Do You Need An Internet Marketing Degree to Succeed Online?

Posted by admin on 11/30/2009 | 1 Comment

Post written by Dana Prince

If you want to be a successful internet marketer, search engine optimization is one of the most important things you should dedicate time to learning. For many, the question is: should you learn it alone or get help?

The time and effort you spend learning how search engines work will pay a huge return on your investment. A solid foundation in understanding how search engine optimization, or SEO, applies to marketing online can enable you to:

• Reach a larger online audience,
• Reach the right audience;
• And help you save money on your internet marketing efforts.

Learn SEO

SEO, also known as search engine optimization (or search engine optimisation in the UK), is a vital aspect of search engine marketing. This equals the act of optimizing your site so that it will be more likely to be featured in the top rankings in search engines relating to your niche. There are many different ways to do this and not all suggested methods are going to work.

SEO is an advanced topic with many facets and learning SEO the right way will help you reach success and profitability sooner. The wrong search engine optimization techniques will slow down your progress and lead to frustration.

The desire to be featured on page one of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines for your business niche is huge and those who do get to the top of the rankings for the right keyword phrases have a good chance of being profitable with minimum (to no) advertising costs.  SEO isn’t just about reaching the top spot on search engines for your keywords, though. It also includes: knowing which words and phrases will get you there, which words and phrases will be more likely to lead to a sale, knowing how to optimize every page of your website, doing off-page optimisation, unleashing the power of social media, and being able to stay on page one despite fierce competition and changing search engine algorithms.

Some internet marketers try to buy their way onto to the front page through pay per click sponsored advertisements and while this does have its place in a search engine marketing strategy, organic SEO placement is the best way to get traffic and make money online without a huge investment. Getting educated on the latest organic search engine optimization methods is the best way to make money online with minimal investment.

In terms of search engine traffic, organic results are something to strive for. When people surf for something, they’re much more likely to choose the organic results rather than the sponsored ads on the sidebar and learning how to be naturally featured in the top spot by your target audience is an important first step in being able to market your product or service to those who are most likely to buy from you.

Search engines are vital. Trying to navigate the internet without them is difficult and they were designed to help people find what they are looking for. Learning proven SEO methods as part of a search engine marketing strategy will bring you the type of traffic that will convert from a visitor into a customer. If you know how to make your website appear to be relevant to your topic and learn how the search engines think, you will naturally get traffic from people who could be qualified customers.

Beyond SEO, there are many other facets to internet marketing but learning how to optimize your business for the search engines is a major part of internet commerce.

Question: How do most internet marketers learn SEO?

Through trial and error.

Learning the SEO Ropes

Some new online entrepreneurs who try to learn through trial and error have difficulty attaining success and give up before they make any real money. Some of them pay a small fortune for insider information that often no longer applies. Because some of the most profitable online niches are extremely competitive, quick tips aren’t the best way to get ahead of the competition for long. While there is a lot of free information available to those interested in learning SEO, much of it quickly becomes outdated and search engine algorithms change regularly so you need to stay abreast of changes so that you can continue to compete in your niche market. Many agree that the most logical way to do that is to get a formal internet marketing education.

Do you need a Degree in Internet Marketing?

There are people who have achieved online success without a degree in internet marketing.  But the vast majority of those individuals have had to endure a long period of trial and error before becoming profitable.

By investing in an accredited education, you can make calculated and informed business decisions about how to market your online business. You can also become qualified to apply to work for others as a consultant who teaches them how to be successful online. Whatever your business or personal goals are, learning how to do it the right—from the start — will make your journey toward success a smoother one.

Whether you’re new to search engine optimization or have an intermediate level of knowledge, investing in an internet marketing education is the smartest way to reach success online.

If your career opportunities cause you to need to move, don’t forget to complete a USPS Change of Address.

On Page SEO vs. Off Page SEO

Posted by admin on 11/30/2009 | 0 Comments

Post written by Dana Prince

SEO, or search engine optimization, is something that most online entrepreneurs quickly become aware of. One of the first things you need to learn, in order to be successful online, is to optimize your website so search engines will be able to find it.  But what some new internet marketers don’t realize is that there are many aspects of search engine optimization.

SEO consists of on-page optimization tactics, that occur directly on your website and off-page optimization tactics that happen outside of the site. Both are important and both can help you get traffic to the site.

On Page SEO

Search engines index pages. Every page in your website has the ability to be indexed and contributes to the overall popularity and ranking of your website. For this reason, there are various aspects of the web pages that you need to optimize.

Some novice internet marketers believe you can optimize a home page and be done with it but traffic has the ability to enter your site on any public page and because of that, you should optimize each and every page.  Here are some examples of areas of the page to optimize:

The URL:

A domain name can help your ability to be found online. When search engines read your page, they’ll want to categorize it and the domain name is one of the areas they look at. For this reason, it’s a good idea to pick a domain name that relates to the niche you’re in. Beyond that, you should choose a link structure that also utilizes relevant keyword phrases. If you’re selling widgets, your url could get more traffic if the domain is something like: widgets.com/buywidgets.

