1. First impressions are everything

According to research conducted at New York University, upon meeting someone new, the average person takes just seven seconds to formulate an opinion of that other person. That means that within seven seconds of first laying eyes on you, your blind date (business client, pizza delivery guy, etc) will have already decided whether or not he or she finds you trustworthy, competant and yes, attractive. 

The same holds true for blogging, but instead of seven seconds, you have less than three: 2.6 seconds, to be exact, according to the researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Yes, just "two Missippi's" is all you have to convince your readers your blog is worthy of their attention. Fall short and those readers will bounce; dumping your blog for the better-looking one above you in the search results. 

If you don't want this to happen, your blog has to look presentable. Typos, broken photo links and large blocks of uninterrupted text are the spinach-in-the-teeth of the blogging world. Your blog needs to look clean, sleek, and most importantly, modern. Just like you may have trouble attracting people wearing suspenders and a bowtie, your blog wil have an equally difficult time attracting readers if it's wearing flashing graphics, persistant pop-up screens or outdated fonts. Put simply, your blog needs to look hot.

2. Talking too much about yourself is a big 'no-no'

A blog (even a busines blog) is first and foremost a tool used to educate and entertain. Though it's fine to toot your own horn on occassion, if the only reason you're starting a blog is to promote yourself or your buisness, then you may be in it for the wrong reasons. 

Because just as you wouldn't take every opportunity to talk about yourself while on a blind date, so too should you avoid inundating your blog with "Look at me! Look at me!" blog posts that add very little information or value to the blogging community. Modesty, in both the dating and blogging world, is a very attractive quality to have.

At this point, you may be thinking, "That's great and all, but I have a product to sell. How can I do that if I'm not allowed to talk about it?" It's simple: Be interesting and informative. Experience has shown that if you write engaging, interesting or informative content, you won't need to work so hard to promote yourself because your kick-butt blog will do so naturally. Your readers will develop an interest in your product because they see you as an authority on the subject and more importantly, a voice they can trust.  

3. Blogging (like dating) is hard work! There are no short cuts.

A successful blog is like a sucessful relationship; it's only as good as the amount of effort you're willing to put in to make it that way. If you want your blog to retain a regular readership and a steady stream of new visitors, you're going to have to shower that blog with the love and attention it needs (blogging two to three times per week is ideal). And while you can attempt to cut corners by buying links and social media shares or spamming your blog with trending search terms, there is, unfortunately, no subsitute for good old fashioned hard work. 

4. Be patient. Like love, a successful blog takes time to grow. 

One blogger and author estimates that it takes the average business blog between six to 12 months of continual and consistant posting before you even can begin to see any real results. While stories exist of blogger's gaining popularity and fame in a short period of time, that's akin to love at first sight. It could happen, sure, but it's rare. If you want your blog to work, you're going to have to be in it for the long haul. 

5. Be yourself, but find unique ways to stand out from the crowd

If you've ever belonged to an internet dating site, you've probably learned that if you want to capture someone's attention, a pretty picture and a ho-hum three-sentence profile description won't cut it. Not when there are thousands of profiles crowding the internet that look just like it. In order to get noticed, you have got to stand out.

And blogs aren't all that different. As of March 2013, there were 100 million blogs on Tumblr alone and according to Forbes,100,000 new WordPress websites are created each and every day. Clearly, you're competing in an overly-saturated market and if you want to catch people's interest, you're going to have be unique.

Because seach engines and social media platforms like Google Plus and Pinterest love unique content. And while finding a blog post topic that no one has blogged about before can be next to impossible (afterall, there are over half a billion active websites on the internet right now) the key is to take a subject that may have been written about before and find a unique slant. Take this blog post, for example. Its topic, "blogging tips", has been blogged about to the point of becoming a tired cliche. The relationship between blogging and dating rules and how the two are similar, however, has not. Get creative and think outside the box.

Blogging, like dating, ain't easy. But if you dress your blog in a spiffy layout, work hard and have patience, your blog will eventually find some link love and get the search engine results it deserves. Just don't give up. 

Reannon Muth has been writing for the internet since 2008 and has been dating since the third grade. She currently works as the Director of Content Development for ADvise Media Group, an internet marketing company in Las Vegas.

(1) Don't Post a Picture of Your Big Toe

Or anything else similarly boring.  No one needs to see a picture of the sponge you used to wash the dishes and no, adding the lo-fi filter doesn't make it more interesting.  

