God Bless America

I wanted to take a moment or two to say how grateful that I am to be an American. We are currently the most blessed nation in the world. I have advantages that the rest of the world merely dreams about. We have freedom… To say what I want, to blog what I want, to start a new business.

The only thing that limits most of us is ourselves. So Happy Birthday America… I love you!

July 4, 2008 | Filed Under Search Engine Marketing | Leave a Comment

Google Indexing Some Flash Files

News that you can use from Google

Today I discovered that Google can now index text content in Flash files. I found this very interesting news. I have never been a fan a flash because the text could not be indexed. This made optimizing a website a very difficult process for many. It often required that an HTML version of the website to be created. This adds a lot of work and expense into building a Flash based website.

So I was very curious to find this Google Update on their Blog http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/.

The post went on to answer very specific question and is worth while reading if you have a flash site. It did not that FLV files that are used on YouTube can not be currently indeed as they have no text available for indexing.

We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We further invite you to continue the conversation on your blog and use a trackback, perhaps even social bookmark this post, or maybe Sphinn it, or Stumble it.

If you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479.

Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.

July 2, 2008 | Filed Under Website Marketing | Leave a Comment

Ten Reasons Not Too Blog

1. Time.
2. No Time.
3. Not Enough Time.
4. Finding The “Write Time.”
5. Takes Way Too Much Time.
6. Developing A Story Demands Your Time.
7. Return On Investment Very Uncertain Over Time.
8. Comment Responding Demands Detailed Attention And More Time.
9. Reading, Writing, And Research Require Copious Amounts Of Time.
10. Trusted And Steady Readers Can Only Be Obtained Over Time.

Do you have the Time?

If you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479.

Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.

June 29, 2008 | Filed Under Search Engine Optimization | 2 Comments

Busy Websites: Not So Good

As an Internet marketer and SEO provider I visit dozens of website a day. I am amazed by how many websites are so busy that I couldn’t find what I was looking for. These sites cram so much information that it makes using the website very difficult. Try visiting a major retailer and you see what I mean.

These sites are often put together as if they were a newspaper and use a multi column approach. When I see these pages beginning to load I usually leave. Experience has shown me that these sites are so difficult to use that I seldom find what I am looking for.

Earlier this year we need to find out where we go to vote for the primary election in our city. We had moved since the last election cycle and didn’t know where our polling place was located. My honey said she heard on the news that voting information was available on the TV channels website.
I am sure that it was there but I could not find it so I gave up and called the local Democratic headquarters for the information. That site was trying to do way too much and ended up not being useful.

This is where market research is very useful. Ask your friends, family, business associates, and strangers to visit your website. Ask them for an honest evaluation of their experience. Take the time to make up an evaluation form. Limit it to 5 or 6 open ended questions.

Be prepared to make changes and to except criticism. What you and your web designer consider a great feature may be driving away potential customers. The ultimate goal is to convert the visitor into a customer.

We build business websites with only one or two columns and with a minimum of distractions. Everything is simple, clean, and straight forward. We avoid the cute and creative by simply focusing on selling. We recommend that you do the same.

If your website is failing to convert your visitors into customers you should consider our comprehensive website review by calling us at 520-777-6479.

If you have a thought that you would like to add to the conversation then please do join the conversation. We would also ask that your consider expanding the conversation on your blog and use a trackback, maybe social bookmark this post, or perhaps give it a Sphinn or Stumble.

Tucson SEO Solutions… Creating probabilities out of possibilities.

June 29, 2008 | Filed Under Website Marketing | Leave a Comment

Titling Blog Posts: Fact or Fiction

Those of us who blog daily understand all too well, the importance of the posts title. We all exist in a very noisy blogosphere. For many of us our lives often seem to be running at an equally frantic pace. We scurry about our jobs, family, and life in general. It is a busy world.

We are daily bombarded by tens of thousands a messages, images, and noise on an hourly basis. Thus standing out in a crowded may take a linkbait mentality. Linkbait by its very nature is about drawing attention to your website or blog. So that is what we are doing or you would not be reading this

There is also another level of linking that can transform the dynamics of the conversation. This is where linkbait becomes a social exchange of ideas. So we ask, does your blog include a call to action? A call to action simply asks your visitor do to what you want them to do. It is that simple. If you want them to comment why not ask them? Do you want them to sign up for an RSS feed then ask. I mean come on; a blog is a conversation, and when you have completed writing then ask for a response.

