You are here: Home / Archives for Bob Walton

To Make Your Local Business Flourish, Excel In SEO

May 14, 2012 By

Your Local Business Can Flourish on the Web


If you are an experienced local business, your most likely already of how important search engine ranking is. Websites that are ranked on top tend to be more successful businesses. The following commentary will give you a variety of suggestions on how to get your website ranked better so you can reach your target audience more easily.





SEO For High Ranking Video Ad

To start, educate yourself about optimizing sites for Google, Yahoo & Bing. SEO results are not determined by humans, but by computers. Search engine spiders are used to analyze websites and recognize signs of relevance. You can take advantage of this system by optimizing your website. If you wish to please the search engine crawlers, think about creating a new webpage, or blog post, and make them keyword rich. Also pepper them with links to related authoritative sites.

Improving your search engine ranking takes time. You need to put some effort into looking into ways on how to achieve good search engine optimization. This could include improving the design and coding for your site. Use your chosen keywords liberally throughout your site with a focus on including them in titles and headings.

TIP! One thing you should keep in mind about search engine optimization is to always work on it on a daily basis. SEO is always changing on a constant basis.

 

Shortcuts To SEO Can Get You De-Listed



There are no shortcuts, you cannot purchase search rankings. These rankings must be built over time through your optimization efforts. You can buy featured spots for a link though. A featured link is typically listed within the top three results on a search results page; these links are usually highlighted as “featured” or “sponsored.” Unfortunately, obtaining sponsored links can be very expensive and most likely out reach for most micro business owners.

Remember, incorporating keywords is not the only way to search engine optimize your website. External links pointing to your site are a huge boost to your site. All links have a benefit; links to other pages, pages linking to yours and links in between all your personal pages. To get off-site links, swapping is not recommended. Google views that as gaming their algorithm, and you’ll get dinged.

TIP! Treating your SEO efforts like homework is a great way to achieve in the highly competitive field of web business. This means you should be approaching the trafficking of your site like the completion of a term paper.



It is always important to pinpoint a new customer’s interest whenever they visit your site. The occasional random site visitor is not likely to actually make a purchase. Target people who already have an interest in buying your product or service before they get to your site. One way to get your message in front of prospective customers is to place advertisements on sites they already visit.

An Online Sales Force Will Help Your Business



Every business should have an online presence. You must have a successful Internet site if your company is dependent upon Internet clients and sales. Hopefully this article will help you get a handle on the finer art of search engine optimization.

———————————————–

Article Source: To Make Your Local Business Flourish, Excel In SEO

Author: Bob Walton is a Raleigh Local Search and website marketing service provider for local businesses. If you want to DOMINATE LOCALLY, need a new website, or have questions on improving your existing website, please contact Bob @ 919-523-4185.

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , ,

How Search Engine Optimization Can Give Your Business A Boost

May 4, 2012 By



Boost Your Business With SEO

Got Business Boost?

It is well known among internet webmasters that a good search engine ranking is essential. Your site will see more traffic if it has a higher search engine ranking. Read below for a few suggestions on ways to optimize your site for improved rankings.

Knowing the rules of the road in SEO will take you to the next level in optimizing your site. With search engines, computers use algorithms and equations to rank your site. Designing your site to ensure it is ranked highly in automatic evaluations is the core principal of search engine optimization.

TIP! Writing for the internet is much different that writing for business or in a scholarly setting. Learn about SEO so that you can write your articles to get picked up by the search engines and you will find that you will get more hits and gain more readers.


There are a variety of factors that help decide where major search engines rank your website. Keywords that are on your site help search engines rank your website. You are also ranked based on the activity on your website and the links to and from your site.

It is necessary to stay patient and put in effort for SEO work. Your visitors’ interests and convenience should be your first priority in designing your website. If you have many keywords, it will be more beneficial. Search engines rank your site based on the use of keywords. You will increase your ranking by using relevant keywords frequently and effectively. A word of caution, limit your keywords to just a few per page or article, and theme those pages for focus, and relevance. Write for your audience, not for the search engine.

