Search Engine People Launches $1,000 SEO/SEM Lyric Contest - searchenginepeople.com

Search Engine People, a Canadian search engine marketing industry leader, today announced the launch of a $1,000 (US) SEO/SEM Lyric Contest.

Search Engine People (http://www.searchenginepeople.com), a Canadian search engine marketing industry leader, today announced the launch of a $1,000 (US) SEO/SEM Lyric Contest.

"Think of it as a cross between the Google Dance and American Idol, where blessedly, for the most part, no one actually has to sing," states Jeff Quipp, president and CEO of Search Engine People. "Put simply, we invite all creative types, talentless hacks, singers of shower diddies, Google, YAHOO, MSN or any paid ad copywriters to put quill to parchment, pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard to come up with the best darn lyric they can. And it would help if it rhymed. Even just a little bit."

"We have judges," states Quipp. "One's as pretty as Paula Abdul. One's as authoritative as Randy Jackson (II). And one's just as… well, one looks just like Simon Cowell. We don't know their names as we've left the judging, much like they do on American Idol up to the wisdom of the crowd. So the most popular will win."

"We have rules. They are official. And they are posted on the contest web site at http://www.searchenginepeople.com/contest/seo-related-lyric-contest/," Quipp adds.

"Most importantly, we have a prize," Quipp states. "$1,000 U.S. $1,000 for a set of SEO or SEM related lyrics set to your favorite song. And it doesn't have to be strictly SEO or SEM related, we'll settle for analytics, though rhyming Omniture would be a challenge even for the minds at Google. Web Side Story, well that's another tune altogether."

"So, if your search initiatives have you singing the blues, it's time to put pen to paper, you could win $1,000, links to your web site, free publicity and who knows, you might even come up with an algorithm worthy of your own dance and to the beat of your own drummer."

About Search Engine People
Search Engine People (http://www.searchenginepeople.com), Canada's search solution company began operations as QIMS in 2001 and has evolved into a full service Search Engine Optimization and Marketing firm. With demonstrated expertise in both competitive natural Search Engine Optimization or organic search results and Search Engine Marketing or pay per click, the company's mission is to provide search marketing solutions that increased traffic and prospect quality. Search Engine People offers a full range of services and solutions including SEO/SEM; Social Media Strategies; Content Development; Conversion Strategies; Reputation Management; and Analytics & Reporting. The organization was among the first in Canada to become a Google Adwords Qualified Company.

Jeff Quipp
President & CEO
SearchEnginePeople.com
1-877-486-7875
info @ searchenginepeople.com

Source : emediawire.com

Search Engine Optimization Vital for Successful Dental Web Marketing - Sinai Marketing, Inc

Research shows that search engine users rarely scan beyond the first page of a major-search-engine for the information they seek. This quirk of human nature makes high page placement even more vital for commercial sites.

Once upon a time, a dental practice could just throw together a website, toss it up on the Internet and wait for clients to flock to their site.

With the exponential growth of Internet sites, however, this outdated strategy ensures Google™, Yahoo!® and MSN® search engines will relegate such websites to their bargain-basement pages.

It wasn’t long before a new specialty emerged: Search Engine Optimization. This complex process employs a variety of tactics to ensure the site appears on the first pages of the major search engines. When combined with dental website design and development, SEO is a sure-fire method of improving the volume and quality of traffic for a website.

A 2006 study by Jupiter Research corroborated what had already become common knowledge: “62 percent of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and a full 90 percent of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results.”

The study also found 88 percent of surfers unable to find the desired information in the first three pages are more likely to change their search engine terms than to look through additional results pages.

Is it any wonder page ranking became a vital aspect of Internet dental marketing?
Burying “keywords” into a websites code and content is the primary key to optimization. Keywords are the words or phrases surfers use to find the information they seek.
Sinai Marketing CEO Ali Husayni offered an example of how this dental website marketing process can move a site to those highly desirable first pages.

“The cosmetic dentists at Smile South Florida came to us because they weren’t getting the desired traffic to their site,” said Husayni. “When we first began working in January with Dr. (Charles) Nottingham and his team, they appeared just twice on the first pages of Google and nine times on Yahoo!® for their 212 primary keywords. They were practically non-existent on MSN®.”

By implementing a variety of SEO techniques, including link building (creating inbound links to a website) and regularly updating site content, the Fort Collins, Colo.-based Sinai Marketing blew Smile South Florida’s competitors out of the water.

“By April, they were appearing on the first pages of Google for 208 of their 212 keywords,” said Husayni. “They were amazed to see such fast results.”

The numbers for Yahoo and MSN were equally impressive. For the same 212 keywords, Yahoo posted 176 and MSN posted 514 first-page appearances. (MSN indexes for duplicate appearances.)

First page placement proved just the ticket to attract pre-qualified, potential patients, saving Smile South Florida an enormous amount of time, energy and money.
“In my 30 years of dentistry, I have never seen so many new patient consultations,” said Dr. Nottingham.

SEO expert John Reese perhaps put it best: “The key to dominating any market online (now or in the future) is simple. It comes down to who has the highest average visitor value and who has the most traffic.”

©2007 Sinai Marketing, Inc. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this press release is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.

Agency / Source: Sinai Marketing

Source : newswiretoday.com

SEO Copywriting Expert Reveals Secrets to First Page Results

SEO Copywriting expert and owner of SEO Content Solutions Christine OKelly reveals a little-known secret that has helped her clients instantly achieve first page search engine visibility.

Christine OKelly, SEO Copywriting Expert and owner of SEO Content Solutions reveals a secret that she says has been bringing first page search engine results to her clients for more than two years. According to OKelly, this little-known secret lies in the distribution of search engine optimized press releases.

“Our press releases consistently land our client’s names on the first page of Google and Yahoo news for their target keywords. It’s a formula that I’ve been developing for more than two years and it works every time,” says OKelly.

Not only do her press releases result in first page visibility on news engines, OKelly says that her SEO press releases often bump competitors out of the top ten slots on Google’s main search page as well. “I’ve had press releases that have held as many as five of the ten organic slots on the Google homepage. This is not typical, but it does happen.”

After more than 2 years of strategically analyzing various press release distribution points, OKelly says that she has developed a formula for gaining visibility, traffic, and generating important backlinks.

“There are so many more benefits to press releases than just first page visibility. Unlike articles, press releases offer a platform upon which a company can blatantly tout their benefits to really peak reader’s interest and encourage them to click through and buy. Not only that, but the backlinks generated through distribution help the main site climb in the search engine rankings.”

Although press releases do offer companies a chance to boast about their successes, O’Kelly warns against the tendency to leave the reader’s interest out of the equation. “For a press release to truly be successful, it’s critical that it be focused around providing useful information for human readers. Distributing press releases that don’t offer a real value to your target audience is a waste money and effort.”

As the tagline of the SEO Content Solutions website indicates, O’Kelly is passionate about “optimizing for search engines and humans” with every piece of content the team produces.

SEO Content Solutions works directly with businesses and also as a value-added partner with SEO companies who are looking for ways to increase their client’s visibility. The company’s press release service includes consultation to determine effective PR topics, an exclusive interview with a company representative, writing and optimizing of the release, and distributing the release through a variety of strategic distribution points.

“Where and how a press release is distributed makes all the difference. A company can spend hundreds of dollars distributing a press release and get no SEO value whatsoever. During my research, I asked a salesperson at one of the largest traditional PR firms if they offered anchor text. His reply was ‘What’s anchor text?’”

Anchor text is a hyperlinked target keyword that leads to the target website and obtaining this type of link is an important part of an SEO strategy. “Some of the distribution points I use include anchor text, some offer thumbnail images the make the listing stand out in the results page, and all offer live links on reputable sites that are regularly indexed by search engines. Together, the distribution system I’ve use offers maximum online exposure.” explains OKelly.

To encourage businesses and SEO companies to experience how optimized press releases can aid in their search engine optimization plan, SEO Content has offering a $20 discount to all new press release clients.

