Choosing the Right Search Engine Keywords for Your Small Business
As a small business trying to make a dent in the online marketplace, how can you succeed? The competition is fierce, filled with literally millions of potential challengers. Included in this mix are mega retailers such as Amazon, Target and Wal-Mart. So is investing in online marketing really worth the time, effort and money?
If you want to succeed with online marketing, as a small business you have to spend your time conducting some very important research. You can use free tools such as the Google Adwords keyword tool to help you gain a better understanding of what’s being searched for by actual Internet users related to a particular term, niche or market. By doing so, you’ll be able to receive a clear picture of what the market landscape is actually like.
With this kind of research you can gain a basic understanding of how strong the competition is for a particular phrase as well as determine which phrases are the most popular and which ones aren’t that common. You can then combine this knowledge with a survey in Google of the number and quality of websites that gets displayed for one of those same phrases.
After taking a look at both the keywords returned from Google Adwords and the competition that shows up in Google, you should be able to pinpoint potential openings in the marketplace where your small business can succeed. Hopefully you will have also uncovered some long-tail keywords as well. Long-tail keywords are typically described as keyword phrases that consist of at least three words, and many times extend upwards to five or six words, but the concept was first described by Chris Anderson in his book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
One of the best ways to market your website and small business online is by targeting some of these long-tail keywords. For example, a local mechanic might find that ranking in Google for the word “mechanic” is extremely difficult. After all, such a general term is sure to be filled with competition. Additionally, when someone searches for “mechanic” they may be interested in finding a local mechanic, becoming a mechanic, questions to ask a mechanic, reviews for mechanics or other topics of interest.
Therefore, long-tail keywords not only give you a better chance to be ranked because the competition is lower, but they also give you more targeted traffic that matches the specific needs of an individual web surfer. As a small business you have an advantage over mega-corporations. You can seek out small, untouched niches in the massive market, and then fill the needs of that space. You’ll never have the size or scope of one of those massive operations, so why bother trying? Instead, refocus your efforts towards fitting smaller niche gaps in the online marketplace. Don’t be a “mechanic,” be a “cheap mechanic in East Lansing Michigan” or a “Harley Davidson Mechanic in Carlsbad.”
Choosing the right search engine keywords is the best way to get the most from your time and effort with online marketing, and it opens up the doors of opportunity for any small business to succeed. By establishing your small business in the online marketplace related to your local area, and by researching and deploying long-tail keywords with low competition that produce highly targeted traffic, you’re well on your way to Internet success.
How Can a Small Business Get Top Search Engine Placement and Compete with the Big Companies?
Getting found in the search engines is a top priority for any small business owner that is looking to increase their presence and find new customers. While going up against hundreds of millions of different websites is certainly daunting, it’s actually an easier challenge on a more level playing field than in any other medium. Therefore, by learning how to maximize your online presence and improve your search engine rankings, you can quickly gain a leg up on your competition, no matter how big or small they are.
As the owner of a small business, certainly you have a limited advertising, marketing and promotion budget. You won’t be able to win the battles for TV commercials, newspaper flyers or circulars or even radio advertisements. Larger companies with deeper pockets can overwhelm you and your efforts, no matter how careful you are. However, with online marketing, you don’t need to have a huge budget to succeed.
The beauty of search engine optimization is that any company, no matter how large or small, can utilize the same strategies and find great success in the search engines. The key for a small, local business is that you have to learn how to research and target your marketplace. By doing so, you can quickly soar up the search engine rankings for the most important phrases related to your industry or niche. The result will be a steady stream of traffic to your website, and an increased customer base.
The trick lies in aligning your website and your company with a local or niche market. The big companies will never have a chance to drill down and focus their efforts as you can on specific segments of the marketplace. By using long-tail keywords related to your niche and by establishing yourself as a local company by using free tools such as the Google Local Business service you can find great success in exploiting small, lucrative online niches. In addition to working on your search engine optimization with the above techniques you can also look into the world of PPC, or pay-per-click advertising. With PPC you bid on keywords and phrases for the right to be displayed as the sponsored listings at the top of the page. Through careful research and targeting, small businesses can find reasonably popular but only moderately competitive terms, and instantly get shown at the top of the search engine results for that phrase.
