Browsing all articles tagged with Things
Aug
29

5 Things to Do If a Girl is Not Interested in You? Effective Tips to Make Her Like You

5 Things to Do If a Girl is Not Interested in You? Effective Tips to Make Her Like You

Are you having a hard time getting a girl’s attention? Well, if you answered yes, then this is your lucky day! Grabbing her attention and getting her interested in you is actually pretty difficult, especially the hot and gorgeous ones. Then again, there are a couple of ways you can do to speed up the process of attraction and make them want you. Here written are four super effective ways on how to deal with a girl if she is not interested in you. Read on and find out what you can do to address this issue….

o Expect the Worst - Never expect too much and quit focusing on the outcome. All you will feel is pain and depression if you try to put too much emphasis on the results. Pick yourself up whenever you fall, walk with your head held up high and instead of giving in to the pain, learn from your mistakes. You see, you might not notice this, but every time you stand up after a stumble, you build your confidence and the more confident you become, the more likely girls will see your strengths, thus, making you a prize catch!

o Treat her like a friend - This will make her go absolutely nuts, when you suddenly stop trying to date her, and treat her as if she isn’t someone you would want to date in the first place: a friend! Tease her, and play around as if she were one of your friends. This will irritate her so much, that she will not be able to help but think about you, because this will not be something that she would expect.

o Stop Going After Her – This maybe another reason as to why girls do not want to go out with you. You see, trying too hard to get her attention will make her sense you are a needy and desperate person. Even though she means the whole world to you, never make her see that your world would crumble without her. Distract and try to detach yourself from her.

o Befriend Her Friends – If she is not interested in you, then start getting acquainted with her friends and leave a great impact on them. The moment she sees her friends having a good time with your company, it will make her curious and she will start wondering what it is that her buddies find interesting and exciting about you.

o Divert Your Attention - If she is used to the idea of you chasing her around, the instance you stop pursuing her and begin chasing other girls instead will surely get her nerves swinging and as a result, she will be the one fighting for your attention.

Now listen carefully -

What you are about to discover something most men will never know when it comes to attracting women. This is one thing which is an absolute must know for every man out there. You are about to discover an ultimate secret weapon which will make women chase you around like crazy Even If You Are Bald, Fat Or Ugly!…..Trust me….You don’t want to miss this one. I strongly urge you to read everything on the next page because it might be the most important message you ever read- Click Here.

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Jul
12

8 More Things That Will Harm Search Engine Ranking

8 More Things That Will Harm Search Engine Ranking

In this article we will discuss 8 more things that harm a High Search engine Ranking. The advice in this article should help site owners attain better rankings for the sites they are promoting. In other articles we will look at other factors that may affect your ranking and also at more factors that may actually damage your ranking.

1) Invisible or hidden text
In a similar fashion to the use of very small images using text that is not readable by a human (same foreground and background colors, very small font size etc) is not a good idea. This technique has been used by some to increase keyword density or to get more keywords per page. It can be detected by the search engine and will be penlaized.

2) Content gained by Breaking Copyright
Just like using duplicate content if you sue other peoples content without their permission this will harm your ranking (and may land you in legal trouble !)

3)  Sloppy HTML code / poor site design
Whilst Sloppy HTML code / poor site design will not get you banned from the search engines it may affect your ranking. If there is a lot of excessive code on your page it may make it difficult for the search engines to spider it effectively. In addition to this poorly designed sites tend not to retain visitors or encourage repeat visitors.

4)  Use of Flash
Whilst Flash driven sites can be visually appealing they can be difficult to achieve high rankings with (particularly when no HTML alternative is offered). Flash has its place in terms of adding extra wow factor to the site but I would recommend against constructing entire pages from it (particularly the home page !). Whilst Flash driven sites can be visually appealing they can be difficult to achieve high rankings with (particularly when no HTML alternative is offered). Flash has its place in terms of adding extra wow factor to the site but I would recommend against constructing entire pages from it (particularly the home page !)

5) Frames
Like Flash, the use of Frames can be very useful (particularly with respect to menu systems etc) but they can result in sites that are difficult for the search engines to spider and hence may damage rankings . Best to avoid if possible – particularly as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can deliver many of the benefits without the down sides.

6) Redirects (301 and 302)
Redirects can be useful to move users to other parts of the site but they must be used carefully, excessive use or re-directs to unrelated pages can be considered bad practice and result in your site being penalized.

7) Errors in the robots.txt file
Be careful with your use of the robots.txt file, used correctly it can be a useful pointer for the search engines, used incorrectly it can exclude sections of your site, prevent spiders from visiting on a regular basis and generally harm your ranking.

8) Session IDs
If your pages use session id’s then they are unlikely to get indexed – look at alternative methods of delivering pages.

We hope this tips prove useful to your online marketing efforts, please look out for more of our articles on this and other related subjects.

Related SEO Flash Articles

Jul
9

10 Things To Look For When Hiring A Web Development Company

10 Things To Look For When Hiring A Web Development Company

If you have ever shopped around for a web design company, you know it can be extremely difficult to narrow down the selection. There are so many design companies out there, and it can be difficult to understand what all the options are, or why some are better for you than others.

We have compiled a list of 10 things that we think make a web development company excel. In the interest of full disclosure, Amadeus Consulting does custom web development, and we do it pretty well. This is the process we take our customers through to ensure their needs are met. Nevertheless, we want people to know what they should look for in choosing a development company and a few simple things that you can look for that will nearly always ensure that you get what you want.

Feel free to contact us right now, and we can walk you through the process below.

Determine your needs

The first step is determining what you need. Now this is not anything technical and can be as generic as “a website.”  But you should also be able to determine what you need your website to do. Is it selling something like an ecommerce site, is it a marketing tool, a user engagement tool, or does it help your improve or upgrade internal processes?

Determining your needs helps you determine which type of developer to hire, and lets you ask specific questions when talking to them. Some developers specialize in one area, such as database development or ecommerce, whereas other developers do not have the internal expertise to handle certain requests.

Also, try to determine what you want your website to help your company do. “Make money” is a fine answer, but narrowing it down to real results: increasing sales, providing information on clients, providing tools to engage customers, increasing efficiency, stability or usability will help you find a developer that can meet your exact need. The more specific you can be the better you will be able to narrow down your search.

Get References and Testimonials

When looking at a potential company, look at its portfolio. This can highlight some of its design skills and help you determine if it is the right kind of company for you. Has the company done something in your particular industry before?

Also, look for success stories. If you judge a website only by how it looks, you are only getting a very small part of the story. Find out if the websites were able to help increase sales, or efficiency, or customer service, or accomplish the business goal for which they were designed.

Take a peek at some of our client successes.

Communication

Without a degree in computer science, it can be hard to distinguish what the different acronyms mean and what they mean to you. It’s like talking to a car mechanic, where all you can do mimic the noises and hope the mechanic can tie that to an actual mechanical problem.

With a website, maybe all you can say is, “I want it to go ‘whoosh’ and ‘pooom,’” and that’s okay. A business development consultant and software developer should take the time to listen and understand what you want, and be able to translate your needs into a proposal and eventually into a final product.

Communication also means that they should be able to give you an update during each phase of the project, from conceptual design and wire framing to launching final site. You should know exactly what is happening and be able to provide feedback during each phase of the project.

We have extensive experience in the custom software development process, and communicate every step to our clients.

Software Skills

Many application developers tend to create a long list of skills (and skills that almost everyone offers) hoping that if their list is longer then they will be more appealing. However, most developers neglect to explain the actual benefits of each service, and they don’t always provide any evidence of actual proficiency – only capability.

Look for companies that can focus on the benefits of using certain technologies to solve your business problems. You will notice a difference as you talk to different companies as some will be focused only on what you want to create, whereas better developers will ask more questions about what the site is trying to accomplish. Focus on companies that are focused on using the right technology to solve your need, rather than one that just provides a list of potential services.

One of the benefits to hiring a design firm, rather than a small team or an individual, is that they will have experts in different areas of web design. Development teams are able to provide the best perspective on what you need because they are not biased by their own personal preferences or skill specialties.

Full Service

One of the benefits to full service shops is that they tend to naturally integrate each specialty into the overall design. Whereas some shops focus on one aspect of web design (usually the programming), larger design companies are able to divide the work into different specialties. For example, the interface designer will have more training on usability best practices, which leaves the programmers more time to focus on security and stability.

One of the most interesting things about working at Amadeus Consulting is it is a full service custom software development company. This means our specialties extend well outside of web development, which allows us to bring in people for special projects such as database integration or broader IT services.

Full service firms also are more likely use and integrate new technology. For example, many people can do Flash® development because it is an older technology, but few firms can develop in Silverlight™ which has distinct advantages over Flash in certain applications.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Many development companies offer search engine optimization (SEO) as a service as well. This is almost always an optional service; however you should always look for a company that is well versed in SEO best practices.

Part of the challenge of the Internet is making yourself visible among the crowds and above your competitors. Search engine optimization works with search engines, such as Yahoo and Google, to help your site rank as best as it can for particular searches.

Even though optimization is an ongoing process, not a onetime event, it needs to be integrated from the very beginning in order to have the greatest possible success. Otherwise you will have a site that is not performing as you hoped which costs you money and lost opportunities.

In addition to SEO, many larger firms also have marketing experts that can help launch your site and draw people in. This can even include help with advertising, managing pay-per-click campaigns, or social media marketing. It may not be a service you need initially, but having a good relationship with a web-savvy company can benefit you down the road, especially if they are already familiar with your business.

Content and Writing

Most small development firms focus on what they are best at: programming, because each employee is a trained (or self-trained) programmer and they are legitimately good at what they do. However, you might also consider looking at a firm that can provide copy writing and content for your site.

Copy writing is a technical skill that can be difficult to get right, especially as it varies between industries and audiences – not too much like a sales pitch, but still interesting and compelling. Like having an expert in SEO, the benefits to having a skilled copy writer can be tremendous, since they assist with all the text on your site.

Copy writers can also help you quickly develop content for your sites. Whether you want to start a blog or just create some informational pages about your company or industry, copy writers can save you time and help enhance the content on your site before it launches.

Graphics and the User Experience

Most users don’t know and don’t care how a site was built (sorry programmers), they just want it to work and be easy to use. A sad part of programming is that the better you do, the less people will notice it.

When shopping around for a developer, make sure that they have graphic design and user interface skills. In some cases developers can bring in contract designers, however having the ability in-house helps them work together and integrate a lot of the efforts. Usability affects page design and the flow from one page to another and ultimately to the “action page” where you close a sale, or gain a lead. It is important that the developer and designer can work together to make the site as efficient as possible.

