SEO | Search Engine Marketing | Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization in 2012 is leaving a lot of SEO companies stumped…like what just happen. If SEO companies are stumped; just imagine how service companies like plumbers, carpet cleaners, roofers, water damage companies, auto repair service companies, etc…, feel. And if that’s not confusing enough, it seems like every major city is being targeted by SEO companies to get their clients more visibility to keep them in business. Just think if you are a water damage company in Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas Tx, New York, Los Vegas or any other major city with over a million plus homes or businesses, I bet your bottom dollar that competition is ten times greater than in a little city like Griffin, GA (Population of about 24,000 people). In many cases a company marketing in a major city like Atlanta doesn’t even have a business there, but don’t mind commuting 50 miles to keep their business alive. That is why it is important to know what SEO is and how it works.

A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy is vital for all businesses with websites who depend on traffic to increase sales and visibility.  Businesses all want more traffic, more visitors to their sites that result in an increase of sales and revenue.  A good SEO strategy is one way in which sales can increase and profits rise.  When people seek a solution to optimize my website, there are a few important things to remember, it is not just about keyword saturation in content, it is also about well constructed websites.

When a potential customer is searching for a specific product or service with one of the countless search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo, the search engines go out and search websites for content and keywords that match the searcher’s criteria.  Keywords such as “mattress” will pull a variety of results ranging from mattresses for sale to furniture and bedroom sets and linens.  When the searcher is more specific with, for example, “foam mattress” the results are narrower in scope providing for better potential customers to the sites in the results. Optimizing websites for the best quality of visitors and staying on the first page of results is vital for all businesses and their bottom lines.  When thinking about how to best optimize your website, think about how you search.

A website can be well structured, have valuable content and good offerings and still not get the desired and expected traffic.  Often times, an SEO professional can make changes to increase traffic with a combination of SEO techniques and website optimization.  Google, for example, uses three processes when a searcher types in a request to come up with relevant search results.  Crawling is when the search engine crawls through the web to find new and updated pages to websites.  New content is then automatically formulated and recorded for similar searches.

Search engines also Index content of websites and include key content tags, Title tags and ALT tags.  This too helps for better and faster search results for the searchers.  Relevancy of content on websites is vital to good search results and better more qualified visitors to websites as well.  Many popular search engines have several hundred criteria for determining relevancy of sites for searchers to ensure the best results possible.  An effective website optimization strategy must include a well designed site with relevant content that allows search engines to index and crawl.

Search engine optimization is not just about keywords and lots of content; it is much more complex than that.  There are many technical aspects of website optimization and search engine optimization that are most effectively handled by professionals.  For example, a web site that supports “If-Modified-Since” http header allows for search engines to easily find new and fresh content on websites.  Most small businesses and entrepreneurs don’t have the depth and breadth of knowledge to handle the technical side of SEO and website optimization.  Professional SEO and website optimization companies are best at weeding through the vast amounts of technical data and algorithms to help businesses succeed online with more qualified traffic to their sites.

If you are a Plumber, Carpet Cleaner, Roofer, Water damage company, Auto repair service or any other service industry that needs SEO Marketing, give us a call at 1- 800-383-7017 – We give FREE SEO ADVICE (OVER THE PHONE OR SKYPE).

How can SEO help my business?

Internet marketing has become a must today for any business. Depending on one’s target and budget there can be hundreds of internet marketing strategies. Having said that, it has to be noted that most internet marketing strategies incur a cost for a business and unless you have a preset budget for internet marketing, you cannot employ most of these strategies. Trying to maximize internet marketing for free is what most people would be looking for. Here are three internet marketing strategies that do not require any financial investment but can manage to significantly increase traffic to your website.

Internet Marketing Strategy 1: Build An Overwhelming Online Presence

The online world is growing at a phenomenal pace. Every other day, there are new blogs, websites, forums and small to medium social networking sites that are coming up and surprising the virtual world. Having an online profile is not just about hosting a website anymore. Internet marketing demands that a business must have an overwhelming presence in the virtual world.

