Denver SEO Speaker | Business Blogging Consultant

I found a great article by Randfish on Startups and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s called I’m Getting Pretty Tired of Startup Advice that Doesn’t Include Any Mention of SEO-amen!! Randfish is commenting on several articles talking about SEO and makes this cogent observation:

Let me be clear on this point-not one of those posts has the word “SEO” in it, nor makes any clear reference to getting traffic from search engines. I’m forced to ask myself-are these people idiots? Well, are you? Read the rest of this entry »

I ‘m sure we all have an opinion on who is the Best SEO in the land. The SEO Guy recently shared his vote. He named Rand Fishkin, Jim Boykin and Denver, Colorado’s own, The Knox! Congratulations to all three of you! I don’t personally know Rand or Jim but their work speaks for itself. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Knox and working with him for going on two years and he is one brilliant guy when it comes to understanding the complete SEO picture-putting money in the clients pocket!!

I know what you’re thinking…there are no great Women of SEO? Well, you’ll have to get a definitive answer from the SEO guy but I have mentioned several of them before. If you feel that you too should be on this prestigious list please do add a comment. Congratulations again to you three top dogs and keep adding to the clients bottom line!

Steve Mertz
SEO Speaker

Self storage units are top of mind for me today. A friend of mine was looking on the internet for the website of her storage unit. When she found it she was shocked to see how little information it really offered-lessons that I promise to share when I speak to the Pennsylvania Self Storage Association!

The website was old, it’s latest copyright was 2003. Those were the good old days when you just put your corporate brochure on a website and hoped that someone would find your site. If it’s been a while since you looked at your website for self storage please take a peek and be sure you include information that potential clients need. Some of that would include hours, after hours call numbers, location-don’t just give an address but include cross streets and well known landmarks. Especially for women-mention about security features and the lighting at your self storage. You can be sure that when I speak later this month at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Self Storage Association, we will definitely cover these critical area for online marketing success!

PS I had a great time speaking and meeting members of the Pennsylvania Self storage Association. A special thanks to My Storage Works.

Steve Mertz
Self Storage SEO

Many small business owners have depended heavily on the Yellow Pages to get their marketing message out. This type of marketing has made some business owners very successful-but times are changing. Consider this:

• A recent study by the Kelsey Group, an independent research organization, found that 43 percent of consumers search the web to find a local merchant.
  They also found that 54 percent of users have substituted the Internet for their phone book.
  51% of consumers conduct research online before making an off line purchase.

Having al your eggs in the Yellow Page basket may hurt Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be talking SEO and website optimization in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on March 20th. The Pennsylvania Self Storage Association has invited me to speak to their members. Interestingly enough, the Association found me when they did a Google search for Website Optimization Speaker-you never know what related phrases will bring you SEO business!

It’s always great to speak to receptive audiences and educate them on the difference Read the rest of this entry »

David Pogue has an interesting article in The New York Times today called Mom and Pop Get a Partner: Microsoft….Really? I enjoy David’s insights and the knowledge he brings to the masses-most of the time he is right on, case in point:

Has it come to this? Is Microsoft’s innovation engine so dead that the only way it can grow is to buy other companies? The answer is yes, David!

He goes on to say: Read the rest of this entry »

I only use Google for my searches and since 90% of my clients find my site and products using Google-I feel like I’m in good company! Do you really care that Yahoo could never beat Google? I don’t really care that Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo in a feeble attempt to crush Google in the search wars. Andy Beal is struck by Google attempting to argue that the merger would create a dangerous monopoly. LOL

While it’s nice that Microsoft has an extra $45 billion Read the rest of this entry »

How about my buddy Knox getting a link from Apple Computer-very cool!! The Knox develops useful tools for the iPhone when not working his SEO magic. This application is a iPhone color picker tool.

Needless to say The Knox and I are going shopping this week for my iPhone! Congratulations Knox!

PS My assistant sends her congratulations as well !

I had the pleasure of speaking to some fellow bloggers last week here in Denver. We were discussing blogging techniques and how to plan an assault on the first page of a Google search. Whenever I’m consulting or speaking about blogs-I always emphasize the importance of a great blog title.

A blog title should ideally be short and contain keywords. This is one of my favorite SEO techniques. Once you have your title write two or three paragraphs to support it. The copy should be informative, unique and filled with keywords where appropriate. Stephan Spencer has a great article on this called Shorten Your Blog Post URLs So You Don’t Look Spammy to Google.

One of my greatest challenges when consulting on blogs is getting people to identify a Google category that they would like to dominate. Once you decide on the category you want to dominate then you know the supporting copy you need in your blog post. When consulting I always warn about being cute with blog titles-my cardinal rule is this: Don’t blog for therapy, blog for profit! Identify the category, use keywords and you will become a resource that others will seek out and hopefully hire!

Make 2008 the year of success for your business blogging efforts!

Steve Mertz
Blogging Consultant and Speaker

Elaine Dumler is one of the foremost experts on deployment separation.  Elaine is a friend of mine and a colleague in National Speakers association Colorado Chapter. Elaine has been a professional speaker for 15 years and a past president of NSA Colorado.

Elaine is considered by the Department of Defense to be a separations expert. In English that means she helps families deal with the emotional strain of military deployment. She was recently recognized for her outstanding work in military deployment by Channel 7 here in Denver, Colorado. They named Elaine 7 Everyday Hero. Specifically, Elaine was recognized for her Flat Daddy project.

The flat daddy project helps young children of military families facing deployment. The families are provide a life size cutout of Flat Daddy or Flat Mommy. It provides a visual reinforcement of the parent while they are deployed, serving our country. I’m honored to know Elaine and would unequivocally recommend Elaine for your next family support conference.