via crowdrise.com
This is a great site and is sponsored by actor Edward Norton. You can make donations to a variety of causes or set up your own fundraiser on line. Pretty cool.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Robert L. Borosage: Bushwacking Obama: Conservatives Call for "Fixing" Social Security
Beware of conservatives bearing gifts. Today in the Washington Post, former Bush policy advisor Michael Gerson echoes a growing chorus of conservative pundits in offering up "Social Security reform" as "the answer to Obama's problems." The advice is illogical on its face, pernicious in its consequence, and poisoned from its source.
Gerson argues that Obama faces a major strategic decision in his coming State of the Union address, which must take the "first cut at the reelection message he carries to reelection or defeat." Gerson helpfully offers a course virtually guaranteed to increase the chances of the latter.
He predicts the president will focus on a multi-year discretionary spending freeze, and on banning earmarks. But, in a classic Republican negotiating stance, he dismisses this embrace of conservative policies as meaningless, since Republicans will trump anything the president suggests on spending cuts.
So to gain agreement with Republicans, Gerson argues, the president will have to offer up more, choosing between tax reform and entitlement reform. The former is dismissed as too hard. (And is dangerous for Republicans since it is hard to do tax reform without insisting that the wealthy no longer pay an effective tax rate that is lower than their secretaries).
On entitlement reform, Gerson repeats virtually word for word what has become beltway conventional wisdom among conservatives in both parties. The real force behind rising deficit and debt projections is our broken health care system, reflected in the federal budget through Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. But Gerson doesn't even suggest continuing to challenge the drug, hospital and medical complexes that have succeeded in driving US costs per capita almost twice that of other industrial countries. He focuses instead simply on Medicare, but argues that "Medicare reform -- the topic of intense, ideological debate -- is a political nonstarter."
While he admits that Social Security is a "relatively small contributor to future deficits," "reforming it would be a large symbol and logical place to begin." The reforms needed are easy to summarize -- including raising the retirement age, and cutting benefits in the future. Liberals would object, but "Obama's urgent political need is to polish his image among independents on spending and debt." Social Security reform would do that, and "reassure global credit markets that America remains capable of governing itself."
Everything about this argument -- which is gaining ever greater force inside the beltway bubble -- is wrong. Social Security is not broken, and doesn't need to be "reformed." It contributes nothing to the deficit, and reforming it will contribute nothing to deficit reduction in the short or medium term. (In the long term, wars, recessions, future financial crises will have far greater effect than any reform of Social Security). Yes, in nearly three decades, Social Security is projected, if growth remains at Depression-era levels, to be able to pay only 75% of promised benefits (although still more at inflation adjusted levels than those currently offered). But it is bizarre to suggest that the "solution" to a potential cut in benefits is to offer up an immediate guarantee of benefit cuts.
Reforming Social Security by raising the retirement age and cutting benefits -- however gaudily packaged to make the system more "progressive" -- is unpopular not just with liberals, but with independents, conservatives and Tea Partiers. Embracing it won't "polish" the president's image among independents; it will prove to Americans across the political spectrum that the president is out of touch. Americans, mostly those approaching retirement, just lost over $11 trillion in assets from savings and home values. Most don't have a pension, and those that do fear that they are at risk. Savings were inadequate before the financial collapse. Every survey shows that Americans do not want politicians to mess with Social Security, the one secure leg left to retirement.
Moreover, any attempt at Gerson's "reforms" will lead to a brutal political battle. Democrats lost the seniors vote by over 20% in 2010 largely because of Republican lies that Democrats cut Medicare in the health care reforms. Wait until they campaign on the truth that the president has embraced cutting Social Security. Democrats lost white, blue collar voters badly -- that surely will get worse. The base of the Democratic Party -- from the AFL-CIO to the civil rights and women's groups, from MoveOn.org to civic action groups -- will revolt, splitting the party, and devastating energy and enthusiasm for the 2010 campaign.
Worse, if the reforms are forced through with Republican support, what will it prove? The "global credit markets" will see that it took a fierce civil war to enact reforms that made no dent in deficit reduction or future debt projections. This will sap, not increase belief that the US can govern itself.
The whole argument is pernicious. Omitted from Gerson analysis is the core imperative for the country and the president -- a growth agenda that will help generate jobs and put the economy on track for long term growth. The president would be well advised to let Republicans argue about cutting spending while he lays out a program for reviving American manufacturing, calling for more investment, aggressive new trade policies and more, while showing how it can be paid for over the long run. Nothing will do more to ensure the president's re-election that an economy that is growing and producing jobs.
Worse, Gerson is advocating an utterly dishonest course. We have pressing challenges which, as Gerson admits, do not include Social Security. It is truly bizarre to advise ignoring where the real problems are in order to focus on something that isn't one -- and call that courageous.
Finally, the advice is morally offensive. Our deficits were driven up by unaffordable top end tax cuts, unfunded wars abroad, a wasteful security expansion after 9/11 and an unfunded prescription drug benefit, written largely by the drug companies. The debt exploded with the recession, which was largely caused by untrammeled speculation and peculation on Wall Street. Working families paid the price for their excesses in home values, jobs and incomes and benefits, while the bankers got bailed out. It is simply foul to then demand that these same workers should pay the price of deficit reduction by cutting the retirement benefits that they are already paying for.
Of course, this is a Republican conservative offering up this advice. Adopt a course that will not address our pressing problems, do nothing about growth and jobs, torpedo support among seniors and blue collar workers, alienate voters across the political spectrum, tear apart the Democratic Party, and fail to address either short, medium or long term deficits. Great advice from a former George Bush operative. Keep this poisoned chalice from thy lips, Mr. President.
Follow Robert L. Borosage on Twitter: www.twitter.com/borosage
Social Security MUST be protected.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Small Businesses Have Positive Outlook About 2011 | SmallBusinessNewz
By Mike Sachoff - Mon, 12/20/2010 - 6:11pm.
Businesses predict sales will increaseGoing into the new year, a majority of small to midsized businesses are optimistic about 2011, according to a new survey from Zoomerang.
With 84 percent of the SMBs surveyed predicting that sales will increase or remain the same, many businesses are looking to hire new employees and/or upgrade technology.
As a result of the positive outlook anticipated by the majority of respondents, 25 percent of those surveyed indicated they are planning to hire new staff in the next 12 months.
"With more than 27 million small and midsized businesses in the U.S., the optimism expressed in the survey could result in the creation of millions of jobs," said Alex Terry, General Manager of Zoomerang.
"In the past few years, businesses have adapted by finding more cost effective solutions, but businesses are telling us that 2011 will be a year for some increased investment."
In addition to hiring new staff, small and midsized businesses are preparing to update their technology infrastructures. Among the top three areas of focus for businesses are software, hardware and the company's website, which were indicated 29 percent, 24 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
About the author:
Mike Sachoff is a staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz.
Good news for small biz.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
SEO
I developed this simple diagram to show how search engine marketing works and how it can help your small business.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Ensuring a Great Dining Experience
Ensuring a Great Dining Experience
By Karen LarkinArticle Word Count: 408 [View Summary] Comments (0)
When you think about what constitutes a good restaurant ask yourself, "Good for what?"
Think about whether you are looking for a great wine list, a kid friendly atmosphere or a place to close a business deal. Do you want to experience the creations of a great chef, or simply refuel and collect your thoughts?
Unless the restaurant is a real dog, and those don't stay around long these days, chances are expectations will be a key determinant in your overall satisfaction with your dining experience.
That said, there are few additional factors to consider.
- Location: If you are meeting people at a restaurant, try to select one that is easy to find and has adequate parking. When entertaining out-of-towners you may want to opt for outdoor seating, allowing your guests to soak up Minnesota's beautiful summer sunshine, or select a place with a great view. If your companion just got off a plane in January with no coat, however, she probably won't appreciate icy sidewalks or a brisk invigorating walk.
- Ambience: Either for business or personal reasons, sometimes it's important that a dining experience go particularly well. For those times, be sure to visit the restaurant in advance. Go in for a drink or coffee and a dessert. Check out the noise level, the seating arrangements, the décor, even the restrooms. Then decide whether to book a table.
- Service: Service does not have to be a one-way relationship. Help the wait staff give you great service by being friendly and moving things on the table aside to allow them to serve you more easily. Most staff will reciprocate by being more attentive to your needs, and your dining companions will notice as well.
- Menu: Food is often secondary to the overall dining experience, but some food is so exquisite and memorable that it's worth waiting for in long lines or putting up with a few inconveniences. Consider the reputation of the chef and know what his specialties are. Check out the wine list before you go. It may consist of a small collection of extremely good-and pricy-bottles, matched to specific dishes on the menu, or it may be broad. In any case, it's a good idea to know the wines and the dishes and be able to make a recommendation.
- The Deal Breaker: Most cities have several good restaurants competing for your dining dollars. If a place isn't clean and doesn't treat you well, move on.
Karen Y Larkin lives in Bloomington, Minnesota, with her husband, daughter and menagerie of pets. Her professional background includes banking, marketing, retail and non-profit management, with such heavyweights at U.S. Bank, Target Corp and the American Heart Association. Visit her website, Restaurants Edina.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Larkin
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Article Submitted On: November 27, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Brew a Great Cup of Coffee Ultimate Article Directory
You bought your coffee beans from an Restaurants Edina and upscase coffee shop and tried to create those amazing and unique coffee flavors at home, but it didn’t taste quite the same. This article contains a few simple tips that will help assure that your home-brewed coffee tastes as delicious as it does when the coffee shops brew it for you.
1. Select fresh whole coffee beans that appeal to your unique tastes. All coffee beans are not created equally. The subtle flavors and varieties of coffees are almost as great as those of teas and wines. While it isn’t necessary to become a connoisseur in order to enjoy a great cup of coffee, do be sure to select beans that appeal to your particular sensibilities.
