Article Optimization – Directory Submission 101

admin    Google Optimization     Article, Directory, Optimization, Submission

Article Optimization – Directory Submission 101

It is a pleasurable challenge writing to Ezine and Article publishing Directories.  This is the “sandbox” that most writers are contributing to today.  More articles are written and show up as an entry to Google, Yahoo, MSN, AltaVist and other search engines than their are websites.  Some websites are articles in themselves.  It is much easier to write an article than it is to build a new website for most of us.  The common person may not be able to do build their own website, but he or she may have the talent to be a successful writer. Think of the competition though!  Thousands of writers writing about their content, promoting their website, and sharing their ideas.  The numbers are overwhelming!  There are a number of things that a writer needs to be aware of when submitting articles to develop a mass readership.  
<b>Article Optimization</b> – If you want your article to show up on page number one of Google, it has to be optimized.  Optimization is done by following some of the simple rules called “Search Engine Optimization“.  
Choose a <b>high quality article directory</b> to submit to.  This will contribute a great deal to getting the article close to the number one spot.  You can determine the <i>article directories PR rating</i> in Google ·by installing the Google task bar on you browser and going to the article directory website.  Contributing your article to the directory is a very simple thing.  You will have to provide personal information, possibly a pen name, your website url if you have one, and the category you will be writing about.
Use <b>keyword rich content</b> in the title, teaser, and body of the article.  You have to do some keyword research and plug them in to your article every chance that you can.  A good example in this article would be the keyword “<u>article directory</u>”.  It has to make sense when you use it.  Once every paragraph or two and your readers will not get bored with the article and keep reading until the end of the article.
Use bold, italic, and underline when it seems appropriate with your keywords.  Using Google, go look up some of your favorite keywords.  You will notice in the list of Google links that the keywords you put in are in bold.  Google picks up on the keywords.  Let me repeat that, Google picks up on the keywords.  In SEO Made Easy, the author indicates that not only does Google pick up on keywords, but Google picks up on keywords that are in bold, italic, and underlined.
Article Directories will let you place one to three incidents of anchor text in the body of the article.  This is an excellent way to <i>get a link back to your website</i>!  Google takes a while to do this, but eventually it will index the article and register the link.  You can work in your keywords in clever fashion this way.  If you have a website, and you are promoting your website in the article, this is the opportunity to use the keywords from your website.  If the article directory allows the technique, html anchor text entries can be made in the body of the article as well as the bio.  The reader would not normally know that html was being used.  Of course the Article Dircetory has to accept html code for this to work.
<b>Use anchor text</b> in the article writers bio.  <i>Most Article Directories</i> accept three, others will only allow you one.  This is the sales pitch.  If you have interesting content in the article, and have succeeded in convincing your reader that your contribution is worth investigating some more, they will want to go to your website and look some more!  This is the author’s sincere wish most of all, to gain trust and repore with his or her readers and to start a continuing business relationship.  It can be done with a proper close to the article asking for the reader to “come on in, the water is fine!”
<b>Article Writing</b> – If you want your article to be read from start to finish, <i>choose keywords and content that will make sense to the reader</i>.  Don’t try to write about nuclear physics to a business crowd.  
<b>Determine your audience</b>.  This is done easily by entering your keywords into Google.  Look at the number of entries returned.  An article will be successful if you choose an audience that is not to large that you cannot compete against and not so small that you will only expose the article too few times to too few readers.  When starting, it is a good idea to start with keywords that are getting about 30 hits a day at Overture.  Normally there would also be less than ten million entries returned from the Google keyword search for your topic.  Work on the larger populations when you get this down.  You will find innumerable targets and keywords that you can do this with.  There is no end to topics available on the internet.  What a rich source of information!
<b>Use original content</b> when submitting to <u>Article Directories</u>.  They have a way of finding out if your content is not original.  Article directory submission guidelines always require you have exclusive license allows your name to be associated with the articles produced for you or by you.  So don’t do it.  You will get caught!
Enjoy your writing!  The world is open to to your ideas and more than willing to accept what you have to offer, if it is done the right way!

