KEI Observation Deck: March 2009 Archives

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March 31, 2009

Replace your "Panic Button" with fresh skills

When your search engine rankings fluctuate, or even if your site
drops from the rankings, what does it mean?

Understand that these things are going to appear to happen much more often and they WILL happen to you.

What you DON'T want to do is make any immediate changes to your Web pages because of fluctuations in the rankings or because your site drops out of the rankings.

Now is the time to replace your "panic button." Replace that Panic Button with up-to-date "understanding" and refresh your skills with all of the latest information we have for you.

Remember that this year, rankings in the "traditional sense" of
the top 10 will be far less important because of the effect of
"personalization of search" which is already happening.

Far too many people PANIC in the short term, when they would be
wiser to just take it easy and not start making changes so quickly.

If you need help to understand exactly how things are changing most recently then remember to visit your local Search Engine Academy in a local community near you.

Our Agenda of New SEO Topics is here

Best regards,
John Alexander
John@searchengineworkshops.com
Http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com
Http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com
Http://www.OnlineWebTraining.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge.

Posted by John at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)

A Simple SEO Tip - Give Your Business the Attention it Deserves

Today's SEO Tip is from Ginette Degner....

"Give your business the Time and Attention it deserves.

Many of you participate in affiliate programs as an
afterthought. I challenge you to rethink your approach
and treat your affiliate businesses or projects as if
it was Macy's Department store and you owned it.

Set aside a specific time to actively work on your websites,
participate in forums, web 2.0 projects, and log into your
affiliate admin center to see what new things have been added."

Visit Ginette's Affiliate Idea Factory:

Thanks Ginette!

Best,
John Alexander

Posted by John at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)

Quick SEO Link Tip

Go through your site and look for links where the link text is useless
for "link reputation" to your site.

For example, are you using links that use the phrase "More Info"? Or,"Click here"?

Try adding your keyword phrase to those short sentences in this
manner: "More info on ." This will help build your
internal link reputation and link popularity.

Remember the 80/20 rule for topic drift as well.
8o% of the time stay focused on your primary phrase...
20% allow for some variance using synonyms and
semantically related terms.

Do you want more Free SEO Tips?
Grab hundreds of them for free right here!

Best wishes,
John Alexander
Search Engine Workshops comes to Philadelphia on April 20-24

Posted by John at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

Tips on Keyword Research

What types of root words tend to be more telling than others
with comprehensive research?

Look at phrases and terms that are "action related" for looking up
examples. For instance if you remove the subject from the action
you may discover totally unrelated (but valuable) data.

Example: Uses of a sales presentation.

Take only the term "uses of" as you root word to see what other
examples people are looking for...

"Use of Miss Ms in Titles" KEI 784.0

"Use Of Mercury In WWII" KEI 1936.0

"Use of Test Tube in Laboratory" KEI 2401.0

"Uses of Mood Color" KEI 3841.0

If you need help with keyword forensics and exploring user behavior, here is the book that goes into detail on how to do this quickly.

Are you looking for several hundreds of Free SEO Tips?

Best wishes,
John Alexander
Search Engine Workshops

Posted by John at 05:55 PM | Comments (1)

March 30, 2009

Traditional TV Remains “800 Pound Gorilla In Video Media Arena

Ground-Breaking Study of Video Viewing Shows Younger Boomers Consume More Video Media Than Any Other Group.

Traditional Television Remains “800 Pound Gorilla” In Video Media Arena

NEW YORK, NY – March 26, 2009 – A pioneering study conducted on behalf of the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence (CRE) by Ball State University's Center for Media Design (CMD) and Sequent Partners dispels several popular notions about video media use, finding that younger baby boomers (age 45-54) consume the most video media while confirming that traditional "live" television remains the proverbial "800-pound gorilla" in the video media arena. (See appendix for more detail.)

The research found that:

--Contrary to some recent popular media coverage suggesting that more Americans are rediscovering "free TV" via the Internet, computer video tends to be quite small with an average time of just two minutes (a little more than 0.5 percent) a day.

--Despite the proliferation of computers, video-capable mobile phones and similar devices, TV in the home still commands the greatest amount of viewing, even among those ages 18-24. Thus, in the eyes of the researchers, this appears to dispute a common belief that Internet video and mobile phone video exposure among that group (and the next one up, age 25-34) were significant in 2008.

Read the full details at the Council for Research Excellence
Web site: Video Consumer Mapping Study

Highlights in brief:

-- 99% of the video people watch is on TV;
-- Only 1% on computers
-- The age group 18-24 years watches 98% of its video on TV
-- Average consumption is 309 minutes of live TV per day
-- Plus 23 min. of watching DVD/videotape and 15 minutes of DVR
-- 2 minutes of watching video on the computer
-- 49 minutes of Web browsing per day and 37 min. of email use
-- people spend 16 times as much time with email as with computer
video.

As old fashioned as newsletters are, they still work remarkably well.

Grab a Free SEO Tip each and every Day

Check out Usability Expert Jacob Nielson's
First Rule of Usability - Don't Listen To Users

Why not?

Because when participants were asked to recall their behavior, the participants in the study underestimated their amount of TV viewing by 25% and overestimated their use of online video and mobile video.

Posted by John at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2009

Stock related keyword phrases - fair to high KEI

Today, let's dip into Wordtracker's comprehensive search feature for a little quick observation of "stock related" keyword phrases from fair to high KEI.

Here we go...

"stock market history graph" KEI 359.1

"bridgewater equity stock information" KEI 400.0

"real time stock ticker" KEI 548.7

"historical chart stock market" KEI 832.0

"long term stock graphs" KEI 2,921.0

"free historical stock charts" KEI 9,281.0

"fltw stock price" KEI 16,280.0

That's what I came up with in just 2 minutes.
I'm sure there is much more.

Do you need help speeding up your keyword research in Wordtracker?
Read Wordtracker Magic 2.0 - Keyword Forensics for SEO

Check out the upcoming April Agenda of SEO Topics being taught
April 20-24 with Robin Nobles, Michael Marshall and yours truly!

Class begins in just 23 more days from now.

Registration Info is here

Read a few recent student success stories here.

Best wishes,
John Alexander

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2009

Questions and Answers on Keyword Research Accuracy

Here are a few more Questions and Answers on Keyword Research:

Question:

Can you tell me how a phrase that has no competing pages
can have such a low KEI. I have found many phrases that have a low
KEI and little or no competing pages.

Answer:

Each keyword phrase performs differently against its own
search landscape depending on the competitiveness of the industry.

So, use KEI as a quick method to bring the best windows of
opportunity to the top, but that's all. Then forget about KEI and
start focusing on how competitive the phrase is AND how useful the
phrase is.

Can the phrases you are considering actually be used intelligently
and relevantly in your content? KEI is just a mathematical equation
that you can use to quickly sort results so (which can save you
hours of sifting.) As a rule the higher the KEI, the easier your job
will be.

Here are 3 more Questions and Answers on Keyword Research:
Keyword Research Q & A - More New Insights to Accuracy

Also check out the upcoming local community SEO Workshops in a community near you next month.

Highest regards,
John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineworkshops.com
http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com

Grab a Free SEO Tip each and every day!

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge.

Posted by John at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2009

2 new improvements just announced by Google

Google just announced yesterday, that they are rolling out two new improvements to Google search.

The first offers an expanded list of useful related searches and the second is the addition of longer search result descriptions -- both of which help guide users more effectively to
the information they need.

Here is a snippet:
"Starting today, we're deploying a new technology that can better
understand associations and concepts related to your search, and
one of its first applications lets us offer you even more useful
related searches (the terms found at the bottom, and sometimes at
the top, of the search results page)."

Read Google's full story here:

What does this mean?

This feature in the refinement of the search results highlights an
even greater importance of accurately identifying and using words
related to your primary targeted keyphrase in your content and links.

For helping you to instantly discover which secondary supporting
terms are MOST important based on a search engine's artificial
intelligence check out this new tool:

"SEM SCOUT"
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/semscout.html

Highest regards,
John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com
http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2009

Planning Tips for the Fiscal Year of Your Online Business

One of the things to watch in a slower economy is taking time to plan for things that can dramatically improve your online business.

