Cranvas Blog http://cranvas.com/blog Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:55:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Surviving Panda partII http://cranvas.com/blog/surviving-panda-partii/ http://cranvas.com/blog/surviving-panda-partii/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:55:19 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=376 Post Panda
Your site may be suffering from a Panda penalty incase the following applied to the webpages:
  • The website has too many inbound links with exact target keyword match anchor text
  • The website has engaged in acquiring too many low quality external links with exact keyword match anchor text.
  • The website has the content useless for anyone The design of the website is impairing user experience
  • The webmaster is monetizing website by stuffing excessive adverts at the top of the page
  • The website is filled with pirated content, rip off articles written in horrible language
  • The website has duplicate content issues either through multiple duplicate posts, tags and archives
  • The website has too little natural links from authoritative websites
If yes then how do you go about fixing this?
  • First and foremost work on the content. Make sure you provide information and not just stuff the page with unnaturally fitting keywords.Start updating your website with fresh and reliable content on a regular basis. At the same time rework on pages that have low quality or poor information.
  • Since there is now less emphasis on the value of incoming links (as per the Google algo update), work on a better link profile.” “Try to be as original as you could and place emphasis on production of quality content and links will start coming naturally. Try to vary your anchor text for internal links with naked url and branded url that are perceived natural by the  Google Engine. If possible try to modify the anchor text of your existing links with with naked url address and your brand name. Back out of any link exchange programs and refrain from giving outbound do follow links to other websites. Only allow a summary of your content in RSS feed and don’t be fast in building new links. Don’t link incoming search terms to your blog content but rather just display them as ordinary text under the article content to prove relevance in the eyes of search engine.“
  • Google bots may treat a link towards the top of the page with more value when compared to a link towards the end of the page so article links and guest posting may loose some of their value but not entire.So build new natural links and lower down the number of targeted incoming links.
  • Start a fresh link building campaign, try to acquire as many junk links, naked links, branded links as possible.  Try to create internal links but anchor text should never match the exact targeted keyword. However the old work does not go in vain. Your old links still carry value if you reduce the proportion of keyword targeted anchor text links. The easiest way is to build as many naked and junk links towards the internal pages of your website as possible. These would be:
  • Junk Links - Junk links had virtually no importance in the eyes of Google. These are links that contain general anchor text keywords such as “Click Here”, “Visit the Website”, “I found this website useful” etc. However it seems that Google treats junk links as high authority natural links towards a website.
  • Naked Links -Naked links are search engine friendly links treated well by Google. Usually a naked link has the same anchor text “http://www.mydomian.com/my=page.html”.
  • Brand Links -Brand links contain your brand name in the anchor text.These again would carry value as they are natural links.
  • Latent Semantic Links (LSI Links) - Latent Semantic Links comprise of anchor text synonymous to your targeted keywords. For example if you are targeting “Business Opportunities” than the anchor text you should try to avail is “Viable market for starting a business”, “Business opportunity for young entrepreneurs”, “Business Tips for entrepreneurs”.
  • In addition by adding no follow attribute sections, categories, archives, tags and other areas where low quality content exists will reduce the access to the low quality paages already existing on the site.
  • Be active on social media sites as that is a good indicator that your site provides good information. Contributing to reputed blogs like Businessinsider, Tech Crunch gives valuable backlinks.Getting more likes and shares on Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest gives the signal that the content is useful. Build a personal author profile on Google + and link it with your website so that Google displays author oriented search results. Add an official Google + fan page and a Google + widget so that users can follow your page.
]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/surviving-panda-partii/feed/ 0 How Important is to Protect and Manage Your Online Reputation http://cranvas.com/blog/how-important-is-to-protect-and-manage-your-online-reputation/ http://cranvas.com/blog/how-important-is-to-protect-and-manage-your-online-reputation/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:06:23 +0000 Sanjana http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=380 Web has immensely changed the way businesses run. Everyone wants online promotion of their website or brand. Internet is the buzzword for all so business also has begun to use online mediums like blogs, social media to reach wide section of online users. But like every good has a bad to it. SO if online presence can make a business then online negative publicity can break a business also. So before heading to online promotion some pre cautions needs to be followed to avoid a bad online reputation.

