Nonprofit Expressions

Now wait a minute.. this blog is not about people like Heath Ledger dying…. Is it?

No, but his death mere hours ago in his New York apartment is lighting up the blogosphere, and although this is a very sad story of drug abuse and a life of excess leading to ultimate destruction, it is relevant here because it is a great example of the quick response of the bloggers.

The current top Technorati (a blog search engine) blog on the sites entertainment page was posted just two and a half hours after the actor was found by a masseuse who came for an apointment to the SoHo apartment.

This is incredible if we think closely about it. Before the nightly news, and long before the next newspapers will have printed it, and before some news websites had the news posted, a blogger had all the details online.

That blog is actually a part of the New York Times website. This is also very interesting when we consider the fact that many people who never would have visited the NY Times website will have read this blog. In fact without this blog being written and posted in the NY Times blog section they would have missed out on a lot of traffic and exposure.

The lesson we can take from this is that blog search engines like Technorati are looking for the most current and relevant information to dish out. In fact by writing this blog about Heath Ledgers passing (only because it is relevant at this moment) will probably drive more readers to this blog in the next 24-48 hours as his death is big news and the masses move to search for information about it.

This principle can always apply when writing current or up-to-date content. One blog article or website story can in fact produce volumes of website traffic if the article is current and relates to something people have a lot of interest in.

This article is also an extreme stretch. When I decided to write the article I needed to find something very current in the news, including Heath Ledgers name in the article only applies because any current news could in fact be used.

The best time to write new interesting and insider content is when it is likely to be news or highly interesting to the largest group of people. If you run an organization that feeds the hungry and you see a best selling author on world hunger doing an interview on the news, that moment is a great time to write on your blog about the author, or to post a review of his book on your site.

When your sector of society or industry makes news, you should be using it to your advantage!

By Aaron1.
Get listed in the Search Engines. This is maybe the most simple of the ideas in this article - but its a good place to start. Most websites receive over 80% of visitors from Google, Yahoo, and MSN. For that reason alone many of the strategies I will discuss relate directly to how to get in the top search results of the search engines. You cannot spend to much time or energy making sure you show up in the search engines. For starters check and see if your site is listed on google and yahoo. In the search bar type “site:yourdomainname.com”. What should appear is every page indexed by that search engine. If you do not show up, you do not exist in that search engine. If only a few of your hundreds of pages show up it means the search engine didn’t index all of your pages. We will get into why later.

2. Keyword Phrases are “Key.” Every time someone looks for something in a search engine they usually type in a word, or several words. We call this the “keyword phrase.” You need to figure out what keywords really work for your site, by knowing what people actually type into search engines to find the information or products you offer. This is too complex to explain here, but a good Search Engine Optimization company can tell you exactly what phrases you need to know.

3. Every Page Needs a Title. The title of your page is the first thing a search engine reads, its also what appears in many search engines. If you’re home page is titled “Home” it actually can show up as Home in the search engine results. Be specific with your page titles, and use your keyword phrases in them.

4. The first Heading on your page should read like the title of the top story of a newspaper. Make it big, bold, understandable, and most of all use your keyword phrases. This is the second stop on the search engines visit, and may also appear in the search result pages when people find you.

5. Heading’s are bigger than subheadings. This is not only common sense, but the search engines feel that your h1 heading tag is more relevant to the page content than your h2 heading tag. So make sure your code actually uses semantic XHTML (the code should describe the document contents). If you use your website title in big h1 on every page you are making a big mistake. Use your keyword phrase in your heading, and related words in your subheadings.

6. META its important. You have probably heard of a META tag before if you own a website. No its not a birth defect or a medical bracelet. Its a piece of code that is hidden in your website. Every single page of your site needs them. The first one it needs is a description tag. This tag tells the search engine what the page is about. The text you put here will often end up in the search results page as well.

