Google Apps can provide some really convenient solutions for your business. You can try out the services for free from http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html.

Great things you can use from Google Apps

• Use G-mail for your e-mail solution with your company address (you@yoursite.com)
• Create Text Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations in the Cloud that you can access from anywhere
• Utilize Google Sites to log and organize important company information
• Create a private Google Video channel to share company videos

Everything is in the cloud, so you can access it from anywhere, your home, office on travel, mobile device. It is really easy to use.

You can give access to people and several people can be making edits to one document… at the same time. You may think this may be a pain but it’s not, they can see you making edits. This actually is great for collaboration.

Google Apps extend capabilities.

Google has recently added new apps to further excel their capabilities.

• Accounting & Finance
• Calendar & Scheduling
• Customer Management
• Document Management
• Education
• Productivity
• Project Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Workflow

Key Theory uses Google apps for our business needs and helps clients get started with these great tools.

Check out more at http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html.

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Since I’ve been in the process of redesigning both of my websites, I’ve decided to share some of my techniques for redesigning websites. Before you start on a website redesign, you need to evaluate it first. In some cases you may feel like you need a complete overhaul and will need to scrap the site design and start from scratch. In other cases you may just need to upgrade certain elements of your website, or make improvements to achieve one of your goals, or increase its functionality. Deciding how much of a redesign to do could depend on several factors including:

• budget
• time
• goals

Evaluate your site against your goals

Look at the goals you defined for your redesign, see how far off your current website is from achieving those goals.

• If your website is engaging and gets good traffic but just needs to improve traffic to a certain section of the site, perhaps it doesn’t need a complete overhaul.
• However, if your site was developed a few years ago and is lacking a lot of desired functionality, it may be better to get a completely new development.

Get a professional to evaluate your site

Getting a professional to look at your website can be very helpful and insightful. A trained eye will catch things you may not have thought of and could help you to identify issues that you may not be aware of to address in the site redesign. This could also help you determine if you need to redevelop the whole website or just certain elements. Even if you don’t have the budget to pay for a full professional website development, most web design companies would be willing to provide an assessment of your current site for a small fee or in some cases for free.

Get a second opinion

It’s always good to get a second opinion when planning for a web project. Some web companies will help guide you to online success and some web companies may try to sell you things you don’t need. Getting a second opinion should really help make sure you’re on the track for success. However try to avoid “committee planning” the site, put someone in charge of the decision making for the project. (Defining roles will be covered in a future post.)

Also keep in mind you get what you pay for. Similar to a building construction project, a smaller cost isn’t always a better value.

Plan for usability testing

Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it on users/website vistors. In our application, this involves having users visit your website and complete various tasks while recording their actions and reactions. You may also ask them questions about their impressions of the site, suggestions for improvements, or other feedback.

An example of a task could be to ask a user to find an item on your site, or to order a product. If they don’t know where to go or they get lost, there may be a usability issue to resolve.

Things to consider in usability testing:

1. Keep the tests short and straight forward
2. Ask testers to prioritize, rank, or list, and don’t ask leading questions
3. Plan a series of tests for various users in your target demographic

Tools for Evaluating a Website:

ClickDensity
A great tool for visually tracking users viewing and interaction patterns with heat map technology. Improve information architecture, 0ptimize link & advertisement placement, analyze and enhance stickiness, test and refine content & process.

ClickHeat
ClickHeat provides an interesting display method of results via heatmaps.  But unlike other usability tools, ClickHeat is a free OpenSource tool that can be deployed on your web server.

Google Analytics
Google Analytics has a feature called Site Overlay, which gives you a visual representation of the popular places your users like to click on.

WebSite Grader
Tests your site among many different aspects and gives a grade on how your site performed as well as ways to improve it.

Feel free to share your comments or feedback with me below.

Kenny Harper - http://www.linkedin.com/in/kennyharper

And, like the popular saying, “Knowledge is power”; if you are having your web site designed/developed or are paying someone for SEO services, it’s good to have a better understanding of what you’re paying for, so you get the best value for your money.

Top 10 SEO things to do in site development

1. Create Good Page Content
2. Develop Descriptive Page Titles
3. Write Unique Meta Descriptions
4. Format Content with Heading Tags
5. Use Keywords in the Content
6. Use Keywords in Text Links
7. Use Alt Tags on Images
8. Create a Descriptive Page File Name
9. Create a Sitemap
10. Install Analytics

1. Page Content

Create content for page viewers:
Visitors use content to evaluate a website; search engines use content to rank a website to other websites. Keep both in mind when creating the content.

