Analytics 2.0™

Published by Sonia

Different people might have different opinions when it comes to deciding which search engine is the best. However, there’s no denying that Google is in the front of the pack, leaving all the other search engines behind to eat its dust.

Google is not just a search engine, it now is a well-known brand for a lot of online tools. From the simple search engine, it now spawned into Google Maps, Google Earth, Gmail and Google AdWords for our PPC needs.

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the practitioners rely so much on Google standards, specifically on how Google ranks the different websites. They use this knowledge to formulate ideas and ways on how to increase their Google rankings.

But the main question still remains: How exactly can you pattern your SEO, the Google way? Read along as we try to dissect the different things that you can implement in your SEO campaign so that your website can enjoy top Google rankings.

The number one thing that you need to fix and review is your website content. Your content should be well-written. Google also looks into keyword saturation. Don’t get overexcited when it comes to incorporating keywords in your content. Please keep down to a tolerable level. Nobody would want to read a website that just repeats the keywords over and over again. Ultimately, it won’t make any sense.

It is also important that you update your website. Nobody wants to read data and information written three years ago. Make it a point to at least update it once a week or once a month or whenever you have new information about the subject.

Google also has this tool called Google Sitemaps, which will show you exactly how Google looks into your website. Through this tool you can better understand what Google looks for when it looks at your site.

Marketing your website will also make Google notice it more. Getting listed in online directories like Dmoz and Yahoo will do wonders for your site. Promoting your website in social networking sites like Digg, Stumbleupon and even Facebook will also lead to increased traffic which will eventually be a factor in your Google rankings.

Try to stay away from using Black Hat SEO techniques like link farming or using hidden text. This can get you banned from Google which will be very detrimental to your site. If you think you can fool this search engine, you’d better think again. Google has already re-hashed its algorithms when it comes to ranking websites so if you have dirty tricks up your sleeves, Google will not allow it.

Lastly, you should try getting inbound and outbound links to popular sites. Generally speaking, Google will allow you to have increased rankings if you have links of other websites which have good rankings also.

Of course, you don’t have to disregard the different basic principles when it comes to SEO. You can also use your keywords in title tags and meta tags. The image descriptions and even the title of the images can also be used to reflect your keywords.

As a last note, make it a point to be updated with Google. They usually have new rules or regulations when it comes to SEM and you should be updated if ever there are changes or new rules.

Climbing up the Google rankings will not happen overnight. It takes time, effort and commitment from you to make this goal into reality. But once it really happens, all the hard work will all be worth it.

Post a comment . May 25, 2009
Filed under: SEO, Climbing up Google rankings, Google Adwords, Keyword Saturation, Search Engine Optimization, updating website content

Published by Sonia

 

  A true blue search marketing professional might sound a little too intimidating, but it does entail a lot of responsibilities and an ample amount of success to be part of that special league. We all know that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are both power players in the internet marketing system. More people are now being lured to this very lucrative business because they are now seeing how many people are benefiting from it and are handsomely rewarded.

There are a lot of things that you have to do in order to be a professional when it comes to SEM. Here are some of the things that you need to get started with before you can launch your full-fledged career in SEM.

§         Learn everything that you can about SEM

Power is really knowledge. Before you can start and be an SEM professional, the first thing that everybody will tell you is that you have to learn EVERYTHING about SEM. You have to live and breathe SEM before you can actually be successful about it. Try to educate yourself using different online resources. Make sure that these online resources are dependable and reliable. If you have friends who have already started in SEM, you can acquaint yourselves with them and try to learn a thing or two when it comes to how they started and how they maintain it.

§         Observe existing SEM models online

There are a lot of online resources that you can tap into so that you will have a better grasp of how SEM works. It’s better if you can study these models and see how they work. You can pick up pointers from these existing models and apply it on what you want your SEM campaign to take form.

§         Set your SEM goals

Before you go out there and conquer the SEM world, it’s better that you make write down your goals first. You can do your long-term goals first and think of what you want to achieve at the completion of your SEM project. Then you can support these long-term goals by thinking of short-term goals which are ways on how you can achieve your long-term goals. Make sure that all your goals are specific and attainable.

