Ping list? What is a ping list and why do I need it? Website traffic is the answer! A ping list is a list of websites that will be notified automatically each time your website posts a new blog entry. It is simple, effortless, and a critical aspect to obtaining website visitors. You post a new entry or update an existing entry and these websites will automatically be notified of this activity. Now that I’ve told you about pinging, you may ask how do I know who to “ping”. A complete list of ... Read More
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July brings a Boohoo for Yahoo and Pal Bing
Search volume inched up from June to July, but this change didn’t benefit everyone. Both Yahoo and Bing lost paid referral traffic in July, while Google rose slightly. After all the fanfare and money Microsoft threw on Bing’s arrival, the search engine gossip and hall chatter only lasted for a short time. The newness factor appears to be disappearing. This Internet marketer projected this, as I felt Bing was a complete bust. And while I do like Yahoo better than Bing, I still cannot see how ... Read More
MySpace Proposes to iLike
Prior to launching my own Internet marketing company, I worked for an ERP software developer for almost a decade. I loved the company and the people, but was amazed at the industry. I watched in disbelief as Y2K came and went, and countless ERP software vendors evaporated through my ten year stint. As I transferred myself fulltime into search engine optimization, social media, and web design, I thought this would change. I thought these acquisition crazy companies were just ERP software ... Read More
Google Insights for Search is an SEO Consultant’s Dream
I love Internet marketing because each day I learn something new and discover more SEO tools that make my job easier. As an avid Internet user and passionate online consultant, I try to forward these tips onto others. Today my tip is Google Insights for Search. As usual, Google continues to provide free and valuable tools to webmasters and online marketers. Their Google Insights for Search tool allows users to view search volumes, geographical hot spots, and search volume increases. For my ... Read More
Why SEO Experts Think Google is Googlelicious
You don’t have to be an SEO expert to know Google rocks. In fact, with the exception of exiled black hat consultants, most search engine optimization companies will give very positive feedback on Google’s search results and overall service offering. And this isn’t because we are fearful of Google. It is because Google makes it easy for companies to market their products and services via the Internet and Google wants companies to succeed in their marketing efforts. If we succeed at optimizing ... Read More
Wise Businesses Watch Google Search Trends
A very wise business owner I know frequently talks about search volume and search trends when discussing Internet marketing and in particular search engine optimization. He is a data guy, an entrepreneur, and a highly technical individual who always looks beyond simple numbers to peek behind them or even in front of them. He wants to see changes before they occur and wants to know the future so that he can react quickly. He is smart and has used this business practice to ride out storms and ... Read More
Google Releases Beta of New Search Functionality
It is an Internet junky’s dream – faster search AND a Google feedback request all in one day. Yes you heard that correctly, Google is developing next-generation architecture for their already incredibly popular web search feature. Should we expect anything less from Google? According to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog the new search technology is supposed to improve the search engine’s ability to process large chunks of data, increase indexing speed, heighten the accuracy of search results, ... Read More
Facebook Agrees to Acquire FriendFeed
The world of social media is a buzz today as social networking giant Facebook announces the acquisition of FriendFeed. As part of the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams. "Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "As this shows, our ... Read More
Users Revolt in Response to Recent DDoD Attacks
Last week was a rough week for the world of social media. Social networking sites from Twitter to Facebook were sluggish or taken down due to a denial of service attach, also know as DDoS. While some may dismiss these short-term issues, others are taking a closer look on the public’s reaction. While this last week put strain on the social media giants, it was a blessing in disguise for us Internet marketing consultants. As the world reacted to the momentary lose of Facebook and Twitter ... Read More
Are You Calling Me Ugly? The Quest for Seach Friendly URL’s
Successful Internet marketing and search engine optimization involves a large-scale project that includes a number of steps, tasks, and owners. Keeping the process in check and the plan moving forward takes experience and attention to detail. One of the most common elements of the plan that can be forgotten or missed is the use of quality URL’s that are search engine friendly (SEF). Ugly or Just Confusing? Some may question if a given URL can be ugly, but to Google and other search ... Read More
The Twitter Confusion
The Los Angeles Times recently ran an article concerning a LinkedIn survey that questioned the general public's knowledge of Twitter. Surprisingly enough, most didn't have a clue what Twitter was or why they would use it. In fact, the reference to "most" meant 69% of people didn't know enough to respond or comment on the social media site. Does this mean you should forget Twitter? Absolutely not! Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds. It can significantly help ranking of keywords and ... Read More
Pimping my Website with Plugin’s
Virtually everyone has heard of MTV’s Pimp my Ride. The world of web development has been blessed by a little friend called a plugin that allows webmaster’s to pimp their websites. A plugin is the webmasters best friend when designing personalized websites via open source (aka free) CMS (content management systems) like WordPress or Joomla. They are many times free or available for low subscriptions or onetime fees. WordPress and Joomla are common open source or free software packages that ... Read More
Gomez Launches Cool Gizmo for Website Developers
Gomez just released a cool gizmo that reviews a website and displays how it looks across various browsers. Why does this matter some may ask? A single website page can look differently across different browsers such as Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox. In fact, different versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer can make the same website look different if it is not written to manage IE's quirks. Yes, the fact that web developers have to worry about this amazes me as much as it probably ... Read More
Bing, Bologna, or Just Bad?