Content should be:

• original / not plagiarized
• formatted for web w/ sub-headings & bulleted lists for easy scanning
• sprinkled with relevant key words
• interesting & engaging
• informative / useful / helpful
• spell checked & using proper grammar
• updated regularly

2. Develop Descriptive Page Titles

The page title is located at the top of the browser and is viewable on the search engine results page.
Each page title should be unique and contain keywords, and identify the subject of that page to users and search engines.

Page titles should be no longer than 60 to 65 characters.

3. Write Unique Meta Descriptions

A Meta Description is a brief summary of the content of a page and is viewable on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

Meta descriptions should be unique, contain key words and be approximately 155 characters in length.

Each page can be optimized individually and provided with it’s own description.

4. Format Content with Heading Tags

Content can be formatted using heading tags that not only help separate the information on the page but also help search engines define the site’s message.

Good Practices for Headings

• Headings should be similar to Newspaper headings; catchy, clear, descriptive and easy to read.
• Use varying weights to break out sub-topics.
• Use key words in your headings where possible.

Things to remember:

• People use headings to scan copy and find what they are looking for.
• Search engines give better rankings to sites that use headings that help content flow in a logical sequence.
• Making the font size different doesn’t make it a heading.

5. Use Keywords (Key Words) and Keyword Phrases in the Content

Think of keywords as small text phrases to help categorize what your content is about. Ex: “Jacksonville Pet Boarding”

Short-Tail Keywords are General

“yoga” – chances of getting good rank for this is small due to competition

Long-Tail Keywords are more Specific

“Jacksonville yoga studio” – more specific, targeting right location
Jacksonville Beach Yoga Studio 32240 – Narrow search, less competition

When choosing keywords for the content of your website, think about:

• Meta Keywords are less relevant in current SEO, but are still very good for organizing your content
• Physical Location is important to your online presence
• How people search – Sometimes in question form, like “How to…”
• Related topics, not just the keyword itself

6. Use Keywords in Text Links

Internal links allow search engines and website visitors to easily navigate a website.

Outbound links allow visitors to find more information on other websites.

Inbound links (from related websites) improve the search engine rank of a website. (Link exchanges can help both.)

Choose linking anchor text with key words that are helpful to visitors and search engines (not just “click here”).

When making these text links for the purpose of Search Engine Optimization, be sure to include key words in the text of the text link.

- For example, use Best Practices for SEO rather than To Read Best Practices for SEO click here.

7. Use Alt Tags on Images

An alt tag is added in HTML code and provides short but descriptive text about its corresponding image, to benefit the search engine rank of the website and accessibility guidelines.

Alt Tag Example: <img src=”jax-beach-moon-image.jpg” alt=”An image of the Moon shining on Jacksonville Beach.”>

Alt Tag Example: <img src=”mac-book-pro.jpg” alt=”500 × 436 - Apple MacBook Pro 13in.”>

8. Create a Descriptive Page File Name

Besides the web site domain name, the page file name is the first thing a search engine sees when reviewing a site.

Where possible, choose each page file name to describe the content of the corresponding, unique web page.

Use this practice when creating site architecture.

Include significant key words in each page name / URL.

Page File Name Example: camera-store.com/canon/digital-rebel-xt

9. Create Sitemap

A Sitemap is a diagram of the organization and framework of the pages of content of a web site.

A good sitemap will help search engines and visitors find all of the content available on a website.

Google accepts XML sitemap documents which can be generated by various scripts and plugins.

10. Install Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that can give you great insight on your site statistics. You can see how many times your site has been accessed, where people are accessing it from, what content they viewed, how long they viewed each page and so much more. By looking at the data you can begin to determine what is working and what needs improvements.

Aditional Tools and Resources

• tools.seobook.com/
• seomoz.org/tools
• adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• google.com/trends
• blog.grader.com/
• websitegrader.com/
• siteopsys.com/
• google.com/analytics/
• google.com/webmasters/tools
• siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
• webconfs.com/15-minute-seo.php

When first getting into SEO, I had the wrong idea of what keywords were; I thought you just chose words similar to the topic that you were talking about, and that would get a high ranking. It’s actually a bit more involved; below are ten tips for coming up with good Keywords, thanks to Michelle Chance-Sangthong from Cool Shopping Ideas for putting together a great SEO MeetUp and sharing some good SEO practices for creating SEO keywords.

