Site Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Hand in Hand
By Jason A Osborn
When you promote your website, you are also performing search engine optimization tasks. You may wonder how this is possible, and it seems like a never ending circle. In a way it is. In order to gain search engine status, you have to have a lot of high quality back links, a decent amount of traffic coming to your site, and be keyword optimized in everything you do.
For example, when you post to web directories, you are doing site marketing and search engine optimization at the same time. You are creating quality back links to boost your own page rank while also promoting your site through the directory. This makes search engine optimization almost imperceptible and allows you more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Another good example is article marketing. Article directories are one of the biggest content providers for search engines. As such, you can bet that your article published to the right high quality article directories will get you quality back links and lots of exposure. You will also be establishing yourself as an expert, and you can generate additional traffic by getting your articles syndicated.
Online classifieds work much the same way. These sites are indexed just about as often as the article directories, but they get more traffic from your target market rather than from other posters. Craigslist especially has become boomingly popular over the last year, and continues to be one of the best free tools for website growth and marketing.
Do you want to learn how I build a list and make money online? I've just finished writing a brand new FREE ebook called '7 Steps to Profits and List Building with Article Marketing'.
Download it FREE here: Article Marketing Profits
http://www.mrarticlemarketer.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_A_Osborn
Jason A Osborn - EzineArticles Expert Author
By Jason A Osborn
When you promote your website, you are also performing search engine optimization tasks. You may wonder how this is possible, and it seems like a never ending circle. In a way it is. In order to gain search engine status, you have to have a lot of high quality back links, a decent amount of traffic coming to your site, and be keyword optimized in everything you do.
For example, when you post to web directories, you are doing site marketing and search engine optimization at the same time. You are creating quality back links to boost your own page rank while also promoting your site through the directory. This makes search engine optimization almost imperceptible and allows you more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Another good example is article marketing. Article directories are one of the biggest content providers for search engines. As such, you can bet that your article published to the right high quality article directories will get you quality back links and lots of exposure. You will also be establishing yourself as an expert, and you can generate additional traffic by getting your articles syndicated.
Online classifieds work much the same way. These sites are indexed just about as often as the article directories, but they get more traffic from your target market rather than from other posters. Craigslist especially has become boomingly popular over the last year, and continues to be one of the best free tools for website growth and marketing.
Do you want to learn how I build a list and make money online? I've just finished writing a brand new FREE ebook called '7 Steps to Profits and List Building with Article Marketing'.
Download it FREE here: Article Marketing Profits
http://www.mrarticlemarketer.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_A_Osborn
Jason A Osborn - EzineArticles Expert Author
Computer Game Writing
Computer Game Writing
By Andy Yates
Good computer game writing is mostly found in two major genres of games. Role playing games and first person shooter games. However, it wasn't always the case! FPS games were once only considered great for their engine and available weapons. However the Half Life series and Deus Ex changed all of that. When I look back at my (too many) years of gaming experience all of the games I can remember had great writing. Well, there's a reason for this:
The badly written ones weren't worth remembering!
I had to actually go through my collection of loose game discs to find the ones I'd forgotten. These include some pretty big name games, starting with "Black and White" by Lionhead. This is a good example of where they were far too interested in the engine and game mechanics to work on a story that really engaged the player. There was far too much emphasis on the controls and the belief system used to influence the world, and I felt I was merely watching a game rather than being part of its story.
Another example of bad story telling and computer game writing in general, has to be "Doom3". This has always been one of ID Games' problems. The reasons I've heard for this revolve around the games being made to showcase the engine.
So why should developers care about computer game writing? What does it bring to a game? Lets start with believable characters that the player can identify and connect with. Or an engaging plot that draws the player in. Or an interesting setting that provokes an emotional response such as a bustling city or vast, uninhabited wasteland. Although many of these aspects are thought up by the game-designers, someone needs to bring the game to life using these features. Valve has always been a pioneer in computer game writing, having their own dedicated writer in the form of science fiction writer; Mark Laidlaw. He has helped shape Gordon Freeman's story since the first Half Life game and continues to keep the plot and characters interesting. Due to the intrigue brought to these games from his writing, it keeps fan discussion going for months before and after each release.
Another well-written game is Deus Ex, which actually had two dialogue writers! And the results there were obvious: believable and thoughtful dialogue, interesting characters and a story so in-depth it makes the Grand Canyon look shallow.
Something else good writing can provide is the different choices a player must make during a game. In the game Bioshock, you often come across characters known as "Little Sisters" who are genetically altered children. Your disturbing choice here is to either restore their DNA to normal, or to extract their valuable essence for your own means, killing the child in the process! These choices impact the story, influencing the moral compass of your character and the end result of the game. But more importantly it makes the player pause and think about the implications of their actions within the game. The writer in this case is Ken Levine, also the writer for other favourites of mine, System Shock 2 and Thief: the dark project.
Computer game writing is one of those areas that game developers often overlook. A friend of mine, who is an excellent writer, has mentioned that the number of outlets for aspiring writers is "vanishingly small" and it made me think. How many independent developers out there have a dedicated writer? When I was developing games I really should have looked into it, it would have vastly improved the quality of my dialogue and helped me tie up the loose ends in my story.
The independent title "Defence Grid: The Awakening" is an example of a fairly standard tower defence game that was vastly improved by it's writing (and admittedly it's voice acting) that may have just fallen by the wayside otherwise.
Casual game developers especially are missing out on this. I've played far too many badly written attempts at fitting a story into a hidden object or match-3 game. I'm sure that hidden object fans don't care that much, but it would be worth thinking about if they would like to attract a wider user base.
Even free games should make an effort in their writing. The wonderful "Cave Story" had a great story with memorable characters, and that's after its translation from Japanese!
Good computer game writing does not necessarily mean instant success for any game. Nor does bad writing mean instant failure. However, I would argue that the games most memorable are the ones that have the best writing. The sequels to these are the games I am most looking forward to!
