SEO is great because once you’re ranked on Google’s first page, all the traffic you get is free.  There is no other form of advertising that can even come close to offering a better marketing solution for your home business than that.  With that being said, getting to the top of Google can be a challenge especially because some of the criteria Google uses to rank sites are kept secret by them in order to preserve quality and relevance.

In an attempt to always provide a better search engine experience, Google rolls out updates on occasion which aim to bring the best possible content to its users.  Google Panda is Google’s most recent update.  Google Panda made a huge splash in the internet world when it launched in February 2011, and many big name sites that experienced a long life of high ranking on Google suffered severe consequences.

What made the Google Panda update so dramatic was the criteria for ranking high in the SERP’s was determined by human quality testers who gave their feedback on what they thought made a site valuable, or not valuable, and worthy of search engine ranking.

It used to be if you had a site with relevant content, lots of backlinks, and some domain history, then the answer to “how to advertise your business online?” became very simple because that’s all you had to do to rank your site well on Google.  These criterion, however, gave way to “link farms” aka “content farms” where one could purchase hundreds or thousands of “backlinks” to point to their site, and then reap the benefits of high ranking.  Google caught on, and now it’s a different ball game for the aspiring internet entrepreneur.  If you’re wondering how to do well with the new Google Panda changes, here is what you need to do:

1)    Make Sure Your Entire Site Is Search Engine Friendly

So, I’m not going to go into on-site SEO tips here, but, simply put, every page on your site needs to have good relevant content not just the home page.

2)    Original Content

Make sure every amount of text on your site is your own.  If you copy and paste text from somewhere else online, trust me, Google will find out and penalize you for it.  Make sure your site has a healthy amount of content that is not only original, but also valuable.  Ask yourself, “Would you enjoy visiting your own site?”

3)    Non-Computer Generated Site

If you are forced to have an affiliate site, or some other site that is auto-generated, you’ll be fighting a losing battle with Google Panda.  Your site needs to be developed by a human and have a unique quality to it.

4)    Not Too Much Advertising

This may not apply to you, but if you decide to advertise on your site, just do it in moderation.  If your site appears to focus just on “ad stuffing”, you’ll need to fix that to do well.

5)    Monitor Bounce Rate

If you don’t have a Google Analytics account set up for your site, this is an absolute must.  It’s free to sign up, and you’ll be able to see exactly how people are using your site.  One of the factors Google Panda looks at is “time on site.”  If people tend to click-on and immediately click-off your site, this is not good and is an indication that your site is either not relevant to what they are looking for, or your content is not worthy of their time.

In conclusion, mold every facet of your site around what’s in the best interest of the site visitor.  If your desire is to satisfy your site visitors and less on just self-promotion, you’ll do well.  Keep at it.  You’ll be rewarded soon enough.

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Brandon Jones is a Google Adwords Certified Partner and internet entrepreneur.  His blog www.MyGoogleMarketing.net offers free tips on how to succeed online.

Unfortunately, that’s not a trick we have mastered just yet. But one valuable piece of advice we can give you can make you feel like you’ve doubled the amount of working hours in your day: only work when your energy levels are high.

That sounds obvious, but it’s something that few of us actually pay attention to. Instead of working and we feel most energetic and productive, we tend to chip away at projects when other people are in our offices, or long past the times when we started feeling tired. This is usually an inefficient approach, though; not only does it take us longer to do what we need to, but it leaves us less enthusiastic about the next hour, or the next day.

Rather than working straight through the day, try this: set aside a few hours when you normally feel great to finish a project. Then, once it has been completed, take the rest of the day – or at least a few hours – to relax, go be a mom, etc. If you can keep up this habit for a few days, a funny thing will happen: you’ll start to look forward to your work more.

If you can double your productivity, with only half the stress you’re used to, it’s going to make a big difference in your work at home profitability. Keep that in mind, and try to finish tasks while you’re fresh.

However, you can make things a lot easier by taking the focus away from what you want, and putting it squarely on what you can do. In other words, don’t concentrate your efforts on finding customers; instead, find a problem you can solve for your clients, and then advertise the fact that you can solve it.

Unless it’s a luxury product, like a foreign automobile or the latest electronic gadget, most of us aren’t all that enthused about buying things and spending money. Neither do we look forward to paying vendors. What does get us all jazzed up, though, is having a nagging problem taken off our plates. Once we find a person or product that can do that, we stop thinking about the reasons to do without the expense and get excited about the solution.

To make your work at home business or career flying success, become a master of explaining how you can make other people’s lives easier. It’s a lot easier than marketing yourself… and a lot more profitable.

With that in mind, ask yourself this question: are you self-employed, or the CEO of your own small company?

On the surface, these would seem to be the same thing. Look deeper, though, and you’ll notice that one is focused on someone who does work, while the other is concerned with management, profits, and even strategic vision.

It’s important, if you are going to thrive in your work at home role, that you learn to see your business is a business. You need to learn to spot unprofitable agreements, find opportunities to save time and money, and think about how to raise the prices of your products – even if those are just your billable hours.

Take a little bit of time each week to put on your CEO hat and think about the direction your company is taking. You might not be running an empire yet, but the first step in that direction is to stop thinking like an hourly employee.

So how do you know when you’ve found the right freelance specialty? There are two things to consider: what you love, and how well it pays.

