Trust

Clients who trust their SEO company and the SEO advice given to them stand a much better chance than the clients who doubt their consultants abilities. You have to be able to trust the help and advice of your consultant so they can help you implement a strong web strategy.

Availability

Good clients are clients who are responsive to requests and do their part to maintain lines of open communication to senior management and the parties responsible for developing content and website coding changes. Making yourself available via email or phone is a positive show of good partnership etiquette and is imperative when quick changes need to be made.

Understanding

Having a basic understanding of SEO goals and practices is an important aspect of being a good SEO client. Clients who take the time understand what is going on with their SEO by asking questions and clarifying strategies feel more comfortable with their SEO program and have less stress about procedures and rankings.

Know it’s a process

Clients need to understand that SEO is a process rather than a quick fix. Organic SEO and the skills it takes to achieve quality rankings are hard to come by. Appreciating the work and strategy it takes to get the rankings you want will make you a star SEO client and someone a great SEO firm looks forward to working with.

The road to top rankings is never easy and requires a lot of man hours and lot of savvy, but it’s easy to be a good SEO client. Maintaining a good relationship with your SEO Las Vegas consultant and their team is a surefire way to help you gain success on the web. Start your relationship off right!

When I was researching Facebook promotions I stumbled on some interesting information. Promotions and giveaways have always been heavy hitters for marketers. Take those marketing platforms to the mean cyber streets of Facebook where 400 million active users are bustling around monthly and you’ve got Internet Thunder Dome on your hands. Facebook users are savvy consumers and well versed in the art of selective content viewing. With the swarms of promotional activities users are bombarded with on a daily basis how can you ensure that your promotions are getting through?

Rule #1: If you wanna win the game know the playing field.

Read, understand, and know Facebook’s official Promotions Guidelines. There’s important stuff in there to keep you out of trouble with Facebook. For instance, you’re not allowed to contact promotional winners via Facebook to alert them of their winning status. Facebook is constantly updating its rules and regulations so make sure you stay abreast of changes. Understanding local rules affects promotions too, so make sure you understand country and state specific laws.

Rule #2: Facebook is not your friend.

Okay, that’s not exactly true. Facebook is great and does a lot of great promoting for a lot of great businesses, but Facebook does not want to be confused as a partner and explicitly states in it’s guidelines, “You will not directly or indirectly indicate that Facebook is a sponsor or administrator of the promotion or mention Facebook in any way…” So, you get the idea. Facebook does not want people saying, “We’re starting with Facebook today!” Instead businesses should say, “We’re starting on Facebook today.”

Rule #3: Gain promotional clearance with cash.

If you wanna run a promotion or giveaway on Facebook you have to go through a representative, but to get to the representative you need to spend a sizeable (i.e. $10,000) amount of coinage. If you’re promoting a contest involving Facebook via Facebook Connect you can avoid the fees, but you still have to comply with Facebook Connects terms and conditions.

Rule #4: You can force friends, but nothing more.

When hosting a promotion you can’t require loyal Facebookers to do anything more then become a fan of your page. This means you can’t ask users to post photos or update their statuses and you definitely can’t require people to sign up for Facebook before entering a promotion.

Rule #5: Know the formatting requirements.

Facebook has specific requirements for interactions that take place between promotions and Facebook’s platforms. It’s a good idea to read through these before creating a costly contest. Facebook requires that all promotions be created through an application on the Facebook platform.

The world of SEO Las Vegas and SEM are constantly evolving and changing. Just like any industry, businesses must adapt to keep up with this changing market. One change Google has made in the past few years is adding a Google certification test. This Google Certification test tests individuals over a vast base of knowledge that is necessary to create intriguing and beneficial Adword campaigns.

I have recently taken the first test, and let me tell you it was not an easy task. I was not sure what to expect when taking the fundamentals test. I printed off a study guide, which turned out to be around 100 pages long. Even after studying and thinking I knew Adwords inside and out, the test was not easy. Nor should it be.  Google as a company is burdened with keeping a great reputation, and therefore needs to make sure they are only certifying qualified professionals in their services.

