Calm Down - The Meta Tags are Coming!!!

Don't Panic!!! I'm going to talk a bit about HTML code. I said to stop panicking. Okay, take a big drink of water and calm down. These are simple pieces of code you can add to your website to make them more accessible to search engines. These are called META tags. Don't ask, I don't know why. Each of them begin with the word META. The two we will look at here are 'description' and 'keywords.' We will also talk about the 'title' tag.

These tags all go into the "head" section of the code. When you open up the code, you will see a lot of stuff that doesn't make much sense unless you know HTML. Even if you do know code, it can still look confusing because each programmer lays out their code differently.

Just look for the the tags <.Head> and <./Head> (Note: I added a period in front of these terms to keep the system from reading this as actual code. Remove the period before using any of these pieces of code. Better yet, type it in without the period.)

This is the place where you will place your Meta and Title Tags. Let's start with the Title.

The title tag is simple:

<.Title>Your Wonderful Title<./title>

The title should be descriptive and include at least one search term. So, if you have a site that reviews Science Fiction called Starry Eyed Observations, you could have this title tag:

<.Title>Starry Eyed Observations: Reviews of the Best in Science Fiction<./Title>

META tags have two parts: the identifier and the content. The Description tag looks like this:

<.META name="description" content="In about 15-25 words describe your website. Avoid any type of sales pitch, just describe what the reader will find.">

This description will sometimes show up in the search engines or at least part of it. Make the first few words the most descriptive since it may get cut off in the listing.

<.META name="description" content="Starry-Eyed Observations reviews Science Fiction books and websites. Features reviews of new Science Fiction books and interviews with Science Fiction authors.">  Yes, it is redundant. But I got in a main search term three times. Save the great writing for your website.

The second is the keyword meta tag. In this you will list all of the keywords and phrases that people are likely to use when searching for a site like yours. Don't repeat exact key words, but you can repeat those key words in phrases. Also consider including common misspellings.

<.META name="keywords" content="science fiction, science fiction novels, science-fiction, book reviews, book reveiws, interviews, interveiws, literature">

These should be included on each page and customized for each page. So, if one page has links to book reviews of your novel, then emphasize reviews in your description, title and keywords. If it is an excerpt, then emphasize literature, novel, etc.

Okay, breathe slowly. That wasn't too bad was it?

Ten Tips for Search Engine Optimization

Most searches begin with a search engine. That means we want to be able to show up well in the search engines. However, I must point out that when I check my stats most of my visitors come from other web sites and not search engines. Nevertheless, we don't want to miss out on any visitors because our websites are not search engine friendly. I've been reading about search engine optimization recently. Here are some of the things I gleaned from the reading. I must say, that there are a few changes I'll make to my websites based on this reading.

1. Content rich sites are best. Sites that are mostly collections of links or ads will not show up as well in the rankings as those which have articles. Even if you are going to feature audio or video on your site, write several pages of copy relevant to the subject, even if they are only about how to use the audio or video player. The search engines like words.

2. Keep the flash to an inside page. I'm sorry. I love those slick, cool, flash pages, but they are nearly invisible to the search engines. You notice that very few major commercial websites have flash only splash pages. They have content rich front pages which might contain some flash content, but doesn't take up the whole page

If you want to keep the flash, surround it or augment it with some actual text that is relevant to the search terms. Some tips if you are wedded to that flash page.

• Use search term rich meta-tags in the "Head" section of the page. I'll write about meta tags later
• Submit the site manually to the search engines. Both Yahoo and Google have utilities for doing this. It takes several weeks for them to put it into the queue, but could be worth it.
• Add normal Html to the page. put some text below the flash that includes at least one search term. Like "To skip this flash presentation and proceed to the best Christian science fiction site on the web click here"

3. Run from frames. There are many alternatives to frames, use them. Put a vertical nav bar in plain html on each page. Use tables to lay out the page. Better yet, use CSS.

