28. January 2020 · Comments Off on Starting and Restarting 2020 · Categories: Blogging, Business Development, Mountain Woods Media, SEO · Tags: , , ,

You know that spring clean feeling when you start the first week of a new year?  Yes, that one.

I had that. One.  For a very brief shining moment.

With a fresh New Year’s Eve tiara on my desk from a glittery dinner the night before, I resolved to kick it into high gear this year.  Fully.

Then I looked down at the orthopedic boot still velcroed to my leg.  Wondering how soon I could actually kick anything or hike rocks or dig in the dirt.  And took some more ibuprofen and drank some more coffee.

Hung up on some more Apple Support spam calls from a Motel 6 in Texas.  Told the fake Googler that I didn’t need any help with my search engine rankings.

Closed political news.2020 Mountain Woods Media, LLC

Sighed.

I took a week off from writing that week and delayed post holiday business until later in January.  Got out fabric, needle, thread, paints and queued up a massive watch list on Netflix.  Hobbled to the fridge occasionally and gobbled Ferrero Roche chocolate and kissed the hazelnut in the middle every time.   Everyone I knew was on a beach in Mexico anyway, so staycation for me was the new plan.

Giving myself permission to heal, I willed the bones “good luck” and focused on just rest and fresh media.  My mother sent jokes by text.  She had broken the same foot two years before.  We were kindred pals.  It was a good week.   I hemmed a pile of dress pants for business networking, designed a few new items for an upcoming toy show display, journaled with a pen and paper rather a keyboard.  Made mad plans for a decade do over to 2020.

It worked.

The next week saw a break in the weather and a few warm January days making it easier to go to some business meetings and start physical therapy appointments.  The exercises aren’t hard, but must be done.   My therapists know people that I know.  So chit chat and leg lifts have been bearable.   The ice machine is my reward.

So in it’s own time, 2020 is evolving and patience is the goal.  A client reported a phone call lead he received from Los Angeles never would have happened without our optimization work.

Time to hustle, get through another Valentine’s Day ….because spring is just around the corner.

 

02. September 2019 · Comments Off on Creating A Blog For Your Business · Categories: Blogging, SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , , ,

Creating a blog for your business is more than starting a blog, it’s about maintaining it for the long haul.

Creating a blog for your business isn’t enough to make a difference in attracting more customers to your website; gaining more sales and obtaining higher rankings in Google and other search engines.

creating a blog for your businessNow comes the part where most blogs fail as they lack content and new posts on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, we see many blogs start strong with daily blog posts featuring great local content; stories and profiles. However, the spark starts to fade and the content dries up. The blog is left alone with posts that are getting older and increasingly stale every day.

Don’t let this happen to your blog.

Instead:

  • Plan an editorial schedule for your blog. This helps you write in advance, especially when the creative juices are flowing.
  • If you have a staff, assign them to write one blog post per week or two per month, etc.
  • Consider hiring a local high school student; freelance writer or an intern to write blog posts. Many local writers are happy with a small stipend and a byline as they want to gain more writing experience and build their online portfolio.
  • Allow guest blog posts in order to fill in the gaps and boost content. In most cases, a guest blogger will contribute for no charge, but seeks one or two links within the blog pointing back to their website.
  • Use videos as blog posts. If you’re creating and publishing simple videos for YouTube (and you should), you can also use them as a blog post. If you have enough videos, consider publishing a new video to your blog every Friday, etc.

Many blogs fail due to a lack of time; lack of interest or lack of content. None of these should be an excuse. By utilizing other resources mentioned above, you’ll solve the time and content issue. The more you publish, the better your blog will be in more traffic and higher rankings

In addition, use your blog posts to create more interest in social media. Each published blog should be announced to your fans, followers and connections in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and in other social networks.

