What is a Sitemap?

WebUpon describes it as “A Sitemap is a graphical representation of the architecture of a website. There are two kinds of site maps. The first is used to assist visitors to a site to navigate the site and the second is done in XML. XML Sitemaps, usually called Sitemap with a capital “S”, are used by Goggle to gather information about the site.”

Sitemap is especially important if your site:

Option #1 – Create it manually or use

Create a Web Page with the Text Link on the front page to “Site Map” and have that page detail out the site is the simplest way to do it but it doesn’t do things like exclude private pages or talk in the language search engine prefer. You can use Google’s Webmaster Tools to generate the sitemap in this format and create a file called “Sitemap.XML”.

The only caveat with this tool is that it is a static version of the sitemap so if your site is updated frequently with content (e.g. blog) you might want to look at option #2 and use a plug-in.

Option #2 – Use a plug-in on your Content Management System (CMS)

Many content management systems have this basic functionality built in or offer plug-ins to help you do this quickly. These usually are very flexible and their management screens allow you to specify which pages for Google or other search engines to index. To show you something like this works, here is a great video using the Wordpress CMS and Google Webmaster Tools:

Resources Mentioned in This Post:

Sitemap Generator Tools for Google and Many CMS Programs

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Google Sitemaps In-Depth

Why a Sitemap is Important

The first was the First Official DC Google Meetup, at the swank Lima Restaurant and Lounge in DC. (So swank, in fact, that a would-be attendee posted to the Meetup event page that he was turned away at the door for wearing jeans. Lesson for us all: Know about the venue, while I am a fan of the “scruffy startup techie” look, remember that it’s always better to be over-dressed than under-.)

This meetup was billed as being open to Google employees, developers, and users (which, practically speaking, means “everybody.”), and featured a few Googlers from Mountain View. It’s apparently part of a Google goodwill tour happening across the country (and possibly the world), stopping in cities where they have a staff presence (and some where they don’t.)

Like all events of this sort, it’s a chance for employees to press the flesh, spread the word, get user feedback and do a little evangelism. As this was mostly a general audience (and not, say, an audience of developers), the presentation content was pretty basic: History of Google and Google products, some PageRank/search 101-type info, and Q&A session featuring pre-submitted Google Moderator-ed questions, as well as live questions from the audience:

And of course there was a trivia contest, where the prizes were Google Meetup T-Shirts. (Having been on both the giving and getting sides of swag distribution, I shouldn’t be amazed by the lengths people will go to get a a free, prominently branded t-shirt, yet I am.)

The next event was the next night, TechCocktail DC 6, once more at LeftBank in DC. As the name suggests, this was the sixth DC edition of this tech networking meetup started by Frank Gruber and Eric Olson, though it was the first that charged attendees. However, being well-branded and well-known to attendees, I don’t think the ten bucks dissuaded anyone, as it was about as crowded as previous editions (Me, I got comped, not because of a special “in,” but because they’d offered free admission to the first folks to retweet the event info — a bit of directed word-of-mouth.)

When it comes to TechCocktails and similar events (like the various Twin Techs), the draw for me isn’t the demos, but the people. (Partly because it can be challenging having a meaningful conversation in a bustling social environment).

Twin Tech is particularly challenging for me, because I usually know a lot of the folks there, and if I’m not careful, I’ll find myself spending most of my time talking to people I already know, instead of meeting new folks and finding out about new companies and products:

TechCocktail co-founder Frank Gruber and NetSol’s Shashi Bellamkonda.

This dynamic was in full effect on Thursday, because the AIM team was there, including many of my former cow-orkers [sic] and the revitalized AIM Running Man, so I probably did spend more than my fair share of time with them. (Though I did have an interesting talk with AIM Express lead Shawn Carnell about some not-very well promoted features, including an Adobe AIR-based multi-protocol client that provides group chat, including for SMS users — I will have to try it out.

