BiznessQuest Feed

Inbound Links and their Importance in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

April — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:36:48 +0000

The most important type of link for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes and the one we will focus on in this article is the inbound link (also referred to as a back link). An inbound link is a link from an external site that points to a page on your site. Many search engines consider inbound links as votes for a site. The more votes you accumulate, the more popular your site will appear. Aside from the vote factor, these links help search engines learn more about your site’s purpose, its importance compared to similar sites and your site’s relevance to specific

Know your online competitors

April — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:19:54 +0000

It is imperative for you to know who your top competitors are, primarily those who rank high in search engines for your target keyword(s). Once you know who they are, you can do some further research to find out how they got to the top. One important factor to consider is that a company’s top offline competitors aren’t always their top online competitors. To find your online competitors, you will need to conduct some Google searches on your target keywords. If you don’t know what keywords to use, be sure to read my article titled, "How to choose the right keywords for your SEO campaign"

Once you have your keywords, visit google.com and perform a search for each. You will want to write down the websites found on the first page of each set of results. Once you have finished your searches, review the data. Note the websites found in all or most of the searches. Typically, these are the sites that are optimized well and are your top online competitors.

Social Media Lessons Learned From Politics

IntrepidSC — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:06:27 +0000

Coming from a political communications background, I find the similarities between public and private sector social media/communications to be much greater than the differences. There are a number of rules that I utilized in politics that can be useful pointers for small business or solopreneurs just dipping their toes into the social media game.

1) Have a Plan

Learn how to submit your website to Google

April — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 04:42:10 +0000

Submitting your site to popular search engines, such as Google for index inclusion is crucial to promoting your website online. The reason it is important is because most web surfers turn to search engines when looking for products or services online. If you’re not indexed, they won’t find you in the results.

To let Google know you exist, you need to create a free Google account and submit your sitemap using Google's Webmaster Tools. If you would prefer not to submit a sitemap, you can always create a free business profile on BiznessQuest.com that includes your website URL and let BiznessQuest submit your site for you.

Keyword Research Checklist

April — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 02:19:15 +0000

The most vital part of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process is selecting the right keywords to optimize your site for. The keywords you choose should be popular enough to draw in traffic but narrow enough to rank higher in search engine results. I have created a keyword research checklist you can use to find the best keywords for your SEO campaign.

Every page on your site is potentially a landing page and should be optimized. Be sure to complete the Keyword Research Checklist for each page on your site that is accessible to search engines.

How to choose the right keywords for your SEO campaign

April — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 16:23:30 +0000

The most important step in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to select the right keywords to optimize your website for. Each page on your site should be optimized to target specific keywords. Finding the perfect keyword or phrase is crucial and takes careful analysis. In this article, I will address 1) the two types of keywords, 2) how to find potential keywords, and 3) how to select the best keywords for your SEO campaign.

The two types of keywords

There are two types of keywords, short tail and long tail. Many people use a combination of both types throughout their website.Short tail keywords contain one or two words. In most cases, these keywords have a high search volume, which means there's a lot of competition for them. It will take time and a good SEO strategy to begin to generate traffic from these keywords.

Understanding the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

April — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 07:57:35 +0000

This article will quickly review the listings found on a typical search engine results page (SERP). A search engine, such as Google, returns two sets of listings to the end user:

1) Organic results are listings placed on the left side of the search engine results page. These listings closely match the keyword or phrase queried by the end user. With a successful SEO campaign, you can achieve a higher placement in these results. The great thing about being listed in organic results, is that you don’t pay anything. It's free advertising for your business.

2) Paid results (PPC) are listings typically found on the top and right side of the search engine results page. Businesses use PPC as a method of online advertising to help them generate more traffic to their websites. Each time a potential customer clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays a fee.

Top 11 Reasons to Use Social Media in Business

TRGLLC — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:54:38 +0000

Over the past few years, to say social media has exploded would be an understatement. Members of social media sites have discovered it’s the easiest way to find, learn about, and share information that directly influences their purchasing decisions. It is this reason alone that every business should be on multiple social media sites in an effort to reach as many people as possible.

Below are the top 11 reasons to use social media in business:

How to Build an Effective Website Series: Website Security

April — Sun, 27 May 2012 21:57:23 +0000

Website security is an important component in web development and is often the most overlooked topic. Unfortunately, many hackers take advantage of these vulnerabilities and the end result is never good. As a web developer, it is your responsibility to ensure that your website is secure for your end users. This becomes even more crucial when you are collecting and storing data. By securing your site, you make it difficult for a hacker to use it for malicious purposes.

This article will identify and address the most common causes of hacked sites and the importance of backing up your website in the event that your site is compromised. We will review the following topics:

Content Management Systems (CMS)
Programming Code
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Website Backups

How to Build an Effective Website Series: Essential SEO Tips & Techniques

April — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:25:51 +0000

Web search and marketing through search engines have become an important aspect in promoting a business. When you consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO) throughout your website development process, you have a greater chance of achieving a higher placement on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Did you know more than 80% of click-through traffic comes from a search results first page?

You may be asking yourself, what is Search Engine Optimization anyway? Well, SEO is the process of taking a website’s pages and writing them in a way they can be easily interpreted by humans, as well as search engines. By applying simple SEO strategies to your webpages, you can drastically improve your site’s interactions with users and search engines. Although, to achieve this goal, you must: