Chaotic Neutrality

I am often amazed by how many companies miss out on the opportunity to build fundamental search engine optimization practices into their website redesign projects.

In my experience, there is almost always a focus on:

• creative design and layout
• professional copy written content
• web development and launch

It saddens me because online marketing tactics seem to get pushed to the back burner when we work on website (re)design projects.

In a perfect world, each of the pieces above (creative, copy, development) would have an online marketing influence in them to ensure that SEO best practices are used during all phases of the redesign.

During the creative / layout phase, SEO would be incorporated by working with the creative teams so that they understand that:

• page headings should be in text rather than an image, if possible
• navigation components should not be driven by heavy graphics and images
• flash items should have alternate content that can display

During the copy writing phase, SEO would be incorporated by working with the copy teams so that they understand that:

• there are keywords and keyword variations that should be used in the content for each page
• there is a need to use certain keywords and that this is not meant to undermine their copy
• page titles and page descriptions should use specific keywords and keyword phrases also

During the development phase, SEO would be incorporated by working with the web dev teams so that they understand that:

• there are specific architectural improvements that can augment SEO such as
  • file naming conventions and directory structure
  • URL rewriting for dynamic URLs
  • setting up 301 redirects from old URLs to new URLs
• there are specific code improvements that can augment SEO such as
  • using clean HTML
  • avoiding javascript for changing page content and for site navigation
  • offloading script and styles into external files
  • using heading tags and text emphasis

Unfortunately, though, the above does not take place. Instead, the site is built and ends up looking great, but doesn’t rank for the right keywords — or even worse, doesn’t even show up in the search engines. The worse part is that it takes way more effort and way more resources to add those search engine optimization practices into the site after it has launched already.

My suggestion is to make sure that all of the key stakeholders in a project have knowledge of what SEO requires for each phase of the site’s development and the benefits of focusing on SEO (or consequences of ignoring SEO) are.

It may be an uphill battle, but it will be worth it down the road.

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I’ve never been a big fan of paid search engine marketing. All too often, I encounter companies that think that all they have to do is set a Pay Per Click budget and it will magically drive relevant traffic, bolster conversions, and be profitable.

Unfortunately, as with most marketing tactics, there is no magic involved. Paid search requires the same type of strategic thinking and preparation that goes into your direct mail, email marketing, or banner advertising campaigns.

The problem is that too often this thinking and preparation does not happen and instead you end up with a completely unprofitable campaign that is only driving non-converting, non-relevant traffic.

Here are five big mistakes that will lead to an unsuccessful Pay Per Click campaign:

Not Using Specific PPC Landing Pages

The beauty of search engine marketing is that you are targeting people who are in the process of searching for information (or a method to purchase) about your product. Therefore, it is imperative to provide a customized and relevant experience for the user when they arrive at your ads and site.

What not to do:

• Don’t drop searchers at your home page
• Don’t drop them into unoptimized sub pages

What to do:

• Create as many landing pages as necessary to target searchers and provide relevant content for their keywords
• Use a strong Call To Action in order to drive conversion

Not Understanding Your Business (and how search fits in)

As with all marketing campaigns, it is important that you have a strong grasp of the numbers behind your business. PPC Campaigns can be a great tactic if you make sure to understand the life-time value of conversions, the cost per acquisition that you are willing to pay, and the return on investment that is necessary for the campaign to be judged as successful.

What not to do:

• Go blindly into your new PPC campaign
• Assuming that increased traffic means success
• Ignore your metrics

What to do:

• Understand what keywords are most relevant to getting the right people to your site
• Understand how much a conversion is worth to you (life-time value)
• Understand what the maximum cost per acquisition is for your business and campaign
• Understand your search ROI

Defining Unrealistic Goals

Sadly, there is no magic involved in Search Engine Marketing. The goals for your campaign need to be based in reality for your site, your product, and your industry.

What not to do:

• Be too broad or narrow with your keywords
• Assume that Pay Per Click and Paid Search is the cure all for your marketing plan, it is only a piece of the bigger puzzle
• Expect high traffic and conversion rates without doing the legwork in creating good ads and strong landing pages

What to do:

• Do research and set realistic traffic and conversion goals
• Expect to get as much out of the campaign as you are willing to put in (preparation, refinement, creative)

Poor Lead Capture Forms

The method by which you capture lead information can make or break your conversion rate. Even though we always want to capture as much information as possible, it is important to realize that as the number of fields increase, your conversion rate will likely decrease. For this reason, it is necessary to capture only the most relevant and necessary details that will allow for a successful follow up.

What not to do:

• Make a page that just has a lead capture form (no call to action or additional information)
• Expect to capture ALL user information with your form

What to do:

• Only capture the necessary information — you can follow up for additional details
• Make it easy for someone to convert — don’t make the user jump through hoops to give you their information
• Make the benefits of their submission readily apparent

Making Fundamental Marketing Mistakes

Search Engine Marketing is still part of the marketing world. As I mentioned earlier, it isn’t magic, so don’t treat it like it is. SEM requires the same strategic thinking that any other marketing campaign requires.

