For those who don’t use them every day, search engines can sometimes be a frustrating mess. Ostensibly, it doesn’t take much to use a search engine. Type “www.google.com” into your browser and get crackin’. But sometimes your specific searches come up empty, leaving you unable to find what you came online looking for in the first place.

In the interest of helping some of those more inexperienced in the ways of true search, we at lifeBLUE decided to put together a brief primer on some of the basic ways you can improve your time navigating the search engines and more easily find the information you need. And, of course, if you’re interested in improving your company’s standing among the search engines, make sure to check out our SEO services.

Here are a just few helpful hints and basic facts. Seeing as we’re big St. Louis Cardinals fans here at lifeBLUE, we’ll use the keywords “baseball” and “Cardinals” as examples:

The Basics

-If you type in Baseball - you will get any web page that features the word baseball.

- Baseball and Cardinals - will give you pages that have baseball and Cardinals.

- Baseball or Cardinals - will give you pages that only have baseball with no mention of Cardinals or Cardinals with no mention of baseball.

- Baseball – Cardinals - this will give you a baseball pages devoid of the word Cardinals (Make sure when typing this into Google that the space is between the first word and the minus, since the first word is what you want to keep in your search).

- Baseball + Cardinals - this is the same as using the word “and” in the search.

-“Baseball Cardinals” - this will provide results that only feature the words Baseball Cardinals consecutively. This is good when you’re looking for a specific company, name or other item.

Restrictive Searches
-define: Baseball - this will give you the definition of baseball.
-phonebook: wang IL- will give you the listing for Wang in Illinois.
-bphonebook: wang IL- will give you the listings for businesses named Wang in Illinois.
-inurl: baseball - this one is pretty cool. This will give you a return of all sites that include baseball somewhere in the site’s URL.
-allinurl: Baseball Cardinals - this will give you a search that uses all the words you typed after the colon in the URL.
-related: lifeBLUE.com - gives a return on sites that are related to lifeBLUE.com
-info: lifeBLUE.com - provides all information available about the website.
-link: lifeBLUE.com - provides other sites that are linked to this website.

And those are just a few. There are dozens upon dozens of little tricks and devices you can use to amp up your Google searches. Here’s one last little trick for you. Did you know that Google is also a calculator?

Try it. Type in an addition problem in the search bar and hit search. Or ask it how many quarts are in 17 gallons (search “quarts in 17 gallons”). Google will generate the answer, without fail. Truly, it is all things to all people, the official one-stop shop of the Internet. Sounds like another American empire we know and love…

Now we just need the G-folks to figure out a way for us to simultaneously buy a toilet brush, some bananas and an oil change online.

PageRank.

It’s a term you’ll still hear kicked around in certain Search Engine Marketing circles. Try not to listen.

What’s the deal? Well, PageRank is a tool. The device is a basically a link analysis algorithm that assigns a value to each set of hyperlinked documents on a web page, then measures its relative importance. In fact, let’s allow the experts who created the tool — Google — to explain:

“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.”

OK, so there’s a barebones definition. But what does PageRank really mean, in the “Why should I care” sense? The reality is, PageRank isn’t the end-all, be-all in the realm of SEO. Like we said, it’s a tool. But it doesn’t replace the entire tool box.

Beyond PageRank, there are a ton of important elements that factor into your website’s ranking, include quality content and keywords. As a tool, PageRank doesn’t really get into keyword specifics, meaning one site can be ranked higher than another in the SERPs but have a lower PageRank than its counterpart.

Lastly, clinging to PageRank has just fallen out of fashion. With so many other factors and elements at play, businesses and website enthusiasts simply have to look at the bigger picture.

Turns out painting a bigger picture is one of our specialties.

