How To Make A Website

Are you a beginner looking to learn how to make a website?
This free tutorial shows you how to build a website in as little as 5 easy steps.
Everything is laid out for you in a step-by-step way so you can have your website up and running in 60 minutes or less.
Before you can create a website you have to make sure you find an appropriate domain name and a reliable web hosting service. You have to be very careful when deciding what services to choose, as this can play a big role on the overall performance of your website (stability, speed, up-time…). We will show you exactly where to find the best deals as we go along.
After you’ve successfully set up your domain name and web hosting service (which are both required for ANY website), it all comes down to configuring your new site. We will be using a free Content Management System called WordPress. It is a very simple platform that enables users to build professional looking blogs or websites within minutes!
Are you ready? Alright – let’s get started!

Step 1 – Register Your Domain Name

Your domain name is one of the most important parts of your site, most visitors get their first impression about your website based on your domain name. So it’s a good idea to make sure your domain name:
a) Is relevant to the content of your website or business
b) Is simple & easy to remember (preferably a catchy phrase)
c) Is short and descriptive
d) Has the right extension (.com, .org, or .net)
Your domain name also plays a role in the search engines. For example, when someone uses Google to search for ‘dog training tips’, a website whose domain contains these exact words has a much bigger chance of appearing in the search results for that particular term than if your domain doesn’t include those words.
I hope that makes sense, now let’s get started!
The first thing you will need to do is to decide who to use as your domain registrar. Personally I use and recommend Godaddy.com the worlds #1 domain registrar. So to get started, click on this link:  http://www.godaddy.com (it should open on a new page and leave this page behind it)
You should land at a page offering you to search for available domains and purchase them. That’s exactly what we’re here to do.
The domain name search box should look something like this:

Type in your desired URL and hit GO to check if it is available! If it is, you will see a green tick like this one:

If the domain you have chosen is not available you will see something like this:

If your first choice for a domain is not available, then just keep trying other variations of it until you find one you are happy with.
If your domain is available,  click ‘Continue to Registration’. You will be asked if you wish to purchase additional extensions for your domain, just click – No, Thanks! (Domain Registrars often try to upsell you on more products, but for this example we will just ignore everything else, and just register our domain.
You will then be taken through a registration process that is quite simple to follow. You’ll be offered few different payment methods, as well as an option to choose how long you wish to purchase the domain for.
You can select 1 to 5 years registration length, it’s up to you, and doesn’t make much difference to your site.
Important: You will also be offered to choose between multiple privacy protection services, as well as web hosting services – we suggest you decline all of these for now, especially the web hosting option!
Godaddy is a powerful domain register, and although they do offer web hosting, I prefer to use a separate company for hosting. (explained in the next step).
Once you’re done purchasing, you will be sent a receipt with all the important information in it. It is a good idea to save this receipt, you might need it later.
Your domain will be ready for use within 24 hours, usually much sooner. (sometimes immediately)
You are now a proud owner of your brand new domain! Congratulations!

Step 2 – Set Up A Web Host Account

Alright, now that you have your domain ready, it is time to put it in use!
How to choose the best hosting provider? There are two simple rules you want follow when making this decision:
1) Avoid cheap offers,
2) Choose an established host!
If you look around a little, you will find tons of hosts offering incredibly low pricing, but is it really worth it? Simply put – if you want your website to run smoothly and not to have large periods of down-times, then no – it’s definitely not worth it.
We would like to suggest a reasonably priced, well established hosting service called Hostgator.
Hostgator has been around for quite some time now and has a reputation of being fast, reliant and a very customer-friendly host. It also offers unlimited bandwidth (very large traffic support) and unlimited disk space (no limit on the upload capacity).

- Here’s how to set up a web hosting account with Hostgator:
1) First you need to visit the hostgator website by clicking this link: http://www.hostgator.com
When you land at their site, you will notice a big ‘View Web Hosting Plans’ button right in front of you. See it? Go ahead and click that.
Since you only have 1 domain you wish to host, select a ‘Hatchling plan’

Choose how long you wish to use their service for, and then hit Order Now!
2) You will be asked if you wish to register a new domain name, or use an existing one. Since we have already registered a domain name, choose an existing one:

Enter the domain name you’ve purchased and press Continue to Step 2
3) Fill in the account and billing information, and hit Create Account!
Your hosting plan will become active and ready for use as soon as it is processed and configured (this usually takes up to 1 hour).
You will also be sent an e-mail containing vital information such as your login info and name servers (which you will need later to link up your domain), so remember to store it somewhere safe.
It’s as simple as that! Was this hard? It literally took you 5 minutes to do it…

Now that you have these two pieces of the puzzle (the domain name and the hosting service), it is time to link them together!

