Today, social media plays a major role in SEO. With this in mind, why not tweak your social media profiles for search engines? Believe me, it’s a must. Search engines utilized links from social media sites, including Facebook, Google+1 and Twitter for ranking purposes. Moreover, Twitter streams are also being indexed by search engines in real-time. So here are 5 easy-to-do steps to use one of the social media giants—Twitter, for SEO.

1. Regard Your Twitter Username as a Domain Address


Do you still remember the rules for choosing an effective domain name? Let’s do a recap. Avoid using underscores between words. Make your domain address short and easy to remember. These rules also apply to choosing a good Twitter username.

Additionally, Twitter username must not exceed 15 characters but you know, it’s best to actually not exceed 10 characters, if possible. Now, if you want to use your company name for your brand name, abbreviate and combine it with keywords. For instance, let’s say your company, Prime Movers Corporation, provides shipping services, you may use @PMCShipping as your Twitter username.

2. Do not Use URL shorteners. Link to Your Real URL


If you make use of URL shorteners on your Twitter profile URL section, your profile visitors are more likely to doubt your account. Build up the credibility of your profile and further the trust of your profile visitors in your brand by using your real site or blog URL. This will encourage them to visit your actual website.

3. Optimized Your Twitter Bio


Your Twitter Bio content also functions as the meta-description of your Twitter profile on Google search results. With regard to this, you have to maximize the 160 characters limit to craft a keyword-rich Twitter bio. Always make use of good content and keywords that represent your field of expertise or industry. This is a perfect recipe to rank high in search results. Good content means compelling, relevant, informative and catchy.

4. Optimized Your Twitter Profile Photo


In order to have a keyword-based name for your Twitter profile photo, separate the filename using dashes before uploading. For example: paris-clothing.jpg. Keep your image limited to 250×250 pixels for best page loading speed.

5. Use Keyword Phrases and Hastags on Your Tweets

This will assure better visibility on search results. In fact, many studies have shown that including keywords in tweets regularly can significantly increase search engine rankings. Moreover, save the important tweets in category favorites.

You can also boost your social authority by receiving numerous retweets, hence will help give your ranking a kick.

6. Link Your Twitter Profile from Every Source Possible


You name it, you can link your Twitter profile from your Facebook page, Newsletter, Blog posts, Forums, LinkedIn profile, etc. Popular Twitter directories like WeFollow, TwitterHolic, TrackingTwitter, and more will also improve visibility and link building.

If you are a dedicated online marketer then you may already know how important it is to rank in the highest spot in the search engine result pages which is most popularly known as the SERP. The reason for this is the SEOs hunger to high traffic which can deliberately increase income or profit to anyone’s website or business. Because of the needs to traffic by SEOs or online marketers, sometimes the search results are being compromised.

Search results play a very important role to the users. It is where they would base their research and things like that. But how influential can search results be for people?

Decision Making

What is search results’ role in people’s decision making? You go to your favorite search engine let’s say Google or Bing. Then you key in your search and look for the cheapest furniture for instance. You get a lot of furniture stores but you will definitely click on the number one link you see. Then you will be delighted at what’s inside the website that you’ll settle in buying furniture from the site. This is how search results affect most people’s decision making.

Search results are definitely influential especially to people who wants to find answers and who’s looking for products online. The best SEOs can without a doubt direct you to their pages and will ensure conversion rates at your disposal. Not to mention that they will manipulate you by convincing you that they have the best product and information you can get while searching online.

Research Studies

Search results definitely plays an important part to peoples’ research studies as well. People always rely and depend on the most clicked or the highest ranking links they can see on SERPs which is not a very good idea at all as if you really want your search to be comprehensive, you would not settle in 1 or 2 or 3 links or the first page in SERPs as sometimes you can find important stuffs and well written discussions even on the next pages in SERPs.

Can you trust the search results?

Generally, the answer would definitely be yes. Why? Because search engines like Google is dedicated and is working hard to give you the freshest and most relevant search results to your searches as much as possible. However, because all SEOs want the breads, you cannot simply trust the search results and fully rely on what’s being offered to you in your plain sight. Great SEOs have the power to manipulate your searches so they will be benefited. You cannot avoid stumbling on biased search results from time to time. The most ideal thing to do when you found yourself in this situation is to key in the best keywords or keyword phrases relevant to your searches and do not rely simply on the top of the list.

