Orange County SEO Consultants & Expert Web Designers Search Blog by Cal Coast Web Design

Social Media Campaigns: A La Carte Options and SMO Packages

2013-05-22T23:08:00.001-07:00

Overwhelmed with all the new duties that come with maintaining a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & other social networks?

Struggling to establish your brand in the social networks where your customers and influencers are spending time?

Whether you are looking to learn more and manage your own social media campaign...

Or just looking for someone to do it all for you. (Well, almost all of it.)

Check out our social media campaign options below or contact us for a free consultation. We are happy to customize campaign to work within your budget.

Social Media Campaigns

Start Up - $299.00

All packages require a start up fee.
Cal Coast Web Design will set up and/or optimize the below profiles. Any extra time from an account already being set up will be used for gaining additional friends and followers or setting up an RSS feed for searching for community members.

Profiles Include:

Hootsuite - for managing all social networks
Twitter
Facebook (personal & business if desired.)
Google Plus

Additional Options:
($50/profile set up/optimization)

Linkedin
Instagram
Youtube
Pinterest
Yelp

Or buy 4, get 1 free. That's all 10 for just $500.00.

Monthly Campaigns:

All campaigns below include Twitter, Facebook & Google Plus.
Each additional social profile is available for an additional $50-100/month depending on the campaign. Please contact us for a custom quote.

Consulting - $75/hr

Feel a little but comfortable with your social profiles but would like assistance taking it to the next level? Let our skilled social team help train you, your staff or even your intern how to help manage your social media profiles.

Training & Consulting hours are billed individually in 15 min. An 10 retainer hour block of hours is available for $750 and refilled with a card on file as needed. All hours logged are emailed as they are completed to keep track of retainer hours.

This training includes monitoring brand online, posting, tagging, creating albums, hash tagging, connecting, followings, emailing, sharing, analyzing data and more. These hours are completely customizable and available in office or via screen sharing online.

Call 888-281-7665 x2 for a free evaluation and custom quote today!

Assisted Campaign - $199.00

This is when YOU, the zenmaster of your industry want to be a part of your campaign!

Each month, you will send news, updates, pictures, and more to support@calcoastwebdesign.com. Then, our reps will use that info to schedule out posts for following month.
CCWD will implement, tag and appropriately distribute messages & posts.
You, the client, are responsible to replying to and engaging in social communities (i.e. - replying to your own messages and gaining new followers, likes, etc.

Social Media Marketing Tier 1 - $399.00

Includes bi-weekly posting/scheduling all aspects of the social campaign above. With YOUR assistance with images an news. Plus...

One 30 min phone meeting to discuss potential postings. This will save you time sending that monthly email. You will still be responsible for emailing over images and other supporting info.
Plus WE monitor your social campaign for you.
Includes set up an email forwarder for social@yourdomainnamehere.com to go to our email so that WE monitor any social interactions on your behalf.
CCWD will review your connections and connect "back" on your behalf if applicable.
Should you need to specifically reply, we will pass along the request to you to answer so you know when you need to interact.

Social Media Marketing Tier 2 - $599.00

Includes all items in Social Media Marketing Tier 1 above, Plus...

Monthly steps to gain additional followers, likes and other connections.
CCWD will focus on 1 profile per month. Some profiles may require assistance or additional months for large databases of connections.

Social Media Email Campaign - $999.00

*Social profile set up not include. See Social Media Start Up package above for $299 - $500.

Includes...

Set up of Review Location on Google Plus/Maps, Yahoo Local and Yelp.
(Additional profiles available upon request.)
Set up Email Campaign with option of your choice.
(i.e. - MailChimp, Constant Contact, Sales Force, etc.)
Email Template Creation - including Social Connection Request, SMO Follow Up, Thank You For Your Business
Integration of Social profiles into email templates
Basic newsletter template creation or integration into your existing email marketing system.
Set up of automatic email distribution (if applicable) or custom SOP creation for integration into existing systems.

All of our social campaigns are totally customizable. Just tell us what you are looking for each month and which of the above options you are interested in. From there we can create a custom quote or build the most effective campaign around your monthly budget. Just call 888-281-7665 x2 to get started!

Orange County Christian Magazine - Cal Coast is Expanding our Advertising!

2013-03-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

Cal Coast is excited to announce we are expanding our print advertising and you will now see us in OC Christian magazine! We've been running our ad in Hometown Magazine for about a year now, and it's been good exposure for the company in the community, so we wanted to expand even more!

Orange County Christian Magazine

OC Christian has a great feel-good vibe, they are printed on recycled paper so its environmentally friendly, and their website and magazine is full of cool local businesses! Are you subscribed? They offer free delivery and subscriptions, so take a moment to sign up and connect with them.

Make sure to check out OC Christian for Christian events in Orange County too. They always have the scoop on Christian concerts and family activities!

We would love to hear your feedback on which Orange County Christian or faith based magazines you enjoy reading. Which local magazines do you support and have success advertising / networking with? Comment below, we would love your feedback!

6 Social Media Goals & A Sample Tactical Plan For Managing Your Social Online Presence

2013-02-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

Social media has proven to be an effective tool at reaching and engaging an extensive audience instantaneously. Is your business still not effectively using Social Media, or just not sure how to take better advantage of it? If so you are not the only one.

Automated Marketing Specialists & Social Media gurus at Marketo have created a simple and easy to follow plan on how to build and reach your social media target.

The plan includes the following social media goals:

Increase inbound leads at a low cost
Expand reach of thought leadership content
Engage and excite influencers
Better understand, identify, and engage potential buyers
Improve customer service and satisfaction
Enhance outbound campaign program effectiveness

Download the free ebook from Marketo here

This plan will help your business drive more unique traffic to your website and effectively engage your intended audience bu reviewing short term objectives and key metrics for your blog, Linkedin, Facebook Fan page, Google+, Pinterest, microblogging on Twitter, social PR, widgets, bookmarking/tagging, blog commenting, online video, photo sharing, podcasting, and more.

CLICK HERE to download Marketo's Sample Social Media Tactic Plan

Still need expert help? Call Cal Coast Web Design your Orange County Social Media experts for a specialized social media plan for your business today!

Search Term Research & Targeting - Keyword Research is Crucial!

2013-01-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Search Term Research & Targeting
This post has great information from one of the Search Engines Strategies sessions we attended about keyword research and choosing the right phrases to SEO your website!

Featured panelist:
Christine Chrchill of KeyRelevance

Christine first reminded us that before you start your keyword mission, you must pound into your brain to keep in mind that you MUST SPEAK “THEIR” LANGUAGE. “Their” being your target audience.

Below are the phases you'll go through during keyword research:

1. Keyword Brainstorming

Just start listing anything and everything you can think of - There are no wrong phrases here so get it all down. Don’t forget to chat with friends and family too.
Lists from within the company - Grab words directly from the website, press releases and employees. NOTE: Some of these terms may be insider jargon and may or ma not be searched for by your target audience.
Site search box – UM DUH! Why didn’t I think of this before? Google now offers a free site search box to add to your site. This totally reveals what people are looking for. It does the research for you!
Existing online, print, product reviews, and the handy dandy THESAURUS!
Customers – Interview them, send them surveys, see what they blog about. Check with customer service too. They work with your customers every day. What are they hearing your product or service being described as? So often here at Cal Coast, a small business will call us for services. They don't ask "How much for search engine optimization?" They ask, "How much to get my site found in Google?" Why would I spend the big bucks and resources optimizing for search engine optimization when the better conversions come from "get my site found in Google"?
Competition – They may have already done most of the work. What have they narrowed it down to? Check their metas, content and which terms they are CPC-ing on. CPC = cost per click.
Log Files/Site Stats – Your Google analytics stats will capture the exact phrase people are using to find you! You can see what’s working (or not) and expand or reduce list accordingly.

The next step is to organize your data somehow. I recommend an excel spreadsheet. I will touch base on the COOLEST MICROSOFT FEATURE EVER in a minute that relates to this.

2. Keyword Research – You must go out and see what the users are really typing in. HERE is a long list of SUPER COOL handy dandy FREE (and not so free) keyword research tools!

WordTracker

MSN AdCenter
Keyword Discovery
Google AdWords
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Trends

Many of these tools provide data that eliminates skewing issues. You know when you search for “search engine optimization” and you see 250 searches last month in Overture for “search engine opti optimization search searches.” Well that is because someone using Web Position Gold, or other ranking tracking software queried the search engines daily for a term that doesn’t even matter! Oh dear! Anyway, a few of the tools above eliminate those searches like WordTracker (no wonder their results are always lower than Overture).

Quick Tip: Keyword Discovery offers historical data on searches too so you are getting ACCURATE (no skewing) HISTORICAL data. There are handy dandy charts and graphs to show you search numbers for not just last month but for all year long. See a spike for pools in the summer...um yeah :)

Don’t worry too much about those numbers of searches. Each tool is going to give you different numbers because they all pull different results. You are looking for the popularity of the term. Does one show up above the others consistently?

Once your research is complete you need to finish…

3. Keyword Evaluation

Relevancy of terms
Popularity
User Intent – what were they looking for when they typed in that term?
Research vs. Purchase – Was the purpose for the search to find information or a commercial service or product?

The general path for a users search is as follows…

Problem search
Information search
Alternatives search
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase

Quick Fact: 80% of searches are NON COMMERCIAL. That means searches are looking for info to solve their “problem” before they want to purchase your product.

Quick Tip: Evaluate your competitors too! What terms are they buying, what are they doing, where are they linking to and from, what text are they being linked too with (anchor text)?

Some fun tools for evaluating competition that were mentioned were the following:

Hitwise – Type in 2 URLS and see which terms each is driving traffic for.
Trellian
AdGooroo
Keyword Difficulty Tool

Once you have what you feel to be a solid set or terms, the next step is testing and tuning. Test your performance early!

In reviewing this data, you may find that a term is searched for more often by men but is clicked on more often by women. What does this tell us? That we need to change the actual ad or title and description calling the user to click on you to target the people who are actually searching for your term…your target market!

Still have remaining questions? Want more?

Call us or sign up for our Keyword Research package!

Posted By: Angela Collins
Cal Coast Web Design, Inc.

Tips for Creating an SEO Friendly HTML Basic Website

2013-01-17T12:52:00.000-08:00

There are several ways to build an SEO friendly website. With today's technology, there are simple plugins for ensuring your Blogger, Wordpress or other blog site is automatically built to include many of these components.

If you are planning on hiring an outside party, ensure that they are practicing search engine friendly techniques for creating their custom website designs.

Rules of thumb when building a Search Engine friendly site:

Structure:

Build with HTML pages
No frames!
Homepage needs text and calls to action near the top
Homepage must include business address for indexing in local engines
Include navigation text links on the bottom footer of every page
Include a “breadcrumb” link trail at the top of each interior page
(ie home > products > womens > t-shirts ) on large sites with multiple sections and levels.
Name pages relevantly
ASP generated pages should not have more than three % signs in the URL string
Site map page must be easy to find and include a link to every page in website
No java navigation menus – java rollovers are acceptable. CSS text links are always best.
Use CSS to eliminate code bloat including formatting elements and text, tables and more!
This also saves time & money in the future since edits to all similar components of a site will be edited at once through the css file.
SEO Semantic Coding - This option implements the coding that uses SEO-valued tags to underline the most important parts of the content (H1, H2, etc.).

Images:

Name images relevantly
Use keywords when possible
Add descriptive Alt tags on all images
Describe each image with caption text above or below
Don’t make important text phrases into images

Content:

Content needs to be in text or .pdf format – images or flash movies are not readable
Note: Word docs while once were not indexable, they are more recently getting indexed but we recommend always creating content pages since they include your site navigation and calls-to-action.
Link relevant terms within content to relevant pages within the website
Always add more. Get as much as possible up-front.
Remember searchers usually search for problems instead of solutions, gear content pages to solve problems.
Include a page relevant for articles, sharing content or more so that you have accessibility to update a page for link love.
Search engines love RSS feeds or blogs, include if possible
Re-read all text from client and seed in keyword phrases if possible. Read aloud and if it sounds repetitive you’re overdoing it. Remember to use different variations of these phrases; ie singular and plural, jargon and layman.

Social:

Place your 'social candy' icons above the scroll on your homepage so visitors can easily connect with you long term.
Implement a 'share' feature on all your pages and posts
Incorporate YouTube videos, Twitterfeeds, and Facebook plug ins so visitors see you interacting in the space and WANT to connect with you.
Don't forget to link to your review sites like Yelp, Citysearch and Yahoo Local - reviews are extremely important for both SEO and conversions!

