Scott Nobriga - SEO. SEM. PPC. WEB GURU

Pay Per Click Q and A

Scott Nobriga — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:21:46 +0000

Pay Per Click Q and A

Q: Do you have any suggestion on how to get my google adwords performing better?

A: It might because that you have not set the campaign budget to the recommended level by Google. Or it can also be possible that the ad is not performing well and the correct keywords have to be included with the right bid. There are many reasons that contribute to the bad performance of an ad. You can use Adwords’ ads diagnostic tool to check and analyze the reason behind the bad performance of your ads.

Q: Do you recommend using AdWords Editor of Google? How helpful is it?

A: Yes. This is because there are several benefits of using the AdWords Editor to manage your pay per click ads. Firstly, you can work offline and not go live with the changes until the time you wish, which can be very convenient. Busy people can schedule this work according to their convenience. Google’s free software allows to create or manage a large PPC campaign with great ease. The copy and paste feature makes work very easy. Bulk changes are possible to be made in the campaign on the whole and the ads to be specific.

Q: What according to you is the right number of words to have on a website page?

A: There is nothing like a right number of words or right length of content in a page. It is not important to fill up the page, as doing so will not help to increase you rank or traffic to the site. However, it is important to have at least 250 useful, popular and not so popular keywords. Nobody has that kind of detail about a search engine’s algorithm. The keywords should be related to the content in the site. Also the content should be filled with these keywords, in order for the search engines to give your site a good ranking. This will also make sure that the visitor or the reader gets to read what he or she has searched for.

Q: What does good keyword density mean?

A: Keyword density is an inappropriate and useless metric. Keywords are rich to an extent that the most popular and possible words are included. The number of keywords is not a criteria and it does not drive more traffic to the site. Do not overuse keywords. Complex programs are used by search engines to analyze the keywords in your site. These programs take keyword proximity, keyword presence throughout the domain and its characteristics into account. It is also likely that Google might use keywords to check their relevance with the text in the site.

Q: How long will it take for my campaigns and ads to get good rankings?

A: Good ranks cannot be achieved in a short period of time. It takes time to gradually improve the ranks and this can be achieved by including new and varied keywords from time to time. New domains do not rank high for competitive terms for around 9 to 12 months in Google. At the beginning they might rank well, but eventually ranks drop and this is called Google’s sandbox effect. The most important factors are age and history of a domain for the rankings.

Q: I have been advertising through PPC for a long time, but have earned very small ROI, can you advise me?

A: It’s hard to know what exactly went wrong, but I will give you some important tips to help you out.

1) PPC takes a long time to get stabilized and its takes testing, trial and error to witness a decent amount of progress. When your new and are at a starting stage, it is much easier to concentrate on one product and then build the keyword list.

2) You need to include a number of long tail keywords, that is three, four and five word related phrases, in order to get enough clicks and lower costs. If you were only bidding mostly on the two most obvious keywords then you have paid too much for one click to be profitable.

Q: What are areas that we must focus on in a PPC campaign?

A: Relevant keywords are of high importance in a PPC campaign. Make sure that you include popular & not so popular keywords to get a number of visitors to you site. SEO and carefully chosen keywords will yield good results, with a good number of visitors to your site. This is great task for accomplishing goals, but the battle is half won. It is very important to properly design and structure the landing page. Your landing page should take the visitors to a page which he intends to view and buy a product or service.

Q: Is it possible to compete with businesses having bigger advertising budgets than we do?

A: Yes. If you have the right mix of SEO and SEM, you can do it. You must concentrate on improving your ranking by including different keywords in your copy and driving in more traffic. More traffic means a possible rise in the conversions. Also, you must make sure that the landing page is the right one for the ad. Then you need to find out your bid range according to the set budget and profit margin. You can control the position with the correct bids for the appropriate keywords. There are many factors that go in this.

Q: What happens if someone keeps clicking on my link several times?

A: Unfortunately, this indicates the common problem of click fraud from immoral competitors who try and increase cost for your business, by forcing you to pay for clicks that are not intended for buying your products. Specialist fraudsters, who are affiliates of the PPC company, will try to make money for themselves with thousands of clicks on your ads. You can combat this by taking a proactive approach. Check logs for suspicious activity and contact the pay per click search engine with solid documented evidence. Many reputable companies will take notice of the concerns and refund money if it is clear that you are a victim of fraudsters.

Q: Could you give me some tips on making good bids on words and phrases?

A: You have to bid on words with the budget and profit margin in mind. A simple way to go about this is to work out and determine how high you can bid can be compared to your conversion rate for the product, for example, let’s say 1%, and profit margin of $10. Conversion rate of 1% means that you will have to pay for 100 visitors to get a sale of $10. You can calculate by dividing the profit by the number of visitors per sale and the answer would be 10 cents. So, you can bid around 5 cents on keywords for this particular product and still be making a profit.

Q:How do I spend my budget allocated to PPC advertising? Do I give high bids to get top rankings and draw traffic into my site?

A: Let me tell you that spending more is always not a solution to draw traffic into your site. It is not necessary that top ranks get more traffic into the sites. So spend your advertising dollars very wisely. Set a proper budget and do not go over it. Try including general and specific keywords and think from a searchers point of view and try and include those keywords that are less popular. If you spread your budget between more keywords a good chance of making getting more revenue is possible, compared to just concentrating on one or two keywords. The key to running an effective PPC campaign is to monitor the campaign very closely and also regularly check the ad performance.

