August 1, 2011 - Drop in Google Ranking Due to Penalization
by George C.

Many online business depend on having their web site ranked on the first page of Google and other search engines to drive traffic.  If the rankings dropped for any reason, it could severely impact businesses' income.  While often times the drop in ranking could be due to changes in Google or other search engine's algorithm and will recover after a brief period, the drop could also be due to Google penalties.

As soon as you have noticed a drop in ranking for one or more of your keywords, you should start monitoring on a daily basis to see if the ranking(s) recover by itself.  if so, you can be pretty certain that the drop was due to a change in Google's algorithm.  At the same time, if you have hired a professional SEO company, contact them immediately.  Although any reliable SEO company should have noticed the drop in ranking already.  If the keyword rankings do not recover after a few days, then it is time to look at what has changed on your web site.  Often times, Google could have penalized your web site for having added content that is also found on other websites, such as Product Descriptions.  Whatever the case may be, always make sure all the changes on your website are cleared logged by either yourself or your SEO company.  A good search engine optimization company should be able to figure out the cause of the drop in rankings.

Business owners should always keep a close watch on what their SEO company is doing on their web sites.  If the SEO company does anything that Google and other search engines consider as "black Hat", meaning against their policies, then the web sites will definitely be penalized.  So if you do decide to let a professional SEO company handle your web site's search engine optimization, make sure the company is reliable and can show prior success.  ETi has successfully help our client build effective, and more importantly, long-lasting search engine optimization and online marketing campaigns for more than 5 years.  If you are in need of professional SEO service, or are unsure if your current SEO company is doing a good job - give us a call today.

April 17, 2011 - How to lure visitors to your online store
by George C.

Within seconds, a website can either grab its visitor's attention to keep on browsing or turn them away.  Often times, it may be difficult for one to determine the impression of one's own site, as you may have  seen your site several times already.  Work with your designers to come up with a look that suits you best, then ask for outside opinions.  Once you are satisfied with the result of your website design, it is time to focus in on the product information you are selling. 

In this tech-savvy society, many potential shoppers would research proucts online before purchasing from a physical store.  The goal of your ecommerce site is to lure these shoppers to look at your products and persuade them into purchasing your products instead.  Always provide as much information as possible on your detailed product section.  You want to show them that your online store is just as good or better than a physical store.  Suggest somewhere on your site that they can avoid long lines and save gas money by shopping online.  Find strategies to motivate them into purchasing from your online store.