I don’t know about you but it seems like everytime I have something really great to post and I attempt to simply log in to Twitter I encounter problems. Yes I am sure they are temporary, as we all know how fast Twitter is growing. But I have found another similar site that seems to work great and interfaces with Twitter. Plurk is a similar platform and operates much the same as Twitter. It’s greatest feature is the how it automates the linking of facebook and twitter. No plugins to download that sometimes work and sometimes don’t work. So just plurk away and see your plurk posts on facebook and Twitter. I love the world of automation. It’s almost too easy. Now what am I going to do with all this extra time?
THE PREFERRED RANKING #1 OR 2?
When people think SEO most of them immediately think about search engine placement, and keywords. Ranking number 1 in Google’s search results whether implied as a campaign strategy or not is most always a goal in an SEO campaign and typically search engine placement as the number one spot is weighted most heavily because from that superior ranking we assume sales for the customers, or exposure, or popularity. Whatever goals the customer may have for their website can and will be achieved in googles first spot!
If even 40% of individuals habitually pick the 2nd or 3rd result in Google or Yahoo, or MSN, this will bring up a very interesting question about search engine placement. Is the first spot in Google the best one? I actually pick that result last after not finding what I am looking for with the other results on that page.
A close friend was also quick to retort of her same habits and in fact was also fully aware of why she did it. She stated that usually the first result is not what she is looking for. I think she probably has the same affliction as I, obtained as a shortcut from inferior search engines and possibly inexperienced web marketing efforts. The first result today listed in Google I am confident would fit your search term most accurately most of the time as would the second or third. So what search engine placement, gets the most clicks? We need a program that collects those results in case anyone is looking for a project?
PRICING SEO PROPOSALS
Anyone who has been in this business more than a week can attest to the difficulty found when writing a proposal or pricing a project. What should I charge? It is nearly impossible to estimate how long certain tasks may take especially since there are so many variables that exist with SEO. In addition, these services hold different values for everyone. One individual may feel that $6,000 is worth all of the additional traffic, conversions, and online presence. Others may not. Or perhaps you have failed to show them the value in it. Whatever the case may be I have seen the shock on the clients face one too many times to not yearn for a new method.
Pricing SEO proposals can be a rather unpleasant experience if the customer is not at least familiar with pricing up front. Personally I have decided that if the customer does not seem to be familiar with SEO pricing, I am going to assign him/her homework; to look up the going rate for SEO services and get familiar with the very wide ranges of pricing everywhere on the internet from $50.00 and hour to $200.00 an hour. Then we might have something to talk about, like what they can afford and what to them is “reasonable.” It may also place a bit more value on the work that we do. Let’s face it, this knowledge can turn a mediocre business into a thriving money maker. So the value in SEO is truthfully well beyond even the highest priced proposal found anywhere as long as you deliver what you promise in the time frames stated.
Equally difficult is predicting how many hours various tasks will take you up front. With the plethora of variables that can occur in any one service of SEO, what you thought may take 10 hours may end up taking you 20 or maybe just 4 hours. If we give ourselves some leway in the initial pricing, although hours may be lost here and there, it can help to minimize the loss. It is always a pleasure to have the client who understands those variables and hourly pricing but most small businesses want to know up front how much they are spending and understandably so. Any wavering of that intial price can send shockwaves through the entire project.
If possible giving a range of hours may work best and maybe adding a “not to exceed” x amount of hours to cover yourself should the task take longer that you proposed intially and to ease the small business owner’s fear that things could “get out of hand”.
Since I haven’t yet had a chance to try these new pricing methods I am not sure how effective they may or may not be. Being that my pricing is at the lowest end of the wide range; what have I got to lose, besides a customer that cannot afford SEO services? It appears that was never mine to begin with.
VIDEOS – THE BENEFITS ONSITE AND OFFSITE FOR SEO
Videos offer many advantages in terms of onsite and offsite SEO. Even a simple 30 second video can bring many different types of optimization to your site and to your businesses popularity as a whole. Think carefully before deciding to forgo a video idea even if you think your business is not video worthy due to its bland existence of numbers or financial data. Even accountants can find something to talk about for 30 seconds. You might introduce the members of your organization by having each one record a 10 second blurb or interesting detail about themselves as part of their bio, or gather video testimonials from satisfied customers. Get creative with it and keep in mind it doesn’t always have to be about your product or service, only related to it in some way.
What are the many benefits of video for onsite SEO? There are many. First it is attention grabbing. Let’s face it, most of us would much rather watch than read. By grabbing the attention of the internet user they now have spent increased time on your site instead of just bouncing to another, in search of something better that WILL grab their attention. In addition, as statistics continually prove, the longer they remain on your site the liklier it is that they will buy or request your services. Keeping surfers in your waters for longer periods of time also creates familiarity with your brand and increases the likliehood of an eventual conversion.
How do videos help you offsite? You’d be amazed at how many times even the most ridiculous videos are viewed. A friend of mine did an experiment and posted a video on youtube of her blowing up a balloon and that’s it. Not more than 30 seconds long. She had over 1,000 views within the first week. So believe me when I tell you anything you post on youtube will get viewed. Now imagine if you post a video about your business with a link to your site? The amount of traffic generated from one short simple video is outstanding. Here’s food for thought: imagine having more than one video or a whole page on youtube with your own url.
Did you know this is free by the way?
Web Marketing Partners
PICKING KEYWORDS
Picking keywords used to attract search engines can be an eye opening experience. Often times the most popular words or the words having the most searches are misspelled forcing you to use a misspelled word in your content writing. For most content writers this is very frustrating but a necessary component to SEO. The next time you see a misspelled word used all over a particular website don’t be too quick to tell them their mistake. Chances are they did it on purpose
Another problem I recently came across was a lack of keywords. The topic I was marketing had some searches but nothing substantial to build a business on. Had it not been for some trend research I did I probably would have advised the client to tailor their business just a bit to include a more searchable term. So how did I choose their keyword to best describe their business yet also has enough searches to make it worthwhile? First I looked for keywords/phrases that were characteristic of someone looking for something new or looking for ideas relating to that field. Since it is a new concept it is the responsibility of the business to get people interested. Someone searching with a general phrase of “new investments” might be interested in someone selling a unique investment opportunity not yet well known for example. Sometimes the more general the keyword the more competitive it is, however not always. Usually just by changing the general phrase a little you can find a keyword with less competition and a decent amount of searches. For example instead of “new investments” you could try “new invest” or “invest new” or maybe “new opportunity invest” You would be surprised at the many different ways people phrase their searches and giving the content writer a difficult challenge when trying to use it in the text. Sometimes the keyword phrase is incorrect grammar and even more frustrating for the writer who most likely cringes at the idea of writing text with improper English. I know I do! So as you peruse various sites and notice misspellings or incorrectly phrased sentences, keep in mind that may have been on purpose or at least let’s hope so!
