Evaluate your on-page SEO

When it comes to getting feedback on your SEO, check out the SE Inspector website, a really helpful tool that will analyze your on-page characteristics and show you how much of your potential you’re maximizing. The SE Inspector will analyze a few different aspects of your site, like how you’re doing with your titles, meta descriptions, meta keywords, and keyword densities, etc.  You’ll analyze just one page at a time, one aspect at a time.

The tool will show you what percentage you’ve maximized of your potential.  Then, if you look right under the percentage and stars, you’ll find more advice on how you can make this page better for the aspect you’re looking at.  If you look on the right side of the screen, you’ll see some more tips on how to make this page better for search engines.  Be sure to click through all the tabs at the top of the page, so you can analyze it according to several features and not just one aspect.

Several of the numbers they dish out are debatable, as just about anything can be when it comes to SEO, but it’s a great starting place.  One of most important tabs to look at is the keyword density page.  You want your top 2-3 keywords on the page to be at about 3-5%

You may also try the following tools or additional feedback:

Self SEO

Submit A Website’s Ranking Report

Site Report Card

Common problems with Digg for newbies

When using Digg, many newcomers run into the following common issues:

1) Your article is no longer showing up on Digg,

2) Your page lowered in placement under Google, or

3) Your site shut down because it’s getting too much Digg traffic

Here are some explanations for these three scenarios:

1) If you don’t get enough diggs (or if you get buried too much in the first 24 hours, you won’t make the favorites list.  Go to http://digg.com/faq  and read “Digging, Burying, & Promotion” for more details.

2) Pages go up and down in Google listings all the time, based on what other pages are up and how content, links, and marketing tactics, etc. have changed.

3)  This happens if your site does not have enough band width or space to support the traffic you’re getting.  Often free blogs or affiliate sites cannot support the amount of traffic that comes from a great Digg article.

Keep working on finding good keywords/phrases over 10 on freekeywords.wordtracker.com and under 30,000 in a Google allintitle search, and keep plugging away submitting posts on those topics to Digg.  If you’re brand new, it’s a great idea to read through other people’s posts for awhile.  Make sure to click on links to their sites and make comments.  The big dogs of Diggers pay attention who has Dugg them, and will often look into what work you’ve done.

Fabulous Favicons

When it comes to jumpstarting your branding, it makes sense to take it top down. Since the address bar is one of the first things viewers see, having a cool little favicon next to your URL builds recognition and shows surfers you know what’s up. If people bookmark your site, every time they scroll down their list of bookmarks, or favorites, they see your favicon, or “favorites icon,” once again. This gives you exposure and ingrains your branding, even before people go to your site. Plus, when viewers go overboard in using tabs and space is limited, a favicon will label your page’s tab when all the words get kicked out into oblivion.

Google has the ‘G.’ Craigslist has the peace sign. Gmail has the ‘M’ over a piece of mail. How will you make your mark?

A lot of popular sites will use the first or most prominent letter of their names in their icons, as in the two examples above. Sites like Microsoft, Wikipedia, Facebook, WordPress, and WordTracker all do this. Others, like Yahoo and Bed Bath and Beyond do that too, but mix it up a bit with an exclamation mark after the ‘Y’ and making ‘B’ to the third power.

Others stick to their main logos, like Starbucks. However, these can be hard to read if your logo is complicated, which really defeats the purpose of branding anyway. Perhaps that is why so many companies choose logos representing letters in the first place, like McDonald’s easily-recognizable golden arches. Companies with short names like eBay can also get away with using their regular logos.

Others choose some kind of symbol that marks their personality or movement, whether it is incorporated in the main logo or not. Examples are Craigslist’s peace sign, the White House’s patriotic eagle, Digg’s networking diagram, and Doba’s simple green dot.

Auto Responder Placement—Squeeze Pages are Lame

For those of you still on the squeeze page bandwagon, they aren’t necessarily the best places to put your auto responders, as people haven’t had a chance yet to see what your site is all about.  A lot of visitors will be very careful about giving out personal information unless they’ve seen the quality of your site and are interested in something more you have to offer (a free guide, an ebook, a newsletter, etc.)  So, having a squeeze page can actually drive people away from your site altogether by encouraging them to go back to the search engines where they think they’ll find a page with more readily-available info.

