Search Engine Marketing Blog

Author: April Hall

Internet Copywriter

Happy Fourth of July!

It’s a time of fireworks, barbecues and patriotic songs as Americans celebrate our Independence. And we are an independent type of country, are we not? We are free from tyranny, free from despotic rule, free from dependency on foreign oil…. (Okay, so some things are really really hard to break free from!) One thing we are free from, however, is boring SEO content!

Everyone who works in SEO and internet copywriting knows that the ultimate goal of your site’s copy is to sell. But, does selling your products or services mean that you have to produce boring copy that’s chocked-full of industry jargon, accessible only to your professional contemporaries–or at least to readers who have Google on stand-by?

No way! Here’s a few simple suggestions for sprucing up your website content:

1. Use a bit of humor, when appropriate. Not every article or product description can be amusing, of course; but an unexpected line or two of humor is often appreciated by the reader who has spent the last two hours researching the newest colonoscopy procedures or funeral planning options (See how I just did that?!).
2. Never go long when going short will work just as well. Unlike college football quarterbacks, your goal as an SEO copywriter shouldn’t be to go as long as you can; sometimes it’s best to nickel and dime it. In other words, most internet readers want to get as much information as possible in a short amount of time. So try to pack shorter pieces of SEO copy with keyword rich, informative text.
3. Use current events to spur reader interest. Try using Google News or other cool tools to find current news stories in your area or industry. Not only are these timely stories more interesting, but they are also more likely to attract internet searchers.
4. Integrate attractive, relevant pictures into your text. Not only are pictures a great way to break up your writing into more manageable chunks, but they also help to give your content some real-world visuals.

As you spend your Fourth of July shooting off fireworks and grilling hot dogs, take the time to be thankful that good SEO writers have declared our own independence. Call it the Declaration of Independence from Boring SEO Writing… Call it Freedom from the Tyranny of Keyword Overusage… Whatever you choose to call it, I call it a whole lot more fun!

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Author: April Hall

Internet Copywriter

Time: No one every has enough of it and nobody has quite figured out a way to create more. In business, we are always looking for ways to make the best use of our time, making the biggest impact we can in the relatively short amount of we have of it.

For copywriters, there are two basic elements that will make our content successful: substance and time. Often, we in the SEO development business will spend an inordinate amount of our professional development learning ways to improve the substance of our writing–and don’t get me wrong, this is a very good thing! We absolutely must learn how to incorporate better keywords into our work, create pages that are useful to our readers and figure out how to give our readers the most information in the most concise manner possible. However, focusing on substance cannot be the totality of what we do as copywriters and SEO professionals. We have to also consider how time affects our website content.

In today’s information technology age, everyone already knows that time moves at an incredibly rapid pace. Computers are updated almost monthly and software seems to develop in tandem with the moon cycles…. There are also a few more aspects of time that content developers need to keep in mind as we create content for our clients:

• Need for breaking and unique news–Everyone wants to be the first to know the latest news and SEO development strategies. Sites such as the ever-current SEO Moz are great places to begin your search for new information about the web development industry. Of course, hitting up the Google information blogs is also essential if you want to stay on the cutting edge of industry news.
• Need to post content early in the day-Those of us who prefer to start our day around lunchtime, when our veins are filled with strong black coffee, may want to find another profession. The world of SEO content begins very early–and is usually geared towards the Eastern Time Zone; so if you prefer to begin working a bit later in the day, you will need to learn how to post in the wee hours of the morning in order to reach internet users who turn on their computers shortly after the rooster crows in Maine.
• Need for fresh content–This aspect of time is already well-known to content development professionals. You need to update the content of your websites regularly in order to remain at the top of the search engine results page. Check the content of your sites–if you haven’t posted anything in a few months, that’s simply too long.
• Need to use current events–Part of creating timely content comes from keeping up with the major current events in your area or sites’ particular industry. Check out one of the latest user tools from Google to discover a new way to stay up-to-date with world and local events.
• Need for content that will stand the test of time–This suggestion may seem counter-intuitive when placed up against my previous suggestion to keep your content fresh, but it’s actually not at all. You want to be known as a content developer who is very knowledgeable about your industry, which means that your advice and suggestions will be useful no matter how the technology changes. Of course, some of what you suggest may be tied to current industry applications, but truly useful content will never lose its power.

