Improve Search Engine Rankings

Starting An Effective SEO Campaign To Improve Rankings

2011-10-09T23:31:00.002-04:00

In order to have a site posted on the most popular search result pages, there's some work and time that is involved in getting the results you're looking for. Those who are having trouble getting off the ground do have extra resources on their side - you just need to know where to look. In order to make sure that your site is seen online, an effective SEO campaign needs to happen.

Of course your site needs to be built in order for traffic to starting coming for a visit. Using sites like WordPress or Blogger make website development easy and even come with plugins to help with your optimization efforts. If you don't create an effective website, you're going to have a hard time being successful. Get with a professional designer in order to come up with a site that people will love to come to and make sure he has basic knowledge of SEO best practices.

Once your site is up and running you want to start developing and generating inbound links to your website. Creating effective links and back links is essential for improving your rankings. If this is not taken care of, it will be difficult to make that site presence known. Take the time to learn how to create these links and develop them steadily over a sustained period of time.

The right keywords also need to be chosen when publishing your site. These words are what visitors are going to search for to find your site using search engines. If the keywords are not easy to find or use, it will be hard for the site to be found. Keep that in mind when creating everything for the site. Do your keyword research up front and it will save you tons of time and effort down the line.

The content on your site needs to be fresh and laid out properly. This is going to help draw in traffic and keep them engaged. Be sure to include share icons for social media so people can easily share with their network interesting or valuable content. If site owners can't get the content right, hire a professional writer to step in and take care of everything for you.

Now is the best time to get started with SEO tools and techniques. Those who are ready to get ahead will need to take the time to build their site properly and make sure it's marketed the right way. Use services offered by designers and writers that can help in a variety of different ways, especially with improving search engine rankings.

How To Improve Search Engine Rankings In Less Than 48 Hours!

2010-12-08T12:05:00.000-05:00

What if I told you that I've discovered a way to dramatically improve the ranking of any website or blog in less than 48 hours - guaranteed! More likely than not you'd be a little skeptical.. and that's a good thing. Being cautious is natural but simply part of any investigative process.

My name is Michael Fleischner and I've been focused on SEO for over a decade. You may know me from my appearances on The TODAY Show, ABC World News, or Bloomberg radio. Not to boast, but my top-selling book, membership programs, and resources are known throughout the search engine optimization community. If you want to improve search engine rankings, I can help you.

For a limited time, I'm offering my "Book of Secrets" (which reveals the exact formula I've personally used to achieve top rankings for my many websites and blogs) with step-by-step training videos where you can look over my shoulder and see how to apply simple, yet highly effective techniques for achieving #1 Google rankings.

I'm in the process of launching even more SEO related programs. As a result, I want to sell my existing inventory of this ebook and training videos. Normally selling for $297 and up, it's available THIS MONTH ONLY for just $47. Quantities are limited. Click here to learn more.

Kind Regards,

Michael

SEO The Easy Way Now Open

2010-06-21T16:34:00.000-04:00

I know that many of you have been asking me for information on SEO Training. Since the launch of my search engine optimization book a couple of years ago (SEO Made Simple), the demand for SEO training continues to grow. In an effort to accommodate a large number of students, I have partnered with Internet marketing guru Greg Cesar to launch the SEO Training program: SEO The Easy Way.

This online search engine optimization training program is ideal for anyone who want to learn the specific techniques that I use for achieving top organic placements for my web sites, blogs, and affiliate marketing sites.

Greg and I launched the program just a few short weeks ago and you can watch the video of our presentation by visiting http://www.seotheeasyway.com/replayThere you will find our complete Webinar where I reveal some powerful SEO secrets and let you know how you can take advantage of our online training. If you'd like to access the program immediately, click here.

As is always the case, if you have general SEO questions or would like to know more about search engine optimization, be sure to leave a comment on this post!

Using Video To Promote Your Website

2010-03-28T16:27:00.002-04:00

I've recently been using video to promote my websites and blogs. The reason I've jumped on the video bandwagon is because Google's Universal search results seem to be displaying video more often. By creating a video, even if it's simple and basic, is a great way to get your site promoted or listed on the top of search result lists.

Take his video below. It's a quick tour of one of my sites. As it gets bookmarked or referenced by others, it's building backlinks that are then redirected to my website URL. This is done indirectly in that my website URL is in the description of the video on YouTube.

If you're not using video to promote your site you should consider doing so. This will not only help by promoting the video for certain keywords in search results but also by attracting inbound links. Open up a YouTube account today and start recording!

Blogs Improve Search Engine Rankings

2010-03-07T09:06:00.000-05:00

Can blogs really improve your rankings? How exactly can they help? There are a couple of ways in which blogs can help you improve your search engine rankings. The first way is through what I call the Yahoo! checklist. The Yahoo search engine likes to see evidence of social media on the sites they rank.

Yahoo's search results are more focused on a younger crowd that is interacting with many different kinds of social media. As a rsult, they want to see links to Twitter, Facebook, and, you guest it "blogs" coming from your website. When the search spider detects the inclusion or exclusion of these elements, your ranking is impacted.

So the first step is to build a blog and link to it from your web site home page or even better in your navigation so it's accessible from all web pages. Once this is completed, you're sure to begin moving your search results higher and higher resulting in more traffic to your website.

The second benefit of a blog is that others link to your valuable content. If your content is original and noteworthy, others will begin to link to you creating tons of inbound links. By now you should know that a lot of your ranking results have to do with inbound links from high PR web sites. Blogs serve as a way to attract links to your website on an ongoing basis.

Whether you are new to blogging or a seasoned veteran, know that blogging has many benefits for improving your search engine rankings. Start with a free service like blogger or wordpress and you'll be well on your way to blogging success.

Can Link Directories Improve Rankings?

2010-02-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

I recently got a question from a blog reader about link directories. Do they work? Which directories are best? Link and web directories have been around for a really long time. Although Google has changed the way they view directories, they still have some value in the overall quest for top search engine rankings.

The key to directory submissions is to use them sparringly. For example, I never spend more that $20 - $30 for directory submissions and I only submit to those directories wih a PR 5 or higher. Essentially you're paying for high PR and express inclusion. Choose a budget and start with the highest ranked sites first and then down the line.

Don't be afraid to use the recriprocal option to get your site listed more quickly. If reciprocating, use an internal page somewhere on your site, not your home page. The free option may be an alternative as well. Just don't expect your site to get listed any time soon.

Directories are a nice add to your search engine optimization program. Begin with the highest PR sites, a reasonable budget, and a plan to submit using a variety of methods. Whatever you do, don't use automated submissions. This will negatively impact your rankings and unfortunately set you back quite a bit. Best of luck with your directory submissions.

P.S. Search Google for directory listings. Many have sites listed with highest Google PR to lowest.

Improve Rankings With Directory Submissions

2010-02-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

Did you know that it's possible to get higher rankings with the help of directories? A lot of of people are down on directories. This is largely because of Google's announcement a couple of years ago about paid links. They professed that they are discounting the value of paid links.

How Does Google Even Know?

Google is able to identify sites and directories that force individuals to pay for a listing. This is pretty easy to do as you might imagine. That said there are many more websites charging for links behind the scenes. They may be approached by potential advertisers and offer a paid link program. This works for both advertiser and web site because the link value is not discounted by the presence of pay for options.

Paid links may still be valuable with directories however. I believe that Google is still placing a value on some directories. In fact, you'll find some of the top ranked web sites in most major directories.

What Should You Do?

My recommendation is that you don't spend a ton of time submitting to directories but make sure they are part of your search engine optimization program. A steady building of links from directories can certainly work in your favor. The key is to carefully choose the directories and only pay for experss inclusion.. not for a featured listing of some sort.

Directory submissions are essential for an optimal SEO campaign. Begin with a listing of top directories and manually submit. Do not use automated services. Careful selection and manual submission is the way to go. Happy directory submitting!

Achieve Top Search Rankings In About 30 Days

2010-01-31T10:33:00.001-05:00

Can you really achieve top search engine rankings with a new site? I recently attempted first page rankings for an affiliate web site that I created. The challenge was to select a product, research keywords, and buy a domain. The product I chose was a popular weight loss product.

After doing some keyword research, I decided to optimize around the key phrase of get rid of abdominal fat. In just 24 hours after purchasing the URL, I had a site up and running. The key however was that I was using original content and didn't include any of my affiliate links... at least not yet.

I applied some basic SEO techniques including on page optimization and off page optimization. It took a solid week to ten days to get the site indexed by the major search engines. Once it was, I started to see a slow and steady move towards the first page of Google. Oddly enough, a lot of what I did to promote the site was bring ranked higher than the site itself.

Within 30 days, I got the site ranked number one on Yahoo. Less than a week later I was on the first page of Google for the search term I wanted. Very soon, I'll be releasing a video course showing the exact techniques I used to achieve top rankings in about 30 days. If you do your research right and structure your site appropriately (plus mix in some off page optimization), you'll be able to dramatically improve your search engine rankings.

Learning To Improve Rankings With PPC

2010-01-24T15:44:00.001-05:00

The more time I spend using PPC marketing, the more I find similarities between pay per click advertising and search engine optimization. PPC can be one of the most powerful tools for improving the effectiveness of your search engine optimization campaigns. Here's how...

If you're already running your own pay-per-click campaigns, then you have already collected valuable data than can have a significant influence on the success of your SEO. The most important thing to know is which information is can be used to inform other campaigns and how it can enhance the overall results you're looking for.

Qualified visitors are those that have a higher degree of interest in your products or services and a greater likelihood of purchasing your products. I've often seen websites that have reduced their traffic while significantly improving conversion rates. The result is lower costs related to traffic acquisition and higher revenue. With more revenue and less expense, margins reach a new level of success.

The concept that I teach in SEO training is the most effective way to combine pay-per-click advertising with search engine optimization is to focus on conversions. What keywords have you promoted through pay per click advertising that led to conversions? If you've been running PPC for a while and you are still unsure, then consider expanding your analytic capabilities to include Google conversion tracking.

By looking at your PPC results, you can quickly find the keywords that lead to conversions. This information is golden. Not only can you use this to generate more traffic to your website, but you can also use this information to drive the right kind of traffic to your site. With the right focus, you can improve conversions and lower costs - because you're not attracted bad traffic, rather, you're only attracting the type of browsers who want your product or service.

One way to think about this is a company that's selling widgets. If they use PPC, they probably know that the term, discount widget converts the highest of any keyword term. As a result, they should be focusing their organic campaigns around optimizing that particular keyword. Once the phrase appears at the top of the search results, one can reduce the amount spent via pay per click and enjoy the benefits of targeted traffic.

After you've gotten more sophistication around converting pay per click terms and started an optimization campaign, it's time to focus on other elements that can help with conversion. One of the most important is your web site and landing page. Most people work to optimize search terms that drive individuals to a web site. If that's the case with you consider looking at your home page or web site landing page with a new perspective. Once a visitor is there, do you have a clear call to action? If not, consider revamping your landing pages to get browsers to take action.

Use what you've learning through PPC advertising to truly target your search engine optimization campaigns. By doing so, you can improve the quality of traffic you're attracting to your site and reduce your pay per click costs. Don't waste time optimizing your site for terms that no one is searching on or that never lead to conversion.

Improving Search Engine Rankings Comes at a Cost

2010-01-18T20:35:00.003-05:00

Despite popular belief, search engine optimization isn't entirely free. In fact, some companies spend tens of thousands of dollars each year trying to get their websites ranked in the number one position organically. This is not only expensive, but can take loads of time. If you think SEO doesn't cost a cent, than think again. However, if you have the time to spend, you sure can save a lot.

Before undergoing any changes to a blog or web site, you must determine what keywords people are using to search for your programs. You want keyword terms that are frequently used but have little or no competition from other websites.

This dramatically enhances the chances of increasing web page ranking significantly. Marketing professionals can research possible keywords by talking to current students and using free online tools such as AdWords Tool which provides estimates of search volume and advertising competitiveness.

Once you've done your initial keyword research, its time to start investigating your competition for that given keyword. Do a search for the keyword or keyword phrase you've chosen and analyze the websites that appear in the first three positions. You definitely want to evaluate on page factors as well as off page factors like the number of inbound links to their website and directory listing. This research gives you a good understanding of your competition.

You can also learn more about a topped ranked website by researching it via Alexa.com for additional ranking information. Try for keyword phrases that have less than two million competing pages, less than PR 5, and less than five hundred in-bound links. If the top competing websites are too large, you should pick a different keyword phrase to focus on.

After choosing the most effective keyword phrases for your niche, design web pages to optimize readability for web site browsers and search engines. Basic areas of on-page optimization you should consider include having the appropriate headers for landing pages, a clear call to action and clean navigation. Your keyword phrase should also be used in meta tags and throughout your web page. Don't overdue it though, keyword stuffing can result in significant penalties from search engines.

Without a doubt the most important factor in Google rankings is a combination of Google page rank and the number of web sites that are linking to your own website. Referred to as inbound links, Google evaluates their authority and places a value on your site with higher listings on search results. You are always better off receiving links from web sites that are established and popular than new sites that have neither a strong web presence or inbound links. When link building be certain that link text includes your keywords.

As you focus on search engine optimization your chances of improving rankings increases twofold. Search engine optimization is ideal for anyone who doesn't want to spend a great deal of money on performance based advertising like Google Adwords. Instead of spending cash, spend time and energy on improving organic rankings. Pay attention to on page optimization factors and start researching and contacting other sites for link building. This will enhance website value and improve rankings.

Improve Search Engine Rankings With Meta Tags

2010-01-11T22:16:00.002-05:00

Are meta tags still important? You bet they are. I know that a lot of people think that meta tags are a waste of time - but they're not. Having properly formed meta tags are essential for search engine success.

Title tag. Make sure your title tag includes your keyword phrase and is not more than 60 characters long.

Description tag. Include your keyword phrase no more than two times and make it compelling. This is what prospective site visitors will see when they see your site listed on search results.

Keywords tag. Include your most important keyword phrases in this tag but do not include any more than 12 keywords. Doing so may be considered keyword stuffing.

Robots tag. Give search engines a reason to crawl your website.

By using meta tags properly, you can tell Google and other major search engines what your site is about and what information users will find when they visit. Don't overlook simply yet highly effective meta tags when properly formatting your website for search engine success.

It's All About In-Bound Links!

2010-01-03T21:05:00.002-05:00

There are a variety of ways to improve the number of websites linking to yours and in turn, improve web site rankings. In this post, I'll be covering just a few basic in bound linking techniques. The key is to realize that the best links are one-way links. For new websites just getting started I recommend combining both one way links with reciprocals links, but nothing beats a one way link from an authoritative web site.

1. Article Marketing. Article marketing is a great way to generated one way links to your website. The way it works is simple. Create original content and post it on your website. After a few days, submit your article, with a link back to your website in the author section, to leading article directories like ezinearticles or GoArticles.com.

2. Do Follow Blog Comments. Another great strategy is leaving comments on "do follow" blogs. Search Google for a list of dofollow blogs and find posts to leave comments on. This allows you to create one way links from authoritative sites.

3. Profile set ups. By registering for sites that allow profiles, you can often imbed a URL in your bio section or set up information. Often times, sites like "fan" sites for your favorite singers allow you to set up a profile with bio link included.

These are just a few of dozens of link building strategies. Try to build links slowly over time. This helps to build web site authority and improve overall search rankings. These techniques are most effective when you place your keywords in the anchor text of each link.

Damn... It Really Is All About Domain Age

2009-12-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

So an interesting thing happened. I took on a challenge from a friend to get a new web site ranked #1 in 30 days or less. After buying a great URL and starting to promote the site, I found that getting indexed was more of a challenge than I thought. In fact, I used one of my most popular blogs to promote the site using the link text get rid of abdominal fat which included the keywords I was trying to optimize for.

You know what happened? I get the blog post ranked in the 3rd position. You might say "great" but that totally wasn't what I was going for. I'm trying to get the site well ranked not blog posts that talk about it. As I began to further optimize the site using on page optimization, social media, and inbound linking, I quickly realized that I can't make Google move any faster.

Where does that leave me? About a week into the challenge, I'm still waiting for indexing. Now, once I'm indexed perhaps I'll start to see good movement. However, I am definitely concerned that things are not going more quickly. I guess the next few weeks will be critical to making my goal. Personally, I think it all boils down to domain age. I think I'll have to go over to GoDaddy auctions and buy one of the "aged domains"... that will be next step.

Improve Web Site Rankings With Link Juice

2009-12-21T23:10:00.005-05:00

So what exactly is "link juice". Well, before I answer that question, let me start with the value of inbound links to your web site the impact that has on improving web site rankings. Google loves to see web sites that are getting links from well established sites on the Internet.

When your site is getting links from other web sites that have age, Google PR, and inbound links to them, it serves as a vote of confidence. The more votes you receive from credible websites, the more confidence Google has in you. It's actually a great system comprised of multiple factors. These factors are captured in what is referred to as Google PR.

Where does link juice come in? Link juice refers to the value that links from particular web sites pass on to you. Let's say that you have a site with Google PR of 3 but receive a link from a PR5 site - now that's link juice. Not only will this help you with search engine rankings, but it can also improve the Google PR of your own site.

Your Google PR is directly correlated to the Google PR of sites linking in to yours. The higher their PR, the higher yours will be as well. In essence, you should always be looking for link juice - it's powerful and can help you improve your search rankings.

Can You Achieve #1 Rankings With On Page Optimization All By Itself?

2009-12-17T14:57:00.004-05:00

Is it possible to improve your search engine rankings with on page optimization alone? I would argue that the answer to that question is largely no. You could probably succeed using on page optimization only on search engines like Yahoo or Bing. These sites rely more heavily on URLs and on page optimization than Google does.

On page optimization is still very necessary. Even though it only has a small influence on search engine results from Google's perspective, it's important. Before I start any optimization campaign, I always ensure that I've reviewed a web site for on page optimization factors.

On page optimization factors include: url, meta tags, internal linking, keyword usage, headings, etc. These factors must properly leverage your keywords to allow you to be truly effective when promoting your site. Once on page optimization is in place, it's time to focus on off page optimization techniques like link building.

If you are searching for effective on page optimization strategies, all you need to do is Google "on page optimization" or visit popular forums like the Internet marketing forum for additional guidance from the internet marketing community. Regardless, you should learn the fundamentals of effective on page optimization.

Powerful SEO Techniques In This Exclusive Online Event

2009-12-09T13:05:00.006-05:00

FREE Live Teleseminar Reveals "How To Kick It Old School And Hyper Expand Your Brand With Simple SEO Strategies"

Listen Live on Thursday, December 10th as Best Selling SEO Author Michael Fleischner and Rock Star Greg Rollett chat about making simple SEO moves that can take rock your brand from lame to fame

* Learn why on page optimization matters now more than EVER on your site or blog!

* Learn how Video is not just for cats and musicians and how EFFECTIVE videos can have Google sending you more traffic than your servers can handle!!

* Learn why YOU may be wasting your time creating Social Networking profiles and how to tell if Google is counting your links!!!

* Learn how to take YOUR BRAND NEW SITE and get results at a FIRE pace even when playing with keywords and niches that have hype competition!!!!

* Signup Today and receive the Recorded MP3 Version of the call for FREE as our gift to YOU!!!!!

