I had two calls last week from people asking about Search Engine Optimization.  SEO is an art/industry all its own – but there are three elements that I build into each clients site, which is the best place to begin your SEO efforts.

First, Page Titles: The name at the top of your web page that describes your business: Each title should be different and relevant to each page – keyword research is very helpful to insure you are using the most searched for terms.

Second, Meta Descriptions: the copy that will show up under your Page Title in the search listings.  These need to relate to the text on the web page – each description needs to be different and accurate.

For this example I Googled “Marion MA Specialty Bakery”:

Third, Keywords: these tell the search engines what is on your page:

On my homepage I would use the keywords such as: web designer, internet marketing, social networking, AdWords Specialist, Southeastern MA web specialist

You may want to read the article I wrote on the difference between search engine optimization vs. search engine marketing.

If you need help with search engine optimization or integrating the internet into your business, give me a ring, 508-317-3755, send me an email, or follow me on Twitter.

I have just finished a new website for 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team goalie Jim Craig. Some of you may not know that after the Olympics Jimmy transitioned his gold medal success into an award winning career in sales. Today he travels the country as a motivational speaker sharing his Gold Medal Strategies for Success.

I loved working on this project because we were able to incorporate all areas of the internet.  I, along with the technical support of my friends at Expand2Web designed a new website, set up a Facebook Fan Page, created a YouTube Channel (Jim Craig Channel 30 in honor of his Olympic number) and set up a newsletter strategy (Jim was already Twittering!).

If you need help with website design or integrating the internet into your business, give me a ring, 508-317-3755, send me an email, or follow me on Twitter.

I just finished this article that my friend Nancy (who writes a great blog – KOGIWU) passed along, Are You Fun to Follow on Twitter?

Now everyone’s idea of fun is different of course, but by writing creative, engaging snippets that give your followers a laugh, pause for thought or some value added knowledge is the objective.

If you need help with website design or how to integrate the internet into your business, give me a ring, 508-317-3755, send me an email, or follow me on Twitter.

I just read this article on a blog that I follow, Mashable, The Social Media Guide and found it so compelling I wanted to share it with everyone.

Pope Benedict XVI has a message for priests of the Catholic Church: they must proclaim the gospel by not only having a website, but by blogging and utilizing new web communication tools.

The 265th Pope of the Catholic Church has been an unexpectedly strong proponent of social media. Last year, he launched a YouTube channel, and six months ago, he released Facebook and iPhone apps to spread the Church’s message. It looks like that he hopes Catholic priests will follow his digital example.

In his message, the Pope acknowledges that priests face new challenges due to cultural shifts that have brought the conversation online. Thus, priests must do more than just take the Word of the gospel to the web.

Here’s a small excerpt from the entire message from the Pope:

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.”

We have to give the Pope high marks for his push to make the Church more effective in the digital realm. While the Pope is not on Twitter, his Pope2you initiative is definitely a step in the right direction. He clearly knows that reaching young believers requires going to the places where they spend their time and converse. More and more, that is social media.

I am frequently encouraging clients to blog or engage in social networking, I now have the backing of the Pope.

If you need help creating a blog, are looking for a ghost writer or would like to discuss how to connect your website/blog/social media, please give me a ring, 508-317-3755, send me an email, follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook.

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One of the most challenging elements of writing copy is to effectively get your point across with a minimal amount of words.   Wordcounter ranks the most frequently used words in any given body of text.

This completely analytical tool points out what words you overuse or helps you to find keywords from a document.  It is very useful for search engine optimization purposes,  you can check that you have used your keywords enough in a particular article  (BUT not too much).

Give it a go -

If you need help with your website, or using the internet for marketing, please give me a call, 508-317-3755 or send me an email.

My most recent web design project was for Custom Window Products in Mattapoisett, MA.  I was called in to brainstorm on-line marketing options, when we decided that the whole site was ready to be re-upholstered.

I wanted to showcase as much work as I could for the clients, a Hunter Douglas Dealers & Master Installers, who have been doing custom window treatments for Southeastern MA for over 25 years.  This lead to a site that has 28 pages, 19 photo galleries and 15 slide shows.   There is a section on window safety and Hunter Green, an eco-friendly line of window treatments.

We are now ready to move forward with an email campaign, pay per click and working on search engine optimization.

If you need help with your website, or using the internet for marketing, please give me a call, 508-317-3755 or send me an email.

As I have mentioned before, I love a year in review, which is a natural evolution to prepping for the year to come.  One of the people I follow on Twitter posted this article by Chris Brogan, Wiring Yourself for Success.

