When blogging, every person, company or entity wants to establish and preserve it’s own “voice”. There are obviously many blog writing, blog marketing and branding strategies for a myriad of reasons personal & business reasons. When it comes to writing posts that hit the heart of a topic and may be critically important for increased exposure and SE friendliness, bloggers rarely think about keyword research and search engines.
Well, Wordtracker put its hat in the firefox plug ins game — and it’s fantastic! You can quickly build a keyword list of important terms to include in your post. It’s simply a blog writing “insurance policy” and valuable tool for those posts you really want to optimize for search engines. Based on the topic you want to cover, simply enter some important keywords and start “adding” chosen keywords to your line-up of keywords. This can become a great tool in a bloggers aresenal and regular daily practices. If you have any thoughts or early experiences to share, please feel free to! Hat-tip to SEOBook.
Then just start blogging. When you’re finished with your post, then go back and spot check the # of times you’ve used these keywords. To show this in action, I’ve screenshot how this tool is tracking this current blog post as I type. Here comes a Before & After.
BEFORE
Now just start adding keywords into your blog post once it’s finished — here’s a simple bullet point list to show the tool in action:
- keyword research
- seo services
- free wordtracker tool, free wordtracker tool
- keyword reserach
- seo services
AFTER screenshot on keyword mentions is below. We’re not suggesting you just bullet point keywords to get them in a post, but for the sake of this example, you can see the increase real-time as you add important keywords (that get search traffic) into your blog posts (and at your own discretion).
AFTER
Comments
A recent study conducted by Forbes called the “2009 Advertising Effectivness Survey” has proclaimed that both Viral Marketing and Search Engine Optimization will experience the fastest growth and highest percentage spend increase in company budgets throughout 2009. The study surveyed more than 100 key CMO’s and Marketing Executives who hold roles in advertising, marketing and media.
Key findings from the report include:
In the coming six months, respondents expect that ad networks will see the biggest declines in allocation of marketing spend; viral marketing and SEO will likely see the biggest increases.
$1MM+ respondents are significantly more likely than total respondents to point to viral marketing (54% vs. 42%), SEO (50% vs. 40%) and pay-per-impression ads on digital publications (36% vs. 26%) as areas where investment is expected to increase over the next six months.
As a leader in innovative SEO, viral marketing and social media marketing services, TDM is well prepared to work with clients seeking to leverage and exploit the benefits of these highly-efficient online marketing channels. Feel free to contact us for a free new media marketing consultation and to learn how your company can take its online marketing to new levels of success!
Comments
Due to the downturn in the economy, budgets for PPC advertising are shrinking with more attention and budgets shifting towards SEO. The costs, potential for results, and long-term benefits of a well-planned and executed SEO campaign cannot be denied. But how exactly do you ensure that your site’s long-term SEO plans are effective and well founded? An article at Search Engine Land effectively addresses this important question. You will want to ensure that you have reliable web analytics software. This software will ideally track SEO referrals, or simply put, reporting what search engines your site’s traffic is coming from and the keywords used to find your site. Make sure the analytics software that you choose can segment paid and non-paid search engine traffic. Google Analytics is the best value on the market, considering it’s free! There are other more robust, paid analytics packages that can shed granular insight (such as Omniture and WebTrends).
By analyzing analytics reports, you will be able to use these findings to determine the best areas to invest time, money and resources. When tracking performance, remember to make note of site re-launches, shifts in the market and other events when measuring at long-term results, as these will cause a change in your SEO metrics. By comparing these metrics, you can then prioritize efforts for optimizing your site based on market opportunities, ranking gaps and potential ROI.
Comments
There continues to be a groundswell of attention towards Social Media in mainstream media and other circles, but let’s examine Social Media’s relevance to SEO. The majority of industry experts, including those in-house here at TDM, would argue that a well crafted, well executed social media marketing strategy WILL have positive benefit on a brand’s natural search rankings. An in-depth discussion is currently taking place at the popular UK-based site eConsultancy on just how much social media influences rank order (positively, neutrally, and negatively).
Below are a couple of key reasons why we at Triangle Direct Media believe social media can and will continue to impact the organic rankings of a website:
- Search engines, like Google, examine the quality & diversity of backlinks along with the “buzz” of a brand through Trust & Authority variables. Social Media is becoming mainstream so a brand’s participation in these channels helps it become an even stronger “subject matter expert” and informational resource.
- Social Media reaches a very large and diverse audience of content creators, discussion participants and sideline observers. Social Media “content creators” serve as a very likely source for natural link building should a brand’s content or network participation move these content creators to post on their own sites or blogs about the brand.
- While most major social networks allow for back links, such links almost always include the nofollow attribute which do not count in most search engine algorithms. In contrast, a number of social media outlets do provide brands the ability to secure and create “follow” links as part of the content creation life cycle. These pages get indexed and cached, serving as a credible link building channel. It’s important that brands actively participate to boost in-network visibility or the strength of a given set of social profiles or social content pages.
- Blogs have proven to be a very strong platform for ranking well in major search engines through the practice of developing solid, unique content on a consistent basis while participating in a ecosystem of industry-related and/or peer blog publishers. Not only do blog posts rank well, they also serve as a strong source for link building particularly when posts go viral and secure active comment discussions.
- Universal search has opened new ranking opportunities for online brands that effectively create content through video, images, news, blogs and other Social Media oriented vehicles. Many community sites provide great opportunities for instructional or informational content creation that incorporates text, video, images and discussions — these typically rank pretty well and can be a good source for ‘followed’ back links.
For anyone that has been an active member of SEO community for the past 5-10 years, determining the most productive and cost-effective ways to help clients rank on the first page is how we’re measured. Leveraging social media is a positive and the next evolutionary step in organic search. The above reasons are what standout as an argument to brand advertisers to engage social media from a natural search ranking perspective. There are obviously many other benefits social media marketing can deliver brands such as consumer-engagement, product testing, brand discussions, contests, etc.
Do you have any other primary reasons why companies interested in organic rankings in Google, Yahoo & MSN/Live should leverage Social Media Marketing?
Comments
Forrester Research has released a forecast on US Internet Marketing Spending for the next five (5) years. Great outlook for those companies investing and specializing in social media, mobile marketing and search marketing. Considering the sheer size of the “Search Marketing” category, why do these independent research firms keep grouping PPC and SEO together? It is widely accepted that SEO garners at least 12% of Search spend (and this percentage is quickly growing!!). Doing simple math for Internet spending in 2009, SEO spend would be greater than mobile, social or email marketing, respectively. So why are SEO & PPC not yet standalone categories? We already know that organic search rankings are the #1 focus of Internet Retailers.
Attention business owners, CMO’s, VP’s & Directors of Web Marketing —- what are you doing to allocate marketing budgets and put your business at the forefront of these growth markets? Don’t miss the new media marketing bus!
Where the budgets are going
Props to Andy.
Comments
Most companies typically go through a major website redesign initiative every 2-3 years. Larger corporations sometimes every 1-2 years. MediaPost’s Search Insider Blog has outlined some very relevant advice to ensure that a redesign does not destroy current search engine rankings, but hopefully leads to a lift in organic rankings.
Team Collaboration
Below are some of Search Insider’s primary suggestions by Rob Garner:
- Use site language and messaging that is consistent with the user’s perception of your product or service.
Keywords are the language of your users in search engines. Be sure that your copy not only connects well to the users but also search engines. Writing in the language of the customer will most likely match up to what search engines are looking for, but don’t forget to do some keyword research to reinforce key concepts and consequent keywords to best optimize content relevancy.
- Read your log files (and/or review analytics reports)
Often overlooked by in-house or contract web designers, website analytic reports can provide excellent insight into what pages are garnering the highest levels and/or best converting of search engine traffic for your website. Do not forsake the elements of these top entry pages with web design, but preserve their characteristics so rankings are not lost when a new site is launched.
- Ensure that Rich Internet Technologies are both crawlable and indexable by search engines
New designs will often times seek to incorporate technology (such as Flash or Ajax) that is often times invisible to search engines. While these elements can increase the user experience, they should be intergrated into well structured, search engine friendly pages to preserve the balance of giving the user and search engine crawlers what they want. There are often alternatives to a functionality so do your research so that existing and new pages can be found and thrive in search engines.
