However, the bigger trends in search engine optimisation are easier to keep up with and most seem to be here to stay, as business owners become more attuned to just how important SEO is to their success.

SEO Trends 2009 And Beyond

The industry and ‘bigger picture’ trends have become relatively easy to identify as the SEO world becomes more established - increased awareness of SEO in general being the first major trend.

Search engine optimisation used to be an exclusive world, with only those practising it really knowing what it entailed and how it boosted a website’s visitor stats.

Now, most people know what it means, and most business owners are aware of just how important the internet is and how SEO can help them gain more customers.

The next major trend and one which is definitely here to stay, is the rise and rise of Google - they have dominated the world of search engine optimisation for years, and their lead over competitors such as Yahoo and MSN is only getting bigger.

When Google speaks, SEO consultants listen and if your business is not being found on Google, it’s almost certain it’s not being found at all - around 70% of user searches are done using Google.

SEO tools and automated processes are becoming an important part of the reporting of website results - individuals are focusing on developing these tools for companies to buy, who may be struggling to find or afford a good search engine optimisation agency. Such tools can offer good basic data, but it’s worth remembering that it’s still what you do with the data that’s important.

Dipping into the actual technicalities of good SEO practice, good content has been king for a while and remains so.

As a business owner, if you write, or employ an SEO copywriter to write good quality articles and press releases, this will benefit your search results hugely, encourages links to and from your website - and links are extremely important as the ‘currency’ of good quality SEO.

Finally, a trend clear to all - not just those operating in the search engine optimisation world - is the rise and rise of social networking sites.

Facebook and now Twitter are educating people to communicate in a whole different way, and business owners should be engaging these people in order to develop a whole new audience.

Keep Up With SEO - Your Business Will Benefit

There are many more trends in search engine optimisation, too many to mention here, but one thing remains clear - business owners small and large cannot afford to ignore SEO and must become well-versed in good SEO practice if they want to keep up with the ever-changing world of consumer web behaviour.

About the Author: Harvey McEwan writes to bring you the very best search engine optimisation advice.

However, optimization is more than just a standard set of practices. As every good interactive marketing agency knows, it is different for each business, and within each industry.

Those differences are one of the primary aspects that make ‘do-it-yourself’ optimization without an interactive marketing agency such a risky prospect. An interactive marketing agency keeps abreast of the ever-changing landscape in order to implement best practices to achieve good positioning and visibility for a website — they are also able to conduct in-depth research to understand what your competition is doing as well.

If you are learning from scratch and implementing as you go, you can be put at a disadvantage compared to competitors who hire professionals.

In this article, we’ll walk through some of the most common misconceptions about optimization. We’ll also look at what your company can do to see real optimization success.

Problem 1: Seeing Optimization as a Project With An “End Date”

Optimization, and online marketing in general, isn’t a destination. Rather, it’s a road, one that must be constantly traveled for optimal levels of success. There is no time when your optimization is “complete”, in fact, even once your initial online marketing plan sees success, there will be other ways that you can improve your online presence. The process can always be improved.

Problem 2: Not Planning For Optimization In The Long Run

Because online marketing is a process, wise companies will plan for optimization in the long run. Don’t think of it as a short-term investment, and don’t divert resources you are only comfortable diverting for a few weeks. Think about it more broadly, and give your optimization plan the time and support it needs to be successful. Like any company initiative, if the program is understaffed or underfunded, it won’t be able to thrive as it ought to.

Problem 3: Not Monitoring Progress

In the old days, it was next to impossible to know if your agency’s plan was doing the job. But now, tracking online marketing results are easy. Think of it like cooking: you have to test the food every so often to see how it’s going. If you need to make a change, you learn about it early on, and if the food is great, you know more about how to make it the next time around.

Web optimization is exactly the same way. Keeping track of what policies bring success and which don’t will help you in the short term and in the long term. You will have more to work with when you start additional campaigns, and you’ll have real results that you can point to. So much depends on customer preference, and only when you start to get a feel for that preference will you see the best outcomes.

