Wednesday 16 May 2012

How Often Should You Do SEO Rank Checker On Your Site

Search Engine Ranking
Success in the online world hinges on many factors, one of the biggest being SEO. While it's not nearly as important as it used to be thanks to tools which both emphasize and enhance the democratic nature of the Internet, it's vital for maintaining a steady flow of new traffic from people who otherwise wouldn't stumble across your links.

Despite being rooted in algorithms and predictable computer behavior, attaining the coveted top spots on search engines like Google is as much of an art as it is a science. Think of it like cooking; gathering and preparing the materials in proper quantities is only half of it. It also requires patience, a keen sense of smell, and an intuitive grasp of which spices mesh well together and which ones don't.

You can make a good dish by following the instructions in a cookbook, but in order to create great dish, you need an extra something that may be hard to define.

Likewise, movements in the online world require more than an understanding of the technology which drives search engines; it also requires the ability to adapt quickly to changes in keyword rankings, and to create viable long-term strategies that return profit regardless of the ups and downs along the way.


How Search Engines Determine Your Rank

Google uses a complex algorithm known as PageRank which accounts for numerous factors ranging from the number of links pointing to your site to the actual quality of your content. It updates its index multiple times throughout the day so if you checked hourly your site could have a different rank every time. Location is also relevant as Google utilizes many data centers to determine its results, so if you perform a search while a colleague performs the same search from a different IP address the results could very well differ.

If for some reason you did check hourly, the daily shifts wouldn't tell you much about the bigger picture. The Internet moves quickly but not to the extent that fortunes are made or lost in an afternoon. What's more likely is that your ranking will constantly shift within a particular range and what you should try to do is trend up as opposed to staying rock-solid at a given rank.


When You Should Check Your Rank

There's no reason to check your rank more than once a week. Not only are day-to-day changes fairly insignificant in the bigger scheme of things, search engine dances are becoming more common and it's easier to gauge the results looking back at them than it is trying to keep up as they're happening.

What is a search engine dance? It's when several different things change at once, including but not limited to the search engine algorithm, domain rankings, and the discovery of invalid backlinks. It usually doesn't take very long for a sense of order to be restored, but for the internet businessman wanting to keep sane it's better to time check-ins so that these occur in-between and the long-term effects can be charted immediately.

Even if you check your rank while it's happening, it's better to stay calm and wait to check again one week later than it is to try and get on top of it because playing the long game is almost always the best strategy.

Keep in mind that checking your rank isn't going to improve it. The three things which always work to your advantage is quality content, new content, and strong backlinks. Doing things right is time consuming, so the most important factors in your site's growth will take at least a week or more to impact your rank, and once they do you'll hit a new median where you won't go much higher or lower than that regardless of anything else that happens.


The Bottom Line

It's easy to forget that a slow and steady approach pays off regardless of the business you're in as long as you can quickly adapt to new circumstances. You need to check your SEO rank if you want to stay at the top of your game but it's a tool; it can only tell you how well you're doing everything else that's involved in maintaining an online presence. It provides invaluable feedback for how to improve your operation, and if it's used correctly you'll be able to keep your sanity, too.


About The Author: Evelyn Haywood is a freelance writer and a proud resident of the state of Texas.

Do you like this article by Evelyn Haywood? Please let Evelyn and myself know by leaving us your valued comments.

Related articles:
You Don't Have To Be An SEO Whizz To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings!
10 Easy Steps To Boost Your SEO
Top SEO Do's And Don'ts
How To Improve Your SEO With Backlinks
The Seven Deadly SEO Sins
The 10 Week SEO Diet


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1st page google ranking

Monday 14 May 2012

Building Your Business With Social Media

Social Media
People all over the world use social media networks to stay in contact with friends and relatives, share photos, and play games. However, social media can also be an excellent marketing tool for businesses. By building an online presence for your business, you can develop relationships with potential consumers and distribute your brand's message to a larger audience.


Benefits Of Creating Social Media Profiles

  • Small businesses gain instant, cost-effective exposure.

  • Large businesses can connect with previous customers and potential consumers alike.

  • Consumers have another way to ask questions or provide feedback about your business.

  • Consumers can "like" or "follow" your business, which allows you to update them periodically about sales, promotions, and new products.

  • When consumers connect with your business, they are essentially endorsing your company. Their friends see the endorsement and are more likely to purchase products or services from you in the future.

  • Your business can use social media advertisements, such as Facebook's Sponsored Stories, to draw more consumers to your profile.

