Do Google+1′s Really Affect Your SEO?

The hype around Google Plus has been fostered mainly by the implementation and integration of its “+1” feature into virtually all aspects of Google. It is very comparable to Facebook’s “Like” feature, but differs in some regards. Until recently, many people did not understand the purpose of this action, as it does not directly share or spread content whenever a user engages in a +1. Recent algorithm changes in Google have given the impression that +1s can in fact affect your search engine optimization process, and this has left many people asking the question: do Google Plus 1s really affect SEO?

Social Impacts

The primary benefit to having a solid performance when it comes to +1s is the boost you will receive in social searches. Whenever a friend has +1′d your page, for instance, their friends and anyone in their circles will be more likely to see that result whenever they search for a similar topic or interest. Google has increasingly placed an added amount of value on search preferences from friends and acquaintances whenever you search for a given query, giving you even more reason to be constantly pinging the servers of Google with new updates.

Effects on Broader Search Results

Many may be asking: how does this impact regular search results? The correlation seems to be clear: items that are +1′d more often have both a higher click through rate and a higher percentage chance of being shared with others. This leads to more traffic, and ultimately, a more positive association between select search results and your website by Google. Upon understanding this, it makes sense to have both a strong social media presence and a website that fully integrates concepts like Google Plus sharing directly into each piece of content. Failure to do so will lead to a loss of potential traffic – and your loss is someone else’s gain.

Other Considerations

Most of the benefits you will gain via +1s are indirect in nature, but will provide a good barometer of your site’s current health. If you suddenly see an increase in the content being shared via Google, then you can take some comfort in the fact that your content is being well-received and is pinging the servers of Google and other major search engines. It can also be reassuring to know that any social media strategy that is accompanied with your regular content marketing is having a positive effect.

Conclusion

The summary of analysing Google Plus suggests that there is a correlation between improved SEO and the increased use of +1s by readers and fans. As Google continues to move more and more toward a social search strategy in order to keep up with tactics used by search engines like Bing, these social indicators will become more and more powerful in driving your site to the top. For now, though, you can expect the biggest gains in this approach via the social network itself – sharing and +1′ing select content through Google will at least gain you more prominent featuring in search results for those using the social platform.

How to Optimize Your Website for a Chinese Audience

Many webmasters have taken for granted the concept that much of the internet is featured in English. While English has remained the language of business, it is not the end-all, be-all communication method when it comes to breaking into new markets and engaging with a new audience. There exists several reasons for broadening your exposure into a new market and language, and there may not be a better example of this than China. If you are wanting to engage with a Chinese audience, you most certainly are going to need to optimize your site to appear in Baidu, the predominant Chinese search engine. This article will help you understand what needs to be done on your end to be featured in Chinese search results.

Content in Chinese

In order to be featured in Baidu search results, your site will need to have some Chinese content for their crawlers to index. English-only sites are virtually unheard of on Baidu, unless they are a very large entity or otherwise prominent on the web. For those who are running a small-scale business, however, having an array of Chinese content is essential. When pinging search engines with Chinese content, Baidu will be able to index and thereby display your site in key search results based on keywords. You can still have a large percentage of your content in English, but a Chinese section will work wonders in regards to breaking into this new audience.

Domain Considerations

While the .com domain is universally recognized and used, Baidu gives preference to domains that have .cn or .com.cn in them. Why? It relates very well to the aforementioned section; Baidu loves Chinese content and strives to index only Chinese content (this may have more to do with certain censoring mechanisms within the country itself than Baidu’s actual preferences). Regardless of reason, it is fairly simple to purchase and subsequently add on a Chinese domain to an existing website, so be sure to implement this in order to be in good graces with the search engine.

Tags and Breadcrumbs

Being indexed is crucial, so you must ensure that any website is properly tagged and has elements that allow it to be indexed and crawled with ease. Using both alt tags and header tags help make the key points of your content, such as titles and keywords, viewable by search engines and give your site a better chance of being picked up in search results. The same can be said for making sure that breadcrumbs are enabled, as well as using standard text links throughout the site. As always, a site map is a great thing to have in place for web crawlers.

Original Content

Baidu is even more strict than Google at penalizing duplicate content, so be sure that your content is in fact legitimate and unique. Whether it is in Chinese or English, Baidu will check to make sure that no other site has the exact same content featured; do not make the mistake that some do and simply edit small portions of content that does not belong to you. When pinging search engines like Baidu, the content is heavily inspected and may not pass muster.

Are News Based Articles a Good Idea or is Evergreen Content Always Best?

Devising the most efficient content strategy is something many bloggers, webmasters and businesses contemplate when managing their websites and blogs. Deciding on whether you will be using news-based content or static content is a tough decision for many and each method has certain advantages and disadvantages. For those trying to decide which way to go, we have put together a cheat sheet of sorts that explains each approach, as well as the pros and cons you will encounter. The final question is, “Which is better? News based articles or evergreen content?”. Continue reading to find out the verdict.

The Main Differences

News based content obviously covers news and current events, and is used consistently in content strategies to bring in new visitors to a blog or site. Within the category of news based content, there are websites that cover virtually every niche: sports, entertainment, politics and technology are just a few examples of well-covered news based content categories. Evergreen content, on the other hand, is content that is designed to be reusable and valid for long periods of time. Many common evergreen content strategies incorporate how-tos and infographics as a way of pinging for SEO while also providing valuable content to readers.

