[Book Marketing Expert] Five Ways to Improve Your Ranking on Google

click thru for details ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER! A newsletter all about SUCCESSFUL publishing and POWERFUL promotion. Sept. 1, 2011 Issue #254 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in this issue -- Note From The Editor -- NEW from AME! -- Feature Article: Five Simple Ways to Improve your Ranking on Google -- Marketing and Promotion Tips From Chris Brogan -- Utilize AME's Book Marketing Resources -- Book Bits and Bites -- The Next 10 eBook Trends to Watch For -- Buzz Your Book With the Viral Book Sweepstakes -- Submit Your Book to the 2012 Indie Excellence Awards -- Promote YOUR Book With CBE and AME at a Book Fair! -- Penny in the News! -- Hear What The Publishing Insiders Have to Say -- Join Penny's Webinar: Fans, Followers and Friends -- How to Use Skype to Sell Books -- Google+ Tips for Writers and Authors -- 10 Ways to Improve Your Website -- Social Media Snippet: Using LinkedIn More Effectively -- Social Media Snippet: Facebook and QR Codes -- Reader Tip! -- WHO ARE WE -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Penny C. Sansevieri, Editor penny@amarketingexpert.com Welcome to a new issue of THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER. You are receiving this newsletter compliments of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. To opt out, please scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter. Note From The Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to another issue of the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter! Dear Author, Happy (almost) Labor Day! Can you believe summer is over? Soon, our hot summer days will turn to Fall - my favorite time of the year! I hope you all had a great summer! So, how do you get a higher ranking on Google? Well, it's not as tough as you might think. This week we're taking a close look at what it takes to succeed on Google. We've also got another jam-packed issue. I hear from readers all the time how much they love this newsletter. We love it, too, and we're so glad you keep reading! You know, often when I meet authors at events they say, "you don't promote yourself enough in your newsletter"- I know, and we do that intentionally. Information first, always. We're a fabulous group of women. We love promoting books and authors, and if you'd like to work with us, give us a call. We're sure we'd love to work with you, too. And finally, to all our friends out East, we hope you made it through Hurricane Irene safe and sound. I was in Virginia at BlogPaws (awesome event!) on Friday and was lucky to get out on a flight that night. We hope you all made it safely, too. Here's to another great Fall, a fabulous school year (Do I hear some parents cheering? Back to school! Yah!) We wish you all well! Wishing you publishing success, Penny, Paula, Sherrie, Amy, Brittany and everyone at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. NEW from AME! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Excerpt Bundle (Retail Value $249) Everyone loves to move to the next chapter. We'll "tease" your audience on a variety of sites with your first chapter (or your favorite) and then refer them to your site to learn more - or to just go straight to buy the book! Of course, this supports your search engine optimization too! FREE with any Virtual Author Tour(TM) if purchased by Sept. 14, 2011. For more details, email sherrie@amarketingexpert.com. New Author App! Showcase your author Fan Page with an Author App! Exclusive to AME clients. Save 10% if purchased by Sept. 14, 2011. For more details, email sherrie@amarketingexpert.com. Feature Article: Five Simple Ways to Improve your Ranking on Google ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Getting top ranking on Google may seem like a lofty goal, but many authors we work with do achieve this. And while they may not come up on the #1 spot on Google, they can get pretty high. The secret, though, isn't in "gaming" the system as many people like to think. In fact, Google is too smart for most black hat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hat_SEO marketers. On average, Google changes their algorithms over 500 times a year. Why do they do this? Well, mostly to make sure that websites that are focused on content farming and other black hat SEO tactics don't climb up the search engine rankings. Last year Google implemented changes which are now being referred to as the "Panda" update. What this did is go after content farms and the like, lowering their ranking by up to 90%. What are content farms? Sites that are focused on high volume, low-quality content. These sites often try and sell AdWords on their pages to game the system and make money that way. Google is always on the lookout for these types of sites and unfortunately during this update, bigger and respectable sites like Suite101 and EzineArticles got hit hard, too. If this story concerns you, and it should, keep in mind that you likely won't become a site like Suite101 unless you are singularly focused on content aggregation. If you're ready to boost your site up in the search rankings, here are a few tips to help you do that: 1) It's not about you: Your website is not about you, it's about your consumer or end-user. Google's singular focus is to make sure websites are focused on the user. Make sure that your site is focused on your consumer/reader. What does that mean? It means that you need to take yourself out of the equation and really, really make sure your site is all about the people you are targeting. 