Why SEO Should Never Be An Afterthought

SEO should never be an afterthought, there are essentially two ways to rank (1) as a result of clear planning with deliberate intent and a master game plan developed over time or (2) hey is it too late to fix this site and eek some performance out of it?

How many times have you ever thought, if I only knew what I know now years ago (when you first started your website) and wished you could simply turn back the clock and start fresh, then you are not alone.In case you ever wondered how to essentially rank for everything in your niche, then you could take a few pages from the SEO play book of the site we stumbled across earlier today. In fact, it was so inspiring, I had to write about it to commend them on a job well done.

Search engine optimization is constantly evolving and with it the semblance of design, content and site architecture are fusing into “the ideal delivery system” to entice traffic, user engagement, viral marketing and conversion.

This mutation / new generation of hybrid sites (part e-commerce, part blog, part affiliate site) are emerging frequently and blazing a trail to the top 10 of multiple industries. Webmasters (much like scientists) understand that when you properly combine the right elements and streamline content, links and information architecture for a common goal, the result is an authority site designed with a distinct purpose that gains momentum daily.

You can learn a great deal from looking beneath the hood of other websites (to see which layers are worthy of emulating or modifying from other SEO’s or web developers). Here is an example of a site that is truly a masterpiece built to virtually dominate its industry through layers of overlapping optimization, content development and site architecture.

The site, www.like.com holds top ranking positions for thousands of brands, has millions of pages indexed, hundreds of thousands of links and yet has a cool demeanor and impeccable design with a strong visual call to action. All of the components were so balanced, that I simply could not shake the sites blueprint after observing the amount of thoughtful planning and advanced SEO tactics that went into developing and maintaining such a pristine web creation.

This is clearly an example of SEO done right. If anyone ever told you that a theme cannot be modified to encapsulate multiple product lines within a broad market category, then this site is an excellent case study, not to mention, it has style to boot.

The fact is, acquiring positioning for each and every keyword is a task unto itself. Each page should be treated as its own site (then again you never know how many sites were 301 redirected into this one). In any case, it is important for a site to constantly utilize the mechanisms of self-referral (internal linking) to cement relevance from within.

This when combined with an optimized CMS (content management system), the proper use of titles and tags and links results in a ranking juggernaut that expresses itself like a dynamic time-released capsule through SERP (search engine result page) domination.

Each page that is created is another asset to the site as a whole, over time when each page ages, it gains its own authority which then reciprocates back to strengthen the whole, which strengthens the page again and so on and so fourth. This cyclical momentum is the secret to ranking for multiple keywords.

The real challenge is, to get over the hump and systematically create relevance through the proper balance of (1) chronology of content through themed content development, (2) the appropriate balance of internal to external links per page and to the root domain (3) the proper use of interlinking the sub folders to create dynamism as a whole for all of the topical categories.

The whole reason this rant about SEO being the starting point rather than an afterthought is, if you have a clear objective, understand the amount of work involved and can scale the workload, then it is possible to rank for any competitive term with the right tactic, link popularity, structure and proper content. Hats’ off to the team who put that site together as well as those who maintain and keep such a finely-tuned machine in perfect working order.

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By Jeffrey Smith

Microsoft Runs Milgram Experiment on Vista

Microsoft today unveiled video footage of an exercise called the Mojave Experiment, where unwitting Windows users were tricked into watching a Vista demo while told it was something else. The experiment's subjects were all people who had a negative impression of Vista but no personal experience with it. One short demo later almost all of them reported a far more favorable impression of the operating system "Mojave" than they held of Vista.

The videos are reminiscent of the infamous Milgram Experiment, where Stanford researcher Stanley Milgram fooled subjects into believing that a fake situation was actually real. That experiment has been the subject of decades of ethics debates - Microsoft's Mojave was just creepy. Note: Several readers have responded in comments saying that this is not a legitimate comparison to draw. We will take your thoughts into consideration before drawing wild comparisons between tech marketing campaigns and arguably egregious violations of individual rights in the future. :)

Pain

The Milgram Experiment was one in which subjects were told that they had to administer a shock to someone who gave the wrong answers to questions they were asked. The subjects objected but were told that the test's authority required that they administer the shocks. In fact the people getting the shocks were only actors but the moral of the story was that ordinary people were willing to do terrible things if they were told they had to be an authority figure.

