business-news

Latest Visa Run Update And Other News

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:02:15 +0100

Tourist Visas

The news from Cambodia is not good right now if you're looking for a visa. It's taking four which days to get a visa now which means if you go on Wed-Fri then you'll end up being there six days because of the weekend. There are two better alternatives: Laos, which takes two days and Singapore which takes only one night. Vientianne in Laos isn't exactly the most exciting city in the world but it's a peaceful place to relax. Singapore's Thai embassy is uncrowded generally and it will only take you about 30 minutes to get your application in and five minutes the next day to collect your passport. We also heard news from someone who went to Kuala Lumpur for a tourist visa and was refused because they had already gotten their last three visas there and this would have been the fourth. Looks like maybe it's a good time to visit different places in the region.

We've now also heard of people with 3-4 tourist visas, some with extensions, being given a red stamp in their passports in Penang when they apply for another one. The actual stamp said this: Remark; The holder of this passport travels to Thailand under a tourist visa several times which may result in refusal of a visa in the future. These people are then required to go back to their home country before they can get any more tourist visas. So Penang sounds like a place to avoid for now, at least for a tourist visa. Others seem to be okay. If you haven't been here long then be advised that there is a sort of merry-go-round that seems to always play out in regard to getting visas from Thailand's neighboring countries. It seems like the embassies take turns being very lenient with their visa policy and very strict. That's why we publish this newsletter: to let you know the best place to go at any given time because these things change without notice.

Non-Immigrant O Visas

Things appear to be quite easy in Kuala Lumpur right now except for one small hitch. Apparently, the form that you can download from the KL embassy website is not the same as the one that they issue at the embassy so don't bother downloading and filling it out. You'll just have to do it again.

We recently heard that a trip to Savannakhet on the Thai-Cambodian border is a pleasant way to get your visa. We know of one person that received a one-year multiple entry marriage visa and wasn’t even asked to show any financial information. The consulate was uncrowded, the bus trip from Bangkok to Mukdahan, the closest town on the Thai side of the border, was an overnight one but there are flights directly there on Laos Air and the town itself is quiet and relaxing with good, inexpensive food. This seems like a good alternative to some of the more distant and expensive locations.

We’ve received conflicting reports about Singapore lately, although it does always seem to be relatively uncrowded and efficient. One person commented on the bank statement that is needed: make sure it is very recent, like days before your visit to the embassy. Another person remarked on the general rudeness of the staff and the arbitrary way in which some people seem to be rejected. This contrasts with some of our entries above in regard to other locations. Oh, and when you are given a slip of paper with a number on it for picking up your passport, do not lose it. If you get your papers in by the morning then you can pick up your passport between 2-3 PM the next day.

Non-Immigrant B Visas

Singapore crops up again with B visas and here there is even more back and forth between people who have good experiences and people who don’t. One very recent report concerns someone who was given their B visa but only for 90 days. The person didn’t receive much of an explanation for it and wasn’t really happy about it for obvious reasons.

Kota Bharu, just over the Thai-Malaysian border, has been mentioned recently in a couple of positive reports. It’s a little harder to get to than some locations but is not that busy. You get your paperwork into them in the morning and pick up your passport the next morning. It’s in a strictly Muslim area so the office is closed on Friday and Saturday and the hours are 9-noon and 2-3:30.

The Truth About Overstays

Immigration has gradually been getting stricter about overstays so if you've overstayed you should take care of it immediately. The longer you wait the worse it gets, and not just from the financial aspect. You want your passport to look as squeaky clean as possible and overstays are now being looked upon in a different light. The crackdowns, restrictions and policy changes that we see all the time usually mystify us when it comes to figuring out the why behind whatever change has been made. One thing that you have to realize, to make a least a little sense out of what's going on, is that many of the changes are done in reaction to what certain countries' nationals are doing and that it has little to do with westerners. Citizens from Middle Eastern and some other Asian countries can be doing things that the Thai government is trying to stop and the only way for them to accomplish their goals is to make changes that affect everyone. Overstays are part of this. People from some of these countries who abuse the overstay policy can create a situation where the government has to crack down. That may be what's happening now and we've certainly heard things to this effect over the last several months but the bottom line is, don't overstay and if you do then clear up your status as fast as possible.

