March 15th 2012, it looks like once again Google has updated its ranking system as many websites are flying up and down in the rankings. This recent update looks like freshness had a lot to do with it. Reason being is because all the sites SeoHop works on that are new, like last 2 months new have jumped up several spots. In comparison, the sites that do not have new or have not had fresh content in over 2 months are suffering from this update.

With Google’s freshness factor playing such an important role in the updates it is extremely important to tell your clients to participate in the freshness factor. In addition, don’t just tell them to participate really get them involved. Tell them about info graphics and how sharing embeddable pictures can increase their sites traffic and rank.

Bottom line is, keep that site fresh with new content in the blog and updating the home page. Here is a little secret, twitter home page feed is the best freshness tool I have found as it takes minimum effort. Don’t tell to many people about it. It’s our little secret.

Other tools to keep pages fresh:
Comments
Comments feed
Rss feed
Facebook feed

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The image based social media website Pinterest is fast becoming a leader in the social media world. But statistics say men don’t get it as 58% of unique visitors are women. Below are Manswers to Pinterest, so men can understand the platform and sell retail products to thousands of people.

Men vs. Women

According to the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania, Men Buy, Women Shop. “Women are happy to meander through sprawling clothing and accessory collections or detour through the shoe department. They like to glide up glass escalators past a grand piano, or spray a perfume sample on themselves on their way to, maybe, making a purchase. For men, shopping is a mission. They are out to buy a targeted item and flee the store as quickly as possible, according to new Wharton research.” http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1848

Correlating this research to Pinterest, we can see how this affects the use of the site by women and men. Looking through the vast array of images on the home page women can be attracted to and shop through many different things all at the same time. For men this is a disaster because when men shop they are looking for specific items.

Manswers To Pinterest

When a link/picture is clicked upon it will take you to the pin/bookmark of the item where people can comment, like, etc. There is really no directive here as to what do next. As a man, I clicked the image again and it took me to the website where the pin/bookmark originated from and it was a blog with no where to buy. Man frustrated!

Manswer: Pinterest is a place for products not just one specific thing. In looking through the array of different products you may find something better. Start your search by putting the mouse over the Everything tab and a drop down with categories will be shown. Choose your category and you will find many different options based upon your interest.

I clicked on the Cars & Motorcycles category. Cool there’s some guy stuff on here. There is a picture of the new design of the Mercedes someone shared.

Manswer: Shiny I want to see more!

Some girl commented “wow” on the vehicle. Ok some more interest is coming along. I scroll down and another woman has made a category called Cars & Wishlist Vehicles! I’m definitely going to check this out. Oh yea jackpot tons of cool cars on here. I click on the image link and I am taken to a different website with the same picture and no info. Man frustrated again!

Manswer: When men click on pictures they either want to see more or get more info. Pinterest is not providing this so the linking website should. At this point I am fed up with shopping on here.

Manswers Directions Below : Use Pinterest To Your Advantage

Ok so maybe Pinterest isn’t for men, but that doesn’t mean you can’t market it for your clients. Just do a little research. The visitors here are mainly looking for every day home activities like parenting, hobbies, and home décor. Shown in the chart below from quantcast.

A free site that you can list your products on where women can shop all day and buy your stuff, for a retail business this is marketing gold. And for our male marketers out there we are going show you how to do this very simply. Please hold your applauds and hoorays you can thank me when your done reading.

Step 1: Building your profile
Request your invite, gain access, log in and create your profile. Make sure to fill out a bio appealing to women! Also add your social links so shoppers can follow you around the internet and see your other cool products.

Step 2: Getting noticed
Follow some influential people by going to the popular tab in the navigation. Click on a pin/bookmark, once it loads scroll down under the comments section it will say originally pinned by with a red follow button. Click on the red follow button to follow that person.

Step 3: Creating you first pin
Click Add+ in the top navigation, this will bring up three options. You can either submit a pin/bookmark by adding a pin with a url, upload one, or create a board.

Ok so for now click on add a pin then copy and paste the url you want to pin and click find images. This will be the image or video you choose to share, you can click next to scroll through the options and choose one. Once you choose your image write a description appealing to women. Hashtags do work on this site so hashtag your most important keyword. Then you must choose a category above the description. If none fit your product create one.

These categories are called boards and are very influential in bringing inbound traffic to your website so choose wisely! You can also share it on twitter and facebook for more exposure and crossing social media platforms. When done click pin it.

Now you have created you first pin. So what next? Share it everywhere using the tabs on the right or any other resources you have. If enough people like and comment on it, your pin will be visible on the main pages of the website and the traffic from there is endless.

