Author Archives: Admin

SEO Best Practices Checklist

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For those who want a simple checklist to help with your SEO efforts, you’re in luck as we’re bringing you that today.  So without further delay we’ll jump right into it and present our top ten SEO best practices Checklist.

 

  1. Be sure to completely fill out your meta tags.  Pay special attention to the title and description tag.  Your title and description tag will form your online ‘billboard’ when your site appears in the search engines.  Be sure to include your main keyword phrase in both, and keep your title tag to 66 characters or less and description tag to 155 characters or less.
  1. Use your keyword phrase in important places.  Opening sentence of a paragraph, opening paragraph on the page, closing paragraph, title, subtitles, etc.
  1. Create a sitemap.  You can create a free XML sitemap here.
  1. Be sure your site loads fast and accurately with no errors.  Search engines hate errors, and also hate slow sites.  If you have lots of flash or images that make your site load slow, a redesign may be in the cards for you.
  1. Quote authority sources in your niche.  This may seem counter productive, but as search evolves this is going to help your site.  If there is a great post or article about your niche, mention it and provide a link to that site.  If you are quoting facts or figures, give credit to the resource you used with a link.
  1. Build links naturally.  It is not natural to build 100,000 links to a new site the first week it is up.  Create a game plan for your link building and stick to it so that you are building links on a consistent and regular basis.  You want a constant flow of links coming into your site, not lots of peaks and valleys if it is viewed on a chart.
  1. Guest post on authority blogs in your niche.  Contact other site owners in your niche and offer to write unique posts for them in exchange for a link back to your site.  Not only is this great link building, but it is also great authority building as you are posting on authority sites within your niche.
  1. Get social.  Sign up for and use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin at the very least.  Engage your audience and post content to these sites on a regular basis.  Eventually you can get to a point where you can drive much of your traffic from these social sites and you will be less dependent on your search engine rankings.
  1. Participate in forums.  Forums within your niche are great places to participate.  Find a couple forums in your niche that allow signature links and participate at a high level in these forums.  Add to the discussions, answer questions, make yourself helpful.  It will benefit you in the long run.
  1. Get video on your site.  Pull in on topic videos from YouTube, or better yet create a YouTube channel and start posting your own quality videos.  Video is huge and growing, and it must be a part of any online marketing campaign these days.

 

For more on SEO, please download our free SEO guide today.  If you are in need of SEO services, please feel free to contact us.  We are based in Californiaand are a Bay Area SEO company that specializes in working with small businesses.

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Web Design Decisions

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Every web site needs to have a clean and attractive design. However, should you hire a professional or do this on your own? 

Let us talk about financial side of this issue. If you want to do the web design of your own page yourself, it will definitely cost you less than hiring a web design company.   In addition, there are many tools out there to help you do this without even having to know HTML.  WordPress is one such tool, and creating a blog, downloading a great looking theme and moving forward in that manner is very easy, and your look will come out pretty professional.

The down side to this, however, is that you are somewhat limited by the type of site you can build.  For example, if you are looking to create a web design for ecommece sites, you should either have web design and coding knowledge, or seriously consider hiring a professional.  On the other hand, if you are creating a personal blog, doing it yourself is probably the best way to go.

Another aspect to consider is time. If you choose to do a web site design on your own it can actually take a lot of time and effort.  Although there are software packages out there that will make the process very easy, and allow you to create your web design with no html knowledge, you still will have to learn to use these tools.  This can be frustrating, and if you are not a do it yourself type of person, this is another reason to consider hiring a web design firm.

The best rule of thumb we can give is that if you intend to build a business around your web idea, get a professional to take care of the web design.  If you are unsure of your ultimate goals, doing it yourself may not be a bad idea.  It will cost less, but also will give you a good handle on how things work, which will allow you to make better decisions about future web sites and designs, regardless of if you hire a professional or do them yourself.