This article was written by Andy Yates of PC Games and Reviews
Come and visit to read reviews and news of the latest and best PC games released!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Yates
Computer Game WritingBy Andy Yates
Good computer game writing is mostly found in two major genres of games. Role playing games and first person shooter games. However, it wasn't always the case! FPS games were once only considered great for their engine and available weapons. However the Half Life series and Deus Ex changed all of that. When I look back at my (too many) years of gaming experience all of the games I can remember had great writing. Well, there's a reason for this:
The badly written ones weren't worth remembering!
I had to actually go through my collection of loose game discs to find the ones I'd forgotten. These include some pretty big name games, starting with "Black and White" by Lionhead. This is a good example of where they were far too interested in the engine and game mechanics to work on a story that really engaged the player. There was far too much emphasis on the controls and the belief system used to influence the world, and I felt I was merely watching a game rather than being part of its story.
Another example of bad story telling and computer game writing in general, has to be "Doom3". This has always been one of ID Games' problems. The reasons I've heard for this revolve around the games being made to showcase the engine.
So why should developers care about computer game writing? What does it bring to a game? Lets start with believable characters that the player can identify and connect with. Or an engaging plot that draws the player in. Or an interesting setting that provokes an emotional response such as a bustling city or vast, uninhabited wasteland. Although many of these aspects are thought up by the game-designers, someone needs to bring the game to life using these features. Valve has always been a pioneer in computer game writing, having their own dedicated writer in the form of science fiction writer; Mark Laidlaw. He has helped shape Gordon Freeman's story since the first Half Life game and continues to keep the plot and characters interesting. Due to the intrigue brought to these games from his writing, it keeps fan discussion going for months before and after each release.
Another well-written game is Deus Ex, which actually had two dialogue writers! And the results there were obvious: believable and thoughtful dialogue, interesting characters and a story so in-depth it makes the Grand Canyon look shallow.
Something else good writing can provide is the different choices a player must make during a game. In the game Bioshock, you often come across characters known as "Little Sisters" who are genetically altered children. Your disturbing choice here is to either restore their DNA to normal, or to extract their valuable essence for your own means, killing the child in the process! These choices impact the story, influencing the moral compass of your character and the end result of the game. But more importantly it makes the player pause and think about the implications of their actions within the game. The writer in this case is Ken Levine, also the writer for other favourites of mine, System Shock 2 and Thief: the dark project.
Computer game writing is one of those areas that game developers often overlook. A friend of mine, who is an excellent writer, has mentioned that the number of outlets for aspiring writers is "vanishingly small" and it made me think. How many independent developers out there have a dedicated writer? When I was developing games I really should have looked into it, it would have vastly improved the quality of my dialogue and helped me tie up the loose ends in my story.
The independent title "Defence Grid: The Awakening" is an example of a fairly standard tower defence game that was vastly improved by it's writing (and admittedly it's voice acting) that may have just fallen by the wayside otherwise.
Casual game developers especially are missing out on this. I've played far too many badly written attempts at fitting a story into a hidden object or match-3 game. I'm sure that hidden object fans don't care that much, but it would be worth thinking about if they would like to attract a wider user base.
Even free games should make an effort in their writing. The wonderful "Cave Story" had a great story with memorable characters, and that's after its translation from Japanese!
Good computer game writing does not necessarily mean instant success for any game. Nor does bad writing mean instant failure. However, I would argue that the games most memorable are the ones that have the best writing. The sequels to these are the games I am most looking forward to!
This article was written by Andy Yates of PC Games and Reviews
Come and visit to read reviews and news of the latest and best PC games released!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Yates
By Andy Yates
Good computer game writing is mostly found in two major genres of games. Role playing games and first person shooter games. However, it wasn't always the case! FPS games were once only considered great for their engine and available weapons. However the Half Life series and Deus Ex changed all of that. When I look back at my (too many) years of gaming experience all of the games I can remember had great writing. Well, there's a reason for this:
The badly written ones weren't worth remembering!
I had to actually go through my collection of loose game discs to find the ones I'd forgotten. These include some pretty big name games, starting with "Black and White" by Lionhead. This is a good example of where they were far too interested in the engine and game mechanics to work on a story that really engaged the player. There was far too much emphasis on the controls and the belief system used to influence the world, and I felt I was merely watching a game rather than being part of its story.
Another example of bad story telling and computer game writing in general, has to be "Doom3". This has always been one of ID Games' problems. The reasons I've heard for this revolve around the games being made to showcase the engine.
So why should developers care about computer game writing? What does it bring to a game? Lets start with believable characters that the player can identify and connect with. Or an engaging plot that draws the player in. Or an interesting setting that provokes an emotional response such as a bustling city or vast, uninhabited wasteland. Although many of these aspects are thought up by the game-designers, someone needs to bring the game to life using these features. Valve has always been a pioneer in computer game writing, having their own dedicated writer in the form of science fiction writer; Mark Laidlaw. He has helped shape Gordon Freeman's story since the first Half Life game and continues to keep the plot and characters interesting. Due to the intrigue brought to these games from his writing, it keeps fan discussion going for months before and after each release.
Another well-written game is Deus Ex, which actually had two dialogue writers! And the results there were obvious: believable and thoughtful dialogue, interesting characters and a story so in-depth it makes the Grand Canyon look shallow.
Something else good writing can provide is the different choices a player must make during a game. In the game Bioshock, you often come across characters known as "Little Sisters" who are genetically altered children. Your disturbing choice here is to either restore their DNA to normal, or to extract their valuable essence for your own means, killing the child in the process! These choices impact the story, influencing the moral compass of your character and the end result of the game. But more importantly it makes the player pause and think about the implications of their actions within the game. The writer in this case is Ken Levine, also the writer for other favourites of mine, System Shock 2 and Thief: the dark project.
Computer game writing is one of those areas that game developers often overlook. A friend of mine, who is an excellent writer, has mentioned that the number of outlets for aspiring writers is "vanishingly small" and it made me think. How many independent developers out there have a dedicated writer? When I was developing games I really should have looked into it, it would have vastly improved the quality of my dialogue and helped me tie up the loose ends in my story.
