With Search Engine Optimization the goal is to have your website ranked the highest and receive the most traffic or conversions. Being the most prominent and relevant website is crucial to the success of most businesses. The competing websites that you encounter when performing your SEO may seem like a bad thing, however they can almost always assist you in making better internet marketing decisions. It may seem sneaky to spy on your competitors but it has become a common practice and competitive analysis is a crucial component to website marketing. Knowing who your competitors are and how they are conducting their SEO can provide you with some very valuable marketing data. Below is a short list of how you can benefit from exploring the trends and movements of the top competitors for yours or your client’s website.

Social Media:

Social Media is probably the easiest place to start. Check out what social networking sites that your competitors are using and see which ones would be beneficial to your website. In addition see how they are using these sites to communicate with their audience and what type of content they offer on their social pages. Identifying how your competition is using these platforms is a great way to get an idea of what people like, what they don’t like, what is successful, what isn’t successful, and what you can be doing that they aren’t.

Meta Information:

Although most Meta Data has become extraneous over the past years, the search engines like Read the rest

The following are some of the critical elements that every lead capture form should have along with some extra tips for improving your landing page:

Basic Landing Page Tips:

The real measure of a successful website isn’t the number of visitors but rather the number of conversions. A conversion is when a visitor comes to your site and performs a certain task. These desired actions could be purchasing a product, getting a quote, signing up for a newsletter, or any other specified goal. Upon landing on a page, customers consider if they are in the right place, the trust level they have for the site, the amount of time the process will take, and the potential benefit from the conversion. The landing page should address these concerns and then proceed to display your introduction copy, any media content, product information, customer testimonials, and lead capture forms.

• Create a headline or tag line that really captures the interest of your visitors. A strong headline should urge potential customers to stay longer, learn more, and influence them to provide their contact information.

• Have a strong call to action that stands out and instructs your visitors to perform your requested action. A good call to action is found above the fold and will help urge your visitors to take immediate action.

• Makes sure that your landing page is visually appealing and easy to understand. Use visual cues to draw attention to the areas that you want visitors to focus more on. Using the appropriate colors, text, images, and layout can drastically impact

… Read the rest

Search engines determine the relevance of a website associated with a keyword according to its collection of backlinks and the anchor text used within the backlink. The anchor text of a back link is very important when gathering these links because it denotes the subject of the page and helps target your specific audience. One of the ways to acquire a backlink is guest blogging efforts. As we briefly mentioned in our past blog post, guest blogging is when another website hosts one or your articles or when you showcase an article from another blogger.

Why Guest Blogging:

Guest blogging is a great device to drive in traffic to your website and allows you to network with other bloggers from your industry. Besides driving in new traffic and networking with other bloggers, guest blogging also helps with branding and getting your name or company in the spotlight. Guest blogging is also helpful in building your social media profile and gaining more industry experience.

When to Guest Blog:

How do you know when you are ready for guest blogging? You should wait until you have established a well written blog and have confidence in your blogging abilities. When you guest blog you should do it on a website that is similar to your own and on one that shares a common audience. It is beneficial to guest post… Read the rest

RSS feeds allow users to stay informed by receiving the latest news and website updates. In order to access RSS content, a user must first subscribe to a websites RSS feed. Most websites will have an RSS feed subscription button displayed prominently on their home page or blog. To subscribe, simply click on the RSS icon and select the RSS reader that you wish to use (If using Firefox you can also open the bookmarks menu and click “Subscribe to this page”). After subscribing to a feed, the reader will routinely check for new content. The RSS reader provides an interface where users can view the latest content from their favorite websites, all in one location.

The Benefits of an RSS Feed:

RSS feeds can be beneficial for both web publishers as well as web visitors. The following are some of the benefits for each.

Publishers:

• Improves Search Engine Optimization
• Enables Faster Web Crawling and Indexing
• Publicizes your new content automatically
• Helps Reach New Audiences
• Free Marketing and Easier to market than sending out email campaigns

Visitors:

• Provides the latest content and updates all in one place
• Saves time because the content is delivered to you
• Easy to subscribe and unsubscribe

How to use it to help your Internet Marketing:

One of the benefits of an RSS feed is that it helps with SEO. The following are a few examples for how an RSS feed can be used to assist your Internet Marketing efforts.

• Stay in tune with the latest industry trends by subscribing to competitors and industry experts.

