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May 19, 2012

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Google Panda: Mandate on businesses to create valuable content

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Perhaps you haven’t been attentive to the news going on about Google Panda; if so, there are key things you need to know, especially if content creation is one of your tools for marketing your business. Recently, Google introduced another technique regarding the ranking of websites that feature contents. As it stands, the article directories no longer receive priority when it comes to ranking on Google’s search result page.

In essence, Google is now currently assessing the quality of sites linking to your site to know their worth. Well, we can’t say exactly what Google’s formula for this recent development is. However, here are some things we can deduce from the whole picture as being disqualifying factors:

  • Websites that feature much advertisements
  • Sites that feature several unrelated content
  • Poorly moderated websites
  • Sites with too many keywords
  • Unnecessary multiple linking to other websites.

If you are a regular web surfer who has good judgmental acumen, you can easily spot these sites when you come across them. Well, a lot of companies or businesses do not like the new ranking technique; however, these new rules can work to your advantage if you know the tips and tricks that work.

Here are the tricks and tips that ought to work:

  • Create and offer quality content
    In my opinion, this is the most important tip. It is needless reproducing countless contents that do not add value but features too many keywords. If you are a culprit in this regard, change your strategy and concentrate more on valuable info that would benefit your customers. Such valuable contents include FAQs, ‘how to’ articles which should be directed to your product or service, company news and others.
  • Pour in more quality and fresh articles
    Google is quick to pick websites that feature fresh articles. Therefore, make plan to create a lot of valuable articles on a weekly basis. Also, you need to decide on relevant topics to write on. To keep it diverse, you can appoint people in your company to cover different topics related to your product or general theme.
  • Ensure that people get to know about your content
    Your contents would serve no purpose if people do not get to read them. One of the ways to share your content is to set up RSS feed from your site (blog). You can also use your company’s emails to share links. Also, include links to the posts you make on Facebook and other social media platforms. These are ways to help people find and read your content.
  • Ridiculously low paid writers would produce low quality content. Invest reasonably in article writing in order to get the best result from marketing your business with articles. So, if you don’t have time or the skill to create irresistible, quality articles, hire a professional freelance writer for the job.

Don’t see Google Panda as an obstacle; instead, see it as a propelling force to push you to compete better.

Filed Under: Google, Google panda Tagged With: ,

Google news: The top result on google generates nearly 40% of the entire clicks

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A recently conducted study reveals that it is very important to rank very high in Google’s search results. The average click-through rate of the top results is almost 40%. The cost per click as well as the amount of searches is also an influencing factor on the clicks. What is the implication of this to your efforts toward search engine optimization?

The Exact Numbers
Based on the study, the web pages that occupy the first position generates 36% CTR (Click Through Rate). Second position’s CTR is 13%, third position up to the 10th position gets 10%, 8%, 6%, 4%, 3.8%, 3% and 2% respectively. You can see that the CTR for first position is higher than CTR of position 2-5 put together.

It may surprise you to know that the 11th position generates slightly more clicks compared to the 10th position. Perhaps, the reason may be traceable to the fact that position 11 tops page two of Google results.

There is relationship between CPC (Cost per Click) for AdWords and CTR
Based on the information curled from the study, high CPC (Cost Per Click) on Google AdWords generates lower click-through rate for organic results.

For a keyword that has a high Click Per Cost, the first organic result generates not up to 20 percent of the clicks. On the other hand, for keywords that have low CPC, the first result gets over 30 percent of the entire clicks.

The click-through rate is also Influenced by the search volume
The study further reveals that keywords with high number of searches generate higher click-through rate for the first position – the rate is 32% for widely sought-after keywords, while long tail keywords get 25%.

The overall click-through rate for long tail keywords on page one of Google result is better – 9% vs. 5% for popular keywords.

What is the implication of this to your SEO efforts?

  • More than they appear on the surface, popular keywords are quite competitive.

If your optimization efforts are geared towards highly competitive keywords, you are not likely to see much result until you make it to the first 5 results.

  • Long tail keywords optimization is a sensible thing to do.

There are several benefits attributed to long tail keywords; compared to popular keywords, long tail keywords are more targeted and the conversion rate is much higher as well. You are likely to generate more visitors via your long tail keywords; the exception is if you are ranking in the top 5 results for a keyword that is popular. Another benefit is that ranking high for long tail keywords is much easier since the competition is less.

For a larger part of the businesses,  it is quite easier to rank in page one for several long tail keywords and this is more beneficial compared to generating high rankings for only a couple of keywords that are popular.

Indeed, high ranking is very important; it is still far more valuable to rank on page one for a relevant keyword to your offerings than elsewhere.

