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Connecting Up The Spider Web – Google Places and Google+ – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Jo Shaer in Google

For many small businesses, Google Places Pages are their big chance to overtake their larger competitors and get onto the front page of Google with a red balloon highlighting their listing.

However, the changes that have been rolled out over the last few weeks have caused a lot of confusion, rather than an injection of enthusiasm for the huge potential for opportunity.

From my perspective, it’s almost as if Google keeps re-leveling the playing field to keep Places within the reach and grasp of the average local business owner – who doesn’t have a fortune to spend on fancy websites and search engine optimisation advice – whilst still keeping up with the latest technological advances and innovations.

The advent of Google+ – whilst seemingly separate from Google Places Pages – is a huge step in the right direction when it comes to improving customer activity on both Places Pages and customer websites.

With the social media evangelists leading the clarion charge to get one of the rare tranche of initial invites, the desire to be a part of this new ‘restricted numbers’ platform has mushroomed, so that people from outside the digital world clamoured to be part of this new ‘competitor’ for Facebook.

They’re also becoming more clued up about the significance of the +1 button on many pieces of website or blog content. Just as Facebook has the ‘like’ button and the facility for Facebook comments to show up on the personalised search results pages of Bing, Google have come up with something similar for Google+ – but with added juice. By linking your name to any content that you submit on your blog, website or as an article and from there to your Google+ profile, you are providing author authority which allows the search engine to place an image of you as the author beside your work on any relevant results page.

If that doesn’t make your content stand out over your competitors, I don’t know what will. It’s the equivalent of the Places Page red balloon – but for people.

With so many additional people joining Google Mail (otherwise known as Gmail) in order to be part of Google+ and then using their account as their standard email address, they have the key piece of the jigsaw which will allow them to participate in the intricate web of services that Google is building. You need a Google account to claim a Google Places Page and you also need one to leave a review – whether you’re on your PC or a mobile device.

It is also now possible to access domain-based email accounts and non-php mail functions using a Gmail app, rather than Microsoft’s Outlook or Mozilla’s Thunderbolt.

So, with the groundwork in place to connect up their spider’s web, Google rolled out the latest changes to the Places Page format. A big red ‘Write a Review’ button replaced the previous third party testimonials from local listing directories. Some experts said there were issues regarding using other websites’ content, but why offer customers the chance to leave reviews through other directories when Google now have an effective method of their own?

Pre-Google+, not so many people had a Gmail account, so it required a lot of determined effort to leave a review on a Places Page. That problem is now solved. And with their own mobile app already in popular usage, Google have a head start over the majority of the local listing apps – even though some of them are now paying to have their mobile app installed as default on some mobile networks.

Having said that, although the third party reviews no longer show in the exact number listed against any page, that doesn’t mean that Google does not still take them into account and it would be a very brave business owner indeed who put all their eggs in one basket when it comes to reviews. Get your business listed in as many local listing directories as possible so that people have the opportunity to review you, whatever app they use.

Uploading photographs is another addition to the latest roll-out – again, for the mobile customer, people are far more likely to upload a review and a photo at the same time, whilst actually at the venue and having a great time, than waiting until they get home and connecting their phone up to the computer.

But, more importantly, these images will make the business entry stand out in the listings on both a PC and a mobile screen, as well as increasing on-Page activity. Indeed, if you look at the newest branded one box entries, these are definitely trying to include the most useful information in the easiest way. Eye-catching pictures with only the most relevant wording taken from both the Places Page and the business website – so no detailed description and working hours to over-complicate the slick preview that is seen by the customers.

What is becoming quite clear is that Google is optimising the local Places Pages for both social and mobile, using the factors that have always underpinned their SERPs – relevance and trust. But now it’s their own users who are providing both the information and the verification.

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Jo Shaer is a Local SEO Aficionado, who uses Google Places, Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media to direct traffic for a wide range of businesses at Lollipop Local.

