How to Build a Successful Website - Recommendations from Google Guy

By Ciara Carruthers

In a post on the 'Webmaster World' Forum, an ex-employee of Google, also known as Google Guy, provided the golden rules of creating a high trafficked website. The post, "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone" is truly priceless and I personally thank anyone who gives their time offering us all such treasured knowledge.

In this post, Google Guy covers 26 separate points which he feels to be important in the world of Google.Here, I shall pick out some of the points which I feel to be the most significant and easily applied:

1. Four of the 26 pointers by Google Guy speak of adding content.

Add, add, add. Google loves it, and your visitors will love it. Assure it is quality content though. You are looking for quality over quantity here.Sure, you can turn out 5 mediocre articles in the time it takes to write one excellent article. However, once that excellent article is on your site, people will bookmark your page and recommend you to friends and online contacts.

2. Your website should be clean and simple.

The simpler the HTML that you have on your website, the more the search engines will like you. Also, the more simply your visitors can navigate and read your site, the more THEY will like you.How simple is the layout of Google itself? Yes, very simple. How popular is it? Very.

3. Keep your pages small.

Aim for between 5K and 10K. Many of your visitors will still be using dial-up connections. Don't alienate these visitors by building pages that load slowly.

4. Keep your content pages to no more than 500 words, generally speaking.

If it gets longer, that's fine. Assure, however, that it is not rambling, that it NEEDS to be longer. If you can make it shorter, do so.

5. Use your keyword in the following ways:

Once in the title, once in the description tag, once in the heading, once in the url, once in bold, once in italic and once high on the page. Don't aim for misspelled keywords. The search engines are getting smarter and now often correct spelling mistakes as people search for them.

6. On each page, link to one or two highly ranked websites which relate to your industry.

Assure that the links are in context with the rest of the article. Use your keyword in the link.

7. Create links from one page to another within your website.

In this way, you even-out the entire PR of your website, as opposed to having one page which ranks very highly and other pages which don't. So, for example, if when writing one article, you mention a point which is covered in more detail in another article, link to that article. Use the keyword for the other article in the link.

8. Make your navigation system usable; both for visitors and search engine spiders.

For your visitors, assure that it is a simple and clean system. For the search engine spiders, assure that your links go no more than 3 links deep.This means that no page should be any more than one other page from the home page. Cross link from articles as much as possible.

9. Submit your website to as many directories as possible.

Here you will find an extensive list of available directories - "Strongest Links" Many are free. If you can afford it, pay the extra cash to have your site listed in Yahoo and Looksmart.

10. Request link swaps from related website.

Better yet, join a quality link exchange program. I use the "Link Exchange program" supplied for free by SiteSell.com, with whom I host my other website, "Barcelona Explore"

11. Write good, concise content.

Keep paragraphs short and to the point.

12. If you are using your website to promote your off-line business, don't just put up an online flyer.

Provide your visitors with information that they can use, not just information about you and your company. Unless they are specifically looking for information about you, they will click away from your site.

13. Study the information provided by your website statistics.

If your web host doesn't provide a good statistic program, use a free one like "StatCounter". Analyze the keywords that people have been using to find your site. If any surprising ones come up, use them in your site.

14. Partake in forums pertaining to your website.

Absorb all the information that is on there, and more importantly, become part of it. The networking with other people in your sector is invaluable and will prove it's worth by increasing backlinks, viral networking and recommendations.

These points are what I have taken as being the most important recommendations from Google Guy. The entire post is to be found here - "Webmaster World Forum - How to create a successful website".

Following all these points will speed up your success. Success at any speed, however, is a guarantee if you focus on offering your visitors value, by providing excellent content.


About the Author:

Ciara Carruthers is a successful website content writer. Employ her services or read her many website related articles by clicking here.

Environmentally Friendly Web Site Marketing: Recycle Your Content!

By Kalena Jordan

Do you ever hit a slump when you're trying to come up with new content for your web site? Do you get blogger’s block on a regular basis? It happens to the best of us.

Yet it seems like everyone around you is a marketing genius. Search engine marketers are churning out articles and blog posts day after day and what about those multi-level marketing gurus promoting seemingly endless products and e-books? Do you ever think “How do they find the time to come up with all these new ideas?".

