search engine optimization

SEO News: Google Announces Ten Algorithm Changes

Website owners and web developers pay close attention to the latest news about search engine optimization (SEO), especially when it comes out of the mouth of Google. The tech giant announced on November 14, 2011 that it has made ten recent changes to it algorithm over the past several weeks, ranging from the way it retrieves cross-language information on the web to canceling a certain signal that no longer has a major impact on ranking and SEO.

In a blog post on the announcement, Google Distinguished Engineer, Matt Cutts, reminds readers that although Google makes nearly 500 changes to its algorithm every year, the company is always searching for new ways to provide readers with a more intimate look at these changes. This post is just one part of the company’s effort to share the methodology and process behind Google’s “search ranking, evaluation and algorithmic changes.”

One of the ten changes to its algorithm includes offering snippets with more page content and less header/menu content. According to the blog post, this improvement allows Google to provide more relevant information in snippets, such as text from the actual page content than text that is part of a header or menu.

Your professional SEO company should have the tools and knowledge to incorporate the new changes into your SEO campaign. However, Cutts also reminds site owners that the ten changes are merely, “a sampling of the hundreds of changes we make to our search algorithms in a given year, and even these changes may not work precisely as you’d imagine. We’ve decided to publish these descriptions in part because these specific changes are less susceptible to gaming.”

search engine optimization

Learn Advanced Keyword Research at SES San Francisco

Whether you are a search engine marketing beginner looking to learn how to use keyword optimization to your advantage or an industry expert who wants to gain knowledge of advanced concepts, attending the Keyword Research SEM Training workshop at SES San Francisco on August 20 is a perfect way to gain more insight into the field. Whether you are interested in keyword research for PPC, SEO or social media purposes, this session will help you better understand the theories and concepts behind keyword research.

The four-hour session is led by Ron Jones, the president and CEO of online branding and client acquisition provider Symetri Internet Marketing. He has more than 18 years of experience in search engine optimization, paid search advertising and social media marketing and will share this knowledge with students in one amazing session. Students will learn how to find the right keywords, integrate them into various campaigns and measure their success.

If you are interested in learning more about the Keyword Research session at SES San Francisco, please visit http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanfrancisco/training.php.

search engine optimization

Search Engine Optimization – Three Mistakes You Should Avoid

The importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is only too obvious when it comes to having an online business. While everything that can be done is being done to make a website SEO-friendly, a lot of people make certain common mistakes in the process, which are avoidable.

1. Lack of content – There are many sites out there that look very rich due to the videos and pictures that compliment the product. However, the textual content is woefully sub-par. The same is true for all other products on the site. This is a bad mistake to make in terms of SEO. This is not a condemnation of the page but simply means that to a search engine all the product pages look the same because of a lack of textual content. Therefore, the search engine will most likely ignore them or classify them as low quality. Make sure that you have a decent amount of content which is significantly different in each page.

2. Drop anchors – Use your Anchor Text smartly. The more you help a search engine know what is being linked, the better your ranking will be in searches. For example in “Website design by Creative Designers”, the link should not be Creative Designers but Website design.

3. Spare a thought for crawlers – Unless you really have to display designs using flash, it is best to use this component and other components like it to a low minimum. Search engine crawlers like links on your page, especially site maps.
The point that is being emphasized here is “help the search engine recognize you”. The more you help a search engine identify you and assess you, the better your chances are of appearing at the top of the list based on a keyword search.

For more tips on SEO, visit WM SEO and also Submit Express Search Engine Forums.

search engine optimization

Landing Page Optimization Tips

A well structured landing page is an essential item in online sales. There are many common mistakes that people make which can be avoided. The following are a few tips that can help you improve your landing page.

1. Avoid the home page – Do not direct your links to your home page. You do not want the customer to navigate through all the links on the home page to get to the product page they need to get to.

2. Avoid a generic page – Following on from the point above, do not have a general landing page. Always have a specific landing page for each specific product. Your potential customer is there because they want a specific product, so don’t lose their attention.

3. Optimize clarity – Structure the page; have information pertinent only to the product that is supposed to be on the page.

4. PPC to landing page – Try to have a pay-per-click ad that directly links to your landing page. This will help you form an instant connection with your customers.

5. Grab info slowly – Customers will not be willing to share everything you need to know about them in one go. Get little chunks of information out of them, one at a time.

6. Lose the clutter – Don’t load the page with lots of images. You can lose customers if they have to wait for the page to load.

7. Don’t sell again – If your customer is at the landing page, you have already done most of the selling. What you do from here has to be subtle. Give them plenty of information about the product because that is what they are looking for at that point. Do not try to hard sell here or you will drive them away.

