But Are All These People Really Experts and Can They Truly Execute a Social Media Campaign?

Well I think many agencies and people are just natural social media experts. Take my client Detroit Garden Works for example. Deborah, the owner, is a self-taught blogger and she is great at social media. Deborah claims to not know what she is doing, but she is really good. She connects with people and she posts unique and interesting things. My favorite was this week when she posted pictures of her employee’s new shoes. If you knew Jenny (the gift recipient), you’d see her shoes and the post are as unique as she is in real life.

Others, well, not so much. We’ve seen examples of horrendous tweets from Chrysler’s social media agency to Kenneth Cole’s ill fit use of the Cairo hashtag to the goofy politician who tweeted pictures of his underwear (while wearing of course). These very large social media blunders clearly show social media isn’t as easy as some people may think. Let me rephrase that – it can be easy but you need to understand the rules of engagement before you start to participate. The three examples I just gave show a clear lack of understanding of basic social media rules and acceptable practices.

Good Social Media Makes Me Happy and It Works

In months past my client asked about the rules of engagement and she listened. When I showed up at her store today for a meeting, she told me she thought the shoes would make me happy. They did make me happy. The shoes were perfect and they showed everyone on Facebook that the garden store is ran by someone who was both real and interesting. Deborah, her store, and her people are all very interesting.

But does it work? I think so yes. Deborah was recently interviewed on Martha Stewart radio and has been featured on their website in months past. That is certainly real. And in Deborah’s world, Martha Stewart is the holy grail of publications. Okay in anyone’s world Martha is pretty darn cool. So yes, blogging and Facebook pages and tweeting do work. But it only all works if it is done right and by someone who is passionate about what they do. Passion is at the heart of social media. Deborah is passionate about gardening and this is illustrated in her online activity.

If you love gardening or what to know more about gardening, I’d encourage you to check out Detroit Garden Work’s Facebook page. You certainly won’t find any gardening tips on my blog.

If you want to know more about social media, I have a Social Media Boot Camp that is perfect for getting your team on track. I may not be able to tell a weed from a flower (for some reason Deborah still likes me), but I can teach you about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. That’s my passion.

This weekend I looked back at SEO related statistics for a B2B website I launched in November of 2009. A full year has passed and I wanted to see the progress this company made over a twelve-month period. After launching the new WordPress website, the client retained me to work on their internet marketing efforts. It helped free up time for the client, it gave their internet marketing a cohesiveness it would not have had otherwise, and it gave me time to nurture my new baby. I believe it was a good year for SEO and Google Analytics agrees with me.

The Data Doesn’t Lie

I decided to dig into Google Analytics and pull data for December 1st, 2009 through November 30th, 2010. What fun to review your work and reflect. Okay I have to qualify that, as it was partially my work. The client did a tremendous job following my suggestions and coming up with some of their own. They were a content machine, which helped facilitated my SEO consulting efforts. Without the collaboration, the growth you will see would not be possible.

The data shows there was substantial growth across organic search engine traffic, referrals, and direct traffic. I’d want to see a growth in all three areas because it shows we built branding along with organic search traffic from Google. What I love most is there was no pay per click activity after December. Since organic SEO traffic grew rapidly, I was able to talk the client into ditching his PPC campaign.

The Formula for SEO Magic

At this point you’re probably wondering how we did it. It wasn’t magic or SEO voodoo. We didn’t participate in any link schemes or comment spamming or even paid links or advertising banners. We simply focused on providing quality content, while also letting organic SEO and visitor personas lead the way. We tried to consider what our visitors would perceive as valuable content and we tried to make sure we looked at all personas (or visitor types) that came to the website.

While this list won’t cover everything we did, it will hit the SEO highlights:

• We performed a complete keyword discovery prior to website launch
• We selected three critical keywords, ten high additional high traffic keywords, and a bunch of long-tail keywords
• The website and blog were mapped based on visitor personas and keywords
• New WordPress website design and blog
• We focused on one keyword per page
• Each page had a unique and optimized title and meta description
• We included deep internal links through pages and blog posts
• We included keyword rich links that pointed outside the website and kept them to no more than three or so per page or post
• We performed an inbound linking campaign with very targeted pages and keywords

From a content perspective, we made sure we had a diverse set of “things” being added to the website each week. Due to this Google went from spidering the website occasionally to indexing new blog posts and pages within an hour.

