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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.

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.

Create a web site

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Spend some time planning the web site layout and design, before you create a web site or e-commerce web site. Plan your website design with your business objectives and target audience in mind. Clearly define if you will use your new web site as a vehicle to provide information, or will you build an e-commerce web site to sell your products and services?

A simple way to create a web site is to use index cards to map out each potential web page. Index cards are easy to rearrange to help you with your web site design. Whatever your objective is for the web site design, plan to build your web site professionally, and remember that it is most important to have your site very well organized with simple navigation and clear “calls to action”.

With your web site design, keep your site’s theme colors appropriate to your business topic. Colors are representative of your business image. Do not use too many different colors when you create a web site. All of the colors you choose need to compliment each other. Photographs and images can help you personalize and promote your ideas, products, and services. In the website design, make your site text easy to read using text colors that contrast well with your website background.

When you create a web site, web content is extremely critical. The web content must be suitable to the planned purpose of your web site design theme. The web content needs to target your desired audience and support your web site objectives.

It is best to use a single subject or theme per web page in the website design. Each page should contain at least 250 words, but do not overwhelm your target audience with too much information. Create a web site with a simple layout and graphics that clearly communicate your message with a clear calls to action. Build your website home page to be responsive to the needs of your target audience. Start building your website or e-commerce website today!

Keys to successful writing for the web

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Understanding that content and written articles meant for business print does not invariably render suitably to the online universe of effective writing for the web. The rules that work on writing organic web content for online business websites are different than those for business text articles; excellent content created off-line does not consequently measure up to quality natural web copy for the small business website.

Three keys for writing successful natural web copy:

1. Be brief. Because most web readers skim through pages, write less content. Independent research has shown that many readers prefer to scan an article before reading it thoroughly. Keep your organic web content short, less than 500 words; this may allow more people to read the complete web content, perhaps resulting in more returning visitors to your business website. Include only the most vital points or calls to action that you want to make; text is more difficult to read online, so keep it short and sweet.

2. Make the most of headings and lists. People are willing to scan natural web copy and web articles instead of reading them verbatim from the first word to the last. Produce content that is easy for the visitor to find what they’re looking for by using headings, bold type, and lists. Understandable cleanly written lists makes it easier to skim through web content and let them read only what they are truly interested in.

3. Create clear “calls to action’ and links. One of the main tools that breeds successful writing for the web is to take advantage of the reality that print writers don’t have is the ability to link to other applicable sources. Organic web content such as text or images; can be linked to other web pages, photos, videos, sounds, and other significant natural web copy. Make your links stand out by making them obvious. A universal way to highlight a text link is by using a different color from the standard text and by providing a hover effect, such as underlining the link and changing it’s color, when the reader’s place their cursor over the highlighted link.

Using the steps highlighted above and including links to resource pages, news articles, audio and video, forums, and white papers helps develop meaningful natural web copy. Your website visitors can decide which links to follow and which links to skip using your web article as their basis of information on that specific topic. When successfully writing for the web, your readers should feel that reading your organic web content enhanced their reading experience!