Long Tail | Short Tail What?
Posted by: zurka on: June 4, 2009
My last blog was on content and setting up your website. Great! Well I received a few emails from readers who said
“Why didn’t you start with Keywords”
Good question! Why didn’t I? Maybe I assumed that you know that you should do really good keyword research prior to posting content to your site. Or maybe I want you to write about your product/service from your heart! Make it emotional I said! Right? I truly believe that when you write something about your product the first time, and you write it from the heart – your description of your product or service is what you totally believe in…it will be good. With that…now that you have the content – lets optimize! Optimization is a word that you will hear over and over and over again! So lets start. Assuming you have not done your keyword search (which is on going- all the time- never ending story) lets start!
Who are you speaking to? Who is your target audience? This I think that you should know and have it written in front of you. First thing I do is a simple search just to see what kind of SERP results we get.
At Affilicon Eli Feldblum gave a great seminar on SEO and keyword research. So let’s use his example:
You are a Cruise Agent and you have a new site and need to find the best keywords for the cruises that you have listed. What?
There are two types of Keywords : Short Tail and Long Tail! Both are good, both have to be used, but Long Tail is going to give you in the long run better conversions (results). Why? One – short tail keywords or phrases are popular and you will almost always have tough competition, however the 3-4 keyword long tail phrases are more specific and are there to pick up the people who really know what they are looking for – therefore CONVERSION!
So let’s look at the example:
Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords
Cruises, Holiday Cruises, Bahama Holiday Cruises, Bahama Holiday Cruise Special, Summer Holiday Bahama Cruise Special….
They are all good – but if you are looking for a “cruise in the summer and to the Bahama’s and a good special – where will you click?
Here is a definition from MarketingHub.com
The term ‘long tail’ was coined by Chris Anderson and is used to describe the strategy of targeting less-competitive niche markets rather than the hugely competitive broad keywords. A long tail keyword is something like ‘Small Business Web Design’ while a short wail keyword is something like ‘Web Design’.
Their might not be A LOT of searches for this – but again these keywords are targeted !
Why this is so important? I think that this is best summarized in an article I found called “Why Long Tail Keyword Phrases are Better”
“Rethinking search allows us to stop thinking of keywords, product names and brands as short phrases. Search is rapidly evolving, it’s all about phrases now, keywords are already out of date for the canny marketer. The average search term is growing, as people start to search specifically for what they are seeking. In the past, the average key phrase was 1.2 words, last year, it increased to 2.1 words, but sources tell us that this year and beyond, it will push to 3 and 4 words.”
How do we find our keywords?
There are great tools on the Internet for this here are some good examples:
Tips and Tools for a Great Website
Posted by: zurka on: June 2, 2009
Hi! Wow busy week! Finished getting the website up for “The Jerusalem Stone” which is a unique gift from the Holy City of Jerusalem! And then two days at the Affilicon Conference ( good speakers, lots of networking, and of course good food).
So for the next few posts I am going to let you in on all the tools and tips that I heard, wrote down, and checked out over the past 48 hours. Lots of stuff – so be ready to check out the posts or better yet get my RSS Feed and make sure you are updated regularly!
Tools and Tips – all sorts of stuff that will make your blog or site stand out – get traffic and be successful.
Website Tips and Tools
I will cover :
- Content
- SEO
- SMM
- Linking
- Video Marketing
- A/B testing
- Keyword tools
Not necessarily in that order! I will include links to tools and relevant sites, case studies and articles. And of course if you have any questions, just fire away. If I can’t answer, I will make sure that I get an expert to answer for me!