Overall, build around the user. If any of the above conflicts with that, then user functionality overrides.

Let Cal Coast help build you your custom search engine friendly blog or website! ~ 888-281-7665

SEM Pricing models - STICKER SHOCK!

2013-01-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

SEM Pricing models - this post was taken from a Search Engine Strategies session about various SEO's and how / what they charge. Cal Coast packages are in line with most offerings except..... our prices are way below what other companies charge! One thing Cal Coast offers is a 'Grandfather clause', where we never raise prices of SEO clients on campaigns. We LOVE to grandfather in our clients, we are HAPPY to keep you paying low prices because you trusted us when we were small :)

4 Speakers:

Rand Fiskin, SEOmoz.org
Lance Loveday, Closed Loop Marketing
Ken Jurina, Epiar
Mike Murray, Fathom SEO

Rand started out by letting us know typical SEO hourly wage is $100-$400 hourly. We're currently $75, and we bill in 15 minute increments. A little low. His client yearly average payout is 50-150K (um, each), he has some pretty big dog clients. He prices by project, monthly retainers, or profit sharing.

You can also price a million other ways: keyword models, site audit reports, standard consulting, KW research, content and copywriting, link building, stretegic decision planning, viral creation and promo, social media networking, reputation management and control, brand tracking and reporting, web design, training and workshops...phew. I would love to do regular SEO workshops for the SOC chamber.

3 of Rand's recent clients:

- Needed: KW targeting, link building etc for a large media site. $24K

- Needed: SEO training, consulting, meetings for a classified site. $25K

- Needed: Link building reputation, negative comments off of page 1. $25K

Rand qualifies his prospects by emailing them after an online inquiry (no prices on site) by asking for a phone appointment and including the pricing structure in the email. That's a nice way not to waste time on the phone. I know clients love it, but us SEO's don't like to gib gab...we need to get to work...there's a whole virtual world to take on for you :)

Next up we have Lance. He had to ask the crowd: "How many people are here spying on your SEM's to make sure you aren't getting overcharged?" ...one lady raised her hand. Wonder how much she was paying, this conference cost her at least 3K after lodging to get that question answered.

Lance told of a PPC SEM who is handling an enormous account, hundreds of millions of advertising dollars per year. He charges a percentage, so he gets paid 7 figures to run that one account. Although it sounds appetizing, CCWD has no interest in being a slave to any one of our clients, even if it is for a cool mil. We love our small and medium businesses and Realtors.

As SEO's and SEM's we aim to: minimize risk, max upside, keep competitive, and keep in line with client expectations.

The models his company is currently using are Flat fee, % of $ spent (for PPC), and monthly retainer. Retainers have setup fees, (we do too...mandatory KW research). Their setup included more than ours:

Campaign structure
Ad writing
tracking
Campaign setup
Discovery
Keyword theme research
Strategy

I think we will up our start fees a little and include more of this stuff. Not to gouge our clients, to better serve you out the gates... so simmer down. :) Lance's setup was about 3x's his monthly retainer, I think that's fair.

The whole room also laughed about additional fees SEO's may incorporate at will:

PITA fee (that means you're a pain in the ass...we're gonna double the quote and hope you go away)

Quibbler fee (means you don't see enough value and are quibbling quote/price, so we have to double it again to make sure you associate some value with our work. Everyone on the panel agreed when prices go up, pettiness goes down)

Campaign intensity (are we up all night against a week deadline?)

How deep the company's pockets are (sorry its a factor, esp internationally)

How many decision makers you're trying to assign (aka hoops to jump through)

Time and resources we're spending (this also includes your response time and willingness to your SEM. SEO's get paid to twiddle thumbs waiting for you...)

Thankfully we're blessed to have clients who don't do any of the above, but we've had our fair share. We work for their competition now.

Next up was Ken Jurina, who prefers the Organic tip (yay organic!) Ken prefers the monthly 6-18 month contracts with retainers. He advises SEO's to "know thyself" and get niched. If you're a new SEO, you may want to just figure out your monthly expenses and work back from there. If you're established, you should be charging market price. What is market price tho? Market price should be a company's well planned profitable model.

A couple warnings for SEM's:

1. budget for E & O insurance, if you are SEOing really big companies they require it.

2. make your contracts in your state and county, in case you get sued you don't want travel expenses too.

3. have a signed proposal

4. don't let clients talk you into discounts for multiple sites. if anything we are going to make them more money, not less, so they are asking for even more for even less. The panel agreed if someone brought 5 sites it may be time to talk. None of the Walmart buy one get one in SEO...sorry guys.

5. beware of "per traffic or per profit models". you could spend hours sorting data and wondering if the client's accounting dept intern calculated it right.

6. don't forget to mark up your training. You're teaching clients "how to fish", and essentially work you out of the picture. We are proud of you for wanting to learn, but its not cheap to get this kind of training. Ken charges 1K to train a small company, minimum. Rand doesn't walk out the door for less than 8K. Angela and I are still charging $75 an hour, get it while you fit in :).

The last speaker Mike Murray was most in line with the Cal Coast model. He works off of monthly retainer models only, sliding between $800-$1800 a month. He doesn't offer money back or a right to cancel (CCWD doesn't lock you into contracts like this though, but that being said I want to advise Realtors to budget better ...because you waste money when you cancel after 3 months. serious.) Fathom likes to under promise and over deliver. Us too. Here's more:
Mike mentioned we should have tiers, and the first one can't be way lower than the middle one. The closer the tiers, the more clients will bump up to your middle package.

All in all SEO pricing packages have a HUGE variation depending on the company and talent you choose. You don't always get what you pay for, but if you research the right company and make the commitment, you'll be thankful you did!

Cal Coast Owner, Angie Weeks, speaks at OCAR Social Media Panel Friday 11/16/12

2012-11-05T16:14:00.006-08:00

There is another OCAR panel coming soon. And Cal Coast is excited to be a part of it!

The panel will feature Realtors who are recognized for their social media savvy and success.

With a focus on relationship building and using social media as a tool, this class offers something for every REALTOR®: from those beginning in social media to seasoned professionals.

Expect a discussion on where to start, how to grow, and just plain WHY to do it!

Free to OCAR members, worth the $10 for non-members :)

Social Media OCAR Panelists:

Raj Qsar
Robin Milonakis
Mike Didelot
Angie Weeks
Jeremy Lehman
Greg Herder - Moderator (Hobbs Herder)

There are two ways to register. If your already an OCAR member its free, if not its $10.
Members: Register via My Account
Non-Members: Contact OCAR’s Education Department

Time / Location
Friday, November 16 from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
OCAR Laguna Hills, 25552 La Paz Road, Laguna Hills, CA 92653

For more information visit OCAR.

Corona Hair Salon, Studio 145, Congrats on Your Opening

2012-09-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Studio 145 puts a premium on their image offline and online. Their beautiful Moroccan-inspired decor gives an air of luxury. Since we created their website, we think it's pretty cool, too. LOL... But seriously, it's nice to know that the artists whom we trust with our hairstyle and how we look are concerned with image and style.

Studio 145, opened at the newly-renovated The Shops at Dos Lagos. We would like to congratulate Studio 145 for the opening of their new shop. It has a beautiful Moroccan decor and the relaxing ambiance is perfect for clients who want attentive and personalized service.

This Corona hair salon goes beyond good looks. With a well-trained styling team and convenient location, Studio 145 have many satisfied customers. They have given excellent hair design services since 2006 and they have always offered professional consultation to create styles that bring out the best in their customers.

Corona hair salon, Studio 145, offers the following services:

Hair Cut for men and women
Color with Cut
Weave with Cut
Corrective Color
Blow Dry
Up Do
Hair Extensions
Smoothing Treatments

Studio 145 is proud to be a Bumble and bumble dedicated salon and all products are available for purchase.
And we're proud to have a chance to assist them with their presence online. Check out their custom Wordpress redesign at http://studio145.net.

Tips for Picking a Wordpress Theme

2012-08-13T16:02:00.004-07:00

Are you designing a website or thinking about redesigning a website and looking to save on cost, time, or don't need a custom website?
I mean, someones been there, done that right?Why not use a design thats even greater than something you can think of!?!?

If you are looking for templates (or themes as Wordpress calls them), there are many great themes available through Wordpress.

A Wordpress theme is a template you can choose and it will be the basis of what your website will look like. There are thousands (and thousands more) of themes to choose from. So you can have your website look any way you want it to. You just have to decide what you want out of the theme, and how you are going to use your website.

Picking a theme for your new website or website redesign is easy! Fist decide what you want out of your website.

5 Tips for Picking a Wordpress theme

What purpose do you have for your website?

Is it a blog, is it a website, or both. (Both is the RIGHT answer by the way.) ;)
You need to know before you pick a theme because different themes have different functions.

Pick what functions you want your website to do.

Are you going to be using your website to sell products? If you are select a theme that is able to use plugins such as Paypal or other online payment providers.

Not all themes have everything installed and ready (you can add extensions to add many different plugins to the theme you selected though, such as social media sharing bar etc...)

This is a popular social media plugin for Wordpress

Wordpress is very customizable.

Almost anything can be changed to suit your needs.

Testing will take time and require lots of plug and play with your selected theme. If you are willing to work within the parameters of the theme it will take substantially less amount of time but if you have predetermined branding or custom fonts, etc.. it can take a lot longer.

How to pick a Wordpress Theme Online

Google is the best tool for setting up a website through Wordpress.

If your looking for a certain type of template add artistic or design to your search. There are hundreds of thousands of themes already made and you can find anything you want.

Some options for finding Wordpress themes...

Wordpress - Simply click here for their own database of themes. (Many free. Some a small fee.)
Wordpress Theme Base - Another large directory of free and paid themes.
Google - There are hundreds of websites out there that offer themes. Feel free to just visit Google and type in a search phrase like " Wordpress theme"
i.e. - "photography wordpress theme" or "free real estate wordpress theme" etc.

Make sure you take note of the theme you want to use by saving the URL of the page you land on, and maybe even the URL of the page where the theme is available to download. If we cant find the download link, it cant be used. And sometimes sites will have an example of a theme without a link. Make sure you have that accessible if you have been asked by a Cal Coast rep to pick one. :)

By using a Wordpress theme you can save hundreds to sometimes thousands of dollars by not having a custom site built!

Examples of popular Wordpress themes today..

Twenty Eleven

Responsive

For more information on how the step by step process on how to get your theme up and running follow this guide.

If you or your company does not have time to set up your desired website Cal Coast Web Design, we can do this for you today! We offer affordable plans that use Wordpress themes to save on start up costs. We work within your budget!

FREE Website Design Giveaway for Orange County Charity: Enter to Win!

2012-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

Say what?!??!!?!?!

Yes, you read that right. Who wants a FREE website with all the bells & whistles you can think of?

Our friends (and creative developer geniuses) at DigiSavvy are giving away a free website design to a local charity or nonprofit organization in Orange County. They are looking to expand their already pretty stunning portfolio with the gran daddy of sites.

Go ahead, challenge them. They develop solutions for your crazy online ideas to better manage your business.

How to Enter

There are only a few requirements to enter the giveaway! When you send your submission, please include the following to have an opportunity to win...

Submit the info by either sending us an email at info@calcoastwebdesign.com or post a comment with the following:

The name of the organization
A URL of the organization
What the organization does (They need to be a nonprofit or charitable organization)
How would your charity use the new site?

CLICK HERE to enjoy some of their previous web work and to get super stoked! DigiSavvy will not be holding anything back if you win there contest. They want to build your organization a website that will be put to real use!

Do you want your organization to reach as many people as possible? Enter the competition for a chance at a fresh new start for your charity!

SEO & Video - Professional Videos with Animations & more

2012-07-16T22:04:00.001-07:00

Got Video?

Did you know Google is much more likely to rank your page if there's a video on it? This is why you can never have enough video blog posts and landing pages on your website!

Cal Coast can offer video SEO and embedding to make your website not only more findable, but have better conversions. Here are just a few examples of potential videos you could do for your business!

Priced competitively and affordably, this video is an inexpensive way to ALWAYS be in the right place at the right time.

Just imagine...something powerful like this with YOUR TEXT, YOUR LOGO, YOUR STATISTICS

Our most common complaint about adding video to your marketing campaign is "I don't want to be on video!" The good news is with our branded video options you don't have to be, but you can still have a 24/7 salesperson for your website! Now we can all be happy :)

You can even use TESTIMONIALS to make an exciting video! What a great opportunity to evoke emotion and gain trust!

