Since the Internet has become a local and global marketplace, the need for companies to use Search Engine Optimization has increased. With more users utilizing the Internet for shopping purposes, Search Engine Optimization is essential for a company’s growth and stability. Some industries require an online presence to compete creating the need to optimize a web-site to show up on a Search Engine Results Page (also known as a SERP).

Search engines, which are tools to help users find information online, are abundant all over the Internet. Some of the most popular search engines are the following:

1) Google- the industry leader in all of search engines, Google provides what most people consider to be the most relevant SERPS. Google has around 65% of the market share and provides site links for the top result. Site links will often appear below the URL of the top result and breaks the content down into different categories. Google is also known for providing maps at the top of SERPs for local searches, has free e-mail with their GMail service, will provide audio samples in music searches, and owns Blogger, a free online blogging service. Google technicians constantly update the search engine and research several ways to enhance user experience. 

2) YouTube- not considered a traditional search engine when first launched, YouTube has slowly evolved into one of the most efficient and effective search resources on the Internet. With more and more videos being loaded onto the YouTube, users can usually find what they are looking for. For example, anyone looking on how to play Pachabel’s Canon on guitar can just type in “pachabel canon guitar” and find different videos of people playing the piece and explaining how to play the song. Some YouTube video descriptions will even allow users to put guitar tablature (similar to sheet music) right next to the video. YouTube users can also sign up for a free subscription or account, create their own YouTube channel and watch television shows. The search engine has also been used as a marketing strategy for up and coming recording artists (look up the a Capella group Straight No Chaser as an example) as a method for spreading their music to a massive audience. YouTube is owned by Google and is run as a subsidiary. 

3) Yahoo- originally a graduate school project, Yahoo is still one of the most widely used search engines in the world. Yahoo provides SERPS  relevant to the search query but not as closely related as what Google provides. Similar to Google, companies can pay to have a sponsored search result at the top and on the side. Yahoo will also provide a subpage link for the top result. Users can also sign up for their own Yahoo Mail account, view instant news headlines, follow their favorite sports teams, and even has online chatting capabilities. Users can also access their Facebook updates from Yahoo’s home page. 

4) MSN Bing - MSN search engines have been around for a while but Microsoft recently rebranded their search engine as Bing in June of 2009 (it was previously called Live Search, Windows Live Search and MSN Search in the past). With around 10% of the market share, Bing provides results relevant to what the user types into the search query and allows users to section off certain areas of content. Bing was recently in the news as being one of the first search engines to sign a partnership deal with Twitter, which allows search engine users to find tweets within a SERP. Bing users can also access their Hotmail accounts (Microsoft’s free e-mail service) from the search engine. 

5) Ask.com- originally AskJeeves.com, Ask is still used by many users around the world. Ask will usually post online coupons and deals for users and provide related search queries on the right hand side of the page. Ask is also known for being the official search engine of NASCAR. 

The results seen on a search engine page come in two different categories:  sponsored search results and organic search results. Sponsored search results usually show up at the top of the page, on the side and are in a shaded box so they stand out better. Companies utilizing this strategy pay money to the search engine so their web-site shows up in the sponsored links portion of the pages. This strategy can be set up as a pay-per-click campaign for with some search engines or a pay per 1000 impressions campaign. Using a pay-per-click campaign allows the user bid on keywords they want to show up for in a search engine and only pay money if the ad is clicked. A pay per 1000 impressions campaign means the company pays every 1000 times the ad is shown on the SERP page. Organic search results (sometimes referred to as natural results) do not require the company to give money to the search engine and show up below the sponsored links on a SERP.

No matter which strategy you use, all search engines have a spider that will search for content. Spiders will look for web-sites that have keywords and phrases that are exact or similar to the phrases typed into the search query. Spiders will look at the web-site content, outside links going into a particular site, the words and phrases in the title tags and headlines to find the sites that are the most relevant.

As a way to find different phrases to put in the title tags, headlines and web-site content, companies can do keyword research through the Google Keyword Tool or Wordstream (there are other keyword tools out there but these seem to be the industry standard and the most popular). The purpose of keyword research is to find relevant search terms users are typing into search engines to find products and services. For example, if someone is looking for a vacuum cleaner, keyword research will show if people are typing in “Hoover vacuum cleaner”, “multi-purpose vacuum cleaner”, “water and liquid vacuum cleaner” and  other phrases searchers are typing in to find that product. With this list of keywords, web-sites can be designed for keywords to appear in the content of the site, the page titles, title tags and the internal links so that spiders can find the site more efficiently and effectively. For a pay-per-click campaign, keyword research provides a list of keywords for the business to bid on so their ads show up when a user types in those particular phrases into a search engine.

