Search Engine Optimization in an Increasingly Social World

While many (foolishly) argue that SEO is dead, that isn't likely to happen soon. Matt Cutts tells us that SEO is here to stay, and I agree. 

But SEO is changing rapidly, and one of the biggest forces driving those changes is the increasingly social nature of the web.

Search Engine Motivations

One fascinating thing about SEO is the constant change. Most of us experience this through the changes made by the search engines to their results, such as the recent advent of Google Boost. What interests me more is what motivates these changes?

We could provide the simplistic answer of "increasing profits," which would be correct, but it isn't sufficient. It may sound trite, but the answer for both search engines is increased user satisfaction. 

In Google's case, this is measured by click-through rates, low bounce rates, and a variety of other metrics. These types of metrics are seen by the search engines as social signals. 

Google's sources for this data include: Google Analytics, the Google Toolbar, Custom Search Engines, and user behavior within the search engine itself. Data available to everyone includes user engagement with social media sites. Google has more access to data on user behavior than any other entity on the planet. 

Some of you may think I'm missing the fact that large companies are inherently evil and Google is no exception. Let's not debate that point. The profit motive of Google (and Bing as well) is well served by high levels of customer satisfaction. 

Google's huge market share is the key source of its profits, and they have a huge disincentive to drive down that market share. If you were Google, would you make changes that increase your profits today by 5 percent if you knew that you would lose 10 percent in market share over the next year, probably to an extremely dangerous competitor, such as Bing or Faceboook? No.

That market share is the golden goose that drives profits. Google wants to maintain or increase that market share by using the enormous amounts of data it has to constantly test new ideas and increase user satisfaction.

With Bing and Facebook pushing new and innovative ideas, the pressure is enormous. Users aren't compelled to use Google, and all these services are free, so switching costs are low. Don't piss me off Google, or I'll take my searches elsewhere!

Social Sites

Another aspect is the interactions on social media sites. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are the obvious examples, but there are also user reviews, comments in various forums, spam complaints, blog postings, news articles, and more. These all provide signals to the search engines. 

Volume of activity is one signal. Lots of references to your site is certainly an interesting data point, but sentiment analysis also allows search engines to get a signal as to whether people like what you're doing.

Thinking about a spammy link campaign? Think again, because someone might decide to spill the beans on you and start a raging discussion on a blog, or set of blogs, about your site, or do it on a forum somewhere. That would provide negative sentiment signals. 

Plan to do some guest posting and provide people with crappy articles because all you care about is the link? Bad idea. 

Starting to build thousands of crappy web pages to capture the long tail of search? Could well backfire on you.

In our highly social online environment, the true spam police is us. Our behavior on a web site can impact the way the search engines perceive it. 

What we write as comments on a blog post is crawled, interpreted, and read. Is there a risk of manipulating this collection of signals? Not easily. 

Social communities guard the sanctity of their environments more thoroughly than any search engine ever could. Spammers still can run a bot that jams thousands of comments into inactive forums and blogs, but the search engines aren't going to put much weight on that. A discussion involving a popular Twitter user, or on a popular blog like TechCrunch will get a lot more weight.

How Does Social Behavior Affect SEO?

The main impact is on the amount of time you must focus on providing a positive user experience on your web site. 

Tim Ash will love me for saying this (but I'll say it anyway!), website conversion optimization is now an important part of SEO. So is a deep understanding of usability and web design. As Kim Krause Berg would argue, a holistic approach to usability and SEO is required.

Traditional SEO thinking would tell us that videos and graphics should be used sparingly, and that text is king. However, the web is a place where instant impressions matter most, and few people want to engage in paragraphs of text. 

Put another way, people want visual experiences. If you don't take the time to do that, what are you? To many, that is the mark of a spammer. 

People don't hang out for long periods of time on sites that they believe are spam. This may not be entirely fair, but the judge and jury is the user.

This doesn't mean that text is dead. It still plays a big role in driving the long tail, and providing the search engines with context that they can't get from other signals. So you should have text as a part of your pages, but if you implement large gobs of text on the page you may drive users away and hurt your SEO results to boot. 

Balance is key. In addition, there are some types of pages where large quantities of text are highly desirable. Someone who just found out they have cancer will want to read everything they can get on the topic.

From a link building perspective, it's important to provide value wherever you go. Give them something valuable to link to. Or, if you're giving them an article, give them good stuff to post. 

Is that guest post something that someone might tweet? If you spew a hundred articles out in guest posts and no one ever tweets any of them, you've just provided a signal of low quality user experiences that reflects poorly on your site.

Embrace the Social Web

Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the positive. Embrace the social web, feed it good stuff, and it will embrace you back. 

This isn't meant as a "build and they will come" statement. You need to actively promote your stuff. You need to tell the world about it. 

