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SEO Training Tip’s

John Regis — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:03:21 +0000

A quick introduction – I’m Rob and I work for Distilled in the UK office. This is my first post here on SEOmoz, so I hope you find it useful and I look forwards to your feedback.

Running well planned training sessions can be a great way to build the credibility of SEO at the same time as educating your organisation. But if you don’t put the effort in it can look unprofessional and sloppy. Who’s likely to care about implementing good SEO if you don’t even look like you care about it yourself?

Whether you work in-house, or provide training for clients and colleagues at an agency, here are my top tips for SEOs when it comes to planning and delivering effective training sessions.

Identify SEO Needs

SEO is becoming increasingly broad and complex – not everybody in your business needs to know the granular details of SEO from one end to the other. For example, a developer may be on your course to find out how to build SEO friendly sites, but they probably don’t need to know a wealth of link building strategies.

Call or email the potential attendees and identify what they are hoping to get out of the course. What are the key processes in their working day? How can you make them more effective or efficient through education? Don’t deliver a one-size-fits-all SEO course across your whole organisation – use these insights to build a course which addresses the needs of the attendees.

Prepare

There’s absolutely nothing worse than showing up at someone’s desk with no prep and trying to deliver some training off the cuff. They’re unlikely to actually learn anything, and it will not be a positive experience for either party. Make sure you prepare well in advance – give yourself time to create something truly effective.

Set up a good environment

The middle of an office is rarely a good place for training, so make sure you book an adequate room where you can set up an environment that is conducive to learning. You should also:

Ensure you have the right equipment (e.g. projector, laptop) set up before the session starts
Have all of your handouts printed and organised
Put out notepads and pens in case attendees have forgotten them
Making sure the lighting, temperature etc. is appropriate
Get some drinks, water, and biscuits – people love biscuits.

Essentially you should make sure that attendees have everything they need so that they aren’t distracted.

You should also make sure that the room is arranged appropriately for the type of course that you’re delivering. If it’s going to be technical you may need to show examples on-screen, so ensure people are facing the screen and have a writing surface for notes. If you’re doing a creative session (e.g. linkbaiting ideas, content strategies) you could encourage sharing and conversation by arranging the room so that attendees are facing each other. Finally, if attendees will be undertaking team tasks, small clusters may work best.

Structure

Build your training session around a handful of key learning outcomes – these should be relatively easy to identify if your needs analysis was successful. For a course about optimising blog posts, they could be:

How to use keyword tools
How to identify good target keywords
Where to use keywords in an article.

In addition, Aristotle’s (simplified) ideas on giving a speech are a useful guide for structuring training:

Tell them what you’re going to tell them
Tell them
Tell them what you told them.

I usually use this to structure the course as a whole, as well as for each key learning point. It helps keep the attendees on track and clearly defines different sections.

Finally, if the course is an interactive group session I’d recommend using an ice-breaker to get people sharing and talking. For some ideas, check out these resources:

Combining the all of the above, your session may look something like this:

Slides

Powerpoint slides should be clean, minimal signposts for your session – an indication of how the training is progressing. You shouldn’t be filling your slides with text and reading it word for word (although there are some exceptions – if you’re teaching someone how to build an XML sitemap, you’ll probably need some XML up there). Light-hearted images can help to maintain a relaxed atmosphere, but don’t overdo it.

Effective learning won’t come from your crazy powerpoint skills, but it will come from…

1) An Engaging Presentation Style
If you’re not a natural presenter practice in the mirror, in front of your family, in front of your dog – whatever works best for you. The more you do it, the better you’ll get and the more you’ll relax.

If you’re a really nervous speaker, try to develop a routine before you start (e.g. setting up the room, hooking up the projector) that will provide a distraction.

2) Interactive Exercises
Teaching other people, sharing ideas, relaying tasks back to the group can all contribute to a deeper understanding of a subject and higher retention rates.

Exercises could be as simple as writing ideas for link targets on a board and explaining them back to the group, or using computers (if you have a training room that allows it) to research keywords in teams. You can also give attendees a short test on what you’ve just covered, although try to keep them fun.

