Google recently upgraded the Page Rank for our Web site from a 4 to a 6. This accomplishment is a result of our skill with SEO and hard work – and demonstrates how our clients can benefit by signing up for our SEO services.

Page Rank is the result of Google’s search algorithm, which gives a number to every hyperlinked set of documents as a measure of its importance on the Web. The algorithm assigns each Web site a number from 0 to 10 representing that site’s value to Google. The 0 to 10 scale is logarithmic, like the Richter Scale, so that each number is exponentially harder to achieve than the previous number.

Google does not reveal all the factors that go into determining Page Rank, but the score does depend in part on the number of inbound links for a Web site as well as the quality of the pages providing inbound links. In other words, if site A links to site B, Google interprets that as a “vote” by site A for site B. The weight given to site A’s vote, however, depends on its Page Rank. If there are no links to a Web page, there is no support for that page. Another factor influencing Page Rank is how often the Web site is updated with fresh content.

“We are very pleased to have Master Google’s Page Rank increase so dramatically,” said Master Google CEO Ali Husayni. “Since each number on Google’s Page Rank scale is exponentially harder to achieve than the previous number, the fact that Master Google’s rank has increased so quickly to a 6 is a tribute to the hard work of our employees and the high quality of our Web site’s material. Most SEO Web sites never achieve a Page Rank of 6. So, we’re ranked right up there among the best SEO companies in the world.”

Popularity: 18%

Optimization is an unavoidable evil for an online marketer.

This Article is written to stress the necessity of having well-optimized landing pages. Before I move on, let me explain to you briefly what a landing page is and how it plays a vital role in enhancing the success of any online campaign.

A landing page is a web page created to arouse or stimulate the visitor to perform the desirable action which leads to achievement of the objective and goals of that particular page. It is also a page where visitors are welcomed first from search engines or referrals.; Because of that it must be well-structured, highly presentable and clear in meaning to the audience before they skip or close it.

Following is a formula (discovered by Marketing Experiments Team, Omniture.com) that an online marketer uses for knowing the conversion probability of a particular web page:

C= 4 M + 3 V + 2 (I-F) – 2 A

Where:

C = Conversion Probability -> the chance that a particular page will prompt a visitor to reach the page’s final objective.

M = Motivation -> It is the desire that brought the visitor to your page.

V= Value Offering -> Literally, the value you ‘are offering.

I = Incentive -> The incentive that visitor will get from your main product or service.

F = Friction ->The resistance or obstacles to conversion.

A = Anxiety-> the visitor’s concerns about security, shipment, information theft, etc.

The above formula is not a mathematical formula, but a relational formula which predicts the weight of each factor for final conversion. It is obvious from the above formula that Motivation plays a huge role in conversion due to its highest weight (4), followed by Value offering. Incentive and Friction are two factors that must be balanced accurately so visitors don’t feel offended  or overly incentivized to the point that the perceived product value  is reduced.

For instance, some people believe reducing the price of an object would result in a large volume of sales. However,  in many cases, reducing the price results in the decrease of perceived value of the product. Consider the case of Microsoft SQL Server. Microsoft initially launched MS-SQL Server (a database management system) with a very low price and anticipated huge sales. That approach did not have the anticipated results. When they raised their price to the competitor’s price, they found that sales increased. (Source: Overture.com)The positive sign (+) in the above formula indicates that the positive change in the variable on the right will result in a corresponding positive change in Conversion equal to the weight of the former variable.

Keeping this in mind, let us now understand what actually motivation, value offering, Incentives, friction and anxiety mean in web-context.

What is Motivation?

Let us first understand what motivation is and what the aspects of motivation are. Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; it is the reason for the action. Therefore if we bring this understanding of the term into web-context, we can easily find the cause and effect of this term. Let us understand motivation through an example. Let’s say a person who is an avid reader of novels has been looking for good novels at bookstores, (offline) but he hasn’t been able to find novels he likes. He turns to the Internet in his search because he knows he will get a great number of choices.  He came to Google (the world’s No.1 search engine) to perform that search. He typed “Fiction Novel” in the Google search bar and found the following results:

Now Google shows the above result page at the time when I was searching for this particular term (fiction novels). The section on the left of results from the search engine page is known as the organic section, whereas the section to the right of the page is the sponsored section. The sponsored section is where results from the advertisers are shown according to keywords and other various factors.

