Week of 2008-05-07 Hi Everyone, The big news for us this week is Stoney deGeyter has joined the Search Engine Guide team as our Associate Editor. Of course, having Stoney around is big news for everyone because his articles help us all improve our businesses. Check out Jennifer's blog post for the full scoop: "Who is the Latest Sucker...er...Brilliant Mind to Join the Search Engine Guide Team?" Have a great week!
Featuring: Jennifer Laycock, Stoney deGeyter, Diane Aull, Debra Mastaler, Paul Jahn, Manoj Jasra, Liana Evans, David Wallace, Sage Lewis, Mack Collier, Karri Flatla, Jackie Baker, Ross Dunn and Scott Allen Who is the Latest Sucker...er...Brilliant Mind to Join the Search Engine Guide Team?by Jennifer LaycockTwo weeks ago, I came home from Small Business Marketing Unleashed to find a note on my laptop. It said "Hey Jen! We need more content! The masses are circling and you're not giving them enough to read!!" Now as someone who used to regularly churn out 6000 words of content a day, I found I could do nothing more than hang my head in shame. After all, what good is Search Engine Guide if we aren't feeding our readers a steady diet of small business marketing articles to keep them happy? Redirecting Alternate Domains to Prevent Duplicate Contentby Stoney deGeyterRegistering multiple domain names is, and should be, common practice for businesses wishing to protect their brands. Once purchased, what you do with these domains can have a positive or negative impact on your main URL. Here are some tips on how to set up alternate domains to prevent the search engines from seeing duplicate content. Wasting Your Time with Web Analyticsby Manoj JasraWeb Analytics is not easy and can take up much of you time so it's important to concentrate on the things which have the most benefit to your business. Below I have outlined the types of things you shouldn't measure... Worst Example of a Company Twittering?by Mack CollierThe problem that many companies face when they delve into the social media waters is that they really don't understand these new-fangled tools. And that means they are probably going to use them in the wrong ways, and for the wrong reasons. MarketMotive and Search Engine Strategies Pair up for Online Trainingby Jennifer LaycockIf you've been wanting to get to a Search Engine Strategies event, but haven't been able to escape from your office, you'll be glad to hear that Search Engine Strategies has teamed up with MarketMotive to offer in-depth online training seminars featuring members of the Market Motive staff and popular SES speakers. The sessions are designed to give marketers a chance to receive high level training at a lower price and with a small time commitment than attending an entire show. It's a Toilet not a "Biological Waste Aquatic Removal System"by Jennifer LaycockBen McConnell has a short little post over at Church of the Customer this week that serves as a perfect example of why keyword research is so essential. McConnell is talking about companies that rely too heavily on jargon in their marketing materials. In the world of search engine optimization, we call that "PR speak." Return to the Top of this Page 
Return to the Top of this Page 
In response to... It's a Toilet not a "Biological Waste Aquatic Removal System""Jennifer, another fabulous post. I have a client that is in an interesting position with two different decision makers using two different vocabularies. The folks who are doing the initial research to buy this company's products use "toilet" like keywords. The higher-ups who are actually going to make the decisions to purchase are using jargon. So they need to show up for toilet terms, but still use enough jargon on their website to be valid when the COO comes to confirm the vendor selection. It is an interesting dilemma; one that keyword research, and learning that there are 10x more searches for "toilet" has helped create! :)" David Mihm In response to... Worst Example of a Company Twittering?"While the DirecTV presence is amusing, I wonder if you're being a little unfair here." "Chances are DirecTV doesn't have a Twitter strategy, or even know they have a presence at all. More likely, some marketer created the account months ago as a test case, or to reserve the brand name. They probably thought they were thinking ahead, just in case the company decided to twitter some day. Now that poor sap is probably getting a stern lecture about corporate responsibility and approval processes." "Yes, it's true that there's no such thing as a "practice" presence on the web. But I'd be willing to bet that this sort of case isn't unique. There are probably plenty of companies on Twitter with a single, lonely post -- although hopefully one a little better than DirecTV's. After all, in a corporate environment where elevator pitches rule the day, the case for Twitter can be a tough one to make. (Witness the steady stream of "Why you should be on Twitter" blog posts in the last few months -- have you ever seen one that was short?)" "We like to talk about companies as if they're one single entity with a solitary vision. But in reality, there are plenty of marketing folks out there who are trying to fight the good fight, sneaking off into this site or that platform in an attempt to nudge their company into the modern world. Let's cut them a little slack, even when they fail miserably." Sean McIndoe In response to... Twittering Our Way Toward Truth on the Social Web"Hi Karri!" "I'll share a quick twitter follower building tip that I just used this weekend and gained 30+ followers." "Build an 'Industry Twitter List'." "In my case the industry was the PHP developers community. Since I was following about 30-40 of them anyhow, I wrote each one and asked permission (very important) to list them." "The end result is I have a very popular page and I personally picked up 30 new followers without twitterspamming. (Twitterspamming is bad...m'Kay?)" "Anyhow, hope this sparks an idea with someone. Make it a great day!" Cal Evans Return to the Top of this Page 
Skaffe.com Directory: Show off your website Express Submit today.Quality directories like Skaffe.com offer you strong search engine exposure. Sporge Directory from Skaffe.comUnder new management! All new with low submission prices. WoW DirectoryPowerful and affordable directory marketing services. Submit your website today! New! Team Skaffe Directory from the editors of Skaffe.comUp to 4 links for every submission. Free submission for non-commercial websites. Free SEO ToolsThinking of buying SEO software? Then try the best SEO tools free first! Return to the Top of this Page 
(If you like our search engine news, you'll love our small business news.) Weekly Wrap of the Hottest Small Business ThreadsChris Logan shares the buzz from our small business forum. Return to the Top of this Page
Newsletter InformationThis newsletter may be freely redistributed by email in its unedited form. We encourage you to share it with others. |
News Navigation:Conference Sponsors:
Ebooks
SEO Training & Info
Analytics
Business Services
SEO & SEM Firms
SEO Tools & Services
Link Building
PPC Advertising
Keyword Tools
Directories
Domain Registration
Web Hosting |
