Week of 2008-05-14 Hi Everyone, Lots of great information again in this issue. Enjoy. 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, Scott Allen and Diana Adams. Site Clinic: Easy to Navigate Equals Easy To Buyby Jackie BakerThis week we're looking at an e-commerce website for educational toys, Brainwaves Toys. The current Brainwaves site has done many things well, especially usability of the shopping cart and checkout process. However, it needs a little help with design and... Reaching Women via Word of Mouth Marketingby Jennifer LaycockAs a hobby blogger in the "mom" realm, I often get swamped at conferences by companies looking to market their products to women. These companies have figured out that women are online en masse and they're communicating their likes, dislikes and daily lives with friends and strangers. I applaud their initiative in trying to reach out to women on the web, but sometimes I wish they'd take a step back and think a little harder about how they approach these women. Does Your Blog Have a Twitter Landing Page?by Mack CollierOne of the best bit of social media advice I ever received came from Chris Brogan when he said that when you want to decide if a social media tool is for you, observe how someone that is really good at the tool uses it. Right now Twitter is hotter than Memphis in August, and one of the true power users of Twitterville is Laura Fitton, who is known on Twitter as Pistachio. Website Architecture Questions Answeredby Stoney deGeyterI'm gearing up for a 1-hour webinar that I'll be doing for SEMpdx next week. I've got more information on that below, but the SEMpdx crew asked their members to submit some questions that they would like to get answered during the presentation. Instead of waiting, I thought I'd go ahead and answer the questions here: Everybody Needs Good Neighborsby Simon HeseltineWhen deciding where to build your bricks and mortar store, one of the main determinants is the neighborhood. After all, your neighborhood sets the tone for the type of clientele that you can expect to enter your establishment. How to Grow a Community by Leaving it Aloneby Jennifer LaycockWith so much focus on social media and fostering conversation these days, companies both big and small are trying to figure out the best way to grow communities. Looking around at the number of blogs dedicated to the topic, you'd think there was some complex formula you needed to follow to get one going. Of course George Oates from Flickr would tell you you're wrong. Local Search Engine Optimization - Revisitedby Scott BureshRoughly a year ago, local search engine optimization was all the rage - the new frontier in search engine marketing. For a while, it seemed that everyone was interested in the local search angle - even multi-national companies. However, for many companies selling products or services to the entire United States, or even globally, it seemed like a non-starter. What Does a Title Tag, Title Tag and Title Tag Have In Common?by Stoney deGeyterDuplicate titles is something we often see on newly developed websites or content management systems that don't allow proper control of individual pages. While I get how when developing new websites the title tag can get overlooked, I'm amazed that people develop web software that still doesn't take title tag customization into account. Bee's Do It. NonProfits Do It. Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Link Loveby Debra MastalerThere are parallels between traditional linking and social media promotion. While I agree the two entities are different animals and call for separate strategies, the bottom line is the same for both... to increase traffic and inbound links. With some... Site Navigation and Usability: Easy Tips for Happy Usersby Scott AllenYesterday, my senses were assaulted by a large ad agency website that violated many principles of good usability and navigation. After I recovered, I realized I need to share some tips on this topic.... Why Session ID's And Search Engines Don't Get Along (Hint: It's a Duplicate Content Thing)by Stoney deGeyterThere is no better way to create an infinite amount of duplicate content on your site than to force session IDs onto each visitor (and search engine). Typically, session IDs are used for tracking a single visitor's navigation path through the site, including the adding or removing products from the shopping cart. They are great for tracking purposes, but really, really bad for search engines and inbound linking. My Relationship with Facebook: Can We Talk?by Karri FlatlaI'm probably going to lose a lot of Friends with this post, but I need to get some stuff off my chest about Facebook. If you're a real Friend, you'll listen without judgment. If not, it was nice Facebooking with... So How Do You Find People on Twitter?by Mack CollierOne of the benefits to spending time on Twitter is that it's a great way to network. But if you are new to Twitter, it can seem difficult to find people that are in your industry or that share your interests. Here's some tips to help get you started meeting new friends on Twitter! SEM Boot Camp - Paid Search Advertising Roadmapby Diana AdamsMany people do know what PPC advertising is, and where paid advertising is displayed, but my experience at a recent conference reminded me that this isn't always the case. So I decided a great first entry for me at Search Engine Guide would be a Boot Camp style article explaining exactly what paid search advertising looks like . Preventing Secure & Non-Secure Site Duplicationby Stoney deGeyterWhen shoppers can access secure and non secure versions of the same page, then likely the search engines can as well. This creates almost a complete duplicate of your site, one secure and one non-secure version. It's essential to tell the search engines what to think, especially when it comes to which pages of your site should or should not be included in the index. Return to the Top of this Page 
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In response to... Site Clinic: Easy to Navigate Equals Easy To Buy"Many times with a site that specializes in merchandise I see that users are more in the browsing mode rather than the hunting mode. I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about that and how (if any at all) did you take that into consideration with navigation and site layout." Bob In response to... 10 Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog Traffic"I have a website for baby-boomer women that allows readers to comment on posts. However, I need more visitors to get the conversations flowing. I am hoping that your suggestions will begin to grow my traffic. Thanks for your help." Rita Morgan In response to... So How Do You Find People on Twitter?"Twitter is a human feed thus RSS+human+chat. It's a very unique & new tool. One I believe is changing the average person into understanding RSS... without using the awful techie word RSS! I call it: RTS=Real Twitter Syndication. Thus, the way to *friend* on Twitter depends on *why* you are using Twitter. And that will vary by each Twitterer! Thus, it truly is about the power of *one.* Have a great time at Twitter and, as Mack says, just like any social site, you will get more value the more you use it." BarbaraKB Return to the Top of this Page 
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(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
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