Comments: Please use live comments at the bottom of this page.

Chad Levin is the owner at Seo Hop, a Philadelphia Seo company. After selling his top ranking online health insurance business, he has now become an influential leader for internet marketing in the Philadelphia area. Seo Philadelphia is a saturated market where only a few can stand out amongst the crowd. Seo Hop is standing out amongst the crowd by getting real results fast!

Local listings are one of the most important factors in driving traffic due to their high click thru rate at around 70%, if in the coveted number one position. Local listing click thru rates are higher then being number one without a local listing, which will get your business 56% percent of the traffic. Many of us have two websites or more than two, one for marketing and one for corporate. The corporate website would naturally have the corporation’s name in the domain. However, the marketing website will have a keyword rich domain amongst other marketed factors included in the site and really may have only a few recognitions of the corporation, maybe just a logo.

So when making local listings you want to have the marketed website listed at the top because this is your landing page, your pot of gold where you want to send traffic to and convert into sales. Yes you can make this happen. However, at some point your local listing may go to the corporate website. Here is an example below.

My client calls me this morning and says, “One of my schools is not getting as many leads as they have gotten in the past months of working with your company, what is going on.” I look for solution’s to her question and try to find the answer immediately, running through analytics and various other reports. What could it possibly be? Well I know all these schools have all ranked well in the local listings, so in checking the Google places account for the correct url  and title everything seems fine. BUT, when I went to search the local listing on Google, her brand page url came up from her corporate site instead of her marketing site along with the incorrect title.

WHAT! How could this have happened. I did not acknowledge any changes to this local listing places account.

Well guess who did make the changes. GOOGLE did. I called the school that was having issues and they didn’t make any changes. The only two people that could have made changes is I or them. So in the argument does Google favor brands? I say yes as far as aspects in local listings.

But lets take this a step further. Ok so the client has 26 schools, 11 of which participate with the local listings and the other 15 have yet to be verified because only g-d knows why. Maybe they should get off their butt and reap the free benefits. Anyway, only 4 of the 11 schools that participate had changed url’s to the corporate site instead of the marketed site. Even with updating them in Google places, the url will will not change. Also with establishing other local listing groundings like adding to super pages, insider pages etc the listing still won‘t change…. Here is the truth..Google favors brands in local listings.

At some point I feel that the local listing will switch back to the marketed website with many more influencers. My worry is when, because of course I want to fix this now. As seo’s we know things take time and as Google runs through its algorithm and local listings updates announced last week, we will see the true outcome in a month or two.

Please comment below in the live comments at the bottom of the website.

Google Plus is fast becoming a necessity for any site that wants to rank high in the search engines. This implementation has been forced onto society by the integration of this social media platform into the Google search results. Therefore, website owners and search marketing companies alike must learn how to adapt and take hold of this social tool and use it to their best advantages. First things first, as with any search marketing, a great profile must be setup to coincide with your inbound marketing strategies.

Here is a checklist of making a great Google Plus profile: Included in this checklist are ways to optimize your profile for best results.

Basics: Getting Started  (Optimization Tips Are In Bold Starting at Step 5 )

1. Sign in to Google. Once signed in you will see a +You at the top left hand corner of your browser. Click on this +You link and it will take you to your Google Plus page.

2. Next you will be asked to enter your first name, last name, & gender. At this point you will either put your name, your business name, or brand. Then click upgrade.

3. You will then be asked to connect to your email to find people that you can connect with. You can either choose to do this or click skip. After this you will be taken to a suggestion of connections page. To the right of the suggestions there is a button that says ADD. Add all of them as you will be able to remove them later if you would like. But for now these connections will lead you to other people that could be of value down the road. Then click continue.

4. Next you will be asked for personal information and a picture. I would suggest at least adding a picture as having a picture always entices people to connect with you more so than not having one. Then click finish. Now you will be taken to the home page of Google plus which has a basic structure like Facebook with streaming content in the middle and an update your status section at the top of the page.

Editing & Optimizing Your Google Plus Profile

5. Click on the icon in the top left that has your picture and name. You will be asked some profile info. Make a great tagline just like you would make the description tag in your website. Therefore, people will convert and look at your Google plus profile. To fill out the rest is optional and can be done at a later date. When done click continue to my profile. Now click edit my profile in the top right and we are ready to really get things rolling.

Optimization Tip #1:  In your introduction you can add a link to your profile with any anchor text you would like it to say. This will be a valuable backlink to your website.

6.  Now you will be able to click on any part of your profile and edit. Add an awesome introduction and then some great bragging rights in the section below. Make sure to put your occupation so people know what you do. Definitely fill in how people can contact you below the map at home or work.