2. Grind your beans within minutes of brewing your coffee to the appropriate fineness for your type of coffee maker.
3. Just before brewing, grind the beans to match your type of coffeemaker.
4. Always use a metal coffee filter or a paper one that has been oxygen-bleached.
5. For every eight ounces of water, use two heaping tablespoons of ground coffee.
6. Make sure to use a coffeemaker that slowly brews your coffee. It takes four to seven minutes to extract the full flavors from the ground coffee.
Helpful Tips for Great-Tasting Coffee
Store coffee in an airtight, opaque container, and keep it on the counter or in a cupboard. Coffee stored in a refrigerator or freezer will take on the flavors of other foods.
Drink your coffee while it’s fresh and hot. Because the chemistry of coffee changes at is cools, reheating is not recommended. The flavor of the oils will become bitter and the aromas, less robust.
Great tasting coffee.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
So you can't make your sales goal? Enjoy Fargo - Business - Going Green - Careers
FARGO, N.D. — There is an old saying in the sales business: Always be closing. Here is a new one: Always be freezing, if you do not sell enough.
The company that makes Hot Tamales candy offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation's arctic tundra if it didn't.
The Just Born team did not meet its target and, on Tuesday, about two dozen salespeople gathered inside the 19-story Radisson hotel — the tallest building in this frozen city.
Outside, the temperature was 7 degrees. The ground had 2 feet of snow.
Not exactly Hawaii: Honolulu was sunny, and a comfortable 82 degrees.
"Fargo is not what you would think is one of the greatest locales in the United States and technically we didn't make our year," said Dave Bayha, a Just Born manager. "It was somewhat of a punishment."
Would Bayha rather be in Hawaii?
"Um, sure," the Phoenix resident said, laughing again.
The team had a good year, increasing sales from the previous year by 2 percent, said Josh Halperin, the company's director of U.S. sales. The goal was a 4-percent bump.
That earned them the trip to Fargo. Some had to go shopping for real winter clothes, such as furry bomber hats, long underwear and parkas.
They are trying to make the best of it, with a little humor.
They planned tours of two North Dakota wineries and a winter extravaganza with a sleigh ride, tobogganing and hot toddies around a fireplace inside a chalet.
On their first night in town, they went to the VFW in West Fargo for a spaghetti dinner. Five bucks a plate, all you can eat.
Afterward, they hauled an old-school popcorn machine into a conference room and watched a movie. "Fargo," of course. Yah sure, you betcha.
"Watching Fargo in Fargo is just one of those random bucket list things you get to check off," Halperin said. "It doesn't resemble the community at all," he said, laughing. "Maybe a few of the expressions."
The 24 employees from Bethlehem, Pa.-based Just Born have been popular among the locals, too, handing out care packages with treats like Peeps, Mike and Ike, Peanut Chews and Teenie Beanie.
Next winter, if the group fails to reach its goal, they will get an all-expenses paid trip to Rapid City, S.D.
"As a team, this is something we will never forget," Bayha said. "Twenty to 30 years down the road, when we see each other, we're going to say, 'Remember Fargo?'"
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
via msnbc.msn.com
Ouch! That's harsh!
Monday, December 13, 2010
WebMagic Strategic Marketing - Reader Submissions: Tell Us About Your Online Business Blog
Name of My Blog
WebMagic Strategic Marketing
My Blog URL
Topics I Cover in my Blog
My business and my blog are about helping small businesses attract local customers through an expanded web presence.
How I Got Setup Blogging - And How It Helps My Business
I set up my blog using WordPress and my hosting is through HostGator. Both are incredible tools. HostGator allows multiple domains for one low price, and WordPress is both highly professional and easy to work with.
My business is essentially a search optimization service, and my blog is my business card to the world.
Lessons Learned
- Some WordPress templates are more Google-friendly than others.
- Stay away from flash; it takes too long to load
- Write in small digestible chunks
- Be specific
- Keep your focus on the reader
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
My Big "Duh" -- A Google Insight
Those of you who are more experienced than I may totally know this already, but I learned something today I think is worth sharing. Maybe this will save some of you some hours.
Don't include punctuation, like apostrophe's and ampersands, in keyword phrases.
Some of my posts led with restaurant names, many of which had punctuation. The punctuation would get stripped out in the code, and then Google thought I had inconsistent H1 tags, titles and descriptions, etc. Had to put in several fixes yesterday.
Particularly as people think about starting new companies and naming them, keeping punctuation out of the company names will make them way more Google friendly. I never even thought of that until yesterday.
Beautiful Blizzard
We are experiencing an absolutely beautiful blizzard right now in Minneapolis. The snow is fine and powdery—perfect for skiing. We’re supposed to get 8-14 inches before it’s done. The wind makes it painful to be outside, but from inside, the snow is absolutely picture perfect.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Merry Christmas to All!
