In the world of Search Engine Optimization where the ultimate aim remains to achieve high ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs) or to drive huge traffic to a website, webmasters use a number of techniques which are broadly categorized as White Hat and Black Hat SEO techniques.
Search engines rank a website on the basis of appropriate and relevant keywords and employ computer programs called spiders or crawlers which index a webpage if they find the right keywords. Keeping this in mind, search engine optimizers apply various ways to get their website a high rank.
White Hat SEO Techniques
Under this, webmasters use those methods which adhere to the rules and guidelines stated by the search engines to produce the intended results and consider the following factors:
Keywords- As they are the backbone of any site, the use of precise keywords and keyword phrases multiplies the chances of a website being picked by the search engines. Identification of right keywords is given importance and they are used in Title, Meta Description, Headers, Text, Alt Tag, Title Tag, Anchor Text and Links on web pages.
Links: Only Quality Inbound Links can get a prominent position in search results and attract traffic so optimizers direct their efforts towards the development of quality links either through Link Exchanges or through other mediums such as Social media networks.
Black Hat Techniques
Often termed as unethical, Black hat Techniques employ all possible means to improve ranking without considering their implications and include:
Keywords Stuffing: This involves excess use of keywords to attract attention of search engines by creating hidden or invisible text
Doorway Pages: These pages are deliberately made by webmasters only for the search engines and end-users are not able to see them at all to top the search results
Link Farming: As the number of links is important criterion of ranking a website, optimizers create links in large numbers without considering their relevancy just to attract search engines
Those using Black Hat techniques seem to forget the fact that search engines are quick enough to detect any diversion from the rules and may demote or ban a site.
Both White and Black Hat Techniques have their benefits bit if seen from a larger perspective, the former produces long term results while the latter is concerned with short term gains. Scheduling Software
Links play a crucial role in Search Engine Optimization as they present the golden opportunity of attracting the traffic to the website which in turn determines its success. Links contribute heavily in the attainment of high ranking on search engines. Given that they offer multiple benefits, the process of link building demands adequate thought and planning. The aim of Link Building should always be to get quality inbound links as this is mainly responsible for drawing huge traffic. A website can gain extensive popularity through links.
Below are some of the points that facilitate Link Building and help an organization achieve its objectives:
Anchor text- It consists of all the hyper-linked words on the website and provides the relevant information to the user about the content of the page that it is linking to. It is highly beneficial to use anchor text in Internal & External Links, Navigation maps and Links on Index Pages. Use of appropriate anchor text can produce great results as it attracts search engines’ favorability and chances of appearance on result pages
Emphasize on Quality than Quantity while creating links. A single link from a reputed website is much more profitable than multiple links from worthless sites as the latter serves no purpose
Remove broken links
Avoid any association with spammers as search engines may take adverse actions like removing the site from the index
Analyze competitors’ link building strategy to find out the most effective strategy and to come across loopholes
Make use of link tracking tools to know what links were important
The above discussed points are just a glimpse of what we can do to improve Link Building which otherwise is a continuous process and requires regular updates.
It was well known that Social Media Optimization has its potential to attract traffic to a website but the scale of potential will turn out to be huge, one has not thought of. The massive opportunity of successfully promoting a business through SMO has its roots in the popularity of social networking sites of Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn, MySpace, Digg, YouTube, etc.
Business firms are efficiently utilizing the benefits offered by these sites in terms of exposure, link building and creating a favourable online reputation. By staying connected to these networking sites, often referred to as online communities, a business can undertake multiple activities like share images, videos, create forums, blogs and maintain a close connection with its target group. High visibility among the desired target audience is the ultimate advantage offered by SMO.
Facebook, Orkut, Twitter are household names and their extensive use by people no matter what age, occupation, background or area they belong to, have made business organizations think means of utilizing them to serve their business objectives. This has paved way for SMO which in turn has proved to be profitable yet economical.
LinkedIn is a hub of experienced professionals who share their views, ideas at one single platform, and the website is also used to run various campaigns as well. Similarly, there is YouTube which provides the undisputed advantage of video sharing. So each of these online communities has its potential attractions that are put to best use by Social media optimizers.
With these online communities becoming more popular with each passing day, the scope of Social Media Optimization is bound to increase and will yield positive results.
Just as the words Google, Yahoo comes to our mind when we think of Internet, similarly the word Search Engine Optimization (SEO) pops up whenever we think of website ranking. SEO has made it to the list of techniques which are responsible for a strong presence of a website.
The entire process of Search Engine Optimization involves a series of related steps that results in a website ranking highest in search engine result pages. It enables a business to get maximum traffic to its website thus initiating responses to the products or services it produces.
A thorough Keyword research is undertaken first to identify the keywords that aptly describes the organization and its services to land every target group to your website. Keywords selection is crucial to the success of SEO as they are basic component of the process. After this, an analysis of competitors’ activities is done to come across what strategies are being adopted to improve the volume of traffic. This enables to optimize the website to yield positive results.
The ultimate aim of SEO is to get the website in the first page of search engines results of Google, Yahoo or MSN. Once a website gets featured there, it is bound to attract a huge amount of traffic in the long term.
