As you may know, I’m a consulting technology advisor with SBDC TAP. SBDC = Small Business Development Center. TAP = Technology Advisory Program (and sometimes Technology Adoption Program) which runs out of the Silicon Valley SBDC. SBDC has centers all over the Northern California region. TAP serves all of these centers in the region.

I attended the regional meeting today in Berkeley for all of the center directors and advisors in NorCal. When it came time for awards, much to my surprise — I mean, really, I was not expecting this — I received an award for “Excellence in Economic Impact Performance 2011.” Wooot! Apparently I had the highest percentage of clients in TAP that had positive economic performance. That’s nice to know. I’m pleased and proud.

Aside, the best part of the day was that I got to meet so many of the business advisors and directors that I’ve worked with by email and phone for the last four years.

From the Silicon Valley SBDC website:

We’re dedicated to the success of entrepreneurs in the Greater Silicon Valley Area, which includes Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

The Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center offers a wide variety of services for present and potential small business owners. Our services include no-charge expert consulting, low-cost training, information resources, events and seminars. All consulting services are confidential and free of charge.

For Santa Cruz folks, our local center is Central Coast SBDC, located at Cabrillo College.

Steve Penny, SEO guru, shares his search engine optimization expertise, in these four tips:

TIP 1. Learn the top 10 SEO reasons website redesigns lose rankings and traffic.

TIP 2. Do KeyWord Research with Google’s Keyword Research Tool

TIP 3. Know about the Google Sandbox.

TIP 4. Spider Check Your Website for Top SEO

TIP 1. Learn the top 10 SEO reasons website redesigns lose rankings and traffic.

Steve strongly suggests that clients and webdevelopers review this article so they have an understanding of how much is involved in this - and that failure to think through one element undoes everything else. He says that this checklist of the top 10 reasons redesigns lose rankings and traffic is a topic he deals with on a daily basis. People don’t realize how much is involved in doing this thoroughly and so don’t get the outcome at the end they were hoping for due to one over-site. You won’t find this checklist of the TOP 10 SEO REASONS WEBSITE REDESIGNS LOSE RANKINGS AND TRAFFIC anywhere this concisely on the Internet. Read more…

TIP 2. Do KeyWord Research with Google’s Keyword Research Tool

The Google keyword research tool is located here. Per Google, in answer to “How do I use the Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas?”

You can search for keyword ideas by entering a keyword related to your business or service or a URL to a page containing content related to your business or service. Or, you can go straight to filtering keyword categories. You can use one or the other or both together; the tool is completely flexible depending on how you’d like to use it. Things to try:

• Click Advanced options to further refine your search, for example, by country, language, or mobile search.
• Select or deselect the keyword match type checkboxes to further refine your search in the main browser pane.
• Click the Columns button above the results table to customize the columns you see within your results data.

Learn more here…

TIP 3. Know about the Google Sandbox

The Sandbox (a.k.a. Sandboxing or the sandbox effect or the Google penalty) is a name given to an observation about the way Google ranks web pages in its …

If you are starting up a new website, it is very important to understand the Google Sandbox for immature domains that have not yet built trust rank.

If you are dealing with existing sites, the ways that site redesigns lose rankings and traffic is far more common than people realize if your web developer doesn’t know and think through all of the ten elements outlined here.

TIP 4. Spider Check Your Website for Top SEO

If you want a website that works for both people and search engine spiders like the GoogleBot, you have to spider check your work. It sounds obvious and simple, but if you don’t spider check your work – how do you know it works? Search engine optimization or SEO is an environment where humans have limited visibility. There is definitely a limit how much human eyeballs alone can see in terms of how the GoogleBot sees your website without actually spider checking your work on Google. Read more…

The Winter-Spring City of Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation catalog arrived today! Get ready to start 2012 with information and inspiration about Marketing, Website planning, and Social Media. In January and February 2012 I’m teaching (and co-teaching) three classes with two of my favorite collaborators, Kathryn Gorges and Karen Kefauver.

If you receive the paper catalog, our classes are listed on page 34. You can also view our classes online here. All will be held at NextSpace, 101 Cooper Street, downtown Santa Cruz.

Online registration opens on Tuesday, January 3 at 8am. Here are the steps to find our classes online (or register by calling the Parks & Rec office at 831-420-5270 Monday-Thursday).

>> Click on the right side blue box “Register NOW with instaReg”
>> Click on “Register for Programs”
>> Click on the left side “Special Interest”
>> Click on “Show Courses” under each of the following class titles:

• ABC’s of Your Marketing Makeover, Tuesday, January 31, 6:30-9:30pm, $79.
• ABC’s of Planning Your New or Revamped Website, Tuesday, February 7, 6:30-9:30 pm, $79.
• ABC’s of Integrating Social Media with your Website, Tuesday, February 21, 6:30-9:30 pm, $79.

Read the class descriptions here. If you have any questions, contact me here.

Website: http://saraisenberg.com
Blog: http://saraisenberg.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting <= Visit & click “LIKE”
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/saraisenberg
Twitter: @saraisenberg
About.me: http://about.me/saraisenberg

Have you heard of the new MakersFactory in Santa Cruz? If not, you will soon.

I’ve been helping MakersFactory get started and can say there’s a lot of buzz and excitement, validated by the 70+ attendees at last Friday’s first ever MakersFactory Meetup.