I have passed the first test and started on my trip to getting myself and my company Google certified.  Through the process I have learned an immense amount about Adwords and how to make the most out of campaigns, ad groups and display advertising for clients.  The program is formulated to inform and educate, and it does exactly like that. I now have an even larger bag of tools to help create innovative Adwords campaigns for future clients that will help them produce the greatest ROI . Las Vegas online marketing is constantly evolving and this is just one way Advise Media is keeping up with the changing market.

The IBM study is proof that consumers are using their mobile devices to shop. The study also compared how Christmas mobile shopping compared to previous years.

“For the really smart retailers, the holiday season paid out with the rise of mobile consumers,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer of IBM Smarter Commerce, Armonk, NY.

Holiday spike
The IBM study looked at mobile usage over two days – Dec. 25 and Dec. 26.

On Dec. 25, 14.4 percent of all sales that IBM observed were made via a mobile device, which is up from 5.3 percent in 2010 –  a 172.9 percent increase.

Mobile traffic in general increased by 117.8 percent year-to-year on Christmas Day.

Of all Web traffic, iPads claimed seven percent of device share, iPhone devices totaled 6.4 percent and Android accounted for five percent of usage.

As a group, online sales grew 16.4 percent year-over-year on Christmas Day.

In addition to Christmas Day, consumers also spent more time and money via mobile the day after Christmas.

Online sales increased 27.8 percent year-to-year for Dec. 26.

Mobile traffic made up 16.4 percent of Web visits the day after Christmas, which is up 109.3 percent from 2010.

Sales from a mobile device accounted for 11.3 percent of all Web sales the day after Christmas, compared to 4.3 percent in 2010.

Mobile shift
IBM’s findings is only the latest piece of data showing that consumers are increasingly using mobile to shop.

Earlier this holiday season, San Francisco-based research firm released a study that found that online retail dollars that can be attributed to mobile increased from 1.87 percent in April to 3.74 percent in December (see story).

Going forward, 2012 is expected to be a year of innovation for mobile commerce.

“We expect mobile to increase – there are more mobile devices now and retailers can be expected to build out the mobile shopping experience,” said David Selinger, CEO of RichRelevance, San Francisco.

Mr. Selinger also said that retailers can expect to see more use of interactive mobile initiatives, including check-ins, deals and games in 2012.

Additionally, eMarketer predicts that mobile commerce will total $11.6 billion in 2012, which is up from 2011’s projected $6.7 billion.

“Mobile has been growing since January, and our expectation is that we will see more overall online engagement coming in through mobile devices in the next year,” Mr. Squire said.

“There are big implications for retailers to think about the best ways to promote their products and their overall experience online for smart consumers who are using smartphones and tablets,” he said.

The non-profit foundation said it had “negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement” with Google for the next three years.

Some analysts had predicted Google would back out of the deal as it tries to grow the market share of its Chrome browser.

Mozilla relies heavily on the income generated by search partnerships.

“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, Mozilla’s chief executive.

Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice-president of search, said: “Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come.”

The foundation said the exact terms of the deal would not be disclosed.

In its accounts for 2010, the Mozilla Foundation said it earned $121.1m (£77m) from agreements with Google, Microsoft and others. The Google agreement was thought to make up about 85% of that amount.

The previous deal, which ran out in November, was signed before Google’s Chrome browser had gained a presence in the so-called “browser war”.

Some internet monitoring organisations suggest Chrome has overtaken Firefox to become the world’s second most widely used browser, behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Many put this down to lavish advertising campaigns undertaken by the search giant across the world.

Chrome’s launch and subsequent growth has now put it in direct competition with Firefox, yet Google remains financially responsible for Mozilla’s survival.

But Whit Andrews, an analyst for Gartner, was not at all surprised by Google’s decision to continue backing the browser.

“What Google really wants is more advertising on the internet. It’s very simple. If it drives more ads on the internet, they’re into it.