Filed Under: Google, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Positioning, Search Engines Tagged With: , ,

The fastest way to get listed on Google search result page

June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The quickest way to have your website listed on Google’s search result page is to ensure that your website features all that is required by Google. And what are those requirements?

  1. Your server has to be Google-friendly, in such way that it becomes easier for Google to index your page.So, what should you do to make your server and webpages Google indexing friendly?
    • Get rid of the ‘disallow’ lines in your robots.txt file if necessary.
    • Do not feature ‘noindex’ tags on your webpages – check to ensure that such tags are not found in your webpages.
    • Also, your web server would not be Google indexing-friendly if it uses cloaking scripts or bot blocking software.
  2. Google indexes webpages with quality backlinks faster.Google bots often visit websites that have more quality backlinks pointing to them. Thus Google would be fast to feature your webpage on its search result page if your site has good backlinks that point to it.

    Bear this in mind; you need to wait for a while before Google can display your site on its search result page – why? Here are the reasons below;

    • Technical reasons: it is the procedure with this search engine, for an optimized website to wait for a while before it is indexed. Even when the bot eventually visits your website, it may only crawl some pages and leave some, and not all the pages crawled by the bot would undergo indexing.For the indexed pages, they would be parsed – the parsing process assigns the indexed pages to search queries. Again, why you must wait for a while is that Google would need to assess the content featured on your site and compare it with other websites’ contents, and subsequently rate your site in terms of quality. The entire process drags on for a while. However, if you have more backlinks pointing to your site, the process will speed up.
    • Competitive keywords: getting listed on Google search result page takes longer time for competitive keywords. So, you may need to target less competitive keywords first, then after achieving chains of top 10 ranking for these keywords, your chances of ranking higher for the highly competitive keywords would increase greatly.
    • Also, Google would take time to evaluate the quality of a new website, so ranking on Google’s top 10 search result page takes time for a new website. But as the website gets older and generates multiple quality backlinks, the chances of getting to Google’s result page increases.
  3. Make your website meaningful to Google
    Google is slow to index single-page site. Google is likely not to find substantial valuable content on such site, especially a completely Flash site.
    Do not focus on just few pages of your website when optimizing your site, work on all the pages and fill them with valuable contents worth presenting to visitors. Google is concerned with presenting the most excellent webpages to web visitors who pass through it to search for information.

Don’t be deceived, there’s no short-cut to climbing to Google’s top 10 search result page. High quality content and valuable backlinks are necessary.

Filed Under: Google, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Positioning, Search Engines Tagged With: , , , ,

Benefits accruing from Google’s Latest Algorithm Update

April 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Right now, the dust has settled a bit on Google’s latest ‘farmer’ update – thus, this is the right time to let you know how you can take advantage of it as an article marketer. No doubts, some people out there are saying that this latest development means the end for article marketing – well, we’ve been hearing that for decades now. The truth is that article marketing has come to stay.

Let’s begin by saying that the essence of the ‘farmer’ update was to provide searchers with sites that feature high quality content when they are looking for something on the web. Yes, this is exactly the intention; Google is of the opinion that those who carry out searches through their search engine (primary users, not webmasters) are worth rewarding with enhanced user experience. Well, you don’t blame them for that – a good number of webpages are merely spammy, crappy, and are focused solely on money making and do not care about featuring quality and valuable information.

That’s the issue, a lot of people are tired of being provided with craps when they surf the web for information. Just imagine for  a moment what would happen to a restaurant that serves low quality meal, it will go out of business of course, in just a little while. If searchers keep on clicking on the back button each time Google displays its search result, that speaks volume.

Thus, if your webpages or articles feature high quality information, and if such pieces of information have been submitted effectively to reach out a wider audience, you are bound to get the reward of your labor more than those who did not get it right with their contents. So, if you are complaining about the latest algorithm change as an article marketer, it implies that you don’t have quality content or articles to offer.

Back to latest Google algorithm topic; Google states that, just approximately 12 percent of the search terms are affected by this latest development in its algorithm. Therefore, it can be deduced that the change has got more to do with some topics than any other thing.

Obviously, some search terms are more likely to attract detestable content or website compared to other search terms. It really keeps the webmasters wondering what these search terms may be and keeps them on their toes.

Filed Under: Google Tagged With: ,

Business Going Local – Using Google Places to Rank Higher on Google

February 7, 2011 By 1 Comment

Places Search is one of the latest developments on Google. Google Search is the former Google Local/Google Maps. Sites listed in Google Places are currently listed on top of the search result pages when local searches are conducted. If your business is local area based, it is an excellent idea that you get listed in Google Places.

