http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/internet/site-promotion/search-engine-marketing-minus-search-engines-equals-social-marketing.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/site-promotion/search-engine-marketing-minus-search-engines-equals-social-marketing.html Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600 have to incorporate search engine optimization strategies to be successful? Is Google the only environment that everyone has to be involved in before they can find any sort of business success?

If that is so, then it is a very volatile and dangerous business environment to be involved with. Your success and failure could depend on the algorithmic whims of a very large and complex company and their search engine.

If you take the time to think about that, it can become a little distressing.

And depending on your market, competition for the top spots in Google can be intense. Many companies believe that the only way to reach the top of the searches is to employ some sort of “trick.” And tricks can be... tricky. They might work sometimes... and sometimes they might get you banned altogether.

The point of this article is not to say that there are ways around search engine optimization. In fact, as long as the search engines provide so much traffic you should always build your websites to be search engine friendly.

The point of this article is to say that there are some things you can do that are independent of search engines – things that will form a strong Internet presence. These are techniques that can work without the search engines and also build a foundation for superior search engine marketing.

The answer is Community. Believe it or not, the Internet does exist without the search engines. And this has become more and more evident with the development and popularity of social networking sites, the blogosphere, and other user generated content sites.

Social marketing isn't, by an stretch, a new idea. Marketers have been trying to leverage word of mouth and viral marketing techniques for years. But with the Internet evolving the way it is, we have been given new opportunities and means to do so.

Social marketing on the Internet can be very rewarding and productive. However, it can take a lot more time and effort than a standard SEO campaign. The first step, then, is to evaluate whether or not your product service, or information can actually benefit from a social marketing campaign. Otherwise you will just be wasting a lot of time.

How do you know if you can succeed with social marketing? Simple. Ask yourself: Do you have anything to offer the community? More than that: Do you have anything you can give the community?

If you go into social marketing you should not do it with the intention of mining a community for what you can get or take from them. That's a difficult concept for many marketers to wrap their heads around, but it is absolutely necessary.

One of the defining characteristics of a community is its ability and desire to protect itself and its members from outsiders or perceived threats. And people who are trying to infiltrate a community to take something away will be perceived as a threat and dealt with accordingly.

The next step is to become a valuable part of the community. This means active participation. It does not mean spamming forums and blogs. It means becoming a trusted voice in a community of knowledgeable members.

This leads to another problem for marketers. A marketing company doesn't always get to choose its clients. How do you get involved in a community that centers on an industry or product they have no personal interest in or use for? How, then, can they become and honest member of the community?

Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.

I think I've heard that said somewhere.

What could be better than to enter a community from the standpoint of someone who is new to the industry and honestly looking to get involved? Communities may react badly to someone trying to take advantage3 of them, but if you enter it with an honest desire to learn and become a contributing part of them, there will always be those who are willing to teach you. And as you learn about the community from the ground up, you will learn what you can really offer them.

Then when you can offer something of value that you know the community wants, you can do so while still being seen as a trusted and valuable source.

But remember, social marketing will take time and consistent work. It is like PPC in that way. It requires long term management to see success. Discontinue your campaign or stop participating and your marketing success will significantly drop off.

So is it worth it? Most definitely. Search engines can drive traffic, but communities can drive customers. Which do you think is more valuable.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. If you'd like to learn more about Search Engine Marketing or social marketing, visit their website.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/online-business/how-does-facebook-figure-into-your-online-advertising-campaign.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/online-business/how-does-facebook-figure-into-your-online-advertising-campaign.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
For advertisers, it's a hard market to pass up. So many people in one place at one time. Marketers see something like this and it's as if their dreams have come true. It's got that glowing, shiny exterior that seems to say: come to us. We have numbers.

Numbers are important in a marketing campaign. You can't manage what you can't measure. However, in the Facebook world some of those numbers have gotten them in trouble. The reason being that in recent times Facebook introduced a new advertising platform. A platform that gathered numbers that not everyone was comfortable parting with.

Numbers and demographics. Demographics tell advertisers who and where their potential customers are. When millions upon millions of users register their personal information on a social site, all of the sudden demographic research becomes far easier than it has ever been before.

