Google vs Bing; Your Best SEO Bet

November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

I got into search engine optimization when Yahoo was king and Google was a gleam in Larry Page’s eye so I’ve had a front row seat to all the big doings. And one thing I can tell you for certain is Microsoft just took off its kid gloves with the release of Bing and is looking for a shot at the reigning champ Google.

This article will show you how to hedge your bet with both contenders and come out a winner while these two Goliaths slug it out.

Round One:

First and foremost make sure you follow the one major rule that will apply to both engines; Content is King!

Although we don’t yet have a clear picture of how Bing will react to all situations we do know that, since it is being touted as the first decision engine, it will focus greatly on quality of content. That said, be ready to make your pages a little longer than you did when optimizing for MSN and be certain the copy reads well.

Round Two:

Great content is not enough. It has to be well written and natural sounding. Anything that sounds like it was written for a search bot will not make it into the top one hundred let alone the top ten.

Round Three:

Still dealing with on page content, you need to carefully consider how many times your keyword is mentioned and where it is found on the page text. Both search engines will not only look for your keywords but also the context in which they are found. It is no longer enough to simply have them sprinkled in the text randomly. Now the keywords need to actually flow in the context of the text as well. This is typically taken care of for you when writing naturally but is definitely worth the extra once over before posting the final page live.

Here is a little formula to help…

1. Use one main keyword and up to two supporting keywords per page.

2. Do not repeat the main keyword more than three times on a page.

3. Do not repeat the supporting keywords more than twice each per page.

4. Try to have at least five hundred words per page.

5. Try to place your main keyword at the beginning, middle and end of the page text while keeping the writing natural and flowing.

Round Four:

Get as many high quality inbound links as possible. You already know this but it bears repeating. Search engines today are about popularity of the individual page returns. Having inbound links from Google authority sites will be more important than ever because any other search engine trying to trump Google will also be checking these stats as well as adding a few of their own.

That said, getting links from just the Google authority sites is not enough. You also want to get links from MSN’s top picks (which are now Bing’s top picks.)

Round Five:

To really hedge your bet, get an early leg up on your competition by becoming proficient in proven SEO software with a good track record on both Google and MSN (The tool at http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com has proven a good pick over the years for its ability to help develop SEO friendly content and locate the most beneficial link partners but there.)

And finally, look for domains for sale that are already ranked well on MSN. This could be the diamond in the rough opportunity of a lifetime for your online business.

By following these simple tips you can outdo ninety nine percent of your competition trying to share in the rewards offered by Google and Bing going head to head.

Mike Small is an SEO specialist and the founder of SEO by the Minute (http://www.SEObytheMinute.com), a telephone based SEO consultancy that offers 800 number SEO support for a flat rate of one dollar per minute billed securely through Paypal (No credit card or 900 number charges to deal with.) Got a two minute SEO question? It’s just two dollars.

Filed under Traffic · Tagged with Best, Bet, Bing, Champ, Contenders, Decision Engine, Doings, Front Row, Gleam, Goliaths, Google, Keyword, Kid Gloves, Larry Page, Microsoft, Msn, Page Content, Row Seat, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines, Three Times, Words Per Page, Your

