From the March 3rd, 2012 edition of the VA Gazette.

Search engines decide and choose original content that displays more relevancy to a given search query.  So, don’t copy or clone your content from other sources.

Now, that’s not to say having multiple domains is altogether bad–it depends on how you use them:

1. They are ideal for introducing a new service or product you are offering or want to test.  Just remember, no two websites should have the same or even slightly altered content, and there should separate optimization (SEO) for each one.

2. If you have multiple domains but no websites associated with them, at the very least, make sure your webmaster does a 301 redirect for each to your main website.

For more on the bad and good of multiple domains, visit seo.com.

Do you have multiple domains and need help managing them?  Give us a call or email us–we’ll get them and you on the right track!

Build and publish your own CMS (content management system) 3-page website, with our help, in one day in our studio!

The “Build Your Own Website Bootcamp” is perfect for organizations and small businesses just starting out, or others who’ve been wanting a simple website they can manage themselves, but can’t afford a custom site at this time.

In the bootcamp, we’ll help you build your website, and teach you how to add more pages, images and everything else you’ll need to know to manage and optimize it yourself.

Since this is something new we’re trying out, we’re only taking a few applicants for this first bootcamp, to be held sometime at the end of January or early February.  If interested, click here, and we’ll send you more details.
Cost – $500.00.

 SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the process that allows others to find you on the Internet, is easy to learn, but takes time to properly implement.  Here are a few tips:

1. Learn what keywords others are using to search with Google’s free keyword tool.  Enter words and phrases in the keyword tool that you would use if you were searching for your product or service yourself, and see what Google suggests.  If you do business primarily in the US, filter their keyword suggestions by “Local Monthly Searches”.
2. Create original content, using your best keywords.  Don’t copy and paste from someone else’s website, as search engines penalize websites that do this.
3. Use relevant keywords in all anchor text–the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink, such as this link to Smellycat Productions, a web design, video production company in Williamsburg VA.
4. Give visitors the opportunity to share your content by integrating social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc., into your website.  Make sure the icons of the social networks you use are easy to find and are on each page.
5. Use descriptive URLs for your pages.  For example the URL, www.example.com/page?id=500976875 obviously doesn’t tell search engines what the page is about.  A URL like http://smellycatproductions.com/blog/2011/google-launches-new-google-analytics/ is far more descriptive, and search engines will pick up on that.
6. Ask for reviews.  Invite clients and customers to give their opinion of you, your business on Google Places, Yelp!, Merchant Circle and other high-ranking websites and directories.  Make sure you add or claim and optimize your free listing on each site, first.
7. Update your website often.  Google and other search engines like web pages with fresh content and that are SEO friendly.  If you don’t have a CMS (content management system) website, the easiest way to keep your content fresh is to add a blog to your website and blog regularly.  Every time you make a new blog post (article), you are actually making a new web page!
8. Add your website to Google Webmaster Tools to check for problems such as the dreaded “404 page not found” error.  Use this free tool periodically to make sure your site is “hitting on all cylinders”.

SEO is not a mysterious process, but it does take time to do and involves much more than the few tips we gave you here.  If you need some guidance or just have questions, contact us or stop by our studio in the Williamsburg Outlet Mall and have a cup of coffee with us!

Google recently launched their newest version of Google Analytics.  This latest version offers better functionality, information and report performance such as:

• A completely redesigned, faster interface (read more).
• Multiple dashboards—build multiple custom dashboards to aggregate different statistics on their own page (read more).
• Event Goals! Track your PDF downloads as goals with events, or configure two minutes play time on a video as a goal.  Read Kayden’s great blog post on this feature.

• More powerful custom reports—you can pre-filter reports and build additional data views (read more).
• Migrating a custom report from the current Analytics version to the new version.

Some of the features on the old Analytics, such as the ability to email reports or export them to PDF are not currently available in this new version, but Google assures us that they will be coming very soon and we should watch their blog for updates.

Do you have Google Analytics or another web traffic analyzer and need help “decoding” the data and using it to maximize your website’s ROI?  Or would you like to learn how to add Google Analytics to your website?  Contact us and we’ll show you how!

Google produced this lovely Google Analytics Video:

To help you set up your own Google+ Page for your business or organization, Google has created this handy guide.