She also writes a regular Blog

Understanding TrustRank and How to Use It

By Sohail Amir in Google

Some people say the mysterious Google TrustRank is what really determines SERP positions on result pages. It was obviously created to decide how trusted a website is by looking at various factors including security and the length of time a domain has been around on the web. They have never made an official explanation on this and have never spoken of it. However, there is no doubt that there are two elements that determine trust; user perception and trust ranking.

If you’re serious about website design or online business then this should be your number one priority. If not, you shouldn’t be looking too far into the future of your empire because you won’t be able to build up good relationships with leads or customers.

Why is It Important to Build Trusted Relationships?

Well first of all, you’re probably going to lose more than 80% of your potential buyers because the internet is well known for scams and spam. People don’t like to take a chance, especially when the online market is so competitive. The other reason is your best mate Google – if Google doesn’t trust you, people won’t find you, and if people can’t find you then there’s no point in running an internet business at all. Becoming a trusted site in their eyes will not only make you more visible to the online world, but to many others too.

How to Build Trust with Search Engines and Visitors

As mentioned earlier in this article, there are two main factors that will affect your business relationships, user perception and trust ranking. User perception is how a visitor understands a site in their eyes so doing the following will help gain trust quickly:-

Blogging – Shows visitors that you are posting quality content on a regular basis and talking about relevant subjects to keep them interested.

Tweeting – Shows that you are active, especially if you post tweets every couple of hours which is what you should be doing with Twitter anyway.

Quality – People will trust you if it looks like you put time and effort into making your site look stunning as well as professional. It should be tested by humans for humans and have a good user experience. Make sure everyone gets a great first impression.

Being Real – Make sure you have a telephone number along with other contact details including an address if there is one so people know your business is real.

Simply put, people who have had bad experiences with dodgy sites are careful about the sites they trust and purchase from.

The second element is TrustRank, the unofficial set of factors that determine how trusted a site is by using sophisticated algorithms affecting the Search Engine Ranking Process (SERP) rankings:-

Legal Issues – In the EU, you must have a Privacy Policy explaining how cookies are used and handled if they are collected. People have seen better positions in search results by placing the policy link in their footer.

SSL Certificates – This is a definite factor for online businesses. Major search engines can tell how trusted a site is by a Trust Authority. Companies such as VeriSign provide secure and trusted certificates with EV (Extended Validation – the green bar that appears with the HTTPS in the URL) features which is instantly recognized by visitors, spiders or crawlers.

Domain Age – Even if you use paid services to hide WHOIS data, its been said that Google can see the actual data anyway so the data should only be hidden if really needed. The age of a domain name can show that you’ve been around a while and it can be a good idea to have at least 10 years registered on it.

Links - The sites that link to you and the sites you link to yourself can tell a lot about an organization. It not only determines your PageRank, but if you have links to sites Google may consider spam or junk, it can affect your authority too. Make sure all your links are of good quality and are completely relevant.

There are other factors, but Google will probably never tell us. An interesting fact is that TrustRank was actually registered by the corporate giant in 2005 along with a patent to go with it. So it’s definitely real and it could mean more to the SERP than PageRank. Give it a try and see if it makes any difference because it’s definitely worth it.

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West London based freelance web designer Sohail Amir, providing bespoke web design and development solutions.

Has Google+ Already Won that War Against Facebook? A SPN Exclusive Article

By Pace Lattin in Google

Just within the last two years Facebook overtook Myspace as the king of social networking. Now Myspace has been regulated by the technology and advertising community to the garbage heap of websites. Now has arrived what everyone knew would come, Google+, the newest best “social network” to compete in a crowded pack, dominated significantly by Facebook. Many people see that Facebook has a stranglehold on the social networking, and that nothing will take away it crown. I see completely the opposite that Google+ has already won, and within a year will easily take away any dominance that Facebook has, quickly sapping Facebook’s influence and value.