Allot more time to browse deeper for you to ensure high quality research. After all, everything you’re looking for are in those pages. You just have to extend more effort to finding them!

After the news about the leakage of Google’s quality guidelines for its search results raters, people became too eager to know what this document really has inside. To satisfy your cravings to this issue, here are some of the most important contents you can find in this document.

The Vital Factor in Rating Search Results

One of the most important contents that can be found in the Google’s quality guidelines is the part where Google reiterated and stressed the significance of the intent of the search query. According to this document searches can be divided into four types which include the following:

1. Go Queries – A search can be called Go Queries if the intention of the searcher is to look or find a particular page on the internet.
2. Know Queries – Know Queries are those searches made with the searcher’s intention to find information on the web.
3. Do Queries – This is when the intention of the searcher is to find a particular site or place on the web wherein he or she can perform and accomplish a goal. Some examples of goals include downloading, playing games on the internet, buying items, and many more.
4. Combination Queries – This is the type of search which corresponds to when the searcher combines 2 or more intentions into one search.

What are the Rate Options?

Search results ratings from Google search engine according to the Google’s Quality Guidelines can be classified into the following categories:

• Grade A (Useful Pages) – The raters should rate the pages ‘Grade A’ if those pages are very useful and helpful to the users or searchers. The basis would be its quality and its appropriateness to the query or search. Most pages that could be Graded A by the search results raters must be exceedingly satisfying, entertaining and authoritative. For most SEOs, this is the kind of ratings they want their pages to be tagged on. This is the best rating you can get from the search results raters.
• Grade B (Relevant Pages) – This rating could be given to those pages in the search results wherein the content is still useful and helpful to many users. However, the content is not as useful or as high quality as the Grade A-rated pages. Relevant pages are usually placed after the useful pages so it still needs to be improved.
• Grade C (Slightly Relevant) – This rate should be given to pages that can be relevant to the queries or searches but not necessarily helps the users. These ratings mean poor quality and badly needs improvement. If you want to get to the top of the Google rankings, this rate is definitely not the rate you would want your page to receive.

For some people, knowing this information and being familiar with Google’s basis of rating the search results could definitely be very helpful but does not necessarily mean it can instantly make you richer or it can give you the gold. Still, it could be a way!

Trying to be the best in something always requires hard work and dedication. This thing goes the same with SEOs who wanted to be on top at all times. For SEOs getting higher rankings in different search engines especially Google means a lot. Sometimes, it could be the basis of success in this kind of business. In line with this, you must have heard already of the news spreading virally on the internet today involving an online marketer named PotPieGirl.

PotPieGirl claimed to have found the Google’s Quality Guidelines documents which is for the search results raters’ guidelines to rating. This document contains all the guidelines made by Google for their contracted search results raters. Hence, SEOs have been eager to see or to read what particular guidelines Google set to achieve higher rankings.

One of the focuses of this document is the guidelines for raters on tagging spam flags to a URL. Upon evaluation of page, raters should use one of the three Spam Flags given by Google. These three Spam Flags are as follows:

• Spam – Raters should give a spam flag to a page if after evaluation of the said page, the rater believes that the page was build or created using the deceptive web-design techniques.
• Maybe Spam – Maybe spam flag will then be given to a page that looks like a spam yet the rater cannot fully say or state that it was designed using the deceptive web-design techniques.
• Not Spam – A not spam flag should then be assigned to a page which the rater strongly believes that is not built, designed or created using the deceptive web-design techniques.

For those who are asking, the deceptive web-design techniques full description and details can be found in WebSpam Guidelines. In connection with the raters responsibility to tag spam flags on the pages as they evaluate them, raters are also ordered to include some remarks or explanation on the rationale of tagging the page as Spam or Maybe Spam.

How not to be considered as a spam page?

