MAGGIO WEB DESIGN BLOG

Twenty One Blogging Mistakes

2009-06-19T10:04:00.002-04:00

Here are a few quick mistakes that I see new bloggers making (some of which mistakes I made myself). They’re listed in no particular order and I’d love for you to continue the list in comments below:

1. Giving up too early - blogs take time to take off

2. Putting off starting a blog - waiting until everything is just right before launching can mean you never do it

3. Echoing what everyone else is talking about - say something unique and share your opinion

4. Not blogging on your own domain - I know some swear by using hosted blogs but if you want ultimate control of your blog it is best to do it on your own domain and hosting.

5. Irregular Posting - you don’t have to post every day but try to establish a regular rhythm of posting

6. Being too apologetic - ’sorry I haven’t written for a while’ can end up being the most common type of post on a blog - yes apologize if you’ve messed up but don’t be too hard on yourself - keep investing your time into building your blog up rather than highlighting it’s problems.

7. Focusing more upon Quick Traffic than Loyal Readers - there’s nothing wrong with a big rush of traffic from social media or another blog - but just as important as that is building reader loyalty. Sometimes growing one reader at a time is more fruitful than getting spikes of traffic that never returns.

8. Clutter - too many buttons, widgets, navigation elements

9. Great Posts but Terrible Titles - don’t short change yourself by investing hours into writing great content only to slap a mediocre headline/title onto it.

10. Not Defining a Topic - the most successful blogs have a well defined topic/niche (or they target a certain demographic)

11. Choosing a Topic you have no Interest in - for your blog to be successful you’ll need to blog regularly on your topic for years - if you want to sustain it choose something you have an interest in or love for or you’ll run out of steam.

12. Too many Ads - I don’t have a problem with ads on a blog from Day #1 but when they overpower the content and push it down the page too far they hurt your chances of building a loyal readership.

13. Being too Insular/Expecting Readers to come to You - many bloggers starting out fail to realize that the more you put yourself out there and interact with other bloggers the more chance you have of being read.

14. Blogging about Making Money Blogging (as a first blog) - I’ve lost count of how many bloggers I’ve seen start blogs on the topic of blogging for money when they’ve never made money blogging. Start with something you know.

15. Not Being Useful - blogs that meet needs and solve problems are blogs that people will keep coming back to and which they’ll spread news of to their network.

16. Writing for Search Engines Before Humans - you can always tell when a blogger discovers Search Engine Optimization for the first time. Suddenly titles don’t make sense, keywords appear in posts for no real reason, links to other pages on the blog that are irrelevant to the post keep being used. Learn SEO - but keep your readers as your #1 priority.

17. Becoming a Stats-a-holic - the lure of checking your stats is understandable and common to new (and older) bloggers - but it can become an unhealthy obsession that leads to distraction and depression.

18. Link Baiting with Personal Attack - taking pot shots at other bloggers might get you some quick traffic - but hate breeds hate and the type of readers you attract and the culture it’ll breed on your blog could come back to bite you. Plus you’ll get a reputation that you might not want to live with.

19. Not Knowing Why You’re Blogging - while most of us don’t really know what we’re doing at the start - the faster you can work out what the purpose of your blog is the sooner you’ll start moving toward achieving that purpose.

20. Not Selling Yourself - one thing I don’t think many bloggers get is the power of blogs to sell yourself as a blogger. There’s nothing wrong with monetizing a blog with ads - but maybe a better long term strategy is to use a blog to advertise who you are and what you can offer readers.

21. Thinking You Have to Know it All - one of the best things about blogs is that they’re a great medium for involving your readers in the process of learning. Leave space for others to interact, share what they know and contribute.

Origanal Post on www.problogger.net
Written on May 30th, 2009 at 12:05 am by Darren Rowse

New Client - OTS4CHILDREN

2009-02-12T10:23:00.003-05:00

Occupational Therapy for Childred is located in Severna Park, MD. Here is a blurb from their Home Page: Some people may think that occupational therapy is only for adults; children, after all, do not have occupations. But a child's main job is playing and learning, and an occupational therapist can evaluate a child's skills for play activities, school performance, and activities of daily living and compare them with what is developmentally appropriate for that age group.

According to the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), in addition to dealing with an individual's physical well-being, OT practitioners address psychological, social, and environmental factors that may hinder an individual's functioning in different ways. This unique approach makes occupational therapy a vital part of health care for many children.