I have highlighted something through circular and rectangular shapes in the above figure. Can you guess what these are? Will seeing this information  actually force you to click on it? If the answer is yes, then it is nothing but your motivation turning into action. Recall my previous definition of motivation: “Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action”. This is actually what motivation is! Now turn your focus from student to businessman. The top three results have surely captured the attention of their target audience by doing audience analysis around their industry domain and then trying their best to position their website according this particular need. You can take the following example to further understand the importance of relevance in offering. Consider you’re a vegetable seller and on your shop you’re writing “Welcome to shop where you will be happy” or even worse “We sell mangoes, bananas, grapes” etc.

Now, what do you expect if you have written the first line on your shop? Tremendous sale? And what do you expect if you have written the second line considering that you only sell vegetables? Sorry to tell you, none will result in a sale. The former one is  an ambiguous message, while the latter is irrelevant and would even shatter the trust and confidence of your potential customers. Therefore, you need to first understand what you are selling and find how people are searching for that product and then shape offering according to their lingo.

Not only do we need to understand the motivation, but also the need to understand how intense that desire is. That can be revealed from various sources by knowing the number of searches in a month for a particular keyword or phrase. After knowing the desire and its intensity, we have to tailor our offering according to it. The second variable, value offering, is something that we need to understand next.

What is Value-Offering?

Value offering is a term that connotes the benefit that a buyer can derive from your product. There are numerous websites that fail to recognize this very important factor and ultimately fail to convert their potential customer into profitable and returning customers. Value offering should be very direct, clear, concise, relevant, actionable, and stimulating in its content and nature. Going back to our previous example of vegetable seller, consider that there are employees who sell the vegetables in your shop. I come to your shop and ask an employee the price of a carrot and he begins to explain the carrot’s history and how it’s grown. Would that encourage me to purchase a carrot from your shop?  No, because your employee has failed to show me the value of the product. The same applies to a website. Proper attention must be given to a website’s copy to  ensure that it is direct, clear in meaning, concise, relevant to your offering, and has a sales pitch that leads to a positive action from a visitor.

What are Incentives and Friction(s)?

Now let us understand the third and fourth variable of our equation – incentive and friction.

Incentive can be thought of in the following two ways:

Dictionary - something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.

Marketing – an appealing element you introduce to stimulate a desired action (discount, bonus).

In short, an incentive is the “extra” you provide visitors to encourage them to continue viewing your site or to enter the sales process.

Friction has the following two meanings, both related to resistance:

Physics – a force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two bodies in contact.

Marketing – a psychological resistance to a given element in the sales process.

It is vital to make a customer’s exploration of your site or purchasing decision clear and easy. Removing distractions or difficulties helps to increase conversions.

Friction on the landing page can be classified into two factors: length and difficulty of heading toward the actual content.

Length Example: A form with 23 fields to complete.

To get more people to complete the process, only ask for the data you need. Think quality over quantity.

Difficulty Example: A landing page with three columns of information and no clear way to proceed.

Taken from Omniture Free Whitepaper on Landing Page

The objective is to tip the balance of emotional forces from negative (exerted by friction) to positive. For instance, if you reduce friction in your lead generation or sales process, it will lighten the left side—the scale tips down on the right toward increased buying.

On the other hand, more friction means a heavier left side—the scale tips toward abandonment. You must offset that friction by adding incentives.

Work on reducing friction as much as you can; then, incorporate incentives, so the scale tips in a favorable direction as qualified new customers flow into your buying channel.

Here are three ways to optimize incentives:

»»Look for high-perceived-value products that complement the primary product or service. For instance:

»»Ink cartridges for printers (a few dollars invested but a retail value of $20-   $30)

»»Cans of compressed air for electronics

»»Anything of value to your customers that you can get at a discounted price or rate

»»Position them on the page where they are both in the primary eye path (e.g., sub-headlines) and in close proximity to the call to action (e.g., order forms, carts) right before they click

»»Test, test, test to find the right incentive (i.e., $5, $1 or free shipping); the impact on conversion will be worth it

A $25 gift card is good, but giving away a $5 item with a perceived value of $20 is better because your return on investment (ROI) on that incentive is higher. In addition, your customers may perceive discounts as a benefit, or they may associate a discount with your service having a lower perceived value.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a psychological concern stimulated by a given element in the sales process. Visitors get to your page, examine your offer and begin to second-guess what it is.

