Search engines are better at spidering than you. Of course, you need a professional looking site, easy to navigate, appropriate content and size. Many webmasters and sites are great at displaying graphics (flash) and visually appealing sections on their sites. However, the search engines really don’t care much about that. If you can give the spiders what they want, they not only will eat it up fast, but you will provide content-rich, relevant data to their index (database). As time, content, size and relevancy increase, you will rise up in the search engine results pages. Properly applied search engine optimization techniques and online marketing principles will help you. (SEO/SEM)

The 3 most important search engines to optimize for are Google, Yahoo, and MSN. (Ed Note: Google owns over 50% of the market today, and is growing fast every day. This includes their exposure via partners like Ask, Earthlink, DogPile, etc). For you to get elevated and relevant rankings you must get into the search engine indexes, and we recommend you start with Google. You should get spidered by Google in less than 3 weeks if applied correctly, but a long term approach to SEO work is needed. You can expect to see your listing within 2-4 months for some pages, and as much time as 2 years for certain keywords/phrases within those.

I invite you to take a look at the starter list below. These are steps you can start today and it is fairly easy and impactful.

NUMBER 1: Learn the SEO concepts.

SEO tries to ensure that your web pages appear at the top of the search engines for target keyword requests. It increases brand awareness, qualified traffic and revenue. Fact: Only 1/2 of the people visiting look at the sponsored (paid) ads (PPC) and only 20% of those actually click. However, 4 out of 5 total clicks – apply their mouse on natural search results. Therefore SEO done right can really elevate your business visibility and revenue. Additionally, the top 5 sites returned from any search are where the action is. Your goal? You should be in the top 10 (Search Engines Results Pages (SERPS)) for your selected keywords.

NUMBER 2: Research the competition.

I am sure you do this no matter what business you are in – whether online or not (brick and mortar). If not, this is one of the big steps missed by online businesses. There are techniques on how to do this effectively, quickly and with high quality results. Our August article on www.microsaw.com (“How To Use Search Engine Optimization to Destroy Your Competition in 3 Easy Steps”) outlines how to do this.

NUMBER 3: Linking Strategies and Relevancy.

One of the most important things you can do is to build out your relevant linking neighborhoods. There are a number of great tools you can use to automate this, but we have found that via email and the phone (we are amazed by how many do not use the phone) — you will establish a closer relationship with your virtual partners, and even though you may only spend an hour a day building link partners, it is well spent. Typically, only 1-2 will exchange links with you out of 8 companies called. However, let us say you get one quality link per day through the year. That is over 300 quality links that will help your relevancy, build your business and get your PR(Page Rank) level moved up.

NUMBER 4: Proper HTML and Site Building.

There are many articles written on this topic. If you are not HTML-savvy, it can be a challenge. However, it is not hard to learn, and many tools are available. Just search for free website design tools. Other SEO tools (ex: webconfs.com) can analyze your content, HTML syntax and appropriate application of tags like TITLE, H1, META tags, BODY content and more. You must also make notes of server-side issues, including IP numbers that may have belonged to (and still do) block listed ranges.

NUMBER 5: Meet The Search Engines.

Make sure you read the webmasters guidelines on all the search engines, especially Google, Yahoo and MSN. They actually are very helpful, and they want you to do well, contrary to what you believe or have heard. Also, keep in mind, there are robotic search engines, algorithmic based search engines and AI-type search engines – different styles of writing. Additionally, you must include listings in the directories, like DMOZ (free, but takes weeks to get listed), Yahoo (free, months – or paid, immediate). Lastly, you must study and learn the PPC (pay-per-click) strategies, learn how to write ads, copy writing for (cash) landing pages, and implement a solid back-end sales process. If you have never used the AdSense programs, you may be missing out on *significant* income, but many do it incorrectly. We have seen adsense programs go from $3.00/day to over $19,000/month.

NUMBER 6: Use a proven methodology.

None of the SEO “white hat” (opposite: “black hat” – unethical) strategies are rocket-scientists-qualified only. The key areas to keep working on are: a) keyword research, b) competitive analysis, c) analyze your own site(s), d) submit your site(s), e) monitor rankings, f) Reporting, g) link development and h) dynamic site mapping. This approach works, and used by many of the professional SEO companies in the industry.

NUMBER 7: Learn how to use the SEO tools.

Metaphor: For many home-owners, the worst thing that can happen when approaching any project, large or small – is not having your tool belt attached. Even worse, if there are tools missing from that belt after spending 15 minutes retrieving the ladder, lining it up just right, then scaling it just to get to the top of the roof — you not only feel aggravated, but plain stupid.

Being affiliated with some of the guru-type tools & specialists in the industry is nice, but most people are not. Therefore, free tools are a good place to start (search for seo tools and seo email courses). These will help you get to work immediately, and you don not have to come down off the roof to get them.

NUMBER 8: Relevancy, Relevancy, Relevancy. Why be “search relevant”?