7. Keywords in the META. You keywords also belong in the meta section. You should have a keyword tag with the relevant keyword phrases in every page of your site. Each one should represent the page its on. (hint: every keyword phrase in the tag should exist on the page itself) for an example of a keyword tag and a description tag see the following:

8. Make Your First Words Count. When you begin any web page article or text you should make sure that your keyword phrases are right in the first couple sentences, somewhere in the middle once or twice, and again at the end. You are trying to make sure the search engines know what the article is about, while still writing for people to read.

9. Anchors are Not Just for Ships! Anchor tags (xhtml tags that create a link between two documents or pages) are very important in telling search engines what a document is about. Search engines assume you will link to other pages and sites with relevant content. So make sure your links use keyword phrases, and are descriptive. Example of a good link: (Blue mountain bike maintenance) where the entire line is a link. Example of a bad link: (read about blue mountain bike maintenance here ). where the word “here” is the link, leaving out all the describing text.

10. Make Sure the Crawlers Can See Your Entire Site. When search engines “crawl” a website they can only read text. They can’t see images, video, or flash. So make sure your site has plenty of text, and VERY CRITICAL, make sure your links are in text somewhere. If you only link from one page to another in a flash movie, or using images the crawlers may not even try to take a look at the pages you link to. If you want to see what pages the search engines have index type “site:http://wwww.yourwebsite.com” into the search engine you want to check.

11. Map it! If you want to make sure google and yahoo get to take a look at all of your pages you need to create an XML sitemap. This is really a very simple process use the sitemap generator.

12. Send Your Sitemap. Google and Yahoo want to see your sitemap so they know what pages to index. Submit to google here, and submit to yahoo here.

13. Every Page for Itself. In the world of “search” - every page on every website in the universe is competing for the same search traffic. That means unless google and yahoo can figure out what your page is about you will often be left out in the cold on page 1,234 of the search results for your search keyword phrases. Make sure you remember its every page for itself, not every site for itself. Every page should be a complete thought. Every page should have specific keyword phrases associated for it in the META tags, content, headings, and links. If you always remember this you are a step ahead of the competition. (Are they really even competition if you show up as result number 4 on page one and they show up as result number 1 on page 64?)

14. Do Some Reading. If you want to get good at the search engine game read some authors who have had success with them.

15. Get Local. If you are a local business who needs local business (you don’t sell watches online to people in china) you should get local with the search engines. Local Search is somewhat new, but very important to local businesses. You need to poke around and make sure you are listed in google’s directory results for local search. You should also check on yahoo, yellowpages.com, and other local search websites. Make sure you show up the same way you expect to in the local phone book. In todays world many people don’t pick up a paper phone book very often when they have search at their fingertips on the work computer, on the cell phone, even on people’s tv’s.

16. Get Some Links. This is a double edged sword in internet marketing. Not only can a visitor click on a link from another site to find you, the search engines assume your website is more important the more links you have pointing to your site. So ask websites that are not your competition but still relevant to your business. Remember to ask them to use descriptive text when creating your anchor’s, even better yet email them the text you want them to use. (NOTE: you can offer to link back, but its not as great an idea when thinking about search rankings.)

17. Get Listed in Online Directories. Directories like Google’s are free to get listed in, and they can count as links! Not many people actually search directories these days, but they do produce some traffic, and the links are worth their weight in gold. (NOTE: Yahoo’s directory is a complete ripoff. Unless you have a million dollar web marketing budget just forget it and move on to the free listings like google.)

18. Write an Article… or 30. Writing articles people can use in newsletters, and on websites is a great way to earn some links, introduce yourself to some readers who might grow to like you. You should write short, concise, fun articles about a topic that relates to your organization. You can them list them in an article source directory for people to use for free. These are a great way to get links because you can write a three or four line bio at the bottom of the article and put a link to your website in it.

