The main objective of this weeks post? Interviewing Your Potential SEO Company(part 2) is to cover the areas? of partnership between the prospective SEO company and your business. The blog consists of questions which help in determining?? whether the company is going to take an active interest in the success of your business or just punch the clock and charge the monthly search engine optimization fees. The basic questions that? a company must ask are ,
‘How often will we communicate’ , ‘What is our timeline and how will we define success’ , ‘Can you help build my business beyond your SEO efforts ‘ ,

Success can be defined in a number of ways like? a ranking on the front page of the search engines for the defined keywords.

………….. Read More

The daily evolution of search engine optimization results in the birth of new myths on a regular basis but the old ones dont seem to die with the same regularity. This may be due to the idea that some myths make it easier for companies to sell their SEO services, while others just carry on under their own power. The following is a list of some of the new myths as well as those that might take either a silver bullet or a wooden stake to kill.

1. That Google partners with or approves SEO companies – This one is unlikely to die any time soon as it sounds great in a sales pitch, even though it isnt true.
2. You have to optimize your meta tags Spammers latched on to meta tags long ago to further their evil agendas. Search engines countered by virtually ignoring meta tags in their algorithms.
3. Well register your site with hundreds of directories to improve your rankings Another fallacy that sounds great in a sales pitch. Besides, a high percentage of directories are specific in nature. Registering a website that sells dog collars on a directory for mobility scooters isnt going to help anyone.
4. Using Flash hurts a sites rankings It doesnt hurt, but it doesnt help either. Flash used in moderation can improve the user experience while too much can slow down the site, irritating impatient visitors.
5. I know my keywords so I dont need to research them Site owners may know their keywords, but they typically go with keywords which are too general or terms used by business insiders. Research will reveal the terms people are using to search for a companys products and which ones can be optimized for the fastest and most cost-effective results.
6. Link building is optional Assumptions are that algorithms currently in use at Google, Yahoo, and Bing rely on in-bound links for around 50% of their ranking formula. Without link building the rest of SEO work is a waste of time in terms of rankings.
7. You got to get to page one at all costs The get to page one part is true while the at all costs part is false. This is where keyword research comes in by defining the keywords which can make it to page while delivering a positive return on investment.

Listen for these myths in sales pitches to determine who is blowing smoke and who isnt. The second half this list will be covered in Part 2.

Advances in alternatives and the decrease of associated costs have taken search engine marketing techniques far beyond the optimization of written content, blogs and articles. One of the most visible and well-known of these advances is YouTube, the video sharing site purchased by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006. A second advance, though not as ubiquitous as YouTube, is the podcast. A podcast is a digital media file which can be distributed over the internet using syndicated feeds for playback on portable media players, laptops and personal computers. Despite their name, podcastare not the exclusive domain of the IPod, a popular misconception.

Podcasts are also not the exclusive domain of the major media players such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and other large distributors of news and media who make their content available in podcast format. Open access, the ease of broadcasting, and the affordability of necessary equipment have made it possible for podcasts to be created and distributed by any individual or small company. With a miniature video camera like the Flip Camcorder and USB condenser microphone, anyone can join the ranks of podcasters for a total tab of approximately $300. These media files can then be uploaded to video broadcasting sites like YouTube or Vimeo.

Audio only podcasts can even be done be done using a mobile phone with sites like Blog Talk Radio (www.BlogTalkRadio.com). This is the simplest of podcast formats, allowing for a podcast to be uploaded to the site simply by logging in and speaking into the phone. Done in this manner, the quality of the audio can vary so upgrading to higher quality broadcasting gear is recommended.

The importance of podcasting for businesses is that it not only provides another medium to deliver content, it delivers that content to a demographic which is highly educated and highly paid. According to a study by Arbitron and Edison Research on podcast consumers, 63% had attended college and 21% had earned advanced degrees. In the same study, almost two- thirds of podcast consumers who stated income levels earned over $ 50,000 per year. Podcast consumers in an older study also cited their interest level in content as a reason for preferring podcasts over written material. A KnowledgeStorm survey of 3900 IT and business professionals found that 60% of B2B buyers preferred their research in podcast format over white papers and analyst reports because podcasts made the material more interesting.