What is MakersFactory bringing to Santa Cruz?

1. Workshops, classes, courses all about 3D printing, modeling, animation, and robotics.
2. Lots of cutting edge equipment.
3. A brick and mortar workspace opening in November at 877 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
4. A community of makers, geeks, students, hobbyists, kids, parents, and other folks who are interested in this new technology.

For more about MakersFactory in Santa Cruz:

• Visit thewebsite: http://makersfactory.com. Sign up to receive the newsletter (at the bottom of the website).
• Follow on Facebook: http://facebook.com/makersfactory.
• Join the MakersFactory meetup: http://www.meetup.com/MakersFactory-Meetup-Group. (The next meetup is Nov 11, 2011, 6:30pm.)

Here are some great resources with tips and hints on blogging for business.

• How to Improve Your Blog – A collection of 110 informative tips from a wide variety of bloggers. Some of my favorites include:
  • Resist the Urge to Overplug — make it more than self-promotion.
  • Short Attention Spans Rule — keep it short.
  • Gimme News I Can Use.
• Six Reasons Every Brand Should Blog — From Huffington Post blogger, Paula Berg:
  • “Despite the evidence in favor of blogging, with the rise of Twitter and Facebook, many brands are reluctant to blog. While blogs can be a lot of work, they provide a foundation for information on the web and an owned platform for your social business.”
  • Brand Identity: A blog provides a low-cost, long-term venue to continuously bring your brand to life.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A blog provides an informative resources for anyone seeking information about you or issues related to your brand.
  • Control the Message: A blog provides you with a platform to accurately tell the important brand stories.
  • Social Media Home Base: A blog provides a long-term home for content than can be continually accessed and pushed through other social and traditional channels.
  • Lead generation: A blog can help grow your business
  • Analytics: Blog analytics can help you perfect your online communication strategies and improve ROI.
• Good Blogging Etiquette for Guest Posting Hopefuls — from Tutorial Blog:
  • “As bloggers, wanna-be writers and hopeful freelancers, we hear, probably on a daily basis, just how important guest blogging is. We know we should be guest blogging which means we know we should be actively seeking out new blogs and new sites as potential homes for our precious content.”
  • Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice — add your own kick and spunk.
  • Make the Host Blogger’s Job as Easy as You Possibly Can
  • Be Yourself, But Try to Fit In Too
  • Don’t Be a Stranger – don’t just blog and vanish.

Thanks for attending my June 21, 2011 class Before You Hire Your Web Designer or Web Developer. [If it's before the class date, you'll find class registration info here.]

Here are some helpful resources for anybody planning a website from scratch or an update to an existing website.

If you aren’t able to hear Kathy Long give this presentation in person, check out the slide presentation. This is chock full of information on how to rise to the top of local search results.

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Lately I’ve disappeared into the dark hole of non-blogging. Facebook and Twitter haven’t been much of a focus for me, either. Even if your life (professional, social, or otherwise) revolves around social media, it’s good to take a break. I’ve taken such a break from “myself” — blogging, tweeting, posting only minimally — but have continued to be active with social media both for clients and in my volunteer endeavors. Recently I’ve been tweeting and posting (Facebook) for TEDx Santa Cruz. Amazingly, this event is coming up in just a few days: June 11, 2011. As a first time in Santa Cruz event, the organizing committee has been and is excited, nervous, thrilled, amazed, and sometimes overwhelmed. We just got some great local press in this morning’s Santa Cruz Sentinel. The speaker lineup is great. Tickets are selling like hotcakes, so get yours soon! I hope to see you there!

Here are 5  (6, actually) Super Resources for the Small Business Owner Who Wants a Great Website! [June 15, 2011 update: added #6!]

I’m gearing up for my June 14 and June 21 classes. I want to make sure I let you know about these articles and tools:

If we can push past the alarming use of profanity against a toddler, there’s something to be gleaned from Mad Mall Mama’s concise call-to-action. The 25-character statement included at least 4 smart components.

This information is intended for very small business owners, like a local landscaper or painter or maybe a daycare establishment. A business that will likely never be able to justify the ROI of hiring a competent and professional SEO. And quite frankly? Likely doesn’t need to.

Here are 5 common web design mistakes you must avoid to create a great user experience and grow your bottom line.

Page Speed Online analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster. Reducing page load times can reduce bounce rates and increase conversion rates.

This is the gold standard tool for keyword research.

From Outspoken Media: “Hello. I’m a potential new customer and I just landed on your Web site for the very first time. I’m taking a look around and I think I may like what you’re offering. In fact, your services/that pair of shoes/that quirky owl necklace are exactly what I’ve been waiting for. But, as a new customer, before I take the plunge, I have some questions. Things I need to know or at least would like to know before I commit to doing business with you.”

Two great 1-evening classes coming up June 14 and 21. Register online at City of Santa Cruz Parks & Rec or call 831-420-5270. http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=540

1. Get the Best Online “Local Search” Results! Tue, June 14, 6:30-9:30pm at NextSpace. $68 for one evening class. #14476
2. Before You Hire Your Web Designer or Developer! Tue, June 21, 6:30-9:30pm at NextSpace. $68 for one evening class. #14475

Details: