Upcoming Trends for 2011

With the New Year almost upon us the question of what is on the horizon is on almost everyone's minds. The trends that were popular in 2010 will continue to gain momentum. These include the explosive popularity of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as the continuing development of mobile apps. Mobile access to your website should be one of the top priorities in 2011. In the US alone mobile use skyrocketed a whopping 110%. In Asia over half of all web users access the web via their mobile devices. You can see how popular mobile use is and it shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. As mobile devices become more and more sophisticated experts predict the home PC may go the way of the rotary telephone for accessing the web.

Social media is not far behind mobile use. Facebook has over 500 million active users, Twitter has over 300 million and LinkedIn is not far behind in third place. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is the second most popular searched site behind Google. If you don't have social media accounts you should. If you don't you're missing out on a great number of possible contacts and customers. Social media is a way to connect with your customers and clients as well as keeping your name on the forefront of their minds. Every business needs social media accounts.

What does this mean for you and your business? It means that you need to be mobile friendly and connected to social media. If you don't have the time or don't know how to do these things contact the experts at The Cutting Edge Pros. They can set you up and maintain your website and social media accounts. Consultations are free and their rates are competitive. Let them work for you and get you in on the upcoming trends for 2011.

How to Choose and Use Your Keywords Wisely

You know how important quality, original content is and how important the right keywords are, but do you know how to choose them wisely? Choosing your keywords is more than just sticking words that you think are related to your subject into your content or blogs. It takes a bit of research and thought, but don't worry it's not rocket science and there is a free tool that makes it very easy to have effective keywords at your disposal.

webwise.com

Google Adwords Keyword Tool is the most comprehensive keyword research tool and it is free. You can sort your results by Relevance, Keyword, Competition, Global Monthly Searches, Local Monthly, Searches, Estimated Avg. CPC, Ad share, and Search share. You'll need to have a Google account first to use it, but having a Google account also lets you use all of Google's free webmaster tools and gives you access to their blog.

1. Make a list of possible keywords. Think of the most obvious ones and then think out of the box. For example if you own a beauty salon you can come up with the obvious ones but then also think in terms of the services you perform. You may want to include hair color, human hair color, haircuts for men, haircuts for women and children, you get the idea.
2. Go to the keyword tool and enter your keywords from your list one by one. You will then get a report showing the frequency of the searches based on the most recent searches done on Google. You will also get related keywords and phrases related to each keyword. 
3. Make note of the ones that perform well and also the ones that don't. Knowing what not to include in your content is also important. Pay attention to the competition column. This will tell you how many people are looking for this term. Using a keyword that has low competition is also a good idea because you can get the hits that are rather random or search term specific. 

Once you have your list you are ready to start writing. Keep your keyword saturation below 3% and make your content flow freely. You can designate primary keywords and secondary keywords to include more without making your content seem stuffed and pick up on more search hits. Use your primary keywords in the first and last paragraphs so that they will be found by the search engine's spiders when they crawl your site.

With a bit of creativity and research you can come up with a list of keywords that will give you quality content that is more likely to be picked up by the search engines and found by potential visitors to your site. Don't want to do all this work? Contact the professionals at The Cutting Edge Pros. They are experts at keyword research and content writing. They'll get you the most effective keywords and provide you with quality, 100% original content and blogs.

What An Article Writing Service Can Do For You

You know how important content, blogs and articles are to the search engine optimization of your website. But what if you don't have the time or talent to write your own articles? An article writing service can help you out, but exactly what does one offer you?

youchg.com

• Professional writers that are fluent in conversational English or your native language.
• 100% original articles
• Well researched articles that use reputable websites
• Error free articles that are grammatically correct
• Articles that are keyword optimized and not keyword stuffed
• Professional writers that know the difference between content, article writing and blogs
• Deliver your content, articles and blogs on time

This is what an article writing service can offer you. Ask for writing samples and ask about the writer's credentials. Professional writers will be glad to show you samples and let you know their experience. If you need a qualified article writing service, contact the professionals at The Cutting Edge Pros. They have the experience and knowledge to provide you with articles, content and blogs that are dynamic and engaging. 

Follow Up To Yesterday's Article About Article Spinning Software

Guess what I found today? One of the articles that was either one of the spun articles from yesterday, or since it makes a bit more sense it could even be the original. Both articles showed up in a Google Alert so for now their SEO is intact, but soon when people and Google discover the horrible content their page rank will soon drop. Look at yesterday's post, Article Spinning Software - Is It Really Worth It? and today's excerpt and you will see what I mean.

smh.com.au

"The busy bee schedule and the lifestyle of hustle and bustle have simply turned humans into living robots. In this new era of internet, people then use web as an effective platform for connecting and keeping acquainted of what is happening around them and on the planet. Internet now meaning virtually everything for many has lead to drastic increase in number of internet users in past few years. Redefining life today, it has influenced almost every sphere of life. From financial transaction to business making and shopping, online is the new craze among users who believe in enjoying new technologies and lifestyle as a way of living."

This version is a bit more palatable, but not by much. This is just another example of what is wrong with article spinning software. Hire a professional, like the ones at The Cutting Edge Pros, and make sure you have quality 100% original content. Your website and your brand is worth it. 

Article Spinning Software - Is It Really Worth It?

Article spinning has become a popular trend in an effort to create more articles to post to directories and get your links out there. It is tempting to use article spinning software, but usually the resulting products read like pigeon English and make no sense or hardly any sense at all. Recently while doing research for this blog I came across a particularly horrendous article that is obviously the product of spinning software. Here's a small excerpt of it:
"The bustling bee report and a lifestyle of dispatch and discord have simply incited humans into critical robots. In this new epoch of internet, people afterwards use web as an effective height for joining and gripping proficient of what is function around them and on a planet. Internet now definition probably all for many has lead to extreme boost in series of internet users in past few years. Redefining life today, it has shabby roughly each
globe of life. From financial transaction to business creation and shopping, online is a new disturb among users who trust in enjoying new technologies and lifestyle as a approach of living."  

Pretty bad, huh? I could hardly get past the first sentence let alone read the entire 500 word article. I'm still not sure what they were trying to say. Anyone that actually speaks English can see that this is not written correctly. And this is just one example. I've come across even worse ones that left me wondering what on earth they were trying to talk about. Sure the links are in there and the search engines will see them, but what about real people? Don't you want real people to find your links and follow them to your site? Eventually the search engines will recognize that they are the only ones reading your articles and drop their page rank or delete them all together. 

It is better to take the time or spend the money to hire a professional to write quality articles that real people will want to read. The combination of quality original content with backlinks is the secret to high SEO juice. Believe me when I say as an SEO consultant and professional writer, the money you will spend on quality content will be returned to you many times over in revenue. There is no magic formula for SEO juice, each website is unique and each one deserves a personal approach and it does take some time to build your page rank. 

Don't take the easy way out and waste your time and money by using spinning software. Hire one of the professional writers at The Cutting Edge Pros and see the difference real human generated content makes. Contact them today for a free quote on your next project. 

Have you ever used spinning software and been happy with the results? Tell us your experiences with it and if you think it is worth the time and money.  

It's All Gotta Come Out Eventually

I know I usually write about SEO but indulge me for a bit since at heart I am a writer. Another writer friend of mine, Rogue you should follow her blog by the way, and I were talking over Skype and we both agreed that as writers there are some trains of thought that just need to come out so that we will have some peace. I hate it when I'm in bed and my mind won't sit still. It flits from one subject to another until I'm down some previously untraveled road wondering how I got there. Have you ever done that? Started with one random thought and a few minutes later you're halfway around the world with your thoughts? Does it make you think backward to see how you got there and then you discover your starting point and think, wow that was a trip? LOL I do it all of the time.

So what's a writer to do? Write of course. I am so I write, I write and I am. See how it is a circle that is sometimes vicious. As a writer our words define us and sometimes these thoughts are in us and have to come out before they drive us crazy. Non-writer friends find this to be strange and you should see the looks I get from non-writers when I talk about my characters writing my fiction. It does sound strange, but you develop these characters and the become real in your mind and they do indeed talk to you and tell you where they want to go and how they will act in certain situations.

Are we crazy? Well, yeah I think we are a bit insane at time. Especially when the writing takes over and we're dead tired but we have to get out one more page. And that's okay. I'd rather be a crazy writer than a sane non-writer any day.

Midnight Musings

The early bird can keep the worm!

Why does it seem that I get the most inspiration for my blog posts at midnight? I am a night person and maybe it is because I spend most of the day writing for other people. It is a proven fact that people are on cycles. It seems that I'm dead tired around 7:30 pm and then the closet it gets to midnight the more lively I feel. It used to be when I had a "regular" job that I had to be in bed by 10:30 pm or I'd be up all night. Now if I stay up all night I just sleep a bit later. This is great for the convenience factor, but since many of my clients are 10 to11 hours ahead of me that can be a bit tricky for communicating with them.

My family can't understand my hours. They still think I should be in bed at this time and be up bright and early in the morning. For example I stayed up until about 3 am reading last night so I slept in until around 10 am. When I woke up it was raining and dreary outside and I was all nice and warm in my bed so I closed my eyes to sleep just a bit longer. My mom woke me up at 1 pm with "are you STILL in bed??" They're convinced I'm depressed because I sleep so late and don't venture out of the house much. No I stay up late and don't want to go out in the holiday shopping crowds. It's a choice not a need.

When is your most productive time? Are you a morning person or do you get started later in the day? Does your family give you grief for the hours you keep and shake their heads when you mention how late you slept?