few numbers for your consideration: 80% of visitors to a website begin by typing keywords in the query box of a search engine. 42% click on the website in the #1 position on the search page. 90% click a website on the first page. These facts prove, if your brand is on the internet, a high rank on the search engines is a requirement to generate business.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a website by remaining high on the list of results returned by a search engine. MORE >>

And yet, some marketers still confuse SEO with paid search. But there will always be a foundational need for marketers, business owners and anyone who owns a website to understand the concept of SEO and to be able to research the keywords buyers use when searching for information and solutions to their business challenges. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. Search is Hard. MORE >>

Post Panda (Google’s one-year-old revolutionary search ranking algorithm that has upended old-style SEO), optimizing individual pages is more difficult and less effective than it was before Panda. Using content analytics, audits are the key way you do this, providing answers to a host of questions about how to improve your site’s search optimization and overall effectiveness. James Mathewson is the global search strategy lead and co-author of the book Audience, Relevance and Search: Targeting Web Audiences with Relevant Content. Panda (Photo credit: Wikipedia). MORE >>

Harsh question, I know, but the search results for many website search engines appear almost random. They usually start by telling me that their search engine stinks. More frequently, they haven’t done anything except install a search engine. If you just let your search engine lay there, don’t expect to like the results. Who is responsible for your website search, marketing or IT? Your IT group has probably chosen a good search engine, installed it properly, and made sure that it is running fine. Ask yourself something. MORE >>

The first step in optimizing your online presence is making sure you have a website worth optimizing. Your website similarly has to be in great shape before you “invite” visitors to it through optimization. Four key elements of designing an effective business website are: • Technology (Platform). Search engine friendliness —does the platform or tool produce clean, W3C-vaild underlying code? Scalability —will the platform chosen support the planned size and complexity of your website, as well as providing room for growth? Graphic Design. Content. MORE >>