Thursday, May 6, 2010

Can I Manage My Own SEO?

By Julie Johnson

Lets face it; many people who are just starting out their new business are looking to save money. There are many ways to go about this; however cutting back on your SEO services and trying to do your own online marketing may cost you more money than you are saving.

Marketing is a whole new game when it's online. You are not working to catch the public eye, it's a much trickier audience that you have to get to. Search engine spiders rate your website layout and look at the keywords utilized too. Search engines are not stagnant. They are an ever shifting component of a constantly updating online world. To be able to keep up with whats going on takes a load of work.

So, could anyone do their own SEO management? Like any other skilled labor, you must possess the know how. To get the skills you have to put in time and effort with research to figure out how things have shifted. You must figure out the keywords that work best too. This presents time constraints when you are already in the throes of building up the rest of the business.

So lets say you just decide that you don't have the time to do the SEO work yourself, and that you don't have the money to lay out toward hiring a professional SEO to take care of it for you. Well, then you will probably not be able to build a successful business on the internet. Honestly, the internet has gotten too large, with way too much information on it, and getting your business noticed could take years. Can you afford to wait that long? Probably not.

The bottom line is that no matter where you make cut backs in your business, do not sacrifice your marketing. SEO is a requirement for the success of any online business, and foregoing this could mean losing your business altogether and that is a dangerous position to be in.

About the Author:

Author Howard Larrabee...See Howard's website on blogging as a tool to market your sites Click Here

Thursday, April 22, 2010

How Web 2.0's Innovative Technologies can Benefit Your Business

By Thomas Crox

If you've been on the Internet for a while, you know what Web 2.0 is.

This second generation of the Internet has added complexity and usability to many activities that people now perform every day on the web and has greatly increased the scope of what is available. In the early days of the Internet, larger websites controlled the content and filtered it down to smaller ones without a great deal of participation or choice from the users. However, in the last several years, that has changed. Whether you want to network socially and establish relationships or simply let your beliefs be known to the world, that type of power is now in your hands.

Due to this, the method of which services and merchandise are marketed on the Internet has completely revolutionized as well. Web 2.0 oriented sites allow much more potential for Internet marketers when building a brand, getting new leads, or selling a product. It is a more interesting and interactive way of getting the word out about your business. and it is a venue that pops with action and vitality. In this article we'll be looking into various elements that make Web 2.0 marketing what it is.

At its core, Web 2.0 simply refers to the new capabilities we find on the net, such as video streaming, instant messaging, live feeds etc. Everything that allows you to reach your audience in a more effective way than simply emails. Such communication is thanks to the new technology found in Web 2.0. The Internet is now an ever changing entity. Nothing is one way anymore. As a result, marketing is now far more dynamic. With the advent of blogging platforms, social networking and third party Web 2.0 sites, came added opportunities through RSS feeds, personal feedback, etc Such things have seriously altered the way businesses market themselves online.

You no longer need to hope your website is successful - you can get instant feedback from potential customers about your site. This makes it possible for you to discuss what you have included on your site with those who visit. These comments will also help with search engine results. Google, Yahoo, Bing, they all love fresh content and if your site can offer it, then it can lead to high rankings. One of the great things about the feedback that you receive, called UGC or User Generated Content, is that while it can benefit you, it is work that you don't have to do. The way this works is that when someone posts on your site, they may combine words that create keyword combinations that will trigger a search engine to pull up your site, thus generating more traffic.

As well as the feedback that you receive, RSS feeds are an important component in letting people know what is new and keeping them updated on your site activity. Return traffic is very beneficial to your business. Submitting RSS feeds to different directories will help create backlinks. If you want to rank highly with search engines, you need plenty of backlinks.

If you want to master online marketing, then it would behoove you to use Web 2.0 Marketing so that your business or site will continue to have unlimited success. Most Internet entrepreneurs do not take advantage of this valuable tool, so they never fully understand how Web 2.0 can help them achieve success. Regardless of whether or not you've attempted it, you should try to get out of your comfort zone and try a new method of traffic generation. The Internet is always changing and evolving, so you must be ready to embrace those changes and find new ways to use them to market your business. In order for you to stay one step ahead of the competition and do it with ease, you will need to grasp at all the new promotional technologies and experiment with its new techniques.

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Improving Your Online Marketing

Online marketing involves a great deal of effort. It includes SEO, social media, e-mail marketing, pay per click and mobile web. As the new year begins, it is time to rethink our online marketing strategies and retool our online marketing solutions.

Give your online marketing campaigns the lift that it needs by applying new techniques, like social bookmarking, that will bring about better, more positive change. Social media sites should be an integral part of all your online marketing efforts.

For search engine optimization, focus more on maximizing visits and conversions coming in from organic searches. As much as possible, your online marketing should be free of dollar cost. Try to do away with paid advertising. You should also have schemes to bring in new customers. If potential clients aren't clicking through to your web page, then you should make changes to your pitch page. Online marketing should work to attract interested parties, and in getting conversions.

Maximize the success of your online marketing campaigns by examining your metrics reports (Google Analytics is a great tool) to find which contents or pages are attracting visitors and the resulting clickthru rates. To improve your online results, make sure that you evaluate the title tags and meta descriptions of competitive search results. Then, tweak your meta tags and meta descriptions to make them better than the competition. Make absolutely sure that your contents are consistent with your title tags and meta tags. It is vital for your online marketing strategy to have relevant contents. Make sure that you take your customers straight to the solution to their problem. And have a call to action closing paragraph.