Here are a few tips:

--Review your track record for product sales last year as well as
services. Plan ahead and consider what market there will be for them
for 12 to 24 months ahead.

--Analyze your customer's level of satisfaction.

--Consider carefully how you will improve your traffic. Review past
PPC spending and evaluate whether you might benefit from more
organic visibility.

--Review other types of advertising and plan carefully based on what
you see has worked for you in the past.

--Trim back on spending in the areas that have not proved to serve you
well.

--Plan ahead to meet all your commitments and delegate where possible.

One of the most important aspects of an online business is to analyze how well your business is profiting. Is it moving ahead or falling behind or not changing at all.

If you need for profits to change, consider using slower business as a way to advance yourself and your employees with new skills. A report last month from eMarketer predicted that search engine optimization (SEO) will grow in the next five years with companies spending $3.8 billion by 2013.

In its Digital Outlook Report 2009, online marketing agency Razorfish finds that search engine optimization (SEO) will become an increasingly important part of marketing campaigns - overtaking even pay per click.

For information about attending a Local SEO Skills Workshop in a community near you, check Search Engine Academy.

For Online SEO Skills Training visit here.

Also check this page for more dates in Philadelphia 20-24 in April 2009 and Las Vegas in May 2009.

Posted by John at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)

Examples of Semantics related to "antique furniture"

If we want to consider MORE than synonyms, but all words that a search engine "thinks" are related to "antique furniture" then consider a few of these:

I did not get these from the Thesaurus, but they are definetely related to the phrase "antique furniture" based on a search engine's natural language processing:

walnut
oak
mahogany
porcelain
reproduction
eighteenth century
commodes
paintings
asian furniture
Carving
styles
rustic
glassware
plus a lot more.

It's easy to see how choosing secondary supporting words and working them into your Web copy can help you create more relevancy by using terms based on what the search engine "understands" rather than just using a Thesaurus.

Where I got the semantically related words was out of Wordtracker's FULL SEARCH function. Full Search will give you lists of words related to the keyword phrase you enter.

These words make great suggestions for modifying your content by mildly re-writing it using words that make sense to Googles AI.

When you are building links into your site from other locations, you want your links to be focused on your primary keyword phrase about 80% of the time. Then about 20% of the time you want to use these types of supporting terms where it makes sense and reads well.

Remember, that you never want your linking strategy to looked contrived. The technical term for this 20% variance is called "topic drift." Next, perhaps you want to examine your Web page in a whole new light of Natural Language Processing.

Are you looking for Free SEO Tips Daily?

Posted by John at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)

Semantics for SEO - About secondary supporting terms

When you look at how intelligently search results are returned, sometimes it may be enough to convince you that a search engine has intelligence. In a certain way, it does.

Regardless of how intelligent the search results "appear to be," the search engine cannot really "think" like a human being does.

However, a complex process known as NLP or "Natural Language Processing" and Latent Semantic indexing comes into play so that whenever any content is considered by a search engine using AI, the search engine forms it's "understanding" of the meaning of words and the semantics of word associations based on the body of all of the entire data that it has collected on the Web.

This may include Blogs and even real world news.

The best way to think about "supporting terms" is this.

Secondary supporting keyword terms that a search engine "understands" are directly related through its "artificial intelligence." These may be synonyms, but they also may be other word relationships too.

Watch this short video about how you can discover the words that are semantically related to your primary phrase, based on what a search engine "understands" about your topic.

How to find truly related Synonyms to your keywords
(without using a thesaurus)
By John Alexander

Posted by John at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

John Alexander's Birthday Wish for March 19, 2009

Today (March 19) happens to be my birthday so I thought I would
extend best wishes to all SEO Tip Readers and also let you know
about my special "birthday wish" for this year.

The beginning of SEO starts with understanding. Understanding your
audience and understanding how the search engines work. I'm sure
you'll agree of all industries out there today, you might say
"continued learning" is absolutely essential in todays economy.

If you are doing things this month, the way you were doing them back
in 2007 or even 2008, you might be surprised to catch up with all
the changes of recent.

But even before we talk about SEO, there is the basic ability to
learn "by reading" to gain basic or new understanding. It does not
matter whether you wish to read journals, scientific white papers,
SEO course material or the Bible - you still MUST be able to read
in order to benefit.

There is an massive gap in society today with nearly an invisible
group of people who have not ever grasped even the basic literacy
skills. You can't tell who they are because they look just like you
or me or anyone. They are intelligent. Sometimes embarrassed if a
friend finds out they can't read, they hide it. But the truth is
they have simply fallen through the cracks of the public school
system or perhaps, their parents had never learned to read so they
could not encourage their own children either.

For my Birthday wish I want to help people that need help with those
literacy skills (so that they can also continue learning.)

So here is my Birthday Wish for March 19, 2009.

I am asking if you and any of my KEI Observation Deck Blog readers would join me in supporting the cause of Literacy.

Let's spread the word and help others to understand how important
literacy is to continued learning in today's society. Try and imagine
what it must be like not to visit your Doctor, but not be able to
read the directions on a prescription?

I'm not asking for donations, if you can't give - but consider
joining me in the literacy support group on Facebook. By joining the
group, you show you support literacy.

Let's help make everyone more aware of literacy issues and even if
you don't use Facebook, then check out your own local literacy
council in your own local community.

Let's help do whatever we can because illiteracy does not have to
even exist. If everyone does a little, together we can accomplish a
lot. Thank you to those of readers who already support the cause of
literacy. You have no idea how special you have made my birthday.
Thanks for caring enough to help the next person grasp skills that
will help them improve life's journey. You make the difference!

Highest regards
John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com
http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com
http://www.sew-wrc.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2009

Online SEO Instructional Line up for March/April 09

Join me tomorrow at 11AM EST when I'll be meeting with SEO Workshop Resource Members for a 1 Hour Chat on the topic of:

Accuracy in Semantics & Word Relationships for SEO in 2009
(How to Work with Synonyms and Secondary Supporting Terms.)
with John Alexander
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT
Professional SEO Chats

If you are not a member, you'll need to sign up to have access to all of our new Instructional Chats and Webinars at the Online SEO Workshop Resource Center.

Other new topics coming up soon include:

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 11 a.m. EDT
Ask Anything About SEO Q&A Session (GoToMeeting version)
(No questions are too basic)

This will be a special "chat" conducted via GoToMeeting where we can
screen share and talk on the phone. This is not held in our regular chat rooms and is similar, but different from our Webinars. Everyone can speak on the phone or via VoIP during this session (see below for more details). This is limited to the first 25 people that attend the day of the chat. There isn't any pre-registration.
Led by Martin Preece and we may have a few guest panelists too.

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Link Building (as if your online business depended on it...it does!)
(Bring your own link building ideas and let's come up with a great list to share with each other!)
Led by Robin Nobles
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT; 4:00 p.m. BST
Auditorium

PLUS...

April Chats and Webinars:

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Beginning Chat: Ask Anything Q&A Chat
(No questions are too basic)
Led by Martin Preece
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT; 4:00 p.m. BST
Beginning Chats

Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 11 a.m. EDT
Webinar - Panel Discussion -
How to Save Time by Sorting True SEO Priorities for Your Web Site
Panelists: Robin Nobles, John Alexander and Michael Marshall
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT; 4:00 p.m. BST

Join Robin Nobles, John Alexander and Michael Marshall for this
informative panel discussion. There will be a Q&A session after the
presentation.

Topics covered:
Robin - Tips on quality content - a must for the future
Michael - Tips on Understanding the New Search Landscape
John - Every set of challenges need a different priority - how to address what yours should be.

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Web Site Reviews
(Bring your site URL and get a free review in the chat)
Led by Steve Scott of SEO Training Academy of Tampa
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT; 4:00 p.m. BST
Conference Room #4

Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 11 a.m. EDT
Webinar - Switch on the "Uniqueness Factor" for your Web Presence
Brainstorming session with Robin Nobles and John Alexander
8:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 3:00 p.m. GMT; 4:00 p.m. BST

Join Robin Nobles and John Alexander for this interactive brainstorming session. Come to this Webinar and get direct feedback from Robin and John about "Switching on the Uniqueness Factor" for your Web Presence.

