So, I skipped a week in the blogging world to take a much needed break at the cabins in Oklahoma…..  I will follow up with a real good posting on this vacation in my next post.

Here I want to cover a real important subject in the efforts of SEO Services and the REQUIREMENT for CRO Services  “CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION”.

First, and an obvious fact, You have to know that the terms you are targeting are terms that are actually searched for the service or product your website offers. An experienced SEO Services provider will show you the right terms to target. Remember, it DOES NOT MATTER HOW MANY SEARCH RESULTS THERE ARE……. Your looking for search volume, NOT the number of search results..

Here you will see 102,000,000 results for the search term “NATURAL PLACEMENT” , our website is #1 and has been for three years, but has NEVER brought us a single visitor or lead. “however, we are not even targeting this as a search term”

SEO services and CRO “Conversion Rate Optimization” starts with making sure you have placement for the right search terms.

On a side NOTE: CAUTION!!!! Those sites offering “results based” SEO  Services are well known for this “RIP OFF”…. Targeting terms and getting placement for the sake of getting placement, YUP, so they can then bill you….. they will “RECOMMEND, then CONTRACT terms that bring little or no search volume and charge 450.00 – 500.00 for a couple terms that will never bring you an actual return on your investment.. Then “recommend” additional terms that also get little or no search traffic for another few hundred bucks Just be careful……

Moving on…..

Obtaining placement for the correct search terms is tough enough, but knowing the right CALL TO ACTION is PRICELESS. Experienced SEO Services will show you the right terms to target and explain why.

That call to action starts on the “Search Engine Results Page”.   Here are some examples of results that work and don’t work:

THIS WORKS REAL WELL: it explains what you will find on the site, expresses the level of integrity, contact option and in fact you don’t even have to click the link to make contact.

“FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT”

There is a pattern search engines are looking for when delivering results to its end user. One of the many duties of
a good SEO is to use the correct search terms in the correct order and to start the CRO “CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION” in the right place…

Here is a service provider who is not even claiming to do business in Dallas yet.. “See you next year in Dallas”

Stay Tuned! Next week we will share our experience at Foxruncabins.com in Oklahoma, and cover “Onsite CRO” Conversion Rate Optimization”

So, a potential client came to me the other day with what he called “A BRICK WALL” with his current SEO Firm… In short, He was told there was nothing more that could be done and that he needed to just keep paying to maintain his good placement..

Here I am going to cover his issue and the suggested solution…

First, his website has good “not great” placement for several GEO Targeted terms… It’s a rather new site, about 14 months old, and has few links that are relevant to his niche..

His SEO is running a large Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign and his ongoing SEO. I asked him several questions that really left him scratching his head….

1. With both a PPC and SEO campaign, DO you know where your calls are coming from?
   Answer: No
2. Is there a reporting of actual work being performed given on a monthly or weekly basis for the SEO SERVICES?
   Answer: No
3. Have you asked for such a reporting?
   Answer: No
4. What is your Cost Per call, NOT COST PER CLICK?
   Answer: I don’t know
5. Has the SEO service provider talked to you about non geo placement?
   Answer: “NO, I was told because I service a local area I had to use geo targeted terms.”

Ok, So I stopped him there, showed him what it looks like when someone searches non geo terms…. He was in shock to see that Google Places still showed up his local competition, and now because the search was NON geo, he was no where to be found..

Him seeing his competition for terms that were terms searched far more than the GEO terms, he is now ready to take down the wall..

If your SEO is NOT showing you actual reports of work performed that is trackable, and measurable, how can they justify their cost…..

Now, keeping trade secrets close to their chest is fine, and the tools in Google Analytics are more than enough to show progress in any seo campaign…

Just because an SEO said they researched this or analyzed that does NOT justify work performed…….

Your SEO Should always be pushing for the toughest terms and placement….

Ok, so in a previous post I said I would be “giving away some handouts” on launching a new website and marketing your business in:  “SEO Services and Website Conversions” .

Now Let’s Get Your Website Off The Sidelines And In the Game:

Let’s get right to it…..

“THE OLD SCHOOL WAY OF GETTING OFF THE SIDELINES JUST DO NOT WORK”

Here are ten tips on getting your website launched correctly:

1.  As all things SEO, it is CRITICAL, an experienced SEO is involved from the beginning. Given the Farmers/Panda updates, SEO has become more than just link building and code adjustments. SEO is now all things “WEBSITE TRAFFIC”…    Decide on theme “look and feel” … YOU HAVE TO STAND OUT from the competition. Your SEO TEAM will help you with this.

2.  Decide on a budget for the website launch “START TO FINISH”. “if you can not program a website yourself, make sure the company you partner with is at least accredited with their local BBB. This shows a few things… Time in the industry, history of ethical practices and accountable.

3.  Make sure that what ever site style and theme you go with you have actual access to the RAW HTML files of the website and you have the ability to adjust the code without added cost. This will ensure the ability for an expert SEO SERVICES provider to properly make the needed adjustments for search engine placement.

4.  AS A TEAM, you and your SEO need to conduct detailed keyword research. Both parties need to agree to the keywords, and understand why your targeting these terms.. TIP……Make sure you are NOT making the decision based on NUMBER OF COMPETITORS, but rather SEARCH VOLUME… For example, Google will show, 4,000,000 results for a search term, however, if it is a term that is NOT searched what good is that placement… Here is an example:  “NATURAL PLACEMENT” has more than 88 million results, BUT has NEVER brought my website a single lead, client or as far back as I can find, even a visitor and my website is #1 on Google… “Search results are NOT the same as Search volume”  TIP: YOU WANT VOLUME..

5.  As Your SEO SERVICES and Design are Launching, GET INVOLVED…. Ask your SEO for  a list of active directories you can start submitting to… Rand at SEOMOZ explains it well here on Whiteboard Friday.

6.  Make it CLEAR, to your SEO that you will expect DETAILED REPORTING of work performed.. “It’s understandable that they may not want to give away trade secretes” but to understand they are actually working on your project, it is reasonable to show reporting of work performed.. “MANY SEO” will simply adjust the code of your site, then create a link building campaign in a link building software, then bill you for work performed. This is NOT SEO… GET DETAILED REPORTS that are clear of the work performed…  Absolute offers REAL TIME REPORTS 24/7…… hint hint…

7.  Access ability, Both site visitors and the search engines must be able to index and crawl your website. have good UNIQUE and ORIGINAL content for all pages of your website. Understand and follow Googles Webmaster Guidelines.

