How’s Your Link Diversity?

It’s Links, But It Is Also Link Diversity One common thread I tend to read on other webmaster blogs or forums is that old linking methods have stopped working. The so-called Panda (or Farmer) update generated a lot of these comments. But I have read them every time Google rolls out a major algorithm change. …

Continue reading »

View full post
Get Local SEO Business With Performance Marketing

Attract SEO Business With Performance Marketing

How To Attract SEO Clients With Performance Marketing Strategies Some of these ideas have been presented around the net, and I have seen them work in real world examples. If you would like to use your SEO talents to attract local business clients, here are some ideas that are bound to attract business owners who …

Continue reading »

View full post

Local Mobile Marketing Means More Money

Who Cares About Local Mobile Marketing? Q: What’s bigger than the Internet? A:Moible Phones! While email marketers, even though who capture verified leads, have to rely on huge volumes because their actual open rates are rock bottom, 90% of people do read their cell phone text messages! If you are a local search marketer or a …

Continue reading »

View full post
What Are Backlinks?

What Are Backlinks?

I am constantly amazed when I speak to website owners who are not really Internet professionals. These are smart people who may own business, perform professionals services, etc. They have a lot of knowlededge in their own fields. But they do not automatically understand the term backlinks! Define Backlinks This is so simple. They are …

Continue reading »

View full post

How Article Marketing Works in 2011

Define Article Marketing Article marketing has become such a staple of website promotion that I tend to forget that some people do not understand this topic. Let me define article marketing: Article marketing is a type of advertising in which businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for …

Continue reading »

View full post
How’s Your Link Diversity? Attract SEO Business With Performance Marketing Local Mobile Marketing Means More Money What Are Backlinks? How Article Marketing Works in 2011

Jun
02

How’s Your Link Diversity?

by admin

It’s Links, But It Is Also Link Diversity

One common thread I tend to read on other webmaster blogs or forums is that old linking methods have stopped working. The so-called Panda (or Farmer) update generated a lot of these comments. But I have read them every time Google rolls out a major algorithm change.

Submit your content Every Day to 25 social bookmarking sites, all on unique C class IPs... FREE.
I have been there myself. I start getting great results with some back link method or another, and then I beat it to death. It works great for a few weeks or a few months, and then it suddenly seems to slow up or even hurt my rankings.

Nobody outside of Google actually knows the exact algorithm they use to rank websites.  But a lot of us spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.  Here’s what I think.

  • Link sources do not really stop working. Sometimes certain types of links may be devalued by the search engines. While they may not hurt, they stop doing much good.
  • There may be exceptions to the first point. Links from so-called “bad neighborhoods” may possibly hurt. I tend to wonder about this though because every competitor would be throwing them around as a way to hurt the other guys’ website.
  • Mixing up link sources is key. I am pretty sure that a good mix of different types of links from different websites, and even different IP addresses, is more and more important. We need to strive for link diversity.

So, if you started to rank really well by doing lots of directory submissions, and then you reach a point where that does not do you much good any more, it may be time to try looking for other sources of external links pointing at your website pages.

If you have been a one trick pony, and your horse seems to have slowed down, consider mixing it up a bit. There are many more, but here is a handful of linking or traffic sources you should explore.

  • Article submissions and press releases to a variety of different sites can help. The original article link may not make a huge difference, but other sources tend to pick up your articles and republish them.
  • Find blogs or websites that are related to your niche and see if they accept articles in return for a back link or two.
  • Comment on relevant blogs where they allow a link. Be sure you actually read the post and make a decent comment if you want yours to pass moderation.
  • Get social! The experts tell us that social signals are key now. Learn how to use Facebook, Twitter, and social bookmarking websites to your advantage. Here a handy free social bookmarking tool with a paid upgrade option.
  • Some directory submissions are very good, either as a source of back links for SEO, or even as a source of traffic.
  • Participate in niche forums. Most will allow you to place a signature line and set up a public profile. These are good places to drop a link. It may help your link profile, and a popular forum will generate direct traffic.
  • Submit your RSS feeds to feed directories or WEB 2.0 sites like Squidoo. The beauty of these pages is that your content will be updated automatically every time you update your website. You will have current links pointing back to your own pages long after you have forgotten about making the submission.

Shake It Up!

If your rankings are sliding, or if they have never moved, it is time to look at the link profiles of your competitors. They may very well be getting a better mix of back links than you are!

