This weekend I looked back at SEO related statistics for a B2B website I launched in November of 2009. A full year has passed and I wanted to see the progress this company made over a twelve-month period. After launching the new WordPress website, the client retained me to work on their internet marketing efforts. It helped free up time for the client, it gave their internet marketing a cohesiveness it would not have had otherwise, and it gave me time to nurture my new baby. I believe it was ... Read More
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What’s Your Threshold of SEO Pain?
My husband and I are finishing our basement and attempting to make it the cool place for our kids and their friends. Whenever we make a major purchase, the decision always boils down to my financial pain threshold. I don’t know the competitive market price for granite or quartz, but I know my budget and what I can afford. My list of wants end up being scaled back to what my bank account will allow. As we discuss a custom bar and bamboo flooring (I’m a bit high maintenance I’m told), it ... Read More
Have a Seat Ms. Website Owner, It’s Time for Introspection
When a client signs a contract with me for a web design, the first thing I do is send them a three page questionnaire and request they answer as many questions as they deem appropriate. This questionnaire helps me get inside their heads and it helps me better understand their marketing objectives, the opinion of their existing website, and their overall view of internet marketing. I ask a lot of questions about the current and future state of their sales process and marketing programs. While ... Read More
If You Connect With Website Visitors They Will Convert
The Problem With Most Websites A lot of small business owners launch their website with the simple goal of using the site as an information portal and a mechanism to talk about their company. It is basic human nature to be egocentric. The problem with this methodology is that it generic. Simply talking about yourself isn’t a differentiator for your website, product, or service offering. It doesn’t compel your website visitor to take action. No matter what the search criteria is, a typical ... Read More
A Box for Every Website Visitor
I tend to compartmentalize things and people. I mentally place people in boxes and segment them out into groups like my nuclear family (husband and kids), my extended family, my neighbors, my best friend and so on. I’ve often referred to these groups as my “boxes” and I do not like them to intermingle or randomly change. These boxes structure my communication and they dictate how I interact with one individual versus another. For example, I know I can pretty much tell my best friend anything ... Read More
Successful Internet Marketing Begin With Goals
When a potential client approaches me about launching an internet marketing campaign, SEO project, or even requests a quote for website design, the first word out of my mouth is usually “goals”. Before I can even begin to contemplate your project, formulate requirements in my head, or provide a quote, I need to understand your business goals. That means you need to do too. Why does it really matter? For me, I only want to engage with you if I can help you and help make your project a ... Read More
Local Search Will Become the Golden Child in 2011
There’s been a lot of talk about local search recently. A lot of SEO experts, including myself, feel local search is still in its infancy stage and as it matures, it will have a major impact on search engine optimization and internet marketing. Many of us feel 2011 is the year in which local search will come of age. Not only come of age, but also become an important part of the internet marketer’s bag of tricks. Remember when most people had no idea what social media was, what it meant, or ... Read More
Detroit 2020 Uses Social Media to Unify, Inspire, and Act
Last night WXYZ-TV launched a new initiative called Detroit 2020. The tag line is “Unify Inspire Act”. It is a news program and Internet marketing campaign designed to capture the public’s attention and focus it on the positive aspects of Detroit and the future of Southeastern Michigan. More specifically, where we will be in the year 2020. I cannot tell you how this news series and their social media outreach have touched me and so many other people in the metro Detroit area. I was privileged ... Read More
Migrating a Website Owner Through the Five Stages of Grief
In college I was a Psychology major until I realized I’d have to reach a PhD level education to obtain a job with any real earning potential. That meant staying in college and thousands more in student loans. With much sadness I switched career paths and moved into a world of technology. Flash forward twenty years and I now claim to be an Internet marketer who spends many hours as a WordPress designer and an SEO expert. I love what I do, yet still miss my first love of Psychology. Recently my ... Read More
Fifteen Questions to Ask Your Future Website Designer
Recently my sister decided to launch a website and blog. With my encouragement she selected WordPress as her platform of choice and then set out to locate a WordPress consultant. Why didn’t she come to me you ask? Well honestly, I didn’t want to work with family and I could not begin to meet her list of needs. Sisterhood aside, we both knew we were not an ideal fit for each other. She wanted a cute blog with minimal website functionality and that isn’t my strength. I’m a B2B or B2C girl who ... Read More
Do Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers Really Matter?
