5 Keys To Creating A B2B Blog That Builds Traffic And Generates Leads

Are you struggling to find the right combination of things to unlock the power of a successful blog that builds traffic and generates leads?

Let’s pretend your business is planning a website redesign but you have to make a choice: you can have a brand new website but no blog. Or, you can keep your existing site but add a blog.

Which option would you choose?

Companies redesign their websites all the time. What’s usually driving the redesign is that they are “tired” of their existing site. Maybe they inherited the site from a predecessor. They want a fresh look. A competitor has a really cool website. And so on.

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Businesses are spending a lot of money on website redesigns with the belief that just having a site makeover will somehow change things for their business.

Sadly, many B2B companies are missing a crucial element of making their website an engine of company growth – a blog.

Blogs are simply articles posted to a section of your website (in reverse chronological order) that include the ability for readers to make comments and use social media to share the content. You’re reading a blog right now.

A blog is by far the most important means of increasing the right kind of traffic to your site and converting visitors to leads. And as an added bonus, the more that you blog, the more people will perceive you as an expert.

Setting up a blog can seem confusing and intimidating if you’re new to blogging. But it doesn’t need to be.

Here are the five most important things to focus on when building a blog in order to increase traffic and generate leads:

1) Write Unique And Educational Content

This one is more important than the four that follow. And the most important part of creating educational content is to research and understand your buyer persona.

In Adele Revella’s book Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into your Customer’s Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business, she describes buyer personas:

“In the simplest terms, buyer personas are examples or archetypes of real buyer that allow marketers to craft strategies to promote products and services to the people who might buy them.”

The more you understand your buyer persona and the journey they follow in researching and buying a solution like the one your company provides, the better your content will be.

Give some thought to (and do some keyword research on) what kind of long, specific search terms your buyer persona might be using. What are they looking for help with? Ask your sales and customer service people for a list of the top 25 questions they get from customers. Write articles that answer those questions. Whatever you write, don’t write about your company – keep the focus on what’s interesting to your buyer persona or you won’t attract much traffic.

Focus on one topic per blog post and don’t try to cover too much ground in each post. People are busy and will appreciate your content more if you can get to the point. And with blogging, remember that consistency trumps frequency. Keep publishing articles on a regular, consistent basis no matter how frequently (but once a week is a good minimum).

By publishing articles that are helpful for and interesting to your prospective customers, your site traffic will increase.

2) Format Your Blog Properly

Write a Clear Title – Keep it under 70 characters (under 60 is even better), otherwise the title won’t be visible in search engine results. Keep in mind the Copyblogger 80/20 rule that only 20% of the readers who see your title will go on to read the article. That’s why you should spend as much effort creating your title as you do writing the article.

Use Whitespace and Images – Whitespace is helpful for the reader because it makes the content more visually digestible. Pictures are extremely helpful because the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text.

Use Subheads, Numbers and Bolding – Doing so helps break up the content and make it more scannable. When reading online, people tend to scan more than they do when reading printed material.

Include a Meta Description – This is some some easily embedded HTML code that provides a concise explanation of what the post is about. The description is often displayed on a search engine results page under the blog title. Unfortunately, many digital marketers ignore this step because the search engines don’t tend to use the meta description for search engine rankings. What marketers are overlooking, however, is the human who will read the description and decide to click on the result based on it.

3) Optimize For Readers And Search Engines

Blogging helps with your search engine optimization. Each time you publish an article it gives the search engines something new to index. It’s one more chance to get found. Publishing remarkable content also increases your chances that other sites will link to yours.

According to Wordtracker, “a long tail keyword is a keyword (or, rather, a search that has been made on the internet) which is really specific to something that the searcher is looking for.”

For each blog post, focus on just one long tail keyword. And make sure to include the long tail keyword in the blog title, the URL, body copy and meta description. Include the keyword in the image alt-text as well in order to signal to the search engines what the image is about (they can’t see images – yet).

Link internally and externally. Internal linking is where you link to a page on your site that has additional information relevant to your topic. External linking is where you link to what’s outside your site (like I did above with the link to Wordtracker). And think about your anchor text, which is the text that appears highlighted in a hypertext link and is clicked to open the target web page. Search engines use what’s in the anchor text to interpret what you’re linking to.