• Continuously improve your content and make it sure that you have useful contents to users as raters are ordered to put or tag a ‘spam flag’ to URLs or pages that have no useful or helpful contents.
• If you are in a competitive niche, you might double up your ‘content optimization technique’ so you can maintain a ‘Grade A’ rating.
• If your page is full of ads and if it is only designed to make money, you might want to improve your content as Google instructed their raters to tag such pages with ‘spam flag’ as well.

Generally speaking, the content of the leaked Google’s quality guidelines is not new to experienced and veteran SEOs. However, knowing its content can still help a lot not only those new people in this kind of business but also those experienced as seeing that they are on the same page with Google when it comes to assessing the quality of search results is definitely encouraging!

The wait is almost over for Google+ Pages. Since the announcement regarding Google+ Pages, millions of people have been waiting for its arrival. Recently, Google officially announced the looming arrival of new Google+ Pages for brands and businesses which is a significant piece of the Google+ puzzle. Marketers have been waiting for months because of its possible significance in SEO. Currently, there are already about 20 Google+ Pages available, however, if you visit the “Create a page” link, you will be informed that creating a page is still not available.

As of now, several Google+ Pages are already live including Anderson Cooper 360, Angry Birds, Burberry, Fox News, Good Morning America, Macy’s, Pepsi, The Muppets, WWE, etc. Some of these Google+ Pages like Pepsi and Macy’s still have no content.

What are Google+ Pages?

Google+ Pages are Google’s own version of Facebook Pages which allows brands or businesses to connect with customers or fans. This enables the brand or business to post updates/news, interact with customers/fans and check the number of +1s. To create one, you need to have a personal Google+ profile and choose one of the five categories namely Local Business/Place, Product/Brand, Company/Institution/Organization, Arts/Entertainment/Sports or Other. Then, you can add additional information that depends on the particular category you choose.

The Difference between Profiles and Google+ Pages

At initial glance, Profiles and Google+ Pages appear very much the same. However, there are key differences according to the help page of Google:

1. Pages can’t add people to circles unless someone adds a Google+ Page to their circles or mentions) using the + or @ before the name) the page.
2. Pagesare for entities; profiles are for people.
3. Pages are public by default.
4. Pages have a +1 button.
5. Pages can’t +1 other pages, play games, share to extended circles, receive notifications via email, text Google+ bar, or hangout on mobile devices.

Google Direct Connect

This is in unison with Google’s vision to “transform the overall Google experience” by including identity and sharing in all of its products. Regarding search, Google is adding a feature which allows you to enter a plus sign followed by the name of a Google+ Page and you will be taken directly to the Google+ Page. According to Google, a small icon will appear in the search suggestion box. The search results page will thereby be bypassed. As part of Direct Connect, Google advises owners of websites to add the Google+ icon. To be eligible for Google Direct Connect, your Google+ Page should be linked to your website and your website to your Google+ Page with the use of the rel=”publisher” code.

You have probably heard about Google Adwords keyword tool and know basically what it is. Besides, Google Adwords is one of the most popular tools around. But in terms of effectiveness, do you really think it can help you succeed?

Google Adwords Benefits

Keep in mind that paid search must complement organic search and not replace it. Creating significant content to strengthen your presence on major search engines and drive high-quality website traffic are the basic goals. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to completely shun paid search since it may target different audiences that may not be drawn using organic search.

Moreover, paid search can be your testing ground to optimize organic search using keywords. Let’s face it. Initially, it’s quite tricky to determine which keywords can draw higher conversion rates. With this in mind, why not test the popularity of various keyword phrases using Google Adwords then specialize later on in organic search strategies that seem more popular and useful?

2 Strategies to Maximize the Efficacy of Your Google Adwords Campaign

Keywords stressed in Google Adwords (Ad Copy) must match the content on your subsequent landing page

The primary goal here is to let Google view your site as provider of quality search results so Google would assign a higher Quality Score to your website. Google may also charge you less money as incentive for providing quality search results. Additionally, this tactic tends to build quality website traffic. Prospects will be converted to leads if they find the keywords interesting and will likely to stay put if the landing page has similar content. Besides, no one wants to get deceived by inconsistent keywords vis-à-vis content and wasted time.