• Subscribe

… Read the rest

There are a number of ways to build backlinks to your webpages, one of which we mentioned in our previous blog entry, “Reciprocal Linking”. Reciprocal or two way linking is when two websites agree to exchange links with each other. However linking doesn’t always have to be mutual, this type of linking is called one way linking. The following list provides some popular sources and methods of obtaining one way links.

Create Superior Content and Resources:

In addition to creating a visually appealing and easy to use website you will also need to have high quality content or linkbait to draw the attention of visitors. This content is used to influence visitors to link back to your website by sharing your content. When other websites share your content on their website they will typically link back to the original source.

• Create 101 articles that describe the basics of your industry related subject.
• Create Top 10 or 100 lists.
• Lists the top professionals from your industry.
• Create an infographic that displays industry information in an intriguing and exciting way.
• Create free helpful online tools or downloadable software programs.

Start a Blog:

A blog is a handy instrument when it comes to gaining momentum and popularity over the Internet. A Blog has many benefits for example it is an excellent way to reach existing clients and find new ones, it helps establish you as a professional, it builds a following for your website, and it helps gain your respect within… Read the rest

In our last blog entry “Creating Infographics to Build Links and Increase SEO” we briefly touched on the topic of Anchor text. The anchor text is the hyperlink or clickable text that is found on a web page. Using accurate anchor text is essential for good Search Engine Optimization and when used appropriately it can drastically boost your rankings in the search engines. The anchor text provides descriptive and useful information for the page that it links with.

The anchor text enables websites to use cleaner looking text rather than displaying an unpleasant and distracting hyperlink. For example a hyperlink for Internet Beacon.com would look like <a href=”http://www.internetbeacon.com”> Internet Beacon</a> however by using anchor text it would present as Internet Beacon on the page.

The most common mistake when dealing with anchor text is using the dreaded “Click Here” anchor text. Click here not only causes you to miss out on the possible SEO benefits it also neglects to describe the content to the page visitors and the search engine crawl bots. At one time Anchor text was heavily manipulated and was referred to as Google Bombing. Google Bombing used large amounts of anchor text to influence the rank of a link that directed visitors to unrelated content. For example during the 2004 United States presidential election the anchor text of “miserable failure” was linked to the George W. Bush‘s White House biography so many times that when users searched for the terms miserable failure the link to the biography appeared in Google’s search results. However in January, 2007, Google created a new algorithm which reduced the impact of Google bombs but none the less anchor text still remains important in SEO.

Where to use Anchor Text:

• External links – links from other sites
• Internal links – links on your

… Read the rest

from http://www.seomoz.org/blog/4-essential-seo-infographics, September 2011

Link value or link juice is a term often used in Search Engine Optimization and refers to the amount of value that the search engines like Google attribute to a website or link. Link juice is assigned to web pages and is dispersed throughout a website based on how well your website is optimized. The more links and most importantly the more high quality links a website has directly translates into the more link juice a website is likely to have.

When talking about Links it is important to understand some important fundamentals. Total links quantity indicates the total number of links that your website or webpage possesses. The merit of these links can vary which brings us to the linking source. The linking source describes who is linking to your content and how credible or trustworthy they are. The sites that have a higher rank will pass on more value than those with a lower web rank. Even though the websites with a higher rank may provide more value it is also important to have diversity among your links. It’s ok to have links from lower ranked pages as long as there is a balance between link values.

Another major factor with links is anchor text. The anchor text is the keywords and descriptions other websites use when linking to your content. Accurate anchor text is essential for good SEO. You want something that describes your content well and not something like “Click here”. The visible text for a link or the anchor text should include the source and a short description of the linked… Read the rest

Best Practices for Creating a Domain Name:

• Describe Your Website by Matching Your Domain, Website, and Company Name

A domain name is one of the first elements of a website that visitors see. Matching your domain with your company name will help target your existing as well as potential customers. Having a company and domain that describes your website will also let people know what the website is about and draw in targeted traffic. For example with the domain www.DeliciousPastries.com Delicious Pastries is the company name, website name, domain name, and also highlights Pastries a major descriptive keyword.

• Keep it Short and Readable-

There are several incentives for keeping your Domain name short which include it being easy to type, easy to remember, and easier to travel by word of mouth. A domain name that is longer than 3 words should use hyphens. However a domain name with more than 3 words and hyphens will raise the websites level of spamminess.

