January, 2009

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How Can I Let Google Know That My Website is UK Based?

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

If you’ve got a website that is indexed in the US, but isn’t showing up in your home country of England, you’ve got a problem.  Well, assuming all of your traffic and target is in the UK.  Lucky for you, this is easy to fix.

Simply log in (or join) Google’s Webmaster Tools and update your settings to UK.  This will help you let Google know where your target audience is, and they’ll adjust their indexing accordingly.

You may also want to put your UK address on your website, and you could also work on getting some links from local UK-based websites that complement yours.

Lastly, for best results you should have a UK-based hosting company.

Posted in Webmaster Tools, location | 1 Response »

Tune Up Your Magnet

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Back when I first got out of the military, I got a job at a local copier repair shop.  We tore down used copiers to their frame and then rebuilt the entire thing from the ground up with new parts.  We had one entire 4-shelf setup for each copier, storing parts that were still good, along with every screw, roller and rubber grommet that went back in. A good sized machine could take three or four days to complete.

It was very important for the repairmen to have nice tools, including a magnetized Phillips screwdriver.  Without this tool, it was pretty much impossible to get into those little nooks and crannies to tighten screws.

From time to time, the magnetism in the screwdrivers would wear off, and we’d have to ‘tune them up’.  We did so by taking apart an old solenoid and putting the tip of the screwdriver in the middle of it, then plug that bad boy in.  The magnetic forces created by the coil would help the magnetic particles refocus and realign, and by morning we’d have a kick-ass screwdriver again.

The Two Versions of Marketing

For years and years, marketing has been all about outbound (or Interruption) marketing.  Companies would interrupt people through email blasts, radio or tv commercials, telemarketing and more to try to get their brand in front of potential customers.  That was the old way.  It’s no fun, not trackable, and most companies weren’t really thrilled with doing it.  A necessary evil.

As the Internet continues to mature, new communication paths and opportunities are coming to business owners, including a great new way to market to potential customers – inbound marketing.  Think of inbound marketing as a lot like a magnet; you create content that people are drawn to.  People want to read your blog because it is interesting and provides insight to an industry or product they have never had access to before.  Can you see where I’m going with this?

If you aren’t doing inbound marketing, well, shame on you.  The time is here (actually, it’s passing you by) to get involved.  Creating content should be something you all the time.  This new content will pull in visitors that are looking for just what you’re talking about.  Yeah, thanks to search engines, RSS feeds and social media, it pulls them in.  You don’t have to go stand on a corner with a megaphone and beg people to come into your store, they’ll come because they are simply interested with what you have to say/provide.

Inbound marketing methods

Blogging – if you aren’t blogging at least once a week for your business, you are missing out on some major traffic.  From ranking your site for ‘long tail links’ to providing your customers with info they need, blogging is by far the number one way to increase your website’s overall footprint on the Internet.

SEO / SEM – If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve already been exposed to SEO in some amount.  Search engine optimization is an awesome way to increase your rankings in the “big three” as well as all the thousands of other smaller search engines out there.  SEO also means you understand and watch what your website visitors are doing, and if they’re not buying, how to adjust accordingly to prod them along.

Social Media – Today its all about relationships and community.  From mySpace to Facebook to Twitter and beyond, people are creating their own inbound marketing channels through these websites and methods of communication.

RSS – I had a hard time grasping RSS when it first came out.  It’s a tough one to explain, but once you understand it, you’ll never believe you could have made it through a week without it.  Good thing is, if you’re blogging, you’ve probably already got RSS capabilities, you just need to promote them a bit more.

Viral Media – YouTube used to be something that people visited because they were bored or just wanted to see themselves online.  However, when it sold to Google for 1.6 billion dollars, businesses soon figured out that there is huge potential in video.  Creating videos that people want to share can result in literally thousands of visitors to your website.  Be creative, think it out, and watch it grow.

Tools – As you start to grow your website, you’ll probably start to see some recurring themes.  People will be using search terms that push them to your website, and the information they seek you have.  Smart businesses are creating tools for these visitors, and thus cornering a part of a market that their competitors don’t have.  Examples? Sure.

  • An online mortgage calculator on a real estate agent’s website
  • A wine grading worksheet for wannabe connoisseurs
  • A downloadable town reference guide on a bed and breakfast owners’ website

So how’s your magnet working for you?

Is it focused and aligned, pulling in those customers (and dollars), or is it too weak (or non-existant) to hold onto your goal at all?  Your inbound marketing magnet should be on full blast, and if it isn’t, now is the time to get it tuned.

