Rethink Your Link Building Strategy – Targeting Long Tail Terms
If you’re using the old-fashioned method of getting backlinks to try and rank for competitive keywords, I’ve got news for you: You’re leaving the bulk of your traffic behind. Over the last few years, intelligent marketers have discovered that the money and the traffic simply aren’t in the big keywords.
When you conduct a search online, how do you go about your search? More often than not, you type a pretty specific search term into Google. That’s because you’re looking for specific information rather than generic information. These searches are called “long tail searches.” They’re searches that come from longer keywords rather than short two or three word search phrases. Search engine experts estimate that 70% of searches are long-tail searches while only 30% are high level and mid level keywords.
Aiming for the long-tail has two main benefits. First of all, they’re much easier to rank for. Instead of taking months or even years to rank for a competitive keyword, you can rank for a large number of uncompetitive keywords instead. Second, long tail searchers tend to be much closer to buying.
If you run a microwave oven and grill sales website, who would you rather have land on your website: Someone who types in “oven” or someone who types in “buy a microwave oven and grill” The latter of course. They’re closer to buying.
Now you know why targeting long tail is important. So how do you go about doing so? There are two main questions you need to address:
1. Which longtail keywords will be the most profitable to target?
2. How do you build links to and rank for these keywords?
Let’s address each question, one at a time.
Choosing Longtail Keywords to Target
Start by looking through your Google Analytics data. If you don’t have analytics installed, install it now. In addition to long tail data, you’ll get a wide range of valuable information.
Google Analytics will tell you exactly what longtail keywords people came to your website through. Record these and look for patterns, frequent searches and buying keywords.
Bounce Rate and Exit Rate – What is the Difference and Why They’re Important
Two of the most important metrics in internet marketing are bounce rate and exit rate. Many people find it a bit confusing to know the difference between the two. If you are one of them then this article is for you as it is intended to take the mystery out of your website’s bounce rate and exit rate.
Bounce rate refers to the percentage o
f visitors who view only one page of your website before leaving. In other words, the visitor ‘bounces’ on and off your particular page. Exit rate is defined as the percentage of visitors who leave your site from a given page based on how many visits that the particular page has received. This visitor who leaves or exits could have been on many pages of your website but simply exited on the specific page. An example would be a visitor who has found your site after conducting an organic search, clicks a page inside your site and then leaves from that page.
In contrast, if this visitor simply landed on your site from the organic search and did not visit any internal pages, it would be considered a bounce. Generally speaking, an ideal bounce rate to shoot for is between 20% and 25% provided you are targeting relevant, core keywords. If your bounce rate increases past 35%, you should look at the usability factors of your website. Of course, some search queries do generate high bounce rates such as in the cases of specific informational queries like ‘what flavors are available in Sam’s Coffee?’
A high bounce rate
on a home page is usually an indicator that something is wrong so if you find that most of your visits are only to your homepage and nothing more, you will need to optimize your site by improving its functionality, user-friendliness and/or by providing nicely written content visitors will find very helpful and very informative.
Berry Berry Angry – The Top 13 News Headlines Lashing Blackberry
Dear Blackberry, do you know what the #iPhone said to the #Blackberry? ..#iWork! (Retweet)
Irregular and scattered outages of BB messaging and email service have caused havoc across the globe. These problems don’t seem to be having an end date and have entered US and Canada as well while for Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa it’s the 3rdcontinuous day of hardships and problems.
BBM services which allows users to connect with each other doesn’t seem to work either and to add fuel to the fire, Apple released its iOS5 version yesterday, which offers features almost similar to the BBM services. With sagging sales and competition from Apple, only a miracle can save BB now to restore faith and trust amongst its users. Also lack of information from the top management is another reason for negative word of mouth against BB.
Here the Top 13 headlines lashing at BlackBerry, from across the globe:
Compensation calls as BlackBerry breakdown spreads to US
Angry BlackBerry users have called for compensation as the internet outage that has crippled their smartphones continued through Wednesday and spread to North America and Asia.
RIM scrambles to end global BlackBerry outage
BlackBerry outage blamed on ‘extremely critical’ network failure
Blackberry’s message goes missing
BlackBerry Outage Spreads to U.S., RIM Responds
BlackBerry outages spread to US, Canada
BlackBerry outages spread to North America
RIM: We’re still working on restoring BlackBerry service
For BlackBerry Maker, Crisis Mounts
BlackBerry’s Service Hiccups Spread; Five Continents Affected
Berry berry angry
Blackberry backlash: Slough headquarters in the dock over global phone meltdown
10m users hit by the three days of chaos
BlackBerry services out for third day
BlackBerry’s Response on Facebook
Not very convincing!
