What should I be for Halloween this year dada? can we look for scary costumes ?
http://www.52perfectdays.com/galleries/seattle-fairmont-and-around-town
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about getting potential customers to visit your website. It is also about building a quality website full of great content. It uses keywords appropriately and gets links “naturally” because people love what you have on your site. SEO companies can provide very useful services including keyword research, site review, providing technical advice on your website development and also management of online business marketing campaigns. They can also help with content development, article marketing and article distribution. Although it’s not brain surgery, it is hard to do and usually requires a lot of thought and real work.
Some unethical SEO firms attempt to manipulate search engine results in unfair ways. These practices could get your website ranked lower or even banned. When looking at SEO – either to optimize it on your own or if you are looking to hire a company, here are some things to take into account.
Top Positions in the Web’s Largest Article Directory
Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Say They Will Get Thousands Of Links To Your Site
It is not the number of sites that make the difference – it’s the quality of the sites. When firms promise huge numbers of links, or say that you will become part of their “network of sites”, it usually means a link farm is involved. A link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to every other site in the group. Search engines don’t like this and it can lead to penalties. Instead, practice reciprocal linking with legitimate and related websites for better search engine ranking.
Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Guarantee A High Ranking On Google
No one can guarantee a high ranking on Google. Some SEO companies offer a guarantee on their services. This is fine. What’s not fine is guaranteeing high ranking in an incredibly short period of time. When these unrealistic results fail to happen, the company will balk at giving a refund, offer you other services instead and start to become unreachable or disappear.
Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Send “Spammy” Emails
These emails are unsolicited and usually begin with “We’ve noticed that you are not listed in some search engines…” You should be searching for a high-ranking SEO company; they will not be searching for you. Spam means scam. You don’t buy your medications from spammers so why buy SEO services from them?
Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Are Secretive Or Don’t Clearly Explain What They Are Going To Do
Most reputable SEO firms are upfront with their clients and like to share their knowledge. They are confident that even if their clients understand their process, they won’t leave them. If the SEO firm claims it’s too complicated for you to understand, or if they say they have trade secrets and proprietary technology, it’s a sign that they may not be ethical in dealing with your website.
Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Say They Will Submit Your Site To Thousands Of Top Search Engines And Directories
Besides the small fact that there aren’t that many search engines, consider that the guidelines of the search engines themselves tell you that it doesn’t do any good anymore. Search Engines are good at what they do – searching for sites – and you don’t need to pay someone to submit your site to a search engine. If they make this claim, they will probably use Free For All (FFA) junk sites that might damage your site’s standings.
Forget Expensive PPC Advertising – There is an Alternative!
Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Say They Can Optimize And Promote Your Site For A Low, Low Monthly Fee
Not all monthly SEO or SEM (Search Engine Management) service contracts or monthly fees are a scam. There are real reasons to pay a monthly fee to an SEO expert. These would include conditions when you would require SEO management: when you or someone else is constantly generating new content or new features for your site; implementing link-building campaigns; implementing PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns; or starting a brandcasting campaign. Press release distribution, email campaigns and article marketing campaigns could also require a legitimate monthly fee.
Not-so-legitimate fees could include monthly re-submitting of your site to search engines, “tweaking” your code to keep up with changes and regularly submitting your site to hundreds of useless free-for-all directories. The worthwhile companies that charge a monthly fee will usually be able to tell you exactly how much it is per month to generate blog entries or generate and distribute articles or press releases. And it won’t be for the low, low price of $79.95.
Choose Your SEO Company And Services Carefully
Do your research and don’t make the decision lightly. If you were hiring a contractor to remodel your kitchen you would want to see other kitchen projects they’ve done and speak with the owners about the company’s business practices. You should do the same thing when hiring an SEO company. Get referrals and really speak with them.
There are many online tips about choosing and hiring SEO firms that you can check out as well. Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy and you should take the time to do your research before buying or you’ll probably be buying again.
About The Author
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat, the only online marketing and advertising company employing Brandcasting, the most effective way to brand your company on the web. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. The approach is simple, highly effective and affordable.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=186951925511&h=l9pK3&u=p_JHq&ref=mftommykathy_bob2009_lowflyer
Article writing is an important aspect of SEO Services that can not be ignored. It enhances website visibility over the internet. An article must be informational and written keeping in view the keyword density and be directed to the target audience.
http://keenermedia.com/tommykathy/
It’s happening again this year!
Get your band mates together or if you’re not a band mate be a band aid and come and enjoy the show and the fun, fun, fun. The theme for this year is the versatile ’90’s. What other decade boasts the debut of Mariah Carey, Nirvana, Sugar Ray (who?) and the chest pounding Celine Dion? Our MC this year will once again be that diva of debauchery and grace, Poison Waters.