The answer is simple: content recycling. Yes, the secret behind many of the Internet’s most successful marketers is the recycling of content in different ways to appeal to different audiences. Let me give you an example:

The original Search Engine Optimization 101 course that I created for Search Engine College was based on a brief training manual I wrote for web design staff of an ex-employer many years ago. When it came to writing a full course for the first time back in 2004, I took the original training manual content, checked it for accuracy, expanded on it to bring the content up to date and then divided it into logical lesson plans. Then I added case studies, examples, 3rd party references, diagrams and coding samples. Then I devised suitable assignments and quizzes for the lessons that would test a student's knowledge of the material. Voila! I had my finished course.

But my use of the material didn't stop there. I noticed that some of my lessons had sections that would make excellent stand-alone articles, so I pulled out the relevant sections and re-worked the content into suitable article context and added broader appeal for my target markets. These articles were then circulated using various article distribution channels and social media communities. The more popular ones became feature articles in our monthly newsletter and offline marketing magazines. Some became marketing tools for our Search Engine College affiliate network to help drive more sales.

When I receive comments and feedback on the articles, these in turn generate discussion and ideas for blog posts for my search engine advice column. But that's not all! Occasionally I am asked to give in-house training or presentations on search engine marketing. Depending on the subject matter, I often take my original SEO lesson notes and my articles and rework the content into MS PowerPoint slides and handouts.

The marketing and affiliate gurus are expert content recyclers and they make a LOT of money using this system. But guess what? You can apply the same principle to your own web site content. Here are some ideas:

Documentation such as training manuals and client case studies make great web page content.
Web page content such as product reviews and descriptions make great fodder for "how to" articles.

That silly staff Christmas video might make a terrific viral marketing tool.
A set of FAQs would make for an interesting webinar or video blog.
A group of case studies could be made into a free white paper or auto-responder email series.
A collection of articles or bookmarked tools could easily be converted to a downloadable e-book or give-away CD.

Get the picture?

The more ways you can re-package your information, the wider audience you will reach because not everyone responds to the same medium in the same way. Some people like to read articles, while others prefer a structured training program. Some people absorb material better if it's presented in-person and others like e-books and YouTube videos.

The more ways you make your content accessible, the better. The Internet's current love affair with social media offers even more opportunities to get your content and brand circulated. But there’s an even bigger incentive to recycling your material: Google’s Universal Search.

The Universal Search Model that Google rolled out in May this year incorporates web search results with related results from Google Images, Google News, Google Video, Google News and Blogger in the one search interface. The new search model boosts the importance of non-text content within web sites so that image and video content have become major marketing channels in their own right, rather than tools to attract visitors to text content.

It makes sense then that if you offer your site information in a range of formats such as video, audio, news releases, PDF and images as well as general text or HTML content, you provide more potential channels for it to appear in Google search results.

So re-package your knowledge into articles, e-books, webinars, training courses, podcasts, white papers, CDs, videos, blog posts and web pages and recycle that content!


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

How to Convert Customers While You Sleep

By Kalena Jordan

You might be surprised to hear this, but many of today’s Internet marketing millionaires actually make their money by doing nothing. That’s right, they make money by doing nothing at all. How? They have their Internet businesses set on automatic pilot. They’ve put systems in place to gather leads, generate content, follow up leads and convert them into customers automatically, while they sleep, travel abroad or laze around on a beach somewhere. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t.

A major component of the dot com guru’s toolkit that helps them achieve this is something called an autoresponder. An autoresponder is simply a computer program that automatically sends out email when triggered. The trigger could be the entry of an email address into a form, the download of a product or document, a certain date or a period of time. The beauty of autoresponders is their ability to create instant interaction with new leads while requiring only limited time to set-up. This establishes a “set and forget” system.

For example, we use an autoresponder at Search Engine College whenever somebody decides to download our free sample SEO101 lesson. As soon as anyone enters their email address into our online form, they are sent an email by the autoresponder asking them to verify their email address and confirm their interest in opting-in to receive our information. The recipient does this by clicking on a link embedded within the email.

Once that occurs, it triggers a series of emails to be sent to the recipient at different time intervals following the original request e.g. a day later, a week later or a month later. These emails can contain further information on the original item downloaded, links to other products, a special offer, a mini-tutorial or any other information you like. The primary aim of the autoresponder is to convert the lead into a customer over time. It’s a well-documented fact that it can take up to seven interactions with a lead before they convert to become a customer and your autoresponder can set this process in motion and manage it for you automatically.

