Search Engine Smarts
Stay current on the latest techniques for effectively marketing your company online. Learn how to both optimize your site for search engines, and avoid pitfalls that could get your site blacklisted.
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ArchivesNew Search Marketing Benchmark Guide & Advice from MarketingSherpa
July 15, 2008, 10:35 PM
For small businesses that want to make smart decisions about their search marketing strategy based on research and case studies, then check out Marketing Sherpa's new Search Marketing Guide for 2009 which is hot of the press.
Diversify SEO with Digital Asset Optimization
June 25, 2008, 12:15 PM
We've all heard the expression, "Don't keep all your eggs in one basket" which in most cases is sage advice. It's no different with search engine optimization. There are many ways to solve the kinds of web site problems that result in better search engine rankings. However, many small businesses are stretched thin and resort to simplifying their SEO efforts by "sticking to what works" and not staying up to date.
How to Ruin Your Search Engine Optimization
June 20, 2008, 2:05 PM
While there are abundant “how to” resources on SEO online, at conferences in books, newsletters and blogs, knowing what not to do is equally important. Here are four tips on what to avoid in a SEO campaign: ...
Winning the Paid Search Game
April 17, 2008, 5:35 PM
As the paid search game gets trickier, it’s important to keep up-to-date with the ins and outs of paid search marketing. With this in mind, Mona Elesseily and Andrew Goodman of Page Zero Media delivering the first ever Page Zero Media Marketing Seminar called “Winning the Paid Search Game” at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto on Thursday May 15 2008.
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
February 05, 2008, 11:00 AM
What are some of the successful online marketing tactics being implemented now and into 2008? Below is a list of 35 such tactics that may be meaningful for both BtoB or BtoC marketers.
Optimize Your Online Reputation
January 25, 2008, 9:45 AM
What is a small business owner or marketer to do when blogs or other publishing platforms start to post negative comments or information that affects your brand reputation in a negative light?
Best Search Marketing Blogs of 2007
January 07, 2008, 12:00 PM
Which blogs were the best in 2007? Search Engine Journal has run a survey to find out and the votes are in. Find out which blogs were the best at covering every SEM angel possible, from local SEO to Social Media.
Improving Conversion Rates with Landing Pages
November 05, 2007, 11:15 AM
One of the most common mistakes small business marketers make with online marketing efforts is not directing traffic to landing pages. Whether you're driving traffic through email, paid search, press releases, advertising, sponsorships, blogs or social media promotions, conversion rates can dramatically improve if those visitors are engaged with content designed to convert. Recently, Jon Miller of Modern B2B Marketing wrote a nice piece offering ten tips for creating landing pages which are summarized here: ...
Small Business SEO Checklist
October 31, 2007, 7:30 AM
Most small businesses have some idea of the potential for new business from the internet and in particular, from search engines. There's abundant advice on the web covering topics ranging from "meta tags" to getting other sites to link to yours. However, people get busy and don't always have time to implement all the site optimization tactics they should or could. Sure enough, while the task of "optimizing the web site" sits on a checklist somewhere, changes happen with the way search engines work. A lack of improvement often motivates the hiring of an outside SEO company or a renewed ...
Link Building Is Not Enough
September 12, 2007, 5:20 PM
At the core of search engine optimization (SEO) are the fundamentals of keyword-rich content and link building. However, in today's online marketing landscape, link building by itself is simply not enough to remain competitive.
Latest Comments in Search Engine Smarts posts
I'd add another important item to this list:
Don?t use duplicate content!
...
By: SOHO Prospecting
on
How to Ruin Your Search Engine Optimization
Don?t use duplicate content!
...
That?s why the optimization of a website should not be a one-time job. It?s important to keep tracking results and change the strategy, when it?s necessary. But it?s also significant to keep updating and adding content when it?s possible.
By: SOHO Prospecting
on
Diversify SEO with Digital Asset Optimization
Define your strategy. Before establishing your presence on the web you should define your strategy. Your site should clearly articulate your unique selling proposition to visitors. Your messaging should be targeted to your ideal customer. Who do you want to reach? Will you limit yourself to a specific geographical region?
Determine how customers find you. When you have a clearly defined strategy you will then need to find out how people search for your product or service. You can do this by researching keywords that are relevant to what you offer. There are many tools available to help you in your keyword research including keyword tools at Yahoo.com, WordTracker.com and GoodKeyWords.com.
Just the facts? Many publicity experts stick to ?just the facts? when writing press releases. Be creative when writing your press releases and you will stand out in the crowd. Use of an angle, such as the underdog approach or a twist on current news/events will heighten the interest of your press release and garner the reader?s attention.
Use keywords in your press release. The strategic use of your keywords throughout the press release will make it easier for search engines to find you. Search engines use crawlers to find keywords that match what internet users type in the search engine box. By using your strategic keywords you are making it easier for search and news search engines to find and pick up your release.You should also put your keyword in your headline as early as possible to give you an additional competitive advantage.
The press release dissected. The press release has four parts ? headline, summary, body and close. The headline should be captivating and generate curiosity. The summary is 2-3 sentences that summarize the message of the story. The body begins with an opening paragraph that expands on the summary and should include a quote. The quote can be your own or a third party. Quotes lend further credibility to your press release and set it apart from traditional promotional vehicles. The remainder of the body should have supporting points to your message. The close of your press release should have a strong ending with a call to action. Do not simply include the company?s contact information but ask them to do something.
Press releases are a persuasive and valuable tool for every type of business. All businesses need exposure and visibility and a press release can aid that goal. People react favorably to press releases because they do not view it as a blatant sales method. It is a savvy opportunity to present features and benefits and establish your credibility.
go here for more seo tips... thanks.. www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
...
By: Ron
on
Diversify SEO with Digital Asset Optimization
Determine how customers find you. When you have a clearly defined strategy you will then need to find out how people search for your product or service. You can do this by researching keywords that are relevant to what you offer. There are many tools available to help you in your keyword research including keyword tools at Yahoo.com, WordTracker.com and GoodKeyWords.com.
