Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

….And Four Tips On SEO

Search Engine Marketing is a form of internet marketing that helps to increase your site’s visibility in a search engine result pages. This is a modern marketing strategy, with the help of which, you can advertise your product globally. This article deals with different types of Search Engine Marketing strategies with special emphasis on Search Engine Optimization.

Types of Search Engine Marketing:

One of the most popular types of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Other popular types of SEM are search engine Marketing or advertising and paid submission.

• Search engine advertising: It usually follows a PFP model wherein you pay in order to ensure a top rank in the results of a search engine, both on the search site along with its distribution network. A successful PFP advertising campaign depends on 5 factors, namely, bid price, keyword selection, ad distribution, ad copy and effective landing pages.

• Paid submission: In a paid submission Search Engine Marketing program, web site owners pay an amount to have their specific websites reviewed by editors. However, there is no guarantee that the site will be accepted into a directory. It applies typically to human-based search engines, which are referred to as directories. A successful directory campaign depends on the title, description and the category selection.

Tips for Search Engine Optimization:

SEO, a popular type of Search Engine Marketing, is a set of techniques, which help to optimize a specific webpage. The primary aim of Search Engine Optimization is to rank a website organicaly (without paying) in popular search engines (such as, Google, Yahoo, etc.). Here are few tips that will help you to rank your webpage high in popular search engines.

1. Create a sitemap: You should create a sitemap as it helps a search engine to understand your website’s architecture as it is difficult to access then from backlinks. A sitemap can be defines as a hierarchical arrangement of web pages that are available in your website.

2. Produce high quality content: It is one of the prerequisites to rank your page high in popular search engines. The content, posts and article need to be of high quality. It is advisable that put informative article that help a visitor to know about your product category. It is better to keep the length of content short and to the point.

3. Maintain keyword density: Keyword density is an important aspect in site optimization. You should always keep the density wityhin4-6%; search engines may label it as spam if the density exceeds 10%. Therefore, always check keyword density before uploading a particular webpage.

4. Include internal links: Link your home page with all the pages in your website. Include suitable internal links on all the webpages; it will increase the number of links to each of the webpages and it will also make it easier for a search engine to find all the pages in your website.

Apart from doing it yourself, you may hire an experienced Search Engine Marketing company in order to market your website. It will help your website to rank high in popular search engines.

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Ecommerce merchants have many pages to write copy for. Home and landing pages, category pages, product descriptions, articles, and shopping messages are just a few. This article will describe five ways to improve your web copy, and the concepts here can be applied to all pages on your growing ecommerce website.

1. Establish a Tone That Matches Your Niche

As you write, imagine that you are speaking to your niche group in person. Set a tone with your copy and continue it throughout your online store. Good descriptions establish credibility by demonstrating that you actually know something about the product, other than what the manufacturer provides. Share your personal insights and manager’s notes, or add specific customer testimonials. You can even ask employees to choose their weekly picks.

Create relationships between products and categories with text links and not just with navigation buttons. Create text links using relevant keywords, phrases that link product and article pages. If your customers include multiple sub-niche groups, create a page that allows them to choose specific questions they want answered, rather than trying to answer everything for everyone on one page.

2. Differentiate Your Products and Your Store

Differentiating your online store from the hordes of competition is one of the most critical, profit-producing elements any ecommerce site can accomplish (competing on price alone will typically leave you paddling against a very strong tide). Become a successful and profitable online store by fitting your niche. Compare your site against your three nearest competitors, and make sure people know exactly why they should shop with you over them. Your website cannot replace human contact, but it can work 24 hours a day to show people exactly how your ecommerce store is the better solution for them.

Create charts or checklists to identify ways your product is unique. If the product is not unique, then demonstrate how your company or service is better than the competition. Use concrete examples and customer testimonials whenever possible. If you are relying on your expertise, create links to articles and how-to information on your site that back up your claims. Tout your great customer service by including a phone number, hours of operation, and a contact person on the site.

