Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

Wal-Mart Says No to Black Friday Ads on Internet, Goes After Sites and Search Engines

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:45:07 -0600

by Mack Collier

Failing to get the memo that it's 2008, Wal-Mart has decided to get even more aggressive in battling the 'pre-mature' leakage of their Black Friday circular ads. The Bentonville, AR retailer is not only going after the sites that post the circulars, but the search engines that link to and index the sites.

Search Engine Journal reports on this, and like most sane people, wonders why Wal-Mart is so opposed to having such a rush of attention pushed to their stores. Because in these tight economic times, wouldn't the retailer want to create more buzz for its biggest sales day of the year?

And as you would also expect, when sites started receiving letters from Wal-Mart demanding the circulars be taken down, of course they posted them. One passage from a takedown notice sent to SearchAllDeals.com states that the site report that the posted circulars "reflected inaccurate pricing information", and also added that the site had to tell Wal-Mart who gave them the circular.

Memo to Wal-Mart: The quickest way to get people to talk about you online, is to attempt to stop people from talking about you online. Before, you were going to have a buncha sites post your circular and in the process, promote your store's specials, and drive more people to your stores to...buy more stuff.

Now, you risk coming off as a ham-handed clueless big company that is totally out of touch with your online customers.

Tweet via TheBrandBuilder (Blog).

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10 Questions that Guarantee SEO Success, Part II

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:37:54 -0600

by Stoney deGeyter

This is part two of a two-part series outlining ten questions that must be asked by both SEOs and clients in order to ensure a successful SEO campaign. While these questions can be asked of just about any one in any area of life, sometimes it helps to make them applicable to specific situations. In this case the situation is SEO and running a successful online business. You can read the first five questions that guarantee SEO success here.

Do I ask questions?

Questioning is an essential ingredient to any successful campaign. The SEO must question everything in order to develop full knowledge of the site they are working on. They have to question the intent behind the site design, layout, architecture, link profile, keywords, and content. Even more importantly, they must question themselves. They must make sure they question their implementation and provide themselves with an honest assessment of the performance of any of their strategies.

The SEO must also question results from the client's perspective. Is the client getting what they want? Are they getting what they expect? Are they getting what they need? Along these lines, the SEO can question the client's understanding of what is best for them. Many clients look for certain signs for success (rankings) while ignoring the obvious proof of success (conversions).

The client on the other hand must ask questions of the SEO. They must question the SEOs strategies and measurements of success. They must question the implementation of the SEO's work in order to ensure it falls in alignment with their company goals and strategies.

Am I willing to ask a question that will expose my ignorance?

Some of the toughest questions to ask are those that let the other person know that we are missing some crucial piece of information. This is especially true for SEOs who make new realizations several months or years into an optimization campaign. I had an instance where the client chose keywords based on our research and only several years later did we realize that those keywords may not have been significantly relevant for that client. They thought so, but neither they nor us actually really thought about what the searcher's intent was.

With this new realization we had to go back to the client and start asking questions about their keywords. These were questions that should have been asked early in the campaign yet we were forced to do it much later, exposing not only our ignorance, but also where we had failed to manage the campaign properly.

These questions are tough but they must be asked.

Am I open to doing things in a way that I haven't done them before?

There are many paths to successful SEO. Everyone has their own methods and style in which they are comfortable, but not everything works out they way we hope. Sometimes they way we want to do things simply can't be done and we have to be open to alternative strategies.

For the SEO this might mean looking for new and different solutions, or implementing a solution that perhaps you have shied away from in the past. For the client this might mean giving up a bit of control. Many SEO campaigns have failed for the client's unwillingness to try a different approach. Being successful means being open to change and trying something that you've never tried before.

Am I willing to ask for directions?

I've been in many situations where clients have simply left us to do our job, giving little or no involvement over months or years of ongoing optimization. Then suddenly the client reasserts themselves, wanting to know where things are, what's been done, what's happening next, etc. In these situations, the client can sometimes find that what's been happening isn't what they wanted.

At this point the SEO can explain everything that's been going on, provide a history of the work performed, goals achieved etc. But if the client isn't satisfied with the direction of the campaign then the SEO must simply ask the client for a new direction. Let the client be right. Find out where they want to go, adjust course and head that way. The SEO must not be so stuck on one path that they are unwilling to ask for directions from the client. They need to see what the client wants and figure out how to meet their expectations.

On the flip side, throughout the course of the optimization campaign, the client will be well served to ask the SEO if there is anything that they can be doing to assist with the process. We often have clients ask if there is anything they can do. We often reply with some link building ideas and strategies. Other times we suggest blogging or expanding their content, etc. These ideas may or may not be a part of the optimization service being performed, but they are almost always beneficial to increased success of the campaign.

Do I act defensively when criticized, or do I listen openly for the truth?

Nobody likes to be criticized and when we are we often switch into defensive mode. This can cause additional strain between the SEO/client relationship. Both the client and SEO need to be open to fair and constructive criticism and to seeing the truth of any given situation.

