SEO Web Marketing Reminder

Flyte's first Webinar open to the public is tomorrow, Thursday, 12/18/2008, at 1pm EST. The topic is Search Engine Optimization: Rank Higher, Sell More!

Who Should Attend:

• Small Business Owners
• Marketing Professionals

Experience Level:

• Beginner to Intermediate

What You'll Learn:

• Understanding of how search engines work and rank your site
• How to optimize your site for increased search engine visibility
• How to increase the number of quality incoming links

What You'll Need to Participate:

• A decent Internet connection
• A separate phone line

Cost: $25

To learn more and register, visit flyte's Web Marketing Events page.

See you then!

Rich Brooks
Search Engine Webinarista

Search Engine Optimization Webinar

Every time I post/email/promote that I'll be putting on a seminar here in Maine I invariably get a few people who ask when I'm coming to Buffalo/Dallas/Sri Lanka because they can't make it to Maine.

Well, thanks to the Interwebs, I think I have that problem licked. I'll be putting on my first public Webinar next week. The subject is Search Engine Optimization: Rank Higher, Sell More! I'll be talking about how to improve your organic search engine rankings through onpage optimization techniques and link building.

If your site isn't getting the visibility you're hoping for, then please join me:

Date: Thursday, 12/18/2008
Time: 1pm - 2pm EST
Place: Your Desktop
Cost: $25

There's only 50 "seats" I'm making available, and about a dozen of them were taken before I posted this.

You'll need a decent Internet connection for the video and a phone line for the audio portion of the program. Hope to see you there!

Do you want to learn more about search engine optimization, but that wicked snow storm outside is keeping you house bound? Then I have the perfect solution for you.

I'll be putting on my first public Webinar next week. The subject is Search Engine Optimization: Rank Higher, Sell More! I'll be talking about how to improve your organic search engine rankings through onpage optimization techniques and link building.

If your site isn't getting the visibility you're hoping for, then please join me:

Date: Thursday, 12/18/2008
Time: 1pm - 2pm EST
Place: Your Desktop
Cost: $25

There's only 50 "seats" I'm making available, and about a dozen of them were taken before I posted this.

You'll need a decent Internet connection for the video and a phone line for the audio portion of the program. Hope to see you there!

Rich Brooks
NakedWebinars.com (Coming Soon)

Google SearchWiki: Major Changes for Google Search Results...Maybe

For those of you who were logged into your Google account over the past few days, you may have noticed a major change in Google search.

It's called Google SearchWiki and it's causing waves in the world of search engine marketing.

The brief is that if you're logged into your Google account you'll see a few new icons next to each result on the search engine results page: an up arrow, an "x", and a speech bubble.

With these new icons you can rearrange the search results by moving a result up, removing it, or adding comments.

Use Alt-Tags for Image Optimization

Search engines still have difficulty understanding images on your Web site, but as Google's Matt Cutts explains, you can help them out by using an alt-tag.

The alt-tag is attached to an image; you often see it as the yellow box that pops up as you roll over an image. The original purpose of the alt-tag was to help the visually impaired better understand your Web site. It was then used as a place for Web site owners to cram as many keywords as possible in the hopes of ranking higher for a desired search term.

As search engines matured, however, meta-data (the information not readily seen by the human visitor) was discounted in favor of the information they could see, such as titles, headers and body copy.

Then came universal search. Now, when you do a search at Google you may get more than just 10 text links, you may also see images and videos embedded in your results. Because of this reason, alt-tags and image optimization are getting a closer look.

In the video below, also available at the Google Webmaster blog post "Use Alt Attributes Smartly," Matt explains more about the alt-tag and how Google wants you to use it.

As Google commands, we obey....

