In a video published Dec. 4, 2012, Bonnie Hixson, owner and executive editor of Progressive Dentist Magazine, interviews Ali Husayni, owner and CEO of Sinai Marketing Inc. (Mastergoogle.com) and Rita Zamora, social media marketing expert, regarding the most common questions in these two important fields.

 

Hixson: For someone who is just getting started on a new strategy, say going in to the New Year, what’s the first step they should take to ensure what they are doing in terms of SEO is effective?

Husayni: My first advice for a practice is to find an expert in the field of search engines whose specialty is Google, since it receives 75 percent of the U.S. search market compared to Bing and Yahoo!, which get 11 or 13 percent. Then, if you are developing your own team of SEO writers and SEO optimizers, the SEO expert can help you train your team and develop a strategy that will help you succeed within a few months.

Hixson: Thank you. And Rita, how about you? What’s their first step in making conscious decisions on managing social media?

Zamora: First of all, becoming informed. Then deciding how they will manage it over the long term and knowing that they don’t have to manage multiple platforms if they don’t want to. If they really get to know Google+ and they love Google+, then stay with that platform and get familiar with all the opportunities there are to experience with them.  Forget about Twitter and Pinterest. Do what you enjoy; that’s where you’re going to get the best benefit. Just know that you don’t have to set up a platform on every social media community option that is available. Just inform yourself and start off one community at a time and as you master your skills in those communities, you can always add on additional social media tools as you go.

Hixson: So, more focused effort from one platform at a time so that over time, as you integrate with different platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest, it will be more effective.

Zamora: Yes. And make sure that at least one person in your office is really intimate with those communities. Even if you just have someone co-managing those efforts, you still have someone internally who is a big part of that, which is really huge.

Hixson: The last thing I would like to address- that I think you both have a great perspective on from two positions within the industry- is content. I think most people would agree that content is king. As a publishing company and with our magazine, we need to stay relevant and make sure the content we produce, accept and relay is helpful and important.

How do you make recommendations on what type of content is appropriate for social media?

Zamora: I think it ultimately has to represent the practice’s brand. I like it when their content shows a little bit of their human side. Whenever a practice shows something that other people can relate to- whether it’s a doctor’s hobby, a volunteer effort or a community organization they support- it shows people things they might have in common with you, and that’s where you can benefit greatly from social media. At the end of the day it really has to represent the business’s core values or their brand. In other words, if they are really professional and conservative on their website, that’s fine. You don’t have to mirror that on social media. However, you don’t really want anything that goes against that grain and is too whimsical or silly. It’s good to have fun on social media platforms and be a real person, but at the end of the day it still has to represent your overall brand.

Hixson: Ok. Ali, in terms of SEO, how do they decide what type of content is relevant on their page and how do they connect their social media presence with their online presence?

Husayni: Websites normally serve the clients as the place to display the majority of your branding. Social media is the connection between the practice, patients and community, and a business should post to it regularly. The website is different. The website needs to be a place where information can be found; a place where people go to research the business, it’s expertise and examples of their work, etc. Google’s recent Panda and Penguin updates are putting more emphasis on keeping or engaging your site’s visitors. In other words, if your site is able to keep its visitors on it for longer periods of time it tends to rank better on the search engine, which is a brand new phenomenon. It’s important to not only keep original, organic text on your site, but to provide videos and images that are engaging and will keep your audience on your site for longer periods of time and further interest them in your business.

Hixson: Ok.

Zamora: Wow. This is good information. I’m thinking of a lot of questions I can ask Ali at our next video interview regarding the information he just shared.

Hixson: Absolutely. This is just a very basic starting point for opening his discussion on social media and SEO and how they play a role in building a strong online presence.

If you would each give everyone your contact information.

Rita?

Zamora: You can find me on my website Ritazamora.com, on Google+ at Rita Zamora Connections, Google my name or find me on Facebook and Twitter under my name.

Husayni: Similar. My name is very unique, although the spelling is different. My website is Mastergoogle.com and I will be more than happy to answer the questions anyone may have.

Hixson: Great. And of course you can find us on theprodentist.com, Facebook or Google plus. We look forward to continuing this conversation soon.

