**Editor’s Note: This story was written in good fun. There was no actual interview that took place with Donald Trump. Just as stories on the Onion and other sites publish, this was just for laughs. The goal of the writer was educate business owners about bad data and the impact it has on a local business’s future success in an engaging way.**

Yesterday Donald Trump announced, if elected, he would find ISIS and fire them. When asked about this tactic, he stated, “I don’t know why Obama hasn’t thought of this yet. All you need is good data. Just call Google and verify the address.”

Donald Trump Presidential Announcement

He has already appointed former Celebrity Apprentice reality TV star, Omarosa as his Chief Data Officer for his campaign. He has vowed to create this prestigious cabinet position when he is elected as President of the best, most luxurious country in the world.

Trump modestly declared at his recent press conference:

“Good data is the most important thing you can do. It’s good business to have people find you. People can find me because I am everywhere, I own everything and I am rich.”

His foreign policy has left some government analysts amiss. He has vowed as president to supply the troops with the top of the line cellphones with GPS and local search apps such as “Foursquare” and “Yelp” to aid in finding terrorists, Trump hotels, and popular restaurants. His military tactic is to find local terrorist hotspots and mark them as public. Then using the best, top-of-the-line drones, he will employ military forces to target their specific hideouts. The former terrorist hideouts will then be turned into Trump towers that will stimulate the local economy. “It just makes sense. It is a win-win for everyone. Especially me.”

Another controversial economic policy Trump has proposed centered around job creation. He has recently pressured Uber to employ all current and former Miss USA contestants as premium drivers. Former beauty pageant contestants have some of the highest rates of unemployment in the country. “They are a suffering minority. I want to get them working again.” Trump declared in a recent blog post. Within weeks of the program’s inception, it was abruptly cancelled due to complaints of drivers getting lost. When a former employee was asked about the recent program shut down, she replied, “I can’t even.” The failed program had incurred $10,000 of damages due to torn upholstery caused by stiletto heels and tiaras.

His campaign has already been fraught with issues, as his new intern, Russian model Milla Vanakovakakov, was hired and fired within 20 minutes. Vanakovakakov mistakenly picked up Caitlyn Jenner’s wig at IBeWeave wig shop on Jefferson Avenue instead of Donald Trump’s signature hairpiece located at a different franchise location. While she blamed the mix up on an incorrect business listing on Google, Trump had little patience for misinformation. They are now engaged and will be married within the next fiscal year.

Trump was alarmingly absent from a few of his first press conferences following his announcement yesterday. TMZ host Harvey Levin reports sightings of Trump in Biloxi, MS at The White House Hotel. When asked for a comment, Trump’s Chief Data Officer curtly states:

“Future President Trump searched ‘White House’ on his mobile device and couldn’t verify the business location before directing his assistants to escort him to the location.”

It’s reported that after 10 hours in the SUV, Trump suspected something might be wrong. He couldn’t remember the driver’s name so he sat quietly, feeling assured that Chief Data Officer Omarosa hadn’t pointed him in the wrong direction.

It will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign pans out for the billionaire. All we know is that it will be the best, most prestigious, most luxurious campaign in the history of the United States.

#DonaldTrump “I Will Be President.” Get the story on #RocksDigital #MoData
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#DonaldTrump declares his first presidential executive order if elected. #RocksDigital #MoData
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#DonaldTrump and @Omarosa together again? Find out on #RocksDigital
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Blog commenting can generate great things for you—quality backlinks and increased credibility just for starters. Plus, it can be downright fun. Who doesn’t love to put forth their ideas to the world?

Even though blogs are commonly highly opinionated, that does not mean the world of blogging is completely devoid of some etiquette. There are some basic guidelines that you should follow in order to get the most out of your comments—and to avoid negative ramifications.

Smart Blog Commenting

Read First
Just like waiting until someone finishes a whole sentence or thought before responding, read an entire blog before you comment on it. If you jump the gun, your comments may not even be applicable or accurate because something later in the blog may completely negate your ideas. Instead of building positive credibility, you build a reputation for being off base.

Start Something
Blog commenting can certainly position you as an authority, but that does not mean your comment should be the beginning and the end of a string. Seek comments that stimulate broader conversation with more people. This increases your visibility and may well lead to those coveted “good” backlinks.

One almost sure way to stimulate responses is to argue a point made in a blog. Be sure that you are respectful in how you do this and that you can support the view you put forward.

Avoid the simple “Thank you” or—even worse—“Good blog” comments. No comments are better than these.

Be Relevant
By this we mean not only to the blog topic but also to the audience. A single topic can be discussed in multiple ways and you should be clear about who the audience of a particular blog is. Write to them, and not just to the blog author.

Get Started Now
Blog commenting can be a great way to build a brand and reputation online. This works for individuals and businesses alike. Make sure that the blogs you comment on are of high quality and well respected within your industry or circles. You want to make sure all your efforts put you in the best light.

Blog commenting is relevant if done the right way! Post on #RocksDigital by @nataliekgould
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Let’s test if you are ready! Comment below.

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You’ve got a blog. You’ve written some pretty great stuff. You’re really proud of it. There’s only one problem—nobody reads it.

Yikes. Before you get down on yourself, know that you are not alone. Not by a long shot.  And we’ve got even better news for you. There is something you can do about it. The first step is to figure out why you have no blog traffic and use that to guide your changes.