SEOs can be particularly testy to criticism toward their optimization strategies that may be achieving "success" by one measure but not another. We must be open to the client's definition of success.

Clients must be open to being told that their lack of action may be hindering the campaign from being completely successful. While it makes no sense for a client to pay an SEO yet not take the actions being requested, it makes even less sense to get defensive if that lack of action is being blamed for a campaign failure.

SEO isn't all about technical strategies or the implementation of knowledge. Success and failure can be determined by the willingness of both the SEO and client to go beyond what they know and simply open themselves up to self examination. The ten questions above are by no means the only questions that must be asked, however they create a decent foundation for better SEO/client communications and delivering a successful optimization campaign.

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Make Your Business Image Pop With A Twitter Profile Makeover

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:30:50 -0600

by Robert Clough

Want to be ignored? Be boring. Simple.

But, if your business is ignored, you may end up living in a van down by the river. Not Good.

So how can we be, um, not boring? Well, there isn't a one size fits all quick fix, but one step everyone can take is improving how we present our business to the public. And being the social media fans we are around here, it will come as no surprise that I want to share a video about sprucing up your Twitter profile. It's an easy place to start as you work to add flair to your business image.

Shana Albert (AKA TheNanny612) from Social Desire produced the video. Shana is one of my favorite writers in the field because she allows you to feel at ease as she teaches you about social media. Spend time reading Shana's articles and watching her videos and you'll understand what I mean. She'll takes you from feeling overwhelmed to confident.

Did I mention she's one of my favorites? :-P

Ok, ok, just watch the video and you'll see how easy it is to carry your branding efforts over to your social media profiles so your business looks its best when people drop by.

Check out our small business news site.

What Blogs Should You Be Reading?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:38:41 -0600

by Mack Collier

Whenever I speak to small businesses that are considering launching their own blog, there are always a few people that want to know which blogs I think they should be reading to stay up to date on the ever-changing world of social media. If you are just getting started exploring blogs, here are some of my favorite ones that should help you quickly get up to speed on blogging and social media.

Here's my list of must-reads, and if you click on the person's name, that will take you to their Twitter account. If you are on Twitter, you should be following these people there as well as reading their blog.

Social Media Strategy:

Chris Brogan's Blog - Chris' blog does a great job of not only showing you how to use social media sites and tools, but also explains how you can create a social media strategy, and incorporate the use of these tools into that strategy.

Social Media Explorer - Jason Falls and Kat French help you navigate the social media space with all the latest news and trends. This blog becomes much more valuable after you have gotten your feet wet with these tools.

Shannon Paul's Very Official Blog - I like Shannon's blog because it's written through the eyes of the social media user, and as such, can give you great insights into how your customers will view your blog, and what they are looking for.

Social Media Measurement:

KD Paine's PR Measurement blog - KD is the true social media measurement 'guru', and she's one of the leading experts for measuring the ROI on not only social media efforts, but marketing and PR as well.

Kami Huyse's Communication Overtones blog - Kami's blog focuses on pr and marketing communication efforts, but she also has wonderful insights into social media. Check out this social media case study involving Sea World San Antonio.

General Blogging Help:

Darren Rowse's Pro Blogger - Written for bloggers that want to make money from their blogging, this blog still is a treasure chest of tips and tricks to make you a better blogger.

Brian Clark's CopyBlogger - Also great for blogging tips, with a focus on writing compelling copy.

Business Blogging Strategy:

Toby Bloomberg's Diva Marketing blog - Toby's blog offers invaluable advice and case studies of small businesses and companies that are using blogs and social media in their communication efforts. She also does a wonderful job of profiling successful bloggers.

Business and Blogging - General blogging advice, but slanted toward the business that's using blogging as a way to connect with its customers.

Mike Sansone's Converstations blog - Absolutely perfect for anyone that needs Blogging 101 help. Mike does a very job of walking you through the very basics of blogging, down to a dictionary of blogging and social media terms.

These ten blogs will give you a great introduction to blogging and social media. My advice is to not only start reading these blogs and following them on Twitter, but start interacting with them as well. Read their blogs and leave a comment. Ask a question if you see something you don't understand. Or if you are on Twitter, talk to them there about the posts they write, or share their posts with your Twitter followers. The key is, don't just watch this space, participate! That's the best way to learn, by not only listening, but by asking as well. That's the wonderful thing about the blogging and social media community, so many people will go out of their way to help you, if you'll just give them the chance!

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Flash, the iPhone and Facebook Format Followers

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:22:16 -0600

by Sage Lewis

Marketing Pilgrim gives us some good information this week regarding mobile phones and Motrin. First, we learn how detrimental all Flash websites are to iPhone users, who only see a blank page when they try and visit a flash site. Second, Sage talks about the mommy blogger outrage over the edgy Motrin YoutTube commercial. Are YouTube and LinkedIn following Facebook's lead? Now on YouTube, you will now see and can buy PPC ads, and LinkedIn has added demographic-specific Events to user's profiles in a similar fashion. Lastly, check out WebProNews for a detailed translation of a live chat Q&A with Google.

