There are lots of complicated PHP based directory softwares on the market.  Most are very hard to optimize, very hard to design, and very cumbersome to manage.

This product is pretty nifty.  It works in WordPress and is easy to install.  I am currently installing on a site or two.  I will update the progress shortly.

I am a fan of anything WordPress and I am a fan of anything that makes shopping carts three things:

1. Cheap!

2.  SEO friendly!! Almost impossible, but..

3.  Integrated with WordPress

Check this out.  ShopperPress.com

A nice tool for getting content ideas surrounding keywords. The Google tool is available on all searches, but you do have to dive in a bit. Click on the ’show options’ link available above the search results.

I recently moved over to Clicky instead of Google because my tin hat started to tingle (not my line, but there is nothing that speaks more true to the volume of information Google has access to and will eventually use in abusive ways).

I like that the program is cheap, functions well, is nice to look at, and does what it is supposed to do.

I’d like an iPhone app and some more filtering options, maybe down the road. Offering interesting ways of grabbing the data seems to be a pet project of the company.

FYI, this is an affiliate link:

Tracking of search engine ranking is a vital aspect of any qualified SEO’s systematic competitive analysis; as well, it is a critical aspect in staying on top of high profile keyword campaigns. While there are ample options on the market whether you are searching for a free or paid solution, Advanced Web Ranking has earned the reputation of being the most concise, vigorous, and sustainable software application for such tasks. Often referred to as AWR, the application accords copious SEO features such as a keyword research tool, website ranking tool, and (dependent upon the version you select) also offers Advanced Link Manager, an exhaustive link administration and procurement tool. Setting aside those options, many SEO managers will certainly find themselves utilizing the advantages of the core ranking analysis structures on a consistent basis; components designed to assist in the monitoring of each clients rankings on individual search engines spread out over a course of time in addition to regional search engine rankings, and professional report creation.

Tracking Local Maps Rankings

Most Local Search experts consistently track a diversified range of business locations with respects to a given range of keywords. AWR has taken the logistical nightmare of tracking Google maps results of first page rankings and simplified those procedures. During the project planning and development stage, first and foremost, an SEO manager will want to devise a plan detailing the specified search engines that require tracking for rankings. In most cases, generally speaking the process will incorporate local market Google platforms such as Google Singapore or Google Singapore Local Business Results. SEO Managers can also opt to further localize searches by further refinement to include Google Singapore (Chinese) if their target audience dictates.
Report creation for rankings has also been simplified with robust options offering preset reports such as top sites, current rank, and keyword rank reports.

Calculating Historical Data

An exceptional SEO program will sustain consistent rankings rather than intermittent fluctuations and those results should be verified two to three times per month. It’s impressive to witness the relationship between the progress of a site’s link popularity, along with a rough sketch of the interpolated improvement in rankings, and AWR provides SEO Managers with invaluable insight in regards, by make use of graphs to map shifts in ranking for various keywords in a specified time period.

AWR also incorporates a deferred and indiscriminate procedure to check ranking, eliminating the risk of search engines issuing a temporary ban for substantial search queries in a short timeframe. Another option afford SEO Managers with AWR is to leverage proxies to imitate diverse IP’s when running checks. Another methodical feature offered by AWR is scheduled reports that can be compiled without reliance of the SEO Manager being at the computer, reports that are automatically compiled into an uncluttered, branded report, and backed up through FTP if required. The product development team with Caphyon (the makers of AWR) have also levied high benchmark standards in ensuring query requests from AWR appear as congenital as possible to the search engines.

Automated Updates

When booting the application, each time AWR analyzes and verifies any updates on search engines in comparison with its internal database. This feature is precise in that the speed afforded by such updates provides a distinct competitive advantage.

Competitive Analysis

Any prudent SEO Manager will not compile a ranking report without evaluating sites in comparison with competitor’s rankings. When developing a project, with AWR SEO Managers have the luxury of cross referencing multiple websites to be weighed in ranking reports for an array of keywords. Your options for competitive evaluation can be as high-level or as specific as you need for example: SEO Mangers can analyze a list of top 10 rankings afforded a competitor, and also peel back the layers to ascertain a sites positions in relation to a competitor’s for a specific keyword theme.

Geo-Location Foundations: The Google Preview Tool

An outstanding option, though only offered with the Enterprise version of Advanced Web Ranking, it mimics the same characteristics of the Firefox Google Global Extension attributed to Redfly Online Marketing. Rather than deploying a proxy based solution, AWR can affix strings to the conducted search, and localize it to a specific geographical location. When SEO Mangers are dealing with clients who are spread out geographically leveraging this type of tool is crucial to ascertain that results are congruent with what your client is viewing live.