This is where the magic begins. When you get individuals to respond to post now take the time to add a follow-up comment and then send them a short personal thank you. We are not talking about an auto responder here. After all a blog is social media in action, right?

You will be amazed by the positive response that you will receive. You also score bonus links if you answer the question that they asked in their blog comment in your reply. Another option is to respond to each compelling worthy comment in detail on the blog as well. If you want to have a conversation you have to be willing to be an active participant.

We have all seen blogs where the writer will post their thoughts, responses come in and the writer is never heard from again. Your readers will appreciate your attention to detail this builds up trust, a rare commodity on the Internet and it shows that you care.

I have on more than occasion developed dozens of links from people who linked to us and social bookmarked our pages simply because we took the time to personally respond.
Yea, I know this requires time.

So my reader was this fact or fiction?

If you would like to join this conversation then please do leave a comment. We would also ask you to consider building upon this post on your blog and use a trackback, and or social bookmark us.

Are you ready to put more fact then fiction into your Internet marketing efforts?

For more information please contact us at 520-777-6479

June 27, 2008 | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 2 Comments

Use A Blog As A Newsletter Discussions Forum

Today we are going to take a look at using a blog on a business website. A blog is simply an online conversation. It is another channel that can be used to communicate with customers or potential customers.

First we want to suggest that if you are going to create a business blog that it be hosted on your website and not somewhere else. You never want to direct traffic away from your website to a blog hosted elsewhere. There is almost no advantage to a blog that is not on your businesses website.

Many websites include a sign-up form for their newsletter which they periodically send out in an email form. This is a very common practice used by coaches, trainers and consultants. The newsletter gets sent out and then the responses begin to trickle in one email at a time. If the newsletter is especially good, interesting or provocative it can generate a fair amount of emails.

The end result is that a collection of separate conversations begins to occur on the same topic but they are not connected to each other. The newsletter owner can end up answering the same or similar questions over and over again.

Our advice is to post your newsletter on your blog and then send it out and include a link or links to your blog. Then ask that the conversation be moved to the blog. One of the advantages of having a blog in combination with a newsletter is that it allows you to address the questions generated by the newsletter quickly. It eliminates answering the same question over and over. It can also stimulate an ongoing discussion between those who have read the newsletter. It can create its own little community interacting on your blog.

This format allows you to expand on your original newsletter concept in more detail. Most newsletters cover multiple topics and each can be given its own blog post and conversation. This process can breathe new life into your newsletter and create a much more powerful marketing tool.

Are you ready to transform your newsletter into a powerful marketing tool?

If you enjoyed this post then join the conversation by leaving a comment. Please also consider expanding the conversation on your blog and use a trackback, perhaps social bookmark the post, or maybe Sphinn or Stumble it.

If you are ready to create a business blog then please do call us at 520-77-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions… Creating probabilities out of possibilities.

June 26, 2008 | Filed Under Tucson SEO | 1 Comment

Turning Spam Into Gold

We are not talking about Hormel here. What I’m about to suggest will seem reasonable to many and some will see this as unethical, but here it goes. We, who market on the Internet or those who simply have an email account or two, deal with spam daily. It is a sad fact of life that our mail boxes and blog comments are filled with spam, those unwanted pieces of electronic drivel.

I am going to address the spam that arrives in my Akismet blog spam filter. Since we moderate our comments nothing slips through onto the pages of our blog without are approval. We are going to suggest a solution for turning this putrid junk into gold.

We have no real recommendations for those solicitations that are merely a bunch of links. You are on your own on this one. What we are addressing is the comments that arrive daily that include text right out of your blog. It often has the appearance of a trackback. The spammers hope that your spam filter will not pick this up and the comment slips into your blog. Maybe, just maybe, someone clicks onto that link and visits there site. Spammers after all play a numbers game.