Step 3 – Point Your Domain To Your Web Host

his is a really simple thing to do, but most people freak out when they hear about messing around with their domain, changing stuff like DNS, name servers, etc.
Don’t worry – it is easier than you think. We will guide you every step of the way!
1) Go back to your domain provider, type in: http://www.godaddy.com
If you are not already logged in, go ahead and do it at the top of the site:

2) Put your mouse over the Domains tab and select GO TO… My account… Domain Management:

3) Click on your domain name and you will be taken to a new page where you can configure everything about your domain, including the scary name servers!
Look for something like this:

4) Click on Set NameServers and this little window should pop up:

Select ‘I have specific nameservers for my domains’ and type in the information you were given upon registering your web hosting plan for both Nameserver1 and Nameserver2. Leave the other two blank.
You can find this information enclosed in the e-mail you received from Hostgator when you ordered the hosting service.
Click OK to confirm. Changes will usually take 2 hours to take effect.
5) You’re done!
Congratulations – you have just successfully linked a GoDaddy domain to a Hostgator hosting account! Note that the change might take some time to become effective.
If you experience any further problems regarding this issue, feel free to contact the Godaddy help staff and ask for assistance. They will be glad to help you out.

Step 4 – Install WordPress On Your Site

First of all, what is WordPress and why should you install it on your website?
WordPress is a free platform that has been commonly used by bloggers for many years. It basically allows you to build websites with very little effort on your side. It is a highly customizable, user-friendly and above all – very powerful tool when it comes to the website creation process.
WordPress allows you to use free pre-designed themes so you don’t have to spend a nickel on hiring expensive web designers to make your site look professional. It is also very friendly in terms of search engine optimization. You can install various 3rd party plugins such as the famous ‘All in one SEO’, which greatly increases the search visibility of your website, and so forth.
However, manually installing WordPress can be a hard and time-consuming work, especially if you’re new to this concept…
This is one more reason why we recommend Hostgator!
Hostgator has a built-in, automatic WordPress installer. All it takes is one click, and it is set and ready for use! It’s really that simple.
This is a free feature that comes included with every Hostgator hosting plan.
Steps for installing WordPress via Hostgator auto-installer:
1) Assuming your Godaddy domain is already pointing to the Hostgator nameservers (as covered in the step 3 of this tutorial), go and type in this URL:
www.yourwebsite.com/cpanel
2) Use the login information for Hostgator cpanel provided in the e-mail received upon purchasing the Hostgator web hosting plan.
Once you’re successfully logged in, you should be able to see the Hostgator cpanel. This is definitely a place worth exploring, as it offers tons of great features…
3) Scroll down, under the Software/Services category, click on Fantastico De Luxe (the blue smiley guy).

4) Pay attention to the left sidebar, under the Blogs column, there should be a WordPress link:

5) Click on New Installation and follow the instructions provided.
You will be asked to fill in certain information such as your e-mail address, desired wordpress username & password, and some other base configuration stuff.
Warning! – There will also be a field called Install in Directory – Make sure you leave this field blank!
Once you’re done, click Install WordPress!
On the next page, you will provided with the Mysql user name and an access URL. You typically won’t need this stuff at the moment, but you can save it for future reference if you wish.
Click Finish Installation
6) Voilà – You’re done!
WordPress is now successfully installed on your website, along with the default ‘twenty-ten’ theme which you’ll be able change easily, as soon as you regain access to the site (due to the WP installation process).

Step 5 – Configuring Your Website

Once you can access your site and you can see the default theme, just add /wp-login to your main URL and log in using the information you’ve just set up. Another option is to simply follow the login link located in the right sidebar of your homepage.

www.yourwebsite.com/wp-login

You should come up with a page that looks like this:

This page is called the WordPress (WP) Dashboard.
Get familiar with this interface – you will be using it a lot. It is the matrix of your website. Every single change on your website will be made using this dashboard.

The first thing you will notice are the quick-links to posts, pages, category, tags and comments, as well as a quick link that you can use to change your WP theme.
On the left hand side, you can see a lot of sub-menus that all serve their purpose, but for now let’s only focus on the most important ones:
1) Posts – These most commonly used when you are running your website as a blog. When you create posts within WP, you can decide what page they will show up on, along with the exact date of publishing, the publishers name and an option for visitors to comment on each post. You can also set up different post categories.
2) Media – This menu is used for managing pictures and videos you add to your website.
3) Links – Here you can create different links and link categories that you can later use to form customized sidebar widgets!
4) Pages – Used for adding new, fresh pages to your website. You can also browse the options for choosing the page slug, enabling/disabling comments, changing the page order, modifying the page template, etc.
5) Appearance – Allows you to completely customize your website’s appearance, starting from the theme you’re using, all the way to sidebar widgets and menus. There are a million ways to customize your website. Knock yourself out!
6) Plugins – These can be a very useful tool if applied properly. There are tons of 3rd party plugins that enable you to speed up your website’s performance, enhance the search engine visibility, improve visual styling & appearance and much more!
7) Users – This section is for adding new or modifying existing user settings, such as user passwords, profiles, e-mails, etc.
Settings – A place where you can set up stuff like your blog’s name, description, date format, front page display, monitor comments and media settings, etc. You will also be able to access and re-configure your 3rd party plugins from this menu.

source : makeawebsiteguide.com

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Tips success Internet Business

Many successful Internet business is readers like you. They only have one idea about Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing: Money! With a capital idea, people have been able to use the Internet as a resource, reading shaped ebooks, videos and articles about how other people have done the right way.