The following are some common sources of customer anxiety:

»» Quality of service – Will they deliver on their promise?

»» Reliability of the product – Is there a warranty if it breaks?

»» Security – Is it safe to use my credit card on this site?

»» Price – competitiveness and cost/benefit – Could I get it for less elsewhere? Is it worth it?

The more information requested and the more personal that information is, the greater the anxiety. For example, asking for Social Security numbers or credit card information can generate high anxiety that needs to be combated with guarantees, security notices and instructional content.

Here are 15 ways to help overcome anxiety:

External factors (what others say about you)

»»Security seals (VeriSign)

»»Credibility indicators (BBB, Trust-e, HACKERSAFE)

»»Testimonials (categorized, sequenced and specific to cause of anxiety)

»»Third-party ratings (PriceGrabber, Yahoo! Store)

Internal factors (what you say about yourself)

»»Copy

»»Language (Spanish vs. English)

»»Tone (match tone to buying decision)

»»Personalization

»»Signatures

»»Images

»»Colors and themes (matching look and feel of site to niche)

»»Privacy policy

»»Satisfaction guarantees

»»About Us page

»»Contact phone number (reassure that the company is legitimate, talk to an actual person)

These factors impact how comfortable your customers feel on your site and in your sales process.

This Conversion Sequence can be applied to more than just landing pages. The formula can also be used for banner ads, applications and other elements to increase conversion. Apply the sequence when you are using online tools such as Google Analytics or Google Website Optimizer for even more dramatic results.

I hope the above guide was easy for you to understand and grasp the meaning of the “Landing page” and other concepts.

The formula above was discovered and invented by Marketing Experiment Team, Omniture.com and much of the help was taken from Omniture to understand particularly.

Popularity: 10%

Dear Clients/Friends,

In general terms SEO services are divided into two categories: Web site optimization and link-building. The former refers to modifying each Web page so Google spiders (algorithm) can read it without any obstacles and keywords are placed appropriately on each page so these spiders rank the particular page higher than the competition.

Link-building on the other hand has very little to do with your Web site. It refers to encouraging “other” Web sites to place a link of “recommendation” on their site pointing to yours.  In other words and in contrast to Web site optimization, nearly all link-building efforts are done off-site.

In our company, Web site optimization is only about 10% of the work. The other 90% is link-building. That’s what makes us very successful when it comes to Google SEO. As a matter of fact, we offer Web site optimization for free to any Web site on the planet.

A few days ago, one of our free SEO clients who is now interested in our link-building campaign sent me the above question. I thought this may be the same question as many of you, so I’m placing my answer here – with some modifications to keep our client’s identity hidden:

***

Dear Client,

Link building is a sophisticated service and we cannot give you exact estimates on how much each link costs. It’s actually wrong to think of link-building that way, because having many cheap links is not necessarily the best deal. Cheap links usually come from low-end Web sites and are less valuable to Google spiders.

Our different link-building services cost from $79 to thousands of dollars per campaign. So, the best way to approach link-building is to know the kind of budget you want to work with. Of course, the more you can spend, the better link-building campaign you can have.

How many links do we generate with these campaigns? The number of links has to be multiplied by the quality of the sites that are giving us the link. So, the number of links could confuse people who do not understand the subject well. In other words, there are Web sites out there that having only one link from them is equivalent to having 1,000 links from low-end sites. So, asking about the quantity or the price/quantity of links is the wrong way to approach this subject.

We tell our Top of Google clients (the ones we guarantee their rankings at the top of Google search results) that they need to have a specific budget – which is different for each client – based on the competitiveness of their market. Almost any Web site could enjoy top of Google rankings for competitive keywords if we have the right budget to work with.

***

In case you need a proposal on how much you need to spend to get your Web site ranked at the top of Google (or how many high-quality links your site needs to get there), simply fill out our services request form. I will personally respond to you within a few days.

Also, I’ve discussed our link-building techniques in our Google SEO eBook. This is a great guide for anyone who’s either interested in doing his/her SEO campaign or those who want to understand what we do in order to make our clients successful.

Leave a comment and I’ll be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Best,

Ali Husayni

Popularity: 12%

For the first time we have refunded the full amount of its fees to a client, making good on our 100% money back guarantee. Our contract promises that within three months we will get a client’s Web site placed on the first page of Google for at least 50% of the site’s keywords. If we cannot meet those placements, the contract states that Master Google will refund 100% of the client’s money.