Three Keys to Successful Basic Business Blogging: Reading, Commenting, Writing

November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

Reading: Reading other people’s blogs keeps you up-to-date on what others are interested in. Subscribe to blogs relevant to your industry. Search for relevant blogs at blogsearch.google.com. You can subscribe to and manage blogs at Google.com/reader.Commenting: Commenting on other people’s blogs builds relationships. You will get noticed by other bloggers and blog readers. Comments should increase the value of the article. Some things you can do in a comment are: share an example related to the article, add a point, add a useful link, disagree, or ask a question. When you post a comment, be sure to include your name and a link to your blog. You may just get the blogger to link back to your blog.Writing: This is the part everyone worries about. What will I write about? How will I be able to keep up with it? Here are some basic writing tips:* Keep it short. It doesn’t have to be a long post. One to three short paragraphs is more than enough.* Make it specific. Don’t be vague. People will get bored quickly and move on unless it’s interesting and valuable to them.* Make it interesting. Use images or formatting (bold, italics, lists) to create eye appeal.* Don’t be too self-promotional. Sure, it’s your business. But this is not the place for a sales pitch. This is a place where people can come to be educated. They know where to find you once they want to do business.* Create interesting titles. They can be funny, enticing (a list of 10 tips), or keyword rich for search engine optimization.* Write regularly, at least weekly. I suggest at two to three times a week. Personally, I post each business day.So now you’re asking, ‘what do I write about?’ It is not as difficult to come up with topics as you may think. Some suggestions:* Lists of 5 ideas, trends or thoughts* A list of relevant links with a short comment on why you found each valuable* Share a recent experience you had* Answer questions your clients or prospects often ask* Comment on other blog articles you’ve read* Turn a press release into a blog entry (again, tweak it so it’s not too self-promotional)How Do I Promote My Blog?1. Email all your friends, family, colleagues and announce the launch of your blog. If you’ve already started blogging, send out an announcement at 6 months, 1 year, or at your 50th blog post.2. Trade guest articles with a similar blogger.3. Include a blog article in your newsletter and make sure to include a link back to your blog.4. Use your online business networking sites, such as Digg, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to let everyone know of your blog.5. At the end of your article, ask a question and ask for comments. Put it in bold.Where Can I Create a Blog? There are several places you can go to create a blog for free.Blogger.comWordPress.orgMovableType.comLiveJournal.comMultiply.com

Sue L Canfield

Virtual Office Administrator

Grow Your Small Business with Virtual Support Services

Sue L Canfield, Awesome Assistant, has been an administrative assistant for over 25 years and has owned her own business as a Virtual Office Administrator since 2005. She saves time and money for busy solo professionals and service providers by providing administrative and marketing support, helping them create and implement strategies to promote their businesses.

Filed under Business Blogging · Tagged with Answer Questions, Basic, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Bold Italics, Business, Business Day, Commenting, Eye Appeal, Google, Industry Search, Keys, Place Where People, Prospects, Readers Comments, Reading, Relationships, Relevant Links, Search Engine Optimization, Short Paragraphs, Successful, Three, Three Keys, Three Times, Worries, Writing, Writing Tips

Ranking Dropped From the Top Spots in Search Engines

November 14, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

You often hear this complaint that my search engine ranking has dropped. This is only to be expected as Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other engines are constantly in a state of flux. Most webmasters are caught unaware when they suddenly discover their ranking has dropped and the traffic has dwindled.Those who are making money online, losing ranks can adversely affect their earnings. Still worse, for those who are abjectly dependent on websites for their livelihoods, losing all search engine traffic can be simply disastrous.When sites lose traffic and drop down in the rankings, the one thing everyone immediately thinks of is – a penalty has been applied to their sites. Penalties are certainly applied by search engines but only when you have resorted to some undesirable activity like using cloaking, hidden text, doorway pages, keyword stuffing or link farms etc.Recovering from a penalty is long-drawn, but it is relatively simple. First, remove all suspicious stuff from your site including everything that a search engine might detest. Once you are certain there is nothing left on your domain that can be even remotely deemed fishy, then file a reinclusion request with the concerned search engine.Most of us in the field of search marketing are often obsessed with the ranking and try to make search engine ranking more complicated than it really is. There are innumerable ways to build a link. One could employ a range of keywords and adopt many innovative sources to drive traffic.The one popular method most people use is keyword density. There is no denying that if use the right and relevant keywords at appropriate places will got you the top rankings. It is advisable to use the keyword once or even a second time a variation of the keyword in the title tag provided it makes meaning and does not appear artificially thrust. The keyword may be deployed minimum three times in the content or if the content is large, a few more times. You can also make the keyword appear once in bold type. Make sure the keyword appears once in the alt tag of an image and again once in the URL. Avoid using keyword in link anchor text on the page itself. It is pointless indiscriminately over using the keywords all over the page, as it will not produce the expected results – although you may derive some extra value by going wild.There is what is known as Page Rank or link power. You can achieve this by providing internal links from your own site and external links from other sites. Here lies the secret. A page with an extraordinary amount of link power rank remarkably well in Google and Yahoo even if the sources are not particularly relevant and the keywords are sparingly used. This may not apply to MSN and certain other search engines which focus largely on keyword and subject on hand.Next, we should understand the importance of what those familiar with search engine call anchor text. By weighting the keywords and phrases pages used to link, browsers could get a clearer idea about the page contents and their relevance to particular subjects. The anchor text of links is becoming a critical part of the ranking equation, and if found abundantly, it can overshadow many other ranking factors. One can cite instances of web pages that are weak in all the other factors but ranking high primarily because they have acquired countless links with the precise anchor text of the phrase.Domain Authority is an assured way to feel your presence in the internet. To achieve this, you must operate your site in conformity with the engines established guidelines. Ensure you get lots of trustworthy sites to link to you. Merely being top-ranked in search engines will not do. You must exercise vigil and constantly monitor your behavior to stay at the top. Any indiscretion on your part can create problems again.