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3300 - Release Date: 12/06/10
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Inerrancy of Scripture
This is one of the best essays I’ve read – ever. Prepare yourself though, it’s not light reading.
Is the Bible Inerrant, and if so, How?
Inerrant : In its best sense that's most in line with Christian tradition, it means that the Scriptures are always right (do not err) in fulfilling their purpose : revealing God, God's vision, God's purposes, and God's good news to us. The teachings of Scripture are not to be disregarded or tossed away as if they were a mistake. They must be dealt with straightforwardly, in a way which affects what we say and do as persons and as a body of believers.
Some Christians ('fundamentalists' or 'literalists') teach that the Bible is without error in every way on all sorts of matters : chronology, history, biology, sociology, psychology, politics, physics, math, art, and so on. There can't be any mistakes in a divine work, fundamentalists say, for God is perfect and cannot lie. The idea of inerrancy is very ancient, even if the word 'inerrant' wasn't how they described it until the past two centuries. Though the literally-taken Bible is often more right than most scientists think it is, it is quite far from being an inerrant authority on such matters. It wasn't written to be that kind of an authority; that's not why it's there. It's a divine work, true, but it does not claim to be inerrantly dictated from on high, as is said to have happened with the Qur'an. The books of the Bible were written by divinely-inspired human beings for the good of other human beings. The Bible itself shows how the inerrant Spirit works through errant people, for that's the only kind of people there are. In a way, it is God's communication incarnated into the stuff of material earth -- pages and ink, literary forms, languages, and spoken words. This combination gives us a Bible that can be mistaken on matters which are not directly tied into what the Bible exists for. Because of the literalist misunderstanding of the Bible, 'mainline Protestants' (such as the Methodists, American Baptists, United Church, Anglicans, most Presbyterians, and most Lutherans) choose to reject the term. Perhaps they've overreacted, but it helps to set the record straight.
Many Evangelicals show a better understanding of the term in the Lausanne Covenant, which holds the Bible to be "without error in all that it affirms" (Sect. 2, The Authority And Power Of the Bible). This is the approach of the 'new breed' Pentecostalist churches and those in Africa; it's much like the view of the Lutherans in the Missouri Synod, the European Inner Missions, and (in practice) most of the 'church growth'-oriented community churches. However, these churches feel fundamentalism pulling them toward a larger realm for inerrancy. The term 'inerrant' is foreign to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, even though the idea behind it can be found in some parts of their traditions.
For postmodernist Christians, the whole concept of inerrancy is 'foundationalist' (that is, that the framework of the Bible stands on something rational or demonstrable). Postmodernists reject foundationalism, holding that any philosophy, set of ideas, the Bible, or even life itself, can only have meaning as a part of the web or relational network of all life, truths, and facts. And their 'web of truth' is different than the rigid "modernist" form of truth which inerrantists speak of. That's somewhat helpful in arguments about inerrancy that generate much more heat than light.
Yet, is it accurate to hold (as some do) that philosophical differences, truth claims, or even factual conflicts simply 'dissolve away', so that they don't really matter or mean anything? At what point does the claim to a 'different kind of truth' become a mask to hide behind? And if it doesn't matter if there's anything factual behind the Bible, why would a non-believer bother with even its good news? Why would they bother taking up with the poor deluded people who actually believe that a real God really is forgiving us and is giving us life beyond death, in God's new world? The postmodern non-believer would create their own matrixed philosophy of love instead, which would be way shallower than the meaty, bloody, tough stuff of the Bible. Or, they would treat the Bible much as they would Lord of the Rings or Dianetics or Celestine Prophecy or even Green Eggs and Ham.
While it's impossible to draw a clear line as to when 'interpretation' becomes dishonest with its source, at some point it does. We interpret away the Bible at our own risk. Truth matters, and in a different way so does fact, and yes, in another different way, so do logic and rational processes. Words like 'inerrancy' are no help, but neither is it helpful to say that the Bible should be followed because the church traditionally has said so, or because 'I feel it in my heart'. Ultimately, the Bible's authority comes from the Spirit of the God that continues to choose to operate through it in a unique way. All our words about the Bible, including 'inerrancy', do little more than try to describe some small part of how that can be.
back to word list
You'll also find a definition for 'inerrant' in the dictionary. But the dictionary itself is not inerrant.
From the website: http://www.spirithome.com/index.htm
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Price: $625
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Fun Facts About the Human Body ...
|
The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Site
The Web Marketing Checklist:
37 Ways to Promote Your Websiteby Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant
Web Marketing Today, June 2, 2009 - Printer friendly pageThis article is designed to introduce you to website promotion, getting visitors to come to your website. It gives you the basic information, which you can then explore through dozens of links to other resources, much of it entirely free. As one of our most popular articles, this was revised most recently on June 2, 2009.
How can you get more visitors to your website? What can you do to stimulate traffic? Here's a checklist of 37 items you need to consider. Many of these may be doing already; others you meant to do and forgot about; still others you've never heard of. Of course, a great deal has been written about this. You'll find links to thousands of articles about website promotion in our Web Marketing Today Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/research/)
While I'm not breaking any new ground here, I've tried to summarize some of the most important techniques.
