SEO, Internet Marketing, Web Design, Web 2.0 tips

2010-07-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Orange County Web Design

Today, RG Pacific is going to provide some basic web design tips to help you out. We have recently used these simple web design tips to improve one of our client’s sites, located in Orange County. Just through utilizing these easy steps, the web design on your site will improve drastically.

1) Your site needs to offer something valuable.
a. For example, our client in Orange County is offering fashion and styling services. The web design of the site is useful and interesting to visitors.

2) Allow users to navigate easily.
a. Believe it or not, being able to navigate easily determines how long a visitor stays to explore the site.
b. If you go on the site for the Orange County client, the easy navigation of their web design forces you to stay on the page longer without you even noticing.

3) Have a clean layout design.
a. The cleaner your site, the neater it looks. Try using Dreamweaver templates to help your web design. Sometimes big, flashy colors and pop-ups can be a distraction.

4) Program with pure CSS.
a. More and more web designers are using pure CSS websites. Learning minor details such as text links rollover, CSS style bulleting, and making links without underlining will improve your website.
b. The client in Orange County’s web design used to be more table-based but now he switched to pure CSS and it has definitely made a difference.

5) Minimize Clicking, page length, and load time.
a. Let there be as minimal clicks between your visitor and the information you are providing as possible. With technology nowadays, people do not like waiting for pages to load. Make sure the load time on your page is low. And even though you want to provide a lot of information on each page, try and limit each page to two screenfuls.
b. My client in Orange County has the fastest load time compared to his competitors. By removing unwanted tags and unused scripts and using Server Side Include (SSI) files allow your site to load faster.

6) Make sure your contact information or at least a link to it is on every page.
a. This is one of the most important tips of web design because you want your visitors to be able to have access to your contact information anytime, which then will turn in more revenue.

7) Ensure your web design is scalable and your browser is compatible.
a. With the latest technology, computer configurations vary and the web design of your site may not be compatible. 95% of the world’s browsers include Internet Explorer 5+, Mozilla, Safari, and Google Chrome so making sure your web design is compatible is crucial.

8) Last but not least, make sure your website works and keeps on working.
a. Although it may sound obvious, checking your site is probably the most important tip of web design. Making sure everything is in place is key.
b. My client in Orange County has included a “Last Modified” link on the bottom of one of his pages in order to ensure his web design is up to date and working.

Although these tips may be redundant, they will definitely improve your site’s web design. With an improved web design, more people will be attracted; therefore, bringing in more traffic and more importantly, revenue. You can ask my client in Orange County. With the help of RG Pacific, their business has moved forward.

How iPhone applications can help your business

2010-04-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't have or know about an iPhone nowadays? It seems Apple has its own Internet niche and platform, especially with the popularity and dominance of the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch (not to mention the iPad that was released this month). The web experience on an iPhone is quite different than any other mobile device with web browsing capabilities. It seems that iPhone-based mobile websites have a different feel compared to other wireless websites- They look, feel, and are experienced differently.

Because of this superiority in how a mobile website can be experienced using an iPhone or iPod, Apple iPhone application development is extremely popular to corporations and businesses alike. the Apple iTunes store has become dominant as compared to other Internet giants, namely Google, Blackberry, and Microsoft. People are more likely to spend money on an iPhone app than to use a free wireless application offered by other service providers. This exudes Apple's dominance, and therefore businesses need to understand this and develop an iPhone application for their products or websites aside from any other mobile initiatives. It seems have a "Apple" plan of action is an area now that is completely independent from all other online initiatives. This is powerful stuff.

As a business owner myself, and an iPhone app developer too, reliance on Apple's web audience is both important and essential to success and long term planning. Everyone expects Apple App development to continue to grow, so a business that relies on e-commerce of Internet exposure as an arm to their growth needs to implement an iPhone app initiative to remain ahead and competitive in their market. But, what kind of iPhone app should you develop? This intriguing question can result in either spending a few thousand dollars, to upwards of $50K+ in development.

Realizing what you want your iPhone website to do is important. Its it what you want the app to do that matters. There are two main distinctions in development:

1) Do you want it to be an extension of your web content.

or

2) Do you want your iPhone app to accomplish a task or function with your customers? For example, sell, execute a task, or store data.

