Queen Bee Marketing’s Blog About Marketing, SEO, and Design.

Almost 100% of all the companies we talk with about s.e.o. have “upside down” sites. What I mean is that the site was designed completey upside down from an optimization point of view. (Or you could say backwards.) This normally leads to companies spending a substantial amount of moola with nothing to show for it except a nice-looking site.

Once the company realizes they’re getting zero traffic, leads, or conversions, they usually decide to a) scrap the site and forget about the web, or b) call an s.e.o. firm to attempt a fix. Unfortunately, many times the “fix” may mean redesigning the entire site, especially if it’s programmed in flash or with javascript links.

Well, we’re trying to help companies design their sites “right-side up,” meaning that the optimization is taken into account prior to any design work is started. We suggest performing research or “due diligence” to find out the best choice of key words, what the competitor’s sites look like in terms of s.e.o., and to create a proper internal and external link campaign.

Without this effort, the companies are back to designing their sites upside-down. Which again, means zero traffic, leads and conversion.

As John Wooden says, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Chris

How do you come up with creative ideas for projects? Every designer or artist has their own methods of finding inspiration. Below are some of the ways I come up with ideas.

1. Brainstorm. This one’s pretty common. I like to make a huge list of any words that relate to my topic. Even if they seem like a stretch. I write down any word that pops into my head. How do the words make you feel? Write down emotions, colors, objects, actions, any thing you can think of.

2. Sketch. Quickly drawing out anything that comes into your mind is a good way to get ideas down on paper. Abstract sketches can lead to great compositions. You might even be able to use your drawings in the final product.

3. Take or look at pictures. Some of the best compositions come from nature or just the random items on your desk. Looking at other people’s pictures that relate to your topic might give you a fresh perspective. Colors you didn’t consider might pop out and the cropped nature of a photograph could introduce a new composition.

4. Take a walk. Getting some fresh air and looking at the world around you might help you notice something you hadn’t seen before. The branches of a tree or a flock of birds can show you organic shapes you couldn’t come up with on your own.

5. Look at art. A certain composition or color combination could help with your own project.

6. Flip through your font library. A certain font may hit you the right way and inspire an entire layout. Focus on the shapes of the letters. Do they say something about your topic? Can they convey a certain feeling?

7. Look at things differently. Turn pictures upside down. Use random colors. Make the type huge/tiny. It doesn’t matter if it looks hideous, it might lead you to another creative idea.

So what inspires you? Do any of these methods work for you? Is there anything you do that’s a little off-the-wall?

Personally, I don’t care for American Idol, but it’s hard to ignore. There are TV commercials, radio ads, and even the local news dedicates whole segments of the program to discuss their predictions and the outcomes. Every time it’s brought up I roll my eyes and wonder what’s so special about it. Half the people on the show aren’t even that talented. Obviously Idol must be doing something right. These are the top 3 reasons why I think it continues to be so popular. These are also basic concepts for a successful marketing campaign.

1. Branding. The logo, the theme song, even the 3 judges are instantly recognizable. They are all simple, iconic, and represent what the show is about - yes, the judges, too. They have predictable personalities that add to the consistency of the show. That’s what good branding is about. People will associate your brand with the consistent quality of your product, business, or TV show in this case.

2. Easy to relate to. Idol contestants are real people just like the viewers of the show. People can easily put themselves in the shoes of the contestants and believe that it could be them on stage. People like to see people. Humanizing your marketing efforts can go a long way towards comforting potential customers and making yourself approachable.

3. Power to the people. I recently wrote an article on why you should add interaction to your Web site. After thinking about, it’s more than just interaction that’s important - it’s power. It seems this is the most important aspect of Idol’s success. The viewers have the power to control the fate of the contestants. What human doesn’t like voicing their opinion? Giving a person a way to have control over a situation or state their views is a strong technique.

A new kind of blog - a tumblelog - is becoming more popular with the new Tumblr service. Tumblelogs are quick, simple ways of sharing information with everyone. As you “tumble” around on the internet you can easily post your findings. This could be used to share information with friends or colleagues or as an ongoing “bookmarks” list of links for personal use. But what could this do for SEO?

