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October 23, 2010 by

Improve Your YouTube Video Rankings

If you have an entertaining, informative, or otherwise helpful (“non-spammy”) video which you want to share on YouTube then chances are that you would love to see it at the top of the rankings.  Remember that a good YouTube ranking can offer you AT LEAST the following benefits:

  • More customers because you are # 1 for a good keyword(s)
  • Ability for your video to be shared easily on social networks and social bookmark sites
  • Chance to rank well also in Google Videos
  • Occasional opportunity for a thumbnail image of your video to appear in the main Google search engine results
  • Video can be “embedded” on other people’s websites and blogs, thereby reaching more prospects
  • Other video sites often “scrape” videos from YouTube, so your video can appear on other sites as well

The trick to getting these benefits is four-fold once you have a completed video which is worthy of sharing with the online community:

  1. Do your keyword research and competition analysis.  This is imperative!!!  If you have a limited budget then this is where you spend your money in order to determine what people are seeking and (of equal importance) what they are NOT entering into Google regarding your business.  You will be surprised at what you discover people are/are not entering!
  2. Use proper on-page optimization within YouTube
  3. Use YouTube for its intended purpose, as a social network site like Facebook.  Be sure to subscribe to people’s channels, encourage subscribers, get comments on your videos, geo-tag everything when you can, use video responses, and all of the other YouTube features which make it an active “community”
  4. Send links and traffic to your YouTube channel and your video(s)

If you need help with any of these steps then you are welcome to contact me.  Otherwise use these tips, and have fun seeing your videos start their climb to the top of the YouTube and Google Videos engines!

Filed Under: Tips, videos Tagged With: , , , , ,
October 1, 2010 by

Print Advertising Ideas – Use The Ads Online

If you have ever once created an advertisement for your business and had it displayed in a print publication (e.g. magazine, newspaper, event program) then chances are that you are interested in what else you can do with the artwork. Since you invested time and money in the ad, you at least should be able to have some extra strategies to leverage the current content!

Here are 6 simple strategies in this video which takes less than 10 minutes to watch:

If you want any help with the keyword research, any of the 6 ideas for your print ads, or other online marketing help then feel free to contact me through the Contact form on this page. In addition, if you found this video to be helpful then you are welcome to share it with any of your social networks or friends & colleagues.

Thank you for watching the video, and I hope that you are now able to get more value from your previous and future print ads.

Filed Under: Presentations, Print advertising, Tips, Webinars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 31, 2010 by

Dallas Online Internet Marketing For Networking Marketing Distributors

In recent days, I have been approached by various people in Dallas who have second businesses in the MLM, direct sales, and network marketing industries.  They have asked for all forms of help with their start using online internet marketing.   If you are in a similar position with a MLM/direct sales/network marketing business then here are some tips to help you get started.

First, be sure that you are allowed to market online in any manner.  Some of these businesses, like deregulated electricity, may have tight restrictions on letting their distributors use the internet to grow one’s business.  Make sure that you are all clear on what you can and cannot do.
Second, understand that most likely you will have to build some other web property(ies) in addition to the site which the corporate office assigns you.  This does not mean that you have to go out right away and buy a domain and web hosting, although you may wish to do so at some point.  Instead, you may control pages on Web 2.0 sites, pages and channels on video-sharing sites, social bookmarking accounts, and you may be syndicating articles on various topics.  No matter what path you choose, just realize that you probably will be controlling accounts and pages on websites other than what corporate gives you.

Third, and probably most important (!), make sure that you are VERY clear on the type of person you want to attract to your content using the internet.  In addition, you must be very clear on what it is that you want that person to do AFTER they become aware of you and your corporation.  The people with whom I have spoken never really had a defined person and a defined message in mind when it came to the topic of internet marketing.  Here is a better example:

  • I asked one of these people who approached me about what he wanted in his network marketing business.  He said that he wanted to dominate the Dallas market for his business.  When I asked him why he wanted to use online and internet marketing to attract just a Dallas audience he told me that he wanted to meet everyone face to face in order to convince them to take action and join his down line
  • I asked him if a video explaining his story would be just as good in order to use internet marketing to expand his awareness outside of the Dallas area.  He said that he simply wanted to meet people in the area face to face
  • We decided then to use an internet marketing strategy which involved online event directories/calendars, press releases announcing his events which were being held in public places, social media (including MySpace, which everyone seems to forget!), local forums, and Dallas-specific SEO
  • We also decided to help him “lead” with the business opportunity rather than the product.  This meant that he would target keywords (for SEO purposes) which dealt with Dallas-specific terms people are entering.  Such terms could be “Dallas residual income”, “Dallas work from home”, or “Dallas business seminars”
  • An online marketing keyword and competition analysis would then be done on those Dallas-specific keywords which had the underlying psychology of someone who may be inclined to take action right away or, at least, attend a free business seminar

Hopefully you begin to understand that by narrowing down the list, and being specific on what you want to accomplish, you THEN can begin to use more-interactive social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), sound SEO techniques, and intelligent website targeting to reach your audience.

