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Easy to Understand and Implement Search Engine Optimization Techniques
By Janice D. Byer, CCVA, MVA, Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services

Why is it that some websites seems to grab higher placement in the search engines than other websites? In a phrase, Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

Everyone does searches on the Internet. In fact, on average people do approximately 40 searches each per month and most of that is through search engines.

Optimizing your website can help increase your sites placement in the search engines. When designing your website, you should design for your target market. However, you need to optimize it for the search engines.

Keywords & where to use them
Most SEO techniques center around your keywords. Keywords are the most important part of SEO techniques that you need to implement into your website.

When deciding on your keywords and phrases, choose keywords for both the search engines and your website visitors. Try to be specific rather than too general.

Visible Page Content
Many search engine spiders will index a site based on actual visible content on each page of a website.

Keywords in the content of your site is measured using keyword density which is actually a percentage of your keywords and phrases in relation to the total number of words on a page, usually 2-5%.

Image Descriptions
Your keywords and phrases can also be used to describe your images. When including an image in your page, include an "alt attribute", also known as a description tag (or alt tag), in your coding.

Meta Tags
This is another important area to include your keywords. Most search engines still use a website's meta tags to classify a website.

The following are sample meta tags:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

<Title>Docu-Type's Search Engine Optimization article.</Title>
<meta name="description" content="An article offering search engine optimization information">

Other tags include author, date, copyright, medium and revised but they are generally used for the designer's reference only.

Navigation
Having a good navigation structure can help make it easier for your site visitors to find what they are looking for and can help search engine spiders to get around and index each page of your website.

If possible, incorporate some of your keywords into your navigation links. If you use images for your main navigation, be sure to include alt attributes.

Sitemap
A site map is just that… a map. And, with any map, it helps you to get where you want to go. Some people prefer a site map over regular navigation, especially on large websites. However, a site map should not replace traditional navigation which everyone is familiar with.

Link Strategy
Having links throughout your content to other areas of your own website helps the spiders (and your site visitors) get around. It also helps to increase your link popularity.

Link popularity is… the more links TO your webpage from another webpage, the more popular your site looks to search engines. After all, if all these pages are linking to your site, you must have some great information to share and they like that.

A link exchange strategy is basically asking others if they want to put a link to your website on their website in exchange for you returning the favor. This helps improve your link popularity.

Outbound links (links from your site to others) can indirectly help improve your placement in search engines. The more resources you include on your site, the more people will want to visit and the more others will want to link to you. This will increase your exposure and your link popularity.

Update your content
You need to update the content on your site occasionally and keep it fresh. Spiders come back to websites as they crawl the Internet and tend to like websites that are offering something new for their visitors.
Miscellaneous Tips
The following are just a few other ideas to help optimize your website.

Use keywords in your hyperlinks
Translate your website
Leave existing site up if doing a redesign
Use images instead of text, in some cases
Use header tags
Use comment tags
Avoid Entry pages
Start an Affiliate Program
Don't try to fool the spiders
Keep track of what is working

A few final words
Search engine optimization methods are constantly changing due to the engines having to adjust their algorithms to be sure they are indexing worthwhile sites and to stay a step ahead of those who try to cheat the system.

Most designers will try to stay on top of what works and what doesn't, what is allowed and what isn't. Working with an experienced designer is the best route to go when having a site designed or redesigned.

Search engine optimization is a lot more involved than what could be included here. Be sure to pick up your copy of our 20 page ebooklet at http://www.docutype.net/booklets.htm for a more detailed look at these techniques.

Janice Byer is the owner of Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services (http://www.docutype.net). Visit her website for more great articles, booklets and newsletter archives to help build your business. Get a free quote on your web design needs.

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What's Your USP? Creating an Effective Unique Selling Proposition
By Clara Fyffe

I admit it here and now: I am not witty, nor am I very creative. Creating my own USP - my Unique Selling Proposition - was hard for me, and the end result could certainly be better.

The more common name for a USP is 'tag line'. A tag line is that short group of words generally below your business name that is meant to describe your business concept so effectively and cleverly that it becomes a major part of your company's identity. A tag line should, in just those few words, tell the "story" of your business. The potential client reading your tag line, your USP, should be able to respond, "Aha! She's just what I need!"

Any time you add your logo to a document or piece of marketing material, your USP should follow. The more they are seen together, the more your identity will solidify within the business community and grow in recognition.

Not only should your USP be included in all print media, but it's important to include it prominently on your website. Your USP should cause the web surfer to scroll through your site, possibly prompting him or her to fill out your online form for more information on how you can benefit their company. In other words, your USP should generate leads for you.

Your email signature should also include your USP. Set it below your company name or logo, and make sure it is not graphically based. Many companies, for antivirus reasons, don't allow graphic or HTML emails, preferring text-based emails only. If your logo doesn't come through, your name and USP will, along with your contact information. They will know you from the "story" your USP tells. So, even without your logo, the email recipient will be able to identify what your business does by the content of your USP alone.

Can you identify the following products by their USPs, or tag lines, alone? Give it a try. The answers are at the end of this article.

"Fast relief is our specialty."
"And away goes troubles down the drain."
"Love the skin you're in."
"It's the real thing."
"With a name like __________, it has to be good."
"The other white meat."
"They melt in your mouth, not in your hands."
"It's finger lickin' good."
"The quicker picker-upper."
"Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is."

How'd you do? You can see from these examples that their USPs can now easily identify their product or company. That's what you want to happen with your business. Make your USP memorable. Make it tell the "story" of what your company is all about.