Our keyword rich content included the following types of distribution:

• Two to three blog posts per week
• Monthly press releases
• Bi-weekly webinars
• Polls
• YouTube videos
• Industry reports
• White papers
• Podcasts
• An industry directory with rating system
• Weekly newsletters

A Plug for Social Media

The interesting point to our efforts was the use of social media, which is not always embraced by B2B companies. Of the top five sources of website referrals, four were social media websites. And even more interesting is that Facebook was third on the list.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter had a huge number of “likes” or “followers”, yet both drove a substantial amount of traffic over the year. I’ve previously blogged about social media being conflicting and that you cannot judge your social media success through simple metrics such as likes and followers. This client is a perfect example of why this is the case.

What About Conversions and Revenue?

Now if I were reading this blog post, I’d be asking about conversions, new customers, and revenue. So let me qualify the growth by stating the client had a great year in 2010. The company added significant headcount and came close to doubling revenue.

Whenever we would have our monthly call, we’d talk about traffic and then I would ask about leads, new customers, and sales. I wanted to make sure the client was getting the right traffic. Although I will admit, as an SEO consultant, your first instinct is to get caught up in traffic numbers. You have to deflate your head long enough to ask the client if the traffic is producing value.

The Take Away for Marketers

I want to clearly state that this SEO case study is a best-case scenario. The client and I were in complete sync, we knew each other going in, and there was a strong level of trust. I had worked in his industry and I could run on my own without supervision. This type of freedom in SEO is not the norm. An SEO consultant needs monitoring and the client needs to be involved.

Industry experience aside, the real take away is the content. Without the content, I could not have spun my SEO magic. I had to have content to market and without it, the project would have flopped. I would have had to write the blog posts, which would have distracted me from other tasks and it would have stifled the creativity and momentum.

What’s Your Magic Formula?

I believe in organic SEO and while I don’t consider it voodoo, I absolutely believe it can do magic when you have good content and the SEO project is executed properly. This client is a perfect example of that magic.

If you’re an SEO consultant, I’d love to hear your thoughts on my formula.  SEO is a moving target and I know there is always something new to learn.  Leave a comment below with your thoughts or send me a tweet on Twitter at @WebSavvyMrkting.

I was privileged enough to have a small part of last night’s TV launch. The producers spoke with me about my views on Detroit, Michigan, and where I think we will be in 2020. Who am I and why was I a small part of this great initiative? I’m no one special really. I’m just a little girl who grew up in northern Michigan as a ward of the state. I’m wife and mother of two who currently lives in the suburbs. I am someone who is crazy enough to quit her corporation job and become an entrepreneur in the middle of a recession. I am no one, yet I represent what is within everyone. I am a survivor. I take the hard road and I learned this valuable trait from my beloved Grandmother, who also was a survivor.

The #backchannel

Historically I’ve been an NBC news kind of girl. But then I attended TEDxDetroit and I listened to Stephen Clark from local ABC’s affiliate WXYZ-TV. I learned about the backchannel. He was using the #backchannel as a Twitter hashtag to interact with the viewers of Detroit and to listen to them. Quite a different concept from the standard network policy that just pushes content to you in a one-way forum. He started a movement here in Detroit. He reached out and he created change. Ed Fernandex at WXYZ-TV continued this movement and with the help of Donella Crawford and some other key players, they are making a difference. They launched a new website at www.Detroit2020.com and began alerting people of what was coming via their TV broadcasts, Facebook, and Twitter. Many of us sat and waited with enthusiasm for the launch of Detroit 2020 and what was to come.