Click here to sign up now!

The Right Keywords Make All The Difference In Your Rankings

2009-11-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

The best way to achieve search engine dominance is by focusing on keyword research. As an SEO consultant I've worked with hundreds of companies that miss the important step of keyword research. Achieving top search engine rankings is largely based on the competitiveness of the keyword phrase you are trying to optimize your website for. If your competitor is in the top position with a well entrenched web site, then your chances of out ranking him may be limited.

In addition to focusing on a keyword phrase that doesn't have that much competition, you need to find search phrases that are frequently searched on. I recently finished a project for a foundation trying to optimize their website. They had top rankings for a keyword term that seemed to be somewhat desirable. However, keyword research proved that the term received less than 100 searches per month. As a result, top rankings for this keyword phrase were nearly meaningless.

Assuming that you have been able to find a search phrase that doesn't have a great deal of competition and generates enough traffic, it's time to look at your competition. You are competing against other web sites who currently rank in the top few positions for your chosen keyword. Research each of these top ranked sites to determine their Google page rank, age, and the number of sites linking to them. The more inbound links they have the more difficult they will be to outrank.

Once you've conducted your keyword research and determined which keyword phrase you are optimizing for, it's time to focus on optimizing your web pages. This can be done by focusing on on-page optimization techniques and off-page optimization techniques. Start with a well formatted web site that has your keyword phrases in meta tags, page titles, and so on. Then turn your attention to off page optimization which includes building links and getting your site listed in major directories and social media profiles. Add additional link building techniques like bookmarking to enhance the quality of your web pages and web sites.

Your optimization strategy should include a plan for consistent link building. Build links too slowly and you'll never get the authority needed to achieve the number one ranking. Build links too quickly and search engines may think you're up to no good. If you want to improve your organic search engine ranking, begin with keyword research before link building. Having the right keywords can make the difference in your overall optimization results. Update your meta tags and web pages to integrate your keyword phrase, focus on building links over the long term, and you're sure to achieve search engine dominance.

Improve Rankings With the Help of Article Submitters

2009-11-09T16:52:00.002-05:00

Looking for a quick way to build tons of backlinks to your web site? Backlinks are essential for improving search engine rankings and significantly enhancing the overall traffic you get to your website or blog. I've been using article submitters since they were first introduced more than five years ago.

Simply explained, article submitters take your original content and post them to a variety of web sites. Some of these sites serve as central areas that others can use to acquire content for their own websites or blogs. When they do so, they use your content but also include a link (through the author box) to your web site or blog. Other sites simply use fresh content - which includes links back to your site - to continually expand their site.

I personally use article submitters because they automate a good deal of the work. This reduces the time it takes to produce unique articles as well as distribute them to leading directories. I find that the article sites build inbound links steadily over time. Even though you are distributing over a short period of time, the initial pages where you content resides will generally have a low PR. However, over time the page rank grows and so does the value of your inbound links.

Consider article submission to sites like EzineArticles and other well know directories to make a positive impact on both your web site traffic and search ranking.

Strategies For Improving Your AdSense Earnings

2009-11-04T10:43:00.001-05:00

Can you make a living on earning Adsense commissions? Adsense to be a great way to a few extra dollars each and every day but certainly is not going to make you a ton of money. Ask website owners today about their earnings and you'll find only a small handful making a substantial income. Ive learned how to increase my Adsense revenue over time and will share with you all Ive learned.

Your Adsense revenue is dependent on a number of factors including which ads you display, where you display them, and how often. Here are some factors to consider before you place your next Adsense ad. Let's begin with ad placement. Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. Google has produced a heat map that illustrates the ideal placing on a sample page layout. All other things being equal, ads located above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.

While this suggested map is useful as a positioning guideline, I strongly recommend putting your users first when deciding on proper ad location. Think about their behavior on different pages, and what will be most useful and visible to them. You'll find that the most optimal ad position isn't always what you expect on certain pages.

On pages where users are usually focused on reading article content, ads placed immediately below the end of the content generally perform very well. It is almost as if users finish reading and ask themselves what they should be doing next. Ads that are targeted can answer that question and get them clicking.

Various Ad format. Some types of ads perform better than others depending on the page content and layout. Many Adsense advertisers find that large rectangles in content areas work best, while leader boards produce less click-based revenue. The traditional sky scrappers are the worst performers. The key is to experiment and measure the results to see which formats work best for you.

Ad colors. Sometimes ads blended into the content can work wonders, but sometimes ads that contrast your site colors work best. Test a variety of ad colors to determine if different palettes generate higher than average click through rates. Other than testing the actual palettes, there's really no other way to determine effectiveness.

Number of ad units on a page. Websites are allowed a maximum of 3 ads, plus one set of ad links, and one Google search box per page. Maximize the allowed number based on the resulting look of your page (you don't want an overkill of ads). Users going to your page and reading your content may ignore the banner or rectangle at the top of the page, but may click on the ad at the bottom of the article.

Experiment with the factors above and see which combination works best for your particular website. Remember that not all sites do well with Adsense ads. Even if you get lots of traffic but your visitors are not interested in looking for ways to spend their money, they won't be interested in your ads and won't click through.

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the author of SEO Made Simple: How to Dominate Google . Find helpful Adsense advice and learn to improve search rankings at Michael's Internet Blog.

Can You Use Twitter To Improve Rankings

2009-10-07T08:06:00.001-04:00

You bet you can. Twitter is a great tool for building a following and developing your very own community. In addition, you can use your profile and tweets to build backlinks to your web pages.

So how does it work? First, lets start with your Twitter profile. Your profile is important for a number of reasons including the fact that others may seek you out based on the contents of your profile. Make sure to include appropriate keywords that you want others to associate with you.

The second and most important aspect of Twitter is sending tweets. When you post a tweet, it is recorded on Twitter.com. If it includes a link back to your site, that works in your favor. Additionally, as other retweet what you have posted, it's noted on their Twitter accounts as well. The more backlinks you generate to your website the better.

One idea is to think about creating valuable content or a download and make it available on your web site. Tweet about it with a direct link others can use to access the information. As your followers retweet the information, you'll be building valuable link juice and improving your rankings.

Improve Web Site Rankings With Key Search Factors

2009-09-30T20:37:00.002-04:00

If you're like many people in today's economy you may be thinking about starting your own business. Any new business needs a website and websites are only good if others can find them in search results. All new website owners quickly find a need to focus on the search ranking of their website in all major search engines. Search ranking is the natural placement of your site, also referred to as ranking, on Google or some other search engine.

The challenge for all website owners is learning the key factors for improving search ranking. Getting to the top of search engine result is rather complex and requires more than just a quick study. In fact, website owners will spend more than a billion dollars on search engine optimization this year and much more of that on other forms of Internet marketing like PPC.

One way to effectively meet the needs of your website marketing is through PPC and other paid forms of advertising. However, with SEO you can enhance your ranking on all major search engines. Here are a few strategies that can be applied to your website today to instantly begin raising the position of your website for even the most competitive keywords and keyword phrases.

Build your website with sound search engine optimization techniques. Start your search engine optimization from day one. Don't wait until you've invested tons of money into your website before you find out that it hasn't been built for effective search ranking. Apply on page techniques like meta tags, headers, and keyword density to improve search ranking.

Develop an search engine optimization plan. Those who are most successful with achieving top rankings are those who have a well defined action plan. Your plan can be simple but must be applied on a regular basis. SEO takes time and can only achieve the results you're looking for if you apply it each and every day. Begin with a simple outline and then define tasks to by applied each day. Before you know it, your progress will be substantial.

Search engine optimization needs to be applied for the long term. Many people who are new to website ownership think that getting to the first position and staying there is easy to do. Most sites are trying to enhance their ranking for competitive keywords or keyword phrases. Due to the competitiveness of their niche, achieving the top position and remaining there takes work. Although keeping a top ranking is easier than initially achieving it, applying ongoing SEO can do the trick.

Achieving top search ranking is no laughing matter. Those sites listed in the top 2 or 3 positions get the major of traffic. If you're site is not there, you are not growing your business as large or as profitably as you can. So don't settle for anything less than search ranking dominance. Begin from where you are. Achieving rankings that you can be proud of does take work, persistence and confidence. Do the right things and you will get to where you want to be.

Do you want to enhance the search ranking of your website? If you do, then use the secret tool that leading webmaster's use throughout the world. Check out our SEO Elite tool Review for a complete rating and FREE offer.

Do you want to improve search engine rankings for your website? If you do, then use the secret tool that leading webmaster's use throughout the world. Check out our SEO Elite Software Review today.

All About Affiliate Marketing

2009-09-22T08:02:00.002-04:00

If you want to make a living online, selling products that have already been created is a great way to start. This is often referred to as affiliate marketing and is a great way to earn extra income. Some affiliates are referred to as super affiliates and make their living selling products on the Internet.

Lets begin with a definition of affiliate marketing. Not the textbook definition but an actual definition that breaks down the difference between affiliates and publishers. Publishers create products and affiliates sell them. Its that simple.

Affiliate marketing is a great for so many people to make a living because its easy to implement. Think about the benefits of affiliate marketing. You don't need to create a product, get the capital needed to start a business, or find the resources required to bring your product to market. The only thing you need is to sign up for an affiliate offer and start selling.

Affiliate products are sold by placing an affiliate link on your website or blog. You can even include your affiliate link within the author section of articles or forum postings. Each time the link is clicked and users are converted through the publisher's website, you earn a commission.

When starting out in affiliate marketing, I recommend that you look for affiliate products available on Clickbank. This site brings together publishers and potential affiliates in an online marketplace that allows you to easily search for affiliate offers. Sites like Clickbank make the process of finding the right products incredibly simple.

There are many ways to choose a product that's right for you to sell via affiliate marketing. The best place to start is with what you have. Do you have a website? A blog? If you do, look for products in the same niche. You can easily add a link to your website or blog, promoting an affiliate product. This is the quickest way to earn affiliate commissions.

Can you earn a living online if you don't own a web site? The answer is yes. By using pay per click advertising or marketing techniques like article marketing, you can begin selling affiliate products and earning a commission. There are a number of resources available to help you get started such as Blogger and Wordpress. Others have had much success creating lenses on Squidoo.

The other option you have is to begin publishing articles on a topic that you already know a lot about. I have seen a number of affiliate marketers earn a significant income by writing articles and reviews about products in their niche and then submitting those articles to article directories.

Review your online assets and determine if you have a good starting resource. This could be a website, blog, or jump page. It could also be your profile on social media sites or articles you've written. All you need to do to begin is choose a product that meets a need for your market and post a link. You will earn commissions as soon as individuals click through your link and buy the product you're promoting.

Michael Fleischner offers helpful Internet marketing advice online and is the author of SEO Made Simple and offers SEO training for those seeking top search engine placements. He has appeared on the TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media.

Learning More About Article Marketing

2009-09-16T08:21:00.003-04:00

The process of article writing is simple. Develop unique content for your particular audience and distribute that content in a manner that improves your exposure and drives traffic back to your site. However, this process does take time and can be difficult for some. To succeed, you must know what type of content to create and how to distribute that content. The good news is that there are plenty of tools available to help automate this process for you.

The first thing article creation software can help you with is understanding the importance of appealing to your target market. You do not want to write an article that will appeal to anybody and everybody. Focus on a particular audience that you want to submit your articles to. This will make it much easier to convert visitors into customers.

After writing your article, consider the appropriate category the article belongs to. When creating content for a specific audience, you want that content to appear before the right individuals who will benefit from and act upon the content. Choose your category carefully because it could make the difference between low and high conversion rates.

Most pieces of article creation or article submission software provide tools like spell check and grammar check. Too often people using these tools ignore the warnings provided. Doing so reduces your credibility as an authority figure and undermines the effectiveness of your article. Always spell check your content before submitting.

From there, you will find that article creation software will help you identify everything needed to submit to various directories. You will be forced to go through and submit the different information that directories require such as keywords, a brief summary, title, the article itself, and a resource box. If you are confused with any part of this, the software will walk you through to help you better understand.

The final feature of article writing software is that it can provide image verification. Essentially, when submitting to directories, users are often asked to verify an image or code. To submit your article, this code must be entered. The proper piece of software can do this for you, speeding up the submission process and avoiding any obstacles you may encounter.

The process of article writing is effective for improving organic rankings and driving traffic to your web site. To be effective, you need to know how to write effective articles, how to complete online submission forms correctly and choosing the most appropriate category for your article. These are just a few of the many ways you can benefit from article creation software which can lead you through the process step-by-step.

Need help with your article writing? Check out our comprehensive article writing and submission software review. For addition information on today's top article writing and article submission software, check out our new site Article Submitter Review.

Using Article Writing And Distribution To Improve SEO

2009-09-10T14:30:00.002-04:00

The process of article writing is simple. Develop unique content for your particular audience and distribute that content in a manner that improves your exposure and drives traffic back to your site. However, this process does take time and can be difficult for some. To succeed, you must know what type of content to create and how to distribute that content. The good news is that there are plenty of tools available to help automate this process for you.

The first thing article creation software can help you with is understanding the importance of appealing to your target market. You do not want to write an article that will appeal to anybody and everybody. Focus on a particular audience that you want to submit your articles to. This will make it much easier to convert visitors into customers.

As soon as you have written your article, you can then go through and find the appropriate category or sub-category the article belongs under. The last thing you want is to write an article correctly and then submit it to the wrong category. Remember, you are trying to appeal to a particular audience.

Don't forget to spell check and grammar check your articles before submitting them. A well written article is essential for building expert status. Most article software provides spell check and other advanced features. Be sure to use these features on every article you submit as it will improve readability and trust.

After writing your article it's time to submit to article directories. Article submission software is recommended for doing so as it will automate many of the functions that would just take too long via manual submission. In addition, article software can also help you develop a resource box that includes properly formatted links that point back to your web site. This will improve the organic rankings of your web site and generate traffic.

The final feature of article writing software is that it can provide image verification. Essentially, when submitting to directories, users are often asked to verify an image or code. To submit your article, this code must be entered. The proper piece of software can do this for you, speeding up the submission process and avoiding any obstacles you may encounter.

The process of article writing is effective for improving organic rankings and driving traffic to your web site. To be effective, you need to know how to write effective articles, how to complete online submission forms correctly and choosing the most appropriate category for your article. These are just a few of the many ways you can benefit from article creation software which can lead you through the process step-by-step.

Need help with your article writing? Check out our comprehensive article writing and submission software review. For addition information on building traffic to your web site, learn more about our seo training program.

43,000 Inbound Links From One Stupid Little Article...

2009-09-07T18:35:00.005-04:00

SEO is simple if you know what to do and how to do it. In this video, I show you how I've used article marketing to generate THOUSANDS of inbound links to my web sites and blogs. Not only is it generating tons of traffic to my web site, but article marketing is helping me improve search engine rankings fore even the most difficult search terms.

Check out my FREE review of top article marketing resources at Culzee.com.

Improve Rankings With The Top 5 SEO Strategies...

2009-09-03T12:50:00.002-04:00

There's a lot of information out there on the Internet about search engine optimization. Some of it is really good but unfortunately much of the information is either totally inaccurate or just plain wrong. I've taken the time to sort through much of this information and provide you with the strategies that get actual results.

By working with literally hundreds of small and medium sized websites, I have found that top ranked sites have a number of factors in common. What are they? I'm about to share these factors with you and explain what separates those in the top Google positions and those that are never found on page one of search results.

The first search engine ranking factor has to do with inbound links. We all know the importance of generating inbound links to your web site or blog. However, these links are only effective if they include your keywords in their anchor text. Links should always include keywords which help search engines identify your website with these links. Make sure to ask link partners to structure their links to your web site properly.

The second most important factor for having high search engine rankings is to include your most important keywords in your meta tags, particularly your title tag. This is one of the key ways that search engines identify your pages and display information on search results. In addition to your title tag, include your keywords in the keywords and description tags as well.

The third ranking factor to consider for your web site is link popularity. This phrase has been talked about in search engine circles for a while but can be equated with Page Rank. The concept of Page rank or link popularity for that matter take a number of factors into consideration to identify the quality of web pages from an external perspective. The largest factor that influences search engine rankings is the number and quality of links that are pointing to a web site or web page.

The fourth ranking factor is the diversity of domains that link to your web site. For many search engines, its not only what links you have to your site but making sure they are from different domains. This represents more popularity associated with you web site and therefore is judged to be a better search result. When link building, try to focus on generating inbound links from different websites.

The fifth ranking factor is placing your keywords in your root domain. If you are unable to acquire a domain that has www.yourkeyword.com as the format, don't despair. You can vary your domain by including words before or after your keyword. Short of being able to acquire such a domain, place your keywords using a subdomain structure or placing a folder on your root domain. This can have a positive impact on your overall rankings.

All of the top five ranking factors will work for you. I have personally seen them dramatically improve rankings for even the smallest web sites. Make sure that you address each factor. In combination, these factors have the most impact. By addressing the top ranking factors for your web site, you'll be able to add additional search engine optimization techniques to ensure top placement over the long term..

Michael Fleischner is the Author of SEO Made Simple and offers SEO training for small and medium sized businesses. Be sure to get free search engine optimization and Internet marketing support at the Internet marketing forum

All About Meta Tags

2009-08-25T17:25:00.002-04:00

Are you familiar with Meta Tags? If not, here's a quick definition: Meta elements are HTML or XHTML elements used to provide structured metadata about a Web page. Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of an HTML document. Meta elements can be used to specify page title, description, keywords and any other metadata not provided through the other head elements and attributes.

The most common meta tag is your title tag which appears all the way at the top of your website browser window in the upper left hand corner. My recommendation for meta tags pretty simple and have worked for me when optimization my websites.

Title Tag
Begin with a well structured title tag that includes your keywords. Try to keep your title tag short as this provides more weight to the words you've included. Longer titles are less effective.

Description Tag
This tag is important because it describes your web page. More importantly, this description is seen in search results. So you want the description to be both accurate and catchy. It needs to encourage users to click through to your web site.

Keywords Tag
Don't put too many keywords in your keywords tag. I like to limit the number of keywords to around 12 which are the most important to your page. Focus on delivering only your most important keywords through the keywords tag.

Other Elements
Robots tag, verification keys, etc. can all be part of your meta data. Some webmasters include other information like authoring data and so on. Don't get carried away. I have found that by including the basic tags you're doing more than enough.

Adding Your Tweet Me Me Button To Blogger

2009-08-25T08:14:00.004-04:00

It's pretty interesting, but I had been struggling to add a "TweetMeMe" button to this Blogger blog and others. It took me quite a bit or research to not only place the button but to get it to achieve the functionality I really wanted for my blog.

Problem 1: Finding Code To Add to My Blogger Template
Most of the code out there related to adding Twitter buttons is for WordPress. I know that I may be the only guy still out there using Blogger, but I always thought that it would be a safe bet given the fact that Google owns it... but I guess you never really know. Anyway, it took me a while to find the right source code to drop into a template, but here it is (PLEASE NOTE: All "[" and "]" symbols need to be changed to "<" and ">" symbols in order for code to work. I only changed them for this web page so they will display properly).

