Internet Marketing Coach

As competition for the best keywords heats up the payoff for top organic rankings continues to grow. When comparing the return on investment between SEO and Pay Per Click, SEO is looking better all the time… IF you can actually obtain, and maintain, top Google rankings on important keywords. These 2 tactics will help you with that.

The first SEO tactic is to have an abundance of original, well written, content. Who will want this content divided into 1 page per keyword theme. A keyword theme can include 1 or several closely related keywords. For example a page that is about Luxury Africa Safaris might also be about South Luxury Africa Safaris and Custom Designed Luxury Africa Safaris. These 2 keywords are in the same theme- Luxury Africa Safaris. If I wanted to optimize for the keyword Luxury Africa Tours I would create a new page themed for tours rather than safaris.

The second SEO tactic you will want to implement is exactly what I have done in the above paragraph. I have linked the keywords to the optimized pages from this blog post. You will want to add the “text links” from keywords within your pages and posts and when possible from HIGH QUALITY outside sites and blogs just like I’m doing now by linking to http://southafricaluxurytravel.com

Here’s an example of a page themed for Mexico Auto Insurance and Mexico Car Insurance

If you need some help getting content developed for your site let me know.

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Polls are excellent tools to increase your audience engagement and gather data during live presentations. In the past I have used incredibly expensive software to accomplish this. Now this can be done quickly, easily and at a very low cost, or even for free with smaller audiences.

Here’s a sample of a poll Q on a webpage. They can also be accessed via text. http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/3sFuPEOsjZVU1SS/web 

I’m not an affiliate or in any way being compensated by http://www.polleverywhere.com I just wanted to make sure you were aware it exists.

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Google wants to deliver visitors (like you and me) to sites we like. One way Google knows if we like a site is by seeing how long we stay on it.

When Google sees that the visitors they direct to your website hang around for several minutes Google takes this as a sign that your site is providing what the searchers was looking for, and of course this is very consistent with Google’s objectives.

Google also likes it when visitors link from your site to other sites; this is a sign that your site is a valuable resource to your visitors.

MY TIP- Use your Analytics to check your Landing Page “Visitor Duration”. All pages with less than a minute should be looked at to see if you can add more compelling content.

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According to a recent study 31% of small businesses are paying more than $1,000 per month for SEO, 28% are paying between $500 – $1,000 per month and 25% are paying between $250 and $500. With over 88% of small businesses paying more than $250 per month for SEO that makes my measly $197 per month seem too low. Especially when you consider that many of my clients have dozens (and some even hundreds) of first page Google rankings!

Fear not… 

I have NO PLANS to raise my rates in the near future.

I have a great business model that allows me to work with terrific clients, for a low fee and produce excellent results.

To read more about the above referenced study click here.

To learn more about getting excellent SEO results for only $197 per month (after the initial set-up) click Internet Marketing Coach

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I explain what I’m talking about in the video below.

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The best way to significantly boost your results and bottom-line profits is to change your strategy and messaging.

Here’s what I mean…

Say you want your website visitors to become leads. To do that your strategy is to ask that they call or fill out a form requesting a free consultation.

Think about your messaging…

The more your visitor understands how they will BENEFIT from their consultation with you the more inclined they will be to request it.

Messaging- Can you say things like… 

• During your FREE 20 minute consultation:
• You will receive 5 specific steps you can take to… (improve your results,…)
• We will identify the top 3 factors that are limiting your results
• We will discuss both the pros and cons of this program for your unique circumstances
• You will get all of your questions answered

The idea here is to make sure your “messaging”, or copywriting, tells the website visitor why they should request your free consultation.

Of course the other question is whether or not a free consultation is the best strategy to convert website visitors into leads…

It may be, but you might find that inviting your website visitors to a free presentation or event is more effective. Personally I have attracted many new clients after that have attended one of my presentations either in person or in the form of a webinar. I have also had many clients who have used live meetings VERY successfully as business development vehicles.

Another strategy to consider is giving your free consultation a name. For many years I have very effectively used “Get a Free SWOT Analysis” you will learn the 3 greatest Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting your online marketing.

I’m working with a sports psychologist who provides free a “Mental Coaching” session. I’m also working with a financial planner who provides a free “Second Opinion” meeting.