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Is Search Engine Optimization For Real?

admin    Google Optimization     Engine, Optimization, Real, Search

Is Search Engine Optimization For Real?

It seems like everyone nowadays is launching a business website or contemplating doing so because of all the success stories we read of Internet millionaires and billionaires who had an idea, implemented it, and within 5 years were wealthier beyond their imagination. I definitely agree that the Internet is a great place to start a business because the startup costs are extremely low and you can reach a global audience which are two things that your typical brick and mortar business can’t do for the most part. I launched an online business in October of 2009 hoping that within 5 years I would be making enough money to quit my day job which I hope is still the case. I have a long way to go to reaching my goal but I’m determined to do it.

After launching my business in October of 2009 I decided to buy a book on Search Engine Optimization because I was determined to get at least 100 visitors a day to my site. It took me two weeks to get through the book because I implemented every strategy the book told me to implement. After it was all said and done my average daily traffic was about 5 people after the first month I started my business. I couldn’t believe that all the hours I spent reading and implementing these strategies had absolutely no bearing on increasing my sites popularity. And the kicker is that most of my traffic was coming from paid advertising (Cost Per Click) on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask which was costing me a lot of money on a monthly basis with a pretty high bounce rate so I wasn’t receiving any sales from this medium at all. I didn’t let this get me down though. I decided to purchase two more books on Search Engine Optimization (a.k.a. SEO) because each author has different ideas and I wanted to become an expert at SEO and make my site a success from the get go. I should also tell you that I bought a book on Search Engine Marketing because I wanted to get better results through my advertising campaigns on the different search engines and even this had no bearing on my advertising results. So what happened next?

After spending countless more hours on the two other SEO books and implementing every idea I came across I was hoping that all the time and energy I devoted to my site would pay off. Once again, I was wrong. I saw no increase in traffic at all yet once again. Not allowing this to put me in a funk I went out and bought two more books on the subject. Once again, I implemented every strategy in each book which amounted to the same results from the previous books I read…..nothing at all. All in all, I bought 8 books on SEO and implemented each and every strategy in these books and reaped no rewards for my time and effort at all. I’m a firm believer that if you work hard it will pay off in time. I’m still hoping that the search engines will reward me at some point for all the hard work I have put into optimizing my site. On top of all the books I have bought on the subject I have also spent hundreds of hours poring over blogs, articles, and any other medium that talks about SEO and strategies I can implement to improve my search engine rankings. Even implementing the ideas I have found through these sources has not amounted to getting increased results.

The reason I wrote this article is to help anyone out there who has just recently started an online business who wants to start getting traffic to their site ASAP. It’s also for anyone who has had a site for a while who has gone through the same challenges I have in regards to getting traffic to their site. Here are my tips for getting more traffic to your site:

1) POST ADS ON CRAIGSLIST!!!!: I put this as my #1 strategy because after all the time and energy I spent on SEO this has been the one medium that has brought me the most traffic. I post on CL regularly in different cities because my traffic has shot up doing so and it allows me to reach every corner of the country for FREE. I didn’t start posting on CL until recently and I’m so glad I did. My traffic has increased substantially. Another positive about using CL is that you can re-post your ads after they expire with just a few clicks.

2) If you have the means, invest in CPC advertising on major search engines: This has definitely brought me traffic but I have found not many people convert to buyers when clicking on ads. I read a book on Search Engine Marketing and implemented the strategies it discussed and saw no improvement in my results at all. So unless you have money to burn I would say don’t waste your money on CPC campaigns. Once you start selling products on your store then by all means I think it’s a great idea to advertise online to continue getting your name out there. Until then, focus on free ways to increase your traffic. Craigslist has done wonders for my traffic and this is the one and only strategy I can recommend to get traffic to your site immediately.

Now onto some of the strategies that all of the books I read suggested which have brought me absolutely no results:

Social Networking Sites: We are all very well aware of the popularity of Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. Unless you have a ton of contacts and/or friends on each site it is completely pointless adding information about your site on these mediums. I have wasted a lot of time doing this and it has brought me zero traffic. If you’re currently a user of one of these mediums with a lot of friends I definitely suggest posting information about your business on a regular basis. If you’re not a user of any of these mediums and have no desire to be then don’t waste your time posting any updates here because it will bring you no traffic.