To illustrate how Google+ Pages can be used to help small businesses, Google produced this lovely video:

Watch this video on YouTube.

If you need help with Google+ or any of your social media strategy or tactics, contact us!

However, not all SEO is equal.  SEO’s employing “black hat” techniques in an effort to increase a website’s rankings do more harm than good, and can result in a website getting kicked out or buried on Google and other search engines.  Here’s Matt, in his own words:

Watch this video on YouTube.

You don’t need a team to monitor your social media; it’s possible for just one person to do it in 10 minutes (or less!) a day.  So, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite energy drink and get your day started with these five easy steps to successful Social Media monitoring:

1) Check Twitter for chatter about your company (2 minutes).  Use tools like TweetDeck or Twitter Search to monitor and join conversations about your company or brand in real-time.

2) Scan Google Alerts (1.5 minutes): Check Google Alerts for your company name, products, executives or brand.  To set this up, enter your search terms in quotes in a Google Alert and select to receive updates as they happen or once daily.  When people write about you, your company or brand, Google will send an alert to your inbox, so you can read and respond right away!

3) Check Facebook stats (1 minute): Visit your Company Page’s Facebook Insights.  This can be found under the page’s main photo if you are an admin for your page. Scan your active users and interaction stats. Check out your wall posts or new discussions if you have them enabled for your page, and join conversations related to your company or brand.

4) Answer Industry-related LinkedIn questions (3 minutes): Search for questions on LinkedIn that you or members of your company can answer.  You can set up an RSS feed for specific question categories in your Google Reader or other RSS readers as well.  When you find a relevant question, respond and include a link to your website or a relevant blog post that might be helpful to your audience.

5) Use your RSS reader to check for your company name, brand and industry terms (2.5 minutes): Set up RSS feeds in your reader for these searches in other social media sites such as Flickr, Digg and others.  Similar to monitoring LinkedIn and Twitter, your RSS reader will serve as a great place to centralize other searches too!

If you build it, don’t desert it:  Too many companies, especially those who didn’t have a social media plan in place, create social media accounts they use for a few months, abandon, but fail to delete.  Abandoned accounts create a sucking void in customer service. Customers post needs and issues to these accounts, not realizing they are no longer active, and become increasingly frustrated when their needs are ignored.

Social media is increasingly many customers’ primary source of communication for customer service issues.  If your company wants to remain competitive in today’s ever-changing business climate, you must adapt your customer service practices to embrace and leverage your social media.

At Smellycat Productions, we work with clients to create multi-platform social media marketing strategies.  Give us a call at 757.250.3197 or email us to learn how we can jump-start your business!

You can use social media to attract followers and customers in many ways.  Here are just a few:

1. Give Your Company a Face

People feel more comfortable doing business with people they know.  Business owners or CEOs should start blogs and blog regularly on a variety of topics, such as their travels, customers or employees–even family!  Doing so lets blog visitors know who they are and builds trust in them, their company and brand.

2.    Engage Customers in Meaningful Conversations

In the age of social media, businesses must be open to discussions with their customers.  It is important to find out what they like, what they hate and what fresh ideas they want to offer.  This way, they can see that their voices are being heard.

3.    Engage Visitors by Inviting Them to Contribute Content

Another way of engaging the public is to have them contribute “content” to your social media site, such as pictures of them with or using the item they bought from you, and reviews of the product/service.

4.    Provide Instant Customer Service

Social media allows business to identify customer service issues in real time.  This can be done directly, by offering clear channels for customers to register complaints, concerns and suggestions. This can also be done by monitoring what people are saying about you or your brand online via Google Alerts .

5.    Provide Exclusive Offers and Discounts

You don’t have to be a huge company to use social media to attract customers, serve customers and increase sales. It can be as simple as informing your social media followers about current discounts or offers.

Companies of all sizes can leverage social media to enhance their brands, attract new customers, and serve current customers.  No matter what size your company or how long you’ve been in business, social media can enhance your business, and increase your bottom line.

At Smellycat Productions, we work with clients to create multi-platform social media marketing strategies.  Give us a call at 757.250.3197 or email us to learn how we can jump-start your business!

New Websites Just Launched:
Easy as Pi Tutoring
NGlassworks
Bedcrafters by Michelle
Cypress Creek Homes

New Videos Produced:
Whitley’s Peanuts