There are a variety of misconceptions surrounding search engine optimization today. One big misconception that many website owners have is that once they have their site set up and they submit it to search engines, they’ll get traffic right away. The truth is that there is a lot more to bringing traffic to your website. Search engine optimization is a task that is ongoing and it does take quite a bit of work. Instead of submitting your site to the search engines right away, here are a few critical steps to great SEO that you should take first.
Step #1 – Research Your Keywords
One of the important steps you need to take for great SEO before you submit your site to the search engines is to research your keywords. No doubt, you already know what the topic of your site is all about. It is important that you choose the right keywords now before you submit your site. When you select keywords, keep in mind criteria that the search engines have for keywords. Look for niche keywords instead of keywords that are so broad you’ll never rank well with them.
Step #2 – Improve Your Title Tags
Another step to take before submitting to the search engines is improving your title tags. One of the biggest things that will determine your score within the search engines is the appearance of keywords in the title tags. Do not go with title tags that don’t use your keywords. Your title tags should be keyword rich, which can help you ensure that you get strong rankings when your site is submitted to the search engines.
Step #3 – Check Out Your Site Technology
Take some time to check out your site technology before submitting your site to the search engines as well. Some technology built into sites can end up confusing the spiders that crawl through websites. Image maps, CGI scripts, frames, and other types of technology may not be understood by many of the spiders out there. Go through your site carefully and ensure that technology is not holding you back from getting high rankings in the search engines.
Step #4 – Check for Errors
Checking your website for errors is also going to be a critical step to great SEO. It’s a good idea to use a site maintenance tool to make sure that you catch any errors before you start bringing customers to your website. Any errors in HTML can end up causing problems for search engine spiders. Not only can errors cause problems with spiders, but they can also be frustrating to site a user, which means they may leave your site. Now is the time to ensure that any errors are taken care of.
Each of these steps is essential to the success of your website. Before you submit your website to the search engines, go through these steps and ensure that your site is ready. For professional advise on SEO contact Scream Media today - make sure your SEEN on the web.
Showing posts with label h2l online marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label h2l online marketing. Show all posts
20 July 2010
27 May 2010
Linkbacks and web directory submissions
As the number of websites grow everyday, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a new site to attain good rankings on search engines. Since major search engines factor link popularity heavily into their ranking algorithms, building relevant links to your site is perhaps the single most important component of search engine optimization.
For a new site with no, or few inbound links, buying text links on more established related sites could provide a boost to your link popularity. But this strategy could prove prohibitively expensive, especially in a highly competitive market where you’d have to buy lots of links to catch up with the competition. Also Google is NOT a fan of paid links and can actually decrease your ranking if you have links to so called link farms.
Web directory listings represent a viable alternative to link buying. Apart from driving traffic to your site through direct referrals, web directories provide one-way inbound links to your site, boosting your link popularity and ultimately improving your search rankings.
There are thousands of web directories on the net, with dozens sprouting up every day. Some are general directories; others cater to specific niches. Some are free; others charge inclusion fees. Some are free only if you provide a reciprocal link in return. Many feature both free and paid listings.
Some directories charge inclusion fees that are too high for the listing to be cost effective. When considering a listing, look at not only the Google PageRank of the homepage of the directory, but also that of the subpage where your link will actually reside. While it may seem like a good deal to have your site listed on a PR5 directory, the offer becomes far less attractive when you find out that the internal page where your link is placed is only PR2.
If you’ve ever submitted to web directories before, I don’t have to convince you that the process is extremely tedious and time-consuming, especially when you submit to a large number of them. Unlike search engines that send out robots to index web pages, web directories rely on more detailed submission forms to gather information about your site. Since each submitted site must be reviewed by a real person, most directories require that submissions are also performed by a real person, as opposed to an automatic script. Many directories use a visual code verification process to prevent automated submissions. Apart from complying with the directory’s guidelines, manual submission is the only way to ensure that your site is submitted to the proper category.
Because of the time involved in manually submitting your site and the sheer number of directories on the web, it’s important that you know which directories to submit to. Obviously, you’d want to submit to only the high-PR directories and avoid the low-PR ones, right? Not really. Just because a directory has a low PR does not mean that it’s not worth submitting to. The directory may be brand new and not around long enough to be ranked by Google. In contrast to the more established directories that continually experience a back-log of submissions, newer directories tend to review and list sites more quickly. As the directory becomes more popular, so will your link. So, don’t judge a directory solely by its PageRank; rather, base your decision on the overall quality of the directory and most importantly the relevance to your website
Another important thing to look at is whether or not the directory you submit to is search engine friendly. Search engines like static web pages whose content stay the same regardless of who visits the page, or when they visit, not dynamic pages that are created on-the-fly. Browse to a couple of categories and look at the URL in the navigation bar.
In sum, submitting to web directories is a highly effective link building strategy that should be an integral part of any search engine optimization campaign. Manually submitting to a large number of directories is both laborious and time-consuming. Just keep the above points in mind to make the most of your time. If you would like to have your website professionally submitted to web directories then contact Scream Media today for a free no obligation SEO quote. 021 5590800
For a new site with no, or few inbound links, buying text links on more established related sites could provide a boost to your link popularity. But this strategy could prove prohibitively expensive, especially in a highly competitive market where you’d have to buy lots of links to catch up with the competition. Also Google is NOT a fan of paid links and can actually decrease your ranking if you have links to so called link farms.
Web directory listings represent a viable alternative to link buying. Apart from driving traffic to your site through direct referrals, web directories provide one-way inbound links to your site, boosting your link popularity and ultimately improving your search rankings.
There are thousands of web directories on the net, with dozens sprouting up every day. Some are general directories; others cater to specific niches. Some are free; others charge inclusion fees. Some are free only if you provide a reciprocal link in return. Many feature both free and paid listings.
Some directories charge inclusion fees that are too high for the listing to be cost effective. When considering a listing, look at not only the Google PageRank of the homepage of the directory, but also that of the subpage where your link will actually reside. While it may seem like a good deal to have your site listed on a PR5 directory, the offer becomes far less attractive when you find out that the internal page where your link is placed is only PR2.
If you’ve ever submitted to web directories before, I don’t have to convince you that the process is extremely tedious and time-consuming, especially when you submit to a large number of them. Unlike search engines that send out robots to index web pages, web directories rely on more detailed submission forms to gather information about your site. Since each submitted site must be reviewed by a real person, most directories require that submissions are also performed by a real person, as opposed to an automatic script. Many directories use a visual code verification process to prevent automated submissions. Apart from complying with the directory’s guidelines, manual submission is the only way to ensure that your site is submitted to the proper category.
Because of the time involved in manually submitting your site and the sheer number of directories on the web, it’s important that you know which directories to submit to. Obviously, you’d want to submit to only the high-PR directories and avoid the low-PR ones, right? Not really. Just because a directory has a low PR does not mean that it’s not worth submitting to. The directory may be brand new and not around long enough to be ranked by Google. In contrast to the more established directories that continually experience a back-log of submissions, newer directories tend to review and list sites more quickly. As the directory becomes more popular, so will your link. So, don’t judge a directory solely by its PageRank; rather, base your decision on the overall quality of the directory and most importantly the relevance to your website
Another important thing to look at is whether or not the directory you submit to is search engine friendly. Search engines like static web pages whose content stay the same regardless of who visits the page, or when they visit, not dynamic pages that are created on-the-fly. Browse to a couple of categories and look at the URL in the navigation bar.
In sum, submitting to web directories is a highly effective link building strategy that should be an integral part of any search engine optimization campaign. Manually submitting to a large number of directories is both laborious and time-consuming. Just keep the above points in mind to make the most of your time. If you would like to have your website professionally submitted to web directories then contact Scream Media today for a free no obligation SEO quote. 021 5590800
26 May 2010
Article Marketing - Do's and Dont's
As you’re writing articles for article marketing, you may wonder what sorts of topics are appropriate for you to write about.
Can you write an article about one topic but then have a link in the resource box going to a website on a completely unrelated topic?