While I don’t know exactly how many people tuned into last night’s launch, I know it was a lot. I have had a lot of friends and family call, email, text, or reach out via Facebook and Twitter to say they saw me on one of last night’s spots. I’ve read comments on Facebook and Twitter and the Detroit 2020 website. I even checked my website’s visitor log via Google Analytics to see how many people Googled my company after the broadcast. Here is the interesting fact: everyone except for one came from outside of the core city of Detroit. My website visitors came from Allen Park, Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Clawson, Clinton, Commerce Township, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Drayton Plains, Farmington, Flint, Hamtramck, Harper Woods, Howell, Lincoln Park, Livonia, Macomb, Monroe, New Haven, Oak Park, Rochester, Royal Oak, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Taylor, Troy, Waterford, West Bloomfield, Westland, and Wixom.

But Isn’t Detroit 2020 Just About Detroit?

Well yes and no. It is about Detroit and it is about Southeastern Michigan. It’s about what we, the region, will do to give Detroit rebirth and rejuvenate our state. It is about our ability as a community to unify together, to inspire each other, and to act. It is about the survival of the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan, and each and every one of us. It is about our ability to act together and change the world.  Given the geographical placement of visitors to my website, I believe the region is interested in raising up the city of Detroit and giving her renewed life.

I am an idealist. I didn’t know this until recently. And honestly, I wasn’t an idealist until later in my life. As a child I was negative and scared and confused. But a village of good people raised me and they changed me. As adult I see possibilities and when needed, I embrace change. I believe in the theory “it takes a village to raise a child” and I believe in giving back to the community. I believe I need to help raise the village around me; just as so many helped raise me, the child, some twenty years ago.

Everyone Can Do Something

I believe everyone can do something and the key to doing something is finding and using your inner superpower. I wish my superpower was something fabulous like bringing school supplies, blankets, and hugs to the children of India like my friends Tim and Amy, but for so many reasons, it is not. I wish I could participate in a Habitat for Humanity project, but I am clumsy. My superpower is Internet marketing and I will use it to help raise my village and help bring back my city and my state.  Over the years I have used it by building free websites for organizations like food banks, community centers, or churches. In the grand scheme of things, this is so small, but it is what is within my ability. It is a use of my inner superpower. WXYZ-TV is using their superpower and they’re doing a remarkable job. So much so that they’ve converted me from being a loyal Channel 4 viewer and they’ve inspired me to ramp up my efforts within my village. I am hoping they will inspire the rest of our region to do the same.

A very unexpected person said to me this morning, “I saw you last night on TV. You said you don’t live in Detroit but it is still your city. I can’t get that comment out of my head.” While I absolutely meant what I said, I was very surprised that this little comment made an impact. It is my city, my state, and my home. I believe this with all my heart. I pledge to use my superpower to help WXYZ-TV make a positive impact on Detroit and give us rebirth. I pledge to make a difference and use the little superpower I have to do good. I pledge to raise up my village like so many people participated in raising me as a child.

This is just the introduction, but it shows you there is so much to come as this endeavor gains momentum.

What is Your Inner Superpower?

You have more to give than you think. In December our elementary school raised money to provide mittens for children at a school in Detroit. My husband always stops the car when he sees someone needing help. A few ago my daughter took her piggy bank to school to help a local family who lost their home to a fire. All of these are relatively small acts, but together they make a difference. Small acts can unify us and inspire us to make a greater impact.

Get inspired, unify within your community, and most important, find your inner superpower. Figure out how to use it do good for those around you in need.

Social media is about engaging with your audience, increasing brand awareness, and providing value to the visitors who land upon your Facebook page or Twitter profile. Notice I started with the concept of engagement, because at the core of social media is communication. Social media is about communicating with your audience in a two-way dialogue and utilizing that communication to help meet your marketing objectives.

When I hear people or companies brag about their high number of Facebook likes or Twitter followers my mind wonders back to high school homecoming and the quest to be crowned the queen. While I had no interest in becoming homecoming queen, becoming the reining queen of Facebook would be kind of cool. But I digress. We are grown ups and this isn’t about counting votes and proving to the world that you are the most popular Facebook page within your niche. It is about good old fashion marketing delivered over the world wide web.

