Link Building is DEAD, Its a BIRTH of Link EARNING!!!

Did you hear that from Rand Fishkin of SEO MOZ, he has been saying these days. He has been articulating which we have been working silently over for past two years.

Gone are the days when people used to buy links, build links, get links, force links, push links, drop links.

Old-school, super old-school link building tactic was leaving links on guestbooks, forums, open comments, do follow blogs, do follow links, all that kind of stuff. They are extremely effective for getting your site banned from search algorithms.

So how should one go about EARNING LINKS?

The new way to do this is earn links directly with content. You can earn links very, very directly if you create the kind of content that you know someone wants to share, wants to link to, would embed, would write about or blog about or include in their press or their research or in something that says something nice about them.

The link earning way to do that is to get a guest post featured on picky sites and blogs. This is very important. When we say "picky," what we mean is, people who care a tremendous amount about what's being put on their sites as opposed to those who accept nearly every type of guest post or guest article.

The diagram shows how Converged Media works. The most important aspect to Earn Links is through Earned Media. So the overall strategy is to create great content and reach out to the earned media space

 

[caption id="attachment_3703" align="aligncenter" width="497"] Link Building is DEAD, Its a BIRTH of Link EARNING!!!.[/caption]

 

Top 5 Ways Your Business Can Leverage Instagram

Any business can utilize Instagram when it comes to adding photos to a blog post, but it will take a bit of work. Instagram is all about people taking pictures on their mobile phones, and sometimes your company simply doesn’t have the time or energy to do take photos. Therefore, Instagram is probably better utilized in one of the following ways:

1. Contests – This is probably the number one way businesses are utilizing the tool. If your company sells a product, ask customers to take photos of themselves using the product and then upload the photo to win some sort of prize. You can also add an element of interaction by allowing people to vote on their favorite photo.


2. Event Marketing – Asking people to take photos of an event you’re holding is a great way to leverage the tool. This will get people excited about the event and give people a layer of interaction.


3. Social Media – Always share photos of your company or your product/service via social media. Instagram allows a company to add a hashtag to the photo which will help you keep tabs on any pictures of your business via Twitter or another social network.


4. Connection – Your customers are most likely on Instagram, so this is another avenue to form connections. Even if you can’t find value in posting pictures for your particular business, urge your employees to connect with customers via this avenue.


5. Location – Instagram allows a company to add location to an image. If you can add the location of your small business, you increase the likelihood that someone will see your photos if they are new to the area. This works best for restaurants and entertainment joints.

Using Instagram along with hashtags is a great way to make sure you are getting the most out of the photos on your website. Instagram is currently all the buzz, so there is no better time than to get started now.

[tooltip text="Right now, you can only create an Instagram account using their app on your iOS (ex: iPhone) or Android device. To sign up for an Instagram account: Download the Instagram app in the App Store for your iPhone/iPad, or in Google Play for an Android device. Then Once the app is installed, tap the Instagram icon to open it. Tap Register then create a username and password and fill out your profile info (ex: email, name) Tap Done! " placement="top"]How do I sign up for Instagram?[/tooltip]

SEO Tips: 10 Search Engine Optimization Tips for Pinterest

Pinterest is the newest social media addiction- but many don’t know how it can also be used for your business.  Since Pinterest allows search engines to crawl their site and the huge amount of data users have pinned there, boards can show up in Google search results. By simply using the right SEO on your company profile, you can make sure your Pinterest page gets the attention it needs from your consumers.

Here are 10 tips to get you rocking:

1. Share your own content: Uploading your own images provides more value than solely re-pinning other’s images. To be most effective, you should do a healthy mixture of both.

2. Keyword target file names: Be sure to approach file naming from a search engine optimization prospective. “keyword-phrase.jpg” will rank better than “March2012_00011.jpg”.

3. Diversify your pinning: Pinning from a variety of different sources will make your Pinterest boards more compelling and re-pinning, liking, and commenting will definitely affect where your images appear.

4. Add a link: For every image you upload, be certain to edit the pin to add a link. The added link is “nofollow” and, therefore, shouldn’t be given weight according to standard nofollow rules, but this link allows the Pinterest user to click your image for the source. Conversely, links in the description are currently followed, so be sure to add your link to the description as well so Google can follow it and give the URL weight.

5. Description, description, description: Pinterest allots 500 characters for descriptions, and SEOs all over would be remissed if you were not taking advantage and using all 500 characters to give a keyword-dense description, commentary, or explanation of your pinned image. Note that you can edit descriptions of both images you have pinned or re-pinned.

6. Follow the leader: Take time exploring Pinterest to see what types of images catch your eye and what types of content effectively persuade you to engage with them, and then upload similar types of images and content. The more your images are shared and engaged with, the better it will be for your search engine optimization goals.

7. Don’t fall into the advertising trap: Remember that Pinterest is a social media platform. You’ve got to be involved in the conversation. Comment, like, and re-pin other user’s images to help increase your followers, because it’s likely that search algorithms will incorporate how engaging your social media platforms are in the near future.

8. Keyword target board names: This SEO tip is on the same line as keyword target file naming. Create an array of boards with keyword focused names. “Charleston beaches” will serve you better than “Places I love”.

9. Add the website buttons: Give the people what they want when they want it. Add the “Follow” and “Pin It” buttons to your website now. If the buzz around Pinterest fades and people stop using it, you can easily remove the links then instead of waiting to see if Pinterest is here to stay and missing the current opportunity.

10. Be yourself: Pin what you like and be kind to others.

Start Converting Visitors to Leads With Landing Pages

The goal of landing pages is to convince the visitor to provide you with his or her information in exchange for a high-value offer.  They are the best way to convert a person into a lead. Most small and medium-sized businesses have very few--if any--landing pages on their sites. Research has indicated that 62% of businesses using landing pages have less than 6. Even though they’re not optimally positioned to capture contacts, these companies still have to try really hard to increase their website traffic.

This is really pointless if you don’t have the means to capture contact data.  Way too many people are concerned with their organic rankings on Google while forgetting about the sales aspect of their business.  Isn’t the point of your website to get your visitors to buy your product or service?

[caption id="attachment_3535" align="aligncenter" width="957"] Subway Landing Page Example[/caption]

Why Do I Need Landing Pages?

