Manish PandeyManish Pandey

Tips to Improve Your Website’s Conversion Rate

Philip — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:37:56 +0000

If you own an online business then you are probably concerned about your conversion rate. After you get the traffic to your website your website must convert them or your online business probably won’t stay in business long. This has been the thing that separates the successful business from the businesses that are struggling or

If Danny Sullivan is God, I’m His Disciple

Manish — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:15:55 +0000

OK, so we've already established that Danny Sullivan is the God of SEO. As for his disciples, well, the line forms to the left. For nearly a decade, I have looked up to Danny. I've admired not just his SEO knowledge, but also his business sense. In fact, someone once asked me in an interview where I pictured myself in five years. My answer? At a conference, standing right next to Danny Sullivan! I've been following Danny's blog posts for years. Like so many of his other devoted disciples, I made the pilgrimage with him from Search Engine Watch to Search Engine Land. And, like so many other people in the SEO world, I was blown away when he decided to start Search Engine Land in the first place. After all, who goes from King of the Mountain back to the bottom to start climbing all over again?! But above all else, I am a disciple of Danny's because he stands up for what he believes in. I could go on and on praising him, but words don't really do Danny justice. So, I'll simply talk about two events that really stood out in my mind -- and still do, to this day. Even though I had already been a fan of Danny's for years, my faith was taken to a higher level in 2007 when he wrote a piece rebutting Jason Calacanis' post entitled "Why People Hate SEO…(and why SMO is bulls$%t)". Oh sure, Danny could have blasted him for the post (oh, and for saying that SEO was "bull" during the keynote speech at the SES Chicago convention a few months prior). He totally could have gotten away with writing, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Danny freaking Sullivan, the God of SEO, and how dare you trash my people and the empire that I have built?!" After all, it's not like this would have been a one-on-one fight. Danny would have had a virtual army of SEO-types behind him, leading the charge against Jason with burning pitchforks, if he had requested it. But he didn't. Instead, he started out by PRAISING Jason. He actually said he loved him! Then, he went onto say that Jason speaks with "passion" and "deeply cares about things". Can you imagine saying that about someone who had just trashed your entire life's work? After that, Danny proceeded to rip Jason's argument apart -- not with cheap insults (even though he might have deserved them). Instead, he stayed calm and used carefully-researched facts and figures and even a quote or two from Google to make his point. And then, there was the biggie -- he demanded respect for the men and women who call this industry (his industry) home. He refused to let them be attacked. He refused to let the good guys be lumped in with the bad apples. After all, Danny reasoned, every bad industry has bad apples, but that doesn't mean that the entire industry is garbage. Does it get any classier than that? Danny showed his unparalleled class again a year later, when Jeremy Schoemaker wrote a blog post titled "Why I Do Not Like 95% of SEO Experts" -- and had Danny (or, the "Godfather of SEO" as Schoemaker called him) on his podcast to debate the topic. Schoemaker even started things out by saying, "Danny, let me have it." Danny's response? "I'm not a big debater. I'm not full of anger." He then went onto say that he agreed with a lot of the points that Schoemaker said -- and refuted the points he disagreed with in a classy, respectful way. Again, he could have told Schoemaker that he was an idiot and to go pound sand, but he didn't. He even mentioned "poor Jason Calacanis"! Danny didn't have to be nice to Schoemaker. Heck, he didn't even have to waste time talking to him! Instead, he wanted to stand up -- once again -- for the industry he loves. How can you NOT be a disciple of someone who acts like that? First published on http://www.manishpandey.com Image edited: MormonJesus

Worshipping at the Temple of… Danny Sullivan?