Husayni: Thank you Bonnie.

Zamora: Thank you.

In a video published Dec. 4, 2012, Bonnie Hixson, owner and executive editor of Progressive Dentist Magazine, interviews Ali Husayni, owner and CEO of Sinai Marketing Inc. (Mastergoogle.com) and Rita Zamora, social media marketing expert, regarding the most common questions in these two important fields.

Hixson: Hi, I’m Bonnie Hixson. I’m the owner and executive editor of The Progressive Dentist magazine. And today, I have two guests with me: Ali Husayni, founder and president of Master Google and Rita Zamora, founder of Ritazamora.com and Rita Zamora Connections. We’re going to talk a little bit today about SEO and social media and their importance in developing a complete online strategy.

Nice to have you guys.

Zamora: Thank you.

Husayni: Hi Bonnie, thank you for having us today.

Hixson: Most people know how important SEO and social media are. I want to get some answers from both of you about how important they are as cornerstones in an online strategy. So Ali, maybe you can tell us a little bit about SEO and how important it is in establishing an online presence.

Husyani: Today, SEO is similar to the Yellow Pages 20 years ago. If your business was not listed in the Yellow Pages people couldn’t find you. Today, if your site is not found on Google or other search engines, people have no way of knowing about you. That’s where your patients are actually looking for you.

Hixson: And Rita, what about the crossroads of SEO and social media? They have to compliment each other, but how important is it to have a cohesive strategy between what’s on your website and how your social media reflects the same information?

Zamora: Yeah, actually your social media will probably reflect some different information about your practice, but they both fit hand-in-hand. And actually, Google has done quite a bit of research on this. They did an entire body of research called the Zero Moment of Truth. You can visit zeromomentoftruth.com and learn all about that information. They found that people do go and search on Google. They are going to look on Google and search for your products or services and after that, their journey continues and they’ll research things like online reviews, your video on YouTube and your social media platform. So, social media ties hand-in-hand with SEO.

Hixson: Ok, that’s great. What are some of the biggest challenges people face in cultivating or maintaining their SEO and their social media strategy?

Rita, why don’t you answer first for us.

Zamora: Well, I think for some people it’s just about getting informed about all the different options, how social media works and what options are best for them. There are a lot of practices that are emerging right now- it’s not just me- I’ve talked to other consultants who say they’re getting a lot of clients that are hostile because they have been paying for social media services through agencies for the last year or two, but they didn’t quite understand what they were buying or how social media works. The best advice I can give to everybody is to get informed and stay informed. You would never buy a piece of equipment for your practice without really researching it, knowing exactly what it’s going to do for your practice and how it’s going to benefit you. I would recommend that same advice for social media. You really have to be informed. You can’t just pay someone and have them take over all of it blindly.

Hixson: Ok, that’s good advice. And Ali, what about SEO? There are certain things they can do themselves, but why is it important to partner with someone who understands SEO tactics to make sure they stay relevant and easy to find?

Husayni: Good question Bonnie, but before I answer that let me answer your first question about the challenges with search engine optimization. As Rita explained, similar challenges exist with practices finding the right SEO company to work with. There are a lot of SEO companies that claim the same thing- getting you on the first page or to the top of search engines- but only a few can actually deliver on those promises. Over the past few years, people have been burned over and over again by hiring companies that are not adequate in their knowledge and ability to deliver results. Companies have lost their money, their time and sometimes even their websites get penalized by Google. The first step for any practice who is trying to find the right SEO company is to look at their past experiences. Any prospect company that you are working with, find out what they have done in your similar field. If you’re a dentist or plastic surgeon, find companies in your area or other areas they have helped with success. That is the first step.

Hixson: That’s great advice. In fact, it brings me to a recent conversation we have had in the past. Maybe you can clarify here too, the difference between what is often referred to as “black hat” vs. “white hat” techniques.

