Google's Website Trust Factor

Matt Cutts does a great job of producing videos that explain in easy to understand terms, many of the mysteries of how Google views and manages online content. A topic of ongoing discussion concers the "trust factor" and what determines the "authority factor" of a website. The following Matt Cutts video addresses this topic. Enjoy!

Google Business Profile Help & Optimization

Google Business Profile Help

When we first meet with our clients the subject of local search listings is always a lively topic. We are constantly amazed at the number of business owners who either are unaware of local search pages, have no idea that these pages can be claimed, or disregard their importance. Based on our ongoing experiences we're taking some time to write a piece on local search pages, and Google Places in particular. Making a minor investment to get Google Business Profile help for local search optimization is money well spent.

What are local search pages?

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When you do a search for a product, service or type of business that includes a geographical qualifier (i.e, any service in Dallas TX), the search engines immediately recognize that where the business is located is important to you. This is when the search engine results show business listings that include address and phone information. These local search results are formatted differently among search engines but the purpose is the same - identify local businesses that match the need of the user.

Where are local search listings?

Local Search is a generic term, and search engines or other web properties each have their own name for their local search listings. Google has Google Places, Yahoo has Yahoo Local, and Bing has the Bing Business Portal. There are at least 200 other websites with directory style listings where your company should be included. While having just a Google Places listing is quite valuable, having a well developed collection of these local search sites strengthens your total online visibility.

What Should You Do?

You have two primary options. One is to take a LOT of time to research the numerous sites where you should get a local search presence. Learn and organize all of the types of information that is required for these listings, and then embark upon a time consuming venture to complete the task. Bear in mind that just doing this is a good thing however, unless you know how to optimize local search listings they may not achieve high enough placement to do much good for your business. Your best option is to hire an Atlanta internet marketing company to set-up and manage your local search project. If the company specifically states that they offer local search marketing, and in particular offer Google Places Help, they are probably worth a quick phone call.

If you are a do it yourself person, before you start working on your listings, be sure to develop a list of all pertinent business information such as business name, address(es), phone and fax numbers, logo and photos, business description (200 characters), define your service area, list any specials or coupons, and make note of any links you have to videos on YouTube. Google Places page optimization, or optimizing other listings involves far more than we can explain here.

Hiring A Good Local Search Company

Hiring a good local search marketing company means taking a little time to check out their credentials such as a BBB rating, length of time in business, how many employees, do they have a real business office, do they have a business license.

If you have not yet taken the time to create or claim, and optimize you local search listings you need to make it a top priority. Be sure to keep a list of sites where you are registerd, along with your login information. The year 2012 is almost here and local search pages can improve your sales in 2012!

Blog AdWords Ad Extensions Guide: Article Worth Viewing

Blog AdWords Ad Extensions Guide

For most people, there's always a little more to learn about how to get the most from a Google Adwords program. This entry addresses Ad Extension features for Google Adwords. Specifically, we're going to introduce you to a great article on the Wordstream website. Now about those ad extensions . . .

Google Adwords Ad Extensions enhance the typical text ad with one or more lines that provide additional information such as an address and phone provide users with a faster way to reach relevant information about a business and its offerings. It is very easy to utilize Google Adwords Ad Extensions, and learning how is almost as easy.

While Google provides very good information on how to use, and why to use, Adwords ad extensions, there is a lot to be learned by reading the article we referenced above. Below is an excerpt from the article written by Tom Demers for the Wordstream site. (The title is a link to the complete article.)

AdWords Ad Extensions Guide Bonus: Google AdWords Communication Extensions

Recently we did a series of posts on AdWords Ad Extensions, complete with a quick follow-up on how Google decides to display ad extensions and a closer look at the following extensions:

Google AdWords Location Extensions / Google AdWords Product Extensions / Google AdWords Sitelink Extensions / Google AdWords Call Extensions, but after concluding the series we quickly realized that we left an ad extension off the list (the downside to pompously titling something “The Ultimate Guide to X” is that you can easily be guilted into pretty much never-ending updates, so be careful with your hyperbolic in-title-adjectives).

One ad extension we missed was Google AdWords communication extensions. This isn’t available for everyone, but it’s a very interesting extension that could have some serious implications for some advertisers, and could become a more important tool in pay-per-click advertising as time goes on

If you need assistance with any part of your Google Adwords program,from setup to any part of PPC Management, please get in touch with us.

Submit Website to Google With Fetch

Google Fetch

Google has posted information on their Webmaster Central Blog with great news for expediting the indexing of a new website! The following is a repost of the article written by Jonathon Simon and Susan Moskwa:

The Fetch as Googlebot feature in Webmaster Tools now provides a way to submit new and updated URLs to Google for indexing. After you fetch a URL as Googlebot, if the fetch is successful, you’ll now see the option to submit that URL to our index. When you submit a URL in this way Googlebot will crawl the URL, usually within a day. We’ll then consider it for inclusion in our index. Note that we don’t guarantee that every URL submitted in this way will be indexed; we’ll still use our regular processes—the same ones we use on URLs discovered in any other way—to evaluate whether a URL belongs in our index.

This new functionality may help you in several situations: if you’ve just launched a new site, or added some key new pages, you can ask Googlebot to find and crawl them immediately rather than waiting for us to discover them naturally. You can also submit URLs that are already indexed in order to refresh them, say if you’ve updated some key content for the event you’re hosting this weekend and want to make sure we see it in time. It could also help if you’ve accidentally published information that you didn’t mean to, and want to update our cached version after you’ve removed the information from your site.

