I wanted to share a very cool new tool for those of you looking for a quick way to share a custom profile of yourself or your business. The service is called About.me. It’s a free service that allows you to upload a full website size picture (max 1680×1050) along with a bio and links to any websites that you may own or social media tools that you use. You also get instant analytical data in a nicely designed dashboard when you log into your account.

I just finished up created my profile that you can see below or you can view it live on the web at http://about.me/jeffwagner.

About.me has nicely integrated many of the social media services right into your profile page so anyone can follow along anything that you’re sharing publicly. Here’s a list of those services that you can have on your profile:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• WordPress
• Blogger
• Posterous
• Flickr
• Typepad
• Foursquare
• Formspring
• Youtube
• and a link to your website

Not only is this a great service which includes so many integrated features but you’re creating backlinks to your personal/business website that should help with search engine optimization.

What’s interesting is that About.me went live publicly for 5 days before the company was bought out by AOL, which hints that the service is going to be around for the long haul. If you’d like to see more samples of others who’ve signed up for About.me just check out their featured directory.

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I wanted to share some results I’m getting with my website’s search engine optimization (SEO). For a year and a half I’ve been trying to make some traction in organic search results in Google for certain keyword phrases like “Minnesota Web Design” (check it out yourself) where I’m trying to target local businesses.

This is a very competitive phrase for Web Design agencies within the Twin Cities area and in Minnesota. With there being so many agencies and small Web companies everyone’s trying to leap frog each other to the first page of Google’s organic search results. Currently, I’m on the second page as the 15th organic search result and hopefully in the near future I’ll make it to the first page where about 90% of most search’s end.

If you look at the 14 results before me about 10 of them are large Web agencies. So, how is it that a newer business like mine can already compete with the bigger players? It’s a combination of:

• SEO Website Development
• Solid website content and updating it regularly (portfolio, blog, galleries, etc.)
• Interaction on the Web (blogging, social media, external linking)
• Backlinks (incoming links from other websites)
• Time. Patience is a virtue with Search Engines, no one has the exact formula for instant results but there are best practices you can do to speed up the process.

Point being, if SEO is done properly you’ll start to seeing better rankings in organic results which should create more leads for your company.

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(12:45pm)
We’re getting ready to roll at GetListed.org‘s Local University in Denver, CO. Should be a great panel of experts speaking today on a wide range of topics including:

• Search Engines
• Local Search
• Web Optimization
• Social Media and much much more.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the conference.

(1:00pm)

We have a great turn out for the event, gonna be a packed room. If anyone’s looking for me I’m on the far right wall in the blue shirt and vest. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, writing on the fly here.

(1:15pm)
Aaron Weiche of Five Technology is going to kick it off by talking about Search Engines and a brief overview of how they work, what they can do for you and understanding the concepts of ranking better in results.

(1:35pm)
Mike Blumenthal is up next and talking about how Google Local works and how to better your ranking results within Local Search Results.

(2:35pm)
Quick question and answer portion of the conference from some of the panel members. Lots of great questions that I’m sure will apply to many small business owners. Such great info being shared at Local University today.

(3:15pm)
David Mihm of GetListed.org is now going over the Web Pitfalls that you should avoid. He’s giving great advice on many areas of web including domains, local listings, social media, keyword research and much more.

(3:20pm)
Mary Bowling of seOverFlow is giving great advice, tips & tricks on how to better your website optimization.

(3:40pm)
I can’t stress how valuable the information is at these Local University events. If you’re a small business owner and are looking to have a better web presence or are looking to rank better within search engines you should really attend one of these conferences. You’ll take away so much information that’ll only help you make your presence so much better. Check and see if a Local University event is coming to your city.

(3:45pm)
Matt McGee is now giving a great breakdown on all areas of social media. “Trust is the #1 factor in long-term success, online and offline.” Matt blogs on a regular basis at Small Business Search Marketing, if you haven’t checked out his website you need to follow the above link.

