As you have probably discovered by now, the Internet is full of information, lots of information, information from professionals, information from amateurs, information from hobbyists and of course, information from dorks.  Unfortunately, the Dorks seem to be MUCH more abundant than the professionals, so there is a ton of dis-information out there from so called Gurus.

When it comes to SEO and Internet marketing, their is an overabundance of DORKS available to spread their 3 days of acquired knowledge from the last MLM conference that they attended. So, with so much ‘noise’ out there surrounding SEO, you need a reliable expert to help you bring your web site to the top.  You could of course, continue to read my blog (shameless plug) or you could learn from and listen to the holy grail of search engine experts, Google themselves.  Google realizes that you want your web site to rank well, Google also has a mission: to serve the most relevant, newsworthy and up to date content available, they have created this PDF document for web site owners to digest and utilize as a guide to help their web site index well in Google. This is not new, this is not breathtaking amazing information by any means. This PDF has been available for quite some time, but the point is, we as an SEO firm LISTEN to Google, so should you.  Click here to read Google’s SEO, Search Engine Optimization Guide.

If you are seeking an SEO firm that understands Google, an SEO firm with over a decade of Internet marketing experience, give me a call:   866-998-6886, or visit my web site to learn more about our Internet marketing and organic SEO services.

I was inspired by this article this morning, has nothing to do with SEO, Internet marketing, social media or web design, but everything to do with being a human being and reaching out to those in need. With such a rocky financial year for the entire world,  it is encouraging to know there are still people who give from the bottom of their heart in order to brighten the lives of others less fortunate.

Mysterious Pete will change lives this Christmas due to his generosity:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/18/goodness.pete/index.html

How can you or your company transform a life this year?

From the team at On Target Web Solutions, Merry Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous 2010.

A good friend sent me this video this morning, it is a bit lengthy, but basically, it’s about knowing what your clients want and knowing how to connect with them.
As a business owner, I love this guy’s enthusiasm about his product.  I love his enthusiasm about giving his clients what they want and always introducing them to new things.  I also love how he supports the little guys, the mom and pop’s and marches to his own drummer.

What can we learn from this? Connecting with people in any business is crucial. Talking, speaking, building relationships and LISTENING is mission critical to developing any successful business. How can your Twitter account help you tune in? How can your facebook or linkedin account assist you in growing some relationships? Can your web site connect with people in a real way? If we aren’t listening to what our clients and prospects want, we’re missing the boat.

In my next blog, I’ll talk about some concrete ways that you can use social media and your internet presence to truly LISTEN to your clients and prospects.

Let’s talk about your online marketing and social media plan: Call me: 866-998-6886 or in Orlando: 407-830-4550.

I Had a nice marketing strategy meeting with some great folks who own a restaurant.  After much discussion about calls to action, their web site, their marketing  plan, etc., someone mentioned the domain name was up for renewal.  I asked when and they mentioned that it expires this week and had not yet been renewed.  I of course asked why it hadn’t been renewed yet and found out that they don’t actually have true ownership of the domain name.  They had an ex-employee register the domain name and now this gentleman is pretty much out of the whole picture, he ceases to be on the payroll…. If this domain is not renewed by the end of the week, someone can swipe the domain name and hold it hostage AND the web site goes away.

So, the restaurant owner is left with a considerable dilemma.  The domain name expires soon, they have no way of renewing it unless the ex-employee does it out of the kindness of his heart, or the ex-employee cooperates and transfers the domain name back to them.  WAY TOO MANY If’s in this equation.  The domain name is your foundation, it’s your concrete, you need to keep it under YOUR control. Even if you have a web site company register the domain, insist that they create an account for you and name you and your email address administrative contact on the domain name.  Unfortunately, in this case, you always need to be thinking about the worse case scenario.  The domain name should be registered and owned by the business owner.

No matter how long it may take and how much paperwork is involved, secure your domain name NOW with a reputable company such as GoDaddy or NetworkSolutions.com.  Be cautious about third party registrars that work out their garage, this is not the time to be cheap.

Not sure who owns your domain? Pop over to this domain name and look it up.  If your name and email address are not listed, you need to take steps to contact exactly who registered the domain and take ownership. http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp. There are legal actions you can take to regain ownership if traditional methods are not working, but you need to be able to prove that you are the rightful owner of the domain.

As a heads up, we keep getting bogus email alerts claiming to be Facebook stating the following followed by a virus filled attachment.  Simply delete this email (see below) should one come to you and DO not double click the attachment.

Hey cfd ,

Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.
You can find your new password in attached document.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

Hi, we are aware of an outage with one of our servers and are working as efficiently as possible to isolate and remedy the issue. We will of course keep you in the loop.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.
On Target Web Solutions Hosting Dept.

More and more companies are quickly realizing that their employees are talking about them online, and on their dime.  This can clearly be a blessing and a curse.  Your employees can be a driving force behind your corporate brand by engaging clients and prospects, by providing stellar customer service, or by keeping the corporate message consistent.  Adversely, they can also be giving away company secrets, aiding your competition, or devaluing your brand.

As social media grows and becomes a source of news and information, your company needs to protect it’s brand and image.  Devising a social media policy and enforcing it can protect you, your bottom line and your reputation.  See some corporate social media policies below and start drafting yours today.

About.com: Social Media Policy
DePaul University: Social Media Policy
Sun Microsystems: Social Media Policy

I  feel that it’s crucial to let your team  / employees engage in social media on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Blogging but doing so unbridled and without purpose could be a true detriment to your image.

Saw this article on CNN today about social media and your job: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/08/24/cb.job.social.medial.pitfalls/index.html : Inappropriate self disclosure can cost you your job before you even start it. While I think it’s imperative to be transparent, it is also imperative to exercise caution when you post that tweet about your soon to be boss, or what you and your high school buddy did to that cat last night.

Check out this short clip from my most recent appearance on The Daily Buzz: All about social media.

We recently held a social /viral marketing class for our clients. Most of them said they had not yet jumped on the social bandwagon because they were too busy to keep up with it. Being a small business owner myself, I can see where adding another job to your already busy schedule would deter your social marketing commitment. Although, believe it or not, you can actually manage your Social Marketing accounts in less time than you think with these easy pointers below:

Facebook: Take the time to comment on your friend’s photos, notes or status’.  You don’t have to comment on everything. Facebook has made it even easier since its implementation of the “Like” button. Update your status, add a note, post a photo, etc. Don’t get caught up in games, quizzes (every once in a while is ok) and looking through your friends profiles or photo albums. Do try to find 3-5 new friends for “friendship requests” especially if your Facebook is for your business. Another time consolidating tip is to pull your blog feed into your Facebook Notes http://ontargetwebsolutions.com/search-engine-blog/pull-your-wordpress-blog-into-facebook/551/ so that every time you update your blog, it will post it in your Facebook. This will keep your friends, clients and prospects up on your company’s news.

Twitter: Twitter offers many different options to help you get followers.  When I first started out my account I went in and searched for others using the names of my keywords: seo, internetmarketing, and webdesign.  There were many more than you think. You can look at their profile and follow them.  The more you follow the more that will follow you. I try to follow at least 10 new people a day. First I look at who is following me and see if I want to follow them. Most of the time I will find my 10 people there. In case you don’t there are other options. I personally have used http://wefollow.com and listed myself under #seo #blogger #marketing and http://localtweeps.com and listed myself in my zip/postal district. This will help to get you targeted followers without spending too much time. I also try to update my Twitter status with seo, webdesign, blogging or social tips.  You can also RT  (Re Tweet) other people’s post if you find it amusing, interesting or educational.  This will also help to keep your updates up. Like Facebook, you can pull your blog feeds into your twitter account, so every time you post a blog it will update your twitter.

LinkedIn: A good way to stay on top with LinkedIn is to communicate with others. Sometimes you can answer questions, engage in discussions or ask questions yourself.  This will keep you in loop. Make sure you check LinkedIn for old college friends, old business associates or others in your field. This is a great online business networking tool.

Almost all of these social sites, have applications for your cell phone or allow you to receive emails, text message or phone alerts. This will allow you to update, check in and comment even when you are on the go.

If you or someone you know needs assistance with their Social Marketing Plan, call the social media and Internet marketing experts at On Target Web Solutions, Inc. we can help you setup and get started on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Call us at 407.830.4550.

Follow us on Twitter!

Check out our facebook page.

So, according to my Grandma, I am ‘popular’ on Facebook because I have so many so called friends. It’s true, I do have quite an extensive collection, so when I heard from a high school friend via Facebook chat last week, I wasn’t really all that surprised.  I had not spoken to this girl in about 15 years or so, but thought it was kind of cool that she was reaching out.  We were pretty close friends back in the day, she knew stuff about me that not many others would have known, like my middle name and the name of my high school girlfriend.

Via facebook chat, she says Hi and I reply, how are you?  She says NOT GOOD. Odd, I thought, so I of course probed deeper, what’s happening? She explained to me that she was on vacation with her family in Europe (which I thought was odd) and that she had been mugged and robbed on the way back to her hotel.  I of course asked if I could help in anyway and she tells me she needs money to get back to the USA, about $2500.  Now I knew something was up, this girl was quite proud, she would have never asked me for money, etc. I started to catch on that it wasn’t really her and asked what’s my middle name? The person could not answer and said, come on, why are you asking me these questions…. I replied, because I’m not quite sure it’s you. She said of course it’s me, etc.  I then asked, what was my girl friends name in high school? There was dead silence and then a quick disconnection.  The person had hijacked this girls facebook account and before I could warn her via her facebook wall, the person in control of the account ‘un-friended’ me from her wall so I couldn’t alert her.

Beware of scams like this in Facebook or any other social media venue.  If your account gets compromised, report it quickly so that your good name isn’t being used or tarnished by the good ole’ Nigerians.  Read this article for more social media precautions: http://www.examiner.com/x-13398-Salt-Lake-City-Social-Media-Examiner~y2009m7d29-The-Nigerian-Scams-Have-Hit-Social-Media-Whats-next

Check out how Southwest airlines does things: It truly is the little things that make all of the difference in the world.

Need help standing out?
Call the Internet Marketing experts at On Target Web Solutions today. Social media, SEO and SEO friendly web design. 407-830-4550.

Want to measure your inbound web site traffic from all sources?  A very common mistake that web masters make is to only insert the Google Analytics page on the web site’s home page…. This will ONLY measure the inbound traffic to the home page, not your entire web site.

Install your Google Analytics on each and every page that you wish to measure and you’ll start to get the big picture as to how visitors are behaving, which keywords bounce more than others, etc.  The Analytics code should be installed directly above the </body> tag for optimal results.

Don’t forget to install Analytics in your blog, e-commerce store, etc.!

After appearing on The Daily Buzz this morning discussing social media and how companies can benefit from it, I needed a bit of comic relief. I didn’t have to look long as CNN posted 10 humor sites sure to make you laugh:

My favorites are below:

My Parents Joined Facebook

My Life Is Average

Historical Tweets

We got a phone call yesterday at the On Target office from The Daily Buzz: A Syndicated national morning show.  They asked Brittany if they could speak to a social media expert and ten minutes later, I am booked to appear on The Daily Buzz this coming Monday morning (July 6) to discuss Social Media and how it can impact businesses.

Being naturally curious, I had to know how they had found us: I checked our web stats and discovered they had Googled Orlando Social Media Expert: and found us number 1.

By positioning ourselves as the local experts, we got the attention of the show and PULLED them to us.  As a result, my company will have Nationwide exposure on TV.

How Can SEO Work For You and get your company exposure? Position you and your company as the experts: exhibit to your Internet audience that you are the absolute best at whatever you do, contribute to the Internet and engage your prospects and clients with EXPERT content: By contributing the expertise content, you are feeding not only your prospects, but the search engines and the social media outlets. Want to learn more? Call 407-830-4550.

Tune in on Monday in Orlando, July 6 to CW 18 at 10:00 a.m., or nationally: click here for times / stations in your area.

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As twitter grows, so does the amount of spammy junk from greedy, simple minded, get rich quick multi level so called marketers.

Twitter is NOT meant to be one sided. Twitter is a social networking tool, NOT a PUSH marketing spam tool. If you aren’t engaging your followers, contributing to the conversation or providing USEFUL tidbits of information under 140 characters, there’s no point for you to be there:  pack it up and head back to spamming unsuspecting gmail users.

Stop shouting at people, start talking and listening to people.

My wife loves chick flicks, God forbid we get some bombs, explosions, etc. every once in a while, but I knew she loved Chick flicks before I ever married her.  So, naturally, it should come as no surprise to tell you that I endured the movie “Failure To Launch” recently.  The movie is about a guy who cannot leave the roost. He is pushing his thirties and just can’t commit to the ‘real life’ he may encounter once he leaves. His mom and dad would love for him to leave the nest, so they hire a professional ‘launcher’ for lack of a better word, to get him OUT of the house and on with his life.

I got to thinking on my way home today how often clients, prospects, business owners, marketing professionals FAIL To launch.  9 times out of 10, it is a fear factor.  A Fear of getting on Twitter, a fear of joining LinkedIn, a fear of optimizing their web site or even creating a web site for that matter.  I had one person tell me this AM at one of our Internet marketing classes that they were afraid that they would receive more business if they spent some time marketing themselves.  WOW. They were afraid that they could not handle additional business. That could be a legitimate concern if your infrastructure isn’t there, but shouldn’t we all take some of those risks and adapt as the need arises?

As a business owner, I’ve learned MANY valuable lessons. I’ve learned to listen to my gut. I’ve learned to take risks. I’ve learned that if I don’t pull the trigger on marketing initiatives, my competitors will.

When it comes to YOUR web site, it’s time to pull the trigger.  You’ve no doubt heard about social marketing, you’ve heard about SEO, you’ve heard about Google adwords, etc: why are you afraid to jump in? Is it fear of failure? Is it fear of success? It’s time to name it,  claim it and jump in.  After all, you got into business to succeed and thrive didn’t you? Take the leap, fake it until you make it if you have to, but it’s time to leave the comfy nest and time to get your hands dirty.

I review web sites all day and I have to say, short of folks leaving their phone number off of their web page so that people can actually call them, I see mixed signals.  I see content that’s all over the place with no clear directive or mission.

When it comes down to organic search engine optimization, your web site needs to have a focus and a clear directive.  If you are telling Google that your web site is all about widgets and you are constantly blogging about the weather in Sri Lanka, you are sending mixed signals.  Essentially, the more scattered that your web site becomes in terms of content, the more diluted your message gets. The more diluted your message gets, the less relevant you become for your once intended audience.

I tell all of our clients to become the online expert in their particular field.  This gets accomplished by creating content relevant to your business, not your personal take on Global warming or the quality of the Starbucks coffee you had this AM. The more you exercise your expertise, the more targeted your content becomes: therefore, you feed Google more relevant non-diluted content.

Google Analytics is currently working on an update to Google Analytics to track inbound search traffic from Microsoft’s new search engine Bing.

Currently, if you are receiving traffic from Bing and have Google Analytics, you will see Bing traffic as a ‘referrer’ not as a search engine.  There is a work around for advanced users on the link below.

Here’s a link to learn more >>

You’ve got twitter in place, facebook, maybe some linked in. You setup your blog, you are composing amazing articles, you drive traffic to your home page and NOTHING happens. Sound familiar? So many folks go through all of the motions, are frantic about SEO and getting found, getting their message out, etc.  But when prospects come knocking on the front door of your web site are you converting them?  Do they know what action to take? Do you lead them to the contact form or instill confidence in them?

Before you embark on any online marketing initiative, take a close look at your existing web site.  Better yet, have a professional third party evaluate your web site. Make certain that your web site is offering site visitors the easiest possible path to convert them from a visitor to a prospect.  Call On Target at 407-830-4550 for a free web design and marketing analysis.

Quick Tip: A great tool to start evaluating what really happens when a visitor hits your web site is Google Analytics, you can find a wellspring of information about where  your visitors came from, how long they stuck around, what keywords they used to find you, whether or not that twitter initiative is paying off etc. Monitor some sort of analytics is critical to your web site and overall Internet marketing initiatives.

Tell the world every time you publish a new blog article and help build up your Tribe.  Adding your RSS feed to your linkedin.com account is easy, just follow the steps below and you’ll be sharing your wisdom with your linkedin contacts in no time:

Step 1: Log into your linkedin.com account.

Step 2: Find the applications button located in the left navigation menu.

Step 3: Click the WordPress application.

Step 4: Get your RSS feed address from your blog and insert when prompted by the application.

That’s it! Once completed, you should be able to see your blog posts showing up on the right side of the screen.  You can actually move the ‘widget’ up and down on the linkedin page.