Archive for July 30, 2009

30 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo • small business

Your SEO Firm Is Your Partner


Many business / website owners seem to forget that the SEO firm they’ve hired or the SEO person that they’ve hired is actually a partner in their business.  If a business hires a secretary, they take the time to train that secretary to work within the company.  That secretary can talk negatively or positively about that company.  She is (as are all employees) essentially a partner in that company.

Everyone has a stake in making a business a success or a failure.  So why not ensure that anyone you use to work with you or for you is a success?

Your SEO webmaster need to know what is happening at the company.  Without this knowledge, that SEO webmaster is basically flying blind.  Here’s what I mean of some of the things that an SEO webmaster should be kept in the loop on…

1) Any specials, coupons, deals, etc. that are going on or will be going on.
2) Any upcoming changes to policies or procedures, especially if it applies to customers.
3) Any new contact information such as phones, emails, new employees, etc.
4) Results of promotional campaigns such as the winner of a contest.

The point is that when you, the business owner, gather your in house team, whether it be daily, weekly or monthly, you need to make sure that the information is also passed on to your SEO webmaster.  Of course, this is much easier if you have an in-house SEO webmaster but I’ve spoken with several companies who neglect to include even their in-house SEO experts.

Why?  – My theory is that businesses still have a difficult time understanding that their websites are really a part of their business.  They still think of websites as a brochure, something that’s out there advertising who they are but isn’t really a part of who they are.

I’ve been providing SEO services for small businesses for 10 years now and I can tell you without reservation or hesitation that companies who USE their websites as a part of their changing and growing business do much, much better on the Internet than those who don’t.  The reasons are…

1) The website continuously changes and gets updated and upgraded – just as the company grows, so does the website.  This is great not only for the search engines but for visitors as well.

2) As the company responds to the needs of their customers, the website will do the same.  If your customers are looking for more information on your product or service, you need to add that to your website.  Example: Let’s say you run a company that makes and sells Name Badges.  What if you had 50 calls last month all asking for Bugs Bunny name tags – if you didn’t sell Bugs Bunny name tags – after a few of those calls I’m positive that you would look into getting some to sell.  What business owner wouldn’t try to give his/her customers what they want?  Websites are the same!!

So, the next time you gather a meeting with your staff remember to either include your SEO webmaster and/or provide them with the minutes from the meeting!


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , ,
26 Jul 2009
small business

Working In The Clouds


Have you heard the phrase “cloud computing”?

Here’s a great video explaining what Cloud Computing is.

The concept is that instead of having programs on your hard drive, the programs are sitting on a computer somewhere else.  A good example is Google Docs.  Instead of using Microsoft Word or WordPerfect to write your letters, etc. you can use Google Docs.  The program Google Docs isn’t on your computer, you didn’t install it.  Instead, you just went to your Google Account and began using the program there.

The benefits of cloud computing are that your computer is not packed with programs that constantly need updating and upgrading.  Your computer just has to be connected to the Internet.  It’s the simplification of computers really.  Imagine, no more messing with programs that don’t work well with other programs or installations or register problems!  I would love that.

The downside is that you don’t have total control, in other words you have to trust that the company you’re using the program from will always have their computer up and running properly.  And of course you always need the Internet access in order to use the program.

But, what can you do on a cloud?  Here are some ideas and some programs that you can use.

Documentation / Spreadsheets
As mentioned above you can use programs like Google Docs and Zoho for cloud computer for documentation and spreadsheets, even presentations.

HTML / Website Page Editors
Mozilla has a program called Bespin which is essentially an html editor in the cloud.

Photo Albums
There are many photo albums on clouds these days.  Shutterfly, Snapfish, Photobucket, Flickr just to name a few.  I wonder if these photo album programs were the first cloud programs?

Email Programs
There are still some businesses that use programs like Outlook to manage their email.  I never really know why because the risk of viruses and infections to the computers are so high.  But, you CAN effectively move your business email (and all other email) to programs like Gmail which will manage your email as effectively if not moreso than the old programs that sit on your computer.

Healthcare Databases
Yes, even companies can put their valuable information out on clouds and not worry about their computers crashing and losing all that valuable data.  Sentryds provides healthcare providers with infrastructure in the clouds.

