Google Personalizing & Going Real-Time is Good for SEO

I saw the writing on the wall in February 2007 when Google began personalizing search results based on a user's search history. But back then, a user had to log in to their Google account and opt in to enable Google to track their web history. Now personalized search is widespread, regardless of your log in status.  

Your search experience will be customized based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie on your browser. Clicking the link “View customizations” will let you see how Google customized your results.  A simple two-step process will allow you to turn off this feature. But let's be frank. Not many people knew how to log in or even disable the tracking of web history, so I doubt many users will bother disabling personalization. As a result, a lot of people in the SEO world are freaking out. Why? I'm not quite sure. Yes, users will see different results. Yes, it will have some impact on the way we go about optimizing web sites? But I see it as a chance to step up our optimization efforts as well as force us to innovate right along with Google. 

SEO is a nice mix of technical know-how, a bit of creativity and a lot of the unknown. Since creativity is what we control most then why not be compelled to write better Title and Meta tags in order to entice more clicks? Besides, optimizing a web site is about generating traffic and not so much about the rankings. Is it not? And speaking of traffic, let's not lose sight of analytics. Okay, if you do see a dramatic drop in traffic then have a contingency plan. Using a portion of the SEO budget for a pay per click campaign to make up for lost organic traffic sounds like a good contingency to me. 

Still not convinced? Well, how about that thing called social media? It is no coincidence that just a few days after announcing personalized search, Google introduced new features that will integrate real-time, relevant content and live updates right on the search results page from social media sites like Twitter and news and blog posts. See screen shot below. 

Yes, there are pros and cons to what people post on Twitter and how that might affect search results. But remember, we're in control of the creativity and what we write does influence what people click on. Therefore, if Google is going to rank "hot off the submit button" content then blogging, micro-blogging and pushing content seems like a great strategy as it will influence the end user, rankings and traffic. This new strategy will also force you to:

• Establish and maintain a social network “status”
• Increase the number of followers or fans
• Communicate with more frequency
• Create original content & update older posts
• Link to micro-blogging services (ex. TwitterFeed)
• Follow solid SEO best practices
• Encourage site visitors to react and share your content

Google slamming the worlds of SEO and social media together sounds good to me. As Google states, it will "bring us the freshest, most comprehensive and relevant search results over an ever expanding universe of content." Let's accept the change and move forward to the next big thing like Google Goggles, a visual search application that lets you search for objects using images rather than words, using your camera phone. Now that's something to focus on!

The In’s & Out’s of Local Search

More and more Americans are relying on the Internet for product/service searches. As a result of this drastic yearly growth I have always stressed the importance of search engine optimization as "the" most important online marketing strategy today. I now must admit that having a good local search listing might just trump SEO as an initial strategy, especially if you own a small, local business that needs a strong online presence for the product or service you offer.

Gone are the days of that 10-pound book often found stuffed into the closet (for you Generation Y readers, that would be the Yellow Pages). Today we are dealing with local search listings online. For example, if you typed in a certain query containing a geographic modifier then the search engine would display a number of local search results at the top of the listings alongside a map that shows the locations of local businesses as well as results from local search directory sites like Merchant Circle, City Search and others. Here's an example:



Why is local search so important?

Most searches today for information on local businesses occur online. If local businesses reported that ~ 75% of all their customers originated from within a 50-mile radius of their location, according to a 2003 survey conducted by the Kelsey Group, then that number must be higher today. Below are some other benefits.

• It's probably no secret that many customers prefer to deal with local businesses. Despite globalization, people seem to be more inclined to work with someone in their community or with an address in close proximity found through local search. Our business is proof of that. 

• Local search gives your business a golden opportunity of appearing on the first page of a search and above “organic” results. 

• People are getting better at search. Yes, most still tend to start with a general search query. Others are quickly realizing that by adding city names to their queries they will be able to locate the information they need quicker.

• Listing with the likes of Yellowpages.com or Superpages.com will get your data syndicated. This results in more of an online presence and more back links linking to your site.

How do I get listed on local search?

