It’s that time of year again, mini camps are beginning and fantasy football leagues are being created everywhere.   Like nearly every other sports fan I know, fantasy sports have drastically changed the game.  I used to be a die hard fan of only the teams I supported and every other team may as well have not existed.  No mas.   Now that I own players from around the league I may as well not even have a favorite team, though this is untrue (Go Niners!), it does have some logic.  Let’s take for instance last years November 29 battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The 49ers were struggling at 4-6 after getting off to a blistering 3-1 start and needed a win to stay in the playoff hunt.  With just over 13 minutes to play in the fourth quarter Maurice Jones-Drew rushes the ball 3 consecutive times  from the 49ers 22 yard line all the way to the 3.  19 yards on 3 carries, 6.3yds/carry MJD was strong at this point and looking favorable to find the end zone. At 2nd and 3 from the 3, head coach Jack Del Rio then decides to put the ball in the hands of  his superstar!  That’s right the next 2 plays consisted of  “superstar” David Garrad throwing incomplete passes to Mike Sims-Walker and Torry Holt.  Followed by a 4th down botched kick from kicker Josh Scobee.  49ers goal line stand!!! I should have been elated…  However,  I happened to own the real superstar, MJD, and the 49ers were up 20-3.  The game was already in the balance and d ue to Jack Del Rio’s iconic play calling I lost that week by 4 points and was aggravated by my 49ers superb defense.  Go back 10 years to the 90’s and I’m jumping off walls talking trash about how good the 49ers really are.  On the cold rainy day of November 29, 2009; I was dismayed.

Today we will be going over search engine optimization and why its important when building your website.  Lets starts with the definition of SEO.  SEO-A set of methodologies that make it easier for search engines to find, index, categorize and rank web content.   See, when you are searching with Google (or any other search engines) you aren’t searching the live web.  You are searching a copy of the web.  Google has spiders that crawl the web for information so it can rank each page based upon its relevancy of the query (keyword) the user searches.  So in a nutshell, Google copies the web, information is extracted, an index is created, and then the index is stored on servers worldwide.  Here’s a quick example of how the search engine works.

• User searches query
• User location/login ID’d
• Query matched with index
• Google returns matching documents
• Documents are sorted (Ranked)
• Documents are displayed as search results
• Documents are then customized by users location/search history

Now that we know what search engine optimization means, lets look at how SEO affects SERPs. (Search Engine Results Page) Results at the very top and the right side of your search results page are Google Ads. This means you are paying Google per click (ppc) to show up in these spots. PPC ads are listed by performance and relevance of your landing page. In the body of your results page usually directly under the first two Google ppc ads are your organic results. (First page ranks 1-10 and so on and so on) They are called organic of free results because these companies aren’t paying to show up there. Google finds their content relevant to your search results. Organic results get approximately 60-70% of the click through rate and are determined most relevant based on over 200 signals and influenced by standard SEO.  Certain queries that return more relavant results from other Google data sources will be displayed such as news, video, images, blogs, products and local info.  You may also notice that some search results include site links. i.e. If you search apple computers, Google will return the home page for apple.com as the number one result and then below it shows the most important direct links for the site.  You can manage your site links in Google Webmaster Tools.

Keywords and Links

When people breakdown SEO into its core elements it’s broken down to keywords and links. 1. Keywords in content 2. Incoming links. Basically its a number of signals that tells search engines that your content is relevant to the query search. The keywords a user searches with will show their intent:

• Broad Keywords people utilize for research (Shoes)
• Brand Keywords people are considering buying (Nike Shoes)
• Specific Keywords people have the intent to buy (Nike Air Max)

Your goal as an SEO’er  is to find the keywords your customers use to find your products or services.  Some helpful ways to do this would  be  to:

• Brainstorm based on solutions and customer needs
• Interview or survey your customers
• Review your current web analytics
• Poll your sales and customer service staff
• Review your competitors content (Great for people who are new to keyword SEO)