You can put a link to your auto-responder (with a draw, like “click here for your free guide to . . . .”) on every related page of your site in the side bar, or in a place next to good information that would lead people to want even more from you.  To put an auto-responder on your site, look through the help section for your builder.  Add hidden download page you can provide links for in your emails to people who sign up.  That way, a visitor would sign up for the e-book, and he/she would immediately get an email with a link to download the e-book for free.

If you’re concerned about protecting the e-book you send out, look at www.copyright.gov for more info on copyrights.

The Legal and Tax side of starting an ecommerce business

Anyone can have a basic website or blog in the U.S. The legal issues come with what you do on that site. If you’re selling products, for example, you’ll need to register as some kind of business entity with your state and collect and pay taxes for sales made in your state.

First off, it’s a good idea to start considering options to officially establish your business as a legal entity right away, as the paperwork and processing may take several weeks. You may want to contact an attorney for this process, or consult online resources such as Legal Zoom.

Most entrepreneurs will get started with a sole proprietorship and set up a DBA (doing business as) name to facilitate charges being applied towards an official-sounding business rather than an individual’s name. The second most popular option is the LLC, which adds a measure of protection for the individual while still keeping the registration process relatively simple and costs low (compared to what would be involved to set up a corporation of any type).

Once you know what kind of entity you want/need, your state should have a website with all the paperwork you’ll need to establish your entity. Do a Google search for your area. Also, be sure to find a phone number for the appropriate office who can answer questions about your application, and go through the whole thing to find all the questions you have so you can ask them all at once.

This is also a good point to consult an accountant to go over any tax advice you may need. There’s a lot you can do on your own online, like setting up a tax id. The easiest and fastest way to get an EIN (tax number) is online at http://irs.gov. Most basically, an EIN identifies tax returns filed with the IRS. The IRS will also provide a lot of information about that and any other tax questions you may have. When you get to the website, search for keyword ‘EIN’ and complete the form. You should get your EIN within minutes, for free. There are several companies who do this for a price, but it’s not necessary!

Browse through the IRS site to find more info that will help you get started. In particular, search for Publication 334, a Tax Guide for Small Business. Among other many other topics, this guide addresses:

• Filing and Paying Business Taxes
• Accounting Periods and Methods
• Business Expenses and Deductions
• Figuring Net Profit or Loss
• Your Rights as a Taxpayer
• How To Get More Information

Once you’re making money, it’s really smart to work with a good accountant. Also, Diane Kennedy’s tax advice books are very helpful and can be found on Amazon or other places online for decent rates. She is a CPA and stays current on specific issues for different types of businesses and real estate deals. Setting up a small business can pay off greatly in your tax benefits alone, regardless of the profit you make in the first two years! Careful planning with a keen knowledge of your possibilities, combined with advice from a lawyer or consultant can maximize these tax advantages.

Turning your idea into a product

So you have your genius idea you’re sure can make it big. But how do you turn this into a physical product without wasting money or having someone else steal your idea? Keeping in mind that less than 1% of products patented ever come to market, a lot of people have invested significant amounts of money with no return on their own ideas. By doing all your research up front, you’ll know your idea is feasible before spending more money than you need to.

1) Draw a detailed picture of your product and write a detailed description.

Make sure to include dimensions and include what it is, what it’s used for, and any other details you can. Use Google Patents for examples of what to include. This will also help you see if there’s already a patent for your idea. Make a copy and mail it to yourself. Then you’ll have a sealed, post-marked envelope to use as evidence that you created the idea by such and such a date. This can be showed to a judge if the need ever arises.

2) Gather Information on manufacturers.

This can be a tedious process as there are a lot of manufacturing companies out there, but it will pay off to find the best fit. As you contact companies individually, you’ll know what to expect as fair prices within the industry. Plus, you’ll get a feel for who has the best service.

Also, always call, don’t email.

The drawing and description will help as you contact potential manufacturers. You should not give away too much info too early, so decide on a related product that may have similar properties you can use as an example. Even if there’s nothing like your idea in function, think of some of the properties it may have and come up with an example to use. As you call manufacturers, indicate that you do not want to go into specifics, but you’d like to produce an item similar to “x”, of “y” dimensions, made out of material “z.” First, find out if the company can make it. Then, get more information on how much it would cost for them to produce a prototype of the item.