Tags: ,

Leave comment

Apr
04

Attract SEO Business With Performance Marketing

by admin

How To Attract SEO Clients With Performance Marketing Strategies

Some of these ideas have been presented around the net, and I have seen them work in real world examples. If you

Get Local SEO Business With Performance Marketing

would like to use your SEO talents to attract local business clients, here are some ideas that are bound to attract business owners who want performance for their investment!

What Is Performance Marketing?

This means you get paid for performance instead of being paid on a flat fee.

  1. You set up some sort of agreement with local business people so you will get paid by the sale or lead.
  2. You have to have a way to track this performance on your end and the client’s end.

First, you should work with the client to come up with a goal. Many business owners already know who their target clients are. This can help you because you can avoid a lot of trial and error when you have to figure out which demographic you want to attract.

You may set up your system so you get paid by the phone call, online lead, or sale. Any way you do it, you need to figure out how you can keep track of the business that got generated through your efforts.

  • You may run a special promotion or coupon code that the business owner (and you) know only comes from your efforts. You would have to depend upon the client for an accurate count though. I would suggest only showing the coupon code after the client enters some basic details in a short lead form.
  • You may capture the leads yourself and forward them on to a client. This works best for online leads that can be forwarded through email, and is probably the simplest way to control everything. However, if clients are directed to a website that also posts a phone number, this could mean you lose a lot of tracking because many people may just pick up the phone and call. I have solved this problem in the past by only showing the phone number after the potential customer enters basic information (like name and email) in a lead form. That strategy probably cuts down on conversions though.
  • You may set up a special phone extension that only gets tied to your efforts. Somehow, both you and the client would have to be able to track the number of leads.

The easiest way to attract clients is to give them a free trial. This works well, but it is risky because you probably have to invest something in setup time. One solution is to specialize in a specific type of local business like dentists, insurance agents, or pizza places. Your lead/sale delivery system can be shifted from one client to another without much trouble.

How To Get Campaigns Running Fast

If you are used to using SEO (search engine optimization) to promote online, you know this process can take time. It may be better to use PPC marketing through services like Google Adsense, Facebook, Plenty of Fish, etc. The right service will depend upon your client. This is a skill you must develop like any other.

Tags: , ,

Leave comment

Mar
22

Local Mobile Marketing Means More Money

by admin

Who Cares About Local Mobile Marketing?

Q: What’s bigger than the Internet?

A:Moible Phones!

While email marketers, even though who capture verified leads, have to rely on huge volumes because their actual open rates are rock bottom, 90% of people do read their cell phone text messages! If you are a local search marketer or a local small business owner, you do not want to ignore the power of the booming mobile marketplace!

How Does Mobile Local Marketing Work?


Let us say you either a>do moible marketing for or b>own a local auto repair garage. You may decide to run a Spring season special with a 20% discount on air conditioning service. You can promote this service in several ways.

  • Buy expensive TV or newspaper ads. Some small percentage of readers may notice your ads and respond to them if your location happens to be convenient.
  • Run an email or phone campaign with your existing customer base. Neither of these are free anyway, and you already know how potential customers ignore sales calls and emails.
  • Send a text message to people who have already registered their phones because they want to recieve special offers! Remember, a high precentage of people open their text messages!

So the text message may say something like, “Bring this text message in for a 20% Discount on Air Conditioning Service.” It’s simple, isn’t it? And it works!

Is Mobile Marketing Hard Or Expensive?

This is actually one of the cheapest and most effective ways to reach potential clients. Setting up a good phone capture system can take less than an hour, and sending out the messages takes seconds  of your time.  You do not even need your own website to get started. You can be using cell phone marketing to promote your own business OR you can make a living by helping local businesses take advantage of the mobile marketing boom!

Get Started With Local Mobile Message Marketing

Of course, it takes a bit of know-how, but not that much. You can do the research yourself. Some simple guides can cut down your learning curve to a matter of hours instead of weeks. Learn how to take advantage of the Mobile Marketing Boom today.

Tags: , , ,

Leave comment

Mar
18

What Are Backlinks?

by admin

What Are Backlinks?

I am constantly amazed when I speak to website owners who are not really Internet professionals. These are smart people who may own business, perform professionals services, etc. They have a lot of knowlededge in their own fields. But they do not automatically understand the term backlinks!

Define Backlinks

This is so simple. They are simply links back to your site from :

  • Another website (External Backlinks)
  • Other pages on your own site (Internal Backlinks)

So if you have a blog on, say, improving your credit scores to get a home loan, and Mr. Smith runs a general financial blog, he may link back to one of your articles. This gives you a backlink!