Do you feel tired after browsing here and there? Internet Marketing is not your soul mate is! You must have a thick skin, kesabran and the power to make a new breakthrough. You also have an innovative, you need to innovate even remarkable, though not to have extraordinary intelligence. Successful marketers are simple people, they just think of how other people do it, change it slightly, add something new, something old is removed and copied, and finally …. they soared.

Want to know a simple recipe?
The first rule: READ.
Rule two: TAKE ACTION.
The third rule: Keep RHYTHM.

These rules for you who want to do something new. The first rule consists in reading. Documentation and knowledge is essential, in every way will the marketing world.

Reading the experiences of others is very important, namely, learning from people who took the long road and fell into various errors and made many mistakes will help you avoid it from your path. The best place to read is through forums, blogs, newspapers or books. The book is a very general talk about the many theories. Blogs also, but in certain discussions and sometimes provides many useful solutions, while the paper discusses the daily realities, solutions and experiences. Forum to discuss issues more real.

Forum is the last point and that is the starting point from which you will start and take action to your plan. You have to wisely choose the forum. Members of the forum are people who are generously giving you a solution. Despite the fact that nobody really wants to share experiences with others; most are people who want to get something without giving. Find a community where members exchange information and provide enlightenment.

Taking action requires a plan, and guts. If you decide to do something, then decided to run, try to do as much as you can. Taking action is like building a building and is the first step that will track what you will achieve in your building. Believe me, you will be able to, change, delete or add something to increase conversions and sales.
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Tips for Secure Online Shopping

No matter how many times you hear about identity theft and emptied bank accounts on the news, you can’t help but continue your online shopping habits. Maybe, if it wasn’t so convenient and affordable, you’d be able to give it up. Luckily, following a few safety tips can protect both your identity and your savings while allowing you to satisfy your cyber shopping needs.
Follow these tips for the safest experience possible:

Use Only Trusted Websites

With virtually every major retailer represented on the Internet, there’s really no reason to shop with an unknown ecommerce site. You might be thinking, “but, what if I see the deal of a lifetime?” It might be a good idea to pass it by no matter how much you think you’ll save. After all, JoeShmoUnbelievableDeals.com could be a scam site or might sell counterfeit goods. When a cyber deal appears to be too good to be true, shoppers often end up paying the bill without receiving the promised goods. As a bonus, shopping from a known retailer usually means you can buy online and return at the store for added convenience.

Choose Your Card Wisely

When making an online purchase, never reveal your bank account information or use a high-limit credit card. The best bet is to keep a very low limit card just for online purposes or use a prepaid credit card. In fact, secure online shopping with the REACH card, or other cards like it, is one of the easiest and most affordable options. It will protect your money and your identity.

Only Shop on Secure Sites

Even if you’ve shopped at a store your entire life, don’t enter any personal or financial information if the page isn’t secure. There are two easy ways to check this. First, look for the locked padlock icon in the status area of your screen, generally in the lower, right corner. Next, make sure the URL for the page starts with “https” instead of just “http.” Both of these features indicate that the page is using SSL (secure socket layer) technology to protect your valuable information. Or, you can go the old school way.

Don’t Tell Them Everything

While online retailers do need to know your payment information, your address and sometimes your phone number, they don’t need to know other pieces of information like your birth date, your social security number, or your mother’s maiden name. In the wrong hands, this combination can lead to identity theft and financial ruin.
While you’re at it, create a unique password that’s hard to guess on every site where you need to register. If you make a habit of always using the same one, it wouldn’t be too hard for someone to hack into your accounts. This is especially important on any site that requires the use of your email address as a user-id.

Install Virus Protection

A good security program can protect your computer from virus and spyware infections. This will not only protect your identity, but make your entire computing experience better.
By taking precautions and following simple rules, you can shop online as much as you want and protect your valuable information.
What safety steps do you follow during your cyber shopping sprees?

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10 Tips for Successful Business Networking

Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another.

1. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.


2. Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetings so that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.


3. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.


4. Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.


5. Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.


6. Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.


7. Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.


8. Be able to articulate what you are looking for and how others may help you. Too often people in conversations ask, "How may I help you?" and no immediate answer comes to mind.


9. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.


10. Call those you meet who may benefit from what you do and vice versa. Express that you enjoyed meeting them, and ask if you could get together and share ideas.

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7 Steps to More Customer Referrals

One of the best ways to increase revenue and profits in a tough economy is to get more new customers who are already sold on your product, service or brand. These customers can be hugely profitable because they require very little marketing or sales costs. By the time they reach your door they have already heard good things about your business and they are interested in learning more. If handle them right a high percentage will  become customers with little effort on your part.