8.  Start your social listings, ie, Facebook, twitter, linkedin etc, and make sure the accounts are set up with YOU as the administrator….. SAME AS YOUR GOOGLE WEBMASTER ACCOUNT…. IT IS YOUR WEBSITE YOU NEED TO OWN AND CONTROL IT.. It is perfectly ok to give access to your SEO, but IT’S in your name.

9.  Track results: Use a third party unbiased reporting tool for website traffic and ranking. Google Analytics is great, but you need to know what your competition is doing as well. SEMRUSH is both FREE and a great SEO TOOL.

10.  DO IT AGAIN…. SEO and website marketing is an ongoing, never ending venture. All aspects of website marketing must grow and improve on a regular basis. Ride your SEO LIKE A BULL…. It your business GROW IT! Keep in mind SEO is a MARATHON, NOT a SPRINT

If you think a 20.00 website will ever get you ANY results at all, GUESS AGAIN….. Get your refund request ready at the same time you make your payment……

Stay tuned…. Next up,  “Link Building” for a new website.

Here I want to cover some falsehoods of launching a small business website and SEO.

First, I want to get some things out of the way…..

If you’re a website owner, and are told “we can increase sales by simply increasing placement and traffic”, You are not being told the whole story…

If you are told that your small business just needs a website to sell on line, you are not being told the whole story..

These television commercials that are offering a website for $39.00 per month “and get found on line” are simply misleading, and you are not being told the whole story.

If you are told that all you need for website success is “this really awesome looking” website, yup, you guessed it, “you are not being told the whole story”.

So, here is the “Rest of the Story”, and a few tips to get yourself moving on line..

First, understand that just by building placement in the search engines, will NOT increase sales. In today’s Google world, a major injection to the algorithm is reader patterns. Get your readers to your site for the “correct Keyword terms”, and give them a reason to read on, contact or purchase.. Make it EASY for them to take the next step.

Next, if you’re told to just launch the site and “get ready” to make millions, this is simply nuts… It’s like a sail boat in the middle of the ocean with NO SAIL…. Your website must have a driving force, be it a sound seo services plan “always best” or if all you offer is a local service, then a local marketing and seo plan is more than enough.

If you’re one of those folks that just have to have “mailers” or flyers, STOP and think……WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU GET A MAILER OR FLYER…. Yup, me to, I toss it directly into the trash with the old phone book…..

If you’re feeling froggy, and want to jump at a website builder who has “thousands of templates” to choose from, understand there is nothing unique about the same website and same content built for millions of people… Search engines like Google want original and unique! In fact, it is these template sites that violate the terms of Google webmaster guidelines…. and CAN GET YOUR SITE INTO TROUBLE WITH GOOGLE….

Finally, why the heck own a beautiful website you paid a small fortune for that nobody can find…… “you don’t have to answer….. we know” YOU wouldn’t and shouldn’t..

If you are needing a website presence, it is CRITICAL, you have Up to date SEO SERVICES as the core of you’re development.

Stay Tuned, we are following up with a series on launching a website marketing project.

Did you know that over 50% of the people who get online and use social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, also read  blogs on a daily basis?  That’s a lot of people!  So, if you’re not utilizing a blog to promote your site’s services; you’re missing out on a lot.  Blogging not only keeps content fresh ( a Google brownie point ), it also keeps regular readers coming back for more.

Wondering How Blogs Help SEO Purposes?

There are several ways they help.  For one, they provide yet another place to put your keywords and links to tell the search engines what you’re all about.  If you’re blogging without taking advantage of the spaces where you can provide keyword rich data like the metatags, title, categories and headers; then you’re missing opportunities.  Blogging is a great way to reiterate over and over what your site is about and use your keyword phrase targets repeatedly in a ‘white hat‘ way.

Another way blogs help SEO efforts is they provide another piece for the link building puzzle.  There are several directories that are specifically designated to submitting blogs and RSS feeds.  This helps keep your content and links updated in a much bigger way.  The links in RSS Feeds are deep links that boost your relevance to the search engines and automatically update with your new content.

You can also capture the traffic for long tail keyword terms with blogging subjects more easily.  If you are trying to be #1 a term like credit repair, there are inevitably going to be some longer, less frequently searched, but still valuable variations of your keyword phrase.  Here’s your chance to include those in your optimization efforts.

Do You Struggle with New Subject Matter for Your Blog?

You might find yourself stalling on the creativity front when coming up with fodder for your blog.  Here’s the good news, the most important thing about a blog is consistency, not necessarily quantity.  So, even if you blog only once or twice a week; you’re still doing your site a favor.  The best thing about a blog is that you can write about, rant on, teach or just highlight pretty much whatever you want.  As you write more, the ability to tie in your subject matter with your product, service or target will get easier.  You can always call the pros at Absolute Placement Today to help out as well!

Still Need More Motivation to Blog?  Here it is:

BECAUSE PEOPLE READ STUFF

Speaking of blogs, now that you’re already here, please take a moment to explore our SEO Services blog.  If you see something you like, share it.  If you don’t, please email me with questions or requests at jen@absoluteplacementtoday.com.  I’d love to hear from you!

  I will admit it, I’ve become a little obsessed….  I have been looking at options on a daily basis and almost by the hour for different ways to assist in many different levels of Link building.   I feel like a MAD SCIENTIST digging and studying the best options in development and results.. At the end of the day does it really matter what we have LOOKED FOR or what we have actually developed?  Google does not see that we have emailed our buddies asking for link exchanges, only that the link is there and proper or NOT… Results and relevance!

However, this is EXACTLY what it takes to build QUALITY.  Quality links, quality content, substantial ranking improvements… TIME and patience…

Google is changing the game all of the time, so link building that worked last year or maybe even last month is just not ok…..

Here are some tips I have gathered in order to build an effective link building campaign:

Directory Links:

SEOMOZ offers a HUGE list of both tracking tools and direct links to the resources for the submission of your business to the directory..

