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July 12, 2010 by

SEM Help To Appear On Page One

If you need SEM help, which stands for “Search Engine Marketing”, then there are a few intelligent things you can do in the next 30 minutes before you hire anyone to do online marketing help for you.  It all depends on your goals, so take the next 30 minutes and ask yourself questions such as:

  • are you already appearing on page one of the search engine results for a high-traffic keyword?  If so, you simply may want to rank higher and/or get other web properties to appear on the first page as well
  • are you advertising on Pay-Per-Click (e.g. Google AdWords)?  If so, you may wish to get some SEM help in order to improve your ad’s position and/or increase click-through rates thereby lowering your overall per-click costs
  • you may want to appear on the “Universal Search” components which Google offers such as seeing a physical product (or book) you are selling appear as the image on the search engine results return page
  • are you looking to appear on the first page for real-time updates?  If so, there are ways to be found on the new “Updates” feature on the Google sidebar
  • do you have a local business?  If so, you probably want to get ranked first on the Maps as the map listings often help search engine users because of their visual appeal

Within this 30 minute window, then you want to detail out the resources you already have and what you still need to help facilitate your goals.  These could be:

  • outsourcing articles based around the high-demand keyword terms
  • creating a social media account and learning how to use it properly for updates
  • double-check the “Quality Score” of any Google AdWords advertising you are doing.  Do what you can to raise the Quality Score in order to ensure relevancy for the end visitors.  By increasing the Quality Score you are doing what you can to reduce the overall per-click cost for your ad
  • claim your Maps listing if you have not already done so
  • enhance your Maps listing with images, videos, coupons, and other helpful information
  • ask a small batch of happy customers to leave a review on your Maps listing(s)
  • map out the process of a quality, one-way link building campaign to improve your current search engine results page rankings

Hopefully this 30 minutes will be well-spent as most local business owners I have met have not yet asked themselves the important questions.  By doing so the owners and decision-makers will be able to get more for their money as they can ask for/request targeted SEM help to accomplish specific goals.

Filed Under: Page One, Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,
July 12, 2010 by

Plano SEO – Different Results For Same Search Term

One thing which anyone should know before attempting to improve a business listing for a Plano-related keyword phrase is to understand the risk of different search engine result page listings.  This may be a tough concept for even moderately-experienced Plano SEO experts to convey, but it is necessary.

Most people can understand that Google, Yahoo, MSN/Bing, and the other search engines will return different results because of their proprietary algorithms and formulas.  What is not so clear is the different results within the SAME search engine for the SAME keyword.  How is this possible?

A real life example is in order to help explain this.  I wanted to show this to a business client in Collin County, Texas (of which Plano is a large part); and I had him type in his business’ preferred keyword which we had identified as already having over 150 searches per month.  I called him at his office in North Plano and asked him where the web page indexed by Google was showing up on the page.  He was not logged into the search engine through any e-mail address or other service owned/operated by the search engine.  I then had him log in and re-enter the keyword phrase.

Different results!

I then had him log out and meet me at a coffee shop about 2 miles away from his office.  I explained that Plano SEO is a “moving target” and wanted to show him what I meant.  We logged onto the coffee shop’s wi-fi, but did not log into the account on the search engine.  Due to the different I.P. address and being on the wi-fi the results were, yet again, different than the other two times he attempted to enter the keyword.  All of this was within 30 minutes of my first calling him and having him enter the keyword into the search engine on his office computer.

To be fair, most of the top results were still on the first page.  The order, however, was quite different.  As far as I know, when he logged into the search engine’s account, he was not part of any social networking component of the search engine which may have affected his results.
The question, then, is how to achieve consistency in order to have the end consumer click on the link which – ultimately – will result in the visitor coming to your web page/property?  The best way is to continue to provide quality, authoritative, one-way links from good third-party websites, continue to provide useful keyword-rich content on your website, and to ensure that the web property to which you are sending the traffic is well-optimized for the keyword phrase(s) which have demand.  This should help you get good rankings within the same search engine as well as across the other major search engines.

The latter factor is the topic for a future post about any form of local search engine marketing, and we will use either a Dallas or Plano SEO example.

If you found this article to be useful then please consider sharing it with your friends by way of e-mail, social bookmarking sites, your social networks, or on any of the social news sites.

