Google
November: 64.1%
October: 61.2%
Change: +2.9

January 2008: 56.9%
Change: +7.2

Yahoo
November: 16.1%
October: 16.9%
Change: -0.8

January 2008: 19.0%
Change: -2.9

MSN
November: 9.1%
October: 11.4%
Change: -2.3

January 2008: 12.1%
Change: -3.1

ASK
November: 2.3%
October: 2.3%
Change: +0.0

January 2008: 2.4%
Change: -0.1

AOL
November: 4.3%
October: 4.3%
Change: +0.0

January 2008: 4.7%
Change: -0.4

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: Nielsen Online

Even though an SEO may do all they can to make a site search engine friendly early in the optimization process, some issues will only be uncovered over time as the engines begin spidering and indexing the website. By keeping an eye on performance we can often find indicators that something may be wrong. With that hypothesis, the SEO must delve into research mode to uncover what, if anything, is creating problems for the site.

There are a number of individual issues that you can keep an eye on. Some issues can easily be fixed at the beginning of the SEO process, others are fixed as pages and keywords get optimized, and still others can only be uncovered later as time passes. Each, however are important to ensure your site remains as search engine friendly as possible.

The question becomes, how many hours a week can you afford to invest (or pay for,) and what should you do first with the limited time on hand? There are several aspects to the SEO process and each one is important in it’s own right. It’s not always easy to say “do this first” until a site evaluation has been performed, as each site’s needs are different. But you have to start somewhere, right?

While I can’t put together a definitive path that you can use to work through your own SEO process, I will provide a general order of importance of different areas. This can be used as a guideline for analysis to determine where you do need to begin the optimization campaign.

I’m just one guy running my business. I want a great PPC program and I heard you can cater to someone like me. Can you help me?

I typically respond to questions like this very carefully because there isn’t a simple yes/no answer. I don’t want to provide false hope because yes, I do create great PPC programs, but much of the success is going to depend heavily on the website. Let’s look at a few things relevant to the campaigns first.

If you’re a small business shopping around for the right SEO to help you out, there are a lot of things you need to consider before jumping in and hiring a SEO subcontractor or firm. Even if you’re on a tighter-than-normal budget–and really, who isn’t right about now–you can’t shop for SEO simply on costs alone. That’s like buying an economy car when you really need a mini-van. You just need to find the mini-van that offers the best features at the right price.

Not all SEO providers are the same and not all sites require the same type of SEO service. All thing must be taken into proper consideration. Here are five things that are relevant to the overall pricing and success of your optimization campaign.

Google
December: 55.85%
November: 53.18%
Change: +2.67

January 2008: 52.14%
Change: +3.71

Yahoo
December: 9.02%
November: 8.98%
Change: +0.04

January 2008: 10.94%
Change: -1.92

MSN
December: 4.43%
November: 4.41%
Change: +0.02

January 2008: 5.78%
Change: -1.35

AOL
December: 1.74%
November: 1.74%
Change: 0.00

January 2008: 1.86%
Change: -0.12

ASK
December: .77%
November: .78%
Change: -0.01

January 2008: 1.09%
Change: -0.32

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: Net Applications

But when it comes to search, I’m fed up with Google’s dominance. We could use a little competition in search.

Of course, it’s really not Google’s fault that they run between 50-70% market share, depending on who you ask. It’s really the fault of all of us searchers. We use Google because we like the results. We don’t use Yahoo or MSN because for whatever reason we feel the results are inferior.

Google
November: 63.5%
October: 63.1%
Change: +0.4

January 2008: 58.5%
Change: +5.0

Yahoo
November: 20.4%
October: 20.5%
Change: -0.1

January 2008: 22.2%
Change: -1.8

MSN
November: 8.3%
October: 8.5%
Change: -0.2

January 2008: 9.8%
Change: -1.5

ASK
November: 4.0%
October: 4.2%
Change: -0.2

January 2008: 4.5%
Change: -0.5

AOL
November: 3.8%
October: 3.7%
Change: +0.1

January 2008: 4.9%
Change: -1.1

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: comScore

Instead, SEO is more of a set of guidelines that can be implemented in a way that allows for individual site customization. Most of it is fluid based on each site’s needs for their audience. However within that there are also some basic dos and don’ts that need to be adhered to.