It’s okay to bring examples of other sites that you like, or even areas of your current site that you still like. Some sites are very flashy and are fun to look at, like MountainDew.com, and other sites like Amazon.com, are very simple but extremely easy to use.

The difference depends on the purpose of your website. An experienced web development company can help you design a site that fits your business.

Support

One of the difficulties in hiring a web designer is that you want to know if they will be able to help you a few months or years down the road.

If there is one thing that is certain on the Internet, it is that things are always changing. As web standards evolve, compatibility issues arise, and smart phones invade the web, how will your site survive? Finding a trusted development company can be important for your site’s long term success and will help you adapt as the Internet changes.

Gut Feeling

Even if you send out an RFP (Request for Proposal) which helps you judge developers on a set list of questions, you still have to go on your gut feeling.

Meet with each of your favorite companies at least once, and get to know them and their culture. Your top few choices are probably all capable of doing what you need. Website projects are more likely to succeed if you get along with the team members.

So there you have it – 10 points to keep in mind when shopping for a web design company. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

Related SEO Flash Articles

Jul
5

A Checklist Of Things To Consider To Compete In Today’S Online..

A Checklist Of Things To Consider To Compete In Today’S Online..

Author: Michael Sim

Article Source: MiNeeds.com, where consumers get competitive bids from Graphic Designers. Read reviews, compare offers & save. It’s free!

Article Link: http://www.mineeds.com/Downers-Grove/Graphics-ms/Articles/A-checklist-of-things-to-consider-to-compete-in-todays-online-economy-978

Tags: Sliding , website , graphic , design , logo , social networking , seo , flash , HTML , Twitter , Facebook, Myspace , LinkedIn , YouTube , WordPress , Blogger , CEO , CRM , Multimedia , Chicago , Zopim , LivePerson , Graphics.ms , Real Estate , Banner , portfolio , developer , development , Carousel

1. Static 800×600 Box-Style Websites are out!

The static width websites that were created for 800×600 screens are by far today’s most qualifying feature for a new website. Having such a limited space in which to organize and display your content often forces you to fit the content to the page. It can even limit your creative freedom, and the ability for you to take full advantages of the variety of features available to you. Not only does it restrict valuable content from being provided to your viewers, but it is also very visually compact. Why restrict your viewers to such a small environment from which to gather valuable data about you, your business, or your products and services? New web standards show that standard monitor sizes are between 1024×768 and 1680×1050. In fact, if you’re doing business online, up to 95% of your target audience is using a monitor within those sizes. Five to ten years ago, it may have been a different story. Larger monitors were a luxury, and the standard was a much smaller resolution. However, it is important to consider what the majority of your viewers will be expecting in order to stay competitive in today’s online economy.

2. Flash as a Splash? Think again.

Although these can be very attractive and stylish, and can add a unique touch to your website, a Flash Animation as a splash page on your website greatly increases the “bounce rate” and diminishes “return visitors”. Bounce Rate is a term that is defined by how many people come to your site and leave shortly thereafter. They usually visit your homepage, and then based on a series of expectations and standards, the viewer chooses whether or not to continue to a second page within the website. There are a variety of factors that play into that choice, and one of the major issues contributing to high bounce rates is the time it takes for your page to load. Perhaps it’s better to think of your website like a TV Commercial. Companies pay thousands of dollars for a small block of time on the air. Every second must be carefully planned in order to maximize the Return on Investment (R.O.I) with that ad. Think of your splash page as being a small uninformative commercial before your own commercial. If I am a return visitor, I now have to watch your intro “commercial” every single time I visit the site. As a user, I am most likely going to find a company to use and return to based on the quality and presentation of content, a strong brand identity (logo, color scheme), and ease of navigation. In addition to alienating your viewers, Flash Animated Splash Screens make search engine indexing and optimization difficult, if not impossible.

3. Social Networking is your friend

Social networking has quickly become a vast new world of opportunity for a majority of online users. Almost every online user is either a member of, or has in some way participated in a social networking community.

According to Nielson Online, two-thirds of the world’s Internet population belongs to a social network and as of April 2009, the total minutes that individuals spent on social networking sites increased by 83 percent when compared with the same period a year ago. (source)

Craigslist, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, YouTube, WordPress, Blogger, etc… From the CEOs of big corporate companies to the ever-present online marketer, businesses and entrepreneurs have experience with, and use social networks on a regular basis. If social networking for the business becomes a widely used and successful marketing form (which it is), shouldn’t you consider adding that to your website? Almost all of these different social networks in some way offer you the capability to embed and display specific information in your website. With Twitter, you’re able to tap into your stream of posts and display them within a module on your website. You can add it to the sidebar on a blog, or even dedicate an entire page to your feeds (perhaps for multiple accounts?). Twitter is just one example of social networking that can be added to increase the overall user experience on your website. For an example of a site that we’ve designed that uses social networking, visit www.jeffrago.com

4. Multimedia can be overdone

I’m sure you’re familiar with the typical e-book/affiliate marketing sites that have 5 pages of content smashed together into one single column. There are usually a series of YouTube videos explaining their “big ideas” that help to break-up the content a bit, and a big red button to “sign-up”. In my mind, whether or not the affiliate program or e-book is actually valuable to me, I instantly classify this site as “Spam”, and hit the close button. Why? As mean as this sounds, if you (the website owner) have a “Million Dollar System”, why does your website look like a 3rd grader put it together? It seems like they put more work into the content of their presentation, rather than what makes that presentation something that people want to spend time viewing. That same concept carries true for all websites. When used strategically and in moderation, multimedia marketing tools (Video, Audio, Animations, etc) can add a considerable amount of value to your website. You may have the best YouTube video in the world, but depending on the quality of the website design, and the practicality of the layout all affect a users decision on whether or not to hit the “close” button.

5. Communication is the key

Did you know that there are a variety of tools out there that allow you to instantly interact with your website’s viewers? Applications such as Zopim and LivePerson give you the ability to chat with users who visit your site. Zopim even has an incredible list of features that makes it one of the top communication tools for website viewer engagement. In fact, I liked it so much that I installed it on our site! Needless to say, communicating with your site viewers is one sure-fire way you can actively engage them with your services or products.

View #’s 6 & 7 on my blog http://graphics.ms/blog/686-website-checklist-compete-online/

6. Put down the blog, and back away slowly!

7. Maximize the Marketability of your Website Real Estate

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A Checklist Of Things To Consider To Compete In Today’S Online…

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Jul
1

12 Things You Really Should Know About THE SEO

12 Things You Really Should Know About THE SEO

As an iconoclastic young developer, with ambitions of beating the “big boys” at their own game, more time than money or the connections to get it, I sought a less capital intensive methodology to achieve the same results. Years of study and rapt attention to the pertinent forums, trying everything that even seemed to make sense (making many mistakes along the way, and learning much from each one), then carefully monitoring the results, has lead to many highly workable tools in our SEO bag of tricks. The outcome of these trial and error methods, (lots of both) lays the foundation of our SEO services and the basis for the ongoing growth of traffic to your website and ours.

The simple fact of the matter is this: Expertise in any other form of writing in no way qualifies one for the type of writing required to optimize a website for the Internet. There are many sites which have less than correct punctuation, grammar, and even spelling which rank #1 in their optimized search phrases. This is not to say that I don’t think these things are important, only that to be found in the search engines, they are not the most important consideration.

The flip side of this argument is equally true. Just because someone knows all the ins and outs of all of the search engines, can write algorithms in their sleep, has lunches with Dr. Eric Schmidt and is on a first name basis with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, does not, in any way, make them a writer. All of the writing on this site was done as a collaborative venture between Susan K. Thompson, a professional writer with strong academic credentials and real world experience, in both business and marketing, and myself. Was there a lot of editing and re-write? Yes. Were there disagreements? You bet! Was it worth it? Look at the record.

Emerald Coast Entrepreneur was launched on May 1, 2005 with most site optimization in place and submission to the directories just beginning. With a total monetary investment of less than 0.00, and a time investment, I’d rather not think about, but which approached 300 hours, the site was given a PR5 ranking by Google on its first update, less than 2 months after our launch.

Studies show that over 90% of all online users use search engines to find what they are looking for, whether products/services, or just plain old information.

The following twelve points will, I hope, summarize a philosophy, approach and methodology to the SEO question which is both sound and effective, along with giving some helpful insight into the industry itself.

1. Content. Content. Content.
Effective, professional, optimized Copywriting is the single, most important factor in any SEO campaign. Search engines index websites based on the content found on each page of the site. With a thorough understanding of the language and grammatical conventions combined with intensive research, to find and exploit the market focus, one can move a website to the upper echelon of the “SERP’s” (Search Engine Results Page) in a methodical as well as ethical manner.

2. Analyze Web Logs.
Measure everything, at least twice, and then check again. While I would be the first to say that many of the procedures that make up website optimization are more art than science, one needs to take a very scientific approach to the results of the effort. This is done by methodically keeping a record of, and making an analysis of the sites web logs. There are a number of specialized software which make the job easier but at the bare minimum, one needs to keep a close eye on the site visitors and their activity while on the site. No matter how well planned the strategy, it is largely theoretical until proven by the results, which can only be measured by the logs, and a thorough analysis of their content.

3. No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, or any other search engine.
Those who promise such feats will either optimize for such vague search term phrases (such as, “green stunted widgets with purple Polka-dots and icing”) that no one will ever likely look for, or they are making a false claim, which they have no intention of keeping, or they have an inside edge at Google, something which they will lose, quickly, when the honest folks at Google find out about it. The other option, that they will take the money and run, is worth mentioning here but I’ll be polite.

4. Some things are just plain silly.
You don’t need to submit your site to 50,000 search engines. Businesses which offer this service are suspect, at best. 85% of the search results on the Internet come from one search engine, which, if you have one link from an established website, or better yet, a directory, will find your site just fine, on its own. Four (4) search engines account for over 90% of the traffic on the web. As for any supposed benefit which may accrue from being listed in an obscure search engine in Botswana which specializes in safaris to the Kalahari Desert and receives 7 hits per day; well, you figure it out.

5. SEO is not Pay-per-Click.
While no one would argue the effectiveness of getting increased traffic and sales, through a well planned, pay-per-click campaign, the fact remains that the conversion rates are generally low and they cease the moment the “pay” stops. With a well planned and executed SEO campaign, while results may take a bit longer, they continue to produce, and in fact grow, long after the work is done and paid for. Quite often we have found that after a thorough optimization of a site, only minor adjustments are needed on an ongoing basis, primarily related to new content and/or new items of sale or service.