The benefits of PPC are that it is an instant solution, it can provide great leads and prospects, it increases your online presence and much more. You just have to be careful with your bidding and targeting strategies, and be aware that PPC takes some trial and error to get used to.
Small businesses can not only compete with the big companies online, but they can win out. You can combine solid SEO skills to target small, untouched niches with a PPC campaign that gets you instantly boosted to the top of the rankings for an amazingly effective and efficient online marketing strategy.
Simple Search Engine Optimization – SEO Tips for Google, Yahoo and Msn
Simple Search Engine Optimization – SEO Tips for Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Over 3/4 of all internet searches are done by the big three. Getting listed as close to the top of the search results is the process of Search Engine Optimization also known as SEO.
By using optimization strategies like the domain name, keywords, Meta tags, indexed pages, internal and external links, SEO can significantly help your website search rankings for all pages
Web Address
The domain name is for your website, e.g., “your-site.com” is the URL and “your-site” is the domain name. The URL should contain your best keyword to boost your search engine ranking.
Keywords and Phrases
While keywords are another piece of search engine optimization you will need for Google, Yahoo and MSN you will also need to look at the placement and frequency of keywords within your web pages’ text. The right balance and location make all the difference. You should balance good content with keywords. Research your keyword selection for competition on and how often they are used.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are another great way for search engines learn about your web site. You should use Meta tags with care, do not repeat keywords, include words that are not in your pages and prepare a good title – description.
Search Engines – Index
Search engine spiders travel around the internet by crawling hyperlinks and text. Search results are the product of indexed pages in the cache. You should optimize your homepage and then optimize all other pages of your website. Then you can begin to submit or resubmit your site and sitemap.
Internal – External Linking
The anchor text and quality of inbound and outbound links can help your site’s search engine rankings more than any one fix. Quality inbound links help your site to significantly increase its search engine ranking. Internal link structure should be clear and make sense. External linking can provide significant opportunity but having too many outbound links or the wrong site can decrease your sites ranking. You should also check IP for negative factors “banned”.
Page Rank Google (PR)
Page Rank is a measurement of how important your site is to Google . Page Rank also determines the number of inbound links to your website and the quality of the sites providing links. High quality sites receive a higher Page Rank based on visitors and traffic to your site. Page Rank is a “vote” by all the other web sites.
Your structure of internal links is a very helpful way of SEO for web pages. Most websites make their homepage to have the biggest Page Rank and highest SERPs. To achieve this, your homepage should be the center of your website’s link structure and network. As the trend towards assigning a higher value to links continues, internal linking structure should be designed around user navigation as well as search engine optimization.
Web Design India
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/simple-search-engine-optimization-seo-tips-for-google-yahoo-and-msn-102901.html
SEO – How To Find Keywords Using Research
Keyword inventory tools such as the free ones at Google and on Overture or the paid ones such as Wordtracker are not the only sources of inspiration for your SEO content. Two great places to find keywords are in your web logs and email.
One of the best source of article topics that are naturally search engine optimized are reflected in the phrases that your customer use when they ask questions about you as an expert or about your products or services? What sort of posts do they leave on your blog or chat forum? Examining this material may give you more targeted keywords and key phrases then a SEO keyword tool ever might!
Also the great thing of finding these search engine friendly key phrases on your site already means that you don’t have to rewrite content to suit the search engines. There is no harm in giving this novel approach to finding keywords for your pay per click advertisements and other forms of online promotion.
Another way to find keyword search phrases for you site would be to do some very specific targeted research by sending out a questionnaire to the people your customer mailing list to see what they would like to see in terms of content or information on your web site. You can then take their response and wrap them into keyword phrases. Chances are there are many potential customers out there phrasing their searches in the same way as the respondents to your market research. If your customers are the lethargic type you might have to offer some kind of prize to get their attention so they will fill out the questionnaire.
Once you find the targeted keywords by searching through all of the material on your website and in your email that could qualify as customer generated market research you are all set!