About SEO Content Solutions:

SEO Content Solutions is a leading provider of SEO copywriting and content for several of today’s top SEO firms. The company is passionate about producing quality content that is optimized for both search engines and humans.

Press Contact:
Christine OKelly
PO Box 561
Westmorland, CA 92281
760-344-7334

Source : losangeles.dbusinessnews.com

Upcoming Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Seminar in Cleveland, Ohio

Join us for an SEO seminar in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, May 24, 2007, and learn how SEO can boost your bottom line. Network with other business owners too.

Date Released: 05/01/2007
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION SEMINAR
Learn the techniques to get HIGH rankings on the most popular search engines, including Google, MSN and Yahoo.

Two seats have been reserved FOR YOU at this No-Nonsense SEO Training Seminar in Cleveland, Ohio!

How do potential customers find your Web site currently? Simply having a Web site doesn't mean anything anymore with over 1 million sites out there.

So I repeat, how do potential customers find YOUR site?

FACT # 1: People use the top 3 search engines (Google, MSN and Yahoo!) over 94% of the time when searching for a product, service or information online.

FACT # 2: Companies - your very competitors - that appear higher in search engine rankings for keywords have a significantly higher chance of selling to YOUR customers.

People do not have time to keep searching online. They will go with the first Web sites they find that meets their needs.

Your site can be among the first ones your customers find by using Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

Learn how you can MULTIPLY the amount of traffic TO YOUR Web site by attending our Executive Search Engine Optimization Training Conference near you.

Two seats have been reserved for you at this affordable seminar. You only pay 1 small registration fee, and your colleague may attend free of charge.

Receive HUGE DISCOUNTS AND SAVINGS off SEO programs and other online marketing programs ONLY by attending this SEMINAR.

To attend, you must RSVP no later than May 18th by emailing us at tiffini(at)searchcircus.com or by calling 440-372-5658 today.

You will learn techniques you can take back and implement immediately. Plus, you will take away a valuable resource book and CD filled with additional SEO and marketing tips and tricks.

What you will get from this Internet marketing Training Seminar: • The top SEO techniques used by leading SEO firms • An understanding of the difference between organic SEO (the most effective), pay-per-click (PPC), and other methods • Proven do's and don'ts that lead to success • Training from a professional SEO trainer

What you will NOT get from this SEO Training Seminar: • A 3-hour sales pitch or infomercial • Useless information • Illegal or unethical techniques

Plus, each attendee will receive free gifts, like a CD full of additional SEO and marketing tips. We will also raffle off prizes.

To attend, you must RSVP no later than May 18th by emailing us at tiffini(at)searchcircus.com or by calling 440-372-5658 today.

You may attend one of these sessions. Thursday, May 24, 2007 AM Seminar: 9- 12 am PM Seminar: 1 - 4 pm

*Location details will be provided upon registration

We look forward to seeing you there and helping your company's Web site achieve dramatically better results than ever before! Don't delay; this seminar is expected to fill up quickly!


About Search Circus
At Search Circus, Inc., an ethical SEO firm, we specialize in making you and your company put its best forward. Our firm delivers services for all of your online advertising needs and aims for your company to effectively stand apart from your competition. We are a full-service firm that utilizes the strategy of a business consultant, the creativity of an ad agency and the technical wizardry of an information technology company. We offer organic search engine optimization, corporate blogging, link popularity building, Website copywriting, article

Submitted by Search Circus

Source : fastpitchnetworking.com

A Spam Free Blog Search Engine Prepares for Full Launch

As the Internet continues to grow, users no longer face the problem of having access to nearly any type of information they could need. Now they must deal with the problem of finding the relevant information among the millions of sites, blogs, and multimedia files available online. Using a traditional search engine provides access to only a limited number of web sites, today's users require a more versatile tool. Strategicboard.com is a tool which may meet that need.

As the Internet continues to grow, users no longer face the problem of having access to nearly any type of information they could need. Now they must deal with the problem of finding the relevant information among the millions of sites, blogs, and multimedia files available online. Using a traditional search engine provides access to only a limited number of web sites, today's users require a more versatile tool. Strategicboard.com is a tool which may meet that need.

