Archive for the ‘SEO’ Category

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When Google says your website is stuffed!

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Every proud new website owner wants to get their business to the top of Google’s page.

After all, they have just forked out cash and eagerly waited a few weeks for their web developer to create the website that will propel their business into the global webisphere, and they are now keen to watch their business flourish from their investment in their new online marketing tool.

But some owners and even the web developers themselves get a little too keen and assume that they will naturally climb to the top of the search engines if they use the correct keywords. Thats partly true, but then some do a very nasty ‘technique’ called ‘keyword stuffing‘.

I inverted the word ‘technique’ because this is putting it politely. Keyword stuffing is not really a technique, it’s an unprofessional tactic – and for a business owner of the website it can be quite damaging to your online presence.

Keyword stuffing is when you see a webpage, usually the homepage, full of the same major search term over and over again.
I have seen some accommodation websites in particular, use keyword stuffing to such an extent that the text doesn’t even make sense any more as the keywords are on the page 5 or six times in each paragraph!

Not only is keyword stuffing a skill-less tactic used by the web developer in an attempt to get a top ranking, but it annoys the crap out of your website visitors.
If your local newspaper or favourite magazine was written this way, would you keep reading it? Probably not.
Your website visitors feel the same way, and will most likely exit your website faster than telling your kid he’s off to the dentist.

But it’s not only your visitors that don’t like this tactic, Google won’t tolerate it either and can ‘Google-slap‘ you for it.
what’s a Google slap? you ask..it’s where Google slaps your website off their search engine and locks you out and throws a way the key. Once you have been Google slapped it can take months or longer to get accepted back onto their directory, and most likely cost your website a rebuild to get accepted back.

It could cost you the extra developer costs in fixing your website, but also cost you more in lost business. It’s not worth the risk to keyword stuff your website!

So if your new website reads like a broken record and is more repetitious than an Telemarketer with a bad stutter, give your web developer a slap before you get ‘Google Slapped’ for stuffing!

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What makes Twitter such a great Marketing Tool?

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

In today’s busy working environment, and with most people having access to online devices, a large number of businesses like illustrators, software developers, and even the average business person use Twitter to keep in touch with people. Along with newsletters, websites, blogs and many such networking tools, Twitter too is a good way of keeping others up-to-date on your recent happenings. Twitter, if used properly can act as a good business tool or the marketers tool. It can work as an outstanding tool for marketing and promoting small businesses.

So, what makes Twitter, the marketers tool?

There are several reasons that make Twitter, the marketers tool.

1.Twitter allows you to connect with your customers:
The first and foremost basic use of Twitter is to post information relating to your products. Twitter enables you to find out more information about your customers for e.g. – their likes and dislikes about your company, their opinion of your brand, the products they like most and why, their suggestions and feedback etc. Through Twitter, you can get a channel of finding out ways of improving your business and making it a success. So, in short, Twitter provides businesses with a channel to keep your current and prospective customers, well informed and engaged.

2.Twitter acts as an excellent networking tool:

Being a part of the Twitter family can provide excellent opportunities to come in contact with a lot of people you would never have come across otherwise. You get to meet and converse with so many people on this networking site. These people might turn out to be good business prospects for you. You might come across people whom you would like to hire or start a project with.

3.Twitter helps you to create an Image:
Another reason that makes Twitter, the marketers tool is that it allows you to interact, associate and communicate with other people and not just send them your product announcements, etc. Through Twitter, you can portray an image that attracts customers to your business. The ability to change your own Twitter account background into an online billboard for your business or product helps get your image out on a truly global scale to the people you want to identify with. Twitter-specific design agencies such as Twitrbackgrounds.com can create the perfect professional image for much less than you think.

4. Fast way of getting a message out:
You can quickly let your customers know about any news, announcements, special offers and upcoming events through Twitter. A fast way of getting a message out makes Twitter, the marketers tool. Twitter lets you instantaneously spread the word about your product.
There are also a number of free Twitter tools designed to make life even easier so you don’t have to continually log in to Twitter. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite run directly from your computer, like an instant chat messenger, making it easy to share messages, web links, photos and even videos to your friends and followers.

5.Twitter helps you stay with the times:
Being a part of Twitter shows people that you are participating in the social media and you are moving with the times. Just having a website is no longer a big deal today. Using Twitter sends out the message that you too are advancing with the times and hence, people might want to get down to doing business with you. People are always willing to work with businesses that are always ready to adapt to the ever changing scenario.

Today, almost everyone considers Twitter, the marketers tool and having your business on Twitter is the latest trend. Most businesses have become a part of Twitter only because of its excellent work as a marketing and promotional tool. The basic step to make your business successful is by keeping your follower’s expectations in mind and fulfilling them.

