Posts Tagged ‘search engine rankings’

Tips for Search Optimized Press Releases

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Issuing press releases is integral to almost all of the marketing communication programs we implement for businesses and organizations, because it is key to driving traffic to ones website.

CISION-logoCision, http://us.cision.com, recently issued a tip sheet, “Optimizing Your Press Releases: Ten Ways to Rule the Rankings.” It details how keywords, tags, links and visuals increase search engine optimization (SEO). With today’s social media, the press release is not just for the press or the media, it’s for anyone who is looking for information that you are writing about. Press releases need to be 400 words or less and a quick read. Links to your site or other relevant information will give the reader the information they need. (more…)

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The rest of the ABCs of SEO…Video, White papers, eXternal links, Zero flash pages.

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Video: Google gives bonus points for video, but use it sparingly on your site. Most visitors won’t watch unless there is a compelling reason. Something fun, interesting, insightful, visual, educational. Video can help ranking and drive traffic to your web site if you post on social media sites and provide entertainment to the visitor. If the videos are good their links will be forwarded to others, driving more traffic to your site.

White paper: One way to get more keyword density is to write a white paper and post it. Also visitors love the free information. You could possibly get them to sign up and give you their email in exchange for the white paper. But remember, it must be informational and not sell.

(e)Xternal Link Building: Also known as Back Linking – Links coming into your site. As mentioned above make sure you are posting on a well-ranked blog or a reputable and relevant outside site. Examples: Placemaking Group listed on the PRSA web site of top 100 agencies.

Why isn’t my site showing up when I search Google? There are many potential reasons but one likely reason is that it can take up to 6 months sometimes for search optimization activities to filter through Google. Also some keywords are very competitive and you might be better off using other marketing tools or focusing on special niche markets to drive traffic to your site.

Zero flash pages: Search engines need to find html text to determine if the site is of interest to searchers.

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ABCs of SEO: Titles and URLs.

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

 

Titles: The source code on a web page between the tags <TITLE> and </TITLE> forms the link in search results. Search engines frown upon packing dozens of keywords into the title tag. Best practice is to use a concise, readable description of the page using a keyword phrase. Should be varied from page to page on the site. Example: “Oakland, California Public Relations Firm Real Estate and Tourism.”

URL or Domain Name: When selecting your URL – http://wwwDomainName.com, try to include a keyword in the name. For example: www.agencyPublicRelations.com

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From O to Site Map, we got more of the ABCs of SEO.

Friday, October 31st, 2008

Outsource: When should you hire someone to assist with optimizing your site. If you don’t have time to spend 3-4 hours per month minimum or if you feel your skills are better used in another area of your business or if you need help with ideas on how to improve optimization.

Press Release: Sending out releases over the wire services and posting releases for the media help add links to your site because other sites pick them up. Additionally they provide content to keep your site fresh.

Q&A: Add a Frequently Asked Questions page, even if you don’t like them; Search engines do.

Ranking: Avoid linking from a site below yours. To check a page rank for a site on Google you can use a free online resource: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php Sites which have high rankings include: Forbes.com 7 (out of a possible 10), Prnewswire.com 8/10, biz.yahoo.com 6/10 and CNBC.com 7/10.

Site map: This is an old technique but having a site map still helps search engines index your whole site.

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From Keywords to Niche Markets, the ABC’s of SEO march on.

Friday, October 10th, 2008

The list of ABC’s of SEO continue! Now we’re talking about Keywords, Link Building, Media Rooms and Niche Markets. Read on!

 

Keywords are still important. How to decide what keywords to focus on? (more…)

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Posted in Marketing, Publicity, SEO, Web sites | 3 Comments »

More of the ABC’s of SEO… From Email Marketing to Jeopardy.

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

 

We’ve gotten a number of people asking us at Placemaking Group about the ABC’s of SEO by our own Barbara Irias. So I decided to put some more up. You can get the whole list by clicking here.

 

EMAIL marketing: Send out a regular monthly email. (more…)

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ABCs of SEO and website marketing.

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Here at Placemaking Group we realized a long time ago that all PR and Buzz leads to your website. When people hear about an interesting company, the first thing they do is find the website. So, with our clients, that is one of the most important things on our to-do list… Make sure you have an excellent website that tells your potential customers everything they need to know about you and your company. And, equally important, make sure they can find you when they search for you.

 

I’m not really sure what got into Barbara Irias, our resident web expert, but as she was compiling a list of important things to be aware of when planning SEO (Search Engine Optimization), she noticed they were coming out in alphabetical order. So here are the ABCs (more…)

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Posted in Issues Management, Marketing, Publicity, SEO, Web sites | 1 Comment »