  • You can also use the platform to strengthen your business's brand and distribute brand images.


Tips To Get The Most Out Of Social Media

Start small. When you begin your social media marketing campaign, create one profile and update it frequently. Don't move on to your second profile until you are comfortable with the first.

Branch out when you are comfortable. Though you should start with one profile, you should also make an effort to move on to others when you are able. Maintaining profiles on multiple social media platforms allows your business to reach the highest possible number of consumers.

Link to your website. Pass your social media traffic onto your website by placing links to the site in several locations on each of your profiles.

Create valuable content. When you tweet, post on Facebook, or send messages to your connections, make sure that you provide something of value in each communication. Consumers don't respond well to overt advertising, but they will feel connected to your business if you consistently provide them with useful information and insight.

Update frequently. Consumers expect to see regular updates on your profiles. If you do not update, your connections may assume that your profile is no longer active. In addition, regular updates "remind" consumers about your brand.

Interact. Two-way communication is a key component of social media marketing. When your consumers comment on your posts or leave feedback, respond to them.

Hire a professional. Consider hiring a social media professional to maintain your profiles. Many social media experts have degrees in business communications, so they know how to reach your target demographic. These professionals also possess effective writing skills and marketing knowledge geared specifically toward social media content creation.

The social media scene is still new to many businesses. Tapping into this resource early will give you an advantage over the competition. By creating detailed social media profiles, updating frequently, and interacting with your connections, you can build rapport with consumers and encourage brand loyalty.


About The Author: Lindsey Harper Mac is a professional writer living in the Indianapolis area. She specializes in writing guest posts covering social media and education. Currently, Lindsey is completing work on her master's degree.

Do you like this article by Lindsey Harper Mac? Please let Lindsey and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.

Related articles:
The 10 Basic Rules Of Social Media Marketing
Top 14 Benefits Of Social Media Marketing
How To Use Facebook For Your Small Business
9 Tips For More Effective Facebook Marketing


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Friday 11 May 2012

The Impact A Great Logo Has On A Business

Logo Design
When a company decides to have a logo created, the up-front goal is obvious. The company hopes that the logo will generate business. Logos do more than attract customers. A good logo tells a story about the company and establishes it as a reliable authority in its field. This is all accomplished with symbols and the company name.


What Makes a Great Logo?

A great logo should never be too trendy or try too hard to be artistic. A Digital Dreamer says that if your logo is too trendy, it can actually "lead to lower sales." But being too artsy is not the same as being smart with design, colors and symbols. A Digital Dreamer further states that a successful logo must be both "functional and practical." The right logo is easily associated with the company, gives some type of company background and is memorable. A pretty logo is worthless if it says nothing about the company. According to William Haig, the CEO of Powerlogos Design, "The logo symbol and name must work together."

Business printing is only effective if what you are printing represents your company accurately. When you see a great logo, it makes you think favorably about the company it represents. That's because the company took the time and had the foresight to invest in a great logo. When you see a poor logo, it leaves you flat. Not only are you unlikely to remember the company, you're unlikely to bother to figure out what the company does.

Sebastian Guerrini, of Buenos Aires based Guerrini Design Island, says it's important when designing a logo to consider three things: "the clients, the target audience and the culture." A symbol might have one meaning in the United States but a completely different meaning in China. If the company is planning to conduct business worldwide, this aspect of logo design cannot be overlooked.

When a company is involved in a high-tech field, it would be inappropriate to use a logo that looks antique. If the company specializes in finding antiques for its customers, then an antique appearance is beneficial to the logo. In that case, the company's name is forever intertwined with the concept of antiquity. That makes it easy for potential customers to recognize the logo, to remember the company's name and to associate the company with its business. Renowned designer Saul Bass said that matching the symbols and typeface used in the logo to the company's business gives the company credibility to the viewer. William Haig said, "What to put in the logo is 90 percent of the logo design process."

A great logo doesn't happen by accident. It is the result of good, old-fashioned planning. The use of symbols is important, but using too many symbols can make the logo confusing to the reader. A logo should look good on a business card, an invoice, the product and anything in between. If it doesn't fit on any type of business advertising or correspondence, it isn't a good logo.

A logo can attract or repel potential business. It can establish a company as an authority in the business, or it can make the business look like a novice. It all depends on the symbols used and how they represent the company. Twentieth-century critic and theorist Kenneth Burke said humans are "symbol-using, symbol-making and symbol-misusing animals." When designing a logo, the most important factor is to use symbols accurately for the best impression. 

