SANTA MONICA, CA – Sometimes SEO gets a bad reputation. Naysayers are correct that there are two types of SEO strategies that are indeed bad for business, and those are gray hat and black hat SEO tactics. Gray hat SEO includes tactics such as reciprocal links, buying old or expired domains, and Google bombing/washing. Black hat techniques are even worse for business and include tactics ranging from keyword stuffing, using link farms, comment spamming and more.

Since Google can so easily spot these tactics, why do companies use black hat and gray hat SEO techniques? For starters, those tactics take less time. White hat techniques require creating quality content, careful site optimization, link baiting, guest blogging, internal linking and more. These techniques take a considerable amount of time, which is why to effectively use SEO tactics, you must hire an SEO team with a positive track record.

Image Courtesy of Itsabacus.com.

Master Google only uses white hat SEO tactics because it is the only way to go for successful SEO, according to Ali Husayni, the CEO of Master Google. Husayni said to heed the warning of Google’s anti-spam strategy as your rankings will rise and fall accordingly to how well you implement the correct SEO strategies.

“The only thing not changing with SEO is that it’s always changing,” Husayni said. “Be diligent in keeping up with those changes as [you handle your] site’s SEO, or partner with a qualified SEO provider to handle that task.”

When done correctly, SEO is not spam at all, but a good tactic that Google recognizes, according to Google Software Engineer and head of Google’s web spam fighting team, Matt Cutts. Watch the video below to hear Cutts explain why Google appreciates SEO when done well.

A focused SEO plan is a never-ending job, but one that will greatly increase the likelihood that your customers will find you on Google. Contact Us to see if we can provide SEO services for your website.

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SANTA MONICA, CA – I received an urgent email from a friend this morning. She is extremely frustrated because her WordPress blog hasn’t been getting as much traffic as she has been hoping for. This is a common complaint that I have received from blog writers who have yet to benefit from understanding WordPress as it relates to SEO. Her question was straightforward but urgent in delivery:

“How do I make my blog better and more popular, and how do I get more people to read my blog posts?”

While ‘better’ is a subjective word, there are a plethora of things that you can do to improve your blog’s SEO for free, simply by using some basic tactics that don’t take very long to implement at all. Most of them are a matter of changing old habits and misconceptions. Below are three good starting points to make your WordPress blog more SEO friendly, interesting and ultimately more readable. The best part is that they are all things that you can start doing today.

Image Courtesy of Zenzi.com

Use Videos and Images in Your Blog to Attract More Readers

We recently touted the importance of using videos and images in blog posts, which can help your site rank higher. Be sure to title your images correctly, as we discussed in a recent post about image SEO. Adding other media to your website can increase functionality for your users and, more importantly, help them find you. Want to know how Googlebot sees your images and videos? View your website in Lynx, a text-based browser. The more you take advantage of video and images (within reason), the more readership you are likely to receive.

Update Your Content Regularly with Quality Posts That People Want to Read

Yes, Master Google has repeated this point several times, but when it comes to SEO and blogs, quality content is king. I really can’t stress that point enough and it is especially true for blog posts. Don’t write for search engines, write for what audiences will search for. Be aware, though, that blogs are often crawled faster by Google than websites themselves, according to Google Software Engineer Matt Cutts, who talked about the importance of noting that any change to your blog can help or hurt your site in big ways in the video below.

The challenge is to continually provide engaging content for your specific audience. The shifting of audiences leads me to a great point made about the importance of remembering that your audience might change frequently and you need to be prepared, according to a recent article posted on Business2Community.com.

Keep Track of Who Your Audience Is and Remain Relevant to That Audience

It is important to remember that audiences change, depending on factors ranging from your competition to your field of business. CEO Ali Husayni agrees that targeted writing is key, and recently talked about the importance of knowing your competition.

“If you are competing with strong rivals, you can have an advantage over them by simply writing and posting articles on your site’s blog on a regular basis. ‘Regular basis’ is a loose term – for some smaller businesses, writing once a month gives you that advantage. But the reality is that for most e-commerce sites, writing once a day may still not be enough. So, depending on your market, you need to decide how often you want to write,” Husayni said.