The Nielsen survey, which researches consumers on their attitudes toward thirteen types of advertising– from conventional newspaper and television ads to branded web sites and consumer-generated content; found that overall, consumers trust other consumers above all else!78% of respondents said they trusted the recommendation of other consumers.

Still need convincing? Click below for...

7 Reasons to Use Online Video to Promote Your Business

Orange County Organizer, Nipomo Oraganzing Solutions, Keeps Cal Coast in Harmony

2012-07-10T13:39:00.002-07:00

Like most people, you probably start your day at the office with a long to-do list hoping accomplish everything on it by the end of the day. Almost always, it doesn’t happen even if you work non-stop. It’s probably because you get side-tracked doing other things. It usually happens when your work place is disorganized.

A disorganized office can’t run efficiently. Instead of doing what you need to do, you spend precious time looking for stuff. If your paper work is in chaos, you might misplace bills and forget to pay them. Organizing your office will help you save time, effort, and money.

If your office is so cluttered that you don't know where to start the organization process, an organized office can be yours with the help of Orange County office organizers. There are professional organizers who are very affordable and they can keep your business running smoothly in no time. The money you spend on a professional organizer is a small amount compared to the benefits you get with an organized and efficient office.

Imagine how it would feel coming to a clutter-free office. You will not spend precious time looking for important documents, you will not lose and forget to pay bills, and you will avoid stress when you accomplish all your tasks for the day. If everything is where it should be, you can work efficiently and feel satisfied after a productive day at the office. When it comes to office organization, save your energy into doing more important tasks and let an organizing services help you.

Judy of Nipomo Professional Organizers, has been sharing tips, tools, tricks, advise, & resources with the Cal Coast team since it started. A BIG THANKS to Judy for helping us grow with the use of organization skills!

Get started on your Orange County office organization project. Call 949-916-8027

Mobile Apps and Websites: Take Advantage of Easy to Use Tools Today

2012-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

The explosion of the smartphone has dawned a new age of instant communication and limitless tools. Today we now have access to an innumerable amount of information at our fingertips. How do we access this information though?

Today we use smartphones. Every business associated with smartphones is growing. You should use some of the easy simple tools available through smartphones to increase your advertising and reach more customers. A couple of these easy tools are mobile websites and apps.

Smartphones are now the #1 tool in finding businesses and reaching your customers

Did you know:

20 billion apps downloaded in just 3 years.
Average smart phone user has 20 apps on their phone.
If your website isn't mobile then consumers are finding your competition.
79% of smartphone users use their phone to find business information.
Mobile searches will soon exceed desktop searches.

Alan W with techinternational.net

Getting the most out of your Website

When you are trying to advertise your business online there are a few simple checks that should be made to help create easy access and help your customers get the most out of your business.

Tips for mobile websites

Simplicity is key!
Use simple layouts. You dont want to confuse your customer. You should be able to find what your looking for within just a few clicks.
Also customers prefer apps over mobile websites. People will leave if they cannot read your content or find info quickly.

Dominos is the perfect example of utilizing a mobile website and app

One thing that Domino's does right is if you try and visit Domino's website on a smartphone it will automatically detect that you are on a smartphone and ask you to download their mobile app. This is a win-win for Domino's. The more apps a business has downloaded the more likely they will have repeat business and also obtain loyal customers. It is simple to do this, and all you need is a mobile app for your business. Domino's website also gives you the option to choose to go to their mobile website as well. If someone elects to not choose the mobile app you are directed to an easy mobile webpage where you can quickly and easily order a pizza. Take a look at their website both on your desktop and mobile device for a great example on how to do it right.

Desktop Website

Mobile Website

iPad and iPhone apps

Don't let your competitor get the advantage.. Act today and call Cal Coast Web Design!

Native Apps and Mobile Ready Apps

Mobile ready apps:
Web app vs native apps: web apps have nothing to download. It's like your website, but boiled down a bit to the basic nuts and bolts with print that's easy to read.

These apps can usually be generated for less than 1k!

Native apps:
Native apps have benefits, these are the downloadable apps.

One click calling, menu PDF, increase social media connections. GPS coupons, QR coupons, live updates, blog feed, calendar, push notifications, share by email, expand constant contact list, etc.

This helps you to never be separated from your clients!

Apps also let you engage your customer. Be creative let them be part of the experience!

Apple denies many apps because they don't use enough iPhone features. Make your app use the camera, maps, etc so it's more likely to get approved.

You can now get a native app built for less than 10k.

The cell phone and mobile app will soon take pole positions to websites as the 'hub' of your internet marketing campaign.

You can do this for your business! There are many different ways to build apps and websites. Cal Coast Web Design specializes in building websites and we can also set up a mobile app as well. Call us today for more information.

Orange County Agent Reboot: Twitter with Katie Lance

2012-07-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

What is Agent Reboot

An event that is held in the summer to help inform real estate agents to learn the best marketing techniques and how to best utilize technology that is available today to be the best agent you can.

The first speaker at Agent Reboot was Kaite Lance with Inman. Katie is Inman social media director and knows how to use twitter to help your real estate business in a direct way.

The following are Katie's do's and dont's for using Twitter.

Follow Katie on Twitter to stay up to date, and keep taking advantage of her substantial amount of knowledge on social media.

Katie Lance, Inman Social Media director

@katielance or @inmannext

Advantages of using Twitter for your Business

Does Twitter matter? YES!! Why?

Engagement - Interact with your followers, ask them about your business, share pictures, videos, news, etc...
Amplification - Twitter gives you the ability to communicate to unlimited amount of people instantaneously (build your audience, reach new and old customers)
Genuine - Your followers know the information is coming directly from you, not a third party or proxy

The following is what you want to avoid doing when your trying to engage your audience and or customers following your Twitter handle.

DONT:

Tweet irrelevant or stupid content
Tweeting listings
Constant self promotion
Spam
Auto messages
Not responding to messages (no tweet left behind!)

Take advantage of everything Twitter has to offer. Best kept Twitter secrets:

Finding people local to you: search.twitter.com
Search by keywords and location
Search for people talking about your community
Managing Twitter: hootsuite.com (schedule tweets, save searches)

How to get more followers:

Follow first
Tweet often
Be generous
Pay attention
Be consistent

Are you new to social media? Take advantage of everything social media has to offer today! Call Cal Coast Web Design we have a social media package that will set up your business to take full advantage of social media.

Email Marketing Tips from the Inman Webinar

2012-06-21T10:44:00.002-07:00

Email Marketing Made Easy

Hi everyone!

Today we sat in on a webinar with Inman about email marketing (#25emailtips), and some of the do's and don'ts. Inman is a real estate focused company, however, these tips can be molded to any type of business model. Cal Coast is constantly getting asked about email campaigns and the best strategies, so here are some tips and suggestions to make your email campaigns more effective!

Email is longest lasting and most private social network. Mailchimp is a good email marketing company if you would like to get started for low cost and high quality.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday emails have the best open rates.
2-4 pm send times have the best open rates. People actually open when works slows down and after lunch. In the morning they usually just delete.
Average email open rate is 18%. You have a 4% better open rate if you send that email through a social network by tagging, etc.
Emails should come from YOU. Don't put just a company or generic signature.
1st emails have a 25% open rate. 4th email has a 5% open rate. ABG - Always Be Growing your email list so the funnel is consistently sending to the newer people and you have more opens.
Chop up your database. Segment segment segment for the best response.
Link to VIDEOS (25% clickthrough!) and BLOGS. Consumers like to click and watch or read more.
Text links outperform buttons. Only use buttons for special promotions because readers become numb to regular buttons.
More links = more clickthroughs. This decreases remove requests as well because there is usually a little something for everyone.
Subject lines that work for replies: Did I drop the ball? How's the search going? Did you get my message? Have headlines that say I care, I'm here, I didn't forget about you.
Focus on relationship conversion. Be valuable, be relevant.
Emailium.com - search through past email campaigns by company, subject, etc. What a great resource!!
Subscribe to the best of the best in your industry. Learn from the experts, see what they are doing!
Consider mobile. Open rates on mobile are already winning over desktop and webmail. Make sure the links in your email look good on mobile.
Mobile devices show 25 Characters in subject lines. Don't be too long and wordy!
TEST with Litmus.com - put your email into a system and see how it looks on every mobile device and every email platform.
Use a multi touch welcome. Instead of just one autoresponder, send 3 over 20 days. (1) Welcome, (2) highlight one of the best features on your site, (3) did you know ... then subscribe them to your normal newsletter. Researched showed an increase of 63% over the 1 & done autoresponder.
Facebook registration box. Its in Facebook tools. There is an email opt in form from Facebook that will already have the email filled out when a visitor gets there. This will work inside of Facebook or inside of your website Facebook feed. It shows their registered friends too!!
Get your OWN inbox in order. Unroll.me works for Gmail, Yahoo, and many old email lists you want to quickly unsubscribe from.

Wow - very interesting stats and info!! Internet Marketing has so many angles, so make sure that your email campaigns are not neglected! If you need any help setting up your HTML template, your copywriting, your lists, or your call-to-action buttons on email campaigns don't hesitate to contact Cal Coast Web Design - we're here to help!

We're Helping Search For Homes For Orange County Exchange Students

2012-06-05T00:22:00.002-07:00

We need homes for exchange students!

The Cal Coast team has always been actively involved in the community.

Have you ever wanted to help someone but dont know how to find someone in need?

Today is your chance to make a difference and offer a room in your home to a foreign exchange student.

What you should know...

The foreign exchange students are from Japan.
They only need a home for three weeks.
The girls know english and will be home evenings and weekends.
There is a stipend of $120 for food/gas costs.
Preferable to live in south Orange County.

Call Britt Girdley today for an opportunity to help change someones life!

Britt Girdley

Phone: 949-351-0312

Email: brittgirdley@gmail.com

Learn more at Compass USA.

Orange County Social Media Summit

2012-05-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Orange County Social Media Summit

Are you using social media for your business? If not you are missing out! Social media has the potential to increase your presence in the online world substantially. All it takes is time and knowledge.

Saddleback Church recently hosted a Social Media Summit to help anyone who was interested in learning from the best and brightest local Orange County social media experts. This event covered topics that range from Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and various other social media applications.

Cal Coast Web Design attended the Social Media Summit. The knowledge that we obtained has already helped us and we have decided to share this vast amount of information with you! Over the next couple of weeks we will be posting what we learned from the various speakers.

This event was live streamed online and was attended by more than 700 people eager to learn tips and tricks on social media.

Did you know:

64% of people are more likely to buy a product they follow on twitter
61% will be using primarily video by 2015
Average email user receives 147 messages every day and spends more than 2.5 hours on email a day.

how do you make your business stand out from the already crowded sea of online advertising?

3 billion searches in Google done each day. Google answers 34,000 questions per second. Are people finding your website through search engines? If not...that's not ok!

Remember to visit Cal Coast Web Design blog for updates on how to get the most out of social media.

Social Media Content Strategy for Realtors

2012-05-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Do you log on to Twitter and Facebook, and struggle with things to share and write? If so, you're not alone! As we know, content is king, and your social media profiles are an extension of that content ;)

Today at the Inman Agent Reboot session Katie Lance, Inman's Social Media director offered Orange County Realtors a simple social media content strategy.

Create killer, consistent, captivating social media content

Katie suggested that Realtors create a content grid, or spreadsheet, in Google Docs or Excel to get your next 30 days of content planned and prepared. You can also take it one step further and schedule your posts or tweets by using Hootsuite :)

Your spreadsheets should have the following categories:

Local Real Estate - Talk about your favorite feature of a listing, don't just post boring listings! Tell the story of a past client. Talk about your farm neighborhood #1. Talk about your farm neighborhood #2. Discuss a first time buyer challenge. Talk about the best dog parks, restaurants, etc.
National Real Estate - Compare home prices. Post Foreclosure Radar embeds. Share Inman, NAR, or CAR articles. This helps you and your sphere stay up to date with the important milestones in the Real Estate industry.
Community - Post Instagram photos of your community, and make friends with locals. Talk about the upcoming concerts or fairs. Upload pretty scenery, parks, monuments. Talk about local elections or events. Post a video of someone's relocation story.
Personal Interests - What do you love to do? People do business with other people they LIKE. When you share an interest, people are more likely to do business with you. Have you posted anything personal about dancing, dining, workout, arts, travel, family, friends?! Being 'all business' is boring; don't be afraid to show who you really are!

Remember....Have a plan!! It will help ensure your social media profiles remain consistent and balanced. These content grids are great for assistants and team members to keep them on track...aren't they?!

