The Internet Marketing Forum Is Finally Here...

Announcing the beta launch of the Internet Marketing Forum!

Over the past year, I've heard from countless marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, and small to medium sized business owners that finding the right information online is often a difficult and time consuming process.

If you're like me, when you're searching for answers, you want them fast. After doing some research I decided to take matters into my own hands - to find a solution for this ever increasing problem. The need for on demand solutions to the most difficult and challenging marketing questions.

The Internet Marketing Forum is now live!

Even though I've been on the Internet for more than a decade, I was never a big fan of message boards and the like. Quite honestly, until about a year ago, I had never even posted on a forum. But I quickly learned the value of becoming a forum participant from both the perspective of posting questions as well as contributing with answers and explanations on topics aligned with my experience.

After making a rather substantial investment to update MarketingScoop.com (my main marketing website) by adding a forum, I'm happy to announce the beta version went live earlier this week. I've already received great feedback from visitors and have already started work on a version 2.0.

Now It's Up To You!

The success of this forum, designed for those interested in marketing, is entirely up to you! I know that each of us needs a resource to connect with others in marketing and who have skill sets outside our own. This community can also help to validate Internet marketing concepts and ideas. I encourage everyone reading about this release to visit the Internet Marketing Forum and register for free.. make a post, answer a question, and let the marketing community know you're out there.

Please give me your feedback! This forum is intended for us... Internet marketing folk so let me know what you think. What would make it better? How can we improve it?

Special Bonus: For anyone visiting the site and registering (FREE) within the next 48 hours, I'll gladly email you a sample chapter from my top selling book, "SEO Made Simple: Strategies For Dominating The World's Largest Search Engine". Simply comment on this post with your email and feedback. I won't publish any comments that include email so your info is safe.

M.Fleischner

Questions and Answers About Search Engine Optimization

I recently did an online webinar covering search engine optimization and how to improve landing page conversions. I received a significant number of questions during the webinar as well as immediately after. Knowing that if one person has a question, others probably have the same question, I thought I'd publish all of the Q and A here...

David D.
Q: What are your thoughts on handling SEM on your own, versus utilizing a 3rd party Marketing or Media company? Are there benefits to having someone dedicated to SEM monitoring our results?

A: For individuals or businesses starting out in the area of search engine optimization and search engine marketing, using a company that specializes in a given area is a good thing. However, you want to set clear expectations, agree on how you will measure success, and be sure that when the agreement ends you’ve received all the knowledge you will need to guarantee a successful program for the long term.

Donna S.
Q: What is "google algorithm"?

A: No one really knows for sure – except Google. When talking about the “Google Algorithm” we are referring to the method by which Google evaluates which pages should rank higher than others for specific search terms.

Crystal K.
Q: how do you know how many sites are linking in?

A: Visit www.Alexa.com and type in the URL you are trying to analyze. On the result page you will find information about that URL divided by a number of tabs. Look for the tab labeled “sites linking in”. The number of in-bound links is displayed. To learn see the specific links, simply click the tab.

Roger F.
Q: I get requests to link to my website that have nothing to do with my business. Would accepting these links help or harm my rating?

A: Only in the beginning. If your website has very low page rank (Google PR), and someone with page rank wants to exchange links, then by all means do so. However, once you have established page rank limit your link exchanges to sites that are relevant to yours.

Caroline B.
Q: Do you want to have one keyword that you are heavily working on? Do you want more than one? Approx how many?

A: The answer to this question is directly correlated to the resources you have at your disposal. Per page I never try to optimize for more than 2 – 3 keywords or keyword phrases. For a particular website you may try to improve your ranking for hundreds of keywords but this is rarely manageable. Choose your top 10 keywords and focus your efforts on those.

Greg D.
Q: Is there a SEO penalty to using 301 redirects to get old links to redirect to a new page?

A: Quite the opposite. If you have established a new web page and put a 301 redirect in place on the old page, Google simply transfers the value of the old page to the new page. Most 301 redirect pages do not hold their Page Rank for long.

Judi K.
Q: Does Google have a tool that allows you to check the number of visitors to your landing page?

A: Google Analytics

Tamara O.
Q: Not clear on how you do an A/B test on a web site? Is this differnt URL on print material? Explain.

A: A/B split testing measures the effectiveness of two web pages randomly. Users who visit a single URL will see different landing pages based on IP address or user session.

