InSites // Dream Seed Multimedia, Lancaster, PA

InSites: May 2012

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
Do search engine rankings matter?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
May 2012

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

I’ve been talking a lot about search engine optimization (SEO) lately since the most frequent questions I get are usually about how to get more customers through websites. If you’ve been following SEO trends, you know that the game has changed quite a bit in the past year.

This issue helps you understand the major shifts in SEO so that you have a better sense of how it works today. Even though keeping up with the latest SEO news can be challenging, any time you deal with technology, things are bound to change. So take a look and see why your search engine rank doesn’t matter anymore.

Look for more helpful tips from Dream Seed on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. Please forward this newsletter to someone who will find it useful.

All bests,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Marketing Think SEO is about rankings? Think again!

If you’ve had a website for any length of time, and you’ve been working on attracting new visitors to it, you’ve probably been engaging in search engine optimization (SEO) to some degree. Most SEO efforts have been oriented to a goal of achieving high search engine rankings for certain terms, say “kitchen remodeling bakersfield ca.” Yet the web continually changes, and you need to change with it. One essential change that you need to grasp quickly is that targeting high rankings as a result of your SEO efforts may actually leave your website last on the list…

Is search engine ranking dead?

May special: 50% off social media integration

Have a Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ account for your organization? Link it to your website! If you maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today to save 50% on your integration! This special is exclusively for InSites email newsletter subscribers, expires May 31, 2012, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip Encourage social media sharing

The article above talks about the importance of having others share your website within their social media networks. You may have seen buttons on websites that encourage people to share the page with their networks. Typically, you might see a button to share the story on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or StumbleUpon. (There are examples of some of these near the top of this newsletter.)

These buttons help encourage people to share your web page by simply clicking on them. If someone is logged in to Twitter and then clicks the Twitter tweet button on the page, it is sent out over their Twitter account to all their Twitter followers. Without these buttons, you have to rely on people remembering to do that on their own. As with any technique in marketing, you need to know if your target audience is on these networks and will respond to them in order to see results.

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May special: 50% social media integration
Are SEO rankings important?
Encourage social sharing

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InSites is published by Dream Seed Multimedia. Each month, we’ll bring you some useful information on getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to your website, all geared toward the empowerment of your small business or nonprofit!

InSites: April 2012

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
Crash course in improving your website’s visibility

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
April 2012

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Spring is coming faster this year where I live, and I don’t think it’s just because it feels faster; it is much warmer, much sooner! I bring this up because it always seems like things move along faster and faster, and before long, you may feel like you haven’t been keeping up!

That’s how it is with the web: As soon as you finish your website and you see it in search results, pretty soon, it seems like the results are fluctuating, or there’s a new social medium to sign up for, or your competitor just added a blog. Things just seem to move pretty fast, and you don’t want to be left behind.

To help you out I’ve included an article this month that’s pretty much a crash course on how you can help improve your website’s rankings in search engines. It won’t solve your problems since it’s only a quick rundown of a lot of work, but it can at least point you in the right direction to get started.

You can always follow Dream Seed for more useful tips and hints on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. Please forward this newsletter to someone who will find it useful.

All bests,

Adam J. Barkafski

Insightful Tip Turning off personalized web search

Before you read the article below about the steps you can take to improve your website’s visibility in search engines, you may want to know a little secret about how search engines work.

If you’re looking at where your website ranks in search engine results, you should note that the major players, Google and Bing, have been serving up personalized search results for years. This means that if you and a friend put in the same search for “chocolate chip cookies,” you and your friend will probably see a different list of results. These differences are based partly on location (you might see results for local bakeries that sell cookies) and what you’ve each searched for and viewed in the past (if one of you bakes, you might see more recipes than the other, who is on a diet and will see more tips to help avoid giving in to cravings!).

You can use Google for search and turn off the personalized search results to get a sense of where your site ranks. (If you keep searching for your site, you may get an inflated view of your ranking because Google will know that you’re looking for it.) First, make sure that you are logged out of Google if you have an account with them. Second, go to the search settings menu, and turn off the “instant search” option. Third, do your search, but then, look at the URL and add “&pws=0” at the end of the URL (http://www.google.com/search?q=chocolate+chip+cookies&pws=0). Then, load the new URL, and you’ll see unfiltered search results. (Don’t forget to turn all your settings back on when you’re done!)

