On Tuesday, we talked about how sometimes you can find yourself disappointed with the results of an advertising campaign (If Advertising Hasn’t Worked, Try SEO). The rise of our internet culture put the power of choice into consumers’ hands. Really, the choice to buy or not to buy always rested with consumers, but some companies mistakenly believed that they could lead or sway consumers by blanketing the world with advertising.

The fragmentation of the media means that people are not watching one of three news channels during dinner at 6pm or deciding between a few major magazines. Now, everybody is looking for messages and products that are tailored specifically for them. And although it sounds chaotic, this is actually a good thing. Your next paying customer is not expecting you to knock on his or her door. They are actively seeking you. It is up to you to make sure that this person can find you.

People still tend to go with the recommendations of friends, relatives and sometimes even strangers. While search engines are not something people would call “a trusted friend,” they still pay a lot of attention to what search engines have to say about the companies in a certain field. A search engine basically makes recommendations based on the information that it has gathered after combing the internet. It takes the search terms that internet users type in and compares them to what it has found on various websites, looking for the closest match. Search engines also take into account how many other internet users have looked at various sites too. While this is a very simple breakdown of what search engines do, you can see how they act to recommend websites and why you need to get their attention.

Increase Visibility can analyze your website to see if you are using the kind of keywords that will lead eager customers to your site through the various search engines. If you are the best in the world, but they cannot find you, this does you no good. You want to make sure that customers can find you based on common themes.

At Increase Visibility we work to get you in place to be seen by those searching eyes. And to reach those human eyes, you first have to get the attention of search engines. We will determine the keywords that will get you noticed, implement these keywords as part of an SEO plan and report back to you with the results.

What is happening on the SEO landscape for the coming year? You may have heard it before, but it bears repeating: if you are in business, you need to increase your visibility. So if you have heard over and over about how important it is to do what you can to optimize your presence on the web, you will hear continue to hear this…only it will become even more crucial that you pay attention and take action.

Online reputation management will be more vital and not less. When we mention “reputation management” what comes to mind? For some it may mean being able to respond to criticism and that is part of it. But online reputation management is also making sure that searches for your company name and for your industry show you in a positive light. Well, first you have to actually show up when people search for you online, that is the first step. If you have no web presence, then you don’t have to worry about your reputation taking any hits…but this means that you do have to worry that you are losing out on the opportunities to reach new customers. When it comes to making sales, there are few people spontaneously crashing the party. Would-be customers need an invite or something to convince them to stop by and look around. Your online “store front” needs to be just as attractive as your brick-and-mortar store front.

Test it out for yourself. When you search online for your company name, what do you see? When you do a search and type in the name of your field, does your company name appear high on the first page? What happens when you do a search for one of your main competitors? Look at how your competition appears in online searches. Do they appear in a very positive light? If so, you should take a cue from them. And when you run a search for your product or industry, do your competitors rank above you?

You want to be at the top of the list on search engines and you want people to read positive things that will draw people to you. And to do this you need a plan. Let Increase Visibility help you come up with a marketing plan that is tailor-made for your business.

We can help you reach your Internet marketing goals this year and for many years to come. Call us today at 877 SEO ADVICE (877 736 2384).

On Monday, we discussed how the word “blog” was derived from nautical terminology. Blog came from “web log” which in turn came from log, a record that a ship’s captain kept about the ship’s dealings at sea.

Another term with nautical roots that has great significance for organic search placement is anchor text. When it comes to making your website more and more visible, you need to make sure that your website is making good use of anchor text. Good content can do a lot for you, but not if no one can find you.

Words, phrases, and even sentences that appear underlined and often highlighted in a different color on a website are anchor text. Just as an anchor was very necessary to keep a ship from drifting, anchor text is a key element in keeping search engines from drifting past your website in favor of the competition. When you connect certain words to the URLs for pages in your website, you are anchoring those words. A search engine will notice that your website has been pinned down to these words and will inform internet users that your website has some connection to the words you chose.

