Betsy Kent's Blog - Just Ask Betsy

If I Copy & Paste Text from Another Website onto my Own, will I Hurt my Search Engine Rankings?

By Betsy Kent | Aug 1, 2009

Question: I am building an eCommerce site where I will be selling products that appear on other sites, including manufacturers’ sites. If I cut and paste descriptions from one of those sites onto my own, will I hurt my Search Engine rankings? Jonathan Rosen, Give.bz My instincts are to say “Yes, it would hurt your rankings.” In…

Something New & Really Cool in Gmail!

By Betsy Kent | Jul 30, 2009

As many of my friends and colleagues know, I really love Gmail. I use my Gmail address most of the time for lot of reasons: 1. very little spam 2. easy to find old emails 3. simple, user friendly design 4. it’s fast And, as many of my friends and colleagues also know, I have…

Your Blog: Is it a Good Idea to Co-Publish it with a Colleague?

By Betsy Kent | Jul 26, 2009

Question: I am an interior designer and I have a friend and colleague who is a real estate agent. We each would like to start a blog. Would it be effective for us to do a blog together since our two areas are related? One of the first things to ask yourself when conceiving your blog…

Can Twitter Help my Local Business?

By Betsy Kent | Jul 23, 2009

I spend a lot of time these days talking to local businesses about Social Media and discussing how they can use Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other channels. And that can be challenging because in many cases people have a hard time seeing the connection between online social activities and their businesses. Sometimes even in spite…

Should I Start a Blog?

By Betsy Kent | Jul 21, 2009

Question: A patient of mine who is pretty web-savvy has been repeatedly telling me I should start a blog. Should I? What would it consist of, given my profession as psychotherapist and marriage and family therapist and trauma specialist? Dr. Barbara Nadel, D.C.S.W., Ph.D. www.drbarbaranadel.com Your patient may be right. She could be urging you to start a blog…

Google PageRank: What is it? Is it Important for SEO?

By Betsy Kent | Jun 25, 2009

Question #1: What is Google PageRank? Google PageRank (PR) is a number that represents the importance of an individual web page in the eyes of Google. So, when lots of web pages link to a specific web page, it shows Google that the page is popular. That means good stuff to Google because their ultimate goal…

10 Things I Learned at Twitter Boot Camp

By Betsy Kent | Jun 18, 2009

On Monday I had the pleasure of being able to spend the entire day at Tim O’Reilly’s Twitter Boot Camp at the New World Stages in Manhattan. There were wonderful speakers and wonderful advice on the use of Twitter for your brand. Here are a few pearls of wisdom I took away about this exciting new communication…

Yes, Domain Names are Important

By Betsy Kent | May 7, 2009

There have always been differing views on how important your domain name is to the success of your business online. For a large company whose brand it’s really crucial. Over the years numerous large corporations have spent millions of dollars to secure their preferred domain name. (Fund.com was bought for $9.99 million; see The 10 Most…

Managing your Social Media Time: Six Hours per Week

By Betsy Kent | Apr 22, 2009

Lately I have been speaking to groups of entrepreneurs about Social Media. Once I finish explaining the benefits of using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging, I take questions. In every case, my audiences’ biggest concern is that Social Media will become a huge “time drain” for them. And, I can totally understand their worry. However,…

Getting Back to Basics: Blogging, Tweeting, etc.

By Betsy Kent | Apr 14, 2009

If you Blog, if you use Twitter, if you use Facebook and LinkedIn, you know how easy it is to lose your direction in the maze of information coming in. And, what to say, how to add to the conversation, what’s the best way to be a part of it? If you are anything like…

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