If you have ever read forums about SEO, you will probably have come across complaints of SEO killing content on the internet. What people are referring to in making complaints of this nature is the type of websites that have been set up purely for SEO benefit. You have probably come across such sites, even if you haven’t realised it at the time. They’re sites that have headings all over the place stuffed with keywords.

The articles it features often have the keyword repeated in every sentence to the point at which it sounds frankly stupid. But good SEO is good for content.

Here’s how to prevent SEO from killing your content:

• Remember why you set your website up. Remember its goal and make sure that it still fulfils that goal. The SEO should be something you do to your website. It should not be your websites.
• Write for a human reader. Yes, include your keywords. But build them into your content. Do not build your content around a keyword. It’s humans who will read your site!
• Make people want to come back! What’s the point in getting your site to the top of the search engines for any word if your visitors won’t come back? A lot of visitors finding their way to a website with abominably bad content will lead to bad press and no returning readers!
• Keep your content unique. This is great for your readers and it’s great for SEO! Why should someone visit your site to read something when they could visit any one of millions to read something similar? Make your material stand out.
• Make your website informative. The more relevant content you write, the more your keywords will be present and the more easily search engine crawlers will be able to decipher the relevance of your website to the words you are targeting. But, more to the point, the more you are then giving to your readers as well.

The internet is fundamentally for humans – not bots or crawlers. And search engines are designed to help people to find good, relevant information on the topic they are searching. There aren’t many people who particularly appreciate searching something and then spending time sifting through spammy, over keyword-stuffed material. Good content is imperative to the sustainable success of a good SEO campaign!

Robbie Jeffreys is an online marketing expert. For more information visit SEO Manchester.

“Google Sandbox theory” – It is one of the most confusing issues that webmasters have to deal with while trying to optimize their new sites for high search engine rankings. The reason why the “Google Sandbox theory” is confusing is that it is just a theory, and is without official confirmation from Google that it actually exists. Without being able to verify the existence of the Sandbox theory, much less its features, it becomes very hard to devise strategies to combat its effects.

The term “Google Sandbox theory” came into existence around early 2004, when webmasters around the world began to notice a pattern with new websites, whose domain names were registered around this period. The pattern was that new sites, even after being optimized and having lot of quality inbound links, were not ranking well for their selected keywords. Also in few cases new websites (websites that came into existence during early 2004) that ranked highly for certain keywords, were either dropped from the index or ranked extremely low for their optimized keywords.

So what is the Google Sandbox Theory? The Google Sandbox is a filter on the search engine’s algorithm that has a dampening influence on websites. It is a common notion in the industry that the Google Sandbox effect decreases after a certain period of time due to website aging. However this is far from true. Actually, the effects reduce over time not on the basis of website aging, but on link aging.

Link Aging implies the time from when you start acquiring quality links for your website. Thus, if nothing is done, your website may not be released from the Google Sandbox. So it is important to follow the strategies mentioned below to minimize the time spent in the Google Sandbox:

It is beneficial to start the link building process as soon as the website is created and not making the mistake of waiting for the website to be perfect to start this process. The sooner you start the link building process, the sooner your links will age and the sooner you will escape the sandbox.

Try to establish a long term link building plan with specific targets for each week, day or month. It is important to get themed links rather than hundreds of “junk” links. For example contacting 5-20 link partners per day and setting a target of acquiring 30-40 links per week.

Finally the most important factor is to avoid the black hat SEO techniques at all cost, because with the constantly evolving Google’s search algorithm, penalties for breaking the rules may keep you stuck in the Sandbox longer than usual or get banned.

Debbie Everson is the CEO of SearchMar.com, the leading provider of search engine optimization, social media & online marketing solutions to over 2,000 small businesses. Read my SEO Blog. Follow me on Twitter or call 866-885-6263 for a free consultation.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com, Debbie Everson

Getting your website listed at the top of the search results for a competitive search phrase is a dream for most marketers, but it doesn’t have to be if you’re willing to do what it takes and are consistent with your efforts. This article is going to reveal the techniques you can use to get your site ranked in a very short time.