Here are seven things you can do to increase customer referrals at your business. They’re not complicated and they won’t cost you a fortune. And if you do them well and consistently, they’ll help you build a better business.

1. Talk to your customers.

Have real person-to-person conversations with as many customers as you can. If you have a lot of customers relative to your employees, then you’ll need to prioritize. Find ways to have real, meaningful and ongoing conversations with them.

This might mean inviting some to lunch. It might mean hosting get-togethers at your business. It might start with a survey and end with a phone call or a meeting. For others it might be virtual conversations using email or Web 2.0 tools.

2. Serve their needs.

Of course you’re doing this to make your company better. But everything you do in your customer referral effort needs to be useful from your customer’s perspective. Educate them while you engage them.

3. Engage your customers.

Find multiple ways to get your customers involved. For some people, just a regular phone call or lunch will be enough. For others you might get their help finding solutions to challenges you’re facing (using brainstorming or other facilitated meetings). Create communities for your customers to participate in. Forums and blogs are great for this. Software and online companies have done this for years but so can small businesses.

4. Get your employees involved.

Let your employees participate. Don’t script them or micro-manage their involvement. Let them get to know your customers and vice-versa. The more your customers know and like your employees, the more likely they  will tell others to do business with you.

5. Hire customer friendly.

You can train, teach and coach a lot of things but being friendly is not one of them. And beyond just friendly, you should look for employees who make a habit of focusing on the customer, who go out of their way to take care of customer’s needs. One of the best ways to do this is to keep your eyes open when you are a customer. When you meet people who are very good, tell them what you do. Start a relationship so if they look for other work they might call you.

6. Post reminders.

This sounds basic but it works. Make posters of the top things your customers want from you. Include your “customer service standards” so everyone knows what the expectations are. Place them around your business so everyone can see them. Also, use post-it notes, emails, customer service calendars and any other fun ways you can think of to refresh your employee’s memories.

7. Celebrate good news.

When customers give you and your staff good feedback, share it. Have a party! Let all your staff know about it. Show your employees how important it is. Post it where people will see it. Send emails. Talk about it at staff meetings.

When your company is driven by service, your customers will notice. And they’ll like it. Serve them well and they’ll keep coming back. Even better, they’ll tell their friends too!

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Business Blog Posts Made Easy

One thing every entrepreneur and most small business people struggle with is too much to do and too little time to do it in. Our (yes I fit into both of those categories myself) plates are full already so the thought of having to add time to write content for a business blog can be enough to keep many businesses who could benefit from a blog from even getting started.

Effective business blog posts can be short and sweet!

I know exactly how that goes. My posting frequency here on SuccessCREEations has been erratic to say the least. I’ve gotten so “busy” with client work that I don’t post much at all. I would joke that “the cobbler’s kids have no shoes” and explain that’s why I neglect my own blogging.

Yet I tell my busy clients that blogging for their business is easy and there is time to do it because it’s an important part of their overall online marketing strategy. This weekend it occurred to me that I was being a bit, um, hypocritical telling business owners that they have time to blog if I’m not going to make it a priority myself!

The good news is, writing blog posts for your business blog doesn’t have to be some long, drawn out affair. They can be short and sweet.

I tell my clients that a business blog post only needs to be between 180 and 300 words to be effective. That means they only need to be a few short paragraphs, about the length of a typical email.

That means most business blog posts can be written in a few short minutes.

In fact, this post took me right at 10 minutes to write, including time to find the image and resize it, and is 329 words long, which puts it at the “long” end of a typical business blog post.

When posting to your business blog is made that easy, there really is time for it!

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10 Powerful Networking Tips Using Business Cards

Whether you are looking for a job or running a business, giving out business cards is crucial to marketing your skills or services. Even as a job seeker, develop the mindset of running the business of YOU, Inc. Business cards speak volumes about who you are, what you offer and how serious you are marketing YOU, Inc. as a business. Oh! So, you have a resume and don't need business cards. Can you carry 10 resumes in your wallet' Do you or can you carry your resume everywhere you go' A church bell ringing lets people know they are open for business. Your business card is your bell. Here are some proven tips using business cards to increase your chances of landing a job or creating a business opportunity.

1. Never leave home without them. 

Before leaving home, your checklist should be expanded to include business cards, as part of "do I have my wallet/money, house keys, driver's license'" Any 'per chance' meeting is an opportunity to give out a business card. A morning run or a quick trip to the local store could be an opportunity to network. My wife and I always ask each other 'do you have business cards', before leaving the house. Make it a habit to carry business cards.

