Web content was the main buzz in the SEO world in 2011, mostly due to changes in the Google algorithm updates known as ‘Panda.’

When these changes began on February 24, 2011, many website owners woke up to find their Google search engine rankings had
nose-dived and their traffic from Google had ceased. Loss in traffic means loss in income.

Panda was originally known as the “Farmer” algorithm change because significant Google ranking changes occurred in so-called ‘content-farm’ sites. Famous URL’s such as Suite 101, eHow, DemandMedia, EzineArticles, Squidoo, HubPages, and Yahoo’s AssociatedContent were hit hard by Panda.

Google’s Panda evaluates the quality of the content found on all pages of a website. Because content farms are notorious free-for -alls which attract many amateur writers, those sites were hit the hardest.

Google engineer Amit Singhal posted this advice on the Google blog:

“One other specific piece of guidance we’ve offered is that low-quality content on some parts of a website can impact the whole site’s rankings, and thus removing low quality pages, merging or improving the content of individual shallow pages into more useful pages, or moving low quality pages to a different domain could eventually help the rankings of your higher-quality content.”

Content farms scrambled to react to their changes in search engine ranking throughout 2011, as Google made more than a dozen adjustments to Panda.

The notorious site, eHow.com, has made no recovery in Google rankings and traffic as 2012 begins. Suite101, EzineArticles and DemandMedia are still on a downward spiral since the first Panda rollout. Squidoo.com has recovered about half of the traffic it lost when Panda began.

AssociatedContent, acquired by Yahoo in mid-2010 for over $100 million, has taken the drastic measure of taking down the website and launching a revamp as Voices.Yahoo.com. The new site was launched on December 1, 2011, by uploading content from the original site, minus 75,000 pages of culled content. The URL change was made with this announcement from Yahoo: “Only content that meets our revised submission guidelines will be accepted moving forward.”

HubPages.com reacted to Panda by putting its authors on individual subdomains. This suggestion was actually recommended to the company by a Google employee. The subdomain concept puts the onus of poor quality content on the individual author. According to Alexa traffic graphs, HubPages has only recovered about a third of its pre-Panda traffic with this tactic.

Google sought to increase the quality of its search results by implementing Panda. And there are websites that have benefited from Google Panda. The mega article site Wikipedia, for instance, has experienced a marked increase in traffic.

As 2012 begins, Google Panda is still on the radar of website owners and internet marketers in the daily quest for high rankings on Google search engine results.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Google Panda and Content Farms

Recently, Google+ further opened up its platform to now accept “Brand” or “Company” based accounts or profiles. This means that business and site owners can now promote and brand their companies within Google+. This might seem like a small change, but one only has to look at the tremendous success of Facebook’s Fan pages, to see why this move is very important for companies and site owners.

While Google Plus doesn’t have anywhere near the numbers Facebook has, it does hold one major trump card in its hand, that being the Google brand itself. Not only does Google bring its well respected reputation to the table, but you can’t dismiss all those countless free programs and services which Google now offers to an ever admiring audience. Associating your own business or company with a brand like Google does score you some brownie points, not to mention the whole issue of trust. On the web, building instant trust with your potential customers is vital for your overall success and building a large community via Google+ will definitely help in this regard.

Besides its stellar reputation, Google brings much more to the table than Facebook, especially when it comes to marketing on the Internet. As you have probably already noticed, Google does run a little search engine that controls much of the world’s lucrative search traffic. And you can bet your last dollar, Google will be keeping track of the number of followers a Google+ brand receives and how vibrant that community becomes when voting or clicking those +1 buttons for your content. All of this will no doubt have a significant effect on your SEO and rankings within Google.

Google+ also presents an attractive and inexpensive way to build buzz and momentum towards any product or company. Especially when it comes to SEO and getting your brand out there on the web and in front of the marketplace. However, it is the SEO aspect of Google+ that could make it a very useful marketing tool, especially for those businesses just starting out and/or that have small marketing budgets. Google+ can help build your brand’s visibility both in the SERPs and in the real world.

