Anyone Can Cook – Comparing Web Design Companies That Claim They Do SEO with Actual Search Engine Marketing Firms That Really Do
So during a recent meeting with a potential client, they brought up that their current web company, who both designed their new website and was doing “SEO” for them, was sending them annual SEO reports that detailed their progress in their ten chosen keywords.
Yes, you read that correctly. Annual reports.
Now, far be it from me to question the business practices of another company, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do anyways.
SEO is an ongoing process that requires regular work on a monthly basis. Things can change at a moments notice, with competitors making advances in the rankings, reliable sites that link to you no longer being reliable sites, and, of course, Google changing the game on you with little or no warning. Because of that, having an SEO company that’s focused on that and that spends their time not only working to help your site rank but also researching new methods to effectively use SEO is paramount. Which brings me to my main point.
Have you ever seen the movie “Ratatouille”? In the film the main character, a rat named Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt), has aspirations to become a chef, inspired in no small part by his hero Gusteau’s motto of “Anyone Can Cook.” While I’ll spare you a long drawn-out synopsis of the film, we come to realize that the spirit of Gusteau’s motto was that while not everybody could be a great chef, a great chef could be anybody (like a rat in this case).
These days it seems like every web design, development, and marketing company says that they do SEO. Now I’m sure that some of them have brought on the necessary staff to do a respectable job of SEO for their clients. I’m also sure, however, that many of them are fumbling their way through it and are doing their clients, who probably don’t know any better, a huge disservice by attempting to do SEO for the extra money when they don’t really know how.
When you’re looking for an SEO company, make sure to spend the time and make sure they actually know what they’re doing. Ask for references and case studies. See if anybody has complained about them on the internet. Talk to them and make sure they seem passionate about what they’re doing. Make sure you have a good personality fit with them. It’s better to take your time and find the right company for you instead of ending up with annual status reports. Remember that not everybody can be a great SEO, but a great SEO can come from anywhere.
Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Bid on Your Company Name or Brand Name in Google AdWords
Should you bid on your company name or brand name on Google AdWords? I am asked this same question all the time from many of our clients and it’s a logical question that I’m glad to answer. The short answer is yes, I strongly recommend bidding on your brand name in Google AdWords for several reasons:
1. You will be able to control more space on the screen and more importantly, space that is above the fold. Even if you rank number one for your brand name, having a sponsored pay-per-click listing above it ensures that anyone searching for you has to scroll a lot further to find someone who isn’t you. Getting your name to dominate like this should mean that you’re not just paying for clicks that would have been free; you’re actually increasing the number of clicks overall. This is especially important for ecommerce websites for well-known brands since their products are available on other major retail websites such as Amazon, Walmart and Target who all rank very highly in the organic rankings.
2. Your competitors can bid on your brand name anytime. If your company was not bidding on your brand name, those clicks and potential sales would go to the other major competitors that I listed above along with smaller direct competitors trying to take advantage of your brand name for pennies on the dollar.
3. It’s extremely cheap. Often less than a dime or even a nickel per click. Meaning you could get 1,000 highly targeted clicks a month for $50.
4. You can gain invaluable insights for keyword research. It’s impossible to predict every single different misspelling or variation of a brand name related keyword phrase that users search for, so by bidding on the company name we can look at the data to see all of the keywords the ad was displayed for and make changes as necessary.
5. It gives you more control over your message. With organic search results, Google usually picks up your meta description or the first bit of text on your page – but not always. With pay-per-click ads, you get to craft a bit of copy specially designed to increase click-through rates. Also, with pay-per-click ads, you have the flexibility of constantly testing new ad copy and seasonal promotions without worrying about losing your organic rankings.
These are just five reasons why I strongly recommend bidding on your company name in Google AdWords. This post was highly influenced by this article about 10 reasons why it’s a good idea to bid on your brand in Google AdWords so I encourage you to check it out if you’re still not convinced!
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Streamline Metrics is Looking to Hire an SEO Specialist in Richmond, Virginia
That’s right, Streamline Metrics is hiring! In order to accommodate our rapidly growing client base, we are looking to hire an SEO Specialist to join our team. Below is the official job description that we’ve posted across the web:
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SEO Specialist in Richmond, Virginia
A local search engine marketing company based in downtown Richmond, Virginia is looking to add an SEO Specialist to assist the SEO Manager in accommodating our rapidly growing client base. The ideal candidate should have the following capabilities:
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the fundamentals of organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – what it is, why it is important, and how it is done (both on-site and off-site).
