Good information, quick and concise. I enjoyed it. See Lee Odden’s interview on Search Engine Land.

I also read some interesting articles I would like to recommend:

 7 Must-Read Webmaster Central Blog Posts

 5 Unique Ways to Make the Google Bot Your Best 

Google Omits Needless Words (On Your Pages?)SEO By the Sea

50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Web Site

50 Networking Thoughts Everyone Should Read

 Melissa- SEOAware.com

Aaron has decided to move away from selling SEO Book and move “toward selling a web based information product backed by a community forum that helped turn it into a service more than a product….On February 20th at midnight I am going to shift the default affiliate traffic location to pointing at the new landing page instead of the old landing page, as we have no further plans to sell the SEO Book ebook“.

I asked Aaron how this would affect those that have invested in SEO Book…

…and he said, “The people who bought the book and subscribed to updates got a free 3 month trial to the site membership service.”

 Melissa- SEOAware.com

There are many ways to creatively advertise online, but you want to know what draws me into small businesses or those offering services I need? Online payments. I am not good at getting the checks out on time. Most of my bills are automatically withdrawn from my bank account, but my lawn mowing company can’t receive payments online and my previous pool servicing company didn’t either. My new pool service company does and I am going to use them as an example.

Big Water Pools, located in Sarasota, Florida, allows clients to pay online via PayPal. PayPal is really a great option for clients and the business for several reasons:

1. People trust PayPal with the credit cards and banking information, but they very seldom trust small sites that might not look as modern as some larger consumer sites.
2. PayPal charges business low fees for the service.
3. Clients can set up automatic payments through PayPal and not worry about paying late.
4. Small business can easily set up an account with PayPal and easily integrate the payment system into their web sites!
5. You don’t have to have a PayPal account to pay a company that takes PayPal Payments.

Sometimes people think too hard about how to be creative with their advertising and online advertising. Sometimes, if you just think about what your clients/customers need some of your advertising strategies will be easy.

So, What Do Small Businesses Need to Get Started? 3 Ideas…

First, a web site and you can get one affordably!

Second, SEO and SEM to show up in the SERPs and market your web site effectively.

Third, consider your clients/customers needs and adjust your web site appropriately. Let’s look at Big Water Pools again, they offer online payments, online specials, referral specials and online invoicing. Big Water Pools has obviously thought about what would appeal to their clients and potential clients and on top of all of this they have made me life easier…sale made!

Isn’t My Business Too Small For a Web Site? NO!!!!!!!

I don’t care what it is you do you can benefit from a web site. I look around at the small businesses around me and I know they could be more successful with a small investment. Who do I see that could benefit? Here is a small list:

• Lawn Mowing Companies- Even those run by one or two people.
• Handymen- I would like to find you online!
• Pressure Cleaning Businesses- I see a lot of pressure cleaning people in Sarasota that run a business out of their home. I have used some of them, but I can’t find the ones that I liked anymore, because THEY ARE NOT ONLINE! The beauty of a web site is you can change your phone number and I can still find you!
• Vent Cleaners
• Pool Service Companies
• Tree Cutting Services
• Small Landscaping Companies
• Painters -I need someone to paint the outside of my house. It is too bad more painters don’t have web sites!
• Insurance Brokers-
• Nail Salons-
• The Local Sandwich Shop and every other small restaurant
• Pretty much every personally owned small business

So, as I have been saying for awhile, GET A WEB SITE! All small businesses need them and they need them much more than medium-large businesses. Offering something as simple as online payments is a great way to advertise your business.

Big Water Pools is located in Sarasota Florida. For contact info please visit BigWaterPools.com

Melissa-SEOAware.com

Related Articles:

1. Affordable, Optimized Web Design Services Available Nationwide? YES!
2. If You Have a Business, YOU NEED a Web Presence

Allow Reviews of Products

I really don’t buy anything until I research and read reviews. I got the Flip 60 minute video camera for my son strictly because of the reviews on Amazon. I bought a new Palm Treo because of reviews on CNET. I don’t buy a toy for my little one without looking at reviews Amazon, Target and KB Toys. If you can find a way to let people review products on your site it will increase your credibility. I do read the negative reviews and evalute them; I don’t always believe them entirely, but there are things to learn from them.

