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…

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.

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…

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…

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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?

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 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!

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:

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.

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?

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!

  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?

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!

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.

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.

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….

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”

Negative SEO Taking Over the WWW~?

Like a breath of Cold Fresh Air, the endless hours of work and likely tens of thousands of dollars you have put in to your website over the years has paid off. You launched your website with “FRESH ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE” content. Your design is user friendly, and your visitors enjoy what they have found. In fact they like it so much, they have even shared it on social sites like Facebook and Twitter where their friends and family can find it. All is going GREAT with your website. Heck, you have even added a blog, to help the site perform,  to communicate new ideas and fresh content. Others have liked your work so much that they have not only linked to your website  and copied your content it was so good but they also have become loyal clients, “YOUR AN AUTHORITY NOW” Right,  …. You may be, but it seems Google may have another opinion…….. Your website has been good enough in their eyes to be at the top for a long long time for extremely tough rewarding terms.. Maybe you were just lucky, maybe blessed, maybe your placement was well earned..

The Spam Team Leader at Google “Matt Cutts” has spoke for years about the quality of search being paramount. Myself and many other SEO’s could not agree more. It is critical that when I search Google’s data base for a product or service, I get what I was looking for. And for it to be in the natural listing or Places.  Most people know full well, you can squeeze false ads into the adwords of Google, and people will find results they really did not want.

Though there are lots of theory’s, “miss spoken direction” that took a long time to address and Correct his error, one fact is clear…

We want answers! 

Google has stepped up over the years and has provided the largest most useful and friendly search tool the world has ever know. But, have they fallen to the side of greed given the condition of the worlds economy?

Lets take a look at this theory.

You built a wonderful website with original and unique content years ago, and have worked tirelessly in its development and promotion. You have built a wonderful client base, however with the fallen economy, have lost a few clients, gained a few… Needless to say, you have become reliant on the EARNED SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT Awarded by Google, Bing and Yahoo and the rest. However, under no control of your own, your content, videos, images etc have been so good they have been copied and reused by some spamming lazy joker who would rather steal your content than create his/her own, and BANG!! YOUR GONE…. In order for your business, your family and loved ones website you have relied on has been hit by a Google update you have NO CONTROL OVER..  You must have new leads, and new clients in order to continue your business and supporting your family. Leaving you the option of AD-WORDS……. hmmm…

EARNED SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT

I agree search engine placement should be EARNED based on the relevance and authority of a website. However, it seems Google has made a public statement BY ITS LATEST UPDATE that you can in fact POACH ANOTHER Website out of their earned placement WITH NEGATIVE SEO.

I did a few pretty basic searches this evening and found some CRAZZZZY results:

LET’S SEE IF THEY STAY THIS WAY:

SEARCH TERM: “SOMETHING”

DELIVERED WWW.SOMETHING.COM  NO WEBSITE, KEYWORD DENSITY IS 100% KEYWORDS CONTENT SPAM. “THE ONLY TEXT IS” (SOMETHING). GOOGLE CLAIMS THEY ARE CRACKING DOWN ON QUALITY, WHERE IS THE QUALITY IN THAT..

HERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER EXAMPLES OF THE SAME: WE WANT ANSWERS

Maybe I am missing something, but, is Google really that much smarter than YAHOO AND BING COMBINED, to be delivering such results to have ONE statement and more than 500 comments from Google webmasters looking for answers, with no response, other than ”

Comment deleted

This comment has been removed by the author.April 24, 2012 6:04 PM Clearly posts like this are being monitored and they know there are questions…. We want answersPerhaps the answer is as I tell all my clients….. SEO is a Marathon, NOT A Sprint! BE PATIENT.Have another theory?  DO SHARE!!

Let’s eat!  Your website is an employee that works around the clock 24/7.  Humans eat 2-3 meals a day so why not feed your hardest working employee?  Makes sense, right?  Right…Healthy links are the best way to take care of a website.  These are links related to your industry, has a page rank of four or better, and will help your visitors.  Google will recognize you and your website will bring you a return on your investment.