Ethics

Milgram's was a powerfully disturbing study but the point is that it is ethically questionable to subject people to research based on a false premise.

In the Mojave Experiment the only people likely to be subjected to pain will be the future users of the Microsoft operating system.

The lesson of Mojave may be that computer users are highly susceptible to a short, slick demonstration of new technology. It could also be that they are highly susceptible to reviews written by other people. The writings of experts based on their tests and experience seems a far more valid basis for the formation of an opinion, however.

Looking at the faces of the Mojave test subjects when they are told the truth, it appears they know they are being made to look like fools. It's not clear what that foolishness is based on, but it is clear that Microsoft's condescending attitude remains consistent right through this newest marketing campaign.

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by Marshall Kirkpatrick

How To Leverage Your List to Grow It Even Faster

People are peculiar creatures… more alike in our thoughts and behavior than we like to admit. One thing that is true of most people, regardless of culture, and unique circumstances is that they like to know something that other people want to know.

We also like to share that information.

It makes us look and feel smarter

It allows us to appear to have inside information and we like that. Not only do we like to share information, we like to steer our friends and family in the right direction.

People share all kinds of information. They tell their neighbors which exterminator to use and which one does a shoddy job. They recommend the talented barber or hair stylist.

The same traits are common among your subscribers. They consider you a trusted expert, and a great source of products or services, or they wouldn’t stay on your opt-in list.

You need to find ways to take advantage of this human need to know what-is-what and the instinct to share useful information. Most people will share information willingly and without much incentive from you. However, providing a little incentive usually doesn’t hurt.

Your first step is to convince your opt-in list subscribers that they really do have the inside track for success by being members of your list. There are about a million ways to tell people that they are smart and that by being members of your opt-in list proves it. Never miss the opportunity to share that compliment.

Your next step is to get these smart subscribers to share your great ezine with their family and friends thus building your list.

The easiest and simplest thing that you can do is to… ask them.

Ask them to pass along copies of your ezine or autoresponder messages, and include a link to your subscribe url at the bottom of each issue. That way, those who read “pass-along copies,” and enjoy them, will know how to get more

You can also Offer incentives for referring new subscribers. I actually PAY my existing subscribers (on some lists) for referring others.

You can offer cash payments for new referrals, having them send the referrals to get something like a value-packed free report. Use an affiliate tracking system such as ProfitAutomation.com to automatically track referral commissions and then once a month, pay those commissions.

If you want the paid referral system to be totally hands-free, set it up as an affiliate program using a script like Rapid Action Profits. With Rapid Action Profits, they would use a referral link to sell an inexpensive report, and when a referral gets the report they pay the referrer directly. The token fee for the report, is deposited directly to the referrer’s Paypal account.

This is a very powerful way of using subscribers or customers to build a list of paying customers. Many people treasure a list built this way more because it’s a list of PROVEN buyers.

If you are not familiar with RAP, you can check it out at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/RapidActionProfits/

You can see how I implemented using RAP with an ebook that I wrote called “Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires.” I let my subscribers sell the ebook for $5 (a real bargain for their friends) but the payment goes directly to them, and it’s paid INSTANTLY. Since they don’t have to wait for Payments, it’s a very powerful incentive for those with cashflow problems.

You can see how I’ve implemented using “Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires” to incentivize subscribers to make referrals at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/ClickbankMillionaires/

Another powerful way to get your existing subscribers, and even just random website visitors, to make referrals is to use a tell-a-friend script on your site.

Perhaps, tell your list that referring your ezine to 4-6 people will earn them a free gift, and set the form to forward them to that download once they’ve completed and submitted the form. Don’t base it on the number of people who actually sign up, but rather on them referring your list to their friends. Many of their referrals won’t sign up, and you need to avoid creating frustration in existing readers who are trying to help you build your list.

You can find good tell-a-friend scripts in many places. The Rapid Action Profits script mentioned earlier even has a tell-a-friend script built in that allows customers and subscribers to make referrals right from your download pages.

I’ve just given you a few quick and easy ways to leverage your existing list to grow your opt-in list even faster. The leverage comes from you simply getting existing subscribers to recommend you to their contacts. You can do this with or without offering an incentive.