Advantages of News Based Articles

The biggest advantage to utilizing a news based article approach is that you can consistently attract new readers – and in the process, convert many into loyal readers. While each piece of content in and of itself does not have a particularly long shelf life, the strategy of constantly creating short summaries of ongoing events does give your site the benefit of providing new information constantly. This approach means that virtually everyone will find something of interest on your website at some point or another. Developing a strong marketing strategy to reach out to these individuals will help you maximize potential.

Advantages of Evergreen Content

When adopting an evergreen content strategy, the biggest benefit comes in knowing that your content will continue to be valid for long periods of time. Depending on the subject, some evergreen content may need occasional updating, but the general premise is to cover subjects that do not change in their premise. This content method helps bloggers and webmasters create content that can be used time and time again in marketing campaigns and can be a passive source of traffic to the site if you are pinging for SEO. Evergreen content typically has minimal maintenance required, making it the more popular of the two.

Conclusion

It really depends on what you seek from your site when selecting a particular content strategy. Those who prefer a more laid back experience while also earning passive income will select evergreen content as their favourite. If, however, you wish to ride the waves of the latest trends and capitalize upon their success, news based content can be much more lucrative – but as mentioned, requires much more attention. Knowing this, proactive bloggers and webmasters will find more success in news based content, while multitasking content creators will prefer the simplicity of evergreen content.

LinkedIn SEO Tricks to Help Raise Your Profile Rank

Countless business professionals have flocked to LinkedIn as a place where like-minded people can interact, network and likewise increase their clout in the business world. Whether it is in the pursuit of a new career or in search of a new solution for a particular business objective, LinkedIn has the largest gathering of professionals online than any other outlet on the planet. LinkedIn profiles have a dual function: they help people find you within the confines of LinkedIn, but they also are displayed in certain search results. For those wishing to raise their profile rank and appear more prominently in search results, continue reading to find out how to do so.

Give Your URL A Catchy Name

Each and every LinkedIn profile has a URL that can be customized, giving you the ability to formulate a goal in how you want others to see your profile and also what information is transmitted when pinging to Google. Rather than using a random string of characters, you can attempt to use your name, your company’s name or even certain keywords that will make your profile more likely to appear in select search results. This also makes it quite easy for people to use your direct URL to locate your LinkedIn page; they will either be able to remember it after seeing it for the first time, or people who have not found your profile yet may stumble across it via search results.

Public Profiles

So many users of LinkedIn want to be noticed by potential recruiters, HR staff and clients but ultimately fail to do one of the best things for recognition: enabling public viewing of their profiles. If your profile is limited to being viewed by only those in your inner circles, then it suddenly becomes exponentially more difficult for others to find you on the social network (actually, it becomes impossible). Make sure to enable this feature so that both potential contacts and search engines are able to view your profile’s content and credentials.

Smart Keywords

Using keywords on the internet to gain exposure is nothing new, but using them on LinkedIn is an art and must be done so carefully. The first and only real rule of thumb in regards to LinkedIn and keywords is to use relevant keywords that are applicable to you. For the vast majority of people, these keywords will pertain to the job or career in which you are currently employed or seeking employment. Most users of LinkedIn are not known well enough for the usage of their names as keywords, so stick to the outlined advice above when employing the usage of keywords in your profile.

Conclusion

Getting extra mileage out of your LinkedIn profile is simple and only takes a few steps. When pinging to Google the details of your LinkedIn profile, you can expect to receive more inquiries and job opportunities as your clout continues to grow within pre-determined search results. By filling out all the basic information fields on your profile, enabling public access, using keywords and creating a custom URL, you can leave a good impression and make yourself remember-able to those who find you.

A Marketer’s Guide to Google Plus

Social media is the latest element of the web to be revolutionized by marketing approaches, leaving many in the field wondering what they can do to get the most out of their marketing strategies. Google+ was a rather late addition in the world of social media, but has grown exponentially due to a large Google web presence and constant promotion of its existence through multiple Google products. If you have been looking to get more out of your Google+ presence, then continue reading to find out how you can optimize your social media to be more effective when it comes to marketing.

Google+ Circles

This feature is a unique characteristic within the Google+ social network; by creating the idea of circles, individuals are able to segment their followers into specific categories such as ‘Friends’, ‘Business’, ‘Acquaintances’ and any other group the user can devise. For those using marketing tactics on the social network, this concept is wonderful. By having the ability to group and subsequently micro-target specific individuals with your marketing efforts, you can have a unique approach for each type of follower your Google+ profile or page, pinging the networks individually with specialized content. With customized messaging options built directly into the platform, Google+ is a natural marketing tool.

Google+ Profiles

The centrepiece of any marketing effort is your Google+ Profile, which can be utilized either as an individual profile or a branded business page. Within the first six months of unveiling business pages, Google+ saw more than one million profiles created; those who were seeking to expand their brand’s exposure through social networking certainly saw the marketing potential in this powerful tool. Not only do these pages offer the ability for webmasters to intricately detail the offerings of their brand, but can also be used on the back-end by administrators to analyse dozens of metrics, giving you full understanding of how much effect your marketing strategies are having on the network.