One of the most important elements to a top listing in Google is doing the proper research. After all you don’t want all your hard work going to waste on a search term that gets no searches each month. Using Google’s free keyword tool that can be found with a quick search on Google is probably the best place to start.

I do recommend purchasing a good keyword tool once you start to make a little profit as it will greatly increase your chances of finding a keyword phrase that will be easy to rank for. Once you have a keyword phrase you think you could profit from you need to start producing content on your site with that keyword phrase in the title, heading, and throughout the content without stuffing it.

Your next step is getting inbound links from a variety of different sites using your keywords as anchor text in the links you build. One of the easiest places to get incoming links is through article directories like EzineArticles it is also a great place to start getting some traffic to your site. Another great place for links is social bookmarking sites there are thousands of them online.

By consistently building incoming links your site will climb to the top over time. Sometimes you may see it make big jumps in its climb and others it will seem to be stuck. Or it will bounce around for a while until it settles where the search engines feel it should be. The trick to getting it to the top is to not worry too much about where it’s at, but to keep building incoming links on a daily basis as well as adding more content to the site as the days go by.

Jo is not only an expert in article marketing he also has other interests like his latest website that can be found at roundkitchentables.org where you can find information and reviews on the best round kitchen tables you can purchase for your home.

Article Source: Jo_R_Green

Signs are a very common type of marketing. Everywhere we go we see signs. Billboards, car stickers and a whole lot more! This is a great way to get your product or company seen by millions. Outside advertising, such as this, is a cost effective way of getting your product noticed.

Everywhere you go you will see signs and advertisements, billboards on the highway and bumper stickers on the backs of cars. These become so common that sometimes we don’t really realize we are looking at them. But the message still sinks in; we read them and remember and a really good sign can really get the point across.

Larger Signs

Billboards and large signs are everywhere and they do not have to be as expensive as they once were. You can find, make or buy very affordable billboards and signs to use to market your company or product.

If you are a little cautious about this method you can always rent the space for a short period of time to test the waters. This is also a good idea if you are not sure of the most effective location for your sign. With a little trial and error you can make sure you have the best sign in the best place.

Bumper Stickers and Posters

Cheap and effective, what more could you want? Try handing out stickers to customers or in a public place, you will be surprised how many people will display your sticker and give you free advertising. Smaller sized posters are also a lot cheaper to produce and can therefore be used in greater quantities to capture a wider audience.

Moveable Advertising

The most common type of moveable advertising is clothing, although pens, umbrellas and mouse mats are equally effective. By giving out these gifts you will encourage customers to advertise your product as they go about their daily business.

This type of advertising can be done relatively cheaply and with excellent results. Never underestimate the power of outside advertising.

Scott F. Geld is the owner of Marketing Blaster, Inc. , a pay-per-click traffic source that repeatedly beats the major search engines in conversion ratio and ROI.

by Scott F. Geld
www.MarketingBlaster.com

You’ve got your Ecommerce site all set up and you’re ready for customers. But where are they? Now the real work begins! You have to attract customers to walk into your Web store? How are you going to do that? Here are some ideas:

Submit Your Web Store to Search Engines

Begin with the major search engines and directories, for example, Google, Yahoo and so on. After that, find out which other search engines are more specific to your line of business and submit to them. Once that’s done, you can submit to the others that are available.

Cross Link with Other Web Sites

Contact other sites that attract a similar type of customer that you do, and cross link with them. Sites that are related but not exactly the same work best. For example, if you sell flooring, find a site that sells floor cleaner to link to related, but not the same.

Purchase Links

Some successful Web stores sell links to their Web sites. Their traffic level could be high enough that it may be worth it for you to pay for a link on someone else’s site. You’ll want to consider this carefully though, and make sure that there is good potential for attracting new business this way. MarketingBlaster.com also sells direct links in a number of categories for only $5/month.

Offer Affiliate Programs

An affiliate program simply means that you allow other Web sites to market your products or services. You still fulfill the orders, but you pay your affiliate a commission for each sale they generate.

