Marketing-Helpers.com News

Yahoo! shuts down Microsoft

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

In case you haven't heard, Microsoft’s bid to take over Yahoo! has been cut short.

I have to applaud Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang on this one. It's very frightening that Microsoft is trying to dominate almost every aspect of the computer and the Internet. Microsoft already runs their own search engine, and consistently comes in third among Web surfers, next to Google and Yahoo!. This bid by Microsoft does show how important the search engine business is to them. They desire to become number two and they fantasize about squashing Google.

The troubling part of Microsoft's entire play for search engine dominance the partnership with SEOmoz. Microsoft is the only major search engine to offer SEO services. If Google decided to start offering SEO service for their own search engine advertisers would go nuts, and it would corrupt the belief that people have about Google's search index being fair and un-manipulated. Because Microsoft is such a small player in the search engine industry man people won't pay attention to the fact that Microsoft wants you to pay to rank well in their search engine. The ethical issues that arise when a search engine offers better rankings to the sites in their index are far too great. What would stop, or a better question, why wouldn't Microsoft put their search engine optimization clients at the top of their index?

Thankfully we don't have to worry about Yahoo!, for now.

Optimizing Images For Google Image Search for News

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT

It seems as though Google is trying out new ways of displaying data to attract more users. Google now allows users to search for news images. While this more attractive view of the news may be preferred in countries like China, I didn’t get the impression it was well received here in the United Sates where we like our news served up super fast.

Google has allowed users to search the Web for images for many years now. Adding the ability to search images from new sources adds more importance to optimizing your images. From a short term search engine optimization perspective now is the time to take advantage of Google’s new feature because of the press it will be getting over the nest few weeks.

In order to take advantage of Google’s news image search feature you need to have a Blog or write articles and submit them to the various news sources out there. Bookmark them on Digg, Nowpublic, del.icio.us, etc.

In your blogs and articles you need to have an image. Once you have an image, you need to optimize it so that it will rank well in the search engines.

How do you get your images to rank well? Here are some SEO image optimization tips:

Use Descriptive Filenames: If you have picture of Tiger Woods then use Tiger Wood in the picture’s filename. Ambiguous filenames do not tell the search engines what your photo depicts.
Use Optimized Alt Tags: Alt tags help search engines better understand what your image is displaying to your users. Since a search engine can not see your image, neglecting to use and Alt Tag on all your images is a huge mistake. Your Alt tags should contain a keyword or two, as long as it is relevant to the image & site content.
Provide a Direct Link To The Photo: Provide a direct link to the file, not the article or Blog post. A search engine optimized image has an alt attribute and optimized anchor text. Your optimized images should look like this:

Utilizing good anchor text and linking to the photo will help the search engines decide how important the image is.

5 Reasons Why You Are Not Converting Search Engine Traffic into Sales

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

It can be the most frustrating thing when you have a Web site and you have worked hard to get it ranked well, you are getting a nice flow of steady traffic, but no one is buying.

Converting traffic can seem like an unsolvable mystery when you think you have done everything the right way. However, there is hope. Let’s take a look at some of the more common reasons of why people buy or don’t buy.

Price – Ensure that you have a competitive price. Do your research and benchmark your competition. You must make sure that your Web site is offering the product at a price comparable to your competition. A very common scenario we see all the time with low conversion rates is having a price point that is higher than another Web site. It’s too easy for consumers to go from store to store on the Internet and find the lowest price. Make sure you check the entire price, including shipping and handling, of the product(s) offered by your competition. It’s very common for e-tailers to display an extremely low sale price but charge extra shipping and handling costs to make up for the fact that they are selling the product at a loss.

Navigation & Accessibility – Another common roadblock we see on Web sites with low conversion rates is a problem with getting around the site. If your Web site visitors can not click on links or see the Web site in an organized manner then they will leave. Ensure all of your links work and do not lead to dead pages. Make sure your Web site loads and works, as you intended, in different browsers and at different screen resolutions.

Provide GOOD Information – We constantly stress that content is the most important part of your Web site. It’s important because most people go on the Internet to find information about a product. A very small percentage of people actually go online with their credit card in hand, ready to buy. If you can become an “Internet authority” on your product or service, your conversions will see an increase.

Write your own content. Avoid using regurgitated articles and free e-zines as the main source of content. It’s OK to supplement your content with articles from directories but avoid using it as a main source of content for you visitors.

Build Relationships – Unfortunately becoming an authority on the Internet about a specific topic or product may not always be easy, especially for popular products and services. In order for a smaller, less known, Web sites to become an authority they must establish itself through other ways. One way would be the content on the Web site. However, many people have an out-of-sight out-of-mind attitude. To combat this, Web site owners must develop a way to get their name back in front of their visitors. One way to do that is through e-mail marketing, user groups and forums, and using social marketing Web sites like MySpace.

Be Smart About Targeting Your Advertising – Using pay per click campaigns and other forms of paid advertising to can be a very effective way to land customers to your site. Many of the visitors from shopping sites like PriceGrabber and Shopping.com are ready to buy simply because they are coming to you from product comparison sites. In most cases they have already completed most of their research and are ready to buy from your site because of your price point or because you are the only merchant offering that product.

Because your visitor has already used the shopping comparison sites to do their initial research it is important that you present your visitor with a page that gets them to buy the product they came to your site for in the first place.

Make sure the first page they see is the product page, not your homepage. Nothing can be more frustrating, when you are ready to buy, then clicking on a product and ending up at a Web site where you have to find the specific product you want all over again. Most of the shopping sites and ppc advertising sites allow you to set specific URLs to accomplish this.