Google+ Mobile

With options to share events around you on the go and display your current location, Google+ allows marketing strategists to constantly be pinging the networks and circles that follow their pages and profiles. Your followers can even check in at locations you have suggested or posted, giving you an element of creativity in marketing (example: encourage your followers to check-in at a given location in exchange for a discount or reward). With nearly 20% of all web traffic now coming via mobile devices, it only makes sense to develop a marketing strategy around it – and Google+ is fully versatile in this approach.

Conclusion

Built to be a premium, end-all be-all solution to social media, Google+ has many elements integrated that make it a marketer’s dream. With a very established base of users, excellent access to analytics and a platform that is intuitive both for followers and administrators, Google+ may be the best platform out there on which to begin any new marketing strategy. Best of all, it does not cost anything to try it out: there is no need to wait any longer to begin your new marketing strategy with Google!

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Positive Brand Image

Building a brand via the internet can be a challenging task for those who have never had first-hand experience in doing so. Between knowing where to begin, what to acquire in terms of intellectual property and how to maintain your presence in a positive light, the process can be nerve wracking for many. Fortunately, creating a positive brand image online utilizes some of the same basic tactics anyone would use in the physical world, but with slight twists. We will walk you through the process of beginning to build your brand image in a way that suits both the desires of your brand and your business.

Build A Website

The first act of establishing an online brand image is to construct a traditional website. While some say that the future is within social media, having a website is crucial for many reasons: not everyone uses social media, and you do not want to miss out on potential opportunities. Likewise, you can always share your social media connections by pinging your website with plugins to allow individuals access to them. It is through the website that you will wish to have clear, professional logos that symbolize your business, in conjunction with simple navigation and (if applicable) customer options that makes using your website easy and remember-able.

Buy Up Domains

Before you can deploy your website, you will need hosting and a domain name (www.yourbrand.com) that users will use to find their way to your site. The mistake many businesses make is that they buy just one domain name. The reality is that you can have multiple domain names redirecting to the same site, or establish unique websites for each domain that showcase different angles of a brand. It never hurts to have multiple domain names, as this will help you be found easier and will prevent malicious competitors from attempting to masquerade as your business in the aims of either earning your customers’ business or otherwise denigrating your brand’s positive image.

Use Social Media

There is no better way to maintain an intimate connection with your followers than by expanding your brand’s presence to social media. Those who use social media to highlight their brand, product or company can expect up to twice the amount of exposure as they would otherwise get with just a traditional website. By pinging your website’s latest updates to all of your social media outlets, you can be sure that everyone with whom you are connected is able to view and interact with your brand. You also want to make sure to carry over any logos and imagery to make sure that your social media pages stand out and are easily recognizable in status feeds.

Create Blogs

Having a blog for your brand is great for providing information and thus associating your brand as a valuable contributor in whatever field of interest it is based. Some brands create various blogs that cover different details of the brand: one may speak about its community outreach, while another may focus on product offerings and promotions. If you can create enough content to maintain multiple blogs about your brand, then you absolutely must consider deploying as many blogs as you can handle.

Twitter Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

Marketing via social media has become all the rage as of late, offering virtually anyone the ability to micro-target and reach anyone else who is using the same platform – all while being incredibly affordable. Twitter has been shown to have the most effective marketing platform in terms of click through rate, so it is just common sense that more and more people are using it in order to reach their niche audiences. Still, mistakes can be made when utilizing a marketing campaign on Twitter; one wrong move and you can cause serious damage. The following will help you to avoid making the most common marketing mistakes when using the Twitter platform.

Winging It

If you have not sat down and devised a precise marketing strategy with multiple ad variations, different target audiences and a clear, concise theme: stop! One of the biggest mistakes that Twitter marketers make is putting together an ad campaign on the fly, using the first decent imagery and text that comes to mind. These strategies need to be mulled over thoroughly by everyone involved with the project who handles aspects of marketing, followed by a small test batch of advertising that does not allow a potential negatively-perceived advertising campaign to go viral.

Marketing to A Large Audience

Before you start pinging the servers of Twitter with an array of new advertisements, you will want to make sure that you are effectively targeting who will be seeing these ads. Research shows that targeted advertising can have anywhere from three to five times the click through rate of a traditional, blanketed advertising campaign. By targeting your audience, you will be able to spend less money and get more for the investment. By doing the opposite, you will end up with empty pockets, ads being shown to people who are not interested and a very, very poor return on investment.

Failing to Use Social Media

Any advertising campaign via Twitter must have elements of social media incorporated into it. You will want to be sure to be active daily, so that you can respond to any comments or criticisms that arise as a result of your marketing. It is also a great idea to ensure that you are broadcasting the URLs of other social media hubs you control via Twitter so that if individuals find your Twitter feed, they have the opportunity to like or follow you elsewhere. By being connected as much as possible, your marketing strategy will come full circle and constantly be pinging the servers of not just Twitter, but also sending traffic to your other social networks as well. If it is disconnected and fragmented, then the ripple effects associated with marketing will not be there.

Not Advertising to Customers

After running a few successful advertising campaigns to a select audience, you may begin to think that the “gold mine” is tapped and that there is no more you can achieve by advertising to these individuals. Wrong! When you look at some of the biggest companies in the world, they consistently promote their product to people who are fully aware of and use their products quite often. By making consistent impressions upon a given group, you help to build brand loyalty. Doing so via Twitter with your advertising campaign is no different.

Get 200+ Facebook like per day

Last day Davidslove Fan Page has reached 200+ LIKES in a day. It's a happiest news for me and i would like to say thanks for each and every Likers at this moment.

