Spring is right around the corner now! The temperature is rising here in Northeast Ohio and the “spring forward” time change went into effect a few weeks ago. One of the biggest things to do in the spring is cut your grass. With the amount of rain in March and mostly April, the grass can grow pretty quick. I did a stint as a landscaper for a summer and I learned more than I need to know about cutting grass. The one thing I learned, is that preparation can go a long way, just like with SEO.

The first thing to do when you start off in the morning is to get all the equipment ready. One of the worst things that can happen is forgetting to gas up a piece of equipment or even forgetting it all together! SEO is similar in the sense that you should have all your stuff together before you get started like the following:

• Computer – Sometimes I bring my laptop home, and I actually forgot the computer and bag at home and had to drive all the way back to get it.
• Internet – I hate when I’m working remotely somewhere and don’t have wifi and have forgotten my data cable to tether my phone.
• Tools – Ever forget the login to one of the keyword tools you use?

Once you’re prepared to get working, you need a plan. When driving up to a house to cut the grass, you have to figure out which way the grass was cut before and cut against it this time. Also, professional landscapers cut those nice looking lines in the grass as seen below, and you have to plan out where you are going before zipping across the yard. Where would your SEO be without a plan? How would you know what to even optimize for?

Once you have the equipment and the plan, you can dig in to the actual work. What sets one SEO above another? Technique and skills. You can tell when a new guy cuts your yard by the lines he leaves, rather I should say, wiggles. A new SEO can leave wiggles across your website as well. Un-optimized page titles, lack of or poor link building, and other obvious signs.

The process isn’t over yet. You’ve got the yard cut, but what now? The finishing touches come into place now like the edging, weed whacking, clean-up, and most importantly, re-cutting. This is where SEO’s can really refine a website is by tweaking and re-optimizing. If a particular keyword isn’t getting any traction, you have to take a look into it and find out why. Is there enough content to support the phrase? Have you built your site’s trust up enough? Is the term too competitive? All of these things and more could be factors.

Take your time before jumping in with SEO. A well manicured lawn takes preparation and time to develop just like a successful SEO campagin.

TKG is hosting our first SEO seminar of 2009  in Columbus on May 1st.  Our guest SEO expert will be Jake Baillie, managing director of STN Labs and former President of the local Search Engine True Local.

Read all the SEO seminar details & register online.
When registering, enter discount code: JENNIFER to receive $50 off.

Guest Blogger: Colleen Friess

When purchasing real estate there are numerous factors to consider when choosing where to set up a business. You would not want to set up a business in a poor traffic site or away from your target market. Deciding to purchase a domain should be undertaken with the same level of care as purchasing real estate.

You know the old real estate adage – location, location, location? On the Internet, it’s keywords, keywords, keywords. One of the first factors of purchasing a domain is that you include keywords that showcase what your business is about. Find keywords that describe your products and services, relate to your competitors, and can help brand your business as an industry leader. By finding the best keywords, you increase the likelihood that targeted traffic will get to your site. It helps that 70% of Internet users utilize keywords to get to a destination.

If you’re still not sure that domain strategies are helpful, then consider this:: Just like an individual’s FICO score is based on longevity of credit history, search engines consider history as well. Google considers long-term domain registrations as a way to help rank domains. If you intend to use the domain right away, make sure you get it live so that you can start getting credit for domain longevity?
Now for the not so intuitive information from my Magic 8 ball.

Avoid using dashes in your domain. They may look pretty now but in the grand scheme they do not help.
Do not fear purchasing a domain other than a .com. There are many great other domains out there: .info, .org, .net, etc.
For all the spelling fanatics, look away now. Go purchase domains that have common misspelling of your name. For example, Microsoft owns microsft.com.

Once you have your shiny new piece of domain-estate, you want to make sure to keep it looking good. If you already have a site in place on another domain, then make sure it’s appropriately redirected to the main root domain. In other words, have visitors to your new site sent to the old domain. Another key point: don’t ever have two versions of the same site live – there should only be one domain that’s the main version of your site.
Many well-known brands have taken on these strategies to help increase direct traffic:

• Books.com = Barnes & Noble
• Baby.com = Johnson & Johnson
• Toddlertoys.com = Fisher Price

As you prepare to shop for your perfect piece of domain-estate, keep in mind the above criteria that will make your location more valuable and stand out from the rest of the online neighborhood.

Corey & I are excited for our social media presentation this Thursday to the Leadership Akron Alumni Group, which is being held at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank! Unfortunately, this event is closed to the public; however, if you’re interested in learning about how your business can leverage social media marketing, request a free social media analysis today.

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank has been helping people in need for 26 years. Serving Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne Counties in Northeast Ohio.

Help the Foodbank help those in need by donating today.