Q: I am very new to pay per click search engines and am very nervous about making little or no sales and losing lots of money. Can you advice me on how to avoid mistakes?

A: Firstly, make sure to include the right and the most searched for keywords and to provide the correct URLs to land on the right page. The landing page for a particular keyword must contain the information that a person is looking for, when searching for that keyword. Do not begin with the intention of getting top ranks for your keywords. Gradually work on the keywords and include as many as possible. Research indicates that sites in the top 5 positions are less likely to get reasonable amount of traffic. Therefore, it is not always necessary to be ranked high to achieve goals.

Q: What kind of products or services are the best to be promoted via pay per click advertising? Is there any product that cannot be put on a pay per click search engine?

A: For an advertiser, PPC is an excellent way to get cheap targeted site traffic. Any product or service can be advertised through PPC. The only products you should not promote through a pay per click search engine would be those that do not aim to get a profit. Non-profit organizations and charities are some that might miss out, but those that have a big budget set aside for advertising purposes are an exception.

Q: What is pay per click advertising? Does it really work?

A: Pay per click advertising is a medium through which you can advertise on the Internet, without paying a fixed amount for the ad placed on a particular web page. With PPC advertising, the advertiser pays only when someone clicks on the ad. On clicking the ad, the visitor gets to visit a specified page on their website. From a searcher’s or visitor’s point of view, this is similar to a normal search engine. The only difference is that the results are business and revenue related. Very few people visit a pay per click search engine to search for a desired product or service. Most PPC search engines have big distribution networks, for their results to get displayed on a number of different sites.

Q: Our company invested a lot on writing all the content for our website. However, we are not getting the desired ranking in the search engines. Do we have to redo all the content again?

A:I would say rewriting is not required. In most cases, there are certain pages that can be slightly altered with the right keywords & phrases, instead of rewriting them all over. This involves including targeted or specific keywords and phrases into the existing text. My experience says that content filled with rich keywords is the most effective step to get top rankings.

Q: Does search engine optimization directly relate to how well I get ranked in Google and other major engines?

A: The answer is no. Search engine optimization (SEO) or search engine marketing are an art that require continuous and ongoing work. SEO constitutes around 65 percent of your successful Internet marketing campaign. The rest depends on the actual site structure, keywords & key phrases, quality inbound links and the programming of the website.

Remember that if the search engines cannot drive site rating, your site will not benefit from any modifications made in the site. The problems can be due to inefficient HTML coding, Flash sites or sites with heavy use of graphics. These issues should be addressed carefully.

Q: Does PageRank increase traffic to a site? What is purpose behind Google to show this information?

A: PageRank will not drive traffic into a site, as it is a query-independent measure. Traffic that comes from search engines is totally query-dependent, hence the dichotomy. My guess about Google in this regard is that it is a form of public relations tool. If one asks the method used by Google to rank pages, they would probably point to PageRank, despite the fact that it carries very less importance. So it’s a popular notion that rank of a page will determine or draw Google web traffic to a site. To draw traffic into a site, one must concentrate on SEO.

Q: Is there a difference between plural or singular form of keyword phrases or do they mean they same? Which one should I choose?

A: Both forms of keyword phrases, singular and plural, are different form of words. When we write or speak, both plural and singular forms of words are used. So why restrict in this case? Never optimize a site for one keyword phrase

Q: If SEO is very important, why do I find top ranked sites for the keyword without lots of visible content?

A: Yes, I am a believer in content/keyword rich sites, as people visiting the site are looking for such content. However, content does not mean numerous words of text. Content can simply be product offering and can mean different things for different sites. For example, sites with well-known brands have very limited content on sites, but rank high for general keywords. This is because of their strong brand, which draws huge traffic to the site.

Q: I seem to have problem with Google, as my site shows up for major keywords on MSN and Yahoo, but not on Google. Previously, my site was performing well on Google, but suddenly its rankings have declined. Have I been penalized for an unknown reason?

A: First, you must realize that site ranks are not static. You cannot get comfortable with the rank of your site. Search engines penalize sites that deceive them by hiding stuff or trying to artificially increase link popularity. The reason for your site to disappear in Google would be because of shift in algorithm by search engine to accommodate new sites leading to a change in ranks. The solution for you would be to regularly include new keyword phrases and focus on SEO. Change your mindset from “site ranking” to “targeted traffic and conversions” and you will automatically climb the ladder in Google.

Q: Hi, I am Jane and currently looking to redo a site of my client. As I am new to CMS, I was wondering if it could be used to redesign the site?

A: It is possible to adopt and integrate CMS with an already existing site. CMS makes redesigning very simple. A change in font can be easily accomplished with a change in code. But, change in code to alter color, font size and type content on a regular basis becomes a cumbersome process. CMS systems have a database to store the content and this is called into the page when selection of that page happens. Some languages are very difficult to code and one simple change in the home page will make you run to a specialist developer. Some CMSs are also difficult to incorporate. So, choosing an appropriate CMS and having ready services of a developer are very essential. CMS systems have a database to store the content and this is called into the page when selection of that page happens. Some languages are very difficult to code and one simple change in the home page will make you run to a specialist developer. Some CMSs are also difficult to incorporate. So, choosing an appropriate CMS and having ready services of a developer are very essential.