4. Use the search terms. Now, this is a bit tricky. You want your page to be readable, but at the same time, the more times you use a variation on the search term the more the page seems more relevant to the search engine. I guess the best thought is to look for places where it won't hurt the flow of the copy. Instead of saying, "I hope you enjoy the stories on this site," you could say, "I hope every science fiction fan will enjoy the stories on this site" or "If you love dragons, you'll love these stories" or "Get your fantasy fix here."

5. Inward bound links. Now, this means "quality" links. What the search engines mean by "quality" is a bit vague, but some things they don't mean are "free for all" link pages where anyone can post a link or massive link exchange pages. Some ways to get quality links include posting responses on blogs and including your link in the post itself not just the sig file. Include your link in the sig file on this board and similar ones. When people review your books, ask them to include the link to your website order page instead of the Amazon page (Amazon has enough inward bound links). Write articles for places like Article Announce and Associated Content or press releases for some of the sites I've mentioned in other posts. Also, ask for links. I talked about this in greater length yesterday, but simply write to webmasters who have links to websites like yours and invite them to visit your site and link to it if they would like. Write each email separately and uniquely and make mention of something you saw or noticed on that site so the reader knows you are not just a spam artist.

6. Metatags. These are placed in the "head" portion of your webpage. While not as important to SEO today as in the past, they still matter. Compose a good description of the page rich in search terms and a list of keywords. I'll talk about how to do metatags in another post. It isn't hard, but it takes some time to describe.

7. Title. Have a unique and descriptive title for every page that includes a search term. For instance, my web client just puts a default title on the page based on the first line of text. This then appears in the title bar. But that line may not be descriptive. So, instead of "Wayfarer's Journal", I could put "Wayfarer's Journal: Science fiction stories, essays and reviews with a spiritual, ethical or moral dimension."

8. File names. Incorporating search terms into the file names when appropriate can help. For instance, I might have a page of science fiction reviews entitled "sfreviews" which would be incomprehensible to the search engines or I could have "science_fiction_reviews.html" Or if I wrote a review of a Frank Perretti Novel. I could put frank_perretti.html If I also had in the Title "Review of New Frank Perretti Novel - Name of Novel" and in the meta tags a preview with his name mentioned, and his name mentioned several times in the review and the file name including his name, this becomes even more relevant to the search engine.

9. Pay for placement. It isn't that expensive. You can set your own price and pay only when someone clicks through to your site. For one of my search terms for Creative Calisthenics, I can get the bid down to about 30 cents per click through. Then several times a day people looking for that search term will get one of my ads appearing in the "sponsored links" section at the top of the page.

10. Site map and text links. Creating a site map helps the search engine crawl your site. Tips on creating these site maps can be found at http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40318&hl=en

If you use fancy java or javascript navigation bars or buttons, that's fine, but you should also have somewhere on every page some plain text links with descriptive titles.

As a rule of thumb, the 'cooler' the effect, the less likely for the search engine to recognize it. And being ignored by the search engine is not cool at all.

Your Mission... Should you decide to accept it.

[Note: I found this in a file of things I wrote three or four years ago. Considering that I am moving closer to a time when writing will be my main "career" focus, this was actually helpful to me, as I hope it will be to you.]

Most businesses and nonprofit organizations have mission statements. A mission statement is an (ideally) short statement of the purpose of that organization which sets a focus for the organization's activities. Of course, the reality of mission statements is that often they bear little resemblance to what the organization truly does and those that do, are rarely short.

So, what does this have to do with you as a writer?

Often, we lose focus as writers, just as organizations can lose focus. Our writing goes off in all directions and we are unable to learn to excel in certain targeted areas. Now, I'm not suggesting we do not need to stretch or try different things. Those are matters of personal growth I take seriously. Nor does it mean that we try to find ways to make our writing fresh, original and surprising even to ourselves. However, until those things become central to our writing, then they fall more in the area of personal improvement, entertainment or hobbies and not a part of our main writing career/ministry.

At some point, you may feel competent enough in these peripheral pursuits to make them part of your central focus. Or if not competent, committed enough to them to develop them thoroughly. I'm not sure I've hit the skill level to consider myself fully competent in the execution of long fiction, but that is core to my personal writing and should be reflected by my mission statement. However, if I had to make a living writing, then it would be more peripheral and probably not reflected by it.

