Enter The Net

Google offers a wide variety of free services and one of the best paid advertising systems in the world. Some of the free services inlcude:

• iGoogle – a customizable dashboard for your information “feeds.”
• Google Calendar – one of the most powerful online calendar systems – and it’s free.
• Google Local Business Center – Mappable, localized results, usually at the top of the search engine results [click HERE to learn more about the Google Local Business Center.]
• Google Analytics – the best free, online web stats system available.
• Google Webmaster Tools – Analysis tools and advice for website owners.
• Plus many more!

Google’s advertising system, Adwords, is not free, of course, but it is powerful and potentially effective for many.

The key to all of these services is your Google Account.

Many people who utilize these services experience a phenomenon I will call “Google Account Creep.” This is the experience of creating too many Google Accounts because you either forgot – or did not realize – that they can all be managed under one account. In fact, the ability to keep all of these services under one account has been proven (by me) to reduce headaches and generally lead to happier computer times.

Google Sign In Box

HOW TO CREATE GOOGLE ACCOUNTS:

There are two ways to create a Google Account. If you want to create an account based on any email address:

• Go to www.google.com and click on the link in the upper right that says “Sign In.”
• You can then click on the link that says “Create and account now.”
• After you fill out all of the information, Google will send a verification link to your email address.
• NOTE: Google recently added a verification step for ALL Google Accounts. They now require that you verify a code they will TEXT to your cell phone number. Google claims to be doing this to cut down on people making multiple, frivolous accounts. Google’s advice if you do not have a cell phone? “Borrow a friend’s.”

If you create a Gmail Account (Google’s free, web-based email system,) you have automatically created a Google Account.

You may use your gmail account to activate and manage any of Google’s services.

Happy Googling. Please send me any questions or comments you may have via the comment section below…

I was recently asked the question: how are you different from other people who optimize websites?

That’s always a tough one, since I do not know what everyone else does, exactly. I am aware of a number of local “competitors” who do an excellent job. So, I certainly have no plans to disparage anyone.

In answering the question, it became clear that simply stating my guiding values, as they relate to search engine optimization, might be helpful. As you will see, this still did not stop me from pointing out how I MIGHT be different from the others.

• Comprehensive keyword work. We will exhaustively brainstorm and research relevant, popular key word combinations for your site. Many other optimizers limit the amount of key word combinations you can use, or they guide you toward search terms that they know they can “get” for you.
• Although key word popularity (how much is it searched) is important, I believe in broad-based optimization. Your key word list will be long and it will include popular and not-so-popular key word combinations – as long as they are relevant to what you do. If a certain key word combination is only searched once a month, but it is super-relevant to what you do – so much so that you are likely to get the searcher as a client – I would say it is worth the effort to optimize for that term. This is especially valuable because you are likely to own the number one spot on the search engines for those terms.
• Human-Friendly Optimization. We may not have always known why, but we have found websites that contain awkward blocks of text. This is an example of optimization that is likely good for the search engines but horrible for the humans. My test for all methods of optimization is simple: humans before spiders. If we consider any changes to the site designed to optimize it for search engines, I always ask if the change will make the site less useful for the human visitors we hope to bring there. If it does, we find another way. After all, what is the point in getting more traffic to the site if the site is not at its best?
• Transparency. I train you in every step of the process and do my very best to make sure you understand why we are doing what we do. This helps empower you to make changes to your optimization down the road with little need to re-employ me. Many of my competitors guard their methods, as if it were some sort of magic trick.

It’s going to be made into a movie!  Wow.

Posted from Pew Internet Research

The Internet and the Recession
By Lee Rainie, Aaron Smith
July 15, 2009

88% of online Americans have used the internet in the past year for help in coping with the recession and understanding it

Their top searches relate to consumer bargains, new jobs, skills upgrading, chances to earn extra cash, and general news about the economy

Some 69% of all American adults — fully 88% of internet users — have gone online to get help with personal economic issues that have arisen in the recession and to gather information about the origins and solutions to national economic problems.

The internet ranks high among sources of information and advice that people are seeking during hard times, especially when it comes to their personal finances and jobs. Among broadband users, the internet is the top source for material on personal coping strategies during the recession. At the same time, broadcast media outpace the internet as sources of news about national economic affairs.

Those hard hit by the recession are among the most avid and wide-ranging internet users for advice and understanding. Some 52% of American adults have either lost their jobs, seen their investments fall by more than half their value, suffered a pay cut, watched their house lose half its value, or lost their job outright during the downturn in the past year.

“Internet users are on a dual quest in this recession” said Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and co-author of a new report based on a nationwide phone survey about internet use during the recession. “They are seeking highly practical advice about how to survive. And they are going online to gain understanding of what went wrong, and what policies might fix the economy. In many cases, the internet is also a pathway to contributing ideas – and rants – about hard times and a source of expert commentary.”

Read the full report: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/11-The-Internet-and-the-Recession.aspx
How have you used the internet to help during this recession?

How could your business capitalize on this trend?

Please leave comments below.