19. Start an Industry Blog. Blog’s are the communication tool of the future. I mean who really knows whats going on in an industry like the people working there? Skip past the PR pro’s and the spin doctors and read a blog. Better yet - start a blog! What do you know intimate personal, in-depth information about? If it relates to your business you should be blogging about it. People in your field of work, and people interested in your business will want to hear what you have to say. Blogs are also a great way to earn some links because people will start linking to your articles.

20. Are You Newsworthy? Here is a tip, when you submit a press release “over the wire” it ends up on computer screens all over the world. If what you have to say is truly newsworthy it could end up in publications like CNN, Fox News, USA Today, the local paper, or on blogs. If your organization does anything newsworthy you should let the world know. Not only is the news a great form of advertising, but its free. Make sure to include your web address on any and all press releases you send out.

21. Does Your Business Card Advertise Your Website? How about your office stationary? What about all your printed materials? You spend money on your printed materials so remember to make the most for your dollar and advertise your website URL on everything you can print it on. I have even visited a few websites I saw on the side of car doors.

22. URL on the Television. Many times companies forget they can advertise their website in other advertising. It gives people an immediate place to get more information or read further about your organization. So if you are going to be on the radio, TV, or even in the newspaper anytime soon remember to advertise your website URL.

23. Install Your Signature. Microsoft Outlook is like today’s mail room. But what is a good mail room without stationary to write your letters on? If you forget to put your key information in your emails via signature, you are missing out on free advertising. Put your name, position, organization, address, telephone number, fax number, email address, and URL in your signature. Its like having your business card in every email you send.

24. Give Something Away. A great way to drive some traffic to your website is by giving something away for free. As a nonprofit a great way of doing this is to get a local business to donate it. Offer the business advertising in return, and you shouldn’t have to much trouble finding a willing donor. Then advertise your giveaway on your email contact list, your mailers, in the newspaper, (NOTE: If it is for a cause it is newsworthy) and even on a sign out front.

25. Start an Internet Newsletter. One of the best forms of advertising I have had personal experience with is email advertising. If you develop a good list you can send out a newsletter and drive hundreds if not thousands of people to your website. At one point earlier in my career I corresponded with over 7 thousand people a week via email. I was having conversations with over three thousand of them via email using personalized form responses. If you do not have an email list you can send a newsletter to, you should start collecting addresses today. I know many clients who advertise almost exclusively through email newsletter. It just works.Stay “tuned” for Part 2 of ‘Website Marketing Strategies’ - we will discuss guest blogging, rented email lists, and more!

I recently entered a debate with a friend about how to drive traffic to websites.

My friend, who offers a free service where people can sign-up online, is running many high priced ads via radio, TV and billboards to drive traffic to the site.

Although expensive, at first this seemed like a great way to get some attention. But then I started thinking…Imagine your consumer driving in their car and seeing a billboard or hearing a radio spot. The ads are attractive, eye-catching and motivate your target audience to get online. But even with the right motivation, your imaginary consumer doesn’t exactly pull out their web browser fixated on the dashboard, do they?

As a professional web developer, I know that the average web surfer doesn’t usually remember web addresses for extended periods of time. If the person has to travel even five minutes further down the road they have significantly cut down their chances of remembering to write it down, let alone remembering the site address in the first place.… Now suppose they DO remember it and they DO write it down when they reach their destination. There is another abyss of time between the writing the name down, and actually typing it into a web browser. Not only do they have to remember to look up the website after what could be minutes or even hours, they have to still want to.

People who regularly get online are called web “surfers” for a reason. They don’t generally go to a specific site unless the link is glowing bright blue before their eyes.

What was appealing to the person in the ad at that moment is no longer in front of their face. That is unless they snapped a picture of the billboard with their zoom lens while they were driving. Thus it is obvious why a billboard will never drive people to a website. They are not only unlikely to be on a computer when they see it; they are guaranteed not to be!To explore radio even further: how many people actually listen to the radio while surfing the net? I will fill you in - it is not that many. In fact not that many people even listen to radio. It is a dying media (just ask the people who sell radio ads!).

