As I am writing this I am logging into the new SOLO SEO Tool Set and Customer Management System. I actually stumbled across SOLO SEO from watching my backlinks. They had done a blog post about domain names and how you should steer away from domains with numbers in them, but excluded me from the rule as 97th Floor is a killer name. (Sorry a little biased) anyways I love it when I get natural links, and so since then I have been following their site waiting for their official launch.

First off I gotta say I have used everything, IBP, Web CEO, SEO Elite, you name it and the first thing I am excited about is the online capabilities. It will be so much easier to manage clients sites from anywhere as I won’t have to install and keep updating my software on every computer. I won’t have to pay extra for my employees or for running it on more than 2 computers which is pretty much standard on all the other products I have used. I love to travel, I was out of town for 10 out of the last 12 weeks and having this available anywhere on any computer will be killer. Heck I need to login on my Treo 700 and see if it can handle that too. If it can I will be sold for life.

Im using the keyword finder first, I started with Utah Search Engine Optimization since I rank for that and all the related terms and I would be able to evaluate what they are saying very well. I used 4 words it said not to and I got an error. That was my fault. I then added SEO Firm and got a good look from Word Tracker, Overture and Google Adwords. They created a bar to show traffic instead of actual numbers, and they have a cool interface to check a related term as the main search, also have easy to use add keyword to your list button. Overall I say good, It was quick to get results, I will have to test the 4 words or more a little bit.

I just used the Keyword Site Scan inconjunction with the keyword Finder that is one of the best keyword scrapers I have used, brought back a list far better than most crap out there.

The Link Search Tool is cool it is comprehensive and very quick and dirty I like it. There are some tweaks I think I will suggest to them based off of some tools that I am in the process of building. They are further a long and this is their business so I think I will let them test my idea to see if it helps.

The Competitors Back Links is pretty sweet, it does it off of keyword so you can compare mulltiple sites at once, or you can do an individual site. They have a check box next to the link so you can add them into your tracking. I will have to play with it some more to see what link: search it is based off of, but overall I like it.

Link bookmarker is awesome, sometimes I will find a killer link or site that I want to get a link from but I don’t have time to email or submit so I email myself the link or put it in my to do’s. This will bookmark it in a link section of my solo seo account that is very cool.

Im pretty much done, I like it alot there is one thing that I was looking forward to the most, that is letting me down. I love a good ranking report software, and so far IBP 9 is my favorite. It will do as many keywords as you want, and it gives you an awesome and professional looking report to send to clients. I also use it to include my partners Logos so I can private label my seo services for them.
The keyword ranking report in Solo Seo only allows you to run 10 words at a time. I need to test it more, but I am always checking at least 30-50 plus keywords even for my smallest client, and thousands for my big clients. Also I ran the report for about 4 words and it is put in a queue. It didn’y take to long to run that is good and I like how it displays the actual report. I just don’t think I will use it that often as I always need to check more than 10 words. I also like to include all my competitors in my reports too, as well as how much the ranking has moved compared to the month before.

Maybe this is in the works, or maybe I am mistaking and this is more for the guy running one or two sites, and not a firm managing hundreds of sites.

Overall I think it is awesome I will use it regardless of the reporting, specifically for the keyword and link tools and that I can do it from anywhere even on my Treo I just tried. My wife is going to kill me, one more thing to have me do while I am away from the computer.

*Note I ran through this there is a 14 day trial so test it your self, I may be wrong on the reporting it is ust what I saw during my first attempt.

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I have been going back and forth with a friend of mine about setting your prefered domain to the www’s or the non www’s and what Google really wants you to do.  I still stand by my findings, as well as my attending of SES, PubCon and other Search Engine Optimization semiars.

