Posts Tagged ‘USASEOPros’

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The Power of the Press Release for Search Engine Optimization

Monday, May 4th, 2009

In the days of old, press releases were written by powerful PR professionals in high-rise offices and then submitted directly to journalists for major newspapers. The goal was (and still is) for a major news source like the New York Times to pick up the story and print it for their millions of readers.

The internet has changed the press release landscape, though many of the same rules still apply. Press releases should still be written in proper AP style, with correct grammar and punctuation. The casual writing style of most blogs should be avoided, since many news sources quickly dismiss unprofessional press releases. What has changed is that press releases are no longer limited to the realm of big business PR…virtually anyone can do it! That being said, you must play by the rules if you want to be successful.

Each press release should have value to it. Everyone wants the opportunity to tout themselves or their company, but simply promoting for promotion’s sake isn’t effective. Online press release distributors are much more relaxed with these rules (some are stricter), so you may be able to get away with more than the Times would publish. Nevertheless, it’s important to stick with newsworthy events. Think: product launches, new hires, new services, company-sponsored events, annual reports etc.

A well written press release may not land on page 1 of the New York Times, but page 1 of Google and Yahoo can be just as exciting and lucrative.

When writing a press release, keep in mind some simple search engine optimization tactics. Use an eye-catching headline that includes one of the key words you’d like to be found for. For this blog post, I wanted “press release” and “search engine optimization” included.

An effective press release can vary a bit in length, but you should aim for 3-5 paragraphs, and most certainly fewer than 500 words. Write in clear, concise language, and be sure to include your company name and the industry you work in. If you’re releasing a new product or service, include details like when the product/service will be available and the locations they can be found.

“(Company) is pleased to announce the release of its latest (product). Available in most major electronic stores on May 15, the new (product) is expected to improve (whatever it does).”

Always, always include a company profile at the end of the press release. In it you should describe the company, how long it has been around, the business it operates, location(s) or base of operations, etc. Also include a way for readers to contact you, like a phone number or email address. Some people choose to include their Web address here too.

Once you’ve written your press release, you’re going to want to go back over it with a fine tooth comb. Cut out excess words and fluff sentences. The idea is that a news source will contact you and ask questions for more information. I’ve heard that some writers will cut out 40-50% of their writing when they edit their press releases! If you include a bunch of sales text and self-promoting sentences, your writing will be dismissed very quickly.

Next you’ll need to submit your press release to a variety of news sources and distribution sites. It doesn’t hurt to submit your story to your local newspapers and TV stations – especially if your announcement is locally focused. I also recommend a number of free online press release sites including 24-7 PressRelease, 1888PressRelease, PR.com, and many more. Premium pay-sites include Prweb.com.

When USA SEO Pros submits a press release, we usually do so to nearly 40 distribution centers. This improves the likelihood of publication (not every site will publish every press release) and will increase the sheer volume of sites that will have your information about your company!

Search engines love press releases from reputable sites because they recognize the fresh, dynamic content. Stale is the last thing you want for SEO, and a press release is a great way to remind the world that your company exists and that you’re doing some exciting things.

USASEOPros offers press release writing and distribution services to our clients and many have taken advantage of it. We take the time to research your company and your industry, and then we craft a concise, well written press release that will dramatically improve your search engine ranking position!

Any amount of quality, professional content that provides relevant information to the reader will always perform well for SEO. A press release is a fantastic way to get started! If you have any questions or would like more information about press release distribution, submit your inquiries to press@usaseopros.com.

By: Zack S.

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Having a Website without SEO is Like…

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

…owning a brand new car but not having any tires. It might look great, but you aren’t going to go anywhere.

Search engine optimization leapt out of obscurity several years ago and it has raced to the forefront on the online marketing industry. Acronyms like PPC, PPA, and SEO are tossed around like rice at a wedding, but what does it all mean to the average business owner and their website?

Well what good is having a Web site if no one is seeing it? Just putting your business name on a Web site is no longer good enough to generate the kind of traffic you need to be successful.

You need to focus some attention on various online advertising methods, and this means acronyms: SEO, PPA and PPC.

In case you aren’t already aware of what they stand for, those are “search engine optimization”, “pay per action” and “pay per click”. Each represents a different approach to online marketing, although PPA and PPC are quite similar.

Any great marketing campaign should include a number of facets, and I’m certainly not discrediting PPA and PPC. You can run into problems with any type of advertising though, as you can read about cases of PPC fraud here if you’d like.

With that said, I turn my attention to SEO. Why? Well USA SEO Pros is a professional search engine optimization company, based in Las Vegas. I use SEO techniques on almost a daily basis, from my own personal blog at home to my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts. It’s remarkable how some choice key words and geographical targeting can boost my Twitter followers! Don’t believe me? Check out my Gmail trash. I’ve blurred out my information since it is my personal email, but every time I make an SEO post, I get another 5 or so followers…

So business owners, how can you make this work for you? Well, you can make a concerted effort to learn everything there is to know about search engine optimization. It takes a fair amount of time, and because the rules are constantly changing, it means you really have to keep up on it.