2. Insert a business card when mailing bill payments. 

Bills contain advertisements. Why can't you advertise your skills or services the same way' Insert a business card with your payment. You may not think a person in South Dakota who opens your credit card bill payment can help you. Never underestimate the power of networking. A movie, entitled '6 Degrees of Separation' points out we are 6 people away from knowing someone of influence. You could be 6 people away from knowing the President of the United Sates, your favorite movie star or someone who is in a position to hire your skills or services. Each of us knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone etc. Developing this powerful networking attitude will be a fundamental source of continued success.

3. Use proper business card etiquette.

Whenever you give a business card, ask for a business card. When given a business card, don't just take it and place it in your pocket. Make the person feel important by looking at their card for a few seconds. You might see something that could be a topic of discussion. Write comments on the card such as date, location and common points of interest. These comments will prove valuable when following up with that person. This  also demonstrates a sincere interest in the other person. Then place it in your wallet. This lets them know they reside in a special place with you. "Skill with People" by Les Giblin is a book that expands on this approach. Make people feel important, in order to make yourself important to them.

4. Be generous. 

Give business cards out to everyone, including family and friends. Don't let vanity stop you from giving out your last business card or giving 2 at a time to each person. I have met many people who have totally missed the purpose of a business card. I once asked a person for a second business card, so I could refer his services. His response was "I only have a few cards left and I need them", as he looked again at his name on the card. Hoarding your business cards only makes your wallet feel full, not your bank account.

5. Ask for referrals. 

When giving a business card, people feel more comfortable when you ask; 'I would appreciate a referral, if you know anyone that could use my services'. Don't make people feel like they are on the spot. This approach disarms people much better than asking them, 'is your company hiring'' People naturally like to do favors for people. Saying 'could you do me a favor by referring my services to someone'. This always places you in a better position with them. They will feel better about helping you. Give them 2 cards.

6. Maximize every "per chance" meeting. 

You never know when you might meet someone who can help you. Family or friends social events could produce unexpected encounters with people. Don't discount those events. So you're going to a birthday party for your friend's kid. You never know who you might meet. At a family holiday gathering last year, I met someone that has been instrumental in developing our business this year. Who would have thought this could happen by giving him a simple business card.

7. Place yourself at the right place at the right time. 

Have you been to a job fair or business conference and been disappointed with the networking results' Turn the tables around. Consider volunteering to help out at the job fair or other types of events. This puts you in a better strategic position for presenting your resume or business card. Company representatives might view you differently, if they know you are willing to go the extra mile in helping them make their presence easier to manage. Get involved by visiting Eventme.com, TheLunchClub.net, Craigslist.com or view the calendar of events for JacobJavitsCenter.com to place yourself in opportunities for giving out your business card. Volunteering for events has been a very successful resource for my business partner and I to expanding our business. Zig Ziglar, one of the most successful sales trainers in the world says "if you help enough people get what they want in life, you will get what you want in life".

8. Use "In Your Face" follow up. 

Did you ever have a job interview or meeting with a recruiter, potential client or employer and wonder why they never called you back' 'Out of sight, out of mind' is the operative phrase to remember. Today's economic climate dictates you might be competing with 20, 50, 100 or more other people for the same position or contract. It's quite a task for people to keep track of each individual meeting. So it's up to you to give a person a reason to call you back. Immediately after a meeting snail mail a hand written note thanking the person for their time. Insert your business card. Now you're in the driver's seat in standing out from other people. If you get no response, do it again. Patience and persistence pays off.

9. Use promotions to promote YOU, Inc. 

Newspapers often have stories of people being promoted to high levels in different organizations' This is an opportunity for you. Consider getting some invitation size blank greeting cards. Use the Internet's search capabilities to find out the address of the company's executive offices. Send the blank invitation type card with a hand written note sincerely congratulating a person on their promotion. Insert your business card. For the cost of a 37-cent stamp, you have just made someone's day and may create an impression that makes a person feel compelled to respond back to you. Make it a habit to do this once a week. Remember '6 Degrees of Separation'. You just never know . . . People open invitation type envelops faster than any others.

10. Brand yourself with a slogan. 

Print a slogan on your business card that answers the question 'Why should I hire you' Or "What makes you different from everyone else'" A catchy phrase or slogan insures people ALWAYS associate a company name with their product or services. People remember even after the commercial is over. That's called branding. Companies pay big bucks to advertising agencies to come up with these lasting slogans. Consider doing the exact same thing on your business card. This is your insurance people remember you, after you meet. Don't just put Hortence Smiley, Accountant on your business card. Add something like "Financial Services With Integrity". A slogan makes all the difference between getting hired or not, because people will remember you long after a meeting.

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SEO Tips For PR Agencies

Our Online Marketing agency at TopRank has been providing practitioners in the Public Relations industry information and insight on Search Engine Optimization for nearly 10 years.

Starting with adding SEO to our media relations services in 2001 to providing SEO consulting to PR industry leaders like Vocus, PRWeb and The PRSA, we’ve been in the thick of SEO and PR for some time.

