WordPress Expert | Digital Marketing Consultant | India

The Secret Recipe to a Highly Successful SEO Campaign

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 May 2016 06:46:00 +0000

Do you have an online business or are you planning on starting one? Do you want to improve your website’s search engine results ranking? Can’t afford to pay someone to optimize your website for you? Why not do it yourself?

But let’s face it, search engine optimization can be daunting. You need to familiarize yourself with web design, as well as, content writing. Even the most experienced SEO consultants can sometimes find it mind-boggling and at times find the task tedious. SEO is constantly changing and evolving so there’s no perfect recipe. What’s good now may no longer be useful a few months later. Also, it’s better to focus on organic SEO instead of inorganic SEO which yields instant but short-term results.

To get you started, you first need to have a truly good product or service. If you’re not selling anything and your website focuses more on sharing information, it needs to have high quality content. If you can’t be proud of it, don’t expect others to like it.

Speaking of high quality content, there are a lot of ways you can ensure this. First, highlight what makes your product a good one. What are its features and benefits? How is it used? What is it for? It will be a good idea to come up with a guide about your product, too. Add in some pictures or images with the instructions. Finally, it will help draw more people to your site if you have research to back up your product. For example, if you are selling products from various essential oils, you may also want to post articles supporting the benefits of those essential oils. You also need to have the willingness to learn. There are online tutorials that can help you for free or if you have some cash to spare, you can also sign up for formal training or attend various seminars. Following respected blogs or websites that are trusted for knowing all the latest updates and tricks can help enhance your knowledge as well.

It also makes sense to know about the industry you are in. Keep up with your competition and always watch out for the latest trends, breakthroughs and discoveries; whatever industry you are in, be it cosmetics, healthcare, or entertainment.

Next, you need to have a basic understanding of how keywords work. You know those terms you enter in the search engine when you’re looking for something? These helps search engines narrow down their search to bring the user the most relevant results. This is why those keywords are important. They tell search engines and its users what your website has to offer. You should be aware of which ones you’re targeting, be it short terms or long tail keywords.

A good social signal is a must as well. Enter social media marketing. This is a no-brainer seeing how social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are so popular. It’s also one of the easiest ways of letting people know about your product and services.

You also need to learn how to collaborate and how to get backlinks. These will not only get you more traffic but it will help you tell search engines that your site is trustworthy as well. The more respected and popular the site your link is in, the stronger the boost you get.

Maintain your reputation by always keeping your site fresh and updated. Let your customers know that you care by always replying to their questions both in your website and in social media. This is one more reason why you should have a useful product or service.

Finally, you need the patience to learn and the perseverance to see your website through. It is not going to happen overnight and you will have to put in a lot of time and hard work before you see the fruits of your labor. If you have these qualities, then that’s already half the battle.

Top Magical Things Google Search Engine Can Do

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 07:28:00 +0000

It’s quite amazing how the internet is able to surprise us with the little tricks it pulls on us, and Google is no different. I have to admit I have used Google for more than just looking up the best recipe for dinner. Google has helped me bring out the more outspoken part of me through Twitter or YouTube, direct me to the nearest pizza place, and basically organized my life. It has been my savior for all the crazy stupid questions that popped in my head but was too afraid to ask out loud. But aside from being beyond helpful, Google has a wacky side too. And I learned this through some social media marketing stuff on Facebook.

While I was scrolling down my news feed one day, I came across a friend’s post that talked about the amazing stuff that the Google search engine could do. Curious, I decided to Google the tricks and try them out. First, I asked Google to do a barrel roll AND IT DID! If you type “books/songs/movies by author/artist/actor”, it’ll give you a list of all the works of the person you searched. You can even listen to music through the search results! Found a photo but don’t know who owns it? Upload it through Google and it’ll help you find out where it came from. It’ll even help you narrow down search results based on size, color, and type of photo you’re looking for. If you want to travel back in time to the year 1998, just type “Google in 1998” and enjoy the flashback.

Let’s say you want to know which team is leading in today’s NBA game. Just type in your team and Google will give you the scores. How about filtering your search results from pesky articles? Just place the minus sign (-) after your keyword and type the related topics you want to avoid, like Kanye West-Kim Kardashian. And if you’re in the mood to play games, Just type “Zerg Rush” on the search engine and you can start playing Starcraft. Type “Atari Breakout” and enjoy a colorful Easter egg hunt while searching for what you want. If you want Google to answer a math problem or do conversion, just type it and Google will do the rest.

Star Trek fans are also going crazy because you can set the language settings to Klignon, or basically any language you prefer. If someone asks you what time it is, Google can not only give you an answer to that but it can also tell you what time it is anywhere in the world. I was once looking for a bookstore and Google Maps became my new best friend. If you’re looking for a certain file type just enter “filetype:pdf” followed by the keyword and it’ll narrow down your searches to pdf files. It’s also useful for .docx, .pptx, and .xlxs files. I also heard that you could actually play Pacman on the Google logo! Try typing the word “recursion” and figure out what you’re missing. I must say, I was confused for a few moments until I put two and two together.

So there was a TON of stuff that I was missing out on before I found Google, and after I ran through all the extra things it can do I would definitely bow down to them for creating such a fun and stimulating way for users to learn new things. I guess they’ll never stop growing, never stop innovating; and I really hope they won’t because I would be (literally) lost without the magic of Google.

Sheena Mathieson, understands the essence of making excellent content that suits the needs of every business especially when it comes online marketing. She can spice up your marketing campaign with the content she makes and then incorporate Buy Real Marketing services.

10 Off Page SEO Techniques To Get More Organic Traffic

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:19:00 +0000

SEO means search engine optimization that indicates a web process to lift the page ranking and increase site visibility in top search engines. Usually SEO is classified into two general types; off page and on page techniques. Off Page SEO can be more fruitful and beneficial for a website or blog. For the promotion of a site or blog it is compulsory to increase the organic or real traffic rather than fake and software generated visitors to a targeted website. In the following there are top 10 techniques associated with Off Page SEO that may play a vital role to drive rich and organic traffic to the sites or blogs quickly.

1- Social Network Marketing:

Social networks are the biggest platform where billions of users and visitors stay online 24/7. They actually do a number of activities to get amused, entertained and promote their business through digital and online marketing. You should prepare the best and informative posts relevant to interest of the people and share on your timeline and groups with site URL. This will drive more people to your targeted website and in this way you will get regular real traffic.

2- Blog Commenting:

Although this is a generic way to produce more visitors for a site or bog, but still it works well and up to requirements. However, today it is considered that blog commenting has been banned by Google and some other leading search engines. But, in fact this is a fake statement or consideration. Webmasters and marketers must do only theme based blog commenting and on high quality sites and forums.

3- Guest Posting:

You can write an article or post about the website or brand you are promoting and then publish it to some very high quality websites and blogs that are extremely visited by users a day. In this way; you will redirect the organic traffic from a host website to your own site or blog.

4- Blogging on Web Directories:

High quality web directories have greater value for the websites and blogs which are recently launched. Actually, when you share your blog or site to some top web directories, then you will get persistent traffic of the visitors from the best locations of the world depending upon quality of your posts and shared blogs.

5- Forum Posting:

This one is a very specific SEO tool which is being excessively used by the webmasters and professional marketers. Usually, the blogs or sites are shared to some top forums where excessive amount of users is available. It is a valuable way to produce organic traffic faster.

6- Use of Article Directories:

When you produce some high quality articles and blogs posts, then you should post this stuff on leading article directories. This is an excellent way to get real traffic for sites and blogs within less timeframe.

7- Video Marketing:

Several video networks including YouTube also offer webmasters to create their own channels to upload their personal and edited videos. This is another effective way to produce regular web traffic for a site.

8- Answer & Question:
On various websites and blogs you can post interesting questions and answers about various niches or topics of the world. The users always prove their knowledge and IQ level to answer such questions. You should share the web links and URL of your site with the questions that will attract more visitors.

9- Relevant and Theme Based SEO:

Point or targeted SEO with theme and relevancy based can generate maximum organic traffic for a site or blog within less duration.

10- Photo Sharing with Links:

Photo sharing with links of the sites or blogs on various top websites and social networks can produce real traffic. The SEO experts always do many types of activities on social media networks to generate organic traffic regularly for sites and blogs.

Parallax Web Design vs. SEO: What You Need To Know

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 05:21:00 +0000

As search engine marketers, we know that the best time for us to be involved with a web design or redesign project is right at the beginning, so that SEO can be ‘baked in’ to the process right from the start. However, sometimes a website will be built and SEO will be a later consideration (usually if it’s because it doesn’t rank)! A few times recently, people have come to me with a website designed in the parallax format and asked me if I can do anything to help with its SEO – which is a heck of a problem, because while parallax websites often look pretty darn slick, they come with some major technical SEO issues.

In this post I’ll talk about the perils of parallax web design: its effect on SEO, why it’s SEO-unfriendly, and if there are any workarounds to see if you can have your parallax cake and eat it too.

What is Parallax Web Design?

But first, an explanation… Chances are that you’ll be familiar with the style of parallax websites, even if you don’t know them by name.

Parallax websites rely heavily on a scrolling effect on one page, rather than the website’s content being spread across multiple pages like on traditional websites. So on the homepage of a parallax site, if you click on ‘About’ in the top menu navigation for example, instead of being taken to domain.com/about (i.e. a different page), the URL changes to domain.com#about and you will be automatically scrolled down to the ‘About’ section on the same page.

…But is it Really “Parallax?”

Well… Some folks argue that the name isn’t true to parallax. This post by Rob Palmer explains why, giving examples of ‘parallax’ websites that are and aren’t actually following true parallax style. But given the fact that so many people already refer to them this way, I’ll stick with it for the sake of consistency – even if it’s wrong.

Why Parallax is Bad for SEO

While parallax web design looks great, it can be a major hindrance to SEO – so much so that I often recommend people against it entirely.

The reason for its SEO unfriendliness is due to the fact that it side-steps the need for additional pages, relying on fewer, ‘longer’ pages to try and rank for more keyword areas and topics. To give you an example, here is an imagined URL structure for an imaginary website – that sells and repair widgets – if it opts for parallax:

com
com#buy-widgets
com#widget-repair
com#contact

But here is what the URL structure would look like if it were broken down into individual pages:

com
com/buy-widgets
com/widget-repair
com/contact

In the first example, search engines would index the homepage but not the latter three URLs, as search engines index whole pages, not individual fragment identifiers (the hashes in the URL that act as a shortcut to a part of the page) separately.

In the second example, search engines would be able to index all four pages separately. This gives added visibility in search engines and improves the chances of the content on the separate pages – for Buy Widgets, Widget Repair and Contact – to rank higher in search engines.

This is important because if the website wanted to rank for the keyword “widget repair” for example, there is a much higher chance of this happening if the URL is domain.com/widget-repair (i.e. an individual page) rather than domain.com#widget-repair (and therefore a part of the homepage: domain.com).

A dedicated Widget Repair page can properly focus on that keyword – e.g. the phrase “widget repair” can appear in its page title, its metadata, its H1 tag and other heading tags, its page copy (at a higher density), etc. Meanwhile, the parallax version (domain.com#widget-repair and therefore domain.com) would have more difficulty ranking for that keyword as its page title and overall page content would be more general, with the phrase “widget repair” possibly only appearing in one small section of the whole page.

But What if SEO Isn’t the Be-all-and-end-all?

Be that as it may, the argument for parallax web design can really only be made on a case-by-case basis. It’s easy for us as SEOs to think that parallax websites are the devil’s work simply because they’re SEO-unfriendly. But after all, there’s more to life (and online marketing) than SEO.

