Changing trends in Online Marketing

As online marketing continues to shift and reshape the Internet a new series of strategies has emerged that is making the work of SEO even more effective. Using social media networks to affect the decision making process, businesses are now recognizing the need to build up a reputation through the links and posts on the densely populated social media sites. Creating campaigns that attract attention of an audience and redirect potential customers to their website, businesses of every shape and size are finding out that in order to be competitive they need to do more than just optimize their website. While link building and page ranks remain the goal of a successful SEO campaign there is a growing emphasis on how organizations use social media to guide the laser targeted of search engine optimization.

Because traditional offline commercial advertising campaigns are losing their momentum, the online world is continuing to bring newer and more effective marketing practices to the attention of business owners and advertising professionals. Mastering the tools and techniques for guiding millions of Internet users to the products and services of their clients, online marketing managers are achieving success that reaches beyond the accepted practices of SEO. With the technology driven short attention spans of younger consumers social media marketing offers a growing number of strategies that have and will continue to act as a laser for targeting unique groups of consumers that are constantly online with money to spend.

Of course the use of social media does not negate the need for a well planned SEO strategy. Adding to the success of a continual link building campaign the work of online social interactions by business professionals is an important element of Internet marketing that cannot nor should be overlooked. Selecting keywords and writing content that is sprinkled with a fair amount of keywords continues to be a vital component of success. Optimizing a website with Meta tags and content rich relevant wording still relies on the links that are generated through related article submissions, blogs and industry directories. Building an online reputation that supports the work of an optimized website requires continued posts to the social networking sites that are frequented daily by millions of people. Aiding in the effort of an effective strategically thought out SEO campaign the addition of social media makes internet marketing all the more successful. With the help of professionals that are versed in the uses of social media and who can create a customized campaign to promote any organization. Being ranked higher in the search engines is the result of all of the online marketing efforts of SEO, link building and social media posts.

How the Internet influences Marketing paradigms

Marketing has changed dramatically over the past 15 years. With people using the Internet for all sorts of searches the need to conduct proper SEO campaigns has shifted the focus of marketing and advertising professionals to the more precise efforts and effects of online marketing. Where a business owner was once required to take out ads in the local phone directory to help drum up customers, the Internet has made the phone book obsolete. Sure there are some very rare occasions when reaching for the yellow pages might be an option, but for the most part everyone that owns a computer is looking up the information that they want in one of the online search directories. With an estimated 31 billion web searches taking place each month on Goggle alone, the revolution in how people are using technology has led to a revamping of the entire marketing industry. 

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the standard approach to advertising was the mass media broadcast and print productions that send out commercial messages to tens of thousands, even millions of people at a time. Similar to firing a shotgun and hoping that the spread of buckshot would hit something the mass media approach was effective to a very limited extent. By reaching a large audience the advertisers would expect to make a handful of sales for whatever product they were promoting. With returns of 4% or less the shotgun approach to advertising to a mass population was (and continues to be) a high cost, low return investment for any business that could afford to shell out tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars for the production and airing of their commercial messages. Television, radio and magazine ads have lost their mass audience appeal and as the telephone book is all but extinct the more traditional forms of broadcast and print media are rapidly losing ground with younger consumers.

Thanks to the invention and innovation of technology satellite broadcasting, commercial free cable programming, and downloadable TV shows and music choices that can circumvent the broadcasts of commercial ads allows users and subscribers to avoid or skip the traditional advertising campaigns, leaving many advertisers looking for a better way to reach their ideal consumer. Turning to the Internet for help the solution that has become the norm for every company of every size in every country throughout the world is search engine optimization for their website. About a decade ago it became apparent that the world of marketing and advertising needed an overhaul. Recognizing a shift was taking place in how people used technology the online search directories stated listing businesses and website information. As the trends in marketing continued to change a number of marketing professionals saw the need to change their approach to advertising or be swept away into history.

With the changes that continue to be made to improve the placement of a website in the SERPS (search engine results pages) consumers have adopted Internet marketing strategies to help them increase their online sales. Noticing that they could select a series of keywords that coincided to the parameters of an online search, the targeting of specific buyers has become the new model for advertising agents to follow. A directly opposite approach to the broad reaching shotgun method of mass marketing, keyword optimized website marketing works like a laser beam to pinpoint the ideal consumer and target the advertising messages of SEO work directly. Identifying individuals that are ready, willing and able to make a purchase; at the exact moment that they find a product or service that they want keyword targeted marketing strategies have improved the sales revenue of many online organizations.

