Jack is Here, asp.net findings

As a software engineer, I focus on .NET, especially asp.net, C#, WCF and so on, and I am also very interested in Search Engine Optimization.

Entries Tagged ‘search’

Guide To A Successful Career In Search Engine Marketing

Introduction to SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Search engines have become an integrated part of our lives. In today’s world, ‘being online’ is not an option. In US alone, around 7 billion searches are being made every month. Travel, finance, entertainment, education, health or ecommerce, search engines are being used to find information, products and services.

Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the process of marketing a website via search engines. SEM strategies primarily consist of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.

SEO is to improve the natural or organic search engine ranking process. Web site search engine ranking of various parameters and each search engine's ranking algorithm has its own different swebites. However, a common, the most important parameter is the ranking of a site's credibility by the quality and its links to other sites to determine the amount. Pay Per Click, Internet advertising advertisers pay per click visitors make the agreed amount of advertising on the search engine type. It is also known as cost per click (CPC) paid placement and search engine advertising, the cost.

SEM Industry

According to SEMPO, the search engine marketing industry, a study is in the $ 945 million, in North America, 2006. Is expected to be in 2011 more than 180 billion U.S. dollars industry. Moreover, the Education industry grew significantly in 2006 compared to 2005, when the scale of less than 60 billion yuan. According to the same studies, and search engine optimization is the most popular form of scanning electron microscopy, accounting for about 10% of total expenditure. However, the paid advertising accounted for 85 scanning electron microscope, the total expenditure% in 2006.

Over the last few years, the importance and the acceptance of SEM has grown significantly. According to a survey by SEMPO, of all the respondents, more than 50% said that Senior Management at their companies are ‘very involved’ in their SEM program. Sales and Brand awareness were the two major objectives behind all SEM programs.

SEM Job Profiles

Growth in the SEM industry has created a strong demand for experienced and talented Search Engine Marketing professionals. This demand is expected to grow even faster in the coming years with lots of new opportunities for existing and budding Search Engine Marketers.

The SEM industry offers various kinds of job roles for its professionals. Given that the industry is still evolving, these job roles are also changing and new roles are being created with new initiatives. For instance, online PR (Public Relations) has gained significant growth over the last year and so is the need for PR writers and marketers.

An SEM professional may for worker to work in-house or by an agency. For example, e-commerce companies like eBay, Google, Yahoo hiring SEM professionals for their own products and services for all. However, agencies like iProspect hire people to their clients for various SEM functions are used. We can also work as a freelancer. Since every activity of an SEM job can be done online, many freelance opportunities exist for independent SEM professionals. Below you will find a list of some of the most important roles in the work of the SEM industry. Please note that depending on the size of the organization, some of these functions can be combined into a single role.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

? VP/Director, SEO
? SEO Manager
? SEO Team Lead
? SEO Executive (Link Building, Keyword Research etc)
? Content Writer and Editor
? Account Manager (for organizations who serve multiple clients)

PPC (Pay Per Click)

? Campaign Executive
? Campaign Manager
? Ad Writer or Copywriter
? Account Manager (as above)

Besides the above mentioned roles, organizations also hire technical professionals and graphic designers for building tools and technologies for effective SEM implementation and service.

SEM Salaries

There are no official data can pay by scanning electron microscopy professionals, professional scanning electron microscopy for the United States generally range from 3 to the Secretary for Education and Manpower, a vice president of exeuctive experience level and location of the different positions of year 25 million dollars salary income. In India 120,000 rupees (about 2,500 U.S. dollars) to provide a similar role within the framework of 30,00,000 rupees (about $ 65,000 of wages) per annum.

In-house professionals demand higher salaries than professions working in an SEM agency. The key reason behind this salary difference is that in-house professionals possess stronger domain knowledge compared to an agency professional and thus the role performed by an in-house professional is more critical.

Required Skill Sets

To be a successful SEM professional, one needs a variety of skill sets. Moreover, the skill sets requirement changes with time as per the changing needs of the dynamic SEM industry. Find below the details about the key skills required by an SEM professional.