Here’s what some twitter users have to say:
Though RIM authorities are working against time to restore the services, this outage of BB services has come as a bolt from the blue for RIM which is already struggling with slow sales, an almost failed tablet and ultimately falling market share.
Given below is a poll of how many of you still have faith in BlackBerry, cast your vote as well!
Also a hilarious video which would go well with what’s happened:
How to Use Google Places for Your Business
It is a well-known fact that the vast majority of consumers turn to the internet when looking for local businesses. Google has also told us that ¾ of all online activity is related to local content. This is of vast importance for local businesses which depend on the search engine giant to drive people through their doors, to generate phone calls and to increase the awareness regarding their brands.
Most local businesses spend a good deal of money and time fine-tuning their paid search campaigns and SEO strategies. However, many are not realizing one of the most valuable and cost-free tools Google has, is Google Places. This service was first offered by Google two years ago this fall to replace the Google Local service. The nice thing about Places is the fact that it is totally free and quite easy to set up.
To get started with Google Places you will have to submit your basic info including your business name, website URL, description of your business, category, hours of operation, telephone number, payment options you accept and a photo or video which highlights your business. You are allowed to add up to ten images and five videos. The more info you enter about your business the better your organic rankings will be in Places but avoid keyword stuffing as Google could remove your listing. It’s also important to be specific when adding your business description. Avoid saying things like “we’ve been in business for over two decades” or “we’re the best dog groomer in the city”.
Once you have set
up your account and have finished entering your business information, Google will send you a PIN verification number by mail (postcard) SMS or via a phone call, the choice is yours. You will need to log into Places and enter your Pin next to the business listing you created and then you’re done. It will take Google 30 days from the time you enter your PIN to verify your business.
It’s important to know that Google Places only lists seven businesses per search with its red place markers marked A through G. This means that those business similar to yours which have listed themselves on Places before you did get the place markers. Listing your business as soon as possible is the way to go so that you can claim one of the coveted 7 place markers. Another way to get into the top seven is to encourage customer reviews because the more reviews you get, the more likely you’ll land in the top seven.
You can check to see if your business is listed in Places by searching for your phone number in Google maps. If it shows up, then that’s great! There really isn’t any reason not to use Places as it provides a great way for customers to find you which will most likely convert into sales and business prominence.
Review of Directory Maximizer by Dave Jenyns
We are excited to share with you this video by the noted Dave Jenyns where he has reviewed Directory Maximizer & has given his views on our service!
Dave, who is one of the youngest & best keynote speakers in Australia, gives a brief Directory Maximizer review and explains how and why people can use our service in their businesses. Watch the video to see why Dave finds our service fit to be approved by him!
Before ending, let me leave you with a small excerpt from his review of Directory Maximizer where he shares his views on Directory Maximizer -
“The fact is, Directory Maximizer is an amazing tool that every internet marketer should have in their toolkit.”
Need we say more?
Directory Maximizer Launches It’s Reseller Program!
We are immensely pleased to announce the launch of Directory Maximizer’s Reseller Program! With this program, you can now start your own directory submission service in less than a day!
What’s in it for You:
Whether you are an accomplished webmaster or just starting out, you can start your own manual directory submissions service today. This is an opportunity to start your own business with absolute minimum investment & effort.
To make things as easy for you as possible, we have a ready script with great looks & all the service features present in our site, Directory Maximizer. All you need to do is install it under your own domain on a basic server supporting PHP & MySQL. Since we process all the orders, you do not need to worry about the delivery of the service either. You just need to handle your clients and any queries they have. You have total control over your clients and may also offer any additional services of your own on top of what is offered. You are free to customize things the way you want them to be.
If you want to have more than one site as a reseller you can do that as well! You have an opportunity to earn unlimited money if you can market your service well & get regular/repeat customers.
How It Works:
We have built a very simple system for you to integrate in your site. Please click here to get detailed information on how it works & how to set up the site on your server.
Payments:
With the reseller site we provide, all payments go directly to your Paypal or 2CO account and orders are processed from your account through submission credits you purchase with us in advance. Whenever an order is placed by your customer, the order amount will be deducted from your $MX balance with us. Similarly, if the order is refunded or cancelled by any chance, then we will be adding the refunded amount to your $MX balance.