- Create, implement and manage custom strategies for increasing qualified organic search engine traffic, leads and/or sales for our clients.
- Conduct keyword/competitive research and analysis using various tools (Google AdWords Keyword Tool, SEOmoz, SEMRush, Wordtracker, etc.)
- Analyze websites and identify opportunities for improving on-site SEO (Title tags, Meta tags, ALT tags, file names, site architecture, etc.)
- Possess an advanced knowledge of HTML, CSS & JavaScript and a web editor with FTP capabilities such as Adobe Dreamweaver in order to add new content and implement on-site changes directly to a client’s website.
- Know how to correctly set up and test technical server configurations such as 301 redirects, HTTP server response codes, .htaccess, XML sitemaps, Robots.txt, etc.
- Research and identify opportunities for improving off-site SEO by increasing inbound links for clients in various industries.
- Have 2+ years experience using web analytics software such as Google Analytics to analyze website traffic and identify relevant performance metrics utilizing Custom Reporting and Advanced Segmentation features.
- Write monthly progress reports with recommendations for clients and effectively provide consultation to clients through email, phone calls and/or meetings.
- Stay on top of the latest trends in the search engine industry and adjust strategies accordingly.
Required Experience with the Following Tools
- Google Tools – Analytics, Webmaster Tools, AdWords Keyword Tool, Places
- Adobe Dreamweaver or other web editor
- Adobe Photoshop or other basic image editing software
- Microsoft Excel
- SEO Tools such as SEOmoz, SEMRush, Wordtracker, Raven Tools, etc.
Bonus Qualifications
- Backend programming experience such as PHP, MySQL, ASP, .NET
- Experience with installing and customizing platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Expression Engine, etc.
- Copywriting experience to write content such as blog posts and articles for various clients
- Experience with Google AdWords or other Pay Per Click platforms
- Experience with Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, etc
- Experience with Conversion Rate Optimization – A/B split testing, multivariate testing, landing page optimization, etc.
- Have access to other websites and resources that could be leveraged for link building
More Details
This is a part-time position but could quickly turn into a full-time position if we find the right person. The position requires you to be on-site in our office in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The office environment is relaxed so you’ll fit right in if you prefer to wear jeans and a t-shirt instead of a suit and tie.
To Apply
Please send us your resume and salary requirements along with three examples of successful campaigns where you have improved rankings and increased organic traffic on three different websites for the targeted keywords. We are looking to fill this position by July 1st so time is of the essence.
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We are very excited about bringing on a new member to the Streamline team. If you have any questions or comments about this position, please email us at jobs@streamlinemetrics.com or hit us up on Twitter at @streamline.
View this SEO Specialist job description on:
Authentic Jobs – http://www.authenticjobs.com/jobs/8887/seo-specialist
SEOmoz – http://www.seomoz.org/marketplace/jobs/view/2096
Craigslist – http://richmond.craigslist.org/mar/2444623881.html
How to Track Website Leads – Closing the Loop Between Web Analytics Data and Sales Data
A lot of the work we do on a daily basis involves generating leads for service-based businesses. That is, we drive highly targeted traffic to fill out a contact form on a company’s website requesting their services. It is then up to the company to follow up with the lead and finish the sales process by closing the deal.
Previously, many search engine marketing companies have gotten rich solely off increasing rankings in the search engines without demonstrating any tangible value to their client. However, as more and more companies are becoming aware of search engine marketing, the novelty is wearing off and the days of SEOs charging exorbitant fees for pretty graphs of rankings for obscure and irrelevant keywords are winding down. Nowadays, business owners are demanding proof of a positive return-on-investment.
Thankfully, online marketing (more specifically search engine marketing), is the most highly targeted and most easily tracked form of marketing in the history of the mankind. Never before have we had access to so much detailed data that we could glean so much knowledge of customer behavior at the individual level.
All that being said, there is still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to tracking the quality of online leads and tying an exact dollar amount ROI for each specific lead. For example, we can determine that a specific keyword generated a contact form submission by tracking the Thank You page as a conversion goal in Google Analytics. However, a completed form submission does not automatically translate into revenue since the client must follow up with the prospect to close the deal. While we strive to drive highly targeted traffic and collect as much essential information from the prospect to qualify them before passing them onto the client, there will always be submitted leads that leak through that are not going to convert into business no matter how streamlined the lead generation process. It is our goal to minimize these kinds of leads by focusing only on the highest converting sources of traffic.
