The changes include expanded listings that show up in Google when you type in real estate related terms, as well as opportunity to search Google listings (this only appears for select keywords).  The listings are also displayed in Google maps, giving real estate agents a valuable and interactive way to reach their target audience, especially if they build out their listings with enticing messages and photos.

Due to the rising numbers of Americans who get all their news online, the “news” sections on Google and Yahoo are becoming quite popular.  People also use these sections to search the latest information on any given topic; after all, no one wants to read yesterday’s news.  Furthermore, when someone finds your press release online, you know that they are interested in in the latest developments in your industry.

In addition to the actual content of your optimized press release getting indexed and ranked quickly, you also get the benefits of backlinks from the news sites and any blogs or social media sites that your press release was picked up by, which boosts your overall rankings.  It is a win-win.

Ensuring that your company doesn’t simply issue press releases, but rather takes full advantage of any new developments or announcements through online PR is essential aspect of suceeding online - and working with an SEO firm that offers online PR is a great option as well (hint, hint: SEO Group does this).

Let’s pose the question, “What are the most important elements when designing a website?” Here’s a very simple answer in order of importance, followed with an explanation why.

1. Content
   Content is by far the most important component for a good website. New content keeps your users coming back every day, and it allows search engines to connect you directly to your target audience.
2. Organization & Usability
   Organization and usability allow your visitors to easily and seamlessly read through all that important content.
3. Design
   A very creative and branded design can tie everything together giving your business a creative and memorable identity. However, good design is definitely not a requirement for a successful website. And if you don’t believe me, here are a couple websites you may have heard of to prove my point: Google.com and Craiglist.com

Now, to back up what I’m saying, first take a look at Google’s mission statement. “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” I know what you’re thinking; this is one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. Yes, but way back when no one had ever heard of Google and they were just as small as you, look what their mission statement was. “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” [http://web.archive.org/web/20000303101551/www.google.com/company.html]

I meet, speak, and consult with clients everyday about these topics, and I have to say the majority of clients want to put all their energy into developing the fanciest or most creative websites. Work with your development team on usability, cleanliness and organization. Remember “word of mouth” is still the most powerful form of advertising, and if you have great content and your website is usable and organized the word will definitely spread.

From Read  Write Web, the HowCast Iphone application has surpassed 500,000 downloads.

How cast is a series of short instructional videos that are extremely useful for people looking to learn new things on the go. It is always nice to see helpful and educational tools succeed on the on the web, whether it is on a mobile platform or otherwise.

The blog at the Blog World 2009 Expo site reports that  Ashton Kutcher has  threatened to stop tweeting. While he may have close to 2 million followers, I won’t be heartbroken. Will you? Will twitter suffer? I don’t think so…

Carrie Hill at Search Engine Watch addresses a common SEO question: “I have meta tags but I’m not ranking”. She provides an in depth analysis that proves that meta tags aren’t the be all end all of online marketing.

Lastly, the biggest Internet story of the week. Google has given the first preview of “wave”, its upcoming new communications platform that combines real time chat, email, and photo sharing. This new platform may also provide a space for google to compete in the real time social networking realm. This is definitely an exciting story. For a preview, check it out here.

Also, be on the lookout for Microsoft’s launch of a new search engine, bing in the coming weeks. We’ll see if it will give Microsoft a larger share of the search market.

Enjoy your weekend!

Men with Pens covers optimal blogging frequency and how not to burn yourself out by posting too often - blogging is a marathon, not a sprint!

SEO Scoop gives great advice on how to choose an SEO company or consultant.

Twitter is taking over the world!  Not really, but this TechCrunch graph proves that Twitter is growing in popularity worldwide - in terms of traffic, it is beating out Digg, LinkedIn, and the New York Times.

SEO Moz discusses embedded content and linking in this week’s Whiteboard Friday discussion.

To effectively use social media to market yourself, your company, or your clients, you need a plan.  Outspoken Media discusses social media planning.

The TopRank online marketing blog shares how to measure the value of optimized PR campaigns.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Clearly, it is not enough to get on page #1 - being at the very top of page #1 is the key to a truly successful online marketing campaign.