The entire process is fairly easy and straightforward assuming you are good at following the instructions.

First, create an account on the search engine of choice.

Second, enter in the appropriate, relevant information. Try to include photos and videos.

Third, claim your listing. Verifying your business listing is the final and the most important step. Search engines want to see that you’re physically located in the city you claim but each search engine has different requirements. Google and Bing require you to verify your business. Yahoo does not. If you are not sure you are listed or need additional assistance then I recommend using GetListed.org. This site will allow you to check your local listing status and will guide you through the process of claiming your listing on the various search engines.

What can I do to rank higher?

• Maximize your listing with photos and videos. Plain and simple. The more information, the better. 

• Include the location name in your listing title and/or description. 

• Categorize yourself properly by including your business in the appropriate, keyword-rich categories.

• Add the product or service keyword in the listing title.

• Make sure you get customer reviews. But make sure they are genuine. More good reviews will catapult you ahead of those who have no reviews. 

• Use your local business phone number. Search engines do not like toll-free 1-800 numbers. Remember, we're dealing with local listings.

If you still feel the need for more information on local search then check out this very good article on Local Search Ranking Factors.

What do I do to get started?

Click on any of the local search engines below!

Google | Yahoo | Bing | Local.com | Yelp |
Merchant Circle | Superpages.com | CitySquares

The only guarantee with SEO is there are no guarantees

SEO and guarantees. It's like running with cotton socks, mixing water and oil and drinking and driving. They do not belong together! I have a potential client who is gun shy about working with me because I will NOT guarantee top rankings in organic search. Just recently, I lost another client who was wooed away by a guarantee-driven SEO firm. This is the response I received:

"So (SEO company - I'll spare the name) agreed to work with us on a no results no fee basis. They have pretty much guaranteed me that by the 3rd week in October we will be listed among the top 10 spas in SF on the google search engine - if not nothing lost on our side.We don't have to sign a contract or anything unless we see the results."

My friends at SEOMoz wrote a great article titled "Why Reputable SEO Firms Don't Promise Guaranteed Search Engine Rankings". The article hit the bullseye and is well worth the read. However, there are three points worth reemphasizing.

1. We're dealing with technology folks! In particular algorithms that are constantly changing. The pure nature of the industry means that rankings are in a constant state of fluctuation. Besides, search results vary across different geographical regions and are moving toward more personalized results. So, guaranteeing a top ranking is like hitting a moving target traveling at the speed of light.

2. Rankings don't equal more traffic. Assuring the client the top position in the SERPs is completely useless unless the keyword drives traffic to your website and causes a conversion of some type. Yes, traffic should be the measure of success, not rankings.

3. “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” I did not say this, the search engine giant also known as Google clearly states this on their SEO guidelines page. If you're still not convinced then I have some swamp land in Florida I would like to sell you.

Ben Franklin was quoted as saying "but in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes." It's safe to say that even today that statement holds true even in the world of SEO.

Simple SEO Tips for Bloggers

A lot of my clients know that blogging about their products and services is an important part of marketing in today's social media crazed cyber world. Yet, they are not quite sure how it will help them with their search rankings. Regardless of what platform you use (Blogger, Drupal, WordPress, etc.) make sure you follow these best practices for blogging as they will assist with your SEO efforts.

* Identify a few targeted keywords that you want to be ranked and found by the search engines. These keywords will need to be the most common words used in your blog post and make sure they are in the title, URL, used in outbound links and are bolded.

*Change your permalink (i.e. permanent URL) structure to show the title of your blog post rather than the default URL (ex. "yourblog.com/?p=123"). This will make it easy for search engine spiders to find and crawl blog content.

* Write the title of your blog as a headline in order to grab the reader's attention but also include targeted keywords because your blog will get archived and your titles can become searchable.

* Categorize your content so it allows the aggregation of content according to themes, thus making it easier for search engines to understand your content and giving you a better chance of ranking well on particular topics.

* Keep the content fresh in order to keep the readers and search engines coming back. From a search engine perspective, if your blog is updated frequently, it will attract the attention of spiders and causes more crawling and faster indexing, thus allowing your new content to become searchable more quickly.

