WELCOME TO THE WEB!

We love announcing new websites and we have three that have been launched this month:

Hockey’s Resource (center) at www.HockeysResource.com is a new website that provides hockey news and information from both amateur and professional leagues around the world. Aimed at the hockey industry, articles vary from general interest to game reviews, scouting reports, camps, tournaments, drafts and more.

Desert Security (right) is a home and business security monitoring and installation company. They also provide home wiring, automation systems, networking and audio-video services. Desert Security has been protecting Arizona home and business owners for over 17 years. They’re service is top-notch and price is hard to beat. Checking out the JDE-designed website at www.DesertSecurityMonitoring.com.

www.AllHomesArizona.com (left) is home to HUD Home specialists Alex and Matt, a team of REALTORS here in the Valley who primarily serve the HUD home buyers. Their new website provides up-to-the-minute listings of HUD homes around the Phoenix area. They have a questions-answers page with a ton of useful information on it, and they also provide comprehensive real estate services for non-HUD clients.

WELCOME TO THE WEB!

ALMOST A THIRD OF THE WORLD USES THE INTERNET : 2,000,000,000 USERS

Wow. According to Internet World Stats we’ve hit 2 billion users. The Last time I wrote about this was just over two years ago (link below) and the number of Internet users had just hit 1.5 Billion.

These are incredible numbers. As one might expect, the biggest growth has been in Asia where they’ve added almost 400 million users in the past couple of years. Everyone else has been growing at a less rapid, yet still impressive rate with Europe adding 100 million and the use a mere (!) 30 million.

Percentage wise, Latin America and Africa are showing the biggest growth, almost doubling in population of web users.

So, with a third of the world online in some way, shape, or form, there’s certainly a lot of potential website visitors for anyone looking.

The top 10 list of most popular sites on the web include Google at number 1, Facebook at number 2 and YouTube at number 3. Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo and Live are also up there. So, as the web continues to explode, it seems as though searching for information coupled with socialization and entertainment are the “big use“ areas.

Now, all you have to do is find a way to connect what you do with what they’re looking for. Let me know when you find it, and I’ll do the same

Link to my previous article
Link to World Internet Stats
Link to Most Popular Websites

What do Egypt, Tunisia, Short Sales, Sarah Palin, Superbowl, Australia Flooding and Winter Weather have in common?

At first glance, probably not a lot. However, after a moment’s consideration, you might observe that many of these items have been in the news this week (although I’ve not read much about Sarah Palin over the past few days…)

So what’s this got to do with marketing?

Well, at the risk of sound smug, I think there’s good chance you’re reading this because something in the headline grabbed your attention. Perhaps you arrived at this post because one of the search terms you were looking for brought you to it. On the other hand, you may just have wondered what sort of stupid question was being asked.

My point is that connecting your business or personal blog, press release, social media post, or whatever to a current event can attract a greater readership.

 
But isn’t it dishonest?

I’m not advocating that you write a headline that implies something completely different. Heck, you might as well  start putting up those annoying fake banner ads that tell you you’re the “1,000,000th visitor”. What I am suggesting is that you can often find some sort of relationship between things that are going on in the world at large, and your chosen subject of interest.

I’m the first to admit that this sort of approach to generating search results or attracting visitors may be questionable to some. As I said, and I repeat, I’m not advocating dishonest headlines that have nothing to do with content, but when you consider what’s going on “out there”, and you look at your business, is there not something that you share?

To prove that I’m not full of it, I will start – the current unrest in places such as Tunisia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries has largely been possible because of social media. No matter how hard governments seem to try and lock it down, social media is a very hard genie to put back in the bottle. It’s allowed for the word to get out, for both organizers and those observing on the international scene. Would something like this have been possible a decade ago? I doubt it.

What’s that got to do with marketing? Well, consider the power of social media. It’s been able to change countries and appears to be able to topple governments. I haven’t even said “Wikileaks” yet…

I think it goes to show what a little technology in the right hands can do, and if you’re not using it, perhaps it’s time to rethink the strategy?

That all said, I hope you found something of interest in this post and you don’t consider yourself short-changed.

