What is SEO?

According to Wikipedia, SEO means search engine optimization (SEO), which is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

Unless you have been without Internet for the last 15 years, you already know that Google is one of the most visited websites in the world.  

Why is it one of the most visited websites in the world?

Because it helps you find what you are looking for.

What does that mean to you as a business owner?  Well it means two things.

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Get Buffer now darn it!!! http://cnadeau.ca/bufferapp

4 reasons why you need to start using YouTube for your business.

Need help getting started? YouTube Video Course

So, when do you plan on releasing videos? Or have you started already? Tell me your experience in the comments.

If you haven't claimed your Google Places page yet, I recommend you get on it.  This will only help you when people are searching online for your type of business.  Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.  (This video is in response to a question on our Facebook Fan Page after we finally went live with our place page)

Here is the official Google Place Page Tour if you want some more information.

We will get to this photo later, but first...

How do I make my blog a success?

I often get asked this question when I speak with people about blogging and today I saw a post on Google+ by Darren Rowse, blogging pioneer from Problogger, where he shared an email he received from an individual asking what his 'methods' were for building an online business.  The last couple of weeks I had been wanting to share with you a blog that I think is a huge success and a perfect model for us to follow if we want our blog to be successful.  That blog is Bodyrock.tv.

So, using Darren Rowse's advice, we are going to breakdown why I think Bodyrock.tv is a huge success.  

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Psssssst...don't be shy. :-)

This might be the best advice I ever give on this blog.  If you are looking for more time in the day, then check this out. 

Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet

That's your brain on information.

Does that scare you?  It kind of scares me.  Don't get me wrong, I think social media has made accessing quality information much easier then it has ever been, however, I think we have become addicted with how much information we absorb, how many followers we have, how many networks we are on, what is the latest news...blah, blah, blah.  

No, I am not going to leave for a desserted island and surf for the rest of my life, but I think we can all get trapped into spending to much time absorbing information through all these channels.  I will continue to promote and sell tools on the web and social media, however, I also know there needs to be a limit on the amount of information we process each day. 

But wait Chris, isn't Content King?  Well it might of been, but it is not now.  Social Media Explorer has a great post on content no longer being king here and Gary Vaynerchuck as been talking about context and not content for awhile now.

What to do?  Here's a start.

Low Information Diet

Right now, I know my information calorie intake is blouting me.  

For me it is time to take a page from Tim Ferris and go on a low information diet.

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits.  Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking -- Albert Einstein

That is the exact quote from pg 86 in the 4 Hour Workweek.  Right now I am eating to much data from the wrong sources.  Most of us probably are.  So here is what I am going to do.

Google Reader

I have about 30-40 blogs in there, with 1000's of unread posts.  *DELETE*.  I may go back to Google Reader and add only my top 5 blogs that I feel the content is of benefit to me, both professionally and personally.

Twitter

Not that I have a huge following and not that I am following a huge amount of people, but I need to trim down the number of people I am following.  I think it is important to focus on what content and conversations engage you.  This may impact my overall numbers, but I am not in this for numbers.  @aplusk and @ladygaga have that wrapped up.  I will use ManageFlitter to start this process.

Google+

I am going to ease myself into G+.  I like what I see so far and I think G+ has some great features (especially Circles & Hangout) that can help filter your content. This might be the tool of choice moving forward.

Facebook

I will continue to use Facebook, however, I will only be logging in during periods of the day to see what is going on.  Similar to batching email, I will be batching Facebook.  Chris Brogan says it best here....Take back some Facebook Time. 

I think society has made us feel that, if we don't answer all of our emails, or read all of our feeds, or check our blog stats, or see what's happening on our favorite social sites, then somehow the world will fall apart.

I am pretty sure it won't. :-)  

What are your tips to cure information overloard from the Internet?  Comment here or on G+.

Did I just type that?  Yes I did and right now, I truly believe this.  

Yes, I know Google+:

Will have 20 million users by weekends end.

Has a slick interface and the Circles feature helps you segment your content and how you share it.

And Kevin Rose has pointed his personal domain name to is Google+ account instead of his blog.

However, if you own a business right now, I truly think your time can be better spent focusing on your other networks, engaging with those networks and doing all the other things we do as business owners.  Unless of course, your customers are Chris Brogan, Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki and you are selling things to early tech adopters or to the social media crowd, then get your invite and start Plusing away.  But if you are not, then here are three things I recommend you do, before you enter the world of Plussers.