Follow these simple steps:
1. Go to Layout-->Edit Html
2. Download Full Template
3. Check the Expand Widget Templates
4. Search for the code below (remember "[]" symbols should be "<>" symbols):

[div class='post-header-line-1'/]

a. For the full retweet button place the following code below the above code:

[div style='float:right; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px']
[script type='text/javascript']
tweetmeme_url='[data:post.url/]';
[/script]
[script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript']
[/script] [/div]

This will display the button on the right side of the blog post. To place the button on the left side just replace float:right in the code to float:left.

b. For the compact button instead of the code above place the following code (replace "[]" symbols with "< " and ">" symbols):

[div style='float:right; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px']
[script type='text/javascript']
tweetmeme_url='[data:post.url/]';
tweetmeme_style = 'compact';
[/script]
[script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript']
[/script] [/div]

5. Save the Template and you're done!

Problem #2: Getting the Tweet to Show the Name of the Post
Okay, now that you have the button installed, test it out. The biggest problem I had.. which no blog or forum provided the answer to, was that the button only provided the title of the blog in my tweet. I paid programmers, tried a bunch of stuff on my own, but only got workable solution from Tweet Me Me directly via their forum.

The reason why my button wasn't fully operational is because the title of my blog was too long. I had to go into my template and shorten the title of my blog. Within 24 hours, the problem cleared itself up. Now, if you visit The Marketing Blog (which is where I was having the problem) and Retweet, you'll see the name of the blog and title of the post. Walaaa!

If you're having the same problem, the above should take care of it. If this post was helpful, please retweet!

Focus On On-Page Optimization For Long-Term Success

2009-08-18T08:52:00.004-04:00

SEO is made up of two different disciplines that work in tandem. To be successful, you need to master both of these areas. Doing so will allow you to not only reach the number one ranked position for a chosen keyword, but stay there for a very long time.

To be successful with your search engine optimization, start with on page optimization. On page optimization refers to everything that has to do with your actual web site and web pages from a search engine optimization perspective. This would include factors like web site age, URL, Meta tags, on page links, etc. It’s important that you start with on page optimization because it ensures that your pages will be fully recognized by search engines.

Let’s start with looking at your URLs. Many people believe that the only way to get number one rankings is by having your keywords in your domain name. For example, if your keyword is sneakers, you should have a URL that says Sneakers.com. Sure, this would help but its only one of many factors considered in search engine optimization. Not to mention the difficulty of finding a good URL that includes your keywords.

It is true that including your keyword phrase in your URL is beneficial even though it is not the end all be all. This is especially true with search engines like Yahoo and Bing. One thing you can do is to use a sub-domain strategy. This means setting us sub domains from your main site that includes the keyword you’re optimization for. It would look something like this: sneakers.yoursite.com where “your site” is the name of your main web site.

You can also create new pages that include your keyword as part of the URL. This is almost as equally strong as the sub-domain strategy and very easy to implement. Simply create a folder or page on your server that includes your keyword. An example would be: Yoursite.com/sneakers. By adding the keywords as part f your URL, you are improving your chances of appearing in search results given other on page SEO criteria is met.

After optimizing your URL, it’s time to focus on other on page attributes. One of the most important is page load time. This is a function of the number of images you have on your page, scripts, external calls, use of CSS, etc. and requires a good deal of experience from a programming perspective. The best bet is to have someone with SEO experience review your pages to make sure that you are applying SEO best practices from an on page perspective.

Once you’ve covered on page optimization attributes associated with a high ranking web site, it’s time to focus on off page optimization. Off page optimization is really a function of how the search engines see your site and how other web pages link to your own web site or blog. Off page optimization is often equated to link building as building external links to your site is at the core of search engine optimization.

Start with on page optimization to build a strong foundation to your web site. Once you have the proper URL structure and address other on page optimization factors, you’ll be in a good position to roll out your link building strategy. As you develop more inbound links, your search engine results will improve.

Improving Your Rankings With Blog Posts

2009-08-12T11:22:00.003-04:00

I was recently asked about using blog posts to improve search engine ranking. Personally, I feel that there are a number of ways to use blogs to build links to your website which in turn can improve your web site's rankings. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Find a list of dofollow blogs and post comments. A great way to build in bound links to your website or blog is by leaving comments on do follow blogs. You want to find blogs that are do follow because if you don't, your links won't provide any value. Tip: Do a Google search for dofollow blogs in your niche.

2. Find top rated blogs in your niche. By searching the Internet for top rated blogs in your niche, you can quickly and easily find opportunity. You can choose to purchase a link on many of these blogs, leave comments (if do follow), or submit your own content for review. Many top blogs love original content submissions, so don't be afraid to provide unique content and ask it to be posted.

3. Partnerships with authority blogs. Some of the most dominant blogs out there are always looking for the right partnership, generating links and presence for your web site. Think about what you can offer some of the top blogs in your niche. Approach the blog owners and gauge their level of interest. You may be surprised by the results.

Working with blogs to establish a presence takes work.. but the rewards are significant. Start by creating a list of blogs in your niche, authority blogs, and others with whom you may have a relationship. By doing so, you can start down a path of link building and partnership development that can help improve your rankings.

The Internet Marketing Forum Is Finally Here...

2009-07-30T15:56:00.000-04:00

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

2009-07-29T19:55:00.006-04:00

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

2009-07-22T16:46:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-07-15T21:41:00.003-04:00

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

2009-07-10T12:44:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-07-02T08:35:00.003-04:00

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.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

2009-06-27T15:10:00.004-04:00

A common issue I often come into is that a number of website owners get so pumped up about SEO that they being optimizing with a frenzy. They update their pages, start building links, and so on only to actually hurt their search engine ranking.
How can this be?

The reason this happens is because Google looks for inbound links to be built consistently over time. As more and more links are created quickly, Google begins to question how these links are being created so quickly and may consider them spam.

A word to the wise. SEO is essential for success. However, when building links to your website, start slowly - be consistent. You want to build links over time. This wont set off any triggers and will allow you to build the website popularity you need to succeed.

Search engine optimization is ideal for anyone who wants to improve the search engine ranking of their website but it must be done carefully. Remember that slow and steady wins the race!

Okay, I'm Frustrated With Online Advertising

2009-06-18T09:11:00.003-04:00

I know that I generally talk about SEO on this blog, and that's definitely my focus, but I have to tell you that today I logged into my Blogger account(s) and couldn't believe my eyes. My posts automatically had words that were double underlined.

Apparently there was code added to all of my blogger templates for a link advertising type of service. Boy.. those hackers think they're so smart. So I used my limited html experience to find the code and delete it. What did they think? They were going to make money off of my blog?

So I guess the take-away here is that online marketing, seo, etc. is not set and forget... you need to look at it each and every day. The day that you don't, something can happen and it most likely will. I'm fortunate in that you, the reader, have been very helpful in keeping my blogs active, commenting, and giving me a heads up when something doesn't look right - the power of community.

This week, make sure to set up and SEO calendar. What activities do you do daily, weeekly, and monthly to market sure your SEO campaigns continue to add value to your web sites? Follow the schedule and you'll be successful!

Do Follow Blogs - Yeah Baby!

2009-06-12T13:21:00.002-04:00

As you know, I'm always looking for new ways to improve search engine rankings and today I'm going to be talking about blogs. Yeah, it is a little ironic considering that I'm blogging talking about blogs but this should make sense once I explain it.

Many blogs allow you to comment to a post. This works for blog readers and blog owners because it facilitates dialogue and provides valuable feedback to anyone interested in a given topic or issue being discussed. The other benefit attributes to the commenter.

When someone comments in response to a blog post, the information is spidered by search engines. Comments may include a link to your website or information you want to share with other readers. If this information is on a "Do Follow" blog, then search engines can index the links. If the information is on a blog that is not do follow, then search engine spiders never access or catalog the link and it is virtually worthless.

So the moral of the story is that if you are using commenting on blogs as a way to build back links to your website, then you want to spend your time commenting to posts on do follow blogs. This proves valuable as search engines spider comments and pass link value back to your website.

Happy commenting!

Improve Website Rankings With This Helpful Tool...

2009-06-08T08:18:00.003-04:00

Are you looking for a tool that can give you a really good review and analysis of your current web site? A friend recently asked me for some free tools that would help give him and SEO review of his site and give him specific areas to focus on.

Here are the two tools I recommend. The first is HubSpot. This tool requires you to enter your name, email, and URL. In just a few short seconds, it returns a site analysis that allows you to quickly identify trouble spots related to your website.

My second pick is Website optimization dot com. At this site, you simply enter your URL, captcha text and go... you'll find a full report of website load speeds, objects, etc. I find this tool particularly helpful to ensure that my site is truly optimized.

Enjoy these free tools and recommend some of your own for SEO.

Improve Web Site Rankings In Only 48 Hours

2009-05-31T21:34:00.002-04:00

I was recently asked if the claims of achieving top 10 rankings in only 48 hours is possible. There are a number of web site services that offer such "amazing" results. Here's how they do it.

1. They find a keyword phrase that is related to your website that isn't very competitive. Keyword research makes the difference here. You're not going to get top ten rankings for highly competitive terms.

2. Leveraging existing sites. When third parties link to your website, it boosts the ranking of your site on search result lists. Companies offering these services have well established sites they use to begin improving the ranking of your website.

3. Other inbound links. In addition to adding links from their own properties, these sites leverage directories, press releases, and article distribution sites to improve your ranking.

The real issue I have here is that if a company is going to improve where you rank for certain keywords, great. However, if those keywords aren't competitive, won't generate traffic or create the targeted visitors you need, then it's not worth it. Think about this fact before you spend your hard earned money on some seo service.

New: I've started offering SEO training for small to medium sized businesses. Learn more at MarketingScoop.com.

Optimize More Than Your Webpage

2009-05-26T12:55:00.003-04:00

Have you ever considered optimizing more than your web page? I've received quite a few questions of late regarding optimization of images for Google's universal and/or image search so I thought I'd address them here.

First of all, to my knowledge, there's no real way to submit your images so you're going to have to optimize them and let Google do the work for you. Here are a few basic guidelines.

1. Make your images large enough. Google seems to favor larger images (above 25o pixels).

2. Label your images correctly. Be sure to put your keyword in the alt text. This helps Google identify the image properly.

3. Make sure the image is related to the content on your page. The content on your page also helps Google determine what the image is about.

4. Place a few other images on the same page. You don't want to pack your pages with too many images but at the same time, help Google by telling them your page isn't not some random attempt at getting a single image indexed.. include a few.

Follow these basic techniques and you'll be optimizing more than just a web page. Images are great for attracting users to your website or blog so give it a try.

Improve Rankings With Paid Links

2009-05-19T21:10:00.003-04:00

I'm not a big fan of paid links, but when all else fails, new options look better. I promote links to other web sites on my own web sites and blogs. This is a great way to earn additional income from my web properties and provides other websites with in-bound links from well established sites that carry a Google PR ranking.

...still with me?

Said another way, building links to a web site helps the web site come up higher in search rankings. One of the ways that sites get inbound links is through link exchanges or buying one-way links. The concept of buying links became an issue when Google announced they would penalize sites that were purchasing links.

The link bartering companies have gotten smart now. It's easier than ever to purchase one way links that are manually placed on web sites. This makes buying links more viable than ever. So, if you have it in your budget, and you have the right broker, buying links is now an option in my opinion. However, I do recommend that you exhaust all other opportunities before spending your money.

Social Media and SEO

2009-05-14T08:22:00.003-04:00

Can social media help you with your search engine optimization? Only if you're focused on building links. I've been getting a lot of questions lately about social media and how to use it to build rankings and drive traffic to websites.

Personally I think that there is a place for social media with regard to generating both traffic and search rankings. Anyone interested in the power of social media need look no further than Squidoo to find "lenses" ranked in the top 10 positions on Google for competitive search terms and phrases.

Top rankings however aren't going to social media sites alone. Traditional sites still reign supreme. However, by developing groups, pages, lenses, etc., you can improve your ranking. Develop a lense for example and link to your website or page you're trying to promote. In addition, use blogs to promote your services and focus on building links.

Social media can be great for generating traffic and creating awareness. Consider your own behavior on social media sites and determine the best steps for moving forward. Add your comments to this post and share your social media marketing secrets with others...

Original Content Rules the Day

2009-05-10T20:03:00.003-04:00

One of the most powerful things you can do to help improve the rankings of your website is to develop original content on a regular basis. A number of websites re-purpose existing content and expect their websites to be ranked in the first position on Google.

The reality is that today's top ranking websites, regardless of niche, publishes original content. Test out this theory and you'll find original content that is created by the website itself or through viral means.

It's essential to consider original content. If this seems burdensome, consider using an article writing service. You can also use Elance or a different service to find individuals who can write your articles for you. If you're interested in the do-it-yourself option, I recommend Unique Article Pro.

Don't underestimate the power of unique content. If you don't want to produce it on your own, ask your website visitors for some. You'd be surprised at how many people are willing to provide content for your website - as long as you provide an author mention or link back to their website or blog.

How To Reach The Top of Google

2009-05-03T21:51:00.003-04:00

Google is it. If you can achieve the number one position on Google, you'll get all of the organic traffic you need for success. As a result, billions of dollars are spent each year on search engine optimization and web site development.

Improving your ranking is a journey. Whether you have a website or are planning on building one, you have to consider what resources you need for ranking on top. The good news is that no matter where you are today, it is possible to generate positive results online.

Two areas of focus: On page optimization and Off page optimization. To really make a significant impact on search results, you must focus on what you're doing on your web pages as well as off. Start by analyzing your own website and determining if SEO best practices are being followed.

Once you've made sure that your site is grounded in SEO fundamentals, focus on off page optimization. Off page is really all about building links to your web site. Start building links and you'll achieve the results you're looking for.

Looking to Improve Your Search Ranking?

2009-04-25T14:04:00.003-04:00

Announcement: Relaunch of The Webmaster's Book of Secrets.

Are you looking for that one "tell all" guide that will give you an edge when it comes to dominating Google search results? Then you should definitely check out The Webmaster's Book of Secrets. This top selling guide has recently been updated and revels powerful secrets for improving search ranking.

Developed by leading webmasters, the Webmaster's Book of Secrets explains search engine optimization (SEO) in simple terms and more importantly, reveals proven methods for getting any website higher in search result listings.

Apply these techniques quickly as they take you step by step through the website optimization process. Once you break the through to the top position for virtually any keyword or keyword phrase, you'll receive more traffic, conversions, and sales.

Visit The Webmasters Book of Secrets today for FREE search engine optimization lessons and to purchase the leading SEO ebook on the web.

Increase Your Inbound Links Through Press Releases

2009-04-19T20:44:00.003-04:00

Did you know that you can improve your search engine rankings quickly with the help of an online press release? A press release is news or information that is being distributed to individuals within the media business.

Many businesses distribute press releases on a regular basis to inform their industry of key changes or information they wish to communicated. Companies are hoping they "get ink" where by a reporter will take notice and publish their news online or in print. Many reporters have come to depend on press releases as a way to find relevant news that is fit to print.

Press releases are rather simple to create and follow a pretty standard format. Many releases include a date, headline, body, and company description. Online releases include the same information with an added feature, a link back to the company's website. The challenge and opportunity with an online press release is to create a release that is newsworthy and finds itself being distributed across the web.

There are literally hundreds of online press release websites designed to guide reporters through a significant amount of clutter to find what is most relevant to their given audience. The benefit to those doing business online is that an additional outlet exists for publishing information about your website or product and building in-bound links to your website at the same time.

If you have something to promote, then learning more about online press releases is where you want to focus your time. Not because of the news factor, but because with each release, you can include a link to your website. This adds a tremendous boost to your website rankings and improves as your releases become more common.

There are a few press release services out there, much like article directories that allow you to submit your release and include a link back to your website. Unlike article directories, many of these sites are not free. However, a small handful cost nothing, dozens charge less than twenty dollars and others will charge more.

When I need to build a ton of back links to my website quickly, I always gravitate toward online press releases. You can implement this today. Do a Google search for free press releases and look at the top 10 results. You will find many that do not charge. Be mindful though that a lot of these sites do not let you include a link unless you are going to pay a fee.

I am comfortable with fees as long as I'm seeing the value. Some sites charge as much as three hundred bucks for a release service but many more charge only a few dollars. The reality is that it doesn't take much to put your SEO efforts into over drive using press release services. Do some research online and start sending out those releases. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results you get.

Improve Ranking Tip #347

2009-04-12T20:47:00.003-04:00

Original Content

Publishing original content is one of the best ways to improve search engine rankings. Google thrives on original content - so give them some. There are many ways that you can produce original content. But it all begins with an understanding that original content makes a significant difference in rankings.

Original content can be created in the following ways:

1. You create the content on your own.
2. You pay others to generate the content for you.
3. You use social networking tools (comments, feeds, etc.)

I personally use a number of different sources to produce content on a regular basis. The key is to be consistent. Choose content generation methods that you can easily manage and put your website on a regular update schedule.

By updated your site regularly, search engines will categorize you as offering valuable content to the world wide web. As a result, they will give you higher rankings for competitive search terms. Focus on unique content and you'll see a difference in search results.

Improve Your Ranking With Article Distribution

2009-04-05T19:41:00.003-04:00

If you want to boost your search engine ranking, then consider article marketing. Many people use article marketing to promote a product or service. I use article marketing to generate one-way links to my website... Google nirvana.

We all know the power of one way links. And there's nothing more powerful than building unique links to any website or blog. So consider the power of writing a 400 - 500 word article and having that content distributed on high Google PR websites - that's article marketing (or at least what I consider article marketing).

When you write articles, you benefit by including a link back to your website in the author section of the article. Once you distribute your article to article websites, you start building backlinks to your website or blog. As these pages age, they will receive a Google PR and that benefits your site and your rankings for specific keywords and keyword phrases.

The other benefit that's created is that Webmaster's and bloggers can reproduce this content for their own websites as long as they post the author section with your link. It is true that some unscrupulous people will post the content without the back link, but bad karma will follow them. Trust me, article marketing is great for building links and improving rankings!

Build Thousands of Inbound Links With Article Marketing

2009-03-27T07:49:00.002-04:00

Article marketing has many benefits. The saying that content is still king rings true now more than ever. Article marketing is the process of creating content and publishing it on multiple website or blogs. The purpose of article marketing may be to establish yourself as an expert in a particular subject area or to promote a product.

Getting started with article marketing doesn't take much time and has many benefits. You can use article marketing to attract customers to your website, establish credibility, or simply post information about what you offer. No matter what your purpose, article marketing can help you succeed.

The proliferation of information online has brought with it varying degrees of content. Some content is valid, other content is purely fictional. When you write, be sure to provide references, examples, or quote data from other sources. This helps to build credibility and informs your audience that your content can be trusted.

Here are a few basic steps to article marketing success.

Do your research. Don't get started on writing your articles until you find a niche that you're comfortable and knowledgeable enough to write about. You want to sound like and expert and know your material extremely well. If you don't, readers will quickly see that you are not an expert.

Create a plan for article writing. How much time do you have to spend on writing articles? Article writing can be lots of fun. For others, it's a complete drag. Think about how much time you are willing to dedicate to article marketing. Develop a plan and consistently executive on that plan day after day and week after week. You can achieve greater results if you develop a consistent approach to article marketing.