One important thing to remember is that mission statements tend to evolve over time as our careers take different and sometimes surprising paths. The mission statement is as much descriptive as it is directive.

Mostly, the mission statement (and more importantly the career focus contained within the mission statement) helps you drive your marketing. When promoting yourself either to a publisher, a local business client or directly to the reader, it helps you shape your marketing message. It's not enough for your profile in Facebook or LinkedIn to simply say "Writer." The potential client/publisher/reader is asking what kind of writer. Whether you use the words of your mission statement directly or not, it can help you answer that question.

So, how do we construct a mission statement? Remember, when I said mission statements are mostly descriptive. Start by listing the types of writing you are doing right now. Start with those which are consuming most of your time. We invest our time in what we consider most important. So, I'll use myself as an example:

Writing which teaches writing
Science Fiction Writing
Mystery Writing
Learning materials for oral communication
Writing which assists other writers market their writing
Bible Study writing
Christian Living writing

Since writing learning materials is more related to my teaching than to a more pure personal writing activity, I'll leave it out of the mix. I write the Bible studies primarily for the church, and devotions/Christian living writing are peripheral forms of writing right now done more for personal enjoyment and fulfillment. They are not things that form part of the core of my professional writing efforts.

The next is to make a list of things which you expect or desire to form part of the core of your writing within the next year or two. Don't worry if they overlap or are identical with the previous list.

Science Fiction Writing
Fantasy Writing
Mystery Writing
Writing which teaches Writing
Writing which teaches creative forms of Bible study
Writing assisting other writers marketing their writing.

Okay, I have a good deal of overlap along with two new items: fantasy and creative Bible study. The Creative Bible study has emerged from a specific project which may or may not become a major part of my future writing. I think I'll leave that out for now until I see whether or not it becomes important enough to promote as part of my total writing effort. Now, I have enough to begin work on the mission statement. As a good practical rule of thumb, try to keep the mission statement under 25 words. It is not a listing of every project you are pursuing or would like to pursue. It is a general direction and not a specific road map.

So, let's see how I can condense my goals into a mission statement:

Terri Main's mission is to write entertaining, character-driven, science-fiction, mysteries and fantasy stories and assist other writers in developing their writing abilities and marketing skills.

Not bad but it still came in over 25 words, lets see if I can condense it. Let's assume I want to write things that are "entertaining" rather than boring and eliminate that word. And, on second thought, fantasy is still something I'm just experimenting with, don't want to make it part of my public persona just yet, nor make it a core part of what I am planning to do. And, if I am assisting writers, one would assume they are "other" writers and not myself since I am not a plural. So, let's see what we have now.

Terri Main's mission is to write character-driven science-fiction and mystery stories and assist writers in developing their writing abilities and marketing skills.

We are now down to 24 words. I'm still not sure about leaving in the word "abilities," but sometimes you can over think a mission statement. This is not one I would have written a year ago and it will be changed by next year I'm sure. But for now, it gives me a personal direction and a direction for my future marketing.

Now, is your turn. Try your hand at writing a personal mission statement for your writing ministry/career.

Ye Have not because ye Ask Not!

The other day someone asked about my first book review whether the person just offered to review the book or if I approached her. I did approach her. I posted a notice on an email discussion list offering the book for review. I just finished writing an email to another blogger who reviews books. I don't know if she will pick it up or not, but it only took 30 seconds to compose the email. 

I get a lot of links to my websites the same way. I ask. 

Now, some of you are already thinking the sp word SPAM!!! No, I don't do that. Every email is an unique creation slanted toward that reader or list. I only send out such requests to discussion lists where I have a continuing presence where I am participating over the long term. When approaching an individual blogger, I read a bit of their blog and comment on the blog itself before asking. The same goes for websites where I am trying to get a link. 

I used to edit a website of Christian Science Fiction stories before the workload became too heavy for me to keep up. However, let's use that as an example.  

First, if I am going to ask for a link from a website, I check out the website to see if they have a link list or resource page. I also check to see if they have a news page. Because if they don't have a link page, but they have a news page, I can send them a press release instead. 