But fail to notify your users or give them an opportunity to completely opt out of the platform, and there will be a huge backlash of opinion. In the space of a month the site can go from “have you tried that out yet” to “remember when everyone liked it?”.

Online advertising propels online development. We all understand this, and, to a point, we all we've come to accept this. So much so that we barely even notice it anymore.

Here's a quick thought experiment. Did you check your email this morning? Do you check it everyday? It's a fairly common practice. Were you aware that there were advertisements all around your message? We all know they're there. Flashing, pretty colors or creative titles in bold text. They're always nearby... just in the periphery of our vision.

Now, do you remember a single one? Do you even remember what they were selling?

My guess is that you probably don't.

Online advertising is the epitome of the in-the-moment selling. If the pretty colors or particular text catch your eye then and there, you might just click on it. But that means the truth is there's as much reliance on pure impulse as there is on demographics.

Facebook is the latest in a line of platforms that are trying to deliver the opportunity to receive targeted advertising. Isn't that nice of them? We're going to use your personal information to deliver targeted advertising, because we have to advertise, so it might as well be for things you've given us hints that you actually like. Oh, and we might sell your information to others, so they can share in this opportunity.

But at least we've been given the opportunity to receive ads we want to see.

Wait. Ads we want to see?

Personal information being used to determine out likes and dislikes?

Let's face it. No one wants advertisements. And rolling out an advertising platform and touting it as something beneficial to a user base isn't fooling anyone. And in the wake of the backlash from this platform, Facebook has changed some of its policies and made it easier to opt in or out of the program.

So what about regular online advertising in social mediums like this? Is it effective? Do the demographics reduce the dependence on impulse? Or are the users of social sites so intent on the content that advertising doesn't even register with them?

Studies have shown that the tendencies of the common user lean toward that last option. Click rates per page views on Facebook (and other social sites) are extremely low.

It seems people are too busy with socializing to even give into impulse clicks.

Does that mean you don't need to consider social media in your online advertising campaign?

Not at all. While there are arguments flying around about the staying power of Web 2.0 applications and whether we're on the verge of another bubble bursting, that is irrelevant to the current discussion.

In the here and now community works. Advertisements may not, but advertising isn't your only option on these networks.

Community works because users feel like you have their interests in mind, rather than just your own. Community is about communication, and that might be the best advertising you could hope for.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development firm. His company works with online advertising to develop strategic marketing solutions.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/seo-should-be-invisible-but-not-hidden.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/seo-should-be-invisible-but-not-hidden.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Some of the oldest and most classic SEO tricks involved "hiding" your attempts at higher rankings from real visitors. Some of these activities included keyword stuffing a page and making the text the same color as the background. Or tucking the keywords away in a div somewhere on their main page. Or making the keywords a single pixel high and “drawing” a line with them somewhere.

All of these practices are more than outdated and will likely get you banned from the search engines. Yet there are people in the unethical SEO circles who will still attempt to perpetrate offshoots of these tactics and hide certain things from normal users.

The online dating industry, for example, is one of the most competitive markets on the Internet. People will employ all kinds of SEO tactics to gain an edge in the business. Recently a certain website climbed the search engine rankings at an incredibly fast rate. In fact, they reached number one for the term “free online dating” in just one hundred days.

This was truly an impressive feat, and one that deserved a little research into how they did it.

The site was clean, efficient, and friendly. It gathered inbound links at unprecedented rates by employing viral widgets that were extremely popular among bloggers. They didn't necessarily have anything to do with dating, but tens of thousands of links from blogs is a great thing, whether they are dating-related or not.

All that is good clean SEO practice. Where things got questionable was the amount of internal links they had on the main page. Links and the associated anchor text, whether inbound or internal, carry a lot of weight these days. And this site had nearly fifty links on its main page. Each one included the term "free online dating" in the anchor text. Of course, each link included the name of a city as well, and clicking on it would take you to a search for the members who lived in that city.

So the links were more or less valid.

The "less" part, however, comes from the fact that those links weren't actually presented directly to the visitor. They were hidden away in a div at the bottom of the screen.

And if your links are really valid, and really there to help a user, why would you hide it?