Let’s Start: CONTENT
- The name of your site / blog should be relevant to your content. Even more than that your URL, your domain should also be a representative of your brand. (If you are a blogger you are your brand!)So choose your domain names wisely! Check out Moniker.com, SnapNames.com and DomainSponsor.com
- I have recently realized that preparing a wireframe of your site is a really good idea. I downloaded a free tool called Smart Draw . It is limited but it gives you good guide lines on how you should set up your site. Think through your clicks, your page flow, your side bar, what elements you want on your site. This is important for your blog too (don’t take mine as an example – because it is a poor one) . Figure out what widgets, moving elements, images spaces that you want . Think about the theme for each page, think about the text that you will want on those pages. What do you want on your navigation – top and bottom ? What don’t you want. Also remember the move levels the more you are lowering your PR (page rank) .
- Once this is done and you have sent it out to your designer or developer for templates etc. Start working on your text, write – re write and proof it (should have an extra pair of eyeballs for proofing.) Remember Content is King! Make sure that you are writing to your client – reader . Make sure that you are answering their pain – give them solutions! I am assuming that you have done your keyword research and you know how to place it in your text, title , tags, descriptions unique for each page! (I will post about Keyword Research - Google, Wordtracker – these are two basic tools)
- If you have images that you are going to be using . Get them ready too! Name them. don’t just put up numbers give them names. Make sure that you have alt text ready to go for this image. Remember Google does not read images it reads text. Also remember with universal searching images with the keywords come up on top!
- Once your templates and design are ready – go for it fill up those pages – But DON’T GO LIVE! Have it on your server where only you and your staff (even if that is your mother and husband maybe a BFF) can see it. Check it, check the links , check the Meta descriptions, keywords, tags, alt text, anchor text etc. Make sure that it is all in. I like to do it page to page – working on a page – Insert your content, your mega tag information . finish the page go to the next! Also you don’t and shouldn’t put up all of your content at once. Work it in slowly – always adding new content – Google likes that!
You should be changing and uploading new content all the time Remember – Speak to your audience, make it interesting – make it emotional, make it exciting! If your content is good you will succeed.
- New content
- Original content
- Well written content
- Relevant content
This is a good place to stop! Lots more and remember this is just a brief outline of the steps to take!
Some of the speakers that spoke about Content at Affilicon : Eli Feldblum Gary R Beal
there is lots more work to be done….SEO (good place to start), Google analytics, video, etc
So get ready for the next post!
Video Clips made easy!
Posted by: zurka on: May 25, 2009
As I said I would be adding more interesting easy tools. Today what did I do? I decided to go back into my bookmarks and look for websites that I had run into over the past year that had something to do with Slide Shows and Video Clip making.
Found them!
The first one was www.animoto.com and the second www.onetruemedia.com
They are both sites where you can upload images, edit them, add transitions , text and music and finish up with a video clip.
Animoto – first I uploaded some images from this past weekend. We spent Saturday Family Day with my brother in law and his son! Filled up the pool – lit up the BBQ – lots of Watermelon and we had fun!
What I would suggest before you upload your pictures on any of these softwares – edit them first! Even if you are using Picasa check to see if the are cropped nicely – if the color is right, if you can add some nice touches….or if you are more advanced play around with photoshop, again checking the colors, the size of the images – don’t make them to small leave the size they will come up better in the final product.
If you are doing a short clip about hmm lets say “farm life” you could use the tools on any of the photo editors available and make them “sepia” this would give your final clip a unique rustic feel.
Ok back to Animoto and what I did:
- Uploaded images
- Added Text
- Choose music from their samples
- Clicked on Render – Waited (took a while)
- They add all the effects and transitions automatically!
Once it was finished and I previewed it – they have some great options:
- Upload to Youtube
- Send it by email
- Post or embed on line
- Or send it to your Twitter!
I am going to do all of them! (we might get some repeat action do to all of the feeds I am testing for another post!)
All of this took less then 15mins – lets see the results (remember I could have worked more on the photos! – probably should have)
Advantages:
- Quick
- Easy
- User Friendly
- Lots of music to choose from
- Share and feed possibilities
Disadvantages:
- You can not add the effects and transitions (not in the freeware)
- Rendering time took longer the second time I did it (maybe it was my connection)
Here are the results:
Now with One True Media – I have used pictures from my MJ”s Birthday (we celebrate birthdays all week! And she had 5 cakes !) Ok I enjoy baking!