For those stores carrying unique handcrafted or individually made items, remember that unique in itself is not a clear selling point. Explain how receiving a handmade gift makes someone feel, or describe how your product(s) fill a need for individual expression.

3. Educate and Inform Customers

Educate and inform your customers by making product facts interesting. Tell a story, be specific, and give examples on how to use it, when to use it, and what not to do, if applicable. Use multiple image views or videos to show the product in use. Write product descriptions for both scanners and diggers. (Scanners want bullet points, comparisons and checklists. Diggers want specification sheets, more details, and extensive product descriptions.) You can even add a PDF download for the super diggers. Add multiple image views or a checklist of ways to use the product. Create articles that answer common questions in detail and link to them from product pages.

Copying and pasting the same information on each page is a huge mistake, and it creates massive duplicated content within your site. Instead, write articles to answer similar questions, and link to them. This allows you more room for explanations, and gives every page unique content. If you have multiple products with similar descriptions, try using short video clips with a simple voice over to show how each individual piece is different. Think of any question a customer might have and find a way to include an answer.

4. Create a Clear Buying Path and Help Customers Follow It

Customer confusion hurts e commerce sales because when a customer gets confused they rarely buy. People want to make sure they have the right information before they decide to buy. And, once they decide to make a purchase, customers want to know how to buy and how other factors, like shipping, availability, returns and cost, will affect the sale. Be sure to tell the customer exactly what you want him or her to do, and spell out what will happen next.

Give your customers multiple ways to purchase your products on the same page. Make the buying process simple, but don’t just rely on the “buy it now” button. You can also add text links and image links to lead people to your checkout page. If there is a step before checkout, such as choosing a color, include it in the text. Don’t make people register before they buy. This confuses some and annoys others, and very often you will lose the sale. Make it easy to trust you and even easier to buy.

5. Improve Search Engine Optimization

Use relevant, varied keyword phrases in page titles, headlines and descriptions. To the search engines, “coat hanger,” “coat hangers,” “coats hanger,” and “coats hangers” are separate keyword phrases. Most keyword topics have dozens of versions of search phrases for a particular topic. Parcel your keyword phrases across multiple product pages throughout a category. When you have similar multiple items, spread out the keyword phrases using one or two phrases per product.

Be creative – Don’t be afraid to jump out of the BOX

Look for creative ways to use strange-syntax keyword phrases. Many people search for non-grammatically correct phrases like “coat hanger wide wood” or “hanger clothes plastic.” Optimize your product descriptions for unusual phrases, and do your best to work them into sentences that makes sense. In the example “coat hanger wide wood” you could write “No coat is too big for this coat hanger, wide wood version that keeps even the largest heavy winter coats in shape.”

Summary

Your online store offers you the opportunity to connect with potential buyers and to differentiate your products while establishing credibility and trust. Make the most of this opportunity by diving into your website copy with a clear purpose in mind. Just like any first impression, it’s important to make it count.

Examples of Websites With Good Product Descriptions

These two web pages use creativity, multiple images and video to showcase products:

• Baghaus
• Nappastudio

References

• 5 Tips To Better Product Descriptions
• 73 Ways to Describe a Widget by Marcia Yudkin

Related Articles from Practical Ecommerce

• Ecommerce Know-How: Writing Product Descriptions that Sell
• Product Pages: 6 Tips to Transform Them Into “Sales Magnets”
• Ecommerce Know-How: Six Ways To Improve Your Online Stor

Originally published with Practical Ecommerce in 2009

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

How many times can one person come across a relatively successful small business and find, once again, that they have not even claimed their local business listing in the Google Local Business Center? Enough for me to lose count, that’s how many. If you are a search marketer and you deal with any business of any size, you know that one of first things you should do is gain control of this valuable online asset. If you are an SMB*, you may be hearing this for the first time and you need to pay attention.