The good part of having back links is that your website does not have to be submitted to the search engines.  Once you have websites linking to you that have been indexed, the search engines will take notice and index your website as well (assuming that your website is new).  Being in the SEO Services business we found out that it was beneficial to go after the terms SEO Fort Lauderdale or SEO Miami instead SEO Services; since the latter is a national ranked term that will take six months to a year to get ranked.  It is a highly competitive term globally.  Going after Geo-targeted keyword terms is easier, wiser, and will benefits your company’s website more efficiently. This is a Win-Win situation!  You can’t lose if you follow-up with the SEO secrets you are about to read.

Share The Glory.  Share The Links.

Using Social media is another great way to feed your website. Even though Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn uses no-follow tags on their website you’ll still be able to get traffic and credit for the traffic.  You may want to use your link in your posts moderately since no one likes people that only talk about themselves. It’s the same concept in the social network communities. Mention other websites or experts in your industry.  It’s okay to give other people credit and they will in return give you credit by sending traffic your way.  One hand washes the other in all aspects in life.

A few hundred or even thousand people visiting your website from the social media networks will catch the attention of the search engines, especially Google.  Nearly every social site has a slot for your website URL.  Use your complete URL, for example our URL is, http://www.boastingbiz.com/.  I have seen many websites that display their website address instead of their URL, for example, www.yourwebsite.com without the “http://” which is a common mistake.

Social Media Tips To Remember

• Use Complete URL’s
• Use your link in your posts but not all of them
• Interact with you followers.  People love attention too!

Knock Knock.  Who’s There?  Guest Blogger

Guest blogging is more of a natural way to get links pointing to your website.  You have to get the attention of the website owner in order to even have the chance to guest blog.  Calling or emailing them with a warm introduction goes a long way.  Most business and website owner’s are bored to death with spam emails that when a real person reaches out to them, it’s usually welcomed.

When writing your content, it is better to use new content because duplicate content does not benefit anyone.  It does take a considerable amount of time to create quality, thought provoking and relevant content, just ask SEO Consultant and GURU, Tom Bates with APT Media.  Webmasters will have their own guidelines.  While some will have one or two rules, others will have many, however, you must pay attention to their requests.  Also, aim for high page rank blogs that you can contribute your knowledge.  It doesn’t cost you anything but time, so make sure your content is worth it.

3 Things to keep in mind when Guest Blogging

• Place a text link with your keyword phrases
• Relevant content that is informative
• Pay attention to the guidelines

Of course, there are easier ways to get links, but like everything else in this country the more convenient the more it will cost you.  Purchasing text links has been a grey area subject in the Internet Marketing industry. This is due to the fact that it can be seen as cheating the system.

You can purchase a few high page rank link for a about $100.00 a month.  If your pockets are deep for a link building campaign then this may be a feasible back linking option.  Google does not like it because they are not getting a peace of the pie. They would rather you use their Google Adwords, which is another way to bring quality traffic to your website; it will cost you a few of those pretty pennies or should I say crispy dollars.

Final Thought:  What to do or not to do?

Hopefully this article has given you an appetite for links. However, all links are not good links.  Stay away from Link Farms, Black Hat SEO Tricks (or companies that provide such services), and any of the 7 ways to get your website blacklisted.  There are also Internet Marketing software that are considered spam, so avoid using them!  You will know that the software is spam when it can automate hundreds of links in a short amount of time.  Having a hundred links pointing to your website in a day is virtually impossible, and will give Google a red flag and our I.P. address will get marked as spam.  In March, Google began giving warnings to websites with tons of unnatural links.  Keep your website healthy.

What did you think?  Share your thoughts.  Give us a shot out on Twitter @BoastingBiz.

Bio: Kevin Dorival is an SEO specialist; he currently works with Boating Biz. Fill out this SEO quote form for a free estimate on your project.

Put Your Media Company On the Spot

Ok, so I have been asked to put this together by a good friend who has been using the same “FULL SERVICE” Media company for about 4 years.

He claims to be getting leads BUT his cost is ridiculous…. We went over the monthly spend and he is clearly OVERPAYING, yet had no idea what to ask his “FULL SERVICE” marketing company. I OF COURSE ASKED IF HE WAS IN A LONG TERM CONTRACT, AND YOU GUESSED IT…. THEY SOLD HIM ON A 12 MONTH CON!!