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Once upon a time in web land, there was much chaos. Web designers were being terrorized by a vicious enemy known as the table based design. These designs were full of complicated illogical code, took hours to make, and even longer to change. Large web sites (such as Amazon and the like) would have been a huge challenge because the styling code would have to be copied and maintained on every page individually. Not to mention all that messy table code made it more difficult for the search engine spiders to make sense of a web page’s contents.

Then it all changed. The answer to the web designers’ prayers arrived in the form of Cascading Style Sheets or (CSS). Beautiful Beautiful CSS.

What makes CSS so beautiful?

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How about some SEO haiku for slow Tuesday morning?

1.
Quick little spiders
Pretty please visit me soon
But please do not bite

2.
Oh Google you are
The cause of and solution
to all my problems

3.
Title, Meta, Alt
So many tags to think of
Always use keywords

4.
Won’t you link to me?
And link partners we will be.
Just like holding hands.

5.
I moved up one spot
in Google today so now
I am on page 1!

6.
Lots of rich content
For Google bot to feed on
Found on my Web site

Does anyone have more to add to my list?

Most people would agree that having some kind of interaction on your Web site is a good idea. It’s obviously becoming more and more popular based on the success of sites like Digg, MySpace, Reddit, etc. People like talking to other people, so why wouldn’t you let them? Adding a blog, forum, chat room, or some other interactive medium or combination of these can only help your site. Here are 5 good reasons why:

1. Repeat visitors.
If you want people to come back to your site you’ll need to have new and interesting content added on a regular basis. Adding content yourself is a good start, but allowing people to voice their opinion on the content is also important.

2. Community building.
Most people like to be around other like-minded people. Keeping the conversation interesting, on topic, and encouraging participation will help to build a community of visitors to your site.

3. Link bait.
The best links are natural links. If you have great content and your community of visitors respects your content you should be able to build links easily.

4. Lead generation.
This one is especially important for sites where the goal is to find new clients or customers. More people will want to buy what you’re selling if they trust you.

5. Authority.
All of the above will add to your authority in your industry. By having a community of visitors who are willing to link to you, buy what you’re selling, and/or tell other people about you will give you far more credibility than your competitors.

It may be more work starting an interactive Web site, but it will save time and energy in the long run. Gaining a customer for life because they trust you and your site is better than constantly marketing to new customers.

After becoming overwhelmed from all the information about s.e.o., internet marketing, blogs, article submissions, press releases, reciprocal linking, directory submissions, on-page optimization, viral marketing, Google Dances, Google Slaps, Pay Per Clicks, Adwords, Yahoo, MSN, etc, etc, etc, and a few more etc’s. (oh, and Page Rank, Matt Cutts, in-bound links, prospecting, back-end marketing, newsletters, stop.)

I realized there’s only ONE thing you REALLY need to know about Internet Marketing. Yep, I’m claiming a “one thing.” If you get this “one thing,” you don’t have to worry. About anything. This is so easy, that I didn’t even come close to seeing it.

This “one thing” was probably a sub-conscious thing, that we all know, that the market tells us about, that the BILLION-AIRES know, that Google knows, and that all the “waste-land” companies didn’t get.

Ready?

Here’s the one thing. (don’t leave me yet. You’ll read it, and you probably won’t get it. Yes, it’s obvious. But if you’re not a Billion-aire, or even worth a shy million, you don’t get it. Not even close.)

Here’s the secret: GIVE. THEM. WHAT. THEY. WANT. AND….. GIVE. THEM. MORE. MORE. MORE. THAN. WHAT. THEY. WANT.

Don’t click away yet. Let me explain. If you “get this,” you can be worth a lot of money. I’m going to give you SIX very specific examples. I can think of HUNDREDS of examples. My examples may not mean much or anything to you, OR, they may “hit home.” My first three examples are “brick and mortar,” my second examples are internet. Watch closely:

1) Starbucks: “We’ll give you a good cup of coffee or latte-datte-daaa’s, consistent, fast, in a great environment, etc.”

2) Wal-Mart: “We’ll give you low-prices (as far as you know) in a consistent lay-out, easy accessible, 24 hours a day in most locations.”

3) McDonald’s: “Fast hot food, in a clean environment, consistently served and consistently tasting in the whole-wide-world.”

Now for the internet version:

1) Ebay: “Buyers meet sellers in a friendly, easy to use forum, with a trusted system for ranking service. The WORLD’s auction.”