Why Are Backlinks Important?

There are multiple reasons why your website must have backlinks coming in. The type and qualify of these backward links to your site can matter too.  Let me define 3 basic types of backlinks. But understand that one link can play more than one role.

  • Pure Traffic – You simply want others to find links to your site and click o them so they visit you!
  • Search Engine Rank Increase – The exact formula that the major search engines use to rank sites is secret and constantly evolving. That’s part of what makes SEO so challenging. However, we are all pretty sure that the quality and quantity of external links plays a big part in making a site rank higher. All things being equal, site A with no backlinks will not do as well as site B with hundreds of good qualify backlinks coming in.
  • Anchor Text – Beyond just a quanity of links, the actual text that gets clicked matters. This text is called “Anchor Text”. It also helps the search engines decide what your website is about by reading what other websites have to say about it. So, sometimes if you want a backlink to your “Big Red Widgets” page, you should use text that says something like “Big Red Widgets”. You may vary that so sometimes it says, “Large Red Widgets” or “Colored Widgets”, etc. But you get the idea, right? If not, explore the subject of anchor text.

Which type of baclinks are better? You will find as many opinions on this as you will SEO professionals. If you are just starting out, of if your website is not performing that well, strive for a mix.

Is Anybody Linking To You?

You can find a lot of free and paid ways to analize your incomeing backlinks.  One simple and free way to get a pretty idea of your linking profile is to use the Yahoo Site Explorer. It will probably NOT show you every link, but it will give you a pretty good picture. If you register your site with Google Webmaster tools, you can also view a selection of your backlinks.

Why don’t these tools report on every single one? One reason may be they have not found them all yet. Another reason may be they do not ocnsider some of them important enough to list. The real answer is a mysterious as the logic of the search engines themselves!

Stay tuned as we explore more ways to build your website’s backlink profile!

Tags: , , , , ,

2 comments

Mar
14

How Article Marketing Works in 2011

by admin

Define Article Marketing

Submit Your Articles Is A Great Article Marketing Tool!

Article marketing has become such a staple of website promotion that I tend to forget that some people do not understand this topic. Let me define article marketing: Article marketing is a type of advertising in which
businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for distribution and publication in the marketplace. For this discussion, understand that I am writing about Internet article marketing, though this form of promotion exists in print media as well.

The Basics Of Using Articles To Promote Websites

  • Write a fairly short article about some subject that wil capture a reader’s interest, and that is related to the niche topic of a particular website.
  • Include, within the rules of the site accepting the artice, a link to the website you are tryng to promote. Some blogs or other content sites may allow the writer to place these links in the body of the article. Other sites, like article directories, give the author a “resource box”, placed at the end of the artcile to place the links.

Why Do Website Marketers and Owners Submit Articles

The benefits are simple to understand, but a bit more complicated than they may appear at first.

  • The authors hope that they place their articles on a related website or article directory that attracts interested readers. They hope that some percentage of the readers will actually click through to their own website.
  • They also look for an SEO benefit Since they are compensated with a backlink to their own website, they are growing the number of other website pointing to their own website from the article.
  • Many article publishers also distribute to other publishers. By submitting one article, it may be republished in dozens of other sites. This should give the original author even more visibility and back links!

So, some authors usually distribute content to article directories. Ezinearticles and Article Base are some of the most well known examples. Others only contact related blog or website owners to ask to be a guest authors. Some set up Web 2.0 pages, like Squidoo and Hubpages, in order to publish. Most of us do several things.

What About Duplicate Content?

There is always a risk that the large search engines will ignore exact copies of the same articles. In my opinion, you never want to distribute the exact same articles that you post on your own website for content. Some article distribution systems, like Submit Your Article, have a solution for this problem.

These services have a semi-automated “spinner” included. This allows you to create dozens of unique versions of your article for distribution without actually writing dozens of different ones. If you take some time to learn to use these tools, each distinct version should make sense and provide valuable content. Yes, we have all seen “badly spun” articles, but they are usually created by totally automated spinners or authors who did not take any time to use the tool properly.

Does Article Marketing Still Work?

Well, it ain’t like it used to be. Competition can be fierce, espcially in some niches. Google has begun to give less value to some “content farms” that publish low quality work in massive quantities. However, done right, it can still be a powerful tool.

That’s why I suggested looking into a tool like Submit Your Article, especially if you are fairly new to the scene. However, I have been using this method to help promote websites for half a decade now, and I still subscribe to this service.

