Internet Marketing, Web Design, SEO, Web 2.0 Optimization
Archive for October, 2011
What is Web 2.0 Marketing?
06 months ago
Web 2.0 Marketing Basics
Web 2.0 Marketing
There is plenty of buzz about the new “Web 2.0.” But in reality, many of us do not know too much about the fullness of its impact, especially where marketing is concerned. Just to get the point of the new web think about sites like Wikipedia, Ning, de.licio.us, facebook or Flickr. It’s all about getting everyone on the same page. (No pun intended!) It’s a two-way traffic exchange between the internet market and the user. No longer do users sit idly and simply read content, they can add some of their own. We are talking about a social web experience where we are all allowed input. Social networks that are constructed around one goal can quickly become powerful. The question remains then, “How can I use Web 2.0 as part of an effective marketing scheme?”
As the internet becomes more socially based, there are many marketing tools. Most of these social platforms are free to use and can help create valuable links back to the main business site. It’s all in how you choose to use each type of social media to your benefit.
Facebook for Marketing
Facebook is probably one of the most popular Web 2.0 tools. It is relatively easy to gather a group of friends that have shown some level of interest in your business or your products. Facebook can be used to share information on various products, give away incentives like freebies or drive some traffic to your site.
Squidoo for Marketing
Facebook Marketing
Squidoo is another great platform from which to work. Users create a “Squidoo Lens” that is filled with content and images pertaining to the area of their expertise. This site has comment fields where readers can leave comments or links. Links back to other pages, such as a main website or a contractor’s site can be added to the content as well.
Twitter for Marketing
Twitter is a site where a user gets the chance to make a mini-blog. Even though they limit each “Tweet” (message) to 140 characters, there is room to send out a real-time tweet to let customers know of a new product, blog post, business development or information. Links can also be attached to drive traffic to the site you desire. This is a very valuable tool and very simple to use. It can be a very effective tool to use to stay in close contact with your clients.
YouTube for Marketing
YouTube Marketing
Don’t over look other platforms, such as YouTube. This is a great tool, but it’s not for everyone. This site is a great way to turn multimedia into a marketing tool. The caution here though is to not just put up some boring sales pitch. It can be useful for using video marketing if you can upload an interesting or even humorous video that will make viewers want to check out your site.
These are just a few of many social marketing tools that are available to your business. The Web 2.0 social networking tools have various types of applications and appeal to different audiences. But they can all be used for marketing.
The main point is that in this new web 2.0 world in which we live businesses need to think outside the box in order to get their message out to the public.
What is Local SEO?
46 months ago
Local SEO Basics
Local SEO best practices
The World Wide Web, is just that – worldwide. There is no doubt that it is fascinating to see how far reaching the internet has become and how it has united the world in a strange way. And for those who can ship products around the world, the web can be the perfect place. But the global concept does not work for every business. Local businesses need to be able to use the web for meeting their business needs as well. And when I am looking for a painter, I do not need one from the other side of the world, I need one who can come to my neighborhood and paint my house. I will conduct a local search for a painting contractor.
Using local SEO means that I am trying to get the name of a local business in front of those who may need the services, or those who are in the general vicinity. It means that I will use the best SEO practices to market services or products to those who will need it in a certain region. The end result is that local SEO will help potential clients find an exterior painting specialist by searching locally.
Choosing Proper Keywords
As part of an existent SEO campaign you will want to expand to including the use of local keywords. “Painting contractor” will give you a very broad (worldwide) range of results. Local keywords which will help target local customers might be “painting contractor New Jersey,” or “exterior painting Essex County.” After selecting local keywords remember to include these in the content on the site.
Localized SEO
local SEO
One way to optimize local SEO is to use map programs in the major search engines. For instance, Google Maps allows you to register your site for free and then it will be seen in the localized results more often. Also remember to always put the physical address on every page of the website. This should include the city, state and zipcode for the area. This is precisely the type of information that will get indexed by search engine spiders.