Filed Under: Page One Tagged With: , , , ,
July 8, 2010 by

Internet Marketing Tip – Why Continue To Build Links If You Are Number 1

Recently I was asked why a business owner should continue paying a SEO expert if the business’ site now ranks # 1 in all of the search engines for his preferred keyword term. This is a great question, and one which business owners should consider when investing in any form of internet marketing help.

I will approach this question in two ways. One will be a simplified “real world” example; and the other will be in the language of a business owner’s mentality.

The first is that you have remember that you “leap-frogged” someone else’s web page in order for you to rank for # 1. This means, by definition, that someone else can leap-frog you at some point (even the next day) AND the search engine always has the right to change its algorithm (and your ranking) at its sole discretion. You must continue to provide new content and links which lead the end customer – whom the search engines must protect – to content which is appropriate, authoritative, trustworthy, and relevant.

In other words, by becoming # 1 in the search engines for your desired keyword, you are now the “heavyweight champion” of your keyword. This also means that you must “train harder” to defend your “title.” Before you were # 1 in the search engine results, you – and everybody else for the keyword – was looking to take down the “champion.” Now that you are the champ, you must remember that everyone is out to take your coveted top spot!

The second is a reminder of the “big picture” regarding being ranked # 1 for your favorite term. Remember that being ranked #1 for your favorite term is a TEMPORARY reward for being the most authoritative, relevant, and trustworthy page in the estimation of the search engine’s CURRENT algorithm equation. This is vital!!

Let’s also assume that the business owner in this example carefully selected a keyword phrase which has a the underlying psychological indicator of a “buyer” or a sense of “urgency.” Let’s also assume that the keyword phrase has quantifiable demand by all of the major keyword research software (free or paid) that most SEO experts use.

Even though you may remain the # 1 listing for a lengthy period of time for the organic (natural, or non-Pay Per Click) listings on that keyword phrase, there are some significant factors to consider. You can lose your rankings because:

  • someone else becomes smart and out-optimizes and out-links you
  • someone else provides more authoritative and relevant content than you have
  • the search engines start to embed pay-per-click listings above the natural/organic results; and, to the average search engine user, they cannot discern if a link is a paid or regular link.  This means that your current # 1 ranking is now, in essence, # 4 or # 5 on the page
  • the search engine decides to place a visual representation, like a Maps display, above your # 1 rank
  • the quality of your links may not be 100% authoritative.  When the algorithm changes, the quality of your links may have a lesser score, and you could drop in the keyword results… even off the first page after having been # 1 for some time!

The list goes on and on;  and the main point is that once you become # 1 for a relevant, in-demand keyword term you MUST DO MORE THAN YOUR COMPETITION in order to “stay the champion.”  Whether you do SEO in-house, use software, or outsource it you must continue to cement your position as best as you can by providing quality, relevant, authoritative information to the end user as the search engine has one quest:  to keep the end user loyal to the search engine so that he/she has the best odds of clicking a link (or subscribing to a service) which puts money in the search engine’s accounts!

Remember that the main sites people use for search (Google, Yahoo, MSN/Bing) are all (or are a part of ) publicly-traded companies.  They are there to profit as much as you are.  If you want loyal customers AND gain market share in your niche, then those 3 want market share even more.  Keep this in mind!!

Should you need help with your search engine rankings, then be sure to contact me by the contact link at the top of the page or by e-mail at info@morethanseo.com

If you found this post to be helpful then please consider sharing it with your Twitter/Facebook/social bookmarking/social media and e-mail lists.  Many thanks!

Filed Under: Page One, Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
July 7, 2010 by

Dallas Event Online Marketing

When talking with business owners and decision makers after the completion of Chamber of Commerce meetings, networking groups, and other Dallas area networking events, I notice that many of these people express frustration with not being able to get the word out about their open-to-the-public events.  Whether it is an annual event at a retail store, a golf tournament, a charitable event, a workshop, a small conference, or any other event open to the public these business owners seem completely at a loss as to advertising their events outside of the newspaper.

