Sep 05

Social Media Marketing Management

Social media marketing will soon be the primary medium for PR, marketing, and sales.

Using these resources needs to be top priority if you wish to dominate your respective vertical market.

By enhancing your image and dialoguing with your clients, your protect those clients from being stolen by your competition.

Meanwhile, the ongoing community management that allows two-way conversations between your organization and those it serves helps new business through referrals.

SEO411 provides social media marketing that enhances public awareness of your value production and generates new qualified leads. We offer the full litany of all social media services currently proven to prosper organizations of every type and size.

Through Facebook, we create and maintain an image for you that works as your PR platform to existing customers and new prospects.

Image matters just like it did in the old days before the Internet. With Facebook, our social media marketing consultants can create a face to the world for you that puts you in a whole new light with new business opportunities. Prospective customers will be impressed with what they see and read when they review your profile and comments from friends and fans.

A Linked-In account showcases the credibility of your executive team.

People need to know who what qualifies the professionals in your organization as vendors. Enumerating the resumes credentials and many accomplishments of your team builds credibility.

Twitter keeps clients informed of your latest offerings so nothing is missed in your transaction cycle.

We let people know when you offer specials, sales, new products, and incentives for referrals. This acts as an instant activity generator and helps recession proof your business.

A social media consultant works as your personal liaison to your client base.

As much as you probably already know about how badly you need social media marketing, you also know how little time you have to actually do it right. That is why SEO411 provides you with a personal consultant who will manage all social media services for you so that your hands remain free to run your business.

Social media management is always ongoing, timely, and relevant to your marketing campaign.

Keeping your company image fresh and keeping your clients up to date about your services results in qualified lead generation. Unlike some who offer you a feel good presentation, we social media marketing for the sole intent and purpose of increasing your revenue stream.

All of our clients will tell you that they have come to count on results from our social media consultants who listen to them and express the most important things about their value production that attract new clients and produce new business relationships.

Sep 05

What is Google Panda…Really

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Google’s Panda has been something that we SEO experts have been trying to keep up with for a little more than year now. So as I sat down to write my SEO class for this month. I wanted to put all the Google Panda updates in one place. I started to compile its history so that I could teach the class what they needed to be aware of in 2012 in order to have an effective website.

A few things jumped out at me. As we look at each update in a segmented manner, we are often reacting to what each micro update is, but what I have found in looking at this with a historical eye is that Panda is nothing more than trying to improve the quality of the internet. If you understand the basic concept that Google is there to rank quality sites that in nature are not self-promotional, then it makes perfect sense.

It’s not some 800 lb. gorilla in the SEO room, although I think it’s something that we can say as an industry, we treated as such. We have been lucky because for the most part our customers were not caught in the Panda update. But I believe that’s because we always have worked from the idea that content is king. Sure there was the occasional customer that decided that content and product pages were the same thing, but over all we have always taught that the job of a website that wants to rank, is to provide quality content about a particular subject.

If you look at each of the Panda updates, they have all been aimed at reducing the noise on the Internet and delivering the best possible content. If you are a realtor, write on the city you live in, not the properties. If you are a carpet cleaner, write about how people can get wine stains out of carpet. The more you provide solutions to problems, the greater the chance is that your site will be found, bookmarked, shared and liked across the internet.