§         Be updated about SEM

Your process of learning about SEM should not stop. This is an industry which is very much involved in a fast-evolving world. Updates on SEM and technologies which are related to it happen on an everyday basis. Make sure that you are abreast of the latest happenings so that you will not be left behind. Subscribe to online forums or newsletters so that you know the latest happenings and developments.

Becoming an SEM professional might be a daunting task, but once you wrap your head on it and set your goals, you’ll be fine. Make sure that this is what you want. Being a professional means that you have to invest a lot of time and money into this venture, so you’d better make sure before you decide to take the leap and get a chunk of the SEM business.

Post a comment . May 07, 2009
Filed under: Uncategorized, Learning about SEO, SEM Professional, SEO, Setting SEM goals

Published by Sonia

Here are Some Things You Need to Keep in Mind

You probably heard a lot about Pay per Click (PPC) as a tool used to increasing traffic and generating sales to your site. PPC is a very beneficial tool and it works wonderfully in generating traffic. The popularity of PPC stems from the fact that it is a very cheap way to increase website traffic and it is very effective.

If you want to venture into PPC, here are some things that you need to keep in mind:

§ You should know how PPC and search engines work

Basically PPC works hand in hand with search engines. If a person inquires or types a search inquiry and hit the search button, the search engines results page (SERPs) will display the webpage results and at a little corner in the page, you will see a list of PPC ads related to that same inquiry.

Search engines profit from PPC because every time a person clicks on an ad, the person who own the PPC will have to pay the search engine the amount that both parties agreed upon per click.

No one is on the losing end since the PPC ad owners will also get advantages from this. Since a person clicked on their ads, the person will be led to the landing page, where further information is given to about the product, service or company.

Since the person is led to the site, this will lead the company to get more sales because the clicks can be converted to a purchase made by the person visiting the site.

§ PPC requires bidding

If you refer to the previous part, you will see that the PPC owner and search engine will have to set an agreed amount that the PPC owner will pay the search engine when someone clicks on his ad.

Before reaching the agreed amount, the PPC owner will submit bids on how much is he willing to pay for each click. In order to be considered for the bidding, the PPC owner will have to be at least on the top 4 maximum bids for the keywords.

§ Research on the different search engines that offer PPC ads

Selecting the right search engine to carry your ads is a tough choice since there are many options out there. You have to consider a lot of things before you choose one. Try to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each search engine.

For example, you are choosing a popular search engine; the number one advantage of this is your ads will be given a lot of exposure but one of the main disadvantage of choosing a popular one is you will have to compete with a lot of PPC ads.

§ Be aware of click fraud

As with many things online, PPC is not safe from wrongdoings and fraud and one main fraud that is abusing PPC is click fraud.

This happens when a person or an automatic program clicks on your ads endlessly which will lead you to incur more expenses paying for these clicks. But the bad thing about this is the clicks you are paying for will not convert to sales for your website or company. In the end, you will just lose money without getting any income in return.

Click fraud is one of the most prevalent heists when it comes to PPC. Sadly, most search engines do not have anti-click fraud programs so you have to take it upon yourself. Be vigilant and make sure you keep track of all the clicks being administered to your ads. Once you observe that you are being a victim of click fraud, and then you can report it to the search engine.

These are just 4 things that you need to be aware of once you want to try PPC. The best thing that you have to do before you start with it is learn everything that you can before you give it a try. Once you know everything that you can about PPC then you will be better-equipped to handle any PPC situation that you will come across.

Post a comment . May 01, 2009
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing, CLick fraud, Pay per Click Ads, Search Engine Results Page

Published by Sonia

If you want to get into Search Engine Marketing (SEM), specifically in Pay per Click (PPC), you are faced with two options. That is if you want to do it yourself or you want to outsource to a PPC provider company. Sometimes the small businesses have no choice but to learn it the hard way and do it themselves simply because they don’t have the needed funds to pay for a company who would willingly do it for them for a fee. But if you are a big company and you have a sizeable marketing budget to spend, then you can entertain the thoughts of having a worry-free PPC campaign and just leave it to the hands of the experts, or should you?