Associated Costs and Recommendations

The Professional edition of Advanced Web Ranking has an asking price of $199.00 and comes packaged with a good variety of options for the individual SEO Manager. However, the Enterprise version has a price tag of $399.00, but comes packaged with some premium features such as Google Preview, project manager, user profile support, the ability to export data, and the option to leverage multiple proxies when compiling ranking reports.

There’s a couple of indispensable weapons that every astute SEO Manager or Web-Development Specialist should incorporate into their arsenal and Advanced Web Ranking is certainly one of the most sought after weapons. Just given the software applications reputation in the marketplace it certainly garners the attention of the SEO community as a preferred marketing tool. For a complete overview and in-depth analysis of Advanced Web Ranking, visit their website at www.advancedwebranking.com.

SEO Managers also have the option to try out the full featured Enterprise version of AWR in addition to the Advanced Link Manager software for a trial period of 30 days. The software suite can be downloaded at www.advancedwebranking.com/download.html.

The basic key to any marketing strategy has always been to get the name of the marketed good or service out into society, establish a brand name, and then build on the reputation of this brand name once it begins to get attention. The idea of course is to acquire as many customers as possible.

Classic marketing strategies have been employed for years and hold steady to this day. The construct of marketing ideas is based on a principle commonly referred to as the “4 Ps”: product, place, price, and promotion.

A product must present some sort of value to a potential consumer. The knowledge of the product must be placed in an area or a medium in which the consumer will be able to find out about it. The product’s price must complement the value and usefulness of the product to the consumer. Finally, promotion is necessary to further the name and knowledge of your product out in the market. (http://www.marketingprinciples.com/principles-of-marketing/). A good marketer achieves this by allowing exposure with the availability to information about the product that the consumer would potentially be interested in finding out.

It is fair to assume then that the more exposure potential consumers have to a product, the greater the chance that more consumers will find interest in said product, if it meets their criteria for value and fits what the consumer considers to be a fair price. Therefore, tremendous power lies in any medium which would allow maximum exposure of the product. And it is hard to find a medium that extends further than the internet.

There are many tremendous advantages which can be attributed to internet marketing. With its vast reaches, promoting one’s product or service on the internet opens doors to previously untapped markets. These may be places which previous consideration for marketing may not have existed in, whether it is due to geography or financial hardships. Suddenly the limits which may have previously encapsulated the marketing of a product expand greatly, allowing for a product to reach the potential consumer population globally.

A product generally greatly benefits from not being marketed to everyone, but with a geared focus on a specific target market. After all, these are the products’ most likely consumers. A product which finds its niche in the marketplace and builds on its brand typically is a product that gets to be the most successful in terms of marketing. With many internet sites dedicated to specific topics, the promotion of a product can be focused into specific advertising areas, while still reaching the consumer population on a global scale.

Furthermore, if a consumer is introduced to a product, and happens to have an interest in it, the internet is extremely convenient in allowing the consumer to quickly link to more information about the product. With a couple of mouse clicks, the potential consumer has further information at their fingertips.

From a purely business standpoint, there is one key factor that rules any business: money. After all, the goal of any business is increasing profits, and as a marketer, one aims to maximize their intake of profits while providing the consumer base with a product which serves their desired purpose. However, the purchasing of advertising space, time and locations can be extremely pricey. While the ability to promote one’s product on the internet is not free, it is much more cost effective, and the burdens of advertising outside of the online world mostly no longer apply. (http://www.npresence.net/Pros-and-Cons-of-Internet-Marketing.html)

In the past, word of mouth was an immensely helpful aspect of a marketing scheme. A consumer likes a product, and tells his or her acquaintances about it. Any of those parties who are interested in the product may choose to pursue it further, having the product popularity grow. The same concept applies to marketing on the internet, except that the word of mouth is now electronic, and can now reach hundreds if not thousands of potentially interested customers at a time. So less money is spent on advertising, yet the potential of growing the consumer base rapidly is clear.

It is also important to remember that the internet is a place of constant innovation. The availability of new tools for multiple uses is able to assist a marketer in their strategy. The access to helpful information is also available as a resource to help determine how to structure one’s marketing approach in the best way possible.

Internet marketing is undoubtedly filled with benefits. Of course there are some drawbacks as well. Brand promotion for example, is a little more difficult. The consumer is usually very wary of the product they are buying, especially when the consumer comes from the niche market and is typically knowledgeable about the product. Its human nature to believe in and rely on something tangible, whereas promotion on the internet does not provide any physical baring, and therefore little evidence to the consumer of the products viability.

