Watch This ---> http://screencast.com/t/MTQ5ZjE4ZTc

Text Review:

1. Save the Absolute Link to your Facebook Unread Inbox

2. Use the blue button to unread, instead of deleting

3. Use principles from Inbox Zero & Delete the emails you know are trash before you actually read the emails that are not

*You may decrease the # of messages you get by telling people on your profile homepage, more effective ways of messaging you.

[I'm sure this post will Grow, but it's a start.]

Click here to view the embedded video.

Offline

Make your Mail go where the Internet doesn't. Access your inbox through your browser and use Parallel MVMT Mail's familiar features when you're offline. To get started, enable this lab and then click on the "Offline" link in the upper-right of your inbox.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  There are always those times you don't have an internet connect and need an email. Even in this wired world, this happens more than you think.

Tasks

Tasks adds a to-do list to your Mail. After adding the lab, click the Tasks link above the chat box on the left-hand-side of the page. Your task list will appear on the right – click anywhere in the list and start typing to add a task. You can also create a task from an email: from the More Actions menu, choose Add to Tasks when viewing an email, or press shift+T if you have keyboard shortcuts enabled. For more shortcuts, explore the Actions menu at the bottom of your task list.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  There are several task management tools online these days. Email, especially for people who work online at all, is the BIGGEST source of interruption and task delegation / creation. Why not use a task management tool built in?

All of the Previews in mail

• Shows a video preview whenever you receive a YouTube link in an email. You can watch the video right inline!
• Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Picasa link in an email.
• Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Flickr link in an email.
• Shows previews of Yelp listings (rating, location, phone number, etc.) whenever you receive a Yelp link in an email.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Preview of anything is a good thing so that you can know what you're getting into. It saves the extra step of having to go deeper without wanting or needing to.

Quick Links

Adds a box to the left column that gives you 1-click access to any bookmarkable URL in your Mail.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: You can use it for saving frequent searches, important individual messages, and more.

Pictures in chat

See your friends' profile pictures when you chat with them.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We now live in where where PEOPLE are as much Visual learners and workers as they are textual. Empower yourself and your colleagues / friends to actually see something visually stimulating while you are chatting with them. If you are not fond of your own picture, use your favorite artwork or icon.

Fixed width font

Adds an option to the reply dropdown menu that lets you view a message in fixed width font.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This is great when you get one of those emails that have bad coding, or 5,000 different types of fonts, making it hard to read.

Custom keyboard shortcuts

Lets you customize keyboard shortcut mappings. Adds a new Settings tab from which you can remap keys to various actions.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Ever think to yourself "Whomever came up with the idea that "Y" should be the shortcut for Archive, should be fired?" Well, with Custom keyboard shortcut, that person can keep their wonderful job at Google, and you can change the shortcut to the shortcut to the "42." (you have to see Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe to understand this joke.)

Signature tweaks

Places your signature before the quoted text in a reply, and removes the "--" line that appears before signatures.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This just looks so much better. There is no arguing this point.

Sender Time Zone

Shows you senders Time Zone. Should I reply to this mail or just call the guy? Ooops… it's 1 am. Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb…

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This is great for all of those people that do business and manage relationships in multiple area codes. Would love to see how Ludacris and Nate Dogg would have used this feature... (we love ignorant mysoginistic Hip-Hop! Yay! Sike)

Email Addict

Lets you take a break from email and chat by blocking the screen for fifteen minutes and making you invisible in chat.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Email is addictive! Must.... take.... break.... Must..... eat. Must.... sleep.

Advanced IMAP Controls

Choose which labels show up in IMAP, turn off message auto-expunging, or trash messages when they're deleted from IMAP.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Anyone have a smart phone, as well as 40 labels. Want to control what gets synched to your phone, and what doesn't? This is it!

Canned Responses

Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is Email for the truly lazy, or the truly smart. Why keep re-writing the same email response, when you can Templatize everything!

Quote selected text

Quote the text you have selected when you reply to a message. (Now works with the mouse, too!)

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Well, "you said this," and then "I said this," and then "he said this," get it? Good.

Navbar drag and drop

Allows you to reorder the items in your navbar using drag and drop.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: In case you like to MOVE THINGS AROUND.

Forgotten Attachment Detector

Prevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.

