SEO Tips & Techniques

Calling All Pay Per Clickers...

2008-04-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

PPC Search Engine ABCSearch Partners with AdWatcher on Optimization

They released a press release yesterday, April 15th 2008. According to the press release they merged to help small to mid-size companies track their ppc campaigns more effectively. Essentially Adwatcher will assist in the monitoring and help boost traffic to the search engine to make the advetisers get more bang for their buck.

I will just let you all read the release yourself. You can read it in its entirety here:

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com

Yahoo!

2008-04-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Its tax day in the US, April 15th 2008, and if your noticing some changes in your Yahoo! Rankings its because they are doing a small update today to their search engine. If you are generating traffic from Yahoo!

Keep an your rankings!
WTGY!
(way to go yahoo!)

Carrie

Search Marketing Expo

2008-04-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Upcoming search marketing expo is being held in June 3-4 in Seattle, WA, at the Bell Harbor International Convention Center. Developer Day @ SMX Advanced will be held June 4.

See you there!

To register: Seach Marketing Expo

Why crime does not pay....

2008-04-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

I was scrolling through my number of daily Google alerts and I came across this post, I thought I would share with you the importance of choosing the right SEO company. Although on the lighter side, they did get taken to courts and lost.

"Kevin Heisler writes at Search Engine Watch that an "SEO agency" called Internet Advancement has been sued by Washington State and required to pay over $100,000 in fees for scamming its clients. Among the restitution includes penalties against offering services to new members and requiring refunds to be handed to scammed clients."

Read the article for all of you search engine marketing companies that think it is wise to play with a web owners money.

Excerpt taken from:
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/016875.html

SEM Synergy

2008-04-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Bruce Clay and Friends get together and discuss the latest happenings in SEO and SEM.

"We've had an idea for a multidisciplinary show for a long time and are proud to be working with WebmasterRadio to produce SEM Synergy. Expect to hear from experts at the top of their field talking about the aspects of marketing they know best," Clay said. "This show will discuss things that will change the way Internet marketers do their job, the way they think about SEO. It's important to consider that there are many ingredients to a successful marketing project and on the show we talk about the interaction and intersection of them all."

Listen to http://www.webmasterradio.fm
For SEM Synergy Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. PST
The topics discussed will include SEO, PPC, analytics, design, branding and ethics.

I will be tuning in...hear you there!

Jill Whalen Talks About SEO Standards

2008-03-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

As I was reading through my Google alerts (my first thing in the morning read), and I happened upon this article from one of my SEO gurus, honestly this woman is a genius, anyway I digress...I thought it might be an interesting read for some of my followers so I will post a bit of a tidbit here and link it up to the article.

We Don't Need SEO Standards

"Last month I attended the SMX West session in Santa Clara entitled Is it Time for Search Marketing Standards? It was an interesting session, but I wasn't really sure where I stood on the issue at the time. Now that I've had a few weeks to think about it, I've come to the conclusion that not only would it be impossible to come up with standards that most would be happy with, I strongly believe that we don't need them at all."

- Jill Whalen

Read More

SEO NEWS PR UPDATE

2008-02-27T22:55:00.000-08:00

As many of you may or may not have noticed, it looks like we are in the beginnings of a new algo change. I have been jumping on the forums and keeping my eyes and ears open into any developments that may be taking place in this latest Google dance.

So far the biggest thing I have noticed, is PR for a number of sites has gone down, yet rankings seem to be holding steady, and even rising. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

CMH Web Services is breaking through to the second page on their targeted keyword "SEO Firm" although it seems we are losing our PR battle.

I will check in early next week and see where our results will lie!

Latest Update Breaking News

2008-02-27T22:50:00.000-08:00

CMH Web Services has been officially accepted in to the Better Business Bureau! We joined the organization to make a lasting effort in our promise to maintain ourselves as an ethical SEO firm in the many years to come!

Blogging: A New Asset To SEO

2008-02-27T22:13:00.001-08:00

When you think of how blogging started so many moons ago, it was used as an online diary or more commonly a travel log. This would keep track of where you have been, what you saw and where you were going. You could easily keep your family and friends updated on your latest excursion in a new place. The blogging world exploded and more often you were seeing political blogs, photography blogs and now corporate blogs? Did you hear me right? Yes.

Corporate blogs are the (not so) new seo tool that are vastly becoming popular on a number of sites showing up on and around the web. How do blogs help your SEO campaign? Well there are a number of factors that blogs can help you with in terms of SEO.