This is an excellent question on a topic that can dramatically impact the success of your article marketing campaign:
What topics should you cover in your articles?
You should always write articles on the general topic of your website.
For example, if your website is about website design and internet marketing, then all of your articles should be on topics related to website design and internet marketing .
Why in the world does it matter what your article topic is so long as you have a link going back to your website in the resource box or text links?
Put yourself in your reader’s shoes for a minute:
If a reader is getting value from your educational article on website design and internet marketing, he will likely be interested in additional information on this topic. He will read your article and then think:
“This author knows his stuff about website design and internet marketing. He is surely an expert in his niche. I’d like to take a look at his website to find more information on this topic.”
When you’re writing articles on your topic, that is the way that things should go.
But what would be the result if your website was about website design and internet marketing, but you decided to write an article that was about how to grow tomatoes?
A reader interested in growing tomatoes would enjoy your article and then be hungry for more information on this topic. He would look to your resource box or links to find out more about you and your specialty. He’d also like to see your website to see if you have any additional information about growing tomatoes.
And what does he see when he looks at your resource box?
Information about website design and internet marketing! What is up with that?
You had a reader on the hook just ready to be reeled into your website, but you lost him because your article was not on the topic of your website.
Remember, article marketing is not just about the links. The article matters. The article will be read by human readers who may then click the link in your resource box or text links that leads back to your website. Writing on-topic articles makes the most of your article marketing efforts and increases the number of people who click the links.
Now, let’s consider how the topic of your article affects your ranking in Google.
Every link is not the same. Google likes to see that the link in your content relates to what your website is about.
One of Google’s goals when looking at the links of your website is to determine what your website is about. If your article is about website design and internet marketing and your website is about the same topic, then the link in your article affirms to Google that your website is about website design and internet marketing. This is why an article on a topic that is unrelated to your website is not very helpful to Google.
Writing on-topic articles increases the significance of each link that you build.
Additionally, when you write articles on the same topic as your website, your articles can help establish you as an expert in your niche, which goes a long way in winning customer confidence and increased sales.
Writing articles on one specific topic takes more focus and effort, but the result is worthwhile.
Need help with copy writing , blog writing or article writing? Why not contact the experts, the Scream Media, marketing team will work with you to make the most of links and content for your website. Contact them today on 021 5590800 or via the quick to use contact form.
Can you write an article about one topic but then have a link in the resource box going to a website on a completely unrelated topic?
This is an excellent question on a topic that can dramatically impact the success of your article marketing campaign:
What topics should you cover in your articles?
You should always write articles on the general topic of your website.
For example, if your website is about website design and internet marketing, then all of your articles should be on topics related to website design and internet marketing .
Why in the world does it matter what your article topic is so long as you have a link going back to your website in the resource box or text links?
Put yourself in your reader’s shoes for a minute:
If a reader is getting value from your educational article on website design and internet marketing, he will likely be interested in additional information on this topic. He will read your article and then think:
“This author knows his stuff about website design and internet marketing. He is surely an expert in his niche. I’d like to take a look at his website to find more information on this topic.”
When you’re writing articles on your topic, that is the way that things should go.
But what would be the result if your website was about website design and internet marketing, but you decided to write an article that was about how to grow tomatoes?
A reader interested in growing tomatoes would enjoy your article and then be hungry for more information on this topic. He would look to your resource box or links to find out more about you and your specialty. He’d also like to see your website to see if you have any additional information about growing tomatoes.
And what does he see when he looks at your resource box?
Information about website design and internet marketing! What is up with that?
You had a reader on the hook just ready to be reeled into your website, but you lost him because your article was not on the topic of your website.
Remember, article marketing is not just about the links. The article matters. The article will be read by human readers who may then click the link in your resource box or text links that leads back to your website. Writing on-topic articles makes the most of your article marketing efforts and increases the number of people who click the links.
Now, let’s consider how the topic of your article affects your ranking in Google.
Every link is not the same. Google likes to see that the link in your content relates to what your website is about.
One of Google’s goals when looking at the links of your website is to determine what your website is about. If your article is about website design and internet marketing and your website is about the same topic, then the link in your article affirms to Google that your website is about website design and internet marketing. This is why an article on a topic that is unrelated to your website is not very helpful to Google.
Writing on-topic articles increases the significance of each link that you build.
Additionally, when you write articles on the same topic as your website, your articles can help establish you as an expert in your niche, which goes a long way in winning customer confidence and increased sales.
Writing articles on one specific topic takes more focus and effort, but the result is worthwhile.
Need help with copy writing , blog writing or article writing? Why not contact the experts, the Scream Media, marketing team will work with you to make the most of links and content for your website. Contact them today on 021 5590800 or via the quick to use contact form.
25 May 2010
Want more visitors to your website?
Many visitors to your website will arrive via a search engine. Making your website more visible on search engines will hook potential customers, so follow our simple steps to improve your ranking.
Things to do today…
• Make a list of keywords and phrases that best describe your products and services. Run keywords through a keyword tool to identify any additional possibilities and find out how frequently they are searched for
• Go online and find appropriate businesses that might be able to provide reciprocal links to your website
Short term actions
Use search engine optimisation There are certain things you can do to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
• Make your site accessible. Well- written, easy to navigate pages will attract repeat visitors and may
help push your website up the search engine rankings (see chapter one).
• Use keywords and phrases.
Decide which keywords and phrases are unique to your industry products and services. Be fairly specific, eg ‘organic local apples’ will generate more qualified search engine leads than ‘apples’. Run these through a keyword tool to identify additional possibilities. Target these key phrases in web content, page titles, headings, sub-headings and any metadata included in the page code.
• Include an HTML link to a basic site map on every page of your website. Search engines will then be able to index pages of your site, increasing the chance of your site appearing in searches.
• Include reciprocal links. Use search engines to find websites that have high rankings for appropriate key terms and phrases. Contact them and ask if they will include a link to your website in return for a reciprocal link.
• Make sure your website is useful. This will encourage others to link to your site of their own accord. These one way links are often more effective than reciprocal links.
Top tip
• Don’t compromise the quality of your web copy in an effort to fill it with keywords. Search engines could penalise you for this and your rating will drop.
Start a pay per click campaign
A pay per click (PPC) campaign will further improve your web presence.
A PPC campaign involves posting sponsored links or adverts on search engine websites. When users search for keywords related to your business,
2. Search engine marketing
your sponsored link appears in a column often to the right or above the natural or organic search results.
A PPC campaign is cost-effective as you only pay for click-through to your site. The results can be easily tracked allowing you to optimise your campaigns. Set a daily budget and your advert will be switched off once your allowance is spent.
Plan your pay per click campaign Careful planning will help you maximise the success of your
PPC campaign.
Consider the following:
• Which visitors you want to attract.
• Whether you want to target local or regional customers, a particular age-group or
particular-interest customers.
• How many unique adverts you want to create for each advert group. These will need to be tested against each other to find the most effective.
• When you want adverts to be activated and for how long.
• Which keyword searches will generate your sponsored link.
A broad match will trigger your advert more frequently than an exact match and could mean your advert is shown inappropriately.
• How much you are willing to bid initially for each click.
For more information about running a successful online advertising campaign contact Scream Media today for a FREE no obligation quote.
Things to do today…
• Make a list of keywords and phrases that best describe your products and services. Run keywords through a keyword tool to identify any additional possibilities and find out how frequently they are searched for
• Go online and find appropriate businesses that might be able to provide reciprocal links to your website
Short term actions
Use search engine optimisation There are certain things you can do to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
• Make your site accessible. Well- written, easy to navigate pages will attract repeat visitors and may
help push your website up the search engine rankings (see chapter one).
• Use keywords and phrases.
Decide which keywords and phrases are unique to your industry products and services. Be fairly specific, eg ‘organic local apples’ will generate more qualified search engine leads than ‘apples’. Run these through a keyword tool to identify additional possibilities. Target these key phrases in web content, page titles, headings, sub-headings and any metadata included in the page code.