(2) Don't Take Hashtag Steroids

#Isnt #this #the #most #annoying #thing #ever? #Hashtagging #every #single #word #doesnt #mean #you #will #get #more #followers.  #It #just #means #you #dont #understand #hashtags.

(3) Don't Go Overboard with the Likes

Ladies, let's say there's a hot d00d you're Insta-stalking.  You already know by now that his phone will make a bing-bong noise and he'll get a notification every time you like one of his photos.  Do you think he'll be creeped out if he opens his page and sees that you liked 47 of his photos?  Yes.  The answer is yes.

Instagram is rapidly moving from the social to the professional.  It can be an amazing tool to put your brand out there; just use it wisely!

If you're looking for expert internet marketing in Las Vegas, hi — it's a pleasure to meet you.  Contact us today at (702) 951-7581.

Megan Grant is a content developer and editor at ADvise Media Group.  She enjoys blogging about blogging and yelling at club promoters on the strip.  Click here for her full bio.  

If you plan on using the self-serve platform there are several tips you should know to help you get the best results from LinkedIn.

Bidding and Budgets

The key to LinkedIn’s bidding system is high bids.  In an auction-based system like LinkedIn’s, a high bid gets you more impressions and, in turn, more clicks. While the minimum cost-per-click is $2 per click, LinkedIn gives users a “Suggested Range.” Bids that come in below the “Suggested” range will not situate you in a position to win, so avoid low bids. LinkedIn is not the place for cheap cost per click; opt to bid at the high range of the “Suggested Range” or higher to compete for impressions.

Budgets are set daily for each campaign and represent the maximum amount you want spent each day. LinkedIn displays ads at different costs during the day depending on the activity of LinkedIn users. Half of your budget could be spent in the morning due to more active users, then 30 percent will be used in the afternoon and the remaining 20 percent overnight. When the budget has been reached, your ad will stop showing for that day.

Keep in mid that your daily budget needs to be enough to support the clicks you want to get. For instance, a $10 per day budget would support just 5 clicks per day, assuming you are using the minimum cost per click of $2. If you apply the same budget to a $4 per click campaign, you will only get two clicks. It is therefore exremely important to monitor your campaign budget and adjust accordingly.

Targeting

LinkedIn provides granular targeting, but it’s not always the best option to use. The more criteria you add to each campaign, the more your available audience will be reduced. Create your ad campaigns to target an audience size of 150,000 to 400,000 members. This setting allows your ads to have the best chance of receiving impressions and maintaining clicks without narrowing down your audience too much. After you decide on your full targeting criteria, organize your platform by creating several campaigns using only one or two of the criteria. Pay careful attention to the estimated audience number to make sure that you’re staying within the recommended numbers.

Ad Writing

The ads that perform the best will be shown more often, while poorly performing ads will bring the performance of your campaign down. To keep your campaign performance strong, make several variations of your ad and update them often. It’s usually a good strategy to start with a few variations and make two live. After your two ads are running, swap the least successful ad with the third one.

Optimization

LinkedIn ads are all about the click-through rate. LinkedIn places a strong emphasis on this by rewarding ads with a click-through rate over 0.025 percent. Running any campaign with a low click-through rate and zero clicks is hard to come back from. When your click-through rate drops too low, your ads stop showing. In some cases ,users have to deactivate their ad campaigns and create new ones to start over with a clean slate.

Do you have any experience with running ads on LinkedIn? Tell us about your experiences in the comments section below!

For more SEO and marketing tips from one the top internet marketing firm in Las Vegas check out our other blogs or call us at 702.951.7581.

From popular brands like Calvin Klein, Adidas and Glamour to companies such as The New Yorker and The Economist, Tumblr has businesses blogging in ways they never have before. According to this article, Tumblr "hosts over 77 million blogs and 33 billiion blog postings." With so much content, a lot of eyes are focused on Tumblr, and brands have begun to take advantage of that captivated audience.

Some of the best ways to utilize Tumblr for brand awareness include:

* Staying focused on strong, eye-catching visuals
* Keeping content short and consise
* Driving customers back to your business site through hot-topic links
* Creating a culture among your community followers
* Craft a customizable and unique branded theme

Whatever your business or brand needs may be, don't overlook Tumblr as a strong asset in your bag of social media tools. A solid blog is bound to bring in more leads, a stronger tie to the community and a more creative way to express and experiment with what works and what doesn't for your company's online presence. For help building your online presence, contact the pros at Internet marketing in Las Vegas, Advise Media Group.