Author: Chris Bourke of www.WebSEOCoach.com

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What Is A Blog

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

by Joe Burnett

A blog can be described many different ways. It can be a log of our life or it could be news about a topic. It could even be a bunch of facts and tips about a topic. Blog Facts
1.It is short for weblog
2.Blogs are like a news real of online articles
3.Many people have there own blog
4.The best blog host are Blogspot and Wordpress
5.Blogs are becoming the next big thing after the social media blast
6.Social media might crash after the future blog blast(Double B)
7.Many people make a living from blogging they are called probloggers
8.There will be social media melt down (S Doulble M D)because people will contact each other though blogs
9.46% of bloggers blog under their real name
10in name.Bloggers should post new content about everyday and only 13% do
11.Only 35% of bloggers focus on one topic. So if you create a blog you can talk about many different things.
12.Just 13% of bloggers get atleast 100 hits aday.
13.Many bloggers cheat and post there blog on another blog by commenting
14.Bloggers that do that normaly get caught and will have to buy a new domain name to get good traffic, so if your a blogger don’t do that!
15.In 1998 there were only 23 blogs

About the Author:
How To Come Up With A Blog Topic
What Is A Blog
Blogspot Vs. Wordpress

Posted in Blogging, Branding, SEO | No Comments »

What is Online Advertising?

Monday, March 1st, 2010

One of the many strategies used today for advertising is online or internet advertising. Compared to other forms of advertising such as the use of big billboards as well as TV commercials, online or internet advertising is considered as one of the most affordable yet successful form of advertising. This is because its price, compared to setting up a billboard or TV Ads, is relatively cheaper and much more easier to accomplish. So what is online or internet advertising?

What is Online Advertising?

Online advertising is a method of advertising that uses the internet and the World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Although the word itself describes only one agenda, online advertising is usually divided into several parts, or techniques. According to Internet Advertising Philippines professionasl, online advertising includes several techniques such as contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, as well as e-mail spam.

Advantages over conventional methods

Because of the advent of online technologies, companies all over the world have greatly benefited from its capabilities to deliver their messages simultaneously around the world. Through its use, several professionals have then made several reports of its advantages compared to conventional methods such as setting up billboards and TV commercials. According to Internet Advertising Philippines consultants, advantages of using online advertising includes:

Immediate publishing of information and content. One of the many struggles of setting up an advertising is the time that companies have to wait before actually making their advertisements public. Online advertising, however, makes this easier and faster, as well as not limiting their geographic scope and time. To that end, the emerging area of interactive advertising presents fresh challenges for advertisers who have hitherto adopted an interruptive strategy.

Efficiency of advertiser’s investment. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites. For example, AdWords and AdSense enable ads shown on relevant webpages or aside of search results of pre-chosen keywords.

Payment method. Whatever purchasing variation is selected, the payment is usually relative with audiences’ response.

Unethical method of online advertising

Other than ethical methods of online advertising, such as the use of user friendly applications, there have also been class of advertising methods which are considered unethical and may even be illegal. These include external applications which alter system settings (such as a browser’s home page), spawn pop-ups, and insert advertisements into non-affiliated webpages. According to Internet Advertising Philippines consultants, such applications are usually labelled as spyware or adware.

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12 Ways To Use Social Media Marketing With Twitter

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Twitter is a wildly popular microblogging service. It involves writing Tweets, which are short updates of a maximum of 140 characters that tell your followers what you are up to. Although your Tweets are technically supposed to answer the question, “What are you doing?” Twitter has moved far beyond that. Tweets are used to share stories, link to photos, promote content, break news, and a whole lot more. Twitter has also become an incredibly important tool for social media marketing professionals. Here are 12 ways in which Twitter can be used in your social media marketing campaign.

1. Sharing Links to Items of Interest

As soon as you read something online that you think is interesting, it is easy to share it on Twitter with all of your followers. Twitter is highly effective in this manner because it is such a quick way to be able to reach a large group of people. You can also get a lot of great ideas for blog posts from Twitter since many new ideas and stories are floating around that haven’t even made it to the blogosphere and definitely not to mainstream media.

2. Building Your Network

Using Twitter is a great way to build your network because it allows you to find and follow people with similar interests. You can use Steeple to find people who live in your geographical area. You can also use other tools that help you find new people to follow based upon who your Twitter friends follow.

3. Build Relationships within Your Current Network

People in different networks often use Twitter to connect with their contacts instantly rather than using instant messaging for that purpose. Furthermore, many people use Twitter to connect with their network during events like conferences.

4. Re-Distributing Content from Your Blog or Website

Twitter can be used to redistribute content from your blog or website. However, you should take care to do this thoughtfully since many of your Twitter followers may already read your blog. For that reason, you may want to avoid using a blog plug-in that automatically Tweets your posts. Your best bet is to Tweet your content manually and customize each Tweet so it doesn’t get old.

5. Get Involved in Live Tweeting Events

Twitter launched at SXSW last year, catapulting microblogging conferences to fame. Live Tweeting events are great because they are a form of citizen journalism that allow you to connect with several new people in your niche while making active and valuable contributions to current discussions in your community.

