Google PageRank Is Vital: Fact Or Fiction?

June 11th, 2009 by admin No comments »

Fact: High Google PageRank does not directly guarantee good search engine placement.  Although PageRank does factor into the SEO equation, page relevance, good quality content and links are the essential factors of a well balanced SEO campaign. For example, I’ve seen relatively new websites with no PageRank perform better in the search engine rankings than websites with a supposed PageRank of 4.

For the SEO geeks like me, the discussion and speculation can be seen as nothing more than inside baseball. Many SEO firms tout that increasing a site’s PageRank is the end-all and be-all to search engine optimization, but in my experience this is not the case.  Leading people this way I guess makes SEO more mystical and easier to sell, but it takes the focus away from the fundamentals of a good SEO campaign. In my opinion, having been inside the game for more than 10 years, placing a high emphasis on creating a high PageRank just for the sake of doing so really amounts to nothing.

Why? Because:

1. PageRank can be falsified with clever redirection techniques.  I have seen domains for sale with a PageRank of 6 only to find out that the PageRank was actually a 0.  How do I know that?  I was the purchaser of such a domain.
2. PageRank can be manipulated by those who overuse no-follow tags within a website. Google is rewriting its algorithm to address such abuses.
3. As soon as you think you have it figured out, Google without notice changes the parameters of the playing field and the rules of the game.
4. Focusing on just one aspect of your SEO campaign can actually make your site look unnatural. I have seen Google time and time again give websites “a haircut” (lopping off PageRank numbers) after a PageRank update.
5. It can take four to five months for a Google PageRank to update, so it really isn’t a good measure of the quality of your current SEO campaign.
6. It pits your site against the Google algorithm.  I caution and tell clients all the time that they are not competing with Google to get PageRank, but instead are competing with their rivals. SEO efforts should focus on outpacing your competitors on a keyword-by-keyword basis.  For example, I have seen certain SEO strategies work well for one keyword and not work so well for others.

So your best course of action is to focus on the fundamentals of SEO. I have learned that if you focus on the fundamentals of your search engine placement, then your Google PageRank will increase over time naturally.

These fundamentals include:

1. Well written content that’s written for your audience and centered on your keyword market focus
2. Congruent meta information, which is in alignment with your written content
3. External, contextual and editorial links to pages throughout your site
4. Balanced internal link flow within the website
5. Increased exposure and brand identity through every Internet marketing means possible, including but not limited to blogging, article submissions, video, press releases, etc.

To put it another way, a well optimized website arises when the market focuses of your content, meta tag information, external and internal links are in alignment with one another. Then and only then do you have an optimized website. If you make these element your focus, and not simply PageRank, then a quality PageRank will follow.

Sign up now to receive a few SEO Evaluation. You can also stay updated by following us at Twitter (www.Twitter.com/bestonline).  Send us a direct Twitter message and we will forward you a complimentary copy of our Beginner’s Guide To Using & Marketing with Twitter…

Special thanks to Bruce Westbrook for editing this blog post.

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Video SEO Use Strong Keywords to Beat Your Competition

April 30th, 2009 by admin 3 comments »

Things constantly are changing in the marketing world, and one of the biggest changes of late is the importance of using video advertising as part of your online marketing mix. Studies have shown this form of marketing creates better results for businesses, so it is important to utilize video search engine optimization (SEO) as well.

Video SEO is the process of increasing the search engine rankings your video receives. This in turn increases the number of customers to your site, which will increase business. Because so many businesses are using videos for the advertising, you cannot simply create a video and do nothing with it. In order for it to beat out the competition, it must be optimized.

When you SEO your video, you need to do a number of different things to ensure that it is optimized properly for the search engines. First, you need to pay extra attention to the keywords you are using in the title tags, Meta tags and description. Your video Meta tags are just as a traditional web page’s meta-information, the Meta information needs be congruent and relevant. This arguably is the most important part of the video optimization process because search engines initially are only able to utilize this content because they of course cannot understand the video’s content in of itself. Using strong keywords that will allow your video to compete with your competitors is a great way to get traffic to your site from the search engines as well as from the video sharing sites.

To make the most out of your keywords in video SEO, you need to make sure you research the keywords you want to use. You might think you have strong ones, but research might show that no one searches those phrases. This could be deceiving because you would think they have a low level of competition. However, if no one is searching them, then you will not get any traffic to your video. Find the most used keywords and embed them in your titles, descriptions and tags.

When you are using keywords that your competitors are using as well, it is important to create catchy titles using those selected keyword phrases. This will draw more people to your video because of the title. They will be interested in learning more so they will click on your video and bypass your competitors. The best SEO videos focus on the best of both worlds including clever titles and the most relevant keywords possible for maximum visibility. You also could use minor keywords or phrases to better emphasize your message. Your main keywords will be the ones in your titles, but your minor ones can appear throughout the video optimization as well.

Our Video SEO (VSEO) professionals will help you make the most out of your video advertising by increasing your videos’ visibility to targeted online audiences. Learn how companies are taking advantage of this new marketing technology. Act Now!

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Posted in Video Advertising, Video SEO

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Why Online Reputation Management is SO Important

April 12th, 2009 by admin No comments »

Unfortunately, our internet marketing company runs across so many damaged online reputations that our firm now offers online reputation management as a SEO service.  For example, we recently completed an online press release marketing campaign for a realtor in our local market.  The venue for the event was a high-end steak house nestled in the foothills of the Texas Hill Country in a rather affluent community.

However, right before the restaurant opened their doors, the restaurant manager was gunned down by a disgruntled employee who was fired from the establishment.  Well as you can imagine, this tragic event devastated the community at the time of the incident; however, the tragedy still echo’s in cyberspace as a number of the search engine result pages (SERPs) related to the name of the restaurant are chock-full of news stories about the murder. The murder occurred sometime ago, but due to the number of results related to the incident, the perception that anyone searching for the first-time is left with is that it must have just happened yesterday.

I don’t know about you, but if I had never been to the restaurant, looked them up online and saw the negative results, then I think I would have made other eating plans. I digress…  Now to the article…

Word spreads fast here on the web — An anonymous blogger writing from Paraguay about your company can impact your sales results this quarter. Like it or not, the web has become a massive, unfiltered ocean of content and networking. Rumors posted from a disgruntled employee, an angry customer, or an unscrupulous competitor can quickly rise to the top of the internet’s froth and appear in the top ten rankings whenever someone searches for your business or brand on Google, Yahoo, or one of other search engines. Respond to rumors just through print or traditional media — or ignore them altogether – and you could pay a fearsome cost in lost business and bad PR.

Connect with customers or potential customers — Not only can your online reputation management approach protect your company against smears and libel, but it can also yield positive benefits, such as being able to convey new and interesting information to your customers.

A bad online reputation can “harden” over time — Today’s scurrilous blog entry could be tomorrow’s unbeatable scourge. After all, if a bad website breaks into the top ten on Google or Yahoo for a search relating to your company and manages to retain visibility for long enough, that website will likely build out links to other websites and be sure to become a monster. If, on the other hand, you act efficiently to purge the website from the major search engines’ top ten lists (or top twenty lists), you can starve the virulent website of the nutritious “clicks” it needs to thrive.

Online and offline brands are connected — Even if you maintain but a nominal presence on the web, many of your customers use the web to search for information about you. If, when they type in your company’s name or brand name into Google, potential customers discover vitriolic condemnations posted by some enraged ex-boyfriend or deranged customer, they may think twice about doing business with you — even if they consciously recognize that the high profile rant is likely not representative.

Your personal reputation may be at stake — Just because someone publishes vitriol about your company or product on the web doesn’t mean that you personally will definitely be affected. However, particularly if you’re running an entrepreneurial endeavor or if your name is linked with your company’s name, a business challenge to your online reputation could quickly transmogrify into a personal challenge. If you’re very name becomes associated with negative results on Google or Yahoo, you could encounter a welter of problems, from trouble finding employment to issues with future in-laws to problems getting loans or grants.

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Posted in Online Reputation Management, Press Release Marketing

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Does your Blog Suck? 6 Ways to Make your Blog Un-Suck A.S.A.P.

April 10th, 2009 by admin No comments »

Many companies and organizations struggle when it comes to adequately marketing and supporting their company blog. Either they don’t have the time, they lack the will or the creativity as to what should be written on it. The ‘Era of Blogging’ has been alive and active for sometime and if you aren’t blogging regularly, networking with other bloggers, sharing your ideas with the blogosphere, then you truly are missing an opportunity to market and control the message of your business online. Hopefully, some of the ideas presented here as well as on this blog will help motivate you and your organization to write regularly on you blog and create a dialogue with your clients moving forward.

