Determining the Correct Price for your SEO Efforts

Mastering and learning Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not just for maximizing the potential of your web pages or site. It also allows you to earn extra income by allowing you to market your in-demand skills to e-commerce professionals who wish to know what you know. But how do you set the price for your SEO work? This is a complicated query that many less knowledgeable or newly established SEO companies often wonder about.

Since internet marketing was in its infancy, Search Engine Optimization and various marketing tactics have been widely acknowledged as effective by thousands of companies all over the world, regardless of location or size. This might have been triggered by the growing number of customers who are purchasing goods and services over the Internet. No matter what the reasons are, SEO consultants are surely making huge profits from their services.

Here are some tips on how you can go about charging for your Online Marketer talents:

Know the services that you can offer clients.
Determine what goods or services are relevant to your clients and your clients’ geographical location. There are companies that offer SEO know-how, and you can also take advantage of Google Adwords and its management tools. If you offer any other specializations aside from your SEO skills, list them down and consider them when identifying your service’s overall value. 


Find out how much your competitors are charging.

Every company strives to be the best, aiming to have their competitor’s customers to solely utilize their services. Your rivals will compete against you any way they can to ensure that they are able to provide more value, sometimes by decreasing their prices while offering the same quality of work. Determine how much they charge and find out if you can match up to their values considering  your estimates.

Do not settle for less than what your talent is worth.
Speaking of matching prices wth your competitors, you may lower your overall price by 5% but nothing lower. With unique, quality work, it would not be difficult to find great customers who are are willing to pay for the same services as other SEO consultants can provide, but for a less expensive price.

Life Made Easier with Really Simple Syndication

In one of those site hopping sprees, you might have noticed that tiny XML icon that says, “Syndicate this site”, and you probably wondered what it means. That small icon is RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, an easy and simple way for sites to share and users to grab the latest news from a particular website.  

What is RSS?

Everyday, millions of stories and content is generated on the internet by companies and individuals. Selecting which content is relevant to you and keeping track of them can be a daunting task if done on a daily basis. This is where RSS comes into play. With RSS, you can have the latest headlines and stories from your websites of choice delivered fresh to your PC or mobile device everyday.

Once a website has published content, this is immediately populated on your monitor. Through RSS, you may get combined or aggregated news from different websites in a single window. This is made possible by RSS aggregators.

Why Use RSS

·         To keep track of the weather

RSS is a helpful tool for obtaining the latest weather news, such as hurricane and earthquake warnings and evacuation measures. This is especially important if you live in those areas near hurricane alleys, large bodies of water or earthquake belts.

·         To get the latest buzz

Because content is automatically populated from servers, RSS users are able to get the latest on sports, celebrities, politics, and other news of special interest to them.

·         To get tips and insights on hobbies and interests

From photography to dog training to handicrafts, the Internet offers a wealth of information and bits of advice to help you harness your skills and indulge your interests. Subscribing to RSS gives you real-time updates on these important data.

·         To muse at brilliant photos or download wallpapers

With RSS you can have wonderful photos, wallpapers and other cutely stuff delivered straight to your screen on a daily basis.

·         To read fresh blog updates from your favorite bloggers

Blogs do not only rouse interest and offer insight on a variety of subjects, they are also a great way to stay updated with your friends or relatives’ goings-on especially if they live far away from you.

·         To get a daily dose of laughter and inspiration

Want to perk up your mornings? Subscribe to feeds of sites that offer jokes or inspiration quotes of the day.

·         To stay updated with foreign exchange rates

This is especially helpful if you have a relative or family who’s working abroad and when you’re bound to travel to another country. RSS helps you decide better on when to have currencies traded.

RSS is simple and easy to use. Most RSS feeds come for free, too. Within 30 seconds to a few minutes, content can be easily populated to the viewer’s screen. If you are thinking about building a website, adding RSS feeds to your site will not only boost site performance but increase customer loyalty as well.

 

Reducing High Bounce Rates

When you view the metrics for your website, do you notice that you have an increasing number of bounce rates? What are bounce rates, anyway?

Image Credit:http://www.analytics-ninja.com/

According to the definition that was given by Google Analytics, bounce rates refer to the quantity of Internet users who exit just a few minutes after they arrive in a particular site. This is not always a negative occurrence, since there are times when a site visitor immediately sees what he or she was searching for and decides to leave. At least they did not have to research further and use up more time.