During a search, Google uses software called spiders that find relevant Web sites, read their code and content, and rank them for the user’s specific keywords. Our Web site optimization paves the way for Google spiders so they can easily read the client’s site and find the most important keywords. We combine that with a sophisticated link-building campaign, taking our clients’ Web sites on their way to the top of Google.

Unfortunately, in this case, when we contracted with the client, we were unaware that this particular site had already been flagged by Google for the use of unacceptable Web site building techniques – namely duplicate content. After three months, we were unable to make sufficient progress in increasing the site’s placement on Google’s first page. So we refunded 100% of the client’s money. Since the client was a small start-up business, the owner needed to invest every penny carefully.

After receiving the refund, the client took the time to write an unsolicited testimonial about Master Google’s President, Ali Husayni: “I found Ali’s site from an article on a Google finance site. I sent him a request and he was on the phone with me the same day. He talked about his services and his money back guarantee. He said we carry a gentlemen’s agreement on the main part. He worked on my site for three months. I was one of the few that could not be brought up to the top in such a short time.”

“I was running out of resources to keep his services,” the client added. “When I mentioned this to Ali he understood and was kind enough to refund me the full amount I had paid him for his SEO work.  He did this because he is the rare honest businessman. There are not too many honest guys like Ali left in the world. He only accepts people who he believes he can help. What have you got to lose? If he fails, you get your money back.”

“Many of our clients are struggling new or small businesses,” Husayni said. “We really want to help them improve their Google ranking and increase their revenues and we were sorry we could not help this particular client. In the two years Master Google’s money back guarantee has been in place, this is the first client who couldn’t be helped and received a refund. We are the only SEO company that offers this kind of guarantee and it’s important that our clients know we stand by it.”

Popularity: 19%

Almost eighty percent of users click on organic links on Google’s first page. And being there requires that your site has a high Page Rank and is perceived by this giant search engine as an authoritative Web site. For Google, the determining factor is how popular your Web site is on the Internet. In other words, how many high quality sites are “endorsing” your site or “referring” to it by placing a link on their site pointing to yours.

There are many ways to improve your link popularity and therefore your Google Page Rank (PR), but some of the techniques are more controversial than others. The “organic” way is to provide top-notch content and encourage other sites to link to yours.

Although much of Google’s formula for determining Page Rank (or a Web site’s popularity) is secret, they have revealed that the more sites link to your site, and the better Page Rank (PR) these sites have, the more link juice your site will receive.

However, link building the “organic” way can be a slow process and isn’t always guaranteed to work. So, many Web site owners are tempted to use paid links – simply paying 3rd parties to place a link on their sites. The process of buying links for the sole purpose of improving PR is frowned upon by Google and other search engines since they are trying to provide their users with organic search results.

“The best links are not paid, or exchanged after out-of-the-blue emails – the best links are earned and given by choice,” says Matt Cutts, a Google engineer who blogs about these issues. “Google does consider buying text links for Page Rank purposes to be outside our quality guidelines.”

It is important to note that buying links from 3rd party Web sites shouldn’t be confused with paid advertising or Sponsored Links. With paid advertising, search engines have provided a platform where you can pay them directly to place your link on their search results pages – clearly defined as “Sponsored Links.” Usually, you won’t be charged unless someone clicks on the link to your site – thus Pay Per Click is another name for these advertising methods.

Many Web sites do buy links and, done correctly, it can have a positive effect on your Web site’s Page Rank as well as its ranking on Google search results. But, before you start spending your marketing dollars, you should start with a well-organized SEO strategy – which relies on a variety of “white-hat” (and sometimes not-so-much white hat) Google SEO techniques.

If you still think you need a boost from paid links, keep in mind the strategies and cautions below.

Choose Reputable Sites: If you’re link building by buying links make sure the site you are paying for has a high Google Page Rank (PR 5 or above). Remember that your Page Rank increases because of the quality of your links, not just the quantity. Google gives a higher ranking to sites it views as having more organic back-links and offering legitimate content.

You cannot be penalized by placing a link on a link-farm or a site that has been banned by Google, mainly because your competition could have done that in your place. However, that’s just a waste of your time, since the link coming from a link-farm wouldn’t have any value for your site. But this works both ways. Links from reputable sites will increase your site’s PR. Multiply that by an entire network of second-party sites and you’re on the fast-track to success.