Now, what do we mean by an overwhelming presence? Depending on the nature of your business, the products or services that you offer and the principal location of your company, there would be many online blogs, forums and review sites. A business needs to have a consistent presence on these portals. Whether you simply participate in a discussion, share your expert opinion or simply try and promote your services, all such activities collectively form one of the best internet marketing strategies to get some traffic to your site.

Internet Marketing Strategy 2: Free Online Classifieds

Posting ads is essential for any business, whether you are a car dealer or into real estate. There are several free online classifieds – local, national and international, where you can easily post ads of your company. You need not go all out trying to sell the product or your services, but may simply post a very small sales pitch or something that you think is your company’s USP and mention the website or give a link to your desired webpage. This internet marketing strategy is employed by most businesses and is a great way to get some traffic for free.

Internet Marketing Strategy 3: A Blog On Your Website

Irrespective of how good your website SEO is or how you intend to promote it, having an online blog is one of the most successful internet marketing strategies. Search engines look for relevant and high quality content. Having several posts in your website blog talking about the industry you are in would enhance the rankings of your site. Hence you get more traffic from search engines. If you are looking to add a blog to your website, there are 2 FREE sources, WordPress.org and Blogger.com. All you do is create a blog account and once you have completed that step just add a link to your website and call it “Blog”. You now have a blog  attached to your website.

These are a few great internet marketing strategies that worked for me and I’m sure they will work for you. If you need help with creating a stronger online presence using the strategies mentioned above, please feel free to contact us. US Image Design will be happy to help you meet your online goals.

Internet Marketing Strategies to Help Increase Traffic To My Website

By: Tirrell Spruill

The goal of Google Panda was, and continues to be, to lower the rankings of websites with poor quality information, and raise the rankings of websites with high quality, non-repetitive information.  Google Panda started with actual human evaluation of websites and then trained the algorithm to look for the items that humans found important, trustworthy, and poor.

Google Panda continues to roll out new algorithms regularly, and some websites see continued decrease in traffic and others see an increase when they have updated their sites to include new fresh materials, with few advertisements.

The most recent Google Panda 3.3 update had no changes in the actual Panda algorithm, it just refreshed the data in the internal Google Panda system to make it more sensitive to changes on the web, consumer behavior, and increased overall accuracy of the algorithm.

Evaluate where you get backlinks from

Google recently announced they were reconsidering the link evaluation part of the Google Panda algorithm.  Panda has in the past evaluated links from websites to help determine the quality of the information on a site by checking and testing back links for legitimacy.  A website comprised most of links to other sites was found in Google’s research to provide no benefit to consumers.

Writing fresh content is a must

Content Farms have seen the most dramatic drop in visitors to their sites since the first roll out of Google Panda in February of 2011.  Duplicate articles, overlapping articles and information that is redundant triggers Google Panda to lower the rating and ranking of sites.  Fresh, new and well written articles help boost the ratings and rankings in Google Panda algorithms.  Quality content is now the standard webmasters and businesses need to aim for when constructing sites.

Don’t go overboard with Advertising

Large amounts of advertising, even Google’s on AdSense, can harm the rankings in Panda’s algorithms.  Mass-produced content, spelling errors, and sites with no original content will continue to suffer a deterioration of traffic as long as the sites don’t publish original content or information, original and thoughtful analysis, or substantial content.

All is not lost with Google Panda.  Webmasters and businesses can make sites more user friendly and increase page views as long as the visitor’s experience on the site improves.  A good place to start is with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines available on their website.  It covers design & content guidelines, technical guidelines and quality guidelines they recommend for all sites.

SEO my site for Google Panda – 3 Very Important Updates You Should Know about Google Panda 3.3

You’re the owner of a small- to medium-sized business and you’ve noticed that your traditional way of marketing – newspaper ads, Yellow Pages ads and listings, direct mail marketing, etc. – just isn’t giving you the same return on your considerable investment as it used to. 6V4BYBCFBDUR

If this is the case, you’re not alone: more and more business owners are finding that these types of marketing tools aren’t as effective as they were even just two or three years ago.

