Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of being present for topics and search phrases you wish to be known for. It’s one of the most important tools for managing your reputation online. This post is meant to outline seven actions you can take to get started.

Background on SEO

This year Google made some changes in their system that has leveled the playing field and made the process more organic.

In the past, agencies would work to get a website to rank well by purchasing links across the web to link back to you, even if those links had nothing to do with your intended reputation. On a mechanical level, this would tell search engines, “Hey, look so many websites are linking to this page, therefore it must be a quality site.”

To address this challenge, Google upgraded their system to be smarter.

Not only is Google looking at the number to links that are going to your website’s pages, but it’s also looking at the reputation and topical relevancy of the linking website to yours.

7 Actions You Can Take to Own Your Presence Online

This is a means of building credibility for whatever you wish to have influence for.

1. Own YourName.com

Who better to own your name than yourself? It costs no more than 10 bucks a year. If your name isn’t available, then come up with a name you’ll want to be known for online.

For example, I’ve purchased BelalKhan.com and Leechon.com

2. Structure Your Website Appropriately

Pay attention to thinks like intuitive navigation, appropriate internal links, content organization, and comments.

Optimize usability. What do you want your visitors to do? Are they doing it? Ask a friend or colleague to test your site and share their feed back.

3. Utilize Web Page Real Estate

Make sure that content above the fold is relevant to the user and is focused. This is the first impression to both search engine robots and website visitors.

4. Appear Trustworthy

Integrate your social presence on your website. Let folks know who you are. Have an about page that tells your story. Include a photo of yourself.

If you can also add any testimonials or recommendations for what you do or your topic, that would be a great plus.

5. Aim for Authority

Who’s vouching for you? In search context, this is asking: Who’s linking to you that’s has similar topical interests as you, and is a trusted content source.

Easy way to start is to produce videos on YouTube that link. Be active on relevant web forums. Share blog content on other reputable sites. Have your own blog.

6. Produce Quality Content Written for Humans

In the past some agencies and SEO folks would write content written for search robots, but read like nothing humans would want to read. However, today that’s flipped.

Produce content that visitors cannot find anywhere else. Give them a reason to consume what you produce.

Be thoughtful, share stories, give your opinion, and be comprehensive if you can. Do it while maintaining your own voice. Have some style in the way you share.

7. Measure Your Stickiness

Track your website using a tool like Google Analytics. Look at basic measurements that tells you where folks are coming from (traffic source), how long they’re staying (time on site), and how many are leaving without having done anything (bounce rate).

I had been looking forward to the trip for several weeks.

Coincidentally, around that time Ramadan was 12-weeks out, I made a timeline and marked my calendar to start the weekly countdown. The mountain biking trip was right in the middle during the 6-week mark.

I laid out a basic goals with the idea that when the month arrived I’d hit the ground running.

I made small changes like eating more protein for breakfast, bumping exercise from 2x to 3x a week, and adding an easy 12-minute warm up before the workout.

6-weeks in, I had made great progress in fitness. Waist shrunk from a size 40 to 36 while maintaining my weight. Downside was that I had to get all my shirts and pants altered.

I felt the impact in increased focus and physical energy. When the mountain biking trip came I was ready to hit the trails.

This was one of the best trips I had. In addition to the great scenery, it had rained. We got to experience the joy of mud and creek splashing.

On our way back home my friend remarked on how my riding had improved dramatically since the last time we rode which was about seven months ago.

Everything from: shifting gears appropriately, leveraging downhill momentum for uphill climbs, rolling obstacles, and maintaining endurance.

I thought, “What a great analogy for riding the scenic trails of life.”

My friend and I have been mountain biking for a while now, a couple times a year when we can. Here are some photos I’ve taken on some of our adventures.

The ideas shared in this post can be applied to:

• flyers and posters
• email
• videos
• speeches
• blog posts
• songs and other art forms
• sales and email opt-in pages

Unstructured vs. Formulaic

It seems as though folks think there’s only the choice between a unstructured presentation or a boring formulaic kind.

Here’s the deal, structured isn’t necessarily something formulaic. Without structure, things fall. Creativity can be appreciated when it’s framed within a context or some sort of framework, which goes back to structure.

The idea of a presentation isn’t just to share information. It’s about making information relevant to your audience. Best way to do that is to communicate what it means and the impact it’ll have on their lives.

Show, Don’t Tell.

Unless you’re sharing a very compelling story, you cannot limit yourself to simply telling. You have to show.

When producing multimedia, take advantage of the fact that you’re on a digital platform. You can edit the heck out of a recorded video to communicate your ideas and message with more clarity.

Take for example this green screen test video I shot a little while ago:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now look at what happens when you throw in a few graphics:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first video is barely watchable past the 10 second mark. However, the second video is the same content but keeps you visually engaged to the end.

Here are a few more examples from the same series of sales presentations:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Notice how there’s a clear structure and deliberate use to certain language and words to drive the attention of the viewer.

