Like it or not, there are very few businesses on the internet that can survive without search engine traffic. Getting higher rankings gives a company more traffic, visibility and an inherent trust only afforded to those who rank well. For that reason, many companies decide to hire an SEO company.

While many are ethical companies providing a valuable service, there are still several considerations that must be made before making an agreement. These are good tips for wedding vendors and other tightly focused markets, as well as larger companies covering a variety of services, products and topics.

1) Do They Represent The Competition As Well As You?

Some companies will avoid a conflict of interest by only representing one client per market. Others will gladly represent as many people in one market as they can. Each policy has its advantages.

A company that is very active in one or two markets knows what will work, what does not, and likely has relationships with others that can work to their client’s benefit. Even if rankings do not increase quickly, a company with a good set of relationships can boost traffic by getting links that refer traffic directly from one site to another.

Companies that only represent one client in each market are less likely to give up a competitive advantage for one client in order to benefit another. They may not have existing, beneficial relationships, but a good company can build them quickly to help their clients.

2) Contracts

Nearly all SEO companies will want to sign their clients to a contract. It is important to read the fine print to determine what sort of opt-out flexibility you have. If rankings get worse, or traffic does not increase, it may be time to get a new company. Don’t get locked in with a company that is not getting results.

3) Technical Ability

Many SEOs look at their job with the idea that it is all about building links. While links are important, there are a number of on-site factors that many sites need to have
addressed and improved. If a company cannot look at a site and find the on-page elements that need to be adjusted, it is best to move along.

4) Shortcuts

Does the company do manual work, like emailing other sites to ask for a link, and other ethical, but difficult tasks? Or do they fire up a piece of software that can stream thousands of links to a site in a matter of minutes?

While one offers quick returns, the hard to get links are the ones that pay off in the long-term.

5) Guarantees

This is related to the idea of being locked into a contract. Many SEOs will guarantee first page rankings, or even top 5 rankings. There is no way to guarantee that these rankings will happen, regardless of time frame.

If an SEO company is promising big things, check to see why they may be doing so.

6) Track Record and Testimonials

A good SEO company should have a track record that they can reference. Even more important are testimonials and case studies to show the results they have achieved for other companies.

If a company is just starting out, refer to the contract and guarantees points above to help make your decision.

7) Pricing

Many companies will promise a certain number of links or a certain improvement in search engine rankings at one price point. The best agencies do not use a one size fits all pricing structure, since every site is different.

Look to see what you get for the price you are charged, and compare that to any testimonials and case studies they may have.

SEO Is an Important Marketing Strategy

It is important to recognize that SEO is only one part of a broader marketing plan. Take the time to choose wisely so you can find a good company that needs little supervision. Then, move along to more pressing matters in your business.

Author Bio

Jennie is an SEO specialist, author and blogger. Away from work she can be found hiking mountain trails, kayaking and spending time with her two beautiful nieces. To learn more about the benefits of SEO, visit seomoz.org.

The post 7 Things You Must Consider When Selecting an SEO Company appeared first on Think Big SEO.

Search engine optimization is an important thing for any small business that has a website and relies on online sales and leads to do well. With that being said, there is a lot of work that goes into a good SEO campaign. Because of this, some people choose to take shortcuts and use tactics that may pay off in the short term, but over time they will end up hurting their rankings. Some of these tactics fall into the category of black hat SEO.

One of the most highly used black hat SEO strategies is keyword stuffing. This is when the title and description tags of a specific page are loaded with lots of keywords. Ideally, only one or two keywords should be targeted on any specific page. The goal of keyword stuffing is to rank one piece of content for as many keywords as possible, regardless of whether or not that content is actually helpful to the people who are searching for the terms.

Buying links is another common thing that those involved with black hat SEO do. This is very clearly against the terms of use of most search engines, including Google. These people will buy links from sites with high rankings and think that they will never be caught. The problem with this is that the entire thing is out of their hands. If the website that they bought links from is caught for selling them, they will likely be caught as well simply by having a link on the site. The same goes for those who build spam links through mass produced blog comments or low quality article directory content.

The most obvious danger that comes with using black hat SEO marketing is that rankings can drop dramatically if a website is deemed to be using such strategies. In some cases, websites can even be completely removed from the index of a search engine and traffic can die off almost entirely.

