Posts Tagged ‘search engine optimization’
Keyword Research Methods for Effective SEO
One of the most important aspects of a successful PPC campaign is choosing your keywords. Choosing the wrong keywords for your campaign can result in users never finding your site or can waste your advertising budget on non-targeted traffic. But how do you choose your keywords? There are countless tools to estimate search volume and competition of specific keywords. But, this research from Marketing Sherpa finds that looking at keywords that are already driving traffic and conversions is the best method of determining which keywords to choose.
Understanding the terms that your customers are using is critical to finding the best keywords and this research supports that idea. Determining the keywords that actual customers are using is critical, and can be done looking at your analytics to determine keywords that are currently directing traffic to your site as well as your site search to find out what visitors are looking for when they are on your site. Analyzing competitor’s sites is also an important tactic in determining popular industry-specific terms. Using keyword tools is still one aspect of choosing the right keywords, but should be used in conjuction with many other research methodologies as well.
SEO Vs. SEM – What’s the Diff?
They sound pretty similiar – SEO and SEM, but they actually refer to two different parts of the same Internet marketing strategy. Obtaining website traffic through search engines falls into two major categories — search engine optimization (SEO or organic search) and search engine marketing (SEM or paid search). SEM is a much broader term than SEO, and actually includes SEO as one of its techniques. SEM is all that a company can do to advertise itself on a search engine, including pay per click and other online advertising techniques.
While both techniques result in an influx of website visitors, the methods and goals are radically different, especially when considering where your site visitor came from and what page they see when they arrive to your website. SEO, is the key to making content rank highly in natural or organic search results. And while these “free listings” in a search-results page are technically, well, completley free, most companies pay an SEO company to keep their content at the top of the search engines.

But remember - both SEO and SEM are essential for optimal website conversion. It is the strategic combination of both that brings traffic to your site but it is the exclusive domain of SEM to get people to purchase products or contact you for a chance for you to sell them something. For example, you invent something new and the SEO of your website helps search engines find your site when customers become aware of your new product or service. Once the potential customer finds your site, they then need to be guided to make a sale – this comes back to basic marketing principles which is where SEM comes in.
The Net Impact provides strategic services for companies wishing to market their business online. Our process is clearly focused on learning your business, marketplace and competitors. As your SEO firm, we are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date methods for optimizing your website. We are constantly researching new trends and techniques to keep pace with the ever changing search engine marketing industry. Contact The Net Impact to boost your company to the top of the search engines!
Writing for SEO
High quality content is vital in Internet Marketing. SEO content appears in your web pages, articles, blogs, press releases and social media marketing, and needs to be continuously updated if going to be effective.
Before jumping into writing optimized content for the web, remember these tips:
•Use keywords the right way – make sure your SEO content writing is easily understood. Don’t just stuff key words into your content.
•Place readability of the content first; if the keywords didn’t come naturally (or if you haven’t used enough to meet keyword density requirements), insert them where appropriate to turn your document into effective SEO content writing
•Never use too many keywords. An adbundance of keywords could transform your document from an SEO content writing project into spam (search engines are not stupid, and if this is the case they will not recognize your website.)
•Keep SEO content writing short and sweet- stay on the topic
•Stick to two or three keywords per page of SEO content writing to avoid reader confusion

If readers are unable to tell that they’ve just read SEO content writing, you have done your job. If you wrote content that is easy to read, flows well, is to the point and doesn’t leave your readers wandering why you have used the same word X amount of times- mission accomplished.
What Transpires Without SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a silent member of the sales force. While it won’t infringe on co-workers’ territory, take the day off to entertain ‘clients’ at the Cardinal’s game, or require health insurance, SEO supports the sales staff. This article provides a succinct overview of the effects of marketing sans SEO.
Did you know? Businesses that do not incorporate search engine optimization in conjunction with their site’s Web design are merely invisible on the Internet.
What transpires without SEO:
Concealed.
- The company Web site is virtually invisible on the Internet. As long as any entity Web site occupies cyberspace, the objective is to expose its products and services to as much of the target market as possible—to acquire new business.
Counterproductive.
- Employees have to work harder finding prospective clients, who are in the market for the company’s offerings. With a website designed using SEO, targeted traffic (as in sizzling hot leads) visits the company site, fueling the sales teams’ prospects and sales opportunities.
- Low page rank and online exposure are counterproductive to any sized entity’s targets and sales goals.
Stunted financial results.
- Search engine optimization has been found to leverage marketing results by twenty-five percent. Without SEO, the losses represent a fourth of productivity.
Low Retention
- The marketing strategy is incongruent with sales goals and targets. Word-of-mouth and traditional local advertising lack the retention rate companies require to thrive in the marketplace.
