July, 2009

Hello from the Small Details!
Poor Abe is taking quite a beating these days. It's our hope that this bulletin will provide a few helpful ideas to increase your company's earnings by improving your web presence.

Most business owners realize the importance of an effective website. However, in this ever-changing world of information technology ("IT"), having a website isn't always enough. Almost every day we're asked "How can I move my site to a top position on Google?". Promoting your website has become increasingly more important as the level of competition intensifies. Let's talk about the options...

Bundled Business Solutions
For the last year we've been searching for the answer to the million dollar, "best form of advertisement" question. The current trend to "Go Green" by cutting down on printed materials, fuel, etc. has caused us all to rethink the traditional methods. Enter Google Analytics, AdWords and the world of Twitter, Facebook... "Social Media".

Researching SEO & the social media process is a full time job in itself, so our goal shifted to that of locating reputable experts in the field of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media. That being said, we're VERY happy to introduce Bundled Business, a team of Internet Advertising Professionals who utilize an impressive combination of resources including Google, AOL, About, NY Times and the latest promotional tools, Facebook and TWITTER to promote small and medium-sized businesses. ( » More about Twitter as a Marketing Tool ).

The Bundled Business staff will create and implement a campaign specifically designed for your business, closely monitoring daily activity, and making any necessary adjustments. Their experience has been that local online internet advertising generates THREE TIMES more sales per dollar spent then print or broadcast advertising. Business owners are recognizing increased website traffic and greater returns on their website and advertising investment.

You can contact BBS by email: sales@bundledbusiness.com. Effective July 15th you'll be able to reach them through our "group" telephone: (877) 483-1040 (more on this below). In the meantime, CALL them directly at: (866) 740-5558. We're sure you'll appreciate their innovative approach and exciting direction... please tell them we sent you!

META Tags & Keywords
Google is king. There's no doubt about it. So naturally website designers spend a good part of our time trying to keep up with the current guidelines for developing a Google/search-engine friendly website for our clients. We've found there is a common misconception about the importance of "keywords" in a website's "META Tags". Meta Tags are HTML statements that are inserted into the source code of a web page. The main purpose of these tags is to provide meta document data to user agents, such as search engines. When most people refer to "keywords", they are speaking of the keywords in the Meta Tag labeled "Keywords".

While it's true these keywords are a factor, there are actually FOURTEEN different types of keywords. Here are the TOP FIVE in order of priority according to our sources:

1. Keyword(s) in the URL (website address). Placement first in the URL is most desirable. Example: In "www.salondelaware.com", the placement of the keyword "salon" is ideal. In addition, Google looks for keywords in the domain name separated by a hyphen.
2. Keyword(s), located close to the beginning of the "Title" tag. This has become increasingly important.
3. Keywords in the "Description" Meta Tag. These keywords describe the page theme. Special note: Google does not rely on this tag but it can come into play.
4. Keywords in the "Keyword" Meta Tag. These also describe the theme of the page--You should list no more than 10 words. VERY special note: The keywords listed in this tag should absolutely appear somewhere in the content of your page. Although Google does not necessarily use the keywords in this tag for ranking your site, you can be penalized for irrelevance if Google doesn't find at least some of the same keywords in your page text.
5. Keyword density in your page text. Keep in mind there is some cross-checking going on during the indexing of your webpage. Search engines are constantly eliminating sites that are packed with irrelevant keywords, designed to attract customers but offering no valid information.

Announcing the "Total TK Group" ... a total turnkey business solution
Some of you are familiar with the Small Details / Hi5s, Inc. / Devine Computing connection. For those who are not, Small Details established a business relationship with what was formerly known as DMA Web Applications in 2003. The company was acquired by Hi5s, Inc. in 2006 and since that time has continued to grow. Small Details and Hi5s have partnered on several ecommerce and content management projects (programming).

In addition Hi5s provides top-notch IT services including systems analysis, recommendations, network installation and administration as well as website hosting to roughly 80% of the Small Details clients.

Devine Computing has been a reliable computer hardware and networking service, located in northeastern Maryland, who also provides professional IT services both locally and through REMOTE! access for small businesses. Their services include server maintenance and repair, PC repair (they actually make local house-calls!), antivirus solutions and network administration and wiring installation.

In addition, we've established working relationships with a graphic designer and printing company for brochures, flyers, ads and other printing services (additional details coming soon), marketing guru Accent-Promotions, a partnering website design firm who specializes in Flash (animation), our wonderful bookkeeper Janice Hartman and of course, Bundled Business Solutions.

With so much new talent, we've decided to simplify our products and services by presenting them as a single TURNKEY solution... collectively known as the "Total TK Group" -- www.totaltk.com. This new and exciting website will include comprehensive information about ALL of the services available with the convenience of one-stop shopping. We hope to launch the new site by the fall of 2009... watch for additional details.

Website & Email Emergency Plan
With hurricane season approaching and given a recent server outage, we have implemented an emergency back-up information system for our website hosting/email clients. Although the dedicated servers our affiliate, Hi5s leases are in (local) state-of-the-art data centers, we are reminded that we're all subject to an occasional severe weather event or a rare, but inconvenient mechanical difficulty. The uptime record of Hi5s' supplier has been exceptional, however, planning for the unexpected is always a good idea.

Beginning July 15, 2009, we will provide "Server Status" notices on our Hi5s.org ( www.hi5s.org ) website, which is located on an independent server. In addition, please feel free to contact us by phone at: 877-483-1040 (Option #1 or #4) or Small Details (directly) at: 410-996-9713. In the event of an outage, please contact us and we will be happy to provide an alternate address.

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