SEO Best and Worse Practices
November 9th, 2009 by cgmpowersWhen it comes to SEO best and worse practices what people are talking about are White Hat SEO tactics and Black Hat SEO tactics.
But what are White Hat SEO tactics?
White Hat SEO tactics could mean optimizing META tags, putting keywords in your URLs, making site maps that Google enjoys, submitting sites to various directories, trading links on related sites and, of course, creating keyword-optimized content (A.K.A. SEO web copy) with the help of the Google Webmaster Tools. With White Hat SEO tactics search engines and directories locate your relevant pages people are looking for. With time and patience White Hat SEO tactics do work and offer the greatest SEO longevity.
So what are Black Hat SEO tactics?
Black Hat SEO tactics might be ‘shady’ efforts like redirecting search engine spiders to different pages than human visitors see. It could also mean mass-posting spam comments on blogs, forums and articles in an attempt to build links illegally. Black Hat SEO tactic can also be putting keywords at the end of each page in very small fonts or an ‘invisible’ font that matches the page’s background. Black hat methods use strategies to deceive users into visiting sites about subjects they really don’t care about, which defeats the purpose of a search engine. This is why using Black Hat SEO tactics can get you suspend or banned from search engines. So while Black Hat SEO tactics might help you jump quickly to the stop of SERP (Search Engine Results Page) it’s not worth the risk of being banned forever.
In closing, the best thing to remember is this – there isn’t one single way to better SEO and if something seems like it might be cheating, don’t do it because it probably is.
Why Good Advertising Isn’t Cheap?
October 21st, 2009 by cgmpowersYou’ve seen the ads that read, “Cheap logos for $25.” Others might say, “Design your own website for $200.” Sounds like a bargain. You might even find sites that allow you to build the design yourself in mere minutes. The problem is everyone can do the same thing, using the exact same template you’re using.
Having a logo that looks like every other company in the world isn’t good marketing. It doesn’t brand your business or make you stand out. And having a website that doesn’t convey a professional attitude can even scare potential customers away.
The same is true of your other promotions, regardless of whether it’s brochures, postcards, sales letters… you name it. There’s always someone looking to make a quick buck and there’s always businesses trying to save a few dimes that end up sacrificing on quality.
For businesses that cut corners they eventually learn the hard way that saving money wasn’t as important as good marketing. Cheap marketing did nothing except waste precious funds because their promotions fell completely flat.
How Much Does a Good Marketing and PR Campaign Cost?
One of the first questions people ask is, ‘How much does a good marketing and PR campaign cost?”
The answer is it varies greatly because not all marketing promotions are the same. For example, a good online marketing company, one that creates a top-quality web site with design and copy, offers one form of marketing. Another form of marketing might be a single postcard promotion. Both involve different levels of time and skill. In fact, one postcard alone isn’t the same as an entire postcard promotion of six cards. Every project is different and it can vary from client-to-client.
But to give you a general idea you can expect that a quality web site (meaning 5 pages with design and content) will run between $1000-2000 minimum. The larger your site, the more expensive it is. But worrying about how much does a good marketing and pr campaign cost shouldn’t be the main concern. The real question is, “How much do you feel your company is worth?”
So yes, you can hire your neighbor’s graphically-inclined daughter to do your logo for $25. You can ask your best friend’s husband to design your web site for $200. After all, he’s got some web design software and a ‘ Web Pages for Dummies’ book.
In the end, it’s important to realize that the old adage is true…you get what you pay for. So if you’re paying next to nothing you can expect any promotion you do will provide the same results…nothing.
