Search engine optimization best practices and SEO strategy. Grassroots SEO from the ground up, including local SEO and mobile SEO. #SEO

Distinguish yourself with Quality Content Building

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Last month we discussed how to use consistent content building to improve your search engine rankings. Step #1 covered the importance of quality content because quality content on your site gives search engines the understanding that you are a destination for information and knowledge. What do you do next?

Step #2 – Keep it fresh.

The wide open web is ever expanding and constantly growing, is your website growing as well? Every day thousands of new sites launch, and that means fresh competitors presenting information in new and interesting ways. Content freshness helps web sites as it offers the benefit for users to have a look at new and useful information. Keeping your web site fresh is worth the extra effort, with the addition of new content; your website is adding value to the end users. While the “freshness factor” is very important to search engines like Google, what’s even more important is that your website continues to grow through content building. If you have not read your website’s content in the past few months, take a closer look. Is it still representing your company in the way that you think it should?

Localize target keywords for better search results

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Ranking with the search engines for local markets, requires a shift in marketing the big three search engines for global traffic. If your service is not global, then do not dilute your SEO efforts from targeted local online markets.

Your #1 goal is to use localized target keywords. Actual localized keywords will bring you a steady stream of natural traffic through local search.

Here are the steps involved for successful optimization in local markets.

1. Localize your target keywords. This includes prefixing or suffixing local terms, names, and names of areas, cities or zip codes with target keywords.

2. Make sure your website is submitted to local search engines, directories and web based yellow pages.

3. Display your mailing address with street address, zip code and complete. Once your site is indexed, these words gain prominence as a part of content.

Is affiliate marketing right for you?

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For the beginner, online affiliate marketing can be confusing, frustrating, and expensive.  Top internet marketing affiliate programs are a great way to earn income from your home via the internet. A successful affiliate marketing partner program takes time to build, but with a bit of effort it has the ability to increase your online revenue noticeably.

The key to success is choosing the right affiliate marketing partner program from the start and this may take some research on your part.
Two key things to consider before beginning an affiliate marketing program:

1. Find a niche you understand. If you have knowledge about the products or services being offered, you will be in a better position to relate to the people coming to your website. Passion about the niche does translate to the quality of your content and site.

2. Make it relevant. Make sure that the internet marketing affiliate programs you select are relevant to your website’s theme.

To become a successful affiliate, finding your target market is top priority. The general perception about internet marketing affiliate programs is that you simply have to pick an affiliate program to start promoting a product and you are instantly transformed into a successful Affiliate Marketer. Although adding relevant elements can certainly have a positive effect on your program, the ultimate success of an affiliate marketing program is based on the concrete development of a well constructed website. While affiliate marketing is one of the most popular means of web promotion for most online business, few people have what it takes to continuously improve their website to its maximum potential and many an affiliate marketing partner program ends up flopping in the early stages.

Define what products you know the most about, and which products you think you could do the best job of selling. Your next step is to select the merchants you wish to work with and analyze their affiliate programs. If you are signing up for a commission based affiliate marketing program then you need to understand how the term revenue is defined. Most affiliate marketing programs will calculate commission on the gross value of the sale. You’ll need to know if you’re going to be paid monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly. Be sure to check if there is a quota that must be met before you can be paid.  Also, make sure you know the method of payment up front. Some merchants choose to pay by check, direct deposit, or Paypal. Knowing how the compensation arrives can motivate many affiliate marketers to step up their marketing efforts tremendously.

You’ll be investing your own time and money into advertising and other expenses. The internet marketing affiliate programs  you seek should reward you well for the effort you spent. This means seeking out companies that have high-volume products that you can promote. Look for a commission in the fifty to sixty percent range. Do your research on the company: Is the company managed well? Is the company reputable? Is there a knowledgeable representative who can offer training and timely advice? How quickly do they respond to your inquiries? If the company is lacking in any of these areas, this could be a sign for you to move on to another venue.

Identifying the right internet marketing affiliate programs and keeping your affiliate partners satisfied is important for the success of your affiliate marketing venture. If you desire to work at home, but are sketchy as to whether your business skills are enough to succeed, think smart and master the business of affiliate marketing.

Identify your niche with strategic internet marketing

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There are several generic, and basic forms of strategic internet marketing, and most can work for a broad class of websites and online businesses through the different web site search engine optimization tactics available. In the online world, with affordable search engine optimization you need to choose your target niche market too. While selecting your target market seems unimportant, it will waste a lot of online marketing dollars if done incorrectly. When you sharpen your focus with strategic internet marketing, and properly identify your target market and users, you will be able to market your business online more cost effectively.

