There is a TON of talk, speculation and alot of worrying going on in the world of SEO.  Google has been testing and creating a new search algorithm that has plenty of seo people stressing, stressing, stressing.  I admit, I have been one of those people.  There has been some strange things going on lately (mostly since August) with the serps (search engine results pages), sites I have been working on having been going all the place with regards to their placement for keyword phrases.  One day page one, the next page three.  Rumor has it that Google has been testing (some say not so successfully, depends on where your page is huh?) this new “Vince Algorithm” which has been causing all the strange search results lately.

Does this mean you should be worrying?  No, I don’t think so.  What it means is that you should be employing the best tried and true seo techniques such as quality link backs and internal linking, GOOD quality content targeting your readers/visitors, MILD re-write for the search engines and optimize those meta tags for EACH and every page correctly.

I spent some time this summer and early fall playing with the “sandboxed” version (aptly named “Caffeine” for it’s speed) and found to my delight, the search results did appear to be more relevant and accurate.  Now, perhaps I ma biased because many of the sites I maintain improved greatly in the serps, but I don’t think so.  There have been several sites and pages that have been maintaining placement for certain keywords, that were in no way relevant to the serps they were showing up for, that have dropped off from the first pages.  This made room for more relevant results and for sites that had some real quality seo work.  Ahem, mine included!

The roll-out seems to be happening sometime early 2010 so it will not create a major upset during this holiday season.  But, SEO and web people, stay alert and abreast of any news regarding Google Caffeine and Webmaster Central here.

You can also join in on a webinar tomorrow “Get your site ready for the holidays: Webmasters - make your list and check it twice!”

I read this good article on the benefits and uses of Twitter and how it relates to business owners and marketing departments. The author lists 17 ways to utilize Twitter for your business and branding.

If you are in the dark about what Twitter is, why you should use it and how to maximize your efforts than I highly suggest this article. Read a snippet from the article below or read entire article here http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/

Below is an excerpt from
17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners
1. Personal Branding. Twitter is a social media platform you can use to build your personal brand. It has the primary benefit of developing a casual persona and establishes you as a social personality that is connected and approachable. As Twitter adoption increases, new users will be drawn towards well established Twitter personas.

2. Get Feedback. Need an alternative perspective on how a website looks or the right course of action to take? Blast out a message asking for advice and you’ll receive replies from other users. This collective intelligence can be used as fodder for articles or projects.

3. Hire People. Need a good logo designer, marketer or programmer? Send out a message asking for recommendations. This is a very quick and easy way to hire freelancers or even companies based on familiar recommendations.

4. Direct traffic. Twitter can be used to get traffic to your websites or the sites of friends. If you ask your friends to tweet about it, the message will spread faster and further as other active users pick it up. There is a viral nature to all types of news, even on a site like Twitter.

5. Read News. Twitter users often link to useful sites or articles and can be a source of scoops and alternative news. You can also subscribe to Twitter feeds for specific websites/conferences, which allows you to receive and view content quickly. This is very useful for active social news participants.

6. Make New Friends. Like any other social network, Twitter has a built-in function for you to befriend and track the messages of other users. This is an easy way for you connect with people outside of your usual circle. Make an effort to add active users you find interesting. A Twitter acquaintance can be developed into a long lasting friendship.

7. Network for benefits. Twitter can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as testimonials or peer recommendations.

8. Use it as a ToDo list. Use Twitter to record down what you need to do while you are away from the computer. Mark the tweet as a favorite to file it for referencing. Another alternative is to use an Online task management service that is synced with Twitter. One example is Remember The Milk.

9. Business Management. Twitter can be used as a company intranet that connects employees to one another. Workers can liaise with each other when working on group projects. Particularly useful when certain workers go out often in the field. Updates could be set to private for security reasons.

10. Notify Your Customers. Set up a Twitter feed for the specific purpose of notifying customers when new products come in. Customers can subscribe via mobile or RSS for instant notification. Twitter can also be used to provide mini-updates for one-on-one clients.

11. Take Notes. Twitter provides you with an easy way to record important ideas or concepts you want to explore further. Include links relevant to ideas you want to explore. Note taking can also be done offline via mobile applications.

12. Event Updates. Businesses can use Twitter as a means to inform event participants and latest event happenings/changes. This is a hassle-free way of disseminating information, especially when you don’t have the means to set up a direct mobile link between you and the audience

13. Find Prospects. Twitter can be used as a means to find potential customers or clients online. Do a search for keywords related to your product on Twitter Search and then follow users. Tweet about topics parallel to your product and close prospects away from public channels by using direct messages or offline communications. Discretion and skill is needed in this area.