The site is almost complete and can be viewed at www.ots4children.com

Give SEO Time!

2009-02-12T10:00:00.002-05:00

I won't touch some SEO projects with a 10-foot pole. Especially when people make bad decisions or set themselves up for failure.

Like last week, when I received a request for proposal from a ticket reselling company. In their RFP, they said they understood that their business was highly competitive for organic search.
Their competitors are pretty firmly entrenched, plus there are hundreds of similar sites. It would take a large commitment for this company to be able to compete with the big boys. And they were willing, and ready, to spend the money necessary to make it happen, or so they claimed.

They would give the SEO firm three months to achieve results. Their exact words: "...have the budget to do that [compete with the big boys] for the first few months to see if it works out."
Mind you, this request for proposal was for a Web site that has a Google PageRank of 0. They had virtually no content on their home page, or any other page. And their main content (the tickets that they represent) exists within a frame.

Know what the worst part is? I guarantee you (wow, an SEO guy making a guarantee?) that someone will send this guy a proposal.

That someone will say all the right things and get some of this company's money. They'll make this person feel warm and fuzzy about the potential and how great things are going to be. Then, three months from now, that company is going to be out of money and pissed.

Then, as often happens, the entire SEO industry takes a collective reputation hit. We all feel the effects of people taking advantage of situations to earn the quick buck, without giving thought to the ethics of what they're doing. That's the one thing I hate about my job.

So, I continue writing au Natural in the hopes that we can bring transparency to the process. To that end, let's talk about the issue of "time."

How Long Does it Take for SEO to Show Results?
The answer is, THERE IS NO ANSWER.

If a prospective client asked me to answer this question in less than five minutes, I couldn't. The one exception would be a huge brand whose site just had a few apparent flaws that could send their rankings through the roof with some minor tweaks; that's the only scenario where you can be confident that things can happen quickly. For most Web sites, we have to look at several factors to make this determination. Even then, it's truly an estimate/projection/guess.
We don't know for certain when results will kick in. We don't own the search engines. SEOs are like public relations companies. We can do the work to help your presence, but we don't control the rankings.

For a new Web site trying to compete in one of the most competitive areas of SEO, the answer for "how long" might be two years, or more.
In the case of the ticket site, they were behind the competition before they even launched. Their competitors had already been optimizing their sites for years.

To truly compete, the ticket site will have to commit to SEO, however long it takes. Unless this new site has the "next great widget" that will make their ticket services far superior to the others, then there's little hope of seeing results quickly, certainly not within three months!
Now, for sites trying to compete against local keywords, with a very niche product or service offerings, there's a great chance to see results quickly. Even "quickly" depends upon factors such as domain age, links, and quantity and quality of content. Graphics-heavy Web sites built in frames with virtually no text content have little hope of ranking for anything, ever.

What about companies that have had a Web site for many years, but haven't given any consideration to SEO? These sites probably already have some good content and natural links to their Web site. All they need is some help structuring things correctly for SEO and gaining more valuable links. Even then, without knowing the competitive nature of the other Web sites in the SERPs, it's difficult to project.

Bottom LineSEO is an investment that will show you returns if you're committed to the process for however long it takes.

There are only 10 "top" positions in the search engines. Chances are, many of those in the top 10 have been doing SEO for a while. To compete with them, you'll have to do it for a while, too.
Results will come...in time.

By Mark Jackson, Search Engine Watch

New Client - Broadneck Technology

2008-10-02T09:52:00.003-04:00

Broadneck Technolgy is a local company that repairs computers, installs new computers, as well as designs and installs new home theater systems. The staff at Broadneck Technolgy (www.broadnecktech.com) has designed and installed over a thousand home technolgy systems over the combined 20 years of industry experience.

Maggio Web Design has teamed up with Broadneck Technolgy to combine our specific talents to be able to offer more to our clientel. See www.broadnecktech.com for more information.

New Client - Aplca International

2008-10-02T09:44:00.002-04:00

Alpaca International is a high end clothing company located on Main St. in Annapolis City. They produce authentic Alpaca Clothing and Accessories and distribute them in their local store and across the US as a wholesaler. Maggio Web Design has been contracted to design and create a e-commerce driven web presence for them which will be taking place in October of 2009. Check back later for more updated details and screen shots.

