When researching or choosing a product or service, visitors typically follow a keyword path. This keyword path can be used to help inform your SEO campaigns. For example, let’s imagine we have an imaginary visitor who is trying to choose a digital camera. Our visitor might start off by researching digital cameras. In Google, they will search upon the keywords “digital cameras”. They might complete some research, read some reviews, and decide upon a make of camera – let’s say they have decided upon a Nikon. Let’s now imagine that our visitor will now carry out a search for “Nikon digital cameras” and following further research, eventually decides upon a Nikon P100. Finally, at this stage, the visitor will carry out searches for “Nikon P100 prices”, which now indicates they are ready to buy and are carrying out price checks online. This keyword path will typically apply in most sectors, and your job as a website owner is to figure – Read the full article
What happens if the best of the Internet and television came together? This is the question that search giant Google aims to answer as it launches Google TV, a new service that combines television programming with search capabilities and rich Web applications. The recent announcement by the company revealed that the service is developed in partnership with other technology companies, including Sony, Intel, and Logitech. Google TV is being marketed as a new “entertainment hub” that lets viewers search channels, recorded TV shows, and websites – and watch television content using web-enabled sets or Google TV set-top boxes. Moreover, the service also allows users to browse the Web on television, including their favorite video, music, and photo sites. The service is powered by Google’s own Android software and Chrome web browser. Users can conduct Internet searches using a drop-down box that appears at the top of the TV screen, with results from millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the – Read the full article
Do you find yourself always on the go, having to work – literally – from your Apple iPhone? Don’t worry. Running around doesn’t mean you cannot accomplish the tasks needed to manage your SEO campaign – as long, of course, as you have one of today’s most sought-after mobile gadgets. We’ve talked before of great apps for small business owners. Now it’s time to list down great iPhone apps for those looking to continue working on optimizing their site, even while out of the office. Ego Ego for iPhone is a stat-tracking application that lets you check out the numbers and figures that are relevant to your SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) campaign. With support for Ember, Feedburner, Google Analytics, Mint, Squarespace, Tumblr, Twitter, and Vimeo, the Ego app lets iPhone users view things like daily, hourly, monthly site visits, subscriber count, number of Twitter followers, and even feed subscription totals. Ego is particularly useful if you’re managing multiple – Read the full article
Social media can be pretty confusing to individuals, businesses, and organizations who haven’t adopted – and who aren’t used to adopting early – to online trends and technologies. While some may have taken Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other social media sites as an indelible part of their lives, others are left to wonder how and where to start. There’s just too much clutter, too much noise, and without proper guidance, successful adoption may seem out of reach. And now Google Buzz has been added to the mix. While as a business owner you may have heard a thing or two about how critical social media is to one’s business strategy, you may still find it next to impossible to keep up – especially with all these new social media sites appearing and growing all at once, like mushrooms. “So how is Google Buzz different from Twitter?” “I need a Google profile to use Google Buzz?” “Oh, I already have a – Read the full article
Video sharing website YouTube recently marked its fifth anniversary, and all signs point toward even bigger growth – and more video content being uploaded, broadcasted, and shared through the website. According to the recent release of statistics, YouTube enjoys an astounding two billion hits every day – almost twice as much as people tuning in to America’s three biggest prime time TV stations. The milestone, which was announced in conjunction with the anniversary, also reflects a massive growth from when YouTube was founded in February 2005. While minor glitches and copyright issues have not been uncommon, the website has enjoyed more than its fair share of sensations and successes: the viral Iranian election protests video, President Barack Obama’s YouTube interview, the massive popularity of Nike’s Ronaldinho football commercial, and – more recently – the rise of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” music video to the top of the list of most watched videos ever on YouTube. Here are other interesting YouTube – Read the full article
As a small business owner, you may find yourself going crazy over the number of things you have to do for work. But don’t worry: if you own an Apple iPhone, you’ll at least have some apps at your disposal – apps which can truly help you stay connected to your business and hang on to a little bit of sanity. While the iPhone is a fun device, it can also make for a great business tool – especially if you’re always on the go. Here are several Apple iPhone apps with which you, as a small business owner, cannot go wrong. Money matters A number of apps let you keep track of your expenses and finances. These include BalanceDo, a productivity app through which you can send customer invoices, track receivables or billings, and manage payments through PayPal. If you want to perform credit card transactions with your iPhone, check out MerchantWare Mobile. (You’ll need a Merchant Warehouse account.) – Read the full article
It’s all about choices and alternatives. It was with this in mind that search and advertising giant Google recently announced that it’s going to support Adobe by bundling the popular Adobe Flash player with downloads of the Google Chrome browser. New releases of the browser will thus feature the latest version of the Flash player. A company spokesperson indicated that Flash will be the first plug-in that is not actually from Google’s stable to be integrated into Chrome. “This will make Flash on the browser a seamless experience,” says the spokesperson, “so (users) will see performance benefits and use of fewer resources. A lot of the controls and shortcuts will work better and Flash will truly feel like a part of the browser.” While not a lot of Internet users surf with the Chrome browser – research indicates it’s only 5 percent – the announcement represents a major step towards strengthening the company’s two operating systems, the Android (available for – Read the full article
A PPC – pay-per-click – campaign is not for everyone, but when it works for you, then you’ll find out how it can stretch your advertising dollars and realize your sales potential. We wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s hugely underrated, but PPC can work in a way that helps your local business – hugely. In achieving local SEO and PPC success, however, you do have to keep some of these things in mind. Go for balance. Getting the right keyword or set of keywords is important. Choose too popular a keyword, and you may take years or never before you can reach the first page of the search engines results page. Choose keywords that are too uncompetitive, and you risk generating no traffic and lower conversion to ROI. Do all the necessary research. There are four main factors that come into why prospects will buy from you – or why they will not buy from you. These – Read the full article
