Archive for August, 2009
10 Valuable, Actionable, Take-Aways From the SEOmoz Pro Training Seminar
Posted by Whitespark
This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author’s views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc.
Whitespark is an Edmonton Search Engine Optimization and Web Design Company in Canada
Having recently returned from the SEOmoz Pro Training Seminar Series, I wanted to recap a few of the things I learned, and create a list of actionable items that I need to start implementing in my SEO business. I’m writing this for my own reference, but figure that I might as well write it as a YouMoz post as it could be useful for those of you who couldn’t attend. Of course, what I found valuable and actionable may be different from what other attendees found valuable, so if you attended the seminar it would be great if you could share your top take-aways in the comments. The conference was packed with a ton of useful information, and this list focuses on the items that I’m currently excited about.
Take-Away #1 - Ask For A Link In Order Emails (And Other Customer Communications)
Tom Critchlow suggested asking for a link in your order emails. It’s a genius tactic, and I’m ashamed to say that I have heard this tip a few times before, but haven’t implemented it yet. That’s no good. This is so simple, so easy to do, and potentially so valuable that there is no excuse for not doing it, right now.
If you control the code on your e-commerce sites, then stop reading right this minute, fire up your code editor, and add some kind of version of this text to your outgoing order confirmation emails:
Do you have a website or blog? Link to us! Just copy and paste this code: <a href=http://www.oursite.com>Subtly Optimized Anchor Text</a>
If you don’t control the code, then stop reading right this minute and fire off an email to your dev team.
I just did this on five different e-commerce sites I manage and it took me exactly four minutes and 12 seconds. You do the math and figure out what the ROI is on that, even if it results in just a few extra links.
While you’re at it, think about other places this could be added to. Put it in the footer of your email marketing, put it on your website somewhere, maybe even put it in your email signature. You’ll be surprised what people will do when you tell them to, and "link to us" is a clear and direct call to action.
Take-Away #2 - Use The Top Pages Tool To Identify Your Competitors’ Link Bait And Learn From It
Rand pointed out that you can use the Top Pages Tool (Pro only) on your competitors’ sites to see the pages that have earned them the most links. Run this on a good set of sites in your industry to learn about what kind of link bait content will likely be successful for attracting links to your own site.
Take-Away #3 - Use The Google Adwords Keyword Tool To Identify Keywords That Have High Search Volume, But Low Competition
Ken Jurina from my home town of Edmonton, Canada showed how you can run your keywords through the Google Adwords tool and then sort the columns to identify high search volume keywords that have low competition. Optimize a page of your site for these terms for some easy pickings in the rankings!
Take-Away #4 - Use The Top Pages On Domain Tool To Find Linked To Pages On Your Domain That Should Be Redirected
This may be old news for many of you, but somehow I missed a great YouMoz post from Richard Baxter where he describes a sweet side-effect of the Top Pages Tool. You can run your domains through it and it will show you all the pages that have in-links, but that are now 404ing. Redirect them and keep that link juice flowing through your site!
You might be thinking that you can identify these cases in Google Webmaster tools, but there are a couple scenarios I can think of where you might not be able to:
- You’re analyzing a site for a prospective client where you haven’t been given access to their Webmaster Tools.
- When the old domain has been redirected to a new domain. Webmaster tools won’t show you the data if the entire domain has been redirected (I think), but the Top Pages tool will. This is the case that Richard points out in his post. This is awesome because now you can 301 those "lost" pages too.
Take-Away #5 - Use The Competitive Link Finder!!!
Nick just posted about this hot new SEOmoz tool, so maybe you’re already aware of it, but I saw this for the first time at the Pro Training Seminar and it is crazy awesome. Looking for some links? This tool makes it so easy! They have officially called it the Competitive Link Finder, but I like to think of it as the "Link Intersect Tool". You punch in your domain, and your competitors’ domains (works best with 3 or more competitors), and the tool magically shows you the pages that link to multiple competitors. If they link to a couple of your competitors, then chances are good that you can be included in that list too with a carefully crafted email.
