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Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization, Web-2.0, Web-Development-Strategy

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 2/01/2008 02:12:00 PM | 0 comments

Have you ever received an unsolicited email like this:

Dear Website Owner,

If I could get you five times the RELEVANT traffic at a substantially reduced cost would you be interested? <company name> can place your website on top of the Natural Listings on Google, Yahoo and MSN. ... We do not use "link farms" or "black hat" methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site. The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets. Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge.

If you're an owner of a business web site, chances are you've received quite a few. We get questions from clients about the validity of such companies on a pretty regular basis.

There are a lot of, maybe even most, SEO companies out there that are basically trying to work the system to create online spam. It might benefit you in the short run, but it breaks the whole legitimate ranking system and ultimately it can hurt a site more than it help. Just like how spam email marketing can produce some positive short-term results but in the end runs the name of the offending individual/business to the ground (or even to criminal court in some cases).

SEO is simply creating value and relevance for your target clients and making it easy for them to find you. This does include some legitimate professional service roles like getting your site listed in as many relevant directories, esp. local directories, as possible. However, what should make us leery of SEO firms is terminology like "proprietary closely held trade secrets"...big red flag, there is no secret to SEO, it's actually quite simple as described by Google.  The real problem, like with so many other things, is that real SEO (aka building value) takes a lot of time and hard work. The temptation is great to want to believe that there is a "get search optimized quick" solution out there thus the proliferation of the SEO scam artists.

I've blogged on this topic a number of times, the related posts are all on this SEO page.

Outside of the SEO involved in coding and developing a site (which actually is quite involved) we don't provide ongoing SEO services of the type this company is advertising...we do provide some services to build long term value like blog writing services though. If you need help, we refer out to a few real SEO (value building) and Pay Per Click services companies on a case-by-case basis...just let me know.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 9/12/2007 03:41:00 PM | 0 comments

I received a great question today from an ambitious company. They asked about trading links with other sites to increase their visibility in search engines. It's a question that's not too uncommon so I thought it worthwhile to share my response here.

While I don't know all the details of the link sharing that you have in mind, generally speaking, I strongly recommend not posting links to external sites unless it unambiguously provides value for your prospects and clients. The ultimate long term determination of your site's success, and coincidently search engine prominence, will be the consistent quality of the content and resources you serve up on your site—not how many links you have traded.

In theory, trading links with another site does little, nothing, or is actually detrimental to your search engine rankings. You usually gain search engine prominence (called Page Rank by Google) from getting links to your site and usually lose it when linking to another site. So if you trade links most of the page rank cancels itself out and not much is accomplished. I don't want to over dramatize this next point, but if you have your site linked from some sites it can be actually be detrimental:

"Google is known to actively penalize link farms and other schemes designed to artificially inflate Page Rank. How Google identifies link farms and other Page Rank manipulation tools are among Google's trade secrets." (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_ranking)

When sites advertise that they want to trade links a red flag immediately goes up in my mind that these sites might not be good company to keep from Google's perspective. But even if they are, by trading links there's not much to gain.

As a rule of thumb, the more links you can get pointing to your site the better, the fewer you can get leaving your site the better.

I'm going to stop myself here because I can go on an on. The basic principal to remember is, make your site for users, not for search engines. (This is a quote from Google)

Here are some good sites from Google with their guidelines.

• How can I create a Google-friendly site?
• Webmaster Guidelines

Also, I've written a number of other articles on this topic you might find helpful:

• 7 All Time Best Strategies to Increase Traffic

• SEO is free | Top 25 backlink sources

• SEO is free | The truth about Search Engine Optimization

If you have any questions about SEO, don't hesitate to give us a ring.

PS. I should mention that if you have resources available for developing your web presence and would like to increase awareness, one of the most effective strategies is to implement a blog and make the commitment to post new content on a regular basis that will add true value for your clients and prospects. When this happens, your site can become like a media station that broadcasts out into the Web rather than just a brochure waiting to be discovered. In my opinion, active blogs (they must be maintained!) with properly optimized RSS feeds, and which are listed in the prime blog directories, offer the most significant opportunity today for increasing awareness of your site on the Internet.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization, Web-Development-Strategy

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 5/16/2007 03:16:00 PM | 0 comments

With the number of questions I'm getting from clients about why we included Digg and Del.icio.us tags on their site, I'm starting to realize that I'm not doing a very good job of explaining why upfront. So, in an attempt to reverse this trend, here's a bit of an explanation.

Digg and deli.cio.us are two of the most popular services for social networking. As you may be aware, social networking is a huge phenomenon powered by the newest web technologies (aka Web 2.0). For more insight look up "Internet Social Networks" on Wikipedia, but the essence of social networking from a business perspective is that it provides an unique free opportunity for an organization to get their message heard and propagated.