Things can always be changed and improved, and websites can become indexed and ranked again after being banned, but this process takes a lot of time and resources. For example, if a business relies on online sales and uses black hat tactics, they could lose nearly all of their revenue for a period of many months if they are penalized. This could potentially put them out of business.

While using black hat SEO is tempting, it always makes more sense to stick with white hat methods that may take longer to show results, but will be much more consistent. Black hat is a dangerous area of search engine optimization to get involved with, as the risk is very high and the consequences can be catastrophic.

Author Bio

Jennie is a small business consultant and internet marketing consultant based in Pennsylvania. She specializes in internet marketing for small business firms and entrepreneurs.

The post The Dangers of Using Black Hat SEO in Small Business appeared first on Think Big SEO.

As 2012 passes, many webmasters and SEOs probably still have a feeling of shock and awe. The past year saw sweeping algorithm changes that knocked many established websites off the map and put others on notice that Google will not be tolerating those who break their rules. With that said, SEO is far from dead, and as we head to 2013, here are 5 emerging trends that every webmaster must be aware of.

1) Invest In a Mobile Strategy

By 2014, it is estimated that mobile traffic will eclipse desktop computer traffic. Popular websites like Groupon and Yelp are noting that 30% to 40% of their traffic is coming from mobile devices and applications.

A website should have a mobile marketing strategy that includes, at the least, a mobile or responsive design. Those with the budget may want to invest in a mobile application strategy to drive traffic and sales as well.

2) Integrating Google Authorship

Google Plus is a potential SEO powerhouse. From dofollow profile and post links, to quick indexing and high domain authority, it is a resource that every SEO should embrace. This is in contrast to Facebook, where external links are nofollowed and personal profiles are not indexed in the search engine results.

It is safe to assume that as an author’s profile begins to gain authority, that the authority will also transfer over to content associated with their account. Google Plus and Google Authorship cannot be ignored in 2013.

3) On-Page SEO

Getting title and meta tags right should seem like an obvious necessity, but many are still missing the opportunity presented by getting on-page SEO correct. Descriptions, titles, and tags should all be descriptive and keyword rich, but not stuffed with keywords.

Many people are looking for fewer targeted anchor text links to their sites. This lack of specificity makes on-page optimization that much more important to ensure that Google understand what a page is about.

In some cases you might see more tightly defined niche markets, like wedding photography marketing, or geographically specific terms, where well done on-page SEO results in high Google rankings, regardless of links.

4) Improve Social Integration with SEO

Social signals, like Facebook likes and Twitter tweets, are a grey area when trying to determine their value to SEO. Many marketing groups separate the two from one another. As the internet becomes more social, it is safe to assume that social signals will begin to carry more weight on rankings.

In the short term, it appears that tweets in a large enough volume do appear to boost search engine rankings. Whether or not likes, +1′s and pins from Pinterest start showing an effect in 2013 is anyone’s guess, but beginning to integrate social with SEO now is a good idea.

5) Content Strategy

It is harder to get quality links than ever before. Webmasters guard their outbound links closely, and the low quality links simply do not work like they did before.

The only way to get meaningful links is to put out great content on a regular basis. Whether video based, image based, text, podcasts or a combination of the above, content is the key to getting high value links.

It is important for sites to either rework their strategy to focus on content, or to start anew with a well- developed content strategy in order to be successful.

What Will 2013 Hold?

These are simply trends to be on the lookout for in 2013. Google may accelerate the changes they make, or they may slow them down. It is possible the direction of Google changes completely. Regardless, those who follow and adapt for each of these trends will improve their business, regardless of what Google does.

Author Bio

Jennie is an internet marketing consultant, author and blogger hailing from the Eastern United States. For all the latest SEO news, visit searchengineland.com.

The post 5 Emerging SEO Trends For 2013 appeared first on Think Big SEO.

Photographers need exposure and visibility to sell their photographs. These photographer SEO tips will help photographers yield more traffic and sales conversions. Consider these tips to help with your photographer SEO efforts:

1. Host Blog and Portfolio on the Same Site

Photographers should always feature their blog and main portfolio on the same subdomain for maximum effectiveness. When the blog and the portfolio are hosted on different domains, this splits up the power of the links.

2. Use Appropriate Anchor Text

Anchor text should be descriptive. For instance, anchor text such as this, “Link Here” is not as effective as “Check out this incredible Vintage Ewok Inspired Wedding.”

