Getting the most value from your SEO investment isn’t always easy. There are a lot of factors that go into every SEO campaign and it’s not always easy to cut something out without negatively affecting something else, or worse, the entire campaign. I addressed some of these issues in my last post linked above, and here I wanted to provide some additional insights on ensuring your SEO investment is a valuable one.
Marketing Blog Post Archives
SEO Kung-Fu or SEO F-U?
Oct
05
2011
What makes a good SEO? Is it just about having knowledge of search engine algorithms, being able to tweak code for the biggest ranking impact, or inserting keywords into a page to give it a better keyword focus? Is SEO all about search engine rankings or is there more to this than meets the eye?
Several years ago I wrote, “Gone are they days when SEO focused exclusively on top search engine rankings.” I wish I was right about that, but unfortunately, we still see a lot of SEOs doing just that today. Not the good ones, mind you, but still, far too many.
Today’s top-tier SEOs are getting out of the search engine ranking business entirely. Well, maybe not entirely, but they understand that there is so much more to online success than a top position for your keywords. Many clients still need convincing.
Want Conversions? Give a Little to Get a Little
Sep
20
2011
Sometimes getting conversions is like trying to capture mist in a jar or water with your fingers. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get a secure hold on them.
There are countless test you can do with your website to help increase your conversion rates. A/B and multivariate tests can help you increase your conversion rate a couple of points, which can often translate into thousands of dollars of increased profits. But in all that conversion testing, trial and error, banging your head against the wall and twisting customer’s arms until they cry “UNCLE!,” there is often one overlooked piece of information that can help you dramatically improve your conversions.
That piece of information is: information. Content, to be exact!
Q&A: How Much Does Online Marketing Cost?
Sep
18
2011
Companies focus a great deal of attention on two things: ROI and the bottom line. Rightfully so. When you invest thousands of dollars and perhaps hundred of hours in a something you believe will help your business grow, you want – and deserve – to see some results. So, a question we often hear is:
How much does online marketing cost?
The response from our team comes at this tricky question in a variety of ways…
Stoney (@StoneyD): There is no one-size-fits all answer to that question. It’s kind of like asking, “How much does a house cost?” Or a car. Or surgery. Or ObamaCare. Well, not the last one because the others can actually have a defined costs. The better questions is, “How much ROI will I get for my investment?” While there is no “sticker price” that can be placed on that, it really is the bottom line question. Whether you’re paying $5,000 or $500,000 for online marketing, you need to make sure you will get a return. This comes back to making sure you trust your SEO. If you pay a lowball price then ROI can be very difficult to be achieved, especially if your competition is out investing you in SEO. You also don’t want to over-pay, either. If your SEO provides quality and gets results – and more importantly, gets ROI – then there is no such thing as overpaying. Bottom line is, you need to invest whatever is needed to grow profits and not a penny less.
Content Marketing World Dénouement: Five Challenges to Chew On
Sep
12
2011
When more than 600 professionals in marketing, advertising and PR get together in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame City, you know the event is going to be a smash hit! Joe Pulizzi’s Content Marketing World 2011 was all that and more. The program agenda read like a who’s who in online marketing and included industry rock stars like Sally Hogshead, David Meerman Scott, Mike Stelzner, Brian Clark, Jay Baer, Lee Odden, Ann Handley and many, many more. Even at the end of two full days of seminars, panel discussions and content how-to’s, I was still trying to catch a waterfall in a water cooler cup.
For me, the focal point of the conference (beyond curiosity about Lady Gaga’s bizarre meat dress, currently on display at the Rock Hall) can be summed up in this phrase: fascinate, compel and convert your audience using the power of story. If you want to succeed in online marketing today, content must be a foundational pillar, not some website architect’s last-minute add-on.
Making the Case For SEO in a Social Media World
Jul
20
2011
Sometimes we get to doing something for so long and are so involved in telling people how to do something, that we forget that there are still people who need to be convinced they actually need to do it.
In the last few years social media has jumped to the forefront of online marketing for many small businesses. Some business owners aren’t even bothering to market (or in some cases even build) their websites anymore.
They can just create a Facebook page.
Or a blog on Blogger.com
Or tweet on Twitter.
Or build a Google Places page.
Are we entering an age where SEO just doesn’t matter?
Optimizing Your Online PR Strategy for Search & Social, Part 3: Background Research
Jun
18
2011
In the first two parts of this series, we looked first at how the online audience differs from the traditional off-line audience. There are several distinct characteristics one has to take into account before pushing content out onto the web that was designed for print.
