Today we held a blogging class in League City.

• The Word “Blog”
• Evolution of the Internet and of Web 2.0
• Entries are Reverse-chronological order
• Style of Blogging
• Website-like:  Menu, Text, Photos, Videos
• Types:  Events, Topics, Political, Travel, Opinions, etc.
• Blogging Software:  CMS (Content Management System)

Learn more at Houston Website Design Company

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Ok, once your website assets are up, how to market and promote them?

Get your businesses found throughout the internet.

The strongest traffic comes from having a wide funnel across multiple channels on the internet, all leading to your business website. This involves traffic from these marketing activities:

1. Paid Advertising. Get your businesses on the first page of Google today with Pay Per Click advertising.
2. Search Engine Rankings (SEO). Optimize your internet assets to be high on the first page of Google. Blogs, Article Marketing, Forum Commenting, Blog Commenting, Video Marketing, and more.
3. Social Media. Bring pre-qualified leads to your website from Facebook.
4. Lists (build your own and/or promote to someone else’s list). Make an offer that requires a name and email be provided, this builds your leads and your relationships with future email marketing (Constant Contact).

Next, we want to consistently follow our game plan. Bursts of activity followed by inactivity signal inconsistency to the search engines.

Check out our promotion information at www.GBizBuilders.com

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Need more traffic to your website?  Our Houston company provides keyword research and search engine optimization services  for top search engine placement.  Thousands of searches are done every second on search engines.  Search engines are the top source for getting traffic to your website, and high placement on the search engine results page can bring you great traffic.

What is critical for getting found on high on the search engines?  Quality Keyword Research and Search Engine Optimization.  Getting high rankings on the search engines comes down to performing quality keyword research, and in knowing how to apply the keyword research to search engine optimization. Get ranked for the right keywords and you will get the targeted traffic you want.

Step One for high search engine rankings. What keywords do you use?

1. Target keywords that pull good traffic.  What good is ranking for keywords that don’t get used in searches?
2. Go after keywords that you have a chance to rank for.  Let’s face it, some keywords have so much competitiion, it is beyond the reach of those without huge resources.
3. Target keywords that are used by someone ready to buy or that have “buyer intent.”  There is a difference between “buy” keywords and “informational” keywords. For instance, broad, one or two keyword phrases are usually used by searchers just seeking information.

Step Two for top placement on the search engines:  Once the keywords are selected, then they are used for SEO activities.

1. Use your keywords in the appropriate places on the web page(s).  This is “On-Page” SEO.
2. Then use the keywords in links referring back to your website.  These are called “Anchor Text” Backlinks.  This is “Off-Page” SEO. Search engines like backlinks, they are seen as a popularity vote for your website.  They like to see lots of them and they like to see them from all over the place.

In summary, using the right keywords along with on-page and off-page SEO can help you get top search engine placement, increase your traffic, and rocket your online business success.  Visit our company website to learn more about keyword research and Houston search engine optimization promotion services for top search engine placement.

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Often, when helping small businesses optimize and improve their websites, I am struck at how similar the initial consultation goes:  “my website isn’t getting found” and/or “my website is not working for me.”  Here are some “truth about websites” tips that can help put you ahead of the competition.

Design it right, right now. Now is the time to get up to speed- or ahead of your competition- on the internet.  If you are making sales offline, you could be making more sales by building and promoting a great small business website.

Common obstacles a business owner creates for himself or herself:

• “I made this site myself with Dreamweaver/SiteBuilder/Frontpage or with some “Free” online website builder.
• “The last website I had done for just X dollars.”
• “My website guy/gal says that can’t be done.” or “I don’t do that.”
• “The website guy/gal who created my website won’t return my calls” or “went out of business” or others

These comments pretty much speak for themselves as to why the business owner is frustrated with his online business experience.  Little value was placed on the effort, and little value (or, no value at all) was returned.  Actually, even worse, the business owner probably spent 20 to 100 hours of his/her time seeking the “cheap” solution, and that was time away from what the owner does best.

So, the advice here would be to hire a professional.  But, interview and hire the right professional.

How to interview the professional? Interview the professional and understand how you will get solid value, solid service,  and solid results.  Some areas to discuss:

1. Show me your portfolio.
2. Are you full-service?  Discuss all your services.
3. Do you know how to promote a website?  Discuss/show me your internet marketing plans and campaigns.
4. How many points of contact will I have for the project? Explain how responsive you will be.
5. Go over the short-term goals of the project.
6. Go over the long-term goals of the project.
7. Show me/discuss with me your contract for my project.
8. Discuss pricing, and options.
9. Why should I choose you, how do you stand apart?

You really will want to find an online business consultant, not just a “website jockey” if you want to succeed on the internet.  You should be comfortable with this person and should feel you will get solid value, solid service and solid results.

Click to learn more about our  Houston Website Design Firm and Web Design for Small Business.

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Effective marketing strategies are shifting from printed website internet marketing strategies. We know the good old days of relying on brochures or printed advertising are just about over.  Once a business has published a website, it’s time to perform website internet marketing to promote that online business.  In simple terms, on the internet a business needs to: Get Found. Get Traffic. Get Sales.

