Yesterday’s Part 1 SEO post got us started, so let’s pick up where we left off and finish out. Here are a few more cornerstone search engine optimization (SEO) concepts for you to understand about helping people find your website via organic search, such as through a search engine like Google.

• Link Building Works

Creating live links that direct back to your site is a great way to promote your site and get more traffic. If you leave comments on other blogs, especially high traffic, relevant ones, you will likely get traffic, and those comments will likely get indexed.  The thing to remember is to engage in the conversation, contribute to the point being discussed, and reveal your personality and purpose in your post comments. Don’t just pitch yourself – Use subtle, keyword rich comments that intrigue people enough to visit you at your site. (I use the free software package  CommentKahuna to find these high ranking relevant blogs. ) You can also trade links, provide articles, guest blog, and do many more things to get links. Get creative and reach out to the meeting places where your target audience hangs out.

• Spiders Don’t Have Credit Cards or Opinions
  

As much as it’s important to implement the suggestions in both Part 1 & 2, it’s even more important to remember that search engine spiders can’t buy anything – nada, nothing, zilch. Regardless of how many keywords you stuff into your copy,  how many links you have coming in, and how many meta-tags you have, it ultimately comes down to reaching people. You have to use full sentences, you have to appeal to human emotion, and you have to be likeable, or at least very compelling. You have to have something to sell, if you’re selling, or have a story to share if you’re working to educate or simply communicate. Don’t forget that the whole purpose of getting more traffic is to affect human beings.

• Traffic Doesn’t Equal Conversion

Another aspect of spiders not having credit cards or opinions is this -Just because you get visitors coming to your site doesn’t mean anything further will happen. You can perfectly design your site to rank #1 in Google for every pertinent word that someone might be using to search for you, but once a person gets to your site, what’s next? Do they sign up? Do they buy? Do they even stay long enough to read anything? Or, do you bore them, make it hard to navigate and click through, or maybe worse still, don’t provide targeted, relevant information that they were expecting to get when they searched in the first place? Become conscious of the limitations of the traffic trap – don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s a “numbers game”. It’s not – it’s an emotions game. Compelling and specific calls to action, moving stories that engage and encourage response, and reasons to return and stay loyal are going to make more of the traffic you do get more likely to benefit you.

• Nobody’s Perfect – Keep Trying!

SEO leads to authority in your marketplace, a great platform, and a solid foundation for your continuing success. It will take time and effort. This two part series is just the beginning. I am an internet marketing fanatic, so we will discuss this again, but there’s so much more to learn. You will find mistakes everywhere, you will find even big players and big companies not doing SEO right, and that’s ok.  Learn what you can and start chipping away at it. You will be in the top percentage if you do and that will set you and your business apart from the people who aren’t doing anything at all. Be patient, keep curious, and get help if you need it. These are some of our articles of faith as smart women and good entrepreneurs, so that’s what we’re going to do. I’ll be with you every step of the way, ok?

As a side note, just wanted to let you know that I am about to launch a SmartWomanRadio talk show, starting December 8th at 2 pm CT.  I’d love to have you join in. Come on over and call into the show!

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

I got a nuclear powered phone today. Ok, not really, but this thing is phenomenal. It’s the Instinct, the Sprint version of the Iphone, and it does nearly everything except make you coffee. It has a camera and huge picture storage, I can store hundreds of audios on it, it has texting, internet surfing, GPS navigation that talks to me, and I can even watch TV on the thing. Oh, and of course I can talk on the phone too. WOW!

I admit I am a bit of a gadget freak. Maybe you’re not. If you are the type to completely shun new technology, I am suggesting that you drop that approach. You may not go full force right away, but technology is an amazing tool that can help make your life easier. Yes, you might have to read a manual, or call tech support, or even surf some forums to learn some of this stuff, but it’s so worth it!

Some women I know tell me that they are completely overwhelmed. What worries me most is when I hear them say things like “I’ve never been good at that kind of stuff” or “Girls were never allowed to play with machines in my family” or “I am just not smart enough to learn all that”. You could literally hear my heart breaking if you were sitting next to me when I hear these reasons.

These reasons are completely not workable. Being an entrepreneur means growth. Being an entrepreneur means asking for and accepting help. Being an entrepreneur means stretching your comfort zones. Growing pains are natural and healthy. They make you stronger and better.

I do understand your trepidation, though. My sweetheart is not completely comfortable with technology. He’s a smart guy, too, but it frustrates him, especially initially. But, usually, in no time at all, he’s up and going and loving it. He get’s over it quickly. He commits to learning it and asks me for help when he gets stuck and he overcomes. You have to do this too.

