Matt Cutts of Google’s Search Quality Team recently let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, on meta keywords. He stated that Google doesn’t use them when considering your pages for ranking or indexing.

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So this raises the question:  Should you continue to put the keywords meta tag on your website(s)?

After some thought and discussion our vote is yes. Not because we feel that it’s going to help rank in Google, Yahoo or Bing but this would allow us to keep track of our target keyword campaigns.

For example, if we were optimizing the Raleigh/Durham web design on our homepage we would put the keyword “Raleigh/Durham web design” in our keywords meta tag. While this seems like a minor task and almost completely meaningless we feel it helps keep things organized and if you ever make changes to your target keywords you can keep track of what you added and subtracted from the page.

What are your thoughts on the keyword meta tag now?

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Online business owners and merchants: now that you have traffic driven to your website and your services are available for all to see, the next obstacle to conquer is to be able to make that sale, over and over again. Attracting customers is relatively easy compared to building a loyal customer base; however, with a little creative marketing and profit flexibility your business can have a repeat consumer clientele by trying these indispensable retention methods.

To start, as a business, you will want to be able to make your product or service as well-known to the largest audience possible; while avoiding out-of-pocket costs. Consider promoting a special on your site offering a certain percentage off of the first purchase (usually 10%) for customers who sign up for your email lists. Additionally, you may wish to include a notation on the email list, when sent, that an additional 5 or 10% off a future order is available when a customer is referred, places an order, and uses their name as the referrer. You can generate a specific code or manually look-up a customer’s order to verify details and send an online coupon code to the intended referrer. This method is an excellent way to retain customers while expanding your customer base by using word-of-mouth marketing.

Another way to retain long-term customers is to offer a loyalty program. Loyalty programs can vary but the premise is after a designated number of orders, or by spending a specified amount of money, a customer is eligible for an incentive, usually in the form of a certain percentage off of the next order, a fixed dollar amount off of the next order (ex. take $5 off of $50 order), or a coupon for the next order to either ship free or have upgraded shipping. Depending on the type and nature of the goods or services sold, all businesses can accommodate loyal customers by offering one of the suggested loyalty rewards.

Above all, remember that the customer is number one. If conducting business in the virtual world, just as with a brick and mortar business, keep in mind that a customer’s first-hand experience can either help or hurt a business. More importantly, in the online world, word-of-mouth can travel faster and reach more people than ever; so be sure to excel at customer satisfaction and your consumer base will be around for a very long time.

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If you have signed a contract with MDS Web Studios in the last 2 months you do not have to agree to the submission as we have updated our contract to include a “Free Marketing” clause.

If you agree and allow MDS Web Studios to use your website in any promotional materials from this point forward please send an email to michael@mdswebstudios.com with the following:

“I *name* of *Company* allow MDS Web Studios, Inc. distribute and publish my website in all and any marketing material. Below I will include me name that will act as an electronic signature.

*name to act as signature*

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