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Microsoft adExcellence Does Away With Recertification Test

Nancy McCord is an adExcellence Member.I’m scooping even Microsoft on this one. Microsoft adExcellence Members will no longer need to annually retake the certification test. Take the test once and you’re in.

I know this because for the past two days I have been trying to retake the test to renew my annual certification and cannot. Nolan at the Microsoft adExcellence membership center has told me that Microsoft will be changing their FAQ page in the training site and will be sending out a letter to all adExcellence Members on this topic.

AdExcellence joins the Yahoo Sponsors ed Search Marketing Ambassador program in not forcing professionals to retake their test. Google AdWords requires their Google Qualified Advertising Professionals to retake the exam every two years.

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We Thought You May Want to Check Out These Blogs

We’ve set up a blog meme today to share some other great blogs with you that you may find interesting reading. Feel free to click in to check them out or leave your favorite blog for us to review and add in the future by clicking the comment link below this post.

LA Criminal Defense Blog – http://www.lacriminaldefenseblog.com/
Attorney Stephen Rodriguez provides interesting legal insights and current news in his blog focused on law and legal issues in Los Angeles, California. You’ll find interesting breaking news, celebrities in trouble, and insightful legal tips.

The Web Authority – http://www.mccordweb.com/weblogs/
Web Diva, Nancy McCord, helps you to power up your business by using the Web. In this blog she provides tips, tricks, and information on how to use social networking, Twitter, and Google AdWords to generate leads and get more business. Written in an engaging style, and not too techy, you’ll find the information newsy and helpful.

The Home Buying Blog – http://www.homes-database.com/weblogs/blogger.html
Top Long and Foster Realtor, John Day, is the “go to” agent when it comes to selling your home or property in the Maryland area. His interesting and information blog has just gotten noticed by a reporter at US News and World Report. If you want to stay on-top of trends, stay out of foreclosure, and learn the master tricks on presenting and selling your home this is the blog to visit.

DJ Products Inc. Blog-  http://blog.djproducts.com/
If you are in the warehousing, operations, or material handling businesses, you’ll find this blog by Jeff Berg a top information resource. Whether you need tips on how to improve warehouse efficiency or establishing and ergonomics program this information and engaging blog will keep you up-to-date on news and information in your industry.

The Musical Instrument and Equipment Blog – http://funkymusicstore.com/news/
This blog from Mike Veny, professional drummer, caters to musicians at all levels. Even if you don’t play professionally you’ll love his information and history on top manufacturers and product reviews. Find out which top artists use which instruments and what differentiates guitar and keyboard brands from others.

Stern Environmental Group – http://www.sternenvironmental.com/blog/
Stern’s Chatter written by managing partner Douglas Stern provides interesting news and commentary on the pests you love to hate. Based in the New York City region this bed bug extermination and pest management firm blog gives tips on pest control, news and information all written with a sense of humor that will keep you reading even if you don’t live in the area.

Permanently Beautiful – http://www.permanentmkup.com/blog/
The Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics blog from Melany Whitney reveals one of the top, yet not well-known, beauty secrets of the rich and famous, top models, and busy women executives. Find out more about how permanently applied eyebrows, eye liner, and other beauty procedures can change your routine while helping you to look fabulous all day without makeup. You won’t believe the client results so make sure to check out the photo gallery on her main website when you visit this blog.

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What Do Search Engines Look For?

There is a lot of confusion about what search engines consider important when it comes to determining organic position. Here is my short list of key elements that search engines consider key when determining position.

  1. Source code title tag – this is one of the most important tags for your website and key to organic placement.
  2. Source code meta description tag – this is another important tag but not as crucial as the title tag but still very important.
  3. Keywords meta tags – I still input content in this tag, but it has been devalued by Google so don’t take a lot of time on it, or you can leave it out.
  4. Domain name registration renewal period. I recommend a minimum renewal of two years and five is even better. Google does look at this as just one of their organic placement factors.
  5. Home page content – this is crucial to organic placement. If your home page is all in graphics or has very little content, you WILL struggle to get organic placement.
  6. Spiderable navigation – if your navigation is in flash or image rollovers and you have not provided text-based navigation for search engines to follow, you should make the simple addition of putting text navigation links in the footer of your page.

Sure there are tons of other factors, but for clients who come to me when they are disappointed in their placement typically they all are lacking in the top six items that I have mentioned above and usually have other additional issues such as poor or very little content, no links from other websites, or content that has not been updated in years.

So take a look at your own site, what are your challenges. If you have a factor that you feel I’ve missed click comment and tell me what you think is important.

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Special Issue: How to Get Involved With Twitter

This special newsletter issue will help you to learn how to use Twitter for business and pleasure. I’ll explain what Twitter is, why you should use it, and how to get going using it. Additionally, I’ll point out some cool app’s to use with Twitter to help you get the most from its use.

One of the most important things you should take away from this special issue is that Twitter is considered very hot. It is an emerging application that has not been monetized yet and will probably be purchased this next year by the likes of Google or some other behemoth on the Web.

Read our December e-newsletter for all our tips and information.