14. Provide Live coverage. Twitter’s message size limit prevents detailed coverage of events but it can allow you to provide real-time commentary which may help to spark further discussion or interest on the event as other Twitter users spread the message. Very useful for citizen journalism.

15. Time Management and Analysis. Twitter can simply be used to keep a detailed record of what you are doing every daily. This might be boring for others but this type of usage is useful when you want to analyze how you spend and manage your time.

16. Set Up Meetings. Twitter can help you organize impromptu meetups. For example, you can twitter a message while at a cafe, event or art gallery and arrange to meet fellow users at a specific spot. It’s an informal and casual way of arranging a meeting.

17. Acquire Votes. Send a link to your stories you’ve submitted in other social news sites like Digg. Sometimes your followers will vote up the stories because they agree with it. This allows you to acquire more support for your efforts on other social media websites.

The article below is a helpful (and quick) read that can you give a nice and easy primer on the art and science of SEO.  Many of my clients and friends have asked me about different techniques they have picked up on the internet or by talking to their friends/co-workers… be careful and take your time, whether you are doing your own SEO or or you are thinking of hiring a SEO consultant. If you jump on a “quick-fix” SEO techniques it could end up hurting you if Google (and other search engines like Yahoo! or Bing) consider it “black hat” or unethical in the world of SEO.  e.g. masking your keywords and text (copy) by setting it the same color as your site’s background.  This was very popular a few years ago, and it worked, but now a site will be penalized and possibly “sandboxed” (meaning your site has been flagged by Google and dropped from search results) for employing this method.

Article about the art and science of SEO

I have decided that I need to be helping my clients navigate through the murky waters of their internet marketing with the occasional bit of homework and “assigned reading”.

Why???  Because many clients want more control of their online image but do not know how to start, and many of them (could be you!) do not understand how important it is in this day and age (where digital IS the only way businesses are reaching their intended audiences)!

Many of things that I do for my clients (especially in the beginning when SEO (search engine optimization) and internet marketing are VERY new ideas to people) seem a bit odd and redundant.  Sometimes, clients think I am a bit obsessive about doing things to their websites that they don’t like or understand, only to see fantastic results and improved rankings with Yahoo!  And Google.

But, it does not stop there, unless you are on one of my monthly “maintenance plans”, then it means that the continual and repetitive process of SEO and the internet marketing is up to YOU!

So, to better understand how to do this and WHY you NEED to be doing this, I have attached a link to your first reading assignment. Please, read this. http://www.wordtracker.com/academy/case-study-istylista It is a quick read and gets to the heart of “Why” I ask you to do certain things (like blogging)

If you are maintaining your own SEO and marketing, you need to understand how and first of all WHY…. I want all of my clients to succeed and get results, whether I am doing your SEO or you are.

With the economy proving to be a much more difficult environment for the business owner to navigate and keep afloat, a good marketing campaign is more important than ever. However, the old style of advertising is costly and is being replaced by a new generation of media that is more powerful and provides a way to speak directly and instantly to the targeted audience. No longer do we need to rely on costly print and tv advertising to do the “talking” for us.

The bad news: it’s not enough to just have a website and a yellow-pages ad. Companies that want to survive in today’s business climate need to adapt to the fact that consumers are ever more critical and savvy and it is the search engines who decide who gets indexed, ranked and ultimately found.

The good news: there are ways to reach consumers (yes, they are still out there!) and turn the casual internet user into a long standing customer.

First, throw out all the old concepts of advertising and marketing and put your “new-school” hat on. A small business owner who wishes to remain competitive and relevant in today’s global market needs to embrace all of the new mediums, web applications and tools (such as organic SEO techniques) that have surfaced over the last ten years. Many of them are less than five years old (Twitter for example)! So, it’s not too late to join the crowd and get a company found by all those customers that most people do not think exist anymore.

A good question any business owner should be asking is “Can Google find me?” Meaning, when a potential customer is looking for (service or product) what a business offers are they finding them on the first page of the search results or is their website buried under thousands of search results? If the answer is “no” then there is work to do.

A great place to start is with a good old fashioned site analysis. By hiring a professional seo consultant a business can have their website, and their competitor’s site, analyzed to see where some simple “organic” seo can be utilized. There may be some very simple and straightforward “fixes” that can get the site seen in a better light by Google and Yahoo!.

