On Tuesday, we looked at some of the changes that Google has recently made to its search options, included letting internet users pick from lists of which media they want to see and letting them decide just how far back in time they want to go. The ability to go as far back as one year (and probably further) means that what you do to optimize your web presence today can have an effect on how people perceive your organization in the future. When you build your web presence and work on improving your search engine ranking, you are helping to build an archive of relevant data about your operations and your field.

 
Google users are now also able to change just how they view the information they request in searches. They can choose:

 
Related Searches: This means that a Google user can get a several lists with searches that relate. Some people would tell you that you should just optimize for every possible thing. We would not advocate that approach. You should, however, be certain to optimize for a range of subjects that are truly related to your business. Increase Visibility offers a free website analysis  to see if your website is making the most of the keywords used to find organizations like yours.
Timeline: With this option, a Google user can see search results grouped by dates. For those who are searching for time-specific content, this will make things a lot easier.
Wonder Wheel: If you have read up a little on education, you know that some people are visual learners. For this people, lists don’t quite work. This is where something like the Wonder Wheel comes into play. The main topic is in the center of the wheel and related topics are spun off onto spokes.
Take some time to play with these new search options to get a feel for the many ways in which someone can come across your organization. This will help you to understand more about the importance of organic search placement. You want to be in the places where people who are looking for you will be able to find you, but you don’t want to force it. If you try to stuff your website with what you think are popular keywords just because. Doing that means that people who are not looking for you will get to your site and may not find is useful. In the meantime the people who would benefit from connecting with you, may not get to you.

Years ago, I worked in an industry that had a hard-to-define product. Well, perhaps the product was not hard-to-define, but public reaction to it could be unpredictable. For that reason, people in this industry took an intuitive approach to marketing, using instinct to guide them rather than cold, hard facts. Once, I even had a boss tell me that it was like “throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.”

Today, this industry is in trouble. I’m sure it will survive, but there is no doubt that things will have to change in order for it to thrive. I will also add that this notion of “seeing what sticks” pre-dated serious internet use, so that it was not possible to use to web to learn consumer habits the way it is now.

As much as we are in favor of “doing what comes naturally” and “going with the flow,” you should know that improving your search engine optimization in an organic way does involve some analysis of data and an examination of website usage.

When it comes to your website and web traffic, there is no need to play guessing games. You do not have to keep throwing up new things to see if they work. We can help you look at your site usage to determine how people are using your site, which pages are “sticky” (keep internet users interest for the longest periods of time), and the most popular keywords that people use to find your site.

Once you get an analysis with a breakdown of the terms people are using to search for products or services, we can help your organize your site in a way that goes with and not against the natural tendencies of your customers. You will also see the average amount of times each month those terms are searched on so we can determine which terms will provide the most traffic and this highest ROI.

When you employ Increase Visibility, you will see the enormous benefits of becoming highly ranked for your industries specific search terms. Some of these benefits include: higher sales volume, better brand recognition and increased market share. Increase Visibility excels in providing SEO services and our clients include many Fortune 1000 companies.

Call us today at 877-SEO ADVICE (877-736-2384) to learn more about our SEO plans.

Trust Factor

People tend to put more faith in organic search results than in paid or sponsored results. This does not mean that sponsored results do not get attention, however. What it is does mean is that although a search engine is not a trusted friend, people treat it as if it were. Web users rely on search engines to work as a virtual grapevine that sifts through the plethora of available information to let them know what really matters most.

You ask your friends to recommend service providers because you trust their judgment. You figure that they won’t steer you wrong because if they had a good experience then you will too. It is the same with organic search results. Unlike paid advertisements, organic search results let someone else sing your praises. This is why web users like to relay on organic searches to present them with the options that seem most legitimate. The algorithms behind search engine results are complicated, but in part they do reflect website options that were preferable to large numbers of internet users,

Trust Translates into Transactions

Even if a consumer does not immediately go to your website and buy a product or sign up for a service the first time that your organization appears after they conduct an online search, this does not mean that they will not do so.