Apr 01

Link Building for Success

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Google is still the premiere search engine as its market share is still 80% after the Bing challenge. Bing only lowered Google’s market share by 1% or less.Knowing how to entice/build a natural inbound link profile is extremely important to a website’s search engine ranking. Natural backlinking profiles are grown organically by publishing content that users are interested in and share with others.What is a “natural” link profile?A good website is built to make it easy for people to find your content (by using solid principles of Search Engine Optimization) as well as making every page an action page where it is easy to share via the popular methods including Google Plus, Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. as well as using relevant Directory listings, and press releases.Good inbound links are acquired over time rather than in an unnaturally large bunch all at one time. The best backlinks come to your site from related sites indicating the value of your site’s content and business expertise.There is special value in having .edu sites that link back to a web site, but beware of offering incentives for them to do so.Purchased back links are forbidden because Google wants to encourage sites that offer valuable information to searchers.Overstock.com, Forbes, Dun & Bradstreet, are a few major sites that have been penalized for selling back links.CASE STUDY: Overstock.com offered 40% off of purchases for .edu links.
Google rightly determined that these are purchased links as they received monetary recompense for the links.How does Google decide what is a paid ad, or a sold link?An image that links back to a site is considered a banner ad and is not penalized.Over-used text links using monetizable keyword phrases from one site to many others may be penalized as purchased backlinks.Links from sites known to sell backlinking as well as overused monetizable links employing keyword phrases are also penalized. Google expects to see related keyword terms based on a website’s content. EX: Google expects a camera site to include related keywords such as lens, aperture, F-stop, etc.How can I make sure my website’s natural link profile is not over-optimized and subject to penalty?It is no longer advisable to push to the edge of the envelope. Recently, Google changed their standards and then penalized websites that did so. Now, posting backlinks in the following percentages allow for wiggle room:80% (4/5) – links with generic anchor text ie.e Buy Now, Click here & branding (url) links
20% (1/5) – monetizable keyword anchor text i.e. buy motorcycle partsIn an attempt to reframe from using the same keywords again and again, use Google Synonym Search, which will help you determine synonyms Google recognizes as acceptable.In other words, perform a Google search on “~keyword” to find Google’s preferred synonyms for popular keywords to avoid keyword spamming. Try it on different internet browsers as well.EX (Firefox): ~affordable
EX (Internet Explorer): ~affordable
How Do You Know Who Google Thinks Is Linking to You?If you are building/linking up a website, this tool is valuable. Google Webmaster Tools now sends emails when they penalize a website for bad linking practices.Sign up for the FREE Google Webmaster Tools. You will need to add a file to your website via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to prove to Google you own the site and have authority over it. Some hosting companies will help you to do this.Step by step information on signing up and using Google Webmaster Tools is available at Google’s Webmaster Academy.How Can I Remove Links that I Didn’t Request from Bad Sites?Sometimes you may find or be informed by Google Web Master Tools about links to your site from an undesirable site such as a porn site.

If you receive an email from Google, remember to delete or fix them in chronological order.The first action is to contact the site and ask them to remove the link. Be aware that some of these sites charge you to remove the links. NOTE: If your webhost also hosts disreputable sites like porn sites, Google also penalizes your site. It is comparable to having problems when you live in a bad neighborhood.
Blogs, Search Engine Marketing, and the Quest for High Interest Shareable Content & Page Ranking
Branding, authority, and high interest content is becoming increasingly important to the recent updates of the Google algorithm. Every profession/service/product has a niche audience or the business wouldn’t be open, so creating valuable and enticing content is not an impossible feat. Case studies can also contribute to a website’s content. Video fourms like You Tube also help businesses communicate something useful to the public that helps to establish a company’s excellence, expertise, etc.

Mar 30

Over Optimization on the SEO Horizon

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Matt Cutts recently said that Google was going to start penalizing for over optimization. It was somewhat abnormal for this to be said because Google doesn’t pre-announce what its plans are. Plus to boot, this was the opposite of the information he had previously released.

But again, as we struggle to figure out what Google’s next penalty is, it sometimes helps to stop and take a step back and think it through. When I think of an over optimization penalty I think there has always been one, its called spam.

Keyword stuffing would be one of the things that come to mind, and of course that should be penalized. Repeating the same keyword over and over has never been acceptable. Google over time has been lowering that number, but they never really penalized those old pages. Those pages by 2012 standards would be over optimized.

Anchor text is another one. I often teach SEO and I talk about making links with anchor text and give ideas on how to do this in a way that is not “spammy”. Inevitably I get the guy that goes home and puts 70 links at the bottom of his page all with the same keyword in it. This too was acceptable for a while but has changed, and now we alter how we make links.

There seems to be noise about the over use of anchor texts, so my assumption is that a penalty for over utilization is already in place or is in the process of being considered in a roll out.

Cutts cited these two examples calling them spam, but said in the same breath that there was not an over optimization penalty, but pages that don’t meet the proper criteria don’t rank well. Is that a penalty?

