IN-YOUR-FACE SEO ADVICE FOR THOSE THAT REALLY WANT THE TRUTH

I’m back on my SEO rant again. For those of you who don’t know, that stands for “search engine optimization“. It’s an important thing for people trying to use the Internet to do business.

To explain SEO in a nutshell, you want your business showing up on the first page of the search engine results pages (or “SERPS“) to give you maximum exposure and thus, maximum potential sales.

For busy business owners who can’t figure out how to accomplish the task of landing on top of the pile of results, they seek out consultants. Funny thing, though, most consultants don’t know jack squat about SEO.

I will call out these fake SEO experts all day long, and I have the experience and inside knowledge to back it up. The crazy thing is, I truly believe that 80% or more of people who claim to know how to rank sites in the search engines are so far off base that they end up hurting their clients more than they help them.

First of all, my experience stands on its own. Right now, I can land page 1 of the SERPS on most topics in my niche, and usually within a matter of hours. The fastest time? 10 minutes. And that was on a competitive keyword that gets millions of searches per month.

There’s a popular upcoming smartphone that I have been hitting page 1 for over the past month, and if you’re smart enough, you’ll figure out which one it is. And if you think I did this using the latest and greatest techniques of the experts, think again.

I do not have thousands, or even hundreds, of backlinks to my blog site. I only have 28. By most SEO experts’ definition, this would be a total failure. They claim that you need thousands to rank on Google properly. That’s bunk. 100% bunk.

I also didn’t land my high search results by loading my domain name with any particular keyword. My site name, www.carltonzone.com, is generic. By the advice and teaching of the so-called experts, I shouldn’t be able to rank as high as I do on any topic I wish with such a generic non-keyword-specific blog URL.

Again, claiming that you need keyword-loaded URLS is 100% bunk. Garbage. And it’s high time that someone took the garbage out!

That’s not to say that backlinking and domain name keyword stuffing are not working methods. They may give you a boost. All I’m saying is that you can get on page 1 of the SERPs without it, and I am the proof.

If you are wondering, I don’t use any blackhat methods (that’s cheating), or grayhat methods (cheating but in a sneaky way) to get my pages high in the SERPs. I don’t recommend it, and I won’t ever try it. Period. My recommendation is that honesty is the best approach.

But on to the other reason why I’m telling you that these SEO eggheads don’t know jack squat… my job experience.

I am not at liberty to give the details, but lets just say that for a certain period of time, as I worked for a large contract consultant, I was downgrading the very sites that utilized the methods of the SEO experts to get their clients higher SERP placements.

If you think there’s no human aspect to cleaning up the mess of web page indexing and automatic activity of the algorithms, think again! I am so shocked that people actually believe that only the complex computer programs are used to get sites indexed and ranked in Google.

Even if there was a shred of truth to the lie that only the algorithms do the work of ranking sites, there’s still no guarantee you can game the system. For example, we are all very aware that Google came out with “Panda“, a recent algorithm update aimed at cleaning up the content farms and low quality websites from the SERPs. Even the algorithms will trip up the cheaters.

All-in-all, I just wanted to get it off my chest one more time that you SEO experts don’t know jack squat, and you need to stop bilking your clients by using questionable methods that gain temporary results and long-term punishment from Google.

My advice to you, budding business owner? Watch out who you listen to when it comes to search engine optimization. Honesty produces longevity and continued success. Taking the shortcuts will potentially put you in the permanent Google penalty box. Use your heads!

One of these days I am going to get angry enough to write a $10 report that gives all of my methods and advice, and I’m going to pit it against all of the shysters out there selling their garbage $297 SEO seminar products. I wonder if anyone would buy it…

Carlton Flowers
Bustin’ the Chops of the SEO Hucksters

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QR CODES WILL REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR BUSINESS MARKETING

The future of local business marketing is here. There’s a small black and white box with a strange pattern in it that will change everything. They’re called “QR Codes“, and you need to know why they will impact your business for the better if you utilize them.

If you are a small business owner, your local advertising and marketing will be revolutionized by incorporating QR codes in your flyers, print ads, billboards, and every single place that you display your business identity.

