For years, Google has relied on a human search quality team to monitor the web for “black hat” SEO tactics.  Their teams were so good at what they did, that many professionals assumed it was an automated search process.

With the upcoming release of Penguin,  Google’s algorithm will now include many of the processes once done manually. As a result they will be better prepared to catch sites violating Google’s quality guidelines. When you read the list, there is nothing really surprising.  Here is an excerpt:

• Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.”
• Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings which don’t provide value to the end user
• Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods”
• Don’t use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service.
• Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords.
• Don’t create multiple pages, sub domains, or domains with substantially duplicate content

So should you be concerned about the impact of  Penguin on your site?  That depends, do you violate the rules listed above?  Are you guilty of  ”over optimization” or keyword stuffing?

• Over optimation too many of your inbound links are all for the same key word.
• Keyword stuffing using specific keyword phrases too many times in your content.  Not only is this a bad practice for search engines, it makes the content unreadable for human beings as well.

In both cases, the best cure is a little bit of originality. As you work to create in bound links be sure to vary the text or phrase.  We alternatively submit anchor links for web design Indianapolis and Indianapolis web development .  Inside a specific blog post we use synonyms an variations of the same phrase to improve the SEO for your website, without boring the reader or raising a red flag from Google.

The bottom line?  Penguin will penalize those who simply focus on specific words and reward robust content rich sites which offer real value with real information for visitors.

If you pull up next to me at a traffic light, you are going to see something a little unusual. It is going to appear as if I am talking to myself. I want you to know I am not really as crazy as I look. Please note,  I didn’t say I wasn’t crazy just not that crazy.

So why am I talking to myself? You see, my primary learning style is auditory. That means I process information better if I hear it. So years ago I learned to work on my presentations in my car. I never write my speeches down; I simply work through sections out loud, testing phrases and pacing until I find something that sounds exactly right.

I often use this same technique  as a foundation of my blogging strategy. Talking through my ideas  helps me write better blog posts. I often write a paragraph and read it aloud. I edit the text based on the way it sounds. This is probably why I use so many extra commas. I hear the pauses and think a comma needs to be there so everyone else will hear it as well.

About six months ago, I started recording random thoughts and ideas to use as blog post starters. It worked so well, I expanded the process and now you can often find me dictating entire posts into my iPhone as I am driving in my car, thus the crazy muttering at stoplights.

I often record the post two or three times. I listen to the recording and adjust the flow, just as  other people write, edit and rewrite a post. Some people think into a keyboard; I think into a voice recorder.

There is still some editing required once I type the post, but embracing my natural work style has made blogging much easier and better. I  really like many of the posts I have created in the last few months because they sound like me. They are more natural, more conversational and yet still informational.

This technique may not work for everyone, but if you are struggling with writing, get a voice recorder and try using it in car. Don’t worry that others think you are talking to yourself, because the process of recording then writing will help you talk to lots of people through your blog in the long run.

It’s been a bit of a tough week here at the ‘Peg. We said goodbye to Bonnie, our office dog. Luckily, we’ve had plenty of work to keep ourselves busy and preoccupied. Catch up on the past week with us:

Saturday –  If You Build it How Will They Know? 
Allison shares tips for letting your customers know that your company has a presence on Facebook.

Sunday - Who Can Make Changes to Your Website
One of the benefits of using WordPress is how easy it is to update.  But sometimes that means it is all too easy to mess up your website.  How do you decide who should be allowed to update your website?

Monday – Company Culture as a Marketing Strategy
One of the best marketing tools you have could be your company culture.

MTFW: Computer Security for Small Business
Alan Wlasuk, founder and a managing partner of  WDDinc, a software consulting company focused on custom software development across a wide rangeof industries and technologies, joins us to chat about computer security challenges for small businesses.

Tuesday – Six Ways to Keep Your Blog Fresh
Lorraine shares her strategies for keeping the Roundpeg blog fresh.

First Day on the Job
Jessica, one of our summer interns, survived her first day. Learn a little more about our newest social media intern.

Wednesday – Words Are  Key to Your Marketing Strategy
Although visual content is a current trend, don’t forget that prospects use keywords to find your web site.

US Small Business Conference
The U.S. Small Business Conference & EXPO is coming to Indianapolis later this month. Lorraine is one of the featured speakers and there are many valuable opportunities not to be missed.

