To further understand what is needed to make your website mobile-accessible, you may want to first access your website from a cell phone and analyze what you see. Does it even load? Can you view important information on your website? What can be accessed on the site and what is missing? Many websites have flash features that do not work on phones at all.  In order to make the site mobile ready, you may have to remove this feature completely and replace it with something else. The main thing to keep in mind is the user and what is most important that they view on your site.

Here are 5 essential steps to keep in mind when altering your website:

1. 1. Trim Down Content- Mobile phones do not have the same capacity as regular computers when it comes to uploading content. Therefore, it is important to trim down unnecessary content. Depending on what your company is selling or promoting, you need to decide what the most important features are and alter your site around these features. If you own a restaurant, for example, you may want to stick with the most essential information such as contact information, a map and directions to the restaurant, a menu and maybe any special promotions you are having. By doing this, you are not only making your site mobile ready but are also developing the key selling features of your site. Your clients will have an easier time accessing the important information from your site and will not waste time searching through useless pages.
2. Immerse Content into Single Columns- Because phone screens are smaller than monitors, having multiple columns can often confuse and frustrate a user.  Having a single column that the user can scroll up and down on is much more practical.  They will find all the information they need easily and won’t find themselves spending minutes just to scroll through a page.
3. Prioritize Your Content- While a regular website can easily spread their content all over a web page, mobile phones are harder to sift through. It’s important to prioritize your content, offering the most important features at the top or bottom of the page so that they are easily found by users.  For example, if you are selling brand apparel, it may be best to add a search browser or a drop down menu at the top or bottom of the page. That way users can just type in or search through categories to find what they are looking for. All information such as text and photos will then be placed in the middle of the page. The main idea is to make the site as user-friendly as possible.
4. Customize Text Entry For Mobile Users- Typing on a mobile phone can be a lot trickier than typing on a standard keyboard.  Often times, users will make grammatical mistakes and take up lots of time typing in information.  This is why adding features that will require less typing are best.  Program “My Account” settings on your mobile site that will enable clients to simply type in their information one time and access it whenever they want.  This is especially handy when they are purchasing from your site! Also, instead of requiring a password to be entered to access a site, maybe install a pin feature that only requires numbers. Another big feature that is offered on mobile phones are inbuilt functionalities that will enable the user to access addresses and maps, make calls by simply clicking on a number and find the nearest restaurant, hospital, etc. of their choice.
5. Design For Touch screen & Non-Touch screen- While it is key to fit as much important information as possible into your mobile site, it is also important to bear in mind the accessibility of certain features on the site.  Because touch screen users browse a site with their fingers, clicking on things can be a clumsy challenge.  If you make crucial links too small, it can be a challenge for them to access the link.  Make sure to make links a bit larger and easier to read and access.

1. 1. SEO Guarantees a #1 Spot- If a company is guaranteeing a #1 spot on Google or any search engine for a key phrase or website name, run in the other direction!  SEO fluctuates constantly and is such a competitive industry that there is no way anyone can guarantee a #1 placement.  Period.
2. 2. SEO Works Instantly- SEO does not work instantly. Again, if any company is dishing this myth out to you, be wary.  SEO is a very involved and time-consuming process.  Not only does it take time for webmasters to develop the code and optimize your website, but you must allow the search engines time to index your site and decide where your website will rank on their SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages.)
3. 3. SEO Is a One Time Deal- This is a very common notion that many website owners seem to have.  Once they have applied SEO to their website, they think they are set for life.  This is simply not true.  SEO is one of those tactics that needs constant updating and supervision.  This may seem like a hassle, but honestly, it is worth it if you want your website to rank.
4. 4. SEO Can Be Done By yourself- Sure, anything can be self-taught!  However, SEO is not something you can learn overnight… or even in a month.  The tactics are so in depth and they are in constant transformation and fluctuation.  In other words, what is pertinent one day, may not be important the next.  Therefore, it will probably be far more time efficient to hire a professional SEO to do the work for you.  It may seem costly, but you must realize that you are paying for quality! If you want something done right the first time, it’s best to hire an expert.
5. 5. Search Engine Submissions Work- Nope! Don’t waste your money or time trying to submit your website to search engines because SEO doesn’t work this way. Search Engines want you to put in the hard work it takes to get ranked, so trying to pay them off isn’t going to buy you much. If a company is trying to sell you this tactic, tell them no thanks!

