Quick note - SEO for Google

Some quick notes on SEO for Google:

Marketing for Google is often like hitting a moving target. To stay on top of Google algorithms read anything posted by Matt Cutts at least once a month. NEVER use blackhat marketing techniques. Optimizing your META content is essential for top rankings in any search engine. Google may place less value on META tags than other engines, but you won't get number 1 without it. Never hire anyone who can get you hundreds or even thousands of one way links, this will SPAM you. Quality is always better than quantity. And, if possible, make some friends with authorities in your field.

For more detailed info, contact an internet marketing consultant.

- Mark Rogers

Long Tail vs Broad Based Keyword Phrase Marketing

I recently wrote an article that I intended to post but lost. So I decided it was worth recreating the meat of the subject.

Recent research supporting long-tail marketing showed that Internet marketers who ignore this sector are missing roughly half of their potential clients. For those of you who don't know what long tail is, let me give a brief example.

A website, for example, that sold electronics would have many keywords that could potentially be used by search engine traffic to find their products. Most searchers use broad phrases like "cheap electronics" or "wholesale computers." If you use PPC (pay-per-click) advertising on these broad phrases, than you will likely spend a lot of money getting traffic that is still researching, not buying. A searcher using specific phrases like "Apple MacBook Pro under $2000" or "cheapest HP toughbook notebooks" is likely to have already selected their item for purchase, now they're looking where to buy. If you focus only on specific phrases, you'll save exponentially on your advertising campaign, but you'll have a higher ROI (return on investment).

By the way, the reason this is called "long-tail" is because if you were to graph a websites traffic, it will start with visitors entering the website using a few very common keywords, then form a long tail of not frequently used, very specific keywords as points of entry.

The reason the few, common keywords are very expensive to advertise is because everybody wants them. The more specific you get, the more likely it is your competitor either overlooked the keyword or just didn't bother advertising under that many keywords. There is a way to optimize an advertising campaign to get the traffic from both sources.

I recommended using organic SEO (search engine optimization) to capture top rankings for common, broader keywords. Use PPC to capture visitors using specific keywords. It will take a much longer time and a lot of effort to obtain first page results for common keywords (depending on industry, if you are in a very specific niche industry - like custom fitted metal pipes for Howlwitzer Dobblekars - you won't have this problem), but once you have them, they're free - as long as you maintain and nurture them (if you don't know how hire an internet marketing consultant). The PPC campaign will be very inexpensive with a high ROI on your specific keyword phrases.

While most new business owners are not thinking about search engine optimization, the sooner you put a strategy in place, the sooner it will return results - it does take a long time to get first page Google results on broad keyword phrases, so start planning (or have someone who knows how do it for you) before your website is ever built.

This is the most optimized way to get maximum ROI on internet marketing dollars (or any advertising budget for that matter.) Internet is by far the cheapest form of marketing and offers results superior to any other form. Planned and implemented properly, it's definitely smart to capture ALL internet traffic who may be potential buyers, not just the most likely. This strategy will give you 100% market exposure on the Internet, then it's up to your website to draw in the buyer and create a desire to purchase (we can help with that, too).

- Mark Rogers

e-Profit-PRO$

Internet Marketing Consultant

How to use Digg & del.icio.us

Digg and del.icio.us: Compare & Contrast

What are the similarities and differences of Digg.com and del.icio.us.com? I am not new to Internet marketing, but my expertise lies mainly in pay-per-click campaign management and website content development. After reading “The New Rules of Marketing & PR,” by Meerman Scott, I became vastly more aware of the importance of social media marketing and it’s effective uses. Scott discusses the importance of developing “buyer personas,” which triggered the idea of using del.icio.us as an organizational tool for developing effective marketing plans, using both Digg and del.icio.us for valuable marketing research, and using Digg for initiating viral marketing.

Both Digg and del.icio.us can provide valuable marketing research. Both sites allow users to view websites, blogs, and articles based on what other users researching same or similar topics found useful. Users of both web tools “digg” or bookmark web content deemed valuable or interesting, allowing registered users to search content based on popularity rather than algorithms developed by traditional Internet search sites such as Google and Yahoo. This unique searching mechanism can provide easy access to valuable web content buried deep within search engines or not yet indexed. This provides the user with fresh, popular content valuable for researching clients, their products and competition, and prospective marketing targets located within blogs, RSS feeds and sites not easily accessible through traditional methods, and information can be tagged and utilized as needed at later dates.

