Question: Does it matter for my site’s SEO in Google or other search engines if I use www in the domain name? For example, do I need to use http://www.example.com or can i use http://example.com ?

Answer: It doesn’t matter at all to your SEO in Google, Bing or Yahoo whether you use www in your domain name or not. (more…)

If you rely on local customers to come to your store or service facility, then it is most important that these customers can find you on Google.

If they do their checking before they leave home using their desktop PC, then they may well use Google Local Search. It may be a problem for you to rank well in such a search as a recent Cre8asite Forums discussion points out. As the topic author pointed out, there are Completely And Utterly Farcical Google Local Verification Procedures. The problem is that Google does not support this local search facility with a customer service function. They rely on computer algorithms to identify the location of particular businesses. If that algorithm handles your website incorrectly, then it may be very difficult for you to get that corrected.

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For several years now, I have been talking to anyone and everyone about how the Internet is the great equalizer for small and medium businesses. It can help the little guy play with the big boys. It can help create a David vs. Goliath scenario where the SMB can take the industry giant out with skill and precision. There are so many things that any SMB can do with regard to the Internet that it is mind boggling.

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Stacy Karacostas here from http://www.success-stream.com with another quick audio marketing tip. In case you don’t like listening to audio, below are the transcripts for today’s podcast, “An Easy Way to Make Your Small Business Marketing Materials Way More Effective… And Make Sure They Get Read!”

I’ve often noticed that when I talk to my clients about their products or services, they say the most amazing, engaging and interesting things. But when I read their marketing materials it usually sounds more like the teacher from the old Charlie Brown cartoons “wha wha, waa waa, waa whaaaa”.

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Not every site needs a site map, but they can certainly be a good idea. Site maps provide a dual purpose: They provide search engine spiders easy access to all of your site pages and they provide site visitors easy access to all of your site pages.

The difference is that search engines and visitors access your site map differently and therefore there are different methods that need to be applied to creating site map(s) that are friendly for both visitors and search spiders.

Small sites typically don’t need a site map so long as all pages are linked in the main navigation. Once you get into main and sub-navigation menus then site maps are helpful in allowing search engines and visitors to quickly find anything they are looking for within just a couple of clicks. A single site map can be used for both purposes or multiple site maps can be created. Here we’ll address creating site maps for spiders and humans separately.

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Depending on the nature of your site, Help and FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) can span a few or many pages.

Building up these sections of your site can greatly enhance your visitor’s experience with your website. These pages are often sought out by shoppers who are looking for just a bit more information to help them feel confident about their purchase.

Building comprehensive Help and FAQ pages gives your visitors confidence that you’re there to provide them the information and help they need to be comfortable purchasing from you. Solidly built pages can often reduce visitor confusion, lessen support call frequency, and create higher conversion rates as more shoppers are satisfied and confident that you can meet their needs.

Help pages

Help pages should not be limited to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) but should provide links to user guides, contact details, product support, customer support downloads, and anything else that will guide your visitors to the answers they seek.

Avoid marketing

Help and FAQ pages should not contain any marketing hype or sales material. These pages are there simply to guide your visitors to the answers they seek. Stick to the basics.

Info search

If your site has a search function and robust Help and FAQ sections, it can be helpful to allow visitors to search these sections exclusively. If the information being sought cannot be found in the Help or FAQ sections, the search should produce more results from the rest of the site.

Printable text

Help sections should be printable, or have printer-friendly versions. Visitors often print up the answers to their questions to show other decision makers. Having easy-to print pages benefits you and your visitors.

The most important aspect of your Help and FAQ pages is that they are robust enough to answer as many potential questions that can be determined in advance. You’ll also want to update these frequently as new questions get asked and answered.

I’ve seen a few conversations recently where people have suggested building generic over niche sites, as a general way to develop a stronger presence online.

The most recent is Rand Fishkin’s Five Reasons Why It’s Better to be Big & Popular than Small & Niche.

The trouble is, Rand’s post confuses niche development with microsites IMO.

Microsites vs niche

My personal definition of a microsite is something created just to target a specific keyword. I’d say MFA sites play on this a lot. It’s not really anything to do with targeting a niche - it’s just a narrow string of keywords. You set up a site, just to have some kind of limited presence in that area.

Niche sites in the proper sense, as I use it, actively develop themselves into useful resources in their niche. And the amazing thing about hitting a niche is that it’s incredibly easy to become an authority in a niche, especially in emergent markets. Anyone with SEO/marketing knowledge already has an unfair advantage here.

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