International Search Engine Marketing Blog

Lately, the hotel industry is starting to focus heavily on the search results displayed in Google and the other major engines. Top rankings for a highly trafficked phrase can result in a tremendous boon to business’ bottom line. Lately, even some of the larger players seem to be realizing this and are employing the services of search engine marketing companies.

As a case study let’s take a look at the largest vacation destination in the world, Orlando and a company that caters to its visitors. It might surprise a few people to hear that this Florida spot is the number one travel destination in the Globe, but it is true. Throughout the year, people from all across the Globe stay in Orlando hotels to visit Walt Disney World and the other major theme parks. The climate is ideal most of the season and the city is also a major convention area.

Previously the top search results were dominated by booking engines that search a wide array of properties. Only a few days ago www.orlandovacationhotels.com ranked near the top of the search results for the highly competitive and coveted phrase “Orlando Hotels”. As of this morning, the site is now located at the bottom of Page 1 in Google. Instead there are multiple other sites owned by the Wyndham and the Marriot that are appearing above this company’s site. While these results are likely nothing more than a temporary fluke, during the time Google is making internal changes to the way it displays search results, it is still a temporary disservice to searchers who rely on Google for results and guidance.

Usually, people searching for a general phrase, such as Orlando hotels, are looking for a plethora of options rather than viewing a specific hotel’s website. Users are looking for choices and suggestions not specific properties. I am certain Google realizes this and in a short time everything will return to “normal”, but it does not take away the fact the users are deprived of finding vacation booking engines such as the Orlando Hotels site mentioned earlier.

Putting aside my views of injustice for a moment, the bottom line is that Google wants to help its users and soon enough www.orlandovacationhotels.com will return back to the top of the search results for one its key phrases. Search engine marketing is tough, no doubt about that. That is why most companies in competitive industries hire professional SEO companies. I suspect you will see an ever growing number of marketing firms popping up wanting to help both booking engines and the larger hotel chains appear at the top of the rankings.

There is an enormous difference between improving a SEO campaign for a company that opened its online doors in the 1990’s than one that only recently decided to start an online business. The majority of the time an established company can achieve top search engine results in a relatively short period of time; whereas a brand new one might have to wait many months before their site will even appear in the search engines.

While there are many reasons why this is the case, I wanted to provide a little insight into a few factors a smart SEO company will look at before doing business with an established organization. The Google Sandbox, the number and type of inbound links, and the size of the website are a few of the considerations to factor.

Luckily, few established companies have much to worry about when it comes to the Google Sandbox. This term is used to describe a penalty placed on a brand new website that prevents it from appearing in the search results until at least a few months after a link first points to the domain. The rationale is that there are thousands of domains that are purchased each year and only a fraction of them are still around the following one. Therefore until a site can establish that it is a meaningful resource, which is also likely to stay around in the future, Google, Yahoo, and a few of the other major search engines will not even list it in their search results. The reason is quite simple. Why list information from a site that is not yet established when similar information from a business that has already existed is readily available?

Inbound links from external sites pointing to a domain is another factor in an SEM campaign. Google uses links as a form of voting and typically the larger number of relevant links a website has pointing to it then the higher it will appear in the search results. An established company tends to have a larger quantity of inbound links simply because the business started awhile ago. However, oftentimes the links are not ones that are going to help the website appear at the top of the search results. For instance, a link that contains only a company’s name is unlikely to help it appear at the top of the search results for a keyword phrase that relates to the products or services it sells. When starting a search engine optimization campaign with an established business a key component is acquiring relevant links that point to a company’s website.

The size of a website is also a key consideration. Picture a website as a large building. If it has an excellent foundation then it will typically stand for many years to come. Unfortunately, websites built a decade ago, usually have an outdated foundation than those built yesterday and this is one area that puts an established business at a disadvantage to a brand new website. It is much easier to build a foundation from scratch than to rebuild one after there are thousands of web pages built on a site from that uses technology from a decade ago. Therefore one of the most time consuming and difficult components with an existing website is rebuilding a foundation that takes into account the changes in the search landscape that took place over the past decade. This is especially true of websites that have thousands of products or pages.

SEO or SEM is never an easy process and there are different issues to address with each website. One such issue is the length of time the company first went online. Depending upon the website, this can make starting or properly continuing an internet marketing effort much easier or exponentially more difficult.

Will a website have a top 10 search rankings next week? While there is always a degree of educating guessing involved in the answer to this question, Google has a simple search query that can provide insight into this simple yet involved questions.

Rather than typing in a search string such as, Baja real estate, adding “allinanchor: [keyword phrases]” before the search string will provide a glimpse into the future search results for a particular keyword phrase. For example the search query allinanchor: Baja real estate will show the search results in order of webpages that Google considers to have the most valuable links pointing to it. But why does this predict the future?