But, if you're truly a contributor, no one will mind. In fact, they will jump right in and do some promoting for you. Now that's a positive signal!

Source  http://searchenginewatch.com/3641589

New Internet Marketing Company Launched

Eyewide Hotel Internet Marketing Services – a company providing web development, web hosting, web services, social media marketing services and Search Engine Optimization – launched the brand new internet site of Syrou Melathron Hotel in Syros, Greece (http://www.syroumelathron.gr).The imposing main building of the Syrou Melathron hotel was built in Vaporia, the aristocratic district of the capital Ermoupolis, during the 19th century (1857). Fans of neo-classical beauty are impressed by it as it has been preserved and most of it has been kept intact with its balconies of Parian marble, the unique antefixes, archaic gables and wooden-carved eaves still present. In 1988, the building was officially declared a historical monument, and over the years it has been expanded and has adapted to the needs of the modern era, combining the aesthetics of the 19th century with all the comforts of a contemporary hotel. 

The primary purpose of Eyewide Hotel Internet Marketing Services is creating a user friendly website where easy navigation, high aesthetics and functionality are the main characteristics.

Syrou Melathron Hotel has signed a cooperation contract with the Eyewide Hotel Internet Marketing Services for the following services:

- Hotel Internet Marketing
- Web development
- Search Engine Optimization
- Ad campaigns

Syrou Melathron Hotel wish to welcome you in their new website http://www.villasluxurycrete.com

Visit the website of Eyewide Hotel Internet Marketing Services at http://www.eyewide.gr

EyeWide Hotel Internet Marketing Services – based in Crete Greece, is activated in the field of hosting, design, development and Search Engine Optimization of dynamic web pages.

The innovative integrated solutions that the company proposes and implements, make all customers fully satisfied, whether they are building their first appearance on the Internet or wishing to upgrade at every level their weak and ineffective presence on the Internet.

Some of the services Eyewide offers:
- Construction and development of web pages in CMS
- Search Engine Optimization Marketing
- Pay Per Click Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Online Reputation Management (tripadvisor, holidaycheck)
- Email Marketing
- eBrochures Creation

Contact Details
Eyewide Hotel Internet Marketing Services
Konstantinoupoleos 12
71304 Heraklion Crete Greece
Tel: +302810 250180 & +302810 333175
Fax: +302810-333205
Url: http://www.eyewide.gr
Email: minasl@eyewide.gr
Contact Person: Liapakis Minas

Source  http://onlinenewswebsite.com/seo-marketing/new-internet-marketing-company-launched/10661/

Why Is A Social Networking Profile Better Than A Directory Listing?

Directory listings have been useful in search for a long time. Before the development of the internet, it was often directories which searchers turned to when looking for a business of some sort. Online directories are still used by some and do retain their place within the search market. This is why it is advisable for businesses to have a listing in the most popular and relevant online directories. However, directories are no longer one of the main sources of traffic for businesses.

Social networking websites are now proving even more influential in search. Having a profile in a social networking website such as Facebook or Twitter can make a massive difference to the brand development of a business and the amount of traffic it directs to its web pages. Directories may still play a small part in search but social networking sites are playing an increasingly larger role and so must be acknowledged.

A social networking profile enables a business owner to share a great amount of information about what they do with others within the community. Information about the products they sell and the services they offer can all be given in detail so those which read the content can gain a full understanding of what the company is about and what is on offer to them. With a simple directory listing this is not possible. A directory listing only contains basic information and does not provide any extra detail about the company.

Social networking sites also enable communication and interaction between site owners and their audiences to take place quickly and easily. A large number of consumers like to communicate online and businesses can offer a greater level of customer support by doing this. Using social networking sites, it is easy for potential customers to ask questions and find out more without having to commit or feel pressured into buying.

Social networking sites are also extremely useful because they can offer potential customers a well rounded view of a business. They can read the content the business provides but can also explore their reputation by exploring other information about the company present in the online community. Many social networkers share business information of this kind and it can be particularly useful for those wanting a little bit of reassurance before becoming a customer. If they can read positive feedback about your business from others who have already used your service, you will gain their trust.

If you are still relying on directories for online exposure and traffic then you will be missing a number of useful opportunities. Directory listings can still be useful but other techniques such as the use of social networking websites must also be explored if hoping for SEO success.

At SEO Consult, we can provide you with a number of productive SEO techniques which can be used for the benefit of your business. We can show you what your business needs and use these methods effectively to produce the results you want.

Source   http://www.seoconsult.com/seoblog/social-networking-and-search-engine-optimization/why-is-a-social-networking-profile-better-than-a-directory-listing.html

Focusing SEO on Google over Yahoo and Bing may cost traffic

While Google is the No. 1 search engine, it's important that marketers also consider Bing and Yahoo for their search engine optimization strategies. According to a recent report from Chitika, many brands are missing out on potential traffic and revenue by not taking Bing-powered search engines into account.