Television actually has the same problem. Most people do not watch TV while surfing, but if they do have their laptop open, they are probably not paying attention to the commercial.

So how did I enlighten my friend that they had wasted thousands of dollars of their client’s money?

I simply told them Google rakes in almost 4 billion dollars each year from internet ads, with most of that money coming from big companies like Pepsi, Disney, and eBay. The internet advertising age has arrived. We know this because today over 9 billion dollars are spent on Internet advertising. That is more than radio, magazines, and billboards; it is more than just about anything.

When a company like Disney spends multiple millions of dollars paying people to “Search Engine Optimize” their network of websites, it really says something.

When you advertise your website on other websites, you give someone an opportunity to see your site at that exact moment. If they came from a search engine it is at the exact time they wanted your information.

So tell me what form of advertising can accomplish all of that?

I recently found an article that can help all of us who use Google on a regular basis. Most of us are quite good at finding information on Google, but there are better ways to search that can improve the results page.

Check out the article here

Don’t let Black Hat SEO practices damage your brand

In the world of search engine optimization there are two schools of thought. The first, “White Hat” SEO, uses great content, smart link writing techniques, great information structure, link campaigns, and extensive keyword analysis to create pages that rank well on the search engines. These sites stand the test of time and deliver the results your organization deserves.

The other school of thought, “Black Hat” SEO, is in a constant battle to trick, manipulate, and defraud search engine results. The techniques used include creating link farms (many sites that link to each other), cloaking (trying to fool the search engines by redirecting from one domain to another), and stuffing keyword phrases in places people cannot read.

Today’s Black Hat SEO techniques are in fact just old methods of tricking Google and Yahoo into giving you good search engine results. The results often work very well if done correctly but it is a short-lived victory. The search engines are constantly updating the parameters they use to rank sites. They are dedicated to finding sites that should not rank so high and bringing them down to size. Currently that means you get placed in the “sand box”. The sand box is a very friendly term for what really means blacklisted. If your site is identified as trying to trick the search engines you can be banned from appearance on the index entirely.

The consequences of getting blacklisted can be jaw dropping. Imagine one day that your website that has thousands of dollars and countless hours invested simply ceases to exist on Google, Yahoo and MSN. It would be as detrimental to some businesses as having all brick and mortar locations burnt down in one weekend. Just like it would take a company months or even years to fully rebuild physically, it can take months and even years to dig your way out of the sandbox.

The risk is foolish to any real business or organization. Losing credibility from the search engines is a needless mistake when the guidelines are so clearly listed on every major search engine. Google Senior Webspam team member Matt Cutts explains that by simply following the rules and developing great sites you can achieve search engine recognition. In today’s day and age, spam is a real problem and the search engines are becoming more effective at catching it.

So don’t make the mistake of spamming the search engines; instead, make sure your site’s SEO team is both ethical and looking out for your best interests.

Here is a list of the SEO guidelines for the major 3 search engines.

The Google Webmaster guidelines

The Yahoo Webmaster guidelines

The MSN Webmaster guidelines

Keep in mind that over 80% of all search traffic is on Google, while MSN and Yahoo represent less than 20% of search traffic online. If you follow the guidelines on the Google page, you should do well everywhere else.

The value of organic search
The true value of having your site listed in search engine results is often overlooked by all who are contemplating the barrier to entry. Surely the initial cost of building a website is nearly always higher than most organizations assume before they begin looking. I know in my own work on more than one occasion I have received the “it can’t really cost that much” look from prospective clients after delivering proposals for work. The truth of the matter is my hourly rates are very low because I work for nonprofit organizations and churches, and have a sincere desire to deliver quality services at the lowest possible rate. I can imagine those in my industry pitching half million dollar projects, and the amount of stress that must be created in those meetings.