Posted in Marketing, SEO, beginner sem, business blogging, content, free stuff, small business, social media, traffic, trending, twitter, videos | 1 Response »

Analyzing an SEO Spammer

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

We’ve all seen the emails, promising us high rankings if we’d just reply.  Personally I’ve deleted hundreds of them, ignoring their great offers of near-world peace.

For some reason though, today I thought I’d just check one out.  The email was just like the others.

From: Jerry Dennison
Subject: your website
Date: January 21, 2009

We can put your site at the top of a search engines listings. If this is something you might be interested in, send me a reply with the web addresses you want to promote and the best way to contact you with some options.

Sincerely,

Jerry Dennison
Big Block Search

So I thought I’d do a little research on Jerry’s website, and his claims to get me to the top of the search engines.  Which is cool, because I really want to rank for the term ‘SEO’.  I’m sure if anyone can do it, Jerry can.

First stop, BigBlockSearch.com.  It’s a pretty generic website, most likely it is the same landing page as all the other SEO-spam emails I get.  There’s a form that I can fill out to find out more information.  No information about the company, no other pages.  There is a little blurb on the page about Christmas approaching.  I guess they mean Christmas ’09.  Man, this company is on the leading edge!

There’s two contact us links on the page, both going to linda@.  Hey wait, where’s Jerry?

So I fill out the form (Get a free review of your website!) for one of my newer websites, along with the message ‘not sure what you can do but we need more traffic’.  I don’t want to leave a phone number, so I leave it blank.  Whoops.

Guess I should filled that out.  Interestingly, the title bar says Unable to Send E-Mail – CoffeeCup Form Builder. Ah, coffeecup.  FrontPage’s cousin.

So I hit the back button, fill out all fields, and hit Submit again.  Funny thing, I get the same result.  So apparently they aren’t relying on the website to generate many leads, or their site just happens to be down when I visit.  Either way, it doesn’t look like my chances are good for my one-word ranking.  Darnit.

Next stop: WHOIS.  According to them, the site was just registered in December of 2008, its not even a month old.  Yet, it says that the site is climbing the Alexa rankings like mad, and that it gets over 3000 visitors a month.  Wow, really?

The domain is privately registered, so that’s a dead end.  The server is located in China, and when I click through to the 2 other websites hosted on this server, they both come back as Chinese sites.  WHOIS gives them an SEO score of 68% (I know it doesn’t mean much, but still, shouldn’t it be 100%?)

Next stop: archive.org.  It’s a long shot, but what the heck.  Sure enough though, no info.

Last stop: Google.  Maybe they’ll have some info for me.  I really want these guys to help me rank.

Hey, I’m in luck! My buddy jerry is listed here, linda is mentioned here, and here too.  There are some other mentions, but they are all about the same.

Darnit, it looks like my rankings are still far off.

So the big question still lingers, what is the purpose of all of this?  They obviously aren’t getting much business from it.  3000+ visitors? I don’t believe that.  Especially when their forms don’t work.

My only theory is that they are simply using it as a ruse to gather email addresses for other spam-related mailings.  The SEO stuff is just a ruse to get business owners to fill out the form for their email address.

I should also mention here that I could have emailed “Linda” for more info, but I decided that was probably a bad idea. I’m really hoping I’m wrong, and that Jerry (or Linda) will get me to the top of the search engines soon (sarcasm).

What’s your theory?

Posted in Marketing, SEO, competition, personalities, site ranking, spam | 1 Response »

Let’s Rename PageRank as EgoRank

Monday, January 19th, 2009

I’m still surprised at the amount of people that continue to use Google’s pagerank as a means to judge their website.  It’s surprising to see all kinds of websites listed for sale, and one of the main ‘benefits’ the seller menitons is the pagerank.

Let’s be honest.  Pagerank is nice.  Its fun to watch the little green bar grow as your website gets older.  The further it climbs, the more your ego swells.  But does that little green bar pay any of your bills?

Consider this: If you build a website full of rich information that helps your customer base, and you are a pagerank of zero, does that mean your website is useless?

Google makes major updates to their pagerank only about 3-4 times a year.  That means you could literally have a good quality website with a PR of zero for several months.

On the other hand, if you’re a good blackhat, you can swell up that pagerank number to a number higher than what it should be through manipulation of links, etc.  These are usually the people that are building and selling websites by referencing the PR.  It’s inflated, and they are demanding a price higher than the real website’s value.  Tsk, tsk.

