Posts Tagged ‘search engine optimization’
by Steve Strauss on November 17th, 2009
Q: Steve – You always seem to write about making your small business unique – so as to set yourself apart from the crowd. That seems like good advice, but easier said than done. In my case, my small business is a website, and most websites are more or less the same, so what can we do?
JD
A: What if I told you that there was a surefire way to make your website standout and POP . . . would that be of interest to you? And what if I further told you that this method is inexpensive, easily... Read more »
by Christina Lee on December 3rd, 2008
Back in October, more than 44 percent of consumers said they planned to purchase holiday gifts online, according to a National Retail Federation survey. After all, the Internet provides convenience without crowds, not to mention a great number of gifting possibilities.
But so many options for consumers could bring too much competition for small business owners – that is, unless they properly prepare their Web site for the holiday season. Not only must they provide a reason to shop, but they must also promote that reason extensively.
Small business owners should first create a list a keywords that will lead... Read more »
by Veronica Stone on February 20th, 2008
One of the most important factors in any business’s success is the visibility they have to their potential customers, especially online. Whereas local newspaper and trade magazine advertising is a little easier due to the format only allowing a certain amount of advertising space, online advertising is a different story altogether. With thousands of competitors, your business will disappear unless you have a strong presence.
Once of the ways of doing this is by using Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. This is a multi-faceted process where your website is optimized with keywords related to your business, therefore pushing you up... Read more »
by Leeia Ladipoh on February 15th, 2008
Running a blog is a way of business these days. Blogs help bring customers in to read your posts – and has them stay to see what your business has to offer.
In a perfect world, the posts on your blog would come up in search engine listings or be linked to other blogs – and a flood of people would read your words, become interested in you and your product and then make a purchase from your business.
But making this perfect world come to life takes some work.
Here are some tips to making your blogs more valuable... Read more »
by Rebecca Button on February 7th, 2008
So you’ve got your web page squared away. It’s up and running and you’ve been getting decent traffic. But now you want to start getting noticed more. The best way to do this is to either hire a Search Engine Optimizer or invest some time and resources into learning yourself.
Once you’ve got the basics down, you’ll inevitably need to start focusing on the content of your pages. Content is crucial for anyone trying to increase their organic search results. While there are many books on the topic (and more coming as SEO evolves) the internet is also a great... Read more »
by Rebecca Button on January 7th, 2008
Looking for an inexpensive way to spread the word about your small business online? Forums can be a valuable resource for getting the word out about your company’s products and services, establishing credibility for yourself and your business, and driving traffic to your website.
Forum marketing has the perfect price tag for small business owners. It’s free to participate in forums, so this activity can easily fit into your expense budget. However, benefiting from forum marketing does require time, effort, and consistent activity.
Find the Right Forums
The first step to effectively market your business through forums is to identify... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on January 2nd, 2008
By now, most website owners know that getting reputable sites to link to their site will have a positive effect on rankings. The problem is getting GOOD sites to give you those links. A powerful marketing strategy for your website can be getting bloggers to not only list your e-commerce site, but to talk about your products and services. Bloggers are generally regarded as authorities on certain subject matter, which make blogs one of the best places to get those valued authority links.
What are authority links? They’re links coming from sites that are considered by search engines to be... Read more »
by Larry Slusser on December 14th, 2007
There are many reasons to produce your own podcast and put it on your site. First, if you are selling a product or service there is no better way to advertise than to tell people about your products or services. People respond well to voices and also will feel like they are getting to know you by listening to your voice. If you ever have a need to call them regarding anything, your voice will sound familiar. You could package it as an audio newsletter, audio product descriptions, however it would fit best with your niche.
Podcasting is a relatively... Read more »
by Danny Brown on December 7th, 2007
There seems to be a groundswell at the moment, when it comes to small businesses and their Internet presence. That groundswell is the opinion that to have any kind of success online, you need to buy specialist Search Engine Optimization (SEO) software to help with your web presence. Many companies have bought into this belief, and shelled out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the process. Yet it’s money that could have been spent in a far more productive manner.
Although there’s no denying that an SEO software package can and indeed does offer a decent service, it’s nothing... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on November 19th, 2007
Recently, Google’s page rank “smackdown” created a frenzy of confusion among website owners – leaving them wondering how their page rank dropped one, two or even five slots down. Well, the answer lies in Google’s new guidelines regarding links:
Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
So, basically, Google is on to you! They know all the linking tricks – everything, including paid links. And, if they catch you participating... Read more »