Obviously the ultimate goal is to have the visitor purchase immediately, but this is actually even rarer than you think--96% of first-time visitors to your website aren’t ready to buy. It’s a prime reason why you need landing pages. The next best option is to generate a lead by capturing  visitors’ contact data and adding them to your sales funnel. You will now have the opportunity to email them and nurture them down your sales funnel by continuing to market to them via email, phone calls, or social media to influence them to buy from you.  The more landing pages you have, the more opportunities to generate leads and fill your funnel.

A landing page needs a form to capture contact data for a website visitor. In most cases, you do not want to include your main navigation bar at the top of the landing page so the visitor’s only option is to complete the form. Not including the navigation bar has been shown to increase conversion rates by as much as 100%.

Creating a Landing Page

All of your content on the landing page should be contained above the fold.  This means that the visitor should not be required to scroll down to see any of the page content. Effective landing pages will also contain an image that is relevant to the call-to-action button that drove the visitor to the landing page. The text should be very direct and easy to read.

Landing Page Tips:

• Use a compelling title that is relevant to your CTA.


• Place all of your content above the fold.


• Keep your opening and closing paragraphs to 3-5 sentences.


• Use bullet points to clearly display your value propositions.


• Add a compelling image that is clearly relevant to your offer.

[caption id="attachment_3537" align="aligncenter" width="1161"] 12 Step Landing Page Theory[/caption]

How to Use Landing Pages

A landing page is typically linked to an offer. An offer can be advertised through a call-to-action button on your site, a link in your on-page text, a PPC ad, or even a QR Code on a billboard or a piece of print marketing material.  The point is, you can link to a landing page from just about anywhere and you will want to because landing pages are so effective.

The design of your landing page is extremely important and affects the conversion rate of your forms.  The look, headline, and text must all be relevant to the offer to obtain a high conversion rate.  Design does matter, but that doesn’t mean you need a graphic designer, especially if you use marketing software such as HubSpot, which allows anyone to easily create landing pages.

All too often, we see the cardinal sin of PPC when people link their campaigns to their homepage instead of a landing page.  Another benefit of using these pages, aside from  capturing the data, is that most software should capture visitor data and segment it for you, so you know the exact source of your visitors and new leads. If you are not able to track this data, you will never know how successful your campaign is and you probably need to look into a software such as HubSpot that tracks it for you.

Takeaway

Start building landing pages today and build lots of them--companies that increase their number of landing pages from 10 to 15 receive 55% more leads. Your Contact Us page is technically a landing page, but it does not qualify someone as a lead, so start creating some offers or link your ad campaigns to your newly designed landing pages.  If you need some help with this, please let us know.

GRAPH: Are You Sharing Your Posts At The RIght TIme?

When are you making your posts on social networks, make sure you are getting the most out of your awesome content and post when your target market is online! There are a number of ways to figure out when to post but as a general rule of thumb post in the times above.

Calling All Local Business Owners New to SEO: Start with Google Places for Business

[caption id="attachment_3175" align="aligncenter" width="537"] Google Plus for Business[/caption]

Are you a local business owner who is eager to get into the SEO game? Good for you! Establishing a local online presence is definitely a great way to grow your business. Google Places for Business is the perfect place to start your SEO campaign — by establishing your business’ identity on Google Places, it can show up in Google searches, Google Maps and Google+ Local. The following guide will help you create your local presence.

Google Places for Business

Create an account on Places for Business and list your business’ name, address and phone number — or N.A.P. It’s free and effective!

Within Places for Business, an owner can add his business address, phone number, business category and more.

• Name: Google Quality Guidelines dictate that your business name is “exactly as it appears in the offline world.” Therefore, do not attempt to add anything else (such as keywords, marketing taglines, phone numbers, websites, etc.).


• Address: There can only be one entry per address. You must adhere to the same rules as those in the business name, i.e., no extraneous information.


• Phone Number: Google prefers businesses use a land line as opposed to a cell phone whenever possible.

After you input this data, Google will then send a postcard to the business address within two weeks. The postcard will contain a pin number that will allow you to verify you are the owner. Once you log back into your Google Places for Business account and provide the pin, your business will show up in the Local results.

In addition to your N.A.P., you can also include photos, business hours and a description (up to 4,200 characters) wherein you can link to your own site.

Learn more about the Places for Business Quality Guidelines here.

What If Your Business Isn’t Operated Out of One Location?

If you service clients from many locations, like a traveling or mobile business, you still have to register a physical address (not a P.O. box — Google does not consider P.O. boxes accurate physical locations). According to Google:

“Every business listing must have a mailing address. This is the physical address where mail can be sent to your business. If you work from home or you are a mobile-only business you can specify service areas and choose to hide your physical address later on!”

Local Results, as Seen in a Local 7-Pack

Once your business is verified with Google, it will appear in the SERP. Normally, it will appear in a Local 7-Pack. This screenshot shows the SERP after a query for “Tae Kwon Do Studio” in Simi Valley, California (the first seven results are Local results, pulled from Places for Business):

When a user mouses over a result (here, the Tigon Martial Arts is being hovered over), the rest of the business information is displayed:Local Results, as Seen in a Display Carousel

Last month, Google debuted a new look for certain Local results — currently restaurants, bars and hotels now render in a Display Carousel rather than the Local 7-pack. When conducting a search for French restaurants near Simi Valley, the following Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is rendered:

Business Photos

Whether your results show up in the Display Carousel or in the standard Local 7-pack, business owners have the option to optimize even further. Through Business Photos, you can create a 360-degree interactive tour of your location. Though there is no fee for implementing panoramic viewing in your Google listing, you are required to use a Google-approved photographer, whom you will have to pay standard photography rates.

Other Directories

The most important place to establish your business’ identity is in Google Places for Business. However, you should also establish your identity on any other notable web directories. As you begin to spread information about your business across the Internet, is absolutely essentially that you be consistent. Your business name should always appear exactly the same, as should your address and phone number.

 

SUNDAY SEO: Internal Linking Practices in WordPress Help Page Views

[caption id="attachment_3065" align="aligncenter" width="304"] SEO Button[/caption]

Internal linking is one of the easiest SEO technique to master it,Yet one of the crucial factor of SEO. In this article I am going to show you the benefits of internal linking and how to effectively practice this SEO technique in WordPress.

What is Internal Linking

In simple words : Internal linking is a act of linking the other pages of the same domain, Similarly internal link is one that points to another page on the same website.