And in order to determine which traffic sources generate the most leads that actually convert into sales, we need to be able to bridge the gap between web analytics data and sales data. One option is to attach a Unique Identifier number to each conversion in Google Analytics and manually look up the sources for the leads that converted into sales by searching for the UID in Google Analytics. While this can be effective and may be all a company that only gets five leads a month would require, manually looking up anything more than a handful of leads is quite tedious and thus not very efficient for larger websites.
Good news, you are in luck because we have been working on an exciting new tool to automate your lead tracking tasks for you, which we have called Convertable. We are currently looking for Beta testers, so if you are interested, please head over to Convertable.com, enter in your email address, and we will contact you when we are ready to grant you free access!
Top Negative Keywords for B2B Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
If you are running a pay-per-click campaign on Google AdWords, Bing/Yahoo AdCenter, or any other PPC network to bid on Broad and/or Phrase match keywords without using Negative keywords, I can guarantee you are wasting a good chunk of your budget on keywords that will never convert into sales for your company or your clients. Below is a list of negative keywords that I have personally added to various B2B campaigns that you should consider using for your campaigns:
Education/Employment-related keywords:
career
careers
certificate
certification
conference
conferences
course
courses
degree
degrees
education
employment
grant
grants
job
jobs
journal
law
laws
resume
resumes
salaries
salary
school
schools
training
wages
Information-related keywords:
article
articles
blog
blogs
book
books
calculator
calculators
definition
define
game
games
guide
guides
guidebook
guidebooks
information
instructions
manual
map
maps
models
news
newsletter
picture
pictures
photo
photos
schedule
schedules
Bargain-hunter related keywords:
bargain
cheap
cheapest
download
free
inexpensive
Free Google AdWords Voucher Worth $100 for New Clients
Since I am a Qualified Google Advertising Professional, I am given free AdWords vouchers worth $100 for new clients interested in trying out Google AdWords. I have been managing Pay-Per-Click campaigns for numerous businesses and organizations over the past five years and have had achieved much success for them. Feel free to check out some of the search engine marketing results we have achieved for our clients over the years. If you are interested in trying out Google AdWords for the first time and would like to use a free $100 AdWords credit to get started, please contact us today!
One Simple Way to Increase Your Conversion Rate by 36.3%
If you have a website and you are not constantly testing it, you are missing out on potential business. You are losing money. It’s as simple as that. With the advent of the easy-to-use and perhaps more importantly FREE testing tool Google Website Optimizer, there really is no excuse for not setting up split A/B or multivariate tests on your webpages in order to constantly improve conversion rates and ultimately increase your bottom line.
With GWO, you have the ability to test anything you could possibly think of (and I strongly encourage that you do). Even if you “just know” that the stock photograph of the attractive saleswoman will generate more leads than the overweight middle-aged man, you might be surprised that the data suggests otherwise. If the design and marketing departments are at each other’s throats about which color background to use, put it to the test and let the data speak for itself.
One recent A/B split test we set up for one of our lead generation clients produced some pretty eye-opening results. Since the original page was already converting at a solid 7.49%, we were only expecting a minor improvement, if at all. Especially since the only difference between the two pages was the text used on the submit button of the contact form. The original page had the generic text of “Submit” and the test page had “Get Quote Now.” That’s it.
After running the test for a month and a half, the original version had 854 visitors with 64 conversions for a conversion rate of 7.49% and the test version had 842 visitors with 86 conversions for a conversion rate of 10.2%, an increase of 36.3%! This is pretty significant. If each lead generates an average of $100 per lead, this comes out to $6,400 from the original version and $8,600 from the new version. If we had just decided to be satisfied with the 7.49% conversion rate, we would have been missing out on an extra $2,200. So the moral of the story, is to test, test, test!
AdWords Conversion Rate Optimization Tip – Add Keyword to Landing Page with Dynamic Keyword Insertion
One of the most effective ways to boost conversion rates for Google AdWords campaigns is to make sure to include the exact keyword that the user searched for to get to your site on the landing page. Not a slight variation of the keyword they searched, but the exact keyword they searched! The easiest way to do so is by utilizing Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI).
Let’s say we want to set up an AdWords campaign to advertise musical instruments for sale. Here’s how I would set it up from the beginning.
1. Create a new AdWords campaign called “Musical Instruments”. Configure the campaign settings so that the ads only show up on Google search results.
2. Create an Ad Group called “Guitars”.
3. Bid only on Exact Match keywords, such as [guitar for sale], [buy guitar], [buy American Standard Telecaster guitar], etc. It is critical that the keywords are Exact Match! Otherwise, there runs the possibility that the keyword the user searched for and the keyword you bid on are different, and thus the keyword inserted on the landing page with DKI will not match what the user searched, which may end up confusing and discouraging the user.