Press Releases:

Be real careful not to fall into the same trap most do and begin spinning your stuff out of control. Keep it unique and submit your press to reputable resources. PR Web, for example, has many different pricing options and they help with moderation for those that want to get their word out but lack the skill set of a professional writer.

If you’re feeling frisky, there are AUTO LINK CAMPAIGNS out there.  But you run the risk upon using that they will beat you up and load you down with garbage links that will cost you more to get rid of than it did to get them! The old saying “ if it sounds too good to be true; IT IS” rings true.

So again, patience and consistency is the name of the game.  If you’re digging for the ever elusive golden link pile that will rocket your site to the stars, you’re better off following the rainbow to the pot of gold with the little Green Guy…

Do you have a Pot Of Gold? Natural Link Building Tips?

For many, Labor Day marks the end or the start of many things….  To most children’s disappointment, it ends the pool season and marks the real start of school.  For some it indicates the start of football season, cooler weather, the end of weekend barbeques and wearing white ( for people who pay attention to that sort of thing ).  In the world of internet marketing, it marks the start of a different ‘season’ of traffic.  A lot of people use a completely different strategy in the their SEO efforts and Adwords accounts that they wait to launch over the long Labor Day weekend.  Being aware of the seasonal spikes in traffic that are associated with the product your website provides is a good thing to keep up with.

With the start of school and upcoming season for holiday travel, ski trips, cooler weather gear and the like; you might want to start thinking about a few new ways to capitalize on that market.  Here are a few tips for keeping your traffic up and optimal:

1. If possible, start tuning your content efforts and blogging topics to the interests of the people who are active online during the season….  ‘I’m thankful for ________’, ‘Prices So Low It’s Spooky’, ‘Deck the Halls with _____’…..  See the pattern?  All of those titles evoke the thought of a certain time of year and the types of products that go with it.
2. Add new content that keeps up with current events and trends.  If there’s a new term peaking that is at all related to the product you offer, it’s time to start campaigning for attention around it.  You can do this by opening up a certain page of your site to commission based affiliate offers.  Let’s say you have a website that offers sports memorabilia> think tailgating season>think beer.  Perhaps partner up with a company that offers team themed koozies, beer coolers or a kegerator.  Marketing for a kegerator helps you associate with a term that is searched 14,800 times!
3. Launch new types of online marketing efforts.  If your traffic generally starts to dip during the cooler weather seasons, consider ramping up newsletter, email marketing, press release and blogging efforts.  The key is to keep your website and what it offers fresh in the minds of past, current and potential customers.
4. Lastly,but certainly not least; we highly recommend partnering up with ( if you haven’t already ) the expert SEO Services team at APT!  We can help explore different ways to maximize your target audience and your ROI.

We hope you enjoy this last hurrah of all things summer! Happy Labor Day from the Absolute Placement Today team!

This past weekend I had the great fortune of getting to go to Denver, CO for some business.  I also got to get out and play.  It was in my play time that I was made aware of the lack of understanding the general public has for what SEO actually is….  still.  I used to get the glassy eyed, I don’t know what you’re talking about looks back when I first started in this business.  But I guess I just thought that everyone had sort of ‘caught up’.  Turns out I was wrong. So, I thought I would take a time out to explain it on our fabulous SEO Services blog!  What better place than that, huh?

SEO Explained in Non Techy Speak:     

• SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization.  There are many different search engines, but the main three are Google, Bing and Yahoo.  Optimize, by definition, is to make as perfect or efficient as possible.  So, we optimize sites for the search engines….  This means we try to get a site to the top of the first page of organic or non paid search results. This takes a lot of behind the scenes work on our part or the site owner’s.
• A website is launched on the internet and of course is looking for lots of traffic, purchases of product x, requests for more information or overall ‘conversions’. A conversion can be something as simple as filling out a newsletter form to a bigger gesture like booking your next family vacation.
•  There are many steps a site must take to be successful online.  First of all, it needs to be found.  So, the owner or operator usually seeks out someone specializing in SEO Services ( if they’re smart ) to help them get going.  From there, the SEO provider goes in and figures out how to best optimize the site for success.  This means the product and site are evaluated, keywords that are associated with the product offered are targeted and the site gets an overhaul to make it marketable to both search engines and consumers with those goals in mind.
• Still don’t get it?  Here’s the explanation I give when people ask me what I do.  If you do a Google search for Braces, it’s my job to make my client’s site come up first.

I hope that helps some of you better understand just what the heck an “SEO” does!  What job do you have that you constantly explain?

SEO is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I can’t tell you the number of people I’ve encountered in my experience as a SEO professional who still think that long lasting, traffic increasing,  revenue generating organic rankings can be achieved overnight.  Perhaps it’s because there are some in the world of SEO Services who still, despite all the evidence to the contrary, promise this very thing just to get the account.  These ‘salesmen’ capitalize on the client’s request of results right this very minute!  Which, to be long lasting and effective is almost always impossible with true ‘white hat‘ practices. 

Your Rush for Results Could Land You in Hot Water

And here’s a huge red flag- If your site goes from non existent to topping out in all the search engine rankings within 30 days, beware.  I’m working on an account right now that had this very thing happen.  They were in the top 3 for all of the terms they were targeting, it was great; life was awesome and then BAM!  They dropped back to page 5.  ( Which, in my opinion, was a mercy placing that isn’t often offered by the Google gods. )  They could have easily been pushed back to page 200 for what we found.  They quit with the ‘SEO’ they were working with at the time and came to us seeking help.  Here’s what we found:  hundreds and hundreds of links that were obviously built by a machine.  Links to pornographic sites, completely irrelevant, horribly placed and mismanaged links.  While they did have the anchor text that the site is targeting, they hurt them in the long run.  The truth is, if you do something shady to gain rankings; Google WILL figure it out.  Even if they ‘reward’ you for it at first.  Then, you have some making up to do.  BIG TIME. Google becomes your jealous and distrusting girlfriend and the links you build become highly suspect.  You have to work hard to earn the trust back and to regain a good working relationship with the search engines.