The beauty of today’s technology is that these decision makers now can post their events on various internet sites which will give the event more exposure AND syndication to more people who may be qualified.  There are several categories of sites designed to help increase attendance at these local events which are open to the general public.  For example, if a Dallas-area retail store wanted to get more people to its annual fall sale then it could:

  • promote the event via free and paid press release distribution services
  • promote the event on the online event calendar sites, which send the upcoming events to people’s e-mail addresses who have subscribed to receive these notices
  • promote the event on local review sites
  • promote the event on local classified ad sites which allow for event listings
  • promote the event on Dallas-specific sites which syndicate the content such as the event calendar on Dallas.com
  • promote the event on the business’ specific social media properties like Facebook and Twitter

There is an art to this process, especially if you are looking to “tag” your content with keywords which get large amounts of demand.  Several Dallas-specific keyword phrases relating to activities, events, and entertainment get thousands of searches each month; and it would be helpful to put your content in front of those searchers as well.  You can do this by promoting the event and/or your profile page on event sites  by using these high-demand keywords.

Should you need help with any Dallas-Fort Worth online marketing for your event, or events in any other area in the U.S., then please contact me to discuss how I can help.

Filed Under: Event Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
July 6, 2010 by

How To Appear On Page One – It Is More Than Just SEO

I have met many business owners who express a desire to learn how to appear on page one of the search engines.  When I ask some more pointed questions, they usually stop and think for a while because the questions force them to evaluate their goals.

For example, I ask them if they have done advanced keyword research.  This would include category keywords, derivations of these terms, synonyms/prepositions/plural and other grammatical modifications, etc.  I then ask if they have done keyword research for buying phrases or other terms which indicate urgency or a need to purchase right away.

The business owners usually stop for a few moments and then ask more questions.  The business owners and company executives who are willing to be humbled early are the ones who are going to be successful.  By admitting that they are not on top of every keyword phrase alternative and derivation, these decision makers give themselves the chance to let the marketplace tell them what phrases people are entering as well as what sites are getting rewarded by the search engines currently.

In addition to getting the coveted # 1 spot for a buying keyword phrase on Google, there are many other places where a company can appear on page one of the search engines.  Using Google as the example, a company can:

  • get its content, posted on a third-party site like an article directory or Web 2.o site like Hubpages.com, ranked on the first page
  • appear on the Maps listings with the keywords emphasized
  • appear on the “updates” feature (currently found on the sidebar of a Google results page) which updates with content from sites like Twitter and Facebook
  • have a video, press release, or other social media content appear on the main results for the keyword
  • buy traffic through the AdWords pay-per-click service
  • have a physical product (or book) sold through a third-party site appear on the first page of results in Google

These are just some of the ways in which a business can get on page one without having to have his/her website rank for one of the top spots in the “organic” listings on the left-hand side.  Keep this in mind as you construct your content for the appropriate sites and/or as you optimize your own website or blog.

Should you need some help with making a worthwhile effort to appear on page one for terms which have demand (and indicate possible buyers) then you are welcome to contact me by clicking the contact link near the top of the page.

Filed Under: Page One Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 25, 2010 by

Internet Marketing Resources – Traffic Rankings And Demographics

If you are looking for free internet marketing resources which allow you to see estimated traffic rankings, demographics, and competition information then be sure to visit any of the following resources:

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June 22, 2010 by

Internet Marketing Resources – How To Choose The Best Ones For You

Many times I am asked by people how to choose the best internet marketing resources.  I always guide them to choose resources (usually training courses or marketing software) which is best for their specific situations.

If you choose the wrong training courses and/or software for your specific situation then you risk the following:

  • wasting your money
  • wasting your time
  • (even worse) letting the training course confuse you or take you down the wrong path
  • training you to do something detrimental to your business, even though the technique(s) recommended may be right for dozens of other businesses

I attempted to answer a question about the products and software marketed by internet marketing “gurus” on this question on LinkedIn:

Always remember to choose those training courses, internet marketing resources, software, and other internet marketing help which will either:

  • help you clarify or quantify which types of internet sites your ideal prospect trusts
  • help you play to your strengths once you define the philosophy and strategies

Should you need any help defining your online marketing philosophy and strategies then you are welcome to contact me.  You also can start your search for basic internet marketing resources by clicking the link.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: ,
June 21, 2010 by

Dallas Social Media – It Is More Than Facebook And Twitter

When many small business owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area think about social media, they automatically think about Facebook and Twitter.  I usually ask them why, apart from the popularity, they want to “stampede” into Twitter and Facebook if they are not using social media right now for their businesses.  Usually the responses are something like:

  • “Well everyone I know is telling me to get on this site.”
  • “The entire world is on those.  I should be able to get a piece of the pie, right?”
  • “My kids are all over these sites.”

