New Online Marketing Blog

Securenet Systems now has an online marketing blog. This new blog will be updated with tips and techniques for a website owner on how to properly optimize a website to increase website traffic and conversion rates.

Small Business and Search Marketing

If you are a small business, whether in a local or national market, you need to consider getting involved in search engine marketing. You may have not thought about it because you think it requires a big budget. Now you can compete with the “Big Boys.” Internet marketing is not just for major companies but it is now more than ever for every business!

SearchEngineLand states that Fortune 500 companies are "woefully unrepresented in natural search." Just 8% of those companies got high grades for their search rankings.

If the big companies aren't taking advantage of search marketing then who is? Well it is small to medium size companies. Pay Per Click or Paid Search is mostly the realm of companies that have the marketing dollars to run high budget campaigns. But the natural or organic belongs to those who are most relevant. If your business has the right search engine optimization factors then you can get high rankings. That makes for quite an even playing field.

It happens quite often that major companies get lower rankings than their own distributors, partners, competitors, and affiliates for their prominent keywords. Too bad for the company as they should be aware of their position in the rankings to maintain proper branding. A major company will pay a lot of money for brand recognition and it’s a shame when lesser companies get the more favorable listings. This shows that the major is not paying attention to details and placing little emphasis on using high rankings on search engines as a branding factor.

It seems large companies find focusing on search not being an important part of their marketing efforts. For organic search success, all the proper elements of optimization must be in place. If you fail to properly implement any one piece, your organic search results could be affected adversely. Usually large companies have so many people involved in marketing that they don’t have anyone soley responsible for search. In reverse, when a small company implements search marketing, they can get one staff person or an outside consultant to totally focus on what is necessary to do and work toward getting favorable results. Just as a side note: the more resources involved in doing the job it makes it that much harder to get good results, which is a great advantage for small business.

Big companies in general will always have some kind of edge in most things because of their budget. But budget has less of an edge in natural search as it does in more traditional marketing. If you’re a small business and haven’t started or thought about search marketing then it's time to realize that any small business can take advantage of a great marketing opportunity that can put you ahead of bigger companies and your competitors. Get started now with either local, regional, or national search marketing.

Contact me anytime for a online marketing consultation about search engine marketing and search engine optimization for small, medium, and large companies. I can help you structure and implement a program that will fit your budget and get you great search results. Contact me at gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Rankings are great but are you getting traffic and business?

If you have worked on getting high search engine placement, you have come to the realization that they don’t necessarily last. Rankings can shift and change dramatically. Rankings are not cast in stone! In fact they fluctuate considerably. Sometimes you can have a favorable position for years, other times it’s a battle just to stay on the first page. That's the nature of search engine algorithms. You or anybody else has no control over them.

Rankings are important for getting exposure on the search engines, but there is another factor that is even more important than being number 2 or number 7 for your keyword listing.

Top positions without getting traffic is worthless. And getting traffic without conversions to leads or sales has little value. In fact, while rankings can be a an important factor in growing the number of visitors to your site, traffic itself does not rely on rankings alone. You can be in the number 1 spot and still get less traffic than your competitor in the number 8 spot. Also you can often get more targeted traffic (which gives you higher conversion rates) and not be in that top spot.

The question is how do you get the full advantage of your rankings, regardless of position, and turn that into the kind of traffic which will produce strong conversions?

If you want to find out how to increase website traffic and increase your conversion rates, no matter where your rankings are, then contact George Dubec (http://www.georgedubec.com/), Internet Marketing Specialist, at gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

E-commerce Points to Consider (to get your business ready for online holiday shoppers)

* It’s very inexpensive to send e-mail offers to your customers. Plan and craft campaigns that target featured products and sales to generate orders

* Make sure the products or services you're offering online are recognizable to the prospect, has a USP (unique selling proposition) and make it easy to order

* "The prospect doesn't give a damn about you, your company or your product," says marketing guru Bob Hacker. "All that matters is: 'What's in it for me?'"

* In e-commerce, you want the response to be instantaneous so always offer incentives to buy and special offers

* When you make an online offer, don't send the prospect to your website homepage, but rather to a special page (landing page) that directly relates to the offer.

* "Two basic tenets of selling are that (1) people buy from other people more happily than from faceless corporations, and that (2) in the marketplace as in theater, there is indeed a factor at work called 'the willing suspension of disbelief.' Who stands behind our pancakes? Aunt Jemima. Our angel food cake? Betty Crocker. Our coffee? Juan Valdez. Anyone over the age of 3 knows that it's all myth. But like Santa Claus and the tooth fairy, the myths are comforting."--Bill Jayme

* Find a spokesperson for your product or service or use a Site Greeter (check out standoutsalesman.com or http://www.ispeakvideo.com/). Also I recommend using testimonials (video testimonials especially are great)

* It is a good idea to check your competition as to what they are doing online for holiday shoppers and do a competitive analysis* "Always make it easy to order."--Elsworth Howell

Good luck on your online holiday sales and if you need help developing holiday campaigns contact online marketing expert, George Dubec at gdubec@securenetsystems.net or request a FREE 10 minute consultation with George at http://www.georgedubec.com/.

Latest Blog Statistics

Everyone should consider starting a company blog. A blog is one of the easiest and quickest ways to become part of web 2.0 and can be part of any industry, product or topic. Originally “blog” or web log was a space or location on the web where regular internet users could publish their thoughts and ideas, record their day-to-day lives, give advice and opinions plus share their expertise to a virtual audience. Now, the blogosphere is a global phenomenon with 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users) and 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%) according to research by comScore MediaMetrix. Blogs are no longer just online diaries. A ready and willing audience is available to bloggers and is one important reason why blogging should be considered to be part of any businesses’ online marketing strategy.

If you would like to find out how to start your own blog or integrate it into your online marketing program contact Internet Marketing Specialist, George Dubec, at gdubec@securenetsytems.net and visit his website at http://www.georgedubec.com/.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I will be in Indianapolis this Thanksgiving visiting my family. If you need any professional marketing help, feel free to contact the online marketing experts at Securenet Systems while I am gone. I shall be returning Monday, December 1.

Turbo-charge Your LinkedIn Profile

If you have a profile on LinkedIn, like every smart Publicity Hound should, you can really impress visitors by taking advantage of several new applications.

I haven't had time to experiment with them all, but I wanted to let you know about six that are particularly powerful for anyone who wants to promote their expertise or anything else on
LinkedIn:

--With just a few clicks, you can synch your Wordpress blog to your profile, great for pulling in traffic to your blog and letting visitors know which issues you think are important. Blog Link, a separate application, lets you synch blogs that are created on Typepad and other platforms.

--SlideShare lets you upload and display your own presentations, check out presentations from your colleagues, and find experts within your network. What a great way for consultants to share their expertise!

--With a similar application called Google Presentation, you can upload your PowerPoint presentation. Or use Google's online application to embed a presentation on your profile.

--My Travel allows you to see where your LinkedIn network is traveling and when you will be in the same city as your colleagues. Share your upcoming trips, current location and travel stats with your network. This is a super way for speakers to pick up one or two more speaking engagements, or perhaps even a consulting assignment, in a city where they're already booked.

