Oct
5
Keywords Demystified
Filed Under Laws and Rules of Thumb, Search Engines | 7 Comments
Needle in a Haystack?
There are millions of websites and billions of words of information on the Internet. You would think that finding anything would be like looking for a needle in a proverbial haystack.
Fortunately some of the savviest entrepreneurs have hired some of the smartest geeks to write some of the coolest computer programs ever written that allow us to find just about anything out there on the World Wide Web. These programs I refer to are what you and I call search engines.
The most popular search engines today are Google, MSN Live, Yahoo! and AOL. While Google is the most popular, each of the others has plenty of loyal users too.
The search engines travel throughout the Web reading web pages and saving information about these pages for future reference, a process called indexing. When a page has been visited and stored away, we say that the web page has been indexed.
What are Keywords?
When we want to find something online, we bring up our favorite search engine and type some words into its search box. These words which closely relate to the information we want are called search terms or keywords.
We enter keywords, and the search engine responds with pages of results called search engine result pages – SERPs for short – that it retrieves from its index files.
If we are happy with the results, fine. Otherwise we try entering a different keyword combination, or we change the order of the search terms and try again.
Every Search Engine Must Do This
A good search engine is one that consistently finds us the web pages that are the most relevant to our search based on our chosen keywords.
The top priority of a search engine must be to retrieve and return to us the most relevant and helpful web pages. If it doesn’t, then we’ll look to a competitor’s search engine instead.
Search engines always focus on satisfying users, not website owners and not even paying advertisers.
Crime and Punishment
Website owners sometimes try to deceive search engines by stuffing keywords into their web pages completely out of context. They hope thereby to drive their pages up to the top of the search results.
This tactic, a form of spam called spamdexing because it spams the indexing process, once fooled search engines, but that is no longer the case.
Spamdexing can be spotted by sophisticated search engine algorithms and punished appropriately. A site might even be delisted altogether.
Once this happens it could be a long time before the site re-establishes its credibility and regains its standing.
Golden Rule of Web Design
Create your web site content with your visitors in mind. Your visitors and search engines will react favorably, and everybody will win in the long run.
With keyword research you can find the optimal keywords to use in your web pages, words or phrases that many people are searching for, but not so many that the competition for those keywords will be too fierce.
This is a good place for creativity. Keyword selection is both an art and a science.
However, whatever keywords you select to use in your web page, keep this in mind:
Somebody will read what you write, so always be sure that what you write is worth reading.
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Aug
7
Top 10 Blogging Success Factors
Filed Under Favorite Posts, Search Engines, Social Media and Social Networking Sites, blogging | 9 Comments
Nearly every day I hear from people who want to know how to start a blog or how to have a more successful blog.
I admit that I’m still learning myself, but I’ve made great progress in the nine months since I started blogging.
This past month alone my Online Social Networking blog received 5,202 visits including 1,993 visits from search engines.
My Google PageRank is up to 3, and my Alexa traffic rank is 181,032. These stats put my blog in the top 1% of all websites.
What are the critical success factors contributing to my rapid progress?
My Personal Blog Philosophy
There are ten success strategies that shape my blog philosophy.
- Blogging Mindset - Writing and publishing a successful blog is a major project that requires very big commitment. Blogging requires that you move forward at all times. So often people start blogging and give up. They didn’t have the blogging mindset, and they weren’t willing to do what successful bloggers do.
- Research and Planning - Before I wrote one word on my blog, before I decided what to call my blog, before I purchased a domain name for my blog, I did plenty of research. Where should my blog be hosted? What platform should it run on? What will I write about, and which keywords will I optimize for? These questions and more were addressed up front and their answers formed my initial plan of action.
- Bias for Action - Getting started and keeping your momentum going is essential if you want to have a successful blog. While adequate preparation is important, a time comes when you must “draw a line in the sand”, stop preparing and begin writing. Your ongoing research and writing need to become routine. Don’t worry if your articles aren’t perfect. You can edit your posts after publishing them, and it could even help with the search engines to do so.
- Experimentation and Tracking - Every blogging enterprise is different, and you’ll need to find the mix of strategies and tactics that are right for your blog. If you install Google Analytics, you’ll be able to track your blog’s traffic. You’ll know what is working and what’s not. Materminding with friends and mentors is another way to gain valuable insights.
- Correction as Needed - When you discover something that’s not working, you’ll look to refine it or replace it. Ongoing tracking will provide you with the feedback you need to make the necessary correction in your direction to stay on course.
- High Quality Content - Quality content to me means writing with both the reader and the search engines in mind. It means writing well, revising the text many times, proofreading, etc. It also means choosing topics that will make readers want to return to your blog. Please don’t write long run-on paragraphs. Make it easy for your reader to go through your article on the screen without having to print it out… Because they won’t. And one more thing, until you have tons of visitors reading your blog every day, don’t even consider cluttering it up with cheesy ads.