I Prefer to pay With PayPal for Several Reasons…

First, I can differentiate between a personal buy a business buy and PayPal keeps great records I can use at tax time.  Second, I don’t have to go find my credit card! It saves me time. Lastly, there are some sites I don’t trust enough to use my credit card on, but I trust Paypal and if they have Paypal I feel more comfortable.

Consider Coupon / Promo Codes

 I have made it NO secret that I like to save money. I live on RetailMeNot.com because I can save a lot of money using their coupon/promo codes. I made a recent purchase at Victorias Secret and with their codes I saved $75, I got a free Laptop Tote, a set of free lip glosses (worth $50) and a didn’t have to pay for shipping. Pretty much a no brainer. I do take the time to check out the stores that allow coupons/promo codes. Then I compare those stores to see whose shipping options save me money. This is how I decide who I will buy from. 

Put Contact Info Where People Can Find It and PLEASE Don’t Just Have a Form to Fill Out!

Do you want to know the quickest way to lose me as a customer? Have no contact info and/or just have a form to fill out. If I can’t call you I won’t buy from you, period!

Small Pictures Make Me Angry

If I can’t see a product or zoom in for detail I will most likely not buy the item. Nothing irritates me more than clicking on a picture and then waiting for a larger picture to pop up and then I get the same size picture! Ah!

An Optimized Shopping Cart

These five tips are really suggestions from a web user and an Internet shopper, but I do have an SEO tip also. Make sure you have an optimized shopping cart. You want your products to show up in Google Product Search and in the SERPS. I search on Google Product Search a lot. I have been needing a new battery for my laptop and I wanted the HP 12-cell Lithium-Ion Extended-Life Battery. It was $160 at Best Buy and $149.99 at HP. I used Google Product Search and found the battery for $99 at ElectronicsShowPlace.com and they sent it 2-day delivery at no charge. If you have the right shopping cart in place you will have the opportunity to find customers you have never hoped to have before.

 Melissa- SEOAware.com

Some Articles For You:

Online Shoppers in No Hurry to Buy

Search Friendly CMS Does Not Equal Search Optimized One

A Small Business Year-End Web Site Checklist

From what I have read movie critics never like anything and if I listened to them I would have missed a lot of great movies. To me Jumper was kind of like the first chapter in what is coming in the future. After seeing the movie we understand David’s background and we know what motivates him…we know a lot of things, but there are lot of things left open and I think that is was obvious that many questions were unanswered and they will be answered in a future movie (I hope).

 Why I Liked Jumper

Well, it was different, really different. It wasn’t the the same old thing. You start to really love one character, Hayden/David and really hate another one, Samual Jackson/Roland. You can’t really blame Samual for being so angry, Hayden did cut his arm off in their last movie together ;-).

I have made it no secret that I am a die hard Star Wars fan. I was wondering how Hayden Christensen would come across, not being Anakin, and I think he was very successful in creating a completely different character. I think his character was exciting, attractive and I could see that the character could go in a lot of really cool directions in the future. I just liked it. I consider myself a Hayden Christensen fan, but I have not seen every movie has been in. I will say this, if they make 10 Jumpers I will see them all. Little Hayden has grown up and he looks great.

Samual Jackson was a jerk! I hated him, so obviously he did a good job…as he always does. Rachel was sweet, cute, innocent and sexy.

Will you love the movie? I don’t know, but I thought it was exciting and a good movie. It was a great date movie (my husband and went on a date…no kids…no phones, just us). It was not boring and you do not know what is coming next. FYI men, all women want to be looked at the way Hayden looks at Rachel Bison/Milly. 

My husband kept looking at me in shock, I had to admit Anakin, oops, I mean Hayden is hot…I would have a crush, but I am happily married That doesn’t mean I would ever turn down meeting him or getting an autograph or anything It would kind of being like meeting Elvis for me, the Star Wars geek!

Don’t listen to the critics- go see it. I think a new superhero could be emerging and I think the future will be interesting!

(If anyone knows how tall Hayden really is let me know. He towers over people, but the net says he is 6′1. He appears taller.)

 Melissa- SEOAware

I have had a lot of email the last few days because I have discussed real estate. I want to say something here, but I want to say it delicately because every situation is different.