Many people think that creating a series of autoresponder emails is difficult, but it is actually very easy! Your emails don’t have to be clever or witty or long. They just need to contain an immediate benefit to the customer or information that the reader will find useful. Ideally, you should create at least 10 initial emails and decide on a time-frame and order in which you want to send them. Then you can simply add 1 or 2 new emails to the list each week as you find time to write them. Any new leads added to your autoresponder will receive the entire series of emails, in the order you intended. Existing leads will be sent any new emails you add to the series, in the order and time-frame you specify.

Sound complex? Let me give you a concrete example. Imagine you are a jeweler that specializes in selling gold chains via an online store. Here is a sample autoresponder series (and trigger) that you could create:

Trigger: Visitor signs up to receive your monthly jewelry catalog via email.

Email 1: Welcome and thank you for signing up. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: Immediately

Email 2: Follow up on catalog and request for feedback on jewelry selection.
Time-frame: 7 days after trigger

Email 3: Special offer to members – 20 percent discount on all gold chains for 7 days only. [Includes unique discount coupon that expires in 7 days.]
Time-frame: 21 days after trigger

Email 4: Reminder that discount coupon expires in 3 days. [Includes unique discount coupon that expires in 3 days.]
Time-frame: 25 days after trigger

Email 5: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 33 days after trigger

Email 6: Helpful article about how to clean jewelry.
Time-frame: 47 days after trigger

Email 7: Information about unique or value added service e.g. free monogramming or free shipping.
Time-frame: 54 days after trigger

Email 8: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 64 days after trigger

Email 9: Special offer to members – free pair of earrings with every gold chain purchased for 7 days only. [Includes unique earrings coupon that expires in 7 days.]
Time-frame: 78 days after trigger

Email 10: Interesting article about the difference between various qualities of gold e.g. 9 kt, 14 kt, 24 kt and why they are used for different pieces of jewelry.
Time-frame: 88 days after trigger

Email 11: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 94 days after trigger


Get the idea? The more leads you acquire and the more often you contact those leads, the more likely you are to convert them into paying customers. If you can add to your autoresponder series on a regular basis, you’ll have established automatic communication with your leads for months or even years to come.

I should stress here that you should ALWAYS use a double opt-in email sign up process to ensure your readers really do want to receive your communications. The extra verification layer prevents unintended subscriptions by persons who’ve had their email address entered into your sign-up form by others. You should also make it clear to subscribers what they are opting into – if you plan to contact them beyond the trigger event, make it clear on the sign up form or in the verification email exactly what type of communications they will receive and how often.

You will also need to use autoresponder software, a host that supports autoresponders and/or an email marketing service such as A Weber that creates multiple autoresponders for you.

So what are you waiting for? Go switch your email marketing to auto pilot and convert customers while you sleep!


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

10 Search Engine Marketing Myths Debunked

By Kalena Jordan

In this article, I'm going to try and debunk a few myths floating around the Internet about what's required to get your site visible in search engines. Here goes:

Myth 1 - You need to buy a domain with keywords in it

I'm sure you've seen them, domains like: www.paris-hilton-pink-diamond-dog-collars.com. For some weird reason, webmasters seem to think that they need to have a keyword-stuffed domain to do well in the search engines, the more hyphens the better. Well it just isn't true.

In fact, Google spam evangelist Matt Cutts is known for warning against using over-stuffed keyword domains. If you have a look at one of the last sentences of this post of his he talks about possibly attracting Google's attention with keyword-filled domains and gives an (excessive) example. Could he be hinting that using ultra-keyworded domains may trip a filter of some kind? I think so.

Myth 2 - You need to submit your site to 1000 search engines and directories

Ok, I don't know who started this silly rumor but it's NEVER been true. Latest figures from Nielsen/NetRatings show that over 95% of the search market share is dominated by the top 5 search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN/Live Search, AOL and Ask. As long as your site is found in these engines, you can rest assured you've covered the main bases. Despite this, I still get emails offering to submit my sites to the "most popular" 1000 search engines.

