I run across a lot of tools every day.  Many of them look great on the surface, until you really dig into them.  Others are so darn complicated that only the person that developed the tool understands it.  So when I find something that is simple and easy to understand, I take notice.  Many of my clients are confused with how to get their website optimized for search engines.  Let’s face it, search engine optimization is complicated.  Below are three tools I ran across today that can help you understand how to optimize you website for search engines.  Enjoy!

SEO Cheat Sheet: Anatomy of A URL

Read the full article:  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-cheat-sheet-anatomy-of-a-url
Download the PDF:  https://seomoz.box.net/shared/g4ju1fc4it

The Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet

Read the full article:  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-web-developers-seo-cheat-sheet
Download the PDF:  http://www.seomoz.org/user_files/SEO_Web_Developer_Cheat_Sheet.pdf

The Web Developer's SEO Cheat Sheet

The Beginner’s Checklist for Small Business SEO

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-beginners-checklist-for-small-business-seo

Are there other tools that you use to help you optimize your website for search engines?  Leave you comments below.

]]> http://www.stevegasser.com/cheat-sheets-to-help-you-with-search-engine-optimization/feed/ 3 http://www.stevegasser.com/importance-of-social-media-explained/ http://www.stevegasser.com/importance-of-social-media-explained/#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:10:54 +0000 Steve Gasser http://www.stevegasser.com/?p=1520 I have received this video from a few friend in the last week and thought I should post it for everyone.

Have you have every wondered:  “why bother with social media?”  Great stats  – some very surprising.   Welcome to the revolution.

Intro

• 30 Days of Social Media
• Are you ready to engage in social media?
• Social Media Tool Box
  
• Putting a Face on Social Media – Gravatars

Facebook

• Face It: Why You Need To Know About Facebook
• Facebook-Business
• Facebook Advertising is for Everyone

Social Bookmarking

• What the Heck is Social Bookmarking
  

YouTube

• Good Marketing is About Telling Stories – YouTube Can Help
• How To Setup Your YouTube Account AND My Famous 5 Minute Video Creation Secrets Revealed

Google

• Google Wants to Alert Your Business to New Possibilities for Free

RSS

• What is RSS and Why Do I Care

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn 101 Getting the Most From This Often Mis-Understood Social Network
• What Everybody Ought to Know About Connections On LinkedIn
• Do You Make These Mistakes

Inspiration

• A Little Shift Goes a Long Way
• If the White House Can Embrace Social Media Can Your Business
• Social Marketing Results in Less than 60 Minutes: One Great Example
• Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Customers

Local Search

• If You Are Not In Local Search Engines Now, You Will Regret It Later
• Getting Started With Your Google Local/Google Maps Listing
• Are You Ready to Take Control of Your Online Reputation

Blogs

• Don’t Be Too Quick To Decide a Blog Isn’t Right For Your Business
• Give Me 15 Minutes and I Will Give You The Formula To Blogging Success

Auto Responder/E-commerce

• Do You Get Better Service From An Auto-Responder At An E-commerce Store Than You Do In Person

Photo Sharing

• Create a Vivid Image – Finding the Right Photo Just Got Easier

Twitter

• Is Twitter For You
• Twitter for Your Business

Authenticity

• Do You Have an Identity Crisis

Email

• Do you know what the single most important ingredient is in your business

Protecting Your Information

• The Lazy Mans Way to Hack Into Your Personal Information and Passwords
• There Is A Quick Way to Secure Your Identity On Social Websites

Summary

• How Much Time Should You Spend on Social Media Each Week

BrownBook.net is a directory that is set up in blog-type format. From the homepage you can see recently added businesses, latest edits, and business reviews. Chances are your business may already be included at a very basic level, as they’ve appeared to automatically added many businesses with an established web presence. Do a quick search of your business name and location. If you find your business, it is easy to make changes and heighten your listing. BrownBook.net adds a map along side your listing. It is free to add pictures or video too.

ONE ACTION ITEM: Do a search for you town and see who is already on www.BrownBook.net.  If there are some businesses you can write a review for, spend a couple minutes and publish a short review. The best way to get business reviews for your own business is to give them.

Something happens when you get involved with social media.  You change.  You realize that the more you give – the better you feel – and the more you get back.  I am motivated to be even more active!

By the end of the week, I have created some terrific marketing materials that are customer focused.  I have also created a bunch of ineffective materials that will not work, but here’s the thing – my social community helps me determine what is good or bad based on the comments I receive, the number of times an article is retweeted, or the emails that I receive with questions on the articles or tweets.