There are more local business directories appearing on the web. These specialize in listing businesses that are located in specific geographical areas. Make sure that you have registered your business with these online directories. The listing will include a hyperlink to your business site.
One of the main things to remember when working on a business website is that you are trying to make it easy for customers to find your business. A regular SEO campaign is important and may work well. However, if you want to reach local customers a local SEO marketing campaign is necessary.
Building Brand Awareness
106 months ago
Website owners and marketing specialistsuse link building as part of their search engine optimization strategy that makes search engines rank them higher, leading to more visitors. Link building works because search engines presume that webpages link to valuable content. They compare the number of incoming links to a site as votes that help determine how high a site ranks when users search for relevant keywords.
SEO and branding
Website developers often focus their efforts on link building because they understand the value of that tactic. By focusing on a single SEO method, site owners risk losing value over time because search engines often change the way they compute their search results. One executive or high-level developer may decide to change the search engine algorithm and instantly send top-ranked websites into obscurity. This often renders expensive, prolonged efforts useless. When this happens, webmasters realize the danger of relying on a single SEO tactic to support their business.
Some parts of SEO do not depend on the rank assigned to a website by a search engine. For example, building brand awareness and recognition helps generate long-term sales. Tactics such as using brand names as anchor text can set the stage for impressive future search engine results. Another important part of SEO is relationship building which can help create lasting results. Web marketers who randomly put links in blog comments to build links might see gains for a while, but when search engines classify those links as spam, they hurt more than they help. However, those who create meaningful, relevant content on other websites, gain the most because the entire community begins to recognize a website as an authority in its field.
Ultimately, SEO experts can do more by building the reputation of a brand rather than focusing solely on building incoming links. While search engine results can easily change based on the purposes of site owners, the reputation of a brand or company will stay strong if properly promoted. Placing the proper priority on SEO tactics helps webmasters and web marketers to create lasting results.
Often SEO experts misplace their priorities by focusing their attention on fast, short-term results without thinking of the future. Brand reputation and credibility may not boost search engine standing overnight, but it will set the stage for a stable and valuable web presence that may actually cost less over time.
The quality of visitors attracted to a site through SEO determines how many convert into customers and sales leads. Visitors who follow links from related sites often have more interest in a brand or company than a visitor from a search engine who happened upon a relevant keyword. Even worse, visitors who follow spam links almost always have no interest in a brand. Spam either misled them into clicking a link or they clicked a link out of curiosity.
Anyone involved in website promotion should realize that link building forms just a part of a complete SEO effort. Also, webmasters who simultaneously build traffic inside and outside the search engines set the stage for lasting results that protect them from search engine business decisions over which they have no control.
This guest post was written by Alex Petrovic
Alex is a SEO strategist – Dejan SEO company and aLink building team leader
What is a Geo Tag?
37 months ago
A geo tag is the process of associating a geographical location with web page content. The webmaster can insert precise geographic coordinates in the code contained in a Meta tag which will tell search engines of an exact location. Geotagging usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates for a location. This geographical identification in the metadata is usually used for photographs, websites, RSS feeds or videos. Geotags give search engines the precise data needed to find a particular location.
GeO tags
How Does A Geo Tag Work?
Geo tags are useful for those searching for a particular business such as a painting contractor. It is important to find one in a specified locality so that they can perform their services. Geo tags are added into the code to the header of the site or blog. For example if I am searching for a contractor in Essex, New Jersey, the html code would look like this:
<meta name=”geo.position” content=”40.794747;-74.264883”>
<meta name=”geo.placename” content=”Essex, New Jersey, United States”>
<meta name=””geo.region” content=”us-nj”>
How does it work? “geo.position” is the tag that sets the latitude and longitude of the location. And “geo.placename” is the tag which inserts the specific town that is targeted by the site. The “geo.region” tag gives the information of the region, such as New Jersey.
This can be very useful because you can use a geo tag which will give the exact coordinates of where your business is located. Utilizing a geo tag can be very useful for contractors who only work within a specified region.