How to submit a URL

First, use Diagnostics > Fetch As Googlebot to fetch the URL you want to submit to Google. If the URL is successfully fetched you’ll see a new “Submit to index” link appear next to the fetched URL.

Once you click “Submit to index” you’ll see a dialog box that allows you to choose whether you want to submit only the one URL, or that URL and all its linked pages.

When submitting individual URLs, we have a maximum limit of 50 submissions per week; when submitting URLs with all linked pages, the limit is 10 submissions per month. You can see how many submissions you have left on the Fetch as Googlebot page. Any URL submitted should point to content that would be suitable for Google Web Search, so if you're trying to submit images or videos you should use Sitemaps instead.

Submit URLs to Google without verifying

In conjunction with this update to Fetch as Googlebot, we've also updated the public "Add your URL to Google" form. It's now the Crawl URL form. It has the same quota limits for submitting pages to the index as the Fetch as Googlebot feature but doesn't require verifying ownership of the site in question, so you can submit any URLs that you want crawled and indexed.

Note that Googlebot is already pretty good about finding and crawling new content in a timely fashion, so don’t feel obligated to use this tool for every change or update on your site. But if you’ve got a URL whose crawling or indexing you want to speed up, consider submitting it using the Crawl URL form or the updated Fetch as Googlebot feature in Webmaster Tools. Feel free to visit our Webmaster Help Forum if you have more detailed questions.

As an Atlanta internet marketing company we're excited about this new capability to better serve our clients.

Learning From Your Online Competition

Digital Marketing Competitor Intelligence

Any business that has made, or is making, an earnest effort to achieve high organic rankings has undoubtedly encountered some online competitors that seem equally determined to have those same high organic placements. Rather than look away in disgust, maybe you should consider taking an in depth look at your online competitors to see what can be learned from their efforts. After all, they must be doing something right.

Ther are many things to examine when researching an online competitor. Many of these things are spelled out in an SEO strategies article that was posted online. You can learn about the page count of their site, amount of content on each page, keyword density, and obviously look at the source code for insights to their SEO strategy. A backlink check is another good way to find valuable off-page SEO opportunities.

Since your competitors have or are going through the same exercises as you, there is a golden opportunity to save yourseld considerable time, effort and money by learning from an online competitor, and adding your own special touches to improve your SEO results. This is a common practice when doing Atlanta internet marketing or internet marketing in any major market.

Bing Webmaster Tools Reports Now Include Yahoo Traffic Data

Today we received this email concerning the integration of Yahoo traffic data into Bing's Webmaster Tool reports. It's probably a good idea to let your clients know that their numbers may look a little beefier than normal.

Dear Bing Webmaster User,

Your Bing Webmaster Tools data just got more powerful!

Yahoo! Data now included in your account!

The Bing Webmaster team is pleased to announce the integration of Yahoo traffic data into Bing Webmaster Tools reports. Bing Webmaster Tools will now be showing integrated data from Yahoo within certain areas and reports.

The short list of areas you will notice changes in are as follows:

On the Traffic Tab: Traffic summary report and Page Traffic reports will be impacted as follows:

Impressions – will go up based on combined data numbers across both search engines
Clicks – will go up based on combined data numbers
Click Through Rates (CTR) as appropriate for above (change only due to the mathematics involved in the first two items)

No actual rankings will be affected by the combining of data within Bing Webmaster Tools.



As a visual reminder that data is now combined, you will see both the Bing and Yahoo logos directly above the graphs shown on these pages. At this time the data will be combined, not selectable. The data will also update in any market where Bing is powering Yahoo search.

For the month of August, accounts will note the changes in data numbers between the 12th and the 16th. September will be the first full month of combined data.

Hola, Ciao, Привет, Γεια σου, Salut!
Now serving Webmaster Tools data in 40+ languages

For our international users hoping to see data in more languages than English, all features in Bing Webmaster Tools are now available in the following 42 languages:

Arabic Basque Bulgarian Catalan Chinese - Simplified Chinese - Traditional
Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French Galician
German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Italian Japanese Korean
Latvian Lithuanian Malay Norwegian Polish Portuguese – Brazil
Portuguese – Portugal Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish
Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese

Essentially this means that all of the features current as of this blog post are now available in the languages above.

Opt-in to Bing Webmaster Tools for instant notification of your site issues, free advertising credit and other offers!

Want Bing Webmaster Tools to notify you when specific issues are found with your site or to send you free offers? Simply opt-in* to receive our Bing Webmaster Communications.

*To Opt-in: Sign in to your Webmaster account → Click on ‘Preferences’ on the top left hand side on your browser → Check the box in the pop-up window and click Save.

Watch for new content to appear monthly as we invest further in explaining features and highlight areas of work webmasters are focused on.

Visit Bing Webmaster Tools to see the new features in your account, and to access the new content.

Sincerely,

The Bing Webmaster Team

Video Site Map

To increase the probability of Google finding and indexing your videos you should create and maintain a video site map. Video sitemaps provide search engines like Google with important information to classify your videos for specific search queries. There are many pieces of information that can be included in a video sitemap including the URL's for pages where videos can be found, titles of videos, SEO keywords, thumbnail images, and more. The amount of information that you provide on your video sitemap will make a difference in how well a search engine can understand and place your video content.

Creating a video site map is relatively easy, and submitting a video sitemap to a search engine is a simple process. A video sitemap can be submitted to Google through Webmaster Tools, and there are other ways for other search engines. If you are reluctant to take on this task you can find affordable services from a video marketing company.

Google search results have a Video Onebox where indexed videos may appear. The Video Onebox is a group of videos that are presented based on a specific search query. Indexed videos by Google may also appear on YouTube.

