When I first heard about the upcoming Over Optimization Penalty, I sighed heavily and longed for the days when my knowledge of such things did not extend much beyond the pros and cons of PPC vs SEO. Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss. After spending the past couple of years working for one of the best SEO firms in the country, I know all too well the panic an algorithm change of this kind can incite across the blogosphere. But as long as the Internet exists, SEO will serve a purpose and reports of its death are not just premature but completely ludicrous. Of course, if you are dependent on black hat techniques and invest in quick fixes instead of quality content, you should be afraid and that does not sadden me in the least bit. On the other hand, a change of this kind still has the potential to harm reputable sites that engage in ethical SEO practices and, as – Read the full article
We live today in a world of technological advancement and innovation. And, thanks to search engines, blogs, and social media, the art of marketing has taken a whole new dimension for business. People now tend to search from their desktops and look for products and services they want. Still not convinced you need search engine optimization for your business? Here are six undeniable reasons that we hope will change your mind. Effective business promotion In order to get ahead of your competitors and promote your business in this global village, we need new tools and methods to survive the niche. SEO services help you in getting that edge over your rivals to move ahead. SEO as an online marketing technique will make sure that whenever an individual searches on any popular search engine – say, Google or Bing – for anything related to your products or services; your website will be displayed on the first page and among the top – Read the full article
“Working in the Cloud” is big news these days for businesses of any size. For small and medium enterprises, cloud technology can be an invaluable tool that gives access to services and functionalities previously only available to larger operations. For those considering starting up, or already up and running, finding good cloud computing services can bring savings in both time and money. It can also reduce IT problems and offer incredible flexibility, however large or small your business operation is. Finding the right cloud computing tools for your business may take a little research but some key tools are listed below. (Editor’s note: Be sure to check out our previous post on the “Best Cloud Computing Services and Apps for Small Business”, too.) Essential Cloud Computing Tools for Business Google Play: Google Play has just been launched. This cloud solution may well be most appropriate to those working in the creative industries. It allows you to remotely store media, including books, music and – Read the full article
There’s a new social media darling in town. And – like Facebook and Twitter – it’s bringing in tons of buzz and millions of new users. (Around 11.7 million users so far, in fact.) Pinterest is what it’s called, and, as the name implies, it’s a pinboard-style social photo sharing website, which, since its launch in March 2010, has taken the Web by storm. We wouldn’t be surprised if you decided to integrate Pinterest as part of your search engine optimization and social media marketing efforts. After all, where the people go to is where the business is. We do hope you do it right, though! That’s why we came up with a list of best practices and fantastic tips for using Pinterest to improve your SEO performance. Enjoy! Using Pinterest for SEO Post fresh, repin-worthy stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter: people will only share your stuff if they think it’s cool and fresh – Read the full article
In today’s world, the Internet is being increasingly used for all kinds of business ventures. However, there is one industry – the health and fitness industry (fitness clubs and fitness professionals) – that doesn’t often make use of the Internet due to the mistaken belief that this kind of business can only be conducted face to face. As a result, they end up missing out on the enormous benefits that online marketing offers. Quite a number of fitness clubs, fitness specialists, and personal trainers promote their businesses mainly through word-of-mouth advertising. Some of them shy away from the Internet because they imagine it will be very costly to venture into online marketing, SEO, or social media marketing. This is the wrong mindset. Here to convince you (hopefully) is a list of ways you can immediately enhance your online presence. Blogging There are many free and easy-to-use tools available which can be used to create a business blog. For instance, – Read the full article
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or someone hoping to break into the world of business, you’re going to have a lot of questions. You can go to school for four years and pick the brains of your professors and spend all night doing homework in the library, but you’re still going to have questions. This is true with any profession, and most will tell you that finding the answers to these questions aren’t always easy. It’s intimidating to ask your boss a question that you may think should be obvious, and Google doesn’t always do the trick. Fortunately, Quora is beginning to take the world of questions by storm. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Quora is a new social networking site that centers around asking and answering questions. These questions go from very specific to simple wonders. And it’s not like your typical Internet-based source of answers: • Google: This works well when you want to know the – Read the full article
Somewhere out there, a person is talking about you. Your business. Your brand. Of course, you’ll want to listen and join the conversation. You have to, right? The Internet, though, is a pretty big place. If before, the reviews and comments of your customers only came in literally by word of mouth – well, today that’s no longer the case. A bad review on a site like Yelp or Google Places, a nasty blog entry by a vindictive, loud-mouthed critic, an unflattering picture of your establishment posted online, or even just a single unfavorable tweet: it can undo your life’s work. It can offset all the great things that you, your employees, your brand managers, your publicist, and your ad agency have been doing. And it can keep tons of potential customers from walking through your door. (One study even says that a single bad review can cost you 30 customers!) No matter how big the Internet is – and – Read the full article
With the boom of the Internet, almost everybody, from businesses to individuals, to the celebrity and even just the ordinary people have established a presence in the World Wide Web by creating their own website. Creating a website is very easy especially now that there are a lot of free and user-friendly content management platforms (like WordPress) where anybody can start a website. But because there are millions of websites that abound, competing to be known in the Internet world by ranking at the top of popular search engine results is difficult and can be a very big challenge for any website owner. This is where Search Engine Optimization or SEO comes into the picture. Website owners can implement SEO strategies to improve their site performance and position themselves to be found online. With WordPress, you can take advantage of the platform’s plugin architecture to enhance your ability to implement your SEO strategies. And there are loads of SEO plug-ins that have been – Read the full article