Just the facts? Many publicity experts stick to ?just the facts? when writing press releases. Be creative when writing your press releases and you will stand out in the crowd. Use of an angle, such as the underdog approach or a twist on current news/events will heighten the interest of your press release and garner the reader?s attention.
Use keywords in your press release. The strategic use of your keywords throughout the press release will make it easier for search engines to find you. Search engines use crawlers to find keywords that match what internet users type in the search engine box. By using your strategic keywords you are making it easier for search and news search engines to find and pick up your release.You should also put your keyword in your headline as early as possible to give you an additional competitive advantage.
The press release dissected. The press release has four parts ? headline, summary, body and close. The headline should be captivating and generate curiosity. The summary is 2-3 sentences that summarize the message of the story. The body begins with an opening paragraph that expands on the summary and should include a quote. The quote can be your own or a third party. Quotes lend further credibility to your press release and set it apart from traditional promotional vehicles. The remainder of the body should have supporting points to your message. The close of your press release should have a strong ending with a call to action. Do not simply include the company?s contact information but ask them to do something.
Press releases are a persuasive and valuable tool for every type of business. All businesses need exposure and visibility and a press release can aid that goal. People react favorably to press releases because they do not view it as a blatant sales method. It is a savvy opportunity to present features and benefits and establish your credibility.
go here for more seo tips... thanks.. www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
...
You nailed it...exactly what we do think. I do skip to the organic searches.
Linda
www.attentiontodetailgifts.com
www.letspartnerforresults.com ...
By: Linda Smith
on
Organic search results versus sponsored search
Linda
www.attentiontodetailgifts.com
www.letspartnerforresults.com ...
Well, as we all know advertising in the 21st century has evolved due to the explosion of internet, making advertising a pretty tricky task now for bussiness owners(specially the small one's) to emerge in this BIG BAD ADVERTISING WORLD, to be able to do so an enterpreneur needs to have knowledge on some marketing skills, blogging, podcasting, etc. but honestly, do you even have an idea what this terms mean? -nothin', right!?!? Thats why you should call on the professionals to do it for you! Try http://www.getpaidtopost.com/ and ADVERTISE THE EASY WAY!!!! IT WORKED FOR ME....
By: lex
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
You're certainly right, staying on top of emerging trends is certainly one of the main challenges of a business owner. The extensive list of tactics is really impressive. If we would have to look at the 5 or 10 best ways; what would be your choice? Thanks for your great work. Frequentia ---------------------- http://frequentia.net ...
By: Frequentia
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
You're certainly right, staying on top of emerging trends is certainly one of the main challenges of a business owner. The extensive list of tactics is really impressive. If we would have to look at the 5 or 10 best ways; what would be your choice? Thanks for your great work. Frequentia ---------------------- http://frequentia.net ...
By: Frequentia
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
Great Materials ...
By: Tapas Shome
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
Great Materials ...
By: Tapas Shome
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
The internet is loaded down with so much useless information and sites that aim for nothing less than simple traffick and clicks on their ads to generate income. I can spend hours upon hours each day searching for useful ways to market my businesses, and come up with relative few options. I can easily see why the companies that can afford it spend thousands of doallars every month just to be at the topp of the page on the popular search engines, but we can't all afford this luxury. We have to optimize our own sites the old fashioned way, by getting the word out where ever and whenever we can.
By: Jason
on
30+ Online Marketing Tactics for Small Business in 2008
Marketing with blogs in online is one of the good way to improve our life..I too decided to start this planning...nice topic ...
By: Ruth Robins
on
Marketing Online with Blogs
the company that does my SEO is www.Qualifiedimpressions.com Mention me if you contact them.
By: Wess Freeman
on
Link Building Is Not Enough
I may be no expert but the company doing my SEO is really good. I agree that the link building alone may not get you to top 10 but I've seen some flash websites that have no content and aren't search engine friendly, yet they are #1 for their targeted keywords. My website optimization company stresses link building as 50% of the battle. I agree now because I am on page one already in a very short period for a few of their terms we are targeting. I also learned not to spread myself thin trying to target every conceivable keyword for my business :) ...
By: Wess Freeman
on
Link Building Is Not Enough
I just got an email about Ellie Drake's and Mike Filsaime's Free Report called - "The Death of NetworkMarketing" I will admit, like you may also be feeling now, that I thought it was some hyped up offer to get me to buy something... ...Turns out I was wrong. Way wrong. The bottom line is, this report really opened my eyes that Network Marketing may be dying. When I read this, I immediately thought of sharing it on my blog The times are changing for us and it would be a shame for you or anyone to not read this report and fail like many will. I read it, and I wanted to share it with you ASAP. I recommend you take a break from whatever it is you are doing if you can and get access to this report now. Consider your future success by going here now... http://www.the-death-of-networkmarketing.com/?see-why=2473 Thanks, John PS - Mike and Ellie say it will only be available for a few days or so, so do not delay...
By: John
on
Improving Conversion Rates with Landing Pages
This is a great post. It seems much more valuable to establish a presence on the web rather than a strong amount of links that focus more on the search engine and less on the user. I find that when I write blog posts encouraging merchants to participate on the web, those posts get read less than those discussing link building. Bummer. Anyway, keep this idea going. Regards, Michelle Greer Volusion Inc.
By: Michelle Greer
on
Link Building Is Not Enough
Reading your article certainly put a whole new light on my perception of online marketing strategies. Who would have guessed with all the hype about search engine optimization that it's not all its cracked up to be. I guess deep down inside, I suspected as much. I believe that a successful business is one that develops multifaceted processes that adapt and change with the ever evolving industry. At least, that's what I am trying to attain with my business.