1. Keep Cool- Sure, it is human nature to get angry when someone is hostile toward you. But when it comes to customers, you must always remember that they are always right- even when they aren’t.  Therefore, no matter what the client says to you, you must always keep your composure.  Do not fight back but instead, respond in a confident and composed demeanor.  Express no hostility!
2. Listen & Acknowledge- Again, the client wants to always feel as if they are in the right.  After all, they are the ones spending money on your business.  It is important to let the client express their concerns and comments- so let them vent! Listen to what they have to say and acknowledge where you are at fault.  This makes the client feel as if they have valid points and more importantly, that you are on their side.
3. Ask Questions- After you have heard the client out, ask questions that are relevant to their concerns.  How can you better help them? What moves should you make to adjust to their needs? In essence; what will make them happy?
4. Agree on a Solution- This is important! Here you will establish what you promise to do for them.  Come to an agreement on what changes are necessary to keep them as a client.  Remember, make sure that they are happy with the solutions you are offering.
5. Go Above and Beyond- Once a solution is agreed upon by you and the client, you are not only going to meet that goal, but go above and beyond that.  This tells the customer that you are willing to go the extra mile for them and that they are a true priority.  Honestly, this tactic should be used with all clients you encounter, whether they are angry or not!

But what is a sitemap? Simply put, a sitemap is a map used to guide your visitors on what is available to them on your website. But more importantly than that, the sitemap is an XML file specifically designed by webmasters to inform search engines which pages on their website are available for them to crawl.  The crawlers simply pick up all the URLs listed on the sitemap and are able to easily extract information about each webpage with the information linked within the sitemap. Typically, search engines will crawl a website and are guided from page to page by links. This is effective but often times, they can miss pages and links may lead them away from your site. However, search engines that accept sitemaps are able to crawl websites with much more ease and in being directed by the sitemap, do not miss any pages within the site.

How does this help you? Well, the more pages that are crawled and indexed by search engines, the higher visibility you have online.  This means that all pages on your website will be picked up and become viewable to people browsing online.  By optimizing each of the pages on your website to the greatest capacity, your site will rank highly on search engines.  The ultimate goal is to be on the first page on Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.  Of course, a sitemap is only one of the many steps necessary to optimize yourself effectively online.  By combining this with all other SEO factors, you will be on the way to developing a profitable online marketing campaign.

• Quality Backlinks- You cannot produce a quality SEO campaign without backlinks.  Furthermore, backlinks can be hard to come by.  This is why it is crucial to make this a manual process.  Automated SEO can bring you backlinks, but most of the time, these aren’t quality backlinks at all.  In other words, all those automated results can be a waste of time and money.  When you do these manually, you are guaranteeing quality because you are able to track and pick these yourself.




• Content- Content is also a component of SEO that cannot be done through automation.  Algorithms are constantly searching for fresh content and this can only be done by hand.  Content has to be relevant to your website as well as be able to captivate and hold your audience’s attention.

• Keyword Optimization- Knowing what keywords will be most effective for your marketing campaign requires you to not only understand your business to the fullest, but also do some research online.  You will have to view which keywords are the most searched for, which are most highly used by your competition and which will benefit your business the most.  Don’t leave it up to automated optimization to determine these things!

The importance of first page placement can not be overstressed. In order for a website to thrive and convert sales it has to be visible. In general, unless a person follows a link from another site, they will only look at the first page of results. On rare occasions they may go through the first five on the second page. Those sites that struggle for the bottom results will ultimately fail. Here are a few tips on how to capture first page placement in the search engines.

The first thing to consider when trying to obtain first page placement is keyword research. There are many good services available that will offer you a keyword search run for a reasonable price, but you will still have to cross check those with a Google tool to make sure of the frequency and relevance of each keyword. Sometimes the best attack is to go after the less common keywords first. Being ranked well for longtail keywords will still drive some heavily targeted traffic to your site and increase your sales rate. Once you have established your site in the longtail region, go after the most heavily competed for keywords. It will take more effort to capture any kind of placement for these, but the effort will be rewarded with heavier sales.

Keyword selection, use, and distribution are very important items, but they are all for naught without a consideration of the other on page factors of your site. Meta tags, content, and url normalization have to be looked at before you will capture first page placement. Meta tags have to contain your keywords. URL normalization will help the search engines’ spiders to follow and index your site. Always remember that content is king. You have to use a proper keyword density- 1-3% – to avoid spam penalties. People have to feel that the content is written for them or they will not trust your site enough to buy from you.

First page placement is the Holy Land of the internet. Sales flow every day from that placement. When you try to capture on of those top ten spots, consider whether or not you truly have the time to make it happen or should you hire an outside company to get you there quickly and efficiently.

Search engine optimization is the life blood of every website. Content is king in order to climb the search engine position chart. Article writing and submission can help you with both. For the most part website owners find article writing to be a daunting task. That’s not to mention the time consumed by submitting those same articles to the large number of directories necessary to effect a change in your page position. Is it all really worth it? Here are two reasons that article writing and submission are an SEO must for every website.