Here are some resources to use as starting points:

• Thomasnet.com
  • Choose the section Custom Manufacturing & Fabricating, then the category closest to what you want to produce.
• Then, try some Google searches for the word similar to what you’re making, plus the following:
  • Manufacturer. If they don’t make it, ask for a referral on a company that might.
  • Distributor. Ask for manufacturer references. Tell them you’re making a product with similar materials in a different industry.
  • Association. Every industry has an association that can provide a lot of information. Find out who the association officers are and ask for manufacturer recommendations.
  • Trade magazine. You’ll learn a lot about trends in that industry, as well as some names of people who could help. Contact the editors for recommendations. This will also help you make connections that could help in marketing later on.
  • Article. As a last resort, you’ll find more information on similar products and contacts for companies who make them.

3) Decide on a manufacturer to create a prototype.

Decide which company you feel best about and give them the information to create a prototype. First, however, be sure to have anyone you talk to about your product in detail until it is patented sign a non-disclosure agreement that says something to the affect of “I agree not to divulge your idea to anyone else.” Have it dated and signed. Google pre-written non-disclosure agreements online that you can adjust and use yourself.

Most companies offer reasonable prices to create a prototype, because they want to be selected to manufacture your product. Depending on the prices of materials though, or if they have to create an expensive mold, it may be more. Consult with the company to make any changes you want. It may take several revisions to make it perfect. It’s best to have the actual item or pictures, with exact dimensions before you talk to a lawyer so don’t waste money on too many meetings. Even if you just have a shell available, you can show that and explain the interworkings.

4) Consult with a patent lawyer and online options.

Most patent lawyers will provide a free consultation. Ask if that could be arranged to see what it would take to have your product patented. When you know the price, thank him/her for the time spent, and say you will get back with him/her very soon. Look online to see what other price options are available. By calling around, you’ll get a feel for what’s out there.

5) Have a professional conduct a patent search.

Before you move forward with the lawyer, pay someone with experience to check your product against any similar patented products that may exist. They will run a report letting you know of any remotely similar items with current patents. You can search for an online agency to do this, or ask the local lawyer for recommendations. This will provide information on how to differentiate your item, and possible aspects to cover.

6) Move forward with your patent.

When you receive the patent reports, move forward with your lawyer to patent the product. It usually takes 6-8 months for a patent to be approved. However, there are ways to get it done in matter of weeks. Try googling “fast patent” for more details. Also visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office website for more information.

When the patent is processed, you can move forward to manufacture the item.

Setting up a WordPress eCommerce website

If you’re new to the world of ecommerce and you’re looking for a cheap option to build your site, I’d highly recommend using WordPress. Turning this free blog builder program into a functional site where you can process orders and control your design is more confusing to set up initially than many all-in-one builders out there, but could save you money in the long run. Plus, you will have the flexibility to take your site to another hosting company in the future, or even take it offline for awhile without losing everything if you change your mind.

WordPress is designed to build blogs, but instead of writing posts, you can create pages that will stay in place. By having it hosted yourself (usually $6-8/month), you’ll have full ecommerce abilities like using your own domain name, attaching a shopping cart plug-in to process sales, and using new themes, etc.

Initially, you can sign up for a free blog at www.wordpress.com and play around with various options, like uploading pictures, changing templates, changing widgets, etc.

Once you decide to have it hosted on your own, you’ll need to take a few steps:

1. Visit http://wordpress.org/hosting and pick a host that’s easy-to-use with WordPress.
2. Install an FTP client on your computer. This will enable you to save all the files you’ll need for your site and send them to your host. I highly recommend downloading the free option at http://smartftp.com.
3. Download the latest version of WordPress from http://wordpress.org/download.
4. Follow the instructions at http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress to connect the dots.

Here are a few more resources that will be useful:

• http://www.wordpress.org – a collection of tutorials
• http://free-wordpress-plugins.blogspot.com – a list of plugins to make various functions work
• http://www.instinct.co.nz/?p=16 – a free shopping cart plug-in

Trade Shows

I would also do a Google search for your niche, your location, and the term trade show (i.e. Nevada kitchen “trade show”) to see what events may be taking place in your area.  Trade shows are an excellent way to meet manufacturers face to face, make deals that suit both parties, and test out the products to make sure they’re what you want to offer.  If you do decide to attend any trade shows, I’d definitely track down a schedule of the event before hand, and find out which companies will be there and where their booths will be so you can decide a map of where you’ll go and when.  If there are any companies at the top of your list, be sure to call them in advance to see if you can schedule an appointment to meet with them.  Some booths are much busier than others, so this may ensure that you’ll be able to talk to the person you need to.

