Posts tagged "sem"

What is SEO?

What is SEO? Why is it Important? How Can I Get My Website Listed With Google? http://www.twincities-webdesign.com
by John Hallquist of Rosemount, MN

Duration : 0:9:39

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"AdSense is Stupid When…"

“AdSense is Stupid When…”

There are times Google’s heralded ad affiliate program isn’t in
your long term business interest. Oh no I said it!

AdSense isn’t the unstoppable revenue engine for every
eBusiness. Before I am taken out and flogged by the eCommerce
pundits — please let me explain what I mean in my defense.

I make revenues from AdSense at a very high click-through rate.
I experience high click-through rates with AdSense without
resorting to questionable tactics like tricking site users with
photos (the AdSense trick and tip dujour).

So my perspective is from one who has made decent income from
AdSense to fund aspects of his business like advertising
seminars — and outsourcing to his virtual assistants. Yes,
AdSense is a legitimate and significant revenue source. However
evaluate AdSense with some type of balance.

By now you may have heard about people like Joel Comm’s six
figure income with AdSense, or Jason Calacanis of Weblogs being
on his way to generating 1 million dollars in AdSense revenue.
Google’s Ad revenue sharing affiliate program for publishers
certainly seems to be an eSales Nirvana for many webmasters.

But there are obvious and not so obvious times not to use
AdSense ads on your sites. Let’s list – examine – and explain
them below.

~~~~> 1. On Sales or Mini-sites

This is a no-brainer. If you are trying to sell a particular
product that is important to your bottomline, you don’t want
AdSense ads distracting your customers from either joining your
email list, or hindering your site’s online sales process.

However I do see hybrid sites that are mini-sites or full scale
eCommerce sites, with AdSense at the bottom of their pages. This
might not be so bad since only 1% – 15% of your site visitors
will either buy from you or fill out a form.

The thinking with this approach is you might as well make money
from disinterested parties using up your server’s bandwidth.

~~~~~> 2. SEO Business Sites

If your livelihood depends on search engine optimization or
marketing for a living you might want to think twice about
displaying AdSense Ads on your site. I can tell you this from
personal experience. I once was on top of MSN for search engine
marketing in my local area. I concentrated on my local area
because I found people felt more comfortable hiring an eCommerce
consultant locally.

One day my site fails totally out of the MSN index. After
intense study I noticed that I obviously had a filter on my site
from MSN.

I analyzed all the top ranking sites in MSN and noticed the only
difference between me and the other top ranking sites was I had
Google AdSense ads on my site. Someone at MSN felt that my
AdSense ads, and perhaps to a less extent, my book on SEO, was
getting a free ride in the MSN search engine database.

In fact I noticed that there were no sites with AdSense ads for
at least the first 3 pages. Plus the sites with AdSense were
only using 1 ad unit at the bottom of the home page (there were
very few of them in the top 5 pages).

I knew it was strange to not have AdSense ads on the top
Internet marketing sites. This prompted me to scan other
industries where I noticed the same trend.

Many of the leading SEO gurus have sites that have been banned
from the top listings by the search engines. It seems the more
visible you become, the more of a target your sites are to the
search engine auditors.

Some of my sites are still on the top of MSN with AdSense ads
but that doesn’t mean they won’t also be targets in the future.

Let’s face the facts. MSN and Yahoo! have competing ad networks
to Google’s, and this competitive situation is rife for a
potential backlash against SEO sites with AdSense ads.

Many SEOs will point to exceptions to this position. However you
have been warned!

Think about it, how long will MSN and Yahoo! sit back and watch
SEO driven websites use their search indexes to fund Google? Did
you know SEO in MSN and Yahoo(!) — is much easier to obtain.

Therefore optimized sites are creating an ad sales wealth
transfer from MSN and Yahoo into the pockets of Google! It won’t
be long before Yahoo! and MSN begin to devalue ranking on
AdSense sites in their databases — if not outright ban them.