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Everything You Think You Know About Social Media and Measuring ROI is Wrong!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:19:54 -0600

by Mack Collier

One of the biggest 'criticisms' of social media that companies have, is the difficulty in measuring the return on investment for their efforts. Many believe that widespread business adoption of social media won't happen until a clear benefit to the company's bottom line can be measured. Of course, these people are totally missing the point of what social media is, and why it works.

First, let's back up a minute and remember where social media came from. 'Social media' is a fancy term used to describe tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis and social networking sites, where people create content, share it with each other, and connect. Really when you think about it, message boards, chat rooms and IMs could just as easily be called 'social media' under that definition. For years, people used these tools to write blog posts, create profiles, and connect with each other. And they did so pretty much without the rest of the world catching on to what they were doing.

But around 2005, blogs in particular started getting a lot of mainstream attention. Then there was the 'MySpace Phenomenon'. In 2006, YouTube and Facebook got on everyone's radar. So suddenly you had all this mainstream media attention being thrown at social media. All the facts and figures on how many millions of people were actively using these tools made marketers take notice. The thinking was that if all these hundreds of millions of people were using these tools to communicate, then why could companies start using social media as a way to push their marketing messages to these people?

So in the last year or two, there has been a rush by companies to get involved in social media. And of course when companies got involved in social media, they wanted to have a way to measure their efforts, they wanted to know that they were getting a return on their investment.

And this is where the trouble started.

The trouble isn't coming from companies wanting to know the ROI of their social media efforts. That's a completely valid and necessary consideration. The problem is, many companies that start using social media, are attempting to measure the wrong things. Many companies want to see a direct line drawn from time/money spent on social media, to a direct impact on the companies bottom line. They want to know that if they write X number of blog posts, that sales will increase by Y percentage points. That if they leave X number of tweets on Twitter, that Y new sales this week will be the result.

In short, traditional marketers are wanting to measure the ROI on social media as they would many of their traditional marketing efforts. But that's the problem, because blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels were never intended to house and push marketing messages. They are personal communication tools.

Let me say that again; social media are PERSONAL communication tools.

Now you see where the problem lies. Companies are wanting to treat these personal communication tools as if they are marketing channels, and measure their effectiveness as such. As social media expert Jason Falls said: The problem with trying to determine ROI for social media is you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable.

Bingo. In order for companies to accurately measure their return on their social media efforts, many need to fundamentally rethink how they view social media, and what they want to accomplish with these tools. If social media are fundamentally communication tools, then doesn't it make sense to measure your social media efforts by viewing them through the lense of how effectively they allow you to communicate and connect with your customers?

Instead of measuring how sales or revenue has been impacted from your blogging efforts, what if you started measuring comments per post? Or emails you get from readers? How about tracking what percentage of online mentions are positive/negative, and how that changes as your social media efforts unfold. What about subscribers to your blog?

The point is, view social media as a way for you to better connect with your customers, and to build positive relationships with them, and measure your efforts with those goals in mind. And as you increase the number of positive interactions with your customers via your social media efforts, positive online mentions of your business will likely increase, and your customers will be far more likely to evangelize your business online, and to trust you.

And come to think of it, what do you think the net result that increased trust and positive interactions with your customers might have....on your company's bottom line?

Exactly. You can definitely measure the ROI on your social media efforts, you just need to realize what social media IS, and perhaps just as importantly, what it IS NOT.

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10 Questions that Guarantee SEO Success, Part I

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:16:53 -0600

by Stoney deGeyter

When focusing on SEO strategies we often talk about the engines, algorithms, links, page-tweaks and whatnot. We focus on what we can do to improve website architecture, research keywords, or write better copy. All of these are important to successful search engine optimization, but what we often don't focus on is the internal issues.

Businesses don't succeed on the basis of a product alone. Those products have to be developed, marketed and sold using sound business principles. Similarly, SEO doesn't succeed solely by what you do on the technical front, but what you do internally to build a platform that will allow SEO success to happen.

Whether you're performing SEO for your own site, hiring a consultant or firm to provide SEO services for you, or you are the SEO provider serving various clients, there is the added dynamic of knowledge and communication that factors into building a successful optimization campaign.

Here are 10 questions that you need to ask to make the campaign successful:

Am I open to other people's thoughts and ideas

If there is one thing I've learned performing SEO over the last 10 years is that my solution isn't always the best solution. Nor is my solution always the most feasible. We often find ourselves making recommendations for changes then working with the development team to figure out how to best implement those recommendations. Sometimes we can get exactly what we want other times we have to figure out workable compromises, which often creates a far better solution for everyone.

On the client side, they too must be willing to compromise--that is if they want to perform well in the search results. Such compromises should not interfere with the integrity of the site or sales process, but will often need to be made to ensure site is properly optimized and search engine friendly.

Both sides must be willing to listen and understand what the goals are and work to find solutions that achieve those goals successfully.

Do I listen more than I talk?

