Why Do You Need An SEO Agency?

Many businesses underestimate the work that is involved in not only creating a website but also in making every effort to ensure that the website is a success. Websites do not come out of the gate in the number one spot in all search engines. There is a lot of hard work involved in making that happen. Unfortunately, the learning curve for this work can be quite long and, in some cases, expensive. If you would rather concentrate on the business at hand rather than trying to learn the language, works, and mysterious ways of search engine optimization then you would greatly benefit from putting an SEO agency to work for you.

Below are a few of the many reasons that an SEO agency is much better for business than trying to go it alone.

Efficiency

An SEO agency is in the business of improving the rank of all manner of websites in the search engine rankings. This is what an agency does. What this means for you is that they know how to get the job done at a much faster rate than you'd likely be able to accomplish on your own. They've also learned a few shortcuts along the way that are effective but not widely known. Put their expertise to work for you and you will enjoy the results of effective SEO without nearly the effort that your competitors are putting into it.

Return on Investment

If you sit down and assess the amount of time it will take you to learn solid SEO practices and stay on top of them from month to month so that your website doesn't begin a sudden downward spiral after enjoying one month in the top spot you will probably find that you are spending quite a few labor hours, OK, really, a LOT of labor hours each month just learning and reading about SEO without actually putting anything into action. That time could be much better spent doing what you know best and leaving the learning to someone else's time clock.

Skills

Chances are that your business is not SEO. You are skilled at something other than optimizing websites for search engine performance. You probably hire a lawyer to handle your legal problems, a plumber to deal with your pipes, and a marketing expert to help with your advertising. Doesn't it make sense to hire an SEO agency to deal with your SEO headaches? They have the skills to do the job so that you can get back to doing yours.

Put the work of a solid SEO agency to work for you today. You'll be amazed at how fast you can begin to see real results and how painless it is when someone else is doing the hard part.

Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI)

One of the keys to achieving high placement in the organic search engine results is the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) of the keywords you are trying to rank for. Calculating KEI values provides a system for evaluating the effectiveness of keyword phrases. Keywords and keyword phrases with a high KEI increase the probability of obtaining high rankings.
 
What does all of this mean?
 
Keyword phrases with KEI values above 400 are worth their weight in gold. Phrases with a KEI of 4 isn’t bad but we recommend that sufficient KEI research be done to achieve a list of long- keyword phrases with a KEI value above of 20 or greater..
 
The larger task is one of implementation.
 
After completing KEI research and arming yourself with quality keyword phrases the question with existing sites is how many pages will be edited? At a minimum I recommend the home page and all pages that link from it. If all of the 11 tags and attributes to which Google pays the most attention to need to be edited then this could easily average an hour if not two hours per page. At what point does that become too expensive?
 
Implementing best practice Search Engine Optimization or SEO on a new page or as the website is developed only requires only 20-30 minutes per page. Obviously, it's more cost effective to implement KEI research during the initial site build rather than having to retrofit later, especially if the tags and attributes weren't included with the initial page build.

Magnetiks Search Marketing effectively implements KEI research into the Internet Marketing Strategy of our clients, for more information, contact the SEO experts of Houston, Texas at (281) 362-9855 today!

Using Internet marketing strategies to achieve branding goals

Internet marketing is all about measurable results, not generic branding concepts. With that being said, if you have a branding goal in mind there is an effective Internet marketing strategy you can pursue.

Branding refers to the notion of creating an identity for your product or name brand with consumers. The classic example, of course, is Coca Cola. Being first on the market, they have created such a strong brand name that many people use the word “coke” instead of soda even when they prefer a different brand. In the world of traditional marketing, everyone respects the marketing team that can accomplish this level of branding.

The Internet, however, is a different media and a similar strategy would fail miserably if followed on the Internet.

The Internet is such a large entity that branding can be expensive and difficult unless you are the first major player in a niche. For example, EBay and Amazon were the first major players in their fields and to this day that has given them a huge advantage over competitors that followed after them. Unless you are coming to a field with a lot of money and no current dominant competitors, your branding goal is going to be met with limited success at best.

However, if you plan to stick with your branding goal, the most cost effective and ultimately successful Internet marketing strategy at your disposal is a search engine optimization or organic SEO campaign.