The bottom line for most nonprofits, as well as business in general, is often the financial bottom line. How much will it cost, and what am I getting for the investment? Contrary to what many would think, the cost of site development is far lower than it was ten years ago. The initial barrier to entry for a .COM business of the mid 90’s was roughly five million dollars. This included the staff required to keep the site up and running for a limited time, and the cost of development. As one can imagine the .COM fiasco was very lucrative for thousands of design studios that no longer exist today. Today’s market is far more modest, and the barrier to entry has adjusted to meet the marketplace.

It is often hard to convince prospective clients that paying for Search Engine Optimization services (SEO) is a wise investment from the first day of the project. It is often placed on the backburner and considered for the future once an initial site is up and running. This is almost always for the same reason: money. By waiting to develop the site for search engines the barrier to entry is lowered, sometimes even by half. This is a financial decision, but it is often the wrong one. Let me tell you why.

Organic search engine results are the results returned from a search on the left and lower part of a search engine results page. They are freely provided by the search engine at no cost to the website owners. The Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements are shown on the right hand column and often the first 1-2 results on the left hand side. These search results are paid for by the website owner on a per click basis.

Organic results are very valuable because they produce visitors to a website at no cost to the owner. A correctly designed site with SEO principles used in its creation stands a better chance of becoming successful. With hundreds of millions of websites currently online, only a small percentage of those sites are represented by search engines effectively. Now don’t get me wrong. They are visited by search engines; it is almost impossible not to be visited by the “spiders” (programs) used by the search engines. Google’s mission is to spider the entire internet effectively and present current relevant results to searchers. For this reason there is not even a need to “submit” your site to search engines in today’s day and age. SEO is a completely different battle today. The key is in getting your site listed in the first 5-10 results for keyword phrases that will bring visitors to your website that are likely to gain from the visit. If you sell Nike sneakers online, you want people looking to buy Nike sneakers to find your online store. You don’t need people who hate Nike and only wear Reebok. The relevancy of the visitor is more important than the number of visitors. Making sure the right people find your site is the entire premise of search engine optimization (and all internet marketing.)

Organic search is the most important form of online marketing on the internet. Why? Because the results are far cheaper to produce, and the visitors are more likely to trust your site than if they had clicked on an advertisement. Growing organic search results should be on the top of your priority list when it comes to internet marketing.

In recent eye movement studies, the organic search results are the first place searchers eyes visit on a search results page. After scanning the natural listings the eyes will move on to the advertisements. The simple reason for this is that people trust Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask to provide them with relevant information more than they trust the marketing persons who place ads. The lesson in this study is not to give up pay per click as an option. It has instant and proven results, but the visitors generated cost more in the long run, and are not as high quality as those generated by organic search.

The other option

Many people simply cannot afford a lot of SEO work in the first days of site creation. The search marketing is often an afterthought because even many designers are not aware of its importance. It is the most affordable marketing venue in the world, and I say that with conviction because of the overwhelming number of visitors it can bring into a site.

So if you cannot afford to pay for SEO on day one, what should you do? Much of good SEO work is in redesigning a website to be readable by search engines. The standards that must be followed in the site’s design comprise a good portion of what most people end up paying for in their SEO bill. By circumventing the need for a redesign you can save thousands. The key to preparing the site for SEO during its creation is in finding a design team that is both aware of SEO and has the knowledge to design to the standards the search engines require to index your site.

Build your site to be readable and indexable by search engines, and you will be in a good position once your budgetary restraints allow you to fully SEO the site.
The next piece of advice I would offer is to strongly question any design team that claims to be creating your site for search engines if they do not offer search engine optimization services. This skill set is in another realm far from design. They do not teach SEO in any school that I am aware of,  certainly not in design school. Small time designers working for local business are often unaware of new search engine technology and practices and do not create websites for search engines, even though they claim to.

If they do not offer the service, they are most likely uninformed or simply being untruthful.

Aaron
Developer / SEO

PS. All websites this company designs are built to be indexed by search engines, even if we do not do any specific SEO work for the site.