Getting A Work Permit In Thailand

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:17:53 +0100

There are different laws in all countries that govern the ability of no-residents to legally work and Thailand requires anyone wishing to work there to obtain a Thai work permit. Anyone can get one if they meet the requirements, file the necessary paperwork and pay a nominal fee.

The first thing you have to consider when attempting to work in Thailand is whether or not the job you want to perform is permissible under Thai law. Foreigners are highly restricted as to the type of work they can do with the primary rule being that foreigners can only do work that Thais cannot do. So most jobs that foreigners have they have because proficiency in their native language is a requirement for their job. For example, an English teacher or a sales rep that needs to communicate with foreign customers. There are many others, of course, but whatever the job is, it must be something that requires a foreigner to do and not a Thai.

If the job is something that is eligible for a foreigner to perform then the company that the person wants to work for must prepare and file the necessary paperwork on their behalf. The first step in this process is for the company to provide the applicant with a letter stating their intention to hire him and provide him with a work permit. The applicant then must use this letter to travel outside of Thailand to a Thai embassy where they need to apply for a non-immigrant B visa. Non-immigrant O visas can also be used to get a work permit but B visas are much more common for this purpose.

After the applicant receives the non-immigrant visa then the rest of the paperwork can be prepared and the work permit can be applied for at the Thai Labor Department. The paperwork consists of various company documents primarily but also some personal documents from the applicant including a passport copy and a health certificate which can easily be obtained from any clinic or hospital. A blood test is required to check for, of all things, syphilis. Apparently it is considered more important than HIV for some reason as there is no test done for that.

After all of the paperwork is put together and presented to the Labor Department it takes anywhere from 7-10 days for the work permit to be granted. If there is a problem with the paperwork then the process will start all over again so it is best to make sure that you have the paperwork prepared by someone who is knowledgeable to avoid unnecessary delays.

Something else that is important to understand is that it is mandatory for anyone who is engaging in any type of work in Thailand to have a valid work permit. Working without a work permit can result in a fine for the company that hired the person and possible deportation for the person working illegally. You can’t even volunteer for an NGO here without having a work permit. And working for a foreign company, say as a freelancer working online, is also illegal. So make sure if you do any work in Thailand that you have a work permit or you could be facing a lot of trouble.

Forming A New Thai Company

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 03:52:32 +0100

Opening a new Thailand company is not a simple and uncomplicated process as it is in many countries around the world. The biggest problems, especially for foreigners, are the fact that all paperwork must be done in Thai and the amount of paperwork is so voluminous. Just figuring out what is needed in the first place is a challenge. And then making sure that it is filled out and filed correctly is the next big hurdle.

Because of this there are a lot of legal firms in Thailand that help foreigners when they want to open a company in Thailand. Many can be found easily on the internet and these tend to be the biggest and most well established. They can also be the most expensive and, in some cases, not all that focused on providing great customer service. So bigger is not always better.

The best type of company to help people with a Thai company registration is probably a company that is big enough to handle everything that needs to be done for company registrations as well as work permits and visas. However, you also don’t want a company that is too big and will have very junior personnel handle your work. What is also very important is that you make sure whatever company you choose to do your work that someone there can speak good English so you can have things explained to you properly. Preferably, the company should have native English speakers on hand.

Because obviously if you are not a native English speaker yourself it can be difficult for two people to communicate when they are both speaking a second language. Of course, the ideal situation is to have someone to talk to who can speak your native language but since English is the most common second language here that is more difficult to find.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the companies that advertise these types of legal services feature what seem to be very low prices. However, these prices usually fail to include various fees that must be paid to the relevant government agencies so the actual price that you may pay could be quite a bit higher. Because of that, it’s best to get a clear idea of what the total amount you have to pay is before you make a decision on who to hire.