How internal linking can be useful

Some of the benefits of internal links

• Internal links helps to get more page views


• It can boost SEO by spreading the link Juice across the website

Some of the best live examples of internal linking are Tech blogs like Techcrunch and Mashable. Lets take this sample article from Lifehacker which is approx. 560 words in length,If we count the number of internal links in it..It ends up with whopping 19.

Thats how big boys are increasing the page views as well as doing good SEO.

Internal Linking in WordPress

First you must understand that Internal linking is not only refers to linking other pages in main content but also through other website elements like Sidebar,Footer,Menu etc.Here is a list of things you can do to build internal links

• Manual Internal linking


• Automatic internal linking using plugins


• Using Breadcrumbs


• Links to related posts using plugins


• Linking through Footer and Sidebar widgets

Lets explore it individually.

Manual Internal linking (Natural Linking)

This method is the most time consuming one but very effective than any other method.In this method you need to manually link other posts in main post content.

WordPress offers best linking tool to aid you in this process.The advanced linking option gives you the ability to search the post and link it easily.



Link only the related articles with right ancor texts and Its better not link the home page since we will be already linking through other elements like Manu,Footer etc.

Also,Dont fill the article with just links,Users may easily get irritated which will eventually cost pageviews and readership.

Automatic Internal linking using Plugins

Manual method involves lot of patient and time,Especially it is very difficult to edit old article for internal linking.In such case we can go for plugins like Ninja  affiliate or SEO Smart Links premium.

These plugins can automatically link the keyword in all posts to particular link.For example you can automatically link the keyword “WordPress Tips” to some category or post without editing each post.This can save you ample of time.

Risk of using Free version of SEO Smart Links

Well,You can get free version of SEO Smart Links but its very riskier to do it so.Since it doesn’t come with features like limiting number of links per post.

To understand the gravity of the problem lets take an example.If I link the keyword “WordPress” to some category page then imagine how many times the link appears on each post.These type of activities can get your blog penalized by search engines.

I personally use Ninja affiliate plugin for automatic keyword linking.It also comes with other features like links click count etc.If you use SEO smart links then refer this guide Smartly Interlink Your Blog Content with SEO Smart Links.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are simple navigation hierarchy which helps users to keep track of their current location within the website.Breadcrumbs are essential to maintain a neat hierarchy.Google officially recommends webmasters to use breadcrumbs for better SEO.

Breadcrumbs in Genesis Child Themes

All Genesis child themes comes with this feature but you need to enable it in Genesis settings page.Go to Dashboard >> Genesis >> Breadcrumbs and check the boxes appropriately.

Implementing breadcrumbs using WordPress SEO Plugin

If your theme doesn’t comes with breadcrumbs then you can easily implement it usingWordPress SEO by Yoast Plugin.After installing the plugin go to Dashboard >> SEO >>Internal links and enable the breadcrumbs option.

Add the following code in your current themes (Wherever you wish to display)

<?php if ( function_exists('yoast_breadcrumb') ) {
	yoast_breadcrumb('<p id="breadcrumbs">','</p>');
} ?>

Related Posts using Plugin

Linking the related posts under the article also helps to build inter links.YARP (Yet another related posts) Plugin is the most commonly used related posts plugin,Its very simple and highly efficient. If you care about the design then go with plugins like WP-Thumbie and nRelate.

Using Footer and Sidebars

Footer and Sidebar widgets can be used to inter link the most popular articles and links to some important pages like About  page,Contact page and Privacy policy.The links will be established throughout the website hence it will result in deep interlinking.

For live example you can look after the footer and sidebar of this blog.

Conclusion

Internal linking is the most effective SEO method when it comes to content rich websites,So implement the above methods to place yourself better in Search results.You can easily track your internal links by using services like Google Webmaster tools and Opensiteexplorer.

Thanks to another  great article provided by VivekR

Using Google Alerts for SEO Link Building - This is a MUST for SEO

[caption id="attachment_3133" align="aligncenter" width="550"] SUNDAY SEO: Internal Linking Practices in WordPress Help Page Views[/caption]

Google Alerts offers a great source of information that can be used for several purposes. It is as useful as easy to use. Automatic generated e-mails about whatever you are interested in. For instance, you want to keep updated about Real Madrid football club. Then you just type that on “Search Query” box, specify what kind of results you would be interested in (news, blogs, video, discussion, etc.) and Google will send you the alert whenever a new page with “Real Madrid” in it gets indexed.

From a marketing and business point of view, we can keep an eye on competitors and what they do. For example if we set up a search for our 3 main competitors and they go to a fair, we will be alerted by Google whenever they show up in the list of the attendees in the organization website. This will tell us that we might be willing to be there as well.

But, how could this be useful from a SEO point of view? Where does it fit in How to SEO? In this case we can use it to keep monitoring subjects where we have some to say. For example if we are a recruitment company and we have useful content in our blog it would be a good idea to keep tracking keywords like “student jobs” or “graduate jobs” specifying blogs on Result Type. This way we can comment on relevant blogs with useful information that will help us creating links back to our site. It is likely that this links are “No Follow”, this means the SEO juice from the original website is not transferred to our site, but still helps via co-citation.

Another way we can use this for SEO purposes is to find news and topics related to our business and then creating articles in our own blogs with latest news or information about the Market. We can even link to the original blogs for more relevancy. This way it will help us create useful and fresh content for visitors and for Google to keep our rankings high up.

[caption id="attachment_3123" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Using Google Alerts for SEO Link Building - This is a MUST for SEO[/caption]

How are Google Alerts good for SEO? You can:

See who’s talking about your company – and what they’re saying. This is a good way to correct misconceptions about your products, get follow-up quotes in blogs where your company was discussed, or simply ask the editor of the blog or website to provide a link to your website. Coming from a reputable website that’s relevant to your industry, that’s a link that’s worth building.

Score a guest post on someone else’s blog that has mentioned you. If a blogger likes your company, products or services enough to write about it by name, they’d probably be happy to let you submit a guest post to their blog on an industry-specific topic. You could write about breaking news relevant to your field, new technologies or trends, or tips and tricks of your trade – it depends largely on the format of the blog and what the editor is looking for. So be flexible and you could get a great opportunity for free, positive publicity as well as a backlink to your site.

Use keywords to find websites that don’t link to yours yet, but should. This is another way to get guest posts: Create a Google Alert for keywords that relate to your products, services or the problems they solve. Sometimes a website or blog will say it accepts guest posts; sometimes it won’t – it costs nothing to ask. And if you do get to submit an article or blog post that positions you as an industry leader and provides a backlink, that’s priceless. Another way to find such opportunities is to set up Google Alerts such as “bloggers wanted” <industry>, “writers wanted” <industry> or “guest post” <industry> (with your particular industry filled in, of course).