In addition, any marketer will also have to consider the advantage of buying ads on Google+ which can be displayed all over the web. These social ads have already been very successful for Twitter and Facebook, but just imagine the extra marketing power Google can bring to these types of ads. One only has to look at Google’s Adwords program to realize this could be another major advertising venue for
Google and another way for companies to fully expand their advertising dollars.

One of the main reasons Adwords has become so effective – it closely targets your marketing to exactly match what buyers are looking for at the exact time they’re ready to buy. Now with Google+ any business has the potential of reaching a very specific targeted group of potential clients via the circles and hangouts features in the Google+ social network. It is this targeted marketing that could possibly make Google+ the ultimate web marketing tool. Only time will tell how effective Google+ becomes, but all signs are pointing in the right direction.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Will Google+ Become The Ultimate Web Marketing Tool?

The Analytics tools for Google+ have many excited about the new Google+ Business Pages.

Businesses know that when it comes to BI and decision making, data is king. Google has had years of experience building and honing its data gathering, analysis and reporting tools within the business framework, and it leverages this competitive advantage by integrating its leadership in search and API development to offer an easy and reliable way for businesses to measure the success of their online initiatives. This is a notable strength of the new social network’s business page features, because the Analytics component has been conceptualized and built from the very beginning. In stark contrast, Analytics and business intelligence seem to have been an afterthought for competing networks.

Search

It always makes sense for businesses to build on and extend their core competencies. Google is the dominant search engine in the online world so it’s no surprise that it brings its search expertise to the social networking table. Google+ Search focuses on allowing users to search through Google+ content, returning information from profiles, member posts and shared content from the Sparks engine.

You can narrow your search down to a specific area and -yes-it’s a great feature, but I’d be willing to bet that Google is tracking your search activities to subsequently provide data and insights that can help you (and others) analyze social business behavior.

Ripples

The new feature launched by Google+ was hardly noticed at first, but those who have used Ripples are astounded by the amount of data the feature can provide to users. The main interface is an interactive info-graphic that summarizes the ripple effect caused by content you produce, visually presenting who among your contacts has been sharing your content with their own circles.

This is an easy way for you to find out and track the “influencers” within your Circles, allowing you to focus on these people for future marketing campaigns and activities.

Social Analytics

How serious is Google about its social analytics? Its recent addition of real time data to Google Analytics and its acquisition last month of social analytics startup SocialGrapple seem to indicate that they are very serious indeed. Users can check out the new social engagement report on Google Analytics and monitor the behavior of users on their Google+ business pages.

Google’s strategy for social analytics also seems to indicate that the company is trying to eliminate the distinctions that currently set “search” users, traditionally identified as Google’s user base, apart from “social” users that are claimed by social networks such as Facebook. Google is instead aiming for a single massive-user population that reaches sites from a variety of sources using a variety of discovery tools.

Google seems to be making a strong push to attract business owners and if they continue to offer tools like these, you might see a shift in population among the top social media networks one day. This is a prize audience that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all vying for, and I’m pretty sure those guys are watching very, very closely. I can see them responding to many of the tools that Google creates in the near future.

API

Perhaps the most powerful feature within the Google+ Analytics framework is the newly available API, which currently allows users to readily access public and Hangouts data. Developers can create tools and objects that work with these data sources to provide dynamic interaction opportunities with end-users. It’s exciting to imagine and anticipate what these new data-driven apps and tools will look like, but these will certainly be game changers for online businesses and social networking.

If you know anything about online marketing, it is that SEO, video and social media channels are your best options for delivering high quality traffic to your Website.

That’s why we’ve put together a suite of tools that will allow you to not only improve your traffic, but also help you make the most out of the time you spend branding your business and communicating with leads and clients via social media platforms.

Check out Isis Toolbox at http://www.isistoolbox.com

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Google+ Is Serious About Business and Their Tools Show It

What is geolocation as applied to SEO? It’s when a search engine identifies your whereabouts (by your IP or GSM) and serves you the search results relevant to that particular territory. Some folks find it limiting, while others are quite happy with the feature.

However, when it comes to checking rankings, geolocation is mostly bad for SEO’s, since many of them work on websites that target multiple countries, in which case it becomes rather tricky to collect SEO data (rankings and other metrics) for a particular country when you yourself are in a different location. So, how does one manage to do it? Let’s see what possibilities there are.

