Does Google use data from social sites in ranking?

Interesting video from Matt  Cutts of Google, explaining how social media interaction impacts search engine ranking.



For more information about search engine marketing, visit: http://www.web4business.com.au/articles.htm

Website Marketing - Are You Feeling Overwhelmed?

Sitting in front of my laptop trying to decide whether I should:
- write a new article,
- create a video and upload it to online video directories,
- make a few posts into various forums,
- get onto Facebook and post some helpful tips,
- share new designs on Pinterest,
- tweet my latest discoveries on Twitter, or
- write a new blog post, or perhaps I should investigate more about Search Engine Optimisation

The reality is I should probably be doing all of the above and then some …

But the longer I sit here, I am feeling more anxious and unable to move ... I can't make a decision about what to do.

If you research online about the best way to promote your business, you've probably felt the same panic. You want to keep up with the latest trends and technologies, but the online world is spinning so much faster and you just can’t keep up.

Now what?

It’s time to let off some steam (Just remember to close all the doors and windows, so your neighbours can’t hear you scream) ….

GRRRRRAAAAGHHH!!!! ….

Are you feeling better? I know I am.

I still haven’t decided whether to blog, tweet, facebook, record, write, post or eat some chocolate, but I definitely feel relieved.

What now?

Time to just sit still, turn the phone off, shut down the internet and just be – preferably outside and in fresh air.

Amazing how getting away from the computer can suddenly give you a new perspective.
By now, you are hopefully feeling a little more sane and are able to think more rationally.

One little step at a time.

Now write a list of everything you would like to achieve in a week.

2 Facebook posts
4 Tweets
1 Blog Post
1 Article
1 Video

All of a sudden it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.

If I have learnt one thing about internet marketing or working on a large project it’s this. All you need to do is take one step at a time.
Set yourself an achievable weekly goal – work on your marketing  for ½ hour to 1 hour a day and before you know it you have achieved so much.
You will be far ahead of everyone else, because most people are still sitting in front of their computer, overwhelmed and unable to move.

No need to jump onto all the latest trends and try to do everything at the same time. You only need to do a little bit every day ... select several marketing strategies and be consistent.  You will be amazed at your results, if you just start moving.
And what do you know … I’ve just done my article for the week … time to grab a coffee and watch the world go by.
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Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan or connect with Ivana on Facebook and Google+

Facebook for Business - What I Have Learnt From My 11 Year Old

So you’ve created a Facebook page for your business because your friend told you everyone was doing it and you didn’t want to be left behind. You've managed to upload the cover  picture and profile photo and have even posted on your Timeline.  Now you are waiting for people to arrive and start commenting. Each day you check the progress ... and still only 2 Likes - one from your friend Susan and one from your mum.

You decide to get really proactive and post a message on your personal Facebook profile and beg your friends to Like your page, so that your business page seems more popular. Yaay … 3 more likes from friends who feel sorry for you.

Now you have a total of 5 Likes from people whom you had to drag in and who are not really that interested in your business. They are busy enough with their own lives and not really interested in promoting your new venture.

You sigh ... now what?

It's extremely simple - start getting interested in other people!

That's something I learnt from my very social media savvy 11 year old, who is too young to be on Facebook, but who uses a social photo sharing application, called Instagram. He started “Liking” everyone else’s photos and commenting on their pictures and within a few days he had over 150
followers. How he figured this out, I'll never know.  Perhaps he started doing what everyone else was doing or maybe he was just being social. It’s human nature … if someone is interested in what we are do, we want to know more about them.

Ideally, the first thing you should do is join Facebook Groups - and there are plenty out there. Find pages where your potential customers are hanging out. For example, if you sell kids clothes, do a search on Groups which have the words “kids”, “child”, “mom”, “mum” etc. Then visit those Groups
and see how others are interacting. Many groups will allow you to post comments or questions, so go ahead and give it a go. Make sure that you share useful tips and information. Never, and I repeat NEVER try to sell anything … all you are trying to do is to get people interested in who you are.

Make sure you are posting in those groups as your business page, not from you personally. To change how you post, simply click on the down arrow in the top right hand corner of your Facebook page. You will be presented with an option that says “Post on Facebook as…” then choose your business page.

While you are being interested in others, post new comments and photos on your own page, so there is fresh content as people come to visit. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Post photos with your comments
2. Ask questions
3. Put in ‘blank’ statements, eg. This weekend I am going to ______________
4. Post news from your industry
5. Share “how to” tips
6. Funny stories and pictures
7. Give away free gifts such as ebooks and reports

I should probably backtrack a little bit first. Before you start getting interested in others and posting on your page, make sure your page is set up properly.

1. The large photo, also known as cover photo should be used as a branding opportunity. You can show off your products and also include branding statement and benefits of using your products / services.

2. The small profile photo should be your logo. The reason for that is as you make posts, this is what
will show up next to your comments.

3. Fill out all the information about your business under “Edit Page”

Once you’ve done that, you are ready to start bringing in new visitors.

