Components of a Well-Rounded SEO Campaign
August 30th, 2007 | Posted by Ben KeoghIt is no secret that SEO is the most powerful, cost-effective, and results-yielding website promotional tool. Our SEO campaign must be well-rounded to win and achieve the sweetest reward; traffic, long-term visibility and ranking that will result to business success.
However, some Website owners put too much attention on a single element of SEO. Instead of focusing on the hottest SEO “trendâ€, Websites with long-term SEO success, focus on a variety of strategies with equal emphasis. If you are only giving special importance on a single element of SEO, then you are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms.
Search engines algorithms like of Yahoo and Google are evolving. The continuous change is for the benefit of all the internet users. That is why having a well-rounded SEO campaign will win you. You can ensure the capability of your SEO well into the future and you can also reduce the impact of search engine algorithm changes.
Take a look at the changes of the search engine algorithm which affects SEO campaigns:
- Before, a lot of Webmasters focus and depend on keyword tags to boost their ranking and visibility. Unfortunately, the significance of keyword tags was then demoted by search engines resulting to many Websites’ downfall.
- The trend of the domain also plays a part. But another key difference is the well-rounded nature of a website’s SEO program which focuses on a variety of strategies and giving the same importance to each tactics.
- A more recent situation is link exchange networks. Search engines are now depreciating links that are part of link farms and apparent reciprocation schemes. Again, some websites are suffering from it.
Now we need to broaden our horizons to suffer less likely when uncontrollable factors happen.
Here are the components to run a well-rounded SEO campaign:
- Right Key Phrases
- Provide Quality Content
- Start Blogging
- Online Articles
- Online Press Release
- Submit Your Site to Quality Directories
- Provide Useful Tools and Resources
- Link-building
Right key phrases are the starting point for any SEO program. Researching words and phrases through a tool like WordTracker.com can reveal the search behavior of your target audience. Armed with this information, you can create the kind of content they are after!
Quality content helps your SEO efforts in three ways:
1. It makes your link-building efforts much easier.
By providing creative, unique and regularly updated content comes more links. Webmasters will want to link to your site; doing so will provide extra value to their visitors. Of course, you will also be adding value for your site’s visitors too. Think about the kinds of websites you would like to link and I bet they all have one thing in common; relevant and useful content.
2. It tells search engines what your website is all about.
The content of your Webpage tells the search engine what your site is all about in the first place. The more content you have, the more you can use titles, links and page copy to educate readers and search engines alike.
3. And most importantly, it keeps visitors on your site longer giving you a better chance of turning them into clients.
The next time you visit a website, take a moment to stop and ask yourself “why am I visiting this website?†Chances are your answer is going to have something to do with the content. The fact is, content is king. Having the most unique and informative content that is relevant to your genre of website will greatly increase user retention.
Blogs can play a major role in SEO because they make web publishing quick and easy. Blogs are easy to use, making website owners more likely to create new content on a regular basis. Because of the freshness of its content, it is crawled often by the various search engine spiders. That frequent addition of newly crawled content to the search engine indexes will enhance your level of visitor’s traffic.
Blogs also help your SEO program by social means. Popular blogs can drive a flood of traffic over-night through one link. As the blog post ages traffic will subside, but, the link remains - thus passing on its “trust valueâ€. Blogs typically spread links in a viral nature. Blogs can also attract inbound links, especially if you are an authority.
Online article publishing is one of my favorite ways to gain a lot of inbound links with only a little effort. Write articles on a regular basis about each of your affiliate products and submit them to online article directories, article submission services, ezine publishers and website owners in your niches or fields of interest. Do not make them advertising pieces, but rather stories or news discussing features and benefits for readers. At the end, add your byline with affiliate link and / or other contact information. This can increase website visitors, leads as people subscribe through your auto-responder forms, sales and website links, increasing your search engine rank for better positioning when people conduct website searches.
