ieplexus Tag

XML Sitemaps and Search Engine Marketing

I’ve always held the belief that XML sitemaps are an important technical aspect to an effective marketing campaign, especially when it comes to blog and search engine marketing. However, this belief was only supported in theory. Sure, every piece of marketing advice and documentation pointed to why XML sitemaps were beneficial, but there wasn’t any data to back up that claim. It was a search engine optimization assumption, in that because this technology was supported by Google and all the other major engines, it made sense to include it in a comprehensive marketing campaign. The question is, does this actually help the engines index your site better or faster? Or is this just a myth pushed by myself and the rest of the SEO community to justify the addition? Couldn’t search engines find and index your site or blog easily on their own?
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“The Staff at iePlexus Has Been So Helpful…”

Allow me to take you on a tour of the building of my website.

I have written a book and have done research and other tasks on the computer but, it wasn’t until 2008 that I decided to build a website for a business. I have a love of farm animals and wanted to build a business around them so,

www.outaroundthebarn.com was born.

With a lot of help from Stores Online and their store builder, I have a website that I am proud of. When it went live online on Jan. 5, 2009, I was extremely excited but nothing was happening. There was no traffic to my site and I was not sure where to go from there. I knew I had to market my business but, wasn’t confident enough in myself to know what to do. I began receiving phone calls from different marketing companies and started to get confused. They were making promises that I would make lots of money in a certain time frame and they just knew that their company was the best for me. I wasn’t so sure, I had been jilted before and wasn’t ready to just let go of my money.
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A Giant Leap for Blogging Kind

When Barack Obama promised the American people change, not that many imagined he meant change within and through media channels. But on February 9, 2009, Obama held his first press conference, and there were definitely hints of change in the proceedings.

Taking questions started out in the most traditional way possible. Obama called on 88-year-old dean of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas. A prominent and longstanding figure in the media world, Obama became the tenth U.S. president to field her questions. Obama quipped, “All right, Helen, this is my inaugural moment here,” thus acknowledging the very tradition which he was furthering. All business, Thomas asked a traditionally pointed question about Afghan safe havens for potential terrorists and the existence or nonexistence of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Still keeping within political tradition, Obama spoke without truly answering the question.

He didn’t break tradition until the next question, which was taken from Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, a news-centered blog and self-proclaimed internet newspaper. Stein asked a similarly pointed question regarding the potential prosecution of officials within the Bush administration, which Obama pointedly and elegantly sidestepped.
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Social Media Versus Search

It seems like it’s impossible to get away from articles nowadays that start with the phrase “In these hard economic times…” But gear up for another, because in these hard economic times, companies are looking for any excuse to yield revenue and cut costs. Perhaps that accounts for part of the reason social media tactics are so very popular right now.

After all, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace can disseminate information about your company’s products and services in a quick and (most importantly) free way. And this ability has many touting this means of marketing as the next best thing.

But there’s also something to be said for holding off on any fad that simply seems too good to be true. After all, any new marketing efforts require time and energy. Even if there isn’t any money required upfront, there is still the necessary dedication of manpower. And this can be viewed as tantamount to expense, because time is most certainly money. As such, before you or your company launches an organized social media effort, make sure it’s right for your business and make sure your business is ready for that kind of campaign.
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Google Health Announces New Improvements, Raises Old Concerns

It was only a matter of time before our medical records and medical histories teamed up with the internet. And not surprisingly, Google led the way with their Google Health beta program.

Launched in May 2008 to the public, the program is intended to offer users more control over the management of their medical records and other medical dealings. To that end, Google Health allows users to keep prescriptions and test results in a more organized and accessible format. And perhaps the most prominent feature is that users can now import all (or some) of their medical records into their account.

Signing up simply requires a general Google account. Seeing as the hallmark of many Google programs is their user-friendly nature, Google Health doesn’t disappoint. Logging into your Health account just requires your general Google account password.

