Marbella SEO » SEO Testimonials

SEO and PPC – What Local Retailers Gain By Using Both

TheMarbellaSEO — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:13:08 +0000

SEO vs. PPC? — Wrong Question As pay-per-click (PPC) ad prices continue to rise and margins continue to shrink; larger corporations have already begun to increase their organic SEO spending. But for SMBs exploring the possible advantages of an SEO investment, there is a exclusively frustrating challenge: The incapability to estimate the results of SEO– and the time it will take to realize them– makes a sound cost/benefit analysis elusive. The popular misconception that PPC and SEO are the “fast” and “slower” versions of the same thing complicates the evaluation process even more. Without a clear understanding of how SEO is implemented, it’s impossible to identify, much less, quantify, the wide-ranging benefits of the SEO process. Within small to mid size businesses, the impact can be profound. The paid advertising model is precisely what it says– advertising. Search engine optimization is not. While search engine prominence is the most widely recognized goal of SEO, that’s far from being the only business value it delivers. How Quality Web Content Boosts Local Retail Sales Consumers have spoken. They want information– and visit 3-5 websites looking for it before they buy. There’s also ample evidence to show that shoppers who search online before making offline purchases spend more than those who don’t. In a current study by TMP Directional Marketing, the leading local search and yellow pages marketing agency, 60% of the consumers surveyed said they first go online for conducting a local search. The research showed 82% of local online searchers follow up offline with an in-store visit, or phone call. Of these, 61% made purchases. PPC can efficiently deliver the traffic, but optimized website content is what, ultimately, drives the sale. Since content development is at the heart of SEO, it makes good business sense to leverage both. SEO Step 1: Competitive Analysis Even though shoppers have expressed their desire for information, millions of retailers still don’t know what to provide– or where to find it. Here’s where SEO can help. The first step in SEO, competitive research, will expose the minimum level of information necessary in a given market– and the maximum that’s being offered. Typically (depending on industry) you’ll find: • Product comparisons • User reviews • Upgrades, features, and updates • Manufacturer recalls • Software tools (calculators, etc.) If you want to learn more about Search Engine Optimization or SEO, read through the following articles: SEO For Your Business Success, SEO Elements, Internet SEO For Your Success

Get an SEO Firm Or DIY

TheMarbellaSEO — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:47:29 +0000

Chances are, you went out to eat sometime in the last few weeks. Why? Maybe you don’t like to cook. Perhaps you like having food brought to you while you relax. Perhaps you were in a hurry. Maybe your cooking skills are limited to heating a frozen dinner in the microwave. Perhaps you’ve found a place where you really like the food. Whatever your reason, you chose to pay for a professional to do something you could probably, with some effort, do yourself–prepare and serve you a meal. In my work with search engine optimization (SEO), I’ve heard several people say, directly and indirectly, that it’s basically a waste of money to hire someone to do SEO for your website, because “anyone can do it.” Let’s look at that idea for a few minutes. Here are some reasons why, just as you would choose to eat at a restaurant, you would choose to turn SEO over to a professional. 1. “Anyone” can’t do it. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of people’s cooking skills are limited. Marcia’s greatest culinary accomplishments may be boiling an egg and making macaroni and cheese out of a box. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But if she wanted to impress a potential client or business colleague with a nice dinner, she wouldn’t put herself in charge of meal preparation. The same goes for SEO. If you know something concerning keywords, and what a “title tag” is, and that having links between your website and other sites is useful, that’s great, but that knowledge doesn’t put you on par with a professional, any more than boiling an egg makes Marcia a chef. SEO professionals use up lots of time learning and testing strategies to improve a website’s visibility. Not tricks like invisible keyword stuffing (which will get a site banned from search engines), but real stuff like: • how visitors use a website • what pages are popular and why • what searchers are looking for • what search engines are looking for • whether using new technologies helps or hurts or does nothing • whether version A or version B of a page brings in more visitors • how to allocate money in a pay-per-click campaign (where the numbers and competition are always changing) If you are looking for SEO Solutions or any kind of diversified SEO Solutions or even SEO Solutions articles for you to read – then you are at the right place.