Now, this is where you can turn this into gold, comment gold. You can edit the track back style comment or have a friend do it for you. We suggest changing the name and deleting the email and website address. Then change the comment to whatever you would think best ads to the on-going blog conversation. You have now created value, or gold, out of spam.

This was written as linkbait, and while some will see it as unethical, others will see it as Gold.

So is this Gold or fools Gold?

If you have liked what you read then please join the conversation, consider witting about it on your blog and using a trackback, social bookmark it, or maybe Stumble or Sphinn it.

If your business needs assistance with setting up a link building program or training then please do call us at 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities

June 25, 2008 | Filed Under Website Review | 1 Comment

Pre-Launch Website Link Building: You Need This

Just about anyone and everyone who has anything to do with Internet marketing knows that Google’s algorithm is based on links. These links are commonly known as backlinks. The more quality relevant links that your website has the better that it will do in the search engine rankings.

So why, wait until your website is built to start building links? Link building for many website owners is an after thought. Heck, let’s be real honest the first time most website owners learn about links is about three months after their website was been launched.

They finally realize that the have little or no website traffic and start asking questions. Their website designer likely didn’t understand search engine optimization so the website was not optimized. So the designer rightly suggests that you need to start on a link building program. Better late than never.

The problem here is that this link building effort has begun about 6 months too late. The website design process can easily stretch into 3 months and if you don’t understand the need to build links you can be missing an opportunity for a quick start.

You need to build inbound or backlinks simply because Google’s algorithm is based on the website inter linking relationship. So the earlier you start the better. Our first website was obtained through barter. So the designer took his good old time building the website.

The whole process finally was completed after four months. Once we had purchased our domain we started building links slowly everyday. When the website launched we had already build up 1400 links to our website. The website rocketed to the first page almost overnight.

I must note that we were not targeting a very competitive field. We targeted house cleaning services and cleaning services in Tucson, but it was our market and we were on the first page. If you are new to the link building process, this pre-launch period will provide you with time to learn the ropes. Believe me there is a lot to learn. Even if your designer does optimize your website you still need to build links. That is if you want search engine traffic from Google.

If you liked what you have read today… Please consider any of the following: commenting on this blog, commenting on your blog about this article or both, linking to Tucson SEO Solutions, and or social bookmarking this post.

If your business needs assistance with setting up a link building program or training then please do call us at 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities

June 23, 2008 | Filed Under Website Design | 3 Comments

Headless Website Offers A $250.00 Reward

Yep, we will be launching our new website Mountain View SEO without a head. The header will be announcing the ‘Design our header contest.” The Grand Prize is $250.00 winner take all. The winner will be announced October First. This is a great opportunity to market your graphic skills to the center of the Internet’s universe.

Here are the simple requirements for the “Design our header Contest.”

Header measurements are: 690 x 170

It should include the website name Mountain View SEO and tag line (to be announced) which will be included in the logo which should appear in the header.

It should include a Mountain View – Silicon Valley theme.

The header needs to be static.

Although not a requirement it is recommended that you write an article on a blog and link to the website http://www.mountainviewseo.com.

The winner will be chosen by Tucson SEO Solutions staff using a number of factors.

To get the ball rolling leave a comment expressing your interest.

If your business needs assistance with setting up a link building program or training then please do call us at 520-777-6479.

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities

June 23, 2008 | Filed Under Keyword Development | 3 Comments

EMoney Marketing A Referral Worth Sharing!

I am very fortunate to have had a mentor when I launched this website. Back then I was still cleaning houses, and one of my customers was a semi-retired marketing professional named Robin. She was on a bi-weekly cleaning schedule and I looked very much forward to my visits. We spent dozens of hours discussing marketing and Internet marketing and we became close personal friends.

She was there when I gave my first free Search Engine Optimization basics seminar that I gave at my entrepreneur Meet-up group. She was also in attendance when I gave my first paid presentation. She was often the wind beneath my wings when no one else believed, she did.

Sometimes we didn’t see things eye to eye, but when she emailed me something, it is usually very useful information. It is rare to find such a person and I have the greatest respect for her. So when she emailed me a copy of this newsletter for EMoney Marketing I took time to read it and I liked what I read. I bookmarked the website for further reference and come back often.

