Local search is a tricky beast to understand, let alone tame. This is evidenced by the fact that it is possible to achieve a number one ranking for a local search term without even owning a domain name for your store or office. While there are many ways to optimize your website that can help you improve your local search rankings, many of the factors that can help or hurt you lie in your local business listing.The local business listing, more often than not, is created by a representative of the company for whom the listing will appear. Local business listings can be tailored to a variety of industries, offerings and specific details such as acceptable forms of payment, hours of operation, and much more. The local business center can allow you to enter in your choice of phone number (local or toll free), coupon offerings, and website information (if applicable).Last month I talked about the emerging trend of using mobile technology to access local business results. I also offered up a few easy ways to optimize your website or local business listing for the local search engines. This time around, I will discuss a few things that your local business listing might be doing that could hinder your local search engine rankings.
1. Inaccurate Information - In some cases, a company will have a local business listing that they did not create. This occurs because different local search engines pull information from different sources. If a company has created a local business account, this will be the primary source of information. However, many local search engines pull information from review sites such as “Insider Pages” or “Yelp.” If the data contained in these reviews is inaccurate, (i.e. wrong phone number, address, etc.) it can create a conflict within the local search engines. If you see that your company has multiple business listings within a local search engine, there are options to verify your listing, if you hold a local business account. Unfortunately, the search engines view multiple listings as spam, so great care should be taken to make sure that all mentions of your business refer back to the local business listing that was created by you.
2. Lack of Reviews - The importance of reviews to your Local Search Rankings are very debatable. If they factored too high into the algorithm, competitors would write bad reviews for your company and owners/operators would write millions of great reviews on their own business. The review, in my opinion, exists to confirm the information about your business that has been submitted. The Local Search Engines use the information contained in your review to verify factors such as service offerings and location. The more reviews you have, the more refined your listing will become, making you more credible. The Local Search Engines base their success on providing credible search results.
3. Misleading Information - This can include a variety of different aspects such as having multiple businesses with the same phone number or multiple addresses for the same business. Many times, even if this is legitimate, the search engines will view them as spam. If you have multiple businesses across the city, they should each have a unique phone number, even if calls are all directed to the same location. If you have multiple locations across the same city, great care should be taken to ensure that each listing remains unique or else the search engines will eventually merge the listings into one location. This can be done by having unique reviews written about each location, and even opening up separate Local Business Accounts for each one, even if they are all managed by the same individual.
Often times, the optimization of a website or Local Business Listing can take a significant amount of tedious effort. This is essential to seeing an increase in rankings. If you are serious about optimizing your listing and ensuring that you are ranking as high as possible for your local services, you will take the time to ensure that your business listings are verified and that the reviews contain accurate information. By paying close attention to what could be hindering your listing from achieving first page rankings, you can make careful steps to avoid these pitfalls and you should see your listings improve.
For over 100 years, the common press release has been used by public relations companies and professionals to promote the companies they represent. The typical press release can focus on a new product announcement, the hiring or promotion of an influential executive or can be used to act as a “tarp” to cover the fall-out from bad press. Historically, the first press release ever, was submitted to help shield the Pennsylvania Railroad after a horrible accident. The release was delivered before the news media could react and create their own versions of what might have happened. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_release)
Using traditional methods of distribution, a press release’s target audience is the media itself - those influential writers and news media outlets that would be capable of turning a “nobody” into an overnight sensation. By targeting national newspapers, magazines and media outlets, a company or individual would have a much better chance of getting the story distributed the way they wanted to (versus the media’s interpretation).
Press releases are typically written by the company which the release is promoting (or who the story is about). A lot of critics have argued that this one-way point of view is misleading and contradictory to the types of honest stories that the media would report through research and interviews (Ya right, huh?).
Moving forward to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the Internet has played an ever increasing role in the purpose and method, with which press releases have been utilized. A new generation of “optimized press releases” has emerged, much of it due to the high-demand of SEO companies and fledgling online businesses looking for an edge.