There are also some great keyword tools available on the web.  Some cost money but there are also some useful ones that are free. Google keyword tool, Insights, Ad Planner, Freekeywords.wordtracker.com are all great tools that are available for free.  Wordtracker.com, KeywordDiscovery.com, and SEMRush.com are paid tools that are also very handy.   SEMRush is a great tool to utilize as it will save you many hours in research.  Rather than doing your competitor research manually and individually looking at your competitors metatags, you can use SEMRush.  When at the site, just type in your competitors website (Nike.com) and SEMRush shows all of Nike’s Keywords.  Then all you have to do is look for the top ranking keyword phrases for Nike.  Once you find the keywords that you believe will work best for your particular business you’ll want to make a keyword glossary for tracking.(I use Microsoft Excel but if you search you can find some pay sites that make it a little easier) You will want to index your keywords by:

• Category
• Popularity
• Competition
• Relevancy

Now you may ask, Okay where do we use all of these keywords?  Title tags are most the most important place to utilize your keywords, but you’ll also want to use them in your meta description tag, headings, paragraph titles, text body(information you’re providing others), anchor text in links, URL, and image alt text.  Being that title tags are the most important location for your keywords, lets touch base on how to utilize them:

• Make sure your most important keywords start on the left
• 8-10 words or about 65 characters total
• Focus on 1-2 keyword phrases – specificity rules
• Each page on your website should have a unique title tag (and meta description which is a 20-25 word elaboration of your title tag)

Your title tag tells viewers what they can expect to find on that specific page.  Also, be sure to utilize your keywords but don’t stuff them. i.e  “McGruber” (This doesn’t work because you’re not using any keywords)  “Movie, Movies, Funny Movie, Funny Movies” (an example of stuffing)  “Find laughter in movies with the funny new comedy McGruber” (This works because  you were able to fit your keywords into a description that also tells viewers what they can expect on that page.)

Keyword Summary

• Research customer driven keyword phrases
• Create a keyword glossary
• Consider searcher intent and buying cycle
• Use phrases in titles, URLs, in body text, image alt text, links and navigation
• Extend keyword SEO to digital asset’s (on page) and social media (off page)

The second most important part of SEO is link building.  Links are like electricity for site visibility.  Here a just a couple reasons you’ll want to make sure you use links with your website:

• Links build traffic
• Links infer meaning based on the text used in the link
• Variety is the spice of life for link text sources
• Internal links are also important
• Inbound links from relevant, authoritative websites are key

Link building checklist

• Use keyword in text  i.e.  Do – Red Widget  Don’t  Click Here
• Earn links with great content
• Promote on social networks
• Link up with marketing partners
• Cross link internally
• Embed links in news releases
• Social bookmark pickups
• Syndicate content via RSS

Social Media Link Building (Off site)

• Facebook
• You Tube
• Twitter
• Technorati
• Metacafe
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumble Upon
• Flickr
• Linked In

One of my favorite link building tool’s is located at ericmiragli.com/inlink.  This tool allows to you quickly see who’s linking to the competition and not you.  In summary, when link building be sure to follow these guidlines.  Create content worth linking to, promote your content via distribution channels (email, RSS, social networks, and media), get links using your keywords as anchor text, and focus on authoritative link sources.

When SEOing your website be sure to remember this key point.  “Changing your web design, content management or website software can DESTROY your search visibility if you do not plan a migration.  Just one character change in a URL can cause broken links.

• example.com/product.htm
• example.com/product.html

SEO Migration Plan

• Map old URLs to new
• Employ permanent redirects 301 (not 302)
• Identify to inbound link sources and ask them to change links
• Build new inbound links to new URLs
• Monitor site analytics for 404 not found errors
• Monitor search engine rankings for fluctuations

Basic SEO checklist

• Make sure whatever content is published is reachable by a search engine
• Content is added often/periodically (This tells the search engine that your site is worth visiting again)
• Content is added logically (Themes, categories)
• Keywords exist in content and internal links
• Quantity of quality sites linking in
• Monitor and adjust (Find out what works and what doesn’t)

Hopefully this post is useful in your journey to get found and just remember patience is virtue.  Just keep working hard and eventually people will take notice!

Hello!!! Thank you for reading my blog. Over the course of the next few months I am going to take you through the journey of how to build and develop your very own website from scratch. First I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Andrew Gutierrez, I am a 26 year old entrepreneur who is always looking for information on how to make my websites better. Like many of you I have been burned time after time; spending thousands of dollars trying to learn how to build a profitable website. I started website building when I was 23 and until recently I had not gained the knowledge necessary. Fortunately, I came across this information from some very generous people and I would like to share it with you! Now that you know a little bit about me, lets get to work.