I noticed at the time that the blog also was a “Do Follow Blog” so when we started putting together our ‘Do Follow Blog List” EMoney Marketing was one of the first blogs listed. It is a treasure trove of very useful information about making money online and marketing in general.

I really appreciate the nice clean and somewhat Spartan design. This blog is all about providing useful information for the visitor. You are not bombarded with a bunch of AdSense junk. It is a pure information blog and there are so few of these around.
You owe it to yourself to visit the website just for the fact that you are not going to be bombarded with junk. Every time I visit a gem is gleaned from the pages. I especially liked the article “6 Signs To Tell If He Doesn’t Give A Hoot To What You Are Saying.” There are also very useful free downloads.

Plus he has a sense a humor with his “If you like this post buy me a beer.” That’s the extent of the solicitations.
So what are you waiting for go visit I’m sure he could use a cold beer!

If your business needs assistance with setting up a website marketing plan or training then please do call us at 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities

June 22, 2008 | Filed Under Keyword Development | 2 Comments

Do You Ask: Please Link To Our Blog?

I spend a fair amount of time on forums and I recently posted a title “The Mother Of All Linkbait.” I was letting everyone known that Cornwall SEO has a great post that included 78 articles on linkbait.

Since I hadn’t read them all, I revisited this post looking to glean some useful information. While mining these posts for quality tidbits I read this “ask your visitor to link to you blog.” Bingo, the lights went off in this marketers head.

We had just started including ‘call to action” taglines in some of our more specific posts about SEO, as in “if you need help setting up a link building program call…” But not all posts were a good fit for this. I recently paid tribute to Tim Russert and felt a tagline was tacky at best.

Then, I realized it would be very simple to ask for a link or a comment. The old sales person in me knows many sales are lost because the seller forgot to ask for the sale. Since, I put a tagline on all the non blog pages why not do the same on the blog?

So this post is about applying common sense, tried and true sales techniques to each blog post. I recommend that your try it and then visit us later and report the results. So here is my first attempt at this.

If your business needs assistance with setting up a link building program or training then please do call us at 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities

June 21, 2008 | Filed Under Keyword Development, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Does SEO Need Standards?

This is a very good question that may or may not have any easy answer. The whole premise of the question is based on the fact that a large group of individuals and businesses are offering SEO services that know little about Search Engine Optimization.
Those of us that do offer straight forward ethical SEO would like a way to establish some order in the industry.

I see these folks on Craigslist all the time offering services on the cheap. Usually they have gotten lucky with a Page Title for a seldom targeted search and landed in the #1 position. It’s the old saying “even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while” in action.

I use Craigslist myself and see these people’s postings. They always say “email me your URL and I’ll get back” or something like that. They never have a phone number in the post nor do they show a link to their SEO website. I email these posters and ask them to verify there work.

They often will provide a link to a website and the targeted keywords. Usually the same page title is used on every page. It doesn’t take long it discover that they got lucky and now think that they are experts.

There is also a large pool of companies that will guarantee first position on Google or your money back. There trick is that they target a very obscure phrase that no one else is using. It likely will have nothing to do with the websites products or services.

The true professional understands that it is unethical to guarantee the search results because they are out of our control. You can optimize a website based on today’s known standards only to have it changed by the search engines tomorrow. You competitors also have a dramatic impact on the results which you can not control.

Because our company is only a year old we have a link disadvantage compared with long established websites. While we currently rank well for 7 SEO related searches that we target that could change quickly if any of these established websites began to target our keyword phrases.

So it would be nice it there were rules and if everybody played by the same set of rules, but this is why even a good set of rules will not work. The search engines changes the rules all the time and they don’t tell us when they have done this. These changes become known only when we are able to detect them and this is not an easy task.

There is all kind of speculation abut various penalties but until the search engines reveal there existence, it is only speculation. We wait for Mr. Matt Cutts, the Google spokesman to inform us and even then the explanation is usually vague.

So knowing all of this I think the talk of standards is foolish. As for Tucson SEO Solutions we play by the rules as we understand them to be.

Are you ready for professional SEO results?

