Author Archive
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon. The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Maryland. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page, SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO. This week we’re going to talk about popular social news site, Digg.
If you’re not familiar with Digg.com, allow me to give you a quick overview. In essence, Digg is like an improved version of Delicious, a bookmark sharing website. However, Digg is much more interactive than Delicious and much more popular. Users submit news articles, video, pictures, and more to Digg and those items are then posted on the main website. When a user thinks something is worth sharing, they simply “Digg It” and add a vote for it. The higher the votes, the more likely the link ends up on the main page.
The way this can benefit you is simple. First, you need to add valuable content to your website. This sounds more difficult than it is. For example, rather than doing a newsletter to clients, have a blog. Then, you can link your blog, if it fits in an appropriate Digg category. You’ll need a Digg.com account, which is free. Once you submit the link, distribute it around the Internet to your contacts and have them vote it up. Other random users might also see it and chime in.
Once you’ve submitted the article to Digg and have begun spreading the word, there is not much more to do on your end. Every vote you receive will likely translate to one or more page views for your website. Therefore, it is important that what you are providing is quality stuff. The danger of the Internet is that if something is of shoddy design, people are quick to criticize. Bear this in mind when sharing your content with the world.
That’s all for this week. We’ll see you back next week.
-Josh
Internet Beacon
seo Baltimore
Tags: Blogging, Digg, Internet Marketing, News
Posted in Internet Marketing | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon. The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Maryland. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page, SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO. Welcome back! I promised five more ways to make your business grow using the Internet last week and here we are. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Stay Plugged Into the News
These days it isn’t enough to read the paper or watch your local newscaster every night if you want to stay up to date on current events. The fact of the matter is that everything that happens these days can be reported instantly via Twitter, Digg.com. etc. Make sure you stay up to date on what is happening in your field. If not, you may be left holding the bag later when one of your business functions goes contrary to current standards/public demand.
Open Up Your Payment Options
Remember when everyone paid cash for everything? How about when debit cards were just coming on the scene? Over time, people’s methods for handing their wealth change and evolve. Because of this, it is necessary to consider how you receive payments. I recommend checking out alternative payment methods, like PayPal for handling some of your financial transactions with customers. This is especially important if you offer services that are a “one-time fee” or a good that can be purchased online.
Offer Live Chat with Customers
One thing that is certain in today’s Information Age is that communication is king. Because of this, a great idea for your business may be offering an online chat function to prospective clients. This could be as simple as using AOL Instant Messenger or as complicated as Adobe Connect Pro. The point is to establish a tangible online… Read the rest
Tags: Business Growth, Customer Management, seo, Tips
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing Plan | No Comments »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon. The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Maryland. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page, SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO. This week I’d like to give you five tips for growing your business using the Internet.
Perception is Everything
This is true in all walks of life, but especially on the Internet. People don’t get to see the person running the website. All they see is the site itself. If it looks like it was made using a basic text editor by someone’s cousin, that is the impression they get. They don’t notice the actual business as much. For this reason, it is important to have your website designed by a professional. My advice is to start small, and then branch out as necessary. Not every site needs a flashy intro, but they all need to look professional.
Preserve and Optimize your Advertising Budget
Getting your name out there can be challenging on the World Wide Web. It may seem like you are up against anyone and everyone. In some sense, you are. You are up against them for people’s time. So make sure you are taking the right steps to ensure that potential customers see your website before others. To this end, make sure a portion of your advertising budget goes towards Internet Marketing. This is a more and more important part of today’s economy, and you don’t want to miss it.
Build Relationships
While it’s true that your goal is to succeed as a business, few, if any, people can do it alone. This is why it is important to get to know the competition. They may not be as bad as you think. Many might be just… Read the rest
Tags: business, internet, Internet Marketing, marketing, seo, website
Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization SEO | No Comments »
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon.
The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Maryland. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page, SEO Glossary, and our blog posts on SEO.