For example, in an industry where SEO isn’t too important (e.g. maybe it’s a product or service on sale that doesn’t get searched for that often and gets found via other channels, e.g. social media) but the potential client/customer is someone who would be impressed by the slickness of a parallax website, then there might be more of an argument to retain parallax web design. Ironically, in this case, it might be that although fewer people will find it through search engines, those who do find it – via other channels – may convert better.

Additionally, it also depends on the competitiveness of a particular sector from an SEO point of view. For example, if you offer something extremely niche with very few competitors, you may be able to rank well in search engines even if you proceed with parallax as your website’s design. However if it is a competitive sector as far as search engines are concerned then proceeding with the parallax design may hinder your SEO efforts in the long run, and therefore it’s probably best avoided.

Regardless, to be on the safe side, and given SEO’s importance in the grand scheme of things, I’m sure that in 99 cases out of 100, the way to go is non-parallax.

You might be able to have both, though…

Can You Enjoy the Benefits of Both SEO and Parallax?

There is a potential ‘workaround’ solution, whereby you make the parallax design more SEO-friendly – effectively utilizing both elements – but it has its own considerations and flaws.

You could keep the homepage as an ‘index’ page for each section and keep them in the style of parallax design, while each section has its own dedicated page (for SEO purposes) as well. For example, for Widget Repair, clicking on the Widget Repair link on the homepage would jump down to the Widget Repair section of the homepage (i.e. domain.com#widget-repair), which could act as an introduction to the service (i.e. containing a short intro paragraph), concluding with a ‘Find out more’ link that links through to a dedicated page all about the Widget Repair service (i.e. domain.com/widget-repair – a page that explains the service in more detail, e.g. a few hundred words). This could be replicated across every section of the website.

However if you opt for this solution, there are a few other considerations to be aware of:

Parts of the site would be parallax while other parts (e.g. individual pages) would not be. This could cause confusion for visitors if they are navigating between different sections – and especially if they first visit a non-parallax page/section of the website before moving onto a parallax section. This could potentially put off visitors and potential clients/customers, therefore negatively affecting the website’s conversion rate.

It may also affect how to decide how the top menu works going forward, i.e. whether clicking on a section takes the user to the parallax section on the homepage (e.g. domain.com#widget-repair) or straight to the non-parallax page (e.g. domain.com/widget-repair).

I would also recommend taking the time to make sure that the ‘intro’ content on the main (parallax) pages is unique to the more in-depth content on the dedicated (non-parallax) pages, otherwise the website may be punished by search engines for containing too much duplicate content. For example, for Widget Repair, I would recommend that the intro paragraph on the homepage is different to the content on the dedicated Widget Repair page, and not simply a copy-and-paste job of the same text on both pages. I’m sure that if you’re going to the effort of expanding the content on each dedicated page then this shouldn’t be a problem, as the dedicated page would probably need a few hundred extra words added it to anyway in order to beef it out a bit, but it is still important to mention.

What are your thoughts on parallax web design? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

You’ve Got A Blog. Now, Get Readers

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 05:48:00 +0000

You are an aspiring blogger. You write amazing content greatly and have put great time and energy into your posts. With all the talent and hard work, you probably think your work will be instantly widely read and appreciated; it has the quality and content after all! However, having a successful blog is not dependent merely on the content. It takes a lot more effort. This is, in fact, where most rookies in the blogging world make mistakes. You may be a terrific blogger, but unless you invest in promoting and propagating your blog, you’ll never get a decent readership; let alone a huge one.

Good writing and proper content is indispensable to get readers, but there are also other more important factors such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media promotion, and proper keyword usage, etc. that determine the readership of your blog. So here is a hodgepodge of tips and SEO guidelines to help your blog grow and get readers.

Practice SEO

A blog, site or any sort of web page simply cannot be successful without proper SEO, which is the practice of using different techniques to make your site more visible in the search results page. The goal is to improve your page’s search engine ranking. Since most of the internet surfing process begins with a search engine, you simply cannot neglect this factor.

Numerous SEO tactics are used online, including some unethical and illegal ones; since these might get your site suspended or get you penalized, we’d rather not discuss them. So here are some fully legal and effective SEO guidelines for your blog:

Keywords: Keywords are crucial to get discovered by search engine bots. These are the user’s query that the search engines will look for. Use your keywords wisely and generously, but avoid overusing (or ‘stuffing’) them because this may appear malicious to the bots. Instead, try to revise the excess keywords by replacing them with other similar alternatives. Strategic placement of the keyword such as on the top of a page is also an effective option.

Meta-tags: Meta-tags are keywords that are visible to the search engines but not to the readers. Since it is not always possible to use the target keywords in your page, these ‘meta-tags’ or ‘metadata’ come in as a very useful option. Use your metadata wisely and don’t use irrelevant or excessive tags because you could face negative consequences.

Linking: Linking is one of the most important SEO guidelines because search engines also consider the amount of links to your page as well as the amount of traffic to determine your place on the result page. Therefore, spread the word and exploit social media, partner blogs and other online platforms to link to your page.

Blog more: the more new posts you put up, the more relevant the bots will find you and give you a better ranking on your roster. Plus, it also makes you look more passionate and professional.

Get Socialized

More links equals better rankings but guess what? According to SEO rankings, inbound links from social media sites have even greater weight to determine your position. As a blogger, you probably use other social media platforms as well. Therefore, use these platforms to propagate your site’s link. Publicize them in your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts and attach a link to your page. Apart from being a great SEO option, it’ll also bring your work to the attention of people in your social media circles and their respective circles too. This is basically a must-do for any new blogger because this is where most of the primary readership comes from.

Be a guest; invite some too

Writing guest posts on other blogs and having others write some for you is also very helpful in establishing your blog. Now, getting other blogs to let you post or to post for you might be difficult when you’re new in the blogging scene. However, you can use some insights and connections to get this done since it’ll definitely be worth it. Remember to include a link to your own page in the guest post so other readers can discover your blog. Furthermore, this gives you the added benefit of more inbound links as well.

Employ analytics

This may seem somewhat far-fetched to you if you don’t have much IT knowledge. But trust me, it isn’t. There are numerous analytics tools out there to choose from, but for beginners, it is better to use Google analytics. It will give you a lot of insights regarding your blog including number of visits, where and when most traffic is coming from, which posts have more viewership and which sites are sending you more traffic. Study these pieces of information and use the data to find out what category of posts your readers enjoy more, what time is most optimal for posts and what sites you should link more to and post accordingly. Analytics will get you a lot more readers than by merely posting randomly.

Use a keyword analyzer

As being said in the first point, keywords are crucial for SEO; hence, it’s extremely important to use the right ones. Use a keyword analyzer to figure out the most popular keywords related to your content and use these whenever possible. The AdWords Keyword Planner is a useful tool from Google that can help you with this purpose. Just type in the terms you have in mind and it will list out the related and relevant keywords along with their search frequency. Among other options are keywordtool.io and wordstream.com, which are also quite popular and efficient.

Once you use these tactics, we assure you that you will see your blog grow and reach a wider audience. Gather good materials, focus on your articles, design your blogs well and watch as your growing readership appreciates you and your work. With the right combination of talent and tact, nothing can hold you back. It is true!

Eve Haugen has been a freelance writer for a long while. Her passion in writing is her main drive in crafting articles that are engaging, informative, and meaningful. Her partnership with QuickSEOResults has given her a whole new opportunity to take writing to a whole new level.

SEO Guidelines: Social Is Important, But It Isn’t Everything

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 05:49:00 +0000

Recently, an increasing number of entrepreneurs have been changing their SEO tactics and focusing more on the social media factors to optimize their site for the search engines. It is true that inbound links from social media sites have a far greater hand at SEO than other sites. However, having a one-track strategy for one’s site, simply won’t give them the desired amount of visitors. In other words, social is important, but it isn’t everything.

Now it’s understandable why most people would choose the simple and seemingly ‘effective’ strategy of using social media to optimize their site. But here’s the truth about social media marketing; this is basically effective just for ‘online advertising’ or to put it simply to bring their links and/or products to the notice of users. These platforms have a far greater active usage than others. To optimize a site for search engines, one will have to do a lot more than using social media to constantly post links to their site.

Here are the other factors that determine how successful a site is with search engines:

Keyword optimization
Proper content
Meta-tags
Link building
Link quality
Frequency of new content

Therefore, numerous factors are at play in working towards a site that will do well in an environment of huge competition. Now, here’s why each of these factors is so important to get readers and some SEO guidelines make the best out of these tips.

Keyword Optimization

According to statistics, about 70% of the internet surfing experience begins with keywords being typed into search engines. This probably gives one an idea of how crucial keywords are to get readers. These are, after all, what will bring most users to the site.

Optimizing a site for keywords involves a few discreet strategies such as generously using keywords and using these in the most strategic places (such as the page header or at the beginning of an article) but avoiding over usage because the search engines might find this malicious. Using keyword analyzers is also very helpful in finding out the best and the most relevant keywords for one’s page, as well as for the purpose of optimizing the page for the target audience.

Proper Content

Here’s an obvious point that doesn’t need much explanation. No matter how much SEO is invested in a site, it can never be successful to get readers if the content is not up to the mark. Quality content is extremely important. Pages with multimedia, especially videos, were observed to generate three times more priorities than the ones with plain text only. Well-written content with plenty of multimedia as well as an appealing layout attract readers and keep them coming.

Meta-tags

Meta-tags or metadata are the ‘invisible’ tags that are visible to the search engines’ bots but not to the users. Therefore, this tool can be very handy when there’s a relevant keyword that doesn’t exactly fit into the page or is difficult to incorporate into the article text. Again, stuffing the page with meta-tags or using a lot of irrelevant ones are against the SEO guidelines of most search engines. Moreover, engaging in illicit activities might get the page suspended, blocked, or fined. Therefore, it is extremely important to use metadata wisely and carefully.

Link-building

Link building is an extremely important factor in SEO, and we can’t stress this enough. Most of the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing use algorithms or bots called ‘crawlers’ and ‘spiders’. The crawlers frequently scan or ‘crawl’ the millions of web pages regularly and gather information about them. On the other hand, the ‘spiders’ scan cross-linking between the pages of a site. A greater number of links means a better ranking for a particular page in the search results. Moreover, inbound links from a more popular site has greater weight than other sites. This is the reason why so much importance is given to social media for propagating the page. However, it is NOT everything.

Link quality

In the previous point, there is emphasis on the importance of building links for web pages. Nevertheless, that isn’t the only factor that the spiders consider when deciding a page’s position in the search result rankings. The quality of the links is also very important.

The quality of a particular link is influenced by numerous factors such as the strength of the links, the transmission speed and the site giving inbound links. Usually good quality links involve ones from popular and trusted sites such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Apart from the popularity and the trustworthiness of the site, relevance of the sites to the page’s content is also important. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a proper web hosting service because this determines how fast and strong the links would be, especially within the domain.

Frequency of new content

A detailed study of SEO rankings has shown that sites having a blog section have far better rankings than sites that haven’t. This is because the search engines’ crawlers also consider the freshness of the site’s content in determining page relevance. There have been many cases of previously top-ranking search results disappearing from their position due to lack of new content. Establishing a blog section for a site or posting new content regularly is a must-do for a successful site.

For busy small-scale entrepreneurs, blogging or putting up new content may be time consuming and not exactly ‘feasible’. In such cases, applying other updates to the page such as new layouts and links can help to make up for the lack of blog posts.