Should you need any internet marketing help for your MLM/direct sales/network marketing business then feel free to contact me through the Contact link at the top of the page.  If you found this article helpful, or believe that it can help someone you know, then you are welcome to share it on your social networks, social bookmark accounts, or e-mail lists.  Thanks!

Filed Under: Network Marketing, Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
July 12, 2010 by

SEM Help To Appear On Page One

If you need SEM help, which stands for “Search Engine Marketing”, then there are a few intelligent things you can do in the next 30 minutes before you hire anyone to do online marketing help for you.  It all depends on your goals, so take the next 30 minutes and ask yourself questions such as:

  • are you already appearing on page one of the search engine results for a high-traffic keyword?  If so, you simply may want to rank higher and/or get other web properties to appear on the first page as well
  • are you advertising on Pay-Per-Click (e.g. Google AdWords)?  If so, you may wish to get some SEM help in order to improve your ad’s position and/or increase click-through rates thereby lowering your overall per-click costs
  • you may want to appear on the “Universal Search” components which Google offers such as seeing a physical product (or book) you are selling appear as the image on the search engine results return page
  • are you looking to appear on the first page for real-time updates?  If so, there are ways to be found on the new “Updates” feature on the Google sidebar
  • do you have a local business?  If so, you probably want to get ranked first on the Maps as the map listings often help search engine users because of their visual appeal

Within this 30 minute window, then you want to detail out the resources you already have and what you still need to help facilitate your goals.  These could be:

  • outsourcing articles based around the high-demand keyword terms
  • creating a social media account and learning how to use it properly for updates
  • double-check the “Quality Score” of any Google AdWords advertising you are doing.  Do what you can to raise the Quality Score in order to ensure relevancy for the end visitors.  By increasing the Quality Score you are doing what you can to reduce the overall per-click cost for your ad
  • claim your Maps listing if you have not already done so
  • enhance your Maps listing with images, videos, coupons, and other helpful information
  • ask a small batch of happy customers to leave a review on your Maps listing(s)
  • map out the process of a quality, one-way link building campaign to improve your current search engine results page rankings

Hopefully this 30 minutes will be well-spent as most local business owners I have met have not yet asked themselves the important questions.  By doing so the owners and decision-makers will be able to get more for their money as they can ask for/request targeted SEM help to accomplish specific goals.

Filed Under: Page One, Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,
July 8, 2010 by

Internet Marketing Tip – Why Continue To Build Links If You Are Number 1

Recently I was asked why a business owner should continue paying a SEO expert if the business’ site now ranks # 1 in all of the search engines for his preferred keyword term. This is a great question, and one which business owners should consider when investing in any form of internet marketing help.

I will approach this question in two ways. One will be a simplified “real world” example; and the other will be in the language of a business owner’s mentality.

The first is that you have remember that you “leap-frogged” someone else’s web page in order for you to rank for # 1. This means, by definition, that someone else can leap-frog you at some point (even the next day) AND the search engine always has the right to change its algorithm (and your ranking) at its sole discretion. You must continue to provide new content and links which lead the end customer – whom the search engines must protect – to content which is appropriate, authoritative, trustworthy, and relevant.

In other words, by becoming # 1 in the search engines for your desired keyword, you are now the “heavyweight champion” of your keyword. This also means that you must “train harder” to defend your “title.” Before you were # 1 in the search engine results, you – and everybody else for the keyword – was looking to take down the “champion.” Now that you are the champ, you must remember that everyone is out to take your coveted top spot!

The second is a reminder of the “big picture” regarding being ranked # 1 for your favorite term. Remember that being ranked #1 for your favorite term is a TEMPORARY reward for being the most authoritative, relevant, and trustworthy page in the estimation of the search engine’s CURRENT algorithm equation. This is vital!!

Let’s also assume that the business owner in this example carefully selected a keyword phrase which has a the underlying psychological indicator of a “buyer” or a sense of “urgency.” Let’s also assume that the keyword phrase has quantifiable demand by all of the major keyword research software (free or paid) that most SEO experts use.