Take-Away #6 - Optimize Your Google Local Listings With these Tips
David Mihm is a great speaker and his talk was full of great info. Here are some of my highlights from it:
- It’s better to claim your listings manually, even for multiple listings. Google trusts these more as bulk uploads are susceptible to spam.
- Use Keywords in the Business Title, but don’t overdue it. (I can say from experience that this is a huge LBC ranking factor.)
- Adding custom categories can be a helpful ranking factor. Use the maximum # allowed. (I have also found this to be a big factor in my own Local rankings.)
- "Citations" are the links of Google Local rankings. Get listed on Localeze, InfoUSA, Openlist.com, etc. Americans should check out this list of places to get citations. Others should check out David’s guides to citations in Canada, UK, Australia, and Continental Europe.
- You can also identify citation sources by checking the "Web Pages" tab of your competitors.
- You can use the search engines to find even more citation sources:
- yourcity, st blog
- yourcity, st directory
- yourindustry, st blog
- yourindustry, st directory
- yourindustry yourcity, st blog
- yourindustry yourstate directory
Take-Away #7 - Use the Google Adwords Content Network To Find Sites To Buy Links From Directly
Tom Critchlow mentioned this tip in his talk. Building links can be hard work. If you have more cash than time and want to just buy some links, this is a great tip for identifying potential link sellers. If they are trying to make money on their sites with Adsense ads, then chances are good that you could contact them about "purchasing some advertising". If you’re willing to walk a grey line, well, then this could be an interesting tip for you.
Take-Away #8 - Enjoy Some Serious Link Love By Becoming A "Green" Business
Also from Tom’s talk, "going green" can be a great way to get some authoritative links! There are a ton of sites out there that will list your business if it’s "green". Ethical Directory, EcoFirms.org, Guide Me Green, etc. If you’re not green now, then figure out what you can do to be more earth friendly in your business, get a badge and info up on your site about it, and then contact all these sites that list green businesses.
This tip got me thinking about other angles for this. I can imagine plenty of link opportunities for a shoe store that sells "vegan shoes". I can imagine a pet supply company that donates a portion of its profits to animal shelters. I can probably think of something along these lines for almost any business.
Take Away #9 - Use Seth Besmertnik’s Market Opportunity Calculator To Help With Your SEO Sales Pitch
Seth Besmertnik’s talk was super funny, and super valuable. One of my favourites of the seminar for sure. He showed us how to demonstrate the value of SEO, and how to keep an SEO project on track.
You can download his presentation and a number of useful spreadsheets here: How to Win SEO Budget and Influence your CMO. One that I particularly like is the Market Opportunity Calculator. All you have to do is this…
- Input the list of keywords in Column  B
- Input Current Rank in Column C
- Input Global Monthly Search Volume in Column D
- Input Conversion Rate in Column R
- Input Average Value per Conversion in Column S
… and the Excel template will produce stats on what your current market share is for those terms, and what your potential market share could be if you had top positions. It also gives you a great looking pie chart that should make the serious ca value of SEO very clear to your potential clients.
Take Away #10 - Start Working On Your Conversion Rate Optimization Immediately
Is it just me, or do many of you also suck at Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)? After seeing Ben Jesson’s presentation on CRO, I felt like I had just received a serious wake-up call to remember why I’m optimizing websites in the first place. I’ve been so caught up with increasing my clients’ ranking and traffic, that I have not been giving nearly enough attention to making sure that the visitors we do get become customers. Sure, I have dabbled in this a little bit by removing extraneous text from my forms, moving the important stuff above the fold, and dropping in a few starburst graphics to get attention, but damn, I have a lot to learn. Fortunately, Ben’s presentation was full of great advice and direction.
There are many things you can and should be doing to better understand your customer’s needs so that you can properly address them on your website. If I had to pick out a few pieces of wisdom from the presentation for you, it would be these:
- Implement tools on your website to learn from your customers. Find out what their objections are to buying your product, signing up for your service, subscribing to your e-newsletter, or whatever conversion goals you have, and then make sure you address those objections clearly on your site.
