The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

Keywords are one of the most important tools to driving traffic to your Web site. They’re the words that people type into their search engines to find the resources they’re looking for, which is why optimizing your site with terms that aren’t going to give you the right traffic is stupid.

So in order to save you from making some simple mistakes, here are two misconceptions that rookie keyword optimizers sometimes fall into.

1. Thinking that your customers know your industry-specific terms. Just because you know what your site is about, doesn’t mean you know how a customer would go about finding it. Because of how closely they work with their sites, owners tend to view them through a narrow lens, and therefore optimize their sites using jargon that the everyday consumer either doesn’t understand or doesn’t automatically think of when they begin their searches.
2. Thinking that “high-profile” or generic terms are best. There might be thousands of people who type the word “google” into their search engines, but they’re looking for Google, not you. If the term has little or nothing to do with your site and you’re just looking for traffic, then you’re wasting your time. Even if you do end up getting traffic, it’s not going to be the quality traffic that you’re looking for. Also, if you go overly broad with your terms, your search engine rankings will be poor. Terms like “car” or “internet” register billions of results each, so you’re not likely to be high on that list.

What I do suggest is that you perform keyword research to find the words that people are really using to search online. Through keyword research you can also find out how many Web sites are currently optimized for certain keywords and useful synonyms for the words that best describe your business. There are a number of keyword research tools out there on the Web, so I encourage you to check them out and do your homework to make sure your keywords are giving you the best results possible.

Passwords protect all sorts of highly sensitive information like personal emails, your social security number or bank account information. Unfortunately, too few people put the effort into making them strong and secure. Most of us have been guilty of it at one time or another, myself included. I was always too lazy to come up with something clever and difficult to figure out. I was also afraid that if I did, I would forget it two seconds later.

Strong passwords don’t have to be a hassle though, and if they are, well get over it. They’re necessary to keeping you and your information safe.

What To Do:

• Make your password long, at least eight characters
• Combine letters, numbers and symbols
• Use words/phrases that are strange to others but memorable to you

What Not To Do:

• Use sequences of numbers or letters
• Use any parts of your name, birthday or social security number
• Only have one password for everything

Microsoft has a cool password checker that will help you check the strength of your password. Just type yours in and it will tell you how good (or bad) it is.

If your company hasn’t jumped on the social media bandwagon yet, then maybe this will give you a great big shove in the right direction. I recently came across some overwhelming statistics regarding the use of social media by online users on the Duct Tape Marketing blog.

The research, which was developed by Universal McCann, blew me away. I know that social media is highly regarded as a useful marketing tool, but I guess I never realized just how much it really reaches people. Here are some of the stats:

• 73% of online users read a blog
• 57% of online users join social networks
• 45% of online users have started a blog
• 83% of online users have viewed a video online
• 39% of online users subscribe to RSS feeds
• 36% of online users think more positively about companies that have blogs

Kinda crazy isn’t it? If you’re too cheap to institute any social media tactics of your own, or you think you just don’t have the time, then shame on you. You’re missing out.

New data released yesterday from analytics and billing firm Bango suggests that the United States may soon pass the United Kingdom as the top user of the mobile Web. According to a VentureBeat post, the United States holds nearly 19 percent of the world total, while the United Kingdom holds about 19.4 percent. In terms of growth, the United States is moving forward much more rapidly.

I’ve said it once before, and I’ll say it again, the mobile Web is where it’s all headed. So if you’ve been waiting to see if it will really take off, then you must have blinked somewhere along the way, because it has already taken off. I highly suggest you do some brainstorming and figure out how your company can get on board with the movement, that is, if you haven’t already. Adapt your Web site to the mobile Web. Advertise on the mobile Web. Just do what you can to take advantage of the growing number of people flocking to their cell phones to stay connected.

I read a great post this morning on the Wall Street Journal’s small business blog Independent Street about social media. Basically it talks about the ways that some businesses are messing up their social marketing efforts. Though some small businesses are familiar with the Web 2.0 world, many still don’t fully grasp the concept and its impact. So I wanted to highlight two points from the blog post that I think can be applied to social media in a broad sense.

