SEO Rely

Will SEO Rely on Site Load Time in 2010?

Its been said that internet users have the patience of just four to five seconds for a page to load. That's not a very long time, and a lot of sites lose visitors every day for just this reason. It will always be important from a user standpoint to have your websites load as quickly as possible. It's already a challenge to get people to visit your site and the last issue you want visitors to experience is slow loading times.

How Can You Test Your Sites Load Time?

If you don't already have a Google Webmaster Tools account, create one. Log into your account and click on the "Labs" tab on the left hand navigation. From there click on "Site Performance". You will find a graph with your performance overview here.

Internet users have the patience to wait roughly four to five seconds before giving up on a page loading. Is your websites loading time causing you to lose well deserved traffic?

Fixing Your Page Load Times

Lucky for all of us, Google has already figured out an efficient way to speed up all of our pages. Scrolling a little further down to the "site performance" page, you will see "Page Speed Suggestions". Here you will see suggestions such as gzip compression, combining JavaScript, and minimizing DNS lookups. These are issues specific to each page, so make sure to look at all the suggestions.

Will Load Times Have An Effect On SEO In 2010?

Google's priority is to always give its search users the most relevant search results. One would think that it's also important to Google that all users have a positive experience when looking for websites that match their search queries. With this kept in considerations it would make sense that Google would give ranking preferences to sites that have faster loading speeds. Nobody wants to wait ten or more seconds for a page to load and unfortunately there are many sites out there that exceed ten seconds.

Whether loading time has an affect on SEO or not, it's important to keep your site loading times to a minimum. You work hard to get your existing traffic, don't let something like loading time ruin your users experience. Google has given us this tool for a reason; it's silly to not take advantage of it. If load time does become an SEO factor in 2010, lets all be ready for it!

Lead Generation

Basic Information For Lead Generation

Online Lead Generation has a very transparent cost structure. It is straightforward to see each lead's origins and quality - and companies can then pay only for data on interested consumers that meet their criteria. This makes the service highly cost-effective and gives each lead higher value. Increased data quality will help companies drive down their cost per acquisition (CPA) which is a clear indicator of ROI (return on investment).

OLG provides organizations the ability to quickly set up and gather leads; it has the advantage of being highly results-driven, which is one of the reasons overall spend is up on last year. In a difficult financial climate, companies, regardless of size, need good quality data on interested consumers in order to generate new business and revenue. We are finding now that major global blue chips are placing an increased importance on our performance-based approaches. This report looks at the wide range of digital marketing strategies - such as SEO(search engine optimization), Paid Search, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing and Online Display advertising. Clash-Media specialists in Ad-based Online Lead Generation which is highly flexible and targeted compared to many of the other methods talked about. It combines elements of affiliate marketing, email marketing and display advertising.

It is important to remember that Online Lead Generation can be used as an independent campaign - standing on its own to find new potential customers based on a specific offer that is promoted only on the Internet - or alternatively, it can be used very effectively, particularly abased Online Lead Generation, as part of a wider campaign. For example large traditional campaigns - TV, Newspapers and Posters - can be boosted by tying in an OLG campaign, because they are results driven and can give a directly measurable return for the advertising spend. Online Lead Generation campaigns are tailored to suit each advertiser?s individual requirements, allowing full control over delivery, quantity and the quality of interested consumer data received.

OLG is a critical digital marketing activity for the businesses in a wide range of sectors. SMEs, prominent charities and global blue chips all rely on Online Lead Generation to acquire potential customers and boost the performance of their marketing campaigns. Marketing budgets are scrutinized at any time, but even more so at a time when cost containment is a high priority. Because of this pressure, it is essential that any investment in marketing can show clear paths to a strong return.

Google Goggles

Another Way to Search the Web

Typically when one searches the internet, it's required to type in text to the search box to get the information that one is seeking. There is an application on the Android mobile phone platform that can actually add a new element to search the web. Instead of typing in text, one can simply take a picture of an object. From this picture the web will be searched for that object.

Technology has increased to the point where this is easily possible. If you were to find a book that you want more information on, take a quick snap shot of that book and get information on it just as if you typed the name of that book into the search engine. This can be extremely useful when you have a picture of something but just can't remember the name.

Despite sounding convenient there are drawbacks that Google has already recognized. The application still need to be improved because some pictures don't get back the intended result just because at times there is quite a bit of information in just one picture.

SEO Tutorial

Conquer Local SEO

In this day or age local search engine marketing has become even more important as more people turn to the web to search for products in addition to services in their local area. A smaller sized business in these modern times can see huge benefits from having a strong presence in their local search results, although search optimization for local searches can differ greatly in comparison to a global search. The greatest challenge is working out what challenges to consider in a local search engine management campaign. It is also important to focus on the keywords in addition to search phrases that are going to bring you the targeted traffic you are looking for. Even more important is what is there for them to do once they are on your weblog. Without the proper "Calls to Action" your blog will not get the results that you are after. More on that in a future post, for now lets talk about what to pay notice to when looking to rank well in your area. When Google in addition to other search engines analyze this data they look at the total number of local search results plus compare it to the amount of user queries on that particular search term. Here are a few factors for you to consider:

The Size of the area defined by the target phrase search

Google’s level of trust that there is a business at the listed web address doing what it says