The independent title "Defence Grid: The Awakening" is an example of a fairly standard tower defence game that was vastly improved by it's writing (and admittedly it's voice acting) that may have just fallen by the wayside otherwise.
Casual game developers especially are missing out on this. I've played far too many badly written attempts at fitting a story into a hidden object or match-3 game. I'm sure that hidden object fans don't care that much, but it would be worth thinking about if they would like to attract a wider user base.
Even free games should make an effort in their writing. The wonderful "Cave Story" had a great story with memorable characters, and that's after its translation from Japanese!
Good computer game writing does not necessarily mean instant success for any game. Nor does bad writing mean instant failure. However, I would argue that the games most memorable are the ones that have the best writing. The sequels to these are the games I am most looking forward to!
This article was written by Andy Yates of PC Games and Reviews
Come and visit to read reviews and news of the latest and best PC games released!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Yates
Sales Management Training - Discover 3 Creative Steps to Impact Your Training For Sales Management
Sales Management Training - Discover 3 Creative Steps to Impact Your Training For Sales Management
By Sean R Mize
As a sales manager, you've got one of the most important jobs to do. Essentially, you're looking to partner with a lot of people in the community. Taking this approach, make sure you expose your mind to relevant management training courses. This way you can favorably improve your company profits. Continue along in this article to discover 3 creative steps to impact your sales management training.
1. After you've been doing selling for a while, you might get stale. Getting stale can happen when we think in closed minded ways. Or, we feel too comfortable in the current sales cycle routine. This might be a sales death attitude in the making. However, we can take the opposite avenue and eagerly look to keep training ourselves to stay crisp and interesting to our clients. By eagerly keeping current with training, we are better salespeople. Better salespeople make more money. So, there is a lot of benefit to you about doing regular sales training.
2. Keep track of your sales. When you track your sales, you can identify which approaches work best, who sells the most, and other details about your sales process and records. Keep a record journal of the statistics. Using your business sales journal entries, you can quickly see what approaches work most effectively and which ones are clunkers to be deleted.
3. Take time to actually improve sales processes. Monitor sales highs and lows. Write out the reasons for fluctuating sales in your business sales journal. You may see patterns to eliminate or expand depending upon their effects.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide. Download it free here: Internet Marketing
Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site? Click here: Article Writing Guide
Sales Management Training - Discover 3 Creative Steps to Impact Your Training For Sales ManagementBy Sean R Mize
As a sales manager, you've got one of the most important jobs to do. Essentially, you're looking to partner with a lot of people in the community. Taking this approach, make sure you expose your mind to relevant management training courses. This way you can favorably improve your company profits. Continue along in this article to discover 3 creative steps to impact your sales management training.
1. After you've been doing selling for a while, you might get stale. Getting stale can happen when we think in closed minded ways. Or, we feel too comfortable in the current sales cycle routine. This might be a sales death attitude in the making. However, we can take the opposite avenue and eagerly look to keep training ourselves to stay crisp and interesting to our clients. By eagerly keeping current with training, we are better salespeople. Better salespeople make more money. So, there is a lot of benefit to you about doing regular sales training.
2. Keep track of your sales. When you track your sales, you can identify which approaches work best, who sells the most, and other details about your sales process and records. Keep a record journal of the statistics. Using your business sales journal entries, you can quickly see what approaches work most effectively and which ones are clunkers to be deleted.
3. Take time to actually improve sales processes. Monitor sales highs and lows. Write out the reasons for fluctuating sales in your business sales journal. You may see patterns to eliminate or expand depending upon their effects.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide. Download it free here: Internet Marketing
Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site? Click here: Article Writing Guide
By Sean R Mize
As a sales manager, you've got one of the most important jobs to do. Essentially, you're looking to partner with a lot of people in the community. Taking this approach, make sure you expose your mind to relevant management training courses. This way you can favorably improve your company profits. Continue along in this article to discover 3 creative steps to impact your sales management training.
1. After you've been doing selling for a while, you might get stale. Getting stale can happen when we think in closed minded ways. Or, we feel too comfortable in the current sales cycle routine. This might be a sales death attitude in the making. However, we can take the opposite avenue and eagerly look to keep training ourselves to stay crisp and interesting to our clients. By eagerly keeping current with training, we are better salespeople. Better salespeople make more money. So, there is a lot of benefit to you about doing regular sales training.
2. Keep track of your sales. When you track your sales, you can identify which approaches work best, who sells the most, and other details about your sales process and records. Keep a record journal of the statistics. Using your business sales journal entries, you can quickly see what approaches work most effectively and which ones are clunkers to be deleted.
3. Take time to actually improve sales processes. Monitor sales highs and lows. Write out the reasons for fluctuating sales in your business sales journal. You may see patterns to eliminate or expand depending upon their effects.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide. Download it free here: Internet Marketing
Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site? Click here: Article Writing Guide
Top 7 Business Website Mistakes
Top 7 Business Website Mistakes
By Chuck Linart
Is your website making money for your business? At the end of the day, that is all that matters. I have clients in all kinds of sectors ranging from manufacturing to entertainment, and there are several common mistakes that I see across the board. Here are the Top 7 Mistakes Companies make with their Websites:
- Thinking of it as merely an online brochure -- True, a good website is a marketing tool, but it is so much more.
- Not integrating the site into their other marketing efforts -- I hear this a lot, "Our site is not good enough. We're not comfortable referring people to it." (That's what keeps me in business.) Well, then make it good enough, and put it on every other communication you send out from you e-mail signature to your business card to television and radio advertisements.
- Cheaping out and not hiring a professional to build the site -- Sometimes people want to hire their brother-in-law to make their website. That's fine if the brother-in-law is truly a professional web developer. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money. Nowadays you can get a custom-designed and programmed professional site with lots of bells and whistles for under $2,000. Why would you waste $500 on a cheap site that, if anything, hurts your business? Think about your ROI: How many new clients does your site need to help you get in the next year to pay for itself?