Education
Online universities have been getting bigger and better (I have a few friends getting their Bachelors and Masters degrees online) and it’s such a great solution.  They can still work and do the “school work” at the same time.  In today’s changing economy, for those who need to learn new skills for better job placement, this is a great alternative.

Business Management
There are so many programs out there on clouds now for businesses.  Everything from Quickbooks Online to Basecamp Project Manager and CRM programs to Skype (telephones on a cloud).

I know there are many more out there – if you’re using a cloud computing program – tell us about it.  We’d love to hear how you’re working in the clouds!


eckweb | No comments | Tags: ,
25 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo

The Hidden World of SEO


As I sit at my desk for an average of 12 hours a day – I have to wonder if my clients have any idea of what goes on behind the scenes for their seo services?  I imagine most of them think that there’s just a program that I log into, click a few buttons and “ta da” their website is optimized and on the first page of Google!

Yeah, right!

But it does bring up the matter that most SEO clients do not know what really goes on in the process of not only the initial optimization of the website but in the monthly ongoing process of SEO.  So, thought I’d shed some light on what it takes to keep up the monthly process for 1 website.

1) Keeping Up
Anyone who even reads a “little” bit about SEO knows that the industry is constantly changing.  There are always new tools and new information to keep up with.  This is just part of being in this industry.  If you don’t keep up, your website marketing suffers.

Average amount of time spent: 1 hour per day (yes, every day!)

2) Traffic Analysis
How are visitors moving through the website?  How many visitors are moving through?  Is it more or less than last month?  If it’s less, why?  If it’s more, why?  Where is the traffic coming from (geographically) and if it’s not coming from where you want it to come from, why not?  What keyword phrases are bringing in traffic and which ones aren’t?  What pages on the website are working and which ones aren’t?

Getting the answers to all these questions is step one, taking action on what needs fixing is step two.  Let’s see if we can break it down.

a) How are visitors moving through the website?
Find the pages that visitors are coming in on and see how they’re moving through the site.  If someone comes to the about us page, where do you want them to go?  Do you want them to go to the contact us page and fill out the form?  Are they doing that?  If not, maybe you need a larger button on the about us page, a larger call to action!

b) How many visitors are moving through?  Is it more or less than last month?  If it’s less, why?  If it’s more, why?

All businesses run in cycles, it’s not always prudent to look at the numbers monthly, sometimes you have to look at it yearly.  So, are the numbers higher or lower than last year?  Is the industry being affected by the general economy?  How do these numbers compare to the online competitors?  Maybe the numbers are lower because the website is targeting a more specific audience (thanks to keyword research).  Numbers of visitors only tells a small piece of the story, the real story is the conversion and sales.  This information is important to tailoring the success or failure of the website marketing campaign.

Average amount of time spent: 2 hours per month

c) Where is the traffic coming from (geographically) and if it’s not coming from where you want it to come from, why not?

A South Florida Family Law Attorney’s website wouldn’t benefit from traffic coming to the site from Colorado.  He also wouldn’t benefit from traffic coming to the site from Miami if he was located in Boca Raton.  If traffic wasn’t coming from the desired geographical location, then that means that more emphasis needs to be placed on the geographical location.  That means adding more information on the website about the geography, adding the website to more local directories and getting reviews from clients within those local areas.

Average amount of time spent: 1 hour per month

d) What keyword phrases are bringing in traffic and which ones aren’t?

Choosing the best keyword phrases for a website marketing campaign is not so easy.  It’s important to find the phrase that has the right combination of competition and popularity but also will bring in the sales.  That doesn’t happen and there is no “program” to show you which phrases to use.  So, it’s mostly trial and error.  When keyword phrases aren’t working, it’s time to switch them, modify them or re-optimize the website page to emphasis them more.

Average amount of time spent: 1 hour per month

e) What pages on the website are working and which ones aren’t?

If 70% of the incoming traffic to your website comes to your Services page, but only 20% of that traffic go on to other pages on your website, then something is wrong.  That means that the majority of people coming to that website page either aren’t finding what they’re looking for or they’re picking up the phone and calling you.  Which one is it?  If they’re not finding what they need then either the keyword phrase is incorrect, or the information on the page is not enough or something is wrong.  Competitor websites’ are analyzed, review of the page and of course, input from the website owner is always helpful in page analysis.  The actions required sometimes include adding pages to “beef up” a section or altering pages or even altering the architectural structure of the website itself.  (Yeah, I know, sounds fancy – basically I mean creating directories in the website and moving the pages into those directories).