Manish — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:54:26 +0000

You pray about it, believe it holds the key to your future, and spend lots of time trying to learn everything you can about it… So, how can you possibly argue that SEO ISN'T a religion?! While you do your best to keep up with SEO's ever-changing "commandments" (like "Thou shalt not purchase links" or "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's content"), have you ever thought about who the "God" of SEO is? Matt Cutts might be the first answer that comes to mind. After all, he "knows all and sees all" at Google. He knows things about Google's algorithm that us "mere mortals" will never be privy to. However, even he falls short of Danny Sullivan. Think about it… Danny has been around since BEFORE the dawn of SEO. Back in 1983 (a full seven years before "Archie", the world's first-ever search engine was created), when he was just a young college student trying to kill time at the library, Danny became fascinated with the way UC Irvine's electronic card catalog spit out search results on all kinds of random topics. He would type in really broad things like "History" just to see how the system responded. By 1995 (still three years before Google was even formed), Danny was studying the way search engines indexed web pages. His results -- published online in "A Webmaster's Guide to Search Engines" -- became the go-to resource for web designers and marketing types that were still trying to figure out how to make money online. Consider that study to be his "trip up the mountain". The publication fetched Danny enough attention that he was able to become the editor of what would eventually become Search Engine Watch. Under Danny, the site became THE source for all things SEO. Whether it was breaking news or carefully-considered expert analysis, Search Engine Watch was (and still is) the go-to source for anyone who wants to harness the full power of SEO. But just like God does things that amaze us, so does Danny. After all, he shocked the SEO world in 2007 when he announced that he was leaving Search Engine Watch -- to start up a competing site called Search Engine Land. So, not only had he built the pinnacle of SEO analysis once, he was trying to do it all over again! Even the "almighty" Matt Cutts sung Danny's praises when he left Search Engine Watch to start up Search Engine Land -- a sign of just how far Danny's influence spreads. It goes way beyond the average SEO expert (or, heaven forbid, the "guru" with the giant mailing list!). Instead, he's respected by everyone -- even by the people who he doesn't hesitate to criticize when he thinks they're wrong! And, similar to God, Danny is accessible. He may not be a prayer away, but Danny is only an email, a blog comment, or a Tweet away. Very few big names in the SEO world are as accessible as Danny is. No matter how big he has gotten, he has never forgotten the "little people". In addition to the work he does over at Search Engine Land, he constantly shares information and insight with his Twitter followers (all 269,000+ of them!) The details may have changed over the years, but Danny has always dedicated his work to one thing -- learning everything he can about how search engines work and sharing that information with people who make their livings from the world wide web. In that sense, he's been very generous, sharing his knowledge with everyone who has logged onto Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Land (free information? On the internet? Who knew?!). Of course, not everyone thinks Danny is perfect. There are plenty of people who disagree with him from time to time. But, then again, there are times when people question God, too. When you're that big of an influence, it simply comes with the territory! Originally published on http://www.manishpandey.com Image edited: 4The10 Danny's image can be downloaded and used from here.

5 Key Features of Web Development

James Pattrick — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:16:00 +0000

A company not having a website of its own is very uncommon these days. Irrespective of the size of the business, every company has a website which gives it a unique identity. The websites are used for showcasing the products and services that the company provides. It is a fabulous way of selling or promoting

Google’s Disavow Links Tool Lets You Say Goodbye to Bad Links

Manish — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:46:24 +0000

It doesn't happen often, but the clouds have parted, the harps are playing, and Google is answering the prayers of website owners around the world -- in the form of a new link tool. If you know anything about SEO, then you know that links are the lifeblood of your search engine ranking. Based on the links that are pointing to your site, Google will decide if you're an authority that deserves to be at the top of the rankings -- or if you're a wannabe that's no better than the 60 million other sites that are competing with the same keyword. Because links are such a well-known part of Google's algorithm, they're a huge target for spammers and less-than-savory competitors who simply want to knock the other guy down (instead of doing their own hard work to get ahead). Combine that dishonest attitude with the Penguin update -- which placed a big emphasis on inbound links -- and you've got a system that could have been ripe for the picking. …Which is why Google just unveiled its Disavow Links tool. With it, you'll be able to tell Google not to count certain inbound links when it determines where to rank your site. The tool is designed to counteract, as Google puts it, "spammy, artificial, low-quality links pointing to your site".

How does it work?

All you have to do is upload a txt file with one URL per line. You can either put the precise URL that's linking to you (like "www.example.com/page.html" or example.com/page.html), or you can request that links from an entire domain not be counted (by putting down "domian:www.example.com"). You'll get up to 2 MB of information to send in your document, which should be plenty. Then, once Google crawls your site again, the changes should go into effect. That's right… I said "should". Ultimately, it's up to Google whether to actually ignore the links or not. In most cases, though, Google says it will abide by your wishes.

As with all other things Google, there are pros and cons to this tool.

