On Incoming Links

SiteProNews: How to Optimize for Google: Part 2 of 3

This is a superb article clearly outlining the various ways you should be getting incoming links to your website, and those to avoid.

Required reading for SEO 101 folks!

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Aproaching Web Site Architecture Like Building a House

Most people don't understand that they need to approach their website architecture like they would if building a custom house. This article makes this user-friendly analogy.

I've found many of my clients don't even think of their site architecture, or structure. They throw me a company brochure and expect it to "auto-magically" be a million-dollar website. The best sites I've developed come from good participation from the client.

If you're thinking about having a website developed, the first step is to look around the Internet at sites you like, take notes on what it is you like, then organize your information before meeting with a web developer. Remember that your developer will have some insights you may not have and your blueprint will more than likely be modified before building begins (just like a house!), but with SOME idea of what you want your site to do and how, you'll be pages ahead of your competition!

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How Much Does A Website Cost?

I get asked this ALL the time...and it's very frustrating to me as a developer.

Someone calls me up and the first thing out of their mouth is: "I need a website. How much does it cost?" It's like someone asking "How much does a machine cost?"

Big price difference between a hand-held calculator and a car - both machines!!

Before price shopping, decide what you want or need a website to do. Look around the internet at other websites. Look at websites that are in your industry first, then don't hesitate to look at any and all websites you like.

Maybe it will be the color palette, maybe the layout (design). Perhaps you like a certain feature on a site totally unrelated to what you do. That's OK! Good web developers understand that other than design, websites can be made to do nearly anything you'd like.

The second most important thing to know going in is how much do you want to spend? Let's be real here! Look around and find out what real websites cost, as opposed to a "GoDaddy" Web Site Express.

My final thought on this is "what does it cost you to NOT have a website?"...

20 Simple Ways To Get Massive Traffic To Your Web Site

I just love these articles that can tell a person how to drive traffic to their website, fairly simply and inexpensively. With great tips like these, anyone can increase their web site traffic. No, really they can!

Although many SEO/Marketing firms want you to believe that it's a bit of magic, really, it's just a matter of keeping current on the technologies and how to use them to your advantage.

Even if you don't want to, or have time to, do the work yourself, these methods won't cost you an arm and a leg to outsource them to your webmaster.

If you're not using at least 10 of the items on this list, get busy or pick up the phone and ask your webmaster about implementing them.

Here's the list (read the article for details):

1) Write articles
2) Social bookmark *everything*
3) List yourself in the best directories
4) Get yourself listed at: DMOZ dot org
5) Review
6) Offer a freebie on Craig's List
7) Create a "recommended by" list on your Delicious page
8) And speaking of your email signature line...
9) Lend a helping hand
10) Set up a social networking site
11) Make sure your blog has an RSS feed
12) Join relevant groups at Yahoo groups
13) Podcasting
14) Start a blog
15) Inbound links
16) Start an email newsletter
17) And speaking of offline efforts
18) If you have products to sell, why not get a store on eBay?
19) Load a video on YouTube
20) Make sure your site is converting this traffic into something

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Another Successful Launch!

Last week I launched a redesigned web site for the Orchard of Hope Foundation. They came to me through a couple generous referrals from current clients.

What they had was a FrontPage design attempted by a board member. Now I'm a fan of DIY, in fact I usually try to do things myself too, but have learned it's best to leave some things to a professional. That's where I came in.

I set them up with a graphically pleasing site to inform the community about their mission, which is to offer financial and emotional support to cancer patients and their families. They had a wonderfully moving video produced by Chris Selders of Gradient Blue Creative Media, and with Chris' help, we got that on their site as well.

I added a calendar they can update themselves and are in the process of adding PayPal donation buttons so the community can contribute to this most worthy of causes.

Here's a bit of feedback on the project:

Wow! Your work is really impressive! Just beautiful, really. I am
not easily moved by this kind of thing, with my background in graphics.

I will be sure to let anyone looking to have a website created to call
you first. Top notch stuff there, Cindy!

Very cool!
Chris

AND:

CINDY! IT'S GORGEOUSLY LOVELY AND WONDERFUL. YOU DID AN AWESOME JOB
Sandi

Makes me feel warm all over!

Not the First Time, Not the Last Time....

Happy New Year! The first post to my blog in 2008 is (again!) about the new direction of marketing on the web. You've heard this before, but many, many of you aren't getting it, so here it is again, and it won't be the last time you hear it from me.

Social networking and "Web 2.0" are here to stay for a while. Successful marketers are using new methods on new technology to further themselves and their businesses online. But like the article proclaims:

... it takes work and discipline (and change)
to make relationships and participate in meaningful
conversations.

so many just won't do it. Internet marketing is NOT just displaying a web site and some ads and expecting people to buy from you. They are looking for more from you. If they don't get it, they'll look elsewhere at people who engage in online conversations with them and establish themselves as an authority.

Don't want to spend all that time and energy conversing with people in forums and blogs? Fine, just don't be surprised when your online presence doesn't perform to your expectations.

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From the Soapbox: Management Style and Morale Improvement

I read this article this morning, and because it is so closely describes the situation for someone close to me, I just had to put out this "gentle nudge". If you're a business owner/supervisor, I urge you to take a good look at how you manage people and how it affects productivity.

Can you do better in 2008?

Management Style and Morale Improvement

Thu, 12/20/2007 - 14:26 — Wayne Hurlbert

You have probably heard the old office threat, "The beatings will continue until morale improves". Many people smile a bit when they hear it.

At the same time, there is an urge to cringe, as all too often, that destructive management practice is a bit too familiar for comfort. Is this archaic threat part of your company's management style?

Fear is not a good motivator over the long term. While many managers will point to a time when a good scare moved a lackluster employee into action, the effect was usually short lived. If fear becomes the over riding emotion in the company's culture, morale will fall to very low levels. Instead of innovation and creativity, employees will turn their attention to holding onto their jobs.

Happy Holidays to My Fellow Web Geeks

This past year I purchased a little, but powerful program called RSS2HTML from PHPJabbers.com. The program allows you to display RSS feeds on your site with very little effort. Oh, yeah, and the code it produces is SE friendly too.

This week I got an email from PHPJabbers.com announcing a Holiday Sale on it's software: BOGO (Buy one, get one free). Let me tell you I was all over that like stink on a monkey!

These scripts are awesome, easy to use, inexpensive and you can use them on as many sites as you like. Support from PHPJabbers.com is top-notch too, I found out from personal experience.

So, happy holidays, fellow geeks: go cash in on the offer. Enjoy!

12 Simple Steps to Explode Your Site Traffic Using Online Social Media

This article is a good one especially for the end of the year. Web site owners really need to get into the social media marketing mode for 2008. It's what web visitors expect.

Just two REALLY SIMPLE ways that are my favorites:

1. Set up a profile at Flickr and add photos of products, events, staff whatever you take pictures of for your business. People LOVE photos and if you take good ones, they'll follow your links back to your web site.
2. Add interactivity to your web site: let visitors vote on their favorite (whatever) on your web site. I just yesterday added a rating system to my web design portfolio. Allow visitors to write reviews of your products and services-and publish them on your site for all to see.

What these social things allow your visitors to do is feel like they are participating. Not everyone using the Internet wants to be isolated. We, as humans need to connect to each other and any site that shares of itself and allows its visitors to participate will come out ahead in 2008. The static site will soon be dead.

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