The other clear obstacle is that as the internet, as widely as it is already used, constantly continues to gain more popularity, and more people are turning to it for information about and exposure to potentially interesting products. Many marketers have begun using the internet to their full potential, but that in itself presents a difficulty for each individual marketer: heavier competition. While on a local level a product may hold dominance for a variety of reasons, when the ability to explore many options and order them from across the world exists, it makes it tougher for one’s product to stand out from the rest. And this is where solid classic marketing strategies kick in. With a healthy combination of classic marketing principles and the ever expanding innovation and distribution of the internet, a product’s marketability can be maximized exponentially. (http://www.npresence.net/Pros-and-Cons-of-Internet-Marketing.html)

While many heads of companies who market products may be apprehensive about internet marketing, they should consider that the benefits tend to outweigh the downsides. Greater exposure to the product opens the possibility of a greater consumer numbers and a quickly growing reputation. Therefore the profits stand to increase as less money would need to flow into marketing with a greater output in the end result.

Free, free, free!

The internet is a great place. Everything seems to be free! Free news, free stock quotes, free memberships, free offers, free games. Is there any better place in the world than the free internet?

Unfortunately, the old aphorism: “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, definitely applies here. Every online business advertises free stuff, but is it really free? Let’s take a closer look.

Blogging:

Let’s begin with blogging. Every day, more and more people are discovering the online world of blogging. If someone wants to start his own blog, he will soon notice numerous “free” services at his disposal. Blogger and Wordpress are probably the two most popular of these.

The first thing that a person might notice when he signs up for one of these free services is that he doesn’t get his own domain name. So, rather than www.myblog.com, his site is something like: www.myblog.blogspot.com or www.myblog.wordpress.com.

Now, if you are one of those people thinking about starting your own blog, you might think: “that’s fine with me, I’m not doing this for commercial purposes, this is my own personal blog for my thoughts and ramblings, I don’t care how the domain name looks, I just want it to be free.”

The problem here is that the fate of your blog is forever tied to the fate of those services. What if, 5 years down the road, the Blogger or Wordpress services are discontinued? If something happens to to the blogspot.com or wordpress.com domain names, your site will go down with them.

Wow, so after 5 years of hard work, your site could vanish in an instant! What a rip off: you would probably want your money back. Oops, what money?

One way to avoid this is to buy your own domain name. This is very cheap (about $10 per year), but then again, that means it isn’t “free” anymore.

Another limitation of these free blogging services is customization. Normally, you are restricted to a small set of “templates”, which dictate the look and layout of your blog. These are great if you are unfamiliar with html coding, but your blog will look just like everyone else’s blog across the internet who use the same service as you. This seriously hampers your ability to stand out.

It is possible to get around this limitation by downloading one of a number of “free” templates on the internet. Here, though, we run into problems again. While the free templates provided by the blogging service may have been bland and uncustomizable, these free downloadable templates take full advantage of your lack of html knowledge. They are often filled with unnecessary code, which often promote the creator of the template. They could also be stuffed with malicious code that causes pop-up advertisements or contain viruses. Worse, if you lack html knowledge, they are equally as uncustomizable as the free but bland templates.

Other Internet services:

So you’re thinking, “all that is great, but I’m not a blogger, so I don’t really have to worry about that. I just use YouTube and Google.”

Ok, let’s take a look at those services. I have just pulled up a YouTube music video of one of my favorite artists to watch for free. The first thing I noticed is that at the 10-second mark, an ad popped up asking me to please buy the ringtone of the song for my mobile phone. The next thing I notice is that the entire right side of the screen is filled with an advertisement by Microsoft. This ad is is flashing at intermittent intervals, desperately trying to draw my attention away from the music video. That ad remained there for the entire duration of the music video (about 5 minutes).

Directly beneath the Microsoft ad was a smaller ad for Warner Brothers, the music label which produces the music video. Finally, when the song ended, the cell phone ring tone ad reappeared and remained on the screen until I selected another video. Now, you may think – “hey, that’s cool, I never click on those ads or anything, they don’t bother me.”

Well, any marketer knows the phrase “mind share”. Mind share (from Wikipedia) is: “the development of consumer awareness or popularity, and is one of the main objectives of advertising and promotion.”

Your mind is a limited resource. There are only so many brands that you can be aware of at any time. Even if you don’t click on the advertisements, the advertisers are still achieving their goal of filling your head with their brand.

What about Google, that wonderful search engine that we all use every day? Most people think that Google is a company that provides search services. Those people are only partially correct. Google’s shareholders know that Google is primarily an advertising company. They provide the search engine as a means for you to view advertisements that they serve to you.

When you perform a search on Google, you will always notice the “Sponsored Link” highlighted at the top of your search results. There are usually even more sponsored links running down the right hand side of the page. This is how Google gets paid.

Google also provides other services, like Google Maps. When I typed “Boston” into Google Maps, they showed me a map of Boston, with “Sponsored Links” to hotels in Boston.