Ok, obviously both the client and SEO cannot listen more than talk, but the point here is to be sure that you're listening. We often want so badly to get our point across that we fail to hear the points being made on the other side. While the SEO has knowledge of the optimization strategies that work, the client has product and industry knowledge that the SEO cannot come close to.

The only way to learn is to stop and listen. Put aside what you already know, listen to the knowledge presented by either the SEO or client, then integrate that new information into an even more successful campaign.

Am I willing to change my opinion based on new information.

In over 10 years optimizing websites there hasn't been a week or month that I didn't learn something new. SEO is a process. Algorithms change, keywords change, customers change, and strategies change. While many of the same principles that worked 10 years ago still work today, there is still a need to keep up with what's new.

And as that new information is gathered, opinions we had yesterday may need to give way to new opinions today. We often look back at things we've done and "update" it, either by making a change or implementing new ideas. This often causes concern from the clients as they think "why didn't you do this last month?"

The truth is, as new ideas are presented, new tools developed, and new discoveries made, those changes could not have been made last month. But that's the process of SEO, constant discovery and adapting your thoughts and opinions to build a better solution.

Do I readily admit when I am wrong?

This is hard for anyone, but is especially hard for the SEO who feels they have to justify the client's continued need for their services. But the truth is, we all make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are costly. Sometimes they cause usability problems, loss of conversions, or even a temporary rankings disaster. While the SEO tries to avert such things from happening, not all of them can be. As with anything, you have to admit your mistakes, learn from them, adjust course, fix what's broke, and move on.

The client also must recognize that failure to implement the recommendations of the SEO may also lead to failure. This is often a frustration we have in that the client wants to know why they may not be getting certain results and we continue to point to past recommendations that have never been implemented. The client must recognize that these recommendations are made based on what the SEO believes is necessary for success.

Do I think and observe before acting on a situation?

Both the client and the SEO have responsibility to consider all things carefully. The SEO must fully understand (as much as is possible) any given situation before making any recommendations. The client must then analyze the recommendations to ensure that it's implementation aligns with the goals of the site.

Every website is different and SEOs often see solutions as one-dimensional, not taking certain site nuances into consideration. Stock solutions must be changed, tweaked and adapted for each individual site. As both the client and the SEO discover any given problem, only through full observation by both parties can the best solution be decided upon. And while every solution may not work exactly as planned, the success rate is higher if the observing, thinking and planning comes before taking action.

In the next post we'll continue with the final five questions that must be asked to ensure SEO success.

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Maximize Your Paid Search Budget with Better Ads

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:56:49 -0600

by Jennifer Laycock

With the holiday shopping season already in full gear online, paid search prices are going to be going up. After all, more competition equals higher prices. That means you'll need to make sure every ad you create has the best shot at landing you a conversion. To do that, you really need to understand how to write great ads.

Karen Thackston tackles the topic of writing paid search ads that pre qualify in a great post over at Marketing Words this week.

Since AdWords has recently made some changes to the way they calculate Quality Score, it's becoming a little easier for companies to use their paid search ads to pre-qualify buyers. In the past, there was a bit of danger to pre qualifying because Google used your click thru rate as part of Quality Score, which meant you would pay more for ads with less clicks.

Since they've made some adjustments to take ad relevancy into stronger consideration, that risk appears to be dropping somewhat. That means you're free to tighten up your ad copy a bit in order to pull better results from the clicks you earn.

Karen explains:

In their AdWords Blog, Google states, "Most importantly, we are replacing our static per-keyword Quality Scores with a system that will evaluate an ad's quality each time it matches a search query. This way, AdWords will use the most accurate, specific, and up-to-date performance information when determining whether an ad should be displayed. Your ads will be more likely to show when they're relevant and less likely to show when they're not. This means that Google users are apt to see better ads while you, as an advertiser, should receive leads which are more highly qualified."

Karen also points out the benefits of using relevant keywords and even negative copy in order to pull in the absolute most qualified buyers. She gives a great before and after example of a sample ad for a Mexican cruise and does an excellent job of illustrating the copy changes that can make a dramatic impact on an ad's conversion rate.

If you're doing any paid search advertising this year, make sure you take the time to read through her full post over at Marketing Words.

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Guilty (in a good way) By Link Association

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:37:58 -0600

by Debra Mastaler

An article in our local newspaper caught my eye today; it was a short piece on how the public relations department in a neighboring County were going to offer a variety of new programming on their school and government cable channels. The article went on to say County administrators were interested in expanding local news coverage and pointed out how the school system was using YouTube to host its video's.

Government cable...You Tube... expanding coverage... my link spidey senses got all tingly as the marketing ideas whirled in my head. I immediately started thinking about the opportunities this might present a small business and headed over to the County site to see how and where to submit video content. Here's what I found on the Production Request page:

All York County Government and York County School Division offices, departments, agencies, governing bodies, boards and commissions are eligible to submit requests for programs, public announcements for cablecast or internal use, and/or requests for program production services to the Division of Video Services. Other individuals or groups are not eligible unless sponsored by an eligible user.

Ok so maybe not the dot-gov-link-gold-mine I had first envisioned but still, this may have link building potential through direct and residual links.