If you are in the search engine business stay search engine
neutral, or create multiple sites for different search engines.

~~~~~> 3. When AdSense Becomes Your Only Business Model

When you become so myopic in your thinking that you build a
business solely on AdSense revenue — think again my friend. Why
build a business solely on the largess of Google?

I don’t know if your realize it or not, but the sites making the
real big AdSense money usually have a following that doesn’t
depend on the search engines. Internet mavens like Chris Pirillo
or Joel Comm have been on the Internet a while and have
followings for their websites. Therefore they can consistently
make six figures with AdSense.

These content powerhouses are an asset to Google and not the
other way around. But do you think Google is going to sit back
and watch just anybody make big bucks off of their top rankings?

If you do a search on most keywords you will notice many of the
top ranking sites are news sites, .gov sites, or .org sites
these days. The only exception is in industries where these
sites don’t really exist like eCommerce industries (clothing,
shopping, etc.).

No doubt in most industries you will notice a conspicuous
scarity of AdSense sites in the top rankings. In other words
don’t bet your future fortunes on AdSense.

An IPO based on projections of AdSense revenue isn’t in the
future for the average eBusiness. Think of Google AdSense as
supplemental income. Building a business solely on AdSense
revenue isn’t just silly — it’s just plain stupid

Kamau Austin
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/quotadsense-is-stupid-whenquot-2340.html

Sistrix Toolbox (1/2) – SEO-Tools im Test – suchradar

suchradar, das Magazin fuer SEO und SEM, stellt in einer Serie verschiedene SEO-Tools und ihre Bedienung vor. Heute: Sistrix (Teil 1 von 2). Der vollstaendige Test ist nachzulesen in Ausgabe 22 des suchradar unter http://www.suchradar.de/magazin

Duration : 0:6:48

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Press Releases and Article Releases Can Increase Your Traffic

Video explaining the importance of press release and article submission as SEO to increase your website traffic by Clear Web Services

Duration : 0:2:22

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Increasing Website Visibility Easily and Inexpensively

http://www.seobacklinkranking.com Seo Backlink Ranking, is a search engine optimization and search engine marketing company by Claudine Waskowycz,specialises in SEO, SEM, web design, Google map listings and video creation.

Duration : 0:2:12

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The Common Goal Of SEO And Paid Search Advertising

The goals of both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search Advertising are geared towards the same direction. Their services aim to help convert a quiet traffic stream into a busy information highway. This means new clients on a daily basis due to increased traffic and visibility.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) definitely refers to both advertising and optimization methods. Internet advertising to most marketers is primarily about having control over position, keywords, listing copy and visitors’ landing pages. Optimization, on the other hand is about coming up with a website design that can easily be crawled, indexed and well-ranked by major search engines.

There are several types of SEM services including search engine advertising, paid submission for directories, search engine optimization marketing and aggregators marketing. Search engine advertising includes the Paid-For- Placement (PFP) or the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program as well as contextual advertising. A placement on the result pages of the search site and within its distribution network is guaranteed upon payment. The key factors of this type of advertising are keyword research and selection, bid price, effective ad copy and traffic landing pages.

Paid submission actually applies to directories. In this type of marketing program, the website owner pays for a human based review of its site although inclusion is not always guaranteed. The site is usually included from 7 to 14 days depending on the directory. The success of paid inclusion is largely determined by the selection of the category as well as the title and description of the business.

Search engine optimization aims to produce organic and natural results through the design and creation of spider-friendly websites. It is basically a science of keywords placement, content enhancement, site structure and link popularity campaign that is expected to maximize the probability of attaining top ranking. It is considered the heart of all SEM campaign notwithstanding the fact that more and more business developers tend to forget its importance. Although it is not impossible to achieve very swift results, an optimization process usually takes a few months to have its goal realized.

The aggregators or price engines have made it a lot easier for online shoppers to get the information they need about required products and their associated price. They are able to offer a broad range of pricing and features. Chances of success are maximized through pricing strategy, product availability, product description and shipping rates.

Online businesses are facing tough decisions on setting a budget for online marketing specifically for organic search engine optimization. Paid advertising is very much in demand which accounts for quickly eaten up budget. More often than not, depleted advertising budgets are readily remedied by providing a new budget. The same cannot be said for SEO budgets as campaigns tend to end as budgets are exhausted. SEO is apparently not getting the respect it deserves since the success of organic optimization is a lot more difficult to measure. The real value of the keywords that make the rank will be better seen as more improved and cheaper analytical tools become available.

Statistics would show that there are at least two offline sales generated for every online sale that occurs. Research reports reveal that a large percentage of searchers complete their purchases in offline retail stores. This is considered a direct result of their search activity.

Telemarketing and other forms of leads generation have been sending signals of a saturated market. This has prompted many companies especially the manufacturers to turn to the web to get new leads. Finding a prospect usually starts with a paid search strategy which eventually evolve into SEO. Maximum results are obtained from the combined strategies only if companies commit to make SEO a part of their long term marketing strategy. The ultimate measure of success of Search Engine Marketing is generating leads and closing sales.

The Search Environment Under SEM Strategies

