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	<title>Ellington Marketing</title>
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	<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com</link>
	<description>Web Consulting</description>
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		<title>5 Ways a Niche Website Can Make You Money</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/5-ways-a-niche-website-can-make-you-money/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/5-ways-a-niche-website-can-make-you-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:49:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Niche Websites]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[make money online]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mini niche website]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[niche website]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/?p=304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Making money online is a reality for more and more people each day. This is mainly because society has increasingly shifted its focus to incorporate technology in almost every aspect involving communication or economic transactions. With the rise in internet marketing, niche websites have become one of the best known ways to make money using [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-305" title="Niche Website" src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/niche-website.png" alt="Niche Website" width="256" height="256" />Making money online is a reality for more and more people each day. This is mainly because society has increasingly shifted its focus to incorporate technology in almost every aspect involving communication or economic transactions. With the rise in internet marketing, niche websites have become one of the best known ways to make money using the internet. Here are 5 ways a <strong>niche website</strong> can make you money.</p>
<h3>Google Adsense</h3>
<p>Google Adsense is a popular way to make money through a <em>niche website</em>. Google Adsense is easy to use and requires little effort from you. Using the niche topic on your website, Google Adsense places relevant advertisements on your website. When people click on a Google Adsense add you receive a payment from Google. Simple as that.</p>
<h3>Neverblue</h3>
<p>Neverblue is an online advertising company that uses platforms such as a <u>niche website</u> to launch new products and special offers for various corporations worldwide. Neverblue offers its affiliates quick pay and marketing assistance. Neverblue uses CPA, or cost-per-action, marketing. Each time a consumer clicks on a Neverblue add and completes a transaction you receive a payment.</p>
<h3>Clickbank</h3>
<p>Clickbank is another CPA platform that uses the promotion of digital products to assist its affiliates in making money using their niche website. Like other CPA platform companies, Clickbank is free to join. It works through your ability to incorporate one of their millions of digital products into your niche website. Every time a person clicks on the URL link on your website and purchases the digital product you are promoting you earn anywhere from 50 to 75% of the commission on the digital product.</p>
<h3>CPAlead</h3>
<p>This company is based in Nevada and provides web content owners the necessary tools for increasing the revenue that is being generated on a niche website. CPAlead promises advertisements that are focused on the content you are already promoting through your website. They boast the highest paying advertising model on the web and guarantee results. Like other CPA companies membership is free. Unlike the majority of CPA companies, CPAlead allows you to incentive your visitors to fill out an offer or survey. For example, you can offer to give away a piece of your software or a book in exchange for filling out an offer.</p>
<h3>Social Networking</h3>
<p>It’s a proven fact that the more a niche website is accessed, the more popular it becomes. The more popular a niche website becomes the more money it produces. Social networking is a wonderful way to quickly promote your website and draw in more customers.<br />
Unless you&#8217;ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you&#8217;ll know that Facebook is one of the leading social networks. They provide the necessary platform from which to launch your website content. Twitter and LinkedIn are two additional social networks that can be linked to your Google account. Every time you make an update on one of these social networks by sharing a product related to your niche you promote your website and its contents.<br />
Having a niche website can be a great and exciting way to earn an extra income and eventually replace your current income. If you are interested in creating your own niche website, we are more than willing to help you get started. Simply pick out a niche, click this link to check out our <a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/services/mini-niche-site-creation/">Niche Website</a> Plans, and get started down the path to making money online.