Yahoo Site Explorer Service Set To End

Yahoo Site Explorer Ends

Yahoo has announced that their Yahoo Site Explorer service will soon end. Yahoo Site Explorer is a tool that is similar to Google's Webmaster Tools, which provides a user dashboard fro confirmed website owners to view performance metrics of their website. This shut down is due to a perceived duplication of services related to their arrangement with Bing. We are unaware of an exact date for the end of Yahoo Site Explorer, however it will probably be this year.

We recommend that anyone using Yahoo Site Explorer should make certain that they have added their website to Bing's Business Portal for a smooth transition, and as a safety measure in case there is a problem with data migration. And YES, you should already be using Google Webmaster Tools!

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For any special functionalities such as backlink checks there are numerous free services which can easily be found online. Most internet marketing companies won't see any problems from this change. In fact, it will probbaly make life a bit easier because there is one less place to monitor.

Google Plus - Unraveling The Thoughts Behind Google's Social Media Quest

Google Plus remains somewhat of a mystery. Presently not allowing anyone to join this new endeavor. The one thing that seems to be clearly evident is that this project has in its roots, a desire to learn deep, intimate details about a user's habits and personal preferences. At face value, yes, this could be viewed as being for strictly business purposes, meaning that ads delivered would be highly relevant and useful for the seller and the user (buyer). A wise person has to also contemplate the darker side of allowing any information aggregator to amass data that could be compromised or used for unintended purposes. Is Google's knowledge of your circle of friends really important for you?

With who else might persoanl data be shared? This could be the "permanaent record" we were all warned about in grade school, lol. Sharing "innocently acquired" data would be a breach of trust that would be a huge slap on the face of personal freedom. For Google, sharing this treasure trove of date would generate a LOT of cash, and/or garner a LOT of favor with the federal government (i.e., Federal Regulators, Dept of Justice, etc.)

I really admire Google for so many things, but the desire to "keep a folder on what I do" is one adventure I'll have to skip. Personally, I see this as being a LOT about Google, and only a LITTLE about the avaerage person. From the perspective of the avaerage internet user, "they're fixin' what ain't broke".

For another perspective you can view a fresh article by Barbara Ortutay at this link >> Google social net is about preserving leadership

How To Create XML Sitemap - XML Sitemap Doctype

How to Create an XML Site Map

Many people ask about the differences in an HTML and an XML sitemap. A simple explanation is that an HTML sitemap (or PHP, etc.) lists links to pages for site visitors to use much like a book's table of contents. A XML sitemap helps search engines to locate and better index pages on a website. Below is a generic example of how to create an XML sitemap.

The lastmod refers to the last date that the particular page was modified/updated. The priority tells search engines the relative importance of the content on the specified page relative to other pages. An About Us page typically would have a lower priority than a page concerning more specific information on products or services. You should not list on your site map any utility pages such as Site Map, Contact, Privacy Policy, etc. The XML sitemap should be placed on the same directory level as your site's pages. Do not link to the XML sitemap from your website pages. Ideally you should submit your XML sitemap to Google and other search engines, although search engines will find it when crawling your website's hosting service.

The use of a well constructed XML sitemap is a highly recommended, and takes only minutes to create. If you remain uncertain how to do this, contact us and we can create a XML sitemap for your business website.

A hot new post in Mashable reports that Google is set to retire the Blogger and Picasa brand names. The products will survive under new names.

A snippet from the Mashable article >>

Say goodbye to the Picasa and Blogger names: Google intends to retire several non-Google name brands and rename them as Google products, Mashable has learned.

The move is part of a larger effort to unify its brand for the public launch of Google+, the search giant’s social initiative.

Blogger and Picasa aren’t going away, of course — they’re two of Google’s most popular products. Instead, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Google intends to rename Picasa “Google Photos” and Blogger will become “Google Blogs.” Several other Google brands are likely to be affected, though our sources made it clear that YouTube would not be rebranded. The technology giant shut down Google Video, its failed web video service, in May.

Periodic Table for SEO Elements

By James Hobson
For those who may not have heard about the nifty new SEO Periodic Table graphic available at Search Engine Land we recommend taking a peak at it.

Here is a snippet of their introduction:

Search engine optimization — SEO — may seem like alchemy to the uninitiated. But there is a science to it. Search engines reward pages with the right combination of ranking factors, or “signals.” SEO is about ensuring your content generates the right type of signals. Our chart below summarizes the major factors to focus on for search engine ranking success. The Search Engine Land Guide To SEO explains factors in more depth, with tips and a tutorial on implementing them.

This cool illustration was created by Column Five, and is under copyright protection for Third Door Media.

Why Is Facebook Shutting Down Apps?

By James Hobson
Facebook, the social media juggernaut, has abruptly began shutting down apps, leaving tens of thousnads of people wondering why. There was no asvisement of the action prior to execution, just BAM,and it's done.

Supposedly, Facebook has launced an algorithm that automatically shuts down apps which are deemed to be posting "too often" to a users wall. No one seems to know what constitutes "too often", much less why it matters.

At this time we do not have a list of any particular apps affected by the algorithm induced app death, or any information on further implications. We'll post more info as it becomes available from our sources.

Google Under Federal Scrutiny - It's Feds vs Microsoft Revisited

By James Hobson
The federal government is preparing to go after Google on the grounds that Google has "abused its dominance in Web-search advertising". I don't know what that means other than they have very popular products, they promote them very well, and they are wildly successful. Only through a socialist or communist view could being successful in business be viewed as criminal.