If you'd like help enhancing your content grid, blog content, or website content, call Cal Coast at 888-281-7665 x 2 today!

Need Images For Your Site? - Selecting Royalty Free Images

2012-05-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Looking to replace or dd an image to your website or other marketing materials?

Just don't have the time or talent to take them yourself?

Don't have it in your budget to hire a professional photographer?

You may have been asked by a team member at Cal Coast to...

"Please be sure to review your images included in your mockup closely. If you want to replace or add any images, you may choose to send them over from your personal collection or you may search for royalty free images at www.istockphoto.com or other royalty free site of your choice. Just make note of image numbers and short descriptions if such images are included in your contract so that we may purchase and download them for you to add to your site. If such images were not included in your contract, simply download the x-small version and email it over to Support@CalCoastWebDesign.com."

If you don't have quality, professional photos to use for your online or print marketing, consider using Royalty free images as a solution. Often times these can be expensive, but there are some affordable solutions out there...

Microsoft Clip Art - Once a home to cheesy illustrations best used for high school projects, not a professional website, Microsoft Clip Art now offers real images or photos in their collection.
How To Download: These images can be downloaded immediately at no cost.
iStockphoto - Royalty Free Stock Photography, Vector Art Images, Music & Video Stock Footage
How To Download: These images can be purchased by the "credit." Each size and each image is a different credit amount. Credits are about $1.70/credit (the more you buy, the more you save.)
Should you need an image to take up the entire width of the average computer screen, consider the size that affords over 1200px wide. Otherwise, you will have to place multiple images together to take up the width of a header, etc.
Stock Exchange - Some free, some at a cost. Each individually priced.

If you need help pricing photos for your unique project, simply take note of the image name, unique ID, and URL and email for a quote.

Please feel free to comment and recommend your preferred site below. there are literally hundreds out there!

An Outline to Creating Content For your Website

2012-04-25T01:35:00.002-07:00

Content is King.

There are probably more articles focusing on this very skill in the search engine optimization and marketing world.

Trying to understand why content is so important?
Looking for tips to improve your content?
Not sure where to start? Looking for a simple guide to content writing for SEO?

We suggest you read about why and generally how by reviewing some of the links before.

There are zen masters in our industry that create custom content regularly that Cal Coast can stand by.
Start your content creation journey with a little background and general info by reading one of the Content Writing article below...

Why Content Marketing Is King on Entrepreneur.com
Why Content Is King for SEO by Joe Brockmeier on ReadWriteWeb
12 Things That Will Kill Your Blog Post Every Time by Neil Patel on SEOmoz
The Definitive Guide to Awesome Web Content on SEOmoz

Are you now convinced why content is important?
Do you have a better idea as to how to write it, but not sure how to get organized and started?

Feel free to use the general layout before as a guideline. Don forget though, you should really customize each page to match the needs of the user.
Make sure you supply the demand.
Ease the fears.
Get them to trust you.
Make it easy.
Make it accessible.

For starters, a few pointers while creating the content from the outline below...

Format
No one like a sea of black. Break up your text with sub titles, different font alignments, bolding, italicizing, indenting, BULLET POINTING, numbering, etc. Even use color to make something stand out, but keep it consistent and professional.
Images
Text or images? Which would you prefer to look at? A picture can tell 1000 words. Let it evoke emotion, break up your text and keep the user reading.
Keywords
Keep your keywords in mind when writing your content. If you can fit one of your terms in naturally, you should. Make sure it still reads organically. Over stuffing or improper use of a keyword can actually hurt you. And, quite frankly, it doesn't make you look any more professional.
Sub Titles
Be sure to better organize your content (and easily integrate a keyword in without making it fit in a sentence) for sub categories of the page. Keep it organized. Think "Services" "Options" "Programs" "Who We Help" "Why Choose Us" " FAQs" etc.

A Guide: Use this to help outline your next content page. Simply copy & paste!

***START OUTLINE***

Title: (Keyword) Feel free to use a colon or dash to emphasize a point, call someone to action, or integrate a keyword.

Intro paragraph: Grab their attention. Get me to keep reading. Relate. Call to action in case they don't want to keep reading.

Options: Give options to other sections on the page if there are a lot and could use further organizing.

MAIN CONCEPT TO WRITE ABOUT

Who

Do you service?
Let them know they are in the right place, they have the same need, problem, etc.
Will benefit?

What:

Are you offering?
Is it?
Are people calling it?
Types are there?
Are the components of this product, service, solution?
Are there different kinds/variations?
Are the top 5 questions you get?

Where:

Can I get it?
Do you service (areas)?

When:

Do I need it?
Do you offer it?
Is the best time?

Why:

Do I need it?
Do I need you?
Should I choose you?

Locations, articles, magazine, and other Featured In type media.

Awards

Credentials

Education

Certifications

Licensing

Associations

How:

Will it help me?
Do I get started?
Do I Buy?
Much does it cost?

Closing Statement: Wrap up. Give trust factor(s).

Call-To-Action:

What should I do next? - Share, buy, call, click, follow, sign up, connect, etc.
What should I read next?
Promo or incentive

***Often times there are more than 1 of these. Even up to 6.

Would you like help with content creation from keyword research to outlines and inerviews and landing page design & development?

Let us help you with any aspect of the process. We train, organize, implement & create custom search focused content for your website.

If a Cal Coast representative has directed you here, they are looking for content to help develop your site for your marketing package. Please reference the email sent for more information.

Orange County Realtors Invited! Realtors Success Series on Social Media April 2 2012

2012-03-30T12:17:00.003-07:00

Both new and seasoned realtors will benefit from the topics taught in this team instructed class on social media for Realtors.

Join Cal Coast founder, Angie Weeks, this Monday and learn about social media tools and tips.

Where: Orange County Association of Realtors: Laguna Hills Auditorium

When: Monday April 2, 2012 from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Why: Orange County Realtors looking to increase realtors marketing awareness will benefit. This class will provide guidance on how market yourself, build your business, and promote listings.

How: Register online at Orange County Association of Realtors. *Small fee required to register.

Join the Orange County Association of Realtors to learn some valuable insights that will help your business grow through the strengths of social media marketing and properly communicating with your buyers and sellers.

For more information visit Orange County Association of Realtors.

Protecting your Domain Name: Reasons for Using Privacy

2012-03-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

Why You Should Care About Protecting Your Domain Name

Are you a new web site developer or business owner looking to register a domain? If you are, then you may not be aware of some of the privacy concerns that you should be aware of when creating a new domain name.

While you are mostly secure using a normal domain, there are a few issues you should consider when setting up a domain. There is spam prevention, guarding against identity theft, renewal spam prevention and preventing domain hijacking just to name a few.

Examples of Some of the Most Frequent Domain Name Privacy Issues

Spam Prevention: When you register a new domain name your email may be used to send mountains of spam mail. To prevent this choose a quality privacy protection service to prevent this extremely irritating problem.
Guarding Against Identity Theft: When setting a new domain name some of your information may be easily accessible to identity thieves. Choose a good security service to prevent this.
Domain Renewal Scams: Internet thieves can possibly obtain your mailing address information by doing a WHOIS search. With this information they can send an email that looks legitimate requesting your domain name renewal.

For more information, visit Longhorn Leads and read their article on Reasons to Privacy Protect your Domain.

OK, OK... I made a QR code. Now what do I do with it?

2012-03-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

You see them on mail, business cards, websites, banners, cups, t-shirts... there's no escaping.

And you've scanned one or 2 on your smartphone because you saw others doing it too.

So you made your own QR code or had someone create some for you too.

NOW WHAT?!

Once you have your QR codes sitting around, there are a number of ways to utilize them as a marketing tool to expand your brand.

Whether it's a link to a review site, a website landing page, form, your contact info, etc. Implement!

Here are some ideas for where to place your QR codes to get some action...

Business card
Your office or store front (what will I do while I'm waiting!?)
Email signature
Print marketing (banners, brochures, pamphlets, ebooks, mini disc labels, etc.)
Other Mailers (circulars, promos, coupons, etc.)
Promotional products (t-shirts, water bottles, mouse pads, screen cleaners, etc.)
Product tags
Invoices, Receipts, etc.
And Other Call-To-Action: buy now, sign up, even calendar, contact, social profiles, review & other landing pages, URL, etc.)

CLICK HERE to read "QR Codes - 21 Ways To Use Them To Build Your Business" by DonGrowther.com - Go ahead, click. You'll be inspired.

Reviews are such an important part of getting indexed well in local and organize search. Not to mention, they can certainly help with the decision making or conversion process. Make sure that you are using your QR code to inspire reviews (perhaps even add a little incentive.)

Need help making your QR code?
Want a fancy design including your logo in your QR code?
Need help brainstorming or consulting on how to use your QR codes?
Need help implementing them into your marketing campaigns?

Cal Coast has the team to help you get creative and attract conversions.

Understanding Yelps Perplexing Review Process: Why Can't I See My Yelp Review?

2012-03-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Yelp is known as a great way for both shoppers and business owners to get the honest truth about a business and the service or products they offer through it (sometimes for business owners) rigorous review process. We hear it nearly every day... so many have with Yelp the review process.

Actually, our Orange County photographer friend, Mark Jordan, just spoke of his recent run in with yelp on his blog, "Yelp - Ethical or Corrupt?"

Trying to understand how certain reviews are selected and others are not, will give anyone a headache. What we can do is try and break down some ways to improve the chances in getting reviews to show up on a business page and help you understand the review process.

Understanding Yelp's Review Process

Yelp's review process is designed to be unable "to be cheated." There are ways to try and have reviews show up more frequently, but none of them are fool proof and Yelp is constantly changing the way it decides which reviews to have appear on a business profile page. Sigh!

Yelp makes the way they choose what reviews are posted intricate (or confusing) by design to keep their reviews genuine.

A review is always kept in Yelp database and if it is not live on your yelp business page right now there is a chance it can come back.

This exert is from Yelp Support Page and specifically explains Yelps review process.

"The filter continually reevaluates its decisions based on the information at hand. As a result, it's fairly common to see reviews come and go as the filter picks up new information. Either way, business owners should probably focus less on any one review and more on their entire body of reviews. Reviewers, in turn, should contribute to the site and give the filter a chance to get to know them over the long-term."

Improving Your chances of More Reviews

If you or someone you know posted a review on Yelp and it was removed, you probably have questions on how to make it stick next time.

The best way to get your review to stick is to have regular Yelpers post them. Meaning people who are trusted sources on Yelp, not just going in for the first time to help you out.
There is a small social aspect to Yelp reviews. It helps to be friends with members of Yelp. The more active a Yelper, the better chance a review by them will stick.

Engage the reviewer, send them a message saying thank you for your review and vote on it being either cool, useful, or funny depending on the specific review. Remember to add them as a friend.

I also found that there is a small social part involved in the Yelp reviews. Such as if you are friends.
Less volume of reviews over longer periods of time will also help reviews stick. Natural is key!
Another way is to encourage QR codes. Simply print a piece of paper with the Yelp icon and the QR code going to your Yelp review site, and post it in your business. This is easy but there is a small drawback; if it creates a huge spike in traffic on your business profile page there is a chance Yelp may block some reviews because of the spontaneous increase.

Never used a QR code? Check out Cal Coast Web Design blog on QR codes for some help.

Still having trouble with understanding Yelp? Cal Coast Web Design has numerous packages available specifically tailored towards online business marketing. Contact us today!

New Facebook Timeline Brands: Mandatory Update - What does this mean for your business?

2012-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Facebook Timeline Brand Pages Change...

Why does my Facebook page look "funny" you ask?

Facebook brand pages are about to make the jump to the new timeline format that is used for regular Facebook members. As of March 30, all brand changes will be automatically switched over. Be prepared and make the jump now to have the best brand page for your followers! The change is mandatory.

The timeline changes present some interesting opportunities but also challenges to brands with Facebook presences. We think the gurus at Social Media Explorer explain it best. Don't miss out. Read "The New Facebook Brand Timeline Mistake You'll Likely Make" by clicking HERE.

This is a good example of what you can do for your brand page and how you can utilize Facebook's new timeline update to make engage your audience!

We specialize in Social Networking! Contact us today... we offer various packages that will boost your social media presence and can help you get the most out of Facebook, and design your new Facebook timeline brand page today!

5 Tips for Improving your Google+ Optimization

2012-03-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

Strengthening Search Engine Optimization with Google+

Promoting your business online or thinking about using social media's such as Google+?

