SEO Techniques
Other Factors to Consider in Assessing SEO Companies
Aug 18th
Unbelievably cheap SEO services can be more expensive. How? There are SEO companies that offer cheap services but actually for a particular SEO strategy only. Meaning, it is not a price for the whole SEO services in a package. You would be paying a lot more once you have signed up a contract with them. This method is obviously a fraudulent strategy you must avoid. There is another case. You are offered with cheap priced services but you are not getting any results. The reason is that they are using spamming method, making everything done through automation such as site submission, link generating, and others. This results to having your site, which you have invested with considerable amount of bucks, being banned from the search engines. Starting another site is costly.
You can also assess the companies’ credibility and reliability by asking tricky questions. Instead of directly asking them like this: “Do you use black hat SEO techniques?” you can ask them with questions like this: “How long will my site rank by automatically submitting my site to search engine directories?” Scammer sites would give you immediate answers as “in a matter of 3 weeks to 1 month.” Another way of knowing that any of your prospect SEO companies to be hired is a scam can be done by knowing the usual case. What is the usual case? Several cases happen in the agreement that takes place between the SEO Company and the SEO client. Let me mention only one: The scam SEO companies would ask what keywords should be used and you want your site to be optimized with. The credible and reliable ones don’t do this because since they are expert, they are the ones that assign best keywords for your site.
How Web Marketing Can Help
Aug 16th
A certified web marketing company, such as Web Marketing Experts, can formulate web marketing tactics to strengthen your presence in the Internet. Identify the strong points of your company and its objectives so that these elements can be combined with web marketing procedures to promote your company online.
It is necessary to acknowledge that there is a multitude of web promotion services that can assist in boosting your web presence. In line with this, your web marketing consultant must be able to suggest the most excellent mix of marketing solutions to for your website. Some of these web marketing campaigns may include:
Good Tutorial about the basic concepts of SEO
Jul 6th
This is a very good youtube video outlining the main concepts of SEO. It really shows you the jist of what search engine optimization is all about.
5 Essential Website Success Tactics for 2010
May 27th
Right now we’re going back … to the future! We spend a lot of time talking about the timeless SEO and internet marketing tactics. Here are the up-and-comers for the year that will continue to be important for the rest of 2010.
Google Local
It’s like ordinary SEO, only smaller and easier! Get onto that Google Local page and start prettying it up if you haven’t already done so.
Load time
This new SEO ranking factor might not carry a lot of weight, but it really is a no-brainer. Get a good host, and keep your pages lightweight.
Do your Facebook/Twitter/MySpace pages
Everybody else is on here … and if your business has dedicated fans, they are probably actually searching for your profile.
Create a mobile site
Even small, local sites need a mobile version to cater to users-on-the-go searching for goods and services through their smartphones.
Check your analytics
There’s no sense throwing money at SEO without knowing what results it is creating…
5 Website Development Stages For Usability Testing
May 18th
Usability testing has been the flavour of the week, and if you’re as fanatical about this ultra-useful web marketing activity as we are, you’ll consider doing your testing at every one of the following five stages of website development…
- Planning stage
Before you even have a rough idea of what your site will include, do usability tests on your competitors’ sites. If you haven’t already used these sites, you can even use your own team as the test subjects! - Sketch stage
When you have some rough (but not too rough) sketches on paper, take them to a user sample to see if they make sense, and if the titles are clear enough. - Site design stage
Once you have the proper design formalised, print out some sample pages and do the same as you did above. Ask your users to explain the navigation. - Prototype stage
When you have your HTML prototype up, check that your users can get around (as much as is possible) and they understand how to do key tasks - Dress rehearsal stage
When you have a complete usable version of the site, spend a fair bit of time testing before you finish everything off.
5 More Hot Tips for Submitting to Directories
May 6th
There are a lot of people that have given up trying to get into DMOZ … which is a great pity, since it is still a very valuable link and a staple of internet marketing! Today we continue our list of tips that can greatly increase your chances of success in getting into ‘the project’, or any other human-edited directory. We looked at the most important things last time – so read yesterday’s post first!
- Contact information
It’s one of the hallmarks of a legitimate business, and one of the things directory submission assessors will check for first. - Corporate-type stuff
This would include having a privacy policy, a returns policy (if applicable), guarantees, etc. - Outbound links
Share the love! Link to high quality sites, and don’t overlink. - Images that work
Your images should display in all the common browsers - Java and HTML that works
It takes a while to get your site listed in DMOZ, and you need to maintain it perfectly error-free until the listing is approved.
How to Redesign Without Killing Your SEO
Apr 9th
For most website owners, managing a redesign while keeping internet marketing rankings intact is one task that is just a bit too technical. What your internet marketing firm has on hand is the book “68 Best Practices for Redesigning a Site Without Loss of Rankings’. Today we give you the ultra-short version 
.
Changing URLs
It is not well understood that Google does not rank domains, they rank pages. So, if you change from a .asp platform to a .php platform, all of your URLs will change, and as far as Google knows, you are a completely new site.
URL changes are managed with 301-redirects on your old pages, and eventually your new pages will start building up their own Google juice. The way you manage the redirects depends greatly on your site size and purpose … expert internet marketing advice highly recommended.
Adding Flash
Your site is doing well, and you can finally afford to add some Flash. As long as you don’t go overboard, and don’t include basic, necessary info with in Flash, you should be alright.
Changing content
Do this with ultimate restraint, if you already had great rankings. If your site wasn’t showing up in the top ten or twenty, then you can rewrite with gay abandon!
