Archive for May 15, 2007

6 Reasons to Target Local Search

Kevin Ryan of iMedia Connection beautifully sums up the reason why local search is becoming so important. “The essence of local search lies in the nature of users seeking information about services in which they already have a need.”

Unfortunately, about 70 percent of small and medium sized businesses don’t have websites (Rob Wright, ReachLocal.com). This creates a huge gap between increasing customer demand for local goods and services and an inability for local companies to supply that demand because they don’t have websites. But it also leaves room for phenomenal growth in the local search sector and untapped profit.

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White hat, black hat, gray hat, blue hat

The terms “white hat” and “black hat” are what many search engine marketing firms use to describe the methods used to improve a website’s ranking in search engines.

The origin of the terms translates from computer hackers, the ‘black hat’ hackers being those who abuse the internet for malicious acts, and the ‘white hat’ hackers who use ethics and practical guidelines for hacking, if only to improve the security of certain sites; the darker the hat, the shadier the hacker.

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What is the importance of a web directory and why you should use them?

To answer this very critical question, we must first decide, what is a web directory? A web directory is a directory found on the internet that specializes in linking to other sites and categorizing those links (Wikipedia.com).

Most directories are edited and reviewed by human volunteers who have expertise in a certain directory subcategory. An editor’s job is to weed out the most useful and informational sites relevant to a particular category and include them in the directory.

But why are web directories important?

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Dictionaries: Now for SEM lingo

Being new to the world of search engine marketing is daunting. There is an entirely new vocabulary you have to learn that has yet to be adopted by Merriam Webster. So in my desperate searches to find out what META tags, SERPs, backlinks and CTR’s were, I stumbled upon this wonderful little index that answered all of my questions.

There are three very handy and very obvious ways to search the contents of Search Engine Dictionary.

print-screen-search-engine-dictionary.gif

Use the alphabet at the bottom of the page, on the right hand side or search a keyword using the query box.

Anyway you go about searching for the words will certainly save you time and help you figure out the jumble that is internet lingo.