Simple isn’t it
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By Willie Crawford

New Search Engine Has Google Nervous

A new search engine launched today has market leader Google nervous. Why? Because Cuil.com (pronounced “cool”) is being touted as having the potential to topple Google off their pedestal. Yes, it’s been predicted before to no avail, but this time the critics might be right. Let’s take a look at reasons why:

1) Cuil can apparently claim the title of world’s biggest search engine, searching more pages on the Web than any other site. That’s three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft.

2) Cuil tackles the issue of privacy by promoting the fact that they don’t collect user data. Privacy concerns are apparently one of the main reasons users abandon Google in favor of other engines.

3) The three founders of Cuil know search inside out. They include ex-Googlers Anna Patterson and Russell Power of the TeraGoogle project and Tom Costello of IBM’s WebFountain project.

4) Even Danny Sullivan thinks Cuil could be a major player. As he points out:

“Google already did a blog post in reaction to Cuil and its size claims on Friday, before Cuil even launched or those claims became public. If Google’s paying that much attention, then anyone should.”

That’s good enough for me!

5) Cuil provides some unique tools for researchers and serious searchers. After you perform a search, you sometimes see a box on the right-hand side that says “Explore By Category” with a list of subjects related to your search. If you roll-over a category, it will open and show related refinements. It reminds me of the dig tool you sometimes see when performing keyword research on WordTracker or KeywordDiscovery.

And what exactly does “Cuil” mean? Apparently it is an ancient Irish word for knowledge. How very cuil!

Stay tuned to see if Cuil can make a dent in Google’s 1st place trophy.

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By Kalena Jordan

Yahoo Search Improves News Injection In Web Results

The Yahoo Search Blog announced they have made "significant enhancements" to how they show news results in the web search results. Yahoo is now showing news results in different positions throughout the web search results, based on their new "News Direct Display (DD)" algorithm. In addition, Yahoo improved how they detect news queries and will show more news boxes in the search results due to that improvement.

For example, a search on spears returns a news box in the middle of Yahoo Search:
Yahoo News in Search Results

I decided to see how Yahoo handled a search for Cuil (for more on Cuil, see Cuil Launches -- Can This Search Start-Up Really Best Google?) and yes, they do show a news result at the top of the listings, just like Google:

vs:

Yes, Google ranks cuil.com as the number one result in the web search results, while Yahoo currently does not - but that is for a different blog post.

Google has also had news results within the different positions of the web search results since they launched Universal Search in May 2007.

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by Barry Schwartz

The Secret Weapon to Building a Massive List - Trust

With the amount of daily junk entering our e-mail boxes these days, most of us will go to great lengths to keep our e-mail accounts spam-free. However, there are many others who subscribe to mail that promotes products and services from websites, mainly because these subscribers are keen to learn more about what is being offered and whether it can benefit them. In fact, they expect to get be kept informed about what’s new in the market in their chosen field. Internet marketers love these kinds of customers: they are a vital element of their business. But how do you win over these kinds of cusromers? The internet marketer’s secret weapon is trust: When your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty.

• Send to legitimate subscribers only! To be able to be allowed to send promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and marketing media, the first thing you will is need permission from your recipient, so make sure you only send to people who have willingly signed up to your subscribers’ list. Having good material on your website or landing page will already begin to build their trust. After all, they are not going to sign up to something they don’t trust.
• Share your expertise: Gaining your customers’ trust should be easy if you give them some of your knowledge and expertise. People rely on other people who know what they are talking about. Gain as much knowledge and information about your internet marketing business as you can. Frankly, if you chose to go into a field you have no interest in it, you should think again.
• Be an expert: Demonstrate to your clients that you know what you are talking about. Provide them with helpful hints and tips pertaining to your product or market. Talk about how to install programs if you’re marketing software or provide articles on exercise if you’re a promoting weight-loss products. If your customers see you as someone who knows what you’re talking about, they will trust you quickly.
• Use the secret weapon of business - integrity: In other words, be true to your customers. Provide first class products and services, give money-back guarantees and after-sales services. The more satisfied customers you get, the more likely it is that they will recommend you to others. Recommendations will grow your list ten-fold: people trust someone they know, so when one person recommends you, another will go to your site and check it for themselves, already with an attitude of trust. So make sure you provide top-class, consistent service. Remember not to lose the trust you have gained. Never do anything with their email addresses like sell them or give them out. That is a good way to destroy your list
• Provide a get-out clause. Show them that you are not there to trap them. Every e-mail you send should enable them to unsubscribe anytime they want. Providing information on how to unsubscribe from the list on your website form will add to the feeling of trust, Guaranteeing that they can let go of the service whenever they want to. Many people are wary of being stuck for life and will even feel forced to abandon their email accounts when they get over-pestered with spam.

