Building a Smart Website

Jan 042012

Smart Websites

The age of digital media is stronger today than it was just two years ago, actually stronger than it was just 10 months ago. You need to understand how to be an effective marketer to promote your website.

It isn’t a secret that the search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) continually modify their algorithms so that we as developers, designers, and marketers are constantly seeking better methods to attract customers.

Branding has and will remain a constant. In order to be an effective brand it is required to understand how the current process works to make sure your website is built smart.

Some of the things to be concerned about for 2012 are the following:

• Build brand links rather than anchor texts. This includes posts, articles and whitepapers that are relevant.

• Subdomains had become a no-no for the last few months with SEO’s. Now things are changing again. For example, Google is treating subdomains as internal links rather than independent URL’s. That means as you build subdomains, be sure to target your keywords while naming them. This will improve your rankings.

• Content is still king. Knowing this, you should choose wisely the links to your site. Be sure these are solid sites with good content.

• Contextual links are still very powerful. Base these on the following:

-  Appropriate anchor text

-  Content quality and relevancy

-  Place these links within the content and surround them by the content in the site

-  Contextual links drive more visitors to your website

• Backlinks are good when done correctly. You can build backlinks through blogging, forum participation and press releases.

In addition, you need to make sure that your website is easy to navigate, has no broken links, and has a site map. It should go without saying that the site should to be clean in design and not look too colorful like a circus. As much as this may seem obvious, just do some web surfing and see how many websites violate this rule. Maybe that’s why they are not well visited or ranked very high.

And keeping with the digital age, make sure your website is devise friendly. Meaning it will operate on all forms of handheld devices (smart phones, tablets, etc.) as well as different browsers. It also helps to stay in touch with new and current trends such as qr codes. Although this could be overused, it is good to know that qr codes can be text messages as well as links to your website. Use them as often as needed to keep active customers in touch with your company.

And finally, once you build that smart site, don’t let it sit for several months without updating or modifying the content. It is very important to have an active site. If not, then the SEO’s  will quickly decrease your rankings, and t will be difficult to regain the position you once held.

If you need help to promote your site, or want to get higher rankings, give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400

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Can Google+ Become a Powerful Social Network?

Jul 052011

Just like Microsoft, Google has deep pockets. But these deep pockets alone cannot make people want your service. It wasn’t long ago when Google introduced the “WAVE” which after a few months washed away. And remember when Microsoft had its search engine that just didn’t cut it. Then they got smart and re-structured their search to be the new “Bing”. With smarter marketing, publicity and knowing how to position themselves (rather than wanting to be something for everyone), Bing is slowly creeping into the Google territory taking away market share.

It doesn’t mean that Google+ will fail. What needs to be done is better street marketing. Google is good at keeping a pulse on their market, but are those who have been Facebook fans willing to change, or add another social network? Time will tell. And this time Google needs to watch closely before dumping another project, or becoming bored with it.

A recent article in WebPro News gives readers a chance to better understand how the writer, Chris Crum views the 10 obstacles Google needs to overcome in order to be a powerful social network. Many of his points are valid.

So ask yourself, do you have extra time to now add Google+ to your other networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and the many others that exist. Especially now that MySpace is trying to make a comeback. Is this market getting overcrowded–maybe. But as we have seen in the last 20 months, new and different ways to communicate are developing. Who knows, in the next 6 months all of these social networks may be old news and something more unique will connect us in an easier manner.

Learn more about how to connect using social media for your business. Contact George Carson at 949-477-9400, or visit Carson Marketing, Inc.

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Get National Publicity for Your Company

Apr 172011

How difficult can it be to send a press release to the Wall Street Journal, or get your company featured on a national TV news show, like Diane Sawyer? Actually, it is very difficult. Sending the release alone is easy. Getting the reporters to take serious notice of what you sent, that’s difficult. And harder yet, is to make your company be newsworthy in their eyes.

National and Local Publicity

Getting any reporters attention requires relationships. A good public relations agency has developed strong relationships with the media. This doesn’t happen overnight. Unless you have a world changing product, or a unique service, it may be a challenge to just get any media to listen to what you have to say. With all the world politics today, disasters, and 3rd world revolutions, getting your 15 minutes of fame may not be as easy as you expect. PR Clients tend to believe they have the best product, best story, or the best new widget and the world needs to know this. Well, as true as this might be, if the presentation to the media isn’t as exciting, then you just lost that pr opportunity.

Packaging (presenting) your story is critical, as is the timing. Putting fluff into your release or story is not a good idea. Keep the facts real, keep the information short and don’t SELL your story using sales pitch language. Remember, reporters are people. They do not want to be sold to or told that you are the greatest at what you do. Explain why your product or service will help others, or solve a specific problem. That is just one way to get the attention of the media.