--The Reading List from Amazon lets you share the books you're reading with other LinkedIn members--a handy way to find out what you should be reading by following updates from your connections or people in your field.

Try a few of the apps that appeal to you, then start incorporating them into your publicity campaign. Scott Allen, an expert on LinkedIn, explained step-by-step directions on how to use this site to promote any product, service, cause or issue. He was my guest during two teleseminars in June called "How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything--Ethically & Powerfully." The classes sold out quickly, but they're available as handy electronic transcripts and your choice of MP3 files or CDs.

From The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

If you would like to get “Linkedin” with George Dubec, online marketing expert, go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/georgedubec.

Internet Web Traffic Statistics for www.georgedubec.com

I started my personal business website in December of 2007. As you can see by the statistics below that by working at SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) plus other online and offline marketing activities I have been able to increase the traffic to my site considerably over time. As I always say, “Online marketing is like paddling a boat upstream. Once you get started you can’t stop or you will go downstream real fast. You must go steady and forward to make significant progress.” It takes time, effort and money to get increased traffic to your site. There is no “magic bullet!” The next important issue is to not only get general traffic, but targeted website traffic to your site, in other words, those that want your products and services.

If you need help getting targeted traffic to your website contact George Dubec, Internet Marketing Professional, to help you at 954-481-9402 # 222 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Internet Users in the USA

The Internet has long been a mass medium in the US, but it just got a little more massive.

eMarketer estimates that 63.4% of the US population uses the Web at least once per month, and that nearly seven out of 10 Americans will do so by 2013.

Are you taking full advantage of the Internet to get leads and sell your products and services? If you are not then your competition is! Contact an online marketing expert to help you get more targeted traffic to your website – George Dubec, online marketing consultant at 866-568-9402 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

September Search Market Share

September Search Market Share: Query Volume Leaps on Back-to-School and Economic Concerns, Google Leads Growth

Written by Jeremy Crane - October 20th, 2008

Ah, September. When leaves begin to turn, school kids doff their backpacks, the economy tanks and Google sets a new record for search market share and hits the 2nd greatest month/month query volume growth in the past 13 months.Interestingly, most of the other search engines also grew query volume, demonstrating the magnitude of students and concerned investors returning to their web browsers. MSN/Live was the only search engine that lost query volume in September, and with Club Live factored in, that loss actually became a dive.

Google continued to impress, hitting 40.3% year/year query growth, same as last month, while most competitors took big hits compared to last year. Yahoo! slipped 6.1% versus September, 2007. MSN/Live fell 12.8% or, if you count Club Live, only 5.8%. And AOL lost a whopping 18.2% of queries versus 13 months ago.

The only bright spot, other than the Google sun, was Ask, which inched 1.2% compared to September, 2007. Perhaps that “The Algorithm killed Jeeves.” advertising campaign actually did help retain Ask searchers.

If you are not properly listed on Google with your most prominent keywords and keyword phrases, that relate to your business, then you need to contact George Dubec, online marketing consultant, and find out how to get there? Call 866-568-9402 # 222 or E-mail gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Networking Seminar with George Dubec and Mike Owen - Oct 18, 2008

"How to Network Successfully for Business"

Presented By

Mike Owen
LearnBusinessNetworking.com

Special Guest

George Dubec
Senior VP Sales and Marketing of Securenet Systems
Radio Show Personality on "The Internet Business Hour"
Presenting "How to Use the Internet for Networking"




George Dubec & Mike Owen

Learn How to Network Successfully

Join South Florida’s top business networking professionals and get an education on how to be successful in networking to increase your business.


Mike Owen has been networking in South Florida for over 14 years, met thousands of people through networking, and has successfully built a network of contacts for his businesses. During this time, he has attended or orchestrated over 1,000 business events. He has successfully applied his networking system to getting more business. Come and learn the ins and outs of networking, avoid dreaded networking pitfalls, and what to say and do when meeting business people. Mike Owen will also invite up a few guest speakers who have successfully built their businesses through networking. Right after the seminar put your newly learned knowledge to use at our networking event!


George Dubec has been an Internet Marketing Consultant for over ten years. He is also a radio show personality, national speaker, past Director of the Nightingale-Conant Speaker’s Bureau and sometimes referred to as “The Voice of the Internet.” Learn how to use the Internet to find prospects, get leads, promote your business, brand your name, and refer business to others. Find out how to use the Internet as a virtual networking tool.

Date:
Saturday, October 18, 2008
9:00 am - 12:30 pm: Seminar with Mike Owen and George Dubec
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm: Networking

Location:
Sheraton Suites Plantation
311 N. University Dr.
Plantation, FL 33324

Special Price - $25
Register at http://www.learnbiznet.citymax.com/HTNS.html

For more info contact Securenet Systems at 866-568-9402, or email info@securenetsystems.net.

Budgeting for your Website Project Including Internet Marketing

The following is a rule of thumb on how to distribute a budget for a web project (first year):
a) - Design, layout, and developing specifications (5%)
b) - Web development (40%)
c) - Adjustments, changes, additions and maintenance (10%)
c) - Web marketing and promoting (40%)
d) - Web hosting (5%)

Specifications:

1. You need to have your specifications developed with professionals and have a schematic design layout of the prominent pages with all the required elements displayed.

Web Development:

1. If you want a site built by a “Web Guy” who learned how to use Dreamweaver and Photoshop, expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $65 per hour and about $50 to $100 per page. Expect to have it finished whenever. They are also available to do any extra work, if you can get a hold of them, at your “beck and call.” There will also be additional cost for features, functions, backend programming and databases.

2. If you want a site built by a 5-10 person, *boutique-style agency, expect to pay anywhere from $65 to $100 per hour and about $100 to $200 per page based on elements required and optimization. There will also be additional cost for features, functions, backend programming and databases.

3. If you want your site built be a *top-notch agency, expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour and about $200 to $400 per page based on elements required and optimization. There will also be additional cost for features, functions, backend programming and databases.


* These are experts and they deserve to be paid as experts. These companies require specifications and you will have to pay for additional work and ongoing maintenance. The work will be queued in their normal work schedules for completion.

Web Marketing and Promoting:

1. You will need to establish a budget for monthly SEO, SEM and online marketing work. That being said, much of the online marketing work can be done in house if you and your staff know what to do and how to do it? Anything you don’t want to do, know how to do or can’t do will have to be outsourced. Some companies use interns from local colleges to do a lot of the online marketing work.

If you need help in establishing a budget for your project contact George Dubec at 866-568-9402 #222 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

The Latest Online Marketing Trends for Business

Come visit George Dubec and Securenet Systems' staff at the ITEC Conference and Expo!

Visit us at Booth #212 for two days.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center
1950 Eisenhower Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316

For more info contact Securenet Systems at 866-568-9402, or email info@securenetsystems.net

41 Percent of Adults Click Away From Problems

emarketingandcommerce.com
September 18, 2008

When consumers run into transaction problems online, 41 percent say they switch to an online or offline competitor or abandon such transactions entirely.

This was a key finding from a recent survey commissioned by Tealeaf Technology, a San Francisco-based customer experience management software provider, and conducted by Harris Interactive.

The survey was conducted online between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, polling 2,010 adults age 18 years and older, and focused on shopping, banking, travel and insurance Web transactions.

