Method 1: Get listed in directories

First thing, get your business listed in local business directories such as Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local and Yelp. The business directories are a great way to easily be found when people, in your area, search for keywords relevant to your business. Your business will display within search results and map listings along with being able to collect reviews and feedback from your community.

Method 2: Optimize for local keywords

Use the Google Keyword Tool to find relevant keywords to your business by plugging in phrases that you know, for certain, describe your business, products and services. Use the keywords on your website along with local search modifiers such as your city on each of the pages. Change the URL and link structure of your website to reflect the keywords for each of the pages to ensure search engines can spider your website and apply search engine optimization factors that matter to each of the pages.

Method 3: Start up a local advertising campaign

Sign up for an online advertising platform like Google Adwords and begin advertising your business to the local market. Use your main keywords and geo location to show your ads only to the local towns and cities within the radius of your business; avoid wasting money from advertising to people half way around the world. Optimize your advertising, remove underperforming ads and dump more money into ones that are providing you a significant return on your investment.

Method 4: Create local business blog posts

Write blog posts for your business blog around the topics and questions customers have within your area. Cover local news and events. Create highly informational blog posts about the products and services you offer while applying your main keywords and local search phrases to optimize your content, in search engines, for local search results. Share your content to the web and build backlinks to each of your pages to increase your search engine rankings.

Method 5: Be active in local online discussions

Get active in online discussions on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. Respond to people whenever they have questions about what your business offers. Shock and awe people by randomly giving away product or services to people; this creates a lot of great buzz and may lead to your business being highlighted in local news or blogs. Be as helpful as you can so your can build authority around your brand and stand out from the rest of your competition.

Method 6: Write for relevant websites in your area

Start creating content for relevant websites and blogs within your area and industry. Share your best information with outside communities which can lead to people discovering your business and potentially becoming customers. Write for the local paper, be active on local forums and talk about your customers and the products you offer whenever someone interviews you. Try to be everywhere at once by reaching out to your local community.

Conclusion

Much of local search engine optimization is simply building an online presence through proper keyword application to your website, getting listed in directories and being active within your local community. Take all that you know about your business and transplant it online; in time, you will spend less money on traditional advertising platforms in place of online channels. Work every day to raise awareness to your local business by tapping into the power of local search engine optimization.

“Keyword Rich URL’s” – Each web page should be assigned a unique URL which uses the main keyword which you’ll be using throughout the content and web page; this keyword is one of the most important elements of on-page optimization and should not be omitted at any interval during the creation of your website. The following is an example of how your website’s URL should look:

Bad: www.yourwebsite.com/?=1234

Good: www.yourwebsite.com/keyword-rich-title.html

“Main Keyword within the Title Tag” – The title tag is the on-page element which is displayed at the top of the web browser’s window and within search engine results. Place your main keyword within the first section of your title tag so search engines and its users are more readily to find it; this improves your overall rankings in SERP’s.

“Main (Relevant) Keyword in the H1 Tag” – The H1 tag is the highest value heading tag on a web page; it tells search engines the main focus of the content and is often considered just as valuable as the title tag of your page. Apply your main keyword to your H1 tag to ensure your on-page SEO is up to par with your competition; equally so, create a headline which entices users to click through and dig into your content.

“Content worth Sharing” – The most widely used adage is “Content is King!” but that’s not necessarily so; to gain the best benefit of content and on-page SEO, you’ll need to create content which people are likely to share with others and link back to on their own site. Content should be created for the end-user in mind by providing the best quality information on the topic.

“Proper Interlinking to Inner Pages” – Each web page should have links to sub-pages which use the destination page’s relevant keyword as the anchor link. Interlinking content on your website allows search engines to dig deep within your website to index pages and apply value to each page along with search engine optimization factors which come from the use of keywords in your anchor links. Instead of a “Click Here” for your interlinks, try using the page’s main keyword.