Sample Press Release Summaries
Optimized Press Releases
So what exactly does an optimized press release look like? Before we jump to that, we must first define “optimization” for those not familiar with the art of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It’s basically building up a theme and authority for a given website, with the sole intention of improving that site’s search engine rankings (results from a search query). This is done using a variety of methods, including using the keywords on the website, building incoming links to the website and others.
An optimized press release takes the idea of SEO to another level. During a time when most webmasters focused on optimizing the content on their own site, the first originators of the optimized press release had one goal in mind - to increase the number of “one-way” links to the website of the release’s focus.
By optimizing a press release for the keywords and phrases that your website is targeting, and then submitting it for global online distribution, one can quickly build up the number of incoming links (backlinks) to their website. Of course, the more backlinks you have, the better you should rank for the keywords that you’ve targeted.
Backlinks from Press Releases
A lot of companies that submit press releases for online distribution fail to take advantage of the optimization opportunities that are available. I could show you hundreds of press releases that are submitted each day without any hint of optimization -How much money are they spending for virtually no benefits to their online business (& revenue)?
The key to optimizing press releases for distribution is the use of “anchor text links” within the body of the press release. Anchor text is the keyword or phrase that is linked to another page or website; anchor text is typically identified by the blue font and underline. It’s possible to submit press releases with your URL in them, but if you’re not using the anchor text, you’re wasting your money. By implementing the anchor text links, you’ll get a free link from every site that picks up your release.
Sample Press Release Distribution Stats
That begs the question; how does a press release get picked up online? The answer: RSS Feeds… These are the keys to distributing an optimized press release quickly and effectively online. You choose the optimized RSS feed categories and topics that your release is about, and once approved, your release gets distributed via RSS/XML to hundreds, sometimes thousands of other relevant websites who’ve chosen to display those category news items. Not only do you get the backlinks from the press release distributor, but you also get links from the sites that pick-up your release and distribute it on their website. In some industries, this could be thousands of websites - and it all happens very, very quickly.
Summary
Submitting optimized press releases is good for your SEO campaign and general search engine marketing strategy. Knowing what to submit, and how to submit it, is the key to your success.
For more information on how MorePro can help you achieve higher search engine rankings through press release distribution, please click here or call (866) 249-2432.
Web content. What is this “king” that search engines, web-savvy intellects and other industry gurus refer to? According to Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville in Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, content is broadly defined as the “stuff in your Web site” (second edition, page 219). While this may be a loose definition, web content can be further defined as the text, data, applications, images, video files, and audio – among other things – that make up your site. In other words, anything that is textual, visual or audible in nature can be deemed web content. While each of these should be focused on, as far as optimization goes, in order to improve a website’s results within the search engine rankings, textual content is the most viable for optimization – and a primary focus for most SEO departments in an online marketing company.
Yet, when referring to “Content is King”, “content” is implied as the written HTML text, or a derivative thereof, that is easily index-able by the search engines. So…how is this relevant to SEO? It’s relevant for a couple reasons. One being, that if a search engine can index the text available on a site quite easily, the search engines can then determine which categories, keywords, etc. that each page of a site is about.
Now, you may still inquire as to the relevancy that the content plays in optimizing for organic results…to which I continue to my second point. So, how is content useful in gaining rankings within the search engines? Easy. Since search engines use the information that they have indexed to “match up” with what a searcher seeks when querying for a certain phrase or topic, the pages of a website that have the most relevant content on that particular phrase or term (topic) will be those delivered to the searcher in the order of most related sites to least related. Therefore, the more a certain phrase is used within a page – or multiple pages – of a website, the more likely that those pages will appear in better positions of the Search Engine Results Page or SERP.