In summary, podcasts are a relatively simple and cost effective venue to reach out to targeted and valuable demographic groups. Additionally, these groups have shown a desire for communications to be delivered in a podcast format. For a free evaluation on how podcasting should be integrated into your business marketing strategy, call GMR Web Team at (714) 731 9000.

For more details on creating and uploading podcasts read this old blog post. It is relevant even today.

Keeping up with innovations in the alternatives to written content could be considered a full time job as the role of websites continues to evolve from simple information dissemination sources to whiz-bang multimedia experiences. While the options have expanded dramatically, the ultimate purpose of any research based, optimized content remains the same; to bring visitors to the site and then keep them interested while they move through the conversion process. With visitors becoming more discriminating, the sales process may require multiple visits prior to conversion so a variety of content and multiple ways to deliver it can make each return trip to the site a fresh experience. Going beyond written content can include any of the following:

• Videos: Can be of two kinds, product information video or product use video. Add it to your sales pages to increase conversions. According to industry statistics, conversions increase by 30% if an effective video is added.
• Video conferencing: Good for B2B customers.
• RSS Feeds: Use these feeds to advertise your product.
• Webinars: suitable for knowledge product sites
• Live Chat: Suitable for all websites, it instantly resolves problems and questions by prospects
• Interactive Features like Twitter”" and Facebook on social networking: This is the new WOM (word-of-mouth) sales pitch. Others talk about you in fact they recommend you while you just act as an information facilitator or a problem solver.
• Flash(Now that Google/Adobe are working to make it readable by crawlers): Interesting Flash makes the visitor stay longer on the website and the probability of clicking on a link increases by 23%.
• Podcasts: Get interesting interviews done, throw in some humor suddenly you’ll find people liking you and your products more.

As a result of increasing competition which makes standing out from the crowd more difficult, many businesses are now using these written content alternatives to offer a more dynamic experience to their visitors. Some of these features, such as videos and video conferencing, can either be embedded on the site or linked out to third party providers, depending on the budget of the website. In fact, advance at video conferencing providers such as SightSpeed and Vidyo have now made the services both cost effective and robust enough to host larger conferences.

Two things which haven’t changed are the need for extensive keyword and keyphrase research as the foundation for SEO initiatives as well as constant testing to see what is working and what isn’t. The bottom line for any of these features, after all, is to deliver on their intended objective. Research and testing can confirm its value. If research and testing capacity isn’t available in-house, consider outsourcing these tasks to experienced web design and search engine optimization agencies.

With increasingly high expectations from visitors and an intensifying competitive landscape, websites which add alternative content delivery features must pay more attention and be open to testing and analysis of them to see that they are providing optimal results. It is at the web pages themselves, after all, where information is collected, conversions occur, and success of the site is determined. For that reason, using only the features which visitors see as valuable is imperative in terms of delivering a company’s message and enhancing the perceived value of the site in its entirety.

Visitors who has arrived at your site, like what they see, and go to your shopping cart to make a purchase are much like patrons at a restaurant who have perused the menu and have decided on what they want to order for dinner. While the order is being placed the restaurant’s waiter or waitress usually plays one of two roles; that of an order taker or that of someone who is trying to enhance the experience of the diner by suggesting appetizers, side dishes, and/or a bottle of wine to complement the main dish. This activity continues after the meal is finished with dessert, coffee, and after dinner drink suggestions. Done properly, the patrons of the restaurant don’t feel like they are being ‘’sold” into buying anything. The feeling is that their server is genuinely interested in making their experience as positive as possible. Needless to say, these subtle suggestions result in bigger tabs and bigger revenues for a restaurant, especially when practiced on a consistent basis.

This type of activity, known as ”push marketing”, should be taking place on your website as well. What this means is that instead of playing the role of order taker, your site should be suggesting additional products which are closely related to the product or service being purchased. The timing of these suggestions is critical and should take place when your customer is taking an action such as making a purchase, leaving contact details, or signing up to receive information from you. Amazon conducts this type push marketing when someone buys a book with their ”Customers who bought this item also bought…” list of books by either the same author or with similar themes.

Websites which offer these types of upsells through their push marketing efforts generally see increases in their average per-transaction amount of 15 to 30 percent. It’s a significant increase, made easier by the fact that the additional sales are being generated by customers who were already in the process of making a purchase. If you’re not already offering upsells, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• The cost of the additional item being suggested should be less than the cost of the item being purchased. Test for upsells at approximately 20% of the value of the initial purchase and make adjustments based on your level of success.
• Don’t go crazy with it. Suggesting upsells on every item can confuse the buyer so start slowly with a couple of items on a few of your most popular products.
• The upsell suggestions should be highly relevant to the primary item being purchased. Do some testing, make adjustments, and expand your upsell offering once it’s warranted.