My thoughts:

1. You need to set you site to always show the www’s based on what every SEO seminar I have ever been to.  In other words if “eplanit.biz/blog” was typed into the addy bar it will always show up properly with the www’s in place “www.eplanit.biz/blog”

His thoughts:

1. You need to make the site go to the non www’s no matter what all of the time.   Just for the sake of an example  he has it set up so if you type www.example.com it will always go to “example.com” excluding the www’s

We agree on the fact that one domain name needs to be the “preferred domain” but we don’t agree on the structure (www’s vs non www’s)  The reason I do the 301’s redir to the www ALWAYS, is that I am going off all the conversations I have had with other webmasters, and SEO’s as well as taking good notes from all of the Search Engine Conferences I have attended over the last year.  I really would like to hear from anyone else out there who may have some authority on the matter and helping us clear this up.

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I have been starting to really like Yahoo! Answers lately.  A couple posts ago I listed Yahoo! Answers as on of the sites that is useful for Social Media Marketing and traffic, but it can also be really good to help you find new tools for marketing, make connections (you normally would not) and learn some pretty cool stuff from other people.

It is fun to be able to give people really good answers and provide feedback when they are looking for it.  Especially when so many answers are crap, or people leave answers just for the “funny factor”.

What is really cool is when you are answering alot of questions you think of websites to send the people asking questions to, and most of them are sites that are yours.  But you do not do this thinking about the search engines and what the link can do for you, you are doing it because of helping the person asking the question.  That is when using Yahoo! Answers becomes really cool.  When you can promote your own stuff, but providing really good answers at the same time.  I always wonder when I am answering a question if it feels like I am being to spammy, but it all comes back to if I am providing a really good solution.  I do not think people will get mad about me sending links to myself if it can really help their problem.

I may be way off here, but I would love to hear some feedback from others if anyone has used Yahoo! Answers before. Success - Problems - Annoyances???  I would love to hear it all.

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Blog outlining how to “fix” the Google Toolbar for compatibility with Ubuntu 6.10’s version of Firefox 2. Really easy steps anyone can do. From download to “fix” to installation in 5 steps.

Here is the link for the:  Google Toolbar fixed for Firefox 2 in Ubuntu 6.10

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I want to do somewhat of a follow up to a post I did a while ago discounting Social Media Optimization.  I still feel the same way about not buying into the term, and I still feel its another form of Search Engine Optimization, BUT I am now embracing the term Social Media Marketing in regards to SMO - so from now on all my posts that relate to what has been dubbed Social Media Optimization will now be in my Social Media Marketing category.

I have been doing a ton of Social Media Marketing lately for myself and clients, and have realized the power of the community of people that use them.  I get roughly 75% of my traffic from social sites, community networks, blogs and other non-search engine sites.  I realized when I started seeing a shift in the stats that Social Media Marketing is truly different from SEO, and in my opinion so much more powerful and targeted. 

You have the ability to get the most relevent information right into the hands of those looking for it.  You are not shoving it down thier face.  When doing Social Media Marketing on all my sites and clients sites I have no interest in what the search engines will be doing with the information that I am giving.  Although, there still is some SEO benefits to Social Media Marketing such as:

• Back Links
• Additional Rankings
• Multiple Rankings
• Rankings in some cases you normally would not have
• Reverse SEO strategies (if needed)
• Rankings for “reputation managment”

Here is my list of top Social Media Marketing sites any internet marketer needs to be taking advantage of:

• Del.icio.us
• Reddit
• Digg (If your stories are worthy of it, its ok to digg them yourself, but don’t abuse)
• Flickr (photos, but still can help you get great traffic)
• StumbleUpon
• Technorati
• Feedburner (if you are new to Social Media Marketing this site alone will give you a good start!)
• LinkedIn
• ZoomInfo
• Wikipedia
• NewsVine
• Furl
• Yahoo! 360
• Bloglines
• BlinkList
• Squidoo
• MySpace
• Yahoo! Answers

These are a few of the ones I use, and I am sure that I am not taking full advantage of all of them even at this point so I would love to hear some success stories others have had with these Social Media Marketing sites.  Also I would love to hear any insights of things that you have done that have worked well when it comes to SMM.  Again, this puts the final stamp on my feelings of SMO and will no longer be referring to it as such - from now on its all Social Media Marketing!

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One of the trends that I see happening with the search engines (and especially Google) is giving us more of an opportunity to be found for localized search. We just need to know how to be aware of it, and take full advantage of it. Check out this screen shot when doing a search for something very local like “Orem Preschool” on Google.

