When I said I blogged five years ago, people looked at me as if I was crazy. Well I was, but blogging didn't drive me to insanity. Today it is a bit more mainstream and bloggers are everywhere. I actually like blogging. I enjoy it and it has been a huge help to me professionally. Last weekend I attended WordCamp Detroit and I was surrounded by bloggers. I wasn't prepared for that one, as I use WordPress for website design and I guess I assume everyone in the room would too. Was I wrong. There were bloggers everywhere. Many who had day jobs and blogged at night about their Read more
WordCamp Detroit: My Top Ten List
Posted in: WordPress | October 11, 2010
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Detroit. What the heck is WordCamp Detroit you ask? It is a local WordPress conference designed to share and promote all that is good within the WordPress community. While I referred to it on Facebook as “chicken soup for the geek girl’s soul”, my husband defined it as geekfest. Regardless, I enjoyed my time and I truly loved seeing a sold out venue for the conference. When I was younger (aka pre-kids), I would send out a top ten list on Monday morning that would highlight my weekend’s journey with my friends. These days Read more
Ten Steps to Quality Link Building and Strong Organic SEO
Posted in: Search Engine Optimization | August 24, 2010
Whenever I create a new website for a client, I always tell them the website is only the core foundation of strong SEO. Strong SEO requires a solid, well planned, and long-term link building campaign. Interestingly enough, as I prepare for a live Q&A sessions for my friends over at JuJuQ on the subject, I found myself an email to a client nagging him about building inbound links for a brand new website we launched last Wednesday. Inbound links are a huge part of SEO and since I’m an organic SEO girl, I cannot help but talk about creating inbound links. Read more
Malibu Boats: A Case Study in Social Media Excellence
Posted in: Social Networking & Social Media | August 3, 2010
When I met my husband many years ago, I quickly became painfully aware of his two loves: hunting and boating. No matter how great his love for me, I could not interfere with his beloved hobbies. In 2008 we purchased a new Malibu Boat to continue his tradition of summer days spent on the water. Our Malibu Wakesetter was a major purchase and something I personally struggled with until I realized we spent every weekend on the boat and dragged along numerous friends and families with us. We are now known for our “super cool” Malibu boat that produces “monster waves” and our desire to Read more
Blekko vs. Google: I’m Now in Love With BOTH
Posted in: Search Results | July 31, 2010
This morning Blekko invited me to beta their new search engine. I was absolutely thrilled when the DM invite appeared in my Twitter inbox. I am an SEO consultant, so for me this was like Christmas morning. I so hoped the excitement would not lessen once I accepted the invitation and unwrapped my new gift. Unlike Christmas morning, where I savor the unwrapping of presents, I ripped into my Blekko access as fast as I could. I was not only impressed, I really loved the experience. I quickly started making slashtags for some of my favorite things and I started searching topics that I’m Read more
Each Page of Your Website is Like a Handshake
Posted in: Website Design | April 7, 2010
Each page of your website is like a handshake. Really. To illustrate this statement, let me set the stage for you. You are manning your company’s booth at a trade show and a prospect wonders by and is within reach. This person looks at your booth, pauses, and then takes a brief moment to ask about your product or service offering. What do you say? Remember - you only have about one minute to make an impression and keep their interest. You have about the time it takes to shake someone’s hand. Read more
Pay Per Click Campaigns: The Black Hole of the Internet
Posted in: Search Engine Optimization | April 2, 2010
I hate pay per click campaigns. I love Google and even respect Adwords’ capabilities, but I hate pay per click and everything it represents. Pay per click is an Internet black hole that sucks you in so deep, you can’t get out. As an SEO consultant, it’s everything I can do to drag you and your hesitant self back out into my world of free organic search. I’ve talked to a lot of prospects and clients who have ongoing pay per click campaigns. When I say ongoing, I mean they’ve been spending hundreds to thousands of dollars per month for years. They’ve been doing it for so Read more
Google’s Search Results Skews Your Self Image?
Posted in: Search Results | March 30, 2010
What is your view of your current website traffic and Internet marketing campaigns? Are you receiving as much traffic as you’d like or are you scoring as high on your top keywords as you had originally hoped? No, this isn’t my sales pitch; there is a point to these questions. If you’re the average small business owner, you know enough about organic search engine optimization to make you dangerous. You know a little about SEO (search engine optimization) and you periodically check your keyword rankings to make sure you are still sitting on page one. Did you know these results are Read more
When You Know Good SEO, Bad SEO is Like a Neon Sign
Posted in: Search Engine Optimization | March 26, 2010
This week I was working on a project for a long-term client of mine. In doing some online research I visited a large number of B2B software developer websites. Some were large companies and some were smaller niche players. I was disappointed at the large percentage of these websites that were using less than stellar SEO practices. Technology companies own these websites and I would have imagined they’d know better. Back in my early days of SEO (search engine optimization) I was overwhelmed by the over abundance of SEO information on the Internet. I didn’t know whom to believe and I Read more