These are just a handful of the reasons why Web site owners angst over their conversion rates. In Part II, I will discuss even more reasons why Web site conversions can be low. In the mean time take a look at the point I made above and make sure that you are offering a competitive price, make sure it is easy to get around you Web site, provide original and useful content, build relationships with your visitors, and finally target your online advertising dollars to each specific product rather than your homepage.

5 Cold Hard Facts About Search Engine Rankings

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 04:00:00 GMT

If I had a dollar for every time I am asked “How do I increase my search engine rankings?” I could retire. It can be confusing and with all of the “opinions” out there regarding Internet marketing and more specifically, search engine optimization.

It’s no secret that search engines are constantly improving how they rank Web sites. In order to rank well in the search engines you need to constantly stay up on the latest SEO trends.

Well I am here to do is help clear things up and give you 5 cold hard facts that will get you on the path to higher search engine rankings and increased Web site traffic.

Cold Hard Fact #1: Keep it organized and on topic

Your Web site should have a nice structure and flow to it. Simple navigation and Web site content that carries a theme throughout perform far better in the SERPs (search engine ranking positions) than Web site with bad navigation and Web content that does not carry a theme or provide useful information to its visitors.

As a rule of thumb, create a Web site that readers can follow easily and get from any page in your Web site within 3 clicks.

The use of a site map is also a good idea. Install a Google site map and a Yahoo! site map in addition to the sitemap that you provide for your visitors.

Cold Hard Fact #2: Your Web site MUST load

Seems pretty obvious to say, but you need to make sure your Web site loads.

While you can check if your Web site loads using a standard Web browser like Internet Explorer or Fire Fox. However, most browsers can be very forgiving to code errors and can still display your Web site despite the problems.

Search engines, on the other hand, don’t use IE or FireFox. Most are text based browsers and they must be able to access your web sites and load all the pages. If it can’t it will skip right very or Web site.

Check your Web site logs and make sure your Web site isn’t displaying any errors when search engine spiders reach your Web pages.

Also, there are many freely available search engine spider simulators that you can use to see if your pages load properly.

It’s important to note that you should avoid using images or Flash to display text. Search engine can not see text in an image file or Flash file so you should make sure that you do use place the majority of your content in an image or Flash file.

Cold Hard Fact #3: The Right Keywords Are Still the Key

The key to success in the search engines is to understand the importance of your keyword selection. You must find keywords that (1) people are actually performing search (2) have a relatively low number of competing Web site for that keyword.

With keywords and natural search engine optimization the old adage of working your way up from the bottom holds very, very true.

If your expectations are to rank high for a popular keyword like “snowboards”, you are going to find yourself trying to attain a very large goal that will take a lot of time and money to achieve within a few years.

Instead of targeting “snowboards” a savvy Internet marketer will find niche keywords that do not compete with a large number of other Web sites but also generate enough searches to warrant a target on that particular keyword. Samples of niche keywords can be something like “men’s snowboard boots”. Most niche keywords are 2 or more words related to you’re the keyword(s) that you dream about having a # 1 ranking for.

Cold Hard Fact #4: Content is Still King

Content has been king for many many years now. And it makes sense.

Content is how search engine find your Web site and content is why your human visitors are coming to your Web site. If you have good content, users will visit, stay, and re-visit and so will the search engine spiders.

Need I say more?

Cold Hard Fact #5: Inbound Links Decide It All

With the different technologies and tools that the major search engines are putting out there, I think we are moving towards a shift in how search engines rank Web sites. Until then, search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Liive.com) rank Web sites using a number of different factors.

However, the number of inbound links to your Web site has a very large weight in the scale of where to rank your Web site.

You need to have Web sites pointing to your Web site. The higher the number of links that point to your Web site, the better it look to the search engines. A high number of IBLs usually results in high search engine rankings.

To read more about inbound links please check out What Can Inbound Links Do For Your Web Site?

What can inbound links do for your web site?

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

What can inbound links do for your web site?

Inbound links are links from other web sites that point to your web site. The quality and the quantity of the inbound links pointing to your Web site has become one of the primary factors in the ranking algorithms of major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Live.com.

The idea of using linking to measure the importance of Web sites is a fairly simple concept. A link that points a user to your Web site is considered to be a recommendation from someone. The more Web sites that point to your Web site, the better the ranking. Over the past 7 years or so, search engines have improved their ability to evaluate links in response to wide spread abuse of free-for-all links pages and similar sites that helped unethical Webmasters manipulate the rankings.

A lot of incoming link will not cut the mustard any more. The quality of the Web sites that point to your Web site is more important than the number of inbound links. A Web site that has content which is related to your Web site is better than a link from an unrelated Web site or a site with a ton of links (link lists).

The benefits of having quality inbound links:

1. All the major search engines that link popularity into account when they rank web sites. To improve your link popularity (and to improve your search engine ranking), you must have good inbound links. To learn more click here…

2. This idea is often overlooked, but, your linking partners will send you new visitors through the inbound links. As an example, if you have 600 inbound links pointing to your site each site send you an average of two visitors per day, by the end of the each day you will have 1,200 visitors. We can show you how to get many more link partners so that you'll get even more targeted traffic to your site.

3. Building reciprocal links will build a great link directory. This will improve the experience that your Web site visitors will have. Your visitors will bookmark your site and visit your site again and again because you can offer them a valuable resource: a well organized link directory.

Important points to remember about inbound links:

· Inbound links should be from related web pages

· Link HTML Tags (<a href="”page.htm”>keyword</a>") should include the keyword you want to achieve a ranking for.

· Link HTML Tags should not repeat exactly the same link text over and over on different sites because that looks unnatural to search engines.

· Inbound links should contain different but related link texts to show search engines that your site has valuable information about a specific topic

When you start a link building campaign, go for link quality, not quantity of links.