For the last few years, I’ve made the argument to friends and colleagues that Google should be buying Facebook, it was only a natural progression. Instead of selling to Google, Facebook felt that it was a long-lasting company that itself needed to buy other companies and become the next Google. In this, Facebook has made a complete miscalculation and they’ve already lost the war, barring some miracle — and here’s three reasons that I feel confident in my prediction:

1) Google has everything already Facebook has and more. While Facebook is attempting to buy or partner with companies like Microsoft, Google already have competitive features for almost everything Facebook wants. From mail, to video chat, to embedded search, these features are seamless within Google and in many cases superior. Now when you login to Google+ you are connected to all these features and will be able to use it as part of your social networking experience. If they don’t have it, rest assured they will get it.

2) Advertisers love Google. Despite Facebook’s enormous growth in advertising, Google is still the main source of advertising money. Google has known for a long time that everything is interconnected in interactive advertising and has been building and buying solutions that will connect with their Google+ technology. The universal login that Google+ will become, combined with mail, calendars and much more will provide targeting feature that no other network, no other behavior targeting company can even come close to duplicating. Pretty much, with Google+ turned on, most of what you do, from networking, to search, to mail, to surfing non Google websites will have you somehow connected eventually to their back advertising and targeting systems. Advertising prices will rise, Google’s income will double, and many other advertising solutions will have no way to compete, including Facebook.

3) Facebook cares too much about “social networking.” Social networking as a stand-alone solution is gone. With Google, everything will become on function of the internet. People have made for a while the argument that Facebook is really just another extension of the internet, and that “social networking” is nothing more than another word for what we all do on a daily basis – just made easier by software solutions. However, with Google+ all these interests, all of the networks and groups that we create will be more integrated into every other function of the internet. Remember that Google is often the first site, the main site that everyone uses on a daily basis to connect to everything else they want to know. Search will become a social tool and social networking will become a search mechanism. There will be no distinction perceived or in reality. When you are connected to the Internet, for most of us, you will always be connected to Google.

That last point really wraps up all the points together. Technologists have been claiming for a while that at some point the Internet will be more than just a destination on a computer or phone, but instead a part of everything we do. Microsoft knew this many years ago and has been trying unsuccessfully to have a universal login that will log you into everything. Even before that America Online (AOL) wanted to be the login to the internet, but never even came close to converting from an ISP to a destination. Facebook has been quickly addressing this, with integration into blogs, login for everything, but they still aren’t anywhere near the daily influence and reach of Google. That’s what Google has over Facebook, and what will make Google dominate the market. The pure integration potential of Google is just amazing. Since most users on the internet chose the easiest solution, whatever is put in their face (or the first page of Google), that is where they will all eventually go.

If Facebook doesn’t like it, they also have another reality to face: Google generates somewhere around 30-times as much revenue as Facebook and they can easily buy all the new users they need.

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Pace Lattin is a leading expert in interactive marketing and advertising. Pace Lattin, the publisher of the top newsletters in new media and online advertising is one of the inventors of many of the technologies and methods that have become standards in the industry. He has been called many things, including a rabble-rouser, a guru, an innovator and a watchdog — but one thing stays the same: he is one of the most interesting leaders and commentators in the online advertising industry. Marketing Sherpa, a leading marketing research publication called him the most influential journalist in online media for a reason.

How To Get Started With Google AdWords

By Toby Russell in Google

In this article I’ll cover the simple mechanics of Google AdWords so you can get up and running with an account in no time. I tell you its really simple and easy to do & is possibly one of the most important tools in you Internet marketing and information publishing arsenal.

Again casting my mind back to when I was pounding the streets as an ad sales rep for a local newspaper I can remember how those advertisers who were a bit savvy would look to book the primary positions – front and back page or early right hand page – that kind of thing. In fact there was one guy, had a sports shop – I’d go & see him once a year, he’d only book front or back page slots, called solus positions in those days because they were as you’ve guessed, on their own.

I often wondered why, he always paid a premium, never tried to get a discount and likewise would never take other positions even if they were ‘good discounted deals” – then I suddenly realized what he was after was ‘targeted’ traffic – he only wanted those people interested in his merchandise to respond, no time wasters and by standing out on the page he got terrific exposure and a steady stream of people who were looking for sports gear – clever, I tell you if he was still around now he’d have been one of the first online – clever guy.