Results reveal that nearly nine out of 10 consumers (87 percent) conducting transactions online have experienced problems. Here are some other key findings:

- 84 percent feel an online transaction should be completed on the first try;

- 84 percent have conducted an online transaction in the past year and 35 percent prefer to conduct their business online;

- 22 percent of those who've conducted an online transaction in the past year expect better customer service online than when shopping in person;

- 87 percent of respondents who experience problems when conducting online transactions get frustrated, and 41 percent said they come away feeling angry;

- 47 percent of respondents have contacted call centers after encountering problems using Web sites. Among those, 64 percent felt that call center reps weren't knowledgeable about the Web sites, while 38 percent said their issues didn't get resolved over the phone;

- Among the 72 percent of those who said they've experienced poor customer service from call centers when calling about Web site issues, 45 percent stopped doing business with those companies entirely, 37 percent decreased the amount of business they were doing with the company and 13 percent said they lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau;

- 84 percent who said they had problems with online transactions share their experiences with others.

If your website is that is not properly e-commerce enabled and has an ineffective or poorly structured shopping cart you will lose business. The key to making money with your website is increasing your conversion rate. As you can see by the statistics above, if you have any glitches on your site you will lose customers and that directly affects your bottom line. Contact the e-commerce experts at Securenet Systems to get your website up to speed and working efficiently and effectively to get more business. Call 866-481-9402 or info@securenetsystems.net.

Free Online Marketing Seminar

Strategic Business Institute

presents

George Dubec

"How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Website"

6:00PM - 8:00PM: Presentation

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Securenet Systems Corporate Offices
356 SW 12th Ave.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Find out:
*How to develop a twelve month online marketing plan
*How to design a website that is search engine friendly
*How to select effective keywords
*How to optimize your website for search engines
*How to establish an Opt-in E-mail program
*How to develop a link building program
*How to use blogs, newsetters, press releases and RSS feeds
*How to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
*How to get more targeted traffic to your website

Seating is limited, please RSVP
For more information, call Securenet Systems @ (866) 568-9402 or email info@securenetsystems.net

Free Online Marketing Seminar

iConsulting, Inc.

presents

George Dubec

"How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Website"

5:30PM - 6:30PM: Networking
6:30PM - 8:00PM: Presentation

Wednesday September 17th, 2008

Ana G. Mendez University System
South Florida Campus
3520 Enterprise Way
Miramar, FL 33442

Find out:
*How to develop a twelve month online marketing plan
*How to design a website that is search engine friendly
*How to select effective keywords
*How to optimize your website for search engines
*How to establish an Opt-in E-mail program
*How to develop a link building program
*How to use blogs, newsetters, press releases and RSS feeds
*How to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
*How to get more targeted traffic to your website

Seating is limited, please RSVP
For more information, call Securenet Systems @ (866) 568-9402 or email info@securenetsystems.net

Link popularity is "page specific," NOT "site specific

Link popularity is an important part of obtaining top rankings in major search engines. In fact it accounts for almost 60% of why the search engines rank your site highly or not. But don’t think that link popularity is only about your site.

Link popularity is "page specific," NOT "site specific."

Which of your pages are prominent and should be considered as part of your SEO (search engine optimization program)?

Create a plan to work on increasing link popularity, directly to those pages individually. Part of the problem with link building is that it sometimes seems overwhelming. Not only does the work seem too involved but there is a never ending stream of strategies, information and advice about link building.

I recommend that you start with some initial pages and do it in phases. Make a consistent effort over a period of time and you will start seeing results.

So what's your plan? If you don’t have one, call the experts at Securenet Systems and find out how they can help you with your link building program, either outsource it to them or let them educate you or your staff. If you would like to schedule a consultation about link building contact me, online marketing specialist, at 888-481-9402 # 222 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Get the Best Technical Advice Possible

Want a sure-fire way to get the wrong advice? Ask the right technical question... to the wrong person.

Most of us are conditioned to be helpful. When someone asks advice or information from an expert, it's difficult for them to admit they don't know the answer. Because everything is so technical and detailed in today’s high tech world only those with in depth knowledge and actual work experience need apply to provide the correct answer.

An example would be asking someone who is an expert and works in PPC (Pay Per Click) a question about HTML programming. They will do their best to respond, but because they are used to working in PPC, not working in programming, they may not fully understand the implications of the question. So instead of providing a correct answer, they inadvertently offer misinformation and they reinforce incorrect ideas or outdated information.

Sometimes the answer given isn’t totally wrong. It's just that it isn’t exactly right, either. It’s just enough information to make the answer sound good to the questioner. It’s recommended that you ask experts for advice, but make sure they are the right experts!

Asking a PPC expert about HTML programming makes about as much sense as asking a graphic designer how to fix your car. You might get lucky and get a good answer, but wouldn't it make more sense to just ask a mechanic in the first place?

This happens all the time in my business. A business owner hires a web firm or web developer to create their website. The firm or developer mentions they also do SEO (search engine optimization) work. The site owner then pays additional monies to have a “web expert” optimize their site. Then after a period of time they are disappointed with the results. Then the business owner blames the fact that SEO doesn’t work! The problem isn't with SEO, it’s with the site owner relying on the wrong expert. Business owners need to do their homework and select the companies that have the experience, background and knowledge to do the right type of work in the proper way.

Just because someone's a superstar graphic designer, or an experienced PPC expert, or an excellent programmer doesn't make them an expert at SEO and vice versa.

The moral of the story is ask a graphic designer to get your car going and you will be left stranded! Someone knowledgeable in one aspect of Internet services or online marketing will not make them an Internet expert that has a answer to everything technical. Make sure you choose the right person to ask for advice or do business with.

If you want the right person to steer you in the right direction call George Dubec, Online Marketing Specialist. I can help share ten years of knowledge, background and experience with you. If I don’t know the answers or solutions I know who the experts are that can help you. To set-up a consultation to get the right answers for your project call 954-481-9402 # 222 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

WHY WEBSITES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL

80 % of websites are dysfunctional and are not effective!

1 – Poorly designed and not set up as a true sales and marketing tool.

2 – Visitors don’t understand what your site is about

3 – Contact information not frequently and properly displayed including “calls to action!”

4 – No budget for ongoing marketing, site maintenance and site updating.

5 – No “point person” within the organization responsible for the website. If they have someone assigned, it may not always be someone knowledgeable about the business or a high level staff member.

6 – No marketing elements designed into the site.

7 – No “stickiness,” meaning when visitors come to the site they must have a reason to stay on the site and then communicate their interests in your business and/or products and services.

8 – No online marketing plan (at least a twelve month plan should be in place) and no consistent, ongoing effort.

9 – No incentives, call to action, promotions or special offers.

10 – No “Unique Selling Proposition” displayed, in other words what separates you from the competition, and information about why anyone should do business with you.

11 – No adjustments and updates on the site after being launched. A site is dynamic and needs to be constantly worked on for ongoing improvements, changes and adding features and functions. Focus group studies plus surveying family, friends, associates and clients about site usability.

12 – Not analyzing the competitions’ online efforts.

13 – Site or marketing plan not designed to go after your target market.

If you want to know if your website is dysfunctional and get a FREE Web Traffic Report, contact Internet Marketing Specialist, George Dubec, at gdubec@securenetsystems.net and find out which of the above items you are lacking or not properly implementing.