Vacation Time!

Lets you specify starting and ending dates for the vacation autoresponder.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: You really should let people know when you're not going to respond to email for a while. Use this for weekend breaks, travel, to train your contacts for how you like to manage email, and/or to manage email overload.

Custom Label Colors

Lets you create your own combination of colors for labels. Instead of choosing one of the standard colors from the label dropdown menu, click on Add custom colors. Pick your combination of colors, hit Apply, and enjoy.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Colors. Colors. Colors. COLORS (like that Ice T song, but without the threat of imminent death). This Lab feature is cool, because it allows you to create some visual eye candy for your inbox. We use RED for emails we're waiting on, BLUE for emails that relate to task that need to be in the next 24 hours, BLACK for emails that need to be done within the week, and ORANGE for emails that we'll get to at some point in our lives. What colors would you use?

Mark as Read Button

Tired of spending all that effort to click on the more actions menu every time you want to mark messages as read without reading them?

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Marking emails read is just a button click away!

Go to label

Enable keyboard shortcuts and hit 'g' then 'l' to display a popup for selecting a label to go to. Also works with Quick Links.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We love keyboard shortcuts in general. But this is great because it saves the step of having to find the label or search for it. We use this religiously.

Inbox preview

Add extra lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: It's a great way of getting a top line view of your inbox while your processing, and shows you visual indicators of how much work needs to be done, how many messages your waiting on, etc.

Multiple Inboxes

Add extra lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: We LOVE THIS ONE. It allows you to really take advantage of your inbox real estate, and create a top line view of your labeled messages, conversations with certain contacts, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Create a Document

Allows you to create a Google Document from an email conversation or a new blank document if your keyboard shortcuts are enabled by hitting 'g' then 'w'.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Sometimes, everything you need for a document is right in an email. This allows you to save a step, and just create the document for you.

Filter import/export

Export your mail filters as a file: back them up, share them, or save them before deleting so you can restore them later. Import one of these files to quickly add or restore filters. These options become available under Settings/Filters when you enable this Lab.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is a great tool if you have multiple email accounts and want to set up the same Filter / Label Structure. This is also great if you are setting up a virtual infrastructure for your staff / team, and you would like everyone to have similar filters / labels for a certain project. This save lots of time and effort!

Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat

Allows you to send and receive text messages (SMS) in Chat. US phones only for now.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: It's great to be able to send someone a text message while sending email, so that you don't have to open your cell phone and do it. Who wants to alway be typing on the computer in email, and then typing messages on the phone, and then back to the computer, and so on. Too much work! With this, you just, well, send messages from your email.

SMS in Chat gadget

Adds a gadget that makes it easier to send SMS messages. Please note that for this lab to work, the "Text messaging (SMS) in Chat" lab needs to be enabled as well.

MVMT Says Turn This On Because: Sometimes you need to send quick text messages.

Send & Archive

Adds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Why take the extra step of archiving an email when you know you're done with it, and it no longer needs to be in your inbox (because obviously it shouldn't be deleted, right?). Save time. Make more face time (we love those commercials).

Undo Send

Oops, hit "Send" too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We all make mistakes, mostly when we first start using the Keyboard shortcuts, or if we are typing while listening to music. Sometimes, we hit send before we are done, and normally there is nothing you can do. Well, with this, you have up to 10 seconds to change your mind, or fix the error of your ways. CHURCH!

Title Tweaks

Changes order of elements in the browser title bar from "Mail - Inbox (20) - rolando@parallelmvmt.com" to "Inbox (20) - rolando@parallelmvmt.com - Mail".

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is a great visual productivity tool. This way you are able (most of the time) to see if a new mail has arrived even if Mail window is minimized.

Don't forget Bob

Once you pick some email recipients, Parallel MVMT Mail suggests more people you might want to include based on the groups of people you email most often.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: There are times you may forget to CC certain people.

Got the wrong Bob?

Doh, have you ever addressed an email too quickly, and included Bob (your boss) instead of Bob (your friend) by accident? If you're emailing more than two people at once, Parallel MVMT Mail will check if you meant to include Bob Smith rather than Bob Jones based on the groups of people you email most often.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Avoid the embarrassment of emails the wrong person.

