3 Ways Social Media Impacts SEO

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Jenny Stradling

You know that everything on the web is social. The phrase “let’s get social” appears on just about everyone’s website. But, until the last couple years or so, social media had very little, if any, impact on your search rankings. It still had value, no doubt, as companies able to garner huge followings were able to drive followers to their websites and increase brand awareness and sales, among other things.

But now, social has a lot to do with your search engine optimization strategy. We’ll show 3 concrete ways in which it does.

Examples of how Social Media directly impacts SEO

Personalized Results

If there’s one big trend on the web, it’s relevancy, and personalized search is always more relevant to the searcher. You see that icon with the circle around it? If you search in Google and see that icon, it means it’s a personal search result you’re more likely to see when signed in to Google.

When you sign in to Google, it examines people who are in your Google+ circles, and whenever you type in a search term, you’re more likely to see a result from someone in your circles than any other search result. For now, Google only does this for its own social network, but other social media websites are lobbying to be included.

This is also true for Bing. Because Bing is integrated with Facebook, when you are signed in to Facebook and you search Bing, guess what shows up? Social Results:

Follower Count/Social Shares

Google takes these two important metrics into account when deciding which content is more authoritative. Follower count isn’t emphasized nearly as much as the number of social shares (retweets, Facebook shares, LinkedIn shares etc…) because it can be easily manipulated, but both metrics play a role in determining your search engine rankings.

Think of it this way: say your content gets 100 social shares on average each time you promote it on a social network, but say your competitor’s only gets 5. All other factors being equal, who’s more likely the trustworthy source of information?

Searching Directly on Social Sites

Facebook recently introduced its new “Graph Search.” It’s slightly different from Google in that it searches your friends, places, interest, and photos to help you immediately find an answer to your question, rather than providing a link to a website. Practically speaking, you might use Graph Search to look for “Chinese restaurants.” Then, you can see which of your friends went to a Chinese restaurant near you.

Which are you more likely to trust: a highly rated restaurant that people you don’t know on Google say is popular, or a Chinese restaurant your best friend recommends, whose tastes you know you like?

And the interesting part is SEO has almost no place in this type of search.

Build Your Social Media Following!

The most important takeaway from all of this is that being active on social media is essential to your search visibility now, and in the future. At a basic level, develop a presence on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest, and give away interesting content you think will benefit your target audience. It takes a ton of hard work to build and maintain your social media profiles, but it definitely helps increase your marketing ROI. If managing your social media accounts is too much for you, remember you can always contact Eminent SEO for help. We offer a full array of social media services from banner designs to fully managed solutions.

Jenny Stradling

CEO EminentSEO.com. SEO and SEM Strategist, social media girl, blogger, music lover, soul searcher. Collects: books, pictures, quotes, music, art, dreams...

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6 Things Your Website Needs in Order to Be Successful Online

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jenny Stradling

As an internet marketer, I can sometimes forget that not website owner understands the basic things they need to have a successful business online.

I have created a MUST HAVE list of 6 basic things all business websites need to be successful online (in no particular order):

1) Quality Content and Calls to Action

Content can take many forms: written information, images, infographics, videos, games, widgets, etc. When creating your content you should think about your users first. Who are they? Why are they here? Give them something to relate to, something that sparks their interest and a reason to act now.

Content is also important for search engine value. Google and the other search engines want to serve up the most relevant information being searched for. If your content is “thin”, outdated or not optimized properly for the keywords you want to rank for – you really need to invest into some updated content – NOW!

2) A Blog – Updated Often

Of course a blog is more content, but the beauty in having a blog ON your business website is it is generally an easy way for you (or your marketer) to keep your content fresh and up to date. In order to see the true value of a blog, it must be on your company website (www.yourwebsite.com/blog) and it must be updated at least a few times a month. If you aren’t keeping it up to date it really adds no value. The key is to write about interesting information relevant to your audience and keep it current.

A blog is also a great way to link to important areas of your website, giving the users a reason to click through to the landing pages that you use to push your products (*note, this is also good for SEO value). We also always suggest you install social sharing icons on your blog to make it super easy for your readers to share your content.

3) Social Media

Social indicators actually enhance your website visibility, so even from just an SEO standpoint, social is important. Also, many sites, like Pinterest for example, have high domain authority and when you create profile your verified website profile link creates a nice authority link to your website.