Myth 3 - You need to stuff keywords into as many areas of your site as possible

I like to think this rumor was started by the same idiot who started 1). It's correct that search engines actively seek to match your site content with search queries, but stuffing the same keywords over and over into your site code via visible or invisible text DOES NOT automatically make your site relevant for searches containing those keywords. It's more likely to trip spam filters and earn your site a ranking suppression. In fact, you might as well hold up a big red flag to Googlebot that says "COME AND GET ME"

Myth 4 - Your site has to be flat HTML

Wrong again. A few years ago, search engines had difficulty indexing sites that were built using dynamically-generated pages or pages with multiple parameters in their URLs. So the recommendation by SEO experts at the time was to use flat HTML pages or convert existing pages into HTML and/or use mod_rewrite to convert dynamic URLs into flat ones. However the search engines have all become better at indexing dynamic site content now and also provide a universal sitemap protocol to enable webmasters to ensure all their pages are submitted and indexed.

Myth 5 - You have to swap links with as many sites as possible

I'd like to strap whoever started this story to a couch and make them watch re-runs of The Golden Girls for a whole year. Because this is probably the most persistent and frustrating myth there is about search engine marketing and it's one of my pet peeves. I am bombarded daily with emails from webmasters who tell me it's "...extremely valuable to swap links to boost your Google PageRank" or who tell me I should form 3 way reciprocal link partnerships because it "...will help boost the link popularity of our sites in a way that is undetectable to Google". Excuse my French, but that's Bollocks!

Reciprocal links are pretty much worthless for search engine value these days. In-bound one way links from high quality sites are much more valuable from a search engine relevancy perspective. If you are going to seek out reciprocal links, for heaven's sake, swap links with sites that offer related or complementary content to yours! What's the point offering your site visitors a link if it doesn't relate to what they are seeking on your own site? Don't seek out links based on perceived search engine value. Swap links because they offer traffic to your site or valuable resources to visitors of your own site. If you base your linking strategy on search engines alone, you'll end up with a Free For All link farm that search engine staff will mock as they slap a ranking penalty on it.

Myth 6 - You have to buy an existing domain to be successful

This myth started shortly after Google began "sandboxing" new sites for a period of time before releasing them into the main index. The phenomenon became known as the aging delay. Webmasters were stumped when they couldn't find their pages listed for any keywords in Google for months at a time and when learning of the sandbox effect, some decided that purchasing an existing domain could help them avoid the sandbox altogether.

A similar rumor suggested that purchasing a domain with a high Google PageRank would automatically transfer the PageRank and traffic to any new site built on the existing domain. Neither of these assumptions is true. Hindsight has shown us that the sandbox does not actually exist, merely that Google has become a little more picky about which sites to feature in their main index versus the supplemental index and older, better linked sites have a better chance than brand new ones with no link reputation.

As for purchasing existing domains, this can actually backfire on webmasters because Google's latest algorithm looks closely at domain registration details and if a domain has changed hands too many times or has had dodgy content in the past, it could attract suppression filters until the newest version of the site has built up some trust-rank.

Myth 7 - You only need to optimize your META Tags

Back in 1996 when I first began optimizing web sites, nobody knew anything about SEO and so even slight changes to a web site meant you could outrank your competitors. Simply optimizing the title tag of a page could bring on a Top 5 position in the SERPS. Adding keyword-rich META Description and META Keywords tags too pretty much guaranteed you a top spot. Now it's a completely different story. Most search engines don't even support the META Keywords Tag anymore and Danny Sullivan recently determined that Google's never supported it.

You have to offer search engines more than optimized title and META tags if you want your pages ranked highly for related search queries. You need to optimize the copy on your pages, reduce code bloat, provide a logical navigation structure, have good link popularity, update your site regularly, have sticky content and make sure your site code validates, amongst other things. Despite this, many webmasters assume that if they add an optimized title and META tag to every page, their job is done. Not so! You've got to think bigger than that.

Myth 8 - Any traffic is good traffic

I received an email recently from an online ad agency that had developed what they thought was a knockout SEO tool that they wanted me to review. It was basically a membership site designed to generate traffic via a voting and points system where you earn points for visiting sites and receiving visitors from the same network. As I explained to them, the concept merely builds false traffic and fake link popularity, which goes against practically everything in Google's webmaster guidelines. It is also very open to manipulation and is, in my opinion, operating on flawed logic.

This mutual optimization idea has been tried before. It doesn't work because it only attracts the most aggressive clickers and the whole thing turns into a competition between 2 or 3 lazy webmasters who think traffic at any cost/quality is the way to run an online business. It's not. Unqualified traffic that's unlikely to convert to sales or sign-ups is only wasting valuable bandwidth and hosting resources. Visitors that disappear from your site a few seconds after they arrive skew your site metrics and send a message to search engines that your site is not worth visiting. You want traffic from qualified leads, loyal repeat visitors and new visitors via highly targeted search queries.