Search engine optimization is simply a dedicated effort to get the pages on your website ranked in the top 10 listings on the major search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing for the keyword phrases your prospects use to find the services or products you provide in your business area.

To meet your branding goal, you first need to identify all the phrases your potential customers use to find the services or products you provide, then create optimized web pages for each of these phrases and get those pages ranked in the search results.

This strategy has two benefits:

•    It will produce free traffic to your site.

•    Your branding goal is met because the site appears in all the top 10 rankings for your selected keyword phrases. This creates both brand recognition and credibility.

For more information on how our Internet marketing strategy can help you meet the branding goals for your Houston, Texas business call Magnetiks Search Marketing today at (281) 362-9855 today!

Using the Hub Detector to Find Relevant Links

So my question boils down to is it better to be submitted to 300 free directories or one directory that is considered an authority.

To the client, the wow factor is of course that 300 is always better than 1 but to the SEO professional is not about quantity but about quality.

For example, we use http://www.linkhounds.com/hub-finder/hubfinder.php created by www.seobook.com

With the hub detector which is what I like to call it, I searched for a specific keyword phrase. The hub detector then goes out to the search engine of your choice and finds out who is linked to them which pulls the data together to give you a report of the top sites that have web sites that are linked to them as well as the other top sites.

I did a basic search for "personal injury lawyer" using Yahoo & Google API for www.texastriallaywers.com and this is what it returned.

1: www.yourlawyer.com
2: www.lawyers.com
3: www.lipsig.com
4: www.totalinjury.com
5: en.wikipedia.org
6: www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com
7: www.californiainjurylawyerblog.com
8: onward.justia.com

From the list above you tell that numbers 1 through 8 correspond to the websites listed above. Now you can determine that sites 4,6,8 have the top 3 links in common because of X.  Of course the hub detector can find you more accurate results by changing the search parameters,  but this gives you a great starting point to find out who you need to have linked to your web site that your competitors also have.

Like all things you will still need use common sense.  All because it is linked to them does not mean this is final factor in determining if you would like them to link to you.  You still need to go to the directory and make sure it is legitimate by making sure it is relevant to the search term you were investigating.  And another good check is to make sure their directory pages have pagerank and I also check their alexa rating too.

Most directories you will find will probably be paid but you can still pick up a free gem of a website also.

Happy hunting for relevant links.

SEO Tips – Link building: a treasure chest of SEO Gold

If you’re looking for a great SEO tip that will help you attract targeted traffic to your website then you definitely want to invest into an on-going link building in order to increase your website ranking.

What are SEO backlinks?

Backlinks are links that point to your website and originate from other websites. They can be in the form of your complete URL (e.g. http://www.yourdomain.com/link-to-you.html), or a more SEO friendlier method such as an anchor text link (e.g. Search Engine Optimization Houston, Texas).

Backlinks are important but why?

The number of backlinks, or inbound links your website has is factored in to the equation search engines use to assess and rank your website. The more inbound links you have, the greater the reputation your site is considered to possess. This can lead to an increase in your search engine rankings as well as your Google Page Rank.

Ok, now I know why but how do I get other sites to link to mine?

There are any number of different ways to acquire inbound links for your website, a few examples include:

1.    Forums - Most forums provide their users with a signature box, this signature box allows you attach links and/or images to everything you post. You can also place links in your comments. Some forums require you to make a certain number of posts before you can place anchor links or links in general in your signature box and/ or comments. However, Do not spam the forum, you will get kicked off by the administrators.

2.    Article marketing – most article submission sites allow the author to place a link or two in the article body.

3.    Social media - On all social media sites you can put at least 1 url on your profile, Some allow you to put as many as you want. Again don’t over do it or you’ll be seen as a spammer. The content which you produce within social media also has areas where you can put your links.

There are many more ways to get your inbound links including blog posting and commenting, etc.

Tip: Google loves it when you place your links in content that is relevant to the page your link leads to. For example if you are blogging about Local SEO Internet Marketing it would benefit you more if your link was to point to a part of your site which was also about Local SEO Internet Marketing. This isn’t essential but it does help.

Looking for more information on inbound links? Call (281) 362-9855 and ask the SEO Houston experts at Magnetiks Search Marketing.

Do You Really Need SEO Copy Writing?