The social component of SEO isn’t everything when it comes to optimizing a site. Upon closely observing a successful site, one will see that they follow all of the SEO guidelines listed above. One should pay attention to their social media strategies as well. But to make it to the top, a holistic approach is always more successful.

5 Mistakes which Bloggers make that Spoil a Blog’s Credibility

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 04:44:00 +0000

One of the easiest ways through which people of the same interests interact is through blogging. Blogs have become increasingly useful when it comes to sharing information and exchanging ideas with others. Blogs have also become popular in the business world, as more and more companies utilise the platform to market their goods and services.

Whether you are using your blog to advance your own personal interests, or you want to attract customers, the trick lies in grasping and maintaining the attention of your audience at all times. However, not all bloggers know how to do this. Here are five common mistakes you could be making, and which could be ruining the credibility of your blog.

1. Over-Concentrating on Yourself

While the blog you have created is geared towards branding you and your business, you should take care not to turn off your audience by solely focussing on yourself. The idea is to provide content that educates and informs your target audience. Instead of talking about yourself, or your company, talk about the products and services which will benefit the audience.

2. Hawking Products All The Time

What most bloggers do not realise is that readers usually come back to a blog which provides them with good quality content. Most of the time, they are not interested in buying goods or services. Instead of trying to sell your products on every blog post, use links that lead the reader to an online shop. Instead of directly promoting sales on your site, you can do it indirectly by giving them quality information first before selling.

3. Ignoring the Sales Part

A blog is usually created for a reason: to attract a target audience to the site. While using the sales pitch every now and then can be annoying to many readers, not marketing your blog can make it lose its credibility. Including a soft sell message is very important because it keeps your audience interested. The best way to include a sales message in your blog posts is by developing your brand and tying all your content to that specific brand.

4. Not Availing the Comments Section to Readers

Most bloggers, and companies, try to keep their reputation by turning off the comments section on their blogs. They believe that customers may post comments which portray their business in bad light. While this may look like a wise thing to do, the reality is that turning off your comments section will turn away readers. When readers comment on your posts, they have the opportunity to interact with the content you post. Any negative comments, though bad for your reputation, may give insight into some of the things you need to change to improve your business’s profitability. You can also respond to the negative comments and clarify the situation effectively.

5. Being too Wordy

When creating content for your blog, you should keep in mind that readers are human, and they can get bored easily. Instead of boring your audience with long-winded posts, keep your content short and precise. This way, you will keep your audience wanting more.

If you avoid these five mistakes, keeping your audience glued to your blog will be easier.

Top Reasons Why You Face Obstacles In Learning Web Ranking

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 04:05:00 +0000

When you approach search engine optimization (SEO) and web ranking as a beginner, you do so with one of two things in mind. You either want to promote your own website or you do so for someone else. When you begin to learn the techniques involved in SEO and the way to achieve high Google ranking, it can seem like an uphill struggle just to understand the basics. Never mind the various ways in which the search strategies and standards change.

Conflicting advice from companies providing SEO marketing services and gifted amateurs, who just want to share their advice can be extremely confusing. Finding the balance between exciting content and web ranking can be frustrating. Continually changing your strategies to keep up with evolving search algorithms could be mentally exhausting as well.

You have decided that learning web ranking is the best way to go about promoting your (or someone else’s) website, but be prepared for the obstacles that are ahead. You will face them and these are the reasons:

1. Because There is Too Much Information

There are so many sources of information and several approaches on how to go about achieving good web ranking and decent returns on search engine result pages (SERPs) as advocated by ‘experts’ and amateurs alike.

In the beginning, admit it that you searched Google. How else are you most likely to find out about SEO and improved Google ranking? You select the first ‘organic’ result (because everyone knows that paying for an ad is cheating). You search for information on optimizing search results if anyone can tell you the best way that it must be the first entry on the SERP. Right?

However, you don’t want to take just the first opinion since the link might not be relevant to the website you’re promoting, so you click the next one down to check what they say. Suddenly, you make it to the bottom of the first search page, ignore the marking companies, and you have hundreds of tips and techniques for learning web ranking. Some of them even contradict each other.

Stop now! You will go nowhere by adding more to the ever-growing list. It’s human nature to narrow down the possibility of failure with the maximum amount of knowledge. However, drowning in it will just keep you going around in circles and you will never begin concretely.

2. Because You Are Serving Two Masters (or Mistresses)

This is an extremely tough balance to achieve, especially when you first start learning web ranking. You need to have excellent content, which is fresh, original and captivating but on the other side, you need to have a significant grasp on the structure of your website, and the content needs optimization to achieve the best possible position on the SERPs.

This balancing act can start to feel like running in ever-decreasing circles. You used SEO to get a great search result but the user didn’t enjoy the experience, so they don’t come back. Even if the same user searches for the same thing again, and you still get a good Google ranking, that user isn’t going to come back because of his poor experience the first time around.

If in doubt, there’s err on the side of quality for the user. Search engines will take your website to users around the world but they won’t talk to other software about how good it is. This is an issue now but as the search engines have changed and have become better at linking what people want with the correct websites, the disparity between what users want and what the ‘spiders’ and ‘crawlers’ use to influence web ranking decrease.

3. Because Search Engines Evolve

Depending on how much research you did in the beginning, some of the techniques you found might not be those most up to date. When search engines were first emerging and SEO was in its infancy, keywords were the only way to influence the web ranking. Back in those bad old days, you could stuff your webpages with as many keywords and key links as you liked, it didn’t make for a very good user experience but it got you on the first SERP.

Now, search engines are far more sophisticated and ‘black hat’ SEO tricks, such as ‘stuffing’, are not just ineffective in securing search returns, but have a negative impact on your Google rating.

Due to alterations in search engine algorithms, the use of keywords has changed. Instead of littering articles with the same words, to get the attention of the web-crawlers, the position of keywords has become more important than the density.

Is the information you’re learning about web ranking current? If not, you might be implementing out-dated, ineffective or even penalized methods, Ensuring you have the newest information and staying on top changes in search engine software is a mammoth barrier you have to face.

4. Because You Don’t Want To Be Stuck In “Holding”

There is nothing quite as disheartening as launching your new and sparkly website with all your new SEO tools implemented and finding nothing listed on the SERP for your website. If you are promoting a new website, you better prepare for some external linking to put your web address out into other areas of the internet. At the launch of a new website, there is nothing for the search engines to reference but the domain name of its start date. Until there is developed content and links extending to and from the new website, the search engines will leave it alone.

One situation that linking to social media is a real bonus is when you start linking a site directly to a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter account, or any of the others. You have that external linkage and you establish an almost immediate web presence, which means you stay in ‘holding’ for a much shorter length of time. Google call it the ‘Sandbox’. It almost sounds sinister.

You will find these obstacles along the way when you are studying SEO and learning web ranking, but they aren’t insurmountable, even if they do seem that way when you first encounter them. By being aware of the obstacles you will face, you can approach them with the knowledge that you can work around (under or over) them with the right tactics and implementation.

Eve Haugen has been a freelance writer for a long while. Her passion in writing is her main drive in crafting articles that are engaging, informative, and meaningful. Her partnership with QuickSEOResult has given her a whole new opportunity to take writing to a whole new level.

5 Common Prejudices about Web Ranking

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 05:39:00 +0000

Web ranking brings many concerns and prejudices that most users and page developers have to deal with. If you are the site owner, your ranking strategies can send you to the top of the SERP or bring you to the ground. Explore these common misinterpreted opinions about web ranking and discover your own place in the search engines.

1. PageRank is the only website that offers Google ranking.

PageRank lives up to its expectations by tallying the number and nature of connections of a page to focus on an appraisal of how vital or important the website is. The not so known belief is that the more vital the sites, the more likely for them to get more connections from other websites and the higher the ranking. The Google ranking calculation yields a likelihood assumption that is used to determine that a man randomly tapping on connections will land on any specific page. PageRank can also be assumed for growths of archives of any size. It is accepted in a few studies that the transmission is equally separated among all archives in the gathering toward the start of the SEO process. The PageRank calculations help on a few processes, called "emphases", to change assumed Google ranking qualities to its ideal true worth. It is not the only calculation utilized by Google to request web index results. However, it is the first and most often used calculation that was utilized by the organization, and it is the best known platform.

2. Google ranking is always accurate.

Likelihood is termed as a numeric estimate somewhere around 0 and 1. A possible 0.5 likelihood is usually shown as a "50% chance" of something occurring. Thus, a PageRank value of 0.5 shows there is a 50% chance that a man is tapping an irregular connection. One primary disadvantage of PageRank is that it supports the more famous pages. Another page, even a decent one, will not have many connections unless it is a piece of a current site or is sponsored by a major site.

3. Web ranking is always fast.

A few methods have been proposed to make the ranking process of PageRank faster. Different methods to control PageRank have been utilized in measured attempts to enhance indexed lists rankings and adopt promoting connections. These procedures have extremely affected the trust of PageRank users, who ask to figure out which reports are really honored by the Web group. Since December 2007, when it began, paid content connections of Google have battled connection farms and different plans intended to falsely expand PageRank and influence its rankings. How Google recognizes connection ranches and other PageRank control instruments are among Google's competitive advantages.

4. Using SERP is single-minded.

The results page of a search engine, also known as SERP, is a web page that automatically generates search engine results based on keywords entered by a user. It consists of a set of links to resources which are marked as relevant. With SERP, the results are generally presented in the form of a list, in descending order of relevance for SEO. However, you can sometimes find different presentations, even exotic ones. Information about search results is relevant to all users.

Each of the results may be accompanied by elements such as:

title and / or URL
the rank and/ or percentage of relevance of the resource, according to the ranking by the search engine;
a summary or brief description
the position of the website;
a preview image or screenshot
resource containing the entered keywords with a format that highlights them (e.g. in bold);
the size, in bytes
resource type, in the case of documents that are not web pages (PDF, RTF, DOC, TXT, etc.); these formats require external software to the browser for viewing and link to a web page conversion may be offered;
links to other pages
an automatic translation of the resource to other languages
a cached version of the resource (in case it would be inaccessible), with highlights on keywords
the date on which it has been cached and indexed
link to first media files (audio, video, animations) found on the page.

Google Labs is trying other types of presentations such as:

a timeline (the Beatles Research Example);
a link to Google Maps.

Other information contained in a page of results may be:

an input field to submit a new application
advertising links
different keyword suggestions with a combination of keywords that might be more effective
a smaller body or text
a link to transmit the results page to a friend by e-mail.

5. Web ranking results are on single page.

The results are generally too numerous to be displayed on one page, so they are spread over a number of pages. The total number of pages and / or results is usually displayed, with links to navigate between these pages.

There are search engines that can recognize certain types of queries and display results accordingly. For example:

a map of the location corresponding to a place name or on behalf of an institution;
the result of an equation
a conversion unit
a definition, a link or a summary of an encyclopedia article
price comparisons for a product, etc.

In order to improve response times, some search engines cache the result pages to the most frequent queries and display these pages from their cache rather than doing a search. These results pages are regularly updated to take account of the new resources and adjust the SEO. These five prejudices are the popular questions for every entrepreneur in online business. Use these explanations to improve your own.

Five Effective SEO Strategies to Optimize Your Business Blog

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 May 2015 06:30:00 +0000

Embracing the Potentials of SEO in Your Business Blog

You are an entrepreneur and you have the passion to write, then that could be a head start of a successful journey.

In this age of technology where everything is already available in the World Wide Web, you can be able put your business to a higher level through different strategies like making blogs. All you need to have is to keep your creative juices flowing and the desire to inspire people with your business.