Search Engine Strategies
Perhaps the most important -- and inexpensive -- strategy is to rank high for your preferred keywords on the main search engines in "organic" or "natural" searches (as opposed to paid ads). Search engines send robot "spiders" to index the content of your webpage, so let's begin with steps to prepare your webpages for optimal indexing. The idea here is not to trick the search engines, but to leave them abundant clues as to what your webpage is about. This approach is called "search engine optimization," abbreviated as SEO.
1. Write a Keyword-Rich Page Title. Write a descriptive title for each page -- rich in keywords you want people to find you with -- using 5 to 8 words. Remove as many "filler" words from the title (such as "the," "and," etc.) as possible, while still making it readable. This page title will appear hyperlinked on the search engines when your page is found. Entice searchers to click on the title by making it a bit provocative. Place this at the top of the webpage between the tags, in this format: . (It also shows on the blue bar at the top of your web browser.)
Plan to use some descriptive keywords along with your business name on your home page. If you specialize in silver bullets and that's what people will be searching for, don't just use your company name "Acme Ammunition, Inc.," use "Silver and Platinum Bullets -- Acme Ammunition, Inc." The words people are most likely to search on should appear first in the title (called "keyword prominence"). Remember, this title is your identity on the search engines. The more people see that interests them in the blue hyperlinked words on the search engine, the more likely they are to click on the link.
2. Write a Description META Tag. Some search engines include this description below your hyperlinked title in the search results. The description should be a sentence or two describing the content of the webpage, using the main keywords and keyphrases on this page. Don't include keywords that don't appear on the webpage. Place the Description META Tag at the top of the webpage, between the tags, in this format:
The maximum number of characters should be about 255; just be aware that only the first 60 or so are visible on Google, though more may be indexed.
When I prepare a webpage, I write the article first, then develop a keyword-rich title (#1 above). Then I write a description of the content in that article in a sentence or two, using each of the important keywords and keyphrases included in the article. This goes into the description META tag.
Next, I strip out the common words, leaving just the meaty keywords and phrases and insert those into the keywords META tag. It's no longer used much for ranking, but I'm leaving it in anyway. I think it may have some minor value. So to summarize so far, every webpage in your site should have a distinct title and META description tag. If you implement these two points, you're well on your way to better search engine ranking. But there's more that will help your ranking....
3. Include Your Keywords in Headers (H1, H2, H3). Search engines consider keywords that appear in the page headline and sub heads to be important to the page, so make sure your desired keywords and phrases appear in one or two header tags. Don't expect the search engine to parse your Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) to figure out which are the headlines -- it won't. Instead, use keywords in the H1, H2, and H3 tags to provide clues to the search engine. (Note: Some designers no longer use the H1, H2 tags. That's a big mistake. Make sure your designer defines these tags in the CSS rather than creating headline tags with other names.)
4. Position Your Keywords in the First Paragraph of Your Body Text. Search engines expect that your first paragraph will contain the important keywords for the document -- where most people write an introduction to the content of the page. You don't want to just artificially stuff keywords here, however. More is not better. Google might expect a keyword density in the entire body text area of maybe 1.5% to 2% for a word that should rank high, so don't overdo it.
5. Include Descriptive Keywords in the ALT Attribute of Image Tags. This helps your site be more accessible to site-impaired visitors (www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/) and gives additional clues to the search engines. The ALT attributes do help get your images ranked higher for image search (see #12 below).
6. Use Keywords in Hyperlinks. Search engines are looking for clues to the focus of your webpage. When they see words hyperlinked in your body text, they consider these potentially important, so hyperlink your important keywords and keyphrases. To emphasize it even more, the webpage you are linking to could have a page name with the keyword or keyphrase, such as blue-widget.htm -- another clue for the search engine.
7. Make Your Navigation System Search Engine Friendly. You want search engine robots to find all the pages in your site. JavaScript and Flash navigation menus that appear when you hover are great for humans, but search engines don't read JavaScript and Flash very well. Therefore, supplement JavaScript and Flash menus with regular HTML links at the bottom of the page, ensuring that a chain of hyperlinks exists that take a search engine spider from your home page to every page in your site. Don't set up your navigation system using HTML frames (an old, out-dated approach); they can cause severe indexing problems.
Some content management systems and e-commerce catalogs produce dynamic, made-on-the-fly webpages, often recognizable by question marks in the URLs followed by long strings of numbers or letters. Overworked search engines sometimes have trouble parsing long URLs and may stop at the question mark, refusing to go farther. If you find the search engines aren't indexing your interior pages, you might consider URL rewriting, a site map, or commercial solutions.