- Not having a list builder built in to the site -- It amazes me that some companies do not use their contact form to build an opt-in list of people that they can market to in the future.
- Missing opportunities to profit directly through the site -- In almost any business, there is something you can offer to your clients and clients-to-be that you can ask for the sale and collect payment on through the web. This saves you time and money, and makes you money! Why wouldn't you do it? At the very least, you should have some advertising on your site. I even advertise my competitors. Why not? Let their advertising dollars go to me and still end up with the deal when all is said and done. Ruthless, I know.
- Not paying attention to SEO which is probably the greatest moneymaker in any webmaster's bag of tricks. A thousand dollars to get you on top of your niche for your keywords is usually money well spent. I have one client (a recording studio) who actually asked me to tone down the SEO on his site because he couldn't handle the phone calls.
- Not customizing the site's functionality in a strategic way - If you run a medical practice, doesn't it make sense to set appointments through your website? That can free up your staff to do other things. If you are a musician, why wouldn't you sell tickets directly through your gig calendar? You need to think about what your site can do for your business. That's another reason it's important to hire a professional -- they can suggest things that you might not think of yourself.
If you can avoid those pitfalls, your website will make money for your business, no matter what that might be.
Evolution Media works with small businesses, mostly in the NYC area, to implement the advice offered above -- and more! Optimize your business website!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Linart
Top 7 Business Website Mistakes
By Chuck Linart
Is your website making money for your business? At the end of the day, that is all that matters. I have clients in all kinds of sectors ranging from manufacturing to entertainment, and there are several common mistakes that I see across the board. Here are the Top 7 Mistakes Companies make with their Websites:
- Thinking of it as merely an online brochure -- True, a good website is a marketing tool, but it is so much more.
- Not integrating the site into their other marketing efforts -- I hear this a lot, "Our site is not good enough. We're not comfortable referring people to it." (That's what keeps me in business.) Well, then make it good enough, and put it on every other communication you send out from you e-mail signature to your business card to television and radio advertisements.
- Cheaping out and not hiring a professional to build the site -- Sometimes people want to hire their brother-in-law to make their website. That's fine if the brother-in-law is truly a professional web developer. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money. Nowadays you can get a custom-designed and programmed professional site with lots of bells and whistles for under $2,000. Why would you waste $500 on a cheap site that, if anything, hurts your business? Think about your ROI: How many new clients does your site need to help you get in the next year to pay for itself?
- Not having a list builder built in to the site -- It amazes me that some companies do not use their contact form to build an opt-in list of people that they can market to in the future.
- Missing opportunities to profit directly through the site -- In almost any business, there is something you can offer to your clients and clients-to-be that you can ask for the sale and collect payment on through the web. This saves you time and money, and makes you money! Why wouldn't you do it? At the very least, you should have some advertising on your site. I even advertise my competitors. Why not? Let their advertising dollars go to me and still end up with the deal when all is said and done. Ruthless, I know.
- Not paying attention to SEO which is probably the greatest moneymaker in any webmaster's bag of tricks. A thousand dollars to get you on top of your niche for your keywords is usually money well spent. I have one client (a recording studio) who actually asked me to tone down the SEO on his site because he couldn't handle the phone calls.
- Not customizing the site's functionality in a strategic way - If you run a medical practice, doesn't it make sense to set appointments through your website? That can free up your staff to do other things. If you are a musician, why wouldn't you sell tickets directly through your gig calendar? You need to think about what your site can do for your business. That's another reason it's important to hire a professional -- they can suggest things that you might not think of yourself.
If you can avoid those pitfalls, your website will make money for your business, no matter what that might be.
Evolution Media works with small businesses, mostly in the NYC area, to implement the advice offered above -- and more! Optimize your business website!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Linart
PageRank and Search - Is Change on the Way?
PageRank and Search - Is Change on the Way?
By Mark Khoo
At one time, bloggers look forward to the Google PageRank update, which usually comes in a 3-4 month cycle, with great expectation, hoping to see their sites bestowed with a ranking. For others, they lived in fear that they might have rubbed Google up the wrong way and a PageRank update could well cost them to lose whatever PageRank they already have.
Each time the dreaded Google PR slap-fest took place, you could hear the groans and grunts of those who got hit. They literally 'lost their pants' and wondered why they were targeted by Big Goog.
PageRank counts a lot to most bloggers because the higher the ranking you get, the better for you to stay on top in your online quest to make money blogging. In simple language, more doors are open to you because of your PR standing. Of course, the higher, the better.
Basically, the whole intention is to rank well in order to gain search engine traffic. Without traffic to your site, you have nothing to shout about. So apart from achieving a page rank, you need to be adept at one more thing and that is to conjure up relevant keywords or keyword phrases that could help boost your position in the search engine ranking pages (SERPs). This has been discussed widely by some bloggers who have achieved good earning results by following these 'best practices' to gain organic search engine traffic which convert well.
However, in recent times, questions are emerging among some SEO mavens as to whether PageRank is as important as before or is it heading into the mist of history.
Sometime back, SEO expert Bruce Clay, in an interview with WebProNews, had asserted that "ranking is dead". He predicted even greater changes in SEO technology this year as can be seen in the many ways people can do search now. In a nutshell, search results are expected to get better.
Microsoft's new search engine Bing, according to CEO Steve Ballmer in a launch statement recently, was referred to as "an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they've found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions."
As we all know, Bing is an obvious move by Microsoft to grab market share away from Google who has dominated Web search far too long. By tagging Bing as a "decision search engine", Microsoft is trying a new approach to user experience and enabling intuitive tools to help people make better decisions of the search engine.
In other words, Bing is designed to empower users to gain insight and knowledge from the Web, moving more quickly to important decisions such as making purchase decision, mapping a travel plan, researching a health condition or locating a business.
