There are two different kinds of keywords you can use when optimizing your website: short tail and long tail. Short tail keywords have broad application and are highly competitive – such as “gift baskets.” Due to their familiarity, short tail keywords are searched for much more than long tail keywords. An example of a less-competitive, long tail equivalent to “gift baskets” might be “happy birthday gift baskets.” 

So if long tail keywords don’t get searched for nearly as much as short tail, why would anybody use them? First of all, long tail keywords aren’t as competitive, so you have a realistic chance of making the first page of results on Google and other search engines. Depending on the competition, you may even be able to crack the top five, which would be difficult with a short tail keyword like “gift baskets.” This search result positioning is incredibly valuable for internet marketers and is a great tradeoff for short tail keywords, which ultimately get more searches. 

Because long tail keywords are more specific, they generally convert at a high rate. For example, if an internet marketer worked day and night and was able to rank on the first page of search results for “gift baskets,” they would be seen by an enormous number of people each day. But many of the people would be looking for a specific kind of gift basket, which the marketer may not offer. When someone searches for “happy birthday gift basket,” they know exactly what they want and are likely to make a purchase if you offer a good selection of related products.

• Accept Legitimate Criticism It can be tough to hear skepticism from those you love, but they may have a point. Their criticism should never be enough that you scrap your idea altogether, but it may help you tailor and improve your business.
• Avoid Delusion Sometimes people will get such a hold of an idea or product that they’ll never let go. Passion and positivity shouldn’t turn into being out of touch with reality. Friends and family may actually help keep you grounded.
• Stay Positive It can be discouraging if those you care most about aren’t supporting you, but try to stay positive. If you need to, spend less time with those individuals; if you do spend time with them, keep the conversation about something other than your business. Avoiding confrontation is best.
• Stick To The Real Facts There are plenty of facts out there about how unlikely it is for your business to succeed. Instead focus on all the data out there about why you will succeed, and realize that you’re going to be able to avoid all the downfalls of those other businesses because you have a proven system in place.
• Good Business Plan Every business should have a comprehensive business plan. Preparing and studying the plan will help you answer any criticism your family and friends may have, which is an added reason to have a good one.
• Prove Them Wrong So your family and/or friends doubt your ability to succeed – so what? Use that as motivation to work even harder and prove them wrong.

First of all, Google and other search engines don’t give out all details on each of the algorithms they use to calculate search results and relevancy (even when they’re asked). That being said, we admit there is occasionally a bit of speculation on our end about what different details Google takes into account for its results. However, given some of the other criteria Google uses we felt it reasonable to suggest that they – and other search engines – may give more weight to .mobi domains if the search is being conducted from a mobile device.

Secondly, search engines use hundreds of different criteria when ranking a link – how recently the site has been updated, the last time it was clicked, how long people stayed on when they clicked, etc. So while a .mobi domain will have some influence on the results, it certainly doesn’t mean the site will automatically rank better than a non-.mobi site; it only means the link will get an extra bump in that direction.

Lastly, if you run a search on your mobile device, you may not notice any .mobi sites in the results. Part of this may have to do with what was just mentioned (about .mobi only being one of many criteria) but some of those links may actually redirect the user to a .mobi site. The search results page will display the usual URL (.com, .org, etc.) but the mobile user will actually land on a .mobi page.

So these are some things to consider not only when searching on a mobile device, but when deciding on whether to have a .mobi site.

At WordPress.com, anyone can sign up for a free blog and receive a personalized domain (example.wordpress.com). This blog is then somewhat customizable, allowing the user to create the kind of blog they want. This option is great for someone who is just starting out with blogging. WordPress.com takes care of setup, security, spam, upgrades, and more. All the user has to do is blog.

However, for people who want a completely customizable experience – including the ability to have specific advertisements on their blog – WordPress.com falls short. While the user has options, they are unable to edit any of the code on their blog, import or use custom themes, install specific plugins, or run ads on their site. Some of these features become accessible with a paid upgrade.

At WordPress.org, anyone can download the WordPress software for free and then pay to have it hosted. Doing so allows them to use their own domain name, fully customize anything, and generally have more control. However, this also means the user is responsible for blocking spam and backing up their website, and the whole experience may require a bit more knowledge and expertise.