The question of whether or not SEO copy writing is really necessary is a question that gets asked more often than you may realize. The long and short answer is an emphatic YES. Copy writing is about so much more than simply inserting keyword A at point B. It is a skill that takes some degree of time and patience to master, even by skilled writers.

Now that you know you need SEO copy writing services, what should you look for in that service?

Accuracy

It's important that your copy writer accurately portrays your business and what you offer. It's surprising how often writers miss the mark. Make sure your writer understands what your goals are, what your business is, and what is needed from the service he or she provides.

Entertaining

No one wants to read dry and humorless details. Informative is great; fluff is bad. A good copy writer will make efforts to entertain as well as inform. That is where function meets form. It is as obvious to readers when you have a decent copy writer as it is when you do not. This has far less to do with technical skills and punctuation and much more to do with actual readability.

Informative

People have less time today than ever before. They want the highlights, facts, figures, details, and bottom line. They want it quickly and they want to be able to read it on the go. You need a copy writer that can fill this need without extraneous fluff.

Openly Invites Readers to Buy

SEO copy writing is a two sided proposition. When you are building a website, blog, or articles for marketing you need a copy writer who can not only optimize for the search engines and the readers but also who can entice readers to buy. That is, after all, the reason for your presence online, is it not?

Unique

You will find thousands of pages online that say the same thing. A good SEO copy writer offers a different take, perspective, voice, or all three. No business online wants to be like all the rest of them. Why on earth would you choose copy writing that is going to make you sound like the rest of them?

When you are looking for excellences in SEO copy writing think of your vowels. A=accuracy, E=entertainment, I=informative, O=Open invitation to buy, U=unique. Magnetiks makes the search for excellence in SEO copy writing much easier by providing a one stop package deal. See what they can do for your web business needs today.

How to Decide on Directory for Submission

Thousands of directories are available for submitting your website to but which ones are the best for you? Directory submission can be a cost effective way to build one way links from thematic categories on high quality websites and obtain links from relevant content but you have to keep a few things in mind when looking for directories to submit to.
There are hundreds of directories, and you will have to spend a lot of time when submitting but you will always get the best value for your time and money if you think quality as opposed to quantity. Now you might be wondering what makes a directory a quality directory and how do you decide?

The following are few points which can assist you in determining whether or not a directory can be considered a quality directory.

1. Page rank. While the value of page rank as a factor in website rankings has significantly diminished; a directory with good Page rank of its homepage and some inner pages can be used as an initial indicator.

2. Directory Structure. Directories with structured categories containing a moderate selection of business verticals and geographical regions will create more thematic and relevant links.

3. Domain age. Search engine do give more relevancy to older directories and consider those directories that have trusted. Links from these directories will most likely help your website rankings.

4. Number of pages indexed. If the directory itself cannot be indexed by the search engines for whatever reason, then how is a link from them valuable to you?

5. Traffic. Although they can provide you with a little traffic, Directory submission is primarily used to enhance search engine rankings by providing quality one-way or reciprocal links to your website.

6. Link Longevity. How long will your listing be active? Are they offering a permanent link, an annual or a link for few months?

7. SEO friendly? Any directory you submit to should be SEO friendly, providing a static link; not a dynamic one.  It should also provide a direct link to the landing page you choose using anchor text.

8. Paid Directory. If it is a paid directory then cost must be considered whether it is annual or lifetime.
9. Niche Directories. Niche directories are very good because they provide relevant thematic links. For Example, if your website is related to the home remodeling industry then you would submit to home remodeling niche directories.

Let Magnetiks Search Marketing handle your directory submission as part of an overall SEO Marketing plan that will help grow your business. Call (281) 362-9855 today!

Benefits of Sitemaps

Many SEO tips are out there that can help you optimize your website but one of the most underestimated of these tips is sitemap generation. A Sitemap, as the name implies, is just a map of your site showing its structure broken down into sections and the links between them. Sitemaps are a way of making the navigation of your site easier for both the search engines and the users. While robots.txt are used to tell the search engines which part or parts of your website to be excluded from indexing, your sitemap is used to tell the search engines where you'd like them to go.

Sitemaps have always been a part of best Web design practices but now that the search engines have adopted them, sitemaps are now even more important. It is important to note that Yahoo! and Bing still support the standard html format sitemaps, however, Google now uses special Extendible Markup Language, or XML sitemaps that is different from the html sitemap for human users. With that being said, for SEO purposes you can’t just only use the conventional sitemap if you want your site to be successful.