Access our Basic SEO Courses, Advanced SEO Courses, and attend any of these new Live Instructional Chats or Webinars all included in your $49 monthly SEO Workshop Resource Center fee. (No extra charges or hidden charges apply)

You can also access many of our past Webinars (that you may have missed and watch them on demand) or access up to 4 years of past instructional Chat Archives with some of the top SEO industry educators. If you are not a member yet, you can sign up here and access everything for one low monthly fee.

We also have the following Live SEO Mastery Workshop available right within your own local communities:

March 23 - 27, 2009 Sacramento, California
Bay Area Search Engine Academy
2-, 3-, and 5- day Search Engine Workshops
Conducted by Thomas Petty
http://www.bayareasearchengineacademy.org/

March 23 - 27, 2009 White Plains, NY
Search Engine Academy - New York Metro
2-, 3-, and 5-day Search Engine Workshops
Led by SEO Industry educator Mike Sancimino .
Serving the New York City Metro area
http://www.seanymetro.com

March 27 - 29, 2009 Livonia, Michigan
Search Engine Academy of Metro Detroit Michigan
3 day Boot Camp SEO/SEM Workshop
Conducted by Greg Aldea
Register online at http://www.sea-metro-detoit.com

March 30 - April 3, 2009 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Search Engine Academy West
2-, 3-, and 5-day Search Engine Workshops in Vancouver BC
Led by SEO Industry educators Muriel Archibald & Shelly Coe
http://www.searchengineacademywest.com/

March 30 - April 3, 2009 Phoenix, Arizona
Search Engine Academy SW
2-, 3-, and 5-day Search Engine Workshops
Led by SEO Industry educator Roy Reyer
http://www.seotrainingsw.com/

April 16 - 20, 2009 Singapore
Asia Search Engine Academy
5-day Search Engine Workshops
Led by SEO Industry educator Fabian Lim.
http://www.asiasearchengineacademy.com/

April 16 - 20, 2009 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Asia Search Engine Academy
5-day Search Engine Workshops
Led by SEO Industry educator Fabian Lim.
http://www.asiasearchengineacademy.com/

April 20 - 24, 2009 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2-Day. 3-Day & 5-Day Limited Enrollment SEO Mastery Workshop
This class includes the Complete 5-Day Workshop but includes much more
personalized Trainer to Student interaction based on an extremely limited enrollment.
2-, 3-, and 5- day Search Engine Workshops with Robin Nobles, John
Alexander and Michael Marshall
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/registration.html

April 20 - 24, 2009 Tampa, Florida
Tampa SEO Traning Academy
2-, 3-, and 5- day Search Engine Workshops
Conducted by Steven Scott
http://www.tampa-seo.com/

Posted by John at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2009

Understanding more about natural language processing and SEO

One of the things it seems more and more people are becoming aware of (as compared to only a few years ago) is how the search engines are using Artificial Intelligence or (AI) for Natural Language Processing or (NLP.)

Here is one of the sharpest Interviews that I've seen posted in a while on semantics for the Web and particularly on natural language processing.

In a March 16th Blog post by Joe Hall, we have a very interview between Joe and Marie-Claire Jenkins (a.k.a CJ) who is completing a PhD in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence at the University of East Anglia.

For the full interview check out Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim Blog.

Once you have read this, also be sure to check out a new tool called SEM SCOUT which was created by LSI expert Michael Marshall.

You can easily begin to see the advantages of Michael's latest SEM SCOUT once you understand the importance of of Natural Language Processing and get a clearer idea of how NLP works to support strategic or advanced SEO formulas.

Also be sure to visit the Science For Seo Web site which has a wealth of info on Natural Language Processing by Marie-Claire Jenkins.

John Alexander
Search Engine Workshops

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2009

SEO Tips for REALTORS and Real Estate Professionals

If you are in the Real Estate Industry, you are in a highly competitive industry that will require some leading edge thinking when it comes to SEO skills and search engine marketing.

At Search Engine Workshops, Robin Nobles and I have been teaching SEO skills to REALTORS now for over 7 years. Search engine marketing is a process of several important elements combined together.

As you shift your focus to serve the searcher's need first, before going after your own "business objectives," you are accomplishing and implementing one of the most powerful uses of a Web site, ever.

You are creating a Web property that ultimately will be used to assist you in forming genuine, "relationships" with your ideal buying or selling visitor audience.

Please learn to look beyond just hunting for keywords. Look beyond SEO and look beyond top rankings. Life is all about forming relationships with your customers and helping them with solutions that make a difference.

If you invest early in your own education then it'll save you hundreds of hours of time from learning the hard way.

Learn how to use your real estate Web site for

1. Gaining genuine visibility for the right type of data within the
top results of the search engines.

Ask any real estate professional the value of knowing exactly what
their customer is looking for. Is it really MLS listings? You might
be surprised these days to see how people are searching
the Internet for "cost of living comparisons" or "crime statistics"
or even just where the local Churches are located.

2. Satisfy the reason why the visitor searched.

Visibility without the right method to contact you now is a waste
of time. Does your Web site generate response and leads
and customer contacts? If not, we can help.

3. Learn how to compel your visitors to respond to what they
experience.

Your Web site needs to dialog with your prospect and give them
a certain comfort level with you the real estate professional.
Do you know if all of the right pieces are in place to do this
in the minimal amount of time?

4. Use your Web site ultimately as a lead generator and to fashion
genuine relationships.
A genuine relationship means communications that are useful and
helpful and will keep the prospective home buyer number 1 at all
times. The benefit - A lifetime customer who will always come to
you first for real estate advice.

5. Learn what is important to your online searchers through visitor
behavior.
There is nothing else as powerful as understanding the conditions
in your customers life that cause them to search the way they do.

Are you looking for real valuable assistance in search engine marketing? You need look no further than your Local Search Engine Academy located in a community near you.

Highest regards,
John Alexander
Director Search Engine Academy
http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com
http://www.SEW-WRC.com

Posted by John at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

Part 4 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Learn how to explore peoples interests and then try shifting the focus of your message to an opposite approach.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to always consider taking a reverse approach or a look at an old topic through a new angle or view. People are interested in a wide array of topics but don't just explore the obvious ones.

Always see if a reverse spin might make a better story or deliver a truth that people have not considered before.

What are topics of interest?

It might be fashion, crafts, sports, classic movies, biographies around someone's life. It might be something around reading interests or writing interests or perhaps the study of electronics or something like singing, movie direction or piloting an aircraft. Whatever your topic of interest, try to apply a reverse approach to see if it makes better reading or will attract that new audience.

If you are writing content on the top tips for successful Bass fishing, what would happen if instead, you identified and wrote about the 10 most common mistakes made by new Bass fisherman. If you are writing content on any subject always consider looking at the possibilities of writing from either an opposite or a different point of view to deliver your message.

In summary:

Learning to shift your focus from the natural approach to provide content with a slightly different focus will also attract a slightly different audience. Maybe an entirely new audience or several new audiences that will ultimately translate into new business for you.

But it can never happen unless you provide content that reaches beyond your own selling objectives or your Web site's initial reason for existing.

You have to be willing to explore data and consider taking an entirely new creative shift from time to time which usually means accurately understanding what your marketplace is doing. Not by guessing but through genuine research of accurate data. Of course none of us ever say that we are guessing, but that is exactly what you are doing when you let your focus remain limited to the one audience that we are " in the habit of serving" from our past experience instead of exploring the wealth of data and research intelligence that is available to us today.

Be encouraged and remember that IF your Web site is a great success.....keep doing what you are doing. But if you are not experiencing success, it may be time to try a whole new approach.

If you want to experience top visibility on the major search engines, higher conversion ratios with fresh multiple new audiences, we teach the full scope of SEO skills at our local Community based hands-on SEO Mastery Workshops and Mentoring program now available across the US, Canada and in Asia through the Search Engine Academy.

Best wishes for ongoing success!
John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)

Part 3 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Part 3 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Shift your focus in creating a brand new Blog on a specific topic.

Blogs are nearly like living breathing entities with bloggers discussing every topic under the sun.

Have you thought about starting your own blog and getting some discussion going on a topic based on an interest you have and on a topic that has some purpose. This purpose is what you want to give some initial thought too.

Ideally you want to Blog about a topic that you have some experience in and are knowledgeable about. Choose a topic that you feel you have some original views about.