DATE: Wednesday, June 17, 2009
TIME: 6pm – 10pm
LOCATION: SomeDay Lounge
COST: $10 Members/$20 Non Members
Krown Lab is a small tight knit group with the common goal of creating iconic and timeless products that have been distilled down to their purest form and function. Our diverse experiences allows us a unique perspective on product creation. We deal with complexity and strive for simplicity, and enjoy the surprises along the way.
TWITTIN’ SECRETS (part 3)
* TIP #37: Along with your inherent knowledge and the daily activities of your personal or business life, you can easily augment your postings with great content you discover online. Do occasional searches on Google, Google News, CNN, Technorati, or some other search engine using various keywords to find related stuff of interest you can tweet about.
==> Tweet This
* TIP #38: Use Twitter search (http://search.twitter.com/) or Twitscoop.com to find interesting topics from other Twitter users. Yes, other Twitter users (not necessarily followers) can serve as birddogs, finding some amazingly interesting and related stuff you can post or reTweet.
==> Tweet This
* TIP #39: Automate your bird-dogging of interesting info by using a system such as Tweetbeep.com (or set-up filters in Tweetdeck ). If done with good keyword forethought, you can get daily tweet reports by email from fellow Tweeters with virtually no effort. This is equally effective as a way to gain knowledge, insight and news about any area of interest you might have. I call it the “Twitter Bird Dog Strategy.”
==> Tweet This
* TIP #40: At Tweetbeep, also set up monitoring of every keyword or phrase associated with you and your business – especially your Twitter username(s). It’s an easy technique to keep abreast of your industry news, public chatter, branding issues, negative rumors, PR and JV opportunities, and your competition, all in a highly automated eavesdrop like manner.
==> Tweet This
* TIP #41: Before long, managing your Twitter timelines, chats, searches, followers and posts can become overwhelming. The challenge of handling multiple account is made easier with tools such as Easytweets.com. Or you might prefer to run a desktop client such as Twhirl (http://www.twhirl.org/) which offers a plethora of features. However, my preference in desktop applications (Mac or PC) is TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/). With TweetDeck you can (and should) set-up columns which sort, filter and categorize all your various Twitter timelines and posts into groups so that you can listen, work, bird dog and tweet very efficiently. You can also monitor the local or global Twitter buzz.
==> Tweet This
Top 10 SEO Trends & Tips
By Mike Grehan
Mike Grehan not only talks to the major players in the SEO industry, he can articulate the implications and business impact of a given move by a search engine. By extension, he also has this uncanny way of seeing around corners and knowing what’s coming next in this hot space. -Larry Chase
1) Google’s roll out of “Universal Search” has changed the playing field for the future. The watchword is “different” and that’s how search engine marketers will need to think. Take a look at this result for a search on “dove beauty workshop”. Note how Dove, complete with video playing within the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), owns the entire organic side above the fold. Search engines have long been guilty of doing exactly the opposite of what online marketers try to achieve. We try and keep visitors on our websites for as long as possible with engaging content. Search engines rocket people somewhere else within seconds of the search results appearing. But with a little sprinkle of heuristics and a dash of AJAX, we’re on the same page, literally.
Google’s acquisition trail has seen them pick up YouTube and FeedBurner, among others. Data from those sources combined with its own news results, images, videos, maps, local, finance and more makes for a much richer end user experience. So much better than simply throwing ten blue links onto the page. Content for Google and other search engines just took on a whole new meaning.
2) Keyword research has long been the foundation of successful SEO/SEM campaigns. Target the wrong keywords and you’re doomed from the start. How much keyword research did you do before you launched your website? Whether it was little or lots, there’s one sure fire way of finding out whether your copy is pulsating with the correct keywords for your audience.
Head over to the Google external keyword tool. Choose the site related keywords tab and point Google directly to your own domain (check the box: “Include other pages on my site linked from this URL”). Google will then quickly crawl your site and come back with its own algorithmic evaluation of what your site’s about. Are your primary keywords shouting out at you in the results? Now, go and point Google at your competitor’s site and see how much better (or not) he’s doing.
3) Where in the world are you? It’s possible that you know where you are, but search engines such as Google don’t really have a clue. I’ve always believed that if you’re international and targeting specific geographic territories, then you should be located there.
Owning a TLD (Top Level Domain) for the country you’re targeting such as mycompany.de and mycompany.fr is a good start. But even if you have the TLD and you’re hosting is another country, you could be confusing the issue for search engines.
Need to know what search engines know about you, including where they think you are? Then pop over here, input your URL and see what Google sees. You’re in Italy, but Google thinks you’re in Smalltown, USA. Hmmmm! If you’re getting thrashed by your competitor in a specific country for local traffic, search on his domain to find out where search engines think he is.
4) It’s impossible. Or is it? What if pay-per-click advertisers got very annoyed because they were paying for a little blue box of text on the right hand side of the page? And in contrast, some folks are getting a huge page full of varied results and file types on the free side (see Dove example above).
