Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category

SEO can be very elusive to some, but its downright something that all bloggers should concentrate on if monetization is a goal. If you are not in a niche market, targeted SEO can be very difficult and often comes post by post. The key is not get lackadaisical about setting it up before you hit that publish button.

I admit that I can be extremely lazy in this aspect on my own personal blog and its cost me big numbers over the years.

Sometimes publishing up to 3-5 articles a day for your audience can make you jump the gun and ignore the tags, the keywords, and the elements that will give you long term respect in the search engines, whose affects will last well beyond your initial audience.

Here are 5 tips to SEO your posts for some google love.

SEO Tip #1) Get your own domain. As much as google and wordpress wanna rope you in with their .blogspot and .wordpress, the only ones they are doing any favor to, is them. Regardless of what platform you are on, nothing can take the place of a top level domain in a .com .

Sure, if you have to settle for a .net (.org and .edu also get good rankings if they are relevant) then do, but nothing takes the place of a good old .com. Aside from the fact that it’s, well, the most known ending of all websites, the chances of being confused with another website with the same name won’t be one of your worries as you grow.

Finding something that is in your niche, a keyword likely to be typed in and tied into what you are selling or speaking about, and of course easy to remember and spell, is imperative to long term success. Not only will it be your branding, but a domain name is a direct reflection of the amount and type of visitors you get from search engine traffic.

When I set out to name my blog, I knew I wanted the word “mom” in my domain somehow. I wanted it to be unique, short, and as easy as possible to remember. It took about 10 trial names before I settled on “MomDot.com”, which was my clever rendition of Mom(dot)com. The biggest issue I have found with my name is that when I am speaking it, it takes a bit to have people understand.

Mom.com? No, MomDOT(dot)com!

• Tip #1A) I didn’t really think out the implications of the spoken word and often get caught up myself explaining my own name. Make sure you say your new domain out-loud before you purchase it.

1. Does it sound normal?
2. Is it easy to say, easy to explain?
3. If you were on the phone with a PR rep or a radio station,would it come out clearly?

• Tip #1B) As mentioned before, a domain is also a brand. Think long and hard on your brand. Do you want to reflect a business, a personal interest, a product, yourself? Its a lot easier to find a domain and establish it right the first time, then it is to get 6 months into it and change. Don’t jump the gun on purchasing something you are excited about, then later realizing it didn’t fit the overall goal and you have to start over. Page ranks are assigned per domain, so starting over could mean losing links, page ranks, and even recognition.

I know because at conferences, people call me “MomDot”, and not Trisha, quite often.

—————-

SEO Tip #2) Think long and hard about your post titles. What you write in your title are the keywords that search engines give the most weight to. Its very easy to disregard your title and opt for something quick, easy, or cute, but titling something “my tips” as opposed to “Top 10 SEO tips for mom bloggers”, will pretty much insure your article begins and ends after you publish.

Search engines crawlers decide that your titles, the largest parts of each post that are generally bolded and in a bigger text, mean more. Remember a spider (also known as a robot or web crawler) reads your site by text, so the larger and closer to the top a word is, the more the search engines believe that is what your site, and essential your content, is about.

Here is a sample from my personal mom blog:

In the first graphic, you can see a post I wrote yesterday on Charlotte. While its a good conversationalist topic and asks a question, which inspires a comment response, as far as long term click throughs on that article, its going to be almost none when its off the front page.

Now on the 2nd article, you can see a comparison review I did back in December 1st, 2008 for Dyson. I opted for a keyword phrase for the title that most people would type in, which was comparing the two top lines of that vacuum out at the time.  Its been over a year and the second article still accounts for daily search engine clicks for my site.

Now imagine if you did that with the thousands of posts you write per year?

You are most likely missing out on 100’s of visitors that will never see your site because you didn’t take the extra 3 minutes it takes to SEO a post before you published.

—————-

SEO Tip #3) Don’t ignore the permalinks:  Most people call them pretty permalinks. There is nothing worse then a permalink that is “http://www.yoursite.com/products/date/productname/bunchofjunkyoudontneed/post.htm

Not only is that nearly impossible for people to tweet (including you) without going to bit.ly (which unless its your mom they wont do for you, so your missing traffic in social networking too) but its also extremely unfriendly for a spider.