Blogging: Just like social networking sites, if you don’t have people reading your blogs then blogging will bring you absolutely no traffic. I add my articles to my blogs on Blogger and Wordpress strictly for the link juice. Other than that, I have received no benefits in the way of traffic to my site at all.

Keywords for Search Engines: All the books I have read on SEO really stress the importance of picking the right keywords for each page on your website. I suggest using Google’s Keyword Search Tool and look for keywords that have low or average competitor competition because you will never be #1 on Google for a highly competitive keyword unless your store has been operating for several years and you’re the best authority for that given keyword or keyword phrase. There is also a lot of talk that the search engines don’t pay much attention to keywords anymore which I’m guessing is accurate. After all the work I have done optimizing my site for keywords my average position for my keywords is about 150 putting me on the 15th page of most searches for my products. So therefore, I’m invisible since most people don’t go past the second page when doing a search. I do recommend trying to rank for keywords where there isn’t much competition but don’t be surprised if you don’t rank highly for these keywords either.

Article Submission Sites: I write articles for two reasons. The first reason is that I actually enjoy it. I have always loved writing about subjects that interest me (like this subject). The second reason I write articles and submit them on several sites is for the link juice. Not only do I receive link juice from the sites I post them on but I also receive link juice from people who put my articles on their site. If you decide to write articles and post them online always provide a link to your site in the Author Resource Box. People who add your article to their site are supposed to also add the link to your site. Most people do abide by these rules but some don’t. Writing articles has brought me no traffic at all but I have read that the more links you have pointing to your site the more likely you are to rise in search engine rankings. I have yet to see this but I’m patient so we shall see.

Google Product Search: The web store service I use posts all of my products on Google Product Search automatically and they have told me that this is where most of their customer’s sales come from. I haven’t made one sale using this service but I continue using it because I don’t have to do any work on my end and I show up on the first page of searches for particular products. This sounds great right? Not so much. You have to realize that you’re competing with the big boys like Amazon, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart who also use this service and you can be sure that if you’re a small store you can’t compete on price with these guys. It appears that most people who use Google Product Search are only interested in buying a particular product at the lowest possible price and could care less about customer service. I definitely recommend using this service since it is free and will allow you to show up on the first page of specific Google searches for the products you are selling but be warned that your product will show up with 2 or 3 identical products and people will usually click on the one with the lowest price.  However, if you sell products that major retailers don’t sell I can see this being a great tool that will help you get on the first page of Google when people search for your particular product.

Directories: All of the books I have read have talked about the importance of adding your business to directories. I have added my business to about 100 directories and have received very little traffic as a result. I think it helps add link juice for your site but that is it. Every book I have read has mentioned that adding your site to DMOZ is crucial because this is the directory that Google crawls and gives the most attention to. I put in a request to add my site back in October of 2009 and my business still hasn’t been added yet. Since DMOZ has volunteer editors approving and disapproving sites it can take a very long time before they ever get to your site. I’ve been waiting for 7 months now and I’m not sure if my site will ever be reviewed to be honest with you.

I could go on and on about all of the strategies I read about in SEO books but I have covered the major topics in this article. If you plan on opening up an online business or currently operate one and want to get traffic immediately my recommendations are to post on Craigslist and advertise on the major search engines if you have the means. If money is no object I would also recommend hiring an SEO firm to help you rank highly on the search engines for keywords.   I’m not at the point where I would hire an SEO firm because according to all the books I have read (which are written by SEO experts and practitioners) people who hire SEO firms either don’t have the time to implement the strategies in the books I have read or choose not to.  Also, a lot of authors feel that SEO firms are a waste of money because they do the same things that are in SEO books and charge very high rates to do these tasks for you.  I truly believe that ranking high in the search engines takes time and there are no tactics to help you rank high for your chosen keywords immediately. I say if opening an online store is something you truly want to do then jump in and do it but don’t expect your site to be a success within the first 6 months to a year. While possible, I feel it is extremely unlikely.  I hope this article was informative.  Thank you.

