Building world-class Search Engine Optimization expertise

Well it seems the only time that Cleveland SEO can manage to get together is when we’re in some other town. But if that’s the way it is then so be it. This past week at Search Engine Strategies in Chicago, Cleveland SEO descended on the Gage restaurant for dinner and drinks.

I just got done speaking with Scott Hendison who is with: SEMpdx | Portland, Oregon Search Engine Marketing Association
They are doing some really interesting monthly meetings involving their local business community. SEMpdx is a strong group that ClevelandSEO might want to look to for inspiration to help drive our growth in 2008.
Thanks for talking with me Scott!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Hi everybody,

These are blast every year! Seriously consider putting this party on your holiday calendar. You will be so glad you did.

Check out all the details!

Food, Drinks, Bowling, & Fun

Register Today!

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

2007 has been a great year for The Web Association, and more importantly, for many of you, our supporters. It’s time to celebrate our success, and get ready to ring in 2008! Join us for food, drinks, bowling, & fun on Tuesday, December 4th in the private, first-level bar of The Winking Lizard/Lakewood.

Your base ticket price of just $15 gets you heavy appetizers and two (2) drink tickets, as well as a chance to win one of many great door prizes. You’ll also have the chance to rub shoulders with colleagues from not only The Web Association, but also NEOUPA, & Cleveland SEO, making this the premier networking event for the local web community. For an additional $5 donation, you can bowl the night away at one of the private lanes, and also be eligible to enter the Centro Bowl-A-Thon, where one talented bowler will walk away with a grand prize. The additional $5 bowling fee goes straight to The Web Association’s College Scholarship Fund, targeting area students with an interest in a career in the digital field.

Food, drinks, music, bowling, door prizes, and a private bar not enough to get your attention? We will also be hosting the 2nd Annual Silent Auction to benefit our Scholarship Fund, where you will have the opportunity to bid on many great items.

This is the digital party of the year in Cleveland - register today!

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

The 2007 Holiday Party is being sponsored by Centro, providing agencies & brands a platform to effectively buy local media.

Register Me Now

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

Want To Get Some Visibility At The Party?

The Web Association is still actively seeking donors to donate items for the Holiday event, both for the Silent Auction, as well as for door prizes. 100% of all proceeds from the auction will benefit The Web Association Scholarship Fund, helping Northeast Ohio retain educated young professionals interested in a career in the digital field. Help us beat last year’s auction total and assist more worthy students like Megan Reilly & Danielle Pizzuli of Cleveland State University, this year’s inaugural scholarship recipients.

All donors who offer a prize (or cash) valued at $100 or more will receive the following:

- Mention in press release announcing event & auction details
- Donor/company description to accompany item at auction
- Recognition/link in both pre & post-event emails sent to entire WA database
- Recognition/link on webassociation.org event page after event
- Receipt detailing donation for tax purposes

All donors providing items valued at less than $100 will receive verbal recognition at event as item is awarded.

To find out more, or to donate an item, please contact us through our web site below and we will call you directly.

Donate To The Auction

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

Join The Karcher Group for our one-day seminar “Search Engine Marketing Made Simple” on October 23, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio.  We’ve got new content, new strategies and some of the hottest topics in Search Engine Marketing on the agenda.  Join special guests Anita Campbell, editor of the popular Small Business Trends blog and Jake Baillie, managing director of STN Labs and former president of the search engine TrueLocal – both highly requested and respected speakers on Web Marketing.  You’ll also hear from Geoff Karcher, president of The Karcher Group, as well as TKG’s team of SEO experts.

For more info or to register: http://www.thekarchergroup.com/seminar2.asp

Details…
• Search Engine Marketing Made Simple
• October 23, 2007
• Seminar – 9:00-3:00 PM
• Optional Workshop – 3:00 PM-5:00 PM
• Business Technology Center (by OSU)
• Cost: Seminar - $199, Workshop - $99, or both for $249. (Use discount code “seminar3” during checkout to save an extra $50 as a Cleveland SEO reader.)

What you’ll gain:
• Ready to use ideas, no assembly required
• SEO strategies that we use everyday
• Hands-on help in a small group setting
• One-on-one consulting at our optional workshop

We’ll walk you through:
• The five critical things anyone thinking about SEO should know
• Why the right keywords can make or break your SEO strategy
• Search-friendly design and programming
• Link building strategies
• Pay-per-click tutorial
• Optimizing a dynamic website
• How to blog effectively for your business
• Hot topics: social media, online PR, viral marketing and more

Who’s going to benefit?
• Business owners
• Webmasters
• Marketing and IT professionals
• Ad agencies
• In house SEOs

Want more details?  Please visit our web site at: http://www.thekarchergroup.com/seminar2.asp.  Use the discount code “seminar3” to save an extra $50 as a Cleveland SEO reader!