Optimization Tip #2:  Be sure your profile is visible in search it will say “Profile visible in search” in the last row of these sections.

7. Move over to the middle right of your screen and click where it says other profiles. This will bring up a box that allows you to add personalized links and connect other accounts with your Google Plus account. Click on add custom link. Add a link to your website and name it whatever you would like. Then click save.  Next click managed connected accounts. This will bring you to a new page and then click connect an account. A list will come up and you will have to add every account one by one. Add as many as possible. This will allow people to find you on all of the social networks that you use that are included in the list. To add an account put in your display name or account profile link/url then click add. When you have added all accounts click the box in the middle that says Show on my public Google Profile. Then reload the page to make sure it saved and then exit the page. Then click save in the other profiles open box when you return to your profile page. This part is a little fussy so when you are done editing your entire profile if it still does not show up in the right hand column under other profiles just follow step 7 again.

Optimization Tip #3:  The custom link allows you to the name the link whatever you would like as anchor text. This is a great back link to your website.

Optimization Tip #4:  The managed connection accounts allows you to link to your other social profiles so people can follow you all over the internet and link to your content. Also by linking to your social media page you now have cast an authoritative vote for your personal profile page on that specific site and added link juice.

8. Now we can move on to the photos tab. Please include any photos you would like here and the same for the videos tab. Try to include at least one photo in the photos tab. It will only make your profile more interesting.

9. Click on the tab that says +1 if a box appears that says Show this tab on your profile, click to check it and click save. The click on done editing.

Optimization Tip #5:  By sharing your +1’s publicly your content will be shared with an unlimited amount of people who will also share your content with others.

Sharing & Optimizing Your Content

10. Now the fun part begins. At the top of the page there is a navigation bar for Google Plus in between the site logo and search box. I want you to click the little house icon in the far left. This takes you to the “stream.” Once here click on share what’s new and now you can edit this portion. I want you to write in the keywords you want people to find you for and put the url of your website in this box. Also put hash tags next to the most important words. For example, I would put ( Best #Philadelphia #Seo firm writes about #Google Plus http://philadelphiaseohop.com/googleplusoptimization/ ). Before clicking share you must add the people you want to share it with by clicking on Add circles or people to share with. I would share with everyone being that you are new and testing the waters so click on public. Once you choose who to share with, click share.

Optimization Tip #6:  By adding your url in this share box you have created a valuable backlink to your website.

Optimization Tip #7:  By adding hash tags, anyone who chooses to search this topic in Google Plus will be able to see that you posted information on this specific topic.

Optimization Tip #8:  Once your share is posted click the +1 next to it. This will cast a vote for this share and also be noticed more in the stream. When more people +1 or vote on it, the share will be pushed higher in the stream results and could possibly be shared on Google’s search results page.

11. Go to Google search page and do a search for your brand name. Put your mouse next to the url in the search results and there will be a transparent +1 logo, click it. Once clicked the transparent +1 logo will turn dark blue. You have just +1’d and shared your first piece of content on Google Plus.

Optimization Tip #9:  Sharing this +1 will place it into the Google Plus stream for everyone to see. It also casts a positive vote for your website.

12. Now you can plus one anything you would like to recommend on your Google Plus profile.

Optimization Tip #10: Go plus one all your social profile links you can find in the Google search so people can connect with you outside of Google Plus.

Optimization Tip #11: Don’t forget to Plus One your blog posts and share them in your stream. People will find them valuable and share them with others.

Optimization Tip #12: You can also plus one your Google Adwords Pay Per Click ads for maximum exposure.

Add Seo Hop to your Google Plus One Circles by clicking here

Many companies are using ServiceMagic as a lead generation source for their business. However, they are finding that this may not be the best source available for quality leads that pertain to their line of work.

Seo Hop has talked to over 500 clients of ServiceMagic and we find that only 4 out of 500 people are highly satisfied with the leads that ServiceMagic has to offer. There are multiple reasons why the business’ are unhappy. But the most commonly found reasons are:

-Shared Leads – leads are sold to multiple companies and this makes it harder for the company to obtain the client or even get in front of the client to offer their services.

-Inconsistent Leads – bad phone numbers and addresses are a concern of many of the lead buyers Seo Hop spoke with

-Promoting Service Magic Phone Number – a separate phone number is assigned to your business when a business signs up with ServiceMagic. Therefore, they are now promoting this separate phone number instead of your business phone number.