Chris Angus
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/seo-how-to-find-keywords-using-research-85823.html
How To Submit a Local Business Listing on Bing
A step-by-step tutorial detailing how to create a local business listing on Bing. Subscribe to the Leading Run video podcast at http://bit.ly/459kEe.
Duration : 7 min 55 sec
Article Submission Equals Free Traffic
In my humble opinion article submission should be the main “block” in any internet marketeers arsenal of seo (search engine optimisation) tactics. It is a proven resource that has been used extensively
and “successfully” by all of the “big players” in the im world today.Ultimately it is virtually the only free resource available on the web to create massive “laser targeted traffic” to “your” sites.
Article submission is one of the most popular ways of website promotion today.In essence article submission is the only free way to promote your website and link that produces real results almost immediately.Thankfully article submission is still a white-hat, ethical technique used by webmasters to gain new one way links and help promote their website or specific link urls. As I have certainly found article submission is an excellent way to brand yourself and your website with very little if any cost involved.
In my opinion article submission is the most “cost effective” way to promote your website as has been proven by many internet marketers. Undeniably article submission is one of the best ways to give weight to your products and services on the internet and best of all it’s “free”.Article submission is a proven way to get your site “traffic” and “links”, so “your” service or products get noticed around the world. Thereafter blasting your site’s traffic thru the stratosphere. Again article submission whilst not being the newest way of off-page optimization process has been proven to work time and time again.
Article submission should be a critical part of your web marketing strategy as if your not using it you really are “missing” out big style. Article submission is a common practice for seo where you create a quality content page on a niche subject, and submit it to several article-directory websites which accept industry-specific or broad articles. Unfortunately especially amongst newbies article submission is often an over-looked part of their “traffic” building “strategy”.
Article submission is a precise science that can ultimately determine your results and your success in online marketing. However to slightly counter everything i have said so far, article submission is not the right way, as In individual once in a “blue moon” type of effort. However mass article submission is.
Article submission is a great way to get your website recognized in google as well as in other search engines as i for one have proven many times. Article submission is basically posting your article to different article directories with the link pointing back at your website. Without doubt article submission is the best way to increase the back links of your website, Article submission is also the #1 way to undercut your costs getting your website ranked higher on the search engines. Article submission is without doubt the most efficient free and effective way to improve the ranking of your website.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
The seo advantage in article submission is that the search engines give far more weightage to unique content and the links embedded in the content. Therefore article submission will have several positive effects on your website.
search engine optimization is not just submitting to major search engines and looking for traffic to come by thats for the “amateurs” and we aren’t “amateurs” are we? Or you won’t be after reading this will you?
Article submission is a great tactic and the rewards can be plentiful, it is is a key aspect in search engine optimisation and neglecting this means voluntarily saying goodbye to untapped, traffic, opportunities and resources.
Big search engine optimisation firms have lost their iron grip ,it wasn’t until I really went into overdrive with my article submissions, that the “aha” light really went on and it hit me smack between the eyes. There is no doubt that article submission plays a vital role in the online success of a business and is an important strategy.
Content
If “you” write quality articles and submit them to reputable websites looking for targeted content then I assure you that your content will get huge exposure for free just for its value of uniqueness. As a result they will stand a much higher chance as counting as powerful incoming links instead of just duplicate content.
One comment or feedback I received from a “very popular website ” to demonstrate the above point was, “the articles were of better than average quality, very well written and did not duplicate any content on our own sites”.
Original content is what the web and the major search engines are screaming out for. An experienced webmaster knows the power of original, unique content and therefore that is why they deliver it to the search engines by the truckfull. That is why they can trully call themselves “webmasters”.
Getting the unique content distributed online so that your website and links can be seen by a greater audience is vital. The article itself will create content for the back link that is relevant to your website,as all of the top search engines love good content, article submission can be a very effective and much better way to improve the search engine ranking and link popularity of “your” website than just about any other method currently available.
You will get your article published all over the web when you submit it to an e-zine publisher that has a free content directory on their web site. For especially large or successful ezines, you might even offer to produce unique content for their ezines in exchange for the publicity, rather than simply offering articles you have previously run in your own ezine. Your articles are then potentially published on thousands of article sites where webmasters seeking free content pick up the articles and publish them on their blogs and niche sites.