The Tags:

When you search online for something, the search engine results pages will show you a description of websites it deems to be relevant. The meta tag is the 2-3 line description that tells people what your site is about. From an SEO and SEM perspective this is important.

In terms of SEO, keywords will help. In terms of SEM, or search engine marketing techniques, writing a descriptive and keyword dense meta description can tell search engines and people that your site’s link is worth clicking.  You can also enter keyword tags for each page which gives the search engine a quick answer on what the page is about. Image tags are another area of importance in SEO. Not only do pictures help you from aesthetics and selling perspectives but search engines can read the tags related to the photos so remember to use keywords in image tags so that you increase the relevancy of your page to your topic.

The Title / Header:

A formatted and relevant title will tell search engines what the webpage is about. This can help drive the right traffic to the page. If all pages on your website are labelled the same way, this doesn’t help search engines send people to the page on the site that’s most relevant to the topic so it’s important to label your pages optimally. Keyword optimization of subheadings is also helpful.

Keyword Density and Latent Semantic Indexing:

If your page is about widgets, the word widget should appear on the page. Words related to the sorts of widgets you sell should also appear so that search engines know exactly what the page is about. For example, if you’re selling Apple computers, you’ll want to also list other words related to computers so that the search engine doesn’t think that people looking for information on apple-picking farms should be sent to your page.

Linking and Navigation:

Having an easily navigable site is going to help visitors and search engines find what they’re looking for. People and search engine spiders (software programs that index web pages) can enter on any page and it’s a good idea to help them easily find their way around your site. A site map can be helpful for giving search engines a bird’s eye view of your website and linking within the site while using appropriate keywords as link anchors will also help your site get desired traffic.

Off Page SEO

While what exists on the pages of your site is a very important part of internet marketing, what exists outside of the website can also be quite helpful in bringing you traffic and favorable search engine rankings.

Search engines look at popularity when indexing web pages and various things that you can do outside of the site can impact that popularity and perceived relevancy to your topic:
What’s the best off page SEO strategy? Get backlinks. Links pointing to your site from authority blogs and sites will help you tremendously with your search engine optimization efforts. If other sites link to your site, this is considered a popularity vote.  If that site links with a keyword anchor, this can help you even further to rank for the keyword or keyword phrase in that anchor. Article directories, website directories, press releases, guest posts on blogs, and social bookmarking links can all help. Social bookmarking creates links to your site that can be seen by people and indexed by search engines so the more high quality links that point to your site — the better. If the site linking to you is relevant to your topic and is well optimized, this is the ideal scenario.

There are many facets of SEO that can help a business or an entrepreneur gain online exposure. Learn all you can about how to optimize your site(s) and you’ll increase your chances of online success.

Learn SEO – 4 Essential Search Engine Optimization Areas to Learn

Posted by admin on 11/30/2009 | 0 Comments

Post written by Dana Prince

If you want to learn SEO basics, you’ll definitely have more success in internet marketing than someone who jumps into online commerce without taking the time to become educated on how successful marketers have achieved their success. 

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the foundation of marketing through search engines. Optimizing a site for search engine placement will increase a website’s chances of success, especially in competitive niches.

Search engines send traffic to optimized websites so the quite simply…if you learn SEO you increase your chances of succeeding online. Even if your website is beautifully designed and your copywriting skills will convert a high number of visitors into customers, SEO is pivotal in getting traffic to your site so that you can wow customers with your sales copy and site layout.

There are a lot of different parts of an optimized website and by learning about those individual areas, you can improve your chances of being successful.  The more optimization that’s done, the more likely the site will get organic search engine traffic. 

What’s meant by organic? Sites that get organic traffic do so without having to pay for listings because search engines see their optimization efforts and send interested traffic their way.  The search engines deem the people searching for specific words and phrases to be interested in what your website contains due to several factors. Learning about those factors and how to apply the right strategies to them will help you devise a well-rounded search engine optimization strategy.

Not only is knowledge of how search engines work important for organic SEO but even if you’re paying for clicks through Google Adwords pay per click campaigns, the layout and optimization of your site is still vital. In fact, well-optimized websites pay less per click than non-optimized sites and get better sponsored ad placement as well. So, whether you’re planning on attracting the majority of your site’s traffic organically or through sponsored ads, learning to think like the search engines is going to benefit you substantially.

Core SEO components to learn include:

• SEO’s Relation to Internet Marketing and How Search Engines “Think”
• Keywords
• On-Page Strategies
• Off-Page Strategies

Let’s look at an overview of each of these components and how learning about them can help you succeed:

General Online Marketing and SEO Knowledge

Having a foundation of internet marketing knowledge will help you in all facets of search engine optimization. Knowing how SEO relates to internet marketing and online commerce is essential.

You’ll also need to develop a basic understanding of how search engines work. This doesn’t require a specialized degree in computer science but it does require taking the time and energy to learn what search engines look for when making their decisions about website indexing.  Search engine algorithms do change but a basic understanding of how they grade a website is essential in grasping important concepts required for success in online commerce.

