Wikipedia defines hyperlocal as:
“Firstly, it refers to entities and events that are located within a well defined, community scale area. Secondly, it is intended primarily for consumption by residents of that area. Thirdly, it is created by a resident of the location (but this last point is discussed because for example a photo can be hyperlocal but not locally produced).”

In the SEO world, it’s mainly characterized by locally-based blogs that cover happenings, restaurants, and anything else in a small geographic location.

Why is Hyperlocal SEO a Big Deal?

As SEO has become more pervasive over the years, ranking on a national keyword is pretty difficult. There are some shortcuts, but in the long run, national keywords tend to be ultra competitive and ROI has slowed noticeably. Since then, many have moved locally. Even though the term ‘SEO’ would be extremely difficult to rank for, stick a geo qualifier like your city on there, and suddenly it looks possible to show on the first page.

Local vs. Hyperlocal

So ‘Denver SEO’ would be a local keyword used in local SEO, but what would make it hyperlocal? Nothing. The term by all definitions is already hyperlocal. What makes it hyper is the positioning and intent of the website or blog. Hyperlocal Denver SEO would seem to connote a Denver SEO firm that services only Denver businesses.

Hyperlocal Builds Trust

It is so easy for someone to throw up a website targeting the term ‘Scranton PA attorney’, but it is quite another thing to be an attorney in Scranton and have a name, address, and contact phone. Your potential customers can sense when things are grass rooted, and when it’s astroturfed. With Google making hundreds of adjustments to its algorithm per year to counter spam, you can count on counterfeits always being unearthed eventually.

Hyperlocal is Nothing New in SEO

So as the title of the article suggests, I hope to decide if the term hyperlocal is a new craze, or if it’s a buzzword used by execs who don’t actually know the definition. As it happens, hyperlocal seems to be a new name with the same old concept of local SEO. That seems to rest on buzzword status. No one says you can’t make money by throwing around buzzwords, but I would like to see less new terminology, but more innovation with our current tech.

About The Author:

A.J. Wilcox has been studying and practicing SEO for 2 1/2 years, and is the
local/national team leader over at OrangeSoda’s SEO department.

Hyperlocal SEO – The Latest Craze or Buzzword? is a post from: Boston SEO

While standard functionality allows for website analysis and link partner discovery, the enterprise features truly make the software bundle stand out. Enhanced features include a domain quality and webpage analyzer, site crawler, Google maps importer, project manager, trigger setting and project proxy setup. The professional version offers all this but is much more report-heavy.

Hardware and Software Requirements

Windows users need to have at least one free GB of hard drive space, run a class four Pentium processor, have 512 MB of RAM and run Windows 2000, Windows 7, XP or Vista. The Java runtime environment should be 1.5 or later. Mac users need to run at least a G4 with 512 MB of RAM and one GB of hard drive space. Software specifies Mac OS X 10.4 or later versions; Java runtime is 1.5 or later. Linux users have similar hardware requirements to Windows users, but the software specifications denote Linux with GNOME or KDE.

Advanced Link Manager/Advanced Web Ranking for Business Use

Click-through customers are the lifeblood of a virtual business presence and the Advanced Link Manager enables the entrepreneur to engage in a link popularity campaign that relies on real data rather than best guesses. At the heart of this information is an accurate account of sites that link to the business and the keywords used to do so. It is here that the Advanced Web Ranking component shines.

This of course opens the door to search engine optimization. Better yet, it also provides a bit of a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the competition’s linking strategy and may very well give the shrewd business owner a way to outmaneuver the closest competitors in the arena of link popularity and keyword density.

Another aspect that makes this bundle quite attractive is the amount of time it cuts away from the business administration aspect of an online presence. This holds true especially in the realm of reciprocal link checking. In fact, testimonials from other users show that some operations managers actually tailor their business administration activities to the options offered by the software.

