Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing: Two Important Aspects of Internet Marketing
Two concepts have become unavoidable for a successful internet marketing campaign today: search engine optimization and social media marketing. Previously considered two separate concepts, the two have become intertwined and together make a powerful tool for making your business’s online presence more visible and bringing in relevant web traffic. SEO experts till now, used to concentrate on either search engine optimization or social media marketing as a tool for increasing relevant traffic. Now, however, onsite and offsite SEO as well as targeted promotional campaigns on social media sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube etc. are getting equal importance in internet marketing.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the process of driving maximum web traffic by making the website rank top on the search engine results. It deals with optimizing the website, its content, its meta tags with relevant keywords. Organic SEO is generally considered a passive resort to bringing in traffic, assuming that if one builds the right site, the right traffic will automatically come in. It basically aligns with the ‘pull’ strategy of internet marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing, on the other hand, is active internet marketing, with companies proactively utilizing social media sites to mark their online presence. It includes promoting website and services or products through related forums and inviting people to link back to the website’s useful content. With social media marketing you can interact with targeted prospects and get them involved in talking about your business/brand so that they may recommend your company to friends and people around them. Such ‘snowball’ effect is what companies hope for when they use social media marketing. Active link building, blog promotion and new and interesting content for relevant topics builds up trust and draws in relevant traffic, through which popularity amongst online users increases and search rankings also improve.
A Combination of SEO and SMM
Neither search engine optimization nor social media marketing alone can become an effective internet marketing tool. Good SEO helps the website rank higher on the search engine results, but it does not make the website popular or generate personal recommendations from the users. Social media marketing, on the other hand, can popularize the company’s brand or products and services. But it may fail to get a good website rank in the search engine results, in which case the site will lose its visibility.
The goal of attracting relevant traffic to your site can be fulfilled only if both search engine optimization and social media marketing run concurrently. Both are the perfect partners for getting the site on top rankings as well as building up an informal community of visitors. The millions of online users make internet marketing a powerful and compelling tool to get prospective customers involved with your business and turn them into customers.
Plan out your SEO campaign with a professional SEO consultant and ensure that you include use search engine optimization as well as social media marketing for all your internet marketing efforts.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the process of driving maximum web traffic by making the website rank top on the search engine results. It deals with optimizing the website, its content, its meta tags with relevant keywords. Organic SEO is generally considered a passive resort to bringing in traffic, assuming that if one builds the right site, the right traffic will automatically come in. It basically aligns with the ‘pull’ strategy of internet marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing, on the other hand, is active internet marketing, with companies proactively utilizing social media sites to mark their online presence. It includes promoting website and services or products through related forums and inviting people to link back to the website’s useful content. With social media marketing you can interact with targeted prospects and get them involved in talking about your business/brand so that they may recommend your company to friends and people around them. Such ‘snowball’ effect is what companies hope for when they use social media marketing. Active link building, blog promotion and new and interesting content for relevant topics builds up trust and draws in relevant traffic, through which popularity amongst online users increases and search rankings also improve.
A Combination of SEO and SMM
Neither search engine optimization nor social media marketing alone can become an effective internet marketing tool. Good SEO helps the website rank higher on the search engine results, but it does not make the website popular or generate personal recommendations from the users. Social media marketing, on the other hand, can popularize the company’s brand or products and services. But it may fail to get a good website rank in the search engine results, in which case the site will lose its visibility.
The goal of attracting relevant traffic to your site can be fulfilled only if both search engine optimization and social media marketing run concurrently. Both are the perfect partners for getting the site on top rankings as well as building up an informal community of visitors. The millions of online users make internet marketing a powerful and compelling tool to get prospective customers involved with your business and turn them into customers.