The problem is that this rate is normally a sign that users have been entering and exiting a site because of something negative. It’s either they don’t believe it can give them what they need, or the site really does not have what they were looking for – well, at least not immediately. If more site visitors are leaving your website as fast as they came in, here are some possible reasons why, and some solutions to remedy them:

The dreaded “Pop-ups”

This form of advertising can encourage discussion and more users subscribing to your goods and services or your mailing list if the timing and use is right. The problem is that a lot of site visitors are annoyed by this. If you observe that more users have been bouncing off your website since the time you added the pop-up, try programming a delay so that users get to look at your site first.

Lackluster design

While Internet users may not be web designers, they will know what a poorly built site looks like. It is at your best interest to have a visually harmonious design that will strengthen your brand.

Usability and navigation

Any user who arrives at a website that is full of clutter and has nothing of value will have many reasons to leave it. Consult the experts of web usability standards to figure out the best way to set up a clean website and keep your users in there longer.

Quick and Dirty Notes on Web 2.0

If you’ve been to another planet between 1999 to present, you might be wondering, “What is Web 2.0?” But for many of us earthlings who have been long around to witness the not-so-gradual transitions and developments in web technologies, Web 2.0 simply means the web as we now know it, a place where everyone and anyone can be connected, with all its interactive features like Facebook, IM, blogs, RSS, SEO and all those other cool digital things that we love.

Image Credit:Wikipedia

This widely-used jargon originated from Tim O’Reilly during a 1999 brainstorming session among O’Reilly Media and MediaLive International, where it was referred to as an updated version of the World Wide Web that previously utilized static pages. It is an umbrella term that describes how software and program developers and web users now utilize the Web – through collaborative and interactive social dialoguing in digital communities like social media channels, wikis, hosting and video sharing services and other web applications. In contrast, the olden Web 1.0 offered less interaction for users, allowing mere text or graphic viewing of content.

Along with the birth of the dot-com came revolutionary interactive applications and sites, which signaled the turning point for the entire WWW era. In Web 1.0, there was mp3.com, the online Britannica, personal websites. Web 2.0 gave birth to their alter egos: Napster, Wikipedia and blogs.

Today, more than being a medium for interaction, Web 2.0 has become a channel for aspiring job seekers and businesses to market what they have to offer.

·         Blogs

For many content writers and freelancers, blogs serve as their online portfolio for clients to look at should they require work samples. Companies also use these web-based journals to showcase their offerings and artwork. Videographers for instance, use vlogs to embed previously crafted wedding videos for potential clients to see. Others like strategic digital marketing firm 9Dotstrategies, use blogs to create more awareness among virtual communities and help web users gain additional information when it comes to web development, web design and content.

·         Instant Messaging (IM)

IMs like YahooMessenger and Skype make real-time web interaction possible across the web. For some companies, interviewing applicants online is coursed through IMs especially if the interviewer (usually a high-ranking senior) is based off-shore.

·         Podcast

This is an audio file which can be downloaded and played on mobile devices, and is typically used by employers when they need to send audio messages to applicants.

·         Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a strategic method that involves web-based technicalities in order to increase search engine traffic to a particular site. Many bloggers and businesses apply SEO techniques to effectively drive more visitors and consequently, more revenue – through ads, among others – to their sites.

·         Social media channels

Beyond social networking sites, social media also includes web-based applications like blogs, photo sharing, RSS and video streaming which enable faster and more efficient communication and sharing of files. This is a very effective tactic for engaging an audience and boosting online presence.

If you are an individual or company who seriously needs to take your business up a notch, take advantage of the virtual powers of Web 2.0.

What Is Quality Link Building?

Search engines (Google included) apply a number of signals to figure out the authority and reputation of any website. However, the most influential aspect of these signals is the diversity and quality of the links that are arriving from other sites. The logic is fundamentally founded on the principle of voting, where your one vote is represented by one link from a site you do not own. You might quickly assume that getting a lot of links will be great for you, but that thought can be deceiving.

