The only problem is trying to find good guest blogging opportunities.

Guest Blogging Generator by Guest Post Labs is here to fill that void. This simple, streamlined tool has one purpose and one purpose only – get you guest post opportunities. How it goes about it is simple, yet effective.

What does Guest Blogging Generator do?

All you need to do is type in whatever keyword you are looking to guest post about. The tool then brings up a list of Google search extensions for you to copy and paste into your browser. Stuff like “write for us”, “blog for us” and “guest post” are utilised.

That’s time consuming you say? Well they also give you the same list in an easy, open-in-new-tab format, allowing you to click away and browse the SERPs until you find some pages you like.

You can then copy and paste the aforementioned list of URLs into your excel worksheet to present to the boss. An afternoons work done in a few minutes – easy! You can also enter as many keywords as you like!

Who would use it?

Guest Blogging Generator doesn’t try to complicate things by asking you to register a profile and connect with other people in an industry. It just keeps it basic, which makes it so much more enticing to use.

Anyone can utilise this FREE tool (love that word) and it is ideal for any content writers or syndicators out there looking to get some new connections.

RATING

9/10

The post Guest Blogging Generator Reviewed by Search Marketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

As the biggest, Facebook is a must for any online marketer. It is a great forum to showcase and market what your company has to offer. Creating a Facebook Business Page isn’t just about adding some pictures to text and writing a few updates every week. It is a metric that needs to be studied and tweaked to be effective.

Social Numbers assists you to keep these numbers in check, all whilst checking out how the competition is faring.

What does Social Numbers do?

At a basic level, Social Numbers allows you to enter in any page name or Facebook URL and get some key Facebook statistics about that page.

Things like number of fans and people talking about that page are quickly provided to you in a modern, easy-to-understand format. Graphs and tables are also utilised to make information easy to digest.

A great feature is the ‘Compare With’ section, allowing you to see how you stack up to competitors. Well, it would have been a great feature if it had worked – maybe just a glitch at the time of writing.  Regardless, Social Numbers draws it’s own list of similar sites for you to compare to. Selecting them then adds their numbers to the main ‘Likes’ graph, giving you a good indicator of how you are tracking.

Unfortunately, that is seemingly where it ends. There are sections on claiming pages and adding them to agencies, but for a simple Facebook statistical overview, there are better sites out there.

Where they get their figures from is also unknown.

RATING

6/10

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What follows is what Browseo calls a “webpage without distractions caused by styles.” It’s literally just the base code of the page pulled up in one hit of the ENTER button:

What does Browseo show you exactly?

The left-hand-side shows the website in it’s basic form. The right outlines all the nitty gritty SEO information. It’s a great tool to utilise if you are looking to get some information about a site quickly.
Browseo instantly gives you the pages title and meta information, along with a SERP preview. It goes into information on the text, such as word count and links, both internal and external. It then runs you through all the headings on the page from H1 to H4. You can also click to highlight internal, external and nofollow links on the left side.

However, that is where it ends. This tool, whilst great, free and useful, doesn’t do the job if you are looking for an in-depth analysis.

At the bottom of the page is a ‘Check for Cloaking-Attempt’ section with (Beta) next to it, outlining that this site is still growing and may have bigger and better things in store. We hope so, because it has definitely filled a niche that no one else is touching. Other companies are all about downloading their program or toolbar – Browseo is just about giving you the basics fast.

Use this tool for a quick check or to show clients what’s up, but no more!

RATING
6.5/10

The post Browseo Review by Search Marketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

CTA Button Optimizer Review.

Sometimes it’s the simplest tools that give us the most satisfaction. After all, simple is great!

Button Optimizer is a website where you can create a free call-to-action button for your website. The whole setup is completely simple, with the design interface right there as soon as you load up the site.

What can you do with Button Optimizer?

You can edit a range of things on the button. You start with your base colour, which encompasses the full spectrum of colours.  Then it’s onto the button text. What do you want it to say? What font? What size? What colour?  Bold, italic or uppercase? All this can be edited with a few clicks.

The next section relates to the size, border and colour details of the button itself. Add padding and borders, then choose a colour for each. Simple.

The icon that sits next to your button text is next. Simply type in the style of icon you want – maybe a tick or a bullseye – then choose from the selection that the interface loads up for you. The icons are provided by Icon Finder, so you can head there for some inspiration. Once you’ve chosen, you can choose whether you want the image before or after the text, then tweak the height of it to suit your button’s evolving style.

Text shadow and box shadow are the two next sections to play with and then you are complete.