Write articles consistently over time. Develop your articles to include specific keywords oriented toward your target market. Your articles should be around 500 words in length and focus on only one topic at a time. After writing your article make sure you proof it for common errors in spelling and grammar.

Submit to article directories. Make sure that you are submitting you completed articles to a number of popular article directories. You want your article to be posted on as many third party websites as possible. Start with the most popular directories like GoArticles.com and work down the list. Focus on those with a high Google PR and then move to those which are less popular.

Article marketing is a popular and effective means of achieving expert authority. The most important aspect of effective article marketing is the clear understanding of your desired outcome. Once you have a goal in mind, put together your plan and work towards it. The benefits of article marketing will become very apparent to you in no time at all.

The Power of SEO Combined With Search Engine Marketing

2009-03-19T07:31:00.000-04:00

Sometimes there is a great deal of confusion between search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Although these online marketing techniques are quite different from one another, they share a number of similarities.

Let us begin by focusing on search engine optimization also referred to as SEO and comparing SEO to search engine marketing which is referred to as SEM. Both SEO and SEM require a firm understanding of how they work and where they fit in the online marketing mix. SEO requires a strong knowledge of how search engines work and what it takes to achieve top search engine placement. Search Marketing requires a firm understanding about online advertising, keywords, and ROI.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Both internet marketing methods may appear as difficult subject matter but they are relatively easy to understand. The complexity comes in the actual implementation of SEO and SEM programs. SEO can be explained as techniques that used to drive your search engine ranking. Simply state, where your site is ranked on major search engines is based on your understanding and implementation of SEO best practices.

SEM success is based on an understanding of running online marketing campaigns across various advertising networks. The largest networks are Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Each works differently but at the same time, the general premise is the same. You place an online ad that displays when users type in specific keywords that you identify. If a browser clicks on your display ad, you pay a fee regardless of whether or not they convert into a customer.

Search engine optimization is unique and different from search engine marketing because the organic result which appears in search engines is driven from your optimization techniques. These techniques are broken down into on page optimization and off page optimization. On page optimization is closely tied to web site design and off page is more associated with in bound links to your website.

The purpose of SEO is to generate natural traffic to your website. After a browser completes a search on Google or other major search engine, the resulting list is based on each search engines algorithm. When users click on these results you do not pay. Organic search is usually referred to as natural or free traffic.

Search engine marketing differs in that you pay when users take an action. Unlike traditional advertising you do not pay for your ad to display. You do however pay when a browser clicks on your ad. The amount you pay varies on the competitiveness of your keywords and the position in which you want your ad to display.

Doing business online requires a firm knowledge of both search engine optimization as well as search engine marketing Both internet marketing disciplines can support your online success. If you are not currently comfortable with SEO or SEM, begin with some simple research, explore SEO and SEM products, or subscribe to an RSS feed. Doing so can improve your knowledge and expertise in both of these areas.

How To Earn A Full Time Income Selling Affiliate Products

2009-03-15T16:46:00.002-04:00

If you want to make a living online, selling products that have already been created is a great way to start. This is often referred to as affiliate marketing and is a great way to earn extra income. Some affiliates are referred to as super affiliates and make their living selling products on the Internet.

Lets begin with a definition of affiliate marketing. Not the textbook definition but an actual definition that breaks down the difference between affiliates and publishers. Publishers create products and affiliates sell them. Its that simple.

Affiliate marketing is a great to make a living online. You don't need to create your own product, store that product, hire a sales force, or pay any overhead. In fact, all you need to do is find products you wish to sell and sell them.

Affiliate products are sold by placing an affiliate link on your website or blog. You can even include your affiliate link within the author section of articles or forum postings. Each time the link is clicked and users are converted through the publisher's website, you earn a commission.

A question I often get is where to find publishers products to begin selling with affiliate marketing. Fortunately, there are a number of websites that bring together buyers and sellers such as Commission Junction. You can browse publisher's products and their affiliate programs. Find one that is aligned with your niche or level of expertise, and start selling.

There are many ways to choose a product that's right for you to sell via affiliate marketing. The best place to start is with what you have. Do you have a website? A blog? If you do, look for products in the same niche. You can easily add a link to your website or blog, promoting an affiliate product. This is the quickest way to earn affiliate commissions.

What if you don't own a website? At this point, you have a couple of different options. The first is to launch a site or blog. There are a number of resources available to help you do this. One suggestion is to visit template monster or Wordpress and build your own online web page. You can then begin to promote this page and include affiliate offers.

The other option you have is to begin publishing articles on a topic that you already know a lot about. I have seen a number of affiliate marketers earn a significant income by writing articles and reviews about products in their niche and then submitting those articles to article directories.

Begin by thinking about all of the different ways you can start promoting your products online. Your resources may be a simple website, online account or profile. Make a list and consider all of your online experience and assets. The next step is to research affiliate products and choose one that meets a need of the audience you face. Post a link and begin earning an online income.

Michael Fleischner offers helpful Internet marketing advice online and is the author of SEO Made Simple. For an example of an online affiliate program, go to Clickbank Bonus Domination and see an actual affiliate product being sold online.

Add The Power of Video To Your Article Marketing

2009-03-10T16:13:00.004-04:00

Wow... great post from my friends at Unique Article Wizard... enjoy! Here is a simple way to add the power of video to your article marketing strategy:

1. Write an article or have one created for you at elance or via PLR articles. These are inexpensive and can be found via any article directory or website.

2. Convert that article into a power point presentation. Make sure that you use big fonts because your video will be more than 200 by 200 pixes in size which is relatively small. You want all of your type to appear on screen in large, clear letters. Place your URL or 800 number at the footer of each slide.

3. Turn your Powerpoint presentation into a video presentation by including voice. To do this you can use the free trial from Camtasia or other video recording software. Essentially, the way this works is that you use a piece of software to record your screen while you present. It will marry audio and video together.

The best thing to do is create a number of articles and Powerpoint presentations before you start your free trial because the trial is limited. In addition, once the trial expires, you will lose access to all your files. So, start with a few presentations and then use your thirty days wisely. Record your video in a large format. Another option is to do a video using your webcam - just turn it on and read out your article! But do it in an animated an lively manner.

4. Upload your video to YouTube and other video related websites. The more the merrier. You want to distribute your content to as many video websites as possible to increase exposure.

5. Write a compelling caption that includes your keywords as the anchor tag for the link to your youtube video. You do this by including the tag [link:your desired anchor text here] in your caption.

Why do you do this? This promotes your video within YouTube and in Google search - so if people don't find your article or your site, they might still find your video. Just another way to get noticed! Get started with your article marketing today at Unique Article Wizard!

Improve Search Engine Ranking With Press Releases

2009-03-06T20:02:00.004-05:00

Did you know that you can improve your web site's ranking on major search engines using online press release services? If you are not familiar with press releases or the idea of online press release distribution, don't despair. It's simple to use and is guaranteed to improve the rankings of any website.

A press release is essentially news or information that is being distributed to individuals within the media business. This includes newspapers, tv studios, radio stations, and smaller outlets as well. For quite some time, these press releases have been distributed using the world wide web and emailed to media contacts.

Many companies distribute press releases on a regular basis to inform their industry of key changes or information they wish to communicated. Companies are hoping they "get ink" where by a reporter will take notice and publish their news online or in print. Reporters have come to depend on press releases as a way to find relevant news that is fit to print.

A press release is simple to create and follows a pretty standard format. Many releases include a date, headline, body, and company description. Online releases include the same information with an added feature, a link back to the company's website. The challenge and opportunity with an online press release is to create a release that is newsworthy and finds itself being distributed across the web.

Today there are hundreds of online press release websites designed to guide reporters through a significant amount of clutter to find what is most relevant to their given audience. The benefit to those doing business online is that an additional outlet exists for publishing information about your website or product and building in-bound links to your website at the same time.

This is good news for anyone trying to promote a new product, service, website or blog. But how do you get noticed? When I started out in Internet marketing, I thought it was all about writing a fantastic release and having it distributed across the web. And even today, that still holds true. However, when using press releases for SEO value, the key is simply to write a good release that helps build back links to your website or blog.

There are a few press release services out there that allow you to submit your news for distribution at no charge. Be careful though. Some of these sites will not let you include a link back to your website. If you've been paying attention, that's the whole point of using online press release services. Just make sure you understand a services limitations before you spend your time creating your release and registering with a site.

When I want to build a large number of back links to my website in short order I always look to press release distribution. You can implement this simple strategy quickly and easily. It's not hard to think of something newsworthy and over time it gets much easier to find something that will resonate with your target audience the media the cater to them.

Over time I have found a couple of services I like and even pay a small fee for. I'm fine with that as long as the fees are reasonable. With a small budget you can start building inbound links to your website in less than 24 hours. Try using press releases to enhance your search engine optimization efforts. It's quick, easy, and gets results.

Article Marketing Can Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

2009-03-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

In today's web world, one thing is clear. Content is still king. Writing the right kind of content and disturbing that content, also known as article marketing, can help you establish yourself as an expert and improve your online marketing results.

Getting started with article marketing is easy to do and can pay huge dividends. Many individuals use article marketing to improve search engine rankings, to inform, or to pitch products and services they sell. Regardless of your purpose, consider using article marketing as a great way to build a loyal following.

The proliferation of information online has brought with it varying degrees of content. Some content is valid, other content is purely fictional. When you write, be sure to provide references, examples, or quote data from other sources. This helps to build credibility and informs your audience that your content can be trusted.

Article marketing is actually quite simple. Consider these areas to produce an effective article marketing strategy.

Understand your area fully. Before writing your article you must be comfortable with the subject matter. If the content is a little out of your comfort zone, do some research first. You want to appear as an expert. If you don't, readers will not see you as such and will seek out other content written by someone more knowledgeable.

Create a plan for article writing. How much time do you have to spend on writing articles? Article writing can be lots of fun. For others, it's a complete drag. Think about how much time you are willing to dedicate to article marketing. Develop a plan and consistently executive on that plan day after day and week after week. You can achieve greater results if you develop a consistent approach to article marketing.

Write your article. Write and article on your subject that includes the specific keywords you seek to optimize for. Your article should be between four to seven hundred words. It all depends on the intent and purpose of the article. After you write your article make sure you proof it for spelling and grammatical errors.

Submit your article to article directories. This is a great way to get your information published quickly and easily. Register with an article directory like Ezinearticles or GoArticles. By doing so, you will have a place to submit your articles and build an author profile. Webmasters use these article directories to find content for their website. Additionally, article directories give you added exposure in a given topic area.

Article marketing has many benefits. The most important aspect of article marketing, in my opinion is to clearly understand what you want to use it for, building a plan, and consistently creating and distributing content. This is essential for long term success.

Are you ready to jump start your article marketing? Create unique articles instantly and easily with Instant Article Wizard. Get additional marketing guidance from the marketing blog. Don't reprint this article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

The Number One Secret to Top Rankings

2009-02-26T09:50:00.002-05:00

Hello all... quick post today. I recently received a question from a reader, "What is the number one secrets for top search engine rankings." The answer is actually quite simple. Keyword research. If you want to rank high in any given area, make sure it's possible.

Find a niche with low competition. Review the top ranked websites. What is there Google PR? How many sites are linking in? Do they take advantage of best practices for on page optimization? Do your research correctly and your rankings will virtually take care of themselves. Okay, not entirely, but having reduced competition can help your rankings improve much more quickly than they would otherwise.

For more info on SEO, sign up for FREE search engine optimization lessons at The Webmaster's Book of Secrets: Improve Search Engine Ranking.

The Fundamental Difference Between SEO and SEM

2009-02-22T21:20:00.002-05:00

Many individuals new to web marketing have some questions about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Are they one in the same? How are they different? SEO and SEM have many similarities but are not the same.

First, lets focus on how search engine optimization (SEO) and search marketing (SEM) are similar. Each of these online marketing techniques requires a basic and advanced understanding. SEO requires knowledge of search engine and how to effectively optimize a website or web page. SEM requires knowledge and understanding about online marketing, online advertising, and keyword marketing.

Both internet marketing methods may appear as difficult subject matter but they are relatively easy to understand. The complexity comes in the actual implementation of SEO and SEM programs. SEO can be explained as techniques that used to drive your search engine ranking. Simply state, where your site is ranked on major search engines is based on your understanding and implementation of SEO best practices.

Search engine marketing is the practice of online advertising via major search engines. Even though Google is the largest and most well know, there are literally hundreds of smaller ad networks. Each network functions in much the same way. Advertisers place online ads throughout the network and when a browser clicks, you pay a fee. This is true regardless of conversion.

Search engine optimization is different from search engine marketing in many ways. SEO is defined as the organic result that shows up in search engine results pages after a user generates a query. Techniques associated with SEO are broken down into on-page optimization and off page-optimization. These techniques have their own nuances but are independent of one another.

The result is that search engine optimization drives organic traffic to your website or blog. That is to say that after users complete searches on major search engines like Yahoo! or Google that the results list comes from each search engine determining the best result. When users click on these results the advertisers owes nothing. Organic search is usually referred to as free traffic for this very reason.

SEM is different than search engine optimization for one fundamental reason. With SEM, you pay when someone takes an action. Unlike traditional advertising you do not pay for your advertisement to appear, only when someone clicks on your ad. Your cost varies based on how competitive your keywords are and where you want your ad to display.

Online marketing is based on a good understanding of SEO and SEM best practices. These internet marketing subject areas are common among today's marketing professionals but rarely do you find the level of expertise needed for success. Learn more about these subject ares with some research and be sure to subscribe to an SEO newsletter or blog. As you gain more knowledge implement new techniques and improve your rankings.

The Power of Article Marketing - Improve Search Engine Rankings

2009-02-17T15:25:00.002-05:00

Article marketing is the most powerful tool I have in my arsenal of online marketing tactics. I've used article marketing to significantly improve my search engine rankings. I guess the world has caught on. The concept of article marketing has really gained momentum during the last few years and is a widely practiced discipline. As webmasters learned more about SEO and search engine optimization drivers, quality content has risen to the top.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

If you have yet to jump on the article marketing bandwagon, then I suggest that you get started right away. Article marketing is here to stay. So you do not have to be all that concerned that others are using article marketing as well. In fact, article marketing works no matter how many people use it.

The reason why article marketing is so effective is because you are doing two things that create value for your site and search engines. The first is that you are producing keyword focused content that can drive interest to your website, products, and services. Additionally, you imbed links back to your website. These in bound links are powerful tools for search engine dominance.

When you distribute your article to article sites, blogs, or partner websites, your content gets additional exposure. As your content ages, and links are included back to your website, you benefit from the Google page rank associated with that page and your in bound link.

One error I see made all too often is when individuals, new to article marketing, is that they forget to include a link back to their website or simply link in the wrong way. The proper way to develop in bound links is with keyword rich link text. What this means is that your link is displayed with your keyword not the traditional http.

If you are unaware of how to produce such a link, do a Google search on create html links. You will find dozens of websites that give you the html code you need to create links in the proper way. If you do not embed your keyword in your link text, you are wasting your precious time and effort in article marketing.

After writing your articles and imbedding links using the proper format, the next step is to distribute them on sites that have a high Google PR and are popular for article aggregation and or distribution. I used to believe that the benefit of these article distribution sites were that they served as a resource for webmasters seeking content. The truth however is that it is the site’s Google PR itself that provides the value.

Many of these online article sites do not distribute content at all. In fact, the percentage of individuals copying content and pasting it on their site correctly is fairly limited. That said, if you focus on the top sites you derive most of your value from getting your articles posted on their website.

Create articles in your niche and structure them correctly. Your links in the author box or imbedded in the article must use your keywords in the anchor text. Test all of your links to make sure they work properly. Once you have validated that everything is working properly, distribute your articles to the top article directories.

I personally recommend Article Submitter Pro and Bryxen Article Submitter

Good SEO Design Is Essential for SEO Success

2009-02-16T08:56:00.001-05:00

For anyone designing a new web site, search engine optimization is top of mind. Have you chosen a good niche for your website to focus on? Without the right focus, all of the SEO in the world wont help you drive traffic. Have you also considered a simple design that improve our chances of top search engine rankings?

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Search engine optimization of web site design is easy if you know what to do. Even if you have done all of the planning and preparation that you can to guarantee a functional website, you must consider the needs of search engine spiders and SEO.

The first step is to start with an web site designed in html and to use cascading style sheets. CSS keeps your coding to a minimum and helps create a consistent look across all web pages. The design of your site needs to be simple yet effective supported by clean navigation.

Web pages should all have a unique set of meta tags including title, description, and keywords. Additionally, the keywords you are trying to optimize for should be contained within your meta tags and on page as well. Your template should have your keyword phrase at the top of your page as well as at the very end of your page.

One simple way to apply this technique is by beginning your title tag with a keyword phrase. Additionally, include a copyright notice followed by your keyword phrase in a clean simple flow. One example is Copyright 2009. WebmastersBookofSecrets.com Marketing Expert. Marketing expert in this example is the keyword and is the last text on your page.

In addition to including your keyword at the beginning and end of your web page template, consider the following SEO design techniques. Include your keyword phrase in heading tags such as H1 and H2. Shoot for a keyword density of around 3 to 5 percent. Finally, be sure that your keyword phrase is in bold, italic, and underlined. Well optimized sites keep their word count between three and six hundred words.

By using simple seo design techniques that help expose your keyword phrase to search engine spiders and making each page simple to scan, your website ranking will be improved. To take advantage of seo design, keep things simple and the results will follow.

The Power Of On-Page Optimization

2009-02-10T21:50:00.003-05:00

Even though off-page optimization is essential for improving your Google rankings, on-page techniques can be used to build a strong SEO foundation and support good results on Yahoo!, MSN, and other major search portals.

Here are a few SEO tips you can use to make your site more search engine friendly:

Optimize Your Website Name. If you have not yet picked a URL for your website then consider purchasing one that includes your keyword but is broad enough to represent your business. Additionally, try to find a website name that is memorable. This helps with word of mouth and repeat visitors. Include your main broad keyword into your URL.

Optimize Your Page Title and Header Tags. Develop a title that is relevant to your website content and which has no more that sixty characters. The reason you want to keep your title to a fixed width is because longer titles wont display fully on search engine results listings. The title is important because it gives you an opportunity to display your keywords and entice browsers to click on your link.

The first title or headline that appears on your web page should include your keywords. It is best to have this title display with an H1 tag which signals each search engine as to the importance of the content being displayed. The sub text should be presented with an H2 or H3 tag. This shows the search engines how important your keywords are and helps them promote the key elements of your web page.

Optimize All Your Meta Tags. SEO experts continue to debate the value of meta tags. I can tell you that although meta tags including the title, description, and keywords is less important that it was many years ago, it still plays an important role in optimization.

Optimize Your Keyword Density. Creating a keyword rich content page is essential but do not get carried away. Your keyword density should be between three and five percent in order to appeal to all major search engines. Some people believe that you could go as high as six percent for Yahoo! optimization but Google seems to like pages that have a smaller keyword density. In addition to keyword density, focus on H1 and H2 tags and place keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your web page. This variety is helpful when signaling search engines as to the keywords that are important to your web page.

The most important part of any search engine optimization campaign is to make your site appear natural, present valuable content, and follow on-page optimization best practices. If you use the above suggestions as a guide, you will be well on your way to a fully optimized website.