As far as quality link building is concerned, obtaining one backlink from a source you trust is better than getting a hundred links from sites that spread spam. The owner of the website can earn top ranking and good links by simply offering outstanding service or producing excellent content. However, this process alone is not always adequate since there are plenty of content writers and webmasters who do the same thing. There are those who go the extra mile and apply other techniques to earn top rankings in SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). These extra services will give you the edge over the competition, and you will reap this benefit if you decide to hire a specialist in creating links or a reputable SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firm.

If you want this white hat SEO campaign to be used in the promotion of your official website, here are some things to keep in mind:

Every link is uniquely created
Links are not just simply links. All the links that arrive at your website are given varied levels of respect and trust from your favorite search engine. Not only are the search crawlers indexing your site for keyword phrases and quality link building and studying its code, they are also applying the same analysis for every website that links to yours. If the search engine discovers a reputable site in your links, it is given more value.

Uniqueness is the key
Collecting many links from only one website is not good. It is best to obtain links from various domains to keep things distinct. While it takes effort to get links from different sources, it will pay off since the search engines will notice that your site is getting “votes”. This will give your site more value.

An Introduction to Marketing and Sales Training

For you to be successful in your career in sales, it is a good idea to go through some training in marketing and sales to gain experience and additional skills. While there are no educational prerequisites for jobs in this field, undergoing training at any possible opportunity will help you advance. There are various types of training programs available, from on-the-job learning to formal study.

 Image from http://www.customercentric.com/browse-23409/Sales-Training---Your-Challenge.html

While the majority of online and traditional schools do not have a particular curriculum for sales-marketing training, there are universities that let management and business students customize their learning to lean towards sales. Some colleges offer training in these fields as part of a general curriculum, while others let graduate or undergraduate students become experts of one area or both. The training topics that are available in schools may differ per institution, but common subjects include advertising, consumer analysis and market forecasting. Students who graduate with these specializations have better chances of landing a job in a marketing or sales industry.

Almost all seasoned companies possess well-developed and highly customized marketing and sales tactics. This means that every skill and technique that the firms use is unique, and these are normally known as the “sales methodology”. These factors can have an influence on any training program about these fields. Students can expect their training to consist of general administrative skills, accounting processes, customer service and follow-up exercises, inventory checks and sales logging.

9dotstrategies is a strategic digital marketing firm that focuses on the distribution, development and design of internet solutions and tools. This company also specializes in different forms of training in sales and marketing to help make every employee perform their tasks efficiently. There is always room for students to master their craft in our organization.

The Fundamentals of an SEO Audit

Internet marketing specialists agree that SEO or Search Engine Optimization has evolved into a lucrative business. It used to be a mere web tool used to maximize search engines, but it transformed into a fundamental practice for online businesses to succeed. It has become a large industry utilized by companies who want to efficiently promote their goods and services.

Image from http://www.enterpriseseosolutions.com/

Because this field is dynamic, frequent changes or interferences caused by SEO tests are commonly encountered by many - which affect their websites both positively and negatively. While these changes keep things current, they also make SEO audit difficult for some webmasters. Typical problems involve awkward title tags and weak coding.

SEO audit is the process by which webmasters determine any issues that prevent their target site from getting high ranks in search engines based on particular keywords. These  must be considered to be able to perform an audit properly:

The XML Sitemap
This file stores information about all the web pages for use by search engine spiders and users. The simple concept of a sitemap is to create a single comprehensive catalogue of all the web pages. This helps engine spiders index and find content, especially if an official site has many dynamic pages.

The Robots.txt file
Search engine spiders will look for this file the moment they arrive on a site. Webmasters must not tamper with this, because it has the power to allow or prohibit access to certain sections or pages in the site. It also directs the search engines to the XML sitemap which catalogues all the pages.

Internal links
While the pages are connected through footer or top navigation bar links, they have no significance to the users or the SEO specialists. The backlinks in the content are what’s important to users since they can easily jump from one page to another by clicking these links. Webmasters use internal links to attract a lot of web traffic and keep visitors within the site.

Meta description
A smart webmaster will use this to effectively explain the purpose of the target site. If the search engines do not find this, it might display an error sentence on the page or use another relevant source instead.

For more information on effective SEO audit and other topics related to web designing and Internet Marketing  contact 9Dotstrategies today. Let our skilled professionals help you optimize your official site.