Posting to Newsgroups

The strategy of posting to newsgroups is not as popular as it once was due to the level of Spam that newsgroups get. But it still may be worth some investigation. Be sure to choose your newsgroups carefully and only post when you have something of value to add. Remember, your signature acts as an advertisement for your Web store.

Keep Your Content Current

It’s very important to keep your content fresh and change it regularly, so that visitors can expect updated information when they visit your site. They’ll keep returning if there’s always something new to read about.

Email Marketing

Make sure your site visitors have a way of leaving their contact details on your Web site so that you can Email them offers, information or newsletters in the future. The list of names generated from this technique is probably your most valuable resource. Make sure that when you do send Email to this list that it is worth your recipients while to read it. Too much contact of too little value can drive customers and potential customers away. Never be guilty of spamming.

Use an Email Signature

Create an Email signature file that includes the URL of your Web store. Every Email you send to anyone is an advertisement for your business.

Put Your URL on Everything

Your URL should appear on every piece of communication your company puts out. This includes letterhead, envelopes, business cards, packaging, invoices, labels, brochures and catalogues. This is publicity and it’s free!

Scott F. Geld is the Vice President of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com. Contact him for all of your direct link needs and for highly targeted PPC traffic. MarketingBlaster.com

by Scott F. Geld
MarketingBlaster.com

1. You don’t offer free original content. It’s important to give your visitors information they can’t find any- where else. If you’re the only source for a certain type of information, people will flock to your web site.
2. You don’t offer free software. Most people like to find good deals on software for their computers. If the software is free, that is even better.
3. You don’t offer a free contest or sweepstakes. It’s a fact, people like to win things. If you can fulfill that need, people will stop by to visit.
4. You don’t offer a free directory. Create a directory of web sites on a particular topic that is related to your target audience. People will visit because they will find what they’re looking for, all in one place.
5. You don’t offer a free e-zine. Most people love to get free information that they’re interested in emailed to them on a regular basis. This saves them time and money.
6. You don’t offer a free community. People like to have a place were they can have discussions with others on a particular subject. You could add a chat room or message board to your web site.
7. You don’t offer a free affiliate program. One of people’s basic needs to survive is money. When you offer them a free opportunity to make money they’ll line up to visit your web site.
8. You don’t offer a free online utility. When you offer a utility that can solve a problem, people will visit your web site. The utility could be a free autoresponder, e-mail account, search engine submission, etc.
9. You don’t offer free current information. Supply news stories related to your web site. People want up-to-date news on the topics they are interested in. They will also be interested in visiting your web site.
10. You don’t offer free samples of your product or service. Have you ever been to a store and you jumped at the chance to get a free sample of food? This same concept will also attract people to visit your web site.

Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and direct links starting at just $20. For more information, please visit: www.MarketingBlaster.com

By Ivan Kelly

Targeting a niche provides focus for your website and has great appeal to search engines as it gives them a better idea of the sort of traffic they should send you. Try to determine where your market is. Are they parents? Retirees? Home owners? Pet lovers? If you are selling art supplies you may find hobby sites will cater to your audience. If you sell information for do-it-yourself projects you could show up in home decorating as well as financial sites (‘Save Money on Home Building Projects!’ for example).

Targeting a niche also means that your visitors will be aware that you are able to provide the sort of information they are looking for, hence they will bookmark your site for future reference and think of your site when looking for products that are related. As well, if the content of your site impresses visitors, not only are they likely to return but they may well recommend your address to their friends.

With a targeted niche, you can have more confidence when contacting your customers about new products, industry news or specials – and this is without postage costs or time consuming envelope stuffing.

There are a number of tools that will help you to find a niche that is likely to be profitable. WordTracker is a top grade tool that requires a subscription but there are a number of keyword analyzers for sale that will assist. A useful free one is Good Keywords. These tools are especially useful for identifying keywords that are attracting traffic. In other words, they indicate the level of interest from the public. Some of the commercially available tools will also give an idea of the level of competition that will be facing you. Search in Google under keyword tools for details of programs currently available.

Invite your subscribers to recommend the site to friends who are interested in the topic. Even better, have a place on your website to tell a friend’. Your visitor will enter their own name and email address as the sender of the message to avoid spam complaints. However, a warning – do not start emailing the invitee unless they sign up personally for your newsletter.