So, why is strategic internet marketing important? Your target market is the group of people or companies to which your business aims to sell its products or services. Well, you say, “I want to sell to everyone. Why should I pick just one group?” There’s an old marketing saying that goes like this “Target everyone and you target no one”. How can you develop effective web site search engine optimization strategies without knowing who you’re talking to.

You need to differentiate itself from competition in order to survive. Consider these customer characteristics when your develop an affordable search engine optimization strategy:

1.Geographic. The first area to consider when researching your target market is geographic, people or businesses in a certain area. Each geographic area is unique and has it’s own identity.

2.Demographic. The second area identifies the basic qualities and characteristics of your target market. They may include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, etc. Collecting information about your current or past clients may help show things they have in common which will help in future marketing. Using your web log data is vital here.

3.Behavioral. These are made up of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your target market. They include the emotion, reasoning, psychology, logic and thought processes behind your target markets decision to buy your product. It’s really important to understand what motivates them to buy.

Upon completion of a thorough strategic internet marketing review of the target marketing metrics listed above, it’s then time to select your web site search engine optimization approach. You will need to determine what most influences your target market. Then evaluate your competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, and their internet marketing tactics. With this information in hand, you are now ready to create a strategic internet marketing plan, including a your online marketing budget.

Start your plan by selecting the most affordable search engine optimization tactics for your website. These may include;

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – link-building, keyword optimization, etc.
2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – search engine advertising, also called pay per click advertising or PPC.
3. Viral Marketing – video / file-sharing, tell-a-friend, etc.
4. Affiliate Marketing – having others sell your products for a percentage
5. Online PR – online press releases, blogging, etc.

As a part of creating a strategic internet marketing initiative, list all possible affordable search engine optimization techniques that fit your budget and have the potential to reach your target market. Once you have a master list for web site search engine optimization, run each through the following checklist to narrow down the best options, and create your final list for your strategic internet marketing plan for your website or online business.

A successful search engine marketing plan will include these elements:

1. It will reach your identified target market.
2. It will set your website apart from your competition.
3. It Will fit within your online marketing budget for your website.

Plan an SEO strategy for your website

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If you’re actively pursuing internet marketing online to achieve more natural search traffic channeled to your Web site, then you’re very likely considering launching a search engine optimization (SEO) initiative.

Prior to you beginning your search for an online internet marketing firm or preparing to launch into this plan yourself, consider what you’re willing — and not willing — to do to improve your site’s search engine ranking.

Let’s begin with the basic questions that will help assess your course towards creating an effective search engine optimization strategy. The absolutely critical question you must ask yourself is, what are the business objectives for your Web site? Do you want to increase traffic, increase sales, improve visibility, generate more leads, or something else?

Before you can set your sights on garnering greater search engine referrals, consider targeting specific areas of your business that can provide demonstrative results. Make sure that the design of your website supports the business goals that you have identified. Do you have clear navigation to support your objectives? Is your “call to action” visible and can it be easily monitored and measured?

It’s important that you be specific about your online business goals and objectives before you launch a natural search engine optimization program. It’s equally important that you be as specific and realistic as possible. Understand your competition, trying to out position an established 10 year old, 20,000 page website with a 3 month old, 15 page website is not very realistic. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make substantial improvements to your site.

If you want to increase sales by 5 percent, for example, you need to factor in current conversion rates, average sales, and current visitor data to get a good idea of how much more natural search engine traffic you need to attain your goals. You should also be aware of where your website stands compared with industry standards.

You’d better have access to your site’s analytics to prepare search engine optimization goals. Reviewing historical data is a critical step in establishing your online business objectives. It’s also a step you need to take to prepare to analyze your internet marketing online strategy results. If you are not sure where to begin, you can always hire an internet marketing firm to point you in the right direction.

Internet Marketing Formula

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I’ve been working on an expression formula using web analytics that represents most of the important variables in search marketing. A holistic approach to SEO demands a more robust explanation of how all the individual aspects of a web site interact with each other to produce great web visibility leading to more traffic.

Initially this formula deals with website attraction and how targeted prospects find a web site during search. The second part of the search marketing formula uses web analytics to uncover key performance elements of a web site and how each plays a role in converting visitors to customers.