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Is your site the top listed in Google search results? Or is it buried in the fifth “O” of Gooooogle? There are a few good practices you can implement to influence Google’s algorithm and improve where you land in search engine result page (SERP).

This post will concentrate on two key influencers of search results – relevance and authority – and how to impact them – that is if you don’t hire someone that specializes in search engine optimization (SEO). Keep in mind, there are many schools of thought on SEO tactics, but a good, searchable site starts with great content and structure. For a more basic overview refer to “Googlefying Your Business: Understanding Google Basics.”

1. Relevance (on-page SEO) – determines how closely a given Web page matches the search term. This is where keywords, tags, attributes, content and anchor text become important.

• Keywords – determine which keywords are relevant to your industry and which are being searched the most. Refer to your Google Analytics and Webmaster accounts for some insight on the words searchers are using to find you and include them throughout your site.
• Page Title – this appears at the top of the browser window and as the link in search engine results page (SERP). It helps Google determine the content of the page and helps searchers determine whether or not to click on your link. Be sure to use descriptive keywords.
• Page Description – information about the page or a snippet about what the searcher will find on the page. While meta descriptions won’t impact page ranking, good descriptions will make searchers more likely to click on your page.
• URLs – Again this is where rich keywords can be used to impact SEO and your click-through-rate. Also be sure to customize your URLs to match the page. For example, for an “About Us” page, the URL should read http://example.com/AboutUs.
• Images – Google doesn’t read images, so if you do use them, use an “ALT” attribute to include a few words of readable, descriptive text.
• Content – Create useful, relevant information. Sites rich with information will naturally use more keywords and potentially gain more inbound links.

2. Authority (off-page SEO) – This is another element that can influence Google’s algorithm. Some might argue it is the primary influencer. It is a measurement based on the number of inbound links on your page from other pages and their authority – not all inbound links are created equal. How do you build your authority?

• Interact – get out there and post to other blogs. Don’t spam, but offer thoughtful responses to blogs you are already reading and that interest you. Once you post your comment a trackback will be created.
• Blog – the more thought-provoking, useful content you create, the more comments and references you are likely to receive.
• Anchor text – this is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that usually gives the user a relevant description of the link’s destination. Using relevant keywords as anchor text can help with search results.

There are countless ways to impact SEO, but this should give you a good base to start from. I’m curious what SEO tactics have been used? What has been successful? What hasn’t worked?

For the audio interview click the play button below, and for the video podcast visit

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Are you being found on Google? If not, how can you be sure that you are? After you’ve run your site through Websitegrader.com, created Google Webmaster and Analytics accounts, and submitted your URL and Sitemap to the major search engines, understanding the basics of how Google works can help you improve where you show up in search results.

As part two of this four-part series on “Googlefying Your Business,” this post will cover a brief anatomy of Google. While Google uses an intricate algorithm to determine search ranking, there a few key components to improving your search results:

• Crawling – this is how the Googlebot discovers new and updated pages to be added to the Google index. Google regularly crawls the web – a process that can be enhanced by providing your Sitemap data to the search engine – and detects links on each page of the sites it visits. It adds these links to its list of pages to crawl. More inbound links can equal more crawls. In other words, the more sites you have linking back to or referencing your site the better.
• Indexing – the Googlebot reads every page it crawls and compiles an index of the words and their location on these pages. When a search is conducted Google looks through the billions of pages in its index and delivers the best result based on relevance and authority. This is also where keywords come into play. Key content tags and attributes like Title tags and ALT attributes are all processed. To help ensure the site is indexed you can also manually add it to Google.
• Serving results – when a search is conducted, Google searches its index for matching pages and returns, or serves, the most relevant results. Relevancy is based on hundreds of factors, but a couple important factors are keywords and incoming links from other pages. Simply put, each link to a page on your site from another site can help improve your site’s search-ability. We’ll delve a little deeper into affecting search results in the next blog. In the meantime, visit Google’s Webmaster Guidelines for a few tips.

With these three components, and a basic understanding of how Google works, you can begin to think about how to improve your site and increase your ranking. If you’ve recently gone through this process, what did you find to work the best? Feel free to share any tips or tools.

If you are serious about improving your SEO, I recommend contacting an SEO specialist. For more tips and tricks checkout Chuck Reynold’s blog at rYnoweb. Another good read Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.

For the audio interview click the play button below, and for the video podcast visit JetPack Radio.

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It’s no secret that Google is the number one search engine, so it should come as no surprise that it can also make or break the traffic on your site. Google is extremely powerful and when a site is properly optimized traffic can reach new heights, resulting in more potential leads.

This post is part one of four part series on “Googlefying Your Business.” First, a few easy steps to get you started on the right foot.

1.    Websitegrader.com – Measure the marketing effectiveness of your site. This free tool by HubSpot will review your on-page SEO, Google Page Rank, indexed pages, traffic rank, inbound links, and blog grade to name a few. Great place to get started.

Websitegrader.com homepage

2.    Google Webmaster Tools – Create an account and verify your site. The tool will allow you to monitor and test your site’s performance.