Software Target Audience

The Advanced Link Manager/Advanced Web Ranking bundle is attractive to the global corporation with multiple domains and also the small entrepreneur who is just starting out. The latter has the advantage of making good use of the data for building a business from the ground up and incorporating working link strategies into the business plan.

As an aside, Advanced Link Manager/Advanced Web Ranking software might present a business opportunity in itself; the savvy web entrepreneur may go into business offering SEO services to clients merely by analyzing their websites with the software. Add to this the software’s search engine submitter that targets more than 400 large, small and niche-specific search engines, and the business opportunity is pretty obvious. The ease of operation – as underscored by a pretty straightforward user’s guide – ensures a brief but steep learning curve for the user.

It is interesting to note that another segment of the target audience is the entrepreneur who thus far only used one function of the bundle. For example, it is useful to have a web ranking software package but it stops short of actually allowing the entrepreneur to take the information to the next level; this is where the link manager comes in. Those who in the past have decided to download a bit of freeware in the hopes of getting similar performance will soon find out that — in this case — the consumer truly does receive what s/he pays for.

Advanced Link Manager/Advanced Web Ranking: Too Much of a Good Thing?

There is little doubt that the Advanced Link Manager/Advanced Web Ranking software bundle provides an excellent amount of data that eases the administration of an online business. A potential downside is the sheer volume of information and data; if it is possible to have too much of a good thing, the extensive graph options may soon become overwhelming. Of course, the seasoned entrepreneur — with a clear understanding of what s/he needs and what is distracting – has the option of disregarding some of the data in order to focus on the nuggets that are of interest to the business.

How to Get the Most Out of the Bundle

After playing around a bit with the sheer volume of Internet power and information, there are some very simple methods to consider that make the use of the Advanced Link Manager and Advanced Web Ranking software easy.
• Check a site’s search engine rankings.
• Compare the site’s performance to that of the closest competitor.
• Discover the keywords used by competitors that rank higher. This now presents an interesting dilemma: should the entrepreneur stick with the keywords chosen or adapt to use similar or dissimilar keywords than higher ranking businesses?
• Employ the keyword research tool to make an educated decision rather than a hopeful guess. From there, rely on the keyword builder to craft phrases around the preferred words.

Download links:

http://www.advancedlinkmanager.com/download.html
http://www.advancedwebranking.com/download.html

Advanced Link Manager and Advanced Web Ranking Software Reviewed is a post from: Boston SEO

We’re finally back with our first event of 2010.  And this month marks the 4 year anniversary of the group, founded in Feb 2006!

2009 was another big year for us. We talked content content, and more content, with some linking strategies, PPC, social media, and analytics thrown in.

We learned about world record cupcakes, and watched a speaker spontaneously combust before our eyes.

And we plan to continue the fun in 2010. Thanks for sticking with us, and making this group so productive.

On Monday 2/1 our featured speaker is Eric Covino of creativesignals.com.
Eric is well known to the members of Aaron Wall’s Seobook.com forum, and will have some interesting insights to share with us.

See you there!

Dave, Brian & Peter

First Boston SEO Meetup of 2010 is a post from: Boston SEO

We are looking for a director of online marketing to efficiently get the word out about our service. This role is responsible for developing online marketing strategy and executing campaigns. We are looking for someone who is capable of developing and executing ROI-driven, metrics-based programs using analytical methods.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate that he/she has solid command of the latest online marketing techniques related to email, paid search, affiliate marketing and social media.