Keep up with your competitors. Find out which sites they’ve contributed content to and drop the editor a line (you already know they accept guest posts!). This is not just a good tactic for link building, it’s also great for fine-tuning the keywords you target and knowing what your competitors are up to.

Dialogue with potential customers. Find out what is being discussed and where. Robot-generated “comment spam” on forums or blogs is always a bad idea, but thoughtful and helpful replies to customer questions can certainly include a link to your website. To use Google Alerts for this, pair keywords such as your company name, product name(s) or others with words like “how,” “help” or “why.”

Setting up Google Alerts is easy. However, don’t set up too many at first or you’ll be overwhelmed with emails! Go to http://www.google.com/alerts, enter your keywords in the search query, choose the result type and frequency of emails, enter your email address, click “Create Alert” and you’re done. Then you just have to use the data to help you find the right sites to build links with.

It may not be a fast track to higher search engine rankings, but as an ongoing part of your overall SEO strategy, using Google Alerts for link building is a great idea and something you can devote a little time to each day. And you’ll be able to do a little virtual networking along the way, building relationships as well as links.

Facebook, Twitter Hugely Important In SEO Ranking, Reveals Study [INFOGRAPHIC]

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is all about the quality of your backlinks, right?

Wrong. Not any more. At least, not wholly, as an updated study from those good people at Searchmetrics has revealed just how important social media signals are to a strong SEO ranking, with well-positioned URLs almost always having a high number of Likes, shares, tweets and +1s.

Indeed, seven of the ten most important factors in SEO ranking now come from social media, as below.

[caption id="attachment_3059" align="aligncenter" width="271"] SEO Ranking Factors Chart[/caption]

Searchmetrics have also documented their findings in this infographic, which takes a closer look at what well-positioned web pages on Google have in common, and what distinguishes them from pages that are lower-ranked.

[caption id="attachment_3063" align="aligncenter" width="304"] SEO Ranking Factors InfoGraphic[/caption]

(Source: Searchmetrics.)

Do Google+1′s Really Affect Your SEO?

[caption id="attachment_3045" align="aligncenter" width="656"] Do Google+1′s Really Affect Your SEO?[/caption]

The hype around Google Plus has been fostered mainly by the implementation and integration of its “+1” feature into virtually all aspects of Google. It is very comparable to Facebook’s “Like” feature, but differs in some regards. Until recently, many people did not understand the purpose of this action, as it does not directly share or spread content whenever a user engages in a +1. Recent algorithm changes in Google have given the impression that +1s can in fact affect your search engine optimization process, and this has left many people asking the question: do Google Plus 1s really affect SEO?

Social Impacts

The primary benefit to having a solid performance when it comes to +1s is the boost you will receive in social searches. Whenever a friend has +1′d your page, for instance, their friends and anyone in their circles will be more likely to see that result whenever they search for a similar topic or interest. Google has increasingly placed an added amount of value on search preferences from friends and acquaintances whenever you search for a given query, giving you even more reason to be constantly pinging the servers of Google with new updates.

Effects on Broader Search Results

Many may be asking: how does this impact regular search results? The correlation seems to be clear: items that are +1′d more often have both a higher click through rate and a higher percentage chance of being shared with others. This leads to more traffic, and ultimately, a more positive association between select search results and your website by Google. Upon understanding this, it makes sense to have both a strong social media presence and a website that fully integrates concepts like Google Plus sharing directly into each piece of content. Failure to do so will lead to a loss of potential traffic – and your loss is someone else’s gain.

Other Considerations

Most of the benefits you will gain via +1s are indirect in nature, but will provide a good barometer of your site’s current health. If you suddenly see an increase in the content being shared via Google, then you can take some comfort in the fact that your content is being well-received and is pinging the servers of Google and other major search engines. It can also be reassuring to know that any social media strategy that is accompanied with your regular content marketing is having a positive effect.

Conclusion

The summary of analysing Google Plus suggests that there is a correlation between improved SEO and the increased use of +1s by readers and fans. As Google continues to move more and more toward a social search strategy in order to keep up with tactics used by search engines like Bing, these social indicators will become more and more powerful in driving your site to the top. For now, though, you can expect the biggest gains in this approach via the social network itself – sharing and +1′ing select content through Google will at least gain you more prominent featuring in search results for those using the social platform.

How Page Load Speed Impacts SEO And User Experience

Since Spring 2010 Google has used page load times as a factor in its search ranking algorithms. Google’s position is that faster-loading pages should be ranked higher because they provide a better experience for users. In Google’s own words, “Faster sites create happy users [...] Like us, our users place a lot of value in speed – that’s why we’ve decided to take site speed into account in our search rankings.”

What do we know about Google’s page speed algorithms? What can webmasters do (both for Google and for users) to speed up page load times?

How much does page load speed impact Google rankings?

Google representatives have stated on several occasions (for an example see this post on the Google Webmaster Central Blog) that the page speed algorithm impacts rankings for less than 1% of search queries. There have been a few reports from webmasters of page speed significantly impacting rankings :

• Keri Morgret from SEOmoz reported that a site with load time issues saw “quite the drop in organic referrals from Google” when the page speed algorithm was pushed live.


• Work Coach Cafe reported a 40% growth in traffic after addressing site performance issues.


• Smartfurniture.com reported that rankings for 7 of its top 10 keywords improved after site speed was increased.

This data suggests that page speed doesn’t often impact rankings, but when it does the effect can be significant. One plausible interpretation (from Geoff Kenyon) is that “site speed will affect only queries where other ranking signals are very close or when the load time is exceptionally poor.” This interpretation seems to be consistent with Google’s statements and community feedback.

Should SEOs worry about site speed? Page rankings are often based on a combination of dozens of small algorithmic factors; therefore, though page speed is a minor factor, even a small boost could be beneficial for your site. Don’t obsess over page load speeds, but it would be a good idea to dedicate a small amount of your SEO time and/or budget to speeding up your site. Page speed is also one of the factors totally within your control so its prudent to optimize this ranking factor.

How does Google measure page load times?

Google receives site/page load speed data from

• “a variety of sources,”


• Google Toolbar data, and


• response times to googlebot. (Some articles claim that this is no longer true, but Google implies this may be correct in a help doc. As with any specifics related to Google’s algorithms, we may never know for certain.)