There are numerous issues that make their way into the visitor’s conscious and sub-conscious, most of which must be overcome before they are willing to seal the deal and complete the sale. Here are just a few:

But for as many factors there are that you can manipulate to give you better ranking performance, there are other things that when not properly addressed will do a fantastic job of preventing your site from performing as well as it could and should. While this is not a conclusive list of search engine ranking killers, these five issues can, cause serious damage to your site. Fixing these five rank-killing issues will undoubtedly clear the way for better optimization performance.

Key Problem Areas

There are four problem areas common to inefficient/ineffective landing pages:

1. Message match: Often times the search phrase (keyword) and promise in the ad text are not even mentioned on the landing page. Make it obvious that the search phase they used, and the ad they clicked on, are what the landing page is all about.
2. What they want: What’s in it for them? What’s the unique value proposition for the visitor?
3. Make it easy: Don’t make them search for the information they’re after. Use clear and easy to find calls to action. Crowded landing pages will confuse your visitor and they leave. You don’t get their information, you’ve lost the lead.
4. Keep it simple: Keep the forms simple, collect only the essential information necessary. No one likes long complicated forms - collect additional information after you’ve contacted them.

Comparisons

There was a limited demonstration of improved results on modified landing pages, where landing page testing had been completed. We were shown the ‘original’ page, then the ‘redone’ page, and given examples of the improved performance the new page had over the original.

Review Landing Pages

Attendee’s had submitted their landing pages for review. Pulling all the reviews into a summary, these were the most common problems in the submitted pages:

• CTA: the ad, and landing page didn’t have a distinctive obvious CTA. If a CTA was on the page, it was often below the fold. fix:put the call to action above the fold, and be very clear.
• Incentive: What’s in it for the visitor? fix: make it clear why the visitor should complete the form (or buy from you if it is a sale site)
• UVP: No clearly defined reason that the visitor should buy from you. fix:look back at your home page, reinforce what makes you special
• Benefits: No clear obvious benefit why this product is right for the visitor.fix: state why the product will benefit the visitor, clarify value (savings)
• Too cluttered: too much information on the page, one size fits all content. fix: segment information to different users. Too many options are distracting so simplify

Testing testing testing

One element not emphasized by the webinars was the value and importance of testing. Key to all landing page performance is testing. There was a brief section (3 - 4 examples each day) showing the original page and the ‘new page’ and some analytics to demonstrate improvement, but nothing more after that segment of the presentation ended.

At the end of the presentation, the speaker mentioned the need for multiple landing pages to serve different purposes, and proceeded with a sales pitch for working with ion interactive and their ‘live ball’ landing page software. It was a very soft sell for a simplified method of creating various landing pages, but there was no real emphasis on testing.

End take away is that I now have one of Stoney’s favorite features, a LIST of features to check against the landing pages I use. A check list that I can use when developing new test landing pages.

Six years ago I wrote a post about what I wanted from Christmas from the search engines. I thought it would be a good time to revisit what I asked for back then, whether it happened or not, whether I really wanted it (20/20 hind site) and perhaps ask for a few new things.

Yesterday I talked about how to turn your top search engine rankings into traffic. In reality, rankings are just one way to generate traffic. There are literally countless ways in which you can drive traffic to your website, via both on- and off-line marketing efforts. Unless you sell advertising by the impression, traffic isn’t the end-all, be-all of website performance. For many sites there has to be a conversion.

What that conversion is varies from site to site. For one it can be finalizing the sale of a product, for another it can be a lead, and for others it can be a download or signing up for a newsletter subscription. Whatever a conversion means to you, you know that getting it is the most important thing. Rankings only lead to traffic. Traffic puts eyeballs on the site, but beyond that, we need to know how to get that traffic to convert.

While rankings can be important for generating exposure through the search engines, there is another factor that is even more important than whether you hold the number 2 or 8 spot for your keywords.

Rankings, without traffic are pointless. In fact, while rankings can be a significant factor in growing your traffic numbers, traffic itself is not reliant on rankings. You can be in the number one spot and still get less traffic than your competitor in the number three spot. And even beyond that, you can often get better traffic (higher conversion percentages) not being in that top spot.

The question then becomes, how do you maximize your rankings–regardless of position–and turn that into the kind of traffic that produces strong conversions? Let’s explore a few ways that you can generate more traffic to your site, despite any particular placement in the SERPs.

1) As a web surfer, I don’t like reading typos on a website. Not all search typos are made because people don’t know how to spell. They can spell just fine, it’s just their fingers hit the wrong keys. Adding these misspellings to your content will only make you look silly and unprofessional.