A person could easily argue that this pending action is an adaptation of the assault on Capitalism similar to when the Clinton Administration sued Microsoft. Oddly enough, despite a seemingly cozy relationship with the current Administration, the Obama Administration seems to have no reservations in harrassing Google. When nothing else makes sense, follow the money trail.

Because I don't hear a clamor among consumers, or advertisers such as our company, it's easy to assume that this is all about a shakedown to confiscate money from Google for Federal coffers . . . . or "encourage" donations to a political party that desperately needs money to polish their image for a 2012 presidential election campaign.

For information from professional journalists we have provide below, a snippet from a Wall Street Journal article by THOMAS CATAN and AMIR EFRATI
You can also read the full article here


Federal regulators are poised to hit Google Inc. with subpoenas, launching a broad, formal investigation into whether the Internet giant has abused its dominance in Web-search advertising, people familiar with the matter said.

On today's digits: the FTC is poised to serve Google with subpoenas as the Commission looks to explore the company's dominance on the Web; Walt Mossberg gives us his review of the Google entirely cloud-based laptop, the Chromebook; and, tips for creating protective passwords (first step: stop using "QWERTY", maybe?)

The civil probe, which has the potential to reshape how companies compete on the Internet, is the most serious legal threat yet to the 12-year-old company, though it wouldn't necessarily lead to any federal allegations of wrongdoing against Google. read more

Bing Webmaster Tools Are New

By James Hobson
This is a reprint of an anouncement about changes to Bing Webmaster Tools

As of June 7th, the Bing Webmaster Tools site that you know has changed.

Bing has been investing in building its Webmaster Tools for a while now and we have recently launched a revised webmaster experience that offers expansion in tools, data coverage and content. The site redesign makes it easier for you to find content, tools and data to help meet your needs. Our new features include expanded functionality, and the data that coincides with these new features. With over 40 new self-help documents on hand, publishers now have access to a wide range of help and guidance content across various topics such as how to use our tools and search engine optimization.

Dear Bing Webmaster User,

As of June 7th, the Bing Webmaster Tools site that you know has changed.

Bing has been investing in building its Webmaster Tools for a while now and we have recently launched a revised webmaster experience that offers expansion in tools, data coverage and content. The site redesign makes it easier for you to find content, tools and data to help meet your needs. Our new features include expanded functionality, and the data that coincides with these new features. With over 40 new self-help documents on hand, publishers now have access to a wide range of help and guidance content across various topics such as how to use our tools and search engine optimization.

As part of our investment, we’ve built new functionality to help publishers find relevant data and control their accounts. Here are some of the major features and improvements Bing Webmaster account users will see:

– Crawl delay configurable by the hour
ο Control when and at what pace Bing crawls your website
– User and role management
ο Control who can access your Bing Webmaster account and what functions they can use
– Index Explorer
ο Improvements to reliability and how fast data appears in your reports
– URL Normalization
ο Manage which URLs from your site Bing holds in its index
– Deep Links Management
ο Manage which deep links are shown for your website, when your domain is selected


Beyond the updated and enhanced features, Bing Webmaster Tools has also launched detailed self-help guides and how-to documents. We’ve covered a wide range of topics, from how to accomplish tasks within Bing Webmaster tools, to what you should be focused on when performing search engine optimization. Here’s a quick peek at some of the new content topics in the 40+ new guides and how to documents launched:

• Using Bing Webmaster Tools
• Webmaster Tools Data explained
• How to perform Link Building
• Removing or blocking pages from our index
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) guidance
• Managing URL parameters
• Implementing Rich Snippets (www.schema.org)
• Managing Canonicalization (duplicate content)
• Managing redirects
• 404 page management
• Rich Media and Search


Watch for new content to appear monthly as we invest further in explaining features and highlight areas of work webmasters are focused on.

Visit Bing Webmaster Tools to see the new features in your account, and to access the new content.

SEO For Wordpress Templates

By James Hobson
There is a widespread use of templates in general, and for Wordpress in particular. Due to the unique functionality of the Wordpress platform, it can be challenging to get proper SEO work done on a Wordpress template. We will offer some suggestions here.

To properly SEO any website it is important to first understand the principles of on-page SEO. From there you can develop a specific strategy for the overall site, and each page in particular. You should certainly avoid all forms of black-hat SEO and use only proven white-hat SEO methods.

When you are confident that you understand SEO basics, and have your plan ready to implement, you should add to you Wordpress account the plugin named All In One SEO Pack . This is an extremely good SEO tool for managing basic SEO elements on your site.

In addition to utilizing the All In One SEO Pack, it is important to develop optimized content (text), use strategic intrasite linking, and take steps to meet Google's webmaster guidelines. We personally recommend making certain that your website meets W3C validation standards, and is fully cross browser compliant.

For more information on effective SEO strategies you can explore Google or Youtube.

Internet Yellow Pages - Our Thoughts On IYP

By James Hobson

The yellow pages print directories are all but dead. In order to protect the massive revenue at stake the phone companies were dragged kicking and screaming into “this internet stuff”. Now, with carefully crafted scripts in hand, the yellow pages reps have switched their stories and talk about how great the internet is, and tell tales of how much better their internet products are this year. Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), templated websites, “click programs”, and other gimmicky products often deliver lackluster results and don’t deliver a good ROI.

Do the Visibility Test! Use a search term that your customer may use and see if the internet yellow page website is on page one. If not, it’s a good indicator that your results will be very bad for that search term if you advertise on their site. When people use Google, they rely on the first page results to find a business! Forget the sales material and let your eyes guide you to the truth about value and potential.