Brayan.peter is a seo copywriter for searchenginegenie.com. Rated one of the top seo company in the world, search engine genie provides organic search engine optimization services for small to large businesses. Contact her through mail at brayan.peter@gmail.com.

Filed under Traffic · Tagged with Density, Doorway Pages, Drive Traffic, Dropped, Earnings, Engines, Field Marketing, From, Google, Keyword, Livelihoods, Ranking, Relevant Keywords, Search, Search Engine Ranking, Search Engine Traffic, Search Engines, Second Time, Spots, State Of Flux, Stuff, Three Times, Title Tag, Undesirable Activity, Variation, Yahoo Msn

Are your Web Site Pay-per-click Costs Killing You?

November 14, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

Well, it’s been awhile since we have posted any ezine articles, and you may have wondered why that is. Well, Bob and I have been very busy looking at alternative ways to drive traffic to our web site, but first we had to figure out how to get that cost prohibitive, money-sucking web site out of the basement in the search engine rankings; it was at 3.8 million. Our pay per click costs were killing us.
Our goal has always been to learn Internet Ad Copy well enough to be in the top 10 organic listings, the free listings, on the left side of the page, instead of paying per click for advertising on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Being in the organic listings, the free listings, on the left side of the page means a huge financial burden would be lifted off our shoulders. All we had to do was get our web site ranked in the top 10.
Our gut instinct told us that having a Multi-Media blog was the answer. Multi-Media means you have video, audio, and content on your site. We call this Network Marketing 2.0. We just had no clue how to do that. Being pioneers, we decided to look into a Word Press blog as we thought that was the way to go.
From February on of 2007, I worked like a dog on a free WordPress blog, doing all the maintenance and multitudinous upgrades myself. I complained and whined to Bob on a regular basis saying, “This is an absolute crock.” You see, the biggest fly in the ointment was the unbearable amount of maintenance on the blog while still doing our main business activities to generate revenues. Bob took most of that load off my shoulders, but still, it was a nightmare involving 10 to 20 hours a week with techno tard skills. I don’t know what plug-ins work where, what didn’t work now because of an upgrade, and so on. The blog upgrades started coming in at the rate of one to two per month. The first three times I upgraded the blog, I wiped the whole thing out and had to start over which meant our blog was not even appearing on the web.
Back in mid August 2007, Bob and I agreed that something had to give. We were fortunate enough to pay attention to our email from Simon Leung and got on a call about blogging and automated blogging software. Our prayers were answered even if we knew nothing else about blogging.
As we continued to listen to the call about using a blog to drive traffic, we got more excited by the minute. The tools seemed so logical and simple and now we could get the education about how to use these tools. My partner was in total agreement with what needed to be done. Naturally, my partner was going on vacation again so he said, “We’ve got the tools. You go, girl.” And so I did. Shazaam. Ninety days later our web site was assigned a Google Page Rank of one (1). We felt like we died and went to heaven.
So if you’re still with us, you’re saying to yourself, What’s the catch? What’s the trick? To be honest, the ranking did not come from the web site itself. It came from where we linked to. We’re not talking about trading links and all that sort of rot. Not at all. We linked to our own sites.
The best link we have from our Building Your Biz site goes to our blog. Now, this is just not any blog, obviously, if you can move that quickly up through the search engine rankings on Google. It’s special. You can go out and get a free blog through any one of the hundreds of companies out there or you can get some cut-rate job. However, you have to look at what the blog software does for you. Is it easy to use? Does it get your posts, podcasts, videos (we don’t have one yet on the site that is ours) out through the RSS feeds and wherever else it’s supposed to go? Remember, I said we are techno tards.
Well, the traffic is really picking up from all directions and sources we never even imagined. People are opting in and staying on our lists. Now all we have to do is figure out the next step, conversions. Again, that process will happen in another 90 days as we are now getting more tools to help us do that again. (However, this time Bob’s vacation time is canceled until further notice.)
By the way, Bob being a doubting Tom and me being a doubting Thomasina, we really had to know if a high page rank really lowers your pay-per-click cost. I just had to try it one time to see if our theory really worked. Can you imagine having 15 click-thrus to your site for under $4? We were ecstatic.
The key to everything we do can be boiled down to one practice every home business owner must adopt, and that is Learning with a capital L. Learning is a nonstop process for those who are dead serious about their businesses and want to generate really, really good revenues. Whether you’re an affiliate marketer, direct marketer, or network marketer, education is key. Take it from us, Bob and I have spent thousands and thousands and more thousands of dollars on courses that ended up being worthless trash. We have an incredible stack of CDs and DVDs we’ll sell you. Someday, we’ll even review them for you.
However, no matter where your traffic comes from (and a lot of it will be free if you follow what we’re doing), you still have to continue using 20th Century Marketing skills and build your business through the telephone, Internet, and Ad Copy. We say this for two reasons. One, do you want to forget about making money for 6 months or more while you learn? Two, if you are a network marketer trying to build a business with the verbal marketing skills of a dolt, you may have some serious problems with your credibility. Building your biz requires a phenomenal amount of knowledge and business know-how. There are tools to be mastered. But most important of all, you want a prospect who is totally warmed up to you, knows, likes, trusts and respects you before they ever meet you. A blog helps you achieve all that and more, like a great Page Rank. Building your biz in the 21st Century can bring you the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. You can bang your head against the wall and wonder why it hurts like we have, or you can try shortcuts until you are lost in the Kalahari Desert, or you can do what two techno tards did and have a tried and true path to success. To find out how we blog, click How To Blog under Blogroll on the right side of the screen. Your Coaches,
Nancy Dewitz & Bob Listerman
co-Founders, Promarketers
National Growth Business Experts
http://www.buildingyourbiz.com
http://buildingyourbiz1.com

