YouTube - Google Analytics Interface Tutorial

A How To Video from Google on getting started using Google Analytics. YouTube - Google Analytics Interface Tutorial

The Internet's Alphabet Soup

Sometimes I think that one of the things that makes the internet intimidating for small business professionals is the "alphabet soup" that gets sprinkled throughout anything dealing with the internet. When you don't know what the abbreviations mean, you need to make deliberate effort to ignore the "unknown" and that can make learning new things even tougher.

Here are a few definititions of some of the most common abbreviations you will see when discussing the internet and websites.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. An Internet World Wide Web Address.

HTML - stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. This is the beautiful language that lets us add hypertext links to our online text so that people (and search engines) can follow the links and get more information.

HTTP - stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, is the protocol which allows browsing on the World Wide Web. The protocol allows a user browsing a hypertext document to jump to another document that may be located on another host thousands of miles away, and to retrieve the information in that document.

CSS - stands for Cascading Style Sheet. A style sheet allows a web developer to separate the content of a webpage from the formatting of a webpage. This is excellent for the search engines (they are interested only in the content) and excellent for developers because they can easily change the formatting on an entire website by making a change in the style sheet instead of needing to change every page of the site.

CMS - stands for Content Management System. A content management system is a collection of tools that allows the creation, modification, organization and removal of information from a web site. Usually CMS to requires no knowledge of HTML in order to create web pages. This means that if you have a developer set up a CMS for you, you will be able to easily update the information on the website without having to get your developer involved.

RSS - actually has two definitions, Rich Site Summary and Really Simple Syndication. I prefer Really Simple Syndication. It's a format for sharing content among different websites. Sites can syndicate “feeds” (content) and Internet users can use an application called an RSS reader or aggregator to download feeds. A website owner can publish a feed of their own (like the one on this blog that says Subscribe toPosts [Atom]) or you can include an RSS feed from another site on your site (IRS feed for accountants, AMA feed for doctors, legal feeds for lawyers, etc.)

And, my all time favorite, though not an internet term, is TWAIN. I discovered this acronym while installing my first scanner years ago. I looked it up in the manual and found that it meant "Toolkit Without An Important Name." Wikipedia now lists a different definition, but that's definitely what was in the manual I read in the 1990's

One easy way to find out what abbreviations mean is to use the define: function in Google search. Just type define: word/abbreviation in the Google search bar and you will get all the definitions that Google has indexed.

Love M&Ms? Marketing & Munching all in One

Have you seen these? Your logo or (very short) tag line on personalized M & M's.

Yum!

The Truth about Links

The truth about "getting links" "buying links" "having links" "building links" is that it's really all about connecting with people.

I've seen lots of internet marketing related websites giving instruction on how to automate link requests, write a "convincing" link request emails and so on. Sometimes it seems funny to me... wouldn't a personal approach, just like getting to know someone at a networking meeting be more genuine and effective?

When you are asking another site for a link from their site to your site, you should be thinking about more than the "vote" or search engine value of having links to your website. If you think about it the way the search engines think about it, providing the most relevant results, you'll know which are the best sites to request links to your site. These are the sites for which your site adds value, makes sense and is the logical choice.

When you find a site like that... requesting a link from them is like asking for a referral. The easiest way to do that is to personally connect with the person at the other end. Write an email like you would introduce yourself in person. Who you are, what you like about their site, why you think your site might be a good resource for their visitors.

I almost never respond to automated link requests. They seem rude to me. But I have responded to those that are noticeably personal and truly addressed to me and my website.

Yes, it's a sometimes tedious, labor intensive job. No, there's no way to effectively automate it (though stay tuned for some spreadsheet add-ons that will make keeping track of all your link building a bit easier!).

But, linking is like networking... you are making connections with other websites the same way you make the best connections with other people; one person at a time, in a friendly, amiable way.

Try it, you'll be surprised at the results.

Choosing the Right Keywords - Part 2

Once you have your starting list of keywords from answering the questions in this post, do a little research to find out if people are actually using those keywords.

If you have a Google Adwords account, you can start with their keyword tool. If you don't have an adwords account, you can use the Google External Keyword tool, but you have to enter in a challenge word each time to prove you are a human.