So – 15 hours per week to develop marketing materials that educate and creating powerful relationships.  I think that is time well spend.  Would your marketing manager be more effective if he/she were to be active in social networks?

My Blog (1 hour a day)

• Write at least three blog posts per week based on research and conversations I have had on Twitter and on other blogs
• Respond to comments daily on my blog
• Write at least 1- 5 comment a day on other people’s blogs

Analytics  (1/2 hour a week)

• Review Google Analytics to identify trends and possible follow-up articles.
• Review click throughs with FeedBurner

Twitter  (1 – 2 hours through out the day)

• Daily- retweet at least one good idea or something enlightening
• Daily – write a response to at least one person I have not talked to ever before on Twitter
• Daily – scan twitter for relevant conversations
• Tweet my blog posts
• Recommend my most active followers on #followfriday
• TweetLater – schedule a #QOTD or #quote for each day
• Twice a Week – Review new followers and follow active Tweeters

Google Reader  (4 hours per week)

• Monitor Google Reader news articles for relevant blog content and Twitter posts
• Comment on relevant articles
• Bookmark with delicious articles for future blog posts and idea generation

Google Alerts  (15 minutes per week)

• Monitor Google alerts for relevant keywords and phrases

LinkedIn  (15 minutes per day)

• Daily- Update Status
• Daily – review friend (connections) status and comment on at least one
• Tuesday/Thursday – Scan group conversations and engage in topics when appropriate
• Wednesday – Ask one question in a group
• Friday – help connect two of my contacts together
• Friday – send one referral, ask for one referral

Slideshare

• Monthly – Upload a new presentation
• Weekly – Review comments on presentations

Facebook  (15 minutes per day)

• Daily – Update Status
• Daily – review friend status
• Daily – At least one non-business related comment to a friend
• Delete any messages that are spam-ish or any polls or applications sent to me
• Review photos of friends

YouTube

• Monthly – Review my videos
• Monthly – Review favorites
• As they happen – Add a new video to my blog

Delicious

• Daily – Book mark daily to share with clients, employees and twitter followers
• Weekly – review bookmarks to generate ideas for future blog posts or future projects

Email

• Check three times a day – morning, noon, and at the end of the day
• Respond to all emails – even if it just says “I will get back to you.”
• Clean up mail from last week and close any loose ends

Other Activities

• Weekly – engage in other social networks that I belong

There are a few other activities that my staff take care of through out the week that include:

• Managing two Facebook communities
• Managing two LinkedIn communities
• Publishing our e-newsletter
• Manage two additional blogs

What are your thoughts?  I would love to hear them!

Today, I took a 1/2 hour to get a few errands done around town.  My first stop was to a retail store* where I had a box of blinds to pick up that were ordered online.  I stopped in and said, “Hi, my name is Steve Gasser.  I have a box of blinds to pick up.”  Her comment, “Excuse me sir, I only know you by your phone number.”  In shock, I gave her my phone number and she proceeded to disappear to the back room.  When she returned, I was handed my blinds with a receipt and told, “Thank you.”  Nothing else.  I was just a number.

Why do I shop online?  I ‘feel’ like I am more than just a number.  I am greeted by my name when I browse through the online store.  My preferences are remembered.  I even see recommendations from other people like me.  This really helps when I don’t quite know what I am looking for….

After picking up up the blinds, I drove through a fast food joint to get something quick to eat.  At the drive through, I was greeted with a friendly, “It’s a GREAT day at xxxxxx*!”  Wow, nice to hear.  I responded, “It is a great day isn’t it.”  Silence – for a full 30 seconds.  “Sir, may I take your order.”  Yes, even personal greeting are an auto-response.  When did we forget how to be social and care about other people.  Is it easier to do that online?

So whose fault is this?  The employee, the business owner, the last customer that just ruined the sales person day?  You can blame a lot of factors – but in the end there are excuses or their are results.  Blaming others just makes you a victim – take ownership of the situation and change it!  If you are a customer, demand to be treated as a person.  If you are a business owner, train your employees to care.

A friend of mine ordered a CD online.  This is the auto response he received:

Tom -

Thanks for your order with CD Baby!  Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.  A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing.  Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterward and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved ‘Bon Voyage!’ to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Thursday, April 15th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did.  Your picture is on our wall as “Customer of the Year”. We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you once again,
Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little CD store with the best new independent music

There is a tremendous opportunity for you TODAY!

