On Page SEO - Links Optimization

I was recently asked about internal and external links with regards to on site search optimization.
It is no secret, anyone who has ever read a bit about SEO knows that links are an important factor in optimizing your website for search.

There are two types of links: internal and external.

Internal links link between pages in your website
External links link to and from your website to other sites.

But what to do? 
First things first – you need to understand that the best way to create a link network is to systematically create links over time. So yes, you need to be committed to this process. The good news is that you can control quite a large portion of your link network and create is naturally. If you create this network using simple logic, the links will work well for you. Google encourages the natural way to thinking. This means, if you do things the way it makes sense to do them, it will probably work well with Google too.

So how best to arrange all these links?

Here it is in a nutshell, a procedure that anyone can conduct on their website if they are willing to invest the time.

Internal links:

One of the on-page optimization tactics you can create yourself is a hierarchical set of internal links - meaning links between pages in your website.
The idea is to link between the pages on your website but using logic and hierarchy.
Consider that Google crawlers use links to move between the pages. If your network of internal links is done logically, it will help Google better understand your site and optimize it for search.

So what to do?

1. Create links using your keywords for each page.
2 - Hierarchy in internal links mean that sub-pages link to the parent page in the navigation and main navigation pages link to home page. And vice versa.
Linking between pages that share a theme is also a good logical pattern.

For example:
My site has a home page, an about page, contact us page, a products page and an applications page.
I have three products and two applications.
1 product serves one application and the other two serve another application.

What would my link network look like?
Home page would link to about, products, applications and contact
Links can be nice CTA buttons (contact) or a word of text (about, products, applications)
About, products, applications and contact would each link to the home page (link at the bottom with the word "home" would do, just next to the "back to top" link on each page)

The three separate product pages would link to the products page.
The two separate application pages would like to the applications page.
All product pages would link to one another.
Each product page would link to the relevant application page.
Each application page would link to relevant product page.
Each application page would link to the other application.
All these links are done with keywords in the middle of the text.
Product links can look like a CTA image inviting the reader to learn about more products.

3. If you have a blog, make sure you link to previous blog posts and to relevant product/ application pages (per above example).

4. Create CTA for each page per relevancy to link to landing pages.
Product pages CTA can be inviting the reader to learn more about other products, Application page CTA can be an invitation to download an eBook about a certain connected subject.
Blog CTAs can be an invitation to read more blogs or to download a tool or eBook to further deepen knowledge about a certain theme relevant to the blog post.

Always think what your reader should do next. How to keep them interested so they click another CTA and stay on your website, getting closer to purchase with each step.

External links - outward:

It’s good for SEO for your website to link to other sites in your field.
You can create a news / PR page and link to interesting news items in your field.
You can have a recommendations page on the similar principle
In your blog posts you link when you quote someone. This gives then their due credit and prevents you from poaching on their information. It also gives your information the authenticity it requires.
It’s always good to link to sites that have authority in your field.

External links - inward:

You need to get other websites to link to your site.
Guest posting in a way to go (if you can get the placement)
Paid advertising and banners also serve this purpose, but they cost money and are considered less authoritive. If you start out, it could be a fast way to promote your site.
Commenting on social media groups and linking the comment to your site is a free way to go about this.
Indexing your website in free indexes and forums in your field is also good.
Publishing articles in free article websites is good.
Syndicating your blog posts by placing them on LinkedIn Pulse and other free blogging platforms will only cost you your time.

All this will generate a links network over time that will lift your site in the search ranks and help Google understand what your site is about.
Hope this helps, please comment if it does.

Ofra
Teaching the Mean and Lean method for DYI marketing for small businesses.

A Marketer's dream - Driving for change in your organization

Many people face various obstacles to change in their lives and feel frustrated that it is so. Many coaches, psychiatrists and consultants make a living from this...I was once told that business relationships are just like personal ones... just in a business context. Not being able to realize your professional dreams in your work place can be just as frustrating as not achieving your personal goals.
This makes me wonder, what should an employee do to realize professional dreams? How can such an employee drive change in the work place so that the dream may take place? Or more specifically, how does a marketer initiate and drive towards innovation and change in the marketing department against a management that is fixed in the habitual ways of doing its business? Here are five tips.

