How To Manage Your Site Through The Google Penguin

After the significant effects that the Google Panda has made on how websites are ranked, the latest Google Penguin update has again made a lot of changes that can affect how many websites are ranked in search results. The latest Google Penguin update was released last May 22, 2013 and has been dubbed Penguin 2.0. It might be noticeable to many website owners because 2.3% of English-US queries are reportedly affected.

Unlike other updates that are just considered to be data refresh, this fourth Penguin update is an actual algorithm update. Hopefully, if you have an SEO company handling your website, they will be able to handle and manage any effects that the Penguin update might have on your website. If you do not hire any company, you can get some SEO consulting services or you can read below to help you manage your website through this Penguin update.

• Make use of various media for your content. Do not limit your website content to articles and posts. Content does not mean text alone. Expand the media of your website content by putting in videos, slideshows, PDF files, infographics, and podcasts. The same rule for text content applies to these other media content – the higher quality they are, the better.

• Market your content. Your content will not serve its purpose unless you market them so that they can be seen by others. Promote your website content through other websites especially through social media networks. Share links to your website’s videos, infographics, podcasts, articles, and images through Facebook, Twitter, and Google plus. Good content that can pique the interest of others can easily go viral amongst your target market. You can also put up your videos on YouTube or Vimeo, your slides and PDF files on SlideShare and Docstoc. 

• Link pages in your website internally. Internal linking is self-love and it works with Google. If you have created your content well and you have enough relevant yet diverse content on your website then you should be able to link them to each other. You can make use of good anchor text and this practice will also help your visitors explore other pages in your website as well.

• Optimize your site structure. The Google Penguin 2.0 update rewards websites that provide a good user experience and the goal is to reward high quality websites. Hence, the structure of your website is also very important. Apply sound web design practices that make your website easy to navigate and well organized.

Online Shopping: How To Know If An Online Store Is Trustworthy

Online shopping has been a very engaging activity for many Internet users. Instead of going to actual physical stores, the Internet has it possible to shop for almost any kind of product from the comforts of your own home. However, just like with every Internet activity that you engage in, it is very important to exert caution when shopping online and to make sure that your financial and personal security will not be compromised.

Among the things that you can do to ensure your security, one of them is to make sure that the website you are buying from is trustworthy. Unfortunately, it is quite easy to find websites that offer great deals that just seem too good to be true especially with the link building services that these sites make use of to increase their popularity. Once you found a website like this, how do you know that the website is trustworthy? Below is a guide to help you.

·         Customer feedbacks and reviews. The best way to find out if an online store will deliver the services and products that you are expecting, is to read feedbacks and reviews from previous customers. While some online stores have a section where they publish customer feedbacks and reviews, do not just rely on these because you will not see a negative feedback there. Research online for more accurate feedbacks and reviews. Even if an online store uses excellent SEO strategies, you should be able to find these accurate feedbacks and reviews by typing the store’s name in the Google search box.

·         Website security. The rule of thumb for online shopping is not to shop in a website that is not secure. Make sure that the website can securely process all your payment and personal information. Check that the website uses SSL technology by looking for the closed padlock image on the lower right hand corner of your browser or in the address bar. The address bar should also have ‘https://’ instead of ‘http://’ Some websites even use Verisign or other security measures to make sure that all your financial information is not compromised.

·         Check contact information. An online store that only has a contact form for you to fill up and no other contact information seems suspicious. If it is a trustworthy website then it should provide you with several ways of contacting them by providing a phone number, an email address, or an online chat support.

Building Your SEO Team

Search engine optimization or SEO plays a big part in making a website successful. It is what will continuously draw new visitors to your website because if your website ranks high in search engine results, more people will see it and more people will click that link that leads to your website.

Hence, almost every website nowadays should be well-optimized for search engines except if the goal of a particular website is not to get as many visitors as possible. If you are the owner of a website, there are two ways to go about it – hire an SEO Philippines company or handle your own SEO needs. If you choose to handle your own SEO needs, it is best if you put together your own in-house SEO team to handle all of these SEO needs. If you are such a website owner or if you work or own an SEO Manila company, below are some of the specific roles you will need to fill up in building your own SEO team.

