Feb 29 2008
THAT’S the first question to answer when determining strategy for using online metrics. You should be able to answer in 10 seconds. If you don’t know, or if key stakeholders can’t agree on your site’s purpose, then you are unable to use online metrics efficiently. And, worse yet, you are missing chances for improving your business performance.
Your Web site exists for a purpose, perhaps multiple purposes, such as:
Feb 28 2008
Live Search Webmaster Center Blog
The Sitemaps protocol has been upgraded to allow Webmasters to use one Sitemap (a file that contains URL info and meta-data for all the pages on a Web site) to support multiple sites on different hosts–and submit all the data on a single platform. Before, Sitemaps had been required to be on the same host and path as the URLs they contained–now, they can exist where the site owner chooses to host them, making them much easier to manage. Webmasters will need to add a line to their robots.txt file to direct crawlers to the differently-hosted sitemap–but that’s about it.
While each of the Big Four engines will be supporting this change, Yahoo is pegging it as the result of listening to Webmaster feedback. “We know that segregating user facing content from feeds, like Sitemaps, is important,” wrote Priyank Garg, director of product management at Yahoo Search. “We’ve also learned that managing feeds for large websites or websites using third party feed publishing services is critical. We hope this enhancement helps address those needs.”
Feb 28 2008
DIRECT ACCESS TRAFFIC–OR VISITORS WHO arrive at a Web site by directly typing in a URL or bookmark–represents some of the most valuable traffic an online retailer can draw in, according to a new study by Engine Ready.
The San Diego-based search marketing firm studied 2 years worth of traffic from 27 clients in its roster, including e-tailers in the CPG, home improvement and clothing categories, and analyzed it in terms of four types of site visitors–direct access, referrals (via links from other Web sites or email), paid search and organic search traffic.
“Visitors arriving via direct access or a bookmark stay longer, view more pages, are more likely to purchase and more likely to spend a higher dollar amount than visitors from other sources,” the report said.
Online retailers that have established a brand presence through either on- or offline efforts are likely the primary sources and beneficiaries of this direct access traffic, as they have had the opportunity to wedge their URL into the user’s memory (or at least into their browser’s bookmarks toolbar).
Feb 27 2008
There was a time in social media, just as in search engine optimization (SEO), when everything was only about getting to the front page. Little attention was paid to what happened after you got there and for a while it seemed as if you could do it in your sleep. Over the last year social media has evolved and become a more common form of online marketing and link building.With that evolution, it has become more difficult to push your content to the front page of top social communities, and the different communities’ algorithms have taken into account the various tricks and methods previously used. Marketers are also taking more time to evaluate and determine the value of success in social media.
Whether you are looking for increased RSS subscriptions, more page views and traffic, or inbound links, it is time to start looking at a real strategy for success with social media marketing.
Feb 27 2008
If you want to promote your product or service, then consider using public relations. The best part of PR is that it costs nothing. In fact, public relations is one of the best kept secrets of small business owners who are successful. Use these powerful techniques to get picked up by local and national media.
1. Be an expert.
The media relies on experts for their information. The news that gets printed is only as credible as the source from which it comes. Begin by selecting a news related story to comment on. It should be a story that you are qualified to speak about, aligned with your area of expertise.
If your background is in engineering, and a building falls down, you are qualified to speak about the structure and answer possible engineering related questions. Being an expert simply means that you have a background in a specific area and can lend your expertise.
2. Research the reporter.
To get coverage, find the reporter who is covering the news you wish to comment on. For example, if the news is about a specific current event, then Google the current event name followed by the name of a popular newspaper like the Wall Street Journal or USA Today. You’ll quickly find the reporters who have written on the subject. Call the newspaper (contact information available on their website) and ask for the reporter by name. If the operation asks what your call is in reference to, simply state that you have information related to a specific news item.