Majority of the marketing budgets from small businesses are dominated by paid search. The smaller a company is, the higher its reliance on paid search and the higher the percentage of total spending. SEO is quickly overtaking spending on banner ads for manufacturers as focus is shifted to training existing web team staff and education on the creation of content that is optimized for search engines.

The first half of 2006 can be considered a period of expansion, growth and significant change in search marketing. Never have there been as many online options available to advertisers and their agents like now. Search has become a part of the mainstream marketing consciousness, but there remains much room for innovation and invention. This development has presented a dilemma for the traditional search marketing sector.

There are at least three major search related marketing venues existing: the traditional organic search results, the paid search advertising market and the social networking sphere. Each of these venues use some form of search as a distinctive guide towards finding information while a tremendous amount of integration and interaction exists between them.

The SEO sector is being overshadowed by the PPC market and at the same time being challenged by social networking. Major search engines constantly strive to improve and innovate on methods that would correctly rank web documents. This is the very reason for the fundamental changes seen in organic search engine optimization.

SEO focuses on a myriad of on-site and off-site issues such as hosting, link acquisition and competitive research. An increasing number of applications are being added for organic search results. The dozens of on-page elements which SEO works on makes it more complicated due to the time involved. However, fresh and focused content remains the single most reliable element of a successful website.

Paid search advertising has been experiencing a rapid growth as a sub-sector of the industry, propelling Google and Yahoo! to the front of the pack. It continues to undergo several forms of expansion to allow more and newer options for advertisers. The distribution of paid ads to third party web properties is a very interesting aspect of paid search advertising. Click fraud detection and advocacy is closely associated with this particular venue.

The social networking atmosphere is touted to be the most fluid search marketing venue. It is expected to be a preparatory step towards transition in web-interactive development. It is currently taking place in an environment that is tagged as Web2.

Danny Wirken
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/the-common-goal-of-seo-and-paid-search-advertising-69164.html

The Basics of Launching Your Home Based Business

Copyright (c) 2009 Richard Walker

When starting a home based business, the first thing you want to do is make sure that there are companies and people out there that need or want what you are offering. The secret appears to come either with something new and innovative which is represented poorly but is still very useful, or with a product which comes up with superior quality or features in a field of competition.

You will need to do some research on the product or service you’re offering in order to get a clear idea of the competition levels versus the uniqueness of the product and conduct a needs analysis in order to find out if only a few people would be interested in your product or service, or if there would be tons of people lining up to buy.

When starting a home based business there are some options that need to be considered prior to launch. For instance, what kind of business are you planning on conducting? Where will this business be located? How will your raise enough capital to get it going? What kinds of marketing strategies do you have in order to effectively grown the business entity?

There may be other comparable businesses on the market, but you still need to find an opening through which to access the client’s thought process, to draw his attention and then to expand upon it. Marketing experts warn against moving too quickly when starting a business, trying instead for a gradual growth for less of a risk.

Consider how much capital you will need to raise before you are able to launch your home business with a decent chance at success. To get the big bank loans, don’t forget your marketing plans when you apply; or you just could risk it with a personal loan. Your local bank is the preferred method for starting a home based business rather than splitting shares with outside investors. Keep your borrowing at respectable levels with good equity in your business.

Whether or not the business is run online, the Internet is more useful than any other marketing outlet. A good web site is one of the most valuable tools to represent your home based business to consumers. Pick a qualified professional, and have it built or have an existing website overhauled and keep it updated every so often for maximum effectiveness. Get your website together before officially launching your home based business, because a good site is important to customers.

When it comes to the growth of your business, it is important that you do not ignore the importance of marketing. Before you begin with a home based business, it’s important to make sure that your concept and strategy are adequate. This can mean consulting with an expert in marketing and SEO optimization. People who wonder why their business isn’t prospering are usually the same people who ignore the importance of Internet marketing. In order to boost your business levels and sales, it is never too late to initiate campaigns and start implementation of marketing strategies that involve SEO/SEM marketing online.

Richard Walker
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/the-basics-of-launching-your-home-based-business-746776.html

Search Engines, the New Walmart for Local Travel Economies?

The Information Age dawned with the internet, the reason the sun is still shinning on this age is the inception of Search Engines. We are now, all of us in their debt or held hostage for our access to information.  

Looking for information in years past meant a trip to the library, looking in card catalogues, periodical indexes, etc. The information was arranged alphabetically, giving no more or less importance to minor or major works or sources. Today, the search engines have the difficult task of trying to organize and prioritize a much larger pool of pertinent information to help the researcher. In order to do this they have had to adopt certain criteria for choosing which material or web sites to present first for a given search query. The systems and criteria are having profoundly negative impacts on small businesses. The travel industry is a good case in point as even in the remotest “inbound” locations (travel destinations) throughout the world the internet and ability to create a web site are available. The same can be said for the other side of the coin. “Outbound” services (travel agencies) with the help of the internet allow an agency for example in Japan to be able to send American tourists to Europe. There in lies the problem.