Average amount of time spent: 2 hours per month

3) Submissions and Exposure

I’m always surprised at how many SEO firms still advertise that they will submit your website to the major search engines.  The truth is, no one ever has to submit their website to the major search engines.  But, you do have to submit your site to the smaller and more local directories and engines.  But which ones?

The answer is – to as many as are relevant.  I wouldn’t submit a Dentist’s website to a directory about Entertainers!  How can you find these directories and engines?  Two ways.

One – search for them on the Internet.  There are literally dozens and dozens of new engines and directories being introduced onto the Internet every day.

Two – look at a backlink check on your competitor’s websites – you’ll find lots in there.

Average amount of time spent: 2 hours per month

4) Link Exchanges, Press Releases and Article Marketing

The purpose of adding websites to search engines and directories (the small ones I mean) is for the purpose of getting anchor text rich incoming links.  The same holds true for link exchanges, press releases and article marketing.  It’s not a matter of getting thousands of incoming links to the website, the point is to get “relevant” + “anchor text rich” incoming links to the website.  And, just in case you didn’t know, you can’t just go out and buy 10,000 links to your website and call it a day.  The engines view this as spam.  You need to build it up little by little.

Yes, there are programs like Back Link Watch that we use to help us gather the sites we target for link exchanges and where to place press releases and articles but we still have to run the report and manually check each link on that report.  There is no program that just gives us a list of where to go and automatically notifies them.

Average amount of time spent: 2 hours per month (the reason this is so low is because the majority of clients don’t take advantage of press releases and article writing – mostly we just work on link exchanges for them)

5) Reporting

Once all this data is gathered and analyzed and acted on, the information has to be placed on reports for each client so they can see what’s been happening, what’s going on and how their website is doing.  These reports are how the SEO webmaster communicates with the clients.  It would be wonderful to get on the phone every day and talk to clients but the amount of time that would take is simply prohibitive.  I’m sure any business owner can understand that.

And no, there is no “program” that can be used to just generate this information.  (I wish!)

Average amount of time spent: 2 hours per month

So, without counting the “keeping up” time – that’s 12 hours per month on SEO services for 1 client!  Whew, I think I need to raise my prices!


eckweb | 3 comments | Tags: , , ,
23 Jul 2009
internet marketing • small business

Internet Therapy Needed For Some Clients


So, I was on the phone today with a great web site designer that I work with and she and I were discussing some of the issues our clients were bringing up (well, actually just 2 clients) but, you know what I mean.

Anyway, the issues with these 2 clients was that they were complaining that they weren’t being found in the rankings.  So, the discussions with the clients were basically that they weren’t being found for keyword phrases they weren’t marketing.

So, let me see if I understand this concept.  A website is marketing the phrase “name tags” (no, this isn’t one of these clients) and let’s say he calls me up and says I’m not being found for the phrase “business services”.  Well, I can see how the phrase “business services” would have something to do with “name tags” but where in the website are we talking about business services?  (this would be my question to the client).

I’ve said it a billion times, search engines are just machines.  All they can do is match up what you type in to what is written on a website page.  You know, I have this statement on my proposals and on my contracts with my clients.  I must repeat it several times throughout the year in my newsletter, on my blog, on tweets, in facebook, on linkedin, on phone conversations.

What else can I possibly do to emphasize this notion?  This must be what Obama feels like when people keep asking him for his birth certificate.  I mean, he’s shown it already, it’s been verified, seen, stamped, approved.  But yet, there are those who still think it hasn’t been revealed.  These people need therapy!

So, what do you think?  Should SEO firms create a department of Internet therapists (mostly for us I guess!) that can maybe help us to communicate with our clients?  Let me know your thoughts.


eckweb | No comments | Tags: ,
21 Jul 2009
home business • small business

Love The Internet – Hate Computers


I am an SEO webmaster and I run my own online business so as you can probably guess, I’m on the computer about 12 hours every day (yep, every day!).  My husband, friends and neighbors will attest to that!