Not that these are bad reasons, but social media requires so much more than just jumping on these sites!
There are many things to consider, especially the “BIG PICTURE” of actually using social media intelligently instead of it being simply a business fad.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Do I have the time to contribute value on a consistent basis to these sites?
  • Am I willing to interact with prospective customers/clients and “deal with people” (instead of looking at everything like a numbers game)?
  • Am I willing to hold back on “hard selling” on these types of sites?
  • What are my strengths when it comes to an online presence?
  • Am I willing to go the extra mile to earn trust in order to build my authority?
  • Am I willing to be 100% transparent in my actions?

Many business owners, when actually faced with these questions, cannot say “Yes” to these questions or define their strengths.  If that is your situation, especially the “time” question, then you may not be able to derive value from Facebook and Twitter.  There are “social media”, however, which are more set-and-forget and do not require as much consistent interaction.  These include:

  • adding helpful, “non-spammy” videos to video-sharing sites like YouTube
  • creating a podcast series or a weekly/monthly radio show on a site like BlogTalkRadio.com
  • writing helpful “how-to” articles and submitting them to sites like Ezinearticles.com
  • many others

Determine which of these options plays to your personal strengths.

There are a few more things to consider, especially if you prefer to pay for advertising.  You can use social media to reach your designated audience on a site like Facebook; but you have to know your numbers.  This means:

  • knowing the expected pre-tax profit you will receive over the average lifetime value of one new customer.  For example, a pizza place in Dallas may make $3 profit (average) per new customer.  If the average new customer makes 10 orders over his/her lifetime, then the pizza place expects a lifetime value pre-tax profit of roughly $30.  An attorney in Dallas, whose average new client uses his/her services 3 times at an average profit of $1000, will have a lifetime pre-tax profit of $3000 per new customer.  Make sure that you have a good estimate of your numbers, backed by real numbers
  • having a very good idea of the demographics of your ideal prospect.  For example, you may determine that your ideal prospect has a college degree earned in Texas, earns between $80,000 and $100,000 per year, has a certain political leaning, and has more than one child still in grade school.  You can then extrapolate that information to the fields which Facebook ads allow you choose.  Nonetheless, you also can advertise your videos on YouTube and you also can simply pay for advertising on regular (non-social media) websites if you know that your ideal customers spend time on those sites

Finally, you do not have to jump into Facebook and Twitter right away for two reasons:

  1. There may be too much “clutter” on Twitter and Facebook in your niche for you to establish yourself as a trusted authority.  Perhaps a second-tier social network (instead of Facebook) or a second-tier microblog (instead of Twitter) may have the audience you want to reach without having as much competition
  2. If you offer services in a specific geographic area then you may want to find social media sites which cater to your niche and/or the specific area.  For example, if I offered dog training services in Dallas then I could spend time finding an active Dallas-specific forum and/or a Texas-specific dog lovers social network.  This is hyper-targeted social media, and you should be able to do well if you play by the rules of the specific site where your audience is spending time

Again, there are several considerations to make regarding one’s social media presence.  Just remember that you do not have to rush right away into Facebook and Twitter.  If you do, then chances are that you will not see a ROI worth your time unless you simply are lucky.  By being artful and having a basic game plan you should begin to do well in social media.

If you need help determining your social media strategy, especially if you need help with Dallas social media, then please contact us for more information.

You are encouraged to share this post with those you think would enjoy it, and you are welcome to ask questions on this post or by e-mail at info@morethanseo.com

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June 18, 2010 by

Online Marketing At Offline Events

Many people who run local businesses, and do not have much sophistication in terms of internet marketing, tend to rely on what has worked in the past including what older family members have suggested.  This usually means that the local business owners go to live networking events to build their businesses.  Their justification is that it is difficult to beat a “face to face” way to build one’s business.

There are some drawbacks to this approach in today’s era of new technologies.  Primarily, a local business owner must DO MORE than simply attend the event today in order to grow his/her business.  After attending business networking events, chamber of commerce breakfasts, and other events where local business owners try to increase their businesses I have noticed a few areas in which they can improve.

