Introducing The Bead Cottage

The Bead Cottage of Virginia Beach is, quite literally, a beader's paradise. Owner Carol Willoughby's enthusiasm for her work and for beading is infectious. Who could not walk through her store and be amazed with the large selection of beads and accessories available?

Glass beads, gold-filled beads, seed beads, cloisonne and crystals...whatever you have in mind to create a necklace and matching earrings, or something equally stylish, is right there, and Carol and company are always willing to help. The Bead Cottage website is designed with their enthusiasm in mind; a whimsical yet practical design allows any bead hobbyist or professional to find the necessary supplies for a beadwork project. Best of all, the site is open when the store isn't, so you can always check on upcoming beading classes and current inventory, then order online if you are unable to visit the store.

Google Ads in the Pilot?

It's possible one day you might open an issue of the Virginian-Pilot and find Google Adwords, resting to one side, next to Ziggy or Dear Abby or Larry Bonko's column. Already in test mode in Chicago, according to Chicago Business, the ads are similar to the panel ads seen in Google search. Question is, will a purchase of Google Adwords online carry over to the advertiser's local paper? If not available locally, can the advertiser choose to put up ads in a nearby paper. This is one to watch as Google's reach into traditional advertising expands.

Introducing London Bridge Baptist Church

London Bridge Baptist Church of Virginia Beach welcome all visitors to join them in worship, Bible study, and fellowship. We at Ciniva Systems are proud to have redesigned their website in a fashion that details their tremendous growth. Here you will find information on weekly services, the church's preschool and youth groups, Bible studies and music programs, and the many ministries the church provides to the community. If you would like to make a donation to London Bridge Baptist, we have arranged it so you can do so online.

A website makes for an excellent calling card for your church. As newcomers to your area often use the Internet to find information on places to live and things to do, your website should stand out and attract visitors, and in turn attract new parishoners. Contact us today if your church is in need of a website or website redesign.

Is SEO dead?

From "SEO is Dead" by Stoney deGeyter at Search Engine Guide.

Many have been claiming the death of SEO for years, something that I have never bought into and time has proven that belief correct. I do, however, believe SEO-only providers will be dead within the next four years… if not substantially sooner. The reality is that while SEO will remain an integral part online marketing, those that focus exclusively on achieving top search engine rankings will fail. Not only will they fail to deliver any kind of valuable service to their clients, but the bottom line is that without incorporating marketing aspects into an SEO campaign, achieving top placement for competitive keywords will become increasingly difficult if not impossible.

Do you feel sometimes, you are losing focus as you maintain your website? Do you feel you would be better off optimizing for a specific audience rather than trying to appeal on a broader scale? It's difficult to compete with the Amazon.coms and Yahoos of the world, who have the resources to spread themselves thin. By balancing content and SEO to your target, you may find you will achieve certain success.

I have previously defined SEO as being only about achieving top rankings. This is a narrow interpretation, but I used this to point out that many so-called SEO companies are still providing SEO as a stand-alone service without any thought to other more marketing oriented services such as usability, conversions, etc. These marketing issues are now, more than ever, necessary for any "optimization" campaign to succeed. Those seeking optimization services that fail to understand this will ultimately choose a firm that will be ineffective in meeting their needs.

Many SEO companies already integrate usability into their optimization services. While these companies may still operate under the "SEO" banner, their services truly are not SEO-only services. Any proposal received for optimization services should spell out the marketing aspects as well as the optimization aspects. Those that don't often rely on useless guarantees as a means to sell you their service.

While helpful, SEO isn't the be-all and end-all of making a website work. How well is your content written? How easy is your website to navigate? Does design compromise usability. These are just some things to consider when choosing a website company. Whatever decision is made, be sure to get all the facts.

Is SEO dead? Certain tactics are definitely obsolete, but we shouldn't bury SEO just yet. As the search industry has changed over the years, SEO will more than likely change to suit new needs and wants in search. We may not submit regularly to search engines anymore, but surely a new technique will come along for everybody to try in order to achieve high search rankings.

Web Content Mass + Keyword Optimization + Links = SEO

Highlights from the article "Web Content Mass + Keyword Optimization + Links = SEO" by Joel Walsh from SEO News:

How does web content really affect SEO? It's often said that the answer is simply that content does not affect SEO very much – it's all about more technical issues. Yet a website's content still plays an enormous and fairly direct role in search engine ranking.