ACTIVE RAIN AS A DATING SERVICE? EMAIL SECURITY 101 REFRESHER

I received this in my inbox this morning :

Hello sweetie


My name is judy, i am 25yrs old, i’m a free minded, open hearted girl, i like to take life as easy as i could, i’m one of the few that still belives in friendship,love, trust and signs, am very much single and ready to mingle. was browsing through the internet and came across your contact at (www.activerain.com) belive me i like what i see,it will be my sincere pleasure to be your friend if you don’t mind, i hope you will not take my request for granted, feel free to email me, i will appreciate it if you can send me some pics, i look forward to hear from you soon.
Take care.


Judy.

I didn’t open the attached photograph, but it made me smile; there is nothing hackers and scammers won’t try.

I’m sure we’ve all received emails from some generous person in Africa or Eastern Europe offering to pay us a healthy cut if we’d accept a deposit of several million dollars into our bank account…."just send your bank account information". These sorts of emails are all covered under the term Nigerian 419. The FBI has a good description of it in their website (http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm#nigerian).

It seems that the temptation, or impulse to take people at their word can often override common sense. We’ve all done it, myself included. Spam and anti-virus filters don’t always catch these emails. So, here’s a refresher….TO OPEN, OR NOT TO OPEN? THAT IS THE QUESTION…

• Never click on a link in an email unless you know for sure that it’s genuine. If it’s from someone you know, then it’s probably okay, but there is always a chance that someone’s email address book has been compromised and there are viruses that replicate and forward themselves. Sometimes a link looks almost real. For example "account.bankofamericaa.com" or something along these lines. Almost, but not quite the real thing…




• Any organization worth it’s weight in salt will not ask you for personal information by email, so don’t ever send information that could compromise you by email. This includes passwords, birthdays, social security numbers…you get the idea.




• Don’t open attachments. You may know the sender, so this can be a tough one. Recently, there have been compromises to PDF security, so there’s no guarantee that an innocent-looking PDF might be more than it seems. Of course, we all know never to open an attached ZIP file or executable program…




• Never reply to a "phishing" email. These are the kind that offer you something like a million dollars if you furnish some information, or "you’ve won the European lottery". It might be tempting to reply with "ha ha ha" or something stronger, but this confirms that the email address is active and being used. The next email might not be so easily recognized.





• Email attachments are a fact of life, so protect yourself by ensuring that your anti-virus / spam filter is up-to-date. Generally that means you’ve got to pay for it. I’m not a fan of freebies, especially when it comes to security products.




• If you usu products like Outlook, you’ll have a Spam folder. Yes, the occasional genuine message will go in there, but it won’t let you open links, so you have to make a conscious decision to do so.




• Never click on pop up windows. I’ve seen a lot of these lately that say things like "Your PC security is not up-to-date. Click here for a scan". The next thing you know your PC stops working until you "register" for the software.




• Instead of clicking a link in an email, if you believe it’s genuine and you absolutely have to click it, copy and paste it into your browser. In phishing or virus-laden emails, the text you see might not be the link that lies beneath.




• DON’T USE THE SAME PASSWORD ACROSS MULTIPLE SYSTEMS / WEBSITES.




• DON’T USE OBVIOUS PASSWORDS (ie "password" or your name).




• Keep your software up-to-date. With Windows, ensure you are doing your "Windows Updates" regularly. Be sure your virus software is current. Download the updates for products that you use a lot. Ensure your PDF reader is updated with the latest versions. Software companies do their best to react to breaches as soon as possible, but you have to keep yourself protected.

Computer security doesn’t stop at emails and browsing. There have been umpteen reports about social media links and compromises recently. Every new tool and technology seems to spawn it’s deviants…

Ultimately, security is like insurance. It’s a "best effort" approach. It will work most, if not all of the time. Sometimes, you’re going to be compromised because the stars aligned "just so". If so, then:

• Disconnect your computer from your network / Internet connection immediately.




• Call in the experts (Geek Squad, or your Technician or whomever…).




• Change all your personal security information as soon as possible.




• If you bank online, let your bank know your computer was compromised.




• Don’t try and work around the problem. If you think your PC has been compromised, listen to your gut feeling and take the appropriate precautions.