Remember, these blog tips can help you tremendously, but to get to a top spot with Google and stay there, hiring an SEO expert is the best way to ensure that you take your business to the next level, according to Husayni.

“You may not have the budget for a full-scale SEO campaign if you’re just starting out, but some time with an SEO consultant to get you started may be within your budget and well worth the expense,” Husayni said. “Call the office for a free consultation to find out.” Click here to contact us about our services.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — From tips about using White Hat SEO to providing Free SEO advice, our Master Google team writes this blog to demystify the SEO world for our readers. Keeping in line with our previous efforts, we want to continue to help you with your SEO efforts. Today’s topic revolves around avoiding three of the most common SEO mistakes. While there is an endless list of things to do and to avoid when it comes to search engine optimization, avoiding these three things are in the ‘do or die’ category when it comes to launching or continuing a successful SEO campaign.

Not Being Consistent With Your Information

Your website might be flawless, but remember that your online presence also includes your other online profiles. Update all of your content, on every platform (Google +, Google Maps, Google Places, Yelp, etc.), every time. Failure to do so will hinder your SEO efforts, according to a recent article by Ashley Zeckman of TopRankBlog.com.

“It is important that your Google Places profile contains the same information as any other profiles your company may have online. Google Places pages create another opportunity to build trust and consistency as part of your marketing strategy. Be sure to audit your other profiles and answer each question as consistently as you can,” Zeckman said.

Ignoring Very Present Social Media Influences

It has been almost six years since Twitter launched, and since then, its users have grown to giant proportions. An article from Time Techland dated September 2011 revealed that Twitter has 100 million active users. Facebook launched in February 2004, and as of January 2012, there are 800 million users.

Use these sites and remember that they really do impact your SEO efforts. These websites are places where people spend countless hours connecting with friends or acquaintances, and they much are more likely to find you if you are a part of the conversation. Eric Hammer from Quantum SEO Labs talked about the importance of social media in a recent article.

“[Social media] has really taken the concept of SEO and stood it on its ear because until now, you were trying to get Google to notice you. Now, for the first time, because of social media, you need to try to get human beings to notice you too and recommend you to their friends,” Hammer said.

In short, don’t be anti-social networks, because they help your SEO efforts.

Considering Search Engines Other Than Google

Yahoo! and Bing just can’t do what Google can, according to Master Google’s CEO, Ali Husayni. Just take a look at the fact that Google has taken over 67% of the global search market, and that is old news. The number is surely even larger now, as Husayni explains.

“From the SEO point of view, ranking on Yahoo! and Bing is much easier than ranking on Google. But those that rank well with Google also rank well with the other rivals. You could rank #1 on both Yahoo! and Bing and still lose a big chunk of your business to your rivals that rank well on Google,” Husayni said.

If an SEO company shows you successful campaigns with Bing and Yahoo!, then ask them about Google. Tell them that you only want to be at the top of Google. After all, just as you should be careful when selecting SEO tactics, selecting an SEO company is even more important. According to Husayni, an SEO company knows its game and ranks very well on Google for their important keywords.

Keywords to use when researching SEO companies include: SEO, Google SEO, SEO Company, SEO Services, Free SEO, Cheap SEO, Google Ranking, Top of Google, etc. (Master Google ranks on the first page for Top of Google, first page of Google, Google SEO guaranteed and many other keywords.)

“These keywords vary for different SEO companies; nevertheless they must have a strong organic presence on Google,” Husayni said.

To see how our SEO can help your website, Contact Us.

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SANTA MONICA, CA – The time to make your website mobile friendly is now. Around the world, Internet surfing by way of mobile phones (excluding tablets), has almost doubled from last year. This year, 8.5% of mobile devices are surfing the internet, while only 4.3% were last year, according to the free web analytics company StatCounter.