If so call 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO Solutions creating probabilities out of possibilities.

June 19, 2008 | Filed Under Geo Targeting | 2 Comments

Social Media Gone Wild

Today, I discovered a link builders list of social media sites. The site lists social bookmarking websites, along with forums and Digg style websites. The list is huge it includes over 380 website. Be warned that it does have links to XXX sites.

The nice feature is that it includes sites that are other than English. It seems to have a little bit of everything. I read about this one in a post on webmaster Forum. Thanks guys!

Oh, yea before I forget the details, the site is The Online Cash Machine at http://www.theinternetscashmachine.com/digg-traffic.htm.

Note much of the list is 1 – 2 years old so some of the info is outdated. I don’t know about you but for me these things are like treasure hunts in that you never know what your going to find.

June 18, 2008 | Filed Under Search Engine Marketing | 1 Comment

Good-Bye My Friend: A Tribute To Tim Russert

I have tried to write this post several times previously, but have been overwhelmed by grief and stopped. My sadness has been very real and very deep. You would have thought that I was a close personal friend or family member. The truth is that I never meet the man in person. Yet, he was a hero to me, a well respected and loved individual and family man.

Tim Russert had become part of my Sunday ritual and on days when I was so caught up in running this SEO service that I would miss the show, I would go to bed saddened that I missed my friend today.

You see, I grew up watching Meet The Press with my ‘Big Russ’ a term Tim used to describe his Dad, back in rural Pennsylvania. I would sit quietly listening to my Dad explain what they were talking about on TV. My Dad, and Meet The Press taught me much about government, politics, and life beyond our little town.

This interest in how government works impacts me to this day. I enjoyed watching Tim question politician trying to get at the truth. Never rude, superior, or arrogant he loved his job and it showed. At the end of every tough session, Tim always showed his softer human side. He would cheer on the Buffalo Bills or the Boston College Eagles where his son Luke attended.

I loved watching him cover this current election cycle. He could often be heard to say “Isn’t this great.” He loved what he was doing and it showed. I especially enjoy people who love what they do.

I found that Tim and I had some things in common. We both love what we do and it shows. We are both Irish and love politics. What I had not realized how much he had become I part of my life. The last and only public figure to die that brought sadness into my life was President Kennedy, another Irishman.

I just watched a final tribute to Tim on TV and again was reduced to tears. I was amazed by how well his son Luke handled his tribute. My Sundays, and the Sundays of many others will not be the same without Tim.

The sad irony here is that Tim though this election was the greatest ever, he will not see its conclusion from this vantage point on Earth. Some would say that this does not seem fair, and I would have to agree. However, I also know that life has only one guarantee and that is death.

It is at times like this that SEO, search rankings, and the Internet, the things of my life are somehow insignificant. They have moved from the fast lanes of my life to standing still along a dusty back road.

Thank you Tim, Thank you Dad, Thank You Life.

June 18, 2008 | Filed Under Local SEO | Leave a Comment

SEO E-Book Needs A Title

We are in the very early stages of writing an E-Book that will detail the story of how this company, Tucson SEO Solutions, came into existence. It will also be a how to book on what it takes to create a successful website for your business. We will share how we went from knowing nothing about websites, SEO, and search marketing to running an SEO business in one year.

Without tooting our horn to much, we have managed to currently land our website onto the first page of Google seven times for SEO related searches all within a year! We are planning to share our stories and our methods in an E-Book we just don’t know what to call it.

We embarked on this journey when we decided to build a website for our house cleaning business. The problem is that we didn’t have any money so we bartered for a website. It took four months to get the guy to complete the website.

Since we also could not pay to have someone to manage it I would have to learn. So I would go clean houses during the day and study 8 – 10 hours a night 7 days a week for 4 months. By the time the website launched I had built 1400 links and had learned a thing or two about SEO.

When the website went live it was on the first page of Google and has been there ever since. I knew I was on to something and started my first SEO website a few months later. We now have two with a third coming to Mountain View California soon.

As you can tell it is an interesting little story and the book needs a title. Got any ideas?

June 17, 2008 | Filed Under Search Engine Optimization | 2 Comments

What Is Search Engine Marketing?