Why Internet Marketing?

Some facts:

• The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) found that the number of people online worldwide is more than 2 billion, with 226 million people coming online for the first time in 2010 alone. The market research firm IDC predicts that 2015 will see an incredible 2.7 billion people worldwide online.
• Even if you just market locally, Internet World Stats estimates that more than 245 million people were online in the U.S as of June 2011.
• eMarketer.com reported in July 2011 that more than 72 percent of online users in the U.S. alone would have shopped online that year.
• But perhaps the most salient fact is this: according to TMP Direction Marketing, in 2009, almost two out of three Internet users surveyed said they used local Internet search as their primary source of local business information.

If this hasn’t convinced you that your marketing dollars might be better used to help your business become visible online, here are three additional reasons why you need Internet marketing today.

1) You can measure how your Internet marketing is working for you in great detail.

Minute detail. Do you want to know how many people visit your website? When they visit? Which pages they’re visiting the most? How long they stay on your site? Which pages they click to (your website’s “funnel”)? How many clicked on an ad or a link? How many visitors become those “users”? How many “users” became buyers? And so on.  The amount of detailed information you can learn about your site’s visitors is little short of incredible. More importantly, you can use this information to tweak your offerings at any time to better attract your perfect buyer. And you can do so at a highly affordable price.

2) Internet marketing can help you shorten the sales cycle.

Internet marketing allows you to attract your “perfect customer.” Done properly, Internet marketing can help you market to just those people who are interested in your services right now! You can niche down to the narrowest of demographic, geographic and even psychographic (your perfect customer’s personality, values, attitudes and interests) markets. This then allows you to shorten your sales cycle because most people who visit your site will be doing so because they have an interest in your product/services. To some degree, they’ll already be qualified buyers.

3) You’ll find that the cost of getting leads will decline precipitously.

A  2010-2011 survey by HubSpot (a maker of Internet Marketing software), found that companies using Internet marketing to attract prospects discovered that they had a 62 percent less cost per lead than traditional “outbound” (newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, etc.) marketing techniques

We could go on and on about why Internet advertising is critical to your business’ success today. We’d love to talk to you about it and how the Internet marketing services of U.S. Image Design can help your business not only survive but thrive!

Contact us today. We look forward to being of service!

Three Reasons Why I Need Internet Marketing Today More Than Ever

I need to market my franchise but don’t know where to start.

There are three things to consider when marketing or advertising your new or existing franchise.

1. Location

One of the big no no’s with owning a franchise is marketing in another franchisors territory. If you market in another franchise territory, it’s like going into someone’s house and stealing their TV and selling it to a pawnshop. In this case you won’t go to jail but the organization you purchase the franchise from may fine you and if this continues, they take away your franchise. That is why it’s highly important to work with a company that provides pinpoint marketing and knows the rules of your franchise organization.

2. Co-op

Co-op is when a franchise organization develops a national marketing budget that is divided amongst the franchise owners. In many cases an experienced marketing company is able to work out the details of a franchises co-op program. This allows the franchise owner to spend little on no many out of pocket to generate to new business.

3. Community Involvement

Getting involved with your community is very important. Many franchises fell because the community never embraces them. When hiring a marketing company you need to know that they have the ability to get you exposure in your community. One of the best ways of doing this is through social media (twitter, facebook, Linkedin, etc ). Your social media program need to be customized to fit your industry and demographic.

U.S. Image design has provided marketing solutions to several franchise owners. We have helped franchises such ServiceMaster Clean, Sign-A-Rama, and AAmco Transmission and we can do the same for you. Give U.S. Image Design a call today for a free phone consultations. 678-481-9416

Here are some great internet advertising methods:

Get a strong website developed

If you want to convey trust and authority in your business, your site should have a very clean design and should also have meaningful content as well. Make sure that is not built-in Flash search engine crawlers cannot interpret or understand Flash. Having a simple HTML website will do the job, also make sure that you use a standardized address format and also make sure that you include it on your website in plain text. Use unique content instead of the marketing materials supplied to you by your product suppliers – search engines do not like duplicate content.