• Include an HTML link to a basic site map on every page of your website. Search engines will then be able to index pages of your site, increasing the chance of your site appearing in searches.
• Include reciprocal links. Use search engines to find websites that have high rankings for appropriate key terms and phrases. Contact them and ask if they will include a link to your website in return for a reciprocal link.
• Make sure your website is useful. This will encourage others to link to your site of their own accord. These one way links are often more effective than reciprocal links.
Top tip
• Don’t compromise the quality of your web copy in an effort to fill it with keywords. Search engines could penalise you for this and your rating will drop.
Start a pay per click campaign
A pay per click (PPC) campaign will further improve your web presence.
A PPC campaign involves posting sponsored links or adverts on search engine websites. When users search for keywords related to your business,
2. Search engine marketing
your sponsored link appears in a column often to the right or above the natural or organic search results.
A PPC campaign is cost-effective as you only pay for click-through to your site. The results can be easily tracked allowing you to optimise your campaigns. Set a daily budget and your advert will be switched off once your allowance is spent.
Plan your pay per click campaign Careful planning will help you maximise the success of your
PPC campaign.
Consider the following:
• Which visitors you want to attract.
• Whether you want to target local or regional customers, a particular age-group or
particular-interest customers.
• How many unique adverts you want to create for each advert group. These will need to be tested against each other to find the most effective.
• When you want adverts to be activated and for how long.
• Which keyword searches will generate your sponsored link.
A broad match will trigger your advert more frequently than an exact match and could mean your advert is shown inappropriately.
• How much you are willing to bid initially for each click.
For more information about running a successful online advertising campaign contact Scream Media today for a FREE no obligation quote.
20 May 2010
Placing website elements
Placing website elements
If you want your visitors to feel right at home at your site, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when creating or updating your site. Unless you are an artist (and want your site to bean usual piece of art), you probably want it to make it as easy as possible for the visitors of your site.But how do you do that? There are several approaches you can take. The approaches listed below have been used successfully by Scream Media over a period of 6 years to build our clients "websites that produce results"
Approach #1: The scientific way
There have been several studies (Shaikh & Lenz, 2006; eResult 2003-2009) about this. They asked a number of people where they expect several elements of the website, like login link or search function. The answers to these question have changed over time because the way the web sites usually look also changed. Some things are quite logic (like putting less important links to the bottom), but others are more like the “culture of the web”, like putting the navigation to the left.Perhaps it will be on the right in a few years?
To put it in a nutshell, here’s a summary of where the users expect website elements to be:
Function Expected position
About us Bottom or top navigation
Home link Upper left corner
Login Upper right corner
Logo Upper left corner
Navigation Left or top
Privacy Bottom,
Search Upper right corner
Sitemap Bottom
The same data as a sample website:
Logo, Home link Login, Search
Navigation
About us, Privacy, Sitemap
The results cannot be surprising since they’re mostly the sum of all the websites that we visit everyday. Not all websites look like this, there are some exception, even popular ones. For examples Wikipedia placed the search function on the left instead of the upper right corner. Well, if you’re Wikipedia, you can probably get away with this.
Approach #2: Do it yourself
If you don’t believe this or want to know about other website elements, there’s a simple way. Use an empty piece of paper (or a heavily blurred image of your website) and ask yourself and others where you would expect these elements. That’s actually quite simple and more or less the same how the studies worked.
Naming website elements
Now you know where to put the elements. But how do you name them? Do you log in or sign in? Do you have a shop or a store? Some of the typical website functions are not always named the same. we tested 30 popular sites of different sectors and counted the wordings that they used. Here are the most popular versions:
Sign in: 54% (Others: log in: 42%)
Sign up: 55% (Others: Create an account: 23%; Register: 14%)
Store: 50% (Others: Shop: 20%)
Privacy Policy: 52% (Others: Privacy: 34%)
Naming your products
If you want to sell something to your customers, you should make it easy for them to find and understand products and product lines. This may seem obvious to you, but it’s not always obvious for others. Here’s a example. When shopping for my new computer, I visited Dell. This is the result on the left.
Did I want a Studio, an XPS or an Inspiron? I didn’t have the faintest idea and bought the computer somewhere else. Check your website to see if you make the same mistake.
Summary
Making it easier for your website visitors increases the chance that they visit you more often and or make a purchase. Often it’s not enough to make a few simple changes to make a difference, like move an element from the left to right or change a few words. A long hard look by a professional will pay dividends. Final word of advice: Let a friend visit your website while you sit next to him. Don’t help him, just watch if and how he reads/downloads/purchases something and where he has problems. This can be a real eye-opener…
For a free no obligation website accessibility test, contact Scream Media - H2L today and our friendly team will send you a full report on your website.
If you want your visitors to feel right at home at your site, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when creating or updating your site. Unless you are an artist (and want your site to bean usual piece of art), you probably want it to make it as easy as possible for the visitors of your site.But how do you do that? There are several approaches you can take. The approaches listed below have been used successfully by Scream Media over a period of 6 years to build our clients "websites that produce results"
Approach #1: The scientific way
There have been several studies (Shaikh & Lenz, 2006; eResult 2003-2009) about this. They asked a number of people where they expect several elements of the website, like login link or search function. The answers to these question have changed over time because the way the web sites usually look also changed. Some things are quite logic (like putting less important links to the bottom), but others are more like the “culture of the web”, like putting the navigation to the left.Perhaps it will be on the right in a few years?
To put it in a nutshell, here’s a summary of where the users expect website elements to be:
Function Expected position
About us Bottom or top navigation
Home link Upper left corner
Login Upper right corner
Logo Upper left corner
Navigation Left or top
Privacy Bottom,
Search Upper right corner
Sitemap Bottom
The same data as a sample website:
Logo, Home link Login, Search
Navigation
About us, Privacy, Sitemap
The results cannot be surprising since they’re mostly the sum of all the websites that we visit everyday. Not all websites look like this, there are some exception, even popular ones. For examples Wikipedia placed the search function on the left instead of the upper right corner. Well, if you’re Wikipedia, you can probably get away with this.
Approach #2: Do it yourself
If you don’t believe this or want to know about other website elements, there’s a simple way. Use an empty piece of paper (or a heavily blurred image of your website) and ask yourself and others where you would expect these elements. That’s actually quite simple and more or less the same how the studies worked.
Naming website elements
Now you know where to put the elements. But how do you name them? Do you log in or sign in? Do you have a shop or a store? Some of the typical website functions are not always named the same. we tested 30 popular sites of different sectors and counted the wordings that they used. Here are the most popular versions:
Sign in: 54% (Others: log in: 42%)
Sign up: 55% (Others: Create an account: 23%; Register: 14%)
Store: 50% (Others: Shop: 20%)
Privacy Policy: 52% (Others: Privacy: 34%)
Naming your products
If you want to sell something to your customers, you should make it easy for them to find and understand products and product lines. This may seem obvious to you, but it’s not always obvious for others. Here’s a example. When shopping for my new computer, I visited Dell. This is the result on the left.
Did I want a Studio, an XPS or an Inspiron? I didn’t have the faintest idea and bought the computer somewhere else. Check your website to see if you make the same mistake.
Summary
Making it easier for your website visitors increases the chance that they visit you more often and or make a purchase. Often it’s not enough to make a few simple changes to make a difference, like move an element from the left to right or change a few words. A long hard look by a professional will pay dividends. Final word of advice: Let a friend visit your website while you sit next to him. Don’t help him, just watch if and how he reads/downloads/purchases something and where he has problems. This can be a real eye-opener…
For a free no obligation website accessibility test, contact Scream Media - H2L today and our friendly team will send you a full report on your website.
10 May 2010
The New Look Google
Now that the masses have access to Google's newly redesigned results pages, it's time to consider this in an SEO light if you have not already been considering it.
How do Google's New SERPs Affect SEO?
