This article is part of a larger series on Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization is the name and getting your site ranked is the game!  It’s no secret really that the basic building blocks of SEO are quite simple: You need to have a good, fast, optimized website, with content that is updated periodically, AND in addition to that, you need to have other sites linking to yours. But WHY do you need all these things?  In this multi-part series, we will examine the various elements and processes that go in to a successful SEO or online marketing campaign.

Let’s look at it this way, from the point of view of someone doing a web search for a product or service.  They know what they are looking for, or at least have an idea of what they think they are looking for, and now they just need to pick a site from the list of results that popped up.  Most of the time, its the very first site that shows up on the search result. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Page 1 of Google is where all the search action is, and on Page 1, the Top 5 see the most web traffic. So, ideally, that’s where you want to be ranked to get the traffic. So we want to be thinking of keywords in terms of what someone would actually type in to the search bar, not what we think is an important term. One of the most difficult things at times is trying to convince a business owner that even though their service or product brand name is something they need to target, using the term a they refer to it may not always be the exact way a potential customer thinks of it.

It’s generally thought that most people when conducting a web search, will pick one of the first few results that are returned, but sometimes people do look further down the list.  One example of when this might happen is when someone looks for a very specific product or service.  Sometimes, if what a person is looking for is very specific, say a rare collectible, or a specific part number, this is when we see people searching several pages deep into the search result. This is one of the only times we really see this type of search behavior.

There is so much more to discuss on the subject of SEO, so if you are a business owner and are looking for targeted web traffic or SEO services, contact ThinkBIGsites today!

Those of us in the Search Engine Optimization field have been talking for a while about what we see as Google’s master plan. Well we are now beginning to see some of this come to fruition. This week, Google unveiled it’s new search strategy, called “Search plus Your World.” In a nutshell Google is incorporating all of the personal content with it’s social efforts into it’s search results. What does this mean for you and I?  It means if you are signed in to Google, you will now see Google+ posts, updates, and articles included in your organic search results. So people and products with Google+ pages will now appear in your search results. Relevant items that friends, family, and colleagues have shared with you will now appear in the Google search results.

The implications are impressive. Regardless of your feelings on Google’s jump into social media, with this single move Google+ is now a viable and important option for business and brands looking to increase web traffic and get more exposure and brand awareness. Now, if someone is searching for a specific product or term, with Search plus Your World, relevant Google+ pages will appear in the search.  Google+ pages will even appear in the auto-complete drop-down of the search box.

With this move and with many others that Google has made in the last year, we are looking at new unprecedented levels of transparency in search, all safe and securely located within SSL encryption. For many, this is exactly what they have been looking for, not just a web search engine, but a life search engine. And for those of you that do not want to see all of these new options featured in Search plus Your World, there is always the option to turn this feature off.

So how do all of these changes affect organic SEO? Stick with ThinkBIGsites and in the coming months we will continue to report on this topic as well as many others!

Fragile... it must be Italian!

Greetings & Salutations! I hope everyone had a fun-filled holiday and spent some time relaxing with family and friends. While some people are taking some additional time off, we here at ThinkBIGsites have been back to work, mining to the very core of the internet to bring you the latest and greatest in Search Engine Optimization news and tips. We’ve also been putting together the Leg Lamp we got for Christmas.  What? It’s a MAJOR AWARD!

So as we prepare to say “so long!” to 2011, we turn to face the new year. What will it be like? What does it hold for those of us who work in Social Media and SEO Services?