Thursday - Name.com Speaks to Me
When was the last time a voice mail system made you smile? Lorraine shares her experience with name.com.

Friday - Between the Lines
A recent upgrade to a client’s website provides a fresh look at an everyday item.

I often envy people who are just starting to blog. Why? Every day is an adventure. Every day they have a chance to write something really new for the very first time.

For companies like Roundpeg with an established blog, sometimes it is hard to come up with original content. With more then four years of content in a relatively narrow space – marketing for small business owners – I find myself wondering how many different ways can you peel the same onion.

There is new information from time to time, a new application like Pinterest or the change of the Facebook Timeline, but for the most part strategies regarding social media, graphic and web design have remained fairly constant in recent years.

Further complicating my writing process is this statistic: Like most blogs, 70% of our visitors are first time visitors. So how do I find a balance between offering interesting content for people who come back on a regular basis and yet not so far over the head of the first-time visitor that they feel out of place?

Here are some of the strategies I employ to keep our content fresh, interesting and appealing to a wide range of audiences:

1. Actively manage our editorial calendar. I am continually looking at the mix of content to be sure we don’t write on the same topics too many days in a row. We sprinkle in the introductory conversations alongside the more comprehensive, advanced explorations of the same issues.

To pull it all together and manage our blog strategy, I use the Editorial Calendar Plugin by Stresslimit which makes rearranging content a breeze, allowing you to see three weeks at a glance. I can quickly see what we are missing, and whose voice has not been heard lately.

2.  Everyone at Roundpeg writes for the blog. With the steady stream of interns, we always have someone exploring WordPress or Twitter for the first time.  Instead of expecting Allison, Peter or me to relive our first steps with these tools, our new team members document their experiences creating content any novice can relate to.

3. Reread old posts. There are more than 2,000 posts and it is fun to see what we thought and how we did things two, three or even four years ago. Many of those posts from the early years didn’t get a lot of traffic the first time we shared them, so going back, revisiting these topics and adding a fresh and current perspective gives me a chance to breathe new life into an old post, finish a conversation I may have left hanging or introduce a wider audience to some really good information. Sometimes I have to admit I was wrong and sometimes I am reminded of something I should be doing more often.

4. Encourage guest posts. Even when the writer is talking about topics we discuss regularly, we enjoy their fresh perspective.  Interested in writing a guest post for Roundpeg? Check out our standard guest post requirements.

5. Read a lot. I read books, magazines and other blog posts every single day. We have a culture of continuous learning, and we genuinely enjoy sharing new things we have learned.

6.Pay attention to the things our readers seem to enjoy. Although I have things I want to say, at the end of the day this is a business blog, not a personal blog. And the posts that get read, shared, commented on and encourage people to subscribe to our newsletter are the ones I want to repeat.

Those are my tips, what would you add to this list?

Are you letting Kevin Costner write your Facebook marketing plan? Bad move, guys–don’t you remember the failure of Water World? But today we’re talking about one of his non-flops–Field of Dreams. Lorraine has written before about the famous “if you build it, they will come” strategy for web traffic. While this might work for magical baseball fields, it’s probably not a great idea for your Facebook fan page.

“But Allison!” you cry, “everyone’s on Facebook! They’re pleading for me to put daily updates about my plumbing company there! All  I have to do is create the page, and they’ll appear in their multitudes, and all my worries are over.”

Absolutely–everyone’s on Facebook. New data released by the company reveals they’ve hit a whopping 901 million users. But that doesn’t mean they’re seeking your company out. Think about what you do when you sit down at the computer to use Facebook for fun. Are you hunting down every company you’ve ever done business with, or are you stalking your exes and playing Farmville?

So does that mean Facebook is useless? Not by a long shot. Facebook remains an invaluable tool for giving your most dedicated fan base frequent touches to keep you top-of-mind, and turning them into dedicated brand advocates. But before they can do any of that, they have to know you’re there. How do you go about doing that? Glad you asked.