If you take notice, every year your yellow page rep brings in a “great new product” which replaces last year’s “great new product”. Some takeaways from this annual event are: 1) they are essentially admitting that last year’s product was not so good, 2) they need to show something “new and exciting” to restore your sense of hope to renew your advertising, and 3) your sales rep still cannot fully explain internet marketing – they just stick to their sales pitch.

Here is an insider’s view of the yellow page business – Yellow Pages advertising was once a necessary evil for business owners. The phone companies exploited this and squeezed as much revenue as possible from their advertisers. Marketing programs almost force advertisers to spend more every year, and usually penalized advertisers for downsizing their advertising programs. Reps are trained in how to “pitch” products to make the biggest possible sale. Sales reps rarely understand the costs or effectiveness of other advertising options, and they almost never encourage advertisers to spend money elsewhere. Phone companies sell online advertising. They are not a true internet marketing company.

IYP Website Contracts are problematic becaue you are locked into a long term contract with limited design and development options.

1)Yellow Pages websites are “sold” to customers requiring monthly payments for as long as you want the website. The truth is that you do not own the website and it will never be paid off! Over a 10 year period you may pay well over $30,000 for a templated website, when you could own a custom website design for $4,000 or less by using a true website design company. Plus, you can easily reach a live person at a web design firm.
2)Yellow Pages websites are typically bland templates built out in a production environment that stresses quick completion to start your billing. Aesthetics are sacrificed for speed. Content is created without any real research on the client’s industry, competition or local market situations.
3)Yellow Pages websites do not include true search engine optimization techniques which means that theses sites will hardly ever rank well in competitive headings. Interestingly enough, this ranking problem “can be solved by buying internet yellow pages advertising”!
4)Yellow Pages websites do not offer many high value options like RSS feeds, W3C validation, searchable catalogs, e-commerce, website analytics, and sleek custom design features.

Search Marketing products are problematic because you are locked into a contract regardless of your satisfaction. You have little control over your program, and don't have a full range of internet marketing services.

1)“Click Packages” hype the number of clicks to your website which does not mean sales. In many cases you may not have control over the keywords selected to generate clicks.
2)No creation or implementation of critical search engine support elements.
3)No critical support services for link building, internet press releases, blog development, etc.
4)Limited to no support for submissions to vertical directories, social media and bookmarking sites, blog management, and other online listing opportunities.
5)Performance reports have no backup data and typically conflict with third party analytics data. Try Google Analytics and compare the results to what your IYP rep shows you . . . and ask them to explain the differences.

If you’re tired of yellow pages books and want to leverage the power of the Internet you should employ the services of a true internet marketing company that can provide you with objective advice on search engine marketing and local search marketing, as well as provide cost effective solutions without expensive, long term contracts.

Top Search Position Gains 37-percent of Clicks - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

By James Hobson
If you've wondered about the importance of SEO, and the potnetial value of a well managed PPC program, then you should read this article. I think that most anyone will be surprised to see the huge difference it makes to be at the top of page 1.

Top Search Position Gains 37-percent of Clicks - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

Google Cracks Down on Rogue Advertisers - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

Here is a link to an article that discusses a proactive step taken by Google to reign in some of the crazies that use Adwords. We give Google a thumbs-up for this move.

Google Cracks Down on Rogue Advertisers - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

Google's Panda Update, aka the Farmer Update

We are coming up on a month since Google's Panda update hit the internet. This update has also been called "The Farmer Update". It is estimated that this affected about 12% of all websites. Honestly, we have seen very little changes, and most changes did not last over two weeks.

One site that did take some hits is Merchant Circle. Merchant Circle's comments wer recently posted on the SearchEngineLand.com website and included the following:

Beyond the changes we’ve already made, here are the near-term actions we’re making in response to the “farmer” update:

•Re-doubling or efforts to fight spam and other low-quality content across our network (which is always a challenge in local
•Evaluating our site to determine where we can make improvements to site layout and topology with a goal of improving search experience
And here are the activities on which we will continue to focus to help local businesses:

•Educating our members about the importance of creating valuable local content about their businesses and their communities (see examples here of our merchant education webinar series here: http://www.youtube.com/user/MerchantCircle#p/c/16A06082C6D6A04A
•Serving as an objective voice for local business owners who are often under represented in local discussions (see: http://blog.merchantcircle.com/2011/02/q1-2011-merchant-circle-mci-survey.html)
•Building valuable new products to enable quality conversations between consumers and merchants (where else can merchants book online appointments, create online deals, send newsletters, meet other business owners all for free?)

If you have commenst on the recent Google updates, please post it here.

What Did You Expect For $1.99 ???

We get quite a few calls from people who say how much they like our portfolio and the results that we deliver for our clients . . . and then they steer the conversation into how "their last guy" only charged (pick a low price here). They then say how much they liked the prices of "their last guy" but the work was not good, and he never did what he said he would do. So, what did you expect for $1.99?

Would you go to Ruth's Chris and tell them how you like the prices at Western Sizzlin' and they should match the price for their food? Of course not! So why do people do this when searching for a qualified internet marketing company?

When you contact a legitimate, licensed internet marketing company - with an office, a staff, insurance, advertising expenses, lots of equipment, licensed software and a desire to remain in business - you need to keep in mind that they are not the cheap guy on Craigslist. They have built their business on a certain level of quality and professionalism. They have overhead and do things properly. They are going to charge a fair rate for professional services.

