How Google Killed the Longtail Keywords in Searches.

This is a look at how content with long tail keywords have lost their edge in Google searches. Over the years Google has moved to consolidate search volume against fewer keywords (which are easier to match ads against) and they have inserted their own vertical listings in their search results. The result is that the long tail has become far less profitable for many publishers.

To explain this below is an illustration showing the various ways the long tail keywords are losing their advantage.  (Illustration, compliments from SEOBOOK.COM)

Infographic by SEO Book

Why Facebook Is Now So Important For Your SEO Strategy.

According to two articles I read from two blogs :Quickregister.net Marketing blog and iMedia Connection, ( the links to the respective articles right below), about a year ago Google and Bing announced that they were factoring social signals from social media sites into their organic search algorithms, thus making social media more important for SEO.

This means that with the recent Google algorithm updates which included Google Caffeine v2 they are crawling and indexing relevant and quality material from all the social media sites.  The algorithm changes are all about the search engines, especially Google, focusing on quality and relevance.

Now you can count on your social media activity in affecting rankings of websites and blogs.

Yeah! For those who spend gazillion hours on Facebook and Twitter will possibly stand to rank better for their sites (of course relevance and quality matters) and for those who don’t they better jump on the wagon pronto.  Facebook is on top of the list of social media sites that is being targeted.  If you haven’t a Facebook account get one today.

By creating a business fan page and even a listing, people can find you without you having to pay a dime (for ads) wouldn’t you do it?

What’s more, Facebook “LIKES” are fast becoming effective backlinks and that’s essential for rankings as those in the know, know it. This doesn’t mean posting articles and videos are dead, no far from it. It’s a plus.  So posting some relevant (quality) content on Facebook in relevant category groups will get you tons of readers to your site; which will bring potentially some unique visitors and even possibly the ROI you wanted.

Better get cracking on your business fan page if you haven’t got one yet and make sure you get some expert help to get it done for you, with quality and value content especially offering something unique to your business and of value to your prospects. Something catchy, entertaining, even current news or events, anything interesting  related to your business.

Once you have set it all up, then start populating your fan page, meaning to get people of common interest to like your page. Start with all your contacts on your regular client list and personal friends, then regularly add about 10 people daily.

When the fan following is starting to build up, put up some posts, which include the keywords you are targeting for, that links to your website and encourage your members to “LIKE” them. Often add calls to action in your posts. Google will then index these links which will eventually boost your company ranking in searches.

Based on the current algorithms, for your SEO strategies, it’s better now to focus on social media especially Facebook rather than continuing on article sites which may have their credibility in page ranking reduced based on the recent algorithm updates.

Additional reasons why it’s important to have a Facebook fan page :

there are approximately 800 million users and a big percentage could be your customers;

more people on Facebook are making searches on the Facebook search box;

SEO now include web presence and Facebook presence will help you achieve it;

the “LIKE” button is your new back link and the “liker” is your new lead;

Facebook is easily accessible on mobile devices especially with the increasing use of them;

Implementing SEO strategies and managing social media accounts is full time work and not to just set-up and put aside.  These have to be maintained regularly if not daily and a full time manager or marketing agency will be required.  If a business seriously want to rank on the top of searches it needs to invest in long term campaigns. The great advantage is that what is uploaded on the web remains there unless someone brings it down, unlike print ads or publications which go to waste sooner and straining a company’s budget.

  

http://www.quickregister.net/wordpress/2011/12/11/is-a-like-as-valuable-as-a-link-why-facebook-is-now-so-important-for-your-seo-strategy/

http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2011/12/05/why-facebook-should-be-part-of-your-seo-strategy/##

Have a Great Website, Now What?

If you are in online business and have just set-up your website, getting traffic will be your next big objective and having a wide presence of the internet should be done. The contents of your website plays an important factor in getting traffic and applying search engine optimization techniques will help you establish a good web image so that your website will be seen prominently.
There are usually two kinds of traffic. One of the normal traffic which is not of high quality and the other one is the quality traffic which is also known as targeted web traffic.
There are certain techniques with the help of which you can increase the targeted traffic to your website. When you build your website you need to keep certain things in your mind.  First of all you need to create your content, then you need to keep updating the site and with the help of these things you will attract traffic. It is very important for you to make sure that you generate quality web traffic. In the beginning you might find that you have done a lot of hard work but with minimum results.  Search Engine Positioning is the aim.  These days, Search Engine Ranking is not as important as keyword positioning in your content.
At this point of time you might feel a bit low but you need to remember that it is important to keep up with the hard work. One of the popular ways to bring targeted web traffic is by using proper SEO - Search Engine Optimisation. You must work hard to make your website more search engine friendly.
A lot of people overlook the importance of Local Search Engine Marketing and natural Search Engine Optimization which are provided by a SEO internet marketing company. You must choose your keywords very carefully. The keyword must be related to your niche. Google's keyword tool is one of the best softwares for keyword research. All you need is a gmail account and sign up for an adwords account. This will enable you to see all the important information that is churned out by the software.  Always choose keywords that have low to medium competition and more than 5000 local montly searches.
However, ranking your website high in the search engines for any competitive keywords would be challenging without an effective website advertising campaign that is conducted on an ongoing basis. Therefore, an easier option would be to rank for local search terms that are specific to your business' category as well as location. As an example, if you are a wedding photographer in New York, you might want to target local search terms such as "new york wedding photographer", "NY wedding photographer", "wedding photographer in new york", and so on.  A SEO consultant or services  can provide the assistance you need.
Back links are also very essential in attracting top web traffic. Writing articles and blogs can help you create back links. There are websites that assist you to get backlinks. You also need to enter your website information in various web directories. Other than this, different kinds of marketing can also help you attract web traffic. Email marketing is one of the ways which can be helpful.  Blogs, submitting articles, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter are all good ways to create back links to your site.  There are a number of things that can influence your rank and how active your site is a big factor, as is the number of links that lead to your website will contribute to your ranking.
There are lots of people who think about buying website traffic. But can you buy targeted website traffic?  Buying traffic can be a risky business. You might spend a lot of money to buy a large quantity of traffic but it is not assured that it will provide good results. Unless highly recommended by a friend or a trusted fellow marketer, this should be your last option.
While creating the content for your site make sure it is not only informative but engaging and entertaining at the same time. Just getting traffic is not the aim. Getting traffic that will eventually buy your product, engage your services and/or tell others about you is the goal.