Blog - Websites

Top SEO Tip: Keywords are...Key

So you're paying a web person to do SEO for you. Great! What are they doing? How are you checking their work? If they provided you with a report that says where they filled in keywords, that may be satisfactory to you, encouraging you to sit back and wait for Google and other search engines to start flinging traffic your way.

Bad idea. Here's why:

First of all, SEO (search engine optimization) is an ongoing process. Your competitors are constantly at your heals with new pages and better SEO methods. Checking your current SEO results usually inspires new and better ideas of how to better optimize your website. Which leads us to the #1 component to think about when doing or paying for SEO writing to be done to your website: the targeted keywords.

The targeted keywords that are used in your website content are just as, if not more-so, important than where they are placed in your website. Technically, your SEO person may know where to place the keywords, but what keywords is he or she using? Most likely they got guidance from you, as you know your industry. But did they take it to the next level? Are you having them provide you with ongoing reports of what position your website is for specific keywords, or are you at least tracking this yourself?

THE BEST SEO IMPLEMENTERS ARE COPYWRITERS
SEO implementers are (usually) not programmers. They are (usually) not designers. Writing copy for search engines is a very precise activity. It involves creative writing that is calculated writing, and clever placement of that copy in sweet spots. Not only does your SEO expert need to help you write your website copy for specific pages, but they need to help you brainstorm what types of words your potential customers are searching. How?

  • Use www.keyworddiscovery.com to find related words that people are actually searching for
  • Use what you know - your own site stats

GO LOCAL - REALLY LOCAL
The beauty of today's technology is that it's getting easier to find answers at our fingertips, whether we're on the road or at our desk. If we are on the road browsing search engines to find a local fabric store or ice cream parlor, local search is vital to increasing traffic to your website and physical location. And relevant traffic at that - traffic that may be a higher conversion (paying customer). How?

  • Include your zip code in the page title (and city and state of course)
  • Make sure this is on every one of your pages
  • Submit your website to Google Local

OPTIMIZING FOR YOUR NAME IS NOT ENOUGH
Optimizing your website for your name is very important, but is not enough. That assumes that your potential customers know who you are, or are doing a bit of Googling to check you out first before working with you - to make sure you're legit. You want to focus on the factors surrounding your business, like your location, industry questions (a blog is great for creating content around industry questions), etc.

CHECK THE WORK
Most importantly, check the work of your SEO writer. To do this, log into your website site stats and look at the report for Keywords. Run a comparative look from the most recent period to 30 days prior and see if anything changed. Or wait 60 or 90 days and check again. The number of searches from keywords should have gone up. If they did not, you should have your SEO expert investigate why and make further tweaks by doing further research. Or, even easier is to do a search in Google or another search engine. If you don't come up for "hair salon 12508", then there is most likely some work that could be done to get your website on the radar for that term. But remember - for that term. SEO is all about ranking for different keyword combinations, not just your company name (especially if no one knows about your company yet, or your trying to increase your client base).

Good SEO work involves a budget, so that ongoing checks, tweaks and research like this can be done over time, but if done correctly, can play a big roll in increasing relevant traffic to, and potential sales from your website.

We hold SEO Blitz Sessions from time to time, which is a private session with you at your desk (via GoToMeeting) analyzing your website for missed SEO and usability opportunities. Sometimes, these are available for free to Collective-E members (learn about this and other benefits). Check our workshops schedule to see when the next SEO Blitz Session is.

Collective-E's Entrepreneur Agency & Community, Your Brand Building Support System

Do you have big goals and plans for your business in 2010?  We can help!

Collective-E ties together everything you  need to succeed with a new, fresh approach to brand building.  From creating new and improved revenue models, to building your website or running your PR campaign, our unique hybrid of an Entrepreneur Agency and Community is focused on bringing you the services, PR & marketing platforms, exposure and connections you need to nurture your ideas and build your brands.

