Win the Search Engine Wars – or – Your graphics designer is screwing up you website rankings.

By Mark Helfen

You can win at the search engine wars, and Athol and Dan Foden will show you how at next Monday’s SDForum Marketing SIG meeting.

Foden is president of Brighter Naming, which helps companies develop names both for their products and for themselves. He also consults on internet marketing, search engine optimization, and is the author of the recently released book Brighter SEO: Organic Search Engine Optimization. He will be assisted by his son Ben, also a freelance marketing consultant.

Foden has been a popular speaker at previous Marketing SIG meetings.

I spoke to him Tuesday, and he said that his presentation would be practical advice, using real web sites, starting with his, for a detailed description of how you can get a high page rank on Google.

As search engines have gotten more intelligent, “honest citizens (or webizens) can play again,” said Foden. “You don’t have to game the system.”

Foden promotes a balanced approach, including a web site, search engine optimization, blogs, and social media that form the “SEO Power Pyramid.”

The result is “free” visibility, without paying for advertising. Perfect for small businesses, departments, or the individual consultant, including those just starting out. No need to pay Google for Adwords.

“If you are out of work, starting a business, this is a low cost way to get noticed,” and you can do it yourself said Foden.

The wide reach of the web will widen your visibility beyond the limited circle of friends, family, and your contact list to an international audience, and Foden says his own business is “living proof,” attracting clients from well beyond the valley within the last month.

Monday’s meeting will cover four topics:

- How to do integrated internet marketing on a shoestring.

- How you can start getting visibility for your small business tomorrow.

- How to stay a step ahead of the curve in the internet space.

And, perhaps most surprisingly,

- How your graphics designer is screwing up your website rankings.

“There are two views of a website. The human view, and the robot view. People don’t think of the difference,” said Foden.

You will learn the difference at Monday’s meeting.



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Mark Helfen is a freelance writer, journalist, and marketing consultant. He can be reached at:
mhelfen@wordpixel.com

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/markhelfen

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.helfen

follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mark_helfen

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