Logos can make or break a company. It's the first thing a potential customer uses to decide whether or not to conduct business with a company. A bad logo will send clients elsewhere. A company's logo is the first chance to make a good impression. Sometimes it's also the last chance. Here's an example of a great logo.


About The Author: Jessica is a specialist in business printing and marketing. When she is not writing for Print360.com, you can find her cooking up a storm in her kitchen.

Do you like this article by Jessica Wiener? Please let Jessica and myself know by leaving us your valued comments.


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Wednesday 9 May 2012

You Don't Have To Be An SEO Whizz To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings!

Search Engine Ranking
If you have an online business, you know the importance of a good search engine ranking. Whenever someone types in a keyword such as hardwood flooring or engineered flooring into a search engine like Google, if you are a flooring business you want to be on the first page of search results. Very few customers check the second or third pages of search results, so if you're serious about your business you need to know how to rank highly.

But how do you do it? The answer lies with search engine optimisation, or SEO as it's more commonly known.

Believe it or not, you don't have to be an SEO expert to get your business on the first page of search results - it's actually pretty simple. With that in mind, here are five simple SEO tips you can do to improve your search engine rankings and benefit from more traffic to your site and higher sales.


Tip #1 - Ensure your site is built correctly

Most hosted websites already do this, but if your website is custom-built, think about the folder structure, site map and html readability. You won't get brownie points for a nice-looking site, as search engines like sites they can crawl easily.

Also remember that search engines like words in URLs to be separated by hyphens or underscores. For example greatcakes.com/contact-us as it lets them recognise individual words. Keeping your products in word form is also essential, as it will help them rank in shopping searches. For example:
departmentstore.com/pink-dinner-plate rather than
departmentstore.com/product_id?u9u09u09.


Tip #2 - Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

Stop what you're doing and write down the top five keywords you want your website to be found for. Now ask your friends and family and write them down. Take this list and run some searches - where is your site ranked? Stop if you can't find your site after three pages - if you can't find it by then, don't expect anyone else to.

With that in mind, here are some simple things you can do on your site:

  • Ensure your homepage contains 2 or 3 of your top keywords.

  • Weave these keywords into your content across your site. When doing this, bear in mind that you need to get the keyword density on your page right. Make sure it reads and flows naturally and doesn't come across as spam.

  • Use your keywords in the heading of your page - even better if you can get the keywords in the URL for that page too.

  • Make sure you link to other relevant pages, within or outside your site, as part of your text too.


Tip #3 - Blog often

Blogging is a fantastic way to keep your customers informed of your products and services, but it plays a very important role in SEO too. Not only does it tell search engines that your site is kept up-to-date with regular, fresh content, it will increase the chances of other blogs linking to you - and this tells search engines that your site is well worth looking at. If you are continually creating news and interesting content you will be bumped up the search engine rankings and search "spiders" will crawl your site more often.


Tip #4 - Get social

Social media like Facebook and Twitter is playing a more important role in SEO too - especially Google+. The amount of shares, retweets, comments and likes tells search engines that what you are saying is important. It will drive more traffic to your site and increase the chances that what you are saying is indexed - especially if you can use the keywords highlighted above.


Tip #5 - Keep up to date with good SEO websites

The world of SEO is constantly changing, and for some people SEO is a full-time career. Google for example continues to change and evolve in the way it crawls websites, the way it ranks some sites above others and the way it looks at social media. Staying on top of its constant changes to its search algorithm can be a full-time job, but don't worry because there are some great sites out there which you can sign up to to receive updates on all the latest changes.

So there you have it - you really don't have to be an SEO whizz to boost your website up the search engine rankings. Just take some time to follow the tips above and your business will soon benefit from higher placing, higher traffic and higher sales!


Did you find this article helpful? Do you have any SEO tips to share to help improve search engine rankings? Please let me know/share them by using the comments section below.

Related articles:
10 Easy Steps To Boost Your SEO
Top SEO Do's And Don'ts
How To Improve Your SEO With Backlinks
The Seven Deadly SEO Sins
The 10 Week SEO Diet


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1st page google ranking

Tuesday 8 May 2012

What Is Online PR And How Can It Help Your Business?

Public Relations
Most of us have some sense of what PR entails in the offline world: writing press releases, securing coverage in the media, organising publicity events etc. But as more and more of our everyday communications, transactions and information gathering moves online a similar shift has had to occur in the world of public relations and reputation management. In a world full of social media users and web searchers the newspaper and local radio are no longer the most effective way of getting your message out.

