Pimp My Keywords

Google+ and Why You Should Be Using It

Unfortunately, businesses continue to ignore Google+. It's like the red-head step child of social media.

When in doubt, businesses "might" do something in Facebook (only because they don't have a clue how social media might help their business or why they should even be in Facebook to begin with).

Twitter, to many, is a mystery or most likely, a waste of time.

Any why be in Linkedin, if you're not looking for a job?

Sigh...

So try to convince those naysayers that they should be spending MORE of their social media time in Google+ and you'll usually get a "huh?" reponse.

There are two primary reasons why businesses should be using Google+:

1. It's Google.

2. It helps with your Google search engine rankings.

Need I say more?

Over the next few weeks, we'll explore Google+ more; offer free instruction on how to get set up with your personal and business Google+ accounts and pages and how to integrate Google+ into your social media strategy.

If you want to get started, go ahead and create a Google+ account. Create "Circles" (think "Groups") and add people to various "Circles."

Get Natural Traffic- How to Make Google Work for You

Dr. Jeri Anderson was a recent guest on James Martell’s Coffee Talk. She was there to discuss how she took her chiropractic practice to the top by using the Internet. She attracts new customers every week, and recently had her most successful week in the entire 26 years she has been in business. She claims that getting natural search traffic is a large part of the reason for her doing so well online. Dr. Jeri says, “The best thing in the world is to get on the natural search results- and that comes from discipline.”

Her advice is to create fresh, original content and get it out there. For other healthcare professionals who come to her complaining that they don’t know how to write an article, she says it is possible with the right amount of discipline. “You can ask me to write about almost any subject and I can do it in 20 minutes.” She suggests recording yourself talking to your patients and then writing it out. Then you can get better at it, defining keywords.

Dr. Jeri discovered early on that instead of trying to compete with a keyword like chiropractor, she focuses on finding people with symptoms who never thought about going to the chiropractor and bringing them in. Chiropractors can help with so many things- low back pack, sciatica, and migraines to name a few. Dr. Jeri takes those keywords and adds good content. People searching those keywords will find her content.

“I had a patient recently who told me she pulled up sciatica and there were five different pieces that mentioned me and she said that’s how she knew I was the expert to go to,” says Dr. Jeri. Therefore content is the most important. Martell believes she must now rank for thousands of keywords, as she puts out content every week and has done so for years.

Devising a Strategy

Dr. Jeri suggests following these steps for moving up in search engine rankings on the affiliate marketing podcast:

1.  Plan Ahead

Don’t start writing until you have your keywords. Then put them in the description and title. It’s easier to make them flow naturally in a document if you know what they are ahead of time.

2.  Claim Your Page

Go into Google and claim your local business page on Google+ Local. It’s free and it’s an important tool for getting search results because it is all tied in.

3.  Get Reviews

People will not think of giving you a review unless you ask. Ask each patient to leave a positive review or to let you know what’s wrong so that you can fix it.

4.  Get Backlinks

You need backlinks linking with keywords important to your business. When Google sees a backlink, they make the connection that someone is recommending your page. Links from another site are like votes.

More Tips

Dr. Jeri, who even even knows how to make a website, sends out a regular newsletter to her patients. They want the newsletter because it is filled with good content. Unlike in the past when newsletters had to be typed up, sent to the printer, and then you had to wait for the order to be completed, now it is easy. The people who she sees  for low back pain sees all the other uses for her services and then refers friends and families with those issues.

Each week know what you will do. You can set up autoposts well in advance. She already has the year finished as far as her blog posts are concerned. You need a long range strategy so that you can stay focused.

Dr. Jeri continues to build her business and become more successful. She says, “There’s never been a better time to get out and convey your message, have it reach so many people, and have the cost per person reached be so low.”