How to Choose the Right SEO Service

TheMarbellaSEO — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:47:29 +0000

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of designing or altering a website so that it will carry out optimally in regard to being ranked in search engine results that are associated with specific keywords or keyword phrases used by individuals who are searching for information on the internet through the use of a search engine. Some website owners strive to do their own search engine optimization while others opt to use an SEO service to optimize their website. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. Let’s take a look at the purpose of search engine optimization, the pros and cons of doing your own search engine optimization versus hiring an SEO service, and the questions to ask when considering an SEO service to accomplish your search engine optimization. The point of search engine optimization is to obtain a desirable position in organic search engine results (this means getting a good listing in the search engines without paying for search engine advertising). There are a number of techniques that SEO service providers use to optimize a website and to secure desirable search engine ranking. Getting ranked on the first three pages of search engine results is highly desirable because the majority of internet users use the search engines to find what they are looking for and they don’t usually browse through more than three pages of results. Getting an organic search engine ranking is awesome due to the fact that you don’t pay for the listing (just for the SEO services to get the listing), so there are no ongoing fees and in effect, it is free advertising that is really dynamic. The benefit of doing your own search engine optimization rather than contracting an SEO service is that there is no upfront cost for getting your website ranked in the search engines. The disadvantages, of course, are lack of expertise in the field of search engine optimization and the time that may be spent on the optimization process. On the flip side, the main advantages of using SEO services is that you have access to expertise from individuals who are experienced in search engine optimization and using an SEO service may be more time efficient for you. The disadvantage of using an SEO service is the initial costs involved in search engine optimization and costs associated with ongoing monitoring of the search engine ranking and adjustments to the SEO service’s plan and to the website. If you are looking for SEO Solutions or any kind of diversified SEO Solutions or even SEO Solutions articles for you to read – then you are at the right place.

How to Select The Ideal SEO Service

TheMarbellaSEO — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:59:23 +0000

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of designing or altering a website so that it will perform optimally in regard to being ranked in search engine results that are associated with specific keywords or keyword phrases used by individuals who are searching for information on the internet through the use of a search engine. Some website owners strive to do their own search engine optimization while others opt to use an SEO service to optimize their website. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. Let’s take a look at the purpose of search engine optimization, the pros and cons of doing your own search engine optimization versus hiring an SEO service, and the questions to ask when considering an SEO service to accomplish your search engine optimization. The purpose of search engine optimization is to obtain a desirable position in organic search engine results (this means getting a good listing in the search engines without paying for search engine advertising). There are a number of techniques that SEO service providers use to optimize a website and to secure desirable search engine ranking. Getting ranked on the first three pages of search engine results is highly desirable because the majority of internet users use the search engines to find what they are looking for and they don’t usually browse through more than three pages of results. Getting an organic search engine ranking is awesome due to the fact that you don’t pay for the listing (just for the SEO services to get the listing), so there are no ongoing fees and in effect, it is free advertising that is really productive. The advantage of doing your own search engine optimization rather than contracting an SEO service is that there is no upfront cost for getting your website ranked in the search engines. The disadvantages, of course, are lack of expertise in the field of search engine optimization and the time that may be spent on the optimization process. On the flip side, the main advantages of using SEO services is that you have access to expertise from individuals who are experienced in search engine optimization and using an SEO service may be more time efficient for you. The disadvantage of using an SEO service is the initial costs involved in search engine optimization and costs associated with ongoing monitoring of the search engine ranking and adjustments to the SEO service’s strategy and to the website. If you are looking for SEO Solutions or any kind of diversified SEO Solutions or even SEO Solutions articles for you to read – then you are at the right place.

Hire an SEO Firm or “Cook” for Yourself?