For example, I have a website that sells designer handbags. I carry some of the following designers: Prada, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. If I want to show up in the top spots for terms such as “Prada handbags”, “designer purses”, “Chanel hand bags”, etc., I better make sure that the content I place on my site includes these phrases. Keep in mind that I will also want the page of my site that features the latest Prada bags to include relevant and optimized Titles and Meta Tags featuring these keywords as well. I would not include terms that are irrelevant to the products I offer. Some examples of keywords that I would refrain from include: snowboard equipment, dog collars, picture frames. Why? Well…hopefully it’s obvious, but none of these terms have anything to do with my site or the products I offer because I only sell designer purses and handbags.
Once you understand the important role that content plays in the scheme of website optimization, you should better understand the need for your site to update its content or improve its relevancy. As one of the most important elements in reaching desirable rankings within the search engines, it is no wonder that content is king!
For further information on the do’s and don’ts of content strategy…stay tuned.
A lot of emphasis in the SEO world is focused on improving external linking or backlinks. Of course, since this is one of the most effective ways of improving search engine rankings, it is definitely an important aspect of search engine optimization.
While external links are often the focus, internal or “on-site” linking can be nearly just as important. The way links are set up on your own website can have both positive and negative effects on your search engine rankings. If you link to the wrong websites, you may be flagged or penalized. If you don’t optimize the links on your website with your important keywords, you’re certainly not getting the maximum rankings possible for your website.
Here’s what you can do to make sure you’re getting the most out of your website (in no particular order):
Use important keywords in your navigation and menu options. Without going overboard, try to use keywords that are popular and relevant to the page the link will be pointing to.
For any links you add that point to external websites, be sure to use the “nofollow” tag to ensure you’re not showing a “vote” for that website. Of course, there will be instances where you may want to maintain that vote, so don’t use the nofollow tag on those links. Nofollow tags can also be used to block the search engines from following pages* on your own site that are of little SEO value.
Within the body of your content, there may be opportunities to link to other pages on your website using relevant keywords as “anchor text”. If you choose to create links within your body content, be sure that you’re taking the site’s visitors into consideration - you wouldn’t want to add a link in a spot that may distract them from completing a goal (e-commerce sale, generating a lead, etc.).
If your images contain links to other important pages, be sure to use descriptive ALT tags that include the relevant keywords for the destination page.
*This is an advanced SEO technique and we do not suggest that you utilize this procedure on your website without consulting an SEO professional first.
The most important thing you need to understand is that your website is valuable and directly influences your company’s ability to rank well in the search engines. While we’ve included some basic linking recommendations here, it’s important that you research each method and determine if it’s something that’s right for your website. We suggest that you consult with an SEO company or consultant to ensure that you’re implementing these tactics correctly.
As promised Yahoo has now started changing it minimum bids on keywords within customers PPC accounts. They have said that the minimum bid changes were to improve the experience of their customers but in their explanation they compared it to an auction house setting minimum bids on items to insure that someone did not walk away with a valuable item at too low a price. With that example, it would appear to me that the main reason for the increase in minimum bids would be to increase the money that Yahoo makes from its advertising customers. From what I have seen most keywords remained the same and some increased a small amount (less than $0.10) per click and then some increased 2 to 4 times from the bids. These last increase have made some of the keywords simply too expensive except for the advertisers with the larger budgets.
Now for a break-down of how Yahoo determined the increases. They based the minimum keyword bid amount on a number of factors with the main 2 being Quality and Value. The Quality part is really the only part that you can do anything about. The quality is basically a measure of the relevance of the keyword to your ad and the landing page. Of course there are some other factors that go into this such as keyword history and click through rate but the part for you to concentrate on will be the overall relevance of the keyword to the Ad and the Landing page. The other main item that Yahoo is basing the increase on is the keyword value and basically this is determined by the popularity of the keyword and the amount advertisers are willing to bid on the term.
We will have to wait and see if Yahoo makes any adjustments to this new way of setting minimum bids but until then the best thing to do is to concentrate on making you ad groups as small and similar as possible so that you can insure that the keyword, ad and landing page are as relevant as possible to help you control the only part of the process that you can.