I also use Nichebot. You can use their free tools or buy "credits" to use other tools (importing large keyword lists, running additional tools, etc.).

There's also Keyword Discovery, which I like alot. They use a wide variety of search engines let you choose which "set" you want to focus on.

Anyway, put your keywords into tools like this to find information on search volume, competing sites, related keywords that might be "high quality" - that is, have a high relevancy, high search volume and low competition.

Include all sorts of variations in your keyword list and let it grow, we'll be trimming it down later...

BEWARE! Liberty Names of America SCAM

Liberty Names of America sends out official looking documents to unsuspecting domain owners telling them "...Failure to renew your domain name will result in losing exclusive rights to it on the web, and losing access to your online identity. Renew today and take advantage of the big savings we have to offer."

The part that REALLY burns me up is the "big savings" bit... their prices are DOUBLE what you would pay from a reputable domain registrar like GoDaddy.com. Who does not send out scammy mailings trying to steal your domain from another registrar.

Domain owners beware. KNOW who your domain is registered with. Keep your email address with them up-to-date. DO NOT fall victim to scams like these because you're not sure who you are registered with. When in doubt, check the WhoIs record for your domain, or Ask Joanne :-)

Aaron Wall Rocks!

Aaron Wall, the author of the SEO Book has put everything you need to know about the nuts and bolts of SEO in one place. Not only that, the book gets updated online, so you are never without the most up-to-date information. This book is definitely written for the person who wants to do their own SEO work. It demonstrates accurate how to's for every step of the process.

I like Aaron's approach because the way I do SEO consulting is to provide my clients with a report of how to implement the right keywords and begin building their search engine rankings themselves. I want my clients to learn how to do it themselves, because in essence, it's not difficult to do. But like all things, people need to decide where to put their attention and where to spend their time and money. If you decide to pay for ongoing SEO work (like link building and spotting new SEO "keyword opportunities"), just like you'd decide to pay for ongoing lawn care... knowing how it all works will make sure you hire the right professionals to do the job at the right price.

How to Choose the Right Keywords for your Website

Choosing keywords is almost more of an art than a science. The trick is to shift your viewpoint from one within your company into the head of your target audience.

Who are you talking to? Who is your target audience? How do they search? Where do they hang out on the internet.

What do you intend to sell them? What words might they use to describe what you have to offer - generic or specific?

What problems do you solve for them? Often people search using problem words because they don't yet know what the potential solutions are. What problems do your products or services solve.

Make a list of all the words that come to mind when you answer these questions. This is your starting list of keywords.

Seth Godin Rocks!

I have read nearly all of Seth Godin's books and every time find myself saying "YES!" I haven't yet read his latest - Meatball Sundae but I did attend a webcast this week that he did about the ideas in the book and, as usual, it was excellent.

The basic idea is that things don't work when you add all the fun sundae toppings (social media, blogging, podcasts, interactive web tools, etc.) on top of plain old meatballs (everyday products for everyday consumers.) These days it takes being "remarkable" in some way to really create a buzz about your business or products. You need to choose your niche and be the best within it... not too hard to do, but a very different approach than the "old" way of marketing meatballs.

Jill Whalen Rocks!

I have been a huge fan of Jill Whalen and www.HighRankings.com since I started learning about optimizing websites... in fact, it's from Jill's newsletter and forum that I learned how to optimize sites.

While doing some searching the other day on techniques for link building, I came across this interview with Jill on www.RecognizedExpert.com.

It's a very down-to-earth look at the basic tactics of SEO that worked in the early days, work now and will continue to work in the future. Why? Because ultimately the goal of the search engines is to provide their users with relevant information. If you "feed" the search engines relevant information about your site by using the right keywords in the right places, the search engines will "reward" you by ranking your site high.

Regardless of all the new internet marketing tools, techniques, gadgets and gizmos success on the internet is really all about providing relevant information and unique value to your customers. Search Engine Optimization is about making sure that message comes through loud and clear on your website through using your keywords in your page titles, web copy and behind-the-scenes code.

Money for Nothing (and your clicks for free)

Another GREAT ebook from Seth Godin! Learn about why having your web content be Unique, Useful and Updated is one of the BEST ways to get continued, targeted, motivated visitors to your website.