The demand for smart Social Media and SEO information from PR agencies and corporate communications organizations has amplified significantly this year. We’re talking with numerous companies, helping them get up to speed with strategy, road mapping and training. One of the most useful insights we can provide is guidance on what to avoid when it comes to incorporating SEO and SMO (social media optimization) into PR content strategies. No one likes to #fail, so here are several things to avoid:

Shiny Object Keyword Syndrome

SEO advice is easy to find online including suggestions of doing keyword research using tools like Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool. There’s a temptation to focus only on the most popular words and phrases even if they aren’t 100% on target. Or worse, if the website that PR staff can contribute to and edit isn’t anywhere near deserving of being known as THE authority for a highly competitive topic.

Those high popularity count keyword phrases are like shiny objects that distract from the language that is most relevant and realistic to achieve. It’s fine to have highly popular (and competitive), relevant keyword phrases as targets, as a long term goal and contingent that there’s a commitment to creating the content and attracting the links necessary. In the meantime, go after phrases that reflect the intersection of the topic your promoting and the most relevant queries being made. In fact, extend that search keyword research to social topics for more long tail concepts to optimize for.

Many journalist inquiries are pretty niche. They’re often looking for something very specific, and if you’re chasing high popularity keywords that will take a year to achieve, you may be missing out on a lot of search visibility that could inspire media coverage in the meantime.

One-Off SEO

Another temptation is to approach SEO very tactically and try new SEO knowledge on a single web page or press release. There’s nothing wrong with experimentation, but optimizing a single or a handful of documents isn’t what drives significant search traffic.

An extension of that would be to optimize a newsroom or website without planning to revisit keyword lists and whether refinement is necessary. I’ve heard comments like this many times, “Oh, we optimized our site already. In 2004.” SEO, like Social Media and Content is a journey – not a destination.

Missing Links

Google PageRank introduced the online marketing world to the importance of links beyond those that simply drive direct traffic. Today, PageRank isn’t as much of a focus, but links are still very important. Especially links from social networks and media sharing sites. Many PR professionals consider the keyword optimization of web pages, press releases and digital assets all that is necessary – discounting the need to attract links.

Links are like electricity and help search engines discover new content. They also serve as a signal for use in assigning importance for ranking. PR professionals are in a unique position to attract some of the most valuable links possible – from online media websites. Asking journalists to link back to a website takes little effort and might result in a highly valued link that can send the most significant kind of signal or link juice to what it is that you’re promoting.

Additionally, sending out press releases through a news release distribution service like our client PRWeb, that are properly optimized with links to content that is being promoted can result in link acquisition as well. Sometimes it’s 5 or 10 links and sometimes 100′s of them. Optimization with keywords is just the start. Link building and social promotion are what create awareness to journalists and bloggers directly as well as through improved search visibility.

Falling Short on Measurement

Improved search visibility is often measured with a ranking report. With personalization, those reports are not as useful as they once were. Web analytics tracks visitors to a website and where they came from, like from a search engine. That’s about as far as most PR and Corporate Communications pros will go when it comes to measuring the impact of their SEO efforts.

However, there’s a lot more. Especially since increased, relevant traffic to the corporate website or news content can not only reach the media but end consumers looking to buy. If the content can warrant a link to a “buy page” where a conversion or inquiry can occur, PR practitioners would do well to make sure web analytics tracking is setup so that new business inquiries can be attributed to optimized PR content when appropriate.

How powerful would it be to show not only media coverage, but improved web traffic and new business inquiries as a direct result of PR’s SEO efforts?

Waning on Training

You don’t just flip a switch and become SEO savvy, I’m sorry to say. Achieving SEO competence takes training, practice and persistence. At TopRank Marketing, we have a consulting service but we’re in the business of helping PR firms and corporate public relations staff get up to speed with SEO and Social Media SEO skills. But there are many other places to get useful knowledge ranging from the upcoming SES conference in San Francisco to the online training provided by Market Motive you see in the right side bar of this blog.

The key thing is to understand that to gain momentum, providing SEO skills training to those in your organization in a position to create content online will be especially helpful. Going it alone as the sole SEO savvy person in a large agency is tough to scale. However you get that training is up to you, just be sure to get it for yourself and for your team.

Frugal SEO Tooling

I’ve noticed there’s a tendency with many PR agencies and departments to be a bit conservative on paying for tools. It’s true that there are many free tools out there, but over time and without a business model to fund them, they get neglected and can become irrelevant or go away altogether. Then you’re up a creek without a paddle, scrambling for some other free tool, not knowing what really works and what doesn’t.

That’s why I like to pay for tools. I know they’ll be around and will have an obligation to provide some kind of service level and support. Whether its paying for WordStream for keyword research or SEOMoz Pro or Raven Tools for a host of SEO functionality and campaign management, don’t skimp on the tools. The impact of great SEO, especially SEO and Social Media Optimization, can have a tremendous impact and maybe even a multiplier to online media relations efforts. Tools will help you do quality work and more importantly, scale!