Google Chrome and Google Analytics are other possible sources for page load speed data.

How fast are Google’s top 5 websites?

According to data from Experian, nearly 20% of clicks from Google SERPs go to Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Wikipedia and Amazon. We used Google’s PageSpeed tool to see how well the home pages of these sites are following Google’s PageSpeed best practices:

 

 

While these figures shouldn’t be overemphasized, it is interesting to note that these top 5 websites definitely have opportunities to improve their page load speeds.

What is an average page load speed? Google has conducted research on average page load times which can be used as a benchmark for page load times:

 

 

How does page load speed impact user experience?

Google implemented page speed into its algorithm because research shows that faster page load times mean happier users.

• A Google study found that “slowing down the search results page by 100 to 400 milliseconds has a measurable impact on the number of searches per user.”


• Shopzilla achieved a 25% increase in pageviews and a 7-12% revenue increase by speeding up its site.


• AOL presented data showing that page load speeds can impact pageviews per visit by up to 50%.


• A 1 second delay can decrease conversions by 7%.


• 75% of users said that they would not return to a website that took longer than 4 seconds to load.


• Nearly half of users expect webpages to load in 2 seconds or less.

Feel the need for speed? How to make your webpages pull a fast one

Step 1: Measure.

Your first step should be to measure your site’s page load speed. This will provide a baseline measurement from which you can work to improve. Two good tools for measuring page load speeds are Pingdom Page Load Time tool and Google Analytics Site Speed reports.

Step 2: Upgrade your server.

Many dynamic websites have to execute hundreds of lines of code, respond to dozens of requests, and make multiple database queries to display a single page to a single user. Hosting your website on a more powerful server can result in webpages being served faster.

If your site is hosted on a shared hosting account, consider upgrading to a VPS or dedicated server. VPS and dedicated servers typically allow your website to have more server resources (i.e. CPU and memory) available. A VPS costs about $25 – $100 per month, depending upon the technical specifications and features you select. A dedicated server usually costs $100-$300 per month, depending upon the server’s specifications and the level of support that is included.

Read The Differences Between VPS and Dedicated Hosting if you need help determining which is the best choice for your site.

Step 3: Optimize your code and files.

There are many ways to optimize your server side code, HTML/CSS/Javascript code, and images to minimize page load times. Google and Yahoo both provide excellent lists of best practices that you can implement to decrease page load time.

• Google PageSpeed tools and documentation


• Yahoo’s Best Practices for Speeding Up Your Web Site


• 8 Excellent Tools for Optimizing Your Images

Conclusion

1. Page load speed impacts website user satisfaction, site usability and conversion rates.

2. Google uses page load speed metrics as a minor ranking factor.

3. Load times can be decreased by upgrading your web hosting and by implementing a list of best practices provided by Google and/or Yahoo.

What are your favorite tools and strategies for improving page load times? How fast is your site?

Article Written By Spencer Yao | Visit Official Site

Using Tumblr for Generating Organic SEO

 

[caption id="attachment_579" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Using Tumblr for SEO[/caption]

Tumblr is a social networking and reblogging site with over 50 million users and 20 billion posts. Tumblr is basically the middle child of the social networking universe—it doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. In addition to having many SEO-friendly features, Tumblr can also round out a thorough content marketing plan by helping you promote your content and bulk up your backlinks.

What Is Tumblr?

Tumblr is a micro-blogging site that contains many of the characteristics of social networking sites. Tumblr allows users to add content in a variety of forms such as text & html, images, videos, links, and quotes, and then makes the content easy to share through “post tags” and “reblog capability”.

Why Should I Have A Tumblr Account?

While Tumblr was originally mostly popular among younger internet users and photographers because of it’s “photo-focused” content, it’s platform is rapidly becoming one of the most widespread networking sites.

Why?

Tumblr Is Pretty SEO-Friendly And Promotion Friendly By Default

Tumblr takes a little bit of code hacking to create custom meta tags, so as far as ranking youractual Tumblr account, you don’t have as much control, by default, as you do of your own website. But what Tumblr IS great for, by default, is using it as a complimentary blog that sends optimized links back to your main site, and expands your business’s reach into new traffic.

Tumblr SEO Features:

1. You can customize your account URL.


2. You have the option of posting in actual custom HTML.


3. You can define your individual post URLs.


4. Links in your Tumblr posts are DOFOLLOW.


5. You can optimize ‘Alt Attributes’ and ‘Title Attributes’ of your post content.


6. You can add ‘Keyword Tags’ to all of your posts.

Tumblr Promotion Features:

1. Each post has a ‘Reblog Option’ that encourages others to share your content on Tumblr.


2. The ‘Keyword Tags’ you can add to each post are how other Tumblr users find you. ‘Keyword Tags’ are what people use to search Tumblr’s content, and the tags you add to each post put your posts into the search mix by keyword or keyword phrase.


3. You have the ability to ‘Like’ other people’s content – which puts a note with a link to your account on their post.

How To Use Tumblr For SEO

First remember one main rule… don’t just spam. Don’t just fill your Tumblr account full of “Visit My Website!!” links. Create legitimate content posts, and use your post content to appropriately refer people to your main site.

Optimizing Your Tumblr Account And Posts:

1. Customize your account URL.


2. Add a solid description of your business in the ‘About Section’. Then in that ‘About Section Content’ add an optimized link(with keywords in the anchor text), back to your website.


3. Create custom HTML posts with optimized links(with keywords in the anchor text) back to your main site content.


4. Optimize the ‘Alt Attributes’ of your images, and the ‘Title Attributes’ of your links in all of your posts.


5. Customize each ‘Post Url’.


6. Add relevant ‘Keyword Tags’ to every post.

Promoting And Bringing Exposure To Your Tumblr Account:

1. Follow other Tumblr Accounts.


2. When other Tumblr accounts follow you, follow them back.


3. ‘Reblog’ the content of others.


4. ‘Like’ the content of others.


5. Add relevant ‘Keyword Tags’ to every post.


6. Have variety in your posts. Don’t just post promotional content about your business or website. To generate traffic to your Tumblr, you need to mix in posts of interesting content with widespread appeal. If you want people to ‘Reblog’ your content and follow you, post exciting photos, inspirational quotes, your favorite music, and fun videos.

So open your Tumblr Account and get busy promoting!

