Search Engine Strategies, Chicago

We're off to the Search Engine Strategies conference this Sunday in Chicago to learn new techniques in search engine marketing.
We look forward to this show every year as it helps hone our skills and update our knowledge base concerning the search engines. As technology grows so do the intricacies of the world wide web and the only way to keep up on emerging strategies is to take in a show like this.
I'm sure we'll see some familiar faces as we hustle to our seats eager to absorb what wisdom is passed down to us by the speakers, all experts in their fields.
Anticipating a show like this never leaves you feeling like you'd built yourself up for nothing.The amount of knowledge gained is usually more than you can actually retain, and so for weeks after the conference you are still finding clues and ways to better your standing on the SR from your notes.
Needless to say we are looking forward to it. The further ahead of the game Ecklund Marketing Group can aspire to be the further ahead our clients will find themselves on the search engines.

http://www.ecklundmarketing.com/

Source code and your ranking - by Ecklund Marketing Gorup

A great way to see how your top competitors are getting ahead of you on the search engines is to right click on the page you would like to emulate and click on 'view source'.
Doing this will bring up another window that contains the meta information that is being read by Google bots and the like.
With this information at your fingertips you can then begin your own meta campaign. Take the basic information (The keywords and phrases used by your competitor and include them into your own tags.) This is one way to be looked at more favourably by the Search engines.
Of course you shouldn't borrow their company name or anything that does not apply to your own company because if your meta tags do not jive with your text then the search bots may not see your site as a good resource of information but rather a confusing source.
Be smart, include the information that applies to your site, anything more might steer the wrong traffic to your site generating no sales.
Something to think about.

To see what Ecklund Marketing Group can do for your website clck here.

Keyword Search - by Ecklund Marketing Group

If you're just getting started and want to enter into the world wide web with your business or idea then first things first, get your keywords all in order.
What is a keyword? A keyword can be many words or variations on that word that your audience will to enter into a search engine (like Google) in order to find the product they're looking for.
How do you know what keywords will propel you into the top ten companies searched under your listing? That's where Search Engine Optimization comes in. Nothing will replace a company that knows the ins and outs of the internet and how to design your website to compete with the millions of others that share a similar keyword, but, there are free sites out there that can get you started. Sites such as Key Word Search can offer you the top 100 search terms for any keyword you need. This will give you a fighting chance at getting seen by your audience when you put your site together. Take a look and play with keywords i.e. an internet marketing company might look into terms like "Search Engine Optimization" and "Website Marketing" or something along those lines.

Another tool worth looking into is the Google tool for keyword searches. The only difference is that it does not show an actual number - rather it uses bar graphs to tell you which keyword is most accessed and whether they're in the Pay Per Click category.

www.ecklundmarketinggroup.com

Targeting your website for search terms

First things first. If you can place the name of your product or service into the domain name then you are increasing your chances exponentially in coming up higher in the search rankings when someone punches in their search term.

Next would be the title tag, if it doesn't include the service or product name then the search engines aren't reading what you want them too and thus you're losing an excellent chance at gaining favour in the engines.
Then of course you have your keywords and description meta tags (make sure they match up with the description a viewer is reading off the site).

Having seperate pages for seperate terms is also a good idea, that way the term has a page dedicated to itself and if you include the specific name of that product or service in the domain name (i.e. www.widget.com/curved-widget/) then someone looking for a curved widget will be driven directly to the page on your site that mentions the curved widget rather than to the index page.

See how Ecklund Marketing Group can mprove your ranking on the web!

Social Media and Marketing with Ecklund Marketing Group

Eric Enge is one of our favourite bloggers and posts regularily on Search Engine Watch. Recently he attended the New York SMX Social Media to learn how to navigate the world of Digg, Reddit, facebook and other social networks. He supplies 11 basic rules when looking to emerse ones self into said arena.

A sample of his blog regarding social media and marketing is as follows:
"Don't self promote - There are almost no social media environments that are keen on self promotion. Even if the site terms of service say that self promotion is OK, the community itself tends to frown on it (this is true on Digg and Reddit, for example.) " by Eric Enge.

Visit Eric's latest offering to SEO specialists here.

See what Ecklund Marketing Group can do for you in the world of Social Media

Meta Tags and the Search Engines

Meta description information is used by all search engines, some to help with ranking and others merely as a means to educate the viewer as to what is on a specific page. An example of the description is as follows:

Ecklund Marketing Group
Ecklund Marketing Group is a Hamilton-based advertising, web design and search engine optimization company. We are also marketing specialists for the legal ...www.ecklundmarketinggroup.com/ - 10k -
Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Since individual pages of your site appear in web results a meta description of each page should reflect the content on that page rather than using the same description time and time again. Another mistake is to put identical information into your description that is in your title tag.
The meta description information is a great way to sum up your page for the viewer. The average number of characters that show up under the address is 155-160 so it is recommended you include your most descriptive sentences within those first few characters.
Google admits meta description information does little to advance a site on the page rank but encourages their use to inform the viewer and in doing so offer you more click through traffic from potential customers.

Find out how Ecklund Marketing Group can help your business find more quality leads on the internet.

Link love. Establishing quality Links for your business

Link love. The art of linking.

I think Justilien Gaspard said it best in his latest blog stating: "Age before Beauty" where linking to another site is concerned. The older the site the more favourable a link will be considered originating from it. An older site is established and usually holds a certain respect of the search engines indexing it.

Justilien goes on to speak about linking strategies and useful applications when looking to link to relevant sites.

See how ecklund Marketing Group can help you distinguish a good link from a bad one.