By: Ralph Syiers
on
Link Building Is Not Enough
An online comprehensive franchise directory, The Franchise Shop, offers some great tips and advice on buying a business franchise. With hundreds of businesses offering franchise opportunities on www.the-franchise-shop.com, the first-time as well as experienced investors could face the problem of ?plenty?. But you don?t need to go anywhere to find a viable solution. The Franchise Shop has inbuilt advising mechanism through informative articles and news reports from different parts of the world to keep those interested in buying business franchise well-informed. The value of these tips is incalculable in terms of the success you can achieve through a wise investment derived after employing these tips and tricks. The first timers will benefit from this professional advise by avoiding lots of teething problems that comes along setting up a new venture. The Franchise Shop lets you inform and educate beforehand about the kind of hassles you might face and how to overcome or avoid them. The old timers gain from some useful insights on how to maximize their return on investment in a franchising business. There can be huge gap between the expected and actual returns due to various factors at play. The key to success lies in understanding and minimizing the negative factors through professional help. Our research has shown that many investors tend to lose their enthusiasm after suffering early setbacks. And our research also shows that most people who have made it big in franchise business have learnt from their mistakes and persevered to strike gold. We believe that anyone and everyone can succeed in a franchise business. The only thing you require from the outside is some good advise and tips to sail through. For a detailed list of franchise opportunities in UK, please visit http://www.the-franchise-shop.com/.
By: Matthew Anderson
on
Press Releases for Web Site Promotion
The Franchise Shop, an online franchise directory, now offers ample ideas and opportunities for the potential UK franchisees. www.the-franchise-shop.com is a comprehensive online directory of franchisee opportunities available all across the UK. The Franchise Shop comes out with easily navigable tools to help the interested parties get the ideas about almost every kind of franchise opportunity in UK. A powerful search tool allows the visitors to explore the franchise opportunities they might be interested in. The search parameters are set ?Alphabetical?, ?By Price Range?, and ?By Category?. The homepage welcomes the visitors with featured listings, a facility extended to every franchise business, at small price, that wants maximum exposure on the website. The ?New Entries? section is automatically updated as and when a new business lists its offer to the interested individuals. In addition, there is a ?News? section featuring latest articles and news reports from the franchising world to help the interested individuals get the latest ideas and information on franchising. All the listings are linked to a detailed informative page about the business. Again, the information is categorized in a user-friendly manner to lend maximum ease and provide all the relevant information about the business and its offer. The entire website is categorized into easy-to-follow links that lend it a distinct place in its niche. Overall, the website offers a unique opportunity for the people interested in franchise opportunities in the United Kingdom. The hundreds of businesses associated with the website are some of the best in UK. For more information, don?t hesitate to get in touch via email info@the-franchise-shop.com. You can also call, if the matter is urgent and the information is required on a priority basis, at 01638 578883. The mailing address is Select One Limited, Godolphin House, 2 The Avenue, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9AA.
By: Matthew Anderson
on
Press Releases for Web Site Promotion
If you are building your page for the spiders first and the users second, you are probably going black hat. When it comes down to it, if you have to ask yourself whether this will get you banned, you should stay away from it.
By: James
on
What is Black Hat SEO?
Complete explanation about black hat SEO strategy. However scraping content is normal right now. just like my website. I build article directory where the author can submit in my website and also hundreds of other article directories without changing 1 single letter.
By: Ruri
on
What is Black Hat SEO?
Complete explanation about black hat SEO strategy. However scraping content is normal right now. just like my website. I build article directory where the author can submit in my website and also hundreds of other article directories without changing 1 single letter.
By: Ruri
on
What is Black Hat SEO?
It is great news for medium and small businesses indeed. This tool can tells you everything you desire to find out about how your visitors managed to find you and how they interact with your site. Pretty cool!
By: mellissa
on
Google Offers Free Analytics
we're just trying to paid search engine advertising , now seems no need, thanks for you comments.
By: selwyn
on
Andrew Goodman and Paid Search Marketing
Rankings are basically testimonials, which is great for business owners to build credibility. This credibility will provide assurance for future customers of what kind of business he/she is dealing with.
By: albert
on
Will Changing Hosts Affect My Rankings?
Great article. I edit a web based small business television channel and magazine in Australia - 'I'm Boss TV'. There are some great articles and TV segments on SEO and marketing blogs. Feel free to take a look and send through any feedback. www.ImBoss.tv. And feel free to submit any articles for consideration across any of the categories. We're always looking for content and contributors from around the globe. - Jake Challenor Regards, Jake Challenor Managing Editor, www.ImBoss.tv Small Screen Entertainment ...
By: jake challenor
on
Marketing Sherpa Blog Awards
I really liked the recommended tips to build incoming links and have used these succesfully. Also the Set of SEO Tools is also something great -- Thanks Lee for all this!
By: Auto News
on
Link Building Tools
The main problem of search engine advertising is that it has a very little chance to attract people. They are overwhelmed with so many options. They lost themselves. Attracting people is the biggest challenge.
By: Razib Ahmed
on
Andrew Goodman and Paid Search Marketing
I have a small business in China of baby and children shoes,scarves, shawls etc, and i want to promote my products by blog, but i do not exactly what and how i should do , you have pointed out some ways , tks.
By: amy shy
on
Blog Promotion
"One great thing about blogs is that you can subscribe to them via a feed. Blogger.com offers a feed using the Atom format. However, the most popular feed format is RSS. " I have heard that Blogger has started to give RSS feed but Ia m not sure yet. Well the time you wrote this article Blogger did not support Atom.
By: Razib Ahmed
on
Blog Promotion
Good Stuff. Thanks for the Post I would appreciate any info on using blogs to attract visits. John www.dutchvalleyfoods.com ...
By: John
on
Marketing Online with Blogs
Yup, they are all there and I used several befor deciding on keywords for my Google Adwords campaign. The hardest part, isn't even selecting good keywords. It is selecting the right list of NEGATIVE keywords. My click to invoice was an absolute mess, until we started adding a significant list of negative keywords. I may be the only one alive, with this problem, but I don't think so. I sell cartoons, safety cartoons, so it was imperative to totally retarget my ads. It is still a work in progress. Exact word / phrase match helps too. I still get lots of "kid" or rather small human clicks, and inquiries, but then I do have cartoons on my site, don't I? One of the services, should start a Negative Keyword List. They can change the statistics completely. We are in the process of reworking the site to match our ads when you land. I thought this would be easy. Hire a website guru, pay for ad, get customer. Now we are going in reverse. Get customer (ask about site) ReWork Ads (tweak constantly) Hire guru (change site) This is not easy.