Not only will your article submissions give you immediate links from PR4 and above sites but as bloggers from content specific sites look for articles in these directories and publish them to their blogs you will also gain those highly relevant content specific links as well.
You can earn many hits in google through implementing article submission as one of “your” key marketing strategies. To demonstrate this I went to google and typed in the phrase “free internet marketing advice” and I hit the jackpot. Of course, the first pattern I noticed was that I had found all of these articles by simply searching for a specific key phrase in google & yahoo. So I went back to google & yahoo and tried other key phrases. No matter what phrase I searched for in google I found hundreds or even thousands of free articles written by people who actually knew what they were talking about.
Since google sees back links as an indication of an “important” site, the author’s google ranking was benefiting greatly just by his use of article submission. And finally, many of the authors had google adwords displayed on their main site, so they were earning revenue whenever a visitor from one of the article sites came and clicked.
Writing
Writing a good article about a subject or item can help tell more about your services or product than any other form of “marketing” currently available on the web today. Writing an article and getting it published in an ezine is the best way of creating quality back links to your web site.
By writing articles & submitting them to various article directories, you can give yourself an opportunity to share your ideas with a wide range of audience. I think of it as purchasing a link, although instead of using cash, it is paid using 3-5 hours of writing time. I have found huge gains by contacting websites directly, even by phone and asking them to post an article to us, even in return for some article writing for them.
As you develop your writing skills and publish more and more articles regularly you are recognized as an expert in your field. The entire article marketing process consists of a few components namely researching for keywords and content, writing an article and submitting that article. This ensures you can set aside time to focus on article writing and churn out more articles for posting.
By writing about something interesting in your field or addressing the concerns that your customers have about your business/industry, you become a source of information to them.
I fully understand you might not have either the time or motivation to do all the writing yourself. Thats why i will give you the biggest tip you will ever receive.You don’t have to do all the writing yourself.
However, If you are looking to build quality traffic to your website you should seriously consider writing an article about your niche and linking it to your website. This is what makes it worthwhile writing informative articles in the first place, seeing them published and reaping the rewards of increased website visitors.
Conclusion
Article submission is the one tool that has the ability to bring free organic traffic to your website. As a result article submission has become the most effective method of gaining free quality one way incoming links to your site and has become standard in website search engine optimization strategies.
Undeniably article submission is one of the key elements to garner more visitors to your site. Therefore article submission is a must in your plan to make your site reach the top of google, yahoo, msn etc on your desired keywords.
Article submission is certainly one of the best ways I have found to promote a website or blog as I have yet to find another free method that is as effective at producing or delivering “laser targeted visitors” in the same numbers.
Unresevedly I am happy to go on record and say that article submission is the way to promote your website and link, that will produce real results almost immediately, and will give you targeted traffic and much more popularity in the world of writers.
I’m in the process of creating a few high-quality websites, and one of the primary ways I want to monetize is using google adsense. Posting free articles to the major article directories sites is the fastest and easiest free way to make more sales, increase your google ranking, boost instant traffic getting backlinks, link building and push your alexa rating through the roof.
So my “cast iron guarantee” is that if you take action and start writing and submitting articles now! You will be well on your way to “achieving success” with your online business. So don’t procrastinate or put it off any longer get started today.
Douglas Stuart
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/article-submission-equals-free-traffic-497442.html
Integrated Marketing: The Key to Increasing Web Traffic
Companies are just starting to understand the value of integrated marketing. It doesn’t matter whether you have a product or service to sell, taking a multi-channel approach will dramatically improve the outreach to your target audience. It will bring you more new customers and help you keep the customers you already have.
Website Marketing
How does your website fit into your overall marketing plan? For some companies, Internet marketing is separate from offline marketing. Advertising, public relations, telemarketing, direct marketing and sales promotions are all considered separate from the Internet. If that is the case at your company, it’s time to take another look at the goals of your marketing plan and put together an integrated marketing plan.