Find the Right Combination that Maximizes Your Ad’s Effectiveness

How? By testing your ad from multiple dimensions using Google Ads Dashboard. This is the beauty of this tool, you can actually create several ad campaigns in seconds. Test same keyword phrases while targeting different locations. This will show you exactly which areas have more demand for your products and services.

Timing also has big contribution to make your ad successful. Instead of setting a time when the ad will be displayed, run the ad uninterrupted instead particularly during the experimental stage. This will allow you to see which time ranges are your products and services “hotter”. Target the criteria that give high lead conversation rate.

You know, paid ad can be intimidating especially if you have no idea how to do things right. But with proper campaign plan and execution, you can maximize its effectiveness to give your business a boost.

In the past, everyone from different parts of the world had exactly the same search results for particular terms. Today, people have different search results even if the exact same search terms are used for the same search engines. This means that every person is now getting a personalized search experience. There are different factors that affect search results. Here are some of these factors:

Country

One of the main personalized factors for ranking is the country of the person making the search. Someone in the United States searching for “boxing” will get results about boxing in America. While someone in Asia using a local version of the search engine (ex: google.com.sg) will get results about boxing in Asia. The results will be different. This means that for webmasters, it is important to make your site relevant for other countries in order to rank well. This is called international SEO and should be given importance in order to significantly increase traffic. Because the best practices in international SEO change often, you need to research on the latest. This will prevent you from implementing incorrect and outdated international SEO tactics that can hurt your efforts.

Locality

Search engines such as Google don’t just stop personalizing at the country of origin level. They also take into consideration the locality, city or metropolitan area of the person making the search. It is basically the same with country personalization where you need to make sure that your website is relevant to the city or locality in order to get good rankings. There are also special search engines dedicated to local search that some people use for particular purposes. However, these are not often used except if a person is really looking for something in a particular area. Most internet users don’t even know how to perform a local search.

Personal History

Google and Bing consider personal history when determining which search results to display. This means what you have been searching and clicking on. This also includes the sites you usually visit, interact with, and purchase from. For this personalized factor, there is no easy way to make a website more relevant. However, you can improve on the design and functionality of your website to make good impressions. This increases the chance that visitors will come back to your site therefore making it more relevant and having better rankings in search results. A like in Facebook, tweet or +1 in Google also helps a lot in terms of personal history as a personalized ranking factor.

Many people don’t like Steve Jobs. However, there are also many others who look up to him as an amazing innovative genius. Either way, he really is an amazing person who already achieved something that most people will not be able to achieve in their lifetimes. Here are some ideas from Steve Jobs that can be applied to SEO:

The Goal of Steve Jobs is to create something wonderful and not to make money

When translated to SEO, this means creating great content instead of ordinary and almost useless content that can improve rankings. It is a basic rule of SEO to have quality content. According to experts, as long as your site contains high-quality content, everything else will follow or higher rankings and traffic will naturally follow. Always think with your audience in mind. Think about their needs and how you can give them
something for these needs. The content should really deserve to have the top rankings with search engines.

Attractiveness is the key

According to Steve Jobs, the buttons they use on their gadgets are so good-looking that people would want to lick them. In SEO speak, you should be able to at least make web users curious or interested in clicking your site once it shows up on search results. This can be achieved with informative, interesting and helpful content. The design of your website should also be attractive. It is very simple; people love and tend to be attracted to beautiful things. Because of the preview option on Google’s results pages, people will be able to check your website design without going to your site.

Design is how something works

According to Steve Jobs, functionality should always be in mind when creating a design. This is the case for the iPod, iPad and all Apple gadgets. Not only do they look stunning but they also work brilliantly. In terms of SEO, sites should be created with usability in mind. Always think in the viewpoint of your users. The design should be an essential part of functionality.

Don’t be ashamed about copying ideas

Look at other websites and incorporate great ideas into your site. Most of the best SEO strategies start with a little copying form the best-ranking sites (not the contents!). You can look at the top ranking sites for keyword ideas and opportunities for link building. The best way is to look at th top sites for great ideas and make these your own.