Author: Nancy McCord

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Doctors and Online Reviews

I read with interest an article in the Washing on Post on Sunday about how Doctors are combating online reviews by requiring patients to sign that they will not review the doctor or their services online in exchange for keeping the patient’s email address private from third party marketing use.

I found the article troubling, as I have used online reviews to select a doctor before and routinely review a physician online before scheduling an appointment. Of issue was what almost appeared to me to be blackmail – “don’t share your experience or we’ll sell your email to spammers”. Worse yet, was the closing paragraph where one physician reviewed stated that he/she routinely goes online and writes glowing fake reviews about themselves.

The importance of legitimate online reviews for both physician review and even for Google Places simply cannot be downplayed. As reviews become more important for online businesses and localized search results become more predominant in search results on Bing.com and Google.com I am expecting the search engines to roll out this year an authorization tie in to one of your social profiles to afford legitimacy. In fact, I feel that in light of this article clear identification and legitimacy of online reviews is overdue.

As to businesses and the physician in this case requiring a patient to sign away review rights for services to be provided, is simply draconian and worthy of boycott.

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Facebook and EdgeRank Explained

Just as PageRank is to Google.com placement, EdgeRank is to Facebook placement in a reader’s News Feed. In other words, your EdgeRank on Facebook will determine if a fan sees your updates in their News Feeds and where.

First, here’s a graphical image from TechCrunch and LiveStream that explains the concept of EdgeRank.

EdgeRank
The formula for Facebook's EdgeRank.

The bottom-line is that when you have more comments, likes, and tags on a Facebook Business Page wall post, your EdgeRank will be higher. Additionally new news is preferred over old news. If your EdgeRank meets a certain threshold, your post will be show in a subscriber or fan’s News Feed. There appear to be not only EdgeRank numbers for posts but for whole Facebook accounts.

Here’s one free tool that I have found that allows you to check your own Business page’s EdgeRank.  Most of the pages we work with that have under 100 fans but more than 80 fans will have an EdgeRank that is about 12 to 15 or average. The free interface is quirky and you may have to refresh the page several times to see your numbers, but this tool will give you a general idea.

Can you ever really know your “real” EdgeRank. Most likely not. It seems this number is like Google’s PageRank (not to be confused with Google Toolbar PageRank) and is secret and a part of the special algorithm that racks and stacks sites.

So what can you do to improve your Facebook EdgeRank?

  • Post regularly on Facebook.
  • Post four to five times a day on Facebook.
  • Post shareable items that are current events or trending topics.
  • Move away from an all about me focus.
  • Actively work to engage readers.
  • Start a log sheet of all fans when added as Facebook will hide their names once added.
  • Use your list of fans to interact with @messages.

If you have additional suggestions or thoughts on Facebook EdgeRank, make sure to click comments and let me know!

 

 

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Google: McCord Web Design is McCord Web Services LLC Since 2008!

McCord Web Design based in Waldorf, Maryland has changed their business name to McCord Web Services LLC after experiencing a 49% increase in sales in 2007. Positioned for more growth in 2008, McCord Web Services LLC is adding new Web related services in their aggressive growth plan for 2008. Read the full press release at PRWeb.com.

In light of Google using our old business name as the title for our website in their index as of an algorithm change this past week, I wanted to clarify for the Web who we really are.

Here’s the text of our 2008 press release:

Waldorf, Maryland (PRWEB) April 1, 2008

McCord Web Design based in Waldorf, Maryland and serving clients globally for over seven years, has become McCord Web Services LLC after increasing sales 49% in 2007. Positioned for more growth in 2008 McCord Web Services LLC has an aggressive plan to add new Web related services for 2008.

McCord Web Services started out as a web design only service provider and has expanded its service offerings over the years based on client demand. Initially serving only local clients, and working from word of mouth referrals, McCord Web Services has grown into a national provider of webmaster outsourcing services. Core businesses for the firm now include website updates and maintenance, web design, search engine marketing, and ghost blogging. New services that are projected for introduction in the next several months include news release writing and distribution services, feature article writing and listings, and simple podcasting services for business owners.

Part of the reason for the strong growth McCord Web Services LLC experienced in 2007 is due to its introduction of ghost blogging services. With five levels of service offering quality blog writing with a frequency of three to five days a week, McCord Web Services has become an in-demand ghost blogger for many business-related blogs. Employing six writers, spread across the country, the team for McCord Web Services now writes on a wide variety of blogs from political commentary, GPS tracking, ergonomics relating to material handling equipment, bed bugs, stamp collecting, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and other diverse topics.

An additional growth area for the firm has been in the search engine marketing arena. “Google AdWords has become so complicated that clients do not want to get a ‘degree in AdWords’ and so seek us out to set up and manage their Google search engine marketing accounts.” said Nancy McCord, President of the firm. Operating as a professional account manager for Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter, Nancy McCord does all the keyword research, account set up, and account management for the firm’s growing business in search engine marketing. Highly skilled in account management, Nancy McCord is a Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and Microsoft adExcellence member as well as a Google AdWords Qualified Advertising Professional and has been managing search engine marketing accounts professionally for over three years.

After experiencing strong growth in 2007, McCord Web Services is positioning themselves for another year of strong growth with the addition of several new services projected for release this year. Their news release writing service is scheduled for rollout in April and their feature article writing service is scheduled for May. Podcasting services will be introduced in August or September.

For additional information on McCord Web Services LLC or to review their service listings please contact Nancy McCord or visit http://www.McCordWeb.com.

About McCord Web Services LLC: McCord Web Services LLC and has been providing webmaster services, web design, search engine marketing services, and blog writing services globally since 2001. The firm founded by Nancy McCord, employs seven people and has embraced a philosophy of excellence with this corporate tag line: “Our Focus is on Your Success!”

Contact: Nancy McCord, President McCord Web Services LLC (301) 705-7303

http://www.McCordWeb.com/

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Google is Changing Your Page Title in the Search Results

Google is now changing your title in the search results. In fact they may or may not pick up your specially crafted meta tag title at all. I find this troubling and annoying.

Here’s just one important example. My business name used to be McCord Web Design. I incorporated over four or five years ago and now our name is McCord Web Services LLC. Just this past week in the Google index, the title of my website changed in the Google index from my careful crafted title to “McCord Web Design”! I don’t and have not used that name in years! Additionally there is no code on my entire site that carries my old name. Sheesh, I hate that. You can’t correct a problem like this or even complain about this issue to Google.

If this has happened to you, just be sure that in time it will go away. Bing did the same thing (created its own website title) several years ago and is now showing the real meta titles in their index. So annoying as it is that Google has done this, most likely this will eventually go away.

So, in the meantime, know that any references you find in the Google index to McCord Web Design, are really McCord Web Services. Good grief Google stop tweaking my code for your index!