Every day, the number of consumers that use their cell phone for browsing the web grows by leaps and bounds. Research is showing that a growing amount of cell phone internet usage is dedicated to local search and is second only to searching for sports scores or sports news. While the technology is advancing, it is still, often times, impractical to browse the internet on your cell phone for any extended period of time. Pages take longer to load than on a laptop or desktop and as a result, cell phone users don’t dig as deep into search results as the casual user at home. What does all this mean for local search? It means that if your listing isn’t located on the first or second page, it might as well not exist to a mobile browser. To capture this growing market, you must work to improve your search engine ranking or risk losing thousands of dollars in potential revenue.
You might be asking yourself, “What can I do to optimize my website and increase traffic?” Search engine optimization is a big part of the equation. Just as you would optimize your website for regular search results, there are also website optimization practices that can help you improve your rankings in local search. Below are 3 questions you should ask yourself about your website and how it relates to your ranking in the local search engines.
1. How would a user get to my store? First and foremost, make sure that your store’s address clearly labeled on every page of your website to ensure that the local search engines index as many pages as possible. A good way to do this is to embed your address into your site’s header or footer. Also, including a “Map Page” or a page with driving directions will help the search engines accurately locate your business, increasing the chances of a top ranking in the search engines.
2. Would a user want to come to my store? Do not underestimate the power of a positive review, or even a review in general. Search engines like Google and Yahoo! have reputations on the line and they want the best possible matches at the top of their listings. If the local search engines see that customers are talking about your store in a positive way, they will be more likely to move your listing up to the top of the search results.
3. Do the Search Engines know that I exist? Make sure that you sign up for a Google business account or online yellow pages listings like Info USA or NavTeq, which is where Yahoo! gathers its information from. This is an excellent opportunity to basically knock on the door of the local search engines and say “Here I am!”
Answering these 3 questions and taking steps to optimize your website is the first step towards better local search engine rankings. There are also search engine optimization companies out there who can assist you with some of the finer points of website optimization. Do not take local search for granted, especially in this day and age with mobile browsing becoming increasingly popular.
While it might seem that the page Title Tags and Meta Tags aren’t very important, it’s quite the opposite. Most notably, the Title Tag is arguably the most influential on-site component of the search engine’s algorithms. If you want to rank for a keyword phrase, it should be in your Title Tag.
The Meta Tags are much less effective because of heavy spamming in the late 1990’s, but are still an important component that should not be overlooked.
Your rankings will not only be affected by doing your tags the right way, but doing them the wrong way could cause lead to problems that are easy to avoid.
So…what is a Title Tag?
A Title Tag is essentially one of the most important components to your site’s rankings other than the content itself (and of course the quality links that you’ve acquired as well).
If you want to achieve high search engine rankings, it is recommended that you fix your title tags to make them not only unique, but also to optimize them for the terms you wish to rank well for.
The Title Tag is what shows up at the top of a browser and what also appears within the results of the search engines - that notorious clickable link on the search engine results page - when listing the top ranked sites. With just the fix of your site’s Title Tags, you are sure to receive appreciable differences among your rankings.
Title Tags should contain keyword phrases that you wish to receive desirable rankings for. You can include, and it is recommended, that you include your company name within each Title Tag – preferably at the end of the Title Tag. You will receive better results if your targeted keyword phrase is placed toward the beginning of the Title Tag rather than leaving that open to insert your company name.
Most importantly, make sure that your Title Tags are relevant to the copy found on the page each Title Tag is intended for. You should not be writing a Title Tag about basketballs if the page you are writing it for only features baseball equipment. However, it is imperative that you refrain from copying a string of text found from the content of that page into the Title Tag. As mentioned above, each Title Tag should be of unique, well-optimized content.
The benefits of strategic linking to SEO are still alive and kicking. Though it’s not the only thing needed to make high rankings, in my experience it is the most effective way to gain authority. It’s amazing how much authority goes to a site with good quality links that point to it.