Geo Tags for Local Business
Let’s use our painting contractor as an example. I typed in “painting contractor” into google search and got 6,380,000 results. However, when I narrow the search down by being geographically specific and use “painting contractors new jersey” my search results diminish by half. That is still a very broad scope, but I also get a list of local businesses in that category.
The benefit to adding geo tags properly is that when someone from the area starts a search for a painting contractor the search engine will see that my site is close in proximity and therefore, it is considered more relevant to the search. Geo meta tags do have an influence on a site’s ranking.
Choosing the Right Keywords
We saw the difference in search engine results when we narrowed our search terms down by using geo specific terminology. It is no different when we are choosing appropriate keywords for local businesses. Depending on exactly how you want to execute your local SEO campaign, you will most likely want to choose keywords that are more localized. Instead of using painting contractor NJ, you may want to incorporate more specific information into the selection of keywords. For instance, using Essex County, NJ will be more specific for a targeted area.
Using best SEO practices means that the selected keywords will also be used in the content of the site as well as titles, etc. It will take a few months to get your ROI as a general rule. But after about a year with good results on painting contractor NJ, you will need to add other keywords or geo terms. The point is to not let the SEO campaign grow stagnant and be overtaken by the competition. You may want to add exterior painting NJ after doing further keyword research.
Interior House Painting Union NJ – Picone Painting and Paperhanging, Inc – (Featured Client)
87 months ago
Andrew Picone Painting and Paperhanging, Inc have been providing quality painting and wallpaper services in New Jerseyfor 50 years. The company is reputable and has memberships in two professional organizations, Painting and Decorating Contractors of America and National Guild of Professional Paperhangers, Inc. Their reputation as a quality painting contractor is remarkable. Picone Painting can provide over 100 references for projects that have been successfully completed in the New Jersey area.
Luxury House Painting Northern NJ
Picone Painting and Paperhanging is a business that provides expert and professional work. This includes interior painting, exterior painting and paperhanging. Before they begin a project the client will receive a written Painting Process Guide so that they will know exactly how the task will be carried out. This ensures that the customer is getting a quality project and is never in the dark as to how the job is being carried out. Picone also gives customers a written estimate that includes a guaranteed price. And to ensure that the project is done to the highest standards they will also give a 2-year warranty on both labor and materials.
Andrew Picone Painting and Paperhanging is dedicated to customer satisfaction and guaranteed quality work. Every project supervisor has at least 10 years of related experience. The business owner will be on the site every day while the project is being completed to ensure that it is being completed with the highest quality standards.
New Jersey homeowners can rest assured that exterior painting and interior painting projects will be completed in a timely manner using the best product and the most experienced laborers available for the job. In the house wallpaper, fine decorative finishes and wall coverings are all done right the first time while maintaining the highest quality standards.
Picone Painting is a trusted New Jersey exterior and interior painting contractor, residents can trust this reputable company for all their painting and wallpapering needs. Each project whether it is painting or paperhanging will be completed by laborers who have years of experience to back their work. Andrew Picone Painting and Paperhanging is a stable company which is dedicated to the highest quality standards in service. The business has over 50 years of service for customers in the New Jersey area.
What is the difference Between Social Networking and Social Media?
107 months ago
One of the greatest things about the new Web 2.0 is that the web is no longer just a place to go get information; it is alive and full of two-way interactions. Since it has made the transition into a social web and allows for so much interaction there can be great confusion regarding terms that we have become accustomed to hearing on a daily basis. Two terms that we hear used a lot both in marketing and outside of marketing platformsare Social Networking and Social Media. Many use these two terms interchangeably but they are not synonymous.
Social Networking
Social networking is basically an online social community. This can be on a strictly personal level, but it can also be a large part of business and internet marketing strategies. There are many social sites on line where people with common interests can share thoughts, ideas, plans or chat about life’s occurrences. Web users build online communities around a common interest. Coming together within a social network can revolve around limitless topics. A social network can be tied together around simple friendship, kinship, or financial exchanges, religious beliefs or virtually any type of shared interest. Basically, a social network is built by creating a page or a group and allowing the exchange of conversation or information about the interest that is shared. Social networking can be accomplished through the use of social media.