Remember, the closer to the top, the closer to the beginning, the more weight it gives. That means your domain name gets the weight, then the next word, then the next word.

Provided what your content is actually about is the LAST word, google may not even care by the time it goes through 9 words on your permalink. If your article is on “widgets” it needs to be ‘Hhtp://www.sitename.com/widget” .

The end.

Lets say your entire site is about that one widget and thats all you write. Change it up and use alternate keywords, phrases, and likely search terms that visitors will type in to find you.

A pretty permalink looks like this:

This should also, again, show you how important your domain name is.

You can search what users are typing into the search engines and find out keywords and alternate phrases at Google Keywords.

—————-

SEO Tip #4) Everyone forgets about the pictures. Its easy to do.  But pictures are content. You upload them from your memory card and they are named picture234324.jpg and when you add to your site, you don’t even consider changing the name or adding alternate text.

Stop doing that right now.

Pictures, if named properly, can bring more relevance to your article. If you are doing a post on “Graco Strollers” and want to share a picture of a graco stroller, by all means NAME it gracostroller.jpg and put some alternate text on it like “Top Graco Stroller for 2009″.

Pictures are crawled and put into image search engines. I once had a picture in Bing send 17,000 unique visitors to my site in one day because it was the #1 picture term looked up that day in some freak story online and I was the #1 picture in Bing for it.

Yes, 17,000.

The post was extremely old, but the picture was SEOed properly. What would have happened if I had just left that photo named img1923923.jpg? I wouldn’t have been indexed for that term and I would have missed out on some major exposure.

If you are on wordpress, this is your screen when you upload a picture….there is a reason all of that is there. USE IT.

Also, when you are adding pictures, surround the picture itself with text that contains keywords and excellent content. Again, let me point out that a robot spider is crawling your page, not a real person, so you have to lead it to what your post is about.

—————-

SEO Tip #5) Don’t forget about them keywords: Using keywords in your posts are important. Remember to think about what you would type in to the search engine to find your post.

Would it be a “how to bake a cake”, would it be “top chocolate cake recipes”?

Start using those phrases and words embedded in your post correctly. Use them as lead ins to your paragraphs, connect them in your permalinks and post titles, and give it a really good sprinkling of healthy terms.

• Tip #5A) Do not pad your post with all the same search term. Search engines call this “stuffing” and it can actually hurt you. While you may want the search term “mom blog”, don’t just use that phrase.
• Use mom blogs, mom blogger, mommy blogs, top moms online, influential blogs, etc.  Its also better to seek out lesser used search terms where you are likely to capture the majority of the audience. You may be competing with 1000’s of sites with the word “mom blog” but maybe only a few hundred with the term “top mom blogger”. I would rather capture the majority of the 100 people that are typing in the latter, then 10 out of the 1000 that type in the larger name of ‘mom blog’.
• Tip #5B) While I would never recommend a misspelled word in a blog, there are many words that are commonly misspelled and consequently mistyped, into the search engine. Naming a photo or an atl text with the common misspelling can bring you search engine results to those typing it in wrong.

—————-

• Bonus Tip)  Meta Tags: Your blog has a name. Your blog has a description. Again, where you put each word is where google ranks it. Its not a smart idea to put your business/blog name first in those title tags unless you are really known as that name and that will be your search engine type in key words.

Again, use words that people will type in to find your site in your blog title AND in your blog description.

In my example of my mom blog, you can see that I have chosen to put the term “mom blog” at the beginning, my site name second, and my personal name last. Now in my description, I am constantly changing it. I used to be on the front page of google for “Mom Blogs” and now I am on the top of the 2nd page simply because I was testing new description key words.

It makes a difference.

Another thing to point out is the term “mom blogs” is NOT the term “mom blog”. You have to SEO for the exact terms you want. In my case, taking out the terms ‘public relations’ and ‘media’ would be smart as the majority of my site isn’t related to that, and instead adding keywords that will be better for my personal site.

You can find out what your site says about you at this FREE META TAG ANALYZER. Just plugin your domain name and voila. Now you know what the spiders see. If you don’t like what it says, use this Meta Tag Generator to fix, and then add to your header in your blog.