(4:21pm)
David Mihm is the final presenter for this event and he’s going over the Do-It-Yourself No-Brainers for your website. Some great points on how you should be optimizing your website, blog suggestions, Social Trends and Google Analytics.

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The web design of the Jeff Wagner Interactive was featured in a recent post on Reencoded.com as one of “40 Powerful Black Web Designs.”

I couldn’t agree more with what Reencoded wrote about using dark backgrounds to help boost the important aspects or content areas on your website. This is exactly the mindset that I had when designing this site.

Take a look at this great collection of website designs that utilize dark backgrounds, I’m very honored to be featured with so many creative designs.

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Just booked my trip to Denver so that I can attend GetListed.org’s Local University SEO Conference on October 21, 2010. Many different friends and colleagues have commented on how valuable these workshops are and that the tips, tricks and advice are second to none.

Talk about a great opportunity to listen and learn from some of the most talented experts in search engine optimization including representatives from the Bing Local Listing Center. On top of that, local SEO & Web everything expert Aaron Weiche of Five Technology is going to be speaking as well on how to create major opportunities for small businesses.

I also look forward to seeing all the fun and trendy areas of Denver since this will be my first time to the city. I’ve heard so many cool things about Denver and when I saw that a SEO conference was going to be there I had to jump at the opportunity.

I’ll make sure to post photos and comments to this blog and to my twitter account at @jw_design.

Denver here I come!

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Foursquare isn’t new anymore for most people familiar with social media but still there seems to be a major disconnect with the proper etiquette of how to use it. For those of you who don’t use or know what Foursquare is here’s a very quick description. Foursquare is a location-based social networking website & app where people can check in via their phones and gain points/badges to earn prizes or discounts from the restaurant or business
their at.

Anyways, here’s the problem that I have with it. Every time someone checks in at a location it posts your “check in” on Twitter and or Facebook. Example: (Jeff Wagner is at Caribou Coffee in Maple Grove, MN. http:4sq.com/maplegrove).

This is EXTREMELY annoying and really you should take a few seconds and turn off this option. Imagine if you’re like me and use Twitter quite frequently and every 3 posts on your twitter page is a check in from Foursquare. So out of the 20 posts that my page shows by default 5 or 6 are completely worthless information to me. Can you see the frustration?

I love using Twitter, I think it’s a fantastic way to get real time information and I use it for the latest and greatest details within my industry. I just wish I wouldn’t have to filter through all the unnecessary posts.

Maybe I’m the only one that feels this way, does anyone else feel the same?

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Local Minnesota company, Electrical Builders Inc., came to JWI looking for a fresh web design to better represent the professionalism of their company. Not only did we come up with a great look but we helped improve their search engine optimization with better programming and visible content.

One of the requests by EBI was to have a much more visible site with a lot more pictures of the different electrical services that they offer. With their being so many different areas of electrical construction having photos of the different services gives users & visitors a better idea of their capabilities.

Both Electrical Builders and JWI are extremely happy with the new look and improved online presence.

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My wife and I were in Costa Rica over the past two weeks for our honeymoon and we had the opportunity to go on a few outdoor excursions with two very highly recommended companies…Wave Expeditions and Sky Adventures. Needless to say these two companies were fantastic, very professional and they just flat out love their jobs.

With so many different excursions to experience we decided to try the following:

• Canyoning – (Wave Expeditions)
• White Water Rafting – (Wave Expeditions)
• Zip Lining – (Sky Adventures)

My favorite excursion that we tried was Zip Lining. I had always wanted to do it and finally I got the chance with Sky Adventures. These lines were about as extreme as you can get. They have 8 different runs that you go on that work their way down the mountains of Costa Rica. The longest and highest line was hundreds of feet high and about 1/2 mile long, we also got up to speeds of about 55 mph. We had one of our guides take a video of the run with our camera after we had all gone across (see below). Our guide went across with a boy who was a little nervous about going alone. You can see the active Arenal Volcano in the video as well. At the end of the trek across you’ll notice my wife and I in the back of the group waving at the camera. You must try zip lining if you’re ever in Costa Rica, it’s absolutely amazing.