Google has had its search options available for about a year, but they have not been in the face of the user like the newly redesigned SERP is. With this new design, users don't have any choice but to notice the options that are available. It's not too different from Bing or Yahoo in that respect (Danny Sullivan notes that Ask pioneered this design). The difference is that way more people search with Google on a regular basis (in fact, last month Google reportedly dominated the search market by even more than usual).
SEO Strategies and Increased Engagement from Searchers
The new SERPs may shake up SEO efforts, simply because users will start going to the different options Google provides them, taking them to different sets of results. Now that the options are in the limelight, users are more likely to use them.
Yahoo tells us when they added features to their left-hand navigation bar, engagement increased. "We've been steadily adding more filtering options and relevant search suggestions to our left-hand navigation bar...and have seen engagement and click-throughs for those features double over the past seven months." I can't imagine why Google wouldn't also see an engagement increase for certain features that are now more visible.
It's going to come down to evaluating the different options for any given query that you wish to rank for, and focusing efforts upon those. Make sure your site is SEO compatible contact Scream Media today for a free no obligation SEO health check for your website.
07 May 2010
Starting an Online Business
If you are thinking about starting an online business the first step you should take is to find a niche product or service. A niche is a product or service that serves a highly targeted audience with specific needs. Why is this important? Because with all of the different businesses establishing a presence online it is important to choose something that caters to an underserved audience with a demand for a specific product or service.
Many people who are new to online business make the mistake of choosing a product or service that is currently considered “hot” without thinking about the high rate of competition and the fact that the market may already be saturated. In addition to that, you can end up paying a fortune in advertising with nothing to show for it in the end.
If you choose a niche that serves a highly targeted audience with specific needs you will stand a much better chance of succeeding with your online business. Here are a few tips on choosing a niche that will help to improve your chances of success.
What Are You Passionate About?
Sit down and make a list of things you are passionate and knowledgeable about. The list should include interests, hobbies, professional skills, and any other topics that you would be happy working with on a daily basis. At first, you may find this a challenge if you have been caught up in the 9 to 5 grind and forgotten what you are passionate about. Be patient and enlist the help of some friends if you wish.
It is important that you are passionate about what you do because this will show through when you build a client base. If you are enthusiastic about what you do this will reflect on others and they will return to do business with you time and again. Additionally, if you enjoy what you do it will never feel like work.
Research Your Market
Once you have decided on a topic the next step is to start researching the topic on the Internet. You can begin to find your audience and where your position will be in your market by participating in forums related to your topic, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and any other sites where you can find people discussing your topic.
As you visit these sites listen carefully and take some notes on what people are discussing. This will help you to discover exactly what they are looking for when it comes to your product or service. Listening to the needs of your audience will help you to determine a niche for your online business.
For example, if your topic of interest is landscaping it is important to find out what people are looking for with regard to landscaping. Landscaping is very broad topic with a lot of competition. What about landscaping? What are people specifically looking for? Are they looking for landscaping professionals? Are they looking for landscaping tools? Perhaps they are looking for tips on how to do landscaping.
The key here is to drill down into the term “landscaping” and find a specific niche related to this topic the serves a highly targeted audience with specific needs. Landscaping plans for small backyards would be an example of a niche that serves a specific audience.
Keywords
Once you find your audience and what they are looking for the keywords you choose will help your targeted audience to find you online. Once you get to know your audience you can brainstorm keywords they might use to search for your product or service. You can use one of the many keyword tools that are available online for accomplishing this task. Google has a fantastic free keyword suggestion tool
Just like you had to drill down to find a niche you must find keywords that relate to the niche. Let’s go back to the landscaping example. If you simply choose the keyword “landscaping” you may get a lot of visitors to your website but they will be untargeted. If you are selling landscaping plans and they are looking for tools they will leave your site. If you choose the keywords “landscaping plans for small backyards” you know exactly what the people are searching for and it makes it easy to deliver the solution when they arrive at your website.
Take the time in the beginning to choose your niche and get to know your market and what they are looking for. The time you invest will help you to build a solid foundation for building a business that will last over the long term.
Our marketing team has over 25 years experience in both on and off line marketing. For a professional analysis of your online business plan, contact us today to set up a no obligation meeting.
Many people who are new to online business make the mistake of choosing a product or service that is currently considered “hot” without thinking about the high rate of competition and the fact that the market may already be saturated. In addition to that, you can end up paying a fortune in advertising with nothing to show for it in the end.
If you choose a niche that serves a highly targeted audience with specific needs you will stand a much better chance of succeeding with your online business. Here are a few tips on choosing a niche that will help to improve your chances of success.
What Are You Passionate About?
Sit down and make a list of things you are passionate and knowledgeable about. The list should include interests, hobbies, professional skills, and any other topics that you would be happy working with on a daily basis. At first, you may find this a challenge if you have been caught up in the 9 to 5 grind and forgotten what you are passionate about. Be patient and enlist the help of some friends if you wish.
It is important that you are passionate about what you do because this will show through when you build a client base. If you are enthusiastic about what you do this will reflect on others and they will return to do business with you time and again. Additionally, if you enjoy what you do it will never feel like work.
Research Your Market
Once you have decided on a topic the next step is to start researching the topic on the Internet. You can begin to find your audience and where your position will be in your market by participating in forums related to your topic, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and any other sites where you can find people discussing your topic.
As you visit these sites listen carefully and take some notes on what people are discussing. This will help you to discover exactly what they are looking for when it comes to your product or service. Listening to the needs of your audience will help you to determine a niche for your online business.
For example, if your topic of interest is landscaping it is important to find out what people are looking for with regard to landscaping. Landscaping is very broad topic with a lot of competition. What about landscaping? What are people specifically looking for? Are they looking for landscaping professionals? Are they looking for landscaping tools? Perhaps they are looking for tips on how to do landscaping.
The key here is to drill down into the term “landscaping” and find a specific niche related to this topic the serves a highly targeted audience with specific needs. Landscaping plans for small backyards would be an example of a niche that serves a specific audience.
Keywords
Once you find your audience and what they are looking for the keywords you choose will help your targeted audience to find you online. Once you get to know your audience you can brainstorm keywords they might use to search for your product or service. You can use one of the many keyword tools that are available online for accomplishing this task. Google has a fantastic free keyword suggestion tool
Just like you had to drill down to find a niche you must find keywords that relate to the niche. Let’s go back to the landscaping example. If you simply choose the keyword “landscaping” you may get a lot of visitors to your website but they will be untargeted. If you are selling landscaping plans and they are looking for tools they will leave your site. If you choose the keywords “landscaping plans for small backyards” you know exactly what the people are searching for and it makes it easy to deliver the solution when they arrive at your website.
Take the time in the beginning to choose your niche and get to know your market and what they are looking for. The time you invest will help you to build a solid foundation for building a business that will last over the long term.
Our marketing team has over 25 years experience in both on and off line marketing. For a professional analysis of your online business plan, contact us today to set up a no obligation meeting.
05 May 2010
Website Mareketing Challenges for 2010
Following is the list of pointers to get your website on top, reach out to potential customers and ensure brand visibility in 2010. Need help with implementing any of these actions, contact Scream Media Today
- Decrease Webpage Load Time. Google’s Matt Cutts recently hinted that the load time of a website may affect its ranking in the search engines. That is, the faster a website loads, the better its chances to rank well for its niche keywords. Website load time is touted as the next big step towards improved rankings. The pre-requisites to a good webpage load time are; reputable web host and fast internet connection.
- Get Listed in Google Local Search. Getting listed in Google Local Search ensures brand visibility in front of visitors from the nearby places. It has been proven that the number of visitors to a website increase exponentially when listed in local search results. The reason being, a customer will always prefer to purchase a quality product which is easily available in his or her vicinity rather than order it from another unfamiliar city or state.
- Get Involved in Social Media. Social Media is the flavor of the season and in 2010 organizations are going to actively engage in conversation and social networking and reach out to their potential customers. Social Media Marketing is a must for every organization as it helps create brand awareness and build relationships with consumers in the highly competitive market. Micro targeting and Personalization will be the keywords in 2010.