Offer a new level of service to your clients.  I have always believed that we need to give the client a choice on how they want to work with you.  Some like to come into your store, or talk with you on the phone.  Others are looking for ways to work with you online – and even offer your advice on how to improve your level of service.  Give you customers a choice on how to work with you. It is too easy to forget that good old fashioned service is still expected.

What is your customer service story – good or bad – please share!

* I left the business names out of this article because the names do not mater.  We can all relate to the stories.  Pointing fingers was not the point of this article.

How reviews are helpful

For the rest of this article, let’s try searching for “Hotel” and your zip code.  Read the reviews that your local hotels have online.  Many of the reviews come from the search engine, but many also come from other travel sites. When you look at these reviews, you will notice good and bad reviews.  You will also see those reviews that others found helpful.  If you find a review helpful, click “YES.”  That will make the reviews more reliable and helpful to the next person.   Reviews help you make better buying decisions.

What about bad reviews of my business

Did you notice that there are some pretty bad reviews in there about hotels in your city?  It is a shame that many of these businesses don’t manage their reputation online.  When I am looking for a hotel in another city (or a plumber, carpenter, e-commerce review), I check the reviews.  That helps me make my decision.  I don’t expect every review to be positive, but I do expect to see reviews that show how the hotel could make my stay a little nicer.

Here is what Google says about reviews:

Ranking of reviews: Ranking is completely automated; we can’t manually change the order of individual reviews, even if you request it. The reviews themselves are not created by Google. If you feel that a particular review of your business is inaccurate, we recommend that you express your concerns to the webmaster of the site on which this review was posted. If you’re concerned about a review that was submitted, click the Flag as inappropriate link found under the review, and submit a report. If the review is in violation of our policies, we’ll remove it.

Bad reviews just happen.  You can’t make everyone happy.  But you can add your own comments and encourage those that are happy with your business to actively make positive comments about you online.  Very soon, no matter how small or large your community is, reviews will exist about your business.  Let’s be proactive – instead of just waiting. For example, if someone posted a negative comment about flat, uncomfortable pillows at the hotel you are considering, you would notice. You’d also notice if the next comment was from the hotel manager stating this: “We are pleased so many guests choose to stay at our hotel and wear out our pillows. We are excited to share that every room has new, fluffy pillows as of March 2009! Come rest with us.” Seize your opportunities.

One quick story to drive things home

A friend of mine is a blogger in Chicago.  He was recently at a classy restaurant in the theater district in downtown Chicago.  The restaurant was busy.  His reservation was for 8pm, but the hostess did not seat them until 915pm.  When he was seated, the waiter forgot about him.  Once he finally got the waiters attention, he quickly took the order and never returned.  Another waiter finally showed up to take his food order (again).  Forty-five minutes later the waiter returned with their food.  Guess what… it was cold, and he still did not get his drink.

The next morning, my friend blogged about his experience and also commented on Google Local about the restaurant.  He was surprised that many of the comments on Google were very positive.  One hour later, he received an email and a call from the owner of the restaurant apologizing for the poor service.  He made no excuses, but asked how he could make things better.  My friend ask for a free meal and gave them a second chance.  This turned a negative customer into an evangelist.  The restaurant owner was familiar with social media listening tools and took action, the second he saw negative comments online.

If you monitor your reviews, you can turn negative situations around.  How often to you really receive honest feedback in person?  Use the web to gather feedback and make your business even better.  As a business owner, I welcome all feedback. Got something to say, add a comment below.

ACTION ITEM ONE:  The first action item is to go to http://local.google.com and comment on a local business that you love!  This will do two things for you.  First, it will start to make the local searches more useful for others.  Second, it will make you feel good leaving a positive comment about a business you love!

ACTION ITEM TWO:  The second action item will take a little more time, but will be very beneficial.  Share this blog post with a client of yours and ask them to add a comment about your business in Google Local.  This will enhance your listing and make you stand out in the local crowd.  (By the way, the best way to get a recommendation is to give one.)

This lesson will take longer than 15 minutes. Take your time.  Your investment in this setup should be less than one hour, and the benefits will be evident for years to come. Google Maps is considered authoritative, verified information. Other local and yellow pages sites use the information found within Google listings. This leads to more exposure and more business for you.

Create A New Business Listing

* you can click on the ‘resize’ button to see the lesson in full screen.

Edit and Claim an Existing Business Listing

* you can click on the ‘resize’ button to see the lesson in full screen.

