“If you can’t stand in front of your target, reading what you’ve written aloud, you have no right to it.” - Frank Watson

After reading countless articles on social media, and sadly more recently of the tale of Megan Meier, it would seem that the bad element of society thrives on the safety of being anonymous. So often I’ve looked at blog postings, or more specifically the comments left by unnamed visitors, and wondered if those people would actually be able to say what they do to someone else face to face.

One of the trendiest takes on Internet marketing these days seems to be this notion that securing top search engine rankings “no longer works.” Where it started, I have no idea.

But rarely does a week go by when I don’t see one or more Internet marketing “experts” claiming that search engine positioning is largely a waste of time and should not be a primary focus of web site owners.

Well…as the saying goes, “there are two sides to every story.”

But let’s not make this article about my side, or your side, or anyone else’s side. Let’s forget about my opinion and other “experts” opinions and stick to the indisputable facts, as reported by highly credible 3rd party sources:

* According to a Forrester Research Media Field Study, getting a loyal audience in the first place is best done by Search Engine Placement.
* According to a GVU Users Survey, 84.8% of Internet users use Search Engines to find websites.

“Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” - James T. Kirk

I am still amazed on a daily basis just how many people don’t know, don’t realize or simply don’t care just how powerful the average internet browser can be. It almost seems as though the average user either has their browser homepage set to their own website homepage (usually by the technician that set the network up) or to a search engine or directory of preference.

Roughly a year ago, local search engine optimization was all the rage - the new frontier in search engine marketing. For a while, it seemed that everyone was interested in the local search angle - even multi-national companies. However, for many companies selling products or services to the entire United States, or even globally, it seemed like a non-starter. Companies that counted on people looking for certain products or services that did not require close proximity to the company’s location were unaffected. As far as local search engine optimization goes, things have changed a bit since then - at least for some.

When you say “Local Market Strategy”, most people think of local as at the city level. In search that means Google Local, using Geographic delimiters in keywords, Local Directories, etc.

But for large enterprise sized clients, a local strategy is one for a particular country. Multi nationals typically are faced with the decision:

Are they going to have one overriding strategy for all markets

or

Are they going to have a local strategy (including different products, pricing, etc) for each market (country) that they play in.

and how this question is answered has a HUGE impact on your Search Strategy (at least it should).

Why is a Local Search Strategy Important?

As technologies converge to more adequately serve their respective audience, it is no surprise that bundling services to facilitate customer loyalty is a common tactic for increasing brand loyalty. Some things just work better together such as SEO and website usability.

It is only a matter of time before search engine optimization evolves and starts to bundle on-page usability services for businesses to complement the off-page optimization process seamlessly. Getting traffic to your site is important, however making sure they easily grasp and engage your content is even more important.

In Cajun cooking, almost every dish starts with what’s known as “The Trinity” onions, celery and bell peppers. These 3 ingredients are the foundation of almost every savory dish. Whether you’re eating gumbo, jambalaya, or even a Cajun soup, they all start with these components. These form a delicious base to each of these dishes.Like Cajun food, getting a small business listed on the search engines also is based on a trinity of components. These components give your search engine efforts a base to be built off of, and ensure that you’ll be successful. Those are: the ease of getting listed, the effectiveness of your listing, and then finally, the level of placement.

1. Ease: If you’re like most small businesses, you’ve got a lot going on. You’re running your business, doing your marketing, creating your products and/or delivering your services, and trying to squeeze in some life balance on the side.

Search engines have quickly developed into the main interfaces through which most internet users find products, services, and information online.

In fact, “just Google it” has become a common phrase in the English language. As a result, it is extremely important for your site to get maximum exposure in search engines.

Search engines want to lead users to the most relevant information that is available online for any given keyword. So focus on the user and ask yourself the question, “Is my page the most relevant page for this keyword online?” If the answer is yes, and you offer the best content for this keyword then you are well on your way.

With these 7 tips we are going to make sure Internet users will find your relevant page for a specific keyword, through the search engines.

1) Optimize your text links.

Once upon a time, many webmasters abused the system.  The system now abuses the webmasters (okay perhaps not, but these tricks no longer work).

While many of the articles written on good SEO techniques I’ve decided to turn things around and look at a few of the sure-win techniques of the past.  The point is to make sure that you are no longer making use of any of techniques.

Search engines want to lead users to the most relevant information that is available online for any given keyword.

So focus on the user and ask yourself the question, “Is my page the most relevant page for this keyword online?” If the answer is yes, and you offer the best content for this keyword then you are well on your way.

The only way to get top placement in search engines is to provide very compelling information. However, search engines don’t read information like humans do.

They follow specific rules. Follow these 9 rules to rapidly boost your ranking in search engines.

1) Optimize your URLs.

If you have not yet picked a domain name for your website, don’t try to go for “mykeyword.com.” Instead, try to pick a name that you want to build your company and/or a brand around.