But then shift the focus to make it interesting and different than what your competitors are doing.

Read the article of Robin Nobles called, Blogs with a purpose.

Part 4 and Summary coming right up.

John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com

Posted by John at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

Part 2 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

2. Shift your focus by exploring complimentary products and services through affiliate marketing.

If you are already attracting a specific type of visitor to your Web site to purchase your product or service, then the competition may not always be your enemy.

Watch for products and services that are complimentary to what you offer through a generous affiliate program.

Did you know you can be earning additional income streams by simple adding useful content and links to your Web site? You promote complimentary products in exchange for an affiliate commission.

Try Clickbank.com for a range of digital products.

Try NeverBlue.com (for a variety of interesting products)

Also remember to shift your focus by learning to explore hot topics of interest through Wordtracker.com
Did you know that you can use

Wordtracker as your window on the world of search behavior? I'll keep this short. It's much more than keyword research. Its about exploring the hidden evidence that 99% of most Webmasters miss. Be sure to read up on Keyword Forensics.

Listen to a few Wordtracker Magic audio tips here.

Part 3 coming up shortly

Posted by John at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)

Part 1 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

For many folks here is what the main challenge is in attracting new visitors.

It is in seeing beyond the product or service we are trying to offer and expanding our scope of research beyond our own objectives for our Web site. If I sell insurance, what else is there beside "insurance quotes?"

The challenge for most of us is that we can't "shift our focus" to something that does not seem to immediately serve our interest. If it does not make sense and tie in directly with the sales objectives for our Web site, why even bother exploring it, right?

Think about this. Many of us only tend to focus on the audience that we are "in the habit of serving" from recent and past experiences.

The truth is that we often may not give all future potential prospects our full availability (or visibility) because of the very narrow focus that our recent experience tends to limit us to. Now think about this for just a minute or two.

Do you just have one specific audience? There may be some who feel they have a product that only services one audience. In fact I know some who may be convinced of it. But with a little brainstorming and research, you can explore and find entirely new audiences that need your product or services. There are new audiences out there right now that are searching for your solution, but the only trouble is, you are not making it very easy for them to find you because the focus of your Web content may be far too narrow.

Part 1. Simple Ways to Shift Your Focus and Attract New Web Visitors

1. Shift your focus by stopping the hunt for "keywords" and start thinking about "behaviors."

Realize that people are using the Internet to perform research on topics that are "important to them" and "based on the conditions and circumstances in their lives." Stop thinking so mechanically about "what keywords people are putting into that search box in Google" and begin to understand that it is the conditions in the searchers life that are dictating how the searcher is using the Internet. It is fascinating research!

For Insurance Web sites - Perhaps all you've been thinking of is trying to optimize for a phrase like "insurance quotes."

Instead, you consider exploring other terms like VIN (Vehicle Identification Numbers) and ask yourself how this might fit into your Web. Ask yourself "Is it not likely, that people searching for a VIN number, probably own a vehicle?" Then why not create a helpful database to identify where those VIN numbers are located on various vehicles. (This is just meant to be a simple example, there are many other behaviors you can learn from.) But serve the needs of the searcher first and in the meantime, if they want an insurance quote, they can request it with the right type of compelling ad copy contained in the site. Trust me it works. Focus on satisfying the searchers needs before your own objective. That can be hard to do if you don't perform excellent research and stop relying on guess work.

For Travel Web sites - Perhaps you've continually focused on keyword phrases involving "travel" or "cheap airfares." You think to yourself that this is all there is. Expand you scope of research and begin to explore other topics and alternatives that can bring you a whole new world of travelers (who are not necessarily looking for the cheapest flights.) What else might they be looking for? Think behavior. One of the things travelers might like to search for are "Things to do in Toronto" or Things to do in Alaska or wherever their destination is. They might be looking for directions or maps or even reviews on entertainment. By creating alternatively focused content that is researched and well written, you will attract people to your travel center that you would otherwise completely miss.

For Solutions based Web sites that are selling a product or service. If you selling an SEO tool that is made for the Webmaster community, that's great. But what about the other businesses that could benefit from your tool? You won't attract them with a bunch of SEO related jargon. Let's say you are trying to attract people to your health product? Okay, so it's a new vitamin supplement that helps provide some kind of solution (let's say it helps fight off symptoms of depression.) Is your only buying audience the "heath food" conscious crowd? Not at all. You might want to explore the search habits of those who are going through some trauma in their life. Mortgage foreclosure, relationship breakups or even those who have recently been downsized from their job. Don't you think these people might have the use for a health product that helps fight depression?

If you are a Real Estate agent who is convinced that the only valuable search terms that are available are MLS Listings or other industry related jargon, listen to this short interview on "Keyword Forensics" which includes many tips for Real Estate Agents.

There are nearly always more than one audience for your product or service or information. Sometimes multiple audiences that could benefit from what you have to offer. Want to read more about expanding your research capabilities based on user search behavior?

Read Keyword Forensics 2.0

Stay tuned for another 4 parts to this article coming up next.

John Alexander
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge

Posted by John at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

Personalization of Search - New Solutions to the Imposed Challenges of Ranking

Once you have optimized any page, your log files will often show you
how people are finding that page. Not just what keywords they are
searching for to get there.

If you discover that people are using specific keyword phrases that
you had not originally thought of, it is in your best interest to
further explore those keywords. Try this keyword research tool to dig much deeper into actual Google Data.

Hint: More and more, you will discover that there is huge value in
knowing how to analyze your log files as opposed to focusing on
ranking reports the way you have in the past.

Why is that? Traditional ranking reports are becoming less and
less useful as the "personalization of search" grows in popularity.

Once you have optimized any page, your log files will often show you
how people are finding that page. Not just what keywords they are
searching for to get there.

If you discover that people are using specific keyword phrases that
you had not originally thought of, it is in your best interest to
further explore those keywords.

Hint: More and more, you will discover that there is huge value in
knowing how to analyze your log files as opposed to focusing on
ranking reports the way you have in the past.

Why is that? Traditional ranking reports are becoming less and
less useful as the "personalization of search" grows in popularity.

Are you looking for a powerful new alternative keyword research tool that let's you dig much deeper than Meta Crawler results?

SEO Sniper actually runs a superior (more accurate) KEI scoring and it works directly with Google search results.

Are you looking for more free SEO Tips each day? We have hundreds of SEO tips we send out Free!

Highest regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com
http://www.SearchEngineAcademy.com
Http://www.OnlineWebTraining.com

Like the only REAL magic - the magic of knowledge.

Posted by John at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2009

Roy Reyer joins Arizona Search Engine Academy

As a retired cop, Roy Reyer initially entered the world of Internet marketing without much knowledge about search engine optimization.

However, after a negative experience when a third-party SEO firm's unethical practices caused his website to be blacklisted by Google, Reyer felt it was time to take the fate of his Internet success into his own hands.

By taking classes instructed by Robin Nobles and John Alexander, Reyer learned how to build a sustainable online business, and this year has joined forces with Search Engine Academy for Arizona.

Read the latest news about the new Arizona Search Engine Academy here.

Roy Reyer is helping Arizona residents combat a tough economy and rising unemployment rates with invaluable Internet marketing skills taught through the Arizona Search Engine Academy workshop.

Search Engine Academy also has a family of educators located throughout business communities across the United States, Canada and in Asia.

To find the closest Search Engine Academy in a community near you check the future dates page.

Posted by John at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2009

15 Keyword research Tips for finding the Hottest Niche Phrases Quickly

15 Keyword research Tips for finding the Hottest Niche Phrases Quickly

These days most professional search engine marketers all have access to the most common research tools. For this article, we'll explore one of my favorite research tools, Wordtracker.com.

But before we get started, have you ever wondered why some people experience limitations initially in performing effective keyword research? What are the most common elements can that block some people from doing fast and effective keyword research? Why can't some people find the best results as quickly as others?

Let's talk about this first. Then I'll share some quick and easy "how to" tips that I hope will help you.

A few years ago, I wrote an e-book called Wordtracker Magic and now I have just completed volume two which is called, Wordtracker Magic 2.0 - Keyword Forensics .

I've spent time helping to teach students about how to quickly tap into the best keyword phrase trends and niches very quickly. Let's start by outlining a couple of the more common errors some people can make initially, when first using Wordtracker.