So, in order for your client’s orders to be processed, you need to have sufficient funds in your account at all times. If not, then the order will remain in the pending status until you buy more submission credits.
Get Started…
Get started right away! Use the professionalism and expertise of our company to service your clients, while boosting your brand image and maximizing your revenue opportunities from the market!
SEO Basics Revisited: Off-Page Optimization
This article comes as a follow up to our previous post ‘SEO Basics Revisited: On-Page Optimization‘. Now that you are familiar with the basics of on-page optimization, let’s move on to the next step – Off-Page Optimization. This too isn’t as complicated or as difficult as you would imagine. Off-page optimization is nothing but a number of strategies that you can implement off your web page to improve your search engine ranking and increase targeted traffic to your web site.
Here’s is a simple explanation for all the newbies: Let’s say you build a great product and invest 
all your time and effort into making it the best. However, you do not spread the word about this great product and no one knows about it! What’s the use? So, just as you need to let others know about your product and get recommendations from them, you need to do off-page optimization for your site as well.
Off-page factors should be carefully planned and implemented to achieve a higher search engine ranking. Many people think that off-page optimization is just link building and go about it in a random and unplanned manner. However, this is not going to bring much benefit to their site. They’re just going to waste a lot of time and efforts and not get any results. They need to consider several aspects before starting off-page optimization for their site. Given below is all the information you will need to know about off-page optimization.
I. Factors to Consider Before Building Links
It’s not enough to get just any websites to link to you, the quality of inbound links is also very important. You may get 100 links but may not see any difference in your results if you don’t consider the following points:
1. Inbound Links from Authority Sites
Authority sites are popular sites that people frequent, get linked to on the basis of their merit, 
or are referred by many when they need to check up on the subject. Getting links from known websites is priceless while doing off-page optimization for your website. It’s like a certificate from an authoritative figure who has acknowledged the quality of your page. For example, if your site is about current events or news, and CNN.com links to you, consider it as the best bonus ever!
Tip: Make your website as professional and informative as possible. If you give reliable and valuable information, it will instantly impress people. This will also increase the chances of getting linked by other such authority sites.
2. Anchor Text of Inbound Link
Anchor text is the actual word or phrase of your link. It is important to have anchor text targeting your keywords because the search engines will notice this as a relevant link for your site. As you start getting more and more links with your targeted anchor text, your rankings for those terms will start to improve.
For example, if your site was about selling or renting houses then you should use your keywords in the titles: such as ‘Houses for sale’, ‘Houses for rent’, ‘Homes for sale’, ‘Homes for rent’, ‘Buy a house’, ‘Rent a house’ etc.
The most common anchor text is ‘Click Here’. Sometimes, it is not possible to choose the anchor text for your links from other pages, but for those sites where you can, you need to get it right. Some places where you can enter your own anchor text are online web directories and social bookmarking sites. However, for those sites which do not, you could try sending a request asking if the anchor text can be modified to make it more relevant for your site. You’ll be surprised to see many of them would make the necessary changes.
Tip: Try to include your keywords in your anchor text. Decide what keywords you want to rank for and include them in your anchor text. However, be careful because your anchor text should not read like a string of keywords, it should make sense as well.
3. PageRank of Incoming Links
Google Page Rank is a tool developed by Google to determine the importance of a website or a webpage 
based on clearly defined set of algorithms. It is ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest. Whenever you link out to another website, you pass on some of your page rank value. Similarly, if you get a link form a high PR page, your site will also benefit from a fraction of the PR value of that page.
PageRank is based on incoming links, but not just on the number of them – relevance and quality are also important (in terms of the PageRank of sites, which link to a given site). However, not all links weigh the same when it comes to PR. If you had a web page with a PR8 and had 1 link on it, the site linked to would get a fair amount of PR value. But, if you had 100 links on that page, each individual link would only get a fraction of the value.
Tip: While links from high PR sites may be beneficial to your PR, do not restrict your off-page link building activities just on the basis of PR.
Matt Cutts’ 8 Super-Effective Tips On Link Building
Let’s admit, organic link building can get frustrating and time consuming. We’ve all been through that phase where we try to build inbound links, turning impatient while we wait for the results. Well… we continue because we know it’ll pay off, and how! Organic links are often the result of having good, relevant and accurate content. 
You get an organic link when your information is considered useful and relevant, not when you have paid for it or participated in a link exchange.