Grow Your Business with Search Engine Optimization and Corporate College’s Entrepreneurship Center offers programs and services for growing

… This course is part 1 of 4 of The eMarketing Techniques Series

Program Description
Corporate College’s Entrepreneurship Center offers programs and services for growing businesses. Whether it’s to increase sales, streamline operations, and/or improve your profits, we have programs that can help hone critical skills to shape a business for years to come, instructors with real-world experience, and course schedules to meet your needs.

John Inama from Pilot Fish and David Goebel from the Goebel Group will coordinate a 2 hour hands on workshop to show organizations how to use search engine optimization to get new clients and visitors to their web sites.

SEO Class information

Last week, The Karcher Group was thrilled to host over 50 attendees from around Ohio at our two-day “Search Engine Marketing Made Simple” seminar at the 356^th Fighter Group (by the CAK airport). Our lineup included several TKG in-house experts including Geoff Karcher, Craig Geis, James Golden, Jen Doerschuk and Collyn Floyd, as well as special guests Jake Baillie of STN Labs, Anita Campbell of the Small Business Trends blog, Dr. Bill McHenry of the University of Akron’s Center for Information Technology and e-Business, and BJ Mitchel of Business.com.

A number of fundamental topics were covered, but some highlights include:

• Hot topics – Social media, Online PR, Link baiting, and more
• Blogging for Your Business
• Web Usability/Accessibility for SEO
• Advanced PPC Strategies
• Local Search Strategies

“Search Engine Marketing Made Simple” makes regular stops in Akron/Canton, Cleveland, and Columbus. Visit TKG’s search engine seminar page to receive an email notification of when our next seminar is scheduled.

Having run a local search directory since ‘95, I’ve seen just about everything under the sun when it comes to folks submitting their websites. Just some simple rules/tips to follow when making your submission:

1. Research prospective directories - submit to not only the larger directories such as ODP (Open Directory Project), Yahoo Directory, Business.com, etc. but also vertical market and local/regional directories.
2. Follow the directory’s submission rules. Not following them will greatly lessen your chances of getting your site listed in the human-edited directories.
3. Use Accurate Business/Company Title. There’s nothing I dislike more when reviewing sites is someone stuffing the Title with keywords and phrases instead of the proper Business Title - it drives me bananas!
4. Use an accurate description of your site or company offers. Keep it concise - a couple of sentences max and definitely include targeted key phrases.
5. Include accurate and thorough contact information.
6. Submit to categories that best represent your site.
7. NO CAPS PLEASE!! It’s like running your fingernails across a blackboard! Great way to get your site rejected ASAP!
8. Watch the spelling. Make sure you check your listing for spelling errors. Sometimes it gets by the editor and if published incorrectly in the directory it makes your listing and your company look like you know what!
9. Submit your home page only unless the directory allows for deep links.
10. Be patient! Depending on the web directories submission backlog it may take some time. Some ODP editors have reputation of taking forever or never to include a site. Many local/regionals fall within a period a couple of days to a couple of weeks. If your site hasn’t been included in the directory, re-submit it after a period of a month from the initial submission.
11. Submitting to Local/Regional directories will also help your site rank better for local/regional searches. Getting one-way links from pertinent categories from general and local/regional directories takes time but is generally worth the effort in the long run. We’ve seen the positive effect of this process for geo-targeted terms in Google, Yahoo, and MSN when submitting to local/regional directories.
12. Use common sense and have patience. These are really the true minimum submission requirements!

Happy submitting!

Mark Geyman
OhioBiz.com / OhioBiz Web Consulting, LLC

David Goebel, from the Goebel Group will be speaking at the annual Enterprise Search Summit at the Hilton in New York on May 16th.

Goebel will discuss desktop search tools during a morning presentation. Desktop search tools from Microsoft, Google, X1, Yahoo, Fast, and others will be featured.

Over 400 attendees are expected at the Enterprise Search Summit 2007.

More information about Desktop Search Tools

Angela Charles, president of Cleveland SEO member firm Pilot Fish and plastics and rubber portal Polysort, held a seminar on web design and search engine optimization during the recent Spring meeting of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in Akron, Ohio.

The two-hour presentation, titled “You’re Online:  Is It Working,” covered the key aspects to successful Internet marketing, including content, design, navigation, coding and site promotion.

View Angela’s presentation on Web Design and SEO.