In Houston, companies looking for Website Internet Marketing options often choose Pay Per click Internet Marketing.  This option offers local advertising directly to those searching for your product or service, exactly at the moment they are searching.    It’s like putting your business card right in front of someone at the moment they want what you offer.

But PPC doesn’t work just like a magic bullet – you must constantly monitor, measure, and tweak your PPC campaigns to make sure they are profitable.  Here are 7 tips to help ensure Pay Per Click internet marketing success.

1. Choose specific keywords.  Be very precise in what words you use to trigger your ads appearing.
2. Make use of the different match types.  Broad match will trigger various interpretations of the keywords you bid on, phrase match is more specific but exact match only triggers your ad for that specific keyword.
3. Use negative keywords and negative keyword phrases.  Avoid showing up for words that aren’t relevant to your product or service.
4. Use the keywords in the headline or ad text.  Searched keywords that appear in the ad will be bold highlighted and will bring attention to your ad.
5. Have tightly grouped keyword types in Adgroups.  Group small sets of keywords into groups and focus the ad on those keywords.
6. Landing Page.  The landing page should be an extension of the ad.  What is said in the ad should be followed up in the landing page.
7. Track, measure and report.  Place the keyword conversion code on the website where the final action occurs, watch Click Through Rate, create several ads for adgroups and see which is the best performing, run Search Query reports to see what terms are being used… and more.

Take advantage of our experience in search engine pay per click internet marketing along with our unique knowledge of the Houston marketplace.  Get in touch with us for all your Houston Website Pay Per Click Internet Marketing needs.

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Quick thought from our  Houston area Google pay per click campaign management company.   When I use Adwords Pay Per Click to advertise clients businesses, the first thing I have to do is understand what the market is and who the customers are for the product or service being offered.

Look at the Market, Not the Product.

Selling online training, vitamin supplements, bookkeeping services, or iphones?  Not the thing to focus on.

Here’s the thinking we often follow:  “I have something I want to sell on the internet.”  And away we go trying as hard as we can to promote that product, giving endless details and tiresome information about the product or service that is offered.  But, the subject matter of what you are selling – a product, a service, whatever – is not what matters.

What is it that matters most?  Markets Matter Most
When selling on the internet, whether it’s PPC advertising, Facebook business pages, a website or other digital asset, the marketing message you deliver should focus in on the market.  Figure out all you can about the market (the vertical) for your product or service, then learn how to think like someone searching for your product or service.

An Example:
Taking a look at any fat loss product:  Acai, ColonCleanse, Detox, etc… Now, think market = Diet and Weight Loss Market.

Let’s look at how someone will search for a product or service in that Market

Now, you have to think like the person who is entering a search in the Diet and Weight Loss Market.  Think of how someone felt when they can’t fit in a favorite dress or suit.
•  What keywords will be used:  Weight Loss Supplements, Increase Energy, Get a Beach Body, Get ripped abs, lose belly fat, etc…
•  What stage are they in the sales cycle? Someone entering “How to lose weight” is seeking information, but someone entering “Hoodia 60 pill package with free shipping” is looking to buy.

My point? What we are doing here is choosing the Weight Loss Market, not just a product. The market determines how you will promote your product or service.

So remember, look at your product or service within the overall market it plays in, then put yourself in the mind of the customer in that market, and let your product or service deliver what the customer wants.

Carl Loop is a Houston Adwords Pay Per Click Professional, and invites you to find out how to market your product or service directly to people searching for it.

Want to Get Found? Get Traffic? Get Sales? Go to Global Business Builders at http://www.gbizbuilders.com/pay-per-click/ppc-services.html

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Now, Google is in the “Prediction” business. Have you noticed how when doing a Google search, results are shown as you type? This is Google Instant.

Google believes that predicting the words as you type them is an enhancement to your Search Experience. For instance, you don’t even have to press enter, since the results come up before an enter key is ever pressed.

Not yet available on mobile searches, but on its way.

Looking for Pay Per Click advertising help? Go here to see our Local Google Pay Per Click services and get on the 1rst page of Google today.
Learn more about Google Instant here. Do you like how Google “predicts” your search?
Leave a comment…

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What Makes a Killer Landing Page?

Landing pages are specifically used as the place one arrives when clicking on an advertisement, such as a Pay Per Click advertisement on Google.  And, since one arrives or “lands” there from a Pay Per Click advertisement, the ad text and the content on the landing page should match and reinforce each other.

First, see the landing page as a guided tour for the visitor. Starting with the headline, and moving the visitor’s eyes along the page towards the desired call to action exit. Remove sidebars, eliminate or minimize navigation, extra links, or other distractions.  Keep the focus and stay in control of your guided tour.

What’s on the visitor’s mind?  Build your landing pages for a specific target visitor. Do not construct the page for anyone else—generic and broad pages are proven to fail.  Think like your visitor, and answer the things on your visitors mind:

• “Is this what I’m looking for?”
• “How can this help me?”
• “Should I click the back button?”
• “Does this look trustworthy?”
• “How much time is this going to take?”

