News and Reviews - Fall 07 Page 3

Donor Campaigns and Planned Giving
Saturday, September 22 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon
Cost: $25 for PAB members, $40 for non-members

Whether for capital or annual gifts, donor campaigns are an extremely effective means of raising income. Make a donor campaign part of your non-profit's fundraising arsenal. You'll leave the workshop session with ideas you can start implementing right away to build a loyal base of donors. Presenters are Sandra Baker and Pam Eddenden.

Register here!

Search Engine Optimization
Wednesday, October 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $100 for PAB members, $115 for non-members

Ask yourself this: If someone is looking for my product or service but doesn’t know my organization/company name, how do they find me on the Internet and do I have the right tools in place to be found?

This seminar will combine practical applications, provide key information and explain how social (business) networking can be leveraged to generate new business– without spending tons. Whether or not you have a website or budget, you will be given grassroots, practical tools for increasing your web presence. Topics covered include:

How SEO will benefit your business
How Search engines work – Un-mystifying Google, Yahoo & MSN
Blogs – how they fit into the big picture
Working with what you’ve got (or not got)
What are the basic tools of the SEO trade
What makes sense for your business & how to get your customers to find your business on the internet

For up-to-date information about registration, future workshops and networking events, visit PAB's Programs and Special Events website page at www.performingartsburlington.com/program_events/programs.htm

Myths About Search Engine Optimization

1. I don’t need to know about SEO – My website and webmaster ensure I have a strong presence on the Internet that will bring more business.

Not true. How strong is your presence compared to your competitors? The technology behind search engines has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years, has your website grown with it? Or is it time to adapt?

2. SEO works like magic.

Not so. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is just like any other job in life. If you do a good job and put in the hard work, you will get results. When you search for something on the Internet, you expect the search engine to read your mind and provide what you are looking for on the very first line. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. If you want people to find you that way, make sure your website is the best it can be. Make your web presence the most informative place to learn about what you provide. Make sure you can answer the questions a potential customer would ask. Who are you? What do you do? When and where do you do it? How can I get it? People ask questions on search engines. Provide answers.

3. If I pay to be submitted to the search engines, I’ll see more traffic to my website.

Not so. URL submission pages came about in the 90s. They should stay there. There are still companies that charge a fee for submissions to the top search engines on a regular basis. URLs can be indexed within hours by participating in a blog or other Web 2.0 social sites.

4. Paid services for key word optimization will increase Search Engine Optimization.

These days the phrase, “Search Engine Optimization” or SEO is all the buzz. Most paid services focus on the keywords in a website and offer monthly keyword optimization strategies. Regrettably this is only a strategy and not reality. Search engines don’t work using keywords alone. Any business that relies solely on key word strategy for the Internet will fail. Using incorrect, inappropriate, repetitive or too many keywords can negatively impact your presence on the web, resulting in being banned or lowering your business’s search engine ranking.

5. Regular submissions of my URL will increase my web presence.

Wrong again. Any service that claims to submit your site to search engines on a regular basis may get you banned as the search engines may interpret the submission as spam.