It is important to understand that interaction on your Facebook page is critical to your success. The more people interact, the more your posts show in their Newsfeed. Their comments may also show up in their friends’ Newsfeeds, thus slowly spreading virally.

Search Engines also take note of your social activity and interactivity, so the more people
Like, Share, Comment on your page, the higher it will rank.

If you own a restaurant, for example, or a camel riding business, make sure you take photos of your customers (with their  permission, of course). Let them know you are planning to put their picture on your Facebook  page and where possible tag them in the picture. Most people like their 15 minutes of fame and will give you permission. By tagging your customers, their friends will also see the
picture and may become curious enough to click through to your page.

When you have been on Facebook for a while and understand how it works, you may consider running Facebook ads. Again, make sure you don’t try to sell anything in your ads, simply ask people to “Like” your page if they agree with a certain statement, for example. One successful ad, which has
brought in several hundred new likes in a short time and for very little investment, was one for Kids Universe (a business dedicated to places to go with kids). The advertisement showed a picture of an Oreo cookie and simply said “Click LIKE if you agree that cleaning the house while the kids are awake is like brushing your teeth while eating an Oreo.”

One of the key things to keep in mind, Facebook is a social medium … people are there to have fun and share information. It is not a shopping cart or a sales page. Your Facebook page should be used to build brand and credibility.
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Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan or connect with Ivana on Facebook

4 Ways to Make Money with your Website

You are most likely aware that you can earn money through your website by selling your products and/or services via an online store. But, did you know there are ways for you to easily sell other people's products without actually having to carry their stock? And the news gets even better ... you can also earn money from allowing people to advertise on your website.

If you are starting a business, but are not sure what products to sell or if you are having problems sourcing products, this may be the solution for you. And if you already have a website, there is no reason why you can't add to that revenue by adding extra income streams.

1. Advertising on your website

You could approach businesses who have similar target audiences as you and offer them space on your website to place banners or ads, but the truth is this can be time consuming and if your business is currently not getting much traffic it may be difficult to find advertising partners.

The simplest way to add advertising to your website is through Google AdSense. The way it works is this - Google AdSense places relevant ads on your website - they match advertisements to your site's content, and you earn money whenever your visitors click on them. They even offer you different options of advertising:

AdSense for Content - the robot crawls the content of your pages and delivers ads (you can choose both text or image ads) that are relevant to your audience and your site content-ads so well-matched, in fact, that your readers will actually find them useful.

AdSense for Search - this allows you to provide Google web and site search to your visitors, and earn money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.

Setting up AdSense on your website is very simple - all you do is sign up for a free account and you will be provided with a simple code that you (or your website designer) can add to your website. You can choose different styles, shapes, colours and sizes of ads.

You can learn more by going to:

www.google.com/adsense                

2. Selling other people's products via Affiliate Programs

Another way to earn money through your website is via affiliate programs.

An affiliate (also known as associate, partner or referral) program is simply any type of revenue sharing program where a website owner receives a portion of income for generating leads, traffic, or sales through a graphic or text link to a merchant website.

 

Merchants specify how much affiliates will be paid and under what payment terms, how sales will be tracked and when/how payments will be made.

 

The great thing is that it doesn't cost you anything to join and you earn commission simply by referring people to the merchant's website.

 

You don't need to ship any products or handle any payments. Again, all you do is place special code on your website and the rest is done automatically.

For an example of an affiliate program you can visit: www.web4business.com.au/recommendedbooks.htm

 

There are hundreds of different affiliate programs, so you can find products that complement your products/services. Check out:

http://www.web4business.com.au/ClixGalore.htm                

3. Your Own Amazon Store (aStore)

Amazon takes your affiliate/associate program to the next level by providing you a free online store with thousands of products. No programming is necessary. The aStore setup tool will guide you through the process and generate a URL to which you can link or embed in your site. All Associates have access to aStore, and there are no fees associated with building stores for your sites.

You can select product categories or individual products. Again you don't stock any items or process payments - you simply refer people to your store.

To learn more about Amazon aStore, go to:

http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/info6.html

4. Selling Your Own Products & Services

If you want to sell your products online, you need a shopping cart. Forget about having printable order forms or asking people to email you to place an order, because in most cases they won't. If you make it too difficult to buy your products, your visitors will go elsewhere.

You have several options:

1. Get your web developer to create a custom shopping cart for you, although this can be quite costly

2. Use existing shopping cart software (simply search for "shopping cart software" online)

3. Set up a free Paypal shopping cart - all you need to do is sign up for Paypal Business or Merchant account.

 

You may even consider setting up an affiliate/partner program, which will allow others to sell your products. The great thing about this is that you only have to pay them when they sell your products. There are some excellent websites, which allow you to easily set up an affiliate program. For more information visit the following (or simply search on "affiliate programs"

 

http://www.web4business.com.au/ClickBank.htm
http://www.web4business.com.au/ClixGalore.htm
http://www.paydotcom.com/

 

If you are spending money on developing a website, you may as well make the most of it. Affiliate/Associate Programs and Google AdSense advertising are free to join and once they are included on your website, you don't need to do anything, except promote them.

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Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan.