Responsibilities

• Creation and implementation of online marketing campaigns including email, paid search, affiliate and social media
• Development of tracking and analytics procedures
• Provide input into the landing page design process based on analytics data
• Manage agency relationships, including web designers and marketing consultants
• Organize, manage and motivate junior staff

Requirements

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• 5+ years of online marketing experience
• BA/BS degree required
• Demonstrable track record of online marketing success
• Strong analytical capabilities and experience using Microsoft Excel
• Attention to detail with a focus on accuracy
• Thorough understanding of best practices regarding online marketing tracking and analysis
• Understanding of video marketing and content marketing strategies

We Offer

• An energetic work environment that values team players and the ability to laugh at oneself
• The chance to make a difference in the early stage of a company
• The best office snacks ever
• Convenient location in Kendall Square, 1 minute from the T

To apply send a resume and cover letter to:  jobs @ pixability.com

Director of Online Marketing is a post from: Boston SEO

We all know the importance of SEO and the significant role that content plays in the campaigns. But do we concentrate so much on the SEO value of our content that it often comes at the detriment of its real value to our core users – the humans? In a good SEO campaign, the answer to that is no. Good quality content that’s SEO friendly and appeals to your human readers is a fundamental part of a well carried out SEO campaign. But there is no shortage of examples online of bad SEO campaigns on websites containing paragraphs and paragraphs of text that is keyword stuffed to the extent that it makes little if any sense. So how can you go about writing SEO friendly content that is human friendly too?

Clear Article Titles

Let’s take this article, for example. I want to target the search term, ‘SEO friendly content,’ and have included it in the title. Page titles and H1 tags carry a lot of weight in SEO terms. Therefore it makes sense to include the keyword or search term in your page title and/or H1 tag. This has SEO benefit but is also human friendly too. It gives your human readers a clear indication of what the article is about therefore telling them instantly whether it is something of interest to them.

Keyword Rich, Not Keyword Stuffed!

A lot of people find it difficult to fit their target keywords into their content and still make it sound natural. This isn’t always an easy thing to do but it really is absolutely essential if people will return to your website a second time! The Google algorithm is pretty advanced now and spots spam. Hence simple lists of keywords or hidden repetitions of the same keyword over and over no longer working to positively increase rankings. Essentially, the crawlers want to know what your page is about. A few mentions of the keyword will give the crawlers the idea. Going overboard to a point at which it sounds unnatural will get you a nice spam penalty. Read what you have written aloud to yourself. Does it sound natural? If not, don’t post it to your site. It’s often easier to find more naturally fitting places for your keywords at the beginning of paragraphs, particularly where they keywords contain a noun.

Use Unique Content

While it’s tempting to use an article (with permission) from another source, this isn’t always the best SEO practice. Unique content really is King (sorry about the cliché). From an SEO perspective, unique content gets you Google brownie points. Repetitions of the same content over and over mean that many of the sites featuring said content find themselves hidden behind that link on Google that tells the user that ‘similar results’ have been ‘omitted’ and that they can click to show them. But by that point, most users have already gone on and read that article on another site. Offering consistently unique content gives your users a reason to come back and read your material again as well. If you always post unique content, your readers know that the only place they can go for that article (at least as soon as it’s posted) is to your site.

Write Like a Reader and Think Like a Searcher

What I mean by this, essentially, is that SEO friendly content is content geared to be found easily. Human friendly content is content that human readers both benefit from and can read easily. If someone is looking for ‘budget recipes’ they are more likely to search for ‘budget recipes’ than for ‘financially resourceful food formulae’. Keep your language simple. Search engine users tend to search in easy to understand terms and your content should be written with this in mind. Add to that the fact that nobody really enjoys reading an article when every other word is six syllables long and they need a dictionary just to get past the opening line and keeping it simple really is the winning formula for SEO friendly content.

Put the Keyword in your URL

If you are posting your content to a blog or website, adjust your url /permalink to incorporate the keyword you are going for where possible. Not only does this enable search engine crawlers to more easily decipher the topic of your content, but it also offers the readers you give the URL to some idea about the subject matter beforehand.

These are just five ways that you can create SEO friendly content that pleases your readers as well. It’s great to have an optimised site that people can find, but unless your content is good and appeals to people, your conversions and/or return rates will be very low.

This was a guest post written by Josue Habana, an online marketing specialist and virtual worlds enthusiast. Josue has a Second Life Music and arts blog and a satirical Second Life blog.

