In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout.

GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

I heard a range of stories too. One was of a man who spent $40,000, hiring an “all in one” person to completely build out his online platform. Others hired someone on Craigslist, a family friend, or someone off of Elance to help. Both clients terminated the relationship with their web person, meanwhile lost a bunch of money, patience and trust. It just hurts my heart to hear it every time. It’s like this in any industry, but I get frustrated that people call themselves experts when they just aren’t.

So today is a loud shout out to all you website owners or soon-to-be website owners. I’m only hoping to educate you a little so you can learn from other people’s experiences and hopefully save yourself some time and money.

First and foremost, if someone is in this business, they should be doing the things they would charge YOU for. If someone says they can design a Facebook profile image, check to see what theirs looks like! If someone says they build websites, look at their site and see if it has the most important elements you would want in a website (like a blog, social media, an opt-in box with a free offering incentive, etc). If they say they are an SEO expert, check to see if they have infiltrated Google.

See where I’m going with this?

If you don’t like the look of someone’s website, you probably shouldn’t hire them to build yours. Now, if you have no clue what to look for in a website review, then that’s one thing – ask me and I’ll tell you what to look for! But in general, you should be able to tell pretty quickly if it looks like this potential person has their stuff together or not.

Do they sell their own products? Are they on social networks? Do they have a following? Are they getting lots of testimonials and recommendations? Are they blogging consistently? Do they practice what they preach?

This is a good reminder for all of us and today I just felt the urge to shout out. I want to be the type of person that does practice what she preaches. So each day I work my hardest, give the most I can and I know it only inspires the people around me to do the same. It is possible to make the world a better place if we have the right intentions.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Type into the box below, share with friends – let’s get the word out!

7 New Ways to Improve Your Google Rankings
By Jim Lodico
Published June 27, 2011

Wondering how to respond to Google’s recent algorithm changes (known as Panda)?

Keep reading to find out.

A bit of history

In an interview with Wired Magazine, Udi Manber, Google’s head of search, said that Google will make as many as 550 changes to its search algorithm this year. One of the bigger changes happened this past winter in what has been called the Panda or Farmer update.

According to a report by Sistrix.com, within days of the update, a number of very large websites saw their Google rankings take a drastic drop. Sites such as Ezinearticles.com and Suite101.com lost 90% or more of their visibility on Google.

This Sistrix table shows the domain and the percentage loss since Google's change.

Although a 90% drop in visibility may seem extreme, it was a direct result of Google’s attempts to weed out content farms (websites with high-volume, low-quality content) and those trying to game the system. In the process, a number of unsuspecting websites got caught in the fray.

For the average small business owner, stories like this can be concerning. It’s hard enough to move to the top of the Google search rankings, let alone keep up with the constantly evolving magic that makes Google work.

However, for those looking to build quality websites that achieve high Google search results, nothing has really changed. As always, the key is to focus on publishing high-quality content that readers will want to share.

Here are 7 tips to help your business move to the top of the Google search rankings.

#1: It’s all about the user

It’s important to remember that the reason for the continually changing algorithms and updates is that Google has one objective—to provide the highest quality, most relevant search results possible. If they fail to do so, competitors such as Bing and Facebook are nipping at their heels ready to take up the slack.

Google is not out to penalize websites or hurt website owners. They want to ensure that users find the information they seek on the first try.

When it comes to search engine rankings and improving SEO, start by looking at the site from the perspective of the user searching Google. Does your site provide the best, most relevant information for a given search term and if not, what can you do to fix it?

Google’s Amit Singhal, head of Google’s core ranking team, provided 23 questions to consider when evaluating web content. These are some of the same questions that Google is using to test algorithms and evaluate websites using third-party beta testers. The questions provide an excellent insight into Google’s perspective and a tool to analyze your website from the user’s point of view.

#2: Content: Focus on quality over quantity

In an earlier post I wrote on how to increase your Google ranking, I talked about using blogs to increase the number of pages indexed in Google. And while it still holds true that more pages indexed for a given search term gives you a better chance of achieving a high Google rank, it isn’t enough just to publish text optimized for keywords. The quality of the content is now a factor.

Using the list of 23 questions will help you assess the quality of your content.

Since the Panda update, Google has attempted to screen out those publishing high-volume, low-quality content. Now, in the eyes of Google, it’s better to have fewer high-quality pages then lots of low-quality pages.

Blogging is still one of the best ways to move up the search engine rankings as it is a good way to add high-quality information to a website. However, web pages or blog posts offering little of value can now negatively impact a website. Removing these pages might actually help a website move up the rankings or recover from a drop in ranking.

#3: Links: Focus on quality over quantity

…

Keep reading this post on the Social Media Examiner website!

