The reality is that most startups won't succeed, but with failure comes knowledge and the co-founder of one failed startup says online marketing is one of the most important things for a website - if it's done correctly.
Mark Goldenson was the co-founder of PlayCafe, an internet TV network for games which failed when the site was unable to reach enough users. In a column for VentureBeat, Goldenson assessed what went wrong and what went right for the site and says marketing was the main failure of the startup.
Goldenson says that the company's efforts to using search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) weren't "terrible," but says that online marketing requires more professional help.
"Like creating content, I no longer think marketing is something smart novices can figure out part-time," he wrote. "As the deep web gets super-saturated, marketing is the difference-maker, and it's too deep a skill to leave to amateurs."
Search engine optimization has become something everyone with a presence on the web is starting to consider as the online landscape becomes littered with sites. A recent report from Internet Retailer found that 55.3 percent of respondents said they plan on increasing their search engine optimization (SEO) spending in 2009 while only 24.2 percent said they plan to increase paid search.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Online marketing, SEO shouldn't be left to 'amateurs'
Health Authorities Use Web 2.0, Social Networking Facebook, Widgets For Swine Flu
By Herb Brandon
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem ---- May 2, 2009 ...... World health authorities are now using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to inform millions worldwide on the lethal threat of the Swine Flu virus.
On Facebook, a room entitled Swine Flu - Influenza A (H1N1) - Facts News Updates Widgets, was created just hours ago and is now reaching thousands from New York, Montreal and Mexico City to London, Paris and Tokyo.
This Facebook forum contains the latest news updates from the Center of Disease Control CDC and the World Health Organization. This interactive room provides a comfort zone for Facebook users to share information, concerns and provide support for those affected.
The Facebook room's introduction states: "With correct, accurate information we have nothing to fear. Without fear, we will continue to live our lives normally and not create an economic disaster. It is not Swine Flu that we should fear. It is our ignorance and reaction to it which that we need to address and move forward in a healthy and positive manner!"
Swine Flu or Influenza A (also called hog flu and pig flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV).
Swine flu is common in swine in the midwestern United States (and occasionally in other states), Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe (including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy), Kenya, China, Japan, Taiwan, and other parts of eastern Asia.
Swine flu is rare in humans. People who work with swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of catching swine influenza if the swine carry a strain able to infect humans.
The 2009 flu outbreak in humans that is widely known as "swine flu" is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that derives by reassortment from one strain of human influenza virus, one strain of avian influenza virus, and two separate strains of swine influenza virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and government officials state that there are 16 confirmed deaths in Mexico and one confirmed in US, a toddler from Mexico who died in Texas.
Over 653 have been diagnosed as having Swine Flu with: 397 in Mexico; 161 in the US, 51 in Canada; 13 in both Spain and Britain; four each in Germany and New Zealand; two each in Israel and France; one each in Switzerland, Austria, South Korea, China, Denmark and the Netherlands.
A Mexican tourist visiting Hong Kong becomes Asia's first confirmed case. About 300 people were quarantined at a hotel where the tourists stayed.
A recent survey from Nielsen Online put swine flu at 2% of all Twitter conversations, making it an even bigger topic than British singing star Susan Boyle.
Public health experts say the Internet can be an important source of information on the H1N1 virus, but you need to know who's at the helm. "In the current swine flu situation, some [sources] are alarmist, where others present a more balanced picture of concern," says Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, director of communicable disease control and prevention for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health.
One of these sources is Feedzilla.
"Feedzilla has created Internet software that is now being used to save lives through disseminating reliable, real time, 24/7 information," says Joel Leyden, an Internet crisis communications public relations, marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) pioneer who created the Facebook Swine Flu forum support group.
"Using information from WHO, CDC and reliable news organizations, Feedzilla answers such questions as how can I protect myself and others? What can I do to prevent spreading swine flu? Where did the latest outbreaks occur? Feedzilla provides answers to all urgent questions related to the threatening pandemic of "Swine Flu", where time is of the essence and action needs to be taken immediately.