Writing SEO Friendly Content That’s Human Friendly Too! is a post from: Boston SEO

PlatformQ is the leading producer of live online events.  The
company produces events in the education, healthcare, bio-life
sciences and energy industries which draw attendees, sponsors
and thought leaders from around the world.   Events include
CollegeWeekLive, the world’s largest and most successful
college fair; The Virtual Energy Forum, the premier online
business to business energy conference; CardioCareLive, an
online CME conference held in collaboration with Johns Hopkins
for healthcare professionals who work with patients with cardio-
metabolic risk factors; and BioConference Live, an online
conference for the medical research and biotech community.
PlatformQ events have been covered by major media outlets such
as ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC, New York Times, and USA Today.

PlatformQ seeks to add a full time Interactive Marketing
Associate to our team. This person will report to the VP of
Marketing within a fast-growing startup environment. The ideal
candidate must have experience with various forms of
interactive marketing, superior analytical skills and must be a
team player, energetic, and able to juggle a variety of time-
sensitive projects.

Responsibilities
•       Drive audience acquisition and attendees to the company’s
various events and programs, with clear goals relating to
numbers of registrants, numbers of attendees, and acquisition
cost per attendee.
•       Provide advice and execution on a variety of online marketing
initiatives, including SEO/SEM, email, social media, affiliate
marketing, and paid lead generation programs.
•       Analyze, recommend and implement website changes based on
usability analysis and company strategy
•       Manage natural or organic search engine optimization (SEO)
and content maintenance for multiple websites in three industry
categories: education, healthcare and energy
•       Oversee and recommend strategies relating to search engine
marketing (pay per click, paid inclusion, inbound links) for
multiple websites in three industry categories: education,
healthcare and energy
•       Manage an affiliate marketing program for a website in the
Education industry
•       Oversee email marketing implementation, delivery, reporting
and analysis.
•       Perform database management and maintenance (Microsoft excel)
•       Perform data analysis to find trends and make recommendations
•       Monitor industry changes and translate those into actionable
marketing recommendations

Required Skills and Experience
•       Previous successful SEO and SEM experience with ability to
share concrete examples
•       Advanced quantitative and database skills (including excel
skills highly preferred)
•       Strong written and verbal communication skills
•       HTML website and email design skills. CSS and JavaScript
knowledge is helpful but not required.
•       Ability to conduct basic mathematical analysis of trend data
•       Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign,
Quark, Flash and Dreamweaver helpful but not required.
•       Attention to detail, with the ability to see how details fit
into the overall picture
•       Excellent time management skills and the ability to work
efficiently under tight deadlines
•       Ability to work both independently and in a team-oriented
environment
•       1–3 years of work experience in a corporate setting
Location: Needham, MA. Accessible by commuter rail, Needham
line.
Compensation: Competitive base salary commensurate with
experience and additional incentive compensation based on
success
Interested: Please send resume to sbianchi@platformq.com

Interactive Marketing Associate, PlatformQ is a post from: Boston SEO

There are several problems if you have twin versions of each content page, one being for viewing and one for printing:
• Link equity gets reduced. This problem is common to all forms of duplicate content. People are going to link to both versions, so the link equity value for your content is effectively split into two pages. A diminished link equity value means your page won’t rank as well in search results.

• Double the maintenance is a hassle. If you have printer- friendly duplicate pages on your site, you already know that anytime you want to make a change one, you have to crawl than your HTML version, they may choose the printer-friendly page particularly if your printer friendly page has received more back links than your HTML version. So basically, you lose control over which version greets first-time visitors coming from a search results page.

You don’t need to have separate text-only pages for printing. The best way to allow easy printing, keep your users happy, and follow SEO best practices is to use CSS. A print style sheet with your CSS can reformat your HTML so that they can be easily printed. Inside your CSS file, you can specify how a page should automatically change when a user chooses to print it. Your CSS can control print formatting such as page width, margins, font substitutions, and which images to print and which to omit. This is much better than duplicating your pages with printer-friendly versions.