The days of traditional advertising are over. I will even boldly say that marketing your business on the Internet or on Facebook without QR codes are going to quickly be useless. Why? Because there’s a new mega trend about to hit. And it’s mobile marketing.

Smartphones are everywhere. More of your customers are packing iPhones and Android devices than ever before. When they want to check out for options eating out or shopping, they’re not sitting at home on their home computer to search. They’re reaching for their smartphones.

Within one year, there will be more searches conducted using a smartphone than the home computer. Studies say that 240 million searchers will use their cell phone, while 200 million will use a PC. The gap will widen as more and more people utilize their smartphones as their primary Internet device.

In fact, mobile marketing will give you your biggest bang for your advertising buck. It is a wise investment. You can forget about wasting time and money designing fancy web pages that aren’t optimized for viewing on a cell phone.

The new formula for reaching your potential clients and bringing customers back on a consistent basis will be combining a mobile optimized landing page with traditional advertising and QR codes (plus a little bit of stealthy marketing).

More and more smartphone carriers have free QR code-reading apps, and they are using them. The newness scanning QR codes piques interest and curiosity, and it is quickly becoming popular. Just imagine the rush of new business that could generated by using this new technology right now, while it’s hot.

Just when we thought Twitter, Facebook, and social media marketing was the big new thing, technological advance brings us another paradigm shift in the way we will interact and do business on a local level.

Are you a small business owner or leader of a community group or association that depends on driving new customers and clients to keep your business thriving and growing? Then you better get on this now, and strike while the iron is hot.

You have two choices: figure all of this out on your own, or keep your mind and focus on the daily aspects of your business and let an expert handle it for you.

For the busy folks in the latter category, I suggest you contact me immediately and find out how you can be up and running within days with QR Turbo. I’ll even give you a free 30 minute consultation and live demonstration.

But if you hesitate, I’ll be swamped, and you’ll be left paying a consultant 5x the price for what I can provide for you.

Just pop an email to carlton.flowers@gmail.com with “QR Turbo Fee Demo” in the subject line, and I’ll contact you and schedule a visit.

I’ll also throw in a super free insider tip on how you can use Google Local to set up a free listing that will land you on page 1 of the Google search engine results for your locality.

You will want to get this info before your competitors crowd you out, leaving you on page 2 or 3. And believe me, that could mean the difference in massive traffic to your business (or your competitor). It is mission-critical.

If you want to keep your status as “top-of-mind” for your niche, or kick your competitors off the roost while they are sleeping, I’ll expect to hear from you soon.

All the best,

Carlton Flowers
Your High-Tech Marketing Strategist

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REVEALED: THE SECRET TO MY EXTREME SEO SUCCESS

Go outside and throw a rock and you’ll probably hit an SEO expert. They’re everywhere. And they’re a dime a dozen.

Sadly, they charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars to perform their search engine witchcraft. And people pay it without question.

Then you have all of the experts that like to lend free advice. They know it all. If you want to get on page 1 of the Google search engine results for competitive keywords, and do it fast, they know it all.

Some say you need hundreds of backlinks. Some say thousands. And if you don’t have the time to post comments on unsuspecting respectable blog sites, then they will sell them to you for a monthly fee.

Some will say that you have to get a domain name stuffed with keywords directly related to the niche you are trying to conquer. Or even that you’ve got to get a new keyword rich domain for every different website project that you have.

I love the ones who say that you’ve got to build this big complex “link wheel” network of websites. You make a few dozen websites that all point to each other, and then they all spit out a link to the big site you are trying to push your product on.

Here’s the crazy thing…

I do absolutely none of these things. But I am consistently able to conquer page 1 results with relative ease. Sometimes it happens within hours, or even minutes. Using one method, it even happens within seconds. But what is the secret to my SEO success? How am I able to do this? Buckle your seat belt, because I’m about to drop the bomb and give up my secret. What is my method, you ask?

It’s called HONESTY

Yep. Honesty. Plain and simple. Instead of registering domain names stuffed with keywords, making crazy link wheels, or generating hundreds of useless backlinks, I spend my time focusing on writing top-notch information about the topics that I love.