Google Buys ITA Software To Shake Up Online Booking

admin    Google Optimization     Booking, Buys, Google, Online, Shake, Software

Google Buys ITA Software To Shake Up Online Booking

Search engine giant Google took the travel industry by storm last week with a 0 million purchase of ITA Software, a flight-information software company.

The multi-million-dollar deal would not only put Google in direct competition with Web sites such as Kayak and Cheapflights.com, but it potentially could transform the online travel industry.

For several months, the rumor mill had been churning with news of Google’s interest in ITA, causing the travel industry’s key players to scramble to position themselves.

Several travel Web sites, including Kayak.com, threw in competing bids to buy the Boston-based ITA, but were outbid by Google.

Google’s purchase would give the company control of ITA’s ubiquitous flight pricing software, making Google a force to be reckoned with in the travel world.

ITA offers flight times, availabilities and prices to airlines and Web sites that include: TripAdvisor, Bing, Hotwire, Orbitz, Continental, American Airlines, and Alitalia.

Google says that their purchase of ITA will make it easier for consumers to find flight information online and give consumers more choices.

According to Google’s boss, Eric Schmidt, Google’s goal is to use ITA’s information to foster innovation in the travel industry rather than to sell tickets. Schmidt says that Google is also creating flight tools unlike any in existence that will change the way online travel works.

The purchase, however, would turn Google into a fierce competitor in the travel meta-search industry and could drive a stake through traditional, non-Internet flight booking outlets.

US regulatory authorities are also likely to keep a close eye on Google’s new deal to ensure that it is fair to competitors and consumers.

Though Google says it wants to preserve competition in the travel industry and has no plans to lock out competitors, only time will tell what this acquisition really means for online flight bookings.

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Google Instant And Its Effect On SEO

admin    Google Optimization     Effect, Google, Instant

Google Instant And Its Effect On SEO

All hail the arrival of Google Instant!

What is Google Instant?

Google Instant is an additional or enhanced search feature which shows search suggestions as you type.

Before now, to get search results, you had to press “enter” at the end of your search query,.

With this enhanced search feature, you are literally guided by these suggestions as you type and you do not have to press the return key, as search results appear as you type and changes accordingly as you proceed until you reach your final search destination, when the search results remain permanent.

One of the reasons behind and benefits of this enhanced search feature as touted by Google, is an expected reduction in search time. A study of time spent during the search process had in fact confirmed this thinking.

A further confirmation is that the time spent in reading is much shorter than in typing such that search users can glance much faster at the search suggestions and utilize them at greater speed than they would, had they had to type search terms to the end.

Since many users of this enhanced search feature will have to pause to consider the suggestions presented to them as they type, i strongly think this might in fact slow down the search process, quite contrary to Google’s thinking.

Does this have an impact on search engine optimization?

Unlike the belief of many analysts, Google does not believe Google Instant is going to affect SEO.

Many analysts believe that while single keyword terms optimization is likely to get a boost, they see it as a death note to long-tail keywords.

To these analysts, it also symbolizes a support to certain established brands whose brand names are now expected to be suggested by Google Instant as soon as certain single or few letters are typed into the search box.

Many other analysts however believe that it is the manner of carrying out search engine optimization that will alter. To these other analysts, there now has to be a concentration in terms of optimization on the long-tail keywords within search suggestions revealed by Google Instant as these are going to get a boost while many other unrevealed(by Google Instant suggestions) may gradually go into extinction.

Google Instant is still optional and you have the choice to switch off this feature by either going to the preferences page to effect this or by clicking a link on the right of the search box.

The buzz about Google Instant is all about the blogosphere.

Welcome Google Instant!

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Easy to do it search Engine Optimization (SEO) procedures

admin    Google Optimization     Easy, Engine, Optimization, procedures, Search

Easy to do it search Engine Optimization (SEO) procedures

Your website is like empty museum if you have no visitors to navigate your website. search engine optimization is key concept to generate massive targeted traffic by making your website seospidy top 10 listing in most searchable keywords in Google, Bing and Yahoo. Search engine optimization is most economical and cost effective business strategy as compared to other offline media marketing includes banner ads, advertisement in radio channels and tv channels etc. search engine optimization is steady process of doing changes in your website by interactive content and description in meta tags, header tags and homepage body content. This process is also known as On-Page Optimization. It is practiced to make your website more search engine friendly by filling unique text and manipulate html code into simple language so that it is easily understandable by search engines.