Digg and del.icio.us also provide tools to share content with friends and colleagues. However, their are some major differences in this capability. Digg allows users to sync with Facebook, Twitter, and locate “friends” utilizing the user’s contact list in various email platforms. Del.icio.us only allows you to send content to other del.icio.us users who’s contact information you already know. This feature makes Digg more valuable for promoting content, which can be easily used to promote viral marketing. Users who are active in social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and who also actively participate in blogs, can spread the word quick and easily using Digg’s content sharing tools. Del.icio.us, on the other hand, is more easily utilized for sharing content between , say, co-worker’s within the same marketing department where everyone is on a shared network.

Where del.icio.us excels is it’s ability to organize groups of websites for a common purpose, like developing buyer personas. Using Scott’s example of “Sam the Athlete,” one can tag all websites that this particular persona visits on a regular basis with a tag used exclusively for that buyer. Tags can be created for each buyer persona and important websites easily assigned to each group. Websites can be given multiple tags if they are useful for multiple purposes, such as targeting multiple buyer personas or categorizing for product or competitor research.

Both Digg and del.icio.us allow registered users to create profiles. However, Digg offers a detailed profile including photos, interests, contact information, links to social networking sites and your own website, friends, and categories of interest. Del.icio.us, in contrast, only offers a very limited profile including display name, email address, and website.

In conclusion, while Digg and del.icio.us are both valuable tools for conducting marketing research and bookmarking important content, Digg is more like a cross between a social network and bookmarking tool, and del.icio.us is definitely primarily useful for bookmarking, while offering limited abilities for networking. This makes Digg useful for research and viral marketing, while del.icio.us is most useful for research and categorizing important marketing content. To summarize, use Digg to accomplish viral marketing strategies, and use del.icio.us for developing marketing plans.

References

Agrawal, Harsh (December 11th, 2008). Digg: The beginners guide.

www.shoutmeloud.com/digg-the-beginners-guide.html

Retrieved August, 2nd, 2009 from Google.com, search phrase “common uses of Digg”

Roach, Kim (May 24th, 2007). Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us.

www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/top-10-ways-to-use-delicious.html

Retrieved August, 2nd, 2009 from Google.com, search phrase “common uses of del.icio.us”

Scott, David Meerman (2007). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John

Wiley & Sons, Inc.

- Mark Rogers

Internet Marketing Consultant

Personalized vs Blended Search

SEO (search engine optimization) is definitely evolving far beyond it’s origins, not only with today’s algorithms for organic search results, but also with the addition of blended search and personalized search results. Google, by far, dominates online searches, causing other search engines to react every time they institute change. Google was the first to off personalized search results, causing Yahoo to start collecting data (for two years now according to WebProNews.com) suggesting their personalized search launch is around the corner with Ask.com soon to follow. Blended search was also started by Google in 2007 and copied by Yahoo in an effort to offer same quality search results as the search engine giant.

Personalized search reorganizes organic search results to reflect the individual searchers preferences according to Google. iGoogle content, Google bookmarks, pattern of clicks in personal searches, and your personal web browser history can affect search results. This is somewhat controversial in the SEO industry, as it makes traditional SEO methods all but obsolete. The goal is to deliver more relevant content to the individual but critics disagree, stating it limits access to new information. Supporters counter by saying if you want access to this new information, all you have to do is go to search results past page one, but throughout Internet search history, this has proven to be a rare exercise.

Blended search, also called “universal search” and “search 3.0,” is more widely accepted in the SEO industry. There are still some critics who prefer the traditional method of optimization – content, META tags, and link building. The majority of SEO experts welcome the change, as blended search includes videos, news releases, articles, and blogs and returns a more accurate result for the intended search. SEM’s (search engine marketers) also welcome the additional work, as blended research demands retooling thousands of websites, fueling growth in the industry.

My personal opinion, as a former do-it-yourselfer, now student seeking a Masters in Internet Marketing, is that these newer styles of searches, more so with blended search, will reduce corporate shortcuts – i.e. using IT personnel as web developers - and secure a stronger position in the job market for Internet marketing personnel. The Internet advertising industry was already one of the few industries of significant growth throughout the American and global recession, and will continue to grow exponentially as higher ROI (return on investment) Internet advertising overtakes traditional print ads and costly TV ads, as well as offering end users even better search results increasing future use of search engines.