Do not participate in linking schemes or link farms that offer you hundreds of inbound links within a short period of time. The search engines do not rank sites that participate in these systems very well at all, additionally the quality of the sites in these link building schemes is generally low. You should focus getting higher quality links even if you only get a few a week.

Automated linking schemes and link farms can get you banned from search engines. If you target high quality inbound links, that method will lead to lasting results. It certainly does take longer to get high quality inbound links but the results will pay off in higher ranking for your Web site.

Why Internet Marketing Firms Hate MFA Sites

Wed, 6 Sep 2006 15:53:27 GMT

If the recent Google update has made your site rankings plummet through the floor, it has probably left you gasping for breath. Hello, where did you go wrong? If you take a peek around the e-landscape you will see many warrior sites left spluttering for breath. The nature and scope of search engine optimization has undergone a sea-change with the recent Google update. The truth is that with every Google update, a good Internet marketing company should quickly re-think and re-strategize. So its no use singing Shaggy’s ‘It wasn’t me’ to the Google Gods. Stop trying to convince them that you didn’t use MFA (Made for Adsense) sites. The sooner you accept the truth, the better it is – MFA sites have become like Micheal Jackson in the world of search engine optimization – hot once, cold now.

Search Engine Optimization and MFA

If you have created an MFA site, then you have undoubtedly found yourself at the top of the rankings, or somewhere close enough, all this time. However, now any legit internet marketing company will inform you that a MFA site is on the search engine optimization hit list. The Big Brothers at Google are watching you very closely. It’s only a matter of time before you will be kaput – sandboxed, banned, or dropped from the SERPs – no Internet marketing company will be able to help your search engine optimization efforts.

So, as the wise men at search engine optimization say, better to quit while you are ahead. Drop the MFA, and continue going down the straight and the narrow of search engine optimization. Use traditional search engine optimization techniques like good SEO rich content – update it regularly and you will see rankings improve slowly and gradually. Get one way links from targeted themed sites, you know the search engine optimization routine…Be a good boy, and the search engine optimization gods will smile upon you once again. Don’t hesitate to employ an expert search engine optimization firm to do this for you.

Why MFA Sites Suck

After all, what use was your MFA site anyways? The purpose of a Made for Adsense site is placing ads, which might be of interested to users. Once a user clicks these ads, and makes a purchase, the site is paid a commission from the advertiser. This sounded like a good idea, till fishy search engine optimization firms took a good thing and tarred it black.

Scraping, cloaking, and other black hat techniques have made MFA sites fester like a sore wound for genuine search engine optimization firms and strategies. You see, these MFAs pages are targeted at particular keywords. When surfers enter such keywords in a search engine, they are directed to these pages, which appear to have useful content. Keyword stuffing, same color text, and other underhand techniques make these pages appear at the top of the search engine optimization rankings. However, users see only a list of ads, most of which are not even related to their initial keyword. Informational content is zilch, and usefulness is zero. In fact, most MFA sites are not even created by humans any more, but are created using scripts and other search engine optimization tricks.

As you can imagine, MFA sites ruin the quality of search engine results. What’s a guy to do when most sites open up as lousy MFA sites? You think such a surfer will ever use that search engine again? Unlikely.

Moreover, imagine the condition of an advertiser who has put his hard-earned dollars into an Adword or an AdSense? He thinks genuine buyers and prospects are exploring his services. However, the only people coming his way are surfers who have been tricked into clicking his ad. In summary, an Adword buyer is paying for accidental clicks. This is search engine optimization fraud, any which way you look at it.

MFA Fall Outs on Search Engine Optimization

Not only will your MFA site sink like a stone in the web morass, with it will go other black hats as well. For example, your landing pages. If you have noticed, Google has increased the bid values for AdWords. When sites used to bid on relatively cheaper AdWords, they had no problems redirecting clickers to their MFA sites. At such sites, every click would generate several dollars for the owner. So the ROI was fantastic – bid a few cents on an AdWord, and get several dollars in exchange. Who could resist that?

Now it’s a different story. Such MFA sites are re-evaluated according to the landing pages for the AdWord. Internet marketing firms now realize that such pages could tank the rankings of their sites, or even worse, get their site banned. SERPs have shown that the only way for legit AdWords sites to remain in the race is to junk the MFA – landing pages tie-up.

The fall out of the recent update is that black hat search engine optimization methods have excluded MFA sites and the AdWords landing pages of such sites.

How Does Google KNOW?

Its quite simple. They altered the algorithm slightly, and tweaked it so that only the legit sites remain visible at the top. In fact, as far back as December 2005, Google began recording the Quality Score of AdWords landing pages. Similar to the carrot and stick approach, spammy pages resulted in higher bid values of related keywords and lower scores.
Best Practices for Internet Marketing Firms

•Alter all MFA sites you own, ASAP. Replace the content with information about the keywords you have used. Its painful, its expensive, but its pays in the long run.

•Edit the Adwords landing pages to have some relevant content.

•Never use black hat. If you are going to flirt with the law, be prepared for the sandbox.

•Ask a professional Internet marketing company for help – they are the experts, after all.

An Internet marketing company will bring with it knowledge, experience, and best of all, they know exactly how to remain just outside the danger zone. No one said search engine optimization was easy or simple. What is hot today becomes passé tomorrow. As an Internet marketing company, you need to be alert, agile, and very street smart to remain a step ahead in the rat race.

The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:12:38 GMT

Too many people consider search engine optimization a mysterious process, and so they debate what use they are getting out of the service. Because of this, it may help to describe what it takes to optimize a site.