April special: 25% off website updates

If you are looking to rewrite some of your website text to update it or add new keywords that you’ve chosen, Dream Seed can do it for you at a discount! This special expires April 30, 2012, is exclusively for current InSites email newsletter subscribers, and cannot be combined with any other offer. Other exclusions apply.

Web Marketing How to get found in web searches

“I have a website. Now what?”
“How do I get people to see my website?”
“How can I find new customers with my website?”

These are common questions from small businesses and nonprofits who have websites. After spending time and money developing your new website, you want it to work; you want a return on your investment. While there are no one-size-fits-all tricks, there are some solutions that you can try to get the most out of your site. Take a look below at a brief summary of some of the most successful techniques to improve your site’s visibility in search engine results…

Do you know how to improve your website’s ranking?

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April special: Save 25% on updates
Personalized web search
Getting found in search listings

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InSites: March 2012

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
Does your website make you look outdated and out of touch?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
March 2012

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

I know that websites can be challenging work. There always seems to be something to add, delete, or update. And as competitors improve their sites with more features, that puts the pressure on to keep up.

To help you focus on some smart changes to your site, I’ve included an article on four symptoms of an outdated, out-of-touch website. (And if your website looks out-of-touch, it gives the wrong impression about you!)

Follow Dream Seed for more useful tips and hints on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. You can always forward this newsletter to someone who will find it useful.

All bests,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Design Four signs your website is outdated

Maybe you’ve had a website for a while, and maybe it’s served you well. But if it’s been a year or more since you’ve taken a good look at your website, it may be outdated and giving the wrong impression about you and your organization. There are a few signs that your website is aging, out of date, and out of touch. See if your website has these old or outdated characteristics…

Does your website have these four signs of being out of touch?

March special: 25% off website updates

If your website has any of the four signs that show that it is outdated (listed in the article above), have Dream Seed remove them at this special discount! This special expires March 31, 2012, is exclusively for current InSites email newsletter subscribers, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip Looking for inspiration?

If you’re curious about what some newer websites are up to, or you’re looking for inspiration for your own website, take a look at some of the following galleries. They feature some beautiful, useful, and interesting websites. These galleries will help get you thinking. Happy peeking!

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March special: Save 25% on updates
Signs you are out of date
Sources of inspiration

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InSites: February 2012

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
How do you choose the right pages for your new website? Plus, save on setting it up!

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
February 2012

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Are you faced with putting together a new website? Have you planned a website previously but had difficulty thinking about what to include on it? It’s no easy task to plan a truly successful website. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t realize that choosing the same old pages can result in a dull, ineffective website. Check out my article below on choosing pages for your website to learn the best tip that will make all the difference for your website.

Follow Dream Seed for more useful tips and hints on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. You can always forward this newsletter to someone working on their own website.

All bests,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Design How to choose the right pages for your website

Facing a new website can be a challenge. There are so many decisions to make, from selecting a domain name to choosing what colors to use. One of the major decisions is planning what sections or pages a website will have. The wrong pages can mean spending time and money on developing content that won’t really make a difference, or worse, turning off potential customers. However, remembering one simple tip will make planning the right pages and sections to your website simple, and it should lead to more customers…

How do you choose the right pages for your site?

February special: 15% off a new website

If you need to build a new website from scratch, contact us today to receive 15% off the base price of one of our three website design packages! This special expires February 29, 2012, is exclusively for current InSites email newsletter subscribers, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip Did you remember that it’s 2012?

When the year changes, there are often a few pieces of buisness to take care of on our websites. Simple updates as the years pass help keep your website fresh and updated.

Quite simply, one thing you can do is change the copyright date in your footer to the new year. That can be a subtle sign to visitors that your website is still kept up-to-date. You may also want to read through your text to change any time references that are relative, such as “last year” or “five years ago.” Better yet, why not think about changing those references to specific years? That way, you won’t have to worry about updating those again.