• Use Keywords-

Having a keyword in your domain name will help rank not only because it is part of your domain but also because it is the anchor text that others will use to link back to your website.

• Alternative Domain Top Level Domains (TLD)

It’s recommended that you only purchase the .Com version of your domain name. Additionally purchasing lower quality TLD in order to increase traffic is also strongly advised against.

Once you have established a domain name… Read the rest

Keyword Cloud

Having accurate and descriptive keywords however is only the first part of the equation. Once you establish a list of relevant keywords they then need to be strategically placed throughout the website in order to increase traffic. Each individual page of your website should be optimized for one to three unique keywords. Selecting keywords along with the placement of these keywords is crucial in order to increase your website’s visibility and guide targeted traffic directly to your website. Below are the 10 most important positions to consider when performing keyword placement.

Where to Use Keywords:

• Title Tag

It is recommended that you always place your keywords near the beginning of the title tag. Not using your keywords in the website’s title tag can make it extremely difficult to rank for your targeted keywords. Keyword placement in the title tag is thought to be the most important search engine ranking factors, each page title should be unique to that page and optimized for that specific keyword.

• Meta Description Tag

Although the Meta Description Tag seems to play a very little role in the actual search engine ranking it can still be used to influence potential customers to visit your website. Any keywords that your description tag has in common with the search query will appear bolded in the Search engine results page (SERP). Similar to the title tag each page should also have a unique description tag that targets only 1-2 keywords.

• URL

Having your keywords in the URL will further identify your target audience. A URL that includes your keyword can increase… Read the rest

Does SEO still matter? Social media sites have done a great job of connecting businesses with customers. However even with all the advantages that social media has to offer it shouldn’t replace SEO. Instead social media websites should be thought of as a complement to SEO rather than its substitute.

There are many benefits to using social media like attracting new clients, staying in contact with clients, and the ability to build a positive reputation. It’s clear that due to its popularity social media has begun to push other key SEO elements into the background but that doesn’t mean those elements are not still important. As important as Social media is it remains only one portion of the SEO puzzle. The following is a list of reasons why SEO still matters.

1. SEO Finds The People That Want to Find You!

Social networking will put you in front of other social media users but that doesn’t mean they are customers. With SEO you have a better chance of being found by buyers. Social media is often used to communicate with users that are already part of your circle whereas SEO can be used to draw in users to your circle.

2. SEO Provides More Relevance to Customers!

Social media can increase awareness of your company but with Search Engine Optimization you can specifically target customers seeking your product or service. SEO helps you rank for relevant searches which increases the chance of conversion. Additionally each keyword can be optimized to target a different group of consumers.

3. SEO Enhances The Conversion Process!

As mentioned, SEO focuses more on increasing the chances of conversion. SEO focuses on streamlining the conversion process. Every step from targeting, attracting, landing, and retaining a customer is planned out to achieve the best results. SEO optimizes not only keywords but the site’s architecture, calls to action,… Read the rest

 

from http://www.youtube.com/ July 2011

Increasing Search Success:

Similar to Search Engine Optimization, one of your objectives is to use terms that your customers are searching for. Using the same words or phrases that are being searched for will make your video much easier to locate. Although they are not specifically designed for YouTube, some of the same tools used for SEO keyword research can also help generate some popular video search terms. With any marketing the step of selecting the right trigger words is vital either with or without the help of a keyword tool.

When it comes to keyword research and competitive analysis users can also gather information in a number of other ways. For example when performing a search on YouTube you can begin your research by paying attention to the auto suggestions that appear when typing. The auto suggestions identify the terms that other users have recently searched for that relate to your video’s topic. Gathering search patterns surrounding your topic enables you to target your audience more appropriately and will guide more traffic to your content. In addition to the search suggestions, YouTube also provides a list of related terms. Along with the related videos and search suggestion a marketer can also take cues from their competition. Performing competitive analysis by viewing the most popular videos on your subject is a sure fire way to generate new ideas and guide you in the right direction.

Optimizing Context:

Optimizing the context of your video refers to establishing the… Read the rest

Search Engines recognize that if all the sites on the Internet knew the characteristics that they use, then every site would be able to rank higher. Providing this information would make it too easy for website and go against their main goal which is to provide users with the most relevant and useful search results. Clearly expressing the measurements that are used to rank a website would prevent a relevant site from standing out amongst the other results and could potentially place a higher rank on a page that is worst or is less relevant to a user.

