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| How to Thrive in Virtual Business Posted: 16 Nov 2011 08:14 AM PST 
Big changes are brewing in how America works right now. The financial threats of lower-priced competition from overseas, the strengthened effectiveness of a virtual business model and a fresh American desire for better quality of life have caused the extreme work shift. Virtual business, remote work, telework, distributed work, virtual staff like executive assistants, virtual teams– call them what you want– are now part of the corporate vocabulary. I spoke with Alan Blume, author of Your Virtual Success: Finding Profitability in an Online World. Alan’s opinion is that virtual work is altering the very nature of cities and urban centers, how we live and aggregate as people. As more business is done from remote locations, cities are rapidly becoming cultural centers where you find more entertainment than business. We just don’t need to be “at our desks” like we used to. Look no further than the commercial office space real estate ordeal in recent years and you’ll get the point. Companies who don’t adjust won’t be able to entice the best employees or thrive economically, and may soon end up like the newspaper industry. Alan brings out more points and subtleties in his video interview here. SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD If you operate a virtual business like I do, or are thinking about one, Your Virtual Success is a resource you should pick up. It offers an easy to read, yet content-filled set of actions for you to take to… · Transform to a virtual business from your normal job The author Alan Blume “eats his own dog food” as he told me once, in that all the recipes in this book he uses for his own company. I was most captivated by some of the non-traditional sources to find freelance workers; for example, Craig’s List. I thought Craig’s List was a shelter for rip-off artists, criminals and the occasional killer, and unquestionably those folks are out hunting for the unprepared. There’s a lot of talent on Craig’s List too, which I discovered. I found my graphic designer for this business’s logo and discovered my web designer via carefully detailed advertisements on Craig’s List. Lots of other freelance sites are out there as well such as Odesk and Elance. There are always diamonds in the rough that exists online and the instructions in the staffing chapter of how to separate the good from the bad are by themselves worth reading this book. There are many tools in this work for small business owners to take into account, whether it’s the use of online video that you can now advertise your business much more affordably than ever before, or ways to test new products and services and adjust to the suggestions you receive on the fly, modifying as you go. So many things exist today for you to take advantage of in order to compete with larger companies and lower-priced rivals, and you may soon be obliged to. When you read a book like this, you begin thinking about work in a different way. The author tells his Tale of Two Nephews and allows the reader decide which version of success he’d like to have; the overworked, overstressed 9 to 7er or the guy working his pajamas. When I read how the author manages his own business I was envious, because I’m not there yet, but I am on my way. This book has many of the same characteristics as the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, without the concentration on world travel and focused a little more on creating your own virtual venture from a sensible standpoint. You can get through this book in one sitting, but you should return with a highlighter or ball point pen to some of the key sections and references Alan gives. Bookmark the appendix Rolling Pipeline Report, Prospect Scorecard and Sample Order Confirmations as documents that can form a basis for tracking and managing your virtual business. Is your business giving you the profits and passion you want? You can use virtual technologies to supercharge your results in a Virtual Mastermind Group Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| How to Get on Page One of Google Posted: 16 Nov 2011 08:01 AM PST 
But, it doesn’t work that way. It takes knowing what works – and the commitment (plus time and effort) to get the results. We all want top rankings from Google. Why? As people online are increasingly using the Internet (and most of the time Google) to search for information or resources – top ranked websites in the Google search results are getting the most clicks. How much more traffic and A ton – The top ranking gets more than 50% of the clicks from a search. #2 gets close to 14%. After that you’re in the single digits (not even worth mentioning if you’re not on page one of Google.) More clicks = more traffic = more leads. So, it’s important to know how Google determines page rank. Page rank represents how important a site is on the Internet. Google figures that when one site links to another site, it is like a vote for the other site. The more votes – the more important the site must be. But, the importance of the site that is casting the vote also determines how important the vote itself is. Google calculates a site’s importance from the votes cast for it. So, the importance of each vote is also taken into account when determining page rank. It’s basically Google’s way of deciding a site’s importance. The more important the site, the higher it will appear in the page rankings. I will break down the 3 most important concepts to increase your page ranking and get on page one of Google. 1. Content. Content is king – more important than anything else. No matter how slick or compelling your website looks – or how many other sites link to it – the content has to got to rock. It must be relevant and keyword rich for the search terms that people are looking for on Google. If you can create killer content and match that to exactly what people are searching for – you’ve reached Google page rank nirvana. 