10 Steps to Building Your Google Local/Google Maps Listing

1. The first step is to see if you have an existing listing at Google Local.  Go to http://local.google.com. If you see a listing, select it and then click on the “more info” link on the map and/or beside the listing. Once you see the pop-up, you can then choose “Add or edit your business.” If you do not see your business in the search, the left-hand column will give you the option to “Add your business listing.”
2. Let’s assume you already have a listing,   If you’re submitting your listing for the first time, follow the directions Google sets forth, and you’ll do just fine. Read on to find tips and tricks to make your Local Business Center listing work for you.
3. Click the box that says, “Edit my business information.” You’ll be taken into a “required information” area. You must fill in the boxes as completely as possible. Street address is important as it brings the mapping feature into your listing. If the map marker is incorrect, you can click on the “fix incorrect marker location” to move it around.
4. Submit all of your phone numbers, email addresses and Web site information. Give a great description of what it is you do and be sure to include good keyword phrases. Don’t allow the description to appear forced or stuff it with keywords, but work in a good phrase that will bring visitors to you via rankings in the regular search engine results.
5. Once you’ve added all of your contact information, Google will ask you to pick a category for your business. Google allows you to add or suggest categories so try to get as specific as you can.
6. Once your category has been set, move to the next screen and list your hours of operation and forms of payment accepted. This information is not mandatory – but online shoppers are impatient shoppers – so if they find the information they need to purchase, or find your site right away, these visits are more likely to lead to a conversion from your Local listing.
7. Adding photos to your listing can give potential customers an idea of what products you offer, examples of the service work you perform, and the quality to expect. Google Maps has recently given you the ability to add up to ten photos into your local business listing. Take real advantage of this new feature. You can either add photos from your computer or directly from your Web site. Don’t “borrow” photos you don’t have the license to use – you’ll get in trouble for that.
8. After you’ve submitted the photos, you’ll see a screen that gives you an opportunity to add “custom attributes.” This type of information was first introduced in the Google Base product, and seeing them show up on the Maps product is another indication of the “meshing” of Google’s product offerings. I expect to see Local Business Listings in GoogleBase in the very near future. With the custom attributes, you have the ability to submit your prices, with details on how you charge, where you work, and information about your specialties. You can create your own attributes to show off product or service offerings you think might be of interest to potential online searchers and customers.
9. After you’ve submitted all of the information, Google will ask you to “verify” your listing. This can be done in a few different ways. You can have them call you to verify. They will call the main business telephone number, so if you choose this option, ensure that the person who answers the phone call is prepared for it and will answer the verification questions correctly. You can also have Google send you a postcard with a verification PIN number on it. Again, this means that whoever receives the mail will need to know what this card is about and what to do with it. Some businesses are also eligible to receive an SMS verification text message.
10. Once you’ve entered your information, saved it, and have chosen the type of verification you prefer, your listing is complete. If you choose to receive a postcard, it will arrive in two to three weeks. Your updated or new listing will not go live until it has been verified. In the meantime, you can experiment with the “Coupons” feature within the Local Business Center. These coupons are printable and can include anything from 10 percent off services to buy-one, get-one-free offers, or whatever you’d like to do to bring business into your Web site or storefront.

A short story about local search success…

A good friend of mine is a small business consultant.  He consulted a plumbing client of his to get a phone number in a neighboring city 30 miles away.  For an entire year, he did not advertise that number in the newspaper, yellow pages, or in print.  They only place his new phone number could be found was on Google.  He received new client calls every week!  Now his competition is trying to figure out how they lost market share to someone out of town.  People use Google and other local search techniques to find you.  If you are not listed in the local search engines, you need to be.  It is costing you money by not being listed!

It is disservice to you clients

Do you believe that you are the obvious choice for your clients to choose?  Are you the best option?  If so, then it is really a disservice to your clients not to be listed in the local search engines.  You owe it to them to be found.

What is included

Local search doesn’t even require you to have a website! There’s really no reason to miss out on this opportunity! A local search listing can include your phone, fax, website, map to your location, method of payment, business description, pictures, coupons, company reviews, and more!

ONE ACTION ITEM you can take right now is to verify if you are in a local search engine. Go to Google, type in your industry, town, and state (i.e. plumber Hutchinson, MN or Restaurant Glencoe, MN) and see if your business is there. If not, Vivid Image can help get you listed quickly.  Tomorrow, we will look at the steps to get listed.  Then we will review the seven steps to local search engine dominance.