8. Create a Site Map. A site map page with links to all your pages can help search engines (and visitors) find all your pages, particularly if you have a larger site. You can use a free tools, XML-Sitemaps.com (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/xml-sitemaps.htm) to create XML sitemaps that are used by the major search engines to index your webpages accurately. Upload your sitemap to your website. Then submit your XML sitemap to Google, Yahoo!, and Bing (formerly MSN), following instructions on their sites. By the way, Google Webmaster Central (www.google.com/webmasters/) has lots of tools to help you get ranked higher. Be sure to set up a free account and explore what they have to offer.
9. Develop Webpages Focused on Each Your Target Keywords. SEO specialists no longer recommend using external doorway or gateway pages, since nearly duplicate webpages might get you penalized. Rather, develop several webpages on your site, each of which is focused on a target keyword or keyphrase for which you would like a high ranking. Let's say you sell teddy bears. Use Google Insights for Search (www.google.com/insights/search/) or the free keyword suggestion tool on Wordtracker (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/wordtracker.htm) to find the related keywords people search on. In this case: write a separate webpage featuring the keyword "teddy bear," "teddy bears," "vermont teddy bears," "vermont bears," "the teddy bears," teddy bears picnic," "teddy bears pictures," etc. You'll write a completely different article on each topic. You can't fully optimize all the webpages in your site, but for each of these focused-content webpages, spend lots of time tweaking to improve its ranking, as described in point #10.
10. Fine-tune with Careful Search Engine Optimization. Now fine-tune your focused-content pages and perhaps your home page, by making a series of minor adjustments to help them rank higher. Software such as WebPosition (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/webposition.htm) allows you to check your current ranking and compare your webpages against your top keyword competitors. I use it regularly. WebPosition's Page Critic tool provides analysis of a search engine's preferred statistics for each part of your webpage, with specific recommendations of what minor changes to make. The best set of SEO tools is Bruce Clay's SEOToolSet (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/clay_seotoolset.htm). If you want more detailed information, consider purchasing my inexpensive book Guide to Search Engine Optimization (www.wilsonweb.com/ebooks/seo.htm). You can find links to many SEO articles (www.wilsonweb.com/seo/) on my site and even more in our Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=mp_Search).
Frankly, this kind of SEO fine-tuning is time-consuming, painstaking work that takes a lot of specialized knowledge. For this reason, many small and large businesses outsource search engine optimization. If you'll explain your needs to me on my online form, I can refer you to appropriate SEO firms that I know and trust (www.wilsonweb.com/recommendations/seo-services.htm).
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11. Promote Your Local Business on the Internet. These days many people search for local businesses on the Internet. To make sure they find you, include on every page of your website the street address, zip code, phone number, and the five or 10 other local community place names your business serves. If you can, include place names in the title tag, too. When you seek links to your site (see #15 below), you should request links from local businesses with place names in the communities you serve and complementary businesses in your industry nationwide.
Also create a free listing for your local business on Google Maps Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add) and Yahoo! Local (listings.local.yahoo.com). That way your business can show up on a map when people do a local search. For more information, see my book How to Promote Your Local Business on the Internet (www.wilsonweb.com/ebooks/local.htm) as well as articles on local marketing (www.wilsonweb.com/local/) on my site and on local business promotion in the Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=mm_Local).
12. Promote Your Video, Images, and Audio Content. Google's "universal search" displays not only webpage content, but also often displays near the top of the page relevant listings for images, videos, local businesses (see #11 above), and audio clips. Therefore, consider creating such content appropriate to your business and then optimizing it so it can be ranked high enough to help you. For example, if you were to get a top-ranking, informative video on YouTube (www.youtube.com) that mentions your site, it could drive a lot of traffic to your site. For more information, search on "optimizing images" or "optimizing videos."
Linking Strategies
Links to your site from other sites drive additional traffic. But since Google and other major search engines consider the number of incoming links to your website ("link popularity") as an important indicator of relevance, more links will help you rank higher in the search engines. Google has a measure called PageRank that reflects the quantity and quality of incoming links. All links aren't all equal. Links from trusted, popular sites help your site rank higher than links from lower traffic sites. You'll find articles on linking strategies (www.wilsonweb.com/linking/) on our site and in our Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=mp_Linking).
13. Submit Your Site to Key Directories, since a link from a directory will help your ranking -- and get you traffic. A directory is not a search engine. Rather, it is a hierarchical listing of sites sorted according to category and subcategory. Be sure to list your site in the free Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com), overseen by overworked volunteer editors. But if you don't get listed right away, don't be impatient and resubmit, or you'll go to the end of the queue. A link in this directory will help you a lot.
Yahoo! Directory (dir.yahoo.com) is another important directory. Real humans read submission, so be careful to follow the instruction given. Hint: Use somewhat less than the maximum number of characters allowable, so you don't have wordy text that will tempt the Yahoo! editor to begin chopping. Yahoo! Directory Submit (ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/) requires a $299 annual recurring fee to have your site considered for inclusion within seven business days. Other paid business directories that might help are About.com and Business.com.
14. Submit Your Site to Trade Organization Sites and Specialized Directories. Some directories focused on particular industries, such as education or finance. You probably belong to various trade associations that feature member directories. Ask for a link. Even if you have to pay something for a link from the organization, it may help boost your PageRank.