 

To shed light on whether you should outsource your PPC campaign or not, here are three important questions that you should ask yourself before you do it. In general, these are the things that the PPC provider companies won’t tell you.

 

§         Is your business easy to understand? Or does it entail a lot of technical and specific know how?

Let’s face it, no one can know your business as much as you do. No one should know it better than you do. When it comes to outsourcing to PPC provider companies, the company that you will choose to carry on your PPC campaign should know your business extensively. They should know what your customers are like and what the specific nature of your business is. Generally, they should have a good grasp on what you do before they can help you with PPC. If your domain is fairly technical then you also need a specialized PPC agency to do the campaign for you which would mean that you will have to spend more money for it.

 

§         Is your company willing to spend thousands on your PPC campaign?

Most PPC provider agencies specialize on high-end PPC campaigns whose price tags will come close to $10,000 or more. Most of the PPC provider companies aim at tapping the large companies who have a lot of budget to spend when it comes to PPC. So, if you’re just a small company just getting by, it is not advisable that you entail the services of a PPC agency.

 

§         Do you want your PPC campaign to be more targeted and flexible?

If you answer yes to this question, then you should not definitely be outsourcing your PPC. Doing it yourself will lead the campaign to be more flexible and adaptable to everyday changes. If you see something wrong with it, it can be easy for you to change it rather than calling your PPC agent and telling him about the problem and having him act on it several days later. Today, the faster you act on a problem, the better. Because someone else’s PPC campaign might be beating yours just because of this small mistake.

 

Post a comment . Apr 19, 2009
Filed under: Uncategorized, doing PPC yourself, outsourcing PPC work, PPC budget, PPC provider companies

Published by Sonia

 

You might be asking yourself, what is DMOZ? First off, it stands for Directory Mozilla which is an online directory available in all countries around the globe. A volunteer group of people runs and maintains this site.

What started as an online project now spawned into a global online directory which helps in cataloging and organizing websites depending on their category. Back then, the internet still didn’t have super power search engines as the ones we are enjoying right now, so online directories are utilized in searching for websites.

One of the greatest things about Dmoz is that getting your website listed in this online directory is completely free of charge. You just have to accept its terms and conditions and after that you can already submit your website to this directory.

If you have an SEO website, what advantages can Dmoz bring to your website? Here’s a couple of reasons why many webmasters are submitting their sites to Dmoz.

 

• Dmoz is considered as a database of the internet

Being one of the first online directories surely has its perks. Dmoz is considered the database of the whole internet and is closely working with popular search engines like Google, AOL, Lycos and HotBot. Once your website is submitted to Dmoz, there will be increased chances of it being crawled and ranked by these search engines. If you get listed in Dmoz, your site will automatically be submitted to Google Directory as well.

 

• Dmoz can help your site achieve higher page rankings

Since Dmoz can help expose your site to popular search engines, you can enjoy higher page rankings and conversion rates, provided that you have a set of good keywords.

 

• A Dmoz listing can also translate to free advertising to your site

Getting listed in a free online directory, you definitely can’t go wrong with this. You have nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain since you will be achieving free advertising for your website. This is a global directory so your website can be seen from Alaska to Africa. You will definitely reach a wider audience by getting listed.

 

• The Dmoz community uses real people in listing websites, not machines or robots

Through this, fraudulent websites which are made to de-fraud the spiders and programs will not get through the directory. The downside to this is that humans are much slower than computer programs so you have to wait a while before you can get listed in the directory, but after that it will all be worth the wait.

 

• Dmoz can help you get back links

Since your site is listed in an online directory, other sites can see your site and put back links to your site in their own website. Back links are a great way to increase page rankings in Google and the more you have from reputable sites, the better.

Dmoz will definitely help your SEO campaign, no questions asked about that one. You just have to patient though, because a lot of people are finding it hard to get listed in the directory. There is definitely a waiting time but after you get listed, you can reap all the benefits there is.

Post a comment . Apr 12, 2009
Filed under: SEO, Directory Mozilla, free publicity to your site, Google directory, internet database, online directory, tools you can use to help in SEO