Girl Geek Speaks Newsletter
Welcome to the July 2007 issue of our newsletter for the
technically challenged and web site wannabe's. We feature
articles to help guide you through the process of designing,
building, and promoting your business web site. If you know
someone who may benefit from this newsletter, please forward it
to them in its entirety, or have them subscribe below.
We've added a new feature, Ask Girl Geek, actual inquiries from
real people needing assistance with website design or promotion.
Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to submit your questions to
Annette@GirlGeekWebDesigns.com for possible inclusion in future
issues. I will answer all questions or direct you to resources
where you can get better answers than I might be able to
provide.
In This Issue
What's New at Girl Geek Web Designs!
Featured Article: What is Yelp and Why Should I Care?
What's New at Girl Geek Web Designs!
I can't believe it's been almost a year since I wrote anything
for the newsletter. Boy, have I been busy. The last time I sent
out an announcement on this list I got 15 jobs within a week!
I've been playing catch up ever since.
Lest you think I'm all work and no play, I've been traveling for
fun and for work and have met some of my website clients in
Florida when I was there over Christmas. I just got home from
Fiddle Camp near Nashville, TN and Baltimore, where I visited my
sister. So I may be coming to a town near you! I'm starting the
"take a Geek to lunch" program.
After about 5 years of searching, I've taken on two new "girl
geeks," Anne and Clair, to help me design websites and make sure
our turnaround time is 6 weeks or less from contract signing.
Good geeks are hard to find!
Anne has been designing websites since 2001 and is my "form
girl" and trouble shooter. Clair has 25 years experience in
graphic design and 12 years experience in website design. She's
a stickler for "clean" code, browser compatibility and getting
things just right. She's like a dog with a bone when there's
some problem to be solved.
I've been spending my time getting into Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing. In fact, I've
been asked to give a half-day presentation on the basics. See
Announcement below.
It's fun to see my clients' websites climb to the top of Google,
Yahoo, and MSN search engines. In fact, on one of my client's
sites, he has a #1 ranking for 48 of his most important
keywords. Plus, his site is on the first page for 179 keywords.
In other words, he's everywhere!
What is Yelp and Why Should I Care?
Here's how Yelp describes their services: "Yelp is the new and
fun way to find, review and talk about what's great - and not so
great - in your neighborhood and beyond, everything from cool
restaurants and bars to doctors and yoga instructors."
As such, it's a hybrid between social networking and
user-reviews! You join for free and post a profile, then start
posting reviews of all the businesses in your area or around the
country that you've visited.
If you own a business, it is probably already listed there, if
it's in the Yellow Pages. You may have to go make some
corrections or add your website, as I did.
The next thing you want to do is invite all your friends and
customers to post reviews on Yelp about your business. The big
thing in Web 2.0 is "user generated content." So, if you ask all
your friends and clients to write reviews for your website
and/or products and services your website readers will bet the
lowdown on you from actual users. Then you can drop a line of
code into your website, so site visitors can read these reviews.
Since the trend is toward "transparency" in testimonials, this
is one way to do it. Transparency means that you boldly and
brazenly ask for and publish honest feedback about your products
and services. This allows your prospective clients and customers
see the good and the bad and judge for themselves. Don't you
wonder about those testimonial pages that only include the rave
reviews? Having some negative reviews gives a more realistic
picture of your business and makes you more trustworthy.
Check it out my listing at
http://www.yelp.com/biz/f8mji7_I2o3dEpl7Nc6AKA
Then go sign up for your Free account at
http://yelp.com/e;AQIAIw;IOqx3PZgPOO0_t3b0uhGjA
See you on Yelp!
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