One of the questions that I get asked at least every couple of months is what kind of basic tools do you use for SEO?  The truth of the matter is that while I might use a specific tool to research keywords or a tool to watch traffic closely, I find that there are a few tools available, all of which are free and indispensable - and help me with my day to day projects.  Whether you are looking at your competition, tracking your page rank, or l

There was a while when it looked like small businesses were on their way out. Giant multinational corporations were choking out the systems which once supported the smaller businesses. Whether it is due to better awareness or because more people simply want to see small businesses surviving is not sure. What is sure is that small businesses are springing up everywhere you see.

Many people in the SEO/SEM community are talking about the recent article in the New York Times titled: "The Dirty Little Secrets of Search".

A quick synopsis of the article is that J.C. Penney hired an SEO company to help it rank as high as possible. The SEO company (unknown to J.C. Penney according to the company) implemented a wide range of black hat techniques including placing possibly tens of thousands of backlinks all across the internet in an attempt to game Google's algorithm. However, after Google finding out that J.C. Penney was ranking so high for so many top keywords, Google has been forced to reprimand J.C. Penney releasing a statement against the company and ensuring that none of the black hat SEO tricks influence the results. Since the discovery, J.C. Penney has dropped precipitously in the rankings for many of its keywords and effectively disappeared for many others. It should also be noted that there is a possible side story (a controversy) that since J.C. Penney is one of Google's largest advertisers, it is, of course, possible that Google may have looked the other way until it couldn't look away any longer.

Social networking for business, especially on the internet offers some outrageous benefits when done correctly. For starters online social networking is convenient, fun and allows you to cover a lot of ground from right there in front of your computer! The advantages you stand to gain however go much deeper towards helping you build your business and at an accelerated rate!

Information overload emerged as a public health concern in the mid-nineties. An increasing volume of e-mail, voice mail, and faxes were competing with other media for people's attention more than ever before. Psychologists were speaking of Information Fatigue, a new syndrome with symptoms plaguing a growing number as communication escalated in the information age.

Online business success tends to elude many and for varying reasons none of which can not be easily overcome. The typical business entrepreneur entering the internet 'arena' generally have little or no experience building a business or even being their own boss! Although lacking experience is not enough to keep you from being successful online more problems can arise and compound themselves when you factor in the distracting internet environment!

When it comes to advertising, it's said that there is usually nothing better than the strategy of word of mouth.  Hearing about a product or a service from a trusted friend or even an acquaintance is likely to help you drop your resistance to that item and open your wallet or pocketbook.  As in the real world (brick and mortar), many businesses on the web are also looking for a way to leverage word of mouth for advertising purposes and one of the newest co

Much has been written about the value of having a budget to manage the financial affairs of a business. And the premise of all those paragraphs of prose is correct: A budget is the most powerful way to achieve profit goals. However, the assumption seems to be that once you have a budget, your work is done and your staff will inherently know what to do with it. This is because:

• They were born knowing about budgets,
• They learned about budgets in kindergarten, or

Every business wants to bring in the kind of attention which will allow them to be as profitable as possible in any market climate. There are a few different kinds of marketing schemes which will allow you to be able to gain more attention. The best methods of gaining attention for your business are those which put your business in the best possible light.

For many achieving online success with any type of business can prove to be very difficult due to personal habits. It is important to realize that maintaining all the necessary functions to keep your business operating smoothly will be your personal responsibility. As an online business entrepreneur it will be rare to have a 'staff' to assist you on a daily basis therefore managing time efficiently is crucial!