Another thing you might want to do, and this applies to any people you are considering doing business with in any way, is to simply Google the names of the company’s principles to see what comes up. This is a good way to find out anything about the people you’re about to deal with – positive or negative – before you make any kind of commitment. You’d be surprised at some of the things you’ll find just by doing this.

Also, take note especially of how responsive the company is when you contact them. If they take a long time to get back to you or to answer your questions this is a definite red flag. If they can’t even respond to you in a timely manner then the process of putting together your paperwork and getting your company formed could take forever. It’s a small thing but it’s a reliable indicator as well.

Tax Liability For Foreigners In Thailand

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:34:02 +0100

Here's an instructive example of a Thai tax situation which is probably more common than you might think. Bob is English and is 53 years old. He lives full time in Pattaya on a retirement visa and is a computer systems consultant. Most of his days are spent in his study, at a house on a quiet street. There he consults for a company in Australia. All of this is done over the internet. Other than the fact that he lives in this country, Bob's work has nothing to do with Thailand. His salary is paid by the company into his account in the U.K.

Obviously, Bob could be doing this anywhere in the world. And he will swear to you that he doesn't need to pay taxes on his income because he knows four others who are doing something similar.

Does Bob owe Thai income tax on his income? Yes. According to Section 41 of Thailand's Revenue Code, taxes are due in Thailand on income from ''work or any activity'' done in Thailand. Because Bob does the work in Thailand he owes Thai taxes on it.

But there's something else to keep in mind. In Bob's case, because he is English, we have to take into consideration the treaty for the avoidance of double taxation between Thailand and the U.K. This particular treaty says that only one of the two countries can tax Bob for work he does. Which one? The treaty provides that it's the state in which the taxpayer is resident that gets the taxes. Since Bob's residence, defined as presence for 180 or more days a year, is Thailand, he would have to pay his taxes in Thailand.

There's yet another issue. Bob is in Thailand on a retirement visa. The terms of a retirement visa provide that one may not work, even part time. If he violates this he's exposed to the penalties from Section 75 of the Thai Immigration Act, BE 2522 (1979). In Bob's case this could mean penalties of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to 10,000 baht. Likewise, under Section 36 of the Immigration Act, Bob's retirement visa could be revoked.

Of course, it is practically impossible for anyone, including the Thai tax authorities, to know whether Bob is working in Thailand _ he doesn't have a formal place of work in Thailand and isn't paid in the Kingdom. So lots of people do what Bob is doing and nobody complains much. But you should be aware that what he's doing does trigger tax obligations.

How would Bob make his work tax-compliant in Thailand?

Well, he couldn't do it on a retirement visa. He could do it by forming a company. The Thai company would then hire Bob as an employee and he would get a work permit in Thailand. The company would owe Thai corporate tax on what it was paid by the company in the U.K. The local company would pay Bob a salary, and Bob would be responsible to pay Thai income taxes on this.

Obviously, this is expensive, time-consuming and basically a pain. Working under the radar is far easier and saves Bob a lot of money and hassle. The chances of him getting caught, provided he keeps his mouth shut about his work when he's down at the pub having some bevvies, is almost nil. However, the reality is that what he is doing is illegal and there are real penalties if he is caught.

Thai firms 'must embrace Asean'

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:52:16 +0100

Thai companies, big and small, must consider overseas expansion as they will soon come under pressure from demographic changes, a shrinking domestic market, labour shortages as well as higher wages, said Bangkok Bank's executive chairman.

To Kosit Panpiemras, Asean countries are attractive destinations thanks to the regional single market under the Asean Economic Community, which will take shape in 2015 and ensure free flows of trade and investment. While big Thai companies like Siam Cement Group, PTT and Banpu led the first wave of expansion abroad, small and medium-sized enterprises will follow, particularly those in the automotive, food, electrical-appliance and textile industries - which are the underlying economic strengths of the Kingdom.