I am on my social media soapbox because I am tired of witnessing consultants trick companies into thinking a growth in Facebook likes or Twitter followers is success. I am annoyed because the unsuspecting small business owner will believe it and will pay money for little value and virtual no return. I am on my soapbox, because I want to help small businesses and provide tangible value.  I am angry because uneducated consultants are not just providing minimal value to small businesses, they are giving the rest of us a bad name and turning some small business owners away from social media.

I’m upset because it boils down to some simple math and a look at a few real world Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Sample Facebook Metrics for B2B and B2C Pages

One might look at website #6 and believe this brand is doing an exceptional job in their Facebook effort. After all, they have the most page likes, so they must be doing something right. Ah, no. Compare the percentages for B2B website # 1 and B2C website #6. The B2B brand is a lot more social media savvy than the B2C brand. While the number of likes for the B2C website is highest amongst the sample, the active Facebook page users and inbound website traffic from Facebook is very low. The B2B website has a much lower number of Facebook likes, yet has a much higher level of engagement both on Facebook and in traffic to their actual website.  Website # 1 is doing a better job because the page provides value or actual content.  Website # 6 just seeks out people to like it, but never actually puts anything on the page itself.

Sample Twitter Metrics for B2B and B2C Pages

Now look at the same two websites on Twitter. Both websites have a respectable number of Twitter followers, yet neither have an exceptionally high amount of traffic migrating from Twitter over to their actual website. I could go further into this data by providing mentions, tweet volume, and such, but I think I’m making my point and I don’t want to bore anyone to death.

What Do All the Social Media Numbers Really Mean?

This data can be diced and sliced in a variety of ways, but knowing these accounts like I do, I can conclude a lot just from the basic data I assembled above.

1. First and foremost, the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers does not equal success.
2. Real social media success is more about engagement and less about the popularity contest.
3. If you don’t provide content in your social media efforts, you’re going to struggle providing value.  If someone visits a Facebook page that looks exactly like it did five months ago, the chances are they won’t come back and they won’t look further at you or your brand.
4. Look beyond the numbers within your actual social media account. Look at tangible conversions to new leads, new clients, and repeat customer purchases or interactions.
5. Before you engage in a social media campaign or with an internet marketing consultant, know what equates success. Don’t go by their promise to increase your followers of fans, because it means little if no one engages with your brand.
6. Use tools like Google Analytics to provide tangible metrics on website referrals, duration or depth of visit, goals, and conversions to see if your social media activity is making a difference and providing value.
7. You your own financials to see if social media is helping or hurting your bottom line.
8. Don’t listen to or accept promises that seem to good to be true. They probably are much better in theory than in real life. I can increase your Facebook likes by 1,000 by giving someone on Fivver.com $5. This won’t mean anything unless it converts to something tangible for your brand.
9. Don’t just focus on the short-term high of a promotion, event, or download.  I believe the B2C sector does this in many cases.  The B2C sector needs to take notice of their B2B counterparts who pay more attention to getting the audience back to their website to provide more value than just the one snippet in their status update or tweet.
10. Social media is an upward battle that doesn’t just materialize into ultimate success overnight. An audience capable of delivering ROI will take time to build.
11. If you’ve hired a social media consultant, validate their success yourself and don’t just take their canned reports or updates as success.
12. Review your new social media audience to validate it against your target demographics. Facebook has excellent reports for viewing geography, age, etc. If you sell medical products to the geriatric set in Michigan, 20,000 teenagers in India are not really going to bring social media ROI.
13. Not everyone is good at social media.  If you are concerned about your ability, hire an expert.  Just do so wisely.
14. You can’t ignore social media.  As much as I’m tired of hearing about the likes of Groupon, I know the company and their deals are here to stay.  Twitter and Facebook are also here to stay, so get used to it and embrace it.
15. Integrate social media with your website to both connect long-term with your visitors and to allow them to share your promote your content to their own network.  Good content will bring likes and followers.

If you haven’t yet engaged in social media, now is the time.  Just remember not every internet marketing consultant is legit, honest, or even educated enough to provide social media marketing. If you are outsourcing your social media, then make sure you pick someone who truly understands traditional marketing efforts, your messaging, your industry, and what you consider to be social media success.