Here are some pointers from my experience and from the May 11, 2010 SEO Meetup:

1. Keyword (or Keyword phrase): is word or group of words that help search engines determine what a web page’s content is about. Optimizing for particular keywords will help your page get a better rank in search engine results when someone searches for that word or phrase.
2. Identify your users’ goals when viewing your website
   What would a user be looking for in your website? Are they looking to find out information? Looking for services? Looking for a product? This makes a large difference when crafting your keyword list and creating your page content. You may need to create several pages to optimize for several different SEO terms. For example, if you’re selling MP3 players you may want to have different pages for models, repair, players by brands, and also replacement parts, and optimize each of them accordingly.
3. Define your goals when users view your site
   What are you trying to get the user to do -visit the site, click around, purchase an item, submit their e-mail address, or contact you? Defining your goals will not only help you think of what key terms to use, but will also help you ensure you put thought into how you are guiding the user to take the desired action or complete a conversion. If your website gets a good rank but you don’t get the result you want from you website visitors, then your website is not doing all that it can for you, but you can fix it.
4. Define your target audience
   Think about the type of people that you want to come to your site, and then cater to them. You’re better off targeting a majority of your site visitors than trying to be very general. Is your target audience male or female, how old are they, what’s their income level, what’s their ethnic background? Thinking about your target audience and focusing your keywords and content for their interest will help you achieve better results from your website.  Take a look at – Google Adwords Keyword Tool, Keyword Spy, Word Tracker, Spy Fu
5. Organize your efforts
   With all these keywords and efforts it’s bound to get confusing. Using a program such as Excel or another spread sheet program, you can organize your keywords and define patterns to use for creating content. Sporadically creating pages with keywords with no overall strategy is like playing a football game with no game plans.
6. Check your competitors
   If your competitors are ranking well you may want to look at what they are doing. You wouldn’t want to try to copy them but they may give you some ideas for some terms that you can use for your own. A little research can go a long way.
7. Write for users not just search engines
   Don’t cram your keywords into your copy and make it really obnoxious to read. After all, the content is for the user/website visitor. Getting a good page rank with search engines is great, but if you’ve compromised your message in the process, it may defeat the whole purpose of your website. Write clear, descriptive copy; paying attention and add some of the keywords you’re targeting, and call it a day.
8. Keep it simple – One term per page
   Don’t try to rank high for ten terms on one page, your home page doesn’t need to carry your site. Instead use landing pages to optimize for new SEO search terms. Focusing on one term per page will help search engines clarify what you’re trying to rank for. This will also give you more pages in your website, and more pages of good content on your website will help with your SEO progress.
9. Different words equal different search terms
   If you’re trying to rank for a certain term, ex: “Jacksonville SEO”, don’t just optimize for that term. SEO Jacksonville, Jax SEO, Search Engine Optimization Jacksonville etc; all of these are also key terms to optimize for. Word order, compound words and plurals can all be taken into consideration. Mix it up.
10. Keyword density
    You need to aim for the right keyword density. Wikipedia “Many SEO experts consider the optimum keyword density to be 1 to 3 percent. Using a keyword more than that could be considered search spam. A quick search on Google can provide many tools for checking this.

If you’re currently not a fan of my facebook page facebook.com/keytheory, drop by and fan me; follow me in keeping up on new info and findings.

With a little Googling, I found several helpful articles, the best was on Mashable.com -  HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI The following is an overview of what I learned in my research.

Here are some highlights on the concept of Social Media ROI:

Conversion Formula:

(final value – starting value) / starting value = Return on Investment

Define Clear Goals:

Know what you want to accomplish and be sure to monitor the progress before and after the campaign.

Metrics Tools:

These won’t tell you a direct ROI but they can be used to determine some patterns in consumer’s behavior.

• Google Analytics – See detailed statistics of your site traffic. Track conversions and more… Free!
• Omniture – Very helpful. Facebook and Twitter tools.
• TweetMeMe – Google analytics for Twitter
• PostRank – Social Media Analytics
• HootSuite – Twitter manager with good analytics

This is a witty cartoon of Social Media ROI.

To be continued….

Next I’m going to dig further into Sentiment Analysis, Social Media Product Suites and review some of the techniques. I’ve been getting into social media more with my father and his company JaxSEOWorks.

The new year is here and it’s that time when people get inspired, start over, and set resolutions for improvement. I tend to set my goals high and usually achieve most of them. Some people don’t make or reach any, so I feel pretty good with my track record.

There are many different resources online that can assist planning and setting your goals.

Here are five great resources for setting goals and keeping them.

• Top 10 New Years Resolutions – Get some ideas from others.
• Personal Goal Setting – MindTools.com has lots of good advice and resources for setting goals.
• Goal Setting Guide – Goal Setting Guide offers ideas for keeping goals.
• On-line Goal Tracking – Joe’s goals is a free little web app for tracking personal goals.
• Keeping your New Year’s Resolutions Advice – Advice for keeping new years resolutions.