Do any of the rest of you have suggestions on how to make time work for the SEO industry rather than against it?

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Author : Henry Adaso
Internet Copywriter

News, events, and happenings around the internet marketing universe this week.

Google Launches Google Trends for Websites
Google didn’t wait for the buzz to simmer on Google Trends before launching the Google Trends for Websites, a variation of the original tool. What’s the difference, you ask. Whereas regular Google Trends allows you to see how people are searching for specific terms, Google Trends for Websites allows you to compare website searches, estimated growth patterns, among other variables. You can also compare two competing websites to see who has the edge. It has an added value of showing related sites under the web search results.

Google Introduces Ad Planner
I’m all Googled out this week. What with all the Internet marketing tools Google has been dumping on us lately. Ad Planner is actually a precious little tool for Internet media planners that makes it easier to identify target audiences based on location, traffic, and a wide range of demographic information.

ICANN Okays New Domains
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the Internet regulating body, unanimously agreed to add new top-level domains to the web. This means that your domain registration options will no longer be limited to .com, .net. .org, and the like. In addition to allowing new top-level Internet addresses, they also approved the creation of domains with non-ASCII characters. Which means you can now go ahead and create that website you’ve been planning to name after a Russian relative or any other non-English names you prefer.

Online Marketing Future Looks Bright
Can you guess what the 4 most popular online ventures are? Believe it or not, adult content, gambling, information, electronics and computing are the biggest online ventures today. Researchers predict that those fields will account for $5 billion of ad spending each by 2011. That’s a lot of dead presidents exchanging hands! But it gets better. Comprehensive online advertising is expected to reach $65 billion globally by the end of 2008. So, are you still thinking about that offline marketing job?

Related Post:
Last Week in Internet Marketing

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Author : Henry Adaso
Internet Copywriter

Talk to any savvy web marketer and they’ll tell you that social networking is all the rave these days. As the popularity of social networking grows, so does Digg’s status as one of the preferred vessels of social media marketing. Digg users are often trying to establish a presence on several social media sites. Constantly inundated by non-stop flow of information, social networking users sometimes find it difficult to balance the demands of every site. If that picture fits your situation, fret no more. There’s hope.

So, why exactly is your popularity index is stuck on that undesirable number called “0″? Read on.

You’re not an active user
Or maybe you are, but you’re not consistently active. Those are two different things. You can’t digg 500 articles one day and then disappear for 3 weeks. You have to show that you’re not just on Digg to promote your own agenda. One way to demonstrate that is by making sure you participate on a regular basis. It’s common practice for diggers to remove inactive users from their friends list.

You indulge in shameless self promotion
Most diggers can spot blatant self advertisement from a distance. If you’re submitting a bamillion links that all point to your site, you can kiss that dream of making it to the homepage goodbye. It’s a turn-off for many web users. An effective way to earn respect from your fellow diggers is by submitting stories that are unique, from a wide variety of sites. This may sound asinine to new diggers, but you can effectively drive traffic to your site by promoting other people’s content.

You lack focus
If you’re not getting any diggs on your submissions, chances are you’re not sharing quality links with your Digg community. If there are other things making demands on your time, consider setting aside a block of time each day to scour the Internet for quality content. If you consistently submit diggable items that will add value to other people’s socializing experience, many of them will notice and eventually digg your submissions.

You haven’t studied the success models
Here’s a bittersweet pill for new diggers: You can submit all the quality stories in the world and still wind up with 0 popular stories. Take time to study the Digg success models and observe the types of submissions that are constantly making it to the homepage. Notice the catchy titles, the high-quality articles, the seriously active users, among other things that make success possible on Digg.

You’re targeting the wrong users
If you’ve been adding friends randomly on Digg just to boost your friends list, you’re on the wrong track. If you take a closer look at that friend’s list, you may notice that some of your friends haven’t been active in ages. Cultivate an inner circle. Extend an invitation to people with similar interests and reach out to them.

You have no identity
If you’ve ever submitted a story on Digg, then you know that the site is very big on making sure that humans and only humans access their website. Put a name to the face and tell people about your interests. This will also enable others in your field to find you and socialize with you. That’s the bottom line, connecting with like-minded people, right?

