Before the Myspace and the other social community revolution started to ravage the Internet landscape, small business owners had to either hire a web designer or use a template website such as Bravenet to create a web presence. Back then those template websites were very economical, but lacked all the customizable features that a web designer could provide.

Even though Bravenet has gone by the wayside and Myspace has taken its place as a way for small businesses to get a piece of that online market, it is not the best long term solution for a small business that is looking to enter the online business market.

There are several steps that need to be taken if you are a small business owner that is looking to revamp or even create a web presence from scratch.

1) A domain name that represents your business name is worth its weight in gold.

a. Just like a logo, your domain name is very important. You want to choose a domain name a close to the name of your business. That way consumers and internet surfers will remember your online presence with ease.

2) Looks are everything!!!

a. Even though templates are easy to put together, it comes down to being unique and separate yourself from the pack. Spend the time to pick the colors and overall structure of your website before you go to a web design company.

3) Being social is good, but you need a home.

a. Having a Myspace or a Facebook account to represent your business is a good thing, but should not be the overall solution. Those social sites should be used as a compliment to your main small business website. Those social sites are a great way to dive traffic to your main site and will be a great way to interact with customers.

So if you are a small business owner looking to get a piece of the booming online business market, remember to use the social community sites a compliment to your main site and if you’re looking for help with this, we offer a social media optimization package. Remember there is no place like home when it comes to having your own website and domain.

Luckily, I don’t consider myself a bad SEO but that doesn’t mean I hit the nail on the head every time I try to generate some popular linkbait. Creating one that works is hard work combined with a little bit of luck and timing.

I’ve learned a few tricks from reading other people’s blogs but mostly through trial and error. I’ve created some good linkbait pieces for Mystic Liquid and I also came up with my fair share of bad ones. I won’t link to these because it’s my blog and I would rather not embarrass myself.

But what makes something linkbait? I’ve read some industry people claim that almost anything can be linkbait as long as it elicits a need for people to link to. That’s only somewhat true. Yes, the idea behind it is to get a great amount of website owners to link to in a short period of time but it also needs to be on topic, not just any post you feel like throwing together.

Here a few other thoughts I have of what makes a great linkbait post:

·Create content worth reading – You can have an awesome looking website full of images and flash but if there is no useful information on it, then what’s the point? Your website’s content not only needs to be well thought out but also amazing. It needs to be something so incredible that everyone will be talking about it. If you can do that for your audience then the links will keep coming.

·While you’re at it, make it unforgettable and compelling – The better the quality of your content, the better your chances are for finding return visitors to your site. Sure it’s great to get people to read your blog post initially but the true sign of a successful site is by getting them to come back. You should start to see a return from your effort by seeing a greater number of links back.

·Tell something interesting - No one wants to link to your blog if it’s just another ordinary post that is so dull it will put you to sleep. I found that one of the more effective techniques in linkbaiting is by telling a story, better yet telling an interesting story. Give someone a reason to read it and like it so much that they recommend it to a friend to read. That’s the type of response you want from your linkbait post.

·Target a subject that’s hot right now – What are people talking about in the blogosphere? These are the topics you need to address. That means you need to be constantly informed of the latest industry news no matter what the niche market may be. Quickly scan through popular social sites or even browse the pages of StumbleUpon or Digg to see what everybody is talking about.

·Know your audience – Your linkbait should be targeted to those potential visitors. It needs to be written for people who want or are interested in what you offer. If you specialize in website design and your linkbait is about kittens, don’t expect any favorable results from your effort.

The simple fact is that linkbait is just like any other article, blog post, or picture on a web page. The only difference is that it is specifically done for the sole purpose of gathering as much links from as many different sources as possible.

Everyone always talks about their best linkbait ideas but I want to hear about some of your worst. Let us know some of the stinkers you guys have come up with.