The first step is to analyze the site. This is the least fun step, as the optimizer must look at the meta-tags (the code that describe the site to search engine) and compare them to the text on the site, as well as other tags found on the site. By comparing these tags, the optimizer can get a feel for the site, as well as any issues when it comes time to actually optimize the site.

The next step of search engine optimization is to start with the tags. A good optimizer will deal with the description tag, and then the keywords. The description tag allows the programmer to set up what the search engine will display when the site is found on a search engine. It also helps to guide the optimization. The keywords help the search engines to sort the site when people use keywords to search. It’s advised that you be as succinct as possible; search engines like succinct, and it’s easier to be relevant (if I’m looking for information on dog health tips, a relevant site would be one that dealt with, well, dog health tips; pug health tips would be less relevant, and healthy hair tips even less so). Brevity is not just the soul of wit.

Then there is checking the text on the site. Ideally, the key words and the text should match up. However, not just the visible text counts; images may have an “alt” that describes them (which helps), and there may be hidden text (such as in comments, which counts against you). The text is integral to your site, and there should be as much as works for the site. Just remember to not use text in images unless absolutely needed; as the text is actually an image, then search engines won’t read it.

Submitting it to sites and creating links can be the most frustrating aspect of search engine optimization. Look at the world wide web as a literal web; when you see clumps they are hard to ignore right? By creating links to your site you make it harder for search engines to ignore it; you basically make it more solid to them. If you can make them one-way, all the better.

It may sound easy, but it usually takes a few days of work, and requires a sense of what works. It’s for that reason that people are paid to do it. Also be aware that results may take a while; search engines tend to be conservative and are distrustful of changes, so it may be a few months before your site rises in the results. Just make you have the right company, and search engine optimization will bring customers to your site!

Tips For Getting Listed in DMOZ and Other Directories

Mon, 6 Mar 2006 17:50:12 GMT

A directory is a site that lists other sites. DMOZ is one of the largest, but there others, such as Yahoo’s directory, as well as other more specialized directories. The advantage to having your site listed in a directory is that potential customers can find your site easier, and search engines can crawl your site and list it. Here are some basic tips for getting your site in the directory.

1) Submit your site.
Most directories have a means your to submit your site; take advantage of it. This is the easiest and most effective way to get your site listed, and it allows you the most control over how your site is easiest. Just be advised that it may take some time before your site is listed; some directories take up to two months.

2) Have fans.
If people like your site, then they submit the site to directories that they use. This is great as there are a lot of directories that you will never hear about, and your fans will be more than glad to list your site for you. You don’t have any control over how your site is listed, but it will get listed.

3) Belong to a group.
There are two general types of groups: rings and drop-downs. Both are people that have decided to ally together in order to better publicize their sites, and automatically enter their members in their directories. Dropdowns have a piece of code that allows you to go to any members’ site, and a ring sends you to the next member, the last member, or a random; there is otherwise no real difference between them.

4) Host your site in a place that features a directory.
Some webhosting companies and marketing sites (such as CafePress) put everyone that they host in a directory. This is a great way to market your site, especially as it may bring customers you didn’t even consider to your site.

There are some other ways to join a directories, but these the best ways to join a directory. There are some directories that actively seek out new members, but, due to the randomness of which these work, these are not effective ways to join a directory.

It should be noted that joining a directory is advantageous to your site. As directories are used as ways to see if a site would work for the person looking for something. Because directories are increasingly being used, using a directory could be a major advantage to your site.

Some Easy Ways to Increase Web Site Traffic

Thu, 2 Mar 2006 17:47:20 GMT

In this age when website traffic is important, it pays to find ways to increase your web traffic. After all, the more people that go to your site, the more likely you are to sell your products and services. In that regard, here are some ways that you can increase web site traffic.

1) Find a small number of forums, and post frequently.

Discussion forums represent a number of opportunities to the shrewd businessman. Besides giving you a chance to network with those of a like mind, you can also get advice and, by giving advice and participating in the various discussions, you gain a decent reputation. Also, they generally allow you to post some basic coding in each post at the bottom of each post (called a signature). If you gain a good reputation, then other posters will click on any links placed there. A minor way to increase web site traffic, but a rather nice way to garner some good will.

2) Charity works.

You want to increase web site traffic, which means getting your URL in as many hands a possible. One of the most effective ways to do so is to get your name in the paper, preferably in positive way. The best way to do this is to find a charity and do some work for them. Besides being able to use this in press releases, you may be able to get the charity to list your name and URL on their site. PBS membership drives are excellent in this regard, especially if you get corporate sponsorship. Sports leagues, especially Little League, are even better.

3) Check into online directories and free advertising sites.

Directories are sites that tend to gather URLS and make them available to anyone that goes to them. However, be careful when choosing a directory; most are great at helping you to increase web site traffic, but a number get so little traffic themselves that they are basically a waste of time. Also, free advertising sites are great, as they tend to be popular, at least on a local level.

There are other ways to increase web site traffic. However, these are some great fun ways to do so. Good luck!

Rocky Relationships: Four Problems You Can Have With a Search Engine Marketing Company

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 02:16:53 GMT

Not all relationships go smoothly. Even the best relationships have their rocky parts. What can you do to prepare for the bad times?

1) Limitations
Just because you grow, doesn’t mean that your search engine marketing company will. This means that you may need to seek a company that can fulfill you needs, or even hire someone on who can take care of your needs. Either way, just be aware that there is the possibility that you and your current company may part ways down the road as you get bigger. A good way to prevent this is by making sure that the company you start with can handle a wide variety of problems, and that it looks like it will grow with you.

2) Seven Year Itch
There seems to come a time in most relationships where one or both partners want to try something new. Business relationships aren’t particular immune to this phenomenon; marketing companies decided to drop clients as they decide that they don’t want to deal with certain kinds of clients, and your company may decide to go in an entirely new direction, and your current search engine marketing company can’t go with you. Just make sure that you occasionally ask for, and receive backups, of what the company has done for you, and you will be well prepared for when this happens.