Internet Media
Getting to media online is a bit of a tricky matter. Sure, you can find it anywhere, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is the legality of the source. Today, I’m going to give you some links to websites that offer access to your favorite television programs and music that are 100% legal and mostly free.
LaLa
LaLa is a music service that offers cloud (Internet only) storage of music from your favorite artists. They have a large online selection. You can stream the music to your computer, so that means no hard drive space taken up. All you need is a solid internet connection. You can purchase songs for about $0.10 each, provided you can’t download them. MP3 versions costs a bit more, between $0.80 and $1.30. I’ve used this service for about two months now and am very pleased with it.
Hulu
Lots of people are getting to know about Hulu. Hulu is similar to Lala in that you can stream media to your computer over an Internet connection. In this case, Hulu offers television programs and some movies. All of this is free. This may not be true in a year, but for now, just about every TV show from the major networks is on offer. You can use their service without making a free account, but if you choose to register, you can sign up for notifications about shows you like and when new episodes are available. I’ve used this for over 2 years now and am quite pleased with the service. I wholeheartedly recommend it
That’s all for this week! Now you know a little more about where to get your favorite entertainment WITHIN the bounds of the law.
-Josh
Internet Beacon
Tags: internet, media, music, television programs
Posted in Web Tips | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon. We’re a Search Engine Optimization(SEO) firm located in Finksburg, MD. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page and our blog post on SEO.
This week, I’d like to talk about making your website SEO friendly.
Avoid the Photo Album
Unless, of course, you’re hosting a photo album. What I mean here is that while graphics and picture can add a lot to your website, be careful when using them in place of text. Search engines like Google don’t pick up what is inside the image. If it is an important piece of information for your site (i.e. a keyword, area of focus), try using text to represent it. This way you don’t miss out on getting noticed.
Make Sense
I’ve talked about this before, but making sure your content makes sense goes a long way towards successful SEO. A part of our work involves making sure things like keyword density are where they should be. If instead of three solid paragraphs of information, say company history, you have ten two sentence groupings, it will be harder to work with your site. This could involve a large amount of proposed rewrites, which takes more time.
Know Your Site
Using keywords is an important part of SEO. However, you must use the right keywords. If your site is about selling your organic fruit directly to customers, then words like “banana” and “kiwi” will likely come up a lot. However, if you sell bulldog themed neckties, odds are these do not fit. This is important. Part of how your site is ranked is based on the text, so make sure it is relevant.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for stopping by! We’ll see you next week.
-Josh
Internet Beacon
SEO Baltimore
SEO Maryland
Tags: Blog Hints, friendly, seo
Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization SEO | No Comments »
Friday, March 26th, 2010
 Hey everyone, Josh here from the Internet Beacon. We’re a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Finksburg, MD. What we do, SEO, is a form of Internet Marketing. Much like traditional advertising, SEO is all about getting your name out there. In this case, we’re working to get your website in front of customers through search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our SEO Answers page and our blog post on SEO. This week, I’d like to talk about creating a buzz in social networking.
Everybody Likes Free Stuff
This is universally true. Whether it’s pens, hats, or coffee mugs, people love getting things for free. Check your desk, odds are you have a pen from a business you’ve visited recently. Promotions on the Internet are similar. You want to give customers something of yours for free so that they come back for more and, at the same time, tell their friends to visit your site. Twitter is great for this. It requires very little interaction on the part of the user, as they simply follow your company name (i.e. @IBeacon) and receive updates from you. Many businesses have used this to attract traffic. They give away free software, consultations, etc. Find what works for you and give it a shot.
People Want the Inside Scoop
Along the lines of giving away free stuff, many people want to know what is going on before others do. You should reward people for their interest in your company. For example, the website Penny Arcade has a mailing list that only sends out a message occasionally, but they always include coupon codes and links that are not publicly broadcast. This is a great way to treat loyal online customers. Try posting a coupon code with limited use on a company Facebook page and see what happens. Remember to plan for a large amount of people taking advantage of these savings. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Make Friends and Influence People
For sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, grouping options exist for people and… Read the rest
Tags: Blog Hints, company, create, customers, Facebook, internet, marketing, people, rss, seo, website
Posted in Blog Hints, Search Engine Optimization SEO | No Comments »
Friday, March 19th, 2010
 Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Internet Beacon’s blog. My name is Josh. We’re an internet marketing firm located in Finksburg, MD. We specialize in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO means that we work with you and your website to increase its popularity online with search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, please check out our SEO Answers page and our previous blog post on SEO. This week, I’d like to talk about increasing traffic to your blog.