If you currently have printer-friendly versions of your pages a separate URLs, I suggest you convert to a print style sheet in an external CSS file. You won’t need the Printer Version on your pages anymore (unless you want to leave them for usability, maybe changing the wording) because whenever a user prints a page using File-> Print of Ctrl+ P, your CSS automatically takes charge and delivers a printable version

When getting rid of printer-friendly pages you no longer need, be careful. Check for inbound links, update any internal links you may have to those pages, and setup a 301 redirect on the removed page. You want to make sure not to hurt your link equity or cause your users any problems when you remove a page.

If you decide you still want to keep your printer-friendly text versions, stop producing the duplicate content problem by putting a no index command in the HTML code to prevent search engines from crawling these pages. You’d probably lose some links, but at least the search engines wouldn’t confuse these pages with your main content.

About Author:
Vahe Arabian is part of the team at Lead Creation and Online Marketing Blogger. His focus is always upon discovering new ways to improve website usability and interactivity, and upon making use of emerging legitimate SEO methods.

Check out his Online Marketing Search Engine Optimisation Blog

SEO Printer Friendly Pages and Link Equity is a post from: Boston SEO

In this article I would be sharing some tips which you should follow when you are using twitter to promote your business (I am assuming that you already have a twitter account).

Purpose of Profile: – You need to decide for what purpose you intend to use this profile. Whether you have to use this profile only for sharing industry news, products information etc or you would also prefer to use it as your Personal Profile.

Customize Profile Background: – Twitter gives you an option to customize your Profile Background so use this space for your advertising purposes by putting your contact details and other important information about your Products.

Observe and then Participate: – Do your research before participating into any conversation. You have to understand what your customers are tweeting about and what things they like to read and share. Everything you tweet won’t be accepted by the community, so spend some of your time in listening others before speaking.

Don’t try to sell: – Twitter is not about selling products its main aim is to share and build relationships. Share useful information about you and your industry with your followers and help when they are in Problems to set yourself as an expert.

Be Human: – Nobody wants to follow a person who tweets only about his products and nothing else. It is fine that you want to promote your brand but you also have to tweet about other things like baseball match, food you like, your opinions about politics etc. It would be easier for others to relate with you if you maintain a balance between your commercial and personal tweets.

Track Performance and Improve: – Keep track of the links you share with your audience. How many clicks they get? Which kinds of links attract more traffic than others? After what kind of tweets you get more followers? What are the trending topics in your business? You can track all these things by used services like Cotweet easily.

Be Authentic and Quick and Have Fun: – You need to be believable before you want to sell anything. To get trusted by other members from community you need to spend time in listening, observing and learning from community. You also have to be really quick to participate in the conversations related to your product as this is the best time to show your knowledge.

About the Author:

Gagandeep Singh works as Internet Marketing Executive for Fortepromo which creates customized promotional products for startups that help them to promote their brand in market. Contact them For more informational on Promotional Items.

7 tips to Promote your campaign on Twitter is a post from: Boston SEO

By Business Coach and Marketing Strategist Jennifer Davey of JJS Coaching

After being a consultant, I transitioned to coach partially because I was seeing too many clients falling into the same trap. These clients would put so much time and energy into bringing in clients, making income, and building their business, but they would end up getting nowhere. I began to wonder why this was happening. Eventually, I figured it out: These clients had tons of energy, but they just weren’t sure WHAT they wanted, which prevented their businesses from having any direction.

If you’re unsure of WHAT you want from your business, you’ll go nowhere. Without knowing WHAT you want, you may fall into the trap of creating a business that is not aligned with your priorities and your values. Without knowing WHAT you want, you won’t be controlling your business; your business will be controlling you.

With your business, how many times have you struggled to obtain what you think you should want, only to find, in the end, that this wasn’t what you wanted at all. How many times have you found that you’d been working without direction, and that your business had produced disappointing results at best?

