Has Google Gone Too Local?

October 31, 2010

Google has been very, very busy lately. Right on the heals of rolling out Google Instant (click for my recent post on that change), Google has now rolled out a concept they’ve been testing in Europe for the last couple of months.
Google’s Integrated Local Search Results
What has changed?
Before:
Google used to display a small-ish [...]

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Case Study: Are Higher Page 1 Positions That Important?

October 5, 2010

In the series of videos, below, I’ll walk through a case study that shows you REAL WORLD results of how your sales can be affected by moving up on Page 1 of Google.  It is a generally accepted fact that higher page positions on Google are better, but this shows how much better.
Note: Most of [...]

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How Google Instant Will Change Our SEO Work

September 28, 2010

The big search engine news of the month is the recent release of “Google Instant”.  Google now automatically populates the page with the search results as you type.  Let’s say I’m searching for a wedding photographer in Boulder.
When I type “wedding” the search results for “wedding dresses” are instantly shown. When I then [...]

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Should You Have A Free Report On Your Site?

September 8, 2010

I’m sure you’ve noticed that many websites offer a free report of some sort.  I’m often asked why this is done, and if it helps to get more clients.
The answer is… well, it depends….
Why Have a Free Report?
Reports are great in that they can be a great lure to get people to opt-in for [...]

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SEO Tools When Your Budget is Tight

July 12, 2010

Many people cannot afford to hire an SEO company to do their SEO for them.  If you are in this boat — wanting to rank but short the $500-1000/month that it costs to hire a good SEO company –  then here is a tool  you should check out.
DIY SEO is only $49/month and its a [...]

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Duplicate Content, Schmooplicate Content

January 30, 2010

One of the most wide-spread misconceptions people have about building websites is in regards to “Duplicate Content”. People fear they’ll be penalized by Google if they have an article that appears on two different sites, or that if they have similar sites for two different cities in which they operate, one of these sites [...]

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How to Add an Aweber Opt-in Form to Wordpress

January 30, 2010

If you aren’t collecting names and emails on your website, you should be.  For all the work you’ve done to get visitors to come, you should capture their name and email so that you can send them something now and then and remind them of you.
Opt-ins are much more effective if you promise your visitors [...]

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Video: Keywords in Domain Name Give Big Advantage

December 31, 2009

Most of us, when we first create our local business website, do a lousy job of URL / domain name selection.  If we’re in a services business, for instance, we may choose OurName.com. Or, if we have a certain talent, we may choose something like GreatWithDogs.com. Or, we may think of the neat things we [...]

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Free Website Checkup

November 21, 2009

In my first post on this site, I promised that I’d show you how to perform a “Website Physical”.  I was waiting until I had some time to devote to that project, since it there are a lot of steps in involved.  Just as a doctor checks your ears, throat, eyes, chest, stomach, and all [...]

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Where Should You Begin With Your Online Marketing?

November 10, 2009

Have You Tried Whiz Bang Trick #42, Yet?
These days, there is so much information available about marketing yourself online, that it can be very overwhelming.  You may hear of someone that tried Whiz Bang Trick #42, and it got them tons of traffic and they made lots of money.  You may then think that Whiz [...]

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