Q: Will CMS allow me to preview the page before I publish it?

A: CMS allows you to preview your page before you go live. A headline that seemed good or a caption that is 100 words or so can look bad when viewed as a finished item. The possibility of making mistakes can be avoided and the content and the design of the page can be fine tuned to the maximum possible extent.

Q: Hi, I’m Jane from New York! Please let me know the risks associated with having inaccurate content in the website.

A: If your website has inaccurate or generic information, it will have an adverse affect on the site rank, that is which page in Google it appears, and thereby the traffic that it gets. The point to note here is the difference between inaccurate or generic information and optimized website content. Any content to be included in sites has to written keeping in mind search engine optimization and the visitors. Balancing this act is called optimized content development. Search engine optimized content has great chances of appearing in the first few pages in Google, compared to the one containing wrong content. The most commonly used keywords and phrases must be used in the content to climb up the ladder of appearing in the first few pages in Google. This will increase the traffic to your site.

On the contrary, a decent position cannot be achieved by simply filling content with keywords & phrases. It is not a simple process and might harm your site and its rakings in the process. There is a method of using keywords and key phrases. One has to learn to define and include meaningful titles, headings and anchor text for the web pages. There are many facts that you discover through trial and error. Moreover, with the ever changing internet techniques, one needs to keep abreast with the latest developments.

Q: What is a Content Management System and how beneficial is it for someone who’s looking to host his/her own website?

A: Content Management System (CMS) is used to manage structure, content & design of a website. CMS is content management system and it used for creating and publishing websites and also helps in managing them. Content can include text and images, but CMS offers tools to do more. It supports rich content objects, for instance, CMS is configured to support dynamic content objects, which are searchable such as directories, job postings or an events calendar. The amount of data that needs to be available, stored and shared at a short notice demands a more complex strategy. Therefore, it has become very essential to add a CMS to your website, as without such a system websites become unmanageable.

If you have been thinking about starting a website, then CMS is the right choice. Through its simplified interface, it offers you the flexibly to alter the design and the content of the pages in the site. It is an appropriate answer for those looking to host websites, as it eliminates the difficulties of owning & maintaining a website and the drawbacks of HTML. Maintenance cost is also reduced to a large extent. CMS helps you to specialize your designs, and add content using a simplified interface, which is separate from design. Designing can be handled by specialists and content can be handled by experts in that area. That leaves endless options.

Q: Who exactly needs Content Management System?

A: CMS is content management system and it used for creating and publishing websites and also helps in managing them. Content can include text and images, but CMS offers tools to do more. It supports rich content objects, for instance, CMS is configured to support dynamic content objects, which are searchable such as directories, job postings or an events calendar. The amount of data that needs to be available, stored and shared at a short notice demands a more complex strategy. Therefore, it has become very essential to add a CMS to your website, as without such a system websites become unmanageable. CMS is easy to adopt & use, affordable to spend on and ideal for developing professional websites.

CMS helps website owners/maintenance personal with the task of building and maintaining simple to complex sites. Website designers/content developers also greatly benefit from the usage of CMS and its simplified interface. CMS helps you to specialize your designs, and add content using a simplified interface, which is separate from design. Designing can be handled by specialists and content can be handled by experts in that area.

Q: What is W3C website design?

A: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international group where members work together to develop new web standards/protocols. W3C’s mission is: “To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web.” The global initiatives of W3C include designing technologies to make sure that the Web continues to thrive in the future, by being able to accommodate the ever expanding diversity of people, hardware, and software. Also W3C helps in nurturing liaison with national, regional and international organizations across the globe. These contacts help W3C to establish and maintain a culture of global participation in the development of the World Wide Web. W3C coordinates with other organizations, involved with the development of standards for the Web or Internet, in order to help in clear progress. The ‘Worldwide Participation in the World Wide Web Consortium’ document summarizes efforts taken by W3C in broadening international impact.

The W3C recommends structured and semantically meaningful markup. The benefits of adopting the W3C web standards include utmost compatibility with current/future browsers, lower developing/maintaining costs of websites and better accessibility and user experience.

Q: What factors should an organization consider before it decides to invest in CMS?

A:There are several questions to be answered before deciding to invest in CMS, as opting for the right CMS is one of the important things for developing a website. These questions will allow a smooth integration of CMS into your Web management activities.

Ask yourself if you really require a CMS?

The kind of website you will be putting up or the kind of existing one you have? That is, is it an online shop, a blog, an image gallery or a news site?

How effective you want the website updating & maintenance process to be, compared to the current one?

How well will the further improvements/new features on the site, like interactivity tools, Flash movies, or message boards work with CMS?

What elements of the website should the CMS handle?

And the most important factor is to be aware of the benefits from using a CMS, and how it can simplify website management activities. Once the kind of capabilities you require are established, then the kind of CMS required can be chosen.

Q: How do I use News Feed Manager to manage content in my website?

A: News feed helps to include fresh and dynamic content in your website. The news segregators choose quality news sites and get news that is relevant and of top quality to be included in your site.

