Are you spending too much time focusing on links?

This is an article that I read on Bing Webmaster forums and I had to share this with everyone:

"Links, links, links.  It’s pretty much at the top of any SEOs “must discuss” list of topics.  For a long time, the prevailing thinking was links were the golden egg.  They were what you needed to turn the tide and boost your rankings.  And that was true.

Today, though, it might pay to broaden your thinking.

I am not saying links are dead or links have no value – let’s get that straight up front.

What I am saying, however, is that it can pay to keep the big picture in view and not get mired too deeply in the weeds.  I mean, just watching comments on popular search industry sites from those who work in the industry is enough to convince anyone that link building and managing link campaigns is very much the current “tactic du jour”.  But what if that time were better spent?

It’s easy to get fixated one a single tactic, hoping if you double down on that one area it’ll pay dividends.  Easier for you, easier on the budget (in some cases) and easier to track results.  But it’s a single signal to the engines.  Links.  Just a single signal.  So what are you doing to work with the other signals?

Are you putting equal time into the social side of the equation?  Is your social program ramping up to engage people in a meaningful way?  Or is it on autopilot still pumping out self-serving links to only your own products and services?

Is the editorial side of your house producing the killer content you need them to?  Do they seek new ways to engage readers through not just well written content, but with content that answers questions before they’re asked?

Are your content management system and your page templates sorted out from a technical SEO standpoint?  Still got multiple <H1> tags on the page?  Still leaving <ALT> tags empty? Missing a <meta description>?

The point here is to not get caught up in one single aspect of the complex world of SEO.  Links, while still holding value, have evolved as signals over time.  If we see a sudden appearance of obviously spammy links pointed at your site, and your site is otherwise showing a history of trustworthiness, we’re most likely going to just ignore those links.  Still, while this can cover the obvious instances, tools like the Disavow Links feature in Bing Webmaster Tools enables you to flag inbound links you don’t like.

To be clear, again, this isn’t a post stating links are dying, or you should ignore them, but it is a post saying watch how much time you invest in them.  By and large, building links the right way is beyond your control.  While it’s smart to allocate some time to watching this signal via the tools and data available today, don’t place all of your eggs in one basket.

This isn’t foreshadowing anything either, but what if links ceased to be a useful signal to the engines.  What would you focus on then?

So many times across the industry you hear conversations about shortcuts.  How can I build links quickly?  I need more followers on Twitter, quickly.  Where can I get free content?

If all the time that was spent seeking shortcuts was invested into producing quality, engaging content, more websites would find success.  The main point behind today’s post is to remind you to look around; watch what you invest in and make sure you’re not wasting time seeking shortcuts when the answer to success is right in front of you.

User Experience + Compelling Content FTW!"

Why Are Landing Pages Important?

Creating landing pages allows you to more effectively achieve your goal of converting a higher percentage of your visitors into leads. This is because landing pages make the process of receiving an offer much simpler for your visitors, since they don’t have to navigate your website to find the page they’re looking for.

Sending your visitors to landing pages also eliminates any confusion about what they must do to receive your offer, which keeps them from getting frustrated about not finding the form, or deciding that it’s not worth their time to figure out how to go about the process.

Thus, directing your visitors to a landing page -- the exact page with the offer and the form they must complete to get it -- makes it more likely that they will complete your form and convert into leads. 20 landing page designs get analysed by the GURU's - Unbounce - http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/20-landing-page-designs-get-picked-apart-analyzed-for-conversion/

Use of images for social media

When you see a great picture – you look at it – eye candy for all of us.

So some simple ways to get the best out of using photos for your social media and how it can help your business are quite simply done by a few easy steps.

Firstly decide what you want out of using photos in your strategy – showing to folks talking in front of a screen depicts work.

Then make sure who the target market is for your photos, who your audience is because you want them to Engage on social media, take more photos and share with you and the But Your PRODUCTS.

Make sure you create a very alluring theme or hook with your photos ie. My photos show someone littering with a McDonalds packet and my hook is our products are so fresh they do not need wasteful packaging!..get the idea.

Now you need to create a story around your picture – there is power in words ask any copywriter.

Even if you are a small business, develop and promote your brand always – remember you want Traffic so why not use a Trafficfundi!!!!

Try protect your photo otherwise everyone will sue it freely.  Try a watermark

Associate relevant text with your images – remember to optimize your work always..  Get to the top!!!  Go ahead, use keyword based file names and alt tags!

Spread the word with your picture in catalogues, directories etc so spread the word often.

Share your photo with Pintinterest, Twiiter, facebook etc

Prospect, prospect and  prospect and invite all your colleagues, friends, enemies to share there photos and stoiries with yours – spread the word be like butter! Use blog, websites and social sharing all te time and promote.

Lastly measure your results there are many tools that will tell you what you are working towards is working or not

Lastly, if your photo is not that great – photoshop it!

The Dreaded “P” Word, the Writing Police are Watching

All writers are afraid of the dreaded “P” word – so what am I referring to here? We are referring to nothing less than the dreaded word plagiarism.

Plagiarism is something that we, as copy writers,  are often tempted to do – after all copying someone else’s copy is dead easy and no-one will find out! Or will they?  Don’t kid yourself. The writing police will soon be onto your game, and you will be caught out super-quick.

But why bother copying someone else’s ideas when your very own could be as good if not better? Have you ever read an article either online or somewhere else where you think to yourself “gee that is so great”? Well, let’s face facts -  we are all individuals and who says that what one has to say, depart or share is not as good if not as interesting as the next person?

Flowery language is one entity, but getting down and dirty and saying what you think, what you feel and what you know could be far better than the person who can write beautifully and descriptively, yet there is little depth to what they have to say?

A pretty girl is fantastic, and if she dresses wonderfully it is even nicer, but if she is a completely vacuous individual and has absolutely nothing at all to say that is deep, interesting or a little funny – well, let’s face it, the admiration stops right there.

Writing copy is identical to the pretty girl. Perhaps the pretty stuff looks good from a distance, but when the reader digs a little deeper, the pretty site and flowery language lacks both interest and depth!

Be sincere and above all else be honest and original. You don’t need to copy anyone else’s stuff to get YOUR own individual point across.  Yes there will always be techno stuff that we need to adhere to when writing technical copy. I mean – could you imagine getting the bits wrong when marketing TV’s, cameras or a line of industrial parts? It is then really important to ensure you stick to the product descriptions to a “T”.

Plagiarism is tempting, but hardly worth the effort. After all there is nothing quite as rewarding as writing copy that is original and interesting.