If you are on Wordpress, you can also use plugins like All in One SEO, which is a very flexible and easy way to get this done.

Bonus Tip #A) Don’t think that you can add keywords that have nothing to do with your site. Just because the word “sex” gets a lot of google type in per month, doesn’t mean you can throw that in your title, permalink, and site description and its going to bring you 1 million sex addicts. Your content still has to be relevant to what you use. Google is wise to fake keywords, so they wont give you weight unless your site is, in fact, about sex. Make sense?

Now this article could go on at least another 20 paragraphs in SEO tips, but another tip is, don’t cram everything into one article at the same time. Break it up so your spiders can read it properly and so your visitor doesn’t get bored and quit reading.

I sincerely hope this was helpful and check back for upcoming tech articles and more SEO tips in the future. If you liked this article or found it helpful, we would appreciate a tweet or a link so other mom bloggers can be inspired.

To your success!

~Trisha

Want more blogging tips? Check out Trisha’s newsletter!

—

Trisha Haas is the owner of MomDot, often referred to in the media and a partnership in Top Mom Blogger, a helpful site to grow your blog.

Welcome to 2010!

I am so glad you came back and I truly hope you like the changes we’ve made around here!! As you can see right off the bat, our site is completely different and hopefully, easier to navigate. We’ve added new services, removed some old ones and updated some others as well.. we’ve added some great people to the team and have a whole slew of awesome events and posts coming up!

[A word re: the upcoming posts; You will be receiving WEEKLY digests (so as not to inundate you with info) that you will be seeing in your inbox every Monday morning. These posts will be of the week before so you’ll get the whole week’s worth of great info, coming events and more!)

—

What’s New for 2010

I have taken the site through a slight re-vamp and have updated and added some services, packages and prices.

I am so excited to announce that we are now servicing Blogger and Joomla platforms!! I am also SUPER excited to introduce you to a new Team Member; Nick Simard!

Nick and I have known each other since 1995 (We went to Highschool together) and have grown to be good friends over the years (At least I’d like to think so ).  I have turned to Nick in times of creative blankness and he has bailed me out in numerous occasions! Nick is a whiz with Joomla (and other things!) and will be taking on all Joomla projects from here on in. Please extend your welcome and let everyone know Nick is here!!

As I stated in my “end of year post” we do have some great news coming through the pipeline – I know I am being secretive, but it’s one of those things where my hands are currently tied and I can only speak of it when I have been told – But I can assure you, it’s AWESOME!!!

I have some great posts coming up – we have an Accountant – Hilary McDonald who will be posting regularly – helping you with any financial issues you may be having AND we also have SUPER events in the works as well..

Please stay tuned for all of our great happenings – and please feel free to drop us a line – we’d love to hear from you!!

Thanks for sticking with me (and Foundation Studio), I can’t wait to grow with you in 2010!!

Ariane

Howdy!! I hope you are having a good October so far!! It’s pretty crazy to think that September went by that quickly!

October is usually the time when tradeshows, expos and craft fairs start to gear up for their busy season (the holiday season!!).

I have been privvy to some good show times over my past few years in business – I have been a vendor in small craft shows, medium consumer shows and even a HUGE weekend show that boasted over 80,000 attendees!!

I have learned TONS along the way about booth setups, ease in preparation and take down, time management tricks (to keep you occupied during your “slow” times) and even small tidbits that you didn’t even think of… zip tie anyone?!?!

Throughout all the times I have been prepping for shows, one thing remained the same – my “Booth Kit”. My booth kit has been my savior over and over again and even yesterday – when I was at my first show of the season, I actually inspired a few other vendors to create their own booth kit too.. I was setup in about 15 minutes and when I was done, I was out in 5 minutes flat!

The Checklist is loaded with tons of things to pack in your kit (as seen in the pic here) and guarantees that you will never be left without anything for a successful tradeshow ever again!!

I have The Checklist stuffed inside a clear sheet protector, taped to the inside of the cover of a medium rubber tote. Once filled, I throw the lid back on the tote and stick it inside my suitcase on wheels (with extending handle). All my small stuff fits neatly into the tote and then my bigger stuff fits into the suitcase and I zipp’er up and I’m good to go!