Are you Blogging Effectively? Interesting Things to Bear in Mind

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Perhaps “blogging” isn’t such a graceful word. For me, personally, it sounds like a worded drudgery the way cereals can be soggy, skies can be foggy, and the way minds can be groggy. But for now, it’s too late to rename this shortened word for web-logging. Widespread blogging is nevertheless one of the most engaging Internet developments of the past few years. As a medium it gives rise to many new and worthy voices and plays a new and vital force in shaping opinions, political realities, trends, and even our language.

I believe that a blog is simply a tool to use for someone who’s got something to say. Let me be clear in saying that a blog is a poor choice for someone who needs a megaphone to scream out to cyberspace in order to elicit a meaningful response from Internet users. If you want attention and want it now and expect blogging to bring it to you, then this will surely be a disappointment. However, if you like to write and engage others on subjects of which you have some command or experience, then it’s a wonderful application with which you can interact with people who share similar interests as you. The hype is well founded.

Anyway, here’s a list of blogging tips…

1.) Be topical.
Cohesiveness in message is not optional. Readers may or may not be interested in your topic, but if your message is haphazard that few will bother remembering to return to your blog because it essentially would offer nothing to remember. This doesn’t mean blogs can’t jump from subject to subject. For instance, a blog with a humorous focus has all the leeway in the world for subject matter, but it would be foolish for such a blog to turn the humor on and off. In such an example, the aspect of humor would be content’s glue, the strength of the blog. The beauty of staying on point and on topic is that eventually, due to the nature of the Internet, you will find those interested solely in your topic. (as opposed to online diaries. There are millions of them on the internet, few have any readers. Email me with examples if I’m wrong and I’ll be able to show you why you’re showing me a blog and not a diary.)

2.) Refresh your content
Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don’t create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content. New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don’t want to lose them due to lack of communication.

And remember, what’s old is not new and, for blogs, thusly not interesting. 2006 isn’t the time to rail against Enron or Vanilla Ice. Insight doesn’t matter much to yesterday’s news.

3.) Clear Language Counts.
Blessed is the blog with a clear line of logic. Write without inside jokes, clique-y catchphrases or ambiguous logic. First time readers need to be close to your message. They are more likely to return to blogs that strike them positively. If the first read is confusing there will not be a second read.

4.) Feed the Spiders.
Search engines take notice of active blogs and blog search engines are especially sensitive to activity. If nothing else, search engines are smarter today than they were yesterday and are only getting smarter. In constantly improving they are seeking to aggregate quality; quality blogs are updated several times a week, if not daily, as opposed to once or twice a month. I don’t mean to scare you but a big spider is watching, so dance for them.

5.) RSS.
Think of RSS like a magic to blogging world, because that’s the effect it’s had. RSS feeds are a way to exponentially sound your voice to the interested. These feeds are a great means to increase the distribution and readership of your original content.

6.) Spell check.
Hey man, use the spell-check. I do – if I didn’t you probably wouldn’t have made it to #6. It only takes a minute and can save you from looking like a hack.

Your weblog audiences will be small at first. And, frankly, that’s the way it should be. Who are you to think that half the internet will flock to you after three or four posts of your blog, anyway?

If you tough it out while maintaining quality, readership will materialize. You will link to good, relevant blogs and, in turn, they will to you. While your voice may be unique, your niche likely isn’t and if your content is emitted smartly to the Internet those relevant readers will respond through readership and interaction. That I guarantee.

Logo Price: What Should You Spend For Your Logo

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How much you should fork out for a custom logo design depends on a few factors. A quick internet search will show that logo prices range from $50 to $50,000 depending on who you appoint.

There is a good reason for the huge difference logo design prices. A $50,000 logo price tag would probably be part of a whole branding campaign strategy custom designed by branding consultants. The campaign cost per se could go into the millions.

This kind of package is more appropriate for Fortune 500 companies who can easily afford such a huge fee. Branding campaigns such as this are the reason for the worldwide recognition of Nike’s Swoosh logo. Big multinationals like Nike spend millions yearly on branding and rebranding projects.