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		<item>
		<title>How to Rank Higher in 6 Easy Steps</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/how-to-rank-higher-in-6-easy-steps-raleigh-seo/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/how-to-rank-higher-in-6-easy-steps-raleigh-seo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:50:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Local Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/?p=288</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Website owners the world over know that content is king. What does that mean exactly? Well to put it simply, the content on your website is what search engines find and analyze to determine what your website is all about. A little thing called search engine optimization, or SEO, is the key to ranking higher [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Website owners the world over know that content is king. What does that mean exactly? Well to put it simply, the content on your website is what search engines find and analyze to determine what your website is all about. A little thing called search engine optimization, or SEO, is the key to ranking higher on search engines. If you don&#8217;t know about SEO you&#8217;ll want to talk to the pros at <strong>Raleigh SEO</strong> to make sure your site is optimized.<br />
<span id="more-288"></span><br />
If you&#8217;re looking to rank higher without an SEO professional there are 6 easy steps you can take to improve your website. </p>
<h3>Step 1:</h3>
<p>Tweak titles on your website. Make sure that the main keywords for you website niche are used in the titles throughout the website. This is not difficult and can make a big difference in your website ranking. This is one of the first things that a professional such as <em>Raleigh SEO</em> would advise you to do!</p>
<h3>Step 2:</h3>
<p>Tag the images on your website with the keywords they pertain to. When people use search engines to look for images they search by specific keywords, you could end up with a visitor and a possible customer because someone found one of your keyword tagged images. <u>Raleigh SEO</u> knows lots of tricks for image SEO!</p>
<h3>Step 3:</h3>
<p>Include several related terms in your content. For example if your niche is flower gardening you will want to include floral, bulbs, perennial, annual, garden and many other words that are common to that topic strategically through your content. This is called LSI and is something that Raleigh SEO will be able to explain to you and help you use to optimize your website. </p>
<h3>Step 4:</h3>
<p>Make sure that you have a niche for your website that isn&#8217;t too broad. Instead of Gardening, consider making your niche vegetable gardening in the South. This enables you to make a list of narrow topic keywords but still have plenty of information on the topic. Raleigh SEO can help you choose a great niche and keywords for your website. </p>
<h3>Step 5:</h3>
<p>Visit other websites in your niche and look them up on a search engine to find out how they rank for the keywords that are used. You can then work to surpass those sites in search engine rank. Raleigh SEO will be able to analyze your site and help you make sure that it earns a high PR. </p>
<h3>Step 6:</h3>
<p>Blog on your website! While content pages are good, a regularly updated blog that utilizes your keywords and provides more in depth information on your topic is a great way to improve the SEO of your site. Raleigh SEO knows all about improving the SEO on websites through keywords and blogs.</p>
<p>While you can take these steps yourself it&#8217;s easy to see why you would want an SEO professional who can help you figure out the complexities of making your website climb in rank on the search engines. It can be quite difficult to optimize a website for the search engines without committing the Internet sin of &#8216;keyword stuffing&#8217; which can decrease your rank. Take the time to have a professional from <a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/raleigh-seo/">Raleigh SEO</a> check your website and help you optimize it for a higher search engine ranking. </p>
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		<item>
		<title>Raleigh Website Design and Your Business</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/boost-your-business-presence-through-raleigh-website-design/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/boost-your-business-presence-through-raleigh-website-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:30:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Website Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raleigh web design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raleigh website design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web design company nc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website design raleigh nc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/?p=153</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every business wants to have a fantastic website that not only attracts visitors to the company but also generates a profit. Many companies think they can save money and develop their website themselves; however if you really want a website that can increase your visibility on the Internet, Raleigh Website Design can deliver that result [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Every business wants to have a fantastic website that not only attracts visitors to the company but also generates a profit. Many companies think they can save money and develop their website themselves; however if you really want a website that can increase your visibility on the Internet, <strong>Raleigh Website Design</strong> can deliver that result and more.<span id="more-153"></span></p>
<h3>Goals for your Raleigh Website Design</h3>
<p><em>Raleigh Website Design</em> will consult with you about the goals you have for your website. This way, you will be able to judge how well your website is performing by measuring it against those goals.</p>
<div class="greenbox">
<p>
We believe you should be 100% satisfied with your business on the web. Let us create a <strong>Raleigh website design</strong> for you today.