Chitika found that as many as 46.5 percent of brands aren't optimized for Bing or Yahoo, which is now powered by Microsoft's search engine. Additionally, websites that aren't optimized for these two search engines are missing out on a 9.4 percent lift in search traffic.

"By combining forces, Bing and Yahoo have made it not only possible, but necessary to optimize for a powerful No. 2 search engine," says Chitika CTO Alden DoRosario. "Our publishers are very smart, but so many of them need to put some hard work into making sure Bing loves them as much as Google does."

According to recent comScore reports, Bing and Yahoo account for 31 percent of all searches conducted by American consumers. In the month of October, more than 17 billion queries were performed on the search engines overall.

Source  http://www.creativedepartment.com/news/focusing-seo-google-over-yahoo-and-bing-may-cost-traffic-166400

More SEO for Christmas

The Holiday season brings more online sales.

Research indicates that the Christmas season boosts online gift sales by as much as 70 percent. This occurs during the build-up months to Christmas, including October and November.

This is the time for online retailers to boost their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts to capitalize on potential customers.

Experts suggest that retailers also invest in furnishing pay per click (PPC) campaigns that focus on top keywords.

Source  http://www.lastclicknews.com/more-seo-for-christmas-102000.html

Why SEO Backlinks Make A Big Difference In Page Rankings

Dallas, TX- Businesses looking for a way to get their websites noticed must turn to making SEO backlinks. What are they? A backlink is when a website links back to another site. This may not sound like much, but for experienced internet marketers, this paves the way to internet gold. Why? Because the search engine mega giant Google uses them to determine where a site can rank in their search engine.

Google is the number 1 search engine and the number 2 most visited site in the world most recently behind Facebook. Therefore, if a properly laid out execution strategy for seo backlinks gets Google’s rankings, it makes them that much more valuable for search engine optimization firms.

“We pride ourselves in our ability to rank our clients for any given keyword on Google,” says Nicolas Samson, a web expert at sisaseo.com.

That sentiment is reported by anyone who is in the business of getting page ranks, internet marketers, seo firms and small businesses everywhere look for ways and means to get in the fight for crucial market share.

In these times of rising costs and dwindling profit margins, it helps to get the edge in what was a usually overlooked practice of search engine optimization.

“Clients come to us now, that have had no intentions of getting their web presence intact are now realizing the benefit of a few coordinated efforts,” Samson said.

When people look toward SEO, as opposed Pay Per Click, the return on the dollar in monumentally in favor of the search engine optimization efforts done by quality seo firms.

To begin reaching more customers for your business or internet related project, visit sisaseo.com

Source  http://www.emailwire.com/release/52081-Why-SEO-Backlinks-Make-A-Big-Difference-In-Page-Rankings.html

Australia’s Best Search Engine Optimization Services Ranked By topseos.com.au for November 2010

topseos.com.au, an independent authority on search vendors has named the Top 30 Search Engine Optimization Firms in Australia for the month of November 2010.  Companies are already becoming serious about boosting the quality of traffic being directed to their site and have established an organic optimization campaign in place. Search engines are such an integral part of how visitors and potential clients find information on the internet, thus it becomes essential that websites are aligned with what the search engine is looking for.  All the search engine marketing services next to hundreds of other SEO firms have gone through an evaluation system facilitated by a qualified and experienced team of researchers.  

“Though there are many firms who engage in Search Engine Marketing activities, the process is by no means easy. Getting a link to the top of a search engine's results page requires a great amount of strategizing and only a company who understand the intricacies of organic optimization will be able to accomplish that,” said Jeev Trika, Managing Partner of topseos.com.au (http://www.topseos.com.au). 

The Top 30 Search Engine Optimization Companies in Australia for November 2010 are: 

1.)                        LT SEO

2.)                        DGM Australia

3.)                        Web Profits

4.)                        Acidgreen

5.)                        WebiMax

6.)                        Netex Solutions

7.)                        WebSight Australia

8.)                        SEO Company Sydney

9.)                        Rotapix Interactive Media

10.)                      TopRankings.com.au

11.)                      Search Engine Experts

12.)                      Kanga Internet

13.)                      Rank First

14.)                      SEO Sydney

15.)                      Salsa Internet

16.)                      Web Marketing Experts

17.)                      ROI.com.au

18.)                      ineedhits.com Pty Ltd

19.)                      Net Starter

20.)                      Exa Web Solutions

21.)                      RedFly Marketing

22.)                      Arrow Internet Pty Ltd

23.)                      E-Web Marketing Pty Ltd

24.)                      SEO Works

25.)                      papdan.com

26.)                      HGWS Digital Media

27.)                      Amplify

28.)                      Mitash - Results Driven Interactive Agency

29.)                      Clear Light Digital

30.)                      Webfirm Pty Ltd. 

topseos.com.au has designed an evaluation process that specifically identifies SEO Companies in Australia that excel in their performance and output. An in-depth assessment looks at how the firm works and is able to achieve its objectives. Part of the assessment process includes gathering feedback from at least three of the firm’s clients to understand their performance better.  