OUR PHILOSOPHY
As a team, we are not only entrepreneurs who understand your experience, but collectively, we have worked with thousands of women entrepreneurs at all stages of their businesses.  Based upon that, we have determined four essential components for success:

Business strategy
Public relations
Online presence
Community

We operate under the belief that these four components must be actively engaged and in harmony, and that it is vitally important for entrepreneurs to have the ability to understand, control, and operate all aspects of their businesses.  Most importantly, our team approach ultimately makes your brand more visible, makes you money and leaves you empowered to successfully build your business.

OFFERINGS
Here is where Collective-E truly takes on a new dimension, our agency approach gives you options to meet virtually all of your brand building needs:

COLLECTIVE-E MEMBERSHIP
By joining our community as a member of the Collective-E you plug into our highly optimized marketing platform online, gain access to exclusive PR leads, media contacts, exclusive PR tools as well as Random Acts of Pitching, become part of a marketplace to feature your goods and services, attend events, receive free and discounted workshops, access to opportunities and most importantly, connections to other entrepreneurs you can depend on for support, collaboration and partnerships no matter your stage of growth.
Learn more about all of these benefits in our newly designed and expanded Membership area

AGENCY SERVICES
From hand holding to full on execution, The Collective-E agency offers assistance and experts in the categories of:

Business Strategy: Revenue Modeling, Brand Development, Copywriting/Brand Messaging, Business Plan Writing, Online Advertising Strategy and Execution including Display Advertising and Ad Networks,  Business Development & Sales...
Learn more

Online Presence: Website Design and Programming, Online Strategy, SEO, Social Media, eCommerce...  
Learn more

Public Relations: Press Strategy, Media Kit Development, Alternative Marketing, Head Shot & Reel Creation, Campaign Management and Execution...
Learn more


CASE STUDIES

Nomie Baby Mom Inventor Launches a Must-Have Solution Business for Parents
Read the case study
WELLalarm One Innovative Idea, Multiple Revenue Streams
Read the case study

With so much on your mind, we want to help you make the path to your goals totally clear and give you laser focus.  Please contact us to set up a call to discuss any of your brand building needs and we'll figure out which membership or services best fit your goals and budget. 

We look forward to being part of your success!

How to get 2K Web Hits (a day) By Your 2nd day of Launching with No Press

I wanted to think of a sassy title for this blog but then I decided forget it, I want you to know exactly what you're getting - great advice from a fellow entrepreneur!  

Collective-E member Judy Goss, founder of the Over Forty Female Movement, has a special place in my heart as I not only count her as a friend and colleague, but I've watched her grow as an entrepreneur and leader since I met her a few years ago while she was working at More Magazine.  Since then a lot has changed, and one of her biggest projects (and I'd say fastest successes) was the launch of her website, Over40Females.com.

Why do I see her launch as a great success?  Well beyond the fact that I think any woman (or man) taking a risk, launching a good or service or website and striking out on their own is a success story in itself, Judy launched her website with NO press coverage and on it's second day she had already garnered over 2,000 hits a day (and it's still growing) for this online home to her Over 40 Females Movement.

After I congratulated Judy on the successful launch, I immediately wanted to know "how did you do it?" and my suspicions were fight - a lot of it had to do with her mastery of social media.  I asked Judy for her tips and she obliged.  You can find these tips below.....

How I Got 2,000 Hits on My Website's Second Day Live (without any press), by Judy Goss:

Begin building your fan base and buzz on Facebook & Twitter prior to your launch (for Judy this was months prior).

Always be consistent in your postings, always (try as best you can) answer people when they "@" you or "friend" you, and definitely when they message or direct message you.

Created a Fan Page only for the upcoming website - not a personal page.

While building my website (a good 2-3 wks before launch) I "ramped up" the interest...made a simple blog that I forwarded from my main domain "Over40Females.com".  In other words, when you typed in "www.over40females.com the site would forward to a free wordpress blog, until I got the official site launched.  This kept the buzz building.

While ramping up, I posted things on FB and Twitter that piqued interest like "Professional experts waiting for you on OFF.com" and had a countdown for the launch, etc.
(*note from Sabina: My interest was captured just by trying to figure out what Judy's OFF teasers meant - I wanted to know too!)

When people joined my FB fan page, I thanked as many as I could and mentioned the launch of OFF.com, AND friended all the people that weren't my friends on my personal page.

