You may have heard in the past that any press is good press. If a company is getting flack in the news, it is getting publicity one way or another. While I do agree that any publicity is good, it is only good if you do the right thing about it.

Let’s say someone is not saying nice things to you in a public forum, a blog post, or their own website. It would be a great public relations move for you to respond to the negativity and turn it into more business opportunities. Sign up for that blog post so you can comment. Sign up for the forums where you see your good name tarnished. Very politely and with respect ask more details about the problem. Show true concern for that individual and let them know you value their opinion. Tell them you want any type of feedback good or bad to thrive as a company. Tell the person you would like to help them.

Then, email or call them if available and do whatever you can to fix the issue. Make sure afterwards you can get them to respond with an update to their situation. Have them place it exactly where the original rant piece was. Do not have them take he negative comments off, so you have the transparency of helping everyone you can. Your customer service is impeccable and it will speak volumes for you.

Now, I am not saying to be a kiss up. Most people will read right into it and make the situation worse. Also understand no matter what you do, you may not be able to please that person no matter what. Do not give everything away. Use this time to plead your case and let everyone know how good your customer service really is.

Most Google ranking tips deal with getting incoming links (or backlinks as they are also referred to) to your website. And for good reason. The more quality incoming links (determined by the rank of the site that the link originates from and the relevance of the keyword) you have, the higher your Google Page Rank will be and the more visible you will be to your prospects and/or customers. Here are some tricks to build your incoming links.

Submit your site to search engine directories. some directories charge a fee but many of them are free. If you’re on a tight budget, stick to the free ones. These can get you some free links back to your website. Sign up with as many as you can. The more links you have into your site, the better your page rank.

This is one of the most overlooked but best of Google ranking tips. Join forums that are relevant to your industry. When you participate in forums and include the link to your website in your signature, you will get links back to your website. This is a very effective way to establish your reputation in your industry and raise your page rank at the same time.

Take advantage of article marketing. If you can create (or hire someone to do it for you) articles that pertain to your business, with your website information at the bottom, and submit them to article directories, you will get more traffic and links.

Ask for links from other related sites’ webmasters. This is a rather “old-school” tactic but is still effective, albeit frustrating and time-consuming. Find sites that are related to your industry and write to their webmasters requesting that they link back to you. Some will not answer you. Some will say “no”. Some will ask you to link to them as well. And others will just link to you.

You have higher chances of getting the results you want with this if your site contains valuable information. While your ultimate goal is to have high-rank sites linking to yours, you can start out with any rank (as long as the content is valuable and relevant to what you have to offer). As you bring in more links, your rank will go up as well and you will be able to attract the higher ranking sites.

Create a newsletter. Taking the time to create a newsletter that you can send out to subscribers is definitely worth it. This keeps your visitors up to date with what you are doing and brings them back to visit your website on a consistent basis. You can also submit your newsletter to an ezine directory which will link back to your website and give you more free incoming links.

Hopefully these five Google ranking tips will help you achieve the ranking and traffic you’re aiming for.

A/B testing has been around for quite some time, and it is really a great tool. It was a tool used to determine market trends by comparing data with other data to observe and record possible outcomes. Market research companies all over the world have done it. There are of course many ways to look at A/B testing, in fact some people have even compared it to a baseball match where you put your slugger against many pitchers and then see how he fares against each one of them.

But now it has been given an online makeover as many websites, large and small, use this form of data for their marketing. Big name websites such as Amazon.com, Google and even eBay have known to use this service, and you should too.

Online Makeover – The Use of AB Testing Online

A lot of sites have started to use this testing procedure because it allows them to make educated decisions on everything from banner advertising, page design and functionality, site branding and so on. For example if you have an eCommerce website that typically deals with online purchases – this form of testing can be very useful. You can test out functionality of a site by comparing two versions of a particular page, which is an important page in the process and chose the most effective one.

When a user selects several items into his cart but leaves the site because he cannot properly click on Proceed to Checkout because of its location or the way the page is design; in this scenario, you can create two versions of the cart page and serve up the new version to certain select users while continuing the old version with the rest of the users. One can easily look at statistics which functionality allowed users for a faster and more appropriate check out procedure. This is a classic example of AB testing.

The advantages of having this form of testing are that it is a low risk approach. In case we look at our example, if the second version does not fare well with the selected group of users, other solutions can be looked into, rather than making expensive changes. Therefore it is more cost effective and certainly gives the right data to make informed decisions.

Google offers their own A/B testing method with their Website Optimizer. This is a great starter tool because the coding involved is very basic. If you have installed Google Analytics on your website, or even a small widget, you will have ZERO problems running an A/B test.

Now, once you have a good test set up, and start tracking the data, start putting that data to action. If you do nothing with the information you get from these tests, you have failed. This is a valuable tool to increase conversions, sales, and readership.

Hey all, some really good links today. I will get right to it, as I am finishing up some last minute edits on the eBook I hope to launch this week. If you are one of the subscribers to my newsletter, you get advance look at the eBook, as well as some pretty sweet bonuses that WILL save you some money if you do not have any hosting plans yet. Stay tuned, as I will be posting more information on the site throughout the week! Happy blogging!

7 Questions Small Businesses Should Be Asking

If you have a small business, these Internet Marketing questions are essential. This should be the top of the list questions for anyone trying to gauge their place on the Internet. Great read!

Battle of The Business Cards

PrintingChoice.com has a really good write-up of some of the online business card printers handled the same business card design. This is great to see the side-by-side comparison on quality, ship times, etc.

Busting the Top 3 Blogging Myths

This article explains the top three blogging myths, including guest posting on blogs. Guest posting is one of the major items on my list of things to focus on this year. I already started writing some articles specifically for guest posting opportunities.

There are some basic rules of writing for the web to make your website appealing to readers. After all, the goal of a successful website or blog is consistent readership. It is more difficult today to make your web presence known among million of writers and a gazillion blogs on the Internet. Therefore, you need to follow the right approach to write for the web.

Offer Valuable And Accurate Information To Your Readers

Take some time to research about the particular topic you choose to write on. Treat yourself as a reader first; this will enable you to know what exactly the readers are searching for and better prepare you for finding the right information to add to your article. Once you gain the credibility of providing your readership accurate information, you will gain the attention of more readers, and those readers will tell their friends.

Use Accurate Grammar

You don’t have to use high level English to be noticeable! All you need to know is the right usage of the language. You can only gain a grip of the readers if you have a hold on the grammar of the language you choose to write on. Just remember that readers want simple and precise content.

The Look Of The Article

There are a few simple tips that can make the article look easy to read. Use a catchy title to grab the attention of the reader. The size of the font should not be too big or too small, bold the lines that need attention, put various headings and subheadings and don’t hesitate to use graphs or diagrams if the need is required to illustrate some useful points.

Write Small Paragraphs And Short Sentences

Usages of long paragraphs make the whole article look boring and can make the reader feel lost. Keep it precise and simple in order to create interest among the readers.

Be There To Be Contacted

Feel free to direct your readers to know your personal information like email and your personal blog. It will not only help you to be interactive with your readers but also facilitate the process of getting feedback from them.

Don’t Use Technical Jargon

If you are using technical terms then do provide a link for readers to understand the term in a simple form. Otherwise, readers might as well switch over to a different website which offers reader friendly content. If you specifically are speaking from a technical nature, than by all means use the jargon!

These are just some simple tips on how to successfully write for the web. Explore your writing style in the most assessable way!