Search Engine Marketing Really Works

Good news!  Search engines aren’t dead at all! All of this blogging, online networking, article marketing etc., etc. has paid off.  I have been receiving a lot of inquiries lately about my virtual assistant business.  I even secured a client who found me through the search engine.  Currently, I come up number one for virtual assistant atlanta ( you can google it yourself).

Russell Brunson gives you more internet marketing tips on his blog.  You can read his blog by clicking on the words internet marketing.

Brag: Learn Small Business Is Number 2 on Google (for now)

I did a test to see where my site ranked for the keywords, learn small business a few minutes ago.  It came up 2nd! Whoo Hoo! Of course we seo experts know that your rank in google is subject to change as often as the wind blows, but it's nice to know that I was in the top ten.  Now if only that could translate into some money….

Get affordable advertising for your business! Go to Learn Small Business for more details and pricing. 

A guide to writing successful website copy

A guide to writing successful website copy

Written by Steve Hattrick

We all know that the lion’s share of web traffic comes through the search
engines. We also know that keywords and links to your site are the two
things that affect your ranking in the search engines. Your keywords tell
the search engines what you do, and the inbound links tell them how
important you are. This combination is what determines your relevance. And
relevance is what the search engines are after.

There’s a lot of information around about how to incorporate keyword
phrases into your HTML meta tags. But that’s only half the battle. You
need to think of these tags as street-signs. That’s how the search engines
view them. They look at your tags and then at your copy. If the keywords
you use in your tags aren’t used in your copy, your site won’t be indexed
for those keywords.

But the search engines don’t stop there. They also consider how often the
keyword phrase is used on the page.

To put it simply, if you don’t pepper your site with your primary
keywords, you won’t appear in the search results when a potential customer
searches for those keywords.

But how do you write keyword-rich copy without compromising readability?

Readability is all-important to visitors. And after all, it’s the visitors
that buy your product or service, not search engines.

By following these 8 simple guidelines, you’ll be able to overhaul the
copy on your website ensuring it’s agreeable to both search engines and
visitors.

1) Categorize your pages
Before writing, think about the structure of your site. If you haven’t
built your site yet, try to create your pages around key offerings or
benefits. For example, divide your Second Hand Computers site into
separate pages for Macs, and PCs, and then segment again into Notebooks,
Desktops, etc. This way, you’ll be able to incorporate very specific
keyword phrases into your copy, thereby capturing a very targeted market.
If you’re working on an existing site, print out each page and label it
with its key point, offering, or benefit.

2) Find out what keywords your customers are searching for

Go to wordtracker.com and subscribe for a day (this will only cost you
about AUD$10). Type in the key points, offerings, and benefits you
identified for each page, and spend some time analysing what words
customers use when they’re searching for these things. These are the words
you’ll want to use to describe your product or service. (Make sure you read
WordTracker’s explanation of their results.)

3) Use phrases, not single words

Although this advice isn’t specific to the web copy, it’s so important
that it’s worth repeating here. Why? Well firstly, there’s too much
competition for single keywords. If you’re in computer sales, don’t choose
“computers” as your primary keyword. Go to Google and search for
“computers” and you’ll see why… Secondly, research shows that customers
are becoming more search-savvy – they’re searching for more and more
specific strings. They’re learning that by being more specific, they find
what they’re looking for much faster. Ask yourself what’s unique about
your business? Perhaps you sell cheap second hand computers? Then why not
use “cheap second hand computers” as your primary keyword phrase. This
way, you’ll not only stand a chance in the rankings, you’ll also display
in much more targeted searches. In other words, a higher percentage of
your site’s visitors will be people after cheap second hand computers.
(WordTracker’s results will help you choose the most appropriate phrases.)

4) Pick the important keyword phrases

Don’t include every keyword phrase on every page. Focus on one or two
keyword phrases on each page. For your Macs page, focus on “cheap second
hand macs”. For the PCs page, focus on “cheap second hand pcs”, etc.

5) Be specific

Don’t just say “our computers”. Wherever you would normally say “our
computers”, ask yourself if you can get away with saying “our cheap second
hand Macs” or “our cheap second hand PCs”. If this doesn’t affect your
readability too badly, it’s worth doing. It’s a fine balance though.
Remember, your site reflects the quality of your service. If your site is
hard to read, people will infer a lot about your service…

6) Use keyword phrases in links

Although you shouldn’t focus on every keyword phrase on every page, it’s a
good idea to link your pages together with text links. This way, when the
search engines look at your site, they’ll see that the pages are related.
Once again, the more text links the better, especially if the link text is
a keyword phrase. So on your “Cheap Second Hand Macs” page, include a text
link at the bottom to “Cheap Second Hand PCs”. If you can manage it
without affecting readability, also include one within the copy of the
page. For example, “As well as providing cheap second hand Macs, we sell
high quality cheap second hand PCs”.

