Over the years we have answered many a phone call where a prospective client is frustrated with the poor performance of their website(s). Check out this sample conversation of what a business and client might go through in deciding what direction to take a small business SEO project....
When vertical results appear on the major engines, they appear smack in the middle of the hottest part of the page. After a number of eye tracking studies, we can say with a degree of certainty that most searchers (upwards of 80%) at least look at the top sponsored ads and the top 3 or so organic ads. That means that vertical, wedged in between, will be at least grazed over by a lot of eyeballs....
Having been in the search marketing industry for a few years now, it still amazes me how organic search just does not get the respect it deserves. Many people still do not get search at all. For those of you that don't get search now… you will… it is only a matter of time....
Search engine marketing is literally a war of words. Clawing your way to the top of the pile often requires a skill level befitting the most advanced of military campaigns but in order to reap the benefits, you first have to ensure you re fighting the right battle....
In part one of this series, I introduced readers to custom jewelry designer Carrie D Mader and our crack team of online marketing consultants. In today's article I'll be talking about some of the challenges facing Carrie and our team and some of the software solutions that we're going to be putting in place to take care of them....
I created a site map for a client's website. MSN has indexed many of the pages but Google has indexed only 2 pages and I believe Yahoo has done only 5. What gives?...
Since Google has agreed to censor their search results in order to enter the Chinese market, much hoopla has been made about American corporations and their responsibility to human rights. Is it right for American companies to acquiesce to foreign governments who have a history of human rights abuses, just to enter their markets and gain a profit?...
Web Analytics and tracking user behavior are more popular than ever before, partly because of the availability of robust tools, and partly because of the need in the wake of a growing competitive landscape. It isn’t enough just to be online anymore you have to be effective and efficient to capture a larger share of your target market....
I took a look at the source code [of a site I'm helping with] and noticed that the body copy doesn't show up until way down the page (2/3 of the way). I remember reading that this can be a problem for indexing and ranking. False? True? If so, can it be fixed?...
In this study, we are looking at interactions with Google, compared to MSN and Yahoo! Many of you may have heard me speak about the results at various shows. Recently, one finding in particular seemed to be screaming out to be noticed. Being a compassionate sort of researcher, I listened....
SEO copywriting has begun to get a poor reputation all due to carelessness. How so? Because too many people claim to know what they are doing. In reality, they simply shove keywords into copy without any concern for how the copy flows....
Demystifying your competitor's success requires you to put on your detective garb because you are going to have to investigate all aspects of their website; even the deepest darkest corners....
I have some ideas of how to go about marketing this option, but would love to hear how you market to get new clients. After scanning my local phone book to determine companies that a) spend money on expensive display ads and b) list a website, I've checked out the mentioned websites and have collected a group of potential customers. But now what?...
Part two of this article continues to provide a thorough market conversation strategy outline for the enterprising DIY marketer, with an emphasis – at the end – on search engine presence....
When visitors arrive on your website, what are they doing? Is it what you want or expect them to do; or are they aimlessly wandering around and not finding what they came in looking? Are your potential customers abandoning your site just seconds after their arrival? If you are puzzled because you don't know what visitors are doing, or why, then how can you ever create a decent strategy to offer your visitors a better experience on your website?...
Much has been written on the topic of keyword research by other SEOs. Without trying to restate anything that has already been written, (at least by me) let me present a few ideas that can help you identify all of the possible keyword phrases that you could benefit from....
This article provides a thorough market conversation strategy outline for the enterprising DIY marketer, with an emphasis – at the end – on search engine presence....
Through hundreds of emails with Search Engine Guide readers, I can see that there are plenty of businesses out there ready and willing to invest the money that it takes to improve their online marketing. The problem that most of them have is that they simply don't know how to get started. That's where Search Engine Guide comes in. Once again, it's time for us to share the ups and downs, the good decisions and the bad, and the every day realities that come with promoting a business online....
Today we have a very nice interview with Laura Lippay, SEO Program Manager for Yahoo Media Group. Dispensing excellent advice to newbies and old timers alike, Laura has gone from circus performer extraordinaire to Flash-superstar-wannabe to a dream gig as an in-house SEO for Yahoo....
Sometime ago, I signed up for a Google Analytics account for my blog and at the time, I somehow activated Google’s Personal Search History function. Because I have a laptop, and tend to use the same computer at work and at home, I was unknowingly capturing a pretty complete snapshot of all my search activity. Just a few days ago, I realized I was still logged in. Today, I took a look back at 2 months of search activity....
Viral marketing is one of the most difficult, yet cost effective methods of marketing available to the modern small business owner. However, as with many forms of online marketing, it's sometimes necessary to take a step back and realize that common sense is one of the most powerful weapons in your creative arsenal....
Your site visitors place different values on price, volume, technical features, complexity, risk/reward, brand name, options, status quo, social trends and benefits. Therefore, the manner in which a visitor perceives your offer is critical, especially when the introduction to your business is via your Web site....
I wanted to use a special URL in one of our ads so we could track its effectiveness. I asked our web guy if he could make a redirect and add the name of the ad to the end of our URL like this: www.oursite.com/ad1 -- but it would go to our home page....
RedZee is a Meta Search Engine that opened its doors officially in July 2005. Now open just over a year it was recently brought to my attention that this search engine with a darn cute mascot along with some decent design concepts also have some significant caveats that I believe my valued readers and clientele should be made well aware of....
While there's no argument about the value of building quality links to your web site in order to help increase both traffic and search engine rankings, there is often some confusion about the best way to go about doing that link building. What would happen if small business owners started to think about link building in another way?...
With great anticipation, I pre-ordered Chris Anderson's The Long Tail two months ago. I received it last week and have read it through fairly quickly. I enjoyed the book as it was much more of a social commentary than a business manual. I like this approach, as the long tail is not a "how-to", but a "because why"....
While online businesses lack the ability to build relationships face-to-face, this does not negate the importance of building relationships with your customers--you just have to go about it a bit differently. In part, this is accomplished through your website itself, sometimes through email communications, and occasionally over the phone....
Eric is currently Vice President with the Visual Sciences division of web analytics firm, WebSideStory, is the author of several books on web measurement and moderates several popular discussion lists on analytics. He also manages an excellent site on web analytics called Web Analytics Demystified....
Searchers are incredibly adept at focusing in on just the portion of the results page that interests them. The time required to relocate to the prime real estate is literally a fraction of a second. Yet that real estate isn’t always the same spot. It varies depending on query and intent. It also varies by user, but even the same user will navigate the real estate of the listings in very different ways, depending on what they’re looking for....
Starting an Internet marketing campaign, like fighting high-level, cyberspace monsters, is a huge complex undertaking. In order to make the effort a success, many people who perform different functions must be strategically aligned. Your team may not have all the in-house resources to "slay the monsters" however, you need not go into battle unprepared....
The good news is that as long as your content isn't the same as elsewhere on your site, being in the supplemental results at this time is really more of a glitch on Google's end than anything you need to worry about....
So what is Google Trends? It offers a genuine but prototype (beta) peek into Google's search history so that you can better understand search trends....
We've known for a long time that quality matters to Google. Quality matters when it comes to content, and it matters when it comes to links. However, building content and links doesn’t have to be painful. Web site owners tend to think of content in a very limited way....
When trying to determine the proper key performance indicators, one of the most important factors to keep in mind is the type of business that you have. And as we are in the online marketing industry, let’s stay with the theme and take this one step further… when determining your KPIs you need to understand the type of site that you have....
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