My Goals/Resolutions for 2010:

1. Continue working with my family to growing our business.
2. Post at least once a week on my blog.
3. Continue developing and evolving the KeyTheory brand, and growing my online presence.
4. Continue to focus on quality over quantity, take on fewer projects but make ‘em count.
5. Continue to develop skills in Facebook programming (Rock My Facebook).

(I am sure I will set more goals through out the year, but here are some resolutions that I have made to work towards in this new year.)

That is it! So far I am doing Great, it is only day 2 but I have worked on all five of my goals. Good luck with yours and Happy New Year!

“SEO – Acronym for “Search Engine Optimization.” This is the process of editing a web site’s content and code in order to improve visibility within one or more search engines.” Sempo

“SEM – Acronym for “Search Engine Marketing.” A form of internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs).  SEM methods include: search engine optimization (SEO), paid placement, contextual advertising, digital asset optimization, and paid inclusion.” Sempo

Great resource websites for Search Engine Optimization for Small Business or Personal Knowledge.

SEOmoz
SEOmoz serves as a hub for search marketers worldwide, providing education, tools, resources and paid services to help every SEO to be the best they can be.

Sempo.org
SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry and the marketing professionals engaged in it.

WebMasterWorld
News and discussion for the web professional and those interested in SEO or SEM.

SearchEngineWatch
A wealth of news, knowledge and information related to the SEO industry.

HighRankings
Informative articles on SEO topics, FAQs, and a Forum.

Top Search Engine’s submission guidelines for web masters and content contributors

You should look at each search engine’s submission guidelines. Improper tactics may get your site banned or even blacklisted.

• Google – Submission Guidelines
• Bing – Submission Guidelines
• Yahoo – Submission Guidelines

If you have a website and could use help with your SEO or even just need some consultation feel free to contact us.

Below are some of the websites that I frequently use to market a business online and track results.

1. Google Analytics: Site Statistics & More

   A free tool by Google to check your website stats. You can get some good marketing data; see who came to your business website, from where, how they clicked through your site, how long they were on each page and much more.

2. Quantcast: Monitoring Demographics

   Quantcast is a free tool to get demographic data about your business site’s online audience. Combined with Google Analytics, you can see trends in people’s viewing behavior, see what’s working for you and what’s not.

3. Facebook: Social Networking

   I created a Facebook page for Key Theory a few months ago, and now have over 200 fans. Facebook is a great way to get your business more good internet exposure; connect with people and make new friends, business partners and potential customers.

4. Twitter: Micro-Blogging

   Although I didn’t get it at first, now I understand the business marketing benefits of using a tool like Twitter. You can follow topics you’re interested in, connect with others in your field, see what people are saying about your company and just keep people up to date on what you’re up to in 140 characters.

5. YouTube

   With YouTube you can have your own channel and share your message with the masses for free. I started a YouTube channel and I’ve posted up some test videos to get my feet wet. YouTube makes it easy to share your video messages.  The more videos I do, the more I learn.

6. LinkedIn: Professional Networking

   LinkedIn is a great site for professionally connecting with others and marketing yourself and your business. You basically upload your information and connect with others in your industry and with your clients. You can receive referrals as well as make them. You can join groups and participate in discussions to share ideas and for more social networking. At the very least it’s helping me remember people’s names.

7. Delicious: Access your bookmarks from anywhere

   Delicious can help you to access your bookmarks from any computer, import your current bookmarks, share your bookmarks with your friends, and much more.  To start using Delicious, you need first to set up your personal account, and then you can download a Delicious browser toolbar for FireFox (my preferred browser) and make bookmarks to your account.  If you like keeping track of good websites, use Delicious.

8. Digg: Keeping up to date & self promotion

   Digg is a great place to be inspired, keep up to date with trends and news. The best content is voted to popularity by anyone uses Digg. You can also submit your own content to Digg and get some good exposure. You must keep in mind that nobody wants spam. I have Dugg a few things but haven’t submitted anything… as of yet.

9. Stumble Upon: Discover the best of the web in less time

   Instead of blindly surfing through the internet wouldn’t it be better to look at stuff that peers found worthy? Choose a topic that interests you and start Stumbling into new things. Go places you probably would  have never gone to prior.

10. Web Site Grader: Grade your site and make improvements

    Quite a handy tool provided by HubSpot. Enter your site and see how it ranks. It will give you tips to how to improve your score and get better search engine ranks.

Well, these are just a few of the sites that I currently use in business marketing online, and some ideas how you can use them to help your business.

Have you found some of these websites helpful, too?  Do you have some other helpful suggestions to share?  Please share your comments.