Colaboration with Ads Next

2008-10-02T09:36:00.003-04:00

Maggio Web Design has brought on Ads Next a Local Internet Advertising company located in Annapolis, MD to help further the organic and ppc advertising with New Balance Annapolis. Ads Next (www.adsnext.com) ranks very high with google for the keyword "local internet advertising" typically ranking first. Using the same techniques that they used to rank so high for such a popular keyword, Ads Next and Maggio Web Design will be working in partnership to increase the overal rank of New Balance Annapolis' Keywords. In addition they will create and manage Paid Advertising via Google PPC, as well as vertical shopping sites.

Local Search for Little Biz

2008-07-09T16:03:00.001-04:00

Local search is any search made with the intention of finding something in a specific geographic location. In other words, the searcher is seeking a particular thing in a specific location. I wrote specifically about local search last year. It's a good time to revisit the topic, now that some things have changed on the local search front.

The impetus for writing this article was the release of the "Local Search Ranking Factors" by David Mihm. David recently asked 20 local search experts how businesses can maximize their chances of being found when targeted queries are made in Google Maps and Yahoo Local.

For many small businesses, commercial transactions don't take place on the Web. Anything that you'd traditionally look for in the print yellow pages becomes a local search on the Internet. For these queries, Internet marketing encourages potential customers to call them or to visit their brick and mortar store. In these cases, all searches that affect their site are considered local search.

Luckily for small business owners, there are steps they can take to influence many of the factors that positively affect local search rankings. Here are some things you can do to help your local business thrive online.

Claim, Enhance, and Optimize Your Local Business Listing
The local search algorithm is based on relevance. Much of that relevance depends upon the trust the search engines have in the information they have about your business. In most cases, the merchant is considered to be the most trusted source of data about their own business. Verifying ownership of your profile online is the most important factor for ranking well on local search engines.

While you're at it, make sure your local business listing is complete, accurate, and up to date. Use good product, service, and brand keyword terms, including geographic terms in your description and attributes and, whenever possible, in the listing title, as well.

Be sure you've categorized your business properly. Choose the most relevant categories in which to list your business. If you don't place yourself in categories, Google Maps and Yahoo Local will often use someone else's determination of where you belong. Use the maximum number of categories possible. If you don't see a category in Google Maps that uses your best keyword term, create one yourself!

Optimize your Web site for Local Terms
While it's unclear exactly how your Web site affects your local search engine rankings, having a well-optimized Web site can help greatly. This includes on-page factors that you completely control, such as placing your city and state in the title tags of your Web site and putting your street address and local phone number with area code in text format on your pages.
The number and quality of links pointing to your site is also important as is the local link reputation they convey using your location and product or service in the link text.

Standardize the Information
Your business data gains trust when it's validated by other trusted Web sites, specifically those that provide local business information, such as Internet yellow pages and sites like Citysearch, Yelp, and Insider Pages. Nearly all of them allow you to claim your enterprise and verify the data at no cost.
Be certain to use the same information across all of these Web sites to cut down on any confusion in the search engines. This should also match what the search engines see on your Web pages.

Get Good Reviews
Reviews are moderately important to ranking in the local search space and, at the present time, the number of reviews appears to be more influential than whether they say good or bad things about your business.

Reviews, ratings, and comments from others are exactly the type of information that people seek out before deciding who to do business with, so reviews are extremely important to your potential customers. Therefore, encourage happy customers to talk about your products and services online. They may do so directly at Google Maps and Yahoo Local. In addition, these local search engines pull reviews from other Web sites focused on either local information or a niche, such as restaurants, hotels, books, etc.

Local search is an online space where little businesses can definitely gain an advantage over big national chains. Pay attention to the details and take the time to accomplish all of the steps needed to rank well in Yahoo Local and Google Maps.

By Carrie Hill , July 8, 2008
This article was co-authored by Mary Bowling, my SEO partner at Blizzard Internet Marketing. Mary contributed to David Mihm's Local Search Factors article and optimizes Web sites for Blizzard. She also blogs about local search on Optimized!

Three Tips for Creating a Successful Blog

2008-07-08T23:59:00.002-04:00

Famed Google engineer Matt Cutts recently offered up five tips to help optimize your Web site.
I love when a person like Cutts gives these sorts of tips, because you no longer have to take my word for it, or any other SEO's word for it. This advice is coming straight from Google.

All the tips are great. Today, I'll focus on just one of the tips: "Create a blog and post often."