First, you can't help but wonder if you're sending up a red flag to Google that says, "Hey! Look at me! I've got a ton of terrible links! Maybe you should take a closer look at me and find out why!" So far, Google hasn't said whether it will be able to tell the difference between sites who truly have been victimized by dishonest competitors and spammers -- and site owners who resorted to shady link building practices in the past and now want to try and wipe the slate clean. The other potential disadvantage is that you might end up doing more harm than good. Google makes it clear that this tool is only for advanced webmasters. If you're not exactly sure of what you're doing, you probably shouldn't do anything. If you take out the wrong links, you'll be able to get them back -- but it will take a long time to do so. And speaking of time, this entire process can be a lengthy one. Many websites will know to use this tool because they've gotten an "Unnatural Link Alert" from Google (although you don't HAVE to get an alert in order to use this tool; simply log into your Webmaster Tools account to access it). Unfortunately, though, any alerts you get won't list every single bad link that's pointing to you. Instead, it will be up to you to go through your links one by one and figure out which ones you want to keep and which ones you want to disavow. If, however, you've been bombarded with negative SEO, you may consider this time well-spent! Bottom line -- the Disavow Link tool is certainly a step in the right direction. Anytime Google gives site owners more control over their rankings, it's a good thing. Just make sure you use it the right way!

Matt Cutts explaining about the Google's Disavow Link Tool

Search Engine Poisoning and Redirections on the Rise

PauloL — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:31:27 +0000

Search provider hijacking and redirecting to unwanted pages is a never ending problem that face home computer users as well as businesses. Cyber criminals are motivated to put all their efforts into generating traffic to particular websites since this means more money for them. Most of us might have known that redirecting is when your

Using Twitter for Online Marketing

Gloria — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:18:41 +0000

The moment Twitter launched everyone was a little confused by this site that just enabled individuals to interact in sentence of 140 characters or less. I have to accept I seen it just a little confusing and funny to let you know the reality about what entertainment aside from advantage would come of the site that enabled just one sentence to speak. Today Twitter is important for internet marketing. Photo credit: shawncampbell How I was wrong about it. Social media is currently crucial for many businesses in their marketing strategies. Twitter is utilized by more than Seventy five million individuals around the world. We now have noticed the effectiveness of Twitter if this was utilized by Egyptians throughout their 2011 revolution. Businesses have recently well and absolutely appreciated the advantages of using social media for his or her internet marketing plan. Many large businesses tweet and lots of medium-sized businesses try too. There isn't any reason small company can't use Twitter to enhance reliability, get prospects and grow their website SEO. However like a small company, how can you use Twitter to obtain the complete advantage? Let's check out some guidelines of the game that might help:

Tweet at least one time a day

Use hash tags to link your tweets to particular and specific issues. This implies your tweets will reach a ready visitor. For example if you tweet the following "Take a look at these fantastic #online marketing tactics...".Using the hash tag internet marketing now turns into a hyperlink. When individuals follow this link they'll be taken to the #online marketing topic page in which you will discover all internet marketing tips.

Follow many individuals (simply because they will most likely return the favor).

Follow your rivals. This is essential because individuals who follow your rivals are curious about what you have to provide so that they might find you've followed somebody they've followed and they will probably follow you. Seems complicated however it works. Avoid using Twitter to flog your products or services, utilize it to advertise your business information and thus reliability. This really is about trust marketing and association making. Be sure you have your site on your profile page. Place a image up rather than the normal Twitter avatar. Think about using applications for example Hoot suite to plan and schedule your tweets. Target the market areas so you aren't contending with countless other businesses. Attempt to answer personally to people who're communicating on Twitter regarding your business These are merely several methods to use Twitter in a web-based advertising campaign for small company to enhance web site traffic. With any kind of social media plan every small business should be aware not to spam. There's a lot more amazing selling tool for online selling referred to as Trust Marketing. Make your reliability and know-how thus people can rely on you. This makes direct promotion easier on the track. Like every internet marketing tool Twitter requires some serious and constant efforts but can pay enormous rewards.

Tips For Choosing A Small Business Web Hosting Provider

roger.branson — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 22:45:26 +0000

If you have a small business and would like to take advantage of the power of internet, you have to create a competent website and tap a web hosting provider to host your business website. Photo credit: ivanpw If you still don’t have online presence or are not satisfied with your current web hosting provider, it is best to spend time reading and researching in order to find out how to search for the best web hosting provider for your business.