- Avoid the creation of URL canonicalization issues
When pages are going to be replaced by new or existing pages at different URL locations, it is imperative that you let the search engines know where that old content has been permanently moved. This is accomplished through the execution of a 301 redirect. A page should only have one URL, not duplicates. Many eCommerce sites have a problem of serving multiple URLs for the same page leading to duplicate content problems and confusion with search engine crawlers. Do your research and make sure canonicalization does not compromise your site’s ability to rank for important landing and product pages.
- Set up a redirection plan
Following up on the previous recommendation, mapping out old URL’s and new URL’s is critical when executing redirects. If a page has moved, it should almost always be redirected by a 301 header response. If it no longer exists, then a custom 404. Plan your work and work your plan with redirects — this should be executed in parallel to the site launch.
- Don’t remove content that supports coveted rankings without assessing risks first
Completely deleting content or old products is the equivalent of throwing away hard work. This is often a mistake we see with online retailers. When products are no longer in inventory or are replaced by newer models, as opposed to completely deleting the page and serving a 404, utilize a 301 redirect to a parent page. This will preserve the page rank and link value a page has established as opposed to completely throwing it away. Otherwise, removing or deleting content that ranks well will decrease traffic and market share; forcing the site to start over in attaining previously secured positions.
- Include search as both a business and technical requirement before planning has even started
Search engine optimization should be a primary discussion point when the website redesign discussion begins, not after. Website owners who evaluate the impact of redesign on search engine rankings, early and often, will not only cover the basics but also address the advanced design, coding and architecture strategies that will influence rank order.
- Ensure that there is a voice for search within the Web site team structure
To champion this cause, there needs to be an advocate with a voice, credibility and peer respect amongst those members of your web design team. This ensures a system of checks and balances and leads to a well planned, well executed website redesign that will help and not hurt your organic search engine rankings. This advocate can be an in-house employee, independent contract, or professional SEO team.
To learn more about challenges your company could face with website redesign and its impact on your future search engine rankings, feel free to contact TDM for information about our SEO Audit services. Not only can this customized road map identify key impediments and gaps in your current SEO efforts, but it can also ensure that you protect your rankings during a website redesign project — our team can have the needed expertise and authoritative search voice to compliment your design team.
Comments
A recent InternetRetailer survey gathered information from more than 90 online retailers, in an effort to identify their primary objectives going into 2009. The surveys focus was on web design, site content and rich media. An overwhelming majority of respondents (73%) indicated that the top priority with website design was better search engine optimization. This can be attributed to not only the reach, but cost effectiveness and ROI associated with strong SEO efforts, especially during an economic downturn when consumer spending is down and marketing budgets trimmed.
Below is a recap of the primary goals associated with online retailer website design & the percentage of respondents:
- 73% – Better SEO
- 62% – Better organized & updated home, category & product pages
- 49% – Clear site navigation
- 47% – Speedier and more intuitive website
What’s interesting with these findings is that most of these goals can be accomplished when an effective and thorought SEO Audit is conducted on a web business. Such a process can be conducted internally or with the help of experienced professionals and is often one of the most cost-effective options available to retailers. A SEO Audit should not only examine, critique and solve key SEO challenges but also prioritize most important factors for a website which can lead to a custom road map for client-side or agency execution.
Other key findings in the IR survey found:
- 43% of retailers plan to add Video or Streaming Media to their websites
- 40% will add Personalized Product Recommendations
- 37% will add Customer Reviews & Ratings
- 32% will add a Blog or Forum
For more information about New Media Marketing services and how you can better SEO, leverage online video and effectively incorporate product reviews (both on-site and off site), please contact Triangle Direct Media for a free consultation!
