According to Hitwise on March 15, 2010

Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 and surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week. Facebook.com recently reached the #1 ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. The market share of visits to Facebook.com increased 185% last week as compared to the same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased 9% during the same time frame. Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14% of all US Internet visits last week.

Subscribe in a reader

Top 50 Properties

Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in October with 164 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 158 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 133 million visitors.  Facebook.com held its #5 ranking with 97 million visitors, while Amazon Sites and Wikimedia Foundation Sites both jumped in the rankings, grabbing the #8 and #9 positions, respectively.

comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)

October 2009

Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations

Unique Visitors (000)

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Top 50 U.S. Web Properties (U.S.) for October 2009

Keyword Competition

Search engines provide a gateway to a user market and rank highest in search.  The next step is researching keyword phrases and utilizing them in website URLs, copy, Meta tags, and when marketing a website.  Keywords, or even better keyword phrases , provide and opportunity to create online visiblity.  With a goal to reach top search engine results pages, organic SEO by utilizing online channels is the course of action to take.  Website optimization on all website pages is pivotal for unique content for sought after keyword phrases, which corresponds to marketing a website online and competition in search engines for desired keyword phrases . 

Keyword Phrases & Keyword Competition

The type of keyword phrases is based on the website and website pages.  Content, with the help of Meta tags, reflects to search engine crawlers what the website page is all about.  Keyword competition is the basis for the approximate amount of time and persistency that would need to be dedicated within organic SEO.  Pay per click (PPC) is an opportune method to utilize when keywords, for instance, are not appearing on top search engine results pages or when promoting specials or events in the very near future whereby organic SEO practices could not provide a type of online visibility quick enough.  PPC could also be an SEO strategy to gain more real estate when current natural visibility is already present.

Keyword Selection

Below is an example of keywords when seeking information on search engine optimization (SEO).  The same exercise can be done for your industry segment.  This example provides the number of search engine results pages on Google from the keyword selections.  The list of smaller keywords could continue on in a longer example.  An important aspect to note is the the smaller keywords when combined together add up to significant numbers.  The higher number of search engine results pages the more competitive landscape when top keyword search engine placement is desired. 

Subscribe in a reader

Website pages are a feeder for search engines for specific information which in turn can attract website views.  You simply can’t be found by users if you are not found by search engines.  Website pages are a gateway to an audience and SEO optimization.  Website promotion then becomes the next course of action after copy has been optimized along with anchor links and Meta tags. 

Setting up additional web pages is a first step.   Going a little further than quantity is the next step.  Websites receiving significant traffic can augment their earning potential by adding additional products.   Companies that have acquired consistent leads through email marketing can promote new website offerings.  Vertical market from existing product and service lines can attract new visitors or add value to repeat visitors. 

You can look at resources when seeking quantity in terms of website pages.  This is one reason why websites provide information such as a directory to find a website designer.  A link for that particular listing is an opportunity for the website to receive traffic.  What does that traffic mean for the website? 

• Online branding purposes
• Web positioning as a reliable source of information
• Similar content provided for keyword optimization
• Multiple entries to increase length of the visit stay
• Encourage participation and interest
• Prompt a sponsored interest
• Turn traffic to create conversions

Imagine if this website had 5,000 listings.   Larger websites provide something to consider when planning for search engine marketing.   From keyword research to search engine placement, online marketing opportunities exist.  

Look at Website Conversions   

If a website page is converting and creating ROI or inquiries, question answered and do more of what you are doing to maximize revenue, or potential revenue for service sites relying on inquiries.  What if a website has a hot product that is not selling?  A few questions come into play including:

• Is the website page being found?  If not, why not?
• Is the website page relevant?  Is it optimized?
• Is the product being marketed online?  How?  What are the results?
• What keywords or keyword phrases driving traffic?
• What is causing conversions to take place?

In this example, the website page could be improved, tested, and/or removed.  If conversions are not taking place for a hot product, testing and retesting keywords or keyword phrases would be a key consideration.  For service related websites, a request for proposal (RFP) would be the denominator of users locating and following through by contacting the business in a provided online request.  The basis for blog websites could be RSS feed subscriptions and tracking success of sponsors.  All in all, websites are to motivate and prompt some sort of user action.  A call to action, in some cases, with the use of images can resemble what the call to action is suppose to be.