2) Links, Links, Links: You want to get links, but not just any links. You want links from high-traffic, high-quality sites. I've shared other articles on how to get these so going through these pieces will definitely help you: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/how-to-help-google-find-y_b_515969.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/eight-steps-for-successfu_b_371191.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/social-networking-on-blog_b_408165.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/your-10-point-website-che_b_505157.html 3) What's on your SERP? What does SERP stand for? It means Search Engine Results Page, and if you've never looked at yours, you probably should. This is the page that shows content from your home page, generally the first three lines or so. If the first paragraph on your home page is just about you, and not about your reader, it will not only affect your ranking but your clickability as well. Again, keep this focused on the reader. 4) Keywords and title tags: While many of us are focused on keywords, most of us ignore title tags. What are title tags? They are what your page name says at the very top of your search bar. You should be using keywords in this area, which will help with your search engine ranking. 5) Site updates & ad space: I love our AME blog, and it's really helped with our search engine ranking. Why? Because search engines love fresh content and every time you update your website, it tells the search engines that you've added new content. But one thing you won't see on our blog are ads. Why? I don't care for them, particularly on our site, and I don't think they monetize enough for me to consider adding them. Also, too much ad content can lower your ranking in Google. Getting a higher ranking in Google isn't that hard, but it does take time. There is no such thing as overnight results or ranking, and for sites that subscribe to this, they often find their site disappeared or was "sandboxed" by Google http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox_effect. The secret really isn't a big secret, but basically it's this: keep your site current and relevant. If you have a website that's focused on your consumer, you update the site via your blog, and you spend time doing some helpful link building, I can almost guarantee you'll see your website go from page 54 to page 1 - and wouldn't that be great? Marketing and Promotion Tips From Chris Brogan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author and social media expert Chris Brogan recently ran a great series on all aspects of writing a book, including some marketing tips: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/writing-a-book-marketing-and-promotion-2/ Utilize AME's Book Marketing Resources ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Like" our AME Facebook Page for marketing articles and tips, YouTube videos from our book marketing channel, notices about upcoming webinars, Publishing Insider shows, and more: http://www.facebook.com/bookmarketingame?ref=sgm. Need Book Marketing Content? Visit the articles page on our AME website and you'll find a range of articles by Penny, which may be used along with her byline (provided at the top of the page) at no cost. The complete list is at http://www.amarketingexpert.com/articles/. Learn 'How to Succeed Online and Sell More Books' and much more on AME's Book Marketing Channel on YouTube. New videos are added regularly to keep you up to date on all things book marketing! http://www.youtube.com/user/BookmarketingAME. Book Bits and Bites ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can't Get No Respect: Former Vice President Dick Cheney's memoir is spoofed by Taiwanese animators, http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/dick-cheney-memoir-spoofed-by-taiwanese-animators_b37215 Love Will Tear Us Apart: 30 literary breakup quotes, http://flavorwire.com/202068/love-will-tear-us-apart-30-literary-breakup-quotes Most Wanted: The most sought-after out-of-print titles in America via BookFinder.com, http://www.bookfinder.com/books/bookfinder_report_2011/ Expand Your Vocabulary "Fist bump," "bromance" "Tweet" and "cougar" make the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271447/ns/today-books/ The Next 10 eBook Trends to Watch For ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No matter one's opinion of eBooks and eReaders, it's highly doubtful they're going to just up and disappear anytime soon. Since they've already started infiltrating bookstores, libraries and schools, now makes for a great opportunity to start evolving and better meeting various consumer needs. Exactly how this comes about remains to be seen, obviously, but gadget gurus and digital enthusiasts certainly have some interesting ideas about what eBook trends might start cropping up soon. 1. Bundles: Whether packaging a print edition along with the eBook, blending digital versions of an author's entire oeuvre or organizing reads thematically, many eBook enthusiasts think bundles will inspire quite the popularity surge. The added incentives might very well sway individuals and institutions unsure about whether or not they want to embrace the admittedly expensive technology. 