Newsworthy press releases help your business. You write your press release on something newsworthy like a new product launch, announcement of new service, awards, or other item of interest. When you submit it online like in PRWeb.com, it will often get picked up by respectable news websites, RSS feeds, blogs and more. If you hyperlink some of your key phrases, all of those blogs and websites will be pointing toward your website with key phrase hyperlinks.
An optimized press release is an extremely effective marketing tool. You will experience significant traffic from potential clients, interest from editors and higher overall rankings on your selected keywords. Increase your brand awareness and get listed in the top News search engines. Optimize your release and see results!
Web directories can strengthen your link popularity and make you less susceptible to ranking fluctuations caused by search engine updates. I recommend to clients that they add their websites to one or two general directories (like Best of the Web) and as many niche directories as possible.
Niche directories carry the same benefits of general Web directories. But because they are specific to your Website’s topic, they can give your SEO program a lot of boost. Get listed to similar sites like yours.
Web-based resources and tools are an extension of the last point, quality content. But now we are taking the content idea to a higher level. Here are the three reasons why your site needs useful tools and resources:
1. They give your visitors useful information
2. They increase your website’s “buzz†factor.
3. They make your site easier to link to. An example might be a home buyer’s resource center, tailored for the city or town you live in.
Do not think of link-building as an isolated component of your SEO program. Think of it as an inseparable part of everything you do online.
Your website is your internet property, and it has value. What gives your website saleable value (typically) is the amount of traffic the site can generate. Links are one of the most important factors in generating substantial website traffic, search engine rankings, trust, publicity, market intelligence and more. A substantial link network offers significant value to the overall package when determining a website’s value.
If links are traded between sites of relevant or related topics, this can add value to the score of your page since the topic of the page linking to you is a major factor considered for rankings by the search engines. Be aware not to trade links for the sake of garnering more links - this can hurt your ranking if too may are ‘off-topic’ (this is a spam indicator). Reciprocal links must be traded on the basis of providing mutual traffic within a related field. These links generally establish both sites as helpful resources in the eye of users.
Inbound links (from other sites to yours) are a key part of search engine visibility - especially with Google. The goal is to make your site easier for people to link to, and to steadily increase the quality and quantity of links you receive over time.
Now does this article help you? I can say that it will. Always remember that your website is the center of your SEO campaign. So try building using a well-rounded SEO habit. Good Luck!
Top 10 Strategies to Boost Your Blog Traffic
August 16th, 2007 | Posted by Ben KeoghFor a small business, a weblog or blog is a perfect low-cost expert positioning tool. Blogs are a practical way to build brand awareness and establish an individual’s expertise in a particular area. There is absolutely no use at all if no one knows your blog. You need to get the traffic in to benefit a lot! In this article you will get effective strategies of the common ways bloggers and webmasters drive more traffic into their site and here it goes:
1. Selecting the Exact Blog Software
Choosing the exact Content Management System or CMS should be easy for the bloggers to use, and brings together the features that allow the blog to grow and develop. Start off by asking yourself some questions and make a list of all of the features and tools you need as well as your budget. If you want to set yourself apart, a custom blog solution is a great deal. The one that can be completely customized to your users. However, WordPress, Blogger, MovableType, Typepad, GeekLog or TextPattern will do, but creating from the beginning needs you to be very creative with functionality and formatting. Think about the following in order to help down your choices: (more…)
Blogging Tools You Should Be Using
June 28th, 2007 | Posted by Ben KeoghBlogging is a great technique for your growing business. It gives you the confidence to create a trustful image to your customers and customers-to-be. Your blogs should be frequently updated, well-designed and credible for you to achieve its tangible benefits. Not only should you be planning a blog for your business, but a blog for you, your company or your organisation should be part of your ongoing marketing strategy.
This article highlights some of the most important blogging tools that you need to be using to market your website, your services and your products.
What is a Blog?
Blog is a shortened name for weblog (pronounced as web-log or we-blog) from the words Web and Log. Writing, maintaining or adding an article to an existing blog is called blogging. Individual articles on a blog are called blog posts, posts or entries. A person who posts these entries is called a blogger.