General Skills

? Strong quantitative and analytical ability
? Excellent communication skills (particularly writing skills)
? Constant urge for learning (industry is dynamic and one needs to stay abreast of the best practices)

Technical Skills

? Sound understanding of Computers, Internet, Email and HTML skills

? SEO techniques – both “do’s and don’ts”

? PPC techniques including specific knowledge about programs such as Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Advertising

? Sound understanding of tools such as Word Tracker, Google Keyword Suggestion & Traffic Estimator, Google Toolbar, Google Analytics, HTML Editors and FTP Softwares

? Sound understanding of relevant programming and scripting languages such as PHP, ASP, XML and CSS (for technical positions)

Sales & Marketing Skills

? Ability to understand the customer and the market
? Customer Relationship Management
? Ability to think creatively & bring innovation to the marketing approach

Unlike the software industry where lots of options such as certification exams exist for one to assess his skills, the SEM industry offers limited avenues for skills assessment. Given the newness of the industry, it is justified. However, few options still exist for SEM skills assessment. Find below few such options:

SEM Certifications

? Google Advertising Professional Certification
? Yahoo Certified Ambassador

SEM Quizzes

? OM Careers SEM Quiz
? W3schools HTML Quiz

SEM Learning Resources

Success in Search Engine Marketing requires both learning and practice. The key element of learning in the SEM industry is to be abreast of latest best practices. Therefore, one needs to have a constant urge to learn in order to be a successful Search Engine Marketer. An SEM professional has numerous options to learn SEM concepts and best practices. However, it is critical that one chooses appropriate options for continuous learning. Find below a list of selected learning options.

Discussion Forums – Given the dynamic nature of the SEM industry, participation in discussion forums is considered the best approach to be abreast of latest happenings. Below is a list of some of the popular SEM discussion forums.

? SEO Chat
? Search Engine Watch
? Web Master World

Blogs – Blogs are another powerful source of continuous learning. Find below some of the blogs which publish valuable information about SEM concepts including latest revisions and trends.

? Google Adwords Blog
? Yahoo Search Marketing Blog
? Matt Cutts Blog
? SearchEngineLand

Articles and Tutorials – Some people do not want to go through a complete training or a course. However, they are interested in a crash course or a quick revision. Find below some of the popular SEM articles and tutorials written by SEM experts.

? SEMPO Learning Center
? Beginners Guide to SEO by SEOmoz
? Google Webmaster Guidelines

Online training – training or during the scanning process provides a structured approach to learning skills, and provide scanning electron microscopy, especially for beginners a good start. However, are responsible for will continue to learn about the latest trends. A self-learning online training provided from any place and at any time to facilitate learning and flexible learning, and classroom training. The following have found a valuable scanning electron microscopy a list of online training programs.

? SEMPO Institute
? Adwords Learning Center
? Yahoo Search Marketing (click on ‘Find out How Sponsored Search Works.’)
? OM Careers SEM Game
? DMA Training Program

Classroom Trainings – Although classroom based training has some disadvantages over an online training program, the fixed schedule of the classroom training offers a more powerful structure (one’s learning does not depend on one’s mood) to ensure the learning it promises. Find below a list of some of the recognized classroom based trainings.

? SEOToolSet
? High Rankings Seminars
? Search Engine Workshops

Newsletters – Newsletters are a great way to keep oneself informed about the latest happenings in the SEM world. Find below some of the popular and valuable SEM newsletters.

? Search Engine Guide
? SearchDay
? ClickZ News

Professional Organizations – By being part of reputed SEM organizations like SEMPO , one can stay up to date about latest happenings in the SEM industry. Moreoever, such memberships offer exceptional opportunity to network with industry experts. Find below some of the reputed Search Engine Marketing professional organizations.

? SEMPO
? SEOPros

Conferences – Participation in SEM conferences is another great opportunity for training & development, directly from the industry experts. Find below some of the prestigious Search Engine Marketing conferences.

? Search Engine Strategies
? WebmasterWorld Pubcon
? ad:tech

SEM Interviews

Search Engine Marketing is both a Science and an Art. The selection process for SEM professionals may involve a single interview, multiple rounds of interviews or a combination of written test and an interview. A candidate is most likely to be tested on both general and technical skills, as mentioned above. Many organizations first conduct an aptitude test and then follow it up with a technical interview.

Please understand that it is possible that the person that you do not know more than just interviewing a few SEM slogans. The reason they are considering you for a position is that they need your know-how, and you might be the first to bring the experitse. The Company may not be fully convinced about the potential of SEM for them like this, and you can convince them through the interview process. It is important that before you go for the conversation, the website of your potential employer and the products / services that they offer study.

