WRITE - WRITE - WRITE!

Think about it, when someone goes to the Internet, what are they looking for?

INFORMATION!

Yep, that is the #1 purpose of Internet Users.

So, what INFORMATION can you give them?

Get the right keywords and WRITE an article!! Add it to your website, put it on your blog, turn the blog into an RSS feed!

What will this do?

It will help show your expertise in the area and all those people typing in that keyword phrase will find your website!

One of the BEST ways to market your web site AND your business is to show the Internet audience that you KNOW your stuff!

If you would like to write an article about any of the following topics and submit it to our Newsletter, we would love to review it for inclusion in future issues.

Our topics of interest are...

Marketing (General)
Internet Marketing
Small Business Issues
Web Design
Web Hosting
Web site Programming

Contact us today about your article(s) and get yourself promoted!!

Hello Everyone!

One of my favourite little tools to use to keep up with "news" is Google Alerts.

If you haven't used it yet, I don't know what you are waiting for. It's one of the best ways to stay ahead and on top of anything that you are interested in.

I find the best way to use it is to type in my subject in quotes. That way Google only alerts me when any news comes up just for that particular phrase. Otherwise, I would get alerts for any news that comes up with any of the words in my phrase.

Anyway, the reason I'm even mentioning Google Alerts is because I have been receiving TONS of new information lately, it seems every hour I get more Alerts and this tells me two things.

1) There are many new websites coming onto the Internet (that's nothing new)
2) Many more websites are continuously adding information!

AND that tells me that everything that I'm reading about Search Engine Optimization is true!

What I'm reading is that CONTENT truly is KING. All content, new content, continuously fresh content, data, data, data!!!!

Basically, the more information (relevant information of course) you have on your website, the higher your rankings will be, the more audience you'll be attracting, the more sales you'll receive, the more exposure you'll get and the more links you'll have.

Think about it, part of getting UP on the search engines is getting other websites to link TO you. That's easy enough to do with search engines and directories. But it's a bit harder to get other regular websites to link to you. So, many people participate in a link exchange type of program. That's good, but what's even better is having other websites link to you because you have something GOOD to say! These are ONE WAY links, in other words you don't have to reciprocate the link! These ONE WAY links score more points (to search engines).

I know I've been harping on this for a long time and I've opened many blogs for my clients and I give all my monthly marketing clients a new keyword phrase every month to help inspire them to write an article (about that keyword phrase) in their blogs and maybe even their websites.

But, I have to admit, it's a losing battle. I wish I could sit and write articles for every one of my clients every week! I KNOW that would bring in more customers, more revenue, more, more, more!! I KNOW because I've done it on my own website and it absolutely, 100% works, without a doubt.

I recently have had a few customers call and ask me "What else can I do?" -- "I'll spend more money but what can I do?" -- my reply to them is WRITE!!!! If you can't write an article, hire someone to write an article (my friend and article contributor Joel Kweskin can help you). But however you do it, just do it!!


Sincerely,
Esther C. Kane
Eckweb Designs, Inc.
Improved Search Engine Rankings

The original article can be found at SEO Speedwagon's Blog

As tired as I am of 2005 retrospectives and 2006 prognostications, I feel obligated to name 2006 the "Year of the Keyword Torso." Yes, I am sober.

Your industry has a "curve" of keywords. At the head of the curve are the most frequently searched-for terms. If you're in the insurance game, a few of your head terms are "insurance," "insurance quote," and "health insurance."

We often call these types of terms "trophy searches" because they're great for the ego, but in most cases, the effort in achieving them is much greater than the payoff. If you sell property and casualty insurance in West Virginia, how many of the "insurance quote" searchers are looking for your product?

At the other end of the curve is the "long tail." From a web analytics perspective, the tail gained a lot of exposure in 2005, even though people like Jill Whalen have been pushing it for years.

The tail of insurance keywords might include something like "nevada minimum collision coverage amount." Generally, people who bother to narrow a query so specifically are more likely to "act," which, depending on the industry, means make a purchase, download a file, click to read more information, and so on.

But between the ill-informed search for the head and the rough, ongoing (but worthwhile) search for the tail, don't forget the torso. (Note: Some people call it the "body" of the curve, but I consider the entire curve the "body," not just the middle section.) Torso searches are characterized by a query length somewhere between the head and tail, and by people looking for resources on a particular topic. They probably aren't ready to make a purchase today; instead, they're looking for an authoritative resource. If you satisfy their needs, they'll come back, eventually with credit card in hand.