Social media is a very broad term that includes a wide variety of media vehicles. It is the “how” of how we socialize on the new Web 2.0. Social media is the vehicle we use to share information with our social network. Social media includes all of our social networking sites like facebook, twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. These are among the most popular social media sites. Facebook (as of August 2011) has reached 750 million members and comes in as the number one social networking site. There are many social media sites and they use a wide variety of formats. Blogger and WordPress are two of the most popular general blogging sites, but there are thousands of blogging sites. The possibilities are endless depending on the information being exchanged and the intended audience. There are article databases such as Ezine, sites to create your own page and content (called a “lens”) such as squidoo, and scribd where ebooks or other documents can be shared across the World Wide Web. Social media covers all the tools we use for social networking.
How to Use Social Media for Business
37 months ago
The social media world is a very broad one as there are so many options and platforms available from which to promote your business. While it can be a simple process in general, it can be rather complex to use these social platforms to their fullest potential. In some ways it is as easy as setting up a facebook fan page and sharing links to twitter accounts, blogs and various forums or websites. But it will take a detailed strategy to use these platforms properly and effectively. Otherwise it is like a scattershot in the dark at best. While employing the various modes of social media there is a certain (mostly) unspoken set of rules and ethics.
Using social media
Honesty and transparency are key to launching a successful internet marketing strategy. It is important for relationships for you to be yourself with customers and internet users who may interact with you. Do not act like you are a “customer” if you are a business owner. Being honest and open about who you are and what you are sharing builds trust between you and your customers. This is key to maintaining a good business relationship.
Make your communication informative rather than promotional. It is okay when using social media platforms (facebook, Twitter, etc…) to make suggestions about products that may be available but make it sound more like you are sharing information. You want to be careful that you do not come off as a spammer while engaged in interactions online. You do want to logically present your business information so that others are aware of what you are making available. Remember that most social media platforms are built around a casual atmosphere. Conversations may be business oriented, but you want to be congenial and informal.
Use every opportunity to answer any questions that may be asked. But try not to answer questions that already have answers unless you really have more information to add to what has already been said. Also try to avoid questions that were asked a long time ago, unless of course they are pertinent to current events.
Always listen to customer feedback. Don’t dismiss something just because it sounds negative on the surface. One of the benefits to using social media is to get constructive feedback. Yes, you are dispensing information and providing it to clientele, but they may have an idea that can help you provide better service or a way to improve communication between your business and the customers.
Using these guidelines, when dealing within the structure of social media, will help you become a trusted source. You need this trust so that customers can ask you for your advice.
SEO for Squidoo
57 months ago
Squidoo can be a powerful internet marketing tool. The founders wanted to design a platform that would work for web 2.0 optimization
Squidoo
and be a lot easier to use than the popular blog sites. The developers wanted to make it a “human” site where at least one small part of the web would make sense. They have grown to more than 3 million unique visitors each month. Squidoo has over 125,000 pages that have been built by over 65,000 users. For those who are pursuing Web 2.0 promotionand want to use social marketing to help a website or blog rank higher in search engine results a Squidoo lens creation should definitely be on the list.
To properly use a Squidoo lens you will want to pick an appropriate URL extension and title. Make sure that it will be relevant to the site you wish to link it to as well. Then use some of your targeted keywords or keyword phrases as the module titles. When search engines look at the titles or sub-titles they will interpret them as headings when indexing the Squidoo lens. When writing the content for the modules, use a good SEO keyword density. This means you should incorporate keyword phrases into the text so that they make up about 3 percent.
Another way to capitalize on a Squidoo lens is to set up the Google Blog Search Module properly on your lens. If this feature is set up correctly the descriptions and links will have your keyword phrases included and this will boost SEO.
