Esther C Kane

Tag Archive for affordable seo

23 Sep 2008

SEO and Today’s Economy

If the economy news of last week (and today) have you worried about your outgoing expenses, consider replacing some traditional advertising with SEO services.

SEO – aka Search Engine Optimization, is an extremely affordable and cost effective method of advertisement. And if your SEO firm is any good, they’ll not only advertise your website, but they’ll also help you to create a website that functions with your office. What I mean to say is that the website should not be used just for advertising. It should also be used as an integral part of your office.

For example: An attorney’s office may get anywhere from 20-50 calls per day asking for directions to the office. If that information was on their website and if their website was easily accessible for their clients to find, that number of calls just for directions may decrease down to 5. That would save the staff time and energy.

Another example: A physician’s office receives new clients daily. Because extra time is needed for new clients to complete paperwork, the doctors’ schedules often get delayed to accomodate the new patient. But if the website had those forms already online, and the patient simply had to fill them out online and click “submit” – the forms would not only be printed in legible print, they would also be immediately sent to the physicians office to be printed and placed in the folder awaiting the arrival of the new patient.

The idea is to USE your website – it’s not just for advertising.

BUT, as far as using it for advertising, professional SEO is the way to go for affordable marketing. Here at Eckweb, we average 200% ROI for our clients’ (after 12 months of marketing) and we’re very proud to serve the small business community with our extremely affordable rates. How many advertising campaigns can give you that kind of return?

SEO involves several factors:

1) Optimization of your website pages. That means cleaning up the code, doing keyword research, re-writing the content on your pages and adding information to your pages.

2) External marketing – things like article marketing, external links and social media marketing all work to improve your search engine placement.

3) Continuous change – alter your website at least twice a month and the search engines will LOVE you. What they see is an active website which, for them, means an active business.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll survive this economy in much better shape! So, go ahead. Get going on your SEO campaign today. If you don’t have an SEO firm in mind, contact Eckweb Designs, Inc. for a FREE SEO quote.

eckweb | No comments | Tags: affordable seo, internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo

22 Sep 2008

internet marketing • seo

Keywords For Internet Marketing

Using the right keywords for Internet marketing makes all the difference not only in the amount of traffic to your website, but in the quality of traffic to your website.

There are 2 keys to using the right keywords…

1) Choose keyword phrases that are popular yet have little competition.
2) Add new keyword phrases to your website on a regular basis.

Is it really that simple? Well, yes and no. Although it’s simple, it involves work from you, the website owner. Why? Because Internet marketing is about getting the website on the search engines and making it work for the target audience. But the information that’s on the website, well, the Internet marketing firm isn’t an expert in your field so although they can give you the keyword phrases to market, they’re not the best ones suited to write the content for your website.

So, how can you help yourself (and your bottom line) when it comes to keywords for Internet marketing? Here are the easy steps:

Your Internet marketing firm should be providing you with new keyword phrases each month. Take those phrases and WRITE about each one. Here’s how…

a) Use the keyword phrase in the title of your article.

If your keyword phrase is “Name Tags” – then use the phrase “name tags” in your title. Something like…”Using Name Tags For Social Events”.

b) Use the keyword phrase at least 2 times in the body of the article.

In the body of text that you write, include the keyword phrase. Try to keep the keyword phrase intact. If your keyword phrase is “custom name tags” then try to keep the entire phrase “custom name tags” together.

c) Use semantics.

Google looks for the keyword phrase that you are marketing but it’s a smart search engine. It also looks for related keyword phrases. So, when you begin writing about your keyword phrase, look for related terms by going to Google and typing in…

~name ~tags (that little wiggle in front of each keyword is called a tile). Always add the tile in front of each separate word of your keyword phrase. If your keyword phrase is “custom name tags” then your semantic search should look like ~custom ~name ~tags. You get the idea.

Look for all the words that Google has bolded in the top 30 results. These bolded words are the related keywords that you can add to your article. It’ll help Google realize that your article really is about your keyword phrase.

c) End your article with the keyword phrase.

At the end of your article you can write something like “For more information about name tags, call us today at 555-555-5555.” The idea is to use the keyword phrase at the end of the article.

This “article” can be written and placed on your website as an additional page, and/or it can be used on your blog, in your social media accounts, in free article submission sites, etc. The idea is to get as much use out of this one article as possible.