2) Search engine are pretty good about correcting misspellings with the “Did you mean…” feature. Over the past few months I’ve caught myself making several misspelled searches. If I see I entered my search incorrectly I click the link provided that triggers a search for the proper spelling. I don’t even look at the results.

Many of these things are frowned upon in the SEO industry, and I understand why. It’s because there has been an abundance of “SEO” companies that engage in these methods, perform crappy service and ultimately rip people off. Every industry has its thieves. The ones in the SEO world have created a black mark that makes the entire industry look bad and has caused many in our industry to frown on legitimate forms of advertising.

Before I go any further, let me state I’m not for blind cold calling or email spamming. Good marketing via direct mail is highly targeted, not just sent to random addresses. The same holds true for cold calling and email marketing. Good and proper marketing rules must be followed if you want your business to succeed long term.

Let’s keep it really simple, counting down from #10:

They started off telling me that my website doesn’t meet Google and Yahoo’s guidelines. When I asked what those were I was transferred to the “research” department.

I spoke with a nice woman that proceeded to talk to me about meta tags and what information should be in them. She told me my title only showed my company name (apparently they missed the “Professional Search Engine Optimization & Marketing Solutions” that the title actually reads) so I asked her to show me. She walked me through how to view source and find the title.

I honestly don’t know what she was looking at but it wasn’t my title. Or my description or keywords. I asked for a screenshot of what she was looking at but lost my opportunity when I finally disclosed that I was an SEO company.

That’s when I was told I didn’t know the first thing about SEO.

But I learned something today. It seems that, according to her the book SEO for Dummies says title tag isn’t supposed to be a sentence. Never heard that one before, but perhaps its telling that she is referencing a book meant for SEO idiots.

After she hung up because I was being unreasonable in trying to explain how title tags were supposed to work, I visited their website. Maybe there’s something to this whole title tag business. Afterall, according to their home page they can get me ranked on AllTheWeb, HotBot, WebCrawler and Excite! Cutting edge stuff here folks!

Now, I can remember to shower and brush my teeth most mornings (I sometimes forget on rainy weekends when I plan to stay indoors.) But when it comes to things that I don’t do on an absolute daily basis, well, a checklist helps me to stay organized.

Google
November: 53.18%
October: 52.63%
Change: +0.55

January 2008: 52.14%
Change: +1.04

Yahoo
November: 8.98%
October: 8.97%
Change: +0.01

January 2008: 10.94%
Change: -1.96

MSN
November: 4.41%
October: 4.49%
Change: -0.08

January 2008: 5.78%
Change: -1.37

AOL
November: 1.74%
October: 1.75%
Change: -0.01

January 2008: 1.86%
Change: -0.12

ASK
November: .78%
October: .78%
Change: +0.00

January 2008: 1.09%
Change: -0.31

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: Net Applications

Google
October: 63.1%
September: 62.9%
Change: +0.2

January 2008: 58.5%
Change: +4.6

Yahoo
October: 20.5%
September: 20.2%
Change: +0.3

January 2008: 22.2%
Change: -1.7

MSN
October: 8.5%
September: 8.5%
Change: 0.0

January 2008: 9.8%
Change: -1.3

ASK
October: 4.2%
September: 4.3%
Change: -0.1

January 2008: 4.5%
Change: -0.3

AOL
October: 3.7%
September: 4.1%
Change: -0.4

January 2008: 4.9%
Change: -1.2

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: comScore

Take time to get all the facts; conjecture leads to crisis.

There are two sets of facts that you need to have before moving forward with any type of SEO strategy or fix. The first is understanding what the problems with the site are, and the second is knowing what can or cannot be done to fix them.

Google
October: 61.2%
September: 59.7%
Change: +1.5

January 2008: 56.9%
Change: +4.3

Yahoo
October: 16.9%
September: 18.1%
Change: -1.2

January 2008: 19.0%
Change: -2.1

MSN
October: 11.4%
September: 11.8%
Change: -0.4

January 2008: 12.1%
Change: -0.7

ASK
October: 2.3%
September: 2.2%
Change: +0.1

January 2008: 2.4%
Change: -0.1

AOL
October: 4.3%
September: 4.1%
Change: +0.2

January 2008: 4.7%
Change: -0.4

Data scoring techniques tend to change over time making past data inaccurate. As always, information here is for entertainment purposes only.

Source: Nielsen Online