First of all, they are adding content. What is content? Content is king. When you decide to add a blog to any site you must first of all commit to actually adding content, at the very least on a weekly basis. The best content of course is original articles written by you or someone within your company. If you are not as scholarly as you would like and find it difficult to write articles on your desired subject, you can find yourself a content writer, there are many available for just this purpose, and you can verbalize what you would like to be told in an article and have them then put that verbage into an article, and voila! This can of course become very costly.

Another great way to add content, is to read articles written by other authors and comment on them. Find articles that you agree or disagree with and add your own ideas to that article (Alway's remember to cite those authors). Finally the true tested method is keep up to date with the latest news in your field and keep your readers and customers up-to-date on the developments. Anyway you decide to keep your blog updated, just be sure you do just that. Blogging is a dedication and you will gain the benefits in your SEO efforts.

Secondly, a blog can be independently marketed within your SEO campaign. There are a number of blog directories such as blog catalog and Blogorama that you can add your blog to for free. These directories are great places to gain traffic to your site and find other interesting blogs to read and learn from. You may be familiar with blog traffic sites which can gain your blog a number of loyal readers. These sites like Blog Mad and Blog Soldiers offer you a way to increase the number of times your site is being seen by simply surfing through a variety of sites included in their data base. Another great marketing tip for your corporate blog marketing.

A blog needs to be a functional and helpful resource and this will gain a number of subscribers to any blog. The more subscribers the blog has commenting and reading the content, the more likely your blog will create a buzz and become a useful tool to a number of people in your industry or field. What happens next, you ask? Natural linking. The ultimate in link development. By natural linking I mean, if your site is known as the ultimate resource other websites will naturally link to your blog as a tool for their clients and customers. We call this link baiting in the SEO world. Blogs are some of the best link bait there is in the seo world. So make your blog as creative, fun and informative for your readers so they will come back time and again.

In summary, SEO consists of two major components. Content development and link development, both of which can be achieved with the assistance of a blog. The initial stages of any new search engine optimization campaign can be difficult, but if you commit and stick to the power of blogging, you can create a community within your field and be a huge success in your SEO efforts.

Have a great night!
See you on the flip side!

Carrie

Update On AdWords...

2008-02-04T23:49:00.000-08:00

Well my battle with adwords was painless. I am still learning the verse of the correct ad & making sure I have a quality ad that make my site stand out more than the competitors ads. Over all the signing up was easy. I am going to look over some the phrases and maybe add them to the SEO Glossary that I promise I will finish soon!

Hehe
Keep it real.

Web Design & SEO

2008-02-04T22:36:00.001-08:00

When you are on the internet as often as I am, you come across a number of websites straight out of the mid ninety's and some that you know someone just thought one day "I'm going to build my own site". Now Obviously search engines do not look at the "prettiness" of websites otherwise the first page would be filled with fancy flash sites and cookie cutter sites.

The question is how important is web design for your SEO?

When you are building a website, or picking a designer for your website you should make sure that the designer keeps their code clean. What do I mean by this you ask? Well, take the time and look at the code, you want nice clean coding. Do not let them fill your site with font tags and a bunch of java script. This day and age a good webmaster should know that CSS will make your code neat and tidy for the search engines as they crawl through, as well you can often time link your java script from a separate file on your server. Most importantly, do not fill your code with spam. Use your alt tags wisely, do not describe the picture in the code use that in your visible text. Use only viable meta tags, there is a lot of them out there, but they have been devalued and could hurt you more than help you.

The next biggest mistake I find on websites is navigation, or the lack there of. You work really hard to get your site to the first page with great SEO techniques, then you have no one staying on your site because they are having trouble finding their way around your site. When you think of SEO, you think of getting top page results, but they do not call it internet marketing for nothing (marketing being the operative word). Remember you are trying to provide the best product and the best price, but if they can't find their way to that product, all is lost. The importance of navigation as far as SEO goes, is text links. Do not hide your navigation in java, flash or CSS only, be sure you have some text links on your page. I generally add any text links near the bottom of the page especially if you have a top navigation, it allows your visitors a place to go once they reach the bottom.

Last but never least is consistency. Your web page should have a common theme throughout. You want your visitors to recognize your site the whole way through. Web site's are not homes, do not decorate differently on each page. You do not want your visitor thinking they have left your site and then moving on to a competitors site. Another good rule of thumb is when you are adding external links on your site, use the target tag. This allows for the external link to opened in a different window and tab which makes it easier for the potential client to wander back in your direction and hopefully purchase that product or service that you are offering.