The interface gives you a continuous preview of how your button looks for easy-of-use. Underneath that preview, once you are done, you can choose to get the CSS code for your button or just download it as a PNG Image, like I did:

Button Optimizer is perfect for lazy web designers or those of use who are graphically challenged.

RATING

It’s free! – 9/10

The post CTA Button Optimizer Review by Searchmarketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

There are a few sites out there that provide you with a big long list of keywords at just a few base words. Whilst Soovle provides a similar service, it doesn’t necessarily fall into the keyword list creation tool.

Rather, it is best used as a content idea generator and search assistant.

What are Soovle’s features and how does it work?

Soovle enables you to search seven different search engines at once to see what the top searches are for any given keywords. The search engines used by Soovle include:

• Google
• Amazon
• Yahoo
• Bing
• YouTube
• Answers.com
• Wikipedia

Besides Google, Yahoo and Bing, you are going to get fairly different keyword matches for each search engine, making Soovle the perfect place to go if you are stuck for inspiration.

How does Soovle help with content generation

A lot of the time, bloggers are very Google focused when it comes to finding good keywords to base an article or piece on. Realistically, there are a host of other popular searches out there, something that Soovle makes easy to find out in one place.

Soovle is especially fantastic for writers working in niches that aren’t their forte. Say you have a client that focuses on air conditioners, something that you have never had to buy or even research before. Type in “air conditioner” into Soovle and you are presented with a great range of potential article topics, from the basic to the quirky:

YouTube lists searches around “noise”, “sound” and “installation” – very visual topics.

Amazon lists more about different brands and styles of air conditioner for sale.

Each list provides different areas of inspiration and research. The only downside to Soovle is that it can become a bit messy visually, especially with complex keywords.

RATING

7.5/10

The post Soovle Keyword Tool Review by Search Marketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

Rapportive is really ahead of it’s class when it comes to providing a profile of your contacts in Gmail. Unlike our review on Yoast, which has a raft of competition in the WordPress SEO plug-in stakes, Rapportive sits almost on it’s own at the top.

What are some of Rapportive’s best features?

Rapportive pulls information from a range of different social media sites to create its profiles. When you are setting up your own profile, you can allow Rapportive to access your:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• And many other social media sites

Rapportive will then pull in all the information from these pages that you permit, developing a profile that can include:

• Email
• Location
• Job Position
• Twitter handle and latest tweets
• Skype ID
• And more

All these items can be customised to your liking. For example, you may not want to share your Facebook details in your Rapportive profile as you have it setup purely for personal browsing, not sharing with all your Gmail contacts.

Rapportive doesn’t require all your contacts to have the extension installed to get a profile. It simply uses their email and finds any information it can that that person has permitted to be shared. More on their privacy and sharing standpoints can be found at the provided links (this is one of their most FAQs).

Rapportive also slots in nicely to your Gmail setup, making it a seamless acquisition to your everyday emailing. Whilst it’s not useful for every contact, Rapportive gives the world of email a bit more clarity.

RATING

7/10

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Holistic approach to the digital marketing process – Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50655518@N06/6832314443/sizes/n/in/photostream/

The following set of tools if implemented can skyrocket the digital marketing options, which will make the customers reap the associated benefits:

SEOmoz

This tool enhances the global position by readily targeting the search engines. As the name suggests, this digital marketing tool involves several aspects of an SEO process. This helps with the increase in traffic and also with the keywords in which the client ranks.

Pros- The most desirable feature of this online tool remains to be the holistic approach it includes by cumulating the SEO tools with the digital marketing process. There are many noted features that SEOmoz boasts:

• Allows the client to undertake link based researches to look at the competitive moves of the business rivals using the built-in Linkscape feature.
• Allows the client to check the keyword specific rank on Google or other desired search engines including Bing and yahoo!
• Gives informative insights and technical specs into the intuitive techniques that need to be adopted by the user to enhance the visibility on the associated search engines.
• Readily allows the user to look into the aspects of traffic enhancement and to involve similar techniques to improve the overall scenario.

Cons- With the higher prices and intricate workings, these tools still remain highly elusive to many systems. Unfortunately, the cost effective solutions are given priority.

User Rating- A 9.5 out of 10 owing to the enhanced user interface and reduced reliability and tracking.

Wistia

This effectively looks at the video hosting association of the digital marketing strategy. With the importance of visual aids getting enhanced each day, this tool is highly effective in undertaking the marketing strategy in an entirely new and advanced manner.

