Tulsa SEO & Internet Marketing

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Search Engine Optimization is the foundation, the bedrock of online marketing. It is the foundation of all Internet marketing.

Launching a website without actively marketing it properly (and professionally) is like buying a new car, never putting gas in it, and then complaining that it doesn’t work. The potential for leads and sales certainly exists, but without some direct focus on Search Engine Optimization and Internet marketing, you’ll never see those leads.

You see, search engines have taught consumers how to search. They have redefined how people shop and find the services that you offer. And when someone types a keyword into the search box and presses that search button, there are only two possible outcomes:

  1. They will find you.
  2. They will find your competitors.

You can’t afford to allow your competitors to hog all of the search results in Google, Bing, or Yahoo while you spend advertising dollars on avenues that cannot justify a positive return on investment. Read more

Web Developers Stand Up

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While eating some chocolate donuts this morning with my son, it dawned on me that each miniature donut was identical.  All the same size, shape, taste, etc.  I thought to myself, “what if all web content developers put ample, and equal time on each web project dedicated to search engine optimization for the site?”  Well, it would definitely make the fight to get on Google’s first page much more difficult.  The content online everywhere would be so relevant and the searches would be so close together in similarity that one listing would not stand head and shoulders above the other searched results, as it does now.

Well, the truth is, most web designers do just that – they design websites.  Developing a website entails much more than just throwing some files on the server and invoicing the client.  Proper SEO practices are not followed by all.  One firm that we took over a website at the request of the client put together a really nice site, but even after it was launched for over a month, there were no title tags, no descriptions or key words; just nothing but some text and some graphics.  When I asked him why they didn’t do any of it, his reply was, “We kinda ran out of time.”  2 weeks after we optimized the site, it was all over the first page of Google and the other major indexes.  That company is no longer in business. Read more

The Internet Professional

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The Internet Professional

The Internet has come a long way in the little over a decade it’s been part of daily life. Not only do some 25% of the world’s population now have ‘net access [Internet World Stats, June 2009], but it’s easier than ever for those users to contribute to the Web rather than just passively consuming its content.

Only recently the field of Web design emerged as a hot new profession. Every business wanted a presence on the Web, and in the days of the dotcom bubble investors were lining up to throw money at Web startups. Someone had to build those sites, and that someone was the Web designer.

The profession lost its sparkle after the 2000 crash left too many Web designers chasing too few jobs. But the technology that’s arrived since has virtually killed Web design. That technology includes blogs, social networks, cell phones and everything else that allows anyone to establish a fancy Web presence with just a few clicks and update it just by typing in a box. Read more

Groundswell

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I am reading a new book called Groundswell (pronounced ground – swell). The book is how to win in a world that has been transformed by social technologies. Social technologies, as the term implies, does not imply what you would think; at least not what I thought it implied. Being the technical person that I am that loves the new gadget that has just come out, my first thought was how iPhones, computer operating systems like Apple’s new Leopard (which is awesome by the way), GPS turn by turn navigation, etc. But as I started reading the book, I began to realize that they put more emphasis on the social than the technology. Myspace.com, Facebook, Youtube, RSS, blogs and forums, and consumer rating sites like Digg.com are a few of the many ways that our society is changing the world – particularly the corporate world – that we live in. I can hear the parents saying, “Wait – I thought Myspace was for teenagers!” Haha! Read more

Investing Online

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I am at the doctor’s office getting my eyes checked & hopefully will be getting a new pair of glasses because I spend my time making a living in front of a computer which probably isn’t the best thing to maintain good vision. Maybe there is some truth to what our parents told us when we were little: ”don’t sit so close to the TV – it’s bad for your eyes!”

Anyway, these times are the rare occasions when I’ll pick up a magazine & read an article that I wouldn’t normally read online or in a forwarded e-mail. So, I picked up the most recent edition of Fortune magazine as I was intrigued by the cover that eluded to the magazine being chocked full of articles of still being able to make big money in a rapidly declining economy. Guess what over 50 percent of the articles were focused on? The internet! Microsoft is buying Yahoo, should have bought Facebook, needs to make better computers & stay away from the web, Apple is going to take over the world, phonebook advertising will soon be something we tell our grandchildren about, & my son won’t know what a CD player is. As a web designer, my digital world seems behind the times. When I once felt on the cutting edge with my gadgets, I feel as though the tools & gadgets I have now, even though the help me accomplish great things, will soon need upgrading. Actually, I am writing this blog entry using my already out of date & no longer cool Palm TREO 650 🙂 Read more

What is Your Money Doing for You?

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Clients ask me all the time how their money can best be spent among print, radio, television, internet, direct mail, etc. Since I find myself primarily staying busy doing web design and internet marketing, my answer is usually the same: stay away from print advertising in local newspapers and put the money to work for you on the web.

Why is this good advice? Because on average, for a decent print ad in a major newspaper, you are going to pay at least $400, and you may get to run the ad between 1 – 3 days. You don’t get to select who looks at the ad, how old they are, how much money they make, and the worse part of all, you have absolutely no fail-safe way of knowing if people even SAW your ad! Read more

Desktop Publishing – Part 2

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In the last installment that we posted on desktop publishing back on September 6th, we mentioned some do’s and don’ts for those of you wanting to get some designs done in house (from your own office) without hiring a professional graphic artist or designer. Although we recommend that your marketing efforts be developed professionally, we are posting this advice from the assumption that you have gone to the trouble to at least have your logo and Web site designed by an agency that knew what they were doing. We never recommend designing your own logo or attempting to put your own Web site together. Graphic design and web design standards change too often for the average consumer to know what’s on the up and up, and to actually produce something that will have any kind of shelf life. Read more

Desktop Publishing – Part 1

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From time to time, we’ll run across a client or two that wants to be able to produce some designs from their own office without utilizing the services of a professional media or graphics design firm. Many people have Microsoft Publisher, and while it is never recommended to use Publisher to produce professional print pieces that will be printed on a professional press or print shop, it does do a great job in your day to day desktop publishing for in house stuff.

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Guaranteed Search Engine Placement?

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There are a countless number of companies that promise top 10 or even top 5 placement in the search engines and larger indexes such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. if you pay them “x” amount of dollars. Let me dispel this myth: no one can promise and deliver those types of results. Don’t get me wrong – it is possible to achieve good search engine placement for new and existing sites – we do it every month for our clients. But to guarantee this type of thing is wrong, and that’s how you can tell the difference between those that just want your money and honest web developers that know how to perform this service, and are willing to sit down and take the time to do it. Read more