In an effort to reduce the amount of spam in search results, Google is reassessing its algorithm, including focusing on sites that have very little content and those sites that copy content.  What this means for the work at home industry is that “Content Is Reaffirmed As King,” by Google.  Remember why people go online in the first place?

When people go online, they want a solution to a problem, challenge or concern, be it how to solve this or that or to find a job or a way to earn more money or you name it.  Content and especially, original content is what Google will demand of those who submit to have their material indexed on the Internet.  Google still holds a commanding lead for search and dominates the level of accuracy that users have come to expect from the Internet.

The result is that Internet surfers will get more relevant original content rather than sites that have piecemeal content or other than original content.  The question of course for many of us who do business online, is how Google determines original content from piecemeal content?

Here are things that you don’t want to do with your content that you’re posting online.  You don’t want to put too many keywords and word phrases in your material without any relevant references.  For example, if you wrote an article about wireless handsets and sprinkled the words “IBM,” “Oracle,” or “Cisco,” without really using them in any meaningful way that relates to your content, but using those words just the same because you think that it will give you higher search returns, well, you’re probably keyword spamming within your content.

Google is also concerned that syndicated content, that is, content that is widely distributed through other sites on the Internet, can sometimes outrank original content. The question many of us have is what impact will this have on auto-blogging software, article spinners and content farms?  It can’t be a good thing if Google takes a negative outlook on these Black Hat methods, right?

What does this mean for article directories?  If, you publish the same article or parts of your article and then distribute different versions that are 40% of your original content, what impact will this have on your site or search engine rankings?  The answers lie in the future and seeing what affect Google’s algorithm changes actually has on search engine rankings and how that impacts your site(s).

In essence, those in the work at home field just need to continue to concentrate on providing your audience with frequently and compelling content that they expect to see each time they visit.  Write about what you know.  Your articles don’t have to be perfect, but they do need to make sense and have something to offer others.  Write about your passion.  Write about what you love.  It’s what you love.  It’s what you know and it’s what your audience wants.

Are you a online merchant who works from home? Well, if you are, there is a good chance that Google’s new search algorithm has lowered your ranking if you’ve received negative feedback or reviews. Google answer to the offending merchant sites that have negative feedback or reviews was to develop an algorithm that monitors those sites that deliver “extremely poor user experiences.” Google won’t elaborate on the details of its new search algorithm because it doesn’t want others to have an advantage over others.  The Bad Boys Of Search Have Been Put On Notice.  Find Out What You Can Do To Avoid The Wrath Of Google.

No longer can an online merchant who mistreats their customers and receives bad feedback as a result game Google’s algorithm as one particular eye merchant did recently.  When Google got word that you could get better search engine ranking by treating your customers terribly, Google quickly convened and changed its search algorithm.

Those of you who diligently practice White Hat SEO or ethical web marketing practices don’t have anything to worry about, you just continuing working at keep your site as user-friendly as you can and address concerns and complaints in a efficient manner.

Keep giving your audience what they expect to find and make it interesting and compelling enough for them to return and grow your audience by sharing the things that you know works and they will play it forward and tell others.

Build your audience by commenting on relevant sites and forums and participate in helping others find a solution to their problems, concerns and questions and do it with a genuine interest in wanting to learn and to share.

Of course using reviews as a part of the search algorithm brings to question the extent of their relevance and the reputation of the person submitting it.  Some whom practice questionable tactics (Black Hat SEO), use fake reviews in an attempt to boost their star rating or positive feedback.

Even though a review is subjective, some don’t really lead to helping you understand or appreciate the product or service that is being reviewed.  Herein the reputation of the reviewer is worthwhile to note.  Are they a serial reviewer boosting their own site or the actual product?

For those of use who strive to do the right thing and practice what we stand for every day, there is little to be concern with, just know that Google’s algorithm change should benefit honest merchants most.  Those of you who interact with your audience will always do better than a home-based business owner who ignores their audience or customer.

It may be in an Internet Business best interest to get their products or services in Google’s Product Search (Froogle) site or Amazon’s, if for no other reason than the sheer number of times that these two, Froogle and Amazon tend to dominate the top search returns for their keywords.

Nearly everyone working at home wants to earn more with their home-based business and understanding how Google has improved your ability to search for blogs by enhancing its search, will give you insight about the potential for Internet surfers to find you.  More eyeballs landing on your site means more opportunities for you to increase your subscribers and income.  If, you don’t already have a blog about what you do, you should.  Here’s why?

Bloggers who post about a particular subject frequently will benefit most from the changes in Google’s algorithm changes.  For instance, rather than just returning just the post within a blog with your search term or word phrase, Google returns that particular post and if you look to the left-side bar of the search return page, you will see just below the Google logo, below the word “Everything,” click on “More” and within that list, you will see “Blogs.”  In addition to your search query results, you can search for blogs that frequently write about your search return or word phrase.

You can take your search even further by going midway on the left-sidebar of your search results and under the title, “Posts,” you can explore “Homepages.”  If, you don’t find what you’re looking for by clicking the “Homepages” link, you can go back one page to where you were by hitting the “Reset tools” link.

You can tailor your search results by choosing a specific time period such as:  Any time; the Past 10 minutes; the Past hour; the Past 24 hours; the Past week; the Past month; the Past year and by Custom range.

When you search by Custom range, you will be presented with a calendar in which to search the specific time period for your search query and get only those search results for that period.  There is even a search whereby you can Sort by relevance.