What about the Blogger service that we talked about earlier? This is the “free” blogging service provided by Google. If you sign up for this service, Google will urge you to put their ads on your site, from which they take a large cut. Google is primarily interested in providing their Blogger service so that more people will create free content on which they can serve their ads. If you are a beginning blogger, there is a good chance that you are the only person who even sees your blog on a regular basis. If you put ads on your blog, YOU are the only person being advertised to!

Free isn’t Free

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that free isn’t really free on the internet. Every business that is offering these free services are trying to make money in some fashion or another. It is important to understand how they make their money, and why they are offering their service for free. If you can do this, you can avoid getting duped, and you can make your internet experience as efficient and pleasing as possible.

Site theming is a search engine optimization practice that stresses building web sites that clearly indicate the subject matter or theme of the site.

Major search engines tend to break down websites into subject categories, and to assign ranking and relevancy for these subjects. The overall site relevancy can strongly influence the ranking of individual pages in terms of keyword relevancy. Thus, if a website does not have a clear theme, most likely it will suffer in search engine result pages (SERPs) even for pages that are ranked highly on an individual basis.

While the keyword relevancy of pages is extremely important, often a lower rank page will beat a higher ranked one due to a number of reasons including the strength of the overall site’s theme. Indeed many users would prefer in many cases to click through not only to a relevant page, but to an entire site that can contain information on the related topic.

Creating site silos

One strategy in emphasizing a theme for one’s site is to create “silos” or to structure the site into sections that deal with related subtopics. Each subtopic will be placed in a different sub-folder in your website’s directory. By grouping pages with related topics in the same directory, search engines and users can more easily find the information they are looking for.

Major search engines like Google favor sites that are logically organized. So, a site with a clear theme is enhanced by a structure that is organized in a tree-like fashion with subtopics in sub-directories. Placing lots of different unrelated pages in the same directory folder is confusing to both the search engine and the user.

You can make it easy for search engines to analyze the topics of pages by placing very relevant keywords in the title and keywords tag of the pages. These keywords should be related to search terms frequently used by web users. There are various sources that allow you to search for popular search words and search phrases including Google’s Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal).

Creating a themed link structure

The basic types of links are internal and external links. Internal links can be both inbound and outbound. And internal link is a link contained on one of your web site’s pages. Such links can link to other pages on your site, i.e. inbound links, or to pages on other sites, or outbound links. External links are links found on other sites that are inbound to one your site’s pages.

Search engines regard external links very highly in assigned relevancy and ranking to pages and sites. A link from a highly relevant and highly ranked page is of great value, but even greater value if it comes from a website that has a similar theme to yours. At the same time, a link from a page or site that does not match your theme is not so valuable and can even impair your search engine rankings. Soliciting inbound external links can be difficult and time-consuming. One should avoid links that do are not clearly relevant to your site’s theme. Unfortunately, some sites may decide to link to your site without your consent.

While not as important as external links, internal links are usually under the complete control of the site owner. If your site is well-organized, the internal links on each page should follow a logical pattern that strengthens the theme of your site.

Another important element of link structure is the link text or anchor text. While you cannot control the link text of external links, you should carefully choose the link text used from one page to another within your site. However, try not to use the same link text too much. Instead use synonyms or related terms that still have the same relevancy but do not make it appear like you are “keyword loading,” which is frowned upon by search engines.

Clear page content

Of course, for the site’s theme to be perfectly clear to search engines, each of the individual pages should be organized to make the subject matter very evident. Pages should be very rich in not only the few targeted keywords, but also in other related keywords and search terms.

The relevant keywords should be placed in the different page elements including the meta tags (title, description, keywords) the headings, the “ALT” text for images, the linked text, and of course the main body text. The density of any one keyword or keyphrase should be high but not too high. Always make sure the content reads naturally and does not look like you are trying to spam the search engines with too many keywords.

Also, each page’s content should be as unique as possible since search engines are on the lookout for sites that simply copy other page content. For this reason, you will want to be careful when using quotes and should clearly set quotes off in block text.

Making the site easy to spider

Web search engines send out spiders to analyze web sites and site owners should do all they can to facilitate the spidering of their sites. Try to link all your major sub-directories to your site’s main index page (index.html) or at least include them on your sitemap page. You should create your own XML Sitemap for placement in the root directory of your website. There are free resources online that can do this for you automatically (like http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/).

By creating a web site that has a clear structure and theme, you can significantly enhance the relevancy search engines assign to your site. In turn, this will improve the search engine rankings of individual pages throughout your web site. Create a site that is clearly logical in a way that a computer algorithm would recognize information categories. Place pages in the same folder that are clearly linked in subject matter, and include links and keywords in these pages that follow the same theme.

Sources:

http://www.bruceclay.com/newsletter/volume29/themepartone.html

http://www.webworkshop.net/google_themes.html

We handle search engine optimization for other businesses.  Please fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.