* Create internal links by deep linking anchor text to product and/or information pages on interior pages of the site.

* Encourage interaction through comments. This will help create a more active community, which will translate in more content, traffic and eventually higher rankings.

SEO Should Still be at the Top of the List

Businesses seem to spend a lot of time, resources, money and effort on designing and developing a website and fail to spend as much time on their online marketing initiatives. Driving traffic to a website is challenging enough, let alone retaining and converting visitors into buyers or subscribers. That's why deciding on a marketing channel is an important decision as any.

Deciding on where to spend the marketing dollars is not an easy choice. There's affiliate, blogging, display, email, mobile, pay per click, social media and search engine optimization (SEO), to name a few.

The type of business, industry, business model and, of course, budget have a lot say in this decision. However, one could argue that SEO would be a good channel to start with. Let's examine a few supporting points.

1. SEO is both art and science. Meaning, it allows us (the business owner) to examine our marketing message, keywords and competition. Other channels don't off an in depth look at these areas.

2. Search Engines is the starting point to the world’s information. Yes, social media is picking up steam in knowledge sharing but search engines provide a comfortable user experience coupled with high quality search results. Surveys show that ~ 65-70% of searchers are more likely to favor natural search listings when seeking information or purchasing a product or service.

3. There are a bevy of tools that support SEO efforts. For example, after launching a website, Google's Webmaster Tools is the logical next step and perfect complement to improving your site's visibility, identifying site errors and understanding keywords. There are also a number of page ranking, keyword density and competitor related reports available at no or little cost.

4. ROI for SEO can be in the thousands of percents. No joke. SEO can help you build traffic levels in a cost-effective way versus, say, pay per click or banner advertising where keyword bids or impressions may be costly over time. Besides, very few websites are in the business of driving traffic short term so if you take the long-term approach then your return on investment will eventually start to grow.

5. There's a lot of cross over into other channels. Working on SEO allows you to venture into the world of content writing, social bookmarking, directory submissions, article writing, blogging, press releases, forum posting and more. The end result of this overlap will drive incremental traffic and build up relevancy via external linking.

6. Numbers speak for themselves. According to IAB/PWC Internet Advertising Report, search represented 45% of the overall advertising revenue in 2008.

SEM Spending Habits in 2008

According to recent research conducted by Radar Research, $13.5 billion was spent on search marketing in 2008. Paid placement or sponsored search consumed 88% of the total search spend. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was a distant second with a very small percentage going to technology providers.

This is interesting data considering Internet users overwhelmingly prefer organic listings over sponsored search ads due the relevant nature of organic results.

Furthermore, SEO is cost-effective, works across multiple search engines and delivers longer-term results. In addition, an optimized site doesn’t drop in ranking when the advertiser's spending slows or stops, as paid search does.

If search marketing spending continues to increase in the coming years, as most sources predict it will, then one would have to bet that there will be a dramatic shift in SEM spending habits.

How Deep Linking Helps SEO

How deep are your links? That determines your website’s search engine ranking. Here’s a quick guided tour about Deep linking and back linking:

How to add back links: Email webmasters and ask them to place a link on their website, submit your site to directories, distribute free reprint articles, and post to relevant blogs.

What to watch out for: Do not have all the links point to your homepage, but draw down the links to your inner web pages.

What is deep linking: When a visitor finds content interesting in your inner web page and is more likely to copy and paste the actual webpage address into a blog. This is what is meant by deep linking or natural linking by the search engines.

The problem with creating deep links: Webmasters or directories normally allow a link to your homepage only, not a deep link, and even when you submit a deep link, they will not allow you to submit 10 deep links.

Useful Tips: Use free reprint articles as part of your link building campaign. Another way out is to take keywords in each page of the text on your website and make a hyperlink on that word or phrase to another page on your site. Spread links across all the pages of your domain, because users are likely to be turned off by a page that is almost all hyperlinks.

Why they are important: Because search engines like Google, Yahoo! And MSN have put the official seal on the importance of back links and deep links.