Kudos to any organization or business model that can thrive in today’s economic climate sans SEO. As for those, who need the perpetual sustenance of new leads, prospects and sales, learn what SEO can do for your business, when you click contact the Net Impact.
How-to Quantify Outsourcing SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) considerations often pose several challenging questions:
- Which is better hiring an in-house web designer or outsourcing?
- How to maintain autonomy without being at the complete mercy of the Web design company?
These answers are subjective. The cost analysis depends on how much a business values time, money and results.
What is the timeframe?
If your business plans to make an impact on the search engines, every day is critical. In other words, the longer your site is offline or not optimized for search engine traffic, it represents substantial losses.
How much will it cost to have the internal IT department build a new web design with the latest search engine-marketing infrastructure?
In order to compete with the competition, a business Web site attributes for a significant part of the market strategy and new business development (i.e.: lead generation, sales transactions, new subscriptions).
If your IT department is manning the company’s network, how realistic is it to expect a timely completion of the new Web site design?
While many web designers understand the importance of marrying website design with search engine optimization, the wheel is always being reinvented. SEO is in constant evolution. A Web design company, who specializes in SEO, can ensure that your business site is current with the latest trends and practices in search engine marketing.
Want the immediacy of professional web design, yet the autonomy to manage regular updates –in-house?
A web content management system offers the autonomy to update content on a regular basis without the cost of outsourcing billable hours. For example, Auctori is a legal content management system with built in SEO.
How can you assure that your Website attains the highest ROI?
Most employees do not sign a contract offering to forego their salary if a Web site underperforms in site conversions. To assure an ultimate return on investment, opt for a Website design company that offers a strategic partnership. This alleviates the chances that the search engine optimization strategy will become obsolete.
To maintain a competitive edge, consider a web content management system designed with search engine optimization. Learn why more and more companies are powered by the Auctori.com web content management system, please click: “Auctori” to read more.
Social Media Kindles New Business Liaisons
Social media is not limited to nurturing narcissistic tendencies. Despite the market research indicating that only 65 percent of American business professionals incorporate social media, it’s rapidly emerging as paramount component of the search engine marketing strategy.
Amid Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, a new crop of social media networking sites mushrooms across a myriad of marketplaces. SEO-St. Louis compiled a shortlist of social media networks geared for vertical and horizontal markets. Here are the finding:
Cofoundr is a community for entrepreneurs — designers, investors, and programmers, and other individuals, who are committed to developing partnerships for new start-up ventures.
Doctors HangOut.com is a social networking service for medical students, doctors and residents.
FastPitchNetworking is an international business social networking site.
Nexly is a business to business social media marketplace for small to mid-sized businesses to network. (Nexly’s URL is www.nexly.com)
ResearchGate is a professional social networking site designed to help scientists and researchers collaborate on new studies and trials.
Ryze is another professional social media networking site, segmented into thousands of organizations to nurture new business relationships.
Select Minds is a corporate social networking platform designed to connect current employees, former employees and organizations with each other to procure new business.
Upspring is a social networking site designed to help vertical markets such as retailers, manufacturers and service providers to improve their local web presence.
The microcosm of social media sites validates that corporations can no longer afford to ignore the potency of social media (Twitter, Facebook, et al). And in terms of maintaining robust search engine optimization—as in online exposure, social media networking fortifies that visibility, affording an abundance of new professional and business relationships.
If your organization is considering Twitter, Facebook or any of the aforementioned social media networking pages to enhance new business, please click “contact The Net Impact” for a hassle-free consultation.
St. Louis Expo Highlights Leading SEO Marketing Trends
Small entities, renowned corporations, and search engine marketing firms converge in St. Louis for the second annual Midwest’s Premier Search Marketing Conference on April 1st. With keynote topics covering the insider specs on using social media to create awareness about the online presence, quadrupling new business transactions, it’s a must attend expo. Some of the search engine marketing’s most renowned names in the industry will impart a wealth of intelligence about using social media and search engine optimization (SEO) marketing to:
- Generate more leads
- Increase online productivity
- Nurture client or customer loyalty
According to event planners, the purpose of the event is to help Saint Louis business owners realize how to maximize their online presence. Attending this expo provides the following incentives:
Develop an exacting strategy to drive search engine action from Google, BING and Yahoo Learn how to generate more sales and revenue from site traffic.
- Learn how to use Facebook and Twitter to maintain consumer loyalty and retention
- Search engine marketers and SEO programmers from around the country will provide a succinct overview.
President of an St-Louis SEO company, The Net Impact Steve Thomas will share the latest trends for incorporating search engine marketing in conjunction with a potent social media networking strategy.
Where Is My Business, a major sponsor of the Midwest’s Premier Search Marketing Conference spearheaded many of the conference’s ideas. They even conceptualized the giveaway. All attendants receive a complimentary Web analytics for improving their company’s Web site search engine visibility. The site analysis is a $279 value, but will be offered to any company that redeems the offer subsequent to the event.