Q: Is it possible to have multi-lingual content? If yes, how and if no, why not?

A: Yes, it is possible to have multi-lingual content in website. But web content management software, techniques and processes are required to manage multi-lingual content in website, which are far beyond tools required for maintaining monolingual sites. Therefore, it is best to adopt the best SEO and WCM practices.

Q:Do I need any training for CMS, in case I want to manage content on my own?

A: Formal training is not essential for CMS. Just an hour or two of getting familiar with the system is sufficient. You need not be a techie or be well versed in HTML. However, you have to be clear about your site requirements, that is the design, structure and the content. Getting yourself CMS sufficient is similar to that of becoming an expert with the word processor.

Q: I have a website on dogs. How can I make money through my website?

A:Firstly, the website must contain quality content on dogs. This is to ensure that the visitors find the site useful and sufficient traffic is driven into the site. Also, you can draw traffic into your site by advertising with payperclick in Google, Yahoo and MSN. When your ads are clicked and conversions happen, revenue is earned. You can also become affiliate of products available in other sites and show their ads in your site. Dog lovers would require details on products like food, or any other thing required for their pets. If those links are clicked and sale occurs commission can be earned. Another method to making money would be involve in banner advertisement and sell advertising space.

Q:What basic features do I use to make a easily accessible and user-friendly website?

A: CMS is an option to make your site more user-friendly and interactive and you can also probably include more images to make it self-explanatory and forms to have interaction with the visitors. Also, ensure that the information in the site is rich with content and keywords pertaining to some common subjects in SEO, in order for site to be listed in the first few pages in Google. There are certain standard accessibility rules and you can view then using the following URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/full-checklist.html

Q: What is Banner Manager?

A: Banner Manager is a simplified banner management implementation system that displays HTML based banners or images, and tracks clicks and impressions on a per banner basis. Every banner is assigned a group to display random banners in that particular set group. This ensures certain banners to be displayed across certain locations on the overall web site layout.

Q:How can I get good ranking for my website? Is there any special key to it?

A: For any website to get a good rank it must contain accurate or specific content. The point to note here is the difference between inaccurate or generic information and optimized website content. Any content to be included in sites has to written keeping in mind search engine optimization and the visitors. Balancing this act is called optimized content development. Search engine optimized content has great chances of appearing in the first few pages in Google, compared to the one containing wrong content. The most commonly used keywords and phrases must be used in the content to climb up the ladder of appearing in the first few pages in Google. A higher rank draws more visitors, which directly leads to more sales, or advertising revenues.

You Must Build Out An E-mail List

You Must Have a Quality Website

You Must Get – And Hold – Your Viewers’ Attention

Your Site Must Appear in Search Engine Results

You Must Effectively Use Landing Pages

You Must Automate Your Follow-Up

You Must Establish Trust

Gain insights and ideas on the topics above!

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Why SEO?

Scott Nobriga — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:17:56 +0000

Why SEO?

I’ve learned that there are 7 important reasons you need to have a top search ranking:

Free Clicks: Obviously, probably the first thing that comes to mind is the free traffic that comes with natural search engine rankings. So you don’t pay for the traffic. Organic Search Engine Traffic is free, whereas Pay Per Click Traffic, you have to pay per click. The nice thing about natural search rankings vs. paid Search Rankings…is that when you run a campaign, you don’t need to pay per click.
Minimal Maintenance: Another benefit that there is minimal maintenance that is required to maintain top ranks. Once you get the top ranks, you really only need to do a minimal amount of work to keep those top natural ranks.
Long Term Revenue Streams: another great benefit. You can see a revenue stream for a long period of time. Top Ten Rankings is where the money is at. There real place to be is on the first page.
Competitive Advantage: Huge competitive advantage over your competition. Your competitors don’t know how to do this…Less than 10% of the websites today are optimized, and 81% of consumers are now making purchasing decisions online.
Increased Value: Having top search ranks for your site increases the value of your site dramatically.
The Snowball Effect: Another advantage is that it gives you more control – because you are ranked high, link partners come looking for you, and your traffic levels grow exponentially.
Credibility: Your site enjoys more credibility. Two sites, Site A has 100 top ranks, and Site B has 0 top ranks – which site is your customer likely to buy from?

There are a lot of advantages to have a top ranked website….especially as more and more customers move online. I would like nothing more than to help you achieve the online presence and status that you’ve imagined obtaining. And along with it the success you know you deserve!

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Why SEM?

Scott Nobriga — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:14:58 +0000

Over 81% of consumers are now making

purchasing decisions online.

We offer comprehensive SEM programs.

Unique in both power and professionalism.

	Initial website analysis Competitors analysis report Keyword analysis Link popularity analysis Website conversion analysis Site usability improvement analysis On-page optimization Keyword density validation Title and meta tag optimization Robot.txt optimization Web Site Sitemap creation		Google sitemap creation Page content optimization Image ALT text optimization Search engine submissions Directory submissions Ongoing link development Article posting Press releases Blog campaigns Original content writing Ongoing SEO reports

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About Me

Scott Nobriga — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:41:06 +0000

Yesterday:

I was in your shoes, hunting for great web developers, and online marketing strategies that seemed impossible to find. I searched and I searched, and all I wanted was:

1.) a simple and effective roadmap to follow.