TheMarbellaSEO — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:59:22 +0000

Chances are, you went out to eat sometime in the last few weeks. Why? Perhaps you don’t like to cook. Perhaps you like having food brought to you while you relax. Perhaps you were in a hurry. Perhaps your cooking skills are limited to heating a frozen dinner in the microwave. Perhaps you’ve found a place where you really like the food. Whatever your reason, you chose to pay for a professional to do something you could probably, with some effort, do yourself–prepare and serve you a meal. In my work with search engine optimization (SEO), I’ve heard several people say, directly and indirectly, that it’s basically a waste of money to hire someone to do SEO for your website, because “anyone can do it.” Let’s look at that idea for a few minutes. Here are some reasons why, just as you would choose to eat at a restaurant, you would choose to turn SEO over to a professional. 1. “Anyone” can’t do it. As I mentioned earlier, many people’s cooking skills are limited. Marcia’s greatest culinary accomplishments may be boiling an egg and making macaroni and cheese out of a box. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But if she wanted to impress a potential client or business colleague with a nice dinner, she wouldn’t put herself in charge of meal preparation. The same goes for SEO. If you know something about keywords, and what a “title tag” is, and that having links between your website and other sites is useful, that’s great, but that knowledge doesn’t put you on par with a professional, any more than boiling an egg makes Marcia a chef. SEO professionals spend lots of time learning and testing strategies to improve a website’s visibility. Not tricks like invisible keyword stuffing (which will get a site banned from search engines), but real stuff like: • how visitors use a website • what pages are popular and why • what searchers are looking for • what search engines are looking for • whether using new technologies helps or hurts or does nothing • whether version A or version B of a page brings in more visitors • how to allocate money in a pay-per-click campaign (where the numbers and competition are always changing) If you are looking for SEO Solutions or any kind of diversified SEO Solutions or even SEO Solutions articles for you to read – then you are at the right place.

Things to Expect from Your SEO Copywriter

TheMarbellaSEO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:25:30 +0000

From the perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing manager, the change exhibited by the Internet is profoundly exciting, yet profoundly disturbing. The information (and misinformation and disinformation) it offers, the business benefits it promises, and the rules it is governed by change at such a rapid rate that it’s almost impossible to keep up. These changes have led to a growing appreciation of the value of quality web copy. This appreciation has, in turn, led to an influx of opportunistic ‘copywriters’ promoting themselves as website copywriters or SEO copywriters. Don’t get me wrong, there are quite a few excellent SEO copywriters out there, and you should definitely shop around. The purpose of this article isn’t to scare you; it’s to help you find the SEO copywriter who’ll deliver honest service and excellent results. So with that in mind, take a look at the following ten tips. These are the things you have a right to expect from anyone wearing a name badge that reads “website copywriter”, “SEO copywriter”, “internet copywriter”, or “web copywriter”… (See also www.divinewrite.com/websitecopywriter.htm and www.divinewrite.com/makethemost.htm.) 1) An understanding of SEO Obviously, your SEO copywriter must have a solid understanding of the essentials of Search Engine Optimization. They must know that ranking is essentially the result of a website’s relevance (i.e. keywords) and importance (i.e. inbound links). There are a whole lot of other factors involved, but if your SEO copywriter doesn’t understand these two basics, you should look elsewhere. If you’d like to ensure your SEO copywriter knows a little more than just the basics, take a look at www.divinewrite.com/SEOCEO.htm, www.divinewrite.com/seocopy.htm, www.divinewrite.com/seotradesecrets.htm, www.divinewrite.com/webcopyenough.htm, and www.divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm for some clues as to what you might like to ask in order to assess their knowledge. 2) Proven experience The proof is, as they say, in the pudding. It’s not enough that your SEO copywriter can talk the talk; they must also be able to walk the walk. Ask to see some examples of websites for which they’ve obtained some good rankings. Note that it may be very difficult to find an SEO copywriter who has actually worked on both keywords and link generation (especially article PR), so if you find one who has, and they write well, snap ‘em up! They’ll have a very broad and useful working knowledge of search engines. 3) An understanding of how many keywords to use You don’t want to fill every page up with every keyword you’re targeting. This simply dilutes your site’s relevance and reduces readability. Ask your SEO copywriter how many keywords they would recommend targeting on each page. Hopefully they’ll suggest no more than 3, preferably 2. By targeting 2 keyword phrases per page, you can use them a lot without impacting readability. If you are looking for professional link building or for professional link building experts or if you want to read professional link building articles – then you are at the right place.