“PUCKER UP BABY WE GOT QUESTIONS”

I posed he ask the following  :

1. WHERE THE HECK ARE THE Internet LEADS COMING FROM?
2. PAY PER CLICK or SEO
3. WHAT IS THE SPEND IN EACH AND IS THERE REPORTING OF ACTUAL SEO WORK BEING PERFORMED

1. What is the TOTAL cost per accusation and what is being done EACH WEEK to maximize the ROI
2. What is being done on a “REGULAR BASIS” for FREE leads from SEO?
3. WHAT “IF ANY” KEYWORD RESEARCH WAS PERFORMED BEFORE THE PPC WAS LAUNCHED, AND WHAT IS BEING DONE ON A REGULAR BASIS TO SAVE “HIM THE CLIENT MONEY OR INCREASE LEADS FOR THE SAME SPEND.

He has no idea where his investment is bringing results. So, I posed this question to him….. If you are paying per click, and paying per flyer and email and NOT investing in a product you actually own, how are you helping your business long term… He said, BUT IM PAYING THEM FOR SEO TOO…….. Hmmmm. SEO hu??

So, to better understand his situation, I suggested he get with his contract the marketing agency created, as in a contract there are usually two parts. The buy is the payer, and the receiver of funds is to fulfill certain obligations.

I urged “my friend” to bullet “outline” each obligation by the full service “experts” 1 By 1,  TO THE LETTER, leaving NOTHING unturned….

Then meet with the “experts” and compare notes.

So, as to HIS SURPRISE, there has been NO keyword research, the PayPer Click campaign was outsourced, There was NO SEO Going on at all, and the emails were created by the client “my friend” and auto sent by an auto email subscription. None of which was part of their agreement….. Hmmmm..

Are you being taken By your Media “EXPERTS”?? Tell me your story…..

What is link building and how does it increase business?
Welcome to the world wide web, or as it is more formerly known, the internet. This world is truly a world full of webs; sticky spider webs that attach from one place to the next. The bigger your web, the more things attach to it and get caught in your web. These webs are what make you successful in the online world, make your business popular and make you money. They are called links. You will hear this word very often because links and link building are a large part to online success for any ethical SEO SERVICE COMPANY.

A link is a text that you can click on, leading you from the website you were on to another website. These links join websites together. When you are linked, someone has put a link on their website that leads directly to yours, which is link building. Link building is getting a mass amount of quality websites to link to you. That is incredibly important in making you popular on the web. In the online world, the number of links leading to you are like “votes”. These votes add up and the more quality and relevant links you have, the more popular and visible you are to places like Google. You WANT to be visible to Google and all of the millions of people that search information on Google everyday.  In fact, there are 2 million Google searches every minute. So, the more quality links there are that lead to your website, the more people will be able to see you because you will be “ranked” higher in the search engines like Google. That’s what success on the internet is based on; being seen and being clicked. In order to do this, you need to keep a few things in mind.
Imagine, you search something on Google. Typically, you click on those first links to pop up on the first page. Statistically, about 34% of the clicks go to the very first link in ranking. That’s number 1. The second highest in ranking, gets around 17% of the clicks. That means, the second listing has half the chance to get clicked on than the first! Now, you may think you have success if you have reached the first page of Google’s rankings. But in fact, the last link of the page only gets approximately  2.71% of the clicks. And if you’re link is on the 2nd page of rankings, you only get about .05% of the clicks! The higher you are ranking, the more of a chance you have to be clicked on.
This is where link building comes in. To be successful, you want to be that number one site to get clicked on. This leads to increased clicks and many more eyes looking at your website which all leads up to more business and much more profit. Link building is the key to success, popularity and profit in the online world.

Now, Not just any old link will do…. Success and failure can be decided by just one BAD LINK. That BAD LINK may link to or from a bad neighborhood, that Google has flagged as a BAD NEIGHBORHOOD. If you decide to hire a link builder who has simply spammed your email offering a “team of seo experts” who have many years of experience building links, RUN LIKE THE WIND!!!

What visual do you get when you get these spam emails of SEO EXPERTS?