Typically, this is an indicator of future results since Google places a large emphasis on the quality of links pointing to a webpage and there can be a time delay before the value of newly acquired links are recognized in the SERP’s (search engine results pages). Using the same example a regular search for Baja real estate will show the webpage http://www.bajaonlinerealty.com in the 45^th position. However, the search allinanchor: Baja real estate will show the site appears in the 36^th position. Often it is only a matter of time before the regular search results show a larger similarity to that of the allinanchor search listings. 

This query makes it possible to predict which pages will start to move up and appear in the top 10 search engine rankings. By the time many people read this, the aforementioned website may already appear in position 36 on Google or even higher up in the search results. In fact this article will helps the website achieve a top 10 ranking for the phrase “Baja Real Estate” since there is a link pointing to the site. Since this site has served as an example, I will further help its quest for top rankings.

I encourage all those looking for Baja real estate to take a look at their homepage before purchasing property. That simple sentence a along with the fact that it includes a links pointing to the sites homepage will further improve the sites allinanchor and regular search rankings. In fact, it would not come as a huge shock if the website already has a top 10 search engine ranking in Google by the time most people read this post. 

Even though the holiday season is starting to wrap up for most online retailers, it is also the same time many companies start looking for an international SEM or SEO company. While this is certainly commendable, many times it is a case of too little, too late if a business is looking to achieve noticeable results in the next couple of weeks. On the other hand, smart online retailers are already planning an internet marketing and SEO strategy for the next high volume sales period.

Luckily, even though this holiday period is nearing its conclusion, there is a never ending stream of holidays and months when retailers can generate markedly higher sales. As smart business owners already know, one key to successfully sell products online is to plan for the busy seasons far in advance of when it occurs. Typically the online retailers that sell the most also prepare the most. While, companies can obtain information on the effectiveness of an SEO campaign faster than most any other marketing mediums, it still takes time to plan and then for an SEO company to perform the work required for an online retailer to obtain top search rankings.

A common problem business owners face is finding the time to plan. As a business owner, I can certainly understand this. Fortunately, as with any new or improved marketing initiatives, it takes effort to set aside time required to determine a proper course of action. While some readers may do a double take and question the usage of the word “fortunately.” Its usage in the above sentence is no mistake. Most presidents and owners do not spend the time needed to effectively initiate and follow through on their internet marketing efforts. Any owner fortunate enough to take the time to fully plan and commence an SEO campaign therefore ends up with an enormous competitive advantage over those who continually wait, ponder, or never start one.

This certainly does not mean that any marketing coordinator of an online retailer should rush out tomorrow and hire an SEO company, but it does mean that the most profitable online retailers likely already followed similar steps some time ago. Any online business looking to join their ranks, should at a minimum, outline a definitive strategy on how to increase their website’s sales. I highly suggest that retailers \set and adhere to a time frame for actually acting upon such an outline. While this holiday season is starting to wrap up, the next one is only starting out. Companies that decisively choose and initiate a plan in advance of the next sales boom are likely the same ones that will experience the largest financial rewards.

Recently, I have noticed an onslaught of SEO companies advertising to help prospects in specific industries such as the chiropractic field, automobile field, and many other trade groups that are looking to increase their marketing efforts using the internet. I applaud any SEO company that truly attempts to assist business owners in these industries. There is a definite need for doctors and automobile owners to have their websites marketed by a professional search engine marketing company.

Unfortunately, far too often I see these niche marketers charging exorbitant prices. I have heard stories of small dental practices shelling out $30,000 plus to have a website built and marketed online. The saddest part of the story is that even after spending all of that money, oftentimes their websites still do not appear anywhere within the top search engine results and little or no return on investment is ever realized.

That same small dental practice or chiropractic office has likely missed out on many new patients that the doctors could of helped. Essentially, the doctors’ offices are losing twice. Their first loss occurs when the office overpays for a web design or SEO service and the second loss realates to the opportunity cost involved with missing out on all the potential new patients that might have located their practice had they hired a different marketing company.

My best advice in this scenario is to start from scratch. Those who have yet to invest in a website should learn from the mistakes of others. When starting a new chiropractic or dental practice, owners should keep these ideas in mind when the inevitable bombarding of sales calls takes place. A marketing company does not have to focus solely on a specific industry in order to provide a better service than one that does. A common misconception is that a company which can list multiple dentists and chiropractors as clients has provided those clients a valuable service.

Many times the owners of a niche businesses, such as an automobile dealership or doctor’s office, are better off talking to a general web design firm or SEO company. Often these types of companies are staffed to handle such projects, can provide a superior level of service and expertise, and can do so for a price much lower than a company that markets solely to doctors or automobile dealers. A company that declares themselves as an expert in an industry is not necessarily one. Business owners in any industry should keep this in mind whether hiring a local web design firm or an international SEO company.