So, when I say I Hate Computes – you know that I’m coming from a place of experience!  But, I truly do love the Internet!  But, how can one live without the other?  I haven’t figured that out yet.

I mean, even if you use a mobile device to get to the Internet you’re still using a computer of sorts.  Anything that holds programs (in my humble opinion) is a computer.

Why do I hate computers?  Programs don’t match other programs, programs need multiple updates, ongoing maintenance, wires, wires, wires!  It’s a constant update, update, update process and frankly, I’m pretty sick of it.  I do hope that Google’s OS (which is supposed to be launched in 2010) will help to alleviate some of these problems.  Wouldn’t that be amazing?

What are your thoughts?


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , , , ,
19 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo

SEO and Simple Living


It seems so many companies (and people) are talking about Simple Living these days.  There’s an Allstate commercial that talks about finding the pleasures in Jenga and Meatloaf these days, which I think sums up the sentiments of today’s economy.  And I can’t help but wonder if that will remain the sentiment for at least another decade – but that’s just my humble opinion.

Wikipedia’s article on simple living reports that…”According to Duane Elgin, “we can describe voluntary simplicity as a manner of living that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich, a way of being in which our most authentic and alive self is brought into direct and conscious contact with living.” “

What has this got to do with SEO?  Simply (no pun intended) put – SEO IS SIMPLE LIVING when it comes to marketing and advertising.

Since I’m in the SEO business I can’t help but see how the “simple living” mentality running across the country is impacting the SEO industry.  It seems as if lately I’ve been getting more and more calls from businesses looking for ways to reduce their advertising dollars.  I’m so amazed at the number of busineses that still rely on newspaper ads, car flyers, brochures and traditional network marketing for their advertising.  Considering that as of March 2009, the stats in North America (USA and Canada) were that over 337 million people use the Internet.  Worldwide, Internet usage is over 6 billion.

And considering the fact that websites (or blogs or other Internet media) can be changed in a matter of seconds or minutes – and at the fraction of the cost of traditional media – it just makes sense to market on the Internet.

And it follows the “simple living” credo.  Think about it – Search Engine Optimization is all about ranking and conversions.  The concept is to find out what the target audience is looking for and then give it to them via the website (or websites).  So, the business owner is actually interacting more with the target audience through his website than if he put up a billboard or slapped a flyer onto a windshield of a car.

The business owner is “listening” to what the audience wants and is immediately providing it.  How much more interactive and authentic can a business get?  SEO and simple living go hand in handand as the sentiment continues to grow and expand in this country (glad to see the country changing from a ME mentality to a WE mentality!) – I think that the industry of SEO will only grow with it!


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , ,
18 Jul 2009
internet marketing • small business • social media

Are You Twitter Phobic?


I’ve had multiple conversations with business owners lately about Twitter.  The general “gist” of the conversations usually revolve around them asking me what is Twitter and how can they use it?  I give them some ideas and I’m sad to say that I’m just not getting through.  Maybe I’m not explaining it well, I don’t know but I get responses like – “Oh, that’s not for me.” or “I don’t get it.” or “Sounds complicated.”

Twitter, complicated?  I don’t think so!

But, I know for myself and for the small business owners who are using it that it does work so I know that I’m not just making things up!  So, I think there’s some TwitterPhobia going around.  Basically, if you don’t know what it is, you decide it’s not for you.  Ignore it.

Well, if you find yourself to be somewhat Twitter Phobic, let me try to help.  I’ll give you some tips and ideas on why you should be using Twitter for your small business marketing campaigns.  Hopefully, I’ll get through to a few of you out there!

1) Many small businesses are local.  For your local customers who use (and love) Twitter, I highly recommend that you also use Twitter.  Introduce yourself, let these local folks know why you want to follow them.  For example, if you’re a local Greek Restaurant, you’ll want to introduce yourself by saying you’ve got a special offer for Twitter followers or local customers.  Let them know you’re looking to give them the best Greek Food in the area!

There are several directories that will hook you up with local Twitterers.

http://www.chirpcity.com
http://www.nearbytweets.com
http://www.tweepz.com

2) Twitter is not only for YOU sending out messages, you can also monitor to see and read what others are saying about your company.  What if you noticed that someone tweeted that they walked into your store the other day and no one helped them?  Wouldn’t you want to tweet back to work out the problem?  What if someone tweeted that your company gave great service, wouldn’t you want to tweet them and thank them?  What if no one is talking about you? – Doesn’t that tell you something?

