Dan Spellman ( My Two Cents )

It's The Right Thing To Do

       

Over Spring Break we made the annual pilgrimage to Kansas.  Traveling from Chicago to our childhood homes in Prairie Village and Clay Center, Kansas generally takes us through Des Moines, Iowa.  There you are able to choose between two paths – one that heads to Kansas City via I-35 or the other that continues West on I-80 and eventually turns South after Omaha, Nebraska.

 

    

Since our last trip took us through Kansas City, it had been over a year since we traveled West through the entire state of Iowa.  This year we stayed the course and enjoyed an interesting surprise.  Just outside of Anita, Iowa, you will find a different kind of crop.  Here the farmers are not just harvesting corn, they are also harvesting wind.

     

T. Boone Pickens has said that “America is blessed with the world’s greatest wind power corridor” and I would have to agree.  We lived in Omaha for a little over two years and I can assure you – Omaha blows.  

    

No, honestly.  It’s really windy there.

    

My kids were impressed to see the vast number of wind turbines here in the Mid-West.  As it turns out, “Iowa is the third largest producer of wind energy in the US, just behind California and Texas”, reports the Iowa Energy Center.  

    

While it’s great to see these efforts on a large scale, many people may question what we can do, as individuals, that would really make a difference.  The success of such events as Earth Hour, show that people are eager to become actively involved.  “No matter what your individual beliefs are about climate change,” states Darron Collins, WWF Managing Director, “energy efficiency is something everyone can understand in this economic environment.”  

      

Home Depot apparently gets it.  In today’s newspaper we found an ad for Eco Options, Home Depot’s new marketing effort to speak directly to consumers who feel passionate about this issue.  Their “Save Green. Live Green” promotion helps people feel good about spending their dollars at Home Depot.  We certainly did.  Our list of weekend projects included a trip to their garden store to pick up tomato plants and our free CFL light bulb.

     

More companies need to embrace the green economy like Home Depot and take advantage of the growing public desire for environmentally friendly products.  This became apparent when we completed another weekend project and visited an auto dealership.  As our kids and our cars grow older, it has become necessary for us to purchase a new car. 

Unfortunately, the salesman seemed to have the same short-sighted perspective as the auto manufacturers in Detroit.  When we asked to see their hybrid models, he asked why we were interested in purchasing a hybrid.  After a moment of pondering how to answer this question, my wife simply stated “because it’s the right thing to do.”

    

Until next time,

   

Dan

   

Your SEO Ranking Just Changed

     

You may not have realized it, but your ranking on Google just changed.  Actually, Aaron Wall told us about this back in February.  (By the way, if you are not reading Aaron’s blog, SEOBook, you are missing out.)

    

It seems that back in February, Google changed the algorithm it uses to determine their Natural Search rankings.  In the process, it began providing additional weight to the “brand value” of a company, which in turn, helped the established players and hindered the smaller pure-players. 

    

If you feel a little “in the dark” about how Google’s algorithm works, you’re not alone.  “The algorithms have got so complex on some fronts that Google engineers do not even know about some of the filters/penelties/bugs”, writes Wall. 

    

In fact, it has been my experience that because Google has kept their method of determining search page results under wraps, an entire industry has been born.  Every SEO / SEM vendor owes their livelihood to Google’ secret sauce.  As I hear vendor after vendor speak about their tight connection with the Google Executive Team, I am in awe of who must be on Google’s corporate speed dial.  It seems that every Search Vendor must play golf with Larry and Sergey.  However, if you are looking to play a quick 18 holes but can’t get on their schedule, try giving Matt Cutts a call. 

      

     

If you’re a small player competing among the established brands, now is the time to invest in your SEO rankings.  As the economy continues to struggle, it is imperative to optimize your marketing spend.  Simple steps such as creating new content, developing a site map and managing your title tags are great ways to improve your results on Google, Yahoo and MSN.

    

Until next time,

    

Dan