There are other things you can check on your website, too. I wrote an article a few years back about giving your website an annual checkup. Now would be a great time to make sure all is humming along as it should!

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February special: Save 15% on a new website
Planning the right pages
Updating for 2012

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InSites: January 2012

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
What’s the best thing you can do to improve your website’s success?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
January 2012

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Happy new year to you and yours! I am happy to be sharing 2012 with you. I’ve just wrapped up a wonderful year, both with Dream Seed and in my own life, and I am looking forward to a bright year ahead.

To help you off to a great start to your new year, I’ve included in this issue an article about the single best thing you can do to promote the best success of your own website. Additionally, there have been some recent changes to Google Analytics, so I have some information for you about that, too.

Keep up with Dream Seed for more tips and hints on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. Please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

Wishing you all the best in 2012,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Marketing The best thing to determine your website’s success

For most of us, our websites are an important way to find new business or activity. We create them hoping that people looking for the solutions that we provide will find us on the internet and then buy from us or contact us for more. However, this may be one of the greatest challenges we face—getting found by these web surfers. But there is one thing that you can do, more than anything else, that will help your site find its right audience.…

The most effective change to your website…

January special: Free Google Analytics setup!

Start the new year off right! Newsletter subscribers can get Google Analytics set up for FREE on their websites! If you host and/or maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today to get Google Analytics set up with you at no cost. This special expires January 31, 2012, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip New changes to Google Analytics

There have been some important changes to Google Analytics made in 2011, and more will be rolled out in 2012. Any website owner or manager would benefit from the incredible amount of information Google Analytics provides about how visitors use a website.

You can keep up with the changes directly from Google on their Analytics Blog. If you prefer learning by video, take a look at the Analytics YouTube channel. You can also take a look at Robbin Steif’s article for her list of the most important changed that were rolled out. This is an easy way to see at a glance the new features.

Read InSites

January special: Free Google Analytics setup
Best thing for website success
Changes to Google Analytics

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InSites: December 2011

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
How have business websites changed over the years?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
December 2011

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Every year, the holiday season always seems to creep up faster than the last. Regardless of your plans, to me, this time of year seems to be a natural place to stop and take stock of where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and where I’d like to go.

In keeping with this idea, I’ve written an article about the top six changes I’ve seen in the last six years Dream Seed has been in business. You may find it interesting to see where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Keep up with Dream Seed for more tips and hints on Facebook and Twitter, and look for me on LinkedIn. Please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

Wishing you the brightest of holidays,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Marketing Top 6 changes in business websites in the last 6 years

This holiday season marks Dream Seed Multimedia’s sixth. When I reflect on the kind of work I was doing for clients by the end of 2006 and what I’m doing now, I find it interesting to see just how online marketing has changed is such a short time. In honor of my sixth Christmas with Dream Seed, I thought I’d share with you six big changes I’ve noticed in effective small business and nonprofit websites.…

How has your business website changed…

December special: Win a free copy of a great SEO book!

Keep an eye of our Facebook page for your chance to enter to win a free copy of Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, a $29.99 value (plus a $25 Google AdWords credit)! Get tons of excellent tips for improving your website’s performance. Look on our Facebook page for an announcement sometime in December!

Insightful Tip New ebooklet for small business and nonprofit websites

While I’m waxing nostalgic about all the changes that have happened in small business and nonprofit websites over the years, know that I haven’t forgotten about the ebooklet I first published in 2007: Website Planning and Design: 17 Proven and Money-Saving Tips, Tricks, and Tools to Create and Improve Your Small Business or Nonprofit Website. It’s currently in its second edition and now up to 21 tips, and a new third edition is right around the corner!

So much has changed that even more tips with the latest advice will be added, and some older ones need to be revised or discarded as technology evolved. Just like websites, it needs to keep up with the times or risk irrelevancy.

As a subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll receive your own free copy in a few weeks, and you can feel confident that your own websites will be up to date. Consider it my Christmas gift to you!