• SEO Manager. The first position you will need to fill is that of the SEO manager. This person will be your SEO team leader and in charge of mapping your SEO strategy. He or she should be able to lead the team efficiently and competently. An SEO manager will have to make many crucial decisions along the way so choose one who has good problem-solving skills and decision-making skills.

• SEO Analysts. Take note of the plural form because you will probably need more than one SEO analyst. Your analysts are the ones who will analyze your website and come up with ways to optimize it. This involves all aspects of SEO so you should choose someone who has knowledge in both on-page and off-page SEO.

• Web Developers. You will need to have your website built and designed in such a way that it is optimizes for search engines. The job of web developers will not be a continuous thing in an SEO team which is why some SEO teams only get the services of freelance SEO web developers when they need it.

• Content Creator. In SEO, content is king. If you want your website to be successfully well-optimized then put a lot of high quality unique content. Although some SEO teams outsource this aspect of SEO, it is sometimes a good idea to get a content creator that can provide you with the content that you need regularly.

• Link Builders. Aside from content, backlinks also play a major part in how search engines rank your website. Link building can drastically affect your website’s online presence and how it is ranked by search engines. Get link builders who only use white hat SEO strategies to ensure that your website does not get penalized.

• Social Media Manager. Nowadays, social media can have a huge impact on SEO. The proper use of social media can greatly improve your SEO results. Get someone who is experienced in almost all social media platforms and has a good grasp of what the website’s targeted audience wants. Also, your social media manager should have excellent communication skills and can relate well to other people.

Why Become An SEO Expert And How To Become One

Search engine optimization has now become a very big and important industry thanks to the Internet and the need to get to the top of search engine result pages. This industry has given birth to a new career – the SEO expert.

If you are someone who spends a lot of time on the Internet and would like to pursue a relatively new career that involves the Internet, below are some reasons why you might want to pursue becoming an SEO expert.

·         Huge potential. Since SEO is a relatively new field, the potential for growth and development is still very good. With more and more website owners now understanding the importance and need for guaranteed SEO, your potential clientele as an SEO expert is very promising.

·         Flexible. Whether you start your own practice or you work for an SEO company, the hours of work is often very flexible. This will allow you to take on several projects at the same time or even hold a different job. You can even choose to work in an actual office or work from the comforts of your home.

·         Dynamic. If you are the type who craves to have changes and excitement, then being an SEO expert is a good option. New developments happen frequently in the field of SEO and Google releases frequent updates to its search algorithm.

·         Resources. There are tons of resources online on search engine optimization. You will never lack in references and you are sure to find anything that you need help with. This makes it easy even for SEO beginners to find their way in becoming more knowledgeable about different SEO strategies and techniques.

If you are now thinking of becoming an SEO expert, the question that comes next is how do you become one? The first thing you will need to do is to get yourself educated on search engine optimization. It does not matter whether you get formal SEO training or you choose to self-study with the help of all the resources that can be found online. The important thing is that you learn as much as you can about SEO. 

Next, you will have to decide whether you want to work for an SEO company or you want to offer your services as a freelancer. If you want to work for a company, you will have to start contacting them to apply. If you prefer to do freelance, you will have to plan your marketing strategy on how to get your first clients.

How To Start Your Own SEO Company

Search engine optimization or SEO, has been a very common term ever since websites started realizing that landing on top of the search engine results pages would mean more visitors for them. Nowadays, many website owners apply their own SEO strategies or they get the services of an SEO company in the Philippines to help their websites reach the top of these search engine results pages.

Because of the high demand for SEO services, it is not surprising that more and more SEO companies are quickly being put up by those who have become experts on everything related to SEO. If you think you know a lot about SEO, more than the typical Internet user who has above average aptitude in SEO, then the idea of having your own SEO is not really outrageous especially since most successful SEO companies were likewise started very small. Below is a guide on how to start your own SEO company to help you get started.

• Get your own website. Even if you have not finalized all the details of your SEO company and the services you would like to offer, get your own website started right away. You do not need to start designing it or fixing it, just get it started so that it at least has an early Internet presence already.