You can have all those tricks. They might work. but it’s temporary. Truth is, when website reviewers that work for Google catch you doing all those things, and when they see that your content is 1/10th of the quality of those keywords you stuffed in that new fancy domain name for your website, you’re gonna get whacked.

When you focus on making good quality content, and not all those tricks, your web pages will be Google Slap-Proof. Reviewers will downgrade your site when they see you using dubious black hat or gray hat tricks. But when your content is generated using the honesty approach, there is no reproach. Your site will stand the test of time.

People in this day and age want instant results, and they will stop an nothing to get that accomplished. But if you want your site to end up on page 1 of the results and stay on page 1, drop the stunts and make a quality page and be honest about what it is that you are doing.

If you are writing an informative article to attract traffic to earn money on Adwords ads, that’s fine. We all know that you’ve got to monetize your blog, or your article site. Just keep it within reason. If you are selling a product, be proud and tell people why you think that your product will enhance their life or make their problem go away. Be upfront. If you want to become a respected writer and sell advertisement opportunities, focus on being the best writer you can instead of going after the shortcuts to riches.

Follow my advice and it will pay you dividends for a long, long time. Follow the short-cut SEO scam artists, and you will eventually waste your time. Think about it. I dare you to tell me that I am wrong about this. Go ahead, just try.

Carlton Flowers
Keepin’ it “SEO Real”
www.carltonzone.com
www.microbusinessplans.com
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DUPLICATE WEB CONTENT – DOES IT HELP, OR HURT?

I have noticed that there is a rash of duplicate content on the web. That shouldn’t be a surprise. Most Internet marketers are notorious abusers of copying content on the web.

But what gets me is how I am finding so many “reputable” organizations using duplicate content. Whatever the reason, people are copying stuff on the web faster than a classic green-ink mimeograph machine could crank out in the early 70’s. But why?

There are several reasons why people copy and paste information from sites like Wikipedia, HowStuffWorks, or Nexus. There are similar motivations behind purchasing “PLR” articles, or private label rights articles for reuse. I’ll get into that later, but for now, I must rant…

First of all, I have a low opinion of those who promote and use duplicate content. My reason? It doesn’t make the web a better place. It just mucks it up. When you are searching for legitimate information for a research project, it is frustrating when you find valuable information repeated verbatim on seemingly reputable websites. That tells me that there are many more websites thrown together for selfish reasons than those that are truly contributional.

For those of you who have no earthly idea of what I am speaking of, here are some reasons why people post duplicate content on the web:

• to provide “fresh content” that drives traffic to a page selling something
• to keep a blog site current and active when the writer can’t come up with new posts on a regular basis
• to establish yourself as an “authority” on a topic by posting factual information on hot topics under your own name
• to raise the SEO (search engine optimization) value of a web page by loading it up with keyword-optimized articles

Those are just a few of the selfish motivations to copy other people’s information that they worked hard on, providing all of the research and grunt work. But the duplicate content tactics will will blow up in your face and hurt you more than they will help. Plus, it does nothing to make the Internet a better place. Consider these facts:

• search engines like unique content, not copied content
• the original article poster gets the most credit from the search engines
• duplicate content gets skipped during search engine indexing
• duplicate content can sometimes lower your SEO rating
• using duplicate content will not build your reputation as an “authority” on any subject
• duplicate content mucks up the web and frustrates searchers

SO… IS THERE A BETTER SOLUTION TO USING DUPLICATE CONTENT?

Internet marketers and bloggers who are trying to build notoriety might disagree with me regarding the use of duplicate content. Most people argue that they don’t have the time or skill to write their own material. But I am convinced that junking up the web with copied rehashed content will not promote your cause or earn you big bucks in attempting to sell your stuff.