- Get some unbiased feedback on your website (not from your friends or family.) Ben’s tip: ask someone at a café if they wouldn’t mind giving you some feedback on your site. Tell them you’ve just had it redesigned and you’re just not sure about it. Offer to buy them a coffee. One of the best quotes from the seminar was when Ben said something like "The sign of a good usability test is when you’re holding back the tears because they told you the truth about the problems with your site."
- Here is a list of good tools for learning about your customers
- GoogleTalk Chatback (I just added this to my site and it is super easy to implement)
- Tell-a-Friend-King
- Kampyle
- iPerceptions 4Q
- Distilled Reputation Monitor
- CrazyEgg (I have used this, and it rocks)
- SurveyMonkey
- Ethnio
- ClickTale
- Google Website Optimizer
- Long sales pages are ok when done right. In fact, they are often necessary to be able to address all the different objections your customers might have about your products or services. Check out the Conversion Rate Experts optimized SEOmoz Pro Page, or the Amazon Kindle Product Page for two very successful examples.
Conversion Rate Optimization has a massive return on investment. Get started on it right away!
Check out these great articles on the Conversion Rate Experts website, and also sign up for their newsletter. I have been on their list since January, and they do not spam you. They just send you an occasional email every few weeks that is full of good tips.
 
Well, that covers the top take-aways I can think of at the moment. I am certain that I forgot a few gems, so please, if you attended the seminar, it would be great to get your additions in the comments. Hope this post is helpful to you!
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ClickEquations - Complex Paid Search Campaign Management, Simplified
[Manoj]: Give us a brief description of what ClickEquations does and some of its greatest benefits
[Alex Cohen]: ClickEquations is the tool we dreamed of having years ago when we managed paid search accounts directly using other tools or working directly in the engine interfaces. It’s a complete paid search management platform, proving detailed reporting, powerful analysis capabilities, full campaign editing, and bid management. This means that a paid search manager can build, manage, and report on all of their campaigns, in all search engines, from a single interface while both saving time and delivering better results.
We were a paid search agency managing large and complex campaigns in retail, lead gen, and media. So we know the frustration of not being able to get the data you need, of slow reporting interfaces, and of the frustrating multi-step (and often multi-tool) repetitive processes that fill the days of many PPC professionals. Our old pet peeves are directly responsible for the best features in ClickEquations. This is true within our of data, reporting, and editing features.
For example, we aren’t big fans of ROAS as a success metric, so in ClickEquations you can define the actual profit margin for every conversion event and then see net profit and actual ROI results at the keyword, ad group, or campaign levels. This allows much better keyword and bidding decision making. And we knew that search queries are the only way to know which keywords need to be added, which negatives are required, and how to best use Match Types, so we collect and display nearly every search query that drives visitors to your site and let you see the keyword and match type that they were matched too – and we do this for all three search engines. This allows our customers to save money and grow campaigns very quickly.
We went to great lengths to make our reporting interface highly customizable and extremely fast – paid search managers need to slice and dice their data all day long. Looking at different metrics for a single ad group, or rolling up data across campaigns, comparing one date range to another, etc – it’s too painful to have to sit and wait for screens to redraw at each step. Our performance not only saves time, I think it actually encourages or allows managers to do the type of analysis and gain the insights they really need. When the interface is too slow my experience is that after a while you just stop navigating reports, you get worn down by the process.
Even with rich data and a fast, flexible reporting interface, we know paid search managers face a mountain of data every day. It’s nearly impossible to really examine hundreds or thousands of ad groups and tens of thousands of keywords for problems or potential changes. So we have tools and analysis reports that call out these risks and opportunities. A simple one shows all the keywords that are currently below Google’s First Page Bid Estimate. It’s easy for these to go un-noticed for days or weeks without such a report. Another shows you which campaigns are leaving money on the table due to low Impression Share metrics. A more complex example lets you see where keywords are producing great results in one search engine but not in another - offering a quick win by simply copying the winner from engine ‘A’ to engine ‘B’.