Social networking is relatively new to mainstream but growing fast and many believe that it will play a key role in the future of the Web. In addition to providing a medium for referrals, it also provides a means by which your site can be more visible to the Internet as a whole through indexes and search engines. Sites with quality, well targeted and frequently updated content are good candidates for success using social networking. For example, Idaho Business Review recently deployed a Web 2.0 site on which they utilize social networking links prominently in each of their online articles (see an example) . There are a lot of dynamics to be in place before a site is going to grow exponentially from its inclusion in social networks, but it comes down to a principle that an old sales veteran once told me, "If it can't hurt, and might help, why not do it?" And of course, having Digg and Del.icio.us links make you look hip.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization, Web-2.0

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 2/23/2007 10:01:00 AM | 0 comments

As a former boss of mine used to say, "Having a great idea and not telling anyone is the same as not having any ideas."

Do you have a great site with a valuable message? That's a significant achievement but if you're a relatively new company you need to think back to high school physics and Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion, "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion." We've built the mass into our site to keep it going but the challenge for now is to take it from rest to motion. Our slingshot will be Google et. al. who, if we treat them right, can serve as our matchmaker to unite us with those people out there who need our solutions most.

Will work for backlinks

The good news is that Google and company claim to want the same thing...they want to serve up the most valuable sites to their users for any combination of keywords. The most important means by which Google and the other major search engines claim to decide which sites are truly the most valuable is by taking a vote from the Internet community. The votes they use are link backs from other sites.

So your mission is clear, submit your URL for consideration to as many other sites, indexes, and directories as possible. There are many options for where to submit, but some of the most important ones I've listed below. I recommend to our clients that they go through this list methodically to get the best exposure possible for nominal cost. Keep in mind the process and protocol for getting your URL listed at each one of these sources will vary...some are an automated submission and others will require you calling the organization to make a case for being listed, yet others may require you make a contribution of value to their community.

1. All the major search engines of course, you might consider using a service like Traffic Blazer from RisingLineWeb.com
2. dmoz.com (open directory project)
3. Superpages.com
4. Local business directories
5. Technorati.com
6. Public Library Sites (you'll need to make a convincing case as to why they should list your link)
7. MyPages.com
8. blogflux.com
9. blogtopsites.com
10. blogwise.com
11. iblogbusiness.com
12. Blogger.com (your profile)
13. goarticles.com
14. syndic8.com
15. blogdigger.com
16. weblogs.com
17. Press Release Sites e.g. prweb.com
18. Squidoo.com
19. Craigslist.org
20. Digg.com
21. del.icio.us
22. Furl
23. Shadows.com
24. MyWeb
25. StumbleUpon
26. blog-directory.org

The process of submitting to these potential partners can be time consuming. To keep from being overwhelmed, consider setting aside 15-30 minutes every week or two for backlink hunting. As always, I would be interested in your feedback or suggestions.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 2/16/2007 01:28:00 PM | 0 comments

I just read today that there are over 800 billion documents on the Internet. Now there was no documentation to this statement, definition of what an internet document is, and the number seems high to me given the Wikipedia stats for Google....who knows the real answer. Regardless of the exact number, no one is going to argue that there are a lot of pages on the Internet and a lot more being added, so many that the probability of any certain page being visited by an individual diminishes daily. This fact brings up a good question for each of us who are stakeholders in a website to ask ourselves—with all the choices out there why would anyone visit our site?

Well funny you should ask, because the answer to that question has occupied me for the last few posts on this blog:

• SEO is Free | The truth about Search Engine Optimization
• SEO is Free Part II
• Top 25 Backlink Sources

For my grand finale of SEO posts (is that applause that I hear?) I'm going to share some secret insight...well, it's not really secret but it's the type of insight that I'm always tempted not to share because I want to keep the real good stuff for myself. So, being in this altruistic moment, here are the top 7 strategies from the gurus on how to bring attention to your site. I've hand picked the single strategies that I thought were the absolute best, but each one of these links takes you to a whole article or site that is golden with advice.

1. This is the most important tip. Build your web site around a blog that you keep active and updated with relevant and valuable information. Why you might ask? Because such blogs get noticed much more than the same content updated on a static web site. See Why Blogs Rank High In Search Engines by Fredrik Wacka. This tip is really is a prerequisite for the rest.
2. Write about stuff that people (your target audience to be exact) will want to read and share. As I highlighted on my first SEO post, SEO is really all about maintaining quality content. See How to get traffic for your blog by Seth Godin
3. Establish your site as a trusted authority for your target audience. And market your content. See Search Engine Success Through Article Marketing at the flyte blog.
4. Understand the fundamentals of SEO and hone the technical details of your site to accommodate. See SEOmoz | Beginner's Guide to Search Engine Optimization by Rand Fishkin
5. Attract people who will link to your site and concentrate on creating interest. See Generating Buzz with Link Baiting and Viral Campaigns by David Wallace
6. Embrace the Social Media . . . create a site that is more relevant, more easily linked to, and openly shared within your social web communities. See 5 rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO) by Rohit Bhargava.
7. Make your web site a platform for launching viral marketing. What is viral marketing? It's any method that encourages others to pass on your marketing method to others. See The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

