What?? I Need To Keep Adding Content To My Site?
Not many things inspire such dread in my clients as when I remind them they need to be adding content to their site. If you aren’t a writer naturally, it can be painful to have to produce content on a regular basis.
It’s important though and not just because I said so (although that should be a good enough reason! LOL)
Let’s take a look at why it’s important:
1. The search engines like it when you add content.
Why do they like it?
Their goal is to deliver the best and most relevant results when someone searches for something. If a site is rich with content, they see that site as a better resource. Also the more pages you have that offer good information, the more pages the engines have the possibility to rank.
Even more importantly than that it is good for your site visitors.
So often people tell me they don’t want to clutter their site with text – no one wants to read a ton of text. I beg to differ and here’s why:
If people are searching for information, as long as it is GOOD and actually INFORMATIVE they will read it. Sure some people skim and don’t read it all, but they appreciate that it’s there if they choose to read further.
If it’s formatted and easy to read and it doesn’t drone on and on pointlessly (in other words it is actually filled with good information) then people will appreciate it.
The other thing is when I say content needs to be added I am not saying it has to be 1600 word essays. Good content can be brief and to the point. You can convey a lot in 200 – 600 words.
Adding new content gives people a reason to return to your site, they see you as a resource and a wealth of information. There is extreme value (to you) in having people see your site as a “go to” source for information.
So my advice (OK I’m being nice, what I really want to say is MY DEMAND) is that you get to work on creating some good content for your site.
A couple rules to keep you in line:
Don’t keyword stuff. Sure, you have to use relevant keywords but it should still read well and not appear forced.
- Keep it around 200 – 600 words.
- Use formatting (bolding, bullet lists etc) to break things up.
- Make it interesting. Share information, facts and helpful tips and advice.
- Not sure where on the site to put the content? Create a section called Articles or Resources and organize it by category. You can also put it on your Blog.
- Keep it interesting and show some personality. Gone are the days of stuffy corporate text. Be conversational, people want you to talk TO them not AT them.
K, this is 492 words, so I am gonna wrap it up. Get writing!
To Your Success!
Jenn Horowitz, Director of Marketing
Popularity: 1% [?]
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Twitter Training System
There is no escaping all the talk about Twitter and social media. There is no denying the benefits of Twitter.
However, there is a disconnect between the success some report and the experience the average person/ business has with Twitter. There is a reason for that…
Twitter is unlike anything we’ve ever done before. Marketing is changing. It’s new and it’s not hard but it is a little challenging to embrace without some good background information.
I spent months playing with Twitter, then I spent months ignoring Twitter because I was frustrated and didn’t have the time and then I spent many more months perfecting a system that works after I realized I just couldn’t ignore it any more.
I realized Twitter is not hard – and even more than that, it’s actually pretty fun. But what holds people back is they don’t fully understand how to use it to generate leads and increase revenue.
I have created a system – a manual and series of videos – that teach you all of the background information and everything you need to know to make Twitter work for you.
For more information, check out http://www.ecombuffet.com/Twitter-quickstart.htm
For 24 hours only – from 9am Eastern Time Tuesday January 26 to 9am Eastern Time Wednesday January 27th, if you order my Twitter training system, I will include my Blogging For Dollars report at no extra charge. I want you to check this out and start tweeting and I’ll resort to shamelessly bribing you if I have to! 
Blogging and Twitter go hand in hand and there are insider secrets that help you get more out of both Twitter and Blogging. My training system and Blogging for dollars report share those important details – the keys to success.
Check it out now. http://www.ecombuffet.com/Twitter-quickstart.htm
Check it out and let me know what you think!
Jennifer Horowitz
Director of Marketing
www.EcomBuffet.com
562-592-5347
jennifer@ecombuffet.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ecombuffet
Facebook Page: www.ecombuffet.com/SEO-Fanpage/
http://www.ecombuffet.com/Twitter-quickstart.htm
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Important Info on Twitter and Real Time Search
Everyone is trying to understand more about Real Time Search and how they can get their tweets ranked. Here are a couple bits of useful information to help you better understand.
Statement from Bing: “If someone has a lot of followers, his/her Tweet may get ranked higher. If a tweet is exactly the same as other Tweets, it will get ranked lower.” Nothing surprising there but it’s good to be aware.
Straight from Google’s Amit Singhal (who has led development of real-time search at Google):
“One user following another in social media is analogous to one page linking to another on the Web. Both are a form of recommendation,” Singhal says. “As high-quality pages link to another page on the Web, the quality of the linked-to page goes up. Likewise, in social media, as established users follow another user, the quality of the followed user goes up as well.”
In other words, get followers that have lots of followers themselves! “You earn reputation, and then you give reputation. If lots of people follow you, and then you follow someone–then even though this [new person] does not have lots of followers,” his tweet is deemed valuable because his followers are themselves followed widely, Singhal says. But it is “definitely, definitely” more than a popularity contest he went on to say.