2. Social Reading Sessions: Online book clubs are actually quite common these days, but eBooks have yet to really seize upon their potential. Beyond offering up discussion questions, readers themselves could include ways for members to communicate with one another via audio or video, or promote even better integration with some of the technologies and organizations already available. 3. Greater Interactivity: eBook users don't have to set up a book club to enjoy a greatly enhanced reading experience! The digital format allows a far higher degree of interactivity than the traditional paperback, and the potential is limited only by an author's or programmer's imagination. Books aimed at young children might especially benefit from this trend - think of how the audience might respond to animations of their favorite illustrations! 4. Authors Go Straight to eBook Publishers: Rather than waiting on their publishing houses to transfer their works over to eBook format, more and more authors are bypassing the traditional system altogether and submitting straight to the producers themselves. And for those looking into self-publishing, pursuing such opportunities may very well mean the difference between floundering in obscurity and hitting the eBook bestseller list. 5. Monetized Content: Not everyone will necessarily dig embedded ads in their eBooks, even unobtrusive ones, but that doesn't mean publishers and companies won't try to cash in on the technology. All the same, though, monetized content doesn't have to mean staring down "CLICK HERE!" in the middle of Cat's Cradle. It could be anything from downloadable content - along the lines of many video games - to subscription services. 6. Different Formats For Different Genres: As eBook readers gain popularity and become more sophisticated, it may come to pass that different genres might end up housed in different technologies. The computerized equivalent of hardcovers versus softcovers, in other words. Kindles and Nooks are excellent for converted novels and nonfiction, but prove a bit too small for textbooks. Larger, more specialized devices could easily come about in order to house "heavier" content. 7. More Indie Publishers: With plenty of authors heading straight for eBook publishers and bypassing the usual mainstream channels, now's an incredible time to be (or even launch) an independent "label." So many talented individuals have excellent stories to tell and research to share, tech-savvy entrepreneurs and editors probably won't have a difficult time finding viable content. Because of this, it makes perfect sense that more and more digital publishing - and even self-publishing - houses will start springing up. 8. A Greater Decline in Traditional Bookstores: Even those without a business degree see Borders' recent bankruptcy and closing as the death knell for traditional bookstores. Although it may be a bit premature to declare such a thing, the format certainly needs to adapt and change if it hopes to survive. So while the familiar setup might not "die" like Borders, over time it's going to start looking a lot different. Barnes and Noble, for example, released the Nook in order to compete with the evolving market. As eBooks continue climbing, it and other book carries will have to find new ways to pick up the slack. 9. Increased Royalties From eBook Sales: Since eBooks are becoming more profitable, authors (not to mention their agents!) will probably want to see more royalties coming in from their availability. Understandably so! If publishers wish to retain their talent - not to mention attract some awesome new names - they'll have to start paying up for more than just the bound books. 10. Free eReaders: It probably sounds insane right now, but the declining cost of eBook readers mean more can be handed out for promotional purposes. Book clubs, publishers and other businesses or organizations might charge consumers a membership or subscription fee, providing the device completely gratis. No different than cell providers receiving money in exchange for air time and comping the phone as an added incentive to sign up, really. Guest post by Jennifer Lynch, an author at http://www.onlinecolleges.net. She writes articles about higher education, college life, study tips, career advice, and more! Buzz Your Book With the Viral Book Sweepstakes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How would you like to promote your book to hundreds of potential readers for less than $6 a day? Many authors do book giveaways, which sometimes help build mailing lists. However, they don't do what you really want: get visitors to tell hundreds of their friends about your book. AME has a powerful and surprisingly affordable new solution. Our Viral