- Optimize Your Website Mobile Users. With and ever increasing number of people tweeting and using Facebook from their mobile devices, a lot of organizations are now finally paying attention to how their websites appear on mobile phones. You can have your website appear on the mobile under the same URL or have a special domain for the same. The most common way is to have the domain name as mobile.websitename.com.
- Apply Web Analytics to its full potential. There are hundreds of web analytics tools in the market which provide a mountain of data pertaining to the visitor’s usage. Some of the most well known web analytics tools are Omniture, Google Analytics and Yahoo! Web Analytics etc. Web Analytics tools can answer the “how” but not the “why”. That is, you can find out how many visitors checked the product catalogue webpage, but not the answer to, why the visitors didn’t place an order for the product. Organizations need to dissect the data from web analytics tools and successfully apply its learning’s to enhance their visitors experience and in turn increase sales revenues.
05 March 2010
SEO Tips
Frankly, the biggest search engine optimization mistake you can make is not doing any SEO at all. It's amazíng how many people believe "if you build it, they will come." Marketing coaching makes one thing clear. Just putting a site up on the Internet won't get you the traffic you want or need. By the same token, building a site and then thinking about SEO after the fact is a bad plan too. SEO needs to be at the heart of your Web plans from day one, and it's a job that isn't ever "finished."
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Sometimes learning everything that can go wrong is a better place to start than trying to do everything right. Do-it-yourself, affordable SEO is too expensive at any cost if you're constantly shooting yourself in the foot. Some of the biggest mistakes novices make are really the easiest ones to avoid!
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Banning A Search Engine By Accident
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
Using anchor text like "click here" or "next" is a waste. When you are cultivating incoming links or creating links inside your site, use useful, descriptive anchor text. You don't want to repeat the same phrase over and over again. Get two or three relevant, keyword-rich pieces of anchor text and also use your company name. Empty phrases are just that -- empty.
Doing accurate keyword research is fundamental to successful marketing. It's a huge topic in its own right, but you basically want to concentrate on phrases that are not overly general or that have too much competition. Good marketing coaches will spend a lot of time on keyword selection and you should too. Put that chore right up at the top of your SEO "to do" list.
In reading all the tips available on marketing coaching, you'll find that most articles and courses focus on the things website owners should do. It's also important to look at what you shouldn't do. A poorly constructed site that fails to make good use of readable navigation, workable behind-the-scenes code, solid naming structures, and relevant anchor text will have a tough time online. Consider the fundamentals of basic SEO from the planning stage of your site to maximize your results and get the traffic you want.
Still confused? contact Scream Media today for free no obligation SEO quote
17 February 2010
Whats in a Name?
Using Keywords in your Domain
Is Men.com a good domain name? How about Furniture.com? Or what about Cars.com? The internet market place certainly thinks they are valuable. Men.com sold for 1.3 million. But is it? Are any of these really brands?
How in the world would you market these names and how would you distinguish yourself from the thousands of variants, copycats and hucksters that will inevitably pop up. You can’t trademark a generic word, so forget about taking your competitors to court.
Multi-Word Generic Domains
A good example of this is if you are looking for a website design company. Do you know the difference between websitedesign.com, websitesdesign.org, website4design.com, website-design.com, websitedesign-ingo.net, websites.co.za, Do you care? Probably not. And you’re definitely not interested in spending the next fours hours trying to find out. However you do know that H2L and Scream Media build websites. Sounds like a safer bet.
So what is best a generic domain or a brand name URL?
To give you a comparison lets looks at an example. The king of search Google. Google is a unique and proper name. It stands for something and there is only one Google. They basically own the public mind space for the word “search” just as surely Kleenex own “tissues” and Xerox owns “copies”. So much so that all three of these companies names have also become a common shorthand for anything in their category. So for Google, any derivative reference used by competitors, critics and jokesters just reinforces the Google brand.
This is not the same for Furniture.com. Variants of the word furniture just dilute the Furniture.com brand, not enhance it. That’s because furniture is a generic word. It doesn’t reference anything but the literal meaning of the word. And a boring word at that. Say it ten times and you’ll probably start to doze off.
No matter how many times someone uses the word furniture it will do nothing to enhance Furniture.com. It is not a brand and never will be.
Highest priced domain names
Here’s a list of the highest priced domains of all time. But you need to ask yourself, how many of these own their category or are even a market leader? Almost none. When’s the last time someone sent you a link to one of these sites telling you gotta check it out? You probably can’t remember. Read each name and tell me the first thing that pops in your head.
Insure.com – Sold for $16,000,000 (16 million dollars) in October 2009 to QuinStreet
Sex.com – Sold for: $14 million on January 19th, 2006
Fund.com – $9,999,950 – Sold in 2008
Porn.com – Sold for $9,000,000 sometime in 2007
Business.com – Sold for $7,500,000 in 1999 (This was pretty much a “business” sale with a developed name)
Diamonds.com – Sold for $7,500,000
Beer.com – Sold for $7,000,000
Casino.com – $5,500,000 – Sold to a private company in 2003
Toys.com $5.1M sold to Toys R Us
AsSeenOnTV.com – Sold for $5,100,000 in January of 2000
Korea.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in January of 2000
SEO.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in 2007
FreePorn.com – $4,000,000 – Sold in February 2008
YP.com – $3,850,000 – Sold to YellowPages.com
Shop.com – Sold for $3,500,000 in 2001
WorldWideWeb.com – $3,500,000 in 1996
AltaVista.com – $3,250,000
Software.com – $3,200,000
Candy.com – $3,000,000 Sold in March 2009 by Rich Schwartz. Deal was $3M + % sales.
CreditCheck.com – $3,000,000 -Sold in June 2007
Loans.com – $3,000,000
eShow.com – $3,000,000
Vodka.com – $3,000,000 Sold December 2006
HolidayInn.com – $3,000,000 Sold in 1995
Wine.com – Sold for $2,900,000 in September of 1999
Wines.com – $2,900,000
CreditCards.com – Sold for $2,750,000 in July 2004
Pizza.com – $2,605,000 April 3, 2008
Tom.com – $2,500,000
Dotnology.com – $2.5 million (2000)
Autos.com – $2,200,000
Computer.com – $2,200,000
Coupons.com – $2,200,000
England.com – $2,000,000
Celebrities.com – $2.0 million (1999)
Telephone.com – $2,000,000
Express.com – $2,000,000
Savings.com – $1,900,000
Mortgage.com – $1,800,000
Seniors.com – $1.8 million (2007)
DataRecovery.com – $1,659,000 Sold in 2008
Branson.com – $1,600,000
SolarEnergy.com – $1,600,000
Cameras.com – $1,500,000
TandBerg.com – $1,500,000
MarketingToday.com – $1,500,000
Deposit.com – $1,500,000
Russia.com – $1,500,000 November 26, 2009
Fly.com – $1,500,000 – RESOLD FOR $1,800,000 (January 2009)
VIP.com – Sold for $1,400,000 in September of 2005
Ad.com – Sold for $1,400,000 April 29, 2009 in TRAFFIC auction
Men.com – $1,320,000
Vista.com – $1,250,000
Ticket.com – Sold for $1,525,000 on Afternic
Feedback.com – $1,230,000
Phone.com – $1,200,000
Find.com – $1,200,000
Scores.com – $1.2 million (2007)
Kredit.de – $1,169,175
Call.com – $1,100,000 – Sold on August 31, 2009
Bingo.com – $1,100,000
Mercury.com – $1,100,000
Cruises.co.uk – $1,099,798 Sold in 2008
Chinese.com – $1,090,504 – Sold July 2007
WallStreet.com – $1,030,000
Rock.com – $1.03 million
Invest.com – $1,015,000 Sold in 2008
WebCam.com – $1,020,000 Sold April 2009 in Rick Latona auction
Vibrators.com – $1,000,000 Sold in 2008
Britain.com – $1,000,000
Fish.com – $1,000,000
Topix.com – $1,000,000
Sky.com – $1,000,000
If.com – $1,000,000
iPhone.com – $1.0 million (2007)
CyberWorks.com – $1.0 million
WhiteHouseCrisis.com – $1.0 million
eFlowers.com – $1.0 million
Beauty.cc – $1.0 million
Most of these names are so dull, so forgettable, so uninspired, that it’s hard to believe they fetch the money they do. So WHY do they sell for these prices? It all has to do with SEO, SEO and how Google ranks sites. There generic nature of the domain name ensures that Google will serve them up for generic searches, try it yourself, search for BINGO on an all web search... Surprise ! Ah no not really. Am I saying go out and buy a generic boring domain name for your site? That depends on what you want, dont forget as much as Google will love the name, but bear in mind it can be very difficult to build a generic name into a brand.