So today I'll give you a very important tip about Facebook Fan Page Likes. We are using Facebook Fan Page to grow our business, blog/ website traffic & some other pages has been created for entertainment.

There are different kinds of fan pages created by Facebook users for different purposes. But the main thing is we can't get Facebook Likes easily to our pages from Facebook users. Mostly Facebook users gives their Like for unique pages only. I hope Facebook Fan Page admins can understand this.

So today i'm going to tell you some super ways to get more and more Likes to your Facebook Fan Page. And also by using this method you can get more Social network followers, pluses & likes such as Twitter followers, Google +, YouTube subscribers etc...

There are lots websites available on internet that allows you to exchange coins or credits for Facebook Likes.

How this exchange system works?

This exchange system is running under simple theory that you Like another members Facebook page and you'll earn some free coins or credits for the Like. Now you can get free Likes for your Facebook Pages by using free coins which you have earned.

Here i have mentioned some best Facebook Like Exchange sites below.

YouLikeHits
AddmeFast
Facebook Exchange
Likerr
EasyLikes4U 
Likemachine
SeoCambio
Get2gethars
InetJunkie
Social Clerks
Net0.com
Follow Like
Hit Warms
Exchange4me
NinjaLikes
Social Media Explode
Like Visits
Up Like Exchange
LIKEBOT
Workzor
PluseX

                      Simply register on above mentioned sites

                                                     

                         LIKE other member's Facebook Page

                                                     

                                          Earn Free Coins

                                                     

        Get Free LIKE for your Facebook Page by using Coins

Join with above mentioned websites and get more than 200 Free Likes for your Facebook pages everyday !!!

Dear Friends , I kindly Request you all to Like Our Facebook Fan Page.

Like My Page if you think this are useful thank you

How to check backlinks

How many backlinks has got a website? Nobody knows it in fact. At the best we can find number of back links counted here and there. The most important question is - why do we need to know the number of backlinks at all? SEO? The count of backlinks is good for reporting and audit papers, that means telling our client how successful we have been in link building.

Well, we need still high quality backlinks to push our positions on search engines. But then, what are these quality links Google takes into account? What backlinks work best for us? Nobody knows how many weight points any of these worthy-links we hunt for have got… So, instead of asking what backlinks we need, we will pig headedly chase the counts, numbers of backlinks.

Checking backlinks on different web sites and/or on different conditions helps us chart the landscape and make important decisions in SEO.

Google Webmaster tool

Google Webmaster tool says: Top 62 domains that have links to pages on your site. Total links 1,267. Something smells a rat and there it is - Google as checked in 1,135 backlinks from the updowner.com, with 200 links pointing to one single page. Not all backlinks are listed in Google Webmaster Central, and some backlinks listed here are omitted in Google searches.

Google Webmaster tool isn't precise and it works for sites under our control. What if we want to find backlinks of competitors?

Anchor text

Anchor text that contains a domain name isn't a backlink, thus allinanchor: and its equivalent as_occt=links are worthless for checking backlinks. However it can hint the competition, allinanchor: "search engine optimisation" and google.com/search?q="search engine optimisation"&as_occt=links will show how many anchor texts on the web contain this phrase. Quick check finds about 68,400,000 results. Not very useful to estimate the competition either.

Google search query

Google search for Tuljo.com, google.com/search?q="tuljo.com" reports about 11,200 results. Fair enough. However, when we arrive on the last result page, it says: "Page 14 of 124 results." Which is right, left or right?.

How to find right number of results?

• Google displays different counts on the last result page and pages before. Only when we actually start drilling down through the pages does Google bother to fully calculate the count of pages, so the right number of results is displayed on the last page. If it's less than 1000.
• Though the statistics bar may estimate that more than 1000 results match your query, Google doesn't serve more than 1000 results for any query. Last Results Page. Google won't let you go beyond the 1000th result, that's the end of the line and we can't see beyond that

If there are many backlinks and we are too lazy to click out to the last page we can jump to the 1000th or last result using query parameter start=990. Or num=100 plus start=900. Parameter num=100 works if the Google Instant search is switched off. Search Settings > Google Instant predictions > Never show Instant results.

google.com/search?q="tuljo.com"&start=990 - Page 13 of 124 results

Checking backlinks

Google search query has special terms to check who links to the domain - as_lq= in URL query and link: in search box query. There is a space after link:, parameter as_lq= is empty and the domain name has to be in quotation marks.

• Check from Google search box - link: "tuljo.com" - About 4,880 results.
  We have to climb to the last results page to see the correct number - Page 7 of 70 results.
• google.co.uk/search?q=link:+"tuljo.com"&start=990 - Page 7 of 70 results.
• google.co.uk/search?q="tuljo.com"&as_lq=&start=990 - Page 13 of 123 results.
• google.co.uk/search?q="tuljo.com"&as_lq=&start=990&filter=0&filter=s - Page 26 of 254 results.

Different queries return different results. Webmaster Central (1,267 backlinks) shows domains that are missing in our queries and vice versa. Obviously the reasonable approach would be just to choose one formula and stick to this. In God We Trust.