First and foremost I would like to thank Ann Handley and Mack Collier as they were the ones who shared the information that we will be going over today. With the internet ever changing and people trying to gain an advantage in any way possible, its tough for the little guys to get noticed on the web. Money is power and power is money. However, with a little patience and hard work you too can make your website profitable. The first step is learning how to blog effectively for business. In 2008, 45% of the US internet population read blogs on a monthly basis. By 2013, 58% of the US internet population is being projected to be readings blogs. In 2008, 13% of the US internet population created or maintained a blog. By 2013, 17% of the US internet population will be blogging. To put that in perspective, by 2013, 128 million people will read blogs monthly, while 38 million people will be maintaining blogs. Both stats reflect a 50% increase over current levels.

So now you ask, “What is a blog?”
Honestly, you could ask 15 people this question and you could get 15 different answers. I’m going to give you the answer that was easiest for me to understand and grow on. A blog is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily create and publish new content. It also allows your readers to leave feedback on that content, as well as react to feedback from other readers. Why does your website need a blog? Simple, Google LOVES blogs. Google views blogs as an active presence to a website, rather than a static website. If you’re not blogging you may be dominated by other websites that do blog.

Now we will go over the 4 components of a blog. (Post, Comments, Sidebar, Header)

Post – Your post is your most dominate part of your blog. Basically, its what you want to talk to your readers about. However, don’t get carried away and try to stretch it into what you “think” your readers want to hear. I can’t stress this enough when I say, WRITE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS INTERESTS. Broaden your content beyond your exact niche, write about something people can relate to. If people can relate to your content they will be willing to communicate. Put yourself in your readers shoes and ask, what value does your blog create for your reader? If you feel this gives you trouble/writers block, check out some of your favorite blogs/websites and try to gain a grasp on how they spoon feed you the information you’re looking for. For example, if you were talking to your friends about your favorite sports team or music artist you wouldn’t simply say “Team X is the best ever because I think they are awesome!” You would be much more passionate and you would deliver reasons as to why you like them so much. Put passion in your work and you will see it grow!

Comments – This is why I was explaining earlier to write about what your readers can relate to. Comments allow your readers to leave feedback. And that feedback along with your expertise is what going to build a long lasting bond between you and your readers. If your readers trust in you, they will continue to come to you when they seek information. Thus, leading to sales in whatever niche you may be. Also, be sure to interact with your readers on a first name basis, you use theirs and they use yours. Referring to each other by first names takes it from impersonal to personal, once again building trust and bond.

Sidebar – Sidebars give readers information and encourages interaction with the blog. Some of the most used sidebars are:
Meet the blogger/s – A small page giving details about that particular blogger. (Builds trust)
Newsletter – If you have a newsletter this is a great way to get your readers to sign up. A great way to build your own contact list.
Polls – Question of the day, encourages interaction.
Facebook – If you have a facebook page this is a great way to get readers to your page.
Flickr – A great way to show readers pictures of your products

Header – The header sets the tone for your blog. It’s usually the first thing your readers will see. It’s great for branding your business.

There are two types of layouts you can have for your blog, the two column layout and the three column layout. If you are just getting started I strongly suggested you utilize the two column, as the three column layout often gets confusing to your readers. There’s just too much going on on the page and it takes away from your main criteria; your post. Now, the two column layout can either be done, sidebar/post or post/sidebar, which ever you prefer. Being that we all read left to right I prefer going sidebar/post. Utilizing the sidebar on the left kind of like a menu making it easy for the readers to navigate followed by the post on the right.

Hopefully, you were able to find this information useful and can begin blogging soon! Act sooner than later as its easy to forget about something on the back burner. I encourage you all to leave comments and ask questions and I will answer them in a timely manner. Just remember, a blog is like a garden. The spring (starting your blog) is the hardest you have to till your dirt and plant your seeds. In the summer your have your upkeep with bugs and weeds. (upkeep content and generate new topics) But in the fall you cultivate and reap the rewards of all your hard work. (Large following of trusting readers/buyers) Hope that makes sense and keeps you motivated! Thanks for reading and be sure to check back tomorrow for lesson two!

Duncans Treasure Chest is a unique sight that is built by its viewers. You tell us what you want and well post it. Keep the comments coming and we’ll keep posting!!!