Anyway, looking ahead, I can already see the events calendar filling up. Remember, folks — if you’re interested in the online space, meeting other thinkers and seeing what tech trends you should be aware of, see what’s going on in your neck of the woods and participate.

Luckily, SEO is not medicine, music or law but it takes dedication every day to keep up with trends and changes to the search market landscape to keep your business relevant to search engines. We are talking 30 minutes a day here. One sitcom or half a step aerobics class. Not alot but it is something you can schedule into your day if you are serious.

It took me about two minutes to get the concept ofSearch Engine Optimization, but 18 months to really understand it and implement it effectively.

So where do You Start?

Start with 3 Minutes to SEO Mastery – My blog summary

Move on to the 7 Minute SEO Guide from Marketing Pilgrim

This is a great site that covers the basics – structure, content and links are the keywords here

Read SEOMoz and the Beginners Guide to SEO (30 minutes a day for about a month)

This is the table of contents for the upcoming revision to the Beginner’s Guide to SEO. (Note the ‘Parts’ are links to full articles.) I recommend this version over its predecessor because its material is more focused on today’s SEO landscape.

Subscribe to some great SEO blogs and read at least one post a day. It is funny because if you search on “great SEO blogs” you will find those that actually do SEO well in their own right because this a topic with a constant battle to be on the first page of Google results. Here are a few:

Search Engine Land

SEOBook

SEO Moz

Matt Cutts

Search Engine Watch

Search Engine Roundtable

Search Engine Journal

Online Marketing Blog

Pronet Advertising

Marketing Pilgrim

Implement One Technique a Week

This is where theory meets practice. You can read all you want but if you never put it into practice you won’t know if it actually works.

This morning I came across the 7-Minute SEO Guide on Marketing Pilgrim and it is a great and short explanation of the basics of SEO. In fact, it just takes seven minutes but I have shortened it to three minutes to the key elements you MUST know as you are reworking your current web site or designing a new one. So lets get started…

1. Three Key Components in an Awesome SEO site – Good structure, content that matches queries and quality/relevant links
2. Avoid using lots of images of Flash content, Javascript and Flash Navigation
3. Don’t create duplicate pages and keep your code clean and concise
4. Research your keywords and avoid using industry jargon
5. Use the keywords in the <TITLE> tag of each page, the name of the page file, content headings (H1 tags) and for each 250 words of text, try to include 2-3 mentions of the keyword
6. Obtain external links from business partners, suppliers, clients, industry blogs, and news media
7. Link from one of your pages to another using keywords in your anchor text
8. Consider adding a “sitemap.html” page and link it from your home page. This will help Google discover and crawl your entire site.

Your three minutes are up.

Want to learn more? Set aside 7 minutes and check out the 7-Minute SEO Guide – you won’t regret it.

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto)

I was reading an article in Entrepreneur.com and they stated that “Twitter grew 3,000 percent in April. Facebook hosted 61.2 million visitors in March. LinkedIn counts 20 million users worldwide.”

THOSE ARE POWERFUL NUMBERS. BUT HOW DO YOU TAKE ACTION?

We have been piloting classes in Social Media and we have found that there are found basic things you should do if you are going to start leveraging social media tools for your small business.

Way #1 – Google Alerts: Know Who is Talking About You
For those of you who don’t know Google Alerts, you can set up alerts to come to your email or an RSS feed based on keywords you set. You can set them up at http://www.google.com/alerts. You will need to create a Google account to get it running.

Way #2 – Get a LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn provides the opportunity to connect with others who are also looking to create partnerships or to collaborate. LinkedIn has incorporated additional social networking capabilities such as special interest groups and open discussion threads. You can also have people recommend you and recommend them which can be very powerful for people searching for someone with your expertise to hire you or your firm.  You can get started by creating a profile allows you to post your online career history, then to connect with your network, many of which probably are on LinkedIn already. You can also set up your company on LinkedIn and get your employees/contractors connected to your company profile. This can also help promote not just you but your firm as a whole.