Here are a few pointers that will lead you on your way to achieving a better presence online in the search rankings by just using Google+.

5 Tips To Improve Google+ Search Engine Optimization

Get More Followers

Most Social networking sites want you to be selective on who and how many people you add, this is not the case with Google+. By adding more followers to your account you are increasing the chances of more people viewing your content (blog posts, websites, etc..).

Also make sure to link the content you are creating to your Google+ account. If someone is following you and they happen to search for something that you created content about, your post will go towards the top of the search results! For an example click the link.

Set Up Authorship With Your Personal Profile

Are you a blogger? Take credit for the content you create though the search results in Google. When you set up Authorship with Google+ it will use your profile picture in the search results and give viewers the option to directly add you to their account. Remember the more followers you have the better!

Directly Connect Your Page

By directly connecting all of your online content to Google+. This will directly help you get followers. When your directly connected the search results will show some of your recent posts within Google+ right on the results page after a search.

Encourage +'s

The + button is useful because it will show the number of +1 in the search results. So make sure to include the +1 icon on your website. Be sure to add the icon to your website.

Fill Out Your Information

You'd be surprised how often filling out all of the information on your account is neglected on social networking sites. Google+ will actually use some of the sections when displaying information on the search results. For example the introduction and occupation sections are used frequently.

Click the link to see a more in depth explanation on the 5 ways to use Google+ to improve your search engine optimization.

Was this post about how to improve your search engine optimization using Google+ an eye opener for you? If it was and you want professional help call Cal Coast Web Design today for all of your social media needs!

Click here to read more about social media strategies!

Cal Coast Web Design on BlogTalkRadio FULL AUDIO | Orange County SEO

2012-02-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Were you unable to listen to us live on BlogTalkRadio on Tuesday morning? No problem, listen to the full audio of the show right here; just hit play on the video below or click here to listen at YouTube!

Orange County SEO Expert, Angie Weeks from Cal Coast Web Design, goes over several SEO topics:

What's the point of SEO?
Casting your net to get more customers to "jump in" and how to target the RIGHT customers.
Keyword research is crucial - you can never guess what people are actually searching for.
Site architecture and its importance for SEO
Getting conversions (sales, bookings, more business) - how SEO is involved
Social media
Internet Marketing as a whole
What is Google looking for? How do they determine the results I see?

Also covered are common SEO Traps to avoid:

Wanting to rank for the wrong keyword - always need research
People thinking lead generation sites are better than what they can do themselves for leads - save money and optimize your own site, don't feed someone else's.
People paying for what they think is an optimized site, but they don't even own the site or the content, etc.

As many of you know people count on Cal Coast for all of this and so much more! Press play on the video in this post to listen to the audio from our appearance on BlogTalkRadio and get the latest info on SEO.

SEO Tips for Business TOMORROW on BlogTalkRadio.com

2012-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

Do you dream of higher Google rankings, but think its just a farfetched fantasy for your business? After all, you have work and clients to attend to...who has time for that internet stuff?? Sure, your competitor is doing well in Google, but they have a much bigger budget than you do... Or do they? *Maybe* they just know the right optimization tricks.

Does your business need SEO tips?

Join Angie Weeks, Cal Coast Web Design's founder, tomorrow at 9am on BlogTalkRadio.com as she unveils some easy to implement SEO and social media success tips. Whether you're just starting a business, or you're established but looking for new ideas, this will be a great show to tune in to!

In addition to demystifying SEO myths, you'll learn why SEO and Social Media is a must for effective marketing. Have you had a bad internet marketing experience or hesitate because someone you know has? We'll also go over the traps to avoid, and why not all SEO experts are the same.

Angie is honored to be interviewed by Mike Brenhaug, one of the best in Orange County when it comes to a Business & Focus Coach. Mike recently authored a best selling Amazon book about transforming a negative into a positive - we highly recommend to pick it up - it's called WTF. The sooner you read the book, the less WTF moments you'll have ;)

Here's that link again - hope you'll tune in tomorrow at 9am! Angie will also be answering your questions if you'd like a some FREE internet marketing advice.

Future of NFC Mobile Device

2012-01-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend a conference talking about Near Field Communications (NFC) presented by Nick Testanero and what technology has in store for our county will blow your mind! What if we never had to carry a wallet, and a payment process was as easy as hovering your phone over the store product? Our smart phones today have taken the place of our calendars, contact books, and camera's but soon it will be the only item in our pockets. NFC enabled phones have Antennas built into the phone that pick up radio frequency signals which transmits the process or Near Field Communication.

NFC devices today even allow consumers to pay for plane tickets and bagging all with just a tap of the phone. Japan and a few large countries throughout the world are already taking advantage of these services, the United States is just behind. In Japan the public bus system uses NFC technology to enable citizen to use their mobile device to pay the toll fee without having a credit card or money in their pocket. In the U.S. however we are still slowing using this technology, but San Francisco is one of the elite city's who is using this system. How they incorporated this though is throughout the parking meters across the city. So with the tap of your phone you can pay for your meter, and even reimburse the meter from anywere in the city. In addition to those features this high tech device also lets you know where every meter in the city with no money in it making it easier to find parking.

Not only is this device helpful on the consumer side, but it also is expanding the business owner to completely new method of marketing. Near Future Communication devices can be placed in anything from a t-shirt to even a business card, Grocery stores to pharmacitcal companies are using this technology to increase their revenue.

Nick shared a few industry's as an example of how this device is being used.

Grocery Stores: Placing talking ads on the food shelves, so with a tap of the phone the consumer gets a description of the food read to them on their mobile device.
Pharmaceutical Companies: using NFC to read bar codes and test tubes.
Wine Companies: To prevent fraud of rare wine bottles, vineyards are placing NFC ships on the top of the corks to prove its authenticity.

IF You Want Shoppers, Avoid Using Words With Trending Topics in Your Posts

2011-12-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Avoiding the "See More Posts" Section

Are you a marketer or running your own business and use Facebook? If so there are a few things you should know about Facebooks new redesign.

With the constant change of technology there are always going to be new redesigns. The most recent Facebook redesign will change how posts show up on your news feed. If you mention the any topic that's trending on Facebook, or among several people within a person's feed, that person will see all posts on that topic lumped together with tons of other posts. A perfect example of this in action has been over the last several weeks as more and more people talked about Christmas, Holidays, and the New Year. The problem is that your post wont appear unless the user hits the see more posts button under the one or two posts about the trending topic in Facebook's news feed.

So if you're a marketer and are trying to get a promotion out or just advertising, avoid the common words that are associated with holidays or other trending topics. Instead get creative use words that aren't used by every Facebook user.

Also keep in mind that if your message avoids the use of the words for a popular topic there might still be a chance that the post could get combined with other similar posts. Facebook also takes into account the links you post as well. So either avoid links with popular words or use a URL shortner. URL shortners are a great way to change a link that might include the words about the trending topic. Cal Coast recommends using bitly or owly . These are great free tools every marketer should use to avoid Facebook lumping.

If you or your business needs any help extra help in promoting your business through social media contact Cal Coast Web Design today!

Getting Healthy for the New Year with Alternative Health Care and Nutritional Consulting

2011-12-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

Q & A with Healthy Food Talk / Michelle Bond

Anna Bourland: Hi Michelle, I’m so happy to be speaking with you today about Healthy Food Talk and your expertise in the areas of alternative health care and nutritional consulting! Let’s jump right in!

So, let’s face it, it’s the end of another year. I think it’s safe to say the New Year’s Resolutions will soon be flying around and getting healthy has got to be at the top of most of our lists. While healthy living should be a year-round focus, do you think these New Year’s reflections are a good opportunity for people to get motivated and change their lifestyle?

Michelle Bond: Yes I do. A New Year's resolution can just be the motivation to get the program kick-started and into full gear. Once people realize how much better they feel eating and living in a healthy manor, then they become more motivated to make it a lifestyle choice. They see the results and realize it's not as difficult as they thought it would be. They begin to realize they don't have to sacrifice flavor and a lot of convenience to live healthy. In other words, they realize they don't have to eat "twigs and berries" or bland food just to be healthy.

AB: When you talk about healthy living, what exactly is involved? Do you just mean food? Is it working out? What makes someone “healthy” in your eyes?

MB: Healthy living is all about keeping the body in balance. When it is in balance then healthcare challenges hardly have a chance to occur. You have to look at the whole picture of nutrition, exercise, stress levels, relaxation, the toxins a person is exposed to, lifestyle choices and genetic dispositions. Every individual is unique so there is no such thing as one program fitting all. Health programs should take this into consideration and seldom do. Its best to work with a consultant to help you find out what program is the best one for you. There is truth to the saying that one man's remedy could be another man's poison.

AB: Your initial consultation is 90 minutes – what exactly is covered during that consultation?

MB: During the initial 90 minutes I review the customized nutritional program and educate the client on why I have recommended this custom protocol. I teach them what nutrients were lacking in their current diet, the toxins they were getting and probably didn't even realize and teach them how to become more aware of what is going on with the food choices they are making. There is also time to answer any questions the client might have.

AB: Are your clients on their own after your initial consultation? Can they have you hold their hand through grocery trips, cleaning out unhealthy items from their homes, and other lifestyle changes?

MB: No, the client is not alone after the initial consultation. This is why I have scheduled follow up sessions to help keep the client on track, monitor progress and make the necessary changes as needed. These sessions are also educational because we discuss a nutritional supplement protocol, detox program and lifestyle choices that would be best for the client We can also talk on the phone or by email if any questions arise or if a client needs a little pick me up. I also offer sessions where I can help the client clean out their pantry, freezer and fridge. I can teach them how to shop as well as cook. I can consult with them about how to eat healthy when eating out and traveling. I can even help them determine if their home is a non -toxic home and how to clean it up.

AB: How important are the follow up sessions?

MB: Very important. There is just too much information to do it all at once. If I try to cram it all into one session, the client usually feels overwhelmed and loses sight of what we want to accomplish. Therefore, they usually end up doing nothing. This obviously is counter - productive. It can take anywhere between 4-6 weeks for us to develop new habits. While we are trying to do that, we need to take things slowly and have support. That's where I come in; to give you the education and support you need to make this program a success. I also help take a lot of the stress out of it. Once the client has conquered one step, then we can move onto the next. We want to alleviate stress, not create more of it.

AB: What is the significance of the mind-body connection with practices such as meditation and Vedic astrology?

MB: It is very important. We are all a product of what we feed our body and our mind. Feed your body processed and fast foods and your body will reward you with healthcare challenges like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Feed your mind a steady diet of negative information and you find yourself unable to fulfill your dreams, stressed out and depressed. These negative emotions will then wreak havoc on your body, manifesting into healthcare challenges as well. The mind and the body are not separate. One affects the other. When they are working together in harmony then your body can stay balanced and have very few healthcare challenges.

Meditation helps to rid our body of stresses that are locked deep within. It gives us better rest than sleep (although we still need sleep). While resting the body works to balance itself, meditation helps to quiet the mind so we can discover who we truly are. Once we know this, then we can live fully in the present moment, recognizing and living to our full potential. We can see what is true and what matters most to us. We can then make a full contribution to whatever we focus on.

“A physician without a knowledge of Astrology has no right to call himself a physician.” - Hippocrates

Vedic Astrology allows us to see where the rough patches (as well as good) are in a person's life. It is like a road map of one's life. If we don't like the road we are on, many times we can do remedial measures to change it or to make it more bearable.

Hippocrates realized that the planetary energies and how they affected the individual would indicate health issues in a person's life. The planets are the macrocosm and we are the microcosm. Through astrology we can see what areas need work. This can bring peace of mind and a since of being more in control of our destiny and lives.

AB: Wow Michelle! It sounds like you are offering a lifeline with your services! What would you say to someone who feels like they have tried everything to get healthy and might be discouraged? Can you help?

MB: Yes I can. Conventional healing methods currently focus on just one thing: treating the disease. There are other factors that need to be considered. Nutrition is vitally important. If you aren't giving the body what it needs for nourishment, then there is no way it will have the strength to re-balance itself. The typical diet (even what we consider healthy) contains too many toxins and anti-nutrients. Since our bodies aren't designed to digest these elements, they build up in our bodies causing weight gain and healthcare challenges. If we want to feel great, we need to look at how we are eating.

Another factor that isn't considered is the energy of our bodies. All healthcare challenges start in our energy bodies before they manifest into our physical body. There is a whole branch of medicine called Energy Medicine that deals with this area of healing. When you want to rebalance the body, you need to find out where there are energy blockages and deal with them. This concept is not new. It has been around for thousands of years with Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Some healthcare professionals are now rediscovering the techniques.

