The whole process of getting your website to the top of Google can be broken down into a number of steps that when followed, can place your site right up there at the top. The key is to consistently execute these steps until you get results. Here is how to create this process for you and your website.

Step 1: Identify a Reasonable Goal

When you are setting search engine optimization (SEO) goals, set both ambitious goals and goals that are achievable in weeks. These goals will take the form of keywords. You probably can’t expect to rank in the top three for your main keyword within six months. Although it is possible, don’t build your business based on that expectation. On the other hand, it is very reasonable to aim for ranking in a few weeks for long tail keywords. Start your quest for rankings with a main keyword to target in the long run and several less competitive keywords to rank for in the short run.

Step 2: Set a Content Goal

The content goal needs to come in the form of X pieces of content per Y amount of time. For example:

Goal: 3 Blog posts a week

Goal: 100 new products a month (ecommerce site)

Goal: 1 Video blog post a week

and so on and so forth. Remember that you are going to need to be able to follow this schedule for a few months. Be ambitious, but not so ambitious that you risk falling giving up. While it is possible to rank a website of just static content, Google does place a very strong emphasis and preference on websites that are regularly updated with new content.

Step 3: Set a Backlink Goal

Backlinks are the magic that makes an SEO campaign work. Choose one or two backlink strategies that you can execute regularly. Then create a schedule for when you will do the work. For example, if your strategy is to comment on ten blogs a week, then choose which days you will do your commenting. If your strategy is to do four guest blog posts a month, then you may have to contact five to ten blogs a week to make that happen. Again, schedule when you will do that on a weekly basis. The secret to rankings isn’t getting a bunch of backlinks all at once, but consistently increasing your backlinks over time.

If you follow these three steps and consistently add both content and backlinks to that content, you will find that you will very quickly start ranking for your lesser competition keywords. In a few months, you will find even higher competition keywords getting ranked, and eventually, you will even rank for your main keywords.

StumbleUpon is a social networking site that connects you directly to others who share the same interests, and can be a fantastic tool to drive traffic and grow your business. However, in order to gain the most benefit there are a few key strategies you can utilize.

#1 Identify Your Goals

Goals help you stay on track. They also help you know when a strategy is successful and when it needs to be fine-tuned or eliminated. So what do you want to accomplish with your StumbleUpon tactics? For example, “I want to increase website traffic by ten percent.”

#2 Create a Strong Brand

It’s important to make sure you are representing a cohesive brand personality or image whenever you communicate on StumbleUpon. Your profile is also a significant brand builder. Here are a few tips to strengthen your brand through your profile:

* Post a picture – Just like other social networking websites and even your website and blog, it is important to demonstrate that you are a real, live human being. It’s also a good way to share who you are.

* Choose topics strategically – Choose topics that are relevant to your business.

* Connect with like-minded Friends and Followers – Connect with your industry gurus and experts. You can also connect with your competition this way and upload other social networking contacts.

#3 Schedule Your Interactions

Most often when people join StumbleUpon and other social networking websites, they create a few key posts and then they forget about it. If you want to reach your goals, you’ll want to participate on a regular basis for it to be effective.

It is important to know that this is a task that you can outsource. You don’t have to spend your valuable time networking. If you are managing the task on your own, set aside a few minutes every day submitting sites to StumbleUpon, interacting and reviewing. Submit regular content that offers value and helps build your brand and awareness. You can make this step significantly easier by installing a StumbleUpon toolbar on your browser.

#4 Strategic Content

Of course you will want to submit some of your own content. However, you want to make sure the pages you submit are strategic. Don’t submit everything, but rather only content that you believe will help you reach your goals. Create content specifically for your StumbleUpon audience.

#5 Testing and Tracking

When you are creating your StumbleUpon goals, make sure you also create a way to test and track your results so that you will know if your efforts are successful.

#6 Integrate

Include StumbleUpon into your other marketing efforts. For example, add StumbleUpon buttons on your website content pages to motivate Stumbles and reviews.

#7 Advertise

Once you have a solid StumbleUpon system and are achieving the results you desire, take a look at StumbleUpon advertising. Like Facebook and other social networking advertising programs, it is highly targeted and may be more effective than other advertising programs.

StumbleUpon offers businesses the ability to build traffic, awareness, SEO and much more. Create your goals and a strategy to achieve them. Implement systems and tactics and then test for success.

When done correctly, podcasting can be an effective way to build an audience. When done poorly, you can turn off your listeners very quickly. Many of the mistakes that podcasters make are relatively simple to spot and correct. Here are a few of the most common podcasting mistakes, along with tips for avoiding them.

Microphone and Positioning

You don’t need studio quality for your podcast, but if your listeners would need to strain to understand your speech, then you need to buy a real microphone. Any microphone that came with a computer isn’t going to be of sufficient quality; the same goes for your iPhone microphone and any microphone that came with a cheap headset.

Also, make sure you are positioned correctly. If you are speaking too close to the microphone, it will pick up spitting sounds and the sounds of your lips opening and closing; too far and your voice will sound muffled. Use the levels gauge to see whether you are too close or too far. Position the microphone slightly to the side rather than right in front to avoid popping sounds.

