I’m finally fitting in some writing time, and I’ve just finished my latest article.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on maintaining small business websites.  Let me know what you think!

The Lindsay Lohan Approach to Website Management

By Dana Wallert 

As we’ve all witnessed, maintaining anything, be it sobriety, sanity or search engine rankings takes consistency and dedication.  You may have had an awesome website when you launched it five years ago, but gradually you’ve seen your traffic, earnings and search engine rankings falling.  So is the answer to send your entire site to rehab once everything goes wrong?

Simply put, no.   There are many things you can do on a regular basis to make sure you’re staying on the right track.

Make sure you update the information on your website as you do with any other marketing information.  If you’ve stopped selling a certain product or service, make sure your website reflects that.  Similarly, if you add services or products make sure you are showcasing those on your site.

Also, having a news section or even better a blog that you update regularly with any news, latest projects, tips or other information relevant to your business is a great way to make sure your site is staying fresh to readers and to the search engines!

Likewise, make sure you are maximizing any relationships you have with online and offline partners or groups.  If you belong to the Chamber of Commerce in your town, make sure that your website is listed in any directories, and especially make sure they add a link to your listing in any online directory.  The same goes for any other industry or local business groups you belong to.  A lot of people have belonged to these type of organizations for years before they even had a website, so make sure you have updated any and all places where you are already listed.   Equally, always include your website on any membership applications or directory listings that you submit in the future.

In the same way, any forums or blogs you consistently read will usually allow you to list your website in your profile or in some form in the comments you leave.  Think of your website address as your online AmEx…don’t leave home without it.  The more references (links) to your site that appear across the internet the more important and relevant the search engines determine you to be.  They will reward you with higher rankings for related keyword searches.

So as you can see, the key to managing your website is really to stay on top of it.  Pick up good simple habits, and your website will continue to serve you well!  There are Promises-like website design firms that can take your website at its rock-bottom and completely rehab it, but by proactively managing your site you can save yourself a lot of time and money.  So please, commit to your site’s success, and remember to take your website management one day at a time!

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I’m pleased to announce the launch of DW Web Solutions’ two latest projects.

Bodywise Nutrition in Murfreesboro, TN offers a wide array of weight loss, protein, vitamins and other products for overall health and wellness.

In this site, we combined information regarding their “brick and mortar” store with the capability of selling their different product lines online taking advantage of the Paypal shopping cart.

Our second launch announcement is the new website of Shadow Run LLC, a world class saddleseat riding facility in Nicholasville, KY.

It’s still a pleasure to work on these equestrian websites. It’s a great to be able to learn more about different disciplines and check out everybody else’s horses while at the same time supporting mine!

It’s an exciting time for DW Web Solutions! We’re expecting several more sites to launch this week!

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I found yet another personally timely post from Jennifer Kyrnin at About Web Design. She is polling her readers to find out if people design sites with the mobile web in mind AKA do they design their sites to make them easily accessible from PDAs, Blackberrys, Sidekicks, etc.

I have to admit I’ve never really thought about it too much. Probably because until very recently I never really relied on a handheld device too much. Last week though, I finally gave in to the Blackberry. I’ve been a bit obsessed ever since playing around and downloading new applications for my little Pearl. I’ve been amazed at how well most sites actually translate onto that tiny little browser window.

My answer to her poll at this time is NEVER. But it might be something I will consider in the future.

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Maybe I was inspired by my own less than perfect SEO work ethic of late or maybe I’m just having a Stevie Nicks moment.

Either way, I have just written a new article on the subject and thought I’d give you all the first read. Let me know what you think!

When It Comes to SEO, Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

-By Dana Wallert

Search engine optimization or SEO, the very words are enough to make people run screaming from their desks! People are constantly searching for new tricks, shortcuts and quick fixes. When it comes down to it though, like in so many parts of our lives, consistency is key.

When you first build your website, you are excited to get it up on the web. You are anticipating how to handle all the new business that will be generated by thousands and thousands of visitors. Cut to a few weeks later, and you realize that no one is finding you!

Don’t feel defeated by the lack of whirlwind success online. Surely, by the time you have learned enough about website design to get your site going, you have heard that you must utilize a little thing called search engine optimization to be found on Google or Yahoo.

There are many different SEO techniques. A lot of them pop up one day and then are shunned the next. When you’re new to this brave new world of search engine wooing, it’s important to find the most tried and true methods preached by those who have been doing this for years!

The most common methods include on-page optimization or utilizing keywords and meta tags and link strategies. On-page factors do obviously play a big role in how the search engines view your site, but for now I’d like to talk about linking.

Basically, the concept of links when it comes to SEO is simple. The search engines are looking to see who thinks your site has quality content and who gives your website a vote of confidence. There are many schools of thought in the SEO world as to quantity of links versus quality of links, but that too is a discussion for another time.

There are several tried and true methods of attaining all mighty backlinks. One of my favorites is what I’m doing right here, writing articles. Sit down and write an article based on your knowledge of a subject that is related to your website or that would appeal to your website’s target audience. Then, you submit your article to article directories to be picked up and used by webmasters around the globe looking for new content for their websites. The catch being that when they decide to utilize your article, they are required to publish it in its entirety including an “about the author” or author resource box.

