There are certain business elements that should only be handled by the experts.

Here’s a list:

1. Company Business Cards

Although there are so many websites out there that allow businesses to customize and create their own business cards, it is never a wise choice to use a template that hundreds of other companies have also used. The point of a business card is to stand out and this cannot be achieved through a template.

2. The Company Website

Like business cards, there are many services that allow for do-it-yourself (DIY) website design. However, there is something to be said not only for having a clear sense of design and layout, but for being able to handle advanced techniques such as descriptions and meta tags. Most business owners don’t have that sort of knowledge under our belts.

3. The Mobile App

Have you ever gone to the Apple “apps store” and noticed that there are so many apps out there that have little or no users? That’s because the makers had no business designing an app. Although there are DIY app design programs that allow the average user to build a mobile app, you need a good mobile app strategy. Chances are, without professional help, you’re not going to come up with a good one.

4. Content

So many businesses demand content that will help connect with new customers, but they never want to pay what that content is worth. Like anything else, you get what you pay for and paying $5.00 for 600 words is never going to cut it.

5. Software

There are countless free software programs out there that can help run a business. However, there comes a point when you will have to invest some money to avoid any major headaches down the road.

There is a misconception that mobile SEO is the same as more traditional SEO. Unfortunately, this is a mistake that costs mobile website owners valuable traffic.

When it comes to mobile SEO, the content and method of presentation differ greatly between those sites designed for traditional desktops or laptops, and those designed for mobile devices.

The main difference between the two lies in screen size and pixelization, but it is also important to consider the environments in which these devices are used. Mobile web browsing takes place in one of two environments, generally referred to as “on the move” and “on the couch”.

When it comes to search engines and the way that they interact with mobile devices, a user’s location, the type of mobile device being used and content format become more critical to SEO than traditional keyword techniques.

This does not mean that traditional SEO techniques should be abandoned. Keywords should be included in title tags, headings and content because mobile website SEO is still based on traditional SEO principles.

When it comes to mobile SEO, the most important things to consider are as follows:

-       Important content should be located at the top of the page to ensure that search engine spiders, and users, have easy access.

-       Use CSS for mobile design layouts because tables will not render well.

-       Use valid XHTML coding. Although WML is a mobile-specific language, XHTML is more easily read.

-       The maximum size of any given web page for a mobile device should not exceed 20 kilobytes.

Mobile websites also need to focus on localized SEO strategies.

Location is an important factor in mobile search rankings. In addition, mobile devices are usually used by people looking for something locally. Localized SEO will ensure that potential customers find your business website.

Whether you approach SEO by yourself or hire an SEO consultant, there are a few fundamental rules that need to know if you want your website to achieve success.

Rule #1 – Keep your content relevant.

Be sure to have between 500 and 1000 words of content on your website. The more content you have, the better your chance at achieving a good ratio of keyword density. Beware, however, that search engines will penalize websites that overuse keywords.

A website can boost its content by adding a blog, a video page, or a news section. Just remember that the content must be relevant to the business or industry that the site represents.

Rule #2 – Create content for humans first.

While it is important to optimize your content for better search engine placement, don’t forget that you are, first and foremost, writing for humans. Your content needs to be interesting, readable, and informative, or your SEO efforts will get you nowhere fast.

A good rule of thumb is to write for your visitors first and revise the content as needed to ensure that you have included relevant keywords and key phrases.

Rule #3 – Pay attention to keyword density.

When it comes to keyword density, the proper ratio lies somewhere between 2 percent and 4 percent of the total word count. This basically means that for every 100 words, keywords should appear approximately 2 to 4 times. Keywords that exist within a website’s coding can be picked up by search engines, as well. Just try and refrain from going overboard.

There are some good free keyword density analyzers available online that can evaluate a website. If a site’s density is too low or high, it can be reworked to meet its target.

Rule #4 – Draw your visitors in.

The use of keywords within H1, H2, and H3 tags will garner the attention of search engine spiders, which crawl your website gathering content. The best way to use these tags is in content titles and subheadings because, when you do this, you also make the content more readable for visitors.

Most website visitors will not read a big block of text unless something draws them in. Usually, visitors will simply scan the pages of a website. By giving users relevant titles and headings, you can make it easier for them to find exactly what they are looking for. This is what keeps users on a website and hopefully spurs them to look more closely at what is being offered.

These rules should be kept in mind as you build and update your website. Always remember SEO should be a top priority.

