ATILUS - Web Design | Internet Marketing

The Power of Social Media, Because Everyone Should be the Linkerati

SEO (search engine optimization) and Blog communities what Quicken’s Willmaker has done to Estate Planning Attorneys.

Say What? We’ll come back to this in a second.

According to Mr. Randfish, one of the world’s foremost SEOs (search engine optimizers), in order to be successful on the web three things are required:

• Keyword Selection
• Search Optimized and Friendly Web Site
• Links

So you have your keywords selected, you have a nice new site, and now you need links.

How do you get links?

According to Rand’s most recent blog posts and videos you have to target the “linkerati!” The linkerati are the few people on the Internet capable of providing links. In one of his latest videos “whiteboard friday vidcast” Rand asserts:

the thing about links is, not everyone on the web is able to provide them…. most [people on the web] are [just] users…. most people are not what we call people who could do the linking

And he makes a terrific point, most people ARE incapable of providing links, most don’t want to create a web site or blog and spend time and money on maintaining it. As a result targeting the linkerati, no matter what your industry, no matter what demographic your product or service targets, is important.

So how is Social Media like a box of software that helps me protect my family should I leave this earth?

Well… what happens if we lower the entry fees (time, money, expertise) to getting some kind of web page up? MySpace, Facebook, and countless other social sites have scaled the size and complexity of the average website down to an individual basis. When you create a profile on a social network you are in essence creating a mini web site, often times seasrch-able and indexable by search engines.

Social Media sites have lowered these entry fees.

Within these social media systems adding content about your life, opinions on the products you use and links to their sites is not uncommon, and is a great way to help web sites rank, both in terms of direct links (that help search engine traffic) as well as direct traffic (friends, colleagues, visitors read your opinions and visit the site).

In a way (because of the way a majority of the search engines are constructed) Social Media is bringing back power to the majority. No longer will a select few bloggers, web site owners, the linkerati, control the scope of everything we see and read, control the rankings and traffic of web sites. Soon my grandmother will log in to neighbor connect, make a post about her recipe that included some fine olive oil and send a valuable link someone’s way.

So is our work, as SEOs, or WVO’s (website visibility optimizers), or whatever you want to call it, in jeopardy?

Yes!

If everyone has the power to do their own keyword research, create their own site (using some kind of out of the box system), and garner their own links where does that leave us?

..in a great position

Tire kickers will always want to kick tires, and the pair that hold software systems and DIY web systems are very nice, and very kickable. But, for those looking for a complete package, looking for keyword research, a really well made web site AND link campaigns, the abundant information and DYI products on the web only underscore how complicated and beneficial the process as a whole is.

For a very simple breakdown of SEO and how it compares to conventional media advertising (TV, Radio, Billboards) I highly suggest you take a look at Rand’s 4 minute video.

The 10 Reasons You Absolutely NEED a Web Presence

I have been a big fan of Dr. Jakob Nielsen since I started designing websites back in 1999. And I have always found his tips and comments on web design very useful.

Recently, he released the “10 High-Profit Redesign Priorities” which clearly outline every reason to think about your current and future web presence and how to market your business.

Several usability findings lead directly to higher sales and increased customer loyalty. These design tactics should be your first priority when updating your website.

But I want to take it further and outline some of the reasons I think a web presence is so important.

In Today’s Market, You Customers Expect It
In today’s business world, the Internet is the fastest growing source for information. Without a web presence, your business risks never being found by prospective customers.

With a Web Presence, Your Business Stay Open 24/7
A brick and mortar business can be expensive to open, operate and maintain. Comparitively, a basic web site is very quick, easy, and inexpensive to start. Operating costs are miniscule and, unlike a physical business, a website is open and available to customers around the globe 24/7! With a website, customers are able to view your products and services long after your normal operating hours. If you decide to sell products online, the sky is the limit. With automated shopping carts and purchasing systems you can accept orders from any part of the world at any time.

Your Competitor Most Likely Has One
If your competitor has one and you do not then they have an advantage. If he/she does not have a site yet, then get ahead by having one first.

Email Address - Your Most Critical Contact and Networking Tool.
Emails are quickly replacing phone calls and letters as a businesses most common tool for communication, and rightly so. Are you currently using an email address from your ISP or a free email account for business contacts? Has anyone ever asked for your business email address? The status and branding for your business can be raised with an email address that includes your company name or services. For example: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), etc.

Find Out What Your Customers Really Want (Survey)
People visit your website for a purpose and/or an interest in your products, services or information. But you want to find out exactly why they came or what they’re looking for? Unlike brick and mortar business online transactions, visits, and activity are easily gathered and can be quickly referenced when making a customer oriented decision.

Increase Net Sale by Selling Your Products and Services Online
Have you seen or heard about some of the most successful online stores like eBay.com or Amazon.com or Half.com. Although these companies have huge infrastructures and massive marketing programs to drive their online business, it is possible to set up an online store in much the same way. If you have a retail product that can be shipped via UPS or FedEx then you’re a great candidate for an online store.

Unlimited Marketplace (International Markets Open)
A website is accessible 24 hours a day from anywhere on Earth with an Internet connection. Soon after the launching of your site, you can start doing business all over the globe, at any time of day.

Use Search Engines to Attract New Business
Search Engines have changed the way we gather information. Today most researches for business and/or services are done online. By having your website listed on the top search engines, customers from anywhere will be able to access your website. For example, if you’re selling running equipment and someone searches for “running watch” your site could be the first selection listed under the results. You guess it right. He/she will most likely to click on your link from the search result.

Instant Contact Information to Prospective Clients
With a website, you give customers instant access to some of the most important part of doing business. It helps deliver details about your business to anyone with an Internet connection. It gives customer directions to your business; tell people your hours or which product lines you carry. This frees up time to focus on what you do best, running your business.

Easy to Interact with Customers
One of the best ways to keep customers coming back is to keep in touch with them. Through a website you can interact with clients via online newsletters, message board (forum), polls, chat rooms, and special deals. When you keep in contact it shows customers that you care.

There can be many more reasons why you need a new a website and need it now, but these reasons above should give you an idea of where you stand with you business in a technological prospective.

Google Vs. Yahoo Vs. Microsoft Ultimate Battle

It’s finally happened… Bill Gates and Sergey Brin have gotten into a fist fight over search. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but if you’ve ever wanted to pit the owners of the major search engines against each other now is your chance!

From Neil Patel and the good folks over at Pronet Advertising comes the latest link bait

Search Engine Smackdown

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about SEO (search engine optimization) but prefer learning via cartoon violence Search Engine Smackdown is for you. The small flash video game allows you to select from the top search engine founders, and battle in a boxing style trivia game. The seemingly simple game has already led to a few ah-ahs and incites and is definitely helpful in learning more about the search engines (albeit a little silly).

Social Media More Powerful Than Search (Google)

I was poking around Pronet Advertising and Cameron Olthuis’s personal site when I stumbled upon a post Cameron made back in November about his personal site stats. The post is a highlight on the growing importance of Social Media sites and the type of results they can achieve.

What is Social Media? Social Media is a fairly new term, driven primarily by the widespread adoption of sites like Myspace, Facebook, Digg & Del.icio.us. If you have not been to one of these sites I suggest you visit one of them now. There are a dizzying array of startup sites that have extended the model, but at their core Social Media sites are sites driven by their users, sites like Digg where users submit web pages and stories from around the web and then vote them to popularity, a democratizing of the web so to speak.

In his post Cameron highlights the following:

I was poking around my stats tonight and decided to post a screen-shot of my top 10 referrers for this year. I started using Google Analytics in March, so these don’t quite reflect a full year, only about 8-9 months.

Del.icio.us sent his site 14,571 visitors in the 8 - 9 months
Google sent his site a little more than half of that: 7,911

Del.icio.us beat Google!

Now, it is true that the site is new, by Cameron’s own admission it is only a little more than a year old (4 months ago) so the Google sandbox might still have an effect on his rankings and consequently traffic, but in the ever evolving world of the Internet it is completely clear that Social Media as both a tool to increase rankings and as a tool for direct traffic is becoming more and more powerful every day. And, it is only with a web site and Internet marketing plan that incorporate this powerful tool (social media) that your company can truly out pace your competition online.

Single Biggest Tip For Bussiness Bloggers

The single biggest tip for business bloggers occurred the other day during a conversation with a copy writer. I have been writing for years, in many capacities: for a newspaper, for teachers at school, myself both personally and in the form of various blogs. One of the most important things a writer must do, I must do, is keep my audience in mind. Every time I write, no matter what avenue or for whom, I must keep you, my audience in mind.

If you are writing an ad targeting elderly individuals with 3 - 6 children who have 8 million dollars or more you must write in a certain way. If you are developing a white paper that will primarily be seen by middle-aged, middle-eastern women who also have engineering degrees, you must write in a certain way. I am not saying that you must lose your “voice,” but a writer should typically vary their structure, their choice of words, the amount of humor or type of humor based on the audience of the piece.

And maybe that is why blogs are so popular. Never before has authoring been so easy. Indeed, typing a post in many ways is faster than a pen and paper journal. It can definitely be edited easier. But, amidst this ease of use and the ease of dissemination also comes a freedom, freedom from audience, or a disconnection to ones audience. It seems many authors neglect their audience, writing solely for themselves, emphasizing their “voice.” But you must always, especially in regards to business blogs

Remember Your Audience

When I visit a blog about tech updates I am not typically searching for information on the authors’ most recent family outing. I don’t care if you went to the zoo and had a great time and allowed your two-year old to intensely watch an elephant urinate.

It is when authors neglect their audience, particularly business bloggers, that readership and subscriber numbers begin to suffer and decline. Of course, the negative effects of personal posts don’t happen overnight, and I am not telling everyone that you shouldn’t author personal posts. But, too often I have seen one personal post lead to another, and another, and another, until the topic of the blog (that thing your header has in bold text) is unrecognizable from the content in your posts.