6. SEO is not witchcraft, Druidism, shamanism.
Neither does it require any special chants, ceremonial fires, or vestments, though some of us do like to howl at the full moon, on occasion. There are no “Top Secret” practices which a reputable SEO cannot tell a client, a judge, or his mother, for that matter. The very nature of the Internet has always been cooperative and there is nothing about SEO that can’t be learned, with a heavy dose of time and money. A reputable SEO firm will give you an item per item breakdown of just where the money goes. Be wary if you sense a secretive atmosphere or any unwillingness to answer questions. While there are technical points which might take some background to fully understand, if one has a solid overview of the entire situation, a simple explanation should be easy enough to come up with.

7. Do-it-yourself SEO.
Yes, you can execute your own SEO campaign and find a reputable SEO firm to help plan and organize it for you. About one half of my own clientele do some part of the actual work themselves, or have their in-house dedicated personnel do it, after discussion of the goals and aims of the business/website, a thorough website analysis, comprehensive search phrase research, and focused instruction on the ways and means of achieving high SERPs. These preliminaries are followed up with a detailed program of suggestions and methods which the client can then implement themselves or hire others to perform. Average savings; 30-40%.

8. Phased Implementation.
While many companies spend thousands of dollars per month on Search Engine Optimization, an alternative is available which will pay dividends to you in increased sales and leads without the high initial investment. The most important consideration is to have a reputable firm handle the initial evaluation and suggested optimization planning first. The trial and error method will cost much more, in the long run, with or without the desired result. After studying the plan and establishing a workable budget you may implement the plan as finances allow.

9. Remember the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Never was this more true than in the realm of SEO. While concrete and measurable gains will always come from a well thought out and executed optimization strategy, the Internet is a competitive media and we all want to be number one. Accept that a steady upward movement, over time, will place you worlds ahead of a flash followed by a crash.

10. A thought to ponder.
At stake, in the race for the top, is the very existence of your website, your business, and quite possibly your reputation. Beware of any “shortcuts” or less than ethical schemes that anyone might suggest to further your business goals. When it’s all said and done it is you, the business owner, who bears the responsibility for any company or individual you hire. Insist on knowing exactly what the strategy is and what steps are being performed to implement it. If it seems, in the least, suspicious, ask for and get an explanation. In this case, not only is Ignorance not bliss, it could very well be the beginning of the end for your business.

11. All incoming links are not created equal.
Both the relevance to your line of business and website subject matter and the PR value of the incoming link determine how valuable they are to your own PR ranking. With Google starting the trend, nothing new there, and most of the others following close behind, the days of grabbing all the inbound links, in any way possible, are gone. Not only will low ranked and/or irrelevant inbound links not help, they will, in fact, cause a penalty. Link farms, free-for-all link schemes, automated link accumulation software, or any other fad that doesn’t carefully screen the links and websites they are coming from will, in the long run, do more harm than good.

12. It’s more than just facts and figures.
The relationship between an online business and SEO is, perhaps, one of the closest of business relationships. In order to be effective, a SEO must know not only the facts and figures pertaining to the endeavor, but s/he must know something of the dreams and aspirations of the business principals. Things which don’t normally come out in a prospectus are often invaluable information when searching for the “right fit” into the complex world of the Internet. My own clients sometimes ask, due to the frequency of my calls and email in the early phases, “Am I your only client?” I usually laugh and say something to the effect that until I know your business almost as well as you do, yes, you are the only one that counts.

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Jun
27

12 Things You Really Should Know About SEO

12 Things You Really Should Know About SEO

From the very beginning of the Internet, the number one challenge which all of us have faced is how to attract qualified visitors to our websites. Throughout the boom years, one of the most popular solutions was to get massive funding, relatively easy to get in those days, and “buy” traffic, by various means.

As an iconoclastic young developer, with ambitions of beating the “big boys” at their own game, more time than money or the connections to get it, I sought a less capital intensive methodology to achieve the same results. Years of study and rapt attention to the pertinent forums, trying everything that even seemed to make sense (making many mistakes along the way, and learning much from each one), then carefully monitoring the results, has lead to many highly workable tools in our SEO bag of tricks. The outcome of these trial and error methods, (lots of both) lays the foundation of our SEO services and the basis for the ongoing growth of traffic to your website and ours.

The simple fact of the matter is this: Expertise in any other form of writing in no way qualifies one for the type of writing required to optimize a website for the Internet. There are many sites which have less than correct punctuation, grammar, and even spelling which rank #1 in their optimized search phrases. This is not to say that I don’t think these things are important, only that to be found in the search engines, they are not the most important consideration.

The flip side of this argument is equally true. Just because someone knows all the ins and outs of all of the search engines, can write algorithms in their sleep, has lunches with Dr. Eric Schmidt and is on a first name basis with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, does not, in any way, make them a writer. All of the writing on this site was done as a collaborative venture between Susan K. Thompson, a professional writer with strong academic credentials and real world experience, in both business and marketing, and myself. Was there a lot of editing and re-write? Yes. Were there disagreements? You bet! Was it worth it? Look at the record.

Emerald Coast Entrepreneur was launched on May 1, 2005 with most site optimization in place and submission to the directories just beginning. With a total monetary investment of less than 0.00, and a time investment, I’d rather not think about, but which approached 300 hours, the site was given a PR5 ranking by Google on its first update, less than 2 months after our launch.

