We have decided in recent weeks to transition our blog’s focus so it becomes an educational resource to executives and marketing folks at companies who are NOT full time internet marketers. It gets really easy in this industry to become addicted to the “SEO Conferences” and the “potential fame” of being a part of the “in group” (yep… like high school!) with the goal of being asked to speak on panels and attend VIP parties. While it’s important to have relationships with knowledgeable people in the industry… it’s not always the best decision for growing a company to focus solely there… because your clients aren’t there.

Heads Up… This Paragraph Contains Whiny Complaints That Are Irrelevant.

As I have experienced, it can be vital to have personal, face to face relationships with people in the industry because you’re not often judged by what you know and what you’ve done… but by who you bought drinks for at a few conferences. Like when your site is removed from a recommended vendor list becuase you fired the guy who had the “one on one relationship” with the lists owner, even though you’ve built 2 successful internet marketing companies and other “experts” vouch for your experience and knowledge. Am I bitter? Yeah… a bit… but that’s ok… I still send my money every month for my “Pro Account“.

OK… off the inappropriate soap box.

Internet Marketers Shouldn’t Waste Time At Internet Marketing Conferences.

OK, that headline was intended to get you to read this paragraph, the conferences are actually very useful. The fact is, however, that speaking at events like PMMI, a conference that I spoke at a few weeks ago in Chicago, allows us to meet hundreds of executives and business owners who didn’t previously understand internet marketing at all or the potential that it has for their business. In other words… we speak at specific conferences not related to the seo industry and get tons of awesome new clients. It’s a win win. They get entertained and learn a lot and we get their business.

However, one of the problems with speaking at “non-internet marketing” conferences multiple times per month is that there’s little time left to attend industry shows related to internet marketing. That’s where people like Rae Hoffman, Lisa Barone and Rhea Drysdale come in. They work their arses off at almost every single conference session live blogging to make sure that people like me, my staff (and of course their clients) can be “in the know” about what takes place.

Here’s Where Outspoken Media Comes In.

I was reading posts this morning about what was happening at the conference and just as the jealousy set in because I didn’t feel like I actually knew what was “happening”… I remembered Lisa Barone’s conference posts from last year and I switched over to Outspoken Media’s blog to see if she was doing the same thing this year.

Note To Lisa:

Lisa… awesome job. Your SMX Advanced 2009 Wrap Up posts are not only entertaining to read… but they’re also informational. As my team and I read them we feel like we actually know what happened in the sessions becuase you take the time to talk about Vanessa Fox’s hatred for you and Rae breaking the computer. Fun + Education = All Star Live Blogging.

So while our team is sitting in our Lancaster, PA offices billing our 30 client hours per week each… we thank you for live blogging the events so that we can still be educated and on top of things in a way that we actually want to read.

“Thanks, Ladies!”

- The ProspectMX team

Stay tuned for a summary tailored for our clients of the information given at the conference.

Note: Over the next several months, ProspectMX will be conducting search engine optimization audits on top company websites (not portals, social networks, or directories) that rank in organic search engine results for high volume search terms in a variety of industries. Be sure to check back for posts chronicling the results of our audits. We will also be providing a series of 10 internet marketing tips for each industry based on the audit results. Hopefully, you find this information useful.

There are tons of internet marketing and search engine optimization blogs with general tips for improving your website’s presence.

On the web, however, some keywords are more competitive than others. For example, while packaging supplies and packaging materials mean the same thing, the former gets more search volume and requires a higher CPC rate for pay-per-click marketing than the latter.

In a recent study of FORTUNE 500 companies, manufacturing companies on the list failed to rank in the top 100 search results for around 81% of the top manufacturing search terms.

That got us thinking - why aren’t manufacturing companies utilizing search engine optimization and internet marketing services to position their site for improved online ROI?

Take the term “plastic packaging,” for example. The 10 top ranking company websites we found in one data center employed some SEO best practices on their site, but not all best practices we recommend and regularly utilize for our clients.

If you work for a manufacturing company as a marketing director, IT director, or webmaster, perhaps you might be interested in checking out our list of 10 SEO tips to improve the internet marketing efforts of your website. Does your company employ all of the best practices below?

1. In opposition to making general pages detailing all of your “services” or “products,” create an individual page on your site for each product and service.
2. Because you likely sell products on your site, name all of the images of your products with the product name and include a keyword-centric “alt tag.” More info on this can be found on our Universal Search Chart.
3. Make sure the name of the main product you sell is included in your website title tag. Instead of just having your Company Name in your title tag, reformat your title tag as “Target Product | Company Name.”
4. List actual keyword phrases in your keywords meta data. Instead of having your keywords include terms like “plastic, packaging, supplier” - list “plastic packaging supplier” as a keyword.
5. Make sure all your links work. In our audit of “plastic packaging” websites, about 80% of the websites we reviewed had broken links. Google Webmaster Guidelines clearly state that broken links on pages are a no-no. If Google says not to do something, you probably shouldn’t do it.
6. Utilize “page rank sculpting.” Take the authority your homepage has in Google and put it to good use. Funnel link authority to the most important pages on your site - “nofollow” links to pages like your Privacy Policy and Contact Us page.
7. Build links. Perhaps you can consult “Link Building 101” for some tips on link building.
8. Find your company’s best copywriter and have them start blogging or writing articles about your company’s products.
9. Update the content on your site regularly. Search engines like fresh, updated content because it is more relevant to what searchers are looking for at that particular moment. This is becoming more important as the search engines compete with sites like Twitter and, well… mostly just Twitter.
10. Submit your corporate press releases to a major web-based PR distribution service.