I’d recommend working at least one exercise into each key learning outcome.

Learn about learning styles

Different people respond best to different methods of teaching. Honey and Mumford’s work on learning styles is well known and identifies 4 main categories:

Activists (those that learn from doing)
Reflectors (from reviewing)
Theorists (from making conclusions)
Pragmatists (by putting ideas into practice and experimenting).

These are usually identified by using a questionnaire, but I’ve seen very experienced trainers spot these traits on the fly and address them accordingly. For an SEO implementing their own training sessions this might be beyond the call of duty, but some reading about learning styles is another step on the path to becoming a training ninja.

Feedback & Follow Up

Finally, the one thing that I would absolutely recommend to all SEOs who want to get better at training is to ask every attendee to fill out a feedback form when the course is over (I’ve put together a generic feedback form you can use). Try to make the process anonymous so that you get their honest thoughts. It can be hard to take criticism at first, but you should look at each negative comment as an opportunity to get even better.

Soon after the course send a follow-up email with your contact details, soft copies of course materials, links to resources, and a thank you to the attendees for taking the time to come along.

Hopefully this post will give you some information that you can go away and use to deliver better training courses to your colleagues and clients. Of course, I’d welcome any feedback and suggestions in the comments below, or you can always catch me on Twitter.

Triple Your Mailing List Using PopUp Domination

John Regis — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:22:45 +0000

Watch How Popup Domination Plugin Increased Email Opt-in’s From 17 to 109+

This is insane, these two guys increased their mailing list opt-in rate by over 304% over night with one simple WordPress plugin and now their letting you and I get our hands on it.
You probably heard this before, The Money Is In The List!

And it’s so true… The more people you get on your list, the more money you will make because you can promote more things and send more readers back to your site.

Check It Out Now. http://john-regis.com/popup domination

This guy earns 6 figures a year from one of his blogs and the majority of his income comes from his list, because of that he has included a BONUS presentation you can watch on exactly how he makes money with is mailing list.

To Your Online Success,

John Regis – Popup Domination – View Original Post Here

Controversial Free Report – The Clickbank Quick Cash Report

John Regis — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:42:12 +0000

Just A Few Comments About This Awesome Report

“BRILLIANT report and I have spoken to someone who put the steps into action that NIGHT and did make money online in half an hour. She said she was so excited she almost stopped breathing – cos it WORKED….just like you said it would.”
Eileen

Thank you for such brilliant advice! After 6 years of playing around with various marketing methods, I think this is the possibly the turning point for me – I struggle with html at the best of times, but this will have me creating opt-in pages at the speed of light and I’m pretty sure is probably the single most valuable tool I could own to make menoy online- thank you thank you thank you!!! ”
Speth

“You are a genius – I had no idea you could do all that with Aweber – have just downloaded the report, read the whole thing and I’m going to try this out right now!

“Amazing report, I love quick cash methods and this is definitely one of them ”
Free Traffic Guy

“Hey – Great report that shows newbies how to quickly start a web business and make money online with $1 cost that’s all!!”
Matt

Internet Marketing Strategies List For Your Internet Marketing Arsenal

John Regis — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:08:29 +0000

Here are the most useful lists to have in your Internet Marketing Strategies arsenal. Whether it’s link building, webmaster tools, traffic website, blog promotion, have these handy for all your online campaigns and Internet Marketing Needs.

132 Comment Luv Blogs Listed by Niche

144 Do-Follow Forums Listed by Niche and PR

70 + Free Webmaster and SEO Tools

13 Ways to Link Building that Also Increase Traffic

Blog Traffic – 100 RSS Submit Sites

14 Ways to Get Traffic Now!

195 Keyword Suggestions – Find a Niche

65+ Social Bookmark Sites

15 Best WordPress Plugins – SEO, Subscribers, Bounce Rate…

16 Website Content Ideas

19 Social Web 2.0 Sites to Promote Internet Marketing, Blogging and Make Money Online Content

Best Internet Marketing Forums

Best Submission Sites to Make Articles Go Viral

20 Essential Blog Comment Plugins

27 Podcast Submission Sites for Blog Exposure

24 Writing Resources for Outsourcing of Content and Articles

Best Article Sites for Viral Marketing

Resource of the Week: Social Media News — Web 2.0 Clock Counts Upwards “Suicide Machine” Cleans Your Social Media Record

John Regis — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:33:42 +0000

Just how big is the social media phenomenon? This counter tells you.