[Manoj]: ClickEquations is known for its slick interface, so what makes your interface so good
[Alex Cohen]: I think the core of it comes from the fact that we managed search campaigns ourselves. The most frequent comment we get from people who see us at trade shows or on our weekly webinars is “it’s so clear you guys really understand ppc”. There are all kinds of large and small aspects of our interface and product that come from our deep practical experience in the space.
The other thing about our interface is that we realize the importance of context. Most tools seem to developed with the goal of replicating the AdWords or AdWords Editor interface, supporting three engines, and then adding a few bells and whistles. We think this is a fundamentally flawed approach. The engine interfaces are utilitarian at best, and designed by the seller. They’re trying to make it easy for you to spend money, not necessarily to understand how you’re spending it or spend it wisely. They also over-compartmentalize components – add keywords here, set bids there, edit text ads there – when these element interact and smart changes need to consider these interactions.
[Manoj]: How does attribution fit into your solution?
[Alex Cohen]: This is a great example of where a lack of the right data and clear access to it can really make it hard to make smart paid search decisions. We all know that some users visit sites multiple times before making a purchase. Yet the conversion tracking features from the search engines and most analytics and even paid search tools, give 100% revenue credit to the last keyword.
ClickEquations supports four attribution models – first click, last click, linear, and weighted (which overweights keywords which occur more frequently in successful chains) –so our users can both choose how they want to distribute revenue among keywords and more importantly see and make choices based on the differences. We’re the only vendor, to my knowledge, to allow you to change the attribution model retroactively – you can switch from one to another on-the-fly and then go back and look at historical reports to see the impact.
We also let you apply different attribution models to each bid rule, so you can use a last-click model for your brand terms for example, and a linear model for your category keywords. And finally, we have reports in ClickEquations Analyst (our excel plug-in) that let you see individual keywords and the impact of each attribution model on them for any time period, with helpful conditional formatting to highlight big shifts. All of this drives a better understanding of keyword performance, which can drive better decisions about which keywords to pause or delete and how to set keyword bids. Without visibility into this data, a lot of those decisions are just guesses.
[Manoj]: Tell us a little bit about some of your product specific metrics such as ClickShare and ClickVariance
[Alex Cohen]: Part of our quest for clear detailed data produced the not-so-surprising realization that the search engines aren’t telling us everything we’d like to know. A lot of what they keep private is data that only they have, but some of it is buried in all the data they do provide.
We have developed a series of proprietary metrics that offer additional information and insights to our clients. ClickShare and ClickVariance are two of them. ClickShare is our extension of Impression Share, taking the concept of ‘what you’re missing’ from the Campaign to the Ad Group and Keyword levels. It looks at your CTR, average position, and the CTR of the text-ads being used, and calculates the potential for improvement in clicks. So if an Ad Group had 10,000 impressions and 500 clicks, ClickShare would give you an idea of how many more clicks were possible, and the relative role position and ad-copy play in causing the missed clicks. What this helps you do is prioritize effort – it can call out the ad groups where text-ads are under-performing and you should consider spending time writing new copy to test. Without this metric, if you just looked over the Ad Group report, it would be impossible to tell that in these specific Ad Groups testing could have a 50% impact on click volume, while in those Ad Groups at most it would be likely to only have a 2% impact.
ClickVariance provides a similar service in terms of highlighting Ad Groups where there are too many keywords – not against some arbitrary number that is good or bad – but based on how the keywords in that Ad Group are performing. What we recommend is looking at groups with high ClickVariance numbers, and seeing if there are natural segmentations for the keywords they contain. Usually when you review an Ad Group with a moderate to high ClickVariance, it’s pretty obvious where and how you could split the keywords into two or three groups. This makes it possible to better match the keywords, search queries, ad copy, and landing pages – which leads to higher Quality Scores, lower costs, more profit.
[Manoj]: What is the cost of ClickEquations?
[Alex Cohen]: The ClickEquations fee is based on how much you spend on paid search. It’s typically in the 2%-3% range with a minimum fee of $1,000 per month. Check out our pricing page for full details. Agencies get a discount, because all of their clients’ spend counts toward their total. We have no setup costs and support is free.