In many places, if you use Cox Internet, you get McAfee for free – worth checking out to save money. Like insurance, you hope you never have to use it, but a few bucks up front could save you a fortune later one…

Be safe.

Some useful links:

• PC World’s page on PC security (http://www.pcworld.com/topics/security.html)
• Indiana University PC security tips (http://kb.iu.edu/data/akln.html)
• Microsoft Windows update (http://update.microsoft.com)
• Symantec (Security) (http://www.symantec.com)
• McAfee (Security) (http://www.mcafee.com/us/)
• Adobe Acrobat Reader updates (http://get.adobe.com/reader/)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer (you should have the latest version) (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx)
• Mozilla Firefox Browser (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/)
• Google Chrome Browser (http://www.google.com/chrome)
• Opera Browser (http://www.opera.com/)

Talk to your IT / Security person about getting your PC / Mac secure. This information is not intended as definitive in any way….

HOW DO YOU REFURBISH A WEBSITE?

When many people hear the word “refurbish”, they tend to think of electronics that have been rebuilt or repaired and then sold at a discount as “almost, but not quite new”. While this is one of the variations of the word, I prefer the dictionary definition (Merriam-Webster) for “refurbish”…

to brighten or freshen up

…especially when it comes to websites.

These are tough economic times, no disputing that fact. In addition, many small business owners or self-employed individuals are watching every penny. I include myself in this. As a web designer, I fully appreciate the decisions that people make to build a website. It’s an expense and a risk. One one had they know they need it, on the other hand there are no guarantees.

For others, however, there is a middle ground that I call a website “refurbish”. Simply put, it’s a clean-up and refreshing of an existing website. It’s not a rebuild, it’s an update. Here are several things that I do and you can do too:

• Update your photographs. Good quality pictures can make the worst-designed website look good. Bad pictures can ruin a well-designed website. Updating your photos periodically is like redecorating a room.
• Change your page colors. Web design color schemes seem to go in cycles. Many people are going back to a more simple, white-or-light scheme with the colors coming from the artwork.
• Take a look at some of your competition and see what they’re doing. I’m not condoning plagiarism of course, but there’s nothing with a little creative “window shopping”.
• Check the formatting and spelling of the content. Have someone else give you sincere feedback. Yes, the truth hurts, but wouldn’t you rather know the truth?
• Dynamic content. If you have a blog, does it “feed” into your website? Getting a “feed reader” from your blog plugged in to your website is, in most cases, very easy. It’s a great tool for search engines because when you update your blog, you website content is also updated.
• Get some basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You don’t have to spend a fortune on high-end programs. If you maintain your own website, you can do this yourself. If not, have a web designer update your “metatags”. These are pieces of code on each page that are used by search engines to index your page. Have him/her make sure your “headers” are correct. Headers are (usually) the big titles you’ll see in a page (ie YOUR WEB DESIGN COMPANY). Work with your webmaster to ensure that both your tags and headers are relevant to your business. Have them also check the image “alt tags”. These are pieces of text that display if a browser has trouble showing a picture on your site. They’re also used by search engines because search engines can’t “read” pictures. This basic SEO should NOT cost a lot!!!
• Make sure your website is in at least the “big three” search engines. These are Yahoo, Bing (MSN) and Google. You can see how your sites are being indexed by going to the home page of each search engine and typing SITE:[www.yourwebsitename.com].

These are a few things you can do that don’t cost an arm and a leg, or at least shouldn’t, but can make a huge difference to your online presence and hopefully help you feel brightened and freshened up.

MAGICJACK : IS THERE ANYTHING LEFT TO SAY AFTER 2 YEARS?

Well, I still don’t own stock in the company

I started my MagicJack experience in 2008 and wrote a couple of posts :

1. MagicJack…does it work?
2. MAGICJACK : 12-MONTHS LATER…

It’s now been 2 years. Of course, the initial purchase only included a year’s worth of use, so after the 12 months were up I purchased the 5-year plan for $80. Have to say, I’m still impressed.

The device has been plugged into several PCs and laptops over the past 24 months. It’s run flawlessly on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. The one “bump in the road” was during the Windows 7 installation, for some reason the software that is built into the device didn’t automatically run, so I had to browse to it and run it manually.