Putting Down Roots
A blog is essentially a journal that’s posted online for everyone to see. Blogs are often a part of a community of other bloggers. To this end, informal communities tend to spring up around blogs that associate with a common theme or idea. Use this to your advantage. Leave intelligent comments on blogs with similar topics to your own. However, exercise caution here. You don’t want to go around spamming other people with links to your site. You will quickly become ignored. Rather, simply join into the online conversation. Most sites will offer you a chance to leave a name and website, so use that as your point of contact.
Stick to the Plan
Anyone who has ever worked on a project will tell you that one of the most dangerous things is Scope Creep. Scope creep means that, in addition to the original goal of the project, there are now more things added to the “to do” list. This is a danger to blogs as well. What started as a great way to share your ideas on kangaroo raising has now branched out into stock tips and personal rants. It can happen to anyone, so make sure that you keep your posts on task.
Meeting the Neighbors
Along the lines of getting involved in a community, get to know the people running the other blogs in your area of expertise. Most people relish friendly competition, and this can turn into a pleasant business relationship. For example, there are many SEO Blogs online. Some of the authors of these blogs get together to exchange information, swap stories,… Read the rest
Tags: Blog Hints, blogs, list, www
Posted in Blog Hints, Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, March 12th, 2010
 Welcome to the Internet Beacon’s blog. My name is Josh. The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization firm located in Finksburg, MD. SEO is a form of Internet Marketing. In essence, we work with you and your website to increase the likelihood of being found in search engines like Google and Yahoo. For more information, check out our page on SEO Answers and our blog post on SEO. This week I’d like to talk about keeping spammers off of your blog.
A blog is a great way to get your particular message out to people around the world. Whether you are sharing recipes, business strategies, or trading baseball cards, a blog can become a hub of activity. Naturally, there are people drawn to these places to take advantage of the amount of activity. These people are called spammers. You can tell who they are because they don’t usually add to the conversation, but rather promote their own site. Keeping these people off of your blog will go a long way towards building its legitimacy. Here are three ways to do that.
1) CAPTCHA Them.
First, please forgive the play on words. Okay, a CAPTCHA is a tool for many
blogs and other sites which requires the user to enter the text they see in an image that looks slightly garbled of distorted. We’ve all seen them. CAPTCHA is used to prevent automated software from just scanning a website and filling in their information. This is a classic method for spammers. The best part of this is that implementation is free and has very little impact on the end user. It is readily available for WordPress as an add-on called “SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam 2.2.9”. It’s free so go out and grab it if WordPress is powering your blog.
2) Papers Please
Another way to ensure that the comments left on your blog are legitimate is to require users to register themselves. This is an almost surefire way to make sure that comments left are legitimate. The biggest downside here is that many users may not wish… Read the rest
Tags: Blog Hints, captcha, comments, internet, marketing, seo, spammers
Posted in Blog Hints, Internet Marketing, Web Development | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Welcome to the Internet Beacon blog. My name is Josh. The Internet Beacon is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Finksburg, MD. SEO is a form of Internet Marketing. What we do is work with you to get your website among the top ranked results for select keywords related to your business. For a more detailed explanation, check out our SEO Answers page and our blog post on SEO.
Today I’d like to talk about avoiding SEO companies that promise the world. What I mean by this is someone who will tell you that they can get your website on the top ten results on Google inside of a week or two; or that they know the “secret” of SEO. The truth is SEO takes a lot of time and work if done properly. If not, you may have just thrown hundreds of dollars away. Here are three things to watch out for when choosing an SEO company.