- Online Social Networking - The best way to find readers and subscribers for your blog is at social networking sites. For this purpose you can use most business networking sites or networking sites that cater to bloggers such as Entrecard and MyBlobLog. Carefully inviting site members to visit your blog is a nice way to reach out to them — not at all spammy. Make it easy for your readers to subscribe. My readers have three ways to opt in, registration, RSS Feed and autoresponder.
- Search Engine Optimization - Treat every blog post as a website that will one day stand on its own, because it will. It will eventually works it’s way down and off your blog’s cover page. Use keyword research to find the best words and phrases to use in your articles. Make sure that your main search terms are neither too general nor too competitive to earn you good placement in the search engines. Don’t limit yourself to using only your primary keywords in your text. Using all relevant search terms, even the ones that are hard to compete for, will turn you article into a search engine magnet.
- Social Bookmarking - Using social media sites such as Digg and del.icio.us to anchor and promote your blog posts is very important. Social Marker will help you find more bookmarking sites and facilitate the bookmarking process. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms of service of each of the social media sites you use, so that you don’t get banned. Bookmark articles using their individual URL, not your blog’s URL, since each article is its own website, not just a part of the blog.
- Patience and Time - Over time your traffic will increase, so will your credibility, and you’ll gain subscribers. Don’t expect much before three months, and give yourself a full year to become a blogging superstar.
For more articles on blogging, blog marketing and SEO see Blog Marketing and SEO Training.
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Jun
27
New Information Product
Filed Under News, Search Engines | Leave a Comment
Marketing and Keyword Research
I met Marcus Hochstadt several months ago through our participation at one of my favorite social networking sites for bloggers called Entrecard.
I recently previewed and gave a thumbs up to Marcus’ new keyword research home study course which will help you identify niches in both US and international markets.
The training is geared to both newbies and advanced Internet marketers. I got some great ideas from watching the videos.
Marcus shows in great detail how to use a number of free but powerful research tools.
Here’s what I wrote in my review:
I enjoyed your course very much.
I liked your in-depth look at free tools that people can leverage and assess online market potential as well as select relevant keywords.
Your introduction made a case for research, and I was lead to believe that the course would be for beginners. Once I got into the body of the course, I realized that it is also valuable for professionals.
I have experience, so I found your course very valuable, because it took me to places where I hadn’t gone before.
Read the course details and place your order at Marcus’ blog.
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Jun
22
This post is somewhat longer than usual. Sorry for that, but I put a lot of work into it. I hope you like it.
Last Wednesday during my regular bi-weekly business mentoring tele-conference I revealed several powerful business success secrets.
While I was specifically addressing entrepreneurs, small business owners and sales professionals, these principles apply to all people and to all areas of our lives, not only business success.
Have you noticed? The year 2008 is half over.
Near the end of 2007 I posted Personal Development: 10 Simple Success Strategies to “help turbo charge your personal development in the New Year”. This may be worth re-reading if some of your goals and objectives have lost much of their earlier inertia.
Commitment
What are you committed to?
Mike Hernacki in The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want wrote:
“In order to accomplish something, you must know what you want and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it.”
It sounds too simple, doesn’t it? However, it is your intention and commitment that set The Law of Attraction into motion on your behalf.
Want proof?
Reflect back on your most important accomplishments, such as raising a child, getting a college degree, running a marathon, starting a business, or developing an Internet presence, and you’ll agree that your commitment to your success was absolute.
It wasn’t that you felt obligated. Rather you felt that the goal was extremely important to you, and that you would deal with any obstacle that might arise — without knowing in advance exactly what would be demanded of you on your way to success.
Without total commitment The Law of Attraction would have probably delivered an obstacle that you would not have been willing to handle, and you would have failed.
This success secret is so important that I’ve read Mike Hernacki’s timeless book about a dozen times over the past decade.
Acquiring New Skills
I am commited to ongoing personal development and acquisition of new knowledge and skills. I read mind expanding books, blogs and e-books.
Your objective may require the mastery of new skills – or it may not. Your willingness to do what it takes is what really matters. If new skills are required, then you must be ready and willing to learn them.
Working Hard
You may be required to apply a great amount of effort. When I wanted to run the New York Marathon in 1984, strenuous preparation was absolutely necessary. In 1985 that was still true but to a lesser extent, since I had maintained a high level of fitness in the interim.
Tenacity and Persistence
Let’s bring this home.
You want to develop a presence at one of your favorite social networking sites – or you want to write a blog – or you want to build an Internet presence. These objectives usually require a high degree of tenacity.
So often people abandon online social networking, blogging or social media optimization without realizing their objectives. They weren’t willing to persist. Perhaps their belief system was weak.
I have been social networking online for many years. I have continuously posted to this blog for nearly eight months.