2.) Someone who has been there, and could provide me clear, conscise action steps to e-business success.

3.) a price tag that didn’t make me run for the hills.

Perhaps my expectations were set to high (but I don’t think so). As my goal to make it to financial freedom was too precious to entrust to an amateur. And of course, that old quote kept ringing in the back of my mind…”if you think working with a professional is expensive, try working with an amatuer!”

I desperately wanted to find my way to online success, but all I got was a whole bunch of nothing from seo and web firms. So I decided to learn it on my own. 10 years later, here I am, a successful netprenuer.

Thank you for inquiring with us. Got questions or need support? Call today at 800.605.4988

Name:
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Local Search Engine Optimization

Scott Nobriga — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:19:11 +0000

The Search Engine Pros Local SEO Solutions Help You Dominate Your Local Market.

If your strategy is local, we focus our SEO SUCCESS Plan on local seo best practices to acheive top ranks for local keywords.

Local Search enables users to find businesses and services within a specific geographic region. A Local Search Listing gives your business instant locally targeted exposure online. Once we create and submit your Local Profile live to Google Maps, Yahoo Local Listings, MSN Windows Live Search and YellowPages.com, your business will be tapping into local search engine traffic and deliver more potential customers. With your business listing in the Major Search Engines on Yahoo! Local, MSN Live, Google Maps and YellowPages.com you will increase your visibility to potential customers while utilizing our WebPros Search Engine Optimization Specialists to create your online profile.

Local Search is Becoming Increasingly Important With internet usage sitting at just about the 70% mark in North America, it’s clear that the internet represents ripe marketing ground for businesses with a local scope in that region. This is because nearly the entire population uses the internet – and does so increasingly for finding local goods and services. According to Comscore Networks, an internet analytics research firm, 63% of internet users – approximately 110 million people — in North America conduct local searches to find local businesses. And two out of five of those users – 41% — use the internet to find local businesses in their home area. These businesses are barber shops, grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and accounting firms – basically, the types of businesses that cater to a local market and are always in search of new customers.

But the best part about these local searches is how well they convert into real-world commerce. According to the same Comscore study, 49% of local searches result in a visit to a local merchant. To put that in perspective: nearly half of every search for a local business converts into a real, live person setting foot in a brick-and-mortar store.

This is because local search is consumer-driven and not business-driven: consumers actively searching for a product or service are much more likely to follow through with a purchase than those passively being advertised to. But what of the 51% who didn’t set foot in the store, you ask? Comscore indicates that, of internet users who conducted local searches in 2006, 41% made contact outside of the internet. That means that, out of 100% of people conducting local searches, 90% either visited the store or contacted the store.

It should be no surprise that local businesses are taking notice of the role that the internet can play in their marketing efforts. The recent “US Online Small Business Market Category Forecast, 2007 to 2012 report by JupiterResearch claims that internet spending by local businesses will exceed $70 billion by the year 2012 – almost double the $47 billion they spent in 2006.

They also purport that the number of small businesses purchasing online advertising will grow at a compound rate of 4.3% through the year 2012. Sonal Gandhi, the author of JupiterResearch’s study, asserts that “While technology manufacturers are reluctant to push the online channel over others, retailers will continue to promote the online channel as it provides them better margins.” Ms. Gandi added, “Growing competition among online retailers for small business spending will in turn put pressure on them to offer promotions and incentives leading to higher conversion online.”

We Submit Your Site To Google Maps

We Submit Your Site To Yahoo Local

We Submit Your Site To MSN Local

We Submit Your Site To Yellow Pages.com

The Search Engine Pros Quick Start Guide To Dominate Your Local Market Online.

1) Local SEO and local search engines

The Local search engines often crawl each other to find what are called “citations” that will validate or correct the business information in their own indexes. After all, the search engines are in the business of serving up relevant, up to date information.
As an example, you’ll frequently see a business’s Yahoo Local profile show up in the ‘Web Pages’ tab of its Google Local Business Listing. There are other second-tier search engines that show up frequently as well, such as Superpages.com, Yelp.com, and Marchex’s OpenList network.

2) Local blogs

Local blogs are a smart place to get your business listed. These will obviously vary by particular geography, but if you simply perform a search on your favorite search engine for “[your city] blog” or “[your neighborhood] blog,” you’ll find some good locations. Consider using our Link Robot tool to help you save time finding local blogs. http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/link-robot.html
The web sites that top rank for these kinds of searches are very well-indexed by the search engines, and highly associated with a particular neighborhood, city, or region. Businesses that are mentioned or linked on these blogs are viewed as trusted, relevant results in the Local search engines.

3) Local web directories

Similar to Local blogs, getting your web site listed in Local directories can have a tremendous impact on your local search engine rankings. Local directories are well-indexed by the search engines and are highly associated with a particular city or region. Localized directories are typically edited by a human and are much better than those which are “free for all.” You may have heard the term “FFA Link Directory” – this stands for free for all link farms. Steer clear of those. Human-edited directories are less susceptible to spam and are therefore more trusted by the Local search engines. An example of a terrific Locally-focused directory is Best of the Web’s Regional Directory and Yahoo’s Regional Directory. You can perform searches for things like “[your city] directory” or “[your state] directory” to find good prospects for these kinds of citations.