Husayni: If you remember the old cowboy movies, the evil, bad guy always wears a black hat and the good guy who eventually kills the evil guy wears a white hat. Similar with SEO practices, there are companies that are wearing a black hat, which means they try to trick Google or other search engines to get their clients ranked at the top very quickly. And through the years Google has developed a very sophisticated algorithm and spam-filtering system that is able to detect these companies and their and practices and ban or penalize the websites they are working with, which can result in clients losing their domains and their ranking. For us to get them back to the top it’s very difficult and we often have to start all over again. “White hat” SEO is the opposite.

Hixson: Which is what you are involved in I’m sure.

Husayni: Try to, yes.

Zamora: (laughing) Yeah, where are our white hats.

Hixson: Ali has white roses, I’m not sure about the white hat, but I can tell you that he does employ the “white hat” techniques.

Rita, you also at one point earlier this year wrote an article for The Progressive Dentist magazine about “black hat” techniques in social media.

Zamora: Yes. Unfortunately, there are bad guys everywhere. On Facebook you have the ability to buy “likes.” I’ve literally seen it happen right before my eyes. I was working with a client and all of the sudden- within the course of a few minutes- their “likes” grew by more than 1300, which I knew was probably sending some red flag to Facebook for one, and number two, I was heartbroken because we had worked so hard to organically grow this great community for this practice and those “likes” ended up being obviously, fake Facebook profiles. You could tell because these people were from all over different parts of the world. It isn’t going to benefit a local practice whatsoever, if all of their patients’ “likes” are in Ecuador, Chile or India and they are based here, in the U.S. It’s just really better to grow in an organic way just like Ali was saying with your SEO. You have to have a little bit more patience and there is more time and more work involved for sure. But definitely, that quality growth you want is in those “white hat” practices. With SEO, as Ali mentioned, and on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media community, growing your communities organically is really best.

EVERGREEN, COLORADO– In the past week, I have spoken to three companies who have all complained about the same problem:

“We were growing in our rankings/traffic and all of a sudden, we dropped…”
“Our traffic dropped after Panda update…”
“We lost rankings for our main keywords when Google updated its algorithm…”

Their stories are very similar:

“We hired this SEO company who was very cheap and at first they did really well…”
“We paid for back-links and it was great for the first couple of months…”

Well… My dear friends, SEO is neither cheap nor easy.

As a matter of fact, in today’s market if you are looking to hire a company that can do cheap SEO for you, shoot yourself in the foot instead. That way, you save your money and the pain you’ll experience is about the same.

Think rationally.

Your competition – the one down the street – got to the top of Google for a good reason. How much money are they taking home each day? Hundreds? Thousands? Don’t you think if it was easy or cheap, then everyone would be at the top?

SEO requires knowledge, experience, tactical planning, hard-core execution, and vigorous analysis. And who do you know who would give you all of that for 100 bucks? I certainly couldn’t. Neither could my team.

Dear blog follower… You’ve seen the kind of advice we give out. You’ve read about our successful clients and you know Google SEO is doable. But always remember nothing good in life comes cheap.

What do you think? Leave your comments.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – At Master Google, we’ve talked about the importance of blogging for SEO. Whether you use Google blogs, WordPress, Tumblr or Weebly, the point of it all is to gain followers, to engage readers, and hopefully to convert those readers to customers.

Master Google CEO Ali Husayni prefers WordPress for its SEO benefits. There are many options for blogging, as we’ve discussed previously. Normally we discuss content and SEO tips to move your business up to the first page of Google. But today we’re going to delve into the actual topics that you write about on your blog. Specifically, we’ll analyze the pros and cons of writing about controversial issues. There are two sides to this coin.

All Publicity is Good Publicity
Controversial posts spark comments, comments, comments. One side writes comments admiring your post, and the other side writes comments laced with sarcasm and hatred. From an SEO standpoint, a controversial blog post has the opportunity to gain lots of links. People love to share racy articles, ones that raise their blood pressure and peak their adrenaline.

These might be hate links. Your anchor text might read: “Check out this ridiculous article at Master Google.” But linking is good. Linking means more exposure.

You Could Risk Offending Readers and Customers
Controversial topics are, well, controversial. Don’t expect all your readers to agree with you. Be prepared to face negative reviews, as some of your readers may be agitated. We’ve written before about how to combat negative comments at Master Google.