7 New Ways to Improve Your Google Rankings
By Jim Lodico
Published June 27, 2011

Since then, I have started prepping 2 more book launches, one for worldwide motivational speaker Les Brown, and the other for a group of 40 transformational women authors called “Get Your Woman On”. Early this summer I have quite a few goodies in mind for you to learn about the details behind an Amazon Campaign book launch, how to achieve Best-Seller status and more. Stay tuned!

On the more personal side, I’ve sold my beautiful Colorado home and decided to make a move to good ‘ole Arizona for a few years. So as you can see, I’ve been quite the busy bee as you already are used to with me.

In coming months, I plan to execute on the many ideas I’ve had that seem to be flooding my “ideas” folder. eBooks, training videos, blog posts, mini books and more are on the horizon. I just wanted to send a quick update that I’m not going anywhere and stay with me because things are gonna heat up this summer!

If there is anything in particular that you’ve really been wanting some answers or guidance to, please post a comment below and I promise to expand on your questions immediately. Thanks all!

One Great SEO Tip:

I came across an oldie but a goodie, blog post from ProBlogger called, “Optimize a Single Post On Your Blog for SEO“.

The first SEO point of 4 was to find out which of your posts are ranked in Google’s 1st page (2nd-10th position) and then go back and optimize those posts to become #1 on Google. That is a simple but obvious idea that I hadn’t thought of directly before.

In your Google Analytics account (shame on you if you don’t have Analytics by now!), you can view your top ranked pages. For example, a blog post of mine is currently #6 for “Building Rapport with Clients” on Google. My SEO goal is to get that blog post #1 for the same keyword phrase. So, I’ll go back to that blog post from months and months ago and find out what I can do to optimize it even more.

Can I add more links? Can I adjust my Meta Title, Description and Keywords to match that keyword phrase even more? Can I add “Building Rapport with Clients” into a pattern of showing up in every 160 words of the content, naturally?

Bet your bottom dollar I’ll be using my nifty Scribe tool explained below! It’s worth taking a look at the top 10 pages you can re-optimize to get better Search Engine Optimization (SEO). How many keyword phrases can you be #1 for?

Second Great SEO Tip:

Previously, designer Ray Grau told me about a free tool for SEO called WooRank. It’s a very simple site to look at on their home page, but not simple in the way it attacks SEO analysis for sure! This Beta version is free, but I wouldn’t expect for long.

You can go to www.WooRank.com and type in your URL into the field, which kinda mirrors the Google.com page. Your report will generate within a minute or two max – which is very impressive because it’s analyzing everything SEO about your site based on over 45 sets of criteria. WooRank generates a 15 page PDF report on your website (with explanations!) so you can take action right away. This is one impressive site since I know what had to go into creating it. Phew!

Third Great SEO Tip:

Last year I wrote a post titled, “New WordPress Plugin, Scribe, Takes Bloggers to New SEO Level“. I’m going to highly encourage you all to go back and read that post if you haven’t yet. I have taken the opportunity to review this plugin and use it a lot. One word: Impressive.

For all of you out there who know a little about SEO tactics, but not the whole enchilada, this Scribe tool is a great trainer and coach which shows up on your time and all starting at only $17 a month. For those of you who know an intermediate to advanced level of knowledge about SEO, this will just make your writing go much faster. I will type away and make the effort to apply a handful of SEO tactics. But to take the time to nail all tactics…each post would take me 2 hours! Who has the time? Instead, I’ll do the obvious, rank my post, instantly get a report of what i can do to enhance my Search Engine Optimization, then “get ‘er done” like Larry the Cable Guy tells us to do.

Those are your “2 Great SEO Tips You Need to Know, Plus 1 More” for this Thursday. If you have any cool tools you heard about, please share them by making a comment below.

Each book has about 30-40 amazing authors from around the world, all with a unique story to tell. I work with each author to keep them on track with our timeline for getting the book produced in both print and eBook format. The eBook has video and audio clips embedded for a multimedia experience unlike most media out there.

Once the book is ready for publishing, I execute and Amazon Campaign best-seller campaign. This includes working individually with each author coaching on how to create an introductory product they can give away as incentive for people to buy the book on Launch Day.

Once we achieve best-seller status, I organize and manage the entire affiliate program for the book so the authors can sell the book and earn a nice profit.

Dr. Karen is one author I work with on the Living Proof book – and AMAZING woman with an incredible story. Check it out:

www.DrKarenEJohnson.com

Thank you so much Karen!