One of the most common problems for small business owners is that they do not look at their website as part of their marketing plan; they think it “is” the marketing plan. Because they have a website, they assume business will come to them. They also believe that all they need is the right search engine optimization to get high rankings with Google and the website will be a success. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Get Real
Internet traffic continues to grow daily and millions of websites are all competing for top ranking with Google. In April 2006, the U.S. had over 315 million active home Internet users looking for websites. How is your site going to get some of that traffic? How are people going to know your site even exists?
The sad truth is that business owners can not rely on search engine optimization to bring in the traffic they need. The Internet has just gotten too big. That’s why integrated marketing is the key to bringing in more business.
Use Offline Marketing for Online Customers
The secret to increased website traffic is creating an offline marketing campaign that drives traffic to your website. For example, create an integrated marketing plan using a combination of e-mail, postcards, and telephone follow-up. According to the Direct Marketing Association’s 2005 Response Rate Report, telephone follow-up increased the response rate to direct mail; but e-mail increased the response to both direct mail and the telephone.
Create Multi-Channel Relationships
Look at what some of the bigger companies are doing with integrated marketing and you’ll have a better idea of what to do. Best Buy successfully creates multi-channel relationships with its customers. Offline mailers encourage customers to register on its website for special offers and savings. The website, in turn, guides them to nearby stores for local pickup of online purchases. Then Best Buy follows up with promotional e-mails to continue cross-selling.
Small business owners may not have the money or manpower to create big marketing campaigns like Best Buy, but they can follow the leaders and learn from their successes. Pick out some of the techniques you think would work for your business and start implementing them.
Start simple, like giving people a reason to visit your site. Did you know that visitors often come four to five times to a website before they make a purchase? Each time they come to a site, they are looking for change; something to hold their interest. If you site never changes, why would people come back?
Use an integrated marketing approach to motivate people to come to your site and encourage them to keep coming back. Here are some ideas for offline and online marketing integration:
*On the homepage, have a box set aside for information that is constantly changing and would be of interest to your target audience.
*Create a special discount for online shoppers.
*Create a short/fun online quiz on the homepage.
*Create a short, online opinion poll survey on a hot topic in your industry.
*Send out a postcard with a website address that takes them to a special landing page to enter into a contest.
*Send out a postcard to encourage people to sign-up online for your newsletter.
*Send out a series of e-mail follow-up autoresponders every time you sell a product.
*Through a postcard or e-mail, offer a free PDF download on your site, of a white paper or report that would be valuable to your target audience.
*Follow-up an online purchase with a phone call.
Nothing I’ve mentioned is beyond the reach of the small business owner. Take a look at your marketing efforts and see what you can do now to change over to an integrated marketing approach. Discover how easy it is to improve website performance without search engine optimization.
Michelle Howe
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/integrated-marketing-the-key-to-increasing-web-traffic-78704.html
Find New Keywords to Target
This edition of Tutorial Tuesday shows you how you can find new keywords to target using a cool tool from the creator of SEO Book, Aaron Wall.
Original Link:
http://www.tushardhoot.com/find-new-keywords-to-targetfind-new-keywords-to-target/
Please Visit:
http://www.tushardhoot.com
Duration : 3 min 32 sec
Internet Marketing Agency Reveals Search Engine Optimization Secrets
If your web site doesn’t have a Top 10 search engine ranking, you’re missing out on approximately 85% of the Internet users who are looking for the exact products or services you offer.
No matter how much money you’re spending on online advertising, it isn’t bringing you anywhere near the bang for the buck that natural search engine optimization services can according to one Phoenix Optimization Firm that specializes in providing natural search engine optimization services.
Unlike having to spend thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising and pay-per-click online marketing strategies, an online marketing agency that provides natural search engine optimization uses techniques that are approved, and even endorsed, by all of the major search engines.
According to our Arizona SEO company contact, a professional search engine optimization service provider takes a holistic approach to boosting a web site’s rankings. The steps that these companies take often include:
* Performing key word research to identify the most popular search terms Internet users are entering to find the client’s products and services.
* Optimizing the web site’s content pages by adding those key words, in a relevant and proper manner, to the copy that appears on each page.