Stop Collecting And Start Engaging Your Twitter Follows: A How-To

[caption id="attachment_537" align="aligncenter" width="672"] Twitter Engagement Methods[/caption]

Twitter is more than just a place for you to tweet your own information, it is a community where you can engage your followers in online conversation. Engaged followers are more likely to respond to your tweets and re-tweet your messages. This helps your tweets reach more Twitter users and allows you to gain more followers. Listed below are some basic methods and steps on how to properly engage followers.

On Twitter:

• Do not go into all guns blazing


• Listen, get to know people there


• Research to find out if people are interested in what you want to talk about


• Tweet as you’d like to be tweeted to


• Engage people and have conversations


• Don’t simply shout out broadcasts

On engagement:

• Reply to what people


• Being interested is more interesting


• Listen and show you are aware of what others say


• Ask questions so people can do the same back


• Use contests on your blog to engage people

On the biggest mistakes people make blogging:

• Lack of focus and covering too many different topics


• Plan what you want to say, identify your audience and what your audiences wants to know


• Look after the people you’ve already got


• The more “me” you say, the more people say “go away”


• Write for your audience and not yourself or what you are interested in

On attraction

• Great content is key


• Networking wherever you go


• Mention your blog when you can and include a call to action with a benefit to your audience

Content is King, but a king without an army is a man in a funny hat:

• Content is crucial but not everything


• You also need promotion


• Mobilize your fans to become your advocates

How to use LinkedIn to Boost Your Profile’s Views for SEO

LinkedIn is really even more of a popularity contest than Twitter, but I’m the only one with enough sense to realize it. On a very basic level, if you don’t have any LinkedIn connections, you’re not going to be found. The vast majority of searches on the burgeoning social media network for professionals are done through a filter of personal connections. Optimizing your network and the SEO aspects of your profile can take your profile views go from 0 to 1,000.

Connect with me on [LinkedIn]

1. Use Anchor Text in Links

Every LinkedIn profile can list as many as 3 links. The default options include “Company Website” and “Blog,” and these just aren’t very SEO-friendly. You can customize the anchor text in your URLs by selecting the “Other” option. Use a keyword-rich title, such as “My Inbound Marketing Blog.”

2. Finish Your Profile

This one is almost a no-brainer, but far too many of us haven’t taken the time to fully complete our LinkedIn profiles. Ask for recommendations (and give recommendations back), fill out every single section, and use LinkedIn’s help to guide your profile to completion.

3. Keyword-Optimize Your Job Titles

We’re definitely not recommending you describe your last position as “Management,” when it was more administrative. However, optimizing your job titles slightly to include a few keywords is just smart. Instead of “Blog Manager,” bait search engines by clarifying “Inbound Marketing Strategy Blog Manager.”

4. Maximize Your Group Membership

Joining and participating in relevant groups won’t just expand your network, but it can improve your profile’s SEO. Since the group names appear on your profile, search engines have no choice but to crawl the titles and learn more about who you are and what you do. Not only will industry-relevant groups improve the keywords on your profile, but local groups like “Nashville Marketing Professionals” can help with geo-targeted SEO.

5. Aggressively Expand Your Network

If your LinkedIn network is one-fourth the size of your Facebook connections, it might be time to search your email contacts. Plus, it’s the perfect platform for connecting with colleagues but still maintaining a semblance of work-life separation on social media. Entrepreneur Rick Stomphorst writes: “[LinkedIn search results] elevate results for connections within a network (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd level connections, groups). Therefore...you need to be connected to as many people as possible.”

6. Optimize Your Job Descriptions

Lindsay Hunt recommends that “your job descriptions on LinkedIn should be creative, truthful, descriptive and succinct.” Instead of writing out full paragraphs, use a wide variety of relevant keywords in bullet-pointed lists. Formatting your descriptions will also increase your profile’s scannability.

7. Claim Your Vanity URL

The fundamental SEO benefits of claiming your vanity URL may be minimal, but it’s just good business. Connecting your LinkedIn profile to your name will allow you to be found easier by real-life connections. It will also let you add your custom URL to business cards.

8. Don’t Keyword Stuff

While you never want to hide what it is you do from search engines, repeating the same keyword ad naseum throughout your profile isn’t going to give you much search benefit. Take an approach of optimizing around secondary keywords that are still relevant and descriptive of your skill set.

9. Promote Your LinkedIn Profile Elsewhere

Put a link to your LinkedIn profile on Facebook, Google+, and any websites you maintain to create inbound links.

10. Be Vigilant About Building Recommendations

Turns out, recommendations may have more benefit than just making you look likeable to potential employers.Stormphorst believes 10 or more recommendations will elevate your profile’s search ranking.

11. Leave No Field Blank

Your LinkedIn profile shouldn’t leave too much to the imagination. Fully optimize your Honors & Awards and Languages.

12. Shamelessly Self-Promote

There’s little hard-and-fast evidence that promoting your latest eBook or high-performing blog content in the projects section of your profile will improve your SEO, but some believe it works in your benefit. Besides, being able to increase the visibility of your latest content marketing project certainly can’t hurt, right?

13.Keep Collecting Endorsements

While endorsements currently carry little weight in how well your profile ranks on Google or in LinkedIn search results, rumor has it that this fact will soon change. During the release of the new functionality in September 2012, Dave Kerpen stated “...the more endorsements for your skills and talents that you get, the more often you’ll appear in search results.”

The Best SEO Widget For WordPress Goes to...

Yoast SEO!!

Guys, there’s no denying the fact that (SEO) Search Engine Optimization is complicated. There are a lot of places within your blog post that you need to put your keywords if you want your post to rank well in the search engines.Trying to keep track of it all and making sure you do it right can be both daunting and overwhelming. Luckily there are a lot of wonderful plugins out there that can help make our lives as bloggers much easier.

The best SEO plugin that I have ever used, and I would recommend to every WordPress blogger, is the Yoast SEO plugin.

What Is The Yoast SEO Plugin?

The WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast is the answer to all of your SEO struggles.This plugin tells you exactly where you need to add your keywords and then it will give you a rank to let you know whether you have optimized your keywords or not. It will also give you an analyzed breakdown of the page to let you know if you are hitting all of the SEO points.

How Do You Use It?

Using it is a breeze. Once you have installed the plugin it will show up on your post pages in WordPress, so any time you want to write a new post the plugin will be there.  It contains four different pages, but you most likely will just focus on the first two.

