Website Visibility - How To Win from Google's Panda Algorithm Ranking

Friends, your website's visibility in major search engines has a lot to do with how many new prospects and business leads you enjoy. New customers are the lifeblood of many companies, which is why Promise Production's SEO / SEM / Website Promotion and Search Engine Visibility play heavily in the marketing strategy we provide to grow your profits.

It is not just your IT department or your Webmaster, but your Marketing that needs to be savvy to the evolutions in search engine marketing. Otherwise, you'll continue to aim at the target where the results "were", not where they are "today." So even if you "win" in your goals, the target keeps moving, so in reality you have missed the lion's share of the profits. Up-to-date marketing strategy is so key, along with search engine optimization, you need smarter strategy to outthink the competition!

Below is an excellent article by that underscores everything we at Promise Productions have been saying. (Nice to find experts that agree, eh?) But seriously, it boils down to a few key concepts that Promise Productions knows exactly how to implement on your behalf:

•  Quality Content  - are your products and services communicated in a compelling way that makes their value stand out to your prospects?
• Video Marketing - are you making video more and more central to getting the message out? This is a win with your customer but also a win in the search engines - but only if you do it the right way!
• Quality Backlinks - how many others are talking about your brand, your products, your services. How many signposts pointing back to your website are there and how relevant  This area has been one of the most elusive to do in an effective and legitimate way with search engines – until now!

Both the Video Marketing and the Quality Backlinks overlap with Social Media Marketing, but as always the exact strategies we provide is what separates winners from losers. Again, these are not just "webmaster tweaks" – they are keys your company's decision makers need to be aware of to inform the entire way you orient your marketing, sales and advertising efforts. 

So contact Promise Productions for expert marketing strategy and implementation to promote your company at 877-858-0071.

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Without further ado, see the below recent article by Titus for a detailed discussion of these matters:

Lately, like many full-time webmasters, I have been spending a lot of my time dealing with the Panda/Farmer Update - Google's major Algorithm Changes which they did in February 2011 with further adjustments in the months following. This update was a major "game changer" since even some very prestigious sites saw their rankings drop and the debate/fallout is still continuing as I write this material.

Figuring Out "Exactly" How Google Ranks Web Pages Has Become the "Holy Grail" of SEO.

Webmasters and marketers have been debating these "ranking factors" for over 10 years now and that discussion will continue far into the future or for as long as Google remains the dominant search engine on the planet.


Rank Local Top 10 in Google
Of course, I have formed my own opinions and views on this matter, mostly from the information I get from running 9 or 10 websites. But mainly I derive the majority of my beliefs from observations of some major "keyword battles" which I have been fighting for about as long as Google has existed.




There are a lot of myths out there. For example, many SEO experts insist you must update your site/pages often. But I have one site which I have barely touched in over 4 or 5 years and it still ranks in the top spot in Google for its targeted keyword phrase "Internet Marketing Tools."




Now I have been constantly building backlinks to this site over the years, but I have not updated it or changed the content much since it was created. I have a few sites which I don't promote with link building and they have dropped off the map in Google.

What this tells me about Google is that quality one-way links is a very important factor in how Google ranks pages. These keyworded links back to your homepage and to your interior pages are extremely important for getting top rankings.




Actually, I would bet the shop, that if you ONLY concentrated on quality backlinks you would achieve those top spots in Google. While, of course, there is no need to ignore the other ranking factors, if you did, and concentrated most of your efforts on link building, you would still get to the first page of Google. At least that is how things were working...


The Panda Algorithm


The Google Panda Update threw a monkey wrench into the whole ranking game. It is more or less, the ultimate filter which can override all the other ranking factors. It finds poor quality content and filters it out or lowers its rankings in Google's Index.




The key here is that this Panda filter doesn't just rank your web pages, it can rank your whole site. In other words, webmasters have to worry about the over-all quality of their sites because if you have too many of what Google believes to be "poor quality pages" then your whole site could drop in their rankings.






If Panda struck your site, then you must take a closer look at all your content and make adjustments so that Panda (Google) perceives it as all top quality material. Also, you have to look carefully at your internal linking structure and avoid excessive "keyword spamming" within your site.


What's out: thinking that having a bunch of links within your own website pointing to a certain page will boost that page's visibility. 


