On a sunny day in the Middle East, Marine officer, Nate Fick, and his crew were wearing wrap-around sunglasses. He sensed a hostile feeling of the locals that he had never experienced before. Finally, he questioned one of the villagers why. "We think you have x-ray glasses on and are coveting our women." He let them look through his glasses to see that they were merely sunglasses, but received a reply of "turn them on!"

It may seem funny to us that what seems so obvious, something ubiquitous in our culture, could be taken so out of context, but there are at least a couple important lessons to be had:

•  Never assume you know what someone else is thinking. Ask!
•  Technology can seem like magic if you don't understand how it works.

As Senior Application Developer for World Synergy, I've heard some odd ideas about technology. I've heard other SEO organizations mention crazy things, nonsensical impossibilities,  as if they were their answers were golden geese; the problem being that they don't understand the technology --  they just aren't technological folks. They end up seeing the sunglasses of optimization as the x-ray goggles for Google.

Is SEO an art? Yes, but it's also based on science. I hate seeing people waste their time and money in the snake oil that's out there: people guaranteeing they'll get you listed in the first spot of Google, then pointing the finger at the site implementers and developers when that doesn't happen.  We don't do that. World Synergy takes responsibility for your e-Needs!

We are proud to support every aspect of your site -- we don't point fingers, but facilitate your site in a holistic manner. SEO, e-Strategy, architecture, design, convergence, technology, development, hosting, networking, and support!

World Synergy communicates wtih you allowing us to understand your needs and wants and translating technology to fit you, whether it is an e-commerce site,  website, or web application. Our e-Strategy sessions allow us to facilitate the process of turning your wants and needs into a reality. We  bring  you and your clients closer through technology, concentrating on search engine optimization(SEO)  as well as the development of sites that know how to implement SEO best practices. Like most companies, we don't stop there. We know it's not simply about getting your clients to your site, but about convergence, and without convergence there are no sales, regardless of how many people walk through your virtual door.

We listen to you, translate your needs and wants into a technological solution so that you can communicate with your current and potential customers in the most effective way possible. We save you money by offering a complete e-Solution from strategy through design with both marketing and usability in mind,  and finally execution and production. We help you see through the sunglasses of your customers, search engines, and technology while delivering the message you want to the world using the language of the web.

Melanie McGee
Senior Application Developer
World Synergy
www.worldsynergy.com
440-349-3930

World Synergy’s Melanie McGee, Senior Developer / MCP, is attending the Miva Merchant Conference 2010, “Secure Your Success” Feb 24-27, 2010 in San Diego, CA

Glenn Smith, President / CEO of World Synergy, is attending and speaking at the Benefit Advisors Network Semi-Annual Conference in San Diego, CA, February 21-23.

Glenn will be speaking on the topic: “How to leverage co-branding web marketing solutions to acquire and maintain customers.”

World Synergy would like to welcome Mr. Mike Murray to our team.

World Synergy wants to wish you a very safe and happy holidays this year.

World Synergy will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day December 24 & 25, 2009 and New Years Day, January 1, 2010.

In the Web today, companies have every social media account out there. Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Blogs, Linkedin.....the accounts of social media seem endless. So why blog and who in the company should blog?

Let's start with the first question: Why Blog?

1. Blogging is a great way to get closer with clients to create a friendly more personal relationship.
2. Blogging can shed insight as to your products, services, promotions, or any other little tidbits of information regarding your business or staff.
3. Blogging can also spark conversation and work on a company's branding.
4. Blogging can also catapult a company into authority in a specific field.
5. Blogging can also help with gaining future clients. There is nothing better than POSITIVE word of mouth advertising.
6. Blogging is a great way to promote your brand for free.
7. Blogging is easy.

Who in the company should Blog?

Everyone should Blog. From the President and CEO of a company to the secretary of the company. A blog is a good way for the outside world to gain perspective from everyone's point of view. People want to hear from the President of a company and they want to feel like the President is talking to them personally. Every person in a company can bring their own view and style to a blog. Every person in the company has expertise and style which can relate to any person. Blogging from a company should be priority and blogging doesn't take much time. Get a schedule together and start holding people in the company accountable for blogging.

For some people that do not understand SEO you are not alone. There are some people who think SEO has immediate results, and if that were the case, EVERYONE would be an SEO Specialist. SEO is hard to wrap your mind around if you do not practice it everyday.

