As every day passes, more and more people are accessing EVERYTHING from their phones! If your company is not prepared to be accessed from a mobile device, then you are behind! Making your business mobile friendly is more important than ever.

Do the test! Pull up your website on your phone, or ask SIRI to locate your business. Did it work? How well?

 

Having your business on Google Maps and your website appearing correctly on mobile phones will get you seen by customers!

Want to learm more about local/ mobile marketing?

Join us May 15th from 12:00pm- 1:30om at the Half Shell Oyster House for our Plugged-in workshop. Click here to register!

 

 

Join us for our Pinterest Workshop

It's time to do some pinning!

By attending our workshop, you also receive a one-time free 45 minute business development coaching session with our certified coach to discuss your business plan on an individual basis.

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
12-1:30 PM
Half Shell Oyster House (1991 Main St.)

 

Buy any 5 workshops and get 20% OFF! 

Think Pinterest is just for women? Think again.

Find out why your business needs to be on Pinterest and how to create and execute a successful Pinterest strategy.

 

Every 2 weeks we will feature a new Business Development topic while you enjoy a phenomenal lunch in the Half Shell Oyster House private meeting room. This is also a great NETWORKING opportunity.

PRICE $20 Includes Workshop, Lunch, Beverage and Gratuity. 

Seating is limited so please reserve your spot in advance.

Vegetarian option available.

Register at www.destinyg.com/education

by Amanda Brooks

When you first start to promote your company's website, you can have a third party set up your ad words campaign. It's very easy and hassle free to begin with, but you may overlook the fact that it could cost substantially more.

 

Since you have no direct access to pay per click campaign when you are using a third party, it can result in up charges and additional fees. You HAVE to have access to your AdWords Campaign if you want to make sure that you are not overpaying. This can easily be accomplished by using Google AdWords.

 

One of our new clients recently took over her own AdWords Campaign and saved about 75% per click. Originally she was paying an average of $5 per click and now, since she has taken control of her own Google AdWords campaign, she is only paying an average of 88¢.

 

It is still okay, and recommended, to use a pay per click consultant or a company that has experience with Google AdWords campaigns, but make sure you have direct access to your campaign so you are not overpaying!

by Amanda Brooks

Wednesday, March 6, 2013
12-1:30 PM
Half Shell Oyster House (1991 Main St.)

Come learn what Google+ is and how using it can help your business grow and appear on the first page of Google!

Every 2 weeks we will feature a new Business Development topic while you enjoy a phenomenal lunch in the Half Shell Oyster House private meeting room. This is also a great NETWORKING opportunity.

PRICE $20 Includes Workshop, Lunch, Beverage and Gratuity.
Seating is limited so please reserve your spot in advance.
Vegetarian option available.

Register at www.destinyg.com/education

 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013
12-1:30 PM
Half Shell Oyster House (1991 Main St.)

Buy all 5 Social Media or SEO Workshops and get 20% OFF

Come learn about search engine optimization and how to market your company effectively online.

Every 2 weeks we will feature a new Business Development topic while you enjoy a phenomenal lunch in the Half Shell Oyster House private meeting room. This is also a great NETWORKING opportunity.

PRICE $20 Includes Workshop, Lunch, Beverage and Gratuity.
Seating is limited so please reserve your spot in advance.
Vegetarian option available.

Register at www.destinyg.com/education

by Gabriel Marguglio

 

 

Our first workshop was a full house and a great success! Get ready, because there are more to come!

Every 2 weeks we will feature a new Business Development topic while you enjoy a phenomenal lunch in the Half Shell Oyster House private meeting room. This is also a great NETWORKING opportunity.

 

 

by Amanda Brooks

Wow — you guys were a great group today! We loved hearing your insightful questions and talking more about blogging with you. Remember, consistency is key. Make sure to blog on a regular basis for all of the awesome SEO benefits we talked about. Also, have fun with it and make sure to use compelling images and title text to draw people to your posts. And duh, share it on social media. 

We can't wait to see you at our next seminar on Fri., Nov. 2 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

 

PRICE $ 17  Includes Workshop, Lunch, Beverage and Gratuity.

 

Click on the button below to reserve your spot!

                 

Our next Plugged-in Lunch Networking Workshop at the Half Shell Oyster House will be Wednesday Sep 12th at 12pm. Every 2 weeks we feature a new Business Development topic while you enjoy a phenomenal lunch in the Half Shell Oyster House private meeting room.

 

5 Simple guidelines that will help your on page SEO.  With the recent Penguin update these factors have only become more important than before.  Everybody knows not to use use duplicate content.  Duplicate content includes the Page Title and Meta Description, not just the text on the page.  There are many free tools available online to help check these factors very quickly.  With Joomla websites we use some of these tools as well as Joomla components that allow you to change your titles and meta tags on the front end.   The following recommendations fall within Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

1) Is every page URL in your site search engine friendly ?

Good Example : http://www.destinyg.com/web/website-packages
Bad Example : http://www.destinyg.com/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&id=89&Itemid=509

2) META Title Tag - Should be Unique and Relevant to the page and limited to 70 Characters.  Anything over 150 characters may be truncated and not appear in a search engine result.

3) META Description Tag - Should be Unique and Relevant to the page and limited to 150 Characters.  Anything over 150 characters may be truncated and not appear in a search engine result.  90% of the time this “Description” is what will be displayed when your website is found in a search.  This is your “marketing message” for that invidual page!

4) META Keywords - Should be Focused / Relevant to the page AND limited to 10 keyword phrases - anything over 10 may be ignored by search engines and considered keyword stuffing.

5) Internal/External Links - Should be less than 100 per page.  Excessive links on any given page may lower the page “score” for ranking.  See the Penguin Update blog for an explanation.

Google released the Penguin Update on April 24th which is aimed to combat "spammy" web pages. If your site is over optimized it may be affected by this update. The update addresses website content & back links:

Content: Each individual page must be Unique and Duplicate Content across your pages should be avoided at all costs. Keyword stuffing & keyword cloaking will result in penalties and lower rankings. When you look at (read) any page in your site, does it sound 'natural' or is the same information repeated with slight variation? Is ALL of the content on your page about one specific topic or "keyword phrase" ? As an example we always tell clients to make their blogs very focused on one subject/topic because each blog entry is a single page in the eyes of search engines - each blog has its own url. This is why properly structured blogs rank so well and generally very quickly. By making each individual page in your site about one topic/subject/keyword phrase you are not only making it easy for a site visitor to know what the page is about, you are making it easy for SEARCH ENGINES to know what the page is about and you will be ranked accordingly. The goal has been and will always be: Readable, Quality, Focused Content.

Backlinks: Anchor Text vs. Link Source : The penguin update appears to be assigning more "Quality" to the Link Source as opposed to the Anchor Text and for good reason. It has always been relatively easy to manipulate the anchor text of a link, which until now has always been an important factor in Ranking Results(SERP). With todays technology it is easier to determine the "Quality" and "Relevance" of a site that a link originates from. It is more difficult to manipulate the source of al link so more WEIGHT is being given to Link Source vs Anchor Text. Many Link Building companies will continue to come with creative ways to get around this latest update and will often get results - until the next update. You can take the rollercoaster route OR you can simply go after Quality Link Sources , ideally within your niche. One of the best places to find these links is your top ranking competitors. If your competitor has better ranking for a given keyword, chances are they have more QUALITY links than you do. Reverse engineering competitors linking strategies has been a tried and true technique for years and this will not change any time soon.

How can you tell if your site took a "hit" ? By looking at your "Search" traffic between April 15 and April 30th. If there is a drop of more than 20%, chances are good that your site needs to be adjusted. If you are an SEO client, we are already evaluating your site through analytics and webmasters to see if any adjustments need to be made. Over the past 30 days we have also been updating the following for all SEO clients : Page Titles, Meta Description, Meta Tags. This was done in anticipation of the Penguin Update. If you have any questions or concerns about your website and the recent Google update please contact us.

Mark Baker from Shuhari Martial Arts explains how his new website is working better for him and keeps bringing new customers to his Karate Dojo. Learn More about Shuhari Martial Arts at www.shuharimartialarts.com

 

 

Shuhari's new website comes up in the first page of google with several related keywords in the necessary areas or interest. This not only brings more customers but also got the attention from ABC7 News and they contacted the dojo to do a story about Self Defense showcasing Mark Baker and Shuhari.  Check the video bellow... ABC7 reporters searched "Self Defense Sarasota" on Google and Shuhari came up several times on the first page, check the results by clicking on this link.

 

Google admitted today that search spam has increased in recent months, and the search giant has outlined its plan to combat spam and the rise of “content farms.”

Google search quality and SEO czar Matt Cutts published a detailed piece on the Google Blog regarding the company’s efforts to improve the quality of its search results. He starts off admitting what we’ve been suspecting for months: there are more spammers trying to scam unsuspecting Googlers.

“Today, English-language spam in Google’s results is less than half what it was five years ago, and spam in most other languages is even lower than in English,” Cutts said. “However, we have seen a slight uptick of spam in recent months, and while we’ve already made progress, we have new efforts underway to continue to improve our search quality.”

