Keep Track Of Changes For Your Home Business 

Back when Google used to update their servers with new web pages once a month, the monthly changes came to be called "Google Dances" because site rankings "danced" up and down the search results pages. Now that Google makes updates on an ongoing basis, the big "dances" only happen when Google makes major changes to the way they evaluate pages. And the latest one has damaged the rankings of so many web sites that it's been nicknamed "Florida" after the destructive Florida hurricanes!

So if you haven't checked your Google listing recently, you might want to do it now... because even if you've been ranked well with your Google keywords, your site might have dropped by hundreds of positions -- literally overnight!

One marketer we know told us that her thriving online business had seen a tenfold increase in sales in 2003... until the changes in Google dropped her web site listing from a #9 position to somewhere below #999! Now she's doing very little business, and she's desperately looking for a way to bring her listing back up.

Here's why these changes are occurring: Like all search engines, Google uses a variety of programs called filters and algorithms to rank web pages in its search results. The company is constantly changing and updating its programs to ensure that listings are "relevant," meaning that they are actually related to the keywords people are searching for.

Now, if search engines don't make these changes regularly, "search engine spammers" can actually trick search engines into making unrelated sites appear in the top listings. (Imagine searching for "affordable gift ideas" and finding that all the top listings link to gambling and adult web sites!) But the newest changes to Google have done more than penalize "search engine spammers." A lot of online business owners who have been using ethical, commonly accepted techniques to improve their search engine rankings are finding that their Google listings have dropped right out of sight.

The new changes have caused headaches for a huge number of online business owners by penalizing "over-optimized" web pages -- meaning that if you've spent time and money trying to push your page to the top of the listings, you might actually be punished for your hard work with a diminished ranking.

If your site listing has dropped in Google, you're probably scrambling to figure out how you can fix the problem -- after all, a lower listing practically guarantees that you're losing money!

So what should you do?

1. Make sure your site offers relevant, high-quality content . Remember, Google's goal in making these types of changes is to ensure that top positions go to sites offering valuable resources and information. Google uses sophisticated software to measure the "relevance" of your site's content to keywords that people search for -- so adding well-written content to your web site is still an effective way to improve your ranking.
   
   
2. Be careful not to "over-optimize" your home business site. In the early days of search engine marketing, people discovered a number of "loopholes" -- tricks that sent sites to the top of the search engines even if they had little or nothing to do with the keywords being searched for. These tricks include:
   
   
   • Hidden links and text (i.e., white keywords on a white background)
   • "Mirror" sites (copies of a site that are optimized for a single search engine)
   • "Link farms" (multiple web sites whose sole purpose is to link to each other)
   • "Doorway" pages (pages designed primarily for search engines, not for users)

   Google can now detect these and many other tricks, and it penalizes sites that use them by dropping their ranking dramatically. If you've hired someone to optimize your ranking, make sure they're not using any of these outdated methods -- or they may actually be damaging your chances of getting a top ranking!

   Likewise, if you're using extensive affiliate links to create "link popularity" for your site, you should be aware that indiscriminate use of affiliate links can hurt your ranking under the Florida changes... so be careful to link to sites with content that is related to yours.

3. Consider using paid listings to keep traffic coming to your site. I know, I know... If you're still smarting after losing your coveted position in Google, the last thing you probably want to do is pay them for advertising! Still, as a short-term way of recouping your losses until you're able to get your ranking back up, you just might want to look into paid advertising.
   
   If you do, be sure to do your research and calculate how much you can spend while still making a profit. Pay-per-clicks can be an effective way to get traffic coming to your site in just a few hours, but be careful: A hastily implemented pay-per-click campaign can quickly get expensive!
   
   
4. Explore other search options. Google isn't the only search engine! While it's true that most searchers go to Google first, you can drive fresh traffic to your site by working on improving your search results in some of the other engines.
   
5. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Search engine optimization is just one of many ways to drive traffic to your web site. If your business relies too heavily on search engine optimization, you're putting yourself at the mercy of the search engine algorithms -- which are constantly changing!
   
   The best way to ensure that your home business site gets a steady stream of traffic is to combine a variety of traffic-generating techniques. Consider adding some of the following strategies to your plan (or if you're already using them, try thinking of ways to make them even more effective!):
   
   
   • Opt-in e-mail marketing
   • Pay-per-click advertising
   • Affiliate programs
   • Link exchanges  

It's not about your widgets.

When organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm launched their first set of
blogs two years ago, they titled one of them "The Daily Scoop."

Yes, it was about the process of manufacturing yogurt.
You can guess what happened.

As Stonyfield's chief blogger Chris said in several interviews,
"We discovered there was only so much you can say about making yogurt."
So that blog was dropped. The company, one of the pioneer corporate
bloggers, continues to blog about organic farming as well as babies &
parenting issues.

Do you see a pattern? Blog about stuff your home business customers
are interested in, need to know or are passionate about.

This applies whether you're B2C or B2B. Here are two examples to get
you thinking:

B2B Example

You're a B2B company that manufactures barcode labelmakers for Fortune
500 companies. Start a blog about RFID (radio frequency identification),
the hottest thing in supply chain logistics.

Doesn't matter if you sell RFID-enabled devices yourself (although it
wouldn't hurt if you do). Position yourself on the bleeding edge.

There are already lots of blogs out there about RFID. So perhaps yours
will be a "useful resource blog" that points to other blogs, sites,
articles, etc. about RFID.

B2C Example

You're Patagonia and you make all those cool fleece pullovers and other
mountain climbing gear that the rest of us wear around town. Your branding
is superb but don't you want to hear more from your customers?

Launch a blog about the problem of discarded oxygen tanks on the slopes
of Mt. Everest. Seriously.

In other words, choose a topic that is very specific and that is congruent
with the psycho demographics of your home business customers.
 

Slice your topic as finely as you can. Then yours will be the key online
destination (and will get the highest Google rankings) for those keywords.

Of course, once visitors arrive at your blog, they'll see the links back to
your home business  main site. And they'll likely click on over to check you out.