The History of the Internet as I See it

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:44:32 +0000

I have been in the computer industry for as long as I can remember. Right out of the Navy I got a job as a mainframe computer technician (in June of 1977) and saw my first PC in the early 80’s. I remember playing with it for a couple of weeks and ended up declaring that it’d never catch on. Well, that’s not the only time I’ve been wrong… trust me.

By 1989 I not only was using PCs every day of my life, I sold a few also. They made much more sense once Windows came out. That allowed the average idiot the ability to use it as intended (still no internet as far as I was concerned but in those days the net was only for learning; not so much for business).

It wasn’t until the mid-nineties that the company I worked for decided to investigate the possibility of getting online. I took the responsibility to heart and decided to learn everything I could about this new frontier.

Six months later I was an internet junkie (or so I thought). I built my first website and it was either uphill or downhill from there (I really don’t know which). It’s been the same story ever since.

Of course back then websites had hideous backgrounds and animated gifs all over the place. Today’s designers would get a laugh at what we thought was “state of art”. However, we need to remember that a good-sized hard drive at that time was all of 80 Meg – and we couldn’t fill THAT up! Plus, everyone was on dial-up; not 56k but closer to 28k. ISDN (128k) looked like something from Star Wars. Could computers REALLY go that fast? If someone placed a picture online you could go have lunch (and a nap) while it downloaded. And, when it displayed, it still looked like something from a coloring book.

I performed my first SEO job around 2001 for a local doctor. I created his site and optimized it to gain ranking. At the time, Altavista was one of the top search engines and once I got done his pages had every spot on the first two SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). He dominated most of the rest of the engines also so he was a happy guy. NOTE: So were we because we charged him just a little over $12,000 for the work.

It’s funny that, after all these years, the number of business men and women who still do not understand why they need to be found on the Internet. A large percentage of these people still feel that having a site is good enough – whether anyone knows about it or not.

I just don’t get it.

However, that said, times are changing (again). As more people migrate from the phone book to finding local businesses online, and, as more people carry mobile devices, these businesses will HAVE to change their attitude – or lose all of their customers to their competition.

The time is upon us… The transition to Local has started.

Wake up, people. It’s your livelihood that you’re messing with!

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Basic Services

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:35:09 +0000

SEO & SEM Basics – The Start of Something Good

On-Page SEO… it’s this or else no chance at customers at all

Search Engines index pages; not sites, and they do it just like the library uses index cards to keep track of their books. As long as a page is identifiable concerning the message that it’s trying to convey, it can be properly indexed.

Unfortunately, most websites are built without any thought about the message. Everyone thinks it’s all about the glitz… but that couldn’t be further from the truth. And, webmasters either try to cram all kinds of information on to a page or they don’t hardly say anything at all. Either way, the site is not going to get the attention of the Search Engines (let alone your customers and prospects).

Each pages on your site has to let the Search Engines know what specifically the page is all about.

They need to contain good, solid content that talks directly about a subject (not subjects).
They need to contain text that Search Engines can read – not Flash®. Flash is a movie and Search Engines do not understand movies yet so never build a complete Flash website if you are serious about getting customers to your site. (But don’t take our word for it, here is an article about the subject and here is another.)
They need to have clear text navigation
And, the site should contain a Search Engine approved site map (Your visitor doesn’t have to know it’s there as long as the Search Engines can find it. This one has one but we don’t include it in our navigation because the site isn’t that big.)

SEM… Stage Two – Advertising to the masses

Search Engine Marketing is the art of getting information about your site in front of prospects using “off-page” factors. There are a number of ways this is accomplished but results are seldom achieved overnight. SEM is an ongoing process that requires a lot of time and attention; therefore, should be part of your ongoing advertising budget. Fortunately, the expense can and should be distributed over a period of time.

SEM should be equated to the kind of money you spent (or, maybe, still spend) on phone book, newspaper, television and/or radio advertising. None of these offline methods are one-time shots either. When you place a display ad in the phone book, you are on the hook for the entire year and it’s usually pretty costly each month – especially considering the return on investment.