With that in mind, it is very important to choose anchor text wisely. There was a time when websites all over the internet, simply connected a hyperlink to the words “Click here.” After all, we have been told to use verbs and suggest action to customer, right?

Well, the days of using “click here” as effective anchor words are over. This tells search engines that your business is related to “click” and “here.” Unless those two words represent your key products and services, you do not want to use them. An internet user is very unlikely to type in those two words to find your business.

What you want to do is choose anchor text that highlights the kinds of words and phrases that your customers will use when they are looking for your business online. Increase Visibility can help you determine proper keyword terms to promote for organic listings. You may think that you know how potential customers are looking for you, but it is entirely possible that they are using search terms that you never even considered. Our SEO plans include expert keyword analysis. Once, Increased Visibility zeroes  in on the search terms that people use to find you, we can help you optimize your website to that these keywords are being used effectively on your website.

It is interesting just how many of the terms we use in everyday life were originally nautical terms. Many of us have spent little time on the seas and probably could not steer a ship if we had to, however we do know something about navigating the uncertain and unchartered waters of running a business. When it comes to weathering the storms that come up in running a business, we would do well to understand how nautical terminology relates to running a business.

For example, you know that a blog is a useful tool for gaining better placement with search engines, but did you know that blog is a shortened version of the phrase “web log?” And that “web log” is a modern variation of log, as in the captain’s log that was used by a ship’s captain to record important data? Even after a ship’s captain was no longer in charge of a certain ship, the log was a record of what happened aboard ship.

In some ways, a blog functions that way too. You hear a lot of people speak in worried tones about how things on the internet do not really disappear. If you have high quality content on your website and blog this can be a good thing. You never know when a blog you wrote that addressed a very specific topic will come up in a search someone is doing down the road. Sometimes an issue or industry is thrust into the spotlight because of current events. If you have covered a related topic in your blog or on your website, people will be able to find your content and are likely to seek you out for your expertise.

This is why you need expert help to come up with a strategy for shaping your online content. Content that is created with a goal in mind can help you gain new customers, encourage current customers to return, and position you as an industry leader. When you have good blog content people and search engines are drawn to you. Still, they may not always find you right away. That is where Increase Visibility comes in: as part of the services we offer, we can link you with other websites that will complement your products and services. These related websites will be industry specific and non-competitive.

Come back on Wednesday to read more about how you can make sure that people are able to find your high quality content.

When it comes to SEO, Google rules the roost, and you should know that they take their work very seriously. They may not get it right every time, but a lot of work goes into making it possible for someone to type in words related to your industry and find you.

Like many other huge organizations, Google started with a great idea, but they do more than just think about search engines and queries. Google puts a lot of time and effort into make sure that when someone types in a query, that person is going to be satisfied with the search results.

While they can only examine a small sampling of all the queries that are typed into Google, the company evaluates the effectiveness of these searches using real, live humans and results generated by automated experiments. Human evaluators are not just people picked off of the street. They are trained to examine search results to ensure that they truly are useful.

According to Google, if asked, internet users would say that they wanted a search engine to provide relevant results. But the definition of what is relevant has become increasingly more complex. Internet users want up-to-the-minute results from reputable sources. They are also interested in related links that really tie into their original query. You want to make sure that your website goes to the top of the heap.

Like Google, our team at Increase Visibility works hard, too. We keep current on how search engines function. The techniques you employed last year to get a higher page ranking, may not be working anymore and we can explain why.  There is a lot you can do to get your website noticed and reach more customers, which will lead to higher profits.

We apply our in-depth knowledge of SEO to your specific business goals. Increase Visibility doesn’t just lecture you on SEO. We take the time to learn about you and your business, so we can customize our plans to fit your needs.

Call us today at 877 SEO ADVICE, 877 736 2384 or e-mail us at info@IncreaseVisibility.com.