Check out http://www.cuil.com the new search engine with a vision to be bigger and better than Google.
The team who are behind the new search engine is made up of ex employees of Google, Altavista and IBM Search. So they have the pedigree to make big waves.
Top Google in Record Time in 2 Simple Steps! By Michael Small (c) 2008
I got into search engine optimization back in 1998. It sure has changed a lot since then. Back in the day you could use invisible text, load keywords to the point of overflowing and fill META tags with anything even close to what you had on your page. And you could do well on Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista; all the biggies. Not anymore.
Today SEO is about a 75% / 25% split between links and content, with inbound links being the most important thing. Especially on Google. When all is said and done, you can get to the top of Google in just two simple steps. Seriously. I've done it hundreds of times and it's easier than you'd imagine.
Have you heard the phrase "it's always in the last place you look", well nothing is truer on the web.
When you find a trustworthy website that has the product at the right price, you will buy. You will not continue to search. Having the website that is the last place prospects look is obviously the ideal position to be in.
Trust is the key, beyond the price and even beyond getting the exact product. Without trust the price and product just doesn't matter.
When someone is looking at your website lots of things are contributing to whether they trust you or not. Some of these things are:
Layout
Graphic design
Security policies
Credibility of claims made in your copy
Legibility of your copy
Freshness
Now you could have the #1 position on Google or Yahoo! and be first, but no one will buy or call unless you can persuade the visitor to trust you.
Its a New Year, what better time to make some positive changes to your website. After all it is probably the biggest marketing tool your business has.
Some tips for getting the best out of your website in the New Year.
Define website objectives for 2008
Write down everything you would like your website to be doing by the end of 2008. For example "Reduce telephone support calls" or "Increase leads by 20% on last year".
Have a website idea jotter
You probably go through your working day having lots of ideas for content on your website. Perhap ideas for entries onto your FAQ page or information on a particular product or service you now offer. Jot down these ideas as you have them, then set time a side each month to decide which ideas should be sent on to your website designer to action.
Make seasonal changes
Keep your website current with the seasons, a small change to reflect a season can really pay off. It shows that you are up to date and current.
If you run a forum you will know how bad forum spam is. Hundreds of spam users signing up and posting with very unsavoury content. This often leaves forums unmanageable unless you can spend all day on it.
I have just found the phpBB AntiSpam Project that gives a good list of usernames and ip addresses to ban from you forum, hopefully reducing your spam.
Alot of clients tell us they are going to just rewrite their competitors copy and send that to us.
Some don't even rewrite it, obviously we don't allow that - another topic.
If you want to engage your visitors and persuade them to contact you rather than a competitor you must be different. Otherwise based on copy you aren't giving youself any more than a 50:50 chance.
So as you are writing your copy consider things that your competitors can't say about themselves. Write about what is unique to you and your business.
What value can you possibly add to a visitor's experience by simply repeating everything they have read elsewhere? Your visitors will respond.
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