Anyway here’s how to get started with Adwords, and remember the word – “TARGETED” here we go …….

How It Works

The way it works is that Google places your ads strategically on sites that are related to your product 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’ll 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 thing you set a daily budget that you are prepared to spend – word of advice here initially set it low – test it, get comfortable, see what the results are like, try a couple of ad variations – this way you don’t loose your shirt by spending too much – 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 the 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, 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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Toby Russell, Internet Marketer, Publisher & Property Investor offers tried and tested methods to help you succeed on line. Want to know more about Google Adwords & Other Online Advertising Methods? Get his popular Free Special Report -Chapter 12 tells you how to use PPC advertising, available at => http://www.startinternetmarketingonline.com

Making the Most of Local SEO With A Google Places Page

By Ashley J Downs in Google

Like most small business owners with their first website, I didn’t immediately understand the importance of keywords and search engine optimization when it comes to being found by customers who live virtually on your doorstep. And that’s where Local SEO is a key factor.

Statistics have shown that most customers will buy from businesses located within five miles of their base. It’s almost as if they trust a business more if it has a local physical address.

I now know that the key to getting on the front page of Google for local keywords is to rank in the seven-pack list of Google Places pages with one of those red balloons These are the websites that Google is giving away for free to those businesses that they recognize as being the ‘go to’ places for a particular service/product in that location.

Google makes the decision as to who gets into the top seven by the relevance of the website’s description to the search term, its proximity to the center of the location and how often they have seen that business mentioned in a variety of local listing directories/social media platforms. That’s what makes the difference between the award of a red balloon and a red dot.

However, as a small business owner with no knowledge of SEO, local or otherwise, I was not aware of the thinking behind the selection. I knew I had to have a Google Places page but, over the months, there was conflicting advice as to the best way to get one.

Some experts advised that an existing Google Places page should be claimed immediately to stop any mischievous competitor from taking it and messing around with the phone number or address whilst others suggested that it was better to get all the information needed to complete the various demands for company information and then claim it.

Still more said that, if Google had not already deemed you worthy by preparing a Places page for you for free, then you should just create your own and another group insisted that was wrong and you should promote your online presence until the big G had been nudged into noticing you.

The one thing that they all eventually agreed on was that you shouldn’t try to influence Google or any potential customers by stuffing keywords into the Title of your business listing. Sadly, it was too late for me because, by then, I had already submitted my entry with explanatory keywords after the main name of the business.

The next thing that became a consensus was that you needed to have an absolute address. PO Boxes and virtual addresses would not do at all since verification was now done via postcard and no proper address meant no possibility of proving that you did do business from that address. However, again, this became a fact after I had entered a second entry (with an incomplete address to preserve my anonymity as a home worker) because Google Places seemed to have eaten my first.

Two months later, I typed my keyword and location into the Google search box and discovered that both entries were now showing – and that neither had the correct details. To my consternation, one had a big red circle with a letter and the other the standard red lettered balloon.

That’s when I met someone who did know what they were doing and, under their guidance, we were able to start again and do things properly, in the right order, so that Google could present me with my own free website showing all the required information for local customers to get in touch.

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The red balloons of Google Places are the key to getting found online. To find out more, go to http://lollipoplocal.co.uk/google-places For Essex Local SEO advice you can trust, visit http://lollipoplocal.co.uk

Google Launches “Adwords Interests” Out of Beta – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Nancy Gibbins in Google

Google Adwords Interest is certainly an *interesting* concept in respect to getting more relevant eyeballs on your ad. The program essentially allows advertisers to stalk their potential users based not only on their search habits or the site they are currently visiting, but also other information. What other information at this point seems to be unclear. That having been said, my best guess would include other sources of information about internet users gleaned from the other sites we are visiting – Gmail, Buzz info, groups or blogs we read and sites we +1.