For a while, I actually had the privilege of working with Wordtracker support and answering peoples keyword related questions on a regular basis, a few years ago. That was a great learning experience.

What I learned was that often, people were sometimes not finding the best niche phrases available, simply because many people naturally tended to want to "guess" at keywords, rather than fully explore the existing fresh data.

Some people say and use the word "research," but then tend to want to rely on their own "logic" or recent real world experience to examine specific phrases. In short, whether we admit it or not, there is a tendency for some of us to "guess at the keywords" that we *think* that make the most sense, but at the same time we miss a wealth of information in the process of having such a narrow focus.

First tip: Stop guessing at what keyword phrases people "might" be entering into the search box.

One of the biggest blocks to the process of exploring the fullness of Wordtracker's available data, is simply that most people naturally tend to guess at keywords, rather than explore all of the data. Many Wordtracker users start out with the idea of trying to dictate to the tool, which keywords that they ***THINK*** are most relevant. But the truth is every time we guess at the terms that make the most sense, we are not really letting Wordtracker reveal its best information.

Think about the process more in this way....The more you "think like everyone else thinks" (usually drawing keywords that are already lodged into your mind based upon your experiences)....then the more you will be thinking like the rest of your competition. The more our eyes and our thinking and our ability to observe is attracted towards keywords that "make the most sense" to our brains the more we tend to discover exactly the same keywords as the rest of the world are discovering. So we can get disappointed real quick and have the feeling that there just are no real "niche phrases" available anymore. In this mindset, we only find limited results based on logical guess work.

What this usually means, is huge numbers of competing pages all trying to rank for deadly dull, obvious phrases.

Of course you can build your skills so you can compete with highly competitive phrases and you can win the game too, but that's not the point. A much wiser approach is to learn how to "think differently" in order to allow yourself the ability to explore the data that 99% of your competition never will see or find.

Why not tap into important keyword phrases that are legitimate (with fair to high usage but that have MUCH lower competition because most competitors never even find it or often they never even see it?

The focus of genuine keyword research is not to guess at keywords, but to learn how to quickly explore the best data, OTHER than the common logical keywords that are already lodged into our minds.

Second Tip: Stop relying on allowing your "logic" and your "experience" to dictate how you will explore data.

This is easy to say but in the beginning it takes a little practice to do.

Sometimes when you research single keywords using Wordtracker's powerful comprehensive search functionality, you will discover multiple instances of how a specific word is being used within a phrase, but without any guess work at all. Try working with a single, action related "root word."

Now listen carefully.

It does not have to be a word that your logical thinking dictates. For example, what happens if you research a term in its most generic form and let Wordtracker piece together exactly how that word is being used. This is one of the rare times when using human brilliance or natural logic can actually prevent you from seeing the most powerful truths in your process of research. By avoiding "logic" you will explore more legitimate working data than 99% of most other Webmasters ever do.

Let's give you a few creative examples to get you started.....

1. If you are a real estate agent, instead of using an obvious logical phrase like "real estate" (with 323 million competing pages on Google) or using a keyword acronym such as MLS (over 40 million competing pages on Google.)

Let's try a researching a single "root word" term like "listing" just all by itself.....leaving Wordtracker to do the hard part.

Here are a few examples which I grabbed in under 3 minutes of Wordtracker research:
(each example here with under 1000 competing pages)

At the time of writing this article.....

"house listings parry sound" -
Currently only has 90 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Wyoming MN home listings" -
Currently only has 197 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"michigan real estate listing" -
Currently only has 197 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Wisconsin Home listings" -
Currently only has 697 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"Central Virginia land listings" -
Currently only has 95 competing pages for this exact phrase.

"north oaks minnesota home listings" -
Currently only has 233 competing pages for this exact phrase.

2. If you are an affiliate marketer.

Instead of researching the exact product you want to explore in a phrase (for example "candlestick holders,") try using a single word like "holder" to determine exactly what type of "holders" are in highest demand with lowest competition.
You may discover many other products with much better windows of opportunity.

Examples using a root word of "holder"....(my research time here was 90 seconds - each phrase under 10 competing)

"motorcycle wheel holders" KEI 676.0
Competing pages on Google 1

" southwest pot holders" KEI 768.0
Competing pages on Google 3

"hanging vine holder" KEI 924.5
Competing pages on Google 2

"folbe fishing rod holder" KEI 1156.0
Competing pages on Google 9

".30 Remington shell holder" KEI 1444.0
Competing pages on Google 1

3. Try working with descriptive verbs.
Instead of researching a specific product using comprehensive search, try researching descriptive verbs like "new" or "old" or "rare" or "limited" or "reconditioned" or "polished" or "bronzed" or whatever...? Try using any type of descriptive terms to explore all kinds of interesting data.

4. Did you know there are differences between the written word and spoken dialog?

Instead of researching common descriptive terms, try exploring natural sounding "dialogue." Try to remember to explore "words" based on dialogue, not just on written copy. Your customers often will say things to you in their dialogue that give you a great starting place to explore data.

5. Don't forget to research and explore the world of color.
What happens if you enter a single term representing a color like "red," or "aqua" or green or any color?

6. Explore any type of data at all in terms of a root word.

Don't forget to explore everything and anything that comes to mind. From a topic you notice on the news to something that may not even be a word at all. What happens if you try to explore a number or a price like $9.95 instead of a word?

7. Instead of just thinking of your research as "keywords" try thinking in terms of your audience's "topics of interest."

8. Instead of researching keyword phrases try watching for "behavioural trends" or keywords that "tell a story."

Examples of keywords that are telling:
"miniature doll instructions" KEI 961.0
"golf swing instruction dvds" KEI 1741.0
"how to build secret compartments" KEI 280.3
"building a basement in your home" KEI 512.0
"easy build shed kit" KEI 520.0
"How to Build an Icehouse" KEI 661.0
"build a reptile rack" KEI 676.0
"how to build military bunkers out of sand bags" KEI 729.0
"how to build custom furniture" KEI 1444.0

9. Consider any type of tools that you might research using terms like "calculator" or "maps" or "directions."

10. Consider exploring topics related to specific seasons, which may be appropriate for your Web audience.

11. Consider exploring common acronyms (related to your industry) to open up more "unexplored data."

12. Try to discover and satisfy the searcher by delivering up highly valuable content that meets their needs first.
Make your objectives come second and give the searcher what they are looking for first based upon your research.

13. What if you are feeling stumped...about keyword research? Try a reverse approach.

If you feel challenged because the keyword you're researching seems to have no potential, try and explore your audience's "searching behaviour" first to see what else they want or need based on the conditions, then create the exact high quality content that they're looking for.

Examples:
Instead of common terms like "Web design" try to chunk it down to the services or special aspects you offer as a designer. You might try root words like "database" or "content" or other aspects that you offer in your services.

14. Develop your lateral thinking skills to press beyond a keyword hunt mindsest.
While most people are thinking about what keywords to use, try to expand your scope to focus on discovering the fullest possible picture of what your customer REALLY wants, what they really are doing, by simply studying their searching behavior on the major search engines.

15. Don't forget to explore the most common, everyday type single terms that most people will assume have no potential.

Example: From exploring a boring sounding word like "word"....in 90 seconds I found:

"free wedding program word template" KEI 289.1 1 competing page in Google
"Words to a Spanish Song" KEI 462.3 4 competing words in Google
"What Does the Word Hinder Mean" KEI 841.0 4 competing pages in Google
"WORD TRIVIA QUIZZES" KEI 5712.0 10 competing pages in Google
"Words That End with Letter Q" KEI 53,730.0 10 competing pages in Google

Is there any greater discovery than having an understanding of a target audience's "search behavior"?

Best described, if you are researching your data well, it's like a light coming on in your mind. It's like flipping a switch on to an huge "idea generator!" Truly it is like looking through a porthole on the world's searching behavior.

Wordtracker will give you absolutely AMAZING detail if you take time to think about it laterally and outside of the context of just a "keyword hunt." Don't let the natural tendency to "guess at keywords" stop you from exploring all of the hidden evidence that just needs a little practice to uncover. I never get tired of exploring behaviorally related trends that are easy to gather like "low hanging fruit."

