Websitetology

While many businesses are spending their time worrying about getting on the top of Google, YouTube has been sneaking up to be the number 2 search engine knocking Yahoo to number 3.

From the New York Times:

And now YouTube, conceived as a video hosting and sharing site, has become a bona fide search tool. Searches on it in the United States recently edged out those on Yahoo, which had long been the No. 2 search engine, behind Google. Google, incidentally, owns YouTube. In November, Americans conducted nearly 2.8 billion searches on YouTube, about 200 million more than on Yahoo, according to comScore.

via Ping – At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool. – NYTimes.com.

Some enterprising businesses have started creating video sales pitches that are a great way to build confidence in their expertise and knowledge about their products. Recently when looking for comparison sites for large format color laser printers, they came up top in Google search for both their site and their videos:

So fire up the video cameras and start building a YouTube channel for your business and integrate your video into your site.

Websitetology  is a seminar about using the web for successfully making new business connections. We teach how the web works, how search works, and how to use open source content management systems like WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal to help you make a successful home on the web.

Conventional advertising and branding is suffering from the effects of over-exposure and fragmentation. The key is to find a community and build relationships. This story of how a small winery employed social media to grow their business is a perfect example of what we teach:

Stormhoek was a tiny South African winery when the company began working with UK blogger Hugh MacLeod to develop a social media strategy. MacLeod started working with Stormhoek in May of 2005, and by the end of the year, the winery’s sales had doubled. Besides dipping its toes in the blogging waters, in 2005, Stormhoek also launched an interesting campaign where it gave away 100 free bottles of wine to 100 bloggers in the UK, Ireland, and France. The bloggers were under no obligation to write about the wine or Stormhoek, but many did both, and the company’s awareness among bloggers skyrocketed.

In 2006, Stormhoek expanded on the ‘give wine away to bloggers’ idea, by setting up ‘Geek Dinners’, where bloggers around the United States throw their own parties, with Stormhoek providing the wine for free. This idea just further raised Stormhoek’s presence in the blogosphere.

So what’s the end result from all this for Stormhoek? Hugh MacLeod, speaking at last year’s South by Southwest festival, stated that before Stormhoek started blogging and involving bloggers in its marketing efforts, that the winery sold around 40,000 cases of wine a year. When MacLeod spoke at SXSW in March of 2007, he stated that the company was at that point selling 40,000 cases of wine a WEEK.

via So Does Blogging Really Work? Here’s the Proof. – Search Engine Guide Blog.

Although we still believe in empowering clients to do their own blogging (who knows your business better than you) we can help get you started.

We try to keep tabs on those who have taken the Seminar- mostly by reading their feeds. Some really get it- and make it work for them.

Take the case of a copywriter who used to work for a local ad agency, but left for Charleston SC:

Honestly, I am not a salesman, so I am not the best resource. I only know what has worked for me. And “worked” is a subjective, relative term. See if this makes any sense…

Blogging has elevated me from number 60 (or so) on Google for “copywriter+charleston+sc” to top-3 in six months. Correction: it took about a month to get there, where I have remained.

My blog’s back pages contain my value statement, resume, references and writing samples. It’s all in one location, and easier to access than tearing open the envelope, reading my cover letter, popping in my CDROM, etc.

I like to think that my blog posts make some kind of impression. They give a glimpse of my personality (lucky you.) And they can be a kind of soft sell. For instance, rehashing some humorous incident that happened to me while producing an industrial video in Germany is a subtle way to remind you that I have produced internationally… if that’s your bag, baby.

Finally, most importantly, by the time a client calls or emails, he or she has read the value statement, resume, etc., and is very nearly sold. They are calling to “talk about upcoming projects and look for the right fit.”

via Blogging about Blogging (oh, joy.) « A Lively Exchange.

Of course, his former employer, still has no clue about web 2.0. Their site has no search box, no RSS feed and makes noise when you land on it.

Too bad many of the people searching for them- end up on this page too: Agencies that aren’t The Next Wave. Learn the tricks of using the web to make up for your lack of sales skills, or to enhance the ones you have. Sign up for the seminar.

One of the reasons people love WordPress is it’s simplicity. Another is the love that Google gives it. But sometimes doing things in WordPress is a bit of a pain in the butt-until some genius writes a plugin that makes things easy- really easy. Like so easy, I think I’m in love.