Long-Winded Introductions

Podcasters who don’t get to the point within the first three minutes are going to lose audience. Don’t spend too much time introducing yourself, your topic, selling the audience, etc. Your audience knows who you are and is there to hear the content. Don’t keep them waiting.

Unscripted Podcasts

Recording a podcast completely off the cuff just doesn’t work. Having a script can really help smooth out your presentation. A “script” in this case is just a list of topics and main points in those topics. Never script out an entire conversation, as your audience will easily pick up rehearsed content. Instead, by having a list of main points ready, you will be able to create a smoothly flowing conversation without ever stumbling on what to say.

Monotone

Having a monotonous podcast is another guaranteed way to chase away your listener base. For one, doing a podcast solo is much harder than doing one with a co-host. A co-host provides another voice and another perspective, which is much more entertaining to the listener than just one voice. If you insist on doing a solo podcast, however, make sure to modulate your voice. Take on different emotions, different stances and different personalities to keep your audience engaged.

These are a few of the most common mistakes podcasters make. Make sure you have good sound by buying and properly using a good microphone. Get to the point quickly. Have a detailed outline of each podcast before you start. Finally, keep your audience engaged with different voices, opinions and emotions.

Podcasting, when done for the right audience, can create a powerful two-way bond between host and listener. Unfortunately, podcasting isn’t for every website. Read on to learn more about which websites are most suited for podcasting.

Start with an Audience

Podcasting as a marketing tool is a bit of a misconception. Podcasting is just not great for generating new traffic, especially in the beginning. On the other hand, podcasting is a very effective way of delivering new, regular content to a loyal base of listeners. If you already have a bit of an audience and want to strengthen your bond with them, then podcasting is a great way to go about it. If you are trying to build a new audience from scratch, then you might want to approach it from another angle.

Are They Tech Savvy?

In order for someone to subscribe to your podcast, they first have to know what a podcast actually is, as well as how to subscribe to and download a podcast. It might seem simple to you, but that is actually beyond the technical knowledge of a lot of people. If you’re creating a podcast on the best way to plan for retirement after fifty, you probably shouldn’t use a podcast.

How Much Time Can You Afford?

Podcasting takes a lot of time. First, you have to plan out the podcast. Then you have to record the podcast, which could involve multiple takes and/or coordinating with a co-host. Then you have to edit the podcast, which takes at least twice as long as the actual podcast itself. Finally, you need to upload the podcast, make sure everything went up properly, and then promote the podcast.

Before you start a podcast, realize that it is a long-term time commitment. Assume that you will need to spend at least five hours a week for the next year to keep your podcast up and running smoothly. If and only if you are willing to make that commitment should you start a new podcast.

Blogs Work Best

Podcasts work best on RSS feeds. While it is possible to run a non-blog website and still use a podcast, it becomes a lot more unwieldy. If you run a blog, all you need to do is post a link to your podcast on your blog and the RSS feed will pick up. It will then proceed to send the podcast to all your subscribers. On the other hand, with a non-blog site, you will have to create a separate blog just so you can create an RSS feed.

These are a few considerations before starting your podcast. First determine if it is right for your audience based on existing traffic and whether they are tech savvy, then figure out if it is right for you based on time commitments.

If it is not easy to buy from your website, you are going to lose sales. Many websites experience shopping cart drop-out rates as high as fifty percent. That means that as many as half the people who have decided to buy never actually finished the checkout process because they got bored or frustrated and left. There are a few simple things you can do to help prevent this from happening on your own website.

Make the Checkout’s Design Continuous

If your checkout page looks drastically different than the rest of your site, you’re probably going to experience higher shopping cart drop-out rates. Customers want to feel that they are buying from you. If the moment they click the buy button they are suddenly taken to a page that looks nothing like your website, they are probably going to feel less comfortable submitting their credit card information. Some shopping carts such as 1ShoppingCart offer a lot of customization, making it easy to match your checkout page to the rest of your website. Others, such as ClickBank or 2Checkout, make it a bit harder.

Ease of Navigation

Another key factor is the ease of navigation throughout your website. Make sure all the products are easy to find. Use a breadcrumb system so people can find their way back to previous pages quickly. Place buy buttons in prominent places throughout the website. The moment someone decides to buy, it should be dead simple for them to find a buy button and click on it. Have a friend of two browse your site and buy a product. Watch them throughout the process. Look for where they get stuck or snagged and aim to improve the process.

Accept All Forms of Payment

Different people prefer to pay in different ways. Some people like to use their credit cards; others to use PayPal; still others prefer a personal check. Make it easy for your customers by accepting orders of all sorts. PayPal isn’t difficult to set up. Taking checks takes a little bit more effort, but in the end it is worth it. Make sure to also make it easy for American Express users to buy from your site. Furthermore, if you’re selling high-end items, consider offering a payment plan. A payment plan could drastically increase your sales simply by helping more people afford your product.

Making It Easy to Buy

The hardest part of selling to a customer is getting them to want to buy. Don’t let the process get snagged up by something as simple as the checkout process. Make your shopping cart’s checkout design continuous with your site. Make it easy for customers to find the buy buttons and make your payment options friendly to as many people as possible.