Problem 4: Working Alone

It is the rare person who can successfully design and implement an online marketing optimization strategy without the help of an interactive marketing agency. Optimization is a very particular process, with a number of techniques and strategies to learn. Articles like this one can help, but it takes years of experience to become a real optimization expert.

Does it really make sense for you to spend your time learning, rather than hiring the expertise of an interactive marketing agency? In almost every case, focusing on what you do best - running your business - is the best idea.

Putting it All Together

Now you know some of the most common pitfalls that make optimization programs fail. Do any of them sound familiar? If so, then you’re now equipped with the knowledge to change the problem. You can start fresh, and get the optimization results you’re looking for. You might not see them overnight, but with time the effect will be noticeable.

About the Author: Christine O’Kelly writes for CloudBurst Consulting, a top interactive marketing agency. As an online marketing leader, CloudBurst has helped many companies design and implement successful web optimization campaigns.

Probably the largest and most used of the contextual ad programs is Google’s Adsense. Google really is a giant when it comes to the Internet, and their talents go far beyond just being a search engine. Adsense is used by many site owners to bring in a monthly income.

If you’re interested in running Adsense ads, first you’ll need to apply and get approved. Once approved for one site, you can place Adsense on any other site that you own. You can decide to run only text ads or choose from image and text. Various sizes are offered, and you can custom select colors to match the look of your site. Once the code is generated, you paste it on your HTML pages where you want the ads to appear. Simple & easy. But what happens if you’re not approved by Google, or for some reason your Adsense account were to be terminated? What would you do then? There are other ad network options out there and I’ve gathered some of the best alternatives together here.

Before signing up for any ad program, make sure you read their terms of service and any requirements to make sure it’s a good fit for your website. Also, review the payment options so you’ll know how and when you can expect to be paid. Let’s review:

1) Text-Link-Ads.com:

Once your site is approved, you insert the code on your page and they sell simple text ads that appear on your site. You have final say over any ads being published. Payments are made via Paypal or Clickbank. You receive 50% of the sale price for each link they serve up. This ad network is acceptable to be run on the same page as Google Adsense as this is not considered contextual advertising.

2) Adbrite:

A variety of ad formats to choose from. You can run text ads, banners, inline ads or even full page ads. You can choose to approve or reject ads before they appear on your site. Pays monthly with the default minimum check amount of $100.00. Once your site is approved, ads will appear within 24 hours of your pasting the code. Adbrite has no policy against using other ad networks on your site at the same time.

3) Kontera:

Contextually relevant ads and ad units which are linked to keywords on your web page. Ads displayed will match the content of your site. For your website to be approved it must be in English, be content rich with more than 50 words per page. You can run text, image, billboard, and video ads.

4) Quigo.com: Quigo offers content-targeted advertising to those with strong traffic. Publishers with 500,000 or more monthly page views are encouraged to apply. Once approved, simply copy and paste the code.

5) Yahoo Publisher Network:

Works very similar to Google’s Adsense program. You design your own ads, choosing colors and formats, then paste some code on your page. You’ll be paid per click. Advanced ad targeting and display capabilities can sometimes improve your results. You can choose to be paid via Paypal once your earnings are $50.00, or a check when you hit $100.00.

6) Chitika.com:

A full service online ad network which serves over two billion monthly impressions across more than 30,000 websites. Chitika ads are not contextual and can be run on the same page as Adsense. Twenty-four different ad sizes are available. Payment is via Paypal once your account is at $10.00, or a check when you reach $50.00.

7) Miva:

Miva offers a wide variety of ad formats to choose from: content ads, inline ads, search ads. You’ll be paid on a per click basis. Payments are made monthly by check or Paypal once your balance reaches $25.00. You can also block competitor ads from appearing on your site.

AffiliatesGarage.com:

A different type of ad network which allows you to display affiliate ads in an “Adsense Style”. You can run Clickbank and Paydotcom text ads on your site or blog and earn up to 75% commission.

