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SEO Basics – 8 Key Strategies For Online Business Success

The world of search engine optimization (SEO) can be a big scary place for newbies. Most SEO professional companies charge astronomical prices that may or may not guarantee success.

The search engines are forever changing the way they rank websites and what is important to achieve a higher ranking. Even with these everchanging factors, there are 8 important points that you must use with your website that are not likely to change any time soon.

1. Domain Name

It is better to register a domain with a keyword in it, unless you are trying to brand yourself (think Coca Cola or Ebay). For instance, if your name is John Smith and you sell golf items you would be better off by registering a name like http://www.golfproducts.com instead of http://www.johnsmith.com.

Unfortunately with millions of website domain names being purchased all the time, finding a related domain name not already taken can be a daunting task. Still it is worth it in the end because it will carry more significance with the search engines.

2. Title Tag

This is an often overlooked place to input keywords. Have you ever been to a website and the bar at the top of the page just said ‘untitled’ or ‘homepage’? That reflects how little the site designer knew about SEO. Always put a descriptive title on EVERY page of your website. Put something like ‘Find golf clubs, golf clothes and the latest pro golf tips’, instead of ‘John’s golf shop’.

Make sure not to go overboard and just list 10 or more keywords or long sentences in a row or the search engines will think you are trying to spam them. Think quality over quantity. The title tag should contain one keyword rich descriptive sentence.

3. Meta Tags

The importance of meta tags in today’s SEO world is still being debated. It is still advisable to include a meta tag keywords and meta tag description in your code. A lot of times the search engines will pull your description tag to show in your websites search result. If nothing is there it may not show anything at all or it may pull the first sentence off of your page which might be completely irrelevant to your intended audience.

Do not, I repeat do not list 100 or more keywords in the keyword tag. This technique used to work years ago, but the search engines recognize this technique and will consider it spam. Place no more than 10 keywords in the meta keywords tag.

4. Link Strategies

Another important tip is to include keywords when linking to other websites or pages within your own site. For example it is better to have a sentence like this ‘Find out the latest professional golf tips.’ then to say ‘click here for the latest professional golf tips.’ This also applies to any outbound links to other related websites. Include keywords on the part you want the visitors to click on.

Same goes for incoming links to your site. If someone wants to link to your site give them the code to paste in their website instead of leaving them to do it on their own. Have something like ‘Check out John’s Golf shop for the best golf clubs, golf info and golf tips.” This is much better than ‘Click here for John’s Golf Shop’. Search engines also like longer more descriptive links than just one or two words.

5. Relevant Content

Make sure that you provide only relevant information to what your actually offering or selling. If you have a bunch of unrelated info on a wide range of topics than the search engines will have a harder time pinpointing exactly what it is your site is about. So if your selling golf stuff stick to golf content, don’t throw in articles or links about scuba diving.

6. PageRank

This is still a relatively new term and applies to an algorithm that Google’s search engine uses. Other search engines use similar strategies to Google’s PageRank also.

Basically PageRank is used to define how popular your website is. The more relevant inbound links you have coming into your website the higher your PageRank will be. Google also has a toolbar that you can download for free that will show you a site’s PageRank. The best way to go about getting inbound links is to find related websites with a PageRank of 5 or higher. Then asking them to include a link to your site (giving them the proper code to paste in).

Another way you can receive a higher PageRank is to have a ton of content on many different pages and then linking all the pages together in a way that will raise your PageRank. With that said this type of strategy will not boost your PageRank tremendously, so if your site doesn’t contain thousands of pages don’t stress over it. It is important though to link strategically with keywords between the pages of your site.

You can download Google’s toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com/

This is an HTML header tag used to define size of text within the tag. Search engines place more importance on text that is placed within the H1 tag. It’s like telling the search engines that ‘hey this text is important to my site’. The problem is that it can look unsightly. There are ways around this if you know about CSS styles, but for this basic intro article just know that in the end most people won’t be bothered by how the heading looks, and it will make the search engines like you more.

8. Creating Credibility

An often overlooked part of free publicity for your website is writing free articles like this one that relates to your intended audience. There are many websites on the internet where you can submit your articles for other people to place on their websites. I even employ this same strategy for my website. It’s really a win win situation. They win because they get quality relevant content for their site and you win because your name and website info is included at the bottom of the article, driving traffic to your site.