• Did you know that if a searcher just types in ‘plumber’ for a search and does not use a geographical qualifier, that a local result set (a “10 pack,” which is up to 10 listings with a map) will be delivered, based on the location of the searcher using their IP address? The 10 pack is placed at the top of the SERP (search engine result page) if the qualifier is used. It comes up placed generally high mid-page (around the 3rd or 4th result) when no qualifier is used. This is a recent development in local search that SMBs* need to know.

• Did you know that the Google Local Business Center now gives you more data than ever before about impressions and actions taken on your local business listing?

• Did you know that if you don’t claim your local business listing then virtually anyone can? That could mean a competitor or who knows what else. Claim your listing right now if you are an SMB*, and if you are a search marketer, do this as a value-added to impress your existing customers.

• Did you know that you can “optimize” your local business listing with photos and information which can help you show up in the 10 pack ahead of your competitors?

• Did you know that people are talking about you? There may be reviews of your company, product, or service that are impacting your sales efforts either positively or negatively. If they are there, you need to be aware. Imagine you get stymied on a deal after someone happened upon a review at the last minute and it sabotaged your efforts.

* businesses larger than the “small office-home office”

This article is from Frank Reed at the Frank Thinking About Internet Marketing Blog.

Note: Seriously I couldn’t have said it better myself- Local business are missing the boat – and big profits – by ignoring local search! Look at it this way, right now YOU are online looking for information about something you need, and this is exactly what your customers are doing too! (even if they live NEXT DOOR)

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Reach MORE local customers

Reaching more local customers in your area doesn’t always mean printing out reams of flyers and hitting the pavement. Now more than ever, even potential buyers in your neighborhood are hitting the search engines first, looking for local bargains and researching information where your company is the perfect fit. Google Local Search can help you secure a spot in the top of the search engine for searches done by residents in your town, city, state or region. Here’s how.

Local search isn’t just reserved for small mom and pop stores anymore. Even large mainstream companies are narrowing their focus to attract more customers to their individual bricks-and-mortar stores. For example, a significant revenue stream for Boston Market is its catering service. If you’re looking for catering in New Jersey for your big event, would you trust just any caterer or would you go for a well-known brand like Boston Market that serves consistently good food? Notice how Google Local Search has helped Boston Market secure 7 of the 10 top spots for catering in New Jersey.

Companies who dominate local search results acquire greater name recognition and brand loyalty among local searchers. Visitors rationalize that placement at or near the top of a broad search like catering New Jersey equates to reliable and trustworthy sales and service.

As you’ll see, search results and a map come up well ahead of any other organic results when you search Google. Whether you already have a local listing or not, there are several other things you can do to keep your position strong in both Google Local Search and elsewhere on the web:

• Reach Out to Local Directories – Start getting local placement by listing your website through Google’s Local Business Center. The next step is to add your site to Yelp, online Yellow Pages and other local directories for two reasons. First, you will obviously garner visitors through direct traffic from these websites. Second, these sites are considered to be authorities by Google, meaning that placement will actually give your local Google results a bump in rank for the targeted search term (e.g., catering in New Jersey). Note that this placement does not necessarily translate to higher rankings in the standard organic search results, just local. The real benefit comes from Google’s placement of local results above all other results on the page. Keep in mind that some of these directories are free and some are not. You should start with free placements and measure results to determine if it makes sense to list your business on some of the paid directories to further enhance results. You may find that manual submissions take a great deal of your time that can be spent more effectively. If that is the case, then consider ECommerce Partners for periodic syndication to numerous local directories.
• List All Store Locations – Be sure to list all of your storefronts if you have multiple locations. Each physical location is entitled to its own listing, so take advantage.
• Get Great Local User Reviews in these Directories – Reviews of local businesses often come up near their local results in the search engines. The more reviews you have, the more you solidify your high ranking in local results and help ensure your site comes up when a user from that area is searching for your product or service.
• Optimize Your Website For Organic Listings – It stands to reason that having your site appear in the local results as well as the natural listings will yield greater click-thrus and brand recognition. So, use proven SEO techniques in conjunction with the local placement methodology discussed in this article to reach more customers
• Matching Domain Registration – Match your public domain name registration address with the one you’re optimizing for. This is just common sense for a local business.
• Include a VCard – Although it is not required, a vCard helps separate your physical address and contact information from the rest of a web page. The universal tags are a recognized standard that search engines understand. Simply put, this microformat is embedded in a page to allow a search robot to decipher this information quickly and efficiently, rather than guessing which part of the page contains an address. At present, there appears to be minimal benefit to search results, however it may be used more in the future as such webpage organization becomes more widespread.

by Asi Erenberg – from get Found Now!