• Order Now
• Promotion Ends (on this date)
• Special Offering
• Book Now
• Free Shipping
• New Offer Today

Website pages are the driver to reach users based on specific content provided with keywords and keyword phrases.  More website pages increase links that a website can be found and can helps users reach their destination.  Naturally, the quality of website pages are not all treated equally and some form of search engine optimization whether link building for natural position of pay per click (PPC) will provide a benefit by way of quality traffic.  Headers and bold text is another strategy to guide users and search engines. 

Search Analytics!

Search analytics tools help assist in determining key areas that contribute to conversions.  Where are using coming from?  What website pages are being viewed?  What keywords are driving traffic? 

Is your website converting?  This will help in knowing how often website content should be updated and website promotion methods required.

Got New Website Resources

New information on websites is an area to impact traffic to specific information, but it appeals to search engines and also applies to search engine marketing to influence new and repeat visitors, buying encounters, email harvesting, and website referrals.  The success of a website is co-dependent on inside pages and navigation for users and search engines.  Website pages in various forms (i.e., articles, press releases, blog entries) can lead users to other valuable product, service, or requests for proposals (RFPs) provided on the hosted website.

Local Optimization

If local services are being supplied such as carpet cleaning, including content and keyword phrases for city and state would apply to local search optimization.  Local maps provided in search engines can improve visibility and reviews can help lookers become customers based on third party influence.  Monitoring your website reviews and participating is another method to communicate with prospective buyers.

Limited Service & Product Websites

For websites focused solely on a few products, the concentration and complexity becomes more selective in keyword promotion versus a mega site.  Traction for optimizing a more selective group of keywords becomes more attractive in some ways, but is dependent on the market – the quantity of search engine results pages for the keyword or keyword phrase.  

Subscribe in a reader

CynergyLink’s top list of websites to submit a press release.  Free and paid press release websites are sorted by PageRank (PR).  Websites offering both free and paid press release services are included with an asterisk.

Subscribe in a reader

One of the most interesting things going on today on the Internet is the notion of the real time web. The idea of accessing data in real time has been an elusive goal in the world of search. Web indexes in search engines update at pretty amazing rates, given what it takes to crawl the entire web and index it for searching, but getting that to “real time” has been challenging.

We’re glad you asked that. Because today at Web 2.0 we announced that working with those clever birds over at Twitter, we now have access to the entire public Twitter feed and have a beta of Bing Twitter search for you to play with (in the US, for now). Try it out. The Bing and Twitter teams want to know what you think.

The explosive popularity of Twitter is the best example of this opportunity. Twitter is producing millions of tweets every minute on every subject you can imagine. The power of those tweets as a form of data that can be surfaced in search is enormous. Innovative services like Twitter give us access to public opinion and thoughts in a way that has not before been possible. From important social and political issues to keeping friends up to date on the minute-by-minute of our daily lives, the web is getting more and more real time.

Search needs to keep up. Shortly after we launched Bing, we did an experiment with the team at Twitter, where we took a fairly small number of “celebrities” from Twitter and provided access to their tweets as part of the search result. Here is a great example.

But what if we take that to the next level? What if we indexed basically the whole public Twitter stream and made it available to customers?

More on Bing and Twitter

Subscribe in a reader

Page Rank Checker is a reliable source to determine current ranking status.  Measuring where you stand at various levels will assist to realign SEO goals as future SEO campaigns are initiated.  CynergyLink’s News link can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ykobwqz for the initial website press release. One site revision was completed allocating 12 hours one month from site release to optimize and further align the site with search engines.  Below we are going to take a look at areas from an Internet marketing promotion perspective to outline this initiative. 

SEO Strategy Plan

Blending an Internet marketing approach appeals to search engines and reaching users in various Internet hubs from a link building or blogging approach.  Researching keywords or keyword phrases prior to implementing the SEO plan is useful in creating website copy content and as it pertains to relevance with search engine marketing.  Additionally, these keyword phrases researched are utilized in natural search marketing practices.  The purpose is to view information the way search engines see it.  The SEO plan for CynergyLink consisted of SEO optimization techniques from the basis of quantity and quality of which we incorporate a delay time to SERP.  Online marketing is as much about being found as it pertains to a quality respective to your industry niche.