3) Death Of A Partner
The vast majority of businesses do not survive. That is a sad, sad fact. Unfortunately, when the search engine marketing company that you needed to do your marketing is no longer in business, it can be severely disable your business. As above, just make sure that you get the occasional back-up of all files related to your business, and you can pass those files to your next company.

4) Lack of Performance
Rarely, a search engine marketing company will start out doing what you want them to, and then stop doing it as well, either do to personal problems, personnel changes, or other issues. At that stage, you need to discuss the problem with the person, and find out if the problem is just temporary. Based on that, decide if looking for another company is in your future.

Being aware of problems before they happen allows you to solve the problem before it happens. These tips should help you to prepare for most of the problems you will face.

Search Engine Ranking Optimization and You: Four Easy Ways to Get Better Rankings

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:11:50 GMT

Where your site falls in the search engine rankings can determine your site’s success or failure. By using some basic search engine ranking optimization techniques, you can increase the chances of your site being a success.

1) Making the site presentable to human eyes. As search engines get more streamlined and more efficient, they look for the same things that people look for: good organization, relevant information, and no errors. As good organization and relevant information is almost assumed, the biggest problem in term of search engine ranking optimization is the number of typographical errors that page have. Always use some from of spellchecker before posting your text.

2) Relevant Meta-Tags. Never use more words than you absolutely need to describe your site. Too many sites use too many words, or irrelevant words, in order to sell their sites. To take advantage of search engine ranking optimization, you need to keep in mind that descriptions should be succinct, and that every word used should be useful. You don’t need to list every state to sell in the United States; it will only confuse the search engines when they categorize your site.

3) Use text. It may sound ridiculous, but a number of web designers use images of text in order have better control of the font used by web browser, especially when personal settings mess with highly specialized lay-outs. However, the problem is that search engines can’t read the text in images, and so images can be more of a hindrance than an advantage. Also, don’t forget to use “alt” tags on images; that way the images count towards search engine ranking optimization and are something else that the search engines can hook onto.

4) Get links back to your site. By them if you need to, but the more sites that link to your site the better. In essence, the more links to a site make it harder for search engines to ignore the site. This is why link building is so important to search engine ranking optimization; the more links to your site, the more important it looks, and therefore the more likely it will receive a good ranking. By following these tips, potential customers should have an easier time finding your site, and by making it easier to find your site, your site will be more prosperous.

Three False Rumors For Web Site Search Engine Optimization

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 19:07:34 GMT

A lot of business centers around people doing whatever they can to get people to their sites. This isn’t that incomprehensible; after all, the more people that go to a site, the more likely that the site will be successful. The best way to do this is through web site search engine optimization. However, there is the problem that not everything you hear is necessarily accurate. In that regard, let’s see about dispelling some rumors.

1) Anyone can do web site search engine optimization. This is an attitude to watch out for. The problem is that people see how easy marketing on the web is, and figure that they can do it. To make things more interesting, the field is still in its infancy, so the rules are still being written. Worse, search engines are constantly refining their rules based on customer feedback. Because of this, try to get expert help, at least to explain what is going on.

2) Web site search engine optimization should always cost a lot, so beware anyone not charging you an arm and a leg. This is patently false, as SEO programmers charge based on the potential profit of the site. So, if you’ve got a small site, then the SEO programmer won’t charge as much as he would a big site. There are other qualifiers, such as difficulties created by the client’s needs or specific issues that need to addressed.

3) The rules and concepts of web site search engine optimization are mysterious, ever-changing, and beyond the scope of normal people. This isn’t quite true. Search engines do constantly change, but they do so based on feedback, so they can be predicted. The basic rules aren’t that mysterious, but based on common sense. However, as people tend to over-complicate things, experts should be consulted just to make sure things look okay.

Keep in mind that forewarned is forearmed. Trusting your intuition can be tricky, as real world logic doesn’t always apply to web site search engine optimization, but it stills applies to human nature. If you’re not sure, you can always look for help online, and you should be part of several discussion groups; support is always nice.

What Does a Search Engine Optimization Specialist Do?

Sun, 5 Feb 2006 23:07:08 GMT

The a a lot of mysteries as to what exactly a search engine optimization specialist does. Given the importance of search engine optimization, this is not a good thing. Thus, let me give you an idea of what optimization entails.

First, a search engine optimization specialist analyzes your site. The specialist is mostly concerned with a few lines of code: the meta-tags, the title, and image tags. They a also intested in the text of the site. He compas the text and the tags, which tells him whe he needs to do the most work. Comments a also checked, as some search engines look at those as well as the st.

The search engine optimization specialist will then vise the code, checking each keyword used to determine if the a mo effective substitutes and then changing the text and images to flect that investigation. He then either submits it to a programmer or uploads it himself.

The easy stuff is over; now begins the al work. He first submits the site to the most used search engines, as well as some of the mo obscu sites. He will also submit it to a number of dictories, which the search engines a known to rifle through every so often. Also, he submits it to sites of a like mind, so that he can build up the links to site. He will also check out sites that a similar so, compiling a list of sites that allow for links, either because they a mini-dictories themselves, or they offer advertising. As he’s doing this, he also notes the page rank of the sites, as a potentially useful site is either of the same page rank or one or two steps higher than the site itself.

It needs to be noted that, while the changes a immediate, the effects may take a few months to manifest. Also, minor tweak a being done all the time a search engines change how they do things, or the site itself updates. My doing this, a search engine optimization specialist can help you build your business.