How To Design Your Web Page For Top Search Engine Rankings

2009-02-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

When you begin and SEO campaign, start by focusing on your on-page optimization. The practice of on-page optimization is all about what you do on your web page to help search engines understand your content and what your site is focused on. Even though off-page optimization is an important factor in the rankings equation, on page optimization builds a strong foundation for all SEO efforts.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Below are a few helpful search engine optimization strategies you can use right now to make your web site more accessible to search engines and as a result, improve your search engine rankings.

Optimize Your Website Name. If you have not yet picked a URL for your website then consider purchasing one that includes your keyword but is broad enough to represent your business. Additionally, try to find a website name that is memorable. This helps with word of mouth and repeat visitors. Include your main broad keyword into your URL.

Optimize Your Page Title. Develop a website title that is relevant to your site and is limited to only 60 characters in length. The reason you want to limit the size of your title is because larger titles cannot be fully displayed on search engine results. You do not want your titles to be cut off when browsers are searching.

The first headline that appears on your site should include your most important keywords. It is best to have your title display with an H1 tag. An H1 tag provides emphasis and signals each search engine that you deem the content as important. Other titles on your web page should be displayed using an H2 or H3 tag, indicated once again, the importance of the keywords being used.

Do Not Forget To Optimize Your Meta Tags. Search engine optimization professionals continue to question the true value of meta tags. I know that meta tags are based on a number of core tags but can include many more. The core tags are for a page title, description and keywords. These tags are less important than in years past but should still be included.

Search engines use meta tags as a reference for search engine crawlers that view your website content. Your meta tags need to be correlated to your content and also include your keyword phrases. Doing so creates consistency, something that search engine spiders weigh heavily when determining website rankings. Make sure you fully develop your description and keywords.

Optimize your keyword density for Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. Creating a keyword rich content page is essential but do not get carried away. Your keyword density should be between three and five percent in order to appeal to all major search engines. Some people believe that you could go as high as six percent for Yahoo! optimization but Google seems to like pages that have a smaller keyword density. In addition to keyword density, focus on H1 and H2 tags and place keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your web page. This variety is helpful when signaling search engines as to the keywords that are important to your web page.

Varying Your Keyword Phrase. Each time you list your keyword phrase, change it up a bit. Rather than stuffing your site with the same keyword phrases again and again, use keyword variety. One way to do this is to add a word or two before your keyword phrase and after it. Creating variety is critical because it shows each search engine that your site is really about the core content you are promoting.

The most vital part of any search engine optimization campaign is to create a site that utilizes SEO but doesn't over due it. Make your web site appear natural, include valuable content, and follow on-page optimization best practices. This will keep your site ranked well among most major search engines.

The Power of Unique Article Wizard

2009-02-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

Doing business online is more competitive today than ever before. Do you ever wonder why some Internet marketers seem to get top search engine rankings and more traffic than the rest of those doing business online? Why? The answer is more simple than you might think.

The reason why their getting all the traffic is because they are using the power of article marketing - with a twist. Article marketing has been a popular technique for building back links to web sites, blogs, and jump pages for a few years now.

In recent months, Google has begun to penalize web sites who post duplicate content and devalue the content when it appears identically on other websites. As a result, today's top marketers have begun leveraging a new aspect of article marketing... unique article distribution.

This technique is so powerful that many website owners have abandoned traditionally pay-per-click advertising and reinvested in article creation and unique article distribution. If you want to get the most from your article marketing, check out Unique Article Wizard and get started building one-way links today!

Improving Conversions with Comparisions.

2009-01-29T15:57:00.003-05:00

How can you get customers to buy from you? It all starts with having a landing page that sells. Start with a blog or website and make comparisons.

1. Blog or Website

First off, in order to sell your product directly using internet marketing, I assume that you have a website or blog. If you do not have one, you need to get one made. These days a blog or website is very easy to create. If you are a dead beginner, the one I recommend that you use is Word Press Direct or Blogger. Each allows you to create a blog on which you can create ads and ad other widgets. Furthermore, it is so simple, that you can have your site up in a day (or less) using their tools for free. They allow three free websites, and they will even host it for you.

On your website or blog, you should have a sales page. This page is the page from which browser click to actually complete their purchase. This page is usually the page with a button on it that says "Buy Now," or have a click-able link.

Your page will have friendly and knowledgeable ad copy that will address the decision factors that will capture their attention. It is essential that you have researched and know the issues or problems that your customers have. The ad copy also provides the general answers to the solution and the specific features of your product that deliver this solution. So you must provide a very clear path from your customers' problems to benefits that makes sense to your customer.

Here is a specific promotional tool you can use to improve conversions:

Comparison Tables. Use a table that shows the benefits to the customer and compares you to the next leading competitive solution. Make sure that the benefits are solutions to their critical issues. You do not need to name your competitor, and I advise you not to unless your competitor is very entrenched.

Give this a try when doing business online. Develop a site quickly and for little or no money. Then, focus on your conversion page and make a comparison!

No Follow Tags: Are They Hurting Your Link Building

2009-01-24T13:29:00.000-05:00

Most readers of the Improve Your Search Engine Rankings Blog know how much I love to talk about link building. Unfortunately, many of the tactics that used to work in the past are slowly losing their impact.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

One popular seo method is building links. However, as sites focus on balancing their inbound and outbound links, many have begun using NoFollow tags. The nofollow tag is simply a way to tell search engines which links to follow and which not to follow.

The benefit to the site that places a nofollow tag is that they do not give away any of thier "link juice". As a result, the Google PR of that particular page remains relatively intact even if they add tons of links to the page. In the eyes of Google, those links (when given a no follow tag) are basically invisible or at least weighted much less.

What this means to you...

When building links to your website, either through forum posts, article submissions, or blog posts, make sure that your link is not deemed as no follow. A great way to do this is to find a plug in for your browser that will highlight no follow tags. You can simply do a google search to find these tools. Doing a search on "plugin to highlight nofollow tags" I found about a dozen links to downloadable plugins for both ie and firefox.

What is Page Rank?

2009-01-20T09:41:00.002-05:00

Page Rank (PR) is largely based upon the number and quality of back links a webpage has. It's an important factor to how well a particular webpage ranks within the Google search results.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Google loves high PR sites as they stand for authority. They have a huge number of back links plus Google gave them the Page Rank in the first place so in return sends their spider bots to visit them again and again. Some get crawled every couple of hours and some within days.

Authority sites have such rapid activity that Google doesn't want to miss any new information to present to the their end user. A search engine user!

Google works hard to give the best relevant search results and so do the other search engines, however Google dominates. Now to get on to these high page rank sites, paying for a link is expensive, occasionally very expensive! It can cost anything up to $5,000 a month depending on the advertisement.

How can you get there? Instead of paying for links, we are going to give these sites content. You can advertise and give out a lot of money. However don't forget, an advertisement can be noticed a mile off. Where content on an authority site is worth reading!

About.com, is an authority site, with a PR7. It's within the top 100 sites visited worldwide according to Alexa.com. So this in effect means a ton of visitors. If you learn to get listed there, you will reap thousands of visitors literally within seconds.

There are other ways to monetize from these sites and be able to get an absurd number of visitors within seconds, depending on the quality content you give them.

Improve Search Engine Ranking With Video

2009-01-14T21:12:00.002-05:00

Today, with blended search results such as web pages, pdfs, video, and more, diversification is key. I recently saw a great campaign from a group of college students that helped to promote a pretty common item using segmentation and the right media (check out The Marketing Blog: Learn Your Marketing From a Bunch of College Students. 2009).

The upshot is that they not only knew how to speak to their market but they used various media to get the message out and made it easy to consume. They used a facebook application and video. Why does this matter when it comes to improving your search engine ranking? Because your videos may show up in search results.

Be sure to title and tag your video's appropriately. Doing so can result in a YouTube or other video appearing towards the top of a search result.

SEO and SEM For Improving Search Engine Rankings

2009-01-09T21:41:00.002-05:00

What is SEO? How does search engine optimization apply to your business? Search Engine Optimization is where guys like me use writing tools to improve your website, boosting its position in the search engine rankings. We know the right keywords for your business to refine your site so that when people type into their Google search engine the words 'emergency plumber in London', your name is at the right end of the search engine rankings.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

It's never an exact science, of course, as the search engines are constantly shifting goalposts in terms of ranking criteria but, with a bit of work, you can move quickly up the search engine rankings and, in turn, increase your market share. So that's SEO. Search engines are moving away from keywords to more of a concentration on overall website content and customer relationship building which, ultimately, helps with your link building.

Search Engine Marketing is the new buzz phrase. Engaging customers on a personal level - blogs, social media, it was all there before, but now people are beginning to understand the merits of using networking sites like Twitter (which we'll look at a little later) to promote your business to the world.

Who are the companies surviving this recession? It's the brand names who have built up a loyal fan base, who are talked about with fondness on the web, the brands who ask their customers what they need during tough times and then deliver it. Driving through a recession is not about price cutting (although this is important in terms of cash flow), it's about identifying what customers really want and giving it to them. The companies that are surviving are adapting…and fast. Most weren't, sadly, prepared for how severe the recession would be and many paid the price (Viyella, Woolworths, etc). Business survival is about listening. Then delivering to the right place at the right time.

So what is Search Engine Marketing and how does it differ from SEO? Well, think of SEO as a slice of your favourite pie. It's delicious, right? You can't wait for another piece. Suppose there are six of you and each one loves pie but one loves custard on his, another is vegetarian, another likes cherries on top, etc. SEM gives you all a piece of pie and it's exactly as you like it.

Ah, organic, natural online growth, don't you just love it? SEM is the pie, being baked again and again to adjust to the particular preferences of Mr Cherry On Top and Miss Custard. SEM focuses on on-site and off-site adjustments in order to maximise rankings in SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). SEM uses all types of strategies (SEO, Pay Per Click, web visibility strategies, etc) to market your products online via search engines like Google and MSN.

Here Are Some Great Ways To Build In-Bound Links To Your Website

2009-01-07T20:35:00.003-05:00

Looking to improve search engine rankings? Here are some traditional, as well as new techniques, for building inbound links and improving search engine rankings.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Submission to web directories
Manual submission to social bookmarking sites
Do-follow blog posting and commenting

Other ways to build in-bound links includes:

Yahoo answer posting
Forum posting
Relevant do-follow blog comments

Basically, all of these techniques are designed to increase page rank, as well as boost your Google and other search engine rankings. Give them a try.

Top Tips For Improving Search Engine Rankings

2009-01-05T11:37:00.004-05:00

When a Search Engine spiders your website, it's crucial that all the backend coding of our clients websites is up to par. A simple glitch in coding can cost the loss of a potential targeted keyword or the loss keywords ranking on an entire page.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Be sure to review your Website to determine Search Engine compatibility so the next time it is crawled, you benefit from the crawl. Search Engine Optimization industry leaders have always believed in the phrase that content is king and it's undeniable.

Let's think about content logically. A Search Engine spider is a robot and is not programmed to interpret something that is not there. In other words, you can't rank under keywords that the Search Engine can't read or see.

Make sure all factors relating to the content of a website including keyword density, positioning, etc., are thoroughly reviewed for optimal performance.

Here are a few other factors to consider for improving search engine results:

Keyword Research & Analysis

Keyword research is a very often overlooked and can prove to be one of the most important parts to running a successful Search Engine Optimization campaign. Invest in keyword research including keyword research tools, reviewing multiple keyword suggestions, and/or Website content keyword possibilities in order to gain targeted Website visitor traffic.

On-Page Optimization

After generating a keyword list, keywords should be implemented into the appropriate site code and content on key pages with optimization techniques based on the Websites needs.

Manual Search Engine Submissions

Manually submit your Website to the major search engines and directories including Google, Yahoo, MSN, DMOZ, etc. and be sure to make updates as needed throughout the year to increase your ranking on all these major search engines.

These are just a few suggestions and tips for improving search engine rankings. Keep it simple but consistent. This will help you to continue moving up the search engines.

Prepare to Be Crawled: Optimize Your Site For Search Engine Spiders

2009-01-02T09:29:00.003-05:00

As you may be able to guess by the name, search engine crawlers are little bots that travel the internet looking for new websites and ranking them based on a given algorithm.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

When they come across a new website, they rank it in different ways, taking many things in to consideration. These ranks help to determine where the site is going to end up in a search done on a search engine.

The first thing that you have to do for these crawlers is to get noticed by them, and that is the hardest part of SEO, or at least that is what SEO consultants want you to think. The truth of the matter is, you can get your website noticed by simply visiting different popular search engines and adding your URL to their submission forms. A little known secret but 100% truth.

Additionally, you must get links from other web sites pointing to your site in order to obtain link popularity and credibility with the major search engines. This way, search engine crawlers will know where your site is, and find it more quickly. They will also consider your site a relevant source of information if other sites link to you.

After that, it's all about marketing your web site on the internet through search engine optimization techniques. These little crawlers are programmed to look for certain things on your web site, these are things that SEO experts study and have an understanding for.

Using the services of SEO Consultants to help in your marketing, however they can be very costly, so you should hire a service provider that is talented and can provide a portfolio to ensure you get quality work.

Before hiring someone to work on your web site you should make sure they use ethical search optimization and marketing tactics and also make sure that they can provide results.

The first and most important thing that crawlers look for is, of course, keywords. Keywords on your web page and throughout your web site's content is important. More important though are keywords in the links pointing to your site. When it comes to search engine optimization, use keywords wisely. Don't over-saturate your web site with keywords because you can get docked as a spammer. These keywords have to be worked into the web page and not just listed there.

You should integrate keywords into your content, page titles, meta tags and URL. Also, it will help the marketing of your web site if you work them into the titles of your web page as well.

There are many more techniques you can use to optimize your website and most have been well documented (The Webmaster's Book of Secrets: Improve Search Engine Rankings) so do some research and apply these techniques whenever possible.

Don't leave your SEO to chance. Not only should you be prepared to be crawled, but you should also focus on optimization each and every day.

Improve Rankings With Less Clutter

2008-12-29T08:25:00.003-05:00

Did you know that almost 30% of online adults will immediately leave a website if they perceive it to be cluttered with ads, and more than 75% of those who remain on cluttered sites pay less attention to the ads there, according to a survey from Burst Media.

The survey of 4,000 web users found that cluttered sites not only annoy the audience, they diminish ad effectiveness and ultimately do a disservice to the publisher, the advertiser and the visitor.

Although respondents accept that advertising will appear on websites, the majority, say they have low tolerance for any more than two advertising units per page. Another 25 percent say they will tolerate only a single ad per web page, and slightly more than one-quarter will tolerate just two ads per page.

The online web site survey also found that advertising clutter has a negative impact on consumers perceptions of products and services:

• One out of two (52.4%) respondents has a less favorable opinion of an advertiser when their advertising appears on a web page they perceive as cluttered.

• One-half (56.4%) of women claim clutter negatively impacts their opinion of an advertiser, versus 48.3% of men.

• Women also are more likely than men to abandon a site that appears cluttered (32.1% vs 27.5% of men).

Ad clutter's negative impact on respondents' opinions increases with age. Less than half (46.8%) of respondents 18-24 years were impacted negatively by clutter, but nearly two-thirds (63.2%) of respondents age 55 and older were unfavorably impacted.

Advertising clutter can be defined as as the overcrowding of a web page with advertising units to the point of degrading the web users' experience. This is common among many of today's websites. If you want to improve your advertising revenue, remember this, "less is more."

Improve Search Results with Deep Linking

2008-12-24T09:58:00.007-05:00

The secret to to improving search engine results is using deep linking strategies. Deep linking means not only pointing backlinks to your website's homepage, but also pointing them at the individual landing pages or hub pages within your website.

This is what we call Deep Linking Strategies. And it can make the difference between a little traffic and a lot of traffic!

Let me explain a little more using an example. Let's us an example site:

Myexample.com

The name or the title of this site is MyExample. This is the homepage and a typical backlink would look like this:

[a href="http://www.myexample.com/"]My Example[/a]

Within MyExample's website are a number of web pages that talk about a separate subject.

These topics are:

Good Examples
Bad Examples
New Examples

The best deep linking strategy that you could use in this case would be to find blogs related to these particular topics. Then, you could post your comments on those blogs with a backlink to each one of these webpages. Consider using a tool like Comment Hu t or Technorati to find related blogs.

When the search engine spiders follow your back links they'll index each individual page in the search engine listings. The result, is that when someone types in your anchor text, a particular keyword or keyword phrase, your site will show up in the search engine results for that keyword.

Simple strategy but highly effective. Give it a try and see what type of results you can achieve.

What's a Good Way To Promote Your Site Online and Off?

2008-12-23T07:58:00.002-05:00

Based on one of my most recent responses to a Yahoo Answers post, I thought I'd share this helpful response to a very common question - how to best promote your website!

There are a number of marketing strategies you can use to drive people to your website (both online and off) that cost very little money. From an online perspective, I would suggest offering a newsletter on your website. This ensures that you capture the email address of everyone visiting your website. As a result, with the proper policy in place, you can contact them via email to promote a given product... like your sweet orange and chili pepper candles! As an incentive, you can provide a coupon for anyone signing up for your newsletter such as coupon or general discount.

If you're trying to get more people to your website, I would focus on search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Google Adwords would be great for attracting only those interested in what you have to offer and you can place caps on your daily spend in order to manage your budget.

For SEO, I would suggest writing some articles related to dating and submitting to major directories like eZineArticles or GoArticles. You should also consider directory submission.

From an offline perspective, I would suggest a post card campaign. You might be able to purchase a small list from a list broker and test a post card (smell and sniff). Its creative and might just generate the response you're looking for.

Video SEO: Here to Stay

2008-12-20T13:15:00.004-05:00

The use of video’s to promote your online content is becoming more and more important in the expanding world of search engine optimization. With the growth of video portals such as You Tube it has never been easier to get your videos on the web.

Why use Video SEO?

1. Video on independent websites seem to be quickly and heavily indexed and ranked by the major search engines.

2. Including videos adds additional ways to optimize for your keywords and phrases. By adding content relevant to your keywords and phrases, combined with the related videos, will add weight to your site and its content.

3. The video content can be duplicated on 3rd party website such as you tube without any duplicate content penalties.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

4. Allows for more text and pages to optimize your keywords and phrases around. Be sure to surround videos with relevant on-page content.

5. Embedding videos in your site pages is a great way to increase the stickiness factor of your pages, which can increase both traffic and search rankings for a specific page. Google and most search engines use a variety of factors to determine the ranking importance a specific page online, one of which is average visitor session length on a page. Visitor length on a page can be increased by embedding a video. These longer site visits may be interpreted by Google that the page has increased value and in turn may be given a bump that translates into higher search engine rankings.

6. Choosing a video that is themed to your content and informative can help with the stickiness factor – you need to give the search engines something to crawl. Adding an irrelevant video for the sake of adding a video will just confuse your visitors.

7. Videos help in adding new, fresh and dynamic content to the site.

When thinking about SEO, you need to extend beyond your traditional web pages, blogs, and photos. Videos are part of today's marketing mix. Be sure to focus on video optimization to round out your SEO efforts.