4) Use Calls To Action

You do want leads, right? By including calls-to-action on your blog posts inviting readers to learn more about the article’s topic, you will start generating more leads.

A call-to-action is a website button, image, text link that encourages a visitor to take an action by typically clicking on the button, visiting a landing page and filling out a form in return for some kind of content. Often, that content is a white paper, eBook, webinar or a newsletter.

Put a call-to-action at the bottom of each blog post that is related to each blog post. Include calls-to-action on your blog post sidebar that include general content as well as more specific content of interest to someone looking to buy soon.

5) Promote Your Blog Through Social Media

“Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.” ~Jay Baer.

Sharing your blog posts through social media helps increase the traffic to your blog and the number of inbound links to your site. Social sharing also has an effect on search rankings. To make it easier for readers to share your content, add social sharing buttons on your blog so sharing is just a click away.

Social sharing can also help you get more customers. According to Webdam, 43% of all marketers found a customer via LinkedIn and 52% of all marketers have found a customer via Facebook.

Conclusion

Surprisingly, the easiest part of setting up a blog is the technical details. The trickiest part is producing content that focuses on your buyer persona. But if you can do both, you will begin to attract more of the right kind of site traffic and quality leads.

Source : - business2community

5 Ways To Convince Google That Your Brand Is Relevant

If it is not on Google, it does not exist.  Whether it’s news, weather, gossip, tips, song lyrics, and even video scandals, Google is everyone’s go-to-guy.  Google is also the one thing that brands and companies want to impress.  Google search is like the arena and the top search results are like the winners’ podium.

Image via Pinterest

A brand should be way up there in the search results for consumers to know they exist, they matter, they can be trusted, and they mean business. If they don’t figure in the first page of results, chances are consumers won’t even sample their content and the products or services they offer.  A research by search marketing specialist Group M Search revealed that an overwhelming 86% consider search engines like Google and Bing as very important in their purchasing process.  This means that if search engines do not find your content relevant and authoritative, your audience will also find it more difficult to find you.

More Than Words

In content marketing, writing with keywords is crucial.   However, remember that Google is not just about “words” but “meaning.”  The new Google relevance algorithm was significantly changed with the introduction of “Hummingbird,” a codename for a system of algorithm that de-emphasizes specific keywords in favor of semantic meaning.  This simply means that the inferred meaning of the query is more important than the words themselves.  Yes, Google has the capacity to interpret what you really mean even if searches are not phrased well.

Google also enhanced its “Knowledge Graph” and it is now attempting to answer questions whenever possible.  This means that Google is no longer just minding traffic but also providing content.

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In an episode of “The Baer Facts,” Kyle Lacy of ExactTarget talked about how these changes could affect a content marketing strategy.  For one, this means an end in the era of keywords and the beginning of the age of intent and meaning.  This is consistent with Google’s objective of making searches more people-oriented.  Google likes content that people are going to like as well.

For Google to prioritize your content, it’s time to stop obsessing about keywords and start making content that answers questions, explains data, and solves problems.  In short, if you want to rank in Google searches, make content that matters.

Relevance Matters

Ranking is based on relevance.  Make sure that Google understands what your website and content are all about because Google produces results that are relevant to a search.  Write your content in a language that your consumers use so when they can search you easily and generate for your brand a high Google relevance score.

Aside from content and language, another Google relevance factor is the structure of a website.  Build it in such a way that it is logical so Google will understand your content better and what your brand is about.  So the next time consumers search about “bags,” Google will instantly find your website relevant to endorse.

It would also help if content marketers stay on the loop when it comes to the trending news events.  For example, if it is Christmas and everyone’s searching for “best Christmas gifts,” you might want to do something related to that.

A Matter Of Trust

When it’s from CNN or Time, we don’t question it.  These are authorities and we simply believe them.  Google believe them too.

Google assumes that people link to sites.  Using Page Rank, Google takes all the links and starts ranking.  Show Google that your brand is to be trusted by getting more people to link to your website.  This improves your trust factor and subsequently your Google ranking.  The more websites link to your website, the sexier your website looks in the eyes of Google.

In the same way, don’t draw links from low-quality websites that can make your brand look cheap and mediocre.  Stay on the “good link neighborhood” because that’s how Google ranks your page.

Publish Just Enough Content

How much content does a content marketer need to publish for Google to take notice?  There is no hard and fast rule as far as this is concerned.  What is sure is you would want to publish some content consistently.

