There are many free tools available for you, both online and for you to download, that will help you with managing your website and with your website’s SEO.

1. Keyword Suggestion Tool
   When writing your website copy, keep in mind that you should be including your keywords in your content several times. You should do your keyword research before your ever begin adding content or even building your website.
   Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion
2. Analytics
   Monitor such things as number of visitors, keywords used to find your site, geographical information, and so much more.
   Google Analytics
3. Webmaster Tools
   Sitemaps, robots.txt file, internal and external links and more.
   Google Webmaster Tools
4. Broken Link Checker
   It’s important to make sure that your website does not have any broken links. These are bad for both search engine crawlers and website visitors.
   W3 Link Validation
5. Search Engine Saturation
   Your website cannot be at the top if it’s not even indexed yet! Check to see which of your pages are indexed in the search engine.
   (Ex: Type “site:yourdomain.com” into the Google, Yahoo or Bing search bar)
6. Backlinks
   Check to see what site’s, if any, are linking back to your website. The more the better!
   (Ex: Type “links:yourdomain.com” into the Google, Yahoo, or Bing search bar)

There are so many more pieces of the SEO puzzle but with these tools you’ll be well on your way to success! Contact us today to learn about SEO Monitoring and SEO Optimization.

A recent study by Internet Retailer shows that 2/3 of Ecommerce retail shops have plans to redesign their shop’s sites at some point this year. The number one reason for doing so would seem to be to increase their optimization.

Search engine optimization it the key to success in the Ecommerce world. With so much competition out there, if you’re not on page one and maybe two you are not likely to see much traffic from the search engines.

Most of these Ecommerce business owners said that completing a website redesign would generate a higher sales conversion and attract new customers. While a redesign will usually attract more customers to staying on your site once they have reached it, search engine optimization is not guaranteed to increase sales because the goal of SEO is to increase traffic. I’ve seen sites with website traffic at 300+ visitors per day and zero sales.

When considering a website redesign, make sure that you’re also getting someone to look at conversion optimization as well as search engine optimization. Your redesign should make your site attractive, but it should also streamline the sales process, funneling visitors through their shopping cart to checkout.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization focuses upon organic (free) search engine results. These are the ten results you see on each results page. I don’t know how many times I’m asked, “How much does Google charge to be in the first spot of their search results,” and each time I’m as dumbfounded as the first time I heard this. Search engine optimization is the process of in-site, on-page, and off-site techniques being properly placed and developed. The only person you might have to pay for this is your search engine optimization specialist.

Pay Per Click

Pay per click is exactly what the name says, each time someone clicks on your ad you have to pay Google, Yahoo or whomever your buying ad space from. With pay per click you create campaigns and within each campaign you create ads. Each ad will be different and will be selected to displayed when people search for certain keywords. You bid on the different keywords by selecting how much you will pay-per-click. Pay per click, when done correctly can increase your ROI by 40% or more and when done incorrectly you can see very significant losses.

I’m not trying to discourage your from choosing to do a pay per click campaign, you should just be aware that you should do thorough research before selecting a pay per click manager. A good conversion optimization and ppc company that we recommend is Bach Marketing Group, www.bachmarketinggroup.com.

This study also validates the idea that people are not just using a single keyword to search for something, but may use upwards of 6 keywords.

This study also validates the already widely known fact that the search engine giant, Google, is the public’s primary used search engine, and when comparing the big three (Google, Yahoo!, Bing) Google brought in 59% of the traffic while Bing carried 23.8% and Yahoo! with only 19.3%.

So, page one really is the key!

Every website owner out there has heard of SEO. Maybe you didn’t know the technical term, maybe it was just “that Google thing” but you knew it was good to be at the top of the search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical to every business that is online, whether you sell online or you just get leads online. If the search engines in all of their automated computer power can’t find you, your potential customers are really going to struggle.

So, every business with an online presence needs SEO… ok, so what exactly falls within SEO?

I’m so glad you asked! There are a couple huge pieces of SEO that are the necessary first steps of every long-term SEOist to business owner relationship.

First, every SEO provider worth your money should ALWAYS do the following;

Keyword Research; this means that your SEO provider talks to you about your business. I know, go figure. They need to learn all they can about the services and products that your offer. They should then take this and dial down a list of 10-25 keywords that best represents what YOUR business offers your customers as well as being keywords that a customer might actually do a search for.