If you are an owner of a business and you have hired an outside firm to handle SEO you probably ask, 'What are you doing', and you should ask that. Now, the SEO Specialist is going to give you the 9000 foot level of what they do, they will tell you that they follow all the best practices and follow all the rules. I am sure you are thinking, 'how easy it is?' and 'why can't we do this in house?', or 'am I getting my monies worth?'. The answers are: It's not an 'easy task', for someone inside the company if SEO isn't their only job, I suggest you still keep SEO in your budget and your SEO Specialist is working extremely hard to maintain the rankings you have now or are looking for new strategies and techniques of how to improve.

There are things you should know about SEO:

1. Search Engines are always changing their algorithms and metrics that affect the work SEO Specialists are performing. All the factors that go into search engines secret metrics on 'grading' a web site is kept secret.
2. Every new day, someone is always trying to compete with you on some level, trying to gain rankings on your site with various keywords
3. The web sites who are not in the top ten are working that much harder to gain ground, rankings, and authority.
4. There will always be change and fluctuations

It's a never ending cycle that SEO Specialists play with the search engines. SEO is always on the move, always changing. Good keyword selection is key. You are always looking for the right keywords that best describe your business, product or service. The more competitive the keyword, the more the search engines look closely at the sites vying for top spots.

Sites that have gained the search engines trust and has authority will withstand minor fluctuations. However, there are times when no matter what you do to the site, the search engines will get the best of you. Let the reshuffle run it's course. In this instance, add fresh content, different pages, images, videos, or update your site maps. Fluctuations will happen. I promise. The way you deal with them is a different story. Creating a robust website that caters to both humans and search engines alike will be ahead of the curve.

Competition is inevitable. It will always exist. Since you cannot tell the tactics or the stage in which your competition is in with their SEO, worry about what you can control and that is your own website.

As we know SEO isn’t instant gratification and there needs to be a patience factor that is conveyed. SEO needs time to develop.  SEOing for a new website may need more time then a pre-existing site.  As far as a time frame for new sites, it can take search engines up to 4 months (to a year) before they start to index the site. This time may be sped up with the likes of SEO, however, with any search engines and their algorithms, there is no guarantee. Again, this all has to do with the industry and the competitiveness of the keywords. Other factors that can help with the SEO process is the size of the website, relevant content, keyword targeting and back links just to name a few.

Search engines need to gain a websites trust before they just hand out rankings, even for your domain name or company name. Over time, and the right tactics, search engines will begin to trust the site.  As you work in the months to gain website trust and authority for your keywords and industry, you will start to see search engines favor your website.

SEO is an investment and will show returns if there is commitment to the process. SEO isn’t short term, and it never will be.  If someone wants instant gratification regarding keywords invest in a PPC Campaign.

On Friday October 2nd, the staff of World Synergy cooked dinner for the residents of the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland. This was the second year that World Synergy has provided a meal for the families that stay there.

On the menu included:

1. Ribs
2. Chicken
3. Macaroni and Cheese
4. Corn
5. Salad
6. Fruit Salad
7. Bread
8. Chocolate Chip Cookies
9. Brownies
10. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
11. Buckeyes
12. Rice Krispie Treats

The staff had a great time preparing the food and is looking forward to next year!!

We all know branding is important to your overall marketing strategy. Your overall marketing strategy should include your offline and your online efforts. All your marketing and branding efforts should be uniform with each other. Your logo should remain the same. Your colors should remain the same, your message should remain the same, and your identity should remain the same.

So how do you go about matching your offline and online branding and marketing efforts? Ask yourself a couple of questions:

1.     What is your brand?

2.     What does your logo look like and is your logo the same on everything you put your company on?

3.     What are your colors? Do these colors change from web site to business cards to signs?

4.     What is your message, what is your tag line? Do these vary depending on where a person would look?

Successfully branding your company will help achieve:

1.     Deliver your message clearly

2.     Confirms your credibility

3.     Connects your target prospects emotionally

4.     Motivates the buyer

5.     Concretes user loyalty

Look at your corporate web site, business cards, outside signs, mailings, brochures, pamphlets, shirts, blogs, facebook or even your twitter account do they all say the same thing? Do they describe your company?

Let World Synergy help in developing or aligning all your efforts to look, feel and act the same.