Analyze how many visitors you’ll convert from your post. You might drive in a spike in traffic from a well-written controversial post, but will it really help your business? That question is asked from a public relations standpoint. From an SEO standpoint, conflict gains clicks, but from a PR perspective, you could harm your reputation.

Before You Write
Choose your topic wisely. There’s no need to write a post on Mitt Romney’s views on women if your business sells zippers. Unless you’re a small company with very personal issues tied into politics, you might want to stay away from abortion or religion. Choose an issue within your niche.

It isn’t wise to write a controversial blog post just for a peak in Web traffic. Insincere content won’t do you or your business any favors. Content should be relevant to your business or your life.

Tips for Controversial Posts
• Pretend you’re back in school writing a paper. Did your teacher let you make a claim without proof? No. Back up all your claims with careful research. Research also forces you to learn the issue backward and forward.
• Research the other side of the argument to anticipate what your readers will say. Thwart the opposite view with stable facts.
• Taking the opposite point of view than the common outlook on a certain issue might gain you even more views, but this tactic can come off as gimmicky.
• Keep your post specific. Covering a broad range of a topic can be overwhelming, especially when dealing with criticism. Choose a narrow focus for your blog post and stick to your focus.
• Try to keep opinion out of the equation. Facts are much more difficult to argue.

Remember to keep your posts tasteful, informative and professional, especially when dealing with a controversial topic. Controversial blog posts may spike your content, but you don’t want to lose loyal readers over a distasteful or poorly researched post.

Have you found controversial posts to be effective?

TAMPA, FLORIDA- In a bid to turn around the company, Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson has announced it will lay off 2,000 workers, or about 14 percent of its workforce.

What this means for search engine optimization remains to be seen. According to Search Engine Journal, the latest market shares (March 2012) for the top three- Google, Yahoo! and Bing- total more than 98 percent of the total search engine market, with Google far outpacing the other two with 77.02 percent. Yahoo! remains in second place with 11.56 percent compared to Bing’s 9.59 percent.

Ali Husayni, Master Google’s CEO, says the changes at Yahoo! shouldn’t affect the search engine optimization business “because Yahoo! is using Bing’s search results and if/when you rank well with Google, you also rank well with Bing, and consequently Yahoo!”

This is the fourth time in six years that Yahoo, Inc. has conducted mass layoffs. Thompson says the move will save the ailing company about $375 million dollars per year. The layoffs are the largest in the company’s 17-year history. The changes also include a reshaping of the board of directors. Thompson is Yahoo’s fourth full-time CEO in less than five years, a period marked by steady declines in revenue.

After announcing the layoffs, Thompson promised to share more details about his plans April 17, when Yahoo Inc. is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings. Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ analyst Scott Kessler says Thompson “definitely seems to be taking a very broad and bold view of what needs to be done at Yahoo!. He seems to know it isn’t going to be easy and it isn’t going to be pleasant.”

A leader of the search engine pack once upon a time, Yahoo! has been overtaken by Google and Facebook in the race for online advertising. Yahoo!’s website remains a popular destination, tracking about 700 million visitors per month, but people have spent less time there and more on Google and Facebook.

On a related Facebook note, Thompson recently launched a series of lawsuits against Facebook. Facebook is firing back with its own counter-suits. Yahoo! claims that Facebook is infringing upon several patents owned by Yahoo!, including patents on methods for advertising online. Facebook’s counter says Yahoo! has violated its patents covering advertising, online recommendations and photo-tagging. Yahoo! has dismissed the new lawsuit, saying it’s without merit.

Thompson sent an email to employees covering the upcoming changes, which in part reads:

Today we are restructuring Yahoo! to give ourselves the opportunity to compete and win in our core business. The changes we’re announcing today will put our customers first, allow us to move fast, and to get stuff done. The outcome of these changes will be a smaller, nimbler, more profitable Yahoo! better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require.

Change is never easy. But the time has come to move Yahoo! forward aggressively with increased focus and accountability. Our values have always been about treating all Yahoos with dignity and respect, and today is a day to embrace those values. This is an amazing company with exceptionally talented people and I know we will all do our best to encourage each other through this difficult period of transition.

