I publish this to you guys because in the time I have spent working for Lakeshore Branding, I have learned a lot in what is SEO. As I will be taking a drastic turn in my life and begin working for the man, there are a few important lessons I have learned. First, a quick background. After graduating from the University of Iowa, I helped a colleague start up a webhosting company, Host Duplex. Afterwards, I joined Lakeshore Branding as an SEO Hero (self modified title ) to expand my technical knowledge in the SEO industry and further develop my web development skills. Here are the lessons I have learned as an SEO Hero. 1.) You Don’t Know Jack! One of the many lessons I have learned through life is that real life experience is king. From research and different books, I had thought that I knew my fair share of how to optimize a website. It wasn’t until I began – Read the full article
Intel’s recent purchase of McAfee for $7.68 billion directly addresses the movement towards an age of Internet of Things. According to IMS Research, the number of objects connected to the Internet is expected to hit 5 billion this month and eventually 22 billion by 2020. Right now we are accustom to “devices” like computers, cellphones, GPSes, modems, and televisions having connection to the Internet but there is already incredible momentum of more things gaining connection. That is to say, Internet connection is no longer restricted to devices. Objects are gaining Internet connection, or rather, Internet identity and presence, which in turn makes them into devices. Think about the Smart Meters ComEd now offers around Chicago. We can monitor our energy usage with real-time updates when we visit our account online. Considering this quote referring to the necessity of cyber security in the coming of such an age on ReadWriteWeb.com, though, we see that there is a lot more to in – Read the full article
Marketing research isn’t what it used to be. It has expanded to include the world of websites, blogs, social media, online advertising, and other web-based media. The great thing about this all is that there are lots of tools you can use conduct market research and gather competitive intelligence. Our top posts on Lakeshore Branding have been about social media monitoring and competitive intelligence. So I thought we would share some our favorite tools and this list turned into a description of 29 tools for competitive intelligence. So check out the list and please let us know if we are missing any. 1. SpyFu: Spyfu is a tool that lets you find out what keywords your competitors are targeting in the search engines. Not just keywords, mind you, but AdWords, too. All you have to do is type your competitor’s site in SpyFu’s search bar, and voila! Immediate results that show you the keyword and AdWords landscape for that domain. – Read the full article
When I come across articles like the one posted on TheStreet.com last week, I can’t help but get excited. Titled “Business Owners Question Social Networking” the article quotes some research that finds that a majority of small business owners haven’t seen value from social media, and that most don’t even use it themselves. A key section of the article reads: Among the 500 small-business executives surveyed, 76% said social networking hasn’t help them generate leads or expand their companies in the past year. And 86% said they don’t turn to these Web sites for business advice or other information. The majority, 61%, depend on big search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, for business advice and information. Only 13% use social networking sites and only 10% rely on expert blogs. So why on earth would I be excited that small businesses don’t use social media and haven’t seen value from it yet? Opportunity. Plain and simple. For me, there is – Read the full article
Lakeshore Branding is proud to host these five FREE hands-on small business marketing sessions in November that will offer practical advice, direct instruction, and application tips for free online and social media solutions to help small businesses and entrepreneurs in Chicago. “The ‘hands-on’ sessions started as things often do, with neighbors and friends asking each other for help and advice on something new,” said Gabrielle Blair, one of the founders of Kirtsy. “Women often get together to compare notes. And there are a lot of us who want to talk right now about how social media and online applications can simplify our lives and enhance our small business pursuits.” After Kirtsy hosted 10 Hands-On Social Media sessions with Microsoft Office Live in June, they received a fleet of requests to host more of these informal, intimate gatherings across the US and Canada. At the events, attendees cover popular platforms and get hands-on direction setting up accounts and applying them to – Read the full article
Whether you need help training yourself, your team, or an entire company, Lakeshore Branding can develop custom training packages on the latest social media, link building, online advertising, SEO, and other basic and advanced online marketing concepts and more. We can also do on-site visits for more personal and effective training. Executive Presentations We can develop a presentation for your executive team on the benefits of Internet marketing, how to get involved, creating budget estimates, setting realistic expectations, making brand considerations, and more. This presentation can be as focused, or as general, as needed based on the skill level of your audience. In-House Team Training Conferences, classes, and certification programs are a great way to supplement your team’s understanding of the industry. Unfortunately, none of those options are as effective as having an expert answer your specific problems and cater to your areas of weakness. Let us work with your team to focus them on the needs of a specific project – Read the full article
Internet Marketing Higher search rankings, better conversions, more followers and fans. A bigger business: this is the value of Lakeshore Branding’s Internet marketing solutions. Internet Marketing Social Media Marketing Whether you consider it a trend or a revolution, social media is changing the way businesses market themselves. From assistance with a blog to the development of fully integrated social media strategies, Lakeshore Branding can help you engage and establish a social presence. Social Media Content Creation We develop original, informative, and attention-catching content that serves as an extension of your brand, and we optimize these in a way that brings in qualified traffic to your website. Content Creation Search Engine Optimization (SEO) It’s not by magic or accident that a website ranks #1 on search engines. Our team of SEO specialists can give your website, blog, online store or e-Commerce site the time and attention required to increase your sales through website rankings. SEO Company
We have many great new features and functions planned for 2009. Stay tuned for more updates along the way, but here is a sneak peak of things to come: Search & Internet Marketing , SEO & SEM Workshops in Chicago (http://www.lakeshorebranding.com/classes/) Videos (http://www.vimeo.com/lsb) & (http://www.youtube.com/lakeshorebranding) Online tools for small business marketing Many more articles and tutorials
