For as long as I have been involved with the web and search engine optimization (SEO) in a variety of roles and projects, I’m always amazed at what small business owners are told and believe about SEO.

I hear a wide range of stories, myths and lies on a regular basis as it pertains to small business SEO.

But what surprises me most are not only the people and businesses spreading this mess, but it is the small business owners that take and receive it as the gospel.

Not only that, but in most cases, small business owners lose precious resources, if not their entire business, only to be misled.

They were lied too, and scammed out of thousands of dollars for deceptive SEO practices sold under the disguise of affordable small business SEO.

Deceptive scam artists, posing a qualified SEO professionals, guaranteed to rank small business websites in the number one position on page one of Google and generate results.

And this is where I enter into the picture and find most small business owners as potential customers.

Now as much as I would like to strangle the person and company that told a little white lie or a bold faced lie, I must also be willing to be brutally honest with small business owners.

I receive a wide range of emails and phone calls in a given week questioning how to generate content that increases website traffic.

From business owners, website developers, and even other SEO consultants posing as potential customers, everyone wants to know what the secret is when it comes to content marketing that increases search ranking and website traffic.

There are plenty of resources, whether newsletters, websites, blogs, ebooks, etc., telling you the bare bone SEO basics and principles, such as creating content:

• Written with a focus on customers and not search engines
• That is more than 600 words in length, ideally 1000-1500 or more
• That is relevant and specific to your industry and target market
• That educates, informs and solves problems for customers
• That customers will share with the masses
• That is easy-to-read content consisting of short sentences and containing every day layman terms
• Using specific keywords and keyword variations in moderation
• That includes the use of header tags with keywords within header tags
• Containing moderately supportive external and internal links, images, and videos

And the list goes on with other value-add content marketing strategies and techniques to help increase not only your website or blog’s search engine ranking, but also increase the likelihood your content is shared with the masses and increasing overall website traffic.

Today’s post on content marketing will guarantee you success should you religiously understand, comprehend and flawlessly execute each aspect.

Let’s get started.

I had an interesting exchange the other day in regards to whether a client should invest in a website redesign or a domain name upgrade to increase website traffic.

We’ll focus on website redesigns for now with more on domain name upgrades to come. We’ll also address what both have to do with increasing website traffic.

Typically, most business owners that have been in business more than five minutes will tell you to invest your money in a new website redesign in an effort to increase website traffic and drive sales.

And for the right business owner and situation, I do believe this could be very sound advice.

Afterall, a website redesign with a focus on providing intuitive, sound user interface and experience can work wonders in resurrecting and increasing website traffic and search engine ranking when implemented and executed properly.

Link wheels can be very deceiving based on who you discuss them with. As with everything in life, link wheels have their pros and cons.

It is a must to understand the advantages and disadvantages when considering link wheels as a part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

In today’s post, I’ll cover the high-level advantages and disadvantages of link wheels.

Based on the pros and cons of using link wheels, it’ll then be up to you to determine whether or not link wheels are the best SEO strategy for your business.

Let’s get started.

Welcome back to second post of Page one search engine ranking and the rest.

In our initial post of this series, we discussed the importance of taking your time to select your niche, keywords, register or acquiring keyword-specific domain names, and creating unique and value-add content.

All are equally important, but I’ve found it most important to have selected the correct niche and keywords long before a domain name and content ever came into consideration.

In today’s post, I’ll continue discussing the wide variety of SEO actions I’ve taken that have led to successfully ranking websites in the top spot across major search engines, and led to increase traffic, conversions, and revenue.

In addition, I’ll share a few tips and tricks for what not to do too.

Let’s continue our search engine ranking discussion.

Have you ever wondered about search engine ranking positions?

Is there a difference in page one search engine ranking positions and the traffic generated to highly ranked websites?

I mean, you hear and read all the time about people proclaiming the number one, two, and three search ranking positions driving exponential website traffic, conversions and revenue.

This is not to say that most or all of the individuals claiming page one search engine rankings are lying.

I think everyone has their story and results, but I would like to add the twist of search ranking niches.

In today’s post, through my own experience, I’ll openly share with you about a few websites I own and operate.

We’ll cover in great detail keywords, domain names, content, social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and analytics.

I’ll take you throughout a quick timeline from domain registration to page one rankings.

I’ll shed light on theories, mistakes, corrections and overall successes and failures.

Should my business invest in pay-per-click advertising or keep plowing money into costly SEO services?

I often receive emails and phone calls from potential customers and existing customers with this question in mind.

They typically want a black and white answer as they attempt to determine whether pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a suitable search marketing option for their respective businesses.

Of course, the deciding factor of yes or no truly depends on a wide range of considerations.

However, it is safe to say that you can use pay-per-click advertising to jumpstart your website’s traffic as well as supplement and increase organic search traffic.

Today’s post is a quick a simple review of the pros and cons of pay-per-click advertising you’ll need to consider when determining whether or not it is the right search marketing option for your business.

Let’s get started with the advantages.