The findings were published in a recent report by StatCounter Global Stats. Aodhan Cullen, the CEO of StatCounter, urges companies to realize that while the mobile audience is still relatively small compared to standard computer uses, it is growing so quickly that mobile-friendly sites are a must.

“While global Internet usage through mobiles is still under 10%, the pace of growth is remarkable,” Cullen says.

Still, as with any report regarding a rapidly evolving system, Cullen emphasizes that it’s important to remember that the mobile platform is constantly evolving, and so feedback from mobile phone and general Internet users is very valuable. Cullen extends an invitation to submit feedback using the detect tool that he provides a link to.

“As the mobile space is constantly evolving, we keep our detection under constant review,” Cullen says.

The evolving nature of SEO, specifically of mobile platforms, is something that we at Master Google can relate to. We also work very hard to keep up with it all, but find our efforts worth it when a client hits a top spot on Google. Our CEO Ali Husayni agrees with Cullen that the rapid growth of cell phone usage for Internet surfing is a great indicator that this trend will play a bigger part in SEO in the near future.

“This trend shows the importance of having a mobile friendly site while making sure it ranks well with Google mobile search. Stay ahead of the game so you can stay in business,” Husayni says.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — Search engines are a complex weave of algorithms and updates, which can be stressful when it comes to tackling SEO. Master Google’s CEO and SEO expert Ali Husayni shares that in an ever-changing SEO world, a great team is everything because the game is always changing. On the eve of the Super Bowl, we at Master Google invite you to stay ahead of the game. Husayni shares a few different Super Bowl related analogies to throw around this idea: how creativity and critical analysis join forces to play a big part in any SEO strategy, and in all SEO teams.

“The Super Bowl is extremely analytical. You have to know exactly who to throw it to, and at one correct speed. It’s precision that comes with a lot of practice with the team, and requires them all to be extremely smart. To win, you have to guarantee that when you throw the ball to the quarter back, it’s going to land in your teammate’s hands,” Husayni says.

Husayni’s Super Bowl analogies are outlined below, and include the importance of a strong team and persistence.

Illustration Courtesy of Digboston.com

Know How To Analyze Different Ideas from Your Team

Husayni has advice for the head of any team, which includes knowing how to utilize the different ideas of his team. Husayni analyzes his own managerial style, saying:

“I can analyze, see a trend and see where it’s headed. What I’m good at is looking at what other people suggest and taking it a step further, combining different ideas to come up with a specific solution to a problem.”

Every employee has a different perspective, so be sure to listen. After all, the solution to any problem often comes from a combination of ideas.

Be a Team Player by Knowing Your Strengths

It suits the Super Bowl topic well to say that when it comes to launching a successful SEO strategy, you have to be a great team player. Each individual needs to know their area of expertise on the field, and each one needs to be the best at what they do. The combination of this expertise and hard work is what’s going to make the team a winning one, according to Husayni.

“Each team member we have is an expert in what they do. What they do is going to make the entire process succeed, and let the ball land with Google, with a higher search engine ranking result for our clients,” Husayni says.

Always Strive for Accuracy: There are No Shortcuts for Effective SEO

An accurate team is a winning team, according to Husayni. We can’t control SEO efforts entirely, because just like a football game SEO has fluctuations. You may go forward and then a little bit back. To hit a 10 yard mark, you need to be persistent and be careful not to go back a couple of yards without noticing it. Husayni explains the importance of a team effort when it comes to carrying out a touchdown of an SEO campaign.

“Before the quarter back throws the ball, the rest of the team needs to protect him. While an SEO strategy is vital, if you aren’t throwing your SEO tactics out at the right speed, you can get red flagged from Google,” Husayni says.

To avoid an interception from another business on Google’s search results, remember that a lot of what Google does is common sense. Google hates spamming techniques, like Black Hat SEO. So remember, while it might be tempting to duplicate content or buy links, if you just copy and paste or try to buy your way to the top without hard work, Google will take notice. Don’t risk getting flagged to save a tiny bit of time.