Nancy Dewitz and Bob Listerman are National Business Growth Experts who have developed proven marketing skills, techniques, strategies and tools to assist and mentor marketers successfully expand their businesses. You can get an abundance of information by visiting their blog at http://buildingyourbiz1.com/blog. If you have any questions, send them a private comment through their blog.

Filed under Wordpress · Tagged with Business Activities, Clue, Costs, Ezine Articles, Financial Burden, Fly In The Ointment, Google, Gut Instinct, Internet Ad, Killing, Msn, Multi Media, Network Marketing, Nightmare, Pay Per Click, PayPerClick, Pioneers, Plug Ins, Search Engine Rankings, Shoulders, Site, Three Times, Word Press, Wordpress Blog

Traffic to Your Blog – How to Accomplish It?

November 2, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

Traffic to your blog, is that what you want? I wanted to take a moment and share the following tips with all you guys on how to increase traffic flow to your blogs and or sies. Its very important that you read the steps below and apply them accordingly.

1) Consistency with your post -Blog frequently

I dont know why so many bloggers hate the idea of the above when its vital to keep the content ongoing. Trust me when I say that the struggle for content is ongoing. New bloggers, however, feel like it’s just happening to them. The truth is, don’t get a blog just to have a blog. Get it and keep it updated. It’s the quickest way to gaining traffic. How often should you blog? Three times a week. The best days to blog? Studies have shown that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are key days for blogging.

2) Focus and Stay on Track

I tell authors this a lot: stay on point, stay on topic. Why? Because if you don’t you’ll lose readership. Once someone commits to your blog they want to keep reading relevant information. So don’t blog one day about your book, your speaking, or your mission and the next day share Aunt Ethel’s pot roast recipe.