By: Carla Rosenbaum
on
Keyword Research Tools
Yup, they are all there and I used several befor deciding on keywords for my Google Adwords campaign. The hardest part, isn't even selecting good keywords. It is selecting the right list of NEGATIVE keywords. My click to invoice was an absolute mess, until we started adding a significant list of negative keywords. I may be the only one alive, with this problem, but I don't think so. I sell cartoons, safety cartoons, so it was imperative to totally retarget my ads. It is still a work in progress. Exact word / phrase match helps too. I still get lots of "kid" or rather small human clicks, and inquiries, but then I do have cartoons on my site, don't I? One of the services, should start a Negative Keyword List. They can change the statistics completely. We are in the process of reworking the site to match our ads when you land. I thought this would be easy. Hire a website guru, pay for ad, get customer. Now we are going in reverse. Get customer (ask about site) ReWork Ads (tweak constantly) Hire guru (change site) This is not easy.
By: Carla Rosenbaum
on
Keyword Research Tools
Good point Razib, but most SEO firms charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month for their services. So in comparison to that, it's a good value.
By: Lee Odden
on
New SEO Best Practices Guide
Whats the best option on your own blog or getting involved with many on topic blogs.
By any chance does it really improve a business as in sales or is it just a techie advantage
Oh one thing how do you find new blogs. Still trying to find recent ones lol
WOuld like to hear a reply ...
By: carlos mills
on
Marketing Online with Blogs
By any chance does it really improve a business as in sales or is it just a techie advantage
Oh one thing how do you find new blogs. Still trying to find recent ones lol
WOuld like to hear a reply ...
$179 may not seem to be alot to you but for an ordinary person it is money. If this ordinary person is from the third world country. Well , on the other hand to earn money you must invest. So, i guess you are right that this report is not expensive.
By: Razib Ahmed
on
New SEO Best Practices Guide
Blogs can be used in marketing, but best of all is the power the blog has in distributing information and enhancing customer development through good communications. It is also great as an informal feedback tool for customers with ideas, opinions or complaints. Such instruments are invaluable in the customer experience development cycle. Up front marketing just like a website is quite effective, but the real power is in the enhancement and empowerment of your customers. Such power has an amazing effect on the growth of your cash flow.
By: tim
on
Marketing Online with Blogs
have you ever meet some problems with the keywords? i have, but luckly, i use Software Oasis Keyword Selection Tool , it locate the best targeted keywords to promote your site. http://www.yaodownload.com/web-authoring/site-management/keyword-selection-tool/ ...
By: bill
on
Keyword Research
I found your article to be very informative. So informative that I linked to it in my latest blog post.
By: Rose DesRochers
on
Optimizing Your Blog
I still don't agree that you could stand out by writing a plain press release. For one, writing is also an art and a talent. For those who do not have the talent for writing, they should hone it. Press release writing is a part of PR as a profession. You don't simply say "Go ahead, write your press release." You still must have either the skill or the learning to write a good press release.
By: Mary Ann Carolyn Dalangin-Tordecilla
on
Leveraging Online PR for Better Rankings
this topic is cool. im curious on how to market a blog.
By: Jamire
on
Marketing Online with Blogs
Hello. This is my first time here. I just wanted to say that I am impressed with the way you write and with your professional view. I have been to many similar web sites and you are definitaly the best , at least since the best I have seen in the last 4 years I am digging the subject. Now, regarding "regularly add content": Does content include forum communications too or should I regularly write articles ? I have started my web site last year, invested only 500 USD, put "tons" of my own contents/articles and am now on front page of all search engines. I basically simply followed google rules though I must admit that "tricks" on other web sites do work for them and is annoying me..... Thats it for now and thanks.
By: Gabi
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Thank you Lee, for responding. What I mean by ranked number one is, if you type in the name of my blog on gGoogle - without quotation marks, - it comes up at the top of a list of from three to over five *million* entries. Now if my blog were named Petunia's Plaid Pig, for example, I'd expect a high ranking, but few competing entries. That's an obscure (if not unique) phrase. I've written to Google and they sent me an application form today for Adsense, which I filled out and returned. Should they accept my blog, I still don't understand if I have to "do" anything, technically. They say it's a passive program. Is this true, or are some computer skills needed to maintain a blog with ads? Connie ...
By: Connie
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Lee, how do you know if there is traffic to your blog? Doesn't a high ranking indicate traffic? I have also checked on Dogpile, and except for Yahoo, my blog is listed first by all the search engines. In fact, it takes up most of the top ten entries. Yahoo listed it first (out of around two million) for several months, but no longer does.) Also, what is an RSS and could I have one and not not know it? Connie ...
By: Connie
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Connie, the Google AdSense program only requires you to add their code to the template of your blog. There are more things you can do, but you can find out about those things from Google. In order to find out if there is traffic to your blog, you should add a blog stats program. You might try www.performancing.com as it is free and was designed specifically for blogs running Google AdSense ads. RSS refers to a subscription feed the readers and view in a RSS reader such as bloglines.com or News Gator. Every blog has a fees of some sort.
By: Lee Odden
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Hello, I am a neophyte blogger who is ranked at the top of three of the four major search engines. I blog using Bloggers default software. My blog is a journal. I type and send. I don't use HTML, links, metatags, etc., and wouldn't know how if I wanted to. I am deathly afraid of messing things up. I've two questions about this ranking phenomenon. One, does the fact that I am listed one, two and three out of anywhere from 3 to more than 5 million entries actually *mean anything,* or is it a fluke of some sort? Two, does this high ranking make my blog attractive to advertisers? I'm just posting random thoughts and comments - no particular theme, and I'm not selling anything. I'd very much appreciated any comments or suggestions. Thanks, Connie ...
By: Connie
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Thank you for your comment Connie. I am curious what you mean when you say you're ranked at the top of the major search engines. I hear this from bloggers quite often and it is usually for obscure phrases. What makes a blog attractive to advertisers is traffic, not rankings. With blogs, the vast majority of your traffic should come from RSS feed subscribers, not search engines. The easiest thing to do to monetize your blog traffic is to sign up for Google AdSense and place those ads on your blog. You can get some excellent information on this from www.jensense.com and www.performancing.com.
