SEO: April 2009 Archives

I want to share one idea that you can act on right this very minute to help you with your link building. It can be completely free or, if you really want to trick the idea out, it might cost you $5 a month.

This idea could radically change your business and how you think about your clients or customers.

This idea might actually be the tool you need to push through the rest of this recession.

This idea might represent how business is run for the remainder of the 21st century.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633502

With the economic forecast getting gloomier by the day and with no quick fix in sight, the word "recession" seems to be popping up almost as frequently as "Britney Spears" is googled. (OK, may be not that much). Although I can't muster up the courage to view my retirement portfolio, I have reflected on what a recession could mean for online video and digital advertising as a whole. While the prospect of major marketing budget cuts is depressing overall, the outlook for digital and online video is looking quite positive.

Here are three reasons online video advertising will come out ahead during an economic downturn.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3631078

Most Web sites are not built with SEO in mind.

Tips for Using Keywords in Key Areas

The first step should be to examine your code. Certain code detracts from the way a search engine will rank a site for relevancy. Cascading Style Sheets (CCS), for instance, don't mean anything to search engines. Where possible, move the CSS code off individual pages of your Web site and into a separate folder. Then, use a single line of HTML to reference the CSS code.

At least 80-percent of your main page should be text, with the balance being code. Your site should also be W3C-compliant to ensure that people can view your site correctly--and don't use code that works only in some browsers.

The second step for new Web shop owners is to work on their site's metadata --everything that fits in between the and tags on the page--such as the Title, Description, Subject and Classification.

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3816911

How do you get people talking about your company? Create the news.

That's right, create something newsworthy to get people talking. With a little luck and promotion, your company will end up getting exposure from the mainstream press. It might even go viral.

Last time, I went over methods to increase your company's online visibility, such as contributing articles and becoming active in online communities. Now it's time to turn things up a notch for companies that are serious about online exposure.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633427

If your paid search campaigns are in a state of disarray, then the profit levels on your paid search spending are clearly not all they could be.

I got thinking about the state of most search marketers' campaigns while reviewing the latest Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) State of the Market Survey.

Google Ad Campaigns

When new clients come on board every year, I expect the campaigns my team and I will see will be more "together" than those in prior years. Interestingly, the opposite has occurred. Accounts within Google are usually the most disorganized because they've evolved over the years.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633355

It's the age-old question: should a business do everything in-house or should it outsource certain activities? Obviously there are advantages to each alternative, but in this time of economic uncertainty, more and more companies are looking to outsource non-core services and functions in hopes of saving money and improving operating efficiencies.

Currently, outsourcing is a pretty common practice for many information technology services. But when it comes to marketing, some companies seem hesitant to jump on the outsourcing bandwagon. Many maintain that they have in-house marketing departments that should be able to do anything a third-party specialist can do.

But what about online marketing, and search marketing in particular? Should companies be outsourcing these activities?

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633377

You gotta wonder where online advertising is headed after you've sat through a full day of sessions at a conference -- thrown by Ad Age, no less -- and there are no ads. Well, maybe a couple of ads.

Three, tops. But what was remarkable about the first day of Ad Age Digital was the near-complete absence of advertising and its attendant disciplines, such as media buying, selling, and planning. Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson set the tone during his keynote on earned media, or "media you earn and you don't buy. Paid media and earned media go hand-in-hand. Marketers are buying media when they could earn it, and earn it much less expensively."

Is it just the recession, or is media buying suffering an irredeemable hit?

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633353

What is the ROI for social media? It's zero. That's because there's no such thing as "social media."

People's conversations are not media; they can't be purchased as such by advertisers. In other words, people don't talk whenever advertisers want them to and they won't say whatever advertisers tell them to -- so it isn't "media" like TV, print, and radio.

That said, most advertisers and their agencies still attempt to use old media metrics -- like reach and frequency -- to measure social actions and calculate their ROI, but to no avail. Instead, let's explore the right way to leverage the social realm in support of marketing and advertising efforts.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633341

If you're still using a free analytics system on a high-volume site with a huge amount of products, it's nearly impossible to see where the traffic split is happening between typed-in traffic, free search traffic, and/or paid traffic.

This especially becomes important when you're competing in a very aggressive market and you need to expand the resources for your team. In most cases, you'll wind up having two competing teams -- one trying to drive paid search at the lowest cost versus the natural search team trying to drive nothing but free traffic.

A split between these segments is very important. A lack of clarity will really hurt your business and you won't be able to see if problems are occurring.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632742

How many SEOs have suffered because of unrealistic expectations from clients? Sure, there are times when an aggressive commissioned salesperson can get you into situations that are difficult to overcome. But, how many of you actually spent the time before any agreement was signed and before a check was cut to have a very frank and sincere discussion with your client about what they can expect from your efforts?

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633114

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several months, you may have noticed that the economy stinks. This isn't just the case in the United States; this is a global financial crisis.

Even those of us who work in growth industries (as I would classify the SEO/ SEM industry) are affected.

It's been said for many years that you shouldn't cut marketing budgets in a down economy, because cheaper advertising gives you an opportunity to market your services more, and actually gain market share. In all of my years in marketing, I've seen very few examples of companies doing this.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632988

Whenever I ask a prospect what their goals are, all too often their answer is, "We want to rank in the top three results for keywords A, B, and C."

Is that really a goal?

Now, I understand that high rankings (or, rather, organic search traffic) are important. I sincerely believe that a sound organic search strategy should be the core of every business's marketing efforts.

This goes back to the old adage of running a business (location, location, location). You must be where people are actively searching for your product or service offerings.

However, imagine that you had the perfect retail location and yet your storefront was filthy. Perhaps there isn't as much as a sign with your company's name on the front of the building. Perhaps, once you get into the location, not a single item has a price tag and the salespeople are nowhere to be found.

That traffic coming through your parking lot isn't going to help much, is it?

There are three basic rules that you need to follow to have a successful Web presence:

1. Brand matters.

2. Usability matters.

3. Search engine optimization matters.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew_email/experts/au_Natural

It's easy enough to use Twitter, but businesses have to use social media marketing in the same way they use any form of marketing -- with a business plan and knowledge -- to be successful.

Avoid Common Business Twitter Mistakes

It is important to remember that Twitter is just a tool that can be helpful to a business, if you follow the social media rule of thumb. One in every 12 tweets can be about you. The rest of the time you should be answering questions and offer helpful information and share links.

For the most part, a business cannot realistically run a social media campaign in-house. "Most businesses simply haven't spent enough time listening, lurking and understanding the lay of the land in social media. Smart companies hire experienced consultants to help them plan their strategy and to coach their internal team on how to participate effectively."

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3810801