Way #3- Using Twitter: To Tweet or Not to Tweet
Many people, including me used to advise companies to start with a blog, but now it is probably easier to get on Twitter first.  This allows your to engage in conversations faster and better along with building a powerful network that will drive traffic to your web site and blog. This way, when you do things like an  announcement of a new product or promotion you can use Twitter to include a link back to the details on your company’s blog or website, all while waiting to get a coffee.  Connecting with people on Twitter produces the necessary personal touch so many clients and customers prefer and shows that you are really listening. You can also leverage Twitter to get instant answers to questions, feedback on brand elements and product ideas. Be warned thought, Twitter can be a time sink. Look at using tools like Tweetie, Tweetdeck or Seesmic Desktop to keep up with ongoing conversations.

Way #4 – YouTube: Internet Video is Not Just for Laughing Babies and Sneezing Pandas
Another way to capitalize on the fast pace of social media is by posting videos on YouTube. I know, I know, when you think of YouTube all that seems to come to mind are viral phenomenons like the Star Wars Kid, Laughing Baby and the Sneezing Panda. While alot of the content on YouTube is very juvenile and not very useful for work, many companies are establishing an outpost on YouTube for many reasons. To share interviews, protect their brand, have a channel to rapidly respond to PR crisis issues (e.g. Burget King) and even to demonstrate your knowledge to the world to help establish your company as a thought leader. You can started with very low overhead (I use a Flip video camera which is $100-200) and using your channel to uploading a short clip can be a rapid way to test the market and also demonstrate your knowledge to potential customers.

The irony of online video and sites like YouTube? You reach a wider audience than network or cable TV. That is pretty powerful, don’t you agree?

Way #5- Set up a Blog: How Will People Know You Are an Expert

Having just a web site is very 2005. If you are out there trying to build reputation, especially as a thought leader in a particular area, you must start a a blog now. Blogging takes disseminating information about a company a step beyond formal press releases, ads, marketing brochures and websites. A well-managed blog invites peoples’ perspectives and provides an opening for real relationships to be formed which is a critical aspect of great customer service, and a good user experience.

Blogging doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment, but expect to spend 1-3 hours to research, write and edit a post. You should also do it on a regular basis. If you are going to write daily or weekly, be consistent and pick a day to publish. I find it best to writing during mornings or on weekends to maximize my schedule. The nice thing about blog tools now is the ability to schedule. You can write a post when you have a free block of time and schedule it when every you want it to go out. Granted, some things are time sensitive but if you look to build readership, you must be consistent otherwise people will think your blog is dead and unsubscribe or just stop visiting.

Another side benefit is that search engines love blogs. Blogs that are refreshed regularly get a boost in search engine rankings. When blogs publish a new post, it lets the search engine know that you have new content and they spider your site and reindex you, helping you with increasing authority and relevance in search engine rankings.

The Bottom Line – Mix Social Media with Traditional Media and Find the Mix that Best Suits your Business

Pulling a quote from the article in Entrepreneur.com which is very appropriate – “Traditional advertising and marketing is not dead,” says Olivier Blanchard, business strategist and principal of The Brand Builder Marketing. Blanchard advocates integrating social media into a more traditional marketing and advertising plan, “so you can have a healthy mix, much like a diversified investment portfolio.”

Time is money, so before you dive in you have a solid website, e-mail list and a contact database before venturing into social media.

Remember it is conversation before conversion. No matter what the platform, the true value of social media is found in the conversation. You are not necessarily going to get tons of comments every day, or @tweets/retweeting your every word but you are engaging a potential customers or clients in the way you could not have before and than conversation naturally leads to the point were they become new customers and your investment in social media will come full circle.

Having said that, it’s unavoidable (I woke up to WAMU’s Power Breakfast item on Congressional calisthenics), and I guess it’s useful to ratchet up the degree of skepticism and incredulity that we should bring to bear when faced with everyday ludicrousness.