I help by developing a customized nutritional program for the individual to address their specific healthcare challenges. Then, I can help with different energy balancing techniques. If for some reason I can't help a person, then I can refer them to a healthcare professional who probably can help.

AB: Thank you so much for your time today Michelle!

Well, I’m a believer, how about you?! Everyone at Cal Coast Web Design has learned so much from the materials on the Healthy Food Talk website. There are several resources on the site ranging from alternative health care to nutritional consulting, meditation, Vedic astrology, and more! Please check it out, and if you’re on the fence about making a real health and life change this year, talk to Michelle!

Online Grief Support During the Holidays

2011-12-11T23:17:00.001-08:00

The holidays are a wonderful time of year to connect with loved ones and be surrounded with the warmth of friends and family.

However, we know that for many the holidays are hard to get through because of the loss of a close family member or dear friend. Whether your loss is recent or you have been coping with the grieving process for some time now, our friends at Grief Hope Network have provided a safe place with online grief support to connect with others who are suffering the same feelings of loss from the death of a loved one.

The Grief Hope Network wants to help you as you mourn the loss of your closest loved ones and immediate family members, such as a spouse, child, sibling, or parent. Their online grief support network was founded by someone who lost their spouse and desired to turn that pain into something to help others.

If you're having a hard time with grief this holiday season, we recommend you reach out to the Grief Hope Network community. Their site has tools, resources, inspirational materials, and messages of hope to begin coping with your grief. Connect with them today to feel hope for tomorrow.

Cal Coast owner, Angie Weeks, speaks on social media panel at OCAR today

2011-11-18T13:19:00.001-08:00

This morning, Cal Coast founder, Angie Weeks, was a featured panelist member at OCAR in Laguna Hills. Their social media panel featured Realtors and social media experts alike.

The overall focus of the event was relationship building and using social media as a tool. It was a discussion on where to start, how to grow, and just plain WHY to do it!

For more information, click here to visit the tweetup stream on Twitter and see what people were sharing live about the event today...

Special thanks to the panel members...

Angie Weeks
Websites: http://www.askangie.com & http://www.calcoastwebdesign.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Askangie & http://www.facebook.com/calcoastwebdesign
Twitter: @askangie & @calcoast
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/angieweeks

Robin Milonakis
Website: http://www.robinmilonakis.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobinMilonakis & https://www.facebook.com/RobinMilonakisGroup
Twitter: @RobinMilonakis
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/robin-milonakis/7/814/577

Bob Watson
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bobwatson
Twitter: @TopBrokerOC
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/topbrokeroc

Linsey Planeta
Website: http://ocrealestatevoice.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/linseyplaneta
Twitter: @linsey
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/linseyplaneta

Josh Sharfman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/josh.sharfman
Twitter: @JSharfman
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/josh-sharfman/0/188/500

Greg Herder - Moderator
Website: http://hobbsherder.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/greg.herder
Twitter: @GregHerder & @hobbsherder
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregherder

Orange County Association of Realtors - Event Host
Website: http://www.ocar.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OCARinfo
Twitter: @OCARinfo

If you haven't done so already, go connect with these experts. Follow their example. Ask for help. Be fearless!

Want a little more info on where to get start with his social media thing?
RSVP to join us the first Friday of every month for FREE social media seminars & training.

Social Media Panel at Orange County Association of Realtors. Join Us This Friday!

2011-11-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

We're pleased and honored to announce our own Angie Weeks was asked to speak on the panel of Social Media specialists at Orange County Association of Realtors on Friday, 11/18!

Anyone is welcome, and the panel is FREE to OCAR members. Non members pay a small $10 fee. Want to join us to learn more social media tips and tricks?

Orange County Association of Realtors
25552 La Paz Road
Laguna Hills, ca 92653

9am - noon on 11/18/11

Embracing social media and learning tactics to generate business should be at the top of any Realtor's goal list, so be sure to share this info and tell a friend!

Panelists include CAR Chief Technology Officer, Josh Sharfman, socially famous Robin Milonakis , and more! We hope to see you there!!

Looking for Power Partner Tenant for RSM Teen Volunteer Office Space $500 Month to Month

2011-11-14T13:24:00.001-08:00

Our friends and volunteer advocates at Lions Heart offer Volunteer Opportunities for Teens in Orange County.

They are currently looking for power partners to share their Rancho Santa Margarita office space with.

Each private office is $500 per month and includes utilities and wireless internet, and includes use of the conference table and chairs and kitchen/break facilities.
Lease is month to month.
Tenant could have their company and individual name on the digital lobby directory but not on the suite signage.

Below is a copy of the floor plan. It shows a sample furniture layout and doesn't reflect the furniture we have. Where it says "conference room" there is really the large private office. The whole suite is about 1,700 s.f. on the ground level.

PHOTO GALLERY:

For more information, please contact Terry Corwin with Lions Heart...

Founder, Executive DirectorTerry Corwin
Terry.Corwin@lionsheartservice.org
949 351-4400 direct
949 715-7076 fax

Orange County Social Experiment: Will you join us??!?

2011-11-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

We all know how powerful Google is, but often times we forget how powerful WE are. This year, Cal Coast is using our social push to do an experiment to see how many families we can get adopted for the holidays. Would you like to be a part?

It all started last year when our founder, Angie Weeks, and her husband Mike adopted a family in need. It was an amazing experience for everyone involved...the kids got items they desperately needed and mom actually got a little something for herself too. Of course, this lead to a new yearly 'family tradition' for the Weeks' household :)

But....Angie's an overachiever and wants to do more. One family every year is good, but its not good enough :( We figured we'd take our adoption idea to the streets (aka our social networks) and see if more people were interested in adopting a family!

How to Adopt an Orange County Family for the Holidays

Have you ever wanted to do something nice for the holidays but weren't sure what you could do? This is it!! Anyone can help, you can 'adopt' by simply sending a gift card, or by actually getting a list and playing Santa. Businesses or individuals or entire families can adopt...it would be an amazing experience if you involved your kids, too!

We're not trying to endorse any one charity here, the idea is to see how many families can get adopted this holiday through all avenues. Here are a few we know of:

Lois - PCAA - 714-393-3685 - contactpcaa@aol.com
Johanna Parra - Jump Start 4 Kids - 714-517-7107 ext. 1517 - johanna.parra@wysoc.org
Sharon Wie - Interval House - (562) 594-9492 x231 - sharon@intervalhouse.org

Whether you share this post, tell a friend, or actually adopt, we thank you for going above and beyond for your community!

If you know of another organization who has families in need, please comment here or on our We Are Orange County discussion on LinkedIn. If you adopt or help in any way, please let us know so we can track the number of families helped! You can comment here, tweet @CalCoast, or post it on our Facebook wall.

Orange County Video Production: Creating & Optimizing Your Online Video Presence - Tips & Tools

2011-11-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Cal Coast Web Design is always reaching out with new ways to help you and your business with video marketing for your websites, blogs, and other online profiles. Use the links below as a collective resource to fuel your online reach through video.

Cal Coast owner, Angie Weeks, talks about getting your video SEEN after you've spent marketing dollars on your video production. - WATCH NOW!

WHY?

7 Reasons to Use Online Video to Promote Your Business

HOW?

MORE...

Can I Embed Someone Else's YouTube Video On My Site?
Video Blogging (Vlogging) tips for Realtors - Just for REALTORS.

If you need help either designing and filming your custom commercial with a professional in Orange County video production, need help with video optimization for exposure, or just consulting as you do it yourself, please don't hesitate to contact us for a custom quote.

Together, Cal Coast Web Design & Miller Farm Media will help you get the exposure & conversions you're looking for!

Starting a Facebook Marketing Campaign: Week 1 Checklist by Facebook Marketing Bootcamp

2011-11-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

Facebook Marketing Bootcamp

Social Media is such an important part of online marketing! Its where your customers ARE! Facebook Marketing is offering a free three week seminar to introduce you to the benefits of how to Facebook Marketing can help out your business. Sign up for the remaining bootcamp series or click here to watch previous webinars.

Facebook webinar's will introduce you to the ideas of how to connect your business to people using Pages, and how to build essential connections for your business. Also Facebook will help you to reach friends of fans with facebook Ads, and Leverage Facebook's scale and targeting. Lastly Facebook will teach you how to help your business thrive through Facebook and the Social Media scene is how to make your campaigns work harder, and how to build social technology into your business.

Week 1 Checklist

This checklist is a quick guide that will help you get started on the basics of Facebook Marketing from week one.

Facebook Marketing BootcampWeek 1 Checklist provided by Facebook Marketing

If your looking to integrate your business with Facebook marketing visit Cal Coast Web Design. We offer various packages for social media endeavours.

Internet Marketing Guide: SOP on Managing Social Media Tasks

2011-11-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

You may have previously read our blog post on Internet Marketing Strategies TODO List: Allocating time in your schedule to be a part of your online presence or even our SMO Closing Flow Checklist: An Internet Marketing SOP You MUST Incorporate Now.

But times, they are a changing, and we wanted to give you a newer and improved version of this checklist...

Whether you're trying to master the art of website marketing and social media marketing on your own, or trying to supplement with the guidance of an Internet marketing specialist, you SHOULD be allocating time to your website nearly every day (or at least making it look that way.)

YOU are the zen master of your own industry and business.
YOU know best the industry updates, company news & specials and promos.
YOU know best the tips, tricks & tools of the trade.
YOU should be a part of getting this info to the world, to your target market. - We no longer look for the news, the news finds us! Be a part of getting your news out!

So, just what should you be doing?

As You Get a New Professional Contact (Power Partner) or Client:

(For businesses just staring on their social media, this would include past clients as well. Referrals and upsells are easier than converting new leads!)

Send a welcome email including links & options to/for the following:
(Note: If you draft up the welcome email, I can add in the custom icons, etc if needed.)
- Follow you on Twitter
- Like your business page on Facebook (or friend your personal page
- Connect with you on LinkedIn (especially for professional connections!)
- Subscribe to your newsletter or blog
- Friend us on Youtube
- Review us Yelp, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, BBB, etc.
- Add VALUE. Be sure to offer a promo for this work.
  
  This small gesture will keep people engaged in actively serving as your salesman. By constantly getting updates about what you offer, your followers may become regular customers or be able to refer their friends and followers as well…if they see value in it. We cant take action with that we don't know of.
  
  And unless it's in front of us, we cant take action. Offer incentive to get it in front of them. Have them do the work of adding you and subscribing to your updates!
Add Professional To Database

You may use an existing or preferred CMS like Constant Contact or Campaigner, but if you are looking to save costs right now, you may keep them organized in your email contacts or an excel file like "Professional Members" at https://docs.google.com

You will want to save all those recommended variables on file so you know who to market to according to their categories.

This will also make for easy import into a database in the future if done through an excel file like the one referenced above.
Follow to be Followed:
- Look them up and connect with them on
  - Twitter
  - Facebook
  - LinkedIn
  - Yelp
  - Youtube
Also engage with them on these platforms:
- Tweet them directly or retweet something of theirs
- Comment on or share something from their Facebook wall.
- Connect (and even recommend) on LinkedIn
- Leave a review or Friend on Yelp
- Friend, Subscribe, or add video to playlist on Youtube

Daily:

Include Social Candy In Your Signature
Every email you send out should have links to your social profile sin your signature.
Use an automatic tool like WiseStamp to do this automatically for you if you're using webmail. Or just use your template for offline options like Outlook.
15 Min on Facebook & Twitter
For one, you may have some questions or conversations waiting for you to reply.
You also want to see whats happened in your stream or wall since the lst time. Who can you help, who can you share info for & with? If you don't have new info of your own to share, retweet or repost something of value someone else posted.
Blog Posts
Each of your categories should be getting weekly updates, so you need to be blogging to keep up.
Use your keywords in your title, categories, tags, and more.
Calendar Updates
Add events and keep content fresh.

Weekly:

Get Some Friends
Use Twitter's Advanced Search to find people who are talking about keywords that may reflect a need for your help. Look for your target market and then connect with them!
You may also find industry experts here who can help you see what they are doing so you can get some ideas for your own campaign. They are also giving you great content that you can retweet giving you relevant content and contributing to the community. Having these experts updating you so you can update your followers means you look more and more like the expert, the specialist, the trustworthy advisor they go to!
- Follow to be followed.
  If you follow a potential client on Twitter, they get an email that you are following them. Then they can look at your profile with the link and decide if they want to follow you back. How else were you going to get in front of them so easily?
  