Such a distinction is important both financially and strategically. Some retailers do not have the capability to sell on mobile devices, so, rather then develop an iPhone app with that capability, it will not be feasible in the foreseeable future. Therefore, developing an iPhone app that triggers web traffic and promotes products is just as valuable and important. But, for those companies that do have the ability to afford mobile sales and iPhone database development and execution, being realistic in expectations and studying competitors is also crucial.

Remember, iPhone app development is exciting but it has its limitations. Many developers are frustrated that Apple only gives limited code access and manipulation, therefore limitations exist. Also, once you develop your app, getting it on the App store requires much work and PR initiatives, as well as rules and guidelines.

For more information on app development and marketing, my company would be glad to be of service. You can write me at info@rgpacific.com with your specific questions or call me directly to discuss your project ideas. Apple is now important to business strategy on the web, how will you apply it to yours?

Take care and until next time!

Top 10 Reasons to Create Micro Websites for your Business

2009-10-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Business exposure is so crucial nowadays, especially in todays economy. I see so many businesses cram soo much information on their websites with the intention of exposing all of their products and services to their customers. With their online marketing and advertising budgets lower than before, it has become crucial for businesses to sell as much as possible to each web visitor all the time.

They also have the intention of becoming optimized and listed for all their web services on Google and other search engines. But, since their website is so full of different information and services, it is hard for them to become specialized in a specific service or product... hence, they have a low page rank and do not appear on the 1st page of their product keyword searches! This is huge dilemma and alot of businesses do not know what to do. They cannot afford to remove information, they have no time to redesign their site... and their budget is small. What can they do?

Creating micro websites is the answer! A micro website is a mini website that is specific to a product or service. You have 10 products? The key here is creating 10 mini websites (3-4 pages) that are keyword dense and specific to theis product/service, with a powerful keyword based URL. The goal? Get optimized and listed faster for this product/service keyword, thus having another "branch" in your online marketing tree of offerings.

Here are the top 10 reasons this will work:

You can keep it specific to a keyword phrase only! You do not have to worry about Google or another search engine not knowing about what your site is about. The content and keywords will be very specific and direct.
You can buy a keyword based URL for your product or service. As you all may know, your URL is the most powerful SEO tool in search engine optimization. Adding your keyword to your domain name can work wonders.
You can show your company specialization for this particular product or service. As you know, many web visitors do not take the time to really familiarize themselves with your different offerings. A micro website gives you the chance to show off your expertise and uniqueness of your company as it relates to the product or service.
A micro website will get you ranked faster. Creating a micro website that is specific to a keyword phrase gives you up to a 40% faster optimization rate, thus getting you ranked higher much faster than your main website would.
Saves you money in online advertising. As you know, SEO takes alot of time. A micro website can save you tons of money in the long run since it can get listed faster than your main website.
Gives your company more exposure. Imagine having your micro websites appear for all of your products or services, along with your main website? This is called web dominance. Why not give it a try?
Are affordable. Micro websites cost considerably less than adding the amount of pages to your website, both in design and advertising costs. Why not save money and get more exposure on the internet with another website?
Great regional strategy. Does your business have multiple locations? Are your services offered in different areas? Micro websites can also help you target geo specific customers with the same keyword strategy!
Create backlinks to your website to boost it's page rank. Micro websites can also boost your main website traffic and ranking too. Linking your micro websites to your main website will give your main site considerable web traffic, thus boosting its page rank and backlinks considerably.
It works. Thousands of internet savvy businesses have been implementing micro websites to their online busness model. Try typing in a city based keyword, check Google local listings, and see how many websites are the same company. This gives companies who implement it more exposure, better SEO results, and a competitive advantage... all the while saving them tons of money. Try it!

If you would like my company, www.RGPacific.com, to work with you to implement this strategy, please give me a call at 323-314-2127. We are located in Los Angeles and offer the best and most affordable web design, development, and internet marketing services.

Please do not hesitate to post some questions!

How Twitter Can Help Your Online Marketing Efforts

2009-07-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I am sure if any of you watch any TV now-a-days, there is definitely a new online phenomenon going on that everyone is crazy about.. Twitter.com. Twitter is a simple online tool that allows anyone to publish a post in 140 characters or less. It gives you the ability to create your very own online network by either "following" other members, or allowing them to "follow" you. There are some people who have a following of thousands of people, most notably celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, who won a competition against CNN in attaining one million followers!

