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There are many things you can do to optimise your website for Search Engines.  And it's well worth doing.  Search Engines are a great source of traffic.

Step One – The Technology

Start by getting your technology right.  No Search Engine will rank you unless you do this. Google has a great SEO checklist located here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Step Two – The Content

Post Content, and Post Regularly.  The more content, and the more keywords you have on your site, the more likely you are to get noticed.

Step Three – The Popularity

Build Backlinks to your site by registering with Directories, and Affiliates.  Engage in Social Media, and get your Blog Posts noticed.



For more help with your SEO campaign, contact us for further details on developing your SEO Strategy.
 

2008 has been an interesting year for the online environment and Web 2.0. With a strong trend towards traffic on Social Media and Social Networking sites this year, the emphasis is moving away from websites ruled by technology, to owners and users interacting with these websites, and uploading their own content. We're seeing massive changes in how users interact with the internet, and with their communications devices, through Social Media and Social Networking sites

Top 5 Movers and Shakers in the online space in 2008:

	#1 - Barack Obama uses Web 2.0 to great effect - an avid blogger, Twitter'er, and Facebooker, Obama was truly able to tap into mass market America by using these technologies which are increasingly familiar to Gen-X and Gen-Y'ers, and more than ever Gen-Z'ers (yes, we know they can't vote yet!). Spending Millions on his campaign has paid off for Obama as he sees a phenomenal result - take note of the biggest ever Web 2.0 campaign Read this blog post for more details on his campaign.
	#2 - Facebook witnesses phenomenal growth - in May '07 Facebook reached 26.5 million users worldwide. In December '08 that number reached 140 million. There are 4 million+ members in Australia alone. Take a look at more mind-boggling Facebook stats
	#3 - Apple launches the iPhone, and revolutionise mobile / internet technology convergence (finally!). Rumours abound of development by Apple of a follow-up device - a larger, more laptop-like iPhone, to be released mid-2009)
	#4 - Google Local Business Results - last year Google modified their Search Algorithms dramatically to favour local relevance. The integration of Google Maps and Google Search results is, and will even more in 2009, moving the internet from a global information tool, to a localised platform with relevant results from your area. In 2008, these were largely powered by Is your business listed? Find out here
	#5 - YouTube continues to grow exponentially - with over 28% of the entire internet user base tuning in to videos at least once a week, YouTube is a massive online asset. Time spent daily viewing videos online increased 46% year-on-year in 2008. Expect this trend to continue as more sites generate content and embed video in their websites. And expect an effective video advertising model to appear on YouTube in 2009.

Stay ahead of the game with a solid focus by working on the following:

• Develop a detailed Web Strategy for the coming two years
• Find socio-centric approaches to your online strategy - that is, create online social relevance for your brand, product or business
• Think Creatively. Necessity is the mother of invention. Looking back through history, one can see that business innovation expands as the economy contracts.
• Enable your website and campaigns for Web 2.0 technologies, by harnessing Social Media and Social Networking Platform traffic
• Devise a Search Engine Optimisation Strategy to maximise your online business potential, particularly if revenue is directly or indirectly generated through your website
• Develop a Facebook App, Viral Flash Game or Viral Video to spread through Social Media and Social Networking channels
• Stay in touch with your audience - develop a strong mailing list, and work on your online marketing techniques
• Implement a Corporate Blog to communicate with your audience, grow your online presence and keep your website current
• Build site stickiness by regularly adding content, such as Videos, Podcasts or Blog Posts
• Keep your web content up-to-date - this encourages return visits from both Search Engines and customers
• Regularly review your Web Strategy - in challenging times, remaining dynamic with your online strategy will give you an edge over competitors

With some serious implications on the horizon for corporate strategy this year, it is a good time to build a strong web strategy to enable your online assets to weather the storm.

Though many companies are implementing cutbacks, and tightening the purse-strings, now is a crucial time to plan ahead. eMarketer - even in the face of recession - is still predicting an 8.9% worldwide growth in online ad spend this year, from 23.6 billion to $25.7 billion. We expect to see Facebook really tapping some of that cash this year, with its' vamped advertising engine. Can it become a contender to Google's stranglehold? Doubtful. But the model is a very potent one.

Our prediction for 2009 online is an increasing trend towards the trends we have seen in 2008

• Social Media and Social Networking sites (like Facebook, Friendster and LinkedIn) will increase their foothold in the online environment;
• Integrating Social Network features and Relationship Knowledge into communications is a trend in the making
• Search Engines love Blogs (particularly Google) which begs corporations to step up and set up set their Corporate Blogs up as a means of interacting with their users
• Search engine balance of power shakeup this year, as Yahoo teeters on the verge of takeover, and Google loses its' shine as the Golden-Search-Engine-Who-Can-Do-No-Wrong, and Social Media/Networking sites vy for position
• Massive increases in location-specific internet usage, thanks to the extraordinary technology that is Google Maps for Mobile
• New Social Media sites will spring up to challenge the existing megaliths like DIGG, Technorati and del.icio.us which are increasingly becoming victims of SEO SPAM;
• 3G phone-enabled applications, sites and services will experience massive growth in 2009
• Online Video to go mainstream. Broadband speeds worldwide are increasing massively, and set to do so in Australia, as are computer CPU speeds. Finally technology is catching up to the 1997 utopian dream of 'multimedia'. Use of video will become far more widespread.
• Google, Yahoo, MSN, Apple and Facebook APIs which companies can plug their technologies into.
• Cloud Computing technologies for SMEs and large enterprise looking to
• Emerging online ecosystems of Development APIs will become more and more integrated with each other, and with mobile technologies.

