Search Engine Optimization Newsletter Index

Our latest search engine optimization newsletter includes:
- Internet Marketing and the Small Business (published 12 Apr)

Newsletter Archives  

Internet Marketing and the Small Business
Published: April 12, 2006
Links from other websites are one of the most important ingredients in obtaining and keeping high organic search engine rankings.

Internet Marketing and the Small Business
Published: April 5, 2006
The internet marketing landscape has changed quite a bit in the past 3 years and has further defined itself further in the past 12 months. With Google raising 4 Billion dollars from new stock offerings in 2005 we will see more changes underway over the next 3 years. Unfortunately, I fear the small business is going to be left out in the cold in this process. Perhaps a better statement would be that the small business has already been left out in the cold.

Five Ways to Increase Website Traffic through Online Message Boards and Blogs
Published: March 29, 2006
The use of message boards and web blogs is becoming increasingly more popular, not to mention that they are very powerful tools. Message boards and web blogs are as good as word of mouth. Real people are on those message boards and blog sites to give their opinions and thoughts for the entire Internet world to read. They, the people, can literally make or break your website.

Social Networks - Search Engine Marketing for Web2.0
Published: March 22, 2006
There are few Search Engine Marketers who would debate that most community based websites are favored within Search Engine Results? Pages or SERP. These Web2.0 sites also have high Google Page Ranks. Links from these could help increase your site?s Google Page Rank while also boosting your site in the SERPs of most search engines if done properly. Within this article you can find how your site can benefit from utilizing social networks as part of your SEM for web2.0 strategy.

Internet Marketing and the Small Business
Published: March 15, 2006
The internet marketing landscape has changed quite a bit in the past 3 years and has further defined itself further in the past 12 months. With Google raising $4 Billion from new stock offerings in 2005 we will see more changes underway over the next 3 years.

Trademark Issues For Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertisers
Published: March 8, 2006
Yahoo has just announced they will no longer allow PPC advertisers to advertise or bid on trademarked terms. Could this be a trend of things to come from the other major search players?

Numbers Don't Lie
Published: February 22, 2006
Throughout any sales process advertising took place somewhere along the line to convert a prospect into a customer. With the nearly instantaneous sales process of the internet, you need to be at the top of the advertising game or your prospects will go elsewhere quicker than the blink of an eye or click of a back button.

Article Marketing for Search Engine Traffic
Published: February 15, 2006
The web is made up of billions of links, much like a spider?s web but on a larger scale. Search engines spider the web looking for new content to add to their massive databases so they can rank how relevant it is to particular search phrases.

10 Tips for Raising Your Search Engine Rankings.
Published: February 1, 2006
Search engine rankings are an important factor to consider when you have a website that needs more traffic. If your website doesn?t have a good position in the rankings then no-one will find it, so you need to make sure that your website is ranked highly enough to be seen. The other important quality to getting high traffic to your site is having a nice arsenal of links. The more links that you have to your site the more traffic you will get, but also, the more links to your site the more search engines like your site. Keeping a nice supply of links pointing at your site requires similar precautions and practices as getting high search engine listings.

What To Do When Some One Steals Your Blog
Published: January 18, 2006
So you've created that great blog you wanted and now you have visitors and may even be making some money. Now you find out that not only do your visitors enjoy your blog, but so do the thieves. There is something called "splog", meaning spam blog and they have taken it to a whole new level. For instance take a look at what happened to Malik over at gigaom.com.

How to use Content to Improve Search Engine Placemtent
Published: January 4, 2006
Just how important is content to the search engines? We all know that well written content is paramount to maintaining repeat traffic to a web site but just what qualities pique the 'interest' of the major search engines?

Pay Per Click Overview
Published: December 14, 2005
Pay per click (PPC) search engines have enable thousands of entrepreneurs to profit handsomely, particularly in the last year. Of all the PPC search engines, Google easily dominates. The offerings reviewed at 5starideas.com represent four of the best available guides for profiting from the Google direct marketing revolution.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vs. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Published: December 7, 2005
While Search Engine Optimization and Advertising are specific tasks to engage, Search Engine Marketing is the key component that actually determines hXow you will optimize and advertise on the web. It is the research, analysis, strategy planning that will determine the execution methods.