7) Use keyword phrases in headings

Just as customers rely on headings to scan your site, so to do search
engines. This means headings play a big part in how the search engines
will categorise your site. Try to include your primary keyword phrases in
your headings. In fact, think about inserting extra headings just for this
purpose. Generally this will also help the readability of the site because
it will help customers scan read.

Test keyword phrase density

Once you’ve made a first pass at the copy, run it through a density
checker to get some metrics. Visit GoRank’s Keyword Density Analyzer and
type in the domain and keyword phrase you want to analyse. It’ll give you
a percentage for all the important parts of your page, including copy,
title, meta keywords, meta description, etc. The higher the density the
better. Generally speaking, a density measurement of at least 3-5% is what
you’re looking for. Any less, and you’ll probably need to take another
pass.

Follow these guidelines, and you’ll be well on your way to effective SEO
copy.

Just remember, don’t overdo it. It’s not easy to find the balance between
copy written for search engines and copy written for customers. In many
cases, this balance will be too difficult to achieve without professional
help. Don’t worry, though. If you’ve already performed your keyword
analysis, a professional website copywriter should be able to work your
primary keyword phrases into your copy at no extra charge.

Steve owns and runs konteaki furniture
one of the leading furniture stores in the UK

As well as developing and marketing their webstore.

View their website at: http://www.hattrick-furniture.co.uk

Are you content with your online advertising expenses? Schedule a coaching session with DeAnna Spencer.  She’ll create an affordable advertising plan for your business.  Visit her small business resource site today for more information.

SEO Tools Poem

SEO Tools Poem

By John Fowler

I am in my cave, and looking out kind of furtive,

The reason being, psychologically, I am low assertive,

It seems to me with dinosaurs just outside the cave,

Its entirely reasonable now, to be anything but brave,

But the tribal psychiatrist insists that I must face my fears,

And he issued me with stones, and little wooden spears,

And so I went out bravely, into the land of fools,

And got quickly eaten because I lacked the proper tools.

”You see things haven’t changed much,” the tutor whispered sage,

”Psychiatry still screws up, no matter what millennium or age”,

He pauses for best effect, and to let the chuckles die,

”What was needed was a plan, and the means to try.”

”So they tried all sorts of weapons, all sorts of cunning ruse,

But they always ended up, as just amusing little chews,

And just when they were despondent, try as they might,

Along came Dinosaur disaster, in a great big meteorite.”

”So there’s a lesson in the parable, of your cavemen of old,

Don’t listen to the shrinks and to anything you are told,

For if you are to triumph, over the odds against the rules,

You will need a bigger club, or ideally 21st century tools,

We don’t have dinosaurs now with which to fight,

But PCs and internets where things have to be right,

So ignore your Psychiatrist when problems rear their head,

Just go and see your Guru, and use his tools instead.”

The poem you just heard and wondered at in awe,

Is a totally new creation and not cribbed from one before,

And the Tutor is a Fowler, mentioned on the training pages,

Who uses methods slightly more in tune to current ages,

There may not be any dinosaurs lurking on your drive,

But these days a super virus may be all too much alive,

And though Google isn’t Pterodactyl proof, it avoids bad links,

And dodgy linking areas, and your ranking quickly sinks.

So crawl out of your cave and click on the link to tools,

That validate bad html and make your website cool,

That check your viability and show you where you are,

And put you back in charge, instead of watching from afar,

Google will love you, the more you do right and sound,

And these tools will pare away all that is not allowed,

And should you need an expert we are here never doubt,

Not with psychiatric counseling, but with proper technical clout.

One day I stepped outside my cave, and the creatures were in shock,

For I hadn’t brought a little spear, hadn’t primed up my flintlock,

Hadn‘t sharpened up my arrows, with my trusty longbow in tow,

Hadn’t brought a big pistol or a nasty grenade to throw,

No I had brought a massive tank, and though it was overkill,

I flattened all the bloody creatures that ever wished me ill,

And so instead of cowering, like me come out clanking,

And visit the Gurus tools site, and develop your prime ranking.

About the Author: John Fowler trained as a Mathematician and has worked in the IT industry for over 30 years, much of the time in sales related functions. John can be contacted via http://www.datacoms.co.uk

Source: www.isnare.com

Are you spending too much on advertising?  Stop doing that right now.
Schedule a coaching session with Frugal Solutions Expert,
DeAnna Spencer.  She will design an affordable advertising plan for you. 
Contact her by sending an email to deanna.spencer(at)gmail.com
Visit her website at http://www.learnsmallbusiness.com for more information.

SEO Tools Poem audio