“Google want the shelf space. There’s a shelf sitting there and they’ve got a product. The fact that the shelf is with a competitor, they don’t really care. The alternative is that another competitor gets the shelf.”

Firefox 9, the Mozilla browser’s latest incarnation, was launched on Tuesday. Mozilla said it was “30% faster” than previous versions – a problem that has been cited by many users switching to Chrome.

AC

Finding friends. Gaining clients?

We all know that the internet is a constantly changing animal, where techniques that worked as early as a year ago are deemed extinct within the same amount of time. Now that the wave of Google Panda updates seems to have made its impact, with countless thriving businesses being left to sway uncontrollably like orphaned reeds in a cold, relentless tide, savvy small businesses and large firms are headed towards an intimidating arena in droves: Facebook. And why not – therein lies an audience boasting, what is it – 800 million plus?

The question I get asked most often is how to most effectively penetrate the Facebook legions, with the goal being to attract a targeted audience who is interested in the products and services that you have to offer.

Auto-friending can be useful in spots where a marketing strategy has been laid out before-hand. Often, friending services are used for social- proofing a site, so that pages aren’t empty when a Facebook marketing campaign is just beginning.

Another use of friending services is to inflate your fan numbers so that the fanpage looks like an authority. However, if your fan numbers get too large and interaction remains low, users are savvy to these ghosted pages. The general issue with these services is their lack of creating any value to your page other than the boost that can be had with proof in numbers. Despite the ability of some services to supposedly target fans by gender, and even age in some cases, interaction on a page only happens when value is provided to a laser-targeted audience. These services do not provide that in my experience.

In terms of SEO, there are some benefits: Fanpages that have been optimized for certain keywords do boost those pages and related content for those keywords.

How do you find the right customer?

In my opinion, the best way to build a targeted user base is to utilize the Facebook ads platform to attract those who would be interested in your products and services.

The most reputable service I have come across is Blumpo.com, but they are on the higher end, and again, what you’re paying for is increased targeting that doesn’t really pay off in the end; however, they do deliver. FBfansupply.com is another service that I have used, and despite some negative feedback concerning the length of time that it takes to deliver on their campaigns, they can drip you fans consistently.

As is quickly becoming an online cliche, quality trumps quantity, so tread lightly, voyagers.

Powered by Las Vegas SEO company: Advise Media Group

We know the term spam well, but what exactly is it? How does spam interfere with our lives? What, if any, are the ethical issues that surround spamming?  In this article we will address these questions and the issues that surround internet marketing practices and what they mean to us.

Spam is more than a harmless advertisement.

At its core spam is the practice of sending unsolicited, multifarious, bulk messages via electronic messaging systems. E-mail spam is the most commonly recognized form of spam, but the title can also be applied to many other abusive media practices including search engine spam, instant messaging spam , social networking (Twitter, Facebook,  etc.) spam, online classifieds spam, as well as a multitude of other web based platforms.  Spammers (the individuals responsible for creating and outputting spam) are hard to track down and have little overhead and because of this they are difficult to stop. The amount of spam produced is astronomical. A staggering number of roughly seven trillion spam messages were sent out in 2011. Internet service providers and webhosts have had to take drastic measures to increase their capacities to deal with the high amounts of disruptive spam introduced daily.

Spam is more than a harmless advertisement. Besides being a daily annoyance spam can contain a multitude of dangers to your computers operating systems. Viruses, malware, spyware, and a variety of other harmful software’s are all sent out via spam with the purpose of identity theft and other fraudulent activities. Spam can be artfully designed to trick web users. One such practice called phishing preys upon inexperienced internet users with computer technologies as a means of soliciting unwanted and harmful spam to unsuspecting victims.  Inexperienced internet users should always practice extreme caution when opening e-mails from unknown sources and clicking advertisement links and banners.

Phishing preys upon inexperienced internet users.