Facebook likes and Twitter followers do not equal success. If you are a fly-by-night, wannabee internet marketing consultant, then yes, by all means, use Facebook likes and Twitter followers to measure the success of your online marketing efforts. Otherwise, dig deeper to see if your social media efforts are worth the time and money spent. Social media is about engaging with your audience, increasing brand awareness, and providing value to the visitors who land upon your Facebook page or ... Read More
For Detroit, Social Media Empowers Us
I’m sitting at the #140Conf Detroit conference at the Filmore in downtown Detroit. I’m a geek who lives in the burbs amongst subdivisions so coming to busy Detroit always pushes me outside my comfort zone. I was just in Detroit just last month for TEDxDetroit, so Woodward Avenue should not freak me out. Yet no matter how cool my GPS lady is, driving around unknown streets in rush hour traffic does make me uneasy. But then I arrive and as soon as I’m at the venue and I sit, I am at ease. I ... Read More
Twenty Tips for Creating the Perfect Blog Post
When I said I blogged five years ago, people looked at me as if I was crazy. Well I was, but blogging didn't drive me to insanity. Today it is a bit more mainstream and bloggers are everywhere. I actually like blogging. I enjoy it and it has been a huge help to me professionally. Last weekend I attended WordCamp Detroit and I was surrounded by bloggers. I wasn't prepared for that one, as I use WordPress for website design and I guess I assume everyone in the room would too. Was I wrong. ... Read More
WordCamp Detroit: My Top Ten List
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Detroit. What the heck is WordCamp Detroit you ask? It is a local WordPress conference designed to share and promote all that is good within the WordPress community. While I referred to it on Facebook as “chicken soup for the geek girl’s soul”, my husband defined it as geekfest. Regardless, I enjoyed my time and I truly loved seeing a sold out venue for the conference. When I was younger (aka pre-kids), I would send out a top ten list ... Read More
Ten Steps to Quality Link Building and Strong Organic SEO
Whenever I create a new website for a client, I always tell them the website is only the core foundation of strong SEO. Strong SEO requires a solid, well planned, and long-term link building campaign. Interestingly enough, as I prepare for a live Q&A sessions for my friends over at JuJuQ on the subject, I found myself an email to a client nagging him about building inbound links for a brand new website we launched last Wednesday. Inbound links are a huge part of SEO and since I’m an ... Read More
Malibu Boats: A Case Study in Social Media Excellence
When I met my husband many years ago, I quickly became painfully aware of his two loves: hunting and boating. No matter how great his love for me, I could not interfere with his beloved hobbies. In 2008 we purchased a new Malibu Boat to continue his tradition of summer days spent on the water. Our Malibu Wakesetter was a major purchase and something I personally struggled with until I realized we spent every weekend on the boat and dragged along numerous friends and families with us. We are ... Read More
Blekko vs. Google: I’m Now in Love With BOTH
This morning Blekko invited me to beta their new search engine. I was absolutely thrilled when the DM invite appeared in my Twitter inbox. I am an SEO consultant, so for me this was like Christmas morning. I so hoped the excitement would not lessen once I accepted the invitation and unwrapped my new gift. Unlike Christmas morning, where I savor the unwrapping of presents, I ripped into my Blekko access as fast as I could. I was not only impressed, I really loved the experience. I quickly ... Read More
A Good Blog Title is Like Wrapping Paper on a Present
I always loved Christmas as a child and love it today as an adult. It is filled with family, great food, and presents. As a child I liked the family and presents; as an adult I love all three. The difference is as a child I liked to receive presents and as an adult I like to give them. While I probably didn’t care much about the wrapping paper as a child, I do as an adult. I think the wrapping paper and presentation should be as good as the present itself. Gifts for adults need perfect corners, ... Read More
Each Page of Your Website is Like a Handshake
Each page of your website is like a handshake. Really. To illustrate this statement, let me set the stage for you. You are manning your company’s booth at a trade show and a prospect wonders by and is within reach. This person looks at your booth, pauses, and then takes a brief moment to ask about your product or service offering. What do you say? Remember - you only have about one minute to make an impression and keep their interest. You have about the time it takes to shake someone’s ... Read More
Pay Per Click Campaigns: The Black Hole of the Internet
I hate pay per click campaigns. I love Google and even respect Adwords’ capabilities, but I hate pay per click and everything it represents. Pay per click is an Internet black hole that sucks you in so deep, you can’t get out. As an SEO consultant, it’s everything I can do to drag you and your hesitant self back out into my world of free organic search. I’ve talked to a lot of prospects and clients who have ongoing pay per click campaigns. When I say ongoing, I mean they’ve been spending ... Read More
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