With that in mind, here are a few of our predictions for 2012:

• Social, social, social! – Did you think Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were going away? Think again!  Even though the coffin is being nailed shut on MySpace, the Big Three will contiue to grow and thrive and lead the way in all things Social. It is hard to imagine a day or a week going by and not hearing some bit of news regarding the innovation and direction being forged by these companies. Personally, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to go back to a time with no Status Updates. You mean, if I want to see how someone is doing, I have to call them?  Not happening. Make no mistake, Social Media is here to stay, and will continue to play a major role in our industry as well as our day to day lives.
• Content is King! – Mark my words, quality, well-written, relevant content will continue to be the driving force in almost every aspect of SEO and online marketing. If the Google Panda updates have taught us anything, it’s prepare to be zapped if your site has poor quality content just stuffed with links. Take my advice NOW, and start getting all that content rewritten… even if it is something you think may be OK, you will most likely see some real benefit from implementing a content refresh.
• Google is getting smarter, but… – And I don’t mean just with the Panda updates. Google is of course doing everything it can, on a daily basis, to refine and optimize their site-crawling procedures and processes, but just like anything, it can probably use some help. If you are looking to increase web traffic, do yourself a favor and check out Google Webmaster Tools, and make sure you are following their guidelines for content and coding.  It’s a pretty simple equation: play nice + follow the rules = good rankings!

Those are just a few of our predictions for the coming year. I am sure we will have many more and will be posting on them at some point.  But until next time, have yourself a Happy New Year!

As 2011 ends we reflect on so many events and changes in our industry.  Search Engine Optimization continues to evolve and change, and while some people “still don’t get it”, online marketing and SEO services continually prove to be an essential business strategy. We continue to see new tools and services introduced that help us drive web traffic, and we find that SEO along with social media are two vital components to a business of any size.

So what does 2012 hold? We continue to see social media growing in importance… Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+ have all shown themselves to be the big players in the field, but will it stay that way?  And how will the tablet revolution change things for everyone?

In October of this year, Google added SSL to search, so if you are signed in to Google and doing a search, SSL is the default setting, whereby Analytics and other services will be unable to report on web traffic and keyword data.  Moving forward, how will SEO, PPC, and other online marketing efforts be affected by this? Is this an effort by Google to somehow keep certain info to themselves, or maybe find a way to monetize this strategy?

Whatever happens in 2012, it will sure to be exciting and innovative. We here at ThinkBIGsites will continue to keep watch on changes and events in our industry, and report on them as they occur! So Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from ThinkBIGsites, the leader in targeted web traffic!

Well finally, we have something new in social media, and of course I am referring to the new Facebook Timelines layout.

For those of you who don’t know, a few weeks ago Facebook announced it will soon be changing it’s layout and presentation of user profiles. The new layout breaks all of your info out into two columns, and creates a literal timeline of posts and events in your life.  The most amazing thing about it how it breaks it all down by year, month, etc., going all the way back to your birth.  It’s the online version of ‘This Is Your Life’.

My first reaction was, ‘Wow, this is different’, and it really is quite a change.  But now that I’ve been playing around with it for a few days, I am really liking it. I like that I have the option of getting rid of that embarrassing archive of comments if I want. But now the thing I am most curious about is how these changes will affect online marketing and the ‘business’ side of Facebook; the targeted ads, the sponsored links, etc. The new design is busy, but it is also very clean, if that makes sense.  There is plenty of space do try new things, or even add content if needed.

Look, I know in this blog I usually talk about search engine optimization and targeted web traffic, so while social media is not the type of thing I usually talk about, this is a big change that will affect all of our lives online.

Like the rest of the world, we here at ThinkBIG always thought of Steve Jobs as a great business and technology innovator, but it was only at his passing that it really hit us: we lost someone special. Even though our office is mostly a Windows environment, each of us here own enough Apple products for us to realize that Steve Jobs really did impact our everyday lives. For me personally, while I’ve used Apple computers since high school for journalism and design, the product that really changed my life was the iPod.  I listen to music all day, every day. I think in song lyrics, and most of my personal Twitter and Facebook updates pertain to bands or what I am listening to. To be able to have pretty much my entire music collection available to me on a device that fits in my pocket? Yes, I will spend hundreds of dollars for that.

When we are sitting in the airport, surfing the web on our MacBooks, making a call or listening to the new St. Vincent album on our iPhone, playing Angry Birds on our iPads, or watching the latest Pixar movie with our kids, we should thank Steve Jobs.