As we head into the holiday season, we can look back and reflect on the past year to see how much internet marketing and social engagement have changed. The world of social media evolves so quickly; it's fun to capture the speeding trends of the past months.

Politics

It doesn't matter whether you're blue or red – you must admit that this administration has fully embraced social media. From his Twitter feed that announced his recent win, to his online interviews and Reddit Q&A sessions, and even his Facebook ads, this president has truly changed the way candidates use social media.

Image Intensive Marketing

Many social media sites have gone very image-heavy. Facebook even went so far as to allow fan pages much more (and much larger) images. Studies have shown that pictures get twice as many likes as text updates.

Pinterest for Branding

Due to the upward trend of image-based content, Pinterest is now the number three most popular social media site – and brands have taken notice. In fact, nearly 10% have added "pin it" buttons on their retail websites.

Kickstarting Success

Kickstarter has become the most prominent way to crowdfund new projects, but it's also getting attention as a marketing tool. Companies are now using the platform to generate pre-launch buzz around new products.

Brands as People

Following the likes of Jack in the Box, many brands are posting on social media sites as if they are a person. The idea is that we identifiy and engage with a person we'd be friends with – rather that a faceless corporation. From quirky Tweets and Facbook updates to large-scale milestone celebrations and cutomer thankyous on Youtube, companies are talking to us more than advertising at us. Hopefully this trend will mean more customer-focused product development, too.

What will 2012 have in store for the social media world? Watch for more video integration and new ways to incorporate different platforms via tools such as Storify, and that's just the start. If you're a business owner looking to cash in on these trends, contact Advise Media Group at (702) 951-7581 for internet marketing in Las Vegas

Do you have a vision of what's the come? Share it with us here!

4. Say buh-bye to filters.

You want to keep a strong lookout for text blocks that created solely for the purpose of search engines. You know, the blocks of text that are ill fitted and located at the bottom of the page. They usually include a lot of keyword stuffing and completely throw off the natural look and feel of a readable and relevant web page. If your page is lacking keywords evaluate the content and rewrite the information so that you can still get a lil’ keyword boost without sending out a blatant message to search engines that you’re trying to best them.

5. If it looks like a penalty magnet, stay away.

Steer clear of any sources that look like they could receive a lot of penalties. Sources that are likely to receive penalties are link networks, reciprocal lists, and article marketing lists. Do your best to do away with any connections you have to these types of links. Link building is the life blood of strong SEO, but when your links are built with shady sites and disreputable services, you may as well go with any links at all. You put a lot of time and hard work into creating engaging content for your website, why squander all of your efforts with spam-tastic link services and sources? Switch gears and concentrate your efforts on sharing your content through social media channels to encourage a strong readership and organic external linking. Stay active on the web by commenting regularly on blogs. Make the most of your comments by including back links the correlate to a specific subject matter. It takes time and work to build links, but it’s much more appealing than the alternative, which is getting penalized and buried by Google.

6. Don’t go overboard on page numbers.

If your site has a massive number of pages targeting only a handful of lightly modified keyword variations, then get it cleaned up. I advise that you create on well written page that targets a variety of keywords so you still get notable search result visibility without the risk of abusing Google’s system. Everyone wins this way. Search engines are happy, your site looks great, and readers don’t feel scammed. Your readership is smart, so give them the credit they’re due. If a reader sees a bunch of keywords stuffed into confusing and muddled content, they’ll jump ship without thinking twice.

The art and science of solid SEO is a tricky field. Take care to evaluate your practices to produce the best results! My Las Vegas SEO firm sees a lot of clients that have outsourced their SEO work and end up with undesirable results. If you’re just starting your SEO program, start off on the right foot!

Ethics: At Advise Media Group, our motto is Proven. Measured. Results. We’re not in the business of short-term returns. Our goal is to get your name and your business right at the fingertips of the people who need it, without resorting to the kind of “black hat” tactics such as spamming and Google-bombing that some unscrupulous companies might. Our track record and emphasis on ethical, honest practices has made us the leader in internet marketing, not just for Las Vegas businesses, but for businesses of every size, shape, and description nationwide, from Florida to Seattle.

Straight Talk: Advise Media Group isn’t going to bury you under jargon to make what we do sound bigger or more important than what it is. We tell you in plain English what we do and how and why we do it, and we value client input. Your business is just as important to us as it is to you, and putting you at the forefront of the marketing spectrum is what we do. We do this with targeted or “niche” keywords to make sure that your company is as well-represented on the Internet as possible, drawing potential customers with a real need for your services right to your door.