Consider these reasons for your blog’s lack of readership:

It’s Visually Unappealing

Yes, that is the nice way of saying that you have an ugly baby. Sorry, but it may just be true. When it comes to designing your site, it matters less what you think and more what your readers think. Consider a fresh design and layout to invite people in.

Your Content’s Not Really That Good

What?! You were an English major. You know how to craft a grammatically perfect sentence. That may be true but that is not really what constitutes good content. Your messages must be targeted to your audience, which means you should be writing about things that matter to your readers in a voice that appeals to them.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Your readers need to trust you. If you publish daily for two weeks, you train people to expect new content each day. When you then choose to go on vacation and skip even one week, your readers will feel abandoned—and they may not come back. Set a publishing schedule that you can actually maintain and stick to it.

Lack of Optimization

You may be among the golden ones who follow the above three rules to a tee, but if you do not take the time to optimize your blog and/or site for SEO, what’s the point? Seriously. Do you really think you’ll get off-the-charts readership by posting a flyer at your local coffee shop?

You’re Too Quiet

Marketing your blog is how you will capture the attention of new readers. Without this, your great content and beautiful design don’t even have the chance to keep readers.

Essentially, the above outlines the elements of any successful business. Develop a great product, market it well, close the deals, provide great service and enjoy repeat business.

It is also important for bloggers to remember that what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Be open to change when and where necessary.

Feel like no one is reading your blog? Find out WHY! Post on #RocksDigital by @nataliekgould
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Get Creative with Keyword Research, there is More Than Google

Google Keyword Planner is a great tool but it should not be treated like your only source for keywords. We are not saying that you should abandon this tool as that would be quite foolish. But we are saying that you should use it wisely and in conjunction with some other useful and perhaps unique keyword research tools.

Here are five keyword research ideas that you may first laugh at but we suggest you take seriously:

Wikipedia

Anyone with a child under the age of 12 has likely heard the phrase, “Wiki-wiki-pedia, the free encyclopedia” more than they care to know. Funny playground phrases aside, Wikipedia can be your friend. Enter in a keyword or product type and after the main definition on the page is a list of related terms and acronyms. Hello potential new keywords.

Thesaurus

Even more dated that Wikipedia but working in the same vein is the good old fashioned thesaurus. You can use an online version or, if you really want to feel retro, dust off that reference book on your parents’ (or grandparents’) bookshelf and give it a try.

Online Reviews

Browse reviews of your products or your competitors and see how reviewers talk about things. This is like conducting free market research because these are your customers and prospects telling you how they think about your business.

Online Submission Forms

Akin to online reviews, an email from your customers or prospective customers is like gold. When people submit queries via your website or social media, they are virtually handing keywords to you on a silver platter.

Your Site’s Search Bar

If you don’t have one, you should. This is yet another way to mine your customers’ minds to learn how they think about and talk about your services or products.

You can take keywords that you learn from these sources and evaluate them in Adwords. Doing this can produce great results.

Get creative w/ keyword research for blogging, social & more by @nataliekgould #RocksDigital
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As search engines become smarter and semantic search increases, additional methods of keyword identification are crucial for your business to compete in a digital landscape. Step out of your box and do not become confined by what Google tells you to do all of the time.

Share below some of your creative ways to do keyword research. (And, remember, comments get you a good back link to your website!)

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Yes, to Anchor Text and Here Is Why

Anchor text is essentially the text found in an active hyperlink embedded into online content. It serves as a useful tool to help direct readers deeper into the site, and to create internal or external links. Anchor text is a valuable SEO tool that should not be overlooked.

In general, the trend in anchor text is going the same way as many other things—the more natural, the better. Before writing anchor text, use the following as your guide to produce the most natural results:

Do—Use Partial Match Anchor Text

An example of this would be “website application developer” or “trail running shoes.” You can think of these like long-tail keywords. The text that is before or after these anchor texts should fill in any blanks that a search engine would need, such as location or other details about the business.

Do—Use Hybrid Anchor Text

A hybrid anchor text combines part or all of your brand with some non-branded words as well. This could be done in one or two separate links in the same area on a page. The benefit of this approach is that it reinforces your brand while simultaneously giving additional context to the reader and to web crawlers.

Don’t—Use Exact Match Anchor Text

Exact match anchor text titles are akin to standard keywords that all too frequently sound unnatural. Crawlers will pick up on this and you could be dinged for forced link building.

Don’t—Use Naked URLs

A naked URL is just a plain and simple URL. It may or may include the http:// or www. But either way, it is not very readable and breaks up visitors’ experiences, potentially hurting your SEO efforts.

Don’t—Use Zero Anchor Text

Phrases such as “click here” have no meaning in and of themselves and tell readers nothing about what they will see by clicking. The context of good anchor text should give a preview of what is to come.

Reading “The Do’s and Don’ts of Anchor Text” by @nataliekgould on #RocksDigital!
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In general, if you keep in mind the purpose of any anchor text, your job of writing anchor text becomes more natural and much easier.

Following these tips and including a healthy variety of text verbiage are the ways to make these elements work for you. Your site visitors and your site’s SEO can all benefit when you implement logical, informative and helpful anchor text.

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I wanted to call attention to a very important event that happens every Monday in the social medias and internets, #ManCrushMonday or #MCM. Luckily, I was able to catch this endearing moment on camera when Joe Youngblood (aka Mr. Not Provided) professed his #MCM for Tony Cecala (aka Mr. Facepaint Guy). But who doesn’t have Tony as their #MCM when we’re really honest with ourselves.

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