On Google's part, it has always wanted to improve on search as well, so with personalized search, behaviour-based search, intent-based search, and universal search, everything seems to be good news for searchers. But all this poses new challenges to SEO's, whereby they might have to look at analytics and measure traffic, bounce rate and action closely and a whole lot of other issues on the search horizon.
In a response to Bruce Clay's claim that "ranking is dead", Google's Matt Cutt might not totally agree with Bruce but he did admit that PageRank "is not as important as it once was".
In an interview with WebProNews, Matt followed the same line as Bruce saying that SEO's central focus should be mainly traffic and conversions since searches are now more "personalized and localized" which means that there's more to SEO than just ranking high for a key phrase.
It has been noted by a Hitwise report that people are making longer search queries, averaging searches of 5+ words in length. They have increased from 10% from January 2008 to January 2009. What does that mean? The gist of it, according to Ask.com in its blog post, is that:
- Users are expecting search engines to process Internet data and not just to index the Net;
- Queries are not just keywords, search engines are expected to understand the intent of the query better; an
- People are using more words to express a query and expectations on the search engine are higher
To know the number of searches going on, comScore had this findings of the US search market: US searches total 18.7 billion (up 38% year-to-year). Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on search. Outside the traditional search engines, other growing search areas are video, image, and social networking sites.
In a recent conference call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: "Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of your phrase rather than just the words that are in that phrase? We have a lot of discoveries in that area that [we] are going to roll out in the next little while."
It's all very interesting as we see search evolving into something more sophisticated and relevant but we are still not totally there yet. Nevertheless, it's obvious change is coming and we may NOT have to look at PageRank from the same perspective again.
About the author: Freelance writer, publication design consultant and web content editor Mark Khoo administrates and edit several niche blogs and some websites. He writes for The NextPost and Blogging On My Mind where he focuses on pertinent Internet issues and personal insights on the blogging experience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Khoo
PageRank and Search - Is Change on the Way?By Mark Khoo
At one time, bloggers look forward to the Google PageRank update, which usually comes in a 3-4 month cycle, with great expectation, hoping to see their sites bestowed with a ranking. For others, they lived in fear that they might have rubbed Google up the wrong way and a PageRank update could well cost them to lose whatever PageRank they already have.
Each time the dreaded Google PR slap-fest took place, you could hear the groans and grunts of those who got hit. They literally 'lost their pants' and wondered why they were targeted by Big Goog.
PageRank counts a lot to most bloggers because the higher the ranking you get, the better for you to stay on top in your online quest to make money blogging. In simple language, more doors are open to you because of your PR standing. Of course, the higher, the better.
Basically, the whole intention is to rank well in order to gain search engine traffic. Without traffic to your site, you have nothing to shout about. So apart from achieving a page rank, you need to be adept at one more thing and that is to conjure up relevant keywords or keyword phrases that could help boost your position in the search engine ranking pages (SERPs). This has been discussed widely by some bloggers who have achieved good earning results by following these 'best practices' to gain organic search engine traffic which convert well.
However, in recent times, questions are emerging among some SEO mavens as to whether PageRank is as important as before or is it heading into the mist of history.
Sometime back, SEO expert Bruce Clay, in an interview with WebProNews, had asserted that "ranking is dead". He predicted even greater changes in SEO technology this year as can be seen in the many ways people can do search now. In a nutshell, search results are expected to get better.
Microsoft's new search engine Bing, according to CEO Steve Ballmer in a launch statement recently, was referred to as "an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they've found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions."
As we all know, Bing is an obvious move by Microsoft to grab market share away from Google who has dominated Web search far too long. By tagging Bing as a "decision search engine", Microsoft is trying a new approach to user experience and enabling intuitive tools to help people make better decisions of the search engine.
In other words, Bing is designed to empower users to gain insight and knowledge from the Web, moving more quickly to important decisions such as making purchase decision, mapping a travel plan, researching a health condition or locating a business.
On Google's part, it has always wanted to improve on search as well, so with personalized search, behaviour-based search, intent-based search, and universal search, everything seems to be good news for searchers. But all this poses new challenges to SEO's, whereby they might have to look at analytics and measure traffic, bounce rate and action closely and a whole lot of other issues on the search horizon.
In a response to Bruce Clay's claim that "ranking is dead", Google's Matt Cutt might not totally agree with Bruce but he did admit that PageRank "is not as important as it once was".
In an interview with WebProNews, Matt followed the same line as Bruce saying that SEO's central focus should be mainly traffic and conversions since searches are now more "personalized and localized" which means that there's more to SEO than just ranking high for a key phrase.
It has been noted by a Hitwise report that people are making longer search queries, averaging searches of 5+ words in length. They have increased from 10% from January 2008 to January 2009. What does that mean? The gist of it, according to Ask.com in its blog post, is that:
- Users are expecting search engines to process Internet data and not just to index the Net;
- Queries are not just keywords, search engines are expected to understand the intent of the query better; an
- People are using more words to express a query and expectations on the search engine are higher
To know the number of searches going on, comScore had this findings of the US search market: US searches total 18.7 billion (up 38% year-to-year). Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on search. Outside the traditional search engines, other growing search areas are video, image, and social networking sites.
In a recent conference call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: "Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of your phrase rather than just the words that are in that phrase? We have a lot of discoveries in that area that [we] are going to roll out in the next little while."
It's all very interesting as we see search evolving into something more sophisticated and relevant but we are still not totally there yet. Nevertheless, it's obvious change is coming and we may NOT have to look at PageRank from the same perspective again.
About the author: Freelance writer, publication design consultant and web content editor Mark Khoo administrates and edit several niche blogs and some websites. He writes for The NextPost and Blogging On My Mind where he focuses on pertinent Internet issues and personal insights on the blogging experience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Khoo
By Mark Khoo
At one time, bloggers look forward to the Google PageRank update, which usually comes in a 3-4 month cycle, with great expectation, hoping to see their sites bestowed with a ranking. For others, they lived in fear that they might have rubbed Google up the wrong way and a PageRank update could well cost them to lose whatever PageRank they already have.