If your business caters to local government or the school division, look for sponsored programs and special events where local business people are called upon to donate goods and services. Video tape your products being used at the event and work with your government contact to have the tape included on the local cable channel. (remember, you have to be sponsored by a "eligible user"). Be sure to include contact information at the end of the video.

You can also send the same video to your local television stations for rebroadcast on weekends when news stories are slow and they're looking for content. Never hurts to try!

If your school system or local government has a YouTube channel, start a dialogue and leave comments. There's no link popularity to be gained but you'll build plenty of community popularity as well as credibility.

Associating your business through in-direct links on local cable channels might not generate a measure of green through your toolbar, but it may help grow the green in your wallet! Pop over to your local cable station and see if there's an opportunity to submit links either directly or through a sponsorship. You'll be guilty by association in a good way no matter what you do!

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Social Networks, Your Way

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:00:00 -0600

by Beth Harte

I have rules about my social networks and I am sure most people who are comfortable utilizing social networks do too. When someone is just starting to get involved in building up their social network it's hard to know or recognize when and where to set boundaries. As well, there seems to be a bit of a challenge when it comes to being completely professional or being yourself. Luckily, the rule of being "you" is winning out and those folks who think they are being "professional" in sending blog links, promotional introductions, and other spammy items are turning into "professional outcasts."

You might also be wondering how to separate professional relationships from your friends. With social media and the necessity to be honest, real and transparent, they are bound to mingle, so either accept that up front or make a rule to keep them separate and stick to it. [Disclaimer: the link in this paragraph links to my blog].

I'll share my rules and then maybe you'll see it's okay to make your own rules...I mean, it's your network, right?

LinkedIn
I only link to people I know and when I say know, I mean know pretty well. LinkedIn is about having a solid, referable network. How can I refer someone if I don't know them? It's tough to say no when you get a request but, just as an example, think about it from the perspective six months or a year down the road when someone you do know asks for a reference or an introduction. You'll either need to fess up and tell them you don't really know the person they are looking to meet or speak to or you'll pass through a reliable network contact to someone who, well, may not be. And that's not good for your relationships that you worked hard to develop. LinkedIn, for me is strictly a professional network and it always will be.

Twitter
When first starting out on Twitter, the norm seems to be to follow everyone that follows you. I played along by following everyone who followed me...then it started getting dicey. See, the thing is with Twitter, the more you're on it and the more you use it, the more people follow you. And some of those people are not there to build up a network. They are there to spam you, get you to their websites, respond to their promotions, etc. These days, I don't follow anyone unless I check them out first and thoroughly. I check their description, their photo, their friends, their website, what they tweet and who they tweet with or to. It takes a lot of effort, but it's my Twitterstream and I don't want it filled with junk. With Twitter a lot of friends met there have become professional contacts, and even business partners, and that's really the beauty of social media and social networking.

Facebook
When I first started using Facebook, I wasn't sure what to think or what would happen, I wasn't even sure it was a viable business social network. It definitely seemed more laid back that LinkedIn, that's for sure. I kept my Facebook profile very professional for a while (no photos or personal sharing) and only linked to business associates or friends from LinkedIn or Twitter. But I will say with Facebook, I learned that there is a lot of great sharing of books, websites, links, videos, groups, and more that you don't find elsewhere. Maybe it's because Facebook provides visuals and not just a link. And that sharing is what leads to other common interests and relationship building. That said, these days I am guarded when I friend someone. I have friended too many people only to receive a novel (actually, it's a message sent via Facebook) on why their business is good for my business, etc. No thank you! And, for a while Facebook was my little business playground until that one fateful day when my sister-in-law sent me a friend request, then my brother, then my cousin... How can you not friend your own family?! (Perhaps that's a rhetorical question for some of you.) It was then I decided that if business associates and friends wanted to know the real me...they'd have to know my family too. Why should I be the only one stuck with them?!

If you haven't dived into LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook just yet, I highly recommend that you do. They are three great applications for building up a social network of professional associates and friends. And you might just be surprised that the more you get to know people, how your associates become friends and your friends become associates. Just remember, it's okay to have rules and to say no.

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Why Wikipedia Accuracy Won't Cut It For Google Local

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:11:36 -0600

by Miriam Ellis

Almost everyone with an interest in Local Search is trying to get a message through to the large minds at Google, in a variety of ways. The message concerns the real-life effects of inaccurate data in Google's One Box, 10-pack and Maps on the public. While a major percentage of Internet users have grown to trust the Google brand and will take Google's local data at face value, few will understand that Google views its own local applications as a wiki, community project. Let me explain why this is seriously problematic.

Mike Blumenthal tried to point out to Google the hazards of letting business information be edited by the public by hijacking Microsoft's unclaimed business listing. Danny Sullivan got a chuckle out of this and hijacked Yahoo's unclaimed business listing for good measure. This riotous behavior from some of our most respected pros in Search came upon the heels of reports of business owners losing as much as 30% of their income because their Google Local Business Center listings had been hijacked by competitors and criminals.