The gist of the article is to write your three words for the upcoming year.  These words are not resolutions, the are ways to frame what you plan to accomplish over the next year.   The illustration below will give you a visual of the exercise:

So if your goal word: add clients (to your business)

• Path 1 to the goal: build a website
• Path 2 to the goal: direct traffic to my website
• Path 3 to the goal: use social media
• Distractions: too busy with other elements of the business
• Steps to the path: hire qualified web designer & marketing person
• The finish line: website that is open 24/7 selling my message and reaching new consumers

Building this path is logical and organized – eighty percent of people who write down their goals achieve them.

Need help, give me a ring, 508-317-7355 or send me an email.

This is a complete re-post from Google’s Blog – I thought it was interesting.  I have always been a fan of the “Year in Review” and this sums up what was on the Most Watched List.

What you watched and searched for on YouTube in 2009

Posted: 16 Dec 2009 08:12 AM PST

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)

This year has been the biggest yet for online video, and for the first time we’re sharing our official Most Watched lists and some of the fastest-rising search terms on YouTube. Some moments were big (President Obama’s inauguration), some small (a Minnesota wedding party erupts into dance), some expected (”New Moon”), some surprising (Susan Boyle) — but all of them inspired, entertained and connected millions of people around the world via YouTube.

For these lists, we looked at view counts of YouTube’s most popular videos (in some instances we aggregated views across multiple versions of the same video):

Most Watched YouTube videos (Global):
1. Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent (120+ million views)
2. David After Dentist (37+ million views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33+ million views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (31+ million views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (27+ million views)

Most Watched music videos on YouTube (Global)*:
1. Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (82+ million views)
2. Miley Cyrus – The Climb (64+ million views)
3. Miley Cyrus – Party In The U.S.A. (54+ million views)
4. The Lonely Island – I’m On A Boat (48+ million views)
5. Keri Hilson – Knock You Down (35+ million views)

Then, to determine the fastest rising search terms for each month, we examined the billions of queries that people searched for on YouTube (through December 15):

Fastest Rising YouTube search terms by month (Global):
January: inauguration
February: christian bale
March: the climb
April: susan boyle
May: pacquiao vs hatton
June: michael jackson thriller
July: michael jackson
August: usain bolt
September: kanye west
October: paranormal activity
November: bad romance
December: tiger woods

Fastest Rising YouTube search terms by month (U.S.):
January: obama inauguration
February: on a boat
March: watchmen
April: susan boyle
May: pacquiao
June: michael jackson thriller
July: wedding
August: send it on
September: kanye west
October: paranormal activity
November: adam lambert
December: tiger woods

There are a lot of interesting nuggets in here. The fastest rising U.S. search term in July was [wedding], clearly related to JK Wedding Entrance Dance, the third Most Watched YouTube video of the year. And while [michael jackson] was Google’s fastest rising search term in 2009, [michael jackson thriller] was the faster rising search on YouTube. Movie trailers (”New Moon,” “Watchmen,” “Paranormal Activity”) and inspirational moments (Susan Boyle, Usain Bolt) were popular, as were sensational celebrity scandals (Christian Bale, Kanye West, and most recently, Tiger Woods).

We hope to expand these lists in the future, so if there are any “Most Watched” categories you’d like to see in 2010, let us know by leaving a comment on the YouTube Blog.

*Note: Some music videos may be unavailable in your country due to copyright restrictions.

People keep asking me about Twitter.  What is the big deal and why bother?  Well, it is a big deal, as it is another (free) venue for your message.  The people out there who are Twittering are interested, engaged and early adapters, all excellent characteristics in a  potential client. I just read this post from Twitterrati, Five Ways to Attract Twitter Followers.  My favorite tip is that you must provide valuable or interesting content, opinions or ideas.  If you are pasionate about your business then you should have a lot to share – start Twittering!

Need help, give me a ring, 508.317.7355, send me an email or send me a tweet.

Writing copy for your website is different than writing copy for other forms of media, not only do you need to please your reader, you need to please the search engines.  You could hire Dan Brown himself to weave a tale of mystery and intrigue, but if the right keywords are featured, Google, Yahoo! and Bing will never find it and you won’t land on the coveted first page of search results.   On the same note, if I wrote web design and internet marketing fifty times in a row on my home page I am one click away from landing in the discard heap.

Some things to keep in mind:

• write for your customer – people want to know what you can do for them – we have every size and color of every widget ever made and we express ship- bingo
• remember keyword relevance – widgets need to be mentioned not only in the copy but in your title pages and your url.
• Your website can have as many pages as you would like.  It is a good practice when writing your design outline to  determine the keyword focus for each page and write your copy to focus on those terms.

Need help?  Ring, 508-317-7355 or send me an email.