As part of their assessment, questions include both general and project specific queries such as, “What type of needs analysis was conducted before work initiated?”, “What type of a ROI were you anticipating, what was achieved and in what time frame?”, “What would be 3 things you would change about your experience?”, “What was your total investment?”, “Rate your overall experience (1-10; 10 being the highest).”, “What are the most competitive keywords you have been able to rank on the major search engines and how long did it take you to achieve those rankings?”, “Did the agency modify the way they achieved higher rankings for you based on the Universal Search model introduced by Google?  How?”, “How comprehensive, specific, and useful are the reports that are offered to the client?  What metrics do they cover?”, “Do the reports inform you what the next set of steps ought to be to achieve higher rankings and when you can expect to achieve the next set of goals by?” or “How many of your top industry keywords rank in the top 10?  Which ones?”

Source  http://pressmediawire.com/22441/Australia%E2%80%99s-Best-Search-Engine-Optimization-Services-Ranked-By-topseos.com.au-for-November-2010.html

Complete Search Engine Optimization Package for $1

Still wondering why your website receives little to no traffic?

If so, you're not alone. Many webmasters are completely perplexed with how to generate steady, targeted traffic to their websites. That fact is, you could have the most beautiful, customer-oriented website in the world selling a red hot product or service, but if nobody knows it exists it simply isn't going to do you any good. We've all tried purchasing traffic, joining traffic generating websites , trading links with other webmasters, etc. only to find out that these methods simply do not work.

For your website to be a success, it must be ranking well in the major search engines. Here are a few eye opening facts:

* 93% of consumers worldwide use search engines to find and access websites.

Source: Forrester Research

* 57% of internet users search the web every day and 46% of those searches are for product information or services.

Source: SRI

* Attracting a loyal audience to your website is best achieved through top search engine listings.

Source: Forrester Research Media Field Study

With this being the case, it only makes sense for you to stop wasting time and money on other traffic generating schemes and to start focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website.

Search engine optimization consists of three primary areas:

1. Keyword Analysis and Definition: Keyword analysis is the process of determining what key phrases people are actually entering into the search engines that relate directly to your product or services and are being search on a regular basis.

2. On Page Optimization: Website optimization or "on page optimization" is the process of arranging the content and structure of a web page based on its primary keywords. The purpose of this is to enable the search engines to easily crawl each page of a website and to determine the theme and keyword relevancy of each page.

3. Off Page Optimization: Link building or “off page optimization” is the process of building one way links to your website that contain the specific keywords that you are attempting to rank for within the major search engines. Each backlink is considered a “vote” for your website and the more “votes” you have, the more popular the search engines will see your website as being and therefore will better rank your website for the specific keywords you are after.

http://www.isellpr.com offers complete Search Engine Optimization packages that not only focus on these key areas, but essentially focus on everything necessary to get your website ranking well in all the major search engines. Not only do we offer these complete packages, but we have an a limited time offer for you:

From now through the end of November if you sign up for our Bronze SEO Package your first month of service will cost only $1.00* We are so confident that our services will work for you that we are willing to give you your first month of service for only one buck*. Think about it - $1 doesn't even buy you a cup of coffee these days, yet you can now buy an entire month's worth of Professional Search Engine Optimization for your website which will help bring you the desired search engine traffic and sales that your company seeks. This package includes:

* In-Depth Keyword Analysis and Definition

* Professional Title, Meta, and Alt Tag Creation & Implementation

* .XML Sitemap Creation and Submission to Search Engines

* Hand Submit Website to All Major Search Engines

* High Page Rank Link Building**

* Manual Directory Submissions**

* Manual Social Bookmarking**

* Much More!

Please be advised that this is a limited time opportunity and is only valid through the month of November. http://www.isellpr.com has never made this offer in the past and may very well never offer it again. So Don't Delay! To puchase this package right now, simply click on the link to our website.

So what are you waiting for? Make your website a success today! This is your once in a lifetime opportunity to have your website professionally optimized, which will ensure the high search engine rankings and traffic your website deserves.

*This is a monthly recurring campaign subscription. Three month minimum enrollment required. First month of service is billed at $1 and succeeding monthly cost is billed at $327.