On the corporate side, it’s a chance for companies to drum up some publicity and show off their “wackiness” (e.g. BMW announces Magnetic Tow Technology). Usually, it’s the equivalent of easy money, though there are times when the joke doesn’t go over so well (c.f. AOL News announces in 1996 that life was found on Jupiter).

It’s kind of a delicate balancing act — too obvious, and it’s not funny; too realistic (or too close to home), and people get mad.

Anyway, check out April Fools’ Day tech prank roundups from CNET, TechCrunch, and PaidContent.org. Some of the more notable items:

* The ThinkGeek shopping site main page features a Tauntaun sleeping bag (pity about the smell), the anti-buzzword shock bracelet (it’s a real value-add*ZZAAPP*), and Squeez Bacon.

* Contrary to this Conficker report from the Washington Post’s Security Fix blog (which basically says the end is nigh), the Conficker worm has not blown up the world. Yet.

* Warner Brothers acquires Bittorrent tracking site The Pirate Bay for $13 billion.

* Protip: All many some of the April 1 stories on Slashdot main are jokes.

* Browser maker Opera announced browser navigation via facial gesture — which would actually be kind of neat, and may actually just be a few years early, instead of being a “prank.”

* Google announced that its artificial intelligence, CADIE had taken over. (Question: How would you tell?) Included was an “autopilot” feature for GMail, and a Google Mobile brain search. Also, videos featured off of YouTube’s main page had the text flipped, which, oddly, made the comments more intelligible.

* Speaking of Google, the Register (UK) announced Google video Street View for London. This joke plays on the recent dust-up with privacy concerns about Google Maps Street view, as well as the fact that central London is one of the most heavily CCTV monitored areas in the world.

* TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington seeks wife. This is probably not just a joke.

* The Wikipedia main page has a slew of headlines that are, at the very least, misleading.

* The Guardian (UK) newspaper switches to an all-Twitter format.

* Fark.com’s Drew Curtis announced a series of changes to the social linksharing site, including a “preview” of the new look. This actually followed on the heels of a few changes he teed up during an interview at SxSW. (Unless it was all a setup for 1 April.)

* Another social linksharing site, Reddit, rolled out front page changes. With an alternate view.

Things that sound like April Fools’ Day pranks, but aren’t

* BBC News reports that baby chicks can count.

* The Department of Justice is dropping charges against former Senator Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens

* Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak kicked off Dancing With the Stars. Actually, the joke is that he lasted so long in the first place.

* Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an actual book, soon to be an actual movie.

What was your own favorite? Please leave a comment below.

What followed was an exercise in search engine optimization, personal branding, and reputation management, and the field of battle was Google search results (although the SEO techniques she used should work for other search engines, as well).

I’m not going to go into a long, drawn-out recap of what exactly she did, particularly because Susan Mernit already did one, including useful links: “Google link makeover: What Julia Angwin did, in plain English.”

It’s interesting to note, though, that this is, perhaps, not the standard SEO scenario, in that Ms. Angwin wasn’t competing with someone else — she was competing with herself. And she’s a pretty prolific writer, with a lot of her bylines coming from high-profile and well-linked publications.

Even so, her experience and advice should be useful to regular folks and businesses.

Ms. Angwin’s article was linked to from a bunch of high-profile sites, and there wasn’t anyone she could appeal to or bribe to quash that article, so the only alternative was to come up with better, more representative content that had better positioning on search results pages. (It’s kind of how some free speech activists say that the way to counter hate speech isn’t censorship — it’s with more speech.)

One thing she did was develop presences (using her name) on social networking and profile services like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and interlink those profiles. These established sites do carry some good link weight, so they’re good resources. And they’re all free, requiring just an investment of your time.

Another thing she did was build out her personal Web site, on her own personal domain (juliaangwin.com), including her blog. (Even now, search engines tend to like blogs, because they’re usually highly linked and update relatively frequently.)