2) Google: “Find out VERY accurate information on the web. We’ll save you time while you try to find out WHATEVER IT IS you’re looking for.”

3) YouTube: “Broadcast yourself. Share your experience with the world.”

O.K. Get my point? Here it is, the “dirty little secret to bullet-proof internet marketing,” and for that matter, to WILD SUCCESS.

You see, we all have something to sell. The problem is, most of us have goods or services to sell that AREN’T really that good. So we have to work, work, work, to promote those good and services. The secret is:

Your goods and service’s ultimate value determines your need to invest time and money to market those goods and services.

So, if you have the “best widget,” with minimal “kick-starting,” you will win. If you have a crappy product or service, over time, you will need to expend a GREAT deal to market that product or service. The problem (or opportunity) is, the internet is exposing “crappy” products and services and promoting GREAT goods and services, because feed-back for these products and services become known almost instantly. In some cases, the serps pick-up information almost instantly. (see my recent post about my ability to get ranked in two days for a term with 400+ million results on page one of Google.)

So, if you GIVE. THEM. WHAT. THEY. WANT. They’ll take it. AND (as an added bonus,) they’ll tell 3, 5, 7, or 200 of their friends!. AND, if you give them MORE. THAN. WHAT. THEY. WANT., they’ll tell 7, 15, 35, 3000 of their friends.

Sure, you WILL need to “jump start your site” with basic s.e.o. principles. But your ability to “stick” in the serps, blogs, and communities is determined truly by how “GOOD” your site or business is.

This is scary stuff. Not for the meek. The meek may NOT inherit the world. Oh well. OR, it’s exciting stuff for the bold. The people who really believe they have something to give to the world that WILL MAKE IT BETTER.

The BEST will inherit the world. The BEST service, the BEST consistency, the BEST prices, the BEST community, the BEST reaction to consumer’s needs.

If your business is LAZY, poor at service, in-consistent, confusing, etc., you may do well in the short term, BUT, the internet and world-trend communications will find you. AND either: lift you above the crowd, or DESTROY you.

I used to play “hide and seek.” If you hid well, you won. Not anymore. The game “hide and seek” is gone. Now it’s called “SHOW and WIN.”

And if you have the basics mastered (on-page content, context, tags, etc- a given soon) and you “jump-start” your “off-page,” (links, submissions, postings, etc), AND, you have a superior product or service….

YOU WILL WIN. You have NOTHING to worry about. No hide/seek. No slaps, dances, changes in algs, etc. It’s like exposing it all. Let it rip.

Try harder. (I guess we have Google to thank for this. Make us better. They’re the leaders. Isn’t it amazing? The MASS democracy called the web is truly revolutionizing the world.) And I REALLY believe that this won’t be a “cyclical” thing. BECAUSE it’s not in a vacuum called a country like “the U.S., the Soviet Union, the Roman Empire, Napoleon, Hitler (German 3rd Reict), the Aztecs, etc.” It’s truly the vacuum called the EARTH.

Are you ready? Jump to the front of the line. Don’t be afraid to take the hit. Just be willing to do your best and the spiders will find you. (and the whole world will follow.)

Chris

Hi, this is my first post. Blogging is new to me, but I think it could become addictive.

I’m fairly new to s.e.o.; I’ve been learning for about six months, mainly by watching Chris and Cassi push www.zionsvillecandlecompany.com up the serps. I helped with the link campaign, and was truly amazed at how internet marketing impacted our candle company. We went from doing a couple thousand dollars in sales per month to over 6 to $10,000 per month (depending on the month.) And I know this will keep growing as our customer base increases. It’s neat getting customers from all over the

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We talk with web designers all the time who don’t understand why their clients’ sites aren’t ranking or even indexed.

“I keep submitting the site, over and over, and nothing!”

We then launch into our bit about links and how spiders find sites. But I wanted to post a quick example of how truly fast your site or blog can become indexed, and how high you can rank in this time.

Two days ago, I wrote a post (Back In My Day…) about how the internet is changing commerce in a big way. For fun, about 15 minutes ago, I decided to search Google for Back In My Day to see if I could find my post.

Here’s what’s cool. Guess how many page returns there are for Back In My Day? OVER 471 MILLION. And guess where my blog post is currently? NUMBER SIX. IN TWO DAYS. This is coming from our site (www.queenbeemarketing.com) which is fairly new and

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