**All link building services start on the 2nd month of the campaign and repeat monthly thereafter.

Source  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/11/prweb4780294.htm

topseos.com Names the Best 50 Search Engine Optimization Companies for November 2010

topseos.com, an independent authority on search vendors has named the Top 50 Search Engine Optimization Companies for the month of November 2010.  All the search engine marketing firms identified next to thousands of other search engine optimization companies have gone through a comprehensive process evaluated by a qualified and experienced team of researchers.  Each search engine optimization provider showed a clear-cut understanding of the groundwork behind search engine optimization. 

“In order to find the best among the thousands of search engine optimization companies, our team has designed an evaluation system to identify the leading search engine optimization firms. Companies who are determined about increasing the traffic quality that is being directed to their site has to put a search engine marketing campaign in place. Search engines are crucial part of the method how web visitors and potential customers find online information.  It has truly become vital that the website is aligned with what the search engine is looking for,” said Jeev Trika, Managing Partner of topseos.com (http://www.topseos.com). 

The Best Search Engine Optimization Companies for November 2010 are: 

1.)                                                WebiMax

2.)                                                ThinkBIGsites

3.)                                                SEOP

4.)                                                Slingshot SEO, Inc.

5.)                                                ArteWorks SEO

6.)                                                eVisibility, Inc.

7.)                                                Customer Magnetism

8.)                                                SEO Image Inc.

9.)                                                Intrapromote LLC.

10.)                                              MediaWhiz

11.)                                              WebMetro

12.)                                              Mannix Marketing

13.)                                              SEO Inc.

14.)                                              1st on the List Promotion Inc.

15.)                                              WebpageFX

16.)                                              Peak Positions, LLC

17.)                                              Sems

18.)                                              First Page SEO

19.)                                              Crexendo, Inc.

20.)                                              HighPoint Search Marketing

21.)                                              Elite SEO Marketing

22.)                                              Bruce Clay Inc.

23.)                                              PageTraffic

24.)                                              Outrider

25.)                                              iProspect

26.)                                              Qualified Impressions, LLC.

27.)                                              Conductor

28.)                                              Micrositez LTD

29.)                                              Stone Interactive Group

30.)                                              BlueGlass Interactive, Inc.

31.)                                              LeapFrog Interactive

32.)                                              The Search Agency

33.)                                              Spark Inbound Marketing

34.)                                              SEO.com

35.)                                              SEER Interactive

36.)                                              Exclusive Concepts, Inc.

37.)                                              Ymarketing

38.)                                              Mindfire Interactive

39.)                                              WebRanking

40.)                                              Best Rank Inc.

41.)                                              McDougall Interactive

42.)                                              ProspectMX

43.)                                              OuterBox Solutions

44.)                                              Position Research

45.)                                              ATAK Interactive Inc.

46.)                                              Direct Hit Solutions, Inc.

47.)                                              Leverage Marketing, Inc.

48.)                                              e-Storm International, Inc.

49.)                                              Seologist

50.)                                              Marketplace Earth 

The evaluation process behind these rankings has been designed specifically to identify SEO services companies that excel in their performance and output. There is an in-depth assessment being done to check on how the firm works and is able to achieve its objectives.  This also involves gathering of feedback from three (3) of their clients to understand their performance better and gauge their level of expertise.  

The research team has provided these clients with a list of questions.  Questions include both general and project-specific queries such as, “What type of needs analysis was conducted before work initiated?”, “What type of a ROI were you anticipating, what was achieved and in what time frame?”, “What would be 3 things you would change about your experience?”, “What was your total investment?” and “Rate your overall experience (1-10; 10 being the highest)”, “What are the most competitive keywords you have been able to rank on the major search engines and how long did it take you to achieve those rankings?”, “Did the agency modify the way they achieved higher rankings for you based on the Universal Search model introduced by Google?  How?”, “How comprehensive, specific, and useful are the reports that are offered to the client?  What metrics do they cover?”, “Do the reports inform you what the next set of steps ought to be to achieve higher rankings and when you can expect to achieve the next set of goals by?” and “How many of your top industry keywords rank in the top 10?  Which ones?” 

Though there are a lot of SEO companies that engage in search engine optimization activities, the whole process is by no means easy.  Being able to get a link to the top of a search engine's results page requires a huge amount of strategy and only a company that is able to comprehend the complexities of search engine optimization will be able successfully achieve this.

Source  http://pressmediawire.com/22357/topseos.com-Names-the-Best-50-Search-Engine-Optimization-Companies-for-November-2010.html

Scraping The SEO Longtail

Cutting time and cost will increasingly become important to online marketing and advertising as the industry matures, and companies will begin to see many more tools emerge aimed at automating processes. Fred Rassam, business development manager at business incubator The Triana Group, brought one such longtail generating keyword tool to my attention. Triana helps European companies grow in the U.S.

