IXI

Every day there are more free directories we can submit our websites to be listed in.
Some are better then others, some are more friendly and relevant but they are all fall in the same category - just a directory.
There are a few simple steps that will help you get the most out of these directories:

1 - Free listings with no link to your site (or asking for a reciprocal link) are useless.
2 - Submit to your local directories first
3 - Submit to relevant directories second
4 - Continue submission to directories with different PR
5 - Avoid mass submissions - take your time a few here and there are a lot better than 1000 today and 1000 tomorrow
6 - Vary the keywords in the title for different submissions
7 - Never submit the same description for local and relevant directories.
8 - Refresh the title and description for local and relevant directories at least every 6 months.
9 - Check your listings every 3 months to make sure that they are cached - and if not, discontinue that directory.
10 - Keep looking for new directories.

The 10 step approach will deliver top result for anyone willing to stick with the formula. There is a lot of waste in effort if some of these very simple guides are not followed. Maximizing your time will maximize the return.

There is a new concept in town - so far all the web talk was technical and for a business owner to get ahead there was very few options. All you could do is learn the techo talk yourself or outsource the whole thing to someone you can trust and loose control. Well, no more! With the launch of the Web Academy a business owner will be able to take back control of their web solution and understand the performance and postion where they are at as well as drive it forward without the need for learning the techno talk and understanding coding techniques.
Still not convinced - how about having independent service providers right next to you displayed to all members. Get the services you need from someone next to you and know that the Web Academy has reviewed and rated their services. Every authorised supplier has also been reviewd and rated by the members and if there are any issues the Web Academy actively gets involved in the resoolution of it from the business owner side.

Web design, development as well as SEO and SEM are only some areas that the Web Academy delivers the information on - let us know what you think and what you would like to see done for your business.

What waits for us in the new year online? Are we to experince new trends and approaches to the things we do now? How fast will we have to adopt and change in order to stay infront?
Looking at 2009 in search trends the internet will continue dominating the scene for most of the businesses with increased competition and tougher descision and at the same time slimmer pickings.
We wil be judged not only on normal metrics but on business performance. The next year will be ROI based internet explosion where the businesses will focus more on education and understaning of their marketing spend. The tough economic times have shown us the value of understanding and test and measure approach and this is why most of the businesses will be looking to see how far they can stretch their marketing $.
It is certain that the return from web will continue to outperform all other mediums in 2010 but the profitability of the major campaigns will be lower compared to last year due to increased competition and enhanced reporting requirements.
Get your thinking hats on and start pushing forward starting from yesterday.

Happy new 2010 year.