READ Wordtracker Magic Volume 2.0 - Keyword Forensics for SEO

Enjoy the Best SEO Educational Resources - at a very affordable price!

Access a wealth of SEO resources, live instructional Webinars, Instructional Archives, Basic and Advanced SEO self-study courses and access over 1000 pages of detailed strategies by Robin Nobles and John Alexander in a community of SEO Professionals.

Visit the Workshop Resource Center or attend a Search Engine Academy for the ultimate in SEO Skills Accuracy.

Read a few recent SEO student success stories here!

Posted by John at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

7 Tips to Help you improve Relationship building using your Web site

7 Tips to Help you improve Relationship building using your Web site
By John Alexander

* TIP 1: Help build relationships with your writing style.

Consider places in your Web site where you might mildly re-write your text so that it flows in a much more natural sounding dialog.

Most of us do not tend to communicate in the same way we write. Natural flowing dialog means that your reader will feel like the Web copy is "speaking to them" in a natural way. This is especially important when you are trying improve your response rate. Tiny little changes in the way your content reads can have a huge impact. The placement of important information or even the size of the font being used can make an impact. How many people could improve their business just by using their log analysis statistics to make decisions on the placement of important information.

-How long are readers staying your pages?

-Could you benefit by bringing more of your deep content to the home page so people can see what you have to offer?

-Are your Toll Free numbers big enough to be easily read?

-Could you shift a compelling offer to page that already has high visibility and get immediate benefit from it?

All easy little things to do that can make a huge difference. Communicating things in a different flow or in a different tone (especially with your specific audience in mind) can make a difference in your visitor responses and initiate more relationship potential. Have you ever tried giving your readers a non-threatening reason to respond to your page by leaving a bit of information out? The beginning of business only occurs when you are easily found and ALSO once someone chooses to respond or is compelled to respond.

* TIP 2 : Automating communications while keeping "relationships" in mind.

Many people are familiar with using a sequential auto responder, but don't think of it as just a tool to push sales.

Use your auto-responder like aweber.com to deliver communications that ad value and serve your readers or fulfill some purpose and don't forget that if you write naturally and ask for a response, you'll often get it. Even if the visitor knows it is an auto-responder if you take time to prepare quality communications and write plenty of opportunity to respond into the messages, you'll find that it works. Check out Aweber as a good tool.

* TIP 3: The XHTML Friends Network is one simple way to represent human relationships in your hyperlinks.

XFN™ is the acronym for XHTML Friends Network.

Developed by Matthew Mullenweg (who also is the developer of the semantic blogging software WordPress) along with Eric Meyer and Tantek Çelik, XFN is conceptually like other aggregation technologies, except it uses HTML vocabulary, not other markup languages.

XFN™ is a very simple way to allow you to add in how another site might be related to you when you create a hyper link.

Example of an XFN Link:

Search Engine Academy Tampa Florida

This link is stating that the Search Engine Academy South Carolina is also a friend, co-worker and colleague of Search Engine Workshops.

Here are some simple definitions:

acquaintance - is someone who you have exchanged greetings and not much (if any) more — maybe a short conversation or two.

friend - Someone you are a friend to. A buddy, home (boy|girl) that you know.

co-worker - Someone a person works with, or works at the same organization as. Symmetric. Usually transitive.

colleague - Someone in the same field of study/activity. Symmetric. Often transitive.

For more help with XFN™ visit the XHTML Friends Network.

Here is a handy XFN™ tutorial on how to get started.

Here is a XFN™ creator tool to help you create your XFN™ friendly links.

* TIP 4: Join a few Social type sites such as Digg or Del.icio.us

Join a few Social Web sites and start getting involved.
Try using OnlyWire.com which will allow you to bookmark a page with 20 different services with just one click.

* TIP 5: Build some value related lenses using Squidoo. It's 100% free!

By creating articles and content on Squidoo you can link back to your main site but also participate in the Squidoo community. Read my last article on using Squidoo.

What kind of creative strategies can you employ using Squidoo to help build your profile?

o publish an Interview
o talk about your hobbies or talk about your career
o do some affiliate marketing
o highlight an eBay auction
o sell things from Amazon
o Gather customer feedback at no cost with your own free guest book
o Incorporate visitor voting
o Choose to create content on nearly any topic you wish
o All 100% for free

* TIP 6: Join Facebook as a tool to re-establish old time friendships with people.

Facebook.com is pretty cool as a tool for connecting with old friends as well as new ones. Loads of wild and crazy time wasting applications which you may not want to activate, but I've been very interested in how people connect in Facebook and your list of contacts and networks can potentially grow very quickly.

* TIP 7: Watch this video describing the Social Graph API with Google code.

Basically the Social Graph API makes information about public connections between people easily available and useful. Watch this video.

In Summary About Using the Web for Relationship building

I have had the tremendous privilege to work with and become friends with students, webmasters and professionals from well over 87 different countries. Many of these folks have made the trip to over to attend our little hands-on SEO workshops from places as far away as Asia, Australia, Israel, London, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Africa, Spain, Norway, Japan and of course across the US and from Canada.

We have had the pleasure for many of these students of watching them grow their businesses and many of our students have made a habit of coming back for a refresher class each year just to keep up with the newest skills.

Robin Nobles and I are very privileged that many of our original students have also joined us as professional SEO associate educators and are now opening localized Search Engine Academy Workshops within local communities.

High performance SEO skills are now being taught on a steady basis right from local communities so that students can gain the freshest research, updates, re-certification of skills without needing to travel or make any lengthy trip out of town.

But none of these things would have been possible in such a young industry as the Web (when you think of how short a time the Web as even been around.) The ultimate direction that the Web is taking us, is back to the very roots of relationship building and communicating effectively with individuals and communities around us.

Every time you establish a new relationship on the Web, you never know where it will lead to or what new opportunities it will position you for. Explore all the ways of making your Web site or Blog more relationship effective and continually strive to build better long term relationships with your customers and you will take your business to new levels of exposure in so doing.

Wishing you the best of continued success. Coming up next, more keyword observations. Stay tuned!

This article was published first on Search Engine Workshops.

John

Posted by John at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

Questions and Answers About Link Building

Questions and Answers About Link Building
By John Alexander

Question:
I know that having a continual plan to get new links to my site is very important to help my Web site be found. What is the ideal number of new links I should be trying to achieve on a monthly basis or is there an ideal number?

Answer:
One of the first things to remember is that the number or quantity of links coming in to you should not be your first consideration.

Years ago it was all about the "quantity" but these days, it is also about the "descriptive text" in the link that counts along with the authoritative aspect (how busy the site is) as well as getting links from locations that suit your audience.

Lot's of times you can benefit with links that are not huge in number, but are from authoritative sites using good descriptive link text in the link.

Question:
But are there a maximum number that I should not exceed?

Answer:
Google has said that it's best to keep the number of links on a page to 100 or less.

If you are talking about inbound links that are coming into your site, there is not a maximum number, but the one thing to keep in mind is to build your links so they are growing in moderation, in a very natural way. You would not want to have anything to inflate the volume of links coming in by a few thousand over night. That would send up a red flag.

Question:
What about building outgoing links from one of my pages. Is there a maximum number there that I should not exceed?

Answer:
One thing to remember is that while their are SEO influences realized by different aspects of linking, try and build your outgoing links so that they make sense to your readership. You are not just building links for search engines.

100 links on a page is a good maximum. Obviously you don't want a page that goes on forever with links.

Question:
I have heard that it can be a bad thing to "buy links." Is that true.

Answer:
That is true. Here is a video of what Matt Cutts has to say about buying links.

At least Google has warned about buying links on high PR sites which we have never recommended doing anyways. Basically, you don't want to do anything for the purpose of "manipulating rankings." You can buy advertising from people, but don't buy links. There really is no need to because there are so many other strategies you can use that won't get you in trouble.

Question:
Is SEO not all about manipulation of rankings anyways?

Answer:
I'm sure there are some that may think that way. But we believe that search engine optimization is simply about building high quality content that is truly relevant and useful. Content that merits good visibility because it satisfies the reason why the searcher searched.

Question:
You mentioned that there are other easy ways to build linking. It seems to us that it is an awful lot of work these days. Can you share some examples of easy ways to build links?

