SEO Website Reviews

Is your website performing at its optimum?  Do you think it should be generating more traffic, leads  and business but just don’t know what to do to improve it?  Put my 12 years of experience in building websites and performing Search Engine Optimization to work for you with an affordable Website Review & Report. Your Website Review & Report will include: - A complete...

Add Your TripAdvisor Reviews to Facebook

If your business or property is listed on TripAdvisor.com you can now share your reviews and ratings on your Facebook Business page. Here are the instructions on how to do it. To begin, you need to create a new tab on your property’s page in which to embed the widget or badge. This is called a static iFrame. Here’s how to do it: 1) Go to your TripAdvisor Owners Center and pick the widget...

Access Your Computer Files From Anywhere

As a follow up to a post I did awhile back, I’m giving DropBox a test drive as I want to be able to have access to all my important files on both my desktop, my laptop and my new iPhone.  A friend of mine who already uses DropBox sent me an invitation and an extra 500 MB of space for free on top of the 2 GB of space you get with a free account. It’s pretty simple actually, you just...

Becky Supon, Realtor

Featured Project: My latest web project was for Becky Supon of Pacific Ocean Properties in Poipu.   Becky came to me with a clear example and description of the features that were important to her for her blog re-design (I love it when my clients have a clear picture of what they want!!!).  And Becky wasn’t afraid to learn new things (she’s pretty tech savvy to begin with) so with a...

Facebook LikeBox

If you have a Facebook business page you can leverage your social media involvement by adding a Facebook LikeBox to your website and/or blog. The Like Box is a social plugin that enables Facebook Page owners to attract and gain Likes from their own website. The Like Box enables users to: - See how many users already like this Page, and which of their friends like it too - Read recent posts from...

Paradise Beauty Salon & Spa

Featured Project: My latest web project was for Liz Fletcher of Paradise Beauty Salon & Spa in Kapaa Town.  Liz’s existing website wasn’t performing in the search engines and did not capture the extent or essence of the wide range of beauty treatments that are offered at her salon. Website Features: Website/Blog Built on an Open Source Platform (WordPress) Customize existing...

Tech Humor

This is India.  Where your call gets routed to when you call in with a technical problem with your...

Article Marketing = Web Littering???

It’s a common tactic used by “slimy” SEO companies, maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of their spiel?  They’ll promise you,  for a low monthly fee, to get your site ranked better by writing articles about your industry with back links to your website.  Sounds fair enough, until you start reading the articles and realize that people working for less than...

Best Free Email Subscriber List Software

So my new favorite email marketing software is MailChimp.com.  If you are still using Outlook or your own website/server to do regular email blasts its time to make the switch to a 3rd party software.  I think MailChimp is one of the best options out there and here’s why…. 1)  It’s Free. Yep.  If you have less than 2000 subscribers, and send less than 12,000 emails a month,...

Emagine Makes “List”…

I just learned that the Emagine Internet Marketing Blog has made DIYSEO’s Definitive List of the Best Small Business Marketing Blogs.  Check out their full list of the best and brightest bloggers in small business marketing. Here’s what they had to say about the Emagine Web Marketing blog: Emagine Web Marketing This blog from a Hawaii-based Internet marketing firm covers the basics...

Domain-Based Email with Gmail

If you have a website (www.mywebsite.com) it’s a good idea to use your domain-based email account (me@mywebsite.com) because  1) its more professional than using a free email address and 2) it helps to brand and bring awareness to your business/organizations’ domain address.  If you use an email account like me@gmail.com or me@yahoo.com you receive no benefit of your email...

Restaurant Marketing

My new friend Debra was telling me about www.OpenTable.com where you can make dinner reservations for restaurants online.   I thought, wow, what a neat idea and immediately thought of some of my favorite Kauai restaurants.  So I checked it out and here’s the current list of  Kauai restaurants that are using this reservation service. There’s a bunch missing, so here’s a...

Black Hat SEO

Here’s a great article from the New York Times, on  The Dirty Little Secrets of Search. Its a great case study on why using unethical link building practices and “Black Hat” SEO consultants can land your website in hot water with Gooogle! Hopefully Google will continue to clean up its organic search engine results, booting out the “bad guys” who have top rankings as...

