•Debunking Seo Myths
There are so many SEO myths out there; I decided to write a short series of articles debunking some of the common myths. This next one may come as a surprise - but it's true I hear it often!
SEO MYTH # 2: Search engines are not as valuable as other media.
It seems surprising that anyone could question the value of top rankings in today's Google centric world - but it does happen. Many people don't fully understand the impact of top rankings on their site. So, let's take a look at the...
•Do You Want To Optimize Your Own Web Site?
? An easy to understand introduction to the search engines:
Think of the engines like teachers handing out gold stars for everything that you do well. Google currently has about 200 factors in their algorithms that determine how your site will rank. Imagine your teacher with a clipboard and checklist with 200 items on it and she assigns you gold stars for each of the things you do well.
Remember, some of the items on the list are more important and you may get multiple gold stars. No one...
•How To Consistently Improve Your Web Site Results
Testing is vital to the success of your website; it is a powerful strategy for increasing the effectiveness of your site pages.
Split testing is also known as A/B testing. It is the process of taking one page (your control or page A) and then creating another page (page B) with one single change and then driving equal traffic to both pages to see which page gets a better result.
I love split testing because it takes the guess work out of your marketing. I really love it when testing proves...
•How to Make Java Script Search Engine Friendly
Think of the search engines like a child with a short attention span. If they have to crawl through tons of messy code before they get to the body content on your page, there is a chance they will "lose interest" and not continue spidering the page.
Since you want the engines to be able to spider all of your content pages, you should minimize the amount of extraneous code that is on your page. You worked hard to create your content and get your site optimized, so the last thing you want to...
•How to Pick an SEO Firm
SEO is the foundation of your marketing campaign - at least it should be. Aside from any other marketing that you participate in, you should also make sure your site is ranked in the top of the engines so you can tap into the millions (actually over 400 million) searches performed daily.
So, how do you pick an SEO Firm? It is a very important decision.
I was talking to a man recently who told me the problem was he didn't even know what questions to ask, let alone how to evaluate the...
•How to Pick Article Topics
I've already written about why it's important to write articles, and it seems a lot of you agree because I keep getting emails saying that you want to write articles but don't know what to write about.
It can be hard to decide what to write about, especially if you are trying to write a lot of content and get it out into the world.
Every industry is different and it is definitely harder to come up with topics in some industries - but if you get creative you can always find something.
Here...
•How to Scientifically Increase Your Conversion Rate
Success in business requires a willingness to measure your performance.
So the most important message we can convey is that you must test everything!
Your preferences and likes and dislikes do not matter.
The market place dictates what they like and what they will respond to.
If something isn't pulling in the results you want, create other versions and test them against each other so you can come up with a winner!
You should test headlines, graphics, sales offers, price, and different...
•How To Select The Best Keywords For Your Site
As more websites compete for valuable search engine "real estate," Search Engine Optimization is becoming much more complex.
And *keyword selection* remains one of the most important (yet least understood) pieces of the puzzle.
"Why keyword selection is so important and how to select the best keywords for your website"
To clear up the mystery, let's break it down into bite-sized pieces by answering our most frequently asked questions about keyword selection:
"What's the difference between...
•Is Search Engine Positioning Dead?
? One of the trendiest takes on Internet marketing these days seems to be this notion that securing top search engine rankings "no longer works." Where it started, I have no idea.
But rarely does a week go by when I don't see one or more Internet marketing "experts" claiming that search engine positioning is largely a waste of time and should not be a primary focus of web site owners.
Well...as the saying goes, "there are two sides to every story."
But let's not make this article about my...
•Keep Visitors on Your Site Longer
In order to increase sales and the number of subscribers you get, you want to keep visitors on your site longer.
If people leave too quickly they aren't seeing all that you have to offer.
Work on keeping people on your site longer and you will definitely notice an increase in opt-ins and sales.
Some tactics to try:
Link from one page on your site to other relevant pages on your site. If your site is about a particular theme, it should be easy to interlink pages that are related to each...
•Press Releases Aren't Dead
There used to be a lot of hype about online press releases. Recently it has died down a little bit. We are still finding that it works well for clients. But there are some very definite riles to follow.
When done properly press releases are a great way to generate publicity, drive traffic and boost search engine rankings.
The key to a successful press release is to have a clearly defined purpose.
Why are press releases important?
1. More consumers than ever are reading press releases...
•SEO - Just Add Water.....NOT!
I miss the old days....life was simple. Your TV had just a few channels, your phone was attached to a wall, and the computer was cool thing to have for the few who could afford one. But times change, our world changes and technology grows. TV has 200 plus channels (and still nothing on), your phone is attached to your hip and you could not live without a computer and the Internet is filled with billions of pages.
SEO was an easy job then. It was a no brainer. It was fast, it worked and the...
•Summer time slow down?
? A lot of people think summer is slow and not the time to focus on their websites.
So many people are out of town, some businesses slow down. Not to mention we all have concerns about the economy right now.
I want to propose a different perspective.
1. People are sticking closer to home because of high gas prices. You've all heard the term "Staycation" thrown around by the media. If you watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart you heard John Hodgeman (the PC guy from the commercials) create...
•The Cynical SEO Drama Queen
It is time to look at those SEO questions from the folks who need help and guidance. Let's take a read of some of the Dear SEO Drama Queen email, which floods her box every day.
Dear SEO Drama Queen: I want a number one ranking for my web site. The keywords are clothes, sneakers and hats. I read so much out there on how important it is to be on Google. Can you promise me a #1 ranking for my 3 keywords? Thanks, BA
Greetings BA: Of course I can guarantee #1 rankings on Google for those very...
•The Dreaded Google Penalty
There is always a lot of talk on SEO Forums about penalties. Recently there was some discussion about 3 specific Google penalties:
- The "-30 penalty"
- The "-950 penalty"
- Index Exclusion
There has been a lot of debate about whether the drop of a website's rank by 30 or 950 spots in Google is really a penalty for unethical SEO tactics, or is it simply a result of an agorithm shift (and the particular site just didn't measure up against the new algorithm so it dropped).
Many people...
•Using PDFs Correctly
You'll notice that a lot of my content is in PDF format. All my white papers are PDF, as well as my newsletters.
Why?
PDF content will look good on everyone's screen, unlike web pages where you have to consider various different settings and resolutions.
PDFs are often downloaded to people's desktop and therefore have a longer "shelf life" - they may come across the PDF in the future, but with a web page (even a bookmarked one) they are not likely to accidentally come across it again. They...
•What People Aren't Saying About Social Media
Social Media, Social Networking, Leveraging Web 2.0 - it's known by many names and it's all the rage!
Let me start by saying I am a fan of social media, I personally choose to participate in social media. However when you read about social media, you often only hear one side of things - the message is clear - Participate or miss out! And while I do believe that is true, I think it's not always that simple.
There is so much to read, so many different opinions. It can be overwhelming....
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