If you want to get local publicity, you need to do the same thing as a national publicity story. A good local publicity agency will have a good relationship with the local media, and they will know how to package your story to the selected reporters that best meets your pr marketing strategy.

Learn more about getting national or local publicity from Carson Marketing, Inc. Call for a NO COST consultation meeting to discuss how your company can be in the news. Contact George Carson at 949-477-9400.

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How to Get Top Ranking on Google with Your Business Web Site

Apr 172011

The words “optimize”, “keywords”, “key phrases” and “Title Pages” are used all the time by Search Engine Specialists, and Search Engine Optimization companies. But what does all this do? Not much. Ok, it will help a little, but this alone isn’t going to get your site highly ranked, or found on the first page of Google.

SEO Rankings are Changing

What is the secret? You need a good pr marketing strategy.
It’s something that most SEO companies won’t admit, or tell you, because they want you to pay for their optimizing service. And when they complete all these great things I mentioned, they’re gone!

Let me give you the truth behind high rankings, on all the search engines. As you may know, Google changed their methods of rankings as did Yahoo and Bing. It now requires fresh content. As previous years before, “content is still king.” Another secret is inbound links.

Use these tips to keep content fresh:
1- Web site pages.
Every 60 to 90 days update the text on your web site. No need to re-write all the text, just do about 30% so the search engines see new content. Remember to re-register the site with directories and seo’s every 4 months.
2- Social media.
This is one of the most critical methods to get fresh content and “inbound links”. If you do not have a social media program, start one. A strong pr marketing strategy is to have a solid social media campaign. This should include a blog site, twitter account and a business Facebook page. Don’t create any of these if you are not serious about maintaining them. Otherwise it will just hurt your business site.

These are just two methods. I’ll pass along others in another post. Or you can contact me if you want more information on how to get started immediately.

In today’s fast pace world of communication, you need to be proactive, and to do this you need to surround yourself with those who are knowledgeable about social marketing. Give Carson Marketing, Inc. a call when you are ready to get ahead of your competition. Call George at 949-477-9400. He’s ready to help your company get noticed and increase revenue.

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How to get the advantage in a job interview

Sep 082010

This is a topic I feel needs to be discussed. I will provide some information to enlighten those seeking a job, changing careers or those looking for a better position in their current job.job readiness, soft skills

The secret to getting the advantage over another person is Soft Skills!

If you are not aware or do not know what soft skills are, then you need to read on. Soft Skills are not taught in any schools or colleges. These are things like, listening skills, how to interview, networking, knowing how to write a business email, how to write a resume, knowing phone etiquette and much more. For example your body language tells a lot. If you cross your arms while having a conversation, this usually sends a message that you are bored, or just don’t want to listen to the other person speaking. Another example, in a business meeting, don’t check your cell phone for messages, or text anyone, and most important, sit in proper posture at a meeting. If you don’t it shows you are not interested and sends a bad message to the speaker as well as others around you.

PR marketing people need soft skills. Sometimes I meet professional publicity people who just don’t know or understand why others ignore them, or won’t take their calls. It’s because they never learned their soft skills.

These examples are just a few soft skills you need to know when interviewing. To learn how to have a great interview and how to network, there is a video lesson titled: “Interviewing and Business Networking” by Business SoftSkills. In all, the company produces over 12 video lessons that are entertaining and very informative. I highly recommend everyone learn their soft skills, it can only improve your chances in a job interview, as well as it could get you promoted at your current job.

This is the company’s website: www.BusinessSoftSkills.com.

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Google accepts defeat to catch the “WAVE”.

Aug 062010

Update news. I’ll keep this short, as there isn’t much to say after I make my statement. wave, email

It was just over a year ago when I wrote about Google’s introduction of their WAVE concept. At the time, it was going to change how email and social media is used by business and consumers. The article I wrote titled: Is your PR  Marketing Strategy ready for the next “WAVE” was written in May 2009. Today, Google announced it was canceling the program by the end of this year.

Seems that even the people with all the money just can’t demand to change things if people are not willing to accept it. A lesson I hope was learned by Google. So what then happens to all these followers who jumped in? They will just have to go back to the old fashioned email programs that they have been using for the last 15 years.

So if you are a pr marketing person, or a pr client who thought this would change how we communicate, dust off that old email account and get back to business.

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How to Improve Your Job Interviewing Process

Jul 212010

Everyone could use help when looking for a job, especially knowing jow to be a good interviewer can make all the difference. That’s whay I am going to tell you about this great new product.