Duplicate Content and your Website
Published: November 30, 2005
A well known observation within the SEO community is that Google penalizes websites with content that is duplicated on another website. People spamming Google have used duplicate sites as a way to influence search engine results. Google has a massive database of web pages and so the ability to find pages that are duplicated exists.

Lower Cost and Increase Conversion of Your AdWords Ads
Published: November 23, 2005
Comparison shoppers are the mortal enemy of pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers. When you're paying each time someone clicks your AdWords (or other PPC) ad, the last thing you want is a person determined to visit every site to find the best price, the closest location or the most secure guarantee. But, with many categories of products or services, it's bound to happen. There is a way to eliminate many of the lookers, however.

Surviving a Google Update (PDF)
Published: November 9, 2005
My blood pressure is up and my heart is a-fluttering!! Is it love? No, it?s just another Google update!! Many people are well aware of the business ramifications that occur when an update is underway and their site suddenly disappears from the Google rankings. However, others may be completely unaware of the update and it is business as usual for them. So what is an update and what they should you do when it is taking place?

Avoiding a Bad SEO Experience (PDF)
Published: October 26, 2005
There are many pitfalls associated with search engine optimization. There is the decision of whether you should do it in-house or outsource it. There is the process of finding a vendor that will be right for you and your business.

Blogs and your Business (PDF)
Published: October 19, 2005
Many businesses are blind to the possibilities that emerging online trends such as blogs can offer them. The challenge lies into how you use them and integrate them into your business. Someone once said that blog stands for Better Listings On Google! However there are many other business advantages which we will look at. The challenge is in determining how a blog best fits your business goals. Your goals may be marketing focused, or they may be about project management, or they may be about customer relationships. Whatever your business goals are you should determine whether a blog can help you meet them.

Integrated Search Engine Marketing (PDF)
Published: October 12, 2005
Search engine marketing takes two main forms the free listings or organic listings and the paid listings. The strategy of improving organic listings is known as search engine optimization. The paid listings or paid placement allows you to pay to include your listing for a particular search term. Today we will look at how to integrate paid search placement into your search strategy. The paid search market was $2.9 billion in 2004. It is expected to double by 2009.

How To Write Persuasive Subject Lines (PDF)
Published: October 5, 2005
Three seconds and 40 characters. That's all you usually have to work with when trying to get and hold the attention of someone reading email. And, with user behavior changing so much in response to overwhelming amounts of spam, the attention spans of email readers are getting shorter. Needless to say, it's vital to make the most of your introduction via the email subject line.

Integrated Search Engine Marketing
Published: September 28, 2005
It?s not all about SEO!! It?s not all about Paid Search!!! The truth is if you are focusing all you attention on one of these areas you are missing a big piece of the pie!! And you are also putting your business at risk. There have been many cases of businesses relying solely on organic ranking and then losing their position and ending up facing bankruptcy.

Writing Optimized Articles
Published: September 21, 2005
Search engines give the highest organic ranking to authority sites. These are sites that have lots of unique and relevant information which makes people want to link to the site. One way to build up this information is by developing articles related to your business or industry. These articles should be optimized in order for you to get the benefit of increased ranking on various search engines. The goal is to put these articles on your website and also optimize them to be indexed by search engines.

The Invisible Web - Is My Site Getting Indexed?
Published: September 14, 2005
Did you know that the great majority of web pages are not indexed and visible on the web? It is estimated that there are an enormous amount of pages that are never indexed. One estimate states that only 0.03 percent of all web pages have been indexed by search engines!

Beginning Search Engine Marketing
Published: September 7, 2005
The use of search engines to help surf the Web has become commonplace. Everyone has a favorite, whether it be Google, Yahoo!, or AOL. And many business owners have finally discovered the ability to advertise on these engines to increase traffic and sales to their site. For beginners there are many terms bandied around relating to these search engines which can be confusing. And to add to the confusion it is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher between all of the ?experts? and their advice that is so freely available. Perhaps the greatest confusion revolves around the meaning of ?search engine optimization? and ?search engine marketing.