 

07. June 2019 · Comments Off on SEO Strategies Need To Be In Place Before An Online Reputation Crisis Strikes · Categories: ORM, SEO · Tags: , , , ,
online reputation

In this file photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, fire boat response crews spray water on the burning BP Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. A 2010 explosion at the platform killed 11 men, and the subsequent leak released an estimated 172 million gallons of petroleum into the gulf. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File) The deadline for filing “E&PD” claims in this settlement is today, June 8, 2015.

Most of us are aware the importance of SEO for companies trying to manage online discussions during a crisis.

However, marketers often take the wrong approach by waiting until after the crisis to manage their SEO and online reputation. Take British Petroleum (BP), for example. By the time they implemented a strategy, they had lost control of the conversations and the image of their brand online.

Steve Marino, the man who first took on the task of running BP’s social-media efforts during the BP oil spill says the key is for companies to be prepared and have a strong SEO effort already in progress.

Marino says with a good strategy in place, you’ll already have good results coming up when a crisis hits. Although BP’s efforts played out fairly well, they could have been better had they been prepared with keywords like “oil-spill.”

How do you put an online reputation campaign in place before a crisis?

Marketers need to anticipate potential crises and have some negative keywords in mind to buy against. With negative keywords in place, you can insure positive results come up when those keywords are searched. If you already have an SEO plan in place, you can continue to publish positive content.

Just like there is no magic recipe for instantly obtaining a website the No. 1 position in Google, there is no recipe for instantly getting rid of negative search results.

Despite what some SEO firms may claim, they have no way of “guaranteeing” your negative results will be diminished in a mere month.

The best thing to do it have a strong SEO strategy already in place, one that constantly generates positive content on a few keywords. One of the most important factors is that you are consistent with this strategy, or it will do little good when a crisis occurs.

Although having an SEO strategy in place is important, marketers also need to be actively generating content in order to be successful. For the content to be beneficial, it should cover three to four specific areas of your company. That way, if a crisis occurs, you can disperse the content and drive people to the messages that will calm their concerns. Then you can launch an SEO campaign around the key terms of the crisis.

SEO needs to be at the top of the list for marketers when assessing a crisis situation, however, it’s important not to be overly aggressive. Marketers must appropriately calibrate their SEO response, so that the SEO campaign doesn’t become the story.

For more tips, take a look at our Online Reputation Lab course on Udemy.

01. February 2017 · Comments Off on White Hats, Pink Hats, Black Hats… · Categories: Blogging, Digital Marketing, Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Social Media Consulting · Tags: , , , , , ,

White Hats, Pink Hats, Black Hats and the White House

Many of us in tech tend to be introverts.  We are passionately engaged with our clients. We feel  and experience deeply but you would never know it as we are reticent to speak up, or cause controversy in order to avoid a drop in web traffic, fewer consulting gigs, or trolls from high school taking issue with a mildly progressive meme involving the color pink.  When Googlers this week finally started “marching” in support of immigrant colleagues, this made me smile and also remembering fondly an SEO conference from several years ago.  The SES event we attended involved a meet and greet icebreaker  which involved identifying your firm as to whether it was “white hat” or “black hat”.   “White hat” meant you used technical skills that were above board, slightly less aggressive in order to earn higher rankings but none which would trouble the search giants such as Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go or Facebook.  “Black hat” meant you were not above being scrappy and slightly nefarious by using keywords hidden in white fonts, misdirected pages, buying followers, or other questionable tech tactics.  We were provided real cowboy hats during the event and instructed to both wear them and mingle.  Surprisingly, it was a 50/50 color spectrum.

But when you have always leaned “white hat” and have turned down more gigs than you have accepted due to questionable client ethics, there comes a point when you need to actually wear your sheriff’s badge and come clean.