Why?
I know what I want, and I’m willing to persist until I achieve it.
Belief
As I stated in Personal Development: The Law of Belief, “Our motivation and how we act is determined by our underlying beliefs.
“If we don’t believe that something is possible, we won’t even try to make it happen. Please listen to a conference call I recorded on 8/22/07 that illustrates this concept.”
A healthy belief system is critical to success in business and life.
Treat Your Business Like a Business
Production
Showing up counts for something, but it doesn’t count for enough.
Success in business and life depends on producing value either directly or indirectly through people you influence.
If you have a job and don’t produce, you won’t get very far, and sooner or later you won’t have a job.
If you have a business and don’t produce, you won’t have money in the bank.
If you don’t come through for people, you won’t have their friendship.
You must make a positive contribution in order to be successful.
One way to ensure that you’re productive is to set daily or weekly goals or benchmarks.
For example, let’s suppose you’re in sales. You need to make six product sales per month to meet your business objectives. In order to make six sales, you need to make 15 presentations. To get 15 appointments, you’ll need to speak to 60 people.
You work about 20 days per month. On average you will have to speak to three people per day in order to speak to 60 per month.
Your benchmark or goal becomes three a day. If you focus on 3+ per day with consistency, you will likely make your six product sales per month.
You’ve succeeded at breaking down your abstract monthly goal into concrete daily actions.
Diversification
Big corporations employ a wide variety of media and messages to bring their product to market. They advertise on television, radio, in print and through direct mail. They experiment with many versions of their ad copy.
You cannot do everything a giant company can do, but why not learn from their example?
If you use half a dozen methods to reach out to your potential clients, you’ll enjoy these benefits:
- You’ll achieve success with some approaches, even if others fail.
- You’ll attract a wider variety of clients than using a single method.
- You’ll be able to see which methods perform better relative to each other, so that you can refine your marketing plan.
- You’ll lower your overall risk through diversification.
Here are some of my favorite marketing channels:
- Online social networking at social networking sites
- Offline business networking at a business networking group such as Network Plus, facilitated by Ted Fattoross, the group’s founder
- My Online Social Networking blog that you’re reading right now coupled with keyword research and search engine optimization
- Social media sites and social bookmarking sites
- Classified advertising in small weekly newspapers
Over time you’ll develop your own favorite marketing channels if you haven’t already done so.
Tracking and Analysis
If you want to make informed business decisions, you must track your results and analyze your data. If you can’t do it yourself, then you must get an expert to do it for you or show you how to do it.
Tracking and analysis are not something optional.
Let me ask you, would you even consider driving your car with your eyes shut?
You can’t afford to run your business with your eyes shut or even partially covered.
Cost per Acquisition
One of the most basic marketing measurements is cost per acquisition, the amount that you’re spending on average to complete a sale using each marketing method. Simply put, it’s the total spend divided by the total number of sales.
It is important to consider your staff costs including your own time, not just the out-of-pocket expenditures for design and media.
Cost per acquisition is an excellent way to compare marketing channels, but there is one very important caveat. Customers from one marketing channel may be more valuable than from another. Therefore marketers must take into account customer long term value, the other side of the equation.
Customer Long Term Value
Customer long term value can be difficult to calculate, but it is generally approximated as the income you expect to earn from a customer over a 12 to 24 month period. If your business is on the risky side, lean towards 12 months. If it is very stable, then 24 months may be appropriate.
To be successful, cost per acquisition cannot exceed customer long term value. It ought to be less.
Trend Data
You can also track your performance or the performance of your staff. Trending performance data and marketing data over time will help you see the bigger picture.
Masterminding and Mentoring
As stated in my post Even Mentors Need Mentors, “I learn from reading many books, e-books and blogs, and from speaking frequently with friends and mentors. Having mentors has greatly shortened my learning curve.”
Masterminding with your peers and seeking out mentors will help you as much or more than any other single strategy mentioned in this article.
Please feel free to comment and share those strategies that have made the biggest difference in your business and personal endeavors.
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Jun
5
To Blog, or not to Blog, that is the Question
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines, blogging | 4 Comments
Or is it?
Your plate is very full. Don’t get me wrong. I understand. I really do.
You wonder how you could possibly fit blogging into your hectic schedule. You also wonder whether you have the wherewithal to adequately research and write articles week after week, something that you believe good bloggers ought to do.
Before addressing these issues, let’s take a step back and discuss a scenario that you’re familiar with if you engage in business networking at your local small business association, chamber of commerce or business networking group.
Business Networking Model
At a business networking meeting, you meet several people you feel you’d like to get to know.
You exchange business cards, and being a sharp networker, you resolve to get in touch with these new contacts as quickly as possible once you return to your office. You know very well that if you want to get something going, you’ll have to be the one to take the first step.
