If you haven’t yet heard what the latest Google changes are, let me give you a brief synopsis…

Google announced and began implementing several new factors in their list of ranking factors…

1) Real Time Search
2) Personalized Search Results
3) Page Speed
4) Easier search on mobile units

So, what do these mean?

1) Real Time Search
Basically, when you do a search on Google you will be given results from within Social Media programs such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. along with the other search engine results.  Here’s an article from WebProNews that explains the entire process in detail but know this, there is no doubt that from now on, your exposure in social media programs will impact your website.  This “change” by Google ensures the future of social media.  What you say and do, and what is said about you in social media circles can and will become a line in the search result pages.  So, if you haven’t yet begun the process of joining and participating in social media, the time has come to jump in.

2) Personalized Search Results

It used to be that if you had a Google account and you were signed in to your Google account and you used Google to search for something, your search results would be skewed to your history.  In other words, if your Google history showed that you shopped often at Sears online, then when you made a search for an item, you would be shown results from Sears because to Google, you like Sears so they’re trying to give you what you like.  Google calls this “Personalized Search”.

You could, of course, log out of your Google account and your search results would be different because Google had no history to tap into.  But those days are now gone.  Personalized search is now ALL THE TIME and FOR EVERYONE using Google.  So, no matter if you have a Google account or not, if you’re signed in or not, you will have a Google history and they will tap into that history everytime you do a search on Google.

This is a great feature for Internet users, it makes the entire search process faster, easier and more relevant.  But for website owners and marketers, it changes the game completely.  It means that we can’t rely on website rankings anymore for traffic.  Because, truthfully, rankings aren’t going to matter much.  After all, 10 people in the same city doing the same exact search can potentially get 10 different search results depending on their zip code and their search history.  So, what good is it to be #1 on Sally’s computer and #8 on Mike’s computer?

The game now changes from rankings to traffic.  The goal now, for every website owner and Internet marketer is to increase the amount of traffic.  Rankings still play a part of course, but we can’t rely on those rankings as much as we used to.

Here’s an article with some more information about Google Personalized Search.

3) Page Speed

Web Designers, this is for you!  If you’ve been resisting the use of CSS and other code enhancements to create websites, you’re in for a large learning curve.  Google is now using the load time of a website page as part of it’s ranking algorithm.  So, if your website page takes 5 seconds to load onto a browser and your competitor takes 2 seconds to load, well, your competitor will get some extra ranking points for that.

Of course, this is just one of over 100 ranking factors that Google uses to rank websites but it is a new factor.  It’s important enough for Google to add to their Webmaster tools which in turn, tells us that they are looking at it right now!  So, get your websites loading faster!

4) Easier search on mobile units

I said it at the beginning of 2009, that this would be the year that Mobile Internet would hit big in the US and it has proven to be true.  2010 will only be bigger and it will just continue to grow.  The impact has been acknowledged by Google as they are now providing some easier ways to search on mobile units.

They already have search by voice, search by location and now they’ve introduced search by images.  Basically, you take a photo of the item that you’re interested in and Google will “attempt to locate it and give you information…” about it.  They’re calling ig Google Goggles.  How this will pan out, I have no idea but it’s an extremely interesting concept!

All in all, Google has launched 38 different new ways to search in the last 70 days.  There’s no doubt that the “big brother” theme comes to mind but for now, as an Internet marketer, I have to change my game plan.  We all do.  Anyone associated with SEO and Internet marketing has to re-structure how they manage their website marketing campaigns if they want to work with Google and gain the benefits of that search engine.  After all, it’s being used by 74% of the planet!

If you haven’t yet heard from your SEO firm about these changes, shoot them an email.  Don’t call, they’re probably working 22 hours a day just trying to keep up!

Tags: google, internet marketing, search engine optimization, search results, seo, serps, small business seo

So very often I hear comments like, “But my business is local, why should I market on the Internet?”

These comments obviously come from someone who still hasn’t figured out how to use the Internet.  What I mean is there still are people out there who don’t use the Internet daily.  Yep, it’s true.  If these folks need to find the phone number for that pizza place around the corner that they can’t remember the name of, they go to the yellow pages or call their neighbor or rummage through the drawer full of menus from local restaurants.

