Unless you work for Google, do SEO, or are really on top of your marketing, you probably haven’t heard of Panda. It’s the most recent evolution of the Google web crawlers—those things that decide where your website is going to show up in a search. Learning just a little about these changes can give you a huge advantage over your competition.

How will understanding Panda give me an advantage?
You’ll have a better idea of who to hire for your online marketing and SEO
You’ll know when they are marketing the right way online, and when they are still using strategies based on older optimization models (which are no longer as effective).
And for those with a limited budget, you will be able to do more of your marketing and optimization in-house the right way, saving a whole lot of money.

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These are super simple and really work, but many small businesses get cold feet when it comes to actually executing these proven tactics.

1. Do the opposite of your competition – Do you want to be your competition or do you want to beat your competition? Standing out is essential but the temptation to simply copy can be overwhelming. If you are copying others the best your marketing can ever hope for is a tie, more likely you’ll be seen as a generic Johnny-come-lately. Instead think of a way to do the opposite type of marketing in order to put your business in direct opposition. With great messaging this will boost your branding and sales much faster than the copy-and-paste approach.

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