Organic SEO as a way to grow online

March 22nd, 2010 |

Let’s be honest – there are hundreds of millions of web sites out there, and unless you have the budget for a real-world marketing campaign featuring billboards, radio and TV ads and a sales team, you’re going to need to use search engine optimization (or SEO) to let people find your site through the search engines. But of course, there are a couple different methods to choose from when you determine – some a bit more legitimate than others.

sssNow, since you’re reading this, you most likely don’t care about all the shady cats out there who use sophisticated software to basically “crack” the search engines, and get them to display content that just isn’t appropriate to a given search. And while that violates the user agreements of every major search engine, it’s technically legal to run a hustle like that. To some people, traffic is traffic – and leading a search for “identifying venomous snakes” to a site selling snake oil is just a way to make a little free enterprise profit.

But this is about organic SEO. In brief, organic SEO is having relevant content, displayed properly. A search for “identifying venomous snakes” ought to lead to a web site featuring a sentence like, “To identify whether a snake is venomous, look for…” If its sentences read more like, “Many snakes bite, releasing venom – and cannot easily be identified by a non-professional,” it won’t bring nearly as much traffic. While a strict phrase match isn’t necessary required, it doesn’t necessarily hurt.

I can hear the echoing question now: “How does one organically make their site search engine friendly?” It’s very simple, young Net Cadet:

1. Figure out who’s searching for your information

Who’s searching for what you write about? If you’re writing about, say couponing, should you target investment bankers making high six-figure salaries? Probably not, if you want any readers. If you’re writing about sea turtles, consider who likes reading about them – scientists, kids, teachers, or maybe it’s some porno freak’s new fetish. I can’t do this for you – think of this as a journey of exploration. It’s The Search for Your Base.

2. Try to determine how they’re going to ask for the information they want

Organic SEO begins with understanding your keywords and keyphrases.  If you’re writing for a person who wants to know “how wide is a boa constrictor,” then writing about “the breadth of a boa” (which would technically be the same premise) would be less effective, just because of the words you use.

3. Write (or re-write) your content so that it works the right way.

If at first you don’t succeed, keep working on it. The worst that can happen is that you might have to tinker with getting your site to the coveted first page of the big three (Google, Yahoo and MSN). Now, don’t get discouraged if this takes time – just submitting to a search engine can take more than a month before their crawlers are upon you (which is a much more pleasant process than I make it sound).

Organic SEO is definitely not easy.  But at heart, it starts with what you’re already doing anyway – writing great content, and making it relevant to your intended readers. So go get ‘em!

The idea behind local internet marketing

March 7th, 2010 |

For the past few years, there is a growing trend in the local small business industries. This trend forces local businesses both small and large to go absolutely online to increase their sales. This trend started a new type of marketing strategy known as local Internet marketing.

internetThe new wave of Local Internet marketing started due to the increase in the demand of online buyers to shop locally. In fact, 70% of homeowners today take advantage of Internet when shopping and all of them would prefer to shop locally. These homeowners search for any available information on the products and services they need to purchase. In effect, the number of people using yellow pages has decrease significantly.

Today, at least 27% of Internet users are searching for local information. According to the research done by the Kelsey Group in Princeton New Jersey, there is a high probability that local Internet search will surpass newspapers as the number one source of local shopping information. This is due to the reason that information in the newspapers is limited.

The purpose of local Internet marketing is to attract as much local customers as possible to a local business. Local Internet marketing generally uses local search enhancement to boost sales. Local businesses are allowed to submit their business content/profile so that they will be featured in a local listing.

The downside is that most local businesses today are still unaware of the opportunity that lies ahead in local Internet marketing. In addition, these businesses do not have an idea how to execute local Internet marketing. Some of these businesses tried to submit their profiles however most of them are discourage about the cost and task. The task can be time consuming and frustrating if you don’t get local Internet marketing service such as in Web Wise Media.

In local Internet marketing, the business profile should be updated from time to time. This type of marketing also takes advantages of keyword density to attract potential local customers. With the best keywords, a local business may increase its chances to boost sales locally.

Generally, companies that offer local Internet marketing service lessen the time spent by business owners in doing their own local marketing. Compared to yellow pages listing, local Internet listing is much cheaper and yet the business information is delivered or distributed to major directories. Usually, local Internet marketing offers customers map as a guide on how to find the business establishment. This is much faster and more efficient for the customers.