All About Content
Published: August 31, 2005
Content is one of the biggest influences on the success of your search marketing program. There is a saying that ?content is king? and this is true whether it is for your optimized web pages, your paid advertising message, or your optimized news releases.

All About Links
Published: August 24, 2005
All About Links and how they relate to the success of your web site. Links are very important for natural, organic search engine optimization. Often the amount of sites linking to your site determines your placement within the search engine result pages ? especially for competitive keywords.

Search Engine Strategies at San Jose Report
Published: August 17, 2005
>Elixir Systems attended the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose last week. It was a very busy conference attended by over 6,000 people. There were sessions to attend, exhibitors to visit, networking to catch up on, parties to hang out at and an opportunity to catch up on all the latest development in the search marketing field. This month?s newsletter includes information absorbed during the conference.

SEO the Secret Weapon in the E-Commerce Wars
Published: August 10, 2005
The majority of e-Commerce businesses currently use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising to bring customers to their sites. The pitfalls of this are that it focuses on the short term and is also a very expensive way of doing business.

Local Search for your Business
Published: August 3, 2005
If your target market is on a local level your can use local search techniques to help develop your online business. Local search or geographically-based search revolves around keywords which include the desired neighborhood, towns, cities or other types of region.

Understanding Search Engine Marketing
Published: July 27, 2005
The use of search engines to help surf the Web has become commonplace. Everyone has a favorite, whether it be Google, Yahoo!, or AOL. And many business owners have finally discovered the ability to advertise on these engines to increase traffic and sales to their site. For beginners there are many terms bandied around relating to these search engines which can be confusing. And to add to the confusion it is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher between all of the ?experts? and their advice that is so freely available. Perhaps the greatest confusion revolves around the meaning of search engine optimization and search engine marketing.

Blocking The Search Engine Spiders From Indexing Specific Pages
Published: July 20, 2005
Most of the time you want search engines to index your site. Occasionally you would prefer the search engines avoid indexing select pages of your site. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, some are more effective than others.

Link Building for a New Web Site
Published: July 13, 2005
The Internet offers freedom for visually impaired people and people with other types of disabilities. It offers them the opportunity to go shopping, talk with friends, run a business, and generally stay informed. This is something that many people do not consider. For an experience that many of us view as primarily visual it is hard to grasp the importance of good content and a well designed site for people with these types of disabilities. However for web designers and SEO practitioners this should be of prime importance. Unfortunately, often it is not.

Help Visually Impaired Visitors to 'View' Your Site
Published: July 6, 2005
The Internet is an experience that many of us view as primarily visual - it is hard to grasp the importance of good content and a well designed site for people with these types of disabilities. However for web designers and SEO practitioners this should be of prime importance. Unfortunately, often it is not.

Additional Marketing Strategies to Compliment your SEO Campaign
Published: June 29, 2005
A SEO campaign should just be part of an overall business marketing plan. And this marketing plan should relate closely to the business plan. There are many things that can be done market your website. Here are a few examples of marketing ideas you may find useful.

What Makes a Business Website Successful
Published: June 22, 2005
There are many different areas to consider when you are designing a business web site. Most people put a lot of energy into the design and layout ? what the site looks like. But this is only part of what you need to consider.

The Developing Field of Online Reputation Management
Published: June 15, 2005
What can you do if negative information relating to your company appears in the search results? You may want to consider Online Reputation Management.

Advertising Agencies Need for Search Engine Skills
Published: June 8, 2005
Traditional advertising agencies are beginning to embrace the need for search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). The search engine marketing industry has developed into a billion dollar industry and clients expect their agencies to get them involved. Ad agencies are now chasing the increased revenue generated by search engines.

Manage Your Search Engine Space
Published: June 1, 2005
Do a search on your favorite search engine for your company name. Look at the results. Hopefully your company web site is at the top of the pile. But what about the other 9 results in the top 10? What do they say about you? People searching for your company name will look at all of these results ? not just your homepage. What do they say about your company?

Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly
Published: May 25, 2005
When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that will rank highly.

Indexing Obstacles for Dynamic Web Sites
Published: May 18, 2005
URL Parameters, Session ID?s, Reserved Characters and Deep Nested web pages can make it harder for search engines to fully index your website.