Three Managed Search Engine Marketing Services You Need

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:42:48 GMT

Placing high on search engine results is a major concern. By placing high, a company helps to ensure that potential customers will be more likely to see them, and thus go their site and buy their products or services. By taking advantage of these services, a site can place high on the search engine results without cheating (which can result in poor results or outright banning from the search engines).

1. Search Engine Submission Arguably the simplest of the managed search engine marketing services, search engines allow submission as it simplifies their work; rather than waiting for the various spiders to find your site, you tell the search engine how to get to your site directly. By submitting your site directly, the information from your site can be updated quickly and efficiently, speeding the process of updating your place on the search engine results.

2. Keyword Research One of the problems facing some sites is that the incorrect keywords were chosen to describe the site, or that too many were chosen. For example, it is possible to make a brake shoe site sound like shoe seller by choosing the wrong words, or to be red-flagged by a search engine because you decided to put in every possible permutation of a certain word. This is the most complicated of the managed search engine marketing services as it requires looking at the keywords chosen honestly and from a variety of angles, as there are a number of ways of interpreting any string of words. Also, it helps to have an idea how each keyword performs on its own and as part of a phrase. Keyword research also checks this with various software and techniques.

3. Pay Per Click One of the most ubiquitous managed search engine marketing services, pay per click allows some pre-qualification of users, ensuring that only those potentially interested in your service or product go to your site. Pay per click ads are placed on search engines and related sites, so that when someone either searches for a term that bring up your site or goes to a site in your category, an ad appears that gives them the option of clicking through to your site. As it only shows up on sites that relate to yours, it helps to ensure that those clicking through to yours are already interested in your services or products.

By using these managed search engine marketing services, you help to ensure that not only do you place high on search engines, but that there is interest in what you are selling, and that is a definite advantage in a market the size of the internet.

Three Reasons To Hire An Internet Marketing Service

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 18:05:10 GMT

An internet marketing service can help you business by driving people to it, and then making sure that they stay there long enough to buy something.

1) You want to make money.

It may sound obvious, but a lot of sites are put up as either private sites or hobby sites. For example, painters may put up a site in order to sell her paintings, but more as a personal gallery than a business. Other companies may create a site in order to just have an internet presence (“Everyone else is doing it!”); these companies feel nervous using new technology and so do minimal effort. In both cases, an internet marketing service would be helpful to turn the site into a more integral part of the business, and make it go from an added expense to something that is actually making money.

2) You want to expand your business.

By using the internet effectively, you can very effectively expand your business. By exploring your options, and finding ways to properly exploit the possibilities that the internet offers, you can expand the possibilities of your business. Generally this is limited to finding new customers in your niche market, but you can also find ways of taking your products to entirely new groups of customers. For example, if you have a map-drawing book that you’re currently marketing to hikers, then you can expand it to table-top gamers and civil war re-enactors. An internet marketing service will help you find these ways to expand your business.

3) You want to get out of the rut your business is in.

A lot of companies feel very comfortable doing what they are doing. Unfortunately, this leads to stagnation, and makes the company dependent on the customers it currently has, and doesn’t encourage new customers. An internet marketing service will help shake things up a bit, and help you re-style your company just enough to get customers coming into your store, virtual or otherwise.

The internet can be a scary place. But, with someone to act as a guide, you should be able to navigate it through it with no problem.

How To Train Your Workers For Search Engine Optimization

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 18:47:27 GMT

Search engine optimization training can be one of the most effective ways to make sure that your site hits the Top Ten in any search engine’s results. However, training your non-programmers is arguably more important than the people who do your code; this allows you to leave the programmers in charge of the code, and to integrate high-quality text into your site.

When you start search engine optimization training, be aware that there are several issues that you are going to need to deal with. The first is that the person being trained will need to learn that saying the same over and over isn’t a bad thing. SEO requires that a phrase be repeated so that the page can be picked up by search engines, and then placed towards the top of the results.

Another consideration of search engine optimization training is that the person going to need to learn how to use the same phrase in new ways. For example, what the limits are as far as punctuation and capitalization are concerned, and that there ways of using the same phrase in different ways. This can be the hardest step, as it requires a certain creativity in bureaucratic letters, and creativity is hard to teach.

The person is also going to need to be taught how to look at a page’s source code. Also, that person will also need to be aware of where to look, so that they will use the same keywords on the site in their letters meant for the net. It’s easy enough to do, but search engine optimization training needs to consider that not everyone picks up the same ideas at the same speed, and that technological concepts are sometimes resisted.

Programmers will also need to learn to be work with other departments more effectively, thus helping the search engine optimization training to be inter-departmental, rather than limited to just marketing and programming, which can be a huge benefit to your company, especially as this allows you to tap people who know their aspect of the company better than your marketing department does. This creates more effective marketing, and bringing in more clients, which is always a nice thing!

Top Four Things to Look For in a Search Engine Optimization Company

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 03:39:09 GMT

Search engine optimization is a booming business as people try to get their sites in the top results for the various search engines. However, before you choose a search engine optimization company there are some things to consider.

1) What has it done for itself? Most companies require thorough research in order to see how they have done. A search engine optimization company only requires a few minutes: Just ask for keywords. If the company is as good as they are trying to appear, then a simple search engine search using keywords submitted by the SEO company should tell you all you need to know; the results should be in the first couple of pages.

Also, look at the company’s home page; some browsers have the Google toolbar, allowing you to check out its Page Rank. It should be at least a “3” (showing that the company has been around, and that it has built up some business. Obviously, the higher the better, but don’t get caught up in the numbers; if the site shows up high in the results, you are doing fine.

2) What does it plan to do for you? A decent search engine optimization company should be able to analyze your site and develop at least a general plan in order to raise your rating. Also, they should be doing things to increase your hits. Be advised that some of the tips may require action from you; you may not need to do everything that they suggest, but at least debate it.

3) How quickly do they promise results? The faster they say results will come, the faster you should drop them. You should expect results within about four to six months; any faster, and be extremely hesitant. Realistically, you should notice a change in your results position in about three months, a major change in six, and, if all goes well, somewhere near the top in about ten to twelve months. The major reason for this is because the search engines tend to act nervous around sites that have a drastic change in the number of hits in a short period, but place them higher if the hits are sustained.

4) What do they plan to do with your URL? With the idea that you need people coming in, directories (sites that list sites in various subjects) are becoming more the rage. However, putting your URL in a directory that doesn’t apply to your site may do more harm than good (for example, putting your Home & Garden site on a Surfer site). As such, don’t be afraid to ask where your URL has been put.

Remember to check out them out and listen carefully to what they promise, and you should do well in the search engine results!

Hire The Right Search Engine Optimization Service, The First Time!

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:43:28 GMT

You have this great idea for a website. However, you have no idea how to take advantage of the various search engines in order to use them to drive surfers to your site. So you call in a search engine optimization service. But what does it do exactly?

A search engine optimization service looks at your website, and then makes some decisions. The first decision is how to describe your website so that it draws some attention. Rather than describing in terms of straight words, the service is looking at describing it in a way people would: “Yoursite sells candies, chocolates, and wax.” rather than just “candy, chocolate, and wax.” The reason for this is that search engines prefer things to look like regular humans would prefer to have them look like; humans prefer full sentences, so the search engines like them as well.

Keep in mind that humans will make their decisions to go to your website based on the description they read at the search engine. Which would you prefer to go to, a site that is described solely by a few words, or one where there is an actual description of what to expect at the site?

The other major decision that a search engine optimization service will make is what words describe the site. The problem with a number of designers is that they pick far too many words in, hoping that the words that they pick will show up in a search. The problem with this approach is relevancy: Most search engines will compare the keywords chosen by the searcher with the keywords of the site, and compare them with words on the site. So, if the words only appear as keywords, and not on the site itself, then the search engine places the site towards the bottom of the results.

But, by choosing words that represent the site well, a search engine optimization service can help a site rise in search engine results. It will see what words are on the site, and then chose from those which words best represent the site. They will also suggest other words to help the site do better on results as well.

Lastly, a good search engine optimization service will help the site’s page rank as well. “Page rank” is a way to help some search engines to determine how well the site can be trusted, and if it has been around for a bit. The idea is that the longer the site has been around, the more likely you can trust that the site will actually be what the searcher is looking for.

In short, if you are looking to make sure that your site will get the hits that it deserves, then find a decent search engine optimization service to get them!

A new "King of Search" in 2006?

Tue, 3 Jan 2006 20:24:30 GMT

It is no secret that the king of search engines does not reign supreme for a very long time on the World Wide Web. Before Google’s claim to the title, Yahoo! reigned supreme after the dot com bust. It’s debatable, but the first true king of search in my mind was Alta Vista, and many more in between Alta Vista and Yahoo!

Therefore, in about a decade’s time, we have had 3 different search engines who claim to be the most frequented. That averages to about 3 - 4 years each. Now of course we know Google has been #1 for about 4 years now, so is 2006 the year Google starts to slip?

To answer this we need to take a look at why people (more men than women I might add) turned away from Yahoo! and opted for the Google results instead. For one, I’ll tell you, I like the simplicity of Google’s main search page. It was small, so it loaded fast but far beyond that, the search results WERE some of the best returned AT THAT TIME.

So I bet you’re wondering why I emphasized WERE and AT THAT TIME. Simply stated, today MSN and Yahoo! return almost identical results as Google does. Try searching all three for the same keyword and I bet you’ll get 80 – 90% of the same results for popular search phrases.

Now having the same search results as one another is a bad thing, but Google realizes they can’t hang their hats on search results alone. So they developed a whole host of other services like free e-mail, free instant messenger, toolbar, desktop search, and now rumors of a dirt cheap Google computer undoubtedly preloaded to ensure the end user is inundated with Google products and advertising, minimizing the option for the user to select a competitor like Yahoo! or MSN.

So now we have the belief that MSN and Yahoo! have caught up to Google in search quality, the reason most users left in the first place. And Google has started offering more content and tools like MSN and Yahoo!. Is that the sole reason why I think 2006 is the beginning of the end for Google as King of Search?

Nope, the single reason I believe users are itching for a new King of Search is Wikipedia. I am not sure if Wikipedia will ever replace Google but the general idea behind it will. If you don’t know what Wikipedia is I pasted some text below from their Web site.

Wikipedia is a free-content encyclopedia, written collaboratively by people from all around the world. The site is a wiki, which means that anyone with access to an Internet-connected computer can edit entries simply by clicking on the edit this page link. Wikipedia is a trademark of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

Because Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which anybody with Internet access can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in some important ways. In particular, mature articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while other (often fledgling) articles may still contain significant misinformation, unencyclopaedic content or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this in order to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation which has been recently added and not yet removed. See Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia for more details.

There is a lot of Buzz about Wikipedia, and users generally are pleased with the information that can be obtain about pretty much anything on Wikipedia. One of the major benefits is a user can get very accurate answers and cross reference related terms with out having to sift through thousands of search Web pages results put together by a computer running an algorithm. Let’s face it, search engine definitely pull things together and make finding information easier, but some of the results are pretty fair at best since search results and rankings are not reviewed by a human, but by an algorithm.

There are many drawbacks to the current process that Wikipedia employs, but I think there is some serious potential for a world-wide knowledge management system that produces in-depth accurate answers and also allows for advertisers to target very specific keywords and behaviors.