<br />
<a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/services/website-design/" class="any-btn"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/get_started.png" alt="Learn More" /></a>
</p>
</div><h3>Fast-loading</h3>
<div class="vsmall-framebg zoom-parent lf-right"><noscript>
<div class="gallery-nojs"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/amsi.png" title="Raleigh Website Design Example"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/amsi.png&amp;w=201&amp;h=102&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="Raleigh Website Design Example" /></a></div>
<p></noscript><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/amsi.png&amp;w=201&amp;h=102&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="Raleigh Website Design Example" /><span class="image-zoom"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/amsi.png" rel="prettyphoto" title="Raleigh Website Design Example"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/images/aqimg_hover.png" alt="" /></a></span></div>
<p>Your website needs to load quickly because Internet users aren’t use to having to wait. What’s more, they won’t wait because they think that a company that has a slow-moving website probably isn’t going to live up to their expectations. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Raleigh Website Design</span> will make sure your website is optimized and hosted on a web server that will deliver your site to the end user quickly and error-free.</p>
<h3>Browser Support</h3>
<p>The majority of Internet users are browsing with either Internet Explorer or Firefox, but now that smart phones are becoming more prevalent, so are users browsing with smaller browsers like Safari and Chrome. Raleigh Website Design will program your website to work on all browsers so it will be accessible to as many people as possible.</p>
<h3>Website Security</h3>
<p>This is especially important if you capture credit card information or social security numbers from customers. If you don’t have the proper security, this information is ripe for hackers, so it is essential that you have the best and most current security features and software available.</p>
<h3>Adaptable</h3>
<p>Your website is not a static entity. If your business develops new goals, your website should be changed to reflect the new direction. Raleigh Website Design will design a website that can easily adapt to future needs.</p>
<h3>User-friendly</h3>
<p>Potential customers only become actual customers if they can navigate your website quickly and easily. If they have to hunt for links and information that should be simple to find, they will go somewhere else. Your website should be very easy to use and to navigate. If your site sells products, it should be simple for customers to make a purchase, since that’s how you are going to turn a profit. Make it hard, and your bottom line will greatly suffer.</p>
<h3>Passive Income</h3>
<p>
<div class="vsmall-framebg zoom-parent lf-right"><noscript>
<div class="gallery-nojs"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/dynamic-learning-solutions.png" title="Another Raleigh Web Design Example from our client, Dynamic Learning Solutions"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/dynamic-learning-solutions.png&amp;w=201&amp;h=102&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="Another Raleigh Web Design Example from our client, Dynamic Learning Solutions" /></a></div>
<p></noscript><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/dynamic-learning-solutions.png&amp;w=201&amp;h=102&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="Another Raleigh Web Design Example from our client, Dynamic Learning Solutions" /><span class="image-zoom"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/dynamic-learning-solutions.png" rel="prettyphoto" title="Another Raleigh Web Design Example from our client, Dynamic Learning Solutions"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/images/aqimg_hover.png" alt="" /></a></span></div>
<p>Your website should not be only effective if you are in front of it, actively engaging customers and running your business. Customers should be able to access the various services you offer even if you are not physically at your computer. This way, you can generate an income no matter what you are doing in real life. If your website is not making you money when you are out of the office, Raleigh Website Design will make it so it does.</p>
<h3>Reliable</h3>
<p>Your website needs to meet customers’ needs as close to 100 percent of the time as possible. It needs to fulfill orders without errors and without loss. Raleigh Website Design can ensure that your website is extremely reliable, both for you and your customers.<br />
You have worked hard to establish your business and make it successful. Raleigh Website Design can help you go beyond that level of success so you can meet goals you never thought were possible. Your business deserves it, and so do you.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Raleigh SEO Update</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/raleigh-seo-update/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/raleigh-seo-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:20:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raleigh seo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=43</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While one of my primary services through Ellington Marketing is to help businesses gain exposure on the web through search engine optimization, I’ve also been working to boost the exposure of my own website. When tackling SEO for local businesses, I’ll suggest they go for location terms (such as Raleigh dentist), since people searching for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>While one of my primary services through Ellington Marketing is to help businesses gain exposure on the web through search engine optimization, I’ve also been working to boost the exposure of my own website. When tackling SEO for local businesses, I’ll suggest they go for location terms (such as Raleigh dentist), since people searching for these terms are highly localized and actively looking for a specific service (and as a result are much more inclined to take action once they get to your website – by giving you a call, filling out a contact form, or purchasing something off of your online store).<span id="more-43"></span></p>
