What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, a way increase the visibility of a website in search engines through organic or unpaid search results (as opposed to Google Ads or other paid methods).

Google has created a wonderful guide to make your website more search-engine friendly. Here are a few tips they provide on improving your website.

Create unique, accurate page titles. The page title is located at the very top of the page and is listed on the first line of search results. You want to accurately describe the page's content, create unique title tags for each page and use brief, but descriptive title. Avoid vague titles, or worse, the dreaded "Untitled" page heading.

Make use of the "description" meta tag. A page's description meta tag provides a summary of what the page is about and should be a sentence or two or a short paragraph. Use unique descriptions for each page. Avoid writing a meta tag that has no relation to the content on the page or using only keywords.

Improve the structure of your URLs. Use descriptive web addresses instead of long, cryptic URLs that contain no or irrelevant words. For example, http://mybusiness.com/resources is better than http://mybusiness.com/folder/18937599742/x1/0000032a.htm.

Offer quality content and services. The easiest and best way to provide fresh content is through blog posts, social media services and forums. Write easy-to-read text, use relevant language and create content for your visitors, not search engines. Avoid inserting numerous unnecessary keywords, having blocks of text that add little value to users and deceptively hiding text from users, but displaying it to search engines.

Google also warns of using "black hat" SEO tactics, like those listed above as things to avoid. Using such tactics could get you banned from Google, and would not be a good thing.

Here is a link to the Goggle SEO Starter Guide. Incorporating even a few of these ideas into your website should help you move up in the search engine rankings.

Nine Steps to Developing a Social Media Plan

Social media is not longer an option for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is a must. Just as having a website establishes credibility and provides information to potential clients, social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn do the same thing, as well as show you are in touch with the latest technology and coolest tools.

How does an already overwhelmed business owner add social media to their normal marketing and networking responsibilities without spending hours on the computer, and away from serving clients?

By being very smart and strategic. Here are nine steps to developing a social media plan that enhances your marketing efforts and creates a buzz for your business, without wasting time and energy.

1. Know who you are trying to reach and go where they are. Chances are your potential clients are on Facebook, but how do they use the site? Do they only play Farmville or catch up with family and friends? Or do they use Facebook as a business networking tool? Knowing which sites they use and how they use it will help you customize your posts and online efforts.

2. Be strategic about your posts and tweets. Nothing get you "unliked" or blocked faster than hard selling. Be mindful of the type of posts you write. You want to offer quality content over self-serving comments. Think about articles or information that will benefit your followers while showing you as an expert or leader in your field.

3. Add variety to your communications. Mix your posts between services, products, testimonials, client spotlights, solutions to a problem, questions or market research, quotes, interesting articles and videos, reposts or retweets, blog posts, personal comments, general company information and fun stuff.

4. Set goals and measure results. This is a tough one and something most businesses are not doing with their social media efforts. It is important to know what you want to accomplish and how you will determine success. Will you track the number of followers and "likes"? How about the number of retweets, mentions, comments, interactions or page suggestions? How will you know if your hard work is paying off?

5. Think about interaction and influence, not followers and fans. Would you rather have 500 fans/likes that never interact with you or 50 very active fans that love what you do and engage in your conversation? It is not all about the numbers, but about the level of interaction and engagement.

6. Allow your personality to show through. People want to work with people they know, like and trust, and social networking sites provide a great avenue to show your personality and core values. Don't be afraid to get personal with your posts, just decide how much you want people to know, especially if you decide to talk politics or religion.

7. Integrate your key messages into your online presence. Just because you have 140 characters to get your point across does not mean you abandon your key messages and go off script. You must still speak in the same tone and with the same intent as you would in all of your offline marketing.

8. Be consistent and patient. Give yourself a few months before you decide to make changes. You may need to make a few tweaks before you see benefits. If you get frustrated, consider hiring a marketing or public relations expert to help you with your messaging and help integrate your marketing plan into your online presence.

9. Make the commitment to making social media a part of your workday. Create a schedule and stick to it. Ten minutes three times a day (morning, lunch, before leaving work) should be plenty of time to really make a huge impact online. Use third-party sites like Hootsuite and TweetDeck to help plan your posts in advance and keep personal time online to a minimum.

10. Bonus tip: HAVE FUN.

Taking a strategic approach to your social media will keep you from wasting time online while creating brand buzz and building strong relationships.

Five tips for building relationships through social media

If you are using social media as a marketing strategy to reach current and new clients, set yourself apart as an expert or research market needs, then you need to also be focused on building relationships online.

For many, social media is anything but social. Sitting alone in a room in front of a computer does not scream community, but there are ways to build relationships online that could benefit your business.

1. Interact through direct message tweets, retweets, blog comments and Facebook posts.Communication is a two-way street, so take time to get to know your online friends. This is such an important part of social media, but very few people actually take the time to interact with their friends and followers. Set aside a few minutes each day to network with people in your industry, especially those considered experts in the field. Never have these highly regarded leaders been so accessible. Respond to their blogs and tweets and watch your credibility increase and your net of followers expand.

2. Ask questions and solicit advice. Create opportunities for people to communicate with you and each other. What better way of creating a community than to find ways to bring people together in the name of a friendly debate or unifying to find a solution to a problem. Everyone wants to feel needed and valued, so soliciting comments is a fun way to get people active on your site and invested in your business.