Consider the following three tips to optimize your Twitter username, as well as other Twitter elements, to maximize your overall presence on the micro-blogging giant:

1. Choose Wisely

When it comes to your Twitter username, take the same general approach you took when optimizing your company’s website domain name. That means you should include the keyword you want to rank for in search results. For example, if you run a used car business, “@qualitycarsales” would be a good username. Just remember that short and sweet usually works best because, the shorter your username is, the easier it is to remember and the easier it will be found in the search results.

2. Make Your Bio Great

A Twitter username isn’t the only element of a Twitter account that holds SEO weight. A Twitter bio can be just as valuable. However, like your username, the bio should also be approached with keyword optimization in mind. Of course, it should also be simple and to the point. Twitter focuses on using the straightforward approach which is why, when Tweeting, you only have 160 characters to work with.

3. Use SEO-Friendly Tweets

Hands down, the most valuable SEO aspect of Twitter is the “Tweet”. Although Tweets are not currently displayed within the search engine results pages of Google, they are prominently featured on Twitter. Now that the website has grown into a search and discovery tool in its own right, increasing visibility on the Twitter network is important for SEO and online marketing.

Consider the following five benefits of Google Analytics:

1. Google Analytics can track the progress of a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign. If you’re going to run an SEO campaign, you should expect to see some quantifiable results. Even the best SEO companies will utilize Google Analytics. For a thorough picture, study the month to month and year to year figures.

2. Google Analytics can help you segment your visitors. While the hope is that a visitor will like what they find on your site, spend some time there and make a purchase or contact you for additional information, many visitors will bounce to your competitor. It is useful to know where these two distinct user types are coming from (i.e. which keywords are strongest). Google Analytics allows you to do this.

3. Google Analytics allows you to examine page quality. Let’s say you have one page that is out-performing another. This may mean that the under-performing page needs a redesign. The newest version of Google Analytics includes “visitor flow visualizations”, making it easy for website owners to see where users are lost and how they travel from through your site.

4. Google Analytics helps to measure the success of an offline campaign. Getting real data on the effectiveness of an offline campaign can be difficult. One way to measure is by setting up a special URL that companies can use exclusively in their print, TV, or radio advertisements. Next, use Google analytics to compare multiple offline ad campaigns against one another.

5. Google Analytics can help you better understand your customers. If you have internal site search capability, take a look at commonly used search terms to get some good ideas about new pages you might want to create. It can also provide clues to existing pages that should be easier to find.

However, running a successful business blog is not always as simple as one might think. Embarking on a business blog is a big commitment and there is great potential for failure.

Here are four examples of how a business can actually be hurting its blog:

Not Enough “Fresh” Content

Blogs need fresh, relevant content to survive and to help build a company’s online brand.

Business owners looking to market themselves online should not even bother starting a blog if they cannot commit to at least one post a week. New blog posts not only tell the search engines to come back and re-crawl a site, they also help keep brand recognition in the forefront of the minds of the business’s target audience.

Haphazard blogging will never help a company build a loyal readership.

Too Many Guest Posts

When it comes to a company’s business blog, the company should be the main voice.

Guest posts are a great way to supplement a business blog, but guests should not replace the blog entirely. Even if a company closely monitors what kind of content is going live, serving as the curator and not the content producer, it will miss out on the long-term benefits of business blogging.

Not Enough Attention to SEO

Even the best blog posts need a little help getting found. Bloggers don’t need to optimize every word of every blog post, but incorporating elements of SEO into a company blog and new blog posts will go a long way in help the company to rank well overall.

It’s All About the Money

There is absolutely nothing wrong with monetizing a business blog. However, it should not be overrun with ads, because every ad acts as an exit point from your blog.

A business blog needs to stay focused on keeping readers engaged for as long as possible, eventually enticing them to visit the company website.

Losing a customer to an ad worth the few bucks isn’t really worth it.

Even if you have been “keeping up” with your campaign, a re-assessment is an excellent idea because most website owners are making SEO changes in increments, as new SEO opportunities and trends emerge.

The problem with this sort of piecemeal approach to SEO is that you end up with serious errors such as multiple links to the same pages, overused keywords, poor keyword placement, or lack of targeted keywords altogether.

Here are a few ways to review an existing SEO strategy and ensure that the campaign stays on track:

1. Revisit Your Site’s Mission

Revisit the mission of your website and the company it represents. Obviously you know where you want your website to be going and what it should be offering your visitors. If it is not achieving these goals, you may need to rethink your entire campaign.

2. Review Annotations in Google Analytics Timelines

Hopefully you were organized enough to note all changes and implementation dates for any ongoing SEO initiatives. These are important benchmarks for a reevaluation.

3. Review Your Link Profile

Utilize tools like Open Site Explorer to review your overall anchor text counts. Check to ensure that you have not gone overboard with non-branded keyword anchor text while ignoring branded linking.