Article Resources:

• Web Savvy Marketing on Facebook
• Web Savvy Marketing on Twitter

Before leaving the house today I posted a status update on Facebook that stated I was headed to #140Conf Detroit. I added a brief explanation for my sister in Atlanta so she would know what I was talking about in my update. She is a bartender by trade and my world is foreign to her. I am foreign to her, but that is okay. We are united by blood and by birth. My Facebook mingling continues as older sister in South Carolina chimes in and makes a comment that she doesn’t get Twitter and some day I’ll have to teach her. I can’t teach her. Twitter isn’t about teaching you how to communicate or how to have a conversation. It is about connecting, just like the rest of social media.

Social Media Creates a Community

Communities like Twitter and Facebook are truly about connecting, having a conversation, and communicating with others. They represent a conscious effort to engage. They are not a lesson. For me, Facebook ends up being where I communicate most with my sisters. Not because I’m a social misfit, but because I am a multi-tasking mom of two, who owns her own business, and who has to run a household in addition to taking care of her family. I am today’s generation of mommies. Many of us don’t have time for coffee dates and long discussions. My close friends understand this and my sisters accept it. My use of Facebook and Twitter is partly who I am and partly because social media allows me to connect with others in an efficient manner. It also allows me to learn from others and embrace the idea of knowledge transfer. A significant amount of information can be processed in a short period of time and this is my favorite thing about Twitter. I can digest massive amounts of data, news, and industry updates over a cup of coffee. I absolutely love it.

Many of my website design and SEO clients ask the same questions my sister does. Why should they use Twitter? They say they don’t “get it”. They ask why I think their business needs to be on Twitter? Well, I’ll answer that by personal experience. I have prospects and tangible revenue come to me via Twitter. I also communicate back via Twitter. I connected with my boat manufacturer to thank them for their excellent customer service and I yell at GoDaddy when their technical support refuses to help me. It is a method of communication that transcends generations, economic status, and geography. It connects the president of a large corporation with the stay at home mom in Idaho. It unites us and it creates a community.

Social Media Connects Us

Because of Facebook I feel more connected with my sisters than I have in years past because I can see images from their lives and I can read impromptu comments they would not otherwise share. I cried as I found and reconnected with family I lost some twenty years ago. I cried when my Facebook connections informed me my younger cousin passed away. And I was thankful for the information and the internet’s ability to deliver information quickly and in time to round up my sisters to head home for the funeral.

I also feel more connected as a consumer. I have used my electronic voice to give a last ditch effort to service providers like GoDaddy. I beg them to fix my issue before I move my business elsewhere. It worked multiple times and as a consumer I feel empowered. GoDaddy called my home – yes my home – and resolved my problem. I stayed and calmed down and gave GoDaddy not just one chance but about ten thousand more it seems.

Social Media Empowers Us to Drives Change

I also see it reshaping the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. I have local Detroit hip hop clients and when it comes to Twitter and social media, they are some of the most miraculous examples of all. The Detroit hip hop community has absolutely embraced Twitter and I love the fact that an inner city Detroit musician can grow his fan base and sell music via the internet. I applaud the hip hop community for using their creativity and adopting the newest technology available. You are a tribute to American ingenuity and an example for all those who doubt the power of Twitter, Facebook, or other social media platforms.

I also applaud all of those wonderful people I’ve discovered through the TEDxDetroit and #140Conf events. There is a huge movement within Detroit to energize the city and the state. There is a growing movement of change and of rebirth. Detroit is filled with ordinary people doing extraordinary things and using Facebook and Twitter to share their message and their work. There is hope within Detroit. Part of this is because there is an electronic community that helps empower those who may not have had earlier opportunities to be empowered. This electronic community is now merging into physical communities via events like TEDxDetroit and #140Conf.

Find Your Electronic Voice and Join the Movement

Tomorrow is increasingly shaping itself into a digital world and those who believe they can ignore it are sadly mistaken. Follow the likes of Detroit and make small efforts for change. You will see that some of the most remarkable people are sitting on Facebook or Twitter, just waiting for you to find them and join their movement.