Some of the questions commonly asked in an SEM interview are:

1. What are the advantages of SEO over PPC?
2. What is Web Analytics?
3. How do you optimize a dynamic web page?
4. What is black hat SEO?
5. List 5 important website elements for SEO.
6. Mention 3 popular PR, Directory and Article submission sites.
7. List 5 most common SEO incompatible issues found on most websites.
8. What are the most common ROI metrics in Search Engine Marketing?
9. What is a landing page?
10. How do you perform keyword research?

Visit OM Careers SEM Interview section for a comprehensive list of SEM interview questions.

SEM Jobs Resources

The growing SEM industry has created lots of new jobs and the demand for SEM professionals is going to increase continuously at least for next couple of years. Find below a list of some of the popular job sites for SEM.

? SEM Jobs at SEMPO
? SEO Jobs in USA
? SEO Consultants
? GetAFreelancer (freelancing SEO jobs)

Great Search Engine Ranking Without Spending Money

If you’re just starting out building your own business or
personal web site and have little or no budget, you can still
get high search engine ranking. You can do what the
professionals do. You’ll simply be exchanging the money you
would have spent for time doing research and then implementing
the changes and steps it takes to get your site ranked.

First of all, I’ll tell you a little secret that you generally
don’t hear from people who own web design firms. A visually
stunning site is not always necessary. Now, before you go
slapping up a pink and orange site with purple text, let me
explain. You can have a good, clean design without all the bells
and whistles. The important thing is to make clear what your
business provides and make your site easy to navigate.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, there is a more
important aspect of your site design that will help you rank
higher in the search engines: the structure. By structure I mean
the code behind the site whether it is html or xml or database
driven code such as php or asp.

CSS and Validation

Some design firms have found that sites created with cascading
style sheets (css) get better search engine ranking. A tool you
can use to check if your code is up to current standards is the
validator offered by W3C (http://validator.w3.org/). W3C also
offers a tutorial on creating cascading style sheets:

http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_intro.asp

Keywords

Once you have your structure in place, you need to determine
what the most effective keywords are for your site. This is not
as easy as it sounds. If you choose common keywords such as
“landscaping” or “jewelry” you will be competing against
hundreds of thousands of other businesses. They trick is to
choose a keyword that is less popular, but still has thousands
of searches per month. I found a tool that tells you how many
searches have been performed on Google and Overture for the
keywords you enter. It also offers suggestions for alternate
keywords to use. The best part is that there is a free version
available here: http://www.thedowser.com/.

Do not load the entire site the next one or two keyword phrases the point of your site does not make sense, and your visitors. Also, do not "junk mail", by adding a similar keywords and top or bottom of the page again and again the search engines. This will allow you to quickly launch a search engine, you can say "Spam is bad behavior." There is a better way to use these keywords will help to obtain new business, I will in a minute you more.

Sitemaps and Web bots

All the major search engines have

Advertising

Finally, once you have your place in the structure, and is ready to promote your site, there has been an interesting part – announce your website. A small budget, you can also program like Google AdWords traffic to your website (https: / / adwords.google.com /). Some hosting companies offer free coupons Google or Overture when you host with them. Now that you have identified the best keywords for your site, asking them for less money, more traffic.

I have one last tidbit to share, which will help you with your rankings. Search engines like to link to other high-ranking websites sites, as well as lots of other related sites. This means that if you let your site in the United States are listed in the CNN article, you will directly to the top, baby! I know that this is not always realistic, but your site will begin running ads for other sites can be considered linked to you.

Finally, if all this work makes your head spin and you think the
time you’ll spend learning and implementing all these tips would
be better spent earning money for your business, then seek out a
professional. There is an endless supply of web design and
search engine optimization firms out there. Just understand
three things:

1. You usually get what you pay for.
2. You must always,
always, always check references.
3. You should know exactly
what you are getting for the price you’re paying.

It is not necessary to pay for a great search engine ranking,
but it does take lots of time and effort. If you’re willing to
put in the time, it will eventually pay off in more leads and
sales. Good luck to you!

Getting Indexed by Search Engines

Cases, articles, guides, tutorials, and get search engines to index read a lot of other material on search engine optimization SEO and basic to create your site after the most important part of its contents ideal.