- Uploaded pictures
- Changed the direction on some of them
- added transitions
- added effects
- added a style (cool even the free ones )
- added music
- added text
- previewed
- saved
Advantages
- Longer than Animoto
- You choose the transitions
- You choose the effects
- You choose the style
- You choose the music
- Good editing tools
- Share it with some of the social media sites
Disadvantages
- UI sometimes it was not as easy as it looked!
- I can’t get it to upload to YouTube
- Can’t get it to embed in WordPress
- hmm frustrated – but maybe I am missing something ?
Ok here is the link to the clip
MJ’s Birthday!
These are freebies! you can always pay for the “premium” package (do it if you are making a clip for your brand or company!)
But for fun stuff to put on your blog, youtube, facebook or any other social media outlet – go for it !
Enjoy!
Testing out this new feed : ping.fm lets see how it works!
Joomla – Shoomla – What is it?
Posted by: zurka on: May 20, 2009
Joomla for beginners!
What is Joomla
I am a work at home mom! I work for My Stone Company. Can you believe that I was hired almost two years ago as a personal assistant! Now my title is Web Producer!
We are a young growing company, so we are evolving all the time. I have learnt so much about the Internet during this time.
We moved our website last year over to a CMS platform called Joomla. When I first heard the word Joomla I said
“Joomla Shoomla – what is it?”
Then I did some research: Joomla is a Content Management System that is open source! Ok what is that? (don’t worry I asked the same question) I went to my favorite quick information depot…wikepedia and found out all about Joomla
Then we looked for Joomla developers – we needed someone to set up the site on our server (I wasn’t there yet). We found a few, but we met with one and the chemistry was there. We have been working with him ever since. In fact Shay from Echo is my Joomla Guru! Basically in a three hour session he taught me enough that I could go have fun!
Ok lets track back:
- You want to put up your website
- You need a system that is not going to cost you lots of $$$(ie licensing fees)
- You need something that you can manage yourself
- Something that has lots of functional flexibility
- Something that will look professional
This all leads up to one answer “Joomla”
There are tons of tutorials on the Internet on how to’s with Joomla! a simple search and you will find them
Joomla has a very organized website for all the extras and templates that you would ever want or dream about
Installations are easy (no you don’t have to be a code genius)
NOTE: I would suggest that yes you use a developer to upload and do the templates for you the first time (there are lots of freelancers available for really really really reasonable prices…..I would again suggest Echo or go to ELANCE and find somebody)
So if you don’t believe me that Joomla will work for you , just to let you know who uses Joomla :
- Bloggers JoomlaBear
- Small businesses (like us – The Friendship Stone and The Jerusalem Stone - both on Joomla )
- Major corporations Porche (brasil)
- Magazines Outdoor Photographer
- e-commerce sites Innovative Baby (great site)
- personal websites Samuel L Jackson
- Museums Contemporary Jewish Museum
- Educational institutions Oklahoma State University
Let me know if you have any questions, I might be able to answer them or at least I will put you in the right direction to find those answers!
Now I must get going, I have to get MJ up (it is now 6:15 am) dressed, teeth brushed and off to school, then it is back to the computer to work on our amazing new re-designed sites for The Friendship Stone and The Jerusalem Stone.
I am going to have a great day! Are you?
Working From Home via the Internet!
Posted by: zurka on: May 17, 2009
Working on the Internet has it’s pluses and minuses!
Let me give you my Pluses first :
My Home Office
- You don’t have to sit in an office
- You can sit in your garden (if you have wireless – I do)
- You don’t have to put makeup on
- You can work on projects from anywhere in the world
- You can sleep late in the morning if you are in another time zone
The Minuses
Working from home
- You can work from home!