1. Use a Proxy Server

Proxy servers are INTERMEDIARIES between the searcher and the remote server he/she is addressing. And, being intermediaries, they can disguise a search and make it appear as if coming from a different location. Say, you are browsing from Argentina using a proxy server that’s located in Australia. So, your search will appear as if being performed from Australia.

How do you find a respective proxy server and begin to use it? Well, there are free and paid proxies available on the Web – just search for “proxy list”, “free proxy list”, “free proxies” or similar. It’s best to use the lists that also specify the country each proxy server belongs to, unless you can easily tell by the IP address. Here (http://hidemyass.com/proxy-list/) is an example of a proxy server list.

Then you need to configure your browser to work behind a certain proxy from the list (you’ll basically need to enter the IP address of the proxy server and the port number it uses). For example, here is how you set it up in Firefox:

- Go to Tools >> Options >> Advanced >> Network >> Settings
- Check Manual proxy configuration
- Enter the proxy’s IP and port
- I also normally choose No Proxy for: localhost, so that no proxy is used when I connect to the local network.

For other browsers, just search for “how to configure Chrome/Opera/Internet Explorer/any other browser proxy settings”. For instance, here (http://googlechrometutorial.com/google-chrome-advanced-settings/Google-chrome-proxy-settings.html) is a tutorial that teaches how to configure Google Chrome.

Pros and Cons

- Along with giving you a certain degree of anonymity, proxy servers also help you avoid CAPTCHAs and IP blocks, which is good.

- However, free proxies are sometimes not safe to use and quickly become overloaded, while paid proxies cost money. Plus, it’s not always the case that the proxy from the country you are targeting is available when you need it.

2. Use a Proxy Management Tool

Another option is to use a proxy management tool, which spares you configuring the browser each time you need to change the proxy server (because your free proxy server is down or you need to collect data from “a different location”).

Proxy management apps are good for those who run lots of checks targeting lots of locales on a daily basis. One such tool that I recommend is FoxyProxy. Originally, this was a proxy management browser plugin for Firefox, and now it’s also available for Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

FoxyProxy allows you to store all the info regarding the proxies you are using in one place and right at hand, and rotate proxies easily. It also allows you to assign URLs specific proxies, so that, whenever you visit those URLs, you access them via the assigned proxy servers.

FoxyProxy also offers “reliable, high-bandwidth proxy servers in 35 different countries”.

Pros and Cons

- What’s good about proxy management tools is that they save you time and effort and allow you to switch between proxies with almost no effort at all.

- The setting-up process is probably quite difficult. Besides, the proxies need to be checked upon regularly to make sure they are alive and working.

3. Use Google’s Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool

The Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool was designed for Google AdWords advertisers to let them see where their ads show up for different keywords in different countries. However, it can also be used to track rankings in non-paid search results as well.

Pros and Cons

- A huge advantage is that the tool allows you to choose the language you are pretend-searching in, as well as specify the exact area you are targeting (region and city).

- The tool does not let you click on the results it displays. Actually, there is a warning, saying that “This page is a tool for AdWords advertisers to test their ads. For full Google functionality return to the Google homepage.”

4. Add the gl Parameter to the Query URL

Apart from working behind a proxy or using a special tool to see the results visible in different locations, one can use another trick that quite a few SEO’s are familiar with. I’m talking about Google’s gl parameter that, technically, marks the country the search is being performed from.

Where does this parameter go? It goes into the query URL that appears when you do a search on Google. You simply add gl=US (if you’d like your results to be relevant for the United States) or, say, gl=BR (for Brazil) and hit “Search” once again. Here is a full list of country codes.

5. Use SEO Rank Checking Software that Supports the “gl” Parameter

Some possibilities to overcome geolocation are hidden right inside SEO tools that help one monitor rankings. Thus, if you use SEO software to keep track of website positions in the SERPs, see if the particular tool you are using allows you to use proxies or offers other geo targeting-related options.

For example, Rank Tracker (the keyword tracker and keyword suggestion tool
we built at Link-Assistant.Com) allows one to check rankings from behind a proxy as well as manage different proxy servers.