A new iPhone APP titled “Power Resumes and Interviewing” gives a quick study for those who want to improvejob readiness, soft skills their softs skills. What are soft skills? Well, it now has become a very improtant issue when HR people interview a person. These are the skills that we are not taught inschool. These are job readiness, skills, things like how to communicate better, what to expect at your job, how to interview,  writing a business email (that doesn’t have happy faces or typing in all lower case), and a lot more great information.

Having these skills will help you find a job and the 30+ cards in the APP deck for Pwer Resumes and Interviewing is an excellent source. If want to make sure your soft skills are at the level you need, go visit the website at www.Businesssoftskills.com. Better yet, go to the iTunes store and by a set of these cards today, it’s only $2.99. This could be the best investment you make!

For those who want to really get the jump on your competition when looking for a job, be sure to see the full set of video lessons that get right to the core of the information without all the fluff. Good luck with your job hunting.

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Is email dead, or has social media taken over?

Jun 242010

Is email part of you PR Marketing Strategy, or do you only use Social Media?

There have been a lot of discussions about the future and what role email will be playing. Some people, even the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, thinks email is on its way out and people will rely on social media to communicate. This could be possible, but not in any near future. I doubt in my lifetime this will happen. As some writers said, like Chris Crum at WebPro News, all (most of them) social media requires an email to subscribe, or become a member. So that doesn’t sound like the system of social networks has or is ready to abolish email as the means to communicate.email and social networking

We can only wait and see what new methods of communication develop over the next decade. Who knows, we may soon just think our thoughts and send them through brain waves. “Beam me up Scotty!”

Ok, enough said. This now brings me to the second part of this blog. How involved are your PR Clients with social media? Do you have a plan? Do you have a campaign in place? Writing one blog, or using twitter once or twice a week is not getting involved in social media. Social media can become a powerful marketing tool for any pr marketing strategy. If and when done correctly, results can be very positive. If you need to refresher course, just refer to some of my blogs that discuss “How to Use Linkedin to Increase Traffic“, or “Learn How to Use Social Media for PR Clients“. Or just click on the archive files to see many other related topics.

When you are ready to begin and implement a campaign, then give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. It’s the social thing to do!

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Multitasking- is it costing YOUR company or helping it?

Mar 242010


I normally do not get into these types of discussions in my blog, but a lot of controversy has been running around about multitasking. So, does it cost a company when employees multitask, or make them more productive? No simple answer.Multitasking

 

It seems PR Clients and major corporations are pushing their employees to multitask due to the reduction in staff. But are these decisions going to actually hurt a company in the long run? I think it will, and it seems to already be happening. When we multitask, many of us think it is doing a few tasks at a time, when actually we are doing a portion of a task. So nothing gets completely accomplished, and if it does, it is over a longer period of time.

 

When I first began working we did several tasks during the day. Was that multitasking? No. Are what young people doing today multitasking? No. The reason, our brains are not capable of handling more than one function at the exact same time. That’s a fact, a scientific fact. When people say they are multitasking, I prefer to use a term “Parallel Tasking”. That makes sense. This means you do one task, such as printing out a status report, and while that is printing, you complete an excel sheet. Another example, you begin to write or type a letter, then decide to have a drink of coffee or water that is on your desk, while drinking, you answer a phone call. So are these multitasks? They are “Parallel Tasks”. Remember, the brain is wired to focus on one thing at a time. Just like a circus juggler who looks like he is tossing objects in the air and then does something else (in the same spot) is using his reflexes that he taught to keep a motion going while he re-directs his attention to another task.

 

There are a lot of studies on the subject, even one called The Myths of Multitasking.

 

So I ask again, is multitasking helping or hurting your company? Before you answer that, check your email and finish typing that report, and oh, change the song on your iPod and get another cup of coffee.

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Is PageRank still part of your web marketing strategy?

Mar 042010


If you haven’t done any web marketing on your web site in the last 8 to 12 months, then you probably think Google’s PageRank is important. Brace yourself folks, it isn’t any longer. Actually, it hasn’t been a tool that Google has relied upon for a year. 

A Google Webmaster Trends Analyst stated “We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it web marketing PageRankbecause we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.”

 

If this doesn’t convenience you to change your pr marketing strategy and re-work your web site, then you may just want to close your eyes and let the competition take away your market share.

 

Here’s an inside secret, Google is probably going to re-brand PageRank because a lot of people still use the PageRank in the tool bar. Why? Because some people still use PageRank as their final analysis for web sites.

 

If you need to hear this from the top people at Google, then watch this video – it is an interview with Norvig. Still need more? Ok, visit the WebPro News article from Chris Crum.

 

When you are ready to make things happen in a positive way with your website, contact George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc.

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