Each video:

• Opens with a statement, or question to grab your attention
• Follows up with a clear problem
• Offers a solution
• States the benefits of the proposed solution
• Clear call to action

Watch again and pay attention to the breakdown.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Power of “Same but Different”

Some folks see the following movie posters and may think, “Hollywood is running out of ideas.”

The truth is, there’s deliberate use of recognizable symbols behind these advertisements. The Batman and Star Trek symbols, Empire State Building, and purple jacket of the Joker are all recognizable trademarks. You see the poster and you immediately know what to expect in terms of genre, scale, and performance of actors.

Some of the posters leverage the names of the starts to lend more credibility to the film.

If you want your mind blown, take a look at these amazing collages of similar movie posters. There’s something to say about leveraging cultural expectation of design for specific genres and emotions.

Seth Godin wrote about the use of creative type along the same context. He mentions that after legibility, all that matters is what the recipient is reminded of. If the type, or in the case of posters the colors and design don’t match up with something specific then you’re just confusing the individual.

However, if you have the skill set to be creative, be original. But, if you’re like most people, leverage the culture’s expectations.

12 Tips to Write Effective Persuasive Content

When you’re writing content to persuade the visitor to take action, keep the following tips in mind.

1. Refer headline to where the visitor came from, or at least have it be relevant what what the visitor is searching for online.
2. Have a clear “Call to Action.” Ask for one thing. Focus on one objective. Drive everything toward it.
3. Write in the second person, ie “benefits to you”
4. Be clear with your message.
5. Tighten up your copy. Start long, then edit down. Say what needs to be said, not more.
6. Be clear on audience goals. Cut the rah rah and tangents.
7. Keep the most important points at the top. Make them bullets if you can.
8. People read the beginning and ending, then go back to the middle. Write accordingly.
9. First paragraph should be short. No more than one or two lines. No paragraph should be more than four lines.
10. Regardless of where the visitor is on the site, a call to action should be clearly visible.
11. If you can, kill the navigation bars and clutter.
12. Focus copy: highlight benefits and provide social proof.

I’ve personally experienced this. One time I went mountain biking with a friend and I was riding a little too close to him. When he suddenly braked all I thought about was, “Don’t flip into the ditch…DON’T FLIP!”

Lo and behold, I still ended up braking hard with the front brakes, went over the handle bars, scraping my palm, and then rolling into the ditch.

Look where you want to go, not where you want to avoid.

Last year during the summer I started biking to work once or twice. On the way there are two demanding hills that I have yet to make it up all the way without getting off my bike or taking a rest.

One time I was trying to get up the hill, I’m huffin’ and puffin’ as I’m peddling, I’m about half way through when all of a sudden VOOSH!! This biker just bolts past me on my left.

This dude was decked out in bright red full racing bike gear and as he was peddling I could see his shredded calves bulging as he disappeared beyond the hill in no time.

At first I’m like, “That was incredible! How did he do that?!”

Getting off my bike to catch my breath, I realize I shouldn’t be comparing myself to him or anyone else for that matter.

His road bike probably weighs at least a third of what my mountain bike weighs. He’s probably not coming from where I’m coming from. I’d already ridden 11 miles to get to that hill. And, he’s probably not going where I’m going – another 7 miles to my destination.

Many times I’ve noticed people try to compare their progress and results to others. I don’t believe that’s a good idea. Especially since the context of one’s origin, destination, and resources are very different.

Compare yourself against the expectations you’ve set and your own goals, which most likely aren’t the same as the goals of others.

The only person I have to be better than is the person I was yesterday.

“If the world was one kingdom, there would be no better city befitting to be its capitol than Constantinople.”

History tells us Mehmed El Fatih “the Conqueror” laid siege to the city and conquered it in 1453. Utilizing it as a strategic point of leverage against the European powers of his time, thus folks tried to find other trade routes to India and the “Far East.”

It’s for this reason in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But, let’s take a look at things from a different perspective.

The Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, was quoted saying,

“Verily, Constantinople shall be conquered, its commander shall be the best commander ever, and his army shall be the best army ever!”

Another translation of the Arabic says,

“Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!”

For over 800 years after his death, armies led by Muslims tried to conquer the city, a total of 10 failed attempts. Until, Mehmed El Fatih conquered it, at the age of 21. That’s when most folks are graduating college today. This man was conquering cities.

How did he do it? How did he succeed where others failed?

When he laid siege to Constantinople, there was a blockade in place the prevented the naval ships positioning themselves for assault. When they reached the city, the soldiers cut down trees, laid grease over the trunks. They dragged all 70 naval ships across over 3 miles of land in one night, landing in the sea right in front of the city walls by dawn.

When Mehmed El Fatih was asked about his capabilities and how he managed the conquest, he replied:

“I have two traits: A heart as hard as a rock that does not rest until I achieve what I want, and an eye that cries out of fear, reverence and awareness of the Divine Creator. So how could I not achieve victory?”