Pros- the use of media in the form of audio and video implementations have transformed the concept of marketing, taking it to larger realms. Wistia provides the additional push to these innovations using several features, such as:

• The analytics associated clearly determines the frequency of the video watching and also helps in determining the most viewed parts all over again to help gauge the best/important sections.
• The number of re-watching can also be determined using this marketing tool.
• Video player can be customised online and can be added with email captures and social sharing techniques.

Cons- The streaming of the videos can take time with varying internet speeds and connections. Buffering may be infuriating for the customers who look for faster and informative techniques.

User Rating- 9 out of 10 for a fantastic user platform.

Campaign Monitor

This tool makes use of the social quotient and incorporates the email marketing into the daily schemes. The potency of the internet in providing selective information via emails has been effectively utilised with this tool.

Pros- This forms the integral component of any given digital marketing venture. Some of the most intuitive characters possessed by the campaign monitor include:

• An interactive template creator that grafts mails for the user.
• Signing up and registration remains simple via a specialised mobile console.
• Enhanced mobile and Smartphone readability.
• Client campaigns are tested using the A/B testing techniques.
• Auto responders allow automatic scheduling of specified jobs.
• Incorporates several sharing functions, which allows the client to look at his shared mail. This can greatly help the marketing strategy.

Cons- Some of the user interfaces are not well supported and the mobile version of this tool needs to be monitored and upgraded constantly. This requires HTML knowledge to enhance usability.

User Rating- 7 out of 10, mostly due to reduced user friendliness for the beginners.         

Conclusion

It can be thus deduced that these different digital marketing tools can very well enhance the reputation of a business. However, these need to be implemented with care to enable the customers to receive effective services and options.

The post Enumerating Potent Digital Marketing Tools appeared first on Search Marketing.

What’s in a name? Learning the digital marketing jargon

So you know your HTML from your HTTPS and your CMS from your CPC, but are you familiar with the acronym ‘FTP’?

There’s no doubt that it is important we all speak the same language in digital marketing circles. One acronym that always comes up is the obscure three-letter term, ‘FTP.’ If you’re not familiar with this terminology, it’s now time to get acquainted; your SEO strategy depends on it! Clients can complain when giving up these details, and you shouldn’t blame them; with a little education below they’ll realise how integral they are for a digital marketing company such as roi.com.au.

1.       What are FTP details?

Let’s start with the obvious question – what are FTP details? FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is used to transfer files from your local computer to your web space. For example, when you subscribe to a website hosting plan, you are provided with FTP details so that a third party client can upload their website files to your servers. Of course, you can do this yourself, but it definitely gives you one less thing to stress about when you go about your daily business. This brings us to our next question.

2.       Why do you need my FTP details?

Obviously there is a lot of trust that rides on giving your FTP details to a third party. The simplest answer to this question is simply so that a third party can upload files to your servers. People typically prefer to let someone else manage this task, as it can sometimes be difficult and time-consuming to do it yourself. It also allows the third party to immediately attend to any problems that may occur.

3.       Where do I find my FTP details?

If you already have a web hosting package with FTP access, all you need is:

• The FTP host name
• Your FTP username
• Your FTP password

This is a simple step – just ask your website host for your FTP details and you’re good to upload!

Any questions about your FTP login details? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post The What, Why and Where of FTP Details appeared first on Search Marketing.

However, when it comes to our pick for WordPress SEO plugins, Yoast is the way to go. It is one of the most comprehensive plugins available today, providing features ranging from basic meta data inputs through to 301 redirects. Better yet, its setup is simple and easy for almost anyone with a basic SEO knowledge to understand.

What is some of Yoast’s best features?

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Titles and Metas are two of the most basic forms of SEO. Even newbies will know them from search results, with the title tag forming the main blue link and the page’s meta description making up the black text underneath it. Yoast provides a simple section for each page and post you create in WordPress where you can enter in your desired title tag and meta description and see how it will look in Google search results. It also gives you information on how many characters you have used and whether focus keywords are displayed.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs usually show up in the top left corner of each page or post and assist in navigation. Yoast allows you to not just turn them on and off, but also enables you to change the taxonomy of each breadcrumb – a great asset if you have long titles that make your breadcrumbs look horrible.

What else does Yoast offer?

You can also play around with URL extensions, redirects, links and sitemaps, all with a few clicks of the mouse.

You can get the full rundown of Yoast’s features here.

RATING:

8/10

The post Yoast WordPress SEO Review by Search Marketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

SEMrush is by no means a comprehensive SEO tool belt in itself but more of a niche product focussed in one area. The advantage of this is, as the case with many programs with a narrow focus, it is one of the best tools available for what it does.