France-based Synomia, founded in 2000 as a search engine, has developed a patented semantic analysis technology and a suite of products based on the technology aimed at content analysis, smart navigation and search engine optimization (SEO). It relies on 10 years of research and computational linguistics to crawl a Web site and come up with relevant keywords in the content on the site.

Supporting the need to discover hundreds of new expressions from content, the tool crawls internal links, site indexes and landing pages attracting search queries to the longtail of keyword terms. The site index creates a network of links between the expressions, landing pages and tags to increase the PageRank of the site index.
Rassam says companies typically only perform link development for about 50 of the top keywords. The thinking that thousands of longtail keywords live within Web site content and never get exploited, though about 70% of the traffic comes from longtail keyword search terms drove the development of the tool.

Managing the tool through an administrative interface gives marketers insight into the terms people type into search engines to find the brand's site. The list of keywords that companies can append to the Web site with a goal to attract high-quality search engine traffic from natural search results to leverage content on the Web site. The company boasts supporting about 300 clients such as Dannon, Merck, Nestle, and Doctor Without Borders in the United Kingdom, France and Canada, but wants to take the tools into the U.S. market.

When I asked for companies with a similar type tool, Rassam mentioned Endeca, because both are based on natural language processing.

Sounds simple, but brands have found success extracting thousands of keywords, creating an index and appending it to the site, according to Rassam. It's a way to optimize the site with longtail keywords that, in turn, helps to rank better in search engine results. There are several payment options. One way is to not charge anything upfront and then pay 9 cents or 10 cents per unique visitor from the tool based on predetermined cap.

Source  http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=139373

What Do The Best SEO Companies Use, LinkWheeling Or Normal Backlinks?

The need to know and find a customer is paramount to a business' bottom line. Furthermore, the need for customers to be able to find a business is also very crucial. Everyday, thousands of companies spend tens of thousands of dollars in advertisements to get noticed. And lately, the trend to outsource search engine optimization tactics has grown tenfold over the last decade. At first the rage was all about backlinks, but nowadays the best SEO experts look to an advanced form of backlinking in other words linkwheeling as an effective way to climb in the fight for page rankings.

The 64,000-dollar question is whether there is proof that linkwheeling is more effective than other normal seo packages and techniques? A linkwheel is when content is created on anywhere from 6 to 116 pages that all link to one another as well as the main site. Most experts disagree on the overall effectiveness of these campaigns.

Nicolas Samson, an online marketing expert from SisaSEO.com says, We have an advanced linkwheel package that we offer our clients we've seen astronomical results with these methods that far exceed those of just normal backlinking.

Unlike other forms of marketing costs, such as expensive ad buys and pay per click campaigns, most Seo firms agree that creating an organic presence online is a stronger and more economical form of advertising to yield incredible results.

Search Engine Optimization firms have been around for a long time, and while there are some that are very effective, others fall short of providing the type of results that small businesses need to compete in this vicious online environment.

However the debate goes on to whether there is a magic formula to internet success for small businesses. It sounds like there is a big political bruha brewing, with some on the right and those on the left.

Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/10/11/e597337/what-do-the-best-seo-companies-use-linkwheeling-or-normal-backlinks#ixzz14y2nH1lo

SEO for Beginners

SEO Tools & Tactics, From A Beginner’s Perspective Onward

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should be present in every website’s effort to be more relevant online, but too often it falls by the waist side.  A few typical reasons why this happens is because people do not have the time, money or the know how to achieve a substantial SEO campaign.  This article will walk you through a handful of free SEO tactics that only require an hour to set up and a small amount of time to maintain. As the year-end nears, make it a goal to complete some of these basics, so that you can check it off your 2010 to-do list and have a great start to 2011. Also you don’t need to be an expert to start on SEO, but if your business ‘depends’ on it, we recommend hiring a professional.

1. Back to the basics

This initial information is basic but essential for various search engines to find your website.  Once a site’s design is complete go into the HTML code and give each page a unique and accurate title so search engines can recognize the content.  If all of your pages have the same title your audience could be directed to the wrong page.

The key is to do basic optimization whenever you post anything at all, rather than leaving it until later. Just think ’search’ when creating content and you won’t have to worry about it later on. News outlets teach their teams SEO on the fly, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to publish so much content.  Keep this in mind when creating new web content:

• Headlines are similar to titles you would see in a newspaper

• Only post meaningful content

• Try to write about things that you would share – ask yourself: ‘Would I still share this to my network if I didn’t write it?’