From where I’m standing this is a fantastic way to continue to reach the desired audience, even when they aren’t on a site that is relevant to their interests. It’s a way to stay in their face which is good when reaching the right person is the ultimate goal.

There are a few things I’m curious to see play out as the program progresses and more widespread analytics start to stream in. First what will this mean for Click Through Rate and how this will affect overall CPC? Second, will this lead to stronger conversion rates for Display Network campaigns? And finally, how will this affect mobile search? We will have to wait and see on all points.

If this particular way to reach users seems vaguely familiar to you, then you would be correct. This is the advertising model for Facebook PPC. The main difference is the incredible reach that Google has through search partners and the display network as well as more points of information Google has access to thanks to all of its ancillary products.

Google has been working like the little engine that could in trying to get into the social network business with products like +1, Google Buzz and the Facebook-esque Google Friend Connect launched in 2008. They just can’t seem to make it happen like Facebook can. No bother though, Google’s juxtaposition of advertising reach and personal information about users will more than likely win the race.

So now what to expect? Perhaps bedfellows Bing and Facebook will be launching their own version for the MSN Display network.

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Nancy Gibbins Roberts is the found and chief strategist at Jump Marketing in Atlanta, GA. With more than 20 years experience in bringing businesses to the web she is an authority on analytics and strategic interactive marketing.

How To Use Google Adwords To Get Laser Targeted Traffic

By Toby Russell in Google

We all know that Traffic is what it’s all about if you want to make money on line. Naturally every site is trying to get as much traffic as possible, but its not just size but also the quality and targeted nature of traffic that’s also vitally important. This is where the ability to ‘market’ your site through the medium of the ‘internet’ comes in, hence the term Internet marketing. Websites must be seen and read, that’s a given. You can spend tons of money and all of your time making the most beautiful, useful and informative site on the web, and without traffic it will get you nowhere.

Each person that visits your site is a potential customer for the products or services that you’re offering, but for many of we internet marketers the primary function is to entice visitors to join our ‘list’ this offers the ability to market to them many times into the future. Some sites fail because they don’t get traffic or don’t get the right kind of traffic; but many sites have risen to the top by focusing on the specific needs of their niches or sub-niches.

The point is not just to get random traffic, but also to get the people who will actually buy from you. Sites work hard to target certain groups for this reason. It’s important to do precision marketing through keyword research to get the right kind of traffic to your site.

It Takes Money To Make Money?

To a degree this is true but as with all things it’s a case of size and in many instances initially spending a little but in a very focused and targeted manner can produce very worthwhile results

One of the greatest areas you can invest in is advertising. The right kind of advertising can get you a massive flow of traffic that you can use. Even if you only get a small percentage of sales from your traffic, more traffic will mean more cash, but also create increased awareness to your site. Bear in mind statistics show most visitors do not buy on first visit; indications are it takes at least 3 or 4 visits to establish the confidence to buy.

For on line advertising you need to be trying Google Adwords. It’s simple, straightforward and undoubtedly works as you can target specific keywords that you believe people within your niche are searching for.

The way it works is that you pay Google according to how many clicks (hence its called pay per click or PPC advertising) you ad receives. So in simple terms, a visitor to Google types in ‘how to stop smoking?’ if they then see your ad for ‘stop smoking course’ and click on it Google charge you for that click Your ads could be right there on the first page, it just depends how competitive your niche and the keywords you have chosen

Pay Per Click Better Known as PPC Advertising

This is a great method for getting your message in front of the right people. It also makes sure that you’re have a good opportunity of getting on the first page of their search. It takes a little money, but it ensures that your potential customers will see you. You target them, and they head to your site to see what you have to offer. Bear in mind by setting a daily budget, once you have received clicks to the value of that budget Google don’t run your ads anymore that day – the advantage is you can’t go over your budget – you know what your costs are and the following day Google reinstate your ads and so it goes on.

You can also cancel or pause a campaign at any time – you’re always in control.

