Archive for the “Marketing Mars” Category
Businesses wanting to secure high search rankings need to ensure their pages are regularly updated with fresh content, an expert has asserted.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) specialist Jeffrey L Smith, founder of SEO Design Solutions, made his comments to online resource My Netrepreneur, urging marketers to use “solid fundamentals” to help improve their site’s position within the search results.
He recommended businesses ensure their content is grammatically accurate, contains a call to action for the consumer and helps generate leads.
Furthermore, information supplied by a website should provide a “wonderful” user experience, Mr Smith continued.
“By creating appealing content, relevant value propositions and writing quality content … as your site matures it does so with solid fundamentals intact,” Mr Smith concluded.
Recently, Bhaskar Thakur, a search marketer with RankUno, told SiteProNews that it is important to write great content in order to boost a website’s ranking.
Such information is factual and appeals to a business’s target audience, he explained.
 No Comments »
Everyone who receives an interesting percentage of pageviews from social media sites as
Digg, Reddit and others nows how difficult is to retain visitors for
more than just a few seconds. In addition, it is extremely hard to
increase pageviews from them. But this does not mean that it is
impossible…
Tips for Increasing Pageviews from Social Media Visitors:
Use Internal Links in the Body of the Post
Of course you can place links at other places on your blog, but the
links within the post are the best, since they will get the most
attention.
You may insert links to other posts of your blog or site, specially
when you expect a big ammount of traffic: readers click on it and it
may derive you more traffic to your own site. So look for the
opportunity to link to older posts!
Link to Related Posts A plugin to include a short
list of related posts at the end of each post has not so much value,
but it could help. Again, it’s worthier to link inside the text, but
you should not be underestimated.
One good option is to create a manual list of related links. Thus, you
have better control over the posts selected, and since readers don’t
see them on every one of your posts, they will see they are being
recommended by a human, not by a plugin.
Keep Navigation Simple
Now that you have much more content and maybe traffic, your previous
theme may not be suitable. You should not lose focus on this and try to
make navigation through your other sites or other posts easy.
With blogs, it’s best to stay close to the standard, since visitors
tend to look for standard navigational elements. Many bloggers
effectively promote their most popular content in their sidebar or in
their header. This can be effective when marketing with social media:
by this way, you will reach a large number of new readers. These new
readers will be more likely to be converted into repeat visitors or
subscribers if you can get your best work in front of them.
Be Consistent
When marketing with social media, to stray off-topicfor a specific
audience is not effective in building repeat traffic and pageviews,
although this is a proven method to lure new visitors.
So keep your content focused, so that your visitors can appreciate most
or all of your posts rather than just one. Posting on consistent topics
will allow you the best opportunity to use internal links, to use older
posts and a series that can be linked to increase your pageviews.
Submit to the Proper Category
Use the most appropriate tags and categories when you are submitting
your own posts to social media. Many social media users only pay
attention to specific categories that they are interested in, so this
can bring you an increase in the number of pageviews.
Limit the Number of Outbound Links
Visitors tend to leave when they see a lot of outbound links, and this
can be a hard negative punch to your blog when you’re receiving
thousands of visitors.
If an outbound link will improve the value of the post for readers,
include it. However, always try to use internal links to keep some of
those visitors to yourself.
No Comments »
Webmaster are being encouraged to use video and audio all the time so we are seeing a huge jump in the number of videos being used on web pages and blogs. Search engines cannot ‘watch’ a video so the text surrounding it needs a strong dose of search engine optimization work.
As with any graphics placed on a page, the text in close proximity will be assessed by the search engines, particularly Google, for relevance. For example, a video of Ms Spears in an article on dangerous driving would flag an irrelevance. Good search engine optimization strategies would see the video renamed to something like ‘Spears drives dangerously’, or better yet, ‘driving dangerously - Britney Spears style’.
You can use search engine optimization strategies like including keywords in the URL, meta description and H1 tags as usual. If you have created the video yourself, you can add Meta data to the video during the encoding process.
Sitemaps are a normal part of the search engine optimization process so use Google Webmaster tools to upload a sitemap of your videos. This will help Google get more videos into their organic search results. Submit your video sitemap to Google through webmaster tools to inform Google of your video locations.
Video is a highly popular method of getting your messages to the masses. The more search engine optimization work on those pages, the more the search engines will index them and consequently, the better they will rank.
No Comments »
Ok, so I put this together cuz I need to use it for a client, but I thought it’s pretty cool:
1. Treat the “Search Terms” setup on the alerts like it’s a real Google search box. It can include modifiers that will help you find specific things you might be looking for. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, try this page on Google Search Operators. An example would be an alert like: [keyword site:www.thegamedruid.com] this alert would notify you every time a specific keyword was found on the Game Druid blog. Play around with some of the different modifiers… you may get some interesting results.