Plan out your SEO campaign with a professional SEO consultant and ensure that you include use search engine optimization as well as social media marketing for all your internet marketing efforts.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
6 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Mistakes you Should Avoid
Having completed your website and seeing it live might make you heave a sigh of relief. But don’t relax just yet; search engine optimization of your site is required to make your site more visible on the web. Putting up your site without SEO is like putting up ad billboards at a place with no visitors; it doesn’t bring the focus on your business or attract visitors. So, while gearing up for your search engine optimization campaign, you need to be aware of some major mistakes which should be avoided at all costs:
- No Links
Search engines give a lot of importance to the relevant links to your site; it shows that other sites trust your site. If you do not have quality links in place, your site’s ranking will be affected. Relevant link building should be done as part of search engine optimization which can help get your site a better ranking on search results. Check with your SEO expert if he/she provides link building services along with SEO services. - Keyword Stuffing or Keywords Cloud
This is a big ‘no-no’ for search engine optimization. Many SEO experts with half-baked skills, in their eagerness to increase keyword density, stuff website content with keywords. This is a big mistake. Ask your SEO expert to optimize your content sensibly. Make sure that your site has meaningful and original content. A keyword-stuffed site might turn up good on the search results, but visitors leave the site the moment they notice the keyword stuffing; they realize that the site will not give them any useful information. Give your SEO expert the responsibility not only of getting your site on a good rank in search results but also of maintaining it with sensible content that attracts visitors to your site. You need to research for optimum keyword density or get advise from the right SEO consultant. - Black Hat SEO Techniques
Search engine crawlers or robots, as they are called, are smart enough to recognize Black Hat search engine optimization techniques, which are unethical means to get ahead in the search rankings. If you try to deceive the search engines by putting up copied content, invisible text stuffed with keywords or page cloaking, they will ban your site. Organic SEO is the only safe and sure method of gaining good rankings on search results. No qualified SEO expert will advise you to go for such unethical SEO tricks. And if they do, run in the opposite direction! - Shabby Site Structure
Your website’s structure is important for search engine crawlers to index the content and relevant pages. So if your site’s structure is in disarray, your search ranking can get affected. Make sure that your site’s structure is clear and understandable so that the crawlers can cache relevant content and rank your site higher. Also keep in mind that a few search engines prefer xml sitemaps to html ones. So make both available. - Images or Flash Instead of Interesting Content
Putting important content in flash or images is a big mistake for search engine optimization, and should be avoided. Search engines cannot read content in images or flash, so if you put keyword-optimized content or product information in an image or flash presentation, crawlers will be unable to judge relevancy of information. Instead of flashy presentations, try to keep your site up to date on the latest information about your industry. Relevant and fresh content is good for search engine optimization and can boost rankings. If you are interested in putting up images, go for static ones and give them relevant image tags. - Omitting Important Keywords from Title, Description and Meta Tags
Don’t ignore the importance of keywords in the title, description and Meta tags of the site. SEO experts will tell you that search engine optimization without keywords in the backend is useless. Search engines sort through description, title and Meta tags to decide the relevancy of the website; the tags tell search engines what the website is all about. Including keywords in the Meta tags is the most important aspect of search engine optimization, without which search ranking will not improve.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
5 Search Engine Optimization Myths
Despite the rising importance of search engine optimization for higher search rankings and increased targeted web traffic on your website, one finds many prevalent myths about SEO. If you are looking to hire a SEO consultant, being aware such myths will help you make an informed decision. Mentioned below are the most prominent myths related to search engine optimization:
Myth # 1 - Reputed SEO Consultants Can Guarantee # 1 Search Ranking
Let’s put this on record: No SEO consultant or company can guarantee # 1 ranking in any of the search engines. This is because the search engine algorithms are constantly changing and companies like Google and Yahoo also frequently change the techniques for rankings. The SEO consultant does not have any direct control over the results of the search engines and therefore the only thing he can do is update your site according to the constantly changing search algorithms. No one besides the search engine companies themselves can claim to know the complete algorithm; guarantees for # 1 position are hence impossible to give. Instead of looking for a guaranteed # 1 position, you should concentrate on search engine optimization for your website in the best possible way. Hiring an experienced SEO consultant, however, can improve your website ranking considerably. Checking out the previous projects of the SEO consultant may help you select the right one.
Myth # 2 - Only the Home Page needs to be optimized for Good Search Rankings
Many business owners believe that if they write keyword-optimized content for only their home page, their work is done. This is a big mistake for website optimization. In any search engine optimization campaign, each page of your website needs to be optimized for their respective keywords. Search engine crawlers or robots are likely to visit any page of your website randomly. Experienced SEO consultants will advise you that if all pages of your website are keyword-optimized, your search ranking will get a huge boost.
Myth # 3 - In-house SEO is Cheaper than a SEO Consultant
In-house SEO experts are actually a costlier option to hiring a SEO consultant. A company providing SEO services has a whole team to dedicate to your project. Rather than spend space, time and money on hiring one in house SEO help, a SEO consultant is cost-effective, efficient and experienced to handle all your search engine optimization requirements.
Myth # 4 - Once Top Search Rank is Achieved, Search Engine Optimization Can be Stopped
Search engine optimization is not a one-time process; it’s an ongoing one. Once top search ranking is achieved, time and effort should be spent to retain that ranking. There are thousands of websites competing for top ranking in major search engines and if you stop search engine optimization, they may overtake your website ranking. Your organic SEO efforts should also be bolstered through additional efforts like blogs, articles and newsletters and paid means like Pay Per Click etc.
Myth # 5 - PPC is More Effective than Organic SEO
If your search engine optimization is for a short period, say one to four months, Pay Per Click is a good option for you. However, if you want high visibility for a longer term than that, organic SEO is the way to go. Also remember that web users have long ago figured out the difference between sponsored ads and organic results. They trust organic searches and find them more useful for relevant content. So organic SEO efforts should never be replaced with paid means; they are the best way to grab the attention of users.