Just two weeks ago, Web 2.0's darling - Facebook - reached 130 million users. And over 4 Million in Australia. Facebook now has over 140 million users. That's a growth of an incredible 7 users every second for the worlds' largest social networking website...an unprecedented achievement on the web. We created this little app to show just how fast this growth actually is! And with those numbers, not surprisingly there are other staggering statistics:

• 2.6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
• More than 700 million photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 4 million videos uploaded each month
• More than 19 million active user groups exist on the site
• More than 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
• More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on Facebook Platform

SEO is a black art to many.

There are many factors which influence your position in Google, Yahoo, and other Search Engines. Mastering these seven will ensure your website is successfully optimised.

The Seven Habits are:

1. Optimise landing pages and keywords
2. Increase Google PR
3. Find link partners that will reciprocate with a backlink
4. Submit articles to directories
5. Find traffic sources that will deliver users to your site
6. Use social media to increase your profile
7. Develop backlinks and get listed in directories

Viral marketing is perhaps the most powerful global marketing tool today - a veritable Web 2.0 weapon... A bold statement, and seemingly over-simplistic, yet in this day and age is it unrealistic? Take this example. One post on a blog in Sydney, Australia can spark a reaction which spreads to hundreds of websites all over Asia within hours. That's all of China and India already - almost 2.5 billion people. That blog post can in turn, be replicated, with no more than a swift CTRL-C CTRL-V flip of the keys, to thousands more. And within 24 hours, something - be it a photo, or a statement, or a quote - can be in front of the eyes of hundreds of millions of users. Several hours later, as Europe awakes, and comes online, that post has spread to a handful of European sites. Hours later, bloggers in Germany, France, and Italy have harvested and acknowledged that information, and on, and on, across the Atlantic, to another billion or so people... Sometime in 2005, we quietly passed a major milestone - the billionth web user went online. Statistically, that person would likely be a 24-year old woman in Shanghai. It took 35 years for the first 1,000,000,000 users to come online. The second billion will likely be somewhere between now and 2015, all rational arguments considered. Morgan Stanley estimates that 36% of web users are in Asia (surprisingly China has nearly five times as many users as India). 24% of users are in Europe and 23% are in North America (in 1995, North America had 66% of users). So, put simply, when a blog post is picked up in the Viral Marketing maelstrom of the web, the ripples move outwards, and spread their influence. This is the new internet. This is Web 2.0: user-generated and user-moderated content. The proverbial butterfly flaps its wings, as James Gleick might say...

Being an Australian, and with the majority of our media channels owned by American corporations, we've had our share of US Democratic Candidacy news here in Sydney, Australia. Politics aside, the online strategies of both democratic candidates has been an interesting thing to watch. Aggressively harnessing the power of online advertising, and Web 2.0 techniques such as social networking and social media channels, this US election has displayed a massive shift in media spend away from traditional media into the online arena. According to Clickz, one of the web's authority internet marketing sites, Obama's online strategy has paid off. Taking corporate blogging into the political realm, Obama has regularly posted videos online throughout his campaign. Indicating a significant difference in strategy (and deeper pockets), the Obama camp has spent considerably more on their online strategies. To say that online Viral Marketing is a force to be reckoned with is an understatement in 2008. With Clinton spending 58% of her online spend - that's $292,200 in 2007 and 2008 - on Google ads alone, and Obama spending $2.08 million just this year indicates a major difference in online strategies. Has the online campaign paid off? Well, some might say yes. Obama is now, after all, the Democratic Presidential candidate. Obama's online strategy towards generating donations has also been different to Clinton's. Eric Frenchman, chief Internet strategist at political consulting agency Connell Donatelli, agrees with the notion that savvy search efforts contributed to the success of both Barack Obama's and John McCain's primary season wins by helping them build lists of potential donors. Frenchman handles much of the McCain camp's online advertising. Commenting on his Pardon My French blog last week, he wrote, "We get $3 - $4 in donations for every $1 we spend online."

As one of the first Fortune 500 companies to set up a home in the blogosphere over two years ago, Southwest Airlines is making some major upgrades to its blog, Nuts About Southwest. Nuts About Southwest was originally launched as a means of giving Customers a look inside the culture and operations of Southwest Airlines and allowing them to interact and build personal relationships with the airline's employees. Over the last two years, the blog's function has evolved to also serve as a virtual focus group, assisting the Company through crisis and new product launches. Southwest Vice President of Public Relations and Community Affairs, Linda Rutherford, said “From the debate over assigned seating to the timeframe in which we release our flight schedules, the passionate comments and opinions shared on our blog have unquestionably influenced several business decisions.” Nuts About Southwest features more than 30 Employee bloggers that represent a mix of Frontline and behind-the-scenes Employees including Mechanics, Customer Service Agents, Schedule Planners, Executives, Marketing Representatives, Flight Attendants, Pilots, and more. The blog's readership continues to grow steadily month-over-month, and has more than doubled year-over-year since its launch in Apr-06. The airline estimates that it has reached more than 500,000 customers through Nuts About Southwest alone, and they expect that number to exceed one million in 2008.

Web 2.0 is becoming more and more evident in websites designed in Sydney Australia. Though not as fast to harness the Web 2.0 phenomenon as their American Silicon Valley counterparts, Australian agencies are warming to the idea. Web 2.0 is a wave that has washed across the Pacific onto Australia's shores. From corporate blogging to social networking and social media techniques, Web 2.0 means that users are more empowered, and have more control over their web experiences. The end result of this is that more and more users are contributing to the the future of the web. Where those web sers come from - be it Sydney Australia, Silicon Valley, London, Tokyo, Barcelona, New York or Bangalore - begins to define more and more what users are actually reading.