6. Pitching Stories to Journalists on Twitter

You can send a direct message to a journalist who is following you on Twitter to pitch a story idea.

7. Communicating with Your Team

You can use Twitter as a company intranet that connects all of your employees. Twitter can be particularly useful in this regard if you have a virtual business with employees in different geographical locations. You can set your updates to private for security reasons. Anytime you are working on group projects, you can stay in touch with your team members using Twitter.

8. Brand Monitoring

Stay up to date with any mentions of your business on Twitter. If there is anything negative, you will be able to counter it quickly. You can also use Twitter as a way to receive feedback from your customers and improve your business. Just ask your followers to give their opinion on something. For example, if you designed a new website, ask your followers what they think about it and get their constructive criticisms so you can make your site design even better.

9. Acquire More Votes on Social Media Websites

If you have submitted a story to Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, or any other social voting website, tweet a link to that submission to try to score more votes from your followers. If your followers like what they see, they are sure to vote for your content.

10. Hiring People

Looking for a programmer, designer, or writer? Whatever type of professional you seek, try finding them on Twitter. Simply send your followers a tweet telling them you are looking for someone for a job. They can either recommend someone to you or offer themselves for the job. Using Twitter in this way is ideal for finding qualified freelancers. It is much more convenient than putting out a classified ad.

11. Build Your Personal Brand

When you use Twitter to talk about things as mundane as what you ate for breakfast or how you are going to sleep early tonight, you make your followers feel like you are casual and approachable. Even those with running a company that has a cold, corporate brand image could create more appeal and build a unique personal brand using Twitter.

12. Streamline Electronic Communications

When you use Twitter, you’re likely to find yourself using IM, email, and other electronic communication methods less. Twitter not only provides public chatting through Tweets, it also allows you to send direct messages. Twitter will help you streamline your electronic communications, allowing you to scale back online.

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Back Links 101 – Make Them Work for You

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Essentially, back links are inbound links to a web page or site. This means that another website contains a hyperlink directed towards your site. In terms of SEO, the more back links you have pointing toward your website the better, particularly if the back links are coming from a site which deals with the same field as your chosen speciality.

As the number one goal of a website is to achieve traffic, i.e. people actually looking at the site, it follows that you must make the website visible. Generally speaking, to make your website visible, people must be able to find it when they search for keywords directly related to your product, niche, service or whatever else your website represents. Individuals tend to be seeking such information via the big search engines, whose operators have rather complicated algorithms to help them decide whether a certain website is applicable to the searcher’s request, or not.

Although they will not divulge exactly how they go about composing these algorithms, the search engine operators do assure us that relevancy, as viewed by others, is most important. If they see that you have a back link or a number of back links from other websites that have some relevancy to yours, this is a plus. In addition, if the site linking to you has a fairly high “page rank”, this helps as well. Page rank is Google’s proprietary method of allocating a number (zero being lowest and moving up to ten) indicating how important a site is within its particular niche of operations.

There are a number of ways to achieve back links for your site.

ARTICLE MARKETING.

As Bill Gates once said, “content is king”. Article marketing is known as one of the most solid Internet marketing methods. By writing highly relevant and informative articles and submitting them to high profile article directories you do several things, not the least important of which is to help establish you or your site as an expert in your niche. Within your article, published in the article directory, is a resource box which contains your details – who you are and what you do, and a link back to your site, the all important Back Link.

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING.

There are many hundreds of social bookmarking sites, and their primary motive is basically to provide a way of informing people about the existence of content related to any niche or interest in a very manageable format. You can sign up and initiate a process of notifying social bookmarking sites about fresh content, including back links in many cases. You should note at this stage that some webmasters apply a “no follow” tag which can void the effect of a back link, as the tag instructs the search engine spider not to give you points, or what’s called “link love”.

SOCIAL MEDIA – TWITTER.

Whilst Twitter and other similar sites are becoming increasingly more powerful in marketing terms, you should know that to include links within your “tweets” or in your URL profile box is not a powerful back linking strategy, as these are all allocated the dreaded no follow tag. However, you may find that it is possible to link within a bio box and get some link love this way. Also, if you syndicate, your Twitter feeds are updated via the RSS aggregators, earning you back links.

BLOG COMMENTING.

First of all, you will have to locate blogs or forums that are relevant to your area of expertise. This is fairly simple to accomplish as a straightforward and pertinent search will locate hosts. Once you find these blogs you can sign up and create a profile. Often you will be allowed to create what is called a “signature”, and within that signature you incorporate your links. Note, you should check to see if there are any no follow tags, as these will appear occasionally.

Enter into the spirit of the place by interacting with other members and making entries and posting comments that are relevant, useful and educational. As well as a back link being displayed each time you post a comment, you’ll also create a potentially profitable bond with other members – and this has the potential to lead to all kinds of new possiblities.

Back link building remains one of the most important SEO strategies to adopt.

Author: Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday

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