The areas that I am pointing at in the arrows is the search phrase, vertical creep, and natural listing. The reason that local search is so huge is it gives companies the ability to have a very targeted top listing without paying for it. As long as they know how to do it. These vertical creep results in this screenshot are most likely caused by these preschool businesses signing up with Google Local. In one of the listings it has helped them attain two rankings for their website on the first page of Google.

If you have a new site and are not as lucky as the old timers (notice the #1 natural listing that I am pointing at) this is a good method to try and be noticed locally.

Local Search is huge no matter where you are at. Lets say you live in California and you are moving to Orem, Utah and are looking for a preschool in Orem. You would not just type in the word “preschool” would you? You are probably going to be typing in “Orem Preschool” or even “Utah Preschool”. So if you are not trying to hit the local market then you are missing out on the most major part of your market.

Tips for helping out local search:

• Use major cities/towns in your title tag, description, keywords and content on page.
• In your content (and possible inside your title, description and keywords section) use zip codes.
• Register on all the local directories (free and paid)
• Use your phone number inside your title tag with the area code (specific to your state - hint hint)
• Submit your business to Google Local
• Make sure you create more, and better content with local keywords in it then your competition.

The funny thing about the screenshot above I showed you is that if you do a search for “utah preschool” you will not see the vertical creep results. What does that mean? It means the more local you can get the more targeted your visitors will be and it shows that Google is truly interested in the most specific local search possible.

The bottom line here is remembering, and identifying your target market and taking advantage of every avenue of potential business.

I would love to hear any feedback, or success from others when it comes to local search. Or perhaps touch upon something I may have missed.

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I read a blog posting today by the man Jerry West talking about the Small Business Directory from Microsoft no longer accepting submissions.  I wanted to convey this to the readers of my blog as well and talk about it for a few.  I noticed this a few weeks ago, but that it was a server upgrade or a technical glitch, but it seems to be much more then that now:

As of November 15, 2006 Microsoft will no longer accept new sign-ups for select Microsoft Online Small Business Services.

These services, previously marketed under the bCentral™ brand, include Appointment Manager, Banner Network Ads, Commerce Manager, Customer Manager, FastCounter Pro, List Builder, Sales Leads, SharePoint®, Submit it!, Traffic Builder, and Web Hosting Packages.

There is still no option to submit to the directory though.  WHATS UP WITH THAT?  ARE THEY STUPID?  Do they not care about the people that have made them what they are for the last several years?  What is it with these powerful directories?  The SBD is a good directory.  Good quality links that provide good traffic and seems to have integrity attatched to it still.  COMPARE THAT to … DMOZ has been down for several weeks now - no submissions … no editor logins etc…that directory is dirty, but still powerful.  What is it with these guys?

I really hope these guys are not eliminating one of the only things they have got right.  Who knows, maybe they are adding more features that will knock our socks off, but shutting down the directory in the mean time seems like a pretty stupid thing to do.

If anyone has more input to this, or knows more about what is up then me, I would love to hear the feedback.

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Reciprocal Linking a bad thing? Is it a Myth, or fact? Well thinking about it made me dub a new term “reciprocal link spamming”

I was reading a good friends utah internet marketing blog today and came across a post that got me thinking about something to rant about on this blog tonight.

I hear it (and read it) all the time about reciprocal linking being bad, and that it can hurt your rankings and standings with Google and other major search engines. I just want to put an end to this nonsense and clear things up once and for all. Reciprocal linking is NOT BAD (if done correctly) and its a myth that it hurts your rankings. However with that said, let me talk about the dark sides of reciprocal linking. The dark side of reciprocal linking should not even be considered reciprocal linking at all (I am going to dub a new term) it should be called reciprocal spamming. Reciprocal Spamming is when websites use link farms, or other linking farm related type sites to link with anyone and everybody unrelated. Ever come across a company that promises hundreds of thousands of links overnight? Well thats - Reciprocal Link Spamming! Getting thousands and thousands of links to fast from unrelated sites can really hurt you.