The first is that businesses need to lighten up—a lot. Social media is all about personality and creating a fun and engaging environment. So don’t bore your customers with “dry facts about your business.” The second is that promoting your business shouldn’t be the one, main force driving your social marketing efforts. Why? Because people aren’t stupid. They can see through the fluff, and if all you’re doing is blatantly selling yourself, people will be turned off. Instead, social media is “about making connections and creating credibility so that people will like you and trust you and eventually want to buy from you.”

So if you keep things fun, personal and all about your customers (not you), you’re in a good position to make social media work for you.

The open-source software movement (also known as the free software movement) received a boost Wednesday from the federal appeals court in Washington, according to an article from the New York Times. The court ruled that “just because a software programmer gave his work away did not mean it could not be protected.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the ethics of software and the open-source debate, basically open-source software development occurs when programmers willingly contribute code, as well as their own time and effort, to a collaborative development process without any kind of financial compensation. In essence, they work for the fun of it.

One of the biggest obstacles facing the movement, however, is the ambiguity of open-source licensing. This recent ruling, which is a reversal of a San Francisco federal court ruling, gives the open-source community a significant bump in the right direction. Up until this point anyone was free to modify the programming created by the open-source group. Now they can still do so, but only as long as the open-source programmers retain the credit for their work and can distribute the work with their own instructions.

The ruling provides a strong legal backstop for hardworking members of the open-source community, allowing them to freely do what they’re passionate about and still receive credit for it. I would personally like to congratulate the open-source community on its victory. This is not only great for those involved in the movement, but it’s also important for society as a whole and our ability to use, adapt and learn from highly collaborative software development.

This is a hotly contested issue, so I’d like to know how you all feel about it. Whether you’re a member of the open-source community or not, what do you think of this ruling or the debate in general?

This year, business with five to 99 employees already represent about 32 percent of spending in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, according to Compass Intelligence. In addition, a new series of reports by the research organization predict that ICT spending among these small to midsize businesses will increase between six and eight percent annually through 2012, bumping spending by this group up to about $280 billion.

So why might there be such a surge in ICT spending by small and midsize businesses? Perhaps they realize that they’re going to need to step up their game and become more efficient and innovative if they wish to survive and compete in the current economic climate. Or perhaps they’re creative and innovative enough to realize the importance of using Web 2.0 technologies to engage their customers and improve customer experience. Either way these businesses are smart not to let up on their ICT spending. Businesses that choose to cut costs in this area rather than increase spending could find themselves falling behind or ultimately going under.

Two important small business research programs were unanimously reauthorized by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship last week. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program will both be around for at least another 14 years.

The SBIR program provides funding for small businesses to explore their technological potential. Enacted in 1982, the SBIR program requires 11 federal departments and agencies to set aside a portion of their research and development (R&D) money for small businesses. It’s no secret that the entrepreneurial sector is ripe for technological innovation. Unfortunately, conducting intense research and development is usually beyond the means of a small business. By reserving this funding, the SBIR program enables small innovative technology companies to compete with larger businesses.

The STTR program reserves a percentage of federal R&D funding for both small businesses and nonprofit research institutions. The idea behind the STTR program is that research institutions are vital to developing high-tech innovations, but rarely is the innovation enacted in a practical environment. Small businesses on the other hand can enact technology in a practical environment, but don’t have the time or resources to develop them. The STTR program forms partnerships between the two entities and provides them with joint funding. Small businesses can then profit from the commercialization of the technologies.

To become a part of either of these programs you have to meet certain requirements. They include:

• American-owned and independently operated
• For-profit
• Principal researcher employed by business
• Company size limited to 500 employees

With the reauthorization of the bipartisan bill, however, comes the compromised inclusion of small businesses that are majority owned and controlled by multiple venture capital companies, which was a hotly contested issue.

This is a great opportunity for any small tech startup looking for funding to help expand its reach. Both programs are highly competitive, but then again so are most kinds of funding. If you’re at all interested, I encourage you to look into these programs. They could be the ticket to taking your business to the next level.