Drop Shipping

When you’re face-to-face with your supplier, it’s the perfect time to discuss any details that are confusing or too lengthy for a phone conversation.  For example, if the company currently does not drop ship, you may be the first lucky one to work out a deal.

It’s also a unique opportunity to be even more picky and see if your current drop-shipper will consider “blind dropshipping.”  This is one way you’ll be able to secure future commission on purchases placed by your customers to manufacturer who also have websites where people can direct-order items.  Basically, what that means is that the drop shipper would place your label on their boxes before shipping them out.  Trade shows are a great setting to work out a deal like this because there’s a lot of supply to deal with.  Come to an agreement on how the logistics of this would work (labels, inserts, boxes, possible additional fees, etc.)  Blind drop shipping is not a common practice that a lot of companies do, mostly due to the extra work/personnel they will need on their part to make it work, but more and more companies are now making it available to their retailers.  Even if the company does not currently blind drop ship, it never hurts to ask if this may be a possibility in the future.

Placement, Heat Maps, & CrazyEgg

If you’re of the opinion that the placement of various elements on your pages work themselves out naturally, there is more to the art of layout that needs discovering!

If you were a starving cross-country road tripper pulling off the freeway to get something to eat, most likely you’d choose one of the closest fast-food restaurants right off the exit. For that reason, those lots on by the freeway exit are probably much more expensive than land a few miles into the countryside.

Just as a realtor would notice the value difference for land lots, you should consider the space on your website to be very unequal.

Tools like heat maps visually track mouse movements so you can instantly see where on the page viewers are most prone to click. Crazy Egg has devised some really nifty innovations that track related indicators to help webmasters use their page “real estate” wisely.

Here’s also a great basic little map created by Google that shows general trends of places on pages that the eye goes to first. It’s crucial that you use the prime space with warm colors to specifically and succinctly have your purpose noticed.

Some areas of a site are noticed, and some aren’t. Marketing is all about being noticed. Therefore, it’s essential to take a step back and ask, “What is the purpose of this page?” If you know your purpose, it’s easier to make it a priority.

When dealing with purpose, there are three main steps:

1. Identify.
2. Prioritize.
3. Place.

To use your most valuable space on your website for the most important parts of your cause, consider what exactly you want to have happen. Do you want viewers to buy something? Do you want them to sign up for an auto-responder so you have their contact info? Do you want to draw emotional support for your cause? Or do you want to highlight a few products on your home page to link customers to other areas of your site, etc? Do you want to come across as looking professional?

Then, decide what the most important elements are and organize accordingly!

Sure, if you saw a sign or some kind of promising indication that your favorite restaurant was only a mile down the road, the extra time spent might be worth satisfying your hunger appropriately, but that’s a big ‘might’ in the face of immediate gratification. Web surfers need that same instant gratification, so if you want them to notice it—make it instantly available!

Backing up your computer

For many of us, the memory on our computers can seem more crucial than the memory in our brains.

Hoping that’s a stretch and you all have meaningful personal lives outside the world of technology . . . still . . . one crash, one system failure, one freak accident of nature (like the time in college when my attic room’s ceiling broke open and torrents of rain washed out my laptop) can make you wish you had planned ahead.

It’s a good idea to not only back up files from My Documents, your Desktop, etc. on a regular basis, but also crucial bits of information that make your life run smoothly:

• Bookmarks (Manage Bookmarks > Export)
• Passwords saved by your browser (Tools > Options > Security > Passwords)
• Files used by your FTP Client
• Installation files for programs on your computer
• A list of programs on your computer (and any usernames, directions, contacts, etc. you may need to reinstall them later)

The way you save the info doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you do it. Find some space on a flash drive, an external hard drive, your kid’s xbox . . . or burn a few DVDs from time to time. Each time, organize your files and save your new backup info on top of what you have before so you’re not cluttering valuable space.

This is a great way to reduce stress, clean up your life, and to help you keep your calm a little more the next time your computer has a run-in with baseballs, electrical storms, over-zealous children, or just plain old-age.