Read InSites

December special: Free SEO book
Biggest website changes
New ebooklet coming soon

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InSites: November 2011

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Seeing your website through different eyes?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
November 2011

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Dealing with technology is always a challenge. Sometimes it’s a fun challenge, and other times, it can try the most patient of people! Creating websites is no exception. To take a design and break it down into computer code and then make that code do what you want it to is rarely dull.

One challenge you may have noticed with your own website is how it may look different from one computer to another. I thought I’d take a look at this phenomenon in this month’s issue.

Look for more great tips from Dream Seed on Twitter and Facebook, and look for me on LinkedIn. Please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

All the best,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Design Why does my website look different on certain people’s computers?

One of the little joys (or annoyances, depending on how you look at it) in website design is the inevitable challenge of getting a website to play nicely with all the different internet browsers, computers, mobile devices, screen sizes, etc., out there today. For anyone who has a website, it is also inevitable that someday you will look at your website on a different computer and see subtle changes in how the site looks. So what causes this, and is it possible to be avoided?

Is it a problem when your website looks a little different?

November special: 50% off social media integration

Have a Facebook or Twitter account for your organization? Link it to your website! If you host and/or maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today to save 50% on your integration! This special is exclusively for newsletter subscribers, expires November 30, 2011, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip Internet browsers are improving!

In the early days of the internet, it was like the Wild West. It was just about anything goes. There were no set rules for creating a website. Browsers then, notably Netscape (remember that one?) and the newcomer Internet Explorer made up their own code. This meant that web designers needed to create, for all intents, two versions of the website to work in both browsers! And as Netscape and Internet Explorer released new versions, they each introduced new codes and rules, which kept breaking older websites!

Fortunately, the landscape is much better today. Current web browsers, for the most part, follow the same standard rules, so it’s much easier to make one website work across multiple browsers. In fact, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome all keep on the cutting edge and are fast to introduce new standard agreed-upon rules as they come. These browsers are the ones that keep web technology moving forward. Internet Explorer is still a little slow to catch up. The newer versions, 8 and 9 in particular, are quite better than older ones.

If you’re still using Internet Explorer, you may want to try another browser. Each one is free and has its own perks. Try Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Chrome.

Read InSites

November special: 50% off social media integration
One website looking different?
Try a new web browser

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InSites: October 2011

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Have a local business? Get more local traffic...online!

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
October 2011

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

Local businesses and organizations sometimes have their own special set of challenges. Hotels, restaurants, and contracting services are usually limited to a small geographical area, to name a few. While the internet is filled with possibilities (and competition) in dizzying amounts, search engines offer some helpful tools to get your own local business or nonprofit listed…and listed well.

Even if you’re not a business or nonprofit who has a particularly local clientele, you might be able to learn how directories and review sites can benefit you. There’s always something to learn in the world of the web!

Don’t forget to find me on LinkedIn, and and you’ll get more tips and advice on Twitter and Facebook. Please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

All the best,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Marketing Got a local business? Don’t forget local search!

If your business or nonprofit caters to a local population in any way, say through a bricks-and-mortar store or some kind of localized in-person service, you might be missing out on a great online opportunity. How can a geographical limitation become an advantage over other websites that have no local boundaries? The answer lies in local search, and capitalizing on it can make a big difference for your business or organization…

Get started using—and getting found on—local search…

October special: 25% off local search optimization

Get 25% off your website optimization for local search (with your locations served and your contact information). If you host and/or maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today. This special is exclusively for newsletter subscribers, expires October 31, 2011, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip More directories and review sites

There are a lot of choices for getting listed in local directories and review sites. It’s easy to feel both overwhelmed and obsessed! Instead of trying to get listed in each directory, it’s a good idea to start with the ones that your own competitors are in and also with the ones that come up when you do searches for your keywords and phrases.

Besides Yelp and InsiderPages, you may want to check out Manta, Metromix, and Foursquare. There are also popular specialty directories and review sites, like Angie’s List for services, Chowhound for restaurants, and TripAdvisor for hotels. No matter where you decide to list, it’s a good idea to keep a spreadsheet or some other kind of record of your listings so that you can easily find them when you need to make an update.