Search Engine Optimization Tips

Thu, 8 Dec 2005 18:41:05 GMT

Many companies, including most of our clients, are on the search engine optimization (SEO) bandwagon. So I figured I would talk a little bit about how picking the wrong SEO company can cost you if things go wrong.

I firmly believe that companies that do not hire a firm are already on the road to the poor house. I have seen companies attempt to take care of SEO in-house in order to save money. Of course, there is a cost associated with this option as well--labor.

The bulk of the costs come from learning how to do SEO. Our company has spent the better part of 2 years defining and refining our SEO skills and strategies. I think this makes it harder for companies just getting into the SEO game to do it themselves especially considering that SEO is not a core business function for most companies.

In any case, companies often make decisions on whether to outsource based solely on price. However, one thing that is rarely factored into the decision making process is the potential cost of doing SEO wrong.

Here are a few items to think about before hiring an SEO firm, or doing it yourself.

Price
Obviously price is the first item in question when hiring an SEO firm. Buying services solely on price can lead to many problems. I always live by the motto "a cheap person spends the most". The importance of choosing the right SEO can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

Not choosing the right firm can also result in the following and be even more detrimental to your company

Penalization
I have heard some friends and clients tell me their experiences when they hired a shady optimization firm that used unacceptable techniques to increase rankings. Other friends have used well-intentioned but over-eager internal resources that implement old, and often dangerous, strategies. Once a strategy like this is figured out by the search engine you get penalized and your site will be removed from the search engine entirely. Getting back into a search engine index is difficult and sometimes near impossible.

Lost Opportunity
Search Engines are one of the hottest marketing channels in the world, and more and more companies are jumping into the mix and realizing outstanding returns on their investment. It can take several months to attain optimal results with search engine optimization, and choosing the wrong provider or using ineffective methodology can delay any returns. It is critical that the strategies used at the outset are effective and timely to minimize the waiting period for results.

Abandonment
I also have friends who tell me they have abandoned their SEO efforts because they feel SEO does not work for their business simply because they didn’t get results from a single poorly executed initiative. This mistaken belief is potentially the most expensive cost of doing SEO wrong, since the major increases in revenue that SEO can provide are never realized by such companies, although they are often realized by that company’s competitors.

Tips For Marketing Your Web Site, Part 2

Thu, 8 Dec 2005 18:34:04 GMT

Yesterday I discussed a little bit about the two most frequently marketed services for Web site marketing, search engine submission services and search engine placement services.

While both have their fair share of positives and negatives I feel that the way we go about marketing a company’s Web site is far more effective.

Without giving away the kitchen sink, I give you tip 1 of 5 tips for marketing your Web site based on theories that we use on an everyday basis.

5 Tips to help you market your Web site:

1. Understanding your target market – This one is easy, but the most overlooked. Don’t get the “I have a Web site, get me on Google” syndrome.

I recently had a client named Paul come to me and he was so excited about having just purchased his first domain name. He came to me because he wanted to be listed at the top of Google so bad and he didn’t care what it cost.

Now for most companies, Paul is a goldmine, but not for Xact IT Solutions.

I sat Paul down and calmed his excitement. Knowing this man’s business, I had to break it to him that I didn’t think his Web site needed to be listed at the top of Google, Yahoo!, or MSN.

He looked at me like I was crazy and said “What do you mean, I have a Web site now, how will people find me?”

That was just it! Paul didn’t want people to just find him. Paul wanted his target market to find him.

Now, Paul’s target market consisted of males and females over the age of 55. So I told Paul, go find me 10 individuals from your target market and ask them what Google is. I bet you might find 4 people who know what Google is, if you’re lucky!

The point is Paul’s target market would never go on Google or any other search engine to find his product. Paul can certainly increase his sales through his Web site by marketing his Web site in other manners such as the phonebook or magazine ads.

I’ll continue tomorrow with Tip #2……

Tips For Marketing Your Web Site, Part 1

Thu, 8 Dec 2005 18:31:53 GMT

When I get a request from a client to either develop or market a Web site for them they usually tell me they want to be listed on all the major search engines. Unfortunately, getting listed is one thing. Getting listed on a search engine and getting results is another.

Yes it's true, getting listed can be difficult, and getting listed at the top is even harder. Anyone considering marketing their Web site to attract more visitors has to understand the fundamental differences between getting listed on search engines near or at the top and just submitting a Web site.

Many companies offer search engine submitting services and the prices are all over the map. Essentially what you are paying for is to have someone else tell the search engines your sites exists, and "crawl" it. While many of these services do their job they will NOT get you listed at the top. In my experience, most of these services submit to search engines and newsgroups, which expose an e-mail address or require one to submit your site. All of the sudden your inbox is flooded with SPAM. Isn’t that just great!

Then we have services out there who claim to get you listed at the top of Google, Yahoo!, MSN, et al. While I have seen a few legitimate search engine optimization companies out there, I must warn you BUYER BEWARE!

What a lot of these so called guaranteed placement companies do is make you pick which search phrases or keywords you want to be listed under. In most cases you will have to pick about 20 phrases.

Now lets say you had to pick 20 keywords or phrases for your site, I am willing to bet 10 of those keywords are searched for less than 1% of all searches for your keywords or phrases. This is how they get you!

If ONE, just one, of your keywords ends up in the top 10 (or whatever you agree to) then the “guarantee” is met and you have no basis for a refund. Even though this placement will bring you less than 10 visitors a month or year, you still were listed in the top 10 for that keyword. Mission Accomplished! (I think not!)

Tomorrow I will discuss what I feel are the best approaches to marketing your Web site…..stay tuned!