This laser beam approach to marketing identifies a specific group of people by honing in on their interests instead of generalizing an online campaign. By focusing on the ideal consumer profile instead of blasting a large audience with commercial messages, businesses that are laser guiding their marketing efforts are seeing an increase in their sales from a smaller marketing budget. Returning hundreds of times more revenue than the investment costs an advertiser the Internet has become the place for businesses to position their brand and market their merchandise with laser fine accuracy and some amazing results.

SEO 101: The basics of Website Design

When designing a new website it is important to include the components that will allow the site to gain momentum within the search engines once it has been indexed by the spiders and robots. (Keep in mind that spider or robots refer to the search engine programs that crawl through a website and mark the content that can be extracted and read by the search engine). 

One buzz word that is thrown around by designers and programmers is "site architecture." Basically site architecture is the layout of the pages of a website and should be in a format that is easy to read and follow. Using logical pages that guide a visitor from the home page to other pages on the site, the architectural elements of the code should be easy to navigate. (This means that page frames are out.) Including a site map in the design of the pages allows the spiders to quickly index the entire site and draw out the relevant content that will be on file with the search directories.  No matter how many pages are being added to the site the map page is one of the most important elements of internet marketing and is very often overlooked by people that feel it is not necessary to break down their site. However this is a mistake that can cost the website brownie points when it's time to go live with the launch of the new site.

Within the source code of the HTML are Meta Tags that allow the programmer to add a series of keywords invisibly to the site. Although the search engines allow programmers to include keywords in the code the rule of thumb is to limit the keywords to no more than 20. Stuffing the site with keywords will only get the site into trouble and may get it banned from the more popular search engines. Along with the tagging of keywords Meta tags also allow for unique page titles to added to the site. About 10 years ago the pioneers of SEO realized that instead of marking their pages "home," "about," and "contact" they could actually say something that distinguished a website from every other page on the web. Using the Meta tags to create a unique title for each page and add a description allows the site owner to put up a sentence or just a few words that can be indexed and remembered by the search engines. Keeping in mind that the wording of the Meta tags should reflect the keywords that are used in the written portion (the content) of the website, programmers that are building a website can ensure that the relevance of the content is aligned with the offerings of the company. This brings me to the next point I want to make.

Because the search engines look for content that is the same as what a person making an inquiry is asking for, it is important to keep everything on the site relevant to the work that is being promoted by the keywords. Choosing the right words to say makes an impact on what the search engines will naturally link back to the website and return in the results of a search. With the philosophy that more is better some people overload their site with text that rambles on and goes nowhere. Keeping the content of the site to no more than 500 words per page will help to narrow the results and make the site easier to find. Using between 300 and 400 written words is the optimal amount that can help the spiders to index a site, but again the relevant content that relates to the offering of services, products or information is the most important thing to consider when writing for the web. Using the keywords naturally within the page content is also considered vital to the success of a website. However keywords must be limited to only a two or three uses per page. Any more than three uses of the keywords and the search engines might think that the site is being stuffed and drop the site down in the rankings instead of moving it up.

Finally, I want to address photos, pictures and Flash animation. If used in moderation each of these can aid in the promotion of the website to the search directories, but to make them stand out they must have a written description in the coding of the site. As the spider and robot programs are reading text only they do not see pictures and only note an image file is in use. Without a description that can be indexed pictures have no meaning in optimization and are lost. Likewise animation that is attractive and clever is not marked and sites that built entirely in Flash can only be tagged on their homepage. Therefore animation is not a preferred source for building a website. If you are looking for an animation it is best to embed it into an HTML coded site and tag the file so that it can be indexed for search optimization.

With these basic tips for building a website that is optimized for the web you can start making an impression on the search engines, but there is a whole lot more that still needs to be done in the way of online marketing before any website will reach the top page of a search result.

Until next time,

Managing Online Reputations with Social Media

As I have thought about this blog I have created a list of topics that I am going to be blogging about in the coming weeks. Thinking about how to continue to offer tips or advice to those that working on their own search optimization efforts I realized that I also need to include the trends in social media that are allowing individuals and businesses to gain a stronger web presence. Managing an online reputation is an important piece of the internet marketing puzzle.