Making a Unique Name by Combining Two Generics
This can be highly effective and some of the best named and well branded web companies have used this naming device. And that is to combine two generic words in a way that is startling, evocative and original. Photobucket.com is a good example. By themselves the word photo and the word bucket are about as dull and generic as can be. Ah, but put them together and we not only have an original name now, but one that creates a deeper meaning. It immediately engages the mind as you envision first a literal bucket filled with photos and secondly the abstraction of a bucket of photos. On a symbolic level Photobucket is an easy way to gather all your photos. YouTube is a classic example. By themselves the words you and tube are nearly meaningless. Put them together and it not only has a great rhyming quality but it creates an instantly understandable, relatable word pairing loaded with meaning. It’s you (as in the everyday person, joe average) on the tube (television). Television that is about you. Brilliant. Other good examples are LinkedIn, StubHub, FeedBurner and FaceBook. All pairings of generic words that take on a new meaning when combined.
Is your product the first in the market? Or Niche?
If you invented something that didn’t exist before, something that people would probably like but don’t know it’s available, a generic may be a good strategy. For example we own a brand which is new to South Africa, it is an online financial comparison site. We named it www.comparethemarket.co.za We combined the two generic keywords compare and market, and are ranking very well under all our chosen keywords, even though the site is still in its “static” stage and the live feeds from the providers have not yet been added.
So at the end of the day, the choice is yours. If in doubt call in the experts. Contact Scream Media to day for a no obligation quote on building your brand successfully online.
Is Men.com a good domain name? How about Furniture.com? Or what about Cars.com? The internet market place certainly thinks they are valuable. Men.com sold for 1.3 million. But is it? Are any of these really brands?
How in the world would you market these names and how would you distinguish yourself from the thousands of variants, copycats and hucksters that will inevitably pop up. You can’t trademark a generic word, so forget about taking your competitors to court.
Multi-Word Generic Domains
A good example of this is if you are looking for a website design company. Do you know the difference between websitedesign.com, websitesdesign.org, website4design.com, website-design.com, websitedesign-ingo.net, websites.co.za, Do you care? Probably not. And you’re definitely not interested in spending the next fours hours trying to find out. However you do know that H2L and Scream Media build websites. Sounds like a safer bet.
So what is best a generic domain or a brand name URL?
To give you a comparison lets looks at an example. The king of search Google. Google is a unique and proper name. It stands for something and there is only one Google. They basically own the public mind space for the word “search” just as surely Kleenex own “tissues” and Xerox owns “copies”. So much so that all three of these companies names have also become a common shorthand for anything in their category. So for Google, any derivative reference used by competitors, critics and jokesters just reinforces the Google brand.
This is not the same for Furniture.com. Variants of the word furniture just dilute the Furniture.com brand, not enhance it. That’s because furniture is a generic word. It doesn’t reference anything but the literal meaning of the word. And a boring word at that. Say it ten times and you’ll probably start to doze off.
No matter how many times someone uses the word furniture it will do nothing to enhance Furniture.com. It is not a brand and never will be.
Highest priced domain names
Here’s a list of the highest priced domains of all time. But you need to ask yourself, how many of these own their category or are even a market leader? Almost none. When’s the last time someone sent you a link to one of these sites telling you gotta check it out? You probably can’t remember. Read each name and tell me the first thing that pops in your head.
Insure.com – Sold for $16,000,000 (16 million dollars) in October 2009 to QuinStreet
Sex.com – Sold for: $14 million on January 19th, 2006
Fund.com – $9,999,950 – Sold in 2008
Porn.com – Sold for $9,000,000 sometime in 2007
Business.com – Sold for $7,500,000 in 1999 (This was pretty much a “business” sale with a developed name)
Diamonds.com – Sold for $7,500,000
Beer.com – Sold for $7,000,000
Casino.com – $5,500,000 – Sold to a private company in 2003
Toys.com $5.1M sold to Toys R Us
AsSeenOnTV.com – Sold for $5,100,000 in January of 2000
Korea.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in January of 2000
SEO.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in 2007
FreePorn.com – $4,000,000 – Sold in February 2008
YP.com – $3,850,000 – Sold to YellowPages.com
Shop.com – Sold for $3,500,000 in 2001
WorldWideWeb.com – $3,500,000 in 1996
AltaVista.com – $3,250,000
Software.com – $3,200,000
Candy.com – $3,000,000 Sold in March 2009 by Rich Schwartz. Deal was $3M + % sales.
CreditCheck.com – $3,000,000 -Sold in June 2007
Loans.com – $3,000,000
eShow.com – $3,000,000
Vodka.com – $3,000,000 Sold December 2006
HolidayInn.com – $3,000,000 Sold in 1995
Wine.com – Sold for $2,900,000 in September of 1999
Wines.com – $2,900,000
CreditCards.com – Sold for $2,750,000 in July 2004
Pizza.com – $2,605,000 April 3, 2008
Tom.com – $2,500,000
Dotnology.com – $2.5 million (2000)
Autos.com – $2,200,000
Computer.com – $2,200,000
Coupons.com – $2,200,000
England.com – $2,000,000
Celebrities.com – $2.0 million (1999)
Telephone.com – $2,000,000
Express.com – $2,000,000
Savings.com – $1,900,000
Mortgage.com – $1,800,000
Seniors.com – $1.8 million (2007)
DataRecovery.com – $1,659,000 Sold in 2008
Branson.com – $1,600,000
SolarEnergy.com – $1,600,000
Cameras.com – $1,500,000
TandBerg.com – $1,500,000
MarketingToday.com – $1,500,000
Deposit.com – $1,500,000
Russia.com – $1,500,000 November 26, 2009
Fly.com – $1,500,000 – RESOLD FOR $1,800,000 (January 2009)
VIP.com – Sold for $1,400,000 in September of 2005
Ad.com – Sold for $1,400,000 April 29, 2009 in TRAFFIC auction
Men.com – $1,320,000
Vista.com – $1,250,000
Ticket.com – Sold for $1,525,000 on Afternic
Feedback.com – $1,230,000
Phone.com – $1,200,000
Find.com – $1,200,000
Scores.com – $1.2 million (2007)
Kredit.de – $1,169,175
Call.com – $1,100,000 – Sold on August 31, 2009
Bingo.com – $1,100,000
Mercury.com – $1,100,000
Cruises.co.uk – $1,099,798 Sold in 2008
Chinese.com – $1,090,504 – Sold July 2007
WallStreet.com – $1,030,000
Rock.com – $1.03 million
Invest.com – $1,015,000 Sold in 2008
WebCam.com – $1,020,000 Sold April 2009 in Rick Latona auction
Vibrators.com – $1,000,000 Sold in 2008
Britain.com – $1,000,000
Fish.com – $1,000,000
Topix.com – $1,000,000
Sky.com – $1,000,000
If.com – $1,000,000
iPhone.com – $1.0 million (2007)
CyberWorks.com – $1.0 million
WhiteHouseCrisis.com – $1.0 million
eFlowers.com – $1.0 million
Beauty.cc – $1.0 million
Most of these names are so dull, so forgettable, so uninspired, that it’s hard to believe they fetch the money they do. So WHY do they sell for these prices? It all has to do with SEO, SEO and how Google ranks sites. There generic nature of the domain name ensures that Google will serve them up for generic searches, try it yourself, search for BINGO on an all web search... Surprise ! Ah no not really. Am I saying go out and buy a generic boring domain name for your site? That depends on what you want, dont forget as much as Google will love the name, but bear in mind it can be very difficult to build a generic name into a brand.