-Cancellation & Assigned Phone Number – when you cancel service this assigned number will still be promoted for your business. In this case if people call the assigned number it goes to ServiceMagic and they could be stealing potential clients.

-Business Hard To Find – being that this assigned phone number is being promoted on multiple websites it makes your personal business website and phone number extremely hard to find.

-Rising Costs – the rising costs for using ServiceMagic as a lead source is now ranging about $50 per lead in many industries.

Seo Hop search engine optimization can provide a way for your business to get highly targeted qualified leads directly to your business website. Interested people will either call you directly via the phone number on your website or fill out a contact form on your site and the information will go directly to your email instantaneously.

These are hot leads looking specifically for your service. They will find your business by typing in a search term on the internet and your business website will be first in line to answer their questions or make an appointment. These leads are

-Exclusive Leads for your business only

-Highly Qualified Leads as they are specifically searching for your services on the internet

-Calling Your Business Phone Number and not some other number. Seo Hop will promote your business number not some other number that is assigned to you. Therefore if you cancel, your business phone number will be promoted and easy to find.

-You Business Phone Number will be easy to find and this will result in more calls which, will equal more sales.

- Cancellation – once again even if you cancel with Seo Hop your personal business phone number will still be placed all over the internet for people to find. Seo Hop will not assign a different number and steal potential clients from your business like ServiceMagic could.

-Increase Visibility – Seo Hop wants to increase visibility for your business on the internet so people searching for your products or services can find you easily and can become clients. You will profit and make more sales from our services.

-Shoppers will be searching for major keywords relating to your business. Seo Hop will connect you with these shoppers so you can make the sale.

-Local Marketing Online will make your business known in your city. Branding is an important factor in any business and it starts on the local level.

-Low Monthly Cost – cost of services at Seo Hop will never increase. Monthly packages are based upon how many keyword phrases you want your business to show up for number 1 in the search engines.

-Unlimited Leads – there is no cap on the amount of leads your business can receive. Hundreds of people are searching everyday for your services

It is a great choice to start promoting your own website and phone number rather than somebody else’s. Yes your business can rank higher than ServiceMagic on the internet in the search engines and your business can get the leads before they do. In the end your business must rank above ServiceMagic to get the leads they do. This can only be done through search engine optimization. Seo Hop specializes in search engine optimization for your business. Hop on Top of Google with Seo Hop search engine optimization services.

Local search is a hot commodity in today’s market and it can bring your business hundreds if not thousands of new sales each day. This is prime real estate in the search engine result listings. A local listing shows up at the top of the search results in the organic list of results with other sites, videos, etc.

But local search is different in that it is geo-targeted. If someone is searching in Philadelphia for example, only businesses with an address in Philadelphia will show up in the local results. Even better, these local listings are only a few minutes away from where the shopper is searching. This allows quick and easy access to the business via a local search result.

Cellular phones and tablets are an important target with over 40% of people now searching using these devices. These searches are done in ten seconds or less. So not only is it important to be in the local results, but it is also important to be at the top of the local results. So now the question is well how do I do that?

Below is a list of local sites (that will be constantly updated so follow us on twitter or like us on facebook) that provide a link back to your website increasing its authority and rank within the local results.

Google Places – This local listing will show in Google’s natural results at the top of the search results. You must make an account and then confirm your pin by receiving a post card in the mail. The hassle and waiting is worth it when you see how many new visitors your website will receive once this listing is posted and optimized by a company like Seo Hop.

Yahoo Local – Yahoo local is a great tool in the fact that not only does it give you a local listing in yahoo but you can also customize the search. So once the listing is published you can extend the search area via the search results so people at a further distance can find you. In other words increasing your target area with a simple click.

Insider Pages – This site is great for increasing authority with a local search listing. In fact sometimes this site is used as THE authority by being linked to the local result listing.

Manta – This is a site where you can tell people about your business from a senior level. It is very highly ranked in the search engines because it is a recognized authority amongst other sites.

Merchant Circle – Merchant Circle is a site strictly built upon the theme of doing business in your neighborhood. Not only will you get one link back to your website, but you can have multiple links by using the blog within the profile.

Topix – Being more of a news site, this is a great place to advertise and get links from. However, it should be posted in the classifieds section. On the bright side, it will be promoted all over the site free of charge.

2findlocal – Great site for local results and increasing local result listings in the search engines. The categories really help the person searching for your service. Make sure to pick the correct categories.

Tupalo – Going mobile? Well this site already has. So download the app and start using their free services. You can also review the business to help other shoppers.

LinkedIn – Linked in is a business networking website that allows you to make an extensive profile of your qualities to share with profile viewers. Don’t forget to add your link in the profile.