• Start with your personal friends. If you have a personal account, invite your friends to like the page. This is easily done via the admin panel on your fan page. Ask your friends to “like” the page with a brief note. Why? If they’re really your friends, chances are they’re invested in your success and want to stay up-to-date on your activities. Maybe some of them are already your clients. Start with the people who have the most reason to like you, and expand your base outward from there.
• Tell customers. We recently had a client tell us about all their dedicated clients who just loved them. He couldn’t figure out why they weren’t all jumping onto their Facebook page. We asked him if he’d told the customers he was on Facebook. Crickets. No matter how much your customers love you, they probably don’t love you enough to randomly use Facebook’s awful search function to find you. Put signs up in your store, incorporate a mention of your page into your phone script, have your salespeople mention it. Don’t put the onus on your customers–tell them you’re there and why they should like you.
• Make it worth their while. If you’re on Facebook, your competitor probably is, too. And they’re chomping at the bit to have access to those same customers you want, ready to shove their content down their throat. But customers are smarter than that. They want to know what’s in it for them. Do you have exclusive coupons only for Facebook fans? How about loyalty incentives? Information they can really use? If your information isn’t useful, no one’s listening. If you can’t name a reason someone would want to follow your Facebook page, you’ve got problems.

Facebook is no longer a wild west; it’s now an established marketing tool and a crowded space. If you aren’t telling your customers where they can find you and why they should like you, you might as well be standing in an empty cornfield, chasing down a dream that will never come.

Allison and I had a conversation about one of my recent blog posts. She felt I was focusing too much of my attention on the natural SEO benefits of blogging. While that is important, she argued I was ignoring the many other reasons for a business owner to blog.

She is absolutely right. Blogging for business is about more then just SEO. A strong blog is the core of your Internet marketing strategy. It provides content to fuel your social media updates, helps you build credibility and develop content which you can use elsewhere. Blog posts provide a place to showcase work samples, case studies, product updates and company news. Your blog can also support your public relations and offline event activities. And if you do all those other things well, the SEO benefits come along anyway.

Individually, each of these is a valid reason for business owners to consider adding a blog to their Internet marketing.  When combined, it is hard to ignore the potential impact a blog can have on your business.

So why do we blog? For all the reasons I mentioned above and one more. We use our blog as a way to help people get to know us, individually and as a group. On any given day you might experience Allison’s gift for words, Peter and Whitney’s adventures in web design or glimpse the world through Jenna’s eyes.

You will travel with us on our adventures through Indianapolis, meet our interns and pets, and from time to time enjoy one of our customer service rants.

Our blog is the best part of the Roundpeg website because it is rich in both content about what we do and who we are.  Prospective clients or employees who take the time to read our blog are usually pre-sold before they walk in the door.  They feel then know us, and come prepared for fun, smart marketing and a visit with Bonnie, Clyde and Truman.

Blogging is a part of the routine at the little white house we call home. And with everyone taking a turn, the task of keeping it interesting is much easier then it used to be. But even on our busiest days, we take time to blog. Why? Because we wouldn’t be Roundpeg if we didn’t.

Back in February, we had a great discussion about how to blog and what to blog about. But there’s just too much to say about blogging to cram it into one hour, so we’re back for more. All former Roundpeg web clients are welcome to join us as we discuss the nitty gritty of blogging: how do you find time for it?  How do you write blog posts that are interesting for people but still pack an SEO punch? How can you promote them using other social channels to expand your reach?

We’ll answer all these questions and let you ask your own at Press Refresh, 4:00 on May 15 at the Roundpeg offices, 1003 E. 106th St, Indianapolis.  Press Refresh is a series of classes offered on the third Tuesday of every month, and are open exclusively to past Roundpeg web design clients. It’s our way of helping you keep your website relevant and viable as a part of your marketing toolkit.

For more information on the rest of the Press Refresh series or to register, click here. We hope to see you soon!

Blogging is becoming more and more important in the marketing world, both as a way to communicate with clients and prospects and as a way to improve the performance of on search engines. Over the last few years we have written a number of our own blog posts on this topic including:

• Why Small Business Owners Need to Blog
• How Personal is Too Personal? 
• Develop Good Habits

Some friends are noisier than others. They make a big splash as if every statement was breaking news. Now, imagine a place where every friend is a fire hose of headlines. This was my Twitter experience until I decided to cut the noise and sharpen the focus.

Social media adds thousands of communication channels for us to decode. When I started my Twitter account, I quickly followed all of the big technology blogs, music magazines, and a few celebrity personalities. Few of my close friends and personal connections used the service, so the stream of tweets looked like a breaking news ticker.