Lets give an example of a BAD reciprocal linking (reciprocal spamming) method to be more clear: Say you have a site selling dog crates, well getting thousands of links overnight by reciprocal linking to a farm where your site will be listed on “casino” or “dating” type sites is reciprocal spamming and WILL hurt your search engine standings.

Lets give an example of a good reciprocal linking partner: Say you have a site selling memory foam mattresses (which I do - shameless plug click here to check out our memory foam) and lets say I find another site that is giving reviews about all different sizes of memory foams and density. Contacting them and asking them if they would reciprocate would be a GOOD thing. Not to mention a damn good related and very targeted link. Talk about increasing your ILQ (inbound link quality) through finding these kind of related sites.

The bottom line here is to help you be more aware of not missing out on good linking opportunities because of a STUPID myth you have heard, or been taught by a retarded so-called SEO Expert.

Another thing to consider is anytime you get an email from a potential linking parter (I know you have seen them, and get them all the time too) is to avoid linking with anyone talking about their Page Rank etc. If you are only interested in finding link partners because of search engines and page rank then you are linking for the wrong reasons. Also something else to keep in mind - If you are going to be sending out emails to sites that are related for linking then keep your emails short - about 3 lines is all. Be personal and let the person know that a human is contacting them and not just trying to puff up search engine rankings! Most automated link partner finding companies (reciprocal link spamming) send out one pagers that just get deleted so much faster because no one wants to read all that garbage. We want to see the specifics, so get straight to the point and don’t waste time!

Most importantly take from this post to avoid these reciprocal link spamming companies (link farms) and please do not miss out a good linking opportunity when one comes your way.

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I just have to give a huge “shout out” and props to Google.  Not only for passing the 500$/share mark this week, but making me a fan of another one of their powerful, yet free tools.  I know its not something that is new, but it is something that I have just barley been starting to use.  Google Text - where you text Google when you are looking for information.  When I was in Las Vegas I used it to find theaters on the strip, as well as places to eat and phone numbers.  It worked really well, but that is still not why I love it so much.  What really impressed the heck out of me was when I was back in Utah and it worked so well in the small little towns.  I would expect it to be perfect in a big place such as Vegas, but had no idea how accurate it would be in a small Utah town.

Here is what impressed me.  There is a chicken and ribs place that is fairly new and it was not in the phone book (I carry a phone book in the car) so I decided to text Google and give them a chance.  I did not think it was going to work, but after about 20 seconds I got a text message back with the address and phone number.  (To bad the place was closed because of being the day before Thanksgiving.)  This knocked my socks off with the power of Google text messaging.  I was just driving down the road thinking to myself … I am glad I live in this day and age, because its so amazing the technology we have at our finger tips.

This also all relates to SEO as well, because when I was at PubCon 2006 in Vegas, there was a whole session dedicated to mobile search, and this just made me think even more of that!

How you use this feature Google offers is you send a text message to the numbers on your phone that spell out “GOOGLE” and in the text message you put in the basic information that you know.  What I did was something like this:  “Johnny’s broasted chicken and ribs Utah” and it gave me back the local listing, address and phone number - all in about 20 seconds!!

For those of you that have already been using this feature my hats of to you for unleashing the power already, but for those that have not experienced it yet then its my full recommendation to start!  Thanks again Google for doing what you do best - bringing us the best information through technology for as cheap as possible (in this case free).

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I want to share with all my readers a picture resizing tool I was told about today - http://www.picresize.com

There are several different reasons ecommerce (product selling) sites need pictures resized. Most of the time when they get a catalog CD from their supplier the images that come are extremely huge and can’t be worked with on a website until they are resized. Plus for optimization purposes - as hard as it is to believe some people are still using dial-up connections and will never be able to wait for a huge image on your site to load.

If your site takes longer then 8 seconds to fully load most people will click off and go view the next. So make sure and take the proper steps to make sure all your images are universal in size and load quickly. I know it seems like a simple and easy step, but it can mean the difference of making a sale and not making a sale!

I would love to hear from everyone out there what picture resizing programs you use, and what you would recommend? Also what you use picture resizing programs for?

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