Besides, as of late, Rank Tracker also enables you to specify what gl parameters (multiple options are available) you’d like to add to your queries while checking website rankings for different keywords. You enter them while choosing your target search engines, PRIOR to the rankings check. The results for queries made with various gl parameters (as if performed from different locations) will then be displayed side by side:

So, these were 5 quite no-brainer tricks one can use to substantially diminish Google’s geo-targeting. In fact, you can hardly eliminate it completely, since Google uses other signals to associate you with a specific country (such as your browser’s languages, etc.). But using the 5 methods described above will help you largely beat it.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

5 Easy Ways to Override Google’s Geolocation Results – A SPN Exclusive Article

I get asked all the time – how do I get my site to the top ranking on Google? If there was an easy and quick solution – we’d all be doing it – and we’d all be at the top page of Google.

But, it doesn’t work that way. It takes knowing what works – and the commitment (plus time and effort) to get the results.

We all want top rankings from Google. Why? As people online are increasingly using the Internet (and most of the time Google) to search for information or resources – top ranked websites in the Google search results are getting the most clicks. How much more traffic and
visibility do the top ranking websites get in the results?

A ton – The top ranking gets more than 50% of the clicks from a search. #2 gets close to 14%. After that you’re in the single digits (not even worth mentioning if you’re not on page one of Google.) More clicks = more traffic = more leads.

So, it’s important to know how Google determines page rank. Page rank represents how important a site is on the Internet. Google figures that when one site links to another site, it is like a vote for the other site. The more votes – the more important the site must be.

But, the importance of the site that is casting the vote also determines how important the vote itself is. Google calculates a site’s importance from the votes cast for it. So, the importance of each vote is also taken into account when determining page rank.

It’s basically Google’s way of deciding a site’s importance. The more important the site, the higher it will appear in the page rankings.

I will break down the 3 most important concepts to increase your page ranking and get on page one of Google.

1. Content. Content is king – more important than anything else. No matter how slick or compelling your website looks – or how many other sites link to it – the content has to got to rock. It must be relevant and keyword rich for the search terms that people are looking for on Google. If you can create killer content and match that to exactly what people are searching for – you’ve reached Google page rank nirvana.

2. Consistency. Now that you’re churning out fresh and relevant content – you must do it consistently. Once a week just doesn’t work anymore. Writing an article for your newsletter once a week is not going to bring you a ton of traffic. Why? Because that content once a week won’t get you on page one of Google (top page rank.) What does? Blogging. You need to be blogging 2-3 times a week (if not more) to consistently put out new content that gets noticed and gets traffic. That will get you on page one of Google. And the blog posts don’t need to be long, drawn out articles (see content point above to ensure you’re putting out the best content.)

3. Compelling. If it’s not interesting to read or worth the time and effort for someone to consume it – don’t bother. Your content (blog posts and articles) literally has to rock the reader’s world. Keep it interesting and the reader will want to share it with others and comment on the relevance. This helps build visibility and back links (which helps your Google page rank.)

There you have it. An SEO lesson on Google page rank and 3 important strategies to ensure your site is up at the top. I look forward to seeing you there with me.

Until next time – Learn It, Love It, Live It!

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Get on Page One of Google

Student-based marketing and some companies go hand-in-hand like a hungry co-ed and Taco Bell. Tech manufacturers, local eateries and apparel companies will all benefit from targeting students. Of course, there are the usual channels. Commercials, print ads and social media outlets can all be utilized in your quest to find students. These traditional ways produce incredible results. However, using location-based SEO tactics can step up your marketing game.

Since the Panda update, Google has been placing more and more emphasis on finding information relevant to the searcher. For a lot of shopping results, that means pulling up stores and results that have local ties. Likely, a big-name brand will have the first result or two. But after that, the spots are wide open for local and regional businesses. A savvy webmaster will already be aware of this, but there are ways to really make the most of this when you’re targeting a specific demographic.

For students, you’ll want to pick a couple of college towns. Try for the biggest universities, of course, as well as those with thriving cultures. Once you’ve decided where you’re targeting, you have a few different options.

