Monday, July 15, 2013

“Do-It-Yourself”

Ranking high in Google’s search results can have a phenomenal impact on the success of your business.
You can either engage the expertise of a Search Engine Optimisation company, or if you have the time, there are some changes you can make to your website yourself.


Step 1: Keyword Research
What keywords do you think your customers would type in to search for your products or services? A keyword can be one word (e.g. “optimisation”), but multiple keywords or keyword phrases are usually preferred, because they are more specific and more likely to be what your customers are looking for (eg. “<a href= http://www.mollahsoft.blogspot.com> Search Engine Optimisation Australia</a>”).


Write down as many as you can think of. Brainstorm with your team. Think of alternative words. Consider geographical phrases if they are important to your customer (e.g. “house cleaning Hornsby”). Also, get some ideas from your competitors’ websites. Try to make a list of 20-30 keyword phrases.


Choose the two keyword phrases you think would be searched for the most. But also remember, the more competition there is for a keyword, the harder it is to achieve top rankings.  If you want to rank high in Google for the keyword “insurance”, you have a very long journey ahead. So try your best to select two keyword phrases that are the most relevant to you business but that are not vague nor competitive. It’s a good idea to have 2 or 3 words in each phrase (e.g. “wedding catering services”)


Once you’ve selected your two best keyword phrases the next step shows you how to make some improvements to your home page.


Step 2: Web Copy
Web copy refers to all the words or text on your website. Because content is king in the world of search engines, your keyword phrases need to be placed strategically on your webpage to convince Google that your content is highly relevant to those keywords.  The more prominent they are, the better. (Keep in mind that as important as search engines are, customers come first, so make sure your copy also reads well.)
   

Here’s how you can increase each keyword’s prominence:

•    Place your keywords in headings, preferably at the beginning of the heading;

•    Include keywords towards the top of the page;

•    Bold or italicise keywords where appropriate;

•    Instead of having a link to another page that says "Click here to read more ", reword it to include your keywords, e.g. "Read more about our <a href= http://www.cleverclicks.com.au/web-copywriting-sales-copywriting-services.php>seo copywriting Services</a>".


An important tip is to also include these keywords in your HTML “title tag”. Use your content management system to make these changes yourself, or perhaps ask your web developer to do it if you’re unsure how.


Once you have fine-tuned your home page, consider adding new content, such as detailed descriptions of what you offer, FAQs and informative articles about your products and services. (If you don’t want to write these yourself, they can be located for free on the internet - do a search for “articles directory”).


It’s also good to bear in mind that search engines can only read text, not pictures. Often web developers embed words in images to look better for website visitors or use Flash for animation, but this is a major impediment to search engines.


Step 3: Linking
Each link from another website to your website (not from your website) is considered by search engines as a vote of popularity for your business and will improve your rankings.


But it is the quality, not quantity, of the links that is crucial. The other websites should be relevant to your industry, and preferably highly regarded themselves. Ten quality links count far more than 500 links from arbitrary websites. In the same way your personal business network can have a significant impact on the success of your business, so too the online network you build on the internet.


Brainstorm all the relevant websites that could link to you, such as non-competing companies, and industry bodies and organisations. Write a friendly email to each describing the benefit their visitors would get in knowing about your business, and request them to create a link to your website. Most people will not respond first time round, so a follow-up phone call is usually required.


How do I monitor my results?
Monitor your rankings in Google over the next few months by typing your chosen keywords into the search box, and recording your ranking. Also look at your hosting reports to understand what search terms your visitors are using to find your website.


The above process can be also be repeated for each page of your website. Remember to keep updating your content, and continually increase the number of links to your website.


As you see your rankings climb you should see a corresponding increase in web traffic and a substantial increase in sales enquiries. Be sure to record the source of your customer enquiries, so you can measure the success of your marketing efforts.


Remember, if you measure it, you can improve it.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Detect Spyware and Adware and Remove It Without Spending a Dime

Spyware - Learn how to detect spyware and remove it using resources that are either free or very little cost, such as Spyware Nuker.

Adware and spyware have become a world-wide computer problem from using the World Wide Web. They have turned into malware because of their viral and extremely hostile behavior. Along with the hazards of identity theft and deceit at hand on the Internet, adware and spyware can be other than merely irritating. Here are some methods to detect spyware and adware and remove or merely avoid the adware and spyware and not outlay a dime on the most recent "anti-virus" software, such as Spyware Nuker.

1. USE Firefox. If you don't use the Internet very much, then maybe you don't understand a good deal concerning Firefox. All you need to comprehend is that it is a browser that performs VERY nicely and has excellent security protection.

2. DO NOT USE Microsoft Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is similar to Swiss cheese. It seems to have an endless supply of security holes. Microsoft is ceaselessly sending out patches to fix all the flaws in the Internet Explorer 6.X and prior versions of the browser. Even though it can be "secured" by adding to thesecurity it may give away much of its functionality when set to highest security when specific exploitable features are turned off.

3. Use a software or hardware firewall (not only Windows XP Service Pack 2's firewall). This may be thought to be expensive and difficult to do but it is not. If you use a DSL or broadband cable connection your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have issued you a DSL/Cable router that has a a firewall included with it. All you need to do is switch it on. This may force you to spend a few minutes to read the instructions.

If your ISP did not deliver you a DSL or Cable broadband router that includes a firewall you can shell out anywhere from $20 -$60 (or occasionally even cheaper when it includes a mail-in rebate) to get a router. If you use DSL you would require a DSL router. If you use Cable broadband ISP you would need a Cable Router. Brands such as Linksys have already built in firewalls and a feature known as NAT, Network Address Translation, which is extremely effective because it hides your actual IP address from the Internet. All routers are sold with directions on how to hook them up. If you desire to maintain you computer security free, merely use a free software firewall.

4. Detect Spyware and Adware using free Anti-spyware, anti-adware software. Lavasoft's Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy are two superb methods of restoring your system for free. Majorgeeks.com is a favorite and trustworthy freeware website that has these and several additional outstanding spyware/adware cleaning and malware preventing software (including free downloadable firewalls).

The best approach is to use ALL of the options. Remaining proactive by surfing using a suitable browser and obtaining a firewall is critical, but it likewise helps to beware of other good anti-adware/spyware applications. If you get hit with a genuinely foul bit of malware that can not be cleaned using Adaware or Spybot, dig up yourself a geek. There are numerous big forums on the Internet committed to accomplishing nothing but to detect spyware and adware and remove them and other malware. In all likelihood if your computer is contaminated with it, hundreds of others prior to you have been contaminated and have previously figured out how to get rid of the malware.


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