“Because some SEO companies are always looking for shortcuts, they are also looking for black hat techniques. The client is very happy and then Google changes their algorithm, and the black hat techniques are revealed. Then they hire us.”

So enjoy the game and remember—it’s all about the team.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — In a perfect web world, quality links are a big stamp of approval received from another site (or many sites, sending many, many clicks back to you). But, especially in the early days of link buying, before it was made such a huge ‘don’t', there were some pretty funny gimmicks out there, as pointed out in a humorous comic strip by BigOakInc.com.

But, the idea of selling links is still out there, even though Google addressed it years ago by putting Google’s Webspam team head, Matt Cutts, on the case. According to an in-depth blog entry by Cutts, the basic problem with selling links is that it makes a link-based reputation seem shallow, and, even worse, it can even make a Google search less reliable if not discovered. Cutts gives an example of the early link buying days, and what went wrong.

“Selling links muddies the quality of link-based reputation and makes it harder for many search engines (not just Google) to return relevant results,” Cutts says. “When the Berkeley College newspaper had six online gambling links [back in 2005] (three casinos, two for poker, and one bingo), on its front page, it’s harder for search engines to know which links can be trusted.”

In fact, the mass buying of links can ultimately render a site unsearchable and get it cast out of Google’s search results, especially if the site is selling links, as Cutts explains. So what should you do to get links? Do you turn to the dark side of SEO practices (as discussed in our Black Hat Vs. White Hat SEO tactics post), and if not, what do you do?

According to Cutts, links will come when you have great content on your site, which will help it to rank well on Google. Although, as Ali Husayni somewhat agrees with Cutts that great content is king but he believes that leaving your great content out there without any hands-on link-building efforts will get you no where.

“Great content may attract inbound links but only if your site has good popularity (did the chicken come first or the egg?)” Husayni says. “But since your competition is not sitting back waiting for inbound links to appear, you cannot either.”

In this case, you need to consult a professional white-hat SEO specialist to help you understand what you need to do.

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SANTA MONICA, CA – Although SEO is a serious time commitment, there are some lighthearted moments. From realizing that rankings can become a roller coaster ride if you check them moment-to-moment, to comedic commentary on just how perhaps overly personal searches have become (as outlined in our recent article, Search, Plus Your World), here are a few funnies to start your weekend off on a happy, lighter note.

The Rankings Game: What happens when we get addicted to checking our placement on Google’s search results? A wonderful comic strip by BigOakInc.com showcases the dangers of checking your rankings too often.

So how do you avoid this roller coaster? Our client CariniAir.com is a good example of what having the right attitude about the nature of changing rankings does for peace of mind. Doug Cooper, the VP of Marketing for CariniAir.com, has been working with Master Google for a relatively short period of time, and was supportive of our efforts, which landed him the top spot in Google Maps and Google Places. Cooper understands that rankings fluctuate slightly, but keeps it positive about the big gains in his website rankings.

“Finally achieving the top spot on Google Maps for our most important keywords is a dream come true. Everyone at Carini Heating and Air is very excited and grateful to Master Google for their continued hard work and persistence,” Cooper says.

When The Use of Highly Competitive Keywords Goes Wrong: Again, BigOakInc.com makes a great point about overusing keywords by inserting them into a conversation between coworkers at an SEO company.

While funny, this comic strip emphasizes that White Hat SEO techniques are so important for higher rankings, because Black Hat SEO simply defeats the purpose of keywords, because keyword stuffing without anything to back up those keywords is simply bad practice. According to Husayni, Black Hat SEO techniques include any techniques that use spam, cheap links and poor or irrelevant content just to get a higher ranking, and these techniques just hurt you in the long run. As you ruminate over the free SEO advice that you’ve learned about while reading these comic strips, also keep in mind that SEO efforts count for your blog content as well, Husayni advises.

“Blogs seem to be an important part of any site because they get updated on a regular basis,” Husayni says. “I suggest site owners should write for their sites on a regular basis. The more fresh, quality and relevant content they post to their sites, the better chances of exposure and inclusion on Google search results they will have.”