Spend Online Marketing Dollars Wisely

A recent study from the Corporate Executive Board said that the best thing a company can do in terms of its digital strategy is to master its own website. Despite the strategic importance of this finding, most companies are not committed to their websites and still spending the majority of their marketing dollars on offline activities.

Website conversions require an end-to-end process. Customers expect websites to speak WITH them, not AT them. It is recommended that businesses and organizations, both large and small should be spending 15% of their marketing budget on search engine optimization and another 15% for online marketing programs, such as affiliates, opt-in email, pay per click, blogs, etc. In other words at least 30% of your budget should be allocated to Internet marketing.

To find out how to spend your online marketing dollars wisely and effectively contact George Dubec, online marketing specialist, to help you develop a twelve month online marketing plan. gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Broward Business-to-Business Trade Show

Sponsored by the Broward Chamber of Commerce

Come visit George Dubec, online marketing specialist, and other Securenet Systems representatives for a night of networking!

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Exhibitor Only Reception & Networking 1:00PM - 5:00PM
General Admission 5:00PM - 9:00PM

Hilton “Fort Lauderdale Airport” Hotel
1870 Griffin Road
Dania Beach, FL 33004
(I-95 & Griffin Road)

Demand more from your website!
Stop by and visit our booth!

OVER A THOUSAND ATTENDEES

Call Securenet Systems to get VIP passes and FREE ADMISSION tickets! (954) 481-9402 or email info@securenetsystems.net

For More Information:
http://www.browardcountyexpo.com/
http://www.southfloridaexpo.com/
http://www.browardbiz.com/

Listen to our radio show "The Internet Business Hour"
Every Saturday in South Florida 10:00AM - 11:00AM WFTL 850 AM

What is a Blog?

"A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction." From blogger.com

Why Should You Consider Starting a Blog?

A blog provides great online marketing potential. Here are some significant selling points for maintaining a company or personal blog:

1. Inexpensive Marketing - Setting up your own personal or business blog is totally free! No setup fees and no monthly fees are required. Utilizing some basic customization features you can have the system upload your posts to your own website. The basic version allows you to post your industry related news, acknowledge special events plus offer tips, advice and information on your site on a daily basis. This has two enormous benefits; daily fresh content, which the search engines reward websites for, and a reason for your visitors to go to your website more often.

2. Instant Information Distribution - Sending the quality content that you post on your blog along with automated syndication will transmit your information to multitudes of online viewers through the news portion of search engines as Google, AlltheWeb and Yahoo. The paid version of Blogger (being upgraded so it is offline) is offering automated RSS feeds, a significant online tool. RSS means "Really Simple Syndication," instant syndication of your content throughout the Internet. Content provided via an RSS feed is updated to the major search portals within one hour in most cases!

3. Branding You and Your Business - Building business and industry credibility! Blogs are your way of letting others know that you or your company is truly an expert in your field. Write articles about your latest events, news and even provide tutorials to help your readers.

4. Online Marketing - Blogs are great because you are constantly adding new and fresh content, which search engines love. Blogs are easily updated which is the key to blogs and blogging. Also your blog is designed to provide relevant content to your target market. If you can write an email, you can update and post to a blog. New, relevant content is key. Not just content, but relevant content.

Blogging is a simple and effective way of keeping your clients informed, building credibility for yourself and your business plus providing link backs to your websites, microsites and landing pages. If your content is considered valuable, useful and beneficial to others, you will build a healthy following of readers plus a loyal client base. The advantage of better search engine placements is a big plus!

If you want to know more about blogging or you would like Securenet Systems to help you setup an optimized blog contact George Dubec, online marketing specialist at 866-481-9402 # 222 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Online Ad Spend Growing at "Phenomenal Rate"

The Internet continues to expand its role in our lives from social networking, online video watching, online TV and radio growth, businesses doing online marketing locally, regionally, nationally and globally. The hard-copy Yellow Pages is now being used for nothing more than a paperweight or doorstop! If your business is not positioned to take advantage of Internet marketing and advertising, to generate leads and more revenue, then you are living in the dark ages! Check out the latest BizReport research about online advertising growth.

BizReport: Ten percent of all advertising spending across all media will be on online ads according to recent forecasts released by IDC.

by Helen Leggatt

Global spending on Internet advertising is forecast to reach $65.2 billion this year. Compared to traditional advertising methods, Internet advertising is growing at a “phenomenal rate”. IDC forecasts that in 2011, online ad spending will reach $106.6 billion, accounting for nearly 14% of the total advertising market. However, online advertising still represents a relatively small proportion of the overall global advertising spend and trails television, print ads and direct mail by a huge margin. By 2011 the U.S. will lead the globe in terms of the amount spent on online advertising, but Western Europe will devote the largest portion of their ad budgets on the Internet. “Marketers already recognize that online advertising must be incorporated into any comprehensive ad strategy. This will continue to drive growth in online ad spending well beyond the forecast period,” said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Media and Entertainment.

Feel free to contact me directly if you need an online marketing consultant to help you find out how you can increase your revenues and profits by marketing on the Internet. Call 866-481-9402 or gdubec@securenetsystems.net.

Securenet Systems' Affiliate Partner Presentation

Last night Gary Lee, Executive VP of Securenet Systems, and I presented an Affiliate introduction and training program for Securenet System’s Internet services. There was an excellent turnout of new Affiliates as well as present Affiliates. The introduction was all about Securenet Systems' services which includes: website design, website hosting, programming, online marketing, SEO and radio streaming. There was a discussion on how to become an Internet Marketing Consultant using Securenet Systems as a resource to provide your customers with Internet services. Many consultants can earn substantial incomes including ongoing residual income to expand their revenue streams.

SECURENET AFFILIATE COMMISSION

You will receive a 15% monthly sales commission paid out for web hosting, design work and website promoting services on all accounts you bring to us, for the life of the account.

If you, as a first generation Affiliate, want to bring on another Affiliate, you will receive a 5% commission. The second generation Affiliate will earn 15%. Securenet Systems does not pay out more than two levels.

YOUR AFFILIATE BUSINESS SITE

Once you have signed up we will send you a URL to a Securenet Systems Affiliate site to run your business. There will be a link code to your account for all business that comes through your site.

See example site at http://www.securenetsystems.net/index.cfm?rscode=10061398

BANNERS

You can choose various Securenet Systems banners to place on your website(s) with a link code to track your customers. See http://www.securenetsystems.net/graphics/banners for banners.

REPORTS

Once you're up and running with Securenet Systems' banner links on your site or through your Securenet Systems Affiliate business site, we'll automatically track the sales you generate. You will be able to check your site's reports anytime on our extranet site.

If you would like more information call 866-568-9402 or email us at info@securenetsystems.net. If you are ready to sign-up as a Securenet Systems Affiliate go to http://www.securenetsystems.net/services/reseller_program/request_information to fill out our form and have an application emailed to you.