But the question remains, is non-harmful spam okay? Is spam that doesn’t contain viruses, malware, or other harmful software’s still a problem? Should normal spam be filed away under the protection of freedom of speech or does it actually infringe upon our personal rights and privacies?

Many people feel that unsolicited spamming lacks key censorship and subject internet users to hundreds of unwanted solicitations on a daily basis, but in a marketing fueled society don’t we encounter these advertisements everywhere? Billboard signs, magazine and newspaper ads, and television are just a few of the many non-internet based advertisements we encounter every day. Many spammers claim that the messages and advertisements they produce should be protected as freedom of speech and are simply a facet of an ever changing and ongoing marketing world.

Whatever your opinion of spam is, it’s safe to assume that spam will continue to be a hot button topic as new cases and issues continue to arise on a domestic and global scale. The world and the internet continue to change rapidly and how we interact with the internet and its processes will continue to evolve as well. Understanding your rights and internet safety are key elements in protecting yourself, your computers health, and enjoying all of the wonderful things the internet has to offer.

Powered By Las Vegas internet marketing company, Advise Media Group.

It is important to monitor your keywords on the numerous social sites out there. This will allow you to find conversations that you can join as well as assess your competitor’s role in these discussions.  There are numerous tools on the Internet that will let you easily find the sites where people are talking about products similar to yours. If your product is “catering”, it would be beneficial to your business to find the forums and blogs that are discussing topics such as parties, events, weddings, even conversations about photography and decorating can attach you to potential costumers and will help get your name and links out there.

When looking for these videos, blogs, and discussions on social media platforms and other sites, never underestimate the usefulness of Google. Google has many tools and footprints that can be used to find keyword related topics that are out there.  Using Google footprints, alerts, and their in depth search tools will put these conversations at the tip of your fingers.

Social media interjection is just another way to keep your business more well rounded on the internet. Expand over sites, do not rely on just a few to get your name and links out there. Get to searching and commenting to make your business part of the conversation.

Powered by Las Vegas SEO company: ADviseMedia Group

By Kellen Kautzman

Google unleashed fury in the form of a…panda.

The Panda Updates, which are Google’s way of cleaning house and providing the most relevant rankings, have made it increasingly difficult for unethical SEO companies to rank sites well. Old, spammy link building techniques are providing less and less return. Ethical SEO companies turn to well done content, whereas unethical SEO companies turn to randomizing content.

Building links back to sites, whether those links are anchor text, Facebook likes, or the site’s URL, remains the integral piece of the Google rankings puzzle, yet Google has made it very clear that duplicate content does push rankings up effectively. There are two opposing strategies that companies are employing now to get their sites ranked in lieu of the Panda updates.

Spinning (Randomizing) Content

Low level links, those being links from randomized articles, duplicate content, and profiles, show the least traction. However, when done in masse, these randomized articles provide a short term bump, which allows many SEO’s the boost they need to show clients some traction. Spinning, however, creates soul-less content that really has no long term shelf life, which is ultimately its downfall.

Sites that rank well are those that clearly carve out a niche and are supported by off site pages that draw the attention of visitors by entertaining and informing them. Randomized articles rarely do this.

Quality with Video

Creating justifiably entertaining, informative, and media rich content, which by its own merit, draws the attention of the web visitor is the ideal method. Using social media sites like StumbleUpon and Digg to measure the entertainment value of a piece of content is essential, as is incorporating video into content.

Quality used to be a measure of the written word, now quality is measured by the combined impact of the media on a page. The words, more often than not, are simply the frame of the video. Incorporating the written word with video is the most intelligent and forward thinking solution to ensure high quality rankings and should always be associated with unique content to ensure that it indexes.

Taking one extraordinarily effective page and distributing that page via multiple social media platforms is the predominate way that white hat SEO is realized. It requires creativity, intelligence, and time.

Unique Content and Panda

The take home message is that the Panda updates are simply Google’s way of pleading with users to “make better pages”. The quality and popularity of the page (I.E. how many Facebook likes it is likely to get) is a solid indication of a pages likelihood of raising the rankings of the site it links to.

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