5 Common Pieces of SEO Advice I Disagree With
Posted by randfish
Over the years, I’ve heard a number of recommendations for SEO given out that I simply don’t understand or find logically flawed. I thought it might be interesting to share some of these and hear more perspectives. It could be that I just don’t comprehend the reasoning or haven’t thought things through, but I personally don’t always recommend these, so it’s worth at least a discussion.
#1 - Succesful SEO Copywriting = Keywords & Content Structure
Here’s an example of two pages upon which different kinds of SEO has been performed:
I struggle with the fact that 90%+ of the SEO copywriting advice I see on the web or hear at conferences relates to the use of keywords and the content structure (I’m guilty of this myself sometimes, but have been trying to break that habit). While those things may add value from a technical algorithmic ranking perspective, the value of even one additional external link, at least in my opinion, dwarfs the value of having the keyword repeated in the H2 tag the correct number of times.
It seems to me that if and when copywriters are given the knowledge to understand the web’s ecosphere around their content arena, and asked to target those who share and spread content on the web, their SEO work is likely to add far more value. That shouldn’t stop SEOs and writers from employing good keyword usage practices, but I wish I saw more about how to "write for the Linkerati" and leverage the emotions that make people link.
#2 - Never Exchange Links with Other Sites
There’s been so much fear pushed around the web about reciprocal link exchanges and link trading programs that the message has been muddled up into the completely nonsensical "never link to someone who links to you." To my mind, that’s a touch of lunacy. The web’s link graph is meant to be representative of the connections, endorsements and relationships of the real world. Artificially manipulating it, even when you’re doing so because you think Google wants you to, doesn’t make much sense.
The advice holds true when an offer comes via email suggesting you link to a site with which you have no relationship and, in exchange, they’ll link to you.  It holds true when a directory wants you to link to it in order to get a link out. It doesn’t hold true when some blogger has said something you care about and linked to you, or when a business partner has endorsed your work and is hoping you can reciprocate. I created a handy little risk chart to help explain my positions on "reciprocal" links:
For example, there’s nothing wrong with SEOmoz linking to Distilled’s website - our partners in the UK - and likewise, getting a link back from them. If, however, we weren’t actually partners but only linked back and forth in order to artificially inflate one another’s link popularity, it’s a different story.
#3 - Rewrite the H1 Headline to Be Unique from the Title Tag
I’m not sure exactly where this advice originated, but I’ve heard it from some SEOs I really respect, including my good friend Todd Malicoat. Still, I’m highly skeptical. I’ve tried it a few times in test environments and looked at some rough correlation data - both of which suggesting that there’s no particular benefit to having unique titles vs. H1s.
The big reason I’m against it is that H1s are intended to be the "headline" of a page, and if you click on a search result, then see a different headline on the page itself, it’s a very off-putting experience. This is one of those times when, even if it was good for SEO, I think the usability argument might trump. The expectation created by a title is that the article will be that precise piece. I have trouble imagining search engineers deciding that disparity between the two should result in a higher ranking.
#4 - Never Spam Report Your Competitors
A number of arguments are made against spam reporting the competition when they’ve employed tactics that violate the search engine guidlines. Some operators in the field want to make this a moral or ethical issue (AKA - the "thieves pact" made by being an SEO must be honored). However, since there’s no way to verify whether a particular SEO does or does not submit their competitors’ manipulative tactics to the engines, it could easily be that those most vocal about rejecting it as a path to success are actually the same ones who employ it most. Nothing stops an SEO from claiming to adhere to the "no outing" code while quietly turning in all of his/her cohorts.
This paradigm makes one path obvious - don’t say, at least publicly, that you report spam. Vocal parts of the SEO community are vehement about making examples of (and socially shunning/shaming) those who violate this "code of silence." However, from a practicality standpoint, it may still be valuable to your business to call out spam to the search engines so your site/page has a more level playing field from which to operate (as a white hat, competing against spammers is no fun). The vast majority of smart SEOs I’ve ever encountered expect that their sites are being consistently spam reported and thus engage only in tactics that are either 100% white hat or which they feel confident the engines will be hard pressed to discover (to my mind, the former makes far more sense).