That’s not saying you won’t gain results from link building.  It is arguably the most important element of good SEO.   Just not the ‘dumpster’ type of link building that a lot of companies engage in.  If it’s not relevant to your product or site or page from which you’re trying to link; it will more than likely hurt you.

They’re Experts for a Reason

Still think you can get really quick results that last from your SEO Services company?  Here are some thoughts on the virtues of patience from some of the experts:

Tom Bates, owner and founder of Absolute Placement Today says, “Quick and easy doesn’t always get it done.  If it did, you’d find do it yourself SEO Services kits in the aisles of your local Walmart.”

Internet Marketing Consultant, Dave Conklin gave his two cents as well: “While SEO requires patience to get going, the snowball effect that takes place over time is so well worth the time and investment.  As your site continues to grow, you’ll generate more and more revenue and/or leads from more and more keywords.”

The gist is this: If you’re looking for really quick results in Organic web placement to be the foundation of your website success, you’re already failing.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Just ask the tortoise.

By now, you’ve probably heard people talk about your keyword targets in regards to your SEO efforts.  And you may think you know what your targets should be.  This is not a time for a good guess, this is an excellent time to consult an SEO Services company to help.  It would be a huge waste of time and money if you spend it optimizing your website for terms that are not being searched for.  Getting top placement for a broad keyword phrase is great!  But only if you’re going to get traffic from it.  If users are not searching the term, then it is useless to you.  Worse, if it’s a term unrelated to your website content or product; Google will track the number of times that your site was passed over in it’s results and you’ll start sliding down for the term if it’s not bringing you traffic or if searchers are immediately returning to their results.  

It really pays to have expert SEO consultation when you’re trying to find your target keywords.  The right keyword phrases are the foundation for how you build text links, how you optimize your site and create your content.  Having the right targets turns searches into leads or sales.  If you choose to do your keyword research yourself, there are some tools available.  Some are even a product of the search engines themselves.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Start off with more broad terms – this will give you the guide on how to get down to the more detailed terms.
• Create categories as you go and keep drilling down to make silos of relevant keywords.
• Check out the suggestions that the keyword tool you are using prompts.  You may be surprised to find terms that you had not or would not have thought of otherwise.
• Use long tail keywords to get higher ranking for more competitive terms.  Using the long tail version, not only targets that phrase; it also usually incorporates the desired keyword phrase.  For instance, if your keyword target is ‘credit repair‘; ‘do it yourself credit repair programs online’ is a long tail associated keyword phrase that includes your #1 target.  If you gain placement for the long tail version, it will give you a boost in your campaigns geared toward ‘credit repair’.

I hope these tips help you in your quest to find the right keywords.  If you have more questions or would like to inquire more about our SEO Services, please contact the Absolute Placement Today team!

Behavioral-targeting and using Long Tail Keywords are an excellent way to get higher ranking quickly for keywords that generate sales, and will have longevity to them in the search results. Poor keyword examples would be: kindle, nike shoes, roommate new york. Here are some examples of keywords that are ideal for SEO:

I had the pleasure of getting to attend the latest AMA meeting ( American Marketing Association ) and pick up a few pointers from one of the best in the business.  Chris Forbes, co-author of Guerilla Marketing for Non Profits, shared his vast knowledge of all things Social Media in regards to successful marketing campaigns to a group of about 55 members of the AMA.   While Chris normally promotes things of the non profit sector and political nature; there was a point he made that sticks out in my mind. 

Fun!  Easy!  Popular! – It’s such a simple concept, that I almost feel like it could go without saying.  However, there’s a reason marketing people like me have the jobs we do.  Because concepts such as, Fun!  Easy!  Popular! are tough for a lot of companies to grasp.  So, how does this apply to you?  Well, I think that the majority of today’s successful campaigns in any facet- whether it be tv commercials, print ads, online marketing to name a few; are capturing the very essence of this ‘simple’ concept.

How can you apply this to your company’s marketing efforts?  Ask yourself what the best commercial is that you have seen lately.  Why does it stand out?  Did it make you laugh?  What was the product?  Sometimes in marketing of the Social Media sort, companies get too wrapped up in an overload of ‘helpful’ information.  While the intentions are good, your target audience may feel overwhelmed.  So, lighten it up a bit!  Make your tweets fun, if not downright hilarious.  Talk about things that are mainstream today to build up your following.  And don’t make people think too hard or read too much.  If you’re trying to build up a Facebook Fan Page following, consider a fun contest of some sort.  Give a good prize that is desirable to your target demographic to the winner.  Overall, people respond better to things they are interested in or that humor them.  Everyone has that one person they follow on Twitter who is a steady stream of boring statistics and information.  Don’t be them!  Engage your audience with humorous blog posts.  Share a little bit of the human side of yourself.

Remember, when it comes to marketing on search engines like Google; it really is a popularity contest.  Google is the high school and you’re running for class president!  Be charming, funny, informative and give back to people.  It will get you everywhere!

You know how important keywords are to your overall site optimization.  What you may not know is the importance they play in making your blog posts get found and indexed.  Here are 2 simple tips to follow to get the biggest SEO boost out of any blog post:

1. Identify Your Keywords: This is ALWAYS the first step of SEO. It may go without saying that the more general a keyword is, the more difficult it will be to gain organic recognition ( for example “credit repair” would be more difficult to rank for than “fix my credit report Texas” ).   Some businesses make the mistake of guessing at what the keyword phrases are that they should target.   Google’s Keyword Tool can help you show you the competitiveness of specific keywords.   A professional SEO Services provider can supply you with a keyword silo to focus your topics of blogging on as well.

2. Optimizing Your Blog Content for Your Keywords: The most important places to include keywords on any page of your site are in the page title, the URL, and the H1 (Header) tags.  And if you can throw in a link or two that is titled the same as your target phrase and points to the main page of the site you’re promoting; that’s always a plus.

I got to have a good laugh putting together my list of the 10 Best Business Flops of all time.  Some you may remember, and others you’ve never heard of…. for good reason.

10.  Cosmo Magazine Yogurt

Is yogurt sexy?  Um, no.  Apparently the general public didn’t think so as the product was cancelled after only 18 months. Proving that Cosmo is great at sexy magazines, bad at sexy food.