Even though you may remain the # 1 listing for a lengthy period of time for the organic (natural, or non-Pay Per Click) listings on that keyword phrase, there are some significant factors to consider. You can lose your rankings because:

  • someone else becomes smart and out-optimizes and out-links you
  • someone else provides more authoritative and relevant content than you have
  • the search engines start to embed pay-per-click listings above the natural/organic results; and, to the average search engine user, they cannot discern if a link is a paid or regular link.  This means that your current # 1 ranking is now, in essence, # 4 or # 5 on the page
  • the search engine decides to place a visual representation, like a Maps display, above your # 1 rank
  • the quality of your links may not be 100% authoritative.  When the algorithm changes, the quality of your links may have a lesser score, and you could drop in the keyword results… even off the first page after having been # 1 for some time!

The list goes on and on;  and the main point is that once you become # 1 for a relevant, in-demand keyword term you MUST DO MORE THAN YOUR COMPETITION in order to “stay the champion.”  Whether you do SEO in-house, use software, or outsource it you must continue to cement your position as best as you can by providing quality, relevant, authoritative information to the end user as the search engine has one quest:  to keep the end user loyal to the search engine so that he/she has the best odds of clicking a link (or subscribing to a service) which puts money in the search engine’s accounts!

Remember that the main sites people use for search (Google, Yahoo, MSN/Bing) are all (or are a part of ) publicly-traded companies.  They are there to profit as much as you are.  If you want loyal customers AND gain market share in your niche, then those 3 want market share even more.  Keep this in mind!!

Should you need help with your search engine rankings, then be sure to contact me by the contact link at the top of the page or by e-mail at info@morethanseo.com

If you found this post to be helpful then please consider sharing it with your Twitter/Facebook/social bookmarking/social media and e-mail lists.  Many thanks!

Filed Under: Page One, Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
June 21, 2010 by

Dallas Social Media – It Is More Than Facebook And Twitter

When many small business owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area think about social media, they automatically think about Facebook and Twitter.  I usually ask them why, apart from the popularity, they want to “stampede” into Twitter and Facebook if they are not using social media right now for their businesses.  Usually the responses are something like:

  • “Well everyone I know is telling me to get on this site.”
  • “The entire world is on those.  I should be able to get a piece of the pie, right?”
  • “My kids are all over these sites.”

Not that these are bad reasons, but social media requires so much more than just jumping on these sites!
There are many things to consider, especially the “BIG PICTURE” of actually using social media intelligently instead of it being simply a business fad.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Do I have the time to contribute value on a consistent basis to these sites?
  • Am I willing to interact with prospective customers/clients and “deal with people” (instead of looking at everything like a numbers game)?
  • Am I willing to hold back on “hard selling” on these types of sites?
  • What are my strengths when it comes to an online presence?
  • Am I willing to go the extra mile to earn trust in order to build my authority?
  • Am I willing to be 100% transparent in my actions?

Many business owners, when actually faced with these questions, cannot say “Yes” to these questions or define their strengths.  If that is your situation, especially the “time” question, then you may not be able to derive value from Facebook and Twitter.  There are “social media”, however, which are more set-and-forget and do not require as much consistent interaction.  These include:

  • adding helpful, “non-spammy” videos to video-sharing sites like YouTube
  • creating a podcast series or a weekly/monthly radio show on a site like BlogTalkRadio.com
  • writing helpful “how-to” articles and submitting them to sites like Ezinearticles.com
  • many others

Determine which of these options plays to your personal strengths.

There are a few more things to consider, especially if you prefer to pay for advertising.  You can use social media to reach your designated audience on a site like Facebook; but you have to know your numbers.  This means:

  • knowing the expected pre-tax profit you will receive over the average lifetime value of one new customer.  For example, a pizza place in Dallas may make $3 profit (average) per new customer.  If the average new customer makes 10 orders over his/her lifetime, then the pizza place expects a lifetime value pre-tax profit of roughly $30.  An attorney in Dallas, whose average new client uses his/her services 3 times at an average profit of $1000, will have a lifetime pre-tax profit of $3000 per new customer.  Make sure that you have a good estimate of your numbers, backed by real numbers
  • having a very good idea of the demographics of your ideal prospect.  For example, you may determine that your ideal prospect has a college degree earned in Texas, earns between $80,000 and $100,000 per year, has a certain political leaning, and has more than one child still in grade school.  You can then extrapolate that information to the fields which Facebook ads allow you choose.  Nonetheless, you also can advertise your videos on YouTube and you also can simply pay for advertising on regular (non-social media) websites if you know that your ideal customers spend time on those sites

Finally, you do not have to jump into Facebook and Twitter right away for two reasons:

  1. There may be too much “clutter” on Twitter and Facebook in your niche for you to establish yourself as a trusted authority.  Perhaps a second-tier social network (instead of Facebook) or a second-tier microblog (instead of Twitter) may have the audience you want to reach without having as much competition
  2. If you offer services in a specific geographic area then you may want to find social media sites which cater to your niche and/or the specific area.  For example, if I offered dog training services in Dallas then I could spend time finding an active Dallas-specific forum and/or a Texas-specific dog lovers social network.  This is hyper-targeted social media, and you should be able to do well if you play by the rules of the specific site where your audience is spending time

Again, there are several considerations to make regarding one’s social media presence.  Just remember that you do not have to rush right away into Facebook and Twitter.  If you do, then chances are that you will not see a ROI worth your time unless you simply are lucky.  By being artful and having a basic game plan you should begin to do well in social media.

If you need help determining your social media strategy, especially if you need help with Dallas social media, then please contact us for more information.

You are encouraged to share this post with those you think would enjoy it, and you are welcome to ask questions on this post or by e-mail at info@morethanseo.com

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: , , ,
June 18, 2010 by

Online Marketing At Offline Events

Many people who run local businesses, and do not have much sophistication in terms of internet marketing, tend to rely on what has worked in the past including what older family members have suggested.  This usually means that the local business owners go to live networking events to build their businesses.  Their justification is that it is difficult to beat a “face to face” way to build one’s business.

There are some drawbacks to this approach in today’s era of new technologies.  Primarily, a local business owner must DO MORE than simply attend the event today in order to grow his/her business.  After attending business networking events, chamber of commerce breakfasts, and other events where local business owners try to increase their businesses I have noticed a few areas in which they can improve.

In no particular order:

  • Many people need to work on their “calls to action” in their 30-second opportunities to promote their businesses
  • Some people need to overcome their fears of public speaking as they squander their promotion time by mumbling or otherwise being unconvincing
  • They publicly make inside jokes which are lost on 95% (or more!) of the audience
  • Basic business manners sometimes get violated at these events as well

These are the basic, everyday things which need improvement.  Should you be one of the people who need help in these areas then do yourself a favor and address them ASAP.  Improving them will help your reputation, confidence, and overall results virtually every time.

In addition, there are several things which can be done to incorporate online marketing into “offline” (real world) events:

  • In many Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, there is a sponsor who is given a certain amount of time to promote his/her business.  Rarely, if ever, are these talks recorded on video.  Even a basic “Flip” camera can suffice!  These talks should be recorded and then edited for possible distribution to the video-sharing sites like YouTube.  What you want to show on the video sharing sites is a quick example of “social proof” that you are the expert in your area (niche and/or geographical); and you want to show that others trust you and believe in your abilities.  This needs to be conveyed to the world at large, such as a popular video-sharing site, in order to convince others that you are an expert
  • Many people at various networking events have terrific brochures.  These brochures offer useful tips, some basic instructions, and other helpful information.  Yet these brochures are oftentimes NOWHERE to be found online!  You can add these brochures to document-sharing sites, converted into slide presentations and shared on slide show-sharing websites, and converted into articles and submitted to the article directory sites.  Each of these will be discussed in future blog posts
  • Often, business owners meet a “warm prospect” at a networking event.  Unfortunately, they miss a golden opportunity to further enhance the prospect’s likelihood of becoming a customer/client.  As a representative of your business, consider having a USB memory stick already pre-loaded with a podcast (MP3 file) and/or video with more detailed information about your business and the benefits you offer.  When the warm prospect is leaving the event, chances are that he/she has some piece of technology on the way to his/her next stop which allows your memory stick to be used.  An audio CD or a CD-ROM may suffice as well.  Yes, you will continue to hand out your business cards to the casual prospect; but the ones who express interest right there should be given something special.  Tell the person to play the file on the car/train/bus ride from leaving the event instead of listening to music or the news on the radio.  Also encourage the person to share the information with anyone else they know who is interested in what you have to offer

Hopefully these three suggestions will give you some ways in which to broaden your message long after the event is completed.  They, and similar ideas, will help you reach more people and leverage technology to assist you in prospecting even when you are not there in person.

Should you need help in any of these areas then feel free to contact me.

Filed Under: Tips
June 17, 2010 by

Free Event Listing Sites – Why They Are Important

Online free event listing sites are an overlooked and important tool for anyone involved with internet marketing.  Whether you work for a company which puts on a series of live events open to the public, you run a small business and have an annual event which you use to give your business exposure, or are a SEO consultant the event listing sites are helpful in a number of ways.

Before you going right into simply listing your event on one of these sites, there are some “big picture” things to consider:

  • In Google’s Keyword Tool, entertainment-based terms like “things to do” have HUGE amounts of demand.  Whether local residents use the search engines to find unique things to do, or tourists use the search engines to find things to do in the local area, there is demand in all types of local markets.  For example, the term “Dallas things to do” – according to Google – gets over 40,000 searches per month.  This represents nearly half a million searches per year!
  • Many people need to be broken out of their “hypnotic trances”, as they risk forgetting the event due to their everyday lives.  You need a way to reach them multiple times in order to increase the likelihood that they will attend

With that said, here are some of the benefits of the free event listing sites:

  • Many of the free event listing sites have several ways in which others can help you spread the word by allowing them to share your event on Twitter, Facebook, and their e-mail lists
  • Some of the sites allow you to create, and embed on any web property, a “countdown widget” in order to help generate the emotion of anticipation
  • Should you have recurring events, such as a weekly event, then some of the sites will allow you to create repeat listings
  • You can promote the event listing like you would promote a normal web page (e.g. social bookmarking and pinging)
  • In most cases you will have a profile page which lists your upcoming events.  You can drive traffic from third-party sites and leverage the search engine ranking power of the site to help your profile page for SEO purposes

Hopefully you will accept the value of what the free event listing sites can offer you and any organization which you are helping.  If you need help with these sites, or want advanced techniques to give your events more exposure to those who are inclined to attend, then feel free to contact us for assistance.

Filed Under: Tips
June 5, 2010 by

Plano SEO – What Gets Rewarded

If you are wondering what works for Plano SEO then take a moment to notice what gets rewarded.  Go to the search engines and type in a popular search like Plano restaurants, and notice which sites get commonly rewarded.  Here are a few that get rewarded with top search results during the beginning of June 2010:

  • Google Maps listings with 30+ reviews (many with more than that)
  • Town-mall.net
  • Yelp.com
  • Urbanspoon.com
  • Tripadvisor.com
  • Chowbaby.com
  • local.yahoo.com
  • Superpages.com
  • Planobusinesslist.com
  • a few other sites near the bottom of the rankings

Then do a search for Plano hotels, Plano apartments, Plano homes for sale, and a few other phrases which have high demand.  What you are looking for are sites which get rewarded for multiple high-demand searches.  Write down those sites and determine if you:

  • can add content there
  • can buy banner ads or other premium placement
  • can place Google AdWords “Content Network” ads on the site (text or banner)
  • are allowed to have people (such as loyal customers) to place reviews on your listings on those sites
  • have the ability to add multimedia (images, videos, audio) to your listing

Obviously, you want your site to rank # 1 for high-demand Plano terms.  Of course, you know that such a goal will take some time.  In the interim, you can add your content (plus links to your site) to these currently high-ranking sites.

There will be upcoming tips on how to get listed for local events and increase your popularity regardless of your SEO ranking.  In the meantime, be sure to get your content on these sites in order to “piggyback” on the popularity of those sites.

Feel free to contact us if you need help with this process.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: , , ,
May 31, 2010 by

Some Unique Plano SEO And SEM Tips

If you are attempting to get more free online exposure for a Plano Texas business then there are some unique and fun things you may consider doing.  These tips are not mandatory, but they can be helpful to your prospective customers when they are online:

  1. If you attend Chamber of Commerce meetings (or other networking meetings in Plano) where you get a few seconds to speak about your business, then consider filming/recording your talk.  Of course, be sure to get permission!  If you are charismatic and offer good information to other business owners then such a video clip could be helpful on your website or on a video-sharing site like YouTube.  What you are looking to accomplish is to show “social proof” – that other people, like the website visitor, find you to be the authority on the subject
  2. If people have difficulty finding your office or store location then consider creating a video while driving to your location.  You also may be able to record a screen capture video of your zooming in on one of the Plano-related online Maps listings, especially if you can get to the “street view” so that people see recognizable landmarks when they drive to your location.  Such a video can be placed on your website and/or on a video-sharing site
  3. Be sure to add a “tag” to your video content with a zip code.  Many people look for local information by geographic terms; and they often use zip codes.  For example, if your business is a dry cleaners with a storefront in the 75075 zip code of Plano Texas, then be sure to add a “tag” to any videos you produce with “dry cleaners 75075”.  This will help your visitors find you and stand out in future local search algorithms

The “tags” also apply to other content besides video.

Hopefully these tips offer you some extra thoughts on how to market your business; and hopefully they will help you come up with other creative ways to offer useful, helpful, relevant content for those looking for your local products or services.

Should you need any help with Plano SEO or SEM (search engine marketing) then click the link or visit the “Contact Us” link near the top of the page.

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,
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