Search Engines use both on-the page as well as off-page elements to assign a rank. On-page factors usually focus on internal site structure including keyword use and internal linking where as an off-page aspect considers who you link to, how you link to them, and the popularity or relevance of your links. Some of the factors that are known or thought to be important to ranking well in search engines include:

• Keyword in the pages Title Tag.
• Appropriate and descriptive anchor text of Inbound Links.
• Global Link Popularity of Site.
• Age of domain.
• Link Popularity or equity within the internal link Structure.
• Relevance of an inbound link to the site and the text surrounding that link.
• Keyword use throughout the body copy.
• The popularity or authority of the website providing an inbound link.

With that being said, one of the major factors that search engines do directly distinguish as being harmful to a Websites rank is Duplicate Content. Duplicate Content is best described as a portion or a complete copy of text that is found in multiple locations either within your own site or shared between your site and another site entirely.

So,… Read the rest

Google +1
from www.google.com/+1/button
April 2011

The Plus One (+1) feature is not an entirely new concept and is very similar to the “Like” button on Facebook. The major difference seems to be the service’s name and the primary platform which it is utilized on.  Similar to Facebook, users can use the +1 option to show that they recommend a website, both on Google as well as on the websites that provide the Plus One option through a widget.  In order to take advantage of this new feature a user will need to create a Google account.

Once a user establishes a Google account they can begin selecting the +1 option that appears below each of the search results.  After a user has placed their stamp of approval on a listing via the Plus One option, it will appear on a new tab in their Google profile.  This newly created tab is where a user is able to manage all of the elements that they have chosen to +1.  These options include the ability to remove a recommendation and to choose who has the authority to view the items that you have marked as Plus One.  The +1 feature enables you to choose whether the +1’s (recommendations) are private, public, or customized to grant permission to specific users.

If a user decides to keep their Plus One item private they will still be added to the number of people who recommend the site however their profile name will remain hidden.  For example below a search result it will display “54 people +1’d this” as opposed to their user name plus the number of other people who have chosen the Plus One option.  Users will be able to see which of their contacts have recommended the site and have a better idea if the search result is worth looking at.

Although… Read the rest

There are over thirteen thousand plug-ins available for the WordPress software making it extremely easy to tailor it to your specific uses.  The following are some useful SEO plug-ins that the WordPress open source community has provided.

All-in-one SEO plug-ins such as WordPress SEO and SEO Scribe are designed to perform overall multiple SEO tasks that include optimizing content faster, providing great keywords, maintaining reader engagement, constructing quality links and increasing traffic! Most of the all in one SEO plug-ins operate similarly and perform similar functions.  The following are among the most utilized all-in-one SEO WordPress plug-ins:

• All in one SEO pack
• Platinum SEO pack
• SEO Scribe
• SEO Ultimate
• WordPress SEO

Below is a list of related, individual plug-ins that can be helpful in improving your blog or website’s Search Engine Optimization and enhancing Social Media Marketing:

… Read the rest

Basically online advertising sets out to attract customers by using the Internet, with websites and search engines as their medium. The Pay per Click (PPC) advertising model is where a host is compensated each time the promoter’s advertisement is clicked. The Cost per Click (CPC) is the actual amount that is paid out by the advertiser to either the search engine or website owner for each click that occurs. Websites that utilize this type of advertising will often present an advertisement or text link, when there is a common term between the websites keyword query and the advertiser’s keyword list. In other words, when a website has related information to the advertiser, a link will be displayed either on the side or above or in line with the website’s original content depending on the website. There are a couple different variations of pay per click online advertising which include Cost per Mille (CPM ), Cost per Visitor (CPV), Cost per Lead (CPL), Cost per Click (CPC), and Cost per Action (CPA).