Although newsprint, television and radio do not require such a long term, to be effective it takes more than one ad to make the advertising campaign effective. Online marketing is no different except that your typical online prospect is already looking for what you have to offer when they find you. Just like your offline advertising, the effectiveness of your message will either turn your prospect into a customer or drive them to your competitor.

Unfortunately, many businesses think of their websites as something they “have”. They do not really give it the time, thought and budget that they put into their offline campaigns and, any more, that is a HUGE mistake.

Is it really THAT important to get good ranking?

As we stated previously on this site, a large number of people who go offline and buy use the internet to make their decision BEFORE THEY EVEN LEAVE THEIR HOME. Is that any different than how people used to use the phone book to find you?

Here is evidence of the importance of good SEM versus the money spent on phone book advertising:

“In June, 2007, comScore Networks reported that 60% of local consumers now go online to search for local businesses, as opposed to 33% that go first to the printed yellow pages. That same comScore study indicated that 80% of the consumers that search online for a business, a product or a service make an offline purchase at a local store.”

Now, do you still think that spending your advertising budget on phone book ads is as smart as it was in the past when, for the same amount or less, you could be reaching two to three times as many prospects?

The great news in online marketing is that, instead of waiting for your prospects to find you, you can be proactive and get your message in front of literally hundreds and thousands of people quickly. And, these people are there waiting to hear what you have to say with baited breathe.

Contact us and we will be glad to provide you with a free, no-hassle 1-hour consulting session. We bet you will learn more about advertising in today’s marketplace in that hour than you can imagine.

You may also want to download our free report “Increase Profits & Lower Marketing Costs by Avoiding These 5 Mistakes”. Only ten pages of reading but bursting with thought-provoking subject matter that could change your point of view about marketing.

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Lake County Fl Sites for Sale

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:54:49 +0000

Local Domain Names Complete with High Ranking Sites

You can now dominate Google, Yahoo & Bing Locally TODAY!

We have an inventory overload of domain that we want to sell to the right people/businesses. All of these are domain for the Lake County area of Florida.

So,why would you want one of these when you have your own site already? It’s because the major search engines are going local and they are indexing businesses by the product or service offered… just like the Yellow Pages of the phone book .

If you do not have a web page that your customers can locate when they search on your product/service, your competitors will get your business.

Costs for Search Engine Optimization and Marketing can add up and not all of the time do you get the results you are looking for as quickly as you would like them. We’ve taken all of the guesswork out of the equation because the sites for sale are already optimized and are crawling up the search ranks right now. Some are already at number one on the first page of a number of engines while others are still on their way there.

The price is reflective of their present position; however, the price increases as the sites get closer to their destination (the front page). You can either wait for them to arrive and pay more or gamble a little and get them for less as they sneak their way up to page one.

Unfortunately, when a particular category is gone, it’s gone. So do not wait too long or you may miss out on a great opportunity to be found by prospects as early as tomorrow (or worse, your competitor finds this site and buys it).

Click on any domain to see what the site looks like right now. Of course, we can make it look however you want it once you purchase it (optional charge).

www.LakeCountyBridalShops.com (and .net)

www.LakeCountyFlDivorceLawyer.com (and .net)

www.Lake-County-Fl-Divorce-lawyer.com (and .net)

www.LakeCountyFlRestaurants.com (and .net)

www.LakeCountyFlDentists.com (and .net)

Call 352-617-9823 (9-5 EST, M-F) or email us today to find out just how little these sites cost. You will be surprised.

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A Different Point of View

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:55:53 +0000

I’m thrilled when something new happens that enhances ways to get to customers but this time I have to say that I’m amazed at the way my reference point changed over the last few days.

And, to tell you the truth, if your’s doesn’t also, you may find yourself in a lot of trouble in the near future.

You see, there are a bunch of things happening all at once that can, and most probably will, affect the way you do business in the next twelve months. In fact, it could determine whether you are even still in business then.