In order to be “found” easily on the internet, a company or web site must come up on the first one or two pages of search engine results for a search query. People generally don’t have the time or willingness to search much further. The search engine companies necessarily need to choose criteria for their “ranking” of results in order to be of the most service to their clients. They must also battle companies who try to manipulate the criteria in order to raise the ranking of a web site undeserving of a higher ranking. There is an entire industry devoted to doing just that. It is called “Search Engine Optimization” or SEO. There job, often costing tens of thousands of dollars is to manipulate the search engines rankings. There is a war going on between people who want to buy their way into preferred rankings and the search engines who are trying their best to deliver fair and accurate search results. The criteria and tactics of search engines have been evolving, but four basic criteria seem to be surviving.

Compelling content, traffic, links from legitimate related websites and dynamics and age of a web site.

Large international travel agencies and dot com travel sites appear at the top of search result rankings because they receive a large quantity of traffic and their large marketing budgets allow them to use “pay per click” advertisements which appear at the sides of search results to enhance the traffic still further. These companies sell travel to every corner of the globe and receive traffic for people looking to go to every corner of the globe, unlike a locally owned web site which would receive traffic only for people interested in their one particular location.

The net effect of search engines criteria for ranking websites on local travel companies, the inhabitants of travel destinations throughout the world is to bury their company’s web sites near the bottom of search results, making them basically un-findable. Not being able to draw customers directly to their business they are often forced to work for the large international agencies whose web site is available on the first couple of pages of a search result or pay dot com travel sites for the ability to be seen. If the inhabitants of a destination are working for an international travel agency they are providing their services for a huge discount to their actual world value. If they are paying a Dot Com travel site their net earnings are also discounted.

Every day another international travel agency announces “their” new tour of some precious travel destination. These agencies make money marketing destinations throughout the world, but share none of the responsibility for the impact their clients will have or for the care of the immediate environment, nor do they pay taxes on the profits they make to the government which has the responsibility for the care of that destination. It would be as if someone offered tours of your neighborhood, promoted it on the web, made money from these tours, but had no responsibility for the maintenance of your streets, nor care about the impact tour buses would have on the general quality of life in your neighborhood.

There was a time before the existence and world wide use of the internet when these travel agencies provided a valuable service to their clients. They were accountable for their client’s experience and could offer the same level of service and accountability to destinations throughout the world. This provided a sense of security for the traveler. Now, the value of that “homogenized” service is debatable. With the rise of many popular travel review websites, anyone anywhere in the world can know before they go into whose hands they are intrusting their vacation (www.cometogalapagos.com) 

Dot com travel sites are essentially new age telemarketers and present an opportunity to large international travel agencies where they can pay for a preferred location within those sites. Small local companies can not afford the fees for preferred placements within dot com travel sites which occupy many of the first results for a search engine query regarding travel and again, just as international travel agencies make money marketing destinations throughout the world, they share none of the responsibility for the impact their clients will have or for the care of the immediate environment, nor do they pay taxes on the revenues they earn marketing a specific destination to the government of that destination.

Part 2- A Case Study of San Cristobal, Galapagos

Part 3- Solutions for both travelers and local governments

Rick Schleicher
http://www.articlesbase.com/exotic-locations-articles/search-engines-the-new-walmart-for-local-travel-economies-686811.html

Xovi – SEO-Tools im Test – suchradar

suchradar, das Magazin für SEO und SEM, stellt in einer Serie verschiedene SEO-Tools und ihre Bedienung vor. Heute: Xovi.
Der vollstaendige Test ist nachzulesen in Ausgabe 22 des suchradar unter http://www.suchradar.de/magazin

Duration : 0:9:54

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Does on-page WordPress theme SEO really help in search engine rankings?

When I started blogging with wordpress, theme seo didn’t matter much as I had limited knowledge of it. But now after reading more about it. I started wonder if there is an ultimate blogging theme that can help me attain on-page seo readily. With so many thousands of themes to choose from, I am getting a bit confused which one could work best for my serps. Or does it really matter!

I can tell from my experience that, WordPress theme is not just about making your blog or site look great. The right placements of advertisements, header and footer information, and meta tagging, alt tagging of the entire site, individual pages, every picture, every animation, video, attachments is of utmost importance. On page SEO is the first thing one should try and accomplish.
Only problem is that all themes including the commercial and free ones distributed are not too well optimized. Bloggers who are beginners tend to get attracted to the graphics of a theme without considering the invisible search engine evaluation of the theme.
Hence between a well optimized theme and just a plain graphical one, the former will win over the latter.
Take wordpress or anyother CMS, on page seo precedes aesthetics.
Even after you are done with it, there are many online meta tag analyzing sites, which will tell you the problems associated with your page, and suggest you changes.
You definitely should look into the home page to begin with because the home page needs to be hundred percent correct.
For example too many links on the home page is also a downer. You may think there are just a handfull of them but on closer introspection you may find there are more than 200 links on home page itself, which is against the basic seo rules. This was just an example.
So on page wordpress theme seo is a must for better search engine rankings. You should read the reviews or check the codes of the best theme you like, before you want to use it for your blog.