According to the recent release of the Google Patent Application, many of the things youre doing to get better page rank and increase your position in natural search are about to be history. Its frightening how much things are going to change.
All of those folks trying to beat the system with doorway pages and invisible text are about to be (or have already been) punished by the Google Algorithm.
Why are things changing Because Google wants to remain the premier search engine, which means returning content that matters to people doing the searches. Its true, marketers are not Googles primary customer. People using search engines to find information will always remain Googles #1 priority.
Think about people using search engines for a moment. Wait, forget about them think about yourself for a moment. When you turn to the internet for answers, what do you want I may be an oddball, but when Im looking for an answer to my question, I want, yes - an answer to my question. Your prospective customers are no different. To quote Dr. Phil, People want what they want when they want it. Are you giving it to them
If youre not giving them what they want, they probably wont give you what you want ( their attention, their contact information, and their money.) But there is one thing you can do that will inspire them to visit your site, make them open your offer, and improve your search engine positioning all at the same time.
So what is the one thing thing
Provide content. Content is King and content means articles. Content means the information that addresses that web searchers issues and needs.
And its what Google expressly wants from you. Its what Google needs in order to remain the premier search engine. Its what Google will return in the very top positions of search results, even for the most popular keywords. The Patent Application makes it clear that doing this one thing is going to have a bigger impact than all the keyword stuffing and optimization you can do.
All you have to do is write a short (400-800 words) article on any topic that might be of interest to your target market. If you sell computers, write a review of some recently released technology. If you are a consultant, explain how companies can improve using some of the handy tips and tricks you know.
Your tips and tricks dont have to be the magic of your offering. You dont have to give away the store. There are some things that you consider quite fundamental in your industry - and there are thousands of newcomers who dont yet know the fundamentals. Through your articles, you will be the expert who shows them the ropes. Imagine how much this elevates their opinion of you. You become an instant guru.
You become known as an expert in your field, someone who really knows whats going on in your space. What kinds of problems might your target market be trying to solve online Write an article to explain a solution to them.
For instance:
I use Article Marketer (www.articlemarketer.com) to distribute my articles to thousands of newsletter editors for publication. It costs me $39.95 to distribute as many articles as I want for three full months. Its a great bargain.
I use a hosted service from Sales Force (www.salesforce.com) to manage my leads. It costs me $65 per month for a full-featured sales force automation and lead management system that I can get to from any computer with internet access. Like my American Express card, I dont leave home without it.
I use the free service from PRWeb (www.prweb.com) to send out press releases to the media for my clients. Their paid service is about $400, but Ive always been happy with the results from their free version.
Can you see how telling people about these tools takes nothing away from my own service offering Giving away this information does one very important thing: it makes my target market happy.
After all, how many people dont even know that www.articlemarketer.com is a tool they should be using or that salesforce.com offers a web based lead management SFA offering When they read my article, they get valuable information about something they can use right now to get more traffic, find more prospects, and increase their sales volume. They are satisfied.
Then the magic happens.
When they get to the end of my article, if they like the free information Ive provided, they will want to know more. I put my website address in the resource box (yep, see below) and I get a flood of traffic to my site. Not just any old traffic though. The people coming to my website are pre-qualified. Its what Ken Evoy says is crucial in selling online, these visitors are open to an offer from me.
They have already proven to have an interest in what Im talking about, and they already feel somewhat comfortable with me, my style, my approach, etc. When they arrive at my web site, they get a lot of information absolutely free. They can also purchase things I have for sale.
Ive seen dramatic spikes in my Simplified Selling book sales after distributing an article. The conversion rate is better too meaning I get more sales per capita than using pay-per-click or buying ads in newsletters.
Of course, its not that expensive to buy an ad in a newsletter but does anyone have enough money to pay for advertising in every newsletter that reaches a particular target market Of course not, there are hundreds of thousands of ezines published on the web and in print.
However, publishers need content and they are willing to publish your free reprint article (meaning they dont have to pay you for your writing) and in exchange they provide a link to your website.
That link shows up in newsletters to be seen by your prospective customers. You also get permanent links on websites - something else that the Google Patent identifies as important when ranking sites.
So sit down, draft out an article on some topic you like, and get it published. Watch as the world beats a path to your door.
Chris Ellington gives effective and easy to implement marketing strategies to small business owners and home business entrepreneurs. His Simplified Selling System has been a favorite of salespeople around the world. Get your free marketing strategies at
Are Meta Tags Really Dead
Right in their Guidelines Yahoo Tells You that Meta-Tags are Not Totally Dead and Buried
(The Below Information was Taken Directly From the Yahoo Help File http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/basics/basics-18.html)
Pages Yahoo! Wants Included in its Index
Right in their Guidelines Yahoo States Metadata (including title and description) that accurately describes the contents of a web page. By Title MetaData they mean the text between the title and /title Tags in the header section of your HTML Page. By Description Yahoo mean the actual Meta Tag Name=Description in the same header section. So Meta Data at least as Far as Yahoo is Concerned is Not Dead.
Lets Examine Some of the Key Points that Yahoo states are important in their help file and see how we can employ some simple methods to meet Yahoos Guideline.
Original and unique content of genuine value
Yahoo is looking for well written Keyword rich Content that has useful information. Concentrate on 1 Keyword or Keyword Phrase per Web Page. If You web Page is less then 500 Words use aKeyword Density of about 2-3%. If your Web Page is Above 500 Words Use a Keyword Density of About 5%. Try to Keep your Web Pages under 750 Words.
Pages designed primarily for humans, with search engine considerations secondary
Yahoo and Google are working hard to get rid of those Robotic Page Writers. Your pages should be fairly well written, It is OK to Optimize for search engines as long as your content is Human Engineered Well.
Hyperlinks intended to help people find interesting, related content, when applicable
Try and have 3 or 4 Links to closely related Content. It is ok to link to other web Pages within in your site but 1 or 2 external links should be mixed in when Possible. Make sure you use your Keyword or Phrase in the Anchor text for the Links.
Metadata (including title and description) that accurately describes the contents of a web page
Your Title and Description Meta Data Should Accurately reflect your web page Content. Every web page from your site should have unique Title and Description Meta Data. Both Title and description Meta Data should use your target Keywords and Keyword Phrases for the Web Page. Dont use the same keyword or keyword phrase directly next to each other in your Title or Description Metadata.
Title Meta Data
Keep your Title less then 80 Characters if at all possible. Place your Title Meta Data First (Firectly below the Head Tag. Place the exact same Title at the very top of your Web Page Preferably inside an H1 /H1 Tag.
Description Meta Data
The Description Meta Tag should appear directly under the Title Meta Data. Keep your Descriptions between 100 and 150 Characters if possible. Your Keyword Density in your Description should be about 10%. Make sure your Description accurately reflects yourweb page. Where possible the text in your description Meta Data should actually appear Word for Word near the Top of your Web Page.
Power User Super Tip Where it fits use your description within h2 tags as a Sub Page Header Directly under your title
Good web design in general
Books have been written about Web Design, Some key points is to make sure your web sites is thematic and pages are related to each other,. For every page you create to target a Keyword phrase have 3 or more (as many as 10) related pages. Add new pages once or more a week or significantly change current pages. Make your Web Pages easy to crawl. Have a well organized Drill Down Site Map. As an Example if your Web Page is about Real Estate yourSite-Map may look something like this
Yahoo in its Guidelines is telling you exactly what you need to do to get a Better Page Rank. If you Give Yahoo want they want by following these suggestions then Yahoo will reward you with what you want - A Better Page Rank.
About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Builtan Organization of over 100,000 Members
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