When performing a search at a search engine you may have noticed that the results return with sponsored links. The sponsored links appear at the top or sides and the advertisers pay to be in these sponsored links sections. Each time a visitor accesses the site through this link, money is paid to the search engine through a prepaid account with that search engine. In order to achieve a sponsored link location websites, advertisers place bids for the amount of money they are prepared to pay per click. Since there are multiple link positions available, the highest bid is placed at the top, the next highest is placed second and so on. In addition to the websites being able to determine how much they pay per click they can also specify how much they are willing spend per day. When the maximum amount of money reserved to pay for the position is met the advertising link is… Read the rest

With SEO some primary goals include creating good content, increasing viewer usability, and promoting a website’s popularity, however there are certain practices out there that we avoid. These avoided practices are orchestrated to quickly or prematurely inflate rankings and take advantage of the factors that search engines utilize when ranking sites. These techniques are often referred to as Black Hat Techniques.

While folks assume there are benefits of using such techniques, there are also major downsides. After using Black Hat techniques a website may temporarily hold a high rank, it will most likely not last very long. Some of the other immediate negative consequences include a site being banned, having penalties against it, and could result in web pages being wiped of their search rank value.

Although search engines devote resources and effort to putting a stop to these methods some still exist. Search engines have worked consistently to ensure that white hat methods remain dominant and discourage the use of black hat tactics.

There are quite a few SEO methods out there that can inadvertently land a website in the search engine dog house. Whether a site is flagged, given the penalties, banned, or you just want to know what to avoid here is a brief list of some of the Black Hat SEO methods to avoid as they could cause issues for a web site.

• Cloaking

Cloaking is used to deceive the search engines, what a user sees is different compared to what a search engine robot (bot) would find. Although a site that is utilizing a cloaking technique is open to a penalty, or could be banned there are a few acceptable cloaking techniques called White Hat Cloaking.

• Manipulative Linking

Manipulative linking occurs in various forms and exploits search engine link popularity. A common method is using link farms, which is where a group of sites hyperlink to all other sites in the group and the process is generally automated. Some other examples of manipulative linking include self-referential links, paid link programs, and low quality directory links.

• Keyword Stuffing

Keyword Stuffing is easily discovered by… Read the rest

In order to grow the popularity of your website, generate awareness, and increase traffic from search engines it is important to perform link building and analysis.  So how do you know the value of a link? Although search engines keep the majority of their ranking factors private, some of the clearer and more notable factors include the following.

1. Global Reach: If you want to have a link from a website to your website (a backlink), does that website have quality backlinks to other quality websites, in other words does that website have importance, reach, and scope.  Nothing is more impressive than having a well know and hard hitting website in your corner!
2. Community Merit: Equally important to websites with global reach are topic specific links that hold merit and commonality to the website on a topic level.  Web sites that are in the same business or cover similar topics and industries can provide a stable ranking foundation.
3. Anchor Text: Using anchor text is both important on inbound links to your website and navigational links within your website. A well built website can rank higher by using keywords in their anchor text. This anchor text should both describe the link and be a representation of the general content on the target page. It is additionally helpful to use keywords in the anchor text of links guiding traffic to your website.  The more onsite and offsite links to your web page and within your website, with the pertinent keywords, the potentially higher credible rank.
4. Trust Rank: With the estimate that more

… Read the rest

For many people, remaining connected is very important and allows them to maximize their potential. The technology of Smartphone’s enables this connection to reach the next level.  Now virtually everything an individual can do from their home or office can be accomplished with a mobile device.

The technology that connects us is ever changing but the reason for this connection remains the same.   To learn, experience, share, grow and of course simplify our lives. A Smartphone is a perfect example of making our lives easier. Sure Internet, Email, Texting and Video Chatting in the palm of our hands are all great features but the real highlight is the development of Mobile Applications.   There are masses of Apps out there for everything and I mean everything.   If you need to learn a language, calculate a tip, make an appointment, find a restaurant, use a flashlight, or navigate directions a Smartphone application has you covered. Small gadgets like these are awesome but what are even more impressive are the Apps that make your work routine easier or more convenient when not in your office.

This is why I put together a list of the top ten mobile Apps for SEO professionals.   The Apps detailed below are useful tools that simplify daily tasks for Search Engine Optimization and provide individuals with up-to-date information on their accounts.   Apps such as these conveniently allow for the management of their clients, their websites, and crucial statistics.   You never know when you may need the data available regardless of if it’s to convey it to a client or only to double check a figure. Mobile Apps like these prevent this issue by keeping a detailed record available to you anywhere and at anytime. Each of the links below provides a description of the application.   The Apps range in price from free- $7.

