Tony's SEO Blog

SEO Challenges with Google's Design Update

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:04:00 +0000

Around May 5th 2010 Google updated their site design. Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land has some excellent in-depth information about the changes. He discusses nearby filtering which is used so search results will favor local Websites.

In my SEO reasearch I noticed this update uses the Google Maps local results OneBox location to favor local results not only in the OneBox but also in the organic results. Once it is set it seems all search results favor that location. This means that everyone will be viewing somewhat different results depending on this setting.

This change might be great for a small business selling products at a bricks and mortar location. However, for sites that offer products and services that have a national or world-wide customer base this could seriously hurt their organic search traffic. Website owners and SEOs who don't realize this change has taken place might think their site is doing great, or poorly, in the SERPS depending on the Google Maps OneBox setting. Universal and Personalized search have been around for some time now. If this OneBox change remains, trying to get a page ranked for any keyword phrase will be more difficult.

Your comments on this subject are welcome.

Small Business Internet Marketing Package from Maximum Exposure SEO

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Small Business Internet Marketing Special!

Real Internet Marketing Results for Only $750 for One Year

This package includes :

5 Page Web Site using your Copy and Pictures

Domain Name of Your Choice If Available

Complete SEO of Your New Site

Internet Hosting for 1 Year

One Year of One-on-One Marketing Service

Contact Tony Payne at tony@maximumexposureseo.com or call 1-601-672-7955. Tony has been providing SEO services and marketing cousulting for Internet web sites for over 10 years.

Your questions about this small business package or Internet marketing in general are welcome!

Local Search for Small Business Success

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:27:00 +0000

The Benefits of Local Search to Bricks and Mortar

Are you optimizing for local search? The value of local search has been discussed within the Internet marketing industry for some time. Yet, like many search engine optimization (SEO) concepts, most small business webmasters and owners don't take full advantage of best practices SEO in their website's design. This includes local search optimization.

What is local search?

Business website owners and webmasters need to insure that their web pages will show up in search results when someone types in the search box their town and product or service. That's what local search is about. Forget the Yellow Pages. With the use of mobile internet devices this concept becomes even more important.

So what do you need to do to get seen and become local? The best way is to put the address or city where the business is located on every webpage within the site. This needs to be done in plain text and not as an illustration or picture. Checking and updating your Google Maps listing is also a good idea. Another local SEO technique would be to add the business location in the alt tags of pictures if appropriate. Local picture searches should not be overlooked.

Local search provides the small business owner with a simple way to receive high rankings for his business when customers are searching for a local listing of his product or service.

If you are a small business owner reading this and you don't have a website for your business the time to act is now. Waiting does hurt you. It takes time to receive high ranking for your keywords in the search results. The clock starts ticking when your website is created.

For basic best practices SEO techniques visit Maximum Exposure SEO .

Your SEO questions and comments are welcome.

SEO Can Save Your Online Small Business

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:54:00 +0000

I consider it a given that every online small business should use basic SEO techniques on their website. If it could mean the difference between a 100th page search listing and a top 10 for your keyword phrase why wouldn't you use SEO on each page of your site? But a quick look at web search results will tell you that most small business websites, and their webmasters, don't have a clue what best practices SEO involves.

I have had a custom jewelry website since January 1999. One of the first things I realized is that a webpage needed to be ranked highly in organic search results to receive any customer traffic. The top ten listing for my keyword phrases seemed a worthy goal. That's when I discovered SEO or search engine optimization. It didn't cost a thing! This was free advertising on the web. I learned the SEO basics and changed my web pages to reflect this new found knowledge. It worked!

I have been studying SEO as part of my website's marketing strategy. It is something I truly enjoy almost as much as making custom jewelry for my customers. Since 1999 things have been in a constant state of change for the Internet marketing and SEO industry. New search engines came and went. The search engine algorithms or formulas constantly changed. The hardware keep getting better and better with faster download times.

Today there are three major search engines with Google being the top dog by far. So a small business needs to optimize for Google and let the rest fall where they may. Learn what your keyword phrases are and optimize for them on each webpage. Get as many inbound relevant (non-paid) links that you can with your keyword phrase in the text. Just those two things will increase your organic search ranking and would only cost you some time. It will be time well spent.

If all of this sounds overwhelming, or you don't have time, then get a SEO professional to help you. If they apply generally accepted SEO techniques to your web pages the money you spend will be worth what you receive in return, which is more qualified customers and conversions.

Your comments and questions about SEO are welcome!

Sphinn This

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:17:00 +0000

I recently joined Sphinn an Internet marketing news and discussion forum. If you are interested in Internet marketing or SEO (search engine marketing) this is a great site to visit. Members get to suggest SEM/SEO articles or news stories which are voted on using Sphinns. This site has been an excellent information source for me even before I joined.

The stories on Sphinn range from basic Internet marketing strategy to really weird and funny stuff. The ones that make it to Hot Topics are the cream of the crop. If you have an interest in SEM/SEO check out this informative site.

I encourage your comments!

Why Use SEO?

noreply@blogger.com (customjeweler) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:13:00 +0000

What is SEO or Search Engine Optimization all About?

If you own or manage a website you should know the benefits and best practices of SEO or search engine optimization. SEO is a part of the Internet marketing field and involves search ranking for web pages in non-paid, or organic, search engine results.

Keywords are the key. When people search for a product or service what words or phrases do they type in the search box? In general the keyword phrases related to that page, with the most traffic, are the ones to target. If your web page sell cars in Calcutta then the keyword phrase "Cars in Calcutta" needs to be in the title tag in that page's HTML code as well as the spiderable text or copy on that same page.

Search engine spiders (robots) generally don't "see" pictures but they do "see" alt tags for pictures and graphics. Relevant keywords can be included in those also. This gives the search engine an idea what each picture is about.

There are off-site factors that are very important for SEO including quality inbound links from other sites.

SEO is about customer traffic ,conversions and return on investment (ROI). If potential customers are unable to find your web pages then they can't purchase your product or service. The more qualified customers that see your web pages the higher your sales figures and profits.

A Few Things to Consider

Each web page on your site is a separate landing page. Use the keywords on those pages to draw in your customers. You might put your contact information on each page of your site.

Each web page needs a unique Title Tag that contains the keyword phrase related to that page.

You can't sell it if they can't find you. Your webpage must be on the first page of search results to receive sizable traffic. The higher the ranking the better!

SEO practices take time to see significant results. If you have a new URL this is especially true on Google.

Google is "Number One" and is the search engine to target with your SEO efforts.

SEO is worth the effort and money because once implemented the changes will bring lasting positive results in quality customer traffic.

For more information about this important aspect of Internet marketing visit my website Maximum Exposure SEO.