I made sure to update my Collective-E member profile and share the launch with other members and on the website.

At launching time, I emailed my friends who had a lot of members and asked them if they wouldn't mind posting my site on their FB page, Twitter, etc.

Most important thing for social media - be consistent, to the point, and humor & giveaways are the icing on the cake.

Good Karma:  Whoever r helps you out with a Twitter or FB or whatever, make sure you return the favor if you haven't already!! Or at least thank them.

One more thing - if you are a Collective-E member and would like to share your story with Judy (first check out the site to see if you're a good fit), send your information to prleads@collective-e.com and we'll pass it along!  You can also send it along our PR Leads Submission form.

Is Content Still King? UBS Conference Raises Interesting Questions

Today while going through artcles I deemed a "must read but don't have time right now" from the past week, I sat down to read New York Magazine's coverage of the UBS Media Conference.  One of the hottest topics there was the discussion of the phrase we've heard time and time again "content is king".  This was not only true in traditional media, but seems to ring true ofen in new media/social media as well.

Our own CEO Katie Hellmuth-Martin often reminds me that not only is content king, but it's the perfume that brings many a person/consumer/customer to your website.  

Not only did the conference discuss content, but also the debate over free content vs what users will pay for....As it turned out the websites that nearly all of the young panelists there to discuss media & web surfing habits were turning to favorite (free) sites such as Twitter, ESPN, & Perez Hilton when cruising the web, all of which provide free content.

While these massive corporations work to best decide how content. free content and new/social media fit into their business models, I encourage you to keep that thought in your minds (and business models) as well.  This truly is a new territory for companies big and small, and we're all learning as we go at times!

For more on the UBS story check out New York Magazine's story (free content!) HERE.

Black Friday Online Sales Surge, Yet Another Reason to Have a Great Website

Comscore projects online sales to be up 11% over the holiday weekend.  As people are working harder and time is more valuable, shopping online saves both time and money.  With free shipping from many companies along with discounts, the click and shop crowd is growing.  This, along with a comfort level in shopping online, it is really a no brainer. 

What this means for you?  You must have an excellent online shopping experience to compete, and the more you can offer in customer service and they psycological free shipping will help to drive sales.

If you have questions about anything to do with websites or ecommerce, click here >

To shop online with our members on their amazing websites, click here >

To read more about incrase in cyber shopping, click here >

SEO Strategy: Do Not include a "dofollow" in Your Comment

Ick.

For those of you who only comment on blogs in the hopes of including a link back to your website: beware. Savvy blog owners will read your blog comment like a hawk, and read the between the lines to decide if A. you actually read the blog post and B. if you are being legitimate. If the blogger treats "dofollows" like this guy, you're out of luck. See here where Google started to implement "nofollow tactics" to prevent this sort of thing. A "nofollow" command tells search engines like Google to not follow a link, and therefore not count it in the grand link popularity count for a web page, as seen by search engines.

What would be the most blatant attempt of using a website or blog that does allow comments to count links, is to inject a rel="dofollow" command in the code of your comment. Which doesn't even do anything. It's an attempt to override a "nofollow" command set on a website. Therefore, it's just salt in the wound of your attempt to create a link to your site, and calls attention to you even more. Blogger blogs set the "nofollow" by default, and WordPress.com blogs might (see here for a WordPress.org "nofollow" setting adjustment for blogs hosted on individual hosting accounts). But what we do do is monitor every single comment that gets placed on our blog or regular articles. When we see one that is blatantly spamming or link-dropping, and ads no value to the article at hand, we delete with a swift click. But that's not all we do.

We have mollom.com reading each and every entry. Mollom is a fantastic resource for not only blocking a lot of spammy comments that never even see the light of day on a blog or website, but if one slips through, it gives the blog owner the option of reporting it to Mollom, so that they can be on the lookout for that infringer's IP address, or other super power methods Mollom has. Ok, it's not super powers, but it is data crunching.

