March 2011
In this newsletter 3/23/2011
Web 2.0 Expo
I'll be heading to San Francisco on March 26 for the 5th Annual Web 2.0 Expo. I'm totally jazzed. My schedule is full already with an emphasis on marketing, branding and development with social/mobile media and development for mobile aps. You can view my Personal Schedule and preview the workshops and seminars I'll be attending. It would be great if you shoot me questions for the experts on any of these topics. Post the questions on my Facebook page if you'd like and we can all discuss them.
Since this is a Web Expo I will be connected by SMS, Email and Facebook. If you have emergencies make sure you let me know. Regular updates and last minute tweaking will not be available but you can always get hold of me for serious issues. My cell-phone will be on silent mode so text messages will work, but phone calls won't.
During the Expo I'll be blogging - well, posting short updates - at www.jomaries.com.
I'll be back in Anchorage on April 1 but not back to my desk until April 4.
New Tools
In the last few months, dozens of new tools have become available at no - or low - cost for website owners. As I've implemented these on various websites I've been imagining all the ways they can serve your business needs. A few of the best include:
Google Alerts - Like old school clipping services Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:
- monitoring a developing news story
- keeping current on a competitor or industry
- keeping tabs on what's being said about you or your business
Google Profile - Decide what the world sees when it searches for you. Create a public profile to display the information you care about and make it easy for visitors to get to know you. Create a personal and a business profile and be in charge of your image.
SalesForce - This was a recommendation from several clients. They are using SalesForce to manage their sales leads and customers. If you aren't happy with your conversion rate watch the demo video and see if this tool could work for you.
MicroEnterprise Journal - Dawn Rivers Baker is back with the new and improved MeJ. If you run a Microbusiness this is a great news resource and community. From national news makers and relevant SBS updates to opportunities, grants and pending legislation Dawn focuses on the business news you can use.
More Social Media Nagging
In a conversation with a colleague I had a sudden revelation about why so many small business owners are reluctant to even discuss applying social media for their businesses. It was a flashback to 1998 when business owners grudgingly began to consider building a website as part of their overall marketing strategy. Thirteen years ago the question was:
"I don't use the internet - Why do I need a website?"
Oh, some of you knew better and quickly took advantage of the opportunities on the new media that was still in it's wild west days. Those of us who remember choosing between AOL and CompuServe or whether AltaVista was better than Yahoo for serious searches got a real leg up and were positioned well for what came next. Well, this isn't a flashback folks, this is the future.
"I don't use social media - Why do I need a Facebook Page?"
Because your customers do! Because your competition does!
Social Media isn't going away, it's not just a voyeuristic glimpse into your friend's imaginary lives. Social media is becoming the focal point for information. In the past two year's it has created revolutions, fashion trends and political careers. It's going to impact your industry and you won't be able to thrive without it.
Search Engine Stuff
More news on Reciprocal Links - Recent news articles have shed some light on how and when Google will penalize a website for old style link farms (yes I know that was only 3 years ago). JCPenneys was using a SEO company that had set up hundreds of websites who's only purpose was to get top spots for specific search terms and then funnel the traffic to the main website. It was an expensive strategy in more ways than one. Ultimately, Penney's competition complained and Google investigated. They penalized http://www.jcpenney.com/ by rolling the entire website into the dreaded sandbox. Once their organic search position disappeared they had to go back to paid Google Adwords for any results at all.
You aren't likely to have jcpenny.com's problem but you could still be getting dinged for bad hat sites that are linking to you. To remove this threat, try typing link:http://www.yourdomain.com into your browser's address bar. Check out the links and request removal if the linking page looks like a problem. Check your links every month or so until your website is only mentioned by solid, relevant websites.