You lack patience
Many users hear about Digg from their friends or through other sites and quickly sign up with high expectations. Devoid of successful submissions, many give up after a few weeks or even days of trying. The reality is that the major users that have prominent presence on Digg and other social media sites have been building up their profiles and relationships for a long time. Rather than approach Digg as a link dump, become genuinely interested in adding value to the community while maximizing your brand visibility. Digg diligently, but most importantly, digg patiently.

The core idea behind social networking is to provide an outlet for socializing with others. So, go forth, socialize, and be merry.

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Author: April Hall
Internet Copywriter

For internet media planners, much of the difficulty revolves around deciding which sites to target, how to find your ideal audience and reduce the number of missed opportunities. Many media planners eventually decide to reach out to a relatively few number of larger, well-known sites, deciding that it is best to aim for the known rather than to spend countless hours and unnecessary budget finances on online ad buys that may or may not hit their target customers.

Fortunately, the gurus at Google have developed a way to assist media planners as they organize their ad buys. Yesterday, Google introduced a new tool known as the Google Ad Planner. Like many of the tools offered by Google, Ad Planner understands that many users are like me–not overly technically-savvy, and intimidated by complicated applications. For this reason, this new media planning tool is surprisingly simple and completely intuitive. Of course, web design and internet marketing companies, which often have a talented media planner on staff, will also appreciate the capabilities of Ad Planner.

From the very first glance, users can recognize the value of using Google Ad Planner:

Media planners can easily find out invaluable information about sites that pertain to their industry:

• Which sites are the most popular for their target audience
• Smaller, less well-known sites that are popular with their customers
• How many countries each site reaches
• Page views
• Unique visitors information
• Demographic information of site visitors such as: gender, age, education and income
  

Aside from the vague disquiet I initially feel once I realize how much information that Google has about me at its disposal, and how willing they are to share that information (alas, a topic for another post), I am amazed at what a powerful media tool Ad Planner is going to be. Planners can now microtarget websites that reach the majority of their target audience, without wasting unnecessary time and resources.

Once you know which sites your business should target for online ad buys, you can efficiently transfer your media plans, and then export them to a .csv file for easy opening in spreadsheet applications. Or, if you prefer, you can export your plans to DoubeClick’s MediaVisor in order to manage all of your media planning, purchasing and other online campaign management activities.

While we all would love to begin using Google Ad Planner immediately, it is currently open to users by invitation only. Those of you who are interested in learning more about how it works, in particular the fascinating research aspects of the tool, will enjoy Arthur Freydin’s succinct walk-through, during which he points out that Ad Planner would be even better if it were integrated with Ad Words accounts.

Like most Google tools, this new facet of campaign management will continue to grow and develop as it makes its way out of the beta stage. Why not sign up to be a part of the group of media planners that helps to influence how it matures?

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Author: Thomson Chemmanoor
SEO Coordinator

The goal of every SEO is to build a site that ranks well with search engines. But building a website that ranks well with Google and other search engines has a great deal to do with how search bots see your website. With any type of SEO marketing, there are several factors that can negatively impact your ranking.

These following components may negatively affect a spider’s ability to crawl a page or Google rankings:

1. Server is inaccessible for search engine bots.
2. Duplicate of existing content within the site.
3. Outgoing links to low quality/spammy sites.
4. Duplicate Title/Meta tags on all pages.
5. Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming).
6. Broken or missing internal links
7. Wrong syntax in robots.txt file
8. Wrong 301 redirects
9. Characters in your web page URL
10. Sites entirely built in frames and Flash

These are only some of the major factors that impact search rankings negatively. As you can imagine, there’s a host of other issues, such as no-follow links, which also make websites less crawlable.

At this point you’re probably wondering “Well, what can I do to enhance my site’s crawlability?” For starters, you can manage your site in Google Webmaster Tools to identify some other crawling problems your website may have. Also, ensure that your content is readable. Avoid excessive use of Flash animations and javascript. Supplement visuals with sufficient textual content. If you decide to outsource your optimization needs, make sure you’re not dealing with a bad SEO company.

Finally, continue to immerse yourself in website content usability tips and other natural search engine optimization resources. The goal is to build a site that is easily accessible to users as well as search bots. And as the saying goes, build it and they will come.

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