In summary, I would say that personalized search will have little impact on Internet advertising (in contrast with some industry experts) as most web surfers will use this model to find websites they already visited and wish to return to or find similar sites. Blended search, however, will have a much larger impact on Internet marketing. Companies slow to optimize their sites for 3.0 will see their company’s online presence shrink while web savvy companies (or companies that hire Internet marketing savvy personal) will see potential for new growth. Search engines slow to adapt to 3.0 search methods will watch their market share shrink. As always, Google will remain dominantly in it’s number one position and continue to rake in massive advertising revenue by leading search engines in new technologies.

- Mark Rogers

Internet Marketing Consultant

Web 2.0, What is a Company To Do?

With no clear definition of Web 2.0, yet more consumer participation in this phenomenon every year, what is today’s company supposed to do to stay relevant and profitable? With some suggesting companies no longer control their message, how are they supposed to communicate their mission? How does one advertise? Well, let’s take a step back and put all of this in perspective.

Before the Internet, companies relied on printed press, radio, and TV branding to gain market share. While these methods still play a role, the Internet is the fastest growing and most cost affective way for companies to establish their mission and brand. If your company doesn’t have a website, you’re already becoming obsolete. Now, your being told if you don’t participate in Web 2.0 (not to mention Web 3.0) you can become irrelevant instantaneously, but what is Web 2.0?

Just as communication developed from print, to radio, and eventually television; the Internet is doing the same, just faster than many people can keep up. With the Internet starting (Web 1.0) as a way for professors at different universities to communicate, who would think of discussing such an issue one short decade later? When the Internet became mainstream (widely accessible to the average population), companies created websites that were essentially brochures accessible by computer. With the invention of algorithm search mechanisms, this changed. Companies who wanted to stay on top had to develop an SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. That’s another topic that’s also rapidly evolving, so let’s get back to Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0? Some have defined it as any website that allows viewers to post content – such as social sites, wikis, and blogs. To simplify things, I’ll add an easier to utilize definition. I define Web 2.0 as any site on the web that allows interaction by two or more parties. Pretty simple, right? But how does a company use Web 2.0? As stated above, some suggest companies can no longer control their message. This conclusion is drawn from some mishaps where companies did not respond to seemingly harmless complaints posted online. This is where the two or more comes into play. Consumers sometimes identify a complaint, and when a company doesn’t respond, one complaint can turn into one hundred, one thousand, or worse. Obviously Web 2.0 cannot be ignored, unless you don’t mind potentially losing millions of dollars and / or your business. So, what to do?

For a company to survive in today’s business climate, it is important to be web savvy or employ people who are. I strongly disagree with the opinion companies can no longer control their message. In fact, I believe it is now cheaper and easier for any business to get their message out. You just have to be a little smarter than you were twenty years ago. As any skilled politician will admit, negative press can be spun into a positive. The tools of the trade are just a little different now. Not long ago, all a company needed to be web savvy was a website. Nowadays, it is wise to consider a website, a blog, company newsletter, link partners, and a YouTube channel (I’ll cover this more when the 3.0 hysteria hits.)

Sure, customers can say whatever they want about your product or service online, but if you plan ahead, you can already have a response, a press release, a new Internet branding campaign, and to add a personal touch, a personalized video message from your CEO to all of your consumers. And the best part, all of this can be done yourself, for free! If you don’t have the time or know-how, there is an increasing number of Internet marketing experts available full time or by contract for services. With the emergence of cutting edge, forward thinking institutions such as Full Sail University, any company can employ one or one department of well rounded, web-savvy marketers.

So sure, these days anyone who knows how to type can destroy an unsuspecting corporation’s reputation in days. But, a company who monitors it’s industry specific blogosphere (if you don’t know what this means then you probably need to hire someone), updates it’s website regularly, maintains a flexible strategy of Internet marketing and branding, and of course continues to offer competitive products and / or services, has more potential than ever. Never before have corporations had so much access to free media to convey it’s message and build a brand.

In summary, don’t listen to skeptics who say a helpless business is subject to execution by angry consumer mobs at any moment. Instead, view these times as the best chance a business has ever had to communicate with its’ consumers. Now you can find out what people want to buy, and want to change, without purchasing expensive surveys or testing focus groups. Web 2.0 offers companies a never before seen opportunity to have a 2-way dialogue with its’ customers. Embrace it. Nurture your relationship with those that pay your salaries (your consumers, not your payroll department.) Enjoy the best environment we’ve ever had for corporate ingenuity.

To your success (if you need any help, feel free to hire a consultant)…

By Joseph Smith

Internet Marketing & Sales Consulting, Inc. (aka e-Profit-PRO$)

www.eprofitpros.com

consulting@eprofitpros.com