Periodic Table of SEO

For those that prefer a simplified visual of some SEO practices that work together, check this “Periodic SEO Table”

 

 

Top 3 Content Marketing Categories You Should Know

When you create content such as social media shares, full length articles, and even how-to tutorials, chances are you’re doing so for the purpose of “promoting” yourself, your company  or your product/service. I.E. Write a proper how-to article on do’s and don’ts of ______ practice in _______ industry, and the readers might revisit your site on another occasion since they consider your advice valuable. Write a full length article, and you might gain a few more “authority” points that can lead to the acquisition of  a client. Share viral social media content, and you can gain traffic which will increase the probability of goal conversion.

There’s no doubt that you understand the differences between these types of content inherently, because do you strategically bear these differences in mind to make the most out of the content you create and the audience you target? Or more simply, do you align the content you create to a specific part of your marketing funnel? As MOZ CEO Rand Fishkin describes in this outbound marketing content video, you should be able to distinguish between the following types of content in order to create the most efficient outbound strategy possible:

1. Consideration Phase Content

2. Discovery Phase Content

3. Viral / Super-Bread Content

Since Rand Fishkin is an outbound marketing genius and I’m not, I’ll encourage you to watch the video below to see the significance of distinguishing between these categories.

http://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/036b9s9y00

4 LOCAL Search Results You Should Know

If you’ve done a search lately from your phone, desktop or tablet, you’ll notice that not all searches yield the same search results. Sometimes you’re hungry and looking for a bite to eat, so you search “Burger in my area”. What you’ll receive is a list of Burger stands in your area stretched out across the top of the screen; but change the search, and you won’t receive the same result-layout. For example, if you search “Tax Accountants” on your device, you’ll most likely get a list of local accountants in an indented group underneath the paid results. The differences in these Search Engine Result Pages (SERP’s) should not be ignored when establishing goals for your local SEO, because different SERP’s require different data. Take time to gaze at Google results for a while, and you’ll quickly start to notice consistencies in these searches based on your industry, purpose and intent.

Take a look at 4 of the most prominent types of search results which populate for local businesses, and bear them in mind when deciding which areas to focus on for your area. HINT: Google+ and Reviews are VERY important!

1. General Meta Listings

2. Carousel Listings

3. “Business Card” Info

4. Local Grouping

Demystifying SEO: Search Engine + Optimization

Outline

A. Search Engine Explanation 

B. Optimizing: Data Listing

C. Optimizing: Relevancy 

D. Optimizing: Quality

When I speak to small business owners about SEO, I often times get a glazed over look about what this actually means. Misconceptions vary from thinking you need a Nash-like beautiful mind to navigate the complexities of the mysterious cyber world, all the way down to simple idea that search engines just know you exist, since they are as natural to our daily lives as the air we breath. As with all things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, so that’s why I decided to create a broad level overview of local SEO which will help you filter through the more erroneous chatter out there.

The Concept of Search Engines

In a perfect world, there would be no need for search engine “optimization”. In this cyber-utopia, web developers would have started with unified code from the days of MDOS, everyone would be mindful of website categorization,  there would be no spammers or strategic attempts at attaining irrelevant views, and the world would have one perfect file-cabinet of a search engine that would deliver exactly what we search for in a way that maintains the integrity of consumer choice. BUT, since we obviously don’t live in this world, and link-gamification became the norm for savvy developers seeking impressions, local business owners have to take a step back and understand some of the more fundamental elements of search engines in order to implement solid reasoning when developing SEO strategy.

First, you must be clear on how search engines work. Thankfully, we don’t have to cover endless lectures on algorithmic theory in order to understand this, because Matt Cutts has created several simple to understand videos which do a wonderful job of visually depicting the search engine process. Watch the video below to see what I mean.

As you just saw, search engines have quite a task on their hands. Sorting through billions of websites and filtering endless amounts of information is what Google, Yahoo and Bing are in the business of. Back in the 90’s when there were still only thousands of websites, this wasn’t such a daunting task. But as our society becomes more and more digitalized, search engines are increasingly asking for our help in organizing this information, since it’s impossible to accomplish without a semblance of information organization on the part of website creators. The image below from internet live stats proves the growing nature of this task.

Now that you have a better idea of the network of sites that you’re operating in, I’ll say this – thank God for the geniuses of this world. If it wasn’t for the Mensa 190IQ employees of Google and other search engine sites like it, local SEO would not stand a chance! Thanks to the magnificent – or invasive depending on your privacy ideals – use of location technology, we can rest assured knowing that local information is operating within a compartmentalized pocket of info. This means that you don’t have to compete with the billions of websites ticking infinitely to trillions for search engine placement. You simply need to understand that your website exists in the search engine world only when you make some efforts towards “attracting attention” in the (hundreds-of) thousands.

 

Getting Found in this Web of Pages: Optimization

Now that you know you have a greater chance due to the decreased pool of webpages your local webpage operates in, you need to understand which questions and data sources Google and other search engines pull from when trying to determine search results and ranking.

