73% of hotel customers researched their options online

Source: Harris Interactive

Online ads to generate $19 billion by 2009 Source: Jupiter Research

40% of Web users shop online more due to high fuel prices Source: Shopzilla.com

Car dealers receive an average of 37 leads a month from their websites Source: JD Power

86% of users click on the top five search results of a search engine

Source: Espotting

Annual Internet search usage and volume projected to exceed 100 billion in 2006 (you can image what that is now) Source: Kelsey Group

Today, the fact is simply this: every business must have a professional online presence and online visitors need to be able to find it. Companies that delay doing this will suffer enormous costs from having to play catch up to the ones who act now.

Speedy KAVAINT.COM W3C Software Directory COUNTERDEAL.COM

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clipped from www.hardtofindseminars.com

Click on the above link to hear the interview.

SEO Services Interview

SEO Expert Reveals… Everything You Need To Know About Affordable SEO To Get Your Website Flooded With Qualified Traffic

Web traffic is what website owners really want and many business owners think that if they build a website, they’ll naturally be bombarded with orders. But that rarely happens. With hundreds of millions of websites out there, it’s easy to disappear in the shuffle – unless you know how to get noticed. And In this audio, that’s exactly what you’re going to hear.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is the technical term for all the strategies needed to build a strong online presence. It’s an elaborate, but necessary, process that ensures a top page ranking when someone searches for your products or services.

Speedy KAVAINT.COM W3C Software Directory COUNTERDEAL.COM

The Internet is still in its infancy and search engine optimization is not going away anytime soon. It too is going to evolve and grow expand; becoming even more intricate than it is even now.

What is exactly is Search Engine Optimization or SEO? Simply put, it means doing everything it takes (of course optimizing in “white hat” fashion) to get your small business website found by those who need your goods and services. This could be for example in the case of optimizing a search engine keyword search.

Many people have typically just equated SEO with being indexed in Google and the major search engines. But it actually goes beyond this. Your site may be indexed but in order to rise to the top, you will need a lot more. In this sense, the internet truly is a web. All sites with traffic which are linked to your site and/or provide a way to list your small business’ profile (including your small business URL) for free will contribute to the cross-linking value of your main website. Your site’s presence “grows” with these links and profiles and social media mentions all across the cyberspace universe. One of the Internets most well knows standards for measuring a website’s stature has been Google Page rank. In the last few weeks, many websites have seen their page ranks take a dive. As many SEO experts are discussing the possibility of yet another Google algorithm change, some SEO experts are talking about whether Page Rank will continue to matter. Consider this: Google’s Page Rank patent runs through 2011. At this appoint other search engines will be able to license and use the famous algorithm. What does this mean? It means that other search engines will be able to integrate it into their products as well. Google in the meanwhile will continue to innovate and grow and reach out; adding even more dimensions to what it means to have a powerful online presence.

Microsoft may continue to try to chip away at Google (e.g. Bing) but Google, the innovative giant that it is, never rests (e.g. the recently announced Chrome OS). Industry watchers continue to study and predict what Google will be up to next. Here are some industry speculations: Google continues to reach out…Google 411, Google indexing material from books (past and present), and greater numbers of ever improving cloud applications for ecommerce and more.

The prediction of some industry experts is that Google’s domination and loyal following (note that in a recent survey, Bing shows weakness against Google simply because Google usersare happy and see no reason to switch) will be so integrated in so many daily operations that it will be hard for anyone (Microsoft) to challenge it (even when equipped with the Page Rank algorithm).

While onsite and offsite optimization remains a critical part of SEO, there is going to be so many more factors to consider for optimization. It will continue to expand as Google continues its outward reach. Yes, the Internet is still in its infancy and with the guidance of Papa G, it is primed for changes that we can still hardly fathom.

Currently Social Networking is one arena that offers alternative marketing opportunities. These take a lot of energy and commitment on the part of small business owners, and thus the may well be worth outsourcing SMO and well as SEO.

Sustainability and smart environmental thinking will help small business to think innovatively and work with what they have. The very tenets of green thinking, i.e. reducing energy and waste, will help small business owners cut costs and be more profitable. Being innovative is what distinguishes the companies that successfully emerge from hard times and those who flounder.

Sustainability is all about meeting needs and seeking a balance between people, the environment and the economy. Green thinking promotes the well being of each of these components because the decline of one would mean the detriment of the others.

It may seem counter intuitive, but it will not cost small businesses more to be green. Green thinking is about cutting costs. It will save your small business money in both the short term and long term; but especially in the long term. In addition to this, it will boost your social responsibility ratings and increase customer loyalty. That in turn will boost your bottom line.

If your small business barely exists in survival mode, the best things you can do to think green is to act green. You and your employees can turn off lights that are not being used; unplug appliances that are energy hogs (even when not being used); raise the temperature on the thermostat (in the summer and of course reverse in winter); buy goods in packages that can be recycled (and meet the recycling criteria of your local recycling center – many of which are unable to process some types of packaging even though the recycle symbol is on it); reuse things through repurposing (get creative here), and consolidate driving trips. These activities are just a few examples of the free things you and your employees can do to go green and save.

Small businesses that have more resources will benefit from investing in green strategies which will have longer term cost savings. This includes buying energy efficient light bulbs, windows, refrigerators and other appliances with the energy star seal of approval. These do make a big difference in the long haul. Energy efficient windows cut down glare and heat in the summer and the effect is noticeable immediately.

Green thinking is most effective when your small business creates a culture of green. This means that employees are involved and given the go ahead to be creative participants. This has a number of benefits including: promoting innovation, being more effective in cutting costs because of full participation, and most importantly, increasing employee loyalty and productivity because their input is valued. Cutting back is much more bearable when everyone is on board. The message should be that your small business is going lean on “things” rather than on people. This is an important morale booster.

Small businesses will always fare much better in tough times when employee morale is high. The attitude of your employees always comes through to your customers. Positive employees are able to be genuinely interested in customers instead of just wearing a phony smile that masks their displeasure at working in a stressful environment. Customer loyalty increases when customers feel better served. This again is an example of how people, environment and economics need to be in balance; the essence of green thinking and sustainability.

One of the most important work trends today, telecommuting, reflects this balance. It considers the needs of workers and saves energy in terms of reduced commuting and office space requirements. Small businesses that are able to use virtual administrative secretaries and other virtual assistants (e.g. for outsourcing SEO and other activities that require expertise) will save significantly because they will not have to incur the costs of hiring and maintaining a large staff (in addition to the savings realized from reduced commuting and needing less office space). They will save because outsourcing will enable them to find expertise at prices that may not be available to them in their local areas. Small businesses who do this will be embracing green thinking, cutting costs, be more socially responsible and be more successfully positioned to emerge from the economic downturn.

This article is very interesting for small business owners who need to consider how they should best spend their time and energy. If you are spreading yourself too thin, then the results you get will be those that are depicted on the low end of the graph. Clearly, it makes sense to outsource SEO and your other projects that are critical to your business and require a steep learning curve.

clipped from headrush.typepad.com

How to be an expert

Seriously. How many people think they’ve missed their opportunity to be a musician, or an expert golfer, or even a chess grand master because they didn’t start when they were young? Or because they simply lacked natural talent? Those people are (mostly) wrong. According to some brain scientists, almost anyone can develop world-class (or at least top expertise) abilities in things for which they aren’t physically impaired. Apparently God-given talent, natural “gifts”, and genetic predispositions just aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Or at least not in the way most of us always imagined. It turns out that rather than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration, dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory, again, anyone willing to do what’s required to keep getting better WILL get better.