Niche sites will really benefit from a newsletter. Create an appealing free gift, such as a special report or how-to manual, that they will receive with their subscription. By providing valuable information related to your topic you will gain the trust of subscribers. By contacting them at least several times a year – up to once a week if possible – they will be reminded of your website when looking for information or products in your niche.

Be sure to create a website that has informative content. Incorporate the keywords (words or phrases visitors type into their search engines) into the content to improve your place in the search engines.

Also, if you write articles about your particular niche, that will help to set you up as an industry expert’. If you don’t feel capable of writing them yourself you can hire a ghostwriter. End the article with your name, a comment about your business and a link to your website. Submit your article to relevant article directories or ask if website owners would like to use your contribution. Be sure they agree to keep your name and website link intact.

You may find discussion groups that cater to your market. Involve yourself in their conversations and attach a signature with your website address if the policies permit. Be careful not to advertise on these forums; however you may be able to offer your free items when the situation allows.

If you are expanding an existing off-line business by setting up a webpage you may find your most valuable contacts right in your store. Make some brochures or cards that announce your online presence, or ask customers if they’d like to sign up for your online newsletter.

Whether you are following the advice of top Internet Marketers or if you just happened to have a business that caters to a very specific target audience, you must be able to find them, and they must be able to find YOU. If your website has focus, this at least makes it easier for your audience to hear your call. Then you can consider the nooks and crannies where THEY abide!

One of the joys of niche marketing is the luxury of tapping into a favorite hobby, occupation or expertise and building a business around it. Focusing on a niche also makes it EASIER to channel your energies and appeal to an enthusiastic audience. And possibly make a profit.

Ivan Kelly managed a Direct Mail business with extensive mailing lists for ten years and has designed and promoted many websites. He also provides quality f’ree courses on key internet marketing subjects. A list of these f’ree courses is available at: WebStartAdvisor.com

Learning about your potential customers is fundamental to any marketing plan. All business people know that marketing is fundamental to the number of sales that a company will make. Before you can start advertising, you need to know who you are targeting. Without this knowledge you will waste a lot of time and money.

This is not as hard as it may seem to you at first. All it really takes is some organization and some researching skills. It also does not have to cost you a fortune to get the proper research that you need. There are many different ways that you can research your customers.

Determine who you are actually advertising to. Are you aiming to reach a small niche of people, people of a certain age or sex, or are you targeting a wider market? Big is not always best. Targeting a large market can be very difficult due to the diverse motivations that these people may have.

The aim of any marketing method is to make those receiving your advertisements feel that they want your product and they want it NOW! Creating this sense of urgency in a wide group can be very tricky.

Researching the customers is pretty easy. There are different ways of doing it. You might want to have them fill out surveys, observe them using the product and research why existing customers like you. There are different things that you are going to be looking for when researching customers.

You need to find out why existing customers like you so that you can use that to market to new or potential customers. You can ask questions such as why they use your product, why they choose your product, why your product is special and more. When it comes to marketing, the key to success if to find out what little thing makes your product or service different (and better) than others.

Consider how you are going to sell your product. Marketing is all well and good but it is equally important to ensure that your product is sold in the best way possible. Will you use a sales team, rely on storekeepers or sell over the Internet. All of these things must be considered as it will also help you to determine who your potential customers are.

Deciding on how you are going to target your audience is crucial to any marketing plan. Without this basic planning you cannot hope to achieve maximum sales of your product so get thinking!

Mrktin Phantasie is the webmaster and operator of marketing masterpiece inc. which is a premier resource for marketing information. For more information, go to www.marketingmasterpiece.com for questions or comments about this article, please visit: www.marketingmasterpiece.com

By Simon Townley

Because I’m a journalist and copywriter who also reads and writes blogs, people who don’t use the Internet as much as I do have started to ask me some searching questions of late. Some of them sound worried.

They have heard a lot about blogging and the impact it could have on traditional marketing.

One person even asked me (perhaps a little concerned) if PR teams will be replaced with bloggers. I don’t see it, I reassured them.