Wouldn’t it be beneficial for you to monitor your marketing efforts even when you’re away from your computer?… Read the rest

Hello there! Welcome to the Internet Beacon’s awesome weblog. If you’re here for SEO tips for small businesses, you’ve come to the right place.

When you think of social media, what comes to mind? Well, for most people, it’s Twitter and Facebook. While the latter has been around for a few years more than the former, Twitter has rapidly made a name for itself. Now that Twitter has become such a huge part of social media, the question that arises is where does Twitter place in the ad game? Apparently, very high.

According to recent studies, Twitter ads are doing exceptionally better than Facebook ads. Specifically, the average amount of links clicked on Twitter is 19 per user whereas Facebook comes in at a measly 3. But why? A good guess is that Twitter is simply easier to use. It allows for quicker communication, despite that communication being limited to 140 characters. Another reason could be URL shrinkers. They make the links easier to post and quicker to access.

The take away here is that Twitter is currently outpacing Facebook for shared links. This means that if you want to get people clicking links to your site, Twitter is the place to be. Make your tweets fun, interesting, and relevant and you should have no problem getting people to notice them.

-Josh

Internet Beacon

Internet Marketing Maryland

Marketing is something that all businesses need. Whether you use flyers to notify people of your awesome new lemonade stand or skywriting to attract people to the sweet new laser tag center you’ve opened, you need to get people to notice your business. Here at the Internet Beacon, we specialize in Internet Marketing. Now, that means we focus on how to get people to see your website. From there, we then need to convert them to leads. Post Click Marketing comes into play here.

PCM is an emerging trend in Internet Marketing that focuses on turning those visitors into valuable customers. This is done through constant analysis of site visitor data. There are several ways to do this. Keywords are a great place to start. You can track who is coming to your site and, importantly, what keywords they are using to find it. This lets you know how your SEO is working and what needs to be tweaked.

Another focal point of PCM is

Marketing is something that all businesses need. Whether you use flyers to notify people of your awesome new lemonade stand or skywriting to attract people to the sweet new laser tag center you’ve opened, you need to get people to notice your business. Here at the Internet Beacon, we specialize in Internet Marketing. Now, that means we focus on how to get people to see your website. From there, we then need to convert them to leads. Post Click Marketing comes into play here.

PCM is an emerging trend in Internet Marketing that focuses on turning those visitors into valuable customers. This is done through constant analysis of site visitor data. There are several ways to do this. Keywords are a great place to start. You can track who is coming to your site and, importantly, what keywords they are using to find it. This lets you know how your SEO is working and what needs to be tweaked.

Another focal point of PCM is checking the pages that visitors are… Read the rest

Hello and welcome to the Internet Beacon! We’re an SEO firm in Maryland.

Getting people to listen to what you have to say can be difficult. After all, there are millions of voices all clamoring for the same thing: attention. We want to be heard and we want people to know about our businesses. Well, a blog is one way to do that. It’s been around for years now and people have come to expect them. However, there is an ocean of blogs out there. Something that’s grown in popularity in the last several years is the podcast. Now, if you don’t know what a podcast is, it’s like an internet radio/tv show that’s broadcast out for anyone who finds it. You can find free hosting and recording tools online, and it really just requires a microphone and a cast. You can even do one on your own!

Podcasts are great for many reasons. First of all, they’re portable. Just about everyone today has some form of digital media player. It could be their phone or a separate device. The fact is tons of people have them. You can take advantage of our mobile society and create content people can take with them on planes, trains, and…yes, automobiles.

Another great things about Podcasts is that they are easy to do. As I mentioned before, all it takes is a computer, microphone, and some free editing software. As a note, if you have a Mac OS computer made after 2007, it includes a program called GarageBand, which has podcasting features built into it.

Lastly, podcasts have a more personal touch than a blog or other medium. People can hear and sometimes see you. That establishes a connection between a real person (you) and the service/product you are selling. They can see your company as more than a soulless PR machine and as a collective of people working together.

Podcasting is a great way to spread your message on the Internet.

-Josh

Internet Beacon

Hello and welcome to the Internet Beacon! We’re an SEO firm in Maryland.

There are a lot of ways to make advertising work for your website. You can go with banner ads, simple links to sponsors, or a lot of other options. One of the most controversial forms of advertising on webpages is the in-text ad method.