• We would filter out internal links adding -site:tuljo.com
• We would do global search, instead of google.co.uk/search?q= do google.com/search?q=
• We would encode
  q=link: "tuljo.com" -site:tuljo.com
  to
  q=link:+%22tuljo.com%22+-site%3Atuljo.com
• We would substitute the plus sign + for any whitespace sequences in the search query.
• We would add language hl=br to get results from Brazilian sites included.
• We would try to disable filters &filter=0&filter=s&safe=off&pws=0

Still we can check only 1000 backlinks per query. Read more about Google search parameters on Tuljo.com.

Ready baked queries to check backlinks

Quick backlink check -
google.com/search?q=link: "tuljo.com" -site:tuljo.com&start=990
52 backlinks.

Formatted query string -
http://www.google.com/search?q=link%3A+%22tuljo.com%22+-site%3Atuljo.com&start=990
52 backlinks.

Check for max number of backlinks -
google.com/search?q="tuljo.com" -site:tuljo.com&as_lq=&num=100&start=900&filter=0
120 backlinks.

This last check string will count as backlinks not only proper anchors but also URLs in image alt and src tags and in text. And does not include links that are listed on Google Webmaster Tools. So this does not return a full list of backlinks definitely.

Another thought. The backlinks give various positive signals to Google. Why shouldn't a src attribute be a signal? It's still a link, right? Or even futher, an URL written in body text? Or our name on a image? What is a backlink at all?

Find my backlinks

As conventional means of finding backlinks fail to deliver a coherent picture, we try to find other ways to check our links. A fragment like "http://"tuljo.com" would do. But it doesn't because the double quotation mark inside the keyword breaks the search. Insead we try "http://tuljo.com"

google.com/search?q=%22http%3a%2f%2ftuljo.com%22+-site%3Atuljo.com&num=100&start=900&pws=0
69 results.

This is equivalent to "http://tuljo.com" -site:tuljo.com

The best we can do is different queries to catch a glimpse. In reasonable limits, we never get to the exact count. We can explore the backlinks, and to be honest, that's what we want.

How to Control Blog Comment Spam

Running a blog is a stressful yet rewarding process that allows writers to share their opinions, engage in conversation and perhaps even earn a bit of income if they apply themselves to the task. What a writer does not need occurring is any more stress than the natural task of writing brings to the table, and one of the most common forms of irritation is comment spam. If you are running a blog and wish to insulate it from constant onslaughts of comment spam, then continue reading to find out how you can implement techniques to help safeguard your blog’s functionality and reputation.

Comment Spam Is Terrible

What exactly quantifies as comment spam? Usually, it refers to messages posted on blogs by people who are seeking to gain backlinks and in the process, enhance their own sites’ fortunes by piggybacking off of your blog. Some bloggers will leave these comments on their blogs in the hopes that it creates a false impression of activity, leading to more activity from real posters. Unfortunately, comment spam can harm your search engine rankings, may demonstrate to readers that you do not take comment moderation seriously and ultimately can be distracting to those who wish to genuinely comment.

Identifying Comment Spam

Some may have difficulty discerning the difference between a spam comment and a legitimate comment, depending on the circumstance. In many cases, comment spam is obvious: it either does not pertain to the subject at hand, is poorly worded or has a terrible “lead” in to the site that is being promoted by the comment. By inspecting whether or not the comment uses real contact information, has keywords in it (used as an SEO tactic by many spammers when pinging search engines) or appears to be one of many varying comments from the same person promoting different sites, then chances are it is comment spam.

Anti-Spam Measures

Most bloggers use WordPress these days for both their blogging and general website maintenance. If you have WordPress, there are quite a few built-in settings that can be utilized to prevent comment spam, such as comment moderation/approval, trackback disabling and hiding comments that are past a certain age. There are a variety of plugins that can be used as well, giving administrators the ability to automatically direct comments perceived as spam directly into a spam folder for later review. Even if you are not using WordPress, there are several standalone options available to any blogger to help weed through spam comments as they arise.

Conclusion

While there is no full-proof way to completely prevent spam comments from appearing on your blog (short of disabling comments altogether), you can be smart and proactive in knowing what to look for and how to remove it. As a blogger, you must keep a vigilant eye out for each and every new comment posted; you do not want spam pinging search engines from your site that could ultimately destroy your search engine rankings. By following this basic advice, you will negate the vast majority of damage that potential comment spammers can cause while also preventing them from gaining an advantage at your expense.

The Google Publisher Toolbar – The Lowdown

Webmasters value the ability to gauge specific metrics about their site without having to worry about complex and time-consuming methods. One of the best ways in which webmasters can gain valuable information about their websites in real time is the Google Publisher Toolbar. This add-on works directly with Google Chrome to provide various details in-browser while you are viewing a particular page or site. What features can the Google Publisher Toolbar offer you in regards to maintaining and optimizing your website? Continue reading to find out about all this Chrome extension has to offer.

Account Overview

This broad feature can be accessed directly from the browser; it will display any and all Google-related data about your site in real time. Included in this are updates regarding your estimated account earnings (with ranges for today, the past week, month and year). You will also be able to see any custom channels (up to five) and can sort them by the amount of revenue each has earned. There is also the option to view your total lifetime revenue. This area is also the place from which you can enable ad overlays on your site. You will need to authorize your websites to be used with the Google Publisher Toolbar prior to using these features.

In-Site Ad Overlays

As previously mentioned, you can enable in-site ad overlays to display various data about the campaign using the Google Publisher Toolbar. Much in the same way that pinging Yahoo and other search engines with updates works, the Google Publisher Toolbar will ping revenue information and campaign details directly to the in-site ad overlays, showing you comprehensive details about the revenue you are earning without having to go into your settings or account details to see it. You can also use this feature as a way to block inappropriate ads from appearing on your websites.