So thanks, Steve.

Check back next time, for more of the latest news, trends, and tips on all things in online marketing and social media!

Lack of Updates: Putting up a website is not a one day commitment. Many small businesses set up websites and then forget about them. They not only neglect to update them but many small businesses forget to invest in online marketing, or even promote them to their own customers. The Internet is a big place and the odds of someone stumbling across a site that you made three years ago and haven’t touched since are slim to none.

Lack of Proper Keywords: So you thought it would be a better idea to use the phrases ‘footwear’ and ‘Maryland’ instead of ‘shoes’ and ‘Baltimore’ on the website for your independent shoe retailer? Could it make a difference when people are looking for the nearest shoe retailer near their home in Baltimore? Certainly. Knowing how people search and how to get them to find your shoe website through search engine optimization is crucial to driving web traffic to your site.

Doing It Yourself: Making a webpage for your family reunion is okay to do yourself. Making a website for your company that you want people to see, not so smart. Unprofessional looking websites are a dime a dozen and have little chance of getting much web traffic. Hiring a web designer and SEO experts is always a good investment if you want to increase web traffic, and have your site visited and visited often.

Organic Search Engine Optimization, or Organic SEO as it is referred to in the industry is a method of getting ranked higher in search engine results based on your content, and not how many pay per click ads you run. Unlike paid advertisement, organic SEO relies on your websites own quality and substance, making sure that all of the information contained within is working to put your best foot forward, so to speak.

Is it better to be organic? Just like the philosophy behind eating organic food, creating an organic website is thought of as a more sustainable method of long-term survival. Pay per click advertising is effective, but it also goes away when you stop paying for it. Having  website optimization for organic SEO puts your website ahead of others and does it from the inside out. The content you post on your site and the time you invest in promoting your web presence will all go back to helping your target demographics find and go to your website because your content will be the most relevant to their search.

Think about your own online search habits. Would you rather click on an online ad or click on one of the first non-paid, most relevant search results that come up? This really depends on your business, your clients and your short and long term goals.

Under construction? Too often you will find attractive homepages for interesting and relevant companies only to discover that the links bar on the left side will only take you to a number of pages, all informing you that they are indeed ‘under construction.’ Chances are if you check back in a month, they still will be.

Before you build a website, think about what your website is going to offer beyond your homepage. Add content that will attract more website traffic. What types of online services, information or entertainment will hook your target demographic into spending more time on your page and as a result, spending more time learning about your business.

Consider adding a blog to your website where you update your customers on relevant news and information on your industry. Blogs are great ways to increase your website traffic using specific keywords that you can get by consulting a website optimization firm. You may also want to consider posting short videos segments, demonstrations or other interactive and engaging website add-ons. Other examples of relevant content may be an events calendar, a forum, individual product or service pages, examples of your work and/or customer testimonials.

Whatever you do, DON’T LAUNCH a website until you are done building it. Soft openings are good for restaurants but web traffic does not work the same way. If you want to have more website traffic six months after your site launches, don’t launch a half built site and disappoint first time visitors.

At a certain point though it becomes necessary to step back and evaluate how your online marketing efforts are really going. Are they reaching the people you want to reach? Are people being drawn into your website? Are they finding it on via search engines? Is anyone really listening…?

Taking the time to look at your current online marketing goals and achievements is critical for developing a plan moving forward. There are a number of good questions to ask about your current website, blog or social media networking page….
How long ago did I create it?
How often do I update the page?
Is the popularity of my page building momentum?
Do I have any ideas for additional content I could post?
How are my competitors using the same outlets to their advantage?
Would it be worth it for me to use Pay Per Click advertising methods to increase traffic or should I consider organic SEO as a way to boost search results?

Asking questions like these will help you to understand where you’ve been and where you are going. To speed up this process, consider consulting with an SEO services firm who will be able to discuss your online marketing activities within the scope of a balanced and targeted web traffic strategy.