Poipu Beach Condo

Featured Project: My latest web project was for Tom & Patricia Biehn of  www.PoipuBeachCondo.com.  Their existing website promoting four luxury ocean front vacation rental condos at Poipu Shores on Kauai’s sunny south side was built many years ago and was in dire need of a fresh look, updated photography, updated copy and a user-friendly navigational system. Website Features: Created...

Are You Indispensable?

Last year I read the book “Linchpin” by best selling author and marketing guru, Seth Godin.  I’ve been meaning to tell you about it for awhile, as it’s definitely worth reading.  You’ll find it especially inspiring and interesting if your secure employment has been turned on its head and you’re wondering what you should do next.  This book explains what is...

Add Video to Your Marketing Strategy

2010 was a tough year for Hawaii’s travel industry.   Savvy business owners know that during slow times is the perfect opportunity to review what has been working (and not) and to tackle some of the projects that have been pushed to the back burner during the busier times. ...

Not-So-Favorable Reviews

It’s every business owners’ worst nightmare, a past guest or customer says something less than positive about your business or product online where potential customers can see it.  It can be hard to receive this kind of  feedback but there truly is benefit from this candid client input....

Hau`oli Makahiki Hou

Happy New Year to all of my subscribers, clients, friends and allies!  The latter part of 2010 had me a bit overwhelmed and I wasn’t able to keep up with my blogging and sharing information in the way I generally like to.  So sorry for being out of touch!  But it’s a new year and I’m feeling inspired.  I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and were able to have some down time...

Jean & Abbott Properties

Featured Project: I am pleased to announce the unveiling of the new and improved Jean & Abbott Properties website.  A collaboration of many and months in the making, the new website is visually stunning thanks to our talented designer Sunni and to some amazing photography (Mahalo Mike Coots!).  It’s not all about the “beauty” though, it’s also about the...

Save 20% on a BOTW Directory Listing

For the month of October, Best of the Web directory (BOTW.org), the internet’s oldest and most trusted directory, is extending a 20% discount on new listings.  Sign up for a lifetime directory listing for your website and/or blog to gain added online exposure and search engine ranking benefits with this popular web directory. Be sure to use the Promo Code:  SAVE20 to get your 20%...

Promoting Kaua`i Grown Products

Last night I attended the Kauai Grown – Chamber Business After Hours event held at the Kukui`ula Shopping Center in Poipu.   If you aren’t familiar, Kauai Grown is a branded marketing program for promoting locally grown agricultural products  and to recognize the farmers, ranchers, retailers and restaurants that bring these products to the consumer. If your small business is...

Turning Off Conversation View in Gmail

I love Gmail, but I gotta say I hate (I know -  it’s a strong word) but I really do – Conversation View.  Conversation View is the linking together of all emails within a string/conversation.  Since switching to Gmail last year, I’ve misplaced or inadvertently deleted email messages that I needed because of the linking structure inherent with “Conversation View”...

Singing the Praises of Pandora

Sometimes I’m really slow to try new things, not usually, but sometimes.  For some reason getting around to checking out Pandora took me almost 10 years – embarrassing I know.    I remember a co-worker at the Electric company I worked for back in 1999 telling me about Pandora, and how great it was.  And many others along the way have sung Pandora’s praises yet,  even though...

DropBox.com – Sync Everything…

I just heard about Dropbox and checked out their website briefly.  Anyone else heard of it or used it?  I currently use Windows Live Sync to keep important files and folders synced between my desktop and laptop but Dropbox looks like it might be another good option as well.  Here’s an article I found by Lee Matthews comparing the two products....

Thinking About Paid Search?

Let’s face it, times are tough and small businesses are finding it harder than ever to keep the flow of cash coming in.  The visitor industry on Kauai has taken a serious hit in the last few years with the numbers of visitors to the islands dropping and the spending levels of those visitors receding as well.   The visitor-related markets are fiercely competitive with everyone doing their...