9.  Thirsty Dog! and Thirsty Cat! Bottled Water for Pets

Flavors like ‘Tangy Fish’ and ‘Crispy Beef’ left consumers retching in the PetCo aisles.  Needless to say, it never really caught on. I guess the idea was little far FETCHED.

8.  Atkins Diet

Remember when we’d go out to eat and order a 1/2 lb. burger with two kinds of cheese and bacon and then wrap it in lettuce leaves instead of a bun?  ‘But there’s no bread!’  Yeah….   Turns out eating a lot of fat and calories isn’t healthy….  Insult to injury?  Dr. Atkins’ leaked coroner’s report following his death revealed the cause was a heart attack- shocker!- and that he weighed 258 pounds.

7.  Windows 98 Pre Release Blue Screen

Bill Gates was set to show off the new, unreleased Windows 98 program at a press event.  Much to his surprise, audiences got a front row seat to a big blue screen as the program crashed on the spot.  Gates laughed it off and was quoted as saying, “That must be why we’re not shipping Windows 98 yet.”  Oops.  Oh, well.  He’s still Bill Gates.

6.  Look of Buttermilk and Touch of Yogurt Shampoos by Clairol

Who wants sticky, yogurty hair that looks and smells like buttermilk?  Oh, no one?  Apparently.  Clairol’s launch of these dairy inspired products failed miserably in the late 80′s.  It’s a good thing they were already a household name with several successful products that kept them from being tanked by the failure.

5.  Harley Davidson Perfume and Cologne

Eau de motor oil?  Unimaginably, Harley Davidson perfume and cologne was shunned by its almost cult like followers.  The brand has successfully branched out into clothing, shoes and accessories, but flopped like a fish when they ventured into fragrance.  Yet, Justin Bieber’s perfume is a top seller right now.  Sweaty prepubescence is the scent of the week!

4.  The Cleveland Indians 10 Cent Beer Night

This idea conceived out of an effort to boost game attendance during the 1974 baseball season was actually a huge success- a little too successful.  On June 4, the stadium promoted it’s ‘Unlimited 10 Cent Beer Night‘ and the fans came out in droves.  With tension high after a series against the Texas Rangers, fans grew a little more disgruntled as the alcohol flowed and riots ensued.  Players fought with players, players fought with fans and chaos was the theme of the night.  Having scheduled three more of these promotional nights for the season, the club decided to put a cap on it at 4 beers per person.

3.  New Coke

In 1985, when CocaCola started feeling the heat from ‘other’ cola companies; it decided to launch a new product.  New Coke was born and the company even abandoned its long standing and successful classic CocaCola brand and formula.  Consumers revolted and the company was forced to go back to its roots.  Lesson learned?  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

2.  The McDonald’s ‘I’d Hit It’ Campaign

Morgan Spurlock’s movie “Super Size Me” educated people about the content and effects of eating a lot of McDonald’s on a regular basis.  The company noticed a big enough drop in sales to feel they needed to appeal to the younger generation again.  Their idea?  Incorporate some slang into their marketing campaigns.  After all, they’d had huge success with getting main stream pop star, Justin Timberlake to sing their new jingle.  Why not take it one step further?  In 2005, the ‘I’d Hit It’ campaign was born.  Ick!  Even the most devoted McDonald’s fan does not, in fact, want to defile their quarter pounder with cheese. That’s a McDon’t.

1.  The Titanic

We all know the story.  I know!  I went there…  Don’t worry, your heart will go on.

What’s the best business fail that you can remember?

When I think of a panda bear, I think of a cute and cuddly, sweet little animal.  Not so much with Google’s Panda Filter….  You may have noticed a hit or a boost in your organic placement last week.  Well, that’s because Google completed it’s Panda 2.3 Update.  The goal?  Google is quoted as saying, “ this update incorporates some new signals that help differentiate between higher- and lower-quality sites.”  They additionally added: “As a result, some sites are ranking higher after this most recent update.”

So, what does that mean to you?  It means that if your site suffered a hit, you need to be working hard to fix the issue before the next Panda Update.  The schedule so far has been an update every 4 – 5 weeks.  Which means you can count on roughly a month in between Panda filter updates to get things right on your site.  What this also means is that if your site had some issues causing it to take a tumble in the SERPs ( Search Engine Results Pages ), your efforts to repair weak links and spammy text are not going to be recognized until the next time Google’s Panda Update runs.

What the heck is a Google update?!

Google’s website rankings are based on the algorithms it uses to determine a site’s function, purpose and relativity to what the site is telling Google it’s about.

Where does Google get this information?

Google finds this information through several channels.  Contributing factors include both on site and off site optimization efforts.  This includes a site’s metatags ( the code for a page of a site ), incoming links, on page text, press releases and more.  All the things that a SEO Services company like Absolute Placement Today can manage for you.

If your site is consistently falling in ranking, it could be the result of poor  or non existent search engine optimization.  If you hired someone, or took it upon yourself, to build as many links as possible without being discretionary in the relativity of the link’s location, anchor text and placement; chances are you’ve lost some ground as well.

Your best bet is to team up with an experienced SEO services provider to help analyze and fix the issues before the next update occurs.  SEO professionals benefit your business by bringing results producing strategies and techniques to the table that you may not know about.  When it comes to choosing the right partner, proceed with caution though as not all SEO services companies are equal.  See: 8 Signs Your SEO Service Company is a Rip Off

A lot of people operate by the theory that all publicity is good publicity.  However, there are tons of recent examples that rip this thought to shreds.  I’m betting the publicists ( if they chose to keep their jobs ) for people like Mel Gibson, Kanye West  and Representative Anthony Weiner ( that might always make me giggle a little ) are charging triple overtime to repair the damage done by the press that their clients have received as of late.

I’d imagine their first tip is STOP TALKING!  This can also go for online reputation management.  If you find your business on the receiving end of some bad press that ends up online, you need to team up with a professional Seo Services team to help.  One single event or bad review, bad product or ill advised rebuttal can have lasting negative implications on your reputation for years to come.

