Archive for June, 2010

Hiring The Right SEO Consultant

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

If your business would rather hire a single SEO consultant, instead of taking on the services of a larger company, then there are a few things you can look for in order to make sure you hire the right person for your team.

The best SEO consultants will first review your current website in order to target specific areas where it can be optimized for increased search engine viability. The consultant should then offer a variety of strategic plans that he can implement, such as keyword placement, as well as provide you with an easy to follow plan so that you may continue the work. The landscape of the worldwide web is ever evolving, so SEO strategies and services need to grow and adapt alongside it. High quality SEO consultants will be on the cutting edge of the social platforms that can tie into your business.

For instance, a top SEO consultant will be able to pinpoint blogs that will allow you to promote your business while simultaneously maximizing the site’s status on search engines and effortlessly staying in touch with your core consumers. Creating and nourishing a blogging environment may seem like something any savvy business person can do without the help of a consultant, however, this professional will be able to analyze what is going on behind the scenes and map out a number of possible connections which will send more consumers your way. There are a multitude of platforms that a consultant can help you reach out and tap into. Through starting such social networking accounts as a Facebook fan page, twitter account, and Google Buzz which link back to your main business webpage, a SEO consultant can widen the net to catch potential customers to see your content. A good SEO consultant will also go beyond simply sharing your site on like-minded sites. They can also give advice on how to get your website viewed by other sites, such as SlideShare and DocStoc, where people with general interest may be impressed with your company’s blog and go back to the website.

Most importantly, you should make sure that the SEO consultant gives you strategies and advice on continuing the SEO work once his work is technically done. A true professional can give you key information, such as telling you what days are the best times to post content so the maximum amount of viewers will see it. The consultant should also give you a list of the keywords you should use in your content posts, whenever possible, along with tips on how to prepare your content for different devices like the iPad and iPhone. This way the SEO consultant’s work can continue with you at the helm.

If you would like to conduct some further research on SEO services, you should read Monica O’Brien is the author of Social Pollination: Escape the Hype of Social Media and Join the Companies Winning At It, which will help demystify the process of tapping into social networks and search engines. Also, the more you know about SEO then the more advanced consulting advice you can glean from your consultant.

SEO Techniques Your Business Can Utilize

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Search engine marketing, or SEO, is now the primary method businesses online utilize to attract online visitors to their website. In addition to traditional internet marketing & SEO techniques, there are a variety of alternate content marketing strategies that businesses can consider.

Traditional SEO Techniques

As a beginning internet marketing SEO techniques, businesses should incorporate target keywords into their website’s content. A primary keyword should be selected that best represents the business, and several supporting keywords should be chosen to supplement. These keywords should be used in each of the website pages’ titles, meta descriptions and page content. A 1-2% keyword density is recommended by most internet marketing SEO experts as it lends for the most natural reading for visitors while still attracting the attention of search engines for marketing purposes.

Content Marketing Techniques

In addition to incorporating keywords into your website, other SEO concepts that have proven successful for a variety of businesses include:

  • Article Marketing- Keywords can be beneficial when included in your website’s static page content as well as the dynamic pages. In order to remain highly ranked on the major search engines, you will need to not only incorporate your chosen keywords into the primary pages, but also in regular article and blog posts placed onto your company’s website. You can also post articles onto article directories with links either embedded in the content or in the resource box. Be sure to use new content as duplicate content is frowned upon by search engines such as Google.
  • Opt-In Programs- Many marketers fail to consider what will happen once their targeted lead lands on their website pages. What is the intended outcome? Are you seeking to capture the visitor’s information to incorporate into your other marketing programs, or are you seeking a direct purchase? It is important to note that most first time website visitors do not generally make purchases. So, if you are new to SEO techniques, you may want to begin with installing opt-in programs into your website’s pages. Opt-in programs work as a give-to-get concept. Your business is providing something of value and in return, you are getting the prospect’s contact information to use for future marketing programs. You could offer website visitors a free ebook, report, book chapter, or any other valuable information as an incentive to capture their name and email address.
  • Email Marketing- Once you have captured email information from potential customers, you will want to utilize an email marketing campaign to drip market to them. Email marketing is one of many proven internet marketing SEO techniques. You can manually send emails to prospects, or you can leverage a company specializing in these campaigns such as Constant Contact or Aweber.

When these alternative content marketing techniques are used in combination with your traditional internet marketing & SEO concepts, your business will be more likely to experience the level of website traffic and internet sales expected.

Search Engine Optimisation Basics

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

If your business has a website, you have likely run into the term search engine optimization. However, you may not fully understand what it means or how to incorporate the concept into your current content. If you are starting from scratch, follow the five easy steps below to achieve a positive website traffic outcome for your business.

1. Choose Target Keyword Phrases

What word or words best describe your business? The answer to this question will encompass your target phrase or phrases. It is recommended to choose a single primary keyword phrase and several supporting, or secondary phrases. Your phrase should describe your business specifically; try to stay away from words that are too general. For example, if your business focuses on luxury cruise travel, the keywords cruise or travel would be too general in nature. Some popular keyword tools that can help you narrow down your focus are Google and WordTracker.

2. Consider your Competition

As with any marketing campaign, it is beneficial to consider your business’s current competition. What are their websites utilizing for keywords? How are they incorporating search engine optimization techniques into their content? In addition to reviewing the websites of your major competition, you can also review keyword competition by using tools found on Google or Yahoo. These search engine tools will tell you how often searchers are typing in a given keyword into their searches. Keywords that appear more often have greater competition between companies for searchers. A best practice in search engine optimization is to choose keywords that are a bit more obscure.

3. Create your Content

Now that you have completed your initial research and have chosen keywords to incorporate into your content, it is time to either create new content or to update your current website’s content. Include the chosen keyword into your page’s title, into the meta description, and into your page’s content. Target a 1-2% keyword density as this will allow for search engine relevancy without ‘keyword stuffing’ pages to the point that they are awkward to read. Including keywords into your paragraph subheadings is also a search engine optimization best practice.

4. Market your Website

Now that you have created your content, it is time to market it in order to drive traffic. Post updates within blogs, consider using article marketing, create a press release for your business and consider using email marketing.

5. Evaluate your Progress

Your search engine marketing program will not be perfect every time. So, it is important to review your marketing progress so that you can make any necessary adjustments. Your search engine marketing program should not only be driving traffic to your website, but those visitors should be converting into paying customers or clients, or should be opting into any marketing programs that you have embedded into your website.

Following these 5 simple steps will enable you to build a strong search engine optimization program that will yield results for your business.