Tips on Optimizing Your Google Places Listing

There are several factors that influence the way your website is listed on Google Places. Some of those factors include your business’ location, your keywords as well as the industry your business is inclined to.

  • First Ranking Feature: Your Address

Do you want to rank high for keywords associated with a given city? If yes, then it is necessary that your business be located in such a city. For instance, if you want your business to be discovered for local searches in New York, then the physical address of your business must be in New York.

  • Second Ranking Feature: Your Business Category Listing Must be Correct

It is important that your business be listed in the appropriate category on Google Places. It would be a serious mistake and to your disadvantage if you list auto business under real estate category on Google Places!

  • Third Ranking Feature: Put Your Main Keyword in Your Business Name

If you want to improve your chances of being listed in the Google Places results for higher ranking in the main Google result page, then you must ensure that your business’s name contains your main keyword – the keyword you would want visitors to find you with. For instance, if you run an auto business, try and incorporate auto or car in your business name – e.g. John Mark’s Auto.

  • Fourth Ranking Feature: Your Business Web References or Citations

Web references or citations refer to the mentions of your business information – especially your business name and address on other websites. It doesn’t matter whether or not the webpages referencing your business name are linked to your website or not. Some webpages that may list your business address without linking to your site include the local chamber of commerce or yellow pages directory. Citations of your business helps improve its chances of being listed for local searches, hence higher ranking.

  • Fifth Ranking Feature: Positive Reviews

Basically, Google Places is a recommendation search engine; all it does is to recommend local businesses in the search results; it recommends local plumbers, restaurants, hotels and many others. Ensure that your business is worth recommending by offering quality products as well as services.

Positive reviews as well as ratings enable Google to place more value on your business. Thus, it is good idea to encourage your customers to leave positive ratings and reviews when they are pleased with your services.

  • Sixth Ranking Feature: Nearness to the Searched Location

The nearer your business is to the search location, the more chance it has to be listed in the search results.

Take advantage of Google Places today. Target your customer base within local domains and extend your business reach by increasing your search engine ranking for local searches.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places Tagged With: , ,

Using Google Click-to-Call to track PPC success

January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Presently, it looks like every individual owns a smart-phone. This signifies that mobile search traffic is increasing alongside with the availability of more mobile devices as well as full internet browsing capabilities. Now, here’s the question; is it likely that those searching with their iPhone will devote time to explore your website for a phone number or fill out a lead form? Google has come out with their Mobile Click-to-Call feature for tackling such a situation. Of course, every marketer would want to assess the result that the fund they are investing is producing. Click-to-Call is a feature you can employ as a marketer to monitor how your PPC campaigns on mobile facilities are performing.

What is Click-to-Call?

Click-to-call is a Facebook feature that enables the display of your phone number alongside your paid ad when people search with Google through their mobile devices. As soon as the searcher clicks on the phone number, it will connect and start calling your business line immediately – your own role is to simply pick up the call.

It is possible to track Click-to-Call all the way down to keyphrase or keyword level; this way, you will see the keywords that are bringing the calls and also the leads.

Tips and Strategy on How to Utilize Click-to-Call Effectively

  • Ensure that you set your campaigns to run on “All Devices”.

  • Under Phone Extensions, locate the Ad Extensions tab and enter your phone number.

  • In a situation where you have a dedicated customer/sales service line, let that be the phone number that should be displayed.

  • Consider using your RCF tracking line that features recording capabilities (if you have one) to track call quality.

  • If your target is just a small local geographical area, you can save yourself 800 number charges by using a local phone number.

Click-to-Call does not require implementation of any tracking code; this is one of its excellent features. The only thing you need to do is to load your phone number as an Ad Extension and start reaping the fruits that comes with it.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places, Internet Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Google Instant – What is it all about?

January 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Following the launching of the new user interface – Google Instant – just about two weeks ago, a large number of people across the search engine spectrum have come out with different speculations about it.

The game is simply known as localization and personalization. The major concern is that it will not be possible again to predict search queries; and that it is most likely for users to start redefining their search terms massively. The misconceptions about Google Instant also include a likely negative impact on the website visibility, particularly for smaller businesses. The most prominent fear being that Google Instant could positively or negatively affect the overall impression rates for certain keywords; well, if you embark on a deeper reasoning, you will discover that this is not likely to be.