2. Consistency. Now that you’re churning out fresh and relevant content – you must do it consistently. Once a week just doesn’t work anymore. Writing an article for your newsletter once a week is not going to bring you a ton of traffic. Why? Because that content once a week won’t get you on page one of Google (top page rank.) What does? Blogging. You need to be blogging 2-3 times a week (if not more) to consistently put out new content that gets noticed and gets traffic. That will get you on page one of Google. And the blog posts don’t need to be long, drawn out articles (see content point above to ensure you’re putting out the best content.) 3. Compelling. If it’s not interesting to read or worth the time and effort for someone to consume it – don’t bother. Your content (blog posts and articles) literally has to rock the reader’s world. Keep it interesting and the reader will want to share it with others and comment on the relevance. This helps build visibility and back links (which helps your Google page rank.) There you have it. An SEO lesson on Google page rank and 3 important strategies to ensure your site is up at the top. I look forward to seeing you there with me. Until next time – Learn It, Love It, Live It! Derek Fredrickson, Authentic Internet Marketing Specialist, is founder of the Authentic Internet Marketing System, the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to authentically market your business online, in record time; guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. videos and receive his authentic internet marketing articles on attracting more leads and converting more sales online, visit http://www.derekfredrickson.com. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| Posted: 15 Nov 2011 09:00 PM PST 
1. Adwords Since the arrival of Google Adwords, there has been an ongoing debate over whether or not running an Adwords campaign can improve search engine rankings. Ultimately, only Google knows the answer to that question for sure. However, to my knowledge, there is no credible evidence to support the notion that Adwords can improve your search engine ranking. If there were indeed concrete evidence to the contrary, it stands to reason, everyone would just start an Adwords campaign to boost their rankings. 2. Anchor Text Although it can be other colors, anchor text is typically the blue, hyperlinked text you see on a web page – the words that you click onto take you to another page. For example: Okay, but is anchor text important? Yes, it is because it’s a crucial element in the search engines complex algorithmic formula that helps determine the rankings of websites. For example, suppose you have a blog that reviews digital camera’s; the more links you have with the words “digital camera reviews” in your anchor text, the greater your chances of increasing your ranking for the keywords digital camera reviews. 3. Alt Tags Alt tags are used to display a short text description of an image. It gets displayed when you hover your mouse over the graphic. But are Alt tags an important part of SEO? It depends on whom you ask. Some experts dismiss the importance of Alt tags altogether, while others tout its importance. Personally, I used to lean in the direction of “not important,” until I read a couple of outstanding articles that made me rethink my position. SEO expert Bill Hartzer makes a strong argument for the use of Alt tags. In his article, Search Engine Optimization: Why Image Alt Tags are Important. “There is strong evidence that the search engines are now giving more weight to Alt Tags than they are the Title Tag or even an H1 Tag on the page. What?!? Yes, that’s right. You do need to make sure you use proper Title Tags and H1 Tags, but more SEO value for organic search engine rankings can be gained by using proper Alt Tags than using proper Title Tags or H1 Tags.” And in his article, Why You Need to Stop Ignoring Image Alt Attributes, AJ Wilcox of OrangeSoda.com makes a compelling common sense argument: “Keyword usage in image alt text is classified as having minimal importance by a consortium of SEO experts, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless. It is yet another opportunity to declare your relevance to your given keyword. The little things add up to big things together, so don’t ignore them.” I agree with AJ. A lot of little things in combination do indeed add up to big things. 4. FFA Pages FFA is an acronym for “Free-For All.” Here’s an example of an FFA page: In a nutshell, FFAs are basically web pages of worthless links where anyone can submit their website’s URL for free (hence the term Free-For-All). One of the biggest and oldest SEO myths is, if you post your website’s URL on FFA pages, you will get massive traffic, as well increase your link popularity and search engine ranking. Here’s the truth: People who visit FFA pages do so only to post their own ads – not look at someone else’s. And any traffic you do get will be completely worthless! In addition, FFA pages are considered both spammy and scammy, and posting on them could adversely affect your website’s reputation with the search engines – which could in fact hurt your ranking – or even get you banned. Why? Because in essence, FFA pages are nothing but link farms – and you know what Google thinks of link farms. My advice: RUN, DON’T WALK away from FFA pages! 