Of course there are several other key benefits to having business social profiles. For example: brand visibility, new and current client engagement, direct clicks to your website, social shares that contain your website, brand or products and even brand reputation management.

Just like your website blog, your social profiles should be kept up to date if you want them to really benefit your website and business. You should be sharing often, posting interesting content, images, videos and links to important information on your site. You should also link to your important profiles from your website, making it easier for your clients to find you on their favorite social platforms.

4) Website Marketing

In order to drive targeted traffic to your website, you are going to have to do some form of website promotion and marketing. Internet marketing can mean a number of things from Google Pay Per Click Campaigns to High Profile Banner Ads.

Here at Eminent SEO we believe in a custom marketing solution for each client. This generally starts with a website audit, competitive analysis and a market research project to help us better understand your needs specifically. A new marketing campaign is always a test, but if you analyze and strategize on the front end, you are at least giving your marketing dollars a better chance of converting into sales.

Because the web is such a competitive space, we really recommend you hire a professional marketer to handle your website marketing. This is key to the success of your online business and is a MUST have for anyone trying to make money online. It takes money to make money. Marketing isn’t an expense though, it’s an investment!

5) Website SEO

Your website needs to be structurally sound, technically optimized and include your marketing keyword strategy if you expect any of the above to result in increased search engine traffic. SEO is really an umbrella term that covers a wide range of on and off page variables that impact the way the search engines view and rank your website.

Just like any good marketing strategy starts with research and analysis, so does SEO. We really need to fully audit your website from a technical aspect in order to assess your website SEO needs specifically. Many website owners don’t realize they have major issues with their website that are preventing them from becoming an authority on the web.

Proper SEO will ensure your website can be crawled properly as well as help tell the search engines what your website is an authority for. When the search engines can easily tell what you are all about, you have a much better chance of getting visibility in the search engine results for the keywords you are targeting. Better SEO = better website traffic.

6) Conversion Tracking

Okay, so you have a beautiful website with optimized content, proper calls to action and a solid marketing strategy in place – good for you! But, how do you know if you are getting traffic and how do you know if it’s converting?

Most websites use some form of analytics, such as Google Analytics, to track their website traffic. Knowing where your traffic is coming from is important, but if you can’t tie your traffic sources to conversions, how do you know if you are spending your marketing dollars properly?

If you are a call centric business, you should have some form of call tracking metrics built into your site. This allows you to tie your calls into traffic source so you have a real idea of where your calls are coming from. You can also rate your calls and input conversions – so each month you can see exactly where your conversions are coming from. This is powerful information that you can take back to your marketing team so they can focus on marketing to the areas that convert!

Need Help?

Many of the things I listed above seem may seem basic or simple to some, but you’d be surprised how many website owners I talk to who are not leveraging all of these techniques. If you need help with your website and marketing, just call us at 800-871-4130. We can come up with a custom solution that works for your specific website needs.

Jenny Stradling

CEO EminentSEO.com. SEO and SEM Strategist, social media girl, blogger, music lover, soul searcher. Collects: books, pictures, quotes, music, art, dreams...

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4 Steps To Building A Brand On A Budget

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Star Padilla

So you’re starting a business and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything? (If you say you aren’t, you’re a liar) . You don’t need to be a millionaire to build your brand- everyone has to start somewhere. Social Media is a free and great place to start – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr are all solid places to get a kickstart your first impression in a digital sense. Below you will find some ways I think you can start to build your brand on a budget and when you’re ready for a little assistance you can reach out to our Eminent team.

1. Customer Service is Key

Have you ever heard the saying, “First Impressions are everything”? Well those words couldn’t be any more true. Customer service is key when it comes to building your brand with your potential audience and/or demographic. Slip up and give some a sour taste right off the bat; people will treat you like the Bubonic Plague and steer clear.

Going above and beyond to make a customer feel appreciated, not only creates a solid foundation for a returning customers but develops brand affinity. Brand affinity builds word-of mouth, and in turn you’ve got a social buzz going. And so the domino effect continues.

2. Think Outside the Box and Get Creative

Dollar Shave Club is by far, one of my favorite companies who reflects the “Think Outside the Box” mentality and created a low budget video- that gained them more than 8+ Million views and one of the most viral campaigns for a start-up.