Your industry knowledge - and your ability to communicate it - will make or break your chances for targeting the torso.

A torso term for insurance would be something like "child health insurance" or "what is whole life insurance." People searching for those phrases have no doubts that they'll be able to buy online. But for now, they probably want information and don't want a hard sell. Does your content show them what they're looking for? Do you have enough articles, fact sheets, and hard-to-find information that they will consider you a credible industry resource? If not, don't expect them to come back when they're ready to purchase.

To sum it up, success in capturing the keyword torso assumes three major things about you and your site:

You are creating original, helpful content regularly and often.
You are creating original, helpful content regularly and often.
You are creating original, helpful content regularly and often.

Smart bloggers have already figured this out. They're hitting the torso with their blog category pages. The number of articles in the category archive of a prolific blog is constantly fresh, constantly growing, and laser-targeted to a people with particular interests. And that, in 2006, is going to be important.

The above article is from SEO Speedwagon, rated as one of the top rated SEO blogs on the Internet.

Not Your Usual Marketing Tips

Now that we’ve experienced Super Bowl XL, what’s next? Why, JDK Marketing X, that’s what!

That’s right, February 14, Valentine’s Day, marks the tenth anniversary of JDK Marketing Communications Management. In this span of time, we’ve been fortunate to expand our client industry representation to over 40 different and varied companies while broadening our capabilities to some 23 “ways to help bring business your way.”

Thank yous are in order: to my wife for her patience, moral support…and words of wisdom; to my contingent of fine graphic design talents and commercial printer resources; to business colleagues for their friendship and referrals; and, of course, to my clients who have given me the opportunity to not only make them look good, but me as well. You are all among my readers here and I appreciate your efforts in my behalf. A posthumous thank you to my Dad, as well, for his influence, counsel and good cheer through the years.

There, I’ve said what I wanted to…and kept it reasonably short.

Since I was chided recently by a fellow “creative” for being too wordy in my last NYUM Tips, I’m trying to be more mindful of that particular proclivity. (Though obviously not enough, you see, to resist alliterative turns of phrase.)

But the point to be brief and concise is, generally, well advised.

As marketing guru Robert Middleton points out:

“Since all marketing is about communication, the faster you can get your message across, the better results you'll typically get...

”Some places you can use the short message technique:

”1. On the home page of your web site. People want to be able to glance at this one page, read a few words and know what you're about. You need to go beyond a few bullet points, but you don't
need several long paragraphs outlining every single thing your business offers.

”2. In an email that points to more detailed information on a web page. In tests I've done, a message that was only 84 words got 50% more click-throughs than a message that was 284 words.

”3. In an Audio Logo. A concise statement in ten words or less saying who you work with and the problems you address will almost always generate more interest than a long-winded
description of what you do, who you do it for and how you're different.

”4. In a phone message left on voice mail. Saying your name, company name and your phone number will generally get more return calls that a big recorded sales spiel that often convinces
your prospect that they definitely don't need your services.

”5. In an answer to the question: ‘Tell me more about your services,’ it's better to tell a little and then ask a question than it is to give an itemized list of every service you offer.”

…And I think I’ll end it right here, before I’m accused of doing what I said I wasn’t going to do.

See you again the first Tuesday of next month for another “trying-not-to-be-too-wordy” edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips.

Joel Kweskin
JDK Marketing Communications Management
704.846.4835, office
704.575.8850, cell
704.841.2746, fax
www.jdkmarketing.biz

Men Are From Google, Women Are From Yahoo!
By Jason Lee Miller

On the Internet, as in life, men and women have different motivations for doing what they do. According to a recent report from Pew Internet and American Life, women view the Internet as a place to extend, support, and nurture relationships and communities. Men tend to see it as an office, a library, or a playground--screw the community, this is about function not family.

The report found that women are more enthusiastic communicators, using email in a more robust way. Not only sending and receiving more email than men, women are more likely to write to family and friends about a variety of topics, sharing news, joys and worries, planning events, and forwarding jokes and stories.

While both sexes equally appreciate the efficiency and convenience of email, women are more likely than men to value the medium for its positive effects on improving relationships, expanding networks, and encouraging teamwork at the office.

"Women also value email for a kind of positive, water-cooler effect, which lightens the atmosphere of office life," reads the 54-page report.