Take a moment to sign up for a Twitter account and fight the urge to leave it unloved when you don’t immediately get it. I didn’t get it at first either and I hated the 140 character limit. Now I love it and I start my day with coffee and Twitter and Facebook. Give it a chance and you might just love it too. You might even generate some business from it like I have done over the last year.

Article Resources:

• @WebSavvyMrkting on Twitter
• #140Conf Detroit
• TEDxDetroit
• Lemonade Detroit or Help Produce Lemonade Detroit
• Loveland Micro Real Estate (Buy a Piece of Detroit)

Author’s Note:  I’ve bought a piece of Detroit real estate and I’ve bought frames in Lemonade Detroit.

As your web designer, I will do everything in my power to design an SEO friendly website that is built around your target keywords. I identify the keywords, prioritize the keywords, and try my best to guide your content to help support those keywords. But that process, as long as it may sometimes feel, is only the beginning to a solid SEO campaign. The real work comes after the website is launched and if you do not hire me or another SEO consultant to help in these efforts, the due diligence of this effort falls back on you.

So now what? You’ve got your cool new website (if done by me this would be based on the WordPress website design platform) and you wonder what’s next. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell the students over at JuJuQ and the same thing I tell me website clients. You get building. Not house building like my friend Rick does, but link building, like all the WordPress geeks I know do.

Ten Steps to Quality Link Building and Strong Organic SEO

1. Plan Out and Separate Your Content into Keyword-Rich Pages

Any good project needs a plan. SEO and linking building do too, so this means start your plan with the right keywords. You want to target keywords that will result in a positive experience for website visitors and this means you want keywords that are relevant to what your website will offer in content, the products you sell, or your service offering. Remember I’m an organic girl, so we need to focus on quality. Organic SEO begets quality content; or really, the other way around.

Offer misleading keywords or irrelevant keywords (aka black hat SEO) and your visitors will simply bounce on arrival. This will not only defeat the effort to gain quality traffic and it will ultimately produce negative results with Google because it will inflate your bounce rate per keyword.

To avoid this I suggest starting with a sitemap that matches up individual keywords to individual pages. Once you’ve defined it, stay on task and stay focused in both writing quality content and building inbound links.

2. Limit Your Targeted Keywords to One or Two Per Page

One page cannot gain you oodles of traffic for ten different high volume keywords. It can do so for one or two, so stay focused. If you are not targeting a long-tail (longer keyword terms that are offer lower volume) keyword, then pick only one, or at most, two terms to target per page. This will make your sitemap to keyword relationship manageable and it will be the most effective in generating traffic.

3. Check Out Your Competition

Before you stop planning, visit your top competitors. Look at their website structure, page URLs, on page content, etc. You can also utilize resources like Google’s Keyword Tool, SpyFu, Keyword Spy, Complete.com, or Alexa to gain insight on their target words and their traffic. You will find new keywords and new inspiration for your website.

4. Make Each and Every Link Count

Having a link isn’t enough. It needs to be keyword rich. In step one I said to make a plan, now that you have this plan and page to keyword reference sheet, just use it for link building. For example, if you have a Linkedin account and you are adding a link to your website on your profile, don’t just use the standard “My Company”. Use your keywords and link to a specific page. That takes an average inbound link and makes it a great inbound link.

5. Never Engage in Link Farming and Avoid Paid Links

You may have received emails or read ads promising the world with inbound link farming or paid link promotions. They sound to good to be true and they are, so ignore them at all costs. When I say ignore, I mean run and run fast. Google will not reward you for paying for inbound links, so don’t waste your time or money working to obtain them.

6. Promote Your Inbound Links Through a Press Release, Blog Entry, White Paper, Article, Event or Social Media Site

Not all people read press releases and white papers, but search engines certainly can and will. If you have something meaningful to announce, then consider a press release. Remember to embed your press releases with quality links that are keyword rich and point to specific pages within your website. I, particularly, pay for few press release services. I tend to rely on free services, although I do admit I regularly pay $12 for one service that allows three keyword rich links. Some of my favorite press release websites are PR Inside, PRLog, OnlinePRNews, OpenPR, 1888PressRelease, PitchEngine, and MyPRGenie.

