How many monitors to you use in your workspace? I have 2, sometimes 3 when my laptop is open.

Everyone at Blizzard Internet uses at least 2 monitors and our developers have 3.  One employee told me that “you will pry my 2nd monitor from my cold dead hands before taking it away from me.” So, that pretty much sums up how they feel about it.

I HIGHLY recommend that you get your employees at least one more monitor because:

1. It will increase their productivity. I have seen research that productivity can be increased by anywhere between, 9-50%, that alone is worth the cost. I read this in Computer Weekly, the USA Today, and the New York Times.
2. It’s cheap. 24″ screens are now less than $300.
3. They will love (or at least like) you more. This will increase morale and increase productivity.

Check out my productive team:

Larry, the master of his own domain and master of coding, uses 3 monitors to rule the world.
Matt optimizes his productivity when optimizing websites using dual monitors.
Angelina Doglie is working as slow as molasses with her single monitor.

See more pictures of the Blizzard Internet Marketing Team being productive on on Flickr.

Every business comes to a point when they have to decide whether to keep their search marketing in-house or hire an outside firm; a decision not to be taken lightly.

Blizzard Internet’s Director of Search Strategies, Carrie Hill, contributes a featured article to Search Engine Watch, a top search marketing online publication.

This month Carrie focuses this topic in her article “When and How to Outsource Your Small Business Search Marketing.”

If you are seriously considering expanding your online presence and increasing your ROI, this is a must read.

During the last two years, there has been an explosion of reviews onto the vacation rental industry scene.   Clearly the consuming public is gravitating towards reviews.  More VR managers are adding them to their website because the economic climate calls for low-cost solutions.

Do you  know of a website (maybe yours) that is using reviews in this niche?  We are looking for examples of how it can be done!

• All Star Vacation Homes has their own ALL STAR guest reviews which are really quite compelling.  Check out the contest to promote reviews, the signup form to add reviews… pretty much the whole system.

I am also a big fan of using a review management service that promise increased distribution to places like Tripadvisor or Google local using services like Flipkey.

• I like to see reviews on the homepage (example) and property pages (example and example).  Next we should start seeing reviews attached at all levels of the process, like search results…  review based rankings may become as important as a photo… price… in the buying process!

Readers, please Comment below and share examples of similar sites that use reviews:

Keyword Greed is trying to target a bunch of keywords on one page… typically a homepage.  It makes for an unappealing page. Instead, try targeting specific pages on your site, like a laser.

The Small Business Guide to Choosing Keyword Phrases by Carrie Hill

When we look at keyword research, our first goal is to find the keyword that is most relevant to each page we’re optimizing. We don’t need to look too closely at the search volume unless we’re working on a home page or other very important Web page. Powerful pages can support competitive phrases if the site, links, and content support the keywords. (more…)