Instead of describing the more technical aspects that can be used to make great sites marginally better, I’ll encourage you to think of three factors: data-source, relevancy and quality.

A. Data-source

 

As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s easy to think that search engines simply know about your website because you’ve created a site. But hopefully the concept of search engine functionality has helped to disillusion you of this thought, and you now are more inclined to ask “where does a search engine find out about me” rather than “why is this search engine ignoring me?”

If you are going to be found and placed in a search result by a web crawler, you need to provide your info to certain sites.

Webmaster Tools – Starting from the top, you definitely should consider registering your site with Webmaster Tools. Every search engine offers this extension site, so don’t just stop with Google, also verify your site with Bing and other relevant search engines (Yandex, Baidu, etc.). If you’re not inclined to do this yourself, it’s still useful to know so that you can ask your web developer to do this when creating your page. Don’t pay more than $50 for a service like this, since you can find plenty of freelancers on Odesk to do this for much cheaper. But of course, if you’re the type to pay for convenience, then feel free to help pay the tuition of a poor college student or struggling college student, you’ll become a patron of sorts.

Google+ –  This is one that often raises a lot’s of eyebrows, especially from those who are familiar with Google’s botched effort at creating a meaningful social platform. But take a step back and separate personal preferences from business interests. Multiple Google searches will reveal that the competitors who rank the highest will always have a Google+ page. I created a Prezi during week 1 of my Meetup.com class which explains the different types of search results that local businesses should care about, and if you’re wise, you’ll start developing your Google+ places page, or at the very least upload your business information to be indexed. You shouldn’t have to pay for this, since Google has been striving to make it’s business platform more convenient with Google MyBusiness. You can manage the correct Google+ page from here using one Google Username, making this a seamless project that shouldn’t take too much of a learning curve to master.

Yelp – This is a business listing which sometimes staves off small business owners due to the lack of control offered for reviews. Yet, no matter what evil Yelp has wrought on true consumer choice, the fact still remains that Yelp results rank very highly in searches due to their large user base and the centrality of reviews to search engine sorting. Listings are FREE, and are in fact done automatically, but it is in your best interest to claim your business and respond to users, since your voice projects a positive image, regardless of whether the review is positive or negative. 

Yext.com – This is a convenient way of placing your site information in hundred of directories, for around $70 per month. If used properly for coupon, review and business information, I feel it’s a worthy investment. Even though you may not recognize or even use the directories which populate in the Yext analysis, it’s always a good idea to have your site listed with consistent information and to place offers in every site. This practice reflects in the search engine crawl as legitimate business practices, making it more likely that you’ll pass the filter of spammy sites.

Please understand, simply creating these sites and listing your information will not get you to the top of search results in a competitive vertical. It takes much more attention to other SEO factors to clear the hurdle of crowded markets, but at least you’ll be on the map and be able to check off this fundamental factor of Local SEO.

B. Relevancy

This point is fairly simple and straightforward, but often overlooked. For instance, if you’re a restaurant, it’s tempting to place yourself in the restaurant category and move on. But if you think back to the process of search engine, you’ll remember that categorization is fundamental to the sorting process. Since search engines try to return the most relevant results for users, more specific categories often times have more value. If you’re a restaurant, you want to do some research on which category best fits your specific niche/cuisine before selecting a category. You can use the following sites to conduct such research: Blumenthals | Moz

It’s important to know how the search engine you’re listing your site in categorizes businesses, otherwise you’ll end up in a broad category and receive lots of irrelevant impressions, leading to less searchers clicking on your site due to perceived irrelevance.

C. Quality

Quality of material on your site is important because search engines want to deliver results that customers are going to use. If the content you create – whether it be a blog post, picture, company description, video, postings, etc. – is rushed and low quality, then users will most likely find much value in it. It’s impossible to define the exact meaning of quality since it varies for every business, but it stands to reason that you should always create content on your site which will be used by the end-users.

Example: Grammar

One of the things that is considered in a search engine is the readability of a sentence or article. If the search engine detects that you have grammatically incoherent sentences on your page, you’re likely to be docked in rankings.

Example: Postings

Since small business owners don’t have enough hours in the day to run their business, let alone write up blog posts everyday, they sometimes defer to posting relevant articles from other pages that will be of use to customers. But, if the article is not followed, liked or read, then the article will be detected as unnecessary and irrelevant, and therefore spammy.

Example: Website Design

Mobile responsiveness is one of the hottest topics in the SEO world right now, and for good reason. More customers are choosing to search from iPhones and iPads than every before. If your website does not cater to this growing trend, then your site will be considered low quality since it does not improve user experience via usability. Consequently, your site will fall in ranking.

 

Overview

I decided to end on the more difficult quality factor so you don’t mistake this article for anything more than a conceptual description of search engine, and a primer on optimization. I felt like small business owners needed to start from the beginning when broaching the topic of local SEO, to have a firm foundation when creating websites.

If you take nothing else from this article, simple remember that Search Engines need organized data, placed on specific sites, in specific categories and that the data/content should always be created with usability in mind. If you do nothing else, this will get you on the map and in the game. Remembering the concept of engaging search engines will help guide you beyond when determining necessary strategy, and when thinking through budgets.