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Dr Wilson and Marckini explains how local search works, with geotargeting, as well as using placenames or city names in the metadata — title tag, meta description tag, and meta keyword tag. Thanks You tube channel – Webmarketingtoday!

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday – SEO for Local Search from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

If you watched last week’s Whiteboard Friday, you’ll recall that Google uses information from their Local Business Center, certain trusted providers like InfoUSA, Acxiom, and Localeze, as well as certain data from their webcrawl to determine local rankings. In the video, David and Rand walk through a chart of these info sources and how you need to tweak them for different aspects of your business.

One of the most important things you can do is to simply make sure your business is properly submitted to the LBC and Trusted sources, and that your contact info is accurate and consistent across all of your listings. You can also do some active management and search for web references to make sure mentions of your business are using the correct contact information.

The importance of Categories and Descriptions

There are also very important considerations for where and how you categorize your business, as well as where you’re receiving reviews and mentions. They can all have a big impact on your local rankings and your location prominence with Google; watch the video to learn more about how to dramatically improve your local search rankings without building a single link.

NOTE:

Thanks again Scott Willowby and his great VIDEO series “SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday” This is part two of local search and I think you will agree it is very informative and really explains how to position your website for local searches.

Thanks again Scott and David!

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

In this video interview, SEO expert Stephan Spencer explains some of the quickest things you can do to get higher rankings in Google. These “quick hit” opportunities include title tags, keyword-rich anchor text, external links containing keywords, and a well-designed internal linking structure.

Thanks Dr Wilson from webmarketingtoday you tube channel

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta

Local Search Optimization could be the answer to your prayers

Wouldn’t you rather be found at the TOP of Google?

A recent survey by eScore (Feb 2009) found that local search – the practice of using online search tools like (Google, Yahoo, Bing and others) to find local businesses, products, or services reached an annual total of 15.7 billion searches in 2008. These numbers are expected to increase by 26% this year!
Yet only 40% of local businesses have taken the time to optimize their business for local search engine traffic This means that your business has NO CHANCE of  being “found” when someone searches for your product or service online.

“Search Engines Are Now the Primary Information Source for the Customer Next Door “

Local Search Means Business

”Consumers already conduct about 1 billion local searches per month and you know that at least some of them are looking for your exact product or service. For example: One common term in the home improvement industry gets over 6000 searches per month in the metro Atlanta Area alone”

Local Searchers are Likely to Take Action

Another recent survey found that a large number of local searchers take action and almost half make a purchase. This may come in the form of a phone call, an in-store visit or even an email. This highlights that local searchers are in the final stages of their purchase decision and are almost ready to make a purchase. This makes them the ideal prospect for sales or service businesses.

The message for local businesses is simple:
You need to be found on the internet.

You are using the internet right now … and so are your customers!

What are you waiting for?

Local online search growing everyday – will your customers find you or your competitors? Local businesses are desperately searching for marketing and advertising that brings customers to their doors. Local Search Optimization and Marketing is the answer! Now there are literally dozens of national and local places to promote your business – even if you don’t have a website!

Local Customers are Searching for YOUR Product or Service
but will they find YOU?

We know times are tough and the internet can be overwhelming. If you don’t know where to start to increase your local exposure, learn more about our Local Search Optimization service and find Free articles and tutorials at http://www.SEOconsutlingAtlanta.com or call us at 678 318 7515

Discover how to get : #1 Google Placement for Local Search! Atlanta