1) Make a good plan for your online marketing. This is essential for all type of organization whether it is a big brand or a small. Set your goals, target audience and their type. Choose the online platforms where you want to promote your name. It is suggested to start small then reach out to larger prospects.

2) Before any reaction first observe. Read, listen to what others are doing, saying. Know about your competitors, their promotion. This will help to smartly avoid the mistakes others are doing. Build your plan based on the data gathered.

You should also monitor conversations regarding your business and use Tools like Google Alerts. This will also help you in tackling negative comments positively.

3) Plan your engagement with the online community and set up a calendar for maybe two to three weeks to start .The calendar should focus on the information and news that you want to share. You need to be consistent and committed to the community. Keep your conversation up to date. This helps in building trust. One should always be transparent in his dealings with the online community and if you are promoting a business, tell them. Don’t mislead and suffer if they find out.

4) Be prepared for negative comments and feedback also. Business should act in a prompt and positive manner. If you manage to satisfy the client online, it will go a long way in promoting the business as the one which listens and acts.  If you make a mistake, own up and apologize.

Tools like Facebook, Twitter and blog’s are effective and cost efficient tools for business and if you keep the basics in mind, will help you in managing your reputation online positively.

]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/how-important-is-to-protect-and-manage-your-online-reputation/feed/ 0 Make Some Online Earnings http://cranvas.com/blog/make-some-online-earnings/ http://cranvas.com/blog/make-some-online-earnings/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:31:31 +0000 Sanjana http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=366 With the advent of internet even the ones who sit at home can earn millions. You just need to learn tricks of the trade and some hard work can make you earn money online. Without making big investments you can be successful entrepreneurs.

Web has made it easy for anyone who wants can set up an online business:

To start with set up a virtual company first, start as a freelancer. Build a website of yours and start selling goods and services from there. Blogging helps in online promotion, so build a blog of yours. It will help in attracting more traffic which can convert later into more sales. Use affiliate marketing on your blog. It is also a good way of earning money online.

Use social media power to promote your online business. Build Facebook business page, Google + page, set up a twitter account. There you can promote new products and services being launched. It will help you connect to your audience more easily.

A key to successful online business is good promotion of your site, as many people will know about it more will be your sales.

Another One of the easiest ways of online money is taking parts in paid online surveys. Get yourself registered with such sites. These companies will pay you for your opinion, your views and reviews on their product and service. Just do little research before being part of program as some of them ought to be scam.

There are many other online money making opportunities Google Adsense and CPA networks. These can be used for cashing in on the quick online money.