Usually, I do not use this blog to advertise our companies specials, but I am making an exception this one occasion since we are offering a limited time offer for new and existing clients. Agilis Marketing will obtain a top 10 search engine ranking for only $99 per month. There are no long term commitments or contracts. If you are not happy then simply let us know and you can cancel at any time. Simply go to our SEO special offer page to signup.

Why did we decide to make this offer? Even though I am against specials, the truth is that many people are gun shy when it comes to internet marketing. This is an opportunity for those companies or individuals to use our services for an extremely low price. Thus businesses are able to experience what our SEO company can achieve for a menial fee. Please note that this offer is available for both U.S. and international companies looking to improve the search engine marketing component of their advertising strategy.

I do want to emphasis that we are using this strategy as a loss leader. The only reason we are offering this price is to show companies our SEM abilities. Our company’s mission has not changed: to grow our business with the growth of our clients’ businesses. This offer is a way of showing the deep commitment we have towards that goal. Feel free to contact us with any questions at 1-877-SEO-1169 or go to our SEO special offer page to signup instantly.

Many people automatically assume that search engine marketers are hired purely by businesses, whether they are local or international, looking to profit selling products or services. While this is primarily the case, I wanted to explore another reason internet marketers and SEO professional are hired: to correct a perceived wrong.

Be warned that this method of internet marketing is sometimes used without warrant and for improper purposes. The flip side of the coin is that in many instances it is an extremely effective and relatively inexpensive way to relay facts to a number of consumers. Essentially the idea is for the page or website created to appear above or near the company’s own site; this way those who are considering transaction with the business are able to see another person’s perspective of the organization.

When approached by such prospects, I highly suggest that the pages created contain purely factual information. That way nothing on the page is construed as libelous and I further suggest that they may also wish to consult with an attorney beforehand.

Describing this method of internet marketing is easiest with an example; therefore I will use a personal example with a webpage that I recently created. One goal for this webpage:  http://www.agilismarketing.com/southeastern-virginia-bni/ is for it to appear at the top of the search results when people search either for Southeastern Virginia BNI or Tony Dziadul. That way others who might consider joining the organization have more facts to base their decision upon.

At one point in my career, as an employee of another company, I became a member of the Southeastern Virginia BNI (Business Networking International) chapter. My understanding is that one of this organization’s goals is to promote the growth of its members’ businesses. Unfortunately, I had an experience that led me to believe otherwise. Now, I simply want others to know of my experience and to formulate their own conclusions. As with any business or person I interact with, I have personal feelings about the Southeastern Virginia BNI chapter and their executive director Tony Dziadul. However, if you click on the links above notice that the point of such a page is not to relay personal feelings, but post factual information. For instance the page I created contains email communications with Tony Dziadul, thus other people are able to develop their own opinions.

One purpose of this post is to illustrate another method for which search engine optimization is utilized. As mentioned at the start of this article, SEO and SEM are  used mostly to promote a businesses products or services, but can also have many other purposes, such as that above. These outside the box marketing techniques are an ideal and cost effective way to show an international audience factual information about another firm, company, or individual.

Many people will check their websites’ Page Ranks (correctly written as the trademarked one word: PageRank) this Monday morning and see the first update in nearly half a year. Keep in mind that this will have little impact on any website’s search rankings, whether the site is an international one or based in the United States. However, the number does serve as Barometer that measures that value of external links pointing to a website and educated website owners should have concern if their site’s PageRank drops. That is why this morning; many people will smile, while others will frown.

The fact of the matter is that PageRank (PR) is updated on a continual basis. However, Google has increasingly lengthened the amount of time between updating the PR displayed on their toolbar. The basic reason is that Google derives little benefit from updating the PR shown to the public.

SEO and SEM firms find this number quite valuable as it is one piece of information they can use when attempting to increase a site’s rankings within the search results. All else equal a link from a page with a higher PR is worth more than a link from a page with a lower PageRank. The fastest and easiest way to determine a page’s value is to look at the PR displayed by Google’s toolbar.

Since Google does not like anyone influencing their search results and most certainly does not want to make it easier for someone to do so, I hypothesis that is the primary reason why Google updates the PR displayed on their toolbar less and less frequently.

Keep in mind, the toolbar PR number is simply the one displayed and not the value used by Google on a daily basis. That said, why do such a large number of people care about this all illusive number? One reason is that people do not realize that the PR number is not updated in real time and simply associate the value of a website by the number Google displays on their toolbar.

The other reason site owner’s place such a high importance on PageRank is that a website with a higher PR is viewed as more valuable to other webmaster’s and search engine optimization experts. Often, SEO experts are willing to work harder to obtain a link from a higher PR site than one with a lower ranking and as a result there is a symbiotic monetary value associated with a site’s PageRank.

Those who are in the business of obtaining SEO friendly links are those most impacted by this recent update. As mentioned previously, many people will smile, while other will frown. Those smiling will obviously be the owner’s of website’s that have a higher PageRank since a large portion of the web community will consider their site more valuable. The converse is true for those site owners who now have a lower PR.