What You’ll Need

If it's just a small business website or a personal website, you will need up to 100GB bandwidth, SSL Certificate, E-Commerce support, up to 5 GB Disk Space, and SQL Database. Because you're still new to the business, you don't expect a lot of traffic at first therefore you'll just require 100GB bandwidth. Once you continue hitting the maximum bandwidth limit because a lot of visitors are checking your site, you can upgrade your web hosting package. If you're thinking of putting up an online store then you'll have to ask you web hosting provider to provide SSL Certificate. You'll also need E-commerce support. At the start, you'll just need about 5 GB disk space but you have to upgrade if you'll need to load huge files and more pages. For the SQL Database, you'll just need one.

Determine The Kind Of Website You Want

A business website can focus on affiliate marketing. It can also sell products or services. Lastly, a business website can be a combination of the three: products, services, and affiliate marketing. If you want to put up a website, your needs will depend on the kind of website you want to create. It is also the same needs your web hosting provider must fulfil.

Choose A Reliable Web Hosting Provider

There are a lot of web hosting providers out there. If you're new into this, you have to carefully read and research about these providers before buying a web package. There are online reviews which you can read to learn from other web hosting customers. You have to choose a reputable provider who is reliable because your website's reputation is also affected by your provider's reliability.

Flexibility and Scalability

When you put up a website, you must expect your business to grow. As you grow, you'll need additional resources for your website because the basic small business web hosting package will no longer be enough. However, you can't buy more complex web hosting package for now because it's more expensive and it's not what you need right now. But when you buy a small business web hosting package, you have to ensure that you can easily upgrade to a bigger package.

Excellent Customer Support

As a small business owner, you are expected by your customers to provide quality service and support and as such, you must also expect it from your web hosting provider. If you choose a reputable web hosting provider, you must also check if it provides an excellent customer service. In general, the web hosting provider must have a ticketing system for customer queries and complaints. If you seek customer support, the web hosting company must be able to provide a guaranteed response within a reasonable time frame. The web hosting provider must have a valid email address where you can contact them as well as Live Chat and telephone number. As a service to their customers, the web hosting company must provide a toll-free number and a reliable Live Chat feature so that you can report your issues easily.

Social presence – A necessity for the corporate world

Philip — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 03:04:05 +0000

Making a good and attractive website does not make a company’s strong web presence for ever. You need to work continuously on the social websites to retain the attention of the customers. Some of the unique social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ are at par with the lifestyle of this century. All these websites

Five Reasons Why SEO Still Works After The Penguin Slap

karencarlat — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:59:03 +0000

Most of the seo companies are shutting down due to loss of revenue because of the recent Google updates. But there are experts who are still doing the seo businesses even after the panda and penguin updates. Photo Courtesy: Jeremy Kunz

1. Click me still works

One of the very old methods was using click me and visit us as anchor tests. That method is successfully working after the recent revolutionary updates by the search engine giant Google. There are minimum risks for Google crawlers to detect this keyword as a suspicious keyword as it's very common.

2. Video beats long articles

With the new trend of you tube and other public video sites most of the companies are using attractive videos in order to boost their publicity. Also seo companies can use the same video in different places by simply changing only the title of it. Videos medium is the one of the best seo tricks as people stay longer in one video Google never doubt about your back links.

3. Main keyword is dangerous

It's advisable not to use your main keyword excessively in your anchor texts. It's better to use it only in 3% of the whole article too. You can choose other sub key words which are nearly explaining the main keyword in order to keep the Google satisfied.

4. Use Google to get Google

SEO experts are using Google customized search tool in order to avoid the most common and suspicious keywords. You can use Google keyword tool alos for this purpose. Never use the exact same keywords in all your articles. Do not use the method of form signature back linking too. When you are using a website to create backlinks please do backgrounds check whether this site is popular among seo companies. To do that you can search the blog, form or the wiki link of the site in Google. EDU and GOV sites are the safest places to get back links however spamming is not encouraged. Also keep in mind that the site that you choose have other relevant content to what you ate going to post otherwise Google will suspect your content.

5. Google is going down

In the past people treated all the search engines equally. There were no much differences in the search results that they received. However Google took the radical step of implementing the keyword searching algorithm and suddenly became popular. However other search engines also adopted the same method after some time in order to keep up with Google. Because of the Penguin and the Panda updates people tend to use Bing and other search engines other than Google. So Google will have to implement a major change in order to keep their reputation intact. Because of the above 5 facts it's clear that SEO companies still have ways of surviving methods in the market. Also there's a possibility of getting some relief from Google itself in the nearest future. Finally we can decide that SEO is not dead and Google also is encouraging seo in indirect ways. All you have to do is to be more careful than the past and avoid spamming and black hat methods as much as possible.