]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/make-some-online-earnings/feed/ 0 Recovering from Panda Part1 http://cranvas.com/blog/recovering-from-panda-part1/ http://cranvas.com/blog/recovering-from-panda-part1/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:57:58 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=358 Recovering from Google Panda
Was your site hit by hit by Panda 3.3?
Panda 3.3 is the latest Google’s Panda algorithm rolled out in February. It specifically targeted unnatural link profiles. It’s not a ranking penalty. It is a loss of ranking due to a decreased value of the inbound links pointing to your site. The inbound links were devalued due to a change in the way Google assesses inbound links. Here’s Google’s statement on what changed:
“Link evaluation. We often use characteristics of links to help us figure out the topic of a linked page. We have changed the way in which we evaluate links; in particular, we are turning off a method of link analysis that we used for several years. We often rearchitect or turn off parts of our scoring in order to keep our system maintainable, clean and understandable.”
So what are some of the metrics we can work on so as to regain lost glory:
1.Prevent a  back-button click to Google
The Panda update is about giving the user what they want. Your goal now is to stop the user from a G-bounce back to Google. Understand your user coming from Google. It is far, far better to send them someplace else to get what they need then letting them go back to Google.  A return back to Google to select another result tells Google the searcher’s question wasn’t answered!
2. Avoid the block button to be clicked.
This gives Google signals that the site is delivering irrelevant information. It is a clear, explicit signal to Google that a user was dissatisfied with a search result. Most likely this was a signal that was integrated into Panda 2.
3. Improve your link profile
Shift weightage from just keyword in the anchor text. If too many of your inbound links had “exact match” anchor text, meaning that the anchor text of the links was exactly the keywords you were trying to rank for then this could fit the panda pattern. The value of these links was reduced because of the number of exact match links – so change the exact match anchor text to a varied anchor text.
This also opens up the doors to “Negative SEO” or attack-tactics. It makes it possible to “up” your competitors by building links to their websites with over-optimized exact match anchor text.Check your backlink profile and see if there is an overuse of links linking to your site.
Your link profile should also include your brand name in the anchor text. Providing an anchor text  with your brand name or a variation of the brand name gives Google the cue that the link portfolio has a r variations of it are one signal to Google of a natural link profile.
LSI anchor text are related terms to your target keywords. Google looks for these anchors in backlink profiles as a signal of a natural link profile.
Checklist to avoid the above:
Work on the kind of answers the searcher would want when he enters a keyword in the search box
Make sure they get the answers when they reach the clicked page.
Make the information avaiable above the fold with a clean page layout.
Keep different pages for different keywords.
Do’nt over advertise especially above the fold.
Keep the your site up and responsive.  When your site is down on, your G-bounce rate is 100%.
The link profile should include anchor text with lots of variation, brand-name anchors, LSIs, junk anchors, and naked URL anchors. When you bring the number of exact-match anchors and varied anchors to the same level you will regain some of the value of your links.
Add links from social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Delicious etc
]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/recovering-from-panda-part1/feed/ 0 Fresh Vs Stale – how good is your content? http://cranvas.com/blog/fresh-vs-stale-how-good-is-your-content/ http://cranvas.com/blog/fresh-vs-stale-how-good-is-your-content/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:28:04 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=347

Fresh Content

Content is still King but over time content on your webpages needs to be revamped to give a fresher look and feel. In showing up webpages in the SERPS Google does give weightage to content that has been updated frequently. Even making small changes within the existing text especially in important areas like the text above the fold or the headlines helps in  keeping the content fresh. Areas like the navigation, the advertisements etc can remain the same.
If you have added new pages of information to the site and the pages are indexed quickly it adds value to the content and the information being provided on the site. In turn this gets reflected in the search Result Pages.
If you have not updated your site pages for a long time then chances are very likely that when the site is dispalyed in the SERPs the user may bypass the result and click on other results. With the recent algo changes this can be seen as a factor where content on your site can be taken as old content and can effect your ranking on the SERPs.
Last but not the least check the backlink anchor text to your site. What sites are the links coming from. Are these updated frequently. Are the pages still up? A link from a site that has new fresh content has more value than a site with outdated information.
]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/fresh-vs-stale-how-good-is-your-content/feed/ 0 Optimizing an Existing Google Adwords Campaign http://cranvas.com/blog/optimizing-an-existing-google-adwords-campaign/ http://cranvas.com/blog/optimizing-an-existing-google-adwords-campaign/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:27:13 +0000 Sanjana http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=337 With increased competition, you need to refocus on the marketing spend and existing campaigns. If you are caught in a situation where you have to handle a Adwords account and cut the costs as well, it becomes a different ball game altogether.