You increase your inbound links (PageRank) and provide free publicity for your website. It gets your name out there branding you an expert in your field of expertise and provides free web traffic to your site.

10 Key Steps to Turn Your Mobile App Idea Into Reality

Many people and companies are coming up with new mobile app ideas to make it big in their field. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers.However, people are relatively unaware of the steps or process needed to turn a mobile app idea into reality. Due to lack of ability and information among startups and established companies, most of them don’t know how to go about shaping the app idea.

I have helped several companies build their mobile app. Here are the 10 key steps I have followed in my 6 years of experience. I believe that my list can help anyone from any industry get their mobile app idea turned into reality.

Step 1: Write down your feature list

Conceptualize your idea begins by taking some notes. Before doing anything, you should write whatever comes to your mind. Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. I recommend writing your idea several times and in many ways. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it. Note that you should have them sign an NDA before you share your feature list. Your feature list should be clean and easy to understand. Also make sure it has popular and unique features, which will play the major role in success of your product.

Step 2: Do the market research

After writing your strong list of features, you want to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps in the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them. Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience. After doing market research, you should update your feature list.

Step 3: Identify the users/audience

It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, income group, specific profession, or any other group. Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them. Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success, and this insight from focus study can go a long way in defining product success.

Step 4: Identify the monetization strategy

Making money is the biggest reward and energizes for your idea. You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, user data, sponsorship. You want to know which one works for your app, audience and market. Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with in-app purchase option for more functions. In-app ads are also losing their shine these days due to user experience. Having user data is becoming a big monetization technique, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select 1 or 2 techniques that would give you good return on investment.

Step 5: Create a rough sketch/wire frame

You may not have done it before, or may not know how to do it. However, the rough sketch or wire frame helps you define the concept and refine the requirements of your product. You can draw a rough sketch using paper and pencil, while a wire frame can be created using online tools. When you start doing the sketch/wire frame, you will be able to polish your app idea and features list further. Also, this helps you decide the proper navigation of the application. You don’t need technical skills for this step, but you need to have a common-sense understanding of how navigation works. Your wire frames, along with your feature list, will create very good specifications for you to build the mobile app.

Step 6: Approach local mobile app developers and get estimates

Once you have your first version of the feature list and wire frame, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them. Once you shortlist 5 to 6 good vendors, have them sign the NDA and send them the project details. A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions. You should make sure to answer them in detail so that your idea is fully communicated. A good vendor should also be able to give you some suggestions to improve your idea. You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost for development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.

Step 7: Complete the UI/UX

Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wire frame of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function and flow of the application. After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wire frame is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea. This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost. If the first estimate of time/cost has increased, get more funding or cut some of the features. You want to pay the right value to your mobile app developer.

Step 8: Get the app developed and tested

Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks. You can involve your friends in the testing as well. If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate. If it fits your budget, get it done right away. If not, wait for the next phase.

Step 9: Launch the app and market it

Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing. You can also do self-marketing. Start on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it. A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy. If you have more in your budget, you can hire a PR or app marketing company.

Step 10: Gather market response and prepare for the next phase

After the first launch and marketing, you can collect user data, market response and demand. If you receive a good response, you can plan the next phase for the app. Repeat Step 1 through 9 for the next phase. This time, you should be able do them a lot faster and more efficiently. If the app is not received well in the market, find out what is hampering growth and have a plan of action.

Major Benefits and Key Challenges of Android Development

Powerful Android applications make a difference in the world. As more than 84 percent of all the Smart Phones use Android OS, there are great opportunities for developers of Android applications, making it possible for you to find a skilled android developer in any part of the world. Having said that, here is an in depth look at the major benefits and key challenges of android development to help you choose the best platform for your business app development.

Major Benefits:

Android development is cost effective

Android is open source, therefore developers can create any number of rich applications, without any recurring license fees. On the other hand, an easy SDK creation does not require more resources. You can also go for any number of revisions in the application, as there are free modification programs available, which further bring the cost down.

Inter application integration

With Android being an open source platform, it is more suitable for all sorts of inter application integration. Even if you want to merge or cross-promote the various programs together, Android is the most suitable program to use, as the technology itself is perfect for any kind of connection between dissimilar software.

Graphics support

Android offers extensive support for 2D and 3D graphics, which helps companies to attract users to its mobile applications. Using high-quality graphics is crucial for the success of any mobile application.