DIY SEO and Why Your Don’t Need To Pay For It

TheMarbellaSEO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:25:29 +0000

It seems these days everyone is an SEO specialist. What they don’t tell you is they’re self-proclaimed experts in SEO with very little technical background and no credentials to back them up. Trying to find a quality SEO expert (a true expert) is becoming a annoying task for webmasters. It’s rare to come across a webmaster who’s employed the services of an SEO firm and didn’t get burned in one way or another. SEO experts promise the world and more often than not under-deliver. In order to save money and frustration, many webmasters have branched off and tried to apply SEO on their own. Are these webmasters heading down the wrong path or have they figured out that SEO isn’t as difficult as the SEO experts lead people to believe? Promising The Moon and The Stars, Delivering a box of Lucky Charms. A lot of SEO companies you come across are going to promise you a top-10 ranking. That’s a top-10 ranking as-in showing up between 1 and 10 of the search engines results pages (SERPs). Research has shown that close to 90% of all internet users do not browse past the first page of SERPs. If you’re not in the top 30 you can forget about getting ANY traffic from search engines. A guaranteed top-10 placement is a very bold promise, one that probably sounds too good to be true. In fact, it isn’t! Almost any SEO firm can guarantee they’ll place your website in the top-10 of SERPs within a month and deliver 100% on what they promised! Now… what EXACTLY did they promise? They promised a top-10 ranking, that much is fact. Beyond that, no specific details were provided. Here’s the problem. Top-10 ranking only means something if your website is placed in the top-10 of highly targeted and relevant keywords or keyword phrases that users are actually searching on. The majority of these SEO firms are simply targeting very niche keywords that have little to no competition. By doing so they are delivering on their promise of top-10 rankings. The problem is the keywords with little to no competition most likely have little to no searches against them by real users. It sure does look good for an SEO expert to type in “Chartreuse Colored Keyboards” and have your keyboard website come up 1st in the results set. How many REAL users are going to be conducting a search under the specific keywords “Chartreuse Colored Keyboards”? If you’re lucky, maybe a half-dozen in a year. One thing to be careful of with any SEO company is a promise that seems too good to be true. Indistinctness is the ally for SEO’s as they can make deliver on what they promise, which is often just an illusion of what you expect. If you are looking for professional link building or for professional link building experts or if you want to read professional link building articles – then you are at the right place.

Criteria You Should Look For In Professional SEO Firms

TheMarbellaSEO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:25:29 +0000

Acquiring the services of a respectable and professional SEO company is sometimes a mind-boggling and challenging episode. The market is filled with many developers and experts, and each search engine optimization company or SEO firm utilizes and implements different methods and follow-up patterns to chart the direction of their SEO services. At the end of all SEO forms, it is virtually the same, stating that the best method in optimizing your web site is to get higher ranking. It is vital to check into the following details when you decide to sign up the services of an SEO company. Parameters In Choosing A Professional SEO Company – Track Record And Roster Of Clients. One of the first aspects you can verify into is the project experience, or track record of an SEO firm. Whether or not the SEO firm that you are considering for your web site optimization, has sufficient experience, you need to find out how long the SEO entity has been in business. The most potent way to choose a quality SEO firm is to check out their present clients and acquire the feedback from the references. – Do They Employ Ethical SEO Strategies. In choosing a credible SEO firm, you need to look at its methods and working strategies. Verify what methodology a search engine optimization company is employing, as you need to avoid SEO firms that practice unethical methods and procedures. This may in turn ruin the reputation of your web site. A list of unethical SEO firm practices include unnecessary stuffing of keywords, page swapping technique, copy-write violation, utilizing irrelevant keywords, putting similar content in all web pages, using invisible text and overuse of flash & graphic design. These unethical practices may pose a dangerous threat to your web site. While you choose an SEO expert, you need to identify whether it is an ethical SEO firm or not, based on the parameters mentioned above. If you are looking for professional link building or for professional link building experts or if you want to read professional link building articles – then you are at the right place.