Writing Unique Titles and Meta Descriptions on different pages is also extremely important. Google’s Webmaster Tools feedback will show you this by listing all the duplicate or missing page titles. This is important because of the way Google displays search results. It uses the Title and Meta Descriptions for the ‘Google Snippet’ that you see. Although this is basic information that all SEOs know, it is still vital to any SEO campaign. When you write content, write the Meta data as well. Don’t spend time on the Meta keywords field though, worry about unique Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

2. Tools to help you along the way

Optimizing your website can be a tedious and time consuming task.  There are many tools available to simplify the process and save you time.  For example, it has been shown that using Initial Caps in your Meta Descriptions will increase your Click Through Rates (CTR) in organic results.  Sites like uppercaseit.com, feature the option ‘Initial Caps’ which you plug in your text and it optimizes your Meta Descriptions with Initial Caps.  Uppercaseit.com It will also count the numbers of characters including spaces to help you determine the best lengths for your Titles (Suggested length <65 characters) and Meta Descriptions (~160 characters).

Also, be sure to do an SEO audit of your site to know what areas you need improvement in and how your site compares to your competitors.  There are several resources out there that can help you gather this information like www.seo-browser.com, www.opensiteexplorer.org, andwww.seobook.com.  These websites help you to see how Google will read your site and allows you to see a website’s SEO statistics.  Each of these websites excel in specific marketing and SEO tools, I urge you to get familiar with them so you can better understand how your website’s SEO is performing.  In the near future Wpromote we will be launching a new  SEOAudit tool, which combines the features of many of these sites into one, so you can quickly determine the current state of several SEO related factors for one or more domains at a time.

3. Start a link building campaign

A link building campaign can be vital to your optimization success.  And while there are many different avenues for link building, a great way to start a basic campaign is to tap into the pool of people you already know.  Reach out to your customers, friends, vendors, partners and anyone else you have a relationship with and ask them to like a page, provide a testimonial, or link back to your site.  If you are non-intrusive and polite with your request, more often then not, they are happy to help out.

Here are some additional easy ways to expand your link building campaign:

Testimonials – Give testimonials on other websites. This can help you earn their respect, links and honest inbound traffic. Try to get in touch with the editors with outreach: Write to a website, compliment services or volunteer a quote.
Design Galleries – Feature your website on feature sites like CSS REMIX, Drawer or CSS Gallery.
Feature Stories – Reporters are constantly looking for leads or content on websites like HARO and PR Newswire, if you can provide them with relevant content for a story they will link to you or your website.
Chamber of Commerce – Ask your local Chamber of Commerce to post a link to your business website.
BBB - Get a link on the Better Business Bureau’s website.
Follow Forum Signatures - Here’s a list of forums that have ‘do follow signatures’http://niceblogger.com/2009/11/29/dofollow-forum-list-dofollow-signatures/. You can also submit to Yahoo answers, and vote yours to the top.
Create Aboutus.org, Squidoo and Crunchbase Profiles – They all have follow links.
Create Flickr Accounts - For the photo descriptions, you can embed HTML links.  These HTML links show up as no follow, but the added visits to your site through these organic links have many experts convinced of their contributions to SEO.
Create YouTube Accounts - Post Meaningful original videos about your services and drive real search traffic to your site from your videos, which can also be embedded in blog posts using the ‘Smart YouTube‘ plugin in WordPress.
Infographic Creation – Infographics turn boring raw data and numbers into quick, easy to follow stories via images.  You can capitalize on their current popularity and gain a lot of link juice.
SEO Consulting – Well worth it, better than searching Google and guessing! Spend 3 to 4 hours a month to get answers to your frustrating SEO questions about differing online opinions about specific issues.

These tools and strategies are not a silver bullet to get your website to the top of Google but by choosing the approaches that are advantageous to your industry, you will have an edge over a lot of your competition.  SEO should not become a daunting task for your company, it is basically online reputation management combined with marketing initiatives.  This process could be viewed as a method of staying in touch with your industry’s community online because the popularity of your site is a main indicator of your success in the search engines.  Get started today; use the tools and strategies provided in this article to expand your SEO efforts and overall knowledge of SEO tools that are available to you.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should be present in every website’s effort to be more relevant online, but too often it falls by the waist side.  A few typical reasons why this happens is because people do not have the time, money or the know how to achieve a substantial SEO campaign.  This article will walk you through a handful of free SEO tactics that only require an hour to set up and a small amount of time to maintain. As the year-end nears, make it a goal to complete some of these basics, so that you can check it off your 2010 to-do list and have a great start to 2011. Also you don’t need to be an expert to start on SEO, but if your business ‘depends’ on it, we recommend hiring a professional.

1. Back to the basics

 

This initial information is basic but essential for various search engines to find your website.  Once a site’s design is complete go into the HTML code and give each page a unique and accurate title so search engines can recognize the content.  If all of your pages have the same title your audience could be directed to the wrong page.

