Monthly archive for December 2009

2009 Abundance

Sweet Christmas Tree 2009

Sweet Christmas Tree 2009

Finally a follow up to my “Being Thankful” post. I had to share the Sweet Family Christmas tree. We enjoyed the lovely fragrance and beauty of the gia-normous tree the entire month of December. On Christmas morning when the whole clan met, the overflow of spirit and the physical gifts were a testament to the abundance that is always available to us. Blessings to all and much happiness and success in 2010.

It’s a New Year! A Time to Keep, a Time to Let Go

At the end of the year I have always found it helpful to review the previous one for the successes and losses that will help me to set goals for the new year. Following is a list of great questions to ask yourself when you have a few private moments to reflect. These questions pertain to all aspects of life, not only business, but personally and spiritually. I hope you find it beneficial and I wish you much success, love, peace, and prosperity for 2010.
These insightful questions were offered by Louise Hay, founder of Hay House Publishing. Take time to ask and explore these simple questions:
What shall I now release from my life?
What or who no longer works for me?
What am I holding on to that holds me back?
What thoughts or beliefs belong to the old me?
How am I being unloving to myself?
Am I ready to let go?
What do I believe that really works for me?
What is going on in my life that is terrific and wonderful?
Where am I being very loving to myself?
Where am I most content?
Let me acknowledge myself for all the growth and change.
What do I want to bring to my life?
What do I want to create?
How do I want the next year to be?
Who do I want to bring into my world?
How do I want to look?
What image do I want to project?
How healthy do I want to be?
How prosperous do I want to feel?
How much love am I willing to experience?
What kind of world do I want to live in?
Affirm:
I know that where I am is the totality of possibilities . . . not just a few possibilities, but the totality of all creation.
I am not limited by statistics, medical opinions, time, or authorities.
I am one with the infinite wisdom and capabilities of the Universe itself.
All good is available to me, right here and right now.
All I have to do is to use the power of my thoughts to create that which I desire. I know that. Now let me live it!
Louise Hay – www.hayhouse.com

Be Thankful – Author Unknown

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire. 
If you did, what would there be to look forward to? 
Be thankful when you don’t know something, 
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. 
During those times you grow. 
Be thankful for your limitations, 
because they give you opportunities for improvement. 
Be thankful for each new challenge, 
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons. 
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary, 
because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things. 
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who 
are also thankful for the setbacks. 
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. 
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, 
and they can become your blessings.

Connection Group Quick Tips on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 2009

These tips are current as of today Dec. 2009.
SEO changes rapidly so please check back with us for questions regularly.
Text, Content & Keywords on your Site
• Site content
• Location of text the search engines can see.
Inbound links
• Other sites linking to your site
Site Architecture
• Code or Back-end of your Web site
To find our what words searchers are using go to:
Google™ Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2
Where to Place the Keywords
Title Tag
Once you find some top key words to use, include them in your page title tags. Be sure to pay attention to spelling, singular or plural (graphic, graphics) and the order the words are listed (design graphics (no), graphic design (yes)
Title Tag Tips
<title>Title text</title>
<title>The name of your company here: your specialty and industry</title>
<title>Connection Group: Branding Design </title>
Other Places to Add Keywords
Meta tags
• Description tag is the most important
• Keywords in site copy- currently the first 25 words of your home page are most critical.
Other Areas Bots Pay attention to:
Headlines
Bold and italicized words
Within links to other places on your site
Inbound Links
Who is linking to your site?
• Go to: http://yahoo.com
link:domainname (exam. in the search box I typed:
link:connectiongraphics.com then hit return. Be sure to check your whole site, not just your home page.
Inbound Link Summary
Check your page rank: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
Sign your site up for a free link: (quality sites only)
miwomen.com
• Online directories
• Link to customers, groups, charities, etc.
How Links to Your Site Help
• Check Google Page Rank
(0 to 10 – 10 is best) http://toolbar.google.com
The above is free and installs in seconds
• Are the links relevant to what you are selling? Are there similar keywords on both sites?
• Title Keywords / Title Tag relevant?
• Anchor Keyword – The text that, when clicked, brings the user to your Web site should be descriptive (not just click here).
• Quantity – Number of sites linking to your Web site helps your page rank.
How you can get Web sites to link to Your Site
• Work with connectiongraphics.com (let us add your ad and Web link!)
• Join Membership & Networking Organizations: Chamber of Commerce, WISE, your LocalFirst, Social Media Groups, etc.
• Online Directories
• Yellow Pages / Yellow Book (pay 🙁 )
Yahoo, Business.com (various levels)
• Add Good Site Content and become a noted expert and resource.
• Add content to other sites (social networking and resource sites, blogs, etc.)
Ask for Links
• Suppliers and Customers
• Business Partners
• Organizations (charitable, groups, associations)
• Event Sponsorship
• WISE http://wiseconnections.org/ accepts articles in exchange
• Fundraiser Outings (News Page)
• Reciprocal Links
• Search on your site name and find out who is linking to you and recirocate.
Why to hire experienced Web designers and developers to build your site architecture…
Major Problem Areas for Search Engines
• Site designed with frames
• Sites that are all FLASH. Currently Flash is not Search Engine friendly.
• Your URL does not change when browsing to another page or site
• Too much animation
• Entire page is a “image/graphic” or pdf.
• Slow loading because graphics have not been optimized properly or poor text quality.
• NavBars in Flash or Java Script (this is also important for readability on the Web. Some people do not have these programs on their computer or have disabled them. If you have used flash or Javascript in your site navigation and visitors do not have them installed, all access to pages in your site are not reachable.
This short tip just scratches the surface of SEO. Please return to our tips page as we add to this information. If you’d like to see our graphic and web design samples, you can view by case study, or by service on our Web site: connectiongraphics.com