3. Make Friends & Collaborate

Whether you’re looking to work in a collaborative work environment like Co+Hoots or GangPlank or looking to collaborate two brands, like what Monster Cable and Dr. Dre did to create Beats by Dre to build awareness of both brands – Each side could bring a little something unique to the table. Each company has their own USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that they can leverage, and in these collaborative opportunities you give the opportunity to bring what makes you shine to the for-front and that too for your collaborative partner. Win-win all around.

4. Market Your Resources and Be Resourceful

Don’t take your team for granted and recognize the assets you have at hand. Each individual you have hired has a skill set that gravitated you to hire them and each of those individuals have interests beyond their day-to-day work load. Maybe you need video- and you can’t afford to hire a big production team to execute what you thought was going to be a pricey penny- why not keep it low-budget and entertain the thought of using your own team of real employees and ditch the idea of actors. Have you ever taken a peek at Google’s Videos, featuring one of our favorites, Matt Cutts. Now they are a HUGE company, but recognize they can cut costs and create just as great videos on a small budget.

So remember, you don’t need a huge budget to start to build a brand. Money helps to nurture and build support but if you’re just starting out, I hope these four initial steps will help in conjuring up those creative juices .

Star Padilla

You could say I'm a chatter box with an eye for design. I'm what you’d call a digital strategist. Helping companies and individuals focus on making their businesses money while managing their social media platforms, content and audit their overall design/brand.

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Why SEO is Not Dead

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Jenny Stradling

SEO is not dead! And, if you are reading this, neither are you… PHEW! Just like the Mayans predictions were wrong, so were the predictions that SEO would die in 2012…

SEO will never die and here’s why:

Unless ALL of the search engines die (including Google who is now worth over $250 Billion dollars) or the government shuts down the internet (or you know, Zombies take over the planet and kill all electricity) then there will always be a need for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

SEO is so much more than optimizing a web page for the engines. You can optimize a number of things: videos, articles, images, social media profiles, press releases, newsletters, blog posts, mobile applications…. Heck, you can even optimize your Tweets.

And not only can you optimize all forms of digital content, if you aren’t, you should be!

“Isn’t SEO just spam?”

I think people first became scared of SEO when Google started cracking down on websites who were practicing spam techniques. Unfortunately many website marketers who practice spamming call themselves SEO’s, giving the rest of us who are legitimately doing SEO a bad name. Google has been updating their algorithms for several years now, but when they rolled out Panda and then Penguin all hell broke loose and many website owners started reconsidering their marketing strategies.

The fact of the matter is SEO is NOT spam. Spam is spam, so there you have it.

The right way to do SEO:

I am not saying there isn’t a “wrong” way to do SEO. There is such a thing as OVER optimization and Google has come right out and said certain methods that used to work are no longer effective. As the internet continues to evolve, and as new technologies are developed, the way people use the search engines changes as well. Clearly Google updates their algorithms to accommodate changes to human behaviors as they aim to serve up the highest quality, most relevant information on the subject being searched.

Because Google (and the other engines) are updating their algorithms frequently, we (website owners, content optimizers and SEO marketers) have to be prepared and, for lack of a better term, roll with the punches. What we do today may not work tomorrow, but there are some basics that EVERYONE should be doing. So, here is my quick list:

Oh, and let me just preface this with saying although all of this is basic, most of it requires a certain amount of SEO know how, technical skill and access to tools. But, nevertheless, here it is. If you don’t think you can implement it on your own, I highly suggest you hire a professional. They don’t pay me the big bucks for nothin’

Nail down your keyword strategy

I put this first on the list because it is the VERY first thing you need to do before you start optimizing anything online. This is an involved process and if you don’t know how to do it already, this blog post isn’t going to help you much. But, what you should know is a solid keyword strategy includes:

Keywords for conversions. Many used to believe that the highest search volume term in their space was the most important term to rank for. This is just NOT the case. Sure, you want to target key terms that bring in some volume, but it’s more important to focus on the terms that will bring in the highest quality traffic for conversions.
Keyword diversity. One of the biggest mistakes you can make post Panda/Penguin is go to heavy on any one keyword phrase. If a root term is important to you, pick at least 10-20 similar supporting phrases to include in your strategy.
Brand “keywords”. If your entire backlink index consists of anchor text keywords only, you are sending Google the wrong signal. Avoid a red flag, go heavy on variations of your brand, your URL, your product names and direct click calls to action “keywords”.