So what does online PR involve and how can you harness these techniques for your business?

The online world is full of millions of separate individuals and organisations, all with voices that want to be heard. And they're talking all the time. The online PR expert listens carefully to what they're saying before jumping in. This way they can work out which of the voices they want to encourage and amplify and which they want to drown out.

Of course the internet is split up into various factions and sections, each of which requires specialist tools and techniques.


1. Monitoring Social Media

Knowing what people are saying about your brand, how they're reacting to news connected with your brand and what the sentiment is towards people and organisations in your sector is vital to making those crucial PR decisions.

How do I do it?

Numerous free tools exist on the web for monitoring social media channels. These include tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck which allow you to keep several social media timelines on different accounts open at the same time. Social Mention lets you search and analyse social media activity involving industry terms. Facebook's own search function is great for monitoring public FB conversations. Yelp, FourSquare and LinkedIn are also important for small, local businesses.


2. Monitoring the Web

Social media mentions are fleeting but information about you on the web can last. In order to stay on top of industry related news and to be able to take advantage of opportunities to promote your company you need to be aware of the buzz on the web.

How do I do it?

By setting up Google Alerts for particular searches and by using tools like WatchThatPage you can be alerted whenever a new webpage is indexed that references your company or products, or when pages like your Wikipedia entry are edited.


3. Monitoring the Blogosphere

Bloggers rule the internet. The blogosphere can therefore be your greatest friend online or your worst enemy - make sure it's the former by keeping abreast of which bloggers to reach out to and connect with and by making sure your communication is effective.

How do I do it?

Google reader is a great tool for monitoring bloggers in your industry - add them to your feed and get their new posts delivered when they appear. For discovering new blogs which talk about your industry set up Google alerts for blog only searches. This way you can identify guest blogging opportunities and jump into any conversations about your products or services.


4. Monitoring Comments and Forums

Comments and forums can be hotbeds of flaming (where a person or organisation is mercilessly torn apart) and such discussions are often best left alone. Others though foster genuine discussions intended to find out the truth behind a product or service or answer questions on how to find/buy it. It's in these types of discussion that your input could be vital - helping to sway a community through acts of genuine honest engagement or even by coming up with a spur of the moment special offer.

How do I do it?

Again, Google Alerts can come to the rescue by sending you alerts for searches in "discussions". Remember to be careful when engaging though - a clumsy defence of your brand to a disgruntled customer could just fuel the flames.

The modern consumer is sophisticated and marketing savvy so it's important that your PR engagements look and feel genuine. Always make sure you have a feel for the online mood before you jump in with a bold move - poor judgement could backfire badly.

Hopefully though the above tools should set you off on a course towards becoming a "thought-leader" in your field - someone who always knows where the story is developing, how to engage with it and how to maximise the publicity potential it provides.


About The Author: Jamie Griffiths writes for Approved Index, the UK's leading B2B directory, lead generation and quotes service.

Do you like this article by Jamie Griffiths? Please let Jamie and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.


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Friday 4 May 2012

5 Essential Twitter Tools For Small Business

Twitter
Twitter is becoming an important tool for small business and marketing. For this reason, it's worth it to find useful tools to improve your Twitter marketing experience. This article will include 5 Twitter tools that will make marketing a little easier.


1. HootSuite

HootSuite is a fantastic Social Media tool that manages more than just Twitter. With HootSuite, you can manage: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress, MySpace, FourSquare, and more, all with the same program! There's even a free version available that allows the user most of the features, with only a few limits.

The free version offers scheduled tweets and posts, direct messages, a statistic summary (like Google Analytics with less detail), review mentions, and more. A worth it download if you're serious about the positive impact Social Media can have for a small business.


2. CoTweet

This Twitter tool is perfect for small businesses that own more than one account, or manage a rather large account. CoTweet works by entering social media conversations as they're happening. Social Media marketing isn't just a one-person job, and it's a crucial tool for most businesses. However, it's more than a one person job.

CoTweet takes on a lot of the work, making it easy for your business to track engagement, collaborate on updates, analyze results, and track responses. It's completely business oriented, and focuses on response-oriented customer service, and proactive marketing.


3. TweetDeck

TweetDeck aids in the management of multiple Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace and Twitter accounts. It allows users to view profiles, send and receive tweets, arrange feeds, filter through content, schedule tweets, monitor and manage multiple accounts, and notification alerts for new tweets.