Comments
Online Retail Sales
According to comScore, several online categories outperformed overall consumer spending and often times offline spending, in the same comparison categories. This is good news for online retailers looking ahead in 2009 and any potential economic rebound from the economy as a whole. Some online holiday shopping highlights include the following:
- Apparel & Accessories sales were up 4 percent online, while overall category sales declined by 20%
- Consumer Electronics declined 5% online, compared to the previous year, while the overall category sales in Electronics/Appliances declined 26%
A couple of online shopping categories saw double-digit growth in spending: Sports & Fitness (up 18% year-over-yeaer) and Video Games, Consoles & Accessories (up 14%, respectively). Consumer emphasis on improved health & fitness supported by shoppers becoming more confident with big ticket internet purchases (plus great deals) led to increased sales on products such as treadmills and elliptical machines. The growth in the video game category can be attributed to popular adoption of the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3. Most notably, sales for the Nintendo Wii seem to have skyrocketed this holiday season — just ask your friends and family members who got a Wii for Christmas? You’ll probably be surprised!
In total, online shopping declined 3% year over year with some bright spots by category and demographic. Those households with annual income exceeding $100,000 spent 7% more this holiday season, compared to 2007.
Retailers looking ahead in 2009 should be planning out strategies now for incentivized offers and ways to better engage consumers. Hopefully the 2008 (relative) stability of online sales will be a trend for the entire 2009 calendar year as consumers search for better deals online, now that most are confident in the transaction experience.
Some ideas for better consumer engagement and competitive advantages include customer testimonials, consumer product reviews, better use of video, strong search engine optimization, useful email/newsletter marketing and of course — excellent offers to the customer. Free shipping, Promotions, Coupons, Discounts, Surveys, Contest Marketing, etc can all be great ways to entice online consumer spending.
Good Luck to All in 2009!!
Comments
According to a recent study released by Neilsen, more than 80% of online shoppers read a product or retailer review BEFORE making a purchase decision! Additionally, more than 70% felt more comfortable making their purchase decision after reading consumer product reviews.
Retailers who can garner product reviews both on-site and off-site will be ahead of the pack during the 2009 shopping season. The consumer’s desire for product reviews is not just isolated to holiday shopping but is now a common place practice before buying products online (throughout the calendar year). Not only will they look for customer feedback on a retailers site, but they will put more weight in product reviews that are outside of the retailers domain and control. Independent consumer reviews are more trusted, unbiased and perceived to be more credible by like-minded consumers. A 2007 MarketingVOX study found that 91% of moms prefer brands that other moms have recommended.
Now more than ever, with social networks and Web 2.0 channels/applications popping up all over the web and becoming popular destinations, online retailers need to get their products into the hands of active online participants who can openly discuss their experience with a product/service, thus influencing purchase decisions of like-minded consumers. It’s important to note that less than 10% of your customers are active participants & influencers while the majority of your customers sit on the sidelines & observe (making them influenced readers). Examples of popular consumer review outlets include:
- Destination sites like epinions.com, consumersearch.com, and amazon.com
- Independent bloggers and website publishers
- Video channels like YouTube
- Peer networks like Facebook & MySpace
Finally, 26% of search results are user generated content (Neilsen BuzzMetrics) which is commonly in the form of product reviews. Has your company stepped up its game with consumer product reviews? Do you have a strategy to get your product in the right hands that will contribute online? Contact a TDM Account Executive to learn more about a customized product review campaign.
Comments
eMarketer’s November 2008 “US Online Advertising Spending” report reinforces that Search Advertising will continue to lead online advertising spend and will retain the largest share of spend at least through 2013. Currently, search gets 45.3% of online advertising budgets with this number anticipated to reach 48.7% by 2010. The raw advertising dollars by format can be viewed below.
Looking closer at search advertising spend, it has been reported recently that 86% of that spend goes toward PPC with a paltry 14% going towards SEO. With the US economic condition and marketers trying to maximize ROI, expect the allocation of search budgets to start shifting (if they already are not) towards search engine optimization. To start, a great investment for search advertisers is in the form of a SEO Audit. These types of services can effectively identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats for websites and how they can address the most glaring issues with the SEO.
Those advertisers who can recognize and qualify the value of SEO and invest in this medium will see increased returns in the long term —- to better compliment and support PPC as wel as Display advertising, Video, and other Sponsorship channels.
Comments