Overall, call quality has been excellent, with one or two exceptions during high Internet traffic or PC utilization, but for what we paid and the amount of money we’ve saved, MagicJack is still and incredible purchase in my opinion. You do get the occasional echo or "robotic" sounding person on the other end, but it’s not been a big deal. Long distance and international calls have worked well. Note, that you have pay for international calls outside the US / Canada.

I’ve move house since my original purchase. Changing the contact information in the system was easy. It’s important to do this especially for your 911 settings. In my house, the MJ is now our primary phone line, hooked into a laptop with a 2-handset base station. I actually purchased a second that I carry with me to use on wifi connections on my laptop, though on some of the public networks in places like coffee shops, the way that the wireless connections are managed can mean dropped calls, so it’s not necessarily the best solution all the time, but it’s a good backup if the cellphone reception isn’t great.

For a product that I first saw on a TV ad, this one has really done what it promised. Just plug in and off it goes. Two years and going strong. It’s also now available in stores as well as the MagicJack website.

See you in a couple of years!

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING? 10 THINGS TO CONSIDER…

The term "social media" has become so widely used (and abused) that the meaning behind it has become rather generic. But remember that the "social" in "social media" should be just that. It suggests interaction and communication…TWO way. There are many many many people out there standing on their little platform shouting out their message and never listening. While this might work for celebrities, in my opinion it’s probably a dubious marketing strategy. If you’re going to use social media, then use it the way it was intended.

1. Understand the terms and tools. Facebook is what I would consider true "social" media. Twitter is more a social commentary tool, little updates during the day. Blogging is more analogous to journaling, or commentary on a bigger scale. Social "bookmarking" means sharing found information with others…and so on. For each of the "classes" of social media tool are dozens, if not hundreds of tools to use. Need go get an idea of how many? Check this link out to AddThis.com.
   
   
2. Be prepared to spend resources. A "resource" is time, effort or money in this case. You’re not going to be able to sit back and do nothing, unless you have someone doing all your social media for you (in which case you’re probably paying them). You’re going to have to make an investment of some sort, but with a solid strategy, you can yield returns.
   
   
3. The tools. Pick the tools and stick with them, at least for a while. I see so many people who flit between products like a bee in a summer field; a bit here, a bit there. Yet they accomplish little to nothing. In this day of the web, trends come and go overnight. You’re not always going to be able or want to use the latest gadget. While I think new technologies and tools should be considered as part of a plan, picking the "latest" thing should not be the plan. Picking the right tools will also depend on what resources you can put into them. Take a product like Twitter. The way it functions, in my opinion, requires a little more "hands on" during the day that some of the less dynamic products such as Facebook or a social bookmarking tool.
   
   
4. Integrate. Bring your social media tools together. Integrate your blog with your Twitter, Facebook or website. Keep your look, personalities and message coherent among the products. There are so many ways to integrate social media tools that I will probably write another article on them.
   
   
5. Separate your lives. Keep your online personalities separate. Your business dealings should be kept apart from your personal dealings. You don’t have to "friend" all your clients on Facebook. If you feel you should, then set up a business profile or page and use that. Do you really want your clients or colleagues to know you "got totally wasted dude"?
   
   
6. A game plan. Sounds obvious doesn’t it? A plan isn’t just a vague idea along the lines of "hm, I think I’ll set up a Twitter account and tell people about my products." A plan includes a goal, milestones, a method for achieving them and a way of measuring success.
   
   
7. Be careful who you listen to. It’s easy to sit there and say "social media brings me 98% of my business and I mad $10,000,000 last year thanks to Twitter." It’s also easy to see that message and be disheartened by it. There seem to be more people who are successful online than there is money in the system, have you noticed? I’m not saying that people don’t have success using social media marketing, but if they’re so busy shouting about it…you get the gist.
   
   
8. Learn. Read blogs. Visit websites. There is so much information out there. Check out trends, not just in your industry, but others. Look for what people are doing out there and consider how you can adapt it for your social media plan.
   
   
9. Manage your time. 60 hours a week online might be overdoing in. Depending on what your tools and plan call for, plan to spend x number of hours a day or week online, and stick to it. Split your time between writing, reading and interacting (remember the "social" in "social media").
   