Marginal directories, however, come and go very quickly, making it hard to keep up, so don't try to be exhaustive here. Beware of directories that solicit you for "upgraded listings." Unless a directory is widely used in your field, a premium ad is a waste of money -- but the (free) link itself will help boost your PageRank and hence your search engine ranking.
SubmitWolf (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/submitwolf.htm) is a directory submission tool I've used with good success . You complete a listing form in the software interface. Then they submit your listing to all the appropriate directories they know of, plus links to sites that require manual submission. It's a timesaver and works well. Just be careful to submit only to actual directories, not "linking sites."
15. Request Reciprocal Links. Find websites in your general niche and request a reciprocal link to your site (especially to your free service, if you offer one, see #24 below). Develop an out-of-the way page where you put links to other sites -- so you don't send people out the back door as fast as you bring them in the front door. Your best results will be from sites that generate a similar amount of traffic as your own site. High-traffic site webmasters are too busy to answer your requests for a link and don't have anything to gain. Look for smaller sites that may have linking pages.
Check out Ken Evoy's free SiteSell Value Exchange (sales.sitesell.com/value-exchange/). It (1) registers your site as willing to exchange links with other sites that have a similar theme/topic content and (2) searches for sites with similar topical content. Additionally, two automated link building software programs stand out -- Zeus (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/zeus.htm) and IBP Link Builder (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/arelis.htm). Both of these search the web for complementary sites, help you maintain a link directory, and manage reciprocal links. However, use these programs to identify the complementary sites, not to send impersonal automated e-mail spam to site owners.
When you locate sites, send a personal e-mail using the contact e-mail on the site or to the administrative contact listed in a Whois Directory (www.networksolutions.com/whois/). If e-mail doesn't get a response, try a phone call. Warning: Only link to complementary sites, no matter how often you are bombarded with requests to exchange links with a mortgage site that has nothing to do with your teddy bear store. One way Google determines what your site is about is who you link to and who links to you. It's not just links, but quality links you seek. Reciprocal linking as hard, tedious work, but it doesn't cost you a dime out of pocket! Keep working at this continuously, a little bit at a time. Patience and persistence will get you some good links, so keep at it.
16. Write Articles for Others to Use in Websites and Newsletters. You can dramatically increase your visibility when you write articles in your area of expertise and distribute them to editors as free content for their e-mail newsletters or their websites. Just ask that a link to your website and a one-line description of what you offer be included with the article. This is an effective "viral" approach that can produce hundreds of links to your site over time. You'll find lots of information on how to do this from the most popular article marketing site, EzineArticles.com. When you create a free membership account, they begin sending you instructions and ideas each week.
17. Issue News Releases. Find newsworthy events and send news releases to print and Web periodicals in your industry. The links to your site in online news databases may remain for several months and will temporarily improve traffic to your site and increase link popularity. Use a online news release service such as PR Web (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/prweb.htm). Placing your website URL in online copies of your press release may increase link popularity temporarily. More information on public relations strategies is available in our Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=mp_PR).
Two additional linking strategies, discussed below, are to ask visitors to bookmark your webpage (#20) and to develop a free service (#23), which will greatly stimulate links to your site.
Social Media
Our next type of website promotion comes from the mushrooming field of social media, in which people are encouraged to interact with each other, and respond to each other's blog postings and comments. You should be aware of four types of social media: (1) blogs, (2) social networking sites, (3) social bookmarking sites, and (4) forums. Don't be upset if the distinctions between types of social media tend to blur. Social media help promote your site by sending direct traffic, producing links to your site, and generating awareness. The subject is too diverse to go into detail here. You can learn more in our social media articles (www.wilsonweb.com/newmedia/) and in the Social Networking section of the Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=mm_SocialNetwork).
18. Begin a Business Blog. Want links to your site? Begin a business blog on your website, hosted on your own domain. If you offer excellent content and regular industry comment, people are likely to link to it, increasing your site's PageRank. Consistency and having something to say are key. Learn more in the business blogs section of our Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=ms_Blogs). If you have a blog on a third-party blog site, occasionally find reasons to talk about and link to your own domain.
19. Become Part of a Social Media Community. Some of the best online communities for business include Facebook (www.facebook.com), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), and Twitter (www.twitter.com). In addition, you may want to participate in a social bookmarking community in which members share with each other information about websites, articles, or news items that they like (or don't like). These include Digg (www.digg.com), Delicious (www.delicious.com), StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com), and Google Bookmarks (www.google.com/bookmarks/). Search engine spiders troll these sites looking for links to something new and relevant. You can usually place a link to your website in your profile, but the biggest gain comes when other people mention you (which generates traffic to your site), link to you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic), or bookmark you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic, see #21 below).