This post adopted from Caroline Rodgers of Biznet IIS. Caroline Rodgers, SEO Executive, Biznet IIS.

Simple SEO Tips for Your Web Site

2008-12-16T08:42:00.005-05:00

Search engine optimization is defined as the process of getting your website developed in a way to be found in organic web searches. By organic we mean web searches that appear naturally as the result of a search for a particular keyword or phrase on a popular search engine.

As a business business owner who creates and updates a web site on a regular basis, I have found a number of helpful tips for keeping my site moving up the search engine results.

Here are the 3 simple strategies that I regularly us on my web site for improved rankings:

1. Page title tags. This is the page information you see in the blue bar at the top of your browser window. For best results use your top two keywords in your title tag. The best way to do that is separated with a bar, for example, "Marketing | Internet Marketing."

2. Domain name. If at all possible, use a keyword in your domain name. You will have a slight edge over your competition by doing so especially on Yahoo and MSN. If you already have a domain that you've used for some time, include a keyword in the name of files for your website pages or sub domains. Example: http://www.yoursite.com/marketing.htm if your keyword is marketing.

3. Meta tags. These are descriptions on a web page that are not seen by most visitors except those who look at the page source code. While the keyword and description meta tags used to be the primary way that search engines indexed sites, that is no longer the case. You shouldn't ignore them entirely, as it is still worthwhile to include them as a part of your page description. For optimal SEO, your meta description and keyword tags should be no more than 150 characters each.

Simple.. yes! But knowing some basic tips about SEO and applying them regularly can go a long way in raising your web site to the #1 ranked position on Google and other major search engines.

For more help on raising your site's search engine rankings, check out the SEO Elite Review Blog.

Helpful Tips For Improving Search Marketing Results

2008-12-12T21:34:00.002-05:00

Think your paid search campaign is the best it can be? I doubt it. Check out a few of these helpful tips for improving your search campaigns.

Contractual obligations. Be careful who you've locked yourself in with and don't tie your horse to the wrong cart. Be cautious of package deals from media holding companies.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Google default settings. These are great for improving reach but can be so broad that they hurt your targeting. Be sure to check default settings like “extended broad match” to achieve the right outcome for you right for you.

Not having a clear objective. If you don't know what you want to achieve from your paid search campaign, you can't develop a strategy.

Lack of internal tracking. If you don't track conversions and click paths, how do you know what's working? Tracking is essential for generating profitable campaigns.

Broken URLs. If your search advertising leads to a dead page, your click through rate is useless. Be sure to check every link and detail in your campaign.

Hopefully these tips have given you a few things to think about. You don't want to fall prey to the one tips we haven't told you to watch out for: Simply hoping your search problems go away on their own.

This post provided by Gerry Bavaro, a VP of client services at Didit. Reach him at gerry.bavaro@didit.com.

Great Tips on Driving Targeted Traffic to Your Website

2008-12-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

We all need traffic. It's the life-blood of an online business. But what are the best ways to drive targeted traffic directly to your website? Here are seven great tips to help you decide.

1. Offline advertising Equals Online profits

Whatever you're trying to sell online will most likely link to a relevant or appropriate media section offline. For example, if you're selling bicycles from your website, there will undoubtedly be a suitable offline magazine, in which you can place an ad. The purpose of the ad is not to sell your products, but to get prospects to visit your website. So your ad need only consist of a few lines, which should work out to be quite inexpensive.

Your bicycle ad could read like this: Looking for a new bicycle? We stock a huge range at discount prices and can deliver within 48 hours. To learn more visit our website. www. bicycles4u.com - Your ad could be placed in cycle mags, sports magazines or even national and local newspapers. Wherever you think your most likely prospects will look for your products or services offline is a means to getting them to go online.

2. Press releases for the inquiring minds

Some people just have to know what's new, what's in and what's out. To stay ahead in this information age, online and offline press releases can offer newsworthy titbits that could even be picked up by the national press. If you're just starting out in your online business, launching a new product or creating a new service, people will want to know about it.

If this is something you haven't done before, take a look at some existing press releases by going to Google and typing 'press releases' into the search field. Once you get the idea, write out your press release, including your contact details and website URL, then go back to Google and type in 'press agencies'. Most will charge you for this service but your press release could get maximum coverage on and off the internet.

3. Opt-in mailing lists

Opt-in mailing lists can provide one of the most effective means of generating repeat business from your existing customer base. If your customers have bought from you once and that buying experience was satisfactory, there's a very good chance they will buy from you again because they trust you. Capture emails by encouraging your customers to sign up for your newsletter or other promotional information. Alternatively, you could rent an opt-in email list. A carefully worded e-mail message to people who have expressed an interest in receiving further information about your products or services could lead to extra sales, but be prepared to pay a princely sum.

4. Getting your message delivered direct to your customers

For as long as anyone can remember, direct mail has been one of the most effective and profitable forms of marketing ever. Many people have made millions from direct mail and it's still as successful today as it was 50 years ago. It's also relatively easy and inexpensive. First, create a single page introductory sales letter or brochure, detailing you products or services and all the benefits. For maximum effect, offer your new customers a discount or something for free, when they first purchase from your website.

Don't forget, you want them to visit your website, so give them more than a good reason to do so. Next, rent a targeted mailing list from a reputable list broker. There are lists available, which cover every conceivable geographic and demographic statistic, so whatever business you're in, there will be one that's suitable for you. Send out your 'invitations' and wait for your hit counter to melt.

5. Referral marketing

This is a simple strategy of referring your own customers to a related but non-competitive website in return for them doing the same for you. Let's say you are selling printers. Find some quality sites that sell printer inks and contact the webmaster. Ask them if they would be willing to send their traffic to you in return for you doing the same for them. Most will agree. Between you, you will have to decide whether to display an ad on each other's site or go for a written recommendation. Either way, it will increase the chances of you getting more traffic to your site because you have been recommended. You could seek out many related websites and have numerous streams of traffic coming directly to you.

6. Traffic merchants

Paying a company to send traffic to your website is an easy option, so long as the traffic is targeted. There are many companies who specialize in selling traffic. You could say they are traffic traffickers. They use all forms of online advertising to get people to visit your website and usually guarantee the numbers. At around $20 for 10,000 visitors, it certainly looks tempting.

Although there are many merchants to choose from, beware the scamsters operating in this market. Some will take your money and put your ad on a Free For All (FFA) website, leaving you to deal with hundreds or thousands of spam emails from everyone and their dog trying to sell you their products. A good place to start would be SafePartner.com. They offer a variety of packages and are very affordable. TrafficCircuit.com is another company offering this service but charge a little more. However, they offer tracking services, so you can see where the traffic comes from. If you're into stats, you may find this service very useful.

7. Affiliate programs

You just can't afford to ignore affiliate programs. Getting other people to sell your products for a commission is a tried and tested, successful and very rewarding exercise. It doesn't work very well if you're selling a service, but it's overwhelmingly awesome for shifting your product range. The best part is, once set up it works on automatic pilot. All you have to do then is monitor its success, because affiliates do all the work for you. They advertise your products and send the traffic to your website to buy them.

Another thing is you don't have to pay your affiliates until you've been paid. Plus you save on advertising costs, and the increased activity to your website helps your search engine ranking. There's an array of affiliate program tracking software available to track your sales and commission payouts or if you prefer, you can hire a company to look after all that side of the business for you.

Building Links with Directories

2008-12-07T10:40:00.005-05:00

Link building is an effective way to increase search engine ranking and one way links have more impact then simply trading links. Search engines are constantly changing their criteria but there are a few things that are very consistent. One of these is driving the Search Engines back to your site as much as you can through external links.

The real value is that links on other sites to yours pass the Google PR of that particular page to your page. This is called a transfer of page rank and has been one of my closely held secrets over most of my Internet marketing career. If you'd like to see the value of this information, do a Google search for "Internet Marketing Expert" and you'll find my site (MarketingScoop.com) ranked in the #1 position.

Posting to directories is a great way to accomplish this goal of building in-bound links. There are 100’s of directories to submit to and some cost and others are no charge. Each time you are approved and the search engines crawl the directory, it sends the search engines back to your site.

When posting to directories it is also important to position anchor words to improve your keyword relevancy. Using this tactic effectively can support your link building with real juice. Start today with directory submission to deliver value to your search engine optimization campaign.

What Would The Top Spot On Google Be Worth To You?

2008-12-03T22:22:00.005-05:00

You see, people love to make things complicated, but making money online is actually really simple. Whether you are selling your own product, promoting affiliate links, or making money from adsense or "click flipping", it all boils down to just two things:

Conversion and Traffic.

Conversion comes first. You need to have an offer that people want. That "offer" might be a product, or it might be an enticing advert (e.g. Google Adsense) that people want to click on. And you need some kind of presentation (such as a sales letter) that encourages them to take the
action that you want them to take (eg buy the product or click on the advert).

In many ways this is the easy part. Most people can knock together a half decent website or sales letter that will convert at least some visitors into money.

But then you need Traffic. Loads of it. The more people that come by your site, the more money you will make - especially if that traffic is highly targeted. But, given the number of websites out there - all competing for the same traffic, just how do you get more visitors to your site?

Well, there are just three ways that people come to your site:

1. They type your URL straight into their browser. That comes from some sort of offline promotion - it might be your business card, a radio advert, an article in a magazine, or a conversation with a friend.

2. They click on a link somewhere. It might be in an email they received (eg from a friend or from an ezine they subscribed to), or it might be on another website they have visited.

3. Or they do a search in the search engines, see your site in the listings, and click to visit you.

That’s it. There is no other way for them to get to your site.

So, knowing that, how do get more traffic? Simple: 1. Make sure you are promoting your online presence in all your offline promotional materials. 2. Get lots of people to link to you, and lots of people to send out emails with your link in it. 3. Get a top position in the search engines.

Hmm. Simple, but not easy. Just how do you achieve 2 and 3 without spending heaps of cash or getting banned by the search engines?

1. Optimize your on-page factors. There is plenty of information online about how to do that. It is not difficult. But, in itself, it is also not enough.

2. Get lots of high quality, one-way, relevant links to your site from as many other sites as possible.

The million dollar question is, "How do you get people to link to you?" For some, this is overly complex. For me, I've been succeeding online with one simple answer, Unique Article Marketing!

1. Have a fantastic product so that they just, spontaneously, want to tell others about your site.

2. Pay them to link to you - buy a text link, or offer an affiliate program.

3. Exchange links with them - but reciprocal links are clearly not worth as much as one-way links, and it is a lot of work to do this effectively.

4. Provide them with fresh, unique content that adds value to their site in return for which they agree to post a link back to you. Loads of sites are constantly looking for fresh, unique content. They get this content by hunting through article directories, or by subscribing to article submission services.

So, if you send out articles to such directories, your articles will end up both on the directories themselves, AND on the niche sites that pick up and use our articles. And some of these are likely to be valuable "authority"-type sites. Of course it depends on the quality of your article who picks it up.

As you can see, this last method is the simplest and most powerful. It gives you hundreds or thousands of one way links, from niche, relevant sites, all for free. All you need is some way to get a different, unique, article to each of those directories and ezine publishers.

Which is, of course, what the Unique Article Wizard does.

Unique Article Wizard

But don’t stop there. The real power behind this system comes when you use it regularly. Preferably once a week. Imagine getting 200 to 1800 new permanent one way links every week?

By the end of a year, you could easily have 15,000 or more relevant, quality, one-way links to your site! That is the power of this system. And that is why it beats every other traffic generation and SEO system there is.

So, unless you don’t have an online presence at all, isn’t it time your harnessed this power for your own business?

Click here now to start your climb to the #1 position on your favorite search engine:

Unique Article Wizard

Kind Regards,
Michael Fleischner
-Internet marketing expert

Three Steps for Search Engine Optimization

2008-11-30T20:39:00.005-05:00

There are a number of ways to improve your website's popularity, page rank, and listing on major search engines. Here are three tips designed to improve your rankings.

The single most important “on page" factor affecting search engine rankings is the use of a title tag. A title tag is a snippet of code in the header section of a web page that is given great weight by the search engines.

One common mistake made when working with title tag is that a website is created from a template in which all of the title tag information is the same from page to page. This can not only get your pages thrown into supplemental results, but it's an example of extremely poor individual page optimization.

The title tag of each page should be individually optimized for the keyphrases that you are targeting for that page. Repetition should be avoided. For ecommerce websites, each product page should contain a unique title tag reflecting the specific product featured on that page.

Step #2: Publishing Rich Content

If you are not including keyword rich content on each page of your website, you again face a risk of having your pages receive a low quality score, or having your pages rank poorly for your target keywords. Be sure to include at least one instance of the keyword you are targeting for that page in the body text of the page.

A rule of thumb I use is to first go through and select the keyphrases you are targeting for each page. Then, optimize the title tags accordingly to reflect this. After that, write rich, unique content for each page, and be sure to include at least one instance of the title tag content in the body text.

Step #3: Create Link Bait

Generally speaking, the more links you have to rich content on your site, the better off you are going to be in the engines. The creation of a blog is a wonderful way to attract links. Other ideas for link bait include video, images, sound clips, press releases and the like. Contests, quizzes, product reviews, top 10 lists (or in the case of this article, a top 5 list), and how to articles fare very well. Also, the provision of useful tools can be a great way to attract links.

In the example of the real estate agency, a tool likely to attract links would be a free mortgage calculator. Offering such a tool on your website can attract the attention of other sites in the form of links, increasing your reputation and pagerank, which has a direct impact on higher search engine rankings.

Be sure to create link bait regularly through frequent generation of content, or whatever form you choose.

Using these three steps for Search Engine Optimization are sure to get your web site or blog ranked high on any search engine.

Building a Web Site the Right Way!

2008-11-28T13:13:00.004-05:00

If you have a web site or are considering building one for your business, think about

these important web site factors - beginning with appearance. A look of a website can make or break yo

ur business. First impressions always count. Here are ten tips to building a better business

website.

1. Color - A black background is not recommended. It's hard on the eyes. I don't know how

many people have problems reading white or coloured text on a black background and with that said, don't go neon pink or glaring orange either. Genera

lly black text on white background is best. Ideally you can choose two colours, but make sure they match and use it consistently on all your pages to maintain

fluidity and continuity.

2. Layout - Don't cram everything into one page. Cluttered websites overwhelms the visitors. Keep it clean, crisp

and concise. I had a CMS style website before and although it looked organized because there were three columns, there were also

a lot of text. Navigation wasn't as plain as day and it overloaded the senses. Take these three words to heart, less is more.

3. Navigation - The more user-

friendly the better and your visitors are bound to stay longer. You don't want your visitors to be jumpin

g through hoops to find what they are looking for. Make shopping carts or payment buttons visible and easily accessible. Everything

should be just a click away. Make sure all your links are working. Finding broken links becomes frustrating and annoying.

4. Spelling and grammar - There's nothing good about visiting a website to find loads of misspelled words and poor grammar. It's unprofessional and you can bet your visitors will leave.

5. Load Speed - When it comes to website loading, no one likes to be kept waiting. They will definitely leave a site if it won't load properly. People's time is precious; don't make them wait.

6. Proper Graphics - Be careful of using big flashy graphics or banners. Too many animated and too many big banners take away a site's credibility. It also slows down the loading time of your site considerably. Not everyone uses high speed Internet. Remember people don't wait around for slow loading sites.

7. Adding Audio - If you like it and want it, change the default setting to give the visitor control if they want to hear audio or not. Make sure it's visibly accessible to the visitor. The last time I landed on a site, I couldn't find the button to disable the audio so I exited the site immediately.

8. Avoid Pop-ups - Although many people now have pop-up blockers, it may not be so much of a nuisance, but a pop-up of anything is intrusive, unwanted and annoying. Adding a form to your page in a highly visible spot is much more effective and non-intrusive.

9. Valuable Content - Informative, resourceful content will keep a visitor coming back. No one wants to visit a site that hasn't been updated in a long time. You can add a small graphic or a simple text in red with the word "new" or a "What's New?" page to inform your visitors you have made updates.

10. AdSense ads - Too many AdSense ads on any page looks scammy and it downgrades the quality of your site. If you can handle honest opinions, have someone critique your website. It really all comes down to personal preference and you will never be able to please everyone and that's okay.

The main goal should be to build a functioning, well laid out website that is successful and prosperous to you for many years to come.

This post provided by S. McIntyre owns http://www.WorkAtHomeSpace.com, a free work at home resource focusing on telecommuting companies, daily telecommute job leads, articles, business resources and other work at home related topics.

Design Your Website For Optimal Effectiveness

2008-11-25T21:30:00.004-05:00

The architecture and design of any Web site will play a major role in search engine rankings. A design emphasizing aesthetic values and flashy gimmickry may command an award for design, but they will seldom be indexable by search engines robots. One could potentially end up with a nicely designed site that no one else can find.

Conversely, a site that provides rich content but is devoid of any aesthetic value may not meet all the needs of Web authors or end users despite otherwise fantastic search rankings. For these and many other reasons, Web authors must take special care when designing their sites to ensure that they will be accessible to all users - mechanical or human.

Since a thorough discussion of design could easily fill an encyclopedia, this document will simply provide a list of design considerations along with simple rationale for each.

Design Checklist.

Make sure each page is reachable by at least one static link. If a search engine cannot find your document, it will never show up in a user inquiry.
Offer a site map with links that point to important parts of the site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, break it into separate pages. These help search engines locate all of the content on a site
Keep URL's simple and static. Complicated URL's are difficult for people to type and hard to remember. Additionally, longevity is a factor in search ranking (more on this later...).
Keep the site hierarchy fairly flat. That is, each page should only be one to three clicks away from the home page. This aids both humans and machines in navigating the site.
Minimize the use of Macromedia flash as well as Java applets. Although they can add useful demonstrations and animations to a site, they are not indexed by search engines.
Avoid the unnecessary use of frames as search engines often have difficulty indexing them correctly.
Since dynamic page content is expected to change frequently, the relevance to search keywords will probably not be maintained. Moving content to static pages will improve indexing and lighten the load on the Web server.
Make sure internal pages link to the homepage to aid navigation.
Organize content by topic and divide the site into logical sections, each focusing on a given topic. This allows search engines to better target specific information relevant to keyword searches.

A Web site that is optimized for search engine effectiveness will be as easy to navigate as a good book. The home page should read like a table of contents, linking visitors to relevant information organized into useful sections.

Sites which feature dynamically generated content such as forums or weblogs should still incorporate static HTML pages to aid search engines. Images, animations, scripts and videos should be used only when text is inappropriate and they add to the value of a given page.

The Full-Proof Way To Generate Website Traffic

2008-11-21T20:00:00.001-05:00

You no doubt recognize by now that having a website is essential for any small business in the 21st Century. A website allows your business to connect with customers, inform prospects, and gain your business’s visibility so you can earn more profits—even while you sleep.

The cornerstone of every successful local business website is traffic. Getting traffic and standing out in the crowd is hard to do. You are busy trying to run your business, you don’t have time for SEO and you don’t want to waste your money paying some “expert” who may or may not know what their actually doing. And unless you’re an expert at online marketing, you will waste thousands of dollars and hours of valuable time trying to figure out how to advertise on Google, Yahoo!, and MSN effectively.

The easy and simple way to generate traffic is to use video.