How to Beat a Behemoth SEO Competitor – Final tips
Mar 30th
Beating a well-established Google number 1 in their own niche isn’t easy … but it is certainly possible. The greatest crime would be not to try …especially when we’ve given you so many awesome tips for doing it! Here’s the last of the bunch.
Yes, it can be done...
1. Build some unique, authority content
I once worked with a company that sold doorknobs, lever handles, knockers and locks, etc. One of the biggest traffic drivers to their site (thousands of visitors a month, for quite a niche business) was an authority piece on cleaning brass items. The company did an extensive amount of research, and put together a comprehensive 2,000 word guide to cleaning brass door furniture with household items. People just keep coming for this sort of content – it needs to complement your product or service and truly aim to help people. Don’t think about word limits when you’re building this content … you’ll end up with just another of the hundreds of pieces of mediocre content on the web.
2. Always use anchor text
Rather than saying ‘Visit www.yourbusinesswebsitehere.com.au for great deals on business websites’, say ‘Keep researching deals on business websites now’. People … and Google … understand the intention a lot better!
3. Get personal with database marketing
This is a big task, but definitely worthwhile. Create an email database with as much information about each recipient as possible, and then use it for targeted marketing.
4. Get personal with a blog, a Facebook Page, a Twitter account …etc
Social media creates a far richer face to your company than just whether you’re in the number 1 or number 5 spot on Google’s front page. This added dimension has flow-on benefits for SEO too, though – the greater your visitor count, the higher your ranking. And the more you interact with customers, the more people are likely to link to your website from their own.
5. Get an expert on your side
This is one of the most important things to remember. SEO is no longer an amateur’s game, and if someone ranks at the top of Google for their search term, it’s because expert web marketing help put them there. If you’re going to compete on a level playing field, you’ll need to call in the professionals as well!
By the way, the only reason tip 5 wasn’t at the very beginning of the article set is that we thought it might stick in your head a little better back here … and it is the most important SEO technique to remember.
How to Beat a Behemoth SEO Competitor – The Big List continued
Mar 29th
One of the greatest pities in the SEO world is when a great company fails to optimise their site because they feel they can’t compete with another large company that has more online experience, more Google Juice, and a bigger website. It’s a pity not only for the company itself, but for the general public and potential consumers who may miss out on the option of having a stellar product! Today we continue our look at how you can actually beat a big SEO competitor. Even the mighty must sometimes fall…
1. Don’t compete on price
It’s the lowest common denominator on the web. It’s tempting to think that if you offer a cheaper product than your big competitor, you’ll eventually siphon off all their customers, link popularity, etc. Not true. In many cases, you just end up being seen as the cheap alternative to the ‘good’ product. Being at the top of Google is an automatic ticket to being seen as a ‘trusted’ brand, according to surveys. Being cheap, and lower down, just makes you seem ‘safe to ignore’.
2. Look first to thyself
Sayeth the God of web marketing to his true believers! Make sure your offering is great, that your web design is awesome, that your customer service is in order, before you engage in a full-scale assault on that top Google ranking.
3. Spy on your competitors … to create a point of difference
It may sound sneaky … but it all depends on how you use the information. Copying your competitors tactics will not usually help you beat them. As Ries and Trout (the 27 Immutable Laws of Marketing) suggest, it is better to be first than it is to be better. However, if you want to know how to market yourself as different to potential customers, you need to know what makes you different. Which means knowing what the customer experience at your competitor’s business is like.
4. Ask what your customers thought about transactions
People LOOOVE being asked what they think! And this tactic doesn’t only endear your customers to you … it provides valuable information about improving your business for the future. There may be a tiny piece of the puzzle that your competitor has mastered, but you’ve so far missed completely. Implement a ‘Feedback’ form on your website, or get in contact with people who have had orders delivered via email and find out what they thought about the transaction. It works on eBay!
Keep watching for more ideas from the big list for beating those SEO behemoths at their own game!
How to Beat a Behemoth SEO Competitor – The Big List of Underdog Tactics
Mar 26th
Sometimes an SEO campaign seems hopeless. Much like at Kokoda on the Owen Stanley track, your larger competitor outnumbers you in staff and resources. They seem healthier and more experienced … but if you have the guts and determination, and use a little ingenuity in your SEO and general web marketing strategy, it is certainly possible to beat them! Today we start our catalogue of tips for beating a seemingly unbeatable SEO competitor.
Not such a mammoth competitor after all!
1. Persistence
This is the first thing you need to remember as you launch into an assault on the top position. If you only half-finish an SEO campaign, you waste all of it … not just half. Be prepared to go the distance – know that it is possible!
2. Know your market
In some cases a ‘competitor’ may not truly be competing with your business. If you have a slightly different offering, aim to be at the top of Google for the search terms that best describe your business. Know your unique selling point, and exploit it to the max!
3. Use review sites to boost your business name
Ask your customers to leave reviews of your business on well-respected review sites. If you’re in the tourism industry, Tripadvisor is the big name – but every industry can use sites like www.productreview.com.au. Please avoid the temptation to use review sites to denigrate your competitor(s)’ reputations, though! Keep it clean, people.
4. Don’t forget Google Local
Make sure you use your Google Local profile to the fullest extent possible. Add all the information you can Add your prices in Google Local as well – so many people use the internet for price comparisons, and may simply pass over your business if getting a price is too much like hard work. Price isn’t always the determining factor in supplier choice for the majority of people, anyway.
5. Don’t forget Google Local Reviews!
These may be one of the first things that prospective customers see – Google Local results often show up very high on the results listing, and click-throughs are a lot more evenly spread for these ten results. Get your satisfied customers to leave reviews here to start boosting your traffic.
Stay tuned – we’ll be looking at more ways to beat a behemoth SEO competitor in the coming days.