Blogs are another great way to increase your inbound links. As a matter of fact, blogs are the best way to get links. If you are a good blogger, you will quickly gain regular readers and people who ”follow” your postings through RSS feeds and other publishing methods. These readers will also encourage other people to read your entries. Google looks positively on blog entries and their associated links. If you’re lucky, you’ll realize you love blogging and it will be both a benefit to your website and an enjoyable task and outlet for you at the same time.

Once your blog post is released, you can promote it or post it on other websites such as industry forums, blog directories, or social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

7. Always Include the “http://” in Your Link

If your link isn’t embedded in keyword rich text, always include the http:// in the inbound link’s URL. If you forget, the link you provide might get picked up as an inbound link or it may not. Therefore, it’s always a good practice to include the full address of your URL, and this also means the http://. This is a simple point, but an important one. As a rule, I believe in both keyword rich links and URL based links. A little variety is good for the Google soul.

8. List your Website in a Directory

Another way to increase your inbound link efforts is to merely to promote it as much as you can. A great way to do that is to utilize a directory. While you typically can’t submit individual pages, you can list your main site. Think of a directory as online yellow pages.

First and foremost, focus on DMOZ. This is a free service, however each submission is reviewed by a human, so proceed with caution. Take the time to make sure you are applying you link to the correct directory location. If you do not, you will be rejected. And do not give up if you are not quickly listed. It takes time and it may take a few requests before you are officially in DMOZ.

9. Establish an RSS Feed, Sitemap.XML File and a Strong Ping List

Make sure you have an active RSS feed for your blog posts. The RSS feed will automatically be updated each time you release a new blog post. This feed can be connected to Facebook and other social media sites to automatically update your page or profile with each new post. That equates to new inbound links each time and you do not have to touch anything beside your blog post.

You also need to make sure you have a sitemap.xml file that includes content for your entire website. Once set up, this sitemap will automatically update each time a post is added or a page updated. This will literally “reach out a touch” the search engines and nudge them in a way to inform them that you have new content available. This is critical for keeping the search engines up to date on your fresh content. It will also help get your blog posts into Google’s blog listing, which provides current content to other bloggers to read, review, and comment upon. Just make sure you use your keywords within your blog titles so the effort is not wasted.

Finally consider a ping list. By utilizing a ping service, it allows you to automatically notify blog directories that your blog has been updated. Once you establish your ping list, whenever you write a new blog post, the blog directories on your ping list will automatically be notified of the change. The bigger your ping list, the higher the chances of receiving traffic from those sources. If you use WordPress, for example, you can modify your ping list in your Dashboard settings. This is a great timesaver as it will help spread the word about your new posts effortlessly. All you have to do is maintain a healthy ping list.

10. Stay White Hat, Organic, and Don’t Give Up on Your Effort for Quality Inbound Links and SEO Driven Traffic

To maintain your credibility with the search engines and to obtain page one ranking, stay on top of the SERP (search engine results page) and continue building your inbound links. It is an ongoing process, so remember that you’ll need to continue your link-building efforts or you’ll fall off page one. Just because you land on page one, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay there. Good organic SEO takes work and it does not happen overnight.

One reason I like organic SEO is because I believe in the concept of a strong work ethic that is driven by good intentions. That, in itself, is the basis for organic SEO. It takes commitment and steady work, but as many website owners already know, the reasons for engaging in SEO are compelling. Cultivating inbound links is a proven methodology for attracting free, long-term traffic.

While some may dismiss this as just pure silliness, it is not. It is not only a very sad display of social media usage; it is a reminder that your personal activity on the Internet has repercussions. Sometimes, social media has very long-term repercussions.

Now add in the athletes’ recent problems with their tweets on Twitter and the many cases of authorities arresting MySpace and YouTube posters for their content and you will quickly see a trend emerging. Social media adoption is rising, although the knowledge and practice of social responsibility are not.