Myth 9 - If you're not found in Google, you're screwed

I said it recently and I'll say it again: Google is NOT the Internet. There are plenty of ways to market your web site online, so you shouldn't become discouraged if you can't seem to crack good results in Google. I know of plenty of sites that receive more referrals from Yahoo and MSN than Google and that's the way they like it. Bento Yum is proof that an e-commerce site doesn't need Google (or any of the 4 main search engines) to survive. Owner Jennifer Laycock has deliberately blocked search engine robots from the site to prove that an online business can thrive via word of mouth and social media buzz alone.

But even if you can't live without Google referrals, you need to have back-up traffic channels in place. Never rely too heavily on a single source for your traffic. What if something happened tomorrow that stopped all your Google traffic? Would your site survive? It should, if you're doing your job well. Keep adding good content to your site, update and submit your sitemaps regularly, seek out high quality back links and the traffic will come.

Myth 10 - Search Engine Marketing is expensive

Not so. You can market a web site on a shoe-string budget or no budget at all! You don't need to spend thousands on SEO services or PPC advertising. Simply invest at least an hour per day learning how to optimize your web site for better search engine rankings, submitting it to relevant search engines and directories, adding fresh content, building up backward links and marketing it via social media networks such as Digg, Facebook, Del.icio.us etc.

Not sure where to start? Visit webmaster forums, read search marketing related blogs and sign up for related newsletters and you will soon learn everything you need to know about marketing your web site successfully.


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

Top 10 PPC Ad Tricks to Boost Your Click-Through Rate

By Kalena Jordan

When it comes to Pay Per Click campaigns, there tends to be a lot of focus on the quality and content of landing pages in order to increase conversions. That's all well and good, but to get people to visit your landing page, you first have to convince them to click on your ad. This is often much more challenging because while your landing page generally has your visitor's full attention, your ad is just one of several ads all vying for the same attention.

That tiny ad has just 2 or 3 seconds, a tiny headline and a very short amount of copy to convince the viewer your site is worth visiting. So how do you make your ad jump off the page and become a click magnet? The secret is *triggers*. Your ad headline and copy need to trigger a response within the viewer instantly.

Pretend for a moment that you own a florist business in Miami that specializes in bridal bouquets. Imagine you have set up a Google AdWords PPC campaign to attract customers to your web site where they can order their bouquets online.

Here are some of the triggers you could use in your ads:

1) Ask a Question

People are naturally curious and seeing a question addressed to them automatically triggers a reply in their minds, whether they intend it or not. By asking a question in your ad headline, you are taking advantage of this curiosity and making your ad appeal to them on a personal level. Here’s an ad example our fictional Miami florist could use:

Need Wedding Flowers?
Gorgeous wedding flowers
delivered free to your door
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

2) Use Humor

People like to laugh. If your ad headline or copy makes them chuckle they are already associating your ad with positive emotions and are more likely to be receptive to your message. Here’s a humorous ad example our Miami florist could use:

In the Dog House Again?
Sweeten her up with a dozen roses.
Free delivery to your door!
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com


3) Use: Colons

Using a colon after a word indicates you are about to sum up or define an idea. This creates an automatic trigger in readers to pay attention to the content following the colon. Our Miami florist could take advantage of this with:

Bridal Bouquets: Stunning
Browse our unique and stunning
bridal bouquets. Free delivery.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

4) Get Regional

Depending on how you’ve set your ad campaign’s regional/demographic settings, it often pays to use regional triggers in your ads such as city or state names. Persons from the mentioned areas will automatically recognize that your ad is relevant to them and be more inspired to click on it. Our florist in Miami could use:

Need Flowers in Miami?
Floral bouquets for every occasion.
Free delivery throughout Miami.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

5) Use Power Words

There are a number of keywords known as “power words” that are proven to attract attention and sales. They include words like “secret”, “free”, “super”, “now”, “limited”, “exclusive”, “must”, “save”, “expert” and so on. Our florist in Miami could tailor his ads to use some of these. For example:

Free: Roses
Order a dozen roses and receive
half a dozen free! Limited time.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

6) Use Catch Phrases

People recognize popular catch phrases used by major brands. Provided you are careful not to directly infringe on their trademarks or copyright status, you can use them in your ads. For example, our Miami florist could use:

Got Flowers?
Floral bouquets for every occasion.
Free delivery throughout Miami.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

7) Use Personalization

Just like ads asking a question, ads that specifically address the audience are much more likely to gain attention. Our fictional florist could use this to his advantage with ads like:

Your Bouquet is Ready
Your wedding bouquet can be ready
within 24 hrs if you order online.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

8) Tell a Story

Internet searchers are good at recognizing advertising and blocking it out. So your ads can sometimes be more effective if they have a storyline and appear less like advertisements. Stories create empathy and parallels with the reader’s own life. For example our florist could try an ad like this one:

Your Perfect Wedding Day
Dress dirty. Veil torn. Rings lost.
At least your bouquet was gorgeous!
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

9) Use Emotion & Senses

As well as personalization, your ads can appeal to the five senses of readers: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Our Miami florist could achieve this with:

Stop to Smell the Roses
Nothing beats the heady fragrance
of a bouquet of lush red roses.
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

and finally…

10) Use Calls to Action

In my experience, ads that achieve the highest click through rate (CTR) are ones that use a call to action within them, for example “download now”, “read our e-book”, “sign up now” and “call us toll free”. Our fictional florist could achieve this with:

Gorgeous Wedding Bouquets
Order your wedding bouquet online and receive free wedding-toss posy!
www.funkyfloristsmiami.com

Apply a few of these triggers to your current PPC ads and I guarantee your click-through rate will improve dramatically.


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

How to Start Your Own SEO Business

This article is for those of you who are learning search engine optimization (SEO) or working in the field with a view to starting your own SEO business or on-selling your services as an SEO contractor or freelancer.
Planning and Preparation

First up, you need to think about what type of SEO services you are going to provide and what type of goals you would like your business to achieve. You’ll need to prepare a business plan and answer questions such as the following:

· Will I require finance?
· What are my long and short term goals?
· How will I market my business?
· Who are my potential customers?
· Who are my competitors?
· What services will I offer?
· What should my business / trading name be?

Getting Started

Next, you need to decide how to set up your business structure. You’ll need to answer questions like:

· How will I structure my business? Will I be a sole trader? A partnership? A company?
· Will I need to hire staff?
· What taxes will I be liable for?
· Do I need to create a business bank account?
· What type of business stationery/marketing materials do I need?

Your Workplace

A key component of your new business is its location. Ask yourself questions such as:

· Do I need to rent commercial office space or serviced offices?
· Can I work from home?
· Can I claim home office expenses?
· Do I have a dedicated workspace?
· Can clients access my workplace easily?
· Do I need to purchase equipment or furniture?
· Should I buy a desktop or laptop computer?
· Do I have adequate room for extra staff?
· Can I set and stick to reasonable working hours?

Tools of the Trade

In the SEO business, there are quite a few “must have” tools of the trade that you will find indispensable. Some of these are huge time-savers and others are vital if you run an online business. These include:

Hardware

· At least one desktop computer with plenty of memory and hard drive capacity
· Broadband, ISDN or Wireless Internet connection
· Separate phone/fax lines
· A cell phone and/or palmtop
· A reliable fax machine or PC fax software*
· An answering machine*
· A printer / scanner / copier*
· A file cabinet / desktop filing system
· A large desk with drawers
· A comfortable, ergonomic office chair

* There are a large number of product manufacturers that offer a combination of all these elements in the one machine.

Software / Tools

There’s plenty of tools and software available to help the busy SEO / SEM operator. Here are some of my favorites:

· Freshbooks Invoicing and Timesheets
· Keyword Discovery
· Proposal Kit Proposal Creation Software
· ClickTracks Log File Analysis Software

You’ll find other tools and software in my articles 20 Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools and 20 MORE Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools.

Subscriptions

· Search Engine Watch
· The Search Light
· Search Engine Marketing News
· High Ranking's Advisor
· Search Engine Report
· Search Day
· Marketing Pilgrim
· Pandia


Books / E-books

· Search Engine Visibility
· The Nitty Gritty of Writing for the Search Engines
· Ring Bell For Service Usability Report


Memberships

· SEO Consultants
· SEO Pros
· SEMPO


Open for Business!

When you’re ready to start business, you need to spread the word about your business and start dealing with clients. You’ll need to address things like:

· What domain name should I buy?
· Can I design my own web site?
· How will I market my business online?
· How will I promote my business offline?
· What are my short and long term marketing goals?
· What clients do I want to attract?
· How will I invoice clients?
· How do I want clients to contact me?
· What type of client contract do I need?