Social media has now taken on a great role in online marketing. However, it is more challenging to rationalize in terms of immediate ROI. Through social media, you can improve your online marketing by acquiring better customer relationships, reputation management, raising brand awareness and increasing relevant visitor traffic. However, it takes longer to develop this strategy than some other marketing techniques, so be prepared for slow, consistent growth with social media marketing.

Improving your online marketing is not complex. It requires diligence and consistency. And reasonable expectations.

Author Howard Larrabee...See Howard's website by ClickingHere

Monday, March 29, 2010

What is Social Networking?

We often encounter the term social networking, but not everyone really knows its exact meaning. Every day, we are surrounded by people at work, in school, in church, community, gym, favorite restaurants, and the like in the many places we go. We interact with these people and our relationships grow as we spend more time in close proximity. Modern technology now takes this relationship building to another level, and social networking sites provide the platform for eRelationships, either new or as an extension of our in person relationship.

Social networking refers to the grouping of diverse individuals into specific groups like a community. The community is that of a Facebook, Orkut, Twitter or whatever. It commonly occurs when people build personal relationships, spend time or participate in common activities with other individuals. Social networking also happens even without physical interaction. For example, friendships and various relationships may start on the internet, and may never progress to anything other than that.

Social networking online is facilitated by social networking websites. Members of these websites are different people who have the same desires and interests. For instance, a specific website provides services and facilitates communication between people who have the same hobbies. Through the website, members become friends, they learn and share techniques, and they are included in workshops and seminars, and provided with a complete list of supposedly reliable suppliers.

To be a member of a social networking website, you must first register. This is done by completing a registration form. You may need to divulge personal information if it is required by the social networking website. As soon as you are given access, you can create a profile and begin socializing. You can view profiles of other members, send them messages or join a live chartroom. Through time, your network of friends will expand as your friends will introduce you to other community members they know. Social networking has no limits and boundaries. Even if you are in a different country, you can have friends who live miles away from you. This also provides a great platform for maintaining up to date information on your family members who live distances from you. In these venues, you will be exposed to different cultures and beliefs. On the same thought, other members will appreciate your individuality and the many things you could also share and offer.

Social networking websites may either be traditional or exclusive. The former have open memberships. This means all people can join. The more exclusive types have certain criteria with regards to its membership approval.

If online socializing appeals to your interest and lifestyle, you can check out the following websites: MySpace, FriendFinder, Friendwise, Yahoo! 360, Orkut, Facebook, and Classmates. These are very popular among internet users because they already have an established community of members. When you view these or other websites, you should also evaluate the quality of service they provide. And similar to forming social networks in your immediate physical environment, doing it online requires responsibility and due diligence. Be aware of the dangers of online predators. Be a cynic first, and then gradually increase your trust levels with people. A few bad apples make all the news, but don’t mistake, there are some scammers and thieves online. The longer you are out there, the better you will get in seeing who these people really are before you get entrapped in any way.

Author Howard Larrabee...See Howard's website by ClickingHere

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Orkut...Under The Radar

Do you want to meet more friends who share the common interests that you have? Do you want to know more about music, culture, religion or the arts? Wouldn’t it be nice to do all these online? Are you familiar with social networking in the internet? At this point, probably so. If so, have you tried going to the different websites that facilitate social networking? And by that I mean, sites that might not be as well known as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.

One such site is Orkut. Orkut.com is one of the many available social networking websites. It was named after its creator, Orkut Buyukkokten, an employee of Google. This website’s simple goal is to build a large network of individuals who are willing to build friendships, share information and interact socially with people over the internet. It is tight community.

What makes Orkut a worthwhile website to join? First and foremost, Orkut offers free services to its members. Secondly, Orkut’s membership is not open to everyone. You must be personally invited by Google to become an account member. So, how does this network system work? Orkut invites people by simply giving its current members the privilege to invite their friends and relatives. Does this make sense? According to Google, this system provides assurance that members are real people and really do exist, and are not just identities created by people who have nothing meaningful to do with their lives except create false identities. Since, all of us are already part of some social network in our school, workplace, church, and community, there is a great chance that some of our friends are already members of Orkut, and would invite us to join the network.

Once you become a member of Orkut, you may begin viewing profiles of its many members. You can hunt for old friends who you may have lost touch with, moved to places far away, or look for people who have similar hobbies and likes and affiliations that you have. You might even be able to invite your old crush to be a part of your personal network. Besides the many friendships and business relationships built on the internet, there are also cases where social acquaintance blooms into romantic relationships and long lasting mates.

Almost anything is possible when you become a member of Orkut. You can meet with your friends personally and do activities with each other, or you can express yourself through blogs, and, you can even promote your business or your skills in your network of friends. This is a typical Web 2.0 properties network, where social and business needs of its members are co-mingled.

Modern technology continues to provide us broad abilities to communicate with people and keep our relationships with them. Social networking is foremost among these methods. It does not limit us to friendships defined by geographical boundaries, and exposes us to people and things we would not get exposed to in our old traditional mode of living. The internet gives us the ability to virtually “be there” in person. In the convenience of our homes, we are able to get bits of knowledge about what is happening in other places, about leisure activities that are not only enjoyable, but also beneficial, and about diverse bits of culture that are new to us.

This blog is created by Howard. Please visit his website on Social Networking In-depth by ClickingHere