3) “Listen in” – on your competitors.  What if the competition on the other side of town is Twittering?  Who’s following them?  Who are they following?  Find out what they’re talking about and put yourself in the conversation.  Showcase your expertise.

4) There are literally hundreds of new Twitter tools and more being introduced every single day, I mean every single day!  Check out Mashable.com and KillterStartUps.com – you’ll find so many Twitter tools, it’ll make your head spin.  Take some time out with your staff to review and discuss these tools.  Select the ones that will benefit your business and of course, keep checking daily for new and improved tools.  You’ll find that the information you can get from Tweets can be invaluable for your business and put you ahead of the pack.

5) Let others know you’re Tweeting.  Put a “follow me on twitter” logo on your website, on your blog, on your business card, on your storefront window, on your menus, on your brochures, everywhere!!

I hope these suggestions will help you overcome your Twitter Phobia!  Believe me, it’s a new way of communicating (well, not so new maybe – to me it’s very much like texting) but for businesses, it’s a new way.  And what is business all about if not “communicating” with your clients?  Don’t all business owners want to keep up that communication?  So, check it out and let me know how you do!


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
17 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo

Get Your Money’s Worth From SEO


SEO Services, like most other services, are a myriad of activities all put together to create a package.

SEO (Search engine optimization) services come in all shapes and sizes.  Let’s face it, no 2 SEO firms are the same, although there are certain similarities, no 2 will ever be exactly the same.  Just like no 2 divorce attorney firms are the same or no 2 accounting firms are the same, etc.

And just like any consumer, those who purchase SEO services do so with their pocketbooks in mind.  The package they purchase is only as big as their pocketbook will allow.  So, some companies can take much greater advantages of SEO than others.  So, how do you know what factors to choose?  Which ones to put aside?  Let’s go over some of them and I’ll see if I can help you.

I’ll rate each step – 1 being absolutely needed , 2 being you can get away without it (maybe)!

1) Cleanup of the coding – Rating 1

There are some amazing web designers out there, I mean the graphics and the layouts that they come up with are just WOW!  But, as an SEO webmaster, I have to admit, I’m absolutely in the Matrix.  I took that red pill a long time ago and the way that I see websites is very different from how web designers see websites.

I see the coding and I see the layout structure.  I see the gobbleygook that the search engines see and if that gobbleygook takes up so much space and time from the engines, it’s just a minus when it comes to SEO.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the beautiful designs, I really do.  But what is the point of a business website if it doesn’t bring in business?  I’ve seen some of the most beautiful websites bringing in 20-30 new visitors per month – that’s pitiful.  Why pay so much for such a gorgeous website if no one is going to see it?

Cleaning up the website coding is a very important part of the SEO process.  It basically lays out the foundation for how the website is seen and coded by the engines.

2) Keyword Research – Rating 2

I know what you’re thinking – why should I pay for someone to tell me what keyword phrases to use when I KNOW what my clients are typing in?  Well, I agree with you – to a point.  You MAY know (or think) what your clients are typing in to find your services/products but you don’t know ALL that they’re typing in.

Many business owners make the BIG mistake of keeping their websites small – specific – so specific that only a small group of their audience will find them.  For example, I was speaking with the owner of a small Greek restaurant from Ohio yesterday and we were talking about the catering section on his website.  He wants to increase the business for the catering but wanted to market the phrase “Greek Food” on those pages.  Although this is what he obviously will be catering, Gree Food, my point to him was it’s fine to market that phrase, but you also want to get a little more general.  You want to go after “Ohio Catering” and/or “Columbus Ohio Caterer” (phrases like that) because if a company is looking for a caterer and they weren’t thinking of “Greek Food” and they came across your website – after reviewing your site they may say to themselves, “Hey, I never thought of having a Greek caterer for the corporate event, let’s try that – it’s different.”  See my point?

How did I even know this was occuring?  Do I have a magic ball on my desk?  Yes, the magic ball is called “Keyword Research” – by looking at Twitter feeds, Keyword Research tools, Google Adwords tools and competition websites, I could see that phrases like “Columbus Ohio Caterer” were more popular than “Greek Food Caterer”.