Time Consumption

A time calculator or estimating the duration of time to reach an SEO goal is a necessity.  300 hours were dedicated to search engine optimization on the site, and through quality marketable resources.  Hours allocated to planning the SEO optimization process are included in this number.  SEO experts for website rankings and achieving top placed keywords or keywords phrases will sometimes have a proprietary database of selected target markets and locations which is updated frequently to reduce time in the SEO planning process.  Regardless, SEO is a must to attract visitors and quality visitor traffic intended for the website resource.  The amount of time allocated is a direct reflection of what will be achieved. 

Summary

Website ranking is based on the position of a specfic keyword in search engine results.  Ranking of inside pages is just as important.  Viewing inside pages as if they are the home page is a good SEO perspective to follow.  Adopt more SEO strategies to reach this view point, if at question, with the website page(s).  Contact forms and shopping carts typically reside in internal pages which are optimal for directing traffic and reducing click through rates (CTR).  A blog is a vital part of delivering information and building loyalty and trust.  New information and updated information, whether website or blog related, is a core component to search engines.  If you don’t have a blog, research advantages of having one.  As with any SEO practice, time will be involved. 

Google PageRank (PR) is a factor of competition as you seek to further increase future PR status.  Expect more competitiveness to exist the higher the PR goal.   Being active on the Internet to identify new resources and outlets while maintaining quality SEO practices assists to measure success from SEO campaigns.

Articles for search engine optimization to view:

• Link Building Article:  http://tinyurl.com/yflj6sa
• Social Media Marketing Article:  http://tinyurl.com/yl5g6kv
• SEO Tips Article:  http://tinyurl.com/yz5a69j

Subscribe in a reader

For starting an online business, launching a website is most likely already part of the plan.  The website offers ability to display a unique look and feel with quality information and functionality to capture visitors once they arrive.  Each page of the website is a marketing tool for visitors, search engines, and providing an overall quality resource.  The website provides a foundation for online market campaigns to come. 

The quantity of pages in the website will represent the number of resources, products, and services available.  From an Internet marketing perspective, the number of online web pages represent more places where users can arrive on the website.  Traffic can be marketed to the associated pages to drive results whether through organic SEO or pay per click (PPC) sponsored advertisements.  Measuring traffic analytics will help webmasters determine areas related to performance of the website in its entirety.  Pages that are not performing will be looked at by webmasters to restructure, add, or remove content. 

Dynamic ability to update website pages allows site owners or webmasters to quickly adopt new information.  Beyond new information providing relevance to search engines, it keeps the website fresh and up to date.  For the design or redesign of a website, it is important to base content on Meta Tags.  A 3% – 5% keyword density ratio is a good rule to follow.  Testing website pages is always recommended to determine keyword density and other aspects related to the website and SEO strategies.  Website pages are best utilized when they accurately describe what the page is about to search engines and users.  Search engines determine rankings and relevance from a balance in content to Meta Tags, link popularity, and related traffic.

Preparing and planning to create a web presence or redesign assists to make the process more organized, timely, and cost effective.  The success of the online business is dependent on the quality of the website.  The complexity and functionality of the website work will ultimately determine the amount of time needed to complete the project along with the cost associated. 

Website optimization in creating the website can take place by the website owner and/or the website designer.  If the plans are to be less involved, it would be best to hire a more experienced web designer.  The amount of work required by the website designer will reflect in price.  Creating website optimization of content on all web pages is an example.  Some involvement is need by the website owner regardless, so learning and becoming partially familiar with SEO related aspects will help with knowledge and practices to be used during and after website completion. 

Website Points

1. Visit websites to get ideas for what is liked or disliked from color schemes, layout, functionality, etc.
2. Determine the number of website pages and content to be included.
3. Decide on where the website will be hosted.
4. Set up emails to direct interest based on the inquiry and associated with company departments.
5. Obtain merchant account for customer payment transfers via shopping cart when e-Commerce.
6. Provide Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to provide security and customer assurance over the Internet.
7. Direct users from point A-B for click-through-rates (CTR) to optimize user and website benefits.
8. Apply, purchase, or implement images, photos, and icons along with logo creation and trademarks for professional appeal.