If you think for a moment that this is the team spamming you, BLOCK THEM, Tell them to take you off their SPAM LIST…

Do you have ideas you used to pick a good Link builder? Leave your “RELEVANT COMMENT” Tell your horror story, We want to hear form you!

Image courtesy of :

http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu

In this modern day, the internet is very much world wide. We live and breath this technology and are spoiled by its ease of use. Most of us use the internet in our daily lives. Whether it’s used just to check your Facebook or to gather more information on a particular subject. There is an infinite amount on information on the internet and it is ever-changing. Now, in this age, we have utilized the internet and its information processing abilities for more than just entertainment. It has become a place for business and marketing.  It is a place to build your business, to spread the word to the public about your services and to gain clientele. This is where SEO and link building come into place.

    If you were to search “air conditioning repair, Dallas” on a popular search engine website, you would have dozens upon dozens of links pop up. The majority of those links would be of business’ websites who specialize in air conditioning repair. This is a prime example of link building. What those first websites that popped up have done, is they have successfully made their website “visible” by getting high rankings from search engines through link building. Link building is the process of connecting your website to other websites and other websites to yours in order to gain popularity , or make it visible. The goal is to make your website one of those first few websites to pop up when someone searches for something relating to your business.

In order to get these high rankings to make your website visible,  you have to match all of the qualifications set by certain search engine sites such as Google or Bing. This is called an algorithm. Your website would need a good reputation, a high popularity on your page and a high number of pages linking to and from your page and so on and so on.  The number of links to your website are similar to the number of votes you have in ranking. This is what search engine optimization is all about. Search engines have a specific formula that websites have to match in order to have high rankings.

That is the ultimate goal here at Absolute Placement Today, Inc. We want to make your business’ website visible. We have come together to make 10 tips on how to improve your link building and to gain the highest of rankings and visibility through Affordable SEO Services.

1)      Create good content. Yes, this may seem quite obvious, but it is so very important. You must have interesting, useful or perhaps entertaining writing that is citation worthy. This will bring all the right attention to your website.

2)      Create content that can be shared. Use photographs or videos which can be shared by others to the rest of the world that link back to your original website. People will re-post your videos on their websites or share it with others if your content is informative or interesting, which will bring viewers to your website.

3)      Use anchor text. This was said to be one of the most important tips in link building by google. Anchor text is the visible text that you click in a hyperlink.  Include key words in your texts such as  the name of your company or the service you provide.

4)      Write content for people who skim read. That includes big headlines that are representative of your content and are eye catching. Create an easy, bulk free and cluster free layout. Visually pleasing websites tend to be very popular.

5)      Only link to trusted domains. You only want to link to trustworthy websites and have only trustworthy websites linked to you. If you link to a website with low rankings, this could make your website have low rankings as well.

6)      Involve yourself with your community. Perhaps, create a blog say every Friday to reach out to your community members. You could post a how to video or just answer common questions in an FAQ. This gets your name out there and makes your name a good one.

7)      Get your URL out there! Email bloggers your URL. Use your URL as part of your email signature. Put it on business cards! There are a multitude of ways to spread your URL. Use it with everything you do.

8)      Partner link. Use a small number of trusted, highly relevant websites to partner link with. Share eachother’s links on your websites.

9)      Submit your links to directories. This can be a great way to get your business out there whether it requires or does not require payment. There are millions of eyes out looking through directories.

10)   Use the social media websites! Almost everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account. These are all places where your popularity can reach sky heights. Your likes on Facebook or your Tweets and followers on Twitter all relate to your high rankings. The more people who link to you, the more votes you have in rankings.

The internet has become the most widely used tactic for marketing. It is a gold mine. But like mining for gold, it takes a lot of digging to reach. Search engine optimization is a science and link building is an art. Big search engine websites like google want what is called “natural looking” websites, or organically linked websites. Which means doing all of the hard, dirty work like using the social media, sending your link out to internet bloggers and reaching out to the community. Although it may seem like it would take too long, you never want to buy from companies who promise to give you thousands of links instantly because those big search engines can spot that type of paid endorsing  a mile away.  Websites who pay their way to the top do not ever get there. There is a recipe used to get your website to the top of Google’s search list. Through organic link building, it is possible to make your company larger than life. It is possible to have eyes from all over the world looking at your business’ website. We at Absolute Placement Today, Inc. specialize in just that. We are here to link build your website to number one.

image courtesy of www.fitness.gov

Google’s Panda Updates: 2.3 Quality Content

Google’s entire series of Panda updates involves a variety of changes to Google’s algorithm with one single focus:  to improve the rankings of quality content, while also reducing the rankings of lower-quality content.