TweetDeck is compatible with most systems, and has a number of apps that make it compatible with Android, Apple products (including the iPad), and a chrome app that integrates it into the Google Chrome web browser.


4. TwitterCounter

TwitterCounter is a handy tool that will let you know how well your business is doing on Twitter. It works by tracking the stats of Twitter user, and displaying the result to anyone who is interested. There's a button available for websites that will display the number of followers they have on Twitter.

The TwitterCounter button will automatically link back to your TwitterCounter page, which will result in positive feedback, and increasing views, members, and ad views.


5. Twellow

Twellow is essentially a Twitter version of Yellow Pages. It allows you to find other Twitter users, separated by category, so you can follow them. Not only that, but it allows other Twitter users to find you in the same way (as long as you're registered on both Twellow and Twitter).

It works by taking publicly available tweets, and analyzing them to see what category they fall into. The categories can get really specific, allowing you to find other Tweeter's in the niche you're looking for. Also, you can be listed in up to 10 categories, it's best to use all 10.


About The Author: Jenna is a twitter maven and a content contributor for kanetix.ca

Do you like this article by Jenna? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments below.

Related articles:
The 10 Basic Rules Of Social Media Marketing
Tips & Tools On How To Grow Your Twitter Following
How To Use Twitter For Business: 5 Tips For Twitter Newcomers
What Is Twitter & What Does It Do For Businesses?


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Until my next post on Tuesday, have a wonderful Early Spring Bank Holiday weekend!



Wednesday 2 May 2012

Paid, Owned And Earned Media: What Are They And How Do They Interact?

Media
In the last few years a division has occurred in the marketing/media world between the different types of media out there. The division was initially made by execs inclined towards making new marketing models, but has now been picked up by the marketing mainstream, hence why I'm blogging about it.

So the various media out there have now been classified into 3 categories:

  1. Paid media - This is the traditional paid advertising of TV, billboard, radio and online display. This media has been criticised for being simply "interruption marketing", whereby the user experience is hijacked by an advert for something the user doesn't want or need. Paid media has also been criticised for being too "one-way", and for not encouraging a conversation (however this may not be true - see below).

  2. Owned media - This is the "owned" property that the brand completely owns and has total influence over. A brand's portfolio of Owned media can include a website, a YouTube channel or a Facebook page. What makes Owned media distinctive is that the brand has complete control over it. But, as we shall see, just because there is total control doesn't mean that it isn't influenced by other media.

  3. Earned media - This is the channels where you have little or no control over, such as blogs, SEO, forums, social media, and, most crucially, word-of-mouth. Earned media is where the conversation about your brand takes place; in a low trust world, it's where the real brand equity and value can be acquired. Earned media has been suggested as an alternative name for "SEO", since many SEOs are now concerned with all the channels of unearned media not just SEO. Despite this suggestion, inbound marketing is considered a more accurate description for the expanding SEO role.

So these are the 3 media types to be used, or attempted to be used, by the 21st Century marketer. So what is the key to understanding them? IMHO it is that despite the differences between them, they are all linked.

So, for example, if someone mentions Facebook in a meeting, do they mean community (Earned media), FB ads (Paid media), or FB pages (Owned media)? Or all three?

Or how about advertising (Paid Media)? Traditionally advertising was intended to drive visitors to the product/store/website (Owned media). Now, a clever, shocking or downright entertaining advert (Paid media) can stimulate conversation about a brand in many different channels (earned media).

An example of this is BMW cars with their April Fools ad campaigns. If you look at Google Insights online, you will see a spike of searches for BMW at the start of every April. Why is that? It's because BMW have become known for their funny April's Fools jokes, such as the M3 Royal Wedding Edition last year, which came in Royal Blue... The conversation about this year's BMW April Fools ad was played out in the Twittersphere.

This is an example of Earned media, that is: buzz and conversation, being converted directly into search engine traffic for the BMW site. Did they get any sales out of it? Probably not immediately, but in terms of branding, the exercise was very valuable.

So there is a feedback loop going between all three types of media - Paid, Owned and Earned. Positive Earned media coverage is the gold that all marketers are currently searching for, but have we have seen, all three types can interact and interdevelop in ways that are still emerging.


About The Author: Steppes Discovery are one of the leading wildlife holiday companies in the UK. They run conservation travel trips all over the world.

Do you like this article? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments.


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