It is important to find topics that will appeal to your targeted readers, preferably on subjects that they will search on. Often topics that start with “how to…” or that address seasonal topics do very well. One way to get ideas is to go to the Google Keyword tool and see what similar searches are coming up for your keywords, or go to Google Instant to see what topics come up as you type in your keywords. Another suggestion is to search similar topics and see what comes up; that might make you think of similar suggestions or topics that were not yet addressed.

Remember to write topics that your targeted audience is interested in. Your will build stronger links if your articles are read and the links are clicked.

When writing articles for link building think of topics that connect with your audience are not a sales pitch. Save the sales pitch for your website landing page. The article you write should be informative.

However, this does not mean that you can not mention your product/service. A good strategy is to write an article that addresses a problem that your product/service addresses. For example, if you sell plant seeds you might want to write articles about what types of seeds grow best in different climates, and then link back to your seeds page.

Continue reading this series for more information about article writing for link building SEO, or learn more about the Ugam Interactive Editorial Services for Link Building.

If you are outsourcing your article writing and link building, or have several different authors, it is especially important to clearly define the voice that you want used consistently no matter who is doing the writing.

Learn more about article writing for link building by visiting our website, reading a case study, or reviewing all the postings in this series.

In this first of 12 postings regarding articles for link building, the most basic, but often forgotten, step will be discussed; knowing your reader. Although you are writing for links, you want your articles read and clicked on, which will help them rank higher, and, therefore propel your website higher. Do not make the mistake that you are writing for Google; always remember your target audience.

When writing, take the time to not only understand the demographics of your target audience, but why they would read your article. Then, picture someone you know in that target audience and write the article for them.

Remember: You are not writing for yourself or Google, but for your target audience.

The professional article writers and link builders at Ugam Interactive have helped many top Retailers improve their search rank through unique editorials and keyword anchor back links.  Learn how they can help you write articles for SEO,  read a link building case study, or stay tuned for the posting for Step 2: Identify Your Voice.

This series, Best Practices for a Competitor Price Tracking Solution, has presented important concepts to consider before making a price monitoring solution purchasing decision. The first five considerations were mapping accuracy , like and similar product comparisons, timelines, flexible data collection for peak seasons, and putting the solution to work for you. This post will discuss a feature that will help you ensure that your employees are accessing the data as predetermined.

An excellent reporting featuring contained in PriceTrac is a Usage Report. This tells you which employees are accessing PriceTrac and for how long. This data helps you to make sure your investment and plans are being put to good use.

Learn more about the PriceTrac competitor price monitoring solution.

Having a great solution is important, but putting it to use is critical. Before choosing a competitor price tracking solution, know how you will use it who in your company will be in charge of overseeing the various uses, and which employees will have access to the data on-demand. A good place to start is to review the case study, Price Monitoring for Large Fashion Business, to see how one large retailer has used PriceTrac successfully for years to maintain its market position and maximize its pricing. They use PriceTrac to make preseason pricing and assortment decision, and also in season to decide pricing and promotions. This company has used PriceTrac to understand:

• Their brand’s high level price position relative to important competitors
• How their price position has changed over time
• What percentage of each competitor’s assortment is on regular or promotion at any given time
• The frequency and depth of their competitors’ promotions
• How competitors achieve final price.  For example higher regular prices, broader promotions

Learn how PriceTrac can help your company solidify its market position while maximizing your pricing, promotions, and assortments.

Read the next posting, Ensure The Data Is Being Used Internally, for the final best practice.

Your competitor price monitoring solution should allow you to choose the frequency of the product pricing, assortment,and promotion data updates. When setting up your schedules you will want to consider:

• the frequency and days of the weeks that your competitors normally make their changes
• the frequency which you and your team will look at the data provided
• the frequency which you will act upon the data provided

The majority of companies opt for weekly updates as this usually fits the above three points.

However, during peak selling seasons, you may want more frequent updates. A good competitor price intelligence solution will allow you to increase the frequency of your updates for selected periods of time. For example, you might want to move from weekly to daily between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This gives you the opportunity to immediately react to any market changes.

Another great option to look for is “on demand updates”. That is, the ability to get immediate market information on important SKUs at the touch of a button.

PriceTrac from Ugam Interactive offers increased updates during your selected peak seasons, as well as SKU updates at the touch of a button.

Learn more about PriceTrac or read my next posting, Develop a Plan to Use the Data.

When considering a competitor price monitoring solution, such as PriceTrac, make sure you understand how long the initial set up will be and what your ongoing timelines for updates will be.

The initial set up may be out of a box or customized. Most solutions take months to properly map the SKUs you provide to the competitors you select. While a long initial set up time might disappoint you, ongoing updates of SKUs is more likely to limit the relevance of the data needed. PriceTrac can have you up and running within weeks, not months and provide accurate mapping on thousands of SKUs within days; other price monitoring solutions require weeks and do not provide the accuracy you need.

Learn more about the PriceTrac Competitor Monitoring Solution, or read the next blog in this series, Flexible Data Collection for Regular and Peak Seasons.

Two reasons you may want similar mapping:

1. You sell a unique product which no one else carries
2. Your competitors are sometimes similar, not identical products

In either case, when shopping for a competitor price monitoring solution, ensure that the mapping system allows you to set up parameters for the similar products that you want mapped and that the accuracy of the mapping can be guaranteed.

PriceTrac provides guaranteed accurate like and similar product SKU monitoring.