"Venturing overseas is a must, given the challenges we're facing. Asean is now the most important market for Thailand, more important than the US or Europe," he said at a seminar on "Thai-Asean Economic Linkage" hosted by the bank yesterday.

He sees huge potential in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma, reflected through the continued increases in Thai exports to the countries.

"Yet, such expansion plans must be carefully mapped out, with an understanding of the diversity of the region," he added.

The banker believes Thailand's domestic market will shrink, as elderly Thais, aged 60 and above, now comprise about 11 per cent of the population. As the birth rate will be in decline from 2015 onwards, the working-age population will fall - exacerbating the labour shortage and reducing consumption. Coupled with the policy to hike wages, this would add to the operating costs of Thai businesses, he said.

Meanwhile, several other Asean countries' domestic markets are bigger than Thailand's, thanks to their bigger populations. Indonesia is the star, with children aged 1-14 years accounting for 26 per cent of its 240-million population. This guarantees a huge labour supply. The Philippines' ratio of children is also high, at 33 per cent.

Kosit added that several Asean countries had begun to shine more brightly, and this explained why Thailand is losing its attractiveness in the eyes of foreign investors. This is reflected in the Kingdom's smaller piece of the pie in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region. During 2004-2009, Thailand attracted 17 per cent of all FDI flowing to Southeast Asia. The ratio dropped sharply to 6 per cent during 2010-2011. Indonesia, on the other hand, saw its ratio rise from 13 per cent to 21 per cent in the period.

"This is a sign. Even outsiders are overlooking Thailand, as they have new choices," he said. "Yet, despite huge potential, Asean is diverse in terms of population, age groups, income, regulations, competition in domestic markets and cultures."

Kosit admitted that venturing out is not easy, as it's like "competing in unknown territory, against unknown competitors who are in some cases better than us".

Thailand's overseas investment in 2009 was valued at US$3.81 billion (Bt116.6 billion), compared to Malaysia's $8 billion. Singapore invested only $5.97 billion in the year, but that was down from $11.21 billion in 2005.

Kosit noted that Thai businesses are new to this area, but Asean should be their focus as they take their first steps, as its 600-million population and economic growth forecast of 5.5 per cent this year make it attractive to the entire world. To prepare, they must have sizeable share in the domestic market, the necessary human resources for such expansion, as well as the right products for Asean consumers, the banker said.

"Asean is attractive to the world. If we don't go and others do, once they're settled, we won't be able to set up there, no matter how much we want to. We'll be shut out," he said.

Bangkok Bank president Chartsiri Sophonpanich noted that the bank had opened a representative office in Beijing in 1985, 20 years before getting a licence to open a full branch in 2005. He admitted that venturing overseas is hard, adding that it requires patience and thoroughness.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thai-firms-must-embrace-Asean-30177633.html

Five from Thailand join 'Forbes' billionaires club

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 02:08:39 +0100

Four Thais and one Thai permanent resident made the 2012 Forbes billionaire list, the annual survey of the world's richest people conducted by the US magazine.

Dhanin Chearavanont and family were the richest in Thailand, with total wealth estimated at US$7 billion (214.34 billion baht).

Mr Dhanin is chairman and CEO of CP Group, an agribusiness, food and retail enterprise with global operations. It operates more than 6,000 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand. True Corporation, the telecommunications company, is one of CP's subsidiaries.

On the Forbes list, Mr Dhanin and family are ranked 133rd globally.

The Forbes billionaire list has been published for 25 years. This year Carlos Slim Helu and family topped the rankings with an estimated $69 billion in total wealth. Bill Gates, the chairman of Mircosoft, came in number two, at $61 billion.

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is the second richest Thai, according to Forbes, with wealth estimated at $5.5 billion (168.41 billion baht).