Know your audience and your competitors. Determine how much content you need to keep up with your customers and stay competitive.  It is also good to know where you stand. If you are secured in your position, a few quality pieces a week will do.

Two things to remember: do not produce more than you can handle and don’t publish content that is downright shitty.

Reach Out

Look up online which websites publish similar content and have high traffic.  Get in touch with the contributors and producers of the website and offer them quality content from your website then ask for link.  This is the outreach strategy which is one of the most effective ways to foster link building and improving your Google relevance ranking.  This will put you in the loop with influencers and thought leaders which in turn enhances your credibility as a brand. This should result in higher traffic for your site.

You ask: how are ranking and relevancy determined by Google?  Google search is no longer just a traffic cop but it is working on understanding human queries better.  The magic of using keywords for a better search engine optimization is probably still there but to convince Google that you have quality content means you have to provide meaning and intention to every word.

It is true then that content is king and the type of content you produce affects how Google perceives your company.  So stop trying to be so technical about your Google score.  Produce content that your readers want, not just what you are trying to rank for.  Google does not care about your company; it cares for its searchers.  Make Google look good by publishing good content and it will repay you with a rank that will also make you feel good.

source :  business2community

Travel Tip: What You Need to Know About Hotel Credit Card Hacking

Credit ­card fraud is no joke, and one of the riskiest places for credit card hacking is in hotels.

The most recent security breach was at Mandarin Oriental hotels, where hackers collected guests’ private credit­ card information. They targeted all of Mandarin’s properties in the U.S., and that may have started as far back as the end of last year.

A couple of years ago, there was a major attack on a management company with franchises like Hilton, Marriott, and Westin. Credit and debit ­card numbers were stolen from guests who used their cards in the hotel restaurants and bars.

Unfortunately, hotels tend to be big bullseyes for credit ­card fraud because of the high turnover, large number of transactions, and often outdated computer software.

Your best defense in this case is a good offense. Use a more secure card with an embedded microchip for travel. Keep a close eye on your statements, and focus specifically on small charges that wouldn’t necessarily be flagged by your credit­ card company as fraudulent transactions.

For more financial tips and information about travel scams, check out:

• Watch Out for this New Travel Scam
• How You Can Avoid Vacation Rental Scams
• What You Need to Know About Peer-to-Peer Scams
• How Smart Wallets Can Keep Your Money Safe

Source : - petergreenberg

10 biggest worries of global businesses

In a world of globalized business, companies have the opportunity to increase their scale. But they also face increased degrees of risks on many fronts. These days, the top concern of executives doing business around the world is the potential damage to brand and reputation, according to a new survey from risk management company Aon Risk Solutions. This is the first time that particular worry rose to the top since Aon began running this biennial survey in 2007.

Interviews with 1,418 companies around the world found the following 10 issues to be the most worrisome for global executives this year:

1. Damage to reputation/brand
2. Economic slowdown/slow recovery
3. Regulatory/legislative changes
4. Increasing competition
5. Failure to attract/retain top talent
6. Failure to innovate/meet customer needs
7. Business interruption
8. Third-party liability
9. Cyber-risk (computer crime/hacking/viruses/malicious code)
10. Property damage

The second item shows that companies still aren't comfortable with the pace of global economic improvement. However, such concerns finally moved from first place to second.

As worries about the world economy have abated, even if only a bit, longstanding concerns about such factors as reputation damage, competition, attracting and retaining talent, and business interruption "are taking on new dimensions and complexities," according to the Aon report.

"What's key is understanding the components of that risk [and] the connection with other risk," Rory Moloney, chief executive officer of Aon Global Risk Consulting, told CBS MoneyWatch. Executives should understand "risk in its [divisional] silo and also its exposure across the enterprise."

In the case of business interruption, companies now have to manage and protect global supply chains, in which an intricate set of suppliers and delivery routes brings together all the components for a product. A natural disaster, war, labor strike or other issue in one part of the world can disrupt the movement of goods with a chain of economic implications in multiple countries and among many different companies.

This is the first year that concerns over computer crime, hacking and malware have landed in the top 10, which is an interesting occurrence given how reputational damage is perceived as a byproduct of a digital attack and major cyberbreaches have been regular news for years.