If you went through our checklist and are employing all those SEO best practices, great! If not, let us know… maybe we can help.

I received in the mail one of the most remarkable direct mail pieces ever (Photo thanks to BruceClay.com - Virginia Nussey talked about it here) via FedEx this week. I opened the package and pulled out a very professional package of chocolate covered grasshoppers.

The first thing I said to myself was, “Are these SERIOUSLY chocolate covered grasshoppers?”

And then I read in fine print at the bottom of the package:

*Yes, these are real grasshoppers. They are even approved by the FDA of Thailand.

Brilliant. I didn’t have any idea what it was… but that alone made me look into it further.

A tag attached to the grasshoppers said, “Entrepreneurs can change the world. Join the movement now!”

Now I’m intrigued.

So, I went to their site and it looks like they are compiling entrepreneurs together and offering some discounts on services… but in the end, they are promoting telecommunication services of some type.

Here’s the lesson… To start something viral… it needs to be worthy of being viral. Business owners talk to us everyday about how they want to do these viral campaigns, but they often want to do things so lame, that nobody really cares. So, take a lesson from the grasshopper guys (and possibly gals, too)… and do something worth talking about in your next viral marketing campaign.

Oh… I brought the package home and had my kids eat them. That’s what the video above’s all about. I know it’s a bit long… sorry.

I have had several conversations with clients and most recently a very good friend of mine about why they are not using Google Mail for everything. My good friend still has an AOL account that he has had since the time it took 7 days to connect….crazy! I have explained to him and have shown him the greatness of emailing, archiving, SPAM ELIMINATING, scheduling, chatting, document and spreadsheet creating/sharing, customizing and organizing found when you have a Gmail account. He/They simply say I have had my email address for years and I tell them there are tons of ways around that after a few weeks with Gmail, you will kick yourself for not making the switch sooner.

Now this is not a “Plug” for Google or maybe it is…..however, I would love to hear more excuses of why you would use a very limited system for email when there is such an amazing product available. Please tell me what you are thinking?!

I can see if you are concerned about Google going out of business before your existing provider

As ProspectMX’s resident designer, knowing all of the nitty gritty details of SEO can sometimes be over my head.  So what do we have here?  Why, it’s only the Poetic Prophet (aka the SEO rapper) here to explain SEO to me in with…..rhymes and funky beats?  Ok, I admit I’m not a huge fan of rap music, but this is just awesome.

My favorite verse is..

“your photoshop functions then slice that design
do your layout with divs make sure that it’s aligned
please don’t use tables even though they work fine
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time”

I hate having to clean out my inbox every day. Who wants to take time out of their busy schedule to clean out clutter, respond to important emails you don’t care about, and keep in touch with friends and family? Not me!

Introducing:

When I first read about Gmail’s new Autopilot program by CADIE, I was ecstatic! And getting to play with it this morning? Heaven!

Five emails from my boss to respond to? Done! (Curses and insults included!)

An important email from a client? Done, and I didn’t even have to give a crap!

And the relationship manager? LOVE IT! Why would I want to read and respond to my loved ones, when I can let Autopilot decide who is worthy of my time and who isn’t? I’ve already terminated relationships with 3 people this morning - and it’s only 9A!

I don’t know about everyone else, but I am loving this new program. I may never have to look at my inbox again. So thank you Google, for continuing to bring us cutting edge technology so we don’t actually have to deal with people on a personal level.

Hurray for technology!

Also…do I even have to say it? Happy April Fool’s Day!

The topic of this blog is putting a pricetag on frustration…and speaking of frustration, I’m preparing a sure to be hilarious recap of web usability problems with TNT.com. (Note to TNT- fire all of your web people.)

In the meantime, I found something online that I felt was very interesting.  Tonight I was searching for a ‘Microsoft Wireless Mouse’ on Amazon and came across something I had never heard of before.  Look at these 2 Amazon links and tell me if you can spot the difference.

Link1

Link 2

Could you spot the difference? Congratulations!  It’s not like it was right in the product headline or anything.  For those that missed it, Amazon is selling the EXACT SAME mouse for about 4 dollars more because it is in, what they call, “Amazon Frustration-Free™ Packaging”.