• Test crawler access
• Submit your Sitemap
• Research top search queries and keywords, links to your site, RSS subscriber stats, internal links
• Detect crawl errors and malware
• Review HTML suggestions

3.    Add your site’s URL to Google – Help Google index your site. While Google adds new sites to its index every time it crawls the Web, this will help accelerate the process.
4.    Submit your Sitemap – This also helps Google index your site faster and more accurately. According to search engine optimization (SEO) guru Chuck Reynolds of rYnoweb, every site should use one.
5.    Add Google Analytics – Analyze traffic data, test and track campaigns, customize reports and charts, and determine how to best target and reach your audience.

What tools have you used to optimize your Web site and bolster its marketing effectiveness? Leave a comment with any suggestions you might have. Stay tuned for more on this topic.

For the audio interview click the play button below, and for the video podcast visit JetPack Radio.

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It’s no secret the holidays are the optimum time to market your business. Consumers are prepared to spend (even this year, albeit not as much) and if you capture their attention you could lay the foundation for a long-term relationship or at the very least a sale. Beyond the holiday sales, some companies have figured out interesting ways to garner that attention.

Giving back
Get creative with giving back. Villa La Paws Pet Resort and Spa created an “Operation Home for the Holidays” program in an effort to connect deployed military and their family through real-time video chats, and videotaped holiday greetings.

Another example is Urban Burn Boot Camp, which offered 21 days of unlimited boot camp workouts in exchange for a toy for their toy drive.

Outrageous traditions
Little did AZ88 know when they commissioned a local artist to design a Christmas tree installation in 1992 they would be starting a tradition. Each year locals make it a point to see the new outrageous design, which has included Barbie dolls, electrostatic balls, crushed gas cans, and this year, $1 bills.

AZ88 Tree - courtesy of recklessbrother on Flickr

Coach House - courtesy of chris.shutter on Flickr

Similarly, the Coach House, a small, traditionally laid-back dive bar goes over the top with lights and ostentatious decorations. Loads of tinsel, wrapping paper, lights, metallic ornaments, candy canes – and the list goes on – attracts viewers every year.

Surely you’ve heard of the infamous Neiman Marcus holiday catalogue. These often outrageous gifts garner tons of media exposure. CNNMoney.com, the Wall Street Journal, countless blogs and a few national TV networks had a heyday with this cupcake go-cart. Though the go-cart is beyond the financial means of the vast majority, it gets them looking at other, more affordable merchandise in the catalogue.

Neiman Marcus Cupcake Go-Cart

12 Days of Christmas
Ok so there’s nothing new about promotions, but these have some creativity. Boon Inc., a baby product manufacturer, created an interactive 12 Day Holiday Giveaway that draws people to their Facebook page daily for a chance to win one of their products.

Meanwhile Gary Vaynerchuck of Wine Library offers free shipping and reduced prices on wine during his 12 Days of Xmas promotion. And Buddy Stubbs Harley Davidson, with a similar 12 Days promotion, offers discounts and a customer appreciation holiday party.

The options are endless. Take notice of what others are doing and think about what you can do differently next year, and start preparing now. Let me know what you think. Have you come across any interesting tactics or are you implementing any yourself?

What is the driving force behind your business?

Sure market research, smart marketing and operations, a good product, and hard work are all essential components of success, but I’m talking about the one thing that keeps you doing what you do, day in and day out.

Hopefully it’s passion.

Passion is the one common denominator among thriving entrepreneurs, strong businesses and great leaders. Of course successful businesses get by without it, but those with true passion at the core often grow faster and stronger, and outlast their counterparts. More importantly, people want to interact with impassioned businesses and leaders.

At the Blogworld and New Media Expo in October, I spoke with C.C. Chapman, marketer and creator of the Managing the Gray podcast, the Advance Guard (now Campfire) and Digital Dads, to name a few, spoke about leveraging passion.

Everyone has a passion, but why is it so important in business, social media and life in general? How do you learn to leverage it?

“It is really important, if you are creating content, whether it’s blogs, or podcasts or anything, that you are creating content you are passionate about,” Chapman said. “It might be a hobby, it might be your family, it might be a topic, but whatever it is, if you’re not writing about it from a passionate perspective then why would the readers connect with you?”

He said with so much content being produced it’s imperative to have passion behind your delivery. Consumers naturally gravitate towards the people who are creating content they feel passionate about. Once you’ve tapped into your passion, leveraging it to earn a living takes hard work and persistence.

“Just having a passion isn’t enough. You have to work really hard. Keep improving your skills. Do everything you can do to make your passion better. Something small and keep building on it. When you get to the point where you’re earning a paycheck from what you love doing, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

“Everybody is passionate about something.”

Thank you C.C. Chapman for the great interview and thank you for the podcast about passion that gave me the extra nudge I needed to pursue mine.

Was your business sparked by a passion? If so, I want to hear about it. Please leave a comment.

Also here are a few motivating resources I’ve come across:

• Entrepreneur magazine: Finding your passion
• The Huffington Post: How do I find my passion?
• Book: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Book: Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life by Donald Trump (Ok, so I haven’t read this one, but the title alone is motivating.)

For the audio interview click the play button below, and for the video podcast visit JetPack Radio.

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