On-page elements must be in order and factors like site load times and speed have become more important. Writing quality, style, spelling, and grammar have also taken center stage. So too has the trust factor. Can your content or site be trusted? There is also an ongoing argument about "bounce rates" and whether or not Google can even measure these? My own opinion on this is that Google can track your every click on the web and has massive amounts of data derived from your usage of their search engine (cookies-R-us), the Chrome Browser and countless programs such as Analytics, Adsense, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, etc. All this anonymous data can be compiled, analyzed and dissected to create their ranking metrics. They would be foolish not to use this data.




Videos are Winners


Of course, I haven't survived on the web for this long without learning a few tricks. You must go where Google is going.

Like many others, I have noticed videos and pages with videos on them weren't hit hard by the Panda Update. Ignoring for the moment that Google owns YouTube, videos have always done well in Google SERPs and Panda hasn't changed that in any significant way.




For years now, I have been enriching my web content and pages with videos - mainly through YouTube - not only because Google owns it, but because everybody uses it. I believe videos are a good way to get traffic and help your rankings plus videos are a form of quality content around which you can build channels and an online community.




Because I believe videos play such an important role in Google's SERPs, I have created several channels on YouTube. And, I just recently created another channel around my main site. These channels contain simple videos and are usually created from my articles.


Hopefully, one major consequence of Panda will be that companies will have to take a closer look at all of their content and filter out the inferior stuff as well as improve site speed, minimize ads, delete pages with little or no real content, fix broken links and make sites more user-friendly. Do all this, not just to please Google, but because having a clean, fast and easy-to-navigate site filled with unique top quality content is a great way to attract more business.




Titus Hoskins owns the copyright to this article.

Gain an UNFAIR Advantage in 2011 - Dallas Video Production

Yes you heard that right! Video Marketing is your UNFAIR advantage to release profits in2011.

We've gone through an evolution of maturation of online marketing. Many businesses have now hit a wall, they are already doing all they can and don't know how to get an edge in 2011. See the evolution:

1 • Have a Business Website that is more than an online brochure
2 • Make that website Search Engine Friendly
3 • Add a business Blog promoting your website
4 • Start Tweeting about your products and services
5 • Look to Facebook to expand their reach and attract prospects

The exponential DIMENSION to supercharge all the above is video marketing. Whereas a 12-year old can tweet, Video cannot be slapped together and generate positive business results. Video requires numerous skill sets (writing, audio production, editing, savvy motivational approaches, lighting, etc.) that your standard "social media marketing" or "advertising" person cannot master.

USE Video Marketing to:

• Increase Website Stickiness

• Integrate your marketing

• Put a FACE to your products and services

• Boost the effectiveness of your Google Maps

• Elevate your Blog in visibility and readership

... and foundational to all of this is the core truth that...

VIDEO MARKETING PRESENTS YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION IN AN AUTHENTIC AND COMPELLING FASHION FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS

Video has to be done in ways that are marketing-savvy and integrated with your SEO and your Social Media Marketing - the result is a blatantly unfair EDGE above all competition - enabling Your busienss to enjoy the Lion's Share of the profits.

Start enjoying today - call Promise Productions at 877-858-0071.

Is SEO the Holy Grail for Your Business?

Some say SEO is the "Holy Grail" for their business because it makes their phones ring with new customers. While that is over the top, Search Engine Optimization is vital to the future of your business because gaining new customers now largely depends on your company's website being found for the right keyword searches.

Simply put, SEO is the variety of ways to make your site most likeable by Google and Yahoo. Search Engine Optimization consists of website modifications to the various elements the searcn engines look for when ranking your website versus your competitor's web site.

Keywords research, backlinking, site freshness and many other components are key to any SEO strategy. The decision most clients have to make is how much time they want to devote to their ranking. Most industries these days have a heavy level of competition for keywords in most markets. To most companies, a steady stream of new, quality, customers is the key to staying in business, so all aspects of Search Engine Visibility (of which SEO, along with Web Video Marketing, Search Engine Positioning, and Social Media Marketing are all parts) are paramount.

The most important element to your website being a tool to gain new business is simply this – how good of a resource is your website to your client? Does it serve their needs? Put yourself in your clients' shoes and build the site from that perspective. If that is your main focus, as opposed to simply having high ranking, your site will stand the test of time.

CONTENT
This brings us to our first, and most overlooked, SEO element: web site content. 
The content or text on your website is compared to the content on your competition's site. More than just trying to beat the competition, we counsel our clients to make their site the best possible resource for their clients. Asking the actual users what they would like to find on your website will many times give you great ideas of what to and what not to include.