Hashtags a No-No??
Hashtags are really popular – and for good reason – they help your tweets get more exposure and help people organize topics.
However they can also as red flags to lower tweet quality and attract spam-like content, Singhal says.
Too bad – I see where Google is coming from but it’s really a useful strategy. In my own testing I’ve seen my tweets with hashtags come up in the real time search results but I haven’t tested extensively enough yet to draw my own conclusions and we have the word right from Google, so for now at least, you may want to heed the warning!
Love to hear your thoughts and questions on this! Comments welcomed!
From soggy, wet and windy Southern California,
Jenn Horowitz, Director of Marketing
Popularity: 2% [?]
How To Write Killer Blog Posts
Check out my Blog post for my column at Search Engine Journal: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-write-a-killer-blog-post/16514/
We welcome feedback and comments!!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Google Personalization: Tips For Site Owners and Searchers
Google personalization of search results continues to be a hot topic of conversation and most people aren’t happy about it. There are privacy concerns, some people have concerns about getting sites ranked, some people feel it doesn’t actually help improve their results.
Regardless of how you feel about it, it’s here (at least for now). So here are a couple tips to help you manage it…
Tips for the site owner:
We don’t pay that much attention to Meta Description tags anymore but with personalization, your Meta tags may be more important now. The reason? If your Description tag is what comes up in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and it often is – then it has to do a good job of compelling people to click. Once they’ve clicked once, you are more likely to continue to come up high for related searches for that person.
Crafting your Meta tags so they entice people has always been important but now it’s even more so.
Secondly, continuing to build relevant content that uses keyword phrases people are likely to search for is still important. Throwing in the towel and saying that you aren’t likely to make it against the big guys with personalization in place just guarantees you won’t do well.
We’ve seen client rankings and traffic grow recently and we don’t buy into any of the talk about the death of SEO or the little guy being screwed by personalization. Things change and evolve and as long as you are aware and are changing and evolving too, you’ve got a shot. The more you do to optimize your site, built links and participate in social media, the better. OK, enough of my little rant for the day.
Now a tip for the searcher:
If you don’t want search personalization turned on, click Web History up on the top right of your screen and you will get the following option:
Click the link to disable customization. Easy!
Want to talk about your site and see how you can improve your search rankings? Simply request a no-obligation SEO proposal here or email jennifer@ecombuffet.com for your consultation.
I’d love to hear any comments, feedback or questions.
To Your SEO Success,
Jennifer Horowitz, Director of Marketing
Popularity: 2% [?]
Search Engine Optimization Simplified
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is complex, confusing and often frustrating. It also means a lot of different things to different people. Are you a site owner trying to figure it all out? I am going to simplify it for you.
When someone searches Google, they are looking for the quickest path to the most relevant results.
So how does Google tell if your site is worthy of being returned as a result for any given query?
First and foremost the content on the site needs to be very relevant to the query. That means you need to use keyword phrases that people are likely to search for in your copy (notice I said use the keywords, and not stuff your pages full of them).
Secondly Google wants to know that your whole site is about the topic or theme – they like big informational sites that are full of juicy content.
Third they want a clean site that loads quickly.
Last but definitely not least, they want to see that other sites like your sites. How do they know that? If other sites link to your content, they count that as a vote of popularity for your site. So they look at your link popularity.
Of course with over 200 components in their algorithm, there are a lot of things they look at but to break it down simply that is what you need to do.
To summarize:
- Create good content that uses keywords and is optimized for those keywords.
- Make sure your code is clean, search engine friendly and loads quickly and build some links.
For more details on optimizing your site, step by step, check out my free book Optimization Step By Step: 2010. Simply sign up below and you’ll receive immediate access! Don’t worry, we respect your privacy, we will never abuse, sell or give away your email address.
Don’t forgot to check back often for news, updates, insights and opinions on SEO. I live for this stuff!
Jennifer Horowitz, Director of SEO
P.S. For information on our SEO services, don’t forget to check out EcomBuffet.com.
Popularity: 3% [?]
2010 Success: SEO, Social Media and More
We’ve all read the predictions for 2010, we’ve read recaps of 2009 ad nauseum, and we’ve read articles about resolutions and we’ve also probably spent time thinking about our goals for the year. I wanted to add my two cents and give you some advice for success in 2010.
1. Write your goals down. Without a specific record of your goals you are less likely to commit to the follow through and actually accomplish your goals.
2. Review your website now. Make sure it’s accurate, functioning well and current. You have very little time when someone lands on your site to entice them to delve deeper into your site. Make sure your site gives the impression you want. Make sure there is a clear and easy path for visitors to take to get to what you offer. The fewer clicks it takes for them to get there, the better. Test links, shopping cart buttons and everything. You should do this regularly but we all get busy and it falls by the wayside. Take the time now – start the new year right and don’t limit your success before you even get going.