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October special: 25% off local search optimization
Local search
Review sites & directories

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InSites: September 2011

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Learn how to use images and videos to improve your SEO!

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
September 2011

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

It’s back-to-school time, so it might be the perfect time for you to think of learning some search engine optimization strategies that have worked for many others but that a good deal of small businesses aren’t using yet. Included in this issue is an article to help you think of new ways to use images and videos to increase your search listing presence.

Speaking of SEO, don’t forget that my next workshop is Thursday, September 1 in Lancaster, PA. Follow this link to register for this and other great low-cost business workshops with SCORE.

I’m happy to connect with you on LinkedIn, and you’ll find more tips and advice on Twitter and Facebook. As always, please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

All the best,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Marketing How to use images and videos for SEO results

In improving your website’s SEO campaign, you want to increase the positive exposure your site has in search engine results. But did you know that using and optimizing images and videos on your website can help you increase your search engine listing presence?…

Learn how to use images and videos to improve your search engine visibility…

September special: 25% off image optimization

If you host and/or maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today to optimize your existing photos for search engine listings. This special is exclusively for newsletter subscribers, expires September 30, 2011, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip What other “verticals” or special searches are there?

Search engines don’t stop at conducting special searches (and integrating results) for images and videos. It’s not like the search engines of the past that simply indexed web pages. Almost anything you can think of has specialized search.

For example, Google and Bing have searches for news, finance, blogs, recipes, books, places, shopping, even patents! Next time you’re on Google or Bing, take a look at all the different searches you can conduct. Are there any that open the possibilities to new search results for your business or organization? What are your creative ideas?

Read InSites

September special: 25% off image optimization
Image and video search listings
Verticals and blended search

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InSites: August 2011

webspinner@dreamseedmultimedia.com (Adam Barkafski) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

In this issue:
Will your next website improvement waste your money?

Dream Seed Multimedia newsletter
August 2011

About Dream Seed:

From the Editor

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities of your website? How do you handle lots of ideas (and seeing what the competition has that you don’t)? Well, I’m here to help with some advice on how to handle all those next great website must-haves!

By they way, it’s time for another workshop! (I know it seems like I plug them a lot, but I enjoy doing them!) My next search engine optimization (SEO) workshop is coming up Thursday, September 1 in Lancaster, PA. Follow this link to register for this and other great low-cost business workshops with SCORE.

Look for me on LinkedIn, and follow Dream Seed on Twitter and Facebook for more tips. As always, please forward this newsletter to a friend who may find it useful.

All the best,

Adam J. Barkafski

Web Design The latest, greatest website must-have

Smart phone apps. Embedded videos. Blogs. Flash intro pages. There’s always a latest, greatest, must-have feature for your website. With so many brilliant and creative minds developing new technologies, the choices seem limitless. Sometimes, it feels like all your competitors have adopted these features, too, and you’re stuck behind…

How can you tell if you’ll get your money’s worth?

August special: Free Google Analytics setup

Newsletter subscribers can get Google Analytics set up for FREE on their websites! If you host and/or maintain your website with Dream Seed, contact us today to get Google Analytics set up with you at no cost. This special expires August 31, 2011, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Insightful Tip Find out how successful your website is

In the article above, I discussed how important it is to keep focused on customer needs before pouring time and money into website improvements. In fact, that is probably true of all aspects of your business! But how can you tell what your website visitors are doing…how many you have, what pages they visit, how long they stay on your site?

For those who aren’t already using Google Analytics, you need to check it out. It’s a fantastic free resource that gives you useful and detailed reports at your fingertips about your website’s performance, and that can help make those important website decisions.

Take a look at my article on Google Analytics from a previous newsletter to help get you started on gauging your website’s performance. And if you’re just getting started (or you’ve been using Google Analytics for a while) and you’re not sure what all those reports mean, check out this tutorial. It’s the best I’ve seen that will give you a working understanding of Analytics without getting too technical. You’ll be glad you started!