In-Text ads are essentially links generated based on keywords that appear in your page. They are typically double-underlined and when a user rolls their mouse over them, a tiny pop-up appears with an advertisement relating to that word.

Users are divided on how they feel about this form of advertising. While it does not always seem as intrusive as banner ads, with their occasional flashing and bright colors, they can also be frustrating when simply trying to read an article. Imagine trying to read a book and every time you come across the word “ship”, it shows a little picture of a ship and lists places to buy them. It would drive you mad.

No one expects websites to be used for free. Whether you use a membership format or support our site through ads, you have to pay the bills somehow. However, there are ways to balance your need for income with your need to keep readers coming back.

-Josh
Internet Beacon

for More info on SEO, check out our SEO Answers page, our SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO. SEO in MD, improve search engine results

Hey, Josh here from the InternetBeacon.

Google, as we all know, is powered by advertising. It hardly makes sense to be in the search engine biz unless you can make a little money. Well, Google makes a lot of money. A large part of how they do that is a program called AdWords. AdWords is a marketing tool that allows you to design custom ads that will appear alongside search results from the Google engine. Let’s take a look at how it works.

First, you tell Google what kind of ad you want to post. For our purposes, let’s say simple text. Rather than making you go through an elaborate process, they have a simple, fill-in field system that lets you describe what you are advertising. Formatting and the like are all taken care of by Google. Part of this is determining the keywords you want to use for this ad. This will tell Google when to display your ads. If you aren’t keen on using text only, you can also opt for image ads using their web-based software.

As far as paying for these ads goes, it’s pretty simple. These ads are what we call Pay-Per-Click. This means that you only pay when someone using Google actually clicks on your website’s ad. You can set how much you are willing to pay as well as how much your budget is for that day. This keeps you from racking up a huge bill without noticing.

AdWords is a successful part of the Google brand. For those looking to get started marketing their business or for those who want to expand their reach, AdWords is worth a look.

More info on SEO, check out our SEO Answers page, our SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO.

-Josh

Internet Beacon

More info on SEO, check out our SEO Answers page, our SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO.

Today we examine one of the classic conundrums when it comes to web design: using advertising to grow and earn from you website while not turning your page into a seizure-inducing catastrophe. Fear not, this can be done. In fact, lots of people have done this already. Here are a few tips.

Carefully Examine Potential Ads

Unless you really didn’t look at the agreement before posting ads on your site, you should have had a chance to look at some ads that the company runs. If they are all “Click Here! You’re a Winner!” ads with strobe effects and smiley faces, you will probably want to stay away from them. Be cautious, as your ads will affect how people perceive your site.

Take it Slow

Placing advertisements on your site is not an  “all or nothing” deal. You can start slowly and examine how different types of ads work. Google, for example, offers very simple, low-impact ads that will give you a taste of how the ad game works in relation to your site.

Match Ads to Content

Some ad networks will do this for you. You tell them what your site is about and some demographic info and they provide you with ads. However, some may not do this and so you need to make sure the ads on your page make sense. If you are writing a blog about home remedies and your page’s ads are about savings on video games, odds are they won’t match your target market.

-Josh

Internet Beacon

There’s no denying that Google is the most powerful search engine in the market right now. There are several other places you can go to find content on the Web, but at this moment, Google stands above them.  Because of this, Google is a great tool for promoting your business. One tool that they offer, specifically targeted at business owners, is Google Places.

Google Places allows you to create a home for your business within Google. This then gets linked to  Google Maps, as well as everywhere else in Google’s kingdom. The benefit here is, I believe, that you are one step closer to Google when it comes time for searches. Local results, which are probably what you want if you are a small business, are almost always returned first via Google Maps in a Web search. By having a Google Places listing, you increase your chance of being seen dramatically.

Another great feature of Google Places is the ability to show your area of service. This is incredibly handy for those companies offering services and products to a very specific area. Restaurants who deliver are the first to come to mind. Customers can see your delivery area, so that cuts down on wasted calls and wasted time. In addition to this, Google Places supports QR codes. They look like square barcodes, of a sort. Customers can scan the tag with their smart phone and get data on your establishment.

Google Places is a great tool for small businesses looking to start a presence online or extend their current reach. In addition to your website, your Google Place can be another source of contact in a world constantly built on making connections. I recommend at least checking it out.

-Josh

Internet Beacon
SEO Maryland