How To Be An Ideal SEO Client

TheMarbellaSEO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:25:28 +0000

If your company has selected or will select an SEO vendor to optimize your corporate website for natural search, I offer you kudos for embarking on a process that can generate tremendous revenue for your business. Now, the fun part begins. You’ll need to oversee and evaluate a process that is hard to comprehend, has somewhat intangible deliverables, and where the “timing of results” can’t be precisely defined. Given this scenario, how can you best work with an SEO to achieve the best outcome for your website? Make SEO a Marketing Priority. On some engagements, the SEO is almost entirely self-sufficient. On others, he or she might depend on the director of marketing, the president, the web designer or IT support to help facilitate the SEO effort. Some of these folks might not see the value of the optimization and don’t view SEO related efforts as a priority. If you can let your team know the critical nature of the work (and your SEO should be willing to help in this effort), the expected results should be achieved that much faster. Learn enough about SEO in order to ask good questions. Over time, the talented stable of Search Engine Marketing writers at Search Engine Guide have produced a large number of articles covering almost every aspect of the SEO process. Read up. Become familiar with the terminology and concepts. At minimum, you need to be conversant enough to evaluate the metrics of the campaign. But don’t tell your SEO how to do the work. Too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing for some clients because they lack the experience to place their knowledge within the context of the whole SEO process. Such clients may even feel empowered enough to tell their SEO vendor to take a course of action that will damage their efforts to obtain targeted natural search traffic. But if you have done proper due diligence in choosing a knowledgeable and ethical SEO expert, you shouldn’t have any trouble staying on the right track. Your chosen professional will probably be appreciative that you’ve educated yourself about the process and will be glad to answer your “tough” questions. All reputable SEO vendors should be open and transparent about their methods and work process…don’t work with any that aren’t. And if you are comfortable with your SEO expert, the value of his or her experience should be easily discernible. If you are looking for professional link building or for professional link building experts or if you want to read professional link building articles – then you are at the right place.

SEO Fable – SEO Is Complex

TheMarbellaSEO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:25:27 +0000

The first myth I would like to focus on regarding search engine optimization is the myth that revolves around the notion that search engine optimization (SEO) is complicated. I am always interested in the reasons people give for certain thoughts and I have heard many regarding how complicated search engine optimization (SEO) can be – especially for non-seo professionals. But I must say that I have not found this opinion to be true regarding search engine optimization. I do not feel that search engine optimization (SEO) is complicated. I know many people who have achieved great search engine rankings using SEO, including myself, and most have stated that using search engine optimization on their websites was not complicated. At times some stated that depending on what they were doing it took time to complete the SEO work; but seo being complicated – no. I tend to feel that if individuals have an average amount of computer knowledge and skills and they have good SEO information that they can use to guide them through the SEO work process, they will not have any problems concerning search engine optimization. Basically, it is not search engine optimization that makes SEO work difficult; it is the lack of access to good information concerning SEO that can make search engine optimization (SEO) appear to be much more difficult than it actually is in all honesty. SEO work can take time to complete depending on the level of detail involved; but it is not brain surgery. Now can anyone do SEO? – the answer is no; however, the people who would have trouble doing SEO work are the same people who would have trouble completing a large variety of computer related tasks. Generally, if an individual can operate a computer well enough to follow instructions to install software, they usually can complete seo work successfully provided they have good instructions and information. Search engine optimization work is not as simple and/or as quick as adding a few meta tags; but search engine optimization is not nearly as hard and time consuming as you might have been lead to believe from prior discussions and/or from information you have read concerning SEO. I feel the main reason that some people portray search engine optimization (SEO) as being complicated concerns the amount of money that is generated directly and indirectly from the utilization of search engine optimization (SEO). Search engine optimization (SEO) is a multi million-dollar industry. Great organic(free) search engine results literally help generate billions of dollars each year for website owners and search engine optimization is a beneficial technique in helping to achieve those organic(free) search engine rankings. It is no wonder with billions of internet sales and advertising dollars available on a yearly bases that search engine optimization (SEO) which can provide an individual or company a competitive edge in the ultra high pace internet world will attract a variety of opinions, ideas, supporters and detractors. Moreover, through a combination of perception and reality that highlights search engine optimization as a key to increasing internet sales, search engine optimization is a very popular topic for decision makers within many companies and frankly if these individuals along with the general internet community can be convenience that search engine optimization is complicated then many of these people will decide to outsource SEO related services, hire search engine optimization employees and/or contract consultants to complete their search engine optimization work. Thus, money is a key player in how search engine optimization is portrayed in the media, inside the seo industry and at large within the general internet community. If you are looking for professional link building or for professional link building experts or if you want to read professional link building articles – then you are at the right place.