Twitter is fascinating to a lot of people, especially working professionals and baby boomers who do not use popular social media networks like MySpace or Facebook that have a much younger, college orrientated audience. Its simple to use and effective. Twitter is also is mirrored with a mobile application which allows you to view, post, and reply to your followers from your smart phones. Cell phone updates account for over 70% of Twitter activity, therefore making it a very powerful and unique application that attracts people "on the go", especially working professionals.

Now, as a business owner, figuring out how such a new and popular online application can help marketing efforts can, at first glance, seem very tricky. How can you convey a strong marketing message with only 140 characters or less? And, more importantly, what tactic is useful in doing so?

Depending on your marketing campaign online, Twitter can either become a burden or a gold mine. It all varies on what your goal is. If you are trying to gain a marketing base, Twitter can be your answer. Rather than spend hundreds of dollars buying opt-in email lists, with the risk of becoming a spammer, Twitter can give you a vast audience who are guaranteed to see any marketing message you convey.

Twitter now allows the ability to post pictures, hyper links, and even media links that are very useful and can spread a viral message almost instantly. For example, with the recent movie release of 'Bruno', studio execs credited Twitter on its almost 40% audience decline the day after the movie was released! Many people "tweeted" bad reviews about the movie, consequently costing the producers of the movie millions of dollars. As you can see, Twitter can become both a blessing and a nightmare, varying very much on what you market and what your product performance is.

For companies that offer services, Twitter can become a useful informational tool that can let people know of new promotions, areas of business, or of recent company news. Usually, people on Twitter follow others whom their friends are following, so such a trend can become useful if you have current or new customers following.

One of the biggest problems with businesses and Twitter is that they do not have the time nor know how to add new followers. Obviously assuming that you have to go out and find people to follow you, most whom you never met, can seem like a very tiresome burden. But, as I said before, Twitter has the ability of becoming the ultimate viral message. If you add one person, chances are their friends will follow. So, becoming active, answering direct questions regarding your posts, and checking back regularly with new postings will almost surely help grow your audience at a steady pace.

Twitter may not work for you, and you may not have the time to Tweet all the time. But, if you currently employ a social media marketing campaign, using Twitter as a TOOL to promote all your Social Media efforts can work wonders, improve your audience, and give you a great Viral tool that can save you tons of money!

Bing.com - will it finally give Google a run for its money??

2009-06-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

As web marketers, the buzz the last few weeks has been about Bing.com, Microsoft's new search engine that is supposed to be the "Google killer".. faster, interactive, and will not only allow you to search, but help you make "decisions". The magic behind Bing.com is that MSN knows that when a user enters a search quiery, they usually do not find what they want. Bing.com brings all related search options to you at once, which is supposed to save you time and help you find what you are exactly looking for (for example, you search for Cherrios info.. and it gives you both company info, where to buy, company stock info, and so on).

A cool example is when you are trying to find, for example, Laker tickets. Not only does Bing.com bring you natural search results, but also gives you actions that can be taken from the search. You want tickets? It gives you the link. You need merchandise? it gives you a link. You need News or Videos? Links are there. Basically, it organizes the world surrounding your keyword search for you. Bing.com saves you time and makes it a more complete search, rather than Google's direct and simple search. Quite impressive and, in today's age of impatience with users, a great advantage over competitors.

Now, will it totally turn me away from Google? Not so fast! MSN has built a solid engine that is taking in the more regular use of Social Media. I was quite impressed with it and feel they have a good product on their hands. But, what MSN lacks is brand reliability, and people will remain loyal to Google for quite sometime. Google controls so much of the internet, and internet tools like Youtube, Flickr, etc., so it will take a long time for MSN to build that kind of brand loyalty. But, I am quite sure Google is plowing forward and will try its best to not only mirror the new Bing.com interface, but try to improve it.

At long last, Google has some real competition, which should make the world of search engines much better, faster, and more reliable for all of us!

How to submit your viral marketing message to your social networks

2009-05-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

Intro:

Your social networks are linked to an audience that is open to hearing your message. Your social accounts belong to groups, forums, and message boards that are ready and able to send your message instantly to all recipients, anytime.

Viral Marketing through Social Media is a lot more effective than email marketing. Emails are not guaranteed to be opened, or read. More importantly, the email is not guaranteed to be sent to inbox’s more than 50% of the time. With Social Media, you are assured that your message will reach your audience, so it is your goal to make and structure your message to be as effective as possible.