What not to do:

• Stumble blindly into your PPC campaign
• Set your campaign up and forget about it (it needs monitoring and refining)
• Not understanding your customers, competition, and/or goals

What to do:

• Understand who you are targeting, their habits, what they search for, and what it will take for them to click through your ad and convert
• Use strong ad creative, use PPC tailored landing pages with strong calls to action
• Test, Test, Test — Make sure your test alternate ad copy and different bid positions
• Measure and analyze your results on an ongoing basis so that you understand where your opportunities (and weaknesses) lie
• Refine your campaign as often as possible based on the data that you collect

Final Word
Much of the above sounds pretty basic… and really, it is. But, often these items get overlooked in the process of getting a PPC campaign up and running.

Put on your marketing hat, plan your strategy, and do everything that you can to prepare for success — Avoid all short cuts!

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An important SEO tactic that should be used for on-site content formatting revolves around the proper usage of HTML Heading Tags.

Heading tags are important because page headings serve as a great indicator of what a given page is about. If you go to a page that has a heading of “SEO Basics: How to Use Heading Tags,” it is a good bet that the rest of the content will be directly related to SEO & Heading Tags. Thus, these tags provide relevancy in the eyes of the search engines.

Now that we’ve touched on why they are important, let’s switch gears to how to use headings properly (plus, what not to do!).

Proper Usage

• Use the <h1> tag for the main heading on the page.
  Ex. <h1>SEO Basics: Heading Tags</h1>
• Use the <h2> tag for subsequent sub-headings on the page.
  Ex. <h2>SEO Heading Mistakes</h2>
• Make sure that you use the current page’s keywords in the <h1> and <h2> tags.

Mistakes

• Don’t use images for headings — styled text has much more relevancy in the eyes of the search engines
  • If you must use an image, make sure it has ALT text
• Don’t style your headings with the wrong HTML tags like this:
  Ex. <span class=”heading”>This is my heading</span>
  • It is important that you use the correct HTML <h1> and <h2> tags or the search engines will not give you credit!
• Don’t try to stuff all of your keywords into headings
• Make sure the heading of the page is relevant to the page’s actual content

Sounds simple, right? Well, it is… which is why it is amazing that so many sites do this wrong and pass up the SEO benefits of using HTML Headings correctly.

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The new “Say Yellow to the Future” campaign represents a natural evolution of Yellowbook’s brand and its goal to help local business remain visible and accessible in an e-commerce society.

After reading the excerpt above from a Yellowbook press release, I did some searching and stumbled upon the Say Yellow to the Future Yellowbook TV Commercials on YouTube.

The commercials were well made and hit on topics that I think the average viewer could identify with. They were clean, concise, and effective in illustrating how Yellowbook could hypothetically help bring a solution to your life’s immediate problems in a non-cheesy way — all with the touch of your finger(s). (BTW - I’m looking forward to the holographic yellowbook display as well, that’s even more convenient than using a search engine!)

From an interactive marketing perspective, these are the types of videos that I value (clever idea, looks good, topics that are easy to relate to).

Unfortunately, most sites do not employ video in this manner and, instead, throw together the flashiest, loudest, longest, and most over-the-top video possible. I know it can be a tough balancing act for creative teams, but in this day and age, I hope serious consumers value substance and quality over that flash and overhype. If they do, I think they will enjoy these Yellowbook commercials and respect the product and message behind them.

If you get a chance, check them out… and then pre-order your holographic, IPTV, Star Trek touchscreen display!

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This will be the first of many posts detailing various tactics that can and should be employed on your website in order to augment your Search Engine Optimization efforts.

It always amazes me to do a “View Source” on various websites that I encounter in my interweb travels. You would be surprised at how many sites do not use the basic, but poweful, HTML Title Tag to its fullest.

The HTML Title tag is extremely relevant and important to your Search Engine Optimization success. This single tag carries significant weight with the search engines and also allows you to control the headline of your site when it is listed in the Search Engine Results.

Let’s take a quick look at some best practices to guide the Title Tag:

The TITLE tag must appear in the HEAD section of each page of your site. It should:

• be descriptive of the current page of your site
• be unique and relevant to the content contained on the page
• use your site’s keywords whenever possible

In the Search Engine Results, the Title that displays is limited to between 60-70 characters in Google. You can still have a longer title*, but it will not display in the results.

*Note: One word of caution with Titles is to be careful not to cram it full of too many words/keywords or it will lose its relevancy in the eyes of the search engines.

<TITLE>Greg Picarello - Internet Marketing Manager</TITLE>

The Title Tag is one of the quickest and most effective ways to start fine tuning your SEO.

I recommend taking a hard look at your site and making sure you are utilizing your titles to their fullest.

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