Clean, easy to navigate sites will draw in more potential revenue, help you on the search engines with top page results and could even get advertisers to want to be on your site. SEO always starts with design, think ahead and you will save valuable time and money!

Pay Per Click. The Devil or a Saint.

2008-01-28T22:37:00.000-08:00

When I think of pay per click (ppc), my mind will immediately go to Google's Adwords. Although I have not yet familiarized myself with using the Google program. I am now just diving into this world of the unknown. As my SEO firm deals strictly with organic searches I have rarely needed nor wanted to understand how this program works.

I have just started on with a client who's best route is the PPC route. I am going to be starting my research in order to create the best PPC campaign. I am going to keep you updated on my findings in case there are any others out there like me who are new to the world of Googles infamous adwords program..then who knows I might even try Yahoo!

Wish me luck & I will talk to you soon.

Carrie

Search Engine Optimization. A True Test In Patience

2008-01-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

Search engine optimization is not an exact science. Anyone who is in the industry or has successfully executed a SEO campaign knows that it can take a number of months before you can truly reap the benefits. With that being said, search engine optimization starts from the birth of a website. If you own a website or are thinking of starting one, arming yourself with some useful information during the beginning stages will make your campaign run a lot smoother.

Stage 1. Designing your site. This is the most critical of all stages, if your site is not search engine friendly you have already began the costly road to re-design. Talk to your web designer and make sure he doesn't talk you into a flash website or a website that uses frames. Although frames have been almost put to rest, I will on a occasion run into a site or two and find myself shaking my head and well flash sites are very attractive to the visitor, all your vital content is put into a file that search engines can't crack. IF you really do love a flash site, there are ways to get around this. Simply ask your designer to create you a html version of your site so you can offer one for visitors and one for search engines. As for e-commerce sites do your research carefully, there are many free shopping carts and database driven sites that will talk big and look good but do not have certain features that can be a crucial part of search engine optimization. Look for seo friendly URL's, editable title tags for each individual page, ability to change content when new and updated information comes available.

Stage 2. Site completion. When your site is ready to go and fully designed start the initial steps to linking. Search engines like Google and Yahoo! can not find you unless you let them know you are there. Look at the biggest directories and start submitting. FYI, the sooner you get yourself submitted to DMOZ the better. If you want to talk true test in patience try to get listed in that monstrosity in a timely manner, but I digress. Now there are many SEO's will dazzle you with the idea that you will need to re-submit to these search engines and directories but trust me with saying that once is enough, and often times there may be a penalty issued if you submit your site too many times. Let your friends know you have a website, add it to your myspace, facebook & linkedin or any social bookmarking site that you use. If your friends have a website , go ahead buy them lunch and ask them to add your link. The more time you spend linking before hiring an SEO firm, the less time you spend waiting for results.

Stage 3. Keyword Analysis. Find out your best choice of keywords. What are people searching for, sometimes you think you know the right keyphrase but you can be completely wrong. Talk to your colleagues, clients and friends. Ask what they would type when searching for your product or service. In most cases it can be fairly easy. You own a bed & breakfast in anytown, your obvious choice would be "anytown bed and breakfast". With some simple research you can find your best keywords.

The next phase is to decide weather you want to start this campaign yourself or hire a SEO firm. In either case you can be waiting to see top page results for up to 6 months, with an established site with a starting page rank. If you are a brand new site, this process can take up to a year. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day, and SEO is an investment you can not afford to pass by. Marketing in any size will take time, but if you are patient and let the ball roll as it should you will see how your investment pays you back tenfold.

If you have a question that you would like to see answered please email me and I will do my best to get it answered for you.

Link Bait. Thinking outside the box.

2008-01-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

The very sound of this can almost make anyone who is new to the SEO world put their tails between their legs and run. What is link baiting? It's the latest crave in the SEO world to obtain links naturally. In essence, you look for a hook that will get people talking and hopefully linking.

There a number of methods to achieve this goal and I will set out to touch base on a few in this article, but to be completely honest it is mainly a matter of being unique and creative. What would you like to see when you are looking for your service or product, what would make you link back to your website.

One of the most common methods is news. Keep on top of your industry, become a news source for your are of expertise. Whether you are an SEO professional, Mortgage Broker, or have a private practice. There is always something new to report on, in today's fast pace work you have to be on the ball. Give your opinions on the new methods, craves, and ideas. It can be a great way to get a following with other professionals.

Make your site a valuable resource. Offer competitions, online tutorials, and great information. Get out there and create a buzz, let people know that you have a glossary or a video online, be interactive and get to know your readers. Offer a chance for them to have a voice especially someone who is new to your industry and is just looking for a helping hand in the right direction.

