Have you heard about Google’s most recent algorithm update? It’s called Penguin and the last one was called Panda. The purpose of these algorithm updates is to enforce Google’s webmaster guidelines. In case you were unaware, Google pretty much tells you what they want to see in a website in order to get good rankings. Often times people push the envelope, and frankly go over the edge with their “optimization” and so Google has to make an adjustment to “slap” those sites and reduce the rankings they have artificially obtained.

Someone recently asked me what my team and I were doing about the latest Penguin update and my answer was “nothing.” By this, I meant I was not going to do anything different than I have been doing because we don’t push the envelope with Google. We know that slow and steady wins the race. It’s often difficult to explain this to prospective customers, but these kind of events help. When people see that those who try to “speed up” the SEO process often lose in the end.

Getting good online rankings comes down to a few things:

1. Having the right keywords in the right places on your website. Specifically the title tags and the content. Meta tags don’t matter and if someone tries to tell you they do, save your money. Also, write your content for people, not search engines. Write something compelling; something you would want to read.

2. Getting the right kinds of links to your website. These include
- Trusted directories (paid directories, industry directories, and associations are good places to start.)
- Press mentions such as press releases and being quoted by the media.
- Links from industry sites such as any articles or white papers you publish on trusted sites.
- Links from blogs which can be obtained by writing a guest blog post.

This is a start and the other key is to not over use anchor text. Just do what is natural when it comes to links. Most people would link your business name or just post your URL, so those should be what Google mostly sees.

3. Local citations. Make sure you claim your local listings such as Google and Bing even if you serve a national or international audience. Why? Because it’s what is expected and because national includes local.

4. Social Media Mentions. Social media matters and another evidence of this is that the new version of Google Analytics tracks social media mentions. Additionally, if you aren’t yet on Google Plus, you need to be because Google announced earlier this year that it would be a ranking factor.

5. Video Marketing. I launched a video marketing challenge a few months back and the reason is that video has an impact on your rankings in several ways. The most obvious of which is the fact that your videos (if titled well) can come up in the search results.

The bottom line is that you’ve got to play by the rules and be patient to reap the rewards of good rankings on Google. If you need professional assistance, please contact me and I would be happy to discuss how I can help you.

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So on my recent trip to DC, I figured I would shoot some video from the plane. There is no real audio, but it made me think of how much I dislike flying. Don’t get me wrong, I love to be in other places, I just don’t love getting there. I have several choices to make whenever I travel. The first, is will I have a good attitude in spite of all of the hassles of flying. If I do, the outcome is that its a better trip because my wife is happy when I complain less (imagine that.) The other choice is what am I going to do with all of the time. My wife can sleep on a plane, however I cannot – unless it’s International business class with a bed. I choose to market at 30,000 feet.

Now that most planes have Internet access, it makes it even easier, but if you don’t want to pay the fees, there are still several things you can do. Sometimes is nice to do the things you never seem to have time to do such as:

1. Reading. I am reading Dave Ramsey’s new book, EntreLeadership. I don’t care what you think about Dave, this is a must read. In fact, I only read it at the encouragement of a mentor of mine, and I am glad I did.

2. Business Planning. Maybe it’s time to update your business plan, or reflect on how things are going according to the business plan.

3. Writing. I usually get lots of writing done on flights. Anything from working on my latest book, to web content to blog posts.

4. Web Development. If you are inclined to do actual web development work, or content development, this might be some focused time in which to do it.

5. Paperwork. Instead of saying “accounting” I will just say paperwork. I am a big fan of outsourcing your accounting, but if for some reason, you feel the need to do your own, be my guest, but do it at your own risk. Your time is far better spent working on growing your business.

And now, for the very anti-climactic video…

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I got a lead today from the web, and it was a good one. I had a great talk with a guy who will probably do business with me. It made me think of some of my professional relationships and when I think of where they originated, it was the Internet. In fact, as a joke sometimes if we are introduced in a business setting, I will say “yeah, we met online,” It gets a laugh, but it gets the point across. The point is that people are meeting online ever day to do business. The question is “are you out there?”

So what’s the best way to get dates for your business? Get Social!
People use social media sites to find soulmates, but businesses use them to find customers and clients. The keys are:

1. Be Available. If you are not set up on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, you are not telling your prospects that you chances are you are behind your competition. They are getting calls and they are getting dates.

2. Take the Relationship Offline. If you have ever dated online, you will know that you don’t get an email by chatting, emailing, and texting. You have to ask for a date. Make sure you aren’t just being used by your prospects for free information. Ask them qualifying questions that would lead them closer to an appointment (a date.)

3. Enjoy the Marriage. Marriage is a lot or work, but it’s one of the best investments you can make because the work will pay off in an amazing relationship. Hopefully you experience the same with your customer, with a long term relationship.

So what are you waiting for? Get online, and go get a date!

If you need a business dating coach, contact me. I’d be happy to help/.

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So I fell a bit behind in the Video Marketing Challenge. I actually shot lots of video, but due to travel, could not post it. The key is staying focused and always moving forward. I actually shot a few videos while I was away, so those will be forthcoming.

Also, my last video that I uploaded, got some activity just based on the title as many people were able to find it in the search engines, so remember how important it is to name your videos well.

Several weeks back, I shot a small snippet of video at a friends seminar. I did this for a few reasons. One was to have a video for the week, but the other was to emphasize that sometimes you want (need) to have professional quality video. If Jim wanted to promote his event, he certainly would not want to use my video clip. The audio quality is poor and it’s not even edited. If the choice is no video or poor video, I say go with what you’ve got. Never give yourself an excuse to not make progress. Enjoy!

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It’s week three of the video marketing challenge; how many videos have you created? No pressure if you haven’t done any, but I’d say make it a goal to get on board ASAP if you want to grow your business this year. Today, I want to share about shooting live video at events. My philosophy when it comes to capturing things on video is “always be ready.” You never know, you might be one of those folks who catches a big event on your phone camera that makes it on the news?

If you attend a live event, capturing a video clip can do a few things for you. First, you can help those who could not attend the event get a glimpse of it and secondly you can leverage the keywords related to the event to help get exposure for your video (or blog if you create a video blog post) by using keywords in your titles, descriptions, and social media sharing. As you will see in my example below, the better the quality of video camera, the better your results will be.

Yesterday I visited the Barrett Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale, Arizona which is something I do every year. This year I had the opportunity to meet one of our clients there who was visiting from out of town with his wife. Brian (my client) and I had previously discussed how we need to add more video to his online marketing campaign, but because he runs an insurance agency in New Jersey, it was a bit harder for me to help him make this happen from Arizona. This turned out to be a great opportunity to shoot some video for him and for the video marketing challenge. We ended up shooting a video of Brian talking about insuring collector cars, a video testimonial from Brian (he was sharing the successes he was seeing form our campaign, so I asked if he would go on camera), and then I shot the crazy video you see below. I was just having fun with this one, but in it you will see a celebrity sighting (Chip Foose), and catch a clip of the auction in progress. It’s a bit difficult to hear and of course, it was just an iPhone video, so it’s not the best quality for that kind of thing. I guess if I had thought it out, I would have brought the Flip Video Camera as well.

I believe that is a record for me; three videos uploaded in a week. I had my excuses as well of why I was not doing it, but I have retired those excuses. How about you? How is your video marketing coming along?

It’s not too late to join the video marketing challenge. Just let us know you are doing it, by commenting below and start making videos.

Now, here is my (lame) video of the Barrett Jackson auto auction in progress:

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