In this article, you’re going to learn an easy content creation strategy that takes less than a day to implement and will provide a steady stream of rankings, traffic, and leads to ANY website in ANY market.

I’m going to show you how to move viewers from ignorance, to becoming qualified prospects, and finally to becoming buyers. You’ll go from being a salesman to an authority, trusted advisor, and friend.

The result of this strategy is that your customers will be begging you to sell them something.

Why The System Works
Google, Yahoo and MSN love video content.

When you upload your videos to the top video sites, they get ranked and show up quickly in the search engines (usually within 1-2 hours). Having your webpage and video dominate a search engine result page (i.e., having more than 2 listings within the top 10) often occurs within 24-48 hours. And if you upload to dozens of sites, they all get ranked separately. It is not unusual for a single video to dominate up to 8 positions on a single page. When a user sees the obvious domination in organic listings, they click.

And if a user watches your video and visits your site, they’re 5 to 20 times more likely to take action than from an ordinary link or a paid advertisement. You just need to make sure you title your videos with the keyword phrases you want to target.

The Basic Steps
The only equipment you’ll need is a computer and an inexpensive camera (like a Flip webcam). If you don’t want to appear on screen, PC users can use PowerPoint, Camtasia, and a microphone; Mac users will need Keynote and Screenflow to create video presentations. You can also create video presentations with TrafficGeyser, which has a web application.

The Strategy Step-By-Step:
1. Write down the top ten frequently asked questions about your product or service

2. Write down the top ten questions a potential buyer should be asking about your products and services

3. Record 20 short videos responding to each question. These video responses should be 30 seconds to 3 minutes in length. At the end of these videos you should direct visitors to your website to take advantage of a special web offer or to see another video that compliments the information you just provided.

4. Upload your videos to as many video sharing, social bookmarking, podcast directories, social networks and blogs as possible. It will take several days to do this manually. However, there is an affordable service that will automate this process for you called TrafficGeyser.

Once submitted, the search engines will index your videos in a few hours and you’ll have incredible exposure all over the Internet. The goal of this is to send visitors to your website for an offer, and this is where you can capture names and email and build a client list.

2 Fast Ways To Implement This Strategy

1) You can spend about 3 or 4 hours creating these videos yourself and then submitting them to dozens upon dozens of social, video, bookmarking, podcast, and blog sites through a submission tool known as TrafficGeyser. I would not recommend submitting your videos manually, it literally takes up to 3 hours to register for every one of these sites independently and then you have to sit and wait as you upload each individual video. Unless you have a spare secretary who isn’t busy, you should seriously get this done through an automated system like TrafficGeyser.

2) Should you have an issue about creating a professional looking video, or you don’t like your voice or how you look on screen, then have the pros do it. SmallBizVids.com will create professional video for your site and even submit it to all the video sharing sites. They are extremely affordable, and if you consider the time saved and the quality of work, it may actually be cheaper than doing it yourself.

Consider combining these two methods. For example, you can create the videos that drive traffic to your website and then have a nice professional advertisement on your website that can really sell customers on your service. Or perhaps you can use the professional video to advertise a special deal on your site and then have a self-made welcome video.

I’m looking forward to seeing you online soon! Don’t hesitate, make sure you get started today before your competition does.

Vernon Wharff is a small business writer and consultant based in Orlando, Florida. As a leading expert in online marketing and search engine optimization, he consults with small businesses to expand their sales and lead generation through the Internet. The methods he employs have earned small businesses millions in new business. You can find out more about his online marketing services at his website.

Article Marketing Helps To Improve Search Engine Rankings

2008-11-18T20:09:00.003-05:00

Change in life is inevitable, and that includes article marketing. Used by millions, this marketing technique has made money for many, but for others, it just plain hasn't worked. Article marketing must be done responsibly and consistently over time in order to deliver results.

It isn't a "get-rich-quick" technique, but those who follow the trends in article marketing can prosper. In order to get the most out of your article marketing, you'll want to stay aware of changing techniques and hire someone to help you with writing or submission if needed.

To help get you started, I have listed the top ten changes that have taken place in article m

arketing over the years:

1. Create - or have someone create for you - original articles for your web site and do not use them for submission. This will draw search engines to your site and you can advertise this fresh content in your byline to entice readers to click your link.

2. Pay more attention to titles. Do your keyword research first and use your top three keywords at the beginning of the title. Use power words such as "daring," "remarkable" and "urgent." Ask an engaging question or use a top seven or top ten title.

3. Do not submit articles too often - or not often enough. Article directories have less restrictions, but keep in mind that individual publishers can get easily overwhelmed. Submit two to four articles per month and keep doing it.

4. In the past, article marketers were told to educate their readers. While this still holds true today, you will get more responses when you identify the problems of your potential audience and then solve these problems.

5. It is now common to find article marketers rewriting their title, article body and byline part

way through their submission list. This is a reliable way to get published more often, but realize that it can be time-consuming. Get help rewriting if needed.

6. Some new article marketers are offering publishers customized articles to fit their audience, or giving permission for publishers to edit the article so long as the byline remains untouched and all links are made live.

7. In the beginning, article marketers submitted their articles to thousands of article directories. Now, savvy article marketers submit their article to the top ten or twenty article directories that provide more traffic than a thousand low-quality directories.

8. A submission list used to consist of article directories, e-zines, newsgroups and individual sites. The new submission list should also include blogs, social networking sites, niche topic sites and news sites (turn your article into a tipsheet).

9. Once your article is included in a well-ranked article directory, submit that page to social bookmarking sites where you have accounts. Do the same for the original articles on your site.

10. Consider offering an original, exclusive article to target sites with a large audience who will relate to you and what you have to offer. Ask to be paid or negotiate advertising space in their newsletter or on their site.

Some things about article marketing have remained unchanged. Never use document spinner software, mass distribution to thousands of sites, a submission list that isn't targeted and automated submission tools. Article marketing is not dead, but it has changed. To be a successful article marketer, you must keep informed and stay up to date on changes in the technique. Keep an eye on blogs and web sites dedicated to the subject so you can keep reaping the benefits of article marketing.

Post provided by Davis Virtual Assistance. Reprints welcomed so long as the article and byline are kept intact and all links are made live. Bonnie Jo Davis is an article marketing expert who uses the technique daily for herself and her clients.

If you use article marketing or would like to learn how visit her site at http://www.articlesubmissionsites.com While you are there you can download the free e-book "Writing For Publicity" a compilation of her articles about article marketing and submission.

SEO to Deliver Results

2008-11-14T07:53:00.007-05:00

To make your web site generate revenue, it has to get good web traffic. By checking your web stats you can quickly observe how many visitors your web site is getting and even how many people stay long enough to browse the website.

Most programs have analytics that show how those web visitors came to you. Did they click through from a search engine? If so, what keyword brought them to you? Or, did they come from a particular website that links to yours? Your stats will reveal all.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Of great interest to most webmasters is the keywords used by visitors who find your site through the search engines. In the past few years "Search Engine Optimization" (SEO) has evolved into a business model that specializes in making sure your web site gets a strong flow of business from people who look for your niche of goods and services using Google, Yahoo or one of the other big search engines. The key to great traffic from a search engine is your "search engine ranking".

That all sounds very complicated but it isn't. When you search for something on the Internet, Google (or your favorite search engine) comes back with lots of web sites for you to consider. The ones it comes back with first are called the first page. And usually there are dozens of pages of web sites that the search engine shows you.

Experts tell us that the majority of web shoppers use a web site shown on that first page of links that the search engine returns. So if your web site is among that first one or two pages, you have a good search engine ranking and you will see more customers than a business that is way down on page 54 where customers never go.

One of the primary ways to get on that first page is by using good SEO. Search engine optimization is the science of working with search engines so your web site gets a good ranking. SEO is also a fairly complicated science because it involves how your web site is programmed, the kind of text you have on each page and a good SEO expert has specialized tools and software to monitor your SEO on a daily basis to see how you are doing.So how do we go about improving our web site's SEO?

If you go talk to your web programmers, they will be aware of the terms we learned here today but they may not be equipped to do a professional job of improving your SEO. That is why most businesses that do well at improving SEO for their web sites do so using a professional outsourcing company that specializes in this kind of thing. There are good reasons for you to outsource this function as well.

An SEO company will have those specialized tools and software resources to do the job right. They understand how search engines work and they can prepare specific suggestions to your web team to improve your search engine ranking. And they can employ internet traffic specialists who have that expertise to take your web site from where it is and turn it into a successful money maker for you. By learning the terminology and what SEO is as we have started to talk about today, you are on your way to finding a good SEO contractor who can help your web site find success and get lots of profitable traffic.

Use good common sense in finding a SEO company and check references and employ someone who can really do the job. It will cost you a bit to get the best expertise there is to improve your SEO. But when you see the flood of business and sales that come from the effort, you will know you made a wise investment in using them.

You will also want to make sure the articles you purchase from private label sites or ghostwriter services are optimized for your site's keywords as well. If you purchase a set of private label articles, for example, on the subject of weight loss it will be a good idea to re-write them using your own site's keywords.

If, on the other hand, you are outsourcing custom articles to a ghostwriter you can specify the articles be "SEO" ready for your chosen keywords upon delivery. This will ensure your articles will rank well in the search engines. These are just a few ways that using good SEO will create traffic to your website.

This post provided by Linda Van Fleet. Ms. Van Fleet is a freelance author and SEO expert who has been using the power of the Internet to promote online businesses since 1996. Do you need private label articles? We have private label article packages and custom articles for your website content.

Keyword Secrets: Expand Your List to Include Words That Perform!

2008-11-10T12:36:00.003-05:00

The Primary objective of a business website is to attract potential buyers and convert them into paying customers. Relevant keywords allow you to fulfill 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.

Before you start 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 or traffic software. 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.

This post provided by Darren Jennings - Expert in Business Building, Coaching, Mentoring. Find out why so many people are having huge success in Darren's Business opportunity: http://www.successfulincomestrategies.com

Managing Your SERPs

2008-11-06T07:48:00.003-05:00

Many large companies suffer from bad press. Often times these articles are incorrect or attempt to damage the market leader. If a significant publisher posts such an article, it can end up near the top of the search results for that company.

In some cases, an individual may try to abuse the system by creating a ton of articles in an attempt to push the primary corporate site down within the rankings. This tactic is very difficult to fight, when a site has an overall lack of inbound links, since search engines use links to determine quality and credibility to stay in a position, in many cases for their brand and or company name.

These attacks focus on service-based companies with a very targeted offering, and normally not toward companies with a large array of offerings. Most of these single-service companies don't have enough links to dominate in their market. A company offering several services may receive links to multiple products, which will create a concrete position and make it hard to move within the search engine rankings.

Are you a victim of this type of attack? Even if you're in the number one or two positions within the results, you may have eight additional results bashing your product offering at a completely unfair level!

My suggestion is to build alternative media types, e.g., forums, social media sites, LinkedIn profiles, and YouTube videos. Every domain has a different score and has the ability to rank along with your primary domain. If you can find compelling content that can be linked to, you can clear up the majority of the unwanted press by moving it down through the rankings.

Creating these pages isn't enough to make them rank, so it's important to consider getting other sites to write articles about these pages. Without a set of high-quality links, these pages won't rank and will be a waste of time. It's important to create compelling content that may provide a level quality that someone may want to write about.

If you create video content, it needs to be interesting enough that viewers will want to share it with their friends based on reaction. No matter what type of compelling content you decide to create, make sure it's easy to share. The majority of sharing is done with social media-based applications, such as Facebook, blogs, and or any application that may provide a level of excitement or attachment.

Forums are difficult to build, but they can be very powerful if put together well. Seeding the forum with compelling questions and/or high quality content can provide data that may attract users to either take over or contribute content that will attract other dedicated contributors.

If you sell products or services, make sure to follow up with your clients to rate their purchasing experience. This data is valuable to other users and can help you tune your site for other users. Do whatever you can to make things better and not ignore them.

The Top 40 SEO Strategies of All Time!

2008-11-05T21:17:00.009-05:00

Having now read five recently published books on Search Engine Optimization, along with hundreds of on-line articles and forums, I feel I know a little about this exhaustive topic. The problem, however, is that most SEO authors seem to feel the overwhelming need to fluff up their books and articles with unnecessary filler, leaving some of us readers wondering: why can't you just get to the point?

Those articles that do seem to get to the point, usually only focus on one narrow aspect of the picture. As a result, I have decided to share with you the accumulation of months of reading, neatly organized into three categories and 40 points.

This list is in no way exhaustive, and it does take a bit of website knowledge to know what I'm talking about. Nevertheless, this list does provide a very solid foundation that will put you at a definite advantage over the majority of website owners. It can also be very useful as a checklist for website owners looking to improve their rankings.

Before I begin, I think it's necessary to mention the importance of keyword research. Regardless if you already have a website operating, or if you are just thinking of setting one up, you must begin your SEO campaign with adequate keyword exploration. I would recommend opening up a Google Adwords account. If for nothing else, you can use this account to take advantage of their Keyword tools. Your purpose is to find relevant keywords and phrases that get adequate searches, but don't have too much competition.

When you have made a list of a few of these keywords and phrases, you should then type them directly into Google to examine your competition. If, for example, the first three pages are filled with PR (Page Rank) 4 and 5 sites all of which are competing for those same keywords and phrases, you should probably go back and try again (you can almost always see what keywords and phrases a site is trying to rank for by looking at what's in its title - first line in Google results). It could take you years of link building to compete with these high PR sites (all the while they're improving as well). Find a niche in your keyword research where there is little solid competition. For example, if the first five results have a Page Rank of 3 or less, you might just have a shot.

Onsite Optimization

1. find keywords that get searched but don't have too much competition 2. select keyword and keyword phrases based on research 3. calculate competition for these words/phrases 4. acquire a domain with your keywords in it (if possible) 5. acquire fast and reliable hosting (local if possible) 6. create additional site URLs using keywords and phrases 7. create title tags using keywords and phrases 8. create description tags using keywords and phrases 9. create category tags using keywords and phrases 10. create keyword tags using keywords and phrases 11. use keywords and phrases to create headers (h1,h2,h3) 12. write content with a keyword and phrase concentration of 5-7% 13. use bold and strong tags with keywords and phrases 14. use words and phrases in content relevant to keywords 15. content topics should also be relevant to keywords and phrases 16. content should be free of spelling and grammar errors 17. include links to your own keyword rich URLs 18. create keyword rich title tags to these links 19. include pictures with keywords in picture names 20. create keyword rich alt tags for these pictures.

Offsite Optimization

21. acquire one-way back links from relevant quality sites 22. acquire one-way back links from quality directories 23. acquire reciprocal links from relevant directories and sites 24. participate in 3 and 4 way link exchanges 25. ensure keywords and phrases are in link text 26. ensure keywords and phrases are surrounding the link 27. publish articles on relevant content with author box and link attached 28. use blogs, forums, Stubleupon, Digg, etc. to acquire links 29. acquire links from sites with high PR and fewer outgoing links 30. do not link to link farms, or sites that have been banned.

Future Optimization

31. make sure you have the Google toolbar to check PR and back links 32. check your competition to see what they are doing (view source) 33. check back links of your competition through Google toolbar 34. create an account with Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics 35. monitor what sites are linking to you and act accordingly 36. monitor what keywords and phrases people are finding you with 37. update your content frequently and adjust your keywords as necessary 38. monitor your back links and PR as well as those of your competition 39. constantly search for high PR relevant sites that might link to you 40. keep your customers happy and patiently wait for more.

In all your online endeavours, always remember that onsite optimization (what you do to your site) will only counts for so much. Nowadays, with Google being god, your position in the ranks will depend almost entirely on offsite optimization. This means that getting high quality sites to link to you, and getting them to use your keywords in the anchor text, is by far more important than anything else you can do. Also remember that Google does favour sites that have been around for longer. If you do everything right, and you don't get caught purchasing links or linking to link farms, you will likely see your site slowly (or quickly) move up the ranks. Ranking well for keywords will save you a ton of money in PPC advertising, and could eventually ensure your financial success. Good luck.

About the authorJack Strawman is the cofounder of the Late Night Chat and HookUp, a social networking site.

Improve Web Site Rankings Today!

2008-11-01T18:59:00.003-04:00

If you are like me, you will definitely love the idea of attracting hordes of visitors to your websites. If anyone has ever told you that can get all the traffic you want WITHOUT lifting your finger, then you've been shamelessly lied to. Well, here is my 12-Point "check-list" for you that could make all the difference.

1. Make sure your website is promoted every month! - Continuous Exposure and search engines will start "liking" your website.

2. Do not use "black hat" or "grey hat" tactics to trick the search engines. You may get permanently banned from search engines.

3. Strategically choose the right "mix" of promotional activities (I'll tell you more about this later).

4. Get One-way "Back-Links" from other websites to boost Your Search Engine Rankings and Positioning.

5. Write 4-5 new and original articles every month and distribute UNIQUE versions to leading article directories. (don't know how to write? there's a shortcut!)

6. Write and distribute Press Release about your website every month. Search engine robots are always lurking around these sites.

7. Try to get "back-links" from other people's Blogs and Forums in your niche. Post comments to Blogs and replies to forum threads.

8. Start writing content for other Blogs. These are not just comments but entire 'Posts' for other blogs. Of course, you'll be allowed to get a back-link for this effort.

9. Bookmark every article, blog post, video, web page on your site as well as the URLs of other sites where your content is appearing on all leading bookmarking sites.

10. Create your profiles on leading social networking sites like Squidoo, Hubpages and so on. Keep them updated with new content every month.

11. If you are not using VIDEOS, you are leaving too much on the table. Create promotional videos about your product, service or website and distribute to all leading video portals like YouTube, Google etc.

12. Imagine what it could do for your credibility and bottom-line if leading "Authority" sites (wiki sites) display a link to YOUR website? Lurk around these sites and add your unique content on high pagerank sites like WetPaint, LittleWiki etc.

There you have it. Twelve easy to follow techniques for improving your rankings today!

Improve Search Engine Rankings With These Article Writing Secrets

2008-10-29T19:12:00.006-04:00

The basic copy writing mantra is to come up with a headline that will grab the attention of the reader and entice them to read the first line of your search engine optimization copywriting article.Include your keyword or phrase within the title as your anchor text and this satisfies SEO requirements.

Article writing is a key internet marketing tool and you must get your search engine optimization copy writing strategy right. In this piece we are going to look at the steps in preparing an article for use with your SEO campaign and look at some of the tools and techniques available to maximize search engine impact as well as deliver interesting content for human readers. By following this step by step guide you will improve your search engine optimization copy writing.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

The first point to remember is, "Who are you writing for?" ultimately, human readers will determine whether your SEO campaign is a success simply because they spend the money on your site and not a web crawler. Whenever you prepare content, human readers should have priority over the content and not the search engines; on the other hand, search engines will determine how many human readers are going to actually land on the content so we have a chicken and egg situation.

The answer is simple; cater for both human readers and the search engines by striking a balance between interesting content relevant for users while also achieving the aim of promoting search engine rankings for the web site and content.

By following this step by step guide you will improve your search engine optimization copy writing.

Step One. Headlines are there to get someone to read the first line of your article and more!