So how do you make your business blog more appealing compared to the numerous ones available online and get readers to enjoy it? You should always consider search engine optimization or seo strategies to make your blog exciting for your readers and create traffic for your blog.

The following are five tips you can keep to help you in optimizing your business blog:

1. Uniqueness is the key.

First things first – be able to know what you can associate your business blog to related keywords that when a person types in Google or Yahoo, your blog will be appearing in the first page of search engine.

Research on what you are really trying to say to your readers with your company. If it’s about food, include posts that are related to it. Create relevant keywords that are catchy that can provide a good number of search flow such as, “Easy DIY Mouth Watering Desserts” or “Mothers Know Best in the Kitchen.” So how do know if you’ve chosen a competitive keyword? You can check it in Free Keyword Rank Checker and SERP Checker (https://serps.com/tools/rank_checker). If your keyword is connected to several links, then you are good to go.

Look at: 5 Excellent Websites for Checking Google Keyword Rankings

Since uniqueness is synonymous to originality, as much as possible use images and other media that are original. Use your point and shoot cameras and the available free software like GIMP, or you can avail the Adobe Photoshop.

2. Social climbing at its best.

Obviously, since you are blogging about your business, it’s a fact that you want people to know about it. What better way to do it than sharing it in various social media like Facebook, Twitter, and other web sites? But, remember that you also have to consider where your audience spends more time in specific social media. For example, if your business deals in photography, be visible in Tumblr and Flickr. Also, always consider the other platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.

Have you ever wondered how blogs reach to the readers in different parts of the world? Simple, they share it. They share a bad written blog and surely, they will even share a good and unique blog. The number of how many people gets to read and share your blog in their timelines and puts the link in their own blogs is a sign that you took your business blog to a higher level.

3. If you have it, flaunt it.

You have already started blogging and used keywords that are unique and have a good rank in SEO, you’re not yet through. Once you’ve started blogging about your business, make sure to feed your readers consistently. It’s like nurturing the seed that you have in the garden and making it bloom into a beautiful flower.

Always improve your blog site so that your readers will always look forward to your next post. Here are some points to consider in improving your blog site:

Link within the link. So your readers are already in your site, provide links that will connect them to other pages of your blog.

Invite a guest writer. Yes you know what your business and you blog about it, it will be helpful to have some influential people to give new helpful insights about your blog.

Be visible. Join different industry forums that will boost your rank in the SEO. Create posts in related blog sites that will let the link to your site.

Do not overdo it. Do not clutter your photos, videos, and write-ups. Make sure everything is well connected to each other.

4. Be mobile-ready.

Every month, there’s a new mobile product released by different companies. It’s good opportunity for you to share your business blog also with the mobile community. Use blog sites that are mobile friendly so your readers can browse through it anytime and anywhere.

Here are some blog sites that are popular and at the same time available for free in smartphones:

WordPress - you can view your status, moderate comments create posts and upload images and videos straight from your phone.

Tumblr - you can share the different photos of your products real time

Flipboard - if your business is a magazine style, you can opt for this one

You can read “How to Make Mobile-Friendly Website with Free SEO Guide” for additional tips.

5. Get ready to inspire.

So you’re all set in becoming a successful business blogger. If you forget why you’re doing it, remember, and continue to inspire people with what you are doing. You want people to know that you are one in a million when it comes to the business industry that you are in and you mean everything that you say.

Look at the different sides of using SEO strategies in making your way to become the top business blogger of the year. If you are having a hard time to express yourself, ask for someone’s help that can inspire you, too.

There are so many ways to increase the number of people reading your blog about your interest. Find helpful tips at “101 Simple Tips to Increase Website Traffic”.

May you find the following tips effective and useful to your business and share what you have read to people who are in the same situation. Be an entrepreneur who has the passion to write and wants a successful head start in his business blog journey.

Eve Haugen has been a freelance writer for a long while. Her passion in writing is her main drive in crafting articles that are engaging, informative, and meaningful. Her partnership with QuickSEOResult has given her a whole new opportunity to take writing to a whole new level.

The New Way Must Replace the Old Way in SEO

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 05:23:00 +0000

With algorithm updates like Panda, Penguin and Pigeon, marketers and their SEO teams have had to adapt the way they work to continue to produce effective outcomes. Continuing to employ tactics based on outdated practices, things like ineffective link building or those ridiculous press releases blasted all over the Web, is now more likely to do exponentially more harm than good. If you’re living in the SEO past (or if your clients are), it’s time to get rid of the old and replace it with the new.

We live in a much-changed SEO landscape. There is no long such a thing as the #1 keyword result – results vary based on a number of factors, including geographic location of the searcher, search history, and a variety of other things. As such, keyword stuffing, dubious back-linking and “black-hat” tactics are no longer effective – yet we still run across them being sold to unsuspecting customers on a regular basis. So, how do you know what to do when it comes to search engine optimization? You don’t have to be an SEO expert to understand the basics, so start there.

UX, Mobile, Content, and Social Are All Key

In the most simple of terms, search engines care about serving up the most contextually relevant results, based on the habits of the searcher, in the shortest amount of time. As a result, everything marketers and SEO pros do from a search engine optimization standpoint has to keep that in mind. Providing a great user experience (UX) for your site visitors is a key component of great SEO. Having a website that is easily viewable and navigable on mobile devices is imperative, and it must be quick-loading. Think about how patient you are when waiting on something to load—search engines know when sites take a long time to load and how quickly searchers abandon those sites in favor of sites that give them the information they want when they want it–and quickly.

Content on your website that is contextually relevant to what searchers seek (and understanding what that is before you write your website content) is important. It’s also important to produce fresh content on a regular basis that feeds your website and keeps it dynamic. Lastly, social media signals, what you’re doing in the social media space, what kind of information you’re distributing, how people are engaging with and/or sharing your content all provide signals that have an impact on search results. All of these things work together, no one of them stands alone.

The essence of great SEO answers just one question: Is it good for people? If the answer is ‘yes,’ – if what you’re doing is providing value for consumers, then you’re on the right track. It really is that simple. Funny how hard it is for so many to grasp that concept.

Old Versus New: What’s Changed?

Neil Patel at his team at Quicksprout created a great infographic that highlights the key differences between the old and the new SEO methodology and I think this is a good resource to help understand what’s changed and how to adapt. You can find the full infographic below, but first here are some of the key changes you need to know about if you think you might still be doing things in the old-school SEO manner:

A focus on rankings alone is out, with the new focus concentrating on how to create engagement with your target audience to increase ROI.
Long-tail keywords and a focus on meeting the users needs has replaced the use of single keywords.
Targeted content that provides real value to the audience has replaced poor quality or irrelevant copy, created with the sole purpose of meeting the search engine’s ranking parameters.
Only quality backlinks, gained from building genuine relationships will be effective. Stuffing content with spammy links will most likely see you disappear from the search rankings altogether.

Focus on Them, Not on You

Bottom line, the days of writing content for search engines and/or irrelevant link-building that didn’t deliver any value other than to try and trick search engines is out. Additionally, delivering web experiences or creating content that’s all about you and not about your customers and prospects probably isn’t going to deliver the kind of results you’re looking for either. Providing value to searchers is what matters, so when you can focus on them instead of you, it will make all the difference in the world.

That includes the user experience your website delivers, providing a great mobile experience, having fresh, relevant, easy to understand content, augmented by valid social signals. As Neil points out, almost nine in ten companies are integrating content marketing into their SEO to some degree. While I think that’s great, as many companies are discovering, content alone isn’t enough. So if you’ve launched a blog in the last year or so and you’re not finding it’s delivering any return on investment, take a look at the rest of what you’re doing with regard to your online presence – that might be where you need to start. And if you’re not yet using content marketing as part of your integrated marketing strategy, it’s probably time to consider starting.

"Keep Checking for New Updates"

Google Ranking Factors - SEO Is Not Dead

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:32:00 +0000

Optimize for Mobile Search

Focus on a variety of Keywords

Don’t ignore Social Media

Ditch complicated UX and URL

Don’t sweat the Small Stuff

Long tail SEO still matters

Pair up with PR

Cheers !!

Best SEO Strategies for improve your website ranking in 2015

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:57:00 +0000

First, stop assuming SEO is dead because the rules changed. If you are a business owner with a website, or a digital marketer offering services, you are aware of how important it is to connect with people interested in the products or services you or your clients offer. You also know the power of search marketing, and how useful a top position a search can be.

SEO criteria frequently changes and becomes more difficult, so many website owners (and so-called SEO professionals) fall out of their practice claiming that SEO is dead - this could not be farther from the truth. Obviously, people are still using search engines to source information, products, and services, therefore, if your website has content people should find, you should still be optimizing your website. The sky hasn't fallen and SEO still works.

Understandably, with the rules constantly changing it becomes more difficult to manipulate top positions, or, many prefer not to follow the rules or have difficulty in adapting to them, so they quit doing SEO. This is a mistake.

In today's landscape of search, one must take a comprehensive approach to digital asset optimization in order to harness the power of search engines like Google to drive business growth. SEO helps to ensure that search engines can locate, index, and serve your website's content to visitors in an efficient manner.

In general, a solid SEO strategy today consists of several key components:

Having a strong understanding of "Universal Search" - the search engines' ability read and index a variety of media types for a given search.

Ensuring quality elements and good performance metrics in place on your website

Understanding and maximizing user metrics (visitor behavior)

Creating content that is authoritative and trustworthy

Using multiple original, unique images in content

Backlinks (focusing on quality over quantity)

Leveraging social signals to build brand validity and awareness

Branding for SEO purposes

Site speed

Page load times

Clean code

Image/CSS/Scripts caching

File/Resource management

Content delivery from server

Hosting/Server configurations

Length of URL

Video Integration

Keywords in description

Page loading times

Image optimization

Industry-specific terms

Insider words - things only subject experts may be aware of

Specific words or phrases that relate to the content, demonstrating authority about a subject

Ensuring keywords or key phrases are part of the image's file name ("keyword-phrase-here.jpg")

Adding proof terms in the image's alt text (don't overuse keywords, keep it natural)

Using captions or descriptions surrounding the image, including important keywords or proof terms

Directories

Press releases

Industry relevant sites

Industry influencers

Blog posts

Social network citations/profiles

Online articles

Social bookmarks

A Facebook post that gets shared, Liked, or commented on

A Twitter tweet that gets retweeted or replied to

A Pinterest Pin that gets favorite or repined

A Google+ post that is reshared or commented on

A YouTube video that gets commented on or liked

A website's quality, design, content, and usability are huge factors. The performance of a website from a technical and user-experience aspect is becoming a stronger component to achieving top results. There are dozens of things that can be done to enhance a website's performance, such as ensuring it is mobile compatible with responsive design.

The Powerful Advantages of Universal Search

Search engines index a wide variety of content types, including text (blog posts, articles, landing pages, etc), news items, videos, images, even PDF and MP3 file downloads. In recent years, Google has drawn conclusions about user-behavior in search, realizing that searches prefer to see a variety of media formats for a given search query. Which makes sense, because for some search queries, a video or PDF download may answer a user's question more accurately that a local business listing or blog post. The indexing and inclusion of these varying media types is sometimes referred to as "Universal Search", and it is an attempt by the search engine to best answer a specific search query by a user by serving the content it determines is most appropriate, regardless of type.

Inherently, most people know this already, even if they don't understand how Google works or what this process is called. The less obvious advantage website owners have, is the opportunity to include multiple types of media in their website. Because there are so many types of media formats available on the web, and for any given search, it is important to have variety of these types of media content on a website - if one desires to outrank the other types of media for their given search query. The caveat here is understanding the search environment in which one is trying to compete, in order to use the best suited content assets on a given page, or website, to effectively and efficiently satisfy users (and therefore search engines).