About the Author:

James Martell is an author, speaker, and host of the Affiliate Buzz on WebmasterRadio.FM. He loves to travel and his favorite spot to get away is anywhere warm and sunny with a white sandy beach and an internet connection. He performs research on Internet marketing sites like www.openwebsitetutotials.com. He and his wife Arlene live in a small coastal town just outside of Vancouver, BC

Stop Stressing About Rankings: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 215

Too many times, business owners look at only rankings in their monthly search engine optimization reports.

That's too bad as there's more to SEO than your No. 14 ranking in Google.

Instead of stressing over search engine rankings, start considering your overall online marketing strategy, including:

• Traffic. This should be your No. 1 area of focus. How is how your traffic reaching your website? Are links on other websites driving most of your traffic? If so, how can you take advantage of additional opportunities on that site (i.e., advertising)? Did some traffic improve as your keyword rankings improved from No. 28 to No. 14?
• Conversions. Are you converting visitors into leads and sales? If so, follow the visitor path to the entry point in your website. Where did the converting visitor come from? How many visitors reached the conversion page, but didn't complete your form or abandoned the shopping cart? Why did they leave?
• Bounce Rate. Review your highest "bounced" keywords and pages. Are you targeting the wrong keywords? Are your pages not sending the right message in order to keep the visitor on the website?
• Page Views. This is worth a look although there are arguments on both sides of the Page View topic. Some say a high number of Page Views is good because visitors are browsing your website for more information. Other contend a high number of Page Views may signal visitors can't find what they are looking for on your site. Solve this argument by figuring out if your Page Views stats equate into conversions.
• Time on Site. Same argument here, although a visitor might be on your site for an extended period of time if they are reading an article; watching a video, etc.

Searching Google and pouring over rankings doesn't necessary mean more conversions. Start learning more about your visitors and work on strategy conclusions that will help improve your online marketing efforts.

Review Your Pay Per Click (PPC) Accounts: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 214

It is estimated that as many as 90% of all Google AdWords (also known as Google Pay Per Click) accounts lose money every month.

That's an incredible number knowing that casino slot machines have a better payout than AdWords!

However, it might not be Google's fault.

It's your fault.

Here are some common mistakes business owners make in their pay per click accounts:

• Set it and forget it. PPC is not magic. You can't simply create a campaign; enter your credit card information and never return to your account. PPC needs attention.
• Never reviewing reports. Track your PPC progress and success on a weekly basis. This allows you to catch errors and make keyword, ad copy and bidding adjustments.
• Failing to test. You should have multiple ads for each AdGroup so you can test copy.
• Poor ad copy. This will lead to poor Quality Scores. Ads should include your targeted keyword and a call to action.
• Broken landing page links. This is a common mistake. The ad is gaining traffic, but the landing page is a 404 error.
• Poor landing page copy. The targeted keyword; the ad copy and the landing page content should all match. The landing page also needs a strong call to action (purchase, download a report; completing a form, etc.).
• No conversion tracking. Action pages based on purchases or form completion, need a conversion pixel which allows you to track targeted keyword and PPC success.
• Poor campaign and AdGroup structure. Break up your keywords into better AdGroups based on topics and landing pages.
• Not implementing negative keywords. This is huge and it can save you a lot of money by keeping your ads hidden on unnecessary keyword searches.

These tips are just the tip of the iceberg, but they can certainly help you improve your AdWords success earn better clicks.

How Guest Blogging Works: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 210

Since content remains king (especially unique and well-written content) and link building isn't dead, then why not combine the two and implement a guest blogging strategy?

Whoa! Slow down. Let's not get too carried away here and start mixing and matching tactics.

First things first. The idea behind guest blogging is simple: write a post for another website blog in exchange for one or two links pointing back to your website.

However, what's the "strategy" behind this tactic? Is it to earn links? To increase traffic to your website or blog? Or to increase Google search engine rankings? Or all three?

Yes, guest blogging can help with all three, provided the host blog is updated regularly; has substantial readers, and comment contributors. A dead blog (one with random posts throughout the year); poor traffic and low search engine rankings is worthless. Don't waste your time.