Mr Charoen is chairman and a major shareholder of Thai Beverage Plc, maker of Chang Beer, and owns a portfolio of properties globally, including Bangkok's Pantip Plaza.

Last year, he acquired Pepsi's local bottler.

Forbes estimates Chaleo Yoovidhya is worth about $5 billion (153.10 billion baht). Mr Chaleo is founder of T.C. Pharmaceuticals and the originator of the Red Bull energy drink. He is ranked number 205 on the Forbes global list.

Aloke Lohia, an Indian citizen and a permanent resident of Thailand, was estimated to be worth $1.9 billion (58.18 billion baht) by Forbes, placing him in the number four spot among Thai billionaires.

Mr Lohia is vice-chairman and CEO of Indorama Ventures, the world's largest integrated polyester producer.

Krit Ratanarak is the fifth richest Thai, according to Forbes. He is CEO and chairman of Bangkok Broadcasting & TV, operator of Channel 7, and is estimated to be worth $1.2 billion (36.74 billion baht).

Mr Krit is also a property developer, and is currently working to transform the Rama III area into a major commercial centre. He is a major shareholder of Bank of Ayudhya and Siam City Cement.

The estimates were arrived at by examining public records and conducting interviews. Stock prices as of Feb 14, 2012 were used to value stock holdings.

Bangkok Post

Using Video In Online Marketing

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:22:29 +0100

This article is going to talk about video and only about video. Why? Because video is very important for any size of business. Even small businesses can use video to promote themselves on the internet. And in the next few years, you’re going to see more and more businesses using video. Even now, I’m going to show you some articles that have been written on different websites talking about video and how small businesses can use them and how businesses need to use them now, especially to rank on Google. Google counts videos as part of their algorithm they use to determine how strong your webpage or website is. If you don’t have video now on your website it can hurt you. They actually give preference to sites and pages, which have video on them.

It’s really important for a number of different reasons. Also, of course video is a great way to advertise things. I’m going to talk that a little bit in my next article. But I’d like to mention to you first a site and you can go and see it for yourself. It’s called Savory Cities and it’s at http://www.savorycities.com. Three and a half years ago when I first saw the site and what they were doing, I knew then that video was the future of the internet and that this is how websites were going to promote and advertise themselves and get traffic. It is so powerful.

You may say, “I am only a small business and we really don’t have the capability to make videos.” But I’ll tell you, when I first started a couple years ago I used a little Fuji still camera that can take video. It cost about $125. I used this and made about 80 videos. I got a lot of good responses and a lot of good results for my clients. So, you don’t need to spend a lot of money. I learned how to use Sony Vegas, which is an editing program. You don’t have to learn how to edit videos. There are lots of kids running around now who know how to use these programs. You can probably find some college or high school students in your area that would work inexpensively and like to create some videos for you. It’s a pretty quick process because you are not to be doing complicated stuff. You’re going to be doing a lot of stuff like what I am doing here which is sitting in front of the camera and talking to you and telling you things. You can use still photographs of your business along with videos.

You can make slideshows. Slideshows are very effective. I’ve used slideshows on a number of occasions for people. All you need is photographs, a video editing program, and you do a voiceover. And there you go. There is a video. You can do these really easily. There are a lot of different ways to do it. I’m going to talk about some things that we do. But it is not something you should be intimidated by. In some of the follow-up articles I’ll be writing I’ll talk about how to use Sony Vegas. It’s a pretty simple program. You can get much more complicated programs. You can get some that are simpler than Vegas but don’t really have the capability

Vegas to me is a lot easier and I’m going to show you how to do some of those things as well. But it’s not that difficult. The biggest problem you have if you are using the camera like I just showed you, or even a lot of the small camcorders, is the sound. For video quality sometimes you can get away with not having top quality visuals, but you have got to have good sound. If people can’t hear the sound good then you’re lost. What we do is instead of using sound from the camera microphone, we record audio on a small digital recorder, because in most rooms you get a real echo filled sound. It doesn’t sound that good.