In-Page Alert Bar

While logged in with the Google Publisher Toolbar, you can add other sites you own to the program while also seeing any new alerts or pop-ups pertaining to information about any of your sites. You will want to make sure that in-site ad overlays are already enabled in order for this to work as intended. The alert bar will show the number of eligible ads for overlays that are on any of your websites; by clicking the ad overlay notification button on the toolbar, you can then begin adding overlays to those ads. Simply agree to the notification that appears and all of your ads on that particular site will now display overlays.

Conclusion

While pinging Yahoo, Google and other major search engines is a great way to expand your reach, all webmasters need internal data to properly manage their websites. The Google Publisher Toolbar offers the ability to view comprehensive data about your website and the ads which are displayed on it, giving you more control over the revenue generation and appearance of your websites. Best of all, it is easy to install, does not cost anything and integrates well with any and all existing Google services.

Does Your Website Have an FAQ Page?

When we consider all of the different types of information to include on our websites, we may attempt to create numerous amounts of items, pages and modules in what we consider to be a simplistic, self-explanatory summary of the product, service or cause that the website is designed to represent. One thing that is observed on many blogs and websites is the lack of an FAQ page. When covering a particular subject or process, it is immensely valuable to have a section that is both easily found and addresses some of the main concerns and questions people will have when they visit your website.

Improve Your Efficiency

Whether you are selling a product or advocating for a cause, an FAQ page can help eliminate some of the repetitiveness that comes with being a blogger or content creator. Rather than having to answer the same questions from people continuously pinging your blog or inbox for answers, you can take the most common inquiries and summarize said information on the FAQ page. Besides saving customers’ time, you will also be reducing the amount of time you have to spend on answering the same few questions every day. This will give you more time to otherwise be productive.

Increase Your Conversions

Some companies have adopted an approach that keeps certain information vague in order to either encourage the potential client to contact them or to be able to work out individualized quotes for each client. For an online presence, however, it is not the best solution. Use this as another opportunity to promote your contact information, though, so that individuals whose questions have been answered will see it before leaving the page. By providing the maximum amount of information in your FAQ page, you will make each reader or potential client feel more comfortable, leading to more interactions, dialogues and conversions.

FAQs for FAQs

Most people who consider creating FAQ pages ask, “what topics should I include on the page?”. Depending on the subject of the site and the type of audience pinging your blog, there can be an array of vital answers to provide. For direct sales, it makes sense to include your contact details, quotes, methods of payment accepted and shipping information. When advocating for a cause, you would want to summarize the stance and mission of the website, how to get involved and where else additional information can be found. The best way to determine this is by asking several people to view your website and pose any questions they may have to you directly; this is a great way to brainstorm and determine what information is optimal for inclusion.

Conclusion

The primary existence of a website or blog is to provide content, offer services and items, and convey opinions. The common denominator is that they exist to inform. It makes sense to create an FAQ page not only for the benefit of your readers, but it can also save you time and increase the likelihood that your visitors will engage with your blog or site in the way you wish them to do so.

12 Valuable Tips for Video SEO Beginners

If you aren't optimizing your videos to match what people are searching, your videos are likely to get lost and not reach their intended audience. Without reaching their intended audience, they serve no purpose.
YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Every minute, more than 48 hours of new video content is uploaded. Videos are 50 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google results, according to Nate Elliot at Forrester.
So how do you ensure your videos get results? With video search engine optimization, commonly referred to as video SEO.
To simplify what you need to do, think about your target audience. Consider their language, wants, and needs.
Use the following 12 valuable tips to get your video to reach the first page of Google and YouTube, but most importantly build visibility to a large niche audience that is interested in what you have to offer.

1. Content Quality Check
Ensure your videos are relevant, informative, and rich with content. Don't waste time producing videos that have nothing to do with your brand or service.
Videos demonstrating step-by-step processes or videos expressing opinions about topics can be quite useful. Videos should be fun, memorable, short, and leave the viewer wanting more.
If using a video production company, trust one that understands the importance of these concepts. If you're hesitant of their services, make sure to scan their existing video portfolio in detail for videos that match these qualities.

2. Title
Capture the potential viewer's attention with a catchy title that contains related key phrases that are relevant to your brand or service. Do some keyword research and find the words that your audience will most likely be searching, but remember to keep the title interesting, not just filled with keywords.
Create a title that will catch the eye of a user. Brainstorm some titles that catch your eye when passing a magazine rack. What compels you to pick up a magazine?

3. Tags
Optimize your video with important key phrases or keywords. Don't use complicated words or terminology that may not be common to the average person.
Refer back to your keyword research and think in terms of what your targeted audience might be searching for when looking to find your brand or service. Tag your video with these terms and consider naming the file of the video with these terms in mind.

4. Description
Optimize your video's description with relevant keywords and include a keyword-rich description of your video to allow search engines to index it and rank it higher, and for users to better understand your video before viewing.

5. Links
Use video as a portal to other content on your site. Upload a couple of videos to portals like YouTube and Vimeo, and consider providing links back to related content and other relevant videos on your site.

6. Transcripts
Provide transcripts of your videos. Good old HTML content is still a favorite with search engines.
If you want your video to rank well, you need to give the search engines something to index and rank. Surround your videos with on-page copy that can be indexed by search engines.