But if they used the Internet regularly, they would know that they could just go to Google Maps, type in their address and then search for Pizza and Ta-Da!!!  There it is.  Phone number and more.  (So, now you know what i mean).

Anyway, local listings are becoming more and more important because of the increased use and availability of mobile phones and GPS units.  If your business is not listed in local Internet directories, it won’t be found by those folks who are looking for a nearby store or service.  Is it as costly as it was to get into the Yellow Pages (you know, the print kind)?  Absolutely NO WAY!!  So, what’s keeping you from going local?

But, here’s the tip.  When you do optimize your website for a local search engine you need to let the engine know that you are local.  So, make sure to place your phone number with area code on every page.  Make sure to include your address on every page.  And make sure to focus some website pages on geo locations such as city, county, etc.

Here are some examples:

Pompano Beach Personal Injury Attorney
Miami Dentist
Pembroke Pines Dentist
Atlanta Psychiatrist

Get the picture?  It’s important to be where your clients are.  The same is true on the Internet.  Location, Location, Location!

Tags: internet marketing, local marketing, search engine optimization, seo

So, I’m reading this new book I just received, The Art of SEO and right at the beginning it’s got a very nice layout of how search engine users (our customers / your customers) think.  So, it gave me the idea for this article.  You can say this article was inspired by the book.

When you, or I or anyone goes to the Internet, the intentions that we have are different, depending on multiple factors.  The factors involved are varied depending on the overall intention of the search.

Hmm – you’re probably wondering “What the heck is she saying?”  Well, let’s see if I can explain.

Let’s say Sally intends to purchase new window treatments for her kitchen.

That would be the overall intention – the goal.

Her first set of queries into a search engine would be something like…

“kitchen window curtains”
“window treatments for kitchens”
“which curtains are best for kitchens”

These keyword phrases make up the first set of queries which can also be called “Informational Queries”.

In other words, Sally is looking for information as she begins her quest for new window treatments for her kitchen.  Once she has some information she may decide that she doesn’t want curtains, instead, from what she’s read in her search, she would prefer blinds so her next set of queries become more focused…

“window blinds 52 inches”
“wooden window blinds”
“bamboo window blinds”

This second set of queries can be called “Shopping Queries”

In other words, Sally is now beginning the shopping phase to complete her main intent of obtaining new window treatments for her kitchen.  The keyword phrases used during the shopping phase are more specific to size, colour, style, etc.  This second stage gives Sally enough information that she is now deciding between wooden blinds and vinyl blinds for her window.

This takes Sally to the third set of queries which can be called “Decision Queries”.

The keyword phrases used in this third set are meant to help the search engine user make an decision as to either which product to purchase and/or from where to purchase it.  The decision of which type of window blind to get would be different for each user.  Some users value the quality of the product, others require a quick shipping time, others need a low price.  Let’s say Sally needs these blinds on her windows in 2 days – after all, she’s having that big dinner party and she wants the kitchen windows to be dressed up.

So, Sally’s next set of search engine keyword phrases (in this decision phase) could look something like this…

“wooden window blinds” + “overnight shipping”
“vinyl window blinds” + “overnight shipping”

Her results narrow the search down to 3 vendors who carry the products she wants and provide overnight shipping.

The fourth and final set of queries can be called “Transactional Queries”.

This is where an action takes place.  Either the items are purchased, or a form is filled out requesting more information, a call is made, a map is printed, etc.  The search engine user takes an action as a result of finding the website page.

Which website would Sally choose?  Well, she does like to think of herself as frugal so price will be her next set of values.  As she reviews the 3 websites that she’s found she compares the prices of each one and their shipping fees.  Since all three carry the same products and can ship them within the same time frame, the only variable will be the price.

Sally makes her choice, completes the form and purchases the blinds.

One factor Sally may have noticed as she went through this process is that some websites (or maybe just one) kept coming up for each set of queries that she made.

When she made her “Informational Queries” she saw the website “ABCWindowTreatments.com” (I made that up) and noticed that they had a questionnaire created by a window designer to help her decide what type of window treatments work in different areas.