Industry experts are of the opinion that Google Instant may eventually change SEO with the passage of time. Here are some of their submissions:

  • For a query, the search results will not be altered; however, overtime, people are most likely to learn searching in a different way. For those who really desire to succeed in the SEO industry, it is very important to expect and embrace change. To buttress the importance of this; Matt Cutts has this to say in his blog; “SEO authorities take note, adapt and also thrive favourably when there is change”. Players in the industry also attested to this fact.
  • This is the opinion of Jonathan Allen of Search Engine Watch; ‘the significance of Google Instant to promoters/marketers can be equated with the importance of Universal Search update… just as it once happened when lost real estate for the search results of organic search engines offered new opportunities to the experienced marketers. This is what is probably going to happen now’.
  • Provided people continue to use search engines such as Google to search for information on the internet, there is need to apply ‘optimization techniques’ to such information. A content that is properly rounded in its development and optimization is very likely to benefit from Google Instant. Also, the manner in which web visitors look for and locate essential information for the products and services on the web would be impacted. Well structured SEO will not find it difficult adapting to any changes which Google Instant would trigger in the behaviour of searchers.

Therefore, of course, Google Instant is likely to demand a certain measure of adaptation; however, as pointed out previously, it’s not going to be the cause for an entire industry meltdown. Rather, it will be a motivational force to go back to the basic factors that are responsible for the high ranking of great websites. Thus, which of the top factors made websites rank consistently on the topmost positions on Google result page? The answer is simple; unique, relevant and captivating search engine-friendly articles. This fact has not been changed by the introduction of Google Instant; it may have only altered the techniques people employ in achieving it. Besides optimization and standard keyword, it may also be necessary that companies:

  • Focus on the phrases or terms that are displayed around their major keywords when instant searches are carried out.
  • Construct page titles in such a way as to attract users’ attention.

Indeed, Google Instant is something that surely requires the commitment of experts across the SEO industry.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places Tagged With: , ,

Google Places – What it can do for your hotel

December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Recently, Google announced that Google Local Business Centre has been replaced by Google Places. This change that seems to be a minor one, presents huge opportunities for hotels as well as destinations.

Each day, the importance of local content for online success tends to become more prioritized. As users carry out local search, they are presented with a map placed at the top of the search results, containing a concise list of area businesses. It is Google’s prerogative to determine as to what should be regarded as ‘local search’ depending on the search word entered – and automatically Google will provide the relevant local content. Each business is given a ‘push pin’ within the results. This pushpin identifies the business location on a map. When a visitor clicks on the pushpin, additional information powered by Google Places is presented to such a visitor. The concept is one caveat straightforward thing. It is also more likely that listings with detailed information will show up using the pushpin, while listings with little or no-inspiring info are excluded from the search results.

Indeed, Google Places is a great benefit for hotel businesses as well as destinations. If a web surfer (who is of course a potential customer) uses your city or neighbourhood along with ‘hotel’ as a search term, the possibility of reaching such visitor with content that is highly related with the search keyword entered is high. This is also very applicable to destinations that sharpen on the local businesses promotion as well as their marketing efforts. Also, very large portion of searches are being accounted for by local search. Recently, a research carried out by Google discovered that nearly 75% of every activity online is associated with local content. When you enhance your profile for local search, it is not just your online revenue that would be impacted positively, your offline revenue will also benefit from the effort. A study carried out in 2009 showed that about 80 percent of local search users got in touch with the business quite conventionally – that’s a whole lot.

How Can You Show Up Frequently and with Increased Placement?

Google Places enables for enhancement of several listings which were existing already via Local Business Center. Those who run hotel businesses can make available up-to-date information for their property. Such info includes business details, phone numbers, addresses as well as website URL. Such persons can also employ videos and photos to further showcase their property. Again, hotel owners can highlight on features that make their hotel business exceptional – e.g. state-of-the-art amenities, nearby sightseeing locations as well as pool hours.

Google Places also pull information that may be needful to customers and automatically embark on enhancement of some listings; such information includes reviews from independent sites.

Also, Google Places offers the following:

  • Improved Listings Via Google Tags. In order to have outstanding listings in Goggle Map Results, you can pay a monthly fee of 25 USD to include photo, coupon as well as other exceptional elements.
  • Realtime Updates: Google Places Page is a great place to promote property that runs a 48 hour coupon or sale.

Other benefits of the Google Places include free hotel photo shoot as well as customized QR code.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places Tagged With: ,

Google Places: Best Google Places tips and tools for small businesses

December 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you’ve got Google Places, Yelp or Binge account, the tips outlined here will assist you in attaining the top of local search results.

If you operate your business locally as an attorney, plumber, florist, local accountant, coffee shop operator and similar services, it is important that you claim your free listing on Google or other search engines’ Local search. You can then, employ the below given tips to get on top of the listings:

First thing first – claim your listing

If you want to be successful on Google Places, Binge or Yelp for local search, the most important thing to do is to claim your listing on each of these places.