To Be Optimized, You Must Socialize

A big part of today’s optimization for better search performance means active social media content creation, curation and engagement. Building networks that you can share links with and inspire link propagation is essential for the social link and content signals being increasingly considered by Google and to some degree, Bing. Optimizing social media content improves the search visibility of brand content on the social web. The social network participation on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Quora and Google+ that goes along with brand social media efforts also provides Google with signals that can be used for ranking content on Google.com. Optimize and Socialize!

Conclusion

There are many more ways than this to fail at SEO and SMO for Public Relations, but as a foundation, these tips can serve to help PR Agencies and Corporate Communications avoid some of the pitfalls and become more productive, more quickly with their SEO efforts. Realistically, these tips are appropriate for any industry, but the boost in inquiries we’re getting from PR firms and business Comms pros, motivated me to create this post just for you :)

If you work at a Public Relations firm or in Corporate PR, have you hit on any of these areas to avoid? How did you get back on track, or did you?

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10 Tips for Maximizing Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are great for meeting new people and sharing your ideas and content. Facebook groups can also help you brand yourself if you use them right.

Following are 10 tips for maximizing your Facebook groups participation:

1. Join Facebook groups with the intention of gaining the maximum possible benefit from each group. Do not just click “Join” merely to display interest in a subject or cause.


2. Be prepared to give at least as much to the group as you receive, and in the end you’ll probably receive more than you gave.


3. Abide by each group’s preferences. Look to see whether discussion is taking place on a group’s Wall or on its Discussion Tab.


4. Visit your Facebook groups frequently, as your groups’ updates don’t appear in your news feed and may have insufficient EdgeRank to be appear if and when Facebook allows group content to show up in news feeds.


5. Comment on your groups’ updates and join the conversation. You may disagree with another member’s content or opinion, but please, exercise restraint and comment with respect for that person and the group. Sometimes it may be better to send a private message rather than discuss a delicate or personal matter in public.


6. Add new content to your Facebook groups that will interest other members and stimulate conversation.  Include your personal take on the content.


7. Post your own content if it’s relevant, but don’t post your content exclusively, and be very careful not to spam the group.


8. Invite your friends to join the Facebook groups you belong to. Use your Wall, a group’s “Invite People to Join” link or private messages. However, only extend appropriate direct invitations. I’ve been extra careful when inviting people to join the Fabulous Baby Boomers Facebook group, because I don’t want to insult them in case they’re too young to be boomers.


9. Invite group members to be Facebook friends if and when it seems like a good idea. In the invite message, remind them how you know them.


10. Expect to receive bulletins from your Facebook groups. If your groups hold a Facebook Event or even an off-site event, do your best to participate.

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Five things social media can't do

From the largest of brands to the mom-and-pop store down the street, it seems like every business is setting up a social media presence of some type.

 

And for good reason: everywhere you look, somebody is extolling the virtues of social media and what it can do for businesses.

But social media, like most channels, has its limitations.

When looking at making an investment in social media, here are the five things social media can't do that businesses should keep in mind.

Make you cool

Long gone are the days when being on Facebook or Twitter meant you were ahead of the curve. Today, 'everybody' is on social media, meaning your social media presence is only as cool as you are.

Create great products & services

The feedback you receive from social media can in some cases help you improve your product and service offerings, but social media in and of itself won't turn crud into quality. That, at the end of the day, is always going to be your job.

Quash criticism

Having a presence on Facebook or Twitter can enable you to respond more quickly and effectively to criticism, but being active in social media will not enable you to eliminate all criticism.

In some cases, the responses you give to criticism leveled at you via social media can only make things worse. 

Provide free marketing

Signing up for popular social networks may not cost you a cent, but that doesn't mean that social media is 'free'. Building, growing and maintaining a social media presence always requires an investment in time, and for every business, time is money.

Improve your customer service

For many companies, social media has become an important customer service tool. But don't be confused: great customer service is provided by people, not tools.

If your customer service staff isn't capable of helping customers with their problems regardless of the channel, a Twitter account won't change that.

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Quantity vs. Quality in Social Media and Business Networking

In establishing social media and business networking connections, quality matters more than quantity, but only to a limited extent. 

Admittedly, 100 quality business connections are superior to 400 random ones. I cannot dispute that. However, it’s rarely the either-or proposition that quantity vs. quality suggests.

For example, you connect with 500 people whom you carefully select, and you hope that all will be great connections. You later discover that 100 are fine connections and that the remaining 400 are questionable ones. Of your 100 fine connections, 20 really shine, but only four of them become clients or employees.

Quantity a Prerequisite for Quality

That’s how networking and prospecting work. Consider it a process of elimination or an outcome of the 80/20 Rule.

Beware of those who discount quantity in their quest for quality business contacts. In practice, they end up with neither one, since quantity is a prerequisite for quality.