Hopefully, the multitude of recent mishaps on social media sites will resonate with the user community and the masses will take note. You may be logging into Facebook in the privacy of your own home, but your content and your postings are very much in the public domain and governed by the laws of United States.

I tried to access CNN’s website, but our Internet lines were jammed with activity and my screen stood in an abyss of grayness. I was completely cut off from the world or at least this is how I felt. I remember walking quickly to our corporate cafeteria in hopes CNN was on the tiny TV that seemed to always display nothing of value. Upon my arrival I was relived to see the TV on and I stood watching, trying to get a grasp of what was transpiring. I stood in disbelief and in awe of the brutality, the loss, and the despair. I had no idea the magnitude of the events would have on our country. No one did.

While I personally was without loss, I knew of someone who did lose a loved one that day. While I did not lose a friend, loved one, or my own life – I was touched and I was forever changed. The world I knew was different. It felt no longer safe. The existence I knew, no longer was a reality. It took me a long time to recover and to return to normal and I live far away from ground zero. I can’t imagine what the day brought for those within New York and the other sites of chaos.

Today I remember this day clearly and I remember the feeling of helplessness. I remember the feeling of being cut off and without the knowledge I so deeply craved. It made me wonder what that day would have been like had 9/11 occurred in today’s high tech world. Today when Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube are information giants that spread data feeds at the speed of light. Would we be better or worse off with this technology? Would our Blackberries and text messages help or hinder us?

I wonder if real news would stream from these sites quickly or would panic erupt inside an electronic cloud of misinformation and self-induced chaos. I don’t have a good answer for it. I suspect we would see positives and negatives from our new obsession with social media. And while I welcome the positive aspects of life confirmations, snippets of hope, and stories of survival, I also dread the idea of those Internet lurkers and cave dwellers who might have used social media to exploit others with their own twisted versions of reality.

For the first time I am fearful of social media and what it brings to society. And why I am momentarily concerned for the future of this medium, I am also thankful for the country in which I live, the people that united in post 9/11 efforts, and the nation that became stronger and safer than it was in years past.

For all of those who lost their lives in 9/11 and for all of those who lost someone, you are remembered.

This last week brought yet another acquisition announcement in the land of social media. The MySpace folks announced their intent to couple up with iLike. No one has to wonder about who will be wearing the pants in this relationship. Am I surprised? Not really. MySpace had to do something. Facebook just announced an acquisition and MySpace has to keep up. But can MySpace really keep up with Facebook and Twitter? Or the business-focused social media giant LinkedIn? My personal belief is no. Facebook is light years ahead of MySpace and MySpace’s attempt at cutting edge social networking will still leave them at the back of the pack.

The good news for MySpace and the other social networking websites is that many of us Internet junkies are, in fact, addicted to social networking and everything fun and hooky these social media websites can deliver. While I personally do not play Mafia Wars or send out birthday requests, I start my day with Facebook and Twitter. MySpace – not so much. But others do and there are plenty of us out there to keep the four big boys churning and bringing in revenue. Which does make me happy, because if I didn’t have my morning Facebook, what would I do while I drank my coffee?

“Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “As this shows, our culture continues to make Facebook a place where the best engineers come to build things quickly that lots of people will use.”

FriendFeed is based in Mountain View, Calif. and has 12 employees. FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being as the teams determine the longer term plans for the product.  Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.

This acquisition can only help catapult Facebook further into upper ranks of the web by further solidifying its position and further extending its technology.

While this last week put strain on the social media giants, it was a blessing in disguise for us Internet marketing consultants. As the world reacted to the momentary lose of Facebook and Twitter functions, the world realized just how important these websites have become over the last year. These social media sites have become mainstream and are an integral part of our daily lives. They are no longer just something your tech-savvy teenager talks about. They are now part of your integrated marketing plan and a vital part of your ongoing communication efforts.

Take note of the uprising and know this is just the beginning. The online world is shifting and the world of social networking and social media is shifting right along with it.