So what I do is record everything on a little digital recorder. It’s just a little Sony recorder. My clip-on microphone is plugs into it. What I will do is after I finish filming I’ll bring the video into my editing program and I will delete the audio track off the video and I will add the audio track from the recorder to it and sync it up and it sounds great.

This recorder cost around $90. Equipment is very inexpensive. Light can also a big problem, if you’re in some dark locations. When I first started making videos I was doing a lot of videos in restaurants, which is tough because they don’t have a lot of lighting. Some did and it was OK, but a lot of them didn’t. I bought these little lights to use and that helped some. But you don’t really want to get into that level and in most times you are not going to need to. I’ll cover more on this in future articles but for now the important thing is get out and start shooting and editing and you’ll see how easy it really is.

Tom Aikins is an SEO consultant and online marketing expert based in Bangkok who presents seminars on these subjects and also offers a complete online marketing training course on his website, http://www.seonorthamerica.com. You can ask questions of him by contacting tom.aikins@gmail.com.

Updating Your Website

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:22:39 +0100

¬¬Just about every business has a website these days but very few businesses know how to effectively use their websites to get more customers. There are two different things that a business owner needs to do to increase their website traffic: optimize their site so that search engines can find them easier and promote their site on the internet so that they have greater visibility. This article will discuss how to optimize a website.

First let’s start with what Google (and all search engines) do. What does Google do? Google first of all collects information. They do this by going to every website on the internet every 10-14 days and “spidering” your site with their robots. It sounds rather sinister but in reality all they’re doing is looking at all of the text that is on your site and all of the programming code that was written to create every page on your site. By doing this they are able to tell what is on your site and they can therefore index it in their database.

This is the key behind search engine optimization (SEO), making your site more easily indexable by Google. If Google doesn’t have a clear idea of what is on your site then it can’t index it properly. If it can’t index it properly then it will be difficult for your site to show up on its search engine results pages (SERPs) when someone in the world types in a search phrase when they to search.

If you have an Italian restaurant in Bangkok and someone types in “Italian restaurant Bangkok” then you want your website to show up on the first page of Google. By the way, 87% of people never look past the first page of the SERPs so being on the first page is especially critical. If Google isn’t exactly sure what your site is all about, if they don’t know that your site is for an Italian restaurant in Bangkok, then your site is not going to rank high enough to show up on the first page. It may not show up until the 10th page or worse so you can see how important it is to have your site optimized.

So how do we optimize a website? It all starts with your keyword phrases. Your site should have keyword phrases your site is built around. Your keyword phrases should be the phrases that people might type in if they were looking for your business. If you’re an Italian restaurant in Bangkok you would use the keyword phrase mentioned above and you also might want to use “Italian food Bangkok,” Italian cuisine Bangkok” and others that people might use. If you specialize in Italian food from Tuscany you might want to use “Italian food Tuscany Bangkok.” There are ways to find out what keyword phrases people are actually searching for on the internet but that’s the subject of another article.

So let’s say we have our keyword phrases, and I recommend using no more than 15-18. Now what do we do with them? Well, in addition to keyword phrases we need to generate a title for our website and also a description. These are the first things Google looks for when they come to your site. These things are inserted into your programming code by your webmaster and it only takes a minute to copy and paste them into your site’s code.

You just have to write them and give them to your webmaster. So how do we do it? Let’s take a look at a site that is optimized properly so that it’s easy to see what I mean. I just happen to have a site that is optimized and it’s www.seonorthamerica.com. This is one of mine so I know it’s done right. First, Google looks at your URL, your web address. If your URL is composed of a keyword search phrase, that is the best situation. For example, if our Italian restaurant, instead of putting their name in their URL like you would expect them to do, had instead used www.italianrestaurantbangkok.com as their URL then they would have a big advantage when it comes to search. My URL has seo north america in it so it gives me an advantage with anyone searching for SEO in the U.S. or Canada.

