The 7 Best FREE Places to Submit your Website for Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
July 10, 2009 by Jason Montero · 41 Comments
About once a month follow the links below and submit the URLs for your Websites. Manually submitting your site to the major search engines will cause your site to be re-indexed so that new text and information will be recognized and cataloged. Although most major search engines have ‘robots’ or ‘spiders’ that roam the web cataloging sites, the frequency with which they visit your site is based on many factors: how established it is, how often it is updated, how many pertinent incoming links you have, etc…
It is significant to note that there are many search utilities on the web that are ‘powered’ by one of the major search engines, and are therefore essentially extensions of those engines. This means if you are registered with the main engine, you will likely also be included in the additional directories it is powering.
To learn more than you ever wanted to know about Search Engine Optimization and Search Marketing consult Search Engine Marketing 101 by the good people at Search Engine Watch.
The 7 best FREE Places to Submit your Website for Increased Traffic
1. Google (also powers AOL Search & Netscape Search) – The King of Search Engines, the 600 Lbs. Gorilla, Google has the largest market share of U.S. based web searches at 67% of all searches as of April 2008. Google’s stated mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google is now widely recognized as the world’s largest search engine — an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second.
Free Submit: http://www.google.com/addurl/
2. Yahoo! Search (also powers AltaVista & Alltheweb) – The #2 seed with a market share of 20%. The stated goal of Yahoo! Search is to discover and index all of the content available on the web to provide the best possible search experience to users. The Yahoo! Search index, which contains several billion web pages, is more than 99% populated through the free crawl process.
Free Submit: http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit
Virtual Workforce: Managing Remote Employees – BusinessWeek
June 25, 2009 by Jason Montero · Leave a Comment
Virtual Workforce: Managing Remote Employees – BusinessWeek.
I came across this collection of special reports on Businessweek.com all relating to aspects of ‘Managing the Virtual Workforce’. Here is a brief description of the reports included:
- Is There a Virtual Worker Personality?
It turns out it’s the gregarious types who thrive in virtual work set-ups, since they connect nonetheless. It’s the shy types who feel isolated - Managing Virtually: First, Get Dressed
An Ernst & Young executive who has been managing teams virtually for a decade shares her tips and caveats - A Smart Balance of Staff and Contractors
How the fast-growing food company integrates its small permanent staff with a sizable contractor workforce - How to Create E-Mails That Generate Action
When face-to-face communication isn’t an option, it’s critical that your e-mails get read and are the impetus for getting things done - Video: Managing in a Wired World
Technology has made it possible for teams across the globe to collaborate, but it’s still critical to make communication as human and authentic as possible, advises Lorenca Rosal - Slide Show: Top 10 Tips for Sending E-Mail
How to write e-mails that grab attention and motivate people to respond and take action
The Core Challenges of Managing Virtual Teams
May 30, 2009 by Jason Montero · 21 Comments
Management at Work » Managing virtual teams.
I came across this article by Karen McHenry; consultant, writer, and professor, which I feel clearly and succinctly describes the core challenges of managing virtual teams – and what new skills are required for managers who are accostomed to leading co-located teams.
Ms. McHenry states:
When organizations elect to create virtual teams, they focus on the potential advantages, such as the diversity of the team, or the potential for “round the clock” productivity with employees working in multiple time zones. However, companies must also be aware of the challenges that accompany virtual teams. For these groups to be successful, managers cannot use the old rules of leadership. New ways of working require different skills.
While I agree with this statement I believe that most of the adjustments required are small changes to team interaction or management style; and many ultimately amount to being more deliberate about process and workflow. Some of them are simply good, fundamental management skills that get overlooked when team members see each other regularly. So I think it’s important to note that while new skills and workstyle changes are required to be successful, distributed teamwork does not require a whole new way of working.
Have a look at McHenry’s article and see if you agree that much of what she suggests would be good practices regardless of the structure of your team or where members are located.
IRS Tax Extension Application
April 2, 2009 by Jason Montero · 10 Comments
IRS Tax Extension Application.
I hate to feed anyone’s procrastination habit, because sometimes i get it bad (did someone say boomshine?), but the link above will take you to an IRS approved provider website that will file an income tax deadline extension for you FREE of charge if you do it before April 20th. The vast majority of extension requests are accepted and they postpone your tax filing deadline for 6 months, until October 15th.
Taxextension.com is basically an automated, online way to file a Form 4868. As far as i’m concerned, the ability to efile tax forms goes firmly in the ‘computers make my life better category’. The jury is still out on Boomshine…
Growing Your Business in Difficult Economic Times
March 16, 2009 by Jason Montero · 9 Comments
Cut costs, improve productivity, and actually GROW your business while your competition is operating in survival mode.
Whether you view the current situation in the global marketplace as a depression, a recession, or simply an economic crisis; no one can argue that there aren’t several important indicators of a worldwide economic downturn.
These include high oil prices, which contribute to both high food prices and a declining dollar value; a sub-prime mortgage crisis; increasing unemployment; the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers; a substantial credit shortage leading to the bankruptcy of several large and well established investment banks and an intervention totalling HUNDREDS of BILLIONS that has yet to slow plunging stock values or stabilize a faltering real estate market.
Each and every one of us has begun to feel the effects – in our neighborhoods, at the grocery store, in the job market…
What does all of this mean for your business? Should you let employees go? Put a freeze on hiring? Cut back on marketing? Backburner plans to explore new markets?
Trimming fat from your business is smart in lean times; but there is a danger of entering a downward spiral which leads to going out of business. When revenues are low you cut back on marketing – which brings less clients, which in turn decreases revenue further – leading to more cutbacks. A few cycles of this and you’ll be out of business.
It is only natural to revisit your overall business strategy when market conditions change, but it is important to recognize that slow economical conditions may offer a significant opportunity to improve your business model. Read more