If you choose the "Craigslister" or freelancer, bear in mind that they are probably a part-timer doing your work "when they feel like it" and just enough to ask you for money, and/or they are anti-social oddballs that can't hold a regular job and they WILL eventually crack up on you. They are probably working off of bootleg software, and violating every copyright law as they steal images and copy text from other websites for your website. Being cheap is always expensive in the long run.

Nobody likes to pay too much. This is why Walmart is successful. But "your last guy" is like the cheap Chinese goods sold by Walmart. Won't last, will disappoint you, and you'll need to replace it sooner than you think. After all, what did you expect for $1.99?

Video Marketing and Website Video Content

Video content has become extremely popular for internet marketing and for website content. Unfortunately any fool with a camera can make and post a video, often cluttering sites like Youtube with blithering nonsense. If people will take the time to understand some basics on how and WHY to create a video for online promotion they will d everyone a favor - especially themselves.

First and foremost, your video should not be a lengthy documentary unless you are a very well established authority such as Matt Cutts of Google. Cutts knows his facts versus some guy with a quest for fame espousing his hunches and perceptions. Generally speaking your video is better received if you focus on a single point and the content is concise and structured.

Second, don't try to be a creative director and add all sorts of flashy graphics and techno music. These things are distracting and usually make your video appear as very amateurish. Again, clean and simple makes for better communications.

Use decent equipment and a good setting for filming. You must have good equipment (not necessarily expensive), good lighting and an ability to manage good sound quality. We once had a client whose wife fancied herself as a video producer (among other fantasy creative skills). The videos produced had horrible sound quality which included overwhelming background noises from air conditioning units, vehicular traffic and more. A good video shoot needs to be planned and executed with a commitment to creating a high quality result - een if it means repetitive efforts to get it right.

Lastly, think about your subject and speak from the heart. Most people cannot read a script (or teleprompter, lol) and appear genuine. Study how to give a short, impromptu speech and you'll command a better appearance which means you'll make a better impression on your viewers.

If all else fails, hire a professional company like Fat Chimp Sudios in St. Louis to do your videos. The ultimate goal is to create a video that makes you appear confident, pleasant while you provide information of value for the viewer.

Choosing A Service Provider (part 3)

After you have completed your due diligence on the basic facts about a propspective provider of internet marketing services or website design (see part 2 of this series) it is time to move on to the subjective qualifiers.

You need to take a close look at what the vendor has done for their own business. If they have a ratty looking site then you should not expect much more than what you see. If their site has marginal organic rankings and poor local search rankings then you should expect that or less. The bottom line is that if they can't do it for themselves you can't expect them to do good things for you.

Look over the vendors portfolio to assess the range of their experience and see their work. Visit sites shown on their portfolio, go to the bottom of the referenced site and see if their name is showing in the credit line. Many subpar outfits claim work that is not theirs.

A good website company will have at least 20 example sites in their portfolio. Their portfolio should have represent a diverse client base and have sites that range from a simple brochure site to a complex e-commerce site. Remember that your internet needs will grow and that you want to partner with a company that can help you for years down the road.

Ask about the company's fulfillment process. Many companies outsource web design to India or piecemeal work out to a plethora of freelancers. We have personally caught web design firms in India and Canada having stolen website files and reproduced the sites after changing only the logo and contact information. Know who is doing your work and how it will be completed. If someone works alone and claims to be doing several sites a month you should be suspicious.

Ask about the company's full range of capabilities. Again, a one or two person outfit cannot possibly handle a book of business in a proper manner. If they cannot provide a full suite of services you will quickly outgrow them or suffer through being underserviced. Ask for examples of social media sites they manage, online reputation work, PPC management, etc.

Don't be bamboozled by a fast talking or aggressive salesman. Find a company that is willing to learn about your company, and that will take time to educate you on theirs. Ask to visit their office and see what they have to offer.

Following the tips we have provided here can save you from a lot of misery and help you to find great success in your online endeavors. Feel free to contact us with any questions. We're here to help!

Choosing A Service Provider (part 2)

Business people and companies that are seeking internet marketing and website design services frequently make bad choices on who to hire. This often happens becuase they are completely baffled about what to do and default to that "wonderful" choice of lowest price. Our industry is riddled with hacks and low-talent people that mislead clients on what they can do for their business and these are almost always the "low price guys".

I am a strong advocate for taking some time to qualify vendors at two levels. This posting will focus on the first level which are static facts to qualify a company. These are:

1) Does the company have a business license? Ask them for a copy of their license to verify that they are legitimate.
2) Do they have a Federal Tax ID number? If they don't they may be the kind of person or company that will disappear on you.
3) Do they have a regular business office, and/or personnel? Any company with their name on a lease and a support staff is poised to handle business. What you need to beware of are the folks that do this work part-time or "as they feel like it".
4) Do they have any credentials like a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating, membership in industry associations or a long list of references?
5) How long have they been in business under their current name? Any business that changes names has something to hide. Ask to see copies of their business license for at least 3 years to verify.

These are simple FACTUAL things that you can check to do a preliminary evaluation on any potential vendor. In our next post we will discuss the subjective criteria such as qualifications, work quality and reputation. Check back soon for part 3 of our series on choosing a vendor.

Choosing A Vendor - A Client's Dilemma

Today I spoke with a potential client who is in the same position as many of the people that come to our company. They desperately need results, have a limited budget and are struggling with "making the right vendor choice" becuase they have been burned by inferior companies. Our goal is to lay all of the cards out on the table and help the prospect to choose the best company for their situation.

Most people who have been burned have an immediate tendancy to make a decision based on the best possible feeling of trust which all too often means turning to a relative or friend-of-a-friend. What they almost always get from this are more bad results and a damaged friendship.