Making a Unique Name by Combining Two Generics
This can be highly effective and some of the best named and well branded web companies have used this naming device. And that is to combine two generic words in a way that is startling, evocative and original. Photobucket.com is a good example. By themselves the word photo and the word bucket are about as dull and generic as can be. Ah, but put them together and we not only have an original name now, but one that creates a deeper meaning. It immediately engages the mind as you envision first a literal bucket filled with photos and secondly the abstraction of a bucket of photos. On a symbolic level Photobucket is an easy way to gather all your photos. YouTube is a classic example. By themselves the words you and tube are nearly meaningless. Put them together and it not only has a great rhyming quality but it creates an instantly understandable, relatable word pairing loaded with meaning. It’s you (as in the everyday person, joe average) on the tube (television). Television that is about you. Brilliant. Other good examples are LinkedIn, StubHub, FeedBurner and FaceBook. All pairings of generic words that take on a new meaning when combined.
Is your product the first in the market? Or Niche?
If you invented something that didn’t exist before, something that people would probably like but don’t know it’s available, a generic may be a good strategy. For example we own a brand which is new to South Africa, it is an online financial comparison site. We named it www.comparethemarket.co.za We combined the two generic keywords compare and market, and are ranking very well under all our chosen keywords, even though the site is still in its “static” stage and the live feeds from the providers have not yet been added.
So at the end of the day, the choice is yours. If in doubt call in the experts. Contact Scream Media to day for a no obligation quote on building your brand successfully online.
13 January 2010
The 2010 New Year Checklist for Your Business
1. Use “Cause Marketing” – This is the year that you should identify your business with a worthy cause and either donate a percentage of profits to it or contribute to it in some way. And if profits or hard cash don’t fit, consider donating employee time. Then in your marketing campaigns, your marketing materials and sales pitches you should talk about what you’re doing and why it’s important to you. Your prospects and customers increasingly want to do business with a business that cares and has moral obligations, and they’re looking for you to let them know how you fit the bill.
2. Use Social Media with Email Marketing - Finally get your act together with social media this year. Start with Twitter and Facebook, dont forget as part of our SEO service we do this for you. Then set your goals on how many Twitter followers your business will get or how many Facebook fans you’ll attract. Make sure you tell your email marketing recipients to follow you when you send out a campaign. And don’t forget to post your links to your email campaigns in your Twitter account and Facebook pages and ask people to join your email list. All of these marketing vehicles work really well together and feed off of each other. 3. Think SEO – Make a point of checking your SEO ranking with EVERY piece of content you add to your site, Think position, think search when writing articles or content for your site. H2L offers content writing for SEO at a very affordable rate.
4. Make This the Year of Customer Service - People talk about companies that listen to them and that treat them well so you’ll want to go above and beyond with customer service this year. This is especially true since companies like Facebook and Twitter are taking off and becoming a platform for people to tell the world how they feel…about you. This might be the year you get your customer data all in one place so it’s easy to find a customer when they call.
5. Cut Costs - Keep cutting costs because we’re still in the economic weeds. Look at your top spending categories and see if there’s money to be saved. Is your rent too high? If you’ve got a number of years left on it you might call your landlord and ask if you can renegotiate “stepped” payments. Ask for a discount this year and tell them in the future years you’re willing to pay at bit more per square foot. If you’re spending too much on shipping, start calling other providers to see if they’re competitive. Doing things like this in January will add up for the rest of the year and help you to profitability.
6. Listen to Your Customers - Listen and watch what your customers are saying about you. Sign up for Google Alerts with your company name as a keyword, but also with your competitor’s names so you can see what is being published about them as well. Sign up for a free TweetDeck account and do the same. You’ll see what people on Twitter are saying about your company, your competition and even your industry, up-to-the minute for an unlimited number of keywords. Then chime in to the conversation and address the issue or try to get a new customer. Word to the wise: make sure you’re transparent with who you are, you don’t want to “hide” as someone else, tell them you’re with your company and you want to help out or answer any questions.
7. Find New Customers, Inexpensively - Google is where people go these days to find businesses they’re looking for. So set up or build on your Google Adwords pay-per-click efforts. If you don’t know where to start with Google try our PPC service, we manage your account through our Google Professional account.
8. Build Your Email List - Offer your clients a free sign up on your site to your monthly newsletter.
9. Hire People Who Care – If you’re lucky enough to be hiring for your business, this should be the year where you have an ample choice of people who need to work to choose from, so it’s your pick. Make sure you select people who have the same passion as you do, and people that fit into your business culture like a glove. Make sure you ask the questions that count; you want someone who can handle situations, someone who can communicate and someone who you trust. Don’t settle for second best, your customers will notice.
10. Embrace Word of Mouth – At H2L Online Marketing over 50% of the people who sign up for our service hear about us through “Word of Mouth” . In 2010 you’ll really need to take a good look at what you’re doing to spur word of mouth. As noted here, customer service is important, the quality of your product or service is important and the entire customer experience is important in order for word of mouth to start.
2010 is poised to be a great year for growing your small business. Good luck with your venture, and remember we are here to help.
10 December 2009
Search Engine Optimisation - What you need to know
I have compiled a list of 10 vital things - from choosing an expert to instructing your web developer - that every marketer needs to consider when undertaking search engine optimization as part of their marketing mix.
1. Strategy First
Please, don't ask for a full SEO proposal from an agency until you have set your strategy. Too often, agencies will respond with a full proposal, including lots of articles to be created, sites to be built and links to be implemented without a clear strategy. Some sites are more straight forward but others are complex and would benefit from asking a couple of agencies to get involved at the research stage - ask them about the strengths and weaknesses of your site, what they think of your competitors, and what strategic approach they would take with your site.
To get the best advice from this process, expect to pay the agencies involved. A small percentage of your online budget spent on good strategy will save you Rands in the long term. Even better, pay two agencies for a strategy recommendatíon and then choose the best one for your business!
2. Choosing a Consultant
You need to work with someone who can communicate about SEO in plain English, someone who can take complicated ideas and techniques and turn them into something you can understand, then make a decision on - especially as there are often many possible solutions to choose from.
Someone with experience in your vertical - such as travel, finance, retail - as well as several other verticals is important. An SEO consultant with experience across multiple types of business, as well as experience that is directly relevant to you will have better problem solving skills and more exposure to technologies. Experience in your sector will mean the consultant will be very helpful in defining your strategy, understanding terminology, and knowing what your competitors are doing.
3. Expectations
What are realistic expectations from your investment in SEO?
Too often, we see marketers defining their keyword set or crazy goals for their site without any basis in how SEO really works. If you are a law firm, for example, and you want to rank highly for terms such as "lawyer", or "barrister", then you have to take into account that these are extremely popular and competitive terms. It might not be achievable, and even if it is, it's probably a very hard road to get there.
Be open to advice when setting the goals for your website (which should be a part of the keyword research period of your SEO project). If you have a PPC campaign running first, you can use the keyword data from that campaign to gain an understanding of what is important for your website.
4. Using the Right Language
Optimizing begins with keyword research that helps you understand the language your customers are using to find your products and services.
Be realistic. It may sound obvious but, if the words your customers are using to search are not on your website pages, then you won't be found in the search engines for those words.
Similarly, brand words and buzz words are all very nice in marketing, but if people aren't using those words to search, then again you won't be found.
Be ready to change the language of your site. Be open to the idea of conforming your website to the language people use. Optimization is about including those words in the right areas of your pages (such as navigation, links, headings, meta tags and content) so the search engine sees all the right signals to understand what your site's pages should be ranked for.
5. Measurement
Rankings are not the only measure of success! For many years, SEO firms have measured everything on rankings. However, we recommend using analytics similar to a PPC (paid) search campaign for a more comprehensive measure of success.