You can also opt to have your “web guy” do it. But I think you’ll quickly find that’s not the best result. Collyn Floyd has some choice words for that on the blog post titled 9 Common SEO Myths.

That leaves hiring a professional SEO company. Any form of advertising should be viewed as an investment in your business. Just imagine what a huge increase in traffic to your site can yield…more visitors…more sales!

Proper search engine optimization goes far beyond just a keyword or two on your site. You need to provide your visitors with quality content that engages the reader. Ideally you should maintain a blog and keep rotating content through your site throughout the year. Static sites are a thing of the past. Google, Yahoo and MSN respond much more favorably to Web sites that offer visitors a forum to discuss topics or a blog to respond to.

Research should be done into the right key words to be used on a site. For every industry, certain key words rank differently on various search engines. Some key words are exceedingly difficult to rank well due to the sheer number of sites that use it. Go to Google.com and type in “free money”. Last I checked there were 189 million sites listed.

The point is that you shouldn’t approach online marketing with a half-hearted effort. Consider how you would like your business to succeed and the web traffic you’ll need to get there. You wouldn’t try to drive without wheels on your car. Please don’t try to run a website without giving consideration to solid SEO techniques!

By: Zack S.

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Here’s Some Food for Thought: Google’s Sandbox vs. SEO

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

After reading a recent blog post about a particular well-known and respected site (at least within the technical internet realm) having trouble ranking on Google, I began to dig a little deeper. What I found was a wealth of information - or rather speculation – about the idea of a Google Sandbox Effect.

A quick trip to the online information repository (Wikipedia) will give you bit of information about this idea that Google somehow holds back rankings on new sites. “New” is of course subjective. I personally don’t consider a site that has been around for longer than a year to be new, but the aforementioned website has been around for more than a year, and yet seems to have found itself in the Sandbox. Strangely, brand new sites sometimes rank very well at first, and then drop out of the 1000 after a week or two without any apparent reason.

The basic hypothesis behind the Sandbox Effect is two parts. First is the idea that sites can be indexed by Google and found via their company name, but a search for relevant key terms will not return the same listing. The second part has to do with sites that are indexed and ranking well on Google, but get a flood of link backs to it and will suddenly disappear from the search results.

In the past Google has used the sudden spurt in links to target spammers who use forums, blogs and other sites to post thousands of links to their own site in an effort to game the search engines. It would appear that Google is very effective at doing this – but we’re running into a problem with the growth of Web 2.0.

The very idea of Web 2.0 and social media is user driven content. Sites like Digg, Reddit, Bebo, Facebook, StumbleUpon and Twitter are all geared towards the very latest trends, breaking news and information. Links can form very quickly when news breaks that the internet community finds interesting.

Take for instance the recent Domino’s viral video created by a couple of (now ex) employees. Within several days of the video being posted, it was all you could hear about on the internet. News agencies aired segments and criminal charges were even brought against the two alleged offenders. As you can see, the internet and specific web sites can play a very powerful role in the real world.

This leads me back to the Sandbox. Google announced a major overhaul of their ranking algorithm recently, and that is sure to affect search engine optimization companies. However it’s not something that we’re unaccustomed to. In 2007 alone Google made 450 tweaks to their algorithm.

While the upcoming algorithm change will no doubt challenge some of the conventional methods of SEO, I think it will help what good companies are able to do. By filtering out more spam and more fraudulent attempts for your clicks, white hat SEO companies may find their job suddenly easier. But that may not drag them out of the sandbox.

Some have theorized that the sandbox serves as an aging delay for sites newer than 6-8 months. How long a site can stay in Google jail isn’t entirely clear, but is clear is that there is a mass exodus when the search giant finally lifts the gates. It seems that after this website aging process, a large bundle of sites are suddenly released and allowed to rank and play with the top dogs.

So what does this all mean for an SEO company? It means making sure a client understands the Google doesn’t play as nicely as Yahoo and MSN. While certainly the biggest kid on the block, Google isn’t the only one around to play with. Often first page placements on the other major search engines like Yahoo, MSN Live Search and AOL will yield a great amount of internet traffic.

But ultimately what Google’s Sandbox means is having patience. The ranks and indexing on Google will come, it just requires a bit of time. At USASEOPros, our Las Vegas search engine optimization company understands this and we try to counsel our clients about the entire SEO process. It is patience and understanding that makes for a beneficial business relationship, and that’s what we offer to business owners. This SEO game is fast-paced, fun and exciting, but we’re still playing at Google’s table. We’ll play by the rules and we’ll continue to create great organic ranks for our clients.

By: Zack S.

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A No-Wait SEO Opportunity!