Other search engines have their own similar systems. Sites like Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, Yahoo and Bing also have their own ad systems. They have ads that respond to searches in just the same way.

There are also other sites that will display Google Adwords for you. This all depends on which niche you’ve chosen. The ads will only appear on relevant sites. The amount you pay also determines how often your ad will appear.

How To Laser Target Your Traffic

To make sure that your traffic is laser targeted, you’ll need to monitor your stats. Google Adwords will also do this, giving you feedback on how your strategy is working. By laser targeting, you’ll see the ratio of visitors to buying customers increase dramatically.

The key to laser targeting traffic is to choose the right keywords. You need keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant to your site and that also draw a good number of visitors. You can find free tools that will help you choose keywords. They’ll show you how many searches a certain keyword is getting per month, and this will help you decide.

Google Adwords laser targets your traffic so that it stands to reason more of your visitors are likely to become customers over time. It will make sure that the people who are looking for your specific product or service will find it. The key to getting it all started is to make sure that your Google Adwords use the right keywords that will pull them in. Test, test and test again on small daily budgets.

Although it costs some up front investment, Google Adwords is a great way to profit on line.

A Word of Caution here ………. The long-term profits will pay off in the end, but do tread carefully initially, make sure you set your daily budget pretty low to begin with, test it out, check your stats, do not increase the daily budget until you feel totally comfortable that you understand the way it works – there’s been many before you who have lost a fortune on adwords – so beware and cautious to start.

My top tip – dip your toe in the water with Google Adwords first, then when you’re comfortable with the system, getting the desired results consider spreading your net a bit wider with some of the other search engines.

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Toby Russell, Internet Marketer, Publisher & Property Investor offers tried and tested methods to help you succeed on line. Find out how to drive huge amounts of targeted traffic to your own website using Google AdWords with my popular Free step-by-step Special Report.
Available at => http://www.startinternetmarketingonline.com

How To Optimize For Google – Tips For Your Website

By Ruth Morgan in Google

Getting to the top of a Google search result can bring tremendous amounts of traffic to a website. Websites that make it to the top do not get there by chance. They are there because their web pages are optimized. To optimize for Google, website designers must follow several key steps. Each step is designed to relay to the search engine some information about the web page. By performing this optimization, website owners increase their chances of making it to the top of a Google search result. To understand how the process works, the following information lists several of the basic steps that website designers need to follow to produce an optimized website.

The first step to getting a high ranking in Google’s search pages involves choosing the right keywords. But it is not only about finding the keywords – understanding their profitability is important as well. This is assessed by determining the level of competition for these keywords.
There are many commercial vendors that provide services to determine profitability and other aspects related to keywords, but to start, any website operator can use Google’s keyword tool to get a list of general keywords.

Shorter keyword phrases have the most competition and the most profitability and that is why it is harder to achieve high rankings for them. Because of this, many website owners look to rank for long tail keywords. These are keywords that contain the main keyword along with other words. Even though they are easier to rank for, long tail keywords are less profitable, which is why website owners typically look to rank for multiple long tail keywords.

After the keywords have been chosen and analyzed, website owners need to know about where to place the words on the web page. The first part of this optimization process involves placing the keyword in the title of the page. The title tag, located in the head section of the HTML code, is the first tag that the search engine spider analyses.

The header tag, h1 is the next important tag. This tag typically contains the name of the article, which, at the minimum, should contain the complete keyword. Additional words may be included with the keyword to help improve readability, but the words in this tag need to contain the entire keyword phrase.

Another important aspect of web page optimization is link optimization. These links or anchor texts help to indicate to the search engine spider what the web page is about. An anchor text should be a related keyword of the main keyword of your title, and the anchor destination should be a page that is related to the keyword in the anchor text. Leading to a page of unrelated content will not help with website optimization. So, to get value from the anchor text, make sure that it leads to a page related to the anchor text.

To optimize for Google also involves repeating keywords a certain number of times. Although there are different views amongst SEO experts as to the optimum keyword percentage within content, many writers generally aim for between 2 and 3 percent keyword density.

