by far the best because it allows you to enter keywords for analysis or a website URL(Hint: Great for analysising your competitors sites).
Go to: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

3) SEO Book
SEO Books keyword research tool is powered by Wordtracker’s API, plus it cross references Google and Yahoo search results to give you a detailed view of your keyword analysis.
Go to: http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/

4) NicheBot Classic
With NicheBot Classic which also uses Wordtracker’s API allows you to insert your keyword and will give you the TOP 50 keywords and there daily search count and competing pages in Google, MSN and Yahoo.
Go to: http://www.nichebotclassic.com

5) Good Keywords
Good Keywords is a free Windows software for finding the perfect set of keywords for your web pages. Good Keywords is completely free. No registration, no payments and no nag screens.
Go to: http://www.goodkeywords.com

So there you have it, 5 of the TOP free keyword research tools available to you on the web for free to get you started with your keyword research.

There are of course paid services and software that give you more detailed keyword analysis but if you don’t have the money to spend these are a great starting point for you.
It all starts here with your keyword research because what’s the point of starting a website or paid advertising campaign without this valuable information in your hands.

I hope this list of free keyword research tools helps you and the best of luck with your websites and advertising campaigns.

By Cory Threlfall in SE Optimization

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The Secrets to Keywords – Expanding Your List

Monday, March 30th, 2009

The Primary objective of a business website is to attract potential buyers and convert them into paying customers. Relevant keywords allow you to fulfil this primary objective. They help you attract relevant traffic that want to buy the types of products you have to offer, however, the more relevant keywords that you rank well for, the more business you will do. By effectively expanding your keyword lists, you expand the potential market for your business.

There are two fundamental ways of expanding your keyword lists:

* Long tail keywords that give you depth and allow you to dominate a particular market – so, moving from ‘chocolate’ to ‘chocolate gifts’ to ‘corporate chocolate gifts’. These long tailed keywords tend to have a smaller advertiser competition, therefore you get a better PPC price, also, you dominate that specific niche market.
* Related keywords that allow you to broaden the range of market sectors that you can target. So, if you’re selling gourmet chocolate, you may find opportunities in related keywords such as ‘truffles’, ‘fudge’ or ‘luxury foods’. Related keywords can make you aware of markets that you might now have considered. So in building your online business, you need to make sure you have an effective sales process in place. Do that and you will have real benefit from expanding your keyword lists.

You need to convert people who arrive at your website into paying customers. If you don’t do that, then it doesn’t matter how extensive you keyword research is, or how effective your optimization efforts are in drawing new visitors to your website. If you can’t convert a visitor into a customer then your efforts will be doomed to failure.

Only when you have got an effective sales process can you get the real benefit from expanding your keyword lists. And when you have that sales process in place, like any business you will want to expand. You could add new product lines, associated products and other ways to expand your potential income from each of the customers you attract.

However, before you embark on the path of product development you need to be sure that you are getting maximum return from what you have already. Let’s suppose you’ve got a website that performs well – you get 100,000 unique visitors per month and you have a conversion rate of 3%. That equates to 3,000 paying customers per month. Not a bad business situation to be in.

Now look at your log files. From these you see that 30% of your traffic comes from search engines. Dig a little deeper and you find that 80% of this comes from around 20 good keywords. Here’s a quick calculation of what this means:

* 30% of your traffic comes from search engines so that’s 30,000 unique visitors per month. 80% of these come from your top 20 keywords – that’s 24,000 per month.

* With a conversion rate of 3%, those 20 keywords bring you 720 paying customers every month. Now, if you could find another 20 keywords that perform just as well, then you could add another 720 customers, giving you a total of 3,720 customers per month – an increase of 24%.

And if you could achieve this growth once, could you do it again? Of course, the answer to that depends on the potential in your marketplace but the underlying principle is that good keywords will bring additional revenue to your website and you really can’t get too many of them.

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How search engine marketing can boost your business

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

SEM or Search engine marketing is one of the methods adopted in Internet marketing that helps websites to increase hits by visitors and thereby increasing the chances to sell the offered products. Search engine optimization (SEO), Paid Placement, Contextual Advertising and Paid Inclusion are the techniques used for the purpose.

Search Engine Marketing strategies are necessarily aimed at bringing the business more visitors, more consumers and more buyers by generating leads.

The internet is the fastest growing medium for advertising. The brand recognition can be increased manifold by an appropriate use of the strategic internet tools available.

A good understanding of the business being promoted is all needed to formulate strategies for the internet marketing. Choice of proper key words that needed to be picked up the search engines like, Google, Yahoo or Microsoft Live form the foremost part of making a strategy. The more easy and popular keywords it be, the easier it will be to find the website by the search engines. And a position in the front page of the search engines would increase the assurance of a visitor much more than that of in the next pages.

Search engine marketing boosts the Business by not only short term sales, but a good strategy also aim at expanding the market reach and creating a customer base. The rise in number of business outlets also gives rise to the B2B opportunity. New buyers, consumers and information are logging in Internet every second. It is up to the businesses that how effectively they can use this information to their benefit. Being found in the front page of the search engine is the key to succeed in this marketing strategy

Online advertising as in Pay per click (PPC) or in Price per thousand Impressions (PPM) play a very significant role in increasing sales. The advertisement either pops up or positioned in a fixed place when a prospective buyer enters the keywords. By directing to proper pages a visitor can easily be converted to a sale as the prospective customer does get an idea of the product being offered before he decides to click on the link.