Studies show that over 90% of all online users use search engines to find what they are looking for, whether products/services, or just plain old information.

The following twelve points will, I hope, summarize a philosophy, approach and methodology to the SEO question which is both sound and effective, along with giving some helpful insight into the industry itself.

1. Content. Content. Content.

Effective, professional, optimized Copywriting is the single, most important factor in any SEO campaign. Search engines index websites based on the content found on each page of the site. With a thorough understanding of the language and grammatical conventions combined with intensive research, to find and exploit the market focus, one can move a website to the upper echelon of the “SERP’s” (Search Engine Results Page) in a methodical as well as ethical manner.

2. Analyze Web Logs.

Measure everything, at least twice, and then check again. While I would be the first to say that many of the procedures that make up website optimization are more art than science, one needs to take a very scientific approach to the results of the effort. This is done by methodically keeping a record of, and making an analysis of the sites web logs. There are a number of specialized software which make the job easier but at the bare minimum, one needs to keep a close eye on the site visitors and their activity while on the site. No matter how well planned the strategy, it is largely theoretical until proven by the results, which can only be measured by the logs, and a thorough analysis of their content.

3. No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, or any other search engine.

Those who promise such feats will either optimize for such vague search term phrases (such as, “green stunted widgets with purple Polka-dots and icing”) that no one will ever likely look for, or they are making a false claim, which they have no intention of keeping, or they have an inside edge at Google, something which they will lose, quickly, when the honest folks at Google find out about it. The other option, that they will take the money and run, is worth mentioning here but I’ll be polite.

4. Some things are just plain silly.

You don’t need to submit your site to 50,000 search engines. Businesses which offer this service are suspect, at best. 85% of the search results on the Internet come from one search engine, which, if you have one link from an established website, or better yet, a directory, will find your site just fine, on its own. Four (4) search engines account for over 90% of the traffic on the web. As for any supposed benefit which may accrue from being listed in an obscure search engine in Botswana which specializes in safaris to the Kalahari Desert and receives 7 hits per day; well, you figure it out.

5. SEO is not Pay-per-Click.

While no one would argue the effectiveness of getting increased traffic and sales, through a well planned, pay-per-click campaign, the fact remains that the conversion rates are generally low and they cease the moment the “pay” stops. With a well planned and executed SEO campaign, while results may take a bit longer, they continue to produce, and in fact grow, long after the work is done and paid for. Quite often we have found that after a thorough optimization of a site, only minor adjustments are needed on an ongoing basis, primarily related to new content and/or new items of sale or service.

6. SEO is not witchcraft, Druidism, shamanism.

Neither does it require any special chants, ceremonial fires, or vestments, though some of us do like to howl at the full moon, on occasion. There are no “Top Secret” practices which a reputable SEO cannot tell a client, a judge, or his mother, for that matter. The very nature of the Internet has always been cooperative and there is nothing about SEO that can’t be learned, with a heavy dose of time and money. A reputable SEO firm will give you an item per item breakdown of just where the money goes. Be wary if you sense a secretive atmosphere or any unwillingness to answer questions. While there are technical points which might take some background to fully understand, if one has a solid overview of the entire situation, a simple explanation should be easy enough to come up with.

7. Do-it-yourself SEO.

Yes, you can execute your own SEO campaign and find a reputable SEO firm to help plan and organize it for you. About one half of my own clientele do some part of the actual work themselves, or have their in-house dedicated personnel do it, after discussion of the goals and aims of the business/website, a thorough website analysis, comprehensive search phrase research, and focused instruction on the ways and means of achieving high SERPs. These preliminaries are followed up with a detailed program of suggestions and methods which the client can then implement themselves or hire others to perform. Average savings; 30-40%.

8. Phased Implementation.

While many companies spend thousands of dollars per month on Search Engine Optimization, an alternative is available which will pay dividends to you in increased sales and leads without the high initial investment. The most important consideration is to have a reputable firm handle the initial evaluation and suggested optimization planning first. The trial and error method will cost much more, in the long run, with or without the desired result. After studying the plan and establishing a workable budget you may implement the plan as finances allow.

9. Remember the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Never was this more true than in the realm of SEO. While concrete and measurable gains will always come from a well thought out and executed optimization strategy, the Internet is a competitive media and we all want to be number one. Accept that a steady upward movement, over time, will place you worlds ahead of a flash followed by a crash.

10. A thought to ponder.

At stake, in the race for the top, is the very existence of your website, your business, and quite possibly your reputation. Beware of any “shortcuts” or less than ethical schemes that anyone might suggest to further your business goals. When it’s all said and done it is you, the business owner, who bears the responsibility for any company or individual you hire. Insist on knowing exactly what the strategy is and what steps are being performed to implement it. If it seems, in the least, suspicious, ask for and get an explanation. In this case, not only is Ignorance not bliss, it could very well be the beginning of the end for your business.

11. All incoming links are not created equal.

Both the relevance to your line of business and website subject matter and the PR value of the incoming link determine how valuable they are to your own PR ranking. With Google starting the trend, nothing new there, and most of the others following close behind, the days of grabbing all the inbound links, in any way possible, are gone. Not only will low ranked and/or irrelevant inbound links not help, they will, in fact, cause a penalty. Link farms, free-for-all link schemes, automated link accumulation software, or any other fad that doesn’t carefully screen the links and websites they are coming from will, in the long run, do more harm than good.