  Be sure you have some valuable content on your page before you do this or else you wont be followed back.
  - Be sure to follow your leads and existing clients as well. This is just more opportunity to close the deal faster or get referrals!
  - Friend on Facebook.
  - Suggest friends like your Facebook Business page.
  - Find new friends that are your leads and existing clients.
- Engage In The Community
  Once you have friends, engage with them! Talk to people. Answer their questions. Share their information (scratch my back, ill scratch yours.) Help be the expert so that they come to you when ready to buy or refer you when a friend is looking!
  - Join a LinkedIn group and start a discussion or contribute to another.
  - Search for and Answer some questions on Yahoo Answers.

Monthly:

Review your Analytics.
Login with Google account.
See where people are coming from.
What are they typing in? Can you maximize on that?
Where are they coming from? Which referring sites do you need to spend more time on? Or which do you need to cancel advertising on?
Send Blog Post Concepts to Copywriter
If you're not doing you own blogging, you should be providing news, opinions, potential promos & deals and more to your copywriter or marketing coordinator to help facilitate. (Yes, that means to Cal Coast.)
- Industry News - Find anything online? In a newspaper? Link out to this news with your opinion so that you appear to be the leading expert and trusted adviser.
- Company News / Branding - New employee? New department? New brochure you want feedback on? New location?
- Promotions, Coupons, Discounts - Holiday deals? Weekend promos? Seasonal options? Don't have a fully booked weekend? Start a sales for just this weekend! Offer a promo for reviewing your company on Google, Yahoo or Yelp!
- Product / Service Update - New treatment? New upgrade? New anything? This should be added to your site AND featured in a blog post, Twitter, Facebook and more!
- Events - Grand Opening? Sale? Seminar? Open House?
- Photos - Events, New Arrivals, Etc.
- Contests & Drawings - Give people a reason to interact with you. Make them connect. Keep them coming back. Offer a free session or promotional item to the 1st 10 people who post on your Facebook. Or random drawing if you follow us on twitter, like us on Facebook, post a comment on our blog, or retweet this call to action. LET them serve as free salespeople getting you referrals by sharing your info through a contest worth sharing!
  
  You don't have to be a beautiful writer. Just include some topics and some notes with opinions when applicable.
Schedule Tweets
Using an application like Hootsuite, you can schedule your tweets for the month at once! Know you're going to be an event, have the details? Schedule a post to meet you there on the day before (and of) that the event is held. That's right, you don't have to go on Twitter EVERY day. But we still encourage it. :)
Video
If you aren't doing it weekly, you should be creating and posting a video to YouTube monthly. (Ok. ok, even quarterly is better than NOTHING.)
Why? - CLICK HERE for "7 Reasons to Use Online Video to Promote Your Business."
This doesn't have to be anything fancy. A web cam is acceptable in today's professional world. How about a "Saturday Coffee With InsertNameHere" where you talk about anything and everything form the above list.

As soon as you upload a video to YouTube, be sure to use the YouTube Bulletin feature to let all your subscribers know you have a new video ready for them to view! A Bulletin is similar to a status update on other social networks, such as Facebook.

Posting a Bulletin after uploading your video will help increase the visibility of your new video to subscribers who have opted out of notification emails alerting them when a new video is posted.
Add SMO Candy to Your Offline Marketing
Be sure your twitter, facebook, linkedin & other profiles are easily accessible on any new marketing materials like banners, business cards, brochures, INVOICES and more.
Local - Site, Google, Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook
How to add your company review options & social media connections to your daily operating procedures...
Get Testimonials
Whether its for your website itself, or a review in Google, Yahoo or Yelp, it will HELP!

A review on an outside site will help you rank better in the local results.

A positive review or testimonial will help users make a decision about trusting you and choosing you!

If a client has not offered one on their own, ask them about their experience. Transcribe as they talk and ask them if you can type that up to get approved and add it to your site.
Get Referrals
While you have them on the site getting feedback about their experience, be sure to see if there is anyone else who would benefit from your help! Offering an incentive for closed referrals can also help!
Share Examples on Site & Other Online Profiles like FB, twitter, etc.

These simple tasks can easily be integrated into your closing flow.
Heck, even train an intern to do it!

Coordinating Your Orange County Concrete and Demo for Underground Utility Work

2011-11-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Rick Farino of Team R. Farino recently spoke with us about the process of laying new underground utilities. We were surprised at how much goes into this process and how much time and money can be spent on a project like adding lighting to a parking lot.

Rick shared this example with us:

"Let's say you're a property management company and you want to add lighting in the parking lot. You would call a contractor and get an estimate for Orange County concrete and demolition services.

In order to accomplish the addition of lighting in the parking lot, you will need saw cutting and trenching. You have to hire a separate company to start the process and another to actually do the trenching, then you need to hire and pay for the electrician, and then hire someone else to put the asphalt back and repave.”

Rick mentioned that this is the simplified version of the process, but for many projects like this, you can end up hiring up to 8 different companies!

Rick continued:

“We have created R. Farino to be different. We are a rarity in the industry, but we have both A and B classifications (General Engineering and General Building Contractor) which enables us to do the demo and the concrete construction. We take care of it all, and we have a fantastic list of recommended utility specialists (electricians, plumbers, etc.) we can easily coordinate with on your job.

Being a full service Orange County concrete and demolition company, we have helped many businesses and residents reduce stress, save time, and save money on their Orange County concrete and demo projects because trying to coordinate all the different schedules is ridiculous! The truth is there’s no one else in our industry in Southern California who offers this!”

Wow, impressive! Whether it’s commercial or residential, R. Farino can take care of it all for you. When you get into underground utilities you need saw cutting and trenching from R. Farino, then they coordinate with the electrician, plumber, etc., and then they fill everything back in to get your project completed!

Do you need an Orange County concrete and demo company for your next underground utilities project? Visit http://rfarino.com for more information today!

Grow Your Orange County Business Through Location-Based Social Networking

2011-10-31T16:05:00.000-07:00

Why You Should Be Interested in Location-Based Social Networking

This article by Sheri Vandermause with CMIT Solutions explains the importance of why location-based social networking is influential in spreading your business. Location-based social networking provides many advantages in spreading your business to potentially hundreds if not thousands of people. If your business needs a marketing boost look no farther than Cal Coast Web Design. We can get your set up with the basics of Social Networking and help grow your business.

Location-based Social Networking and Your Business

"If you use Facebook with any sort of regularity (and, as a small business owner, you definitely should), then you’ve most likely noticed people “checking in” from various locations. Though Facebook rather recently rolled out its own “check in” feature, services like Gowalla, Foursquare, BrightKite, and a handful of other companies have been announcing the location of users via status updates for some time.

Essentially, location-based applications like these work by alerting you when friends or acquaintances from your social network check in at the same location (or nearby) as you. It’s useful when attending large events like conferences or concerts, as you may not even be aware that someone you know is also attending.

While the concept of broadcasting one’s exact location to the anonymous eyes of the Internet might raise all kinds of alarm bells, you may actually be in a position to capitalize on people’s willingness to share that information without compromising your own security.

If your business has an open-to-the-public location, your customers can check in each time they visit. Not only do these apps announce your customer’s location to his or her friends, but the app will also tally how many times that customer visits each place. With Foursquare, in particular, the person who checks in at a particular place the most becomes the “mayor” of that location.

Consider incentivizing your customers to vie for “mayor” status (or the equivalent) by offering, say, a 15% discount to whomever holds the mayorship.

By encouraging your customers to check in each time they visit your business, you are effectively advertising your business to each customer’s social networking contacts. Not only that, but each check-in essentially serves as a word-of-mouth recommendation (which is the best kind of advertising) to a new pool of potential customers."

Written by Sheri Vandermause with CMIT Solutions.

Contact your Orange County SEO specialists with Cal Coast Web Design today to get your business started using Location-based social networking today!

Purchasing a Professional Notebook for Business: An Interview with Orange County Computer

2011-10-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

What To Think About when Buying a New Computer

As an Internet marketer, most people assume I, Angela Collins (co-owner here at CCWD), know everything about computers, email, software, etc. Sure, I can usually figure stuff out. The same way you could, via Google searches and Youtube video tutorials. But professional help and expertise are always beneficial.

With all the questions lately about the best kind of computer to get for small business purposes (and my own need for a new laptop) I decided to consult with the experts and swung over to ask some questions about computer selection to Alex Pinedo of Orange County Computer.

Below is just a recap of the questions I asked. I am not quoting Alex here. I'm not a reporter and even though my clients are usually shocked at how fast I type, I still cant keep up with transcribing speech. With that, here's what I got out of my conversation with Orange County Computer repair and networking center owner, Alex Pinedo.

Q: What do all these different processor sizes and speeds even mean? I keep seeing "i" everywhere.

A: The "i" indicates Intel. The dual core is on its way out. Faster is better and the quad core processor has replaced the dual core. All the "i" processors are quad core with the exception to the i3. The i5 i7 and quad core processors.

Resources: Wikipedia micro processors

Q: Are there any processors I should stay away from?

A: Processors are built to work. And at decent speeds. If they didn't work, they wouldn't be on the market. That said, OCC sees a lot of Semprons and Celerons at their Tech Repair Center in Lake Forest.

Q: For the average business owner, what would be the minimum memory you recommend?

A: Generally speaking, 4GB. Most operating systems are 32 bit and hold 4GB only. The more RAM, the faster your click speed.

Consumers who want more RAM can go with more RAM should use a 64bit version of windows which allows you to actually utilize the additional memory which is capable of accepting 8GB-16GB. Anything more then that would be not necessary unless a system was being used as a file or application server.
(Note: because of this click speed statement, I went with 8GB for my own.)

Q: Do I need to worry about my video card?

A: As a business person, not generally. Unless you’re a Gamer, Engineer, Auto CAD or Graphics Designer. Do note though, that often times you can switch out or upgrade your video card in a laptop unless it has onboard video on the motherboard.

Q: Are there any brand or manufactures to stay away from? Or any "culprits" you see a lot of in your repair center?

A: We recommend staying away from companies that are struggling like Toshiba. We also see a lot of the less expensive brands in here too. Like Acer, EMachine, MSI, ASUS etc. You get what you pay for.

Also note that there are newer brands that we don't have a lot of history on like Samsung. While they have a good reputation for other electronics and deserve a chance, we don't know much about their computers yet.
We find that Sony Vaios, HPs & Dells are pretty reliable.

Unless you are specific about your needs, most new notebooks & laptops that are mid-grade/price or higher (Lets say $600 to 800 for a desktop and $800 to 1000 for a laptop) are going to be suitable for the average business person's needs.

If you need gaming or CAD resources, perhaps an upgrade is in order.

OCC also gave me a quick tip about upgrading your hardrives. They all fail eventually. Any usually faster than you would expect. They see it every day at Orange County Computer. The average Desktop hard drive typically last about 2-4 years and laptop drives last roughly 1-3 years before performance starts to deteriorate. For $200-$300, the Tech Team can help you upgrade to a Western Digital Black HD to last you much longer and run more efficiently, Western Digital has a 5 year warranty on their high performance black hard drives while most drives have a 1 year warranty.

There has been a lot of hype about Sold State Drives. They have been out just a few years now. We are still apprehensive about recommending solid-state drives due to compatibility issues with other hardware components and formatting issues. We do not recommend moving to the latest and greatest hardware until it has been out a few years – this gives the manufacturer ample time to resolve operational issues and alleviate consumer headaches.

Whether your hard drive is black, blue or remanufactured, it is generally not mentioned to the consumer in the system specs. A member of the Tech Team at Orange County Computer can help insure your system is running at it’s optimal performance level. Protect your hard work with a reliable hard drive!

For more information about what computer would be good for your needs or if you have a computer that needs maintenance visit Orange County Computer.

Setting Up an Orange County Business on Google Maps and Yahoo Local

2011-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Google Maps and Yahoo Local

The importance of using Google maps and Yahoo local are significant. Google maps and Yahoo local are free products that your Orange County business can utilize for marketing. If your business is listed it makes it easier for potential customers to see where your business is located, and even provide driving directions.

For an example of what Google maps will look like for your business check out Cal Coast Web Design on Google Maps.

Here are a few reasons why your business should be listed on Google Maps or Yahoo Local.