One of the strongest features that SEMrush offers is analysis of a competitor’s Adwords campaign. Through inserting a URL into the program SEMrush can provide you with a host of useful information, evaluating and displaying data on factors such as search engine traffic, estimated levels of keyword traffic, how much they’re spending on Adwords, number of ads running and many other metrics, which can all help you assess what your competitor is doing to run such a successful campaign. This feature is a great way to identify things like highly commercial keywords for your own campaign and form your strategy in general around a successful model.

SEMrush also provides an excellent platform for both organic and Adwords keyword research. Through the way data is presented, you can view all keywords side by side with competitor analysis and relative commercial value. By collating the data in this simple way, SEMrush makes itself an invaluable tool for enhancing your organic campaign and finding lucrative high traffic keywords with very good commercial appeal.

Particularly useful when it comes to Adwords keyword research, SEMrush allows you to view the geographic targeting of ads and the ad copy that is displayed on the keywords you research, allowing you to get a full picture to what is happening with each keyword within a competitor’s campaign, and why.

All in all SEMrush is not hampered by its limited scope, instead its niche focus has helped it to excel at what it does. It is a very worthy tool to have hanging from your SEO tool belt.

Search Marketing score 8.5/10

The post SEMrush Review – by Search Marketing/roi.com.au appeared first on Search Marketing.

In the online world, the first impression and initial contact you have with your customers is usually through the copy and design on your website. For this reason, it is understandable why the way in which content is written can often be a source of complaint for some of roi.com.au’s clients.

It is of utmost importance to our team of content specialists to align the style of copy we write for client’s websites with the vision of their businesses, but since one of our primary objectives is also search engine optimisation, some issues can arise. Common complaints we encounter from clients in relation to content are:

1. Keyword use. Ensuring copy has an adequate amount of keywords throughout it is one of the most important elements of optimised content. There is a fine balance between going overboard with keywords, which can incur the wrath of Google, and not using enough to make an impact on rankings for important search phrases. While we are well-versed in maintaining this balance throughout our writing, keywords can at times seem out of place to someone not used to reading SEO content.

   How do we resolve this complaint? Generally, when a client is not satisfied with the keyword use in the copy that has been provided to them, our content specialists discuss with them the reasoning behind the way it was written and try to work out solutions that satisfy both the client’s needs, and their goals for search engine optimisation. Working through specific keywords and outlaying the hierarchy of importance of each one helps the client understand why the content was written the way it was, and such a discussion helps our specialist further understand the way clients want their copy written.

2. Use of the word ‘cheap’. Because the word ‘cheap’ is so commonly used in search terms, it can be greatly beneficial to target keywords with this term in it. However, this seemingly harmless five letter word can cause substantial woes for some of our clients. It is believed by some that the word ‘cheap’ has negative connotations attached to it, and can conjure thoughts of lesser quality products or services.

   How do we resolve this complaint? Depending on the client, using ‘cheap’ in the targeted keywords can be strongly advised, and our content specialists may be able to suggest more creative ways to still include it, without tainting the entire message of a website. More often than not, such a discussion is enough to show the importance of using ‘cheap’ in the copy, and both the specialist and client are usually able to find a middle ground that works for both the client’s preferences and the practicality of working to improve their traffic.

The post Common Complaints at roi.com.au about Website Content appeared first on Search Marketing.

This is a common roi.com.au complaint that we regularly hear from new customers starting out with brand new websites. Most of the time, there is a simple reason as to why business owners can’t see their site in the search results, and it’s not because their site sucks: Google has simply not indexed the site yet

Before you site has any chance of appearing in Google search, it must be crawled and stored in Googles index, which comprises of billions of different web pages. New sites take a while to get indexed by Google as the site is virtually non existent in Google’s eyes. Luckily there ares steps to take to increase your chances of being indexed in the shortest possible time frame.

Step one: Obviously ensure that your site is live and filled with content

Step two: Ensure that your site is actually crawlable – the robots.txt and/or noindex and no follow tags in your html source code can prevent this from happening

Step three: Install webmaster tools, submit a basic sitemap and submit your site through the “fetch” function, located in the “Health” sidebar menu.

Step four: Get some links to your new site! Social links work best, let everyone know in your social networks about your new business, i’m sure they would be interested to see!

Step five: Sit back and wait

Reading around, you will probably find lists of 10-20 steps you should take but in all honesty, it is massive overkill. Iv’e never had any issues with a site not being indexed within a week with all the above steps carried out.

To check if your site has been indexed yet you can use the “site:websiteurl.com.au” search operator in Google search. Keep in mind that once the site has been indexed, you still may not see your site when searching your brand.