You can add controversy, challenge an authority in your industry, openly engage and disagree. More often than not you will get a number of people that will be willing to confront and take on your theory, and a few that will back you up. When you are challenging a fellow colleague be confident with your argument and have the resources to defend your ideas. Otherwise you could be made to look the fool (unless that is your tatic) in that case, humor works well as link bait as well.

Take the initiative, talk to people, drop your business card. Spend time on forums and make yourself a well known entity. The more friends you have the easier it is to start a following. Let your fingers do the talking and start a blog. Once you get into the groove you can see your links build themselves.

To sum up link baiting, you need to create a need, try something that new. Be original and talk about your new idea every chance you get, online and off line. Once you create that distinguishing trait your link building gets that much easier! Good luck, and have fun!

The Meta Tag Question.

2008-01-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

What is the deal with Meta Tags?

Search Engine Optimizer's often have two different views when it comes to meta tags. One this is unanimous meta tags have definitely been devalued for use in most major search engines but you will find they are still being used as the description often times when your site is listed in the search results.

Meta tags were started back in the early 90's when the internet was just getting it's brand new legs and they were used to help the search engines organize the growing number of web pages. This was an easy way to make your site indexed and listed high. Soon after unethical webmasters started to abuse the meta tag by either spamming the page full of so many keywords or sometimes even made different websites appear in the results for a completely different keyword. Gambling sites would stuff their meta tags with more commonly used phrases in order to bring their sites to the first page and trick the search engine and moreover the user.

Now obviously, most search engines have discontinued the use of meta tags for organizing their search engines, algorithms have become much more technologically advanced and they use a number of other methods to index and sort. The big question is if they are no longer viewed as a helpful tag, why do some SEO's still use them.

Meta tags a a multitude of different uses and names, so which ones do you use? There are four that I often find myself using when I am optimizing a site. They are as follows:

Meta Robots: This tag is still widely supported and it simply tells the search bots to either follow the url through or you can ask them not to index certain parts of your site for aspects that may not be relevant to your actual site.
Meta Description: My favorite tag, this is your first impression, if you don't have this tag search engines will just tag clips of your index page including the keyword that was being searched for by the surfer. First impressions often is the difference between a sale or no sale.
Meta Keywords: A controversial meta tag, some use it, some don't. I still thinks it holds a bit of value if you keep it simple. Don't add more than 20 or so keywords, and I think it does increase your on page keyword density.
Meta Content Type: This is recommended because you may find that if you do not have this tag it could cause display problems

Now, well most search engines do not use the meta tags as they did in the early nineties, but as I explained you can still use them for a variety of other uses. There of course are a number of opinions on this matter, some SEO firms are strong believers in the meta tag and other firms are strongly against it.

In conclusion, my opinion is that meta tags can be used for a number of alternative reasons now and still offer you a great place to sell your stuff. I always will recommend the use of at least a small number of Meta Tags, and if used correctly will greatly improve your chances of higher sales & higher rankings.

If you have a question that you would like to see answered please email me and I will do my best to get it answered for you.

**Update**
Published in Entireweb Weekly Newsletter

How Do I choose the Right Keywords?

2008-01-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Keyword research is a vital step in the initial stages of SEO. I recommend that you do some of the research on your own before you go to hire an SEO firm. The reason being, knowing your market and what people are searching in your field will help you decide the best keywords and knowledge is power. Some keywords are more competitive than others and SEO firms can take advantage with false hopes by suggesting the less competitive keyword and having them achieve 1st page placement in rapid speeds.

Where you start? There are a number of free services that can show you how many people are searching on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. To name a few:

Overture
Word Tracker
Google Adword: Keyword Selection Tool

Remember when you are researching your terms to start broad then work your way down to more specific selections. Sometimes what YOU think is the most searched keyword is not actually case. You will find that the more broad terms of your keywords will often have more searches but because of geographic location you will not get the most out of it.

For example if your website deals with "small business loans" the obvious choice would be that exact key phrase, but often you are just dealing with small business loans in specific locations and so you could find a number smaller keywords that are targeting your actual location. These are often less competitive and will target the actual market that you specify.

Search engine optimization is a form of marketing, so always think of your potential clients first. If you combine a great keyword strategy, excellent content with a diligent linking campaign you will surely find your self on the first page of the search engines in not time.

I hope you enjoyed this first of many FAQ's that I will be answering over the next few months. If you have a question that you would like to see answered please email me and I will do my best to get it answered for you.