So there you go, you just read the document that turned the Internet count to 800 billion and one. It's not too late to start the transformation of your site from that old-school stale brochure to a vibrant broadcasting and interactive blog based site that will keep you site in the thin quality segment as the internet continues to explode. As always, I encourage you to comment or share other fundamental strategies that should be included in ones short list.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 9/21/2006 07:36:00 PM | 0 comments

Now that we've covered essential aspects of developing a web site or blog that will rank well in search engines, it's time to move on to some specific action items we can take to get us noticed. As a quick review, here's what we've covered in this previous string of posts:

• Focus on developing a site that offers consistent valuable content that is relevant for your target audience. >>See SEO is Free Part 1
• Make pages for users, not for search engines. >>See SEO is Free Part 2
• Learn from the Google Master. Google's Webmaster Help Center required reading:
  • How can I create a Google-friendly site?
  • Webmaster Guidelines

You've got a quality site, now deal with Newton

After meeting the quality prerequisite, we need to ethically get the word out to the world that we've got a great site. While maintaining a quality site will be the ultimate reason for long term SEO success, we still have to get the whole thing kick started. As a former boss of mine used to say, "Having a great idea and not telling anyone has the same result as having no ideas at all."

So what we're dealing with now is Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion, "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion." We've built the mass into our site to keep it going but the challenge for now is to take it from rest to motion. Our slingshot will be Google et. al. who, if we treat them right, can serve as our matchmaker to unite us with those people out there who need our solutions most.

Will work for backlinks

The good news is that Google and company claim to want the same thing...they want to serve up the most valuable sites to their users for any combination of keywords. The most important means by which Google and the other major search engines claim to decide which sites are truly the most valuable is by taking a vote from the Internet community. The votes they use are link backs from other sites.

So your mission is clear, submit your URL for consideration to as many other sites, indexes, and directories as possible. There are many options for where to submit, but some of the most important ones I've listed below. I recommend to our clients that they go through this list methodically to get the best exposure possible for nominal cost. Keep in mind the process and protocol for getting your URL listed at each one of these sources will vary...some are an automated submission and others will require you calling the organization to make a case for being listed, yet others may require you make a contribution of value to their community.

1. All the major search engines of course, you might consider using a service like Traffic Blazer from RisingLineWeb.com
2. dmoz.com (open directory project)
3. Superpages.com
4. Local business directories
5. Technorati.com
6. Public Library Sites (you'll need to make a convincing case as to why they should list your link)
7. MyPages.com
8. blogflux.com
9. blogtopsites.com
10. blogwise.com
11. iblogbusiness.com
12. Blogger.com (your profile)
13. goarticles.com
14. syndic8.com
15. blogdigger.com
16. weblogs.com
17. Press Release Sites e.g. prweb.com
18. Squidoo.com
19. Craigslist.org
20. Digg.com
21. del.icio.us
22. Furl
23. Shadows.com
24. MyWeb
25. StumbleUpon
26. blog-directory.org

The process of submitting to these potential partners can be time consuming. To keep from being overwhelmed, consider setting aside 15-30 minutes every week or two for backlink hunting. As always, I would be interested in your feedback or suggestions.

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 8/31/2006 07:15:00 PM | 0 comments

My introductory post on the truth about Search Engine Optimization was an indulgence in drama that hopefully got the point across that search engine optimization is not about beating the system just to show up in the top of someone's search list. The temptation to focus on the means instead of the end is always there and while it can yield some immediate, apparently beneficial gains, in the long run it depreciates the value a site offers to it target visitors. When developing and implementing an SEO strategy, do pay attention to the details but don't focus on them.  Remember that the ultimate determination of your site showing up on the short list of search engines is when it proves to the world that it offers consistent valuable content that is relevant to your target audience.

It's a lot like a sales person who doesn't pay attention to the details of how they dress when they call on customers...they put themselves at a disadvantage for sure, but if their technical knowledge, customer service, and closing ability are honed, they'll be successful anyway. Web sites are much the same. It helps to be dressed for the occasion of attracting attention, but you've got to have the goods to back it up.

It should be no surprise that some of the best council on search engine optimization comes from those who write the SEO rules, or a good portion of them at least—Google.  Google provides two pages of guidelines for building a web site that will best suited to be indexed and highly ranked.  If you've not visited these pages, they are a must for anyone who contributes to the management of a website:

• How can I create a Google-friendly site?
• Webmaster Guidelines

Out of all the content on these two pages, the most important is in this short sentence: "Make pages for users, not for search engines."

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 8/23/2006 06:37:00 PM | 0 comments

Labels: Search-Engine-Optimization

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 8/17/2006 06:45:00 PM | 0 comments