How to Advertise on Your Blog or Website: Peg Samuel of Social Diva Dishes

Peg SamuelWe always get asked about how to advertise on blogs and websites, and while we have some creative answers, we wanted to get answers straight from the source. So we went to our friend, Peg Samuel, Founder Social Diva Media. She's answered these questions for us, and for those who want direct access to her brain, she is leading a Collective-E workshop on Advertising on Your Website or Blog November 2nd. Peg is a top online sales person with over 10 years experience in Internet sales. She ran sales teams of up to 10 people, managed territories including international, has over 50k newsletter subscribers, and her advertisers range from Dior to Fiji Water. Here are Peg's answers to our questions to get the real deal and in depth answers to advertising issues.

Get more from the Workshop this Wednesday led by Peg on this very topic.


What is "display advertising"?
According to Wikipedia, display advertising is a type of advertising that typically contains text (i.e., copy), logos, photographs or other images, location maps, and similar items. In periodicals, display advertising can appear on the same page as, or on the page adjacent to, general editorial content. In contrast, classified advertising generally appears in a distinct section, was traditionally text-only, and was available in a limited selection of typefaces.

Easier Peg definition- those banners and ads you see on any given page of a website whether at the top, middle or side.

Are banner ads dead?
Not if they are relevant to the reader and served at the appropriate time. Examples:
1. You were looking for a new car and you saw an ad for a special deal in your area on a car you didn’t think about you might be interested
2. You are looking at your first boyfriend from high schools facebook pics and you see an ad for Boxtox. Hello!

Should I join an ad network like Glam? And what is an ad network?
Ad networks are great; I have worked at two of the top ones. If you want to focus on your site and the content and you are not a great sales person. They will do it for you. They have the contacts and the sales force to go in and get smaller sites on bigger advertiser buys.

Do I need a packet of some kind that I email to people who are requesting advertising rates? Can I just name some prices in an email?
Yes, a media kit is a great tool. Buyers like to see it and it gives you the “put together look” you want to go for.  I would also have a rate card put together. But in terms of forwarding your rates before you have a dialogue going, I would wait.

Should I post my advertising rates online?
I don’t. Why? Because I want to know who is asking, I want to be able to have a dialogue started with people that are interested. I want their contact info and interest/intent. I want to be able to negotiate etc.
Also, I don’t want it super accessible for my competition.

Should I post my traffic numbers and newsletter subscriber numbers online?
Sure, you can do this.

If I don't have a newsletter yet, should I have one? And if so, what kinds of things should I include in there? Full reprints of blog articles I've written? Pictures? What's the point?
100% you need a newsletter, even if it is just for CRM (Customer Relationship Management), in terms of your customers. They need to hear from you, remember the 80/20 rule of business.

How do I build my newsletter subscription rate to 50k?
See you on June 10th to find out!  Workshop Details

Thanks Peg!!

Increasing Pageviews: A Perfect SEO Storm

Books can be very powerful traffic generators, when they are published in full online. If you are looking for reasons to create content on your website, and if you have a book already published, then you may be sitting on a golden goose of traffic generators. 

I just completed a website traffic analysis for a company I've been working with for several years. On an ongoing basis, we employ different SEO strategies, track those strategies to see if they worked or didn't work, and continue to analyze traffic patterns to better fine tune the website, both to increase traffic and to expose different sections of the website to existing readers. Several years ago, we decided to publish online a short book that had about 7 pages and was picture based. Each page had a description of the picture. We dedicated a section of the website to this book, built it in an SEO friendly way, and it continues to bring in the most traffic for this website in droves.

The decision was made again to put another popular book online. This book had fewer pictures (although shared some pictures with the search engine popular first book), and was all content. It had several chapters, so the navigation was deep. Initially, it didn't make a big splash. It was not integrated well with the website, in that, there were not very many internal links pointing to it from the website's own content. SEO-wise, it needed links from outside websites to help specific pages and sub-sections rank.

After the yearly review, in which several strategies were employed to help the website in general, here is how this section ended up getting a major boost. And I mean major. Keep in mind, this increase was the compilation of  several factors, almost a perfect storm of SEO strategies.