What will you do after you have uploaded the web pages, optimizes the content and your meta tags? First steps in SERPs, of course listings! Here is what was told to index web pages:

Submitting to Search Engines
Many say they will submit your home page on search engines is just a waste of time. Well, if you try to submit to all search engines, then it really is just a waste of your time. You can still do this method, but my advice is to refer only to what webmasters call

You can still get your web pages indexed without having to do this method. There are other ways, which I think are much better, that can help you get your site indexed in SERPs.

The Power of Social Bookmarking
If you have not heard or Digg.com StumbleUpon.com then you are far behind in search engine optimization. These are examples of social bookmarking sites that are similar to normal bookmark tool we have in the menu bar our browsers. The difference between the normal bookmarking and social bookmarking are:

* you can access your bookmarks on any computer you use just by registering an account;
* and share your bookmarked sites/links with other members

Why Should I Submit to Social Bookmarking Sites?
Here are the reasons I’ve learned why I submit to social bookmarking sites:

1. For a quick index – high traffic social bookmarking sites are visited more frequently by search engines. If you submit your site, the higher the chance you have always indicated.
2.For traffic – people love interesting topics, important news, humor and tutorials.
3.Increase more traffic – posts on Digg, and other social bookmarking sites, also appears in SERPs, giving you a higher chance of visibility!

Social Networking Sites
Did you like Facebook or Twitter? These are social networking sites where you can submit your links. Is not that great? Now the key to the successful use of social networking sites is is you have to have many friends. Mixing with other members, and together with other groups, its shares for all visible and active, not just log into your account to send a link. This link building technique is very useful when you do it right.

I find social bookmarking and networking as a part of link building technique that you can both use for work and have fun at the same time. Because you get to meet other webmasters doing link building of their own, you can exchange SEO tips and secrets, and the normal internet users you can interact with while doing work. And best of all you can even earn extra income by offering link building services to companies/sites that needs help with their search engine rankings.

Sitemaps
There are two types of sitemaps we can use, the XML and HTML sitemaps.

.XML Sitemap – This sitemap is used to inform search engines of pages that are available for crawling in a website.

.HTML Sitemap – This sitemap is for your visitors. It is used as a guide/navigation for visitors who are looking for a specific page, product or service you might be offering.

Now, you’ll find these search engine optimization techniques quite easy to learn and do. Submitting your site or blog to the big three search engines can take you at least five minutes to do, social bookmarking and networking can be time consuming but it’s all worth it, and submitting sitemaps to search engines is a must-do if you want to get all your web pages indexed.

Free Website Tools

Once determined, you can build a website, there is much to help around your work will be pleased to know that many free website tools. To find these little one will be able to simply run two major search engines. But first, you can use it, you need to know the Web can help in any kind of tool site.

Before you begin, you are even in your site, you will find that you have a few free web hosting option. This is the ideal, if you only plan to build a very simple or purely personal website. You can also find some free text editor, to help build your website.

Those of you eager to learn coding, such as HTML or CSS, should search for free online tutorials. You’ll come across much good, easy-to-understand online instruction, and the knowledge you gain will serve you well when building your site.

You’ll also need to consider the appearance of your site. If you don’t want to design your web site from scratch, choose one of the numerous free templates on offer. And, if you don’t have a logo, or if you need extra pictures, make use of free clip art to help create an attractive and professional look.

Perhaps you feel your graphics and photos need improving or editing? No problem … you’ll discover plenty of free image editing tools to choose from, many of them extremely easy-to-use.

The content of the website consists of text, graphics, and – sometimes – video. Take advantage of achieving the excellent free online encyclopaedia of interesting and accurate text. And in order to perk your site a bit, look for the famous free video sites for free and get a proper video clips or video tutorial.

Do you plan to sell things on the site – hard products, digital products or services? Then, you will find the collection of visitors to the payment of money of liberty. You will encounter a tool that allows freedom of movement of the shopping cart, and a button, although the actual payment will be collected to the measures.

The actual construction of your site is to obtain only a small part of the online business. You also need to consider the market to achieve your site through the search engine optimization methods, a good search engine rankings. Do not worry! Again, there are a large number of free tools to help solve your helping hand.

First of all, when writing a web page, the ideal is a hot topic for people interested in writing, so start looking for free tools, will provide this information. Does not that also good money to write to make a profit – and popular – subject? But, how do you know which theme is profitable? Yes, yes, you will find a free tool for your work!