As an Internet Business owner, you want to inform and educate your audience and one of the best ways to do that is to blog.  Your audience should be interested in what you have to say, if not, maybe you’re targeting the wrong audience.   You want to always deliver relevant and compelling information to your audience whether they are unique visitors (first-time site visitors), returning visitors, potential customers or customers.  The   most effective method to deliver that information, is to make it easy for people to find you.   Getting found is the foundation for getting more subscribers and making money online.

There are five pillars to any online business success and they are:

Pillar #1

Willingness to do learn and discover new things that affect your Internet Business, which involves having the millionaire mindset required to stay abreast with your niche.  What you perceive the world to be, it is.  Whatever your reality is, is the reality that will manifest itself to you.  If, you believe that it is going to be difficult to do an online business, it will be, because you have programmed your mind to believe this.  If, you believe that you can do this, you can and you will.  You need to counter the negativity around you that paralyzes you from succeeding online or offline.

Having an attitude of abundance really helps to motivate you to do what it takes to be successful online.  It won’t be easy, but if you’re willing to learn new ways of marketing and discover newly-launched social media sites, you will be rewarded with the freedom to be yourself and brand your personality and online business philosophy that will attract a wider audience for you.

Pillar #2

Commitment to doing what is necessary to succeed in spite of the naysayer who may be family or friends and the attitude to see your efforts through to completion.  You need the right mindset from the beginning and take action.  Nothing happens without action.  Having the commitment to learn how to drive traffic to your sites is largely what Internet Marketing is all about and the lifeblood of every Internet Business.  It won’t always be easy to do the necessary steps to get, keep and grow your business online, so having passion for what you love or at the very least, are interested in, will go a long ways when the going gets tough.

Along with your commitment to what you’re interested in, you would put your personal touch in what you’re doing and this is what differentiates you from others.  You’re adding value to your industry or niche and contributing something of practical use.  When you do you, you are branding yourself as someone knowledgeable and credible, someone others would want to do business with.  People can tell if you are genuine about your interest in your industry or niche.  Passion fuels commitment and willingness gives you the stamina required to act on whatever you decide is best, so go forth and do you!

Pillar #3

The ability to capture the leads that you generate through blogs, websites, capture pages, commenting in forums, discussion boards, podcasting, video marketing, and social media marketing.  You find that this is what internet marketing is all about and that is the ability to get traffic to your website, blog or forum.  It doesn’t matter what internet business you’re in, you need to traffic to survive and you need traffic to thrive.

You will need when you launch your website, blog or forum, to have a means of capturing your visitor’s information so that you can build your list. You may have to give your visitor something digital in order to get them to sign up for your newsletter or RSS Feed, but make it something that would be of value to your site visitor.  As you’re building your traffic numbers, you want to build your list at the same time.  Don’t worry too much about monetize your list until you have sufficient traffic.  Once you have visitors coming to your website and have established a relationship with your list, you are more likely to be successful at monetizing your list.  People like to buy from people they are find credible and you have established yourself as being such a person by giving continual value to your site visitors and subscribers.

Most Internet Businesses need to generate about 100 leads a day minimum in order to achieve an income of $5,000 to $10,000 per month.  Your business opportunity may generate substantially less than this or a bit more than this every month and this is if you’re doing everything right.  How much income you achieve is directly related to the efficiency of your marketing.

Pillar #4

Traffic is the very reason that some sites thrive and other sites remain stagnant.  You want to get quality traffic.  Quality traffic is traffic that is interested in your theme or site topic.  Ultimately you want targeted traffic, because most of the people who are surfing online are looking for a solution for something and if you are that something, you will get traffic.

You want to optimize your traffic for your keywords that you are using for your site.

Create incoming links to let the search engine know what your site is about.  You want to comment on websites, blogs and forums that are similar themed or about the same subject hat your site is about.  When you are using similar keywords, it is easier for the search engines to find you.

Having an abundance mentality affords you the opportunity to do all that you can today, knowing fully well that whatever you don’t complete today, you can do tomorrow.  For example, using the example given above, if you are not yet able to generate 100 leads a day, don’t worry about it, so long as you are generating leads on a consistent basis.

Remember, Internet Marketing is a “numbers game,” meaning that it’s all about getting traffic to your sites.  The more traffic you get to your sites, the more likelihood you’ll have at collecting their information, building a relationship with them and at some point in time, converting them to sign up for your newsletter, join your program, or buy from you.

Pillar #5

You need the ability to write about your industry or niche or at least have the willingness to pay someone to produce the content for your website or blog.  People go on the Internet largely to look for information to solve a problem, challenge or concern that they’re having.  Concentrate on answering the pressing problems, challenges and concerns of your industry or niche and the rewards for doing so, is immeasurable.

Writing content or having someone else who understands your industry or niche, write for you.  Fresh content will get you the eyeballs your site needs and the search engines love newly-updated content and will reward you for it.  Answer the questions of others willingly and over time you will be branded as someone who others can go to for advice and solutions.  This will benefit you greatly and your site favorably.

Never stop learning about your industry or niche and read widely.  Not only will this give you another way to look at things, but you will pick up trends in your industry or niche that you can capitalize on in a way that helps everyone.  Share your knowledge liberally with others and you will find that they will share things that you have yet to consider.

Follow each of the suggested pillars and you will see a remarkable advance in what you’re seeking to accomplish as an individual and as a site owner. Do this for each of your websites or blogs and when you finish, start over and do it once again for any new site that you establish.  This is the “nuts and bolts” of every successful business online.  You have the pillars to make every site productive, but don’t forget to learn new marketing techniques and strategies and implement them.  Your business online will grow and with it, so will your leads, subscriptions to your newsletter, conversions and profits.