Strategicboard.com is a search engine specifically designed for the blogosphere. The engine is as easy to use as any traditional search engine and provides detailed results for search term. From the main page, users can explore top posts and blogs or explore discussions of hot topics with a single mouse click. Additionally, Strategicboard.com's search results are available as RSS or OPML feed and one-click bookmarking so they save their favorite blogs right from the results.

Strategicboard's seeks to provide the highest quality blogs and feeds for its users. One of the company's motto's is "real blogs by real people for real people." To achieve that goal, Strategicboard has in place editorial techniques and automated processes that exclude spammers from the search engine. Strategicboard also invites users to report suspicious blogs using the "Spam Free" report tool.

Of course, Strategicboard.com does not only benefit web users. Bloggers can add their blogs to Strategicboard.com's growing index for free. Doing so will give them access to an expanding group of users who would have little chance of finding them through traditional search engines.

Strategicboard.com is owned and operated by aggreg ltd., a web holding company operating a half dozen other sites, including King Ping which provide additional services for bloggers. In January 2006, Strategicboard was launched in a beta version and has been successfully tested for more than a year and is now being fully launched. The search engine not only provides blog results, but also images, videos, and podcasts within posts. With more than 300,000 quality feeds being tracked constantly and more than 2 million page views a month, Stategicboard.com is fulfilling a need for both Internet users and the blogging community.

Source : www.prweb.com

Leading SEO Training School Expands Into New Mexico and Arizona Search Engine Academy

Leading SEO industry educators Robin Nobles and John Alexander expand their SEO skill-building training schools to include New Mexico and Arizona State as they welcome new associate SEO educator, Emily Leach to their Search Engine Academy network.

SEO industry educators Robin Nobles and John Alexander recently announced more new localized Search Engine Academy classes are soon to be available in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Arizona in the ever expanding North American network of http://www.searchengineacademy.com training schools.

John Alexander, Director of the Search Engine Academy officially welcomed Emily Leach of http://www.WhiteHatWorkshops.com this month stating, "Robin Nobles and I are delighted to have Emily joining our network of licensed educators. Emily is an advanced SEO graduate who brings a strong SEO technical background to the Search Engine Academy. We anticipate hearing some wonderful SEO student success stories out of New Mexico and Arizona in the near future."

Alexander asked Emily if she would mind sharing a few her views on SEO and give people a brief overview on her SEO training plans for New Mexico and Arizona.

The interview followed with a question and answer period on SEO certification:

Q: "Emily, can you please describe what is unique or special about your workshops?

A: Absolutely! There is more than one aspect that makes this seminar unique. First is the fact that they are truly hands-on! The student brings their project to the class, instead of providing a canned project that works perfectly and then leaves the student having to translate what they learned when they get back to their office. Secondly, I do not teach anything that has not been tested and proven by the Search Engine Academy. And Third, the seminar is followed up with 6 months of mentoring.

Q: How would you identify the value of structured, SEO training in a personalized, hands-on workshop?

A: Personalized, hands-on SEO training is invaluable …this workshop takes the participant right into the actual tasks of SEO on the same project they will be working on after class. The opportunity for questions is far greater because of the students' interaction with the process, those types of questions usually don't come up until after the lecture and then they never get answered. But here, every question does get answered."

Q: Do you have any advice for those who would be interested in starting a successful SEO business?

A: I do! This is a field screaming for attention, and a person with the skill set, ethics and ability to communicate with clients can make a very good living and feel great when they go to sleep at night knowing they are helping companies grow.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the importance of SEO certification?

A: SEO has received a bad reputation over the years with submissions services, and all the changes in meta-tags. Certification creates a bar that the public can relate to and allow them to disseminate which optimizers know the latest information and which ones may be using strategies from 3 or 4 years ago. Until now anyone could say they are a search engine optimizer without any training, I am very happy to be offering a solution for companies to know they are getting what is being advertised if the SEO they are hiring is certified.

Q: Emily, how long have you been practicing search engine optimization or SEO?

A: Almost 6 years; I found the power of Search Engine Optimization in the fall of 2001.