For more tips on SEO we also recommend WM SEO Blog and Submit Express Search Engine Forums.

search engine optimization

Increasing Your Conversion Rate

Generating traffic to your website is always the primary concern once you have got your website up and running. But all that traffic you generate will mean nothing if you cannot generate any sales. Of course there is a step that is between traffic generation and sales, and that is conversions.

Conversions can be anything from a Sale (the best conversion of all) to an inquiry, newsletter signup, download from the site, etc. Getting people into the conversion category is the first significant step you make towards a sale, because this gives you a “foot in the door”. Once you form a link with potential customers, you can keep in contact in various ways so that they will remember you first when they think about a product that you sell. The following are a few simple tips to keep in mind to increase conversion rates:

Identify your target audience – Once you do this, customize the pages to suit this particular audience. Having a general page that caters to all will not do you any great favors. Selling your product on that page is actually a secondary objective while forming a connection with the user is the primary objective you should focus on.

Choices, choices, choices – This is great if you are running a mega mall. Since you are not, cut down the choices. Having a few focused products to choose from will really work for you. The other thing to concentrate on is to make the page “idiot proof”. Everything must be simple and to the point, where the user does not get confused.

Be irresistible – Your call for action must be so tempting that they will be compelled to give something as simple (in their minds) as their contact details/email address in return. This is all you need in order to begin your relationship with that user.

If all these sounds too complicated, then you may consider hiring a Top SEO Firm.

search engine optimization

Website Marketing Tips

Without good marketing your website might as well not exist. After all, what is the point of a good product if no one knows about it? The secret to good marketing is to make your website stick out like a sore thumb – in a good way. The key thing to remember here is that users want information/answers really really fast. So it is up to you to get their attention and keep them there.

Know what they want – Your website must address an issue that the user is interested in. Having a website that deals with “Koi Carp feed and care” would be one such example. But once you have site like that, do not talk about anything else but Koi Carp. The moment you do, the users will deem your site worthless and walk away.

Get the right design – Avoid unnecessarily flashy colors and cluttered information. Keep it simple, to the point and easy to navigate. Whatever you do, do NOT use pop ups.

Content – The look and feel is useless without good content, so always be sure to back up your site with good, well-written content. This will make your site a place worth returning to.

User Friendliness – Use images, icons, mini info displays, etc to give your users quick information at a glance. Online ordering, comprehensive contact information, testimonials, etc will also boost your image in the eyes of the user.

Advertise – Get your website in the user’s mind where ever you can. Newspapers, radio, TV, bumper stickers, social media, forums, etc which means anything and everything you can get your hands on. Drive the traffic there and if you have done a good job with the previous four tips, the site should do the rest for you.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEO is one of the most important things you could do for your website.  Learn as much as you can about SEO by reading online material or taking training course.  Just a quick tip, concentrate on your content as mentioned above, but also you will need many links towards your website to rank well. Ask people to link to you, do links exchange, purchase directory ads and engage in activities that will increase your links, for example you could write articles and submit them to other sites for publication. You may also prefer to hire a Top SEO Firm.

Social Media Marketing – Create profiles on major social media sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin, Twitter and Youtube. Complete and optimize your profiles with your keywords. Post updates on regular basis. Increase your friends and followers. These steps will hep you market your website more effectively. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, we recommend using social media marketing services of iClimber.

search engine optimization

Internet Marketing for Small Businesses

Small businesses often tend to skip Internet marketing due to many reasons. Unlike a popular misconception, Internet marketing is not only for the big players. If you think about it, small businesses really need to invest in Internet marketing methods because they have to get out there and advertise their products. Without decent amounts of exposure, small businesses often call it quits wondering why things did not work out for them. Success in Internet marketing is a combination of common sense and smart decisions.

Content is King – Whatever content you provide on blogs and articles should be extremely relevant to the product. The prospective customer should have 99 % of their queries answered in that content. If you need help in this area, a good content writing company is iClimber.

Cross advertising – If you sell digital camera bags, cleaning kits, straps, etc., make it a point to advertise on camera vendor sites, on photography forums, camera review sites, Photoshop forums, etc.

Social network sites – Promoting your website on social media networking sites here will take up a fair amount of time to get going and involves a lot of smart work but it offers you highly targeted markets. Doing it right will earn you some solid sales. Again, if you need help in this area, we recommend iClimber as a top social media marketing company.

Good old classifieds – Classifieds have successfully made the transition to the internet and are very effective provided you choose a legitimate site. Research the website well before you sink any money into this method.

Listings – Getting the business listed in some well-known directories is also advisable, but is not a primary requirement.

Using all or a combination of these methods will return positive results for any business. However they must be used effectively, so further research into these methods will give good returns.