Conveniently centered downtown St. Louis at the illustrious Lumiere Hotel and Casino, there is also a pre-conference networking social in the Cascade Lounge. Additional registration and discount information is available at the following link http://www.marketstl.com.
SEO Tips and SEM Marketing Advice
For eight years, we’ve had a corporate web site designed by a web design company. From day, one site was search engine optimized using our keywords. Given the age of our web site and quality content, we’ve been able to maintain a decent page rank. Also, we have an affiliate program, where we awards our strategic partners for recommending our products. which generates link popularity to our web site. Over the past six months, we’ve seen our page rank slip and we are wondering what avenue we should consider to enhance our online presence? Can you provide any search engine optimization seo tips or SEM marketing advice?
Lydia – Arkansas
Your question is one many thriving corporations face. The practices of search engine marketing are in constant flux. Which means that corporations as well as the small sized entity must remain current with the evolution of SEO. Search engine optimization is no longer limited to awe-inspiring web design and quality content. To ensure maximum exposure the following search engine optimization complement the process:
- Blog Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Linking Program
- Pay per Click Management
- Press Release Optimization
- Social Media
- Web Marketing
By outsourcing web design to a company, offering the aforementioned search engine optimization (SEO) services, companies can be assured a complete solution, where the search engine marketing strategy works in accordance with the SEO results.
Test drive the possibilities , contact the Net Impact for a hassle-free consultation.
Why A/B Testing Is a Necessity?
Web analytics, A/B Testing and strategic planning are underrated search engine optimization and web design contrivances.
In the sphere of online marketing, some companies overlook the merely exacting science of A/B Testing.
A/B Testing is a component of site analysis, providing target market intelligence to transition unique site traffic from a visitor to a prospect or consumer. Think of A/B testing as an intuitive marketing tool. Enabling marketers and advertisers the ability to predict which action the target market is most likely to engage in.
Why it’s needed?
Although search engine optimization (SEO) is designed to maximize a Web site to attract targeted traffic, what those prospects do once they arrive at a site is far more important. Web sites, which are designed to leverage the marketing agenda, have a precise objective for site traffic. From enticing a visitor to sign up for the company newsletter, complete an online sales transaction (ecommerce) or input information into a form, each action nurtures new business opportunities and customer relationships.
A/B Testing is an ongoing process. It leverages an organizations understanding of which web design modifications are necessary to retain site traffic.
The ultimate advantage of A/B Testing is in how it heightens conversion rates, yielding the best return on investment.
How it works?
With A/B Testing, various elements of a pages’ web design is tested to measure conversions. An SEO company will modify any of the following elements of a landing page to analyze which page motivates the highest conversion.
- Headings
- Color
- Call to actions
- Marketing communiqué
From Web design analysis, competitive intelligence and a roster of SEO services, A/B testing assures that the marketing strategy has the capacity to meet benchmarks.
How to get it?
Test drive the possibilities of A/B Testing, contact the Net Impact for a hassle-free consultation.
Web Design with Autonomous SEO?
We’re shopping for a Web design company, who can optimize our site for search engine traffic. Since, we plan to maintain our site’s blog, we need the digital mediums incorporated in our web design. My question is whether it’s possible for a web design company to develop a site for us—with SEO capabilities that we can manage without us having to outsource the content updates?
In other words, can we hire a Web design company to develop a new site for us to DIY SEO?
JT – Branson, MO
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The answer to your question is quite simple. While, we do not know how other companies manage Web site updates, our proprietary content management system (CMS), Auctori ™ enables you to manage your site’s reigns. From images, new articles, new page titles, Auctori is built to accommodate a site’s development with regard to its search engine optimization specifications.
This is the process:
We begin with an analysis of your site’s navigational structure, traffic, content and other search engine optimization features. After which time, we’ll confer with you about your organization’s marketing objectives. Based on the information, we’ll evaluate your competition to determine a simple method for incorporating your Web site’s design with a CMS in attuned with your search engine marketing strategy.
As you can see from the list below, Auctori gives you the autonomy to control the following content:
- Roles based permissions – security and authorization tools for viewing, editing, adding and approving user’s content.
- Content approval workflow – publishing approval tools for easing workflow productivity.
- Dynamic image editing – as for uploading product inventory, Auctori optimizes images and stores them future re-use.
- Automatic archiving – Auctori doesn’t allow your firm to lose important documents. Organizing, storing and retrieving content is fuss free because, Auctori automatically archives data, assuring 24/7 access.
- Flexible navigation hierarchy – making navigational changes and updates never hinders the integrity of your site’s SEO. Auctori’s intuitive and flexible programming allows for as many modifications – as you see fit.
Read more about a content management system architected with built in SEO.

