Website Design and SEO Blog by Malcom Chakery

Recently, Google Analytics has made some exciting new changes sure to delight anyone who uses their services on a regular basis. These changes include a plethora of features designed to make Google Analytics even more user friendly to the business website. And while all the quirks of the upgrades may not be 100% eradicated (and new web product is ever 100% bug free when it is initially released?), that should not hold one back from taking advantage of the great features now available.

So what are these new features available on Google Analytics? Check this out!

· Users can have up to 20 different dashboards and each dashboard can have up to  12 widgets

· Users can set interaction goals like tracking, optimizing file downloads or how many videos are viewed.

· Graphing and comparing metrics over a set time frame

· Toggling between profiles and sites while focusing on a specific report

In addition to these great new features, Google is also working on these options:

· Exporting reports to PDFs

· Emailing reports

· Migrating reports from the old analytics system  to the new one

· Linking new AdWords and AdSense accounts to the upgraded analytics system

· Scheduling e-mails

· In-Page Analytics (a report that lets you see how guests use your website, see what they are clicking on and learn how your site is meeting their needs)

These changes come in addition to new sources for increased exposure through social sites such as Quora, GoWalla and Plixi. These personal networking sites allow you to drive traffic to your site as well as increasing opportunities for exposure and conversion rates. If these sites are unfamiliar to you, don’t fear. According to Website Magazine, they definitely have value as places that drive traffic to your site. Other places you may want to consider for getting website exposure are:

· Pulse.yahoo.com

· Classmates.com

· CafeMom.com

· Fanpop.com

· FormSpring.me

· Circleofmoms.com

· Fotolog.com

· Woome.com

So, what about you? Are you ready to make the Google switch? Why not take a few minutes to check out the new and improved Google Analytics and see what it can do you for you!

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com orwww.chakeryseo.com. Or feel free to call 1-855-CHAKERY.

We have all heard it said, “Content is King”. But how can you keep up with the growing needs of your business, family obligations and other elements of life and yet still keep your website content fresh and interesting? Here are several ways suggested from Peter Prestipino’s book Web 360 to help you keep King Content happy.

1. Repurpose and curate- If you are not an expert on the topic, then you may wish     to use other people’s material (be sure to get permission) on their site. One way     to collect this information is through RSS feeds.

2. The expert approach-If you are an expert of the topic, share your knowledge         with others in weekly/monthly (whatever works for you) in a blog post.

3. Create a company newsletter. If you already have one, then you can just post       it on your website.

4. Set up a weblog for your company. This allows content to be shown in                 reverse order and keeps everyone up to date with what is happening.

5. Press releases and link bait- A press release lets people know what is new and      exciting at your company. Link bait is any article that you post on your site that    results in other sites linking to it.

If writing isn’t your “thing”, don’t despair. You can still generate content for       your website. Here are some quick ways to have new content on a regular basis     with little or no keystrokes.

1. Create video or screencast. Use a webcam and record messages on topics             related to your site, services and products that you post to your site. Add a         brief description and Viola! You have content.

2. Do a podcast of you interviewing a pleased customer or an expert in the field         that you can post to your site.

3. Hire a copywriter who is proficient in SEO and have them provide blog post,           newsletters, etc.

4. Add pictures of new products; include a brief description that uses your                 keywords.

5. The user-generated method- Today’s Web is all about user –experience, set up      a forum to allow guests to interact with each as well as with yourself or                employees you designate.

Keep your website new and exciting by being sure to have plenty of interesting content. Do it yourself or hire it out, but keeping King Content happy is a great way to keep you –and your site users- happy as well.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, 

Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com orwww.chakeryseo.com

.

By now, you have likely realized that one of the best ways to give exposure to your company, without investing huge amounts of money in advertising, is social media. So, if you have taken the plunge and had a custom Facebook or Twitter design created, you now want to utilize it to the fullest potential. Recently, Mashable.com offered some tips for marketing your business through social media sites. Here is a recap of some  their ideas:

1. Show your human side. Be sure that comments and tweets sound like they come from a real person, not just some computer generated info. Have someone (perhaps a team of people) whose job is to keep post fresh an interesting. In addition, don’t stress out if there is a typo or misspelled name on the page. Simply post a note saying “Oops” and correct the error. This lets others know you are human. J

2. Have goal or focus group that you want to reach with your social media site. Thinking about this before you begin interacting online will save time in the long run and help build your brand as well.