Not surprisingly, a large number of businesses are not able to afford the expertise of branding consultants. A more reasonably priced alternative would be to engage logo designers. The logo design rates from those designers are in the area of $1000 to $2000 per logo design. A lot of their time is spent researching the company, its industry and its past. Since all this consumes valuable time and time is money, they thus have to charge for it. This kind of service is good for those who prefer to speak at length to designers and are in no rush to receive their designs.

Yet nonetheless, many businesses may still find that a logo price of $1000 is still more than they can afford. As a result, many taken to the internet in need of more affordable alternatives.

Online logo designers charge the lowest for their services. At logo prices of $50 to $500 per logo, their logo design rates are undoubtedly the lowest available. The reason for the low logo price is rather simple. There is no confusing design process, no long winded proposals and no hundred page manual explaining why they chose orange instead of purple.

In addition to lower logo design rates, clients can look forward to faster turnaround times as well.

Sadly, it is not all smooth sailing. Not all online logo design agencies afford you the same value for money services so it is important to read the terms and conditions. A few low price design companies have a tendency to limit the number of revisions allowed. They would definitely offer low logo design rates but they will charge for alterations. Sneaky indeed.

Keep an eye open for designers who provide low resolution file formats which are not suitable for print. Be sure that the logo price includes hi-rez final file formats. You would likely need them if you want to print envelops or marketing collateral in the future.

By the way, ensure your logos can be trademarked. Many customers find themselves in a spot when they find out their logo is not entirely original due to use of a public domain clip art. And this can have a negative affect on their intention to have their logo trademarked.

Rex Hunter has been in advertising for over a 10 years. He has written and co-written many articles on branding for small businesses where he shares his thoughts on logo price, internet marketing strategies and best products to market on the internet.

Tools Free Advice

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Intelligent targeting through tailor made research PPC Affiliate

As with any other marketing campaign, careful planning and proven techniques are the best way to deploy the most effective campaigns and to realize the highest response rates. The key: putting the right offer in front of the right person at the right time. Targeting your emails is crucial for any Email marketing campaign. No product or service can be all things to all people. Acknowledging this reality, targeting is simply focusing your marketing onto a specific niche. The two factors that you alter to target your email campaigns are targeting the message, and targeting the list.

Targeting your message means tailoring your message to the expected audience. For example, you may have two pitches for your product: one that concentrates on the radical new features of the product, and another that details the tremendous cost savings from using it. You can also target the creative used for the email campaign. You might have two versions, one that uses a clean list of bullet points, and another that features highly stylized text that flies across the screen.

You also need to target (i.e. subdivide) your email lists. Targeted messages will be more effective when sent to an appropriate group of recipients. Continuing the example above, you would send the product feature pitch and technical information to technical people, and send the cost savings information to finance people.

The primary rule of effective targeting is deceptively simple: figure out what your target groups wants, and then offer it to them. How do you go about doing that? Try asking some of your existing customers. Another way to know what actually works is to send a test campaign to a sample of your targeted group. Once you have the attention of the recipient, for an all too brief moment, the biggest factor in obtaining a positive response is usually how valuable the offer is perceived to be. Providing something of actual value that really speaks to the target is a requirement. Free PPC Affiliate Tips

Tell a story to each targeted group over a series of messages. This will help lead to increasing the permission level with each recipient. As you learn more about each other you will be able to utilize more sophisticated targeting. Once you begin to establish a dialog with your target, eventually a true one to one marketing relationship can develop.

Unless you have an unlimited budget for your marketing efforts, you need to make sure that every dollar invested counts. You need to target your email campaigns, or else at best much of your efforts are being wasted. Be careful to target accurately, or your campaign might miss the target or even work against you. Deliver the correct message to the correct group of recipients, and the results from your campaigns will “hit the bull’s-eye” and deliver a great boost to your profits.

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