Securenet Systems' FREE Affiliate PartnerTraining

Affiliate Partner (Reseller) Training

"HOW TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL STREAMS OF INCOME BY REFERRING SECURENET SYSTEMS' INTERNET SERVICES"

Presented by

George Dubec

Senior VP Marketing and Sales

Gary Lee

VP Sales

Thursday, July 31, 2008

6:00PM - 8:00PM

Securenet Systems

356 SW 12 Ave

Deerfield Beach FL 33442

From I-95, Exit Hillsboro Blvd West, Left turn on SW 12 ST, left turn behind La Quinta Inn to Bldg #7

Let George Dubec, Sr. VP of Marketing & Sales, provide valuable information to help you refer business to Securenet Systems and earn commissions for the life of the account. This could amount to substantial residual income for you or your business.

AFFITLIATE PROGRAM AND TRAINING:

*What services Securenet Systems has to offer

*How to refer business

*How to capitalize on the Internet explosion

*How to generate additional income for you or your business

*Proven marketing and advertising techniques

*Resource tools available

*How to offer incentives and promotions

*How to become an Internet consultant

Whether you are presently a Securenet Systems affiliate partner or you would like to sign up, RSVP for this informative presentation!

SEATING IS LIMITED - RSVP

For more information, call Securenet Systems @ 866-568-9402 or 954-481-9402 / info@securenetsystems.net

If you want to become an Internet consultant backed by a premier, ten year old, Internet service provider, then this is the event for you! Find out how to earn substantial commissions and ongoing residual income by referring business to Securenet Systems. Learn how to help other companies use the web to generate leads and more revenue and get paid for it. Presented by one of the most well-known and influential Internet specialists in South Florida, Mr. George Dubec (http://www.georgedubec.com)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 24 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.

When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.

Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.

Through your network you can:
-Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended
-Be found for business opportunities
-Search for great jobs
-Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
-Post and distribute job listings
-Find high-quality passive candidates
-Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know

LinkedIn is free to join. [They] also offer paid accounts that give you more tools for finding and reaching the right people, whether or not they are in your network.

Above information from from Linkedin.com.

There are a multitude of Social Media Networking sites from Twitter to Plaxo to Facebook to MySpace, etc. They all have their own unique personalities and features and functions. But if you have limited time to invest in social media, like me, then how do you know which one or ones are worth your time? If I had to pick one, which I have, it would be Linkedin for business purposes.

LinkedIn is not one of the sexy, trendy programs in the shiny world of social media. Instead, LinkedIn is more than just another place to "add your friends." It's actually one of the world's best virtual networking tools. That it's "Six Degrees of Connectivity" translated into the business world. It's a great tool to build your business.

For years I received multitudes of requests from friends and colleagues to connect to them on LinkedIn. I never paid attention to these overtures until recently. I joined LinkedIn a few months back and initially starting adding all my friends from my contact list and exploring friend's contact lists to see who they were connected to. I updated my profile and started reviewing LinkedIn’s features. Now I have become an avid user. Presently I have 61 connections and 5,487 in my network since as of July 18th.

Once you join, forgetting to revisit and make use of LinkedIn is a big mistake if you run the type of business that relies on making contacts. LinkedIn's search feature isn’t about finding contacts you know, but finding contacts YOU NEED to know. The whole "degrees of contact" concept provides invaluable insight into how to make contact with new people and new companies.

For those new to LinkedIn, the site will track the connections between you and every other member of the site and will tell you how many "degrees" apart you are from any one contact. First Degree means you know them personally, Second Degree means you know someone who knows them, Third degree means they're a friend of a friend of a friend, etc.

Using LinkedIn’s search feature is a way to “daisy chain” your contacts and meet new people to expand your business. That means working your network to expand your network! You can ask your connections to introduce you to some of their connections that might turn into business for you. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes you never hear anything back. Either way, it's far more effective than sending blind emails or making cold calls. You get an added boost of credibility when you are introduced by someone who knows you. If you trust your contacts then you trust their referrals and recommendations. Give recommendations about your friends and associates which will be displayed and tabulated on LinkedIn and get them in return.

Those aren’t the only reasons to use LinkedIn of course. There are groups of like-minded people for a wide range of topics you can join and make contact with and you can send out questions and surveys to get feedback from your personal contacts. There's great value in those things. But for me, the real value of LinkedIn is in using it to discover the hidden connections among my network and the rest of the world. You never know who you almost know. Why not find out?

If you would like to get Linkedin with George Dubec go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/georgedubec.

Securenet Systems FREE Online Marketing Seminar!

Securenet Systems

presents

George Dubec

"How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Website"

Thursday, July 17, 2008

6:00 pm - 8:00pm

at

Securenet Systems Corporate Offices

356 SW 12th Ave.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

From I-95, Exit Hillsboro Blvd West, Left turn on SW 12 ST, left turn behind La Quinta Inn to Bldg # 7

FIND OUT:
*How to develop a twelve month online marketing plan
*How to design a website that is search engine friendly
*How to select effective keywords
*How to optimize your website for search engines
*How to establish an Opt-in E-mail program
*How to develop a link building program
*How to use blogs, newsetters, press releases and RSS feeds
*How to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
*How to get more targeted traffic to your website

SEATING IS LIMITED - PLEASE RSVP

(954) 481-9402 or info@securenetsystems.net

Multi-Channel Retailing

Today, online consumers think nothing of shopping across a retailer’s store(s), Web site and catalog. As a consequence, online product research is actually driving more land-store sales than online sales. Any retailer who isn’t using the online channel to promote offline sales—as well as online sales—is missing a huge opportunity.

In 2007, eMarketer estimated that store sales influenced by online research totaled $471 billion. Comparatively, retail e-commerce sales were $136 billion.

Another way to look at it is that for every $1 in online sales, the Internet influenced $3.45 of store sales. From 2007 to 2012, Web-influenced store sales are forecast to grow at a 19% average annual rate, compared with a 12% rate for retail e-commerce.

So if you have a “bricks and mortar” store, make sure you have a budget for an effective and easy-to-use website plus both online and offline advertising. You need an online sales and marketing tool because you will reap the benefits derived from customers doing online research which leads to offline sales. Contact George Dubec if you would like to set-up a consultation to create a website that works plus a twelve month online marketing plan.

E-Mail is The Most Effective Form of Direct Response

In the following study it shows that opt-in e-mail is one of the most powerful online marketing tools on the Internet. If you don’t have an effective opt-in e-mail program in place or aren't using an opt-in e-mail management company, you should set-up a trial account with Constant Contact:

Constant Contact®, Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing® is the leading web-based email marketing service used by over 50,000 small businesses and associations. With Constant Contact, you can create email newsletters and announcements that get immediate and measurable results. Also you will be able to track the results of all your mailings.

To learn more about this service and set-up an account go to Constant Contact.

E-Mail is The Most Effective Form of Direct Response
By Steve Miller

E-mail is now the most popular form of direct response marketing, per a new survey of large U.S. corporations conducted by Direct Partners, New York. E-mail is used primarily by 35% of companies compared to 25% which use traditional direct mail and 21% who use package, statement stuffers or free standing inserts. The finding echoes a study from last fall from MarketingSherpa, where participants reported that "house e-mail marketing" delivered the best return-on-investment in terms of direct response. The results of the Direct Partners study were derived from 30,000 surveys sent in April to senior executives at companies with 2007 revenues exceeding $100 million. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that e-mail works most effectively for them, with 24% reporting that direct mail does the best job. "The dramatic emphasis on e-mail as the primary direct marketing vehicle is significant," said Harry Haber, vp-Direct Partners, Marina del Ray, Calif. "And why not? It's fast to deploy, inexpensive to distribute versus other media, and the response is rapid. "Most companies (56%) reported spending less than $1 million on direct response media in the past year, while 37% said they spent between $1 million and $50 million. Half of respondents said they handle their direct response marketing internally, while 37% conducted it though a combination of agency and internally.