1 - Organize your thoughts:
Its not enough to say "we need to innovate" or "we need to change our marketing"... its not even enough to say "we need a website". You need to define exactly what it is that you need and why.
For example: its true that in today's world every business organisation  needs an online presence. The reason I say this with such confidence is simple. Today everyone who needs information of any kind turns FIRST to the Internet to look for it, so this means your business has to be online so that you can be found by those people who are looking for you. However, this does not necessarily mean that you need a website - there are other methods to be online. Facebook may be the "third largest "country" in the world today" but if your clients are not its citizens, that is not going to help you. A newsletter can be a great tool, but only if your clients bother to read commercial emails in their inbox without chucking them to the "spam" first. You need to take a more detailed look at the idea of an online presence.

You need to crunch the details and define the exact steps required to achieve change, and to make sure that you ideas fit the reality of the organization your work in and the field of business to which you are marketing. To continue the example: consider what are your exact business needs and how can a certain online presence assist in the marketing efforts more than others. Consider where you audience can be found on the web and how do they like to receive their information best. Consider the realistic scope of the budget your managers will approve for innovative marketing initiatives. This brings us to the next tip.

3 - The salami method - slices:
Sometimes its best to cut a big change into smaller steps and take them on one at a time. Smaller projects with smaller budgets are also easier for your managers to accept. Your boss may be willing to experiment on one of your "crazy innovation ideas" if it costs the organisation less money. So cut your big change into smaller chunks and put them in the right order (remember, organize your thoughts...). Then focus only on realizing the first step, and do whatever it takes to make this step happen (the others are sure to follow). Stay focused and keep your managers focused on a target that is easier to grasp and to define. Managers will always find it easier to approve innovative thought if you can show them that its worth it. This brings us to the next tip.

4 - Show me the money!
Show your managers how the new marketing initiative can bring in more money for the organization. The activity you wish managers to approve needs to stand the test of a cost benefit analysis. You can use any kind of backing for your claims. Check statistics online, run a small test and crunch the numbers for your boss. In today's world almost any marketing activity can be measured. If you can rank your marketing activities and find out which is more efficient, you can cut actions that do not bring required results early and use the funds to start on something new instead.
For example: if you know that an online campaign is less effective than an exhibition because you not only get more leads from an exhibition but also each lead is cheaper (this is called Key Performance Index) then you can tell you managers that this is so with confidence. Confidence radiates authority and authority inspires trust. Trust, efficiency and benefits are great selling tools when it comes to management approvals. This brings us to the next tip.

5 - Self marketing - sell your project and yourself
A marketer needs to always sell the various marketing activities and oneself in the organisation. When you have an achievement, you had better be showing it off to everyone in your organization, managers and co-workers alike. Make sure that everyone knows how great you are at your job! If they think you are a great marketer, managers will have a greater tendency to trust your initiatives and approve the budget for them. If you constantly toot your horn about your work, just like you do for the product your organization sells, you will benefit from your own marketing efforts. This brings us to the next tip.

6 - Never give up!
Tenacity is a key factor is achieving whatever it is you set up to do. Be consistent and keep drilling your ideas to anyone who will hear them until the message gets through to management.
Its not just about the business and getting more leads from marketing, its about yourself!  Its great when you can have professional goals to reach for your self development. This will give you motivation to excel at your job and will provide you with flavor for your daily routine. Remember that you must never give up striving for improvement and innovation.

I conclude with a sentence many couches use, but its really does work,so here goes:
Remember to believe in yourself and others will believe in you!
Believe in your dreams, professional and private - work hard to get them and they might just come true...
Food for thought
Good Luck

Women and Coping with Chauvinistic Questions in Interviews for a Job - A Suggestion

I have recently seen discussions in forums the refer to the issue of chauvinistic questions that women have to face in interviews for a job. I am sure this is a largely common phenomenon.
There is probably not one mother ,who has not been asked (even if ever so subtly) how she manages her career and her role as a mother. Or any woman who has not had to content with questions about her martial status and the negative reactions to it. From an employee's perspective, it seams that you are "dammed if you do and dammed if you don't". If you are single, then you are inadequate because you have not found a man to marry (and one day you will and then where will your employer be when that happens...). If you are married you are inadequate because the first child will come long soon...If you are a mother, you are inadequate because you already have children. If you are a grandmother you are inadequate because you are too old...and the list goes on.

