Category: Search Engine Optimization

SEO Success Through Market Segmentation

Leave a comment

Many consultants, trainers, and professional coaches come to search engine optimizing with overly grandiose expectations without the proper foundation.  When asked what their primary target keywords should be they’ll say something like, “sales training”.  While that’s a great keyword, it’s unlikely, at least in the short term, that the site will rank highly on that search phrase.  It would take a lot of time, effort, and probably money to be a top rank for something so general.  Rather than focus on a general term, break down key words in to segments that define your target audience.

The reason this strategy can be so effective is because it eliminates competition.  More accurately it narrows you down to you true competition so you can outperform their search rankings.  Here are a few examples of common segments.

Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Do you operate in a certain geographic area?  Then limit your terms to that locale.  Rather than a general search term, add the locations near you to the keyword targets.  Something like, “Pittsburgh Sales Training”.  This will ensure that you rank well for a more specific search and increases the likelihood that any leads generated from the term will be a viable prospect.

Service Specific Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Do you offer a specific service that’s a differentiator from other common services?  Try adding that to the search terms like, “Online sales training curriculum”.  Again this limits who will be targeting the keyword to ensure that you are ranking for terms ideally suited to your audience.

Affiliate Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Are you associated with a known quantity that could pull in interested parties?  Use the affiliation for specificity terms like, “CPE Certified Accounting Course”.  Searches for the affiliations invite the potential to be pulled in with top ranked offerings.

Segment For Your Target Market

Segmentation is really a process of identifying your target market and speaking to what makes you an ideal trainer, consultant, or professional coach to that group.

Search Engine Optimization , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are Your SEO Strategies Causing User Problems?

Leave a comment

There are a lot of ways of manipulating your webpage’s code to improve search engine ranks.  While we want to use all the tools in our arsenal, they shouldn’t be abused.  Make sure that your SEO tactics aren’t causing user experience problems.

If you have a web template specifically set up with SEO in mind then chances are this is a minor or non-existent issue.  But for many consultants, trainers, and professional coaches, their site was set up with a professional look but not necessarily with SEO elements in mind.

Here’s a common example, using h1 or h2 tags can increase the value a search engine places on the content.  Many sites are built with a WordPress, Drupal, or other CMS template that has a set definition to how h1 and h2 tags display.  In an effort to highlight an important keyword one of these tags might be used in the body of a paragraph or across a whole sentence.  That can make the page look bad and create user problems.  Imagine if I wanted to highlight a particular phrase in a sentence:

You perceive traditional marketing strategies as exploitative and even manipulative behavior. It goes against your grain to think of yourself in the role of stereotypical selling. Handle the Pressures of Business Development. Text text text.

Unless it’s a very specific design decision the sentence looks like an error.  Do that several times throughout a page and it will be darn right hard to read.

Make sure that your template is responsibly adding SEO elements.  If the template is not well suited to add these elements, find ways of formatting the page so that it’s easy to read and works well for search engines.  The page needs to be usable to a person because all the traffic in the world won’t produce an ounce of value if people struggle to take in your message.

Search Engine Optimization , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blog Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Considerations

One comment

One of the most powerful benefits for a blog is its SEO capabilities.  Every single post can provide content to the search engines on a topic catered to your product or service.  This is extremely valuable to trainers, consultants, and professional coaches because it provides a platform to illustrate their knowledge and how they help clients.  However, a plan needs put in place so that the right content is being fed to search engines.  Setting desirable keywords and page structure is critical to maximizing the SEO benefits.

Keywords are phrases that you’d want to rank highly on search engines for.  Make that list and have it handy.  The more you can work those phrases into your articles the better.  Using those keywords in titles or links can add an extra boost to the importance search engines place on it.

A word of warning not to get carried away.  Using the same phrase every other sentence is annoying to read and first and foremost we want to ensure that the posts are valuable to our readers.  Also don’t try to cover every topic all at once.  For instance, in my case, if I write a post about blogging, I shouldn’t be looking to sprinkle in a lot of email marketing keywords.  Mix in the appropriate phrases where it makes sense but don’t force it.

After a post is written with identified keywords, an often overlooked aspect of blogging is incorporating search engine optimization features.  Truly, there is no reason to skip it as there are plugins for blogging platforms that make it easier than ever.  For wordpress, I use All in One SEO Pack  but if you are less familiar with SEO, YOAST provides a visual dashboard to rank how well the page is set up and provides suggestions to improve.

Whatever plugin you use there are 4 major areas that should be filled in.

The first is a category.  These are your overarching topics for the blog.  Using categories serves as a general keyword and on most templates will function as a navigation link that readers can use to sort articles.   Assign a category to every post, nothing should be left on the default “undefined”.

The second is tags.  Every keyword or phrase that is in the article should be tagged in your blog.  This insures that the code includes those keywords directly to the search engine so that it’s sure to be incorporated into the listing.

The third is URL name.  It’s more advantageous to have the URL include the title and/or keywords rather than be a random string of numbers, which is usually the default setting.  Most plugins will do this automatically or let you define it manually.