Less skill is required

Android programs are basically written in Java. A developer with a working knowledge of Java and good experience in this programming type can easily get Android application up and running with relative ease.

Linux kernel

Android is based on Linux kernel, which means that the basic features of Android are very similar to those of Linux kernel. Based on Linux, Android gives a very secure and stable platform, ensuring an obstacle free and smooth environment where applications can perform their best.

The key challenges

UI development

As the OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers) produce their own user interfaces, which are quite different from each other, it is sometimes a problem for the developer to handle this variation in UI’s.

Performance

Factors such as GUI (graphical user interface) and memory and power use affect the performance of an application. During application development, the developer must take into account the problem of resource utilization and distribute the resources optimally to all the applications that need them.

Security

With the widespread use of Android smart phones, there is also a need to protect these devices from malicious attacks aiming to steal critical information such as usernames and passwords. The data in transit and data at rest both need to be protected against any unauthorized access.

Backward compatibility

As Android is known for its frequent updates, it is important for the developer to ensure backward compatibility in his application developments. It is necessary to ensure that the developed application runs smooth not only on the updated version, but also on the previous versions of the Android API.

It is time for business owners to start thinking beyond regular app ideas, such as email and calendar, as they are too basic to utilize an Android developer’s full potential. While the business owners struggle with their creativity and lack of ideas, there is no shortage of talent in the Android developer community. Use your potential to come up with a challenging idea, and give it a chance. No matter how bizarre it may seem at first glance.

5 Key Strategies to Boost Visibility of Android Apps on Google Play

With a galore of highly intuitive mobile apps available on Google Play, it becomes difficult to optimise your app and fetch a steady number of downloads. To make your app successful, it is essential to research well and come up with a unique strategy for presenting your app as more performing and better than the rest.

Adhering this fact, here are some of the most productive optimisation tips for boosting visibility of your app on Google Play.

Research and Place Targeted Keywords in the Description and Name

Keyword research has always been an important part of a process which, includes any optimisation strategy meant for a search algorithm. Try to use the set of keywords which, are relevant to the app. Moreover, try to pick a set of keywords which, enjoy the highest Traffic Scores and support the changes to gain a high rank as well.

Boost the Visual Appeal of app

While considering the concept of App Store Marketing, using imagery that serves the interest of browsers is a key strategy to work on. You will have to choose the screenshots which, accurately convey the main features of your app. This, in turn, will offer a good reason to users for downloading your app.

Track Your Progress

It is important to check the ranking of your app for the targeted keywords by using different performance measurement metrics. The different types of measurement metrics help in offering clear insight about effectiveness of the optimisation strategies thereby, allowing users to know their market standing.

Build an Attractive App and Get Good ratings

Build an app which, provides great value to your investment and your app will get optimistic reviews. Getting favourable feedback from users will help in improving the ranking of your app at search result pages of Google Play thereby, helping to drive consumers for making the final decision.

Release Promo Videos

Before buying an app, consumers mostly prefer to see how an app functions. Marketing at Google Play over the Apple Store comes with a huge benefit of including a YouTube clip of the app in action. This serves as a brilliant opportunity for showing customers what the product is, how it works and how it serves as a unique choice and most importantly the reason which, drives people to download it.

A well-built app directs impacts the various performance metrics related to the product. This certainly includes the download growth, number of downloads, installs, number of ratings and usage frequency as well. These facts and figures help in understanding how well the mobile app is performing and whether it requires any type of improvement or not while, optimising it on Google Play.

Profitable Traffic Building – 8 Key Ways to Traffic Building

Traffic is the very air that every website breathes in order to survive. As a webmaster, it is your responsibility to drive sufficient and steady traffic to your site in order to get the exposure it needs. This exposure will eventually bring huge profits to you. Here are the best 8 ways to traffic building:

1. Search Engine Optimization. Improve the quality and volume of traffic to your site by incorporating relevant keywords to your domain name and content. You also have to pay attention to the required keyword density so your website will rank higher on major search engines.

2. Bank on your content. Nothing beats a quality, useful content. When your website is viewed as a good source of much-needed information, you will be assured of steady traffic and more link request from other webmasters.

3. Article marketing. Write quality articles that showcases your expertise on your field and submit these articles to various article submission sites. This is the easiest way to earn quality inbound links that makes your websites more popular and frequently visited.