1) The Promise
You’ve met with the young, fashionable director of SEO at “Marketing, Inc Corporation International” about doing SEO for your small business. He threw around a lot of cool buzzwords and told you that, for a small fee, your site will be the most popular location on the Internet. For the most part, this is obviously an attempt to get your money. Let me say this clearly, it is not possible to become, overnight, the hottest thing on the Internet. Thank this guy for his time and move on.
2) The Secret
The website you’ve discovered has finally “found the secret to SEO”. They can’t tell you how, but they have mastered this process. All they need is your money and they will make your site an Internet phenomenon. This is a lie. There is no secret to SEO. It is a process like anything else. Good SEO takes time and, only after that time, will results begin to surface.
3) The Quick Fix (That Lasts!)
Some SEO providers will tell you that all you need is their one time service to meet your SEO… Read the rest
Tags: Blog Hints, internet, search engine optimization, seo, site, time, website
Posted in Search Engine Optimization SEO | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Hey, Josh from the Internet Beacon.
We are a Search Engine Optimization company located in Finksburg,Maryland. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means that we work hard so that prospective clients and sales leads find your website before others. For a more detailed look at what we do, check out our page of SEO Answers and a blog post here. This week, I’d like to talk to you about Hard Drive maintenance.
I know this sounds like something that could be really complicated, but it’s quite simple. This will be another one of those things that you’ll be able to do on your own and save a bundle at the same time. Some of the big box stores that offer tech support would charge around $50 for this. All it will cost you is time.
You’re probably thinking, “Why even do this?” Well, I’ll tell you. Your hard drive is where all your data is stored; your music, documents, all of it. What happens is that over time, bits and pieces of the files get spread around the hard drive as you open and close programs. This process is called fragmenting. What it means for you is that the time it takes to access your files increases. Defragmenting, or “defragging”, your hard drive makes your computer run faster.
First, open up My Computer. Here you will see your hard drive. It is almost universally labeled as “C:”. You may see statistics on the drive underneath it’s label, usually the amount of free space. Now, place your mouse over the icon and right click the drive. Select “Properties”.
Once the new window has opened up, you should see a tab across the top called Tools. There are three options on this screen. The one you want is “Defragment”. The tool will start up and you will have two options. The first is “Analyze” and the second is “Defragment”. The latter will also analyze the disk, as it is a requirement for Defragmenting. Now comes the hard part. Wait.
This tool will take an inordinate amount of time to complete. I don’t mean a “go make a sandwich” and… Read the rest
Tags: drive maintenance, hard drive, hard drive maintenance
Posted in Computer Maintenance | No Comments »
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Three Ways to curb Spam on Your Blog
Friday, March 12th, 2010A blog is a great way to get your particular message out to people around the world. Whether you are sharing recipes, business strategies, or trading baseball cards, a blog can become a hub of activity. Naturally, there are people drawn to these places to take advantage of the amount of activity. These people are called spammers. You can tell who they are because they don’t usually add to the conversation, but rather promote their own site. Keeping these people off of your blog will go a long way towards building its legitimacy. Here are three ways to do that.
1) CAPTCHA Them.
First, please forgive the play on words. Okay, a CAPTCHA is a tool for many
blogs and other sites which requires the user to enter the text they see in an image that looks slightly garbled of distorted. We’ve all seen them. CAPTCHA is used to prevent automated software from just scanning a website and filling in their information. This is a classic method for spammers. The best part of this is that implementation is free and has very little impact on the end user. It is readily available for WordPress as an add-on called “SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam 2.2.9”. It’s free so go out and grab it if WordPress is powering your blog.
2) Papers Please
Another way to ensure that the comments left on your blog are legitimate is to require users to register themselves. This is an almost surefire way to make sure that comments left are legitimate. The biggest downside here is that many users may not wish… Read the rest
Tags: Blog Hints, captcha, comments, internet, marketing, seo, spammers
Posted in Blog Hints, Internet Marketing, Web Development | 1 Comment »