Another route people often go when they have been burned is to question the entire value of internet marketing, especially SEO, and protect their money. They either totally withdraw from any efforts to market their site (a BIG mistake!), or they know that they need to do it and decide to go with the cheapest person they find. They have been conditioned to think that they are wasting money and they (naturally) want to stop wasting money.

One more bad choice in vendor selection can permanantly ruin this person's belief in internet marketing. We do our best to explain that in this business there are a LOT of hacks that chase "easy money" and then there are professionals that get results. Learning how to choose and SEO company, or how to choose a website designer in very important.

Our next post will walk you through some of the things to consider when choosing a website designer, an internet marketing company or SEO company. Stay tuned . . . .

Blue Arrow On Google Adwords? Have no fear . . . for now

If you've recently noticed a small, medium blue arrow at the top of Adwords ads it's a development related to Google Instant. While it is intended (we think) to offer a new way to navigate, it has the potential to take clicks away from organic rankings and divert them to Adwords ads.

When you get to a page with the distinctive blue arrow, use your down arrow key to move the arrow to another position, use your Enter key to make a selection. You'll probably be amused by this new feature.

We've noticed a hokey website or two trying a leading >> in their website's title tag but have never seen a quality website, including SEO companies or legitimate PPC management companies that use industry best practices, use this kind of gimmick.

No, you can't buy it, but if you have that top Adwords position you'll probably like the results. There is no guarantee on whether or not this will stick around or change. We would like you to leave comments below on your thoughts and experiences on this new feature.

Leave it to Google to push for new ways to improve the Adwords product . . . and create a challenge for SEO practitioners. For now, most SEO professionals are not too concerned.

Social Media For The Anti-Social

The past few weeks have seen a lot of Social Media activity by Anti-Social people and groups. From socialist Islamists in Egypt to socialist Unions in Wisconsin, Social Media is being used to organize riots, protests and civil disobediance. This brings up a question about a collision of two ideals -

Is the use of Social Media for the purposes of inciting and organizing civil unrest a matter of Free Speech or is it an act of Conspiracy that is prosecutable under federal or state laws? The Patriot Act allows for surveillance of certain communications for the purposes of detecting terrorists and acts of terrorism. Certainly the destruction of government property, acts of physical violence and criminal trespassing could qualify as acts of terrorism.

While the odds of prosecution for these criminal acts is unlikely (at this point) it is conceivable that it could happen. What are your thoughts on where this could go and how governments might monitor or leverage access to social media communications to control the populace?

Mobile Marketing, Mobile Media and Mobile Advertising in 2011

Industry analysts are predicting a surge in mobile search marketing. Obviously this will be more prevalent in major markets however the growth of mobile marketing will expand into even remote and isolated geographical areas. Now is the time to begin planning (hopefully acting on) your mobile search strategy and tactics. Here are a few recommendations for consideration:

Act sooner rather than later to get the drop on your competition. If you don't want to handle it yourself, allocate funds to hire a mobile marketing company.

Mobile marketing is an incredible opportunity to put your business in front of potential customers when they are searching and ready to buy. Some of your options are mobile coupons, utilization of QR codes or SMS, and develop content that allows for fast location of key contact information for your business.

Mobile Apps can be developed for your business. A custom App will allow you to increase brand recognition and control your messaging to customers. If you have a business with repeat customers you are a top candidate for a Mobile App. Take advantage of the "retweet" approach wherein you utilize recently released content to feed your mobile campaign.

Mobile Devices are not all alike. You will need to become familiar with what works on different smart phones and mobile devices. Obviously you want to target iPhones, Androids and other top selling devices. Understand how your target audience uses mobile and market accordingly.

Mobile usage research is critical in order to acieve optimal, or even acceptable, results. Before embarking on a mobile marketing campaign, make certain that you have a decent understanding of best practices and how your customers use their mobile devices.

In summary, learn about mobile marketing, develop a plan, engage professionals to consult on, or execute, your mobile marketing plan. Then measure and adjust to leverage this growth channel for engaging more customers.

Google Places Quality Guidelines

We get calls from people wanting ideas on how to set-up their Google Places account. The process is really quite simple - be truthful and fill-out as much info as possible. Google provides Google Places Quality Guidelines which can keep you on track and prevent you from taking liberties that might harm your ability to be included on search results.

While following these guidelines will technically get you through the process there are some ways to (legally) optimize the relevance of your listing for your placement. We routinely help clients find the absolute optimum content to help their online ranking viability. As a general place to start we offer the following information.

Ownership: A Google Places listing should be claimed or set-up by only the business owner or their representative. (NEVER try to claim the name of a competing business!)

Business Name To Be Displayed: Should be exactly as it would appear on a sign or business card. Don't try keyword stuffing anywhere in your listing! I know that you see competitors doing it but it will eventually cause a problem.

Business Location: Use exact information to enable the map functionality to work properly. There is an option to "not display my address" if there is a need to not disclose your location (i.e., home based business where you cannot receive customers) Any Google Places listing MUST be a physical office location - not a P.O. Box or general office park address.

Multiple Locations: You may hand type or submit a spreadsheet (in a proper format) if you have multiple locations. Do not create multiple listings for a single location, which includes using multiple city names.