As Sony (SNE), Home Depot (HD), Target (TGT) and plenty other big companies have learned, inadequate preparation for a cyber attack can result in ugly press and apparent reputational damage.

However, risk management can involve allowing something to happen because the costs to prevent the problem are greater than the perceived costs of the results. For example, many companies don't fix cybersecurity issues because the quantifiable financial downside is relatively tiny. According to the Ponemon Institute, Sony's reputation took a beating a few years ago after a major breach of its networks and the loss of large amounts of personal customer information. But in less than six months, things were back to normal.

Still, as the latest Aon survey found, the topic of cybersecurity has risen to the top 10 list of executive concerns.

Source : - cbsnews

IoT manufacturers must get wireless right: This North Carolina nonprofit can help

Wireless should not be an afterthought for IoT device manufacturers. The Wireless Research Center of North Carolina helps these manufacturers by serving as a wireless facilitator.

Gartner expects 4.9 billion connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices in 2015. "New, novel devices, and many ordinary objects are being reinvented with digital sensing, computing, and communications capabilities," mentions the 2014 Gartner press release. "This functionality provides both new and previously passive objects with a 'digital voice,' and the ability to create and deliver an information stream reflecting their status and that of their surrounding environment."

Now imagine all 4.9 billion IoT devices exercising their "digital voice" using Ethernet cables -- if that is even possible.

What kinds of wireless are we talking about?

As with many concepts steeped in technology, simplifying terminology happens over time. Wireless technology is no different. Marketing has distilled the many wireless technologies available to those building IoT devices to just wireless. However, that is not the case for the scientists and engineers trying to determine which communication method makes the most sense for their product.

Some of the more popular choices are:

• Wi-Fi technology: Based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, Wi-Fi added mobility to IEEE 802.3 Ethernet products. Arguably, Wi-Fi has become the de facto network/internet connection method.
• Bluetooth technology: A technology invented by Ericsson in 1994, and named afterHarald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, an ancient Scandinavian king. Bluetooth was originally IEEE 802.15.1 but came under the auspices of Bluetooth SIG.
• ZigBee technology: ZigBee is named after a bee communications method where bees, returning to the hive, perform a Waggle Dance (video) to tell other bees where to find food. The bee-technology connection is that ZigBee wireless hops from node to node as it progresses through the wireless network.
• 6LoWPAN technology: IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks is the first standard specifically developed for the IoT. The idea is to adapt the Internet Protocol communications suite to devices with limited processing and power capabilities.
• Proprietary technology: Sometimes developers prefer to use proprietary systems to meet specific design criteria. These systems still communicate (link and physical layers) with standard transceivers, but require specialized devices to analyze the data.

Getting wireless right is critical

As alluded to in the 6LoWPAN description, getting wireless to work properly (i.e., maintain communications in a variety of environments) via small, battery-powered devices with limited processing capability is not trivial, and often neither the test equipment nor the Radio Frequency (RF) engineering expertise is found in-house.

A group of individuals in North Carolina's Research Triangle recognized the need for this expertise back in 2011, and decided to fill the gap by providing wireless design, development, and regulatory help to local and global businesses.

I am referring to the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina (WRCNC) a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. "The center was conceived to support the wireless industry in three traditional sectors: defense, telecom, and medical," says Dr. Gerard Hayes, president and founder of WRCNC. "WRCNC customers now span many market segments including retail, entertainment, smart homes, energy, health-care, transportation, sustainable cities, and education."

WRCNC's capabilities

 Image courtesy of WRCNC

I connected with Randle Sherian, operations manager at WRCNC over the phone, asking him to describe WRCNC. "WRCNC is unique. There are other wireless-testing facilities, but we do much more," explained Sherian. "I would consider WRCNC a wireless facilitator. We offer both engineering and business services to support the commercialization of wireless products from initial concept through high-volume production."