Search Autocomplete

Provides search suggestions for contacts and operators as you type in the search box.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This makes email SEARCH SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL. This is a great tool for those who do not want to learn the GMAIL Advanced Search Operators. We learned them, and we're really smart, but hey not everyone needs to know how to cook start a fire in order to cook, do they?

Inserting images

Allows you to insert images into a message body. You can upload and insert image files in your computer, or insert images by URLs.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Then the Outlook Users will no longer be able to brag about being able to insert images in the message body, and they will realize that now that you can do this in GMAIL there is literally 0 reason to still be in Outlook.

*There may be other Lab features that you LOVE, but I don't. The ones that I don't use have are due to their competing or disabling other producitivity tactics I use.

For example, I don't use "HIde Unread Counts," because I see no productive use of hiding the amount of unread email I have. I like seeing the amount of unread email I have because this is an indicator as to how much work I have to do in my email. Another example is Right Side Chat & Labels.

I don't use Right Side Chat or Labels because I use a plugin named Xoopit uses the right side real estate space. Xoopit uses this right side real estate space to provide me with valuable information regarding the email attachments and social networking info for the people I am presently in a conversation with via gmail. If I were to use Right Side Chat, it would break the Xoopit interface, and so I forgo using it as an option. There are many other reasons as to why I don't us others, but you should try them all and have fun!

Best.

Offline

Make your Mail go where the Internet doesn't. Access your inbox through your browser and use Parallel MVMT Mail's familiar features when you're offline. To get started, enable this lab and then click on the "Offline" link in the upper-right of your inbox.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  There are always those times you don't have an internet connect and need an email. Even in this wired world, this happens more than you think.

Tasks

Tasks adds a to-do list to your Mail. After adding the lab, click the Tasks link above the chat box on the left-hand-side of the page. Your task list will appear on the right – click anywhere in the list and start typing to add a task. You can also create a task from an email: from the More Actions menu, choose Add to Tasks when viewing an email, or press shift+T if you have keyboard shortcuts enabled. For more shortcuts, explore the Actions menu at the bottom of your task list.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  There are several task management tools online these days. Email, especially for people who work online at all, is the BIGGEST source of interruption and task delegation / creation. Why not use a task management tool built in?

All of the Previews in mail

• Shows a video preview whenever you receive a YouTube link in an email. You can watch the video right inline!
• Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Picasa link in an email.
• Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Flickr link in an email.
• Shows previews of Yelp listings (rating, location, phone number, etc.) whenever you receive a Yelp link in an email.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Preview of anything is a good thing so that you can know what you're getting into. It saves the extra step of having to go deeper without wanting or needing to.

Quick Links

Adds a box to the left column that gives you 1-click access to any bookmarkable URL in your Mail.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: You can use it for saving frequent searches, important individual messages, and more.

Pictures in chat

See your friends' profile pictures when you chat with them.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We now live in where where PEOPLE are as much Visual learners and workers as they are textual. Empower yourself and your colleagues / friends to actually see something visually stimulating while you are chatting with them. If you are not fond of your own picture, use your favorite artwork or icon.

Fixed width font

Adds an option to the reply dropdown menu that lets you view a message in fixed width font.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This is great when you get one of those emails that have bad coding, or 5,000 different types of fonts, making it hard to read.

Custom keyboard shortcuts

Lets you customize keyboard shortcut mappings. Adds a new Settings tab from which you can remap keys to various actions.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Ever think to yourself "Whomever came up with the idea that "Y" should be the shortcut for Archive, should be fired?" Well, with Custom keyboard shortcut, that person can keep their wonderful job at Google, and you can change the shortcut to the shortcut to the "42." (you have to see Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe to understand this joke.)

Signature tweaks

Places your signature before the quoted text in a reply, and removes the "--" line that appears before signatures.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This just looks so much better. There is no arguing this point.

Sender Time Zone

Shows you senders Time Zone. Should I reply to this mail or just call the guy? Ooops… it's 1 am. Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb…

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  This is great for all of those people that do business and manage relationships in multiple area codes. Would love to see how Ludacris and Nate Dogg would have used this feature... (we love ignorant masculin misogynistic Hip-Hop! Yay! Sike!)