  • Word choice for the menu navigation: Originally, the menu was a repeat of the book title. However, past keyword research indicated that having the word "book", and specifically what kind of book, yielded searches for that term. The conclusion was drawn that if people were using that term in searches, they would most likely respond to it if they saw it on the website. Result: Changing the menu name caught the attention of people already on the website, thus increasing pageviews to that section.
  • Capitalizing on other high ranking pages: One main section of the website ranked highly for a few specific yet popular searches, which was odd because the content wasn't fully developed. For a long time, a "Coming soon...sign up for our newsletter" type message was the main content of several main landing pages in this section until tweaks were made to make it look a little less sparse. The goal became to better capitalize on the traffic that repeatedly came into this section from search engines, yet had nowhere to go because the content wasn't ready. We created very SEO friendly landing pages for the main pages of this section. We made sure to include linked pictures and linked text to specific areas of the website, to help this new traffic dig down deeper into site to find related content. Result: It worked. Featured sections of several areas of the website saw increased pageviews, including several pages of this new book
  • Building from success of an image in Google Image search: Thanks to the first book that got put online, and the pictures in that book, we knew that the pictures were very SEO friendly and were ranking well in Google Images. We used that same image to appear in the section for the new book. Result: That image continues to rank highly in Google Images, but this time, it is linking to a page in the new book section, breathing new life into this new section.

These changes took place over the course of a few months, and were tracked in a spreadsheet we keep to track all changes, so that we can refer back as time goes on and increases in traffic are generated. One can't keep all of this in their head, so it is most effective to record all changes made by date, and with notes of what you hope will happen, and why you made this change. If you changed copy, record what the old copy was, and what the new copy is, so that if you have change for good, you know why. If you had change for bad, you can revert back to the copy that you didn't think was working but apparently was.

Take a look at the content you already have in your files. There are most likely a lot of ways you can transition it online and build your audience. If you need help thinking, consider our SEO Blitz sessions that we have periodically. Views from an outside perspective almost always sheds new light and refreshes what you are doing. You could be sitting on a gold mine right now!

Learn to Monetize Your Online Business, Events and Increase Newsletter Subscribers with Peg Samuel, the Digital Diva Herself

We are always looking to learn from the best and in the case of monetizing your business, that  is Collective-E Member Peg Samuel, Founder of Social Diva.  From selling advertising for a site, blog or events or building a newsletter list, Peg is going to share her insights and strategies.  

Below is the email that she sent out today, that describes it best.

Hope to see you there!

**Members, your discount will be applied at check out!

*****

Divas know the hottest opportunities right now are in the digital space. Do you have a website or web-based business that needs to increase profits? Let us teach you how to make money like a Diva with a night with Social Diva and Collective-E.

On June 10th from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Collective-E, an entrepreneur's agency with a community twist specializing in women entrepreneurs, is hosting “Monetize your Business: The Basics of Selling Advertising and Sponsorship.” The evening's expert guide will be Social Diva's own Peg Samuel, who will share her 15 years of experience in digital marketing and advertising and teach you the essentials of monetizing your online presence.

Topics discussed will include the technology needed to serve ads and the essentials of display advertising, ad networks, email and newsletter marketing, ad pricing, sponsor packages and event sponsorship.

If you're a digital Diva (or thinking about becoming one), this event was made for you. The event is $85 so sign up now  to reserve your spot.

Collective-E “Monetize your Business: The Basics of Selling Advertising and Sponsorship”
In Good Company Workspaces
16 West 23rd Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York 10010

Know other Divas who need to increase their online profits? Forward this email to your fellow tech-savvy Divas.

We're an Agency with a Community Twist, Focused on Entreprenuers--The Back Story

We sent out an email today about our Collective-E Agency model, one of our biggest steps as a company yet.  Becoming an agency was a real evolution, when we started Collective-E we knew that the three of us had very distinct, yet complimentary expertise and we felt strongly that if we combined forces we would have many of the elements that businesses needed to succeed. Originally our plan was to be community for entrepreneurs, but as the world significantly changed in the midst of our launch, we really wanted to offer more, a new and fresh model for brand building; something that would be truly useful to businesses in the current economic environment.