Q: Do you offer any "industry specific" SEO courses for business owners that are in a highly competitive industry (for example like real estate?)

A: I am working with Search Engine Academy on defining specific industries that would benefit from a more directed training as well as working with the Department of Labor to offer certification classes through their program. There is a large need in the Real Estate industry to not just understand their options when it comes to Search Engine Optimization but also to teach them how to handle the process themselves.

Q: Tell us about the name of "White Hat" Workshops?

A: I chose the name WhiteHat Workshops because I feel it represents the tactics I agree to always adhere to, in my SEO Consulting and training; there is no need to attempt to 'trick' the search engines - there are far more benficial methods that have been proven to work over and over again.

Q: Well spoken! In one final question, do you have any last minute SEO tips or advice for us?

A: I provide a free Introduction to SEO workshop on the second Friday of every month, this is a great place to have your questions answered and get your toes wet. To expand your knowledge in SEO you can sign up online at http://www.whitehatworkshops.com for a free SEO Tip of the Day. I will send you a fresh SEO tip each and every day to keep you informed of updates, free tools and ideas you may not think of on your own.

Source : www.prweb.com

SEO of blog feeds powerful, easy: SES panel

By Daniel McMahon

As more companies add blogs to their marketing mix to get greater traction in the search engines and more traffic to their Web sites, it seems only natural that the search engine optimization pros would soon focus more closely on optimizing these blogs.

While not a new technology, RSS feeds have increasingly become subject to extensive optimization, according to panelists in a session titled “SEO Through Blogs and Feeds” here at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo at the Hilton New York.

Many companies have adopted blogs to generate excitement about a product or service or to add clout or authority to their reputation or brands. Whether companies are looking start a new blog or to enhance an existing blog, optimizing them does not have to be an expensive or difficult endeavor.

“How easy is it?” asked Stephan Spencer, founder and president of interactive agency Netconcepts LLC, Madison, WI . “It’s pretty darn easy. My 15-year-old daughter, within two weeks, got her blog in the No. 10 position [on Google] and now she’s No. 3.”

There are many things bloggers can do to boost their prominence, the most important of which has to do with the way RSS feeds are customized.

To do that effectively, Mr. Spencer explained the importance on focusing on title tags and specifically mentioning the blog name at the end of the title and not at the beginning.

He said it also helps to put the tag name in the title on a tag page and to customize it with additional keywords for display on a home page. Overriding title tags with custom tags, also known as a title tag plugins, is also beneficial.

“There are things you can do to control how the search engines do or don’t access your feeds,” said Rick Klau, vice president of publisher services at FeedBurner, who spoke about the benefits of optimizing blog feeds.

“Redirects [from feeds] are increasingly important because search engines are paying more and more attention to feeds specifically,” Mr. Klau said. “Anecdotally, we’re hearing from a lot of publishers who are saying that their content is being discovered more quickly because of RSS feeds.”

Another important technical consideration has to do with URLs, according to Mr. Spencer, who told bloggers to rewrite URLs so they contain keywords, to use hyphens, not underscores, and maintain “legacy URLs” even after switching blog platforms to add traction to blogs in the search engines.

Beyond these optimization techniques, blogs can be enhanced with anchor text optimization. For instance, making the post’s title a link to a permalink page and looking for opportunities to request revisions to anchor texts on inbound links create greater prominence for a blog.

Mr. Spencer also suggested internally linking back to old, relevant posts within the body of a blog post and to avoid using the nondescript terms “here” or “previously” as the anchor text.

Additionally, heading tags were subject to optimization. Adding specific category names on category pages for post titles — not for dates — would improve a blog’s performance as well.

Source : www.dmnews.com

Google dominates the US search engine market with 64% market share

Google dominates the US search engine market with 64% market share

Internet giant Google continues to dominate in the search engine market in the United States. The latest reports would disappoint Microsoft massively considering the launch of Vista has not shown any improvement in the market share of their Live search engine.

Internet metrics firm Hitwise claims that Google powered just around 64% of U.S. searches. This is up from 58% in March 2006.