Email Addict

Lets you take a break from email and chat by blocking the screen for fifteen minutes and making you invisible in chat.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Email is addictive! Must.... take.... break.... Must..... eat. Must.... sleep.

Advanced IMAP Controls

Choose which labels show up in IMAP, turn off message auto-expunging, or trash messages when they're deleted from IMAP.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Anyone have a smart phone, as well as 40 labels. Want to control what gets synched to your phone, and what doesn't? This is it!

Canned Responses

Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is Email for the truly lazy, or the truly smart. Why keep re-writing the same email response, when you can Templatize everything!

Quote selected text

Quote the text you have selected when you reply to a message. (Now works with the mouse, too!)

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Well, "you said this," and then "I said this," and then "he said this," get it? Good.

Navbar drag and drop

Allows you to reorder the items in your navbar using drag and drop.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: In case you like to MOVE THINGS AROUND.

Forgotten Attachment

Detector

Prevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.

Vacation Time!

Lets you specify starting and ending dates for the vacation autoresponder.

Custom Label Colors

Lets you create your own combination of colors for labels. Instead of choosing one of the standard colors from the label dropdown menu, click on Add custom colors. Pick your combination of colors, hit Apply, and enjoy.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Colors. Colors. Colors. COLORS (like that Ice T song, but without the threat of imminent death). This Lab feature is cool, because it allows you to create some visual eye candy for your inbox. We use RED for emails we're waiting on, BLUE for emails that relate to task that need to be in the next 24 hours, BLACK for emails that need to be done within the week, and ORANGE for emails that we'll get to at some point in our lives. What colors would you use?

Mark as Read Button

Tired of spending all that effort to click on the more actions menu every time you want to mark messages as read without reading them?

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Marking emails read is just a button click away!

Go to label

Enable keyboard shortcuts and hit 'g' then 'l' to display a popup for selecting a label to go to. Also works with Quick Links.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We love keyboard shortcuts in general. But this is great because it saves the step of having to find the label or search for it. We use this religiously.

Inbox preview

Add extra lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: It's a great way of getting a top line view of your inbox while your processing, and shows you visual indicators of how much work needs to be done, how many messages your waiting on, etc.

Multiple Inboxes

Add extra lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: We LOVE THIS ONE. It allows you to really take advantage of your inbox real estate, and create a top line view of your labeled messages, conversations with certain contacts, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Create a Document

Allows you to create a Google Document from an email conversation or a new blank document if your keyboard shortcuts are enabled by hitting 'g' then 'w'.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Sometimes, everything you need for a document is right in an email. This allows you to save a step, and just create the document for you.

Filter import/export

Export your mail filters as a file: back them up, share them, or save them before deleting so you can restore them later. Import one of these files to quickly add or restore filters. These options become available under Settings/Filters when you enable this Lab.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is a great tool if you have multiple email accounts and want to set up the same Filter / Label Structure. This is also great if you are setting up a virtual infrastructure for your staff / team, and you would like everyone to have similar filters / labels for a certain project. This save lots of time and effort!

Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat

Allows you to send and receive text messages (SMS) in Chat. US phones only for now.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: It's great to be able to send someone a text message while sending email, so that you don't have to open your cell phone and do it. Who wants to alway be typing on the computer in email, and then typing messages on the phone, and then back to the computer, and so on. Too much work! With this, you just, well, send messages from your email.

SMS in Chat gadget

Adds a gadget that makes it easier to send SMS messages. Please note that for this lab to work, the "Text messaging (SMS) in Chat" lab needs to be enabled as well.

MVMT Says Turn This On Because: Sometimes you need to send quick text messages.

Send & Archive

Adds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Why take the extra step of archiving an email when you know you're done with it, and it no longer needs to be in your inbox (because obviously it shouldn't be deleted, right?). Save time. Make more face time (we love those commercials).

Undo Send

Oops, hit "Send" too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  We all make mistakes, mostly when we first start using the Keyboard shortcuts, or if we are typing while listening to music. Sometimes, we hit send before we are done, and normally there is nothing you can do. Well, with this, you have up to 10 seconds to change your mind, or fix the error of your ways. CHURCH!

Title Tweaks

Changes order of elements in the browser title bar from "Mail - Inbox (20) - rolando@parallelmvmt.com" to "Inbox (20) - rolando@parallelmvmt.com - Mail".