PR is also about managing people and that will always be important. The mainstream media isn’t about to disappear, and the majority of the population probably couldn’t care less about blogs. For all the hype, blogging should be seen as a potential addition to a marketing portfolio.

The place blogging may have its biggest impact is on areas of the trade press. There is a revolution in publishing taking place, sparked by the new forms of advertising such as Google ad sense. This has made it possible for someone running a blog site, with a staff of one and overheads of almost nothing, to start earning a living from their publishing.

If the blogger can get readers, then Google places the ads (relevant to the content) “ and you have a publishing business. This gives a lot of people an incentive to provide great content “ so that they get more readers, and more money from ads.

It’s just like the traditional press, but without the need for offices, advertising sales teams, HR departments etc.

This works best in niche areas. Soon, there may not be much need for magazines about new gadgets, or mobile phones, or ride-on-lawn mowers or whatever. Because the blogs have it covered, providing more up-to-date information and readers who are ready to buy “ and can simply click on the advert.

The everyday bloggers have a new-found power and are not about to go away. Some blogs now get millions, even tens of millions of readers a day. They are rivaling the mainstream media “ and if the US government can’t control them, what chance does a small company or even a big enterprise have?

Companies and blogs It’s still pretty early days for companies using blogs, and the whole thing is evolving. It will probably settle down into one more piece in the jigsaw, another communication channel that companies can use.

The style used in company blogs needs to be less written by committee and more personal and spontaneous.

Companies that try to use too much subterfuge in the blogging world are exposing themselves to a potential backlash. There’s a great emphasis on honesty in the blogging world “ for example bloggers will often end a post with a disclosure note which mentions any conflict of interest.

At a simple level, blogging can be seen as simply another way of publishing information on the Internet. It’s useful because it is so fast and it’s easy to get a range of people involved quite quickly.

However, there are real skills involved to good blogging. Not only does the writing have to be engaging, colorful, funny, informative etc, but the writer also needs to take account of search engine optimization techniques “ which basically means using the right keywords to ensure the blog shows up in the search engines.

At it’s most sophisticated, blogging is being used to create viral marketing campaigns “ to create a buzz around a product as though this were coming from ordinary people. This is a whole new field of marketing / advertising¦

UK copywriter and journalist Simon Townley has written advertising and marketing copy for hundreds of companies, including some of the biggest names in modern business. He can be contacted through www.simontownley.co.uk contact.htm. You can read and download more articles by Simon Townley, and which are free to webmasters, at: www.simontownley.co.uk. You are welcome to re-use this article on your website providing you don’t change it, you include my byline and you provide a live link to my website.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Townley

by Scott F. Geld
www.MarketingBlaster.com

Do you know how to really increase your sales & profits online? A guaranteed route to success used by many Internet marketers who turn a profit is to incorporate ezines & newsletters into their marketing strategy. Ezines and newsletters are a genuinely useful tool in the Internet marketer’s armory. They serve as a platform to communicate products & services to subscribers who have a qualified interest in a certain field or subject ~ either through advertising, product endorsement or articles and content. Some ezines offer free advertising – especially to new subscribers – whilst others grant advertising for a small fee. You can even purchase advertising space through auctions such as at www.ezineadauction.com.

There are several thousand ezines up & running on the web, so you are sure to find a bunch that have subscribers who match your target criteria. If direct advertising in the ezine is not an option, then contact the owner/webmaster and offer to write content in exchange for insertion of your tagline or URL, and ~ hey presto! ~ free advertising! Many owners are only too glad to receive help developing fresh content.

More success can be gained if you start up your own ezine or newsletter. Not only will you be able to advertise your products & services to your own subscriber base, but you can turn it into a profit center all of its own by offering advertising space to others! As recognition of ezines & newsletters as a valuable marketing tool increases, then you will find escalating opportunities to sell advertising space to people and companies clamoring to get on board and gain access to your subscribers.

A quick tip ~ A good way to add subscribers to your ezine is to advertise it in other related ezines and newsletters ~ this will build up your subscriber base very fast!

Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and leads: www.MarketingBlaster.com