1.  Google Profile

Get that Google Profile of yours up to snuff.  Eventually this will be driving all of the things you do personally with Google and if you don't have a profile or you have one that looks like your myspace profile, then you better get to it.  You can go here to start your Google Profile. Why do you want to this?  Search.  I see this being a very important piece of the puzzle as Google enhances it's search.  For example, here is little old me after I searched my name.

My Google profile is now ahead of my Facebook profile and Twitter profile.  Just under that are my stats from back in the day on Hockey DB. :-).  I digress.

2.  Google Places

Just like your personal Google Profile, you want to claim your Google Places page for your business.  Once you claim your page, get in there and make sure it has all the information you want on your page, because when someone searches your business name now in Google, your places page will be one of the first things they see.  Areas you want to focus on when creating your Places page are keywords, categories, description, add video and photos.  Here is a quick video on how Local Search Rankings work now.  

Here is an example of what popped up when I searched the Saint John Ale House

3.  Focus On Your Content & Email Subscribers List

If you are a business today, I truly believe you better start figuring out how you are going to generate content.  What sort of content, what medium, where and when will you share it.  Little do we know, but we are all turning into media companies.  It's time you put some thought into this.  Mark Ivey wrote a great post over at Social Media Explorer that talks about this exact point.  Time to get your content positioned for G+.  Heck not only G+, but the social web.

Yes, it is 2011 and we are still talking about your email list.  I know we haven't paid attention to this until recently, but I truly believe your list is your Holy Grail to get through the clutter out there today and you better make sure you pay attention to your list.  Love it and give it plenty of TLC.  Derek Halpern over at Social Triggers shared a great video on this the other day.

Once you finish doing all of the above and you are ready for Google+, then you might want to check out Chris Brogan's post on Getting Started With Google Plus.  This will help you when you are ready.

But, if you are already on Google+ and you want to connect, you can find me here. 

Are you going to use Google+?

Over the past few months, one question I constantly receive is how you can streamline updates to multiple social platforms.  The main one I have been receiving lately is how do we combine our Twitter account with our Facebook Page?

To be honest I really don't like sharing how to do this, because I truly believe the two platforms communicate differently and I would hate for you to get lazy in one community and not reap the benefits from truly engaging with people on Facebook and Twitter.

However, I understand we are all busy and the odd combined Tweet and Facebook Status update is not that bad when you have customers calling you and sending you emails about projects you are working on.  Trust me I know. :-)

So today I am going to show you two easy ways to integrate Twitter with your Facebook Page in under 5 mins.

Here are the two apps you need to make this happen:

Involver

Selective Tweets

If you have other ways to add Twitter to your Facebook Page, please share them in the comments.

Please forgive the playoff beard.  I am on a mini-vacation. :-)

Here are the links and a bit more context around the individuals I discuss in the video.

1.  Derek Halpern

Derek Halpern - Social Triggers:  Derek's new blog has exploded onto the scene in recent months.  With content focusing on psychology, conversion and blogging, Derek shares his 3 step formula on how he generated Mo' Traffic.

2.  Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn - Smart Passive Income:  Pat's blog is all about making a living through passive income.  Pat started his blog from scratch like all of us and he has created this huge following around his blog.  Pat even shares his monthly earnings from his passive income projects.  How cool is that?  Here is his podcast with Corbett Barr.

3.  Lewis Howes

Lewis Howes - Linked Influence:  As mentioned, Lewis is the man when it comes to Linkedin.  While Lewis is the man, Linkedin might be the star network for driving traffic.  Learn more about Lewis's Linked Influence course.

4.  Chalene Johnson

Chalene Johnson - Video Impact Academy:  Chalene takes her infomercial experience from Turbo Jam and illustrates how you can use video to drive more traffic to your blog.  Chalene breaks it out in a nice step by step format, that is easy for anyone.  Even an old jock like myself. :-)

Update:  This post should of been titled 5 Killer Ways To Drive People To Your Blog.  I just finished checking out Corbett Barr's blog, Think Traffic and there is a very good reason Derek Halpern and Pat Flynn refer to them in the post above.  He is a star!!!  Check out his post 21 Quick Actions You Can Do Today to Set Your Blog Up for Massive Success

There you have it.  Fill your boots and start driving more traffic to your blog.  Please share your thoughts and if you liked this post, be sure to get my email updates.

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