Tips for Great Website Design

Great website design begins with a clear understanding of how you are going to use your website - is it going to be informational only or are you going to sell products?

If your website is going to be informational only, make sure you have the following in place:

1. Professional Website Design

The website needs to be clean, easy to navigate and visually appealing

2. Relevant Original Content

Ensure your website has as much information about your products/services as possible.  When people are searching online, they want the details right there and then.  They don't want to have to wait until they can email you or speak to you on the phone

3. Website Credibility

If you can prove your credibility, it will be a lot easier for you to convert visitors into paying customers.  This can be achieved by including testimonials, before and after shots, media articles published about your business, details of awards you have won and trade associations you belong to.

4. Search Engine Friendliness

Make sure your website contains as many relevant keywords as possible.  Include them in the title of your page, in the headings, within the content and also in your images' alt tags

5. Call to Action

Ensure you tell your customers what you want them to do when they arrive on your website.  If you want them to download a report, tell them where.  If you want them to phone you, ensure you provide your phone number

If you are planning to have an e-commerce website and sell products / services online, you need to have all of the above, but also:

6. Secure Payment Gateway

People often get nervous when it comes to leaving their credit card details online, so ensure you use a reputable service, such as Paypal for processing payments.

7. Privacy & Returns Policy

Let people know you will not sell or rent their personal details and clearly outline your returns policy.

8. Guarantee

Take the risk out of doing business with you by providing a money back guarantee.  The longer the guarantee, the better.

Remember having great website design is not just about having a good looking website, it is also about what you include on the site.

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Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small Business makes it easy for you to get your business online.  If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, who can also assist you with search engine optimisation, visit Websites 4 Small Business and download your copy of a free website plan.

Search Engine Optimisation - Getting Back to Basics

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a mystery for most website owners and although thousands of articles and posts have been written on the subject, there is  often conflicting information about what is an effective SEO strategy.

In an easy to understand video “How Search Works” Matt Cutts, Google Quality Engineer explains how Google indexes pages and then delivers results when someone does a search. The main point Matt makes is that Google asks over 200 questions of each page and then delivers pages that are most relevant.

When deciding which pages to show for each search term, some of the questions Google
asks include:

Do the search words words appear in the title?
Do they appear in the URL (website address)?
Does the page include synonyms for those keywords?
Is the page on a quality website or a spammy website?
What is the page’s “Page Rank”?
How many pages link to this page?

Then Google combines all the answers, gives each page a score and delivers the results, which it feels is the most appropriate to what the visitor is searching for.

Although the exact formula for delivering search results is not known, there are basic things that you should do if you wish to rank high for certain keywords.

1. Include keywords in the Title of your pages, in the headings of your pages, in the page description and in meta keywords as well as in alt tags of your images.

2. Provide quality, original content in the website

3. Update your website regularly with fresh information

4. Get as many links as possible from relevant websites back to yours

Search Engine Optimisation is not a one off exercise … you need to keep working at it. Whilst many people try to trick the search engines, it is never a good idea, as they ultimately end up being dropped from the search engines and even banned.

Your first priority should be to find keywords which have a reasonable amount of searches each month, but for which not a lot of other websites have been optimised. There are two main tools you can use for this – Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion Tool or Wordtracker. Each works slightly differently, but both will give you an idea on the right keywords to use.

It’s never a good idea to optimise your website for generic keywords, such as “travel” or “cars” for example. You want to optimise your website for keywords that people are searching for, when they are ready to buy, not for keywords that they are searching for when they are doing research.

Ultimately, Google and other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo want to display content that is as relevant to their visitors as possible, so the more relevant content you have on your website, the better.

Remember, when one of your potential customers searches for a product/service you offer, only two outcomes are possible.

1. They find your website
2. They find your competitor’s website

So the more you do, the more chances you have of your
website ranking higher than your competitors.

You can certainly hire a Search Engine Optimisation company to do the work for you, but the truth is there is a lot you can do yourself. Just take one step at a time. Research your keywords, then add them to your website and build backlinks from other website to yours.

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Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small business makes it easy for you to get your business on the internet. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, who can also assist you with search engine optimisation, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a copy of your free website plan.

Website Business Plan

Many first time entrepreneurs’ idea of starting a business is getting a website.  And that’s it!  They have no intentions of promoting it and if they do their website business plan consists of telling their friends about the site and possibly distributing a few brochures in the neighbourhood. 

 

Some people advertise their business in the local newspaper and more often than not, they expect that as soon as they have a web site, the money will start rolling in. 

 

The truth is, it doesn’t work that way.  With millions of websites popping up on the internet every month, you are competing against a lot of businesses … not only locally, but globally.

So it is extremely important that you make a website business plan before you start designing the website yourself or getting a professional web designer to do it for you.

You need to consider what content to include on the website, what domain name to register and also what keywords and key phrases to include within the site so people can easily find you through the search engines.  And you also need to prove your credibility online, so that when you do start driving traffic to your website, the visitors will convert into customers.

If you are unsure where to start, download your copy of the free Website Business Plan.



Website Business Plan