How Google defines the region’s center, either by keyword or map parameters

It is important to point out that you need to take into account how your own local users or potential customers define their locality or use this for your targeted keywords. Whether by neighbourhood or by geographical landmarks such as beaches, lakes, mountains, etc. Some tips for localized search marketing for small businesses; firstly, be sure that you provide unique, worthy content that is relevant to each search term that you target; Secondly, optimize your title tags and url slugs to reflect the targeted search term for that particular page; Thirdly, make sure to look for as many building link opportunities in your own local market as possible; Forth, continue to update your website on a regular basis(at least every 3 days) with fresh, new or never-seen-before content that remains relevant to your company and services; Fifth, encourage your current clients or customers to leave reviews online, either through Google(you can now leave comments or reviews next to a search result), Google Maps listing or other consumer websites. Remember - the more online content(providing that it is worthy content) that is relevant to your business, the better. and finally, pay notice that your business gets listed in the proper categories when adding yourself to Google Maps, Yahoo Maps in addition to MSN Maps(most local businesses forget about the last two giving you an upper hand by listing your company with them as over 35% of internet users use them).

After some time you will realize that optimizing a websites search marketing performance for local searches is very similar to standard sem practice, just more niche market related. Often local results are given higher precedence - but your web site may not be ranking on those variables at all. Doing well in local search engine results pages means much more than simply having a listing in Google maps. Local search search engine management is a competitive or increasingly critical space of the web that local businesses need to take very seriously. After all, in a couple of years your competitors could be dominating your local web making it harder plus harder for you to catch up to them! Don't put yourself in this predicament, go ahead and get busy with YOUR local search strategy before someone else does.

Ways to Promote Your New Website

One of the common myths new website owners get caught up in is a belief that there will be an instant flow of visitors to their new site. Keep in mind that if this is a new website with a new domain, nobody knows who you are and where your site is until you make it known. Just like a conventional storefront, you want to make sure you are actively promoting your new site at all times. The following are some channels that can be used to drive visitors to your website.

Search - The most widely used resource for anyone seeking what you have to offer is through search engines like Google, MSN, Bing, Yahoo and countless others. The most common way to get found is to make sure your website is filled with keywords, or terms that search engines use to locate your site when users type in a specific search phrase. For example, if you go to Google and type in the term "web design," you will be provided with possibly millions of results with websites that contain the search term. However, if type in "Portland OR Web Design," your results will be much more specific to relevant businesses. It is this level of specificity that your potential customers will use to try and locate your offering, so make sure you keywords accurately depict where your business resides on the international stage. Keywords can (and should) be located within the actual visible content of your site, but additionally, you will want to make sure that you create meta tag titles, descriptions and keyword lists for each of your web pages.

SEO/SEM - Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are great ways to market to the search channel. If you would like to undertake search engine optimization on your own, most search engine companies usually provide documentation for webmasters to help them understand how to best structure content, keywords and meta tags to increase their ability to be found by users. If search engine rank is important for your business, we recommend you shop around for companies that specialize in SEO for small businesses. They know what works and what doesn't, and their cost is nothing compared to additional revenues that could be gained from better positioning on the world's leading search engines. SEM is more of a quick and simple way to get your site noticed right out of the gate, but it can be costly if you do not have a strategy. SEM incorporates paid search, or sponsored links, to achieve instant search engine rank. You basically set up an account with a search engine company, and bid against your competitors for the top spots anytime your specific keywords are entered by a potential visitor. Most successful internet companies incorporate a blend of both SEO (also known as organic search) and SEM tactics.

Meta Tags - Meta tags, or meta information, is the behind-the-scenes content that search engines use to understand and organize your website in relation to the millions of others. This information exists within the HTML code of your page, and can be added by web developers fairly easily. The primary pieces of information are page titles, page descriptions and a short list of keywords. The best way to organize meta information is through the use of a meta tag generator. There are several free meta tag generators you can use online, which provide recommended character limits and package the information nicely for your web developer.

Conventional Marketing - Never underestimate the power of conventional tactics to help promote your new website. If you have a physical storefront, you can hand out leaflets or brochures promoting your website to existing customers, who can refer more business your way. Other methods might include sending out mailers, advertising in periodicals, phone sales, email newsletters, customer referral programs, contests, or coupons only available on your website. You can even post your products or services on free online classifieds that link directly to your side. The possibilities are endless.

Tell Your Customers - Your best sales force are your repeat customers. Be sure to inform them of your new website, as they can drive business there faster and usually for free. No form of marketing beats a personal recommendation, so make sure you are asking your customers to spread the word. You will be surprised at how effective your happy customers can be.

Incentives for Web Orders - Many companies employ special discount pricing for web orders for 2 major reasons: (1.) it cuts down on customer service time consumed by conventional order placement, therefore reducing lost time and resources, and (2.) it is a great way to "force" people to use your website. Major airlines, electronics and retail companies use these methods all the time with great success. It is human nature to be resistant to change, no matter how much it can benefit people. Give customers and prospects a reason to use your website, and it will work out better for all involved.

How do you find websites? The most powerful strategic resource you have is yourself. Think about how you look for things online. What are your search methods? What appeals to you? How did you learn about the last 3 new products/services you purchased? If you are having a hard time thinking of ways to promote your website, ask friends and family how they found out about the latest fad product and follow suit. Remember, your job is not to reinvent the wheel. It is to find out what is working and to copy it (without plagiarizing, of course). Be sure to incorporate the mechanics of this first-person consumer perspective into your marketing strategy, and your success rate will go up dramatically.