Google’s most visible anti-spam engineer, Matt Cutts, has been releasing a series of short Webmaster Help videos in which he answers queries about search engine optimization and shares information that helps enhance traffic to your site. In this video, he offers a peek into some of the most effective ways of building organic links. If you want, you may choose to skip the video as the points have been summarized below:
1. Controversy
It’s a fact – “When you complain, people listen”. Matt admits it’s not his favorite technique, but creating controversy does cook up a storm. This is one of the easiest link baits as it grabs eyeballs. Matt adds that many people choose a company or known person and find faults or pick on them and exaggerate the situation.
For example, E! Online is known for celebrity bashing and gossip which can make or break careers. The 
site has handled controversial issues like Lindsay Lohan’s hearing and Britney Spears’ fashion disasters. However, you might want to be careful about overdoing it and offer some other useful information as well from time to time. In Matt Cutts’ opinion people could get tired of just reading about controversies after a point. Remember that you want to encourage traffic, not kill it.
How To Revive a Dead Site
Dead sites, dying sites or sites languishing in various stages of inactivity can give even the most seasoned webmasters nightmares. Quite honestly, inactivity (or any other signs of morbidity) is a term I hope to never utter in conjunction with my site. However, I realize if I am not careful, I can get complacent and let it creep upon me, or my site to be precise. Thankfully, there are ways to prevent such unwelcome and ill-fated eventualities, and help a site live a full and healthy (read, active) life.
Because I know that there are many out there, living in constant fear of their site dying on them, in dire need of some site-revival intervention, I shall list 9 ways that will surely help breathe new life into a site.
1. Don’t Take A Break From Building Content: Imagine that you are a restaurateur… will you ever consider serving your customers stale leftovers? Of course, you won’t! Setting up a website is just another way of serving your customers, by providing them the freshest and most relevant information. If you fail to do that, you won’t ever have any repeat customers (or visitors). This customer satisfaction angle aside, not updating your site can negatively affect your search engine rankings too. So, if you wish to see your site thriving with a steady stream of traffic, and stay high up on the SERPs, it is important that you regularly create content and update your site.
2. Build Links: Most people make the mistake of disregarding the substantive importance of links and building links. 
In addition to the obvious SEO benefits link building offers, it will also help you be connected to other relevant sites. The whole web works on the principle of interconnectedness, so a site that chooses to isolate itself and refrains from connecting with other sites cannot be anything but a failure.
3. Give Your Site A Makeover: If the current design of your site seems old and tired, don’t hesitate, initiate that redesign that you’ve been thinking about. Take inspiration from some of the most popular sites on the web; surfing the web, more than anything, is a very visual experience, keep that in mind while you decide on the design.
4. Update On Popular Demand: 
If updating the whole site on a regular basis is beyond you, try, at least, to update the pages that are visited the most. This way, even if you don’t succeed in attracting new visitors, you won’t lose out on the old. Writing on current events, or the latest developments in your field, while choosing a nonconformist, if slightly controversial, slant is a great way to hook people.
Perfecting Your Video SEO Strategy
With universal search, Google reinvented themselves as an equal opportunity search engine – allowing search queries 
to return images, news, videos, blogs, local results, shopping sites etc. along with the boring traditional text results. The other search engines soon followed suit, and over the years SEOs have come to realize that optimizing video content gives them a better shot at ranking high for their relevant terms. There are two reasons for this:
a) Videos are given relatively higher rankings to ensure the search results are consistently ‘blended’.
b) The competition is relatively lower.
So, if you don’t make use of this opportunity and try optimizing your videos, it won’t be a crime, but it certainly will be a shame.
Having said that, video SEO, if not done the right way can backfire spectacularly. So, on my agenda today is to persuade you to optimize your video content (get you to create new, even) and to show you how to do it. Here are some pointers to help your site become super successful through your videos:
1. Don’t Forget The Keywords: Just as with regular SEO, keywords are essential to optimize videos too. 
In fact, they may be even more essential than you previously thought. Many of us fail to realize that searchbots can’t ‘read’ videos like they can text, and hence are in no position to decipher the content of a video and make semantic sense of it. Unless you trick it out with appropriate titles and tags, it will go undiscovered and unindexed. To optimize your video content, it is important that you use your targeted keywords in the file name, title, tags, URL, and anchor text. It would also help if you could provide an optimized description of the video, or even part of the transcript on the same page.
2. Submit Your Sitemap: Another important step in video content optimization is submitting the video sitemap to search engines. This increases the chances of all your videos being indexed considerably. To put it very simple, by submitting the sitemap, you essentially tell the search engines this: “Hey, I have lot of videos on my site, come take a look at them”. Read more
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