Google Photos Blog: The Panoramio Widget API: Embedding Panoramio photos and slideshows

Google Photos Blog: The Panoramio Widget API: Embedding Panoramio photos and slideshows

Essential SEO Content Writing For Your Niche Market

In today's world of Internet technologies, there are numerous ways to throw oneself into the battle. Nevertheless, many have found that there is money to be made when getting into the business of search engine optimization, not only making money but, creating a steady stream of targeted traffic like never before.

Search engine optimization starts with some adjusting of your system, if you're not familiar with the process, it is better to put that task into the hands of the professional, tweaking the system can become very complicated.

No doubt there are a lot of ways to for you to create some huge traffic leads for yourself but, you would be better off if you concentrated on what you are really good at. There are going to be things that you are good at and there are going to be things that you are not so good at. One thing you will have to become good at is SEO content writing and if you practice over time you can become proficient at writing SEO content, if not, then you will have to engage companies to write SEO content for you.

Learning SEO content writing is not that difficult at all. If you own a blog your are more than likely writing for yourself already, if that is the case, half the battle is won. Leaning the keywords associated with your niche market is a good start. Simply write your keywords or your keyword phrases down, then start your content writing around those word and putting thoughts down on paper.

It's a great idea to check the keywords and keyword phrases with Google to see how competitive they are. You do not want to use keywords if they super competitive, it is best to start with less competitive words first, then advance to the more competitive keywords later.

Learning to use the keywords that are relevant to your site will greatly improve your traffic to your site, the nice thing about this is, the traffic is free because, the search engines are free, they will send traffic to your site on a regular bases once you start ranking higher and higher.

Many doubt the validity of SEO content writing, maybe for the simple reason they don't like the idea of writing articles that have to have the proper grammar and the such. Well, the great thing about SEO content writing is, you don't have to be an English Professor to write SEO content.

Search engines provide information to its customers that come to them searching for a particular topic or subject, think of the search engines as a information highway to provide this information to its customers. Now with this in mind, the only way they can find you is through keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant to you site.

The customers come to the search engines and type in their particular keywords and click search, then the search engines begin to search using their particular keywords to search the web for this information that has been requested by the customer. Keep in mind, search engines love fresh informative content, you will hear the phrase "content is king" quite often, this is still true today.

Now, the whole concept article content writing is to attract the search engines to you site. By having your blog or website optimized for the search engines will give you a good start, remember, your competition already has their blog or website optimized for the search engines already.

Getting your site to page one of Google is a daunting task to say the least but, learning the SEO strategies and putting them to work will greatly enhance your chances to get high rankings.

SEO content writing, posting on your blog or website, submitting articles to article directories will help you achieve your goals in your online business opportunity. Happy writing!

Hello and welcome to my world of Internet marketing, my name Is Mikal Bhatia. I live in northern California. I'm currently working from home, building an online business. My blog teaches others, SEO tips and marketing strategies and how to create an income working from home with a affiliate program. For great marketing tips, you can subscribe to my free e-course.
Mikal Bhatia,http://www.seocompanycalifornia.com

Ten Tips to the Top of the Search Engines

Having a website that gets found in Google, Yahoo, and MSN, etc. isn't hard to do, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are my latest and greatest tips to get you started:

1. Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to. The search engines put a lot of stock in how long your website and domain have been around. While you can purchase a new domain and redirect your old one to the new one, your best bet is to use your existing domain/website if at all possible. If you're redesigning or starting from scratch and you have to use a brand-new domain for some reason, you can expect at least somewhat of a loss in search engine traffic. It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months or more.
   



2. Optimize your site for your target audience, not for the search engines. This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. The search engines are looking for pages that best fit the keyword phrase someone types into their little search box. If those "someones" are typing in search words that relate to what your site offers, then they are most likely members of your target audience. You need to optimize your site to meet *their* needs. If you don't know who your target audience is, then you need to find out one way or another. Look for studies online that might provide demographic information, and visit other sites, communities, or forums where your target audience might hang out and listen to what they discuss. This information will be crucial to your resulting website design, keyword research, and copywriting.



3. Research your keyword phrases extensively. The phrases you think your target market might be searching for may very well be incorrect. To find the optimal phrases to optimize for, use research tools such as KeywordDiscovery, Wordtracker or Google's Keyword Tool. Compile lists of the most relevant phrases for your site, and choose a few different ones for every page. Never shoot for general keywords such as "travel" or "vacation," as they are rarely (if ever) indicative of what your site is really about.