Another point on Keyword Research.  Many attorney websites (as well as other professions) make the mistake of just talking about themselves on their sites.  WEBSITES ARE NOT BROCHURES.  I don’t mean to yell but really, I’ve been saying this for 10 years now, I’m tired!  Your audience is not just looking for “attorney in pompano beach” – they’re also looking for answers to questions.  They want to know INFORMATION – and guess what, if the viewer doesn’t find the information on your website, they’ll find it on someone else’s.

But what kind of information should you put on your website?  The keyword research can tell you.  Let’s say you’re a patent attorney, here are some “questions” that viewers are typing in…

“What is the duration of a patent?”
“Why are patent fees so expensive?”
“Why is patent protection important?”

Answer these questions on your website (or blog, or whatever) and you’ll get that traffic.  Answer more questions and you’ll get more traffic.  A side benefit is that if User X types in 3 questions into Google and your website keeps coming up with the answers to these questions, who do you think he’s going to call when he’s ready to buy?  Who would you call?  I’m just saying!

3) Page Optimization – Rating 1

Once the keywords are chosen, the next step is to actually place these words on the website pages and in the right spots (for both the search engines and the readers).

Without this step there really is no SEO – so, this factor is just as important as the code cleaning.

4) Monthly Marketing – Rating 2

Although I do admit that not every website requires monthly marketing (all depends on the products / services) if you want to get the most from all the money you spent on your SEO efforts, then you really do want the marketing.  Not for submissions to search engines and link exchanges, but for the traffic analysis, the competition analysis, the continuous keyword research and the research on new website widgets and gizmos for both engines and users.

Ongoing marketing efforts ensure that the website will always stay fresh and new.  Believe me when I tell you that I am on the Internet at least 8 hours a day (I mean ON the Internet – not just at the computer) so I visit ALOT of websites and many of them over and over again and it’s very rare that a week goes by that a website doesn’t change.  Something changes on the site, whether it’s the sale banner, an addition of a link to an article, something.  I emphasize to my clients all the time how important it is to make changes on the site and really, if websites with thousands of visitors per day take this advice, why don’t small business owners take this advice?  I’ll never know.

Yeah, I know, basically it boils down to that you need the basic SEO services entirely but hey, show me an advertising campaign that can reach so many people for so little money?  I dare ya!


eckweb | One comment | Tags: , , , , ,
15 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo • small business

Bing Tweets and Internet Marketing


So, today I read an article introducing BingTweets.com – it’s Bing.com’s beta version engine fusing Bing search and Twitter.  A great layout and I think it could be a great tool for anyone marketing their website on the Internet.  I wanted to find out if and how I could use it in my SEO services so I conducted a little experiment.  Here’s what I did and what I found.

Basically,  I went to bingtweets.com and typed in a keyword phrase (without the quotes) we’re marketing for a client.  I did this for several keyword phrases and here are my observations.

1) For the phrase “geriatric care manager” I got results on the left hand side from the bing search engine.  It looked fine but what I liked also was the Related Searches it gives me.  This is similar to Google, they do Related Searches on the bottom of the page.

The Tweet side on the left of the page showed me…

a) several companies that are basically marketing and/or talking about their services as “geriatric care managers”.  so this obviously tells me that people are out there talking about this service on Twitter.
b) I saw a phrase “long distance caregiving” which is not a phrase that is currently being marketed on the website but when I did keyword research on the phrase it seemed promising enough to use it.  This will be a great recommendation to add this to the website.

2) Using the phrase “employee recognition awards” I found sites on the right hand side to be relevant to the phrase but the Tweets section didn’t show me any information.  Hmm – this doesn’t seem to be a topic of interest in Twitter World.  So I shortened the phrase to “employee recognition” and got more Tweet results.

a) Seems several tweets were on “employee recognition ideas” – people looking for ideas on how to recognize employees’ efforts.
b) There were also tweets about certain people earning certain awards – interesting.
c) There were also tweets referring to articles about the concept and importance of employee recognition.  Hmm – this would be a great addition to the website for the client – a section with information on how and why employee recognition is so important.