A Squidoo lens can be used as a Web 2.0 promotion tool to boost your web sites in search engine results. A lens is a very powerful optimization tool because of the rank Google has given to it. Any links that come from a Squidoo lens to your site or blog is considered a relevant, or quality, backlinks. Because the quality of the link is recognized by Google, it will help your blog or website get indexed in Google search results quickly and will get your pages to rank higher.
To use Squidoo to its fullest potential you will want to set up a lens, which is basically a one page web site. Add some basic link building to get some traffic to your lens and ultimately to your site. The lens needs to be on an interesting subject. Perform some basic keyword researches to form long tail phrase to name your lens. Create a content rich lens, which includes images and covers the topic well. Set up the lens so that visitors are directed to your primary site. These back links are considered quality back links by Google. This will help optimize your site for search engine results.
Farewell, Steve Jobs
57 months ago
Today we say goodbye to Steve Jobs, one of the most iconic business leaders and innovators of our time. Jobs may be credited as one of the visionaries behind the way that we now live our lives and the way in wh
Steve Jobs
ich we interact with technology. He was in many ways the Tomas Edison of our generation, having invented or overseen the inventions of things like the iPhone, iPad, Macintosh computer, Mac OS operating system, which was the original inspiration for the Windows operating system, and even the
mouse, which was created to allow users to have greater control over a graphic interface, which itself was invented by Apple and Jobs.
Steve Jobs leaves behind Apple, a company that he founded and ran for many years, and that today is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Even as you read this blog post it is likely that you have on your person one of Apple’s iconic products (iPhone, iPod, iPad…) Apple is a company that reinvented itself multiple times and was able to emerge out of relative obscurity and an offering of inferior technology to become a leading provider of niche computers and grew to be a strong competitor to the PC. More recently, in the past decade Apple has again reinvented itself, from a manufacturer of computers, to a media company, a mobile phone company, and, with the Apple store, to one of the world’s leading media providers and distributors. Through most of these transformations Jobs was at the helm of Apple, guiding the company to achieve his vision.
Steve Jobs was a great man and he will be missed.
How to Choose a Domain Name
37 months ago
Choosing a domain name is perhaps the most important aspect of internet marketing. It is very important to choose an appropriate name th
Domain names
at will help drive traffic to the site. It can be a fine line to choose between options that are catchy and those that are confusing. The point is to select one which sums up the essence of the business, blog or content while keeping it easy for users to remember.
The best place to start when selecting a domain name is with 4 or 5 phrases or terms that sums up the site you are building. Brainstorm a few keyword phrases that might work with the site and that users might use when trying to locate you on the web. Don’t try to mimic a site that may be similar. This can be confusing to potential customers and actually work against you by driving traffic to a competitor’s site. This can be a frustrating situation for both you and the customers who are trying to find your information online.
Keep it simple to type in. Think about it from the user’s point of view. If it takes a lot of time and work to type the domain in because of spelling, or odd combinations you may lose a lot of traffic. Successful web design will contain a unique but uncomplicated domain name. It is good marketing to make sure it is easy to type. This means leaving out a lot of symbols, strange spellings and numbers. A good domain name will be a short one word or one phrase summary of the site without being too lengthy for users to type.
Successful marketing of a domain name will mean that it is easy for users to remember. This will do two things for your site. For one thing, it will help customers pass it on to their contacts because it’s easy to tell others about the site. The other factor is making it rank high in search engine results pages. A domain name that is properly set up will be ranked high in these results and will continue to come up in related searches.
For those who are serious about website marketing you will want to use the dot-com option. Driving traffic to a dot-net or a dot-org can be a successful endeavor, but over the long haul it is much easier to market a dot-com. Many people who use the internet still do not know the other extensions are even available. SO if it is at all possible stay with dot-com.
Always check with copyright.gov to make sure that you do not infringe on someone else’s copyright. Buying a domain name that is infringing on another’s copyright can seriously hinder your online business endeavors.
These are the basic elements that are needed to select a domain name. IF you apply these basic principles it will be easy to optimize the site so that it ranks higher in the search engine result pages.
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