Sponsored or featured listings, which normally appear on the top or the sides of search engine result pages, are paid locations that are usually occupied by major corporations with the finances to afford them. If you are a newer small local business, it can help to advertise with Adwords, but in the long run, it’s more cost effective and rewarding to show high in the organic search results.

Blog To Boost Business

TIP! Many companies offer search engine optimization services but in order to find the one that is right for your business, you have to do some research. Contact the company and ask them questions about their experience, the strategies they employ and the risks that are involved.


There is more to search engine optimization than making sure your content features appropriate phrases and keywords. If you add more links within your pages, as well as links to other websites, your site will be ranked higher. A great way to obtain links is by being active in Social Media Sites and in local forums that allow you to post links. Bottom line, “Content is King”; you need to blog to create content targeted to your clients.

Targeted traffic (folks landing on your site) represents the category of people who are your best prospects, and who are genuinely interested in your products, or who have been previous customers. This means they are much more likely to actually buy something because they are interested in what you’re selling. You can increase target visits by using relevant keywords, using targeted keyword research, which will give great quality results. If advertising, or internet marketing, it is a good idea to promote on websites that your intended audience regularly visits.

Regardless of the business type, an SEO optimized website is necessary. If your business relies on internet sales, you need a great website to front your product. Using this guide, is only the beginning for you to optimize your site for maximum traffic and increased profit potential.

————————————————————————————————

Article Source: How Search Engine Optimization Can Give Your Business A Boost

Author: Bob Walton is a Raleigh SEO & Local Search search engine marketing service provider for local businesses. If you want to DOMINATE LOCALLY, need a new website, or have questions on improving your existing website, please contact Bob @ 919-523-4185.

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , ,

How Do I Get Traffic To My Website

April 11, 2012 By
How Do I Get Traffic To My Website

Increase Website Traffic for Business

Many people think that just having a good website is all you need to get tons of visitors. The reality is, getting traffic to your site takes hard work and diligence and is not accomplished overnight. And, because the competitive landscape for every industry is different, one size (approach) does not fit all!

If you search on the web for advice, you’ll find good, bad, malicious and everything in between. For some reasonable best practices on, “How do I get traffic to my website?, click on the resource link.

The first place to start is to find your niche, then fill it with quality content. Build around what your most desired clients wants and needs are. Provide quality content and present it, through clean & creative layout, well. Give them your best!

 

How Do I Get Traffic To My Website – SEO

After good content & layout, there is SEO. There are on-page factors as well as off-page factors. On-page factors include:

  • Use of correct Keywords & Keyphrases
  • Use of Keywords in Domain Name (Dead-on Domain)
  • Use of Keywords on Page Titles and Post Titles
  • Use of good content related to your Keywords
  • Use of good internal and outgoing linking with the right Anchor Text

Off-page SEO factors include:

  • Links from related industry authoritative sites
  • Anchor link text with Keywords linking back to your website
  • Proper use of Social Media
  • Article writing with deep linking back to your website
  • Videos with links back to your website

Please note, what is shared here is only scratching the surface and is not exhaustive. And, local search is a whole other ballgame, where other rules also apply.

How Do I Get Traffic To My Website? – Blog

Did I mention good content? The search engines are all about content; they are ravenous creatures constantly on the prowl for more, new and fresh content. By “fresh”, I mean new and unique. Re-spun is OK if you’re giving it some “value add” to it.

There’s another way to think of the term, “BLOG“; I’ve used this before, but think of it in terms like:

Better

Listing

On

Google

Blogging and sharing, via your Social Media channels (LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.), including local networks, (e.g. – Inside919) all help towards visibility. Did I mention Video Blogging? Well that’s the subject of another article in the near future.

This topic is so broad, I’m sure folks can add to my list. Give it your best shot by commenting below.