In addition to keywords, external links will also catch the attention of search engine spiders. Web-sites that have lots of external links into their web-site will catch the attention of spiders. If a site has a good number of web-sites linking to it, spiders will think that web-site is important to users and put it at the top of a SERP. In other words, the more external links a web-site has, the more important it will look to a search engine spider. Building external links into a web-site is a process that takes lots of patience and time but will optimize a web-site.

With video and images becoming more prevalent on the Internet now, search engines now utilize what is called a blended search (referred to as a universal search result by Yahoo). A blended search will display not only web-sites but links to online videos (usually from YouTube) and pictures within the SERP. Search engine spiders will search the description on an online video or image for keywords. If written well, a video or image description containing a good number of keywords will make it easier for the spider to find it and place it in a blended search.

In any Search Engine Optimization campaign, time and patience are key. Results can occur but will not necessarily happen overnight. A considerable amount of time has to be placed into keyword research, external link building, web-site design and testing certain pages. If any of these processes are rushed, a search engine optimization performance can be affected and not produce the best results. Optimizing a web-site typically takes three months to a year because of the amount of time needed for research, building a brand and becoming familiar with a particular audience. Patience and time are important in a Search Engine Optimization campaign but is worth the investment.

In today’s local and global marketplace, utilizing a Search Engine Optimization campaign is important for growth and stability. With lots of different search engines available, businesses can benefit from showing up in organic or sponsored search results. With keyword research and external inks, a web-site can be optimized for a search engine spider to find it. Over a period of patience and time, a search engine optimization campaign can produce results for a web-site and bring in more customers.

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Since being launched in 1999, SageRock has specialized in law firm marketing. With the Internet becoming more and more popular each year, law firms can benefit from search engine optimization or a pay-per-click campaign. Internet users are constantly utilizing search engines to find a law firm to suit their needs, which makes the Internet a useful marketing tool for people in legal industry. As more and more people use search engines to find attorneys, the Internet is a valuable marketing tool and a great way for law firms to grow their client base.

When doing keyword research (finding words or phrases that search engine users are typing into search engines to find a service or product), different terms for lawyers, law firms and attorneys show up in the Google Keyword Tool (an online resource to do keyword research) as having as high volume search terms. These terms show high levels of search volume and the Google Keyword Tool shows the different types of attorneys search engine users are looking for. For example, typing  in the keyword “attorney” will show keywords such as “civil attorney”, “divorce attorney”, “family law attorney”, “medical malpractice attorney”, and much more.  This proves that search engines are being used to find different types of attorneys to fit their needs.

You can access the Google Keyword Tool by clicking the link below and try it for yourself:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

When doing a keyword search by a region, terms related to attorneys, law firms and lawyers show up as having high search volume as well. For example, if someone typed in “Cleveland lawyers” into the Google Keyword Tool, it will display a large list of keywords related to lawyers in the Cleveland area. In other words, law firms can be found by search engine users in region specific searches and bring in new clients.

Based on how the Internet has become a great research and search tool for consumers, a search engine optimization campaign is a great way for law firms to drive more traffic to their web-sites and bring in new clients. By utilizing search engine optimization, law firms can have their web-site show up near the top of a search engine results page (also known as a SERP) without having to bid on keywords or pay the search engine money. In other words, the law firm’s web-site can show up near the top of the organic listings (meaning the business did not pay the search engine to be near the top of the SERP or bid on keywords) with a search engine optimization campaign. Someone in need of a specific type of attorney can simply type what he or she is looking for in the search engine and be able to get results right away. Web-sites closer to the top have a greater chance of being clicked on so utilizing a search engine optimization campaign can bring in more business for law firms.

Google will also provide a map near the top of a search engine results page to show organic listings. The Google search engine can detect the IP address (similar to a home address, this is where the server of an Internet connection is located) to find listings that are relevant to where the user lives. For example, if someone living in Shaker Heights is searching for a tax attorney, the Google search engine can find the person’s IP address and list law firms closest to that area. These listings come with a link to the web-site and the phone number is shown on the map making it easy for a search engine user to contact that business. A business can also lay claim to a specific listing in which a longer description, updated phone number and other features can be added. Laying claim to a listing also prohibits a competitor from going in and altering the information in that listing.