One of the things we’ve had on our site for a long time is a booklist where we suggested books that people may find useful. We’re not stupid, so we thought we’d make it easy to buy them from Amazon- and take a cut on the sales as well through the Amazon associates program. There are sites that make a living just off their revenue from Amazon, but, we had to admit that our booklist didn’t get updated often since making links through Amazon was a slow tedious process.

Not anymore! This plugin makes adding Amazon links and product pictures to your site so easy it’s a reason in itself to upgrade your install.

WP-Amazon « manalang
Have you ever wanted an easy way to link to a book, movie, or product that’s relevant to what you’re writing about? Typically, this is a pretty cumbersome task — open up a browser, go to Amazon, look for the product you’re interested in, copy the URL, then paste the link to your entry.

Not anymore. With WP-Amazon, the Amazon product catalog is available right from WordPress. This plugin will allow you to search Amazon as you compose your post or page entry. Check out the demo

This plugin is not only an amazing way to add interest to your site, but to also generate income. There are books and products to go with almost everything you write about.

We also have an affiliate program with iTunes- but that interface is even more complicated, and with Amazon now selling music, I think we’ll start using them for those links as well.

The opportunity to learn everything about the internet that your competition doesn’t want you to know has come again!

You’re a: mechanic, store owner, beauty & skin care shop, audio production expert, chiropractor, dentist, boutique clothing store owner, artist, photographer, historian, politician – and most of all, you’re busy running your business.

You might have a website- do you know who is visiting it? How they are getting there? If they are coming back? Is the website getting customers and paying for itself? If you don’t know, you need to take our seminar.

Maybe you don’t have a website- you know you need to be on the internet, but you don’t understand the difference between a website and an advertisement in the phone book. If you don’t know, you need to take our seminar!

Do you know what RSS is and why it’s important? Do you know how Google “sees” your page and gets new customers to you? Do you know that there are tools and resources you can use to get to page #1 on Google without paying one cent to anyone?

Do we really need to say it again? 

Websitetology is not about making you an expert web developer or a computer science wizard. Websitetology is about giving you the tools and the fundamental understanding of the internet and search engines like Google that put you ahead of your competition. Ask Dr. Edward Gould, of the Gould Chiropractic Wellness Center in Cincinnati Ohio, or the group of audio and video production geniuses at The Studio Files – both went from “Google Invisible” to “Google Invincible” in weeks, just by spending a few minutes a day utilizing what they learned at Websitetology.

So sign up now- we know you’ll become one of our many successful Websitetologists.

Tuesday, 25 March 2008 at Nehemiah University, 750 S. Main Street Dayton OH 45402

The next Websitetology seminars will be held, Monday January 21, 2008

8:30am to 5 pm

Location Nehemiah University, 750 S. Main Street Dayton OH 45410

If you are wondering if you should take this seminar: http://websitetology.com/?p=91

Sign up for it here: http://websitetology.com/?page_id=247

The next Websitetology seminars will be held, Tuesday Dec 11, 2007

8:30am to 5 pm

Location Nehemiah University, 750 S. Main Street Dayton OH 45410

If you are wondering if you should take this seminar: http://websitetology.com/?p=91

Sign up for it here: http://websitetology.com/?page_id=247

Bill Caskey is a sales trainer. People pay his company good money to help them sell more. He advocates blogs as one tool to engage clients- his post has many gems- but I thought this part is something most people who think blogs aren’t for business should read:

BillCaskey: How Social Media Affects Sales People
While there are 40,000,000 blogs, most companies don’t see them for what they could be. If you have a website and not a blog, then you’re missing a great way to lead people to your website. But make your blog a rigorous conversation about the industry. DON’T make it about you and only you.

Ask questions. Pose opinions and ask for feedback. Create controversy by being honest. Blogs should be written by people–not by some faceless company PR person.

You can also use blogs to create Case Studies on ways you’ve solved problems for your customers. Have a new product? Take a pic of it and post about it. But be honest about it’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t tell one side of the story. If you do, it’ll sound like it came from your marketing department–more blah-blah-blah.

People use the internet to solve problems- and the first thing they do is a search: if they come up with you as the expert on your subject- you will have the opportunity to make the sale. If they don’t find you- you may as well not exist.

It’s been a busy week- with David Esrati from The Next Wave and chief Websitetologist speaking in Chicago at WebContent2007, and then at the International Association of Conference Centers meeting in Dayton. Both heard the short “Blogzilla” presentation- which runs 1 hour to an hour and a half (depending on the speed of the audience).