They weren't the only ones to attempt this new spin on an old tactic. Their competition has tried the same type of strategy. They didn't hide their links in the div, but made certain that they would only appear below the fold. They also appeared in white text on very light blue background. Not hiding them... but not displaying them either.

That first website has since been purchased by another, but not before they removed those links from the page. Which only happened after they had secured a strong position in the SERPs. Was this a calculated maneuver? Was it meant to push the boundaries of good SEO and then dispose of the evidence before a search engine could ban them? Maybe. But we'll likely never know.

It's hard to say how the search engines will react to this type of behavior. Although history has shown that if too many sites begin abusing this type of search marketing, they will come down hard on the perpetrators.

Nevertheless, good SEO should be practically invisible. Have you come across pages that have proper, visible content but is so filled with keywords that it is practically impossible to read? Or a blog that is just one big advertisement? Maybe a forum post that has nothing helpful to say, but displays a big link? Or maybe you've come across blatant pages that offer no added value to the site and merely exist to house a few more keywords. And lets not forget the search engine results that sport nothing but keywords in the description and title.

All of these activities are based on sound SEO techniques, but there is a proper way to do them if you wish to remain invisible. And when you do things properly you won't have to hide and you won't have to worry about the search engines coming down on you.

Content needs to be keyword rich, but it has to be interesting, engaging, and grammatically correct. Blogs are communication devices and should be treated as such. Doorway pages can get you in a lot of trouble, but proper landing pages for your products or in your PPC campaign are extremely useful. Meta tags and meta keywords don't carry much weight with the search engines these days. Therefore optimizing them for search engines only displays your tendency to fall behind the times.

The moral of the story is to keep your visitors in mind at every step in the SEO process. If you do this, you won't have to hide from the search engines or your visitors.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. This SEO company in Utah offers a range of upfront, quality search engine marketing services.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/natural-selection-missing-links-and-seo.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/natural-selection-missing-links-and-seo.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Natural selection; the process of "selecting" the species that is best suited for the environment. In nature there is no conscious thought behind this process. It is not a matter of anyone choosing anything. Some situation in the environment changes, and a species will either adapt to it (which means that the individuals within the species that are genetically predisposed to survive and reproduce in the new environment) or they will fall into extinction.

Consider this in the realm of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Natural selection, on one level, applies to the way websites can gain natural search engine rankings. Think of the search engine algorithms as the environment that you are trying to survive in. (This shouldn't be much of a stretch... since the search engine algorithms really do represent the environment you are trying to survive in.) On occasion, something happens to the environment, changes it in some subtle or even disastrous way. Suddenly a number of species that depended on a certain facet of the environment will be selected against, and a new species that is more suited to the new environment will take their place.

There are, of course, some differences between natural selection and natural search engine selection. The main thing about the section process online is that we actually have a chance to change our fate or genetics and re-adapt before the forces of evolution drop a metaphorical asteroid right in the middle of our marketing campaign.

Things can happen. Procedures that helped a website one day can be worthless the next. One day meta tags are the key to success, the next day they are the equivalent of the dinosaurs, which is to say an extinct species that everyone loves to talk about, but doesn't actually have any direct bearing on our daily life. We'll dig up their remains on occasion and examine them, but their days of ruling the environment are long gone.

Missing Links are always troubling elements as well. You can deduce that something is supposed to go there, but you haven't found any real evidence for it.

Links are how you trace progression. One thing leads to another, and that's how we begin to understand the current situation of the species.

But when links go missing, that's where the problems start.

In SEO, links are extremely important. We all know this, but sometimes we put ourselves in positions where we can lose them. And a Missing Link can be very detrimental to the marketing process. There was a huge change in a large environment recently that basically erased a lot of links of a specific type.

This sudden change in the environment caused a number of previously strong to suffer in various ways, not least of which was sudden drops in the ranks of their pages.

Once again, though, in SEO there's a way to keep yourself protected from the forces of evolution. This time around the environment decided to eliminate the links that didn't seem natural. Funny how Natural selection only seems to like things that are, in fact, natural. As a result the sites that showed a natural progression weathered the changed very admirably. Every species needs to progress if it wants to survive. And the environment likes to see you progress naturally.