3. Interact-Listen and respond to what your fans and followers are saying. Be sure to respond to questions and comments. This is a great way to let people know they are important to you. Also, it will allow you to deal with any negative situations before they result in a lack of business.

Have good content.  Don’t just focus on interacting with your fan base, provide them with something interesting to look at, read, listen to, etc. Consider using polls to find out what your followers are thinking about or are looking for.

Be sure you understand the differences in platforms. Twitter is best for basic customer inquiries, saying thanks, brand updates and basic conversational dialogue. Facebook is more like a community and is great for announcements. For many businesses, Twitter allows for more conversation than Facebook, which is why you see so many businesses, television programs and celebrities using it.

So, be social and build your business online. Whether you do all the communication yourself or have a team do the social media for you, you will be amazed at how something so relatively simple can make such a big difference in promoting your company.

About the author

In their ever-changing effort to make the world’s most popular search engine more useful, the good people at Google are unveiling the new feature today that might seem familiar to a lot of users: a “+1” button that appears next to search results and sponsored ads.

What is the +1 change all about? Similar to Facebook’s “like this,” it’s a chance for searchers to note a result that they find particularly helpful, and to share that opinion with others in their (for now) Gmail network. In other words, when you click on +1, your contacts can see it if they run across the same search result. What’s more, Google plans to start compiling +1’s, possibly for integration into their search algorithm. Eventually, more +1’s will likely mean a more relevant site and better search positioning.

For Google, this is a great move. Not only does it add the possibility that searches will become more efficient, since people can now essentially “vote” on which sites and pages are most helpful, but it also makes the world’s largest search engine more social. Facebook and Twitter already offer similar options, and this is a smart way for Google to join the game. Additionally, it could make ads more valuable, as users can +1 those as well, giving certain marketers better exposure.

Only time will tell how +1 is going to shake out, but it certainly adds a new and interesting dimension to search engine optimization. By bringing users directly into the mix and asking for their opinions in a way that goes beyond simply finding out where they collect and spend their time, Google is essentially furthering their trend of rewarding sites with interesting, relevant content that’s written for people… not search engine spiders.

SEO is changing all the time, and mostly for the better. By giving users another tool to find what they’re actually looking for, what Google is really doing is giving you +1 ways to stand out in the crowd.

Tired of search engine optimization talk and want to start seeing results on Google, Yahoo, and Bing? Contact Chakery Web Design & SEO for a free consultation today!

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com orwww.chakeryseo.com.

Have you been posting articles on your favorite sites, or writing blog post but have not seen any increases in revenue, site guests or SERPs in the past few weeks? If so, don’t despair. At the end of February, Google changed their algorithm, which affected websites of every type and size. This algorithm, dubbed by many as Farmer, is designed to weed out sites where there is an abundance of duplicate and less than stellar quality content. As a result, many site owners saw a significant downslide in revenue and a lowering in page rank.

When asked, Amit Singhal  of Google, explained that the weeding determinations were made by sending  questionnaires to testers and asking them to rate sites based on questions such as “ Would they be willing to share their credit card ?”, “Did they feel there were more ads than content?” and “Do you feel that this site is authoritative?” Once they had their answers, Google made changes.

These changes mean that website content providers, bloggers and those writing link articles will have to work harder to improve site rank. To fail to do so, will mean one’s site(s) will rank low. If you are one of the 1,000’s who were affected, you may be wondering how to climb back up the page rank ladder. Here are several steps to help you recover:

· Trash any web content that does not add site value.

· Protect what is yours. If you run across content that was unique to your site on  another page, run a WHOIS search to locate the site host is, then firmly request that your material be removed from the site.

· Be creative! While imitation may be the highest form of flattery this not so on the web. Write original articles and blog posts so that your site will stand out from the crowd-not blend in at the bottom of the list.

By making just a few changes in your style, before you know it, you can soon be back where you were before the “Farmer” weeded the Web.

About the author