   
10. Give it time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. With a plan and realistic goals, set over a 3 or 6 month time frame, you can evolve your online presence. It is not going to happen overnight. You need to stick with it, which is why picking the right tools is important.
    
    

With the right tools, mindset and a plan, you’ll be amazed at what you can do. Just take your time and invest wisely. Feel free to email me at Dave@JDELtd.com. Emails are free I also offer training programs, marketing services and support.

Good luck!

SOCIAL MEDIA : LOOSE LIPS AND SINKING SHIPS

The Internet has become an even greater melting pot. Online and offline lives are blurred. Many people seem to live their lives online and communicate with a world of people they may never have met. Every detail of their lives is shared in Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, WordPress, Digg, Reddit…and of course email.

There are some very positive benefits to this incredible online world, I’m the first to admit it. I have clients around the US with whom I’ve developed relationships using purely online methods that I wouldn’t have dreamed of a few years ago. I can share information so easily, click-click-done.

But the ease of communication has blurred the lines between business and personal for many people. I’ve written about this subject a couple of times in the past (links below), but for the uninitiated, here goes:

Mixing Identities

I see it all the time. I communicate professionally with someone and the next thing I know they’re sending me a “friend” request on Facebook, or a network link on LinkedIn. If they want to connect with my professional identity, I’m alright with that and happy to share, but sorry if you want to be my “friend” on a personal level. Let’s have a few dates first…?

Many people don’t separate their personal and professional identities and this can have serious repercussions. I’ve received emails from people I barely know with everything from “please forward this message of goodwill to 10 people…” to petitions, rants about anything, links to cute videos, jokes…you name it.

Opening the professional door to a business relationship does not give you the right to assume that people want to see or share in your personal life.

The Risks You Take

Your opinions and tastes might be different from those people to whom you are sending emails to or trying to connect with in a social media context. If you’re sharing purely professional information, opinion etc, then all well and good, but a lot of people don’t stop there.

Consider the reaction to someone who disagrees with something you send them. What if they’re offended? Could it be the end of a relationship? There are increasing numbers of stories in the press about social media “faux pas” that end up causing retractions and apologies, but in this world of instant communication, once it’s said, it’s very hard to unsay. If you’ve invited someone to be your online friend, do you want them knowing your friends and family too…or the fact that you “got totally wasted dude”?

One shudders to think of the legal ramifications, especially if there are license requirements that one might be expected to observe!

Separation of Church and State

If you’re sharing your personal life with your business colleagues, be prepared. As much as many of us would like to think that our “work” and “play” personalities are the same, or at least similar, they should be different, especially online. 

I call it the “separation of Church and State”. If you’ve not considered separating the two, please do so. You do need to watch what you say. As the World War II posters advertised “loose lips sink ships” and it’s very true.

Can you afford to take the risk?

 

Related articles:

• EMAIL FAUX PAS
• SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

SEO 101 : IS IT RIGHT? (part 2)

In my last post in this series (TAGS’n'STUFF), I talked about three of the most import parts of a web page: the title, description, and page link. By going to Google’s home page and typing in site:www.[your site name].com (or whatever), you can see what Google has in it’s database relating to your site.

One of the interesting things to do is check each page on your site against Google’s index. So, if you have a page on your site called www.[your site name].com/realestate.html, and the purpose of that page is to show off your real estate stuff, then what you see in Google should relate.

To get the exact address of a page on your site, simply visit your home page and navigate to the page in question. Then copy the entire link in the address bar as your search term (putting site: in front of it).

You may be surprised at what you see.

There are many "template" type sites that allow you to build your own web pages. Many of these allow you to put your own titles and "meta tags" in them. They don’t always tell you what these should be, or even what they are. We’ll go into "meta tags" in the near future, but the "description" of the page, limited to 150 characters, is one of these. These are so important to search engine placement and yet they’re so often overlooked.

Allow me to illustrate.

I have a (pretend) page on my site called "widgets". On this page, I’m advertising my widget products. My website is in Google because when I typed in site:www.jdemarketing.com it told me so. But I’m curious to see how my widgets page is doing. So I’m going to type in site:www.jdemarketing.com/widgets.html, which is the address of my widgets page.