It’s hard to narrow down a huge list to just a handful of helpful hints, but here we are. We at lifeBLUE are masters of the concise list. We’re also pretty talented when it comes to crafting a well-rounded online marketing campaign. We could write a book about successful strategies and techniques, but, instead, here’s a much more digestible snapshot of a few must-haves:

1. Search Engine Optimization

The old work horse, as it were. At its most basic of roots, this is the act of altering a website to help boost its visibility in the search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Ask. It entails a series of steps and possible avenues, as webmasters have to spend time thinking about what the search engine crawlers will find when they come snaking through. It’s also where things can get a bit complicated rather quickly, and where you need to start keeping up with the latest at each of the search engines. Each search engine crawler looks for different things, so you may rank well on one engine but lag on another. Although it’s a basic, foundational element of online marketing, it’s tried and true.

2. Usability Testing

Usability is quickly becoming one of the more important aspects of online marketing. Usability is simply how well your website caters to your customers. About 60 percent of all consumers who arrive at your website get lost. That means usability and navigability are extremely important for websites of all shapes and stripes.

3. Optimized Press Releases

More and more people are turning to news search engines to get a well-rounded and diverse take on the news of the day. Many of these high-traffic news engines, like Yahoo News and Google News, have become more popular than the big, traditional media outlets. With that backdrop, having a press release that ranks high on these search engines is an incredibly important part of an online marketing campaign. It’s only going to become more crucial as more and more media consumers turn to those engines for news, entertainment and analysis.

4. Business Blogging

Blogging is more popular and mainstream than ever before. It’s also being recognized as a vital tool by companies big and small.  Many are encouraging workers to blog on company-sponsored sites or even on their own personal weblogs, figuring that the only bad publicity is no publicity. We don’t completely endorse that old theory, but there’s more than a grain of truth in there. An entertaining or informative blog that offers readers something unique or worthwhile can draw a ton of new consumers and generate both links and buzz. All of those are darn near priceless.

While our SEO services do come with a price tag, our passionate and committed team works with businesses and budgets from all corners. We’re here to help you thrive.

A lot has been said recently in the SEO blogosphere about the good and the bad of buying links. Matt Cutts threw down the hammer in his blog with regards to how Google is restarting its quest to rid the SERPs of websites that have obtained their top rankings by “manipulating” the algorithms through buying links. Many SEO’s from around the globe have responded in kind that they believe buying links it still a viable way to improve a search marketing campaign.

At lifeBLUE, we have managed SEM campaigns for clients that have sometimes involved paid links. We don’t view it as a means to an end, but rather a supplemental bit of support for any top-notch SEM. The truth is, if you’re hoping to compete for just about any competitive keyword terms in Google, you’re going to have to acquire authorititative links that have targeted anchor text in them.

And what’s the best way to get that done? By creating compelling content that results in links (link bait), by blogging, by developing resources within your industry and by buying links. All pieces of the pie are equally important when we are running a client’s campaign.

Over the years there has (basically) emerged a right way and a wrong way to go about buying links that follows the same principles that differentiate spam from acceptable marketing. You can’t buy links exclusively to boost your campaign. You can’t buy links that all have the same anchor text and point to the same page. As always, it’s about being “natural” in your search marketing campaigns.

We feel we accomplish that by blending our link-buying activities seamlessly into our overall marketing scheme for every client, and never overdoing it when it comes to buying 30 of the exact same link. The only links that are truely worth buying are those that get prominent placement on leading sites in your vertical - those priceless ones that just can’t be had by link bait or tools or resources.

Thanks for keeping us honest, Google, but paid links will be here to stay for a long time.

From start to finish, an often overlooked element of website design is the application work that occurs beneath all the fancy images dancing across your screen.

Applications and programming functions are the magic behind the scenes that truly make a website great. Any time you type something in a field, search a category or do anything other than simply click a direct link, a feature built upon hours worth of programming brings the page before your eyes in a matter of seconds - or minutes if you’re using grandpa’s home computer from the Dark Ages.

All the information that just flew across your screen has been sitting in a database, kicking and screaming for a shot at human consumption. All you had to do was type in the right word and set it free. How much user interactivity would you like on your website? Do you want your users to upload pictures, create personal pages, play games, store personal information, record favorite pages visited and wish lists? Or would you like to manage your website’s content, keep track of inventory, monitor traffic and even monitor pretty much anything you can imagine? The list can go on forever. A great application can make using your website dramatically simple, both for you and your users.

Now how does all this work, you ask? You can crack a turtle with some of the ultra-thick books that explain it. So, if you want to do the research yourself, pull up a chair and pencil in the next light-year to get good and educated on the subject. Or, you can simply tell our experts how you would like your website to function, and let their light-years of education and experience make the magic happen.

When it comes to Application Development, we can make almost anything happen. We just need your vision. Our passionate experts will take care of the rest. Custom Application Development is just one of our many specialties.

Unless, of course, you’ve got a light-year to spare.

Save a turtle. Call lifeBLUE.

Unfortunately, our topic of the day is not Fergie’s really awesome song about how she is still keeping it real after all of the bling-bling and fame-fame. The subject of the day is style and design concepts for your website. What is too much and what is not enough?

What type of design should you use? Artistic, plain, flashy or even, um, glamorous? A complicated decision, no doubt, but fortunately for you, we can come up with the right mix based on a few key concepts from your targeted audience. Let’s break down some of these more commonly targeted classes and see what fits your business model. Ultimately, as we always say, it’s your website. In the end, though, what matters more: Pleasing your tastes or the people who visit your site?

Business to Business – Most business-to-business websites should be clean-cut and professional to a large degree. When you are catering to a business, your users want easy-to-find informational pages without going through a montage of collapsible pages, pop-up ads and large graphics that download at a glacial pace. More than the average consumer, business put a lot more thought into who they are going to do business with. Therefore, it is best not to try and blind them with fancy ads and words. Rather, provide them with the information they seek, and you are most likely to see a better return on your traffic.

Online Consumers – Online consumer sites can afford a little more glitz and glam than the average B2B site. However, your user range is far more diverse, including types of PCs used and connection speeds of those users. So, if you go too far on the flashy side, you are going to hamper the site usability for a large portion of your users. Not a great idea in such a highly competitive arena, where the war of attrition, in terms of conversions, is a battle you have to win. Try focusing on a user-friendly, graphically appealing yet theme-friendly design that emphasizes what you sell and do, but does not take away from your products.

Direct Traffic - This refers to the traffic where the users are specifically seeking your website, such as a restaurant, fan site or some other attraction. With this type of website, you are far more likely to have your targeted user narrowed down. This characteristic affords you the opportunity to be more creative and dynamic with your design. Your end goal is to provide users with information while captivating them by highlighting the uniqueness and more robust qualities of your business. This can be accomplished through flash animation design, scrolling colorful pictures and a wide range of other techniques to enhance the user’s experience while on your site.

Whatever your business model, remember design is vital on a variety of different levels, depending on your targeted user. View our design portfolio and see what matches your structure and desires. We’re here to help.

The subject of today’s blog is business names and nomenclature.

We might as well start with ourselves: lifeBLUE Media. Did we pick it because it sounds cool? Well, partly, but also because it has meaning to us, it is marketable and it exemplifies what we do. To its founders, lifeBLUE is about being a leader and setting the standards in the industry. We seek to help shape our client’s visions from daydreams and paper into reality.

So, what are we getting at?

We often hear people remark that a large part of picking their business name is determined by their ability to purchase a website domain. That alone can be a tricky business in this age of domain squatting, like the Sooners in the Oklahoma land rush. If you limit one of the most crucial aspects of your business because of available domain names, you’re probably starting off on the wrong foot.

Your business name should personify some or all of the following: Your particular industry, your business model or your ideals and beliefs. If all else fails, shoot for something that’s simply catchy and marketable. Pick the business name first, and then worry about nailing down a domain name. Luckily, there are plenty of books and websites out there offering expert advice on the intricacies of picking a business name. But, at the same time, let’s not overthink it.