Cutts makes it clear that webspam refers to the junk that appears in search results when websites try to cheat their way to a higher position. With the launch of the new version of its search engine, Google Caffeine, Google has been indexing more content than before, including spam.

“As we’ve increased both our size and freshness in recent months, we’ve naturally indexed a lot of good content and some spam as well,” Cutts explained. “To respond to that challenge, we recently launched a redesigned document-level classifier that makes it harder for spammy on-page content to rank highly.”

read more at: http://mashable.com/2011/01/21/google-combat-search-spam/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+Mashable+(Mashable)

Once again Google's results are showing up differently.  The google local listings are now displaying throughout the traditional search result page with reviews, images, videos. The google map that used to be in the center area at the top is now on the right hand side. When you scroll down looking at results, the map follows you down the page and overlays over top of sponsored listings.  Review sites have been receiving tremendous weight in the engines and have also helped local listings rank in the map area.  The results are changed once again.

 

If you haven't claimed your local listing yet or become a Google place, its time to do so.  Results are favoring local small businesses. (click here to learn how to add your business on Google Local Maps)


We have noticed a change in how Google is displaying the search results for certain cityname+keyword searches. For those of you who often search for something that includes a location (or a city name) along with a keyword, you might be interested in how Google is changing the search results.

Here is a screen shot of the search results change:

From time to time, Google does experiment with the search results pages at their search engine. The fact that the search results are now featuring the Google Map image on the right side, where we would normally see Google AdWords ads, is a major change for Google. Furthermore, we typically have not seen Google actually “hide” the Google paid ads like they are doing here. The Google Map image actually stays in view and hides the Google AdWords ads when you scroll down the page.


Here is a screen shot of the Ads hidden by the map:

Google now displays your current location on the left side of the search results and you can actually change it, so this is getting more and more interesting.

Results are favoring local small businesses and organic searches instead of the Ads so this is a great change. Get your local listing and promote your business thru Search Engine Optimization to increase your Organic visibility, Google Adwords keeps loosing importance.

Where: The Center for Arts and Humanity (SCOPE) 1226 North Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34236 Driving Directions When: June 28, 2010 at 05:30 PM -to- June 28, 2010 at 07:30 PM Add to my calendar   Questions? Contact Mary Anne Bowie at 941.321.0424 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   I look forward to seeing you at Paperless Promotions. Send one or more people from your business to absorb this amazing knowledge.           Mary Anne  Greetings! Green Connection US wants to help you harness the power of the Internet by building your brand through the use of websites, micro sites, social media marketing and more. Join us on Monday, June 28 at 5 p.m. for networking and light refreshments; program begins at 5:30. You will learn how to engage your audience and build relationships through paperless promotion. We are no longer in a world of "build it and they will come." Stay in front of your competition and be informed of all the Internet has to offer with SEO/SEM, Digital PR, Social Media Marketing and more. The experts at New World Collaborative will share the latest and most effective techniques used by small (and large) businesses to build brand awareness, overall visibility and ACTION from prospects and clients using tactics that are guided by a well thought out strategy.   Your Host: Mary Anne Bowie, Executive Director, Green Connection US New World Collaborative Speakers: Elizabeth Blair, Webjunkees Gabriel Marguglio, Destiny Technologies Gayle Williams, Vision PR & Marketing Veronica Pastore, Vision PR & Marketing Food and light refreshments will be provided. Everyone is invited. Click to Register Now! Price: $25

First let me say, I am not a Web developer. But I hire individuals and teams that develop knock-out, highly effective Web sites for my clients. If there is one thing I have learned its that you take a huge risk - and more often make an even bigger mistake - when you hire someone who does not have a multidisciplinary skill base.

What do I mean? Let me paint some pictures for you.

If you hire a  "computer guy" who can code anything you want you might have all the bells and whistles OR you might end up with a dull template site that functions reasonably well. It might cost you a bundle, or it might be a $250 quick job, but it is unlikely to have the sophisticated design that will resonate with your graphic brand standards. Be careful, though, because all that custom code might be proprietary and then you are tied to that programmer for the life of your website., So, you hire a graphic designer that knows how to design a web site.  OK. It will look GORGEOUS.  But what about the content?  Is it likely to have calls to action and urge a response (sales or whatever) from your readers?  Will it be able to capture names and emails of your visitors?  How about E-commerce or online donations?  Maybe you are better off with the programmer? Or you can get these two to work together.

But there's that whole idea of the Web site as a marketing tool?  You want it to pay for itself with online advertising and E-commerce.  You certainly want to capture the contact information for prospects.  And if you found a marketing person - or even an Internet Marketing pro who knows about SEO (search engine optimization) - maybe you can really get some new customers out of it.  But most marketing folks are neither programmers nor designers.

And what's that last skill set you think would be valuable here?  You guessed it. PR.  They way a PR pro sees it, a website is a new channel through which to communicate with various publics - clients, prospects, the broader community, the media, suppliers, investors, and the list goes on. What's even better is that you can easily customize and post information, photos, videos, etc. And don't get me started on the integration of social media with your website. It's a natural for PR professionals.

I urge you to really look at your web developer or your web strategy team. Where are their strengths? Their weaknesses?  Who do you need to bring in to get your Web site and web strategies in line and working optimally?

Gayle Williams Vision PR & Marketing
www.visionprm.com

Original Blog Post:  http://www.visionprm.com/blog/looking-for-a-web-developer-core-competencies

• 300,000+ business have a presence on facebook
• Participants in online communities usually spend more $ online.
• 70% of companies plan to increase investment in social media by an average of 40% in 2010.
• Social media = Low Cost Marketing + Getting Traction
• Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI

What do you think about social media?  Share your story and if you need more information on how social media can help your business grow please call us at 1(866) 388-2697, or click here to contact us.

You can start by checking these sites:

• facebook
• twitter
• youtube
• tumblr
• myspace

Thanks
Destiny

Draw traffic to your website using Twitter:

Every time you have a new product, a new services, a special or anything that might be useful for your customers you should communicate that to your followers on Twitter. There's a chance they will click on it and go to your site to read more about it and that generates more traffic to your site.

Follow your brand and products on Twitter:

Twitter has become one of the best tools to see what people think about your brand and products, competitors and keywords related to your business. This allows you to reply to any concerns immediately and really know what is what people is saying about these issues.
You can use Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com) to find your brand on twitter and subscribe thru RSS Feed to get updates of that search.

Use favorites in Twitter as your Testimonials:

Mark all good comments about your company and products in Twitter as Favorites and then use this as a new source of Testimonials. This is done thru the STAR icon on the top-right of every tweet.

Be the expert and leader on your area:

Use twitter to help other people, send tips, recommendations, and valuable links thru Twitter. This will help improve the credibility and image of the brand and company on twitter.

Use Twitter as a customer service tool:

• Reply to all comments about your company and brand:  Designate a person in your company to check search.twitter.com every day and if there are questions or issues about your products reply to them as soon as possible. This will help keep the image of your company and your customers happy thru good customer service.
• Use twitter to let people know your site or blog is under maintenance or down: This will help communicate this to a lot of people very easily and fast.

A few months ago YouTube announced that organizations that are in the YouTube Nonprofit Program would be able to use the overlay advertising feature to create donation links. They call the feature “Call To Action”. While this feature was nice, it was really limiting. In addition to only appearing in a very limited way on the video, it only works on YouTube and not when you embed the video on other sites.

The good news is that now, Nonprofits that are part of the YT Nonprofit Program, will have the ability to create links to an EXTERNAL WEBSITE (not only youtube videos). All they’ll have to do, when creating an annotation, is click the “link” symbol and select “external link”. Then they’ll be able to link to external sites right from the annotation. Better still, these annotations should show up on embedded videos.

If you still aren’t sure what all of this means, it means that nonprofit YouTube videos can have buttons built into the videos that say DONATE NOW or SIGN THE PETITION and these buttons will work—they will link to any site you point them to. You can even go back to all your old videos that are on YouTube and make your logo into a clickable link, add annotations to donate with a link, and otherwise make your video into a center of engagement. This is now, by far, the most important reason to be in the YouTube Nonprofit Program.

People who watch videos on YouTube are very likely to do one thing when they are done…watch another video on YouTube. Not any more. With this new feature, YouTube can become a center for creating effective calls to action and engagement.

If you need more information about the Youtube Nonprofit Program click here to contact us or go to the youtube nonprofit website.

Here's a video we found explaining and showing this featured working:

Original Blog post:  beth.typepad.com

Having a Blog inside your website and blogging often, will help you with your online positioning.

How is this possible?

• If your Blog is inside your website (in the same domain and structure of your site), every time you create a blog entry, a new page is created for the site (a new potential indexed page by google).
• On the other hand if you keep your website updated google will come back more often to you for new information.
• Let say now that you also assigned tags to that blog entry, now every one of the old tags you assigned (which was a page by itself) is going to be updated and also all the new tags you created for this specific blog entry will be created as another new page.

So as you can see, a simple blog entry could make your website grow exponentially and keep your pages updated, both things google and the other search engines love.

Blog every day if you can!!! and remember to asign tags... Also remember, an external blog (not inside your domain) will only generate inbound links from the outside (which is fine and you also need) but those keywords, tags, copy, etc will not be taken as content inside your site.

Lets get Blogging...