Before implementing guest blog tactics, you should be very familiar with the blog and its content, etc. Do some research on blogs covering your industry. Read them. Then, begin offering some solid and worthwhile contributing comments to various blog posts. Comments need to be real and sincere. Posting a comment along the lines of "this was a great post!" never works. Some blogs require you register before commenting and won't publish a comment until after you've submitted 3-5 legitimate comments.

Then, only after you're well-versed in the targeted blog, feel free to write a guest blog e-mail to the blog owner. Be very specific about your guest blog topic; word count; credentials, etc. Don't be over-demanding about your link request in your guest blog appeal. Everyone knows the game here. Write a great blog and you'll easily earn a link. 

But let's not forget our first concerns about content and link building. Before writing great content for someone's blog, are you writing great content for your own blog? Great content on your own website is still the best way to earn links and increase your inbound traffic. Only then should you feel adventurous and start offering to guest blog for others.

Remember: Guest blogging is a tactic. It is not a strategy.

As Google Rankings Change, Don't Give Up!

Be honest. How are your rankings, traffic, conversions and sales going after the Google Penguin update?

Better? Same as ever? Worse?

If traffic and website sales and conversions are up, then congratulations! Keep up the good work.

If everything's the same, then you're doing a mediocre job at best. You might be close to giving up.

If things are worse, then there's obviously room for improvement. How long are you going to wait to make SEO improvements?

Recently, Matt Cutts (head of Google's web SPAM team), made a surprise visit to the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Francisco.

It seems Google had a lot of explaining to do and Cutts laid it on the line since sites have been affected by the recent Google updates and everyone was headed to Google headquarters with torches and pitchforks.

Changes in the Google algorithm are not over. Expect more to happen in the coming days, weeks and months.

"The updates are not done," said Cutts. "You will notice some jarring and jolting in rankings for awhile."

Don't get frustrated and give up.

Keep doing the right things moving forward:

• Link building has changed. It's still important but earning mass quantites of worthless links from link farms are no longer valid. Most directory links are out the window as well. Same with paid links, too.
• Don't beg for links. Instead, you need to earn them by writing great content for your website. Content includes articles, blogs, white papers, news releases, case studies, videos, podcasts, photos and more.
• Use social media to announce your amazing content. If you create it, people will come. Prospects and customers will check out your content, blog, etc. If it is truly "amazing" then they will help you publicize it through their own social media efforts; blog about it; share it, etc.
• Heavy numbers of anchor text links on the same targeted keyword are also bad. So, instead of earning 100% of your links on the anchor text "blue widgets" mix it up a little and focus on earning links on other relevant anchor text links.
• Work on your social media efforts. Participate in Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin. If you haven't started, you need to get into the game.

Little steps in SEO and social media are big steps. If you're ranked No. 40 in Google on a targeted keyword, then aim to be No. 20 within a month and then work to be No. 10 the following month, etc. Do the same thing with social media. As you increase your participation and join social media "conversations" you'll see your numbers and social media shares increasing.

Need help? Let us know.

SEO Wealth Building: Doing The Right Things

By Kris Reid
Search Engine Optimization Specialist
http://www.autobacklinkservice.com

Search engine optimization is very similar to wealth building. If you do the wrong things and listen to the wrong people, you might lose everything and you might be left with nothing. This is a lesson that many people learned after Google's Penguin update.

1. It's important to know that time is a factor

If you are young and invest your first dollars then you won't become a millionaire overnight. It takes some time to build your wealth and if you invest regularly, you will earn more than people who invest only once. If you invest too little, you won't get the same results as people who are serious about building wealth.

Search engine optimization works exactly like that. If your website is young, then it will have only a few rankings. You have to optimize the pages and the backlinks of your website and you have to do it regularly. The more time you invest in optimizing your site, the sooner you will get results.