3. Use Meaningful Anchor Text

Meaningful anchor text should consist of words or anchor text that appropriately matches the link text.

4. Use WordPress Plugins for Building Internal Links

Link distribution should have more peaks than valleys to appeal to Google. Internal link building is easy through WordPress blog. Blog posts can be linked to keywords. When keywords are assigned to destination, the page defined will like to a keyword when it occurs. This tool allows mass-upload, override for globally-assigned keywords, case relevant links and nofollow links.

5. Page Optimization

Relevant keywords should be used. Keyword stuffing will not yield the desired results. Keywords should be placed in the text to ensure that it reads well.

6. Repair Canonical URL Links

With WordPress Plugins, users can repair canonical URL links. Redirects can be written for this purpose. This will improve the rankings and visibility of a photographer’s portfolio online.

7. Duplicate Content

Duplicate content lowers search engine rankings. With WordPress Plugins, users can identify duplicate content.

8. Improve Load Times

Load times make a huge difference in search engine rankings. If the photographs on the website are not optimized for faster load times, the ranking will decrease and the photographer’s photographs will not get the visibility necessary. Load times a major consideration for photographers.

9. Pay Attention to Keyword Dentist

Keyword density is important in increasing search engine ranking. Your content should have enough keywords to establish relevancy but not too many to appear spam-like and lower search engine ranking.

10. Meta Descriptions are Important

Meta descriptions should have keywords and be relevant. Meta-descriptions play a role in search engine ranking.

Author Bio

Jennie is a photographer as well as SEO specialist who specializes in photographer seo. For up to the SEO news, visit dailyseotip.com.

The post 10 Must Know SEO Tips for Photographers appeared first on Think Big SEO.

If you’re thinking about making your first YouTube video or just looking for tips on how to improve your current videos, try some of the tips I’ll be mentioning in this article. For me, creating successful YouTube videos boils down to three main components. These components are, creating an interactive environment for your viewers, making your viewer believe you are knowledgable on the subject and talking directly to them, and making sure your content is presented well with good video and audio quality.

The first component and the most important, in my opinion, is to create an environment where the viewer feels like you are inviting them to interact and be a part of your video and ideas. The reason YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and many others are called “Social Media” is because they are meant to be social! There are many situations where informational content is all that is required, but to be successful on these new age platforms, you need to have a social outlook. In your videos, always look at the camera. Just like in real life, people feel uneasy if you are talking to them and looking all around them rather than in their eyes. If I first meet someone at an event or at a party and they look me in the eyes while they are talking, they appear much more confident than a person looking at the surroundings or at other people. This applies in your videos just the same. People will consider you more knowledgeable and will see that you are more confident if you are looking into the camera. I will now go over a few ways to avoid looking away from the camera.

The best way for me to avoid looking away from the camera is to create notes before I begin even considering recording. I write down key ideas I would like to discuss during the videos and memorize the main points I want to go over. This way, while I’m recording the video I can have the main ideas memorized to guide my discussion and keep me on topic, but since I am not actually reading notes the viewers feel like I am talking more directly to them. They will also feel that I am more knowledgeable on the subject because I can talk about it freely without being distracted by notes. It’s understandable that sometimes there will just be too much content to memorize the entire video and in this situation, the best way to handle it is to have your notes directly behind the camera so that as you are looking at the notes, it still appears like you are looking into the camera.

The second component that I personally feel is a VERY important element in your YouTube success is getting your viewer involved and giving them an attachment to not only your videos and content, but to YOU! The reason you are creating YouTube videos is to get your content to as many people as possible and to have them WANT to return and continue to enjoy your content. This means that the more involved they can get with you and your videos, the more likely they will be to return. Looking directly into the camera helps a lot with this but there are many things that will significantly increase your viewers experience.

When you are bringing up ideas and concepts, encourage the viewers to reply in a comment below or to ask you questions about the subject. Giving your viewers the feeling that they can interact with YOU and learn more at the same time is a very powerful tool. If a person watches your video and enjoys what you are discussing they will probably leave your video with a positive impression, which is a good thing. If that same person hears you encourage them to ask questions or to share their experiences with you via comments, video responses, or messages they are not only going to enjoy the content, but they will often participate therefore building an attachment to you and your content. Inviting this interaction makes them much more likely to subscribe to your channel, ESPECIALLY if you reply and acknowledge their questions and comments.