It’s likely that the shopping cart on your site has the capability for upsells. Start slow, test for results, and make changes accordingly. Stay with the process and you should see a gradual increase in your average transaction size, much like dinner tabs with an additional bottle of wine or two.

Direct marketing has been an important part of the marketing mix for small, medium, and even large businesses.

Outsourcing your direct marketing campaign is a wise decision as you can get the help of professionals. A number of multi-national and even small companies have made use of these contact centers to get in touch with their customers and have increased their sales. You too can join the bandwagon and opt for the services of contact centers. Direct marketing involves a number of activities like

• sending direct mails (here you’ll need to hire an effective copywriter)
• making follow up calls to tell them about the offers
• responding to inquiries over the offer.

The personnel working in these contact centers have the experience of a number of years as they have been working in the industry and providing these services to other companies as well. 

The result of hiring a contact center for carrying out direct marketing is that with the help of these experienced and confident professionals, you are able to get more customers as the conversion rate increases. Today’s market is highly competitive and you should not compromise with the quality of services that you offer to your customers. There is no better way to connect to your customers but to get contact centers to do that on your behalf. 

You need to know that direct marketing is a very important aspect of promotion and thus you should not have any second thoughts about hiring a contact center along with a copywriter and going further with the services. Reaching your potential and existing customers is easy with the help of such a campaign that focuses on a particular section of people who you wish to target. You can strengthen your relationship with the customers as well as save costs, while increasing the revenue and enhancing the loyalty that the customers have to show. This just makes sure that you will achieve better results. 


The smart work that is put into creating the direct marketing solutions for your company will bring in positive results. Choose a contact center that has served a number of companies varying in sizes and types so that your chances of success are maximized and you can get exceptional results from the direct marketing campaign that you have launched for your business. The use of high-end technology by these companies is also one of the reasons that make these companies worth opting for. a combination of experience, expertise and technology is what makes them offer you best of the direct marketing solutions and give you a competitive edge. 

Online businesses go out of the way to promote themselves. Often the promotion is blatant.

But there is no single step to conversion and after the fist step often nothing happens. So how do you convert your leads into interested prospects?

Simple: Go beyond the usual.

In the offline world we see it happen often. The handyman may thoroughly clean out the garage though it wasn’t a part of the job. Your garage mechanic may use some petrol to clean out an old stain in your car upholstery. What will you do? Next time you ring up his company, you ask for him personally.

How do we emulate such examples in the online business?

Unfortunately in the online business we promise the moon and deliver the moonshine. This has lead to a lot of suspicion, In fact during routine website updates when we added some title tags to the pages have been personally asked by some clients, why are you doing it? They are awry. Am I going to sell them something or am I going to charge them later.

An online homemade chocolate company from whom I regularly order my supply of mint flavored black chocolate recently popped the message "Do you want to order your mint flavored chocolate too?" when I just ordered Almonds wrapped in chocolate for a gift. This online chocolate company kept data of its customers and personalized the experience of the shopping cart. It ensured that I won’t ever go anywhere.

Being in the website marketing field I was impressed. I knew that they had customized the shopping cart and it must have been expensive especially for a small business. And yet they cared enough.

Never thought social relationships are good for business? Use this Three Pronged Twitter Strategy for Your Business and see the results. We have started following it and things are going great. Just thought we’d share it with you.

Share with us some twitter strategies that you apply for your business. We’ll update the list.

Best Sangeeta

The current recession is still raging despite claims of recovery. President Obama recently spoke at the White House and quoted the Department of Labor which estimated that US citizens have lost 3.6 million jobs since recession began.

For most losing a job is a calamity and yet there are some who handle this setback more effectively. The great American spirit of survival seems to exist in them. They look for alternatives to make a livelihood and to live well. They may not have opted out of their jobs, but they certainly can deal with it.

How do they manage it? Are their prepared for it? What’s their gameplan?

