Everything You Need to Know About Getting Past Google’s Rules

admin    Google Optimization     About, Everything, Getting, Googles, Know, Need, Past, Rules

Everything You Need to Know About Getting Past Google’s Rules

As you try to make money online and draw more traffic to your Web site, you’ve learned that the main thing you need to do is to get your pages listed in the first page or two of search results on the major search engines, including Google. You have also found that Google leads the way, and the other major search engines quickly follow, in staying ahead of all the “tricks” that Web marketers come up with in order to boost your Web site’s position in the search engine list, coming up with one rule after another to work against the latest Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. Still, there are many self-proclaimed experts selling one system or another to help you beat Google at this game.

So, here is everything you need to know about getting around Google’s restrictions:

Don’t!

That’s all you need to know. Really! If you’re looking for ways to beat the system – If you think Google is “the enemy” that you need to get past on the road to success – you can stop reading now.

Still reading? Good! Let me show you why you need learn to work with Google and the other search engines, rather than against them.

Prepare to reset your thinking.

(Please bear in mind for the rest of this article that “Google” really represents all search engines. Google has the largest impact on us Web marketers, because they account for most of the Web searches on the entire Internet and, not coincidentally, the strictest rules about what it takes for a Web site to be listed high on their search results. But pretty much the same rules that apply to Google will apply, sooner or later, to all the major search engines.)

Despite what you may have inferred from some shady operators purporting to provide search engine optimization services, Google is not trying to keep you from succeeding. Google is not trying to impose their own sense of what the Web should be.

Google is not the enemy.

Google is trying to present users with a list of Web sites that are actually relevant to what the user is looking for.

You want the users who end up looking at your site to be happy they found it, don’t you? You don’t want them to see your site and immediately click the “back” button because your site was not what they were looking for, do you?

If you really could apply all the tricks to get your Web site in the top of the search engine listings – even when it doesn’t deserve to be there – you will simply end up attracting all the wrong visitors. You might get more visitors than you would otherwise, but you will not get more sales. Most of your visitors will simply leave your Web site as soon as they see that it is not what they were looking for.

And even if a very few of them might have been interested in what you have to sell, even if it was not what they were looking for at the moment, they won’t buy it from you now, because you’ve made them angry. You’ve tricked them with your deceptive search engine optimization methods.

Maybe you can use a blast of pop-ups to catch the visitors who try to leave your site. Think that will soothe their anger?

I hope it is becoming obvious to you now: Those who promote deceptive techniques to get around the search engines’ rules are the enemy.

Take another look at what Google is trying to do with their rules and guidelines. They are trying to make sure that the visitors who find your site are actually happy to find it.

Google is your friend!

Rather than try to get one past Google, you should be studying what Google tells you they are looking for in a Web site. That is the way to get your site to the top of the results list for the keywords your users are searching for.

Read the information in Creating a Google-friendly site. This is more than just a gold mine, this is a stack of gold bricks sitting on the street corner with a sign saying “take as many as you want!”

So don’t pay to get around Google. That’s just paying to bring the wrong visitors to your site, and making them angry while you’re at it. Take what Google offers you for free, and let Google and the other search engines work for you to bring in the targeted traffic you actually want.

Why Google and Yahoo Foot Prints are Eliminating Everything but Your Business Card

admin    Google     business, Card, Eliminating, Everything, Foot, Google, Prints, Yahoo

In the old days I used to carry a laptop with an overhead digital projector. And sometimes a portable printer. I looked like a mercenary walking in. I still on occasion use the projector. But not much…same goes for my sales collateral, presentation, brochure, letterhead, portfolio and media packet.

First off it’s so much easier. I don’t arrive at a client’s office needing a baggage cart. I show up with my notepad, digital camera and recorder; all fit nicely in my pockets. I don’t carry a phone onsite since I am not an obstetrician or plumber. In fact I walk in with what appears to be just me because it is just me.

Sometimes they give me a quizzical look as if to say ‘didn’t you forget something?’ But unless they specifically ask, I don’t specifically tell. If we are at a conference table, I take out my pen and my small paper notepad and put it directly in front of me. To one side I lay my pocket recorder, and to the other my trick digital camera which I take from my shirt pocket. I’m not totally low tech…

I then take out my business card or maybe several if we are in a group. I lay them on the notepad. By this time more than a few in the room are watching and wondering what I will do next. Maybe perform some sort of magic trick and up will pop a laptop and projector and sales portfolio packet. As we do the obligatory handshakes and settle in, I slip my card across the table to my hosts. And smile.

“Do you have a resume or client list we can review?” is often the first question since they don’t know what else to ask.

“No,” I answer, “both are provided by Google and Yahoo.”

“Really?” they ask with raised eyebrows, “do you have a special deal with them?”

“No, just Google or Yahoo my name in quotes” I reply.

“And your resume is online?” they continue.

“No, just my history and work.”

At this point someone is curious enough to open up their laptop. They Google or Yahoo my name and look up, nodding their head affirmatively. What they see is what I have done. I could compile one myself in a resume format but why bother. My footprint or search results go on page after page. Depending on Google’s algorithmic moods, it can go on for dozens of pages.

As they click down the pages their eyes scan my article topics and they can see I write mainly business articles but also personal development, humor, sports, motivation and politics. I tell them my websites are simply self publishing blogs that store and house my article archives.

If they continue to scroll they will see many different websites where my articles are posted. All types of industries; auto, construction, health, real estate, pet care and even a few not so PG sites fortunately pretty far down the list…ha. Some political sites, some personal development sites and even an inspirational site or two. And a few radical ones, a few right wing ones and a few Jesus ones.