Donna S.
Q: How do you find a list of the 200 factors that googles assigns a score to (algorithm)?
A: Google does not reveal the factors they use to determine how they rank websites. If you’re able to find a list, and it’s real, please share!
Chad M.
Q: Does mixing similar but different keywords on a single page reduce the effectiveness of a single keyword combination?

A: Google has gotten very specific on keyword optimization. In the old days you could optimize for the plural form of a work and get credit for both the singular and plural of that word. Today, they treat each specific word or phrase separately. It is always good to vary your anchor text but try to keep it short. This assigns more value to each word in your anchor text.

Kelsey C. Q: How do you begin to find sites that link to you?

A: Visit www.Alexa.com and type in the URL you are trying to analyze. On the result page you will find information about that URL divided by a number of tabs. Look for the tab labeled “sites linking in”. The number of in-bound links is displayed. To learn see the specific links, simply click the tab.
Monica B.
Q: What are the best steps to take? First attack your site using SEO and then look at PPC, do both at the same time, or PPC then SEO?

A: I would work on both simultaneously. If done correctly one should not affect the other. Consider using specific landing pages for each PPC campaign.

Choosing and SEO Company: Tips and Strategies

Here are a few things to consider if you are going to use a search engine firm to design your website or blog.

1. Does the SEO firm set realistic expectations about what they can or can't do? If your design firm is promising number one rankings for even the most competitive terms, then reconsider their abilities. Design alone cannot achieve specific number one ranking outcomes.

2. Can the SEO company prove success? Has the company your considering shown an ability to improve rankings for another client? Was the increase in rankings related to competitive as long as long-tail keywords? Check on previous clients and confirm results.

3. Will the SEO company document everything? Once the search engine company or consultant is long gone, you're going to want to apply what you've learned. If there is no documentation or knowledge transfer, you'll be exactly where you started. SEO takes time and a consistent effort to achieve success.

Finally, does the company you're considering use manual methods of link building and improving rankings or are they fully automated. The best companies use both. Consider the techniques the company will use (white hat or black hat) and make a decision based on honesty and previous results. These are the best factors to consider before you spend a dollar on search engine optimization.

How to get 48,280 followers on Twitter...

Hi all.. quick post today. I don't know if you've caught on to Twitter yet, but I'm slowly picking it up and learning more about this social media tool everyone's been talking about. A good friend of mine just share his tool for creating a huge list of followers.

As far as I can tell, the benefit to all of us who are interested in web marketing and web site promotion can use Twitter to communicate to our audience and even increase traffic and sales through out website(s).

The tool I just started using automatically add new followers to my Twitter account... And it's 100% FREE! It's a called Twitter List Builder and I'll be testing it over the coming weeks. The concept is essentially leveraging other twitter members to quickly grow your list.

If you have experience with this tool or other twitter tools that are helping you succeed with Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites, be sure to comment below.

Don't Settle For Page 2

I just heard some VERY interesting stats about Google and other major search engines with regard to click-throughs and other factors. Did you know that 90% of people never get past the first page of search results? That's pretty significant. If you think that page one rankings don't matter than think again.

I also found out that 86% of clicks are organic and 13%+ are on paid search. I don't know about you but organic results is where it's at. If you are spending all of your time on PPC marketing than you are missing the boat. Focus more time on SEO and ensure that you are in the top three positions for any of the keywords you're optimizing for.

Keep it simple. Use your knowledge of PPC terms that have converted for you and apply that to your search engine optimization. You want to make sure that you're optimizing for keywords that are going to convert - not just those that generate traffic.

As a final note, don't be afraid to change it up every once and a while. You should always be experimenting with new keywords, landing pages, and offers. This can only help you find the best, most effective way to improve your rankings, traffic and more.

Wow.. That Was A Shocker!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to start offering an SEO training course. As with any new venture, I decided to put together a program, post a marketing page, and focus my efforts on SEO. I really don't want to start with PPC just yet.

In just 2 weeks, I reached the #16 spot on Google. Now I've been hanging there for about a week and I'm getting anxious. How am I going to break into the top 10 (my next goal) and then eventually reach the #1 position? Well, I think I'm going to focus on unique article distribution and commenting on do follow blogs.

So what's my plan? I'll put together one article to distribute each week for the next 4 weeks and comment on do follow blogs at least 3 times each week for the next 4 weeks. Each week I'll update you on my progress to see how we're doing. In addition, I'm going to check out who's linking to the number one competitor and inquire about links on those site.