Exciting Advanced SEO Strategies for 2013

If you're a small or medium sized business it is very important for you to utilize search engine optimization or SEO as part of your marketing campaign because it will help to ensure that your business is searchable and that it will grow as you want it to. The key to profit, growth and wealth is a successful marketing campaign that incorporates search engine optimization, social media marketing and traditional marketing tactics such as direct mailing, email marketing and so on.

The slide show below is from an SEO trend presentation in June 2013. This presentation is very helpful for small to medium sized businesses that are looking to launch an SEO campaign as it includes some of the most important factors used in the realm of search today such as on-site technology, link development, online branding and so on:

Advanced SEO in 2013 - SEMTrends Iloilo 2013 from kaiserthesage

Aside from the tips mentioned in the article above, there are plenty of affordable marketing companies that will work within your budget to create a solid SEO and social media campaign. The great thing about utilizing companies is that they will manage the campaigns in their entirety, so you just sit back and focus on what matters most--growing your business.

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DIY SEO Tactics for StartUps

Many small businesses owners would probably run from the phrase SEO or Search Engine Optimization if they could. Why? Well, for many small businesses SEO campaigns can be pricey and too sophisticated to invest in. The downside to this is that Search Engine Optimization plays a major role in boosting your web presence and your entire business for that matter. Successful SEO campaigns could bring flocks of customers running your way...and in a reasonable amount of time. It's not a process that takes years if you know what you're doing. 

For small businesses who are on a shoestring budget there are various DIY SEO tactics that you can take advantage of. The article below discusses ten of these tactics--and all for little to no money:

Bootstrap SEO: An Affordable Solution

Bootstrapping, or do-it-yourself SEO, suits most small players who’d prefer to attempt SEO all by themselves instead of spending a large chunk of money. After all, SEO is not rocket science, and many website owners have amplified their traffic to spectacular numbers without having to become SEO specialists. 

Bootstrap SEO doesn’t guarantee success — and it’s not “free,” because you have to invest a ton of time. If you’re facing a tight budget where you can’t afford SEO services but want to optimize your website right away, however, this is the way to go. And if you’re already familiar with SEO ideas and concepts, the DIY method can be enormously beneficial. 

The Catch

#1: I’ll let you in on a little secret: DIY SEO is fun, interesting, simple, and straightforward… but it’s not easy. A consistent and prolonged effort is required if you want to see good results or returns.
#2: You’ll need basic on-page optimization knowledge. Check out this wonderful resource for on-page SEO. 

1. Write For Your Blog
Action: Write highly valuable and unique content and post it on your blog.Constantly updated content is the key to establishing value and making Google notice your website/blog. And in an increasingly competitive world, producing content that is unique and valuable (actionable) is mandatory. This helps you build keyword-rich and relevant content, which can then be used to generate traffic and drive business. 

2. Build Relationships & Publish Guest Blogs
Action: Connect with other businesses, websites, and blogs by emailing the authors personally.Somewhere along the line, you’ll figure out that interaction is a key factor in establishing brand reputation and authority. Guest posts are particularly useful for driving establishing credibility and authority, and generating powerful inbound links from established websites and blogs.
To reach that level, first you’ll need to build relationships with fellow bloggers in your field, get to know their work, and pitch them for guest posting opportunities. Along the way, you might even pick up a few ideas straight from the other horses’ mouths. 

3. Follow People/Businesses In Your Industry
Action: Follow relevant people/businesses on Twitter, LinkedIn, FacebookNothing gets instant visibility like following the right people on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. After you create a social profile (on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), you should start following relevant businesses and people.
There are usually hundreds, if not thousands. You can start by following 10 people every day. Pretty soon, you’ll get followed back by folks. You can use tools like FollowerWonk or WeFollow.com to find relevant users and businesses in your niche.
The benefit here is that you’ll align your business and your brand with industry movers and shakers. Engaging and interacting with these folks will result in exposure to other industry-related folks, driving inbound links, referral traffic, and credibility.

Read the rest of the article here.

Aside from the tips mentioned in the article above, there are plenty of affordable marketing companies that will work within your budget to create a solid SEO and social media campaign. The great thing about utilizing companies is that they will manage the campaigns in their entirety, so you just sit back and focus on what matters most--growing your business.

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The Necessity of Integrating SEO and Social Media

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a marketing tactic that is imperative to the success of small to medium sized businesses today, along with a strong web presence and advertising campaign. A successful SEO strategy can provide a business with the profit, growth and wealth it deserves even if it doesn't utilize social media, but integrating social media is a growing need for SEO campaigns, merging the two worlds as one and delivering a SEO campaign like no other. In fact, integrating social media and SEO can provide a faster success rate in your marketing campaign. 

While this is true, though, 50% of companies that struggle with SEO are not integrating social media, according to a recent survey. A research agency surveyed almost 600 business and marketing professionals in June 2013 and found that 15% of these professionals were "very successful" with SEO while 18% said they were not. 

According to the article below, the biggest difference between the very successful and not successful is their use of social media within their SEO campaigns: 

The biggest difference between the “very successful” and “not successful” companies is their use of social media as part of the SEO strategy. As the chart below shows, 38 percent of those “very successful” with SEO are doing extensive integration of social media, compared to only two percent of the companies that aren’t succeeding with SEO.
And a full 50 percent of the latter group — the ones not succeeding at SEO — aren’t integrating social media at all.

That chart only compares the successful and not-successful companies. Elsewhere in the study is a chart using the whole group of respondents, which shows that almost one-quarter of the group aren’t integrating social media at all into their SEO strategies.

Our columnist Trond Lyngbø just wrote about this last week, in fact. In his article, You’re Dead… If You Don’t Integrate Social Media & PR Into Your Local SEO Strategy, Trond said
A couple other interesting notes from the Ascend2 survey:

• 48 percent of all respondents said “creating original content” is the most effective SEO tactic — the top answer

• only 19 percent said “external link building” is the most effective, but that may be due to difficulty — 45 percent said it’s the most difficult tactic, more than all the other tactics they could choose from

• at 48 percent, “lack of budget and/or headcount” was listed as the most challenging obstacle to SEO success

Social content ranks well on search engines. What happens on TripAdvisor (a social review site) and Yelp (a business directory) stays on Google (a search engine). What people say about your business — their feedback, the ratings they leave — everything — is publicly accessible to your prospective buyers. And this, of course, impacts the research/purchase cycle.

You can read the rest of the article here.

As a small to medium sized business it is important for you to implement a social SEO campaign so that your company can experience the growth it deserves. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image. These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

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