Having put all these SEO myths to rest will hopefully have cleared some of your doubts. If you are aware of these facts while hiring an SEO consultant, you will be able to hire the most suitable one and get ahead with your search engine optimization campaign.
Myth # 1 - Reputed SEO Consultants Can Guarantee # 1 Search Ranking
Let’s put this on record: No SEO consultant or company can guarantee # 1 ranking in any of the search engines. This is because the search engine algorithms are constantly changing and companies like Google and Yahoo also frequently change the techniques for rankings. The SEO consultant does not have any direct control over the results of the search engines and therefore the only thing he can do is update your site according to the constantly changing search algorithms. No one besides the search engine companies themselves can claim to know the complete algorithm; guarantees for # 1 position are hence impossible to give. Instead of looking for a guaranteed # 1 position, you should concentrate on search engine optimization for your website in the best possible way. Hiring an experienced SEO consultant, however, can improve your website ranking considerably. Checking out the previous projects of the SEO consultant may help you select the right one.Myth # 2 - Only the Home Page needs to be optimized for Good Search Rankings
Many business owners believe that if they write keyword-optimized content for only their home page, their work is done. This is a big mistake for website optimization. In any search engine optimization campaign, each page of your website needs to be optimized for their respective keywords. Search engine crawlers or robots are likely to visit any page of your website randomly. Experienced SEO consultants will advise you that if all pages of your website are keyword-optimized, your search ranking will get a huge boost.
Myth # 3 - In-house SEO is Cheaper than a SEO Consultant
In-house SEO experts are actually a costlier option to hiring a SEO consultant. A company providing SEO services has a whole team to dedicate to your project. Rather than spend space, time and money on hiring one in house SEO help, a SEO consultant is cost-effective, efficient and experienced to handle all your search engine optimization requirements.
Myth # 4 - Once Top Search Rank is Achieved, Search Engine Optimization Can be Stopped
Search engine optimization is not a one-time process; it’s an ongoing one. Once top search ranking is achieved, time and effort should be spent to retain that ranking. There are thousands of websites competing for top ranking in major search engines and if you stop search engine optimization, they may overtake your website ranking. Your organic SEO efforts should also be bolstered through additional efforts like blogs, articles and newsletters and paid means like Pay Per Click etc.
Myth # 5 - PPC is More Effective than Organic SEO
If your search engine optimization is for a short period, say one to four months, Pay Per Click is a good option for you. However, if you want high visibility for a longer term than that, organic SEO is the way to go. Also remember that web users have long ago figured out the difference between sponsored ads and organic results. They trust organic searches and find them more useful for relevant content. So organic SEO efforts should never be replaced with paid means; they are the best way to grab the attention of users.
Having put all these SEO myths to rest will hopefully have cleared some of your doubts. If you are aware of these facts while hiring an SEO consultant, you will be able to hire the most suitable one and get ahead with your search engine optimization campaign.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Promote your Website with SEO and Social Media Marketing in 5 Easy Steps
If you’re an established setup or a startup company heavily dependent on your website and internet marketing to sell your product/services, you need to pay close attention to search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing. Both can be a crucial factor in the success of your business. When combined with social media marketing, SEO can create a strong online presence and can attract loads of targeted traffic towards your website.
Social media marketing, till a very short time ago, was a relatively unknown term. It has exploded on the online arena recently as a means to reach the millions of prospective customers who look for information online. Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. are becoming popular means of social media marketing for businesses. Some time ago, we covered the topic of using social media marketing as a tool to reach target customers. Some of the highlights from that post were:
Social media marketing, till a very short time ago, was a relatively unknown term. It has exploded on the online arena recently as a means to reach the millions of prospective customers who look for information online. Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. are becoming popular means of social media marketing for businesses. Some time ago, we covered the topic of using social media marketing as a tool to reach target customers. Some of the highlights from that post were:- The concept of Social Media Marketing has exploded into the business scenario recently as the best way to communicate with target audience as well as for Search Engine Optimization. It is the most popular concept in vogue for internet marketing today.
- Compared to the millions of consumers businesses can reach through the internet, traditional marketing methods can only reach a limited number of people.
- Today companies, in addition to website optimization and SEO, are embracing social media marketing to reach its consumers.
Let us now move on to the 5 steps through which you can get great traffic to your website.
Drive Traffic to your Website through Search Engine Optimization
Once you have designed and developed your website, it is important to make it visible to the online users. In addition to having great products and services, you will need Search Engine Optimization to popularize your website. One simple tactic for starting SEO for your website is having a keyword-rich domain and integrating those keywords in the titles of your web pages. All you have to do then is to use the primary keyword and keyword phrases in the content you put up on your website. If your content is new and interesting and has a decent keyword density, the search engines will find you. After you optimize your website, you can consider other options like link building and paid forms of advertising like Pay Per Clicks etc. If taking care of all these details sounds tedious, you can hire a SEO expert.