Tips:
1. Keep your message less than 200 characters (about 4 sentences)

2. Do not use the words “free”, “sale”, “limited time”, or “buy”

3. The best way to get your audience to respond is to offer a tip, advice, blog article, or information. A direct pitch or call to buy will more than likely get someone to turn away, as many companies do this and thus, the viewer will categorize you with the spammers who sell every day.

How to create and send a viral campaign:

Create a marketing message to your audience
a. The most critical component of your viral campaign is your outgoing message. What do you want to say? Who is your customer? What information are you using to bring them back to your “landing page” (page you are going to link them back to on your website).

Log into your relevant account groups
a. All of your accounts in your social media network have an audience based on groups. For example, LinkedIn will have various groups you are a member of that are from different background and interests. Targeting groups individually, or in smaller groups, will get you a better response than simply sending out the same message to all.

Ask for feedback on your message if possible
a. Are you sending out a link to your latest blog? Offer feedback from the client. A good example is: “How to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. New blog article I wrote, please read it and let me know what you all think!”

As you can see, the message is centered on the new blog article. Thus, the article is your selling point. As viewers link back to your article link and read it, your blog article thus becomes your selling point and will attract potential customers. Thus, again, your message and landing page are key.

Setup your landing page and make it work for your viewers so it can sell for you.
a. As you can see in previous steps, the main function of your message is to bring viewers over to your website. Your landing page, the page they will first see and link to, is thus your selling tool once the marketing message does it job. Be sure it is a page that coincides with your marketing message. For example, do not talk about a new article and then link the viewer to your shopping cart.

It must correlate and include the reason the viewer came to your website in the first place. The article, review, or page that you use is thus the cornerstone of your viral campaign. You have already achieved the call to action, coming to your page, now you must close the viewer into an action. Usually a good tool to include in the landing page is a registration form, comment box, sign-up sheet, or contact number.

Pick an appropriate time to launch your campaign.
a. Picking and choosing when to launch your viral campaigns is very important, yet hard to first predict. The best times to do so are usually in the mornings and evenings, when online user activity is at its peak (8a-10a, 5p-8p).

Do not send out too many messages to your audience
a. If your campaign is either successful or unsuccessful, you will be eager to send out a new campaign. Be very cautious in doing so. You do not want to tune out viewers, or get flagged by the social network community as a spammer. One message a week is ideal.

Use your Blog

a. Your Blog is your best tool in order to both build an audience and gain more traffic to your website. Blog Articles are very powerful in that it can captivate a viewer into buying or subscribing to your product or service.
Benefits of your Social Networks

Targeted Customers:

We are reaching out to people that we know already have interest in our product. Instead of casting a wide net we are being specific, giving us a better return on our time.

High Friend Conversion Rate:

You will get at least 30% of people you reach to our profile/bog and can lead to adding you as “friends”. The benefit of this is long haul marketing, as you can put out bulletins, send messages, and directly market to them with announcements or new products.

Creates brand awareness:

For the people who aren’t familiar with the company they can be introduced to you through these social networking sites.

Continued Promotional Value:

The good thing about marketing on social networks is that it isn’t a one time push. It is a sustainable way to continually market to these customers.

The Truth about the "Keyword" Meta Tag

2009-04-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

As an Online Marketing Consultant, I constantly get asked questions about SEO and the importance of meta tags. More specifically, the Keyword tag, seemingly the most important meta tag to many people, whom feel it is the key to SEO success. "Why isn't my website achieving a high ranking?" they ask me. "Well", I tell them, "Where you do you want to rank?" And the answer is almost always... Google!

To all you keyword tag fanatics... some sad news... Google does not use the keyword tag, and actually no meta tag for that matter, anymore. Other search engines though, like Yahoo and MSN, still take it into account. But, due to "keyword spamming" in the early days of Search Index Alogorithms, it has less relevance now than it ever has. The "description" tag and "title" tag actually have more merit than any other tag.

Ultimately, content is king with Google. A keyword is more relevant if it is dominant on your web page content and info. Keyword Density on each page is ultimately what is going to get you good ranking attention on your website. That being said, I do not reccommend getting rid of the keyword tags at all. Remember that when your website gets indexed by the search engine bots, they scroll down all the code and words on each webpage. Since they begin at the top of the page, all the way down to the bottom, Your title tag and other tags serve as an intro paragraph to the theme of your web page. Being uniform, concise, and offering relevant keyword density and content is the best method to get your site indexed well for the set of keywords you like.