Feedzilla main focus is on the prevention and containment of Swine Flu. The specific widget they offer to Websites on swine-flu contains pertinent information regarding your country of residence or travel-destination. An interactive world-map that allows the user to access this information by just one click to any point on the map. Graphics are supplied by D-LABS. Most importantly, Feedzilla does not rely on information generated by various deep web search engines but provides its users with updated content handpicked by 30 globally located editors."
The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing SEO Group - Israel, London, New York.
Read More......
Kirk Communications Selected to Design Website for Earth Expert Thermonexus Advanced GeoEnergy Systems
Kirk Communications (www.kirkcommunications.com), a leading global provider of integrated marketing solutions, today announced that it has been selected to design the Website for New Hampshire-based Thermonexus, LLC, a provider of advanced GeoEnergy systems. Kirk Communications was chosen because of its experience in Web development and its successful track record implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) programs worldwide.
Portsmouth, NH (PRWEB) May 2, 2009 -- Kirk Communications (www.kirkcommunications.com), a leading global provider of integrated marketing solutions, today announced that it has been selected to design the Website for New Hampshire-based Thermonexus, LLC, a provider of advanced GeoEnergy systems. Kirk Communications was chosen because of its experience in Web development and its successful track record implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) programs worldwide.
Thermonexus provides products and solutions to connect homes, offices, schools or hospitals to renewable, clean thermal energy from the earth. GeoEnergy is the most immediately available renewable energy, but unlike wind or solar, it is available onsite. Thermonexus helps its customers make a direct, immediate and measurable impact on energy consumption and climate change and the company's new Website showcases it expertise in the field.
Thermonexus wanted to better demonstrate its ability to collaborate with HVAC contractors to optimize the thermal connection of a closed loop heating and cooling system. It was imperative to the company that its mission be better explained online.
"We have identified a need for our expertise in the heating and cooling market and we know that featuring that expertise online will help us win business opportunities," said Susanna M. Maher, managing member, Thermonexus. "Kirk Communications helped us position Thermonexus exactly where we need to be to promote our side of that collaborative business model and ultimately reach our intended market," said Maher.
A key product offering from Thermonexus is a new heat exchanger technology, HPGX. The increased efficiency provided by HPGX now enables geothermal technology to be utilized in metropolitan areas where the demands for interior climate control are the greatest. "This system accomplishes two very important goals," according to Kevin Maher, the firm's technology expert. "It provides increased heat transfer while protecting ground water resources." Thermonexus is marketing and deploying this technology throughout New England. The company's new website highlights importance of renewable energy sources, like geothermal, as the world combats global warming.
About Thermonexus, LLC
Based in Windham, NH, Thermonexus, LLC is advancing the adoption of GeoEnergy by providing expert resources to the HVAC community and by offering a high performance ground exchanger technology to realize the potential of clean, thermal energy from the earth. You can make a direct, immediate, and measurable impact on energy consumption and climate change. Please visit us on the deep Web at www.thermonexus.com.
About Kirk Communications
With offices in Portsmouth, N.H. and New Delhi, India, Kirk Communications is a global provider of integrated marketing solutions that include public relations, graphic design and interactive services including advanced 2D and 3D animation, website development and e-marketing. Our philosophy is based on a focused commitment to strategic and tactical corporate communications that is shared with clients across a broad range of vertical markets including technology, financial services and healthcare. Kirk Communications offers a suite of state-of-the-art Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay per Click (PPC) analytics, that, in conjunction with innovative message formation, helps our customers refine their brand, increase visibility and stay ahead of their competitors. Kirk Communications counts among its clients CipherOptics, IDG, Sagamore Systems, ITelagen, SeaNet Technologies and Animetrics. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.kirkcommunications.com.
Read More......
Get Ranked Higher in Google Search Engine Result Pages
Today Google is one of the most used search engines for searches today, I will provide a list of thing that you can do to increase your site search results for a targeted keyword.. Using these tips will not only increase your results with Google but will help with other Search Engines such as Yahoo & MSN. Before you start to promote your site over the internet, it is best to first find out what search term or also known as "keyword" that you want to use to build your campaign. It should be a keyword that is related to your site and one that is actually being searched for. A great keyword research tool that you can use is Google Keyword Tool. Using this tool you can type in a keyword manually or let Google analyze your site by typing in your site address. It will return all the keywords that are found on your site and you can filter the results by search volume and competition.
Once you choose your keyword or keywords you will want to implement this in your site which is known as On-Page Optimization. Ensure that your keywords Meta tag reflect that your keywords are included; the keyword should be in your Title or at least a variation. Also in your site content it is best to have this keyword in your content in the right places but don't keywords stuff your site where it may look unnatural. When a keyword accounts for 10% of the entire page content this is too much. When using keywords in your site, Search Engines will pick up if the keywords are in bold or italic. There are more ways to optimize your on page content but there is too much to cover in this article. I started with the basics.
Now for Off-Page Optimization also known as link building, this is one of the most important factors when it comes to your site getting ranked in Google. There are many options when building links. Generally it is best to get your site listed on high page rank pages that are relevant to your site. But that is always not so easy to do. The first link building technique I will mention is Article Submissions. Article Marketing can greatly increase your Google search exposure. You can write an article about something that is related to your site's content, and at the end of the article you can add 3 anchor texts and 3 hyperlinks that will point back to your site. You can then submit this article to article directories and when your site is accepted into the directory you will get back links from the hyperlinks in the article. When creating the anchor texts in the articles make sure you are using your targeted keywords that I mentioned earlier.
Another link building option is submitting your website to website directories or also known as search directories. There are many free ones out there that you can submit your site to. Just like the article submission, when your site is listed on a deep web directory you will get a backlink from the directory which passes "juice" onto your site. When creating the information to submit your website to directories the most important thing is choosing the right Anchor Text. Make sure when you create Anchor text you are again using your targeted keywords in it. Also make at least 5 variations of the anchor text. If Google sees your site was submitted to 500 directories all with the same anchor text this may be seen as duplicate content and then you most likely will not receive credit for the backlink.
These are just a few ways that you can increase your Google Search Engine Result Page's. There are many other ways for link building and On-Page Optimization.
source:http://www.buzzle.com/articles/get-ranked-higher-in-google-search-engine-result-pages.html
What Link Building Services Can Do For Your Website
Gaining link popularity is essential for getting better search rankings. This phenomenon refers to the number of link that point to your website from other pages on the web. If you have various other high quality websites linking to your website then you will get SERPs to give you a higher ranking.
Link building services can help you achieve this goal. There are various link building strategies that are used in combination to create an SEO campaign tailor made for your website. Irrespective of the link building strategies used the benefits to be to reaped are many and defined.
One of the key elements of link building is the anchor text. This is the text which is hyperlinked and leads other people to come to your website from various sources. This anchor text actually plays a vital role in your website’s rankings. This is because the anchor text is usually your most important keyword phrases. Optimizing the use of anchor text can reap you great results with search engines.
When you undertake a long term link building campaign for your website you can hike your website’s Page Rank significantly. Page Rank is basically a way of measuring the importance of a website developed by Google. This concept is now being used by all other major search engines as well. The higher the number of links pointing to your website the more important your website will become in the eyes of the search engines and consequently your website will be assigned a higher Page Rank.
Effectively employed link building strategies will round in direct traffic to your website. Since the links are placed on relevant pages and are composed of popular keywords your website becomes easier to locate for people looking for exactly what you have to give.
Deep web indexing is another thing that is achieved with link building. You can have a web page that falls deep within your website indexed by search engines with the help of link building strategies. This process which would otherwise take up to three to four months can be accomplished in a much quicker time.
Similarly employing link building strategies makes it easier for search engines to index dynamic pages on your website. This is something that is otherwise very difficult to obtain.
Your website will also be receiving wider search engine coverage. Even those search engines where you have not submitted your website will begin to identify your website due to the incoming links.
In its essence link building is one of the tested and tried ways in which you can stay ahead of your competition for your targeted keywords. This is because you will have high quality incoming links point to your web pages. You will be able to find affordable SEO services online that can help you reap all the above mentioned benefits of link building.
In the spotlight: Justin Mattison
FingerPaint Marketing in Saratoga Springs added Justin Mattison to assist with online marketing, research and analysis and, especially, search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization, often called SEO by those in the field, is the science of getting the client or their business as close to the top of a deep Web search as possible.
“The way the Internet is today, you have to fight for your ranking because 80 billion search queries are put into Google a day,” Mattison said. “You have to find out how Google is ranking and get your clients up there.”
FingerPaint Marketing, a relatively new firm founded by former Palio head Ed Mitzen, does not use formal job titles, so Mattison has none.
Mattison was previously with Mountain Media, also in Saratoga Springs, for about 10 months.
He did essentially the same thing there as search marketing manager.
Mattison also did SEO work for Bright Hub, a Troy company that recruits science and technology writers for its Web site.
The writers are paid based on how many times their articles are viewed, hence the benefits of raising their search engine profile.
Earlier, Mattison worked for Thomson Delmar Learning, now Cengage Learning, in Clifton Park.
There, he created e-mail marketing campaigns, splash pages, online surveys and Web graphics.
Mattison graduated from ITT Tech in Colonie with a degree in graphic design in 2006.
He grew up in Albany. Mattison, 27, is single and has a 6-year-old son.
He enjoys “getting outdoors,” the summer live concert season and is a videogame “junkie.”
Read More......
How to Optimize Your Internet Home Business Website Free for Search Engines
There are SEO experts who will help you to get your website search engine friendly. These people specialize in search engine optimization and they make their living helping webmasters to take advantage of the many benefits that come from search engine traffic. However, you do not have to pay for this if you follow a few basic things. Let’s take a look at a few ideas you can do to optimize your website for search engines and get free traffic to your internet home business from it.
It is important to understand that you want search engine traffic coming to your site. To get some idea about the importance of search engine traffic you should know that over half of the overall traffic on the internet is derived through search engines. You can enjoy some of this traffic once you understand what keywords people are searching for. Your goal is to rank as high as possible for very targeted words on the top search engines which are Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Try to view your website through the eyes of the search engines. This is not hard to do if you lay your page out targeting a specific phrase and then focus on it. You do that by naming the file you build your page on after a targeted keyword phrase. You then include that phrase in the title and description of your meta tags. You also include it in your headline, and in the first paragraph of your web page article.
To add an additional emphasis you can underline, bold, and italicize your keyword phrase in the first paragraph as well. Then to avoid looking like you are spamming the page do not use that specific phrase too often. However, it is recommended to use it at the ending paragraph of your post. You can certainly use variations of the keyword phrase if it sounds natural and not forced in the conversation of the article.
Today blogging has become an important part of search engine optimization for many internet home business entrepreneurs because you can do everything that you do as a web page except it is easier. When it comes to blogs, you do not have to learn HTML code. If you know how to write, you can blog. The key thing with blogs is to be consistent and again follow proper SEO practices. Title your blog post around a keyword phrase, and then include it again in the first and last paragraphs of your blog article. If you do this you are doing a good job of letting the deep web search engines know what this blog page is about and you stand a better chance of ranking highly for it.
One additional step that you must take is bookmarking your blog article to some of the top social directories including the Digg, Technorati, and Stumbleupon. This serves not only as search engine bait but you can also get some traffic straight from the social directories as well.
If you will develop a keyword list of several hundred phrases you can then begin to target these individually in your web page and blog articles. You can also do it in other ways such as article marketing, discussion forum posts, email marketing, ezine advertising, placing classified ads, and so on. Your goal is to develop thousands of back links that are built around these targeted keyword phrases. This will give you an unbelievable amount of traffic for many years to come.
Here was some search engine optimization ideas you can do without spending any money. You just need to have some spare time to learn how to do it correctly, and then work at it on a regular basis. The long-term benefit of understanding search engine optimization, and building thousands of back to links from targeted keyword phrases, is paramount to your overall internet home business success.Read More......
