The effects of the recent update to the search engine giants ranking algorithym are just starting to be realized by webmasters and designers everywhere across the US.   For those sites employing best practices of white hat SEO your sites may find themselves doing better as junk sites stuffing the search results go down.   What is not clear is how much social media sites matter in this update where mentions and links to sites are frequently shortened and cloaked with bit.ly and other similar sites.

Read the original post on the official Google blog.

Is getting search engine optimization in 2010 what a small business should do? Will it really help get more customers? Is it effective at finding localized consumers?

The answer to all of these questions is Yes. The market is still down, lucky it is recovering but companies out there are still struggling to stay afloat. DFW companies have to make difficult decisions every month as far as advertising and promotional needs to keep them either selling product or service. And this is precisely the reason that this year SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is important. Search engine optimization provided by companies like 1 Call Service offer other companies a way to increase viable leads at a reduced cost compared to other forms of traditional advertising. A company that has more viable traffic is likely to make more sales as more arrive at the site because they found what they where looking for.

An example could be if you’re looking for a local lawn service, so you do a search and see what comes up. The higher you are on this list the most likely you are to gain the traffic. If your site is the one they end up on then you may have just made a sale.

The Dallas metroplex map and surrounding areas represent a large advertising market spread out over several hundred miles. So how can SEO/SEM (Search Engine Marketing)help narrow the field if you are just looking for local customers? SEO/SEM experts all across the county know about the important of localized services and searches, all of your major search engines are also now local aware. These experts can tap the potential of these search engine getting you the local results your looking for, be it a specific area such as Carrollton, or Plano, or a wider range such as Dallas or Ft. Worth.

1 Call Service SEO/SEM professionals will detail out your starting point, and formulate a custom list of improvements to be done to your website, along with getting information on what your specific SEM goals are. With this they can go to work and soon you can start to see your results. More calls, more walk ins, more product off the shelves, what ever your business needs are; money spent on SEO is money well spent in 2010.

We all love Google for the good they bring, the summers of code and other great projects they helped move forward.  They have some good tools and here are a few tools that can be used by the average business owner without needing a PHD in computer terminology.  We purposely will not look at the adwords, adcenter or any tool that requires a login or account before you can use the tool.  Everything listed here is free for use and not to difficult.

First up is trends.  What are the search trends for your industry, product or service?   Hop right over to Google Trends and start searching.   www.google.com/trends You can combine multiple search terms with commas and see how they compare.

Put competing companies up on the search as this can be very informative.  If you are a stock trader this is a fantastic tool and gives you a view not seen by the standard stocastics tools for stock picks.  The view compares several years so you get a big picture view including major news and associated search peaks.   Look up your search data and think about the low spots.  Did you spot a trend?  What can you do to help your business avoid any valley shown in the metric results?

MSN offers several tools in the question of search relevance and search value.  Keyword search group is a tool to help you with related terms for your search.  Our tests honestly did not reveal much and pretty much only worked with single words not phrases.

 Try out the keyword funnel tool.  It means keyword not key phrase.  Type in 2 a word phrase and don’t expect to get results.  Single keywords work well unless you sell something like windows where obvious conflicts between software and actual windows come into play.

The MSN keyword mispelling tool is very weak.  It will catch a few but we know from actual web logs the results from the tool are just not very thorough.  There is value in how easy it is but we wanted more from the search results.

The MSN keyword forcasting tool is nice, has good metrics and gives an interesting view of search consolidation for multiple terms.  Be sure to click the “text” link shown below for a numeric view of the results.  We like numbers!!

Here is a link to all the MSN tools so you can do some quick data mining. MSN Free Search Tools.

There are many additional tools and search professionals available.  Find someone you can talk to in your own timezone and armed with some information from the search tools above you will really help your SEO company take you to the next level.  You can do a lot yourself but a professional will let you go run your business while helping achive your online search goals.
Sponsor: Dallas ISP

Fedex bought Kinkos and with it received a large copy center operation and package collection point. They needed that to keep up the the visionary UPS. Recently we needed some cards quickly during a trade show and took our business to Kinkos to make the cards. We got 1000 black and white cards for $52.00 on white card stock. We did not expect the lowest price but acceptable all things considered. It is important to understand the printing process with Kinkos at some locations so you won’t have the same printing problems we describe next.

First, we supplied the artwork 12 up on disk ready to print. All the clerk did was load the file and select print. They print your work on 8.5×11 card stock so you get 12 standard business cards out of each page. To get 1000 business cards requires 84 sheets of paper which is then cut into cards. They charge you for 84 copies plus cutting.  We would do it ourselves but the copiers could not handle the thick card stock.

Now for the rip off.  If you decide you want color card stock this location will charge you for the color copies at .50/copy and charge $1 per sheet of card stock.  This is the same card stock as the black and white.   We discussed this issue with the manager but she was firm that the price was the price if you wanted a color sheet of paper.  We asked why $1 for a sheet of paper? That is $500 for a ream of paper! Yes, we should all be  in that business! The show was good and we ran out of cards the next day and discovered another Fedex Kinkos nearby. We placed the same order and the pricing was fair at half of the cost for the first location.  In the times of watching budgets this was an eye opener.  So beware when dealing with the Fedex Kinkos chain.

Some locations care and deliver great service and there is 1 location we will never visit again?  Have you had the same issues?

While dermatology is a serious science that deals with conditions and diseases of the skin, the cosmetic aspects of dermatology play a very important role in the treatment of those conditions and diseases. After all – your skin is your most visible organ says Dr. Mark Ray of Trinity Dermatology in Carrollton.

Since the early part of the 20th century, cosmetic dermatology has been at the forefront of technological advances in skincare and cosmetic procedures, including:

• Microdermabrasion
• Chemical peels
• Vein removal
• Hair loss treatments
• Anti-aging treatments
• Face, brow and neck lifts
• BOTOX
• Dermaplaning

And many more of today’s most popular skin treatments. From giving relief and confidence to a psoriasis patient to a new start for skin cancer patients,  board-certified cosmetic dermatologists are available to discuss your specific dermatological needs, and create a customized treatment plan that will have you looking and feeling your best.