I think the little green bar is fun to watch, but I wouldn’t put too much value in it.  If you are a business owner, and are watching for that to grow, quit wasting your time and invest it into a profitable link building plan or SEO campaign.  Provide quality content and the customers will come.

After all, customers are the ones with the real green.

Posted in Google updates, content, lemmings, pagerank | 1 Response »

We Had a Website, It Was a Waste of Money

Friday, January 16th, 2009

There is a saying that I used to put in all of my business packages: In the future there will be two types of businesses: Those online and those out of business. The quote is supposedly attributed to Bill Gates, although I’m unsure if he ever really said it.

Nonetheless, many businesses over the years have heard something similar, usually from a salesman or local web designer bent on getting their business.  Usually the web designer got the gig, built a site, and it sat.  There was no integration of products, no call to action, no active marketing of the site.

Interestingly, most of these companies don’t even promote their website themselves.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen commercials on TV for businesses that I know have websites, but there’s no mention of it.  Some don’t even put it on their business cards.  What do they expect?

Well, they want ROI.  Problem is, most business owners have no clue how a website can be an income-generating machine for their company.  They see a website as another marketing expense, usually one that “doesn’t work”. So the website sits, or even worse it goes unrenewed.  Soon they are another business with no website, an even worse fate than having a crappy one.

And when Mr. Web Designer (or Mr. SEO) comes along and tries to engage them in a discussion about a website, they are immediately disinterested.  “We had a website, it was useless” is usually how the discussion goes.  And it’s pretty hard for a designer to get them to change their minds, no matter how good he/she is.

The problem wasn’t the website, it was the fact that it wasn’t promoted.  I’ve said many times Build it and they won’t come – but that’s exactly true.  Without promoting and marketing your new asset (and your website is an asset), it will never grow.  In fact, just as happened above, the website turned into an expense and no more.

Websites need purpose, they need goals.  Before you ever sit down to build a site, clearly state the goals that you want it to accomplish.  Will it tell customers how to find you? Will it sell products? Will it bring in leads? Will it promote your charity or non-profit? Will it become an income-generating avenue for your sales team?

If you tried a website in the past, and it failed, don’t be afraid to consider doing it again.  Find a good designer that knows SEO and do it right – you’ll be happy you did.

Posted in Marketing, SEO, small business | 1 Response »

Should I Register My Domain or Build My Site First?

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

I’m surprised how many time this question gets asked on various forums and answer websites.  I’ve seen some pretty crazy answers out there, and I think I’ll add mine to the list.

My process is simple: Get hosting. Buy your domain.  Develop your website. Launch.

Purchase Web Hosting

Since my business started doing web hosting way back in the 90′s, I’m a bit partial to hosting with my own company.  For less than 11 bucks a month you can have everything you’ll need to get just about any website a place to live.

There are tons of hosting companies out there, just do a search and you’ll find plenty.  For SEO purposes, I’d recommend staying away from Windows servers, though.

Now, you don’t have to have hosting when you go to buy your domain, but it is highly recommended.  We’ll discuss that below.

Making the Decision – Domain Purchase

There are literally thousands of domain names being researched and registered every day.  Heck, every hour!  If you find a good domain name, you should register it immediately.  This is without question the most important step.

Let’s say you’re building a new website for your company.  You know your name is available, but you want to get the site up first.  You don’t want to have one of those ‘under construction’ banners on your website, and I can’t say I blame you.

Finally you get your site ready, and then you go to get the domain name and sure enough, someone has registered it.  What could have cost you $20 bucks or less now may cost you hundreds, thousands, or even worse, the person doesn’t want to give it up.  Now you’ve got to come up with something else.  That bites.

The Development Period

During the time after you buy the domain and before you launch the website, you can do a few different things.

Under Construction – Back in the early to mid 90′s this was the norm.  People would buy a domain name and put up a crazy (or boring) message saying something to the affect of “This site is under construction. Check back later”.  Like someone is really going to check back.  My recommendation: don’t do it.

Block the Spiders – If you’d prefer, you can simply block all spiders from crawling your page.  This will allow you to build your website right on your domain (if you so choose) or you can put up the God-awful ‘under construction’ banner, but it won’t get indexed.  I’d only use this method if you are in no big hurry to get indexed. Need to know how?

Park the Domain – Another one I’d probably not recommend.  Most domain registrars, when you purchase, will offer you the option to park the domain for free on their server.  They’ll put up a splash page with ads and basically make money off any type-ins that may occur.