With a search engine comes the ability to bid on certain keywords in order for a web-site to show up in what is called a sponsored search. A sponsored search means the business pays to bid on keywords so their web-site shows up at the very top or on the side of a search engine results page. Web-sites listed in a sponsored search are listed in a shaded area near the top of the SERP or on the side where Internet users can easily click on them. These campaigns can be set up as a pay-per-click campaign meaning the business only pays the search engine whenever the link is clicked on. This is a cost effective way to market a business because a specific daily or monthly budget can be set and the results can be tracked easily. Law firms utilizing this approach can simply bid on keywords that are relevant to their business. For example, if a law firm specializes in education law, this law firm can bid on keywords like “education lawyer,” “education attorney”, “education law”, “education law firm” and more so that their firm shows up easily in a sponsored search.

With many different options available, the Internet is a valuable marketing tool for law firms. With a search engine optimization campaign, law firms have the ability of showing up near the top of a search engine results page and on a Google search map without having to pay the search engine money. Those wishing to pay to have their web-site near the top of a SERP can do so with a sponsored search and a pay-per-click campaign by bidding on keywords and phrases. The Internet has numerous opportunities ahead and the ability to bring more clients to law firms.

For more information on SageRock’s work with law firms, click on http://bit.ly/52ypMW.

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In business, it’s common to have personal relationships with others who are in different industries and lines of work. Having that personal relationship is always positive but will linking to that friend’s web-site look like a paid link because that person is in a different industry?

Paid links can harm a web-site, however, providing a description as to why you are linking to that particular site can be helpful. Having only one link like this with a brief summary as to why you like this person’s site will reduce the likeliness of it appearing as a paid link. It’s possible to specifically write that the link is not a paid link to avoid it coming across as such. This also helps web-site users feel more comfortable with the link and makes it appear harmless.

In short, linking to a web-site in which you have a personal relationship is fine. Just make sure you provide a brief description as to why you are linking to that web-site and watch the number of personal links you have.

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In today’s business environment, having a web-site is needed in order to stay competitive. There are some companies out there that want a web-site for free and can have one with Google Sites.

Simple and easy to use, Google Sites makes the process of creating web-pages an effective business tool. By simple logging onto http://sites.google.com, business owners can create a web-site using a pre-made template. Web-site content such as text, video, and pictures can be added with a simple click of a button and can be updated on a daily basis. Business owners can use this online tool to make multiple pages and the entire web-site will be stored securely in one place. Site owners can make the web-site public or private and can control who can and cannot edit the content.

Those without web-site design experience can simply use different templates to create their web-pages. These templates can be used to give the web-site a certain look, structure and can have gadgets added to them. Utilizing these templates also reduces the amount of time needed to create the web-site and can help get the business owner get an online presence.

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There are certain instances in which documents, web-pages and other forms of text need to be translated into another language. With the help of Google Translate, Internet users can have multiple documents translated into over 50 different languages.

By going to http://translate.google.com., users can simply type a phrase into the box located near the top of the page and then have it translated by choosing the drop down options below it. Even if the user doesn’t know the language of the specific phrase, choosing “detect language” in the drop down box will help find the correct language.  Dictionary results appear for short query results and appear near the bottom of the page.

When translating to a language that contains symbols or is considered non-roman script, a drop down box options does include a show Romanization link. For example, if you are translating a phrase from English to Chinese (which is a non-roman script language), click on the “show Romanization” option in the middle of the page to see the roman script version of that phrase.

For those looking to translate from Arabic, Hindi or Persian, a specific keyword is no longer needed. By simply typing in how the words sound phonetically, Google Translate will automatically transcribe them to their native language.

To translate an entire web-site, simply type in the domain name in the translate box and click enter. For example, if you wanted to translate the Cleveland Cavaliers web-site from English to Hungarian, typing in www.clevelandcavaliers.com and selecting an English to Hungarian translation will translate the web-site content.

http://translate.google.com.

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Utilizing a search engine can be very powerful but even the most experienced Internet users could learn something new about using Google. By utilizing different search engine techniques, an Internet user utilizing Google could have a better success rate.