So, what is a person to do? What are the alternatives when you are trying to build up your web presence and reputation when you can’t seem to crank out your own original content? Here are a few ideas that will certainly work, and will make the Internet a better place:

• place copied content in quotations, and then post your short opinion of the information
• summarize articles in your own words instead of copying them wholesale, and give credit to your source
• post copied content in quotations and then tell your readers why this information is vital to their niche
• post an article and give credit to the source, then post discussion questions to spark interaction

That should give you a start. The idea is that you should at least add something of value if you have to use duplicate content on your website. Adding value makes the Internet a better place, and it makes your web page more unique. But keep in mind, the more you learn to contribute original information, the quicker you will establish yourself as an authority or respected blogger.

You want the best short cut to rising to the top? Get over your laziness, do some real grunt work, and start posting your own original information. You won’t be sorry you did.

Carlton Flowers
Guardian of Web Goodness
www.carltonzone.com
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MY JOURNEY TO UNDERSTANDING BACKLINK SEO STRATEGY

I’ve been studying search engine optimization (or “SEO” for short) for about 3 years now. SEO is important for people who want to drive natural traffic to their websites from people searching the Internet via a search engine. Most commonly, they are in pursuit of potential customers for their e-commerce site. Up until recently, I never did spend much time focusing on one of the best strategies around, which is creating backlnks that point to your website.

A backlink is simply a link on one website that points back to another website. People will post links to useful or informative sites, or places where they can get good deals. The world’s top search engine Google figures sites that have the most backlinks must be important, so they give them greater weight on the search engine results pages (or “SERPs“, for short). When people search for a certain key term, the web sites with the highest Page Rank (or “PR“) are the ones that come up first. This is of utmost importance to a business for obvious reasons.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand… I am learning about writing backlinks as a service, and I am studying several businesses and consultants that provide this for varying amounts of money. Here is what I discovered…

Many people offer to post backlinks on your behalf to high PR websites (the rankings go from 0 to 10) but the high rating is usually only on the main domain or root directory. The places on the site where comments can be posted are usually sub pages that have either no PR or a few notches less than the main page. I’ve seen people promising backlinks on a PR8 website, but the pages within are PR3. Maybe this is acceptable, and maybe it is not. I’m not sure. I’d love to have a definitive answer to this.

I’ve found several people offering bulk backlinks to your site, in numbers ranging from 500 to 5,000 or more at a time. These are generated using automated processes. Individualized comments to blog sites or news stories are not being made. Many are generic randomly generated comments or listings to Internet directories. People tend to believe that it takes around 1,000 backlinks to get your site ranked on page 1 of Google for competitive keywords. I have less than 200 backlinks on my blog site, yet I have been able to attain page 1 status for some seriously competitive terms. My worry about the bulk backlinking is the fact that Google could penalize sites for cheating. This is often called “Google Slap“. I have heard reports of people having their sites completely banished from the SERPs for using “black hat” or “gray hat” methods that try to scam the system.

Sometimes backlink consultants will make it clear that they will research and find sites to make comments and links that match your keywords or niche. I suspect that most novice backlink “expert consultants” don’t do this. They are merely posting to any general site that allows backlinks and “dofollow” status (we’ll explain that on another post). This doesn’t bring the same result. If you have a backlink from a high PR site that is an authority on your niche, you will stand to benefit greatly. But how much work would it take to match a person’s site up with dofollow blogs that are only within their niche? Is it worth the trouble? Or do you stand to equally benefit from high PR backlinks from general or unrelated sites?

As far as posting to dofollow blogs and news sites, some people promise to include anchor text keywords within the posts made. This evidently strengthens the the overall effect. But it can be difficult finding a popular blog site that carries a high PR value that will allow you to embed HTML code within comments. The main reason is that people abuse the privilege and drop dangerous links within their post. Overall, posting to popular blogs that are within your niche is well worth the effort. This also holds true for discussion forums, especially the ones that allow you to include a tag line or “signature” at the bottom of each post that contains a backlink to your site or page.

One thing I have learned is that writing articles to Ezine Articles, Hub Pages, and Squidoo does in fact carry a lot of weight when it comes to SEO efforts. I’m not sure about the comparable weight carried from writing short blog posts on free blog sites like Blogger, Typepad, or WikiSpaces, but they do seem to work well. I have had excellent results and high Google placement from using these methods.