Of course, you don’t want your business to be merely decent or even good - you want it to be great and to be number #1 in your field.  And that starts with a top notch online marketing strategy, including competitor analysis.  That said, it is not enough to merely figure out what your competitors are doing and copy their strategy.  You have to adapt it and make it your own, or in Picasso’s words, steal it.

We don’t mean stealing in the typical sense of the word.   Quite the contrary - by analyzing your competition’s tactics and determining what works well for them, what doesn’t, and why (understanding why a particular technique works or doesn’t work is just as important as implementing good strategies), you can then take their best ideas and put your own spin on them, much like writers and artists learn from the masters that came before them.

In addition, by analyzing your competitor’s strategy and pinpointing their weaknesses, you can figure out where they have made poor decisions and avoid making similar decisions yourself.  Do they go after incredibly broad keywords that are unlikely to lead to results, or do they make unnecessarily difficult for visitors to convert?  After all, like a great artist, you only want to steal the best stuff and leave the rest for the copyists and knock off artists.

*Disclaimer - just in case it isn’t obvious, SEO Group does not advocate actually stealing or copying anything from other companies or individuals, just the type of competitor analysis common in most industries.

Here are five on-page SEO mistakes.  You can use this article as a guideline when writing your blog posts to see if you are making the any of these mistakes in your writing.

Indented Google listings - wouldn’t it be nice to have your website rank on page #1 not once but twice?  Then you’d control 20% of the standard SERPs.

Protect your website and your ranking; make sure you are not linking to a “bad neighbor“.

How to optimize your pay per click campaign - by using these SEO techniques to manage your campaign, you can make sure you make the most of your PPC budget.

This one is just lots of fun to read - since summer is on it’s way (even though it is still pretty chilly here in Chicago), where our online marketing company is located, its sure taking its time.  However, if you are thinking of traveling in the next few months check out this article on the best travel blogs with tips and everything you need to know about places in the United States and around the globe.  These blogs are great examples for online marketing types as well - see what elements of their success you can adapt for your own blog.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Look at the two examples below. On the left, the mouse is hovering over a button that links to a page described as “Free SEO Tool” in the alt tag. On the right, the alt tag reads a simple description of the picture, “Michael Jordan Dunking”.

Alt tags are mainly used by people who cannot see images on your website. I’m sure you remember the dial-up age when websites took what seemed like forever to open, especially the ones with a lot of images. Some browsers had an option to turn images off. This allowed websites to open much faster. In place of the images were alt tags, describing the image that was suppose to be there. Of course dial-up modems have become out-dated and a thing of the past so why are we still using alt tags?

Alt tags are also used in major search engine algorithms. Search engine robots or spiders cannot read images; however they can and do read alt tags. Alt tags help search engines learn more about your website, especially those that lack a lot of content. If used correctly it will even help your website rank higher. Good and descriptive alternative text should be placed on all images, pictures and buttons according to the Design and Content Google Guidelines.

Another good reason to use alt tags is accessibility. People with physical disabilities like the blind want to access your website. The buying power of the blind is in the billions and yes, they are frequent web surfers. However, instead of being able to read content on your website its read to them by the computer using a simple application. They cannot see images or buttons on websites so alt tags allow them to get a good description of the image or button. In 2006, a blind student and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) filed a lawsuit against the popular retail chain, Target on the basis that it was virtually impossible for the blind to make a purchase on Target.com due to the lack of descriptive alt tags on the product images. They claimed that Target was in direct violation of the California Disabled Persons Act, guaranteeing full and equal access to all people with disabilities to public places. Target later settled the lawsuit for the sum of 6 million dollars.

So make it a priority, make sure your web design firm uses good, descriptive alt tags on all of your images. A good way to test your website is to simply rollover all your images and look for alt tags. You can also use our Free SEO Tool to determine if you’re missing any alt tags.

One might object - “isn’t this reciprocal linking?”  In the most basic sense, yes, but there is a significant difference between linking to a related website belonging to a partner business versus a random link to a site that has nothing to do with your client.  Besides, by linking to related businesses, you are adding value for your users, which is never a bad thing.

So take out your address book next time you are launching an online marketing campaign, and make your existing business and social networks work for you!