Lastly, good news for Inside919er’s, Pat Howlett has created an excellent Article Marketing course that can give you a boost in your online visibility. I highly recommend it. Check out: Article Marketing for Insiders

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , ,

How Can Pinterest Make Money

March 30, 2012 By
How Can Pinterest Make Money

Everybody’s been talking about Social Media, and how if you want to succeed as a business, then you need to create fresh content with a blog on your optimized website, build Facebook Fan Page with tons of “likes”, have a respectably professional LinkedIn account, and then Twitter like a bird to build a following. Sound familiar?

Usher in Pinterest. I only stumbled upon it a couple of months ago, and initially dismissed it, but found out there are lots of folks, particularly ladies, “pinning” to their hearts’ delight there. When I started playing around with it, I was surprised to suddenly find two of my adult daughters “following” me. My youngest daughter, Laura, chided me with, “What are you doing on Pinterest? Pinterest is for girls.”

That got my attention, and started the wheels turning in my head. Then Stephen Peacock, an active web developer & fellow Inside919 member, blogged about it; so I joined. Can Pinterest make money for businesses? What kind of use statistics are we talking about?

How Can Pinterest Make Money – The Stats Speak Loudly

According to SEOmoz blog post, Going Viral on Pinterest, “It was during that month of January that Pinterest exploded from a casual social network to an absolute powerhouse of over 10 million users. By this point, it was driving more referral traffic than Google+, Youtube, and LinkedIn. For a social network remaining under the radar for the marketing industry, these are numbers that can’t be ignored.”

OK, so if the demographics mainly point to the female population, who of my clients should I be steering towards this Social Media platform? Well, duh, how about my MedSpa client who is all about helping mostly women maintain, or regain, their youthful attractive appearance with Botox, hot waxing & SmartLipo. It’s a perfect marriage of personal attractiveness, visible branding, education and local exposure.

But, how else can Pinterest make money? Has anyone heard of Etsy? Etsy is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. If you have an Etsy shop or sell products elsewhere, you can pin them to your board and tag them that they’re for sale just by putting the dollar amount somewhere in the description of the pin. Combining Pinterest with Etsy is a “no brainer” to me of a winning combination.

Who else? How about Amazon Affiliate Marketing & Google Adsense? These two powerhouses cannot be ignored. In the interest of keeping this article manageable, check out the following post, Earning Money With Pinterest.

Lastly, we brush up against “the dark side” with Spammers. Yes, I hate to say it, and strongly advise against the practice, but there are Spammers out there making a lot of money. For a good read on the topic in Yahoo news, One Guy Makes Over $ 1,000 a Day by Spamming People on Pinterest.

How Can Pinterest Make Money – Summary

And the potential money making winners are:

  • Businesses that primarily sell or service to the female population
  • Online marketers that use services like Etsy to sell products
  • Amazon Affiliate Marketers & those using Adsense
  • Spammers (the dreaded, deserving of jailtime lot)

I’ve no doubt that Pinterest will continue to gain traction for users who enjoy creating collections of things to share with others. And, from the looks of it, businesses are drawing traffic to their sites from Pinterest users as well. For those in, or related to, web marketing consider this as another “arrow” for your Social Media quiver, which is another avenue to generate sales.

 

Did I miss a way to make money using Pinterest? Please comment!

Article Source: How Can Pinterest Make Money

Author: Bob Walton is a Raleigh SEO search engine & web service provider for local businesses. If you need a new website, need extra online visitors, or have questions on improving your existing website, please contact Bob @ 919-523-4185.

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , ,

Google+ Hits 150 Million

February 16, 2012 By


I wasn’t sure if Google Plus would be that significant or not but the following has gotten my attention. FYI – Some of this info is a little dated by about 2 months, but it remains noteworthy.


Google+ Pundits Weigh-In


“According to data collected by GlobalWebIndex, Google+ has skyrocketed in the past few months and can now boast over 150 million actives users.” – Source: WebProNews


Per Search Engine Land, “Google+ uses a diaspora-like way of sharing content with users by utilizing circles. I think this format is very appealing to many users who are working to balance their professional and personal life.”