Building incoming links to your site is an important part of search engine optimization, so make use of free online tools which help you with this task. Once you’ve managed to achieve a few incoming links, you’ll want to check the Page Rank of your site, and analyze your site, using yet more free tools.

Who knows, once you’ve become an experienced webmaster and have experimented with all these tools, you may even come up with ideas for making your own free website tools – an excellent way of building your site’s reputation!

Can you Build an Online Home Business Without a Monetary Investment?

You see it all the time: Ads such as, “FREE HOME BUSINESS”, “MAKE A PROFIT WITH NO COST TO YOU”, etc. You see these claims in emails and on websites all over the Internet. You see them in your local newspaper and in magazines. Are all these ads just a bunch of lies, or can you really build a home business without a monetary investment? I believe the answer to this depends on a couple of different factors. 1) Is the person seriously trying to build the business and, 2) What are the resources being used to build it.

Let us look at the first element – you! (No, I do not bully you.) What type of person can build an investment business without any money? He will be a self-starter. There will be no boss looking at his shoulders, to ensure that this work is being done. He also must have specialized and successful firm commitment. Attempt to establish such a business it takes time and patience. Sitting in front of the computer may have a website or will be submitted in the near future of advertising more than an hour. He must have "stickability". He must decide if he should strive to establish and stick to it. He could not jump from one "sure thing" to another.

The second factor we should look at is the resources being used. Building an online business using free resources can be a very time consuming experience. I have read several testimonials from people who have done it, so I know it is possible. Success mainly boils down to this: having the time to do the research on the many free online resources, and then doing the necessary work required in putting them to good use. Let’s take a look at a few of these free resources and see if they really work.

The Internet offers a wide variety of free resources available to a person trying to build an online business. From free web hosting & html tutorials, to free affiliate programs & advice (some good and some bad).

Websites:

If you are going to have on online business, you are going to need a website. Various companies offer free web hosting. Normally in exchange for this service, you will have to agree to some type of advertising on your site. Many of these sites will also have certain restrictions of what you can and cannot do with your site.

Many of these same free web-hosting companies will also offer a website builder. These WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors are easy to use but are limited in what you can do with them. They do allow you to get a website up and running without learning html.

HTML: Learning HTML at first will seem almost impossible. What did you think the first time you looked at the source for a webpage? My first thought was “You’ve got to be kidding!!” Actually, there are many sites on the Internet that offer free tutorials that are perfect for the beginner.

Drawbacks: Many free websites are very plain and to be truthful, most people don’t take them serious for a business. Look at it this way: You are given two choices of locations to go out for dinner. The first one is a nice but affordable, sit down restaurant while the other is a guy cooking on a hotplate on a street corner where the only seat is the nearest fire hydrant – which one is going to look more professional to you?

Products:

If you are planning to sell any type of product on your site, you will have a place to find to get these products. There are a number of companies that

Affiliate programs go beyond the drop ship companies. You promote their products, the customer clicks on your link to purchase the product and the affiliate company will handle the payment, ship the order, and send you a commission check.

Drawbacks: Making sure your supplier has the product readily available when your customer is ready to purchase.

Advertising:

There are tons of places online that you can place free classified ads. Simply do a search on your favorite search engine and you can spend days submitting ads all over the Internet for your product or service.

Search Engines: Getting your site listed in major search engines is a must. But as soon as they are listed, no one know you are there? Think about your own search habits. When was the last time more than a few pages of search results to find what you're looking for? Optimize your website to get high rankings in search engines, can be a very time-consuming exercise. There are many resources available to help, but it still requires a lot of time.

Traffic Exchanges: You can join one or more of many different free traffic exchange programs. Simply put, you click on other websites to earn credits. When you earn credits, you site is listed on the site and some one else will click on your site to get their credits.

Drawbacks: Free advertising can and does work but it will cost you a lot of time in the process.
Finally, I would say, yes, yes, a person could be an online business without a monetary investment. But it goes with some of the necessary personal qualities, knowledge processing and time investment, you can be of assistance to succeed. Be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time. Find many free programs and decisions wisely. Even if the program does not cost you money, you takes time.

One last recommendation if you try, taking into account of this method: when you start seeing a profit, immediately invest a percentage of that money back into your business. You will soon begin to recognize that many of the necessary business-building routes become shorter when you buy resources and not rely on the free ones. Your company is still not cost you anything