It is especially effective in satisfying search engine algorithms to mix content types onto one page; for example, a text-based article illustrated with images and enriched with video content and links to a PDF download a PDF white paper. The combination of these elements is known as "rich media", and such content helps websites rank highly on search engine results pages (SERPS) because the multiple media format combination indicates a valuable resource for potential visitors. This combination of rich media content answers complex user questions in a very efficient manner, and the search engines love that.

Website Performance Factors Influence Search Engine Rankings

Of course, your website must have quality content, and it is of primary importance that your website's content is well-written, accurate, and authoritative. In order to rank highly in SERPs, the search engines must see your website's content as being trustworthy.

Of course, it's never that simple. Website performance metrics also play a large role in SERP positions, because these performance metrics indicate how well visitors can engage and consume your content.

In general, these performance metrics include things like:

For a complete list of website configurations for speed and performance, study the Google Developers documentation on site speed, and use this testing tool to see where you need improvement. There are a number of other typical, static variables that impact performance, such as:

The search engines observe these performance metrics via software applications like Google analytics or by data-sharing with browsers like Chrome and Firefox. Regardless of how they get the data, expect that they have it.

Overwhelmingly, the most important of these metrics is the site speed. Web users tend to be impatient, and studies have shown that if a site takes too long to load, it won't appear as favorably in search engine results. A fast website keeps the attention of site visitors and encourages them to browse the content; a page that loads slowly will often drive users away - perhaps toward your competitors. By keeping the site's underlying code clean and up-to-date, developing a stable site architecture, and maintaining excellent file and resource management practices, you can help guarantee quick-loading webpages for your site's visitors.

Do Visitor Metrics Play a Role in Search Engine Rankings?

Yes. User metrics are definitely a part of the modern search engine algorithm. Google and the other search engines can look into what's happening on your website, what visitors are actually doing (not what you 'think' they are doing) and those user actions play a role in the site's position on SERPs. Of the many user metrics, the three most important are:

Click-Through Rate (CTR) From SERPs - Several factors influence this, such as position on a search page, your page title, meta description, and URL information.

Time On Site (Engagement) - How much time visitors spend on individual pages, or on the website as a whole. This can be influenced by content length, media types on the site, and the total number of resources available on the site.

Bounce Rate - a term the SEO industry uses for the practice of a visitor landing on a website and immediately (the industry standard is within 11 seconds) returning back to the search results. This metric has a dramatic impact on your rankings within SERPs because it's a strong indicator of whether or not your website satisfied the user's search query or not.

It is imperative that website owners and site developers engage in user testing. Without actually measuring what users are doing when they visit a site, one can't possibly know how a website is performing. User testing eliminates a lot of useless guesswork. There are many methods for studying how users interact with a website. One of the most popular (and effective) uses eye-tracking software or an actual guest test group. Other methods tracks random users as they navigate around the website, recording factors like their experiences and interactions with the navigation structure and content.

The results of these tests can be eye-opening - remember that users often see and interact with things quite differently on your website than you think they do. Simple solutions like rearranging page elements can have a huge impact on the user experience. It is best to think of user testing as something that should be done periodically to ensure that the site is performing in the way you intend for your site visitors.

How Can I Create Engaging, Trustworthy Content?

First and foremost, the content on your website must be well-written, free of grammatical errors, and 100% unique and original. Content must read smoothly and give visitors the information they are searching for.

The search engines tend to give pages with longer, more in-depth content a higher placement on SERPs (note the length of this article). Long-format articles in excess of 1000 words are the prescription for getting the search engines to see your content as something trustworthy.

It is also very important to demonstrate expertise with a topic. The best way to do that is to ensure that "proof terms" are being used. Proof terms suggest that a website page possesses a holistic combination of semantically relevant words and phrases, lending grammatical credibility on the topic. Consider any Wikipedia page, which inherently contains all the relevant words and phrases a topic is related to.

Proof terms can be considered:

Adding proof terms to your content helps a page appear at the top of search engine rankings, provided all other factors and criteria are met.

Can Images Help Improve My Website's Search Engine Placement?

Let's face it - no one wants to be faced with a giant wall of text. Adding images to your articles or web content is a good way to illustrate complex points or to add a bit of flair, but not any image will do. There are several tips to ensure that images help your website perform its best in SERPs.

First, images must be unique and original. Google and the other search engines use image-recognition software as part of their search algorithm, so they know if those pictures have been used elsewhere before.

Second, don't be afraid to use a lot of images with your content. In recent studies, it's been concluded that the best-ranking sites use six images or more per page, on average.

Third, you must maximize your images for SEO purposes:

What Are Backlinks, and Why Are They Important For Search Engine Rankings?

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours, and are incredibly important in the SEO strategy. In fact, these backlinks are seen by many as THE most important aspect of a comprehensive SEO plan.

The mechanism of a backlink is essentially a vote from another website to yours - a vote that says that your website is authoritative enough or trusted enough to link to. As Google attaches a lot of importance to these links when analyzing websites, the more backlinks you have, the better your placement in SERPs. But all backlinks are not created equal - make sure your websites inbound links are from trusted, relevant sources and avoid junk or spam citations.

Search engines like Google can tell the difference between links set up to improve search engine rankings and those that are from trusted, relevant sources. Legitimate backlink sources may include:

The age of backlinks matter. Links that have existed for a long time weigh more heavily in your website's link graph. Links with longevity suggests that your site is an established voice for whatever topic it covers. Also, new links popping up from legitimate sources, like those listed above, get favorable treatment in SERPs because these indicate a time-sensitive currency.

How Does Social Media Play a Role in Search Engine Rankings?

When your website or website's content gets shared on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube, it is considered a "social signal" or "citation" - these social signals carry weight similar to inbound links, and have tremendous power in influencing website rankings in search.

Social signals can include:

Search engines LOVE to see this kind of activity, and these social signals play a large role in a site's placement in SERPs. The activity generated by social media suggests that your website is trustworthy, worth sharing, currently important to people, and is being referenced as a valuable resource.

An important consideration here is that every social signal gets credited to your website without penalty (unless very spam-driven tactics are use - these do exist). In general, you can include links back to your website on social platforms, and encourage website visitors to share your content on social, without fear of repercussions from Google's algorithm, which in other areas of SEO linking strategies can materialize as a penalization or demotion in rankings.

How to Use Google Custom Search Engines for Better SEO

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:45:00 +0000

Getting started with Google Custom Search is actually incredibly easy, but it’s something that many marketers are still missing. The tool is a great way to help make the Internet a little bit smaller, so if you’re hoping to simply search for something on a particular domain, specific page, or on a particular topic, a Google custom search makes that happen.

For those who are unfamiliar, it’s essentially a search bar that you can add to your website to help ensure that your visitors are searching within your website. It’s also a great way to find competitor links easier or use when you’re surfing the web for something specific (discussed in the next section). In other words, you’re essentially creating your own custom search engine full of only a certain type of results. For marketers looking for a new quick fix for the start of the New Year, custom search is a great place to start.

The Pros and Cons of Google Custom Search and How You Can Take Advantage

It’s important to understand if a custom search engine (CSE) is right for you by looking at some of the pros and cons described below:

The Pros of a Custom Search Engine:

Easy to understand. As discussed above, it allows you to search only a certain domain, webpage, or even topic. It makes the Internet smaller, and you’re in complete control.
Placement. Through a code you can copy, you can put the custom search on any website, webpage, or browser. This makes it easy to use and can help your customs search only your site if you include this search bar on your website.
Public URL. You can also get the public URL for your CSE so that you can use this new search engine when simply surfing around the web.
Preview. After you create your custom search, you can see a preview of the kinds of results you will get when you use your CSE. This can help you make sure you’re getting exactly what you want.
SEO. Custom search is an easy way to help you find competitor’s links. You can see where your competition is earning links and then try and earn those links on your own. It’s not the ideal way to build links, but it’s a good method when you’re in a tight spot.

The Cons of a Custom Search Engine:

No Asterisks. People have reported in the past that the CSE makes it tough to cover both “www” versus the simple domain name versus “http” or “https.”
Limited Results. A CSE does not turn up as many results as possible because Google limits these results, which you can learn more about in the study mentioned above.

As you can see, there are typically more pros to a CSE than cons, but it all depends upon your company. For some companies with a huge website or customer base, a limited number of results isn’t going to cut it. It’s up to you to give it a try and decide what’s best.

How to Create Your Own Google Custom Search Engine

Creating a CSE is incredibly easy. All you need to do is visit this link and then follow the directions that will pop up on your screen. You add in what types of results you want Google to pull up in your custom search and then you click “create.” Below is a screenshot of how it works:

Once you follow these directions, you will be taken to a page where you can get the code to put the search bar on your website, get the public URL, or visit your control panel to make edits. Below is a screenshot of this image:

If you ever want to log back in and take a look at your custom engines and make edits, you can do that. Below is a screenshot of my dashboard full of my custom search engines. If you were to click on any of your search engines, you’re taken to an edit page to make changes:

It’s as simple as that! Are you familiar with Google custom search? What have been your experiences and what do you recommend? Let us know your thoughts and your story in the comments below.

5 REASONS YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY MAY NOT HELP YOU RANK

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:37:00 +0000

If your content strategy isn’t bringing you any increased rankings, then there’s probably a good chance you’re doing something wrong. Your strategy should be engineered to increase your search engine rankings, bring you new fans and followers, or help you build new connections or authority within your niche.

Consumers are becoming more educated than ever. As a result, they’re reading more content than ever. This means that wherever your content outposts lie across the web they need to be high quality. You never know when or where a reader is going to come across something you’ve written and come back to your site.

As the web becomes more oriented towards user experience, your content needs to keep up. Content is becoming more and more humanized, and the search engines are trying to lead this charge.

When you look at Google their customers are people who use their search engines. So, naturally, they’re going to try to serve them at the deepest level possible, which means providing the most relevant search results.

If your content strategy isn’t in line with this way of thinking it’s going to have a negative impact on your rankings. If a big part of your business relies on ranking well, then your business is going to be in for a rude awakening.

In this post we’re going to look at how your content strategy may be killing your rankings and what you can do about it.

Lack Of Keyword Understanding

Even with all the algorithm changes, keywords still play a valuable role in SEO. There are usually two sides of the fence that your content strategy will be on.

The first involves having no understanding of keywords. This means you’ve done zero, or very minimal keyword research, and your posts don’t include or optimize for any keywords. A complete lack of involvement of keywords will ensure that you don’t rank for the keywords you want to rank for. Of course, the main focus should be providing high quality content, however, if there is no focus on keywords it’s going to be difficult to rank.

The second involves over-optimization. This is where every single element of the post is optimized for a specific keyword. This could include having an extremely high keyword density, having anchor text that’s only a single keyword, and placement of the keyword in all your heading tags. This is obviously too much and will have a negative impact on your rankings.

The obvious solution is to walk down the middle of the road. Make sure you’re doing a little bit of optimization, but not to the point where it looks unnatural.

Focusing On Spam Over Value

At the end of the day the most high value content will win out. If your content strategy is all about quality over quantity, you rankings are going to be impacted.

A lot of content strategies focus on guest posting for every site imaginable. Usually, this means they’re going to be using low-quality or spun content and will solely be guest blogging for the sake of backlinks.

Recent updates have started to crack down against spammy blogging, which means this practice won’t be around much longer.

A safer option, which will continue to have a positive impact on your rankings is to blog for relevant blogs and provide high quality content.