Next, we looked at the goals of online PR in order to identify key things that online PR must do that are both similar and different from offline PR. Good writing is still good writing, whether you are on- or offline, but when writing online content, you have to treat each piece a bit differently.
Now let’s move on into the next phase of writing online PR.
Optimizing Your Online PR Strategy for Search & Social, Part 2: Goals of Online PR
Jun
13
2011
I started this series looking at the differences between print readers and web readers. This is critical to understand before moving forward with your online public relations material. We cannot expect to reach online readers the same way we reach those that are offline. We can’t just do the old-world methods in a new-world medium.
The differences between the two readers is vast, and, without that understanding, there will be no way to hit the goals you are trying to achieve. But once you have a firm grasp on who your online audience is, and how they react, you can begin to set attainable goals for your online PR.
Where SEO Stops, Persuasion Begins
May
23
2011
Over the years, I’ve come to realize I’m not a very good sales person. I’m not good at self promotion or pushing the hard-sell techniques that “convert” leads into customers. Despite all that, I have been my company’s best (and only) sales person over the past 12 years.
I’ve tried to hire sales people in the past, but it has never turned out well. It seems that I know our products and service far better than anyone else can learn them.
I’m knee deep in this stuff. I’m not just giving lip-service to what we do; I live it. I experience it every day, in the trenches with our clients, overseeing their campaigns.
I love my project management role, but I’ve never felt entirely comfortable with the sales role that I also play. Over the years, though, I’ve gotten better at it. But, every once in a while, I still find myself getting off a call thinking “Oh, I should have….!” I’m still not a natural.
Dynamic Keyword Research – Keeping Your Online Marketing Aligned With the Rest of the World
May
09
2011
Last time, we talked about a revolutionary tool in keyword research called Google Insights for Search that allows you to gain competitive advantages by doing dynamic keyword research instead of static keyword research. Static keyword research is using a keyword tool to get volume “numbers” at one point in time and then using that data to perform long-term marketing campaigns. The problem? Things change. Therefore, we need to incorporate dynamic keyword research to keep our campaigns aligned with what’s actually happening on the web.
One feature of this tool that allows you to do just that is called “Rising Searches.” These are searches that have experienced significant growth in a given time period, with respect to the preceding time period. It’s where and how things are changing. This is golden information because by the time keyword markets are well established, it’s more of an uphill battle to dominate there. You can clearly see how the benefits you get from positioning yourself at the forefront of web search interest trends are huge. Insights for Search is a great place to look to make that happen.
So, you look at the volume of a keyword theme and you are given up to 10 rising searches in this market. This should immediately give you insights; whether it’s competitor’s names, a feature, a benefit or hopefully YOUR company name! You can immediately ask why? and gain intelligence that could help guide future decisions regarding all aspects of your business.
Let’s take an easy example from the past. In the chart below, we are shown the search volume over time of the keyword “emr” (short for electronic medical records). In just looking at the graph, we see a pretty consistent trend…
But, look at what we find in the rising searches column.
#1 is “ipad emr.” It was a breakout term. When you see Breakout listed instead of an actual percentage, it means that the search term has experienced a change in growth greater than 5000%. This makes a lot of sense since doctors and nurses are acquiring ipads to look up patients medical records at a fast rate. So, for those companies that offer EMRs, did they know that ipads were going to be used as a main emr tool? Did they know fast enough to be one of the first to offer the app? If they were, did they incorporate this keyword phrase into their online marketing campaigns? Did they use SEO, PPC, content creation, etc. to attract these prospects before their competitors did?
And now, look at how things have changed when comparing this year to last year…
Looks like now there’s more of an “incentive” for using an emr, or at least more of an interest in it. Are searchers coming to you to find out what that is? Is that a part of your keyword strategy?
From this simple example, you can see how being at the forefront of dynamic keyword research at the appropriate time would have been a big advantage for a company in the emr market, keeping them ahead of the curve before it was too late. Part of dominating the search game is taking advantage of the long-tail of keyword themes. Keeping your eyes on rising searches can give you the intelligence to do it.
- "Our clients often tell us we're one in a million. Turns out we're really just one of a hundred thousand or so. But what they're really saying is that we get results that increase traffic, sales and ROI! Number one of a million? Yeah, that's where we put you when we velocitize your web marketing."