Also among the findings:
68% market to their prospect database
82% market to their customer database
57% said their direct response budget will remain the same this year compared to last, while 23% reported their budget would increase by 10% or higher
47% said that less than 10% of their marketing budget went to direct response media

Haber said that the study shows a broader embrace of direct marketing, putting it among the standard media mix for more companies. "For the largest of companies, change comes slowly," Haber said. "However, there seems to be more of an acceptance of direct marketing today than say versus five years ago."

Online ad spend growing at "phenomenal rate"

BizReport : Research : June 30, 2008

Ten percent of all advertising spending across all media will be on online ads according to recent forecasts released by IDC.

by Helen Leggatt

Global spending on Internet advertising is forecast to reach $65.2 billion this year. Compared to traditional advertising methods, Internet advertising is growing at a “phenomenal rate”. IDC forecasts that in 2011, online ad spending will reach $106.6 billion, accounting for nearly 14% of the total advertising market.

However, online advertising still represents a relatively small proportion of the overall global advertising spend and trails television, print ads and direct mail by a huge margin.
By 2011 the U.S. will lead the globe in terms of the amount spent on online advertising, but Western Europe will devote the largest portion of their ad budgets on the Internet.

“Marketers already recognize that online advertising must be incorporated into any comprehensive ad strategy. This will continue to drive growth in online ad spending well beyond the forecast period,” said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Media and Entertainment.

Google is Learning to Crawl Flash

Until recently, webmasters were afraid to create flash sites because search engines weren't able to crawl and index them. But now, Google has announced that their bots are learning to crawl flash. They have been developing an algorithm that can read text embedded in flash, from "flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites."

Here are some questions and answers from the announcement made by Google in Google Webmaster Central:

Q: Which Flash files can Google better index now?We've improved our ability to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash "gadgets" such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.

Q: What content can Google better index from these Flash files?All of the text that users can see as they interact with your Flash file. If your website contains Flash, the textual content in your Flash files can be used when Google generates a snippet for your website. Also, the words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches.

In addition to finding and indexing the textual content in Flash files, we're also discovering URLs that appear in Flash files, and feeding them into our crawling pipeline—just like we do with URLs that appear in non-Flash webpages. For example, if your Flash application contains links to pages inside your website, Google may now be better able to discover and crawl more of your website.

Q: What about non-textual content, such as images?At present, we are only discovering and indexing textual content in Flash files. If your Flash files only include images, we will not recognize or index any text that may appear in those images. Similarly, we do not generate any anchor text for Flash buttons which target some URL, but which have no associated text.

Also note that we do not index FLV files, such as the videos that play on YouTube, because these files contain no text elements.

Q: How does Google "see" the contents of a Flash file?We've developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can't tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm's effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe's new Searchable SWF library.

This is truly an amazing accomplishment, considering how many website designs are still made with flash. Website owners, and visitors, can now enjoy flash while not worrying about whether or not search engines will be able to crawl them.

If you want to learn more about Google and Flash, you can read about it here: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/06/improved-flash-indexing.html.

Update on Domain Names - New York Times Report

Domain names have been expanding and evolving since the Internet began. Currently the domain system consists of more than twenty suffixes, which follow the last dot in web addresses. These are called top-level domains. Presently they are connected to countries such as “.de” for Germany or categories such as “.com” for commerce and “.org” for institutional organizations. Later ones have come out like “.biz” for businesses in 2001 and “.mobi” for mobile applications in 2005. Many individuals, businesses and organizations register many domain names and their derivatives all pointing to the same site. Also individuals have purchased domain names to buy and sell. Soon you will have an opportunity to purchase your own personal domain name extension category.

NEW YORK TIMES – 6/27/08

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved one of the most sweeping changes to the network’s address system since its inception. Any company, organization, city, state or country will soon be able to apply for a new Web address extension, called a top-level domain. Also these domains will be able to be registered in scripts other than Roman characters, like Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic. Countries can get their two-letter country code, like Bulgaria’s “.bg,” in their native alphabet.

All applications would have to go through an independent review process. Third parties will be able to challenge applications on the grounds that a particular suffix could threaten “morality and public order.” Companies will have first priority when it comes to claiming their brand names such as “.coke.” If multiple parties want the extension, then it will be settled through an auction process.

ICANN officials state that they will move slowly before the launch of this program while seeking to review all concerns and considerations. It will take approximately a year before it is ready for open market. The prices for the new domains will start in the low six figures.

To find out if you are using your domain name(s) effectively contact George Dubec for a marketing consultation. You will receive a report and analysis of your domain name, website design flow, and website traffic analysis.

The Largest South Florida Business Expo

The Largest South Florida Business Expo
Sponsored by the Broward Chamber of Commerce

Come join George Dubec and Securenet Systems Representatives for an evening of networking at the largest South Florida Business Expo ever!

Thursday, June 26th, 2008
4:00PM - 9:00PM

Bank Atlantic Center
One Panther Parkway
Sunrise, Florida 33323
Near Sawgrass Mills Mall


Demand more from your website!
Stop by and visit our booth!

OVER A THOUSAND ATTENDEES

Call Securenet Systems to get VIP passes and FREE ADMISSION tickets

For More Information Go To www.browardcountyexpo.com or call Securenet Systems @ 954-481-9402 or email info@securenetsystems.net

1 in 4 Internet Users Visit Social Networking Sites

Until recently, social networking was a relatively niche Internet activity. Nowadays many Internet users have integrated them into their daily lives, and perhaps the business community will be the next to embrace it.

by Helen Leggatt (BizReport : Social Marketing : June 20, 2008)

The most recent Consumer Internet Barometer from the Conference Board and TNS, found that one in four Internet users visit social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Serious social networkers can log on to their network of choice several times a day, around half do so at least once every day. These users don’t need to be in the comfort of home to surf a social network, many do so at work, in libraries, at school or via their mobile devices from pretty much anywhere.

"Online social networking is an integral part of many people's lives and a natural extension of our means of communication which the Internet has created,” said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

“The next growth wave will be expanding and incorporating these networks into our business lives,” she added, which might not be too far distant with one in eight employed 30-somethings using social networks to conduct business.

If you would like to find out how to use Social Networking (Web 2.0) to promote your business, make new contacts, generate interest for your products and services plus keep up to date with new technology then contact George Dubec, the Online Marketing Consultant, to integrate this strategy into your online marketing program.

Average Search CPC Data by Category for May 2008

A look at the average cost-per-click in search by vertical in the U.S. for April and May 2008. Data and research are provided by Efficient Frontier. "Total finance" includes auto finance, banking, credit, financial information, insurance, lending, and mortgage. Each vertical contains data from multiple advertisers.