The key is to do basic optimization whenever you post anything at all, rather than leaving it until later. Just think ’search’ when creating content and you won’t have to worry about it later on. News outlets teach their teams SEO on the fly, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to publish so much content.  Keep this in mind when creating new web content:

• Headlines are similar to titles you would see in a newspaper

• Only post meaningful content

• Try to write about things that you would share – ask yourself: ‘Would I still share this to my network if I didn’t write it?’

Writing Unique Titles and Meta Descriptions on different pages is also extremely important. Google’s Webmaster Tools feedback will show you this by listing all the duplicate or missing page titles. This is important because of the way Google displays search results. It uses the Title and Meta Descriptions for the ‘Google Snippet’ that you see. Although this is basic information that all SEOs know, it is still vital to any SEO campaign. When you write content, write the Meta data as well. Don’t spend time on the Meta keywords field though, worry about unique Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

2. Tools to help you along the way

 

Optimizing your website can be a tedious and time consuming task.  There are many tools available to simplify the process and save you time.  For example, it has been shown that using Initial Caps in your Meta Descriptions will increase your Click Through Rates (CTR) in organic results.  Sites like uppercaseit.com, feature the option ‘Initial Caps’ which you plug in your text and it optimizes your Meta Descriptions with Initial Caps.  Uppercaseit.com It will also count the numbers of characters including spaces to help you determine the best lengths for your Titles (Suggested length <65 characters) and Meta Descriptions (~160 characters).

Also, be sure to do an SEO audit of your site to know what areas you need improvement in and how your site compares to your competitors.  There are several resources out there that can help you gather this information like www.seo-browser.com, www.opensiteexplorer.org, andwww.seobook.com.  These websites help you to see how Google will read your site and allows you to see a website’s SEO statistics.  Each of these websites excel in specific marketing and SEO tools, I urge you to get familiar with them so you can better understand how your website’s SEO is performing.  In the near future Wpromote we will be launching a new  SEOAudit tool, which combines the features of many of these sites into one, so you can quickly determine the current state of several SEO related factors for one or more domains at a time.

3. Start a link building campaign

 
A link building campaign can be vital to your optimization success.  And while there are many different avenues for link building, a great way to start a basic campaign is to tap into the pool of people you already know.  Reach out to your customers, friends, vendors, partners and anyone else you have a relationship with and ask them to like a page, provide a testimonial, or link back to your site.  If you are non-intrusive and polite with your request, more often then not, they are happy to help out.

Here are some additional easy ways to expand your link building campaign:

• Testimonials – Give testimonials on other websites. This can help you earn their respect, links and honest inbound traffic. Try to get in touch with the editors with outreach: Write to a website, compliment services or volunteer a quote.
• Design Galleries – Feature your website on feature sites like CSS REMIX, Drawer or CSS Gallery.
• Feature Stories – Reporters are constantly looking for leads or content on websites like HARO and PR Newswire, if you can provide them with relevant content for a story they will link to you or your website.
• Chamber of Commerce – Ask your local Chamber of Commerce to post a link to your business website.
• BBB - Get a link on the Better Business Bureau’s website.
• Follow Forum Signatures - Here’s a list of forums that have ‘do follow signatures’http://niceblogger.com/2009/11/29/dofollow-forum-list-dofollow-signatures/. You can also submit to Yahoo answers, and vote yours to the top.
• Create Aboutus.org, Squidoo and Crunchbase Profiles – They all have follow links.
• Create Flickr Accounts - For the photo descriptions, you can embed HTML links.  These HTML links show up as no follow, but the added visits to your site through these organic links have many experts convinced of their contributions to SEO.
• Create YouTube Accounts - Post Meaningful original videos about your services and drive real search traffic to your site from your videos, which can also be embedded in blog posts using the ‘Smart YouTube‘ plugin in WordPress.
• Infographic Creation – Infographics turn boring raw data and numbers into quick, easy to follow stories via images.  You can capitalize on their current popularity and gain a lot of link juice.
• SEO Consulting – Well worth it, better than searching Google and guessing! Spend 3 to 4 hours a month to get answers to your frustrating SEO questions about differing online opinions about specific issues.

These tools and strategies are not a silver bullet to get your website to the top of Google but by choosing the approaches that are advantageous to your industry, you will have an edge over a lot of your competition.  SEO should not become a daunting task for your company, it is basically online reputation management combined with marketing initiatives.  This process could be viewed as a method of staying in touch with your industry’s community online because the popularity of your site is a main indicator of your success in the search engines.  Get started today; use the tools and strategies provided in this article to expand your SEO efforts and overall knowledge of SEO tools that are available to you.

Source  http://thefastertimes.com/tech/2010/11/09/seo-for-beginners/