Yelp – Yelp will give a link back and also allow visitors to rate and review your business.

HopStop – Not only will HopStop give you a link back to your website the site will also give directions to your business.

HotFrog – The local listing on this directory website closely resemble the Google Places listings and includes a map.

NearStop – NearStop offer extensive listing services. These services can also be shared by email or text via the website.

STAY TUNED to Seo Hop for more local websites that will help your business grow, create more traffic, and increase sales. Follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook

Feel free to repost to your site using the following below
Author Resource Seo Hop http://philadelphiaseohop.com/

In the wave of social media, social signals for seo are teaching search engines about websites and ranking them accordingly. The overall essence of seo is to teach Google, bing, and yahoo as much about a website as possible. The more the search engine giants know about the site the better it will rank. With Google’s new updates known as panda and algorithm updates, social signals are influencing the search results in a major way.

By using hash tags on social tools like twitter you can create your own trend. This trend can be picked up by other people or used by you, the publisher. Either way by creating this new trend you are also creating a new search term within twitter. If the term or trend becomes popular enough, Google will realize it as a social signal and your website can rank higher because of these actions. Other actions happen as well such as retweets and sharing of all kinds, but the major idea here is to not only be resourceful but engaging with your social messages.

Tip: The hash tags have words connected to them and these words should be connected to your niche. A hash tag I mostly use is #SeoHop

Facebook is extremely influential when it comes to social signals and can also help with ranking in the search engines. The influential factors are much different from twitter. The first step for any business doing seo or social media is to build a Facebook business page a.k.a a fan page. The pages are important for many reasons. Not only do they rank very will in the search engines but people can engage and tell a story or “like” the page. When the likes come in on a regular basis it shows positive results with the website and that people like it. However, the real boost comes when you post a link and a story about your site on Facebook. Now you are sharing with all of your friends, their friends, and the search engines. If you post a message about your site a few times a week on Facebook this will ignite another social signal that your site is now trending in two places Facebook and Twitter.

Tip: Don’t always use links. Use pictures and videos as well to engage your audience.

Free tools are available online where you can update all of your social media profiles with one click. These tools are great for creating trends or just keeping up with your social profiles. Some tools include a way to update your blog as well as your social profiles.

All web traffic is good but only a certain percentage buy. So how do you get the people that don’t buy to buy? Try these 3 strategies.

Strategy #1
A lot of shoppers are gathering information and doing research to find the best price or product. Even though they may not buy now, this does not mean they won’t buy in the future. Ask them to join a mailing list with a pop up box before they leave or have a join our mailing list section on the site in a visible place. The newsletter can inform them of product reviews, special pricing, or new products that will be on the site soon. This will encourage the shopper to come back and possibly make a purchase. Once they realize the potential of your site they will become a recurring customer and tell others about your site.

Strategy #2
Shoppers want as much information as possible before a purchase. Add a comments, reviews, and ratings section to each product. This will allow current customers to inform visitors of how great the product is and how much it helped them. This information is sure to keep the client on the site and make an informed purchase.

Strategy #3
Some shoppers need an incentive to buy. Offer a free product. Everyone loves free! Since it is the holiday season a free product is useful to everyone. It can be something small like a stuffed animal for the kids or a holiday card. Either way any gift is useful for the holidays. So entice your shoppers with free gifts and watch their purchase prices rise along with profits.

If you would like a strategical action plan for your website please contact Philadelphia SEO HOP by filling out the form at the right of this page or call (267) 980-5309.

1. How is the company handling new Google updates.

Google made 13,311 precision evaluations to see whether proposed algorithm changes improved the quality of its search results last year according to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights September 21, 2011.

2. Make sure the SEO company does not outsource services.

Part of SEO is building links to clients’ websites and one bad link can ruin a whole campaign, including search engine rankings. If the company chosen is outsourcing their work, there is no control as to which websites these links are placed on. With no control, these actions could potentially damage the campaign.

3. Will the company acquire competitors links?

There is no better place to start than with the competition. Acquiring the competition’s links in addition to new link building for a website will allow the site to reach the top of the search engines fast.

4. National & Local optimization included?

Google has integrated local search results along with organic national search results on first page listings. A website can now have multiple listings at the top of page one on Google. Optimizing for local as well as national can only benefit a website by bringing more traffic from local and national sources.

5. No trial period. No time frame. No deal!

Any seo expert that can actually get results will give an expected time frame for results and be willing to give a trial period for the client without a contract. At Philadelphia SEO HOP a 3 month trial period is given in which the seo company will obtain first page rankings on Google or very close to the first page.