Blog about Subjects Close to you
Blogs have become the informal way of connecting with the customers for many companies. They serve the dual purpose of making the company visible online as well as scoring points with the customers. Setting up your own blog is a simple and free process. You can get your own blog set up and ready for posts in three clicks on blogger.com, a site owner by Google. Updating a blog frequently and consistently with interesting information can help you interact with customers and gain a valuable insight to their likes and dislikes. With this feedback, you can improve your products or services in accordance to the taste of the customers. Optimize your blog posts a little for search engine optimization and voila, your blog will assist you in not only online community building but also driving valuable web traffic to your site.
Use the Social Media Network
As said before, social media marketing is the emerging trend to reach out to customers of all types. With millions of users hooked on to social media sites such as Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. these websites are a great way to make your own network of dedicated followers. Create an attractive profile on one of these websites and keep friends, family and business associates updated on what’s happening in your business. Links of your business website on these profiles will also help in Search Engine Optimization for your website.
Make your Network and be Helpful
Just making your profile and posting updates is not enough to popularize your business on the social media network. You need to interact with other users, ask questions, and in some cases, answer them. Such interaction will give you crucial feedback which can be integrated into your business. Only if you give users some useful information and be helpful to them will they be interested in what is happening with you.
Keep Updating your Website with New Features
Lastly, keep updating your website with unique features which will interest the users so that they keep coming back to use them. Regularly updating your website also helps with search engine optimization and helps better search ranking of your website.
These 5 steps of search engine optimization and social media marketing will help you create a strong web presence and impression on your potential customers. But it is also important to remember the basics: people want great products or services for reasonable prices from a knowledgeable and trustworthy vendor. Having an ideal combination of these factors is a sure-shot way to success.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Ethical Search Engine Optimization: Some Important Dos and Don’ts
Search engine optimization is witnessing a boom in this recession. As more businesses turn to the internet to reach the millions potential customers, website optimization is becoming more popular as we speak. As success of one company and failure of its competitor is now associated with the company’s reach to its customers, SEO services are the priority on yearly marketing plans of most companies.
But in this rush to improve rankings through search engine optimization, it’s quite easy to make a wrong decision or opt for wrong methods. If unethical methods are used for short term gains, your website loses out in the long term, with the possibility of being black listed by the search engines.
What most people are unaware of is how to recognize these unethical SEO practices. The following are some points to guide you.
Black VS White
Black Hat SEO tries to trick search engines in giving websites a higher search ranking despite irrelevant content. It is the methodology which uses loopholes and unethical tactics to achieve a high search ranking in a short period of time. Black Hat SEO is not unheard of, and ideally, you should stay away from it. But it has one big tempting factor: higher ranking in a short period of time. Why bother about other factors, right? WRONG! Using wrong methods for SEO might sound the death knell for your website. Search engines are constantly looking to block sites which use Black Hat SEO. If your website is found, it may be banned or blacklisted from the search engines.
On the other hand, White Hat SEO is tougher, but it’s the most appropriate way to optimize. An ethical SEO consultant has to work very hard to keep up with the constantly changing search engine algorithms. There is constant work and the website is gradually improved via keywords, rich content and site navigation to meet the ethical demands of the search engines. This process takes time, but if you have the patience and persistence of going through it, White Hat SEO will give better results for a long time. You will get results through these ethical means in an average of three to four months.
Recognize Ethical SEO Experts
Always beware of SEO consultants promising #1 ranking in search engines within a few weeks; it is not possible. Also know that the search engine algorithm is ever changing; no SEO expert can claim to know it completely and accurately. Do not fall for the ‘hundreds of link exchanges’ or ‘thousands of article postings’ line most unprofessional SEO consultants use. Bulk link exchanges or article postings do not help unless they are relevant.
Be Patient
If the search engine optimization of your site is taking more time than you expected, it is a good sign; a short cut doesn’t always win. Be patient with SEO if it takes some time, because it could mean that work is in progress on the right track. Improving the visibility of your website involves a lot of backend work, with rich content, easy site navigation and other factors involved. Your SEO consultant has to work constantly so that the site’s ranking improves. And organic SEO always takes some time. Remember, it will benefit you in the long term.
Be Aware of the Process
Knowing the ethical and unethical means to search ranking, you have to be able to identify which method is being used for your website’s search engine optimization. Keep yourself abreast of the process undertaken by the SEO expert you hire. Ask questions and interact with him as much as possible. This way, you can keep tabs on the methodology being used to optimize your site.
In Conclusion…
Avoid SEO consultants who:
- Guarantee #1 ranking within a few weeks
- Try finding loopholes to lure search engines
- Claim knowing the search engine algorithm
- Talk of bulk link exchange or article posting at hundreds of sites
- Refuse to give you details of how they work
- Suggest stuffing keywords into meta tags and content
- Recommend permanent redirects
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Use Social Media Marketing to Improve your SEO Ranking
Do you know that some of the biggest companies are asking their marketing departments to spend more time on websites like LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook etc? If the statistics of 2008 are to be believed, the online social media commands the highest time and attention of youngsters today. The young generation loves it as it is an innovative way to connect and communicate with people all around the world. People’s social as well as professional communication is undertaking a change as they discuss everything from Oscars to Obama on websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace. Social media is hence a new category of internet which is a huge crowd-puller. Brand marketers use it as a source for targeted marketing to put across their messages, get feedback on their brand and sales promotion campaigns.
The concept of Social Media Marketing has exploded into the business scenario as the best way to communicate with target audience as well as for Search Engine Optimization. It is the most popular concept in vogue for internet marketing today. With even the smallest businesses going online and tech savvy for a better reach to their consumers, this is hardly surprising. Compared to the millions of consumers businesses can reach through the internet, traditional marketing methods can only reach a limited number of people. Companies, in and SEO, are embracing social media marketing to reach its consumers.
What Social Media Marketing is…
The term “social media” is given to the collection of online mediums through which users communicate on issues they are interested in. The most popular social media are said to be websites like LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook etc. These websites have forums created and maintained by users, rather than the company itself or its employees. Social media marketing is a way of utilizing this vast network of social media for marketing purposes. Initially used as a tool for interaction, social media is now looked upon as a medium by businessmen to get their message across to their target consumers. Also known as “social internet marketing”, “social network marketing” and “social marketing”, this concept is becoming a preferred tool for businessmen looking for publicity. In essence, social media marketing combines the word-of-mouth publicity with the millions of internet users. It is used for various purposes like increasing online presence, inbound linking, brand awareness and positive feedback from consumers.
How it Works…
Social media is based on conversations between people of the things they like, with recommendations being passed along if they come across anything interesting. If you have a blog with regular postings of interesting topics, you can promote them on social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook etc. If users like your blog, they will pass it along to friends. This way, the information about your company gets passed along by users who like it, to people in their contact. There is a level of trust established between the two users, hence when one recommends your blog to another, it works better than any advertisement ever can.
But your work is not limited only to submitting your blog. After submitting your post at these social bookmarking sites, you need to interact with users with similar interests as yours. You can start building a network by checking out other posts, commenting on them and interacting with the person who has posted that blog. It would be a mistake if you keep on submitting your blog post and expect others to find it. By popularizing your blog this way, you can get inbound links as well as brand awareness for your business. The inbound links, in turn, will also improve your SEO ranking through organic SEO. In addition to blogs, you can also give links to interesting websites and updated information on various issues.
The key to making social media marketing work is generating interest in the content or topic being covered. Quality content is always stressed on, but it plays a vital role in the success or failure of a social media marketing campaign. Users browsing the social bookmarking sites are looking for innovative, new and interesting content, which they then will pass on to their friends. If the content on your blog is uninteresting or old, it will not spread to other users, and they will eventually stop following your blog.
Who Can Use SMM…
Not only large business houses with a pool of resources to dedicate to marketing, but smaller businesses are also starting to use social media as a marketing tool. We hence hear of food vans using Twitter to let followers know which area they will be touring this month, while established banks and others have introduced interactive blogs to let users know of its history. Any business with an internet connection can utilize SMM for business development. It is a better option to putting up ads online and is better accepted due to the creditability of recommendations made by known people.
A Word of Caution…
The message that you want to convey to people in the social media is not controlled by you, but by the users. People are just as likely to complain about a lousy product as recommend it if it was good. It has to be a 2-way interaction, with you giving out useful information in order to get a positive feedback. If the delicately-balanced trust of the users is shattered, they might spam you out of their circle or give you negative feedback.
Social media marketing is a tough concept and requires a lot of time and effort to become successful. It takes time and commitment to develop contacts, trust and respect with the online community and the results are obtained in a long term. If you don’t have the time to put into social media marketing, you can hire an SEO expert or SEO consultant to maintain your online presence through social media marketing.
The concept of Social Media Marketing has exploded into the business scenario as the best way to communicate with target audience as well as for Search Engine Optimization. It is the most popular concept in vogue for internet marketing today. With even the smallest businesses going online and tech savvy for a better reach to their consumers, this is hardly surprising. Compared to the millions of consumers businesses can reach through the internet, traditional marketing methods can only reach a limited number of people. Companies, in and SEO, are embracing social media marketing to reach its consumers.What Social Media Marketing is…
The term “social media” is given to the collection of online mediums through which users communicate on issues they are interested in. The most popular social media are said to be websites like LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook etc. These websites have forums created and maintained by users, rather than the company itself or its employees. Social media marketing is a way of utilizing this vast network of social media for marketing purposes. Initially used as a tool for interaction, social media is now looked upon as a medium by businessmen to get their message across to their target consumers. Also known as “social internet marketing”, “social network marketing” and “social marketing”, this concept is becoming a preferred tool for businessmen looking for publicity. In essence, social media marketing combines the word-of-mouth publicity with the millions of internet users. It is used for various purposes like increasing online presence, inbound linking, brand awareness and positive feedback from consumers.