It is important to continue to optimize your web presence because you will see the difference over time. When you use targeted keywords, you should find that organic searches translate into sales.  Increase Visibility can provide an insightful analysis of your website to help you narrow down exactly what are the most relevant keywords for your business.

However, it does take effort on your part to get noticed by the people and search engines that can publicize your brand, product and message. You may be absolutely wonderful, but if no one knows this, then it does you little good.

And this is where Increase Visibility comes into the picture. Let Increase Visibility assist you in getting your name out there by optimizing your web presence and helping to increase link popularity. We can make sure that search engines know that you are there and that you want to help people who type in searches on specific topics that relate to your business.

Variety really is the spice of life, as they say. And when it comes to marketing your organization on the web, and it is key to marketing yourself on the web as well. To delve further into our cache of cliches: you really do not want to put all of your eggs into one basket. Increase Visibility employs a variety of methods—keyword analysis, social media marketing and pay per click advertising to get results for their clients.

Some people want to get everything at no additional cost, while others believe that you really do get what you pay for. Who is right? When it comes to SEO and organic search placement–both sides are correct.

There are ways to get your name out there without paying extra for it. You already have a website, so you can start with optimizing the content on your website. Increase Visibility can analyze your website to see if you are using the proper keywords to promote organic listings. Once the organic keyword terms have been determined, we will optimize the website according to current search engine standards, incorporating in the key terms.

You can also make use of free directories. After all, if someone is willing to create a directory and let you be included at no cost, why not take advantage of this? We will submit your organization to the top free directories.

On the other had there are also directories that require payment. We can submit your website to these directories as well and this will send traffic your way and build link popularity.

Whether you prefer to try get as much free promotion as you can or don’t mind paying for it, there is one thing that is definitely worth pay for and that is  good help. Increase Visibility is an award-winning SEO firm that helps you grow your business by expanding your reach on the web, leaving you free to take care of that business. We were recently honored by being included in the top 3 in PromotionWorld’s Readers’ Choice Awards for the best Search Engine Marketing (SEM) companies. We have also been ranked #1 or #2 for SEO firms for August 2008 – February 2009 by TopSEOs.com by convincing the search engines to reward their clients with top search engine placements.

Visit our website and take a look at our SEO Plans. Then you can call us and find out how our Website Marketing Plans can help your online business succeed: 877 SEO ADVICE, 877 736 2384.

We recently came across a very interesting article on organic placement by a professional who was not in our field, but yet this person made a compelling case for search engine optimization. He was actually advising his colleagues to invest in getting help with SEO and organic search placement. According to this professional, one of the reasons that advertising does not necessarily bring in the expected yield is that we have all become savvy editors for ads, much in the same way a Tivo can extract commercials.

This man remembered the 1970s when direct mail was all the rage. Apparently he once had a forward-thinking boss, who even in pre-Internet days, spoke to him about the limited power of advertising.

You can do all kinds of research and go crazy trying to lure people to your website or online store, only to find that they continually pass you by. So what do you do? You get the customers to come to you. And you can do this using organic search placement. . If you have spend a lot of money trying to come up with clever slogans and enticing messages only to wonder if that money could have gone elsewhere, why not try to make the most of your web presence through search engine optimization.

Rather than plastering the world with advertising and playing the numbers game, you can be in place so that interested customers come to you seeking the products and services that they already know that they want. Once they see that your organization is a top of line supplier of what they are looking for, they will not need to be primed to take action, because they will already be set on making a purchase.

Simply visit our website and fill out a form for a free website analysis. This will allow Increase Visibility’s trained technicians to see what the search engines see and determine what needs to be done to improve the success and make certain that your website is at the top of the list when people search for terms related to your industry. An experienced search engine consultant will email you the findings within 24 hours of your request and then contact you to discuss your options and how we can help you increase your revenue this year from your company website.

Surely you have heard someone say that they wish they could clone themselves in order to do all that they need to do. In the 21st century, you really do need to be in more than one place at a time and accomplishing this is possible in the virtual world, although it is not possible in the physical world (at least not yet).

