Get Social for SEO

by Chris Reid Once upon a time, Google and the other major search engines used mainly on-page signals to determine search rankings, scanning websites for links to determine which sites were more relevant. But this led to some people using shady link-building tactics to manipulate search results. Today, after years of algorithm updates, there are more ranking factors than ever before. Links and on-page SEO still matter, but quality content, site usability, and click-through rates are also key. However, in today’s super-social online environment, most SEO experts agree that one of the best ways to improve rankings is by having a strong social media strategy. Basically, if you want to get noticed, you need to get social. Do Social Signals Impact Search Rankings? When Google’s Matt Cutts released a video in which he said that social signals such as Facebook Likes and Twitter followers do not affect search rankings, it came as a shock to many marketers. Aren’t social signals a sign of authority and reliability that Google factored into their search algorithm? On closer inspection, it’s not that simple. Although certain social signals don’t directly affect search rankings, being active on social media can have a significant impact. Many marketers believe that links to your website from social networks help to boost your search rankings. By publishing useful and original content that is then shared across various social channels, you’re demonstrating to Google and other search engines how valuable your content is to users. It also shows which websites should be ranked for certain keyword phrases. In fact, Cutts said that Google does crawl social websites in the same way that it crawls regular sites, so links on your social pages could be counted as quality backlinks and therefore affect page rankings. Don’t Forget Bing Bing, the second most popular search engine, has been more straightforward in explaining how their algorithm uses social signals. A few years ago, they said that their algorithm takes into account the number of times a link is tweeted or retweeted, as well as the authority of Twitter users. The Power of Social Media Profiles There’s no longer any doubt that social profiles affect search engine results. If you perform any search for a brand name, social media profiles are often among the top results. Social profiles are also important to people who are trying to find out more about your company, products, and services. Having a strong social presence builds your credibility and helps potential customers engage with your brand. People Use Social Channels Like Search Engines Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, and other leading social networks now play a crucial part in the way people search online. Social networks are often the first port of call for finding out more about a company. SEO today should incorporate keyword strategies across social media channels to make your company more visible on these networks. Next Steps So what should business owners and marketers do to improve their search rankings through social media? . Publish high quality, unique content. Great content is one of the most powerful ways to get noticed online and encourage more people to engage with your brand and link to your blog or website. Whether you create it yourself, or invest in well-written content, the ultimate aim is to publish useful, engaging, and unique content that people can link to on social networks . Don’t ignore image sharing sites. Images from sites like Instagram, Pinterest, and Flickr are all used for images searches on search engines. Just remember to link images back to your website using relevant keywords in the URL, include alt text and title tags, and name the images appropriately The Bottom Line The consensus among most marketers today is that social media plays a significant role in search rankings. Having up-to-date social profiles can clearly influence search rankings, and the power of social content to generate links and drive traffic is beyond doubt. Although Google says that social signals currently have no affect on search rankings, this could change in the future. The best strategy is to continue to produce unique, high quality articles and engage with your audience on social media. This will boost your traffic, strengthen your reputation, and help you reach your marketing goals.

The Training Issue essays

The Training Issue essays We already said that the Commission was concerned about the level and extent of training provided by Americas businesses. The National Alliance of Business quoted Bureau of Labor Statistics survey data to outline the extent and pay-off from worker training. They found that larger companies are more apt to engage in training than are the medium and small sized firms. Manufacturers are more apt to provide training in basic skills; non-manufacturing training tends to be more job skills oriented. Workers with the most education to begin with are also the workers most apt to receive training from all sectors in the economy. Managers often receive the least amount of train ing of all job classifications. Larger firms are more oriented towards job skills training that are medium and small sized firms. Finally, the use of outside training providers is increasing as opposed to in-house training. From the employees point of view, training does pay. Over 80% report that they gained skills from training. Only 19% reported that training led to higher pay. 40% felt that job training was necessary for future advancement in their particular occupation. It is generally agreed that there is a current skilled worker shortage in the nation. Given that, why isnt there more training by American companies? Since medium and small sized firms are the fastest growing in terms of employment, why arent these firms more engaged in the training process? Cost is a factor, of course. But cost is probably not the major factor. With the reduced loyalty of firms to employees coupled with reduced loyalty to firms on the part of employees, could it be that firms are concerned about paying the costs of training an employee only to lose that employee to other firms? This is of particular concern in tight labor markets. Perhaps smaller firms feel they are particularly vulnerable to the potential loss of skilled employees and ...

OBJECTIVE data collection of a patient who has Peripheral Vascular Coursework

OBJECTIVE data collection of a patient who has Peripheral Vascular Disease - Coursework Example Therefore, this indicates that she is at a higher risk of getting a peripheral vascular related disease. Her state of health was well until 9pm the night she reported to the hospital. She describes that her pain began on her lower leg when she was moving her furniture in her living room. She took some pain killers but when the pain further persisted, her husband decided to bring her in for a check-up. She denied any form of dizziness, nausea, vomiting and diaphoresis. On her physical examination, her appearance is that of a slightly slim white woman lying on the bed with an indication of severe pain in her toes.She is complaining of havingvery severe leg cramps. Based on the assumptions of the symptoms indicated by the patient, diagnostic procedures for peripheral vascular diseases are carried out. An angiogram is conducted on the veins and arteries in order to detect any form of blockage of the vessels. The Doppler technique is also conducted so as to measure the access of the flow of blood. The final test conducted is that of the treadmill exercise where by the patient is required to walk on the treadmill in order to monitor her pulse rate (Weber, Kelly & Sprengle, 2014). On inspection of the thorax and lungs there is an indication of bibasilar rales. The diaphragm moves slightly well during respiration, percussion there are signs of dullness and no rhonchi, rubs and wheezes. The x-ray taken also shows the effect of the tobacco use that the patient is inhaling into her system as dullness is seen in the chest region. On inspection of the heart and neck vessel, the cardiac examination indicates that there are no hives or thrills. The rhythm is regular with an extra heartbeat. The normal s1/s2 is narrowly split. There is a positive s4 gallop. 2/4 systolic injection murmur is being heard at the left sternal border with no radiation. The pulses can be noted for the sharp carotid upstrokes. The pulmonary vessel in