4) Industry-focused directories or blogs

Should you only go after the local directories or blogs? No. Go after industry focused directories or even if a website or directory is not focused on a particular region. If that website is focused on topics and keywords related to what you sell, it may be included among the sites that the Local search engines count as citation sources. The mantra is of course, Relevance! Search engines love relevance. So what is an example of a industry focused blog or directory? Well, for instance, the membership directory of your trade organization, or a blog that is popular among readers in your industry will probably be crawled by the Local search engines for citations. Searches like “[your industry] directory” or even “[your keyword] directory” will give you some ideas of the kinds of sites on which to get listed. Many say Content is King. But that is actually untrue. It’s Quality, Keyword Rich Content that is KING. Ask yourself, how much quality, keyword rich content do you have on the net?

5) Summary: Best Citation Sources

Here is a good list of major sources of citations for the Local search engines:

* infoUSA
* Acxiom – unfortunately, you cannot submit your business to Acxiom online
* InsiderPages
* SuperPages
* Yelp
* iBegin
* OpenList

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Local Search Increasing In Popularity

Average weekday circulation at 379 daily U.S. newspapers was down 10.6% in the first half of 2009, compared to the first half of 2008. Ouch. 24 of the top 25 US newspapers suffered circulation losses in the first half of 2009. Double ouch. Some of those declines were more than 20%. Triple ouch. The Nieman Lab post puts this into perspective:

“The 10.6-percent decline means that since last year, about 4.5 percent of U.S. households have given up reading a printed newspaper, and that printed newspapers now reach less than 40 percent of U.S. households.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not rooting for newspapers to fail. In fact I enjoy reading my local newspaper The Independent and seeing the latest events coming to town.
But let’s face facts: For local bloggers, this is a golden Opportunity. The reality is that the decline of the traditional media is imminent If you’re thinking about starting a hyperlocal blog, there’s no better time than now to do it.

Here’s a few reasons why:

* Your neighbors are starting to shift their news-reading sources. The web will soon replace traditional media as the primary source of news.
* Traditional media is struggling, newspapers especially. The numbers above offer plenty of evidence.
* Not only are papers struggling, but many of them haven’t yet figured out how to gracefully transition to the web. There’s a high likelihood of a deep void in your area where online news is concerned.
* Starting a loyal customer following, whether online or offline, typically takes time. The difference with the online strategy, such as with a local blog, it that cost wise it is much more affordable, and it is also quite easier than traditional media to maintain the customer base (email). Granted, your local blog probably won’t be an instant success. Start now, get those beginner’s mistakes out of the way, and get into a routine. Learn what works and what doesn’t in your hometown, and keep repeating the mantra, Content is King. Remember to include those target keywords in your posts.

This shift from traditional media to online media is still in progress. Over time, more and more of your neighbors will turn to the Internet for local news and information. If you start now, you’ll be better prepared to give them what they want when they find you. Don’t wait. Get started today!

A number of other sites can also help you increase the traffic to your website via Local Search:
infoUSA

infoUSA is a major business directory whose data is used as a starting point by many local search engines. If you have a new business, or have moved addresses or changed phone numbers, it is essential to update your information with infoUSA.
Superpages.com

Superpages.com is a top online resource for finding information and insights on businesses and retailers. Google and Yahoo often “double-check” Superpages.com to make sure they’re showing correct business information. Here’s where to claim your listing.
Yelp.com

Yelp is a very popular Local information portal on the U.S. West Coast, and in certain industries across the rest of the country. If you are in the hospitality industry, especially bars and restaurants, it is essential to claim your profile on Yelp.
Citysearch.com

Citysearch is a major competitor of Yelp that charges you to claim your business listing. It can be expensive but again, if you’re in the hospitality industry, it’s probably worth the investment to claim your listing on Citysearch.
Brownbook.net

Brownbook.net is a free local business directory that anyone can edit. You can add business listings, update them, and review businesses free and instantly.
Insiderpages.com

Insiderpages.com is a Local search site that is regularly crawled by Google–many times reviews that are left for your business on Insiderpages will show up on Google. Unlike its parent company, Citysearch, Insiderpages lets you claim your listings for free.

Rank Higher in the Local Search Engines With A Universal Business Listing

For only $30/year, Universal Business Listing will ensure that your business is included on all major and secondary search engines.
Create a Universal Business Listing »

http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/uploads/2010-01-18_174039.png

UniversalBusinessListing.org provides a single entry point where you can create an enhanced business profile that is distributed to all major U.S. search engines, online yellow pages, 411 Directory Assistance, mapping and GPS navigation sites. UBL is the fastest way to get your business included on the primary databases, such as infoUSA, that are the backbone of all Local search engines. You can update your listing for free at any time using UBL’s online interface.

Here are some best practices to follow when setting up your local profiles:

Your Business Title

It is commonly agreed by most local seo professionals that your business title is one of the most important factors for ranking well in the Local search engines. Having a title that remains consistent across all the major search engine and directory data sources is important, because it establishes a high level of trust in the existence and location of a particular business.