When she made her “Shopping Queries” she noticed the same website came up with easy to read lists of styles and colours and sizes and even some charts on how to measure a window for window treatment.  That was helpful.

When she made her “Decision Queries”, again she saw the same website come up with the overnight shipping that she required.

So, when she made her “Transactional Queries” and based it on price, guess what, she didn’t choose the cheapest priced website, why?  Because the website that she kept seeing over and over again earned her trust.  She felt comfortable with them after having seen them every time she made a query.

So, how many of your customers are like Sally?  Does your website attend to each one of their query stages?  If not, why not?

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, search engine users, seo, website marketing

Can you guess?

Could it be on page optimization?

Or perhaps researching the keywords?

Or maybe it’s restructuring the architecture of the website?

Wrong!

The biggest obstacle in the SEO (search engine optimization) process is the website owner. Yep, you heard me right.  For the most part, website owners will argue with their SEO firm every step of the way!

Why?  It may just be mis-understanding by the client on the SEO process (maybe poor education by the SEO firm) – it may be that the client considers his/her website their “baby” and therefore, all hands off!  But mostly I think it’s just ignorance of the SEO process.  And that goes for both site owners and SEO firms.  Many firms promise the moon, the sun and more but they rarely go into detail on what exactly needs to be done to get the moon and the sun!

As an SEO webmaster who has been in practice for 10 years I can give you some of those details.  If you’re a website owner working with or looking to work with an SEO firm, you should know the implications before you sign on the dotted line.

1) Your website will be changed – know that from the beginning.  If you’re not comfortable with changes to your website, consider having an alternate website marketed but be aware that it’s the alternate that will be found on the search engines.

2) Your website will require continuous change. Yes, it’s true, you can’t just create a website and then let it bring in business for you.  Are your competitors doing that?  Maybe so.  Maybe you and one other company are the only two selling a particular product.  And that product happens to be in demand.  If that is the case, then yes, you can get away with not changing your website.  Because truthfully, the niche and demand are so specific, the search engines will HAVE to find both your websites.

But this isn’t normally the case.  A Pompano Beach personal injury attorney won’t be the only PI attorney in Pompano Beach!  So, his/her website will have to compete with the other personal injury attorneys in the area.

Here’s a little secret - if you want to see how often your online competitors change their website, put their domain on Code Monitor.  It’ll give you an idea of how often they make a change either on their site or blog, etc.

3) Your website needs to grow. Yeah, I know.  You’re thinking “Well, of course you’re going to tell me it needs to grow!  That way the seo firm or the web designer keep getting a steady income from me for new pages!  Ha!  I’m smarter than that!” – Sorry to tell you, NO, that’s not the reason.  Believe me, any web designer and any SEO firm (who are worth their salt) are busy enough!  Just ask my clients!  They’ll tell you how often they get emails from me at 1:30 AM (or later!).

But, here is the TRUE reason as to why you need to keep adding to your website.

a) Your website is your online office/retail space.  So that means that if your client base searches for a service or product that you sell, you need to have that on your website.  That means every single service or product that you sell must be on your website.  Most businesses change their list of services, products throughout the year.  Those changes need to be reflected on your website.

b) Your client base are also searching for answers to their questions that have to do with your product or service.  It doesn’t matter if you sell divorce services, name tags, maps to movie star homes or whatever.  There are questions out there that you can answer and why should your target audience find those answers somewhere else?  They shouldn’t.  They should find them on your website.

Are you going to have all the answers to all the questions on your website when it first launches?  I doubt it.  But you can continuously add to your website.  After all, you may not be able to afford a 500 page website at first, but you could certainly build up to that a little at a time.

c) Every business has seasons.  If you’re smart, you’ll know what your audience is looking for at each season of the year and you’ll alter your website to accommodate them.

Another Secret: most business websites receive the majority of traffic on Wednesday.  If this is the case with your website, then make sure that every Tuesday night, your web designer puts up a special page or sets of pages just for Wednesday!  Take advantage of the extra foot traffic to your website.

