Archive for the ‘Search Engine Optimization Consulting’ Category

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When to Hire a Professional SEO Firm

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

An ethical SEO firm can do wonders for a company’s website to ensure the business becomes more widely recognized and potential customers can easily find the company through a search engine’s search bar. Many companies think they can handle doing their own SEO and maybe they can. But how do you know when is it best for a company to hire a professional SEO firm?

Google recommends that the best time to hire a professional SEO firm is when you’re considering a site redesign or planning to launch a new site. By hiring an SEO firm early, they can ensure that your site is designed to be search engine-friendly from the inside out. Google also says a good SEO firm can greatly improve an already established site.

Google recommends asking your potential SEO firm for examples of previous work, to share some success stories and how long they’ve been in business. Also make sure they follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines, ask about their experience in the industry, experience in your country or city, and how often they will be able to communicate with you.

While many SEO firms are valuable to their clients business, some unethical SEO practices have given the industry a bad reputation by attempting to manipulate search engine results unfairly. It’s important when hiring an SEO firm to be educated in what ethical SEO means and to ask a lot of questions to ensure the SEO firm in question is not spamming.

Keep in mind there is a lot more to search engine optimization than meets the eye. Not only do you need knowledge of how search engines work, but also experience of which techniques work and which don’t, and also what constitutes a search-engine-friendly web design. SEO is very time consuming when done correctly and many businesses just don’t have the time or know-how to produce results like an SEO firm can. In conclusion, how do companies know when to hire a professional SEO firm? The answer is – hire one when they decide to take their business growth to the next level.

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Posted in Ethical Search Engine Optimization, SEO Consulting | 2 Comments »

The 3 Ways to Not Gain Followers on Twitter

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

twitterIf you think your Twitter strategy could use some re-thinking, a good first step would be to make sure you’re aren’t overusing the 3 Twitter tactics we’ve listed below. Too often, we see people on Twitter use these exclusively. They end up sounding like a broken record, or someone who really doesn’t care that much about his or her followers. Here are Twitter strategies that will end up wasting your time and your followers’ time (that is, if you can hang on to any):

1. Posting nothing but quotes. Sure, quotes are fine every now and then. But you won’t gain followers on Twitter by rehashing things other people said.

2. Too much self promotion. Stop selling whatever you’re selling and try to be interesting. If your Twitter stream is an unending sales message, then no one will want to follow you. Most people are fine with a little self-promotion, but save it for really important moments, like when you’ll be giving a speech, or when you’re online store is having a sale.

3. Linking to news stories and blog posts. A lot of us find interesting links on Twitter, and those usually come from Twitter users we follow. Why do we follow them? It’s not because they link to every story in the Wall Street Journal every day. It’s because they take time to select only the best, most interesting, most valuable news stories and blog posts. And, if they have room, they let us know why it’s interesting. Linking to good content is part of being an active and engaged Twitter user. But let us know why you care about these links.

The truth is, a mix of those three tweeting tactics can work, but only if they’re interspersed with what are still the most valuable tweets. These are:

1. Tweeting about yourself. Go ahead. Talk about yourself. People on Twitter want to see a real person behind the tweets. And that includes tweets by companies. All businesses and companies have a personality. And successful ones let that show in their tweets. Just check out successful Twitter feeds like Dunkin’ Donuts and Zappos. Those two companies thrive on fun. But of course, some businesses need to project a sober, serious and competent brand image. That doesn’t mean they can’t use Twitter. Just look at Bank of America’s Twitter feed, or Citigroup’s. Any institution dealing with credit or money must appear trustworthy and competent. But BoA and Citi have been able to develop popular Twitter feeds that don’t go against that image.

2. Direct messaging other Twitter users. Twitter claims that it lets users tell others about what they are doing. But there’s already another hugely popular service that lets people do that, too. It’s called Facebook. But what Twitter can do that Facebook can’t is let people communicate with each other quickly and easily—even if they’re total strangers. That’s the power of direct messaging. Think of it this way: Facebook is for staying in touch with people you already know. Twitter is for reaching out and meeting new people.

If you search for keywords that are important to you and your industry, then you’ll probably be able to find hundreds, maybe thousands of people to connect with. Sure, you could choose to follow them. Maybe they’ll follow you back, maybe they won’t. But if you send them a direct message, you immediately open a new, potentially valuable channel of communication. That’s how relationships that matter get established, and that’s the value of Twitter.

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Posted in SEO Consulting, social media marketing | No Comments »

Web and Internet Marketing Trends: Will the iPad Change the Way We Search?

Monday, February 1st, 2010

webinternetmarketingNow that the dust has settled after last week’s announcement of Apple’s iPad, we can get down to what’s really important, at least for those of us involved in Web and Internet marketing: how will the iPad change online search?

The truth is, the jury’s still out on whether the iPad will be another revolutionary device along the lines of the iPod and iPhone, or if it will suffer a similar fate to Apple’s first major tablet idea, the Newton.

Plenty of Web and Internet marketing professionals have already weighed in on the pros and cons of the iPad, so we’re not going to do that here. Instead, we’d like to focus on the iPad’s strengths and explore how it may affect the way we use online search.

While a lot of people, Web and Internet marketing professionals included, aren’t fully convinced that the iPad will completely replace the good old-fashioned book, it’s effectiveness as a reference tool seems pretty solid. The iPad will make it easy for users to access an online dictionary and thesaurus. Users will also be able to look up topics on Wikipedia. Imagine that you’re reading an ebook about Italy and the city of Genoa is mentioned. Not sure where Genoa is? Use your iPad with Google Maps to locate it. Then look it up on Wikipedia and get a quick rundown of the city’s history.

The second thing the iPad could change the way people search is through what we’ll call the rise of kitchen computing. The Internet has been a boon to chefs. There are thousands, actually hundreds of thousands of recipes, online. But right now getting a recipe online means one of three compromises is necessary. You’ll either have to print out the recipe, bring your laptop into the kitchen, or keep running back and forth between your desktop computer and the kitchen. But with the iPad, it will be simple to access an online recipe and prop up your iPad in a convenient corner of the kitchen. Web and Internet marketing professionals should take note: the iPad could signal an increase in searches for “how to” or “service” articles. Now that people can carry their iPad to their car, down to their basement or into their backyard, one can expect car repair, home repair and yard maintenance instructionals to become even more popular.

Even if the iPad does become a common accessory, it probably won’t completely replace the desktop PC or the laptop. That means Web and Internet marketing experts should still optimize their Websites for traditional search. But the potential for a new facet of online search is definitely possible. Web and Internet marketing professionals would be wise to pay attention to the iPad’s impact so they can get in early on this burgeoning market.

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Posted in Ethical Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing Consulting | No Comments »

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