Search engine optimization is a gradual process of testing, measuring, and refining. Once you have optimized your Web site, it can take weeks to months before you start to see an increase in your site’s rankings for the keyword phrases you targeted.
Do not expect a top ranking in Google overnight or even within a few months. Achieving high rankings can take as long as 3 to 6 months. Once your rankings kick in from search engine optimization, it can be extremely rewarding, so it is worth the up front initial investment to do it now and do it right. If you need more immediate results, consider a paid search campaign (pay per click) while you wait for your search engine optimization results to grow.
Finally, search engines algorithms are constantly evolving. As a result, search engine optimization specialists must keep up-to-date on the latest developments in the field and modify their Web site and search engine optimization strategies accordingly.
Some tactics to avoid
Don’t concentrate all your efforts and budget into only one tactic
Becoming prominent online requires a balanced approach. Tactics like optimizing your Web site for popular keywords, sending optimized press releases, and even investing in the pay-per-click advertising packages will have some positive effect when used individually, but are most effective when combined. Remember to vary your tactics and evaluate them periodically to see if changes are needed.
Do not advertise what you cannot deliver
Using keywords on your site that don’t apply to your products or services may generate more traffic, but you generally won’t be able to make a sale from someone who expected to see something that you don’t offer. Your customers may feel deceived, which can lead to poor reviews and merchant rankings. If the deception appears to be intentional, search engines can penalize you by reducing your ranking or blocking your site entirely.
Do not attempt to deceive the search engines
Search engines don’t like sites that are flooded with keywords, use “hidden” text that is the same color as the background, or that automatically re-route traffic from a well-optimized page to another page. The more sophisticated engines can detect practices like these and block offending sites automatically, while other such offenses are often detected during a manual review of a site.
Search Engine Optimization
Black Hat Hosting
For Black Hat SEO, you need to choose the right hosting for your needs. There are special functions that need to be accessible on your server in order for your scripts and content generators to work.
Not only that but if you dip your toes into the darker side of things, it’s a good idea to be with a host that has a certain degree of tolerance for your activities. Happily a lot of outfits fit the bill and it’s always easy to find more.
There are 2 main types of hosting to be considered for different usages.
Paid Hosting
Paid hosting is to be used when you need full flexibility of your host. Different options offer different possibilities. If you need to run resource intensive scripts, you might consider getting VPS hosting or a Dedicated server.
Here are the criteria that should be considered “must haves” for black hat needs:
- Wildcard subdomains
- CHMOD 777
- Fantastico
- Cron Jobs
- PHP fopen function
Shared hosting is the least expensive and least flexible option. On the other hand, it has its benefits too because it’s inexpensive and offers you a certain degree of protection against snooping search engine spies.
For example, if you have thousands of sites on a dedicated box and Google is able to identify that they are all auto-generated and all hosted on the same server, you will be looking at a mass ban and that will hurt. You can get away with this for a long time but shared hosting eliminates the problem in large part because your precious little sites are independently hosted.
Another advantage is that you can have more unique IPs. This is very useful when building site networks and or blog farms.
The important thing for now is to know that you can reinforce your site’s power by linking to them from your own sites but the link power will be greatly discounted if the sites are on the same hosting account and IP block. That’s why several smaller accounts can actually give you can advantage since you have variable completely unique link juice to bestow upon your targets.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting refers to Virtual Private Server. In essence, you get a part of a server dedicated to you. That means that whatever server resources you pay for are guaranteed to be available to you when you need them.
Mass pinging, site growing and link distribution can all be resource intensive and VPS hosting becomes a good idea to run your scripts on once you reach a certain level. The two things to watch out for are the higher price tag (generally between 25 and 50 dollars per month) and also the chance of getting a mass ban from the search engines since your sites are the only ones on the server.
Most VPS providers will set you up with at least two unique C block IPs, with the possibility of buying more as you see fit for only a couple of dollars a piece.
Dedicated Hosting
Also known as dedicated server. This type of hosting allows you to rent an entire server for your needs. This provides the most resources and highest flexibility. It also requires some basic knowledge of servers and the costs can be quite prohibitive until you start earning interesting money.
This is ideally what you should aspire to. When you find yourself building 100s or even thousands of sites per day, you’ll find it extremely tiresome to buy and fill shared hosting accounts that will only support 50 domains a piece.
The same holds true for resource intensive scripts that are run from your server. If you are growing 5000 sites, generating content for them, pinging them and generating trackbacks, you need the power of dedicated hosting on your side.
Of course you should start at the level that represents your investment capabilities and the size of your operation.
Video Marketing
The A to Z of using short promotional videos as the spearhead of a wider but basic (manageable) Social Media Marketing Campaign.
Is your sales funnel in place?
Are you clear what the purpose/goal of the campaign is?
Have you got the whole campaign planned?
How many videos will there be in the series or is it a one off promotion?
Setting Up a Basic Campaign
There are thousands of sites that you can target for your marketing campaigns. Select a few to start with and concentrate on them - add more later.
Any plan worth its salt has to be manageable.
The value of your own hosted blog
Quality content will attract comments and start conversations with your readership.
You can present all your content be it text, images or videos in one place to pass your traffic onto your offers.
In a short time you can create the essential element of "trust". The one ingredient that will dictate the success or failure of your Internet business.
Thoughts on Social Media Profiles
Be very careful how you present yourself on social networks. Before you start, visit as many sites as possible and look to see how other marketers are presenting themselves. There are basically three strategies:
1. Your main profile
Use your own name for your main area of expertise
Use your best content
Keep active - update frequently with text, audio or videos
Use comments, forums etc to boost exposure
2. Subprofiles
Noms de plumes
Perfectly legitimate way to make friends/contacts in other important areas of your strategies. Authors have used this method for ever.
Just update regularly
3. Throwaways
For quick promotions of, for example, affiliate products on the Blog and Social Network platforms.
Example Promotion - Prepare:
Title
Banner ad for the product
One post - 500 words
One or two anchor text links to a squidoo lens or xanga page
Once the promo is finished - forget and just bank the commission cheques
How To Leverage Your Campaign Using The Social Media Networks
- Video Sharing Sites
- Social Bookmarking Sites
- Blog and RSS Directories
- Social Networking Sites
Photo Sharing Sites
Podcast and Videocast Directories
Strategic Tips
Find where your potential customers are
Spend some time in the Forums and Groups
Put your content in front of them
Leave comments
Be original, controversial and humorous to raise your profile
Think - KEYWORDS - TAGS - ANCHOR TEXT LINKS
Get as much quality content on as many platforms as possible
Use submission software to increase distribution and save time