Microsoft recently released a new search engine called Bing. This search engine is supposed to go head to head with Google, although in my opinion, this Bing vs. Google war is not much of a war at all. While Bing and Yahoo may be able to fight the good fight against each other, Bing is in no position to take on the well known behemoth Google. Google regularly amasses between 70-80% of search volume, which leaves little marketing and advertising dollars for those “other” search engines to vie ... Read More
In Website Design, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
When it comes designing websites, small businesses are many times victim to the old saying that states "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Unlike large corporations with large in-house website design and Internet marketing departments, small businesses are left to their own ill-equipped devices or left in the hands of an outsourced website design firm. It generally takes a third party to point out a website's physical and esthetic flaws. Sometimes it takes a few hundred of your dearest ... Read More
Making Social Successful with Twittable Tweets on Twitter
I have recently been amazed at all the buzz surrounding Twitter (the latest social media phenomenon). Sure Oprah, CNN, and Demi's husband have been pulling in millions followers (people who subscribe to your profile and receive updates from you) lately, but does anyone really care? Up until a few weeks ago, I'll admit, I didn't. I viewed Twitter as a lack luster version of Facebook. I've known about Twitter for some time, but my joining of Twitter was delayed and my Tweets (one line status ... Read More
The SEO Consultant’s Biggest Mistake
Recently I heard an experienced SEO consultant state with pride and confidence, "I write for search engine spiders and not real people." If ever there was a time to run for the hills, this would be the time. A quality and experienced SEO consultant will write solid content that is useful to website visitors as well as search engine friendly. There is no reason to select one or the other, because both objectives can live in harmony with each other. A bad SEO consultant will spend all of ... Read More
Website Promotion Promises – Are They Real?
If you have a website and your email is listed on the Internet, you've probably received unsolicited offers for increasing your website's ranking on the Internet. Over the last few years, these offers seem to multiple like a virtual plague. I myself receive so many of these emails, they are perpetually trapped in my spam filter. If you've ever read these offers closely, you will quickly become suspicious. The emails come from gmail accounts without phone numbers or website addresses. They ... Read More
Internet Marketing Consultant or Website Designer?
Is an Internet marketing consultant really necessary or do I just need a good website designer? This question is asked by a lot of small business owners who are contemplating a new website or the redesign to an existing website. While I'd love to provide a simple answer that yes, a website designer is the only real services needed, I'd be lying. From my own firsthand experience, I can tell you, a lot of hard work goes into promoting a website and reaching that coveted page one search ranking ... Read More
Do I Really Need a Website?
Unless you live in a cave and sell your products and services to other cave dwellers, you need a website. As my friend once said, "I have to have a website because everyone else has one." He is right. While he may not be the most technology focused person I know, he is a small business owner and he sells products and services to every day people. Since most of his B2C (business to consumer) prospects use the Internet to research their future purchases, the company must have a website for ... Read More
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