But here’s the thing I wonder, are they going to go back and get all the old pages. They talk about leveling the playing field, but in reality many who don’t know how to optimize over-optimize. I guess my thought is as we move to needing fresh, new content on a website, are they looking at this to penalize the old stuff.

I keep coming to the same conclusion. It is all about good, fresh quality content. As long you are doing that, you won’t be penalized.

Mar 22

Panda 3.3 What is the change to how Google Evaluates Links?

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Okay, so we all have theories, right? Well I have a new one, based on the new decoder ring info Google put out saying it changed how it evaluates links. Google often says very little about what it does and gives very few clues other than to provide quality, engaging content.

Well, this one seemed to say they had now come up with a way to evaluate the link and it got me thinking. Exactly what are they saying? They also gave a historical context, so I started to look back at what we were teaching 2 years ago, let’s say about links and how they worked and some of the changes that have been made.

Previously, if I wrote an article on motorcycle mufflers, I would make my links on the bottom in the author’s box to relate to the article. I would use motorcycle parts and motorcycle mufflers. So I had an article about mufflers and links about mufflers pointing to pages about mufflers. All pretty standard, normal stuff, I would say.

But then it seemed that I could write my muffler article and make links to the mufflers, gloves and helmets and it was no longer this nice little neat ball. After all, a website might sell helmets, gloves and mufflers, but I was not sure I saw the value in adding anchor text links for what were seemingly different products, even though they lived on the same website.

Further analyzing their statements, it seems to me that they also were saying that they cleaned this up to help make everything less bloated, and this seems to fit. Links that that are thematically similar to the page they appear on, as well as to the page they are linking would reduce the number of links a website receives.

In the end, I’m sure Google probably hates the link concept because people have tried to exploit it. I’ve seen repeatedly the idea that links are going away. But, are they going away, or are they changing? I think this is just one of the many changes we will see as they move towards a more predominant use of social signals.

Feb 22

Considering Search Engine Reputation Management

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Search engine reputation management ensures a positive image on the internet. With more and more potential clients relying on information about businesses that surface on the internet on which to base their buying behavior, use of a search engine reputation management service is extremely important.

It seems logical that a good company would have nothing to worry about, but this is not the case. It only takes one disgruntled person to damage the upstanding name of a business. The internet is a rumor mill on steroids. Blogs have become the rumors’ vehicle of choice. Because these types of sites are easily picked up by web spiders and rise through the rankings fast, they can work to quickly destroy a quality business. The negative effects can be overcome through the use of a search engine reputation management plan. Companies that provide this service are able to ensure positive information meets a potential client when a web inquiry is made. They utilize their knowledge of site rankings to promote a favorable image to the internet public. This essentially causes the adverse ratings and blogs to become invisible. Potential clients are assured that the company they contract with for products or services can do the job, and do the job well.

Search engine reputation management is the best way to continually promote a positive image on the internet. The importance of doing this cannot be overstated. It is an essential key to the success of any business in this age of the information highway.

Jan 30

The Benefits Of A Reputation Management SEO Company

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Whether a business that has just got started or is one that has been around for a while, they both need a reputation management SEO company. A SEO consultant will know and understand the needs of a business whether or not it has been the victim of some bad press, or it is enjoying a perfectly spotless image. Due to the fact that anyone can research a company with just a click of a mouse, it is more important than ever to remain a positively reviewed business. While one happy customer can help make many future sales, the opposite can also affect sales. If there is a negative review or analysis, then there needs to be damage control put into force. This is precisely what is done by the employment of reputation management. A SEO consulting company will have the answers for the tough image questions that businesses face today.

Through the use of many different online tools, the consultant can begin to make the right connections that will get the company back on the positive image track if they have suffered any damages in the past. Of course, the consultant can also use these same tools to protect a business that has no negative image to overcome.

A new business can also benefit from the reputation management. A SEO consultant can make recommendations and use the same tools used for other businesses to help put a new business on the radar with a positive image in tow.

Starting a business online may not seem that difficult. However, the image of that company and what others think of it matters. This is why it is so important to opt for a reputation management SEO company to help make it happen.