Optimize your meta data

On-page SEO consists of a number of things from basic keyword inclusion in important areas of each page, to siloing your website architecture for a deeper search engine spider crawl. When a new client comes in and asks me to do a website audit, I use a checklist of over 100 things I think are important to consider when trying to improve your website authority. However, I am often surprised how many people miss the most basic on-page SEO – your meta data! Some of the basics:

Meta Title. The title of the page is the first thing the search engines see when the visit. What a lot of people forget is that the title is also the first thing the user sees in the search engine result pages. Therefore it is extremely important that you write your page title for the search engines AND the user. We like to include the important keyword for the page along with a benefit or unique value offered. Sure, it’s nice to get rankings but if no one is clicking, what’s the point of ranking?
Meta Description. Although Google doesn’t always serve up your meta description in the search result pages (they are now using keyword rich snippets from the page content instead in many cases) I still suggest you write optimized content for the meta description. We like to include the root keyword phrase used in the title, along with a call to action. Again, we are NOT just writing for the engines here, we are writing for the users and clicks!
Meta Keywords. Back in 2009 Google announced they would no longer be using the meta keywords in their algorithm to determine where your site should rank. So, why do I bring it up now?Although Google may not be currently using this data, there is a chance they might in the future. Also, many believe that Yahoo, Bing and other engines use this data. So, although it might not be helping your Google rankings, it’s not hurting them either. However, there are some that also think you should avoid using them as your competition can simply peek at your meta data to see your strategy – so, if you do decide to use them, just keep it short and include your root targets (seen in your other meta data and content as well).

Write quality content; optimize it for your keywords

Content has always been THE most important part of any website marketing strategy. If you want the search engines to see you as an authority, your content has to be unique, relevant and fresh. Of course you want to give your users something interesting to read as well, so you don’t want to write for the engines, you want to write for your audience. However, you won’t have an audience if you don’t optimize your content for the keywords that will drive them there. So, write for your audience, but include your keywords where possible. A few content optimization tips:

Web pages. Once you have your keyword strategy and you’ve properly optimized your web page meta data, you need to write (or rewrite) your page content to include these keywords as well. I am NOT talking about keyword stuffing – so don’t get carried away. But, pay attention to your headers and be smart about how you talk about your products and services. If your goal is to rank for “red roses” make sure your content includes that term and variations of that term.
Blogs. I believe everyone should have a blog on their site. It’s the easiest way to keep your content fresh, giving your users AND the search engines reason to visit your site more often. Updated content also makes your site more of an authority on the subject, increasing your search engine value as a whole. I suggest including your keyword strategy where possible in your blog post titles, content and tagging – however, a BIG no-no is to write for the engines and not your users. If something interesting is happening in your industry, write about it, even if the content isn’t exactly in line with your overall target keywords.
Video, images and other digital content. Content isn’t just written word. Content can be a number of things from a video to an image. Because the search engines look at your website as code, the only way they will know what your videos and images are about is if you tell them through your optimization. Don’t forget to add relevant tags to your videos/images and include your keywords where possible. Oh, and this goes for your off-site content as well – when you load video to YouTube, add your keywords in the title, description and tags. If you are going to share an image socially, name the image file with your keyword, post the image with keyword related content.

Share your content

Remember that movie, Field of Dreams? Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) hears a voice that whispers, “If you build it, they will come”. That might have been true in the movie – but unfortunately it is not that easy when it comes to website marketing. You may have an interesting design, compelling content, beautiful images and videos – but if you don’t share it, no one will know it’s there. Proper sharing for higher search engine rankings involves a strategic marketing plan that includes a number of methods, but if you are looking for some tips on how you can do some of the work yourself, here are a few:

Get social. I don’t care if you are a local plumber or a big, glossy brand, you need to be social. There are a number of reasons to have a social presence online from branding, awareness, networking and partnerships to direct clicks. But as an SEO, I want to focus on the search engine value. Because social is such a large part of how people now use the web, Google and the other search engines have integrated social mentions into their algorithms. If your site and content is getting social mentions and shares than you are relevant and worthy of search engine results. So, if you are already creating interesting content – get social and share it!
Submit. Okay, this is not the time to get into the value of a press release or article syndication link – but what I will say is that quality content, with a mention of your brand or a link back, that is hosted on a quality site can pass value to your site. Some do guest posts, some submit their content to high end news sites, some pay to submit their site to a relevant web directory – there are a lot of methods. If you are looking for help in this area, well, you’ll just have to call us. It’s a strategy developed over years of trial and error. But, if you come across an opportunity to submit your site or a relevant article you wrote, don’t pass it up. Even if you don’t get a link back, just mentioning your company name as a citation can add value to your overall authority on the web.
Bait. Possibly one of the trickiest content marketing strategies, link baiting or content share baiting is one of the most powerful methods for increasing your web presence.The practice of viral marketing includes creating something people WANT to watch/read/see and share. Sometime companies have found success with developing something funny, connecting with people through a humors video or an animated meme. Others have pushed the boundaries and developed something controversial – creating content or a series of ads that hit hard and spur debates and conversation. If you are having a hard time getting visibility – creating something interesting and sharing it can end up giving you 100’s or 1000’s of shares, link backs and direct clicks.

I think it’s safe to say that SEO is harder than it used to be. In order to be a true SEO, you have to know the history of the internet, understand the search engine algorithms as well as human behavior. You have to be logical, technical and creative. You have to be humble and willing to change on the fly. You have to listen, study, test and analyze. Because of this, perhaps SEO is a dying art. Not because SEO will ever die, but because it’s hard and people don’t want to put in the work. But, I am okay with that – why? Because WE are willing to put in the hard work. And we do, every day…

Jenny Stradling

CEO EminentSEO.com. SEO and SEM Strategist, social media girl, blogger, music lover, soul searcher. Collects: books, pictures, quotes, music, art, dreams...

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Website Speed Achieves Overall Goals: Conversions & Satisfaction

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Jim Peake

We live in a “now society” and we all seem to want instant gratification and when we visit websites we expect the site to load ASAP or we hit the back button or do another Google search. We keep doing this until we find another website that does deliver content we are seeking that has speed and relevance.
The problem with website speed becomes pretty technical pretty fast. The good news is that usually speed can be had pretty fast and at a fairly cost effective rate. Just some of the factors to consider when optimizing our websites for speed are:
• Website Host
• Enabling Compression
• Browser Caching
• Content Delivery Network
• Compressible Text
• Persistent Connections
• Combining Static CSS and Javascript Files
• Proper Cookie Usage
• Minimize Redirects
• Etc
Many studies have been commissioned supporting the speed argument. Even Google has been calculating site speed and incorporating it into the organic and Adwords rankings. If this is so then why aren’t more of us paying attention to this critical factor? Maybe because it is not clearly as visible ad content or links?

There are a couple of useful tools that you can use to check your website speed.

http://www.webpagetest.org/

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/

In the 2011 – 2012 Webreep Online Consumer Behavior Report they rate Trust, Website Attractiveness and Webspeed as the primary factors for online consumers. Website speed is fairly easy to calculate this is why is it so easy to do. Website trust and attractiveness are much more subjective.

In terms of website trust it makes sense to get testimonials, trust icons, link out to authority sites like the BBB and have quality incoming links. Website attractiveness is all well and good but there has to be some meat under the skin. Paying attention to your website is like maintaining your car it is not a lot of fun but they both can take you places if you treat them well.

Jim Peake

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Organic Link Building Post Penguin

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Jenny Stradling

With the Google Panda and Penguin algorithm updates there is a lot of question as to what is going to be an effective strategy for organic marketing moving forward. Let’s just clear this up right now. Links are more important than ever before – but the right kind of links.

It’s not about volume, it’s not about high PR, it’s not even just about quality – it’s about what appears to be the most natural OVERALL link strategy. What does this mean? Let me break it down for you:

Only all higher PR, authority links in your backlink index looks unnatural.
If no one is talking about your website socially, but lots of websites are linking to you, this looks unnatural.
If no one is reviewing your site, mentioning your business name, but linking to you with a “keyword” as the anchor text, this looks unnatural.
If too many people are linking to you with specific keywords that have higher search volume in your specific vertical, this looks unnatural.