I hate dealing with those plastic death traps they put around gadgets as much as anyone else, but is it worth a $4 bump in price? What would I be willing to pay in any given situation to get the same thing with less frustration? $10 more for shoes you don’t have to tie (oh wait, that’s why I wear velcro). $100 more for a computer that never crashes? I’d pay it (and as I type this on my iMac I realize I did exactly that…except, more than a hundred dollars extra…).

My overspending aside, the point is, your lack of frustration is worth something. It’s just hard to figure out exactly how much it’s worth. In any given situation when you buy something, I wonder how much extra you would pay for better service, a better experience, an easier delivery method, etc.  How much money are companies losing because they aren’t willing to add that little touch to make their extra service worthwhile and “frustration-free”?

But this is starting to get deep.  In this case, for $4 extra dollars, I’d rather buy a sweet pair of scissors and just go to town on that plastic packaging.

Because in the end, I’d then have a wireless mouse and a cool pair of scissors to do with as I pleased. Win-win.

The design-o-sphere is abuzz today with the recent blog post by Douglas Bowman about his decision to leave Google. Douglas was more or less the first real creative director at Google and brought about much of the look and standards that The Almighty Goog has become so well known for. Here’s a short snippet of his blog post that I think sums up his point clearly…

“Yes, it’s true that a team at Google couldn’t decide between two blues, so they’re testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can’t operate in an environment like that. I’ve grown tired of debating such miniscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.”

He sums it up with this..

“I won’t miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data.”

Obviously most of the people linking to and talking about this are taking his side and agreeing with his reasonings. But I’m not the kind of person to respond to a blog post with “Amen, Doug! u Rock!”

I’m not sure I do completely agree with him. Yes, that sounds annoying. Maddening actually. But websites are not art.

Well, most websites are not art. Some are. And the other 99.9% aren’t. As an artist, I’ve noticed a funny trend amongst other artists. Some like to hide behind the shield of their black turtlenecks and macbooks and refuse to change or take other input from other people because they are creating ‘art’. My feelings are, leave your art to your personal website or separate projects.

If you are a designer for a company, you are not an artist.

Essentially, you are a designer of a salesman. Every time you create a page you are making a conscious choice about how you want that salesman to look. Will that salesman sell better to your customer base with a suit on or sweatpants? In that situation you are consciously making a decision about whether you want your site to be formal or casual. Once that is decided, you can start nitpicking. Does your salesman sell better with a blue tie on or a red tie? Based on the solid statistics you get from that, you can make an informed decision that, frankly, does “live or die by the sword of data”. And I ask you, if you were a business owner, is there a better sword to live or die by?

If Douglas is in fact leaving because he’s tired of the nitty gritty details, I can understand that. But isn’t that philosophy of testing and trial and error something that should be going on everywhere? He is right though that 41 shades of blue is a little ridiculous, but if one shade converts your traffic even .001% better, isn’t it worth it?

Art is great, but is the business world the best place for it to live? In my opinion the 2 should not (and to an extent can not) ever co exist. Does anyone disagree?

ProspectMX’s SEO copywriting guru Ashley Lichty recently sat down with Kelly Watson of Womenwise Marketing to offer some “SEO 101″ advice to women in business.

Kelly was nice enough to share the podcast with us for you to check out. Hit play and give it a listen for some SEO quick tips.

While Ashley’s particular expertise is SEO copywriting, she has dabbled in all phases of the SEO process during time at ProspectMX. Link building, on-page keyword optimization, article marketing, and how effective directory submissions can be for improving your search rankings are just a few of the topics Ashley covers during the podcast.

She also provides a quick list of free third party web tools anyone can use to generate keyword lists and monitor site traffic. Very useful information for any company considering investing in internet marketing services.

Womenwise Marketing is an online community of resources to help women market their business successfully, cost effectively, and in a way that doesn’t feel pushy or “salesy.”

Some great tips in the podcast, Ash. Would love to hear everyone’s feedback on the podcast below.

You might want to tweet yourself. Or at least send a direct message. To another juror. But don’t communicate with anyone on the “outside.” Otherwise, you might cause a mistrial.

In Fayetteville, Arkansas, a circuit court juror’s postings to Twitter are the subject of a possible mistrial of a $12.6 million judgment.

“Juror Johnathan” (aka Johnathan Powell) is the juror who commented on the trial via his smartphone. He sent 8 messages that said things like

Thanks to Powell’s use of Twitter during the trial, the motion for mistrial alleges that he was able to research the case and communicate with others outside the jury. It would seem that justice was served for the two investors in the company - Mark Deihl and William Nystrom - before Powell’s use of Twitter went public. Russell Wright, the principal owner of Stoam Holdings, didn’t even show up in court to dispute the claims.

I’m all about incorporating social media into your daily life, but I think taking your smartphone into a trial probably isn’t a good idea. Especially when doing so can compromise an entire trial and a huge settlement for investors done wrong.

What’s the public opinion out there on this issue? Was Powell in the wrong? Did the court drop the ball in not confiscating his phone?

Would love to hear other’s thoughts on this.