3. Take action daily. There is so much you can do. Participate in Twitter, write a Blog post, write an article, send a mailing to your list. Join a discussion in a Forum. Make sure every day you do at least one thing that will create buzz and drive traffic to your site.
4. If you have a physical store or office, make sure you are listed in the local engines and directories and make sure your listings are complete.
5. Get your site listed in the top of the search engines. There is no disputing the importance of top search engine rankings and there is no excuse for continuing to ignore it. If you don’t have a budget to hire someone, learn what you can do yourself. Make this the year you finally take action and improve your search engine rankings.
6. Stop ignoring social media. It’s not going away. It’s only becoming more important.
a. Create a Facebook Fan Page.
b. Set up your Twitter account (including a custom background) and learn how to use Twitter to grow your business (you need a strategy for building your audience and writing tweets that get people to take action) – For more details see: http://www.ecombuffet.com/Twitter-quickstart.htm
c. Start a Blog (make sure you understand what Blog platform is best & learn how to Blog successfully. For more details: http://www.ecombuffet.com/BFDoffer.htm
7. Check the load time of your site. See where you can compress things and fix code to be sure your site loads quickly. This is becoming more important to the engines.
2010 is going to be a big year – with or without you there will be great successes online and lots of money made. So make sure you are prepared to claim your share.
Things are getting more competitive and things are changing quicker than ever before.
How can EcomBuffet help you?
For more information on how to succeed on Twitter, visit: http://www.ecombuffet.com/Twitter-quickstart.htm (I’ve gotten amazing feedback on how helpful this course has been for people)
To request info on a killer Facebook Fan Page, email jennifer@ecombuffet.com and use “Facebook Fan Page” as the subject line. I can get you more information and a quote.
To request an SEO consultation to see where you stand and how you can benefit from SEO, email jennifer@ecombuffet.com – Please use the subject line “Consultation Request”
Popularity: 6% [?]
Twitter – You Gotta Show Up
Check my latest article at Search Engine Journal: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/twitter-success-you-gotta-show-up/15652/
Popularity: 3% [?]
New Twitter Feature: Contributors
Twitter has announced a new feature they are Beta testing called Contributors. It’s a feature that many businesses will enjoy.
Here’s a short description right from Twitter:
“The feature we are beta testing is called ‘Contributors’ – it enables users to engage in more authentic conversations with businesses by allowing those organizations to manage multiple contributors to their account. The feature appends the contributor’s username to the tweet byline, making the business to consumer communication more personal; e.g. if @Twitter invites @Biz to tweet on its behalf, then a tweet from @Twitter would include @Biz in the byline so that users know more about the real people behind organizations.”
They go on to say: “After we kick the tires a bit, we’ll do a full launch to all business users and ecosystem partners. Stay tuned!”
Source: http://blog.twitter.com/
This is a great new feature that will allow companies to get more personal and let their employees be known. If you are using Twitter for customer service, you will really enjoy this feature. Having your customers know they are connecting with a specific person will help create more of a relationship.
Can’t wait to see this rolled out!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Google Personalization
For a while now, Google has been offering personalized search results when you are logged into your Google account.
They have now extended personalized search functionality to users who are not signed in.
This applies to Google users around the world, in over 40 languages.
“This addition enables us to customize search results for you based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie in your browser,” Google says. “It’s completely separate from your Google Account and Web History (which are only available to signed-in users). You’ll know when we customize results because a ‘View customizations’ link will appear on the top right of the search results page. Clicking the link will let you see how we’ve customized your results and also let you turn off this type of customization.”
Don’t worry, Google lets you turn personalized search off altogether. For users that are not signed in, just click “web history” in the top right corner of a search results page, then click “disable customizations.” You can also clear your browser’s cookies.
What Does All This Mean To You?
As a searcher, you may find you are getting better results. They will keep track of what you’ve been clicking on over the past 180 days and in future searches, the results will be fine tuned towards the sites and topics you have indicated an interest in.
As a site owner, it isn’t a bad thing. So many people are questioning “can you still rank on top with personalization” and the answer is yes. If you continue to have quality content and quality links, then your site can still come up on top. If your listing in the SERPs (search engine results) page is compelling and you earn clicks, then personalization will work in your favor because you are more likely to come up again when that person queries other similar phrases.
SEO Firms will find ways to improve your results, even with personalization in place. Focusing on longer tail phrases and less generic phrases will be important.
This probably sounds like I’m pushing my own agenda a little (and I am, I do want your business, but it’s also true)….with all the changes lately, an SEO team working on your behalf and staying current on all these changes and what they mean is crucial.
Popularity: 4% [?]