Perhaps you have already set down your goals for next year and these goals include ramping up your marketing efforts. Even as you wrote them down, you probably knew in the back of your mind that your goals were lofty. You probably wondered how you were going to get some of this done with all of the other things you have to do. Did you include “get more help” or “delegate certain tasks” as one of your goals? If not, it is not too late to include that in your plans.

The great thing about hiring a firm such as Increase Visibility to assist you with SEO and your efforts to improve organic search placement is that you really can be in several places at once. The real you can take care of the day-to-day tasks that are a part of running your business, while the virtual you can be active in various online communities and showing up in the places where you need to be to reach your current and potential customers.

You can work on your own behalf, even while you are sleeping, taking a well-deserved vacation or chatting with a client by participating in:

-Facebook
-Twitter
-Digg
-StumbleUpon
-LinkedIn
-MySpace
-YouTube

In addition to this, you can also create promotional videos that you can put on your website and promote in the avenues mentioned above.

Although you may want to choose a certain aspect of your online marketing campaign that you want to maintain personally, Increase Visibility is there to help with the rest. We are also here to offer advice on just how to shape your online presence.

Professional search engine placement will help you gain more national and international exposure, generate “hot” leads, and ensure that your marketing campaign is effective and brings the return on investment that you seek.

When you make a decision to choose one thing over another–be it a burger over a chicken sandwich or a blue sweater over a green, you are probably unaware of just how complex this transaction really is. Well, if you take a while to make decisions and spend time talking it out and going over the pros and cons for each option, then you might be aware of some of the complexities.

However, if you are the type of person who just picks something quickly based on instinct, then you may not really be aware of all that goes into choosing one item over another.

Ok, so how does all of this apply to organic search placement and search engine optimization, you ask? Which scenario–the instant decision or the talking-it-out decision–be compared to SEO?

 Well, the answer is that both scenarios can be applied to SEO. And here is how:

A Large Number of Factors Go Into Search Engine Placement

Did you know that Google uses more than 150 different criteria as they try to figure out where your website should  fall in search results? This means that like the person who talks over every aspect of a decision, Google has a lot on its mind when it is selecting which websites will rise to the top and which will sink to the bottom. And of course Google is not forthcoming about sharing exactly what these criteria are or how they may change. They are not going to reveal their recipe and have everyone else cooking up a monster search engine.

Increase Visibility Can Help

This should not scare you, however. It simply means that trying to get into the mysterious mind of Google is not a job you should tackle on your own.  Increase Visibility specializes in search engine optimization, but cannot promise to have all of the answers,  Be very wary of anyone who tells you that they have cracked the code and that they know all the secrets of the various search engines.

 Here at Increase Visibility we do not claim that we know every, single aspect of just how a search engine makes its selections, but our staff does have  long and solid relationships with many search properties  and we will put this to will put to work on your behalf. The search engine industry is constantly changing and with our continual vigilance in studying the latest trends, we can provide you with a competitive advantage.

Call us today at 877 SEO ADVICE, 877 736 2384 or email us at info@IncreaseVisibility.com with questions.

And check back on Wednesday for more on this topic.

On Monday, we talked about the importance of Cyber Monday and why people who do business online need to have an SEO plan to make sure that searching consumers can find them as they look for gifts this holiday season.

You’ve likely heard of reciprocal links and other ways to boost traffic using the power of the connections you’ve made and then harnessing the connections that those people have made as well. Sometimes you really can make more friends with honey than with vinegar, and you can make great strides my reaching out to people who have enterprises that are similar or somehow connected to yours.

 Now I want to tell you how some crafters in one area have used cooperation to find a way to boost their businesses this holiday shopping season.

 Last week, I received an e-mail from a member of a crafters’ collective. These crafters not only have their own individual blogs, they also have a collective blog. Each member targeted his or her own blog readers on their individual blogs and sent e-mails to specific friends. They asked their blog readers and friends to leave a comment on the collective blog in order to be entered into a drawing to win a gift box. Each crafter contributed to the gift box. The messages and blog posts that were written by the individual crafters made mention of the members of the collective, their business and what each was contributing to the gift box that someone will win after the drawing.