“Keyword within Image ALT Tags” – A search engine spider does not currently have the capability to “see” what image is placed on your web page; it looks for the image ALT tag. Each image which you place on your website, place an ALT tag within the image HTML text such as: <img src=”image.jpg” alt=”yourKeyword” />.

Ok it’s time for me to start bigging WordPress up. Believe it or not some people are still not convinced that a move from a static html site to a site based on WordPress is a good thing. I am going to start a series of blog posts that really gets into why such a move should be a no brainer.

So let’s start with WHY?

WordPress is one of the most widely used content management systems used for blogging on the web. The limits to WordPress are seemingly endless because it is open source (free) by nature which means that anyone may edit and update the platform; this has spawned an entire industry of freelance professionals and businesses that offer great plugins, themes and support for WordPress. More importantly, WordPress is one of the greatest options for setting up a website which is detailed in this article.

Limitless Flexibility

The first, most important element of WordPress is the flexibility of the platform. WordPress is not just a blogging platform but can also be used as an eCommerce portal or an entire website that looks no different than ones you frequent while on the web.

WordPress developers have created an endless amount of options for modifying and updating your WordPress website. There are plugins that speed up your website, plugins to automatically add share buttons for social media websites, plugins to expand the flexibility of your content creation and so much more. In all, WordPress gives you the greatest flexibility over a content management system with the ease-of-use that anyone without technical knowledge can understand.

WordPress for Blogging

WordPress gives a blogger many options for increasing their online presence through themes, plugins and the ability for the community to leave feedback through comments. Unlike a traditional static website, WordPress comes packaged with features that add a new layer of interactivity and flexibility that aid a blogger with getting their content found and building an online following.

Naturally, WordPress does an amazing job at search engine optimization through multiple plugins and the ability to ‘ping’ blog search engines; all of these additions help with getting the website found by search engines. Likewise, WordPress gives its users the ability to drag and drop widgets and modules (depending on the WordPress framework) which adds premium features like opt-in forms for lead capture, automatic feeds from other blogs, payment gateways for selling products and anything you think of that will fit onto your WordPress blog. In short, if you need a feature on your WordPress blog, you can bet that a developer has created it.

WordPress for Business

WordPress truly shines when it comes to business websites. In the past, business websites cost thousands of dollars because they were individually crafted by designers and developers; it also took a dedicated individual to keep the website updated that needed to understand HTML and CSS. Business owners were not in complete control of their website which turned to be a real hassle when something needed to be fixed or updated on-the-fly.

WordPress is a content management system which means that a single update can affect an entire website. You no longer need to access the website through an FTP program; WordPress lets you login through a dashboard to do unlimited edits and updates without needing to know complicated coding. For business owners, this means that they now had full control over their business website that cut out the ‘middleman’ of webmasters and gave businesses the flexibility they needed to launch campaigns on a whims notice.

Why WordPress Matters

The adoption of WordPress has taken the web over like a storm. There are millions of blogs using WordPress and even more added every day. The WordPress platform continues to evolve and give greater flexibility to their users with each new update and plugin released through the community.

WordPress is free which makes it a perfect option for website owners. The flexibility and control you gain, from using WordPress, makes it an ideal platform for operating a business website or a personal blog. In all, WordPress is the optimal choice when launching a website.

There are hundreds of website hosting companies advertising their services on the web; there are even more individuals that are also in the business. With so many options available on the web it can be hard to determine which web host will be reliable and fit your project needs. This article will take you through some of the factors to consider when you’re in the market for a reliable web hosting solution.

Determine your Website Needs

Find out what exactly you need from a web host before you make the purchase. List everything you need in your website and how you expect it to grow in time. The list you create can be presented to web hosting companies, using email or a phone call, so they can answer all of your questions and list off if their service handles what you’re looking for.

Look toward how large your website may grow so you can choose the proper web hosting solution that will allow for your website to expand without the growing pains. Align the software technologies your website will need such as the PHP or MySQL required to install backend software such as shopping cart solutions or blogging platforms. Knowing what you need will guide you toward a reliable web host that can grow with your website instead of restricting it.