Each time the dreaded Google PR slap-fest took place, you could hear the groans and grunts of those who got hit. They literally 'lost their pants' and wondered why they were targeted by Big Goog.
PageRank counts a lot to most bloggers because the higher the ranking you get, the better for you to stay on top in your online quest to make money blogging. In simple language, more doors are open to you because of your PR standing. Of course, the higher, the better.
Basically, the whole intention is to rank well in order to gain search engine traffic. Without traffic to your site, you have nothing to shout about. So apart from achieving a page rank, you need to be adept at one more thing and that is to conjure up relevant keywords or keyword phrases that could help boost your position in the search engine ranking pages (SERPs). This has been discussed widely by some bloggers who have achieved good earning results by following these 'best practices' to gain organic search engine traffic which convert well.
However, in recent times, questions are emerging among some SEO mavens as to whether PageRank is as important as before or is it heading into the mist of history.
Sometime back, SEO expert Bruce Clay, in an interview with WebProNews, had asserted that "ranking is dead". He predicted even greater changes in SEO technology this year as can be seen in the many ways people can do search now. In a nutshell, search results are expected to get better.
Microsoft's new search engine Bing, according to CEO Steve Ballmer in a launch statement recently, was referred to as "an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they've found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions."
As we all know, Bing is an obvious move by Microsoft to grab market share away from Google who has dominated Web search far too long. By tagging Bing as a "decision search engine", Microsoft is trying a new approach to user experience and enabling intuitive tools to help people make better decisions of the search engine.
In other words, Bing is designed to empower users to gain insight and knowledge from the Web, moving more quickly to important decisions such as making purchase decision, mapping a travel plan, researching a health condition or locating a business.
On Google's part, it has always wanted to improve on search as well, so with personalized search, behaviour-based search, intent-based search, and universal search, everything seems to be good news for searchers. But all this poses new challenges to SEO's, whereby they might have to look at analytics and measure traffic, bounce rate and action closely and a whole lot of other issues on the search horizon.
In a response to Bruce Clay's claim that "ranking is dead", Google's Matt Cutt might not totally agree with Bruce but he did admit that PageRank "is not as important as it once was".
In an interview with WebProNews, Matt followed the same line as Bruce saying that SEO's central focus should be mainly traffic and conversions since searches are now more "personalized and localized" which means that there's more to SEO than just ranking high for a key phrase.
It has been noted by a Hitwise report that people are making longer search queries, averaging searches of 5+ words in length. They have increased from 10% from January 2008 to January 2009. What does that mean? The gist of it, according to Ask.com in its blog post, is that:
- Users are expecting search engines to process Internet data and not just to index the Net;
- Queries are not just keywords, search engines are expected to understand the intent of the query better; an
- People are using more words to express a query and expectations on the search engine are higher
To know the number of searches going on, comScore had this findings of the US search market: US searches total 18.7 billion (up 38% year-to-year). Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on search. Outside the traditional search engines, other growing search areas are video, image, and social networking sites.
In a recent conference call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: "Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of your phrase rather than just the words that are in that phrase? We have a lot of discoveries in that area that [we] are going to roll out in the next little while."
It's all very interesting as we see search evolving into something more sophisticated and relevant but we are still not totally there yet. Nevertheless, it's obvious change is coming and we may NOT have to look at PageRank from the same perspective again.
About the author: Freelance writer, publication design consultant and web content editor Mark Khoo administrates and edit several niche blogs and some websites. He writes for The NextPost and Blogging On My Mind where he focuses on pertinent Internet issues and personal insights on the blogging experience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Khoo
Role of Link Building in Getting Top Ranks For a Web Site
Role of Link Building in Getting Top Ranks For a Web Site
By John K Anthony
Link building is the process of acquiring links from relevant Web sites. Link building plays a significant role in search engine optimization (SEO). Popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN welcome organic links in a Website. By implementing effective links, a Website can have the following benefits.
Improve the quality of the Web sites
The whole concept of link building focuses on sharing right and comprehensive information with users. If a Web site embeds a hyperlink into it, it shows that there is some information in that link, which might be of some interest to the user. An interested user may click that link and reach the respective page in that Web site. Thus they gain more information on their topics of interest. In this way, link building helps in generating user interest and increases usability of a Web site.
Impress search engines
As mentioned above, links can play a great role in building traffic to a Web sites. For search engines, a Web portal that is rich with relevant external links is better than that with few or no links. The search engines attribute the link popularity of a Web Portal to its quality. Thus, a Web site with more backlinks is likely to score better in the search results.
Build credibility
Links are yardsticks of credibility of a business. If a user finds the hyperlink of your Web site on a popular Web sites, he/she is likely to develop more confidence in your business thanks to the reputation of the partner Website. A share of their reputation is thus transferred to your Website. Blogs demonstrate the most practical approach to build confidence of users through links. Trusted blogs always share trustworthy links. A regular visitor to such blogs is likely to trust the links and the corresponding Web sites.
While link building services offers all of these benefits, it also can harm the Web portal if done in an unethical manner. There are Web sites that dupe search engines by adopting meaningless link exchange methods among 'similar-looking' Websites. This method of 'cultivating' links to generate more search engine traffic is called link farming. However, all of the popular search engines have adopted measures to check such practices. They penalize the Websites, which resort to such illegal practices.
I am John K Anthony currently working in IDS Logic Pvt. Ltd is a SEO & Outsourcing to India Provides, SEO Consulting Services, Link Building Services, SEO Services India and Outsource SEO Services. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_K_Anthony |
Role of Link Building in Getting Top Ranks For a Web Site
By John K Anthony
Link building is the process of acquiring links from relevant Web sites. Link building plays a significant role in search engine optimization (SEO). Popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN welcome organic links in a Website. By implementing effective links, a Website can have the following benefits.
Improve the quality of the Web sites
The whole concept of link building focuses on sharing right and comprehensive information with users. If a Web site embeds a hyperlink into it, it shows that there is some information in that link, which might be of some interest to the user. An interested user may click that link and reach the respective page in that Web site. Thus they gain more information on their topics of interest. In this way, link building helps in generating user interest and increases usability of a Web site.