If you have a site called www.buycomputersonline.biz, obviously your brand is a highly competitive keyword and that’s why it will be some time before it shows up. On the other hand, if you have a truly unique brand/ business name, it still may take a couple of weeks or so after being indexed before it starts to display in search results when searched for. This is simply because the site is in it’s extreme infancy stages, 99.9% of the time this is rectified within a week or so.

If you find that you are still having trouble getting your site indexed and you have taken the necessary steps, please do not hesitate to contact roi and we can help you out with it.

The post Why cant i see my site when i search for it? appeared first on Search Marketing.

The next large brand to be punished by Google is Sprint, the large U.S. wireless provider.
However, before you get all excited that Sprint.com will be banned from Google, think again. Similar to Mozilla and the BBC penalty, where only one specific page was penalised out of their billions of pages, it is likely that just the community discussion forum was hit and only very specific threads.

Google has yet to respond to Sprint about this penalty.
So what should Sprint do? They should probably hire an SEO company help out and to ‘NoFollow’ any links that were generated by non-official representatives.

The post Sprint Slapped by Google appeared first on Search Marketing.

You read correctly: Google’s chief web spam fighter Matt Cutts has been promising a new Penguin Update, named 2.0. In March earlier this year, Cutts explained that the next generation of Updates would get a big refresh.

In a recent Tweet, Matt Cutts said, “We do expect to roll out Penguin 2.0 (next generation of Penguin) sometime in the next few weeks though.”

However, what is perhaps confusing to many is why Cutts would refer to the new Update as “Penguin 2.0” when Penguin 3 already occurred in October 2012. To try to understand this further, this is how the Updates have gone so far:

• Penguin 1: April 24, 2012 (3.1% queries affected)
• Penguin 2: May 26, 2012 (less than 0.1%)
• Penguin 3: Oct. 5, 2012 (0.3%)

Therefore, it can only be assumed that the new Penguin Update will be number 4. However, Matt Cutts urges everyone to downgrade previous Penguin 2 and 3 to Penguin 1.1 and 1.2. The upcoming release will be the ‘true 2.0’ – and you best believe that it will be BIG.

The post Update to Google Penguin Just a Few Weeks Away appeared first on Search Marketing.

Whatever the reason – you’ve been feeling pretty restless at work; you’re looking for something to challenge you; your boss has a strictly no-dating policy in the workplace – the beginning of a new year is always enough cause for people to jump ship.

If you’re ready to move on from your current SEO position, then you need to know about the market. Search Engine Optimisation is still a relatively new industry, and is constantly changing, so the only way to stay ahead of the curve is to constantly keep in the loop. Below are some recommendations on how you can ace that dream job interview, following the ‘Ready, Set, Go’ approach.

Ready?

Read the criterion of the job description carefully and then identify what the employer is looking for. Only then, can you adapt your resume and cover letter to relate to what they want. If they’re looking for Rankings and Traffic professionals, or a Pay-Per-Click management and lead generator, or social media content aficionado, ensure your resume reflects that you have the knowledge and the experience in working with this.

Set?

Make sure your online resume looks professional too – anything that can be found online for your name should be presented honourably. Take a closer look at your Tweets, Facebook shares, or Google+ Profile and adjust accordingly. More and more organisations are using the WWW to find out more information about potential employees – don’t get overlooked because of your rant about the cast of Jersey Shore.

If you feel like you need to refresh your industry knowledge, visit this up-to-date SEO Acronyms and Abbreviations list: http://www.submitshop.com/seo-acronyms-and-abbreviations.

Go!

So you’re at the interview – naturally, you will talk about your SEO experience, so make sure that your portfolio looks diverse. Describe your smallest and biggest projects that you’ve undertaken. It’s always good to name-drop in an interview if you have worked on some well-known (and successful!) campaigns – remember, you’re selling yourself and your skills, so this is not the time to be humble. At the same time, describe your success and biggest difficulty (for example, duplicate content, losing rankings, problems you encountered during the Google Penguin update, etc.) but don’t forget to mention how you successfully tackled the situation.

Impress them even further by bringing your laptop or screenshots/reports from Google Analytics to demonstrate the changes you suggested for your clients – don’t forget to blur their names though! Something visual can be a lot more effective than a verbal presentation.

My Final Thought

At the end of the day, the way you present yourself during the interview can make or break whether you will land that dream job. However, you can definitely make the most of preparation and enter the interview with the confidence that you have the most up-to-date information regarding the SEO industry. Good luck!

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