Formatting and presentation:

• Bullet points work well online, to help communicate the benefits of a product or service. People skim read on the web. Use bold text to reinforce key messages.
• Keep it short and to the point. Paragraphs should be no longer than three lines, with one idea per paragraph.

Parts of a landing page:
An effective landing page usually has the following elements in the order or in some slight variation of the order below:

1. Headline.  Fit the headline on one line, large type. Red is a common color.
2. Benefits, benefits, benefits.  How will it help me save time, make money, see the world in a different way.  Benefits pinpoint a desired feeling or state of mind.  “Look years younger” is a benefit statement.  “4 door sedan” is a feature.
3. Introduction.  Who am I that you should listen to me?
4. Your credibility.  All these ease the mind of your visitor and make them feel comfortable:
   • Testimonials,
   • Credentials (Awards, Titles, etc.)
   • Social Proof (BBB, Chambers of Commerce logos, etc.)
   • Visible Customer Support Options
5. Overcome objections.  Your visitor has tried everything and seen it all.  Why will it work for the visitor? Why should they choose you?  What makes you unique?
6. Features, specifications, what you get.
   • Use checkmarks
   • Be factual instead of general.  Example: “30% Off” instead of “Prices Reduced” or “On Sale.”
7. Build up of value: price, compare to similar products, bonuses, guarantee…then state the cost.
8. Testimonials, again.
9. Call to Action.  The goal of landing page is to cause your visitors to take definite action. Whether it be ordering a product, entering email information, downloading software, or whatever, make it clear and unmistakable.  It can also help to remind the visitor again about the bonuses and guarantee.  Often, the call to action is in 2 places on the landing page: once near the top, and once near the bottom of the page.
10. Conclusion.  If you have an effective final note, include it in a PS and even a PPS.

Your landing page is a specific tool for identifying and attracting a visitor to do something.  You homepage and overall website pages are places where people come to learn more about you, but your landing page is the “Sales Backbone” of a website where you are asking and encouraging a visitor to do something.

Need a website checkup? Global Business Builders, a Houston based web site design, promotion and internet marketing company, offers a Free Professional Website Review and SEO Analysis Report.

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These 7 tips will help make your ongoing Search Engine Optimization efforts be more effective.

1. Get your keywords down.  Know what the Keyword Portfolio for your site will be.  Think broader keywords for the main pages, and more specific keywords for the subpages/interior pages.
2. Stay Focused.  Focus efforts on getting links from relevant sources.  If you are selling sofas, then a link on a children’s toys site is not helpful.
3. Keep on the campaign trail.  Big starts followed by long stops will cause you to lose momentum, and may hurt your link campaigns.  Rather than pushing months of effort into 4 weeks, keep it spread out over time.  This keeps the momentum and keeps your activity current in the index robots.
4. Limit or eliminate linking on websites  that have no link power.  Websites that have poor page rank, low quality, or use NoFollows (inactive links, no link power). Also, sites that have questionable activities like pop ups or virus warning are to be stayed away from.
5. Think broad and deep on the keywords used to promote your website. Think of broad themes as well as going deep around specific keywords.
6. When article marketing, a few high quality article directories is better than trying to syndicate across hundreds of directories.  Trying to push an article across hundreds of directories usually has less power than high quality directories.
7. Build links to your important internal website pages and popular blog posts, this is called deep linking. This will spread your SEO out throughout your website and not just your homepage.

Need a website checkup?  Get a Free Website and SEO Analysis Report  from Houston SEO Company Global Business Builders.

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Developing a great website internet marketing plan can help you with growing your business online.   But to be effective, it is important to know the options and to know the order to follow to create a successful marketing plan.  Below are general parts to consider in creating your marketing plan.

1.  Gather your ideas:

• Understand your keywords
• Research your competitors
• Developing your marketing message
• Understanding your market
• What are your marketing challenges

2.  State your objectives

Your objectives declare what your end goals will be.  And your strategies and tactics will be based on these objectives.  Some ideas for objectives might include:

• Increase brand awareness
• Be above a certain competitor in the search engines
• Overcome marketing challenges
• Enhance client service in a particular way
• Increase traffic to your website by a certain percent
• Grow sales through website by a certain percent

3. Marketing Strategies
The Marketing Strategies set the general approaches that will be taken in order to achieve your objectives.  If you are new to the internet, you will focus on Business Launch strategies.  If you are already on the internet, you will focus on Business Expansion internet strategies.  Example strategies could include:

• Increase website visibility through website promotion
• Position myself as an authority in my field
• Develop relationships throughout the internet
• Attract more customers through special offers

4. Marketing Tactics
Marketing Tactics are the way you will implement your strategies.  These are the action steps of your marketing plan to be implemented.

• Advertise my website with Google Adwords
• Increase Search Engine Placement by optimizing my website for specific keywords
• Develop a Facebook site and build followers
• Create articles or a newsletter
• Offer customers a discount for ordering through your website

Need help creating a website marketing plan?  Global Business Builders, located in the Houston Metro area, offers expert service in all phases of your marketing plans.

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