Posts Tagged ‘Internet Marketing’
10 Link Building Strategies
Various link building strategies can be implemented. To name a few, I listed down 10 common strategies that are use by most SEO experts. And before implementing your link building strategy make sure to analyze your competition. This could help you decide how to go about it.
1. Directory submission – make sure to submit your website to various website directory. Include paid listing such as Yahoo Directory, Yellowpages and Best of the Web, it would cost a bit but it pays to be more credible on the web.
2. You probably have an idea where your competitors are linking if you’ve analyzed your competition, from here try to get hold of any links linking back to your competitor site. You can send in a letter of intent to have your link included on their page, perhaps through link exchange or paid inclusion.
To make your job easier, Firefox offers various plug-ins like Foxy SEO tool to easily identify your competitor’s backlinks.
3. Write a Press Release. A well written Press Release could dramatically increase your sales and expose your company to the public.
4. Create a blog and actively read and write comments on other blogs.
5. Join online communities and actively participate in Forums.
6. Article Submission – this is a good and proven method that will ensure that your links will last for years. Listed down are some of the few article directories available on the web:
- Ezine Articles – Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure.
- Go Articles.com – Free content search engine and article directory.
- ArticlesBase.com – Submit articles for distribution, publication and promotion.
- Artcle Dashboard – Submit articles to the Article Dashboard directory, search and find free website and ezine content, and open an author submission management account.
- Article Alley - Submit articles to Article Alley for free syndication
7. Write a product or service review.
8. Link Baiting – natural method of link building. The key here is writing a buzz worthy content or providing free online tools. Read more information on Link Baiting
9. Resort to Pay Per Click (PPC)
10. Buy ads space.
In link building a combination of method is used to improve Search Engine position. This should be done regularly. There’s no sure way or a guaranteed combination of method and span of time to get your website ranked in Search Engines, it’s how you implement your strategies that will spell out your success.
10 Tips on Search Engine Optimization
There are so many ways to optimize a site but the key is to plan ahead and know exactly where to start before pushing through with your campaign. Below are some tips to help you optimize your website.
1. Choose the right keyword, you must first decide on what keyword you want to get higher ranking. Website owners would typically bid for a keyword to get higher ranking, you should optimize your site the best way you could to beat the competition. How? Analyze your competitors’ website, keywords they use, incoming links etc, in summary analysis of how they made it to no. 1 of Google or other Major Search Engines (SE’s). It will be your benchmark regardless of how old the site is.
2. Optimize your meta-tags using keywords
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Title that you would like to appear on SeRP</TITLE>
<META CONTENT=”description of the content”>
<META CONTENT=”keywords separated by comma”>
</HEAD>
Do not repeat your keywords on each tag and do not resort to unethical practices such as keyword stuffing. Suggested keyword density is 3-5 it’s the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page, according to Wikipedia.
Develop content that is unique, again, this should include your keywords with suggested keyword density.
3. Build SEO friendly URLs
4. Create Sitemap
5. Establish your site by submitting to trusted directories like Open Directory Project, Yahoo Directory and Yellowpages.
6. Submit to Web Directories and Search Engines
7. Build Links
8. Know when and how to use Social Media
9. Use Analytics to monitor progress and know which works best
To add to the list, don’t be afraid to experiment and be patient. SEO is a continuous process what works today may not work tomorrow.
Link Baiting – Has it Vanished?
Link baiting is a white hat technique which has been around since 2006. It has not vanished, it’s in fact one the safest method of link building. It’s a natural method of having viewers to link on your site perhaps because they find it interesting or worth the buzz. Although I personally no longer read a blog regarding link bait, successful companies usually implement this strategy, viewers are just not aware of the term with what they do when they link to other sites.
According to Wikipedia:
“Link bait is any content or feature within a website that somehow baits viewers to place links to it from other websites. Attempts to create link bait are frequently employed in the overall task of search engine optimization. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything “… interesting enough to catch people’s attention.”
So how are you going to create link bait? There are actually dozens of ways to do it, it’s not that easy, in fact you have to keep experimenting, same way as catching a fish – use the right hook and drop it at the right place. But when you succeed on this, you could make even millions of dollars. What do you think readers do when they link to a certain article on ezine to their site, or simply sharing it with others? Its link baiting, Search Engines prefer it because it’s “organic” – meaning natural, its quality vs. quantity when it comes to link popularity.
Some ideas on creating a link bait
- Writing something controversial (works all the time)
- Write a review (new gadgets, establishment or service)
- Oppose someone’s idea
- Write entertaining articles
- Provide useful list of resources
- Conduct a research on something
- Be up-to-date with what’s going on, technology, celebrity, economy etc. and share your opinion
There are far more than I can imagine, you just have to be creative and ask yourself what is your goal for creating link bait? Is it only for the link popularity or to attract a certain niche? You always have to start with something before preparing your bait to catch a big fish.
Why a Website Alone is NOT Enough?
Having a website is just a step forward to having one of the best cost-effective forms of advertising. It’s one of the most affordable instruments to deliver your message across a wide array of audience. It could reach millions around the world – provided you know how to market your site.
Do you know that in the United States, Internet users as percentage of population is 72.4% in 2008 and 72.8% in 2007 in Canada based on World Bank, World Development Indicators. Just imagine the huge market if a website is visible on the web, visible meaning it could be searched. Data provided are just for the US and Canada alone, how about Europe, Asia and others. Having a website is just a beginning of something better for the business. It could unlock doors to vast opportunities, including global recognition. How is that possible? That is where Internet marketing comes in.
A website is a virtual shop an office or anything you would like to call it. And just like any ordinary store, marketing campaign is needed to attract customers – Television ads, billboards, brochures etc. With a website, the more that the businesses need it, regardless of size. Huge market equals stiff competition vying to appear on the first page of SeRP (Search Engine Result Page) particularly Google. It is the no. 1 Search Engine with 67.5% Market share followed by Yahoo according to comScore as of August 2009 report.
There are only two differences between traditional advertising medium and a website. First is COST, a TV ads alone could cost thousands of dollars, uploading videos on the site is FREE. Second, COVERAGE, TV ads only runs LOCALLY, website can be seen WORLDWIDE.
I am trying to point out that having a website alone is not enough; it needs to be promoted and maintained. If businesses have this kind of attitude it’s doomed to fail achieving numerous ways to attract, earn and grow as a business. Website is not just a medium to advertise or sell a service or product, it’s also another means to earn online without shelling out a single dollar. In what way it could be possible? Affiliate Marketing is just one of the few. Affiliate marketing is simply using one website to drive traffic to another and paid accordingly based on the terms. On my next blog I will explain in details possible ways to fully utilize earning potential of a website.
If you already have a website, start promoting it, don’t let it stand there. How bad is a store without foot traffic?, goes the same with a website without traffic. Hire an SEO if you must but be careful how to choose the right one.
To further understand SEO visit SEO Simplified.