No Such Thing as Google Duplicate Content Penalty?!

Written on 4/26/2010 09:15:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

I just received the latest newsletter from one of my subscriptions. One of the topics mentioned was about the Google duplicate content penalty. Quoting the Google Webmaster Central Blog, "There is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty".

With all the hulabaloo with SEO white hat techniques, blog link wheels, and promoting original content, why only now did we know of this? I don't know about you but of course to avoid being sued of plagiarism, I have been writing my materials in the most original manner possible. For some materials, I even use copyscape just to ensure that my content is unique in any way throughout the internet universe.

Probably, this myth about duplicate content penalty came about when Google has banned multiple websites for different reasons but had duplicate content as a common factor among them. (Just a thought, not really absolute!)

Though this is the case, directly from Google, website owners and administrators must still impose and continue to work ethically and professionally by releasing informative, original, and unique materials.

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Affordable Search Engine Optimization

Written on 4/25/2010 05:33:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

According to recent research reports, 42% of internet users click on the first or top-ranking link of search results. With the increasing number of internet users focusing their attention on first search results page, businesses and website owners have increased, if not added, SEO and web marketing budget allocations in the hope of improving site traffic and visibility and soon landing, if not on the top spot, at least on the first page of search engine results.

As the demand for web marketing techniques increased, quite a number search engine positioning firms have now created a niche in the marketing industry. The growing web marketing trend has brought an influx of SEO gurus, consultants, and positioning firms that claim that they have broken the Google algorithm and known the secret to Yahoo’s page ranking strategy. These are appealing yet, appalling. With the ever changing algorithm of search engines, search engine optimization has never been so unpredictable. As well as the endless page rank fluctuations, it’s now anybody’s ballgame.

Search engine positioning firms as well as consultants offer affordable SEO softwares and services to aid in web development, content, and link building strategies. These softwares and services not only help one’s website to increase page rank across all search engines but also keep it up-to-date with the latest developments and web marketing techniques. Affordable SEO helps small- and medium-sized businesses that are on a tight budget to promote their website and market their services. Search engine positioning firms provide different cost-saving options and packages that can suit anyone’s needs and budget constraints. However, the downside of affordable or relatively cheap SEO is that the packages and options offer only limited phases of the whole optimization process or small scale promotion which only increase as the package costs get higher. In addition, one should also keep in mind that not all affordable SEO services and softwares work for one’s website. It may work for others, but not for you. It is still best to have a customized approach in marketing and optimizing one’s website as time goes by and as site traffic and page rank changes. Time and money is invested in web marketing, which is why one should be careful and vigilant enough in choosing an affordable search engine optimization program.


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Valuing Business Reputation and Social Responsibility

Written on 4/13/2010 12:30:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

Indeed, shareholder value, if not dictates, influences an investor’s or firm’s decision. A firm’s ultimate goal should be value creation, which occurs when share price for current shareholders is maximized. Shareholder wealth may come in the form of a dividend or the value or market price of one’s share. However, it should also take into account not only current profit but also future earnings as well as the timing, duration, and risks that go with it. For some, share price becomes the barometer for business performance. Financial management should create a long-term strategy that would emphasize in improving or raising the present value of a shareholder’s investment in a company as well as propose and implement projects that will increase the market value of the company’s securities.

In today’s changing world, not only technology has evolved, but also the financial environment. Considering the recent global financial crisis, profit creation has been necessary, if not for the development, at least for the survival of a lot of businesses. To create sustainable profit, businesses have also been concerned on creating value and banking on their reputation.

I believe maximizing shareholder wealth also involves being socially responsible and having good and upright corporate governance. A business or company that has a reputation for good corporate governance, as well as, engaging in socially responsible activities such as improving working conditions of employees and proper waste management, tends to attract more investors and shareholders because it adds value and competitiveness to the firm. Though the most popular and considered to pioneer the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Philippines is the Ayala Group of Companies, other business have followed their lead such as, Petron, Meralco, Globe, and Jollibee.

It is a finance manager’s goal to not only seek short-term earnings but gain and maintain a reputation that would earn them long-term and sustainable profit as well as harmonious shareholder relationship by taking into consideration long-term benefits of the business, its shareholders, as well as the society.


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The Risk and Return of Social Media Marketing

Written on 4/08/2010 06:40:00 PM by Martha Ballesteros

I initially intended this post to be finance-related. I'm currently taking Financial Management classes under my MBA program. At the beginning of this term, our professor challenged us to describe financial management in the way that we understand it and not just a sentence or two picked up verbatim from a book. At the end of the class, I realized that it's just a matter cost-benefit analysis or rather gauging risk and returns. With most of the people taking MBA from the Ateneo coming from the financial sector, particularly bankers, accountants, and financial analyysts, I realized that I haven't met anyone that can relate and knows how I do what I do. Knowing this, I have to make my own analysis, come up with my own metrics, and relate it to social media marketing.

Obtaining high search engine ranking is definitely one of the most cost-effective methods of online marketing however, there’s more to it than just marketing and advertising. Businesses get many benefits from increased visibility and higher search engine ranking, some more obvious than others.

Cost-effective Customer Acquisition
Businesses and individuals need not to pay search engines for their websites to be indexed. This is significantly important for businesses and search engine optimization specialists who are working on optimizing and marketing a website to have higher search engine ranking. Most of the time, high volume and low intent phrases which can be expensive in paid-search, can also be useful for directing visitors on the long tail of search. Quite a number of businesses bid on key phrases or long tail keywords through paid-search, giving opportunity to those who use a different high search engine ranking strategy and technique.

Paid-search, or pay-per-click (PPC), as other’s call it, is like a modern variation of the practice of paying finder's-fees for the introduction of new clients to a business. The payment is based on a certain value for each new visitor or a commission for each sale or a commission for each lead. Though PPC is one of the SEM techniques advertisers and businesses invest in, for it generates site traffic, it may not always lead to high search engine positioning.

Fixed Costs
The cost of having a relatively high ranking website is relatively fixed, independent of click volume. Effectively, the cost per click from high page rank websites decline through time after initial optimization costs and lower ongoing optimization costs. On the other hand, paid-search, or pay-per-click campaigns are essentially a variable cost.

Brand Visibility
Research studies suggests that 62% of internet users click on the first page of search results. With this expected amount of traffic from internet users all over the world, what business wouldn't want their website to have a higher search engine ranking? Businesses and individuals, with the help of SEO professionals and specialists, consider the various factors to set the cost and time requirement to optimize their website to improve site visibility and gain higher search engine ranking. It can be noted that about 80% of an average site’s traffic comes from a organic search engine listings. A strong presence on organic listings is seen as complementary to Paid Search - or even an alternative in earning high search engine rankings.

The increased site traffic as well as improved brand visibility of websites not only help the business itself but also its prospects and clients because of its value-added accessibility and popularity.


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