Forgetting About Engagement

Great content is all about engagement and telling a story. If you’re just writing in order to crank out keyword stuffed copy or for the sake of backlinks your readers are going to be able to tell.

By publishing content and stories that people want to share and link to you’ll naturally start ranking higher, as these are factors in having good SEO.

Google has actually been valuing more long-form, in-depth content that is very valuable to the user. So, start providing immense value to your readers and you’ll be setting yourself up for SEO success.

No Focus On Headlines

Headlines are extremely important to good SEO. Headlines are the first thing the user reads, which will help them decide if they’re going to read the rest of the article.

If you have poor headlines, there’s a good chance no one will even open your blog post. Which means your writing definitely won’t garner any social shares or links.

The foundation of all great blog posts begin with quality headlines. Do yourself a favor and start educating yourself about what makes great headlines work and then imitate what you see. After a little bit of study and practice you’ll start to see how you can adapt headline structures to fit your audience.

After a while you’ll be creating creative headlines that compel people to click and share your work.

Forgetting About Social

Social media and social sharing is going to continue to have a growing impact on SEO. If you’re not sharing your posts across social media, or giving people a way to share your content, then your rankings aren’t going to be as high as they could have been otherwise.

Social influence is even gaining a bigger role in the importance of rankings as well. Start to infuse your content marketing strategy with social media and you’ll be taking positive strides into the future.

Content marketing and SEO work well together. By avoiding the mistakes above you’ll ensure your rankings remain strong or increase, and you’ll continue to see the positive results of your efforts.

15 Gorgeous Fonts to Use in Your Next Design

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:33:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on Agency Post. To read more content like this, subscribe to Agency Post.

The perfect typeface can make even the most boring text seem more exciting, fun, or even mysterious.

It can make someone actually want to read your article, ad, or old-school brochure. And it can make designing an old-school brochure a lot more enjoyable.

If you're tired of using the same fonts over and over again, check out this list of some of the best typefaces released in the past year:

1) Core Deco

This geometric, art-deco style font family has 14 different font styles and weights.

2) Mohave

Mohave is an all-caps typeface with three different weights.

3) Domaine Sans

Domaine Sans is a high contrast sans serif.

4) Calavera

Inspired by Mexican Tuscan lettering, this font is perfect for bold headlines.

5) GT Sectra

This typeface emulates text written with a felt pen, broad nib pen, and a scalpel knife in three different angular typefaces.

6) Input

Use this font to display code in your designs.

7) FF Dora

FF Dora is a strong serif font inspired by handwriting. The name was inspired by the Slovakian nickname for headstrong girls.

8) Erotica

This typeface was inspired by roundhand calligraphy.

9) Jeames

This extended serif has a retro-feel with big curves and fun glyphs.

10) Canter

Canter is an all caps, condensed typeface that would be perfect for titles and posters.

11) Bellissima

This script was inspired by a Latin calligrapher, featuring many ligatures and connections.

12) Love Script

Love Script is a marker pen inspired font for elegant lettering.

13) Chopin

Chopin is a fun slab serif that's perfect for the web.

14) True North

This font is the right pick for vintage or outdoors-inspired design work, and it comes with additional labels, animals, and icons.

15) Chimphand

Chimphand is a handwritten typeface with a modern style.

9 Ways to Recycle Your Blog Posts Into Other Content Formats

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:30:00 +0000

Today, marketers are feeling the pressure to pump out more and more content to get noticed -- plus it's got to be readable, engaging, and shareable. But maintaining a steady stream of quality blog posts can be time-consuming.

The answer to this challenge isn’t to write more frequent, lower quality blog posts. Quite the opposite. You need to dedicate more time to researching and write the best and most engaging content you can.

The key is to optimize your time after you hit publish. Squeeze every last drip out of the work you have done by repurposing your blog content in different forms. More high quality content spread across a diverse set of platforms will attract a bigger audience to your website, and increase your chance of converting them into customers.

Here are some ways to repurpose your well-researched blog posts to capture a more engaged audience for your business. I’ve included some nice tips for bootstrapping so you don’t have any excuses!

1) Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your avid blog readers. Traditionally, businesses have used this platform to distribute company-centric news or ask email subscribers to buy something. The inbound methodology encourages you to flip this outdated tactic on its head.

Instead of asking your readers for something, you need to continue adding value at every opportunity. Next time you send an email to your subscriber list, capture their attention by being stupidly generous. A great way to add value to your subscribers is to repurpose your blog content as an email. Not everyone will have the time to visit your blog every time you post. But if you show up in their inbox with a short snippet from your most recent blog post and an easy-to-find link, it increases the traffic back to that post.

Bonus Tip

Create evergreen content. Content that is evergreen is timeless -- it is as relevant today as it will be in 6 or even 12 months. This means that you can send that evergreen content out to your subscribers 6 or 12 months after it was published, extending the life of that post.

Example

Someone who does this extremely well is Ian Cleary from Razor Social. Below you will see a screenshot of an email I received from Ian recently. He very simply presents a link to his latest blog post, in amongst a very short preview of what the post will help you achieve. He uses short sentences, one very specific call to action, and every word is trying to help the reader, not promote his business. Brilliant, yet outrageously simple!

2) Social Media Posts

According to a survey by Social Media Examiner, 92% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.

Writing a well-researched blog post gives you an enormous amount of content at your fingertips. Within this content is undoubtedly lots of engaging quotes, questions and statements. You could be using these when you share your blog on social media.

Too often people share the same heading of their blog on every social network, over and over again. This tactic becomes boring for your audience, and they will eventually filter your posts out albeit subconsciously. Not only does it reduce engagement, but it alienates those that don’t resonate with your original blog title.

By re-purposing the full capacity of your blog content on social media, and not just the headline, you generate a stream of diverse content that your audience can easily re-share.

Bonus Tip

Here are a couple of tools you could use to easily repurpose blog content on social media:

Social Inbox: If you use HubSpot, you can use Social Inbox to schedule out tweets promoting your blog posts in bulk. Here's how.
Buffer: If you don't use HubSpot, schedule a set of posts using Buffer for the week or two following a new blog post, Buffer allows you to distribute content easily across a number of social networks.
ClickToTweet: ClickToTweet helps you create a unique link that will allow your readers to share content within your blog post. Here is a post on how to generate click-to-tweet links for your content.
Revive Old Post WordPress Plugin: If you use WordPress for your blog, you can establish regular sharing of old posts to chosen social networks. And it’s all automated and super easy to set up!

3) Blog Post Syndications

There is an ongoing debate about the validity of blog syndication. Essentially, blog syndication is a way of featuring your blog content on a high traffic website after already posting it to your own.

Google have openly frowned upon duplicate content and guest blogging for backlinks. However if you do it in the right manner, blog syndication can still increase your online visibility with the right people. Especially if you are just starting out and don’t attract a lot of traffic organically.

When syndicating your blog make sure it is with a reputable site that attracts your ideal audience. And ask the site owner or editor to include a canonical tag with your blog article so search engines such as Google recognise the post on your site as the original.

Example

Jeff Bullas is a well known marketer who syndicates some of his blog content using the LinkedIn publishing platform. His most successful LinkedIn post was originally published on his own blog: "Why You Should Forget Facebook."

4) SlideShare Presentations

SlideShare is like the YouTube of presentations. It’s a channel that a lot of marketers are missing out on, and one with a lot of engaged viewers. By re-purposing a blog post into a SlideShare presentation you are tapping into a new audience. SlideShare’s can also be embedded onto other blog sites, much like a YouTube video, making it easy for people to share your content.

Bonus Tip

Creating a SlideShare is much simpler than many people would think. If you have ever created a presentation using PowerPoint then you are well equipped for the world of SlideShare. SlideShare allows you to easily upload a presentation from PowerPoint or as a PDF.

A recent partnership between Haiku Deck and SlideShare has empowered users to create ready-to-go presentations online. If you’re not great with PowerPoint then this is an alternative. However, there are some limitations with this technology if you want to have complete control over the creative process.

Example

HubSpot have over 31,000 subscribers on their SlideShare channel, check them out for some great ideas and killer presentations.

5) Videos

Video is not as hard to create as it once was, and more people are craving it than ever. Use video to boost your visibility, interview experts, or teach your audience how to do something. Here are a few examples of the type of blog posts you could turn into videos:

How-to posts
Expert interviews
Checklists
Step-by-Step processes

Bonus Tip

You don’t have to break the bank to create quality video content. The camera on the iPhone produces decent quality video. For those of us without a production background, you won’t notice the minor differences between this and a more expensive digital camera. Couple this with a GorillaPod and an easy-to-use video editing program such as iMovie, and you’ll be creating highly engaging video content before you know it!

Example

If you are looking for some inspiration when it comes to regular, high quality video content here are a couple of my favorites;

6) Ebooks

In the past, ebooks were an online revenue generator for many businesses and bloggers alike. People would pay for a collection of downloadable resources in booklet form. Inbound marketing has changed that expectation. Now customers expect this style of content for free or for the comparatively insignificant "cost" of an email address.

No longer are ebooks a likely stream of revenue for online businesses. Instead they are an effective way to grow your email list and nurture your readers into customers. Therefore your ability to create an ebook quickly and economically is paramount. Try and write a string of blog posts on the same topic and then collate them into an ebook with the addition of an introduction and conclusion.

Bonus Tip

Once again if you’re not a graphic designer and want to save money on hiring one, think about using PowerPoint to create your next ebook. The HubSpot Marketing Library have some nicely designed ebooks you may like to get some creative inspiration from.

Example

This ebook by Robbie Richards 17 Explosive Content Promotion Strategies is a great example of extremely helpful content developed on a budget.

7) Templates and Checklists

Have you ever read a blog post that you found helpful, but never implemented its suggestions? I certainly have. By turning a blog post into a template or checklist (in PDF form) your readers are more likely to take action on your advice.

They now have the ability to download and print your suggestions in a tangible format. If you sprinkle that download with your unique branding and a design edge, you may become a permanent feature on your reader’s desk. Much like an ebook, templates and checklists are fairly easy to make, and help you significantly grow your email list by including an email opt-in for readers to download them.

Bonus Tip

For those with a taste for creating things you may like to use Adobe illustrator for developing your PDF templates and checklists. Alternatively you can find some fairly priced designers on a site such as Elance.

Example

I turned a blog post I wrote called "Your Ultimate Blog Checklist" into a downloadable PDF. It kick-started my subscriber growth and helped build my credibility. All I did was strip back the post into actionable statements and developed a visually appealing PDF using Adobe Illustrator, my business logo, and some creative juices! You can download the checklist here if you’re interested.

8) Podcasts

Podcasts are all the rage at the moment. Everyone seems to be flipping their blog into a blog/podcast hybrid, or building their online influence on the back of podcasting alone.

But don’t just do it because everyone else is.

If you decide podcasting is for you, but are struggling for what to talk about, try and use your blog topics as a leverage point. You may like to dive deeper on some of your more successful posts in a podcast, and your audience will value the additional information.

Bonus Tip

Odiogo is a podcasting tool that has become very popular with marketers around the world. Essentially it turns your blog posts into ready-made podcasts using text-to-speech technology. (I can’t recommend Odiogo yet because I haven’t used it, but apparently it doesn’t sound too robotic.)

Example

Entrepreneur on Fire is a podcast hosted by John Lee Dumas. In his first two years of operation he generated over $2 million in revenue! Maybe this podcast fad isn’t such a bad fad after all.