It’s important not to just take any link you can lasso in. The key is to get links from sites that have similar and supporting content. For example, a good reciprocal link for a food site, would be another site that is food related. The higher the page rank on their home page, the better for you.
You’ll also want to take advantage of your title and description. It’s important to do your research for terms that you want to show up for. When you find one you see as most appropriate, make sure you don’t already rank for it. Your goal is to rank high for a term you don’t already rank for. Your description should also be optimized and supportive towards your title.
If you want to take it a step further, find out what page you will be listed on on their site, and cater your title and description to the main theme of their site and page topic.
In a recent survey of our own SEO clients, MorePro has discovered that many business owners and marketing directors are not paying full attention to the ROI of their online spending. While Search Engine Optimization is online component of a company’s online marketing program, it’s one of the most critical to the bottom-line. Natural, organic traffic gets cheaper each time a new visitor comes to your site - PPC continues to be costly throughout your campaign, unless you simply turn it off.
Here are some interesting results from our survey:
Approximately 36% of the individuals we surveyed, said they look at their SEO ranking reports “infrequently” (less than once a month).
Ok, so we’re sending the SEO results to our clients so they can keep tabs on the program’s success… that’s good right? But 36% aren’t even looking at them - ouch!
33% of respondents said they’re “Not sure” what affect incoming links have on their SEO campaign.
25% said they’re not sure what affect Social Media Marketing has on their SEO campaign.
Almost 49% of respondents said they did not implement the SEO recommendations provided, or only installed some of them.
The last bullet item has always been a difficulty…
How do you convey the importance and urgency of SEO recommendations to a client? Besides using common SEO best-practices and providing resources confirming the recommendations are in fact legitimate, how do you ensure that the changes get made?
Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to enforce the completion of SEO changes due to numerous circumstances, including: additional unforseen costs, amount of effort to complete, adequate staffing or time, failure to believe recommendations are valid, site limitations (coding, structure, etc.) and many other excuses. For sites that have implemented the recommendations, we see great improvements - so why can’t everyone do it?
What we take from the results of this survey, is that most businesses don’t fully understand the following:
What SEO actually is and involves.
Common terminology & methods of SEO.
How to evaluate the success of an SEO campaign.
By sharing this information, our intention is not to point fingers at these businesses or to say their aren’t smart; we’re simply showing how companies interact with SEO firms, including ours. I’m sure this applies to other SEO companies as well - it’s just as important to teach & inform your clients about our industry, as it is to do the work itself.
We need to do a better job of teaching our clients about SEO best-practices and keeping them updated on the strategies & techniques that are required to continue improving their SEO rankings and traffic. Afterall, if the client doesn’t know what’s going on with their SEO campaign - how are they going to see the “value” in it?
It may not be something you think about when you’re reading one of your favorite blogs or RSS feeds, but each electronic media element that you see could be putting a number of individuals and/or companies at risk.
Not only is the creator of that electronic content at risk for lawsuits or other potential risks, so are the 3rd parties who are tied to that content, such as: ISP’s, Feed Aggregators, Websites, marketing companies, technology companies, etc. Even publishing a “negative” comment about a business or individual could land you in hot water if you’re tied to it and someone believes it is “defamatory”. Copyright and trademark infringement fall in the same boat… you publish it or host it (or contribute to it), you could be found liable.
Yes, there are risks online and in other media formats… but there’s hope.
This special coverage is available from Stuckey & Company (www.stuckey.com). Electronic Media Activities services are typically not described on professional liability insurance policies as a covered service. Stuckey’s policy gives coverage for electronic publishing, web casting, or other distribution of electronic content on the internet.
Whether you think you need this coverage or not, you might want to contact your insurance broker and find out. If they don’t provide it themselves, they can signup up w/ Stuckey & Company to get it. You also have the option of getting the coverage directly through www.stuckey.com or via one of their listed brokers.