If you live in a market where real estate is king and there are 5,000 real estate web sites in your market just optimizing your site is not going to do anything for you. I have had clients and readers tell me they are spending $300-$400 a month on SEO for their 30 page web site (and most of the time it is terrible and/or unethical SEO). Sadly, with what they have there is no hope for them to currently compete with the top dogs.

If you are going to hire an SEO consultant or and SEO company please understand that in the real estate industry search engine marketing is crucial! Just improving your site is not enough!  If you have a small real estate site YOU MUST market from the outside.

A Good Example of What Needs to Be Done in Large Real Estate Markets

There is a man in Sarasota who is in real estate. He has obviously studied SEO and he knows quite a bit. His name is Marc Rasmussen. His goal, I believe, was to obtain the #1 for “Sarasota Real Estate“. The company that held that spot was Michael Saunders. I have been watching Marc for over a year. I believe it was about a year ago I actually emailed him and told him how great the optimization on his site was. He understood optimization and how important the copywriting was as well. It was obvious.

So. Michael Saunders had 2,700 indexed pages and a PR of 6. We all know that if a company has a top placement for years you are going to have to work really hard to grab that spot. Marc worked for over two years to create 4,700 pages (that has gone down recently) and obtain a PR of 4 and he finally passed up Michael Saunders. Additionally, I see his site on the first page of Google for nearly every Sarasota real estate phrase I have entered. Google loves the site and they should.

SEOs will look at the site and see what he has done and the amount of work is apparent. Marc will own these placements for a long time (Unless Michael Saunders come back…) if he keeps it up and his site is worth a bloody fortune in this market. It is because of Marc and people like him that I am getting a ton of calls…realtors nationwide wanting to figure out how to do better. Local realtors want the same success, but success takes time…

Some Points I Feel Are Important

To SEOs

Real estate is a tough industry. It isn’t really fair to optimize 30 sites in your market and make lots of promises. It isn’t fair to the brokers who are killing themselves to make money right now. I wrote about exclusivity last month regarding real estate clients. I am being paid well and I am being fair. Being fair is really mportant. SEOs need to figure out what works best for them and their clients in their market. Every market is different.

To Realtors

I you want to do well on the web you are going to have to step it up and work your butts off. Obtaining the places you want on the web is not easy and it DOES NOT happen over night. Also, you need to find someone that knows what they are doing…someone that can come to you and explain to you point by point why those on the first page are on the first page and then explain to you just how much work will need to be done to get you there. If they say, “Pay us $400 a month and it will happen” this is a warning sign. You are the client. If you are spending $5,000-$20,000 for SEO and SEM this year your consultant or company should take a good 2-3 hours, at a minimum, to review this with you. You have a right to have things explained to you and to be honest this is our job.

Lastly, find an SEO or SEO company that has experience with real estate.

We All Know…

…how important real estate is to our economy. We also understand that to do well in business today one must excel on the web. Real estate agents / brokers are going to have to devote a significant amount of time to improve their site and market their site as well.

Be careful with your money…be careful who you hire and learn from your competition.

Melissa- SEOAware.com

Well, if anything is going to have realtors running to sell a home this could be it! The owners of
Villa Bellagio in Sarasota Florida are offering a new BMW 328i Sports Coupe to the agent that brings them a closed and executed contract! Holy crap! I can’t find a better way to phrase it

I have been talking to some of my real estate clients and they are going nuts. They are so excited…who wouldn’t be? Anyway, you can view the flyer below which is being distributed, via email marketing, to nearly 7,000 realtors nationwide.  

I think this is a great example of creative online advertising!

The world is changing and every business needs to keep in mind that creative online advertising and marketing strategies must be put into place! These folks get it! They offer a great bonus for every home sold.

If you would like more information PLEASE CONTACT THE BROKER ON THE FLYER :-). I know nothing except this is a darn good way to get a home sold! However, I have been to this home and I must say that breathtakingly beautiful is an understatement. If you or a client want a Florida home on a nationally-recognized golf course (TPC) this is it. The beach is 10 minutes away. As you can see in the pic below, the entire back side of the home has amazing lake views. There are his and her offices and a home theater. To view pictures and virtual tours visit Villa Bellagio, located in Prestancia in Palmer Ranch.

Win a BMW Flyer- Download PDF.

Melissa- SEO Aware- Your Sarasota SEO Blog! If you have a creative online advertising technique contact me.