In the early 90’s I both interviewed and processed grants for disaster victims, for women at risk who had been violated and burned with cigarettes in the trafficking industry, human rights activists in foreign jails housed in horrendous conditions,  and health professionals who had their hospitals and lifesaving equipment bombed by political factions.  Later, as a case manager and small business developer, I went on to help refugees impacted by similar events try to build small family microbusinesses in order to escape tough working conditions from jobs they had to accept once they had been admitted to the US.  Many of these tiny businesses made it.  Some did not.  I was new to understanding the impact of PTSD on many of my clients and looking back wondered if stronger mental health support would have allowed more of these families to thrive.   One client had been chased by gangs with knives through the jungles of Togo.  He was heartbroken to be separated from his wife.  A large man with a broad smile, he came to my office and cried when he was placed in a job with a meat packing plant.  Idealistic, but inexperienced, it took me several years to understand that the knives in the meat packing plant were probably not helping him recover from his experience of being hunted in the jungles of Togo.

So…as I saw people unjustly detained and then finally “making it” through the gauntlet at so many airports in these United States this weekend to cheering crowds, I was haunted by the man with the broad smile.  He never had a crowd to greet him, just me.  And this is how we continue to work.  If we can cheer for your success (and the standards are high) then you qualify for a sheriff’s badge with our “white hat” team.

 

~  Leigh M. Drake, President, Mountain Woods Media, LLC

11. December 2015 · Comments Off on Improve Local SEO, Increase Website Traffic and Earn More Sales by Publishing Videos · Categories: Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , ,


Customers, clients and website visitors all love videos. In fact, videos are getting more attention these days than photographs.

Videos keep customers on your website longer, especially when the video is informative and entertaining.

Don’t worry: you don’t need to hire an expensive video crew with fancy cameras; giant lights with all the glitz and glamor. And, you don’t have to buy an extra piece of equipment or software in order to create videos for your website.

Instead, for starters, use your smart phone along with free software to help get you started.

Customers don’t need flashy graphics and scrolling text. What they are looking for is information about how to solve a problem or how your company can help them with your goods and services.

Videos can be short (even one or two minutes), but try to keep them under 5 or 10 minutes if you can. Introduce yourself; explain the problem and offer the solution. Done!

Publish your videos on your company YouTube Channel and on your website (like we did in this blog post). Share your videos via your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).

You can see more of our videos on our YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBrvlgZtguugEfgmuYD-jcw)

18. September 2015 · Comments Off on Use These Local SEO Strategies To Earn New Customers and More Sales – Part I · Categories: SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , ,

local SEO claim your listingsLocal businesses – including everyone from plumbers; heating and cooling specialists; lawyers; dentists; accountants and restaurants – need local customers in order to survive and grow.

Here are 10 ways local businesses can increase sales; improve website traffic; add new customers and keep the telephone ringing.

  1. Claim and confirm your business listing in review and mapping websites such as Yelp, Manta, CitySearch, Google+ Local, Bing Local and many others. Customers who “live” on their mobile devices constantly use location based review apps, such as Yelp, in order to find local products and services. Make sure your business’ profile is accurate and complete.
  2. Update your website’s content. There’s no need to re-design your website. Instead, you probably need a content refresh with new and expanded information about your company and its products or services. Your website isn’t a brochure. It should also reflect what’s going on with your business; new staff photos and bios; etc. Also, make sure your business hours are correct and always include your full business contact and address information. A map is always appreciated by new customers.
  3. Create and write a blog. We can’t stress this enough. A blog is like a diary or sorts, but it should be all about your business; what’s new in the industry; how you can help new customers; offer ideas; tips (like this blog post!) and much more. If you don’t have time to write a blog, get staff involved or hire an intern or local freelance writers. Try to include pictures with your blog. Blog posts should be around 300 words or more. Strive to publish two or three blog posts per week.
  4. Always be looking for ways to improve your website’s content. A blog is a great way to start this process, but update and improve your other website pages on a regular basis. Typically, the pages we see with the most content update opportunities include the About Us page and the Contact Us page.
  5. Don’t let your website developer slow you down. Content updates, especially simple ones, should be easy for anyone to correct and publish. If your website developer is S-L-O-W to update new content and new pages, then it might be time for a face-to-face chat or begin the process in looking for a new website developer. Recently, we helped a company re-write page content for their entire website. Six weeks later and the website is still missing these fresh content changes. That’s not good for the local business that needs to inform local customers of new products and services. Don’t let your developer hurt your business.