Matt McGee had a message of his own to send to Google regarding outrageous false reviews sitting in Google Maps for 10 months, utterly damaging one company while glorifying their competitor. If, over the course of 3 days, tons of negative reviews come in for one business while, simultaneously, these same reviewers leave tons of positive reviews for a direct competitor, it's pretty evident that spamming is going on. The intent of this practice is ugly and the trail of abuse is as clear as day, but the reviews continue to sit there, unfairly prejudicing the public against the victimized business.

I had a few choice words of my own for Google when my emergency search for doctors and a hospital in my brand new home town returned me nothing but errors. Not one single result in this critical category of local business information was correct for my searches, and I can only assume that these errors are sending countless sick and injured people to wrong addresses every month in my populous community.

The problem here is that doctors move shop, just like any other business, but their outdated data continues to display in Google's Local applications unless the doctors know how to update it...and chances are, they don't have a clue. It's one thing to get sent to the wrong side of town when you want a pizza; it's quite another when your child has just broken his arm.

As for my town's major hospital being listed with an incorrect phone number, it looks likely that the wrong data may be the result of Google aggregating information from third-party sources. Rather than ending up with the hospital's main number in the A position in the 10-pack, they've got some obscure phone number for a business office somewhere in the hospital complex up there. This results in the business office having to redirect all incoming calls to the main hospital, and they have no idea why this is happening to them. In the midst of my medical emergency, I didn't have time to explain it to them.

To Google's credit, the cordial and doubtless long-suffering Maps' Guide Jen responded personally to my complaints about the inaccurate information for emergency services providers by pointing out that Google does have this link on this page specifically for reporting incorrect emergency services data. I appreciated Jen showing this to me, as well as her offer to have Google try to get the errors I'd reported corrected, but some of my readers at the SEOigloo blog were not impressed.

It turns out that Dana Lookadoo of Pixel Position had an experience almost identical to mine when her husband's appendix ruptured and she set out to find the hospital he was taken to, using Google Maps. She got the run-around and has a message of her own for Google regarding the concept of reporting this kind of error, using the special link on Google's page:

Let me make a checklist for the next time we have an emergency:
1. Check Google Maps & print.
2. Rush to hospital with hopes that map is correct. If not, proceed to #3.
3. Stop and ask directions at gas station or pedestrian while placing pressure on ruptured organ or bleeding appendage.
4. Wait in ER. Pray time was not wasted.
5. Recover and return home to Google Maps. Find the Help Center.
6. Go to Google Help › Maps Help › Contacting Support › Contact Us. Click on "I see incorrect business information for emergency services, hospitals or shelters."
7. Report incorrect emergency listing with hopes to save someone's life.

I think the validity in Dana's tongue-in-cheek message is to be found in the fact that few Internet users are likely to be aware of this special link, and are likely totally unaware of the fact that Google's business model is hinging on public volunteerism to ensure the accuracy of their data.

Did you read that carefully? Let me repeat: Google views local as a wiki application. As a Maps' guide explained to Mike Blumenthal:

The wiki nature of Google Maps expands upon Google's steadfast commitment to open community. That said, we also work very hard internally to identify behavior that doesn't benefit the community and to take the appropriate actions. We look forward to more and more users getting involved to help us keep Google Maps fresh and accurate.

The mother of all wikis - Wikipedia - is organized so that the public can contribute to a body of information while official editors oversee the community project, eliminating self-aggrandizing spam and correcting errors. This is how it's supposed to work, at any rate, but weaknesses in the system have been widely publicized and educated Internet users are likely to come across warnings not to trust the information compiled in Wikipedia as flawlessly accurate.

As I see it, the main danger of misinformation being distributed by Wikipedia is a poorly informed public. While this is unfortunate, it cannot compare to the hazards of inaccurate data in an application like Google Maps, which include:

1) False representation of businesses without their permission or knowledge
2) Lost income due to incorrect or hijacked listings
3) Public safety in jeopardy due to inaccurate publication of emergency/medical services information
4) False, libelous information given prominent publication in the form of user reviews

In essence, Google's local business model is based on acting as the guardian and keeper of business livelihood, public reputation and public safety, but having stepped into these oversized shoes, they have quickly jumped back out of them by putting the responsibility for the accuracy of data they are publishing on the shoulders of public volunteers and third party data collectors.

The ethical and legal implications attached to making money off of a business model like this are becoming more apparent with each passing month, and apart from this, there is a very serious flaw in the scenario. Whereas Wikipedia could count on a community developing around their application gradually, as awareness of the website's existence increased, and nothing terribly bad would happen as a result of this process taking its own sweet time, Google has put local data at the top of their incredibly powerful SERPs, without waiting for this community of civic-minded volunteers to materialize and set about correcting all the errors in the index.

The number of unclaimed business listings sitting in Google's Local index (including Google's own) is all the proof we need to see that the general public is unaware of the existence of this community Google is hoping will evolve around Maps. This is truly problematic.