 True, a naysayer would say that a “No purchase necessary” drawing does not increase sales, but it did increase visibility. If you had only been aware of one of the crafters, you were motivated to visit the collective blog to be entered into the drawing. And although everyone may not have stayed around to explore, some viewers likely did explore. Even if they did make a purchase that same day, the exposure to these retailers will stick with them and they may return later.

 Because they heard about the drawing and the crafters’ collective through a person/blog/website that they are familiar with, a consumer will feel friendlier towards these businesses. I know that I certainly did my part and left a comment on the collective blog because I am as interested in a gift box as anyone else. And I do plan to check out some of the other crafters because now I’ve been introduced to their goods and services.

 Increase Visibility can help you use blogs and other social media marketing tools to expand your customer base.

As was mentioned on Friday, you can use SEO to fight the ‘Black Friday’ Blues. Since Friday is the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season, it only makes sense to all that you can to make the most of the fact that even the most budget-conscious consumers are looking to make some purchases at this time of year.

But what about Cyber Monday? Did you also come up with a plan for today? It is okay if you didn’t because you still have time to make sure your website can be found and utilized by consumers during this year’s holiday shopping season. In fact, although Cyber Monday is heralded as the day that the online shopping frenzy will start, it is by no means the peak of the online holiday shopping season. That comes later. In mid-December people who have yet to buy gifts and need something fast, will be likely to turn to their computers.

If you didn’t know, Cyber Monday (or Black Monday) is thought to be the start of the online holiday shopping season. After spending the weekend hitting the malls or relaxing with family and friends, consumers are ready to grab a mouse and do some shopping online.

One retail strategist found that 77 percent of people surveyed shopped online because they wanted to save time. Another 81 percent said they liked shopping online because it allowed them to shop at their convenience–at the hour of their choosing.

Think about it: in some parts of the country, temperatures are dropping and people who already want to avoid crowds will not want to venture out to stores. So you should do all you can to make it easy for them to find you.

-Check to make sure that you are listed in pertinent online directories.

-Be sure that information about any bargains, sales or promotions you are running is displayed prominently on your homepage.

-Write a holiday-themed press release that can be released online so that consumers can see you as a source for holiday shopping.

-Make sure your shipping policy is clear and assure consumers that their packages will arrive on time.

And if you find that you are too busy with regular orders, special holiday orders and your own holiday shopping, remember that the elves at Increase Visibility are more than willing to help you with search engine optimization. Many establishments hire extra help to staff their physical stores at holiday time; don’t forget to mind your online storefront as well.

When you watch some of those home makeover shows, you’ll see that most have a budget. There are a few shows that give a designer free reign and an unlimited budget, but more often than not, the designers end up using some of what is already there as they work their magic.

It is probably the same with you and your web marketing budget. And when we say budget we are not just talking about money; we are also talking about time. You do not have the time or the money to scrap everything and start from scratch and this is not advisable. See what you can do with what you already have and build on that.

One of the social media marketing services that Increase Visibility  includes in its SEO Optimization Plans is Article Marketing. If you have any articles that you have written about your company, products or services, we will submit those to top article marketing sites, blogs and social bookmarking sites. This is making good use of resources that you already have.

Another way to get the most out of the work you have already done, is to add hyperlinks that will take internet users back to articles, press releases, and text that are already included on your site. When you write something new, it probably has some relation to something you have discussed in the past, use anchor text to let people know that you have already provided information on a related topic.

Doing this creates balance in your website and ensures that no sections or pages go untouched. While there are some people who will naturally meander to other parts of your site, others will need some encouragement. When they see all that you have to offer, they are more likely to get on board and purchase your products and use your services.

This also positions you as an expert because it shows that you have been discussing certain topics that relate to your industry for a while.

Don’t forget to use this tactic when something related to your industry is front and center in the news, too. People need to know that you can help them with the issue of the day or that you sell just the thing that everyone wants this very minute.