Yahoo!’s future is uncertain but for now, the company remains a player in Web search, albeit a far distant second to Google.

NASHVILLE, TN – Search engine optimization is an ever-changing field, and SEO experts work tirelessly to roll with the punches. If you want to search Google and find your business at the top, SEO is essential to your success. At Master Google, we are constantly researching online SEO patterns and putting those findings into practice.

While SEO companies know the ins and outs of SEO, search engine optimizers are probably not experts in your specific field. For the most efficient search engine optimization, you can clue your SEO provider in to the latest trends in your industry, providing a great resource for content.

Here’s how to help your SEO expert help you:

Do Your Homework

Before selecting an SEO company, do some research. Different companies have different specialties, and you’re encouraged to shop around. Make sure your SEO company is honest and diligent. Be wary of firms that promise unrealistic outcomes. As we’ve said before, SEO takes time, and companies that guarantee overnight results are too good to be true or sometimes using black-hat techniques.

In a previous post, Master Google’s CEO Ali Husayni gives readers 10 common mistakes to avoid when choosing an SEO company, including not looking at ranking reports or examining proven results. Since you’re doing the hiring, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for references.

“Each SEO company should be able to show you at least ten local and international clients they have helped rank at the top of Google with the permission for you to contact them,” Husayni says. “The keywords they show you must be the most competitive for such clients (and not merely long-tailed keywords).”

Be Available

At Master Google, we care about your success, as your success is also our success. Life can be hectic, and if you’ve hired an SEO company, it means that you don’t have time to do your own optimization – it means you’re busy. At Master Google, we’re lucky to have clients who take the time to talk to us despite their full work schedules. Try to be prompt replying to phone calls or emails. In contrast, if you feel your SEO company is hard to touch base with, that’s a conversation you should have with your SEO expert.

Share Your Knowledge

Many Master Google clients are experts in their fields, and as lifetime scholars of their subjects, they’re continually learning. Sharing breaking industry news can save your search engine optimizer time in research, meaning you’ll have an extremely relevant topic while giving your optimizer more time to craft meaningful pieces.

Also keep your SEO company up to date with any changes happening within your company. If you’re introducing a new product line or hiring a new executive, your SEO firm may be interested in writing a press release on these changes.

Give Feedback

Your SEO company has a plan in place, and it’s important to take notice of the changes you see as a result of that plan. Has your business gained exposure? Have you had more inquiries than normal? Fewer than normal? Providing your SEO firm with your experienced results can be helpful for both parties.

Providing real results can help you evaluate the right SEO company for your needs. Also feel free to ask any questions you might have, no matter how trivial they might seem.

The right SEO company will work hard to deliver results, but your small efforts to keep your SEO company informed about your industry will be beneficial to everyone. If you’re interested in learning more about how Master Google delivers results, contact us today.

NASHVILLE, TN – These days, it’s common for people to search for information on their mobile phones. It’s so convenient to search for restaurants, stores, and services on mobile devices while we’re out and about. For users with smartphones like iPhones and Androids, our telephones are essentially pocket computers. So should we be tailoring SEO content to a mobile platform?

On December 15, 2011, Google introduced their smartphone Google-bot Mobile. It is Google’s hope that by indexing smartphone content separately, users will have better search experiences on their phones. The blog post, written by Yoshikiyo Kato, says:

“With the number of smartphone users rapidly rising, we’re seeing more and more websites providing content specifically designed to be browsed on smartphones.”

In a Search Engine Land article about mobile searches in 2012, Michael Martin explains how users may want different information from searches across different platforms:

“The intention of inputting a search term on a desktop, feature phone, smartphone, or tablet can mean different things for the same keyword. For example, when typing in the term ‘tacos’ on a desktop I may want information or recipes; but on a feature phone, I may want to call a local taco shop; on a smartphone, I want directions to a local taco place, and on a tablet, I want to check reviews or what different items on the menu look like.”

For your business, it’s relatively easy to provide all this information to your potential customers. Having a variety of content, such as recipes, directions, menus, reviews, and photos, can be important on a mobile platform (and on a stationary computer).