Toyota has been making some of the most popular cars on the market for almost 75 years.  In 2010, their recall of 8 million cars has severely damaged the reputation they’d built up for the better part of 7 DECADES.  In the earlier stages of the recall and in an attempt at some reputation damage control, they launched a series of commercials addressing the issues, apologizing and assuring the public of their dedication to safety standards and commitment to quality vehicles.  Then, they didn’t talk about it anymore.  Which is smart, in my opinion, and a good move on the part of their PR department.  The hope is that their long standing, relatively good reputation will resurface. Now their marketing efforts lie in promoting the safety and quality of their new vehicles and only addressing the recall issues when they  are forced to.

Will it work?  It did, in a sense, for the likes of Britney Spears and McDonald’s ( see: Supersize Me )….  Don’t leave your comeback in the hands of fate.  If your business’ name has suffered due to ineffective marketing efforts or failed reputation management from your current SEO services provider, contact us.  Absolute Placement Today works with their clients to create, manage and promote their online business.

Search engines are the most common and powerful driver of traffic and potential customers to a website.  By now, most business owners know the importance of teaming up with an SEO services provider to gain the type of rankings and results they need for success online. There are a ton of choices out there when it comes to companies or individuals who promise their expertise in search engine optimization (SEO) strategies that will maximize your return and gain your site better rankings in  the search engines.  Take your time finding the right fit for your company and needs.  Good SEO takes time, effort, dedication and communication on both the part of the website owner and the firm they hire.  A lot of companies find themselves the victim of huge promises with little result.  Optimization of your site is too important a factor in your success to be left to an amateur.

Here are 8 Signs that your Current SEO Services Need a Revamp:

Promises of Immediate Top Ranking for Competitive Keyword Terms -

There really just is no way to make such a guarantee unless there are some black hat SEO practices taking place.  In that case, you should RUN, not walk your way right out their office.  And take your money with you.

Sending Unqualified and Unrelated Traffic to your Site and Claiming Success-

If you sell food storage containers, there is no reason you should rank for under the bed rolling clothing storage boxes.

Putting up Content that is Overridden with Random Keywords-

What doesn’t read well to you, won’t read well to your potential customers either.

Claiming that Optimization is Complete by Redoing the Metadata -

There are a lot more steps to optimizing a site than simply plugging keyword phrases into your metatags.  There needs to be some on page tweeking as well as off site SEO efforts and numerous other steps.

Doing a One Time Overhaul with No Ongoing Maintenance Efforts -

This. Will. Not. Work.

Claiming that the Links Built are ‘Proprietary’ Information -

You should have the right to see where your site is linked, what each link looks like and how it’s relevant to your site.

No Reporting-

If you’re not getting a monthly update, bimonthly or even quarterly report showing what’s been accomplished and what’s up next; you’re getting duped.

Less Frequent or Non Existent Communication -

The SEO services provider that you choose works for and with you.  If you don’t have the direct number to your account manager or they don’t return your calls or emails within a 24 hour period; it’s time to move on.  You, your money and your company deserve more than that.

Those are just some of the signs that should raise some red flags for you.  Don’t waste your money with a company that isn’t doing the job you’re paying them to do.

It’s true, anyone can do a Google search to find what they want.  You simply type in the phrase: dental braces and Bam!  You get back pages and pages of results that have the word dental and braces in them. However, did you know there are certain things you can do to make your Google search more applicable to exactly what you’re searching?  You can easily limit your frustrations and streamline the results you get to more quickly locate your target with just a few adjustments to your query.

Here are a few tips that the average searcher doesn’t know that can help improve the search experience:

Search with “Quotations “

If you simply type in the phrase Seo Services, Google will return any results that have the words seo and services in them in no particular order or relevance.  So you could end up with random blog posts, press releases, quotes  and stories that don’t actually find you seo services.  If you add quotations: “Seo Services”, your search gets smaller because Google will only return results that have the words of the searched phrase together.

Use the +1 Feature

If you’ve done your search and found exactly what you’re looking for, you can use the +1 feature to make it come up again the next time that you’re looking for the same thing.  For example, you did the “Seo Services” query and found AbsolutePlacementToday.com- You can now push the +1 that displays on the top right hand corner of the listed result and Google will automatically push it up to the top of your individual search results.

Search with a Minus -

Let’s say you’re doing research for your fantasy football team and looking for stats on players.  If you’re thinking about snagging Donovan McNabb but you want to know what he’s done since leaving the Eagles, you can search like this: “Donovan McNabb stats” -”Philadelphia Eagles”.  Make sure to put a space before the minus sign but no space after.  This will tell Google to return results on his stats unrelated to his time with the Eagles.

Search by Using InUrl:

If you use InUrl in your searches, Google will only return results that have the searched term in its url.  See here: InUrl: “Designer Shoes”

Search with a Plus Sign +

You can manipulate results with a plus sign in the same way you can with a minus sign.  If you’re looking for schools that offer online college degrees, your search might look like this: “University” +”Online College Degrees”

There you go!  Now you’re ready to search like a pro!

There’s a lot of buzz these days about Google+.  We’re hearing stories of it being blocked by Facebook, that it’s already being favored by the male population ( I have a theory on that…but it’s not blog friendly ) and that it’s basically setting the stage to complete Google’s process of complete world domination. 

Upon my first visit to Google+ a little over a week ago, I find that it’s extremely user friendly.  I mean, how hard is it to drag someone into a circle?  But, let’s look at this a little deeper.  Google already knows more about me than my mom does.  And that’s saying a lot.  I talk to my mom on average of at least 2 or 3 times a day on the phone, we do lunch frequently and she stops by my house on her way home on a regular basis.  I tell her everything.  But, she doesn’t know exactly what I’m doing on my computer 12 hours out of the day.  She doesn’t know that I have a penchant for visiting shopping sites like Piperlime ( in my free time, boss ) to fill up my cart as a ‘wish list’ of purchases I’ll make when I’m filthy rich.  (I guess that cat’s out of the bag now…)  Google has known for a long time and Google+ now knows my friends, what I look like, who I converse with regularly or just stalk.  What will it do with all of that information?  Google+ is not for the paranoid or faint of heart.