One great way to really boost your local rankings is to have a page for each location you’re trying to pinpoint. Host events to promote products to local college students and raffle off gift cards at their freshmen orientations. Not only are you building brand loyalty, you can also take photos and write about it on your blog. The more you get students to visit it and the more you have about the college on your blog, the faster your result will come to the top in a student-based search.

The golden apple of collegiate marketing, of course, is to create a partnership with the institution. Sometimes that could mean having an actual living, breathing, acknowledged partnership. Depending on the size of the college, though, it will likely be costly and too hard to negotiate. Better options for most companies are to co-host an event with them or sponsor a scholarship or internship every year. The more you can get your name on their website, the better you’ll do in Google’s results.

If you’re running an e-commerce site, keep in mind that you don’t have to have a physical location to create a page. You can also just run specialty deals for that area or talk about shipping rates or highlight products that are popular.

Location-based marketing isn’t solely useful by city names, though. Students enrolled in a college have likely left a huge online footprint that leads back to their school that Google knows about. If you have a page with personalized items, feature some from the colleges you’re targeting. The next time the student searches for “personalized coasters,” your name is more likely to come to the top if Google knows you have something in common.

Sometimes colleges are just as internet-based as e-commerce sites. When it comes to online schools, it becomes harder (though not impossible) to market to their students. Much of it comes from just using the school’s name, like you would in the regular location-based marketing tactics. By using the school’s name and sponsoring scholarships to their schools, you can still target their demographic.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Letting Google lead you to students: How to use location-based SEO to target students

With the recent launch of Google’s social network there has been a lot of discussion over whether this Google venture will actually take off, and whether it has the ability to supersede the biggest social network on the planet, Facebook.

In many ways Google+ has advantages over Facebook. For starters it can use Facebook as its blueprint for what to do and what not to do. While Facebook saw a fast evolution of success, it still took a couple of years for brands to catch on to the commercial potential of the platform and for it to become an open platform (previously was exclusively for university students).

Another main advantage Google has over Facebook is that it’s the world’s largest search engine. Google currently accounts for two-thirds of every internet search. These features will be integrated into the social platform to expand its reach as well as what it can offer its users.

Many of Google+’s features will be the same as Facebook’s which begs the question, why would people want to change platforms? Facebook, in many ways, has become a social home for its users. People have been on in since 2004, and have connected with hundreds of new and old friends. Their photos and personal information are all there, so why would they start from scratch? Knowing this, Google+ has to differentiate their offering in as many ways as they can. A few unique features it has are:

1. Circles: ‘The easiest way to share things with college buddies, others with your parents and almost nothing with your boss.’ Divide people into circles ie. ski crew, San Diego peeps, Nan & Grandpa and communicate with them in a relevant, organised and focused way.

2. Hangouts: ‘Let friends know that you’re free for a video hangout any time, anywhere. Then catch up, watch YouTube or just hang out. With hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let specific buddies (or entire circles) know you’re hanging out and then see who drops by for a face-to-face chat.’

3. Sparks: ‘A feed of only the things that you’re really into, so when you’re free, there’s always something waiting to be watched, read or shared.’ If you’re into fashion, tell Sparks and it will send you stuff it thinks you’ll like.

Moreover, Google+ offers:

– Integrated Google advertising
– Excellent data and analytics
– Integration with Google Apps
– Customer sign up for specific channels
– Video chat and hangouts

– Segmenting and organizing brand customers/fans/influencers for insight

– Business user appeal
– Extension of SEO
– Encouragement for users to +1 search listings

– Could offer customized skin options for brands – like YouTube, unlike Facebook

– Hangout + YouTube Live integration (in progress) – watch and chat simultaneously

– future Maps and Places integration

– Search – Google’s universal search will be stronger than Facebook

– Users the option to subscribe to official Google blog, G+ developers and Google Labs

It’ll be interesting to see what’s in store for Google+.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

The Google+ Promise

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a new kid on the social media block. And our friendly online giant, Google, brings it to us.

I’ve had a lot of questions about Google+ ranging from how to use it to is it worth paying attention to. Many people out there are calling it the “Facebook Killer”, but I don’t see it like that. The social media landscape is vast and varied enough that there is (currently) enough room for another player in the game. I say – bring it on! Google is obviously a HUGE player in the online world so anything they do – you pretty much HAVE TO pay attention to it.