So, today’s challenge is for you to complete a high tech task you’ve been putting off. Remember: one of the tools of a successful entrepreneur is delegation. If you can’t do it, ask the high school kid down the block—she can probably do it in her sleep. Just don’t keep putting it off because you think you have to learn it but “can’t”. There is power in using all the tools available to you and you deserve to be in full command of that power. Use it!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

p.s. Be sure to sign up for Wednesday’s June 25th teleseminar with Lynn Pierce about turning your passion into cash. SmartWoman Guides with Lynn Pierce Teleseminar Signup

In our modern times, you could make the argument that people are becoming a consumable commodity. ATMs, self-checkout lines and more point to the idea that less human interaction, with less ”please” and “thank you”, is occurring. How do clients feel about this apparent trend?

To some, they feel devalued. To others, they’d rather do things themselves. But, even the DIY crowd still appreciates a sincere smile and greeting. Why does a huge warehouse discount store like a Super Walmart’s have door greeters? They know the value of making you feel appreciated, so they compensate for the lower level of service in the aisles themselves with a human hello. They want you to remain their customer.

How do you do it? Do you treat your customers like a slab of beef? Or, do your customers feel special when they interact with your business? What do you do to make your clients (and visitors) feel special? Does what you do actually make a person feel special or do you just think it does?

If you aren’t sure of how to solve this issue, here are a few suggestions that might help:

1.  Ask for feedback. Asking is the best way to find out an answer to a question. Be sure that your clients can answer anonymously so they will feel comfortable giving you bad news if you need to hear it. Try sending a survey in the mail so they see you took the extra step instead of sending of an email. And, do something about the problems they point out. Learn and change from it. Respond.

2.  Use courtesy. Say please, thank you, and use their name when you can (and when it’s appropriate). You don’t need to be overly friendly or artificially intimate. We’ve all had the used car salesperson experience where they say your name every two seconds and call you “buddy” or “my good friend”. Not good. But, a thank you letter (or email or phone call) for a purchase  (without ANY additional sales pitch in it) really speaks volumes.

3.  Train your staff (and yourself) to see your clients as people, not prospects. Value what and who people are, not just what they can do for you. The customer already knows you want to make a sale—heck, they want to buy!–but it’s a shift in mindset to see the person first and the action second. You will behave differently if you do this. Eliminate language that denegrates a person down to commodity level–prospect, lead, mark, for example. Who wants to be a mark? No one, so don’t use that language. Quota talk and numbers games do not respect people. Your staff will follow your lead so do a reality check of yourself and how you communicate sales level expectation throughout your company. Think people not targets.

4.  Give the pitch a rest already! Every email you send should not contain a direct sales pitch. It’s called the breathe technique and living things breathe. Breathe in (relax, don’t push, provide value) and breath out (provide an offer). Depending upon your audience, it might be a 1:1 ratio or it might be 3:1 but, give your clients a rest from pushing to buy. Give them something of value to demonstrate your respect and appreciation for them. It can be educational, or a gift (with no strings attached, including an opt-in) or just a hello, we appreciate you email. If you always act like all they ever do for you is buy, you will lose. They will opt-out, they will go somewhere else, or worse, they will ignore your message. Regardless, you just lost your chance.

It’s not the Golden Rule you need to apply, but the Platinum Rule–treat others how they want to be treated. If you do, you will succeed. And, in the spirit of this post, thank you for stopping by. I am glad you came.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Do you like to watch? I do!

If you want to watch over the shoulder of two great marketers who make money online from blogging, here’s your chance.

Monday May 19th launches a cool blog contest between John Cow and Garry Conn and you can take part in it for free.

It’s a great promotional stunt and the proceeds for the winner (at least on John Cow’s side–not sure about Garry Conn) have been pledged to charity. These two guys probably drink beer together as friends, so I can’t tell you they are mortal enemies competing. Truth is, they might be, but I can’t say. Does it really matter? Personally I signed up for both of their information so I could learn from both teams.

It costs you nothing to watch over their shoulders as they launch new blogs and build them into revenue streams. You can emulate what they do for your blog and enjoy the fruits for yourself. They are also offering free prizes (lots of cool software, promo sponsor spots, etc.) for you helping them promote it.

If you have an interest in doing this, go for it.  I am! I think it will be fun. We can discuss the things we learn here as they go along.

Just in case you are not ready to pick sides yet, here are both of their websites. Both are offering phenomenal classroom training for free showing you what they are doing. Enjoy!

John Cow’s website: http://www.johncow.com/competition

Garry Conn’s website: http://www.garryconn.com/cowpetition

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

p.s. YES, I am trying to get SmartWoman more exposure by posting this contest info. I firmly believe more women need to learn about our community here, so I am not ashamed. It seems a harmless thing to promote a contest that I am participating in if it means more women come visit here. Are you ok with that? I hope so. If not, let me know and I will delete this post. This is your community and your opinion and vote counts.