A study by the group Meditative shows that images and reviews draw in your user’s eyes. For iPhone users, the study revealed that positive reviews on the Google Places app made a huge difference in which listing got clicks and which did not. While you need to register to see Meditative’s eye-tracking report, Search Engine Land breaks down the basics in this article.

Ryan Jones at Search Engine Journal doesn’t believe you need a different strategy for mobile SEO. Since our phones are just little computers, Jones thinks it’s easier just to design your website to work well on all devices – including phones, tablet computers, and traditional desktops and laptops. Jones writes:

“If you want something that is really native to a device, an app is definitely the way to go. Apps can access multi-touch features, rich media, in app purchases, gps, camera, and other aspects to provide a truly unique experience that a website cannot.”

My favorite websites that I frequent online all have apps. If your business could benefit from a mobile app, brainstorm ideas that would entice your customers, entertain them, or practically inform them about your business. Maybe your pizza place could commission an app to let users create their own pizza. Your personal training business could create a personalized workout app, complete with a nutrition and exercise routine.

While mobile screens are smaller than traditional computer screens, apps can give users a tailored experience on a smartphone. Apps with in-app purchases, such as the photography app Hipstamatic, drive users to their website with extended packages and the ability to purchase photography prints. The Pinterest app is just as useful as the full website for users to share things they like.

Focus on how your customers will find you, and keep up your tireless SEO endeavors. If you believe your business needs a separate mobile site, or even an app, evaluate what’s best for you and for your customers.

But no matter which form of technology is accessing your website due to your SEO efforts, all SEO strategies require three things to be successful, as outlined by Mater Google’s CEO Ali Husayni, who says:

“SEO takes the following three things: expertise, hard work, and patience. On average, our clients see the best results within six months to a year after we start a project.”

Master Google client CariniAir.com recently saw their site rise to the top of Google Places and other search result areas after working with us. Doug Cooper, the VP of Marketing for CariniAir.com, was thrilled with the results.

“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.

SANTA MONICA, CA — I know that we all thought we were done with hearing about “making a list, and checking it twice,” but when considering either having or being a guest blogger, ’tis the season to make a list of steps and goals along the way. What should that list look like? From targeting a market, to joining a group that shares blogging opportunities, planning ahead of time will make it easier to decide what to post and where to spend your time maximizing link building, an important search engine optimization tactic.

1. Understand the Importance of an Inbound Link. Inbound links are one of the key components to quality SEO, because it tells Google that your website is trusted and important. More links make you an authority. To further understand the anatomy of a link, see the full explanation in a recent article by Andrew Pitre on HubSpot’s blog. And remember, not all links are created equal.

“If you were to get an inbound link from a domain with lots of its own inbound links, like the New York Times, for example, you would get more authority transferred to your domain than if you got a link from my friend Brian’s blog,” Pitre says.

2. Target Blogs With Keyword Research. If you’re looking for a guest blogger, please skip ahead to the next step.

For the writers: what do you want to write about? Think of words or phrases that you currently want to be found under in a Google search. Search for these keywords on Google and determine the list of websites that you wish to write for. To further expand your horizons, use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, which will give a thorough list of the keywords from the previous month that relate. Another Adwords column also displays those keywords’ popularity for the last month, a very valuable tool in deciding which sites are worth your time.

Another option is signing up for a service like WordTracker.com, according to Ali Husayni, the CEO of the SEO service company, Master Google. WordTracker’s function is like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, in that it helps you find and evaluate keywords.

3. Join a (Free) Service Like Blogger Link Up. BloggerLinkUp.com is a website that connects blog writers with website owners who need blog content. Each week, a newsletter is sent out with lists of requested blog posts, and writers wanting to be a guest poster. The form is the same, whether you are a prospective guest blogger or a website in need of a guest blogger.

4. Make Yourself Uncomfortable With Your Guest Blog Efforts (Within Reason). What makes you uncomfortable about writing or hosting a guest blog post? Change can be scary, but we need to try every serious idea we have at least once, urges Cathy Stucker, the founder of BloggerLinkUp.com, in a recent post.