While WordPress.org will host your site for a fee, most web hosting sites will include the option to install WordPress on your website as well, often in just a few easy steps. This will allow your site to run off the WordPress software, with which you can create pages, design sidebars, add widgets, and do anything else you need.

For both WordPress.com and WordPress.org, there is WordPress MU. Previously a project in development and now a standard feature, WordPress MU (now called multi-site or MS) allows more than one blog to be supported with each installation. This means that one individual can moderate and control all of their blogs from one dashboard.

So study the different options and decide which, if either, is best for you.

By Courtney Buell

Business owners sometimes have a hard time with change. Setting up a business takes a ton of work to begin with and changing the way you’ve decided to do business means even more work. Chances are, when you set out to start a business, you didn’t do it because you were interested in making your life as tedious and laborious as possible. On the contrary, you wanted to do something you loved and were good at and make some money from it. Unfortunately, change is the only thing anyone can count on in the future. The good news is that the more open you are to changes, the better your business will ultimately be and the easier it will become both to do business and to keep adapting. Cultivating a love of learning and a willingness to apply it is the single best thing you can do for your business.

Learning new things everyday and staying on the forefront of technological and business trends will help you keep your business relevant and competitive. Learning as much as you can about your industry, business in general, and your customer’s wants may inspire you to make changes in your business, and making these changes might not be fun or easy, but every time you make a change and learn from the outcome, your business becomes sleeker and stronger. Also, many of the technological innovations that appear every day are created to make business easier. So, if you can summon the motivation to make a change now, you can potentially save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Many of the largest companies in the world are able to remain viable because they are willing to make necessary and sometimes painful changes to their structure and business model. Bill Gates is the CEO of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world and he is a self-proclaimed lifelong learner. He attributes his success to his desire to learn new things all the time and his willingness to make changes based on his learning.

If you stop learning, innovating, and advancing, you fall behind; because the rest of the world is thundering on like a juggernaut and they have no problem leaving you and your silly little company in the dust – more cake for them.

If you can learn to love learning, your responsibility to stay on top of business trends will be met with ease. Then, you need to be humble enough to open your mind to the possibility of changing the way you live and work for the better. Easier said than done, I know, but not only is it helpful to your business to keep learning, it’s absolutely vital.

Success Tip: Never Stop Learning (employees)

We’ve been admonished our entire lives to learn. From the time we enter kindergarten to the time we graduate from college, our main purpose in life is to consume information and regurgitate it on demand. The practice is admittedly beneficial, but exhausting. By the time we reach our early twenties and leave the hallowed halls of education (some of us for good), we are kind of burnt out on learning. A shocking number of college graduates seem to avoid books altogether once they aren’t being graded on their knowledge of them. It seems fair, right? We pay our dues to the educational system for our developmental years and when we finish, we lay that part of our lives aside in order to (hopefully) put our learning to action, make money, and contribute to society.

This system works fine for the average Joe. But you are not this average Joe – this mediocre schmuck willing to skate through life unnoticed and perpetually replaceable. You crave success. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve success is to get back on those books, figuratively speaking. You don’t necessarily have to re-enroll in school for an advanced degree (though it couldn’t hurt) but you do have to cultivate in yourself a passion for learning.

Whether you want to land your dream job, get promoted, or break out and start your own business, your success depends on your willingness to learn. Learn from your mistakes, learn from the people around you, find a mentor, and seek out as much information as you can about your industry, your ideal career, and how to get what you want.

The next step is to use what you learn to change the way you act. We’ve all heard the proverb “Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome”. To change, we have to admit that we don’t have it all figured out and that there may be a better way of doing things. Once you can take the information you learn and apply it to your life effectively, you will be able to adapt well to any new demands your career will put on you, and you will be able to figure out a way to succeed at anything you want to.

Not sure where to start in your new journey of lifelong learning? Start small – set a goal to pick up a new hobby or learn a new job skill. Chances are you’ll catch the learning bug and want to keep going for your own enjoyment. Along the way, make sure you set realistic, quantifiable goals to help you get closer to your dream. Also, take a moment every day to remind yourself of your end goal when the going gets tough and the changes hurt. Making the choice to be a lifelong learner isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth the trouble.

Courtney Buell is a writer at Professional Marketing International. Prior to joining PMI, Courtney obtained a bachelors degree in Humanities and wrote for various print and online publications in Salt Lake City. Professional Marketing International helps people achieve their dreams.

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