The fourth is a title tag.  This is an unseen section of the site but very important for search engines.  Most plugins will use the title by default but can usually be modified.  The title is a good start but if you can work in a couple extra keywords here, so much the better.

SEO is often a part of blogging that trainers, consultant, and professional coaches struggle with but it doesn’t have to be daunting.  Once you set up the tools for SEO it’s just the follow up step to writing an article.  The advantage being that it will be visible to more people via search engine and drive targeted traffic to your site.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Site Conversion, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Online Marketing Success Takes Work and Diligence

Leave a comment

The myth of getting rich quick through the internet still seems to have a pulse. Many people looking to start an internet based venture still have delusions of a “set it and forget it” situation. If only it were so easy to promote your business and generate revenue online. Online marketing is a process, not a task. Overall the process does not have a completion date, rather it’s a system of maintenance and gradual improvement.

The set and forget mindset typically sounds like this, “I’ll build a website with a great tool, product, or service. Then I’ll do some initial promotions, SEO, ads, emails, social media etc. Then I’ll rake in the money.” There’s a lot wrong with this idea.

The first might be that your tool, product, or service is great. It’s extremely hard to offer something online that doesn’t exist in some form. Check your assumptions and make sure that you are filling a need by focusing on a certain niche, geography, or competency.

The second false assumption is that initial work is the completion of your online marketing. It’s almost always just the beginning. SEO’s a good example, if you set your sites parameters and then leave it alone, you won’t rank well for long, if at all. SEO only works well when it is actively managed and content is added or updated.

Generating money as a blogger (FYI this blog makes me exactly $0 in direct revenue) is a great example of people’s misconceptions. There’s a general belief that blogging is a no-sweat way to make money. The reality is it’s difficult to make significant direct revenue from a blog as generating an audience is challenging. The other misconception is how much work it takes to maintain a “career blog”. Professional bloggers work full time keeping their content updated, fresh, and audience appropriate.

Everyone likes the raking in cash part of the process. However, when starting, people need to be aware that internet marketing is not synonymous with turnkey business. You can make good money, but not without putting in the work. Most people that promote their business through the internet have to work at it to be successful. It’s rarely a situation where they take months off at a time and just check in to see how large their bank account has grown. If you’re going to be successful with your internet marketing, you need to understand that it’s going to take work and diligence.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Maintenance , , , ,

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, But Which Words are You Saying?

Leave a comment

Pictures (and multimedia) can be worth a thousand words.  Just make sure that the images used in your online marketing are the ones you want to say.

Years ago most images on a website (at least professional ones) were analyzed, if not labored over.  The reason was that every page counted and just the right image was necessary to make the most of the sites marketing potential.

With the explosion of social media and link farms there is a lot of new content hitting the web.  And as you’d expect when quantity spikes, quality often plummets.  Social media and content management tools have been great in opening the web up to anyone who can use the internet.  Unfortunately this lack of restraints can lead to too much content being produced in a low quality manner.

Of course for many applications a low quality doesn’t matter.  No one is going to criticize a poorly shot photograph from vacation that someone places on Facebook.  However, if you are representing a company or organization, that will reflect poorly.

For example, I get Tweets from a company that regularly posts poorly shot and often pointless photographs of events they hold.  The people in the photos are never identified and aren’t recognizable because these snapshots are usually taken too far away.  In short they are pointless.  The company would be better served in buying stock photos of groups of people looking at speakers.  At least the photos would be well composed.

Don’t get trapped in the quantity trap. Take the time to only create and release quality materials that are pertinent to your audience.  There is a lot of drive now to maximize the use of social media and build links.  Both of those are admirable goals but only if the content being created is up to par.  After all, dumping a lot of poor quality or pointless material onto the internet might generate a few clicks but your credibility will gradually erode.

Search Engine Optimization, Site Conversion, Social Media, Web Maintenance ,

Know Where Your Online Marketing Spikes Are Coming From

Leave a comment

In analyzing online marketing  results people make two broad-sweeping common mistakes

  • Blaming poor performance on outside factors
  • Take credit for positive performance without verifying the conclusion.

If only these assumptions were true in reality, we’d have nothing to worry about.  We’d cause only good and any negative outcomes couldn’t be helped.  Of course, that’s not true  and in analyzing you online marketing campaigns honesty is critical.

The more prevalent of the two mistakes is taking credit for spikes without doing any research to verify that an online marketing campaign deserves the credit.  This can be a costly error because it’s confirming false data.  If we believe something created a positive reaction but in reality it did not, we waste time recreating that situation even though it doesn’t provide proven results.

Here is an example I ran into recently.  In checking site analytics for a fairly new client of mine I discovered the site experienced a 400% increase in month-to-month traffic.  I instantly assumed that the search engines had indexed new keywords which were driving exponential growth.  I started preparing an analysis of what keywords were performing best so we could further refine the site’s SEO.