The second excursion we tried was Canyoning (repelled) down 5 different waterfalls and 1 dry (rock) wall. All repels were at least 80ft high with the highest being around 125ft and of course it had to be the first one. We would’ve be lying if we said we weren’t nervous but after the first time down we really couldn’t wait for the next repel. Transportation, lunch and snacks were also included in the expedition. I highly recommend anyone to try this even if you have a slight fear of heights. Make sure to bring your cameras because they do have dry bags for them to go in. We made the assumption that ours would get wet and left it at home.

The final excursion on our list was White Water Rafting. We actually did this and canyoning as a 2 part excursion package with Wave Expeditions. All I can say about this adventure is “fricken fantastic!” My wife and I had always wanted to try rafting and I am so glad we did it. We tried a class 3 river that’s on a scale of 5 with 5 being the hardest. The whole run lasted about 2 hours with a short break in the middle for lunch. It also had rained a lot the previous couple of days so our guide said the rapids were probably ranked at about 3.5-4 with the higher water levels. Not only was this a crazy fun ride it was also a great workout, you paddle constantly even in the middle of huge rapids. This is an absolute must try for anyone.

We had an amazing time and Costa Rica is truly a fantastic place to visit. I’ve included some pictures from our adventures below to give you an idea of the excitement we had. Enjoy.

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Jeff Wagner Interactive was very fortunate to partner with Winter Ranch on a new website project called The Loon Room, which features beautiful art of our state bird the Minnesota Loon.

The Loon Room is the creation of Simone Schara, who with her father, Ron, have developed several nature-related businesses including Ron’s unique outdoor information calendars (outdoorcalendars.com). If the name is familiar, you may have seen Simone on the Pheasants Forever Television on Outdoor Channel, which is hosted by her father. Ron also is regularly seen on Minnesota Bound, a popular outdoor show on KARE 11, an NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, Minn.

Jeff Wagner Interactive created the logo branding and all of the Web Design work for this project and along with Simone, Ron and Winter Ranch we think the website turned out great.

The Loon Room also features a great e-commerce engine that allows all the wonderful works-of-art to be sold right from the website. If you’re a Minnesota Loon fan then The Loon Room will have a loon product that’s sure to please.

JWI would like to thank Simone, Ron and Winter Ranch for allowing us to be a part of this great project.

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I was one of the fortunate people to receive the new iPhone 4 last Thursday and after a weekend of playing with some of the new features let me tell you…it’s fricken amazing. Apple really made this a solid upgrade over the 3Gs with a new look and a boat load of great features.

So where do I begin with these features…here’s a few that I really like thus far:

Retina Display
The screen clarity is ridiculous. Icons, movies, photos, apps all look so much better.

Speed
The processing speed and reaction time to your finger touch is so much faster than previous models. A few of my friends told me that since upgrading to iOS4 on their 3g and 3gs’ the processing time has been reduced quite significantly, not so with the iPhone 4. Plus, download and upload speeds are way off the charts compared to older models, check out these iPhone 4 speeds.

Camera / Video Camera
Such a great improvement in clarity and picture quality. The camera comes with 5x zoom which is fantastic and the video is so clear that it blows your mind. Love the front facing camera as well, will be fun when buddies and colleagues get there new iPhones so we can use the video conferencing tool.

Digital Compass (actually introduced with iPhone 3Gs)
Augmented Reality will be a whole new world with this feature and I can’t wait to see what the app world comes up with. With the increased processing and download speeds this feature will be able to work to its fullest potential. If you’re not familiar with Augmented Reality…here’s a quick tutorial.

Folks, if you’re with AT&T I strongly suggest upgrading to this beauty. Apple has came through again and am looking forward to all the amazing possibilities that this phone is going to bring.

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