Offering the edge on real-time medical information, the latest update to Google Health is new software allowing personal medical devices to stream data directly into your account.
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Beach Bum’s Business Booms With iePlexus’ Help

When Warren Worthley moved back to his home state of Florida after retiring several years ago he bought a boat and dubbed it “Paradise,” and paradise is exactly what Worthley had planned for his retirement.

“I grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida,” he said. “I swam before I could walk, played on the beach and fished everyday. I was destined to be a world-class beach bum.”

This self proclaimed “Florida boy” had spent years working as Dean of Engineering and Technology at Purdue University in Indiana before making his way back to the Sunshine State. His new boat, a 23-foot Donzi fishing cruiser, was perfectly designed for navigating the shallows of Charlotte Harbor, where Worthley planned to hook trout, redfish and snook.
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“We have stopped all our ad campaigns since signing up with iePlexus.”

iePlexus,

We have noticed considerable more sales and inquiries at our website. We attribute this to the fact that we have iePlexus.com working for us. We have stopped all of our PPC ads and other meager ad campaigns since signing up with iePlexus.

And yet we had many more sales orders this past Christmas season than in previous years. We know “finally” that people are finding our internet web site.

Thank you very very much.

Judee

*NOTE: Please do not contact any clients without prior written authorization from iePlexus. Thank you.

iePlexus Becomes New Developers of the Featured Content Gallery WordPress Plugin

I’m happy to announce that iePlexus is now part of the WordPress development community. As of today, the Featured Content Gallery plugin, a popular WordPress plugin originally developed by Jason Schuller of Revolution Two, has changed hands and will now be hosted, maintained, supported, and developed by iePlexus. Along with this transition comes a significant update to the plugin, a new plugin website and support forum, and a fresh take on where the plugin can be taken in the future. Here at iePlexus we are very proud to be chosen for this responsibility, and we’re excited to positively contribute to the WordPress and Revolution community. We look forward to providing an excellent plugin and support system, as well as a smooth transition between Revolution Two and iePlexus.

About the Featured Content Gallery Plugin:
The Featured Content Gallery is a WordPress plugin that creates a customizable rotating image gallery anywhere within a WordPress site. The plugin has the ability to display either post or pages, and automatically rotates images associated with these in a gallery that includes a thumbnail carousel and text overlay. The gallery is completely customizable, allowing the user to specify the size, color and pages or posts included in the gallery, as well as custom thumbnail images and custom overlay text. Originally transformed into a WordPress plugin by Jason Schuller of Revolution Two, the Featured Content Gallery was developed from SmoothGallery, a javascript gallery created by JonDesign. The plugin is frequently included in some of the best premium WordPress themes available today, namely those found on the Revolution Two site managed by Brian Gardner.
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Social Media Charm School

There’s no reason to talk to anyone anymore. Seriously, why would anyone want to risk calling someone and having an awkward conversation, or (gasp), talking to them face-to-face? I know I don’t. It started with texting a few years ago and then led to social networking sites and Apple’s iChat app. The advent of all these services has made it possible for me to quit talking (with my voice) to most people, except of course my coworkers (who I have to look at and talk to at the same time!) and my family.

In any event, I talk much less than I used to but communicate with many more people than I thought possible. If I am not messaging them on iChat or commenting on something they posted on Facebook, then I am reminded frequently of their status updates or blog posts. But this doesn’t mean I am a social butterfly. I am a reserved type of personality, and social networking has allowed me to become more so. I just maintain a lot of vague conversations while staying within my comfort zone.
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Digg Users Don’t Dig Digg

Sure. Digg’s heart might be in the right place, but in practice, does the system fall short? That’s the argument made by many Digg users who are having more than a little trouble getting their news stories seen or heard on the user-generated news site.

Digg was originally established in response to the mainstream media, which many felt did not portray or distribute news according to what would actually benefit or educate users. They also had complaints about the powerful systems of people (and companies) that control these news outlets.

But it seems that Digg has just become a smaller approximation of that very system. Because users’ stories gain popularity based on user reviews, the “powerdiggers” (those who have accrued a powerful network of fellow diggers) are much more likely for their stories to be seen, read, and shared.
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