The third component is not nearly as important as the first two, but it still makes a significant difference in your viewers experience. This covers the technical aspects of your videos. This is mostly about your camera quality, audio quality, lighting, and microphone. When someone first looks at your video, the camera quality will be noticed first. You do not necessarily need a high end camera to create a nice video experience. You do want yourself to be positioned well in the cameras view. Take a few short clips to test how close or far away you should be. If you are showing products make sure you are close enough to the camera so people can view them properly. Also, make sure your lighting is good. If you record in a dark area, place a lamp behind the camera and turn the lamp shade up a bit to shine a little more light on yourself.

Audio is the next thing you should test before creating your videos. A common mistake I made early on was that I did not realize that my voice was only recording in mono audio rather than stereo. This means that if people were listening on a stereo system or headphones, my voice would only be coming out of the right or left side. I also noticed that if I had my microphone too close to my mouth as I spoke I would often get crackles and pops as I was talking which decreased my viewers experience. With all the technical aspects, just be sure to test your video and audio quality beforehand so you don’t waste your time making a 15 minute video only to realize you couldn’t see the product you were endorsing or  that your microphone was obnoxiously loud.

These are just a few tips that I discovered over the course of my YouTube channel’s career. These are just a few basic ideas you should think about when creating your videos and starting up a successful YouTube channel of your own. It takes a while for a YouTube channel to become successful and to begin getting views. Remember, it is a social media platform so the best way to get your content out there is by networking with other people! Leave comments on other videos, interact with other YouTubers and this will significantly help in guiding people your way.

About the Author – Dinky Dana is a web developer and YouTube partner with a passion for video game collecting.   You can view his website and YouTube channel for video game collecting tips, reviews, and gaming news.

The post Tips For Making a YouTube Video appeared first on Think Big SEO.

These days, most business owners seem to know that web presence is crucial.  Some business owners try to handle all of their own web marketing, but professional search engine optimization companies can make a business owner’s life much easier.  Running a business is enough of a challenge without piling on web responsibilities as well.  If you have a business website, it is wise to bring in some type of SEO freelancer to help you to compete on this intense, global playing field.  Here are a few things to consider when looking into affordable search engine optimization.

In the simplest terms, you could break down SEO freelancer options into four basic categories: bad, good, big, and small.  We can then cross-list these basic designations: bad and big, bad and small, good and big, good and small.  You can find search engine optimization companies out there that meet each of these labels.  The key is to figure out what kind of company is right for you, and to find the company or individual that can best meet your needs.

Bad companies are obviously… bad.  They are unprofessional, use outdated software, fail to research their clients’ customer bases, outsource their content to untrained writers, etc.  Some SEO groups put up a pretty good front by creating impressive websites, but their actual work is not so great.  One read flag is any company that can “Guarantee” results.  No matter the size of the company, bad work is obviously undesirable.  Keep looking.

Good SEO companies communicate clearly and concisely.  They listen, making sure to understand your requirements before diving in.  They have trained writers on staff who produce high quality content.  They provide impressive samples of past work, and demonstrate sincere enthusiasm for your project.  A good SEO service can revolutionize your business.  Most reputable companies can give examples of previous work, but will protect their clients privacy.

The next question is one of size.  Big SEO companies have some big advantages.  They have many employees, which usually means that their turnaround times are quick – more people on the job.  They typically have more money, equipment, and resources, so they can handle big jobs, huge marketing campaigns, and highly complex tasks.  If you have the budget for an epic internet marketing project, find a large, time-tested SEO company to take your business to the next level.  You will spend a good bit of cash up front, but it will be worth it.

The final category includes the small but good SEO companies.  If you need more affordable search engine optimization that is streamlined, concise, and effective, you may be interested in hiring a small but experienced company.  There are a few SEO freelance groups that specialize in helping small and mid-sized businesses maximize their web potential.  These groups succeed because they have efficient, sleek operations with minimal expenses.  They have a core group of two or three highly trained professionals who work closely together and handle every phase of the project.  They are often long-time friends and associates who have learned to communicate and work well together, developing a system, a “groove” that larger companies rarely attain.  These small freelance groups are able to survive because they specialize in highly effective but very inexpensive projects.  Their expenses are very low, which means that they can offer amazing deals on some really impressive jobs.

The post Big Search Engine Optimization Company Or Small Affordable SEO Firm? appeared first on Think Big SEO.