Blogs are frequently updated journals, newsletters or Websites, with commentary and links intended for general public consumption. A blog is far from a static link list or home page, it consists of many relatively short posts, usually time-stamped, and organised in reverse chronology so that readers can check the most recent post first. To blog is an activity similar of a researcher in many ways.
Why is This a Good Thing for Business?
Blogging is a great technique for your growing business. It gives you the confidence to create a trustful image to your customers and customers-to-be. Your blogs should be frequently updated, well-designed and credible for you to achieve its tangible benefits. Blogs should be added in your strategic marketing plans, because now a days competition is wise, blogs could not be ignored anymore and these are the reasons why:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
Blogs will enjoy higher rankings for relevant keywords on search engines because they are constantly updated. - They are interactive in nature
Blogs can build relationships with your customers by sharing information, corporate culture and expertise. You can check those who are interested and get connected with them based on their comments, suggestions or inquiries at the end of your post. - Anticipation for your site
Your audience will have the eagerness to visit your site because of the anticipation of fresh blogs all the time. - Strengthen your brand
You are able to show your passion and expertise for your business that would create your credibility. - Better search engine rankings
People will add links if your blogs are substantial. More links means more traffic which leads to better search engine rankings. - Make revenues for your blog
If you can have a good crowd that loves your blogs, you can offer ad spaces that are looking to market your audience; you can make income from it. - Saves money
By blogging, you will raise your profile on the Web that will help to increase visits to your site, and that is cheap marketing! - Business support group
You can even meet a number of business partners and a lot of interesting people that will help you provide and expand your business ideas. (more…)Business Benefits of Blogs
June 1st, 2007 | Posted by Ben KeoghBlog is derived from the word Weblog which means Web and Log. These are entries such as journals, newsletters or diaries which are regularly updated for public consumption. Blogs correspond to the personality of the author or the Web site itself.
Blogging is a great method of communication especially for your growing business. But m any companies still view blogging as something only done for personal reasons or by people who wish to show pictures of their pets. A well designed weblog is crucial to your company’s reputation. We all value our company’s brand identity and that is why this article will tell us tangible business benefits of blogs and why it can no longer be ignored in businesses nowadays. As we read along, we will provide you reasons why business owners should add blogs to their website and why should they maintain and keep it updated regularly.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): Search engines love a site that is constantly updated. That is why blogging is great for businesses because they are updated far more often than most Web sites, which are fixed; they enjoy higher rankings for relevant keywords on search engines like Google.
- They are interactive in nature: Blogs have comment entries at the end of each post. Your customers and would-be-customers will be allowed to make some comments, suggestions or any inquiries with your products. You can check those who are really interested and get connected with them.
- Anticipation for your site: Blogs that are updated frequently will be a good sign for your targeted audience, since they will read something new and learn new things from it that will give them eagerness on visiting your site. Companies are always trying to win mindshare by sticking on advertisements of themselves almost everywhere, along with getting publications to write about them. With a blog you always get this exposure and major publications are more likely to write about your company since the information is readily available.
- Strengthen your brand: Blogs help to position you and your company as experts and leaders in your industry. You are able to show your passion for your business that would create a trustful image from your customers.
- Better search engine rankings: If your blog has good contents, people will liberally add links to it. More links means more traffic which leads to better search engine rankings.
- Make revenues for your blog: If you have regular audience interested in your blog topics, try to offer advertisement space to organizations that are looking to market your audience. In fact, if your blogs become really popular then advertisers will call you.
- Saves money: By blogging, you will raise your profile on the web that will help to increase visits to your site, and that is cheap marketing! While a blog can also complement your existing Web site, it easily can replace it as well.
- Sense of belongingness: If your market feels as though they are part of the community, then you will more likely to succeed in selling your products. Blogs (along with other online communities) can help build the feeling of being part of a group. When people feel as though they belong to something, they are more likely to remain loyal. A loyal customer also becomes your best salesman.
- Business support group: You can even meet a number of business partners. It may also keep you in touch with a lot of interesting people that will help you provide and expand your business ideas.