2. Set up an alert that focuses on the keywords you want to rank for. Such as: [”new social media tips”]. Make sure to put quotes around the phrase so you don’t get unrelated results. You can immediately see the value in a search like this because it will let you know who else is writing about that particular phrase, essentially identifying your competition. You may want to consider excluding your domain name from this search so your results don’t get too full. Here is the command: [New social media tips -www.marketing.kiranpk.cim]
3. Set up an alert for a phrase about your community like: [”Bangalore schools”] or [”Bangalore local events”]. This will allow you to keep tabs on what is going on in your community, and can often turn into ideas to write about on your blog depending on what is popular within your local community.
4. Search for customers. This one is the most undervalued of them all! What are your potential customers looking for? Are they asking specific questions online about your market? Take some time and think through this… then set up a few test alerts. Here are some examples: [”how do i find foreclosure properties in Bangalore”], [”how much is my FraZER Town house worth”], [”where can I find Prestige apartments for sale”],… In case you haven’t noticed, buyers and sellers are online. And they are actively asking questions about real estate in their area. The hard part is how to find them… that is where Google alerts comes in. It will do the hard work for you. Once you find someone that is asking a question, or needs help, simply go to the page and respond to their inquiry. Sometimes this might be a question on a Yahoo Group, or a question on Trulia Voices, or maybe even a question about a specific property on Zillow.com. Don’t be afraid to set up 50+ alerts for specific search phrases. These are real leads, and because of the specific nature of the query, you probably won’t get more than a couple alerts per week.
5. When setting up an alert for your website, don’t just put in your home page, try putting in specific URL’s for popular articles you’ve written so you can see who is writing about those specific topics.
6. For less important searches, choose the “once a week” notification option so you aren’t inundated with emails every day at random.
7. Spy on your competition. Try some alerts like this: [link:www.mycompetition.com], [”keyword” site:www.mycompetition.com], [allintitle:”keyword” site:www.mycompetition.com]
8. One last tip… this tip exploits the fact that most popular bloggers have Google alerts set up for their website and name. Start linking out to some famous bloggers and see what happens. In most cases you will see that person you linked to come around to your blog within 24 hours to check it out. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to people you want to connect with. You can build quite a reputation for yourself in a short amount of time by linking out to other bloggers you respect. This is hugely important to the new blogger trying to make a splash in the blogosphere.
I hope some of those tips helped. If you have any other ideas, please share them here!
2 Comments »
There is nothing more precious than your reputation. What happens when one jealous ex-lover, disgruntled employee or unsatisfied customer decides to get nasty and post something snarky on the Internet about you. And horror of horrors, it shows up #4 at Google or Yahoo when somebody searches for your name or your business name?
That’s when you need an SEO campaign for reputation management. While every campaign is unique, there are a few key steps you should take.
1. Make sure your own website comes up first.If you have more than one website, first and second is even better.
2. Maximize the reach of your website(s); optimize two pages on each to show up in the results.
3. Analyze those positive web pages already in the top 20 for your name and determine which ones could have an extra page optimized for your name.
4. Analyze which positive web pages already in the top 20 for your name and determine which ones could be pushed above any negative pages through changes to the pages or through link-building.
5. Analyze those neutral web pages already in the top 20 for your name and determine which ones could be made positive.
6. Analyze those negative web pages already in the top 20 for your name and determine which ones could be made positive.
7. Create, optimize and promote profile pages at popular user-generated content websites, such as Squidoo, MySpace and StumbleUpon.
8. Create blogs in your name. If your main SEO goal is how your name or business name comes up in the search engine, host your blog at BlogSpot and/or Wordpress.
Depending on your unique situation, there might be numerous other tactics you can use, as well.
No Comments »
This is where we always miss out a few things.. I found this nice checklist at this site called Good Web Practices…Here’s the linkIt’s a very useful checklist, you could actually take a print out and use it of sorts  enjoi
No Comments »
I was recently asked by a friend about SEO best practices. Here are a few off the top of my head.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Streamlining code allow search engines to more easily spider, index, and rank web pages
Javascript
Put all your JavaScripts in external files and link to them. If external file is not an option move the code to the end of the document under .
Tables
Avoid unnecessary tables where possible. Limit your table embedding to a depth of three. Where possible avoid the whole table thing and start using div tags and CSS to define position.
ALT attributes of an image tag
Place ALT attributes (alternative information) to all images, call the image what it is. Do not repeat keywords more then once. If no use of an ALT attribute leave it blank. Use no more then a 100 characters.
Title attributes of a link tag
Should add additional information that compliments the linked text. Call it what it is, do not repeat keywords more then once and keep to less then a 100 characters.
Robots.txt file
This file tells crawlers which directories can or cannot be crawled. Make sure it’s current for your site so that you don’t accidentally block the Googlebot crawler. Also use robots.txt to prevent crawling of search results pages or other auto-generated pages that don’t add much value for users coming from search engines.