So, don’t be an obstacle to your own SEO campaign.  There is no benefit to the SEO firm if your website does not succeed.  For their own reputation, they WANT your website to succeed so they’re not just blowing smoke, they need to do what they’re telling you.  Work with them and you will reap the rewards!

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo

SEO (search engine optimization) has become much more than just altering meta tags.  (Remember those days?!) SEO services has grown to become an integral part of business development.  Let me show you how.

Let’s say you’re a divorce attorney.  You build a site talking about who you are and your services for divorce, child custody, adoption, etc.

Your webmaster begins the SEO process and markets the website for it’s existing content.  If the SEO webmaster is good, he/she will research the trends in your industry.  A few months into the marketing your webmaster informs you that there appears to be a spike in “online divorce papers”.  What your webmaster is telling you is…

1) there are people looking for “online divorce papers”
2) since you’re in the “divorce” business, you should look into offering “online divorce papers”

I know, it sounds simple.  Almost elementary.  But it is a service provided by SEO firms that is ignored 98% of the time.  How do I come up with 98%?  Well, in the 10 years that I’ve been providing search engine optimization, I have had less than 5 clients change their business to include the new trend.  That’s FIVE businesses out of hundreds (over 800 at last count).  It’s probably more than 98% but you get the idea.

Why do businesses ignore this?  I honestly don’t know.  If you do, let me know.

But use SEO to help shape the path your business takes.  You and your customers will both benefit from it greatly!

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo, seo firms

Every day I read as many articles, posts, etc . about Internet marketing and SEO services and anything related to this crazy Search Engine Marketing industry I’m in.  And if you work in this industry I don’t have to tell you why it’s daily but if you don’t, let me enlighten you.

LITERALLY – every single day there is SOME new technology, method, change in the search engines, some tidbit of information that has to be learned and implemented.  EVERY SINGLE DAY!  And I dare anyone to find otherwise.

So, if anyone even has the nerve to tell you that all you need to do to optimize your website is a one time optimization – do not, I repeat, do not write them a check!  Instead, get up and leave.  Make them pay for the coffee!  It’s simply impossible to market websites in today’s competitive Internet market by just optimizing the pages and then walking away.  Maybe that could have been done 8 years ago, but not today.

To give you an idea, here’s my SEO reading list for today (so far)…

• How A Static Homepage Can Seriously Hurt Your SEO
• 4 Visual Charts on the Value of SEO Tactics
• 5 Blogging Myths that Need to Disappear
• Why SEO Training Should Be An Organizational Imperative
• Five More Search Tools You Should Know
• Google Custom Maps: A Goldmine For Local Businesses
• Google Makes Search More Functional on Android
• 5 Ways to Add a Search Sidebar to Google SERPs
• Real-Time Keyword Research with CrowdEye
• Simple SEO Tips and Tricks
• The Basics of SEO
• Google Local Maps Search Engine Optimization
• Ten Search Marketing Awards You Should Know
• What Human Business and the Social Web Are About
• What Content Marketing Can Look Like
• What is the Perfect Link?

I hope you enjoy these articles and I’m positive you’ll learn a thing or two!  And if you have any questions or insights, please feel free to contact me!!  I’d love to hear from ya.

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo

The SEO services provided by Eckweb Designs, Inc. mainly deals with small businesses.  If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in the 10 years of SEO services that we’ve been providing is that small business owners are usually very “opinionated” about what they want.  In other words, we can give them all our expert advice and knowledge but ultimately, it’s the customer we have to please.

So, if we report that it would be good to have a section on the website for testimonials, but our client doesn’t feel it’s important enough to spend the dollars, we can only give them the facts but in the end, we have to do what they want.

We understand, believe me, we’re a small company as well and we have to watch our spending dollars too.

BUT – the reality is, that optimizing a website for the search engines is just one step in Internet marketing.  Another step is gaining the trust of your Internet audience.  After all, why should anyone buy from you?  The answer is that you have to let them know why.  Here’s a great article by Eric Brantner on this very topic.

The 7 “tips” he provides are…

1) Ditch the Gimmicky Sales Copy
2) Use Testimonials / Lists of Your Clients
3) Incorporate Statistics In Your Copy
4) Offer a Free Sample
5) Eliminate The Risk
6) Don’t Just Tell, Show
7) Include Accreditations On Website

Read through the article and you’ll see that when your SEO firm gives you advice, they’re not just blowing steam.