Adwords management is all about continuous analysis and involvement. The focus should be on get low wasteful clicks and increase conversions.  You need to first start by downloading the required reports for a certain time period which will serve as a base for reference and analysis.  You can download the campaign report, adgroup report and the keyword report. You can analyze the data using the desired success metrics. Some steps to optimize an existing Adwords campaign are outlined here

1 Reviewing the current keywords and Keyword expansion

The keyword searches constantly change each month and you will need to keep on analyzing them using software like wordtracker or keyword discovery. You will need to add new keywords and delete underperforming ones. This will help in purging the keyword list and combining into better adgroups.

2. Improve keyword performance by Using Keyword matching options

You need to find out if the keywords are using Broad Match and need to implement keyword matching options. This will improve targeting and overall account performance. You can use phrase, exact, and negative matching options.

3. Writing new ad copy for the campaigns

If you are using an old copy, multiple ads and landing pages, it is suggested to create at least one new ad per adgroup and then split test it. You then need to analyze the results with the metric being used. If an underperforming ad needs to be deleted, then you need to analyze the data fully and then make the decision.

This should be done on a monthly basis. The Display urls should also be customized based on the keyword and adgroup being targeted.

4. Daily campaign management to maintain relevancy

You need to manage the bids on a daily basis so that you can increase the chances of finding the ads. You may need to pause underperforming keywords and reduce bids for high cost keywords. The target is to reduce the keywords that are not converting. But keep in mind that data should be constantly analyzed for backing the decisions being made.

5. Account Organization

If you have multiple campaigns, then you might need to restructure and see if they are required. Sometimes only one or two campaigns are sufficient.

6. Create Your New Campaign

You may need to create new campaigns as well. You can use the Google Build out Spreadsheet and then upload using Adwords Editor. You can create new or replace old campaigns as required.

]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/optimizing-an-existing-google-adwords-campaign/feed/ 0 VoIP Internet Telephony – Money Saving for Business http://cranvas.com/blog/voip-internet-telephony-money-saving-for-business/ http://cranvas.com/blog/voip-internet-telephony-money-saving-for-business/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:54:23 +0000 priyanka http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=331 Businesses can save a huge amount of fixed costs by shifting the phone service to business VoIP providers. With VoIP, you can have a virtual office and are not bound to any physical location. You can have a virtual number which is very cheap as compared to a landline telephone and without the huge monthly rentals.

VoIP means voice over internet protocol and it is a technology by which the voice call is carried as a data over the internet. VoIP has a lot of advantages like a traditional phone service and is highly flexible.

Business Voip services are being used by all types of businesses – both large and small and they have a special significance for small businesses as it provides them the same telecommunication resources as big businesses with very low costs.

Some advantages and points that help business VoIP outrun a phone service include:

1.    VoIP has considerably improved and now the voice quality is on par with fixed line and mobile providers. There are special phones for VoIP and businesses are leveraging their own data networks to ensure faster communication.

2.    Costs are considerable reduced by using VoIP Services as VoIP providers have low operating costs that traditional service providers and they pass on this benefit to the consumer.

If an employee is relocated, he or she does not need a new number. The same virtual number can be carried over.

3.    VoIP is highly flexible and provides you nimbleness in business. You can take your phone number anywhere with you. You can use your laptop and tablet device for communication. Faxes and voice emails is delivered to your computer. The virtual numbers ensure mobility. VoIP can be configured for conference call and for running call centers which improves productivity.

Things to keep in mind while shifting to VoIP:

1.      Use the services of an expert consultant that will recommend the best option based on usage and requirements.

2.      Test various providers.

3.      Secure the network.

4.      Use call forwarding to mobiles and landlines for emergency.

VoIP services are constantly evolving with new technology and new business VoIP providers. They have provided a cheap, flexible alternative phone service that has become an efficient tool for businesses.