Factor in a Flexible Budget

Keep a budget in mind when shopping for web hosting solutions. A small budget isn’t necessarily the best mode of thought because you must remember that your website will be completely reliant on a web host. Spending too little (or trying to find free options) could lead to buyer’s remorse because your web host does not fit your website needs.

Work with a budget that’s reasonable but don’t immediately dismiss hosting packages that are a little higher than what you’re willing to spend. Expensive web hosting packages come with many additional benefits that are extremely helpful in the event you need such as rapid customer service, regular backups and server expansions. It’s better to have a web host that’s more than enough to run your website than one too little that will ruin your success.

Listen to Existing Customers

There’s no better way to find a reliable web host than to listen to what existing customers have to say. For the most part, people will be honest to you in their review of a web host. There are people that have set up fake review websites so it’s important to go straight to the source by contacting website owners and asking for their recommendations.

Another alternative to finding existing customers is to search for tutorials around web hosting. The website or blog owner creating content will most likely recommend the web hosting they have their own sites on which can be great for finding something reliable; although take their review with a grain of salt in the event they are biased with the mentions. Collect all of the reviews and comments you’ve received about web hosting companies and make a logical decision based on the feedback.

Examine the Online Reviews

Do an online search for websites, magazines and organizations which provide reviews for website hosting. Don’t believe everything you read; be wary of a review that is glowing because it’s rare to find a web host that is going to satisfy every need in a customer. Instead, read reviews from trusted sources such as PC magazines, tech review companies, major forums and people that have websites online.

The best way to use online reviews is to create a spreadsheet of what people have to say. Combine all of your results and cross check them for inconsistencies. Use your list of needs in a web host compared to the overall reviews; this will be a great way to find a host that is not only reliable but guarantees to fit your personal needs.

Be Real with your Personal Tech Knowledge

It’s important to understand your personal knowledge of technology, especially with web hosting. There’s no sense to choose a web host that will require you to manage heavy amounts of technical scripts and backend if you are a beginner at web technologies. Likewise, don’t limit yourself to choosing a web host that doesn’t give you the amount of control you’re seeking if you’re extremely knowledgeable in technology. Find the right web hosting based on your personal tech level.

Look for web hosting that you feel comfortable working with behind-the-scenes with tools and services like scripts, nameservers, plugins, data charts and more. Don’t purchase a web host that’s beyond your technical knowledge else you could be facing many headaches in the future.

Conclusion

Web hosting is an integral element of building a website and setting up an online presence. The choice in website hosting will be at your discretion but it’s important to remember the tips included in this article to ensure you choose a host that is reliable and satisfies your needs.

Create Product or Service Tutorial Videos

Since people can’t physical pick up and touch your products or services, it’s difficult for them to coherently understand what your business offers. One way to put people in the “driver’s seat” of your products or services is to create videos around the usage and overview of your business offerings. Video lets people get an inside glimpse on how your products or services can directly impact their lives without trying to decipher cryptic web copy or web page images. Use video to put your viewers into the “owner’s mindset” where they feel as if they have the product in their hands or service at their fingertips; create an emotional response and you will convert video viewers like crazy.

Share Video Reviews and Testimonials

Tap into your business community by soliciting testimonials and reviews from your existing customers.

Marketing spin is a difficult hurdle to overcome when trying to promote a product or service; one way to get through to people is to let others do the talking for you! Get a video camera in the hands of your most loyal customers and they will be likely to share their thoughts about what you have to offer. Once the videos are online, your industry and community can see how real people are using your business products and services which creates word-of-mouth marketing potential and higher rates of conversions because the message isn’t forced and have a marketing spin.