In no particular order:

  • Many people need to work on their “calls to action” in their 30-second opportunities to promote their businesses
  • Some people need to overcome their fears of public speaking as they squander their promotion time by mumbling or otherwise being unconvincing
  • They publicly make inside jokes which are lost on 95% (or more!) of the audience
  • Basic business manners sometimes get violated at these events as well

These are the basic, everyday things which need improvement.  Should you be one of the people who need help in these areas then do yourself a favor and address them ASAP.  Improving them will help your reputation, confidence, and overall results virtually every time.

In addition, there are several things which can be done to incorporate online marketing into “offline” (real world) events:

  • In many Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, there is a sponsor who is given a certain amount of time to promote his/her business.  Rarely, if ever, are these talks recorded on video.  Even a basic “Flip” camera can suffice!  These talks should be recorded and then edited for possible distribution to the video-sharing sites like YouTube.  What you want to show on the video sharing sites is a quick example of “social proof” that you are the expert in your area (niche and/or geographical); and you want to show that others trust you and believe in your abilities.  This needs to be conveyed to the world at large, such as a popular video-sharing site, in order to convince others that you are an expert
  • Many people at various networking events have terrific brochures.  These brochures offer useful tips, some basic instructions, and other helpful information.  Yet these brochures are oftentimes NOWHERE to be found online!  You can add these brochures to document-sharing sites, converted into slide presentations and shared on slide show-sharing websites, and converted into articles and submitted to the article directory sites.  Each of these will be discussed in future blog posts
  • Often, business owners meet a “warm prospect” at a networking event.  Unfortunately, they miss a golden opportunity to further enhance the prospect’s likelihood of becoming a customer/client.  As a representative of your business, consider having a USB memory stick already pre-loaded with a podcast (MP3 file) and/or video with more detailed information about your business and the benefits you offer.  When the warm prospect is leaving the event, chances are that he/she has some piece of technology on the way to his/her next stop which allows your memory stick to be used.  An audio CD or a CD-ROM may suffice as well.  Yes, you will continue to hand out your business cards to the casual prospect; but the ones who express interest right there should be given something special.  Tell the person to play the file on the car/train/bus ride from leaving the event instead of listening to music or the news on the radio.  Also encourage the person to share the information with anyone else they know who is interested in what you have to offer

Hopefully these three suggestions will give you some ways in which to broaden your message long after the event is completed.  They, and similar ideas, will help you reach more people and leverage technology to assist you in prospecting even when you are not there in person.

Should you need help in any of these areas then feel free to contact me.

Filed Under: Tips
June 17, 2010 by

Free Event Listing Sites – Why They Are Important

Online free event listing sites are an overlooked and important tool for anyone involved with internet marketing.  Whether you work for a company which puts on a series of live events open to the public, you run a small business and have an annual event which you use to give your business exposure, or are a SEO consultant the event listing sites are helpful in a number of ways.

Before you going right into simply listing your event on one of these sites, there are some “big picture” things to consider:

  • In Google’s Keyword Tool, entertainment-based terms like “things to do” have HUGE amounts of demand.  Whether local residents use the search engines to find unique things to do, or tourists use the search engines to find things to do in the local area, there is demand in all types of local markets.  For example, the term “Dallas things to do” – according to Google – gets over 40,000 searches per month.  This represents nearly half a million searches per year!
  • Many people need to be broken out of their “hypnotic trances”, as they risk forgetting the event due to their everyday lives.  You need a way to reach them multiple times in order to increase the likelihood that they will attend

With that said, here are some of the benefits of the free event listing sites:

  • Many of the free event listing sites have several ways in which others can help you spread the word by allowing them to share your event on Twitter, Facebook, and their e-mail lists
  • Some of the sites allow you to create, and embed on any web property, a “countdown widget” in order to help generate the emotion of anticipation
  • Should you have recurring events, such as a weekly event, then some of the sites will allow you to create repeat listings
  • You can promote the event listing like you would promote a normal web page (e.g. social bookmarking and pinging)
  • In most cases you will have a profile page which lists your upcoming events.  You can drive traffic from third-party sites and leverage the search engine ranking power of the site to help your profile page for SEO purposes

Hopefully you will accept the value of what the free event listing sites can offer you and any organization which you are helping.  If you need help with these sites, or want advanced techniques to give your events more exposure to those who are inclined to attend, then feel free to contact us for assistance.

Filed Under: Tips
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