When you think about your business, do you have plans? Do you have a vision? If you want to get clients, make income, and build your business, it’s essential to have a clear idea of WHAT you want. Otherwise, you’ll just be a rudderless ship floating aimlessly. This is not how to build your dream business.

To get closer to your clear vision for your business, ask yourself these questions:

• Where do you see your business in a year or five years?
• If you want your business to be different from what it is now, how so?
• Personally, what do you want to get out of your business?
• Where are you today with your business?
• How do you want your situation to be different?

If you take a little bit of time to figure out WHAT you want to get out of your business, reaching your goals because so much easier.

Deciding WHAT You Do

If you want to be able to make connections with your target market, it’s important to know WHAT it is that your business does. If you can find a way to deliver a memorable message about your business to your target market, it becomes much easier to get clients.

Have you ever seen a piece of marketing, whether it’s a website, a TV commercial, or a brochure, and thought, “I still have no idea what these people are trying to sell!” The best marketing messages for getting clients are clear. And if you want a clear message, you have to be able to explain WHAT your business does in simple terms.

If you can clarify both WHAT you do and WHAT you want, this will be a very powerful tool for you as you move forward with your business. It will help you to make more income, build your business, and, most importantly, get clients.

About The Author:

Small Business Coach and Marketing Strategist, Jennifer Davey, is the author of “Getting Clients Home Study Program“, the step-by-step guide to getting clients, building your business and making more income.

For a FREE copy of her 14-Step Formula for Getting Clients and Report “What you Need to Know to Be Successful at Getting Clients” visit http://jjscoaching.com/free-marketing-tips

Getting Clients By Knowing What You Want is a post from: Boston SEO

First of all, and probably the most important, SEO is not hard. I’ve come across some guys that tried to make even the most simple of SEO principles appear complex. But quite honestly, SEO is not rocket science. And I should know, I had a Masters Degree at the age of 20 and attended MIT for Aerospace Engineering so it’s pretty hard to pull something like that over on me! Bottom Line, if your SEO guy can’t explain what he is going to do or is doing for you in terms that you can understand, DON’T DO IT! While some advanced SEO concepts may be a little more involved, the majority of what is done for your business is just plain common sense!!

Second, don’t forget the customer. Most SEO professionals that I run into are concerned with one thing, the search engines. And for good reason too! Your business can’t thrive without that much needed traffic! But all that traffic is wasted if your site is not geared towards people. As the saying goes, “People connect with People”. Your customers do not want to interact with a website made for a nebulous spider operating off a multi-farm algorithm, they want to buy from a person! So be careful with on-site optimization. Ask yourself “Would I want to buy from this page?” and change things accordingly!

One last thing you probably won’t hear from the average SEO professional is what you can do WITHOUT paying for their services! Ya, you heard that right, there are some things that don’t require a professional to do that can help your rankings and business! Things like Article Marketing and Social Media don’t require SEO expertise. In fact, you are probably the best person for the job since you know your market better than they do! The idea is that, especially in this economy, if there is something you can do without having to pay extra money for it, go ahead!

SEO Experts can be a great help to your business and can help raise your rankings and increase revenue. But in the end, your business is your business. Make sure that the people you hire provide a way to grow you business, not just another outlet for your hard earned money. I have worked in SEO and internet marketing for years now and have seen plenty of SEO professionals that give less than profitable services. Now for those SEO experts out there, keep these things in mind as you do business. Our goal as a professional community is to grow the businesses of our clients.

About the Author:

Jon Neubauer is the chief SEO Analyst for the SEO Research Center. He recieved his first Masters Degree at the age of 20 and attended MIT for Aerospace Engineering. Jon has since accumulated several years of experience in SEO working with some of the worlds most renowned Internet Marketers and SEO Analysts.

What SEO Experts DON’T Want You to Know! is a post from: Boston SEO