Answer Customer Service Questions

Use Youtube as a way to respond to your customers and community by answering their frequently asked questions and concerns. Rather than shooting off an email to a customer, video lets you answer your followers out in public so others can listen in as well. The answers you provide to people may convert interested parties because they find your business to be extremely helpful where as competitors may be “dropping the ball” and staying closed up to company information to their public. Become the authority in your niche by being active on the web; use Youtube as a channel to reach people, plain and simple.

Develop an Information Database for Employees

One smart way of using Youtube for both promotion and internal usage is to create an information database for your employees. There are many instances where you will need to educate your employees on business practices so rather than explaining it to them face-to-face, you can point them to videos you’ve uploaded to Youtube. Not only do your employees learn about your business but you can also use this opportunity to brand your business and let people peer into what goes on behind the scenes at your business which adds a new layer for people to connect and follow you.

Show off the Human Side of your Business

Video lets people create an emotional connection because it pulls together sight and sound; people will see another human on the other side of the video rather than a robotic, rigid business. Create videos, for Youtube, which build trust and humanity in your business so people can identify with the people behind your business and not just your products or services. A human side of business gets people more emotionally involved and loyal to businesses because they are interacting with real people with real lives rather than being pressured to make a purchase and have no further interaction.

Conclusion

The vast majority of online businesses have yet to take advantage of Youtube for their marketing and brand building. Every Youtube video you create can become a lead generation magnet and branding opportunity which gives you dominance in a competitive niche. Tap into the power of Youtube by investing a fraction of your marketing budget toward a video camera or screencast tool and then immediately jump right into creating videos for the web.

There are many small items that new bloggers often omit when they are starting a blog from failing to add their voice to delivering less than stellar content. This post will explore some of the more subliminal items that bloggers often forget; see if you’re omitting them on your own blog.

Mistake #1: Leaving out the About Me

People come to your blog to read content produced by you. You’re the reason why people stick around on a blog well after they complete a post. Failing to fill in the about me section of your blog will stop people from learning more about you and what you have to offer. Even though you may think that the About Me page doesn’t matter in the long-run; it actually does because that’s where people will eventually land if and when they decide to stick to your blog.

Mistake #2: Failing to Optimize for Search

Each blog platform come with preexisting features which allow posts to rank well in search engines but they do often need additional help through plugins and user experience with using keywords. Craft your content with the main keywords you wish to rank for by placing the keyword within the title, description and throughout the body of the content. Optimizing your blog for search will increase the likelihood of it being found in search engines which, in turn, means more traffic and a greater ability to promote your business or brand.

Mistake #3: Adding Difficulty to User Sharing

Blogs have become popular because of the ease for the visitor to share and distribute content. Adding difficulty to users sharing such as omitting buttons like Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and many others means you’re less likely to have your content shared with others. Think of your sharing options as a call-to-action; without a call-to-action and adding high resistance to users sharing will mean your blog is less likely to be discovered.

Mistake #4: Lack of Building Backlinks

Many bloggers push out a new post and move directly on to the next topic. A crucial step to take when starting and running a blog is to build backlinks to your content after the post has been published. Building backlinks don’t have to take your entire afternoon; commenting on a few other blogs is all you need to add a bit of extra search engine juice to your content. Despite your best efforts to write a search engine friendly post or to rank for your keywords, without keywords you won’t rank well; always remember to build a few links in between each post you publish.

Mistake #5: Delivering Less than Stellar Content

Content is what matters most when starting a blog. Content is the reason people come to your blog and without it they will have no reason to stick around for more than a few seconds. Your content should be a combination of your own voice, experience and knowledge. Each piece of content should draw upon all that you know and should be created in a way that people directly tell you they would be willing to pay for it. When you know that people find true value in your content, share it and comment, you know you’re going in the right direction with your blog.

Conclusion

Have you been making these deadly mistakes? You could be losing out on hundreds (even thousands) of visitors to your website. Go through each of the items listed in this post and see if you’re omitting them from your blog and then correct them.