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo

As usual, it’s almost 11 PM and I can’t sleep so I’m catching up with some reading.  And of course, I’m reading about Internet marketing, seo services, cool new gadgets and some other geeky kind of things that I like!!

Just finished a great article – http://www.seobook.com/the-100-ranking-variables-google-uses-and-why-you-shouldnt-care – written by Peter Da Vanzo.  I was reading another article interviewing Google’s Sergey Brin in which he was talking about Google’s algorithim looking at 100 differrent variables.

So, I ran a search on 100 Google variables and came across this SEO Book article which is quite interesting .

In the article, Da Vanzo expresses his concept  that the current search engine model of using “web crawlers” to find information on the Internet is soon going to be outdated.  The reason is that there are so many different types of media now coming out, video, audio, etc. that can’t be picked up by web crawlers.  He contends that when Google introduced Universal Search a while ago, they basically began the end of the era of web crawlers.

Well, I think I agree with that to a certain extent.  I mean, Universal Search is already in play.  We’re already getting results of blogs, news, videos, etc. all mixed in with regular websites when a search is conducted.  How are those being picked up?  It’s the web crawlers.

So, will web crawlers be extinct or are they just going to evolve?

DaVanzo contends that in the future, it’s the audience that will determine the relevance of a search result.  It won’t be the web crawler.  I can see some merit in that.  I mean if 1000 users like your content a certain percentage of them will mention it in their social media outlet and share it with others and link back to it.  So, a search engine crawler would have to recognize this and give the content credit, as it should.  So, in this instance, yes, the audience is helping the engines to determine the relevance of the content.  But is it solely responsible for that content being in the top of the search results?

Hmmm – I don’t think so.

What do you think?

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo

For anyone providing SEO Services – the spectrum of knowledge they need to have is immense.  I mean, how many other industries evolve so quickly?  How many other industries require a weekly (at least) review of their business practices and techniques?  How many other industries have to remain so flexible that they can literally change the way they work within a few hours?  Not many, I don’t think.  But SEO firms have to.

One of the ways we all keep up with the constant amount of change is by reading what so many other professionals learn and do.  Here are just some of my favorite articles…

SEO Tips for the Real World
…demand for SEO services, which means we have less time to contribute to blogging since our business has nearly doubled in the past few months. Without further ado, let’s kick this first post of the new SEO Tips category off in style. The Preface Search engine optimization (SEO) revolves around creating consistencies in a websites’ architecture, …

10 SEO Tips For Maximizing Facebook Visibility
No discussion of social media’s effect on organic search results is complete without considering Facebook’s well-laid play for “search” domination, in a closed-loop-members-only end run around Google’s public algorithmic crawl. With 250 million users, the recent purchase of friendFeed and newly offered ability to search at macro and/or granular users’ network levels, Facebook’s internal community-search platform [...]

Optimizing the “Most Searched Keywords” to Target your Niche!
Based on your link building strategy, you have the opportunity to focus on highly competitive terms with inherent high search volume, or moderately competitive short and medium-tail searches (which are known for their saturation ratios for any search conducted comprising any of the keywords that are optimized).

Powerboost your SEO with social media to drive links, revenue
As the economy struggles, marketers are challenged to do more with less. Many are turning to SEO as the efficient, effective way to drive links, conversions and revenue. But, here are a few words of experienced caution as you consider search engine optimization (SEO).

What Makes A Good SEO Report
What makes a good SEO report? Have you ever thought about that? Most people rely on automated rank checking reports, which I feel provide some value (if you track the rankings as trend lines on a graph) but they don’t really get into the meat of what I would want reported to me, [...]

SEO Rankings and How To Create Them
Often the effectiveness of search engine optimization is predicated by keywords and SEO rankings. Since this is a primary metric for performance, I would like to share a previously guarded SEO tactic that allows you to control which …

I hope you enjoy these articles.  And who knows?  Maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two?

Tags: internet marketing, search engine optimization, seo