You can't skip steps in evolution. You also can't force evolution. (At least not ethically.) But in the case of online marketing we're given a chance to keep up. If we stick to the established practices we will be more likely to weather most major changes. These things will help us survive, but not necessarily thrive. On the other hand, too many risks and you will be forced into extinction. The key is to stay on that cutting edge. The edge that will help you keep up with SEO trendds without overstepping the natural laws.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet Marketing company in Utah. He spends his time working on SEO campaigns and speculating on the nature of evolution on a very small scale.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/site-promotion/website-advertising-the-necessary-steps.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/site-promotion/website-advertising-the-necessary-steps.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Website advertising, however, isn't a sure thing. If you don't do it correctly, you can end up doing more harm than good. But when you do it right, you can attract visitors to your website and increase your overall ROI.

Website advertising starts with – and I know this is a shocker – the website. This is the foundation of all your advertising efforts, and your entire marketing campaign can crumble if you don't take care of it.

We've seen, over the years, that aggressive advertising can convince people to try almost anything. But is that what you really want, to manipulate someone into trying out your website? How effective is that? Without a solid website, you'll just be lumped in with all those other advertisers who pump a lot of money into selling something intrinsically worthless. The ones who are known for being annoying rather than useful. That's not the best way to build customer loyalty or industry reputation.

So the first step is to make sure your website is architecturally and aesthetically pleasing. Offer your visitors something useful, and make sure that the interface is direct and easy to use.

The next step is to target your marketing efforts. Website advertising is most effective when you're not wasting time, effort, and money trying to convince people who have no interest in your product that they really do... they just didn't know it.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that there are people out there interested in anything and everything. There are even some people already interested in you. You don't have to convince them. You just have to find them. When they see your website advertising they will be far more likely to respond favorably.

If you want your website advertising to succeed you will have to do more than just put up a flashy banner here and there. Search engine optimization is a necessary part of building your website and, possibly more important, your reputation.

People often try to skip this step, or they don't see optimization and reputation management as related steps. But when you consider the history of the Internet and what it takes to win the favor of the search engines you can see how they are intertwined and how it is an integral part of website advertising.

Search engines love content, and they are completely enamored with relevant content. If you feed them optimized relevant content you can expect to build both rankings and reputation.

You see, search engines take your relevant content and run them through their magical algorithms and then kick them out whenever someone searches for certain keywords. And when someone searches for those keywords it's because – and I know this is another shocker – they actually want to find something related to that word.

I know. Weird isn't it?

SEO can help you accomplish both goals by creating or modifying content that both your clients and the search engines will enjoy. In the end, this is a very necessary step.

To recap, the best website advertising techniques start with building a foundation out of your website, then moving on to researching and targeting the people who will actually appreciate your site, and finally using good SEO practices to build ranks and reputation. When you combine these steps you can deliver effective website advertising and find online success.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. You can visit their site to learn more about website advertising and other Internet marketing solutions.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/writing/copywriting/content-writing-internet-marketing-solutions-for-feeding-spiders.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/copywriting/content-writing-internet-marketing-solutions-for-feeding-spiders.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
In the past, companies have tried everything from generating automatic content, ignoring the need for content, duplicating content, hiding content, stuffing content, and anything else that might help them cheat the process.

But no matter what Internet marketing solutions people have tried, if they want to succeed online, there's one thing they have to keep coming back to: writing good content.

Content equals spider food.

Little bits of it here and there might be enough to attract the spiders out of their hiding places. But a big chunk of really meaty food is enough to get the spiders to really sink their teeth in.

The lesson those sites that did not have content slowly learned was that they could employ various means to attract a spider and get it to creep out of its hole and take a big bite of what appeared to be a healthy dose relevancy. But it turned out there was nothing on the inside. No real way for the spider to decide if it's any good on the inside.

And indecision, in this case, is every bit as detrimental as a bad reaction.

Spiders love content. Keep feeding them and they will keep coming back.

If you want your page to show up on the results pages, you are actually going to have to have some content that includes the terms your potential customers are looking for. If the spiders can't find the words on your site, your customers may never find your site.

The Internet marketing solutions that are closely related to content writing are referred to as link recruiting activities. Think of links as the trails that lead a spider to your site. And the more trails that lead to your site, the popular it will be.