9) Bidvertiser.com:

Display text ads on your website and let advertisers bid against each other. Ad formats are skyscrapers, banners, rectangles, buttons. They even have ads for your RSS feeds. Payout is monthly via Paypal once your balance is $10.00. This one pays on a cost per click basis.

10) AmaSense Ads:

This service allows you to create Google Adsense styled ads for Amazon products. Different ad formats are available which makes it easy to integrate into your site. Amasense can also be used side by side with Google Adsense without any problems.

As ads are clicked on, you earn a percentage of the product which is paid by Amazon depending on the type of product that is bought. You must have an Amazon associate account first before signing up. To get one go to https://affiliate-program.amazon.com.

As you can see Adsense is not the only game in town when it comes to running ads on your site. If you have multiple sites, you may want to use one of the services mentioned above, then test, to see which one is a better earning opportuníty. You might be surprised at what you learn.

It’s against Google’s terms of service to run another contextual ad service on the same page as Adsense, but there are exceptions to the rule. Most of the services above will tell you if you can run their ads alongside Adsense.

If your websites are mainly information based, network advertising is an excellent way for you to earn an income with little effort on your part. No matter if you use Adsense or another service, it just makes for good dollars and cents.

About The Author
Merle’s Mission Blog- “Rants, Raves and Random Acts of Kindness” a self proclaimed “Internet Junkie” with a passion for net marketing, affiliate marketing, social networking. An avid Blogger and writer with several niche sites to her credít. Find out more at merlesworld.blogspot.com

1. Proximity

Because items that are in close proximity to one another become one visual unit, items that are related to one another should be grouped together. Laying out related items on a website page this way helps the eye associate the information and enables the viewer to mentally categorize the information easily. The flip side of this principle is that items that are not related should not be placed in close proximity to one another.

The purpose of the principle of proximity is to organize information in a way that enables viewers to quickly and easily comprehend. When information is organized, people are more likely to read it and respond. People are also more likely to remember information that is organized. How can you determine if items form a visual unit? Squint your eyes and look at the page on a website. Now count the number of times your eye stops as it views the page. On a page that is using the principle of proximity well, your eye will stop three to five times. In other words, there will be three to five groups of information for the eye to comprehend separately.

2. Alignment

You’ve seen website page layouts where the text and graphics are placed wherever there happens to be space. The effect is messy, with no impact. Nothing should be placed on a page arbitrarily. There should be a visual connection between each item on the page. When items are aligned, it creates a cohesiveness that the eye appreciates.

The purpose of alignment is to unify the website page. Imagine a well-organized kitchen. All the pots and pans are stored in the organizer, the fruit is nicely displayed in a basket on the counter, the spices are all on the rack - everything is in its place. A page layout needs the same thing.

Look at a website page that you feel is good design. Now focus on the main visual element. Where does your eye go from there? Do you see how other elements are aligned with that one main element both vertically and horizontally?

3. Repetition

Good design repeats some aspect of the website design throughout the site. It’s this repetition that makes all the pages in a site look like they belong together. Color scheme, graphic elements, typefaces - all of these elements should be repeated - used consistently - throughout.

The purpose of repetition is to create consistency and to add visual interest. Repetition creates a professional, polished look that the eye is drawn to. When a website design uses repetition and is consistent, it is more likely to be viewed and read. Here are some ways you can create repetition beyond simple consistency in typefaces and colors: Use some element in your logo as a major graphic element in the design. If you are using a ruled line, make the line more interesting visually by perhaps making it with tiny dots or dashes, then repeating the line element throughout the design. Create patterns that are repeated throughout the design. Take a small element and place it somewhere on each page for a whimsical look. Just be careful not to overdo the repetition, or viewers will be annoyed rather than pleased.

4. Contrast

The principle of contrast states that if two items are not the same, then they should be different - very different. Contrast creates an organizational hierarchy of the information and graphics on a webpage. When using contrast, you can’t be a wimp! The contrast must be strong to be effective.

The purpose of contrast is two-fold: to create interest on the page, and to organize information. A page that is interesting to look at is more likely to be read. And contrasting elements will help a reader understand the way the information is organized.