The report found that women are more likely to use the Internet for emailing, getting maps and directions (after all, we men always know where we're going), looking for health and medical information, seeking support for health and personal problems, and getting religious information.

Men tend to be more intense Internet users than women, being more likely to go online daily (61% of men and 57% of women) and more likely to go online several times a day (44% of men and 39% of women).

Men also tend to go online in greater numbers than women but for a much broader variety of reasons. Men are more likely to use the Internet to check the weather, get news, find do-it-yourself information, acquire sports scores and information, look for political information, do job-related research, download software, listen to music, rate a product/person/service through an online reputation system, download music, use a webcam, and take a class.

Note there was nothing about "nurturing relationships."

Here are some stats for the number crunchers:

• 67% of the adult American population goes online, including 68% of men and 66% of women

• 86% of women ages 18-29 are online, compared with 80% of men that age.

• 34% of men 65 and older use the Internet, compared with 21% of women that age.

• 62% of unmarried men compared with 56% of unmarried women go online

• 75% of married women and 72% of married men go online

• 61% of childless men compared with 57% of childless women go online

• 81% of men with children and 80% of women with children go online.

• 52% of men and 48% of women have high-speed connections at home

• 94% of online women and 88% of online men use email

About the Author:
Jason is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

The Magic of CSS
by Esther C. Kane

There are so many factors to consider when it comes to optimizing websites. Frankly, when I'm optimizing an exisiting site, I find myself in defense mode. I am almost immediately attacked by the website owner or the website designer about the tactics being used to improve the site's ranking.

I have to wonder, "What are they paying me for?" I mean, the site owner wouldn't have contacted me if the site was doing great in the engines! So, it obviously isn't doing great and he needs some help!

Well, CSS may be the answer to both the SEO webmaster (that's me) and the designer!

I'm no CSS expert, that's for sure! But I do know some CSS tips that may help you to help your clients when you are designing their websites!

Tip #1 - Positioning

Using CSS to dictate positioning is like finding the holy grail! Think about it...search engines look not only for the Quantity of keywords on a website page, but they also look for the Placement of keywords on a website page. One of the factors involved in placement scoring is how high up on the website page is the keyword phrase found. Sometimes that's difficult to do with graphics, headers, navigation, background images, etc. BUT, with CSS, you can dictate which "layer" gets read FIRST by the search engines!

Basically, when you're writing a website in CSS what you are actually doing is creating several layers. Sort of like a scrapbooking project. Think of each layer as a photo or a piece of paper with text or graphics on it. You can position each layer as you like. And the secret is that you can TITLE each layer as you like.

So, you can TITLE layer #1 as the "footer" of the page, but the search engine will READ it as the 1st piece of text on the page. (Just because it's TITLE #1).

Okay, that's a simplistic version, but it gives you an idea of the POWER of CSS!

Here's a great article, long but very detailed and full of information on CSS and SEO. It has some great tips on positioning techniques.

http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/Search-Engine-Optimization-and-CSS/

Tip #2 - Coding

If you've done ANY reading on SEO you probably have read that bolding and italicizing keyword phrases helps in the optimization of the website page. Well, what you may NOT know is that CSS coding in these areas does NOT help.

In other words, if you create a CSS style to "bold" text well, the benefit of bolded text is not recognized by the search engines. The same is true for "italicized" text. So, the lesson is if you want bolded text but you don't want it to count towards SEO then use CSS to create the bold text. When would you want it to NOT count? When it's not the keyword phrase you are marketing on the website page!

If you want to bold the keyword phrase being marketed on the website page then by all means, bold it by <b> tags!

Here's another tip. <b> counts more (for search engines) then <strong>

Tip #3 - SPEED!

If you look at a website page created in HTML and then look at the same version created in CSS, you'll notice a marked difference not only in the amount of coding to create the page but also in the loading time of that page.

Because there is so much LESS coding to create CSS pages, the website pages load faster. It's as simple as that!

There's much more and in reading the article at SEO Chat (linked above) you'll learn all you need to know about the Magic of CSS! I know, it's a bit of a pain to learn a whole new langauge and it certainly took me some time to get around to it. But, I'm so GLAD I finally did! It's extremely worth it!

Believe me, if I could, I would go back and Re-Do ALL of my client's sites in CSS!

If you have any questions about SEO and web design, please feel free to contact me at eckweb@eckweb.com or 954.965.2872.

Sincerely,
Esther C. Kane
Eckweb Designs, Inc.
Providing Affordable SEO for Small & Home Based Businesses