July 19, 2010
Combat Cyber Stalkers Are You or Your Business Being Cyber Stalked?
Cyber crimes are a big problem on-line, mainly because laws
are still playing catch-up.
This is why it is especially important to report all crimes immediately
and file reports locally, in any state that the attacks are coming from, and
with the Federal Government if state lines are crossed.
Cyber attacks and stalking are most disturbing when they are
pointed towards both private lives and business. My story: In
the past year my company, Divergent Marketing Solutions, and me, Martha Jennings Brendle, were victims of an
unconscionable attack by the former wife of a boyfriend. It is common that attackers do not know
their victims. This is true in my
case -- the stalker has never met me, nor done business with neither me, nor
anyone I know. Yet the
stalker was able to sift through my online history, contact and threaten me,
those connected to me, and craft a malicious web version full of aspersions,
casting doubt on my working life to all who do not know me. Anyone who owns a business or actually
works for a living, or for that matter is sane, knows that this is unacceptable.
When reading material online, it is always wise, especially
if you are looking to do business with someone, to call the organizations
listed on the valid business site and verify facts. Do not trust opinion sites that are not signed. In this day and age, the Web is
still a double-edged sword and it’s each person’s responsibility to insure the
information they take in is valid and not be misled by the rantings of the sick
and misguided people.
If your business is being Cyber stalked be sure to keep
accurate records of any and all financial impacts caused by the stalking, and
keep both printed and electronic copies of all direct transmissions, websites,
blogs, etc. Remember, stalker’s
are most often mentally unstable and should be reported to the authorities
immediately.
It's a new year and Google has more change on the horizon. Google put up a sandbox testing site codenamed "Caffeine" last fall that, according to Google's own Matt Cutts, revealed that page load time was a concern to people. Caffeine is projected to roll out sometime in January 2010 with the purpose of allowing Google to index sites faster and thereby improving SERP quality.
So what does this mean for you? If the pages on your website take a long time to load, they will drop in the SERPs; if your pages load quickly, hurray!
Take a look at your website architecture and code and make the necessary changes now to keep your company and branding in the forefront of your industry.
8-28-09 Has Your Company Combined Online and Off-line Marketing Efforts?
Surprisingly many small to medium size companies have not. While it’s
easy to overlook this area - especially in companies that are running
“lean & mean”; it’s vital to the future health of any organization
to grow and make changes necessitated by the changing business
environment.
Below are some steps to help your organization
combine departmental efforts for maximum success. As obvious as many
of these steps seem, they are not always known or followed. Sometimes
a reminder is helpful.
Put your team together. Enlist a key player from the Sales,
Marketing and IT (or whomever governs your Web Site) Departments and
set regular meetings.
Develop a plan-of-action. Keep budgets and corporate goals in mind.
If you are unsure of who your customers are or what they want then
do some research – tap your Sales Department as they have a wealth of
information on how customers refer to your products/services and what
their needs and thoughts are. Send out some surveys and invite
feedback on your Site in an obvious location like a small-defined area
on the right side of the home page.
Keep good records. Put customer records in one place and be sure to
include emails. It’s best to use programs that allow for easy data
sort and entry of new fields as need be.
Create a “Brand Book” outlining the look & feel of all marketing efforts and stick to it.
Assign a person from each department to keep track of “spends” and ROI.
Combine information from all departments into one comprehensive document.
Meet monthly to discuss results, trends and make any necessary changes to your plan.
By following these simple steps your business will have a better understanding of what the customer wants, where marketing & branding efforts are paying off and be in a good position to increase sales.
7-27-09 Who Should Consider An AdWords Campaign?
Many
companies are unaware that organic optimization can take a month or
more to start to show Search Engine Result Page (SERP) effects. The
reason for this is that organic SEO is not discovered until the search
engines spider a site for indexing. Organic optimization is a basic
building block for a Web site providing clear direction for search
engines. Often times - as in the case of a time sensitive campaign - a
company cannot wait this long for results. When a company is looking
for very quick increases in targeted traffic an AdWords campaign should
be implemented in addition to proper SEO. Purchasing Keywords or Terms
is a quick way to augment the long term effects of organic
optimization. 2-16-09 Determine Your KeyPhrases
Keyword
Phrases or KeyPhrases are often the forgotten aspect in the process of
keyword development. While individual keywords are a good starting
place, it is the combination of keywords into KeyPhrases that will help
set your business apart in the results pages.
if your company
sells power supplies, think about what types of power supplies they
are. What categories do they fall into? Are you selling "laser" power
supplies, "camping" power supplies? You will start to see an increase
in your rankings by developing more targeted KeyPhrases that accurately
represent the products and services you are selling on a specific
page.
8-8-08 Is your Web site part of a Link Farm?
What
is a Link Farm? In it's simplest definition a Link Farm is most often
an automated program involving a group of Web sites that all hyperlink
to every other site within the group. This is a form of spamming
frequently called "spamdexing" using a link exchange system developed
by black hat SEO firms in the late 1990's. Search Engines such as
Google have since adjusted their ranking algorithms to determine the
quality of inbound links and further removed entire domains that were
involved in Link Farming.
Imagine if your Web site
disappeared from the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP's) one day -
this has happened to many good companies who were not aware that their
Web site was being submitted to a Link Farm. And once your site is
removed from the search engines indexing, it is a time consuming
process to get back into the game and re-establish your SERPs. It's
always a good idea to check and see if you are unknowingly involved in
a Link Farm.
2-14-08 Determine who your customers are.
All
too often companies believe they know their customers when, in fact,
they may not. If you are considering SEO for your Web site, keep in
mind that your results will only be as good as the research you put
into your campaign upfront. Knowing your customers needs and wants
will help put your business on a prosperous path.