Talking to lots of friends in the field, there seem to be a number of arguments in favor of spam reporting:
- You may be able to improve your own ranking by removing a competitor
- It’s a very low time/cost activity and typically a valuable learning experience (even those against reporting still strongly endorse researching and learning from those who do use black/gray hat tactics)
- You may gain trust in the eyes of the search engines (so long as you are 100% clean yourself)
- The spam you report may make its way into the index in a scalable way, pushing out multiple manipulators and thus leaving more room, on a macro scale, for your site to perform positively
- You can get a better sense for what the engines do/don’t tolerate and to what degree by seeing which tactics warrant immediate penalties vs. long delays or no action at all
- You may help the engines provide better search results for all users, thus increasing the overall value of the web
And a few reasons against:
- You may inadvertently hurt your own site’s rankings if you’ve engaged in (or unknowingly benefitted from) particular types of spam
- Reporting spam may hurt your fellow SEOs (gray or black hat though their tactics may be) and is thus unethical
The ethics argument against is certainly the most compelling, and as SEOmoz prides itself so highly on the ethics and values we adopt, I thought a quick review of the subject was in order. Thus, I checked out some great works on ethics from the Markula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. In particular, I found it valuable to read What is Ethics, as well as Whistle Blowing in the Public Sector. My basic takeaway is that If you believe that search engines are an oppressive (or potential oppressive) entity that does not have the best interests of the web or its users in mind, then complying with their request to help punish abusers has some ethical concerns. Likewise, if you feel that those who spam or manipulate the engines’ indices are removing value from the web’s usefulness, you may have similar ethical concerns staying quiet. Similar to reporting criminals for violating unjust laws (or turning them in to a corrupt, oppresive regime), the ethics of the situation depends greatly on your view of the engines and those who violate their guidelines.
#5 - A Site’s Age is Indicative of Ranking Ability
This is one area where I worry considerably about the value of correlation data. While sites that have longer history may indeed have a greater proclivity for high rankings, I don’t personally believe that the engines use a raw "age" metric or even an "age of links" metric to inflate potential rankings.
The "age of site" or "age of links" argument relies on the idea that search engineers believe age to be equated with higher quality. While there may certainly be value in analyzing the temporal nature of links and content, I struggle to think that older universally (or even mostly) correlates with a better result and better user experience. Age may have some bearing on certain kinds of rankings in specific scenarios and could play a role in trust/spam analysis as well, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a positive metric for judging overall potential performance.
Obviously, this post is largely opinion-based, and like all material on the blog, shouldn’t be misconstrued as anything else. I’m looking forward to discussion on these topics in the comments.
 
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Microsoft Lobbyists Meet to Thwart Google; Politics as Usual Ensues
Daily Finance, an AOL site, is reporting that Microsoft’s lobbyists hold weekly meetings where the discussion revolves around taking on Google. In attendance are consultants and others who oppose Google. The meetings have become known as “screw Google” meetings by DC insiders.
I used to work in politics. I used to work in DC. These type of meetings happen all the time, in all sorts of industries and with all sorts of issues. It’s not a Microsoft or Google thing. It’s not a Democrat or Republican thing. It’s a politics thing.
Google lobbyists meet to discuss Microsoft, I would assume. If they don’t, then Google should fire them for being crappy at their job.
Move on, there’s nothing to see here. Just politics as usual in the nation’s capital.
Proposed Bill to Give White House Authority to Control Internet in Emergency
A proposed Bill in the U.S. Senate would give the White House control of the internet in the case of emergency. The bill, S.773 introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Olympia Snow (R-ME) is pretty vague, which is alarming to internet companies and civil rights groups alike.
According to CNET, the bill would allow the White House to declare cybersecurity emergencies. It also allows the government to choose which internet companies they deem “critical.” These companies would then be subject to regulations surrounding hiring employees, information that would need to be disclosed and when the government could take over their network.
What do you think of this bill? Let us know by leaving a comment.
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