Rich Brooks
Alt = Maine Search Engine Marketer

Six Reasons Why Blogs Are So Good for SEO

I've been trumpeting the benefits of blogging for search engine visibility for a while now, and here's why:

1. Blogs are all about content. Search engines love content. They don't love Flash, and they're still struggling with photos and video, but they absolutely get content.
2. Blogs have text-based navigation. Search engines have an easier time with text based (vs. image based) navigation because it's more transparent. Search engines for a while now have told us that they want sites to serve up the same information/experience to a search engine bot as to a person.
3. Blogs offer lots of links. If search engines feast on words, they travel on links. Blogs are often a good place to find new content on the Web.
4. People are more likely to link to business blogs than business Web sites. At least, this has been my experience, and anecdotally what I've seen out there. I believe this is because of the interactive nature of blogs, and they're traditionally more about communication than selling. And since getting incoming links is half the battle of search engine optimization, this is a key point.
5. Blogs make it easier to create more pages. Search engines don't rank Web sites, they rank Web pages. In other words, every Web page is an opportunity to rank well at the search engines. Every time you put up a new post, you have another opportunity to be found at Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine. You don't need to worry about how this is going to fit in your current Web site navigation, you can just assign it to one or more categories and be done with it.
6. Blogs put you in control. This doesn't directly affect your search engine optimization, but with a blog you can publish when you feel like it. You don't have to worry about how much your Web developer's going to charge you for an update, or when he's going to get to it. That makes it easier for you to target new keywords and go after the long tail of search that can bring ready-to-buy, qualified leads to your site.

If you are interested in better rankings but don't yet have a blog, the good news is there's a great opportunity for you to increase your search engine visibility.

Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant

How to Share Your Google Analytics (Without Sharing Your Google Account)

As you may know, here at flyte we're pretty fond of Google Analytics and set our clients up with this great, free traffic reporting software.

If you're working with a contractor who's helping you with search engine marketing, or improving your Web site's effectiveness, they may want/need access to your traffic reports to make better recommendations. However, if you give them full access to your Google account they can also access your Gmail and intercept all of your mushy emails or those cease-and-desist letters from Sarah Palin's lawyers.

Here's how you can give them access to just your reports but keep curious eyes away from anything else.

First, login to your Google Analytics account. Down near the bottom of the page you'll see "User Manager." Click there.

That will take you to a page that will show you any user that already has access to the traffic reports. In the dark gray bar you'll see an Add User link near the right. Click there.

This will take you a page where you can add a new user. You can give this new user just View Reports access or make them an Account Administrator. If you choose to give them Account Administrator access they will be able to edit your account settings such as adding other users, creating filters or having Google Analytics email certain reports to users.

This could be just what you want, but just be aware of what you're choosing.

Your new user will need to have a Google account, but as Google accounts are free this probably isn't much of a problem.

You may be tracking reports for multiple Web sites. If you're just giving View Reports access you'll need to select at least one domain from the Available Website Profiles, click the "Add>>" button, and make sure they end up under Selected Website Profiles. Otherwise, the reports won't transfer.

And as always, save your work.

That's all you need to do. Next time they log into their Google Analytics account they'll see a link to your analytics on their dashboard page.

Rich Brooks
Web Analytics Guy

Half-Assed Book Review: Content Rich by Jon Wuebben

I consume a lot of data. I read a lot of work related books, listen to one or two audiobooks a month (usually business related), subscribe to about 2 or 3 weekly magazines and at least a dozen monthly magazines. I have a subscription to the Wall St. Journal both in print and online.

I also subscribe to a number of blog feeds, a few dozen eziens, listen to a couple different podcasts, follow hundreds of people on Twitter, and follow many of their links to new articles.

I enjoy reading business books, but I often don't follow them. I put them down somewhere in my house and then pick something else up. It's rare that I finish them. Even if I do, I generally don't talk or blog about them.

It's for this purpose that I'm starting a new--pardon the pun--chapter at the flyte blog: the Half-Assed Book Review. Basically, I'm going to start reviewing books (and perhaps audiobooks) as I get to the halfway point of the book. If I ever finish the book, I may come back and add on a comment of how it all turns out.

The first (but hopefully not last) entry to the Half-Assed Book Review is Jon Wuebben's Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web.

Honestly, the title put me off a bit. I mean, who doesn't like a little alliteration in their subtitle, but the title seemed a bit spammy to me. Luckily, my first name was the biggest word on the cover, so I dove in.