]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/voip-internet-telephony-money-saving-for-business/feed/ 2 Email Marketing for getting Links http://cranvas.com/blog/email-marketing-for-getting-links/ http://cranvas.com/blog/email-marketing-for-getting-links/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:56:08 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=327 Email Marketing for getting links

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses email as a means of communicating commercial messages to an audience. Through email marketing you can get some really good links to your site. Constructing an email with the right anchor text linking to the relevant webpages on the site gets good link juice to the site. Varying these links in such a way that some would be brand links that are just pointing to the home page, some as random distribution, and some as social shares (which might not be counted as links) but might have some impact on rankings.
Make sure that you have something of great value that you are delivering over email, and then make sure that you’re not just promising it, but you are actually delivering on that promise. Placement of information can contribute to people taking action on the information being provided.
Overlay, Images, the right Headline are some of the areas are important in placement. Good information will get your potential linkers to pass something valuable to their community and increase the link flow.  Share embedded content. If you have badges or tools that you wish to share then share that stuff over your email list.
Provide incentives that offer value. If it is worthwhile it will definitely be shared across various communities. Offers like complimentary white paper, free ebooks, awards, stories all work as good incentives.
Make sure the message is delivered to the right target audience. If done right email marketing can be used as an effective link building method and can serve as a wonderful way to communicate with your customers and bring in new sales.
]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/email-marketing-for-getting-links/feed/ 0 Online Marketing – much ado about nothing http://cranvas.com/blog/online-marketing-much-ado-about-nothing/ http://cranvas.com/blog/online-marketing-much-ado-about-nothing/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:20:23 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=320

Online Marketing would include the strategies and solutions offered to market a product or service via the internet and the mobile phone. This would include services such as blogging, guest postings, article syndication, email marketing, banner advertising as well as Search engine marketing.
In seach engine marketing a website is marketed through search engines by improving the ranking of the site through search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, or pay for inclusion listings in directories.
Email marketing distributes information about your products or services through your email. Some methods empoyed for email marketing are newsletter distribution, mass mailings or special offers and incentives.
Banner advertising allows the placement of advertisements on a website at a cost.
Blog marketing includes posting comments, sharing an opinion, or making announcements on forums. This can be done through hosting a blog of your own or by adding comments and URLs in blogs that are related to your business and what you have to offer online.
Article Marketing includes writing articles and publishing the articles on different online sites that relate to articles.
Where business is no longer constrained by geographical limitations and the target audience can span the entire globe, devising a strategy to drive more traffic to a website and proportionately more sales would be the driving force behind
any online marketing campaign.
]]> http://cranvas.com/blog/online-marketing-much-ado-about-nothing/feed/ 0 Effective LinkBuilding http://cranvas.com/blog/effective-linkbuilding/ http://cranvas.com/blog/effective-linkbuilding/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:27:25 +0000 Sabinder http://cranvas.com/blog/?p=316 Effective Link Building
Links get us Rankings on the SERPs. However what kind of links should you source? What adds value to how Google looks at the links pointing to a site. How many linking root domains are there? What’s the anchor text balance like? What links should you prioritise? How is the competition getting their links? Most important what is the budget you have in mind for high end links for high-level directory submissions, press release distribution, etc?
Here are some really simple ways that you can add valuable links to your site:
Placing content on other websites is a great way of building links, especially if you’re a new website trying to build a reputation from scratch. Find out some good sites in your niche and check if they allow guest posts. See what kind of posts they would like. Write on the topic and send the post. Not only do you get a valuable link back but also add credibility to the information provided. To get a  list of potential sites to post content on visit a community of guest bloggers like: http://myblogguest.com
Blog comments where the comments add additional information to the content posted prove to be a good source of traffic and good links. Make sure that the comment has a do follow so that some link juice is passed on to your site.
Articles that are unique can be spinned across various article sites to get a valuable content link. The important thing is to ensure the information in the article is unique and pertaining to the product or service provided on the website.
Press Releases are a good way to promote a site and get those links. Inexpensive sites like PRWeb offer great access to news directories, as well as conventional magazine editors.
Use high level directory submissions.
Make it easy for your visitors to link to you i.e if they want to.
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