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Graphic Courtesy of TechTricksWorld.com.

SANTA MONICA, CA – The Master Google team is happy to announce the recent accomplishments of CariniAir.com. Doug Cooper, the VP of Marketing for CariniAir.com, has been working with Master Google for a relatively short period of time, and has already seen big results, both with the number of qualified leads and with his company’s Google rankings. Like most new clients to Master Google’s SEO services, Cooper was at first hesitant to hire a new Search Engine Optimization Company when he started in the middle of last year, but has seen a big spike in the number of qualified leads as a result.

“We get maybe 30 percent of our business from referrals, the other 70 percent is from Google Search Engine marketing. We’ve increased the number of qualified leads with Master Google about 50%,” Cooper says. “I wish we’d started a year ago, I am sure we’d be number one in everything.”

A simple Google search also reveals further success for Cooper, who readily shares his excitement about the recent accomplishments with Master Google.

“Master Google helped us reach the top spot in the Google Places listing for the air conditioning keywords, while still retaining our #2 spot for heating. We are very excited about becoming #1 in the Google Places listings, and expect this to result in another 100% – 200% increase in Google sales leads during the upcoming air conditioning season,” Cooper says.

But it’s important to note that these numbers didn’t appear right away. The SEO results took time, and were the product of hard work, as both Cooper and Master Google CEO Ali Husayni explain. Still, the results happened relatively quickly, as Cooper emphasizes.

“In a matter of about one to one-and-a-half months, Master Google helped us reach the top spot in the Google Places listing for the air conditioning keywords, while still retaining our #2 spot for heating,” Cooper says.

Husayni enjoys seeing these tangible results for his clients.

“When we see results like CariniAir.com, it proves to us the fact that what we do actually works. What’s needed is patience and perseverance,” Husayni says.

See Doug Cooper’s interview in our testimonials section. Contact Us to see if your site qualifies, and we look forward to continuing to work with Cooper and our other clients.

IMPORTANT RANKINGS UPDATE: As of Jan. 19, 2012, CariniAir.com took the #1 spot on Google Maps.

Cooper is thrilled about what this means for CariniAir.com.

“Finally achieving the top spot on Google Maps for our most important keywords is a dream come true. Everyone at Carini Heating and Air is very excited and grateful to Master Google for their continued hard work and persistence,” Cooper says.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — At Master Google, we always appreciate comments that let us know what we can do to answer your questions pertaining to SEO. Of course, the best way to get advice that is specifically tailored for your business is to fill out a contact us form, but we are always happy to share our general expertise.

A recent commenter posed this question: “Do Trackbacks and Pingbacks matter when it comes to SEO?” The short answer is yes, they most certainly do matter, to varying degrees. The long answer includes an explanation of what Trackbacks and Pingbacks are, and their overall place in your SEO efforts.

Let’s start with trackbacks. A trackback is simply an automated notifier sent to someone else’s blog any time you reference their blog in a post. By sending a trackback, you are creating a link back to your blog, which takes a very small amount of time to do when considering the benefits of it.

Image Courtesy of ITinfoOz.com

While displayed quite humorously in the image above from a recent post by ITinfoOz.com, the subject of trackbacks is a serious one, because the opportunity for generating traffic is there, and is being underutilized, according to entrepreneur Matthew Bredel. Bredel has seen the results of using trackbacks as part of his overall search engine optimization and social media marketing efforts on his blog.

“A trackback is a super comment. The way that a trackback works, is instead of a going to a blog and posting a comment on someone else’s blog, you post a reply on your own website and post a trackback comment. Unless they don’t allow follows, but you still establish authority,” Bredel says.

While trackbacks certainly are more limited with most blogs not allowing follows, Bredel is correct that doing so does help to establish your authority. Blogs also appreciate your interaction.

Now, on to Pingbacks. Pingbacks have more to do with author control and authenticity, as explained well by an SEO news reporter for Beanstalk-Inc.com in a recent blog post. Pingbacks were originally the response to trackbacks lacking authenticity. Pingbacks make it easy to notify a blog of your use of it just by posting its permalink in your blog post. Of course, there is some controversy over which is really better: pingbacks or trackbacks.

