News & Trends – Page 28 – McCord Web Services The Web Authority

October 20, 2010October 16, 2010

The New PRWeb Experience

I just wrote a press release for a customer and sent it out via our preferred resource, PRWeb, last week. PRWeb has a new easier to use web template interface that makes adding your press release easier than before.

I found the new template to be excellent in regards to assisting me with character count in the title and how to make my video compatible with the most users possible. They still don’t have a good link creation program and you still need to code your link in their special proprietary format for PRWeb, but otherwise PRWeb has made some nice interface changes.

As a tip, when you do a press release for PRWeb this is how you do links.

This is sample content and more sample content. Now I am going to http://www.mccordweb.com/ [add a link in the sample content to my website]. Note how I had to add the complete URL, then more sample content.

In the above sample the item that I have underlined in the text between [ and ] will be the actual hyperlink in the press release. So quirky, and needs improvement, but just the way PRWeb does things.

I find that for $360 instead of $200 for dissemination, you really get more exposure for your press release investment. The release is sent to TV stations, Reuters, API, the New York Times, Businessweek, and many other premium outlets. The $200 SEO release does give good exposure but does not allow for your release to go to these top notch new outlets.

If you haven’t thought about doing a press release, you may want to consider scheduling one quarterly or at least twice a year. Not only is the exposure when you use PRWeb excellent, but the links that are generated to your website are one way inbound, quality, and have long staying power in search indexes. Our press release writing serviceis $175 per release plus additional fees to post and send out via PRWeb.

October 18, 2010March 4, 2012

The Webmaster Lockin Game and How to Defeat It

You may not know it, but in my industry it is a common practice to lock in a customer to create a long term cash flow. Some webmasters will even set up accounts in their own names for services for which you are billed just to make it difficult or nearly impossible for you to leave them and thus secure payment from you in perpetuity.

I do not believe in this particular business model and have helped a number of clients break these chains, but there are some things that you can do as an educated consumer to keep from getting in this position in the first place.

Make sure that all accounts set up for you are in your name, tell your webmaster that all accounts must use your email, and your preferred password. By this I mean your web hosting, your email, your domain name, your Twitter account, your AdWords account, and even your Facebook Business Page.
Once these accounts have been set up for you, make sure they are done properly and login once so you can verify that you have ownership. Review the settings in your account to verify that you are not just invited to login to the account, but you are the registered account owner.
Only allow your credit card, and not that of your webmaster, to be used to pay for these accounts if there are charges. A red flag to you would be where the account is supposedly in your name, but that your credit card is not tied to the account for payment. In actuality you may just be invited to see the account but may not own it.
If your web designer or webmaster refuses to do number 1, 2, and 3, I would recommend that you find another resource for your services.

Remember when your accounts are in someone else’s name, you own the rights to nothing. If your Facebook Business Page is set up as a page under the account of your webmaster and you decide to terminate your webmaster, your account, you thought you owned, is lost. It is not transferable. If your hosting account is set up as a child under the parent account of your webmaster and you have a problem, the hosting agent will not speak to you as you are not the account owner.

It is unfortunate that many clients actually do not know they do not own their own accounts until there is a problem and they want to fire their webmaster. Don’t let this happen to you! It can be costly both in time and money to remediate if even possible.

September 13, 2010March 4, 2012

McCord Web Services Becomes a Google AdWords Certified Partner

McCord Web Services is a Google AdWords Certified Partner

Just this last week I finished taking the last of two Google AdWords certification tests. This is my fourth test since I became a Google AdWords Qualified Professional. This time however passing the test allowed me to certify my business as a Google AdWords Certified Partner. That’s big news!

Not only am I a Google AdWords Certified Individual, but now my company has met the criteria of management of ad spend to qualify as well. A Google AdWords Certification is hard. I know, I have studied countless hours in addition to my regular work load. Over the years I have seen the tests become easier and then harder.

The very first Google AdWords certification test was killer, the second one two years later was totally watered down to allow more managers to be part of the AdWords program, the third exam two years later was tougher, and this last two part exam in the new AdWords Certification program was really tough.

What this means is that fewer people will pass to become certified and so the title Google AdWords Certified Individual or Google AdWords Certified Partner now actually means something – that your account manager is proficient not only in Google jargon and what Google thinks is important about AdWords, but effective in real account management scenarios in case study type questions that are like real world account issues.

If you are looking for a Google AdWords Certified consultant or account manager, I invite you to visit our website to learn more about our Google AdWords account management programs.