Content that focuses on location and is optimized

The internet has billions of websites and you need to make sure that your website stands out from the others. This is particularly important for small business owners who have a focus on a specific geographic location. There are virtually thousands of sites about home insurance, but quite a few focuses on home insurance in your city name. Make sure that you also include your location in your web page titles along with your other business related keywords. Great internet marketing entails being able to make your website standout so that you can reach your target market and boost sales.

You Can Try Search Engine Marketing

Organic SEO (search engine optimization) really requires real dedication. So in order to achieve successful results, one will have to invest a lot of effort and time into your website. Are you looking for quick and quantifiable results, Search Engine Marketing (also known as SEM) internet marketing may be really right for you. Bing Adcenter, Yahoo sponsored search and Google AdWords are awesome places to advertise your products and or services on the internet. So, in order to avoid spending loads of cash more than you ought to, you have to be sure to target your marketing campaigns to your specific geographic location. Begin with a small list of keywords, set aside a small daily budget until you totally get used to PPC. Google is known to also offer a Click-to-Call marketing solution that will help you connect users with your business through the phone.

In conclusion, having a great web site that is optimized for the search engines and investing in a Pay-Per-Click program, your business in most cases will generate a tremendous amount of leads, which will turn into sales. This can be some what time consuming for a business owner to implement and is highly recommended that you hire a qualified internet marketing company to take on this task.

I hope this article is helpful in your quest to finding the best methods to marketing your business online. You will find so many more internet marketing solutions on the web, but SEO and PPC in most cases (if done correctly) will grow your business. If you have any questions please fill free to contact:

U.S. Image Design.

Atlanta SEO – Internet Marketing Firm

678-481-9416

Marketing in Atlanta Tip #1 Market your business online

If you haven’t noticed, the internet is starting to surpass many of the conventional marketing methods used a few years ago. In Atlanta, you have tons of yellow page companies, billboards, TV marketing and newspapers competing for your business. Newspaper companies are hurting the most, with hundreds of layoffs due to low readership and newer technology such as Ipads and Smart Phones that provide news when you want it. With the internet at the tip of your fingers, it’s no wonder that a lot of the print companies are going under. Which leads me to question number one, where are you spending your marketing dollars? If the majority of you marketing dollars are going into print media, then you are severely hurting your business.

Marketing in Atlanta Tip #2 Upgrade that tired old website

In the past having a website was a luxury. Many business owners designed there websites to please themselves but overlooked consumer needs. Great, you have a website but it doesn’t mean that it converts online shoppers. When a shopper comes to your website is it easy to navigate, are there conversion elements such as coupons or discounts and lastly is it easy to find contact info such as your phone number, email address, etc…

Flash websites are also a big no-no when it comes to converting a client quickly. Flash in many cases uploads very slowly or not at all. Search engines don’t like flash websites because they are image based, which means your website will be very hard to optimize or market online. So if you can avoid it, DON’T USE FLASH!

Content management system also known as CMS sites are taking over the internet. CMS makes it easier for the search engines to find your website. If you are looking to upload photos, videos and optimize your website, WordPress, Cake and Joomla are a few great content management systems. You can also tap into Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn, giving you the ability to be social. If you are looking to market in Atlanta or any other city, I highly suggest using a CMS.

Marketing in Atlanta Tip #3 Know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitions online program.

When it comes to competing, strategy and planning is one of the reasons many businesses fail with there marketing campaign. You wouldn’t step into the ring with a pro fighter expecting to win the fight with a lucky punch, would you? You need to watch film and take notes to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Then train to avoid or counter your opponent’s strengths and completely take advantage of their weaknesses. The same thing applies to marketing your company online. Getting to the top of the search engine is a huge fight and only the ones that plan will make it. Do your research FIRST before spending a dime on marketing!