Contrast can be created in many ways. You can contrast large type with small type, a serif font with a sans-serif font, bold with light, smooth texture with rough texture, a small graphic with a large one, a dark color with a light one.

A design that integrates these principles will automatically gain a professionalism and polish that it would otherwise lack. Next time you stumble across a website design that makes you say “wow”, check for these principles - you’ll find them quietly working to make that design a good one!

About The Author
Laura MacPherson - Creative director at Northstar Creative, a website design studio located in Greenville, SC. Her company, Northstar Creative Web Design, approaches website development differently than many web companies. Northstar Creative combines the use of marketing psychology with top-notch web development to create truly exceptional custom sites for its clients.

Market Research Tool 1 - Related Searches And Wonder Wheel

When you start typing in the main Google search box you should see a drop down box appear giving you some alternative search terms related to the word you typed. Note these phrases down in a notepad file or write them on a piece of paper. They will be useful as part of your keyword list used in the next tool. You will also see more related search phrases after you click search. Scroll to the bottom of the results page and you will see “searches related to:” Note down any new phrases shown there.

Recently Google has released Wonder Wheel which is also a related keywords tool but is shown in a mind map format. You can also click on the related phrases to find more useful search terms. To access wonder wheel: enter your keyword in the standard search screen, then at the top of the results on the left you should see a show options link. Select that and it will reveal a menu. Near the bottom of the menu you should see wonder wheel. Market

Research Tool 2 - Adwords Keyword Tool

We all know how important keywords and search phrases are. Let’s face it, it’s what drives the internet. Google has provided us with a tool that tells you what keywords and phrases people are using to find what they are looking for. You are able to search an individual country, more than one if you hold down the ctrl key on your keyboard as you select, or all countries.

The adwords tool is now more valuable due to the fact it shows actual search numbers. Previously you only had a green bar to indicate how much traffic the search term receíved. You can also see how competitive each keyword is amongst adword advertisers, showing us which keywords are commercially viable.

Market Research Tool 3 - Google Trends

Now that you have an idea what keywords your market is using you can use the trends tool to check the history of that keyword / phrase. Google Trends supplies data for the last 5 years, giving you an idea if the search term is consistent. You can also see if the search term is popular at certain times of the year, also known as a seasonal keywords.

Another important function of Trends is the section that tells you the popularity of a keyword by country, city and language - very useful if you are targeting particular countries or even cities.

Market Research Tool 4 - Google Alerts

Alerts is underused by webmasters. If you want to stay in touch with what’s hot in your market, you can by using Google Alerts. All you have to do is enter the most popular phrases in your market. Google will then send you links via email depending on what type you select.

The types are news, web, blogs, video and groups. If you would like a mix of all, you can select comprehensive. You can decide how often you want to be updated by selecting either: as it happens, once a day or once a week. I hope you can see how powerful this is if you want to be seen as an authority in your market.

Market Research Tool 5 - Google Web Search

Finally, we have Google’s standard web search which is not standard in my eyes. It provides a lot of information if you know what to look for. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important part of running a website. By performing a search of your market keywords, Google will tell you what type of content it sees as important.

If you see videos, blogs or images this gives you another way to reach the top 10 of Google. If you see Web 2.0 style sites such as Digg, that could be another avenue. If there are adword ads on the right side of the screen, that tells you the market is commercially viable and more importantly that the keyword you entered is good enough to pay for, especially if there are 10 ads or more.

As you can see, even if you don’t have money to buy the latest tools, I have shown you there is a way to get some very important information using free tools from Google. Are you starting to love them now?

Thanks for reading.

About The Author
Do you need content and products for your website, if the answer is yes check out www.publicdomainresource.com. We show you how to profit from public domain information in our Free Public Domain Profíts Report.

- Intuitive web design tools to help you build your site

- Simple management tools for updating your site and viewing performance reports

- 24-hour support so you never have to go it alone

Get unlimited data transfer, disk space and email storage with new Yahoo!
Web Hosting
What do “unlimited disk space, data transfer, and email storage” mean?