Book Sweepstakes platform uses the latest Internet marketing techniques to attract visitors, showcase your book, and get visitors to invite their friends. How do we do that? Visitors get a chance to win an iPad 2 when they join your mailing list, and they get even more chances to win that great prize when they use our tools to promote your book and get more people to visit your page. Finally, a way to turn contacts into evangelists spreading the word of your book and generating buzz. AME makes it easy and affordable. We provide the viral platform, rules, a great prize of an iPad 2, administration, management and reporting, all for less than the cost of the prize itself. The introductory price is just $500 for a 3-month sweepstakes, or less than $6 a day. The results? Your book gets the exposure, awareness and buzz it needs to generate sales. For more information, please see http://BookSweepstakes.com. Submit Your Book to the 2012 Indie Excellence Awards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2012 Indie Excellence Awards contest is open for submissions! NIEA celebrates overall excellence, including design and promotional text. To enter, please send one copy of your book per category entered. Books with publication dates of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are eligible. Books published anywhere in the world may be submitted as long as they are in English and can be purchased in the United States. For more information, expanded category listings and entry forms please visit: http://www.indieexcellence.com Promote YOUR Book With CBE and AME at a Book Fair! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the upcoming shows and deadlines: 2011 New England Library Association Burlington, VT - Oct. 2 to Oct. 4, 2011 The seven states that comprise New England are all represented by the New England Library Association (in addition to the few that have their own library associations). While New England may not be the largest region of the U.S., it does include cities like Boston, Burlington, Portland, Hartford, New Haven, Manchester and other cities that, when put together, represent a great cross-section of some of the smaller market urban areas in the U.S. With nearly 1,000 members, the New England Library Association serves a diverse community. Over 70% of those members are librarians from public and school libraries, so there's a great chance that the books you show to this audience are going to be seen by the very people who make recommendations directly to patrons - and librarians know what their patrons want. There's no better way to market to New England than through the New England Library Association. Registration & Display Copy Deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. Email sherrie@amarketingexpert.com to register! Order more than one book fair and save 10%! 2011 Pennsylvania Library Association State College, PA - Oct. 2 to Oct. 5, 2011 The Pennsylvania Library Association is one that consistently throws great conferences regardless of the location. Perhaps that's because the (on average) 1,000 in attendance, who represent nearly 2,000 members, are so dedicated to their craft, which includes staffing over 50 library branches in Philadelphia alone. Pennsylvania is a large state with a population of over 12 million, covering a lot of ground, and offering a lot of opportunity. Registration & Display Copy Deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. Email sherrie@amarketingexpert.com to register! Order more than one book fair and save 10%! 2011 Illinois Library Association Rosemont, IL - Oct. 19 to Oct. 21, 2011 The state of Illinois receives loads of fanfare from the library community, no doubt in part because the American Library Association's main offices are in Chicago. And with such an important part of the national library world located right in its backyard, the Illinois Library Association has good company when advocating for the staff and members of the 3,802 libraries in the state. With over 3,700 members in the association, it stands as the third largest state library association in the entire U.S., making it a great opportunity for marketing your titles to a serious and seriously large audience. Registration & Display Copy Deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. Email sherrie@amarketingexpert.com to register! Order more than one book fair and save 10%! Penny in the News! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Penny shared book marketing tips with skirt!.com: http://skirt.com/marybeththomsen/blog/penny-book-experts-thoughts * Penny got a shout-out in the Florida Writers Conference blog, in a post titled "If you're overwhelmed by social media options, relax. Social media should serve you, not vice versa:" http://floridawriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/if-youre-overwhelmed-by-social-media-options-relax-social-media-should-serve-you-not-vice-versa/ * Penny has a series on book marketing underway at BookBuzzr, http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/?s=Penny+Sansevieri&x=0&y=0. * Keep up with Penny's latest publishing/marketing piece for Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri. Hear