4. Design and categorize your site architecture and navigation based on your keyword research. Your research may uncover undiscovered areas of interest or ways of categorizing your products/services that you may wish to add to your site. For instance, let's say your site sells toys. There are numerous ways you could categorize and lay out your site so that people will find the toys they're looking for. Are people looking for toys to fit their child's stage of development? (Look for keyword phrases such as "preschool toys.") Or are they more likely to be seeking specific brands of toys? Most likely, your keyword research will show you that people are looking for toys in many different ways. Your job is to make sure that your site's navigation showcases the various ways of searching. Make sure you have links to specific-brand pages as well as specific age ranges, specific types of toys, etc.



5. Program your site to be "crawler-friendly." The search engines can't fill out forms, can't search your site, can't read JavaScript links and menus, and can't interpret graphics and Flash. This doesn't mean that you can't use these things on your site; you most certainly can! However, you do need to provide alternate means of navigating your site as necessary. If you have only a drop-down sequence of menus to choose a category or a brand of something, the search engine crawlers will never find those resulting pages. You'll need to make sure that you always have some form of HTML links in the main navigation on every page which link to the top-level pages of your site. From those pages, you'll need to have further HTML links to the individual product/service pages. (Please note that HTML links do NOT have to be text-only links. There's nothing wrong with graphical image navigation that is wrapped in standard tags, as the search engines can follow image links just fine.)



6. Label your internal text links and clickable image alt attributes (aka alt tags) as clearly and descriptively as possible. Your site visitors and the search engines look at the clickable portion of your links (aka the anchor text) to help them understand what they're going to find once they click through. Don't make them guess what's at the other end with links that say "click here" or other non-descriptive words. Be as descriptive as possible with every text and graphical link on your site. The cool thing about writing your anchor text and alt attributes to be descriptive is that you can almost always describe the page you're pointing to by using its main keyword phrase.



7. Write compelling copy for the key pages of your site based on your chosen keyword phrases and your target market's needs, and make sure it's copy that the search engines can "see." This is a crucial component to having a successful website. The search engines need to read keyword-rich copy on your pages so they can understand how to classify your site. This copy shouldn't be buried in graphics or hidden in Flash. Write your copy based on your most relevant keyword phrases while also making an emotional connection with your site visitor. (This is where that target audience analysis comes in handy!) Understand that there is no magical number of words per page or number of times to use your phrases in your copy. The important thing is to use your keyword phrases only when and where it makes sense to do so for the real people reading your pages. Simply sticking keyword phrases at the top of the page for no apparent reason isn't going to cut it, and it just looks silly. (Purchase and read our Copywriting Combo for exact tips on how to implement this correctly.)



8. Incorporate your keyword phrases into each page's unique Title tag. Title tags are critical because they're given a lot of weight with every search engine. Whatever keyword phrases you've written your copy around should also be used in your Title tag. Remember that the information that you place in this tag is what will show up as the clickable link to your site at the search engines. Make sure that it accurately reflects the content of the page it's on, while also using the keyword phrases people might be using at a search engine to find your stuff.



9. Make sure your site is "link-worthy." Other sites linking to yours is a critical component of a successful search engine optimization campaign, as all of the major search engines place a good deal of emphasis on your site's overall link popularity. You can go out and request hundreds or thousands of links, but if your site stinks, why would anyone want to link to it? On the other hand, if your site is full of wonderful, useful information, other sites will naturally link to it without your even asking. It's fine to trade links; just make sure you are providing your site visitors with only the highest quality of related sites. When you link to lousy sites, keep in mind what this says to your site visitors as well as to the search engines.



10. Don't be married to any one keyword phrase or worried too much about rankings. If you've done the above 9 things correctly, you will start to see an increase in targeted search engine visitors to your site fairly quickly. Forget about where you rank for any specific keyword phrase and instead measure your results in increased traffic, sales, and conversions. (You can sign up for a Google Analytics for free, which easily tracks and measures those things that truly matter.) It certainly won't hurt to add new content to your site if it will really make your site more useful, but don't simply add a load of fluff just for the sake of adding something. It really is okay to have a business site that is just a business site and not a diatribe on the history of your products. Neither your site visitors nor the engines really give a hoot!