How it Works…
Social media is based on conversations between people of the things they like, with recommendations being passed along if they come across anything interesting. If you have a blog with regular postings of interesting topics, you can promote them on social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook etc. If users like your blog, they will pass it along to friends. This way, the information about your company gets passed along by users who like it, to people in their contact. There is a level of trust established between the two users, hence when one recommends your blog to another, it works better than any advertisement ever can.
But your work is not limited only to submitting your blog. After submitting your post at these social bookmarking sites, you need to interact with users with similar interests as yours. You can start building a network by checking out other posts, commenting on them and interacting with the person who has posted that blog. It would be a mistake if you keep on submitting your blog post and expect others to find it. By popularizing your blog this way, you can get inbound links as well as brand awareness for your business. The inbound links, in turn, will also improve your SEO ranking through organic SEO. In addition to blogs, you can also give links to interesting websites and updated information on various issues.
The key to making social media marketing work is generating interest in the content or topic being covered. Quality content is always stressed on, but it plays a vital role in the success or failure of a social media marketing campaign. Users browsing the social bookmarking sites are looking for innovative, new and interesting content, which they then will pass on to their friends. If the content on your blog is uninteresting or old, it will not spread to other users, and they will eventually stop following your blog.
Who Can Use SMM…
Not only large business houses with a pool of resources to dedicate to marketing, but smaller businesses are also starting to use social media as a marketing tool. We hence hear of food vans using Twitter to let followers know which area they will be touring this month, while established banks and others have introduced interactive blogs to let users know of its history. Any business with an internet connection can utilize SMM for business development. It is a better option to putting up ads online and is better accepted due to the creditability of recommendations made by known people.
A Word of Caution…
The message that you want to convey to people in the social media is not controlled by you, but by the users. People are just as likely to complain about a lousy product as recommend it if it was good. It has to be a 2-way interaction, with you giving out useful information in order to get a positive feedback. If the delicately-balanced trust of the users is shattered, they might spam you out of their circle or give you negative feedback.
Social media marketing is a tough concept and requires a lot of time and effort to become successful. It takes time and commitment to develop contacts, trust and respect with the online community and the results are obtained in a long term. If you don’t have the time to put into social media marketing, you can hire an SEO expert or SEO consultant to maintain your online presence through social media marketing.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Are search rankings dependent on your site content?
Ask experts about elements of search engine optimization and each will give different criteria for their SEO campaigns. But whether for an SEO consultant or a businessman content tops the list of highly important criteria for SEO and greater rankings. It’s true: content plays a vital role in improving your search engine ranking. The sole purpose of your SEO campaign is to improve search engine ranking, and without optimized content, you will be unable to achieve it.
Most SEO service providers today give a lot of importance to optimizing content along with developing SEO strategies. However, content for your website is not only limited to what a reader comes across on your webpage; it also includes the articles, blogs, promotional material as well as press releases. All these combined together affect your search engine rankings.
The following are 4 key points to optimize your content:
Keyword-Rich Content
Your website contains the most important content influencing your search engine ranking. It should hence be written with care to include keywords relevant to your products and services. Your other content-based material like blogs, press releases and articles should also contain an ideal amount of keywords in order to be picked up by the search engines. The keyword density in all these materials should be such that the crawlers of the search engines pick them up as relevant material when a reader searches for those particular keywords. These keywords should also be used in prominent places such as titles and be evenly distributed throughout the content. Only then will your SEO campaign become a success. A note of warning though: do not use your keywords so many times that the crawlers spam your material.
Meta tag Descriptions for Web Pages
Optimizing the title and description of the web pages in Meta tags also goes a long way in getting them picked up by search engines. Your Meta tag description should be rich in keywords and give a fair idea of the content on the web page. If there is a poor description or they do not contain targeted keywords, Meta tags can bring down search engine rankings.
Link Building through Content
If your content is interesting and updated, it will become a means to link building with other websites. Users will also become regular visitors to your website for informative content on your website. Also, when you exchange links with other websites, be sure to give the link text description proper attention; it will help readers know what the destination page will be all about. Making the link text with keywords or key phrases would be a good idea for search engine optimization.
Interesting subjects of the content
Make your content as different and informative as possible. Internet users today are bombarded with the same type of information from hundreds of sites. They will explore only when they see some innovative concept on your website or blog. In order to make the user come to your site or read your article or blog, give it an appealing title. Only if the reader finds the start interesting will he continue to read the rest of it. Such content increases the incoming traffic of the website as well as improves the trustworthiness of the site, which ultimately results in high SEO ranking.
Most SEO service providers today give a lot of importance to optimizing content along with developing SEO strategies. However, content for your website is not only limited to what a reader comes across on your webpage; it also includes the articles, blogs, promotional material as well as press releases. All these combined together affect your search engine rankings.
The following are 4 key points to optimize your content:
Keyword-Rich Content
Your website contains the most important content influencing your search engine ranking. It should hence be written with care to include keywords relevant to your products and services. Your other content-based material like blogs, press releases and articles should also contain an ideal amount of keywords in order to be picked up by the search engines. The keyword density in all these materials should be such that the crawlers of the search engines pick them up as relevant material when a reader searches for those particular keywords. These keywords should also be used in prominent places such as titles and be evenly distributed throughout the content. Only then will your SEO campaign become a success. A note of warning though: do not use your keywords so many times that the crawlers spam your material.
Meta tag Descriptions for Web Pages
Optimizing the title and description of the web pages in Meta tags also goes a long way in getting them picked up by search engines. Your Meta tag description should be rich in keywords and give a fair idea of the content on the web page. If there is a poor description or they do not contain targeted keywords, Meta tags can bring down search engine rankings.
Link Building through Content
If your content is interesting and updated, it will become a means to link building with other websites. Users will also become regular visitors to your website for informative content on your website. Also, when you exchange links with other websites, be sure to give the link text description proper attention; it will help readers know what the destination page will be all about. Making the link text with keywords or key phrases would be a good idea for search engine optimization.
Interesting subjects of the content
Make your content as different and informative as possible. Internet users today are bombarded with the same type of information from hundreds of sites. They will explore only when they see some innovative concept on your website or blog. In order to make the user come to your site or read your article or blog, give it an appealing title. Only if the reader finds the start interesting will he continue to read the rest of it. Such content increases the incoming traffic of the website as well as improves the trustworthiness of the site, which ultimately results in high SEO ranking.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Your 4-point checklist before hiring an SEO Expert
Everybody is talking about the recession around but nobody has a clue as to when it will improve so we can get a clear outlook. As a business owner you must be wondering if you will be able to slug it out this year. There are two situations here: you have to continue bringing in new business in order to survive and on the other hand, you have fewer resources to dedicate to it. Hence, bringing in the right kind of business is critical. If you are thinking of going for Search Engine Optimization for your website, you need to consider many factors when you select the SEO Service Provider. This is because of the fact that there are many SEO experts in the market, and you need to find the one that suits your requirements the most. Consider the following 4-point checklist which will decide the amount you will spend on your optimization campaign:
Design of your current site
Here’s the deal: if you have a site which was made some 8-10 years ago at a cheap rate and there have been no updates since then, the search engines are not going to be interested in it. You should have been constantly updating it with keywords and SEO-friendly features besides undertaking some high volume search promotion to obtain a good ranking with the search engines. This is in case you didn’t get the job done properly the first time, and the SEO services provider will have to work doubly hard to improve your current site. In case your site architecture is built well, it will cost you lesser to get your job done.
Experience of the SEO Consultant/firm
There are SEO services available at $15/hour, and there are those that charge $200/hour. If your SEO consultant has a lot of experience behind it, it is bound to believe it is worth a better price per hour than somebody who has started off. You need to judge which skill set you want working at your SEO campaign, and decide you budget for SEO accordingly.
Services Opted for
There are many services offered by a SEO consultant, and you need to decide which out of those the requirements of your business are. The more number of services you subscribe for, the higher your cost is going to be. In order to judge which services you require, you will need to have an in-depth knowledge of your business, its drawbacks and the areas that require improvement.
Keywords
It’s simple: if you opt for a few keywords, the charge will be less, whereas if you opt for hundreds of them, you will be charged more. Time taken to optimize many keywords will be more, hence you will be charged more. But always insist for organic optimization so that your site continues to show results even if your SEO term is over with your consultant...
Design of your current site
Here’s the deal: if you have a site which was made some 8-10 years ago at a cheap rate and there have been no updates since then, the search engines are not going to be interested in it. You should have been constantly updating it with keywords and SEO-friendly features besides undertaking some high volume search promotion to obtain a good ranking with the search engines. This is in case you didn’t get the job done properly the first time, and the SEO services provider will have to work doubly hard to improve your current site. In case your site architecture is built well, it will cost you lesser to get your job done.
Experience of the SEO Consultant/firm
There are SEO services available at $15/hour, and there are those that charge $200/hour. If your SEO consultant has a lot of experience behind it, it is bound to believe it is worth a better price per hour than somebody who has started off. You need to judge which skill set you want working at your SEO campaign, and decide you budget for SEO accordingly.