I'm glad I did. Content Rich is an excellent book for any copywriter looking to make the jump to the Web or any business owner looking to drive more qualified traffic to his/her Web site.

I found myself dog-earing pages as I went along, making mental notes to check out some of the sites and tools Jon talks about in his book. I especially liked his "Content Rich Quotient" (CRQ, because we don't have enough TLAs (three letter acronyms,)) where he talks about the importantce of:

• Content Breadth Factor
• Social Media Optimization/Search Engine Optimization Balance
• Content Effectiveness Measurement and
• The Content "Clincher."

There's also good information on how to perform a keyword analysis, where to put your best keywords, where else you should be creating copy (article marketing, press releases and more.)

Jon's writing style is easy to follow (good thing for a copywriter), and by following his advice any small business owner should see an increase in qualified Web traffic and conversions at your site.

I'd strongly recommend this book for any search engine marketer, entrepreneur or copywriter. Heck, I might even go back and read the rest!

Rich Brooks
Half-Assed Book Reviewer

Web Marketing Course for Entrepreneurs and Small Business

I can't believe that we're just one week away from the first class of Web Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business over at the University of Southern Maine.

Well, actually I can, as I spent most of yesterday afternoon updating and revamping the search engine optimization content for the class. And I've blocked out plenty of hours this week to review the rest of my content and build out the social media component. But the "I can't believe" part stresses the fact that it's only a week away, and if you were planning on coming you've got to get a move on.

Who should go? Well, you should be in driving distance of Portland, Maine. (Yes, one of these days I'll create an online version, but not today.) Assuming that you can get to the campus, this course is geared to small business owners, marketers and entrepreneurs who are looking to build a Web presence to grow their business.

Topics will include search engine visibility (how do you out rank your competition,) email marketing, business blogs, social media, e-commerce, and building a Web site that will convert prospects into customers.

The course is held over four Monday nights, 11/10/2008 - 12/1/2008, from 6pm - 8pm at the Abromson Center on the campus of the University of Southern Maine (directions.) The cost is $205, but you need to pre-register for the class, so...

Register Now!

We'll be spending class time reviewing students' current Web sites (when applicable) and making on the spot recommendations to help you rank higher, drive more qualified leads to your site, and convert more prospects into customers. So what are you waiting for?

Register Now!

Rich Brooks
Oh Captain, Your Captain

Search Engine Notes at the Maine SEO Blog

Last week Nicki Hicks and Cybele Brooks from flyte attended the Search Marketing Expo in NYC. Three days of intensive education on search marketing, local search, mobile search, incoming links and new trends in search engine optimization.

Nicki has transcribed most of her notes into a series of posts at flyte's Maine SEO blog:

• Ask the SEOs
• External Linking Tactics
• CSS, Ajax, Web 2.0 and SEO
• Personalized and Customized Search
• Internal Linking Tactics
• Search and Reputation Management
• Paid Search Fundamentals
• What's New with Local Search Marketing?
• Search and the iPhone

Now these are just session notes...sometimes "you had to be there." If you have more questions or wonder how to apply this to your own site be sure to contact Nicki directly for more help.

And, if you haven't yet subscribed to the Maine SEO blog RSS feed, now's your chance!

Rich Brooks
SEO for Small Business

Use Multiple Channels to Reach More People

This week I sent out Does Your Small Business Really Need a Social Media Strategy through our email newsletter, flyte log.

My friend, Josh Hurley, sent me this screen capture that showed my email had ended up in his spam folder:

Hell, I got lucky here. Many ISPs have such tight junk mail protection that the email may not have even reached Josh in the first place. But, as I told Josh, email wasn't my only delivery vehicle.

• I archived this article on my Web site
• I blogged about the article here and on the Internet Marketing 101 blog I write for MaineBusiness.com
• I Tweeted about it on at least two occasions, and used Ping.fm so that my message would also update my Facebook page, my Plurk account, and a half dozen other sites where my status gets updated.

I can't control every junk filter out there, just like I can't control when the bridge will go up and make me late for work. However, by having multiple distribution channels I can reach a wider audience and get past more gatekeepers. It's all about the redundancy.

Rich Brooks
You Can Say That Again