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If you have a website you have probably heard alot about SEO and how important it is. And you may not have a clue as to what it even means! SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”, and it basically means optimizing your website for search engines, with the hope *not guarantee that it will help your site rankings. Now I am not a SEO guru, but I do have some tips and tricks that are relatively easy to accomplish and free (which is always a good thing!).

Most of my clients, and myself included, are really using their website as an informational portal. Of course having your site on the first page of google is always a good thing.

And yes my website is listed on the first page of google if you search for “graphic designer of Jacksonville nc”. But that has a lot to do with the type of search you do to find it there. My business is graphic design and if you did a general search for “graphic designer” or “graphic design”, my website would probably be hundreds of pages in. The more specific you get with the search, the “keywords”, the closer to the top of the ranking I get. Search for “graphic designer Jacksonville, NC” and there I am! The reason why I am so close the top (and I used to be there at the very top!) is because there is very little competition in my little city of Jacksonville! Change the search to “logo designer jacksonville nc” and I am at the top of the list!  If you did a search for “graphic designer” I would be farther down in the search since it is broader.

First of all, if your website is in WordPress, bravo – that is a good way to start with as WordPress comes optimized for search engines out of the box. You can download a plugin called All in One SEO, which is free as most plugins are, and with some configuration you can add your site titles and keywords to match the content of your page. Another plugin that is a must when you are ready to publish your site is Google XML Sitemap Generator. As always you need to register your site for free with Google Analytics and add the tracking code to your site. Usually your theme has a place for this code, and if not, you can add it with a plugin such as Google Analytics available in your wordpress dashboard or at wordpress.org. This plugin will also auto-submit your site to all the major search engines!! Now how cool is that?!?!

Once you install these items you will have some configuring to do. You will have to decide what keywords you want to use – and if you want a location/area/region to be a part of how people find you. That is a big thing for me, but others maybe it not important. What will visitors be typing in google to find you? hairdresser in Cleveland OH? baby planner in Oceanside CA? or maybe just keywords that establish what it is you do, like sleep consultant, sleep coach, certified sleep consultant, online sleep coach…You get the idea. it is best practice to keep your keywords from around 10-20. Quality not Quantity is the key here. You will have to go in and tweak your keywords from time to time – see what is working and what isnt. Come up with a site description for your site that also contains the keywords for the overall website and/or repeat these keywords in the first paragraph of your website. You will have to assign different keywords and titles for each unique page of your site. For example, if you have services on one page, you need to include keywords specific to the content on your services page. All of this is onfigurable in the All in One SEO plugin settings page. If your website is not a wordpress website, you will have to use a website editor to add this to the header of every page of your site. Hooray if you have WordPress, yet another reason why its so darn cool!

So that is the basics, and they are all free resources available to anyone! Your main key is keeping up on your stats in google analytics. Blogging is a great tool to drive traffic to your site. Twitter, Facebook – all these links in to your site help your site rankings. Plenty of ways to help keep your site up in the rankings without having to pay a high-priced SEO consultant. Hey they’re great at what they do, but if you are like me and a small business owner, anything you can do for free is always good! And if it turns out you still need to hire someone to help – give me a shout and let me know what you need. When it comes to the basic tricks I got you covered – but by no means am I an SEO expert, just someone who has some experience in the area and some basic, handy know-how. If you are more serious about driving more traffic to your site, and you have the budget, your best bet would be to research SEO consultants in your area. There are plenty of them online, but just be sure you know exactly what you are getting for, and I would avoid anyone promising you first page search results!

Provides stats to follow how many people clicked your post and from where. Very easy to set up and use. Just sign up and link the accounts you want using your rss feed. This thing is great!

It’ll give the government new powers to block Americans’ access websites that corporations don’t like. The bill would criminalize posting all sorts of standard web content — music playing in the background of videos, footage of people dancing, kids playing video games, and posting video of people playing cover songs.

This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The bill was just introduced: We need to act now to let our lawmakers know just how terrible it is. Will you fill out the form above to ask your lawmakers to oppose the legislation?

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

PLEASE VISIT
http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

There are two symbols commonly used to mark trademarks, they are: ® and ™.
Your business can use the ™ symbol whenever it wishes to claim a trademark. You do not need to file any paperwork or receive permission to use the ™ symbol. Use of the ™ symbol can put the competition on notice that the business considers a mark its trademark.
The ® symbol may ONLY be used AFTER the US Government grants a Federal registration certificate. The ® symbol may not be used while the Federal application is pending. Additionally, the ® symbol may only be used in connection with the goods and services listed on the registration certificate.

Understanding TM symbol purpose: Notify competitors

Even though a trademark symbol is not required, always use the correct trademark symbol with your trademark. Your competitors will be put on notice of your trademark. Then they can respect your intellectual property. Likewise, you can prevent your customers from becoming confused by always respecting the trademarks of others, whether they use the ® or ™ symbol.

Placing the ™ or ® symbol

When using your trademark, place it prominently, so people will notice it immediately. When using your trademark in printed text, use bold, italic, UPPERCASE, or a different font. Make your trademark look different from other, surrounding words. Try to use your trademark as an adjective and not as a noun. For example, “Be hip, show style, wear NIKE® shoes”.
Either symbol is usually placed to the upper right of the word, logo or other mark. Sometimes companies list the trademarks used in the material along with the owner in the footer of their website or the bottom of a printed page. For example, “Coca-Cola® and the contour bottle are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company.” Remember, do not claim that your trademark is registered (or use the ® symbol) unless it is actually completed registered with the US Trademark office (www.uspto.gov). Only marks that have been filed, approved and granted the ribbon-original registration certificate by the US Trademark Office may claim to be registered in the US.
However, placement in other nearby or adjacent areas, like sub-scripted, may work well and could look better. The goal is for competitors to see the notification of your trademark claim.
Three ™ or ® placement techniques

There are usually three good ways to notify competitors. They are:

1. Placement of the ™ or ® symbol right near the trademark, every time it is used.
2. Placement of ™ or ® or * (asterisk) or † or (dagger) or ‡ (double dagger) symbol right near the trademark, the first time it is used and having a footnote that describes the trademarks.
3. Setting of all trademark words with bold, italic, UPPERCASE, or a different font, so they are clearly different and providing a footnote that describes the trademarks.

A footnote description might read like this for federally registered marks, when the most prominent use of the trademark is marked with a dagger.
† NIKE and the swoosh logo are registered trademarks of Nike Inc.
Or a footnote description might read like this for marks not federally registered, and, when the trademark is set off from other words with bold and UPPERCASE.
NIKE and the swoosh logo are trademarks of Nike Inc.
Inserting the ® or ™ symbol into your document

Your word processor has an “insert symbol” function or “Special Character” function in the Edit or Insert menu. These functions let you find all sorts of symbols including the ® or ™ symbol. However, I find copy and paste to be faster. That is, you can copy and paste the symbol right from this webpage into your document.
Why you almost never see the ℠ symbol

The ℠ symbol means “service mark”, which indicates services (rather than goods). However, because the abbreviation SM has another, derogatory meaning, it is rarely used. The ™ symbol works identically, and, should be preferred.

Article Courtesy of Andrew P. Lahser

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