<p>Although I can serve businesses regardless of their location, Raleigh offers quite a few benefits for me as a new business. For one, its location is convenient for meeting with fellow Raleigh business owners. There’s also a substantial amount of monthly traffic for Raleigh SEO related keywords. That’s why I’ve been working on boosting my own website’s ranking on Google for these keywords.</p>
<p>Here’s my initial success one month in:</p>
<div class="small-framebg zoom-parent "><noscript>
<div class="gallery-nojs"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/raleigh-seo-marketing.png" title="raleigh seo"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/raleigh-seo-marketing.png&amp;w=281&amp;h=145&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="raleigh seo" /></a></div>
<p></noscript><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/lib/custom/timthumb.php?src=http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/raleigh-seo-marketing.png&amp;w=281&amp;h=145&amp;zc=1&amp;q=100" alt="raleigh seo" /><span class="image-zoom"><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/raleigh-seo-marketing.png" rel="prettyphoto" title="raleigh seo"><img src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/themes/aquitaine/images/aqimg_hover.png" alt="" /></a></span></div>
<p>As you can see, Ellington Marketing stands at number 1 in organic search results for the keyword “raleigh seo marketing.” I haven’t been pursuing my own SEO campaign as aggressively as I do for my clients, but I am glad to see results so soon.</p>
<p>Search engines take anywhere from four to six weeks to re-index their search terms. Gaining a significant ranking for competitive keywords can be very challenging if you’ve got a new domain name and there are other much older and much more established websites holding down page one. As you can see though, it can be done.</p>
<p>If you’re looking to gain page one rankings for your business, please give me a call at 919-636-9225 or send me an email at zack@ellingtonmarketing.com so we can work out a marketing plan for your own business. Visibility and success go hand in hand, take that step today.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Your Business Needs Reviews</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/your-business-needs-reviews/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/your-business-needs-reviews/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:53:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Local Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=37</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s amazing just how much the internet has impacted (and continues to impact) our lives.  When was the last time you blindly walked into a business and purchased an item or service without researching it online beforehand?  It&#8217;s probably been a while.  That&#8217;s the same case for your potential clients.  Increasingly, people are researching your [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s amazing just how much the internet has impacted (and continues to impact) our lives.  When was the last time you blindly walked into a business and purchased an item or service <strong>without</strong> researching it online beforehand?  It&#8217;s probably been a while.  That&#8217;s the same case for your potential clients.  Increasingly, people are researching your business, your competitors, and most importantly, <em>what others have to say about you</em>.<span id="more-37"></span></p>
<p>Google has noticed this trend and have made it easier to searchers to find and leave reviews for businesses through their <a href="http://www.google.com/places/">Google Places</a> service.  A review goes a long way toward convincing a potential client to pick up the phone and give you a call (I talk about this further in my <a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/raleigh-seo/">Raleigh SEO</a> post).</p>
<p>That&#8217;s why, as a business owner, you should encourage your clients to leave you a review on Google Places (or Yelp, Insider Pages, Angie&#8217;s List, etc.) at every opportunity.  The true value of these reviews <strong>will only grow</strong> as online searches for local services continues to increase with the propagation of mobile web devices and the visibility of Google Places listing in search results pages.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t have an optimized Google Places page yet?  Don&#8217;t fret.  Give me a call and I&#8217;ll be more than happy to talk with you about what you need to do.</p>
<p>Zack<br />
919-636-9225
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<h4>Related Searches:</h4>
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<li><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/your-business-needs-reviews/" title="ellington marketing llc review">ellington marketing llc review</a></li>
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		<title>The Secret to Local Search</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/the-secret-to-local-search/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/the-secret-to-local-search/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:02:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Local Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Places]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I believe in the coming months that local businesses will see a revolution in how their business is represented on the web.  Search engine giant, Google, has made several changes over the past year to their Google Places service.  For those of you who haven&#8217;t yet heard of Google Places, it&#8217;s a new way of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I believe in the coming months that local businesses will see a revolution in how their business is represented on the web.  Search engine giant, <a href="http://google.com">Google</a>, has made several changes over the past year to their <a href="http://www.google.com/places/">Google Places</a> service.  For those of you who haven&#8217;t yet heard of Google Places, it&#8217;s a new way of helping searchers find businesses near their area and it has slowly taken over the organic search results pages for several keywords.<span id="more-30"></span></p>
<p>Take &#8220;Raleigh Landscapers&#8221; for example.</p>
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<p>The Google algorithm has decided that when the word &#8216;landscapers&#8217; is appended to a location, &#8220;Raleigh&#8221; in this instance, it has decided to show almost an entire page of Google Places listings for businesses in the Raleigh area.  Places listings are denoted by the red icon that appears below the page title for each listing.  I go over this in more detail in my <a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/raleigh-seo/">Raleigh SEO</a> post.</p>
<p>What does this mean for your business?  Businesses that offer services to specific geographic regions will probably find that their traffic from Google has dwindled unless they have created a Places listing.  Businesses that once dominated the front page for regional keywords have now been pushed to page 2 as Google Places takes up ever-larger positions within the search results pages.</p>
<p>However, it&#8217;s not enough to create a Places listing.  You may have noticed that these businesses are positioned A through G.  You can bet there are quite a few more landscapers in the Raleigh area than these that are listed, but Google has decided that these businesses are the most relevant.  How is that determined?</p>
<p>Google Places has gone through quite a few makeovers since its introduction, however all of these changes indicate that Places listings are increasingly ranked according to the same ranking algorithm for organic search results.</p>
<p>So, if you want your business to appear on the first page of the Google Places listings, you&#8217;ll need to make sure your website is properly configured for the keyword you are going after in addition to having a properly configured Places listing.  That means having on-site SEO and a strong marketing campaign to build your website&#8217;s authority through backlinks, articles, news releases, and geo-tagged videos.</p>
<p>In addition to these tradition SEO factors, I&#8217;ve noticed that a places ranking is also influenced through your business&#8217;s online footprint.  You need a consistent identity across multiple local citation websites including Yelp and InsiderPages.  Having customer reviews doesn&#8217;t hurt either.  If you&#8217;re wanting a top spot though, you&#8217;ll have to take a few more steps.</p>
<p>Places listings include areas for you to include relevant images of your business and services, videos, and categories.  Don&#8217;t ignore these fields.  In addition to give potential clients a better idea of what you offer, you stand to gain ranking in Places listings also.</p>
<p>If you are looking to set up a Google Places account, feel free to <a href="mailto:zack@ellingtonmarketing.com">contact me</a> before jumping in.  There are several steps you need to complete before you even create your Places listing and you run a risk of being inadvertently punished by Google if you skip them.   First page listings for Google Places is definitely attainable regardless of the services you offer or your location.</p>
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		<title>4 Things Your Business Website Should Have</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/4-things-your-business-website-should-have/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/4-things-your-business-website-should-have/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:40:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[call to action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=11</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While this post barely scratches the surface of optimizations you should make to your website, these 5 things are major factors that can greatly influence the effectiveness and profitability of your business online. If your website is lacking in any of these factors, you are leaving money on the table. With that said, let&#8217;s take a look [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>While this post barely scratches the surface of optimizations you should make to your website, these 5 things are major factors that can greatly influence the effectiveness and profitability of your business online. If your website is lacking in any of these factors, <strong>you are leaving money on the table. </strong>With that said, let&#8217;s take a look at these 5 critical features to a successful business website.<span id="more-11"></span></p>
<h3>1. Quality Content</h3>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-23" title="articles" src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/articles.png" alt="" width="96" height="96" />When a visitor arrives at your site, you want to give them exactly what they are looking for.  All too often, businesses lose potential customers because they arrive on the page and click &#8216;Back&#8217; in frustration because the solution they are after isn&#8217;t visible.  Make sure your pages are well written, contain useful information, and are over 1,000 words in length on average.  While there are many other factors that impact how a website is ranked in search engines and its ability to convert visitors into paying customers, it&#8217;s important to opt for clear, concise content over techniques that might give you a short-lived boost in rankings at the cost of usability.</p>
<h3>2. Search Engine Optimization</h3>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-24" title="seo" src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/seo.png" alt="" width="64" height="64" />I cannot stress enough how vitally important it is for local businesses to develop a <strong>long-term SEO strategy</strong> for their website.  SEO is the process of optimizing your site so that it ultimately ranks well for high converting keywords (keywords that result in the most calls/customers).  If you were to search &#8216;<em>raleigh dentists</em>&#8216; in Google, for example, you can see the paid listings as well as the organic local results.</p>
<p>In cases where it can cost upwards of $9 per click on paid advertising in Google search results, <strong>investing in SEO  and ranking well organically is a cost-effective measure</strong> (mainly because you don&#8217;t have to pay Google for every click you receive).  However, SEO cannot be a one-off process.  To continually make improvements, or even maintain rankings in search engines, you have to be taking measures to ensure your website is seen by Google as the highest authority website in its field on a monthly (or even weekly) basis.  The truth is, if you aren&#8217;t actively pursuing SEO right now, especially if you aren&#8217;t on the first page for your target keywords, <strong>you are missing out</strong> on an increasing market of potential clients who look for services online rather than through conventional methods.</p>
<h3>3. Call to Action</h3>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-25" title="calltoaction" src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/calltoaction.png" alt="" width="128" height="128" />So your business website is on the first page of Google for several lucrative keywords, and your pages are filled with beautifully written content that answers visitor questions,<strong> is your phone ringing?</strong>  I can promise you it won&#8217;t be ringing as much as it should be unless you <strong>encourage your visitors to take action</strong>.  It can be as simple as asking them to enter their email address to join your monthly newsletter or listing a phone number for them to call for more information.  Give your visitors a next step, make it obviously clear for them what to do next.</p>
<p>For example, if you are a dentist that specializes in veneers, you should already have a quality article written to answer several common questions about veneers, such as <em>longevity</em>, <em>affordability</em>, etc.  Any visitors to this page are definitely interested in veneers and you should provide them with that next step.  Add a &#8216;Call For More Information&#8217; button below the article, or offer a free &#8220;5 Simple Tips to a Better Smile&#8221; eBook for joining your newsletter.  The key is having a well defined goal for your visitors, and creating a &#8216;funnel&#8217; through which <strong>you can transform these visitors into clients calling your phone</strong>.</p>
<h3>4. Social Media Integration</h3>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-22" title="facebook" src="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/facebook.png" alt="" width="77" height="77" />The businesses I investigate generally go about <strong>Social Media</strong> the wrong way if they pursue it at all.  Interactive websites like <a href="http://facebook.com">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://plus.google.com">Google Plus</a>, and <a href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a>, offer a truly remarkable way for businesses to connect with their clients on a personal level, <strong>turning one-time clients into regular customers</strong>.  And just what is the &#8216;right&#8217; way to go about social media?</p>
<p>Take a recent client&#8217;s Social Media presence that I manage for example.  Heather Smith has a conventional web presence through her website, <a href="http://heatherlanephotography.com">Heather Lane Photography</a>.  However, if you take a look at the page, you&#8217;ll notice links to her Facebook and Twitter profiles featured in her right navigation.  When you visit her <a href="http://www.facebook.com/HeatherLanePhotography?sk=wall">Facebook Fan Page</a>, you&#8217;ll see that she is able to reach out on a much more personal level with her clients.  Past clients are able to give feedback and potential clients are able to ask her questions in a way that is<strong> much more accessible</strong> for some than a conventional website.</p>
<p>While someone may keep up with her work through her main website, her fans of her Facebook page are much more likely to be reminded of her services (and be easily alerted to any specials she may be running).  Similarly to a newsletter, any update she posts to her Fan Page is visible to her hundreds of fans at the click of a button.</p>
<h3>Motivated Yet?</h3>
<p>If you&#8217;ve paid attention to number 3 in my post, you&#8217;ll realize that this is a Call to Action.  I urge you to take action and <strong>get your website up to date with these factors</strong>.  You might not know the first thing about websites or SEO and that&#8217;s ok.  It just so happens that I can implement all 4 of these aspects into your business website and<strong> help you maximize the profitability of your website</strong>.  I encourage you to <strong>click the button below</strong> to contact me and tell me a little about your business (and your website!) and I can transform your website into an online sales tool that works for you 24/7, getting you more clients and making your phone ring.  Take action right now and <strong>boost your sales</strong>.<br />
<a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/contact/">Get Started Today!</a></p>
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		<title>Site Authority in Post-Panda Google</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/site-authority-in-post-panda-google/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/site-authority-in-post-panda-google/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:53:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google panda update]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google plus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raleigh seo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[site authority]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=4</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you haven&#8217;t been keeping up with the world&#8217;s most widely used search engine, and I wouldn&#8217;t expect you to, Google has released a series of algorithm changes code-named the Panda or Farmer Update.  This set of changes continues Google&#8217;s trend of trying to eliminate spammy auto-generated content that plagues much of the web from [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you haven&#8217;t been keeping up with the world&#8217;s most widely used search engine, and I wouldn&#8217;t expect you to, Google has released a series of algorithm changes code-named the <a href="http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2080631/Google-Quietly-Launches-Panda-Update-Version-2.2">Panda or Farmer Update</a>.  This set of changes continues Google&#8217;s trend of trying to eliminate spammy auto-generated content that plagues much of the web from appearing in its search engine.<span id="more-4"></span></p>