If your business calls itself “Bob’s Pilates Studio” in one directory and “Bob’s Pilates Yoga Fitness Studio” in another directory, chances are that Google and other search engines might see that as two separate businesses when it comes to indexing Bob. Bob should pick ONE title for his business and make certain that he stays consistent when adding to other directories. Including high searched keyword phrases in your business title will greatly enhance ranks (Shh! The search engines probably don’t want us to tell you this!). But remember: use common sense people, if you try to cram TOO many keywords into your business title, the search engines might see this as manipulation and send you to the back of the line.

We recommend describing exactly what you do. In the case above, “Bob’s Pilates Yoga Fitness Studio” is preferable to plain old “Bob’s Pilates Studio” It is a more descriptive business title and this may pull in additional searchers (and clients).
In September 2008, Google unveiled the guidelines for local listings which state that you should list your business using its actual business name, regardless of whether that name contains keywords related to your products or services.

If you are a new business, you might want to take this guideline into account in determining what to call your business, and depending on your area, and what you sell, it may be worth a great deal for established businesses to change their DBA’s to incorporate keywords. Getting your domain name with a keyword inside in the actual domain can be another helpful strategy for top ranks.

Links and Citations

The major search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Best of the Web, and others typically discover your business in two primary ways:

1) Visiting links that point to your website, and tracking on what sites those links appear.

2) Tracking citations of your business, and on what sites these citations appear.

The search engines use these factors when determining where to rank a particular business (i.e. which keyword phrases). All other things being equal, (key consideration) the business with the most links from high-quality websites in your area (like a chamber of commerce or a city government) and most “citations” from high-quality websites in your area, will usually rank the highest. So you will want to make sure to get your name, contact information, and website on as
many places as you possibly can. Consider using our Link Robot to help you save time with those efforts. http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/link-robot.html

Currently, the ‘Web Pages’ tab of your Google Local Business Listing is the most complete list of your citations, though Google probably doesn’t show every single one it knows about.

Citations

Think of citations as “mentions” of your business name and address on other webpages, even if there is no link to your website. An example of a citation might be an article online in a blog where you are mentioned, but not linked. It can also be a local chamber of commerce, or a local business association where your business information can be found. The difference between a backlink and a citation is primarlity that a citation may not necessarily be linking at all to your site. “Web references” is a synonym used on other websites for “citations”.

SEO vs. PPC

Scott Nobriga — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:18:08 +0000

If you have a good product or service, then generating traffic to your site is a matter of SEO.
If you’re not happy with the amount of traffic you’d like to see at your web site, we can help you quickly and inexpensively. We help other people find you in cyberspace, which is where anything get’s noticed these days. Over 81% of consumers are now making purchasing decisions online and according to a recent study by Comscore Research less than 10% of the websites out there are fully optimized. If you’re a small business and can’t seem to generate any traffic to your site, you’re frustrated, your fed up with e-business. You have options with us!

I will not give you all the answers you are seeking; we will seek answers together. I offer one-on-one, personalized coaching, addressing all of your e-business concerns. I will challenge you to really get centered on your goals and what you are trying to accomplish. The result will be a successful web project with minimal headaches. We will also work to develop a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed with both web marketing projects and web design projects.

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SEO Strategy That Works

Scott Nobriga — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:17:36 +0000

“How much is a #1 ranking on Google

worth to your business?“

The Search Engine Pros offer a wide range of quality seo services, all designed to give you the very best possible return on investment while promoting your site or to run your business. Below you can find an overview of our available products and services.

The SEO Success Plan – Popular!

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is used to improve the position of your website in the search engine listings. Of primary consideration is the proper selection and placement of keywords. Keywords are used to describe your site to both search engines and your target audience. Click Here For More.

Hire A Dedicated Link Builder

Building permanent, relevant and legitimate inbound links to your website yields a steady flow of targeted traffic. Known as link popularity, it also helps you achieve higher search engine rankings. Since the traffic is targeted, more motivated prospects visit your site and opportunities for conversion are high. Clients who want full control over the link building process have the option to hire one of our link building technicians at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional options. Click Here For More.

SEO Article Writing

The best copywriting is the one that effectively communicates your marketing message. It helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace, increases sales and builds your brand. We understand your communication objectives and develop copy around pre-defined concepts. Click Here For More.

Forum Postings

Our close knit community of data entry professionals is standing by waiting to help you take your forums to the next level. Whether you’re looking to launch a new site with topics and buzz about the place, trying to breathe new life back into your forums, or you’re building a site to sell, we can help. Click Here For More.

Blog Commenting

We make a relevant and meaningful blog comment on a blog or other Social Media style site and link back to your site within the comment. The links are on pages with guaranteed Pagerank from 1-5. Posts will be on topic, relavant, and at last 25 words or more. Indexed indefinitely, considered to be Permanent Links. You have full anchor text and URL control. Sites are 100% SEO friendly. Client provides keyword list and URL`s – can use up to 10 target keywords in comments. Click Here For More.

Hourly SEO Consulting

We have an integrated team of seo consultants, creative designers, writers, programmers and marketing professionals that get online results. Our team incorporates time tested seo strategies, high-end programming, creative and thoroughly researched copywriting and innovative optimization techniques. Click Here For More.