Google+ is offered on practically all Google products (Gmail, Google, Google Docs, etc.), and its adoption is spreading quickly. I heard recently it attracted more than 10 million user registrations in the first two weeks (more than Facebook or Twitter during their initial launch phase.)

But, as a marketer – what do you need to know? What’s the lowdown on Google+ to help you with marketing and your online presence?

Well, here’s what you need to know as this new player starts to emerge.

In a nutshell, Google+ enables real-time updates (like Twitter) and lets you stay in touch with “circles” of friends (similar to Facebook, but with easier options for creating and viewing groups). You can also check into places with it (like FourSquare).

So, what’s in it for us marketers? Although Google+ is still relatively new, we can already see what it has as potential from a marketing perspective.

+1 Feature

Similar to Facebook Like – it allows you to promote and share webpages and content online by ‘+1′ing’ the page. So, many marketers have already started to add Google’s “+1″ feature to content pages and websites. That means more user engagement for you from your website visitors and another method for people to spread the content and get the word out.

SEO

Just like with any other method of social promotion, the more +1′s your content gets, the more likely Google will consider the topic relevant to those search terms. It’s a recent SEO trend, which relies more on recommendations and people suggesting relevant content as opposed to “black and white” marketing strategies to get your content on the top pages of Google. So, over time Google will factor +1 scores into its search algorithm. When you write about a subject on Google+ and your circle (friends) Google’s that subject, your comments and links will be displayed.

User Intelligence

The more you use Google+, the smarter the platform gets as recognizing your usage and recommending items in your News Feed. You’ll start seeing increasingly relevant updates and content coming from within your network – meaning users most interested in what you have to say will find your content more easily, and will be more likely to refer to it and share it.

Influence

Google+ is another way for users to share what they’re reading and watching. Right now, the people on Google+ are people – it’s not available to companies or brands yet. So, the early adopters and users of this platform are able to establish the trend and how interactive the platform is with their network. So, the biggest influencers on Google+ will become the most active and influential sharers of content.

Even though Google+ is just starting out, its reach and ease of use make its implications for online marketers worth consideration. Join today and stay tuned to see where it goes!

Here’s an amazing secret to use Google as a marketer:

+1 notices are posted in everyone’s Gmail inbox – meaning if you +1 something, it has the potential to show up right in someone’s Gmail inbox – which is where they are spending most of their time anyway – in EMAIL. This point alone makes Google+ a must for any marketer.

Until next time… Learn It, Love It, Live it!

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

The Skinny on Google+

Though the World-wide-web is often praised as the foundation for globalization, and links us across countries and continents, new developments have shown the relevance of emphasizing the local places listings and other local aspects of internet marketing.

How to SEO is Over. Local Places Listings are in. Facebook Check-in, the rise of Foursquare and Yelp, and the popularity of Google Places listings and Google Maps establish this point.

There are several main aspects to your local business listings: local directories and your business address; the content of your local listing and customer reviews.

Let us look at each of these in greater detail.

Local Directories and Address

Your address is vital as it indicates where you are positioned and which other places of business are in your area. Needless to say your location is crucial for prospects to find you and for the listing to be shown to potential buyers in your region. Your listing in local directories, such as the online telephone book or White Pages, Yelp for the US, the United kingdom and Germany, or TrueLocal for Australia, will automatically be recognized by search engine spiders and typically syndicated to other listings. By way of example Google Places draws on data from most of these directories and shows them in the final search results. Most of the time, local directory listings are created by other people, but they do need to be owner-verified. Thus, if you see your organization listed somewhere and you didn’t set-up the listing, don’t be anxious, simply go through the steps to claim the listing, or get in touch with the directory directly.

Content of Your Local Listing

The content of your local listing is critical because it demonstrates what types of products you provide. First, be selective when you choose your classification and the key terms for your business – these are the elements your ideal customers are searching for. In the listing itself you want to give your potential customers the right amount of info – neither too much nor too little. You may consider adding photographs and video clips if you have them available – the more your potential shoppers can discover about you, the better.