Maps' Guide Jen explained to me that Google couldn't possibly be responsible for contacting all the hospitals in the country to make sure the data Google displays about them is correct. I have to ask, if Google can't do this, how can they expect anyone else to? I like Local Search a lot, but like most small business owners, I don't have the free time to set about correcting Google's index any more than I would have the time to go through the print Yellow Pages and correct all of the potential errors in it. That's the YP's job. But when it comes to Google, it seems like it's nobody's job.

And this is the message that I think Mike, Danny, Matt, Dana and I are all trying to bring to Google's attention: if this is your profitable business model, Google, it is also your responsibility and shirking a responsibility that so clearly involves the financial solvency of legitimate businesses as well as public safety is not an ethical thing to do.

Every week, I hear this same message coming from a variety of frustrated SMBs and alarmed Search Marketing specialists, and I have to wonder if the mass of evidence that continues to build up will ever get so large that Google will finally confront the fact that the index they've created is too important, serious and real to be treated like a wiki side project.

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Need More Blog Posts? Then Start a Series!

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:52:04 -0600

by Mack Collier

At one point or another, every blogger struggles to find new content ideas for their blog. For some of us, ideas for posts come easily, but if you're a blogger that's constantly wracking your brain for the next post idea, launching a blog post series could be your solution!

What do I mean by a blog series? I mean that once a week, month, or even day, you post around a certain topic, or collect other posts around a certain topic. Or it could simply be highlighting some of your favorite posts.

A great example is a series launched by Steve Woodruff called 'Five in the Morning'. Originally, the series started out with Steve highlighting 5 valuable blog posts he found, in a new post of his own. Steve would then go to Twitter, and leave a tweet promoting the series, but also letting the five bloggers that he had spotlighted, know that he had included them! This is a great idea for three reasons; 1 - It gives Steve more posts for his blog, and exposes his readers to new blogs, 2 - By promoting the series on Twitter, he drives more traffic to his post, and 3 - By notifying the bloggers on Twitter that he profiled them, he gives the bloggers incentive to promote his post as well!

But blogging companies can do this as well. Graco features Wondrous Wednesdays posts where the company puts the spotlight on their employee's families, and their customers. This is the best idea for a company blog post series I have ever seen. It works so well because it puts the spotlight on the company's employees, as well as customers. I've blogged about this before, but people want to know more about your company's employees, and their fellow customers!

Another possibility could be to post industry-specific news stories once a week, say every Tuesday. You are likely already reading about the current events in your industry, so why not collect the best stories you find into one post that you share with your readers? This is an excellent way to not only get a weekly post for your blog, but more importantly, you are creating valuable content for your readers!

So start thinking about ways that you can create a regular blog post series. If you only add one post a week this way, that would likely be enough to help you see a nice boost in your blog's readership!

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Can't Win For Losing

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:39:13 -0600

by Sage Lewis

There's some bad news but good tools in the news this week. Yahoo "can't win for losing" as Google terminates its advertising partnership with them and Yahoo shares drop significantly. While Google and Yahoo part ways, Yellowbook and YouTube join forces to distribute SMB videos. Wordtracker announces a new tool that anticipates the questions people are clicking on while searching based off keywords. Also, according to Search Engine Watch, the number of small businesses using social media is expected to double from 300K to 600K in the next twelve months.

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Interview: Bruce Clay on SEO Tools

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:50:17 -0600

by Manoj Jasra

One of the presenters at this year's SES Chicago is Search Marketing Veteran, Bruce Clay. Bruce will be leading a session on the topic of SEO tools: "tools that will help you to accomplish your tasks including indexing, competitive analysis, site ranking, diagnosing and remedying problems, page level information, site level information, on-page optimization and much more." I had a chance to ask Bruce a few questions about his session and how he leverages SEO Tools for his own strategies.

[Manoj]: With so many different tools available, how should search marketers go about evaluating the quality of a tool's results.

[Bruce Clay]: Tools present data, not wisdom, so every search marketer has a responsibility to select tools that answer questions. Even with analytics tools, they are at best sample-based. It is not an exact counter (JavaScript issues) so we are sealing with degrees of significance anyhow. Where there is variation is when the meanings change from vendor to vendor, so what one sees as a unique visitor may be unlike the others. The best approach is to assess several, select the most appropriate tool, and then keep using it until something better comes along.

[Manoj]: How important is it for a search marketer to have useful tools available at their disposal

[Bruce Clay]: "I know that half of my advertising dollar is wasted, I just don't know which half" is only solved with quantifiable data that clearly answers questions. Without tools the job is impossible.

[Manoj]: At your company, how do you find the right balance between using tools and using your own thoughts/judgment for analysis?

[Bruce Clay]: Wisdom is where judgment and intuition influence search marketing, and tools are not wise. Setting business rules, setting methodology, watching the competition, being sensitive to changing market landscapes is not the realm of a tool, but repeatedly executing a process to help with all of these other tasks is the job of tools. The company looks to tools and automation for data gathering tasks, and to people for the rest.

[Manoj]: What is your favorite competitive analysis tool?

[Bruce Clay]: Google in conjunction with site and page analysis. We also use Compete.