Website Modifications; this is usually pertaining to the way your site was developed. Websites are NOT always created equally… there is a good way and a bad way build websites just like with everything else. Unfortunately, it’s only very recently that most designers and developers have taken notice to these guidelines and have actually started used them. Most websites created even just a few years ago are poorly developed and should be updated.

This can mean just making minor modifications to your code or it could mean that your site needs to be completely re-developed. Maybe it’s time for a new design anyway? It’s unfortunate but it’s reality.

A good SEO provider should also either out source a copywriter or do it himself, but in most all cases that website copy will need to be modified as well.

Lastly, something every business owner should make sure they’re getting is…

SEO Keyword and Placement Reports; you need to track your SEO provider to make sure he or she is doing their job, just like with any employee. This should include where you’re ranking with at least the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo, & Bing) for the keywords that were chosen in the Keyword Research phase. You should see an upward trend over the course of a couple months.

Search engine optimization is not an overnight process; it does take a lot of time and effort, but at the very latest you should start to see results within 30 days.

If you are a small business owner, man you have it tough. Small business owners today have a harder time staying a float than ever. Competing with places like Amazon and eBay is just mind blowing. They carry everything under the sun so why shop anywhere else, right? Wrong, you can compete, if you have the right software and marketing strategies to do it.

When competing with stores like Amazon (who are always on page one of Google and in front of YOUR potential customers) you have to show up in the search results. This is the first and MOST important part of the competition. Choosing the correct web designer or shopping cart is the step to accomplishing your first step.

Now, you probably have some questions, like:

1. I have a small marketing budget. What can I do?

Small marketing budgets come standard with small businesses. The trick is finding the right places to invest your money and the company’s that can help improve those areas. The internet is the best place to find that information. Your help may be located 700 miles away, but who cares, this is the internet – that’s the beauty of it!

2. How do I locate and reach customers in only my city?

Social media outcrops such as Twitter and Facebook are the perfect places to find potential customers in your local area. Review our previous post Top Business Marketing Apps for Twitter.

Their are hundreds of free and very powerful online sources to help you market your business. Their are also thousands of inexpensive tools to help you market your business as well.

Don’t waste your money on yellowbook and newspaper ads. Most of your customers are online searching Google for what they want right now.

Twitter, Facebook, Technorati… social marketing is powerful. The ability for you to find consumers in your area and talk directly to them is a tool that any business owner, small or large, just can’t ignore.

Social media is a way for potential customers to find out who you are, what you provide, and how you can help them within a more laid-back environment. Before this kind of marketing came about businesses had to rely on their current customers talking to other people in order to get these kind of advertising results.

Twitter

Twitter, for instance, has had several applications developed for it, such as Twello and Nearby Tweets that allow you to both find people in your area, as well as track what people are talking about in your area. You can search based on specific keywords and even track what is being said about your business.

There are also applications that allow you to create coupons to distribute on Twitter, twtQpon, as well as those to allow you to track the analytics of your tweets, Twittertise.

All of these tools can help increase your tweeting productivity and grow your customer base, increasing your sales.

Search Engine Optimization

While it is important to stay in the social marketing scene and build your clientele in this way, you still need to have a website to direct them back to which will thoroughly and more professional sell your services and/or products.

Each of these social networks provide a space for you to include a website just for this reason, even they know the importance of having a website, and it’s certainly not their job to be your marketing coach.

Combination

The new direction that marketing is facing is a remarkable way for businesses to grow their clientele, however these different online venues must be used in conjunction with one another in order to produce the greatest desired result.

Contact Merchant Metrix today about professionally designed Custom Website Design.

“The importance of choosing the right search directory from which to acquire an inbound link cannot be overstated. One should carefully review the search directory before submitting and ensure the directory provides quality links, not just a link.” Top 3 Problems with Directories

He discusses the problems that business owners are faced with when choosing a directory and how to ensure that you don’t fall in the trap. He explains how to prevent wasting your dollars and how to better use directories to market your business.

I’m on the first page (#1) of Google for “Flavored Massage Oil” just because of this amazing shopping cart software. It’s absolutely amazing!

The one-page checkout system in the shopping cart has virtually eliminated all our shopping cart abandonment and has helped increase our sales conversions by 38%.”

JW Roberts – Green Dragon Herbals
www.greendragonherbals.com

Jeff Foster – Wholesale Keychain
www.wholesalekeychain.com