In comparison Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com had a disappointing market share of 22%, 9%, and 3% in the US market. Incidentally, all of these players have lost the market share compared to the results from last year.

Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise added in the report: “Google’s growth shows no signs of slowing. Despite capturing the majority of searches in the U.S., and in light of competitor’s improvements, Google’s market share of executed searches continues to grow, exceeding 10 percent growth year-over-year.”

The report further claimed that Google is growing faster as a source of revenue for sites in categories like shopping and classifieds.

Source : news.techwhack.com

Bookmark strategies for search engine optimization

Social bookmarking is getting to be an important part of search engine optimization strategies. Sites like del.icio.us impact search ranking. Read on to find out why and how you can benefit.

With broadband Internet access, the proliferation of laptop computers and mobile telephones turning into real computers, ubiquitous computing is a reality. And people surfing the web from any number of devices are going to need online bookmarks that are stored, not in your home PCs bookmark menu, but online.

Why bookmarking for search engine optimization?

Todd Malicoat aka Stuntdubl was one of three panelists to explain about social bookmarking and search engine optimization at Search Engine Strategies in New Yourk 2007.

His main focus was on del.icio.us, a Yahoo! property and the most popular social bookmarking site out there. He made clear that it’s all about links: If your site makes it to the Popular page, your link will be syndicated to a lot of services like PopURLs and OriginalSignal.

Even if you don’t hit the Popular page, there are still good reasons to pursue links from del.icio.us. Del.icio.us users are early adopters – smart, savvy people. And the links are real bookmarks which will get you repeat traffic.

Here are Malicoat’s tips for a del.icio.us campaign:

• Remember a good title – it will be the anchor text
• Coordinate the launch – 30-50 bookmarks within 24 hours is what it takes to make the Popular page
• Place an “Add” button after the article
• Concider adding a del.icio.us badge
• Use Feedburner to add a del.icio.us button to your RSS feed

See also: Stuntdubl’s recommended del.icio.us tools.

Where and how to bookmark

Lee Odden of TopRankResults recommended these services for bookmarking as a part of a link building strategy:

Del.icio.us: High traffic opportunity, quite high syndication opportunity.

Furl: Medium traffic opportunity, low syndication opportunity. Will cash the pages.

Ma.gnolia: Meduim traffic opportunity, low syndication, robust API, group oriented.

Google Bookmarks: Medium to low traffic, medium syndication, affects Google’s personalized search results.

To find out which service to choose for your campaign, become a user and get a feel for the community. Match tool to the audience.

There are different ways to display “add bookmark” links. If your audience will recognize the icons, go with them. Otherwise, use text or a combination of text and icons.

There are also plug-ins available that will display a drop down or fold out menu of bookmark services.

Share This is a WordPress plug-in that adds a customizable pop-up menu of bookmark services to your blog posts.

Add This lets you add a simple, customizable button to help your visitors save and promote your website or blog to the social bookmarking services.

More tips for link building with bookmark services:

It’s hard: Do your research to know what works. And use it for your very best articles, not all of them.

Use social bookmarking to get traffic to news stories, tools etc, but not to the home page.

Don’t create a voting block on Stumbleupon. If you have 30 people who are voted for you time and time again, you will be penalized

More of Pandia’s Search Engine Strategies coverage.

Source : www.pandia.com

New Search Engine Adds Fresh Idea To Existing Format

A hot new web personality is showing up on a new search engine. Her name is Ms. Dewey and she's the star of a new search engine launched by Microsoft.

The site is being promoted through viral marketing, word of mouth, forwarded e-mails, and media stories rather than outright advertising. Ms. Dewey, in reality actress Janina Gavankar, has over 600 video interactions that took three days to shoot.

She gets impatient when you take too long entering your search info and sometimes offers her own response to your searches like this one: "What is the meaning of life?"

She's so hot that sites are cropping up online about her.

And on YouTube, she's so popular that followers are swapping their favorite Ms. Dewey moments.

The search engine isn't as functional as the industry leaders, but many people go there just to see Ms. Dewey.

Source : www.wcsh6.com