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This is a great visual productivity tool. This way you are able (most of the time) to see if a new mail has arrived even if Mail window is minimized.

Don't forget Bob

Once you pick some email recipients, Parallel MVMT Mail suggests more people you might want to include based on the groups of people you email most often.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: There are times you may forget to CC "certain people."

Got the wrong Bob?

Doh, have you ever addressed an email too quickly, and included Bob (your boss) instead of Bob (your friend) by accident? If you're emailing more than two people at once, Parallel MVMT Mail will check if you meant to include Bob Smith rather than Bob Jones based on the groups of people you email most often.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: Avoid the embarrassment of emails the wrong "certain person."

Search Autocomplete

Provides search suggestions for contacts and operators as you type in the search box.

MVMT Says Turn This On because: This makes email SEARCH SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL. This is a great tool for those who do not want to learn the GMAIL Advanced Search Operators. We learned them, and we're really smart, but hey not everyone needs to know how to cook start a fire in order to cook, do they?

Inserting images

Allows you to insert images into a message body. You can upload and insert image files in your computer, or insert images by URLs.

MVMT Says Turn This On because:  Then the Outlook Users will no longer be able to brag about being able to insert images in the message body, and they will realize that now that you can do this in GMAIL there is literally 0 reason to still be in Outlook.

-----

*There may be other Lab features that you LOVE, but I don't. The ones that I don't use have are due to their competing or disabling other producitivity tactics I use. For example, I don't use "Hide Unread Counts," because I see no productive use of hiding the amount of unread email I have.

I want to know the amount I have so that I can plan accordingly. I like seeing the amount of unread email I have because this is an indicator as to how much work I have to do in my email.

Another example is Right Side Chat & Labels.

I don't use Right Side Chat or Labels because I use a plugin named Xoopit uses the right side real estate space. Xoopit uses this right side real estate space to provide me with valuable information regarding the email attachments and social networking info for the people I am presently in a conversation with via gmail. If I were to use Right Side Chat, it would break the Xoopit interface, and so I forgo using it as an option.

There are many other reasons as to why I don't us others, but you should try them all and have fun!

Best.

I'm often asked about SEO (search engine optimization). Rather than write a brand new post, I thought I'd give you access to the post & author I often go back to.

Below is a great post from Michelle Crossley, super cool web developer from Studio1C.

-----

I am often asked what SEO is, what it isn’t, and what’s one thing my clients can do to help their SEO. As you will see Search Engine Optimization is not just one thing that will or won’t keep your site from reaching the coveted first page of Google. I’ll try to cover a good deal of what contributes to a site's Search Engine Optimization.

Ascertain competitors inbound links
Often by researching your competitors, you can find where their inbound links are coming from and, advertise/promote yourself at those exact links if applicable. While you are at their site, check out their keywords – you can maybe get ideas as to what keywords/phrases they are using that you may not have considered.

Blog
I can’t say enough about blogs and the effectiveness of blogging! They offer credibility to your site and your knowledge of your product/service/industry, they let your customer know you care enough to share this information with them, they promote two-way conversation by allowing visitor comments; then you comment on their comments, they allow for more opportunities for your website/keywords to be found.

Content

• Body text, titles and headings (using appropriate CSS tags) and body copy should support and reiterate rich keywords, and be unique to each page
• Bold keywords within the body copy
• Sites containing less than 2,500 words can be penalized by search engines
• Utilize keywords in your H1 text (Headings)

Domain Name
Purchase your domain name for long periods of time. Search engines see that as a stable, notable site. Many spam or adult sites are “here today, gone tomorrow” and are therefore not ranked as high with search engines.

Also, a domain name with a name bearing your industry is much more effective. For example: instead of choosing “JoesStore.com”, select “JoesShoes.com” This is much more descriptive for the search engines. The downfall of this is that many good domain names are often hard to find or come with a high price tag and sometimes you are left with something that isn’t your first choice.

Email Marketing
Each time I send out an email marketing campaign, I receive calls from customers. Not just one call, but several – mostly that same day! Talk about great return on investment! This is because when you deliver an effective email campaign, you are keeping that communication open with your clients and reminding them that you are there for them. But probably the most important feature of email marketing is getting clients to "hit" your site. Link articles and other important information back to the pages on your site.