Probably the biggest reason that parking occurs is because you have purchased a domain name, but haven’t got around to getting the web hosting yet.  This is something you need to have prior to getting your domain because they’ll ask you for information (such as name server addresses) when you purchase the domain name.

Splash Page – If you want to at least let the search engines know you exist, and briefly what you do, you can put up a simple page of content (text, not graphics) that explains what your website will be about.  This will give your visitors a reason to check back (if they like what you’ve written) and will also be a small bit of fodder for the spiders.

From a marketing standpoint, this is probably your best option.  While you won’t have much info out there, at least it’s something.  And you can start doing some low-end link building too, which may help you when you finally launch your site.

Conclusion and Cheap Plug(s)

If you come across a good domain, or if you have a business and want to register your name before someone else does, do it.  Don’t wait.

If you don’t know anything about registering domains, or need ideas for good marketable domains, just contact me or visit my business website.  If you need hosting, I’ll throw the domain in free for the first year.  What could be easier?

Posted in domain names, hosting, site ranking, small business, web design | No Responses »

Natural Living Expo 2009

Friday, January 9th, 2009

A client of mine received this notice in his email the other day.  What’s strange is that I couldn’t really find a mention of it on the Healthy Planet website.  How odd is that?  Nonetheless, I’ll take the rankings for it if they don’t want them.

The Healthy Planet magazine will host its 17th Natural Living EXPO, Sunday, February 22 from 10 am – 4 pm at the Webster Groves Recreation Complex at Elm and Glendale Road, just off highway 44.

Come enjoy live music, healthy samples, giveaways, free chair massages and plenty of information from over 70 exhibitors.  Each visitor will receive a FREE reusable shopping bag and the first 100 visitors will receive a FREE Missouri Botanical Garden ticket. There will be a number of drawings for prizes including a $600 family vacation to Trout Lodge YMCA of the Ozarks and an AMTRAK ticket giveaway to Kansas City or Chicago!

Admission is $8.00 for adults and children under 16 are free. Look for a 2-for-1 admission coupon in the October edition of The Healthy Planet magazine.

Posted in conferences | 1 Response »

Quick Tip for Commenting on Blogs

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Looking for blogs that you can probably leave keyword-targeted comments on?  Try searching for this

“just another wordpress” keyword

Since these bloggers haven’t modified the general description, chances are they aren’t real SEO savvy, and you could probably get in some nice one way links.  Just don’t outright spam them, at least leave a halfway interesting comment…

Posted in beginner sem, blogging, link building | No Responses »

Bring Donny Back

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Well I finally found a little bit of information on Donny Deutch’s show “The Big Idea”.  It appears that the show has been put on hiatus because of the economy.

Gee, that makes sense.  Take the one show on TV that applies to all self-employed small business owners and remove it.  Heck, small business only makes up, what, 70% of the economy?  Small business owners don’t need the encouragement in times like this, right?

Geez.

C’mon, CNBC.  While I didn’t necessarily agree with the path the show had taken recently, I’m certainly not happy to see it go.

There is a petition, although I don’t think it’s getting much press.  Plus, the letter they ask you to print out and send to the CNBC execs isn’t exactly polite.  I say go ahead and sign the silly petition, and then write your own heartfelt letter.  You can catch more flies with honey…

Posted in television shows | No Responses »

Out of Creative Blog Post Ideas?

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

From time to time we endure slumps where we can’t think of anything to blog about.  Every writer has ‘writers block’ and it’s no fun.  If you can’t think of anything to write, let me help.

My regular readers know I’m a fan of Google alerts, and here’s another great usage.

First, a little background.  Yahoo! Answers is a great service that lets people ask questions about anything, and other users submit answers to their question.  And when I say questions about anything, I mean anything.  Which is great – there is lots of content there that we can use.

So in your Google alerts account, set up an alert for the following:

site:answers.yahoo.com keyword

keyword should be replaced with an industry-related word or phrase that people would use in their questions that applies to you.  For instance, if you are a Missour Wine Club (cheap plug), you’d likely use ‘wine’ or even ‘wine’ and ‘missouri’.  Now anytime a question is posted that uses the word ‘wine’ in it, Google will automatically email you a link to the question.

Watch over the questions, reword and use the appropriate ones for your site.  If one person is looking for an answer to that question, there are probably hundreds more looking, too.  Why not get those visitors to your website and show how much of an expert you really are?

Posted in Google Alerts, business blogging, small business | No Responses »

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