For those who may not be in the know, Google+ is the new social networking site that’s been launched by Google.  It works a little bit like Twitter and a little bit like Facebook – a bit of a hybrid if you will.  You follow people, put them in your circles and they put you in theirs.  You can read the posts of people you’re following even if they’re not following you.  There’s an iPhone app and it’s already reportedly grown to around 18 million users in three weeks.  For reference, it took Facebook a little over a year to get to 5 million.

How it will affect businesses and their organic search engine results is to be determined.  I think it will change the game completely.  That’s just my opinion.  And I’m wrong A LOT.  But if you’re a business owner, you might want to at least brush up on how Google+ works because the business friendly version is coming soon.  Get ready, people. Google+ is coming for you.

We all know what we’re supposed to say when we lose….  “I played my hardest and that’s all I can do”, “It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game”, “If I had to lose, I’m glad it was a loss to (insert biggest competitor/nemesis here )”.  All of that is fine and dandy if you want to settle for being a loser and feel better about it.  And it seems to be the movement in today’s society; acceptance of defeat whether it’s about sports, weight, school, pretty much anything that challenges us.  I’m not saying you can always change the outcome.  There’s a lot to be said for grace in a loss…  Such as the recent World Cup Final against Japan.  There is nothing that can be done now to change how that game ended.  The only thing those girls can do is keep working as hard as they can, keep perfecting their game and get better for the future.  That’s it.

Change the Game

But how about when an outcome can, in fact, be changed?  Everyone knows the movie ‘Rudy’, right?  He didn’t settle for being told “No, you’re just not that good” and “You’re just too small”.  He was the kid that all the cards were stacked against.  He was dyslexic, small, slow and from a family of 14 kids.  He was never going to naturally just kill the game of football.  But, he was not going to take defeat either.

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger was rejected 3 times before he got accepted into Notre Dame.  He wasn’t even really a walk on to the football team.  He was on the practice squad.  His job was simply to be an opposing jersey for the varsity team’s practices.  But I think he was a sore loser.  It made him mad and pushed him harder to hear things like, “You can’t do it”, “You’ll never be good enough”, “You’re not smart enough”….  They drove him to be the best he possibly could.  He didn’t settle for showing up in a practice jersey and going through the motions, jumping around a little and waving his arms and jogging from place to place.  I believe he sprinted out onto the field, he gritted his teeth, took things into his own hands and wore the varsity players out!  He made them be the best they could be by doing absolutely everything within his power to make them play harder and think about their game.

Capitalize on Your Losses

My challenge is this, be a sore loser.  I don’t mean go around trashing your competitors or acting out any sorts of sabotage and revenge.  Get angry.  Let coming in second, third and fourth place consume you.  Use it to re-evaluate your game, your strategies, your practices and expose your weaknesses.  Then attack it.

Apple got tired of being second to PC’s.  They got angry about it.  So, they launched what is arguably one of the most successful campaigns in marketing history and are still climbing.  Who doesn’t at least have an iPod these days?  You’d have to have been living under a rock somewhere to have missed the Justin Long commercials, right?  They decided to change up what they were doing and push to be recognized.

Be a Sore Loser

If you’re tired of not being the best at what you do; it’s time to change your strategy.  The race is on to come out on top in organic search rankings and the game has changed.  If you’re not consistently asking questions about how to be better and learning from the pros about the best methods for optimal rankings; then you’re falling behind.  Because if you’re not winning, you’re losing.  Are you a sore loser?

Affordable SEO does not mean you have to lower your expectation in the results. Delivering quality, target results simply means you need to stay involved and be an educated website owner.

This post will talk about things you should consider in marketing your business. Given today’s economy and the growth in small business ownership it is critical to your business survival you manage your budget well, and stay involved with your marketing. This includes making your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Affordable.

1. Remember you are the expert in your industry not your seo team. You need to be the one approving your articles and press releases.

2. On site Content. Make sure you approve the much needed content before it is loaded to your website. The SEO team can and should optimize the on site content. Again your the expert in your industry, GET INVOLVED.

3. Understand the keyword terms and placement expectations. If you target the term “BARBER” it may take thousands of dollars and many many months to get this placement. But, if you target “BARBER DALLAS” or “Barber Houston” you will save on your cost and placement “should” happen much much sooner. Remember it is ORGANIC placement we are after. That does nto happen over night or in most cases in a few weeks. Organic SEO takes time, but out lasts all other forms of marketing.

4. Follow up Follow Up Follow up. Keep your SEO Firm On Speed Dial. Get the Managers names and guarantee signed by the business owner. If your seo does not increase your traffic or placement you other you ad a poor plan or your good plan was poorly followed. By getting all terms in writing and detailed is the key to accountability.

Affordable SEO delivers well targeted traffic and will shorten the time needed to reach page one.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

As with any investment we make in business, reaching your targeted prospects and clients must be affordable. Affordable Internet Marketing should be your driving force of new business.

Today’s economy has created more small business ventures than any other time in more than a century. With the national unemployment rate being at an all time high we have new businesses showing up in record numbers.

Keeping our marketing at an affordable measure is key to success. Here are some examples of Free or affordable Internet Marketing tools.

1. Article writing “get the word out and educate your potential clients”

A. Ezinearticle.com

B. Articlebase.com “Are both free”

2. Press releases (PRWEB.COM) cost a bit, but is GREAT for spreading the word and giving you back links.

3. Make sur eyou and your SEO/SEM firm have a plan that is in writing and you both FULLY understand.

Have a known budget within your plan so you know what to expect and when to expect it. All too often I read that people have gone several months or years into a marketing plan with no results. The clear reason for this is a poor plan, or a plan that was poorly followed.

For example: If your marketing budget is 200.00 per month and your a Plumber in Dallas Texas, your keyword terms should not be “TEXAS PLUMBER”. The competition for this term is much too high for that budget and will likely, not deliver clients you can services. However, “DALLAS PLUMBER” or “Plumber Dallas Texas” is more GEO targeted and more likely to deliver traffic you can service. As you grow and TAKE OVER TEXAS as a plumber you can and should target this market. Understand your budget and RIO expectations.

Affordable SEO is a powerful tool in delivering targeted traffic to your website.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

So you have built a great looking website and are ready for the customers to line up. Sorry your website is not the Ark so don’t expect them to get in line unless they know your there.

