Well, calm your fears and worries because a website properly optimized for Web 2.0 can and will make money. The concept behind Web 2.0 is simple enough. The internet is entering a period of increased interactivity. Small business website design is now built and optimized around users taking an active role in building, defining, and even moderating the content and direction of the site.

The short, short version is basically this: All of those people who visit the internet everyday now add their own feedback, content, and videos to the majority of the most popular sites online.

Taking a step back for a second, you realize that this isn’t exactly a ground breaking idea. After all, blogs, forums, and networking sites have been around since the beginning of the internet and their reputation of interaction and user contribution has long been known.

What makes Web 2.0 different now than before is the shift in focus rather than in actual technology. Popular websites like MySpace and Facebook brought this concept of social Web interactivity to forefront of daily internet users, instead of just dating sites and focused discussion groups, no offense WOW fans. The average user now has their very own voice and face, hence the idea of a new focus in website design and small business search engine marketing.

So the last thing you, as a savvy small business owner looking to get involved in ecommerce, should do is allow yourself to be intimidated by all the hype of Web 2.0. It doesn’t take any expensive new software or programs. Nor do you need to completely overhaul your marketing mentality to find success in the midst of this new social media optimization movement.

What you need to go is jump in and get involved. Your customers, the ones you communicate and do business with over the internet, expect greater access to your business and increased input in how your marketing plan is run, so it’s only natural that your business incorporates this Web 2.0 interactivity into its daily activities.

The real results of Web 2.0 hype is improved customer relations, readily available market data, and new and exciting ways to promote your business’s products and services. This new era represents a leap in the human consciousness more than it does an advance in Internet technology and Mystic Liquid wants to be there to help you make that jump.

Contact us to get started with your very own small business search engine optimization and social media optimization campaign today.

]]> http://www.mysticliquid.com/seo/the-progress-of-web-20-and-your-business/feed/ 0 http://www.mysticliquid.com/seo/ten-seo-tips-you-absolutely-need-on-your-website/ http://www.mysticliquid.com/seo/ten-seo-tips-you-absolutely-need-on-your-website/#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:08:27 +0000 admin http://www.mysticliquid.com/?p=528 Search engine marketing is becoming more difficult day in and day out. While the challenge of boosting a web site high enough into the search engine rankings can be a profitable one, it is also difficult and time consuming. A good looking, user friendly website is only the first step in owning a successful one. It also needs to be search engine friendly.
For your website to become a profitably source of income, you are going to need the help of the search engines. They hold the keys to bringing your website to prospective customers. It is important you know how the search engines actually work and how they present information to the customer initiating a search. Your website needs to experience some search engine optimization. Here are just a few of the key points to pay attention to when optimizing a website:

· Go deep – There is nothing that the search engine spiders like more than deep linking. Try to have as much links as possible coming in to nearly all of your pages. Doing so tells the search engines that your site has lots of relevant content on it and other sites feel the same way since they are linking to it. If a site only has links coming into its homepage, the search engines think your site has little content and therefore little value for their results pages. There is also the chance they will determine that your links were generated by spammy automation rather than by the value of your site and penalize your site.

· Go bold – Use html tags like <b> </b> around some of your more important keywords on each page. Don’t go crazy and have every single one of your keywords bold. A few times splashed into your on-site content will not only show the spiders your keywords but also grab the attention of that ever important user.

· Robots take the first exit – If there is no getting around using image links in your navigation bar, you better also include the use of text links. Make sure they show up first in the source code. The search engine robots will follow the first link they find and not follow any other additional links to that same page.

· Link titles – Links need to have titles, as well. This helps users know where you are sending them, but there are also instances of the search engines using this in their algorithms to figure the relevancy for a page.

· Anchor text – You need anchor text in links but try not to overdo it. It isn’t good in the eyes of the search engines if all of your inbound links look the same and point to the same page. It sounds off some alarm bells because it like automation and spam, things search engines really don’t like too much. Try using your URL sometimes, company name other times, “or just changing up the anchor text into different variations of the phrase.

· Write articles – Show off your writing skills for some free publicity. Here is where hiring someone to do content generation becomes important. Article exchanges are a little link exchanges, only that you are writing an article for someone else’s website in exchange for a link. Write an article on search engine optimization services with a link back to your site at the end of it. You both make out. You get a link and the other site gets some fresh relevant content.

· Use several domains – It might be worth the time and effort to use multiple domains if you have several topics with enough information that could each support its own website. Search engines usually will only list one page per domain on any given search, and there is a good chance your website’s information might deserve two. Secondly, directories normally accept only home pages. With the use of multiple domains, you can get more directory listings.

· Site map – All relevant websites need a site map, especially if you want to be taken seriously by the search engines. A site map should be linked to from every page on the site. This helps the search engine spiders index every page with just two clicks, particularly the deeper pages not normally indexed at all.
There are many more steps in the process of search engine optimization. Every aspect of it needs to be broken down and looked at dependent on the needs of the individual site you work on. There are always details to comb over and changes to be made. Hopefully, these above mentioned tips can help you get started in improving your rankings.