In the USA Today video, the interviewer says that many people know the more links you have, the higher you'll go in the search results. Technically, the quality of links is more important than the actual quantity. As Cutts said, "If authoritative sites link to you, you must be good, and therefore you get to the top of the list." But getting links is the general gist of it all.

One of the biggest things Cutts talks about is starting a blog. This advice is so great because when asked where to go to get links, he doesn't talk about directories, industry portals, or any link anywhere. He talks about a blog. He talks about creating content.

It is said that a good politician will answer the question he wished he were asked instead of the question he was really asked.

As SEMs, when someone asks us where to find links, we're compelled to answer that exact question. But Cutts cleverly answers the question he wished he were asked: "How does a site owner set up his site so people will want to link to it?"

This is setting up the cart and the horse in the right order. The horse is the content that drives the cart -- the links. People usually put the cart (the links), before the horse (the content). We do this because we futilely attempt to answer the question we were asked: "How do I get more links?"

In the spirit of tips, here are three tips for setting up a successful blog.

1. Host Your Blog on Your Own Site
If you already have a Web site, you want to have your blog live on your own domain. Something like: blog.yoursite.com or www.yoursite.com/blog.

A tool like Blogger will allow you to FTP your blog onto your site. Installing a tool like WordPress on your server will allow you to set up your blog anywhere on your domain. Both of these are free and great. The key here is to have the blog reside on your own domain.
Many blog tools will allow you to set up a blog on a different domain that you don't own. This makes moving to a new blog tool difficult. And all the links you get pointing to your blog give credit to the other domain.

2. Allow Comments
Businesses are often concerned about people commenting on their blog. However, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

Comments give you more content on your site that you didn't have to create yourself. Plus, you position yourself as a company that is dedicated to listening to its customers. You also get feedback in ways that were never before possible. And you're helping control the social media message being formed by your customers.

3. Participate in Other Blogs
The quickest way to get others to know about your blog is to comment and be involved in other blogs within your industry. You often are able to make your name a link to your Web site when commenting on blogs. If you write thoughtful responses to a blog, you'll often find people coming to your site to read more of what you have to say.

Whether you're a small company, massive company, B2B or B2C, chances are that a blog could fit nicely within your Web site.

By Sage Lewis, Search Engine Watch, Jul 3, 2008

Flash or No Flash

2008-07-02T16:43:00.003-04:00

Alot of people want flash on their websites, but does it really help their site like they think it does. The honest answer is that flash usually does more harm then good. Just because your computer supports flash does not mean your customers computers do. There is a quite a few of your potencial customers that do not have a new computer, or a fast internet connection leaving them unable to use your site, or having to download an update just to view your site. Take a guess on what those poeple do when a website asks them to download something? They hit the back button an go on to your compititions site instead. In the latest edition of Website Magazine (http://www.websitemagazine.com/) Deborah Sauter writes an article "10 Ways to Increase Website Stickiness". The first thing on the list states; "Make initial Site Interaction Seamless - The initial interaction with your site is critical. By limiting bottlenecks (e.g. forcing flash intros and slow load times) your users will see the content quickly and not bounce right out of your site."

Just recently Adobe Flash introduced the ability for search engines to scan Flash content which in the past was not possible, but regardless I am sure that Google is much quicker to pick up good text content.

On the cost side of the situation I am sure you would like to add much easier implimented features in your site like video, pictures and more pages than spend the majority of you budget on a flash intro. Creating flash takes much longer to create than other aspects of a site, so when your trying to get the most bang for your buck you may want to consider paying for more content that will in the end be more useful to your clientel.

To read the entire article "10 Ways to Increase Website Stickiness" visit the link below
http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/articles/Increase_Website_Stickiness_10_ways.aspx

MySpace Update

2008-06-23T21:00:00.011-04:00

Using Pulse Layouts from Pulseware I was able to create a nice and clean layout for my myspace page which matches my website. Yes I had to create the images needed for the background, contact, and network banner but the software from Pulseware was very easy to use and put out great results. To preview visit www.myspace.com/johnmmaggio

Here is a link to Pulseware's Site
http://www.pulseware.com.au

Super Fin Koi Shaping Up.

2008-06-23T21:00:00.008-04:00

The Super Fin Koi website is starting to shape up. You dont usually get to use such brilliant colors such as orange (ff6600) so it was pretty fun creating. To preview the site go to http://www.maggiowebdesign.com/koi.htm