Is Bigfoot (Sasquatch) the missing link? Not according to Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D., the blogger behind “Mysteries From Beyond the Other Dominion.” No sir, The large forest-dwelling creatures are actually aliens living here as advance scouts, or under some form of exile from their home world.

If we were to discover that there are extant evolutionary links with our ancient ancestors, it would be a remarkable find indeed! Many are the dollars and hours we spend finding links to our past, or dreaming up possible links to our future.

Links are also of utmost importance when you’re concerned with getting found on the internet. The idea of the “hyperlink” was coined by one Ted Nelson in 1965 after reading Vannevar Bush’s 1945 essay about a machine called the Memex which linked microfilm pages in a way that allowed a reader to access related information without having to endlessly scroll back and forth through a roll of microfilm.

Your awesome website makes you available to the entire planet!

“But,” you’re thinking, “If only the locals knew about me!”

How to expand your local reach

Unless you're a retirement home or your brick-and-mortar shop is located across the street from one, we're guessing that you aren't actively pursuing octogenarians for new business. My 81 year old father still reaches for the yellow pages when he's fed up with the new girl at his haircut place. Yes, an actual book with pages that contain ads and listings for businesses in a defined nearby area. Those alphabetical listings are the reason for company names like Aardvark Plumbing and AAAA Bail Bonds. He scans through the entries, and when he finds one he likes (often the cheapest, or one with the best coupons), he drives over there to give it a try.

Do links really matter?

The short answer - yes! When it comes to optimizing your website’s content, you probably already know a thing or two about the meta data and the page content. But one key mistake that we as an Internet Marketing company have noticed is that not many people are using links to their advantage for search engine optimization! Here’s the long and short of why and how to use inlinks, outlinks and backlinks to your business’s advantage.

We know refined sugar is bad for us...

So is drinking too much.

And nicotine intake.

And texting while walking.

And featuring conventional FAQ pages on our websites?

Yes, as useful as it might seem, your FAQ page is not helping your rise to the top of search engine rankings. And it might not be a helpful to your website visitors, either.

Let's talk about getting things right. What's your margin for error? If you're making pancakes and you don't get the mix right - no problem. Add a little water or a little powder from the box and you're good to go. But what if your task is to manage a profitable bottom line for your business?

How you optimize your website for search engines could mean the difference between a very Merry Christmas or not meeting payroll. It's hard to ruin pancakes, but it's easy to mess up a business.

This is one thing every company should know. It's common sense…or is it?