In fact, I would like to direct you to the SYA owner’s blog. In my opinion, he wrote one of the best comments on recent Google Changes To Article Site Ranks. He does discuss some recent changes, but also gives a good overview of the benefits of distributing content to promote your sites.

Tags: ,

1 comment

Mar
11

Social Networking With Facebook

by admin

Is Your Business On The Facebook?

Get a Page!

If you run a local business, or any business, you have probably been told that you’ve got to get on Facebook. I know that I have told several small business owners that I have seen some great examples of small business owners using the “book” to boost their exposure. Most of the time, the response I get is something like, “I have no idea how to do that.”

How To Use Facebook For Marketing

The simplest solution is to hire a social marketer.  If your business is small and new, you could just hire an outside consultant to get you started. If your business is larger, you may want a dedicated employee.

The cheapest solution is to figure it out yourself. It really is not that hard. The benefits can be huge. We all know that word of mouth advertising is like cream for our business coffee.

Social networks, like Facebook, can take this to another level! I, myself, have frequented businesses because I saw them “LIKED” on Facebook by my “friends”. (Some of them are even my real friends!) You can reach potential customers on their computers and their cell phones.

If you already have an account, it is time to use it! You may, however want to keep your personal account and your business account separate. When you cousin Sue keeps posting pictures of her dog and her Farmville scores, that may interfere with the professional business image you are striving to build.

Here are some simple steps to get started:

  • Make an account for your business. It will probably be helpful if you use an email address from your business site. A free account from GMail or Yahoo is great for your personal account, but does not present the most professional image to potential customers.
  • Facebook makes it pretty easy to request “friends” from your email contact list. If you do not know how to do this, remember that HELP is your friend. In the upper right side of the page, when you are logged in, you will see an ACCOUNT link. Click that, and you can find the HELP center. Otherwise, you can use the search field to find people you know.
  • Now you can create a Facebook Business Page. Actually, you do this if you do not already have an account, and it will walk you through all the steps. The whole process is fairly user friendly and simple, and the HELP center covers this too. 
  • Everybody’s page design will be slightly different. I suggest using a profile picture because it gives your own page a finished look. Also be sure to communicate what your business is about, and what actions a visitor could take to do business with you! That may sound like obvious advice, but it is often overlooked.

Use your page!

Many newbies stop when they get to this step. But like any other tool, your page will not be effective if you do not use it. Once you have created a presentable page, you will want to update it consistently with news and updates about your business and your community.

Invite Your Friends

The page setup will give you an easy tool to invite your existing account friends to view and “LIKE” your page. You should use this feature the first time, and then repeat the process periodically.  

Don’t Be That Guy Nobody “Likes”

Some marketers get a bit too excited. They tend to post 6 times a day, and it can get annoying. In fact, I know people who have “UNfriended” them because they got tired of their Facebook wall stuffed with overly promotional posts. Understand how business people succeed with enlightened self interest.

It is fine to promote your business. Mix that up with some nice community news or posts about local sports teams, school activities, and charities you support.  After all, you actually do want people to LIKE you, right? You have to figure out the right balance in order to keep yourself, and your business in people’s minds without annoying them.

Promote Your Page

You will probably also want to promote your page outside of Facebook. You can include a link to your page on your business website, mention it on your print materials, or put up a sign in your store. Every time you attract one new visitor, you have the potential to also attract many of his or her friends!

What Are You Waiting For?

You can have your Facebook page started today. You could be generating interest, leads, and business in a few hours.

Tags: , ,

3 comments

Mar
05

The Big 3 Local Search Submissions

by admin

Get Started With Local Google, Yahoo!, and Bing Local Submissions

Almost every business I have ever worked with has seen an increase in their local websites visitors just by taking the

The Big 3 Of Loal Search

time to submit, confirm, or claim their listings in the local directories of the big 3 search engines. These services are totally free, and they can provide a steady stream of Internet visitors, so there is no good reason to pass us on this simple way to help your local SEO!

 If you have searched for local services or products lately in Google, for example, you may have noticed that your top results come from Google Places – which is also hooked into Google Maps. The same is true, to a lesser extent, with the other 2 big Search Engines.

Before you do anything else, hop on over to the large search engines to make sure you have an accurate listing for your local business. Your competitor has already done this!