It’s pretty straightforward: Customers who use Yahoo! Web Hosting can obtain unlimited disk space, data transfer, and email storage if they use their services consistently with the Terms of Service and these paragraphs.

What is appropriate usage?

Yahoo! Web Hosting is designed to serve the web hosting needs of small, independently owned and operated businesses in the United States. It is not appropriate to use our services to support large enterprises or internationally based businesses with a sustained demand that places undue burden on our systems or negatively impacts use by small, independently owned and operated businesses.

Yahoo! Web Hosting is a shared web hosting service, which means that a number of customers’ web sites and other email or storage services are hosted from the same server. Yahoo! uses abuse controls to help ensure that use of our services does not adversely affect the performance of our system or other customers’ sites. It is not appropriate to use an account primarily as an online storage space or for archiving electronic files.

Disk space:

If you use your services consistently with the Terms of Service and these paragraphs, your site can grow as large as necessary to meet your small business needs, but to ensure a great experience for all, we will place some constraints on how fast you can grow. The vast majority of our customers’ sites grow at rates well within our rules, but our abuse controls may cause a brief delay while we evaluate if expansion is appropriate.

Data transfer:

In most cases, if you use our services consistently with the Terms of Service and these paragraphs, visitors to your web site will be able to download and view as much content from your site as they like. However, in certain circumstances, our server processing power, server memory, or abuse controls could limit downloads from your site.

You can also upload as much as content as you like each month, subject only to the Terms of Service and the rules that control how fast your site can grow (see above).

Email storage:

You do not have to worry about hitting a storage limit if you use our services consistently with the Terms of Service and these paragraphs. Yahoo! will increase your space along with your appropriate small business needs, but our abuse controls may impact the rate of growth or your folder size, and there may be a short delay while we assess your usage. In some cases, creating additional folders or subfolders will help ensure that the system works well for everyone.

Yahoo! Web Hosting - Save 25% on your first 3-months of hosting service

1. Success mind set. Don’t gloss over this strategy — it may be the most important of all. If you truly want to succeed in your business and are passionate about what you do, nothing will hold you back. This often means that you have to step out in faith that you’ll succeed, and most importantly, believe in yourself as a success. Sure, you may stumble, or even fall, but you must be willing to pick yourself back up and persevere — even without a safety net hanging under you.

2. Target market. The biggest mistake that business owners make is wanting to sell to everyone. If you’ve tried this, you have no doubt discovered that casting your net around everyone is a very difficult task. Narrowing that group to a more manageable number will actually serve you much better, believe it or not. If you can identify a smaller group of hungry prospects who are willing to pay for the solutions to the problems that keep them awake at night (or those who are willing to pay for more information about a hobby or interest that occupies much of their free time) AND who are reachable in groups (associations, membership sites, magazines, newsletters, discussion forums or lists, social networking groups, etc.), then you have made a key discovery that will catapult your business forward. 3. Client Attraction Device. You’ve heard it said time and time again that “the money is in the list.” This still holds true today, as well. Without a list of interested prospects to whom you can market, you don’t have a business. The quickest way to begin to develop a list is to give something away. Yes, you heard me correctly. If you have content you have already created, dig through that to see if you have something appropriate for your chosen target market.

If not, identify a problem of your target market, and create some content that answers one of those problems. Perhaps it’s a checklist, a Top 10 list, an ebook or special report, an audio interview, a pod cast, a video — do whatever is easiest for you. Just ensure that it is in a plug and play format, i.e. don’t make your prospect download some weird software that’s not commonplace to read and view this material.

Make sure that your Client Attraction Device has some valuable content in it. Nothing is more frustrating to me than to read a free giveway that only serves to remind me that I have a problem and offers no solution unless I pay for it. Don’t be afraid to demonstrate your expertise by giving “how to” information away. Trust me, if you are truly good at what you do, there’s no way that you can share everything you know on a topic in one short information product. Your Client Attraction Device starts your prospects on the like, know, and trust road that is imperative for them to travel before they will decide to buy something from you.