By: Lee Odden
on
There's No "Black Magic" in SEO
Thank you for your comment Esoos. It's true, I have not been a subscriber to Search Engine News for several years now. When I did, I had no idea the suggestions being made would later be called out as blatant search engine spam such as creating multiple web sites hosted on unique ip's, doorway pages, etc. I will take you up on your offer (via email) and take a new look. I'll report my response here for AllBusiness.com readers.
By: Lee Odden
on
"Big Daddy" Google Update
Hey guys, This is Esoos from SearchEngineNews.com - just a quick note. Greg, thanks for recommending us. That's appreciated. Criticisms of ideas are always valid, but I think your attack on Lee is a bit unfair. Lee is a highly respected marketer, with the record and reputation to backup his assertions. Check out his blog at toprankblog.com and you'll see he's got many valuable ideas. Lee, I think you might have the wrong impression about SearchEngineNews.com. Like you, we have a large number of clients (and subscribers) who depend on us for accurate information. We take that responsibility very seriously, and would never recommend any strategy that would risk getting someone's site penalized. After all, we're dealing with people's livelihoods here. Consider taking another look at SearchEngineNews.com. I think you'll find our advice concerning best practices for SEO aligns itself very closely with yours. Thanks, Esoos Bobnar ...
By: Esoos Bobnar
on
"Big Daddy" Google Update
it's truely hard to improve the ranking without high traffic,but i'm still not sure how does google rank my website. http://grandvision.blogspot.com ...
By: anthony
on
"Big Daddy" Google Update
Hello "Greg" if that is indeed your real name. Perhaps you might spend more time reading rather than hurling unfounded criticisms. The references you cite, Search Engine News and SEO Planet have been advising how to spam search engines since 1999. I know, I subscribed for one year back then. If you are comfortable with exchanging links with link farms, and obsessing about page rank and not relevancy, go ahead. But legitimate businesses, the audience for this site, cannot afford to take risks with search engines that may get them removed or penalized. You are free to engage in any kind of search spam you want "Greg", but that does not mean others have to.
By: Lee
on
"Big Daddy" Google Update
This is really stupid. What you are saying is so lame and obvious exclusively to add content to this web site! Is it what you are saying informative? Not. Does it really gives an advise? No, just links to another places. My friend who just waste your time readin this blog entry, move your attention to other web sites as this is really lame. Just do a search on Google for any keyword you would like and take a look at those web sites: do they have a link exchange program implemented? do your homework... text link on high PR web sites is wrong? You must be kidding! This is the best you can get. Leave this idiot alone, after all... who the hell is he to give you advise? Does he did something extrodinary? Does he has a screaming portfolio to backup his words? It's just another idiot writing a blog entry because blogs are good for search engines. Go away... try things like searchenginenews.com or seo planet...
By: Greg
on
"Big Daddy" Google Update
I have tried pay per click but my niche is so competitive that I am still not seeing the traffic and sales I would like. People say my site is good enough to make them want to buy my book on dog training when they don't even have a dog! So I know my site is good. I just need TRAFFIC.
By: Dy
on
Organic search results versus sponsored search
Hi Dy, Makre sure you're adding content and getting new links to your site on a regular basis. Add a blog! That can do wonders for your organic search engine rankings.
By: Lee
on
Organic search results versus sponsored search
I have been looking for some information about this type of business and how it relates to lawyer and I have to say that this is one of the best information blogs I've come across so far.
By: Taedra
on
Pubcon 10 Link Building for Better Rankings
Hello! You have very interesting blog! Respect you!
By: Ugg
on
Search Marketing Spending $4bn to $5.75bn
One aspect of increasingly important aspects of online marketing for small businesses and especially service businesses is locally targeted ads. Most marketing methodologies including search engine methodologies have been more about high volume and relativly low margin goods. When you start talking about marketing services it is generally low volume, high margin, and there are geographic restrictions on delivering that service. Also, further to Michaels point, getting people to the site is one thing, but what do they do once they get there, again with service businesses, its generally about creating leads, so conversion has more to do with phone calls and email enquiries than it does transactions. Cheers, Karl ...
By: Karl at Local Internet Marketing
on
Small Business Online Marketing
Interesting study, though it would be useful to see an industry breakdown to understand what sorts of industries tended towrd the 100% online marketing, and which ones tended toward <10% Response where most saw the biggest obstacle the price of advertising online also indicates a real lack of knowledge on other techniques such as content syndication, joint ventures, affiliate programs, etc... to generate traffic. Cheers... Jeff ...
By: Jeff Smith
on
Small Business Online Marketing
There are a number of methods to market your business online, but they cannot replace offline marketing completely. If you are marketing a website you need to combine the online marketing with offline marketing to give you the one-two punch that will get your business noticed. A number of people promoting businesses online are under the impression due to being misled that you can just post a website and it will get noticed. Sort of like setting up a store on a corner, they believe that customers will just magically come in and buy things. It only happens on tv and in movies. In the real world, you have to promote, you have to market using a number of methods: a. website optimization b. website submissions c. blogs d. pay-per-click and more. But you're not going to find that here, you will find it at www.docmurdock.com because that's what we do as a specialty. But do your research, figure out what the purpose of your website is, and then contact us so that we can find out how the items listed above will best work for your website, and also figure out what you want your website to do for your business, as well as who your market is. And just so you know 8 out of 10 people who have a website have no idea what those things are. They miss their market because they don't know who that is, they don't know the purpose of their website, and they don't have a viable shopping process or merchant account to handle transactions they may want to process. Contact us, we have the answers to your questions, the solutions to your web commerce problems, and the ways to get income from your website. Michael Murdock, CEO DocMurdock.com murdock@docmurdock.com ...
By: Michael Murdock
on
Small Business Online Marketing
RSS feeds are great for small businesses that want to provide free information to promote their business. With RSS, a small writer can have his/her writings side by side on My Yahoo with a piece from the NYT. Unbelievable!
By: Corey at Business Book Secrets
on
Small Business Online Marketing
Wow, I wish I had gone to Pubcon. It seems that this was not an event to miss! I'll work on getting to the next one ;) Great post, excellent descriptions of great link building strategy ...