Answer:
Absolutely. In our Search Engine Academy Workshops we teach students lots of important ways to build genuine link reputation and link popularity as well as specific strategies in more detail. But let's give you some easy examples that really are pretty basic, but it's amazing how some people don't think about the basic things.

You may want to start by submitting your sites to directories, since directories do not involve search engine robots. Some directories pass more benefit back to you than others, but basically you want to get into a few directories even before the search robots come by. We do not recommend submitting to robots at all, that's another story. But the only way to get into a directory, is to submit to them.

TIP: Here is one stress free way of looking at directories and determining the good ones that pass benefit from the bad ones that pass know benefit.

Drop by this Web site where someone has tested all the directories and made plenty of notes for you. Just follow in the footsteps and take the advice of Martin Preece and it can save you a lot of time.

Check out this information on the best free directories and paid directories (as well as the duds)

Question:
Do you have any other basic reading or suggestions directly related to link building tips?

Answer:
We had written an e-book loaded with tips, but the book became a little bit dated so we removed it from service. We reserve our very best SEO skill building strategies for our hands-on SEO Workshop students but you can also find a wealth of material in the Workshop Resource Center Online too.

You will find a particularly revealing Webinar that you can watch with Mike Marshall throwing some new light on old myths.

Here is Robin Nobles short list of Dos and Don'ts for Link Building.

Posted by John at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2009

Things you Should Know About Google PR and Site Links

Things you Should Know About Google PR and Site Links
By John Alexander

One of the things to remember about Google PageRank is that it does contribute to relevancy in a number of ways, but it is only just one bit out of a huge range of influences. Did you know the Google PR number is somewhat out of date (usually by about 3 months) so what you see reflected in the bar does not always represent your current PR.

How high should your PR be in order to rank well?
That depends on your keyword phrase, the competitive volume for that phrase and for which industry you are using that phrase. Don't forget that Google themselves tell you there are "200 ranking signals" and PR is only just 1 influence.

Best advice is to have a PR of 4 or 5 and then stop obsessing over the PR factor.

Google PR is important primarily for in-coming links. The Google PR of the page itself does not have as much influence as it once had to for help in ranking for specific keyphrases. However, the PR of an in-coming key word phrase-relevant link does help with ranking for that specific keyphrase.

About Google site links:

What are they?

Sometimes when you do a search on Google for a phrase, you'll occasionally notice a collection of links which will appear below the result of a website.

Example: If you search for the phrase "Search Engine Workshops" on Google, what you see displayed in the search results is:

TITLE: Onsite search engine workshops taught by industry leaders Robin Nobles & John Alexander

SNIPPET
Onsite search engine workshops offer personalized SEO training and certification in search engine marketing strategies.

URL: searchengineworkshops.com - 42k

But then now note the additional Google site links that show up below the snippet description that appear as follows:

View the 5-Day Agenda Our Partners
Register Now Start-Up Tools Arsenal
Workshop Dates Articles
Student's comments here
More results from searchengineworkshops.com »

Each of these are additional links are to main pages of the website.
Theses extra links are randomly and automatically chosen by Google.

Tips about sitelinks:

-Google seems to prefer links near the top of a web page.

-Sitelinks usually only appear for more general search phrases.
(in other words for phrases being searched)

-Sitelinks show up more often on brand related searches.

- Unpopular Keywords that are not searched too often don't get
Sitelinks.

- Older Web sites seem to be awarded sitelinks more than newer sites.

-It also seems that your website has to get a certain volume of
clicks for the searched keyword.

Although theses extra links are randomly and automatically chosen by Google there is a place in Googles Webmaster tools where you can select which pages you prefer to be displayed. But there is no way to guarantee you'll get the site links as it is at Google's initiative.

Posted by John at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)

Do you need local SEO consulting? Meet our team.

Do you need local SEO consulting or personal training?

Meet our family of authorized SEO educators who offer services in local business communities across North America and in Asia.

Associate Search Engine Academy Locations, Trainers
and Phone Numbers are listed below.

Check for a Local hands-on SEO Class in any of these places:

Associate SEO Educator Phone Number

Atlanta Georgia Tracy Fredrychowski 803-356-2995

Arizona Roy Reyer 623-203-6117

Orange County Mitch Albert 1-877-533-3546

Michigan Greg Aldea 734-762-5189

Lexington,
Charleston and, Tracy Fredrychowski 803-356-2995
South Carolina

New York Metro Mike Sancimino 914.328.6187

North Carolina Michael Marshall mike@nc-sea.com

Oregon Colleen Wright 503-530-8178

San Francisco Thomas Petty (888) 807-5658

Tampa Florida Steve Scott 1-877-736-7361

Canadian SEO Training Locations with Search Engine Academy

Toronto Search Engine Academy
Barry Byers
905-469-6330

Montreal Search Engine Academy
Greg Mate
514-426-4000

Search Engine Academy West
Muriel Archibald
Shelly Coe
866-949-6117

International Search Engine Academy Locations
Asia Search Engine Academy
Fabian Lim
+65-9671-7507

Robin Nobles, John Alexander and Mike Marshall
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Posted by John at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)

Will Future of 3D Technologies affect the SERPS?

Will the coming of new 3D Technologies Change the SERPS?
By John Alexander

Now before you think I've been watching too much science fiction, realize that these things could very well be experienced in the near future with the advent of new monitor screens, new flat screen TVs, Cell phone screens, movie theatres that are currently being worked on and being made "3D ready." The 3D process creates an image that now has some depth of field and can cause images to appear to come closer toward you or appear further in the distance somewhat replicating the natural vision we have.

There are a whole variety of applications involving "Stereoscopy" which involve the concept of showing the right eye slightly differing images than the left eye, which replicates the 3D "field of depth." It's not too far off in the distance at all.

Will the SERPs pages really display on our monitors in 3D
someday?

If we are eventually viewing video, TV and traditional advertising with a whole new world of 3D, then it is not hard to reason that the search engines will not be far behind. Anything that has had a a 2D viewing screen will be a candidate for 3D in the future.

Traditionally we saw still images in black and white. With the advent of movies, those pictures appeared to come to life because of a little thing called "persistence of vision." Then movies evolved into full color, adding another depth of realism. Then came much clearer movies with High Definition TV and the next phase is 3 dimensional images for literally anything that can be viewed on a screen. It sounds like science fiction or something out of star trek, but it's here now.

So How might the coming of 3D affect your search engine results pages?

See if you can imagine this for a second. You do a search on your favorite major search engine and watch the results come up as usual.

In the typical Golden triangle or letter "F" pattern that most of us view the SERPS in, the PPC ads are generally to the top "sponsored" area, to the extreme right side (beyond the letter F pattern) and sometimes along the bottom. But since this is just a only projection of what might be possible in the near future, let's take some liberty here.

Let's say as you view the SERPs in the future but something different begins to happen because of new 3D technology and of course assuming the search engine has applied what is needed. You are up to date with the latest 3D ready monitor screen and what you experience in the search results tomorrow, might initially be jolting to the way the average searcher views their monitor today.

Just suppose those PPC ads on the right side of the screen became even more visible by actually floating right off the screen toward you in 3D?

Suppose the top ad was closest to you and the lower ads were all just slightly off the screen. Would that not give the PPC ads even more notice?

Or alternately, just suppose certain keywords (based on your search) hovered in your face based on the SERPS allowing emphasis on topical subject matter that could be selected.

What other changes to search results might the 3D factor change to traditional 2 Dimensional viewing?

Of course this is just a simple thought, but who knows what a search results page might look like when it is occupying 3D space. The actual concepts would be up to the search engine to design and employ and we know how creative they can be with new ideas. Think about advertising and logic all mashed together with 3D technology where you don't need to wear polarized lenses, or the old red/green filters.

The magic of 3D is built into the screen and requires wearing no silly glasses to experience the effect.

The company that is making these products have developed a method for 3D that requires wearing no 3D glasses of any kind. The technology is here now and is being rolled out to all types of applications from movie theaters to video game systems and computer monitors and even cell phones. Who knows how long before it becomes the norm, but don't be surprised if you begin to see 3D being applied to cell phones soon.

My question is that if there are industries where traditionally, it has always been normal to view a 2D screen, how long will it be before a major search engine jumps on the 3D bandwagon and is creating interesting new visibility strategies and opportunities right from within the SERPS in 3D?