<p>However, there seems to be a larger trend that I believe Google will continue to follow, a concept known as Site Authority.  Site Authority is just as hard to define as Page Rank without wading into pseudo-doublespeak that pervades a lot of the SEO community.  It is still very worthwhile to consider how Google might define a website&#8217;s Authority and what that means for that website&#8217;s rankings in the natural search results of Google.</p>
<p>How do you improve your site authority and boost your natural rankings in Google?  Here&#8217;s my best guess:</p>
<h3>Longer Article Length</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s been a trend for many article writers to pump out 350 word garbage with 5 to 20% keyword density for the keyword they are trying to rank.  Google wants to provide its searchers with comprehensive and well-written material, not short blurbs.  Start making your long articles around 1000 words or more.  The days of ranking with keyword stuffed, duplicated, or spun content are numbered.  Short posts are still fine and natural (such as a short website update), but if you are trying to build your website&#8217;s authority, you&#8217;ve gotta have a few pages of longer content.</p>
<h3>Backlinks from High Authority Sites</h3>
<p>It&#8217;s no secret that websites linking back to your on website can greatly impact your search engine rankings.  However, if you had to choose between a million low authority backlinks and significantly fewer backlinks from high page-rank sites, I would go with the higher page rank.  Links from low authority sites are still important and natural-looking, but it is important that these backlinks are balanced with a good mixture of high PR sites.  Even though .gov and .edu links carry less weight, they typically are associated with websites that are of higher authority anyway, and merit the effort in gaining them.</p>
<h3>Social Integration</h3>
<p>The announcement of <a href="https://plus.google.com/up/start/?sw=1&amp;type=st">Google Plus</a> and the ease with which Facebook Fan Pages can gain rankings within Google&#8217;s search results suggests that social media will only play a larger role in the search giant&#8217;s future.  Ignoring the other benefits of having your business represented on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, if you start preparing now, I feel that you will be reaping the benefits down the road when Google makes further changes to their algorithm.</p>
<p>These are just a few of the changes after Google&#8217;s Panda update that I have noticed and integrated in my SEO services.  It&#8217;s very important to keep up to date with search engine trends, especially with Google, due to their overwhelming influence on how the world navigates the web.  Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question in the comments section below.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
<h4>Related Searches:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/site-authority-in-post-panda-google/" title="site authority">site authority</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ellingtonmarketing.com/site-authority-in-post-panda-google/" title="how do you define website authority">how do you define website authority</a></li>
</ul>
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		<title>Blog Launch</title>
		<link>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog-launch/</link>
		<comments>http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog-launch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ellington marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ellingtonmarketing.com/blog/?p=8</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve decided to set up a blog so that I can share information about the state of the web, focusing primarily on how businesses can effectively present themselves online.  To start, I&#8217;ll talk a bit about the concept of a blog and why you should also integrate some form of blog within your own website. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve decided to set up a blog so that I can share information about the state of the web, focusing primarily on how businesses can effectively present themselves online.  To start, I&#8217;ll talk a bit about the concept of a blog and why you should also integrate some form of blog within your own website.<span id="more-8"></span></p>
<p>Blogs began as a simple way for internet users to publicly share their online thoughts as they would a diary or journal.  As the average internet speed per household increased, many websites, including blogs, began to incorporate various forms of multimedia, including images, audio, and eventually streaming video via free video sharing sites such as <a href="http://youtube.com">YouTube</a>.</p>
<p>While a blog may not seem like the best fit for your business at first, you can probably find some merit to having it.  Firstly, visitors to your business&#8217;s website, at least some of them, like to know the personality behind the company.  This can be very powerful and really helps people connect with what you have to offer.</p>
<p>Another, potentially more practical, reason for adding a blog to your website is because search engines love fresh content.  The more often your website changes and has new, quality content added to it, the more Google, Bing, and Yahoo&#8217;s respective spiders will visit and list your new content.  As the recent Panda Update to Google&#8217;s algorithm has shown, just because your site has more age than your competitors does not mean that it will continue to carry as much in search engine rankings as it did previously.</p>
<p>The point is, if you don&#8217;t have a blog system integrated within your website, you are leaving money on the table.  Fresh content is an increasingly valued commodity in the Google-dominated web, and if you want to maintain or improve your website&#8217;s authority, and rankings, within the search results of Google and other search engines, you&#8217;ll need to give your online presence a more personal touch.</p>
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