You may be asking, how in the world do I see what the competition is doing. I know nothing about internet marketing. Henry Ford  once said that when  you hire people  who are  smarter than you  are, it proves you  are  smarter than  they are. The trick is to find the right person (in your case the right internet marketing company). This is a guy that dropped out of high school to become on of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of the United States.

Experienced internet marketing companies can do a structured detailed analysis not only on your competition but on your company as well. You need to know things like, how may useful backlinks they have, do they have blog, the keyword density of their website, are they using PPC marketing, etc… Once you identify their strengths and weaknesses the next step is to develop a plan for your business. Your internet marketing company should be able to handle all of this for you.

If you want to be successful with marketing your company in Atlanta or any other city, follow the 3 marketing tips above. If you have more question about this topic or any other form of internet marketing, please give US Image Design a call at 678-481-9416. It cost you nothing to call!

http://www.mlwebco.com – In this video I demonstrate how to create a wordpress page template and use a static html page as your wordpress home page. This is useful if you want to use a custom static html wordpress home page and display your blog posts on a seperate page other than the home (index) page.

@mlwebco

When it comes to successfully marketing your business online, it’s important not only to have a Web site that serves as a virtual showroom for your business, but you also need to implement Internet marketing strategies that will lead people to your showroom. Whether you are selling goods, services, or information, your online marketing campaign should be built around sound Search Engine Optimization (SEO) principles.

Here are 4 common myths about SEO that all businesses need to know if they are going to effectively market their businesses online:

Myth: I should only work with companies that can guarantee SEO results.

Truth: As you begin to grow and market your business online, you’ll come across plenty of information about SEO strategies that are “guaranteed” to work for your business. However, experienced SEO specialists know that there are no guarantees when it comes to SEO.

There are a few reasons why no one can guarantee SEO success. One reason is that no one outside of the walls of search engine companies knows what the search engine algorithms really are. Therefore, all SEO strategies are based on trial and error.

The SEO strategies that work for some companies may not work for others. Business owners should do their best to feel comfortable with the fact that there are no guarantees. However, working with experienced SEO specialists can help to ensure that they make some significant in-roads by trying the most effective strategies.

Myth: As long as I have enough keywords on my Web site, my Web site is search engine optimized.

Fact: Keywords are the center of any strong SEO campaign. However, without the proper SEO techniques and foundations, the keywords won’t be very effective. Proper SEO begins with keywords, but other facts, such as programming, are critical to the success of Web site.

Of course, those other components will revolve around the keywords, such as ALT tags, H1 tags, hyperlinks, and the page’s meta description. You’ll need to work with an SEO company that understands all of these components in order to effectively use keywords to optimize your site.

Myth: If the SEO strategies are good, they will start to work right away.

Fact: Because of the nature of search engines (and the Internet, in general), SEO campaigns don’t really start to achieve measurable results for about 6-12 weeks. Therefore, businesses need to adopt a degree of patience when marketing themselves online with SEO techniques. They should also be weary of companies that promise instant, guaranteed results.

The good news is that the quantitative and qualitative results are worth the wait. Thanks to the ease of SEO analysis tools, you will be able to track the results of different SEO campaigns in real-time to get a clear picture of how effective certain techniques and implementations are for your business.

Myth: I’ll get the best results by working with SEO experts.

Fact: There is no such thing as an “SEO expert.” Those who have been in the SEO industry for any degree of time often chuckle when they see newer SEO marketing companies position themselves as “experts.” Like with the fact that there are no guarantees when it comes to SEO, there are no experts. Because of the constant changes to the Internet, technologies, and the way people interact with their digital tools, no one can be an expert at capturing effective SEO strategies, but we can specialize in SEO.

What’s the difference between being an expert and being a specialist? In part, it’s the focus that one puts on constant improvement, versus resignation to already knowing everything there is to know. To specialize in SEO means that we are constantly learning about technologies, techniques, research, and changes to various industries and components to better understand and refine our techniques. Therefore, businesses should be weary of marketers who position themselves as SEO experts.