A backlink is an anchor link from an external website which indicates, to search engines, that your content and website provides value (hence, the link back). Link building is one of the most effective approaches to search engine optimization and obtaining higher rankings within search engine results. This article is a crash-course guide for new website owners to plan and launch their link building campaign.

The Crash-Course Backlink Guide for New Website Owners

Set Your Keyword Focus – Prior to any link building campaign, focus on a few choice keywords. Target your main keyword during the initial link building phase and then work toward building backlinks for those which support your main selection of keywords.

Find Relevant Web Properties – Find relevant web properties within your niche and reach out of them to see whether they would be willing to link to your website; offer content or a trade so you can place your link on their site.

Create Powerful Content – Content which provides great value or entertainment to others are more likely to be linked to than those that are dry and boring. Pour your passion and expertise into each piece of content you create for the web; it will eventually be noticed and when it does, you’ll naturally build links.

Submit to Social Bookmarking – Upon publishing content on your website, submit it to social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and Mixx. Additionally, seek out niche social bookmarking sites which are more likely to vote up your content and increase your web traffic.

Participate in Forums – Located at the bottom of each reply you write on a forum sits a short blurb about yourself. Instead of filling this spot with irrelevant information, create an anchor link to your website using your main keyword; each thread you respond to gives you another link.

Utilize Article Writing and Submission – Write and submit articles to article directories such as EZineArticles, GoArticles, Buzzle, Hubpages, Squidoo and more. Always include a link to your website either in the body content (when applicable) or in the author byline; these backlinks can be very powerful depending on which article directory or web 2.0 properties you choose to submit your work to.

Guest Post on Blogs – Consider writing guest posts for blogs within your niche. A guest post will include a link back to your website and have the ability to reach a new community; this can lead to new connections and networking opportunities.

Leave Comments on Blogs – While browsing blogs within your niche, leave a comment. A blog comment gives you the ability to place a link back to your website; additional plugins on blogs like CommentLuv allow you to display your most recent blog posts as well!

Create a Press Release – A Press Release has a profound effect on link building if it’s relevant information to news sources. Once you create and publish a press release, it’s sent to a network of news-related websites and contacts which can then be redone and covered on sites along with a link back to the source.

Create External Websites – An advanced tactic for building backlinks to your website is to create entirely new websites which provide great content and regularly link to your website; be sure to link to other sites as well, else your site is likely to be flagged in search engines.

• Target the traffic you want – Always have an end goal with the type of traffic that you want visiting your website. Try to keep your marketing message to those that will fit within your community else you’ll blindly create campaigns that are utterly ineffective with keeping your traffic on the site long enough to take action.
• Create content which makes people stick – Creating content, alone, does not necessarily mean that it will be effective. Your website content, landing pages and message greatly matters on whether or not people will stick around once they visit your website. Treat your traffic generation like a true marketing message; craft your message on relevant platforms to the right people and then drive them to relevant content which they’d be ready to consume.
• Expand your traffic sources – The source for your traffic should never be created to come from a single point. If your single source were to take a dive, so would your traffic which makes it especially important that you continue to expand the platforms you use to prevent disrupts in your traffic. Test a variety of traffic sources such as online advertising, organic search, social media and even offline marketing.
• Outsource work (when applicable) – If you’re traffic generation campaign includes methods which you may not be entirely sure how to implement, consider outsourcing these tasks to freelancers or companies which do. Outsourcing traffic generation can save you many hours of hard work implementing strategies and, often, prevent loss of time if you were to incorrectly implement each. You can begin outsourcing your traffic generation by tapping into the workforces on websites like oDesk, Freelancer or Guru; you may also find individual freelancers which offer these services by directly contacting them.
• Aim for long-term traffic – Online advertising can be a great way to send rapid amounts of traffic to your site but when the money dries up, so does your web visitors. Create long-term web traffic by creating content that answers the questions and needs of your targeted community. Organic traffic from search engines can continue to trickle in years after the content is created and will expand as you grow your offerings on the web.