3. Reward your followers and fans by offering discounts on products, a preview of a new publication or an exclusive report just for your followers. Who doesn't want to feel special? Find unique ways of offering benefits to those who are loyal to your business and be ready for a great return on your investment.

4. Be authentic. Post the way you talk and make sure to stay true to who you are. Your ideal client will be attracted to you, so if you are not genuine online, they will not be happy when they work with you offline.

5. Have fun. Let your personality shine through by sharing some personal items with your online community. Find a healthy balance of personal and professional and enjoy building new relationships with your (hopefully) new clients.

While it does take some time and a little bit of effort to build relationships through social media, it is vital to the success of your online marketing plan and overall marketing strategy.

Foursquare still rules (for now)

Facebook Places is just a few weeks old, so the big debate over whether it will cause the slow death of Foursquare is yet to be seen. While both are location-based check-in services, they currently serve very different purposes.

Foursquare is much more business-friendly than Facebook Places (for now). As a business owner, you can offer discounts to anyone who checks into your store or office, reward the mayor of your business and encourage groups to meet at your place in hopes of creating a swarm. Foursquare is more like a game than anything else. The more times you check into a location, the more points you get and the higher rank you receive. You can even see who else has checked into the same location, which leads to the awkward look around the room to see if you can spot the other cool kids playing the same game. Privacy is more secure on Foursquare- only your Foursquare friends know where you are, unless you allow your check-ins to be posted to Twitter and Facebook.

For now, Facebook Places is a novelty being used by a brave few souls. And just like folks tweeting what they ate for lunch when Twitter first rolled out, Facebook Places is just as annoying. Eventually, Facebook Places will be tied into Facebook Business Pages, which opens a whole new level of opportunity for business owners. Until Facebook deals with their trust/privacy issues, Facebook Places will not be embraced by the masses. Who knows if that will ever be settled.

Until then, consider adding Foursquare to your marketing arsenal. It is a fun way to reward customers and is still new enough to be hip and cool. 

Would your business benefit from GroupOn?

I was taking part of a TwitChat on Tuesday with brilliant public relations professionals around the world. It is a fast-past discussion about the hottest topics in the industry. The first question had to do with the benefits, or potential image damage, of using coupon sites like GroupOn.com to promote your business.

The site just had a successful run promoting coupons for a $50 gift certificate to the Gap at a cost of $25 to the GroupOn member. Comments from the PR pros ranged from how to capture names, gain repeat business, provide quality customer service, managing ROI and maintaining brand reputation.

One of the most interesting questions asked was about brand reputation. Does offering such a deep discount hurt the Gap's image? Does the coupon speak to their ideal customers? Can it create customer loyalty? Can this promotional buzz hurt their image and business in the long run? 

Some thought the promotion made them look desperate. Others thought it was a great tool to attract attention and be seen as leaders in the emerging social media field.

I can see both sides. You have to know your ideal clients, what messages work best to motivate them to use your service/product, what gains their trust and loyalty and what turns them off. 

You have to be clear enough with your brand identity or you could really do damage to your reputation, and your bottom line.

For example, the Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team offered a great discount on GroupOn. For just $20, you received 4 playoff game tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 small drinks and 4 game programs- a $64 value. 

The brilliant part of the offer is it is only valid for two playoff games, both in the middle of the week; game days that historically would have low attendance. By offering this discount to a limited number of fans on GroupOn, even at a steep discount, they increase the number of people in the crowd. People who have to pay for parking. People who will probably visit the concession stand for more to eat or drink. People who may become new Smokies fans. And people who tell other people about the game and their experience.

So, is it fun to jump on the newest, hottest social media tool. Yes. Is it always the best idea. No. Knowing who you are trying to reach and what you need to say is still the best way of marketing your business. It's just not as sexy.

Trusting your map

I have a funny story for you.

Last Thursday, I headed to Maryville to meet with Linda Pucci. She is a master at getting people unstuck and getting rid of limiting beliefs.

Who knew my learning would start on the drive to the meeting.

You see, I had been to Linda's before, about four years ago. She lives in the country, at the base of the Smoky Mountains. It is beautiful. I had programmed my phone to give me directions, but instead of trusting MapQuest, I questioned it. I thought I knew better than the map. In the end, the map was right. I was wrong. And I was late.

Hmmm. Where else is that showing up in my life?

Turns out, I am doing the same thing with my marketing plan. Instead of following my plan, I tend to question it, change it, and flat out ignore it.

With the same results. Lost. Confused. Overwhelmed. Late.

Trust your roadmap and keep moving forward. Lesson learned.

Oh, and enjoy the ride.

You can't do it alone

A few weeks ago, I jumped in the car and took a road trip to Atlanta with three of my favorite, and most inspirational, female entrepreneurs to attend a seminar on mindset.

While the seminar was amazing, it was the three-hour car ride that still resonates with me. We each took turns talking about “stuff” we are facing. It helps so much to have a strong support system, especially if you work from home in isolation.

The concept of a mastermind group is still pretty new to me. I managed to read about a fifth of “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill last fall. I never really put much stock into it, but the more I keep running into the same challenges, the more I realize I can’t do it alone.

Having a strong support system is an invaluable tool for any business. Just as every new venture needs a plan, every entrepreneur needs a group of honest, caring, bold colleagues to hold your hand while simultaneously kicking your butt.

We are not meant to be solitary creatures. And that goes for your business, as well. To be successful in any industry, you can’t do it alone.