Content writing is one of the best ways to get these trails heading in your direction. When people have a good reason to link to you, they'll be naturally inclined to do so. You won't have to convince them. They will have convinced themselves.

There are countless things you could write that people will link to: articles, lists, jokes, recipes, suggestions, and much more. Anything that is well written and authoritative will attract others to walk the same paths the spiders did... and maybe even add a trail of their own.

Internet marketing solutions don't stop there, however. Anyone would get tired of the same meal, day after day, and the spiders aren't any different. If all you offer is the same content day in and day out, the spiders will be less and less impressed. Then your friendly little pet spider will get a little frustrated and maybe even a little mean.

Now there is a new way that people are hoping will eliminate the need to create new and compelling content. They are calling it Web 2.0, or User Generated Content, or community pages. New content, all the time, and focused on a given subject. Isn't it grand?

Will this be the Internet marketing solution that works? Will this finally eliminate the need to spend the time and effort required to generate quality content?

Unlikely.

Not unless you trust user generated comments to make your sale for you. We've all seen blog posts and community discussions. While engaging, it is really little more than an endless "letter to the editor." Would you really trust your product or service to that kind of content?

The Internet continues to evolve and good marketing practices change to keep up, but some Internet marketing solutions remain the same. Especially if you want to keep the spiders happy and well fed.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet Marketing Solutions company in Utah. Visit their website if you'd like to learn more about the kinds of content they can create for you and how to implement it in your Search Engine Marketing campaign.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/using-articles-to-advance-your-internet-marketing-campaign.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/marketing/using-articles-to-advance-your-internet-marketing-campaign.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
The concept of marketing your website or product through articles is a classic one. It's been around for years. So does that mean that it is an old and outdated method and ought to be excluded from your Internet marketing campaign?

Not in the least.

If you research the subject on the Internet, you are likely to discover a number of dissenting opinions on the matter. Some of them are going to say that they are, in fact, out dated and that the links they provide aren't valuable enough to justify the effort. Others will swear by the system and claim that not only is article marketing a good thing to include in an Internet marketing campaign, but the best thing. Of course, many of these people will then offer to sell you the knowledge to make Internet marketing miracles.

The truth probably resides somewhere between these two extremes.

Is article marketing still a valid practice?

Definitely.

Is article marketing alone going to make you a fortune on the Internet?

Probably not.

As an SEO practice, is it worthwhile?

Yes. And this is the point we are going to dwell on for a while.

SEO has been evolving steadily since it was first recognized as an actual industry and necessity. Some practices have come and others go. Some are outright banned. People are always on the look out for the newest trick or the previously undiscovered loophole. This may or may not work, and this may or may not even be ethical. But through it all there are some practices that you can rely on because they provide a foundation for other practices.

Article marketing is one of those foundational activities. The reason you can be sure of this is because the principles behind it are as valid in off-line marketing as they are in Internet marketing.

Whether you are writing an article for a newspaper or for distribution in article databases, you are trying to accomplish the same things. One: establish yourself as an authority in your industry or field. Two: provide potential clients with useful information that they will appreciate even if it's only in some small way. And three: give them the means to get in touch with you or find you.

Did the practice get diluted once it hit the Internet? Most definitely. Did that cause the search engines to devalue those links because of it? A bit.
Enough to warrant giving up the practice?

Absolutely not.

The proponents of article marketing would tell you that articles generate buzz about your site or product. They say that it will be picked up by lots of other sites in need of good content. This will, they say, create countless new contacts and generate leads.

Well... sort of. But it's probably not as efficient as all the guys selling their special systems would have you believe. But, at it's core, it does do what they claim. At least to some extent. (After all, you're reading this, aren't you?) And while the links are supposedly not as valuable as others, they are still valid and valuable.

Recently there's been a lot of talk about how a certain search engine adjusted its algorithm in such a way that caused a lot of large websites to loose their previous ranks. The reason for that was because of their links that they paid for. The search engine prefers natural links, which articles can develop for you. Heavily weighted links? No. Links that will stand the test of time? Yup.