What The Publishing Insiders Have to Say ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be in the know and hear what the publishing insiders: Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - and her guests - has to offer in terms of tips and insights into the industry! Listen here. Publishing Insiders is now available on iTunes, so you can keep up with the show wherever you go! Upcoming show: Topic TBA, Tuesday, Sept 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders/ Shows available for download at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders: * All About Ghostwriting * Publishing Insights from Ellora's Cave * Re-Purposing Your Content * The Future of Author Events * Selling Your Book in Bulk and Special Sales * What Authors Must Know About Book Cover Design * Literary Agents and Their Evolving Role in Publishing * The Dos and Don'ts of Distribution, Parts 1, 2 and 3 * SPECIAL GUEST Seth Godin: Poke the Box * Smart Self-Publishing: Why Book Design & Editing Matter * Smart Self-Publishing: Making Money with eBooks * Smart Self-Publishing Series: Becoming Your Own Publisher * Branding: The Secret to Selling More Books * Secrets to Getting Your Book Into Libraries * Getting Your Book into Bookstores with Elaine Wilkes * This Book Will Make You Money with special guest Jim Kukral * How to Make Money on Twitter * A Self Publishing Success Story * From Blog to Book * The Digital Book Revolution * Powerhouse Promotion with Marci Shimoff * eBooks: the Savior of Publishing or the Foe? with Joe Konrath * Special Guest Mari Smith, queen of Facebook * All Things Twitter! with Warren Whitlock Join Penny's Webinar: Fans, Followers and Friends ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Penny will present the following webinar Sept. 12-18 for RWA, but others are welcome to sign up, too! Title: Fans, Followers and Friends - How to Maximize and Monetize Social Media. This week-long class will teach you how to leverage the essentials of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for book success. To learn more and sign up, visit http://www.rwasd.com/training/index.html How to Use Skype to Sell Books ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From the comfort of your home you can reach out to readers. Here is one author's experience: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2011/08/how-to-use-skype-to-sell-books.html Google+ Tips for Writers and Authors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whether you're a writer, reader, or presenter, Google+ likely has something to offer you. Check out these suggestions on how you can utilize G+ to your advantage: http://workflowwriting.com/632009/gaga-for-google-great-ways-for-writers-authors-speakers-and-readers-to-use-google.php 10 Ways to Improve Your Website ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, authors should have a website. And, there are certain elements you really must include. Learn what they are: http://writeitsideways.com/10-ways-to-improve-your-author-website/?doing_wp_cron Social Media Snippet: Using LinkedIn More Effectively ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Round out your social media presence with LinkedIn - it's a great site for networking. Think of the site as a giant online, interactive Rolodex: http://blog.commpro.biz/socialmediazone/?p=2335 Social Media Snippet: Facebook and QR Codes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did you know you can get QR codes to go viral on Facebook? Learn how: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-combine-qr-codes-with-the-power-of-facebook/ Reader Tip! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've got a Reader Tip you'd like to share, please send it to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line "reader tip." Submissions should be 75 words or less. WHO ARE WE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full-service book marketing, promotion, and publicity company. We serve authors at all stages of marketing and promotion. We offer a full range of packages and services to choose from. To see a price list or schedule a free consultation, send your e-mail to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line "Author Services Info." You can also visit our website at www.amarketingexpert.com. Reprint permission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ You are welcome to reprint any items from "The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter." However, please credit us as a source with the following paragraph: Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com ------------------------------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like this newsletter? Pass it on! We never rent or sell subscriber lists to any third party. Your privacy is very important to us. Always. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here: subscribe@amarketingexpert.com. ----- Copyright 2011 Author Marketing Experts, Inc. ----- Follow us on Twitter Keep up with the AME blog Join our Facebook Page Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: penny@amarketingexpert.com web: http://www.amarketingexpert.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~