7. Length
Keep your video at five minutes or less. The average amount of time a user spends on a YouTube video is around 1 minute 30 seconds. People do not want to sit through a boring video, and most will not do it.
If you have video content that is of long duration, consider breaking it up into smaller pieces and tagging each accordingly, to be more appealing to the viewer. Not only does this make for better viewing pleasure, multiple videos are also better for optimization efforts.
YouTube is now paying close attention to viewership and engagement. It is critical that viewers watch your video for as long as possible.

8. Video Sitemaps
Submit a video sitemap to Google to make sure that the search engine spiders can find your video content and index it accordingly. This is the easiest way for search engines to find your video content.
Take advantage of Google Webmaster Tools for creating a video sitemap. Use important keywords in the anchor text that links to your videos featured on your sitemap.

9. Branding
As video is a great way to generate brand awareness with prospects, take advantage of this opportunity to incorporate your brand and logos into your videos.

10. Embedding Options
Help your video go viral. Allow other users access to the coding that will allow them to embed your video on their website or blog. This can help gain valuable back links and shares that will boost your rankings in search engines.

11. Syndication
Submit your video to RSS feeds and syndicate your videos to drive exposure across various online platforms and to optimize your videos even more.

12. Share, Share, Share!
Get on your social networks, look through your email contacts, write on your blogs, and get the hype going. Share your video with everyone, because if you have content worth sharing, it will continue to be shared to grow an expanding audience, and in turn develop more exposure for your brand or service.

Summary
Video optimization can be a great way for you to expose your brand to users who may otherwise not have been familiar with your brand, product, or services. It is a great way to engage, entertain, and promote that will get you great results on search engines.
Good luck with your video SEO!

Paying for Links – Is It Ever a Good Idea?

With search engine optimization now playing a more important role than ever in the world of gaining exposure via search engines and online sources, many are left with tons of questions. One of the recurring questions often asked is whether or not it is a good idea to purchase link space. There is no uniform answer, unfortunately, as it depends predominantly on the type of link in question, the amount of money being spent, the quality of the institution offering the deal and other factors as well. For those wanting to purchase links in order to gain exposure, please continue reading so you can sort through when to do so and when to walk away from the situation.

Paying for Link Directories

We have all seen them: link directories that promise to help build backlinks for your website while giving your pages more authority by virtue of being a part of these link directories. In the olden days, link directories had purpose and were a great way for individuals to find particular types of content before search engines were able to use modern nuances to uncover every website. Nowadays, though, most link directories are nothing more than scams – and in fact, being featured on a link directory that sells its services while pinging onlinedomains may result in select search engines downgrading your site’s rankings.

Paying for Links via Advertising – Small-scale

Not all links are necessarily permanent; with online advertising, you can display links to your site, blog or social media hub without having to earn a placement in search engines. Some entrepreneurs will reach out to other webmasters who are offering advertising space on their websites. If the content is of a similar nature and the audience will be receptive to your message, then this is a strategy that is worth investing. Downsides to this approach are that the advertising in question will only be displayed on one website, and sometimes advertising in this format can be relatively costly.

Paying for Links via Advertising – Networks and Social Media

Similar to the above, advertising via affiliate networks or social media will result in either penetrating multiple mediums at once, or opening your advertising efforts to a much larger magnitude of web users. In the case of Facebook, for example, you can reach up to one billion people depending on how you decide to target your campaign. Non social media-related avenues such as what is available through Google will allow your website or project to be display on multiple sites and in various search engines. While this is a very cost-effective approach when compared to other methods, it will not result in any permanent link building advantage when it comes to pinging online presence.

Conclusion

There are many elements to consider when weighing a purchase that involves your site’s links. Broadly speaking, search engines frown upon those who are caught purchasing links outright in order to game the system, but advertising efforts and having a dedicated person who focuses on expanding the organic backlink process can have a much greater effect on traffic and exposure – two of the most important things to a website and the reason we do SEO in the first place.

A Beginner’s Guide to Public Relations

Public relations has always been important for small and large businesses alike – without a solid ground game through which you can cultivate a positive attitude about your company or brand, you risk letting your competitors define you. In an increasingly mobile and technology-filled world, having a public relations campaign for your website and online presence is just as important as it is having one for a brick and mortar institution. For those seeking to improve their online public relations, continue reading to find out what the process entails and how you can form a successful campaign with minimal resistance.

What Is PR?

While many web enthusiasts think of ‘PR’ as being PageRank, PR also means public relations, and affects every aspect of your marketing, traffic and sales. Many utilize PR as a way to increase free exposure for their company through other outlets, such as newspaper, radio, blogs and television. The goal of PR is to enhance the level of exposure your business receives while also framing it in a positive light. By pinging a website or business’ best characteristics to the rest of the world, you can slowly but surely develop a PR campaign that relies on viral content, word of mouth and first impressions.

Public Relations for SEO

A detail oriented public relations campaign can do remarkable things for your organic search engine rankings on Google and other search engines. Studies have shown that well thought-out press releases and announcements that are search engine optimized can bring a load of benefits for your site in the short, medium and long-term. This gives you not just an opportunity to plug your business or website and showcase its positive attributes, but can also give you an extra opportunity to improve your search rankings by pinging a website’s basic information, keywords and new offerings all in one press release. Syndication of such press releases by other sources only add more clout to your SEO and PR strategy.