Once I know they have a resource page, I look to see if they have a contact email. I make a note of the name of the webmaster/editor. Then I begin my email with that name

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Immediately, the person knows I'm not just coming up with a purely computer generated email. Now, I go ahead and make a comment related to the site itself. 

I dropped by your site today. It is good to see other people publishing quality Christian science fiction. I especially enjoyed the story by Mary Jones. She wrote a story for Wayfarers Journal that was good as well. It's at ____.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a compliment. Although, if you can sincerely compliment something, that's a good idea. But some sort of statement that demonstrates you actually visited the site and looked around. Something as simple as mentioning the resource page by name or making reference to the layout is enough to say that you actually visited the site.

Now, you go ahead and invite the person to come visit your site and, if they want to, give you a link. I personally don't offer link exchanges unless, this is a site I really think my visitors would like to visit. My first responsibility is to my own visitors. But if it is something I think will benefit them, then offering to exchange links can "sweeten the pot."

The reason I'm writing is that I would like to invite you to visit Wayfarer's Journal and browse around. If you think it is a worthwhile site, I would be honored if you included it on your resource page. 

Terri Main
Editor
Wayfarer's Journal

May God bless your ministry.

Notice, I spend more time in the email talking about his site than I do talking about my own. 

Here's an example of a letter asking  for a review on a blog:

Dear Ms. Juarez,
I dropped by Books I Love today. I notice that you recently reviewed The Arcturian Way by Clive Henry. I loved that book when I read it. I notice you have reviewed several 'hard' science fiction books recently. Those are some of my own personal favorites.
My new book Dark Side of the Moon takes a hard science fiction approach, but also works in a country cozy mystery feel as well. If you would be interested in reviewing this book I could make an electronic copy available to you immediately. All I ask is a link back to the DarkSideOfTheMoon.com website. I wouldn't presume to tell you what to write. I enjoy the good reviews and learn from the negative ones.
I wish you well with your blog.

Terri Main
Author Dark Side of the Moon Just released by MuseItUp Publishing 

Three Ms of Marketing - Message

Several million consumers every year buy electric drills. The amazing thing about this is that none of them want a drill. That’s right. They could care less about the drill. What they want is a hole. The drill, like most products, is a means to an end. Consumers buy products to get something. In order to craft a selling message you have to understand what they want to get. You have to “sell the hole.”

What we mean by “selling the hole” is determining what the customer really hopes to gain by purchasing a product. For instance, the purchaser of an e-book on starting a home business wants to make money, to gain independence from a boss, to obtain financial security, and probably to be able to spend more time with their families..

In crafting a message for such a book, you would want to focus on how that book will help them achieve those goals.

He it means focusing on the benefits of the product rather than on its features. What's the difference? A product's features have to do with the construction of the product independent of their use. Using the drill as an example, a feature might be that the drill has a half horsepower motor. Okay, that's nice to know, but what does it mean to me the person who wants to drill a hole? The benefit of a product is how that feature will help me as a consumer achieve my goal. For instance, the reason that the half horsepower motor is important may be that it helps me drilled a hole faster and makes it possible to drill through tougher materials.

So, how do you apply this to your own marketing effort? Start by looking at the that you already have. Do they focus on features and benefits? Use a highlighter and highlight each line which specifically indicates how this product will enhance the life of the end user. What's left over? Get rid of it. Consider the following hypothetical ad for that e-book about starting a home business:

Get It Now! Grow Mushrooms in Your Own Basement! New Book Tells You How! Make Big Bucks in Dark Corners!

That's right! This book will tell you all you need to know to start a home business growing mushrooms in your basement. Learn how to choose the right soil, how to get the mushrooms to grow, what type of fertilizer to use, how to hire helpers, how to contact restaurants to sell your product, and how to contact retail grocers for sustaining business.

Don’t Delay! Get Started in the Fungus Business Today!

There is only one benefit mentioned in that entire ad. Can you spot it? That's right. "Make big bucks in dark corners". Everything else does you what the book is like but it doesn't tell you how it will help you. So, let's look at what this would look like as a benefit oriented ad.

Make big bucks in dark corners! Become your own boss growing mushrooms in your own basement!