But remember, keep your keywords very limited per page. I usually tell clients to keep it down to 2-3 keywords or phases per page. You want to be clear on the theme each page has, and trying to add and do too much can hinder the importance and relevance of content. Keep it simple but informative, and you should be good.

Now, go out and do it!!

How to Improve your Page Rank on Google

2009-04-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang,

I assume your thinking about improving your page rank.. who isn't right? Why search the web for articles or buy expensive software when you can easily do it yourself!
Just use Google's Webmaster Tool's- a free tool that can work wonders for your SEO and Page Rank goals. Because, ultimately, who knows more about how to improve your PR than Google?

A little about it

Page Rank or PR - It's The Holy Grail of webmasters.
I've searched the web and have read many articles describing what the method of Page Rank is and how to use some sort of gadget to improve it instantly. Some of them give clues how to increase this value. It is interesting to me that, for many people, this indicator seems to be a little artificial. Everyone aims for PR10, which means maximum page rank exposure, but few know the real reason. If a website has good content, it will eventually be displayed on top of the searches for interesting keywords even if it has poor page rank!

Useful clues
All articles, blogs and Google tips leads me to the conclusion that the content of your website is the most important factor. Don't try to cheat web crawlers or don’t rely only on exchange links with other websites. If the site is interesting, and content is relevenat, its PR will improve sooner or later. Yes, I know that everybody prefers sooner, but you should do it right from the start.

Some recommendations:

Attain as much external links on the website as you can, on a consistant basis. If people find something interesting on our website, they will link to it.

Create many subpages. Websites with useful content will grow either by content from author, company or community.

Existence in catalogs. Add your website to internet catalogs either related to business or technology. For technology, a good example is to at least attain an absolute minimum with, for example, www.dmoz.org and dir.yahoo.com. Even Google admits that it uses them.

Google Webmaster Tools
Just login to your Google account (or create one if you don't have one). In the section "My Services", follow the link Webmaster Tools. Insert url of your website and press OK.

Verification
Once you create the account, the first step is to verify that you are the owner of the website. There are two approaches. The first is adding a Meta Tag on your home page or, 2, uploading a file with a given random id inside the page root directory. It’s quick and easy - just follow the information’s on the screen!

Diagnostics
After the verification process, we can start exploring information that Google has gathered about your website. This tab allows you to check if, for example, your robots.txt file is correct, and how often the site is crawled.

Statistics
This tab shows search statistics that are related to your website. I allows you to see which pages were crawled by googlebot, what their page rank is, and which of them have the biggest value. Page analysis shows the keywords that Google has indexed. It also shows words used in external sites to link to the site.

Links
This tab is, I think, the most interesting of all. It provides a listing of all urls used in external websites , and much more related to links- even internal links too. Each link is described by number of pages that use it. You can also view details and find the paths to links that are not valid or can't be crawled by Google.

Now you know the page rank principles! After reading this blog post, hopefully you have a better understanding of PR. Since Google is constantly becoming more popular and important for businesses looking to expand their visibility online, knowing these kinds of methods, and understanding them, are king.

SEO and Social Media

2009-02-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

As the world becomes more and more familiar with SEO, Social Media is now becoming the new story in attracting business to a product or service. Now, what is the key difference between the two? It turns out they are both very similar and can serve as a very successful tandem to your online success.

Social Media Marketing focuses on social networks and communities to get the word out. Popular websites like Facebook.com, Myspace.com, Linkedin.com, and others are the most discussed in the social media world and are what most businesses turn to due to the large audience each website commands. Having a web presence in these websites allows a seller to reach out to the social network audience by building their own friends list, submitting blog posts, and making announcements about their product/service.
Naturally, a smart business will find their right niche for their product depending on the demographic and audience they are targeting. For this purpose, many sellers create blogs and spread their RSS feeds to relevant networks that have become popular social mediums themselves, like twitter.com and digg.com. The goal is to reach these set audiences where their makeup and location is known, therefore making it easier for a seller to reach them.

SEO Marketing works by focusing on implementing a keyword scheme in a website in order for it to be found on the world's most popular search engines. Thus, the same methods can be applied to any blog or page built within any of these networks. The key, again, is to find an audience and determine how they can find you. Using keywords, categories, and meta tags, you can position yourself to shine in any of these forums.