By putting a search term into double quotes, a search engine user can get what is called a phrase match. When using a phrase match, the search engine user is looking for matches that contain a specific phrase in it. For example, if someone wanted to search for electronic picture frames, typing in “electronic picture frames” with double quotes will help the search engine find matches for that specific phrase. In other words, the double quotes around “electronic picture frames” will match that specific phrase with content on a web-page.

To exclude unwanted words, a user can simply employ a minus sign or “-“when typing the query into a search engine. The minus sign simply tells the search engine not to look for that word during the search. For example, if a search engine user typed in tennis –shoes, it will not look for keywords or web-site content related to shoes. The minus sign before the word “shoes” in this instance tells the search engine not too look for any keywords with shoes in it and will simply focus in on “tennis” instead.

When typing keywords or a phrase into a search engine, there are times in which Google will add in synonyms to help enhance someone’s search experience. For example, if someone was typing the word “airplane” into the search engine, Google could suggest looking up “jet” as a synonym. For those who do not want that broad of a search, typing in a plus sign before the term tells the search engine to search only for that specific term. Utilizing the previous example, typing in +airplane into a search engine will tell the spider (which searches the web-site content) to look only for that keyword and no other synonyms.

Another way to get an exact match is to type in site:domain into the search engine. This search engine technique can be very handy when trying to match a specific keyword to a web-site. For example, typing in site:www.clevelandcavaliers.com merchandise will direct the user to the specific pages on the Cleveland Cavaliers web site that sells merchandise and Cavs team apparel.

This search engine technique can also be used to find sites with a top level domain. For example, typing in site:gov recycling will list recycling only web-sites that are sponsored by the US government. Specific directories can be searched utilizing this search engine technique by adding in a slash towards the end of the search query. For example, someone can simply type in site:google.com/paintings Monet to search within the paintings directory for a Money piece.

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Over time, blogging has developed into one of the most popular Internet activities for users all around the world. Blogging has served as a way for a variety of Internet users to express their thoughts freely about different subjects and topics. Starting a blog is fairly simple and with online blogging tools such as Blogger and WordPress.org available, it just got easier.

Since being launched in 1999, Blogger (which is one of the most popular blogging sites) has grown in popularity due to its easy-to-use features. The original Blogger design is considered to be the trend setter for many of the blogging tools out there and the format quickly grew into popularity. In 2003, Blogger was purchased by Google and new features have been added to make the service more reliable and dependable. Many who spend time developing their blog with Blogger believe the sites index quicker in search engines and make it easier for Internet users to find.

In addition to being simple to use, Blogger can be used in two different ways. Blogger does allow users to host the web-site themselves meaning a domain name and space on a web-site hosting provider has to be purchased. This method does cost a little more money and time, however, it allows for the user to be a bit more creative in designing how the blog will look. Those with HTML or web-site design experience have the capability of designing their own templates, colors and other features. Those without HTML or web-site design experience can simply create an account for Blogger to host the site at no charge. In other words, Blogger will host your blog for free and the users can simply log in with the account names they made up or with their Google e-mail address. This method also allows for users to create their own URL address, use templates to give the blog a particular look, and can be updated without having to hire an independent designer. Once the design, URL and user name are all put in, users can simply log in to update the blog with posts, pictures or other features.

Blogger is a favorite among online bloggers but WordPress.org is also one of the most popular blog tools available. WordPress.org is an open source blog tool that is free, has downloadable software and requires HTML or web-site designing experience. Users do have to purchase space on a web-site hosting site in order to use WordPress.org and have to understand HTML and web-design to constantly make updates. Purchasing web-site hosting space along with a domain name does take time and money but the WordPress.org allows users to custom make the templates and features on their blogs. Web-site design does take a little more time, however, users can design their sites so that it optimizes well with search engines and is easily found by those looking for certain information.

Different and easy-to-use tools are available to blog but people who are unsure about starting up one often wonder what the benefits to starting a blog are. The first place to look when trying to understand the benefits is to know what types of blogs are out there.

To start off, people can have a  personal blog in which the user can write about personal events and make it an online diary for people to read. People who work within the media industries for newspapers, television and radio stations will use a personal blog to engage readers, viewers and listeners. This is a unique strategy for these media outlets because it allows readers, viewers and listeners to understand the personal lives of their favorite writers, TV and radio hosts and creates a more personal. People going on mission trips or taking unique experience will sometimes create a personal blog so that friends and family can read about their daily experiences. This method can also be used to help the user write a book or document about the experience later on.

