How Blogging Affects Search Engines

October 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Blogging is a very popular practice that many online individuals and businesses have started. From a few words (micro-blogging) to full blog posts, you can convey your thoughts and ideas in a structured fashion. Blogging can be fun, newsy, serious, informative or just factual. It all depends on the individual’s blogging style and personality.

Search engines absolutely love blogging because there is always fresh, relevant content for it to return to its users. Frequent blogging is more preferable because that is the content that goes straight to the top of the search engines and gets the most attention. The search engine code crawlers that go out on the Internet looking for relevant content for keywords will most often choose blogged content over static content since the information is time sensitive and updated frequently.

Social platforms like Twitter or Friendster are excellent sources that increase the chances of micro-blog posts ending up on the search engines. This is because the text is short and succinct. Most savvy bloggers know the importance of keyword usage and will tailor their 140 characters to include text that will go directly to the search engines and compel users to click on the links they provide.

Other platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn are also ideal sources for search engines to find relevant material, but may not rank as high in the search engines for a couple of reasons:

1. There may not be much landing page relevancy for the keywords.

2. Too many layers of pages for the crawlers to troll through to find relevant information.

3. The individuals who manage their own sites on these platforms may not update their information as frequently, thereby reducing the number of hits their page receives.

A consistent steady pace of blogging will eventually get the blogger the search engine rankings that they can benefit from. Over time, results will be more favorable as long as they are producing timely and relevant content on their site or blog.

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Why Page Content Matters

October 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In the grand scheme of all things online, many small businesses and individuals cannot fully appreciate the idea that what they have on their webpages and blogs make a big difference in their site’s popularity and traffic flow. Many times they feel that if they just have a web presence, that this should be enough to get the traffic they need to have to be profitable and the exposure they need to make an impact.

However, it is not always enough just to have a webpage or even own a domain name. It takes a good deal of concentrated, focused effort to make sure that the site is relevant and interesting to readers. Especially if the goal of the site is to make money and turn a nice profit, then all efforts should be focused on creating good webpages with interesting content. This is why content on the page matters and along with it, search engine rankings are also important as it lends itself to how well the content circulates.

Search engines troll the Internet for relevant information on topics from online seekers. The crawlers look for fresh content and rewards the webmaster by moving the site up in pagerankings if they can successfully provide this on their site. Good content is an anchor of this idea because this is where profits and losses make a difference. Readers can tell the difference in a site where the developers have put forth an effort to make the content interesting and one where there is a lot of keyword stuffing or overuse of certain thoughts or ideas. Readers can also tell when they’re being “sold”, so they can be quick to click away if they detect any pattern of that. Although it’s perfectly alright to sell to your readers, the first priority should be to give them good information FIRST and then subtly ask for the sale without being overbearing. This method is more likely to get the results you’re seeking without driving traffic and readers away.

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What People Search for Online

September 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Search engines are a busy place for people searching for the things they need. With over millions of users on the Internet, the search engines are constantly busy sending out spiders to retrieve the information that users want. That constant activity search can range anywhere from diapers, to televisions and even automobiles. The web is a constantly moving highway for searchers seeking for what they need and want.

E-commerce has become one of the biggest uses of online search and usages commonly known today. Users can purchase almost anything online and businesses who market online are aware of this and make full use of this advantage. Most any type of product and some services can be secured via online sites, and some items like digital products are deliverable to the customer immediately.

Search engines are an integral part of the online customer activity process. Whether the customer uses their favorite search engine or the default search engine, their goal is to find the best possible match for their interests. In order to do a thorough comparison, they may often use two or even three different search engines to find what they’re looking for.

Businesses use various creative methods to draw traffic to its sites. One effective method for their search engine marketing can include article marketing. This method uses content that is keyword rich and helps the business to rank high in search engines. Part of the craft of this type of search engine marketing is creating compelling copy that will convert the shopper to a buyer.

Businesses also use social networking forums to increase their online visibility for their product or service. The idea is to get online forums and participants discussing the business, thereby increasing traffic and the potential for converting shoppers into sales and long-term customers.

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Conversions in the Context of Search Engine Marketing

August 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Search Engine Optimization and Marketing are proven tactics and skills you can use on your website and blog to increase daily hits and produce a constant flow of traffic to your home site. There are hundreds of different ways to ‘optimize’ your website, all of which involve features like link building, keyword optimization, and analytics to see what works and what doesn’t. Successful websites aren’t made overnight. They’re like businesses. They take work.
But let’s say you build a nice storefront and have a nice layout in the store. You’ve managed to get a shop in an area with a lot of foot traffic, and the time you’ve spent making your store appealing has paid off. People come in, check out the merchandise, and sometimes have good input on the way things are going. This is all good and well, but even if you have a lot of traffic, this won’t guarantee revenue. You need people to buy into your service. You need ‘Page Conversions.’
A conversion happens when someone who is just wandering along your ‘storefront’ sees a product or service they want, and they are ‘converted’ from browser to customer. You want customers, not window shoppers. A good website will convert their customers seamlessly, without any apparent effort from the consumer’s end.
Too many websites are cluttered with advertisements, pop-ups, and are unclear about the real purpose of the website. A skillfully optimized website will be clutter-free, and guide the consumer with a user-friendly interface, ‘digestible content,’ and clear calls to action. The consumer needs to know why he or she is at your website, what it is you are offering, and why it is relevant to them and their needs.
Finally, in seeking to gain more conversions, you want to have a simple website layout, and you want to provide trustworthy evidence of your authenticity as a business. No matter how good things look on the outside, if you can’t establish trust, you won’t get conversions – just like any business, electronic or brick-and-mortar.
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The Art of the Online Blog