• Research other SEO companies. Find at least five SEO companies you can research on. Learn all about the services that they offer and the rates at which these services are offered. This will help you get a clearer picture of how an SEO company works beyond the actual technical work and SEO expertise involved.

• Define your services. As someone who knows a lot about SEO, you probably have an idea of what you can offer your potential clients. This, together with your research on other SEO companies, will help you define what you can offer as an SEO company. List down the services you will offer and the corresponding rates at which you will offer them.

• Be your first client. An SEO company that has an un-optimized website is not a good thing. Your first proof to your clients that you can do what you claim to be able to do, is to apply SEO techniques and strategies to your own website and landing among the top search engine results. You will slowly build your portfolio as you get more clients but the first and most successful item in your portfolio should be your own website

How To Know If Your Website Is Under Optimized

The past several years have been very dynamic when it comes to how websites compete with each other. The visibility and popularity of a particular website highly depends on how search engine friendly it is. This is the reason why the trend has been how to optimize websites for search engines so that they can be easily seen, making them land in the top search results for particular search keywords and key phrases.

While some website owners prefer to get the services of an SEO company in the Philippines, there are some who choose to undergo SEOtraining in the Philippines so that they can handle the search engine optimization of their websites themselves. No matter how you want to have your site optimized, it is very important that you at least know whether your website is under optimized or not. Below are some of the identifying characteristics of an under optimized website.

• Low quality content. Ask yourself, will you go to your own site for its content? If your answer is no, then it is time to make an overhaul and start putting high quality articles that people will really visit and read. Make sure that your content is well written, highly relevant, and unique.

 

• Visually unpleasing. Look at your website. Is the design visually pleasing to you? If the colors, fonts, borders, images, and other design aspects do not go well together to form a cohesive, well designed website, then make a visual overhaul of it. Feel free to consult with a web design artist and if you want search engines to index your website, limit your use of Flash and JavaScript.

• Not user friendly. Sometimes even if your website is visually pleasing and you have unique, high quality content, you can still lose visitors if your website is difficult to navigate. Make sure that your visitors can easily maneuver their way around your website. Use clear categories and make a site map available for your visitors. Everything that your website has to offer should be easily accessible so that your visitors do not need to browse through several pages just to find what they are looking for.

• Broken links. Always check all the links that you have in your website are in perfect working condition. If not, fix all broken links or redirect the links to a page that will not confuse your visitor. 

DOS AND DONTS: Safe Link Building Tips For 2013

With the Google Panda and Penguin updates, the method in which links were built and earned took a major turn over the last couple of years. For the year 2013, one word rules – that is quality. Below are some of the DOs and DONTs when acquiring backlinks.

DOs.

• Guest blogging. A way to build your brand and for people to visit you is to do guest blogging. Choose blogs that have high Google ranks. Study their topics closely so you’d know the fastest technique to get your post accepted. Stick to your niche. Be expert on the field.

• Content Creation. Quality over quantity. The type of copy that you put out there could make your business stand out from the rest. Always build fresh and innovative content strategies. Use up-to-date infographics and pin it on Pinterest. If you’re local, create SEO training materials to target professionals in the Philippines. Upload them to Slideshare and link it back to your website for more info.

• Social media. With Google putting on more weight to your presence in the social media scene, being active is a guaranteed to boost ranking. Create profiles and business pages. Add your site on each so you can easily be reached. Join communities. Let the word-of-mouth coupled with social signals take care of everything. 

DONTs.

• Directory links. Gone were the days when you suggest your website for inclusion to hundreds of directories that offer two-way link building services. You can still continue this practice but be very particular. Opt for PR 7 or 8 and those with good authority in Google.

• Blog comments. Most of the blogs have nofollow attribute thus, the old system of commenting, leaving your keyword on the comments has become obsolete as well. More often than not, the ones with links on it are often ignored by readers if not rejected by the blog owner itself. You can still proceed on keeping this strat but learn to put a limit into it.

• Article submission. One of the hardest hit with the change of Google algorithm are the article submission sites. Duplicate content is a big NO. The search engine giant has even warned against spinning as it offers low quality content. Hence, scratch this off your list. You may still submit one or selected two but be sure to really work on imparting great info for search engines to credit it as a link.