YouTube.com is, I think, the ultimate example of Social Media. Video is now the new medium for many websites looking for an edge, and the ability to add title tags, meta tags, and a description to a video allows for the ultimate optimization option. Youtube also offers the ability to post videos on websites and other social networks by simply copying and implementing code they provide for you. This tool, along with the millions who can potentially view your video on any given day, make for a very successful combination of social media, SEO, and viral marketing at its best.

For more information, feel free to leave me a message or visit my website http://www.rgpacific.com/

Online Press Releases and SEO

2009-01-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

SEO is a hot tool that many companies are trying to take advantage of, and ofcourse, the competition is fierce. In that, Google is the goldmine that many companies want to maximize exposure on. Google attracts over 75% of web searches worldwide.

How can you take advantage of this powerful search engine? Well, aside from basic SEO setup and techniques on your website, popularity is king. Google wants to know how popular your website is and measures this on its online visibility. That is, how many websites link in to your site, and how many websites mention your site URL. The latter is achieved by many smart online marketers using online press releases.

Online press releases allow you the power to link an article back to your website by entering your URL throughout the press release. It is wise to include the full URL instead of just your name.com (ex. http://www.rgpacific.com). When you send out your press release, your goal is to have as many sites, directories, and blogs pick up your press release and publish it. Alas, you will have several dozen, even hundreds, of links to your site that can tell Google your website is creating a buzz!

The best online PR service is PRWeb.com, since it gives you the most exposure depending on the price you are willing to spend. It can get quite pricey, but even the minmum package gets you on blogs and permanently online. Your article will be published on yahoo and aol, but only for a limited time, so do not assume Yahoo News will have an article on your site forever! Some people think that it does and even post a review link on their site, and after a few weeks the link is dead. Don't feel that embarassment! The worst thing you can do is tout your website with dead links!

If your budget is small or you want to feel out how Online PR works, there are several PR sites that post your press release for free. Some are freePR.com, pr.com, Prlog.org, and others. Doing a quick Google search can lead you to them if you want to use others. Be careful though, and be smart in what you publish. Alot of PR wires review each press release, and a few are charging for the use of URL's since the practice is becoming quite popular. Also, your press release must contain some kind of content and purpose. Use it to review a new feature, service, or product of your company. Remember, the goal is for someone to post the press release permanently, and to do so they need a reason to. Just making press releases for the heck of it eventually becomes repetitive and can lead to minimal impact on your website SEO plan.

For more info about online press releases, feel free to post questions here and I can get back to you when I can. Visit my website www.rgpacific.com if you need more advanced services. Remember, your article copy, or content, is vital for online success. Always have a plan!!

How to Drive Traffic to your Website

2008-12-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

In my experience as a web marketing consultant to small businesses, the most asked question is always this: How the heck do I get visitors to my website without spending a fortune? Stemming from this question, which boggles the mind of every business owner who hears about the internet, there seems to be a lot of questions out there about what the internet can really do for a business. This is the main reason I am writing this article.

Most small to mid-size business owners do not have the resources to launch glitzy media campaigns with banner ads on ESPN, CNN, or AOL. On the contrary, most of them are on tight budgets and look to the internet as a viable alternative to regular print advertising, which gives them no solid results. Unfortunately, they are not aware of many low cost methods and techniques other than banner ads that they can afford with their marketing budget. The internet promises so much, but to many business owners who know little about it, achieving success means either hiring a full time web developer or outsourcing the work to someone else. Ultimately, a business owner is promised no more than what he or she knows. Internet Marketing consists of a series of different options, methods, and trends. The goal for a online marketer is to explore the different types of online marketing that exists so that you can have the tools and knowledge at your disposal that you need in order to either make an informed decision about outsourcing your work, understanding what it can do for you business, and if you can ideally do it yourself. Whether you know HTML, own a website currently, or are planning on developing one, finding the right business model is the key!

The benefits of online marketing are endless. It is a new marketing channel that is quickly becoming a necessity for all types of business. As a consultant, I have worked with niche market clients such as Home Repair, Law, Restoration, Landscaping, and more. Every industry sees an advantage with marketing online, and with good reason. The internet gives you not just the opportunity to sell your product or service to the world, but the ability to track and retain information from every marketing method you implement. It is a revolutionary product that allows you to choose your audience, as precisely as possible, and can increase your Rate of Return (ROI) to a higher rate that TV and Print can never match. This is the reason why so many companies are going online, and why Google, Yahoo, and other web companies have become such a powerful presence in everyday life. The internet has become a medium, and any company looking for longevity and growth needs to utilize the internet in order to gain or match their competitors in every market.