Direct and to the point, but true. And that is what you should expect from any firm you are talking with to drive business to your website through search engine placement. After all, these are your marketing dollars hard at work and must deliver results.

The best way to avoid a misunderstanding is to have an understanding. Here are some tips on how to reach your search engine placement goals.

1. Social Networking “GET INVOLVED”

2. Social Marketing/Networking: Twitter and Face Book are great tools for this

3. Website Code/Content: Make sure your SEO/SEM firm is certified as an expert… “your competition is not fooling around and neither should you”.

4. Articles are a great tool in education your potential clients. “and if optimized correctly they will get organic search engine placement”.

5. Directories are a great way to build reliable and authoraty links back to your website as they are crawled more often by the search engines.

6. Word of mouth…… If somebody refers you a client, REWARD THEM.. You can do this several ways:

A. Pay Them

B. Return the favor and send them business

C. Invite them to a social networking meeting you have found.

d. Take there kid to day care, pick babysit what ever. Really it does not matter just return the favor!

Some will say that if content is King then code must be Queen…. Could not be further from the truth… All facets of Search Engine Placement MUST come together with equal levels of relevance and proper equations for you to reach top search engine placement. Affordable Link Building should be part of every on line project.

When it comes to building your affordable seo project, understand there is going to be work on your part.

Link building is a strong part of most any project with competitive search results.. If your website and company are both filled with good information and “you” are a leader in your industry, “WRITE ABOUT IT”…

Educating your potential clients is not only rewarding but brings you an educated customer…..

Press Releases  |  Articles |  Blogging

If you are a leader in your NICHE, write about what you know.  Google webmaster guide lines says to stay away from link farms and SEO IN A BOX. If your write up is of sound and quality information it will only take a few submissions before others pick it up and start handing it out… Making sure your articel is informative and NOT self Promoting will lead others to share your story and information… This is a where your LINK JUICE gets started

www.ezinearticles.com

www.VentureStreet.com

www.ArticlesBase.com

www.articlepool.com

Like any website your article SHOULD be optimized for search engine placement…

BLOG Commenting:

Stay away from the blog that allows “SPAM” comments like   “i have a  nice joke” when the blog is about “link building” or blogs unrelated to your niche.

Staying in your niche gives your site relevance and your able to post and educated comment rather than being part of a link spam mess.

Affordable Link Building With Articles works well just stay in your niche.

Here is a perfect example of a website that is both perfectly optimized and has relevant code, content links and traffic.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

Internet behemoth Google and one of its lagging competitors, Yahoo, have agreed to a deal potentially worth up to $800 million for Yahoo.  The deal grants Yahoo access to Google’s Adsense, which allows users to advertise on search and content sites participating in the program.

Yahoo has committed to 4 years in the agreement, with the first expected to generate between $250 – $400 million in cash flow for Yahoo.  Should the deal please Yahoo, the company has 2 optional 3-year renewal periods following the initial agreement.

Some murmured about the possibility this deal could breach antitrust regulations.  To start things off on the right foot, both companies have agreed to delay the actual implementation of the deal 3.5 months to allow the Senate Antitrust Committee to examine it and its possible effects on the marketplace.  Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the committee, vowed to examine the deal closely.

Google Denies any Idea of a Merger

“This collaboration between two technology giants and direct competitors for Internet advertising and search services raises important competition concerns.  The consequences for advertisers and consumers could be far-reaching and warrant careful review, and we plan to investigate the competitive and privacy implications of this deal further in the Antitrust Subcommittee,” said Senator Kohl.

Google quickly denied any ideas of a merger.  “This is not a merger.  Rather, we are merely providing access to our advertising technology to Yahoo through our Adsense program,” said Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development Omid Kordesani.

He was also quick to point out this deal does not force any competitors out of the marketplace or prevent Yahoo from making deals with any other companies.  The deal also does not increase the amount of search traffic flowing to Google, and Google also is not able to raise prices for other advertisers.

Microsoft/Bing Becomes the Big Loser 

Although Microsoft continues to maintain an advertising partnership with Yahoo, Yahoo has sent a very clear message to Microsoft that it will soon be on its own.  Together with Yahoo, it sunk billions of dollars into the partnership, attempting to dethrone Google from its position as the search advertising leader.

Years of evidence have shown that at the very best, Microsoft has done absolutely nothing to improve Yahoo’s search revenue, and in fact, probably undermined it more than anything else.  Google is four times the size of Yahoo, making deals with any other search provider guaranteed failures.  Marissa Mayer’s position as CEO undoubtedly played a major role in the decision to reach the deal.

Despite the magnitude of the deal, Yahoo maintains its users won’t see much of a noticeable difference as they use the search provider.

The goal, in the words of a blog post released by Yahoo, was really to “More options simply mean greater flexibility. We look forward to working with all of our contextual ads partners to ensure we’re delivering the right ad to the right user at the right time.”

A Premonition of Things to Come?

While there are some concerns about violations of anti-trust regulations, what’s really interesting about this story is the fact that Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer, long a Google spokesperson, is actually building this deal with the search leader.  It’s pretty clear Yahoo stands no chance on its own of actually challenging Google for a significant market share of search, although it remains fairly competitive with Bing.

Is she simply conceding the fact Yahoo won’t be able to compete with Google, and is instead doing what she can just to stay in business?  Will the relationship grow further, helping Yahoo stay alive, or is this just a temporary band-aid solution?  Will the two companies work together to push Bing out of the marketplace?

On the one hand, it could be beneficial to Yahoo to push out Bing, the primary company with which it really competes.  On the other, the eventual elimination of a competitor, or a merger, put Google in a position where it could become the victim of an anti-trust suit, much like AT&T in the 1980s.

It’s clear, though, that the structure of the deal was created to benefit both Google and Yahoo, while at the same time not formidably growing Google’s strength in the marketplace.  As a powerful corporation, Google can be expected to continue to do everything it can to grow and maintain that power.  It currently hovers around 10^th place as one of the companies with the largest market capitalizations, at around $210 billion.

How, or if, the relationship between Yahoo and Google grows will be interesting to watch. Whatever happens, you can be sure Google will tread very carefully.

Tom Bates | President
Absolute Placement Today, Inc.