The idea of course is let the reader know that what you are providing is not just a sales pitch but real information that they will benefit from even if they do not end up doing business with you.

In my experience strategy and messaging is far more central to the success of online marketing than anything else. In fact the reason I’m writing this message on this Friday morning is because I was just reviewing my week and I found that nearly 70% of my work this week has been spent helping clients with their strategy and messaging.

If you have questions about your strategy and messaging give me a call, or pop me an email, and I’ll give you a Free Strategy and Messaging SWOT Analysis. You will learn the 3 greatest Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats pertaining to your online Strategy and Messaging.

That’s the way you do it.

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The the second video below is a great example of leveraging the Internet to build a brand. The first is a customer complaint (done in a fun way via YouTube) that paves the way to the opportunity.

Taylor guitar (the manufacturer of the guitar in video 1) recognizes an opportunity and makes this video. Look at the number of views!

Not only is this brilliant, it’s today. It’s real. It’s effective. It’s low budget.

What opportunities are out there for you? This whole concept is about being aware of what is happening in real time and responding in a way that build your business or brand.

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In this 2 minute 12 second video I show you exactly how to optimize an image (a very simple, but often overlooked SEO tactic). This just might give your website that slight SEO edge that catapults it ahead of your competition.

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Google has made major changes in its ranking algorithm in the last 18 months and they have already announced more changes are on the way. What you may not know is that Google rewards “long clicks” and looks less kindly on “pogo sticking”.  I’ll expand on this below.

16.5% Conversion Rate for opt-ins.  Using what I call the “3rd Party Truth” model http://the-greatest-gifts-of-all.com is doing great. The site has now been live for 3 months and has had thousands of visitors from around the world. Check it out and see if this model could work for your business. To work well your story must be brutally honest and you must be absolutely authentic.

I have also just added a “Pay What You Wish” program to the website. Check it out- http://the-greatest-gifts-of-all.com/pay-what-you-wish/ In a few months I’ll let you know how it works.

OK back to Long Clicks and SEO… 

According to AJ Kohn of blindfiveyearold.com a long click means the searcher clicks on a result and then remains on that site for a long period of time. Ideally the visitor does not return to the search results to click on another result or reformulate their search query.

A long click tells Google the searcher was happy with the website they clicked on. 

On the other hand, a short click occurs when a user performs a search, clicks on a result and returns to the search results quickly to click on another result or reformulate their query. Short clicks are an indication of dissatisfaction.

Bounce Rate vs Pogosticking

The behavior you want to avoid is pogosticking. This occurs when users click through on a result, returns quickly to the search results and clicks on another result. This indicates, to some extent, that the user was not satisfied with the original result.

To read AJ’s entire post click here

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As you know I’m a HUGE fan of WordPress, and I’m not alone. Did you know that WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems available today? It’s now powering 1 in 6 websites!

The fact is the only websites we build these days are WordPress sites and about 60% of the businesses I provide Internet marketing coaching for have WordPress sites.

As someone who works with WordPress site daily basis it’s easy for me to see why it’s has become so popular. It’s incredibly affordable, easy to use and you are essentially assured that your Content Management System will be viable and constantly updated for the foreseeable future.

As you can imagine simply installing WordPress doesn’t make the site shoot to the top of Google on all of your best keywords, or cause a huge percentage of your website visitors to convert into customers or leads… that’s marketing.

One marketing mistake I commonly see in WordPress sites is using the Home Page to display Blog Posts rather than making it a Static Page.

WordPress started as a blogging platform and it still is, but now its used more as a Content Management System (CMS). But, because its roots came from a blog platform, the default setting sets the Home Page to display your latest blog posts.

My recommendation is to change this to a static page. 

You want to optimize your Home Page content for both top Google rankings (SEO) and to maximize conversions )(conversion optimization). This means every word on that page, every tag, every image, etc. should be strategically placed. Feeding log posts onto the page will introduce a variable that can hurt both rankings and conversions.

CLARIFICATION- YOU DO WANT A BLOG… Just not on your Home Page

One more suggestion- 

You should never manage a site without using Google Analytics. It’s free, robust and incredibly easy to implement, especially with WordPress.

I often use Google Analytics for WordPress by Joost de Valk, but there are several good plugin’s that make it easy for you to connect your profile to WordPress without the need to use copy and paste.

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