* Optimizing the web site’s HTML source code to accentuate those key words and to make sure that search engine spiders will have no problem fully indexing each page on the target web site.
* Develop and implement a web site linking strategy that creates both inbound and outbound links to and from other web sites that are relevant to the client’s web site but are not competitors.
* Providing the client with regular search engine placement reports that demonstrate how well their natural search engine optimization services are performing.
* Being proactive when it comes to adjusting and fine-tuning each web page in order to ensure that it continues to maintain a top rank in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
If all of this sounds like a lot of work, it is. Most web masters who try to perform their own search engine optimization often fail. That’s because search engines are very picky and even one technical or tactical error can cause a site to plummet to the bottom of thousands of SERPs.
Professional search engine optimization companies like our Arizona SEO company friends are worth every penny they charge and they charge a whole lot less than you’ll earn if your site gets a good ranking thanks to proper natural search engine optimization services.
Eddie Sanmarco
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/internet-marketing-agency-reveals-search-engine-optimization-secrets-114787.html
The Common Goal Of SEO And Paid Search Advertising
The goals of both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search Advertising are geared towards the same direction. Their services aim to help convert a quiet traffic stream into a busy information highway. This means new clients on a daily basis due to increased traffic and visibility.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) definitely refers to both advertising and optimization methods. Internet advertising to most marketers is primarily about having control over position, keywords, listing copy and visitors’ landing pages. Optimization, on the other hand is about coming up with a website design that can easily be crawled, indexed and well-ranked by major search engines.
There are several types of SEM services including search engine advertising, paid submission for directories, search engine optimization marketing and aggregators marketing. Search engine advertising includes the Paid-For- Placement (PFP) or the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program as well as contextual advertising. A placement on the result pages of the search site and within its distribution network is guaranteed upon payment. The key factors of this type of advertising are keyword research and selection, bid price, effective ad copy and traffic landing pages.
Paid submission actually applies to directories. In this type of marketing program, the website owner pays for a human based review of its site although inclusion is not always guaranteed. The site is usually included from 7 to 14 days depending on the directory. The success of paid inclusion is largely determined by the selection of the category as well as the title and description of the business.
Search engine optimization aims to produce organic and natural results through the design and creation of spider-friendly websites. It is basically a science of keywords placement, content enhancement, site structure and link popularity campaign that is expected to maximize the probability of attaining top ranking. It is considered the heart of all SEM campaign notwithstanding the fact that more and more business developers tend to forget its importance. Although it is not impossible to achieve very swift results, an optimization process usually takes a few months to have its goal realized.
The aggregators or price engines have made it a lot easier for online shoppers to get the information they need about required products and their associated price. They are able to offer a broad range of pricing and features. Chances of success are maximized through pricing strategy, product availability, product description and shipping rates.
Online businesses are facing tough decisions on setting a budget for online marketing specifically for organic search engine optimization. Paid advertising is very much in demand which accounts for quickly eaten up budget. More often than not, depleted advertising budgets are readily remedied by providing a new budget. The same cannot be said for SEO budgets as campaigns tend to end as budgets are exhausted. SEO is apparently not getting the respect it deserves since the success of organic optimization is a lot more difficult to measure. The real value of the keywords that make the rank will be better seen as more improved and cheaper analytical tools become available.
Statistics would show that there are at least two offline sales generated for every online sale that occurs. Research reports reveal that a large percentage of searchers complete their purchases in offline retail stores. This is considered a direct result of their search activity.
Telemarketing and other forms of leads generation have been sending signals of a saturated market. This has prompted many companies especially the manufacturers to turn to the web to get new leads. Finding a prospect usually starts with a paid search strategy which eventually evolve into SEO. Maximum results are obtained from the combined strategies only if companies commit to make SEO a part of their long term marketing strategy. The ultimate measure of success of Search Engine Marketing is generating leads and closing sales.
The Search Environment Under SEM Strategies
Majority of the marketing budgets from small businesses are dominated by paid search. The smaller a company is, the higher its reliance on paid search and the higher the percentage of total spending. SEO is quickly overtaking spending on banner ads for manufacturers as focus is shifted to training existing web team staff and education on the creation of content that is optimized for search engines.