Chances are you had a busy year. And in the midst of reading countless blog posts, Facebook updates, and Twitter feeds, it’s just possible that you may have missed a few things. If that’s the case, here are 10 of the essential Top One Report articles that we published this year that you may have missed out on, which would be a shame. So here’s your second chance:

Tips for Writing Your Ebook

Of all the ways to make money online, writing a well-thought-out, well-researched, and relevant ebook can be one of the best ways to start earning some income on the side. Here are some things for you to consider as you endeavor to create and write your own ebook…

Unlock Your Site’s Potential with Split Testing

So you’ve got your website up and running, complete with some key products and ads and maybe even a sales page. So now what, you just sit back and wait for the sales to roll in, right? Well, in your rush to get online, you may have overlooked the importance of a key task that just might be the single most vital thing you do as a marketer: split testing…

Why You Should Network Like It’s 1999

As online marketers, we put a lot of stock in social networking, and rightfully so. There really is no better way to get the word out about your business, its mission, and your brand and to build valuable relationships that will create opportunities and help your business grow. Or is there?

Top 7 Online Business Resources

If you have an online business and are looking to increase traffic to your website and therefore sales, there are some things you should be doing on a regular basis. Call them your daily or weekly online calisthenics. You should be posting articles on other sites, building your list and reaching out to them with pertinent deals and updates, staying active on forums in your niche, taking advantage of the press release resources out there, using Twitter, and making sure your email signature reflects what you are trying to accomplish. Here are our favorite resources for doing all of the above…

Get the Most Out of Your Analytics

In the early days of the Internet, commercialism had not made its entrance and no one was thinking about tracking traffic, much less analyzing it. Nearly a decade later, we had progressed to tracking visitors in the form of “hits,” which did not tell you effectively even how many individual people actually visited your site. Now after nearly another decade, we find ourselves in a virtual analytical paradise comprised of numbers and data…

Six WordPress Plugins You Must Have

WordPress is by far the most popular content management system on the Web right now. Every day new plugins are being developed, improved, or added. Plugins are a way for you to add additional functionality to your blog according to your needs. I will be discussing some of the most beneficial plugins that you should install on your WordPress site…

Mobile Web Optimization

One thing is becoming increasingly clear: mobile web browsing is quickly catching up to and surpassing desktop browsing. With more people having access to mobile-enabled cell phones than computers, the number of mobile devices browsing the web is increasing at an enormous rate…

Examine Your Site’s Focus

It’s hard to adequately stress the importance of focus and purpose on your website. Since you are reading the Top One Report, we’re going to assume that you have a website, or lots of websites, or are at the very least planning to have a website. We look at a lot of sites here at InfoMedia in our work with entrepreneurs like you…

9 Questions for Healthy Traffic

Traffic, traffic, traffic. It’s the holy grail of our business and most marketers will try everything they can to attract new visitors to their site…

A Blueprint for Web Design

A 2006 study found that viewers made subconscious decisions about the quality and credibility of web pages in just 1/20th of a second. In this blink of an eye, viewers did not have enough time to read text or even recognize photos, but instead were reacting only to the site’s layout. Even when the participants had more time to look at the site, the research found that they only attempted to reinforce this initial conclusion…

Re-posted from Joel Comm’s Top One Report Website
10 Articles You May Have Missed in 2010

Today I invite you to “Stop and Smell the Pumpkin Pie” as my dear friend and expert branding coach, Monica Magnetti, says. Yes, we can get it all done while enjoying the best season of the year. Today I hope to share a few tips, based on what I’m doing. My goal is that we all get to make the most of this time together!

Step one. Write it all down.

You should see my desk right now! To do lists and calendar schedules lay neatly in a row. Yes, I’m obsessed with organization and neatness. The good news is you don’t have to be! The takeaway is: Get organized.

What do I mean? Pull out your dusty calendar if you don’t use one often and write down all holiday parties, work deadlines and bill due dates if needed. I don’t want to miss anything. I’m more apt to write too much down than not enough.

Next I get out a big blank sheet of paper and think of every to do I can imagine. The goal is NOT to look at this list and get overwhelmed. The goal is to get it all out of your head. We can drive ourselves nuts by rotating to dos in our head all day long. No wonder we feel behind!

Step two. Take a deep breath and calm down.

I had a blast a couple weeks ago making a new to do list… wait for it… this time the to do list was not work related. It was fun related! I listed all the things I wanted to do before it was too late and the holiday season passed me by. Such as build a gingerbread house, make a snowman (sorry Arizonans), and make sugar cookies. I did not want another holiday to pass me by, another year, without taking full advantage.

Step three. Deep breath, ready, set, charge!

I have been busy non-stop for the past few weeks. Your think I’d be exhausted and cranky, but because I’m having a lot of fun with family and friends, I’m actually achieving a ton of balance. I’m more focused and clear when I show up to start working in the mornings, I’m having a more quality and enjoyable night with the people I care about, and I’m not wigged out and stressed like I see many others experiencing.