As I looked through the search keyword data the numbers weren’t adding up.  The site had much more direct traffic than in previous months.  Upon further investigation I saw that the search engines had not registered the new keywords we had worked on.

I informed the client of the spike but had no clear explanation of why the direct traffic would have shot up.  Fortunately the client did.  They do a yearly event which took place during the month in questions and the attendees for this event were the likely cause of direct traffic as they visited the site after the event.

As much as I’d have liked to take credit for the spike, it would have set our efforts back.  Analyzing the data and seeing that the spike was not a result of the SEO, means that we can’t bask in our genius.  Rather we need to monitor what actually happens when the search engines index the site and see how that effects search traffic so we can see real SEO improvement.

Always investigate any website or email metric spike.  While it’s nice to believe that our efforts were the catalyst, that always needs to be proven by the data.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Long Tail Optimization to Nowhere

One comment

Using long tail keywords has become a popular way of cutting out the competition and getting very specific keywords that bring in a targeted audience.  The guiding principle is the more specific the keywords, the less likely it is that other people are targeting the same group.

The SEO basics site has a nice overview of setting a long tail strategy but pay special attention to steps 1 and 2.

Long tail optimization is a great strategy but only when you do the research of steps 1 and 2.  Long Tail optimization without selective keyword filtering leads to 2 problems:

  1. No Audience – Blindly optimizing a site or PPC campaign for long tail keywords typically targets an abyss of phantom people site owners believe exist.  But they don’t.
  2. Too Much Information – Optimizing too long a tail can put such a restrictive criteria that it defeats the purpose of optimizing for it.  After all if it’s so restrictive that only a couple people would be included, optimizing likely is not the best means to engage them.

Don’t convince yourself you know what users want and skip the research.  Long tail optimization is popular because it allows very high rankings for specific keywords.  Just do your homework to make sure those keywords are worth the effort.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization , , , ,

A Marketable Website on a Budget

One comment

I recently read a very funny web post about web designers claiming to know SEO.  I think the points are fairly accurate and it’s an entertaining read.  However, several of the comments are a great summary of why small businesses have difficulty using the model that the blog advocates.  It’s typically not cost effective.

A single source for internet marketing is often critical to having an affordable internet marketing strategy for smaller businesses.  The other advantage that the comments did not cover is a single contact that understands the client’s business.  When a small business works with someone that has a diversified understanding of internet marketing (assuming they actually are knowledgeable), they can make educated suggestions on what makes sense for that business.  That consulting is worth a lot and since the person is already ingrained in the strategy, it’s not an extra cost.

The blog post does a great job of explaining the workload of different website responsibilities.  Speaking for our firm, we only create web designs by special request and don’t promote the service anymore because staying competent in email marketing, SEO, site and social media maintenance does not make it feasible.  Small businesses certainly need to do their homework before hiring anyone to work on their website, but most simply don’t have the resources or knowledge to coordinate multiple experts into creating a successful internet marketing strategy.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Professional Layout is Not Optional

Leave a comment

I recently had a client call me out on what they felt was a contradiction.  I harp on content being king.  For a successful site they need engaging content that people will want to consume and they need to present it in a way that is friendly for Search engines.

I must have over-harped because I suggest a redesign for a section of their site that was content rich and growing rapidly.  My client said, “But the content is great.  You always tell me to focus on the content.”  While I agree that content is most important, it can’t come at the expense of a professional layout.

Here’s why.  A poorly designed site degrades credibility.  Users have to have faith that the content is coming from a credible source.  If great content is displayed in an amateurish way, users will move on.

A professional layout is the ring to your content’s diamond.  It supports your content while displaying the information in a pleasing way that let’s users appreciate what you are offering.  A poor layout is like burying a diamond in mud.  It’s still a diamond but no one wants to undertake the work and the mess of uncovering it.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Site Conversion, Web Maintenance

Link Building – Effective but Not Necessarily Efficient

Leave a comment

A common piece of advice is to build links to other sites to place well in search engines.  While there’s no doubt that quality links to your site will improve your rankings, getting those links can take some significant effort.  Advanced sites looking for slight edges definitely need to build links, however, entry-level sites to SEO likely have more effective uses for their time.

Most site owners receive the automated emails asking for link exchanges.  As you might guess, these tactics are extremely ineffective.  The alternative is segmenting by market or competitors and making inroads into targeted sites.  While that is effective, it takes a lot of time.

There are some automated ways of generating links like directory submissions.  While these are typically not the most relevant sources they will influence your website ranking.

The best tactic for most sites without dedicated SEO resources is link building over time.  Make link building a part of your regular business activity.

  • Talk to current partners about linking to your site.
  • Make sure any chamber or association you belong to has a listing that links to your webpage.
  • Any content or articles created should include a by line link to your site.
  • Link any external listings to individual pages that pertain to the listings topic.

When link building is built into activities that you are already doing, it doesn’t take a lot of extra effort and builds extremely relevant and targeted linking.

Search Engine Optimization
1 2 3 4 5