Of course, the whole goal of the search engines' ranking schemes is precisely to deliver good, relevant content to users. The mechanism for how search engines select and reward good, relevant content is essentially just a technical issue, though admittedly an extremely important technical issue.

Walsh's articles focuses on three major factors that can determine good search rankings: inbound links, content mass, and keyword optimization. Of course, this is not news. Some engines do place weight on the number of quality weblinks leading to your website. By quality we mean, of course, websites of equal or greater relevance - it's important to avoid FFA (free for all) link sites that are basically respositories for links to irrelevant and at times pornographic sites and "splogs" (weblogs produced for spamming purposes). If you maintain a website dedicated to a favorite baseball team, for example, it is better to have a link to your site from the team's official site than to have one from a site that is less relevant to sports in general.

Content mass: the more webpages you have, the more chances you have to attract a spider's attention. More content, more information can lead to more search results - not necessarily limited to one search phrase - and more opportunity for quality, relevant websites to link back to yours. Getting back to your baseball team's website - it is better to have a separate webpage for each member of the team than to have one page featuring all players. A webmaster maintaining the official site of the team's star player may find your site and link back, or a baseball blog may find the information on your site useful and link back to it.

Keyword optimization - a delicate balance of saturation, prominence in text, variation, and research. If you utilize Yahoo/Overture PPC, take advantage of their keyword tool to help you determine the relevant keyword searches your target audience uses.

SEO Tips In A Sea Of Change

Highlights from Jim Hedger's article on SEO Tips from WebProNews:

Google remains the most popular search engine and continues to drive more traffic than the other search engines combined. Another thing that has not changed is the greater volume of site traffic generated by organic search placement over any other form on online advertising.

With the algorithm updates completed in Google, the idea is to highlight even more the relevant websites that need not approach others for reciprocal linking, etc. We think of behemoth sites like CNN.com and Amazon.com, which will likely remain high under relevant searches because they are viewed as trustworthy. Minor sites are apt to link to such site unbidden because of the fresh content provided.

Take a look at your own website. How relevant is the content to the audience you wish to target? Does it have an attractive, neccesary quality about it that would prompt another site owner to link back without having to be asked? How often is the content updated?

Organic search engine placement now requires a lot more work on our part and on the part of our clients or their webmasters. Content needs to be updated regularly, navigation simplified and shared analysis of on-site traffic is increasingly important. Top10 websites, especially around their main entry points, have become production pieces requiring a greater degree of strategic planning than the general, annually updated brochure sites do. Creation of that content needs to be considered a standing business expense though that expense should be more than made up for in long-term advertising savings.

People are interested in now. To maintain traffic, your site must stay current.

SEO News, 1-12-06

Highlights from the latest edition of SEO News include:

Google, post-Jagger: Is your website affected for the better? If not, how can you regain the search success your site once enjoyed?

What can help: Fresh site content with a stickiness quality (get visitors and keep them), an established domain (with age comes trust), inbound links from trusted, relevant sources

What can hurt: Duplicated, irrelevant content, hidden text, reciprocal and "bad links" (avoid link farms and FFA sites)

What can be done: Re-evaulate site content for freshness and relevancy, and consider a more dynamic site in that respect; parse your content into articles for submission to article directories (e.g. Ezine Articles) with links to your site, re-evalute outbound links and clean up irrelevant code.

The trend toward attracting natural inbound links (sans obligatory reciprocation) is clearly becoming a greater factor in improving a site's SEO. Of course, one shouldn't depend entirely on one method, and neglect the need for good content. With the right combination of optimization techniques, search success can be achieved.

Introducing Ribbitt Toys

November, 2005 marked not only the beginning of Ribbitt Toys' fourth year of business in the Ghent district of Norfolk, but the beginning of the popular toy store's online presence. We are proud to contribute to Steve and Marcia Brodie's success with the launch of www.ribbitttoys.com, where discerning parents can find a wealth of fun and educational toys for children of all ages.

If you have the physical Ribbitt Toys store on Colley Avenue (just a few steps from Naro Expanded Cinema and Taste Unlimited) you'll know this is no ordinary shop. Where chain toy stores seems to have exchanged the whimsy for tall, overstuffed and imposing aisles of pink and blue, Ribbitt has a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Very interactive, too, as you'll see the occasional child (or parent) testing a new toy for purchase. There is a wonderful selection of plush animals, science kits and construction toys, nostalgic toys, and Madame Alexander dolls, and the front store display is always changing! If you're unable to visit Norfolk, be sure to visit the online Ribbitt store and unleash your inner child.