Escape the 9-to-5 trap! Tell your boss goodbye. Learn how to get into the fascinating, profitable business of growing mushrooms. Whether portobello or button, these little veggies can pave your path to financial independence. Work your own hours. Be at home with your family. Earn a fantastic income. This book tells you how. Learn how to grow the mushrooms, how to sell them, and how to get other people to work for you!

Don’t work for THE MAN any longer than you have to! Change your future today!

The difference between these two ads is that one focuses on what the product is and the second on how the product advances the goals of the customer. So, remember, when marketing your products. Don’t sell the drill. Sell the hole.

Three Ms of Marketing - Media Match

Let’s say you have decided that your target market is middle-class women aged 50-65 years old. Would you spend all your money advertising during the telecasts of college football games? Why not? Women in that age bracket do not form a major portion of the football watching public. Of course, that is an overgeneralization. But good demographic analysis depends on generalizations. While I would not assume than any individual woman 50-65 doesn’t watch football, I can reasonably assume that as a group they do not.

When you choose a media mix for marketing your product or service, you have to make a good match between the medium and the market. To do this you have to do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask your advertising representative for a demographic analysis of their audience. Local radio and television stations usually have Arbitron or Nielson ratings. Newspapers have circulation reports.

But don’t just look to see who has the largest number of viewers, listeners or readers. Find out who those viewers, listeners and readers are. If you have a product, targeting women 45-65, even if the hip-hop station has the largest audience of all the local stations, it will not be effective for you. The Number 3 easy listening station might be a better choice. This is why identifying your target market is the first step in the marketing process.

But age and gender aren’t the only considerations. Also think about economic factors like household income and occupation. I worked at a classical music station. We had a small audience, but our mailing list included most of the high income people in town. Consequently, we had the Cadillac dealership and two high –end furniture stores as satisfied customers. Likewise, if your product or service targets a particular business, consider advertising in trade magazines, newsletters and web sites which serve that business.

For the most part, a little common sense is all you need to match the media to the market. 

Three Ms of Marketing - Market

You have a great product, but no one seems to be buying it. The problem could be with marketing. Many business owners are great at producing a product, but not so good at marketing them. In this column we will be discussing marketing your business.

Let’s begin with the basics of marketing. I call these the three “M’s” of marketing. They are: Market, Media and Message. This month we will be discussing the first “M” – Market.

The first question you should ask yourself in marketing your product or service is “Who is likely to buy this?” That is your market. Unfortunately, when I ask some business people this question, they answer, “Everyone.” Sorry, no one product appeals to everyone. If you try to sell your product to everyone, you will waste most of your advertising dollar. You will buy advertising in places that do not reach your best customers.

It’s simple. Ask yourself one question: “Who buys this type of product?” That’s who you want to reach. Create a profile of that customer.

Your profile should include the following information:

• Age group. Try to keep the age range limited. Typical age demographics are 12-18, 18-25, 25-40, 40-55, 55-65, 65-75, 75+. Age determines interests, tastes, needs, and media preferences.
• Gender. While you want to avoid stereotyping, you do need to recognize the differing needs of the sexes. Some products are of equal value to both genders, but one buys that product more than the other. For instance, groceries are bought primarily by women, even though, men and women equally use the product.
• Occupation. Does your product or service benefit a certain occupation or type of occupation or business? Who would make the buying decisions for that business? It is no good targeting the CEO, if the secretary handles purchasing.
• Income level. I remember being in an investment seminar surrounded by blue and pink collar workers listening to an investment counselor talking about a great investment that had a $20,000 buy in. No one in that room had that much money to invest. You don’t sell high end products to low income people.
• Special interests. Do the people who use your product engage in some sort of special activity or hobby? Are there special interests groups who do not currently use your product who might benefit from it?
• Media habits. What do these people read, watch, or listen to on the radio? Do they surf the web? If so, what places do they go?

You may discover in reviewing your customer list that more than one type of person purchases your product. Create a profile for each type of customer. Be as specific as possible. This is important because you will refer to these profiles as you choose the media for your marketing and as you craft your message.