Like many things in SEO and Internet marketing, it will take time and effort to achieve. But, when it comes right down to it, most things that are worthwhile always do.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. They can develop a strong marketing campaign that involves article marketing and other strong foundational aspects.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/the-island-of-misfit-websites.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/web-design/the-island-of-misfit-websites.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Those poor, poor websites. All they need or want is a nice home where people will love them and take care of them.

The Internet has opened up the commerce opportunities to almost anyone. Unfortunately, this has opened up commerce opportunities to almost anyone. And this includes those companies who offer basic and bland website templates, companies who create a “flashy” site that search engines can't index, or companies that practice questionable means to try and cheat the search engines.

These are all design flaws that can relegate your website to that lonely, lonely Island.

Web design is a step in creating an online presence that you simply cannot skip. A professional website design can make all the difference between online success and exile.

There are a number of website elements that can keep you in front of your loving audience where everything is warm fuzzies and cozy income.

An efficient, powerful website has to be more than pretty pictures. More than informational text, and more than animation. A professional web design includes these things, but to avoid the Island (or even to escape it), it has to be a lot more.

Your website does need to have appropriate graphics. They need to catch the eye without being an eyesore. They have to be memorable, but they can't be the only thing they remember. But even with the right graphics and/or pictures, remember that so far you've only gone skin deep. There has to be something else underneath them, which could include convenient links or even more convenient alt tags.

And then there's those misfits on the Island that just don't seem to have any real clear way to present its actual function. Your site navigation, your links, your sidebar navigation, and an intuitive interface are absolutely critical to staying off the Island.

Multimedia and animation have become inextricably linked to popular websites and modern web design. It's another great way to catch users' attention, but it can also be detrimental if it's done wrong. Done correctly you have a fun, entertaining, and interactive site. Done wrong and you are annoying, and crass, and it's back to the Island for you.

Add to all this the search engine optimization that has been included with so many sites. These procedures can work with your site to make its journey from a server to a search engine and to a home a sleek, smooth, and effective one. Or it can bog the site down with clunky copywriting or old outdated SEO techniques so it will be harder than ever to find it. Or worse, someone may have used some completely unethical practices. In these cases, it's not that your site will be sent to the Island, it's that you'll get sent to the Island and dragged to the highest cliffs where you will be tossed down and destroyed on the rocky surf below.

All of these facets of professional web design can be brought together under the heading of conversion rate. When you pull all these things together and deliver a complete and unified package, you can keep your users happy and they will frequent your website and convert from casual visitors to real customers.

The Island of Misfit Websites can be a scary place. But many websites have only ended up there as a simple result of neglect. Rescue is possible, but your best bet is to avoid it completely by taking these things into account when you first start building your website and your online presence.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, and Internet Marketing and Development company. Visit their site if you'd like to learn more about the professional website design services they offer.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/seo-divining-its-future-from-the-past.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/seo/seo-divining-its-future-from-the-past.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
In the near beginning – there were the simple search engines. These programs would index the pages or URLs that were submitted to them. These search engines "spidered" or "crawled" the page and extracted various information that they deemed necessary to determine the relevance of the page.

In the beginning after that – webmasters began to realize that there were certain things they could do to manipulate the search engine results by faking their own relevancy.

The reason this was possible (and relatively simple) was because these early search engines based their results almost entirely on information that webmasters could easily control, change, and manipulate on their side. From this, the first forms of White-Hat and Black-Hat SEO made their appearance (though they weren't called that in the early days, of course). These early techniques could be called spamming, or, if you wanted to be a little more accurate, they could be called dirty rotten tricks that did nothing but pollute your chances of ever finding what you actually wanted.

Some of these tricks included stuffing the meta tags with keywords, and often unrelated keywords (ever wonder why gambling or adult sites would show up when you were looking for cross stitch patterns?), or hiding keywords on the page or using questionable redirects.

Search engines began to evolve to combat these attempts at manipulation, some people even developed algorithms to determine the relevancy of a given site.

In the beginning – of algorithmic search engines – things started to look a little better. Results were more relevant and it was harder for webmasters to manipulate their rankings.

But not impossible.

Slowly those same unethical SEOs began to discover ways to artificially build their rankings. Link farms, link spamming, and link purchasing, all emerged as methods to unnaturally raise their rankings. And once again the search engines changed, developed, and evolved their algorithms to protect their natural search results.