Meta Tags Optimization. Doing On-page optimization in Professional Search Engine Marketing manner is skill and art of great search engine optimizers. Search engines like Google, Bing and yahoo have special algorithm which compares website with its similar websites and decides which website should be ranked in search engines.
Business analysis using result oriented keyword research: Every text phrases search by search engine users are known as keyword.  By what matter is your website should be rank in top 5 results in search engines in most searchable keywords. For researching and keyword optimization we can use Google keyword external tool to refine text phrases by average search and last month search and even we can calculate searches of text phrases and keyword per day by diving average volume of searches of given keyword by 30. Word tracker is very common keyword research tool these days but it is not free version we have to paid for it and it gives fine result too and we can use it trial version for 1 week.
Image Optimization: Images shown in our website have no existence if we have not listed its alternate text and image file name. Let’s take an example some times when our visitor have very low connection and our website Is opening in his browser very slowly because of heavy image and lots of small images then if we insert its alternate text then most of the time web browser shows its alternate text and image file name in image size so that our visitor got the idea of theme of our images listed in website. Most importantly image optimization play leading role in on-page optimization process  to make our website more search engine friendly hence it boost our ranking in text phrases so we got massive traffic too.
Off-page Optimization: website optimization is all about anchor text game found in web. Collect and research high page rank websites found in Google search result and categorized them as web directories, article directories,  news publishing sites, photo sharing sites, presentation slides sharing sites and also collect list of websites similar to your industry and contact this similar website owners and webmaster by email to share reciprocal link exchange with your website. Use keywords redirecting to your website by making anchor text link and submit them with unique description to all web directories, article directories, blog website, press release site manually.

Hope this interesting seospidy article will benefit  you in starting self search engine optimization of your website.

Take a look for effective search engine optimization

admin    Google Optimization     Effective, Engine, Look, Optimization, Search, take

Take a look for effective search engine optimization

Do you wish your website to be indexed by search giants like Google, Bing and Yahoo seospidy effective search engine optimization is special mechanism works as search marketing engineering which helps your website to be indexed, caching and crawling much faster than other millions of websites found in web.

Most popular search bots Google, Bing and yahoo have very tough competition between them to index as many websites as possible to have biggest database then other search bots. These search bots works under special algorithm like semantic etc, used ajax technology to save time of search engine users.

Effective search engine optimization is what you require to make money online as there are 1000’s of millions of websites found in web in similar industry and remember if your website is not listing in most searchable text phrases or keywords of your niche industry then you are actually loosing biggest volume of potential customers and visitors who search your matching products and services in Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Small business seo Search engine optimization is steady process any seo services provider who offer you immediate result is just piece of spam found in web by great entrepreneur likes you. Nobody can guaranteed you to make your website listing in 1st position in search giants like Google, Bing and Yahoo for lifetime as ranking of your website is manipulated and handle by search engines using special algorithm and 1000’s of unique factors.

Offline marketing like banner ads, newspaper, radio and tv campaigns are very costly and search engine optimization is very cost effective and result oriented work to make real business of making money online.

Outsource seo for building brand identity is great idea. As best seo firm never quote for price but conduct meeting to understand your business and then after 72 hours after business consultancy provide list of most searchable keywords of your niche business and then do some changes in your website under wire frame management search analyst call it as ON-page Optimization to make your website Search engine Friendly by following Google search engine Guidelines. Once website required changes are completed and tracking, analytics code is inserted they start building backlinks or inbound links targeting your website by effective and unique content posting in various internet marketing networks likes website directories, article directories, press release websites, content sharing sites, photo sharing sites, bloggers sites, social bookmarking sites once they collect email id by effective list building these search engine optimization seo firms start Email marketing to your targeted customers and visitors by weekly publishing special promos, discounts and coupens to double your sales and once your website is getting very good business these search engine optimization seo firms handle and provide pay per click advertising in content and search network to make your website listed in millions of websites by banner marketing and text link marketing.