4. Create a new text ad. Add the DKI keyword to the end of the Destination URL. For example, if my landing page is www.mymusicstore.com/guitars.php then I would make the Destination URL www.mymusicstore.com/guitars.php?kw={keyword}.
The AdWords campaign is ready, now we just have to add some code to the landing page itself.
5. If you’re using a PHP-enabled page, place the following code at the top of the page to grab the keyword parameter from the URL.
6. Now that you have grabbed the keyword from the URL and stored it as a PHP variable, you need to add it to the content of the page. Here is an example that I have used on several sites with much success:
The code above checks to make sure that a keyword parameter is actually in the URL. If there is, it echos a DIV container which outputs the exact keyword that the user searched for:
This is just a simple yet very effective way to maximize the relevancy of your AdWords landing pages and as a result, boost the conversion rates and ROI of your campaigns.
Hacked Website Spam Running Rampant in Google Search Results
Over the past couple weeks, I have been seeing more and more hacked websites rank very well for topical keywords in the Google search results. It appears that all of the sites in question are in fact legitimate websites but somehow share a common vulnerability which enables them to be exploited by the hackers to easily rank for specific keywords and distribute malicious spyware.
For example, I just tried a search for more information on “Anthony Sowell” who is the serial killer in Cleveland that the evening news keeps covering. The screenshot below shows that the four websites ranked from the 6th to 9th positions are all compromised and share the same parameter “?kkk=anthony-sowell.”
If you click on any of those 4 results, you will be redirected to another domain that attempts to install the malware on your computer.
Want more screenshots? You got it.
I picked some more examples of trending keywords on Google Trends, such as the company “Coins for Anything” that was recently highlighted in the news. Five of the Top 10 results are spam.
And yet another one for some guy named “Robert Lozier.” In this case, 3 of the Top 4 results are spam.
I have seen other variations such as “?q” and “?loop” and “?mowp” so it’s not just the “?kkk” parameter.
Historically, I think Google has done a pretty good job of combating spam and malware sites in their search results, especially when compared to any of the other search engines, but it seems recently that the amount of spam has increased significantly. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Yahoo! Shuts Down GeoCities & Blows SEO Opportunities Worth Millions
Yahoo! purchased the popular free web hosting service GeoCities in 1999 for $3.57 Billion dollars in stock. And on October 26, 2009, Yahoo! shut down GeoCities for good. Any website on GeoCities that was not transferred to a new web host by Monday is gone forever. Granted, most sites built on GeoCities were festering eyesores and for the most part nobody will lose sleep over its demise, but Yahoo! really screwed the pooch on handling the closing when it comes to SEO.
Let me explain.
As of October 28, 2009, there are 7.45 Million GeoCities URLs still indexed in Google. Go ahead, click that link and try to visit one of the sites listed. For example, Dr. Doo Wopp’s site “all about me and my love of the doo wopp sound” at http://www.geocities.com/doowopp21/ is no longer available and redirects to a Yahoo! 404 page. Multiply that one site times 7.45 Million and we’re dealing with a huge number of sites that will simply vanish.
I just did a search on SEMRush to find out the popular keywords for which GeoCities URLs rank in the Top 20 in Google for, and it came back an astounding 686,270 different keywords that generate an estimated 11,947,000 visitors from Google each month. It’s hard to fathom a website that got nearly 12 million visitors a month from Google alone will disappear.
For example, one of the keywords reported by SEMRush is the keyword “sayings.” According to the Google AdWords Keyword tool, this keyword gets over 1.2 Million searches a month.
Currently, the GeoCities website at www.geocities.com/heartland/lane/2470/lslists.htm ranks 4th in Google for a keyword that gets 1.2 million searches a month. Once Google re-indexes that site and is served a 404 error page, that site will be removed from the index.
At the very least, you would think Yahoo! would put forward some effort to preserve their search engine rankings and most of that traffic, right? Apparently that isn’t the case. Since Yahoo! is simply forwarding the GeoCities URLs to 404 or 410 permanent error pages instead of redirecting the sites with SEO friendly 301 redirects, the search engines will eventually drop all of the missing URLs from their indexes and Yahoo! will lose out on all of the invaluable search engine rankings and traffic that has amassed over the years. It baffles me that a company as big as Yahoo!, not to mention a major search engine, would make these decisions without keeping SEO in mind.
UPDATE - LocalSEOGuide.com made a similar post called Yahoo Flushes GeoCities, PageRank & Million$ Down The Drain. Check it out!