Contacting News Outlets

Most local news affiliates and newspapers love to offer publicity to businesses that have an interesting angle to cover. If you are the founder or current CEO of a company, it is vital that you make the initial contact, as reporters and editors are far more likely to be receptive to an angle pitched by the company’s chief than by a social media developer or contracted firm. In any email or personal conversation, you will want to showcase why the outlet in question should cover your business and be sure to include a general press release covering the event or promotion for which you are attempting to gain attention.

Conclusion

By developing a strong writing technique with which you can distribute effective press releases, combining the approach with elements of search engine optimization, reaching out to interested parties through social media and also contacting traditional news sources for potential coverage, you can begin to put into place the foundational blocks of a strong public relations campaign. While it will certainly take dedication and time to achieve the best results, following this advice will help steer you in the right direction.

Five Great Ways to Get Customer Feedback

Having a lifeline with your customers is vital in order to maintain a good relationship with them. Many times, we will hear from customers when something is blatantly wrong, but in many cases, marginally dissatisfied customers do not speak up; they instead vow never to give you return business and may spread their dissatisfaction via word of mouth. When you open multiple avenues for dialog and proactively encourage individuals to comment, you can help reduce the rate of this occurring. Below are five great ways in which you can encourage your customers to leave feedback, helping you manage your business more effectively.

Offer Contact Forms

Whenever your customers place an order, do they have a way to leave you feedback anonymously after the transaction has been completed? By implementing a program that can handle these submissions (a ticket management program is the best option for pinging servers with these comments when there is a high amount of traffic), you can provide a personalized approach to each customer’s comments and concerns.

Provide Forums for Discussion

While some businesses are weary to provide a public outlet for consumers to discuss their products’ disadvantages, having a place where problems can be discussed shows customers that you do in fact care and are taking proactive steps to rectify any issues they may have. By being attentive, polite and giving leeway when there is the option of doing so, many irate customers can be flipped into return business – if the problems are handled in the right way.

Send Out Surveys

Whenever a customer buys a product from you, do you provide them with a survey or questionnaire that asks them to report their feelings on the product and overall transaction? If not, you are missing out on valuable feedback. Whether it is in paper form in a brick-and-mortar institution or online and through email, always be sure to solicit responses from every single customer. By having the largest pool of feedback possible, you will be sure to get an accurate representation of how your customer base feels.

Setup Live Chat

If you are constantly involved with your business throughout the day, then setting up a live chat option is yet another way you can provide an outlet for consumers to inquire, complain or just get a feel for the product before they make a commitment. Rather than pinging servers on your own domain with added demand, you also have the option to acquire live chat services for a relatively inexpensive rate from a slew of international companies that provide the service – leaving you free to do other things.

Utilize Social Networks

Finally, the use of social media to handle comments is a great way to gain customer feedback and will be used by customers if promoted. Since many users are already on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms, it is very simple to convince them to communicate with you via the page in question. In many ways, this can be a two-fold benefit: some will end up liking your page as they come to leave comments, which will result in them receiving future updates from you in their status feeds.

What is Ghost Banning and How Can You Avoid It as a Marketer?

We all may be guilty of promoting our own projects and businesses on other websites, but most of us follow a golden rule of sorts: always be constructive, incorporate your plug into the subject material very naturally and do not be a nuisance. Generally speaking, this is enough to prevent anyone from deleting our comments or blocking us from contributing in the future. With the internet becoming more and more sophisticated, however, some protocols have led to the act of ghost banning. What exactly is ghost banning and could it happen to you? Continue reading to find out just how this might affect your future marketing.

What Is It?

Ghost banning is a relatively new aspect of blocking an individual’s activity without actively alerting them to the situation. Often referred to as a smarter way to deal with malicious or mischievous people, ghost banning in many forms will still allow affected users to post and otherwise interact with the website or profile in question – with the caveat being that their published content does not actually show up for other users to see. Usually, this form of banning affects people who are pinging links to various sites over and over again, alerting administrators to the possibility that they may be spammers.

Still, the art of ghost banning is not perfected and even if it were, there is ample room for the protocols to ultimately impact people who are not spamming. One example would be someone who posts on a blog that deals with a controversial topic, such as politics. Perhaps the individual posting has had numerous comments flagged or down-rated, which can send off alerts to any system that utilizes ghost banning. Your account may temporarily be ghost banned while administrators have the time to sort through your comment history and determine whether or not you are a spammer or just an innocent casualty.

How To Avoid It

Virtually all major social networking sites have some form of ghost banning in effect – most of us simply never trigger the mechanisms that bring it into enactment. Still, many blogs and primitive social networking hubs like Craigslist do use this as a way to thin out spammers. What makes them take a second look at your account? The single biggest factor in getting ghost banned is pinging links more than once in a given period of time. The length of time varies with each network and pinging a link more than once is not necessarily going to get you ghost banned, but it is the single-largest indicator in how sites isolate and flag accounts.

Sharing a variety of different links can actually help you – assuming they are from different domains. This gives the impression that you are actually sharing and not spamming; after all, why would a spammer suggest a dozen different websites to their “friends”? If there is the ability to interact with the platform in different ways – such as liking others’ posts, sharing different types of multimedia and following other people – then engaging in these actions will help solidify your account as a legitimate user and not someone who solely shows up to spam.