I am studying the whole idea of using social bookmarking sites for SEO, but have not fully learned everything I want to know. Using dofollow microblogging services is something that has always gotten my interest, and I have become quite well versed in this area. Lastly, I’m looking at Internet directories. That has captured the least of my interest, and I wonder if it is even worthwhile.

Overall, I would say that you cannot ignore implementing a backlink strategy when doing SEO work. If you want to seriously compete on Google, it’s something you’ve got to learn. Do you have a hot tip or valuable insight to share on these topics? Join the discussion and post below!

Carlton Flowers
Up & Coming SEO Genius
www.carltonzone.com
www.microbusinessplans.com
www.twitter.com/carltonf

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SEO – THE REAL STORY

It seems that everyone is avoiding the most obvious truth about search engine optimization. Either I am not paying attention, or I’m the first one to state the obvious. I recorded this 8-minute message while on a long road trip for work earlier this week.  Listen to the audio by clicking the link below, and post your comments!

Carlton Flowers

Social Media Strategist

http://carltonzone.com/blog/uploaded/audio/SEO-discussion.mp3

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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PLR GIVEAWAYS FOR MARKETING YOUR BRAND?

I recently had this question from a Twitter friend: “@naomadoriguzzi: @carltonf so what is a good twitter give-away?” I gave a short answer, but then decided that this was such a good question, I needed to ramble on more than the standard 140 Twitter Post Characters on this subject!

I’ve been talking about PLR products for a while now. But for those not “in-the-know”, PLR stands for “Private Label Rights”. This is usually in reference to articles, guides, or eBooks that you can purchase and sell as your own. There are numerous sources of PLR products that you can obtain for a fee, or even for free, and they are often used as giveaways to build a marketing presence.

To answer the question presented by @naomadoriguzzi, PLR products do make great giveaways, but my recommendation is to give them a “work-over” before giving them away.

First, you should proofread the entire article or eBook that you are wanting to use as a giveaway, correcting all of the obvious grammatical errors. Second, check up on any references, and make sure that the information presented is accurate and relevant. Third, give the PLR product a “facelift”. Not only should you spruce up the article or eBook with some nice custom graphics, but you should also take advantage of the opportunity to “brand” the item with your business or service that you provide at the very end.

By giving away the eBook or article, you will be helping others by providing usable information that helps to solve a particular problem or challenge. You will also be able to start spreading your brand and increasing your visibility among your colleagues. That’s a win-win situation for everyone.

The next time someone needs your product or great service that you provide, they will remember that you shared a resourceful article with them, and your “brand” will stick in their mind. You can take it a step further and provide a guide or reference sheet that might be used on a regular basis, which will keep your picture in front of your prospective clients. This is the theory behind real estate agents getting business cards made for refridgerator magnets.

This is an excellent low-cost method of promoting and marketing, and allows you to keep top-of-mind presence with your audience. Find a few PLR products, work them over, brand them with your identity, and re-release them. It’s that easy. Good luck, and happy re-branding!

Carlton Flowers

Social Media Marketing Consultant

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HOW TO CRUSH YOUR COMPETITION USING SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & SEO

Missouri small businesses, organizations, and corporations, I have good news for you… I have added yet another weapon in the arsenal. In addition to social media marketing strategy, search engine optimization, and the SMO 2.0 guide, I now have an expert programmer and SEO guru!

My “special agent” is a highly intelligent young man with a strong programming background, possibly one of the best in the country. He can program in all major languages, including the new popluar “PHP”. He also is a seasoned veteran in search engine optimization, website redesign, website construction, servers, hosting, and just about anything else related to technology.

But back to the subject… crushing the competitors in your sector. I can’t stress enough how critical it is that business owners optimize their web presence through SEO. Equally as important, you MUST back up your optimized site with a strong social media campaign. If you do this now, you will leave your competitors in the dust.How so, you ask? Let me give you an example…

When I mention athletic shoes, what is the first brand name that comes to mind? If you said Nike, you answered like 90% or more of the general population. Putting aside marketing, advertisements, quality, design, and everyting else Nike has done to perfection, what is the main reason that they have top-of-mind brand identity? It’s simple… they were the FIRST ON THE SCENE.