The first page, and the one that the plugin automatically displays, is the “General” page.  On this page you can type in the keyword(s) that you want your post to rank for.  You do this by typing them into the “Focus Keywords” box.  When you do that the plugin will even give you suggestions based on what you start typing in.  Once entered the plugin will search your article for those keywords.  On the same screen you can also modify your SEO title and write your meta description.  The meta description is what people will see as the description of your post if your post comes up them on a search using a search engine.  The one other thing you’ll see on this page is a list of where your keywords are found.  To get the best SEO results you want all of the items on the list to be green.



The second page is for “Page Analysis.”  This page will break down the different parts of your page and give you SEO pointers on it.  The bullet points can be red, yellow, or green.  Red means that you haven’t hit the point at all and yellow means you’re doing OK, but you could do better.  The goal is to get all of the bullet points to all be green although you don’t have to have to hit them all for your page to rank well.  These things can help, but it’s not always possible to get them to all green.



The other two pages are “Advanced” and “Social.”  You really don’t need to worry about advanced at all.  The social page is if you want to write a different description to appear when you post about your blog post on certain social media sites.

The one other important thing you want to know about the plugin is that, once installed, there is an SEO check box that gets put into your “Publish” box.  It contains a dot that will be red, different shades of yellow, and green.  If it’s green than it means that your post is SEO ready.  If it’s not green than you likely won’t be getting good search traffic from it.  Next to the dot there is a link titled “Check.”  You can click on that and it will give you a break down of what all of the colored dots mean to try and help you figure out why your post may not rank well.

How Do I Get the Yoast SEO Plugin?

Installing the WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast is easy.  All you need to do is go to the “Plugins” box on the left when you’re logged into WordPress.  Click on “Add New.”  Then in the search box type in “WordPress SEO by Yoast.”  The first plugin displayed from the search should be the right one.  Then click on “Install Now,” and follow any steps needed.  After that it should be ready to go!

How Do I Add My Site To The Search Engines?

Let Google, Yahoo and Bing Index Your Site!

Practically everyone who has access to Internet uses Google, Bing, Yahoo, or another popular search engine to browse the net and find extensive information in a matter of seconds. For every search, the search engines return relevant results in two categories: free and sponsored links. The big fight is to have a good ranking on the free search as it gives great exposure and is free!

The search engines have a way to find new websites, however, them finding your newly created site might take a while. To get listed on free search results faster, you may submit your site to the most popular search engines and thus invite them to index your site in their results.

It is free and very easy to submit your website to search engines! You better do that submission manually as the search engines ask for verification when submitting the site. Here are the most popular search engines and the pages where you can add your URL:

Use the links below to submit your site:

Google | Yahoo | Bing

You Need to Stop Ignoring Google+ - Here are 4 SEO Reasons Why

In the two years since its launch, it is no secret that Google+ has had its skeptics—myself included.

However, it might be time to reconsider such hasty judgments. Recent data shows it has leap-frogged YouTube and Twitter as the second largest social network.

Personally, I was never very familiar with what is now the world’s second largest social network. I had a page by default through my Gmail account, but never took the time to actually complete my profile. I always considered it to be just an attempt by Google to jump on the social media bandwagon—providing us with yet another burdensome social platform to maintain while failing to stand out among the giants that had such a firm hold on the social media market.

Eventually, I caved and decided to complete my own Google+ profile as well as do some investigative research to see what all of the buzz was about.

Through my probing, I found several advantages and features unique to Google+ that content creators can take advantage of. Many of these features, such as the +1, Hangouts, and Communities are old news...but what really caught my attention were the SEO benefits that an active and completed profile can have for your online content.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say on the matter:

“Information tied to online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification…The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

There is little question that Google is the perennial leader in the world’s search engine game, and irrelevance in the eyes of its crawlers could quickly put a damper on your online marketing efforts. If your content is not showing up in Google’s search results, there is little chance that your website will get the traffic that you are looking for. This could spell disaster for any publisher, blogger, or brand hoping to compete online.

So to help you avoid any looming disaster strike on your marketing efforts, here are four ways that an active and completed Google+ profile can improve your SEO:

1. Establish your author-ity.

Have you Google’d anything recently? If so, you have probably seen people’s faces appearing next to some of the search results—behold the power of Google Authorship! Google is now adding more weight to things such as the Authorship tag and Author Rank in its search rankings. In order to take advantage of this great benefit, and potentially increase your click-through rate by up to 150%, you should implement the Authorship tag immediately.

As an example, here’s what it looked like after setting up my authorship through the email verification method:



I’m thinking a more complete Google+ profile, along with more authored content, would help my content rank even higher on Google’s search engine results page (SERP).

2. Get by with a little help from your friends.

How active are you at giving social signals? A social signal could be a retweet on Twitter, a “like” on your Facebook page, or the sharing of a post. In the case of Google+, the most recognizable one is the +1 feature.

Social signals are now going to hold more relevance in Google’s algorithm for determining quality content. Therefore, don’t just have a Google+ profile. Be active in using it to share and link to great content.

Some ways to use Google+ to increase the number of social signals for your content include adding the Google+ One Button to all of your work, creating a Google+ Brand Page in addition to personal profiles, and encouraging recommendations and reviews of your content or brand page.

3. Scratch my back (link), and I’ll scratch yours.

The third SEO benefit of Google+ for content creators comes in the form of what is still one of the top SEO strategies in today’s dynamic SEO landscape: more high quality, natural back links to your content.

A complete Google+ profile offers a great opportunity to get the back links to your site from high-authority sources that will directly influence your page ranking. Inbound links in your Google+ posts will also help drive traffic to your online content. The activity on your Google+ profile is one of the ways that Google determines the value of these links, so creating great content that others will want to link to and sharing links to your own content are essential if you hope to leverage your page to help you rank higher on Google’s SERP.

4. Look for more SEO real estate.

Google now has the option of creating a Google+ Brand page for your business.

When completed and used actively, a company’s brand page appears alongside any related search results, essentially acting as free SEO territory for your brand or business. A brand can also link to their own corporate blog or social media accounts in the Links section and include top keywords in the About section. Google will look at all of these factors when determining search rankings.

It’s safe to assume that Google is slightly biased toward its own social platform when determining search engine rankings.

Have you completed your Google+ page yet?

Using Twitter for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The first step to using Twitter as an optimization tool is opening an account. While Twitter seems straightforward, having a username and writing a few tweets does not automatically bring a following. In order to maximize Twitter for SEO, you need to generate quality content and interact with other users. Social media is all about networking online. Making sure you are associating your brand with the best influencers is key to spreading content.