3) For the phrase “denver limousine services” I got some great results on Bing but absolutely nothing on the Tweets section.  I shortened the phrase to “denver limousine” but still got nothing on Tweets.  Shortened it further to “limousines” and got alot of information from a Limo company in Ireland – well, guess they’re using Twitter for marketing!  But it does tell me atht the field is wide open for this website.

4) For the phrase “spiritual life coach” I got really good results on the right hand side (it does seem as if Bing is extremely relevant with their search results!).  Anyway, on the Tweets side I got several tweets from spiritual coaches giving tips or ideas for their readers.  I would imagine that for this particular industry Twitter is a great tool!  It’s so eash to keep in touch with so many people and to showcase your expertise!

Well, in summary Bing is giving me some great relevant results but in addition, as far as Internet marketing goes, I’m also getting ideas and information from other website owners who are using Twitter to their advantage.  All in all, a great deal!


eckweb | No comments | Tags: , , , ,
14 Jul 2009
internet marketing • seo • small business

Best Keyword Research Techniques For Small Businesses


You’ve probably heard it a billion times, keyword research is important to search engine marketing.  If you’re going to market your website on the Internet, you need to have the right keywords in the right places on the websites.

But, what if you’re marketing your own website?  What if you’re a small business owner who can’t afford the price of professional keyword research?  What if you can’t afford the hundreds of dollars it takes to purchase professional keyword research tools?

Well, there are ways that you can get those keywords and I’m here to give you the best keyword research techniques for small businesses marketing their own sites.

Here’s how you can do it.

1) Go to Google Insights For Search and change the Filter to read either Worldwide or your own country and for the past 12 months.

2) Type in a main keyword in the Search Terms box.

3) Scroll to the bottom right of the results screen to the column of Rising Searches.

Note:  If there aren’t any phrases or very few phrases in that column, you should then look for another keyword to use because this indicates the popularity (or lack of) for this keyword phrase.

4) Go to Google and type in the search box – allintitle: keyword phrase – the results of this search will tell you how many other websites are also marketing this keyword phrase.  If the number of search results is higher than 1500 – you’ll want to try and find another form of the phrase.  This will help to ensure that you’ll get your page in the first set of results from Google.

5) So, to find another form of the phrase go back to Google and type the keyword phrase in the search box.  You’ll notice near the top left that the search results have 2 options.  One is “Web” and the other is “Show Options”.  Click on Show Options and you’ll see more choices on your left hand side.  One of these choices is “Related Searches” – click on that.

6) You’ll then be given a variety of keyword phrases that are related to your original keyword phrase.  Conduct an allintitle search on each of the keyword phrases that you like and you’ll find a phrase with an allintitle less than 1500!

7) Well, you’ve now got your keyword phrase!

Let’s do an example…

Let’s say I’m a divorce attorney in Alabama and I’m looking to get more business from people looking for help with child support issues.

1) So, I go to Google Insights For Search and type in “child support” (without the quotes).

2) I change the area to United States and I also choose Alabama (because as a divorce attorney I can’t practice outside of Alabama so no need to get info from other states).  I also changed the filter to 12 months to get the latest information.

3) In the bottom right column of Rising Searches, I see that the phrase “child support payments” has increased by 120% in the last year.

4) So, I go to Google and type into the search box – allintitle: child support payments.  I see that the search results are 17,200.  That’s a bit high so I need to see if I can find an alternative phrase.

5) So, I go to Google and type into the search box – child support payments.  I then click on the “Show Options” link near the top left of the screen.  Then I look at the left navigation menu and I click on Related searches -  and what do I see on top?  Four columns of keyword phrases.  Hmm – let me see which ones apply.

6) The phrase – child support payment calculator – seems like it may work.  I then go back to Google and type in – allintitle: child support payment calculator and the number of results is now 99.  That’s much better!

Now I know that I should create a page on my website aimed at the phrase “child support payment calculator”.

Of course, one page won’t bring in millions to your website!  My recommendation to my clients is always to create a section.  So, you’ll want to create several pages all related to child support issues.

Knowing the keyword phrases to use is just the first step to creating optimized pages for your website but if you’re marketing your website pages you probably already know how to optimize your website pages (at least I hope you do).

So, I hope this keyword research technique will help you and your small business!


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