This topic came up over at a forum that I have recently begun to use. The forum in question is the SEO Forum. Usually this is a fairly mundane topic for a forum. I responded that search engine marketing includes everything that you do away from your website to market yourself to the search engines. This is what link building is all about. You build links to lure the search engines to visit and index your website.

However, the more traditional approach too many is that SEM is all about Pay Per Click. Better known as PPC this is how the search engines makes there money. Since we are an organic results provider we don’t pay much attention to this side of the search engine community.

I have used my expanded view of SEM maybe a 100 times or so on forums and on blogs. So it seemed like a generally excepted view to me. Well, until I mentioned it on this forum. A moderator called me out and said I was wrong.

I was amazed; it was after all only an opinion. It was like I had mentioned something that could get a website banned. When called out I explained my position in detail and how I came to that conclusion. Keep in mind that this is just an opinion and that there is no regulation that has defined what search marketing should include. It will not hurt nor harm a websites search position.

That’s when things got ugly. I was wrong and that’s all there was to it. They attacked me professionally and accused me of making things difficult for the whole web marketing universe. The over reaction really caught me off guard.

I could see their reaction if I had made a suggestion that potentially could be harmful to someone’s website.Here are some links on the subject. Please check out a few definitions and decide what you accept as yours.

www.7soft.co.uk/jargon-explained-c108.html

multichannelmerchant.com/crosschannel/marketing/crosschannel_marketing_glossary/

www.searchenginegenie.com/search-engine-glossary-s.htm

www.dottraffic.com/glossary/

www.simplymedia.com.au/hints-tips-glossary-stu.html

www.i-visibility.com/terminology.htm
Thanks for consideration.

If you would like to learn more about the process of SEM and how it can benefit your website please contact at 520-777-6479.

Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities

June 16, 2008 | Filed Under Search Engine Marketing | 2 Comments

Creating Effective Page Titles For High Search Ranking and Traffic.

We have learned, as many of you have the importance of creating effective Page Titles for your website. When talking to clients, potential clients, or individuals at business mixers this is how we explain Page Titles. We compare Page Titles to the “location, location, location” mantra of real estate. The Page Title is that important.

A lot has been written about the use of effective Keywords in page titles. Since Google allows only 65 spaces for your title you should stay within this parameter. You can go longer and it will be indexed, but it will not appear in the SERP’s. If you’ve ever seen a title in the results that ended like this … then you know that the title went beyond the 65 space limit.

There is a very good reason why you should not go long. Around 45% or so of web searchers use the Page Title when choosing to click on a result. So if your keyword appears beyond the space limit it will be out of view. Out of sight often means that your effort has been wasted. Don’t get greedy and over optimize as it will work against you.

Also don’t include throw away words like; and, or. Eliminate using symbols such as @,$,!, or & and also avoid using commas. We are going to take a look at the home page title from our very our house cleaning website. This site launched an SEO career. It should become apparent why very soon. The Page Title reads:

Tucson House Home Cleaning Janitorial Service Office Business

And these are some of the possible combination of Keywords that include the Geo-targeted keyword Tucson.

Tucson House Cleaning
Tucson House Cleaning Service
Tucson Home Cleaning
Tucson Home Cleaning Service
Tucson Cleaning Service
Tucson Janitorial
Tucson Janitorial Service
Tucson Janitorial Cleaning Service
Tucson Office Cleaning
Tucson Office Cleaning Service
Tucson Business Cleaning
Tucson Business Cleaning Service

So this gives us a total of 12 Keyword phrases in the title.

The real beauty of this is that if you write your content correctly you can create two listings per search on the first page of the results. It is accomplished because we have created individual pages for each specific targeted phrase.

The keyword phrases Tucson House Cleaning and Tucson House Cleaning Service will get indexed for the home page and for the house/home cleaning page.

This is how we ruled the SERP’s in Tucson for cleaning service website as many as 33 times on the first page of Google. Did I say that we closed that business and now exclusively prove web services.

We also targeted these keywords

Commercial
Residential
Building
Local
Garage
Housecleaning

Are you ready to apply what you have learned?