3) Plan your blogs

While spontaneity is the catalyst for creativity, planning is a good way to stay on track. Start to map out key dates that you want to blog about that have some relation to your topic – this way when you’re at a loss for topics, you can always pick one from your list of planned out blogs. Also, consider these topics to blog about:

a) Future predictions: everyone loves these, to the degree that you can predict market trends in your industry do it, and the readership will follow.

b) Discuss industry news: what’s happening in your industry that you can talk about? Even if you’re a fiction writer there’s always *something* going on worth mentioning in publishing, writing, or marketing that directly relates to your topic.

c) The elephant in the room: talk about the stuff that everyone is afraid of. What new trends are emerging that consumers/readers/companies need to be aware of? What’s next for your market and how will it affect the industry? How can we keep publishing books when we already publish 800 a day? You see what I mean? Think of things that frighten you and talk about them. People will respond. Every time I do this I get a ton of comments on my blog.

d) Write reviews: review other people’s books, product or work. This is a great way to network and to become a “filter” for your market. Filter out the new stuff and feature it on your blog (this goes for you fiction writers too!).

e) Other blogs: what are people talking about? What did your favorite blog just say? Virtual networking (with other bloggers) is a great way to grow your content and get to know others in cyberspace. Don’t forget to link to the blog you’re discussing!

4) Invite comments on your blog!

This is really important! The more folks you can get commenting, the quicker your blog will get passed around. If you have a “no comment” feature on your blog, remove it! You want people to be able to comment and give feedback. In fact, at the end of every blog, why not invite readers to comment? If you start getting a lot of responses to this, begin featuring your favorite comments in future blog posts!

5) Comment on hot topics in the news

The quickest way to get traffic is to get your blog featured on a high-traffic site. But how can you do this? By commenting on news stories. Most major news sites have a feature that will list blogs that are talking about the various news stories. Not all blogs get featured but: a) if your if your topic is related to the story they’ve featured; and b) you’ve written an insightful post on the topic, you’ll likely get listed. For an example of what these look like take a peek at a recent story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/14/simpson/index.html

6) Digg yourself

Make sure that your blog has a bookmarking feature. Sites like Digg and http://Del.icio.us are great places to get started. You can go there, sign up for an account (very easy to do) and then follow their instructions for bookmarking your individual posts. This is important! You don’t want to bookmark the blog but rather, the posts. The posts will then show up in these sites and, hopefully, other folks will bookmark them as well. Even if no one else bookmarks your posts, it doesn’t matter. You can still get traffic by being positioned on these sites. Super simple to do, go ahead, give it a shot!

7) Twitter your blog

Got something to say? Try microblogging at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com. It’s a free service that asks the question: What are you doing now? Go in, sign up and start posting your messages with links back to your blog. We tried this and it’s fantastic. You can also blog from your cell phone and blackberry. You can not only use it to promote your blog but your book, speaking event, whatever you want. It might sound like a “who cares” idea, but trust me, everyone’s Twittering these days.

Syndicate yourself

Using simple RSS feeds through http://www.feedblitz.com you can syndicate yourself and let folks subscribe to your blog. If they don’t have a way to subscribe to your blog, they may forget you altogether. Once someone subscribes, every time you post new content it will notify them. And the best part? Your messages won’t get stuck in someone’s spam filter. They’ll get the notification, head to your blog and voila! Your readership stays engaged and growing.

Finally, don’t use an “official” voice on your blog. Pretend you’re sitting across from your reader over coffee. Talk to them in a more casual, conversational tone and you’ll not only get more readers, you’ll likely get more comments too! It doesn’t take much to grow a blog, just a little dedication and creativity. Happy blogging!

Ruben is an experienced Internet Marketer who has over 4 years of experience in the Internet Marketing Industry. He firmly believes in bum marketing techniques because everyone starts at the bottom and there has to be some free techniques available to grow your business. Tune into my blog and articles for great tips on free marketing.

Filed under Traffic · Tagged with Accomplish, Aunt Ethel, Blog, Blogging, Catalyst, Consistency, Creativity, Elephant, Fiction Writer, Future Predictions, Increase Traffic, Industry News, Key Dates, Market Trends, Pot Roast Recipe, Readership, Spontaneity, Struggle, Three Times, Topic C, Traffic, Traffic Flow, Tuesday Wednesday, Your

How To Get More Traffic To Your Blog

November 2, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment

1) Blog frequently

Most new bloggers dislike hearing this. Trust me when I say that the struggle for content is ongoing. New bloggers, however, feel like it’s just happening to them. The truth is, don’t get a blog just to have a blog. Get it and keep it updated. It’s the quickest way to gaining traffic. How often should you blog? Three times a week. The best days to blog? Studies have shown that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are key days for blogging.

2) Stay on point