Optimizing Your B2B Marketing
Published: May 11, 2005
Marketing your products or services to other businesses offers many different challenges that marketing directly to consumers. Here are some steps to help you optimize your B2B marketing efforts.

The SEO Bulletin - Answers to Questions Received
Published: May 4, 2005
Answers to Questions Received by Elixir Systems.

The SEO Bulletin - Can You Lose Weight on Spam?
Published: April 27, 2005
Search engine optimization is a lot like weight loss.

The SEO Bulletin - Google Link Filter from Elixir Systems
Published: April 20, 2005
There is strong evidence that that Google now employs a link filter as part of its algorithm. The belief is that new links do not get full credit when they first appear but that they receive partial credit until they have been established for a holding time period.

The SEO Bulletin - Creating A Search Engine Copywriting Plan
Published: April 13, 2005
Search engine copywriting has become an extremely important part of the overall search engine optimization process. However, in addition, search engine copywriting has developed into a misunderstood craft.

The SEO Bulletin - Avoiding a Bad Search Marketing Experience
Published: April 6, 2005
We have many enquiries from companies that have had a bad search engine optimization (SEO) experience in the past and are looking for a reputable search marketing company to work with. Often these clients have been banned from search engines because the companies that they have hired to improve their search rankings use quick fix, unethical SEO techniques.

The SEO Bulletin - SEO as Part of Your Online Marketing Strategy
Published: March 29, 2005
As on owner of an online business you should have a clear understanding of your markets. This understanding of your markets should always be determined before going into business. Unfortunately many people start up an online business without researching their markets or having a marketing plan in place.

The SEO Bulletin - Writing to Overpower Your Competition
Published: March 23, 2005
There may be no other businesses that sell the product or service you sell, but you still have competition. Once that's understood, you have a greater advantage when it comes to copywriting. You can recognize the other options your customers have before them and can position yourself as the only logical choice.

The SEO Bulletin - February 2005
Published: February 15, 2005
Articles: Search Engine Update; Online Reputation Management; Avoiding Duplicate Content Penalties; SEO as Part of Your Online Marketing Strategy

The SEO Bulletin - January 2005
Published: January 20, 2005
Articles: A New Year ? A New Start; Search Engine Update; Avoiding a Bad Search Marketing Experience; Directory Submission Service

The SEO Bulletin - Christmas 2004
Published: December 16, 2004
Christmas SEO Rhyme

The SEO Bulletin - November 2004
Published: November 19, 2004
Article List: MSN Search Engine Beta Released; Google Now Searching 8,058,044,651 Pages; Setting a Pay Per Click (PPC) Budget; Moving With the Times on the Internet; Holiday Schedule

The SEO Bulletin - October 2004
Published: October 15, 2004
Article List: Search Engine Update; Paid Search Placement and Search Engine Optimization; Search Engine Optimization Dilemma Boggles Novice's Mind!

The SEO Bulletin - September 2004
Published: September 5, 2004
Search Engine News; Increase Your Search Engine Exposure - Optimize Your Press Releases ; Search Engine Friendly Site Map; and Monitor and Tweak Your Way to Great Rankings - Part 2

The SEO Bulletin - July 2004
Published: July 6, 2004
Search Engine News; How do I choose an "ethical" SEO company?; Sales Lead Capture; Identify Target Markets and Match Keywords for Increased Web Visibility; and Monitor and Tweak Your Way to Great Rankings

The SEO Bulletin - June 2004
Published: June 6, 2004
Why Use Monthly Maintenance; The Importance Of Written Content On Your Web Site; Preparing For The Holidays; and Ensuring The Search Engines Can Read And Index Your Site - Part 2.

The SEO Bulletin - May 2004
Published: May 1, 2004
Search Engine Update; How to Choose a SEO Company; and Integrating Keywords into Website Copy.

The SEO Bulletin - April 2004
Published: March 31, 2004
Yahoo! Update; Linking Strategies; and Finding Keywords and Search.

The SEO Bulletin - March 2004
Published: February 20, 2004
Google's new algorithm; Yahoo! changes search engine provider; SEO Basics - What is SEO?