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Internet is the leader in information and everyone is in on the action. There is nothing you cannot obtain online. Whether it be provocative material or gardening tips, the Internet is the one and only place to go to learn about everything. So if you’re an online blogger and your information and musings are valuable to the rest of the cyberspace community, then how do you get people to notice? How do you create content that others will see? The answer is as simple as it seems, be good.

The first step is to know the kind of audience your information is supposed to reach. Writing about high profile athletes may not be the best kind of blog for the elderly. However, if you are writing a sports blog, then it might make sense to know what the rest of the sports world is talking about. If it’s football season then writing blogs geared towards that is always a good idea. You don’t want to be talking about how good a player of the past was if there isn’t a topical news story to go along with it. Did that player pass? Get enshrined in the hall of fame? If not, then move on.

The next thing is to create a unique or clever angle. If you are talking about cooking, then writing a blog on how to make eggs over easy might be informative but it’s not something the reader can’t get somewhere else. Instead, make it about the 10 meats or vegetables to put inside your scrambled eggs. Similarly, if you are doing an auto finance blog it is far more interesting to do a blog on 7 ways to save money on your car insurance than a simple article on how a refinance auto loan can be beneficial. Your blog needs to take on a personality. Once it does that, there is no telling just how much traffic you’ll get.

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4 Ways to Hypnotize Readers with Headlines

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Writing articles, essays, blog entries, and pages of content for your site can be a great way to get more visitors. Well written content goes beyond just tugging people in as well. If your content is good enough, you can create a spontaneous army of viral marketers – visitors who share your site via their own blog, their Facebook or Twitter account, email, or local graffiti. This well written content starts with your headline. To get the most out of it, you will need a headline so hypnotically engaging that visitors have no choice but to click on the link. Here’s how to do that.

1. Use Action Words and Catch Words

Be bold in your use of language when you write this content. Don’t just tell people that you will tell them about the “neatest approaches.” Tell them that you’re going to give them the “most killer techniques,” “approaches that are surefire hits,” and so on.

2. Be Current

There are plenty of news stories, viral videos, upcoming movies, and popular trends that are a part of modern culture. Make current cultural references that will catch peoples eyes, such as “Five Vampires that are Cooler than the Ones in Twilight.”

3. Give a Question, Not an Answer

The point of your title is to arouse curiosity in your visitor, not to provide them with a one sentence solution. Rather than saying “Ways to Improve Your Gardening through Creative Irrigation” you could say “Creative Ways to Improve Your Gardening that You Never Would Have Thought Of.” Remember that suspense is your friend.

4. Use Numbers, Lists, and How-Tos

Rather than just throwing out your content, number it or organize it in a way that makes it easy to read. “The Five Most Hilarious Movie Moments” is simply more likely to get visitors than “The Most Hilarious Movie Moments.”

If you’re looking for examples of what good headlines are, there is no better site to look up to than Cracked. Feel free to visit it now, and see if you aren’t sucked into at least one of the articles right off the bat.

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5 Forms of Killer Content

March 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The phrase “content is king” is one that every SEO specialist has drilled into their head. However, many webmasters, and even SEO engineers, don’t realize how broad the term “content” can be. Here are five great types of content that you can use to drive more traffic to your site.

5. Value based written content.

Written work is what most people think of when they hear the word “content,” but it should be clarified that written content comes in many forms. If you really want to snag traffic, it’s important to provide something valuable with your writing, rather than useless self-promotion. This can be done in the form of informational articles and essays, tips and tricks that are relevant to your subject matter, and how to guides, for a starter.

4. Podcasts.

Podcasts are surprisingly easy to put together, especially with the increased availability of sound editing software, including the open source freeware known as Audacity. Creating your own information filled podcasts and conducting interviews with experts in your industry are just two great podcasting options.

3. Pretty pictures.

We all love pretty pictures, and if you’re willing to put together image galleries, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. You will get the most advantage out of having original, high-quality images here. Whatever images you include, be sure to look at appropriate search media optimization practices.

2. Social content.

Rather than trying to create the content yourself all the time, you can always create a place where others can add content of their own. Discussion boards, forums, web groups, and blog entries that ask for reader contributions in the comment sections are just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to socially generated content.

1. Videos.

Webcams are shockingly affordable, and all windows systems come with Windows Movie Maker, while Macintosh comes with much more shiny video editing software. In other words, it’s easy to get all the tools you need in order to make a fully original video that provides unique content to the internet. This media can be placed both directly on your site and used as a marketing tools on video websites.

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