If you are interested in a dynamic, interesting presentation on Web 2.0 and building community, while making it to the top of Google without paying for keywords- and to enliven and entertain any conference- we’re available.

We now have 2 Seminars!

The original Blogosopher- or “Blogosphere” (for those with Dyslexia), is a 3.5 hour seminar on how to make the Internet work for your business. At the bottom of this page is an outline of some of the subjects we cover.

It’s new name is Websitetology 101

You will leave the seminar able to build an effective site- that you can maintain yourself, and knowing the tricks to search engine optimization so that your site will be found.

If you wonder if the seminar is for you- see this post:http://blogosopher.com/?p=9

The new seminar- is all WordPress- Websitetology WP advanced

We spend 3.5 hours learning all the tips and tricks of WordPress- a very cool and easy to use Open Source (free!) Content Management System that is designed for Blogging- but offers so much more, it’s really a fantastic way to build and maintain a website for business.

Each seminar is $79 if you register 12 hours in advance (you can do that on this site- at the sign-up page) If you walk in, it’s an additional $15 for onsite registration- cash or check only.

We highly recommend taking both classes- the first one is the big picture course- where you learn about the web, types of sites, how search works, how to compete with the big boys- and outsmart them, and be highly visible online- as well as an intro to a really great piece of software- WordPress.

While we concentrate on using a Blog (short for weB LOG) to build traffic to your website- you will learn how to analyze site stats (and all sites should have stats- you just may not know about them) to refine your content. We will teach you how your site design can be optimized for search engines- which will drive more than 70% of your traffic to your site (without having to pay for it) if you do things right.

Internet novices to people who already have successful web businesses have come to learn about how this Blog technology is changing the web. The Blog software we demonstrate, Word Press, is very smart, server side software, that makes it easy for anyone- to build and maintain a professional looking website- that can be updated at will. The code it generates meets all W3C standards, it notifies search engines and your customers that you have new content with out you doing anything other than adding content. We introduce you to RSS which will change your online relationship with your customers- and how you use the web.

If some of this didn’t make sense to you- don’t worry- it will after the seminar.

The WP Advanced site- was developed because some people just want to learn about the WordPress application in depth. We cover each part of the software in depth- including multiple authors, trackbacks, pings, password protection, dissecting themes, key plug-ins, and how to get help when things go wrong. While some attendees feel very comfortable with the interface and the program, many asked for a more relaxed look at WordPress so we created the WP advanced class for them.
If you have a group and want to arrange for short introduction to Blogs and how they win the search game- we can work a group rate- or if you want to host the seminar for your professional organization (ad club, Chamber of Commerce etc.) we can split revenues with you.

Instead of giving away trash and trinkets- or “promotional items” to your clients- help them grow their business by hosting the seminar for them- as a sponsored event- or by buying them admission at a discount. Please contact the chief Websitetologist at websitetology@thenextwave.biz

Websitetology Topics
What is the internet:

• Types of servers
• Domain name
• Hosting
• Mail

Types of sites:

• Static/dynamic/live
• W3C, 508 (screen reader)
• HTML/Flash/CSS
• Communities: AOL, Yahoo groups, Wikis, BB’s, NewsGroups (Etiquette)

Software:

• Browser wars
• Why Firefox.
• What is open source?

Hosting basics:

• Serving platforms
• Control panels
• Stats
• Connectivity/redundancy
• URL registration
• How to look things up

All about E-mail:

• E-mail broadcast
• What is SPAM/ CAN SPAM
• HTML e-mail
• Opt-in
• Good e-mail etiquette

Search:

• Search=Use=commerce
• Google, Yahoo, others
• “Search Engine optimization”
• How search ranks
• How web stats can unveil business for you

Blogs:

• What they are- and aren’t
• Web Log=BLOG- journal
• Active web site- Back end database
• Content management system
• Interaction- live.
• RSS

Why Blogs are important:

• Updated frequently
• Good clean code
• Low cost
• High interactivity
• Interaction
• Integration into a static site

Blog Options:

• Blogger, Moveable Type, TypePad, Wordpress
• Themes- CSS
• Extensions/Plug-ins

Content:

• The holy grail of the Internet.
• Writing for an audience
• Style
• How to attribute content
• Links
• Format
• Promoting your site
• Inviting your reader in.
• How to analyze your content
• How to analyze your keywords

What is a blogosopher?

• How do you contribute to the community?
• How do you get started?

some student feedback:

http://calmphotos.com/?p=33