There is a simple way to see if Google is finding your site in the search engines.  In the Google search bar type site:yoursitename.com.

This is an important test for a few reasons:

1. Is your site getting crawled?  If not then you will never move up in the organic ranks ie – none of your potential customers will be able to find you.  Your site not getting crawled is worse than setting up shop on a back road without an address – you really don’t stand a chance.
2. Make sure all of your pages are being read.  Not only do you want Google to find your homepage, you want to make sure each page is being seen.  A site full of rich content will help you in the organic ranks.
3. Check to see what the page description says.  Do you feel that what Google is pulling up accurately represents the message of the page?

There are many ways to help your site if Google (and the other search engines) aren’t finding you.

Need help?  Ring, 508-317-7355 or send me an email.

I will be the first to admit that while at work, at home and on the road I have searched and had many a laugh with You Tube videos.

Recently I have begun to turn to You Tube for step by step instructions on help with finer points of programming.  I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of content and really helpful  tutorials that I found.

Then I was totally shocked to read on the Expand2Web blog that You Tube is the #2 search engine on the web.  I know! Crazy, it beats out Yahoo! and Bing – what does this mean?  Get going on your You Tube video strategy.

Need help?  Ring, 508-317-7355 or send me an email?

I just finished designing a website for Under the Tree Foundation, which is an organization that provides teen members of the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club with gifts at the holidays.

UTTF was founded by Duxbury teen, Jonathan Woods, so I wanted to make sure that the site was youthful, masculine and acknowledged Christmas, yet not be too seasonal.  The foundation has a lovely logo which was the inspiration for the color scheme and I connected the site to Facebook and Twitter to reach the teen supporters of the foundation.

This site, which started with the intention of being a few pages became a 17 page website, it is connected to social networking via Facebook and Twitter, has contact forms and three sideshows.  Check it out, I think you will like it.

Need help getting your site off the ground, ring 508-317-7355 or email.

I just finished an article in the Investors Business Daily (IBD), entitled A Knack For Stirring Startups On The Web, which stuck a few cords with me that I would like to share.

• The article focuses on two women who started an online bakery, which I love because I have created a website for Flour Girls Baking Co. com.  Jill, the owner, hasn’t gone into online sales; however she doesn’t have a traditional brick and mortar establishment, so her website is her storefront.
• Launching a business online can is significantly less expensive than setting up shop with a physical address.
• Web traffic and sales are easier to track than a traditional retail establishment.
• The article mentions the power of social networking, Facebook & Twitter, to spread the word starting with family and friends.  We began this right away with Flour Girls and are  seeing the fan base grow along with visitors t land on the site via Facebook is growing each month.
• Just because you built a great website does not mean that people will visit – you need to continue to direct traffic to the site, remind people you are out there.

Need help?  Ring, 508-317-7355 or email.

This past Monday Google replaced the familiar local map that appears at the top of organic search results with 7 listings instead of 10.  The prestigious 10 pack that so many had worked diligently to break into is now even more exclusive, quickly coined the Lucky 7.

My friend Don Campbell of Expand2Web wrote an excellent article, Natural Rankings in Search Just Got More Important, which explains the changes in the listings and why your natural organic rank can never be ignored.

Google does not charge businesses to “claim their business”, which allows you to add pictures, list hours of operation, add maps and directions, and that categories that your business covers.  If you haven’t done this yet, give me a call and I will set this up for you.

What is SEO?

• Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the ranking of a website within the search engines via a natural (unpaid) process.
  • It is attractive for websites to have a higher organic (unpaid) ranking with a search engine (ie Google, Yahoo! and Bing), as the higher your website appears in the search results, the more visitors your site is likely to receive.

My suggestion is that you make SEO a priority before you build a web site, there are many important elements that happen in the coding and writing of a site that ensure you will have success in climbing the ranks of organic listings.

Need help or a more detailed explanation, reach out via email or give me a ring

Recently my friend Don Campbell of Expand2Web mentioned in his blog that he was reading the book Made to Stick.  The book takes on the question, why do some ideas thrive while others die and how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? “Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. It’s a fast-paced tour of idea success stories (and failures)—the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher’s simulation that actually prevented prejudice . Provocative, eye-opening, and funny, Made to Stick shows us the principles of successful ideas at work—and how we can apply these rules to making our own messages “stick.”

This has been my favorite business book that I have read this year.  My number one take away, when writing, each word counts, clear and simple wins the day.  Have a read, I am curious to know what you think.

Twice this week I have been in two conversations where people were unclear of the differences between SEO and SEM.  Search Engine Marketing (SEM) refers to the paid ads that you see on websites, commercials, banner ads, or the ads at the very top of the page, or along the right hand side of a search engine query.

