November Newsletter from Fred's Used Websites

New Events Feature Available

When we built your site we did not have the awesome Events Feature we have now. First Fred looked at Google Calendar features, then built his own calendar, more powerful in some ways, to make keeping track of Events (including locations maps!) on your website easy and orderly.

We'd love to give you this easy-to-use upgrade; its free except for the half hour or so it takes to configure it on your site and some additional training. Click HERE to go to the Events Feature and read an overview. Be sure to click through the different formats to view events from an Upcoming List, Calendar Month, Week List and Day List.

Basically, after you're logged in, all you do  is click on "add an event" and you get a fill-in form. Simple! There's plenty of space for a full page of information, photo, graphics, book covers, etc.

When you fill in the address, you automatically get a map with map pin at the event location; there is a "get directions" button, so site visitors can get directions pronto.

That's it! No table to mess with, a map button, and more room to put enticing information that will make people WANT to attend your events.

Site visitors will be able to click on these different formats to view events as:

• Upcoming List - gives a list of all events coming up
• Calendar Month  - shows just the current month in calendar form; bold dates indicate an event on that day
• Week List  - shows the current week
• Day List - shows just a particular day

.	Jerry Maxner of Brown & Bigelow says, "Promotional products like pens tend to stay around a while, and often change hands as many as seven times during the life of the pen!" Jerry can put your business name on anything; he can be reached at 970-532-5150

  SEO Phishing
  Phone Calls

Recently I answered the phone and was surprised by this “grab-you-by-the-throat” opening line:

“Your website is out of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) compliance! We can help you fix that immediately.”

Let me tell you, I lit into this hapless telephone solicitor!  “Out of compliance? By whose standards?”  I am totally turned off by scare tactics. But this experience made me wonder how many of you get these calls and wonder if they are legitimate.  Most are not.

We hope you'll have a discussion with us before hiring someone like this!  First of all, there are no regulations, so there is no way your site can be “out of compliance.” Secondly, we give your site an excellent site map (search engines love these!) and load appropriate metadata for the homepage, which is what's MOST important for the search engines. I'm sure you remember, during your site training we explained about Home Page text relating to metadata. Every time you post a photo, name it and put in a text description so the search engines have something to “read.”

Don't let these phishing scams fool you! If you have a question, call us. We  have your best interest at heart and always share what we know. We'd hate to find out later that you got taken for hundreds or even thousands of dollars because you were promised SEO that is more common sense than any technical expertise, or that they'd make your site come out on top of a Google search. No one can promise you that because Google keeps the algorithm a secret.

There are do's and don't's, sure. Some things – like incoming links from high-traffic bonefide sites and always matching your metadata to the text on your homepage – help your ranking more than anything. Like we say – why pay $$$ for common sense?

Fred adds, "There are some reputable marketing companies out there who will charge to improve your page ranking and they can probably do it. Reputable marketing firms  can improve your ranking.

Speaking of SEO specialists, I called Laurie Macomber of Blue Skies Marketing and asked her about these scams. According to Macomber, there are several.

"SEO myths run rampant." She advises, “If a vendor calls you out of the blue saying they can get you on the top of Google Results pages – Run AWAY!”

She listed several red flags to listen for:

1) “We have a special relationship with Google! We’ll guarantee you a position on Page One.”

a. How? – are they actually buying PPC (pay per click) ads for you and then using your payments to cover those insertions?

b. Counting on Obscure Keyword Phrases to rank – not what everyday people use to search on?

c. Putting white type on a white page, aka ‘cloaking’?

d. Using what’s called “Free for all Link Farms”?

e. Creating Doorway Pages or Mirror Sites?

IF it’s c, d, or e, those nefarious actions could get your site banned or demoted.

Macomber is adamant when she says, “Don’t GAME GOOGLE.”

2) “You have to submit websites to the search engines for them to ‘find’ you – we’ll do that for you! We’ll automate your site submission to 15,000 search engines.”

a. Only 4 search engines matter… and they’ll find you!

3) “We’ll sell you a ‘bunch o’links’ and you won’t suffer”

a. Ask yourself, why would a mortgage site link to a site that sells truck tire flaps?

4) “All that matters on a site is the meta tags” – NO  - what matters is content – the words on the page!

Thanks to Laurie Macomber for dispelling those SEO myths. At Fred's Used Websites we don't claim to have marketing expertise. Fred carefully follows Google's guidelines for webmasters.

Specialists in SEO optimization understand which keywords are more valuable than others. Often they will re-write text on the page and re-write the meta description to use more powerful keywords.

Don't forget: Page rank matters. To see page rank you have to enable your browser. The goal is to improve the likelihood your site will be found on a search. If an SEO expert's own website has a rank of 0/10, something important is missing!

If “being found” online is critical to your business, consider hiring a reputable marketing firm that specializes in SEO