If you are targeting "London hotel" as a key phrase, look at how this can be incorporated into an attention grabbing headline: "London hotel deliver best deal for tourists!", "The cheapest London hotel reviewed", "Best London hotel for business users"

Step Two. Generate interest with the first sentence of your search engine optimization copy writing article

You've gained a user's attention with your search engine optimisation copywriting headline, and now you have to suck the user into the body of your piece by activating their desire.

You can do this by a variety of methods such as promising to save money by following the article's advice or solving a problem the target audience is likely to have. At the same time, ensure you use the search engine optimization copy writing keyword within the first sentence to satisfy SEO requirements.

Using our example of "London hotel", we can create an opening line such as:

"How does a London hotel generate the highest levels of repeat business when the rest of the sector is experiencing difficulties?"

"We reviewed the cheapest London hotel for tourists and had a fantastic surprise in store; "cheap" can mean high quality and hard to beat value when stretching your holiday budget and here's how you do it."

Step Three. Use your headers to give structure for improved SEO copy writing

Using headers and sub-headers will give your search engine optimization copy writing structure and allow your users to focus on the relevant content for them.

Users scan internet content and tend not to read it from start to finish so use headers as mini-headlines which make your key information stand out at a glance to a human reader. Look at this article and the use of sub-headers to split up the piece and highlight key points.

Use the keyword or phrase in the sub-header as well as when you come to upload the content to your site, you can use the h1,h2 and h3 tags to further underline the importance of your keyword to the search engines.

Step Four. Review your search engine optimization copy writing for human users

You've finished your SEO copy writing article and now you are ready - almost!

Read it through and edit it; best advice is to leave the article alone for a day and return to the piece and read it through. The reason for this is as a writer, you will be too wrapped up in what the content has to say and not the actual English language such as the grammar and typos. Seeing the piece with fresh eyes will allow your mind to concentrate firstly on the standard of English (or other language) and secondly, you can assess whether the piece actually makes sense and runs together as a fluid piece of writing.

Specifically, look out for jarring use of keywords and phrases where the writer has inserted keywords in places which make the search engine optimization copy writing appear disjointed and written by a ten year old. Keyword stuffing is not good practice and will deter human readers from following through on your advice or call to action.

How long should a search engine optimization copy writing piece be?

The answer is "How long is a piece of string!", however between 500 and 1,000 words is probably ideal depending on the subject matter and the purpose of the search engine optimization copy writing in respect of human readers; sales copy should be short and snappy while instructional or technical pieces will be discursive and lengthier.

Step Five - Review your SEO copy writing for search engines

Finally, review your search engine optimization copy writing for keyword density and use of anchor text and tags where appropriate.

Do not overdo the keyword insertion; too much and the search engines will recognize you as keyword stuffing and discount you in the rankings while too little and you may be deemed as not relevant enough to warrant high rank. Typically, keyword density between 2% and 4% is recommended - but more importantly you should use synonyms and variations of the keyword as the search engines are becoming quite savvy and assess your 'theme' words as well. The best policy is to write an article organically then integrate the words appropriately.

This post provided by Anton Stoutjesdik who is an MBA lecturer, professional SEO copywriter and the director at New Frontier Ltd, a multi lingual SEO copy writing agency, helping website owners generator better business leads. For more tips and advice visit our website for a free 30 minute copy writing consultation.

Search Engine Optimization: Keep It Simpleh

2008-10-27T20:14:00.003-04:00

There's no question that search engine optimization is both art and science. As competition to command search rankings has exploded, SEO strategies have become increasingly elegant and complicated. Most marketers and business owners these days end up toiling over complex SEO solutions in pursuit of the-next-best-thing. Progress has its drawbacks, though. Many seasoned business owners actually overlook simple, yet highly effective, SEO strategies that could skyrocket their business in the search rankings.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

One such strategy is to use popular key words that are relevant to your business in your Web site's or landing page's URL. Given that SEO experts and business owners regularly research, then pepper their Web pages with top key words and tinker with their placement, simply using the words in the URL may sound too easy. Don't be fooled by its simplicity, though. This strategy works. It has been incredibly effective for MP: Creative, a recently launched marketing arm of the Portland, OR-based business plan writing firm, MasterPlans.

Simple strategies still require due diligence. With MP: Creative, we started by performing extensive key word research. “Portland,” “Oregon,” “marketing” and “advertising” were among the most active key terms relevant to the business. We then purchased the domains portlandoregonmarketing.com and portlandoregonadvertising.com, and placed landing pages on both sites that were also keyword-rich. The outcome was astonishing. Even though Portland is home to some of the top marketing and advertising firms in the nation, our start-up sky-rocketed to number one on Yahoo! in searches for such businesses within a week.

So why was such a simple strategy so effective? Again, one of the primary reasons is that advanced SEO marketers and business owners regularly overlook like the simplest approach. This is a great opportunity for a smaller business to elbow in on the big guys. Another reason is that this particular strategy's simplicity is actually its edge. By placing top key words in the URL, spiders from sites like Google and Yahoo don't have to crawl through an entire page of content before locating these words. That means that such a Web site will get noticed more quickly by these search engines, which could result in your page moving up in search rankings for those particular terms more quickly.

While there is tremendous allure in developing complex SEO tactics, case studies like these demonstrate that it's important not to forget simple strategies.

This post provided by Bryan Howe, founder & CEO, Masterplans.com

Incredible New Tool For Launching Profitable PPC Campaigns

2008-10-24T14:46:00.004-04:00

Good afternoon everyone. If you're a loyal follower of this blog, you know that from time to time I do pitch new and innovative products that I personally use and have seen results from. It's been over 3 months since I recommended something in the area of PPC or SEO. The reason is that it's been slim pickings. I've tried more than a dozen products, none of which were any good.

That's all changed. Why? Because in an effort to improve my PPC effectiveness, I found a tool that guarantees a profitable, fully optimized PPC campaign, at the moment of launch. If you're doing PPC now, you know how difficult it is to make money with PPC ads.

This product, PPCbully, kicks major *&^%$#@. As you already know, pay-per-click campaigns take a lot of trial and error. You set up your keywords, write your ads and track conversions until you find just the right combination that works the best.

PPC Bully, an advanced keyword research tool, allows you to know *up front* what works - and what doesn't. You get to see exactly what your competitors are doing, cash in on their "test" and launch with the most lucrative combinations possible.

To better understand how PPC Bully works, check out the demo video on their homepage. It walks you through the basic process. After you take a look, I promise not to say "I told you so". You'll save lots of time and expense for next to nothing - ensuring successful PPC campaigns.

Enjoy,
Michael

Make Your Site Accessible to Millions

2008-10-20T19:30:00.006-04:00

Did you know that a lot of websites out there turn away 47 million people in the U.S. and miss out on a niche market? It’s true! More than one trillion dollars in spending power is getting forgotten about for just one simple reason.

Their website is not accessible to people who have disabilities

That’s right. If you make your website accessible to people with disabilities you will be opening the door on a new market of over 47 million people out there. According to the U.S. Census Bureau over 47 million people in the United States have disabilities, 73% of people with disabilities are heads of households, and $13.6 billion is spent on 31.7 million trips made by people with disabilities.

Do you lose a customer when a person with disabilities visits your site because the readers that they use or the colors of the site make it impossible to use it? Did you know that Google has an accessible web search for the visually impaired? It can be found at Google Laboratories over at http://labs.google.com/accessible/.

Imagine what it would be like if Google developed a search engine that only allows accessible websites. That would narrow down the list in a hurry! If you want an overview of accessible solutions from Google you can check it out at http://labs.google.com/accessible/overview.html.

Here are some problems that people who have disabilities face when visiting a website.

Certain color combinations prevent them to seeing the web site properly
Readers are not able to pick up text that is used in images
No ease of navigation of site for people that cannot use a keyboard or mouse
Tables used on websites can be a problem for readers to read in the right order

You can avoid missing out on all of these customers or even possibly avoid a lawsuit by structuring your website by certain guidelines.

Here are some ideas that can be done to make your website more accessible.

Have proper alt tags for all images on your website. (I don’t mean keyword stuffing the alt tags.)
Make sure the tables in your website are set up so that readers can read it for the disabled in the right order.
Make use of quick keyboard shortcuts to navigate the pages easily.
Add the "longdesc" attribute to images to direct people to a text based description of the images if an alt tag is not enough.
Keep in mind while designing your site that people may be using screen readers, voice browsers, and screen magnifications to view your site with.
Add ‘Skip over Navigation’ links to make it easier to skip over sections of a website.
Make sure you use accessible .html forms and .pdf forms.
Use default font types rather than specific fonts.
Use relative font sizes and try to avoid specifying exact font sizes.
Be careful how you use JavaScript on a page.
Make sure each page has a meaningful element to describe the page.
Don’t use font colors that do not contrast well with the page background. You can test out your website at http://colorfilter.wickline.org/.
Limit Flash usage to trivial stuff.

If you do use Flash as a rule of thumb the newer the version the more likely it will be able to make an accessible website. You can provide text equivalents to portions of your Flash program to help people with disabilities.

Why should you make your website accessible?

You can gain a niche of over 54 million buyers that most other websites do not even take into consideration.
Increase your revenue.
It may become the law. It is already a law for government sites and many state sites.And for the most important reason . . . BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

This post provided by Michael Rock who founded The Internet Presence (http://theinternetpresence.com) on 7/11/2003 where you can learn how to make your own website and offers SEO Consultation services at http://rocksolidseo.com.

Determine Your Website Page Rank

2008-10-17T08:16:00.001-04:00

There are actually websites that will measure the ranking of your website. For those of you that don't know what page rank is, it's a tool put together by Google that determines the effectiveness or efficiency of your Web site.

The higher your page rank, the higher your Web site is listed in the various search engines, and that means more traffic to your site. This, in essence, means more people are looking at your site, your products, your services, thus putting more money in your pocket in the form of paying customers.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

If more people are going to your Web site then less traffic is going to your competitors' Web site. Unfortunately most people don't even know what page rank is but those visitors that do will place your website in a higher esteem than your competitors and feel that your content is much more valuable and insightful.

Now you are probably wondering how page rank determined? And more importantly how do you increase your page rank?. Well, let's look at the first part of that question.

One way to help determine your page is when another site links to your page with a back link. The more back links you receive from other pages the higher your page rank. It's a good idea to make sure the back links are coming from sites that have content on the same theme as yours.

This process can get quite involved and a little messy because all back links don't carry the same weight or force. The higher the page rank that a link is coming from the more beneficial it is in terms of boosting your page rank. So if you get links from a lot of pages with low page ranks it will not have as strong an impact as a few pages with higher page ranks.

Now this is the complicated part: If you have a page that has a page rank of 7 and it is already linked to 10 or 15 other pages then it will not be any more beneficial to you than a page that has a page rank of maybe 3 or so. There is only so much linking that a page can do. It's almost like the law of diminishing returns, in other words after awhile it begins to have the opposite effect.

Another way to improve your page rank is through the use of web directories. Not only will this increase your page rank but it will also increase the traffic to your site. So if you submit your site to a large number of Web directories you will be able to increase your rank. There are a number of web directories you can submit your website or blog to.

There's a host of other items that will definitely help you to increase your ranking and the general traffic flow to your Web site. Also if you are curious about the page ranking of your own site you can see exactly where you stand by doing a Google search for page rank. This should help you to find some of the sites out there that measure page rank. Once you find a site all you have to do is put your own URL in the designated box and you will have your answer. A page rank of 6 or higher is very high.

About the Author: Mel Richardson - Coach, Author and Internet Marketer has been recently putting together programs for those that are new to the internet and looking to build an online business. http://www.freeonlinemarketingstrategies.com/

SEO For the Everyday Man or Woman

2008-10-15T07:42:00.005-04:00

When talking to clients about marketing their business online I am asked "How do you get to #1 on Google?" While this article is not specially about how to become #1 - I will explain what the process is and what's involved.Despite our widespread acceptance and use of the internet - I am always surprised by how many people really have no idea what SEO (search engine optimization) is about.

They instinctively know WHY they like to click on that first listing in the natural results; but they don't have the first clue HOW it got there. Making matters worse is the fact that the internet world is largely unregulated and still being figured out - so it seems that everyone has their own "best practice" and definitions of things like SEO.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

I usually tell clients that their intuitive feeling of WHY they trust that first listing is that - simply put - it's the best result for the phrase you type in. People seem to understand that. However most people don't really understand why one site would be better than another so here goes with a layman's explanation.

What is SEO, really?

SEO is the process of configuring a website so that it has a chance to show up in a search result for a particular phrase. In other words it is our way of telling Google, Yahoo, or MSN what we think our site is about. Many of the search engines have a slightly different formula for how they determine these results. But the short version is that they look at different factors of each website page, rank them and then give those results to you.

Why is SEO Important?

One word sums it up - competition. Depending on what study you read, there are as many as 20 billion web pages being indexed at any given time. The major search engines do their best to go through these pages and catalog them so that they can tell you about it if you use their website to search. With so many website pages out there competing for similar phrases it is absolutely critical to make sure you are using every tool at your disposal to make sure your customers can find you when they are looking.

OK, So What Should I Be Doing for SEO On My Site?

The good news is that doing SEO correctly is not complicated. The bad news is that it is time consuming and requires regular attention in order to maintain results. Our advice is to ethically follow these simple guidelines for best long-term results:

Good site structure - as simple as this sounds many people overlook this. Every day we see sites with heavy flash animation, dated frame designs, pages that don't work and broken links. The bottom line is that if you can't easily navigate a site without problems chances are the search engines can't either. And if a search engine can't go through your site you have absolutely no chance of showing up for a key phrase - no matter how pretty the flash.

Good meta-data - Clients often draw a blank with this one. Meta-data is geek-speak for the page titles, page descriptions and keywords that you enter for each page. Each page on your website should have a unique title and description that summarizes what that page is about.

We often see 2 problems with meta-data. The first is that it is simply overlooked. I am stunned at how many sites have www.yoursite.com as the page title for every page - that's wasting prime online real estate.

The 2nd problem is spam. Putting in a page title or description that does not accurately match what the page is about is considered "spamming" a search engine. Doing this will get your page thrown out of the index and ruin any chance of showing up for a key phrase. Relevant content - People seem to understand that good content is really what they are looking for when they search for something. By "relevant" we mean that the content is specific to the topic in question and recently updated. More and more we are seeing sites that have regular updates or blogs showing up higher in the search results than sites which have larger quantities of older, "stale" content on them.

Our recommendation is to add well-written, grammatically correct and spell-checked content to your website on a regular basis. This ensures that, over time, your site will become a "resource" to those looking for phrases related to your business.

Responsible link building - This is perhaps the least understood part of SEO. In a nutshell search engines consider a link from another website to your website as a popularity vote. Think of it as power rankings for websites. In general the more sites which link to yours, the better; as this shows your site is relevant to the given topic.

Sadly though link building, like keywords and meta-data, have been abused by many site owners with schemes such as link farms where sites are setup simply to house links to other sites. We encourage careful and responsible link building with sites that are related to yours or through appropriate directories and article banks.

So there you have it - SEO explained for people with real jobs. Like most things it's not really that hard but it requires discipline which is where most people get off track. If you would like help with SEO for your website, or other online business needs we would love to hear from you.

This post provided by Andre Savoie. President of WSI (We Simplify the Internet) who helps companies take advantage of opportunities to grow their business online. This may include search engine optimization, paid search advertising or newer tools such as social media optimization. My focus is on helping companies find the strategy that best fits their needs and budget and then establishing goals for each marketing campaign. You can visit us at www.mywsiconsultant.com or contact us via email at andre@mywsiconsultant.com.

How to Make Sure Your Site Doesn't Get Penalized

2008-10-12T19:46:00.005-04:00

Your website's ranking on search engines is a vital element of your overall marketing campaign, and there are ways to improve your link popularity through legit methods. Unfortunately, the Internet is populated by bands of dishonest webmasters seeking to improve their link popularity by faking out search engines.

The good news here is that search engines have figured this out, and are now on guard for spam and sites that have increased their rankings by artificial methods. When a search engines discover these sites, the site is demoted in ranking or completely removed from the search engine's index.

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

The bad news is that some high quality, completely above-board sites are being mistaken for these web page criminals. Your page may be in danger of being caught up in the "spam" net and tossed from a search engine's index, even though you have done nothing to deserve such treatment.

There are things you can do, and things you shouldn't do to, that will prevent this kind of misperception.

Link popularity is mostly based on the quality of sites you are linked to. Google created this criteria for assigning website ranking, and virtually all search engines on the Internet now use it. There are legitimate ways to go about increasing your link popularity, but at the same time, you must be scrupulously careful about which sites you choose to link to.

Google frequently imposes penalties on sites that have linked to other sites solely for the purpose of artificially boosting their link popularity. They have actually labeled these links "bad neighborhoods." You can take comfort in knowning that your site cant be penalized when a bad neighborhood links to your site. Penalties happen only when you are the one sending out the link to a bad neighborhood. But you must check, and double-check all the links that are active on your links page to make sure you haven't initiated a bad link.

The first thing to check out is whether or not the pages you have linked to have been penalized. The most direct way to do this is to download the Google toolbar at toolbar.google.com. You will then see that most pages are given a Pagerank which is represented by a green scale on the Google toolbar. Do not link to any site that shows no green at all on the scale. This is especially important when the scale is completely gray. It is more than likely that these pages have been penalized.

If you are linked to these pages, you may catch their penalty, and like the flu, it may be difficult to recover from the infection. There is no need to be concerned with regart to linking to sites whose scale shows only a tiny bit of green on their scale. These sites have not been penalized, and their links may grow in value and popularity.

Another trick that illegitimate webmasters use to artificially boost their link popularity is the use of hidden text. Search engines usually use the words on web pages as a factor in forming their rankings, which means that if the text on your page contains your keywords, you have more of an opportunity to increase your search engine ranking than a page that does not contain text inclusive of keywords.

Some webmasters have gotten around this formula by hiding their keywords in such a way so that they are invisible to any visitors to their site. For example, they have used the keywords but made them the same color as the background color of the page, such as a plethora of white keywords on a white background.

You cannot see these words by just looking at a page, but a search engine spider can spot them easily. As soon as a search engine perceive the use of hidden text it is logged and the page is penalized. The downside of this is that sometimes the spider is a bit overzealous and will penalize a page by mistake. For example, if the background color of your page is gray, and you have placed gray text inside a black box, the spider will only take note of the gray text and assume you are employing hidden text.

To avoid any risk of false penalty, simply direct your webmaster not to assign the same color to text as the background color of the page - ever!Another potential problem that can result in a penalty is called "keyword stuffing." It is important to have your keywords appear in the text on your page, but sometimes you can go a little overboard in your enthusiasm to please those spiders.

Search engines use Keyword Density to determine if a site is trying to artificially boost their ranking. This is the ratio of keywords to the rest of the words on the page. Search engines assign a limit to the number of times you can use a keyword before it decides you have overdone it and penalizes your site. This ratio is quite high, so it is difficult to go over without sounding as if you are truly stuffing the site.

Using one way links for your Web Promotion gets results. This is because link popularity is one of the most important factors in search engine performance. Increasing the number of links to your Website will get your site listed higher in search engine results, generating more Website Traffic, increasing your Google PR and improving your site's overall strength. Click here for one way links.