Here Comes the End

According to the latest announcements by financial experts, we are no longer in a recession. I know it still feels the same; however, they say that brighter futures are on the way. We still have about a year to deal with the uphill movement before it feels even a little better but, at least, it’s FINALLY moving in the right direction.

Couple that with the newest announcement about what is currently being coined “Web 3.0″ and the two become a huge thing to think about.

Web 2.0, 3.0… What’s all this about?

The term comes from the idea that the “web” (1.0) originally was a bunch of information arranged in the form of websites. These sites were “static” meaning that the information on them rarely changed unless something different happened at your place of business. Then, “Web 2.0″ showed up a few years ago. It described the beginning of the “dynamic” age, ushering in blogs and some of the first social sites like MySpace and Facebook, which was only available to college students at the time. Dynamic equaled interaction.

Now comes Web 3.0 and it’s promising to be one of the biggest things we have seen on the internet since they first opened it to business. (For those who do not know, the web didn’t allow business sites in the early nineties.)

It’s still all about dynamic sites (social sites) but it’s now the way we as business people have to look at things as well.

You see, before we could let our kids chat on MySpace until their fingers bled because we all knew that the kids didn’t spend the money. We ignored social because, just like the beginning of the net, it wasn’t for business; it was all about staying connected.

Well, that time is all over, folks.

It’s Going to Affect You Whether You Like it or Not

I announced this a couple of days ago on my Facebook Group page “Central Florida Local Online Marketing“. If you do not belong to Facebook, I would join TODAY even if you know nothing about it. But… read the rest of this post first.

Are you ready to hear something that is going to floor you?

The day of websites is now over.

Yup… you heard me right. It doesn’t make sense to have what we commonly refer to as a website – a bunch of pages that tell about our business, product(s) and/or service(s).

Are you still with me? Have you fainted in dis-belief yet?

I’m not suggesting to abandon your domain name and get off the web. I’m suggesting that you (and I) start using it the “Web 3.0″ way starting immediately. In fact, anyone who has been to this site before knows that, until today, this was a static website. My other sites will follow suit soon as well.

The Magic Happens

This site is only a portion of the Web 3.0 marketing plan and that’s the whole point.

You see, everything happens in tandem today. There’s a way to connect a large number of blogs, social sites, bookmarking sites, micro-blogs and the rest all together so, when you do something on one, it alerts all of the others that it happened.

Think about this… I’m writing this blog post right now and, in a few minutes, I’ll hit “Post” and it’ll not only appear on this site but on 64 other sites that I’ve connected to this site as well!

The ramifications are staggering. Instead of me trying to get a large number of people to find this site on the web, I’m sending out a link – like fishing bait – to 64 other sites that have HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of visitors each day!!!

So, let’s see… 64 connected sites, hundreds of thousands of people daily. What way would you rather find customers? The old way – waiting for someone to find you? Or, the Web 3.0 way – fishing in a pool of millions of prospects?

How do you do this, you ask? Simply change your old, flat website to a dynamic one. No longer do you need up-teen pages. Three is all that you ever need. (I know I have more pages here but be patient, I won’t soon. I’m leaving them here right now just to get the info off of them and to make sure people can find the info during the transition.)

Your “home” page is a dynamic page like this one. As you write more posts (articles), you assign them a category. The posts show up on your home page in order of when they were written – unless you make one “sticky”, which makes it stay at the top. There is an area in the sidebar where you can see the categories that contain posts. When your visitors click there, they are shown posts only related to that category (doesn’t that sound like the old definition of a “page”?).

Since the Home page assembles all of your content dynamically, the only other pages you need is an “About Us” so you can tell people about your USP (Unique Selling Position) and a Contact Us page so they can get hold of you.

The moral of the story, you ask? Whether you site is a day, month, year or years old, it’s time to change. It’s also time to get your “hub” of social sites set up. But that’s another post in itself.

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Technorati Tags: Social Marketing, web 3.0