One important reminder, don't join a community to spam them or talk incessantly about your business. Like any community you must listen, comment, and make a genuine contribution for the good of others. Don't hog the conversation. Otherwise, your self-serving links and comments will hurt your reputation. By the way, to get started, why don't you visit my social media pages and become a Facebook fan (www.facebook.com/pages/Web-Marketing-Today/85187746383) or a Twitter follower (www.twitter.com/ralphwilson) -- please! Thank you!
20. Promote Your Site in Online Forums and Discussion Lists -- "old school" social media. The Internet offers thousands of very targeted e-mail based discussion lists, online forums, and groups made up of people with very specialized interests. Use Google Groups (groups.google.com) to find appropriate groups. Search online for blogs or other forums.
Don't bother with groups consisting of pure spam. Instead, find groups where a serious dialog is taking place. Don't use aggressive marketing and overtly plug your product or service. Rather, add to the discussion in a helpful way and let the "signature" at the end of your e-mail message do your marketing for you. People will gradually get to know and trust you, visit your site, and do business with you.
21. Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site. It seems simple, but ask visitors to bookmark your site or save it in their Favorites list. I use a widget called AddThis (www.addthis.com). When you put the AddThis JavaScript on your webpage, it automatically determines the title and URL of that page. When visitors click the button on your page, they are automatically taken to a page that allows them to choose which bookmarking service they prefer, and then pre-populates the appropriate form with the title and URL of your webpage. I use AddThis throughout my website, as well as in my newsletters. If you have good content that people want to bookmark, this can generate hundreds of links to your site and significantly raise your rankings.
While you're at it, would you be so kind as to bookmark this page using the button below? Thank you!
Traditional Strategies
Just because "old media" strategies aren't on the Internet doesn't mean they aren't effective. A mixed media approach can be very effective.
22. Include Your URL on Stationery, Cards, and Literature. Make sure that all business cards, stationery, brochures, and literature contain your company's URL. And see that your printer gets the URL syntax correct. In print, I recommend leaving off the http:// part and including only the www.domain.com portion.
23. Promote using traditional media. Don't discontinue print advertising that you've found effective. But be sure to include your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase in trade journals, newspapers, yellow pages, etc. View your website as an information adjunct to the ad. Use a two-step approach: (1) capture readers' attention with the ad, (2) then refer them to a URL where they can obtain more information and perhaps place an order. Look carefully at small display or classified ads in the back of narrowly-targeted magazines or trade periodicals. Sometimes these ads are more targeted, more effective, and less expensive than online advertising. Consider other traditional media to drive people to your site, such as direct mail, classifieds, post cards, etc. TV can be used to promote websites, especially in a local market.
24. Develop a Free Service. It's boring to invite people, "Come to our site and learn about our business." It's quite another to say "Use the free kitchen remodeling calculator available exclusively on our site." Make no mistake, it's expensive in time and energy to develop free resources, such as our Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/research/), but it is very rewarding in increased traffic to your site -- and a motivation to link to the site! Make sure that your free service is closely related to what you are selling so the visitors you attract will be good prospects for your business. Give visitors multiple opportunities and links to cross over to the sales portion of your site.
E-Mail Strategies
Don't neglect e-mail as an important way to bring people to your website. Just don't spam, that is, don't send bulk unsolicited e-mails without permission to people with whom you have no relationship. Many countries have anti-spam laws.
You can find lots of details and tips on e-mail marketing in my book The E-Mail Marketing Handbook (www.wilsonweb.com/ebooks/handbook.htm). I'll mention just a few important elements here. You can learn more from our articles on e-mail marketing (www.wilsonweb.com/email/) as well as the e-mail section of the Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/search/cat.php?querytype=category&subcat=me_Email-Gen).
25. Install a "Signature" in your E-Mail Program to help potential customers get in touch with you. Most e-mail programs allow you to designate a "signature" to appear at the end of each message you send. Limit it to 6 to 8 lines: Company name, address, phone number, URL, e-mail address, and a one-phrase description of your unique business offering. Look for examples on e-mail messages sent to you.
26. Publish an E-Mail Newsletter. While it requires a commitment of time, creating a monthly e-mail publication is one of the most important promotion techniques. It could be a newsletter ("ezine"), list of tips, industry updates, or new product information -- whatever you believe your customers will appreciate. This is a great way to keep in touch with your prospects, generate trust, develop brand awareness, and build future business. It also helps you collect e-mail addresses from those who visit your site, but aren't yet ready to make a purchase. You distribute your newsletter inexpensively using e-mail marketing services such as: iContact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/icontact.htm), Constant Contact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/constantcontact.htm), and AWeber (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/aweber.htm). If you have a very small list, some of these services let you use their services free until you grow larger. Blogs are very popular, but don't really replace e-mail newsletters. You have to go to a blog to read it, while an e-mail newsletter appears in your inbox asking to be read.
If you haven't already, would you please sign up for my free newsletter, Web Marketing Today (www.wilsonweb.com). It is published weekly and will keep you up-to-date in the fields of Internet marketing and e-commerce. Thank you!
via wilsonweb.com
excellent info
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