Jan 30

The Purpose Of Reputation Management Services

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

What type of people or companies need reputation management services? Is hiring a professional expensive? Does it work?

Controlling the character of an entity is vital. Entities take pride in a positive character review by past clients. Sometimes, negate reviews and comments can be left online even if the reviewer lives on another continent and has never had contact with the entity. Potential clients reading those reviews do not care about the validity of the comments or the character of the reviewer.

Hiring a company for reputation management services puts the power back into the entity’s control!

Character control is not misleading or dishonest. In fact, the entity is in complete control of how the reputation management services work and handle bad reviews or comments. Character control is about taking the power out of deceitful and fraudulent reviewers’ fingers and putting the power back into the entity’s complete control.

How reputation management services work will vary a great deal on the need of the business or individual. However, this company generally has knowledge and methods allowing the control of negativity on the internet. For instance, the company will contact the website directly on which the negative comments were left stating legally why the negative comments should be removed immediately. There are numerous methods utilized, but the exact steps taken will depend on the online damage control that is necessary to clean it up.

There many ways to market and advertise, and while those methods may be amazingly effective, negative comments, regardless of the validity of the source, can destroy an entity’s good standing. With reputation management services, a business or individual is taking the power back and ensuring complete online damage control.

Jan 30

Coming Up With A Good Reputation Management Strategy

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

It is good for any company that interacts with its customers online to have a great reputation management strategy. Basically, this means that the company needs to make sure that they have a plan on how to get and keep a good image for all of their customers. Any strikes against a business could be fatal. There are a number of things a company can do in order to stay in the good graces of the public. Because, let’s face facts, mistakes will be made, and there will be dissatisfied customers. Having a well laid out reputation management strategy will benefit a business by maximizing the good feedback and minimizing the negative.

Keeping a steady eye on what goes onto the website is the first step in maintaining a great reputation with the customers. In most cases, there are a handful of people that are allowed to put things onto the site, and a mistake could possibly be made by someone that could damage the repoire with the customers who log on. Making sure nothing inappropriate is posted on the website is very important. Also, this helps look out for typos and false information about a sale or product. This is a huge part of the reputation management strategy.

Every time the company participates in a charity event or helps another business or individual out, it needs to be posted. Blogging about these activities, along with posting pictures, is a great way to let the public know that the company is generous, thoughtful, and compassionate.

Staying in contact with the customers that log onto the business website can create a bond between the company and the customers. If they post questions, be sure to promptly answer them and make sure that what is said helps them.

The best reputation management strategy is to be honest and open about everything the company represents. When a mistake is made, do not try to lie or misdirect questions about it. Being honest about the mistakes and correcting them will let everyone know that the company cares for the customers.

Jan 30

The Importance Of Online Reputation Management

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

Online reputation management is something that can make or break an internet based business. If the management is poor, then the public will quickly turn away from the company. If it is done well, though, it could make the popularity of the company grow exponentially. The definition of this term simply means creating a good image and reputation for a company that operates through the internet. It reduces the bad and increases the good feedback of the business. When an individual goes to a company website and reads some horrible reviews that several customers have left, they will not have any desire to do business with that particular company. Online reputation management can and will draw in more people instead of driving them away.

It is virtually impossible to prevent some sort of negative comment from some customers. It doesn’t matter how hard a company tries, there is just no pleasing some people. The thing to do, though, is not to criticize or respond to them in a harsh manner. Doing so would destroy a business very fast. Companies should listen to and respect any unhappy customer that may come up. This sends a very positive message to current and future customers. This is a great example of online reputation management.

Admitting mistakes may seem like a poor decision, but it is actually just the opposite. No one person or one company is perfect. All a business can do is try their best, but mistakes will be made. Instead of avoiding any questions or concerns about the mistakes, fess up to them and explain the situation to the customer. More than likely, they will understand and be thankful for the honesty. This shows the public that the company cares about the way they are seen in the public eye and that they care about making things right.

Having a user friendly and informative website is using great online reputation management skills. Staying up to date with the business website is very important. Staying in regular contact with the customers who log on to the site generates great publicity and trust.