Yesterday’s show was a fabulous event that we sponsored; Stilettos & Sneakers.

Produced by Talk of the Town Events, Stilettos & Sneakers was a day long event that showcased a plethora of services that benefit the women of my town (Georgina). The turnout was amazing as women lined up at the entrance doors waiting to get in! The first 300 women were treated to a pretty cool bag filled with tons of swag and treats from all the vendors at the show!

There were mini makeovers, manicures, massages and even people getting their haircut on site! A fashion show and mini yoga classes could be found at various times throughout the day helping to keep attendees at the show for longer periods of time.

Foundation Studio was there showcasing it’s newest product (which I will have up online later this week!) and received great feedback! We had a raffle item that was donated by Jolie Mack Designs – a gorgeous pair of “Baroque Down” earrings – Our winner will be contacted tomorrow (I haven’t even unpacked the booth kit yet!)

Jennifer Anderson, CEO (Community Event Organiser) & Owner of Talk of the Town Events thought of everything when it came to entertaining the attendees – I can’t wait for her next event!

—

I encourage you to download my booth kit checklist and get yourself duly prepped for your next tradeshow. Then drop me a line and let me know what your tips, tricks & tools for tradeshow success are. I’d love to hear them so that I can share them with everyone else and make this tradeshow season a success for everyone!

Cheers to a productive week!
Ariane

Happy September!

By now you should be back to school, back to work, back to reality :S Not always a good thing, but I personally like this time of year – almost like a fresh new page, you get to focus, you get to reconnect, you get down to business!

Last week, I wrote about a social media checklist, hopefully you had a chance to look them over and put them into action.. if not – check out the previous post to grab the checklists – getting your social media marketing methods into place..

This month, I have a ton of new stuff coming to fruition so it’s a great time to roll out a special!
Check out our partial Social Media portfolio and then Contact us today to get your Social Media Marketing in Gear.. and get your September Sales rolling..

September’s Social Media Mayhem Sale!

[SinglePic not found]

Jolie Mack, Jolie Mack Jewelery Designs

Location: Vancouver, BC
Website: http://www.joliemack.com
Twitter: joliemackdotcom
Facebook (Business): Jolie Mack Custom Jewelery Designs

[SinglePic not found]

The Entrepreneur Behind The Biz:
Having worked for many different companies in a wide range of genres, I realized that I could do lots of valuable things -from marketing to high paced bartending – but didn’t want to use those skills working for other people. One can never keep a entrepreneurial spirit at bay and so, after a long and hectic shift at the pub, I decided to throw in the hat and don a new one! How liberating (and scary and risky…)! I wanted a career that would keep me close to home, let me work with my hands, provide peace and solitude, and let me use all of my fancy skills: somewhere along my journey I attained the skill to design jewelery. Eureka! Designing is gratifying, creative and offers a level of freedom that I didn’t have with an employer, but there is lots of pressure to compete and my worldly skills are tested every single day!

[SinglePic not found]

The Biz:
Jolie Mack Custom Jewelery Designs focuses on quality and unique design. Created at first to meet my style needs, it has remained a true labour of love and the designs created are personal and intimate. Not a single piece is “mass produced,” therefore creating pieces that are limited editions or totally exclusive. Fine Sterling Silver, 14k Gold Fill, crystal, vintage finds and heirloom trinkets are blended together to create the glittering treasures. JMD’s style can be best described as Casual Glam: pairing Swarovski chandeliers with a baby-t or mixing a sparkling necklace with vintage jeans. It’s a polished look and can be achieved by everyone only with the perfect accessories. Jolie Mack Designs‘ signature pieces have been featured at Vancouver Fashion Week, cat-walked down fashion runways, worn by local personalities, and have been auctioned to raise money for charity at selected prestigious events. Recently, Jolie Mack Designs has launched The Perfect Match: Bridesmaid glam made simple. It’s an all-in-one packaged concept designed to make bridal party jewelery as convenient as it is beautiful. Brides can pick the style, match the colour using an abundant Swarovski crystal palette and customize the jewelery to suit the individuals in their bridal party. From start to pretty finish, Jolie Mack Designs is one-of-a-kind, producing with passion fine fashion jewelery. Absolutely unique designs found on no one else but you!