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Posted in Google SEO & PageRank, Search Engine Marketing | 3 Comments »

How to get repeat vistors to your site by webiste design

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

A big mistake many people make is to confuse usability with accessibility. Not only are the two very different, but the tendency seems to be that one is deemed less important than the other. Although they must both be taken seriously, it’s true that many of the ideals surrounding accessibility still apply to usability and vice versa. One of the most important aspects of website design is navigation, as this determines not only how easily users will be able to reach different parts of your site, but how search engines (which are the main way that people access websites on the net) index your site for search results pages. Most sites use a navigation bar at the top of their site for easy access to various aspects of the site, and users have come to expect this in some degree.

Side bars are used less frequently, and frames are so archaic that they might actually count against you. Using a Java or Flash application as a navigation tool allows you to create expanding navigation bars for even easier browsing. This can be easier said than done, and discovering the best way to design a site is crucial in getting the best product. That is why finding the best web designer or the best web design software is so important in the process of building a great website Therefore, we can think out of the box and provide interesting and varied content, but remain objective and focused on either the brand or the products and services we are selling. For example, a second hand car sales site could provide a feed or even a discussion board on Grand Prix racing.

It’s like a hook to get people back to the website, even if they don’t need a second hand car. Why do that? Because they tell their family and friends about the website, which is good PR. Just because you may be doing business on the Internet now, does not change the old adage, “the customer always comes first.” In any good business web design, the customer is the most important aspect of the project! It is so important to know your customer and your audience so that you can create something that is pleasing to them. Designing a web page to suit your customers will help you achieve online success with increased traffic and online sales.

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Social Media Marketing Strategies

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

There has been a significant jump in the popularity of social media websites over the past few years. With it has come a shift in the way that people search for information and how they share and consult opinions on the internet when making purchasing decisions.

Social media sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg, give users a voice on the internet by providing tools to connect, exchange views, share content, information, and recommend products and services using the “thumbs up or down” approach. This has caused a huge shift in the way people search for information online. More and more, Internet users rely on the opinions of others before they buy into the validity of a product or service. “Word of mouth” is no longer only from mouth to ear, but is more frequently spread on social media sites and it has never been so powerful. Any product or service deemed worthy is promoted, shared, or discouraged against in these online social communities.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) targets users by promoting content through bookmarking, blogging, online video sharing, and social networking to potentially expand audience and drive traffic. Businesses are beginning to understand the power of these influences when it comes to establishing a reputation and growing their online business. Social media marketing strategies such as a business’ engagement in various social media websites can help to generate branding and a personal connection with its users.

Business Profiles
One of the most important social media marketing methods includes posting business profiles on social media websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Instead of waiting around for consumers to come to you, you have to reach out to your target audience. Solidifying your presence in the social media community creates a direct interaction between business and consumer that may not dramatically improve conversion rates but is definitely capable of establishing branding power and credibility. The valuable feedback consumers provide promotes insight in determining what business strategies are working and what could be re-evaluated to make a website more user-friendly.

Search Results
The influence of social media sites has changed the way search engines define placement. Images, videos and news content featured on social media sites such as Youtube, Digg, and Flickr are equally capable of sitting comfortably at the top of the search results leaving others, who have not yet jumped on the social media bandwagon, a little confused.

Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies
Take a hint from the popular social media websites by adding some type of interactive quality to your website. Engage the viewer and create an atmosphere of inclusion and direct contact that encourages a user to come back and visit again. Forums and social applications can help you compete for traffic in an evolving market.

Become an expert in your niche. Yahoo Answers is a great place to start. You can create a business or company profile and begin answering direct questions and supplying information to those in your target audience.

Join Social Networks. Social networking provides a means to promote association and the exchange of knowledge while also establishing business contacts and connections. Post your business profile in the popular social and business networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, but also make sure to concentrate your attention on your niche audience by joining social media networks that represent and support your business or company’s ideas.

For example if you are selling organic produce and you set up a profile in a social media network such as Care2.com, an environmental portal, you are then communicating directly with those individuals who will support your product or service because of a shared interest. These types of social media communities will extend their approval by sharing in discussions about your products or services with other users and even in some cases “become a fan” of your featured webpage.

Some examples of popular niche social networks include:
TravBuddy.com for the traveller
Tipd.com for those seeking financial advice
AutoSpies.com providing money saving and insider information on cars
Publish articles to popular social media news sites such as Mixx.com, Digg.com, and Propeller.com. These sites allow you to post articles and vote on news stories.

Share videos and images by setting up accounts with Youtube.com and Flickr.com, leaders in online video and imaging to reach a broad or targeted audience.

Social bookmarking on sites such as Del.ici.ous and Ma.gnolia.com provide an opportuníty to store and share links.

Blogging enables you to provide information and updates about your business to customers.

Businesses that incorporate social media marketing into their conventional marketing plan have the advantage of reaching audiences using a whole new approach. The benefits of branding and traffic are just the tip of the iceberg. Establishing your business as a leading authority in your industry promotes good quality links and better search engine placement, which in turn increases sales.

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