First and foremost, you should establish the principal keywords your business is related with, let’s take for example a company that sells knives. The major keywords would be knife, knives, folding knives, pocket knives, kitchen knives and so on. But again, this only depends on what the company sells while it would be unnecessary to use pocket knives when it does not have in its inventory this type of knives. So picking up keywords from own knowledge about the products would be first thing anyone doing keyword research should do. Choose keywords that best characterize the business/services/products.

Second step would be to create a large list of related keywords and this can be done in various ways. The most important one is by using the Google Adwords : Keyword Tool while it is the most updated tool and, well, you are optimising a website for Google so its database should be used first. Using it is not so difficult but there is a trick of getting way more keywords than using it in a normal matter. First of all, you may want to swich it to its previous interface ( the current interface was released a couple of months ago ). Take each word you found in step 1, add it to the box and hit « get keyword ideas ». The keyword « kitchen knives » generates 131 related keywords and another 69 keywords to consider. Add all of them to the database, and here comes the real trick. After you have added its, a list on the right part of the screen gets filled with selected keywords, next you should take each keyword listed there and do the same with it. You will get keywords listed before but also new keywords ideas you might use. Add all again, repeat the procedure until you get hundreds of keywords to consider.

A step most webmasters jump over is to use Thesaurus.com database for synonyms. Synonyms are also great for some products/services while for others are not. However, if synonyms you consider related to your business are shown, copy its and do the step above with Google Keyword Tool, that should generate another dozens of new keywords.

Yahoo Answers is a good place to find out what people are looking about your product, in our case kitchen knives. By browsing the questions you might find patterns that can help you create content that answers their questions.

Last, but not least, competition websites. These are goldmine for new keywords idea, is like you hired someone to do the job, you just pick up the fruits. Check at least first 20 competitors’ keywords, add its to the master list and if something new, you might want to take them again through the whole process described above with the Keyword Tool.For established websites with some years behind, a good method is to use Awstats and Alexa method for new keywords.

Now that we have the main keywords, secondary keywords made up of hundreds of its, how do we know which one to target, how to find gold keywords and how to properly promote its for prospects and search engines ? This is the subject on a new article, so stay tuned if you would like to find out how to use the massive list of keywords created. Care to share other methods for proper keyword research, feel free to leave a comment below, would be glad to share ideas with other webmasters.

First we should talk a little about the importance of nofollow links. Though less people consider these links important, they must be a part of anyone’s link building campaign while it will look more natural in search engines’ eyes. Second, even though nofollow does not pass PR, we all know the page rank is less important these days and anything that can help our rankings is way better than a higher PR.

Let’s first start with blog comments. The opinions on this subject vary from people that do not trust in links from blog comments to those that rely on blog comments for their whole link building campaign. Blog comments are not only good for links but also if one shares thoughtful comments that contribute to a post the chances of becoming an authority in his niche is higher. Related to blog comments, another great debate is whether .edu and .gov links carry more weight than regular .com and others. While Matt Cutts claims Google values .edu and .gov links as regular links, it is better to have its than not. Going further, finding related .edu blogs that you can make a comment on is easier when using advanced Google queries like site :.edu « niche » blog like for example site :.edu golf clubs blog. But again, do not spam your link on those blogs but only share what you think on that subject and bring value to the post you comment on.

Another great way for gaining links and exposure are RSS Feed Directories. Whenever a blog post is added a new link in added also in the Feed Directories you have listed your feed to. Moreover, there are even social networks that allow adding feeds, such as MyBlogLog, Squidoo and so on. There are literally thousands of Feed Directories available, easy find for anyone doing a Google search.

Social bookmarking is also a good method for gaining links and getting a new website indexed quite fast. Moreover, creating a mind-blowing post that gets thousands of diggs for example will get you not only a handful of new visitors but also the desired backlinks.

Press releases and article marketing, although they will not get so many value links its cannot be left aside while it is all about exposure. More than that, a well written press release that catches media attention could get syndicated in thousands of other places, meaning not only thousands of links but also visitors interested to find more about your company/services/blog.

Link Baiting is like any webmaster’s Nirvana, is what SEO gurus promote and what Matt Cutts says is best for getting quality links. A great method for creating link bait is by creating a contest or a giveaway, let’s say person that gets the most re-tweets wins the prize. You will get an incredible exposure in the online communities.

Of course there are many other ways of getting backlinks however these are quite popular among webmasters nowadays and also they are not so time consuming as let’s say creating a detailed report about something related to your niche that gets links while it worth that. That does not mean one should not use each and any methods available while diversity is best when doing a link building campaign.

