Archive for October, 2007

Number 5 in my series of 6 free PDF SEO reports with advice for do-it-yourself website promotion for small business owners was released today. It is entitled Blog Your Way to Fresh Content, and this free download has no strings attached. You do not have to register or reveal your email address to get your copy of the PDF report. Here’s the intro taken from my main site with the complete list of free SEO reports in PDF:

Learn how to set up and post to a blog to add content to your website. Blogs can be more than an online diary, and templates are free. Fresh content like news, press releases, or advice related to your niche provides value to your site. Maximize the benefits with this guide. One post a week will add 52 pages to your site in 1 year.

This illustrated report is 671kb and 17 pages and packaged in a zipped folder. You may download it now. Just “Right-click and Save Target As” for the Blog Your Way to Fresh Content report.

Can’t wait for volume 6 in the series? Download the short course for search engine optimization which was #2 in the series and entitled 30 Minute a Day Free Methods. It includes the subject of sitemaps if you want a head start. The full version, and last in the series, will be released before the end of 2007.

Methods to enhance the value of your small business blog include tags and labels. These are links as shown at the bottom of each of your blog posts. Comparing and understanding the difference will allow you to maximize promoting your blog with external sites, plus improve the search ability of visitors to your blog.

Tags
The tags are external links to Technorati.com for promotional purposes, and each becomes an inbound link TO your blog from Technorati. These allow visitors to select the tag which takes them to the Technorati site where all posts “in the known universe” for that topic are listed.

Labels
The labels are internal links within your blog and act like a filing system. Using “advice” as an example, the label function sorts your posts by subject, and the “advice” label takes visitors to a single page with all the posts with that label. After you have created dozens of posts, this will help your visitors find all posts for one subject easily.

Again, don’t overlook the value of using tags and labels in your blog posts. Tags will increase external backlinks to your blog and labels make content on your blog easier to find for your readers. Each inbound link is like a “vote” for your blog, and will be found by search engines.

This is only part of seo, or search engine optimization, which may help your search engine ranking. Usability of your blog will be enhanced using labels, and visitors are more likely to stay longer. Small business blogs are a great opportunity for adding original quality content often, so keep writing to promote your small business.

A new custom website launched today for Mannion Custom Painting, LLC of Cumming GA with a matching custom integrated blog.

Here is some information about their Atlanta area home and business painting services taken from their home page:

Our Ultimate Goal is Satisfied Customers: When you entrust your property to Mannion Custom Painting, we go out of our way to create a positive experience. We offer free estimates, consultation for coating and color selection, detailed proposals, excellent craftsmanship, and a written warranty and guarantee on every project.

Learn more about new blogger custom template design here. Blogging offers advantages in SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, because regular posting allows you to add quality original content to your website often.

After paying a fee for a custom digital design such as a website, multimedia production, logo, or graphics for online or print, most customers will assume they own the contents of that project. In most cases they do not. The intellectual property and creativity to produce your project belongs to the designer with very few exceptions.

For small business clients who use independent contractors to create custom works for online or printed marketing materials, the question of copyright ownership must be understood. Except in instances where your designer is a direct employee, you do not retain the copyright of custom designs created on your behalf unless the designer specifically transfers the right of ownership to you.

Designers who produce creative works such as websites, multimedia, or printed marketing materials, establish copyright ownership the moment the work is created. Customers should consider the consequences of content they provide, also. Here’s an excerpt about copyright from the order page of the Small Business Resource Center:

Customer Provided Content and Copyright

The customer by placing an order for design services unconditionally guarantees that they own the copyright, or have permission from the copyright holder, of any content they furnish including text, graphics, photographs, audio, video, designs, trademarks, or artwork submitted for use in the website, multimedia, or printed marketing materials.

Design services are provided as an independent contractor, and projects are therefore not “work for hire” as would be the case using a direct employee. As the creative design service provider, Jim Degerstrom retains all rights to any original design of graphics, video production, or programming code created on behalf of the customer. Therefore, customer rights of ownership are limited to fair use of designs in the original intended use only, whether in print or online.

Clients using independent contractors have an obligation to provide content that does not violate copyright law. For example, the term royalty free photographs does not imply free and unlimited use of a photograph. Even photographs from sites such as those listed in my Royalty Free Photo Directory that allow free commercial use without a one-time or recurring fee do not transfer ownership rights to you.

In addition, digital works such as websites, multimedia, and designs for print carry further obligations. Once the designer creates your project they naturally deliver the results for your fair use. They still own the design. Changes or further use of that content without written permission from the independent contractor may be a violation of copyright law, also.

While this post discusses general copyright issues, small business owners and other readers must seek professional legal advice for answers to questions about their specific circumstances.

Following my Top 50 List of Article Directory sites a few months ago, the list was revised to the Top 20 and released today. Selection to this list is based on overall design and performance including approval time, reputation as a trusted authority site for article publication, and personal positive results using their services. The list is in alphabetical order:

www.advisor.com
www.amazines.com
www.articlealley.com
www.articlecity.com
www.articleclick.com
www.articlecube.com
www.articledashboard.com
www.articlegarden.com
www.articleonramp.com
www.articlerich.com
www.articlesbeyondbetter.com
www.buildyourownbusiness.biz
www.ebusiness-articles.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.goarticles.com
www.iwantcontent.com
www.niche-content-articles.com
www.positivearticles.com
www.searcharticles.net
www.theleadingarticles.com

Follow this link to the complete Top 20 Article Directory List and reasons for the shorter version. Time can be an enemy for small business owners, so if you avoid writing articles perhaps the short list of top syndicates will help you. The seo, or search engine optimization, value of published articles is an important aspect of small business website promotion.