How to Get the Logo You Want

Your logo is more than just an important part of your marketing materials. It is the face of your business. Your logo gives clients and prospects a visual reference to pair with your business name, which increases the memorability of your brand.

When a client comes to me asking for a logo, I often get the same few comments when beginning the project: "I know what I want, but I don't know how to explain it." "I know what my logo looks like, but I'm not an artist. I can't draw it. So I want you to keep drawing until you get it right." Or even more vague, "I'll know my logo when I see it."

Many of these statements come from clients who have worked with other designers and haven't been walked through a successful design process. They seem to depend on my mind-reading capabilities, which, admittedly, aren't the sharpest. I'm a logo designer, not a clairvoyant! There are, however, logical ways to approach the design process to make sure you end up with a logo that's truly and uniquely yours.

Are you having a hard time getting the logo you want?

If you're working with a designer and looking for "just the right" logo but getting sketches that cause nothing but frustration, don't despair. I've worked with many clients on difficult projects and come reasonably close to reading their minds without having ESP. Here are some tips to help you get your logo done right:

1. Make sure you're working with a designer who can work in a style you like. Check out their portfolio and make sure they've done work that inspires you. If you're having trouble getting good results from your designer, reconfirm that they have done the work in their portfolio—that those samples weren't done by subcontractors or employees in their firm.

Also, let them know which specific samples you like. A designer will probably have several different styles and approaches in their portfolio, so zeroing in on the logos you like—plus detailing what you like about each one—can help get your project started out on the right foot.

2. Gather other examples of logos you like. This way, your designer will be able to get a sense of your taste, instead of having to guess at your preferences. Example logos don't have to come from your competitors or your industry. They are to help your designer gauge your level of visual taste. Choose logos that visually appeal to you regardless of the company or product.

It's important that you send your designer logos, not photos or paintings. Photos and paintings are graphically very different from a logo, and they don't often translate well from one medium to another. And if there is one particular element of a logo that you love specifically—the font, color palette, or something about the icon—then tell your designer what it is.

3. Define your business. Too often, clients give designers the bare minimum of information, for example, business name and products or services. Then they expect designers to read their minds and perform a miracle. If you provide so little information, how can your designer be expected to "get" what you're all about and to translate your personality and individuality into a unique logo?

Tell your designer about your business's mission, what excites you about it, and how you'd like your clients to see your personality. Tell them about your clients—who they are, what they need, and what their problems are. With this information, your designer will be much more able to create a logo that truly communicates the essence of your business to clients and prospects.

4. Give detailed feedback. Instead of saying "I don't like them" when your designer presents logos to you and ending the conversation there, engage in a dialog about the options offered. Don't just dismiss everything because it's not perfect the first time around. Getting anything just right can take a couple of tries.

Focus on the positive aspects of the concepts you've been given instead of the negatives. See if there's anything in any of the logos that appeals to you—or a direction that interests you.

5. Break the design process down. Look at the elements of the logo separately. Sometimes a logo won't seem right because it's in the wrong color palette or matched with the wrong font. Focus first on the logo icon and then look at the font. Apply color last so that it doesn't distract you from the merits of the design.

If these steps fail, perhaps the best logo isn't the one you personally love. Instead, your business may be better served by creating a logo that appeals to your clients.

6. Keep in mind that your logo's job is to appeal to your best clients, not just to make you happy. Instead of focusing on whether or not you like your logo, show it to some of your best clients and get their opinions. Sometimes, it's better to have a logo your clients like than to like it yourself, because the logo's job is to help them see your personality and remember your business, not make you proud.

Ask your clients what they think about your logo. Do keep in mind that each client brings different personal taste to the table. Put the most weight on feedback from clients who best match your ideal client profile. And be sure that you respect their taste. If your main focus group target drives beater cars or dresses questionably, and you're creating a luxury brand, consider finding a more high-end client to run the logo by.

7. Ask your designer what to do in cases like this. This advice is my procedure for getting past the ESP phase of the project and into my clients' heads. Another designer may have a totally different way of getting around a hitch in the process and creating a logo that looks as you envisioned it. Just ask your designer to walk you through their process.

These steps should help you get closer to a logo that works for your business and avoid going around in circles and getting frustrated. Even if your designer can't read your mind immediately, it's worth going through the process to get the best logo possible for your business.