1.    Focus what you’re writing about — Sure, there’s lots going on in your life. You have a cat that you love very much, and you want to play with it all the time. Your job is crazy and your co-workers are crazy. You have boy/girl troubles. You enjoy reading mystery novels. You play the flute. While any one of these areas of interest can make for a compelling blog, if you over-diversify, you’ll fail to attract a consistent audience. This isn’t to say that you need to limit your blog to a particular subject (e.g. My Vegan Diet Attempt). Your web blog could be a humorous recounting of what goes on at your work every day or how your cat’s kidney stone diagnosis has progressed. What you write about doesn’t really matter — it’s the tone and the theme that needs to be one of a piece.

2.    Update, update, update! — This step is vital to the success of your blog and ties into my opening statement. The web is a content-hungry beast. It always needs more. Sure, your regular readers want to see updates, but the search engine spiders will be just as anxious to see your latest postings. A freshly revised and updated blog will not only get more links and interest from other web users over time, but also it will compile larger more relevant archives, which will demonstrate to the search engines that your site is for real.

3.    Employ a clean interface — Yes, you may want to grab some money on the side by putting up banner ads, Chikita ads and the like. You may also want to throw in some videos and links to other blogs and forums and spaces for you to twitter. But the more you gunk up your blog interface, the harder it will be for your blog’s fans to find essential information. Focus on your one tonal and thematic main task first, and then slowly integrate other features down the line.

4.    Interact with your readers — Take questions, do interviews, respond to comments, e-mail with your biggest fans, link to other blogs that support you, and ask your readers to subscribe.

5.    Patience, my friend — You may be the most genius blogger to come along since Nikki Finke, but you’re not going to be an overnight success, most likely, even if you’re a celebrity or a politician. Build your audience over time by focusing your mission, adding content, and following the other advice we’ve given above.

6.    Experiment with SEO and PPC tactics — Obviously, one of the reasons you’re blogging is because you want to make money writing about something that interests you. However, don’t put the cart before the horse. Build your SEO campaign on the back of a solid, content-rich site — not the other way around.

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Posted in Make Money Writing, SEO Campaign

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8 Tips to Guarantee that your SEO will Fail Miserably

January 29th, 2009 by admin No comments »

Hello again everyone.  Thank you again for reading our Internet Marketing blog…  We hope that you enjoy this post.  To be completely honest with you, we had to really pare down this post in order to get it into the blog today because increasingly there are more and more variables and avenues to increasing your search engine placement, your Internet exposure and traffic to your website.

The one constant in our business is change.  Our Internet marketing company spends a large percentage of our time developing and testing new Internet marketing not just SEO strategies to increase the reach of our clients as the Internet expands.  This post is designed to kick off the discussion of website issues that will have a negative impact on your search engine placement.  This list is by no means exhaustive.  Consider this post therefore as a living document.  There is one guarantee about this subject and that is this will be expanded and updated overtime so stay tuned and enjoy.  If you have any relevant comments, then feel free to leave them.  We look forward to the dialogue.

So just how do you torpedo your website within the Google search results?

1. Have little to no content on the key web pages of the website.  Being in the industry for years, we have heard virtually every excuse in the book as to why website owners don’t place quality written content on their key pages. The excuses span the gambit from, “We are a custom home builder company and our users must see our homes first” to “Pictures sell. We are an ecommerce transactional site.” All of these statements might be true, however the fact still remains that at the time of this writing search engines are content based.  If you don’t have a minimum amount of indexable content (250-300 words) on your key web pages, then your site will not have a chance at placing well, period.

2. Substituting style over indexablity.  Although this is becoming less and less of an issue, it still exists. Many business owners are lured by the beauty and slickness of a splash landing page or a flash intro.  These pages are not search engine friendly. However, what is worse, some businesses go all in and opt for an entirely flash coded website.  The search engines are evolving, but they still aren’t really able to read text embedded on a flash web architecture.  If you are in the process of updating your website or building a website, then take this to heart.  Why would you pay lots of money to have a website developed only for it to be invisible to the public?

3. Copy your content from other websites — there’s nothing search engine spiders like less than plagiarized content. Paraphrasing published content might offend the search engine spiders less — but be aware that just because you change a sentence or two around doesn’t mean that you won’t get penalized. In fact, if the Google and Yahoo search engine spiders realize that you’re posting plagiarized content, not only will your site fail to rank effectively, but it might also be penalized and pushed off of the search engine rankings altogether!

4.    Never update your content — if you want to fail miserably at SEO, simply post all of your content at once and then leave your site to ossify for years! Search engine spiders and other website operators don’t like sites that never produce fresh material. For extra demerits, try self-plagiarizing content you’ve already written and passing that off as “new fresh material!”

5.    Avoid linking to good, relevant sites — if you really want to waste your SEO efforts, don’t bother building links out to relevant sites. Instead, focus on either linking to nobody or linking to every two-bit irrelevant site you can find on the net. Hire a link farm service that hasn’t been vetted. And be sure to include links in an obnoxious, glaring, hard-to-read format — that way you’ll guarantee that whatever visitors accidentally show up at your site leave quickly.  Tip: Don’t be Link Scrooge.  We are not implying that you need to link directly to your competitors from your home page or advertise their specials, but do link to relevant trusted sites in your business community.  Being a good resource to your niche is as important as having a properly coded sitemap and keeping it updated on your website.

6.    Use obscure or bizarre long domain names — so what if the domains for “usedcars.com” and “oldautos.com” have been taken? Who cares — go for “ihaveoldcarsthatIwouldliketosell.com” and “pleasebuymyusedcars.com.” Or even better yet, attach to other larger domains (such as geocities.com) so that your site is buried nice and deep. There’s nothing web searchers or engines like less than distractingly long names THAT AREN’T RELEVANT.

7.    Forget about theme — your thoughts wander, so why shouldn’t the thoughts on your website? Sure, you may want to sell used cars or used car parts and optimize for those keywords, but why not share your general thoughts with the web community as well? Failing to focus your content and thematic SEO objectives will guarantee a ridiculously low ROI!

8.    Repeat key phrases and keywords ad nauseum for no reason — why not just write the words “used cars” and “buy used cars now” over and over and over again until you get carpal tunnel syndrome? Surely, if your website contains tens of thousands of references to one of the web’s most common key phrases; you’ll drive up your SEO rankings, won’t you? Absolutely not! The search engines may not be as savvy as HAL from 2001 or the computer networks from The Matrix or Terminator, but they can sniff out schemes to defraud them. So if you want to send your rankings through the floor, bulk-up on fluff copy.

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Placement

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SEO Web Marketing Advice: Why Getting More Traffic is NOT What You Want

November 17th, 2008 by admin No comments »

Many website owners want traffic, traffic, traffic. They think that if they can just get loads of traffic to their website, then their web site marketing problems will be solved forever. But, this is a internet marketing myth. Getting more traffic in of itself is not what you want from your website. And, run from any SEO web marketing guru who tells you so. So, what do you want?

What You Want to Hear from Your SEO Web Marketing Consultant.

There are eight little words you want to hear from your SEO web marketing consultant. And they are, “I will drive targeted traffic to your website/blog.” The reason you want to hear the word “targeted” is this separates the experts from the wannabees.

Why Targeted Traffic is Website Gold

If an SEO web marketing professional utters the word targeted, without you even have to say a word, then you know you’ve got the right firm/professional. Why? Because with a few tricks, anyone with a modicum of SEO understanding can drive traffic to your website. But, if you sell dog widgets and the traffic that is driven to your site are tarantula lovers, what good is that type of SEO web marketing advice going to do you? None!
Getting targeted traffic is a balancing act that requires industry skill and knowledge. It requires research, looking at what keywords your competitors are using, seeing how they use them, the number of competitors vying for placement, etc. In short, it requires an SEO professional.
And that’s why SEO web marketing is a skill, not a guessing game.

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Posted in SEO Web Marketing, Web Marketing

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Search Engine Marketing

November 15th, 2008 by admin No comments »

Search Engine Marketing is also known as Internet Marketing and if applied effectively can help you increase the visibility within the Google search results. The trend of the internet marketing and online advertising is never stable and it is constantly changing therefore it is important to upgrade the marketing strategies or change in order to go with the flow of changing algorithms.

•    Search Engine Marketing through submitting your website to leading Search Engines:
There is a vast difference between search engine optimization and search engine submission. There is a different strategy involved in marketing for websites related to different subjects and products. For example, if you wish to promote engineering site it has one strategy and some other company wants to promote chemical site, it will have a different strategy.

•    Search Engine Marketing through quality link building:
There are two types of directories which are most important for search engine marketing purpose. One is general directory which maintains the data of the companies and list them product wise and country wise. The other directory is product or industry specific directories because many of the prospective buyers are aware of industry specific directories. Search engine is the most popular tool to promote business directly or indirectly, so most of the directories market their web sites through search engines to get popularity in this way our client gets multiple benefits of search engine marketing i.e. organic way of website listing and indirect way of web site listing in search engines.

•    Search Engine Marketing Through Posting Trade Leads:
Trade leads is the most direct and effective tools of search engine promotion. It highlights when customer is looking for the particular products. Trade leads are always time limited so updating of your trade leads and uploading of your product images becomes a very important factor for getting maximum ROI through trade lead management program.

•    Search Engine Marketing by In depth Keyword Research:
An in-depth keyword research is done so as to ensure that all the keywords are placed in the right places. There are various tools of search engine to check how frequently a given particular keyword is used by the mass.

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Posted in SEM, Search Engine Marketing

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Blog Commenting Another Link Marketing Strategy

November 13th, 2008 by admin No comments »

One Way Backlinks When Commenting on Blogs

One example of useful one way backlinks involves commenting on blogs. When you leave a comment on a blog that has content relevant to your website, you can leave a one way backlinks to your website in your electronic signature. Your comments may draw readers to click on your link to find out more about you and what you offer. When adding one way backlinks on blogs, make sure to keep your comments courteous and professional.

Choosing the Right Link Marketing Method

In the end choosing the best linking strategy depends on which method will work best for your website. Choosing quality, results driven link marketing methods like one way backlinks will carry more weight with search engines than reciprocal links and can produce very impressive results.

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Posted in Blog Commenting, Link Marketing

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Promote Your Website Through Link Marketing

November 12th, 2008 by admin No comments »

When searching for the most effective ways to promote your website, increasing the number of visitors is one of the biggest objectives for your business. The amount of traffic your website receives depends heavily on how it gets indexed and ranked by the search engines.

An integral component to your search engine marketing strategy should include the use of link marketing strategies. Placing links to your site from other quality websites will successfully attract attention to both your website and the host site. Links operate like recommendations or votes between websites. The two most common linking building strategies for website promotion are one way links (aka one way backlinks) and trading links through reciprocal link strategies with other websites.  The right linking technique can noticeably increase the amount of website traffic you receive.

One Way Links
Some websites use the one way linking strategy. You can add a link to your website on another website. Visitors to the host website can access your site when they click the link. Once visitors are redirected to your website, there is no return link for the host site. This can be beneficial if the host website is popular and generates a steady amount of traffic. It is important to make sure the host website’s content is similar to your own. Some websites charge a fee to post links. If the fee is reasonable, it could be worth considering since linking is such an effective marketing method.

Reciprocal Links
Another popular linking method is trading links, or reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking allows you to place another company’s link on your site. They in turn allow you to place a link on their website. Since this is considered a form of mutual advertising, there is usually little cost involved. The problem with reciprocal linking is that webmasters and SEO experts have used it so much the search engines no longer respond very well. If a website similar to yours wants to exchange links, it won’t hurt; but it is unlikely to improve traffic to your site or increase its search engine ranking.

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Posted in Link Building, Link Marketing

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Why Apply Search Engine Optimization To Your Website?

November 11th, 2008 by admin No comments »

Everyday millions of people search the web to find out what they look for. If your website doesn’t come up top in results, you lose your business to your competitors. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important not only because it brings lots of visitors to your website, but also because it helps to increase the return on investment.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of making adjustments to your website in order to make it more relevant to the keywords related to your site.  The more relevant your website is to your keywords and phrases the higher your website will place in the search results. The higher your search engine placement within the Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. search results, the greater the chance your site will be visited by many, which in turn would skyrocket your sales.

SEO Optimization is about making your website visible on search engines. Its commercial purpose is to be the first to hit a customer base effectively.

4 easy steps to get started with Search Engine Optimization

1.    Create traffic targeted content: Identify the keywords using which your potential customers will search the web. After identifying and gathering the set of keywords, categorize them under various themes and write web contents on those themes. HTML tags such as title tags and meta tags also play a role in ranking top on search engines. These tags must contain only relevant keywords.

2.    Make your pages Search Engine Ready : Check if your pages are search engine ready, i.e if they are crawl able by search engine spiders, is there something in them that will make the Search Engine neglect the page or give it lower ranking.

To make the pages search engine ready

•    Your website content must be readable
•    Add only relevant keywords
•    Do not make text invisible.

3.    Submit your site to Search Engines: Start submitting your site to the popular search engines. That way they know your site exists.

4.   Track your performance: It is important to keep track of your search engine rankings for each of your keywords in the most important search engines Google, Yahoo and MSN and constantly modify your website content so that the search engines know that your page is active.

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Posted in Search Engine Ready, Why SEO

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