4. Email marketing system. You must have some way to collect your prospect’s information and a system by which you can stay in contact with them. The best way to do this is by purchasing email marketíng services. Do not use a free service for this, nor try to send emails out of your Outlook program. If you want to be a serous online business owner, invest in the most important asset in your business — your email marketíng system.

5. Blogsite. A blogsite, which is a web site/blog hybrid, is the quickest way to build an online presence. The two most popular blogging platforms, the fee-based Typepad and open source software Wordpress, can be used to create a blogsite very quickly. If you want either of them customized with a particular look or feel, that may take a bit longer and require a greater investment. However, either will work well to get you started, and both will permit you to enter your email marketíng system’s signup code onto a page so that you can immediately begin to collect contact information from prospects who have requested your Client Attraction Device. 6. Stay in touch. Whether you do this by submitting regular blog posts or publishing an email newsletter (or both), you need to reach out and touch your prospects at least weekly (or several times a week if you are blogging). Give them some insights about what’s happening with you personally as well as sharing some aspect of your expertise with them by creating a content-rich article or answering their questions. And, don’t forget to sell — provide some product or service in each email newsletter, or submit regular blog posts that remind your readers about what you are selling.
7. Social networking. Never before have we had the opportuníty to connect with others online easily and inexpensively as we do now with social networking. Create profiles on the social networks) used by your target market, do research to add friends/followers in your target market, and use the status updates to be useful to your followers, i.e. by sharing resources, asking questions, and updating them about how you help clients/customers. 8. Drive traffic to your site. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but my favorite starts with writing an article. Once it’s written, I publish it in my ezine, my blog, and to my web site and syndicate it on article directories all over the Web. Then I have the option of making a pod cast with the content; creating a screencast video or “talking head” video from it; writing and submitting a press release; creating a teleclass; create a Q&A radio show interview opportuníty; breaking up the points as separate Twitter posts, or Tweets, and tweeting them to my followers; or sharing it on my Squidoo lens or other information-sharing portals. The point here is to work once and profit, profit, profit. Repurpose one article as many ways as you can to drive traffic back to your blogsite and thus get more and more prospects to sign up on your list and ultimately convert them to customers.

The advent of the Internet makes it easier than ever to create and promote an online business with very little startup capital. And, if done correctly, the strategies will results in you filling your business in 60 days with eager and willing prospects ready to buy what you are offering.

About The Author
Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your Free gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketíng Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com.  Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.

True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but results should be visible after 3 months into a program. Okay… give or take a few months for the vagaries of Search Engines that like to alter their algorithms just when your site is all set to take off!

The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.

1. Well optimized code
2. Well Optimized Metatags
3. Header Tags, Alt tags
4. Keywords in the URL
5. Backlinks to the site

If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these together, chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1 increases proportionally with every position.

There are two ways in which you can check if your company is really working on your website.

1. Set up Google Alert on your company’s name. Once an alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press release, Google will pick it up and deliver it into your mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO company is working.

2. Use a tracking account. Google Analytics is free and is improving with feedback. Ask your SEO company to set up tracking in analytics and get your account id and password so that you can check occasionally.

SEO is unfortunately a long drawn out process. How long should one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and you face any of the following scenarios it’s time to fire your SEO company.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no improvement in search traffic.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting any conversions.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any boost in rank.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no improvement in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24 months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI, professional SEO companies choose a mix and match of low competition, moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your SEO company did not take this approach, it’s time to fire them. How to Check: Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free tool) to your site and visit it regularly.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting conversions Maybe it’s a genuine mistake which can be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic because the company has posted the site at improper places just to show stats of increased traffic. Believe me this happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets taken in.

How to Check: Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources. Check all the traffic types - Referral, search engine and direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just SEO.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword. Maybe the targeted keywords are too competitive OR Maybe all the aspects of SEO are not being covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the company is doing.