Some testing capabilities offered by WRCNC include:

• Pre-compliance testing and guidance for regulatory requirements (FCC, CE, etc.) and industry standards (CTIA, IEC, and IEEE)
• Portable test equipment to help set up wireless networks, including 3 -106' portable towers, with on-board 10 Kw diesel generators, multiple antenna mount capability, and 4' x 2' NEMA secure enclosure with 19' racking
• Satimo SG-64 anechoic chamber (Figure A) that can test active and passive wireless devices from 400 MHz to 18 GHz
• Single-axis anechoic chamber that can support the investigation and troubleshooting of intentional and unintentional radiated emissions

How WRCNC ensures wearables communicate reliably

SPEAG's POPEYE

 Image courtesy of WRCNC

IoT wearables require special consideration when it comes to wireless communications. The human body affects, sometimes adversely, RF signal transmission. To help WRCNC ensure wearables communicate reliably, Sherian introduced me to POPEYEEYE, an anatomically correct posable full-body phantom from SPEAG, a developer and manufacturer of tools and instrumentation for the evaluation of electromagnetic near- and far-fields.

The Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT'IS) in Zurich, Switzerland in partnership with WRCNC are now testing and validating a POPEYE in WRCNC's anechoic chamber. "We believe the relationship with the WRCNC allows us to be proactive in understanding the challenges of testing these devices, and more importantly, better understanding the performance of these devices across multiple markets segments," states Dr. Niels Kuster, director of the IT'IS Foundation and professor at ETH Zurich.

Here's hoping IoT manufacturers use it

The avalanche has started, and hopefully IoT development companies will use R&D facilities like WRCNC rather than letting paying customers do their product testing.

Source: - techrepublic

How to do more with action cameras

Action cameras have a lot of hidden potential. They may not look like much, but they're sturdy and deliver high quality video with a unique perspective. ET presents a primer on getting the most out of these little marvels...

TIPS, TRICKS & THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ACTION CAMERAS

- Action cameras tend to have smaller sensors and ultra wide angle lens — for this reason, they work best outdoors when there's lots of light.

- Action cameras usually have a built in display, but some allow you to use a smartphone or tablet as a display though an app. They connect over WiFi and typically you can also change settings and control the camera remotely.

- You don't need to worry about 'framing a shot' or composing when using an action camera. The wide angle lens and narrow aperture captures everything in front of the camera. It also captures a lot of detail, from the foreground to the distant background.

- Action cameras are built to be sturdy — they can take a few knocks, operate in extremes of temperature, be placed in unusual locations or even underwater (some natively, others with a waterproof casing). Don't be afraid to experiment with it.

- Raw footage from action cameras is not always the best - so you need to edit it to polish it up a bit. GoPro provides the free Studio Software which gives you all the editing tools you need. Studio can be used to edit MP4 and MOV files captured by other cameras too.

- Action cameras are great for shooting time lapse videos (to show passage of time in a short duration). Some newer GoPro cameras have the time lapse feature built in. Once set, they can take a photograph once every few seconds of minutes and you can stitch them together using the editing software to make a video.

- You can use filters with action cameras too. This comes in handy since they have limited manual controls. You can use neutral density filters, polarisers and colour filters - just like with DSLRs.

- You can either get camera specific filters with mounts, or if you already have filters of your own, just stick them to the housing with tape - works just as well.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN BUY

Xiaomi Yi - US$ 64



The Yi Camera features a 16MP Sony sensor and can record full HD video at 60fps. You get a 155 degree wide angle lens, slow motion & time lapse modes, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth to connect with a phone/tablet to transfer videos. In addition, the price includes a helmet mount and pet harness.

SJCAM SJ4000 - US$99

This one is a GoPro copycat (and it's even compatible with many of the accessories). It has a 12MP sensor, comes with waterproof casing & is capable of full HD video. Plus it goes one-up on GoPro by offering a display at a low price.

GoPro Hero 3+ (Black Edition) - Rs 34,900



This is the current top-of-theline in India. It can do 4k video, shoot photos in 12MP and offers built-in WiFi, auto low light mode, ultra wide video (SuperView) and wind noise reduction.

UNIQUE ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR ACTION CAMERA

Wrist Mount



Since action cameras are compact and lightweight, you can wear them like a watch with a wrist mount. These are ideal for use while riding a bike or surfing for a unique perspective.

Chest Harness



With a chest harness, the camera is better secured and is great when you want more coverage of your arms for activities like skiing, rock climbing or off road biking.

Hand Held Gimbal



This one keeps your action camera steady using gyro-stabilised motors. Walk or run with the camera and it automatically compensates, delivering smooth videos.

KillerShot GoSwivel Mount



This helmet mount keeps the camera stable & rotates it around to capture unique video from multiple angles. A counterweight keeps the balance.