Backlinks

You may be thinking ”Duh!”, but articles submitted to directories are backlinks that are permanent and one way. No link exchange is needed or subtly required. Article writing and submission can gain you more links, faster than any other approach in the web 2.0 environment. These are seen as relevant links that help to garner higher page positioning than spam links from around the web. The secret is the keyword density and the quality of the content of your articles. Junk articles that do not hold your readers interest will be a waste of time. Those same articles may be looked upon as spam by the editors of the article directories and refused, anyway.

Targeted traffic

Article writing and submission will help to put your website in front of people who are interested in the product you are writing about and, ultimately, trying to sell. The average reader researches a product and reads about it for the express purpose of buying that product at some time. Your job as a website owner is to provide them with the information they are looking for so that they feel a sense of trust in buying from you. This is where an overt sales pitch may get them to click farther down the search engine results and look for better information elsewhere.

Article writing and submission pulls targeted traffic and quality backlinks to your site. That is a simple sentence, but such a complicated and time consuming concept. Most people find that they can not write interesting copy, original content, or do not have the time to write and submit their work. Hiring a company to perform one or both of these services could put you way ahead of your competitors.

]]> http://www.eliteseomarketing.com/blog/article-writing-and-submission-a-seo-must/feed/ 0 http://www.eliteseomarketing.com/blog/why-hire-a-professional-to-do-affordable-seo-for-you/ http://www.eliteseomarketing.com/blog/why-hire-a-professional-to-do-affordable-seo-for-you/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:21:16 +0000 seo_writer http://www.eliteseomarketing.com/blog/?p=26 People who want to improve traffic to their site, create their site in such a way that search engine optimization will be utilized properly. Other people hire professionals to do the job for them.

Perhaps one of the biggest debates when you are starting your own small internet business is whether or not you need to do your own affordable SEO or hire a professional. Of course, if you do not know anything about SEO, then it would be wise to hire someone, to do it for you. But if you are armed with a vast knowledge about the subject, then you can do it on your own. However, before jumping on a decision, you need to consider first what you will be getting if you do your own affordable SEO or not.

If you are still starting out your small business SEO, then you probably do not have a very big money to invest on SEO.  It has always been a misconception that hiring an SEO company can be expensive. There are companies that do charge a lot. But, if you know where to look, then you can definitely find the right SEO that will provide you with an affordable service. Hiring an affordable, yet professional SEO company omits the chance of you committing any errors when it comes to building your SEO.

Of course, people think that building their own SEO is cheaper than hiring a company. However, this is not entirely true. You may have evaded spending too much by not hiring an affordable SEO company but what you did not realize is that, building your website incorrectly leads you to opportunity losses. Thus, hiring an SEO company is the best way to ensure that you are not wasting your money. Sure, the cost might overwhelm you at first but you are definitely going to save a lot, in the long run.

One of the disadvantages of doing it yourself is that you need to keep up with the technology, all the time. This means that you need to invest on your education so that you can keep up with all of the trends, aside from maintaining your business. Basically, technology changes everyday and keeping up with it is something that can be very hard to do. You ought to go back to old school to be able to maintain your website.  Thus, hiring a professional can free up your energy and time, so that these can be invested in managing your business.

Basically, organic SEO can be important in improving the traffic on your site. So it is important to consider building it in a way that you will gain more revenue than loose them.

Writing an article which is informative and convincing is not an easy task and often needs special skill and great knowledge about the subject. If writing an article to promote a small online business is a very difficult job to carry, think about the task of a commercial article distribution of most big companies… it definitely requires Herculean strength. Article writing plays a very important role on how to gain traffic and maintain visibility in the online market.

So how do you write and distribute articles to increase the traffic to your website? There are several ways for article writing and distribution to ensure greater visibility of your brand for your online business.

First is to write article for other website owners. This is a great way to increase your article marketing efforts since there are a lot of website owners that do not have time to do both article writing to promote their business and to create promotional offers to gain greater ROI. In most cases, these business choose the latter while forgetting how important article writing is to improve traffic to their site. Moreover, these companies will be more than happy to give you the load and pay you as much as 10 dollars per article with good content.

The next one you need to do is to locate websites that are popular when it comes to article submission. These websites help you generate more traffic to your site and in turn can become converted into revenues. Moreover, you can also do backlinks in these websites. Which is one of the third step. Creating backlinks can be a good strategy to drive more traffic to your site. If you also prefer, you can post these articles in social bookmarking sites to double the chances of people seeing your website.

The most important thing about creating your article is to use significant keywords all the time so that the major search engines such as Yahoo, Google and MSN can see you. The fourth step that you can do is to do Organic Search Engine Optimization techniques which means using a lot of keywords so that your website will land on the top spot of most search pages.

Now that you have a steady flow of articles in your site. However, don’t stop there just yet. Try to be persistent with your advertising efforts. You can come up with an e-book that will give readers an idea of what you have to offer.

Once you have done everything, there is still not time to relax. You need to check whether your system is still in order or not so that traffic can be driven effectively to your site.