How to find reliable seo firm check these factors to analysis seo firm

1. Does the seo firm have previous experience with SEO?

2. What is their website’s position on Google, Bing and Yahoo? If they can’t optimize their seo firm what are the chances they’ll succeed with yours?

3. What is their business goal strategy for your website? While most SEO firms won’t go into detail on how they would perform SEO, they should be able to explain WHAT they have planned for your small business ecommerce website.

5. The minimum amount of time period necessary to make any difference in Search Engine position is about 3 months. In most cases, it is more likely to take about 6-8 months due to aging algorithm implemented by most Search giants like Google, Bing and Yahoo!

Search Engine Optimization Cost Reduction Tips for Small Business SEO Success

admin    Google Optimization     business, Cost, Engine, Optimization, Reduction, Search, Small, Success, Tips

Search Engine Optimization Cost Reduction Tips for Small Business SEO Success

1..What is the number one priority, objective, or goal that you want to achieve through your online marketing efforts?
- Are trying to establish your business as an “authority site”?
- Are you trying to build a community using social media?
- Are you trying to generate more leads to fill your sales funnel?
- Are you are trying to attract more customers to a retail or physical location?
- What is your desired outcome for visitors to your website?
- What is your “business model” for your online marketing?

The responses to these questions will affect the online marketing strategy, approach, or techniques that are most suitable.

2. The BIG SECRET of Internet Millionaires and virtually ALL Successful Online Businesses…
Actually, this “secret” is painfully obvious – it is one of the fundamentals of achieving success online. But, just as major league athletes focus on the fundamentals of their competitive sports, it is worth highlighting here: TRAFFIC MATTERS MOST – IT IS A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT.

To be more specific – targeted traffic is what matters most. Attracting targeted traffic essentially means that the visitors to your site are already pre-qualified to the extent that you are presenting them with information that is aligned with what they are searching for. This assumes, of course, that the methods used to attract them are consistent with search engine optimization and search engine marketing best practices.
Practicing “Attraction Marketing” or “Magnetic Marketing” or Customer Centric Marketing leads to “friction free marketing” and long-term relationship-building.

3. How do prospects and customers find you now – and how could you attract more?
- Which keywords do prospects use when they are searching online for what you offer?
- Where is your business currently ranked for those terms in the search engines?
- How competitive are the keywords that you are currently using to promote your business?
- How viable is it that you will be able to rank for those keywords in the near future?

4. What does “Google Page 1 Rankings” actually mean – and why does it matter?
A Google Page 1 Ranking means either that a particular web-page appears on the first page of the natural “organic” Search Engine Results Position (often referred to by the acronym: “SERP”) in response to a search for a particular keyword or keyword search term, OR that an advertiser has outbid all other advertisers to appear in the Sponsored Results.

Google Page 1 Rankings matter greatly because:
- 81% of people search online before making a purchase.
- 72% of people use Google when performing online search.
- 98% of people choose a business on “Page 1″ when making a “buying decision”.

Conclusion: If your business isn’t ranked on the first page of Google’s “natural” or “organic” search results, you will be missing out on close to 75% of potential prospects, leads, and sales.

Important Note: Recent metrics evidence that people performing online searches increasingly look beyond the Sponsored Results and directly to the “organic results” for the information they seek.

5. Generating Traffic through Paid Advertising (AdWords, Facebook Ads, CPA, CPC, etc):
Paid Traffic remains the fastest way to generate traffic for new websites, to test keywords, and to “pump” life into websites that are stuck on page 2, 3, 4, 5….157…or otherwise not prominently displayed in the search results….BUT…the value of the bought traffic may be worthless…especially if it doesn’t convert to sales.

When business owners or webmasters get frustrated with their online efforts, there is frequently a temptation to try to make up for lost time by purchasing traffic from advertising brokers (i.e. the “content network”). As tempting as it is to generate “traffic” fast using this method, it should be understood that there are very real risks associated with it.