The advantages for me are many. First I don’t look like a salesman warrior loaded down with gadgets and briefcases inspiring fear as I prepare for battle. If I need a promo sheet, I have one folded up in my pocket just in case. I can use the wasted set up time to chat or start asking questions.

Second, I have a very cool business card that is simple, direct and just the right colors. It’s me. Third, they will never hear my cell beep or catch me stealing a glance down to see who called. What an insult. Fourth, I don’t distract everyone by looking for an outlet and setting up my gear. Ten years ago I would set up a mini office to impress. Today I don’t set up anything to impress. Google and Yahoo are nice enough to do that for me.

There’s an old sales tactic that asserts if you can get the prospect to do something active they become more involved and more likely to buy. Doing a simple Google or Yahoo search isn’t much but it is active. It’s also something they can do when I leave or whenever and wherever they wish. It’s something they can duplicate anywhere and something I have no direct control over. Because of all this, it’s credible. And (in)credible

Another important point to note is that I have a clean record. Not even a divorce, knock on wood. So by boldly stating ‘Google my name’ it shows that I am confident that no prison record will pop up. Unfortunately this tactic is not a good one if you do have a prison record…

If you Google my name you will find articles of mine in the London Daily News but no record of my being an inmate at San Quentin. That’s because I have had articles in the London Daily News but have never been an inmate at San Quentin. A simple Googling proves both. Thank you Google and thank you Yahoo for making my life so much easier.

You ever try to get a three prong plug into a two prong outlet without an adapter?

Why Google Isn’t “Everything”: How to beat Google PPC

admin    MSN Bing     Beat, Everything, Google, Isn't

The latest and greatest online buzz marketing tool seems to be Twitter.  It’s all the rage. Business guys like me are wondering though, will it stick?  Obviously, no one really know – so a better question is this: Does it matter to your business?

In today’s economy – especially in sectors like Real Estate, Mortgage Banking, or Health Care – transition, uncertainty and economic challenges facing the future of said sectors make business models look more like a Rorschach Test than a Harvard MBA based case study.

So what are businesses doing?  Spinning around all of the “buzz” and spending on Google AdWords at rates that make the coffers of one the behemoth burst and Google’s stock prices soar.  That’s good for those of us that bought Google at $275 – but it doesn’t do much to answer the impending marketing question – “Is Google all there is?  If not, how do I use the other avenues?”

Here are some answers to both of these very relevant questions:

To the former question, I answer a resounding NO. Google is not all there is. The bottom line is Google has the best interface and was smart in brining Google analytics to the market (to be sure, they are smart about a lot of things…), but Google doesn’t have all of the answers; either for business or in search engine marketing (SEM).  If they did, Facebook, MySpace, MSN, Bing, AOL, Yahoo and Twitter wouldn’t have exploded such as they have.

The reality is Google has a good business model and a better search technology engine.  But their business model of auctioning off AdWords and content placements is under serious attack – and for good reason. It’s EXPENSIVE! And the more competition that gets on with the model, the more money Google makes. This is all great for Google, but bad for you advertisers out there. Why? Because, your costs rise, which takes away from your ability to get visibility and make profits (and that is just basic MBA stuff).

Now with Facebook gaining mainstream acceptance – I was in San Francisco this weekend at a dinner party of 40-somethings – all talking about who they were finding on Facebook.  And when I got home, I mentioned to my 19 year old daughter this trend.  She said, “Uh… yeah, Dad.  Your generation is the only one that’s not on there yet.” She then proceeded to direct me to myparentsjoinedfacebook.com … OH CRAP! Again, good for us parents and marketers – bad for the kids.  (Hmm… If you parents out there are running “Facebook” what do you do? This is a site where the kids used it to “converse” – to do what kids do – and now Mom and Dad can virtually “listen in?” Beyond my point for now).

So, how do you use Facebook to market?  We’ll there’s a way to place ads there too – as well as on about 5 other major engines!  So, today, you’ll need to go back to the basics and get out of the Rorschach mentality where it’s black and white on Google, but you can’t quite tell what the picture is going to get you. Other than increasing advertising spend, of course.

Today, the Connected Market SpaceTM is moving at lightning pace.  Unless you are an expert in SEM and internet placements, you’ll need tools and services that drive you across platforms.  It is the only way you’ll be able to truly pinpoint where your customers are.  Remember Google only provides broad-based search.  What are those people that make up your market looking for?  The answer is pretty simple – you don’t know! But, they will tell you if where they are building their Connections.  So, are you there, where your customers, prospects and buyers are building their “connections”?

If you are stuck just on Google AdWords, you’re getting, at best,  a 1-in-7 chance (not to mention the international options for engines you’ve not even heard about) of being seen. What if, for the same budget, you could connect across all engines?  That’s what we’ve been building for the last five years of our ten year history with the Connected Market Space.

So Twitter, and Facebook, and Google and Bing away!  Ever notice when a company name becomes a “verb” it is where the market is at?

In the next two weeks we’ll launch our broad-based Connected Market Space tools that extend Google to reach across all the existing and evolving platforms.  These are confusing and exciting times but the picture of where things are headed is pretty clear.

Google is an inkblot on the overall canvas of the internet. And there are many versions of “what you see and what your market of customers, prospects and buyers see…” there is no one version, there is no one engine – there are, instead, many connections. Businesses in any sector that connect to this picture of new media marketing using SEM are the next success stories in the making.

Cheers,

Tim

Can Anybody Tell Me Anything And Everything They Know About The Google Nexus One.?

admin    Google's Nexus One     About, Anybody, Anything, Everything, Google, Know, Nexus, One., Tell, They

I really want to know about where i buy one next year.
And how the carrier thing works.
Would i just take it up to for example AT&T and tell them I need a carrier?
Also, what would be the best carrier?