To build a good opt-in list you need people to trust you quickly. And the faster you build your opt-in list, the faster word about your site and internet marketing business will spread. As your opt-in list grows, so will your traffic, spelling more profits. The math is easy if you think about it. Getting the numbers is not that simple though, or is it?

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By Simon Whincop

5 Free Must Have SEO Tools

Let’s face it, we all want higher
rankings for our targeted keywords.
So here are 5 Free SEO Tools you can
use to help you achieve those rankings…

5 Free Must Have SEO Tools

Unless you go the PPC route and pay for your
traffic, SEO or Search Engine Optimization will
play a major role in the success or failure of
your website. Therefore, it’s in your best interest
as a webmaster to learn everything you can about
SEO and use the right SEO tools to achieve an
advantage over your competition.

Needless to say, SEO or getting high rankings
for your keywords is extremely competitive,
especially for popular lucrative keyword phrases
which bring in the big bucks. You must be at the
top of your game if you want to compete.

One important factor in winning the SEO battle
is using the right SEO software or tools. Major
online companies use expensive software, hire
SEO firms and have whole departments devoted
entirely to search engine marketing - so you
know your work is cut out for you.

You’re probably asking yourself how can the little
guy compete against such stiff competition? Well,
it is not as difficult as you might think or believe.
For starters, you can use some simple SEO tools
which will help give you a slight advantage if you
use them properly.

Surprisingly, all of these SEO tools are free and
any webmaster can take advantage of them in their
ongoing SEO endeavors. I believe all webmasters must
learn and master SEO in order to succeed online or
get someone else to do it for them.

Over the years I have built up a passable knowledge
of SEO due mainly from running 9 or 10 sites and working
as a full-time online affiliate marketer. My livelihood
depends on me achieving high rankings for my lucrative
keywords in the search engines, mainly in Google. Also the
daily running of two websites on Internet Marketing Tools
has played a small part as well!

Along the way I have used countless SEO tactics and
tools to try to increase my keyword rankings. Here’s
a short list of my most helpful Free SEO tools that
I use on a daily basis in the running of my websites:

1. SEO Book Keyword Research Tool

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/

This tells how many searches are made each day
for my targeted keywords. Invaluable information
to have for Search Engine Marketing and for choosing
your keywords. Most experts suggest you go for the
mid to low range keywords if you’re just starting out
and targeting long tail keywords (three or four words)
yields the best returns.

2. Detecting Online Commercial Intention

http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx

This MSN tool tells me the probability (percentage)
someone clicking my chosen keywords is likely to buy.
Another great tool for picking keywords if you’re trying
to earn revenue from your sites. Higher the percentage,
the more likely you will make a sale or earn revenue.

3. SeoQuake for Mozilla Firefox

http://www.seoquake.com

This is an addon for Firefox and gives you
invaluable SEO information on any site you’re
viewing. All the important info is here:
Google PageRank, Number of Links, Traffic Rank,
Whois, Keyword Density, NoFollow links… used
in conjunction with Firefox this tool will prove
invaluable.

4. Google Alerts

http://www.google.com/alerts

This is a great SEO tool if you use it to track
and build your links. Just create Google Alerts
for all your major keyword phrases and Google will
keep you updated on current links being formed/indexed
on your keywords. Also great for tracking articles,
urls, competitors… and staying up-to-date in your
niche.

5. WordPress

http://www.wordpress.com

This free blogging software lets you place very
SEO friendly blogs on your sites. Social media,
blogging, tags, RSS feeds… are becoming increasingly
important for online success so you must get your
sites into this whole mix in order to compete.
WordPress is a valuable SEO tool for improving
your keyword rankings. Blogger and Bloglines
are other blogging alternatives you can use.

I use many more SEO tools but these are the top five.
Try some of these handy tools and see if they can
improve your own keyword rankings like they did mine.
No harm in trying and you may be pleasantly surprised
at the results.

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By Titus-Hoskins