Feeds
RSS Feeds are quickly becoming an industry standard for potential clients to subscribe to your blog and being notified when new content is posted. Feeds bring more hits back to your site as well.

Google
The name is synonymous with web ingenuity.

• Use Google Analytics to check visitor trending such as, keyword usage and adjust accordingly. Check ROI immediately by seeing visitors coming from referring sites, create a traffic funnel for how you want clients to navigate through your site, and MUCH more.
• Create a free Google Local Ad
• Google Webmaster Tools are a great way to see how often your site is being indexed, if a Sitemap has been uploaded, number of inbound links and more.

Honor thy Press Release...
by submitting them to PR Directories. Worthwhile news can be shared with others and offer more opportunities for inbound linking and others to find your site.

Indexing
In order for your site to rank well in search results pages, it's important to make sure that Google can crawl and index your site correctly. Uploading a Sitemap (not a visitor site map) to Google and Yahoo is particularly helpful.

Just say no to SEO killers

• Don't use Flash, frames or DHTML on your site
• Don't use images on your site for navigation, buttons or important information – search engines can’t “see” images.
• Don't use tables on your site
• Too many graphics, not enough content

Keyword Analysis
Focus on high-traffic, highly-relevant keywords. Give the search engines a few days to access your content and re-check your ranking based upon this. Tweek and refine as needed.

Links

• Make sure links are representative of what they pertain to, as search engines pick up on links as being an important part of your site. For example, a link to a continuation of an article, instead of click “here” to read that article. Say something which is more descriptive for the search engine spiders to read, have it say “building valid links.”
• Periodically check for non-functioning or broken internal and external links. There are many free link checkers out there.
• Keeping the number of links per page under 100.
• Don't belong to a weblink or link ring. They don't work.

Meta Content

• Include meta-tags and keywords relative to page content
• Titles and headings should support and reiterate keywords, and be unique to each page.
• Don’t leave out or duplicate the title, description or keywords as search engines rely on these to “read” unique content on your site.The title is one of the most important things that Google and other search engines utilize when evaluating page content.
• Keep descriptions, title and keywords to the specs below as specified by major search engines:

Title: max 70 characters
Description: no more than 150 characters
Keywords: 10 words/phrases per page is a good amount

Newness
Search engines are increasingly considering the age the site and how long the domain is registered for. To help this, register your domain for as long as you can (to let search engines know you plan on sticking around) and get an aggressive SEO program in place.

On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO
On-Page SEO pertains to the actual content (keywords, meta information, to increase searches) in/on the website. Approximately 25% of visits are based on this content.

Off-Page SEO pertains to driving traffic to site through linking (via social media, RSS reeds, directories, etc). Approximately 75% of visits are based on (inbound) links.

Page Rank
Google ranks websites based on how “valuable” a website is. Google relies upon the nature of the web and its vast linking structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value.

Having a higher page rank equates to higher probability of being at the top of searches. Links are the basis for page rank – those sites that are less known is because they aren’t as important and have few people linking to them. Those sites with thousands of inbound links, Google sees as being a worthwhile site.

Quantity of Inbound Links
Don’t fall prey to the link networks, or link webrings; nor ever pay anyone that promises to bring you links.

Repeat Visits (encourage)

Submit articles to directories and bookmarking sites
This ensures your website carries an extensive web presence outside of your own website. Furthermore it will allow more opportunities for prospects to find your company by adding greater visibility for your business.

Twitter, Technorati and the entire Social Media realm
Social media, Bookmarking, Article Submissions, Social Networking can and should be utilized to its maximum potential to market your business.

URL
Put keywords or phrases in the URL via the folder/directory structure or the HTML page name. Again, this offers more opportunities for search engines finding keywords.

Be sure to print your URL on ALL marketing materials you have (business cards, signage, brochures, etc), and in your email signature – MANY people use this link.

Valid or Quality Links
The more quality inbound links you have coming to your site, the higher your Google page rank will be.

Writing on forums, Q&A’s and other blogs
Many people will click on a forum signature in response to someone’s question. Be sure to take this opportunity when posting to well traveled forums, blogs and Q&A forums to have a “signature” that states your name and URL to your business.