Impress search engines
As mentioned above, links can play a great role in building traffic to a Web sites. For search engines, a Web portal that is rich with relevant external links is better than that with few or no links. The search engines attribute the link popularity of a Web Portal to its quality. Thus, a Web site with more backlinks is likely to score better in the search results.
Build credibility
Links are yardsticks of credibility of a business. If a user finds the hyperlink of your Web site on a popular Web sites, he/she is likely to develop more confidence in your business thanks to the reputation of the partner Website. A share of their reputation is thus transferred to your Website. Blogs demonstrate the most practical approach to build confidence of users through links. Trusted blogs always share trustworthy links. A regular visitor to such blogs is likely to trust the links and the corresponding Web sites.
While link building services offers all of these benefits, it also can harm the Web portal if done in an unethical manner. There are Web sites that dupe search engines by adopting meaningless link exchange methods among 'similar-looking' Websites. This method of 'cultivating' links to generate more search engine traffic is called link farming. However, all of the popular search engines have adopted measures to check such practices. They penalize the Websites, which resort to such illegal practices.
I am John K Anthony currently working in IDS Logic Pvt. Ltd is a SEO & Outsourcing to India Provides, SEO Consulting Services, Link Building Services, SEO Services India and Outsource SEO Services. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_K_Anthony |
Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization How To's
Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization How To's
By Jason A Osborn
Internet marketing search engine optimization is not all about keywords and back links, but these are the two items that have the biggest effect on your search engine position, and the two things that you have the most control over. Many new businesses or new website owners make the mistake of only optimizing their websites. However, internet marketing search engine optimization is just as important.
The first thing to do is make sure your site is optimized. Internet marketing optimization won't do you much good if your site is not optimized first. Your keyword should be in the URL, but if that is not possible at this stage you can use it in the title, content, and file names. If you have already done this, you are one step ahead, and can no use the exact same techniques in your IM campaigns.
There are two main steps to successful internet marketing:
1. Use keyword or keyword phrases in your online marketing pieces, including online classifieds, articles, banner ads, and social networking posts.
2. Only use web sites that have a high page rank of four or better for your internet marketing. This goes for article directories, online classifieds, and web directories.
Once you have mastered these two items, you will find that your online marketing becomes more visible in the search engines than your website or the websites of your competitors. This is because the search engines pull content from the highest page ranks first. You will also be able to increase your own page rank because you will be creating quality back links.
Do you want to learn how I build a list and make money online? I've just finished writing a brand new FREE ebook called '7 Steps to Profits and List Building with Article Marketing'. Download it FREE here: Article Marketing Profits
Generate Web Traffic
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_A_Osborn
Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization How To'sBy Jason A Osborn
Internet marketing search engine optimization is not all about keywords and back links, but these are the two items that have the biggest effect on your search engine position, and the two things that you have the most control over. Many new businesses or new website owners make the mistake of only optimizing their websites. However, internet marketing search engine optimization is just as important.
The first thing to do is make sure your site is optimized. Internet marketing optimization won't do you much good if your site is not optimized first. Your keyword should be in the URL, but if that is not possible at this stage you can use it in the title, content, and file names. If you have already done this, you are one step ahead, and can no use the exact same techniques in your IM campaigns.
There are two main steps to successful internet marketing:
1. Use keyword or keyword phrases in your online marketing pieces, including online classifieds, articles, banner ads, and social networking posts.
2. Only use web sites that have a high page rank of four or better for your internet marketing. This goes for article directories, online classifieds, and web directories.
Once you have mastered these two items, you will find that your online marketing becomes more visible in the search engines than your website or the websites of your competitors. This is because the search engines pull content from the highest page ranks first. You will also be able to increase your own page rank because you will be creating quality back links.
Do you want to learn how I build a list and make money online? I've just finished writing a brand new FREE ebook called '7 Steps to Profits and List Building with Article Marketing'. Download it FREE here: Article Marketing Profits
Generate Web Traffic
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_A_Osborn
By Jason A Osborn
Internet marketing search engine optimization is not all about keywords and back links, but these are the two items that have the biggest effect on your search engine position, and the two things that you have the most control over. Many new businesses or new website owners make the mistake of only optimizing their websites. However, internet marketing search engine optimization is just as important.
The first thing to do is make sure your site is optimized. Internet marketing optimization won't do you much good if your site is not optimized first. Your keyword should be in the URL, but if that is not possible at this stage you can use it in the title, content, and file names. If you have already done this, you are one step ahead, and can no use the exact same techniques in your IM campaigns.
There are two main steps to successful internet marketing:
1. Use keyword or keyword phrases in your online marketing pieces, including online classifieds, articles, banner ads, and social networking posts.
2. Only use web sites that have a high page rank of four or better for your internet marketing. This goes for article directories, online classifieds, and web directories.
Once you have mastered these two items, you will find that your online marketing becomes more visible in the search engines than your website or the websites of your competitors. This is because the search engines pull content from the highest page ranks first. You will also be able to increase your own page rank because you will be creating quality back links.
Do you want to learn how I build a list and make money online? I've just finished writing a brand new FREE ebook called '7 Steps to Profits and List Building with Article Marketing'. Download it FREE here: Article Marketing Profits
Generate Web Traffic
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_A_Osborn
3 Basic Tips to Make Your Blog Successful
3 Basic Tips to Make Your Blog Successful
By Sandeep Bajaj
However, there are 3 essential things to make sure your blog is on the path to success. Read on, for more information:
1. Format of your blog - Your blog should be visually appealing. The background color and font color is an essential factor in your blogs success. You'll be amazed with the no. of free themes that are available. It's best to stick with a light background color and dark text. Also, make sure that the content of your blog matches with theme you choose.
2. Content - Updating fresh content on your blog is a way to keep it going. I'd suggest you have a database of posts, as there will be times when you will not be able to write content. And make sure to proof read your posts before you have them on your blog as the online world is full of text.