Asking questions is important for the website owner in selecting a website design company.  Technical expertise and the type of website design experience can vary and determine the level of competency for the project.  Sizing up multiple website design firms will help determine the best designer along with knowing what you are seeking to achieve. 

Website Designers

• Do they have more than five years of technical web design experience?
• Do they have web graphic design experience?
• Are they actually web designers (not a third party reseller)?
• Do they have Fortune 500 clients?
• Is website design their core competency?
• What other services are provided?
• Do they provide affiliate or implementation for website monetization?
• Do they offer customer support free, paid, or both?
• What is the number of website draft revisions provided?

If you forget something up front, it is likely to cost extra later because time is money.  The cost is primarily dependent on complexity and functionality with a basis of time to implement.  Qualifying prospective web design companies will allow a comparison of the questions above.  The end result is dependent on qualification and comparisons done up front.  The supplied consultation and proposals will include insight about their work and capability.

Web Content

1. Look and feel is a unique identifier for user preferences and online branding.  Functionality and the website layout become important for ease of use. 
2. Bright colors capture attention and are utilized to direct users through a web page such as red, orange, and green.  Use in areas related to titles, categories, and hyperlinks, and other hot points.
3. Webinars are effective in providing individual or group setting mettings.
4. Polls provide a resource of opinion based on user preference from a question with a select few options of choice.  Supporting web content and information related to online polls become a marketing opportunity.
5. Video is an online sales or marketing demonstration of what, when, why, and/or where?  Videos can also be promoted online to encourage participation and referrals to the website. 
6.  Monetized web pages supply resources to the content on the web page.  An additional revenue base can be achieved from prospective advertisement interest.
7. Email subscriptions and RSS feeds allow website owners to convey a message or information.

SEO Strategies

Website optimization lives in various aspects of website design.  Search engine optimization techniques applied during and after will determine the quality of the website to search engines and in turn users.  The importance determined by search engines provides a basis on keyword or keyword phrases as an indicator to the amount of traffic and quality of traffic.  Pay-per-click sponsored advertisements are a buy-in to bringing visitors to the website immediately.  Tackling natural search through SEO link building campaigns provides the highest degree of online reputation based on third party assessment (search engines).

Subscribe in a reader

The two most important aspects of link building is to be active and knowledgeable.  The results will be quicker and stronger based on the amount of time allocated and knowledge of SEO practices.  Prior to campaigning for links, a plan should accommodate the actions that will be taken.    

• Determine the competition and competitive nature of keywords or keyword phrases.
• Write a sample list of titles, descriptions, and profiles for the campaign.
• Determine primary and secondary keywords for the industry segment.
• Review the website and traffic analytics for strengths and weaknesses.
• Locate web resources and where your link building campaign will start and monitor progress.
• Add bookmarking references to align the website or blog with desired user social sites.
• Update web content, not only for search engines, but to improve the user experience, conversions, and link building effort.

The bulleted list provides a sample blended approach of sources to build links.  Utilizing multiple site sources will not only attract different types of users, but appeal to search engines. 

• Articles
• Press Releases
• Paid Directories
• Bidding Directories
• Free Directories
• Social Sites
• Bookmarking Sites
• Blog Directories
• Micro-Blogging Sites
• RSS Feed Directories
• Sites with Story Links
• Review Sites
• Photo Sharing Sites
• Video Portals

The acceptance of a website or blog will be based on the fit determined by editors from the requesting web resource amongst other areas.  As an example, free and paid directories will supply rules for acceptance along with quality contributors of the web resource.  Once the link is reviewed and accepted it will go live and indexed by search engines.  Higher quality referral sites are indexed in sequence based on importance by search engines in your URL results.   

 5 Link Submission Tips

• Vary content for titles, descriptions, and other text related areas where you are seeking to receive a link.
• Utilize paid submissions as these investments are noticed by search engines.
• Create a blog to attract a fan base and build loyalty and trust.
• Submit company news through press channels once a week or twice monthly.
• Create online resources to increase visitor length of stay, referrals, and backlinks.