- You have to clean your own office
- You never put makeup on anymore (and those sweats – well they are not the most flattering)
- You don’t sleep in in the mornings because you want your news to be the first news in other time zones!
- You don’t sleep early at night because you want to be on-line when there is action on the net (9-5)
- You don’t always really know who you are working with!
Hmm pretty similar all of those pluses and minuses! Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE IT!
Ok so here it is….I start working on Sunday – (I live in Israel) that way all of my stuff – web-pages, comments, blogs etc are ready for deployment on your Monday! I beat the traffic!
I love my job, I love the people who I work with, so it really doesn’t matter if I am in sweats and not wearing makeup!
I work from the morning till the night! And the time flies by so I guess I am doing something right!
I was reading a blog “What makes you happy at Work?’ here she discusses
Workers who love their jobs = more efficiency and innovation = more money.
Why I love my job?
- My boss ! She is the most positive and giving person in the world! (no I am not sucking up for a raise…I will get it when the time is right!)
- The team: I work with 3 other women at My Stone Company. Now, working with women – can be great or can be a disaster, in our case it is great ! We also live on two different continents, and 4 different cities!
- I get to be creative – I have improved my Photoshop – Adobe skills, editing vlogs, I can manage a Joomla based site, and more (stuff that I never thought that I would be doing! )
- My Family: I know when I need the time to be with my family – I take it!
- I am growing! I am learning ! Everyday brings something new
Have a great day – enjoy your day at work! I do!
Real Friends!
Posted by: zurka on: May 14, 2009
This is from the Visual Thesaurus
Definition from Websters on line Dictionary:
Main Entry: Friend
Pronunciation : \’frend\
Function : noun
Etymology: Middle English frend from Old English freond - akin to old High Germanfriunt friend, Old English Freon to love, , freo free
Date: before 12th Century
one attached to another by affection or esteem
Enough with Social Media for the time being. I want to talk about friends, yes real friends, friends that you can physically hug – not have to “send” a hug to!
By 8pm my MJ was in her PJ’s after a story and was ready to go to bed, but she decided that she want to be on the couch until her Daddy came home from work so she could say good nigh to him.
Ok no problem.
DH arrived shortly after, she fell asleep a min after hugging her daddy and DH and I decided to have a quiet evening in front of the Tube . I usually have my laptop in front of me, but it is in repair. So it was just the three of us. Me , my DH and that wonderful big box!
At about 9:30 pm DH went out to turn off the sprinkler system in the back yard. I went into the kitchen to make us some coffee (yes we drink coffee at night) and all of the sudden I hear a faint voice
“Shari come here…..Shaaaaaaaarrrrrriiiii commmmmmmme here”
“Ok’ so where are you?” I asked
” in the garden” he said
“one min” I said
“NOW” he said!
And there he was, on the ground, he slipped on the wet patio and dislocated his shoulder! Ouch!
He is a big guy – 6′2″ and when big guys like that are down – oh boy are they down.
“Shari – I can’t get up, what are we going to do?” I called 911 and they said that if the local front room emerg has an orthopedic we should take him there…hmmmmm. I called them …of course you have to wait on the line for 10 mins and then they told me “no orthopedic” Crap – now what?
I decided to call D- he is a good friend of ours, actually he is one of our very closest and dearest friends. He was the first one to the hospital when MJ was born. He even snuck himself into the nursery to see her!
I told D what happened and in within 5 mins he was at our house!
He and his girlfriend were just on their way out – but their evening social activities could wait he said!
We tried to figure out a way to pick poor DH up – but nope it wouldn’t work – his left side was useless ! We called 911!
The ambulance arrived and again we had the problem of how to get him up, he was sitting on wet grass. Finally we did it and my DH was taken in the ambulance , my good friends made sure he was strapped in safely – and I came back into the house to kiss my sleeping baby!
Friends!
