I will be following the Tweets of attendees, though, if they use the #mmconf11 hashtag. You can see a live feed, constantly updated, of these Tweets here. Here's an easy-to-remember URL, too: bit.ly/mmconf11

Also, if you work on your own site or others, check out the SEO Dominators Club and if you like it, use coupon code MIVA during the conference to get 50% off! If John Limbocker is at the conference, hit him up with questions.

Enjoy the conference and be sure to wear a Hawaiian shirt in my honor on Friday!

Miva Merchant 5.5: The Official Guide – Second Edition (PR7 & PR8)

Here is a perfect example of a SEO firm that proves they are clueless when it comes to SEO. The following article was written by Jason Bland, VP of Adviatech,

http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Ecommerce-Search-Engine-Optimization/190863

Apart from the misspellings and grammar errors in the article, Jason claims, "Some problem languages for shopping carts include .cfm (Cold Fusion) and .mvc (Miva Merchant). Both file types are not easily indexed by the search engines so this should be considered before starting your shopping cart project." This is completely false. All you have to do is search in Google for "mm5/merchant.mvc" to see 939,000 results just for Miva Merchant version 5.5.

Google is not stupid. To claim they have trouble indexing any widespread "language" shows SEO ignorance.

How else do you tell the scammers and amateurs? Promises of "number 1 in Google," they require you to link to their site or any other site, they talk about "link farms," or they hard-sell you. Also look for testimonials with names like, "Bob P.," "Alice J.," etc. If someone gives a testimonial, they will stand by it by name, and you should check them out.

By the way, if you want to learn SEO techniques yourself, check out John Limbocker's SEO Dominators Club. Use coupon code MIVA for 50% off.

Here is a previous post in this blog about the SEO Dominators Club.

In honor of the new Wombat Miva Merchant release, I've redesigned my logo and site, created a new tag line, as well as renamed the subscription levels to names that make more sense (thank you David Lasker for coming up with the new level names).

Basic, Intermediate and Advanced never really applied, since it's more about more topics, not higher level learning. For example, the Advanced tutorials have third party module topics. That's not advanced, it's just more. So here are the new level names:

• Basic is now Core
• Intermediate is now Essential
• Advanced is now Unlimited

I've created many new Wombat videos that I'm working on getting up onto the site. Right now you can see all the new Core tutorials at Miva Merchant here. Subscribers will start seeing newer videos over this weekend. If you have any topic requests, let me know, please.

Check out the new site design now!

Here's what an original, 2D, boring tutorial looked like:

And here's what the brand new amazing 3D tutorial looks like!!

Yes, it's a great new technology, worth every dime, don't you think?

Scary, right? Read the full color blindness usability post on my marketing blog at ChuckLasker.com.

Most of these so-called experts use either black hat methods (immoral methods that can get you banned) or techniques that are so outdated they include something called the "keyword meta tag." It's like taking your plasma television to a repair shop and they tell you they may have to replace the "picture tube."

So it's very difficult to get SEO help. Additionally, the best SEO work is done by the site owner/manager who knows the target market and the product/service/subject better than any consultant could. That leaves you with a high-risk hiring of a consultant, or spending 10 hours a day becoming an expert yourself. Ugh.

Enter John Limbocker of SEO Dominators.

This is John in the black t-shirt having lunch with me and some others at the 2010 Miva Merchant Conference.

I met John a few years ago at a Miva Merchant conference, and really got to know him over the past year. When I reached a point where I trusted John, I signed up for his SEO Bootcamp. Expecting pap and platitudes, I was completely shocked to find powerful tools, realistic advice, weekly teleconferences where I can ask questions, and advice that actually makes sense. And John understands Miva Merchant!

I referred John to a friend of mine with a Miva Merchant site and she has done nothing but sing his praises. "Yes, we've been pretty busy. I can only rave about John Limbocker, I give most of that credit to him. I can unconditionally recommend him and his services without reservation. Without John, I think we would have been in a lot of trouble this year."

It was great seeing John again at the Miva Merchant Conference last week. I decided it was about time to write about his services. At the conference, John offered a 50% off coupon for his SEO Dominators Club. He has kindly decided to extend that offer for me to post on my blog, here.

Just enter coupon code MIVA at checkout

Then let me know about YOUR experience with SEO Dominators.

As far as Merchant Tutorials is concerned, here is what is on my list for the next few weeks:

Wombat Tutorials: I'm creating a store from scratch again with Wombat, so look for dozens and dozens of new tutorials on the new stuff.

WordPress (blog software) Tutorials: Okay, there are tons of these online, but I think adding these to the Advanced tutorial area would be helpful. I know the stuff - might as well give you something you can use.

Social Media Tutorials: One thing that keeps coming up in this conference is social media. Whether it's using it for direct customer engagements, or to enhance your SEO efforts, it's something that you MUST take part in these days, or be left behind. So I'll do some tutorials about Facebook, Twitter, Twitter tools, LinkedIn and more.

"How to shop on this site" Videos: Seeing some sites at the conference, I realized that some sites are more complicated than others. Have a site that has accounts, gift certificates, order status, etc., and know your customers are not utilizing it like they should? I'm going to add a service to create videos that can be opened from a Help link or something similar on your site, that shows people how to use your site. Contact me to get more info.

Also on the list - contact the many people whom I've gotten to know a bit here at the conference, integrate the many ideas I've learned here into my site/business, and write more blog posts to share what I've learned. So come back!

Twitter Feed: The hashtag for the conference is #mmconf. I created this feed page where you can watch Tweets updated every minute.

Pics: Leslie Kirk has been taking photos at the conferences for so many years that she's pretty much the official conference photographer. You can see past conference photos, and she'll be posting new photos throughout the conference.

Class Schedule (PDF): The official schedulemay change around a little as most of these types of events do. Here is the current agenda.

Facebook Event Page: Official event page on Facebook.

If you have any suggested resources/links, please let me know in the comments here. And come back often to see updates. I hope to see you in San Diego!

http://twitter.com/MerchantTuts/miva-merchant

Bookmark the list because I'm going to add to it as I find new Miva-Tweeple. If you are not on the list, let me know at @MerchantTuts and I'll add you.

Thank you to Sabine Sharp (@GlendaleDesigns) for help in compiling this list.