Getting Clients

Finding clients can be difficult for new business start-ups. You haven’t yet developed a reputation and you have no clients to vouch for the quality of your services. Here are a couple of suggestions for attracting new clients:

· Ask friends and family if they need or know of anyone seeking SEO services.
· Approach your favorite charities and offer to do some pro-bono work in return for publicity and use of their case studies.
· Join SEO industry organizations like the SEO Consultants Directory.
· Spread the word you are open for business.
· Hang out at SEO forums and chat rooms offering free advice.
· Commence a PPC campaign targeting persons seeking SEO services.
· Optimize your own site so you rank high for SEO related searches!

Other Considerations

· Having a watertight contract
· Having a professional services proposal (e.g. Proposal Kit)
· Business and indemnity insurance

Keeping Clients

Once you have your clients, keep them happy. Try to address these issues:

· How can I provide the best customer service?
· How can I solicit client feedback on my services?
· Should I offer a satisfaction guarantee?
· Is my contract client-friendly?
· How can I reward my best clients?
· What can I on-sell to my clients? (Would you like fries with that?)
· Do I want to give my clients corporate gifts?
· How should I regularly keep in touch with clients?

Working in the SEO Industry

The SEO industry is a strange beast. It’s growing enormously fast, due to the boom in search and so the demand for search engine optimization services is huge. However it is also plagued with a bad reputation, thanks to a handful of fast-talking, money-grabbing companies claiming to be SEO experts and taking advantage of web site owners with little knowledge of how search engines work.

For this reason, if you choose to work in the SEO industry, you may come across some skepticism and doubt from clients who have been burned by shoddy operators in the past. You’ll need to work extra hard at overcoming client fears and proving the value of your services.

But as long as you truly know what you are doing, can prove the ROI on your services, educate your clients about the SEO process, use ethical business practices and follow the guidelines set down by the search engines, you should build up a good reputation quickly.

Here are some resources that will help you in this direction:

· Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008
· Writing Useful Articles That Readers Will Love (Finding Your SEO Niche)
· Google Information for Webmasters: SEOs
· Questions to Ask Before Hiring a SEO Company
· Selecting a Search Engine Optimization Company
· What SEOs Expect From Their Clients
· Working Well With Your Search Engine Optimization Firm
· Let Your Trusted SEO Do Their Job
· Search Engine Optimization

Getting Help

Even if you’re a seasoned pro at search engine optimization, there’s always something more to learn. Occasionally, there will be times when something has you completely baffled or you don’t quite know how to handle a particular client situation. That’s when you need a little advice or guidance from your peers.

The following forums are popular hang-outs for persons in the SEO industry. Whether you’re a novice or veteran, you’ll always learn something new, make new friends and possibly even get new clients by visiting regularly and contributing your time to the webmaster community:

· Cre8asite Forums
· SEO-News Forum
· High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum
· SearchEngineWatch Forums
· Webmaster World
· Search Engine Forums
· SitePoint Forums

Growing Your Business

After you’ve been in business for a while, there comes a time when you’ll need to decide whether to expand and take on more and more clients or to cap your growth capacity and turn down new projects. Here are some things to consider when that time comes:

· Do I want to expand my business?
· Do I really need more clients?
· Can I hire more staff?
· Should I take on an admin person or virtual assistant?
· Should I take on temporary or contract staff?
· Can I outsource some aspects to specialists?

Pitfalls to Avoid

Here are a few common pitfalls to avoid when running your own business:

· Don’t fail to create a business plan and update it regularly. Small businesses don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.
· Don’t let bad creditors get away with it – always chase overdue invoices before they cause a cash-flow problem and make sure your Terms of Trade are clearly available on your site, on your invoice and in your proposals.
· Don’t get caught up on administrative tasks. Delegate them where possible so you can concentrate on your clients and your business.
· Don’t forget to communicate with your staff regularly. Make use of collaboration software to manage your client projects effectively.
· Don’t take on more clients than you can handle.
· Don’t discount your services if you can help it – recognize the value of your knowledge, time and services.
· Don’t lose sight of your goals – spend at least one day per week on marketing and business development.
· Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s better to let someone else handle a client than do a poor job of it yourself.
· Don’t become a workaholic, make sure you work reasonable hours and take regular vacations with your family.
· Don’t burn-out. Keep asking: Am I enjoying myself? Remember to have fun!!


