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SEM - SEO & Social Media Marketing

Google Instant…predictive search?

Google Instant is a new feature for search that displays suggestions as you type.  In other words, it acts like “predictive search” that changes with each letter you enter in the search box. It is similar to Google Trends, in that it is based on search phrase popularity.  If you’re confused, this short video will make things more clear.

Google Instant (or Google Suggest) is now the best keyword research tool to start with.  It provides insights into the search terms people have been entering into Google. In addition to the text on your page, do not neglect your images and videos when optimizing for search.

Algorithms have dictated SEO results to date, but now it appears that user behavior may influence the future course of the Search Industry.  This makes Search Engine Marketing (SEM) more important than ever before.

tips Google Instant...predictive search?SEO Tip!

If you are optimizing your website for a particular keyword phrase (and you should be), type that phrase slowly in the Google search box and watch the results appear as you type.  This will give you some insight as to what people are searching for relating to your keywords.

The SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide will help you capitalize on ‘Local Search‘ and show you how to maximize results for ‘Google Instant‘ and your most important keyword phrases. In plain English, using the information in this book will make your phone ring – and add prospects to your list.

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SEO, PPC, IM, SEM… who can you believe?

If you’ve been ignoring what’s been happening with regards to online marketing, you need to pull your head out of the sand and listen to some good advice.

head in sand 300x164 SEO, PPC, IM, SEM... who can you believe?

When all this began, THEY said you needed a website, so you got a website.

You built it… you waited… but no one came.

THEY told you that you must list your website in the top 22,675 web directories, but THEY could do that for you for only $189.95.

Then THEY said you need to have a blog to get traffic to your website. Blogs were traffic magnets and they could set one up for you for only $500.

But that wasn’t good enough unless you were feeding that blog from your Facebook page.

And then THEY said you had to have a Twitter account to boost your Facebook page, which was supposed to be driving traffic to your blog, which was feeding your website hordes of hungry buyers.

As you listened to more and more of these all-knowing, self-proclaimed marketing experts, THEY started sharing more closely guarded ‘secrets” about Internet marketing.

Flickr, you gotta have a Flickr account, THEY told you.

Squidoo, you need to create a lens on Squidoo… that drives insane amounts of traffic, at least that’s what THEY said.

HubPages, create your ‘hub’ and watch the traffic flock to your site… THEY promised!

Then THEY told you about Social Bookmarking, you must bookmark every page on your site to the top 86 public bookmarking sites or you’ll never get found.

You need a Press Release, THEY said, in fact you need one every week because that drives traffic like crazy.

In your spare time you need to be posting comments on every blog in your industry and be sure to add your insightful remarks to all those forums, Yahoo groups and Ning clubs. THEY promised this would be your salvation.

Along the way, THEY said that you need a list… the money is in the list.  THEY promised!

Google, THEY said, loves the idea of ‘Local Search’ and you must prepare for that.  Grab your local listing and watch people beat a path to your door.  Oh and don’t forget about Yahoo! Bing and Yelp and the other local directories that pop up like flowers in May.

SEO, THEY said that search engine optimization was the ‘Holy Grail’ of web traffic. THEY could optimize your website and guarantee page one of Google for less than the cost of a new Chrysler.

Oh, and if you want traffic today, you need to be buying Pay-Per-Click ads on Google, and that THEY promised, would solve your traffic drought.

Does any of this work?

Actually, most of this can work great if it is implemented properly.  The problem most business owners have is knowing what to do, how to do it and where to focus their effort.  If you have a full-time search-marketing staff this is a no-brainer and they are undoubtedly busy making all this magic happen.

For the rest of us who cannot afford a digital marketing department, we’re faced with the option of hiring a consulting company or doing this ourselves.  If you hire a consultant, expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $5000 or more to put such a strategy in place.  If that is not a palatable solution, I can help you DO IT YOURSELF and save thousands of dollars!

I wrote one of the first mainstream business books about planning, building and marketing a business website – way back in 1998.  My new book is called, the “SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide” and it shows you every important tactic you need to attract targeted traffic organically, build a loyal following of customers and prospects, and how to market to your social network of contacts.

If you want the definitive answer to the challenge of attracting visitors to your website, visit this page and learn about THE Internet Book.

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SEM, ‘Local Search’ and IM for Small Business

Mom and Pop businesses are not ‘bleeding edge’ technology adopters. They don’t have the resources to execute an SEM strategy, social networking, and social bookmarking, manage pay-per-click campaigns and other web 2.0 marketing promotion.  In fact, the average small business has no idea what most of these terms actually mean.

Let’s face it; we are in the midst of the greatest challenge to small business that has been felt since the ‘Great Depression’.  The economy has been in a recession for a couple of years and the immediate economic forecast does not look as promising as any of us would prefer.

Businesses are literally under attack and are tightening their belts trying anything they can do to find new customers.  Many have come to the conclusion that their website offers the greatest opportunity to extend their reach and find new customers.  However, they are learning that getting people to visit their website creates an entirely new problem.  Motivating people to visit a website is the ultimate online marketing challenge.

seo universe sales funnel SEM, Local Search and IM for Small BusinessFor the sake of argument, let’s say you don’t believe what you’ve heard about search engine optimization (SEO) or social networking’s ability to drive traffic to a website.  Possibly it is too hard to consider because you’ve had a website for years and traffic has been less than you were told to expect by your web designer.  And now some fellow you never heard of claims that he can help make your phone ring.

Is any of this for real? Yes, and earlier this year Entrepreneur magazine published an article entitled, “The 10 Web Marketing Trends for 2010”.  The author stated that the number one trend was “Search Engine Optimization – Sites with relevant content and credible links will continue to rule the search rankings in the coming year.”

You’ve heard about these new marketing channels, but you don’t fully understand their significance.  The one fact that remains undeniable is that to grow your business you MUST be participating online and employing tactics that focus on ‘local search’, social networking and strategic linking.

The sands are always shifting in the online marketing space.  Things that were hot last year are not even on the radar this year.  There is no single ‘magic bullet’ with online marketing, but there are numerous things you can do to help drive traffic to your website and attract targeted, focused buyers who are searching for your products or services.

The SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide has been developed as a roadmap for small business. This is the one resource that covers the most important, results-producing tactics you can employ to get your website attracting customers and producing sales.  This is not a fluff piece, nor do I waste your time covering ancient history or game theory; this is a tactical battle plan to make use of today.

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SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide

seo social media marketing book 400 SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide

Welcome to the SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide, the definitive handbook for optimizing your website to leverage Web 2.0 resources.  Learn how to increase traffic to your website, get marketing tips and tactics for promoting business online revealed by the author of the Complete Small Business Internet Guide.

My name is Tom Heatherington – I am the author of this book that actually began to take shape more than 15 years ago.  In 1993 I co-founded one of America’s first ISPs. Our company focused on the business opportunities of the emerging world-wide-web and every customer had the same basic questions, but the core concern was always, “How can I use this for my business?”  To address those questions, I wrote that first book; that was in 1998.

More than a decade later, businesses are asking the same kind of questions about search engine optimization and social media marketing.  We’ve all heard the hype about Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Buzz, LinkedIn, Squidoo, blogging and a host of other popular Web 2.0 sites that are supposed to drive traffic capable of melting down our server.

 

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