Content must also be written and presented in a friendly way to the search engines. It just contain the optimum percentage of keywords (not too many or too few).

• Writing Effective Website Copy
• Why Content is King for SEO

KEYWORDS
Choosing the correct keywords to focus the marketing on is the foundation of the SEO strategy. Our marketing team uses keyword software, old fashioned competition research and testing to find the best keywords that attract your ideal clients. That means terms where there are lot of people searching that keyword with little competition for ranking. Finding great keywords takes considerable research in the short term, but provides long term rewards if completed correctly.

One of the main mistakes I see companies doing when they try to do their own SEO is assume they know the best keywords. They know how THEY think about their products and services, but are usually out of touch with how their ideal prospects are thinking about them. This is why we are more than an SEO or Web Development company; we are Strategic Marketing Communicators. One of our primary roles is helping you target your ideal customers and market to them in the way they and this distinction means more value for your business.

WEBSITE FRESHNESS
Keeping a website current is an important factor to your clients as well as any search engine. The reason for this is because people trust a website that has up-to-date information. This can explain why business blogs and CMSs (Content Management Systems) have become so popular and why most of our website packages include them. They make it easy for companys to update their website content.


BACKLINKS
This is also called Link Popularity. 
This is the number of other websites linking to your website, and the quality of the websites that link back to yours. For more information, see our article on Link Popularity.

LOAD SPEED
The time it takes to load your website is called its "load speed." There are several reasons this is important. The first is if it takes 15 seconds or more to load your website, visitors are going to leave. The second and little-known fact is that when a website is built under the current standards of load speed and compatibility, Google will reward that site with better ranking. 


OUTSMARTING THE COMPETITION
Research on a client's competition is a vital part of the SEO strategy. We research keywords, content, load speed and content trends. New competition in the marketplace makes it necessary to constantly review the competition. Staying ahead of the competition on Google is paramount to most of our competition. Our team reviews what keywords the competition is focusing on and reports their findings to you to ensure you stay on top of the market.

BOUNCE RATE
Bounce rate is how long a client is on your website before leaving. If the bounce rate is below one minute on average, clients are not finding what they want on your site. It will require a major change on the website and reorganization of the content. Keeping the bounce rate above rate 1 minute will help your Google ranking -- but more importantly ensure you are meeting your clients needs. 
This is also called "stickiness" -- how long the prospect sticks to your web page.

• Learn more about how we design web sites for improved stickiness and conversion.

URL, LINK & PAGE NAMES
The name of your website along with the name of the pages is important to Google as well as your clients. All these are opportunites for more keywords. Having the URL http://www.weddingphotographerdallas.com/ is better than www.FredJamesStudios.com .

Purchasing domain names for sale that have great keywords in the name is a service we offer. We also look at the age of a domain because the older the domain, the more credibility Google and the other search engines give it.


Naming internal and external links with keywords is an important aspect of website ranking. For example, a website selling flashlights could name the page dedicated to flashlights page003.html, but it would be better to name the page worlds-brightest-flashlights.html.

Naming backlinks is extremely important as well. The best example of this is "click here". If you Google the word phrase "click here" the first page is Adobe Reader. See the proof by clicking this link. 
Now if you click the #1 site on that page you will get this page: Adobe Reader . But that page has no words "click here" on the page. It is ranked #1 because millions of websites have a link on it that reads: "Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader".

Because millions of websites name their link "click here" it is ranked number one. Now imagine those same websites had the link: "New York Lawyer to download Adobe Acrobate Reader". The site that the words New York Lawyer links to would be #1 anytime someone Googled "New York Lawyer".

METATAGS
These are computer code tags embedded within your website that are invisible to the user, but give the search engines clues as to the subject matter and content on that web psge. These too need to be laced with the right keywords. Learn more on Metatags for smarter SEO here.

CONCLUSION
This overview of elements to SEO lets you know why many of the companies that spam you with hype and promises cannot deliver. You see, it takes considerable skill in multiple areas to make your company web site rank high in an intelligent and strategic way.

Properly done SEO is extremely valuable. We believe that your SEO strategy should be looked at within the context of savvy marketing – that is, your business growth goals, target audiences and market share. After all SEO is finally about being more profitable. Turn to Promise Productions Strategic Marketing Communications for a higher degree of success – call 972-822-3587.

SEO Done Right -- Cost-Effective Visibility For Your Business

With so much information - and misinformation - available on the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) it can be tricky trying to separate fact from fiction.

Coupled with the fact that SEO changes only slightly less rapidly than the weather, it can be downright overwhelming for a business to know where to start promoting their website's products and services in search engines like Google and Yahoo. So, if you're an SEO newbie looking for a place to start, or cannot afford to waste advertising dollars on suspect SEO, here's a quick tutprial at good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) basics.

What Is SEO?


Even the most beautifully-designed site won't do you much good if potential customers can't find it. That's where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in: SEO helps ensure your site is more visible in the search engines, drive qualified traffic to your website, and convert that traffic into actual customers.



In short, SEO ups your website's rankings in the search engines by making the pages within your site more attractive to the search engines. The more attractive your site is to Google, the higher its rankings in the search engine results pages. And the higher your rankings, the more likely users will visit your site. Obviously, a site with a result on Page 1 of Google is going to get more traffic than a site buried on Page 3.

 If your site is missing from the top search results, then you essentially dead when it comes to your ability to generate new business and add revenue to your business.

Let's take a look at some stats:


* Over 4.3 billion Internet users

* Over 85% start at a search engine
 and look for their desired products and services using key words
* Less than 20% will go beyond the top 10 search engine results

* Top 10 results get 85% more traffic than all those in the thousands of other pages after them

In addition to obtaining better rankings in the search engines, SEO is effective in several other areas as well:


* Branding/establishment of your business as an authority

* Pre-qualified lead generation

* Easily tracked ROI

* Cost savings compared to other promotion mediums (i.e. glossy brochures, yellow pages ads)

Key Components of Effective SEO
SEO consists of several key elements that work together to generate increases in a website's rankings, traffic and conversions: Keyword Selection, Copywriting, Link Building, HTML Optimization and Analytics.

Let's take a look at each element in more detail:



Keyword Selection

 for SEO
The foundation of any SEO campaign is good keyword research. That's because targeting the right keywords is essential to getting your SEO on the right track. If your sell Rolex ladies watches, then you're going to want to rank in the search engines for the phrase "Rolex ladies watches" and other similar phrases (Rolex Womens Watch, etc.).

You might be hitting the wrong target: If your keyword research is off and you target the wrong keywords, then you may not get visitors who want what your site has to offer. That's why you need to make sure that your site is properly optimized for the most-searched-for keywords related to your business.



Copywriting

 for SEO
Getting potential customers to your site is only half the battle; you've got to convince them to buy. That's where persuasive copywriting comes in. Be sure to tell people why they need your products or services and include conversion points throughout the site. The search engines like content, so you also need to optimize your copy to include your keywords.

This includes things like descriptive product pages, built-out content like biographies, news sections, etc. One important point to remember is to keep your most critical content "above the fold" - that's the area that's visible to your users before they have to scroll down.



Link Building
Link building is like one big online popularity contest, and the search engines like the popular kids. Your success in the search engines depends, in part, on the amount of relevant incoming links to your site.

Of course, having lots of good links also drives customers to your site, which is a good thing, too. Links can come in various sources, including directories, business partners, organizations, social media sites, and much, much more.

HTML Optimization


These are things that the user does not necessarily see, but the search engines do. Title tags, header tags, Alt tags, Meta-descriptions -- the search engines want your site's HTML to be descriptive and clean.

Search engines want to know exactly what your page is about; they don't want to sort through a bunch of extraneous code to figure it out. That's why you'll hear SEO experts talk about the importance of having clean web site code and how to use CSS to make that happen.



Measuring Success


No SEO campaign is complete without analytics. After all, if you aren't measuring things like traffic, link popularity, and conversions, then how do you know if your SEO strategies are working? Programs like ClickTracks and Google Analytics help make the number-crunching a little easier.

Conclusion
SEO is more important than ever because it maximizes your advertising dollars. 

If you want to have an effective SEO campaign, you need to include all of the five SEO elements listed above.

The summaries above just scratch the surface on these topics, and there are certainly other more advanced SEO strategies that can benefit your site as well. These building blocks, however, are the ideal way to get your SEO campaign working for you.

For expert Search Engine Optimization as well as other top strategies to get the most targeted visibility for your marketing dollar, call Promise Productions at 972-822-3587.

Searching for New Customers in Today's Marketplace?

Customers with cautious budgets are doing more research online before choosing their products and services. This apples to everything from daycare to hotel travel.

The luxury shopper or the luxury traveler is still willing to pay a premium BUT ONLY for a top notch product or travel experience. Does your web site design give them that reassurance? Are you using smart video online to, not just tell, but SHOW them what you have to offer?