By: Jason DeVelvis
on
Pubcon 10 Link Building for Better Rankings
Lee -- I am absolutely thrilled at this turn of events. Mainly because the cost of Urchin had been pretty much out of reach for most very small business owners. What a coup for Google! This is a tool that will be priceless for small business.
By: Denise O'Berry
on
Google Offers Free Analytics
Hey Satish, That's quite an agenda you have there. Have fun with that, and please don't worry about taking any surveys.
By: Lee
on
SEMPO Search Marketing Survey
The purpose of any marketer is to make money by selling his product. The product may be a tangible piece of merchandise or an intangible piece like a though expressed in a blog that is visited by people. A blog , with very good thoughts, will be useless to a marketer if it is not visited by people. If the blog is selling cellphones and has a following its owners would want to make money off the following by placing links that will lead a person to the product being sold by somebody else or advertiser as we call him. Now comes an organization trying to find out the trend. What good it will do to any body. People have diffrent things to sell. But people want to make money when they have nothing to sell. For example I came accross a blog that describes his travels around the world. His blog has a following and he has others place links on his blog to sell things. He also asks visitors to give him donations to help him with his passion of travelling. He gets a donation or two that is enough for him to sleep in a differenthotel in a different city every nightg. I've a passio to change the way nternet is surfed. i ask the cellphone manufacturers to donate a million dollar or two since the cellphones will be the biggest beneficiaries. I get no donations. So my point isd that I'll fill no surveys. Many people will fill any survey. I used to fill surveys when they said the survey fillers may win a car. now I fill no survey even if the price is a million dollars. So I'll say to the associations, get off my back..
By: SATISH BHARDWAJ
on
SEMPO Search Marketing Survey
Hi Lee, Thanks for posting the link for the Marketleap Link tool. I use it every week. Another useful link I use, to see what websites are linking to my competitors, is Link Harvester from LinkHounds.com.
By: Ashley Keane
on
Link Building Tools
Text links are too valuable not to sell.
By: Pure Visibility
on
Are Text Link Ads Spam?
I find the 'cool SEO tool' very useful because you can find out which websites are highly ranked for a specific keyword. Moreover, you can quickly compare the copy of the top 10 websites for the specific keyword. It's more helpful than just knowing the number of backlinks of a website.
By: Ashley Keane
on
Competitive Analysis SEO Tool
Actually I've read that Yahoo! has been offering larger advertisers a more robust keyword tool. I still probably won't use Adwords' keyword suggestion tool - I'm always interested in more detailed, lower traffic suggestions that it doesn't provide.
By: Steve Loszewski
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
Actually I've read that Yahoo! has been offering larger advertisers a more robust keyword tool. I still probably won't use Adwords' keyword suggestion tool - I'm always interested in more detailed, lower traffic suggestions that it doesn't provide.
By: Steve Loszewski
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
Actually I've read that Yahoo! has been offering larger advertisers a more robust keyword tool. I still probably won't use Adwords' keyword suggestion tool - I'm always interested in more detailed, lower traffic suggestions that it doesn't provide.
By: Steve Loszewski
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
It certainly looks that way. I doubt Yahoo has updated the functionality of their keyword suggestion tool in a very long time. It would be great for advertisers if they did!
By: Lee
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
Google has updated the AdWords Keyword Tool. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool Here are some very cool features including the ability to "review detailed keyword performance statistics like advertiser competition and search volume.": Keywor...
By: Frank Ross
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
Thanks for that great info Lee! That should strip YahoOverture of some of their (few) advantages over Adwords.
By: Frank Ross
on
New Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool
Hi Frank,
If you like that one, then certainly try out Aaron Walls link research tools at http://www.linkhounds.com ...
By: Lee Odden
on
Competitive Analysis SEO Tool
If you like that one, then certainly try out Aaron Walls link research tools at http://www.linkhounds.com ...
Thanks for the great resource Lee, I think the "Neato BackLink Checker" is very useful indeed!
http://www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
...
By: Frank Ross
on
Competitive Analysis SEO Tool
http://www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
...
Hi,
Back link from different website will also be calculated in PR algorithm however whenever you give a link you lose some value as well whenever you get a link you will gain some value, if both the SEO are smart enough in such case it will be equally benefited.
Regards,
Gopinath
Offshore Software Development India
...
By: Gopinath
on
How search engines rank web pages
Back link from different website will also be calculated in PR algorithm however whenever you give a link you lose some value as well whenever you get a link you will gain some value, if both the SEO are smart enough in such case it will be equally benefited.
Regards,
Gopinath
Offshore Software Development India
...
Certainly. The articles linked to mostly cover on-page optimization. However, linkage or connectivity of a site is also a critical factor for rankings.
By: Lee
on
How search engines rank web pages
I found your article from google search engine. Your write a great articale on how page rank factor is affected in ranking algorithms and it realy work on how you can write in your article. But i think back link from diffrent website are also take part in page rank algorithm if that page where links come have a page rank or not.
Jim
http://www.tatvasoft.com ...
By: Tatvasoft - Software outsourcing india
on
How search engines rank web pages
Jim
http://www.tatvasoft.com ...
Thanks Lee, one thing I can add is the sheer amount of work that goes into quality SEO work. Most people don't realize just how much work it really is (although we 'do-it-yourselfers" do realize that because we've had to balance it with other work as you pointed out).
By: Frank Ross
on
Which is better? SEO or SEM? New Report
MarketingSherpa has released their 2nd Annual Search Marketing Benchmark report. 3,271 search marketers provided real-life results data for the survey. The new report includes new statistics on clicks, costs and conversions as well as information on SE...
By: Frank Ross
on
Which is better? SEO or SEM? New Report
Lee, thanks for the heads up. Here's a tidbit. I typed the search phrase: "home based business blog" in the main Google search engine and yours truly's blog came up. I typed the same phrase in the Google Blog Search and my blog was no where in sight. Hmm. Well it does say "beta".
By: Frank Ross
on
Google Blog Search
Make sure you are using a service like pingomatic.com or pingoat.com each time you post.
By: Lee Odden
on
Google Blog Search
Good information that applies across the board in busininss. Thank you!
By: Frank Wilson
on
Press Release Optimization for Link Building
Thanks Lee, I will definitely bookmark those organizations. Hardly a week goes by where I don't get called by some "SEO" organization (I'll not mention names, but suffice to say they are not in the directories you list). I know enough about SEO/SEM to weed out the outright fakes and some common sense helps to weed out others (checking the BBB and other negative press). But this list will help me in the future.
By: Frank Ross
on
How to select a search engine optimization firm
As confusing as search engine optimization can be for most newcomers, selecting a SEO firm can be almost as daunting. There are many considerations and often times companies are confused about how to go about selecting the right company. Referrals...
By: Frank Ross
on
How to select a search engine optimization firm
Excellent article-- I am new to being a being a recruiter, for a large virtual internet-marketing firm, and I have been trying to find some sites that I might be interested
in putting on my links page. I am very selective because, about whom I want to include.
The blog is a work-at-home business Co-op affiliate, and virtual health store.
Phil shore
http://power-home-biz.blogspot.com/
...
By: Phil Shore
on
Internet Marketing Jobs and Recruiting
in putting on my links page. I am very selective because, about whom I want to include.
The blog is a work-at-home business Co-op affiliate, and virtual health store.
Phil shore
http://power-home-biz.blogspot.com/
...
Thanks Frank,
Directories are OK. In fact, buying links where it's a relevant page or site is not bad. What gets people into trouble, or more accurately, into a situation where there is no benefit, is buying links on sites that have nothing to do with the destination of the link.
Example: An online pharmacy site buying links on an IT resources portal.
By: Lee
on
Are Text Link Ads Spam?
Directories are OK. In fact, buying links where it's a relevant page or site is not bad. What gets people into trouble, or more accurately, into a situation where there is no benefit, is buying links on sites that have nothing to do with the destination of the link.
Example: An online pharmacy site buying links on an IT resources portal.
Thanks for the info Lee. I've always had mixed feelings about buying text links, esp from text link brokers. That said, I think paying for a good link in a relevant directory listing is still worthwhile. I think before I went to purchase text links from non-relevant sites or barely-relevent sites, I would exhaust other resources (such as directories) first.
By: Frank Ross
on
Are Text Link Ads Spam?
Congrats, Lee. Well-deserved. I think I think I made the top 1 millionth list!
By: Paul Chaney
on
Online Marketing Blog Makes Feedster Top 500
correction in link. It should read
http://www.miislita.com/search-engine-conferences/duplicated-content-patents.pdf
Orion ...
By: orion
on
Search Algorithms: The Patent Files Part 2 of 3
http://www.miislita.com/search-engine-conferences/duplicated-content-patents.pdf
Orion ...
Hi Frank, I think that definition comes from intent more than anything.
Like many charcterizations, I don't think there is a single definition that always holds true when describing "white hat" and "black hat".
However, white hat SEO is most often associated with content optimization that complies with search engine TOS. Black hat SEO is most often associated with overt manipulations, cloaking, content scraping, blog spam, etc.
Google is smart to woo those involved with manipulating the search results in its index so they can find ways to improve their algorithms. Better search results = better consumer experience and that means more ad revenue for Google.
By: Lee Odden
on
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer
Like many charcterizations, I don't think there is a single definition that always holds true when describing "white hat" and "black hat".
However, white hat SEO is most often associated with content optimization that complies with search engine TOS. Black hat SEO is most often associated with overt manipulations, cloaking, content scraping, blog spam, etc.
Google is smart to woo those involved with manipulating the search results in its index so they can find ways to improve their algorithms. Better search results = better consumer experience and that means more ad revenue for Google.
Lee, that kind of makes one wonder where exactly the line is drawn (if there is one to draw) between Black Hat and White Hat.
By: Frank Ross
on
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer
Oh, no problem, Lee. An HTML and PDF summary of the presentation is available (PDF: http://www.miislita.com/search-engine-conferences/duplicated-content-patents.pdf, for HTML, change the extension.) which may shed more light.
You've a fair column which cover very useful information for SEO/SEM specialists.
Orion ...
By: orion
on
Search Algorithms: The Patent Files Part 2 of 3
You've a fair column which cover very useful information for SEO/SEM specialists.
Orion ...
WebVisibility nasce come integrazione di competenze di professionisti del marketing e della rete per fornire alle aziende la possibilità ¤i mettersi in contatto diretto con i propri target
di riferimento, utilizzando al meglio le capacità ¤el web come strumento di marketing.
By: Consulenza Internet Marketing
on
Search engine owners recap and answer questions.
di riferimento, utilizzando al meglio le capacità ¤el web come strumento di marketing.
As of my experience, Yahoo is the hardest search engine where you can get a good rank for a competetive keyword or phrase. Are they using a human crawler also for other big companies site?
By: Greatone
on
Search Engine Optimization Tips from Yahoo
You've touched on the building blocks of the tactical side of SEO Phil, but either you're making some broad assumptions or you've left some critical pieces out.
Spiderability, content and links are indeed important, as are keyword analysis, site usability and log file analytics.
Being far ahead may work for ranking bragging rights, but it's conversions and measurable outcomes that are what drive a web site's success.
Targeting site visitors by optimizing for the right mix of keywords according to the target audience, industry and conversion process along with creating compelling copy and call to action are critical for generating results from organic SEO. Otherwise a site can waste a lot of money on SEO by attracting uninterested visitors via great rankings.
Tracking conversions and desired outcomes along with log file analysis allow a program to become both more efficient and effective as the campaign matures. It also allows a program to adjust to changes in the marketplace and the search engines.
There's no magic to SEO and there's also more to it than being indexed, content and links.
By: Lee
on
There's no "magic" to SEO
Spiderability, content and links are indeed important, as are keyword analysis, site usability and log file analytics.
Being far ahead may work for ranking bragging rights, but it's conversions and measurable outcomes that are what drive a web site's success.
Targeting site visitors by optimizing for the right mix of keywords according to the target audience, industry and conversion process along with creating compelling copy and call to action are critical for generating results from organic SEO. Otherwise a site can waste a lot of money on SEO by attracting uninterested visitors via great rankings.