9) Webinars

Webinars can be an effective way to lock in an engaged audience for a set period of time. Also, they don’t carry the challenges of a face-to-face events such as cost and geography. So if you regularly mention influential people in the copy of your blog posts (and they are now a part of your network), it may be worthwhile to collaborate on a webinar with them.

Bonus Tip

Google+ Hangouts allow you to run a video conference or webinar with a number of people within your circles at a specified date and time. When it comes to bootstrapping a webinar, this may be a platform you would like to trial. Be careful though -- there are mixed reviews on its stability when hosting a large group.

Top 8 SEO Blogs You Should be Reading in 2015

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 10:40:00 +0000

It's been said before and I'll say it again: SEO is constantly changing. This past year we saw Panda and Penguin updates, the increased importance of semantic SEO, new features available in AdWords, updates to Google+ and authorship, and much more. One of the best ways to keep up with SEO news is to follow some of the top SEO blogs in the industry. Unfortunately, navigating through all of your choices isn't always easy.

What you want to look for in a SEO blog is not only that it covers the latest SEO news, but that it also takes that news and analyzes what it means for your company. These topics, in addition to other relevant "how-to" articles, videos, and guides, are what make an SEO blog stand out against the rest.

You see where this is going: I weeded out a few of the best that really fit this criterion and have great potential for 2015.

Google's Official Blog
The Big Four
The Blogs Not to Miss

The Google Blog. This is obviously a blog that never gets old. It's always updated, it's always correct, and it's always something you should be reading. However, this blog is purely for the latest news from Google. You won't find them giving tips on subjects you want to learn more about. For that, you have to read the others.

Search Engine Land. Arguably the most popular SEO blog around, this one seems to have it all. It is always the first to break news, and you'll find that they have several articles on one subject, so all of your questions can be answered right on this blog. You'll find that most of the writers are the same each day, but the topics definitely have good variety.

Search Engine Watch. This is also one of the main blogs out there on the web for SEO. This is probably one of my favorite sites to navigate and one of my favorite designs. While Search Engine Land is typically the first to break news and get it out there, Search Engine Watch still covers the news and always seems to publish just a little bit more frequently and add just a little bit more information. In other words, reading both is beneficial.

Search Engine Journal. This blog thrives on guest contributors, so you're always getting different topics and different voices. It still covers news like the other two main websites, but this one seems to have a little bit more fun with videos, great comments, and some of the most detailed content around. Note: I'm the Editor at Large of this site but I still think it should be on the list!

Moz. Moz has been in the SEO game since 2004, publishing some of the best guides available for beginners. They also publish quite a bit of advanced material and keep things very detailed, so just about any small business can benefit. They don't report SEO news quite as much as the others, but they delve into popular topics frequently.

KISSmetrics. This is a cool blog because it puts a focus on data and metrics and is incredibly thorough. Although they do cover other subjects besides just SEO, they publish frequently enough that there is almost always a few articles each week that can help your SEO efforts. If you're looking for content that is detailed and covers every angle of a topic, this is your blog.

SEMRush. SEMRush is a company that does more than just blog (they offer one of the best SEO site audit tools on the market), so they really know their stuff. You'll see guest authors on this blog occasionally and it's always updated with the latest information. Like HigherVisibility, there is a lot of advice found here that you can really take and put into practice.

HubSpot. The greatest thing about this blog is the way it's written. The articles have a conversational tone and have done a good job "humanizing" the content to make it easy to understand. The Marketing Blog is where you're going to find your SEO advice, but HubSpot also has blogs covering other topics (sales, academy, web design, etc.) that I recommend checking out.

Vishal Sharma Personal Blog!

How to Run a Blog Lead Generation Analysis

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 10:15:00 +0000

It's the timeless question for corporate bloggers: How many leads did your blog post generate? It's much easier to see top-line metrics like how many visits each blog post gets, but measuring the impact further down the funnel is essential to growing your blog -- and your business.

But even more important than knowing the number of blog leads you have generated is being able to analyze those results and create an actionable plan for the future. After all, if you can't make changes based on your analytics, they won't really be that helpful.

Not sure how to run a blog lead analysis? In this post, we'll walk through an example report, analyze it, and outline the action items we can take from it. Let's start from the beginning: the report itself.

Running the Blog Leads Report

Marketers often can calculate the number of leads their blog generates as a whole, but they don't have insight into the number of leads each individual blog post generates. But the post-level information is important to help us figure out the best topics and formats for our posts.

To find this out, you should run an attribution report in your marketing software. To learn how to create this type of report in HubSpot, see this blog post.

Let's take a look at an example report that shows us the number of leads generated from a company's blog posts. Next up: analyzing this report.

What should you look at in the report?

Depending on how many blog posts you write each month, you may be starring at a very large report. To begin your analysis, pick out your top five best-performing posts and your bottom five worst-performing posts.

For this post, we'll just address the top five posts -- but be sure to ask yourself all the same questions for the bottom five, too. The example attribution report above shows us that the top five performing blog posts are the following:

Top 15 Infographics About Big Data
Getting Started with Big Data
VLOOKUP for Beginners
Pivot Tables for Data Nerds
How to Use Excel for Data Analysis

When you are done doing that, dive into the following questions. These questions are designed to help you take away actionable insights from the data.

Are there similar topics?

The first thing you should do is look at the top (or bottom) five posts, and see if you see any similarities. Begin with topic commonalities. Are there popular topics that seem to appear in all of the posts that are generating leads? Are you surprised to see that certain topics you thought would perform well aren't in the top five? Understanding what topics resonate with your audience will give you ideas for future post topics that have a high probability of doing well.

In the example situation above, we see that the top two blog posts are about big data, and the next three are about data analysis in Excel. This information can help me cater my future content toward the topics that drive lead generation.

Resources to Help

Are there similar formats?

The format of a blog post can also influence whether or not someone is going to convert on your post. Some people prefer list-based posts while others look for visual posts that include infographics or SlideShare presentations. Check your blog content to see if there is a certain format of your post that resonates well with your audience. This will help you understand how your audience consumes information.

In the example above, the top blog post is a visual piece. However, the remaining four posts are how-to pieces -- so it's probably a good idea to ramp up more how-to pieces in the future (and sprinkle in some visual content).

Resources to Help

Are they similar lengths?

There is an unlimited amount of information you can provide in a blog post. But how much is enough? Or what is too much? Analyze the lengths of your different blog posts to see if there are some that are driving more conversions than others. You may notice that in the longer posts, you aren't getting as many conversions. This may be a good indication that your readers aren't getting to the end of your posts where your calls-to-action are located.

Resources to Help

Was there embedded media in the post?

Often, other forms of content are included in blog posts, such as social posts, videos, SlideShares, or infographics. This is a great way to share additional pieces of content in your blog without writing another full blog post. The media can serve as the bulk of the content for your post.

In the example above, the top-performing blog post was "Top 15 Infographics About Big Data." Even though there aren't other forms of media in the other top-performing posts, this may be an indication that your audience likes to see infographics.

Resources to Help

Which CTAs did these posts use?

The most important element of your blog post to drive conversions is including a call-to-action for your readers to convert on. Look at the top five blog posts and see if you have used a certain CTA multiple times. Your CTAs should correlate with the blog content so if you are seeing similarities in your blog content, you may see similarities in the CTAs that are driving conversions. However, if you are testing out multiple CTAs on the same content, this can be a good indication to what is working.

In the example above, I may have a few CTAs that I use for big data posts. Big Data was the topic of my top two posts. At this point I would dig in to see which CTAs were on the posts that converted well. If it is the same CTA, I know that it performs well. If there are different CTAs, I can see if they have something in common like the colors or keywords.

Resources to Help:

Where were the CTAs placed?

To continue the CTA analysis previously mentioned, I also need to see where the CTAs on my blog posts were placed. Are they at the bottom of the post? In the sidebar? Do they slide in? Are they in the middle of the blog post? This information will show me what type of CTA works. Dig into the performance of the different CTAs you have on your blog to figure out if one technique works over the other.

If you have more than one CTA on your blog post, see which one works better. You may be surprised at your results.

Resources to Help

Were there links to a landing page? Where were they placed?

In addition to your typical image CTAs, you may also have links to landing pages or other helpful pages on your site in the text of your blog post. Before you publish your blog post, it is important to set up tracking URLs for the most important links to help you understand if they are being clicked.

Take the analysis a step further and look at the location they were placed in your blog post. If the only links that are clicked are at the beginning of the blog post, that may tell you that your readers aren't getting as far through the post as you may have thought. It may also tell you that you should put the most important pages (such as your landing pages) toward the beginning of the post if they are more likely to be clicked on in that location.

If your links are clicked more at the end of the blog post, that may tell you that your readers are interested in getting more information by clicking links after they read the bulk of your content. Either way, the location of your links can tell an important part of the story.

Resources to Help

Were they promoted on certain channels?

We have talked a lot about on-page blog content analysis. But there are other factors that may influence how many leads are converting on your posts such as the channel they were promoted on. Before you publish your blog post links on social media or send them out in an email marketing campaign, make sure that you have the correct tracking URLs in place for each promotional channel. This will help you understand if your blog content is performing better on certain channels. It will also allow you to dig into whether or not certain topics or formats perform better on channels you are promoting them on.

For example, "Top 15 Infographics About Big Data" may perform well on social media but "Pivot Tables for Data Nerds" may perform well on email. The topic, format, and length of your post may influence how well it does when promoted on different channels, too.

Resources to Help

Want to Dominate Organic Search? How Blogging Can Help

Next Step? Experiment.

There are a lot of insights you can gain from doing an analysis on these aspects of your blog posts. I even gave you some examples of what my thought process would be as I looked through the different numbers. However, the best way to figure out what will work and will not work is through running experiments. Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. I can't emphasize it enough.

Pull out the conclusions you drew through your analysis, and implement them in future content. Focus on the topics that work the most. Use the blog post formats that are generating the most leads. Adjust your length based on the posts that are performing the best. Use the CTAs that generate the most leads, and place them in the location in your blog post that works. Promote your posts on the channels that you think it will perform the best on. Optimize your blog posts based on your data, and then re-run the report to see if your results have improved. The only way you will learn if your conclusions are accurate is if you experiment with them.

8 Big Tests You Should Run in Your Email Marketing Program

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:55:00 +0000

What’s the last major thing you tested in your email marketing program? Small tests, like subject line or sender personalization are quick and easy, something most great email marketing softwares can do out of the box.

However, these small tests, which can provide some data, can’t compare to larger, more comprehensive email tests. And really when it comes to testing email marketing, it takes more than one email to really determine what works best for any given company.

Comprehensive email program testing may seem daunting. However, you can clearly define your own company best practices and utilize those results for a long time if you complete email tests properly. But the question remain: What should I be testing?

Types of Email Marketing Program Tests

For comprehensive tests, small things like subject lines or button color won’t give you the kind of data you need to improve your overall email marketing efforts.

Instead, take the opportunity to test things that have significant impact on recurring emails.

Visual Style Tests

With many marketers focused on design, we often think that what looks best also performs best. However, there can be times when over-designing makes an email look too promotional.

Is this the case with your email marketing? Testing the visual style of your email, comparing high-end creative design to low-end personal emails can often have a big impact.

1) The Plain Text Email

Rather than sending an email with a colorful header and graphics in the body, try using a blank template that’s made to look like an email sent from Outlook or Gmail. For more than one (though not all) of our B2B marketing clients, the simple look and feel performed better, especially as we moved to higher levels in the organization.

2) Visual or Text CTA

Visual style test may can also be as simple as testing the call to action in the email. Do more people click on text based links or button style CTA? So rather than adjusting the entire email template, simply uncovering whether a text CTA in the body of an email performs better than a button, which for some of our B2B clients is the case, can improve the overall performance of your email program.