Anyone with a valid credit card charging capacity can generate traffic fast. Beware, however, that the traffic generated from many of these sources is a total waste of money. Ask almost anyone who has tried it.

Obviously, Google and Yahoo have made literally billions of dollars by selling this kind of traffic (i.e. paid clicks). In the early days of Adwords and Adsense lot of savvy internet marketers created online advertising empires by functioning as advertising “arbitrage” agents. For the past several years, however, many of those very same marketers complain of losing vast sums on advertising campaigns.

Caution: If you choose to use paid advertising to buy traffic, proceed carefully – and limit your spending until you verify that the cost/benefit ratio of your advertising program is within your accepted tolerances, and expectations.

6. Keyword Research – and How to “re-position” your company online (if necessary).
One of the smartest things you can do, and definitely one of the first things you really should do, is to perform some basic keyword research. Only by conducting detailed keyword research can you know how to proceed with your online marketing efforts. Only after performing keyword research can you determine whether you will be wasting time and money (and lost-opportunity costs) by trying to promote your business based on words or terms or “keywords” that are either too competitive, not sufficiently searched, or otherwise non-performing.

You can begin to get a sense about all of this for free by using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
Start by entering a broad term that relates to your business or niche. Then scan the results for the keywords you are currently using.
Then review the competition, both in terms of Adwords and also in the search engine itself. If the first page of natural SERP results is dominated by major corporations, major “authority sites”, or other stiff competition, then that keyword may be difficult to rank for. This is especially true if the SERP results are for main indexed pages.

On the other hand, if the first page of Google returns a lot of “inner pages” (i.e. pages that are on the third hierarchy of the site structure, or lower), and if they are not from “authority sites”, but rather from blogs or smaller sites, then ranking for those particular keywords may be achievable, and perhaps even relatively easy).

7. Knowing Who Your Visitors Are – Capturing Visitor Contact Details for Lead Generation
The single most important missing element from most business websites may be a “lead capture form”. It’s hard to believe that with literally billions of websites published, so many websites lack such a valuable but inexpensive and easy-to-implement tool.
Lead capture forms have been available for at least 10 years. And we have all grown accustomed to using them – as consumers, or as “subscribers”. You may be reading this information as a result of having entered your email address into a basic lead capture form (sometimes referred to as a “squeeze form” or “squeeze page”, depending on how it is implemented).
Lead capture forms are typically integrated with Auto responders such as Aweber, Get Response, iContact, Infusionsoft, 1ShoppingCart, or others.
If you are trying to develop any kind of business intelligence about your website visitors, and trying to establish a follow-up rapport with them, it is essential to incorporate lead capture forms into your website.
At the most basic level, setting up a lead capture form can be accomplished in minutes.

8. Understanding Web 2.0 and How Social Media Can be Leveraged to Facilitate SEO and to Grow Your Business:
Web 2.0 and Social Media are extremely complex and dynamic developments. The easiest way to understand the potential of Web 2.0 and Social Media, in terms of how they can help you grow your business is this: Make It Easy For People to Learn About You and What You Offer – and expand your circle of influence or like-minded “friends”.

Unlike “web 1.0″ sites, Blogs are “Web 2.0 ready” – what this means is that they are preconfigured (in most cases) to allow for RSS feeds, Social Network Sharing, Commenting, etc.

It’s no secret that the way Google (and other leading search engines) rank their search results is largely based on what other people think. It follows that the more people who link to your site, the more Google will consider your site to be an “authority site”, or at least a meaningful site, within a particular niche, or for certain keyword terms.

The easiest, cheapest, and one of the most effective things that you can do to improve your search engine optimization is to incorporate a blog into your website (or make it your website), and to create meaningful and relevent content on a regular basis (e.g. 4 times a week or more).
Make it easy for other people and blogs and organizations to get your content and to derive value from you. RSS feeds and Social Bookmarking tools are ideal for this task.

Summary: If any of the above sounds too technically challenging for you, or if you would simply prefer to focus on running your business, rather than trying to manage your search engine optimization costs and rankings, then you should seriously consider outsourcing your SEO Package to a trusted advisor.

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