Tom’s Guide says, “This time Google is serious – After many years of tinkering, and more than a few false starts (Remember Orkut, and Wave? Anyone still Buzzing?), Google has released Plus, its answer to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the social networking sites in between.”

And, Mashable.com weighs in with, “The Gloves are Off!” in response to Facebook.

Google+ – My 2 Cents


For search benefit and social media benefit, I’m recommending that my clients use Google Plus, but the jury is still out for the next several months on how successful Google & users will ultimately be.

What are your thoughts? PLEASE COMMENT!

———————————————–

Article Source: Google+ Hits 150 Million

Author: Bob Walton is a Raleigh SEO & Local Search search engine marketing service provider for local businesses. If you want to DOMINATE LOCALLY, need a new website, or have questions on improving your existing website, please contact Bob @ 919-523-4185.

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Abundant SEO – My 100 Day Personal Journey

January 30, 2012 By

Just as good SEO includes, not only excellently crafted “on-page elements”, “off-page factors” can play a bigger role (see: Inbound Link Text Rules), and some of the best SEO starts “off-line”, before you even begin to build a website.

“What are you talking about?”, some of you are wondering. Let me peal back the darkness a little so that you too can see the “light”.

Abundant SEO Starts Off-Line

My journey began a year and a half ago when a colleague recommended that I meet Bill Davis and take his 100 Days To Abundance class. Wow! It was life transforming, and the best investment I could ever make for my business.

There’s an adage that says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Bill teaches time tried and tested methods & strategies to create:

  • An unlimited supply of prospects
  • Powerful referral partners & systems
  • Strategic partners to grow your business
  • More clients
  • Increased business from existing clients
  • More results than you thought possible

As with most metamorphic experiences, one must begin with humility. At least enough to acknowledge that there are some folks out there that are just plain smarter and wiser than you, at what you do. We all learn by mistakes, they don’t have to always be our own?

Besides, even when Bill is being “hard” on you, his motive is purely out of a heart to help you overcome obstacles hindering your business. He won’t tell you what to do, he’ll teach the principles then ask you the right questions to help you discover for yourself what’s in your best interest.

Abundant SEO – My BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious)

Abundance for me began when Bill challenged me to not think of my competitors as my enemies. Back in the day, and many may find this funny, I didn’t know the creator of the Come on Inside Networks. I asked Bill, “Who is this Pat Howlett guy?” I was actually a little afraid of him, seeing all that he created and was doing.

However, that started me on a road of seeking & making contact with Pat, to get to know and understand who and what he was about, to discover not only his entrepreneurial prowess, but his generous and altruistic motivations. That lead to my becoming a Network Parter on inside919, a Howlett SEO disciple, and now a business collaborator on some new ventures that I never would have thought of on my own.

Abundant SEO – You Can Profit From It Too!

If you’ve never heard of Bill’s program, now known as, 100 Days to Abundance (2+98 = 100% Growth) , or if you’re on the fence trying to decide if you’ll benefit from it or not, just “pull the trigger” and do it. You’ll thank yourself later.

May you, “Live long and prosper!” It’s a choice, you know.

———————————————–

Article Source: Abundant SEO – My 100 Day Personal Journey?

Author: Bob Walton is a Raleigh SEO & SEM search engine marketing service provider for local businesses. If you want to DOMINATE LOCALLY, need a new website, or have questions on improving your existing website, please contact Bob @ 919-523-4185.

Bob Walton’s Posts – The 919 Business Network – Local Business Networking

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Unclaimed FREE Web Real Estate for Local Search Dominance

January 5, 2012 By

I’m very upset and really bothered! Why? I’m frequently asked, “Hey Bob, I have a website but I don’t get any traffic. Can you help me?” “Of course I can”, I say. Then comes the next statement, “I don’t have much money, what is the cheapest way for me to show up on Google?” Nine times out of ten, the answer to the following question is the same, I ask “Have you claimed your Google Places page and optimized there?” To my dismay, most say, “No.”