Not all was bad though. Overly aggressive SEO firms were punished, if not banned, but SEO companies that practiced ethical techniques became an unexpected ally. The thing is, a search engine's livelihood is determined by its ability to provide relevant results. So the search engine optimization firms who included relevant content as a major part of their strategies became very useful to the search engines.

In the present – unethical practices still exist. Everyone is looking for the "quick fix" solution and keep turning to Black-Hat practices despite the historical precedents. Everyone wants to believe they can outsmart the search engines simply because they lack the patience or ability to do it the right way.

And things have begun to turn even nastier than before. Some companies are no longer content to simply cheat their own way up the ladder, but fell the need to try and pull others down. This has come to be termed "Negative SEO" and includes practices like Google Bowling and false copyright complaints.

And once again, the search engines will adapt to compensate for this kind of behavior.

In the future – will we see an end to this behavior? Unlikely. Closing a door somewhere always seems to open another somewhere else. And in the intensely competitive online world, everyone is always on the lookout for a way to get the leg up.

Just remember: history has shown us that sometimes having the leg up just means that its easier to knock you over. And, if you've employed questionable SEO to get that leg up – in other words, not maintaining your balance – the search engines won't hesitate to start pushing.

Hard.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, a Utah SEO firm that employs only ethical search engine marketing techniques. Visit their website if you'd like to learn more.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/blogging/writing-your-marketing-blog.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/blogging/writing-your-marketing-blog.html Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
And now for the one qualifier. Content may be king, but content alone is like a figure-head king who talks a lot but doesn't get anything done. For the monarchy to be effective, you have t actually write good and appropriate content.

The first step to write a marketing blog is to set your goals and know why you blog. What this means is that you have to understand that a blog is not an open invitation to post sales material and self congratulatory tripe. The purpose of your blog should certainly be to inform, but it is also an opportunity to communicate with your clients. Search engines may like blogs because of constantly updated content, but customers have come to trust blogs because they feel like this is a chance to “get to know” the company – not subject themselves to more mindless sales material.

When you are writing content for your marketing blog you need to keep a few things in mind. First of all, a business blog, while not exactly creative writing, is not really technical writing either. Everyone has their own style and, depending on the subject matter of the blog, different styles are appropriate for different industries. But in general, a blog should be written in a more conversational tone. This will help you avoid the marketing-speak that can otherwise creep into a valid article.

Next, make sure that your grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills are regularly exercised. All you have to do is spend some time visiting forums or reading blog replies to know that most Internet users don't have the best grammar or vocabulary in the world. This does not, however, mean that you can allow your blog to slip down to the same level. You are being held to a higher standard as a content publisher than you would be as a normal visitor. And visitors will recognize poor grammar in others, even when they don't practice it themselves.

Now, what do you write about? Obviously a marketing blog is going to be heavy with articles about products or services. This is the perfect place to discuss your new endeavors, as long as you remember to keep it a discussion. People can get advertisements anywhere. They don't need them and, more importantly, they don't want them from your blog.

So now you've got some keyword-rich content. That's good for search engines. But have you got interesting content. Because that is good for actual visitors.

Studies have shown that the number one reason for reading a blog is the quality of the reading. Simple popularity isn't enough to attract and/or keep you readers coming back.

So what constitutes interesting content? That's a very subjective question and can be determined by the industry you're in or the audience you are targeting.

News items are a good choice, whether company news or industry news. Just make sure you're presenting something of value, not just a retelling of someone else's post. How does it relate to you? How does it relate to your customers.

“How To” articles are also a good idea. Let your clients know how to best use your product or service. Or you could even present new uses they may not have thought of.

Lists are popular additions in blogs. Whether it's 10 ways to use the product or seven weird things about your industry, they are a useful addition because they are easy for visitors to scan and enjoy and often attract linking or bookmarking.

There are countless other possibilities for a well maintained marketing blog, but it is equally important that you maintain a high level of writing quality if you want your blog to be a truly effective marketing tool.

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Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, a Utah SEO and Internet Marketing company. If you'd like to learn more about using a marketing blog in your overall marketing strategy, visit their website.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>