Pet Harness



With a pet harness, you can mount your camera either on your pet's head or on the back — depending on the activity you want to capture. The harness comes in adjustable sizes and is padded for comfort.

Drones

There are a number of drones with support for mounting an action camera. Typically, the mount has a stabilised, rotating base so that you can capture multiple angles from your camera in mid-fl ight.

Source : economictimes

How you can be part of the future of energy use in thousands of homes

Australian homes built with a high energy rating, as you would expect, keep the heat in and the cold out and also save their owners a lot on power bills.

But they have another benefit that’s harder to predict – they are cheaper to build.

A study by Australia’s peak science body, the CSIRO, found houses with a five star or higher energy rating used up to 50% less power in winter, depending on the city.

On top of that, high energy rated houses are less costly to build with average savings of $7,500 in Brisbane, $5,500 in Adelaide and $5,000 in Melbourne. Other benefits include lower greenhouse gas emissions – about 7% less than a home with a lower energy rating.

Just simple measures included in the standard, such as better sealing on windows and doors, also reduces the need to keep re-cooling or re-heating homes because of air leaks.

The study, The Evaluation of the 5-Star Energy Efficiency Standard for Residential Buildings, was the first to tackle the question of ratings and exactly what that means to households and whether new five star plus ratings have actually reduced heating and cooling energy costs.

The CSIRO found 414 volunteers who allowed their homes to be tested to see exactly what having a high energy rated home means.

New homes in Australia, depending on their state, now have to be rated 5 or 6 stars under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme. The previous standard was 3.5 to 4 stars.

With the benefits clear, the next problem is how to rate new homes to get to the new standards.

What does it take to reach that level and create an energy efficient home, and how do you prove the design does what it says on the packet and meets regulations?

A piece of software, created and owned by state government agency Sustainability Victoria, has emerged as the standard in creating energy efficient homes across Australia.

It has quietly influenced how, and with what materials, thousands of homes have been built in Australia over two decades.

It’s called FirstRate5 and it’s used to create an energy rating certificate which can be submitted with a development application, showing the local government authority that the new home conforms to energy building regulations.

The first version the software was created in the 1990s when there were no mandatory standards for energy efficiency. The software was distributed via disk and was purchased for a fee.

However, 12 months ago the model changed. The software comes as a free online download. The fee comes in only when a designer wanted an energy rating certificate: $20 for a new home and $10 for a renovation.

There are now 2,600 registered users of the software with about 59,000 certificates being generated over the last 12 months.

Evolution

And about 97% of all new homes built in Victoria, and about 40% across Australia, have a certificate generated by the software. It underpins energy rating regulations.

Making homes more energy efficient was entirely voluntary when the software was first released.

Over the years, the software was rewritten, new interfaces added, calculations changed. Very little of the original code is left.

And a whole industry has built up, as regulations were written for building standards and energy ratings, around the software to service builders and designers.
A designer will send drawings to an energy rater who then uses the software to build a simulation using weather data for the local climate where the house will be built.

This tests how energy efficient a house will be during the heat of summer and the cold of winter, using temperature variants for the local area. If they want to generate a certificate for a development application, they upload a file through a web interface and run a simulation on the server. A certificate is then generated, giving an energy rating from one through ten stars, and hopefully a five or higher, depending on the local state regulations.

Since the business model was changed about a year ago, from selling CDs to free downloads and a charge for certificates, the current annual revenue is approximately $1.25 million.

There is significant potential for the new owner to grow market share, and enormous opportunity to add additional revenue from new streams.

Source - businessinsider

Google Gets Inside Our Heads

In the Internet search world, Google is clearly king and marketing professionals across the globe give this tech giant the lion’s share of their search marketing attention. Every time Google makes a change to its infamous algorithm, search engine marketers scramble to assess the impact and adjust their strategies.

While Google’s algorithm changes often, the company’s ultimate vision – to deliver users the fastest and most relevant response to search queries – has not. Many of the algorithm changes over the last few years were intended to counteract those looking to cheat the search engine optimization (SEO) system to obtain short-term search result wins at the expense of delivering the most relevant content and websites to users. Inevitably, algorithm adjustments win out and “black hat” strategies, as they are called, are rendered ineffective.

In addition to overcoming manipulative strategies, Google’s advancements in search technology have allowed the search engine to function more like our brains naturally do – meaning more conversational in nature. Most of the time when we head to Google, we’re looking for the answer to a question.

If you want to know how to choose the best type of window coverings for your new home, for example, your brain might process this as “how do I pick window coverings for my home” versus “window treatment selection guide,” the latter of which follows the traditional keyword format of years past. The former option is referred to as a “long-tail keyword” and it’s more conversational in nature, which search marketers refer to as “semantic SEO.”

Semantic or conversational SEO, and the idea of Google trying to replicate our thought patterns, might make you a bit uncomfortable; it’s necessary, however, when you think of the growing number of searches initiated by voice command (e.g., via Google Glass or Siri). We don’t naturally speak in neatly organized key words. That’s why the Google team is so intent on returning results that align with a user’s real intent for the search, and why we must adjust our search practices accordingly by writing Web content conversationally.

Another vital SEO strategy is having a website that is mobile responsive (displays well on any sized device), as just recently Google began favoring mobile-friendly sites in a big way. Given that more than half of Internet activity is conducted via mobile, a mobile-friendly site is a must-have.

Equally important is generating relevant, authentic links to your website from well-trafficked, authoritative sources, like the news media. Pitch industry reporters and bloggers on stories featuring trend-setting developments your company is spearheading or ask them to consider your company for a “best of” list. Focus on quality vs. quantity of links. Directories and forums designed with the sole purpose of link building are considered “black hat” techniques and should be avoided.

Source : - memphisdailynews

5 SEO Mistakes to Avoid During Your Next Website Redesign

Search engine optimization. You’ve heard of it (you probably refer to it as “SEO”), you know its important, but it never seems to get the attention it deserves when it comes to website redesigns. More often than not, web design companies look at pages, look at the on page copy, determine the keyword and work their SEO magic.

Guess what? They’re doing it all wrong. First of all, anyone who says redesigning your website is primarily an aesthetic exercise is lying. Yes, pretty websites that are responsive and on trend are great. But you know what matters more? Giving your visitors – who could possibly become leads or even customers – useful and helpful information. People who land on your website are searching for information and trying to solve a problem – and they want answers.

Thus, content comes first.

If you don’t think about content and SEO from the start, how are you going to know:

1. What questions your content should answer

2. What your personas are searching for to get there

3. How to give your website visitors a great experience

With this in mind, here are five SEO mistakes you need to avoid during your next website redesign projecct.

Lesson #1: Thinking about SEO as only an “after design” thing

Nowadays, good web designers think about SEO from the start of a web design project. We create personas and think about their painpoints. We do comprehensive keyword research and edit content before the website even goes to design because we’ve taken the time to think about how these personas are going to find a website.

Once the site map is created and we have the content, we map out all the URL’s and all of the keywords for each page so we ensure each page is keyword focused with appropriate URL’s that include said keywords.

Lesson #2: Not using 301 Redirects

What are 301 redirects you ask? A permanent redirect from one URL to another. If your site map changes or if you’re restructuring your URLs, you need to set up 301 redirects to ensure that valuable SEO juice from your old URL is transferred to the new one.

Failing to do this may result in a drop in your rankings as well as more 404 errors (the dreaded “page not found” fail-whale) for your site’s visitors.

Lesson #3: Not having a responsive design

If you don’t have a website that can be viewed easily on a mobile device, you’re missing the boat BIG TIME. With approximately 60% of the searches that happen on Google originating from a mobile device, if your site is not responsive, you’re alienating a significant segment of visitors and potential customers.

Think about it, what do you do if you’re surfing the web at night in front of the TV on your tablet and you come across a website where you need to zoom in to read the text and can’t click the right link because it’s too small and you keep fat fingering it? You’re going to bounce right? What do you want visitors to do when they visit your site on their tablet? Stick around, right? Convert on some content maybe? So then why alienate them by making that content hard to read or hard to access?

Usability is one thing, but another factor to consider is search engine rankings. On April 21, Google implemented a new mobile algorithm that penalizes websites that are not responsive in search results on mobile devices. So that 30-50% of traffic visiting your site on their tablets? They’re going to have a much harder time finding you if your site isn’t responsive.