After all the dramatic changes caused by Google’s many Panda updates, you could really say that Panda is almost an entirely new platform for ranking content.  The word “update” implies a small change here and there, but there’s nothing small about Panda.

This particular update is not a huge one, but the effect of this update and all the other Panda updates together changes many rankings in Google.

On July 23, 2011, Google rolled out its Panda 2.3 update.  Officially, Google did not make a huge deal out of Panda 2.3.  When asked, a spokesperson simply noted this update represented Google’s continuing commitment to high-quality content and was one of about 500 updates Google implements during each year.

What were the real effects of Panda 2.3?

As is the case with many of Google’s updates, Google didn’t say very much publicly about this update.  But, webmasters and SEO experts intently monitor every little change, and they certainly found some additional changes in this case.

User “Mr.Savage”, on this Webmaster World thread, said that he was very angry with the update.  By favoring quality, popular, and deep content, he claimed, Google was favoring all the big-time blogs and authority sites.  Some of his sites, which were smaller in terms of their online impact, lost significant rankings and traffic.

And, he wasn’t the only one affected.  Many other users noted a dramatic drop in traffic to their websites.  Some noticed between a 50-70% drop in website traffic.

Other users also noticed similar trends in what appears to be Google again favoring large websites.  Smaller niche specialty shops were not able to rank well for specific terms, even though their content and products may have fit those niche terms better than a larger online store.

To some users, it seems as though those gigantic websites with multiple staff members and regular updates benefited more from Panda 2.3 than the “little guys.”

What does Panda 2.3 mean for your website?

Ultimately, clearly you have to realize you have no control over what Google does when it makes an update.  While many users complained the “big boys” weren’t impacted by this update, while many of the “little guys” were, it’s also true not all the little guys were hurt.
The best you can do to maintain high Google rankings is:

• Create quality content
• Make regular updates to your site
• Have many in-bound links to your site
• Keep doing all of these on a regular basis

By following these general principles, you’ll put yourself in the best position to rank highly in Google.  If you don’t have the time to do these things, then you may benefit from the help of a professional.

We wish good luck to your site and its rankings, and be sure to let us know if we can help in any way.

With Panda 2.2, Google continued its yearlong assault on low-quality and scraped content.  If you recall from our other Panda Updates posts, the original Panda targeted content farms, Panda 2.0 aimed at helping to return the highest-quality result for your search, while Panda 2.1 also targeted quality, but only affected just a small handful of websites.

Interestingly, Google’s algorithm is so complex that even Google doesn’t quite know what is going on, and neither do its engineers have control over the exact results of any algorithm changes. In fact, some Google engineers have been quoted saying that they are unaware of about 25% of Google’s searches at any given time.

On June 21, 2011, Panda 2.2 was released.  Google’s Matt Cutts explained that, officially, the purpose of Panda 2.2 was to improve scraper detection.

“Scraping” refers to copying information from other sites and placing it on your own, without giving credit to the original author.  You can do this easily yourself by using the copy-and-paste function on your computer, but there are also automated tools that do this.  This has long been a major problem on the ‘net.

What is “unique” content and how can I avoid Google penalties related to content?

You’ve asked a great question!  No one really knows how to define exactly what “unique” means.  SEO experts believe that if you created an original article and then rewrote a new one, somewhere between 50-70% of the words in the new one must not appear in the original.

Don’t think that we’re teaching you how to copy someone else’s content and not get caught!  Rewriting your own content for distribution to other sites can be an effective part of an SEO strategy.

When marketing articles, you may distribute the same article to a handful of targeted sites, or you may distribute it to hundreds of sites.  Some sites may want what we just discussed to be an “original” article.  So, you may rewrite the same ideas in the article, but use mostly different words than before.