Structure Tests

Digests and email newsletters are still common marketing tools. But after the initial design, it’s rare to rethink the actual structure of your email asset. Placement of content matters, especially when it comes to clicks and conversion.

3) Re-arrange the Layout

Look at your email newsletter template and see if you can create a version where something in the middle of the structure can be easily moved to the top. You can even remove modules altogether to see if the value of building it out really matters.

4) CTA Placement

For basic promotional emails with a single offer, does the call to action work better on the left, right or bottom of the email? This type of structure test can also be done on a per offer basis. So the structure that works best for an ebook, might not work the same way for a webinar.

Time/Day Tests

Time and day tests are common but the a commitment to refining them is often neglected. A good time/day test is run over a series of batch emails, slowly whittling down the list of times to find the optimal send for your business.

You should expect to give yourself a good month or two, depending on the number of batch emails you send, to really get a good grasp of the optimal send time.

5) More Small Sends to Determine Optimal Time

When you have a batch email scheduled, try sending a series of 10 emails at different times and days. As you get a better idea of the times and days best for your company, send batch emails to larger groups with fewer options. After comprehensive testing, we found for one client Wednesday at 2 p.m. was the best send time, but for Kuno it was Thursday at 7 a.m.

6) Testing Different Types at Different Times

In addition to just testing the day/time, you can also determine what type of email works best throughout the week. Earlier in the week you may find that short quick emails perform better for busy professionals.

But later in the week, a longer more thought out email can be a better send as recipients have more time to ingest your content.

Content Tests

Regular email communication is important to any good email marketing program. (One touch per contact per week is a good rule of thumb.) But what should you be sending? Blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, videos?

7) Testing Content Types

Content tests work especially well in structured digests and newsletters. Adjust the type of content you have in the main content area for different random groups and see what performs the best.

Like one of our clients, you may find that putting a popular blog article at the top every time doesn’t produce the clicks a more high-quality download does.

8) Testing Content by Segment

To refine your email program further, testing content with different segments can produce vastly different results. An IT person might respond to a different type of content than someone in finance.

A busy executive might prefer something more quickly digestible than a manager. Varying the offers for different buyers not only improves the email program, but also helps focus your overall content strategy.

When Should I Test Again?

The speed of changes in digital marketing and email technology mean that what works now won’t work forever.

If you can commit to one comprehensive test per quarter and then revisit the test again in a year, you’ll at least have a structure in place to get started with the major email tests you’ve been missing.

Through the Google lens: Search trends January 9-15

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:39:00 +0000

This time of year may be cold and dark, but there was plenty to brighten our days—and keep us searching—this week.

Top of the pack

El Capitan is a stunning sight on a normal day—the sheer granite face rising above the valley in Yosemite National Park is hard to miss. But this week, people around the world had an extra reason to keep their eyes on El Cap: two mountain climbers, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, made history on Wednesday when they completed the first ever free climb of the 3,000-foot wall. Searches for [el capitan climb] went up more than 1,000% as people looked to learn more about the feat.

Back on firm ground, Ohio State beat #2-ranked Oregon in an upset victory in the College Football Playoff championship. Though the Buckeyes may have won on the field, the Ducks still held the top of the search charts, with more than 2 million searches on Monday. People were also searching for the teams’ top players, especially Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, who announced this week that he had decided to stay with the team for another year, passing on the NFL draft. (His Oregon counterpart in Monday’s game, Marcus Mariota, made the opposite call.)

Glitter and glamour

We’re officially in peak entertainment awards season. The “72nd and final” Golden Globes took place on Sunday with hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Of particular interest on search were Jane the Virgin and its star Gina Rodriguez, whose win was considered a surprise and whose speech was considered a win, and The Honourable Woman’s Maggie Gyllenhaal, who gave a quietly passionate speech about women in Hollywood. And Michael Keaton, who won best actor in a drama for the film Birdman, brought some company with him to search, as well as the ceremony: his son and “best friend,” Sean Douglas, who spiked in search after Keaton sang his praises in his acceptance speech.

Then just when we’d finished analyzing the Globes’ winners and losers, the Oscar nominations were announced, meaning we officially have just over a month to catch up on all the films before the ceremony on February 22. Top nominees include Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Boyhood. (Someone get Sean Douglas a tux rental for February.) Want help with your Oscar pool? There’s no telling which film will win, but over the past year, the title of top film in Search is a close race between Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Finally, in addition to all the glitz on the red carpet, there was a different kind of glitter in search this week. A start-up business that lets you “ship your enemies glitter” went viral, giving you a new way to show that special (un)loved one how you feel. Millions of clicks and a website crash later, the founder is now saying he wants to quit. All that glitters is, apparently, not gold.

Tip of the week

Time to catch up on all those movies you haven’t seen. Just say “Ok Google” then “movie times” or “Selma movies times” and you’ll get a list of theaters and films playing near you.

Google Blocks Thousands Of WordPress Sites Following Malware Attack

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 06:14:00 +0000

Security firm Sucuri reports that Google has blacklisted over 11,000 malware-infected WordPress domains, and over 100,000 sites in total have been affected by a new malware campaign from SoakSoak.ru.

By using a vulnerability found in the WordPress plugin RevSlider, SoakSoak modifies a file in a site’s WordPress installation and loads Javascript malware.

RevSlider is often used in WordPress themes, so many site owners may not even know they’re using the plugin, let alone that they need to update it to prevent a malware attack. Moreover, it’s not a plugin that’s easily updated, as Sucuri’s Daniel Cid points out:

“The biggest issue is that the RevSlider plugin is a premium plugin, it’s not something everyone can easily upgrade and that in itself becomes a disaster for website owner. Some website owners don’t even know they have it as it’s been packaged and bundled into their themes”

Visitors of infected sites may be redirected to a webpage that will attempt to download malware onto their computers. Google’s decision to block infected sites shortly after the vulnerability became known will hopefully prevent the malware from spreading any further.

If you believe your WordPress site has been infected by the SoakSoak malware, there is a list of resources in this WordPress Support thread that can help you correct the problem.

If you’re in the clear, then let this be a reminder that it’s incredibly important to keep your WordPress plugins updated in order to be fully protected against security vulnerabilities. Updating your plugins is just as important as keeping your WordPress installation updated to the most current version.

How to Fetch Posts in WordPress

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 10:46:00 +0000

As WordPress theme or plugin developers, you could come across a need to retrieve a collection of posts, to be displayed on a page. As a simple use case consider a requirement to display the latest 5 posts on your homepage, or to list posts for a particular category, in a category archive page.

For this, WordPress presents you with several options. You could use the WP_query class, the get_posts function or the query_posts function (it’s important to note right in the beginning that the query_posts function comes with a warning).

Put very simply, the main purpose of any of these is to retrieve a set of posts. But the method used by each is different. So how are you to decide which method you should be using? Let’s find out.

A Crash Course on WordPress Basics: The Post Object and Loop

For those of you new to WordPress let’s understand some basics.

The Post Object

A post contains not only written content, but consists of several other parameters like the title, the id, the category, etc (as part of the post object). Apart from this information, every post is linked to additional data like author information, the comments, and other meta data information (not part of the post object).

The Loop

The Loop is the main function used by WordPress to display posts. The details of the post to be displayed, will be maintained for every post within the loop. This is a very important function and should not be meddled with, without knowledge of the core operations.

Okay basics done, coming back to our main topic; how to fetch posts in WordPress.

Understanding the use of WP_query, get_posts, query_posts

Since we have three options, let’s look at each in a bit more detail.

WP_query Class

Both get_posts and query_posts use the instance of WP_query class.

WP_query class provides you with a global instance $wp_query which is the main query. When a request is made to display posts (for example this could be from the theme to display the archive page) the $wp_query is populated with the query data (which would contain the query conditions, url arguments, etc.). It then fetches the required posts, and the main loop uses the $wp_query instance to display the posts and post data.

In case you wanted to display additional information, say for example a related posts section above the footer, it is best not to alter the main loop. Instead, you would have to create a secondary loop, by creating a new instance of the WP_query class and using this instance to perform the needed operations.

For this, the WP_query class provides several methods and properties to loop through the posts. It is advisable not to change the properties directly but use the methods provided to perform the needed action.

// Create the query

$custom_query = new WP_Query($args);

if( $custom_query->have_posts() ){

while( $custom_query->have_posts() ){

// set the $post to indicate the current post

$custom_query->the_post();

// do some operation

}

// important to reset $post

wp_reset_postdata();

Note the use of wp_reset_postdata function at the end. This is very important to reset the global $post variable which is updated in the loop.

get_posts Function

The get_posts function is essentially a wrapper over the create new instance of WP_query but returns an array of posts (not a query object).

query_posts Function

Finally the query_posts function retrieves posts, but should not be used because it alters the main loop to return the needed results.

pre_get_posts Function

In case you want to add a condition before the main loop is executed use must use the pre_get_posts hook provided by WordPress to add the condition.

For example if you wanted to display 5 posts on a page:

function wdm_query_condition( $query ) {

// considering wdm-page is the page slug

if ( $query->is_page('wdm-page') && $query->is_main_query() ) {

$query->set( 'posts_per_page', 5 );

}

// add the condition in pre_get_posts

add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'wdm_query_condition' );

You only need to remember two options; the use of WP_query and the pre_get_posts function. Remember to use WP_query to add custom loops or secondary loops, and pre_get_posts function, to alter the main loop.

The 10 Key Elements of a High Quality Website - Quicksprout

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:05:00 +0000

The 10 Key Elements of a High Quality Website

Effective Link Building Strategy For Bloggers in 2015

seoexpertvishal@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 06:25:00 +0000

Link building in 2015 is the most effective way to achieve higher ranks on the search engines. Yes Content is curial but that alone will not get your ranked and drive thousands of traffic to your websites and blogs nowadays.

Not like 6 months back, link building is getting harder and Google is cracking down on any manipulative link building tactics out there. Does that mean you can not rank now with and effective linking strategy? No there is good news for you and in this article I’m going to tell you one of the safest methods that works well for our own own blogs and for local clients websites to safely move on the web.

Creating and Submitting Infographics

I bet you never though about t even though you knew that’s done by successful SEO’s and people like Brian Dean at Backlinko. This is little costly work to do and most of the SEO’s does not utilize this method as it takes time and investment.

After the Google Penguin 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 update we had to find the most safest ways forward when it comes to linking to money sites that could potentially not have any harm in the future updates. So we suggest all our clients to consider in investing on infographics this year as a long term llin building strategy. So if you are one of our clients and did not like when we said you this method is important, it’s time for you to have a thought.

Why Creating and submitting infographics is effective?

Because as Jeff Bullas says “It taps into the visual content marketing trend and Visual.ly is one of the leaders in this segment.”

However most bloggers and SEO’s try to be away from this method great SEO linking building method because creating a resourceful infographic costs them bucks.

Below there are several places you can easily create and submit by yourself:

Also you can find a designer who is an world classes design and our director of Art and Designs to get you a nice once done.

Keep in mind when you are doing a infographic you must get a quality one done or else no other blogger would like to publish yours on their blog with a link back to your blog.

Also you should write a unique description with at least 300-400 words to take real advantage from these submission. When you give the full effort to get a link back that’s worth it and people wouldn’t let you down in mist cases.

You can find places to submit your infographic with the below search strings:

“submit infographic”
inurl: submit infographic
intitle: submit infographic
“infographic directory”

Cheers!!

WordPress Expert | Digital Marketing Consultant | India

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