Here are ten super quick ways of getting your website out there and clicked on. The number one excuse I hear from business owners is "I don't have enough time to do that". So let me offer ten "5 minutes or less" solutions.

10. Connecting your blog/site to Linked-In. You can add a link to your website directly in your profile or you can add the Blog Link Application which will import your most recent posts right into your profile!

9.  Connecting your blog/site to Twitter. Twitter's profile allows you to connect to one website but to get better results consider adding a blog feed. I use Twitter Feed.

8.  Connecting your blog/site to Facebook. Same as Linked-In. You can add your site to your profile or you can import notes from your blog here.

7.  Creating a company profile on Linked-In. Linked-In has opened a beta version of company profiles. You can easily add a blog and website here too. Check it out.

6.  Checking your company profile at GetListed.org GetListed is a neat little service that will let you check for company profiles on major search engines. It make take more than 5 minutes to add yourself to each one, but it will only take 30 seconds to check your listing information.

5.  Responding to one blog post with your website connected. If you are reading other people's blogs or even news articles, take the time to comment. Even if the comment doesn't have to do with your industry, you could still drive traffic. I know I look at the website of everyone who comments on my posts. Most comment sections ask for your name, email and website. So add it!

4.  Adding one relevant "back-link" to your next post. If you blog regularly, or even occasionally, add a link for "further reading" at the bottom. You don't need to explain it, but an extra link will usually bring by the author to check you out or if you link internally, keep your readers clicking.

3.  Putting your web address or blog in your email signature. More people click on email links than you think. I do it all the time. Especially if there's some catchy phrase or description attached like: Wanna see how I help companies market themselves online? Instead of just www.howImarketonline...

2.  Submitting your site to review. Plenty of websites exist strictly to review other sites and they can drive a ton of traffic. Submit yourself to Technorati or Coolsiteoftheday. It takes about 2 minutes to send your information in.

1.  Writing a 3 sentence review. Marketing sites say that people are more likely to trust customer reviews than just about any other form of advertisement. Take a minute to review one of your partners or competitors and include a backlink. Try Google or Yahoo for the most-read reviews.

What brings you the most traffic?

Image by Burning Image

Just a quick link to a neat tool I found through Page Traffic yesterday. Check out GetListed.org. When you are first adding links to your website, the best place to start is on local business pages. GetListed can show you, in a matter of seconds, if your business shows up on the most common of these pages: Google, Yahoo, WindowsLive, and Best of the Web.

Even if you have optimized your site, take a moment to make sure your listings are current!

So I've been invited to speak on SEO for the Dallas Speaker's Co-op. I wanted to share what was talking about.

Listen Here

This podcast just covered some of the basic SEO dos and don'ts:

• First, Google breaks SEO into 4 categories: Keywords, Links, Coding and Content
• Keywords: make sure they are relevant, do research or buy a program or better yet pay someone with SEO background
• Links: Its all a popularity contest. Google wants to know who you know, who knows you and how many people they know. Any link is great, find directories, local searches, organizations and other similar sites.
• Coding: Stay updated, keep your coding clean and well labeled.
• Content: Not too much, not too little. Make sure you use keywords in your copy, but also stay interesting to your readers.
• Don't have a page just of "cool links". This is spam.
• Don't put invisible text on your site. Never. This is bad.
• Don't have a template website. They are very difficult to optimize. Pay for a real website.
• Don't repeat content either on your site or copy text to other sites. It will just be considered a duplicate and won't count for anything.
• Blog!
• Experiment with social media, any traffic, extra links will help your site.
• Think about your SEO goals: what is most important?
• Answer these 3 questions:

1. What goals do you have for your web presence?
2. Why is this important?
3. How are you going to accomplish this?

Far too often I meet small business owners without websites. I'm incredulous. I immediately ask "Why?" Often I hear this: "Why should I spend money on a site no one will look at?"

I'm floored that so many business owners still think only big businesses need a website. To me, the internet exists for small businesses. People want to buy from local businesses! They are often cheaper, have better customer service and often fill a niche. Kroger may offer meat when you need it but sometimes you want that perfect type of fish, rare enough not to be stocked in the big stores... or you may have a thing for German pop music and the selection at Virgin Music will probably not be very big. Thus, the need for local, niche business.