Panda 2.2 Isn’t What Would be Considered an “Algorithm Change”

While Panda 2.2 did no doubt affect a good handful of websites, Danny Sullivan, of Search Engine Land, explains Panda 2.2 was a manual update.  Instead of being a permanent change, each Panda Update is more like a computer program run manually by one of Google’s engineers.

The first four Panda updates (the original Panda, Panda 2.0, Panda 2.1, and Panda 2.2) each had about 6 week or so between each update.  If you were affected by the original Panda, and then made changes to follow Panda’s guidelines, your rankings still wouldn’t be updated until the release of Panda 2.0.

In this sense, Panda has been more of a manual update.  “Algorithm changes” would be changes implemented at one point in time, but then carried out by Google automatically on an ongoing basis.  An example would be Google’s Mayday Update (implemented in 2010), which focused on increasing the quality of long-tail keyword search rankings.

It’s Easy to Avoid Being Hurt by Panda

If you’ve been reading our entire series on Google Panda, you’ve probably realized that avoiding Panda’s ranking penalties is pretty easy.  All you need to do is:

• Write well on a certain topic
• Use correct grammar and spelling
• Write an original article

If you follow those guidelines, you’ll easily avoid any of Panda’s penalties.

In our previous Google Updates posts, we’ve taken a look at some pretty major changes, most of which were focused on increasing the quality of content and the result returned in the search engine rankings.

The original Panda update focused on “content farm” sites like Associated Content, which allowed writers to write whatever they wanted (including low-quality stuff).  Then, the content farm would take all of the content, optimize it for the search engines, and get great rankings out of it.

Panda 2.0 aimed to improve the quality of search results by including data about sites users blocked.  It also attempted to improve the results of long-tail keywords (key phrases made of 3 or more keywords and not searched as commonly as many other keywords).

Feel free to follow those links and learn a little more about those Google updates, but be sure to stay tuned to this series to keep up with what happened the rest of the year.

That’s a Nice Review, but What about Panda 2.1?

Panda 2.1 was originally feared by some to really be Panda 3.0.  What this means in layman’s terms is that many SEO experts believed Panda 2.1 would have a much larger impact on the search results than it ended up having in reality.

Officially released on May 9, 2011, Google claimed Panda 2.1 would impact far fewer search results than either 2.0 or the original Panda update.  Google never officially stated what this update would actually do.

What Results did User Reports Show?

Google is notorious for taking an official stance, and then having data observed by a variety of users totally contradict what it announced.

Interestingly, Google’s own algorithm is so complicated in nature that often Google engineers don’t have control over the final website rankings.  In Panda 2.1, for example, user “tedster” at this Webmasterworld.com thread noted a Google search reported a web page was removed, when it fact it was not.

User “crobb305” noted a 70% recovery level in traffic he had lost as a result of the update.  You talk about scary!  He also observed drops of particular pages of about 300 to 400 positions, then a gain of 300 to 400 positions, followed by a drop.

User “maxumer” stated he had an 80% drop on all traffic over a period of several days.  To him, it appeared to have the effect of one of Google’s penalties.  But, at the same time, he hadn’t broken any of Google’s big no-no’s – buying and selling links, farming content, or scraping content.  He also saw his keywords appear on page on of Google’s ranking on one browser, but in completely different rankings on other browsers.

What Does all of This Add up To?

In one word, “CHAOS!”  For the most part, the update didn’t seem to have a large impact on most websites.  But, on the other hand, many more users than the 3 mentioned here noted dramatic changes in their own rankings!

What’s really going on?  Does Google even know?  Does it have some sort of hidden agenda, like it seemingly always does?

What changes would you like to see in Google for 2012?

In two of its previous updates, the Attribution Update and Panda, Google took a strong position in favor of ranking quality content higher.  At the same time, it would drop, or sometimes even entirely remove, low-quality content from its rankings.

The Attribution Update targeted sites with low levels of original content and sites that copied content from other sites.  Panda’s main goal was to return the highest-quality result for your search.  So, if you searched for the cure to a health condition, pages from our federal government’s website would be more likely to be ranked highly than pages from someone’s blog.