The objective here is to make the search engines “see”. You must always ensure that you insert unique relevant content such that the page becomes more worthy of a high ranking in the search engines. You must also make sure you adhere to Style Guide Requirements. The ultimate objective is not to make an inferior page appear superior, but to actually make it superior. Yes, you must be relevant – for any site – be it a commerce/shopping type site, to an information page about Da Vincis life (and, if you have something to sell, that is great). Do not try any uncommon tricks, especially not for the search engines. You will regret it. There are too many sad stories of revenues and business lost from “black hat” strategies (cloaking, spamdexing, link farms). They appear to work for a little while, and suddenly you are gone from the listings and not easily turned around. Be relevant and ethical. It may take a little longer, but you will win out in the end.
About the Author

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO, and has spent over 10 years developing websites and marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo. His Web 2.0 site, http://www.microsaw.com, provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary email courses on everything you will ever need to know about SEO and Search Marketing. He lives with his family in Los Angeles, CA.

Introducing VoIP

by Mike Bell

As VoIP gets more popular, more companies are beginning to offer this service to its customers. Some think that VoIP will replace the traditional telephone system. To help you make the switch, here is a list of VoIP service providers and some general information about what they have to offer.

Verizon VoiceWing – Their plans start at $19.95 a month for 500 calling minutes to the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. If you already have Verizon DSL, they offer a discount on their unlimited plan ($29.95 instead of $34.95). (https://www22.verizon.com/ForYourhome/voip/voiphome.aspx)

Comcast Di gital Voice – They have both national and international calling options. If you use Comcast for any other services, you are eligible for their discounted rates. If you have Comcast Cable and High Speed Internet, Digital Voice is an extra $39.95. (http://www.comcast.com/Benefits/VoiceBenefits.ashx)

Lingo – This seems to be one of the best services. They offer your first month for free. Plans start at $19.95 for both national and international calling. Their basic service starts at $7.95 a month. (http://www.lingo.com)

Vonage – Prices start at $14.99 for their basic service and $24.99 for their unlimited service. Long distance calling rates are listed on their site, as they change depending on the country. (http://www.vonage.com)

Earthlink – Even Earthlink has begun offering VoIP service. TrueVoice offers home internet phone for rates starting at $14.95 a month. If you also use Earthlink for your DSL connection, yo u are eligible for their package deal. Also check out Vling- a free software download called Vling which allows you to talk with other Vling users for free. (http://www.earthlink.net/voice/dslhomephone/)

Yahoo! learned a painful lesson from the slump it experienced up until this year – that relying on Internet advertising is great when companies are willing to pay for advertising but not when those companies don’t have the money to spare for Internet advertising campaigns! It’s recent ventures into “paid for” services is likely to be complemented by continuing ventures into subscription-based services, perhaps involving Earthlink.

Terry Semel took the reigns of Yahoo! just in time to avoid Yahoo! succumbing to the internet bubble burst syndrome by steering the company away from the purely “free content and services model” for customers, and into the world of customer-oriented revenue-generating services – often against the instincts and principles of Yahoo!’s founders, Jerry Yang and David Filo. With the help of the extremely sharp, and greatly respected Susan Decker, Terry guided the company through its difficult adolescence into adulthood.

Terry certainly had the right motives, though some of the ventures have yet to pay off – Yahoo! Personals has been a goldmine, and Shopping and Finance have been worthwhile, whereas Yahoo! Auctions has been, predictably, less successful (primarily due to the late entry into a market where Ebay had already established its loyal user base). Yahoo! has also done well offering paid premium services – not only offering larger email storage space (Gmail put a dip in those earnings but the earnings are still there) but also extra web space premium services, spam blocking services, and others.

Longer term, customers will recognize the benefits of Yahoo!’s mail solution over that of Google’s. Long before Google came up with the idea of offering huge amounts of storage space for free (supposedly primarily aimed at users who wish to store photos and mp3s), Yahoo! was already offering free “unlimited” storage space for photos via its associated services such as Yahoo! Photos, large amounts of free storage space for web sites and mp3 files via Yahoo! Geocities, and for documents via Yahoo! Briefcase.

Being able to access these services, as well as myYahoo! (the personalized portal), games, calendar, greetings, clubs, toolbar, messenger, chat, mobile, finance, and a host of others all from a single login and password, will give Yahoo! the edge over Google for a long time to come. Especially with the recent announcement that Yahoo! is going to purchase MusicMatch, arguably the best music player on the net! What a great complement to its existing Launch music services, recently declared the best on the net! Integration between the Google properties just is not there – even if you signed into Gmail already, you have to sign in again (often with a completely different userid and password) to get to Google Groups or to Google Adsense, for example.

Yahoo!’s respect for the consumer, and recognition that the consumer always has the option to go elsewhere, will also win through. Already, Gmail has shown itself to be bug-ridden and problematic for the end consumer, and with its security and privacy issues, it is clearly a far inferior product to Yahoo! Mail, a professionally engineered solution, architected by some of the sharpest minds on the planet. Every change to Yahoo! Mail is planned, designed, reviewed and tested as thoroughly as the code that runs the NASA space shuttle missions. It is clear that the Google Gmail solution is less well-architected, and that is being very kind to Google.