“The problem is that too often we don’t try a second or third time (or even a first!) with marketing activities which seem difficult,” Stucker says. “I was terrified the first time I gave a speech. But I got up and did it anyway. You can, too.”

So, forget your fears, and remember, the worst thing that can happen with new content is that, well, you don’t receive any at all. Go get it.

© 2012 Master Google. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Master Google is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this press release is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.

Santa Monica, CA – Happy Holidays to all of our wonderful subscribers (and soon to be subscribers). We hope that you have found this blog to be a useful source of information and advice. As you know, it’s almost another year, and you might be putting another SEO strategy in place, which is why now is the time to act on the newest innovations that the New Year brings. Beware of staying stagnant with your SEO strategies, advises Ali Husayni, CEO of the SEO service company, Master Google.

After all, as we mentioned in January of last year, SEO changes as Google’s search engine does, which makes it all the more important to stay with the trends. And not to fear, Husayni still remains optimistic that no matter how it continues to evolve, SEO works and will continue to work in the foreseeable future, even with the added features introduced by Google+. Here are some of the changes in SEO that experts expect to see in 2012.

Unique Content, in Real Time: While Google’s search algorithms continue to emphasize the performance of a website, it is even more important to provide new content, especially content in real time. Content that encourages feedback is timely, every time, according to marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, during a recent interview with Socialnomics.net.

“Social media gives us the ability to communicate instantly, yet most marketers have not developed the communication skills to address real time,” Scott said. “Marketers have been trained with a campaign mentality, spending weeks planning, designing and executing in a sequential manner… [using a] new mentality, infrastructure and workflow to meaningfully participate in real time,” Scott says.

Spend more time not only thinking about your target audience and what kind of content they need, but when they need that content. Timely content encourages engaged feedback from viable sites, which helps your Google ranking, according to Husayni.

“If you want to be on the 1st page of Google make an effort to create content that will get the users involved in a conversation,” says Husayni. “Respond to every comment you get on your website. Be nice and offer guidance. When other users see how responsive you are, they will visit your website more frequently as well.”

Focus on User Quality, Not Quantity: This much is still true regarding users: if your site is getting good reviews from users, it will improve your Google ranking. If it’s getting bad reviews, the reverse. But remember, more clicks don’t necessarily mean more customers or higher customer satisfaction rates. Encouraging good reviews by interacting with customers is more important than ever, according to a Fall 2011 Constant Contact Survey study. Sixty percent of responding businesses reported that they enjoy engaging with all customers and prospects who post comments on social media platforms, whether those posts are positive or negative. Consumer feedback can lead, of course, to a higher customer retention and satisfaction rate.

Social Media Continues to Increase in SEO Importance: It’s true that social media is one of the factors influencing natural search rankings for Google. So, more than ever, you must consider social media as part of your SEO promotion strategy. Try to get inbound links from bloggers. If you release a new product, you want to have someone influential twitter about it. Be sure you have a Facebook presence. 

Targeted Websites: Be aware of how your target audience does research and try to entice viewers like more traditional marketing strategies. SEO companies like Master Google note that Google is looking for those sites that are valuable to users. You also need to find the online communities that your target consumer frequents. This will let you reach viewers as a group rather than individually.

The Rise of SEO-Led Marketing Campaigns: Increasingly, all marketing will be driven by SEO. Radio, TV, and print advertising will all be part of SEO campaigns to educate the users about products and services. There is an audience that traditional media reaches, but you have half the chance of reaching as many of them as you would have 10 years ago, according to Paul Gillin, a respected social media marketing guru and Author of The New Influencers. After all, in the last eight years, we have gone through a shift in consumerism. We begin with a search engine, as Gillin points out in forum at the SuperGenius Conference.

“We used to go to a library and browse, now we expect it to be there,” Gillin says.

With a search engine’s place established by expert after expert, SEO ranking is at the heart of the campaign, rather than being an afterthought, and that is the new normal.

Geography is Even More Important Than it Was Last Year: Google Pages is increasingly part of Google’s search engine results. Google is also working on ways to incorporate the user’s location into results. As more and more people use GPS-enabled phones for searches, geographical considerations will play an even bigger role this year.

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