For more information on local SEO, check out our course on Udemy at https://www.udemy.com/earn-more-sales-by-increasing-local-traffic-to-your-website/

16. September 2015 · Comments Off on Press Release: SEO Workshop on Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings · Categories: Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , , , , , , ,

SEO WorkshopMountain Woods Media, LLC, an Internet consulting and content development firm, has released a new SEO workshop course on Udemy.

The course “SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” features a real life review and critique of five different websites in order to find ways to help them earn higher rankings in Google and other search engines.

“Students will find that as we review our selected websites, they will see some common problems that also exist in their own business’ website,” says Mountain Woods Media, LLC Vice President Steve Phillips.

“In this course, we’ll look at websites for a plumber; a restaurant; a law firm; a brick-and-mortar business, and an e-commerce company,” says Phillips. “In all cases, these companies are ranked No. 11 or worse in Google, but they all have at least three areas that need some minor improvements that will help them move up in Google search engine rankings.”

The “SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” covers:

  • How to apply quick and easy techniques in order to improve your website’s search engine optimization.
  • Updating and improving on-page SEO elements.
  • Revisiting often-overlooked page and picture tags.
  • How to meet and exceed page content requirements.
  • Optimizing your company’s review website profile.
  • Never missing easy chances for higher rankings in Google and other search engines.
  • Earning more traffic to your company’s website.

This two-hour course includes 19 lectures, quizzes and a course worksheet. As in other Mountain Woods Media courses, students will be able to participate in online question-and-answer discussions with course students and Phillips. Mountain Woods Media, LLC will soon announce “office hours” in which students will be able to connect live via Skype for private one-on-one training and instruction at no additional charge.

“SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” is currently available for $99 and can be purchased at https://www.udemy.com/seo-workshop-study.

28. August 2015 · Comments Off on Where Does Your Business Appear When A Customer Searches For You? · Categories: SEO, Training Courses · Tags: ,

local seo flower shopLocal businesses rely solely on local customers. However, local customers almost always search Google, review websites and social media before they call or visit a business.

Why?

They want to know who is going to fix their problem and provide the best possible service.

Consider this:

If a potential customer is new to your area, the Internet is the only source of referrals and reviews.

How does your business appear when a potential customer searches for a “Knoxville Plumber” or an “Indianapolis Dentist?”

In our recent course “Earn More Sales by Increasing Local Traffic To Your Website” ($69, Udemy, http://bit.ly/1fFFNLl), we conducted a simple search in Google for a “Greenville SC Florist.”

We discovered one firm – Twigs Florist – was doing it right in terms of local SEO. Within the Top 10 Google search results, Twigs was No. 1 in the Google Map (also known as Google+ Local or Google Maps) and No. 2 in Google organic search results.

In addition, Yelp was No. 7 with Twigs Florist taking the top position in Yelp. Therefore, of the Top 10 Google search results, Twigs owned the most “real estate” by owning three positions.

This is a result of the florist properly optimizing not only their own website for local SEO, but also properly claiming, confirming and optimizing their business profile listings in Yelp, Google+ Local and other review and local listing websites and mapping sites.

Each one of these listing websites acts like its own little search engine. Customers can search for businesses within Google or within sites like Yelp, Manta, City Search, etc.

These searching options create two scenarios and two different searching results. Your website, for instance, may rank high in Google, but your Yelp profile might not rank high within Yelp. Therefore, local businesses not only need to optimize their website for Google, but they need to accurately (and fully) complete their business profile within local listing and review websites, too.

You can learn more about higher rankings in Google, Yelp and other local listing websites in our course “Earn More Sales by Increasing Local Traffic To Your Website” http://bit.ly/1fFFNLl.