The effect that a group of words has on an individual can be emotionally charged, as well. Years ago I read a book about people who had surpassed the 100-year-old mark, and a phrase in that book has stayed with me. It's not a tag line or USP, really, but it tells the story, as yours should. "People are books just waiting to be read." I love that. The book was trying to impress upon us "youngsters" the importance of learning our history not only from dry facts in a history book, but from the people who lived it. One of the shortest, yet most emotionally charged, group of words was written by Ernest Hemingway. These six little words tell a powerful, unforgettable story. "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn."

I realize that neither of those examples relate to a company, but their effect on you, an unforgettable phrase, is what you want from your USP. Memorable. Unforgettable. Effective.

Of course, your chosen USP does not need to be serious. It can be witty, too. KFC's "It's finger-lickin' good" is not only clever, but it's also true, and when you hear that line, you "know" that you're going to like that product! Truth in your USP is critical. Never over-promise. Never offer more than you can give.

I think that USPs for our Virtual Assistant businesses are more difficult to write because we are more service-oriented than product-based. Mine is rather plain, actually, so I used a specific font to help me out. Mine says, "Clara Fyffe" on one line, with "Your Hands On Virtual Assistant" below the name. But I used a font that has handprints "cut out" of the lettering, making my name, to match what my tag line, my USP, says. As I said, I'm not very witty, but people have noticed the font and like the combination, so I'm okay with it until I think of something better.

Use your creativity. Ask for suggestions from friends and family. Don't neglect asking your children for ideas. Kids can be very witty! After you jot down a few ideas, say them aloud to hear how they sound with your company name and ask yourself if any of them "tell the story" of what you do. Make it fit your company's identity. Work hard to choose a USP that will set your business apart from all the others. Keep it short and to the point.

Once you come up with your final selection for your USP, be sure to include it on everything that has your company name - your website, business cards, brochures, letterhead, other marketing materials, and even your "giveaways." Soon, prospective clients will identify that USP with your company, and that's exactly what you want. Put on those thinking caps and start brainstorming!

Answers to the tag lines above:
1) Tums 2) Roto-Rooter 3) Oil of Olay 4) Coca-Cola 5) Smuckers
6) Pork 7) M&Ms 8) KFC 9) Bounty 10) Alka-Seltzer

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Outlook Productivity Tips: Sharing Outlook Items
by Andrea Kalli

One quick and easy way to share individual contacts or appointments is to simply forward them via e-mail as attachments to people who need them. Outlook makes this easy to do within the Contact and Appointment forms via the Actions menu - simply click Forward. This quickly creates a new e-mail with the selected/open item included as an .msg attachment. Be careful though - you must make sure that Outlook is properly configured to send these attachments, or the recipient will receive the attachment as a blank message. For starters, make sure that the message format is set to Rich Text, and that Outlook does not convert Rich Text messages to HTML. (On the Tools menu, click Options. On the Mail Format tab, click Internet Format. Under Outlook Rich Text options, click Send using Outlook Rich Text format in the list.)

Lastly, if the person to whom you are sending is included in your Contacts folder, double-click their e-mail address in their contact to verify that Rich Text is chosen as the e-mail format.

A far better and easier option is to save contacts as vCard files (.vcf) and appointments as vCalendar (.vcs) or iCalendar (.ics) files. These formats are widely used by many e-mail and PIM (Personal Information Manager) applications other than Outlook and should be used instead of sending .msg files, especially if you are unsure what e-mail program the person you are sharing your information with is using. Outlook also includes the Forward as iCalendar and Forward as vCard commands on the Action menu to make it easy to send these files. For more information on the vCard, vCalendar, and iCalendar specifications, see vCard and vCalendar on the Internet Mail Consortium Web site. If you need to share a large number of contact or appointment items with other Outlook users, the best distribution mechanism is to export the contents of your Contacts or Calendar folder to a Personal Folders File (.pst). The Import and Export option on the File menu allows you to export all or a filtered subset of folder information, which can then be easily imported using the same wizard on another user's computer. Compressing this file with a utility like WinZip is a good idea if you need to e-mail the .pst file, as they can become quite large. You will also have to exit Outlook before you work with this file to release an exclusive lock that prevents it from being accessed.

For more information and a listing of third-party tools relating to contact and appointment items, see:
Contact Tools for Microsoft Outlook
Shared Address Books for Microsoft Outlook
Calendar Tools for Microsoft Outlook

Click here to view Andrea's helpful videos from these tips!
Andrea Kali is a virtual Trainer and virtual Assistant. Visit her website at virtualassist.net

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Misrepresentation
by Kathy Ritchie

I'd like to talk to you today about misrepresentation. By definition it's the giving of false or misleading representation of __________. It doesn't matter what the fill in the blank was or is it's all the same. It's not right.

Recently my husband and I bought an antique table. The clerk who sold it to us said she had purchased it in England and brought it back here. The style of the table is correct, however, she represented to me, my husband and my mother that the table was 1900-1920.

When we got it home, I began to polish it up, and we noticed that although it was gorgeous, there is no possibility of it being an antique as stated. The table was misrepresented to us.

This is an important and a good reminder to us all that we need to accurately represent our services, our skills, and the time it takes to do tasks. By misrepresenting our skills and offering a service we don't know how to do - and not saying that this service would be outsourced to one who does - is damaging not only to our own credibility but to the industry as a whole.

If you offer a service, and plan to outsource it, this should be stated clearly wherever this service is mentioned. Or, on your services section in your brochure, website or other materials, a notation should be placed that some services (being specific is better) will be outsourced to trusted colleagues.

Our industry is growing, and with it, our client base. Lets all be conscious of how we represent ourselves reflects on our industry. By accurate representation, the trust our clients have in us will continue to help grow our industry and we will all benefit.

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