Specialzing in Social Media Optimization, SEO Web Design, SE Marketing, Web Analtyics and PPC Web Marketing

This may seem obvious, but lots of people do it anyway. They send out a tweet (or post through some other social networking site) and they have their location setting turned on. This is especially true when you post from a smart phone. But think about it, do you really want anyone/everyone to know exactly where you are, right down to the geographical coordinates and a display on Google Maps? Do you really want potential robbers to know you’re not home? Also, don’t tweet or Facebook about being on vacation, out of the country, etc. That’s just an invitation for trouble.

It’s interesting to see how the FTC’s December 1, 2009 law regarding testimonials and disclosure has started to play out in both the online and offline world.

This morning I saw a television ad for a stop smoking drug which used a testimonial.  In the commercial, they had both a verbal and textual statement of a customer’s “typical” results.  What they said was “in studies, 44% of customers were quit smoking between weeks 9-12.”

To me, this suggests they focused in on the portion of their test results which showed the best performance (9-12 weeks) and reported on that number.

SE Marketing (search engine marketing), begins with good SEO (search engine optimization).  Search engine optimization is the practice of optimizing your web site design, architecture, body copy, links and link popularity to satisfy the relevancy criteria of a search engine ranking algorithm. It’s playing by the rules set forth by the search engines. Trying to stay abreast of the latest SEO rules requires regular vigilance, but if you emphasize HTML code optimization and good content, you can’t go wrong. For example, larger bodies of useful, relevant content that include naturally occurring instances of the same phrase do much better than sites which focus on a single keyword or phrase.

Keyword Research in Web Site Marketing

Whether you are paying for online advertising, performing search engine optimization on your web site or creating a linking campaign, keyword research is the starting point and critical foundation of all your SEO web design.

Keyword research involves properly identifying your list of primary and longtail keywords to be used in all of your web site marketing efforts.  Guessing games won’t work here.  Specific tools, methods and analysis are used based on your product/service and it’s industry, your marketing goals and budget.  You should also note that as the market and web surfers searching habits change over time, so may your keyword list.

Video marketing is an important web marketing tool and every business should consider incorporating it into their web site marketing strategy.

Why Use Video Marketing?

• Video search results stand out more prominantly than other links on the search results page, so just getting on page one will get you more clicks/web traffic.
• Not only are people more inclined to click on video results, but even mores-so when the video thumbnail screenshot has a human face in it (or something REALLY interesting to click on)
• Many people skip Google search and go directly to YouTube to search

PayPal is the quickest and easiest way to get started accepting credit cards online, but it’s “shopping cart” is simply a PayPal pop-up window.  If you want a professional looking and functioning online storefront then using a complete eCommerce storefront is the way to go.

Preferred Online Shopping Cart System

The Interspire Shopping Cart is an all-in-one e-commerce and shopping cart software platform that includes absolutely everything you need to sell online.  I have used this shopping cart for multiple clients and I believe it’s the best shopping cart you can get for the price.  It has a ton of features; below are just a few. One thing I love so much about this online shopping cart is it’s search engine optimization features.  I’m an SEO Web Designer, so when I build a web site, I build it optimized for the search engines.

SE Marketing – Backlinks

Building backlinks to your web site is part of off-page seo and has become one of the most important aspects of search engine ranking.  The number of links pointing to your site, the anchor text on those links and the page rank/authority of the site sending you the link are all critical.

Aside from Google, the most important sites to get listed in are: The Yahoo Directory (not free,) Dmoz.org (free, but takes a long time) and Business.com. Google considers these sites very, very important and they have excellent ranking, which means your Google ranking will increase by association.

Spam is unsolicited bulk email.  Unsolicited means the recipient did not agree (either explicitly or implicitly) to receive the email.  Not all bulk or commercial email is spam.

The CAN-SPAM Act went into effect in the US on 1/1/04.  Among other things, this law requires senders of unsolicited bulk email to include a valid physical postal address and unsubscribe instructions in their email.  Once a person opts-out, you have 10 business days to stop sending email to the opt-out requestor’s email address.  Additionally, commercial email must be identified as an advertisement.  Each violation is subject to fines up to $11,000.

Opt-in (permission based) email campaigns is a very effective marketing strategy for generating web site traffic.

Build relationships with prospects and customers by using personalized email, permission marketing and tracking the recipient actions. Send eNewsletters, news alerts, announce discounts & sales, and conduct public relations campaigns.

As you use permission marketing to learn more about your e-mail recipients, you’ll see their loyalty rising, their repeat purchases becoming more frequent, and their word of mouth multiplying!

Permission marketing involves things such as the creation of a contact list, auto responders, an eNewsletter, email campaigns, setting up the statistical tracking reports, handling bounce backs and more.