Search Engine Strategies New York - Search on a Dime

Live blogging coverage of the SES NY session: "Search on a Dime".

Moderator:
Jennifer Evans Laycock - Director of Social Media, SiteLogic; Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Guide

Speakers:
David Mihm - Director and COO, GetListed.org
Matt Van Wagner - President, Find Me Faster
Stoney deGeyter - President, Pole Position Marketing


Is SEO Important? - Stoney DeGuyter

Stoney provided an overview some basic issues in SEO.

• URL / Site structure
• Duplicate content issues
• Register for as long as possible. Keep domain memorable. If possible get keywords in domain name subtly. Short URL's,
• Custom 404 pages
• Site URL and linking structure. Categorize into sections.
• No more than 3-4 clicks to destination page
• Be careful about splitting link flow
• Use keywords in links, not "click here".
• Password-protected areas are not searchable.
• Don't use JavaScript links as search engines can't read them - link in html
• Eliminate broken links on site. Xenu link checker is a free download that does this.
• Use unique title tags on each page of site.
• Interlink your pages in the content. (Link to other parts of your site.)

Local Search - David Mihm

Google integrates local search into search results. If your business is locally based at all, it's important to rank locally, especially for storefronts.

How to get listed and rank?

• Google has Google Local and Yahoo Local where you can submit business info.
• Claiming it manually will give a slight bump to rankings.
  
• Enter relevant categories.
  
• Use good descriptions of business, and try to include relevant keywords.
  
• Keep info relevant across web.
• Places to get listed:
  
• InfoUSA
• Localeze
• BOTW Local
• OpenList.com
• UniversalBusinessListing.org
  
• On contact page, use html hCard format
• Link out to listings from contact page.
• Links still matter for ranking well in local.
• Reviews and reputation management are important.

How to Use Paid Search - Matt Van Wagner

Matt discussed some of the main issues involved with paid search for small business.

It's important to strategize first, Keep it simple, and design your campaigns to be low maintenance and stay within the comfort zone of the company.

Specific tips:

• Localize your geographic target if possible. The trade off is that you may get less traffic.
• Limit ads by time of day - correlate to open business hours.
• Bid higher or lower during certain times of day.

Q&A Key Points:

• Tracking how people found you can be extremely valuable. (David Mihm)
• If using stock content, rewrite in unique words to avoid duplicate content issues and to differentiate from competition. (Stoney DeGuyter)

March 25, 2009