5. Header Tags Header tags, for example H1, H2 are standard HTML elements used to define headings and subheadings on a web page. Are they important? To my knowledge, there is no credible evidence to suggest that header tags have an effect on search engine rankings one way or the other. My advice: If you’re currently using header tags, continue using them if you wish. If you’re not using them, don’t worry about it. 6. Keyword Density Question: What is the correct density of keywords on a web page? Answer: There isn’t one. Yes, I know this topic has been debated back and forth, but personally, I don’t think keyword density even exists as a calculable numeric constant. In other words, don’t worry about the correct keyword density. And don’t worry about counting keywords. Just create your web pages naturally, without trying to force or stuff keywords where they don’t belong. Then, let the proverbial chips fall where they may. 7. Keywords in Domain Name Do keywords in a domain name help your ranking? Based on my own personal experience, yes, having your primary keywords in your domain name does help with your ranking. To what degree, however, only Google knows the answer to that. But since Google uses over 200 signals to determine the ranking of websites, I can’t imagine keywords in your domain name not carrying some amount of weight. 8. Meta-Tags A meta-tag is the HTML coding that describes the contents of a web page. Opinions vary on the importance of meta-tags, but in my opinion, they’re not nearly as important as they once were. They don’t have a significant impact on your rankings one way or the other. That being said, if you want to use them, it certainly won’t hurt anything – provided you don’t abuse them (i.e., keyword stuffing). 9. Nofollow Links As you already know, Google doesn’t count “Nofollow” links, right? Wrong. Google looks suspiciously at sites that have an unbalanced ratio of Dofollow links to Nofollow. Why? Because it’s an unnatural linking pattern that’s why. It’s also a huge red flag! Google prefers a healthy combination of both Dofollow and Nofollow links. So contrary to popular belief, Nofollow links do add to a site’s overall link profile, and has the ability to rank for keyword phrases. And while Nofollow doesn’t influence PageRank or pass link juice, it does contribute to your overall search engine ranking. 10. PageRank (PR) Is PageRank important? One of the most controversial, misunderstood, confusing and debated topics in the SEO universe is the importance of PageRank. However, in my not-so-humble opinion, Google’s 0-10 logarithmic toolbar PageRank is nothing more than a “superficial beauty contest” vanity tool – very much out-of-date, and does NOT have a direct impact on a site’s ranking. That fact was established long ago. I’m going to say this as succinctly as I possibly can: Toolbar Pagerank Is Not An Accurate Representation Of A Website’s True Reputation With Google. In fact, if you do a little research, you’ll discover lower-PR URL’s consistently rank higher than higher-PR URL’s in Google’s SERP’s (search engine results pages). Therefore, the only page rank you should be concerned about that has any significant importance, is where your web pages rank in Google’s SERP’s. Does toolbar PageRank have any importance at all? Yes, it has some…just not as much as many perceive it to have. 11. Reciprocal Links Yes, reciprocal linking is an important part of SEO, but all links are not created equal. Achieving a high search engine ranking depends not only on the number, but also the quality of inbound links you have pointing to your site. For example, if your website does movie reviews, exchanging links with Betty’s Homemade Fudge won’t do you nearly as much good as exchanging links with a site that is thematically related to yours. So if you exchange links with other sites, be sure to keep relevancy in mind. 12. Site Maps A sitemap is a collection of hyperlinks that outlines a website’s structure. These links make it easier for visitors to navigate their way around your site, as well as make it easier for search engine spiders to crawl your site. But do they have any SEO importance? Not really. A few years back, I thought they did. But recent experience has taught me sitemaps have no direct impact on search engine rankings. 13. The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) Is getting a backlink from DMOZ still important? With the arrival of mega-popular social media sites, as well other types of high quality websites and blogs, DMOZ is not nearly as important or respected as it once was. Personally, I think your time would be better served trying to acquire high-quality backlinks from other sources. Does that mean you shouldn’t waste your time submitting to DMOZ? No, it doesn’t. Since it only takes a few minutes to submit your site, I see no harm in submitting to DMOZ. But be advised, it can take up to a year or more to get your site approved – and it might not get approved at all. So I wouldn’t lose any sleep worrying about getting your site listed in DMOZ. My advice: Simply submit your site and forget it! 14. Title Tag The title tag is a critically important factor in achieving high search engine rankings. For those of you who don’t know what a title tag is, it’s the words displayed at the very top of your browser. It is also used as the title of your website in the SERP’s (search engine results pages). Therefore, you should put plenty of thought into writing your title tag – to make sure it’s as effective as possible. Your title-tag should also contain specific keyword phrases, in addition to the name of your company. David Jackson is a marketing consultant, and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com – Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business! http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES 2011 
I get asked all the time – how do I get my site to the top ranking on Google? If there was an easy and quick solution – we’d all be doing it – and we’d all be at the top page of Google.
With so much misinformation about SEO having been dispensed over the years, it’s hard to know what’s true and isn’t true – making it all the more difficult to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff, as it were. Concerned about the potential harm misinformation about SEO can ultimately cause, I decided to compile an alphabetical listing of the most popular and persistent SEO myths, to either debunk or confirm their factuality.| You are subscribed to email updates from SiteProNews Recent Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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