Text Links: If you pay someone to provide a link, you want to make sure the link either looks like an organic part of the Web page (like an endorsement of your services) or like an advertisement. If the purpose of a text link is to funnel traffic to your site, then that’s a perfectly acceptable link-building technique. Note that you’re NOT having the link there for improving your PR, although that’s a bi-product (and could well be your main objective). As far as Google is concerned, you have not crossed any lines.

One option is to pay a site to place content with embedded text links leading back to your site. Be careful which words you use as text links. If you use the same text link words over and over on different Web sites, Google’s algorithm may think that your Web site is spamming. Be sure to vary the keywords you use as text links.

Directories: Directories exist for a wide variety of topics and will provide a link to your Web site for free or sometimes for a fee.
When I try to explain the pitfalls of posting links to sites, I remind clients of all the spam and viruses floating about the Web. Now apply that concept to link building. Sometimes it’s not so easy to recognize the sheep from the wolves. In these situations, it’s best to consult with SEO experts before posting links to bad Web sites. Master Google has a lot of experience with guiding its clients through these treacherous waters and has helped many sites get to the top of Google in 2 to 6 months.

Safe directories have competitive Page Rank and have been vetted by Google’s AdSense or a similar service. Google doesn’t consider such sites to be link farms since they are run by human editors who evaluate each submitted Web site for relevance and quality –and there is a chance you will be rejected. Some of these sites operate in a bit of a gray area ethically, but usually Google allows them. However, many paid sites aren’t legitimate directories, so be careful. Only a reputable directory can increase your Page Rank and Web traffic.

Staying Power: Paid links offer another downside: they don’t last as long as organic connections. If you take the time to set up a network of organic links, those links will remain in place – directing traffic to you and raising your Page Rank – for a while. Paid links disappear if you don’t keep paying for them.

Getting Links for Free: Whether or not you decide to buy links, you should also consider how you can get links for free. First, offer great content that people want – and keep it fresh. You can also write articles for another Web site and ask for a link from the byline. Or you can offer good blog content or send out press releases.

So, use paid links if you wish, but be extra cautious when you do so. We’ve seen Google penalize sites for specific keywords when spam techniques were used. Pay only for reputable sites and make sure your text links vary from site to site. Then you’re off to the road of Google SEO success.

Popularity: 9%

Master Google, a leading Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company, began offering free Google SEO services –worth $500 – to qualified businesses in August 2009. Since then, the company has helped 390 businesses to improve their ranking on Google and other search engines.

In seven months, Master Google received 1,166 applicants – an average of 170 per month – for free SEO services. 390 applicants were qualified to receive the services and, of those, approximately 50% of the Web sites noticeably improved their Google ranking. Approximately 25% saw improvement in their ranking with other search engines. Such success rates for a free program have encouraged many businesses to give it a try.

“These days it can be hard for a small business to establish a Web presence,” said Ali Husayni, CEO of Master Google. “But we have the knowledge that can help them improve their ranking and become more prominent on the Internet.”

Each of Master Google’s free clients has been able to raise his or her Web site’s profile and improve traffic. In turn, Master Google has a chance to show potential future customers how the firm can help their business.

“I launched mjdrawings.com on Dec. 26 2009,” Nicole wrote. “I signed up for free SEO services a few days later. My site was selected and optimized by Master Google on Jan. 7, 2010. A week later today, all of my seven keywords rank in page 1 in Yahoo, with good improvement ranking in Google. Thank you so much Master Google, for your SEO service!”

The Free SEO Program offers the following services:

• Keyword Analysis – Identifying a Web site’s most important keywords.
• Home Page Optimization – Optimizing a Web site’s homepage for those keywords by updating the site’s tags and submitting it to Google for indexing.
• Ranking Reports – Master Google provides ranking reports to the clients for three months so they can see the improvement in their ranking.
• Google Analytics – The Web site is set up for Google Analytics

Master Google is still accepting applications for free SEO on its Web site.

Of those applicants who did not qualify for the program, the most common reason was providing the wrong File Transfer Protocol (FTP) data; without that information, Master Google’s staff cannot access a site.

© 2010 Master Google. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing and Master Google are credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this press release is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.

Popularity: 17%