In the end, find something that feels right. It’s your business. At some point, we’re sure someone wondered about the viability of the name “Walmart.” The bottom line is, the staff at lifeBLUE is always willing to give its input based on our significant experience in the web industry, especially when you’re building a new business from the ground up.

That’s the start of one of the most popular questions we’re asked. So, we thought it might be useful to explain some common and relatively simple web marketing words:

Referrals - Referrals are the pathways that bring a user to your site. It is very important to know if your potential customer came from a website where you are ranking for keywords, or if they have come from a link that you have established on someone else’s website.

Hits - Hits are when a web server requests a file be brought to a specific web server. In truth, they’re pretty meaningless. They do not show you how many people actually conduct business on your website. Think of it this way: What’s the point of having 1 million hits on your site if no one does what you want them to do once they arrive?

Page view - This is when a single page has been requested to be loaded by someone visiting a site. On the web, this would happen when a “surfer” clicks on a link that directs them to a certain site. This can be very useful to the owner of the website, because now you can alter site and see if those changes bring back potential customers more often.

Visits - Visits are when a person views all the pages of your website, or when that person has been on your website for a select period of time, usually somewhere around thirty seconds. To go a step further, a unique visit means that you are counting each person who visits your website only once.

Relevance - Relevance is the importance placed on certain words within a website by the search engines, namely keywords, pages and websites. There are three different areas of relevance, according to search engines: Content, keyword and link relevance.

If you are just starting out with a SEO/SEM firm, these are some of the basic keywords you need to know. It’s either that, or keep nodding your head and pretending to know what those Search Enginer Marketers are blabbing about.

The industry’s largest nonprofit organization just released its 2006 survey on search engine marketing.

Turns out SEM is only getting hotter.

Spending on search engine marketing increased 62 percent from 2005, topping $5.75 billion worldwide, according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, or SEMPO.

From 2004 to 2005, spending increased 44 percent, the survey noted. It’s only expected to skyrocket as more and more companies realize the necessity of SEM, with global spending doubling by 2011.

The numbers speak volumes: Search Engine Marketing appears poised for an even larger role in the realm of e-commerce. 

“These spending figures show that 2006 was a watershed year for the SEM industry. We have moved from the first wave of adoption of search-based marketing to the myriad of small- and medium-sized businesses, many of them startups, using SEM as a fundamental part of their business,” said Kevin Lee, a member of the board of directors of SEMPO and chairman of its Research Committee. ”In fact, many of these small- and medium-sized companies have been founded on an e-business model, and that is a huge implication for our general economy going forward.” 

More companies are starting to see the fruits of their labor when it comes to SEO/SEM. Many are getting more return on their investments than they thought possible. 

Online advertisers are able to target searchers to a T with precision. Tracking capabilities highlight what works, what fails and what direction industries at large are heading.

A solid presence online is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity in today’s ever-evolving marketplace. About 1.1 billion people, 16 percent of the Earth’s population, rely on the Internet for commerce, community and information.

Each is a potential customer — assuming they can find you.

That’s where lifeBLUE can help. 

The ease of online shopping is becoming ever more efficient for large retailers.

We’re still a bit uncertain about this ever-expanding trend for some items. There will always be some things that require a trip away from the keyboard: Think gas, milk and eggs for starters. Those highly perishable items can’t survive the Ace Ventura version of package delivery.

Yet, we don’t think there is a single business out there that could fail to benefit from selling its products or services online. If nothing else, remember that online shopping can be very impulse-intensive, because of its convenience and non-physical nature. However, the art and science behind operating and conducting an efficient online business entity is not easily achieved.

Online shoppers can be the pickiest of all shoppers, and a good website should cling tightly to this fact. A properly designed website, along with a well managed Internet marketing campaign, are just a few of the many facets to consider when aiming for a piece of that online shopping pie.

Mmmm….Pie! You can even buy those online.