4. Link building. Research the internet for various websites or blogs that share your topic or theme and exchange links with them. It is important that these sites or blog has higher page ranking than you, otherwise, they will not help your standing on search engines.

5. Blogging. Another great traffic generating tool that dominates the internet today is blogging. Talk about your website, products, and services on your blog and incorporate your website’s URL.

6. Social networking sites. You can also generate traffic from MySpace, Friendster, and other social networking sites by putting up an enticing profile and inviting your potential clients to network with you. You can also put your website’s URL on your profile so interested buyers can just click it to get more information.

7. Social bookmarking. Let your visitors bookmark your website to social bookmarking services like del dot icio dot us and DIGG to get the exposure it needs.

8. Build traffic through YouTube. Create an interesting video about your products and services and post it on YouTube. Embed your website’s URL anywhere on the video so viewers would know where to go to get more information.

Using Key Races and Trainer Angles to Handicap

Sometimes a race will seem so fast or demanding that the runners are considered to have put forth an effort that is above and beyond the usual for their class. When some of the horses from the key race run again they often win. If three horses come out of a race and win the next contest they are in that’s a very good sign. Any other horse that raced competitively in that key race should be given special consideration.

Obviously, if the race was demanding most horses will need a significant rest after such an effort, but if the horse lays off too long it may be that it will lose that great form it exhibited in that race. For that reason I don’t like to see a horse rest for more than a month after a key race. Any more than that and I begin to suspect that it didn’t return well after the race. It may be injured or lame or just exhausted. Any one of those things or a combination of them will be a reason to pass on the next race. A trainer who gives a horse too much rest is probably tipping you off that something is wrong.

Which leads us to trainer angles…

Many of the past performances that you can purchase have information about different moves that conditioners make to get to the winners circle. The ones that work get used over and again and also become public knowledge. That, as they say, is the rub. As soon as that angle gets to be public knowledge it loses a lot of its luster. Handicappers and tipsters tout the angle as if anything that is common knowledge will produce much of a profit.

Combinations of angles might be the way to go for the erstwhile prognosticator. Better yet, when a trainer does something just once, you might want to pounce on that move as an angle and play it the next time it comes around. You won’t know for sure how well it will work again, but the problem is that if you wait for it to be proven, it has very little value left.

While angles have their uses it’s best not to lean too heavily on them. A holistic approach might work best of all. Consider the angles and other factors in the race, both the dynamic and static and then form an opinion about each of the contenders. While you can form your own impact values and add up the points to arrive at a hierarchy of probability some outside of the box thinking such as intuition may also help.

Outsourcing Often The Key To A Small Businessman’s Success

Many businesses have turned toward the idea of Outsourcing various duties such as web development, programming and administrative support duties such as typing, transcription, and data entry. These particular options became available during the 1980’s due to the fact that companies were able to lower costs, save time and money as well as conserve the energies of their current employees.

Small business owners find huge benefits in outsourcing various duties due to the fact that many do not have the financial resources to employ individuals with certain talents. Technology is consistently changing and in order to be successful business owners must be able to adapt quickly to the changing environment; therefore, utilizing the various services of outside companies can actually allow the small business to keep up with certain trends.

The internet is an endless resource for all business owners as the services of various individuals is available on a global level. Webmasters, virtual assistants as well as accountants, legal services and computer programmers can be utilized not only on a natural level but worldwide. This particular option allows the funds that would normally be placed with employee retention to be utilized for other purposes, such as marketing and advertising in various media sources.

Many business owners in healthcare and legal services as well as those who work with direct marketing, seminars and webinars find that having printed transcripts available to their customers is a vital resource. A highly utilized market for business owners is to contract the services of a qualified transcription professional to transcribe their dictation for marketing purposes. These individuals provide their services often per audio hour or per audio minute cost, which is far less than if paying an employed individual by the hour.

Web development is another highly utilized market, as many webmasters will offer their services at a reasonable price. Small business owners are able to access the most up to date technologies at a lower cost than if employing the efforts of a qualified web development professional. Many computer programmers offering software development skills are readily available to most business owners – again these individuals are located worldwide.

If you’re a small business owner, outsourcing is definitely something to keep in mind when building your business. As the Internet continues to grow, competitive forces continue to increase. Direct marketing is imperative for your business’ success; therefore conserving monies that could be put to good use in marketing tactics is often the key to long term success.