Allowing ratings, reviews, and comments when permitted is highly recognizable by search engines.  It also encourages the author to write quality information on the subject matter reflecting on the website or blog and products or services being marketed.

Subscribe in a reader

With good reason to do so, there are various social communities to get participate.  This reasoning is partially based on a campaign which we accounted for a 41% position increase over all websites on the Internet in a relatively short amount of time.  Beyond building relevance in search engines, opportunity can be awarded from the loyalty of information and resources provided through expanding an online marketing presence. 

Why Social Media Marketing?

Loyalty to social sites is a trait from the experience a user has that comes from provided features, functionality, and usability that keeps the user coming back.  Users are likely to come back to their social site or social sites of choice, and with friends, dependent on the experience and impression it leaves with them from sign up to set up through profile completion.  A complete profile can provide much benefit and travel to places you never could have achieved on your own just by being social.

Participating in Social Sites

Utilizing multiple social sites assists in reaching target markets based on where users decide to spend their time.  People participate in different social sites for different reasons.  Some social site resources are provided to find web information based on recommendation from user bookmarks.  Other social communities will include story submission links based on quality article submission.  Lastly, referral basis communities help users network in the same or in similar related industries.  The scope of features offered in social communites and are designed to attract users based on the provided social platform.  Viewing profiles or signing up will assist to determine if the social community is right for you based on what you wish to provide.   

The theme of the social site can also tell you a lot about the crowd it draws.  The options provided on the social site, whether minimal or extensive, can help you understand the extent of user participation and the type of participation.  User profiles with higher amounts of content and content type will supply further insight in terms of how involved they are or will be in the future.  Social sites have empowered sharing of resources, which in turn, is a great way to gain knowledge, but also market quite well.

Become Familiar with the Social Site

The benefits are learned from creating a profile, learning how it works, and participating.  Some patience may be required if you are campaigning in multiple social sites.  Plime is a great example.  You get more out of it based on what you put in.

Create a Full Profile

Allow people to get to know you and your resource regardless of what it is.  The more information you share offers an increase for community involvement, referrals, and visits to your web based resource.  It never hurts to make a recommendation or review.

Trusted Source

The more visits you receive is based on quality and relevant information you provide along with associated resources.  Loyalty creates trust to your web resource whether product, service, or blog related.  Social sites that permit RSS feeds from a blog are great for this as an example.  It also encourages the user, writer, or blogger to continue feeding quality resources. 

Start or Join a Group

Groups are communities created within social sites that allow others to join and share knowledge and experiences.  Expert knowledge will build trust as you increase your fan base.  If you don’t want to start a group, you can always join one.

Getting Socially Saucy

Social media marketing is one aspect of building an online presence.  Participating and sharing is the contributing factor to success in social sites.  Be active to reach the reward from word of mouth referrals and extensions of your web resource to user networks.  Look at your profile from how others will see it.  If you like what you see, they probably will.  If you do not, simply make the necessary adjustments or additions.  Write well, be descriptive, and have fun while doing so.

Subscribe in a reader

We reviewed the article and the list of search engine sites provided at the bottom of the article.  For the purpose of research and locating places for link building, we came across sites we use like Spurl.net, which is an online bookmarking service and search engine.  There are other referenced sites to pick up high quality links such as del.icio.us (searching for the freshest bookmarks) and digg (news, videos, and images).  Here’s a clip of what he had to say: 

Ask anyone which search engine they use to find information on the Internet and they will almost certainly reply: “Google.” Look a little further, and market research shows that people actually use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). But in my travels as a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), I have discovered that in that .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines you have never seen. So many, in fact, that I have had to limit my list of the very best ones to a mere 100.

But it’s not just the sheer number of them that makes them worthy of attention; each one of these search engines has that standard “About Us” link at the bottom of the homepage. I call it the “why we’re better than Google” page. And after reading dozens and dozens of these pages, I have come to the conclusion that, taken as a whole, they are right!

More from The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines

Subscribe in a reader