While it’s important that you have both of these, also know that they should come in that order. That is, too many work at home moms get things backwards – they try to take something they think will pay well, only to discover they hate it. Don’t make that mistake. Think about things you know you love doing, or might be interested in doing, and start there. It’s always easier to find a way to make money from your passions than it is to struggle through the day-to-day drudgery of projects you hate.

Once you have identified a few things you might like to work on, find out what kinds of rates you can get. The Internet is a great place for this, of course, but so is your local library. Or, if you are feeling truly bold, contact a professional who’s already working in the field and find out what they charge. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to help you out when you starting your own work at home business.

Finding a profitable specialty is an important part of the work at home process, so don’t rush it. Think about what you love to do, and then find a way to pay your bills with it. It might take a little bit of research, but you’ll be glad you did.

Yes.  There are.  While our economy has taken a turn for the worse, the amount of online consumer activity has soared.  This is due to the fact that it’s easier and cheaper to shop online.  As a result, this has created many work opportunities for stay at home moms.  1-800-FLOWERS, for example, hires people to answer phone calls and take orders for their website right from the comfort of their own home.  American Airlines hires booking agents to work from home, and they may even give you a computer!

Do a simple search online, and you’ll find a plethora of other opportunities.  So this is great news!  If this type of employment is something you want to pursue, then you need to take some time to evaluate a few things in order to find the best jobs for stay at home moms.  First of all, you need to assess the time you need to fulfill your other responsibilities like taking care of your children and tending to the needs of the home.  How much time do you really have to focus on a job?  What hours of the day are you able to work?  Look for employers, like About.com, for example, that allow you to make your own hours.  This may be the best option for you.

Furthermore, make sure it is clear what your compensation will be.  An offer may look really appealing until you do the math and figure that you’re only making 35 cents per hour!  No thanks.  Finally, if you’ve never worked from home before, please know that it can, at times, become very mundane.  I say that to say this – find something you enjoy doing.

In conclusion, take time to narrow down exactly the type of work you want, and then find the job offers that fit your criterion.  Finding an at-home job is no different than finding any other job.  Be persistent, apply to as many opportunities as you can, and your diligence will pay off.

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Brandon Jones is a Google Adwords Certified Partner and internet entrepreneur.  His blog www.MyGoogleMarketing.net offers free tips on how to succeed online.

That’s not all ways the best approach, however. Getting other people in on the act, and especially people who have skills or equipment that might allow them to do the job more quickly, is just good business. After all, why spend three hours scanning paperwork (for example) when you could pay someone else a few dollars to do it for you? Couldn’t you have used that time to finish, and bill, another project?

Here are three quick questions to help you decide whether to delegate a job or do it yourself:

How long will it take you? If you could make more money in that time than you’re saving by doing yourself, then be sure there’s some good reason you couldn’t just pay to have it finished.

Could someone else do it better? The same applies here; don’t take on tasks that someone else could do twice as well, either because they have the proper equipment or experience.

Is it something you need to be doing? Remember, you are supposed to be your own boss, and one of the perks of being the boss is not doing jobs you hate. If it fills you with dread, and you can afford the help, pay someone else to take care of it. It’s a good investment, because you’ll feel better about your work in the long run.

And one final note: these rules don’t just apply to your professional tasks. Often, work at home moms do everything around the house, even though their time would be better spent on their business. So, if your profits are soaring and you’ve always hated doing laundry, feel free to make the executive decision and delegate it to someone else.

But don’t overlook the upside, either. Here are five reasons working at home can make you a better mom:

You’ll get more time to spend with your kids. Of course, this is the reason a lot of women decide to work at home in the first place, but it’s worth mentioning.

You’ll have more patience and energy. Doing what you love, and being your own boss, wears you down a lot less than working in the traditional corporate environment. These benefits definitely pay off as a parent.

The schedule is a lot more flexible. You can set up your business to work as many hours as you want… or as few. Plus, the vacation plan can’t be beat.

You might earn more money. A lot of work at home moms are surprised to find that, without a ceiling on their income, they are able to exceed what they had made in the past, or hoped to make being self-employed.

You teach your kids to take control of their own futures. As parents, we all have to lead by example. And what better example to set than starting your own business?

Here are four ways to get paid faster as a work at home mom:

Stay on top of your billing. The faster you invoice, the faster you get paid. Never get so far behind on your paperwork that you forget to send out your bills.

Accept credit cards and online payments. Lots of businesses, especially small ones, pay freelancers over the Internet. Go with the trend and make it easy for them to send you money with the click of a mouse.

Make your payment terms clear. If you have a client with chronically late payments, why not start adding a small amount (say 1%) for each calendar month they are overdue? Often, this is all it takes to get the checks in the mail by their due dates.

Do good work. The better your work is, the more incentive your client has to keep you happy. When you’re someone they can’t live without, and you’ll find that most of your invoices are going to be paid in a flash.

No, the hardest part is learning to think like a wealthy business owner.

That’s because many of us were raised to think that we should only expect to be paid a certain amount for work, or that to earn a lot of money would make us “greedy.” But these attitudes, as widespread as they are, can be major stumbling blocks to your work at home business success.

If you truly want to break out of your current income level as a work at home mom, then train yourself to start seeing things in a different way. Rather than simply shooting to “just get by,” start looking for opportunities to expand your business, raise your profit margins, and otherwise take your company to the next level. You have all the talents you need, and the necessary skills can be learned, but none of that will happen until you learn to believe in yourself and see yourself differently.

The hardest part about success in any part of life is imagining that success in the first place. Remember that, and put yourself on the path to becoming a wealthy work at home mom.