I remained calm this evening because I could call a good friend at 10pm on a Thursday night and just quietly say ” I need you” and he was here.
“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.” Epicurus
So yes I have lots of friends on twitter, lots more on Facebook – but true close friends who are there for me in both times of joy and in times of sorrow a few in number. I am so thankful for the ones that I have. I am so thankful that D is my good friend ! What a wonderful heart he has!
By the way he got a huge hug from me before he left – he hugged back!
DH arrived from the hospital last night at 3 am! He will be ok. Shoulder is really sore. He says it hurts when they push it back into place. Yeah, I would think so! Ouch !
Guess who brought him back from the Hospital? Our Friend “D”!
Camel Rides and Social Media
Posted by: zurka on: May 14, 2009
Yesterday I spent the most part of the day in Jerusalem, to be more exact on the Mt of Olives.
We were selling our beautiful Jerusalem Stone products and gifts to tourists that were in the area.
Unfortunately there was not a lot of traffic, but we did ok and had a great day.
During the hours that I was there I struck up a conversation with the Camel owner who is there everyday, all day – offering rides on his Camel or to let tourists take pictures together with the Camel.
It was a wonderful conversation, he has been there for 30 years almost, he has seen a lot of Tourists in his life and can tell you where they are from as soon as they get off their buses – with out even hearing them speak their native language! He can also tell you which tourists you should confront and try and sell your goods to or which ones you should just remain in the shade and save your energy on.
This is the guy!
I was thinking to myself during this conversation. What would happen if this Camel owner had a FB Fan Page?
I am sure that a good 50% of the people (lets say over 18 and under 35) have Facebook! Can you imagine the comments, event planning, photo’s and just plain old publicity he would get if he had such a page.
Imagine this: Mr. Smith, from Virgina USA, spent the day on a tour around Jerusalem visiting amazing unique sites in the city. The tour started at the highest points around the city looking down into the city. One of which was the Mt of Olives. It was a beautiful clear day, The Jerusalem Stone together with the sun, made the city look golden! He decided to go on a camel ride. Paid his few dollars to the owner and their he went. He had a great experience. Took pictures and recorded it on video. The Camel Owner said
“Hey, Mr Smith why don’t you join my FB fan page?”
That night, back at the hotel, tired but satisfied from the wonderful day spent in Jerusalem, decided to check his Facebook and upload pictures from the day – so that all of his friends at work could see what a great time he was having on his vacation. He remembered that the Camel owner had a Fan Page. Mr Smith searched it, found it , became a fan, added his pics and videos.
Can you imagine what a collection of pictures and videos , comments and activities this Camel owner would have with a Fan Page! Can you imagine how much traffic he could get? Not only to his Fan Page….he might have to buy another Camel!
Way to busy – found New Tools to make life eaiser!
Posted by: zurka on: July 7, 2009
I know that I owe a post on SEO and some more basic web stuff – but I have been way too busy. But I mean way to busy.
We are in the final stages of uploading our new website for our joint venture with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America! Yeah we are so so so so excited. I will give the link when it is live (give or take a day or two)
We are also in the final stages of redesigning The Friendship Stone website! Lots of work there! It looks like it is going to fabulous ! new content – new items – new new new!
And we finished and went live with our “The Jerusalem Stone” site last week! It is beautiful just like the Holy City of Jerusalem.
So I have been busy.
After having conversations with various consultants such as “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” , Lena West – from xynoMedia Technology , with Kelli Brown from PixelPoint and the dynamic duo from Webwhile. The team from My Stone Company has come to realize that focus, Task Lists, focus, shared calendars, focus, outsource (your time is money), online tools, focus, and deadlines are crucial to making your business a success!
So here is the list of tools that I have found or have been told about by the experts mentioned above!
So Keep focused ! that is the most important piece of advice I can give you today!
Use the tools – investigate more! And please if you find some great time saving money saving tools let me know! I will investigate them too!