12. It’s more than just facts and figures.

The relationship between an online business and SEO is, perhaps, one of the closest of business relationships. In order to be effective, a SEO must know not only the facts and figures pertaining to the endeavor, but s/he must know something of the dreams and aspirations of the business principals. Things which don’t normally come out in a prospectus are often invaluable information when searching for the “right fit” into the complex world of the Internet. My own clients sometimes ask, due to the frequency of my calls and email in the early phases, “Am I your only client?” I usually laugh and say something to the effect that until I know your business almost as well as you do, yes, you are the only one that counts.

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Jun
27

8 Things to Avoid Like the Plague In SEO

8 Things to Avoid Like the Plague In SEO

If you ask the average webmaster what’s safe and what’s risky in the realm of SEO, most will tell you to make an honest site and build backlinks, and don’t try to trick the search engines.

While this is a true and good answer, it still doesn’t help you specifically with what not to do. The “bad” list or not so safe ranges from things that make it hard for a search engine spider to crawl your site to things that can get you banned.

1. Entirely Javascript / flash sites a bad idea.

While some javascript and flash add-ins can make for a great web experience, making a site entirely javascript or flash will make it hard for a search engine spider to crawl. This will likely result in not getting the search engine results ranking you really deserve

Use regular HTML for links, and a sitemap to ensure the website can be crawled.

2. Avoid excessive graphics and flash presentations.

The reason for this is two fold. This is purely about visitor experience. If a web page takes too long to load (more than a few seconds), the average visitor will quickly hit the back button and you’ve lost your potential visitor. On this same token avoid very large graphics, instead using thumbnails and allowing the visitor to see a large version if they desire.

3. Avoid the “quickly get submitted to thousands of search engines” deals.

While many of these do what they say, keep in mind that 98-99% of all search engines are powered by Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Just keep these 3 in mind and you’re covered.

4. Don’t submit your webpage to search engines too often.

Submitting your webpage url to search engines if it’s new is considered ok (though with backlinks not necessary). Search engines prefer to find your website through backlinks since that is how your webpage gets it reputation and relevance.

5. Avoid keyword stuffing / spamming.

Avoid the temptation to use tons of keywords on your webpage only to try to impress search engines and get a higher ranking. Your search engines results ranking depends upon dozens of factors, only one of which is your webpage content. Write your webpage for visitors with your keywords in the back of your mind and you’ll be in good shape.

6. Avoid hidden text.

Hidden text is where a webmaster tries to hide keyword stuffing in plain sight, with a font color the same or nearly the same as the background. This gears it only towards the search engine, and search engines are very adept at catching this. This is the old trick that everyone knows and can very quickly knock your site ranking to near zero.

7. Avoid cloaking.

This is when the webpage your give to visitors is different than the one you give to search engines. Normally the one given to search engines is perfectly optimized for them, but search engines obviously don’t like this as the page they index and serve is different than the one that exists for visitors in reality. This can very quickly get your site banned forever from the search engines.

8. Don’t forget, backlinks make the site.

This is sometimes overlooked, but a website with backlinks plays a small part in the internet and appears to have less relevance. While how your site is ranked for search results has a lot to do with your content, your link popularity is a major part of how important your website is perceived to the search engines. Miss this one, and your traffic will suffer until you right it.

As you can see, the list of things to avoid can affect your site from appearing invisible on the internet, to getting outright banned by search engines and knocking out 80-90% of your traffic. In general, try not to misrepresent your website to the search engines. Let them index what visitors see, and don’t modify your website to try to trick the search engines. Just run a site with good content for visitors, and get quality backlinks, and you’re on the right road.

Tony Kristovich is the owner of EZLinkSystem.com, a link exchange service where you can register for free to exchange links the easy way with other sites.

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Jun
25

Things you should know when recording tutorial demos

Things you should know when recording tutorial demos

More and more how-to tutorial demos jump into people’s view quickly as the rapid development of high speed Internet and demonstration software. Networking provides a group of energetic people who are willing to make video tutorials and help others out of the difficulties. People share knowledge worldwide thanks to Internet and demonstration software. However, one big problem lay before the video authors is how to make a satisfactory and helpful tutorial demo. Not only can we answer the questions quickly, but we can share some tips to make your video more popular and professional.

Do a comprehensive preparation

As you find a request need to be solved, spend 10 minutes to half an hour to think over before you’re going to make video tutorial. There’re libraries of things you should consider to make up your video. Should I explain the solution to my audiences step by step or directly show him the answer in words? Should I recommend the best way in my opinion or leave several choices for him to choose? How long the video will take and what component it consists of, etc. By doing those pre-work, you can keep a clear head while recording since you’ve already known what to do next, making your audiences appreciate your recorded demo a great video tutorial.

Make full use of narration

In many cases, explain in voice brings more incredible effective than describe with full text in video. Though majority of screen recording software with editing features offering plenty of callout and text box effects, people always get tired with reading lines of text on the screen, especially when your video tutorial is longer than 5 minutes. Record audio with a good microphone (USB microphone can do a better job), you can save a lot of time typing text, furthermore, people can get more information and tips by listening to narration compare with reading text. To explain things smoother and easier in the shortest possible time, clear your throat and begin your talk show.