Lesson #4: Not tracking analytics

How do you measure your marketing efforts if you don’t track your website analytics? Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics should be installed in your existing website well ahead of your redesign so that you have some good benchmark data to use in evaluating the impact that your new site has on traffic. In addition, they should be installed on your new site prior to site launch to ensure you get all the information from the start. Google Analytics shows you everything from your bounce rate (i.e. how many people are bouncing off your website after the first visited page), to the path that visitors take to where people are bouncing off from.

Tracking your website analytics will show you how effective your new site is at attracting and converting visitors, and expose any problems that need to be addressed before they negatively impact your business.

Lesson #5: Using NoFollow tags

What is a NoFollow tag? It’s a bit of code that essentially tells search engines not to search your site. Adding NoFollow tags is common during the design phase is pretty common. After all, you wouldn’t want your customers or prospects finding your half-completed site while it is still in development, right?

If the search engine robots can’t crawl your site, then you’re not going to show up in search results. Be sure there are no NoFollow tags anywhere within the HTML or CSS code once your website redesign is complete.

The Bottom Line

More important than any best practice when it comes to SEO is to think like a human. Google rewards great user experiences so while optimizing your site for keywords is great,its more important to think like a person and consider how you would want to find the information you’d be looking for as a visitor to your site.

Stop thinking about page rankings and how to get to the top. Instead, think about giving your visitors the information they’re looking for in a concise way.

Source : - b2c

How SMBs Can Stay Aware of Evolving SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) rules are confusing, complex and constantly changing. For many businesses, for many reasons, hiring an SEO expert to figure it all out for them is too expensive to even consider. So how do they stay in the know?

Luckily, online sources give a lot of information for free. In fact, HuffingtonPost recently provided general information for SMBs without a dedicated budget for SEO. Most of the recommendations are basic, but still things that SMBs may not consider, such as ensuring that “any occurrence of your NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) remain consistent online,” because search engines seek information that matches. If your NAP information is abbreviated differently on a website or social media page, the information may not be picked up and thus, may not show up in search results. Another tip is to get your company listed among “quality relevant business listings.” That includes the Better Business Bureau, LinkedIn, Yahoo Local, Facebook, Yellow Pages and City Search—and be sure the company name and information is consistent among each listing.

According to an interview in VentureBeat, Todd Friesen, director of SEO for Salesforce, recommends that businesses get their information from the master:

“The Google Webmaster Guidelines are a great place to start, and will help you build your website in a way that Google and Bing can easily crawl your website and abstract the information they need to rank your website appropriately. Your HTML should be clean and your site should load as fast as possible. All search engines want to provide their users with the best experience possible. If your site loads slowly or cannot be crawled easily, you will lose points — because if Google can’t retrieve and understand your website, they assume their users can’t either.”

That’s a good tip. Google itself provides a lot of documentation on SEO that’s easy for even novices to understand. In the Webmaster Tools Help, you can find the Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide along with a quick, get-to-the-point, one-page summary of information. Another good read is the “Google 101: How Google Crawls, Indexes and Serves the Web,” which explains why SEO is important and how it all comes together.

Business2Community also recently listed its best practices for small businesses to use to stay ahead of the SEO game. Among the tips that will likely remain relevant for quite awhile, they list:

• Take your social footprint seriously. Remember to provide content based on what is getting the best activity on your social networks.
• Website safety is very important. Don’t skimp on ecommerce provisions and ensure that updates are always deployed to provide protection for your online shoppers and visitors.
• Mobile is becoming a necessity. Make sure your website is mobile friendly and if it isn’t, get it that way ASAP.

Another basic guide that is perfect for novices to SEO practices is this list of terminology from Leadsius. It explains everything from back links to meta tags.

And finally, Hobo Internet Marketing in the UK offers this recent tutorial on SEO for beginners. It has a video on how searches work and details the important facts that a business should understand about SEO and its importance in today’s digital market. It follows with simple tips and then delves into keyword research, page title tags, meta keywords, and lots of information on all other aspects of building a page and ensuring that it will be picked up by search engines.

A lot of this information is updated regularly. Don’t be afraid to search online for SEO help, but be sure that information comes from a reputable source. And remember, as Hobo says, “It takes time to build quality, and it’s this quality that Google aims to reward.” So getting your pages recognized and finding yourself at the top of the search results may not happen overnight, but following some of the basic rules will likely help you at least show up in the search.

Source : - itbusinessedge