“Some feel that trackbacks are superior because the readers of Person A’s blog can at least see some of what Person B has to say before deciding if they want to read more and follow the link to the orginal blog source,” Beanstalk-Inc.com’s SEO News Reporter says. “Others feel that pingbacks are superior as they create a verifiable connection between posts. Pingbacks are akin to having remote comments.”

Whether using both trackback and pingback methods, or not having tried either one on a conscious level yet, our CEO, Ali Husayni, has advice for the business owner who isn’t yet using Master Google’s services for their SEO efforts. Husayni recommends his book, Google SEO Secrets revealed, as a good starting point for your entire website, including your blog. Still, Husanyni recommends professional help.

“Engaging in all of these techniques requires months of hard labor, a complete understanding of SEO and, of course, cash. Nevertheless, we’ve been able to transform local, small businesses into large-international ones in a matter of a few months by practicing what we preach,” Husayni says. “Oftentimes, smart business people who have substantial financial backing will delegate important tasks to professionals, instead of spending years mastering what someone else already knows and taking away the focus from their business.”

Fill out our form and we’ll gladly look at your site to see if it qualifies for our Top of Google program.

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SANTA MONICA, CA — We’ve spent the last couple of weeks talking about the importance of quality, white hat SEO practices. From good content to optimized images, to discussing the difference between black hat and white hat SEO techniques, many aspects of getting a higher ranking on an organic Google search have been discussed.

But what about accidental SEO mistakes? Avoid three common SEO pitfalls that often happen in the development part of your website, including: 404′s, server errors, and weird outbound links, as outlined by Glenn Gabe in a recent article in Search Engine Journal. A simple scan can help you determine if you have any of these errors. In this case, Gabe discusses a specific software for scanning a site, but whether using a tool or internal talent, Gabe points out the learning curve ahead when it comes to spotting bad SEO accidents just waiting to happen.

SEO Services Logo Courtesy of Content-Mag.com

“You can learn a lot by crawling a web site… [it is important to note that there are] three hidden dangers that can be uncovered.” Gabe says.

Let’s delve further into the three most common accidental SEO mistakes:

1. 404′s: To define it simply, a 404 is a “Page Not Found”. It is very important that you eliminate all 404′s, because Google will remove a a site from its index for such an offense, and you’ll lose valuable inbound links. Be sure to trouble-shoot, Gabe advises.

“For example, are powerful pages on your site throwing 404’s? Why is that happening? And how much search equity are you losing if they are throwing 404’s? As you can imagine, correcting pages that 404, that shouldn’t 404, is an important task for SEO,” Gabe says.

2. Server Errors: URL “error” messages for pages you didn’t even know you had is more common than you might think. The culprit: content management systems.

“Confused? They were too. In a recent audit, the content management system being used was dynamically building URL’s based on a glitch.  Those URL’s threw server errors.  And Googlebot was finding them too.  Not good,” Gabe says.

3. Weird Outbound Links: This issue, unfortunately, inches into scary territory: hackers. There are hackers constantly trying to get into every part of your website. Don’t avoid searching for these just because the truth could be a little off-putting.

“Here’s a simple question for you: do you know all of the pages you are linking to and from your website? Are you 100 percent sure you know? Are you hesitating?” Gabe asks.

Our advice here at Master Google: know all of the pages that are linking to and from your website, and don’t hesitate to find out if you don’t know. After all, you need to know what is going on with your website, right now. Of course, the best way to tackle these accidental SEO mistakes is to hire professionals with a track record, according to CEO Ali Husayni.

“Google needs SEO companies to better understand sites,” Husayni says. “In essence, we are enhancing the ability of Google crawlers to index and understand sites.”

But, if you are a hands-on type, learn to install and use Google Webmaster Central. This free tool can save you, big time.

Contact us to find out how our SEO services can help your site avoid these very preventable SEO accidents.

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