Tracking conversions and desired outcomes along with log file analysis allow a program to become both more efficient and effective as the campaign matures. It also allows a program to adjust to changes in the marketplace and the search engines.
There's no magic to SEO and there's also more to it than being indexed, content and links.
Thank you Dr Garcia for making those corrections and clarifications!
By: Lee
on
Search Algorithms: The Patent Files Part 2 of 3
One thing I did not mention in the post is that most of the examples provided were dealing with companies with vast marketing budgets and that had, in some cases, exhausted available inventory and were looking for other ways to use search to drive business.
Not all companies are in a situation to be able to measure online conversions and there are certainly more metrics than placement and traffic to a web site.
Additionaly, not all search marketing objectives revolve around direct sales where metrics like placement, traffic and conversions have some meaning.
There are other goals such as increasing share of voice and brand lift that are important for certain types and sizes of companies.
By: Lee
on
Beyond ROI: Getting Creative with Search
Not all companies are in a situation to be able to measure online conversions and there are certainly more metrics than placement and traffic to a web site.
Additionaly, not all search marketing objectives revolve around direct sales where metrics like placement, traffic and conversions have some meaning.
There are other goals such as increasing share of voice and brand lift that are important for certain types and sizes of companies.
Basically SEO consists of 3 things:
1 - Have a clean, well-designed site that the search engine spiders can easily crawl and index all pages
2 - Content, content, and more content. Then make sure to add/update your content regularly
3 - Inbound links. Generally lots of content will collect these naturally, however doing a little legwork can assist you in this area greatly.
No matter what an SEO company will say to you, promise you, etc, there really isn't much more to it that this. Not surprisingly these same things are what Google states it needs to rank a site in the natural search result listings (also known as the Holy Grail or search engine marketing).
Concentrate your time and money on the above 3 items and you will be far ahead of most of your competitors.
...
By: Phil
on
There's no "magic" to SEO
1 - Have a clean, well-designed site that the search engine spiders can easily crawl and index all pages
2 - Content, content, and more content. Then make sure to add/update your content regularly
3 - Inbound links. Generally lots of content will collect these naturally, however doing a little legwork can assist you in this area greatly.
No matter what an SEO company will say to you, promise you, etc, there really isn't much more to it that this. Not surprisingly these same things are what Google states it needs to rank a site in the natural search result listings (also known as the Holy Grail or search engine marketing).
Concentrate your time and money on the above 3 items and you will be far ahead of most of your competitors.
...
Thanks for commenting on my presentation. Overall, your post is correct. However, there are some points I feel are not properly explained.
1. With each search result from the main index, Google generates query relevant snippets from SERPS.
Actually, I mentioned that according to the patent, the snippets are generated from the linearized version of each of the individual candidate results (CR). [BTW, this is one reason why SEOs need to start learning about document linearization, but not the only reason.] This is done by defining slidding windows or shingles.
2. Snippets are linear, 15 term or 100 character sliding windows based on the location of the matching keyword query.
Correction. Snippets are not 15 term or 100 char windows. About 15-term or about 100-char lidding windows are defined and impossed over the linearized version of a CR and term freq of queried terms inside each window is counted. At the end all the collected sliding windows are sorted according to term freq (or according to unique queried terms). The top 2 slidding windows are used to define a snippet or query relevant part (QR). Including titles, this is the entire snippet one would see in the SERPS, assuming Google implements this patent "AS IS" given at the USPTO document, which only Google knows is/is not the case.
3. Dr. Garcia explained a formula for how Google might calculate whether to show one snippet over another and how information form a snippet can affect ranking.
Incorrect. The top 2 slidding windows used to define a snippet are generated AFTER the document has been ranked according to relevancy. Hence, there is no correllation between the snippets (its words distribution, word distances in the snippets or even term freq. or content) with rankings.
Regards
Orion ...
By: orion
on
Search Algorithms: The Patent Files Part 2 of 3
1. With each search result from the main index, Google generates query relevant snippets from SERPS.
Actually, I mentioned that according to the patent, the snippets are generated from the linearized version of each of the individual candidate results (CR). [BTW, this is one reason why SEOs need to start learning about document linearization, but not the only reason.] This is done by defining slidding windows or shingles.
2. Snippets are linear, 15 term or 100 character sliding windows based on the location of the matching keyword query.
Correction. Snippets are not 15 term or 100 char windows. About 15-term or about 100-char lidding windows are defined and impossed over the linearized version of a CR and term freq of queried terms inside each window is counted. At the end all the collected sliding windows are sorted according to term freq (or according to unique queried terms). The top 2 slidding windows are used to define a snippet or query relevant part (QR). Including titles, this is the entire snippet one would see in the SERPS, assuming Google implements this patent "AS IS" given at the USPTO document, which only Google knows is/is not the case.
3. Dr. Garcia explained a formula for how Google might calculate whether to show one snippet over another and how information form a snippet can affect ranking.
Incorrect. The top 2 slidding windows used to define a snippet are generated AFTER the document has been ranked according to relevancy. Hence, there is no correllation between the snippets (its words distribution, word distances in the snippets or even term freq. or content) with rankings.
Regards
Orion ...
Sorry Charlie,
Fact is that BOTH traffic and conversion are important and interrelated. Yet, of equal importance is "The offer." The only people
to feel sorry for are those who don't have all three parts in mind.
By: Chuck
on
Beyond ROI: Getting Creative with Search
Fact is that BOTH traffic and conversion are important and interrelated. Yet, of equal importance is "The offer." The only people
to feel sorry for are those who don't have all three parts in mind.
When I saw the phrase "slave to numbers" I had to laugh. One of my clients is a search engine optimization firm. They're great at getting top placement and traffic but dispite their success at gettting large numbers of visitors they aren't converting traffic to inquiries and new clients.
Search engine numbers matter, but its even more important to be able to convert visitors to clients.
Charlie Cook
The Marketing Response Expert
www.marketingforsuccess.com ...
By: Charlie Cook
on
Beyond RSearch engine numbers matter, but its even more important to be able to convert visitors to clients.
Charlie Cook
The Marketing Response Expert
www.marketingforsuccess.com ...