The same goes for Overture compared to Adsense – Google’s marketing campaigns may have given Adsense the edge up until this point, but Overture is clearly a far superior (and far cheaper) product to use. And, of course, the Google search engine is great when your company is at the top of the listings for your selected keywords, but the Florida Update made a lot of Google customers extremely unhappy, as they lost a vast number of customers overnight, with no warning – something Yahoo! has never done to its customers (another sign that Google’s engineering and testing of its software is not up to Yahoo! standards). Why Yahoo! has not capitalized on this big mistake by Google is beyond me – their ethics and professionalism probably prevent them from running down the competition.

Customer loyalty is something that Yahoo! has down to a fine art, and it is this that will mean that Yahoo! will win out over its rivals in the end.

Yahoo!’s ventures into partnerships with DSL providers such as the UK’s BT, Roger’s in Canada and of course, the US’s SBC, will help Yahoo! to capitalize on this customer loyalty and earn a steady income based on its excellent services. The great branded toolsets that Yahoo! offers to its DSL customers (portal services, popup blockers, spam blockers, parental controls, integrated messaging, search and a host of other integrated services – all for a comparatively very low total Broadband cost), again, excellently engineered, give the Yahoo! brand the quality reputation it deserves and places Yahoo! nicely to take over many disgruntled AOL customers, who find that they have to pay for AOL on top of the cost of their broadband services, and that AOL slows down their PCs so much that the advantage of using broadband is much diminished.

The recent rumour that Yahoo! and Earthlink are in talks is extremely exciting for anyone watching both companies. In Earthlink, Yahoo! would find a partial answer to its quest to acquire more customers who use Yahoo! to connect to the internet, and are willing to pay for the excellence of the Yahoo! experience.

Earthlink also has an excellent product set (including some of the best on the market – Accelerator, Parental controls, Virus blocker, Spam blocker, popup blocker, spyware blocker, scamblocker and privacy tools) which would complement the Yahoo! set of products dramatically.

And, of course, both companies are very interested in venturing further into the provision of better email tools – especially client-based email toolsets.

Earthlink’s troubles with “churn” (customer turnover) would be eradicated by the customer loyalty associated with the Yahoo! brand. Yahoo!’s marketing team would be a great asset to Earthlink – as would Yahoo!’s sales force – who could capitalize on the lost opportunity that is Earthlink’s. Earthlink’s revenues from advertising, content and commerce are lousy in comparison to what they could be given the Yahoo! treatment! There is a great amount of synergy between the two companies – both see their mission as customer-oriented – Earthlink’s mantra is “Earthlink revolves around you”, and has 5 million subscribers, while “Yahoo!” wants to be seen as the consumer’s “best friend”. Each has bases in Atlanta and in California, both have a laid back, informal (no ties – shorts and t-shirts) culture – and both have excellent professional engineers who really know the technical side of the Internet, and are keen to make customers happy.

Both companies have a base of engineers who are well-versed in the more “open” technologies (i.e. not simply focusing on Microsoft software), which is key to gaining and retaining customers in the Unix and Mac realms. Both are looking into more open solutions (using XUL, the Mozilla-sponsored open object manipulation standard, which offers the potential for connection-less rich content across platforms) for messaging, wireless and mobile technologies in a big way.

While I recognize my message is an old one – George Mannes was telling Yahoo! to buy Earthlink in 2001 – I believe the time is right now for both companies to make the big move. So it will be interesting to watch them over the next few weeks.

About the Author
Michelle is an Ebusiness Consultant and writer with 16 years experience – mainly in Internet /ISP / Ecommerce projects

EarthLink introduced Small Office DSL Plus today, a high speed Internet connection that does not need a local phone line. Instead, Small Office DSL Plus works by using a line set aside for data service.

Small Office DSL Plus gives small and medium-sized business owners a new option for obtaining high speed access. Its benefits include: – High speed service for phone systems that do not support line-shared DSL. – Broadband access that works in conjunction with third party voice systems. – Professional installation at no extra cost and free hardware after rebate. Linda Beck, the executive VP and GM for EarthLink Business Solutions said “Small Office DSL Plus is the latest offering from EarthLink Business Solutions. This service takes away the added expense of a local phone line and is a perfect solution for small and medium-sized businesses that can’t get DSL from their local phone company.”

Small Office DSL Plus provides customers with a fast connection with download speeds up to 6.0Mbps and upload speeds up to 768Kbps. Service plans start at $79.95 per month. The new service is available to both new DSL users and existing EarthLink Business DSL customers.

For more information on EarthLink Business Solution’s Small Office DSL Go to Earthlink Pricing: Free equipment and free activation (after rebate) and $79.95/month for the first 12 months. Free Wireless Router. One static IP address. 12 email accounts100MB of email storage per email address 20 hours of free dial-up per month.

Go to Earthlink

About the Author
Amit is the editor of a Voip reviews website at http://www.voipdealsreview.org.

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