In addition to optimizing the article content, web designers should also optimize multimedia, such as images or videos. For example, if appropriate, the name of an image should also contain the keywords. If the keywords are not appropriate for the image name, web designers can use the alt attribute in the image tag to write a description of the image using the keywords. In fact, the alt attribute should always be used for optimization and also to ensure usability and access standards are followed.

In summary, if web designers follow and include all of the preceding on their web pages, they will be well on their way to optimizing their websites. These are the basic steps that they must follow if they want to get near the top of Google’s ranking for their particular keywords.

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Would you like more tips on how to make money online? Then claim your free copy of the 90 page report ‘Internet Marketing Revealed’. You’ll also get Ruth Morgan’s 5 step guide to setting up your own online business. To get your free report and 5 step guide go to HowToBuildYourInternetBusiness.com today.

FTC’s Settlement With Google Provides Game Changing Internet Privacy Regulations

By Chip Cooper in Google

You’ve certainly heard about Google’s highly promoted BUZZ service which is designed to compete directly with Twitter by offering much of Twitter’s basic functionality with a Facebook-like platform including location data integrated into Gmail. What you may not have heard is that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently made BUZZ the poster child for the FTC’s effort to show that the old tried and true privacy protection methodology is now not enough.

Once again, the FTC has upped the ante for privacy requirements, and all websites are expected to comply with the new game changing regulations, or face the consequences.

The FTC’s Allegations

On March 30, 2011, the FTC announced a proposed consent order regarding Google’s BUZZ service. According the FTC, Google had engaged in deceptive practices regarding discrepancies between its privacy policy statements and its actual practices regarding BUZZ.

Google’s privacy policy stated in part: “When you sign up for a particular service that requires registration, we ask you to provide personal information. If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such use.”

When Google launched BUZZ, Google invited its Gmail users to sign-up with two options: * “Sweet! Check out Buzz”, or * “Nah, go to my inbox”.

The FTC alleged that both of these options were deceptive. The “Sweet” option was allegedly deceptive because users were not clearly informed that the identities of certain of their email recipients would be made public by default. The FTC claimed this was contrary to Google’s promise to obtain consent for new information uses and also in violation of Google’s requirements in its self-certified participation in the US-EU Safe Harbor program.

The “Nah” option was allegedly deceptive because users were unwittingly enrolled in certain parts of BUZZ despite selecting “Nah”.

The Game Changers

As part of the proposed settlement, Google is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program with very specific mandated requirements and to undergo privacy audits over the next twenty years. This requirement is not new. The FTC has historically signaled its expectations through consent orders with similar requirements.

What’s new, and certainly game changing, are the following.

* Covered Information. Up to now, privacy regulations has focused on “personal information” that may be used to identify an individual person. From now on, the focus will be on “covered information” which the FTC construes to cover additional elements including screen names, location data, and lists of contacts.

* Privacy by Design. Generally, privacy by design is a holistic approach where privacy compliance is designed physically into systems from their inception, rather than waiting to address compliance the end of the design process or separately through a published privacy policy. Although at this time there is scant information regarding privacy design specifics, a safe bet is that privacy by design will involve pop-up or interstitial messaging regarding the use and sharing of covered information at the time a user discloses information or opts in to a specific program.

This is in stark contrast to the current practice of providing all such messaging in a separately published privacy policy.

Conclusion

With the proposed BUZZ settlement, the FTC has aggressively raised the bar in terms of privacy requirements for all online businesses. In essence, the FTC settlements have created “common law” regarding privacy, and websites that fail to comply do so at their peril.

Expect more specific information regarding the game changers in the form of additional suits and settlements by the FTC in the near future.

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Leading SaaS attorney Chip Cooper has automated the process of drafting Website Legal Documents with his Website Legal Forms Generator. Use his free online tool — Website Documents Determinator — to determine which legal documents your website really needs. Discover how quick, easy, and cost-effective it is to draft your website legal forms at http://www.digicontracts.com/whichdocs/ .