What has changed?  Women are still launching businesses at a rapid rate, in fact, even more rapidly as job opportunities have dried up.  Therefore, they are much more serious about making money and making it quickly, it is less the “lifestyle choice” or the “be your own boss” and more the “I am going to take control of my own destiny” mentality.  We also found that many entrepreneurs can’t afford the high rates of the larger agencies.  Not only that, it can be a very treacherous world out there, who to trust?  We hear story after story of entrepreneurs getting taken advantage of, especially in the areas of web development, PR, manufacturing and consulting, even business plans writing.

As a team, we knew that we could create a better solution and one that was affordable and empowering.  Our mission is to make sure that entrepreneurs truly have what they need to succeed, they work within their budget and that they can operate all aspects of their business, from website to PR to finances.   Now, with our current model we range from do it yourself with our membership to strategy and guidance to full blown management, we offer a solution to meet virtually every need or budget.

The community twist.  Community is a very important focus for Collective-E because we feel that connecting is important on many levels; from sharing resources to a marketplace for goods and services, partnerships, collaborations and maybe most important of all, friendships. 

Here is the email with all the details and some case studies, so you can see a full picture of how we work and think; more case studies to come shortly!

**********************

The Collective-E Agency evolved because we understand more than anyone that it's easy to get overwhelmed in the sea of options for growing your business and generating revenue.

Collective-E is tying together everything you need to succeed with a new, fresh approach to brand building.  From creating new and improved revenue models, to building your website or running your PR campaign, our unique hybrid of an Entrepreneur Agency with a Community Twist is focused on bringing you the services, PR & marketing platforms, exposure and connections you need to nurture your ideas and build your brands.

OUR PHILOSOPHY
As a team, we are not only entrepreneurs who understand your experience, but collectively, we have worked with thousands of women entrepreneurs at all stages of their businesses.  Based upon that, we have determined four essential components for success:

Business strategy
Public relations
Online presence
Community

We operate under the belief that these four components must be actively engaged and in harmony, and that it is vitally important for entrepreneurs to have the ability to understand, control, and operate all aspects of their businesses.  Most importantly, our team approach ultimately makes your brand more visible, makes you money and leaves you empowered to successfully build your business.

OFFERINGS
Here is where Collective-E truly takes on a new dimension, our agency approach gives you options to meet virtually all of your brand building needs:

COLLECTIVE-E MEMBERSHIP
Joining our community as a member of the Collective-E Agency, we offer you a highly optimized marketing platform, access to exclusive PR leads and Random Acts of Pitching, a marketplace to feature your goods and services, events, free and discounted workshops, access to opportunities and most importantly, connections to other entrepreneurs you can depend on for support no matter what your stage of growth.
Learn more about all of these benefits in our newly designed and expanded Membership area

AGENCY EXPERIENCE
If you are seeking more personal brand building attention, our Agency Experience is designed to be an affordable way for you to have a team of experts focused on the growth of your brand.  Similar to having your own business adviser, public relations adviser, and web consultant on call and in touch with your vision, we put together a team of experts in the areas that will impact your business most and work together with you to propel your brand.
Learn more about our Agency Experience Program

AGENCY SERVICES A LA CARTE
The Collective-E Agency has an answer for almost all your brand building needs.  We offer assistance and experts in the categories of:

Business Strategy: Revenue Modeling, Brand Development, Copywriting/Brand Messaging, Business Plan Writing, Product Development & Manufacturing Consulting
Learn more

Online Presence: Website Building, Blog Development, SEO and Social Media, eCommerce  
Learn more

Public Relations: Press Strategy, Media Kit Development, Alternative Marketing, Campaign Management and Execution
Learn more


CASE STUDIES

Nomie Baby Mom Inventor Launches a Must Have Solution Business for Parents
Read the case study
WELLalarm One Innovative Idea, Multiple Revenue Streams
Read the case study

With so much on your mind, we want to help you make the path to your goals totally clear and give you laser focus.  Please contact us to set up a call to discuss any of your idea nurturing or brand building needs and we'll figure out which membership or services best fit your goals.