After several months of finding local connections  and new friends in the Indianapolis social media community and beyond, I use Twitter differently. The great fun of social media is that you make of it what you will. Rather than a headline ticker, I now want Twitter to be a pool of social commentary and localized news. So that’s what I’m making it.

As a devoted reader of Mashable, I decided to unfollow Pete Cashmore as the first step. Most of his tweets duplicate headlines that I eventually read on the website, so they were just noise to me.

Not to say that you shouldn’t follow news media and bloggers on social media. My favorite magazines, newspaper reporters and correspondents all tweet frequently with thoughts and content not found on their main website. Lorraine and Allison talk about an 80/20 rule (more of a guideline) for posting on social media.

The 80 percent of content (commentary, links, etc.) that you share from other people, not your own stuff, gives you the opportunity to share twenty-percent of your own news and material. This way, your followers know it’s not just the Me-Me-Me Show. It shows that you’re engaged and responsive to the world at large.

This is why I like Paste Magazine’s Josh Jackson (@joshjackson) and WTHR’s Nicole Misencik (@NicoleWTHR). They tweet their organization’s news, but share lots of other unique things too. I’m trying to keep a similar balance with my own Twitter, posting the good stuff going on at Roundpeg as part of the fabric of everything else.

So Mr. Cashmore, I’ll keep reading and sharing Mashable. Expect my eyeballs to lock on to that homepage every morning. But your noisy Twitter account and a few others are officially unfollowed.

Image from omacaco on sxc.hu

When I talk about what is new in marketing, I often find myself telling people things have not changed as much as they think.

Sure, we have social media and websites that didn’t exist ten years ago. We can text ads to consumers based on their location where we once  relied on expensive billboards. I will admit, the tools have changed, but the rules for good marketing haven’t really changed in 50 years.

I was reminded of how true that is when I read a post by Adam Singer, writing for the FutureBuzz.  In it, he shared a memo written by advertising genius David Ogilvy about 50 years ago.

His list of 10 tips for writers looked a lot like the list of suggestions I would make to blogging beginners.  My favorites from the list were these:

• Write the way you talk. Naturally - This is harder to do then it sounds. It takes practice to bring the rhythm of your speech to the page. If you can, your blog posts are infinitely more readable.
• Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs - It is not that your reader is stupid,  they just won’t take the time to digest complex thoughts in your blog post.  Make it a quick read and they are more likely to come back.
• Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass-  I wasn’t sure what demassification meant, so I am pretty sure I wouldn’t use it in a blog post. The point is well taken though; using words which are not a part of common speech will alienate your audience.
• Never write more than two pages on any subject. I prefer short blog posts of about 250 – 500 words.  Again, the average reader wants content in little bites. If the topic really requires more than 600 words, I almost always break it in to two posts.

When Google+ first rolled out about nine months ago, its biggest selling point was the circles feature. At last, Google cried, we’ll be able to compartmentalize our online lives! By placing your contacts into different circles, you can target what information you want to see–or what information you want to share–with people. Just like you might alter a story when you tell it to your coworkers versus your clients versus your drinking buddies, so can you now tailor your online content in the same way.

It’s a great concept, but it doesn’t go quite far enough. People were still unable to build firm lines between their different circles, sharing information widely without really considering its utility to the people they’re sharing it with. For instance, most of the people in my circles are business contacts. Yet my Google+ stream is still full of posts about puppy dogs, what music people are listening to and even one showcasing photos of bongs in honor of 4/20, all mixed in between posts about SEO and social media. It’s still all a cacophonous mess, falling far short of the dream of real, targeted information reaching the right people at the right time.

But then there’s Pinterest. The fantastic thing about Pinterest is you don’t have to follow a whole person–just the parts of them that interest you. By cherry picking individual boards to follow rather than being forced to look at every update a person posts, you’re able to just follow boards on kittens and infographics while passing over those boards on tattoo design and cupcakes, if that’s not your cup of tea. It’s easier for the pinner to keep track of their own content, and easier for their followers to make sure they’re only getting the information they want. Finally, compartmentalization that works.

So have you jumped into Pinterest yet? Not sure if it is right for you? Check out this footage from our latest Pinterest seminar and learn more about the benefits of filtering content on Pinterest and how the hot new social network is moving the Internet away from its verbal roots and into a more visual future.