4. Assess Top Keywords

Review your Google Webmaster Tools and assess the top keywords and their variations found on your website. This will provide you with a good understanding of Google’s understands your site to represent.

5. Review Internal Page Links

Also using Google Webmaster Tools, you can review your most heavily linked internal pages. Many website owners are surprised to find that they have added certain page links across the site and now they are showing up as being more important than other key pages.

6. Review Your Ranking for Targeted Keywords

It is important to review your targeted keywords, the intended pages for which you want to rank for and the pages that actually rank for in those terms. If you have added any additional content, whether its text or images, be sure that the content supports the keyword theme of the page.

7. Check Your W3C Validation

Don’t forget to run a W3C validation to ensure that your code is still clean. Also conduct page load tests to ensure that none of your page elements are slowing your site’s load time.

A good website audit should always include a test crawl.

Website owners can learn a lot by crawling their site and should be aware of at least three hidden dangers that can be uncovered.

1. Server Errors

Most website owners would be surprised to find that a simple test crawl can uncover hundreds, or even thousands, of server errors. If Google’s spiders are encountering these errors, you can bet that it isn’t a good thing.

2. 404s

If you’re not familiar with header response codes, a 404 is a “Page Not Found” error. When it comes to SEO, you need to track down your 404s because for every page not found, your business is losing search equity and your visitors are losing out on your message.

3. Troublesome Outbound Links

Hackers are continually trying to infiltrate web sites, CMS packages, and more, in an effort to benefit their own web sites. Believe it or not, a test crawl of your website might very well find links on your site that you didn’t even know about.

Running a test a crawl on a regular basis is a good idea.  There are several actionable findings that audit tools can uncover.  Finding these simple, yet destructive problems can help improve the SEO health of your web site – and that’s the ultimate goal of an SEO Audit.

With a little time and energy, a business’s website can rise to the top and eventually dominate their market using proven SEO techniques that can garner more traffic and set a business apart from competitors.

Here are three such techniques:

1. Use WordPress. Any SEO industry insider knows that WordPress is the best platform for setting up a website. With its clean coding and up-to-date programming, WordPress is the platform of choice for those hoping to rank a website in Google. If you are just starting, build your new website using WordPress. If you have an existing, established website, consider moving it to WordPress.

2. Use a URL that Includes your Targeted Keyword. The first step toward a high rank in the major search engines is having your keyword in your URL. Many business owners spend time developing catchy names and then buy their URL with the name in it. That’s fine for companies with large marketing budgets, but small business owners operating on a limited budget will get better results by choosing a simple URL with their keyword in it. If you already have an established website, consider redirecting the traffic from a “keyword-friendly” URL to your established site.

3. Blog Often. There are two major benefits to blogging. First of all, Google loves content and filling up your pages with lots of great content ensures that Google will come back to your site again and again. This helps get each page of your site indexed. In addition, each time you write a new blog post, you give your business another chance of being found by potential customers interested in your product or service. Be creative and write lots of good, quality content so that people can find you. It may take time, but eventually you will slowly gain followers and generate more traffic over time.

This new feature will allow your website visitors to interact with embedded tweets, as well as view certain details, such as replies and retweets. This new feature can improve your small business website or blog, with just a minimal amount of coding.

One exciting feature of this new service is that any tweets with a photo will embed that photo within any text in the tweet, as long as the picture was uploaded to pic.twitter.com. Photos uploaded using any other service won’t work.

The New Twitter

Twitter has changed dramatically. Icons for “home,” “connect,” and “discover” are now at the top left of your profile, if you have the new design. If your account isn’t yet active on the new Twitter design, be aware that you won’t be able to get the code to embed tweets.

If your Twitter profile doesn’t have any of the new features listed above, be patient, as the new version of Twitter.com is still in progress. If you have downloaded the new version for your Android or iPhone, you will get earlier access to the new Twitter when logging in on your PC.

Embedding Code and Finding the Permalink

If you’re already using the new Twitter design, then you’re ready to roll.

To get the code, go to your tweet’s permalink page. The permalink is hidden within the timestamp on the tweet. Click the timestamp and you’re there. On your Tweet’s permalink page you have to click on “Embed This Tweet,” copy and paste the code into your website or blog, and you’re done.

Embedded Tweets Make Your Content Permanent

Now, more than ever, you have to think before you tweet. While people once could take a screenshot of an incriminating tweet and post it to a website, they now have the option of embedding tweets as well. Deleting a tweet does not make the tweet go away if it has been embedded in a website or blog.

On the positive side, permanent content is essential to search engine optimization (SEO).