How to Check: Simply type your keyword in the search bar. Check page #1 for your URL. If it’s not on page #1 it should be on page #2 after 6 months of the campaign for at least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn’t there, call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links, but there is hardly any improvement in rank. Maybe the ranking will improve gradually OR Maybe the company is trying to impress upon you that it has increased your links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from the company.

How to Check: Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the following to see the number of links to your website - links:www.domainname.com. Analyze the relevancy of the site linking back to your website. If the links are from spam sites, fire the company.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were. Suppose you were already on page #3 or page #2 for the keywords and approached a company to take you to page #1. But you haven’t moved. Maybe the company’s taking you for a ride OR there is no other reason. Just fire the company. They are showing no results.

There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in this article. It’s very difficult to know if the company is working hard enough to get you on page #1. Keeping constant contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly comparative report and track the improvement in links, traffic and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by the company. Track the action plan. You will see results soon enough!

About The Author
Ajay Prasad is founder of Global Marketing Resources LLC that runs a number of ecommerce websites under it’s umbrella. Ajay’s functional expertise includes website strategy, marketing management, business development, consumer research, market analysis and strategic planning. GMRWebTeam is a company that aims to develop an overall strategy for your site.

It may also help people in the search engine optimization (SEO) business sell their services to the brick and mortar marketing departments who understand the old “positioning” concept vs. its meaning in the world of SEO.

Classic marketing students will be familiar with the concept of positioning as it relates to how a brand name is perceived. Most marketing school graduates were required to read the book ” Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” by Al Reis and Jack Trout. Briefly summarized, the book contends that your brand image tells people what your capabilities are. In an example from the book, it was noted that Xerox did not compete well in the computer market against IBM because people associate IBM with computers and Xerox with copiers. Since the book’s publication, “positioning” has itself become a buzzword so it creates a clear idea in the mind of a listener who has been exposed to the concept. Therefore, “search engine positioning” may be a bit deceptive (are you trying to position a search engine?) as a phrase, but it is possible to clarify the idea in a way that clears up its real meaning and gets potential customers on board with its possibilities.

Any SEO expert will consider “search engine positioning” to be synonymous with optimization. Additionally, the marketing concept of “positioning” on the internet doesn’t really work because search is demand driven, and branding involves sending a repetitive message through various channels until someone understands the connection between the brand and its service offering. However, the process of relating the concept of SEO to people who don’t work in the search engine trenches is difficult, and takes many different approaches. With a word like “positioning,” it is possible to relate that your spot in the search engine rankings is going to build brand equity (albeit more slowly) by creating an association between your company and the “what you do” searches made by the average searcher.

Many people in SEO have no interest in brand building, but traditional marketing types may seem to think of nothing else. Therefore, it is necessary to show brand-conscious SEO prospects how you can use optimization and PPC to build brand presence while simultaneously creating a profitable sales channel for non-branded searches. One of the keys to creating long term customer relationships in the SEO world is to show value month over month, and the residual aspect of good keyword optimization is that people will come back to the site by searching for the brand name once they know it, assuming the brand name matches up with the URL. Finally, there are people who only want to build a brand presence on the search engines, and don’t necessarily have an interest in the potential for all of the traffic generated by search terms. Many clients want to have a presence on the web that takes people to a site and presents information in the same manner as a billboard or commercial. These are not always bad clients to have, as they may spend their advertising dollars in amounts comparable to radio and television campaigns. By adding value and creating better search engine positions for keywords relative to the brand being built, a search engine marketing agency can prepare for the day that the customer’s strategy changes into a keyword conversion model. This usually happens when a shakeup or merger brings in a manager more familiar with the internet and the potential of search. In cases like these, showing tangible value in combination with online branding expertise generally creates an opportunity for your agency to be retained.

About the Author:
Patrick Hare has been managing online and offline marketing projects since 1999. From 2005 to present, he has been with Scottsdale Arizona’s Web.com Search Agency (formerly Submitawebsite). Patrick provides Search Engine Optimization and Marketing advice to in-house customers and Web.com Jacksonville’s web design group.