Yes, Google has changed their algorithms – but people have changed the way they use the internet too. People live on Facebook, they share like crazy on Pinterest, they rant on Twitter, they comment on their favorite blogs… people are more social than ever before and they naturally share, link to, comment on and “like” what they see on their favorite sites.

You still need to have a solid keyword strategy. You still need to have a properly optimized website. You still need fresh, quality content. You still need to optimize your website for a great user experience. You still need to build a great navigation for better indexing. You still need to have a site that loads quickly…. You get my point…

BUT, without a good linking strategy, you shouldn’t expect any organic rankings with Google, Yahoo or Bing.

So now what?

Get links. But, get the “right links”. Of course this requires strategic planning that can expert link building team that can properly execute the plan. However, here are some things you should consider:

Social - Google +, Facebook, Twitter, etc
Video - YouTube, Vimeo, etc
Dedicated Blogging - Links from “SEO Friendly” blogs that talk about you in their blog copy
High End Press Releases - Quality, newsworthy content – submitted to the RIGHT places
Local - Maps, directories, local business review sites, etc
Authority Websites – News sites, relevant sites in your industry that have trust with Google, etc

Of course you also have to consider HOW you place your links, not just WHERE. Too many anchor text links looks artificial. So, you have to focus on your brand, your website URL, reference links, business citations and variations of your root target phrases. If you already have too many links for any one keyword, you have probably already hit the radar and you should avoid getting more anchor text links in the future and focus primarily on your brand and variations of your website URL.

Lastly (but not least-ly *ha*)– consider link velocity. Sure, great content, announcements and website specials can create a bump in linking, but overall Google is looking at the link trends and if you have too many links coming in all at once followed by no links for a long time, this does look artificial. You want a link trend that can be trusted over time. Slow and steady wins the race here.

Looking for a post Penguin Marketing Package? Gimme a call: 800.871.4130 ex 1 – We have you covered.

Jenny Stradling

CEO EminentSEO.com. SEO and SEM Strategist, social media girl, blogger, music lover, soul searcher. Collects: books, pictures, quotes, music, art, dreams...

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Google+ SEO Best Practices: 5 Quick Tips

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Team Eminent SEO

As search engines go, there is little debate as to Google’s supreme reign over internet visibility, traffic and profit. With the introduction of Google+, the search giant seeks to gain foothold of the social media market as well. Recent plugs for community registration in television, print and, of course, online have made +’s presence undeniable in the consciousness of web users the world over.

When it comes to business, the sell for Google has been a bit more subtle. Since the inclusion of + results into the search medium, it has become apparent that a lack of participation in the service may very well affect potential web traffic. Long story short, if you do not create a dedicated Google+ page, your web traffic is likely to suffer… at least a little. As such, many businesses are scrambling to gain a better understanding of Google + best practices in hopes of boosting SEO. In the following article, we will offer up a few tips and tricks to get you started.

1 – Sign up! (DUH!)

Getting started isn’t difficult at all. As with Facebook pages, Google + business page creation is contingent upon personal account ownership. Once a personal account has been registered, one must simply add an account for the business. If you wish to include multiple administrators you need only add them to the page.

2 – Run in Circles

This part takes a little more effort. The fastest way to increase your Google+ presence is to invite as many people into your circles as possible. Ideally, you’ll want these individuals to be in the same industry, but that the end of the day it’s the numbers that matter. Create different circles for friends, business associates, customers and even industry rivals!

Unfortunately, there is no way to force others to join your business pages. Instead, we must make individuals in our personal circles aware of your page in hopes of increasing numbers. Try adding your page to the signature of your business and personal email accounts, your website homepage and business print propaganda.

3 – Organic Keyword Stuffing

Though it may be tempting to fill your page with keywords relevant to your business, the practice may actually do more harm than good. Instead of littering your page with random word trash, try an organic approach. Post regularly and include relevant keywords where applicable.

4 – Timing Is Everything

Seize the moment! Posting when potential visibility is at its highest may result in added traffic to those searching for relevant terms. For example, post about something political following a national debate.

5 – +1 Buttons Are Your Friends

If you search the web on a regular basis, you’ve likely encountered more and more Google+ profiles returning in search results. Why, you ask? People who use the +1 function on content relevant to their industry will effectively increase visibility! Pretty cool, huh?

Considerations

Social media optimization takes a fair amount of time, effort and enthusiasm. If you find yourself overwhelmed with your social media duties, the team at Eminent SEO is here to help! Contact a representative today to get started on your customized social media SEO platform!

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO is an Arizona website services and strategic internet marketing company.

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On-Page SEO Best Practices: Keyword Usage Basics

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Team Eminent SEO

The heat is on! Where just over a short decade ago the internet was viewed a free-roaming Wild West pioneer’s game. These days the practices and techniques used in obtaining web traffic have become more refined, precise and competitive. With an ever evolving set of rules, services and content to sort through, many individuals and businesses have become lost to best Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. If you’re one of the many despaired by the multitude of information dancing between you and online monetization, the following entry will offer up a foundation from which to grow your SEO understanding.

Keywords are key! What is your page about? What do you sell? What do you do? These questions work to define which keywords you will use to direct traffic to your site. Think back to your last Google search… What did you search for, and how did you locate your target?

Let’s say a company designs, manufactures and sells puppy costumes. For this example, let’s also say that they have a very minimal page layout containing 5 phrases and a single image:
- Cute Puppy Costumes
- Bottled Water
- Superman
- Puppy Videos
- Cheap Sushi
- Image – named “image1.jpg” sans alt text.

Do you think Google is going to point potential puppy costume customers in your direction? Perhaps… but not a crowd.

Compare the first example with a more cohesive set of keywords/image:
- Cute Puppy Costumes
- Cheap Puppy Costumes
- Detroit Puppy Costumes
- Puppy Costumes For Sale
- Dog Halloween Costumes
- Image – named “cute-puppy-costume.jpg” – alt text “cute puppy costume”

Due to the more cohesive set of keywords, Google and other search engines will be able to determine that this particular site contains information pertaining to puppy costumes. In light of this fact, the site will be awarded a much higher search ranking.

Once you have a set of appropriate keywords picked out, it’s a simple matter of proper placement. Best practices for keyword phrases tell us to designate a single phrase or keyword to a particular page. Keyword stuffing is generally frowned upon by search engines, and will typically do more harm than good.

Ideal keyword placement:
- Menu Navigation Optimization
- HTML Meta Title Tag Optimization
- HTML Image Alt Tag Optimization
- HTML Meta Tag Optimization
- HTML Body Content Optimization
- HTML H1 Tag Optimization

The next step in your SEO journey entails filling these areas with relevant and significant content. Do your best to avoid simply listing your keywords; cutting corners – as with most things – will get you nowhere.

Corner Cutting:
“sedation dentist – family dentistry – dental implants”

Best Practices:
“Need A Sedation Dentist In Miami? Call Solomon Family Dentistry! From Routine Cleanings to Dental Implants, Solomon Family Dentistry has you covered for the gentle, friendly, high-quality care you need to achieve the smile you deserve.”

By implementing and mastering these basic SEO practices, not only will you be able to drive traffic and customers to your site; you will place yourself ahead of the competition.

Of course, these are just the basics. Optimizing your content and code for your target keywords involves character limitations, ideal placement on the page or in the code and many other variables.

SEO just not your thing? Let Eminent SEO get the job done for you! Contact a representative today to get started on your calculated keyword campaign… We are pros at this stuff!

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO is an Arizona website services and strategic internet marketing company.

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Do It Yourself: Best Blogging Practices for the Newbie

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Team Eminent SEO

A quick rummage through a few Tumblr and Blogger sites confirms the initial suspicion; ANYONE can start a blog. And while many use blogging as a cut and dry, self-indulgent picture post diary, there are those who seek to monetize their contributions through an intriguing, relevant and engaging visitor experience. From page design to individual posts and the silly matter in between, the process involved in making a successful blog takes time, vision and unabashed honesty. In the entry below, we will offer up some insight regarding how to write a blog that people (other than your “crew”) actually want to read.