Professionalism: At Advise Media Group, our professional group of web content designers and writers is among the best in the industry. We even employ professional authors to ensure that your content is as clear, exciting, and well-written as possible. Our client retention rate, at 93% since our inception in 1998, proves that we place a high premium on professionalism and client satisfaction. This has made us the firm for SEO Las Vegas businesses rely on to get themselves in front of their customers.

So now that you know how to find a great SEO company to market your business, there’s only one name you need to know. We don’t deal in gibberish and we don’t make promises we can’t keep. The same things that matter to you matter to us, which is why we offer Proven. Measured. Results.

Advise Media Group is the answer for Las Vegas search engine marketing. Our skilled team of marketing professionals can not only get your business to the top of the charts, but we work to keep you there using targeted keywords that put your business right in front of the people most likely to benefit from what you do.

We also employ professional, published authors as bloggers. Who has time to sit down and tell everyone why their business is the one to choose? You’re too busy making sure your product speaks for itself and providing great customer service. Advise Media Group can help your business stand out with professionally-executed blogs that look great and are packed with information about your business and its benefits.

Advise Media Group also sets the standard for Las Vegas internet marketing with strict adherence to and belief in ethical business practices. An advertising campaign that spams potential customers can not only have a very negative effect on your business, but can put you right out of the market if the major search engines ban your business. Our carefully directed and targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approach helps prevent this by putting you right in the eye of the people who are looking for your services.

When you need help to successfully and ethically market your business on the Internet, Advise Media Group has a reputation that is second to none. We work hard to ensure that you’re satisfied with the results, and we don’t make empty promises. Instead, we give you Proven. Measured. Results. Anyone can say it; at Advise Media Group, we’re out to prove it.

That’s where Advise Media Group comes in. We’re the Las Vegas SEO firm that businesses locally and nationwide have come to know as the premier search engine optimization and search engine management company on the Internet. We offer targeted SEO/SEM solutions to get your business in front of people who are actively looking for what your business has to offer, and help keep your business at the forefront of the crowded and extremely competitive Internet advertising landscape. Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are two critical pieces of your business’s online profile.

Our innovative approach includes an intensive knowledge and understanding of Internet  search parameters and how to get your company as close to the top of the search lists as possible, including the use of targeted keywords and “niche” advertising. With so much information to wade through, your customers may get frustrated and go somewhere else without ever knowing that your business exists or what it has to offer. We cater to all sizes of business and can give you an effective Internet marketing strategy for a fraction of the cost of a traditional advertising campaign, specifically crafted and designed to suit your business’s unique needs.

What won’t Advise Media Group do? We’re not in the spam business. Unlike a lot of other companies that will promise you everything you want and either not deliver it at all or deliver it in a way that ensures you’ll eventually be banned from the major search engines, we don’t make promises we can’t deliver, and it’s this uncompromising commitment to ethical marketing that has made Advise Media Group the leader in Las Vegas SEM for every size and kind of business.

So when you’re looking for a firm to manage your Las Vegas SEO/SEM strategy, don’t take chances with a cut-rate company that makes great-sounding promises that they can’t keep without subjecting YOU to unethical business practices. Let Advise Media Group show you the difference with Proven. Measured. Results.

At Advise Media Group, we’re an entirely different type of agency. We offer ethical search engine optimization, allowing you to target Internet advertising where it will do the most good without the spam. Our professional staff knows how to maximize your Internet options to get your message to people who are actively looking for them, rather than throwing spam into the ether and hoping to get a bite like a lot of agencies.

Our staff is comprised of Internet professionals who know and understand the Internet’s search patterns and algorithms and can optimize your company’s presence in the Blue Nowhere. We offer a variety of services, from incorporating consumer-targeted tags that people are likely to look for to high-quality blog copy written by publishing-industry professionals, to make sure that your business rises to the top of the search engine lists and stays there. We’ve been in business since 1998, and we can boast a client retention rate of 93%, better than any other Las Vegas SEO company.

We don’t like spam any better than anyone else. It clutters up our inboxes and makes it harder for people to conduct their day-to-day business. At Advise Media Group, we care about results, but we also care about making sure that the results you get are obtained ethically.

So when you’re looking to increase your Internet presence without the questionable practices some other firms engage in, don’t take chances. Not all Las Vegas SEO companies are spam artists, but no one else can demonstrate the proven track record and high quality of the results you’ll get like Advise Media Group. To learn more about us and how we’re different from the competition, call, click, or come by, and use your Internet advertising dollars to their best advantage, while leaving the spam in the can.