Archive for March 31, 2010

31 Mar 2010
internet marketing • seo • small business

To Go Mobile or Not To Go Mobile


Alas, that is the question many business website owners are asking themselves these days.

Here’s a great article by Moore Design Solutions that may inspire you and help you with your decision. 

Mobile Browsing: Get on Board or Stay Behind

The Days of Being Tethered to a Desktop Computer are Gone.

Desktop Version of a Website is Not Suitable For Mobile Devices

Every business should consider a mobile version of their company website. The full desktop version of a website is intended for large monitors and is definitely necessary for an online presence, however it is too large for handheld devices.

Catch Them If You Can

People are on the go and using their mobile devices more and more to access the web for services and products. To make sure to capture the traffic from mobile devices, businesses should have a mobile version of their company website.

In addition, people are using their mobile browser more often than their desktop PC to read and respond to their email messages. In fact, communication via social media communities like Facebook instead of using the traditional email method is clearly on the rise. Social networking is a big factor in driving the growth of mobile browsing.

They Don’t Leave Home Without It

Check out these statistics:

  • 82% of Americans never leave home without bringing their mobile device.
    – Synovate, September 2009
  • The number of smartphone subscribers increased 72% quarter-over-quarter, growing from 15 million subscribers in Q2 2008 to 26 million in Q2 2009
    – NielsenWire, September 2009
  • Smartphone users are expected to increase four-fold by 2013
    – In-Stat, March 2009

People of all ages using mobile browsing to find services and purchase products via a mobile device are expected to double in 2010.

Bottom line: Every business should have a mobile version of their main website to capture the ever increasing traffic via mobile browsing.


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , ,
28 Mar 2010
internet marketing • seo • small business

Creating Websites That Work


It’s true that many website designers are not SEO webmasters and vice versa.  I never call myself a website designer.  Although I know how to take websites apart and put them back together.  Those skills do not make me a designer.

But, if you’re a website designer, there is no reason why you shouldn’t, or couldn’t create websites for your customers that can eventually be marketed on the Internet.  Not only will your customers reap the rewards of a website that works FOR them, but you will also reap the rewards of referrals from your customers as well as additional work from your customers!  Can’t get more win-win than that!

One of my favourite blogs, SEO Design Solutions came up with 10 tips on how to build a website with SEO in mind…

  1. Start with a theme (meaning your market and the top level keywords).
  2. Use Keyword Research to build that theme into the site navigation, internal links, tags and naming conventions.
  3. Determine what the tipping point is for the top 5 competitors and exceed them using time-released content.
  4. Leverage internal links to select preferred landing pages.
  5. Build a stable base of off page links from trusted sources first, and then ensure a fresh supply of relevant ongoing links.
  6. Build pages properly the first time “optimal” using a pliable CMS system which does all the SEO / heavy lifting by default.
  7. Use keyword research to integrate less competitive keywords (branches of the root phrase) into supporting posts, pages and off page content (then go back to point #3).
  8. Keep site architecture flat and make sure to link to a sitemap for that segment of the site (if you use categories).
  9. Make changes to older / trusted pages – If ranking priorities change, go back and edit and add additional links and content to leverage pages 4 months or older to link to new pages with supporting keywords.
  10. Measure the results and rinse and repeat.

Granted, some of these are the responsibility of the SEO webmaster, but as a designer you should be aware of what will be happening with the website you created.


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , ,
05 Mar 2010
internet marketing • social media

Google’s Idea Of How We’ll Acess The Internet


In an article at The Register, “Google’s European sales chief says that desktop PCs will be “irrelevant” in three years.”.

Why should we care what the “European sales chief” says?  Well, considering the fact that Europe (and Asia) are 3 years ahead of the United States in mobile technology, we can safely assume that this “European sales chief” knows what he is talking about.  He’s already seen the amazing usage and expansion of mobile and tablet pc’s – he sees it every day.

The United States is just starting to get into that market but yet, I’m sure that even if you don’t use a mobile phone or tablet PC, that you know at least ONE person who does.  So, even though we are just beginning to see the impact of mobile Internet, as someone once said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

So, as a small business owner, as a website owner, how are you going to leverage your company to take advantage of this trend?  After all, if Google thinks it’s the wave of the future, the chances are it most likely will be.  So, what are you going to do?  How can you take advantage of it?  How can you use it?

Here are some thoughts…

1) Don’t wait any longer to go mobile.  If you haven’t yet made sure that your website is easily accessible by mobile users, don’t wait anymore.  Get your designer on the task immediately.

2) Think Global.  In many rural areas across the globe, mobile is cheaper and easier to get.  This means the number of people going online is increasing much faster with mobile usage.  If your product or service reaches a global audience, make sure you’re addressing the needs of each culture so that you can take advantage of global sales.

3) Think Local.  The benefits of mobile and local businesses is tremendous.  In order to take advantage of this you must position yourself in all the local maps and directories.  I’m talking about Google Maps, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps.  I’m talking about Yelp and Foursquare.  If you want to be found my local customers, make sure they can find you from their mobile phones.  Again put your designer or seo firm on this task.

4) Go Social.  Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are just some of the social media program you must take advantage of.  This is how you “go viral”.  One person talks about you and passes it on to their friends, etc.  The great surge of usage of social media programs is from mobile units.  Take advantage of this by putting yourself in front of all those people.

Mobile and tablet technologies are not going away, they’re coming and they’re coming fast.  Be pro-active and begin the process of getting your business ready for this technology.  You’ll be better off for it.


Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

eckweb | One comment | Tags: , , , , ,
01 Mar 2010
internet marketing • small business • social media

Some Interesting Facts About The Internet


Every once in a while an interesting set of facts get put together in a somewhat entertaning manner – this video is one of them.


eckweb | No comments | Tags: ,