Optimize your URLs
Use Search Engine Friendly URLs (for dynamic sites)
Use keywords in your URL
Use dashes or underscores to separate words in your URLs (keyword2-keyword3.html or keyword1_keyword2.html)
Dynamic URL Parameters
Multiple parameters in a dynamic URL can often mean that a search engines spider will choose to ignore the document. SE reps have long urged site creators to limit dynamic parameters to 2, optimally to 1 so that spiders will easily crawl them.
URL Length
The overall length of a URL may be used as a component in trust or value - exceptionally long URLs might be viewed as unusable and more likely to be spam. Keep to one subdirectory (folder) from the root if being structured.
Absolute URLs
Use throughout the site i.e. http://www.yoursite.com/pagename.htm
HTTP Response Headers
Check via www.marketingscoop.com/httpview.html - for proper use of 200/301/404
Files size
Keep to 100k or less, this helps with page load
Again, these are just some basics when launching a new site. There are many other factors you should consider and evaluate on an ongoing basis. My recommendation is that you look into a third party SEO Specialists to help you manage all the details. Here’s another SEO expert that I reccomend.
Lastly, don’t forget to be patient. SEO takes time - especially with a new website. When I launch a new site, I expect that it will take at least 4 - 5 months before I see solid rankings!
Search or simple do a Google search for the type of vendor your seeking.
No Comments »
Way to go Chevy!! Nice concept which has generated significant buzz:
Debuts a fresh take on the famed 1970’s commercial “Baseball, Hot Dogs,
Apple Pie and Chevrolet”
DETROIT – In 1974, Chevrolet eloquently captured the Zeitgeist with its
classic commercial “ Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet.” Now, more
than three decades later, Chevrolet pays homage to the spot originally created
by Campbell-Ewald with a modern spin by ad agency Deutsch Los Angeles.
Launching on July 1, prior to Major League Baseball’s All Star Game and as
part of Chevrolet’s ongoing sponsorship with MLB, t he new spot titled “Love
Affair” ( :60, :30) uses vintage footage from the original commercial and adds
modern elements of baseball including “stolen bases, goat cheese pizza, bottled
water” and “free agents, rally monkeys, fantasy leagues.” The “Love Affair” spot
is part of Chevy’s integrated marketing campaign in support of its MLB efforts.
The campaign includes broadcast, radio, print, on-line, in-stadium, Customer
Relationship Management fulfillment pieces and in-dealership components.
The original song was composed and recorded by famed jingle writer Ed
Labunski in 1974. The Chevrolet commercial also starred Labunski playing the
piano and is widely considered to have changed car commercials and automotive
branding forever. The original spot tied for first place in Car and Driver’s
January 2005 Ten Best Car Commercials.
“The spot marries baseball and Chevy’s nostalgic past with its progressive
present ,” said Ed Peper, General Manager, Chevrolet. “The original commercial
described the connection between Chevy, baseball and American culture so well
that it was the ideal choice to showcase how Chevy and baseball have evolved
over time. While Chevy and baseball have changed, the American love affair with
the two continues.”
World-class photographer/filmmaker Peggy Sirota directed the spot and sought
to capture both the spirit of the original commercial and iconic shots of today.
Her real, yet casual style contributed to a snapshot-quality look, incorporating
new images of skyboxes and mochaccinos, as if they were shot by fans
themselves.
“We saw a real organic, emotional connection between Chevrolet and baseball,
both then and now,” said Eric Hirshberg, Chief Creative Officer/President,
Deutsch LA. “Chevrolet and baseball have changed over the past 30 years, and
have not only kept up with the times, but remained a central part of the
American tradition.”
The comprehensive campaign retains Chevy’s tagline “An American Revolution”
but adds its tagline specific to the effort, “Chevy. Baseball’s #1 Fan.”
The campaign breaks nationally on Saturday, July 1 on Fox and on ESPN on
Sunday July 2. Additional elements will include: program ads, Sports Illustrated
& USA Today inserts, billboards, stadium signage, car toppers, windshield
clings, mirror danglers, wall signs, coasters, buttons, flyers, posters,
interactive efforts on MLB.com, ESPN.com and FOXSports.com, Yahoo Fantasy
Baseball promotion, and an XM Satellite Radio sponsorship, among others.
In 2005, Major League Baseball and General Motors Corporation announced a
three-year sponsorship agreement which made Chevrolet the “Official Vehicle of
Major League Baseball.” The agreement continues through the 2007 Major League
Baseball season and gives Chevrolet exclusive category rights.
1 Comment »
Ok, so i found this great place for good excel templates…not sure if its like a one sheet fits all types..but worth looking at it  Click here
No Comments »
Aaron Wall of The SEO Book fame, has an “SEO for Firefox” extension available for free, that’s useful if you’re doing SEO ranking analysis or research.  What you’ll notice, is beneath every result when you do a Google or Yahoo search, is a summary of useful SEO type info such as Google PageRank, age, and ranking on various other lists. I’d highly recommend that you configure it other than to defaults if you’re doing other than just SEO on your browser … having “nofollow” links all highlighted in bright red can be distressing if you don’t know what it is. This download is available at http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html.
No Comments »
|
Entries (RSS)