If you’re considering a Pay Per Click campaign then it’s important that you use online marketing professionals to manage your program. It is very easy to spend a lot of money and not get traffic to your site that turns into conversions, which is more leads or sales for your business. Contact George Dubec to analyze your present situation and online marketing budget to see if PPC (Pay Per Click) is right for you.

5 REASONS WHY YOUR SEARCH ENGINE TRAFFIC MAY HAVE DROPPED

Recently there have been many websites seeing a decrease in search traffic. Here is a quick list of possible reasons this might have happened with some notes of how to handle the situation and how to tell if that’s what actually happened:

1. You’ve been penalized. Most often this will also trigger the following:

- you have lost all your rankings for all your keywords
- your site has been dropped out of index

Solution: find out what you may have done wrong, clean up your site (and tactics) and ask for reconsideration. If you are sure that you are good enough for a human review by the search engine staff, you stand a good chance of being forgiven and relisted. If you don’t know how to analyze the situation contact Securenet Systems to help you review your situation.

2. Your site has been hacked. That’s a common scenario in today’s Internet world. Here are a few signs that you have been hacked:

- your site has been dropped out of the search engine index without any reason
- you get a rise of unusal traffic (especially for searches that have nothing to do with your site)
Google especially notifies you of unusual keywords in your site content. Prior to taking any actions Google does its best to notify a webmaster of possible problems:
--- they notify a webmaster via Google tools
--- they send an email alert to a webmaster to a most probable email address (admin@yourdomain.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com, contact@yourdomain.com, etc.

3. The search engine is tweaking or adjusting its algorithm. That’s a highly probable situation considering that last year alone Google launched more than 450 new adjustments, that’s about 9 per week on the average. Some more recent adjustments include:

- Google’s “special” attitude to .info domains
- Google deranking most directories; etc.

4. Overall (seasonal) change in searches. Sometimes your traffic drop has nothing to do with either you or the search engine. This is due to fashion trends, political and economical changes, etc. Check out Google trends to find such patterns.

5. Your competitors are doing better with their promotional efforts. SEO is about constant competition. You can’t achieve the top and rest assured you are going to be there for life. You are being watched by those who want to be in your place. So do what your competitors are doing:

- always review your competitors and do competitive analysis
- review your competitors’ link building and social media promotion efforts
- improve your own SEO techniques

NOTE: What initially got you top rankings will not allow you to remain there. It’s like paddling a boat upstream. You must continually paddle to make constant headway.

If you can’t understand why you have a drop in traffic, whether sudden or over a period of time, you need to seek expert help. SEO is much like rocket science. If you don’t keep up to date with the latest SEO strategies and techniques, you don’t have the tools to analyze your situation, you don’t have the knowledge to understand what is going on or the manpower, contact an SEO professional organization to assist you. Call Securenet Systems; doing online marketing work for over ten years or call me direct at 866-568-9402 # 222.

Best 3 SEO Tips of 2008

By Scott Jason (c) 2008
Each year I spend the first three months looking for the best and most innovative SEO tips of the previous year's end. This year I have what I believe to be the best 3 SEO tips in a decade!

SEO Tip #1: Make Google Alerts Your Personal Online Spy

Google Alerts is a great way to let the world's biggest search engine be your personal online investigator. This takes search engine optimization insider info to a whole new level. Here's an excerpt straight from Google....

"Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic."
Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:
- monitoring a developing news story
- keeping current on a competitor or industry
- getting the latest on a celebrity or event
- keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams" As you probably guessed, it's the second one we care about most, "keeping current on a competitor or industry."

Here's how it works... Each time Google finds a reference to the query or topic you request you will be sent an email with the details. This is like having an online agent to make sure competitors are not using your protected keywords (trademarked names, company names, etc.) It's also an instant identifier to know when your site or product is mentioned in a news story or even when a topic is hot so you can take advantage of the situation. It's the easiest way in the world to stop competitors' dirty tricks and identify trends that you can take instant advantage of.

It's fast, free and works every minute of every day. Let Google Alerts do your most time consuming legwork while you reap the rewards!

SEO Tip #2: Optimize Your 404 Page and Always Be Found

"Error 404: Page Not Found" is a blessing that most Webmasters curse. Why? Getting a visitor on any page of your site is fantastic! Don't blow the opportunity. Not only can you make your "404" page a valuable sales tool, you can use the following search engine optimization techniques to attract customers in droves.

A.) Use your main keyword in your title, add a "pipe" (usually above the Enter key) and then use your secondary keyword. Here's an example for an SEO site "SEO Search Engine Optimization Tips"

B.) Add some keyword rich content using one to two keywords for the page. If you have less than 250 words on the page, just use one keyword and use it no more than three times total. Bold the first use and italicize the second or third use. Keep in mind this is an "inactive" page so simply tell the visitor what your site is about and whet their appetite with a good description. Something like this works well... "Thank you for visiting SEO (bold) Group, Inc. We're sorry you seem to have found a missing page but rest assured, if you are looking for the world's best search engine optimization tips (bold or italic), you are at the right place..." This will go on for a couple paragraphs or as long as you'd like then end it with something to the effect of "Please Click Here (link) to visit our site map or click any link to the left."

C.) Add your site's standard navigation system (bar, column, etc.) as mentioned above.

D.) Make the look and feel of the customized 404 page match your main site as closely as possible with a template, matched palette, cascading style sheets, etc.

E.) Create a link to the site map page if available, and make the link easy to find. You want your visitor off the 404 page and into your main content as quickly as possible.

Setting up a custom 404 page link usually takes less than five minutes on most major Web hosting companies like Godaddy.com. But whatever it takes, it's worth the effort.

SEO Tip #3: Get (Even More) Serious about Linking

I saved the most important for last. If you want to do well on any search engine, especially Google, linking is THE single MOST important thing you can do. It's that simple.

Here are the five things you MUST do to make your site #1 on Google:

A.) Find the highest page rank sites linking to your site AND your competitors' sites.

B.) Run monthly link campaigns and snatch up the best of the above identified Web sites.

C.) Run regular checks on what pages are still linking back to your site. Also make sure they did not move you from a high page rank page to a lower one (don't get cheated!)

D.) Eliminate any penalized sites you link to; ASAP!

E.) Check your search engine ranking AND your competitor's for each of your keywords every week. Do this for Google, Yahoo, MSN and Alta Vista at the minimum.

Inside Tip: Keeping up can be a lot of work, and is extremely important, so a lot of SEO Consultants (myself included) use SEO Elite to do all the most difficult and time consuming work.

One last thing to know is that Google was originally a college student's project created for the sole purpose of defining a Web site's value by the sites that link to it. Twelve years later this is still its main job. Linking is EVERYTHING to Google.

These three SEO tips are the best of the best so use them wisely. Best of luck!

Local Web Ad Spending to Hit $13 Billion in 2008, up 50 Percent

If you are not taking advantage of the Internet for generating leads or selling your products and services then read the information in the following article from ClickZ Network. Every savvy business owner must realize that it is important to establish a budget for online marketing. If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, you need to contact a marketing specialist to help you develop an online marketing plan based on your objectives, target market plus money and resources available.

Local Web Ad Spending to Hit $13 Billion in 2008, up 50 Percent
By Kate Kaye, The ClickZ Network, May 30, 2008

As has been forecast for all of online advertising, local Web ad revenues are poised for growth. A new report shows local online ad spending is rising at a 50 percent clip, and will hit $13 billion this year.