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Reasons Why You Might NOT Be Promoting Yourself Enough

These are eight reasons why self-promotion and injecting yourself into your content are very important:

1. You transcend your interests. 
   No interest or group of interests, no matter how passionate you are about them, can fully define you as a person. Admittedly, this point is too existential, so…


2. Your subject matter might lose relevance. 
   For example, your product can be discontinued or your company can go out of business. Your content will become irrelevant with no residual benefit from the effort you put into creating and promoting it. However…


3. You’re always relevant as a person.
   You have inherent value, and you’re completely portable from one venue to another.


4. You and I are unique. 
   People aren’t interchangeable, but products, services and organizations tend to be.


5. You and I are memorable.
   People will come to remember us and our faces once they see us a few times.


6. People prefer to do business with people they know, like and trust. 
   It has always been that way, even before Al Gore allegedly invented the Internet. You and I can relate to people and build solid social capital.


7. Synergy. 
   Our diverse interests and content work to build a bigger and more insightful picture of us.


8. Social media is uhh, social.
   You and I are social. Our jewelry and weight loss products merely facilitate social interaction. People relate to people, and their relationships are ongoing.

At this time, you can probably suggest additional reasons for keeping it social, and I expect that you will.

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Converting a big site to new friendly url structure

Well if you have ever taken on an SEO project that involves converting a large (meaning many many thousands of pages) site to a new architecture you know how difficult this can be. The temptation is to just not do it and try to work with the existing pages. Also, the issue of mapping the old URLs with valid 301 redirects is challenging as well.

Here are some steps when taking on this task.

1. First make sure to get a good crawl of the existing site. This will tell you whats out there. I recently had to do this with a site that had cleverly programmed over 1.5 million pages. Of course google only had around 1,000 of them in their index but they were still ‘accessible’ and this had to be changed as these were doorways into the old site architecture. If these were to be left open this could create issues for duplicate content.


2. Once you have the URL’s you’ll need to determine the unique ID’s that are used to drive the existing architecture. You’ll need to know these so you can either use them for your re-writes or in my most recent case it was a conversion from ASP to PHP which meant I could not use ANY of the existing logic since it was all using recordsets etc etc. So, I had to create an export based on the crawl that kept the product and category ID’s intact and used those to import into the new database that would drive the site.


3. Once you have the tables you can then either desing the new database from this or , as I did, programmatically create rewrites in the .htaccess that will handle all of these pages. Be sure to check for long URL’s with multiple queries parameters and be sure to forward all of these to either their corresponding pages or the parent ID’s of these pages.


4. When testing on the new site you can use the so that the rewrites will work while testing.


5. Run a new crawl on the new site and verify all things work


6. Check your redirects in something like Redirect Checker so you can be sure you get 301’s instead of 404 or 302’s. The 301 is the accepted method of redirecting. It also allows the PR from those old pages to pass on to the new pages.

The overall process can be pretty involved but be sure to take it one step at a time and stay organized so you dont end up losing the old pages.

The final tip is that once you do the change dont freak out when the traffic drops for the site as the new pages will take some time to get all figured out. When anything ‘in mass’ takes place on a site the SE’s sometimes take a bit. Once they re-crawl all the new pages and figure out what is going on they will start giving clearer rankings.

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Keyword Optimization Tips

To get into the top of the SERP’s, We need keywords for targeting.

So here is my short article about Choosing Keywords, Identify Phrases used by similar web sites, Good keyword Tool, What to do after choosing the keywords..

Lets start..

1) Choosing the Keywords

Choosing keywords is the main or one of the main activity when implementing a search engines placement strategy. Getting #1 on the SERP’s for a keyword which is barely used is useless, While a 2nd Page for a hugely used or popular keyword is really good.

You can ask your colleagues, friends, classmates, business friends and Internet friends that what keywords this use in the Search Engines in your Business Niche and what keywords they expect of your site in the Search Engines.

Collect this list into a master list on a spreadsheet, for use later in WordTracker Tool..

2) Identify Phrases used by similar web sites

Do one thing, Enter the keywords which you are targeting in the Search Engines, You might find similar sites like yours, Just visit them and view their websites “Page Source” and identify the Meta Keywords Tag. The keywords might be appropriate for your Website. Add all these keywords to your master list.

3) Keyword Tool

A good keyword tool is WordTracker which does the work of finding similar sites and extracting out the meta keywords from it and sorting them out for you.

4) Final Process

Once you have the list of keywords ready for your website, We probably want to pick the best of it. We will use 3 indicators which combine and give the best phrases to target which consists of checking of each phrases for

• Phrase popularity which is seen on GoTo Keyword Tool which will show you the prior months keywords and phrases


• competitiveness of the phrases using the number of pages targeting AltaVista.


• Value of the Phrases in the market at #1 position in GoTo which is a PPC Search Engine.

Then we combine the keywords which give us the best results, The ideal phrase is that which is used a lot but it has a little competition and has a lot click cost.

Condensing the keywords into 10-12 phrases which sum up the business and give you the best of the best keywords to boost up your Business.

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