I have to admit, that I have never heard my male acquaintances complain about marital status question at interviews. I have to admit that I deeply resent that fact that women still get asked about this issue in the 21st century. But I can only change the world one step at a time...

If you are interviewing for a job, this means you want to find employment. This translates to the fact that unfortunately, it is not in your best interest to pick up a fight about feminism and chauvinism at the work place in the middle of a job interview. Many women ask, what can be done. Here is my advise.

The guideline for any job interview is to keep a positive attitude and to sell yourself as a professional and efficient employee. Do not get personal, its business.
This means that you have to control the interview and steer it in the direction of professionalism always. Get the message across that you can do the job you are interviewing for in the best way.
It would look weird if you avoid answering the marital status question entirely, so I suggest that you do answer it in straight, simple and laconic terms. "yes I am Married". "I am single". "I have two children". You do not however have to provide further details if you do not wish to (e.g as a single woman, are you in a relationship? How old your children are etc.). The way to avoid getting deeper into questions one may find too personal is by taking your answer in a different direction, one that is relevant to the professional aspect of your abilities as a prospective employee.

If you are asked about your martial status, concentrate you answer about availability for travelling and extra hours. This is after all what your prospective employer is concerned about. Talk about your capabilities in muiti- tasking and organisation, talk about time management. You can mention your family if you like ("Hey, I have 4 kids, I know how to run time schedules for them all"), or you can remain more aloof (I, like all working mothers, use various solutions available to me and I can fulfill all the tasks as is required for my job in the best manner").

Taking control of your interview and steering it to the direction you want, delivering the messages you choose is the key to selling yourself, as you choose to do. You are not inadequate, no matter what your marital status is! You should not allow anyone, especially not prospective employers to make you feel inadequate. You  might even rethink your decision to work at a certain place if you do not feel well in an interview. Remember that you are also scoping the workplace and seeing if it fits for you, its a two way street! There i a saying "begin as you wish to go on", this is true for the workplace as well. If you shrink away at the start, you will always do so. If you are proud of who you are in an interview you will remain proud when you become an employee.

I am reminded of an episode of "Yes Prime Minister", in which Sir Humphrey teaches Bernard not to let journalists carry him to undesired directions if interviewed. Sir Humphrey explains that if one is asked a question one does not want to answer then the answer should be about what one wants to talk about and the original question avoided. Sir Humphrey demonstrates to Bernard by saying: "I think the real question is... and then you make another statement of your own!"

The advice is this post is relevant for men as well. They may not have to specifically face the martial status and motherhood questions but men too should begin as they wish to go on, when looking for a new job. Good luck everyone!

Marketing ghost writing - credit is the eception

hi all,
its rare that a marketing writer gets direct credit - we all do ghost writing jobs.
But this time, I wrote it and my name (and even my picture) is on it!
So if you want to know more about what the company I work for does, enjoy reading this article.
http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10238
Ofra

I wrote a post for a bloggers competition

I am competing in a bloggers competition on the JobMob blog!
The link to read it is
http://jobmob.co.il/blog/market-yourself-for-dating-and-job-search/
I wrote a post about dating and job interviewing... I hope you like it. take a look and vote for me!
the more votes I get, the bigger my chances to win!

Thanks
Ofra

PS: At a later stage, I will republish it also in this blog.

Sponsoring the competition:
MyBlogGuest.com is the free community of guest authors and blog owners who join the site to build relationships through great content. MyBlogGuest Articles Gallery feature and Wordpress plugin give bloggers instant access to guest articles.

אהבה וזוגיות – שיווק עצמי כדי למצוא אהבה

בעסקים ישנו מודל שיווקי המדבר על התהליך שהלקוח עובר בדרכו לקניה. באהבה וזוגיות בעידן המודרני יש מקום לטקטיקות הלקוחות מעולם העסקים כדי להצליח ולמצוא את בן או בת הזוג ואת האהבה שכולנו מכספים לה.