Borrell Associates pegs 2007 local online ad revenues at $8.7 billion in its new "What Local Media Web Sites Earn: 2008 Survey" report. Double-digit growth over the next year and a half is projected, based on a survey of over 3,000 local media properties. Following that 18-month upswing, however, Borrell expects growth rates to taper into the single digits by 2012.

Among the reasons for the expected increase is the sluggish economy, suggests Borrell. In short, local advertisers want more cost efficient alternatives to traditional media buys, and they're finding them online.

The report suggests newspaper publishers have a head start on other online media entries, though the others will continue to nip at their heels. Newspaper sites grabbed over $2 billion in local Web ad revenue in 2007, more than all other local online media companies combined, according to the report. One thing benefiting online paper publishers is expansion of their ad client base. Nearly 60 percent of those dollars came from Web-only advertisers, the report shows. Some sectors paper publishers are reaching out to include financial services and smaller local retailers, said Borrell Associates VP Peter Conti.

"In the past they had overlooked a lot of the categories," he continued.

Other positive moves include creating standalone sites and new ad and content products.

They're offering more products and more information, and in some cases, even developing new sites that have nothing to do with the old media," said Conti.
Still, ad revenue collected by paper sites represents about 25 percent of total local online ad market share, compared to 44 percent four years ago. Conti chalks this up to a lingering fixation on maintaining dwindling classified ad revenues. Referring to classifieds as an "Achilles heel" for paper sites, the report notes 63 percent of total classifieds in 2007 were online classifieds.

Though newspaper publishers have their own set of problems to contend with, they could have a leg up in the ad sales department, according to the report. It notes newspaper publishers in total have an estimated 3,800 sales reps dedicated to selling online offerings, and larger outfits may have up to three dozen dedicated online ad salespeople.

"Most financially successful sites are the ones that have their own independent [online] sales force," said Conti. "They can put together the kinds of packages and the advertising that's necessary to sell online without worrying about cannibalization or lack of focus."

Local radio sellers could learn something from this approach. The report suggests online radio revenues are hindered by the common use of terrestrial radio salespeople for online ad sales. Although the firm found online radio revenues rose about 50 percent from $125 million in '06 to $189 million in '07, Borrell anticipates growth to slow to about 35 percent this year.

According to the firm, TV stations it surveyed "nearly doubled their Web sales forces in 2007 and are expecting to do the same in 2008 -- though 'doubling' often means going from one rep to two."

In conjunction with the proliferation of broadband access, television's video prowess gives it a boost as Web video consumption grows. "Their traditional background is bringing audio and video to the table," said Conti, noting video content and offerings such as directories with video ad offerings "bring in a lot higher CPMs."

Borrell expects ad spending on local TV sites to go beyond $1 billion this year. In 2007, total online television revenues grew to $772 million, a 72 percent leap over the previous year.
Like other traditional local media moving online, yellow pages publishers are dealing with falling print revenues. Battling the drop in usage of print directories and related ad revenue declines, they have worked towards righting the ship online by providing interactive ad offerings such as search ad services. According to Borrell, Internet revenues for directories publishers will reach $1.2 billion in 2008, up from $993 million this year.

City-specific resource and community sites some owned by newspaper firms and others independent, have also collected local ad dollars from traditional players. "They're' sucking out online ad dollars from local markets, too," said Conti. "They have a higher rate of return," he added. "They seem to be a lot lighter-weight operations, more unencumbered by traditional [operations]."

The Best Design is the One that Sells

I have always said, “a website is an online sales and marketing tool!” The following excerpt highlights this fact. It is important to get targeted visitors to your site, those that want your products and services. That will create higher conversions rates and more leads for your business and sales for you bottom-line. Demand more from your website. Make sure your website is not costing you money but making you money $$$$. You need to apply online marketing tactics to your website in order for you to succeed.

by Scott Miller, CEO, Vertster
http://www.wilsonweb.com/conversion/miller-design-sell.htm

Bringing testing into the web design process presents some interesting challenges. Traditionally, website designs are selected using the "beauty is best" approach, with the one that your team decides "looks the best" winning out. Unfortunately this system is flawed. In the thousands of conversion projects I have overseen, at least half the time the "most beautiful" page did not turn out to be best for the business.

The saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," should be modified to, "Beauty is in the eye of the customer." A winning design should consider sales, not beauty. The customer's response, not the CEO's preference should prevail. The customers view may be revealed only through testing.The problem is that creativity engenders a strong emotional attachment, kind of like a proud parent has for a new baby. It's no use saying, "Your baby is ugly," since these emotions arise independent of how good or bad the design might be.

When initially confronted with the idea of "testing" as part of the process, website designers often grow uneasy. The best way to circumvent their concerns is to be crystal clear: the goal is to produce multiple designs. Then each will be evaluated on the basis of whether it produces the most sales. This way everyone wins. Designers get to be "extra" creative and the business ends up with an awesome design that doesn't just look great, it sells great, too.

Only Two Weeks Before the 2008 WebAwards Entry Deadline

With only two weeks to go until the entry deadline, we thought we would give you our 10 reasons you should enter the Web Marketing Association's 12th annual WebAward Competition for Website development. If you have already completed your entries, congratulations. If you have not yet entered, stop waiting and get your Websites entered so you can receive the recognition you deserve.

Using data from award winning Websites of the 2007 WebAward competition, the Web Marketing Association has put together these interesting statistics:

• In-House vs. Agencies - 51% of websites which won a WebAward were designed by an in-house team alone while the other half were developed with the input of an agency or agencies. So both agencies and corporate marketing departments have been successful in entering the WebAwards.

• Large vs Small Sites - More than half (51%) of websites which won a WebAward were reportedly created on a budget of less than $50,000. So the WebAwards is not like some other Web site award programs that look to big name winners and celebrities to name as winners.

• Computer Platform - 58% of websites which won a WebAward were designed on a Windows-based PC compared to 42% of award-winning sites which used a Macintosh-based computer. When you look at which computer was used in the programming of the award-winning Websites, PC were used in 81% of the winning entries verses only 19% that used Macs. So sites developed on both systems can and will win.

• Of the participants who provided data, 74.3% of the winning entries last year used Flash to enhance the user experience.

• Almost 70% offered the ability to join a mailing list and only 29% offered RSS feeds. More winning sites are looking to add RSS (27.3%) than any other technology.

• 43% of winning entries used streaming video and 35.5% used streaming audio on their winning site.

• Only 10% of the winning sites currently offer live chat on their site.

• Finally, 21% offer their site in multiple languages. (and the WebAwards can judge sites in 7 languages)

Award winning Web development is what the WebAwards are all about. Winning accolades in the 2008 WebAwards - the Internet's premier award recognition program, is a great way to stand out from others in your industry. It creates a great marketing opportunity for your award winning site and it can't hurt your reputation in the industry to be winning awards! You will also receive valuable feedback from our judges and benchmarks for your industry. But you won't get anything if you don't enter!

To enter, log in to your Nominator account here. Entering is easy and re-entering a site from last year can be done with a single click! Just don't wait - the deadline is May 31st! www.webaward.org