As a result of these updates, Google received a ton of positive feedback from searchers, and sites with high-quality content reported receiving even more traffic.

In Panda 2.0, released on April 11, 2011, Google began to include data about sites users block into its algorithm.  It would then take those sites and rank them lower in its rankings.

Additionally, Panda 2.0 would evaluate the results of “long tail” websites.  “Long tail” keywords usually refers to key phrases made up of 3 or more words.  These words typically return lower-quality results than shorter key phrases of 2 words or less.

Panda 2.0 would delve deeper into those long-tail results and increase Google’s ability to return quality results.  Amit Singhal, one of Google’s lead engineers, noted that about 2% of U.S. search queries would be affected.

Also at the time, users could block certain sites from their search results, and Panda 2.0 took this block data into account when ranking sites.

Google stated that it was very pleased with the results of this update, and while it wouldn’t consider any exceptions to the rule, it would nonetheless take feedback from website owners into account.

How Could Panda 2.0 Affect Your Site?

As with all recent Google updates, you are being increasingly forced to focus on having high-quality content on your site.  No longer can you slam down the first thing coming to mind, spatter some keywords in it, and publish it.

Now, you have to think it through and write something people will like.  

• What is “High-Quality” Anyway?
• What is considered “high-quality” on the internet is much different that what is high-quality for print publication.  But, that’s because online reading is a much different animal than reading print publications.
• Online, people are looking for an answer to their question while having to read the fewest words possible.  Most articles go no longer than 500 words, and most people don’t even read all of those words.

Online, basically if you do the following, you should be all right:

• Make sure your content is engaging
• Ensure your content solves a problem people have
• Make sure that just about anyone can understand it
• Proofread to make sure you have no spelling or grammar errors

By following that simple procedure, your content should have no problem being labeled “high-quality”, under seo services standards.

Be sure to stay tuned for more parts in this series!

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What was the Goal of Panda?

In this part of the Google Updates series, we’ll take a look at Google’s attention-getting Panda Update.  Many steps that Google had taken previously, including the Attribution Update, were hinting at Google’s increased focus on quality.

Google aimed to provide users with higher-quality results in this update.  If you were searching for a solution for a complex health condition, results from a federal government website should rank above other general information sites.  This wasn’t always the case in the past.

The update was targeting content farms like Associated Content.  If you’re not a techie, you might be wondering what a content farm is.

Content farms pay writers a very low wage to produce large amounts content.  The content is then designed to take advantage of the current search engine ranking methodologies to rank as highly as possible.

While the content may have ranked highly, quality was never a concern for these sites.  You could write just about anything you wanted.

Since Google’s goal is to return the best possible results to its users, the rankings of content at these sites were lowered.  Neither of Google’s spokesmen, Amit Singhal or Matt Cutts, would officially say they were aiming at content farms.  But, they did say that people knew what kinds of sites were targeted.

How much of an Impact Did Panda Make?

The Panda Update made a huge impact!  It affected about 12% of all searches performed.  Many websites experienced deep traffic and rankings losses.

One observation made by Jill Whalen of Highrankings.com was that sites with a large amount of content hidden behind tabs also experienced a loss in rankings.

You’re familiar with those kinds of sites.  These are the ones where you have a menu across the top of the page, with what appears to be file-folder-like tabs.  Google chooses to see sites with tabs as one large page.

Since Google chose to see those sites as one large page, they appeared to not be user-friendly.  Google then lowered the rankings of these sites.

An additional observation she made was that the rankings of those “merry-go-round” sites were also lowered.
You’re familiar with this type of site too.  You’ve clicked on a result in Google, only to be sent to a page that didn’t show what you say in Google’s search results.  Then, you clicked on a link at the website.  Then you realized you either clicked on an advertisement or another link that takes you to somewhere else you didn’t want to go.

Everyone can thank Google for lowering the rankings of those sites!

What to Do in the Future?

Basically, the Panda Update aimed to improve the quality of Google’s search results.  And, Google is only interested in continuing to increase that quality.

If you’ve owned a website for some time now, or if you’re planning to start one, Google has made it clear that your first concern should be quality content supporting quality seo.

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