Forty eight year old Bob Carlos was expecting a promotion as the Vice President of his company. He was unprepared for the recession and it hit him below the belt. Carlos reeled but rallied back to life. It was then that he decided to do what he enjoyed most in life: sail.  Soon he started using his knowledge to train others and eventually, lead small excursions. Bob Carlos now leads a full life enjoying his job. He is making money in a way he never dreamt of. He now has plans to expand online and increase the scope of his customers.

Bob relied on his talent and expertise to pull his new found business through. Through a well planned strategy he started organizing camps and workshops and hired more people.
 
Bob Carlos was not an entrepreneur by choice. He was a forced entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is the ONLY way you can beat the current situation. No one’s hiring, no one’s extending much credit, no one cares; and you need the money and occupation to keep you going.

More and more Americans are resorting to forced entrepreneurship. The number of non-employer firms has risen steadily in this decade, from 16.5 million in 2000 to an estimated 21.1 million in 2007. Now is the time to go back to your core competency, by improving hidden skills that have been neglected for years. You may steer away from the specific job or branch that you were previously interested in, but with this newly honed skill set, you can help yourself and others in a way you never thought possible.

Many people are making the recession a blessing in disguise to hone their talent and skills, to spend time with family and community, and to get connected with themselves all over again!

All you need is

1. An exemplary skill set
2. An eye for detail
3. An ability to plan
4. Lot’s of enthusiasm.

BUT before you throw your job out the window and set out to challenge your skills, be aware of the following:

According to the SBA – an estimated 637,100 new employer firms began operations in 2007 and 560,300 firms closed that year.

“Two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at least two years, 44 percent survive at least four years, and 31 percent survive at least seven years, according to a recent study."
These results were constant for different industries. Firms that began in the second quarter of 1998 were tracked for the next 28 quarters to determine their survival rate. Of special interest, the research found that businesses that survive four years have a better chance of surviving long term. After the fourth year, the rate of firm closings declines considerably.

Earlier research has found that the major factors in a firm’s survivability include an ample supply of capital, being large enough to have employees  the owner’s education level, and the owner’s reason for starting the firm.

So where do you begin. Start with your heart and move on to brains.

I. Take a mental printout of these five attitude steps

• Start small if you want to but start today.
• Do not be afraid to fail.
• Everything in life is a learning experience to make a better you
• Enjoy what you do
• Find opportunities on the way.

II. Next start with your entrepreneurship plans. Ask yourself the following questions and write them down

• Your best skills
• Your strengths
• What you enjoy most
• Five years on what you would like to be
• The objective of your business

III. Next jot down opportunities associated with each skill

• Start with broad, then go specific
• Use the internet to search for opportunities. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find
• Try to identify at least three opportunities

Now you should have a better understanding of what your goals of your business are.

IV. Time to put your ideas to work: brain work

• Begin to plan how you will start your business
• Take into account the cost, time, demographic structure and ROI period
• Think of the area of your business
• Try to find a niche

If you follow this step you’ll identify the most suitable business to start with.

V. Time for research

The strategy for research will depend on your skill set and the opportunity for Get an expert’s advice if you feel a little uncomfortable with where you’re headed. You can either hire an expert to do it or do it yourself. Be thorough and explore all possibilities and start building a complete strategy.

VI. Strategy Time

If you are starting for the first time ask an expert; there are lots of experts online who are willing to give a few minutes of free consultation. Make the most of it.

Opportunities

The opportunities for online entrepreneurship are galore; everyone seems to be moving online and finding their niche.

You can become an infopreneur by packaging your knowledge and selling it. The methodology may vary, but the objective will be to sell.

You have to simply decide a topic. It can be anything: knowledge from your previous work/business experience, a hobby, a passion or anything that interests you; even your grandma’s recipe!

Success stories need

1. Diligent Planning
2. Strategic Information
3. Goal Setting
4. Innovation
5. Contemporary Methods
6. Visibility
7. Good Customer Relationship
8. Identification of Opportunities
9. Sheer Hard Work

If you are one of those who think you don’t have a special set of skills to utilize, all you need to is a website. From that website you can find affiliate opportunities, make ad money, manage content or sell products by partnering with drop shippers.

If in doubt ask the expert.

OnlineBizHq.org is offering 15 minutes of free consultation on online business opportunities. They have also published a book “Plant Your Online Biz Money Tree”. This Money Tree Book is available in a pre- release e-book version for a limited time only. Click for sneak-peek buy for only $10!