Here’s a really cool graphic (much like the national debt clock that used to hang in Times Square) showing the amount of social media activity taking place at any given moment. There are tabs along the top of the graphic providing figures for daily, weekly, monthly and yearly social media use.

10 Internet Marketing Applications I Couldn’t Do Without

John Regis — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:53:57 +0000

When it comes to online marketing there is an almost limitless supply of software that promises to make your life quicker and easier. Having tried a huge number of applications over the years there are actually very few which I really use onb a regular basis and over an extended period of time.

So I thought it might prove useful if I actually listed some of the applications and add-ons which I *do* use in the hope that they might actually make your life easier too.

In no particular order then, here are my top pieces of software which I would really struggle to be without:

Dropbox

I use both a desktop and a netbook for running my online business. While the desktop offers far more power, my trusty Acer Aspire netbook can be really handy when on the road. Combined with wireless broadband I can run my business from virtually anywhere now.

Unfortunately trying to use two computers at the same time can be very frustrating indeed as you create a file on one computer and then want to access it on another.

Dropbox gets rid of that problem. Dropbox creates a “wormhole” between two or more computers and any file put into this area can then be accessed from all the other computers on the network.

In other words, if I create an article on my netbook and then want to use my desktop to upload it, rather than having to email the article to myself, or mess around with saving it onto a flash drive I can simply open it straight up from my other computer.

If you use two or more computers this application is a must have. And they even offer a free trial version.

SEO For Firefox

A classic add-on for Firefox that many people are now familiar with for good reason. This add-on helps you to assess search engine competition so is perfect for keyword research when building minisites etc.

Amazon S3 Firefox Organizer (S3Fox)

If you are selling ebooks, or hosting videos on your sites, then using Amazon S3 can be a lot quicker and a lot cheaper than using standard website hosting for distribution.

Unfortunately Amazon S3 isn’t too simple to use either so there can be a pretty steep learning curve. Fortunately I found this add-on which helps you to quickly upload files and then retrieve them.

If you need good quality, reliable file hosting then this add-on will make your life a lot easier.

Fire Uploader

Do you upload photos to Flickr or Facebook from time to time? Are you looking for a way to uipload a load of videos to YouTube? As you’re no doubt aware, uploading large files to the Web 2.0 sites can be a slow and boring process.

Log into YouTube, select the file you want to upload, then wait half an hour for it to upload. If you have half a dozen or more to upload you could be there all day.

However with the Fire Uploader add-on for Firefox you can select as many files as you like and upload them automatically in the background while you get on with other things. if you’ve ever used FTP you’ll find this a doddle to get started with and a real time-saver.

Roboform

Saves all your usernames and passwords into one neat area so that you can access them easily and they will never get lost.

SnagIt

Simply the best screen capture software I have tried. This application isn’t just good for taking screen shots (though it is very good at this and produces very good quality snaps) but the editing area is the best I have seen. Add text, arrows and just about anything imaginable. Quite simply this simple application is the best way to get professional-looking screen shots.

Norton Antivirus

It goes without saying that you’d have to be mad to run an online business without some serious anti-virus software on the go. Having tested most of the big brands over the nears it is Norton that I have found does the best job without slowing down my computer.

Twhirl

This desktop application is what I use to access Twitter most of the time. There *are* a number of different applications that do similar things but I find Twhirl does all I need while the ever-popular TweetDeck is just overkill for me.

Notetab

Simple text editor useful for coding, article creation and so on. I use this on an almost daily basis. A free version called Notetab Lite is available and is well worth a look. Allows one to carry out hard carriage returns automatically which is useful when formatting emails. Also includes a word counter useful for article creation.

Carbonite

I appreciate the importance of backing up my files but I’m terrible at doing it. So now I have automated the task. Carbonite comes ot life whenever my computer is idle and immediately backs up new or modified files for me without me having to lift a finger. A potential life-saver.