Researching Keywords and Results

Possessing research skills for your website is an essential aspect of search engine optimization. Learning how to do the research and then knowing how to apply the data you’ve found to your website is important. Why? It helps you to create a search engine optimization strategy can help you not only get traffic but get traffic that converts from a visitor to a customer.

Assuming you already have a website that you want to market, things you’ll need to know include: which keyword phrases are highly searched in your niche market, which keywords may be too competitive, the difference between optimization for local search markets versus national or global search, and other areas as well.

Once you’ve begun optimization, you’ll also need to learn how to research your website’s analytics so that you can determine whether various efforts are successful or whether targeted keywords and other strategies need to be tweaked.
On-Page Search Engine Optimization Strategies

Search engines look at each page on your website to help them make a determination on what the site is about. Various aspects of your site’s pages need optimizing and learning about these aspects will help you do things in a way that will provide you with maximum free exposure to the type of traffic you’re looking for. If you think of on-page SEO in terms of grading, the more components you optimize, the higher your score.

Off-Page SEO Strategies

What’s perplexing to some new internet marketers is how to optimize a website beyond the pages that exist on their domain. In fact, off-page optimization is almost as important as on-page optimization because things that you do outside your website could bring people and search engines to your website plus increase your levels of traffic dramatically.  There is a score here as well. It’s associated with your off-page SEO and it can increase or decrease based on several variables. An increased score can mean increased free traffic to the site.

How to Learn SEO

Learning about search engine optimization is vital to success of anyone who wants to use the internet either for business or to enhance their business.  Successful internet marketing professionals who learn SEO learn how to create and maintain a website that naturally attracts high volumes of the desired type of traffic. Not all traffic is equal and search engines look for many things when grading a website. More people than ever are seeking a professional education so that they can truly excel in this important area of online business.

What is SEM and How do I Learn It?

Posted by admin on 11/30/2009 | 0 Comments

Post written by Dana Prince

SEM stands for search engine marketing and it’s an essential part of internet marketing.  By learning how to do effective search engine marketing with the top search engines, you can market to people that use search engines to find things they want and need. How many people use search engines when they want to buy something?  A lot!

There are a lot of career opportunities for people who know how to market with search engines. You can be an online entrepreneur, you can be a marketing consultant, and you can work for companies who want to improve their online presence. Learning to unleash the power of marketing with search engines could be a very lucrative proposition.

What is SEM?

Search engine marketing encompasses several areas, such as SEO (search engine optimization) and pay per click advertising. Getting a solid SEM education is a smart idea. Not all search engines operate the same and there are things you can learn to help you maximize the potential of achieving success with internet marketing.

What is SEO?

SEO is the act of optimizing a website so that it will rise to the top of search engine results pages for keywords you’d like to rank for. If you sell a particular item, you’d optimize your website so that it would (hopefully) come up high in results for people searching for phrases related to that word. That way the web site would get traffic and the traffic would be people that are actually interested in buying what the site is selling.

When a person searches for a phrase, there can be thousands of results. Google, for instance, will list ten results per page. By being listed on the first page, you could receive traffic for people that search for words your site is ranked for. A big part of SEO is getting on that first page.

PPC

Pay per click is another aspect of search engine marketing. You can pay to be listed in search engines and contextually on websites related to a topic for particular search phrases with an advertisement that can drive qualified traffic to your website.  Learning search engine marketing techniques can help the investment of pay per click pay off. Those who learn the principles behind successful search engine marketing can get a great return on that investment. The goal is to keep the cost per click low and the conversion per click high.

How do you learn effective search engine marketing?

Some people who aspire to be dot com millionaires have learned SEM on their own. The problem with going it alone is that you have to suffer through trial and error before you reach success.  While this can be a valuable way to get an education, it can also be time consuming and cost prohibitive.  With paid inclusion and other paid search engine marketing techniques, a mistake could cost you a lot of money before you realize that it’s not going to pay off. By learning in a formal environment, you can begin to do SEM when you’re knowledgeable and armed with skills and strategies that are proven as successful.

Internet Marketing Careers

Internet marketing skills are increasingly recognized in business and more careers than ever require skills in this area. Even local products and services businesses who don’t sell anything through the web are now looking to internet marketing specialists to work for them or to consult and help them achieve success. Search engine marketing knowledge could help you advance in your current career or seek a new opportunity in an exciting and lucrative field.

Searching for Your SEM Education – Internet Marketing Degree Programs

Because of the demand for knowledge and expertise in the world of internet-based marketing, there are now accredited Bachelors and Masters Degrees related to internet marketing. They can teach various aspects of marketing for internet audiences, which is very different from traditional marketing.  Course areas covered in internet marketing degree programs include: SEM, SEO, PPC (pay per click), communicating online, legal issues surrounding internet marketing (which are increasingly important!), viral marketing, social marketing, and more.  If you’re looking to receive a formal education, finding an accredited learning institution is essential and there are options for those who want to learn via distance learning.

By finding the right courses to help you learn search engine marketing and other aspects of internet commerce, you can shorten your learning curve, minimize the trials and errors, and shorten the journey between being a novice and being a success.