The second step, get noticed by peers and enthusiasts. These days there is a web-forum for every industry and hobby imaginable. Business owners need to become “authorities” on their subject and to be seen as having the answers for all those problems (isn’t that why people are searching on the internet after all?) that need to be answered. Example; http://forums.seochat.com/ is a great place for SEO consultants and do-it-yourselfers to chat, exchange tips and hints as well as get their links on a “quality” website. Every time a person post to the forum their company’s url will be posted too. This is a great way to get some free advertising. It just takes a little sweat and time.

Here’s the thing, I have been immersed for days in building/adding/deleting/creating my new site and I have come to realize that I sometimes forget to ask the important questions first.  The questions that are the impetus for a great website.  The kind of site that entices the user to come back, to want to stay, to say “Wow!” (no, not “Wow, that site sucks!”) and to enjoy the experience and find it useful and engaging.

So, here I am writing and wandering around back to what I think should be the genesis of all website building.  Asking myself the three questions that are critical to having a successful website :

Why would anyone visit this site? This is the biggy right?  What about this site makes a person pull up a chair, their hot cup of whatever and WANT to visit my site.  We are assuming they are viewing search results from query and are now deciding who to click on.  They (the viewer or really the “seeker”) are searching online to solve some sort of problem.  The problems are anything from needing a new pair of shoes, wanting to be entertained, fixing a plumbing issue at home to needing a web consultant.  Does my site or yours for that matter solve their problem?   Does the description in the search results tell them that you have the answer and can make everything all better?

Why would anyone stay and purchase/call/email? This question tackles the site’s usability, intuitiveness, esthetic appeal and sense of design and relevant content.  Does this site make it easy to get to information?  Does the content read well and solve problems or does it read like an obnoxious commercial.  I don’t know about you but I tend to “bounce” off sites that bore me with redundant ad-speak instead of giving me answers.  If I am searching for a new dishwasher I want to know what the dishwasher can do for me, not why the dishwasher company is soooo awesome and the best dishwashing company ever.  I need a dishwasher.  Not a dishwashing machine company’s blah, blah, blah.

Next, does the website reflect that the business is current with design and esthetic appeal for their industry?  Meaning,  is it cool (important for music, trendy clothing or techy gadgets), professional (consultants, big industry), edgy (artist, politically controversial) etc..?  The site should reflect the visitors you are trying to attract.

Are you sensing a theme here?  Yep, that’s right… it’s all about the visitor’s experience.  :)  Not the designer’s, not the business owner’s or even Google (that’s another subject).  It’s all about the people who WANT to buy, click, email or call.  They really do or they wouldn’t be considering your site in the first place.  So, give ‘em what they want.  A great user experience with lots of info to make their decision making easier.  Make them WANT to pick you.  What makes you stay on a site?

Would I visit this site again? hmmmm…. why do I bookmark a site for later visits?  What makes me want to come back?  What sites do I visit regularly and why?  The biggest reasons I can think of is ease of use and sites that let me get to exactly what I want without having to sift through a bunch of irrelevant stuff that wastes my time (my time could be better spent augmenting my iTunes library after all).  Oh, and maybe there is something NEW on the site since last time I visited.  Maybe, just maybe the site is offering something FRESH to my user experience.  New articles to read, new helpful insights, new products I might like, new offers, new discounts! New, new, new!

Whew.  Time to go back and revisit my own site and see if there is something new I can give.  People like people who give ;)

Matt Cutts wrote a funny article on the topic of 404 error pages here. It is has some good links all about 404’s. Got me inspired to work on mine ;)

Many people ask this question and wonder if it is relevant to thier business and website. The answer is a BIG resounding yes!  The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Which really means:  Building  into  your website content (the information in your site about your business and industry) and code (html) that makes it easier to be found by Google, Yahoo!, MSN and the other “search engines” as well as marketing the site through link building and social media networks.  Which when all of this (and much more) is done correctly will give you an higher SERP (Search engine ranking position or Search engine results page) with search engines and in turn bring more visitors / customers to your site.

In the last week I completed my “Master and Advanced Skills” training in SEO and internet marketing with the Bay Area Search Engine Academy.  I was very fortunate to have Thomas Petty (no, not that Tom Petty) as my instructor for four days of intensive and yes FUN schooling.  As a result, I am stamped, embossed and officially certified as an “SEO Expert” by way of the Search Engine Academy.   I am excited about all the information that has been downloaded into my brain and I have been putting all that data to use by creating a new site Internet Marketing Help.  It is the new direction for my consulting and design business as well as, I feel, the ONLY way to do SEO.  Organically and in the “white hat” tradition.  As Tom says… “With a lot of hard work and a little time” I’ll get you ranked higher!