That’s it! A pretty easy formula, I know. Having Awareness is my last huge bonus tip. When feelings if anxiety enter, recognize the tension. Next I ask myself if this issue or feeling is really worth the stress it causes. Meaning either I let the anxiety win, or I win and take control to release and move on.

What will you do?

It does become a major disappointment when you pay for a job to be done and the most basic principles of good business are ignored or not held as a priority.

For example, this weekend I went to a trusted local car shop to get four new tires on my car. I set an appointment to ensure I could keep to my tight schedule for the day. I was told the job would take 1-1.5 hours. So I went to a nearby Starbucks and had a lovely time catching up on some reading and writing. At 1.75 hours in, I walked back. During my walk I wondered by I still hadn’t received a call and hoped my car would be ready.

Once at the shop I walked up to the counter and asked for an update since it had been almost two hours. The guy wiggled and informed me, “..some things had to be shuffled around. An inspection job came in… We just started on your car it’ll be at least another hour, probably closer to 1.5 hours.” If my car hadn’t already been stripped of the old tires I would have canceled the job and left.

Disappointment rose in me and here’s why… It would have been so simple to call and let me know something had come up, there’d be a delay, and ask my permission to continue. I would have appreciated the honesty and forethought. Instead, I felt disrespected and unappreciated as a customer.

Communication is key in operating a good business. This simple practice can lead to repeat business which means long-term profit. One of the most common pieces of feedback I get as a service professional is how good I am at keeping the customer informed. If I get behind for the day, I tell the client what happened, reassure them they are a priority and let them know a new date to expect the work. This way they are never left wondering, they have renewed validation in my job performance and our relationship continues to be good.

If you are a service provider I encourage you to take a step back today and evaluate how your business is operating. This includes the way employees represent you. If you see an area for improvement then put a little training time in with your people to build their communication skills. Offer example stories they can relate to such as, “Have you ever been to a car shop… how did it make you feel?” This way, your people can relate to the experience and see directly how important this topic is. Your training on “How to Communicate Effectively” can then be received an implemented. This could be a more profitable investment long-term – even above buying more advertising!

When I inquired to Steve about helping me with some trademarking and copywriting, here was his response…

“Hi Amber, the process as far as you are concerned, is pretty easy. We do all of the work for you. The first step after you decide what you want to trademark (name, logo, tag line..) is to fill out a trademark questionnaire. I’ll have you meet with our trademark paralegal to discuss the various types of applications that you can file. Thereafter, she will conduct a search to see if she can locate any competing users of the name, logo or tag line. We will then prepare an opinion letter regarding the ease of getting the mark through the US Patent and Trademark Office.

She can get the application prepared shortly after she completes the search, and all in all, depending upon her and our schedule, we ought to have your mark determined, searched and filed within two or three weeks.

Thereafter, its up to the Trademark Office to assign it to an examining attorney for his/her action. Usually, the mark can be registered within 6 months to one year depending upon the load at that time at the trademark office. Your priority relates back to the date of filing, however.”

I HIGHLY recommend Steve and his services. Below you will find more information on what exactly he can do for you:

Replin, Rhoades & Roper, LLC
Our Specialty … Intellectual Property, Entertainment & Small Business

Authors and Publishers need a law firm that focuses on providing services to those in the creative industries, entrepreneurs and small businesses including the following. At Replin, Rhoades & Roper, LLC, our expertise is in:

Writing and Publishing Law
RR&R represents authors, agents, publicists and publishers in conjunction with contracts, negotiations, distribution and marketing of books and manuscripts.

Fashion, Film, Music, Artists, Photographers, Web Designers, Actors, Educators and Performers
Fashion designers, manufacturers and others in the fashion industry; film makers, producers, directors, financiers, distributors, and those involved in the film making process; musicians, groups, record labels, agents, managers, publicists, and recording studios in the music industry; as well as anyone in the creative industries such as photographers, graphic designers, educators, web developers, web designers, actors and performers as well as entities such as a museum and a dance troop.

Small Business
A variety of entrepreneurs and business owners with their growth strategies, contracts, negotiations and other aspects of business planning and development work with RR&R. Clients include software developers, non-profit foundations and manufacturers.

Intellectual Property
Our client’s intellectual property is protected with a focus on trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets and help clients maximize revenue through appropriate licensing and intellectual property portfolio management.

Stephen Replin
Replin, Rhoades & Roper, LLC
222 Milwaukee Street – Suite 304
Denver, CO 80206
303-322-7919
www.ReplinRhoades.com