Later on I will give you a background into the most popular and common online marketing techniques. I will also show you how they are used, how they work, and what impact they can have on your business. You can use this blog as a reference point to your everyday business routine and will hopefully serve as a milestone in your quest to creating a more profitable business utilizing the methods you will learn in this book. Please keep in touch! and remember… The more you know about internet marketing, the easier it will be for you to find business online.

Ray Galan
www.rgpacific.com

The Power of Google Local Business Ad Center

2008-03-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends,

Hope business is going well for you all. Now, I do understand that marketing on the internet is both a breathtaking and new experience for many experienced business owners and entrepreneurs. It can only take days for your marketing budget to skyrocket, with no results or ways to generate business on a nearby horizon. Programs like banner advertising, which is really expensive, gives you no real proven success. Google Adwords is a positive tool, but depending on your market, is really expensive. And, ofcourse, there is good ol' SEO. Problem with SEO is it can take months, if not years, for your site to rank high in your market, and thats if your are efficient, and sometimes, even lucky.

Well, there is an answer! Google has had a little secret for smart marketers that gives them first page exposure almost instantly. For businesses in the retail, restaurant, and service sectors, Google Local Business Ad Center can help tremendously. With this feature, you can list your business location and website for free, even multiple locations, and it can instantly place you in the first page of local searches that meet your criteria, in your area! Lets say you own a chinese restaurant in santa monica, ca. With the Google Local Ad Center, web surfers anywhere in the vicinity who search for chinese food can find you on the first page search, under "local results", which are right smack on the top of the search findings index page!
And if you are a smart marketer and take advantage of its other features like "ratings", a higher satisfaction rating by google users means even more exposure to your site listing and a better chance of you staying on the first page, and better business referrals.

The Google Local Business Ad Center is free, and trust me, its efficient. For my line of work, which is Internet Marketing and Web Design, competition is fierce. Especially in Los Angeles. But this tool allows me to help my SEO and search visibility instantly.

There are tricks to get multiple listings using this feature, but a gentleman never tells! Im sure you can figure out its advantages and uses.

Getting the ad approved is easy. When you create a new listing, verification is instant! It calls your business number directly so that you can verify it by phone. Once you verify, its automatically uploaded and usually takes 48 hours, at the most, to appear in the search listings. Remember to add as many categories as possible for your listings to appear, usually 5 is the max so take advantage. The more exposure, the better.

Let me know if this works for you, and trust me, free is always great!! Take advantage of it right away. Yahoo is offering a similar feature, but you have to pay to take advantage of all the widgets that come with it. But trust me, Yahoo is years away from being as effective as this lil' tool Google has.

Go out there and use it, and make your site visible now!!!

Usefulness of the Title Tag for your Web Pages

2008-02-26T19:14:00.000-08:00

Your website is your pride and joy. although the layout and site design may be legit and to your liking, making people find your pages and giving them an identity of their own is the next step. The title tag is the single most important tag on your website. Aside from your site URL, the title tag is the strongest SEO tag you have at your disposal.

Many websites and businesses do not know this, and it hurts. Businesses in very competitive markets and with non-relation business names need to be distinct in the type of viewer they want to attract. Alot of websites I see place their business name on the title tag, which most of the time, is irrelevant and makes them appear no where. For example, a business for sport jackets named "Arnolds" with the business name on the title tag does not work. Therefore, a proper title tag would be: "Sport Jackets for sale by Arnolds".

Some smart businesses that know how to use their title tag use it to market other areas of their services. For example, if Arnold's sells sport jackets and jewelry, they would mention the word "jewelry" in the title tag.
Remember that the same rule goes towards other web pages on your site, or secondary pages. Always use words that best relate to the content on your page for an easy find by your site visitors.

RG Pacific welcomes you to our SEO and Web Design & Development blog!

2008-02-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends! Thanks so much for stopping by to our new blog. My name is Ray Galan and I am the owner of RG Pacific, a web marketing and development company in Los Angeles.
I have extensive knowledge in web development as well as marketing, so feel free to ask questions about any topics I cover or maybe certain questions you have regarding your journey in the World Wide Web business arena. My friends, I feel the internet is so interwined now with new trends such as Viral Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Web 2.0. So it is my goal to teach you survival methods to keep you ahead of the curve and possible roadblocks that block our path to better business online!