Being said, I want to clarify that having two sitemaps is not regarded as duplicate content. In Google Webmaster tools help it explicitly states that you will never be penalized by Google for using sitemaps.

Why Use a Sitemap

Not only do sitemaps provide easier navigation and better search engine visibility, but they also immediately inform search engines about any changes on your website. Now we all know the search engines won’t immediately swoop right in to index the changes but we do know that the changes will be indexed much faster than if you did not have a sitemap.

If your site is new, or if you have a significant number of new (or recently updated pages), then using a sitemap can be vital to your success. Although you can still go without a sitemap, it is likely that soon sitemaps will become the standard way of submitting a site to search engines. Though it is certain that spiders will continue to index the Web and sitemaps will not make the standard crawling procedures obsolete, it is logical to say that the importance of sitemaps will continue to increase.

Keep in mind that using sitemaps may not produce huge advantages right away but as the search engines improve their sitemap indexing algorithms, it is expected that more and more sites will be indexed fast through the use of sitemaps.

Magnetiks Search Marketing, The SEO experts in Houston, Texas, specializes in Website optimization from small and medium sized businesses. We utilize SEO best practices including sitemap generation and submission. For more information on turning your business website into your best online sales person call 281-362-9855 today!

Flash SEO Can Mean Big Business for Your Business

Flash SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is a requirement if you want a website that is attractive or visually pleasing to visitors and yet designed to attract the necessary attention of search engines. It doesn't matter how well designed your website is if you aren't getting the necessary traffic to convert into sales.

Gone are the days of “If you build it; they will come.” Doing business via the Internet places you among some steep competition and the average surfer has little time or patience for sifting through various pages of search engine results. You need the page rank to get their attention and page design to keep it.

Flash SEO is a combination of skills that allows you to have your cake and eat it to. Flash websites are visually appealing on a level that will get the attention of even casual surfers but properly optimized to grab the attention—and subsequent page ranking of the search engines.

There are generally 3 different types of searchers that will find you online.

1. Those who are searching specifically for your business. This means they have heard of you, know who you are, and know what you have to offer. These searchers often turn into sales and profit for your business—provided they can find you on the first one or two pages of the search engine listings.

2. Those who are looking for a product or service that your business offers. If these customers find you they may be enticed to buy from you over other options available online if you present a web page that appeals to them visually, earns their trust, and lets them know what you have to offer them. Again, the success of this hinges upon the ability of potential customers to find you online. The added twist here is that they do not already have your trust or anything to remember you by. You must become either trustworthy or memorable to them in order to earn their business.

3. Those who find you completely by accident. These are the least likely to convert to sales, however, if you have a nicely done Flash website that lets them know what you have to offer, your name or website may be the first they think of when the time comes to to buy the product or service you are offering.

The point of all your SEO efforts, of course, lies in the hopes of creating either immediate or future sales. See what a difference Magnetiks can make for your website design and Flash SEO efforts.

Importance Of Keyword Research For Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Importance Of Keyword Research For Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The basic fundamental of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in Houston and The Woodlands, Texas is keywords. Without it, optimization cannot be conceptualized at all. Keywords as most of us know are the words that we enter in the search box and on basis of that search pages are presented. And then begins the entire game of optimization and rankings. Ranking is important. After all it is the visibility that drives online traffic. And greater traffic means greater possibilities of business. So, we can summarize, keywords are base of every online promotion, rankings and visibility game.

But finding keywords is certainly not an easy task. The SEO or search engine optimizers spend days on researching the right keywords, which help bring quality traffic to your website. The keywords are simple and based on customers’ psych and their approach to your services. For local media optimization, keywords again become very important. Going through the alien language and trying to master it – efforts that only professionals can make.  Finding keywords is not the end of the job. Placing at the right places of a page, avoiding excessive stuffing and keeping the natural look of content are some of the complicated jobs involved in keyword research.

Magnetiks Search Marketing is the right place for all kinds of SEO solutions in Houston and The Woodlands, Texas. Here you get precise keywords that really help your business grow. Gain maximum exposure through Magnetiks Search Marketing keyword solutions. Complete our free site analysis or give us a call today at 281-362-9855