[Manoj]: At your session at SES Chicago, what do you hope attendees will walk away with?

[Bruce Clay]: My business card, and perhaps a much better understanding that no tool will do it for you. Search marketing is competitive, and we cannot pass that responsibility off on tools.

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Do I need a shopping cart or a content management system?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:03:04 -0600

by Mike Moran

Image via Wikipedia

Someone recently asked me how he knows whether to use shopping cart software or a full-blown content management system for a Web site. Does it depend on how large your site is? Does it depend on what kind of content you have? And, most importantly, which one is better for search marketing? These are good questions, so they deserve good answers.

You need to start with a definition of a content management system. A content management system, or CMS (as those of us in the know call it), is a way of separating the words and other content you use on each page from its layout and appearance. You might be familiar with the idea of a style sheet (or Cascading Style Sheet--CSS) that separates from your HTML the appearance of your site. Your CSS defines that a heading should be bold, in navy blue sans serif type that is 16 points tall. A content management system takes things one step further, by allowing you to enter your content with the CMS itself supplying much of the HTML.

Depending on your CMS, you might enter a few tags to indicate where in the text you want headings, bold type, or lists, but you'd never have to fool around with metatags, such as title and description tags. The CMS prompts you to enter them into a form on your screen, and uses a template to generate your HTML from the content you provide.

Using a CMS provides a few advantages over using straight HTML:

Little or no HTML training needed. Depending on your CMS, your writers might need to learn only a few basic tags, or none at all. Many CMSs provide a text editing window that looks just like a PC word processor, so anyone who can write with Microsoft Word can now write a Web page.
Mass content updates. Anyone whose gone through the throes of product name changes or a new marketing message knows how many places you need to change manually to pull it off. Content management systems usually provide the ability for mass changes to content, and, even better, you can design your content so that repeated elements are stored in just one place, so you have just one place to change when the time comes. While there are HTML editors and techniques such as "includes" that let you do some of these things without a CMS, content management systems make it far easier.
Mass optimization. Because the bulk of your HTML is in the CMS template, rather than the content, you can make search optimization changes far more easily that affect all your pages at once.
Multiple authors. CMSs provide the ability for multiple content authors to work on the same pages without stepping on each others' toes. You can also secure the content so that only certain people can update certain content areas.
Automated publishing. You can customize your publishing process so that things you need to do every time (such as get the owner's approval or update your site map) happen automatically with the press of a button.With a little expertise, you can even automate some nice search functions, such as keyword density checking or title checking. Your input form can ask your writer what search keywords the article should be found under, and can then check to see if those keywords are used in the title and throughout the body in the right proportion.

Whew! Now let's look at shopping cart software, which is usually what people call a simple e-commerce system. It provides critical functions for retail Web sites, such as, yes, the shopping cart, checkout, accepting credit card payments, and many other functions. High-end e-commerce systems do all these things and also contain a simple CMS embedded inside, which helps you keep your product database updated. These high-end systems, just like a CMS, help you maintain your catalog information with little or no HTML knowledge, using templates to publish your pages.

As you might expect, a pure CMS is likely to be more configurable and easier to use than a high-end e-commerce system, but simple shopping cart software is the easiest yet. In addition, many open source CMSs are becoming available, so they are as affordable as you can get—free.

It's typical for large commerce sites to use both a CMS and a high-end e-commerce system, with the content being published to the e-commerce database from the CMS and displayed from there. Other businesses, including some small businesses, use shopping cart software for their product catalogs, but separately publish other pages from a CMS.

What should you do? As usual, it depends on what kind of small business site you have:

A large product catalog. If you have hundreds of SKUs, go with a full-featured e-commerce system that combines the shopping cart functions with an embedded CMS.
A small product catalog without much else. If you have got a few dozen products or less, and not much other information that what's in the product catalog, you are better off with a simple shopping cart product without the complexity of a CMS. Updating a few hundred pages by hand, if it becomes necessary, won't be the end of the world, while you might keel over from sticker shock for a high-end e-commerce system.
An information-rich site with some products for sale. Many small businesses sell online, but their major thrust is offline sales. And the most important function of their Web site is explaining how their products or services work, and ensuring that customers understand how their problems can be solved. For these companies, it might be worthwhile to combine a CMS with a simple shopping cart system. The CMS helps a great deal when you have hundreds of pages on your site that need updating.

Remember, that although this might all sound magical, you know better. Both a CMS and a shopping cart system are merely tools whose benefits depend entirely on how skilled you are in wielding them. Both kinds of software can be hard to configure, so hard that you need special help from experts. In the right hands, both can improve your organic search rankings, but used improperly, they can hurt you badly also, with parameter-laden dynamic URLs that search engines don't always index. The good news is that even if your software is configured incorrectly, an expert can correct it rapidly—one template change can fix all your pages at once.

The original questioner was confused because both kinds of software can be used to create high-quality, searchable Web sites. Be sure that you know what kind of site you have before you choose, and consult with experts in your set-up to save you from problems down the road.

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