Again, Ms. Angwin is kind of a special case, since she writes for the WSJ and has a lot of high-profile content continually coming out. And if you’ve got a common name, you do face a lot more competition, especially when trying to find a domain. Looking at us NetSol bloggers, this isn’t a problem for Shashi, and not really one for me; on the other hand, Steve has a bit more of a challenge [though his Twitter profile is a top 5 result], as does Jill [she's competing with a soap opera character, though her.name domain comes up #2]. There’s always a way.

Anyway, managing and optimizing your personal search results is an ongoing process that you should stay on top of, so check out the article and Susan’s guide to it.

How does your name do in search results? Leave a comment below and tell us your own personal experience with personal branding on search results pages.

1) Naming Your Business: If you are going to conduct business on the Web and want customers to find your site, you are going to need a company name and a domain name for your business that is distinctive, does not already infringe the trademark rights of another business, but that is readily accessible by customers. Select two or three names for your business and then do the following:

a) “Google” your business name to see if any other company is doing business with your name and is offering similar products or services;

b) Go to the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) web site found at: http://uspto.gov/ and on the left side menu click “Trademarks”. In the menu that opens up choose ” Search TM Database (TESS), type in your name to see if anyone has, or has filed, a trademark registration for your business name;

c) Finally, search a WHOIS domain name database http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp to see if your business name is available as a domain name.

If no other business appears in your Google search and you find that other businesses have not filed a similar registered trademark or domain name, then you can feel somewhat confident (but still not 100%) that your business name does not infringe the trademark of another business. After completing your research, you should register your business domain name (.com and .net extensions are the most popular).

2) Corporate Formation: For a host of reasons, including but not limited to protecting your personal assets (your banks account, car, etc.) from being subject to judgment in a lawsuit against your business, you should consider forming a corporation or organizing your business as a limited liability company or limited liability partnership. There are different benefits to each type of formation; a helpful description of these business types can be found at http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/. Whichever type of corporate formation you choose, you will have to file the appropriate forms with the Secretary of State’s Office in the state where you are located. It takes approximately two weeks to receive confirmation of your corporate formation.

3) Trademark Filing: With your business properly incorporated or formed, you can proceed with filing a trademark application for your business name. You can file your application online at the USPTO at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/eTEASpageA.htm ).

4) Tax-Related Considerations: After forming a business, you need to have a Federal Tax ID Number Employer ID Number (even if you don’t have any employees except yourself). You can apply for an EIN on line using the Internal Revenue Service website located at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html. This website is a great source of information for the small business and has very useful and informative publications about accounting and record keeping, preparing and filing your taxes, and ways to grow your business.

5) Drafting Web site Terms of Use: Once your online presence has been established and you are offering products and services online, you should publish terms of use for your Web site or an online agreement that informs the users of their obligations when using the site and states your limitation of liability and waiver of warranties related to your products and services. A good source for terms of use and standard legal agreements is found at the small business site: http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/ or at http://www.uslegalforms.com/.

6) Obtaining Liability Insurance: In order to protect your business from certain legal risks, you should obtain an insurance policy designed specifically to cover your small businesses. Most businesses carry commercial liability insurance but a good way to determine which coverage is best for you is to consult with an agent for a reputable insurance provider. Or, you can answer a quick online questionnaire like the one offered by Hartford Insurance on their site http://www.sb.thehartford.com/determine_your_needs/. Through this survey, Hartford can analyze the needs of your business and suggest policies that are best suited for your business.

As mentioned previously, the above list of legal issues is not exhaustive. However, this list includes many of the most important key legal concerns when you are just getting your business started. After you get these basic legal issues resolved and your business is up and running, you should make time to consult with a general business lawyer and have that lawyer review your corporate filings, terms of use, standard contracts, and insurance to make sure everything is in order for you to optimize your chances for success.

- Statton Hammock. Director, Legal & Business Affairs, NetworkSolutions

^*The information posted in this blog is provided for informational purposes. Legal information is not the same as legal advice — the application of law to an individual’s specific circumstances. The information presented is not to be construed as legal advice. Network Solutions recommends that you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that the information posted, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular business.