 

 

 

Myths About the Relationship Between SEO & SEM

Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, has produced a series of videos answering webmaster questions about SEO, Search Quality and general webmaster tips. In this “SEO Myths” video Matt is covering a topic that many people question.

If you haven’t checked out the Google Webmasters channel on YouTube be sure to visit and watch the video.

MYTH: Purchasing paid ads from Google will help your site rank higher in the organic results.

No. Purchasing a paid ad through Google will not improve your organic rankings. The question as to whether money will grease the wheel to rankings is a big myth according to Google’s Matt Cutts.

From my experience, the most successful websites have a holistic view of internet and traditional marketing. They are looking to not only improve their SEO, but to also be involved in other channels such as PPC, print, Social Media and Email.

Being dependent on one source of traffic for all of your business is a limiting strategy. The more distribution channels that you can invest in, the more likely you are to reach a bigger audience.

MYTH: If you DON’T buy paid ads, your site will rank better on Google.

No. Again, purchasing or not purchasing ads on Google will have no influence on your organic rankings. This could easily be a case of correlation not equalling causation. Some sites rely solely on their organic traffic. However from a business standpoint, buying paid ads makes sense.

From my experience, websites that have both PPC and SEO working together get more leads than if they just did one or the other. You are already investing in building a great website and you shouldn’t let that wealth of information be used solely to attract organic visitors and not also to support PPC.

PPC, Email, and Social media are all sources of qualified traffic. PPC has the benefit of being able to be turned on and get immediate results. You can maximize every dollar you spend on content development by setting up a PPC campaign to each article you publish. Check out this article to get started with Google Adwords keyword tool.

MYTH: Google makes Algorithm changes to force people to spend more on ads.

No, Google is a search engine first and an advertising platform second. For Google, attracting and retaining website traffic means giving searchers the best possible results. Algorithm changes are meant to improve user experience and engagement by providing search results faster and more intelligently.

From my experience, aligning your goals with Google’s goals is the best way to ensure longevity. Google’s job is to connect searchers to the most relevant, high-quality website that matches what they were searching for. Your job should be to make sure the search terms that you are optimizing your website for are relevant, and that you have the information and website functionality to fulfill the searcher’s request.

All Myths Aside

Advertising your business on Google is a great way to increase your visibility to your target market. And the only foolproof way to get higher rankings in Google is to align your website with Google’s goals. Make sure you create a great website and the best content for your visitors. Google will in turn continue to update its algorithms so that sites like yours outrank sites using spammy and blackhat tactics.

The Customer Journey: Google’s ZMOT in a Clear Anecdote

Small business owners, take note. The customer journey is changing. “The customer funnel isn’t really a funnel anymore”. It’s admirable and even somewhat effective to maintain a firm grounding in referral-based lead generation for some businesses, but for most, a digital Darwinism will start to take effect in ernest.

I’ll post a very clear anecdotal story which makes this point below. I read it in a book called Zero Moment of Truth, which is the term Google insiders use to refer to the moment when a consumer chooses to buy. I’m not suggesting you read this book, but I do suggest you read and absorb the following anecdote, because it sums up what’s happening to local business:

 

“A few weeks ago, my wife and I ordered a new home TV. I’ve been
involved with buying a television four times in the last 35 years. But
never quite like this.

Growing up we only had one TV in our house, and it stayed in place
until it died. When it came time to replace the TV, we’d buy the same
brand from the same family-owned store a few miles from our home
on Long Island.

Fast-forward to 2012. I went online with my wife and we spent 30
minutes educating ourselves on all the options, features and specs,
jumping back and forth between manufacturer websites and reviews,
looking at the best-sellers and comparing prices. Once we made
our choice, in less than five minutes we had logged into a retailer’s
site, added a TV to the cart, paid in a single click and had a date for
a delivery direct to our home. I was beaming from ear to ear and
explaining to my 4-year-old daughter that she should be AMAZED.
My kids didn’t think it was such a big deal, but the purchase of that TV
happened while we were all in mid-flight from San Francisco to New
York, 35,000 feet above the Earth, somewhere over Utah!

The sales funnel isn’t really a funnel any more.
At the Zero Moment of Truth, today’s shoppers bounce back and forth at their own
speed in a multi-channel marketplace. They switch devices to suit their needs at any
given moment. They search; go off to look at reviews, ratings, styles and prices; and
then search again.

They see ads on TV and in newspapers and online. They walk into local stores to look
at products. They talk to friends, over the back fence and on social media. Then it’s
back to ZMOT for more information.

In short, the shopper’s journey looks less like a funnel and more like a flight map,
as John Ross of Shopper Sciences has called it. Shoppers dart back and forth as they
touch down — again and again — not at cities but at all the information hubs on
their journey.

Google ran a study with Shopper Sciences early in 2012, looking at the purchase
journey for 3,000 shoppers in tech, CPG, auto and finance. What we found were
3,000 completely different paths!”