Next, you want to have a good title. Your title is the text that appears at the very top left-hand corner of the web browser when you go to a particular page. Many sites just have their business name as their title but this doesn’t tell Google anything. Instead you want to have a title that includes some keyword phrases in it as well as your name. My keyword phrases are: online seo training, seo course, seo courses, search engine optimization training, search engine optimization, search engine optimisation, internet marketing course, internet marketing training, online marketing training, marketing training online, internet marketing courses. And my title is: SEO Southeast Asia - SEO course with Online SEO training and internet marketing training. “Internet marketing training” is a keyword phrase along with “online SEO training” and “SEO course.” So I have three keyword phrases in my title and this helps Google understand better what my site is all about.

Next comes the description of my site. You can’t see this because it only appears in the programming behind the page but Google certainly sees it. My description is as follows: “The best value SEO training course on the internet. SEO North America provides online seo training in a video format along with internet marketing training and online marketing training in a complete SEO course.” I’ve used a number of keyword phrases in my description as you can see: “online seo training,” “internet marketing training,” “online marketing training,” “SEO course.” This further reinforces to Google what my site is all about.

Don’t try to pack too many keyword phrases into the description or title and don’t make either of them too long. Also, make sure that each of them make sense from a grammar standpoint. This is especially important with the description as Google pulls text from this to display on the SERPs. If you look at the search results that are pulled up you’ll see some text in each listing below the heading. If you have a description Google will usually pull that snippet of text from it. Otherwise it will pull it from somewhere else on your site.

You can also customize your individual page URLs so that they reflect the content that you have on each individual page. You can do the same thing with your titles and descriptions: each page can have their own title and description that reflect the content on that page. These are easy to do and your webmaster should have no problem.

That’s about all you have to do to optimize your site and make it more effective at getting more traffic and more customers. Most SEO companies will charge hundreds of dollars to do this for you but you’ve just learned how to do it for free. How’s that for a deal?

The Basics Of SEO

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:22:55 +0100

Since the internet is becoming more and more important all the time in regards to overall marketing plans for many companies, it’s imperative that the company website be up to the task of attracting visitors and converting them into customers. There are many methods and techniques to do this and for that reason it’s usually preferable to hire a company that focuses on online marketing or search engine optimization (SEO) to do this work.

The main reason for hiring a company specializing in this field is that is hard to find individuals who are trained in this field, even in countries like the U.S. and the U.K. where the market is more advanced than Thailand. Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of SEO so you better understand what it can do for your website.

First, what can SEO do and what can’t it do? It can’t make you millions of baht overnight even though there are many online marketing gurus out there who are proclaiming just that. It can, if done conscientiously over a period of time, greatly strengthen your Google (and other search engine) rankings and make your site much more visible to people who are looking for your product or service.

If an SEO company tries to tell you it can do more than that or guarantees that they’ll get you on the first page of Google in a specified time period be very careful. They may actually have the ability to do it but most SEO companies here in Thailand cannot, so make sure you check out their claims with references beforehand.

So, SEO can help increase your visibility and bring more people to your site. How is this done? The complete answer would fill many articles of this length but here it is in a nutshell. In the world of the internet the traditional role of advertising has been superceded by editorial content. The reason is that people go to the internet to find information, not to look at ads. So to get people’s attention in this new medium you have to offer them what they are looking for – information.

And the information that you can provide them is information about your product or service. Not your company in particular but more in a general sense. Let’s say you own a wine importing company here in Thailand. What would you create for content that could be used to attract people’s attention?

Let’s start with articles. You could write articles that talk about the different wines your company sells, the different wine regions, the types of grapes, etc. Next, you could make videos that show wine experts (presumably from your company) drinking and commenting on the wines and offering tips to people about the wine and possibly discussing food matches for the wine. You could make podcasts which are basically just audio recordings (so-called because people originally downloaded them to play on their iPods) and can be made very easily.

