Website Promotion is not Voodoo

So you have decided to take your business’s marketing to the next level and you hire a company that guarantees you a functional Web site, which will attract customers and grow your business. Seems flawless, right? Not necessarily.

The next thing you know, the site does not rank on any search engine and you turn to a SEO company to see what can be done. After implementing SEO tactics, if your site is still not ranking when searched organically, you may have the great problem of duplicate content.

What is the function of your website?  Do you use your website as an information tool?  Do you use it as an arm of your sales team?  Why not have your website do both?  Too often small business owners focus on creating a flashy, aesthetically pleasing website. Instead, they should focus on a website that produces results.

The Web Analytics Association defines conversion as a “percentage of a visitor type who complete a multistep conversion process with a defined beginning and end within 30 minutes, whether it be signing up for a newsletter, buying a product online or some other desired outcome.”

The Whopper Sacrifice Comes to an End

Not enough people know about sweet little pieces of code that run on your web pages that show you how many people came to visit your site, where they came from, how long they stayed, and how many of those visits converted into actual dollars. Sure, Google Analytics might not be on the tips of the tongues of, oh, say 500 million people. But Facebook is.

Everyone who looks at this little gem below knows how well this viral internet marketing campaign worked, and how effective Facebook is when you want to reach the masses.

My good friend and colleague Aimee Ellingsen forwarded me this wonderful little ditty. Aimee does some of the best Plastic Surgery Websites at the helm of her design and development company Cake Websites and more,

We do a fair amount of Plastic Surgery SEO around here and Aimee knows better than anyone the trials of this industry.

So it’s no wonder we’re amused by a song entitled “Big Tits”

Big Tits - Not to be confused with the "Great Tit"

No doubt you’ll be humming the refrain. Do be careful to keep it to yourself

I posted a link to Matt McGee’s 7 Questions Small Businesses Should Be Asking and got this question from one of our customers, Steve Kinchen at Hall Piano Company.

It was a great excuse to do a little impromptu analysis. We may do a brief series of these.

Hall Piano Company Local Search Analysis using Matt McGee's 7 Questions Businesses should be asking.

Steven Kinchen Read the article… How does HPC stack up?

Will Scott

Pretty darn good, I’d say.

By @mattmcgee’s standards you’re pretty well covered

Though it’s been months, I’m finally publishing the Foursquare Survey Results from SMX Advanced

I will come back and update this post with analysis from the various slides.

It looks like Facebook isn’t going to take Google’s attack lying down, and they’ve got Foursquare in their sights as well. They’ve just announced a new mobile application called Places, which allows users to check-in at various businesses they visit. Businesses can also claim their listings and post additional information. Does all this sound familiar? It’s essentially nothing more than a combination of Google Places and Foursquare.

With the recent release- and my more recent acquisition- of the new iPhone 4, I decided to do a little digging and compiled a list of the best SEO apps offered by the App store. My goal here is to make your productivity folder as cramped and overflowing as mine.

1) Domainer

This was one of the first SEO apps offered back in 2008 and it’s incredibly simple, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just enter the URL for the page you want to check and Domainer provides the PageRank on Google, as well as some basic history. Free.

We’re back with another thrilling installment of our bi-monthly series: Top 10 for the Weekend! Keep reading to find out tips and tricks, as well as what’s new in the world of SEO

Great Apps to Customize Your Facebook Fan Page

Facebook recently hit a new milestone: 500 million users! With this high volume it is a perfect platform for marketing, and people are already taking advantage of this opportunity. Here is a list of great apps that allow you to customize your fan page to its fullest potential.

In an earlier post, we discussed Google Wave and its pros and cons.  Well, less than a year after it’s launch, you can wave it goodbye. See what I did there? Despite its loyal fan base, Wave just didn’t get the following they’d hoped for. So, they decided to pull the plug.

When it was first announced, it caused shock waves (OK, I’ll stop) through the Internet community. It was touted as an “email killer.” The hype was out of control. So much so, that I wondered if it was going to be able to live up to it. I guess I didn’t have to wait too long for my answer.