It seems pretty straight forward to me that people making transactional/commercial type queries are looking for transactional/commercial type results. So why not flip the page and have the paid results on the left (resplendent with various complementary results and file types)? And have the ten blue links routine on the right?
Take a look at this screen grab of a Google result for query “bourne ultimatum” and tell me that’s not a commercial result on the left hand side of the page. (Click to enlarge image.)
Screen shot of Google search results
5) How many backlinks do I have? What’s my PageRank? What do people say about me in link anchor text? How do I find more links? What are the most popular keyword searches? What’s my ranking at search engines? Do I have barriers preventing my site from being crawled? What’s my page strength? I just have to know these things!
Don’t panic. All the answers are right here: http://www.seomoz.org/tools.
6) A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away… I wrote a book about search engine marketing. And in that book I explained a taxonomy of search, as researched and presented by leading information retrieval scientist Andrei Broder. It went like this (and still does):
Navigational.
“Navigational is when a surfer really wants to reach a particular web site. If they do a query like, say, United Airlines, for instance. Probably what they really want is to go directly to the web site of United Airlines – like www.ua.com just like if someone typed BBC, it’s most likely they want the web site of the BBC – and not the history of the BBC and broadcasting. They probably want to just go directly to the web site. We all do a lot of these types of searches.”
Informational.
“This applies to the surfer who is really looking for factual information on the web. So they make a query like say…’low haemoglobin’ for instance. This is a medical condition. They are looking for specific information about this condition. That’s very close to classical information retrieval.”
Transactional.
“Transactional means that ultimately the surfer wants to do something on the web, through the web. Shopping is a good example. You really want to buy stuff. Or you want to download a file, or find a service like, say, yellow pages. What you really want to do is get involved in a transaction of information or services. Take a shopping query, these are transactional queries where people want to buy stuff and so on. So, they are wanting a return which satisfies this need.”
(Quotes lifted from my interview with Andrei Broder)
So, Mike, are you saying that a search engine knows the difference between a research query and a shopping query?
Dr. Broder is with Yahoo! Labs now. Yahoo! Mindset you can decide which you want to see more of: shopping results or research results.
7) Did I mention that Google launched its new “Universal Search”? I think I did (once or twice). But Google’s not the only game in town. Check out this search result for “spiderman 3″ over at Ask.com. Their own new interface and presentation (known as 3D search) is awesome.
Do you get the feeling that search is moving up a notch?
I’m a programmer, not a marketer. What can you do for me then, Mike? Well, actually, I can make your day! I can turn you into a hybrid. Hold still now. This won’t hurt…
Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer’s Guide to SEO. Yes… it’s a book full of code and search engine optimization tips and tricks for you ASP.NET lovers. And just when you thought life for a coder couldn’t get any better… I’ll throw in the PHP version for you too! Here it is:
Professional Search Engine Optimization with PHP: A Developer’s Guide to SEO
9) Trying to get your head around paid search? The boss came along and said: “You’re our new paid search guru. Now find out how it works!” No small task. You need help and quick.
Can’t afford to go jetting around the planet to one of those fancy conferences? Don’t have time to try and read your way through a lot of books you have to order, pay for and then actually read? You could use a totally gratis course to send you bursting on your way.
Yes, you’re right, I have one for you here: http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/. It’s the official Google AdWords video course. Sit back, listen, learn, enjoy. Then tell your boss you’re leaving to set up your own agency!
10) Way at the top of this column I said, “content for search engines just took on an entirely new meaning”. Let me think. Did I mention anything about Google’s “Universal search”, Ask’s 3D search, and SERPS that feature podcasts, videocasts, blog results and anything else which you can wrap up in an RSS feed? I think I did.
Well it’s alright knowing about it. But what can you do about it?
Everything you ever wanted to know about streaming media is right here: http://www.streamingmedia.com. News, white papers, webcasts, conferences and tons of information on how to make user generated content as sticky as… well… Larry Chase’s Web Digest For Marketers!A well executed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign allows you to drive targeted traffic to your website for the keywords that are most important for your business. Traffic is more than just numbers. The key is “targeted” which is organically attracting visitors to your site that are actually searching for your products or services.
“Organic search results” refers to the ranking of your site based solely on your site’s coding, content and inbound links. It is crucial that your website rank as highly as possible in the organic results.
Search Engine Optimization involves setting up a website in a way that maximizes its chances of showing up at the top of the search engine list. SEO and SEM approaches include proper keyword targeting, optimized alt tags and keywords, meta description tag and focused page title descriptions, consistent site architecture, content updating, inbound and outbound link strategies both within your site and between your site and others like it.
It takes an experienced consultant to propel your site to the top five results, where approximately 70% of all clicks come from and ZD Design can help you get there.