For more information about our services please contact us at 520-777-6479

Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.

June 14, 2008 | Filed Under Tucson SEO | Leave a Comment

Domain Names, Eli Manning And Going 19-0

First off, I am a big fan of the Super Bowl, especially if the Steelers or Teddy Bruschi are playing. Growing up in rural western Pennsylvania you were a Pirates fan in the summer and a Steelers fan all year round. Hockey wasn’t on anyone’s radar. When you got old enough your thirst was likely to be quenched by an Iron City or a 7 once Rolling Rock while watching touchdown Terry Bradshaw lead the team to victory.

Forgive me for digressing; this story is about this years Super Bowl. Teddy Bruschi is a local football legend here in Tucson. He played his College years and was a central part of what was known as Desert Swarm Defense at the University of Arizona. Now we plays for New England.

On the occasional off year when neither was playing we merely watched the game for the commercials. This year had all the earmarking of a really big game. Would Teddy and the New England Patriots be the first time to go undefeated since the Miami Dolphins did 1972?

Our interest in the game really got intense when we were able to purchase undefeated19-0 .com, .net, and .biz. 12 hours before the kick-off. If New England goes undefeated and Eli Manning doesn’t throw the miracle passes and with a minute and a half to go the Giants don’t score, we are sitting on a gold mine of domain names.

Our $30.00 bet on these football history making domain names had us standing and shouting the whole second half. We were way to amped to pay any attention to those silly commercials we had sugar plumbs and new vehicles dancing about our heads.

Yes, we were gambling but in a very legal way. I followed my gut check around midnight the night before the game. I did a” who is” search and found that all three of these names were available. I snagged them on the spot. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep that night.

When I placed the bet on the undefeated Patriots it looked like the stars and moon aligned and pointed my way. I don’t gamble much. When I do it’s only a lottery ticket and then only if there’s a huge jackpot and something unusual happens like the grocery store check out bill is $7.77. Then and only then do I buy a lottery ticket.

I don’t gamble with money because it’s a gamble. This bet was worth every penny. It turned out to be very thrilling experience, a high if you will, when the reality of the faithful catch hit home our spirits crashed. No wonder it can become an addiction.

I tell this story as an example of all the wonderful opportunities that still exist with the Internet. These technologies are still in its childhood stages. There are billions of dollars to be made and created through this vehicle. I consider myself fortunate to be a small part of it all. We didn’t win the domain name jackpot but it sure has been interesting

June 13, 2008 | Filed Under Proof Reading & Editing | Leave a Comment

Putting Social Back Into Social Media

Putting Social Into Social Media

Social Media has been the Holy Grail for Marketers for several years now. The trick, from the marketer’s perspective has been to capture this audience attention and thus drive traffic to their websites or blogs. I attempt to do this as well. But at this point this process hasn’t really become social.

The social part doesn’t come into play unless the visitor actually begins to interact socially. The Wall on FaceBook is a good example of where social media can become interactive and actually social. I believe this is where most small business owners miss a wonderful opportunity. They are only focusing on making a sale and on the bottom line.

I am guilty of this as well, and have written often about the dismal Return On Investment from social media sites. There are numerous stories floating around the blogosphere about huge amounts of traffic created from Digg that resulted in very few conversions. The writer usually concludes that at least they ended up with a couple of hundred links.

The lesson here is that while it is possible to generate huge increases in traffic from social media sites it is very difficult to turn this group into buying customers. That’s where we, as website owners, must become social and a blog is a wonderful tool to accomplish this. We caution clients, potential clients, and anyone who will listen to avoid social media if all they want to do is sell.

Driving social traffic just to sell your product or service is a waste of time. This traffic has come to you as curious window shoppers looking to be social. If you don’t have a vehicle on your website that allows them to interact then this isn’t a social experience for them, after all social requires interaction.

Our blog accomplishes this for our B2B website. We create these articles, and then we submit them to Sphinn, Stumble and the like. Hopefully someone that visits creates a social experience by leaving a comment. We then take the time to personally respond and do not use an auto responder. If the commenter makes an unusually good comment, we will take the extra time to respond on the blog and by email.