Your Listing must emphasise your keywords heavily

Web visitors who are looking for any information, make their search by typing in keywords. For instance, someone looking for a good hair stylist in Los Angeles will Google-in ‘hair stylists Los Angeles. Emphasize heavily on your keywords when writing your business listing, but ensure that you are neither too spammy nor too modest about it.

Emphasize on your business areas

A good number of service providers such as plumbers, roofers as well as yard-care service providers go to people’s homes to render the services, while others may pitch at a place in one community which could be a petite town near a renowned or big city. An instance can be cited when a wedding florist who services the whole of New York happens to be located in Yonkers. When creating a Google Places listing account, it is important to set your service area accurately. Go to ‘Service Area’ icon and choose the applicable description. This way, you can expand your service area so as to service more customers. However, ensure that you are only setting service areas you are skilful at.

Online customers’ review is very important

Make sure you encourage online customer reviews, but you must do it carefully. In addition to the keywords contained in your company name, categories and descriptions, customer reviews help immensely in assisting a business achieve stunning success at Google Places, Bing as well as Yelp Local. However, you must not solicit for reviews from colleagues and relatives; let the reviews come naturally from your customers by encouraging them to do so. Of course, if you render exceptional service to customers, they will surely leave good reviews. Encouraging customers to leave a review should be done tactfully.

If you need help – Go ahead and Ask

Google provides ‘Google Places Help Forum’, there is also ‘Yelp for Business Owners as well as Bing help Forums. These help features come with helpful videos to assist you.

Track Conversation

Master your keywords and ensure that you search out your competitors’ details. Also, be quick at recognizing your own name. It helps to put up saved searches on the various places – Google, Bing and Yelp; searching for fresh reviews on your company will be easier and faster. Google Alerts service is also a quick way to get information via mail regarding any review on your business or offerings.

Don’t expect positive reviews always, some people would want to review your business negatively. However, you have to react politely and look for a way to improve and make customers happy in order to get better reviews subsequently.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places Tagged With: ,

Getting your Business on Google Places: How it works

December 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Google Places: A whole lot of local businesses strive to attain top ranking in Google with a judicious inference of relevant keywords or phrases that the users ought to be searching for. You can find a wide range of information sources on how to get your site into the Big Search Engine – Google. However, one of the essential things missing in such articles is the mention of Google Places as one of the best means to get on top of the Google search page.

‘Places’ is the default business directory of Google; the previous Google business directory was replaced by  Google Places, which provides more versatile ways of promoting a business, as well as the ability to include video, photos, promotions or coupons. Google Places also enables you to include updates that have similar status as Twitter.

Someone who already has Google local business listing is integrated already and can simply sign in to experiment with the new features. If everything is new to you, get the directions here.

Google Places Listing – Why it is important

Google Places account is as important to every business as food is to living beings. Google wants to ensure that valuable and relevant business listings are made available to web visitors searching for those who provide services locally. For instance, in a situation where a person residing in Tucson, AZ is searching for Tucson florists on Google, it will display a set of Places listings for florists in Tucson AZ. In search results for real estate, these placements are the most excellent that you can find. Literally, they are showed first since Google sees them to be highly prioritized in terms of relevancy.

Therefore, if you are yet to be listed, you have missed massive valuable traffic that has high potential of translating to real business. Do you know that you don’t even need a website to be listed in Google Places? Some business owners who were not able to generate meaningful traffic have attested to the fact that their traffic skyrocketed immediately after they created a Google Places account. If you are a local business owner, you are doing your business a lot of harm by not getting listed on Google Places.

Tips on Setting Up Google Places Account

You must have a Google account to set up Google Places account. This is not a big deal; Google will walk you through the process on how to get it done if you don’t have Google account.

Note:

  • If the Google account you currently have is just as your personal account such as gmail, it is necessary to sign up for a separate account dedicated to your business.
  • Verification of account is necessary; this can be achieved either via voice call, text message or via mail. The essence is to prevent any scam or fraud.

To create your Google Places account:

  1. Log on to http://www.google.com/places

Start filling out all the details for your business; then click next.

  1. You will be asked if you have an already existing business listing; depending on your answer, choose either ‘Add Listing’  or ‘Claim Listing’
  2. Verify your listing immediately via phone to quicken the publishing of your listing. Other options are mail and SMS.

Once your account is verified, you are listed in Google Places! Note that if you choose ‘verify by phone’ you must keep your phone handy for Google call.

Filed Under: Google, Google Places Tagged With: , ,
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