Services Opted for
There are many services offered by a SEO consultant, and you need to decide which out of those the requirements of your business are. The more number of services you subscribe for, the higher your cost is going to be. In order to judge which services you require, you will need to have an in-depth knowledge of your business, its drawbacks and the areas that require improvement.
Keywords
It’s simple: if you opt for a few keywords, the charge will be less, whereas if you opt for hundreds of them, you will be charged more. Time taken to optimize many keywords will be more, hence you will be charged more. But always insist for organic optimization so that your site continues to show results even if your SEO term is over with your consultant...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Clash of the Titans: SEO vs. PPC, which is better?
As an SEO consultant we have come across this question several times: Which online marketing strategy is better for businesses: Search Engine Optimization or Pay per Click marketing?
In the other corner we have "Organic" or "Natural" search engine optimization (SEO). Generally speaking, organic SEO consists of optimizing your web pages to enhance their position in the naturally occurring search results. Organic SEO consists of On-page and Off-page optimization.
As per the latest stats on marketing budget spent versus the results :
A very simple answer would be: Depends on the end results you expect from your online marketing strategy. Let’s get down a bit more into the details to understand this dilemma.
When you purchase visitors or "clicks" from a search engine, this is called "pay-per-click" (PPC) search engine advertising (or PPCSE). One of the highest recognized PPCSE is Google Adwords. Pay-per-click search engine advertising allows you to quickly leverage search engine traffic by "bidding" (paying) for high-value keywords related to your product or service.
In the other corner we have "Organic" or "Natural" search engine optimization (SEO). Generally speaking, organic SEO consists of optimizing your web pages to enhance their position in the naturally occurring search results. Organic SEO consists of On-page and Off-page optimization.
Organic SEO as an internet marketing strategy requires patience, but the rewards when reaped are plentiful. Although organic optimization is not the first choice for many (depending on the brand and business model) organic search does have inherent benefits that are unparalleled by sponsored or paid advertising tactics. The benefits and results last for longer period.
As per the latest stats on marketing budget spent versus the results :
SEO drives 75%+ of all search traffic, yet garners less than 15% of marketing budgets for SEM campaigns. PPC receives less than 25% of all search traffic, yet earns 80%+ of SEM campaign budgets. Surprising?
One of the major reasons for quick adoption of PPC strategy is that it is very similar to traditional paid advertisement strategy and business owners can manage such campaign on their own. Whereas SEO requires a pre-requisite set of skills to ensure your website reaches the top rankings on search engine search through various on-site optimizations and off-site organic search engine optimization strategies.
Another reason why businesses, prefer PPC is that they have better control over the entire program and they know exactly how and where their dollar is spent and results for each dollar spent, can be seen through subsequent Ad words report. They also do not have to change their tactics each time the search engines change their algorithms, which can prove a real headache, especially for those who are only interested in quick, short term results. Organic SEO might seem like too much of work, with absolutely no guaranteed results for short term goal seekers.
While a PPC campaign can deliver leads with relative ease, it can be a big money drain and has no real longevity -- once you stop shelling out the cash, the website traffic goes away. SEO and link building require a lot more creative effort, but can have more sustainable results. It also allows a business to target a larger base of users, as most studies reveal that 75 - 80% of searchers click on organic listings as opposed to paid listings.
As time goes on, web surfers are less prone to clicking PPC links on the right side of Google’s results or in the top sponsored links section. Why? In the past web surfers didn’t understand the difference between sponsored and non-sponsored links. Now web surfers are much more net savvy. The result is that a growing number of web surfers will click on non-sponsored links on the first page of results because they think: if that site made it into the top ten without paying for it, they must really be the best sites.
Organic SEO is fine if you;
- Have a product that you can dedicate 300-750 words to describe its value.
- Can exhibit supporting materials images, references and materials that emphasize the products benefits.
- If you can shroud it in essentially keywords consumers might use to find it in enough frequency, that it can leverage a high-ranking organic search result.
- If you are patient enough for 2-6 months to hold out for long term sustainable results
If you have a product that has a high price point, where there is some wiggle room for how much you are willing to spend to keep the cost per sale within bounds, then by all means pay per click advertising is a viable solution.
At Analytix Solutions our SEO experts will suggest a marketing plan only after analyzing your goals and what results you expect from your online marketing. During tight credit crunch it is advisable to increase reliance on free organic SEO strategies rather than PPC. A hybrid plan (combination of SEO +PPC) is another alternative for those who seek quick results and suffer from very poor rankings, as SEO will ensure with time regular traffic builds for your site, while PPC will bring serious buyers to your site through banner ads, to get the ball rolling for your business. Once SEO tactics picks up, the budget spent on PPC can be minimized and then totally withdrawn, if required.
Beauty of search engine marketing lies in the Flexibility & Control it offers which is very difficult to achieve with traditional marketing tools. Finally, the selection of best online marketing strategy is obviously upto you....
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