Twitter assists with SEO in several ways. First, having a Twitter account allows your brand to be exposed to millions of users. Second, having content retweeted creates more links for your company. Third, Twitter interaction establishes trust with your prospective customers and clients. You can see my Twitter feed for some examples of this.

Just as we do with blogs and web site content, using keywords in Twitter statuses can be very helpful when it comes to search engine optimization. Search engines like Google will quickly pick up the added links, and keywords will assist with categorization.

When creating a Twitter account, follow influencers who are relevant to your brand. If you specialize in home goods, following people who focus on interior design, kitchen products, and even homemakers can be good choices for influencers. These people can help you connect with followers who are already interested in what your company offers.

There are tools, like Twellow, which can help you find influencers. However, sometimes it takes some old fashioned research. Search for well-known brands and companies in your industry, then network with their social media. Creating these connections takes time: interact with other users, answer questions that offer insight into your expertise, and create customer incentives.

While a lot of brands that are new to social media shy away from contests and prizes, viewing these practices as “gimmicks”, this has become a staple of social media. In fact, running a contest that retweets your content in order to win a prize is one of the single most effective ways of generating legitimate links for search optimization while getting the word out about your brand.

Big companies, like Starbucks and Target, offer the opportunity to win a $10 gift card if you retweet the status. The tweet will usually say something like, “Frappuccino Happy Hour is back!  Retweet to win a $10 gift card!”. Also included will be a short link to information on Starbucks’ website about the Frappuccino Happy Hour. As you can see, this serves three purposes: growing your twitter audience, driving traffic to your website, and creating links for SEO.

In addition to providing contests, companies use their Twitter accounts for customer support. If a customer has an issue, they might tweet at the company. The company can then respond, in real time, with an answer to their question or a solution. Customers see this active assistance as a testament to the brand, and customers are more likely to trust and continue to buy from that company.

Since Twitter has 288 million active monthly users and has been growing at a tremendous rate, this platform should not be ignored in any social media outline. Twitter requires more posts than any other social network to get noticed, so make sure you familiarize yourself with HootSuite or Tweetdeck in order to most effectively manage content.

Top 5 Tips to Take Advantage of Social SEO

2013 has seen a huge shift in search engines using social media when gauging a website’s rankings in search results. As search goes social, there is a new concept of social SEO that has been emerging, albeit gradually. With the competition to grab webspace growing by the day, search engines have started looking at ‘holistic’ ways of determining a website’s popularity, and social signals seem to be a pretty good indication.

Social media activity is therefore being seen as genuine measure of a business’s online reputation – it’s hard to fake Shares, and Re-posts on social networks. Though one can buy Followers and Likes, with new tools emerging to detect fake/inactive followers on Twitter, it won’t be long before search engines start getting more discerning, too. Needless to say, fake likes and followers don’t help your brand’s social engagement cause much.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="223"] Blog SEO Social Media[/caption]

So, what your business needs are effective social media strategies that can help you with your SEO:

1. Brand your posts: Don’t just restrict yourself to having an account on each of the major social networking sites – share information on them too. And when you post stuff on these networks, make sure you feature your brand name on as many posts as possible. It helps build a better brand identity among your fans and also makes Google’s search algorithms recognize your brand name as keywords when deciding your website’s rank.

For instance, whenever you post anything new on Twitter, make sure you use the hashtag (#) followed by your brand name.

2. Feature your social accounts on your website’s homepage: Google needs to recognize the interconnecting of your website and your social accounts. You can make Google’s job easier by including links to your social accounts on your homepage, which it can recognize when crawling. This way, Google can associate your social activity with your website and help you improve your rankings. It also lends credibility to your social accounts.

3. Be present on Google+: This may sound a tad bit selfish on Google’s part, but if the most popular search engine has its own social network, you have no choice but to focus some of your social SEO efforts on building a Google+ profile for your company. Google has been found to give higher rankings to businesses that have an active presence on their social network, so if you haven’t already, please get started!

4. Get indexed faster by being active on Twitter: Twitter profiles and posts tend to get indexed faster by search engines than most website pages. So, if you want your blog posts and new pages to get indexed faster, make sure you share their links in the form of tweets through your Twitter account. Tweet about your most recent PR event or the latest product you have launched, and feature links to your website in these tweets for faster indexing.

5. Build your followers: More is definitely merrier and this works in the case of social networks, too. Having a large fan base on your social accounts just helps build your brand’s credibility. It’s not surprising then that Google will rank your site higher if you have more Facebook fans or Twitter followers. Also, a higher number of followers would just increase the likelihood of your content being shared and re-posted across social networks to a greater extent!

These tips should help you gain maximum leverage from social SEO in 2013! Good Luck!

Original Article

How To Create A Google Business Page

Creating a local Google+ page

I get this question all the time because it seems a bit confusing to many. Below I have listed the detailed instructions on how to create your Google + Business page. Having a Google + page is key for SEO and getting your business exposed online. Always use Google products...

Local Google+ pages are unique from other categories of pages because they have features that allow customers to easily connect with that business’s physical location. For example, local pages include a map of the business’s location and feature its address, phone number, and hours of operation. Local pages also share the functionality of other Google+ pages -- you can create and manage circles, start and join hangouts, and share content like posts and photos.

To make a local page for your business:

1. Sign in to Google+  (you’ll have to create a Google+ profile if you don’t already have one).


2. Click  Pages under Home on the left.


3. Click the Create a page button in the upper right.


4. Select the Local Business or Place category.


5. Type in your business’s phone number and click Locate. Make sure that the phone number you use is a business line and not a personal or cell phone number.


6. If you see your business listed, click on your business’s name. You’ll be able to edit the address later if anything is incorrect. If the name of your business doesn’t appear, click Add your business to Google or Look up a different number to try again.


7. Enter or edit basic information about your business, including business name, phone number, and address. If Google already has information about your business, you’ll be asked to confirm it. You can also edit any information that’s incorrect.


8. Choose at least one category from the list that depicts what your business is (e.g. Hospital), not what it does (e.g. Vaccinations) or products it sells (e.g. Sony products or printer paper).


9. Select an age requirement that’s appropriate for your business.


10. Click Create, and you’re done! Now you can visit your page and add even more details about your business, like hours, your website, and more contact information. Learn more.