People search online before they go into a brick and motar store for products and services. Chances are if you have your business listed on Google maps or Yahoo local your business will be found in the search engines more frequently by potential customers.
More people use Google and Yahoo than other search engines. Chances are if you use these two local searches your business will increase.
Google Maps and Yahoo Local provide directions to your business from on a computer or a smartphone.
Google maps allows reviews of your business and also photos.
The biggest key with these 2 online platforms is that your past clients can review your companies services. Potential clients can easily find out how your services are and if you have a reputable company, which comes down to increasing the chances of getting that business.

If you want to have your local Orange County business to appear first through Google or Yahoo you have to add keywords into your Google Maps or Yahoo Local page. Cal Coast Web Design can do this for you. If you are interested in having Google Maps or Yahoo Local set up for your business check out our CCWD page on what we can do for your company today!

We can get your business up on Google Maps or Yahoo Local in less than a week for a flat rate of $199! Call us today at (888)-281-7665.

Thinking About Redesigning Your Site While Marketing It? A Designers List For a Smooth SEO Transition

2011-10-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

Thinking of a Redesign?

If You've Been Optimizing your site and would like to change the look and feel, it's important that you don't compromise the old sites content that may have been getting ranked in the search engines.

Ensure you don't waste time and money by starting your SEO all over. Simply send this post over to your designers to ensure they have the 411.

Designers and marketers are separate skills. Please don't assume your designer will understand how to recognize an Internet marketing campaign and maintain its integrity.

A Marketing Friendly Website Redesign Checklist:

Ensure all content including text and videos are carried over to new design.

We work hard (and you spend money) to develop search engine friendly content. While a designer can certainly change the look of this text, its still important to keep it all.

Keep "H tags"

Sometimes designers will create their own names for formatting a style sheet. To the search engines, the H1-H6 tags are WAY MORE RELEVANT than your own. they look for these tags first. Please keep them.

Page names should remain the same or search engine friendly redirects should be created.

When redesigning a site that is optimized, you run the risk of changing the page name or file extension during the redesign. Maintain the same names id crucial so that they aren't dead links in the SERPs and you don't have to work on re optimizing a new page name you already spent time and money working for.

If exact page names are not possible (including extensions like html, asp, etc.) you will need 301 redirect all old pages to the new versions of the page.

Custom 4o4 page

Just in case any pages are missed above, it is important to have a custom 404 in place in case someone lands on the dead link. While this will still hurt you in the search engines, it means if someone finds a dead link somewhere, they still have options. Custom 404 pages should have a search feature, link to homepage, sitemap, contact us and other important calls-to-action.

Ensure new site has meta tag editing capabilities for all individual pages.
Make sure all meta tags are carried over and or in one SEO plugin installed.
Ensure new site has capabilities to install script code into the template for tracking purposes.

Ensure existing scripts are carried over.

If you are working with a company like Cal Coast, you will often times have Google Analytics java, tracking number scripts and other code that is not visible to the naked eye but will effect items in place if not carried over to the new design.

Ensure the website has browser capability with Safari 4+, FF 3.5+, Internet Explorer 7+, Opera 10+, and Google Chrome.
Ensure Google Analytics tracking is carried over to see how many viewer are on your page each month and where they are coming from. This could be the scripts above, or a plugin, or, or, or... so many options. Just make sure its there!
One consolidated CSS file.

Additional Options For A Website Resign with SEO Foundation:

We also recommend having the following items to lay the foundation for online marketing. You wouldn't necessarily be carrying these items over each time, but very well could be. AND, we recommend you have these features on your new site.

If you are working with CCWD on a marketing campaign, we can help you implement many of these updates along the way. But remember, the more you have implemented now, the more we can work on other items to help bring you online success!

At the bottom of blog posts have it auto populated so that it is easy to add you on your social media profiles. We recommend using Sharaholic.
Layout width flexible by resolution**

This will change the layout based on the screen resolution the user is using.

Post Footer Script helm section for auto populating CTA (call to action) in blog posts.

Can also be a plugin located on webpage template, that will carry over through all web pages.

Share this "floating" side - saves room in your content area for other CTAs.

Add connection icons to social sites

Add an additional share option at anywhere on the post. Sharaholic is a good tool.
Related posts auto plugin to crosslink to other relevant posts.
We like having the option to select, but if none are selected, they are pulled in by relevance like keyword, etc.
Custom Menus with top quick links, navigation, and footer editing options for WordPress pages and external links.
Set up permalinks including categories and titles.
Ensure on page titles not meta titles are H1 tags.
Make sure you have a spam plugin or widget installed.

There are a lot of other smaller factors to look out for, but this one translates across the board with all sites. If you are a CCWD client considering a redesign, please pass this along to your designers and be certain to get them our contact info to be a part of the process.

We know a good design means a personal and professional reflection on you which translates into conversions. We just want to make sure we don't lose any of the traffic already getting there from the search engine optimization work.

Guides On How to Change Your WordPress Domain Name and Fixing A Broken WordPress Installation with Go Daddy Hosting

2011-10-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Changing your WordPress Domain Name

The following instructions are for GoDaddy and Wild West Domains only.

If you want to change your domain name click on the following link to follow a step by step walk through on how to change your WordPress domain name. This guide is extremely useful if you changed the name of your company and you need to change your domain name (domain name is how your website will look in the address bar through a web browser).

Changing Your WordPress Domain Name

Fixing A Broken WordPress Installation

This guide is important because if you do something that changes the URL of your WordPress site, you have to double check with an online tool to make sure your site works properly. This link will provide you with a step by step guide on how to fix a broken WordPress URL.

Fixing A Broken WordPress Installation

If you need more help in changing your domain name or fixing a broken WordPress site visit our website at Cal Coast Web Design .

Google Analytics Email Updates

2011-10-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

How to Set Up Google Analytics Email Updates

The following steps will walk you through the process of setting up a google analytics email update and also how to remove an email update.

First check to see which version of Google analytics you have running. This is a quick guide to the current version
The following screen shot is what you will see right after you log onto google analytics.

The first step is to select which account you want to change. For this demonstration I will be selecting blog.calcoastwebdesign.com.
After you have selected the account the next thing you want to select is view report.

On the following screen you will want to select the small email icon towards the top of the screen. Follow the red arrow.

This screen is how you will manage your emails.
There are a few options available to you. The one to manage your emails is at the top called send to others

This box gives you the ability to send your google analytics to multiple recipients. This is useful if you have multiple administrators running your site.

There is also an option to chose how frequently an email will be sent out to the recipients, this can be viewed by selecting the schedule button in the middle of the screen.

How to Remove a Google Analytics Email Update

The process to remove a google analytics email is the same as how you create one. The only difference is when you get to the last step you delete the email you no longer want to be updated with any google analytics information.

For a walk through on how to remove an email from google analytics please follow these steps.

First check to see which version of Google analytics you have running. This is a quick guide to the current version
The following screen shot is what you will see right after you log onto google analytics.

The first step is to select which account you want to change. For this demonstration I will be selecting blog.calcoastwebdesign.com.
After you have selected the account the next thing you want to select is view report.

On the following screen you will want to select the small email icon towards the top of the screen. Follow the red arrow.

Once you have selected the small email icon on the top of the page you will be redirected to the this page.

To remove an email from receiving google analytics updates select the email next to the red arrow and delete it and hit save on the bottom of the page.

You have now deleted an email from your google analytics account.

Creating Videos That Get Ranked in The Search Engines: Components That Capture an Audience & The SERPs

2011-09-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Website Video Tips

Why should you use video on your website when it is easier to just write and share your message that way? The number one reason is more people are likely to watch a short video than to have to read though a bunch of text. Also a video is much more personal. The viewer is able to see who they will be interacting with and already have a sense of who and what your about. Videos are a more direct way to promote your products or ideas over the Internet.

If you have not seen our 7 reasons to use online videos for promoting your website check out our blog post.

What to Include in your online Video

When creating a video for your website there are a few basic items that we recommend being included:

Make sure to include your video on your homepage and local sites. This is important because your potential customers will already know who you are if they are interested in your services or knowledge.
Make sure to address what services you offer in your video. This is important you are running a business!
What makes your business unique? Why should the customer that you are trying to reach choose you over the competition. Include some key ideas or points your business offers that the competition doesn't.
Include Trust Factors into your video. What credentials, awards, etc you or your company has. The more the better.
Include call to actions in your video. Something such as here is what you can do on our site or what special offers you can acquire from visiting our site. Some examples include coupons, free lunch, enter to win promotions, newsletters, contests, review us for incentives etc.
Be sure to include how they can stay connected to your business such as follow us on Facbook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.

These procedures should be addressed if its a home made video or a professional video.

Here is a good example of a intro video that is used on our website Cal Coast Web Design.

Cal Coast Web Design can consult you on your video needs. Or Orange County Video Specialists such as Miller Farm Media can help you with video production.

Reagan Sakai - A Professional Profile

2011-09-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Reagan Sakai is an experienced financial expert with over 10 years of CFO experience at 4 different companies.

Reagan has been working with Cal Coast Web Design to develop a professional SEO campaign to manage his online presence and obtain a new CFO position.

Reagan was born and raised in gorgeous Hawaii. He attended the prestigious Punahou School from kindergarten through 12th grade. Reagan Sakai is part of a distinguished group of alumni including President Barack Obama, Steve Case (founder of AOL), Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay), Richard Johnson (founder of HotJobs), Jeff Hakman (co-founder of Quicksilver in the US), Michelle Wie, Kelly Preston (actress & wife of John Travolta), and Hiram Bingham (explorer who discovered Macchu Picchu).

Reagan Sakai loved growing up in Hawaii, but eventually decided to travel to the mainland to pursue his career. He lived in Boulder, Colorado for 17 years, and lived in Austin, Texas for 7 years before moving to a new shore in Orange County, California.

Reagan has many passions, among them are seeing his children succeed in their various activities. His daughter, Malia loves dance, and his son, Stratton, plays lacrosse. When Reagan isn’t on the sidelines cheering on his children, he loves to read, bodysurf, fish, watch college football, and travel. His favorite cities to visit are New York, San Francisco, Paris, Prague, London, and Hong Kong.

Reagan Sakai is looking for a new CFO position in Orange County, California where he can join a late stage private or small-cap public company, be a strategic partner to the CEO, and help take the company to the next level with his skills as a seasoned CFO.

We have been so pleased to have Reagan Sakai as a client, and can hardly wait for his upcoming YouTube video release!

Do you know someone looking to boost their business with a talented CFO? Visit http://ReaganSakai.com to review Reagan's LinkedIn profile and learn more about the Orange County, CA CFO!

How to Create, Edit and Update your Google Calendar for Online Profiles

2011-09-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

Google Calendar Editing and Updating

The Google Calendar is a free and effective tool at your disposal. It can be used on websites, blogs, and many other online profiles. Google Calendar is also a free solution that can be used to keep users up to date on important events.

To edit your calendar simply visit http://google.com/calendar (make sure you are logged in with your Google account.)

From there, you may start by adding events to your calendar. It is a straight forward process all you have to do is select a day on the calendar (easier if you view the calendar in month view, you can do this by the selection bar towards the top of the screen) and click it. A box will appear with a many options. Select the ones that are appropriate for your use.

For a more in depth guide on how to set up a Google calendar, and add events please watch this video.

Embed a Google Calendar into your website

Another useful tool provided in Google calendar is the ability to embed your Google calendar in your website. This allows the users of your website to view important updates and allow for some limited interactivity.

Watch this how to video to embed a Google calendar into your website.

Don't want to do it your self? Feel free to contact us. We can have your basic Google calendar up and running in under an hour and we can train you how to create and manage your own calendar in an hour as well.

Video Blogging (Vlogging) tips for Realtors

2011-08-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I was in on a great webinar this morning with Herman Chan of Habitat for Hermanity up in San Francisco. Herman gave the Young Professional's Network some excellent tips for Realtors who want to start vlogging:

Easy Video Blogging Tips

Short and sweet (1-3 minutes)
SMILE :)
Sell, sell, sell...NOT
Don't be a tour guide
Have a point of view! (don't be afraid to give your opinion!)
Baby steps (your own cell phone is just fine to start)
Look presentable

People love "How To" videos. Once these people find out 'how to' on your video channel, you are able to build a relationship with them BEFORE you meet them...isn't that priceless?

Another great way to maximize your video is interviews. Interview your stager, your inspector, your mentor. This gives you credibility AND it usually gets uploaded on both of your websites for double exposure.

Of course, these videos need to get found in order to maximize your ROI. Do you know how to get a YouTube video found? Do you know the best video aggregation sites out there? We do! Cal Coast has lots of experience doing video SEO, especially real estate video SEO. Are you a vlogger? We'd love to hear your success stories - comment below or tweet @CalCoast!