A quick look at my profile picture will reveal how regularly I’ve pulled my hair out over that response. Ouch!!! ;-D Google now says 20% of all searches are geographical (in other words, contain keywords for a particular city, state, town, or area). What’s an even more staggering fact is not even 40% of businesses have claimed their Google Places page.

For the soloprenuer, and businesses that run out of a home office, I can understand there may be genuine concern of not giving out personal information. There’s good news however; you can show up on Google Maps without displaying your personal address. See for yourself, in the below case study.

Stacey Shannahan has a home office in Wake County. One of her services/products is Web Videos. We met only only a few days ago, claimed and optimized her Google Places page, and now she’s on the top of Google Maps for the keyphrase “web video Raleigh”. Further, she’s on page 2 for her new website, boasting of only one blog post, for the same keyphrase, for a standard search. That’s simply “Awesome”!

Try it yourself in your browser’s search bar, or visit CDS Productions website featuring Web Video Raleigh services. The cool thing about how she’s displayed on Google Maps, it that she shows as a sphere, rather than a push pin, placed as a centroid, to the areas her business serves.

What about the brick and mortar businesses that already show in Google Maps? Well, you may show, but if you haven’t claimed and optimized your Places page correctly, it’s doing you little, to no good. And, you’re wasting valuable FREE web Real Estate. Further, optimized correctly, your Google Places page will organically push up your business website in Google searches. This is huge, yet so few take full advantage of this approach.

Given the above, why aren’t businesses aren’t taking full advantage of Google Places?

  • Is it a lack of knowledge?
  • Is it the fear of angering the Google gods for doing something wrong by accident?
  • Is it technophobia?

IWhat’s your take?

 

Have questions, call me at 919-523-4185, or visit at my inside919 page, Bob Walton. My web address is: www.SEOSEMRaleigh.com

Bob Walton’s Posts – 919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How Can I Get My Website On Google? – 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid

January 10, 2011 By


Thumbnail

How Can I Get My Website On Google? A Raleigh SEO company knows how. SEO for High Ranking creates web visibility on google and smart phones for small local b…
Bob Walton’s Videos (919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals) – 919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bob Walton – Profile

January 6, 2011 By


Thumbnail

Learn more at http://seoForHighRanking.com
Bob Walton’s Videos (919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals) – 919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In SEO – Content is King!

February 20, 2010 By

Adding Content Adds Value to Your Site

In real estate and business, CASH is King! In the blogoshphere & website SEO, CONTENT is King!



One of the problems that website publishers & bloggers encounter on a regular basis is coming up with new ideas for posts. One tactic that is easy to employ is creating a regular ongoing post series.



What’s an example of post series? Well, first there is “Sandwich Mondays” from NPR. The basic premise is every monday they publish a post about sandwhiches. SEOmoz.org publishes a series called “Whiteboard Friday” to provide mini tutorials of SEO technques. Or, it could be a series from your past on your favorite cartoon heros. Whatever the choice, find something relevant , personal and fun that’s somewhat related to the theme of your website or blog.



Keep each of the posts narrowly focused, you can tie it all together with the head and tail content approach (e.g. – tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and finally, tell them what you told them). These types of posts are something that will benefit from having a bit of personality and opinion to them because it’s what makes them interesting.


Look for YouTube videos, like above, to insert content related to your posts to add variety and interest. Better yet, publish your own videos to gain more exposure, and gain helpful related link-backs to your site.



Additionally, the more opinion you use, the less you are going be viewed as duplicate content, or the same old, same old. Lastly use tags and maximize internal anchor text to get the most SEO value.



The more you post, the more the search engine bots will visit, and the more your site will gain in relevance. Like I said, in the blogosphere, content is truly king.

Source: SEO for High Ranking – Content is King!
Bob Walton’s Posts – 919 Business Networking – Local Business Owners & Professionals

Filed Under: Bob Walton Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts