Posts Tagged ‘search engine optimization’

Improve Your SEO on a Budget

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Because they often lack the funds, personnel and other advantages that larger companies enjoy, small business owners face a constant struggle to keep up with the marketing efforts of their bigger-marketing-budgeted competitors.

 

The good news is that when it comes to SEO, those resources aren’t as much of a factor. The algorithms that Google and other search engines use don’t care about your marketing budget, they care about whether you’re providing your end user with high quality, relevant content.

 

Here are some ideas for improving your user experience and boosting your SEO, without worrying about your marketing budget:

 

  • Provide as much relevant, unique content as you can, including videos, transcriptions, FAQ pages, articles, and the like.
  • Don’t be afraid to show users who you really are. The more you profile the unique personality of your company, the more likely consumers are to choose your site over another, generic one.
  • Take advantage of local search by making sure that your company profile appears on sites such as Google Places and Yahoo Local.
  • Check your speed. Since load times are now being used in search engine algorithms, it’s important to make sure your site isn’t holding your users up.

 

Most importantly, focus on your clients and potential customers’ needs. What information is most valuable to your end user? If you can figure out what your ideal market is looking for, and make your best effort to provide it, you can’t go wrong.

 

Rather than trying to pack your site with content you think will attract the search engine spiders, fill your pages with useful, relevant information and materials to attract your target clients. Remember, at the end of the day, they’re the ones who are going to be buying your products and services, not the spiders.

 

 

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How to Value SEO

Friday, October 28th, 2011

SEO services can be pricey and hard to understand, but once you take a good look, you’ll see that the value is long lasting and well worth the money. An effective SEO campaign can increase your online visibility and in many cases, lead to a coveted first page Google ranking.

 

When deciding how much to invest in your SEO project, you want to consider what a first page ranking would mean to you and your business. Obviously, the number one benefit would be increased exposure which can generate valuable leads; most Internet searchers rarely travel to page two. However, you’ll want a more comprehensive analysis than that.

 

The variables that go into determining SEO value include:

  • The number of searches for that keyword in your area
  • The pay per click (PPC) click-through-rate times a multiplier (Google suggests that a natural search generates 3-10 times the number of clicks)
  • The cost per click for that keyword

 

Basically, what you’re searching for is a fair market value analysis of the keyword conversion rate. Your conversion rate can then be compared to your other methods of marketing including PPC, newsletters, and other avenues that drive traffic to your site.

 

Once you identify the value of attaining an organic first-page ranking, you can then compare it to the value of a lead, how many leads turn into clients, and what is the lifetime value of your average client.  Then you are able to determine your overall return on investment (ROI).

 

To learn more about valuing your Search Engine Optimization project or to get a more in-depth analysis of your marketing campaign, feel free to contact us directly. We’re always happy to help.

 

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Top 5 SEO Tips and Tricks

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

As any good Internet marketer knows, SEO stands for search engine optimization. Basically it’s a fancy term for “try to get your page ranked #1 on Google.” You should know that there are no sure fire methods for increasing your ranking on search engines but there are several strategies that we can offer that will help.

To increase your ranking on search engine results and drive more traffic to your website, try these ten tips and tricks to establish your presence on the Internet:

•    Keyword Research: Make sure that the terms and phrases you use on your website are ones that your target market are looking for. Think from your clients’ point of view to come up with the best ones.
•    Increase the Links: Try to get as many links leading to your website from around the Internet as possible. Also, make sure that they don’t all lead to the home page. Look to blogs, social networking sites and the like to increase your traffic.
•    Be Original: Unique, interesting content is mandatory for attracting the attention of search engine spiders. Believe us, nothing will get you dropped to the bottom of the results like copying and pasting material from other sites.
•    Keep Current: Just because your keywords are perfect for your target market today does not mean that they’re everlasting. Check in on their effectiveness from time to time and make sure to adjust as necessary.
•    Stay in Touch: Be sure that your website and business information are listed on local guides like Citysearch or Yelp, and submit articles to sites like EzineArticles. You’ll get your business name out there and begin to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Realize that SEO is not a one-shot deal. In order for any optimization strategy to be effective, you have to be persistent. Now, getting ranked #1 on Google (or Yahoo or any other major search engine) isn’t easy, but with a little hard work, you can definitely increase your presence and begin your journey toward the top.

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Tried and True Marketing Strategies

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

When it comes to marketing your Internet business, it can often be hard to know where to start. There are so many options for marketing strategies and techniques, so how do you know which ones would work best for you and your company?

Obviously, you want to select strategies that have proven success records and are shown to lead to excellent results. To get you started, here are a few tried and true marketing strategies you may want to consider:

Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a way of developing your website content to attract the attention of top search engines like Google and Yahoo. When your target market does an Internet search for something related to your products and services, you want to be sure that your site appears as high in the search results as possible. By implementing an effective SEO strategy, you have the best chances for that.

Pay Per Click Ads
Top search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others offer advertising programs known as Pay Per Click or PPC. The basic way it works is that you create ads using keywords that relate to your business. When people search for those particular terms, your ad will appear on the page along with the other search results. The reason it’s called Pay Per Click is that you only pay for the ad when someone clicks on it.

Social Media Marketing
Social media is a kind of broad term that encompasses the various social networking communities – Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn being the top three. The way you market through social media is by creating profiles within each community and then participating in the online conversations. It’s a slow but steady word-of-mouth system that has revolutionized the way people exchange information with each other online.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing helps you drive traffic to your website by creating a network of other sites that already have a high volume of visitors. Here you would find businesses that have products and services similar to your own and then ask them to promote your company to their list in exchange for promoting them to yours.

The most important part of creating your custom marketing strategy is to choose the ones that best fit the nature of your business and the personality of your clientele. To find out which ones those are, do a little research and find out where your target market goes for information and resources on things related to your business and services.

And of course, if you ever have any questions about best marketing practices or developing a customized strategy for your business, contact us directly. We’d love to help you get started!

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Plan Ahead for Best SEO Results

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Do you want to know what the number one technique is for effective SEO? Persistence. Unlike a certain direct marketing product for roasting chicken, there is no “set it and forget it” when it comes to creating and maintaining a marketing strategy for your company or your services.

 

Not only do you need to remain vigilant in updating your SEO strategies, staying current with search trends, updating keywords and phrases and so forth for what’s going on in your market today, you also need to be proactive. For example, what’s your plan for the holiday season this year?

 

“But it’s only June! Don’t rush me. Can’t we get through the summer first?” Well, sure you can. You can wait all you want, just as long as you don’t care about making your marketing strategies as effective as they have the potential to be. Think about it, who do you think gets the better results: the person who’s already reformulating their services so they can offer a special holiday edition of their ebook, or the one who isn’t going to even think about how they can take advantage of the season until it’s Halloween and they are faced with shelves of tinsel and wreaths at their local drugstore?

 

And the fact is, you don’t have to have a particularly holiday-adaptable product to get in on the shopping frenzy action. People have been trained for decades to shop more in the last couple of months of the year and because there’s sure to be a huge surge in searches of all kinds, just a little tweaking in your keywords and site content can get your pages showing up in the results.

 

Remember, too, that Christmas isn’t the only time of year that determines shopping trends. There are always search trends that are more popular in one season over another. Keeping your site updated with the appropriate content and keywords – and planning for that well in advance of when you expect searches to change – will go a long way in keeping your marketing campaign ahead of the game.

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