You can write one version for your website and another modified version for your blog. The point is to write it. Get in the habit of writing, assign someone in your company to write it, make it a group effort from everyone in the company, whatever!!! But get writing!!

eckweb | No comments | Tags: affordable seo, eckweb, internet marketing, keywords

16 Jul 2008

home business • internet marketing • seo • small business

Can Small Businesses Benefit From SEO?

Most small businesses begin with a small website, after all, the costs of creating a custom website can be out of reach for many small business owners. Especially start ups and home based businesses.

But the truth is, the cost is SO worth it! The monies spent on a custom website, especially one that is Search Engine Friendly will come back to the website owner in multiples! Not only will the website owner save money on re-designing the website but because the website is already structured to attract those search engine spiders, the site will naturally gain ground in the search engines.

But, can small businesses really benefit from SEO services (Search Engine Optimization)? Yes, if they put some muscle into their websites. The days of creating a 10 page website and expecting that to compete on the engines are pretty much gone. As the larger companies output websites filled with information and data and the “content” that search engines just love, the small business website owners need to do what they can to continuously add information, quality information, to their websites.

How can they do this?

1) Look at the long tail. Keyword phrases that don’t bring in a ton of traffic but also don’t have much competition are GOLD. Go ahead and look at your website logs. I will guarantee that the total number of visitors that you received last month from your Long Tail keyword phrases is more than the total number of visitors from your high competition phrases.

What should you do? – Create more pages on your website, you can do this slowly, adding one new page a month. Target each new page towards a long tail keyword phrase. By the end of the year, you’ll have 12 new pages bringing in more visitors. And an added bonus of long tail keyword phrases is that the type of visitor who is typing in this phrase is usually ready to “buy” – not just browse.

2) Go Social! Join those social networks like Linked In, FaceBook, Twitter, whatever other social network might be related to your industry. Not only are these places great for networking, but they offer you a place to link TO your website.

3) Write, Write, Write, Write, Write!!!!! – The absolute cheapest, most effective method of marketing on the Internet is to write articles, submit articles, press releases, blogs, online newsletters, comments on forums and social networks. Use anchor text in those articles and you’ve got incoming links TO your website. It’s really that simple.

So, although SEO is getting more and more competitive, there absolutely is a way for small businesses to benefit from SEO. And so they should, after all, what’s the point of having a business website if it doesn’t bring you business?

eckweb | One comment | Tags: affordable seo, eckweb, search engine optimization, small business marketing

17 Dec 2007

home business • internet marketing • seo • small business

Getting Your Money’s Worth With SEO

December 17, 2007 by eckweb | Edit

I got an email yesterday from a website designer I know. He listens to lots of podcasts and he participated in one by asking a question, “What types of SEO reports should one expect from a monthly SEO marketing campaign?” (I paraphrased here). The question was to Webmaster Radio and the response was 30 minutes long!

They began the answer with the “you get what you pay for” concept. One of the hosts said that his SEO firm cost him $3400.00 per month and he really didn’t get much for that. He was very vague, just said that the reports he did get gave him suggestions of what needed to be done but they were up to him to do them. His implication was that he paid $3400.00 a month and didn’t get much so that means he needs to pay more.

The second host didn’t understand why anyone would need a monthly marketing campaign at all!

I found the podcast a bit ridiculous. Here were two supposed experts in their field and they acted and sounded like novices. Let me explain why I say that…

1) $3400.00 per month and not even a report on conversion rates? I say if a company can get someone to pay that much money then more power to them.

2) Just because this $3400.00/month company didn’t issue out good reports or didn’t provide the proper SEO tactics that needed to be done on the website does not mean that paying more will get you that. Instead, a smart consumer would check out what other SEO firms are doing and for what amount.

3) Why would a good SEO campaign need to be maintained monthly? Well, there is always testing to be done. Testing of landing pages, keyword phrases, call to action, etc. Search engines also love new and fresh content so that information needs to be added and optimized regularly. Also, there are holidays, events, seasonal products, services, etc. that should be added to the website. Websites are not brochures. They’re meant to be interactive.

Also, I am consistently amazed at the concept that is continuously put out there “you get what you pay for” when it comes to SEO. The truth is, the great majority of SEO firms cater to mid and large size companies. You know, the ones that can easily pay $3000.00 per month and more. But for small and home based business websites, these fees are ridiculous. I provide affordable SEO services and just because they’re affordable doesn’t mean they are not of high quality. My clients are in the top 10 for their keyword phrases and continue to grow each and every month. There are SEO firms out there that cater to small and home based businesses and don’t let anyone tell you (even the “experts”) that it can’t be done!