3. Socially Available - Make sure your socially visible. There are a number of websites and social directories where you can market yourselves. To name a few Twitter, Facebook, Mybloglog are among the many. Here you can voice your opinion, provide updates on your life, offer insight in current events or focus on any other goal you want.
These are the few of the many tips that will help you success in the blogosphere
Sandeep is an auditor by profession, and a blogger by passion. You can catch Sandeep's journey on blogging at http://www.curiouslittleperson.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandeep_Bajaj
Sandeep Bajaj - EzineArticles Expert Author
3 Basic Tips to Make Your Blog Successful
By Sandeep Bajaj
However, there are 3 essential things to make sure your blog is on the path to success. Read on, for more information:
1. Format of your blog - Your blog should be visually appealing. The background color and font color is an essential factor in your blogs success. You'll be amazed with the no. of free themes that are available. It's best to stick with a light background color and dark text. Also, make sure that the content of your blog matches with theme you choose.
2. Content - Updating fresh content on your blog is a way to keep it going. I'd suggest you have a database of posts, as there will be times when you will not be able to write content. And make sure to proof read your posts before you have them on your blog as the online world is full of text.
3. Socially Available - Make sure your socially visible. There are a number of websites and social directories where you can market yourselves. To name a few Twitter, Facebook, Mybloglog are among the many. Here you can voice your opinion, provide updates on your life, offer insight in current events or focus on any other goal you want.
These are the few of the many tips that will help you success in the blogosphere
Sandeep is an auditor by profession, and a blogger by passion. You can catch Sandeep's journey on blogging at http://www.curiouslittleperson.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandeep_Bajaj
Sandeep Bajaj - EzineArticles Expert Author
3 Tips For Effective Internet Business Research
3 Tips For Effective Internet Business Research
By Dale E East
When you are about to launch into an internet business, it is important to understand the basics of internet business research. For many people the decision is impulsive rather than informed. Often times what happens is that you are influenced by another successful entrepreneur and you think you can simply copy his success formula. Experience will however show that this is far from true. The 3 tips below will help you understand the basics of research.
1. Learning first
To become a CEO, you go to a business school and invest time and money learning the ropes over several semesters and through hard work. If this is true, then internet marketing business research has its share of learning to be completed before you launch into a business. Choose a business that tunes perfectly to your strengths and knowledge base. Acquire specific knowledge on the chosen business, understand possible roadblocks and the tools to overcome them. Continue with the process of learning until you can position yourself as an expert.
2. Solving the jigsaw puzzle
During the initial days, researching your online business can appear like a jigsaw puzzle. Acquiring clients, identifying payment options, managing deliveries, customer service, trouble shooting, complaint management, communication etc are different components of your business. Only when you put these components in their respective slots will a successful business emerge.
3. Role of mentors
For every niche, for every business, there are experts around. Your internet business research will receive a shot in the arm when you identify experts to be your mentors. The social media offers a range of options to identify your mentors and work with them. Facebook, Forums, Twitter etc. are wonderful tools to help you in this direction.
Would you like to learn more about starting an Internet business? I just completed a brand new free guide.
Download my brand new free guide here: Internet Business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_E_East
3 Tips For Effective Internet Business ResearchBy Dale E East
When you are about to launch into an internet business, it is important to understand the basics of internet business research. For many people the decision is impulsive rather than informed. Often times what happens is that you are influenced by another successful entrepreneur and you think you can simply copy his success formula. Experience will however show that this is far from true. The 3 tips below will help you understand the basics of research.
1. Learning first
To become a CEO, you go to a business school and invest time and money learning the ropes over several semesters and through hard work. If this is true, then internet marketing business research has its share of learning to be completed before you launch into a business. Choose a business that tunes perfectly to your strengths and knowledge base. Acquire specific knowledge on the chosen business, understand possible roadblocks and the tools to overcome them. Continue with the process of learning until you can position yourself as an expert.
2. Solving the jigsaw puzzle
During the initial days, researching your online business can appear like a jigsaw puzzle. Acquiring clients, identifying payment options, managing deliveries, customer service, trouble shooting, complaint management, communication etc are different components of your business. Only when you put these components in their respective slots will a successful business emerge.
3. Role of mentors
For every niche, for every business, there are experts around. Your internet business research will receive a shot in the arm when you identify experts to be your mentors. The social media offers a range of options to identify your mentors and work with them. Facebook, Forums, Twitter etc. are wonderful tools to help you in this direction.
Would you like to learn more about starting an Internet business? I just completed a brand new free guide.
Download my brand new free guide here: Internet Business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_E_East
By Dale E East
When you are about to launch into an internet business, it is important to understand the basics of internet business research. For many people the decision is impulsive rather than informed. Often times what happens is that you are influenced by another successful entrepreneur and you think you can simply copy his success formula. Experience will however show that this is far from true. The 3 tips below will help you understand the basics of research.
1. Learning first
To become a CEO, you go to a business school and invest time and money learning the ropes over several semesters and through hard work. If this is true, then internet marketing business research has its share of learning to be completed before you launch into a business. Choose a business that tunes perfectly to your strengths and knowledge base. Acquire specific knowledge on the chosen business, understand possible roadblocks and the tools to overcome them. Continue with the process of learning until you can position yourself as an expert.
2. Solving the jigsaw puzzle
During the initial days, researching your online business can appear like a jigsaw puzzle. Acquiring clients, identifying payment options, managing deliveries, customer service, trouble shooting, complaint management, communication etc are different components of your business. Only when you put these components in their respective slots will a successful business emerge.
3. Role of mentors
For every niche, for every business, there are experts around. Your internet business research will receive a shot in the arm when you identify experts to be your mentors. The social media offers a range of options to identify your mentors and work with them. Facebook, Forums, Twitter etc. are wonderful tools to help you in this direction.
Would you like to learn more about starting an Internet business? I just completed a brand new free guide.
Download my brand new free guide here: Internet Business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_E_East