After interviewing for a position as a corporate social media manager this morning I sat down to strategize my own approach building a solid reputation as someone who not only uses social media to move my professional profile forward, but also looking at what I can do to help businesses to grow. With link building offering permanent additions to the ranks of search optimized websites, the social portion of internet marketing focuses more on the branding and positive perspectives that a company or individual has online.

For everyone that is not doing anything about managing their online reputation the lack of interest in social network sites is hurting their business. Even with a moderate amount of posting on the networking sites a business or individual can keep a positive vibe circulating about themselves or their work. For myself, the management of a reputation is something that I committing to right now. Although I have been involved in online marketing in one form or another for the past three years I am only now seeing the significance of creating an online identity that can boost my professional interest as an expert content writer. Wanting to add more punch to my resume I am including a healthy dose of social media contacting to my online reputation. The end goal of course is to be at the top of the search engines when someone types in social media networking, online media marketing, or internet marketing consulting. Even though I am a freelance writer who specializes in blog and article content for the web I am expanding my horizons and working to improve my own standing as someone who understands and utilizes social media on a regular basis.

And I am not the only on doing that! Businesses across the internet are invested in the continued improvement of their online reputations. With the ability to post a review about a company in a consumer focused web forum businesses are required to scan the internet for negative press and do all that they can to replace the hurtful dialog with positively reinforced posts and reviews. Through online reviewing sites that allow people to post their feedback about the service and quality that they received from a business, the reputation of that company is established. In some cases the feedback may be perceived as negatively impacting the business which is why it is vital to the organization to ensure that if their name is attached to the results of a web search that comes up as shining the best light on the company. Regardless of whether they are a multinational corporation with tens of thousands of employees or a mom and pop small business that serves the local community the only way to keep a positive light on any business is to promote it positively in as many places as possible.

This is where social media content comes into play. Using the social media networks, consumer reviewing sites and even allowing customer reviews on their own website, businesses can work to continually manage their online reputation and achieve the ranking among the social networks as a company that has integrity and delivers quality to each person they serve. Although it is tempting to keep up on the various activities that taking place in the social networks throughout the day, I recommend keeping the work related posts focused on the business you are in and spending the after work hours connecting to friends and  family members online. With a strategy to promote the positive image of the company, the posts to the social media sites can improve any reputation and lead to more beneficial impact on the search engines that are tracking the reviews and posts entered online.

Until next time...

SEO takes Time, be patient

With over 50 distinct factors all contributing to a successful SEO campaign it is no wonder so many people have questions about why their website is not moving up in the search rankings of Google and other engines. Even with a very specific set of keywords that identify a target audience there is a lot of work that needs to be done on an ongoing basis before a website will achieve the ranking that everyone wants.

Truthfully, it can take up to a year or longer for a website to reach the first page of results in a search engine. Depending upon the competition and the amount of users that are searching for a specific site SEO can take a lot of time to deliver the organic results that every site owner is looking for. But don't despair, with some patience and the daily addition of articles, blogs and other online media posts a website can reach the top. Because it is a full time job to produce articles and generate viable links to a site many people turn to online marketing firms for help. Receiving a return on their investment that is far greater for such a modest amount than any other form of advertising or marketing internet marketing companies are able to develop strategies that have been proven effective by years of research and contribution to the search engines. Posting articles in online publishing forums and back linking those keyword enriched, informative and unbiased articles to a client's website, the pros understand that their work is never ending.

Even when your site is ranked in the top fold of the search results you are not finished with you SEO work. Because there are more than 200 million websites out there it is critical to sustain your success by swapping out the keywords and continuing to add to the success of your online venture. To help make things move along, the search engines are scanning articles and sites for the bold keywords that are being indexed by the search robots or spiders. Emphasizing the viable keywords of the blogs and articles and cross referencing them with the websites where the same word in the same order are appearing in the written content of a site the search engines remember what they have read and add the links to their stored pages of information. Even if no one ever reads the articles that are being added to build up the keywords, the links themselves become invaluable.

As someone that sends all day writing freelance articles for an SEO company, I have seen a number of tricks that the insiders use to manage the different clients that are selling identical products. With the name of a city or the use of a reordered series of keywords many different websites can each develop their own string of links that are moving them up in the results of a web search. If you are doing your own organic SEO work, just remember to be patient and always contribute something new for the spiders and robots to look for. Just keep in mind that your keywords are important and you should link your website to whatever you are submitting to an online publisher. If you keep working at it you will begin to see your site moving forward over the course of a few months.

Until next time,