Example, if I Google myself, the number one result that appears in the blue box, Are you Eileen Lonergan, is a paid ad (commonly known as pay per click).  Search engine marketing – uses a search engine to match your business or product with what consumers are trying to find.  If there is a lot of competition in your product/service category and you want to insure that your business is noticed, search engine marketing is an awesome tool.

The first result in the white area of the page is called your organic rank, which is achieved by Search Engine Optimization.  This is achieved by building a website that is useful to a user and well written or coded by the web master.

This is a basic overview, for more information and details on how you can you utilize either or both to help you business, please contact me at 508.801.0771 or via email.

One of the blogs I regularly read is Marketing Charts, recently I came across this post, 10 Branding Trends for 2010: Value is the New Black.  Of course I was motivated to read, simply because of the title; however the point of view and information is very compelling.

A simple, straightforward marketing opportunity is to utilize the signature box on your email correspondence to direct people to your website.   This practice serves two purposes, it allows your clients to click straight from an email onto your website and it provides exposure of your business to your anyone that you email.  I even added a “Sign Up for my Newsletter” onto one clients email signature box, guess what, IT WORKS!

PS Don’t forget to add your phone number and a jpg of your logo.

Need help setting this up?  Call me, 508.801.0771 or send me an email.

Having a website gives credibility to your business, if consumers can’t find your business then the process of building a site and the expenses incurred are simply a waste.  This 15 second video shows you what a local search is.

Give me a ring, or send me an email, and I will help you get your business listed with Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Yelp.

Recently I began working with a new client on her company newsletter. This led me to analyze the email newsletter strategies for one of my existing clients the Anne Cain Golf Academy in Amelia Island Florida.

I wanted to share with you some tips for email communications that I feel contribute to Anne’s success:

• Strong writing – Anne is a clear communicator.
• Anne doesn’t limit herself to simply providing her clients with golf tips, she shares her opinions on players and how popular culture translates into the game.
• Visuals – she uses photos or video in her emails to explain herself.
• Personality – you can feel Anne in the newsletter, which should be an objective for everyone – if someone has elected to receive your correspondence they want to hear what YOU have to say.
• Anne archives content from her newsletters on her website.   Over time Anne has built up an impressive library of golf tips on her site that made their debut in a newsletter.  We include links in the current newsletter to the Tip Library, hence driving traffic to her site and reminding her students that her site is a resource – not just an online brochure trolling for new clients.

Send me an email or ring, 508-801.0771 to learn more strategies for using newsletters in your online marketing mix.

As you may have figured out from my website design, I appreciate a clean, uncluttered look (the exact opposite of my teen age bedroom aestic), which is why I love Tiny it! It takes your long url string and creates a tiny little url, which looks so much cleaner and more professional in an email, newsletter, posts and blogs.  Give it a try or give me a ring and I can help you, 508.801.0771.

Things to think about when building or redoing your website:

• Is your site for existing customers or would you like to use the site to build your customer base?
• Is it search engine friendly?
• If your business had a voice or a personality what would it sound like/look like?
• Will you have the ability to make changes once it is published?
• Do you have photographs?
• Do you have an email list, or would you like to build one with an email capture program?
• How does Social Networking fit in?
• Can you integrate video?

Need some help or guidance?  Give me a ring, 508.801.0771.

I found this article today by Alison Driscoll, an interative copywriter and social media consultant who specializes in Facebook, she authors a blog at alisondriscoll.com and thought that it was worthy of a re-post.

The Facebook Notes Application

“The notes app was originally a Facebook feature that they then converted into an application; as such, it is sponsored and maintained by Facebook and less likely to break or be abandoned. Set this application up to pull in the RSS feed from your blog or other content source and it will automatically bring everything into Facebook and show all of your friends that you’ve posted a new Note.

This notification system is important for staying on their radar and is more visible than an RSS Reader, or mini-blog as I like to call it, but lacks many formatting capabilities; it’s best to think of Notes and an RSS Reader as working hand in hand. Start here to get content coming into your Page, then move on to the RSS Reader.”

A blog is an excellent way to keep updating your fans about exciting news and events that are happening in your business.  This application will allow you to streamline efforts between your blog and your Facebook account.  If you need help pulling this together, send me an email or give me a ring, 508.801.0771

I read this post on Google’s blog and I think that it is a very simple explanation of  a browser and what that means to you as a user of the internet.

What is a browser?

I’ve been trying to explain to my mom for months what a web browser is, with little luck. After a few rounds of failed attempts, I grew curious about people’s general understanding of web browsers. So I decided to conduct a highly-scientific (read: not scientific at all) survey of my friends and got the following results >Click here to finish reading the post or click on the image to watch the video.