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

Using Differentiators in Keyphrases: What Every Search Engine Optimization Company Needs to Know

By Scott Buresh

As any good search engine optimization company knows, in search, more so than any other medium, you have a very short window of opportunity in which to engage your prospect. The only way to get a solid competitive advantage in this arena is to utilize various techniques in order to make sure that you are giving a prospect exactly what it is that he or she is looking for. Otherwise, your prospect will simply click the back button and visit one of your competitors – a process that only takes seconds.

One way to gain a competitive advantage, of course, is to work on the website itself. Any search engine optimization company worth its salt will also be involved in conversion testing on your website – in other words, making certain that the visitors who arrive on your site are likely to take a point of action that eventually leads to a sale. Split tests, modifications in content, different color schemes, and numerous other variable elements can all have a measurable impact.

There is also another way that a quality search engine optimization company will seek to maximize the value of the prospects that find your website through search engines. In this case, however, it is using your company differentiators in the keyphrases that they target to make sure that the traffic that comes to your site is of a very high quality.

Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Differentiators

As more and more companies turn to organic search to gain a competitive advantage while promoting their products and services, it can be increasingly difficult to achieve high rankings for the generic terms that everyone in your industry is pursuing. While any ranking is ultimately attainable, eventually a search engine optimization company has to decide whether the effort involved is worth it, especially when it recognizes that you can get overall better results from the campaign by making sure that a very high percentage of people that are typing keyphrases into search engines are looking for exactly what you offer.

This is why your search engine optimization company should be able to leverage differentiators in your keyphrases to give you the best competitive advantage available.

What Keyphrases Will Work Best for Your Business?

Suppose that you are in an industry where companies can have a wide array of prices, approaches, customer service levels, and so on. Instead of targeting, from the outset, the general keyphrase that defines the industry (for example "email marketing"), a good search engine optimization company will take the time to help you gain a competitive advantage by realizing what is different about your company in order to a.) attract very highly targeted prospects who know what they are seeking and b.) reduce the competitiveness of the keyphrases they are choosing.

Let's take a look at a high-end provider of email marketing that has advanced web-based functionality and focuses on the B2B market. This fictional business is seeking a competitive advantage by working with a search engine optimization company. We can safely assume that the percentage of people that type "email marketing" into a search engine who are looking for this exact type of company is anywhere from between 0 and 100%.

By looking into the popularity of other variations, however, we can see that it is nowhere near 100%. Phrases like "cheap email marketing" or "free email marketing" are very popular, demonstrating that many people seeking "email marketing" are not looking for exactly the service that the provider is offering.

Imagine that instead of targeting "email marketing", a daunting task (that, even if achieved, assures that a high percentage of visitors that come to the site are not looking for the provider's particular type of solution), the search engine optimization company takes advantage of the provider's differentiators. In this case, the search engine optimization company would instead target phrases such as "business to business email marketing" and "web-based email marketing". Suddenly the two objectives have been achieved - the provider knows that a much higher percentage of visitors that are typing these terms are actually looking for the right kind of company and the competitiveness of the phrases has also been reduced, leading to faster and higher rankings.

Using Modifiers to Give You the Edge

There are hundreds of modifiers that can give a competitive advantage by reflecting a company's differentiators, including words such as "free", "affordable", "high-end", "full service", "proven", "turnkey", etc. The point is that by making use of your unique differentiators in the search terms you target, your search engine optimization company is already setting the table for your prospect before he or she even clicks over to your website. When the message that is seen on your site then supports the keyphrase that was typed, you now have an engaged visitor. This can mean more leads, less site abandonment, and better overall website performance.

Conclusion

Remember, your company is better than the others out there. Ask yourself why, and then tell your search engine optimization company to take advantage of these differences in your keyphrases to give you a competitive advantage in your industry. The subtle addition of a few seemingly minor modifiers can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

© Medium Blue 2008


About the Author

Scott Buresh is the CEO of Medium Blue, which was named the number one organic search engine optimization company in the world by PromotionWorld in 2006 and 2007. Scott has contributed content to many publications including The Complete Guide to Google Advertising (Brown, 2008), Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), MarketingProfs, ZDNet, WebProNews, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. Medium Blue serves local and national clients, including Boston Scientific, DS Waters, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Visit MediumBlue.com to request a custom SEO guarantee based on your goals and your data.