Features and Elements

Above all else, the most important aspect of your blog is what you say and how you go about saying it. Visitors will continue visiting, and even subscribe, if they have an interest in the subject matter and enjoy your writing style. As such, writers should take care to write posts with a tone that reflects the topic at hand AND the audience your blog intends to reach. Personality is key to ensuring interaction, repeat visits and referrals to your blog from other bloggers who enjoy what you have to say.

Writing Content

Simply put, nobody wants to weed through a text entry that reminds them of an Earth Science syllabus. Making a point to write honestly and openly about the subject at hand will speak to readers on a more personal level than fact listing and rambles. People who are visiting your blog for the first time and do not find a voice to identify with, or are even against, are not likely to return. Therefore, the content you post must be interesting, dynamic, original and provoking.

Best Practices

Though blogging is certainly an area for rule breaking, there are a variety of best practices worth following to ensure optimal traffic and reception. Use as you see fit:

• Graphics – Blogs without pictures are pretzels without salt; no good. While you want to avoid turning your blog into a cluttered picture album, a couple choice images will work to break up the read while holding your visitor’s interest. Choose something tasteful, relevant and grabbing.

• Headline – This is your wakeup call. Use your headline as both a description and attention grabber to hook your audience for the kill. Short and sweet wins the race.

• Intro – This is where you stake your claim. A well-written introduction will make the reader ache for more. Think of it like a movie trailer, leaving hints and potential highlights to linger on.

• Body – Where you make your case. Whether your entry is personal, professional or just goofy, the body serves as the area to make your opinion known. Lay down the facts and tell your story in a smooth and charismatic fashion. And as with all other area… BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR!

• Conclusion – Your final point and invitation.

Sharing Is Caring

Of course, it wouldn’t be good blogging practice without a healthy dose of social media. Make sure to post links to your content on social media pages and invite others to do the same! With a little time, practice and creativity, you just might have yourself a big old piece of that sweet blog success pie.

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO is an Arizona website services and strategic internet marketing company.

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5 Social Media Habits to Drop

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Star Padilla

We’re all probably a little guilty of one or more of these 5 Social Media Habits below. It’s vital that you put a stop to that nonsense pronto, as we explain why each is not helping you in your social media game!

Auto Follow | Do not follow everyone that follows you. Come on now. If you’re truly going to be managing a social media platform to connect with like businesses and individuals you want to follow appropriate accounts or at least be interested in the information the people you are following have to tweet about, right? Plus in some (most) cases, bots will add you, then if you auto follow them you are now following a stream of spam. Usually they have it set that once you auto follow them they un-follow you. They’ve now gained an audience/follow and now you have some horrible feed happening. Not fun!

Auto Direct Message (DM) | As clever and sincere as you think it may be, DON’T DO IT! It’s completely non personal when you send an auto DM message to a new follower. They can be a total turn off and the follower may turn around just as quick to un-follow you.

Losing Control| You need to keep your composure and patience at all times. Don’t ever let a customer or random fan light a fire under you, so much that you lose control, but also don’t ignore your audience. Whether you keep it on page or direct them to contact you or you contact them via email or phone, ensure you give the respect to respond to all inquiries and issues. Nestle is a prime example of what happens when you can’t keep your cool.

Rely Souly on FB for your Web Presence | Sure you have to start somewhere, and Facebook Business/Fan page is definitely encouraged, but do not rely primarily on Facebook for your web presence.
- Facebook is a social media site, a borrowed platform if you will not owned by you, meaning not a business asset.
- Facebook doesn’t offer customization that a fully designed, customized, SEO’d site can
- Facebook doesn’t offer e-commerce abilities (without custom app development)
- As far as SEO goes, you want a site that ranks YOUR NAME/BUSINESS NAME not just facebook.com/FILLINNAMEHERE

Retweet (RT) EVERY Tweet praising you | Sweet someone recognized you and gave you praise, chances are you’re the ONLY one who cares about that. It’s not necessary to boast about praises unless you were recognized for some great award or achievement. There’s this nifty lil star button called ‘favorites’ that you should utilize. Basically putting all those praises into a bucket for you to revisit at another time without sounding annoying and gloating about it.

If you take the time and consideration to avoid these 5 Don’t Do’s in your social media platforms the reward could be quite great!

Star Padilla

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Tag Archives: Tips And Tricks

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Do It Yourself: Best Blogging Practices for the Newbie

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