These three types of content can be than uploaded to many sites on the internet that allow you to do so free, e.g. YouTube. For example, we use YouTube for our clients but we also use about 45 other video sharing sites. We put articles on article directory sites, our blogs, news sites and others. There are a number of podcast sites that you can use also.

When you post this content onto these sites you can put links back to your own site which helps your search engine standings (Google and the others like to see lots of links going into your site for reasons I can’t explain here) and also each of these posts functions like an ad for your company. People can get some good information from you and then if they’re interested they can click to go to your site and potentially become a customer.

The whole process is a little more complicated than what I’ve just told you but not much. The process itself is rather simple but it takes time to understand how all the pieces go together. And there is no resource you can tap into that will tell you exactly how to do everything right. There are several reasons for this.

First, no one knows exactly what Google and the others are doing. How does Google decide which website to put in the number one spot and which one in the number 100 spot? No one knows for sure because Google isn’t telling anyone – for obvious reasons. So there are a lot of educated guesses out there and some people are quite successful in helping their clients but no one has all the answers. That’s why I told you to use caution when listening to some of the claims you might hear from SEO companies. No one knows it all and certainly won’t for the foreseeable future.

And that brings us to point number two. One of the reasons that no one knows it all is that things are changing so quickly in this field that it’s hard to keep a really good handle on things. When you’re trying to piece things together and learn and connect all the dots it’s really difficult when the dots keep moving. New things are happening all the time, new sites and new services launch all the time and no one knows for sure where it’s all headed, although many people have definite opinions about it.

So that’s why you can’t go to one source that can tell you everything you need to know. It’s not like traditional marketing that is taught in schools. There are no hard and fast rules and new developments keep popping up all the time. That’s why most companies hire outside people to help them with their SEO needs. It’s maybe not an ideal situation but if you’re careful in the way you hire a company then you should see your website’s performance improve.

One thing is certain, however. The role of the internet in marketing is growing daily so don’t sit on the fence. Get the jump on your competitors and plan for the future now.

The Basics Of Website Marketing

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:23:11 +0100

Search engine optimization (SEO) is now one of the most important topics for website owners to understand. Anyone that depends on their website to bring them business needs to know the ins and outs of SEO in order to maximize their website’s potential. And if you want your website to have a high Google rank then SEO is essential.

What is SEO? The answer to this question has many different parts because there are a number of elements that make up SEO but quite simply it is the process by which you make your website as easy to find as possible by Google and other search engines. This is important, obviously, because if your site is not easy to find by people searching for goods and services then you will miss out on doing business with them.

Therefore, good SEO for your site is very important. The good news is that it is not expensive for most people to optimize their sites and it is not that technically difficult. Having said that, though, many people simply hire an SEO company to make the required changes to their site and maybe also engage in some website marketing and promotion. These are two separate subjects but they go hand in hand if you are really serious about gaining more traffic for your site.

According to Tom Aikins from Online Marketing Excellence, a Bangkok-based SEO training company, SEO is the process of making your site more visible to search engines and website marketing is the process of using external websites to drive traffic back to your site. When both of these processes are done correctly then your site has the best possible chance of getting maximum traffic and sales.

There are many aspects to website promotion and many opinions as to how to go about it. Many companies use Google AdWords, for example, to target specific demographic segments with pay per click ads. Others use article marketing and content posting to build awareness and traffic through back links. Acccording to the guys at IT Ready, a combination of these is probably the best for most businesses, but careful analysis of the AdWords program must be done at all times to ensure that the money being spent is being done so in the most cost-effective manner.

There are many more aspects to SEO and website traffic promotion that website owners should explore and if you can find knowledgeable people to help you then your website could experience a significant increase in traffic. One thing is certain, however – SEO and web traffic promotion are becoming more and more important every day so don’t wait to start optimizing your site and driving traffic to your site because the longer you wait the more business you could be losing.