Thus we create a social experience on a business website. Many businesses wrongly think a video accomplishes this for them. But there isn’t anything social about a video if you can not interact with the website.

I see so many blogs were the owner presents their topic and never engages with their responders. I have always seen this as rude and anti social. That’s like being at a dinner party and someone starts a conversation and walks away never to be heard from again.

I’m writing this today because Nicole commented that we had a great “Do Follow List” but that it would be nice if we listed PR as well. So I took the time to email her to thank her for the comment. I took it a step further by explaining why we thought her comment was impractical and too time consuming to implement.

She wrote back today and thanked me for taking the time to send a personal reply. She also noted she would put me on her sites and social bookmark the site. So if you have a blog (a very good social tool) don’t forget to be social, interact with your commenter’s on your blog and by email. Sure it takes time but it also shows that you truly care.

There are no free lunches with social media. It requires lots of time and effort. Social media requires interacting with others and giving freely to strangers.

Are you ready to put social into your media efforts?

Since you have taken the time to read this article would you please leave a comment, your comments make the effort worth while.

June 12, 2008 | Filed Under Website Redesign | Leave a Comment

An SEO Gets Shopped

If you have been any business long enough a competitor will give you a ring and try to shop you. They call and want to know what you charge. This is especially true if your product or service price is not available on your website. The trick here is to determine who is a real potential client and who is a competitor trying to acquire your pricing structure.

I don’t have a problem with this at all. I have done this hundreds of times over the decades. When someone calls I’m a very good judge of who is real and who is not. If someone starts of by asking a whole bunch of questions without identifying themselves first, you can almost be certain that you are being shopped.

If they pause or stumble when you ask these questions you know you’re being shopped.

• What’s the domain name?
• What’s your business?
• What do you want your website visitor to do on your website?
• What’s your target market?

If the visitor hesitates on any of these questions you can be sure that your time is being wasted by a shopper. However, those who are skilled shoppers may be prepared for these questions. They are a little harder to catch. After all I role play the call many times before I shop a business.

If someone seems more interested in pricing then anything else in the conversation I explain that everything starts with a website review. I then ask them to email me from their website to get the ball rolling. If they are a serious inquiry they will email while you’re talking. If they make excuses, at this point, you know this is a wasted call and I quickly end the call. If they ask you why this is needed you can state its company policy to assure that this is a genuine sales call.

I mention this because I got shopped today by someone from The San Francisco Bay area code. We have just started targeting the area in advance of our new website launch. So I have been expecting these types of calls.

The caller jumped right into the deep end of the pool from the get go. They asked if we did page titles, page descriptions, Meta tags, and ALT tags and what we charged. Well, nothing like cutting to the chase. What they didn’t realize is that real customers don’t talk like that. They just want to acquire search traffic and had read that SEO is the way to go. They don’t generally understand how we do what we do.

Since, I was being shopped by an inexperienced young shopper I thought I would have a little fun. It started with the basic questions I mentioned previously, and of course they didn’t have a website. They went on to explain that he wanted to market to the 48 states and that he was going to be selling computer parts.

Well, our website is very clear that we don’t provide service for highly competitive markets that are national. I went on to explain that if his market was local we would gladly consider him as a client. I further explained that we only take on clients that when know going in can benefit greatly from our services.

Trying to take a website that sells computer parts nationally to the first page of Google is not a challenge that we will undertake. While I noted that it can be accomplished given enough time and money but that it was not anything that we wanted to be involved with. Its not are market.

He became very defensive and started talking SEO slang and started to explain how it could be accomplished. I thought this guy is so clueless that he is being played and he doesn’t even know it. Then he started talking about Page Rank. I have never had a client or potential client that knows what Page Rank is. Now this person is talking straight-up SEO shop talk.

Since I had flushed him out the conversation needed to end. I politely ended the conversation by informing him that we don’t work on these kinds of sites and moved on.

The moral of the story is if you’re going to shop someone get the story straight first and don’t sound like you know so much that you really don’t need my help. If this caller knew about page titles, Meta tags, page descriptions, and ALT tags then why would they need me?

June 11, 2008 | Filed Under Website Design | Leave a Comment

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