The great thing about the internet is that now, if you own a niche, people across the globe can find you! Niche websites have practically become a buzz word in internet marketing circles. iMedia says that people are moving away from portals in favor of blogs and websites revolving around their particular interests. This trend is called The Long Tail effect. Chris Anderson coined the term and wrote an interesting article back in 2004 all about it. What it boils down to is that mainstream isn't the entire pie, there is a huge market out there for what's not "popular". Everyone has their distinct needs and interests.

Chris has a book and a blog that go into more detail about what The Long Tail is and how it effects business. Its worth checking out.

I'm curious if anyone has experienced the niche effect, like receiving internet business from across the country. I'd love to spotlight some cases, let me know if you have one.

Blogs are old news compared to Twitter. Micro-blogging they call it. In other words, all your thoughts in less than 140 letters. This means updates are short and sweet but can happen multiple times in a day. Sure, there are plenty of people who use twitter to give you their 5-minute biological update but its also an amazing networking tools where you can comment and respond to the instant thoughts of another company, or get your customers to respond to you. Unlike blogs which often revolve around a theme, twitter can be a more personal way for your target audience to access you.

Business week surveyed twitter users through their own twitter account. Check out the article which revolves around these questions:

• Is Twitter a fad, a feature, or a growing giant?

• How are businesses using Twitter?

• What is Twitter worth?

• A fourth question, implicit in the whole exercise: Should we all be Twittering?

If you are considering using twitter, think very carefully. Are you ready to be frank about your company and its processes? Honesty can build your company name even globally but be prepared to step out and find your followers.

I will admit, that there are so many programs and paths on the internet to reach your customers. My whole business involves me sitting in front of a computer but not everyone has the time or ability to do this. Evaluate your options and your market and choose the options that will be the most effective for your company. Of course, I'm always available to discuss these options and help you with that decision. Always feel free to shoot me an email: kat@veribatim.com

It's about time I talked about blogs. If you are reading this, you are obviously aware of them, and have at least a vague idea of what one is and why you should consider having one. Type Blog into google and you will find hundreds of sites that offer them. Wiki says Blogs started as online journals of people's personal experiences in life that they wanted to share. But that evolved. More and more people are writing blogs and more people are reading them, at least occasionally. There are personal blogs, niche blogs, political blogs, business blogs and anything else you can imagine. There are even photoblogs that don't even contain words.

The heart of the matter, of course, is why should you get one for your business? The great thing about adding a blog to your website is that it is possibly THE BEST way to optimize your website. Blogs contain their own keywords, they are an application, they provide new links and they add verbal content. This means they cover all four major areas that SEO wants to hit. That alone should make them worth it!

Plus blogs are fun. This is a personal, creative way to access your customers. Provide insight, samples, discounts in your blogs. List where you will be at so people can meet you. Make yourself available through a blog so your clients feel like they know the "real" you. You don't need to be pretentious, write what comes naturally and people will enjoy it.

If you are interested in learning more about Blogs and ways it can help your business, I have started a new social networking website with Ning.com. This site will highlight blogs and link to ones that are helpful as well as link you to other people interested in using the internet more effectively. Check it out: Word of Net.

First of all, magic number of the day: 67.

Google hit an all time high recently. They accounted for 67.9% of all web searches. Which just goes to show, advertising with someone who can put you on 30 search engines... not the best way to use your resources.

NEW STUFF:

Over with the links, under blogroll, I've listed Blogs I've Helped With. Right now there are two. These are people who I suggested getting a blog to or physically helped them set it up. Right now we have Joan Cole who has a neat project she's blogging about, her new green dream home. Also, I linked to Big Al. Big Al creates delicious Texas BBQ rubs. He has information about himself and his products and is planning to list meat-tastings and other events. Check them out!

Last but not least, if you haven't seen Twitter. Check it out. I'm sure I'll blog about it soon. But if you interested, you can find me there.