Online Press Release

We specialize in writing and distributing press releases for our clients. Our service aims to expand the visibility of your online business by submitting press releases to the internet’s most popular news search engines and media portals. In distributing your press release, our team of internet press experts will put together a list of the most relevant media outlets on the web to promote your business. These outlets range from online magazines to daily newspapers, radio stations, and trade magazines. Click Here For More.

Video Marketing

With our Video Marketing Packages, we will create generic stock video’s for you and upload them to the pages of your choice. Video’s are a tremendous boost to search engine rankings, and will contribute to more trust and credibility at your web site. Video Tags, Title, and Description provided by client. Click Here For More.

Multilingual SEO

International SEO is not about doing business with foreigners in their language, but rather bringing foreigners to your website to business with you in English. It is not nessesary to translate your website to do business with foreigners. However, you must have at least 1 page translated in Japanese to be able to submit to Japanese Search Engines, and one page in German to submit to the German Search Engines. Click Here For More.

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Advanced Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Scott Nobriga — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:17:10 +0000

SEO With A Personal Touch…

The Search Engine Pros deliver traffic based on targeted keywords by linking, content development and providing tools to track and manage marketing campaigns. Based in Santa Barbara, CA USA they are a group of internet marketing search engine specialists offering ethical organic results oriented optimization techniques. Their white hat search engine optimization efforts boost traffic levels. As a budget seo provider with cheap search engine optimization prices, they help local businesses stop the losses, and start generating a profit from their sites. Free internet marketing courses and seminars in Santa Barbara are available down at the Eagle Inn every Thursday from 5:30pm-6:30pm. A variety of topics are discussed including internet marketing statistics, google search marketing, paid search engine marketing, organic seo, ethical seo services, link packages, link building strategy, ppc bid mangement, adwords experts strategy and more. The Search Engine Pros search engine optimisation agency is highly recommended around the town of Santa Barbara, and known for being the ‘web marketers’ web marketer, for it’s affordable search engine marketing plans.

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Adwords PPC Bid Management

Brian Gardner — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:43:01 +0000

Adwords PPC Bid Management – 5 Common Mistakes You Must Know About

Being an Adwords consultant might seem as one of the most lucrative jobs. One has to be nearly perfect and there are no rooms for errors in this field. Errors in Adwords PPC Bid Management will lead to loss of business and any Adwords consultant with self respect would never opt for such a situation. In this article, we shall be looking into some of the commonly made mistakes. By pointing out these mistakes, you are getting a chance to correct faulty procedures. This is applicable to the experienced and novice of the users.

Try to keep things simpler. This will be effective in the long term. Instead of juggling about with various services on a single campaign, it will be better if you are able to distribute the workload. Some consultants implement search as well as content networks in unison. Although it will get the job done, it will be additional headache for the Adwords consultant as he uses the Adwords PPC Bid Management. The reporting on the performance will be tough to be assimilated. This is due to the difference in the rates of search and content networks. If possible, grouping should be resorted to. When grouping is implemented effective ads for each niche can be written.

The keywords that are being implemented should be matched in nature; or in other words, it should be interrelated. There is a problem when a google ads consultant opts for board matches. In appropriate ads will be displayed because of this matching. In order to avoid such situations, it is better to set negative keywords. Such keywords will ensure that inappropriate ads are not being displayed and advertisements that are relevant to the content at hand are being displayed. The appropriate terms can be found easily with the help of numerous tools that are available for the taking. It might be a time consuming and cumbersome process for some, but it pays.

The keywords which are being used on the website can have either of the two effects – it will help in promoting the site or vice versa. The Google Adwords consultant should be adept in such a manner that he should be capable of analyzing the different keywords. With this analysis, he will be able to find the most highly performing keywords and discard those junk keywords that are pulling the site down in the page rank listings. The junk keywords can be displaced with newer more performing keywords. Such checks should be maintained frequently. This is also very important in your Adwords PPC Bid Management

Variety is the spice if life – this holds true for this niche also. A Google Adwords pay per click consultant should take special care of this factor. The high performing ads if found, can be used for replicating purposes. In short, variations of the same ad can be used repeatedly so that the success rates are doubled or tripled. Juggling with the several high performing ads is more than ample for one to attain good search listings. Tracking of the performance, in Adwords pay per click Bid Management although practiced by many must be kept on constant check. Dispersing the keywords in several groups will also be beneficial.

This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many posts like this one or sub-posts as you like and manage all of your content inside of WordPress. This is an example of a WordPress post, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from.

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Scott Nobriga - SEO. SEM. PPC. WEB GURU

Pay Per Click Q and A

Pay Per Click Q and A

Why SEO?

Why SEM?

Over 81% of consumers are now making purchasing decisions online.

We offer comprehensive SEM programs.

Unique in both power and professionalism.

About Me

Local Search Engine Optimization

SEO vs. PPC

SEO Strategy That Works

“How much is a #1 ranking on Google

worth to your business?“

The SEO Success Plan – Popular!

Hire A Dedicated Link Builder

SEO Article Writing

Forum Postings

Blog Commenting

Hourly SEO Consulting

Online Press Release

Video Marketing

Multilingual SEO

Advanced Search Engine Optimization Strategy

SEO With A Personal Touch…

Adwords PPC Bid Management

Over 81% of consumers are now making

purchasing decisions online.