With a personal blog, the user also has the ability to create a theme, topic or subject. Bloggers can write about sports, education, fashion, or anything that suits their interests and their passions. Having a particular theme to a blog creates consistency to it and can help the blogger market and reach out to people with similar interests. With time, hard work and promotion, these blogs can create a following and sometimes an income for the blogger. Not all blogs turn into money making machines for people and trying to do that takes lots of time and effort but there are instances in which a big enough following creates an opportunity for the blogger.

A popular example of this is the story of Julie Powell, the inspiration behind the film Julie & Julia. Powell started a personal blog in her spare time in which she decided to write about trying to cook 524 recipes out of a book written by the late television host and cooking legend Julia Child. The theme around Powell’s personal blog was the trials and tribulations of an ordinary person trying to cook recipes out of Child’s cookbook.  With consistency and clever writing, Powell gained a following with people who liked to cook, enjoyed eating food, and were fans of Julia Child’s television show. As a result, Powell ended up with a book deal out of it in which she talked about writing her blog and cooking the recipes.

In addition to personal blogs, a business blog has been proven to be an excellent way to communicate with customers, prospects and even employees. Businesses will  create blogs as a way to brand certain products, create brand awareness and market the product to current customers or potential clients. Having a business blog often creates hype for a certain product and anticipation for it to be released. Business blogs can also be used to communicate with employees internally and spread communication in that method.

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Since being introduced years ago, closed captioning, subtitles and video captions have been useful television consumers who are hearing impaired or deaf. Closed captioning allows users who have hearing difficulties to enjoy a television program or video by displaying subtitles and words at the bottom of the screen. Closed captioning has already made its way to online video and YouTube has added two new features that are useful for both the hearing impaired and everyone else.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, recently added in “automatic captions” to its online videos. Available on most education channels, “automatic captions” transcribes and adds captions to the bottom of the screen. “Automatic captions” also allows for the captions to be translated into other languages. Even though the captions are not 100% accurate at times, it still allows the user to understand the video content.

In addition to “automatic captions”, YouTube also added an “automatic timing” feature. To make adding closed captioning easier, “automatic timing” shows videos owners when words are mentioned in the online video. With the help of a simple text transcript, Google will help the video owner save a file of the words said in the online video to add later on. Once this transcript is saved, a simple upload is needed to add closed captioning to the video.

Though it is designed to help the hearing impaired, these new features could help search engines find online videos in the near future. Search engines employ a spider (also referred to as a-crawler) look for certain keywords within the text, title tags and content of a web-site or description of an online video. With closed captioning and text being added to online videos, this could be an opportunity to optimize online video content for a search engine. Spiders are designed to look for specific keywords and if keywords can be found within an online video closed caption, it could help optimize the video for a search engine.

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When looking to move a web-site, a big concern for web-site designers is harming online listings by moving it “in the cloud.”

To define, “in the cloud” is an expression used to describe the infrastructure of a computer network. The typical infrastructure of a cloud includes different personal and business applications that can be accessed from a web browser. While the business applications are considered to be “in the cloud”, software and data is considered to be outside the cloud because it is stored on servers.

Having a site “in the cloud” can have its advantages. If moving to the web-site to another server and a different IP address, users do have the option of setting a geographic target for a specific location. For example, if a web-site has a US IP address but has a target audience in England, the geographic target can be set for England. Even though the IP address would be listed in the United States, having the site “in the cloud” gives the web-site the opportunity to reach people in England. Software patches are not needed as much within the cloud and outsourcing online content to the cloud can make that information accessible even when the server is down.

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http://google.com/chat/video

Online chatting through the Internet is still a growing phenomenon and with Orkut, it just got better. Orkut, a social network operated by Google, recently improved their online chatting by integrating both voice and video into their online chat services.

This new video online chat is easy to use and a great way for Orkut users to communicate with one another. Similar to phone calls, Orkut users can simply call on other users and invite them to use the video online chat. It’s a free online chat for both PC and Mac users and another great way to communicate over the Internet.

Since being launched, Orkut has helped users meet new people and develop relationships over the Internet. Even though there are Orkut users in the United States, the online social networking service has a huge following in both India and Brazil. Similar to other social network or social media outlets, users can create profiles, upload videos and photos and reach out to other online users.

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