2. Do first things first

When you start investing, you cannot participate in the big deals that require a lot of money. It's the same with SEO. If your website doesn't have many rankings yet, then it doesn't make sense to target very competitive keywords such as "mp3" or even "credit cards".

The big players in your niche have the high rankings for these keywords and they have several advantages (more backlinks, more visitors, more trusted by Google, etc.).

Start with very targeted keyword phrases that consist of 3-4 words. It is much easier to get high rankings for these keyphrases and you will also get higher conversion rates with very targeted keyphrases.

The more rankings your website has, the easier it will be to get high rankings for more competitive keywords. Then you can start to compete with the big guys for the more general keywords.

3. You have to be careful (the wrong things are very risky!)

There are many people who promise to make you rich overnight. Others promise incredible profits. The more aggressively you invest, the more likely it is that you will lose everything.

It's the same with SEO. If you use aggressive (and often shady) SEO methods then you put your website at risk. Aggressive tactics often deliver great results for a short period. Unfortunately, all of them also lead to massive problems with Google in the long run.

After Google's recent Penguin update, many websites have been banned from Google because they used spammy SEO tactics that promised quick results. If you see offers like "thousands of backlinks with no work" or "fully automated SEO solution" then you should be very careful. In both finance and SEO, there are many snake-oil salesman. Don't fall for them.

What Google Wants: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 208

Time to tell the truth.

Since Google rolled out the Penguin algorithm update in April, how has it been for your company's website?

Has traffic improved, stayed the same or fallen off a bit?

How are conversions, leads and sales?

How have your Google search engine rankings been over the last few months?

Not so good? Here are some tips to get you back on track and in Google's good graces:

• Google wants fresh content. Now, thanks to Penguin, Google demands it.
• Make sure your website has a blog and update it at least once a week (minimum).
• Write a press release at least once a month.
• Write and publish articles, white papers and reports.
• Be careful with your link building. Don't go too heavy on targeted keywords for repeated anchor text links. Remember: quality links matter far more than the quantity of links pointing to your website.

Don't get discouraged. If traffic and rankings are down, follow the new rules and suggestions and you'll bounce back soon.

Google+ Attracting More Visitors

We constantly hear clients, prospects and whiners complain and downplay the potential full impact of creating and utilizing a Google+ page for their business.

Obviously, these people aren't interested in capturing a share of new traffic.

According to comScore, Google+ had 110.7 million unique visitors worldwide in June.

Compare those numbers to November 2011, Google+ experienced a growth rate of 66%.

In the United States, the growth is even higher at 82% from November of last year.

Those who aren't ready for Google+ are those who aren't ready for any social media opportunities in the first place (or articles, or blogs, or fresh content, etc.).

Are Meta Descriptions Still Important?

Guest Blog By Kris Reid
Auto BackLink Service
http://www.autobacklinkservice.com

Some people think that meta descriptions are not important anymore. However, Google Webmaster Tools shows an alert if a meta description is not unique. That's an indicator that the descriptions still matter.

Good meta descriptions can attract more clicks and a higher click-through rate. A higher click-through rate can have a positive effect on the rankings of the web page. In other words: good meta descriptions can deliver new customers to your website while contributing to your rankings at the same time.

How to optimize your meta descriptions:

• Meta descriptions should be unique: each page on your website should have its own meta description.
• Meta descriptions should be relevant: boilerplate meta descriptions won't do your website any good.
• The meta description should be relevant to the content of the page.
• Include a call to action: think of what you want a user to do when they visit your page and then include a call to action in the description. The following verbs might help you: buy, download, shop, browse, download, etc.
• Show your USP: tell your customers what makes you different and highlight this unique proposition in the meta description.

Web searchers have many options on the result page. Offer something special to attract their clicks. The meta description tag is not an immediate ranking factor. If you want to get listed on Google's first result page, optimize the content of your web pages and try to get good backlinks to your site.