Huh?

As you can see (above) in the "title" area, all Google has is "Welcome" and in the description it says "put your description here". The link is correct, because I can see the link points to my widget page.

What’s happened here is that although Google has found and indexed this particular page on my site, the fact that I don’t have any meaningful title or description makes it about as useless as a screen door on a submarine. Now, there might be some content on the page that helps people find it, but without a good title and description, my odds on being found have been greatly reduced. After all, who is going to search on "welcome" to find "widgets"?

My "phoenix small business marketing products" page, on the other hand (site:www.jdemarketing.com/marketingproducts.aspx) shows up nicely (see below). In the "title" area I have "phoenix small business marketing products and services". In the "description" tag I have "phoenix arizona small business marketing products and services | marketing materials | marketing training | marketing plans". The link points to the right page.

Now, in theory, when I type "phoenix small business marketing products" into Google, my page should appear. In this case it does, near the top.

Having relevant search terms in your title and description doesn’t guarantee you a page 1 listing on Google overnight, or on any other search engine for that matter, but it certainly helps you get listed and stay listed. Another thing to point out is how relevant my particular search term is. Yes, it’s five words long, but there is little doubt about what someone wants when they enter "phoenix small business marketing products".

So, to conclude

Relevant words in the title and description help search engines understand what your page is about. It also helps web surfers find what they’re looking for. While, in my case, I could have used "small business marketing products", I’m trying to keep my terms as narrow as I can because I’ll have more chance of getting the people I want. While I’d love a marketing client in New York, they’re more likely to look for " new york small business marketing products"…

Relevance is also important when it comes to moving up the ranks. If I were to use "Phoenix Accounting Services" as my description and title, but my page content were about marketing, I’m going to upset people who found my site and thought they were finding a CPA. It doesn’t help your marketing cause to be dishonest.

Finally, use something that makes sense to people and machines. Don’t "stuff" the title and description with single words.

So, check your titles and descriptions. If they look right, put those search terms into Google, Yahoo and Bing (MSN) and see where you rank. If you’ve just changed them, expect a couple of weeks to go by before any changes are noted; sometimes longer.

Check to ensure that the page content reflects what’s in the titles and descriptions.

Next we’ll look at other tools and techniques to help you get the most out of your own SEO.

WELCOME TO THE WEB

The very best part of my job is “launch days”. That’s when all my work, and that of my client, comes to fruition and we set them on their maiden (or renewed) voyage into the world wide web.

A JDE website is an investment from not just the customer, but from us as well. From the initial concept (“I have an idea for a website…”) to the design (“whacha think…?”) to the redesigns (“were you listening to anything I said…?”), we’ve worked closely together for several weeks, or months to get to this stage.

As with any major production, there are last minute jitters (“did you remember to…?”) and changes (“What about changing the whole thing…?”), but she’s seathworthy and now’s the time to take her our (“all aboard and other nautical terms”).

From this point on, our strategy changes. We’ve built it, but we also need to get “them” to visit. Spreading the word, discovering new opportunities and marketing are now called for. Wherever our site may sail, however, nothing beats the launch day.

Welcome to the first two sites of 2010…

BiltmoreEtc.com is the new home for John Cunnigham of CV Realty here in the Phoenix Area. John specializes in the East-Central Phoenix Metro area, covering Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Central Phoenix. The site design was kept relatively monotone to allow the pictures to “do the talking”. The site features animation and a custom property match as well as Google maps integration to highlight areas such as the Biltmore, Arcadia and Fashion Square.

DesertSkyDevelopment.com is the newly-redesigned site of Desert Sky Development Custom Homes, an award-winning luxury home builder in North Scottsdale. The site was developed to showcase their incredible portfolio and awards. The site features a video slideshow,”flipping book” picture galleries, random images and quotes and pays tribute to a number of causes sponsored by the company.

Every day should be a launch day.

If you’re interested in seeing other sites in our portfolio, wander over to www.JDELtd.com

Dave Segrove is a Phoenix Small Business Web Designer and Marketing Consultant. You can learn more about Dave’s products and services at www.JDELtd.com.