Unfortunately most people simply won’t follow up. They’ll hope that you’ll be sufficiently impressed with them and their business card, brochure or website to pick up the phone and call them to get the ball rolling.
You’re not as impressed as they would like, but you do understand business networking and human nature, so you take the initiative and give them a ring.
Your phone converation goes well. You ask enough questions to build rapport and to identify at least one business problem they have for which you should be able to provide a solution.
You sense that it’s too early in the relationship to try and sell them your idea. Instead you’ll maintain contact with them to build mutual trust and respect in accordance with the First Law of building relationships: Nobody cares what you say until they know that you care.
At this point what do the textbooks tell you to do?
They say that you should call periodically and look for newspaper and magazine clippings to send — along with a personal note of course.
Suppose that you have a hundred good contacts, and suppose also that you want to mail and speak to each one about every two months. That’s about eleven calls and the same number of news clippings per week or about two of each per day.
Even if you’re a sociable person, that’s going to be a hard schedule to stick with over a long period of time. You would have to be a master networker to make such a scheme work for you.
Blog Marketing to the Rescue
Fortunately blog marketing comes to your aid.
You invite your contacts to visit your blog, and ask permission to register them as a subscriber.
If they accept, you’ll be able to keep them in the loop with a reasonable amount of effort. Even if you write only one blog post per week, they’ll still hear from you every week. They have the option to comment on your articles and start a conversation within your blog’s community.
They can get to know you really well, and this will help as much or more than sending them clippings every couple of months. They may even give you cues to let you know when they’re ready to do business. You’ll be able to pick up the phone and tell them your idea, and they’ll be favorably pre-disposed to accept it.
All this is wonderful, but there’s even more.
Put Your SEO Training to Work
Many people will find you through the search engines if you’ve done good keyword research, and if you’ve paid enough attention to ongoing search engine optimization.
Make it easy for your visitors to subscribe, and those who like you will.
The search engines will be working on your behalf even when you’re sleeping or on vacation. They work 365/7 and never complain.
Save Time and Effort
If you are very busy, or you’re not sure how to research and write articles, you can rely on the tried and true clipping method. However, you’ll clip online articles instead of newspapaper or magazine stories.
You’ll frame these online articles for your readers in your post, just as you would have done using a short personal note accompanying newspaper clip. You’ll also provide a link to the site where they can read the entire story.
This approach saves you time and effort, and you can still write original content for your blog as frequently as you wish.
In Conclusion
Add to this rationale the Top Reasons Why I Blog, an earlier post, and your decision “to blog, or not to blog” will most likely be affirmative.
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Jun
1
Keyword Research Paying Off Big
Filed Under Search Engines, blogging | 7 Comments
Surging Ahead in the Search Engines
Extensive keyword research and long-term persistence are starting to pay off in a very big way.
Last month, in Blogging and Search Engine Marketing, I patted myself on the back for my SEO progress during my first six months publishing this blog.
I didn’t at all expect that in May I would receive more visitors from search engines than in all previous months since my introduction to the world of blogs.
These visits were above and beyond the 2,000+ visits that I received from my subscriber lists and from online social networking at Entrecard, MyBlogLog and social networking sites.
Furthermore, slightly more than 30% of those search engine visitors stayed on my site long enough to read something.
Of the 787 search engine visits to my blog in May, 239 “stuck”.
Why so much growth in one month?
My keyword research helped me choose search terms that were ambitious yet realistic. And my persistence helped me to establish PageRank and credibility with Google and the other search engines.
I continue to add lots of content to my blog and bookmark all my content on major social media sites.
Do you think I might top 1,000 visitors from SEO in June?
SEO Training
The good news is that what I’m doing here with search engine optimization is duplicable, and I hope to empower you through our Blog Marketing and SEO Training series to develop a massive web presence and achieve great success in your particular niche.
Whether you’re starting a small business, growing an established business, or building a network marketing business, I can’t think of a better way to increase website traffic.
Are you ready to receive thousands of search engine visitors to your site?
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Mar
17
Don’t Make This Mistake
Filed Under Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines, blogging | 2 Comments
Since I submitted my last post listing the Top Reasons Why I Blog I had an important exchange with a gentleman who I will help with his blogging.
He said that he wanted to write a blog for personal branding, and that he didn’t really care much about keywords.
I told him that he’d be better off to define his keyword niche and build on it, so that he could earn his rightful place in the search engines. Why shouldn’t he grow his personal brand and his search equity at the same time?
When I set up this blog last November my goals were fuzzy. I made frequent title and meta tag changes. This hurt my credibility with the search engines and delayed my progress. I believe that had I not done so, my page rank would now be 2 or 3 instead of 1, and I would be further along in my marketing.
Keyword research is very important. I recently acquired a keyword tool that helps me make more informed and decisive keyword decisions.
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