As a business, your need to be found in the search engines at the right place and time is more important than ever before.

The current recession is motivating businesses to fine turn their online marketing for optimum results. There are several strategies to be found online and savvy businesses are working ALL these angles simultaneously:

• Pay Per Click Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media Campaigns & Blogging

All three areas of online visibility are and will experience dramatic increased spending. By 2013 eMarketer estimates total US search marketing outlays will surpass $23 billion. We think that is far too conservative because:

• Search Engines are THE #1 way customers and businesses find those they do business with -- both locally and abroad.
• Social Media is exploding with no signs of stopping and it has the trust factor with the consumer that slick advertising agencies no longer deliver.

The writing is on the wall -- you either make online marketing an immediate priority or go extinct. Your customers are using the search engines to find the best deal. Businesses HAVE to be found in the search engines because that is where their customers and prospects are.

Got profits? Contact Covenant Designs at 972-822-3587 for Search Engine Marketing Camaigns, Social Media Campaigns, and Marketing-Savvy Blogging.

How to Use Video to Improve Google Ranking & Conversions

Good Web Video & Video Content Gives Your Business a Huge Competitive Edge

Online video is spreading across the Internet like wildfire. Text is being read less and less as customers and prospects prefer to learn and engage through video instead. Text is rapidly becoming just something for the search engine spiderbots to pick up on -- not what your viewers actually read. With the demand for video content online rising -- both from consumers, and from businesses looking to communicate, inform and persuade more effectively so they can Keep existing market share and Rise in profitability.

Control Your Image With Web Page Video
It takes lots of text and reading to establish your company's image. But it only takes 30 seconds of video to not just establish your business image, but to also make your brand memorable. In the same way that not all web verbiage is good, not all Internet video is good either. However, a good web video is worth its weight in Diamonds!

Turn Your Viewers On, not Off
Bad design is a turn off. Bad text is a turnoff. The same goes for bad video. Forget the webcam, that screams "amateur" because if you use a webcam you will not be taken seriously in the business world.

You web video is a business tool to sell your products and services -- to cause your prospect to WANT to do business with you. Bad web video does not get to the essence of the value your company offers. Bad video has bad sound, bad lighting and gives the impression that the message is an afterthought.

Flip that around to the positive: your video needs to be professional. That does not mean it has to have a Hollywood movie budget and crew, but it does mean a professional 3CCD camera, studio lighting, professional microphones and proper video editing.

But equipment is only half the story; the message is the other half. You have to communicate value. That means having something worth saying in an engaging way.

Without professional and engaging video, your prospect will feel that he's wasted his time with you. So don't shoot your businesses' image in the foot with poor video -- instead, turn to a professional marketing company such as Promise Productions Marketing Communications. They know how to tell your story in a way through video to get you the results you want.

Good web page videos provide a high user experience that simply can't be achieved in text or even flash animation.

• Visuals -- both still photos, moving video, and illustrations / animations -- communicate efficiently and memorably.

• The voiceover gives the right "tone" and emphasis to the words being said. Additionally, background music can set the best mood.

• Text tells "about" the product or service whereas video can give a direct experience of it. So there's no comparison of the power of video to provide understanding. benefit realization and motivation for action.


• Because a video conveys more in less time, it matches the attention span of your site's visitors. That means your business can distill your message to be fully conveyed instead of a prospect tuning out your text half way through.


Engage Your Prospects
Savvy Internet marketers understand Web Site Stickiness -- that you want your prospect to stick around on your businesses' web page long enough to understand the products and services offered as well as to be engaged with the site's content to take the next step towards a business relationship.


A properly done web site video will engage the viewer and immediately either inform of the value of your service or demonstrate the benefit of your product. Once you have their attention you can boost your brand or direct them towards the specific action you want them to take (fill out a form, buy a product online, call your office phone, etc.).

A marketing-savvy video on your web site gives you an almost unfair advantage over a competitor who lacks video. The boost to your image and the number of responses a video-enabled web site / blog has will easily dominate the web page that is still back in 2008.

The leading Internet search engines, such as Google, consider video to have higher engagement potential than static content. Even when a site's external link popularity may not be great, just putting up new regular videos can make your business show up right away, and at the top, of search results. 




Bottom Line
For all these reasons, it is extremely important for businesses to offer video content on their own sites, both for improved visibility in the search engines and to attract their ideal customers.

Call Promise Productions professional video marketing at 972-822-3587. Get A Quote