Here is a simple description of how to do that: Take what you are spending on SEO and put it against traffic and conversions to work out cost per unique browser, cost per click and cost per conversion. It's best to analyze these over a period of six and/or twelve months to allow for any changes in SEO to come into effect. This is because the major difference between SEO and PPC is the implementation time - for SEO, the results will take months, rather than days.
6. Moving Variables
There are so many moving variables in SEO that it would be impossible to find one person who knows everything! But a good SEO consultant is worth their weight in gold. Their value is not necessarily in the implementation, but in tapping into their experience to find the right implementation. One tiny piece of advice from them which may take 10 minutes to explain could be worth more than a copywriter producing numerous articles for your site each month.
7. One Agency or Two?
Some agencies have two separate teams working on SEO and PPC. Some marketers choose two completely different agencies to handle their SEO and PPC campaigns. H2L offers both services under one roof.
However, the two are very closely related and the results from one can be useful to the other. For instance, the keyword data from your PPC campaign can help with your SEO keyword research. On the flip side, optimizing pages for SEO will usually provide your PPC campaigns with a better quality score. When PPC and SEO listings are seen together on a search engine, they usually improve the click-through and conversion rates for both campaigns.
They go hand in hand, and each can have a positive effect on the other if done well. And with one agency on both campaigns, they will have a greater depth of experience with your business, which can only help you to succeed.
8. Web Developers are not SEO Experts
Finally, a word on expertise. Most web developers say they are experts in SEO. There is no doubting that many of them do a reasonable job, but they are not truly specialists in the area of SEO. At H2L our team has over 15 years experience ranking site, from pubs to insurance agents
In the same way, I wouldn't recommend that an SEO specialist designs your website. They are specialist skills, which both contribute to the success of your business.
9. Use of Java Script
Those pesky robots that the major search engines rely on to rank web pages have until recently imposed some limitations for web development. While useful code such as Java Script can make your website really functional - a simple example is a loan calculator, and many websites' navigation and links - and thus attractive to users, the robots often couldn't follow the code properly, and thus skipped over it. The major problem was that commonly, web developers didn't know that Java Script wasn't being read or followed by the robots.
That has changed recently, with Google updating its technology so that the robots can read and follow Java Script. When the robots can follow a website's navigation and links properly, the SEO rankings are greatly influenced.
10. Flash
Potentially any Flash file can now be indexed, according to Google, but it still depends on how that Flash site is constructed. Generally older Flash sites are not seen in the most effective way by the search engines, though it depends on the practices of the Flash developer. Many older Flash sites have overcome this problem by building an underlying version of the site in html - though this method too has its drawbacks.
Flash sites need to be built like html sites, with multiple files that optimize each keyword. If you are building a new Flash site, be sure to consult with an SEO expert before the developer starts on the build. All sites built by H2L are fully SEO freindly.
1. Strategy First
Please, don't ask for a full SEO proposal from an agency until you have set your strategy. Too often, agencies will respond with a full proposal, including lots of articles to be created, sites to be built and links to be implemented without a clear strategy. Some sites are more straight forward but others are complex and would benefit from asking a couple of agencies to get involved at the research stage - ask them about the strengths and weaknesses of your site, what they think of your competitors, and what strategic approach they would take with your site.
To get the best advice from this process, expect to pay the agencies involved. A small percentage of your online budget spent on good strategy will save you Rands in the long term. Even better, pay two agencies for a strategy recommendatíon and then choose the best one for your business!
2. Choosing a Consultant
You need to work with someone who can communicate about SEO in plain English, someone who can take complicated ideas and techniques and turn them into something you can understand, then make a decision on - especially as there are often many possible solutions to choose from.
Someone with experience in your vertical - such as travel, finance, retail - as well as several other verticals is important. An SEO consultant with experience across multiple types of business, as well as experience that is directly relevant to you will have better problem solving skills and more exposure to technologies. Experience in your sector will mean the consultant will be very helpful in defining your strategy, understanding terminology, and knowing what your competitors are doing.
3. Expectations
What are realistic expectations from your investment in SEO?
Too often, we see marketers defining their keyword set or crazy goals for their site without any basis in how SEO really works. If you are a law firm, for example, and you want to rank highly for terms such as "lawyer", or "barrister", then you have to take into account that these are extremely popular and competitive terms. It might not be achievable, and even if it is, it's probably a very hard road to get there.
Be open to advice when setting the goals for your website (which should be a part of the keyword research period of your SEO project). If you have a PPC campaign running first, you can use the keyword data from that campaign to gain an understanding of what is important for your website.
4. Using the Right Language
Optimizing begins with keyword research that helps you understand the language your customers are using to find your products and services.
Be realistic. It may sound obvious but, if the words your customers are using to search are not on your website pages, then you won't be found in the search engines for those words.
Similarly, brand words and buzz words are all very nice in marketing, but if people aren't using those words to search, then again you won't be found.
Be ready to change the language of your site. Be open to the idea of conforming your website to the language people use. Optimization is about including those words in the right areas of your pages (such as navigation, links, headings, meta tags and content) so the search engine sees all the right signals to understand what your site's pages should be ranked for.
5. Measurement
Rankings are not the only measure of success! For many years, SEO firms have measured everything on rankings. However, we recommend using analytics similar to a PPC (paid) search campaign for a more comprehensive measure of success.
Here is a simple description of how to do that: Take what you are spending on SEO and put it against traffic and conversions to work out cost per unique browser, cost per click and cost per conversion. It's best to analyze these over a period of six and/or twelve months to allow for any changes in SEO to come into effect. This is because the major difference between SEO and PPC is the implementation time - for SEO, the results will take months, rather than days.
6. Moving Variables
There are so many moving variables in SEO that it would be impossible to find one person who knows everything! But a good SEO consultant is worth their weight in gold. Their value is not necessarily in the implementation, but in tapping into their experience to find the right implementation. One tiny piece of advice from them which may take 10 minutes to explain could be worth more than a copywriter producing numerous articles for your site each month.
7. One Agency or Two?
Some agencies have two separate teams working on SEO and PPC. Some marketers choose two completely different agencies to handle their SEO and PPC campaigns. H2L offers both services under one roof.
However, the two are very closely related and the results from one can be useful to the other. For instance, the keyword data from your PPC campaign can help with your SEO keyword research. On the flip side, optimizing pages for SEO will usually provide your PPC campaigns with a better quality score. When PPC and SEO listings are seen together on a search engine, they usually improve the click-through and conversion rates for both campaigns.
They go hand in hand, and each can have a positive effect on the other if done well. And with one agency on both campaigns, they will have a greater depth of experience with your business, which can only help you to succeed.
8. Web Developers are not SEO Experts
Finally, a word on expertise. Most web developers say they are experts in SEO. There is no doubting that many of them do a reasonable job, but they are not truly specialists in the area of SEO. At H2L our team has over 15 years experience ranking site, from pubs to insurance agents
In the same way, I wouldn't recommend that an SEO specialist designs your website. They are specialist skills, which both contribute to the success of your business.
9. Use of Java Script
Those pesky robots that the major search engines rely on to rank web pages have until recently imposed some limitations for web development. While useful code such as Java Script can make your website really functional - a simple example is a loan calculator, and many websites' navigation and links - and thus attractive to users, the robots often couldn't follow the code properly, and thus skipped over it. The major problem was that commonly, web developers didn't know that Java Script wasn't being read or followed by the robots.
That has changed recently, with Google updating its technology so that the robots can read and follow Java Script. When the robots can follow a website's navigation and links properly, the SEO rankings are greatly influenced.
10. Flash
Potentially any Flash file can now be indexed, according to Google, but it still depends on how that Flash site is constructed. Generally older Flash sites are not seen in the most effective way by the search engines, though it depends on the practices of the Flash developer. Many older Flash sites have overcome this problem by building an underlying version of the site in html - though this method too has its drawbacks.
Flash sites need to be built like html sites, with multiple files that optimize each keyword. If you are building a new Flash site, be sure to consult with an SEO expert before the developer starts on the build. All sites built by H2L are fully SEO freindly.
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