Show people the key-point in detail

You have to tidy your thoughts before you want to tell people the most important part of your tutorial. The principle of your explanation should be clear, honest and easy to understand. It’s not far enough to seize your audiences only by mouse moving. Try to put more objects into your tutorial to emphasize the key-point. The highlight square frame, the sparkle cursor, the zoom-in effect, the illustration note and vivid animation clip. You can even remind people with your charming voice, speaking up you’re making a big show now. Remember, no matter what things you do, make your audiences concentrate on your video.

Avoid your unnecessary patty action

It seems to be a tiny thing but can make a fatal mistake to your tutorial. Many people like to move the mouse back and forth while talking, or pause frequently to say something irrelevant. Not only does this behavior bothers your audiences but also distract their attentions to the tutorial. The best way is to keep your hand off the mouse and use it only when you’re going to move to the next step. If you worry about forgetting what to say during the recording, write down an outline for your tutorial video at first.

Leave your real personal info to gain more traffic

Sometimes you might get interested with a tutorial and wonder if there’re more demo videos created by the same author. However, what will you think when finding out the author of video calls himself Heavy Tractor and uploads a real outdated tractor as his avatar in sad earnest? As for the author, you might lose one potential audience who can spread your tutorial videos in his social circle with his family and friends, and you might miss a chance to score a massive smash with your video. Don’t be stingy to tell people who you are, leave your contact information at the end of video and let people find you, praise you, make you well-known if possible.

That’s the tips we offer to you, if you have more suggestion and tips, feel ease to share with us by posting comment.

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Jun
25

8 Things That Makes SEO Work

Author admin    Category SEO Flash     Tags , ,

8 Things That Makes SEO Work

Understanding your business goals is what makes us different. It is very necessary to improve the website quality to be a successful leader in the market. Spending time on improving the quality and PR of the website is always worth, instead of listening to some smart geek and using the unethical methods means to expand the websites short-term popularity.

To make SEO work you need a complete approach focusing few important things. Lets checkout the 8 things that makes SEO work.

* Your Keyword Selection, Prioritize your keywords
* Registration of your domain, Domain name including a keyword, Keyword in filename, Website Address Length
* Proper Placement of Keywords in title tag, Meta Description tag, Meta Keyword tag, Keywords in Content H1, H2 and H3, Keyword Font Styles
* Linking Tactics – Avoid the use of unethical methods

1. Internal Links – Keyword in links to internal site pages, valid internal links, Efficient linking
2. External / Outgoing Links – Quality Links, Inspecting your Links, Title and Description, Limit number of links on a page
3. Incoming Links (backlinks) – Quality of Referrer, Trend of link popularity, Anchor Text, Age of Link, Number of Outgoing Links on Referrer Page, Position of Link, Trusted Websites, JavaScript/Flash Links

* On-Page Factors – Home Page: Over optimization penalty (OOP), Getting Reported, File Size, Freshness of Pages, Frequency of Updates, Website Age, Dynamic Pages, Texts inside Images, Excess JavaScript, Inline Frames and Frames, Hidden links / texts, Cloaking, Duplicate content, Understandable Content
* Off-Page Factors – Traffic Buying, Link Schemes, Minimum one backlink, Buying Links, Server IP Address, Links from bad websites, your web server Reliability and Uptime
* User Activity – Search Engine Traffic, Click through Rate (CTR), Time spent on page, Managing Bookmarks, Leaving the Website
* Gathering Links, Collecting Links, Unique Content, Articles, Press Release, Forums, Blogs, Sponsoring Directories, Link Exchange and much more

Jun
16

Brute Force SEO Evolution II reviews by experts presents 10 Quick Things To Improve Your Search Rank

Brute Force SEO Evolution II reviews by experts presents 10 Quick Things To Improve Your Search Rank

You know all that extra time you have to work on Search Engine Optimization? [A little sarcasm there] Actually, I tried to put together a list of quick things you can do that will help you move a little higher in your Google or Yahoo results.

1. Get listed in more search engines. There are tons of them out there. There are also many free services that will help you get listed. Or just set aside some time to get it done yourself. Here is a free search engine submission site that will let you cycle through the top 100 search engines and get your site submitted.

2. Get listed in more directories. Again, there are a lot of them out there. Look for higher pagerank directories. Improvingrank.com has some listed by pagerank. Look on the left side of the homepage.

3. Clean up your html and check your links. You want the bots to have smooth sailing through your site. Use the tools on W3c.org and have a real person check them over too.

4. Get a few more links to your site. Make them relevant and at least the same pagerank as you.

5. Make your page filenames descriptive and keyword rich. Naming your page new_page_1.html is wasting an opportunity to do some SEO. Use names that describe the content and keep the keywords flowing.

6. Check your Title tags. You can use 90 – 100 characters in the title, so add some keywords. We know Google looks at them, and so do many more search engines.

7. Check your ALT tags. Searchbots can’t see pictures. Make sure you have ALT tags on all of your pictures, and make sure they are descriptive and keyword rich.

8. Rewrite your URL (anchor) tags. Good anchor tags (the text between the http: and /a tags) reinforce the message and key words of your site.

9. Go post in a few forums and put your website in your signature. Forums are a great place to put one way links. And you can help somebody out at the same time.

10. Put together a text based sitemap and put it on your site. There’s a lot of navigation that spiders can’t understand, such as flash, forms, java and javascript. Putting together a text-based sitemap gives the bots a way to navigate around the site.

Fifteen minutes every couple of days will make a huge difference in getting your rank higher.

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