There’s nothing anyone will ever be able to do to unseat Nike as the first to pop on the athletic shoe scene, becoming the first household name in this field. As long as they don’t have a major meltdown and screw up their image and reputation, they will not be unseated.

YOU have the same opportunity right now, more than ever, to set your mark as the “top-of-mind” source for your product or service in your sector. The greatest news is the fact that most people are resting on their laurels, waiting for the masses to make a move.

This is the exact time that leaders leaders take full advantage. It is what sets them apart. Fairly soon, most of your competitors will be rubbing their heads wishing they could turn back the clocks and establish themselves as the leaders on the social media forefront. But by then, it will be too late.

This is your 1-shot chance to dominate! Stay tuned for my real-world example of how I have capitalized on this opporutnity for my very own business. Until then, action is the word!

Carlton Flowers
573-893-9498
carlton.flowers@gmail.com

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Today I discovered the strangest thing. I was having a conversation with my good friend and co-worker Tim Largent (timlargent.com, twitter.com/timlargent), explaining to him what “no-follow” status meant and how Twitter is a no-follow site. For those that don’t know, I believe this means that the search engine spiders do not “crawl” through Twitter posts and connect relevant links to search terms, thus giving an instant SEO effect.

He didn’t understand right away, so I told him to open up Google and just do a search for something that we know he has Twittered about, and we will not see any results. What we saw made my jaw drop to the floor. He typed in his name, “Tim Largent”, and ONE keyword from a subject that we were Twittering about the previous night. Well guess what… it ended up in the #1 position of page 1 on Google!

I was dumbfounded. There were other posts littered throughout the results in varous positions too. So we tried a different keyword along with his name, and still got results on page 1 even though they were not in position #1. What happened next truly confused me. We typed in my name, “Carlton Flowers”, and the same keywords that I was posting at the same time, in the same conversation, and we got absolutely no results on Google.

We were able to get one result using my name, but the majority of searches we used with my name drew blanks. However, most of  the searches using “Tim Largent” and a keyword or 2 got amazing results. But strangely, certain posts with hot keywords, even with Tim’s name, did not get any results.

Would someone like to respond to this article and post a reply below and explain to us what we are experiencing, and what exactly the affect is of the “no-follow” status that Twitter administrates on its site?

Thanks SEO experts, let’s see your responses!

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The social media revolution is in full-swing. The statistics on social media website participation is staggering. We are near the point that the majority of society spends significant time interacting on social media websites. But the question remains… when will local businesses wake up and realize the gold mine in marketing that is sitting before them?

I am going to predict that it will be 12 to 18 months before critical mass hits the business world regarding use of social media sites. Right now, very few businesses have realized the obvious shift in culture and have capitalized on the social media boom. The overwhelming majority of businesses are still using traditional media to get the word out about their product or service.

Many business owners even hold a belief that a static information-only website is something that provides a benefit to their bottom line. While they spend piles of cash creating flashy websites, the population is chatting, interacting, and having a grand ole time on social media sites. It is mind-blowing at this point to see the disparity between the general public’s use of social media and the lack of its use on behalf of business owners.

The question remains, what will spark the social media revolution in the business world? The answer is simple… COMPETITION!

When the first lemming (business owner) makes the move to start interacting with their client base via social media sites, and when the results of such efforts are reported by the traditional media sources, the rest of the lemmings will follow and take the final dive over the social media cliff. Rather than risk being left behind and volunteer to hand over market share to competitors who are getting real results, the business owners who don’t make the first move will make a mad dash to establish themselves in the social media community.

I will boldly stand behind my prediction of 12 to 18 months to critical mass. If I am wrong, it will probably be a shorter time period when it occurs. But when it happens, it will be fun to watch businesses make the rapid shift to connecting with their target market social media style.

Coming soon I will predict the creative ways that business owners will advertise, present coupons, and modify their overall marketing campaigns through social media websites!

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