More than that, positive reviews not only increase conversion rates but also boost websites’ traffic and nowadays are even helpful for search engine optimisation (citations are proven to be a top notch « weapon » in ranking higher in search engines positions). One of the many problems encountered by entrepreneurs is how to get those so needed testimonials, and this article will give readers an idea about how can they increase the reviews’ numbers about their firm/product/service.

One simple method that is strictly related to website’s architecture is a feedback button. This not only gives a great opportunity to gather more testimonials on the site but also is proven to be helpful to people browsing a website in search for information related to what they are looking for.

However, for those clients not taking the first step in writing a testimonials, here comes method two. After a purchase, always send an email (it can be setup-ed very easily and automatically) to ask for a review ; invite them for writing a feedback, explain that their thoughts and ideas are important for improving the business and services offered.
One of the most simple way to get testimonials would be to get in touch with previous customers and ask them some simple questions that can be used as a testimonial, like how is the product they have bought, are they still using it, what do they like about it and so on. At the end ALWAYS ask permission to use what they have just said as a testimonial, whether if it will be used on your website or on a third party reviews site. Offer to those that spent time to give you a testimonial something in exchange, such as a discount on a future purchase. However, if the business has not made sales until now, always use your friends and family to test some free samples and ask them for a review. A great way for not so aged firms.

A last trick for getting testimonials would be social networking like Facebook and Twitter. Each one should make use of these two platforms in order to get some positive feedback. Not to forget about forums, old members all have a word to say in front of community they activate in and are usually great value for a business. Offer discounts/money/a prize to some old members on forums related to what the business offers and ask them to write down some positive words about your services.

This article will teach you the basics and some top-notch tips to rank higher in local search and appear in Google Places, ex Google Local Business Centre. The most important thing when optimising for local search is that as more specific the search is, the more qualified and targeted traffic you will receive. If you operate in ‘web design’ industry and you are located in Manchester for example, the ones that search ‘web design in Manchester’ is strictly interested in your services therefore it is quite simple to transform them from simple prospects to pure customers, so taking advantage of the local search would be a huge benefit for any business.

First and foremost, any business should be registered with Google Places. The competition will be at high levels, but try to use these tips in your advantage :

- Ensure the location you target is found in the contact us page and homepage, as well as in the description and keywords meta tags
- Moreover, full address details should be found on homepage, contact us page and any other places where it is useful for readers and for engines (hint : footer pages….)
- Text used in those pages should include the phrase you are running for, like ‘web design Manchester’, but no keyword stuffing
- Also, phrase should be first in the page’s title to show its importance when Google visits it

However, these are some basic tips anyone should take advantage of. On the other hand, here are some really great advices for ranking higher and become more visible in Google Places, as well as in organic searching for geo-locating search :

1. Choose the proper category for your business, it’s a critical aspect !

2. Add photos to your Google Places profile, as much as you can. It makes your profile more visitors’ friendly, create a more professional image and makes your listing look complete.

3. Add a local phone number.

4. Associating videos could be a good move, although major increases will not occur due to this add-on.

5. Use a company email, such as info@company.co.uk.

6. Work on your on-page SEO ; this is available for Local Listings as well as for organic search in general.

7. One of the most important aspects is web citations. There are some trusted directories with high authority you should not miss from, however an impressive effect comes from link from local directories, local business associations, local classifieds, local chamber of commerce and so on. As much as you can gather will definitely give a boost in your rankings. Thomson Local, TouchLocal, Yellow Pages, the possibilities are endless.

8. Links from local blogs, so citations from Manchester based blogs related to web design in our case will definitely help.

9. Get positive reviews. Lots of them ! Although this advice is on 9th place, on a scale from 1 to 10 it should be somewhere in top 3. Huge importance for any business searching higher ranks in Local Listings. Although quality of reviews counts a lot, quantity is also a decisive factor, and it is so easy to get a review from a happy customer…Not only that this will help your rankings but will also be a huge advantage when prospects are getting data about your business and reach places where positive reviews are a majority. Moreover, it seems that reviews containing key-phrases your are after have a much positive impact on rankings.

10. Although number of inbound links counts in organic search, it seems that for Local Listing this is not a decisive factor. However, correctly using the anchor text will definitely be an advantage over your competition.

So here they are, some definitely ‘to do’ steps in order to ensure a great visibility for best-quality visitors : targeted prospects. Although this article is concentrated more on Google, you should also use local services from Yahoo and other engines, but in general the steps to follow for higher rankings in Local Search are the same as above.

Any other tips&tricks ? Please feel free to comment below.