מודל שיווק "אאידה" בדרך לאהבה וזוגיות

השם של המודל נגזר מארבעת השלבים שהוא מונה ואת שמותיהם באנגלית. במאמר קצר זה אסקור את המודל דוקא מן הזוית של יציאה לדייטים והחיפוש אחר בן או בת הזוג המושלמים. האופרה אאידה של ורדי עוסקת דוקא בסיפור אהבה טראגי, אך המודל השיווק יכול בהחלט לסייע לפעולות שיבואו לכם את האהבה. בעת החשיבה על מודל זה מנקודת מבט של חיפוש אחר זוגיות, צריך לחשוב על בני זוג פוטנציאליים שעל לקוחות ועל עצמנו כעל עסק או מוצר שצריך לשווק אותו לאותם לקוחות. אם השיווק שלנו יהיה מוצלח, ניראה ללקוחותינו במיטבינו והם יהיו מעוניינים בלפתח קשר רומנטי איתנו, או לפחות לנסות. זוהי נקודת ההתחלה של כל זוגיות.

השלב הראשון – AWARENESS – מודעות

כדי למצוא את בן או בת הזוג המושלמים, צריך לדאוג לכך שהלקוחות הפוטנציאליים שלנו יהיו מודעים  לקיומנו. הכוונה לחשיפה בפני מירב רב של אנשים. לשם כך עלינו לצאת מהמשבצת המוכרת ולשנות ואילו בצעדים קטנים את אורח החיים שלנו. צעדים קטנים הם הדרך להצלחות גדולות, גם כאשר אנו מחפשים את אהבת חיינו, עדיין צריך להתפרנס וישנן מטלות יומיות שוטפות. לכן לא ניתן להתחייב למהפיכה, צריך לעשות שינוי קטן. לכן למכון כושר חדש ולא לזה שהכי קרוב לבית. שתו את הקפה של הבוקר בבית קפה שבו אנשים שעוד לא הכרתם. התחילו בשיחה עם כל אחד.

השלב השני – INTEREST – עניין

הלקוח שנחשף אלינו ומודע עלינו צריך בשלב הבא לפתח עניין בקשר ראשוני. כדי שיהיה לו עניין בנו כדאי להראות במיטבינו. לכן טיפוח הוא נטבח חשוב ביותר בשיווק עצמי. הרשמו למכון כושר והקפידו על הגיינה אישית. מי שלא רגילה להתפאר כלל יכולה להתחיל בתכשיר אחד – למשל רק אודם, או רק מסקרה. גהצו את בגדיכם. קחו עוד דקה לחשוב על מה לובשים גם אם מדובר ביציאה לסופר מרקט לקנות חלב.

השלב השלישי –DECISION – החלטה

בשלב זה הלקוח נחשף וכבר התעניין ואף למד מעט עלינו, וכעת יש לסייע לו להגיע להחלטה "לרכוש" את המוצר, שהוא בעצם דייט ראשון בדרך לזוגיות המושלמת. הכינו מראש שיחה לכל מיני מצבים כדי שלא תתקעו  לאחר יצירת המגע האישי הראשוני. היו טבעיים ושמחים. אנשים אוהבים להתחבר לאנשים שמחים וחיוניים. ספרו על עצמיכם וחשפו. תנו לאחר שאתם נותנים מעצמיכם. הקשיבו – מתוך מה שהאדם האחר מספר על עצמו תוכלו ללמוד מה מעניין אותו להתאים את שיחתכם לתחומים אלו.

השלב הרביעי – ACTION – פעולה

עשיתם את ההכנות ועברתם את כל התהליך ובכל זאת הלקוח הפוטנציאלי לא הזמין אתכם  לדייט? את תפעלו אתם ותזמינו אותו. ייתכן כי רק הביישנות הטבעית של אדם שרק הכרתם מפרידה בינכם לבין זויות חלומית. איפה שלא תגיעו במערכת היחסים, המשיכו ליזום את השלב הבא. צעד צעד – עד שתגיעו ליעד. זוגיות ואהבה וחיים משותפים.

בהצלחה