Creating Audio Podcasts In Windows Quicktime

John Regis — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:25:21 +0000

You’ve heard about podcasting—professional or homemade audio broadcasts available on the Internet—and you want to make your own. Before you start recording, you may want to check out the style and format of some popular podcasts.

iTunes 4.9 (or later) lets you find, subscribe, manage and listen to podcasts right in iTunes. With thousands of free podcasts—from favorites such as ABC News, Adam Curry, ESPN, KCRW and more—all organized by category, the new Podcast Directory puts on-demand radio at your fingertips.

Now it’s your turn to produce your own podcasts that share your witty and insightful thoughts (not to mention your born-for-radio voice) with the world. And you can record your own audio podcast with QuickTime 7 Pro, a microphone and your Windows PC.

Step 1

Open QuickTime 7 Pro on Windows. If you don’t have it, get QuickTime 7 Pro today.

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Step 2

Check your recording preferences. Open the “QuickTime Player Preferences” from the Edit menu and select the recording tab. First, click the “Choose…” button next to Microphone to select the device you will use to record your podcast. Next, verify that the format is set to “AAC Audio (.m4a)” as this is required for compatibility with iPod. Last, choose the location where you would like your podcast to be saved. Click “Apply.”

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Step 3

Choose “New Audio Recording” from the file menu. (Be sure your audio input device is connected.)

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Step 4

Click the red Capture button and begin recording with your audio input device. Click the black Stop button when you’re done recording.

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Step 5

Rename your file. The default name for your podcast will be “Audio.” If you

would like to change the name simply select the file, click the right mouse button and choose “Rename” and name the file accordingly. Congratulations — you now have a file that is ready for publishing.

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You can publish the exported file to the Internet as an enclosure on a blogging service, such as Blogger, and wrapped in a podcast-friendly RSS feed. (Please note: the audio file must be hosted on a web server such as .Mac.) RSS feed providers, such as FeedBurner, make it easy to create an RSS file from your blog.

Want to reach a potential audience of millions? Publish your podcast to iTunes Podcast Directory (subject to it being free of copyrighted or overtly explicit material). For inclusion in the iTunes Music Store, you’ll need to provide the link to the podcast RSS feed and all episodes within a podcast must be available as either AAC (.m4a) or MP3* audio enclosures.

Happy podcasting.

photo credit: Steve Keys

How To Submit A Podcast To Itunes

John Regis — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:34:58 +0000

This video shows the user how to submit a podcast feed to the iTunes podcast directory.

Listen to your favorite podcasts in the morning, afternoon, or evening by learning how to install into your iTunes.

It’s A simple step by step process to submiting a podcast to your itunes.

Watch Below

Made By You:
How To Submit A Podcast To ITunes

Made By Awakenedvoice

What Is Zite Me?

John Regis — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:23:47 +0000

Well…..

Zite.Me is a community and resource centre for budding internet entrepreneurs. Starting an online business can be overwhelming but

with Zite.Me you benefit from:

Click here to read more and discover our this brand new community that

Some New Tools & Services

John Regis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:15:14 +0000

I get quite a few emails from people about their new services and sites and although I would love to I just don’t have the time to test them all out properly but I’m sure they are mostly worth a look. Here’s a quick round up of what I have been sent lately

AffiliateMerchants.org.uk is intended to provide information for new affiliates who are looking for affiliate programs. They are able to search by network, by…………. product category and by merchant. Mark is keen to hear any feedback or suggestions for improvement.

My Aff Site – all you need to do is point your domain name at their nameservers and then pick a template etc to build sites like BMX Bikes. It’s a good idea for the less technical affiliate but will cost you 25% of your commission for the service. Definitely a possibility for those many domains we all have waiting for development.

Efficient PPC – “Discover Efficient PPC software, which includes a smart PPC campaigns builder for Google AdWords, hundreds of pre listed keywords for your campaigns, and an easy to use keyword lists editor.” Again I haven’t had a proper chance to try this out but it looks like a handy tool for generating keyword lists and creating PPC ads.

Let me know if you have tried any of these tools and have any feedback.