SEO Company Toledo| Web Site Optimization Tricks| SEO Expert Michigan

Question of the day:

Are SEO experts destroying the internet as we know it?

Brennan: “Like a dog chewing on its own tail!”

The invention of the internet has changed our life! We can do anything online now. We can shop, research, write journals, pay bills and even bid on online brides. It even opened the doors for new jobs. Such as Internet Marketers, Search Engine Optimizers (SEO), Digital Marketing Specialist, Pay Per Click Managers, Blog and article writing and Social Media Management.

SEO started out as an innocent and useful art that increased the ranking for many websites across the globe. First, the keys to find success for top rankings was to optimize the HTML code on the sites. Then the art of building links was realized. However, those were in the days that Dogpile and Lycos were cool.

Individuals studied SEO and were able to charge $400 for ten hours of work. That comes out to $40 an hour. Not too bad. In 2001, SEO experts began to write books on SEO strategies. People like me would read the book thinking they knew everything. But what they failed to realize is that there is no definite strategy to get top ranking on search engines such as Google. Every business and website architecture is unique and will deliver different results. Plus search engines own the advertising space your website link appears on. Why would powerhouses like Google allow you to get top rankings easily?

Many SEO companies failed to deliver the top ranking results they had promised and panicked. This is where blackhat SEO was born. Inexperienced internet marketing managers then decided to build links anywhere and everywhere. The anonymity of the internet allowed users to join forums and add keyword rich signatures even if the forum was not relevant to their site. They would not add one piece of useful and relevant information to the discussion. They would just promote their site.

For example, there could be a forum that is dedicated to showing support for cancer patients. This individual joins the forum and writes a message like this “Buy Nike Shoes” with a link to their site. This is called SPAM! Imagine this situation going on everywhere on the internet. Finally, the search engine giants such as Google and Yahoo put their foot down in a big way.

They were forced to introduce intricate algorithms that detected spam like this. Google made it even more difficult to achieve top ranking on their search engine for the targeted keywords. Now website content was viewed as the king.

However, the large amounts of spam also forced blog owners and forum moderators to stop allowing hypertext links to be detected by web crawlers. This is a simple code written that is called “nofollow“. This was to reduce the amount of spam on the internet. With nofollow tags on blogs or forums, the links are almost worthless to the link building process. This made spammers hesitate to promote their website because it was a waste of time.

I have discovered many websites and forums as an internet marketing manager. I would venture to say 60% of them have been forced to Nofollow links due to spam. This has reduced the impact SEO has on search engine ranking. The importance of a link is now based solely on its source, relevancy and keyword. Just like those annoying telemarketers that continue to call you, Spamming the internet ruins the experience of everyone involved.

The bottom line is this. There is no hidden secret to SEO. There also is no SEO company that can guarantee 100 links a day and top ranking. Internet marketing is extremely competitive. You have to find a niche market and establish a good reputation. To achieve top ranking, you also have to establish a loyal following. You do this by getting involved with the online community by writing unique content on blogs and social media platforms.

Remember this line: “link building should come naturally, not forced”.

By this I mean, users should share your link because they found it useful and want to spread the word about your product or service. It should not be a way to manipulate Google into giving your website top ranking. I guarantee you that if you try to manipulate Google, you will eventually get caught and you will get the famous Blackhat. What good would it be if your website is nowhere to be found on the internet?

My suggestion is to play nice! Take an ethical approach with your internet marketing strategy. If the internet continues to be filled with spam, link building will become obsolete. Learn how to optimize your website content and architecture first. Then use the social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace to build awareness. Would it be prudent to risk your job or career? I certainly hope not. Save the internet and save some jobs!

What is Internet Marketing? What does an Online Marketing Manager do?

Many ask me what I do for a living. I tell them that I manage online marketing campaigns for companies in Ohio and Michigan. I then get a blank stare and the only response I get is “huh?”. Well I am here to tell you what I do in more detail.

Internet Marketing is getting more involved and complex as internet technology advances. When the internet first began to be popular with the public many years ago, no college institution offered internet marketing classes. Mainly because not many people shopped online. However, especially in the last five years, millions of people choose to purchase items on the internet. The internet allows people to research on products in more detail than ever before and buy items in their pajamas at any time of the day. Naturally, internet marketing companies began to see the internet as a great return on investment. The truth is, they were absolutely right.

I will quickly share my career path to becoming an experienced internet marketing manager. First, I earned a degree in Electronic business (E-Business). This Associate’s degree gave me the knowledge to develop web sites using HTML, XHTML and CSS. I also learned about different types of marketing such as business, international and of course; internet marketing.

To understand web design and internet marketing even further, I received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo focusing on Computer Hardware and Software. I learned the basic programming of computers and this helped me understand what powered computer technology.

After graduating I began to expand my online marketing skills by learning Pay Per Click Management. I learned the tricks of managing Google Adwords. Google Adwords is the small ads that appear on the top and right hand side of the Google Search Engine (See picture below). I setup Adwords campaigns and write the ads. It may seem simple to you. But it can be quite involved. I also optimize the content on web sites to increase the exposure on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is an art in itself. This craft is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Included with SEO is called link building. Link building is the delicate process of adding links to your site on other blogs, articles, forums and web sites. Each link is seen as a vote that your website is useful and should rank high on the search engines. However, this is not as simple as it sounds, it is a big part of the internet marketing process. To put it in perspective, Google rates websites on over 200 factors. I have realized that I have to know what I am doing or I will be wasting my time and my clients time.

The social media world has added another spectrum to internet marketing. I am sure all of you have a Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn page right? Well these social networking sites offer businesses great opportunities to market their business for free. I manage Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn pages as well. It allows me to meet new people and hear what they have to say.

Think of internet marketing in the same way you would think of a marketer from 1970. The goal is simple. Build awareness and focus on the target market. The fundamental principles are the same. However, there is less face to face interaction and there is some technical knowledge required. A successful internet marketing individual requires one to be a detailed, analytical and creative thinker. The internet allows all of us to communicate with anyone in the world. It is your job to persuade them to believe in you!

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave a comment!