Conclusion

Instead of simply learning the different platforms and methods use to generate online traffic, take the time to learn the fundamentals of how and why people visit websites. Implement the techniques within this article for your own website and expand on them as you learn and grow; these fundamentals can be apply to any platform.

The coveted #1 position in Google is sought after by many websites owners across the world. One essential factor of obtaining the top position in Google is through the implementation of Search Engine Optimization for your website. This article will share five of the most valuable steps you can take when creating a strategy and campaign to claim your place as top contender in Google search results.

How to Obtain the #1 Position in Google

Create a Content Strategy – Besides creating content for your website; you should also consider a strategy for releasing and distributing your content online. You could easily create a slew of content for your website and post it in a day but search engines, such as Google, want to see that your website is regularly updated with great information. Create a content strategy which allows you to drip feed your work onto the website on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to keep it up to speed and providing value to the web.

Optimize and diversify your Keywords– Keywords play an essential role with chasing the goals of #1 in Google. Although you should have a main keyword in mind, it’s important to optimize and diversify your content for relevant keywords people are likely to search upon to find your content. Links on other websites should also have variety so you don’t come across as a spammer, trying to carpet the web with your one link.

Start a Link Building Campaign – Create a schedule in which, every day, you’ll build backlinks to your website. Your link building campaign does not need to take up hours of your time; a few minutes to leave a link on a website (such as blog commenting) can suffice for an on-going campaign. As your backlinks grow, so will your position in Google.

Aim for the Long-Term – Many website owners become frustrated with chasing higher search engine rankings because they believe it can be achieved within a short amount of time. The #1 position in Google can take months or even years to achieve; for this reason, you should aim for a long-term strategy to continually improve the value of you website, build backlinks, create a community and build a digital legacy.

Create Remarkable Content – Content will be the number one factor of obtaining the #1 position in Google. People use the web to find content; both information and entertaining. Content does not have to be just text, it can be any form of multimedia like audio or video; whichever your community wants and is likely to consume. Create your content as it it’s an ‘essential’ resource for your niche. Content should provide a need for someone’s problem and answer those common questions web users seek.

There are dozens of techniques you can implement to your website which will drive traffic but the majorities are long-term; what about rapid amounts in a relatively short amount of time? This article will share a collection of traffic generation techniques which guarantee you’ll spur visitors to your site the moment you implement them.

How to Build a Rapid Amount of Traffic

Pay for Online Advertising – Online banners, links, email campaigns or paid listings are a great set of tactics for traffic generation if you need it within a short amount of time. Although you’re paying for the traffic, these costs can be recouped if you’re converting visitors into subscribers (which pay for themselves in the long-run) or if you’re selling an item. To get started, create a list of websites which you’ll be able to advertise on, create your copy (or design) and directly contact the website owner. After your ad has been approved, you’ll begin to see traffic rushing in.

Participate in Social Media – Social media websites and services such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube can be a prime spot for generating a rapid amount of traffic to your website. A single message on these platforms, when crafted correctly, can send people your way and has the potential of being passed on to others which find your message useful. Videos take a bit longer to produce but with the billions of videos viewed each day on YouTube, you can expect to have an immediate return for those watching our video (when you place a link in your description).

Network or JV with Influential People – Networking or joint venturing with influential people within your niche can be the easiest (and most rapid) way to drive traffic to your website. Networking taps into the communities of others; a message from another website owner can spur an avalanche of new visitors to your site because of the recommendation of someone these people already follow. Contact influential people within your niche and ask if they would be willing to partner up with sharing your message to their own communities; you may need to reciprocate on the action – try to find balance between both parties that not only builds traffic but can become a great relationship for the long term.

Conclusion

In this post, you’ve learned a variety of tactics to rapidly send traffic to your website. To gain the maximum impact for your traffic generation needs, apply each of the mentioned at appropriate times when you’re in need for quick traffic.