Customer Reviews

A truly impressive feature of local business listings is the ability to post a review. These days it is supported by most local directories and can either be great for the owner of a listing, or horrible. Nonetheless, potential prospects are much more likely to make contact with you if they find out that others have been pleased with your service. And on top of that, many times your listing will appear more frequently than others if you have more reviews. That suggests implementing a strategy to ask past and current customers to post a review is very important.

In the event that you’re receiving undesirable feedback, make certain you react to the critic as soon as possible – they may simply have a little difficulty that you can sort out swiftly and easily. And even if it’s a more substantial issue, you will know what your customers think of you and what you can do to improve your company.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

The Low-Down on Local Places Listings

Pay Per Click Advertising – Using Google AdWords

Marketing your online business is vital and by using both paid-for and free methods you get an effective mix of coverage, in this article I’m going over setting up a Google AdWords account and what every beginner needs to know to get started ….

The basic idea behind all advertising is to put your message in front of as many people as possible at the lowest cost, but even better is if you can combine that with getting to highly targeted people who you know will be interested in your product.

The best option for making this happen is to use pay per click advertising. Pay per click ads do more than just generate traffic to your site; it’s your shop window to targeted consumers who have a need to satisfy, a problem to resolve and therefore, if you can deliver a solution there’s every likelihood you’ll sell to them and make a profit.

The most popular medium for pay per click advertising is Google AdWords. Google being the gorilla of search engines ensures your ads receive possibly the widest exposure on the web.

How It Works

The way it works is that Google places your ads strategically on sites that are related to your product or niche or you can choose to appear on the search results pages. In other words, sites where your potential customers will be and search results for what your customers are searching for answers to and information about.

Google AdWords is a very popular system bearing in mind Google’s premier position in the search engine hierarchy..When someone is looking for information online, they naturally go to Google. It makes sense that if you want to advertise to the largest number of people, you should use the world’s most popular website.

How Much It Costs

The price you pay for your ads depends on your choice of keywords and how competitive they are – it naturally follows the more popular & competitive the price of the keyword will therefore be determined by that competition; in other words, if lots of other people are using it, it’s going to be more expensive.

Effective Keyword Research is Vital

So again your keyword research is absolutely key, you need to drill down to closely associated (to your main keyword/niche) keywords that are less competitive and therefore more affordable. When you decide on relevant keywords that you want to target, you simply bid on them and Google gives you a price. Sounds tricky but its really not, its very simple I know for Sam & I we thought blimey we’ll never understand all that but believe me the tutorials are great and its simple.

How To Get Set Up On Google AdWords

The system is very easy to use. It has a clear and friendly interface. It takes about 5 minutes to create an account. Once you’ve set up an account, write an ad using your selected keywords. Enter your bid and set the maximum you’re willing to pay for it. You can also decide whether the ad will be used only on Google’s search results page, or whether you’d like it to appear on other sites that use the Google AdWords system. These are sites that allow Google to place ads on them. Google places ads according to keywords used so that only relevant ads appear on sites.

You can also choose how you want the ads positioned on the site. You can pay more to have them placed higher, since people are more likely to see high posted high on a webpage. Once all of this is done, you wait for Google to approve your ads.

Here’s the Really Cool Bit – Controlling Your Cost

Here’s the best method you can use, set a daily budget that you are prepared to spend -and word of advice here initially set it very low – test it, get comfortable with the way the campaign is working, see what the results are like,and try a couple of ad variations – this way you don’t loose your shirt by spending too much money in one go- this is the real beauty of Google adwords – its targeted traffic within a budget. You can instantly pause or stop your Google AdWords campaign by simply clicking on a button in your account.

If the whole process confuses you, there is no need to worry. On Google’s AdWords site area there are a number of easy to understand tutorials as I’ve mentioned before, that walk you through the process and give you some tips on how to get the most out of your advertising campaign.

Pay per click advertising with Google AdWords is probably the Internet’s easiest and most effective form of advertising. In fact, it’s probably the easiest and most targeted system of advertising online or off. Not only does it get you great results, it’s also extremely flexible and easy to use. So there you have it, it’s an absolute must to have in your marketing arsenal, so go there today and get your account set up.

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How To Use Google Adwords to Grow Your Online Business