With so much competition on the Internet today, companies need to make sure they’re using the best search engine optimization (SEO) tactics possible in order to pull ahead of the rest. The world of SEO is constantly changing, which means it’s important to keep up with the latest techniques. Here are 5 of the best SEO practices you should be carrying out for your company today.

1. Concentrate on local SEO. Many Google searches performed today include Google Places listings and according to recent eye track studies, people are looking at them first. If you are a local business owner, it’s important for your business to show up in the local listings and Maps results. Increase your chances by claiming your Google Places page, optimizing it and encouraging your customers to leave reviews on it.

2. Choose the right keywords. When you’re choosing which keywords to optimize for, make sure you’re thinking about what actual people would search for. People turn to search engines because they have a question. Do your best to guess what those people would be searching for and optimize for those keyword phrases. Be sure to include some long tail keywords (longer keyword phrases), because they are less competitive, meaning you’ll be more likely to rank on the first page of the results when users search for that query.

3. Concentrate on winning content, to naturally gain high quality links. The more links that lead back to your website or blog, the better rankings it will receive. Google can spot paid and spam links so be sure to only pursue high quality link backs in order to receive higher rankings.

4. Integrate search and social media. Social media networks are now highly influencing search results. Concentrate on getting Facebook “likes,” Twitter “retweets” and Google +1’s in order to boost your rankings. Make your content interesting and entertaining to encourage others to share it.

By: Dan Bischoff

Boyd Norwood, SEO.com’s director of SEO, has been doing tests on visitors that come from video sites like Youtube, Vimeo and other sites. So far, the results have been surprising.

“The conversion rate of visitors from Youtube was about 20 percent higher than from the search engines,” said Boyd Norwood, director of SEO for SEO.com. “Video will continue to be big in 2011.”

2010 was the year social media marketing threw its weight around and affected search rankings. This will likely become more prevalent in the coming year. To increase rankings, SEO specialists will need to understand how to create valuable, shareable content and how to spread the word through various social sites.

“As the search engines put more emphasis on the popularity of links shared through Twitter and Facebook, social media will become a necessary tool for link building,” said Nelson James, president of SEO.com

Blogging continues to be an effective tool for thought leadership, link bait, and a way to leverage social media to drive website traffic and leads. Guest blogging benefits both the guest and the host. The host will get fresh content on its site while the guest blogger will received a link from the host. Both sides will be able to use each other’s resources to help share the blog and spread it online. It’s a win-win for both involved.

“Guest blogging will be huge this year,” said Greg Shuey, SEO.com’s director of SEO. “It’s a great way to obtain quality links, and to extend your network.”

While this is not technically part of SEO, conversion optimization, the process of turning more visitors into paying customers, will determine the success of any SEO campaign. It will become even more valuable in the coming year as more become aware of the practice that tests different designs, call to actions and other details to find what converts the most website visitors into leads and sales.

“Before, marketers were only concerned with driving more traffic and being content with their conversion rate,” said Josh Summerhays, conversion optimization manager for SEO.com. “Now, some of those marketers are figuring out that it’s cheaper and more effective to tweak their website to get more revenue out of the same amount of traffic.”

“Conversion rate optimization will continue to be a difference maker for companies that embrace it,” said Scott Miller, CEO of Vertster, a company that provides tools to help conversion optimization.

Tim Ash, author and CEO of SiteTuners.com, said in a message over Twitter: “Doing more with less is at the heart of conversion rate optimization and landing page optimization. Landing page efficiency is the new black.”

With 90 percent of shoppers searching Google before they head out the door, local Internet marketing and Google Maps are a must for any business trying to get people into their doors.

“Google has almost completely replaced the Yellow Pages as a place where people look for local businesses,” said Lori Gilson, president of PRMarketing.com. “If you’re not on Google maps, you may as well not exist.”

With abundant smartphones, apps, widgets, location-based marketing through social media, discounts, coupons, QR codes, image and audio searches, and text message (SMS) marketing, mobile is poised to reach the big time. eMarketer’s “2011 Marketing Trends Survey” says 35 percent of businesses worldwide plan on increasing their mobile marketing spend. Performics projects that mobile search clicks could be greater than 16 percent of all Google search clicks.

“Mobile got big last year. It will get bigger this year. And will be huge the year after,” said Ash Buckles, VP of client services for SEO.com. “Search marketers will need to embrace mobile technology and make their products and websites mobile friendly.”

This older Internet marketing strategy is still a key element of search marketing. Pay per click management creates awareness and produces qualified traffic and leads. eMarketer’s survey says 41 percent of companies plan to increase both their search engine optimization and PPC spend in 2011.

“Some of the main benefits of PPC to an overall search marketing strategy is keyword research,” said Todd Julien, president of PurePPC.com. “You can use PPC to help test what keywords deliver the highest quality of traffic to your site, while at the same time giving your business a boost in traffic.”

This old standby has made a strong comeback. eMarketer says 65 percent of businesses plan on increasing spending on e-mail marketing this year, which beats out the forecasted social media spend by 8 percent. Adage also reported that e-mail marketing provides a higher conversion rate than social media.

“E-mail is still a critical tool to drive leads and sales,” James said. “It’s still the best way to remarket to those visitors that you’ve attracted to your site from SEO and PPC.”

Content marketing (e.g. infographics, blog posts, press releases, whitepapers and articles) increases SEO through natural link building, establishes thought leadership, makes companies more interesting on social media, and drives traffic and leads.

“The future of marketing is not buying ad space,” said David Scoville, creative director for PRMarketing.com. “It’s in producing unique and interesting content and stories that attracts visitors and builds your brand. Companies must become journalists and storytellers.”

About SEO.com
SEO.com is a SEO firm that delivers a big ROI for its clients by driving traffic to their websites through aggressive search engine optimization services, pay per click management, and social media marketing. SEO.com then turns those visitors into sales through user-friendly design and conversion optimization. Clients range from small startups to Fortune 100 companies.

With nearly 14 billion online searches every month and social media sites that rival populations of large countries, there’s unlimited opportunity. But to take advantage of that opportunity, it is vital to rank high in the search engines, to leverage social media and pay per click advertising, and to make sure your website turns visitors into leads and sales. If you don’t understand how to successfully apply these strategies, then your customers will go to your competitors instead.

Welcome to SEO.com: a search marketing firm with the knowledge, skills, and a proven process that consistently delivers results. Results that deliver a significant increase in traffic and a Big ROI.

Here’s how we do it: We form a strategic Internet marketing plan around search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click advertising, social media marketing, conversion optimization and search-optimized Web design. Then, we tenaciously go to work so you can quickly dominate your online competition.

So, start dominating today. Request a proposal from a top SEO company and let’s set up a chance for high search engine rankings, more customers and a big return on your investment.
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Search engine optimization is a method of getting your website to rank higher in search engines—such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. A search engine optimization campaign pairs on-site optimization with off-site tactics, which means you make changes to your site itself while building a portfolio of natural looking back links to increase your organic rankings. When Internet users search for your products or services, your website needs to be the first one they find. SEO helps the search engines recognize your relevance to specific keywords that people search for online. The search engine optimization process includes researching keywords, creating content, building links and making sure your website is visible in the search engines.