This article was originally published on Search Engine Workshops.

Posted by John at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2009

Watch this short Video Demo of SEO Sniper

Watch this short Video of SEO Sniper

John

Posted by John at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2009

Personalization of Search Part 4 - A Solution

Personalization of Search - A Helpful Solution to a Complex Challenge
Part 4 in a series by John Alexander

"Ranking" is not dead - it just needs to be understood in a different light.

I'll say it again, ranking is not dead - it's just different than you may have traditionally thought it was. In the future, it will continue to become more different and for SEO professionals and business owners to be truly successful and maintain visibility, it will no longer be a question of how your Web pages ranks on a traditional scale from 1 to 10, but in the future the question will be where do your pages rank for the biggest percentage of the most correct audience AND for what percentage of the time?

Read the full article in the 4 part series on:
Personalization of search - a helpful solution.

Check out our next SEO Mastery Workshop Agenda.

Save $500 on early registration if you register before Mar. 6.

Posted by John at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

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Posted by John at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2009

Redifining Keyword Research Accuracy

Do you want something that works similarly only is not restricted to a limited database of limited Meta Crawler search results, but works directly with Google data.

There is no better source of data than from a search engine which at the time of this book’s writing has 67% of the search marketshare.

One of the newest tools for GREAT keyword research accuracy is so named SEO-Sniper.

• Uses a superior KEI scoring system
• Has the unique ability to cover entire ranges of words and phrases
directly from Google data.
• Literally checks a number of on page factor for the actual competing
pages for each phrase and forms a “difficulty score.”
• Takes into account the timing and magnitude of historical traffic
spike
• Allows you to sort the phrases any way you wish. By KEI, by
difficulty score and by PPC value.
• Also takes into account keyword phrase in the Title Tag, Link Text,
Body text and in Hi text too.
• Works with Google data (which has the largest market share) rather
than Metacrawler data from search engines like Dogpile.

Since this tool uses its scoring system to measure a variety of factors, it does take a while to run (because it’s measuring the top ranking pages) for as many phrases as you put in. I like to run it at night then look at the results in the morning.

Check out SEO Sniper which also has the benefit of being a desktop application instead of a recurring membership being required.

Posted by John at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

SEO Myth - Measuring SEO influences one at a time

SEO Myth – It is extremely important to research the exact keyword density, character count in the Title Tag, Meta Tag, Link text, Keyword prominence and Body text and link text by researching and testing each separate influential relevancy factor one-at-a-time.

Truth – Each SEO factor contributes (Google says they have 200 ranking signals,) but they cannot be measured accurately independently in isolation ( or one influence at a time.)

Why this is important to understand:
It is impossible to measure these influences truthfully and accurately by looking at each factor independently, because they all have a definite effect on each other. They must be measured together in a very specific way, if you don’t want conflicting results.

Also remember that it is impossible to measure SEO influences using Web site just made up of Gobeldygook place holder lettering.

You need to consider researching well crafted pages that read well to a human being and only then can you measure SEO truths using the right type of approach. Why is that? Because these days, search engines can understand the context of how a page is written using LSI and Artificial Intelligence.

Posted by John at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

SEO Myth - Rankings Are Dead

Myth – The most important thing about SEO is where you rank in the search results.

Truth – The most important thing about SEO for business is where you rank for what percentage of the most correct audience and for what percentage of time you rank there, plus you must have solid compelling reasons that will give visitors a reason to respond and take action on that page.

Why this is important to understand:
Rankings have not died in importance. They have changed a lot from what you might think of the traditional sense of ranking on a level of 1 to 10.

Now with personalization of search activated, traditional rankings can no longer be measured by traditional means.

Search engines are modifying the delivery of search results based on each users personal search history. Therefore, 3 users can search with the same keyword phrase at the very same computer and if their personalization is turned on each person could be served up completely different results based on each of their search history.

Read this series of articles for more.

Posted by John at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Top SEO Myth - Search Engine Submission is Beneficial

Myth – You must submit your Web site to the Search Engines, therefore you need to buy our services and we will submit your site to 30,000 search engines for only $29.95 per month. The misconception here is that a submission to a search engine through free add url is beneficial.

Truth - You are far better employing strategies that allow search engine robots to find your pages on their own (without submitting.)

Any company that bases their whole concept of traffic or SEO on submitting does not understand how search engines work themselves.

Why this is important to understand:
There is no valid reason to be using a submission service for search engines. It is still being offered today widespread because there are always new people coming online who have never been taught the value of letting a search engine find you on its own.

Grab a Free SEO Tip each and every day.

Posted by John at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)

Top SEO Myth - Winning the War on the Search Engines

Myth –You are at war with the search engines to gain top rankings.

Therefore you must learn to do sneaky tricks to outsmart their algorithm. Therefore you must learn ways to beat the search engine to gain top visibility in search results. This whole pitch is a false concept.

Truth: - The truth is that you have never been at "war with the search engines." You are not required to "outsmart" or fool" the search engines at all to gain top visibility for your Web pages.

Why this is important to understand:
The only one you are truly competing with for visibility is your competitors, NOT the search engines.

The whole idea that you must "beat" the search engines or "outsmart" the search engines is a completely false concept. It plays well to the emotions and was probably dreamed up by some marketer years ago.

Grab a Free SEO Tip each and every day.

Posted by John at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2009

New Report Shows Decline for PPC Advertising

The first part of 2009 has been interesting, very interesting. The global recession shows no current signs of recovery in the short term, and much of this has been reflected in advertising budgets worldwide. In particular, the retail sector has been one of the hardest hit, and this has been reflected in Rimm-Kaufman’s early first quarter 2009 PPC data.

Read the full review by Peter Young on The Marketing Pilgrim Blog:
New Report Shows Decline for PPC Advertising in Q1

Posted by John at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

HTML Site Maps by Mary Bowling

With the advent of XML site maps, it seems like no one talks any more about the importance of having an html site map on your website.

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of HTML Site Maps
on SEO Expert, Mary Bowlings Blog.

Posted by John at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)

KEI Observation Deck

Friendly High-Altitude KEI Observations for Keyword Researchers Everywhere

March 31, 2009

Replace your "Panic Button" with fresh skills

A Simple SEO Tip - Give Your Business the Attention it Deserves

More Tips on Linking - Does Google Count PDF Links?

Quick SEO Link Tip

Tips on Keyword Research

March 30, 2009

Traditional TV Remains “800 Pound Gorilla In Video Media Arena

March 28, 2009

Stock related keyword phrases - fair to high KEI

March 26, 2009

Questions and Answers on Keyword Research Accuracy

March 25, 2009

2 new improvements just announced by Google

March 22, 2009

Planning Tips for the Fiscal Year of Your Online Business

Examples of Semantics related to "antique furniture"

Semantics for SEO - About secondary supporting terms

March 19, 2009

John Alexander's Birthday Wish for March 19, 2009

March 18, 2009

Online SEO Instructional Line up for March/April 09

March 17, 2009

Understanding more about natural language processing and SEO

March 15, 2009

SEO Tips for REALTORS and Real Estate Professionals

Part 4 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Part 3 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Part 2 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Part 1 - Simple Ways To Attract New Web Visitors

Personalization of Search - New Solutions to the Imposed Challenges of Ranking

March 14, 2009

Roy Reyer joins Arizona Search Engine Academy

March 12, 2009

15 Keyword research Tips for finding the Hottest Niche Phrases Quickly

7 Tips to Help you improve Relationship building using your Web site

Questions and Answers About Link Building

March 11, 2009

Things you Should Know About Google PR and Site Links

Do you need local SEO consulting? Meet our team.

Will Future of 3D Technologies affect the SERPS?

March 09, 2009

Watch this short Video Demo of SEO Sniper

March 05, 2009

Personalization of Search Part 4 - A Solution

One of the fastest ways to affiliate marketing success

March 03, 2009

Redifining Keyword Research Accuracy

SEO Myth - Measuring SEO influences one at a time

SEO Myth - Rankings Are Dead

Top SEO Myth - Search Engine Submission is Beneficial

Top SEO Myth - Winning the War on the Search Engines

March 01, 2009

New Report Shows Decline for PPC Advertising

HTML Site Maps by Mary Bowling