Here’s an update on my PDF SEO reports that document free methods for do-it-yourself website promotion for small business owners. If you have not downloaded these search engine optimization reports, what I teach are free methods and the downloads are free. You do not have to register or reveal your email address. The only investment to implement these SEO techniques is your time.

While tracking statistics I check to see the search phrase visitors entered that brought them to my website. It’s been 8 months since my first report entitled “Google Page One in Just 9 Months”, so here’s an update with many new results for my site as of October 20, 2007. Earlier today I confirmed the following 35 page one results for my website and discovered 7 at #1 on Google page one, 12 at the #2 or #3 position on page one, and another 16 listed on page one anywhere from #4 to #10.

Number One on Page One (7 results)
2 color ad – #1
art work for business cards – #1
artwork for small business – #1 and #2
custom blogger designs – #1
custom business card artwork – #1
example of full color print ad – #1
print advertisement layout tutorial – #1

Number Two or Three on Page One (12 results)
business card artwork – #2
custom blogger – #2
custom graphics small business – #2
custom website price list – #2 and #3
orlando small business graphics – #3
price list for custom website – #2 and #3
small business advice blogs – #3
small business web design advice – #3 and #4
small business website design advice – #2 and #3
website promotion pdf download – #3 (however #1 and #2 are links to my SEO reports)
who invented XHTML? – #2
xara xtreme free templates – #3

Between Number Four and Ten on Page One (16 results)
blogger create custom designs
brochure design tutorial
business advice blog
business card design advice
commercial web site design
design commercial websites
domain registration tutorial
free door advertising templates
free seo report for website
graphic design business resources
list of best commercial website designers
pricing custom artwork
print advertisement layout
published business article
small business article directory
top 4 companies in usa offer custom website for small business

That last one was amusing, and I rather enjoyed “who invented XHTML?” and “list of best commercial website designers”, too. The real lesson is learning that these search optimization methods work. More importantly, the key is still adding fresh, original, quality content to your small business website often. Always design your site for your human visitors first, and never use deceptive methods to attempt to gain advantage.

Custom website video production services for small business owners are now offered as part of custom website design from the Small Business Resource Center. These dynamic and affordable videos and screencasts are perfect for product demos, site introductions, new product or service intros, company training, or even real estate virtual tours.

Watch this latest video tutorial about free methods to produce voice narration for your custom website video, and then consider the value of a permanent advertisement on your small business website.

Title: Video Narration Using Audacity
Play Time: 3 minutes, 14 seconds

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbmMdnrVk6E]

Imagine the positive first impression made with a custom video on your website. Combine voice, music, and video to enhance the visitor experience and memory retention of your message. Compare the price of custom videos that I produce to made for television ads, and the cost of adding a quality video on your website becomes very affordable.

Unlike print ad costs that are paid every month or week, your video ad reaches your audience forever without a recurring advertising budget.

Learn more about custom website video production services on my main site including custom video content tips for small business owners. Contact me for more details.

Here are steps used for creating custom videos for clients from an excerpt of my main site:

To maintain competitive pricing, the client will participate in steps 1 through 4 below, and the balance of the production steps 5 through 10 will be provided by the Small Business Resource Center, as follows:

1. Plan Production: Agree on video message and overall content presentation
2. Create Script: Write script for narration based on intro, main content, outro
3. Video Content: Collect graphic elements, photographs, and movie clips for video
4. Voice Content: Record the background voice narration as MP3 from the written script
5. Music Content: Choose background music from stereo music selections in my library
6. Arrangement: Assemble video elements to match the production plan and script
7. Edit Tracks: Edit the video, voice, and music tracks for quality and synchronization
8. Mix Tracks: Combine tracks with the video, voice, and music to create the final video
9. Production: Create and compress the video for maximum quality and smallest file size
10. Distribution: Present the video for online website display for your website or blog

Special Note on Copyright: All content contained in your video must be original material that does not violate any copyright laws. Client supplied material listed under video content above must be your exclusive copyright owned material only. The stereo music tracks for your video are selected by the Small Business Resource Center from my library of royalty free music that was purchased with full rights to use in the production of your video.

Read the video content guide on the main website, or view custom website video examples.

After experimenting with video recently, I decided visitors deserved a more personal introduction and a closer look behind the scenes. The bonus surprise is a series of rare photos of George Bush taken in 1988 when my wife and I met him in San Diego, California.

While watching, consider the value of a website video for your small business. Screencast and video production have been added to my list of services. Show people details of your small business products or services and provide a permanent ad or demo on your website.

Thanks for watching. Please contact me to discuss your small business needs for custom website design, custom blogs, matching artwork for print, or video production.

Website design and small business website promotion depend on understanding key words, and maximizing their value in published articles or site content. For authors writing articles to acquire backlinks for enhanced search engine optimization, or seo, here are some tools to help you brainstorm ideas for topics. Often a list of keywords is all you need to stimulate creativity.

Keyword free search using the Google external keyword search tool is limited compared to the paid version which is just under $30 USD per month. While the free version does not furnish the level of detail of the paid subscription, it still provides valuable search phrases and keywords including synonyms.

Another tool to consider is the Overture search inventory site. Earlier in 2007 the site was sporadic and offline on several occasions. Some pundits feel the site may go away forever since Yahoo purchased it some time back. As long as the Overture keyword search tool is still online it’s another good source for keyword data.

For entrepreneurs who find it difficult to find time to write articles, remember that these and other tools may be used to develop content ideas for your small business website, also.