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

At our Las Vegas SEO office, we work with clients who are looking to get on the first page of search engine results naturally. When it comes to online marketing, you have plenty of options, including SEO opportunities, pay per click, pay per action, and “old-fashioned” banner space.

But like many things in life, these various types of advertising techniques are not equal. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and today I want to share a bit about an opportunity that we have available.

At USASEOPros we work with our clients generally for a six month SEO contract period. This means we do industry research, generate business specific keywords, write the content, build a website, submit the site and provide regular maintenance to the site for six months.

The goal is always to get our clients’ website a large amount of exposure and traffic by appearing on the first page of sites like Google, Yahoo and MSN Live. We have become quite efficient with our SEO practices and consequently we have “leftover” first page placements after a six month campaign is over.

A lot of our clients choose to renew their contracts, but some do not – whether it’s due to finances or other personal choices. Because we worked hard to achieve those first page placements, we are now offering new clients the opportunity to get on the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN Live today! Here’s an example of an available first page Google placement.

By offering already-ranking keywords to businesses within the same industry, we can drastically cut down the wait time for your search engine optimization to kick in. Whereas it can sometimes take up to a month for the search engines to recognize and index a site – we’ve already accomplished that with these key phrases!

SEO Opportunity

I just received the latest numbers of available first page placements for the USA SEO Pros licensing program, and we’ve topped 2.5 million available placements!

This doesn’t mean we have 2.5 million keywords that are ranking that high – rather we aim to have our key words rank on the first page for every major search engine! For example, the key phrase “marriage agency in southern California” currently has 11 first page placements that are available! Here’s a shot of our first page placement on this keyword.

Of course we aren’t limited to just wedding companies. If you visit our licensing demonstration page at USASEOPros.com, you can see if we have SEO key words available in your industry.

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Which Type of Internet Advertising is Right for Me?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

One of the things I’m asked most frequently in the search engine optimization industry is which kind of internet advertising methods are most effective. Because I work for an SEO company, the programmed response is “SEO, always”…but I believe in a little truth in advertising. Let’s take a look into both pay per click advertising and search engine optimization together.

Of course first and foremost, businesses want to know how to get ranked on the first page of the major search engines. You can go about it several ways – the most popular of them being SEO and PPC.

Let’s begin with pay per click advertising (PPC). A surefire way to increase search engine traffic is through PPC. Yes, I work for an SEO company and I said that.

But there’s a caveat.

PPC advertising can bring traffic to your site, but that doesn’t mean it’s the kind of traffic you’re looking for. Getting people to visit your site does not mean they are looking to buy what you’re offering.

If you need proof of this, read my blog post about recent PPC scams at both Google and Yahoo. You really can’t be too careful these days.

Aside from just fraudulent clicks on your PPC, receiving traffic from PPC does not mean the visitor is there to buy. They may have accidentally clicked the link, thought it was for another site, or were redirected from somewhere else. The point is traffic from PPC isn’t necessarily quality traffic.

Quality traffic – that’s what online marketing is all about, right? That’s what we strive for at USASEOPros.

We use search engine optimization to improve our clients rankings on search engine results. From professional content written with geo-targeted key words to using blogs to increase SEO, we do it all.

Yes, I work at an SEO company, so perhaps I’m biased, but I’m able to see first-hand the results we can bring to our clients. From the first page of MSN to the first page of Yahoo to the first page of Google – we have managed to put our clients right there front and center.

The most important thing about organic SEO though is the quality of the traffic. Having tens of thousands of people visiting your site won’t help your business grow if they aren’t buying. Instead, SEO key phrases will help drive visitors to your site who are looking for what you sell and are ready to buy.

Let’s say you sell custom made signs and you’re based in Miami. If someone in southern Florida types your key word (we’ll use custom metal signs in Miami), your site will pop up right in front of them! Not in the “sponsored results” box, but in the top placements in the search results. That’s the kind of traffic you’re looking for as a business owner, and that’s the kind of traffic we can bring you!

By: Zack S.

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Arm Twisting Leads to Twitter Followers Sale at USASEOPros

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Well, don’t ever say I don’t go to bat for you. I’ve worked hard to build a solid relationship with my bosses here at USASEOPros, and how do I thank them? By begging and pleading with them to drop their prices for my faithful “tweeps”. (That would be Twitter followers if you’re not hip yet).

There was some hemming and hawing and general gnashing of the teeth, but I finally got the bosses to cave in to my demands. It’s now official: Beginning Monday, April 20th, USA SEO Pros will offer its Twitter followers a 5 percent discount on our services. The sale will run for two (2) weeks, cumulating May 1, 2009 at 5:00 pm PST.

If you aren’t currently on Twitter, I would strongly suggest you join the mix! If you’re already a Twitterer, then look me up @realusaseopros! Only my followers will receive the tweets that contain discount code. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email – press@usaseopros.com!

By: Zack S.

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