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Feb 26 2008
TechCrunch
Yahoo is preparing to launch a new search platform that would allow third parties to modify results by adding images, data and links. Listings can be modified, but the order of results cannot. Codenamed “SearchMonkey”, Yahoo execs say the effect is supposed to be similar to that of Greasemonkey, a Firefox add-on that lets users see modified versions of Web sites. Similarly, SearchMonkey would be a series of search add-ons that users could turn on and off (though some will be turned on by default).
Open search would certainly open the door to more information for a given result. Yelp, a user generated local business review site, is one of the launch partners. Its listing will now include a photo, review information and the address and the company’s contact information.
This is yet another example of Yahoo’s “open” push. Third parties would benefit from modified search results by driving more traffic to their sites, and more calls to their businesses. When the platform launches, anybody will be able to modify and promote any Web site, adding reviews, information, video, etc.
Feb 25 2008
Future Now
Clients that target a specific niche of well-informed customers may think that they don’t need a Web site full of descriptive copy–or that they can get away with having product images and a one-line description to draw those customers in. But Robert Gorell says that even companies in the most obscure verticals need copy on their Web page. After all, the best SEO is great content.
Take a retailer of industrial construction tools like 100-ton drill rigs, for example. Gorell counsels a search strategist who’s struggling with getting this construction retailer to understand that they need more on-page copy. “Descriptions are hardly necessary,” the strategist says, as the products are auctioned to companies who “already know what kind of equipment they’re looking for.”
Gorell says that the first step is to stop taking the client’s assumptions about things like how knowledgeable their target is at face value. “Yes, they know their business better than she (or any other consultant) possibly could, but that doesn’t mean they know how to market it,” Gorell says.
The strategist should go back to the client and “push back for answers” about their business, get them to reexamine their goals, and understand that even the most educated customers will come to the Web site searching for info like how long the retailer has been in business, what the return policy is, whether they sell replacement parts–and most important–why they should trust the retailer’s brand. Just answering those kinds of questions can fill up a few pages worth of copy.
Feb 25 2008
Micro Persuasion
Steve Rubel seems to think so. In his post, Rubel argues that search experts who launch social media marketing campaigns for their clients “solely for the purpose of influencing search engines, rather than with the intent of fostering collaboration and genuine communication” are a threat to the social media ecosystem.
While it seems that Rubel is talking about dirty tricks and black hat tactics, he actually doesn’t discriminate–insisting that any SEOs who work to manipulate communities like Digg and StumbleUpon, or advise clients to comment on blogs and discussion boards with driving traffic or boosting conversions as their primary goal, is a “danger to the fabric of the community.”
“SEO, like word of mouth, should be a byproduct outcome, not a primary objective,” Rubel says. “Any brand that plays in this space should be aiming to create value. Do that and the other stuff will follow.”
Feb 22 2008
Google Blogoscoped
Perhaps there are images on a client’s site that they’d rather not have indexed, either because they draw in the wrong kinds of traffic, increase bandwidth costs or strain the servers. Philipp Lenssen outlines the steps you can take to prevent the engine’s crawlers from accessing those images, with the first strategy to include the “noimageindex” tag in the header portion of a page’s HTML.
But the “noimageindex” meta data may not be enough if other Web sites can still link to those images (as the crawler will be able to access them through the link). So Lenssen suggests creating a separate server folder for all of the images and then making sure to disallow the crawlers access to that folder via the robots.txt file.
Feb 22 2008
 I STARTED DOING WEB SITE promotions in 1996. Back then, the term “search engine optimization” (SEO) had yet to be coined, and the industry was nothing more than a random collection of individuals emailing sites asking for links. Early Yahoo submitters recall fondly the days when extra information on a submission would expedite the process, while Infoseek ever so briefly engaged in instantaneous updating of its indexing, which allowed SEO specialists to submit and resubmit pages based on real-time results.
But the days of SEO have been numbered for some time. Now, this is not one of those columns. You know, the column where someone rails against search engine optimization and explains how it is an antiquated technique whose course has been run. Rather, this is a look at the evolution of SEO to DAO.