The first half of 2006 can be considered a period of expansion, growth and significant change in search marketing. Never have there been as many online options available to advertisers and their agents like now. Search has become a part of the mainstream marketing consciousness, but there remains much room for innovation and invention. This development has presented a dilemma for the traditional search marketing sector.
There are at least three major search related marketing venues existing: the traditional organic search results, the paid search advertising market and the social networking sphere. Each of these venues use some form of search as a distinctive guide towards finding information while a tremendous amount of integration and interaction exists between them.
The SEO sector is being overshadowed by the PPC market and at the same time being challenged by social networking. Major search engines constantly strive to improve and innovate on methods that would correctly rank web documents. This is the very reason for the fundamental changes seen in organic search engine optimization.
SEO focuses on a myriad of on-site and off-site issues such as hosting, link acquisition and competitive research. An increasing number of applications are being added for organic search results. The dozens of on-page elements which SEO works on makes it more complicated due to the time involved. However, fresh and focused content remains the single most reliable element of a successful website.
Paid search advertising has been experiencing a rapid growth as a sub-sector of the industry, propelling Google and Yahoo! to the front of the pack. It continues to undergo several forms of expansion to allow more and newer options for advertisers. The distribution of paid ads to third party web properties is a very interesting aspect of paid search advertising. Click fraud detection and advocacy is closely associated with this particular venue.
The social networking atmosphere is touted to be the most fluid search marketing venue. It is expected to be a preparatory step towards transition in web-interactive development. It is currently taking place in an environment that is tagged as Web2.
Danny Wirken
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/the-common-goal-of-seo-and-paid-search-advertising-69164.html
Building Positive Buzz for your Business With Online Ratings and Reviews
Most business owners know that the best marketing tool is good buzz or word-of-mouth, and that bad word-of-mouth can negatively affect a business. In the internet age, word-of-mouth can now mean discussions in chat rooms, postings on internet forums and reviews posted on ratings websites. Studies show that the internet is now the number one source of consumer information – ahead of newspapers, TV and even friends. In other words, when people think about using a service or buying a product, they first do a web search to see what they can find out.
You may already be using the internet to promote your business via your website, online directories and e-mail lists. While you can control and target your website and promotions, you can’t control what is said about you on other sites.
So how can you be sure you’re getting good buzz on the internet, and prevent bad buzz?
First, remember that managing customer impressions starts at your business. Make sure your staff is trained to quickly and effectively handle problems and complaints. We all know that an issue which is resolved graciously and quickly can produce satisfied and loyal customers. A problem that festers will produce an angry critic.
Next, be aware of what is being said about your business on the internet. Regularly search for your business by name. You’ll probably be surprised at how many places your business is mentioned: MySpace pages, forums, blogs and more.
Also search for applicable rating and review sites (for example, if you are a realtor, search for realtor ratings and realtor reviews). Bookmark the review sites in your browser so you can check them regularly. While there are several national ratings and review sites, there may also be local sites in your area. To find the local sites, simply include the name of your city in the search; for example: realtor ratings San Francisco or realtor reviews Philadelphia.
Once you’ve found and bookmarked the review sites, check each to see if your business is listed, and that the basic information is accurate. If the business is not listed, you should see if there is a way to add it yourself to be sure the listing is accurate. If there are errors in the information, look for a way to contact the site operator with corrections.
Finally, check the review sites, and the other sites you’ve found in your searches, to see what is being said about your business. Think of this as an opportunity to find out what your customers really think and say to one another… good and bad. In the past, this was information that was only shared between people – however these sites now allow you to be privy to these comments.
At some point you will likely find negative reviews — perhaps even lies and defamatory comments. If a review is severely damaging, you may contact the site operator to see if it can be removed. Very likely the answer will be “no.” Review sites don’t remove reviews — good or bad — unless they violate the site’s rules. Otherwise, there would be no negative reviews — and the sites would be worthless to consumers.