Here’s where the linking begins. In most article directories, when you submit your article, you are allowed to include such a resource box complete with a few links back to your website. Once your article packed with quality information and tips is out there and webmasters are posting it right and left, you will soon notice that your website is logging more and more incoming links.

So where am I going with this and how does it relate to the title of this article, “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow?”

Quite simply put, many online entrepreneurs (sadly myself included), are very eager and ambitious in the beginning. You are writing articles left and right. You are employing new linking strategies and optimizing and re-optimizing your site’s contents for just the right keywords almost daily. You might even start seeing the fruits of your labors there in the first few months.

You may even be getting new customers and jobs from your efforts! Here’s where you, like myself, might find yourself running into a bit of a catch 22 situation. You have put all of your time and energy into online marketing and SEO, and it’s really starting to pay off. Your time and energy are now being refocused on to the daily tasks of your primary business, in my case virtual assistant projects.

You’re business is growing steadily. Each day you think in the middle of all your projects, I should really write another article or freshen up my website. However, far too easily, those secondary tasks fall by the wayside and end up at the very bottom of your to-do list.

Now, you’re 6 or 8 months down the road, and all of a sudden you notice that the traffic to your site seems to be waning. Not as many new customers are contacting you. And worse yet, because you now have time to check on these things again, you see that the number of links to your website is falling and falling fast!

If you’ve been there, you know that though it may sound it, I am not being overly dramatic here. It is not a good feeling at all! You are left throwing your hands up in the air and taking on the prospect of having to start all over again.

Here’s where the “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” really comes in. No matter how busy you get or how many new customers are slamming your phone lines and inbox, always remember that those people didn’t come your way without effort on your part!

Don’t let this happen to you! Even if it’s only 1 hour a day, three days a week, you must make time to maintain your search engine optimization efforts. In other words, don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, it will soon be here and with a little effort, it will be better than before!

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I just came across an interesting story about Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.  This story on Yahoo News reports that:

Wikia, a commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia, will go even further to provide customers — bloggers or other operators who meet its criteria for popular Web sites — 100 percent of any advertising revenue from the sites they build.

Interesting idea.  They are willing to give you the software platform, free hosting and storage space AND you get to keep 100% of any advertising revenue generated from your wiki site…all for a simple link back to Wikia.

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As a fairly new blogger, I had been warned by many of the comment spammers. After the first two weeks of blogging, I got my first spam comments and started to check out the options available to cut down on those pesky commenters.

Shortly thereafter, I was made aware of the Akismet plug-in which comes standard in Wordpress. I immediately activated it on all of my blogs. Now, I’ve read a lot of reviews of Akismet. Some say it’s great, many say it’s not exactly complete protection.

As I said, I was only a few weeks into blogging when I activated Akismet, but up to that point I literally had 2 spam comments. As soon as I got the plug-in working for me, I noticed that I was getting at least 5 spam comments per day in my Akismet spam tab.

Here’s my question: Does Akismet really block spam or is it attracting some spam?

I don’t know if there’s any correlation there or not. Perhaps, I would have naturally received this sudden influx of spammy comments within a few weeks anyway. Have you experienced anything similar?

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Well, maybe not yet…but it does seem that we may be heading there.  I have always preached the importance of a web presence to small businesses.  In fact, I use the yellow pages comparison in “Why Your Small Business Needs A Website,” an article I wrote a few months back.

I firmly believe that having a website and online marketing plan is essential to all businesses today, so you can imagine how intrigued I was to come across “Yellow Page Usage Drops By Half” on at the Online Legal Marketing Blog.  Check it out for some interesting statistics on yellow page usage and advertising versus their online counterparts!

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In my daily feeds cruising, I ran across Do you have advertising on your Website, a poll on About.com Web Design. I thought it was funny in light of my post earlier this week regarding the same subject, To Adsense or Not to Adsense.

As of this moment, there are only 21 respondents to the poll so far, but the results from even that limited number seem about as clear cut as my original post.  Pretty much 50/50!

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“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.“

-Voltaire

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After spending yet another day wading through the latest SEO articles, sites and blogs, I just began wondering…How many people give up on their websites and online marketing plans before they even really get started?

Optimizing your webpages and blog posts is important.  BUT for small businesses and individuals just taking the first steps towards gaining an online presence, don’t let the big, bad SEO boogie monster scare you away!

Most SEO experts will tell you that the one of the most important pieces of the search engine puzzle is building quality sites filled with great content, which coincidentally should be any website owner’s goal in the first place, right?

If you’re getting overwhelmed and start to feel like giving up and that you can’t do this…just focus in on what you started to do in the first place…build a great site that complements your company’s mission and image.

I know this advice might sound oversimplified…it is and that’s the point!  You will inevitably hear more and more SEO techniques the longer you’re online.  After awhile, you will most likely begin to notice that there are three or four main commandments of the SEvangelists and when you feel more comfortable, definitely start playing around with those and find what works for you.

If you’re already at that stage, please by all means continue and check out the SEO gurus blogs, websites, etc.  I do not claim to be an expert!  There is obviously value in being aware of what’s going on around you, or more importantly with the search engines, above you.

Just please, don’t let the Google Monster under your bed, the Yahoo Crypt Keeper in your closet keep you and your business from joining the rest of your competitors online

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