Ten Things I Hope Google Places Fixes in 2011

By Randy Kirk in Google

In 2010, Google vastly improved the old Google Local Business Center with an upgrade in the name to Google Places, and with maybe 100 changes to the look, the rules, and more. Each change brought happiness to some and misery to others. But the reality is that the product is still as buggy as the beds in Washington, DC.

As a Google Places expert and consultant I rode the roller coaster last year with days of glee and days of heartache. My clients and others who called me were as confused as they could be about Google’s reason and intent. One thing they all knew for sure. They needed to be highly ranked to get the phone to ring or the door to swing. Here is one pundits plea to Google for 10 ways to fix their fantastic tool.

1. Without question the number one fix would be to reconfigure the ranking system or the bot that evaluates the ranking to be far more, dare I say, fair. Ok. How about just? Currently it is common to find unclaimed sites with no website, no reviews, and no citations ranking above sites with solid optimization, multiple reviews from Google and other sites, and citations aplenty. This hurt credibility for Google, and drives businesses, SEO pros, and even consumers crazy.

2. Help the helpless. With Google being so critical to the health of its business clients, why should the rules and nuances of those rules be reminiscent of Mario Brothers. The forum is nice and all, and sometimes Google employees and unpaid consultants give some “cheats” to those who have not been able to decipher the code. Why not have serious tutorials to help companies do it right. Better Google Places Pages would be good for everyone. Facebook Fan Pages is charging for tutorials. Fine. Charge.

3. Enforce the Rules! The first lesson of making a law is that it must be enforceable. I just don’t think that any business has a real name of Best Price Junk Cars Los Angeles. Why doesn’t the bot kill that one before it ever goes live. If Google Places is going to know all about every place on earth, shouldn’t it be a priority not to list a business at an address that doesn’t exist or that is an empty building.

4. Fix the thumbnail pictures. Why is this even an issue? Squashed faces and weird shaped logos don’t do anything to enhance this product. Google plans to change the energy delivery system for the entire planet. Can this be so hard?

5. Title the movies. Who wants to watch random movies? Just give us 30 characters. More would be better. A description would be fantastic. This would help the consumer immeasurably.

6. Improve the look of the Google Place Page. Currently there is no serious reason for the consumer to go to the “page” other than reviews. Maybe there could be template choices for layout, more choices for pictures including products in the top section. And how about bigger or more interesting fonts for the section titles. Currently, it is a bit hard for folks to find the various reviews and citations, even if they want to.

7. Put the link to leave a review on the search page. It could go right under the stars.

8. Stop penalizing those who use Tags. Using mechanical scrutiny for every possible minor rule violation on Tags users while not using the same scrutiny on those who have not chosen to use Tags. I have no experience with Boost, so don’t know if this is also happening with Boost clients.

9. Certify Google Places Consultants. Provide a course or a test or some method for determining who understands the system. Allow the certification # to appear on the listing page so that unintentional errors can be sorted out, and certifications can be lost if the errors are frequent or black hat.

10. Allow businesses to move their places listing from one Google Account to another. There are hundreds of legitimate reasons for this to be done, including the fact that no one who set up Google Places listings in the last two years knew this would be an issue. Many of them are associated with personal emails or multiple businesses.

Google Places is a work in progress. While it may never be completely “finished” and allowed to be somewhat static for awhile, I believe that by 2012, the site will be far less volatile and more predictable for business owners and their consultants.

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Randy Kirk is the president of internet marketing company, Page1Listings.com. Kirk is the author of several business books including Warner Business Books 4.6 star “Running A 21st Century Small Business.” The book is available on Amazon. Page1Listings.com specializes in helping very small companies (1-50 employees) with marketing both on and off the internet. The company specializes in helping companies get highly ranked on Google Places, and also is a low cost provider of help with social networking, YouTube videos, word of mouth marketing, email blasts, press releases, website development, seo, sem, and more.

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