Start Getting Your Business Listed Here

  • Bing - Bing is Microsoft’s search engine. They have not been the biggest, but they are doing a lot of advertising, and we tend to find that Bing traffic does convert into sales very well. Here is the Bing Local Listing Center Submission page.
  • Yahoo! – An oldie but a goodies, Yahoo has a lot of loyal followers. My first email was with this giant portal/search engine. We tend to think a lot of older Internet users are still checking Yahoo! regularly. Go ahead and add a listing to Yahoo here.
  • Google -  Google is still the top contemporary search engine, so do not wait to claim your free Google Business listing.

Note: Your business may actually already be listed, especially by Google. However, you should still claim your listing. It allows you to add critical informatio and correct any errors.

Tip: Ask your customers to view your listings after they are confirmed, and also to add (hopefully positive) reviews. There is a strong feeling that more active listings (with ratings and reviews) will rank higher. So this is a bonus.

Tags: , , ,

1 comment

Mar
04

How Is Local SEO Special?

by admin

What Is Local SEO vs SEO?

Understand Local SEO

Global vs. Local Search

Why Is Local SEO Important?

For example, a national car insurance company or brokerage may be interested in attracting clients all over the USA. However, a local agent probably only wants to spend their time attracting potential customers in his or her own city or state. Many agents are only licensed in one state anyway.

 An auto repair shop or cafe may only be interested in finding custoners in a specific zip code or neighborhood. When you search for Chinese Food, for example, you are probably looking for some nearby place to satisfy your craving for egg rolls or Peking Duck. If you need to get a new car battery, you probably want a convenient repair shop or auto parts store so you can ask a friend for a ride.

Are Local Search Engine Optimization Tactics Different?

Some tactics will be the same or similar, but a local SEO expert will come with a different bag of tricks than an SEO who concentrates on global or national search terms.

If you hop over to your favorite search engine, you will find that the results will be very different if you search for a global vs. a local term.

 Let us say you are interested in finding a mortgage company to refinance your home. If you search for the keyword, “refinance”, you will probably see a listing of national mortgage companies. However, if you search for “refinance in Houston”, you may see local listings for mortgage brokers coming up at the top of the results page.

Stay tuned as we get into the details about how to perform local SEO for your own business or your clients.

When most of us started out performing search engine optimization, we were targeting global or national keywords. However, many businesses are really interested in using search engines to attract clients in their city, suburb, or neighborhood. 

Tags:

Leave comment

Mar
04

What Is SEO?

by admin

Understand The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

SEO Basics

Understand SEO

Why do we care about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

You can spend a lot of money to develop and build the best website ever! However, in almost any business, you will be competing against several (or several hundred) competitors.

When potential customers log into a large search engine, like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, and search for the products or services you offer, you want your website to appear near the top of the search results! The process of getting your website to rank well in keyword searches on the search engines is called SEO!

What Are The Major Factors That Affect Your Rankings In Search Engines?

There are dozens (if not hundreds) of unique factors that affect how well you website will rank. To make matters even more complicated, the search engine companies are constantly changing the exact details. A search engine is a computer program. The algorithm is the formula that the program uses to rank sites. SEO experts try to “deconstruct” this secret algorithm by watching current results.

Some Major Factors That Certainly Affect Rankings

Take a minute to review some basic SEO helper tips.Keep in mind that this list is not comprehensive. On the other hand, you do not always have to do everything exactly right in order to rank well. However, if your website is not ranking well in searches, you may consider these improvements. 

    Page and Website Relevancy- Each page on your website will be analyzed by the search engine software to determine what it is about. In the SEO world, we call these On site factors. In general, if you website is for a Greek restaurant in Toledo, Ohio, you need to mention these things. There are other quality signalsyou should also include in your website. Some examples may be a contact form, privacy page, and a physical address.

  • Off-site Factors – There may be 3 dozen Greek restaurants in your town. Who gets to be number one in the search results? Who gets shoved to the second page of search results? One key is to make sure you have a quantity of links from other websites which point back to your website that tell website visitors (and the search engines) that you provide Greek Food In Your Town. The quality of the other websites that link to your website is another consideration. A link from a popular and highly ranked website will help more than a link from a website that is not well known.
  • Domain Age – Websites and businesses come and go all the time. The major search engines tend to give more favor to older websites. A five year old  domain name that has been promoting the same business will always do better than a domain that was registered last week.

Is this everything you need to know about SEO to become an expert? Well, most professional or good amateur SEOs have been studying the art and science of search engine optimization for years. These are the basics, and will get you started if you are new. Stay tuned as we dig into the details!

Tags: ,

1 comment