At this point, some owners begin making threats of legal action. This is almost always a waste of time. Rating and review sites operate as public forums on which people can post their opinions. The sites are protected by law, and operators are not liable for the opinions posted there. The rating and review sites are often represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation or the ACLU, so any legal battle will be costly and almost certainly fruitless.
So let’s talk about what you can do instead of making threats:
Fortunately, most review sites have a process for you to respond to reviews, and this is worthwhile. The tone of your response should be reasonable and positive. It’s good to acknowledge the complaint (even if you believe it’s false or exaggerated), and respond to it directly (especially if it’s a valid complaint.)
For example:
“As the reviewer says, we’ve had some problems with bunk plumbing; which we’ve revamped over the winter.”
Or,
“Thanks you for your comment. We were unaware of the busing problem and it has been corrected”
In other words, try hard to put the complaint to rest and sound like the “good guy”– making the person who wrote the bad review seem less credible.
How about a negative review that says something you can’t really respond to, like, “This place sucks and the staff is rude and unhelpful! All they care about is making money.”
In that case, simply acknowledge the complaint and talk up your positives: “I’m sorry the reviewer felt our staff was not able to help. We work hard to insure our customers are satisfied, and as a result our business has grown each year since 1998. Please note that we have a perfect record with the Better Business Bureau.”
Hopefully you won’t need to deal with many negative reviews. Instead, focus your energy on getting positive reviews. Your best assets are you current customers.
Your regular customers are likely to say good things about your business, so encourage them to write online reviews.
First, visit the major rating sites, and find the URL (web address) of the page where your business is mentioned. Then:
* Include the URL on your business flyers and advertising, and a link on your website (“Rate us at… “).
* If you have an e-mail list, you can use it to ask your customers to submit ratings and reviews.
When submitting reviews, ask your customers to talk specifically about the best features of the business, or good experiences they’ve had. Reviews that simply say “awesome!” don’t carry much weight with readers, but specific reviews that describe positive experiences are great ads for your company.
Once you get some positive reviews and ratings on the web, publicize the fact! Include your ratings, and excerpts from reviews, in your ads, flyers and on your website.
Remember that people will talk about your business on the web; so make sure you know what is being said!
Bob Nicholson
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/building-positive-buzz-for-your-business-with-online-ratings-and-reviews-125714.html
Do Hungry Customers Smell What You’re Cooking?
At least 80% of your prospective customers search online before making any decisions about purchasing local goods or services
While living near L.A. in the 1990’s, I discovered Krispy Kreme donuts. This was one of their first stores on the West Coast and I’d never heard of them before. I didn’t read about them in the newspaper, hear about them on the radio, or find them in the phonebook. I didn’t have a coupon, and I hadn’t received a flyer in the mail. I didn’t even see their sign driving down the street. Instead, I was hungry, it was late, and I followed my nose – and I found fresh, warm donuts waiting for me. And I soon told everybody I knew just what they were missing.
How can modern businesses follow the model of Krispy Kreme and virtually compel their “hungry” customers to come to them? More and more, the answer can be found online with an effective Internet marketing campaign.
Many people and businesses consider their websites today to be an extension of their business cards or phone book listings – a repository of information that serves as an online brochure for potential clients or customers.
In truth, your business’s website should be more than that – it should serve as your primary tool for delivering the tempting aroma of your fresh-baked goods and services. If Krispy Kreme can drive potential customers to their stores in the middle of night, then Internet marketing, focusing on search engines and keywords, can drive behaviors of multitudes of hungry people looking to satisfy their needs online. What could be easier than promoting your services to someone who is already looking for what you’ve got?
In fact, hundreds of people are looking for your business online every day, (for example, an average of 217 people search for restaurants in Encinitas on a daily basis) and yet less than 10% of small and medium-sized businesses are actively attracting and engaging these potential customers. While approximately half of all businesses at least have their own websites, the truth is a website is no longer the single answer for your Internet marketing needs – with Web 2.0, social media, Facebook, review sites, blogs, YouTube and others, there is a wonderful opportunity to build your own web to grab those people already looking for you. Plus, these tools make it easy for them to tell all their friends.