[SinglePic not found] [SinglePic not found]

Why we shone a spotlight on it:
So Jolie gave me her reasons why I should’ve shone the FS Spotlight on her biz, and they were great – all the technical background, how she makes her pieces, paying attention to the tiny details, etc. But the real reason I chose to shine a Spotlight on Jolie Mack is.. well, have you looked at her stuff?! It is without a doubt some of the most extraordinary jewelery I have ever seen!

Alright, so it’s important that everything Jolie makes is made with care and attention. That she hand-files every wire end, and is very aware of the balance of the design, the way a piece hangs or lays, and the comfort of the piece. (But seriously, have you seen the Exclusive Collection?!) Jolie produces every design by hand, herself. Customer satisfaction, personalized communication and fair business practice are values that set Jolie Mack Designs apart from others. (Check out the Signature Collection!) These philosophies make her clients feel special, keep them going back and ultimately, add a bit more sparkle to the jewelery. (Don’t forget to stop by the Limited Collection!) I’m telling you flat out – if you don’t own a piece of Jolie Mack Designs – you have got to get some!

—

Know an Entrepreneur who deserves a Spotlight? (Maybe you??) Let us know!

So you want to be an Entrepreneur?! Well, I know a little bit about becoming an Entrepreneur – in fact, I’ve worked with many Entrepreneurs. Helping to start a business, mold an idea, grow an existing business and even taking over a business..

I’ve given advice, provided feedback on various ideas, cautioned against possible setbacks and of course helped to market various items and services.

Throughout that time, many people have asked me if I have a “list” that they could tap into.. something they could use as a guideline for all sorts of start up issues; normally I’d say no.. but Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur has asked his “readers at large” what they think are the most crucial things to keep in mind when setting out to become an Entrepreneur.

What resulted is the highly poured over “163 Ways How To Become an Entrepreneur”

I am super excited to say that I am tip #84!!
Patience
Becoming an Entrepreneur take patience, positivity and open mindedness.

In addition to “Patience” some tips include “hunger”, “Mindset”, “Action” and more! The entire list can be found on the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’s website (same place you can buy the book if you’re so inclined..)

Check it out.. http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/163-ways-how-to-become-an-entrepreneur

And then give me a call so that I can help you get on that ultra exciting path to Entrepreneurship!!

Have a great one!
Ariane

Hey! Hope you had a great March Break!
I got to go snowboarding with my Hubby, spent some time without the kids, had the chance to finally watch SlumDog Millionaire (Was soooo good!) and now I’m ready to party!!!

Thank goodness the Ultimate Blog Party is happening all week all around the blogosphere…

Started by 5 Minutes for Mom, the UBP is a great way to network, get your name out there and meet some really cool people!!

I caught wind of the UBP and had to throw in a goody just for the party’s sake!
Check out 5 Minutes for Mom and check out their party post to win – not only our prize (A Web Ad Package) but also LOADS of other really nifty things!!!

I know for a fact that I am jonesing for these funky prizes…
- INTL 8 — One Karmin Salon Pro G3 Hair Styling Iron Provided by: My Hair Styling Tools

- INTL 70 – $25 gift certificate to the Jus Shar Designs Etsy shop Provided by: Jus Shar Designs

- USC 58 — Handmade Retro Apron of your choice! Provided by: Kati @ Country Girl, City Life and BoojiBoo!!

Grab a glass of Red or White and head on over to the UBP and see who is around, meet some new friends and win some cool prizes… but most of all.. Have fun!

See you ’round the blogosphere!!

A

Thanks to everyone who entered our Blog Design Giveaway, we had tons of entrants and lots of great projects to work with!

The lucky winner of the Blog Design Prize (randomly chosen) is The Bancroft Skating Club!!
Located in Bancroft, Ontario, the Skating Club is going to get a total makeover from Header to Footer!!

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about our contest including:
Mom Giveaways
The Mom Entrepreneur Group

We couldn’t have had such great turnout without you!!!

—–

Stay tuned in the next few weeks – we have lots of news brewing, and we’re going to feature some guest bloggers too!!

Have a great day!!

A