Advantages of SEO:
Helps achieve top ranking in SERPs
Cost effective technique that ensures high Return on Investment (ROI)
Leads to online business growth
Is beneficial in the long run
With its various contributing factors towards the online success of a business, SEO has become a lifeline for websites to survive in a competitive environment.
Contrary to the recent assumptions that Search Engines have stopped taking into account Meta descriptions while ranking a website, it has now been made clear that these descriptions do contribute towards ranking and have a considerable effect on search results.
Meta descriptions contain one or two line description about the content of a website’s page. They are utilized by the internet search engines while putting a web page onto their index. Since a Meta description acts as source of information for search engines, it should be carefully prepared to contain the appropriate keywords that define the content of a page giving enough reason to search engines to list or rank your website.
Though sidelined for a brief time, Meta descriptions have again become an important factor in ranking with the emergence of personalized search. These days search engines offer customized search results to its users by using their Web history which may differ from common search engine results. Here comes the role of Meta descriptions, which if made, adaptive to personalized search can significantly increase the number of visits to your website.
A Meta Description should be keywords rich closely defining the content of the page in the manner that must appeal to the search engines to pick your website and give it a high ranking.
There is no direct connection between Meta descriptions and ranking but with the commencement of personalized search, the relationship between the two is there to grow and can be highly beneficial to a website if you optimize your Meta descriptions.
A landing page is that specific web page which is developed to cater to the well defined needs of a business from which it can achieve maximum results and ultimately drive a large traffic to website. It is like creating a medium for a user that takes him to the exact information which he seeks just as Google provides answers to the queries. In return, it results in high ranking on search engine result pages.
Uses of a Landing page:
ü Concentrates useful information on a single page which may be related to products offered by the company, recent promotions or events, etc
ü Saves time on part of the user as he gets the desired information
ü Generates immediate responses
ü Acts as a navigator for customers
Essential Factors for an efficient Landing page:
On Page factors-
ü The foremost requirement is to create a Title Tag that is highly optimized containing the name of Business, its nature and appropriate keywords
ü Header tags that clearly define the Business and services
ü Indicate the complete address of the firm and include the Regional numbers
ü Incorporation of Google Maps on the landing page helps achieve high rank
ü Footer with Address in single line increase the chances of being picked by search engines
Given the fact that Online Marketing is the latest buzz doing the rounds among all business houses nowadays, it can be easily understood that this form of marketing presents a much wider scope. This can be attributed to the increasing number of Internet users with each passing day. Also the advent of latest innovation in the IT sector has led to the incorporation of advanced tools and techniques to propagate the desired messages across people crossing even the geographical boundaries.
Promoting the business through Online Marketing Campaigns requires on part of the business organization to pick the best Online Marketing Consultant so that it gets the best possible services which meets the purpose of the business to the fullest. The decision of selecting the right Consultant demands that a careful study of its past and present work is undertaken and its performance is measured against the prevailing standards. Following are tips that may help an organization choose the most suitable Online Marketing Consultant:
Undergo analysis of the Projects undertaken by the Consultant in the Past as well as the current ones
Gain knowledge of the success rate of the projects in terms of Results delivered
Carefully go through the Packages offered to see whether it is providing the right combination of SEO, PPC, SMO, RSS Feeds, Link building etc.
See whether it has done assignments related to your business field to know if the Consultant can help you scale down the Competition
The final decision to hire the consultant should be taken after going through the profiles of at least 4-5 consultants and comparing their work to see which one offers the most profitable deal.
Benefits of hiring an Online Marketing Consultant
An Online Marketing Consultant offers an assortment of services to help an organization grow at a faster rate in an online environment. Having a fair idea of what goes right in the online world, a consultant is in the best position to decide the most productive strategy that fulfills the goals of an organization.
It can provide the cost effective proposition by combining various features such as Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per click, Blog writing, Social Media Optimization, etc to gain high ranking in SERPs thereby leading to higher traffic which in turn multiplies the responses or enquiries of a business and drive sales.
The positive aspect of hiring a Consultant can also be attributed to the fact that it helps the organization to check the competition level and adapt the necessary changes to maintain a stable position.
The latest word to catch everyone’s attention is online marketing. Though the word appears simple but the ample tasks that it is capable of achieving are commendable. It can be put to use for carrying out several complex tasks in the easiest manner.
Online marketing is one stop solution for all enterprises to do their business online. It has the capacity to reach a much wider target audience and the best part is that it offers a high degree of customization.
It is capable of delivering the desired messages as per the specifications of the customer. With everybody going online these days, business organizations are taking full advantage of this tool to cater to the needs of their customers in a highly productive manner. Gone are the days, when a company has to reach out to a customer individually, in this information age, companies can now provide the information at the right time and at the right place at most minimal cost.
Having saved time and money, an organization can apply these in enhancing the business by offering new services or by growing geographically.
Online marketing offers great scope for companies selling products as the products and the related information can be posted on a website in the most appealing manner. The whole transactions comprising a particular sale can be done online by click of a few buttons.
Given that time is a constraint for both business houses and their respective customers, online marketing provides a much needed help to satiate the supply and demand needs. It provides a mutually beneficial relationship as it saves times and effort on both ends, that is, a business enterprise and a customer.
With its scope of reaping great benefits, online marketing is sure to go places and capture each market.