XHTML
Utilizing such technologies as XHTML, CSS and PHP, ensures less page errors, faster loading times for your visitors and also eliminate the need for tables which can cause problems with search engines and accessibility.

XHTML limits the code size naturally and you end up with being simple to crawl for Google and other bots.

Yahoo, Google, MSN – Submit your URL
Though Google boasts the most searches per day, Yahoo! and MSN are also very well traveled. Regularly check your standing in popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) using keywords potential clients would be using to find your site.

Zap Spam - simple web guidelines from Google:

• Don’t hide keywords on your pages or use too many in the metatags; search engines can see this as a potential spam website and won’t index it.
• Don’t use hidden text or hidden links
• Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords
• Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains or domains with duplicate content
• Don’t use doorway pages.

Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

Welcome to the World of Socialnomics

So, I'm here at the opening day of 12th annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival, an amazing in an out of poetry, hip-hop & youth power, and I get this twitter message on my phone titled "Meet Google, your Phone Company."

I then realize that I've had Google Voice for almost two years now, & haven't talked about it.

Craig Walker, one of the founders (formerly called Grand Central) is a pretty cool and down to earth guy. We've talked a few times, before Grand Central was purchased by Google (when GrandCentral become Google Voice).

I also have the Google Phone (which I love by the way... everything except the battery life...). So Long story Short:

"These mobile versions of Google Voice service will allow folks to not only manage their Google Voice connections – access and playback voice mails, send and receives SMS messages and read message transcripts, but also make local and long distance calls from mobile phones. The apps are fully integrated with each phone’s contacts, so you can call via Google Voice straight from your address book."

These means that I can now sync everything offline and online related to my phone calls & text messages. Just like what you see above... Thank you to Om Malik for his wonderful post on this.

If you would like to sign up for an invitation for Google Voice, do so here. Tell them that Rolando Brown sent you. Thanks!

I love this video that Firefox 3.5 has on it's post download page (the page you get directed to after you download 3.5). The video shows the diversity of the Firefox community, and the personal aspects of the brand that I love so much. It made me think of my own community and the variety of voices that exist within it. Long story short, watch the video. It's cute, and fun, and well, made me feel just a little more connected to the Firefox community I belong too.

The # 1 principle in technOrganizing is to use HELP first!

However, I know from personal experience how very boring it can be to explore HELP sections. So, what better person than Eddie Izzard to help add some humor and fun!

In my technOrganizing class I often encourage classmates to STOP THROWING AWAY the instruction manual. I ask everyone to  take 5 - 10 mins of their lives, and read the manuals. I believe this can have a significant impact on how one uses the new technology tool / machine they've just gotten hold. I see this as the best way to properly introduce yourself to your technology, and allow your technology to introduce itself as well.

In this video, where Legos meets Youtube, Eddie Izzard speaks of the TechnOFear & TechnOJoy that can come with this process.

I have the pleasure of experiencing technOJoy often.

I love it.

P.S. The user that created this video is 16. Go Kevin!

One of our beloved designers & world renown muralist Miguel "Bounce" Perez recently put us on to Google Wave (what's the likelihood that you would expect this information to be found first by a muralist?)

I'm really impressed, and interested. Seems like Google Wave is going to empower more active deployment of some of the ways of working that we've been hacking together at Parallel MVMT (using greasemonkey scripts, browser combinations, & third party addons.

With that said, I'm very, very, very happy with what I've seen so far! The video is really worth the hour+ watch.

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Google Wave is also a platform with a rich set of open APIs that allow developers to embed waves in other web services and to build extensions that work inside waves.

That basically means that lots of people will be able to powerfully benefit from this innovation, by being more productive with the social sharing, collaboration & collective action that empowers our work every day.

This also means that really smart people will be able to openly contribute to this platform as well, which I believe is a great way to encourage even more innovation.

Check out some links below:

Learn
Google Wave can make you more productive even when you're having fun.
Take a sneak peek.

For the developers reading, go ahead  & Develop
Learn how to put waves in your site and build wave extensions with the Google Wave APIs.
Visit code.google.com/apis/wave.

or Build
Google Wave uses an open protocol, so anyone can build their own wave system.
Learn more at www.waveprotocol.org.