Content Suggestions:
- Phone number should be a local number (land or cell). You have an option to add a toll free number.
- Website Address should be a complete URL to your home page.
- Categories should include at least one suggested category. You may create your own categories for the remaining four spaces. Do not add a city/state to any category name.
- Business Description should be "factual" and not ad/marketing content. Do not duplicate categories or other info previously provided. used in your content.ns) or things it sells (e.g. Sony products or printer paper). This information can be added in your description or as custom attributes.
- Service Area should be a defined radius as this seems to work better that defining "points of reference".
- Photos, up to 10 can be uploaded, and will be displayed in the order that you upload. Your first image should be a powerful image such as your BBB logo, logo, or image that represents your business.
- Video content can be uploaded if it is your content. Google favore video content so we definitely recommend uploading at least one video.
- Content Fields are provided for noteworthy content such as brands carried, specialties, accreditations, etc.
- Google Tags are available to help your Places listing stand out from the pack. These are the "yellow arrows" that you have seen on some listings. The cost from Google is $25 per month and the Tag can be used as a link to your website, your location map and a few other choices.

For more information please feel free to get in touch with us or visit our page on Local Search Marketing

Social Media Marketing

We don't deny that there is a huge social media movement. What we question is the (current) frenzy to drive it into business settings. We would like to hear from you on your thoughts.

From our perspective, social media is the modern version of the old party-line telephone. Everybody can check in and catch up on the latest gossip, friends can keep in touch regardless of distance, and people can express their opinions to a wider audience. The issue to be debated is how this medium can really benefit businesses.

We are users of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Linkedin and others social media sites. We honestly cannot assign a single lead or order to our social media efforts. Living in the Obamaconomy it may have been useful to let our clients know that we are doing well in a less than stellar economy. But is the hype really worth the time commitment?

Brand development and PR are our top reason for using social media. All of the "experts" put forth theories on how to monetize social media sites. Has anyone truly found business success on social media sites? Does the average person really care about your latest office move, product launch or self promotion? Are social media sites really driven by self absorption and an overstated sense of self worth?

Stepping back it is easy to see social media sites as a place for people of common interests to congregate, then entice business owners with the opportunty to "get in front of the masses", and then sell advertising space. Our company, and clients, spend a lot of time on social media marketing. We have not found any overwhelming endorsements for the business use of social media. We are hoping that all of our efforts will deliver a measurable benefit in the near future . . . otherwise social media is just a new version of the old paryt-line telephone line. What are your thoughts on social media?

Video Marketing Services

If your business has not started to leverage video marketing services you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Video content is a regular part of search engine results pages (SERP's) and a tremendous way to get your business in front of more prospects.

Videos for the internet and websites are not necessarily expensive. We have a strategic partnership with a very accomplished production studio that can create high-end videos, complete with model/spokespeople and script writing. For other customers our Level I video production is a very affordable way to create web quality videos.

The Level I video is done on-site with a usual piece being 1-2 minutes long. Eliminating the cost of models, editing and production crews means that in about two hours you can have four to five good videos for about $600. Our Premium video services have costs that can range from $2,500 to $28,000 depending upon the costs for production crews, models, scripting, lighting, travel, editing, etc. Obviously a Premium video requires much more planning however the end result is a TV quality video.

Video marketing services are best used to introduce an interesting venue, retail store or professional services including attorney videos, dental videos and medical videos. Other uses are client testimonial videos, demo or training videos, and general promotional videos.

Video marketing services can provide your business with powerful, personalized content that can be displayed on your website, uploaded to viral channels like YouTube, or reproduced onto DVD's for use as mailers.

Contact us for more information on our video marketing services including video production, video marketing and integration of videos on a website.

Local Search Marketing & Local Search Optimization

I think that by now most business owners have developed an appreciation for the necessity of having competitive placement in local search listings. These same business owners are coming to understand that much like their website, they need local search optimization.

For those that don't know, local search marketing largely centers around business listings on Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local. There are numerous other local search listings, including directories, however the aforementioned are the big 3 for any business.

Business owners should know that "Local Search" means just that . . . local. Your local listing will not be displayed, even if optimized, for searches of towns where the business is not located.

Local search optimization is the application of specific techniques to make your local search listing be selected for higher placement among peer listings (business listings in your local area). The options to maximize optimization of your local search listing vary between sites. These limitations, and the competitive landscape, are the biggest factors in what action you need to take for local search optimization.

While placement is the top concern, the content of your local search listing is what will "optimize" your conversion rates. As with SEO and website design, getting found is one thing - getting contacted is another.

Local search ranking factors generally boil down to quality of content. The basic rule of thumb for local search optimization is to provide complete and accurate information. Don't be "salesy" or try to manipulate the system. There are formulas for creating effective content which are too involved to explain here.

A bit of good news for business owners is that local search optimization generally is a "do it right once and leave it alone" proposition. You may need to occasionally update your listing however it won't require much ongoing time or expense. The cost to have an internet marketing firm create and optimize your local search listing is dwarfed by the benefits.

Contact us to learn more about our affordable services for creating local search listings and local search optimization. You may also choose to read more at this local search marketing web page.

Website Redesign Process - Get Going in 2011!

There's no time like the present to get started on your website redesign project. If your website is over 3-4 years old it probably needs a facelift and some serious attention to on-page SEO. Chances are that a website redesign can cost far less than you expect, and you will capture sales within 1-2 that pay for the website redesign many times over.

You can click the link to find a very helpful Website Redesign Planning Guide available as a PDF download. This planning guide can help you to work through a methodical website redesign process and avoid common mistakes.

A few highlights from the Guide are how to select a qualified website redesign company, Web 2.0 user considerations, desireable functionalities and a link to an absolutely awesome color scheme selector.

We hope that your business has a superb 2011. Seriously consider the benefits of a website redesign and get started early in 2011!!!